Are You...
Rui felt satisfied that she'd done her work well that day, and was checking her mental to-do list as she cleaned up her station, "Okay... I have most of the ingredients at the apartment to start prototyping. I need to stop by the shop and get some oranges though, hopefully they have fresh ones. I should check to see if Daniella needs anything... oh and I should do something to thank Kajita for helping with the recipe too..."
She was broken out of her reverie by the piercing sound of someone bellowing, "Over my dead body asshole!"
Rui, and everyone else in the kitchen, stopped what they were doing to turn towards the unexpected shout. As she looked in the direction of the exit towards the staff room she saw Tokiya standing over one of the regular staff, his name escaping her, his face twisted in a rage that she hadn't thought him capable of. She then pieced together that Tokiya had punched the other man, resulting in him laying on the ground, clutching his face in pain. "What? What's going on? Why would he...?" as she thought, trying to make sense of the situation, her grip on the mixing bowl she had picked up faltered and it clattered to the ground.
Almost as if the metallic ring of the bowl colliding with the kitchen floor was a signal, Ben jumped to his feet and grabbed Tokiya by his shirt while rearing his fist back and shouting, "You fucking Asian monkey!" Before Tokiya could react, Ben's fist slammed into his face, remaining on his feet because of Ben's grip on his shirt.
Ben made to strike Tokiya again, but his fist was caught and held by the other staff member he had been conversing with as he shouted, "Ben stop! You've both already gone too far!"
"Let go of me Liam! This fucker just sucker punched me out of nowhere, if he didn't want to fight then he -" Ben was cut off as Tokiya slammed another punch into his gut, causing him to release his grip and double over in pain as Tokiya backed off a few steps, rage still painted on his face.
Ben stood back to his full height, his face twisted into a snarl with rage of his own, but before either of the men could continue their altercation the kitchen manager rushed over shouting, "Ben! Tokiya! What the hell has gotten into the two of you?!" Arriving at the scene, he stood between the two and continued, "Ben what happened? I know you've never been keen on the Japanese trainees but I swear if you instigated this with your damn attitude and comments..."
Ben shook his head defensively as he replied, "No! He just punched me out of nowhere!"
"That's a lie and you know it," Tokiya shot back, having regained most of his composure, but still with fury burning in his eyes.
"Oh? So you're telling me you didn't sucker punch me?" Ben asked in a mocking tone.
Tokiya took a deep breath as he fought to maintain control as he turned to the manager and stated, "While I admit that I threw the first punch, it's not true that it was unprovoked."
"Nothing I said justifies you punching me you -" Ben retorted dismissively before being cut off.
"Alright that's enough. Both of you come with me to the owner's office. We'll figure out what to do from there," the kitchen manager ordered sternly.
"Of course," Tokiya replied with a curt nod.
"Tch, fine whatever," Ben added reluctantly as they began walking out of the kitchen.
As the three men left the kitchen, Rui made her way over to Liam while the other staff and trainees present either speculated on what happened or returned to their work. When she reached him she bluntly demanded, "What the hell happened?"
Liam gave her a dismissive shrug as he responded, "Look, I don't know what your friend was thinking, but that's sure not a good way to show gratitude for the guidance we've been giving you all."
It was Rui's turn to seethe as she countered, "You're not fooling me. Kajita wouldn't just fly off the handle and assault someone for no reason. Out with it."
He was momentarily caught off guard by her icy tone; in all the time she'd been training here she had seemed like a meek and reserved woman, but this was completely different. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he replied, "I've got nothing else to say to you, buzz off." Without giving her a chance to say anything else Liam hastily slinked away, leaving Rui just as confused as before and now angry.
Rui cursed under her breath as she checked the time, she had to finish cleaning up soon if she was going to make it to the shop she got her produce from and still have time to do the work at home. As she rushed back over to her station she thought to herself, "I really don't want to leave Kajita by himself with whatever that was... but he'd only say I'm wasting time if I stand around to wait for him. I'll send him a text when I get to my phone."
Less than twenty minutes later Rui was exiting the staff locker room, phone in hand as she typed out the message to Tokiya.
Rui: Hey, what the hell happened?! I tried asking that other guy who was right there but he just blew me off. Message me or stop by the apartment when your shift is over!
As she sent the text she looked around one last time, hoping she'd see Tokiya in the hall or kitchen but there was no sign of him. Looking the other way she saw the door to the owner's office and thought, "It's shut... they must still be in there. The owner only ever closes his office door if he's in a meeting or out for the day." Again cursing the fact that she was on a tight time-frame if she wanted the dish be ready for this week's contest, Rui sighed in exasperation as she reluctantly headed for the restaurant's exit.
Night of April 9th – NYC...
Rui sighed as she sat down on the living room couch. The reasons for the sigh being twofold: she had spent the afternoon and evening prototyping the new dish and had arrived at a combination she was fully satisfied with, and she had not received any response from Tokiya, in fact she hadn't heard her phone go off a single time since she'd gotten home. Pulling her phone out she checked to make sure she hadn't accidentally set it to silent. "Nope... not on silent or even vibrate. Alert settings are all normal... He probably just didn't check his phone during his break," she rationalized to herself, checking his phone wasn't exactly one of Tokiya's priorities.
The sound of the door to the apartment opening and closing, accompanied by Daniella's voice snapped Rui back to reality, "Smells like you cooked up a storm in here huh Rui?"
"Welcome back, did you and Will have a good time today?" Rui asked in return, offering a sheepish smile in regards to the lingering smells of the several shrimp mousse she had prepared.
With a smile and laugh Daniella replied, "Oh yeah it was a good day. It's always good to see his parents, even it if it means going to Jersey to do that."
"I still don't fully understand what makes New Jersey that bad..." Rui trailed off with an awkward laugh, "Isn't it basically the same as New York?"
"It's hard to explain. The differences are minor but important. It's just kind of... it feels slightly off..." Daniella trailed off as she struggled to put her thoughts into words.
Rui thought for a moment, before remembering something she had read in an American super hero story, "Oh! Like in that manga – no, comic - something about a 'Bizarro World' where everything is a strange version of itself?"
Daniella snapped her fingers as she exclaimed, "Yeah that's it! Jersey is like Bizarro New York!" The women shared a hearty laugh at this comparison, and when she had regained her composure she asked, "So I take it you were able to finalize that dish you're going to submit?"
"I did!" Rui beamed, "I actually just finished cleaning up and sat down to rest a few minutes before you got home. I'm hopeful this one will do well, even if it is a bit unusual."
"I'm sure it will do great, when you get fired up it really adds that something extra to it!" Daniella cheered along with giving Rui a fist pump. The two laughed again before Daniella asked, "By the way, I heard there was some kind of commotion today? Any idea what it was or were you already gone when it happened?"
The happy expression Rui had been wearing since Daniella had entered the apartment fell, replaced with concern as she answered, "I know what happened... kind of. But I don't know exactly why it happened." She then quickly relayed what little she knew of the situation, the shock plain on Daniella's face.
"Wait so... Tokiya punched that jerk Ben in the face? Tokiya started a fist fight?!" Daniella probed incredulously.
"From what I heard Kajita say it seemed like Ben provoked him somehow... but I can't think of anything that could have pushed him that far so quickly..." Rui pondered as she opened her phone to check her messages. Her eyes widened slightly at what she saw.
"What's up?" Daniella asked, concern dripping into her tone.
"I sent Kajita a message right after it happened asking him what happened. I figured he'd see it on break or when he left and respond but... this says he read my message less than an hour later but never responded," Rui explained as she held her phone out to Daniella.
Daniella examined the screen, and while she couldn't read the message as it was written in Japanese, she recognized the "seen" timestamp on the message and voiced, "That's not like him... he's usually very prompt about replying to messages or calls."
Rui nodded in agreement while she typed out a new message to him.
Rui: Hey, I can see that you read my message hours ago. What happened to make you punch someone like that? Daniella and I are both worried here.
Almost immediately the message was marked as read and Tokiya typed back a reply.
Tokiya: My apologies, I did not mean to worry either of you. Ben was saying things about you that I'd rather not repeat. I do not wish to discuss this right now. Good night Tachibana.
Seeing Rui's expression change again from worried to confused, Daniella questioned, "So what did he say...?"
"He... he said that Ben was saying things about me that he'd rather not repeat... and that he doesn't want to talk about it right now," Rui replied slowly, still trying to parse what that meant herself.
"About you? Well... that leaves us with more questions than answers..." Daniella pondered as she sat down beside Rui. A moment passed before she asked, "You and Tokiya are both on the early shift tomorrow right?"
Rui nodded after a moment of thought and answered, "I'm pretty sure we are. We went over our schedules when discussing possible times to bounce ideas for other recipes off each other."
"Right then. He says he doesn't want to talk about it right now, but it's obviously something serious. Try to get some info out of him tomorrow, but don't press too much... and probably best not to try to get anything out of anyone else. I don't come in until the afternoon unfortunately," Daniella instructed with a stern tone.
After a silent moment considering how to go about it Rui replied while rubbing her temples, "That's probably for the best. I definitely need to know what happened – what was said. This is just so unlike him that I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it."
"I know what you mean, but over thinking it and stressing yourself out won't do any good," she paused as she pointed out the tell tale signs Rui was stressing herself into a headache before offering, "Why don't you go take a hot bath and soak for a bit before going to bed? Unless of course you have a video date with Natsuo to get to first."
Rui gave a heavy sigh as she remembered Daniella eavesdropping on their last call before she responded, "I am hoping to talk to him a bit before going to sleep... but a bath does sound like a good idea." As she was saying this she typed out a quick message to Natsuo to let him know she'd be a bit delayed.
Giving a hearty laugh Daniella maybe a shooing motion with her hands as she ordered, "Then it's settled, go on and get in the bath! Don't keep Natsuo waiting too long!"
"Alright alright I'm going!" Rui laughed in response as she got up and made her way to the bathroom to start preparing her bath.
Daniella watched her go, her laugh fading as she went. Despite what she had told Rui about over thinking the situation she found herself in thought, "Ben was saying stuff about Rui and that's what made Tokiya punch him? I know Ben has been one of the most vocal about his complaints regarding the trainees but... what could have pushed Tokiya that far? And then there was how protective he was initially when Al came over -" her thought process came to a screeching halt as the pieces fell into place.
She looked down the hall where she could now hear the bath filling, Rui humming slightly as she waited. Daniella gave a heavy sigh as she mumbled, "I really hope I'm wrong about this."
Evening of April 10th – NYC
Rui was sitting on the couch; the TV was on but she wasn't really paying much attention to whatever program was on, her brow furrowed in frustration and thought. Her phone alerted her to a message and she quickly unlocked the screen to view the new message she'd received from Daniella after the exchange they'd had earlier that day:
Daniella: So have you gotten anything out of Tokiya?
Rui: No, he's not even here today. Apparently he got suspended for three days, he was sent home right away yesterday after meeting with the owner.
Daniella: WHAT?! So that means he saw your message, ignored it, went home and stewed all day before you messaged him again?
Rui: I guess? Honestly that's even more concerning. I only just now got a chance to look at my phone or I would have let you know sooner. I tried messaging him just now but it looks like he either has his phone off or logged out of the messenger.
Daniella: Shit. I'm already about to leave to head in for my shift so I don't even have time to stop by and check on him. Tell you what: I'll see what I can dig up from whoever is on shift with me. When you get home just try and not think about it for a while, I'll let you know when I'm on my way back.
Rui: I'll try... but I doubt I'll be able to not think about it.
She let out a dry chuckle at this, because sure enough she'd not been able to keep her mind off the situation. Her eyes glanced over the most recent messages from just minutes ago again:
Daniella: Alright, I'm on my way home. I was able to find out some stuff, see you soon.
Rui: Got it, see you soon.
Rui only had to wait about another ten or so minutes before she heard the door open and close behind her, accompanied by Daniella calling out, "Hey! I'm home!"
Turning the TV off and standing up to meet her, Rui replied, "Welcome back, you said you were able to find out something?"
"Yeah, I was. Apparently Ben was bitching up a storm in the men's changing room, Ethan overheard it all and relayed it to me. From what he heard Ben and Liam were saying some real nasty stuff about you while watching you get ready to leave yesterday. Tokiya apparently lost it when he heard them and that's when he threw the first punch," Daniella reported as she took a seat on the couch, Rui sitting back down as well.
"So he really did throw the first punch..." Rui trailed off before continuing, "I heard Kajita confirm it himself when the kitchen manager confronted them, but it still doesn't make sense." She paused again as she took note of the uneasy expression on Daniella's face before asking, "What were they saying about me?"
Daniella squirmed in her seat briefly before answering, "The only thing they repeated in full was that Ben said to Liam 'I heard that Japanese women are crazy about white guys. I think I should show her a good time to make her loosen up'. With that it's not hard to figure out what kind of other things they must have been saying. But I don't know how much we should trust Ben's recounting of the situation."
Rui felt a chill run up her spine, just the idea that Ben had been thinking about her and saying things of that nature about her made her skin crawl. She was no fool, she knew that men likely thought and said things about her in passing, but actually having specific words relayed to her was different. After a few moments she gave voice to her thoughts, "I... I'd heard that stereotype before, but is that really how I'm viewed? Back in Japan I'm in the majority...obviously. It never even crossed my mind I'd be thought of like that just because of where I'm from..." She let out a surprised gasp when Daniella puled her into a comforting hug.
A silent moment passed before Daniella spoke gently, "Don't let those idiots get to you. It's an unfortunate truth... but there are people out there in the world that have those kind of twisted views. The key to beating them is by showing them that they have no power over you, that their words, while hurtful and demeaning, are just that. Stuff like that used to be a lot more common, but people like them now are a loud, stubborn minority. It's easy to lose sight of how far the world has come when the ugliness is thrown right in your face; but never forget that their views don't reflect on you in the slightest."
"You too?" Rui probed gently as she returned the hug, letting the meaning of Daniella's words sink in.
Giving a brief nod Daniella answered, "Me too. When I first came here from Mexico I had to deal with shit like that from time to time. Will and his family were a huge help though. It was them who taught me that the best way to handle it was to just keep being myself, and prove those views wrong through my actions. When someone is entrenched in their views, words are rarely sufficient."
"Thank you Daniella, you're right. I'm not going to let them get to me," Rui sighed as she slowly retreated from the hug.
With a strong nod Daniella said, "Good. As much as I hate to say it, this probably won't be the last time you have to deal with something like this. But as long as you keep that view and attitude you'll be okay, I'm sure of it."
"I feel like I've got a better understanding of what happened now... but Kajita's reaction still seems out of character for him," Rui remarked as she ran through what she knew again.
The room was silent for what felt like an eternity before Daniella hesitantly asked, "Rui... have you ever considered that Tokiya might... be in love with you?"
Later that night...
Tokiya took a deep breath of the cool night air as he look out across the Manhattan skyline. While not quite the same as the view in Tokyo, it was similar enough that he had found that it helped put his mind at ease the few times he had been unable to quell his turbulent thoughts. It was for this very reason he had come up to the rooftop of the apartment building, thoughts and feelings from not just the day prior, but ones that had been building, had not given him a moment's rest.
"I guess I really can't deny it anymore... I have to admit it for my sake, for Tachibana's... and everyone else. I'm sure she and Daniella are worried, I probably have quite a few missed messages and calls by now," he thought to himself with a sad smile as he shifted his stance slightly.
There was an almost imperceptible creaking sound before a familiar voice called out from behind him, "I had a feeling you'd be up here. You mentioned once that you liked the view from here."
Tokiya turned around to see Rui approaching slowly from the roof access door, carrying a small dish wrapped in foil. Letting out a small sigh he replied, "I should have known you'd track me down sooner or later. Sorry for turning my phone off."
"You'd better be. Daniella and I had to scramble to try and find out what happened since you decided to disappear," Rui scolded with a huff as she joined him at the safety rail.
Tokiya was silent for a brief moment before he asked, "So how much did you find out?"
"We were able to get the gist of it. Liam and Ben were saying crude things about me, you overheard them, and something that Ben said made you so angry that you punched him," Rui answered, listing the information in a matter of fact tone.
"That about sums it up. So why are -" Tokiya began before he was cutoff.
"Because I want to hear what happened from you. I want to know what Ben could have said that made you that angry. And I want to know why you got that angry," Rui insisted in an even tone, eyes still looking out over the city, her thoughts undecipherable.
"Are you sure?" Tokiya questioned hesitantly.
Rui paused only a moment before giving a simply reply, "Yes."
Tokiya took a deep breath to clear his mind before he explained, "When I first walked near them they were discussing how they thought that you were only here, and received special treatment, because you are Mikimoto-san's daughter, and not because of your own skills. I know better than most how much you strive to not be in your father's shadow, so those comments alone had already agitated me. Before I could confront them about that however they moved on to the crude comments you found out about; saying that because you're Japanese they'd be able to easily have their way with you if they wanted to. That's when I confronted them."
There was a long pause before Rui pressed, "What exactly did Ben say that made you punch him?"
After another, but shorter pause Tokiya answered, "When I confronted them, Ben attributed my defending you to my own desires. He then said 'Well don't worry pal, once I break her in I'll be bored and you can have your turn'. Honestly, I wasn't even aware I had punched him until he was on the ground. I always thought that 'seeing red' was just an expression, but it turns out it's true. My mind went blank, there were no thoughts... and all I could see was red. You know the rest from there."
"I see. I have to admit that's worse than what we had found out they said," Rui mumbled, feeling her stomach twist in disgust at what had been said about her.
Another brief pause followed before Tokiya decided to speak, "Tachibana... I..."
As he trailed off Rui turned towards him and offered the dish she had been holding, requesting, "Do me a favor and try this. I finalized that dish you helped with and want your opinion.
Feeling a bit of whiplash from the sudden shift in topics, all Tokiya could do was give a small nod as he responded, "Oh... sure." He uncovered the dish to find there was a spoon there as well, lifting it up he scooped a portion of the mousse and sauce up, gave it appraising sniff before taking the bite and chewing slowly. His eyes widened slightly as he finished chewing and swallowed before speaking, "It's great, much better than it was. You changed the sauce as well."
Rui nodded before explaining, "I did. The orange sauce was the right direction, so I decided to try an orange yuzu sauce this time."
"I see... the sweetness of the orange sauce is mellowed by the saltiness of the yuzu... which also inherently compliments the flavor of the mousse itself. My compliments to the chef," Tokiya praised with a small but genuine smile.
Returning the smile, Rui replied, "Thank you Kajita. For your assistance with the dish, for your honest opinion... and for sticking up for me... even if it got you suspended for a few days."
"There's no need to thank me Tachibana... that's what friends are for right? In all honestly I think I needed some time off to clear my head," Tokiya countered as he returned his gaze to the skyline.
Not wanting there to be another silence Rui pressed, "There's just one thing left I need to ask. Daniella and I were trying to figure out why you'd react like you did, why you'd go so far. It was Daniella who suggested it, but I couldn't think of any other explanation myself," she paused to collect her thoughts and turned to watch how Tokiya reacted before asking, "Are you... in love with me?"
Tokiya flinched at the question. He'd known it was coming given the circumstances, it was only natural. He gripped the rail in front of him as he sighed before answering, "I think I am. I'm not sure when it started... I don't exactly have any experience with this sort of thing. I do know that from the moment I started to think that might be what was happening I've been trying to deny it. You're the first friend I've had that I can remember, and you're happy with Fuji-san, I would never try to interfere with that. I may not know the first thing about romance, but even I can tell what you two have is special. I thought maybe if I denied it enough it would go away. I'm sorry Tachibana."
"You have nothing to apologize for," Rui assured as she returned to looking over the city before continuing, "Emotions like that are outside of our control, they just happen. You're a good person, and a great friend. I'm sorry that I can't return your feelings."
Tokiya actually laughed at this as he asked, "Why are you apologizing to me now? It's okay, I never expected that you would. I'm sure now that I've stopped denying it, I can start to move past it. I just hope this doesn't ruin our friendship."
"I won't lie to you: it's going to be awkward for a while. I'm sure you already know this but I am going to have tell Natsuo about this; he and I promised each other that would be no more secrets between us," Rui replied in a calm tone.
"Of course, I would expect nothing less. If you could, can you relay my apologies to him, and if he wishes to speak to me directly you can provide him with my contact information," Tokiya requested with a slight bow.
Giving a nod Rui answered, "I will, I'm sure he'll appreciate that." The two were silent for a moment before Rui shivered from a sudden gust of wind and added, "I think I'm going to head back in, I'm on the early shift again tomorrow. Don't stay out here too long or you'll get sick." She then started making her way back to access door.
"One last thing Tachibana," Tokiya spoke out, turning to make sure she had stopped before he continued, "I feel that I should apologize for you even being subjected to all of this in the first place."
Tilting her head slightly in confusion Rui asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"It was something I hadn't thought of until Matsukawa-san pointed it out to me. You were hesitant about coming here at first... and then I pressured you into it without thinking about how it could affect you and your loved ones. Had a I not done so... maybe you wouldn't have had to deal with all of this..." Tokiya explained, finding himself unable to meet Rui's gaze as he did so.
There was a moment of silence before Rui sighed and responded in a cheerful tone, "I appreciate the concern, but you don't have to apologize for that either. I can assure you that I decided to come here on my own, so that I could improve my skills and work and for the sake of mine and Natsuo's future. I'm not going to let something like this get me down, so don't let it get you down either or I'm going to end up outclassing you when it comes to cooking."
Hearing her tone, and the taunt at the end caused Tokiya to meet her confident grin with his own as he countered, "Well I can't just roll over and let you outclass me, I suppose I'll have to pull myself back up and work even harder."
"Good. No more bogging yourself down feeling responsible for me. Got it?" Rui questioned with a small laugh.
"Understood," Tokiya answered simply.
Rui gave a quick nod before saying, "Good night Kajita."
"Good night Tachibana," Tokiya replied.
Before Rui could resume her walk to the door her phone alerted her to a new message, which was rapidly followed by three more notifications. "Who the hell is..." she muttered under her breath as she fished her phone out and unlocked the screen. Upon seeing the messages, a group chat specifically, her eyes widened as she absently voiced, "...What?"
Hina: Hey everyone! I'm sending this in the family group chat to make things simpler for everyone and so that nobody is out of the loop. I'm going to be traveling for a while, I don't know how long. There are some things that I need to take care of on my own. I'll check in every now and then but otherwise I won't be signed in to the messenger or accepting calls. I'm sorry if this worries you but it's something I need to do. I love you all!
Tsukiko: What?! Hina is everything okay? What's going on?
Akihito: Hina-chan you can tell us anything, and we'll do whatever we can to help. Going no contact sounds like a bad idea.
Natsuo: Wait what's going on Hina-nee? Did something come up from the situation with Misaki-san? Tell us what's going on please!
Rui shook her head quickly before she typed out her own reply to Hina's bombshell message.
Rui: Hina-nee whatever is going on please don't leave us in the dark. We all love you too and we're here for you so please let us help.
A few agonizing seconds went by waiting to see if Hina would elaborate on the situation. But just a few seconds after Rui's message went through Hina's icon switched to "offline", causing Rui's heart to sink. She hadn't even registered Tokiya's concerned questioning, all she could do was ask, "Hina-nee... what's wrong?"
A/N: A quick note regarding the conversation that Daniella and Rui have regarding racial stereotyping and prejudice - I know that it is a very sensitive subject and while I agree with Daniella's message, or at least how I interpreted the message she was relaying, I'm really not a fan of how the conversation is written in the canon. To me it just doesn't flow like a natural conversation, and feels jarring by comparison to the rest of the chapter's contents. With that in mind I did my best to reword it to make it feel more natural while still preserving the message behind it. I hope I was able to accomplish this, and if anyone preferred the way it was portrayed in the canon I apologize.
P.S. If you live in New Jersey: I apologize for nothing.