" Yamazaki-kun wait up!"
Yamazaki had only recently had time to eat dinner with the others. Apparently he was a " regular" in the dining room before Chiyo had shown up. However, after her arrival he instantly became busy and skipped his meals regularly. In fact, it took a bit of " pushing" from Chiyo to have him eat supper.
Chiyo had been working at her desk. As dinner time approached she only became more and more sucked into the book she was reading. She had been reading nonstop for days. This book possibly had the information needed to create a cure for ALS. However, more reading lead to nothing still. As her aunt had told her previously," Science is like a child. The more patience and care you put into it, the better quality of a human they will be." In other words, being patient when doing research gives you better results. The more slowly you get information, the more quality it is and it will make research easier. Her aunt also made the best bread. She put cheese inside and if it was fresh when cut, melted cheese came spewing out.
" Yum. We normally ate that during dinner. Speaking about dinner…"
She gasped," Oh no it's time for dinner! If I don't hurry poor Saito-san will have to guard my dinner for me again! I can't ask too much of him."
Chiyo was about to fly out when she knowticed that Yamazaki never ate with the captains. He was technically a " captain" because he was in charge with medical affairs.
" Hey Yamazaki-kun, why don't you ever eat dinner with us? Do you eat with the other men?"
Yamazaki was also hard at work; writing up what she presumed was a report. He looked up and
" Um no that's too much work. You just head on without me." he stammered.
A frown twisted on her face. Here's a lesson. Whenever Chiyo frowned, it could be heartbreaking to some. Yamazaki felt a sweat drop roll off his forehead. Making someone sad wasn't good for the soul.
He stammered," Don't worry! I'll go eat dinner with you tonight. I've finished enough of this so an hour off couldn't hurt."
He mustered a smile to show emphasis. Instantly her face brightened and returned to normal. He left onto the dining room wondering," What have I done?" shook his head," No I'm too busy to eat. Why don't you just head on?"
Realization dawned upon her," Yamazaki-kun...do you never eat dinner?"
" It's because I'm too busy to eat. No worries though. After all, one missed meal per day won't kill you."
He stopped short. The look of shock and disappointment clouding her face was quite powerful. She mumbled," That's not healthy. You are working so hard. Eating food is absolutely necessary for the effort you put in your work. Do you want me to bring you a tray so you can eat in here? Although I would like it if you came to eat with us.""
Yamazaki-kun wait up!"
Yamazaki was on his way to the dining room. It had been a few weeks since he had started eating with the other captains again. The room seemed more full with him there. After all " the more the merrier!". However, Saito seemed to have changed a bit. He was already pretty cold and distant but, he seemed to become even more cold whenever Yamazaki entered the room. Saito always had a scowl on his face but it was these times that the scowl became deeper and more heavy set.
" Chiyo, have you noticed that there's something different about Saito-san recently?"
Chizuru was staring at her with concern in her eyes. She had caught her walking towards the dinning room and wanted to talk to her while she had the chance.
She turned towards Yamazaki and said," Sorry can you continue by yourself? I want to talk privately with Chizuru-chan."
He nodded and waved while he walked away. Chiyo turned back to Chizuru with a more serious face. " Actually, to be honest...I have noticed that there's something going on with him. He's pretty distant to begin with but recently he's just been even more stony than his usual self. What do you think is happening?"
" I'm not so sure. I just noticed that his behavior began when Yamazaki-kun started to sit with us."
" Mhhmmm I'm going to look into it. Don't concern yourself too much over it Chizu-chan." Chiyo said with a smile.
Before she left Chizuru suddenly grabbed her hand," Wait! I noticed that Saito's been pretty interested in you recently. Maybe he's jealous?"
A blush spread through her face and she said," That can't possibly be it! I think it may that he isn't getting enough sleep. Sometimes if I'm out taking a walk late at night, I can still see the candle on in his room."
She thought," When I went to school in London, I was never really popular. All the other girls seemed to get courted but I never did. I'm just really plain in looks. Jealousy can't possibly be the reason. Chizuru must be out of her mind again."
She shook her head and headed off for the dinning room leaving a confused Chizuru pondering.
" I'm sorry I'm here so late! I was just talking with Chizuru and I didn't even realize the time." Chiyo huffed out.
Gen replied," Oh no worries. It's nice to see you two talking. Chizuru has been more happy recently and I think it's thanks to you Yakamura-kun."
" You give me too much credit Gen-san. Actually,", she paused," I want to thank all of you guys. Chizuru never had lively friends like you. I think you guys are all very sweet and you guys are wonderful friends to Chizuru. I worry about her a lot but you all make me feel reassured."
Everyone pretended to be interested in their food but their blushes certainly didn't disappear. A girl calling them "sweet" was a little too much for them to handle. Gen laughed and replied," Now you're giving us too much credit! Oh and before I forget," he pulled out a letter from his pocket," Here's another one. This person must very interested in you to send you so many letters."
" Haha you're right. It's my dear aunt."
She took her usual seat beside Saito and Yamazaki and tore open the letter…
Dear Nanarel,
I think if you have received this letter, I should only be a few weeks away. We stopped by a port in Southern China and I just dropped the letter off. Anyways, I'll send a runner to pick you up when I arrive. I shall be staying at an inn close to the dock for a few days to get settles down and to find a better inn. In total, we should be staying for about eight months or longer. I continue to observe Annita everyday. Sometimes I feel as if I am treating her like a wild specimen. Observing and taking notes. But truly, I am confused. I don't know what to do and how to start. I am good at improving cures; not making them. However, we are all nervous. Recently, Anni had a Grand Mal seizure and we weren't there with her. She had gone up to get some fresh air while Lucilla and me stayed in our cabin. We heard shouts up deck and immediately ran up. Apparently, she had lost consciousness. We were all hoping that she maybe hit her head but that's when the muscle convulsions started. Lucilla had brought a book up and I had to grab it out of her hand and shove it into Annita's mouth. Poor thing nearly bite the book in half! Now I owe Lucilla a new copy of Black Beauty and she was pretty upset about the loss of her favorite book. Well that beats having Annita bite her tongue to a pulp. I am worried either way. Seeing you will definitely make her happier. They say that being happy improves your health. I know that having her see you will make the happiest she's been a very long time!
See you soon,
Aunt Tellula
She folded up the letter and sighed. Grand Mal seizures were only supposed to happen once in a person's life. However, there were exceptions and Annita was definitely one of them. Suddenly she realized," I completely forgot to tell everyone!"
Everyone was absorbed into watching an arm wrestling match between Heisuke and Shinpachi that she had to cough five times before Saito looked towards her.
" Um guys, can I tell you something really quickly?" she shouted above the grunts and shouting of the two.
" Yah, just make sure it's loud. I can barely hear anything." replied Harada cooly.
" Well, my aunty and my cousins are all going to come to Japan soon. They are here aunty will give medical lectures all over the country. All of them have traveled a long way. I was wondering if I could maybe have a day off to spend some time with them?"
Hijikata looked up for the first time," A day off? I'm not so sure. We need you to train a new batch of recruits. Can you see them for maybe a few hours?"
Chiyo blushed. She normally didn't like to push limits and took no as a no. She stammered," P-Please Hijikata-san! I have a beautiful little cousin and she is the world to me. She is terminally ill and we don't know how long she has left. We were very close and my aunt wants us to spend time. Since I left, she's been depressed and lonely and I just want to make her happy. Happiness is good for your health after all!"
Suddenly her eyes felt a burning sensation and her nose seemed to stab in a sharp pain. Her world suddenly began to blur around her and her voice broke a little. Something warm and wet moistened her eyelashes and she mumbled," I'm sorry. I-I-I get a little emotional when talking about her. I'm sorry please excuse me and continue eating."
She walked out leaving everyone wide eyed and slack jawed. Heisuke whispered," D-did we just make her cry?"
Harada made a hissing noise and everyone stared darkly at their dinner. Kondou stammered," Yikes...does anyone want to get her back in here?"
Nobody made a move or said anything. They weren't so sure of what to do. Not a lot of people cried in front of them and it made them nervous.
" Well well Saito. Guess you have a soft spot for Chiyo-kun eh?" mused Okita as Saito moved to the door without a word.
" Shutup." and he closed the door quietly.
