Chapter 20 – Disaster in the Kitchen

I hesitated before knocking on the door to the Fujibayashi residence. Did I really want to continue this? Kyou may have been a great cook, but her violent tendencies and attitude made her unpleasant to deal with at best.

Before I could decide whether to stay or leave, the door opened. "There you are! You're late!" Kyou stood there, scowl firmly in place. She reached out and grabbed me by the arm and nearly dragged me inside.

At least Ryou was in the kitchen to greet me. "Okazaki-kun, welcome!"

I supposed that the lessons could be considered only half-bad. "Hi, Fujibayashi. Good to see you."

Kyou's scowl deepened as Ryou blushed. "Hey! Where's my greeting?"

"Hi."

"Oh, I see. Ryou gets 'Good to see you' and I get the leftovers?"

"Let go of my arm and drop the scowl and I'll see what I can do," I retorted.

Kyou released my arm, making sure to give it a good pinch on the way, before pasting a completely fake smile on her face. "Is this better?"

"Passable." I bowed deeply. "Hello, Kyou. I look forward to learning more from you."

"Th-Thanks," Kyou sputtered, blushing. Well that was an interesting change of attitude. "G-Give me a couple of minutes and we'll get started."

"I thought I was late?"

"You are, but so is Onee-chan," Ryou said. "She kept looking out the kitchen window, and-"

"R-Ryou! He doesn't need to know all of that!" Kyou waved her hands in front of her sister. "Just… Both of you go get your aprons on! I'll be ready in a minute."

We entered the kitchen and Ryou gave me my apron before putting on her own.

"Hey Fujibayashi, is your sister okay? She seems…nervous?"

Ryou's blush returned, apparently in response to my question. "Uh…I think she's just nervous about teaching us well, that's all." She chuckled in what sounded like an awkward way.

"Why would she, though? I've been coming here three nights a week for, what, two weeks now? She should be used to this by now."

She noticeably looked away before answering. "I…I don't know, Okazaki-kun."

I felt like I wasn't getting the truth, but decided not to push the matter. "Well, whatever. Do you know what we're making today?"

Ryou shook her head, purple hair waving. "No. Onee-chan wanted to surprise us, I guess."

I looked at the ingredients on the counter. "It looks like we'll be making some kind of dessert this time." We didn't make desserts very often, so maybe Kyou was nervous about teaching us that.

Ryou also looked at them. "It does appear that way."

"In any case-"

"All right! The instructor is here, so let's get started!" Kyou entered the kitchen, apron in place as well as a big grin. "Tonight, we're making strawberry shortcake. The first thing we'll need to do is slice the strawberries, and…"

So the strawberries were sliced and mixed with white sugar. Kyou then had me turn on the oven to preheat it, while Ryou prepared a cake pan.

The problem arose when the batter was being mixed. Kyou had assigned that to her sister before leaving the room for something, but Ryou was having trouble with the mixing spoon.

"Okazaki-kun, I don't think my wrists are strong enough for this," Ryou complained.

I watched her try to stir for a bit. "I think it's your…technique? I mean, the way you hold and move the spoon. Here…" I moved around behind her and reached around to try to guide her hands through the motion.

I guess I was so caught up in the process that I didn't realize that I had basically wrapped my arms around her; one hand helping her hold the bowl, and the other guiding her hand holding the spoon with my head over the same shoulder. I realized it soon enough, though, when I suddenly felt intense heat coming from my cooking partner. I looked down at her at the same time she looked up at me, and our eyes met.

I've read somewhere that the eyes are the windows to the soul. If that's true, then Ryou's soul must have been bright and clear. A warm summer's day, with butterflies flying and birds singing, and I could see her and I running through a field, chasing each other and rolling with each other in the sun-warmed grass…

I felt a gentle pressure on my cheek and realized that she had put her hand on my face, leaving my hand to hold the bowl. Her eyes started to get bigger, and for a moment I thought they were widening in her usual shock before I realized that her face was getting closer to mine. I closed my eyes and got ready to run through those fields with her, and-

Starfish

I nearly dropped the bowl as I quickly backed away from Ryou. It took me several seconds to remember to blink as I realized what had almost happened. "No…I did it again…"

"Okazaki…kun?" Ryou stood a short distance away, and I could tell that she was also breathing heavily, her hand on her chest. "Are you…okay?"

I shook my head to try to clear it. "Not yet. I'm, uh…pretty shaken up right now. Sorry."

I saw pain in her eyes. "Why…why did you stop?"

An ache ripped through my heart. Not again… "Because…It's not right for me to kiss a girl when I'm already seeing another."

The mixing spoon hit the floor and Ryou covered her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. "Y-You're in love with someone?"

I nodded mutely.

"Wh-who? M-May I know?"

I nodded again as I placed the bowl on the counter. "Ibuki Fuuko-san."

She blinked, letting the tears flow. "Fuuko-san? The girl in the hospital?"

"Yeah." I took a deep breath. "She's been appearing back at the school, and we…confessed to each other a while back."

Ryou's eyes widened, and she looked away. "I-I had no idea!" More tears flowed. "O-Okazaki-kun, I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean-"

I quickly raised a hand to stop her. "Please…don't apologize. I haven't exactly broadcast my relationship. I just didn't expect…" I shook my head in disbelief.

"Okazaki-kun?"

I thumped my forehead against a nearby wall and enjoyed the different type of pain. "I didn't know that I was so well-liked. I mean, I'm a delinquent, for crying out loud! Who'd really want to be with a loser like me?!"

"I would."

I realized what I had been implying about Ryou. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"And you're not a bad person! Your sleep schedule's messed up for some reason, but you care deeply about others! I can see it!" Ryou clasped her hands in front of herself. "I love that about you…" She surprised me by fixing me with her gaze. "I love you."

That oh-so-familiar ache… "I'm so sorry, Ryou. If I had known…"

She smiled sadly. "I understand, Okazaki-kun. Thank you for being kind in your rejection."

I crossed the space between us and hugged her. "I am so tired of hurting good people like you."

She returned my hug and, surprisingly, didn't start crying. "Fuuko-san is a lucky girl, and if I ever meet her, I'll tell her that!" She looked up at me. "I'll tell her that she'd better appreciate you, or I'll steal you away from her!"

I looked at her in disbelief until she started laughing, and I couldn't help but join her. "Steal me away, huh? I wonder how Fuuko would react to you telling her that?"

"Telling her what?"

Fujibayashi and I froze as we heard Kyou's voice before quickly moving away from each other.

It was too late, though; Kyou stood at the entrance to the kitchen, fists on hips and glower on face. "Tomoya, what are you doing to my sister?"

How could I condense the events of the last few minutes into one or two sentences? Because that's about the amount of time I'd have before Kyou would lay into me.

Fortunately, Fujibayashi came to my rescue. "He was comforting me, Onee-chan."

The glower grew fiercer. "Why? Did he hurt you? I swear Tomoya, if you hurt her-"

"Onee-chan! I tried to kiss him! It's my fault!"

Kyou's face quickly changed to pleased bewilderment. "Really? You did that?" She pumped her fist. "All right, Ryou! Wait, you tried?!"

Ryou nodded. "Okazaki-kun stopped us just in time, though."

"'Just in time'?"

Ryou looked at her sister with an expression I didn't recognize. "Okazaki-kun…has a girlfriend."

Kyou suddenly dropped to the floor, her eyes vacant. "What."

"He wouldn't kiss me because he's faithful to his girlfriend!"

"Girlfriend? Girlfriend…" I felt kind of sorry for Kyou, sitting there on the floor, in some sort of daze. "I…I didn't know."

Ryou looked to me. She seemed fine, though it could have been because she was focused on keeping her sister from trying to kill me. "Is it okay if I tell her?" I nodded.

She turned back to Kyou. "His girlfriend's name is Ibuki Fuuko-san."

Kyou looked up at her sister. "The one in the hospital?"

"That's the one," Ryou agreed, nodding. "But she used to appear at the school giving out…starfish, right?" she asked, to which I again nodded. "She started appearing at the school again, and they got together then."

I watched Kyou's face during the conversation. Her expression had started as mute shock, then the bewilderment, but now it looked like it was headed toward…oh boy.

"You BASTARD!" Kyou shouted, quickly getting to her feet. "How could you do this to my sister?!" She quickly marched over and tried to hit me several times. Fortunately, Tomoyo's training came into play, and Kyou couldn't land a hit on me. I noticed that her blows didn't have their usual force, so I intentionally dropped my guard and let her weakly pummel my chest as she called me every dirty name known to man.

"Kyou," I tried to protest. "I know you're protective of your sister, but isn't this a bit much?"

"You don't get it, do you, dumbass! How could…HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?!"

I heard Ryou gasp, which caused me to replay Kyou's last statement. Wait, 'us'?

"…Heck, Ryou and I have been wanting to get close to you since last year…"

"Kyou? I'm sor-"

"GET OUT!" she screamed. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! ASSHOLE!"

I could not believe the Kyou that I was seeing. I looked to her sister, who nodded without a word, so I quickly headed to the door and left.

Once outside, my knees buckled when I heard Kyou's distinctive voice, sobbing.

I can't take this anymore. Too painful…