Chapter 5: I'm Special/Uncomfortable Aura
Natsuno smiled as Tohru happily moved through the kitchen, helping set up for when the customers came in. He was uncertain if Tohru was bursting with all this energy because of their date last night, or because of the amount of sugar that was in the "Mochigome Smoothie" he'd been given earlier tonight, but he was glad to see the old Tohru back in full swing. Things would definitely prove interesting if those three regulars showed up again, tonight.
"Hold up there, Honey-Locks," Natsuno chuckled, catching Tohru by the elbow.
Tohru blinked, "Honey-Locks?" Well, that was a new nickname. "Where the hell did that come from?" he asked. Knowing Natsuno, this was the first and probably the last time he'd ever hear it.
Natsuno looked up from the cook book and smiled at him. "Never mind that," he said, pulling Tohru in close. "Save some of that energy for the customers, or I'm going to regret giving you a sugar high," he teased, leaning in and giving Tohru an impassioned kiss. Tohru stiffened a bit, having been taken off guard, but he closed his eyes and returned the kiss. Natsuno didn't normally display this sort of affection, especially outside of the private setting of Tohru's bedroom. "But don't use it all up on them, either," Natsuno smiled as he pulled away from the kiss, with a wink.
Tohru smiled, as he realized what had actually gotten into Natsuno. Great, now he had to serve the customers while anticipating what was going to happen between the two of them after closing time. Tohru remembered that when he asked if biting him hurt, Natsuno said it was only a slight discomfort when the skin was punctured, after that it was quite pleasurable. However, by giving Tohru his blood in a different way, he'd deprived himself of that for the night. Tohru blushed and smiled. "Oh, I see," he giggled. "Don't worry, Natsuno, I've always got reserve energy for you."
"You'd better," Natsuno smiled. He shook his head, realizing he was getting way ahead of himself in plans for the night. "Anyway, is everything ready out front?" Tohru smiled and nodded. "Good. Say, Tohru, think you can handle the tables by yourself, while I take full time in the kitchen tonight?"
"Had enough of crowds for one week?" Tohru asked.
"Something like that," Natsuno nodded.
"Leave it to me, Natsuno," Tohru assured him.
It started off as a slow night, when the customers came in; the festival was lasting a second night, and those who had gone the first night had already spent all the money they cared to for the week, then. Tohru and Natsuno were both thankful for a slow, yet steady stream of patrons, perhaps they could close up early if they were lucky. Tohru looked up as the wood on the door clicked, "Well, crap," he thought to himself, "Guess I haven't run those three off yet, after all. Come on, girls, take a hint, will ya'!? Oh well, challenge accepted, ladies." He finished taking the order for the table he was with and headed back to the kitchen.
"Well, they're persistent, I'll give them that," he sighed as he entered the kitchen.
"They actually came back?" Natsuno groaned. "Yeah, I'm not going out there tonight!"
Tohru gave Natsuno a sly little smile. "Don't worry, Natsuo," he said, "I've got your little fan girls well taken care of tonight. Want to or not, they'll have to deal with me." He handed Natsuno the order ticket. "Be right back."
Tohru walked up to their table, two more customers had come in during this time; one of them gave him a chill as he walked past her. She was an elderly woman, who had a white, almost holy aura radiating off her. "Wow, spooky," he thought quietly to himself.
"Good evening ladies," Tohru greeted the girls, "The usual, tonight?"
"You're not going to send big brother out to take our orders, tonight?" one of the girls asked. "It's been a while since you came to us yourself."
Tohru smiled at them and sat down at the booth, right next to one of them. "Yeah, he's not in the mood to deal with people tonight," Tohru said. "Look, ladies, you want a little advice?"
The girls looked curiously at him. "What," the second girl asked, "are you actually trying to sell out your big brother?"
"First off," Tohru looked them all over. He'd been with Natsuno too long, that color was even starting to make him feel sick, "The pink has got to go! He hates it. Second, just give up! He's already got someone, and he doesn't like clingy, pushy people."
"Yet he still puts up with you," the third girl remarked, this third one was the one who had started the whole confrontation in the first place.
Tohru's eyes snapped dead pan on her, causing her to shiver in her seat, as she remembered the first time she'd been stupid enough to anger him. Tohru glanced toward the direction of the kitchen, quietly, with almost shifty eyes. He slowly closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, forcing them to stay their beautiful shade of brown as he looked back at them, he gave them one of his charming, youthful smiles. He leaned back in the booth, arms and legs crossed, eyes closed and the smile still dancing across his face. He raised his right hand in the air, his index finger pointing at them. "That's because, I'm special!" Oh, that felt so good to rub in their faces. He jumped up from the table and flipped open the ticket book. "Right, so three 'usual's for table four. It'll be right out, ladies."
He was apprehensive about approaching the elderly lady at first, she was a new face, and he wasn't sure if it was possible for Shiki to get Goosebumps, but it sure felt like he was getting them from her. Maybe she was just in town for the festival and stopped by for something to eat? Whatever her reason, she was still a customer and couldn't be ignored. "Good evening, ma'am. How are you this afternoon?" he greeted her. For some reason, the three girls watched Tohru's interaction with the new customer, it was almost like they could tell something about this woman was making him nervous.
"I'm fine," she replied silently, calmly. Her hair came to her shoulders, it was turning light shades of grey and blue from her age. Her eyes were hazel and sharp. Tohru didn't quite understand what it was about this beautiful-for her age-lady made his skin crawl. "I'm having trouble deciding, what would you suggest?"
"How the hell am I supposed to answer that one!?" he thought to himself; Natsuno only just now discovered a way for Tohru to take in real food, it's not like he knew which dishes to suggest to anyone. He stopped to think, rubbing the back of his head with the tail end of the pen in his hand. "Well, our Teriyaki dishes are really popular, and they come with a bowl of Misou and your choice of fried rice or two sushi rolls," he suggested. He went with the Teriyaki, because it was a rather popular choice, and this lady didn't really look like she could handle some of the spicier dishes.
She signaled for him to lean in, as if she was going to ask him to help her find them on the menu. He hesitated for a second, but did indeed lean in. She caught his ear lobe, like she was an old grandmother about to scold her grandchild for something, leaned in and whispered a warning, "You shouldn't play with your food, you know."
"Huh?" Tohru blinked at her confusedly, and quickly jerked away, rubbing his hear. Why did it feel like it was on fire? She barely pinched it. Tohru heard the girls giggling. Maybe they thought she was scolding him for annoying them.
"I suppose I'll have the Chicken Teriyaki, then," she said.
"Y-Yes, ma'am," Tohru said, scribbling the order down and walking away, still rubbing his ear. He took the order for the last customer that had come in, trying to ignore the giggles from the girls at table four, and occasionally glancing back at the old woman. His ear still burned as he walked into the kitchen. "Man, what the actual hell?" he groaned, rubbing his ear.
"What's going on out there?" Natsuno asked, having heard the girls' vapid giggling.
"We've got an odd one out there tonight. Some freaky old lady, her aura's so strong, I can't help wondering if the humans see it out there," Tohru said, fidgeting with his ear again.
"What's wrong with your ear?" Natsuno asked.
"I dunno'," Tohru shrugged, "She just barely touched it, and now it feels like it's on fire. How's it look?"
Natsuno walked over and brushed Tohru's hair out of the way. "It looks alright, to me, Tohru-Chan." He sighed, "It could just be from coming in contact with such a strong aura, even though it was for a short amount of time. Just try not to let her touch you again, maybe it'll get better." He kept an eye on the entrance to the kitchen, but gently leaned in and kissed the point of Tohru's earlobe where he'd indicated the feeling of conflagration. Tohru blushed, and almost instantly felt better. "So, what were they laughing at? I heard them fall dead silent when you left their table."
"They probably thought she was scolding me for teasing them," Tohru sighed, tearing out the three ticket stubs. "I'm telling you Natsuno, there's something weird about her. I haven't been told not to play with my food in ages. Mom eventually just gave up on getting that through my head."
Natsuno nearly dropped the spoon, when he heard this. "That's what she said when she touched your ear?"
"Yeah?" Tohru nodded.
Natsuno wiped his hands with a towel. "Take over for a minute." Natsuno walked out of the kitchen, to get a look at this mystery woman. She was already standing in the hallway, sure enough, her aura was overwhelmingly noticeable.
"Oh, hello, there," the elderly lady greeted him. "I'm sorry, which way are the restrooms?" Natsuno didn't want to cause a commotion, so he pointed her in the direction of the public restrooms. "Thank you young man," she said with a polite bow. Her eyes narrowed in on the entrance to the kitchen. "You watch yourself. You're playing a dangerous game with that one," she said nodding in the direction of the kitchen, as she went to find the restrooms.
"What… the… FUCK?" Natsuno ducked back into the kitchen.
Tohru looked up at him, both confused and a little worried. "Natsuno?"
Natsuno shook his head and brushed his hair out of his face. "I think I saw her at the temple, last night, Tohru-Chan," he sighed, "And I think she knows what we are. Or at least what you are. I'm not sure if she's quite figured me out just yet."
"You think she might be a priestess or something?" Tohru asked.
"I don't know," Natsuno sighed, shaking his head. "Look, I know I said I was staying in the kitchen tonight, Tohru-Chan, but if you want me to handle her…?"
Tohru shook his head, "No, Natsuno. The girls at table four are already pretty annoyed tonight. I'm not going to send you out there in front of them for a single customer."
Natsuno sighed. "Alright, then just be careful, ok? DON'T let her touch you."
Tohru nodded. "I'll be fine, Natsuno. I'll just deliver her order and go straight to any other customers." Natsuno sighed and gave Tohru a nod of agreement. He was really hoping this wasn't about to escalate into something ugly.
The night passed, thankfully, without any real complications. The old priestess ate, paid her bill, and left. After a while, the restaurant had become completely empty. Natsuno heaved a sigh of relief. "Alright, Tohru-Chan, go put up the closed sign," he instructed, "We can shut down early tonight, and since tomorrow's the last night of the festival, we may not even open tomorrow. That'll be our two days this week. We can just have tomorrow to ourselves at home. Make sure the front door's locked. I'm going to go check the back door and all the windows."
Natsuno hated to admit it, but the old priestess actually had him a little spooked. The fact that she could single out Tohru like that really wasn't very comforting. Tohru helped Natsuno with cleanup and putting away the food. They both retreated to Tohru's room once they had finished, after tonight, they could both use a pick-me-up. "How's your ear, Tohru-Chan?" Natsuno asked as they shut and locked the door behind them.
"All better. As soon as your lips touched it, it started feeling better." Tohru blushed. "That always seems to be the case with you."
"Huh?" Natsuno asked.
"It's odd. I never would have thought a Shiki could blush, but you've pointed out I can. There's a sensation I get when I feed from you that I never got from anyone else. These last few days, I've even been acting more like my old self, bursting with energy," Tohru explained. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
"You've also been a lot warmer to the touch," Natsuno nodded, putting a gentle hand on Tohru's cheek. "Never once did that little girl complain you felt cold while you were carrying her last night."
Tohru nodded. "You've noticed. Maybe it's just because you're a Jinrou, but there are times after I feed from you, where… Where it feels like my heart could start beating again."
Natsuno smiled at Tohru and closed in the space between the two of them, wrapping his arms around the Shiki. "If it ever does, you'll be sure to let me know, right?"
Tohru blushed and nodded. "Of course I will," he replied softly, gently nuzzling Natsuno's neck. Natsuno let out a soft gasp as he felt Tohru's fangs pierce into his neck. He really didn't understand what it was about that sensation that drove him wild, he didn't really care to, either. Tohru released Natsuno's neck and leaned in for a kiss. That was all either of them needed for the events of the night to completely melt away.
Natsuno opened his eyes and looked around. He'd fallen asleep in Tohru's room. Tohru was snuggled up next to him, fast asleep, meaning it must be daylight outside. Tohru's arm was draped over Natsuno's bare chest, and the three stuffed bears were all lined up along the wall at the far end of the bed. Tohru didn't need them when Natsuno shared the bed with him. Natsuno smiled, looking at Tohru's face, the honey-blond locks of untamed hair gently framed the Shiki's face. "Even when he's asleep, he's beautiful," Natsuno thought with a gentle smile. He gently kissed Tohru's forehead and made an attempt to get up. However, without even opening his eyes, Tohru managed to make the effort to pull Natsuno back down. Natsuno rolled his eyes, "I guess I'm stuck here for now," he chuckled. He sighed and wrapped his arms around Tohru. "Alright, Tohru-Chan, you win."