Chapter 60

Viktor poked his not too tasty-looking potato mash and cocked an eyebrow at the girl sitting in front of him. "So music, eh?"

"Yeah." Leifang said and made a face at the taste of the food. "Wow, this tastes really weird."

"Well I gotta admit I never thought of you as the businesswoman type. Music... I dunno. Kinda fits you I suppose."

"Thanks, I guess." Leifang crossed her arms in front of her chest and cocked her head to the side. "That reminds me, I never asked you, but what are YOU studying?"

The only thing Viktor said to that was "Heh." and took a bite of the mash, but had to force himself to swallow it. "Damn, this is bad!"

"I know, right?" Leifang shrugged. It was just one of these days where the food in the cafeteria was bad. She probed her chin with her hand and looked around. A smile formed on her glossy lips as Hitomi stepped through the doors and she waved her over. As the German walked over her smile slowly fell as she noticed that Hitomi wasn't in high spirits, which had been going on and off for a few days now. They hadn't done anything the entire week too.

"Hey sweetie," Hitomi greeted her and gave her a quick kiss, then turned to Viktor. "Hey Vik."

"Hey. Don't take the potatoes. They taste like ass."

"Now how do you know what ass tastes like?" Leifang asked teasingly.

Hitomi chuckled a little, her smile never reaching her eyes, and walked off, saying "No potatoes then."

They both watched her go and when she was out of earshot Leifang whispered "Something's definitely not right with her."

"Yeah." Viktor agreed and looked downward at his plate. Leifang kept her gaze on Hitomi and watched as she took a tray and went to get herself something to eat but stopped in her tracks halfway, looking at the tray in deep thought and was only shaken out of it when another student behind her complained that she was standing in the way.

"What's gotten into her?" Leifang mutter to herself, when suddenly Viktor looked up with a look of realization on his face.

"Ah. It's that time of the year." he said.

"'That time of the year'? What time of the year?" Leifang asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Well it's- wait she didn't tell you about it?"

"Would I ask if she did?"

The young man looked towards Hitomi with an uncomfortable expression, as if he had just said something he shouldn't have.

"It's not my place to say, sorry." Viktor finally said after a moment. "You should ask her yourself."

Leifang sighed. "Guess I'll have to." What is bothering you again, Hitomi?

She followed her out of the corner of her eyes until she saw the German coming back towards their table, then turned to her food. Suddenly she didn't have much of an appetite anymore.

Hitomi sat down beside Leifang, trying to put to a smile on her face but not really succeeding and looked at her food, tomato soup, before shrugging and digging in.

"Do you want to do something today?" Leifang asked, not wanting to talk about the whole thing while they were still here.

"I'm not really in the mood to do something today. Tomorrow, alright?" Hitomi said. She looked Leifang in the eyes and as she saw the look in them she knew that Leifang knew something was wrong. Not like she made much of an effort to hide it. "I'll explain later okay?"

"Was I so obvious?"

Hitomi couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Let's just say we were both obvious. Don't worry, I wanted to tell you anyway."

She looked at Viktor. "That is if someone didn't already do so."

"Hey, I'm no tattletale. You can tell her that yourself."

"I know. Just kidding is all."

"Wow, wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't told me, you know with that face as long as fiddle you're sporting." he said sarcastically.

"Sorry."

"Ah, don't sweat it." he waved it off casually.

They spent the rest of the lunch break in silence and Leifang watched Hitomi deep in thought. She placed her hand on her knee and gave it a gentle squeeze, earning her a small smile.

"Alright, gotta get to my next class. I'll see you around, Viktor." Hitomi said and took her tray, turned to Leifang and gave her another small kiss. "See you later."

"Later." Leifang watched her go. Viktor and her looked at each other for a second, then got up to take away their trays too, said goodbye to each other and went to their respective classes but when Leifang arrived at her last class for the day she was told that something had come up and that she could head home.

After thinking over it for a moment she sent Hitomi a message, telling her that she would head home and that she would come over that afternoon.

As she headed home she wondered what Hitomi would tell her later.

The Chinese stepped out of the bus and checked her clock. Hitomi should be at home for quite a while now. Once she had arrived at home she had used the time to get some studying done, but had gotten so absorbed with it that she had forgotten the time.

She had written another message that she was coming over now, but had only gotten a simple "Ok." as an answer, which didn't sit well with her, but if Hitomi had a lot on her mind right now she could understand it.

Getting faster with every step she soon arrived at Hitomi's apartment building, opened the door with the key and headed up the stairs. Upstairs she pushed the other key into the lock and let herself into the German's apartment.

"Hitomi, I'm here." she called out to her girlfriend.

"I'm in the kitchen." Hitomi called back. A pleasant smell was in the air. Leifang pulled off her shoes and walked through the living room into the kitchen. The younger girl was busy cooking something in a pot.

A quick look around, as well as another breath of air, told her that most of the ingredients were asian, and she could clearly make out the bottle of soy sauce standing on the right as well as the Japanese negi.

"Hey Sweetie." Hitomi said as she turned around and walked towards her, giving her a peck on the lips. Leifang noted that she looked and sounded much more cheerful compared to earlier. What happened?

"Hey. Everything alright?"

"Hmm?" Hitomi gave her questioning look for a second. "Oh, yeah yeah. I'm better now. I'm sorry for making you worry."

"Well I don't know what's going on, so of course I worry about you." she looked over the German's shoulder at the pot. "What are you making? Smells delicious."

Hitomi turned her head to the food that was currently cooking, then looked back at Leifang. "I'm making some Gyu Nabe, a japanese hot pot. I always do that on this day of the year."

"Is that why you're better now?"

"Yeah." Hitomi nodded and beckoned her to walk into the living room with her. "Come I'll explain it to you. The food doesn't need my attention for the moment anyway."

They sat down on the sofa and looked at each other. "I wasn't saying anything because I wanted to keep it from you, I just didn't know how to touch the subject. But then I realized the best way would be just to tell you."

"Alright," Leifang said and made herself comfortable. "I'm listening."

"First off: I always get this way around this time of the year. It wasn't as bad last year because I was so busy with getting used to university that I barely noticed at all. This year though..." she trailed off. "Well you noticed how I was."

Hitomi paused for a second and said plainly. "Today's the anniversary of my mother's death."

Leifang stared at her and it all came together. Of course. She knew that her mother was dead and it was only sensible for her to become a bit gloomy during that time. If she was in the German's shoes she would probably do the same. "So..."

"So that's the reason why I'm a bit down and don't have much energy to do something." she nodded. "That's why, on the same day every year, I'll make my mother's favorite dish. It helps, since I remember how she would teach me how to cook. Later I would go to visit her grave to pay my respects. And on the next day I'm always back to normal. Silly I know."

Leifang shook her head. "That's not silly. I think it's a great way to honor her memory. Is it alright if I-"

"Ask how she died?" Hitomi interjected.

Leifang nodded slowly "Yeah."

"It was a car accident. She didn't feel a thing."

"I'm sorry." Leifang said.

"You don't have to be sorry about anything. It's been a long time now. Ten years in fact. It's not as bad as it used to be, the first few years I was a complete wreck when the anniversary of her death approached."

That was understandable. A young teenager loosing her mother in the time she would need her the most; of course she would be a total wreck.

Hitomi reached out and grasped her hand with her own, giving her a small smile. Leifang answered with a smile of her own.

"Would you like to accompany me later?" Hitomi asked. "To the graveyard that is."

"Are you sure I should come?" Leifang asked back and leaned a little into the German.

"Absolutely positive."

"Then yes."

That made Hitomi smile a bit more. "Good. So how about we eat that Gyu Nabe? I made enough for two."

"After today's lunch? Oh god yes!" Hitomi and Leifang burst into a small giggle fit.

"But out of curiosity, did you learn cooking from your mother then?" Leifang asked after they had calmed down and walked into the kitchen.

"Yep. And she learned it from her parents. They own a restaurant in Yokohama you know."

"Really?" this surprised Leifang. Why didn't she talk about that back when they had dinner with her parents last year? "Why didn't you bring it up when we talked with my parents?"

Hitomi looked sheepishly to the side, a small blush forming on her cheeks. "Well I was really nervous back then. Also it's been a long time. I was only this small the last time I saw them." she held her hand to her hip. "And my father only has infrequent contact with them, so the only thing I know is that they are still alive."

She shrugged. "Maybe I'll visit them when I'm done studying. Introduce them to my lovely girlfriend."

"So I'm forced to come with you then?" Leifang asked jokingly.

"You bet your sweet behind on that."

The walk to the graveyard was a quiet one. Neither of them had anything to say, so they relished in the simple closeness provided by the Chinese having looped her arm through Hitomi's.

Leifang looked around as they entered it, feeling a little bit nervous. She didn't like graveyards all too much, the thought that one day she would rest here as well wasn't all too pleasant. She slid her hand down Hitomi's arm and interlaced their fingers, giving her hand a squeeze. Lucky for her they didn't have to walk very far and they soon arrived at the grave that belonged to the Karateka's mother.

Reika Buchfink the gravestone read. Hitomi told Leifang that for all the Japanese cultural aspects, that had defined her life and that she had tried to convey on her daughter, she wished to be buried inside a coffin instead of being cremated like it was custom in her country of birth.

It was her way of showing that she loved her husband and her new home and the Chinese held a deep respect for that.

"Papa was already here." Hitomi said and Leifang let go of her hand and arm. "The flowers have been replaced and the tombstone is all clean."

Leifang decided to stay behind as Hitomi walked closer to the grave and placed the bouquet of flowers they had bought earlier on the grave. She watched as the German quietly spoke, but decided not to listen in because she wanted her to have a private moment.

When she was finished Hitomi turned to her with a smile and waved her over. The older girl complied and joined her girlfriend.

"She would've liked you." Hitimi said and placed her arm around Leifang's shoulder.

"You sure?"

"At first she would've grilled me that she would never get any grandchildren that way, but in the end? Definitely. You make me happy. That would be more important to her."

Leifang turned to look her in the eyes. "Do I really make you happy?"

"Yes." she said without a single hint of embarrassment, causing Leifang to blush.

"You make me happy too."

They both remained there a little longer, both paying their respects to Hitomi's deceased mother, then headed home to spend the rest of the day together and, like almost always these days, Leifang spent the night with her girlfriend.

In the middle of the night though Leifang awoke to the sound of her phone telling her that she received an e-mail.

Don't care Leifang thought and pressed her bare upper body closer against the younger girl's. But she was so used to immediately checking her mails that she couldn't fall back to sleep, so she extended her arm towards the little bedside cabinet and fingered blindly for her phone.

After a few tries she managed to grab it, quirked one eye open, connected to the net and checked her e-mails.

She read the new mail lazily, but after she finished it her eyes went wide and she read it once more.

Crap. She thought as her now awake eyes flew over the letters. This isn't good.

Uh oh Leifang, what possibly could that message be?
Find out next week!