Chapter 15: Arguments and Arrangements.

The afternoon after Sumiko had told him about her mother, Takashi walked to the Cracked Pot for their 12 o'clock tea break. When he opened the door, he was greeted by a surprisingly happy Sato-san.

"Konichiwa, Takashi-kun! Did you sleep well last night?" she asked him.

"...Ah," he replied, a little confused.

"Oh good! I do worry about you. None of you college students seem to get enough sleep. You're all staying up until all hours to study, when you should be taking care of your health!" She smiled at him, the wrinkles around her eyes crinkling with happiness, and then pushed him towards a corner table, which was already occupied by

Sumiko.

"She's happy," he commented as he sat down at the table.

"Yes. She and I had a long talk, and we made up," she said, smiling brightly at him.

"Mm," he grunted, pleased that the two women were friends again. He had been seriously worried that he wouldn't be able to get his daily afternoon cup of kukicha. And that would not be a good thing at all. Before he had met Sumiko, his daily caffeine rush had come from the bottled green tea that stocked a vending machine around the corner from his European Literature class, and even though the tea tasted like dishwater, he had gulped it down nevertheless. Because when Takashi Morinozuka was tired, bad things happened. Very, very bad things.

He shuddered slightly, and then began to sip his tea (which was already on the table, steaming). He was constantly amazed that he never got tired of it. Sato-san's brewer really was very good.

"So, Takashi-kun," Sato-san said as she trotted back to their table with their snack cakes, "Did you two have a good outing? Sumiko won't tell me about it."

"Ah," he said quietly, "Pleasant."

"It was pleasant? That's good! Where did you go?" She smiled at him. Her eyes twinkled menacingly

"Um. High school?" he offered, leaning away from her slightly.

"Your old high school? How fascinating! And why did you go there?"

Takashi smiled at her rather nervously, attempting to distract her with some charm (because she was really terrifying right now, but he had no illusions about what Sumiko would do to him if he told the old woman where they had gone).

"Visiting," he said in what he hoped was a mild tone (because he was becoming seriously scared), and took a gulp of tea so that he wouldn't be able to talk any more.

But Sato-san was a tricky foe, and she did not give up easily.

"That's so nice! I must admit I was harboring some fears that you had accosted Sumiko and taken her somewhere... like a love hotel," she said in a stage whisper.

Takashi spewed his tea half-way across the room.

"No! Never! Not with Sumiko-dono..." he choked out.

"Oh...?" Sato-san said with pretended disinterest, "So you would never think of Sumiko-dono that way?"

"No!" he said, panicked (and ignored the voice in the back of his mind that said Yes you do. Every single fucking day).

"So you don't find Sumiko-chan attractive?"

"Yes! No! I-" He trailed off into awkward silence, and stared at Sumiko helplessly.

"Sato-san," Sumiko said calmly, "Please don't try to embarrass Takashi-san into telling you where we went."

"Why, whatever are you talking about?" Sato-san said. She smiled sweetly at the younger girl. Takashi could almost feel the crackling energy as the two women glared at each other.

The phone that sat next to the cash register rang suddenly, and Sato-san trotted over to answer it, throwing one last armor-piercing glare over her shoulder.

"Thank goodness she's gone," Sumiko said in an overly cheerful voice. Takashi eyed her nervously. He was starting to get the impression that the two women were not, in fact, reconciled as Sumiko had implied.

"I'm sorry," he said, and he wasn't just apologizing for the awkward scene that hd just transpired, but for everything: the host club, and the train ride, and her mother, and Sato-san being angry at her because of something stupid that he had done.

"It's all right," she said, and she smiled at him in a way that told him that she understood.

"Oh!" she said suddenly, "I almost forgot! I've got a rematch with Kato. It'd be nice if you could come." She took a sip of tea and stared at him over the edge of her cup.

"I'll come," he said quietly, "with Mitsukuni."

"Mitsukuni-kun! How is he?" Sumiko asked eagerly.

Takashi ignored the twinge of jealously at the fact that she called is diminutive cousin Mitsukuni-kun, and he was only Takashi-san. "Fine," he said.

"I haven't seen in him in several weeks. It'll be nice to see him at the tournament. Two friendly faces are better that one you know!" she said, laughing slightly at her own joke.

He smiled, and then frowned. He had the oddest feeling... like something wasn't quite right; an odd sort of inkling.

"Are you all right, Takashi-san?" Sumiko asked.

"Hmm? Oh. Fine."

"You looked quite lost in thought," she said, and took another sip of tea (her fingers curling delicately around the cup, her full mouth shimmering slightly with moisture like a dewy rose...)

Shit. It really wasn't like him to wax poetic about a girl. There was something wrong with him.

"So," Sumiko said, "It turns out the tournament's on our campus! You don't have walk too far to get to it. Actually..." she looked at him oddly. "Which building do you live in?"

"Kuri Hall."

"Oh! That's right next to the sports center!" She leaned forward, a strange gleam in her eye. "Does your dormitory allow girls to spend the night?"

He blinked at her, and then felt his cheeks grow faintly warm. "Y-yes," he stammered.

"Excellent! Takashi-san, might I spend tomorrow night in your room?"

His whole face turned as red as a tomato. "Yes," he said again, and then took a hurried mouthful of tea to prevent himself from saying anything stupid, like 'Maybe we can sleep in the same bed', or simply 'Will you have sex with me? Because I really, really like you."

So he drank his tea quietly, and didn't say anything.

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

Hello y'all! So you know all those trips to the hospital that were preventing me from updating? Yeah. It turns out that I had a tumor! So I had to have that taken out, and I've been under observation for that last month or so. But luckily, it appears that I am apparently doing 'extremely well' according to my wonderful doctor, and I will begin writing more again. Huzzah, hooray, and Merry Christmas!

The Wednesday updating schedule does not work a hy more, so I'll be updating on Sundays now.

Some Things of Note: 'Kuri' means 'chestnut'.