Chapter 14: Crying and Cake

On Tuesday morning, Takashi found himself walking slowly towards Sumiko Ikeda's building around seven o'clock. The tall girl's outburst yesterday has triggered both his protective instincts and his curiousity, and he had spent a sleepless night wondering exactly what had happened to Ikeda's mother.

He pushed the buzzer outside Sumiko's building and waited for the crackling voice to appear before identifying himself. There was a moment of silence, before the voice appeared again.

"I-crrk sorry. S-hhhk-e doesn't wa-hht-t any visitors."

He stood quite still for a moment, and then pushed the buzzer again.

"Tell Ikeda-san that I will stand outside this building until she comes out," he said, "Tell her I will not budge."

The buzzer fizzled for a second, and then the voice said, with a sly crackle, "You and yo-crrk-r girl -hhk-riend have a fight?"

"She's not my girlfriend," he said, "We're friends."

"Yes, ye-shh I've he-chh-rd that one be-ffh-ore."

"No," he said firmly, and sat down of the steps, his face flushed.

Why did everyone think that he and Sumiko were dating? There was nothing like that in their relationship. They were platonic friends. (But it would be very nice if he and Sumiko had something….else in their relationship. Perhaps something a bit more…physical. She was such a pretty girl, and he had needs, right? And those lovely long legs would look very nice wrapped around…. Okay, that was enough. He shook his head to rid it of those sorts of thoughts.)

There was the sound of pounding feet, and Sumiko came hurtling through the door with her hair flying behind her.

"Look," she said, her face flushed with anger, "I really don't want to talk to anybody right now."

He stood slowly, and noticed that there were tears in her eyes. He took a tentative step forward and touched her shoulder.

"Sumiko…" he whispered softly.

She wiped her eyes and sniffed. "I'm sorry," she sobbed, "But now is really not… what did you call me?"

Takashi froze. He…he hadn't called her that, right? He looked down at her big, tear-filled eyes that were staring at him in amazement, and opened and closed his mouth soundlessly.

"I…called you Sumiko?" he said at last, and smiled nervously.

"You did?" she said quietly.

Was it his imagination, or was her face getting closer to his own? He could see a tear still clinging to her eyelash. He could feel her breath on his face…

There was a sudden crash, and they jumped apart. Takashi jerked his head around to see a garbage man picking up bags from the curb.

"Um," Sumiko, "I guess you can call me by my first name."

They stood in awkward silence for a moment.

"Hey," she said suddenly, "Do you want to go somewhere?"

He blinked. "Ah," he said, and Sumiko smiled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting in the back booth of a small pastry shop a few blocks away from the campus.

"Hey," Sumiko said suddenly, "I'd like to tell you about my mother. My real mother, I mean."

He looked at her over the edge of his tea cup, and swallowed a mouth full of the weak green tea.

"If you want to tell me," he said quietly.

"I… yes. I feel like I should."

"All right then," he said, and she began.

"My mother was… a unique person. She was always going off on some new, exciting trip without telling anyone. My father was constantly telling her to tell us before she went somewhere, to get a phone, anything. But she never listened. I… worshiped her. I thought that her trips were wonderful and exciting and fantastic." She paused for a moment and smiled reminiscently. "When I was about nine, I decided to go on my own little adventure, just like Mama. I saved up all my money, and took the train to Kobayashi. I wandered around the city for an entire day, and finally took the evening train home to Kushima.

"When I got home, my family was frantic. My mother had left in the morning to look for me, and hadn't come back. They were all afraid that my mother had found me and taken me somewhere. That was when I first realized how strained my parents' relationship was."

She stopped, and took a sip of tea before starting to speak again.

"My mother never came back. They found her body a few days later."

Takashi's eyes went wide.

"Sorry," he said.

"It's all right," she replied, "I try not to think about it."

A waiter stopped at their table and asked, "Are you ready to order?"

"Yes," Takashi said, grateful for the distraction, "I'll have to red mochi cake."

"And I'll have the chocolate cheesecake," Sumiko said. She was biting her lip, which he recognized as a sign that she was feeling upset.

"Your mother must have been a wonderful person," he said softly, and he patted her head gently.

She laughed slightly, but there was a slightly tearful quality to it. "Thank you. I certainly thought she was."

He didn't ask about the past tense 'thought', although he rather wanted to.

The waiter came at that moment, bearing their cakes on a plastic tray.

"Chocolate cheesecake and red mochi cake," he announced, "That'll be ¥1026."

"Here," Takashi said quickly, slapping the money on the table before Sumiko could reach for her jacket. The waiter smiled at him politely, and slipped the coins into his apron before he walked towards some other table.

"That was very courtly of you," Sumiko said, "My thanks, noble samurai."

He ducked his head in embarrasment. "You're welcome," he muttered, and he began to eat his mochi cake.

After a few minutes of eating, Sumiko suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

"We should take Mitsukuni-kun here!" she said, "They serve good tea, and," here she pointed to the various rabbit ornaments that decorated a shelf on the far wall, "they have a rabbit-themed decór!"

Takashi smiled slightly, imagining his excitable cousin's reaction to this shop. That alone would be worth the expensive cake. But really, did he of all people need to worry about how expensive the cakes were?

He nodded at Sumiko. "We should," he said, and left it at that.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Believe it or not, I actually had finished this chapter on time, and uploaded it on Wednesday. But when I opened my computer today, a little error message popped up! It said 'Error: Document not received.'

I think the people across the street heard me yelling.

So, here is your chapter, late again, but with good intentions: please enjoy.

Some Things of Note:

Kobayashi is a city to the north of Kushima.

Mochi is the Japanese rice cake made of sticky rice paste. (I can't remember if I've already defined this one)

I assume you already know what chocolate cheesecake is, but if you don't: it is the most wonderful cake in the world. Go eat some. Now.