Chapter Eighteen: Home for the Holidays

 

            *He stepped out of his room completely dry and clean. Hiiro had finished his bath and gone back into his room to find the curtains were wide open, as was the window. His bed sheets had been replaced with pristine white ones as opposed to his dirty black ones. The room already smelled better, and his clothes were laid out for him. Serena had been a busy little bee while he had bathed. Then he had smelled the wonderful aroma from the kitchen and rushed to get dressed. So cleaning wasn’t all she had done while he had been bathing. As his bare feet padded into the kitchen over the bare and cold floor of the apartment, he silently smiled.

            Hiiro felt better than he had in a long time. Even though he knew he shouldn’t be doing what he was. Even though he knew that in the end someone would only end up getting hurt, even though he knew it would never work out, he was still going to let things play out here as if he didn’t know. He would rather be blissfully ignorant of the future than have to believe it was already set in stone. He saw Serena, still in her wet clothes, swaying her hips to the beat of the music the radio was blasting, and dancing around the kitchen while stirring whatever was in a pot on the stove and checking whatever was in the oven. Sneaking up behind her, he grabbed hold of her hips and began swaying to the beat with her.

            Serena had been completely unaware that Hiiro was behind her. She was happy just to be minding her own business and cooking. In the pot on the stove was simmering clam chowder soup, and in the oven were little corn bread muffins baking. The perfect meal to fill someone who hadn’t eaten in a while. That, and it was the perfect meal for a night like this one. She glanced out the window for the third time in the last ten minutes. It looked like it was going to pour  any minute. One of her favorite songs had just come on the radio, and she couldn’t help but move in rhythm with the beat of the upbeat music. She swayed until she felt two strong hands gently clasp around her waist and begin to move with her.

            “Hiiro?”

            “Hmm?”

            “What are you doing?”

            “Dancing with you.”

            “Oh.” She was blushing by now.

            “I like this song.” He told her. “What station is this?”

            “106.5. They play everything. Except that rap.”

            “Yeah, I’m not big on that stuff either.” He replied. They fell into silence for a while. Then a timer went off and she had to break away for their warm position to get the muffins out of the oven. While she removed them, she caught Hiiro taking a quick peek at what was in the pot on the stove.

            “You do like clam chowder, don’t you?”

            “Never had it.” He told her.

            “Never?” She asked in disbelief.

            “Never. Is it good?”

            “Incredibly. I think you’ll like it.”

            “Good. I’m hungry, let’s eat.”

            “Wait, I didn’t have a chance to set the table yet, and I need to find the glasses and bowls to serve us, and…”

            “Let’s eat on the couch. And the spoons are in the drawer in front of you. I’ll get the glasses and bowls. Relax a little, would you?”

            “Sorry. I’m just so used to doing everything on my own. Are you sure we can eat on the couch?”

            “Yeah, Duo does it all the time.”

            “Great. That really helps make me feel better about doing it.” He laughed as he filled the glasses with milk and she the bowls with the soup.

            “Ok, got everything?” She asked him.

            “Soup and spoon, check. Milk, check. Napkin, check. Corn muffin, check. I have everything. And you?”

            “Got it all. Let’s hit the couch.”

>>>)(<<<

            “You know, still haven’t told me why you were so depressed these last few days.” She told him gently. Since they had finished dinner they had moved to the floor. Hiiro had built a fire after the power had gone out and they now sat in front of it nestled within a giant blanket.

            “As Duo put it, I was going through Serry-withdrawal.” He told her.

            “Yes, he told me that too. But I don’t get it. What do you mean, ‘Serry-withdrawal’? If you missed me so much, why didn’t you just come over and visit?”

            “I couldn’t.”

            “Why not? You didn’t have to work, and I’ve been home. You know where I live.”

            “I couldn’t because I promised myself I wouldn’t. You don’t understand what it’s like for me to be around you. I  like you. I like you so much that I want to be with you all the time. But it will only end up hurting one of us, I know that. I figured that if I steered clear of you I wouldn’t have to deal with it. Apparently I was wrong. I nearly went crazy without you. I thought of you all the time. I couldn’t help it. Every time I’d fall asleep I’d dream of you. Every time I heard your name, Ben’s name, I thought of you. I couldn’t help it. But I couldn’t subject us to that. And then you show up spoiling my solitude.”

            “So you starve yourself because you didn’t want to hurt yourself? That’s real smart.” She told him.

            “No. I starved myself so I wouldn’t hurt you or me.”

            “But you still hurt yourself.” She was speaking so quietly that he almost had to strain to hear her.

            “I would rather hurt myself than you.” He told her, gazing down at her with some unreadable emotion within his eyes.

            “How do you know you weren’t hurting me as well?”

            “Huh? How could I have hurt you by not eating?” He asked her.

            “It hurts me to see you hurt, and you were hurting yourself by not eating or taking care of yourself. Hiiro, that’s extremely dangerous.” She refused to look up and let him see her blurry eyes.

            “I didn’t think…” He began.

            “No, you didn’t.” She cut him off.

            “I’m sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I had good intentions in my mind.” He told her gently.

            “Good intentions is not visiting me anymore? Hiiro, I don’t know if you know this, but the last week has been like heaven for me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so happy and relaxed as after I met you. If you stop coming around, it would hurt me more than if we decide to date and then break up.”

            “Date?”

            “Yes Hiiro, date. It’s when two people go out to a movie or a restaurant and have fun with each other while getting to know each other. Often times it ends up in either break ups or marriage.”

            “Thank you miss dictionary, I know what a date is. I may not go out on them, but I do have friends who do.” He smirked.

            “Well, some time it seems like you’re just a little prehistoric in your thoughts. Just wanted to make sure you had the right idea is all.”

            “You’re salty tonight, you know that? First you pick the lock on my bedroom door. Then you hit me with an alarm clock. Next I’m throw head first into a hot bubble bath fully clothed and you get in next to me. And now, here we are and you, of all people, are making fun of my dating skills.”

            “When I’m good I’m good, what can I say?” She looked up and grinned. Her breath caught. Was it just her, or was it getting hotter by the second in the room? He looked perfect tonight. His clean silky hair was tousled  and gently brushed into his deep, dark blue eyes.  He looked slightly pale in the firelight, but healthy enough to tell he was in wonderful shape. A strong jaw defined by a proud chin and a slightly upturned mouth were almost irresistibly inviting and she had a hard time pushing the unholy thoughts from her mind. Traveling down she could barely see the black t-shirt and sweat pants he was wearing under the thick wool blanket he had wrapped around them both hours earlier.

            “Something wrong?” He teased her when he saw she was blushing a pale pink over her already pristine ashen skin. Her breath caught in her chest and it was hard to move and breathe, let alone speak.

            “No. Nothing at all.” She breathed lightly.

            “Then you won’t stop me if I try to kiss you- will you?”

            “Hmm? No…” She didn’t know what she was saying. Her eyes were fastened to his in a desperate attempt to read his emotions and thoughts.

            “Good.” He leaned in, his eyes never leaving hers. The closer he got, the closer she moved her own head in. Inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter until finally they could feel each other’s breath hot on their lips. Heart rate rose and adrenalin rushed, pumping fire through each of their veins until Serena pushed him back slightly and pecked his cheek.

            “So where are you doing for Christmas? Anything special? After all, it’s only half a week away.” Damn! He had been so close! He mentally sighed. All this suspense was driving him batty, not to mention tiring him out beyond belief. But, if he had to wait, so be it. He was wearing her, down, he could tell. Sort of.

            “I don’t know.”

            “You don’t know? Neither do I. Christmas used to always be my favorite time of year. You know, everyone would be so happy and in such a great mood. And the decorations we used to put up at home! A Christmas tree with all the trimmings, stockings over the mantle, good old Christmas cookies for Santa Claus, mistletoe, the works. And we used to sit around the fire and sing Christmas carols and my dad used to read ‘’Twas the Night Before Christmas’ to us while we sat and drank eggnog and cocoa. And every Christmas morning, just like clock work, my little brother Sammy would wake us up to go down and open presents. Then we would have a huge breakfast and play in the snow all day long. My happiest memories of home are of Christmas time. And at night! I went to my friend Rei’s Christmas party every year. Except the year before I left home with Darien. They didn’t really like him, but did I listen? No! I had to be the stubborn one! But those sure were good times.” Hiiro watched her throughout her rant. He loved watching her when her eyes began to glitter and shine like they were now. She sounded so happy and it made him wonder if she wasn’t just a little homesick for her old friends and family.

            “What did you used to do for Christmas Hiiro?” She asked him. Hmm, that was tough. What did he used to do?

            “Not much. I lived with first an assassin named Odin Lowe, and then when he was killed during a fight, an old doctor took me in and trained me. We didn’t do much for any holidays.” He told her.

            “Nothing? Not even once?” She prodded him. He thought long and hard. Well, maybe, there was that one time…

            “Once, I think it was Christmas, Dr. J. took me to a store and told me I could pick out anything I wanted and I could have it. I picked out a small stuffed bear and he bought it for me. That same night he cooked for the first and only time for me. I felt lucky that he cared enough to even pay attention to me that I ate whatever it was that he made even though it tasted awful. That is my best and only happy memory. Two years later Dr. J. died and I joined the SWAT team recruits. I met the guys there, and we’ve been a team ever since. Usually I work on Christmas though.”

            “Work on Christmas? That’s horrible? They ought to make a law against it!” She cried in outrage.

            “It’s fine. It seems to me that you miss your family.” He told her.

            “I, err, well, yeah. Yeah, I do. I miss them a lot. Do you know how many times I’ve thought about calling? Or just going home and visiting? But every time I think about it, I reason out that they probably don’t want a reject like me around to screw up their happy and routine lifestyle.” She said quietly. He noticed the volume change in her voice and pulled her into a hug. She returned it and melded into his warm and strong arms, drawing strength from his.

            “I think you should go visit them this Christmas. Take Ben with you. At least then you’ll know if they hate you or except you back.” He told her.

            “I couldn’t. I could face Darien, sure, but I had you. And your friends. But mostly you helped me. I don’t think I could do this on my own. What will my parents say about Ben? That he’s a bastard child and that we’re unwanted? Then where will I go? I don’t know…”

            “But you miss them. And one way or another, Ben needs to know about his mother’s family. This would be the perfect opportunity.”

            “But I’m too scared to go all on my own.”

            “You won’t be alone.” He  tried to console her.

            “Oh yeah? And how will I not be alone? You going to come with me?” She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and gave a short laugh. “You going to come and hold my father back while I tell him I have a kid and I’m not married and I’m a stripper for a living?”

            “Maybe.”

            “Maybe? What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked him, suddenly serious.

            “Do you want me to come with you to Tokyo for Christmas?”

            “You, you would do that, for me?”

            “If you ask my to, yes.”

            “Why?” It was such a simple question, yet it burned a hole into his mind. Why was he offering to help her? Why did he care so much about her happiness? Why was he risking everything of his for her? Why?

            “Because. I want you to be happy.”

            “But why? What about me makes you want to make me happy?” She asked him. Everything was getting so complicated, so confusing. She couldn’t figure things out in the blink of an eye anymore, and the loss of power almost scared her. But it felt good too, felt safe.

            “I don’t know yet. But when I figure it out I’ll let you know.” He smiled, and she followed in suit. “So then, is that smile a yes? Are we going to Tokyo for Christmas?”

            “Pack your bags Hiiro Yui, this is one trip you’ll never forget, I guarantee it.”*

***Hate me yet?***