Oh. Wait. She’d forgotten something.
She forgot to ask if they wanted cheese or not on their bread. She had it waiting for her on the counter, but she’d forgotten. She glanced at her small gathered audience as she reached for the bag across the stove. “Do you guys like it with or without cheese?”
Just as the question left her mouth, a searing pain ran up her fingers. She let out a yelp and jerked her hand away.
“I’m fine,” she whimpered, looking down at her hand. What she’d thought was the counter was actually the hot burner, and the open flames had definitely bit her. But it wasn’t so bad. Just a burn the size of her entire hand. Okay, it really hurt.
“Really,” Asagi scoffed. “You need to be more careful.”
“I’m sorry.” Her cheeks felt hot, but not nearly as much as her hand did. She had to ignore that though. She had to finish dinner. “So, where are we on cheese?”
She turned back to the stove, but footsteps interrupted her. They made her way over to her. Aoi didn’t dare look up. She was too embarrassed. “I’m fine. Really. Don’t worry.” It just hurt to touch things. No big deal.
Tatsuo grabbed her wrist.
He studied her hand, eyes narrowed with what Aoi could only assume was annoyance. Without a word, he turned on the sink and shoved her hand under the cold water.
She hissed in pain, but didn’t stop him. He probably knew what he was doing.
His grip was gentler than she thought it would be. Kind of shaky too. It was almost like he was worried about her, not mad.
Finally, he spoke. “Idiot. You should be more careful.” His voice was still gruff, still angry. “Cold water’s only gonna make the pain go away, but not the mark.”
Aoi nodded. She understood, but didn’t speak.
Tatsuo wasn’t done. “You’re always so damn clumsy, Arisawa. What if it’d burned a little longer, or a little hotter? What then?”
“I . . . I don’t know.”
“Then you’d have a damn scar, and that’s not good for a girl, right? Bad enough you hang around with a punk like me. Do you wanna start collecting scars too?”
She just shook her head. She didn’t dare speak. She was just trying not to cry.
He sighed. “You got a first aid kit? It probably has some stuff for burns. Even little ones can get all messed up and infected, and then you got a fever and a scar. Trust me, I know.”
Aoi didn’t want to hear the story behind that. She nodded and awkwardly motioned to a door. The pantry. She was sure she’d seen a first aid kit in there somewhere.
Tatsuo glanced over at the two junior high girls watching them. “What?” he growled.
“Nothing at all,” Momoka said. She was beaming, as if this was some episode on one of her K-dramas.
“Doesn’t sound like nothing.” But he just shook his head. “Can you watch the sauce until it’s done? You can handle that, right? Don’t wanna have to patch up two more girls because they can’t be careful.”
“We can handle it,” Asagi said in a bored tone, but her eyes were sparkling with interest.
Momoka followed Asagi into the kitchen. “Yeah. I help Dad with his shop every now and then.”
Tatsuo grabbed the first aid kit and set it on the kitchen counter. “Alight. Sit tight, kid. Surely you can do that without hurting yourself.”
Aoi was leaning against the counter, cradling her hand against her chest. Tatsuo stood close to her in the now-crowded kitchen, his head bowed over hers as he popped the cap off a medicine.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She could smell his fiery cologne again. He took a deep breath, and she forgot all the other smells of the kitchen.
“Be still.” He squeezed some ointment into his calloused hand, then began to gently rub it into her skin. “Tell me if it hurts, Arisawa. I don’t wanna hurt you.”
She nodded and kept gaze down. The white goo stung her hand, but she didn’t dare say anything. The pain soon turned to a soothing cool anyway, and by the time he’d wrapped a bandage around her hand it was all but numb.
“Now both of my hands are bandaged,” she bemoaned. “I look like a mummy.”
He smiled. “C’mon. Let’s set the table.”
She nodded, giving silent agreement, before following his lead.
But she was still clumsy. She and Tatsuo almost put things down in the same spot several times. Their hands kept brushing against each other. They kept mumbling sorry and moving on.
They finished setting the table soon enough. It was good food. Of course it was. A ramen chef’s daughter helped work on it.
“Oh, wow, Arisawa-chan. You’re actually a pretty good cook,” Asagi said.
“Yeah!” Momoka agreed. “So this is why Akabori-san has you make his bento every day!”
Aoi blushed and looked away. “Well, it’s not every day. And I just try my best.” She looked at Tatsuo with a small smile. He was eating without saying anything. “What do you think, Senpai?”
He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. “Perfect as always, Arisawa-san.”
Mulan made a comment about her being good wife material, but Aoi ignored the spirit, focusing instead on the meal.
Chapter 23
Aoi slept better than she thought she would. Embarrassment should have kept her awake, but it didn’t. The only problem was that when she woke, the memory of Tatsuo scolding her came to mind and the awkwardness returned. She groaned and rolled over.
Suddenly, Mulan jumped on the end of the bed, shaking Aoi out of her blanket burrito of shame.
“At last, you’re awake!” the spirit said, a smile lighting up her face. “Let’s go to the beach! Get up! I’ve never seen anything quite like it, certainly not up close.”
Mulan was bubbling over with excitement—just like a child. Strange. Aoi had never thought of her spirit as childish. She was always so mature and calm. Aoi couldn’t help but wonder . . . Was her formality just a façade Mulan put on? Or was she that way just because she was from a different time?
“Hey, Hua-san?”
“Yes?”
“Why are you so formal?”
That question made Mulan stop her shaking. She sat back, folding her hands smoothly in her lap. “I beg your pardon?”
“You’re always so serious and you talk so fancy,” Aoi said. “But we’ve been friends for a while now, haven’t we? You’re like a sister to me.”
Mulan smiled at that. “Then how would you like for me to be?” Her tone was soft. She was curious.
“Lighten up. Don’t speak so formally. Maybe call me by my name.”
“But you are Arisawa-chan.”
“You can just call me Aoi.”
“Aoi?” she stammered.
She laughed. “Or maybe you could add -san or -chan. That’s just a little more formal, I guess.”
Mulan hesitated. She had to think it through. “Aoi-chan it is.”
Aoi smiled. “Then can I call you Mulan?”
The spirit frowned and her brows furrowed. “Just Mulan?”
Aoi nodded, then smiled sheepishly. “If that’s okay, I mean.”
Mulan smiled back at her. “That’s fine.”
“And you don’t have to be so formal,” Aoi insisted.
“Beg pardon?”
“See? There. You’re always saying stuff like that. You can just say ‘huh’ or something when you’re confused.”
Mulan shifted her weight. She didn’t like the sound of that. “I’m not so sure I can do that, Aoi-chan. Can we not simply be satisfied that we’re on more familiar terms now?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” It was enough for now. It was closer to Mulan than she’d ever been before. They could get even closer. She just had to give Mulan time. She just had to wait.
Sometime later, Aoi waited in the living room for the others to finish getting ready. She already had her bathing suit on under her clothes, and she’d packed enough towels for the four of them. Mulan kept popping out of her gem to the living room to pace, then d
isappearing, only to pop back into the room a few seconds later. It was giving Aoi a headache.
Momoka was the next to get ready, then Asagi, and finally Tatsuo.
The girls were dressed with shorts on over their swimsuits. Tatsuo hadn’t even bothered with a shirt, much less pants. He stood there in his black and red swim shorts, complimented by the dragon on his arm and—to Aoi’s shock—a samurai on his back. The samurai was clothed in black armor with crimson leaves floating by him. It was strange to find out he had another tattoo, but it seemed to suit him.
Even so . . . This was her first time seeing him shirtless.
Aoi didn’t dare meet his eyes. She was too embarrassed, as was Momoka.
Asagi wasn’t. She stared at him for a few moments, her brows furrowed. Finally, she spoke. “You really are a yankii.”
“What was that?” he asked, bored. “I don’t think I heard you right.”
“You have several tattoos, just like a typical delinquent.”
Tatsuo gave a shrug and chuckled. “Glad to see I’m meeting everyone’s expectations today,” he said snarkily.
Aoi came to his defense. “Senpai’s a really nice person though.”
“Yeah,” Momoka chimed in. “You can’t just judge a book by its cover, Tachibana-chan.”
Asagi sighed. “I was just being honest about his looks. That’s all.” But she still gave Tatsuo weird looks.
“I’m going to the beach.” Tatsuo pushed past the girls, grabbing a towel as he went.
“We’re coming too!” Aoi called. Then she paused. She almost forgot something important. “Be right back.”
She rushed to her room and grabbed what she needed—an inner tube. She returned to raised brows and wide eyes.
“Can’t you swim, Onee-chan?” Momoka’s question was filled with innocence, but it felt like Aoi was stabbed with a knife. She knew she should be able to swim, and she’d tried to learn. But she just couldn’t.
“No,” she stammered. “Not really.” Maybe she should have let them go ahead of her.
Asagi rolled her eyes at Aoi. “Just try not to drown.”
Aoi just quietly followed the girls to the beach. Mulan popped out of the gem as soon as they got on the boardwalk.
“What do you think, Mulan?” she asked, looking at her spirit out of the corner of her eye.
“It’s amazing. The water seems to go on forever.” Her deep brown eyes were lit with awe. Aoi had never seen Mulan quite like that.
“It really does, doesn’t it?” She smiled.
Aoi had never really seen much of the ocean herself. She hadn’t had a chance to visit the beach on her few visits to France, and she’d never really left the heart of Tokyo before. The water was a little intimidating, but it looked like it could be fun too.
Tatsuo lay underneath a rented umbrella, his stomach shielded from the sand by a towel.
Momoka and Asagi threw their towels beneath the umbrella before rushing to the water, giggling all the way.
“Do you wanna play or just sit?” Aoi asked.
“Play?” Mulan repeated.
Aoi hesitated. “In the water.”
“But aren’t you unable to swim?”
That twisted the metaphorical knife from earlier. Her smile faltered. “Yeah, but the inner tube lets me float.”
“Still, I feel it may be in your best interest if you were to stay out of the water.”
Mulan was just trying to keep her safe. Aoi knew that. Didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
With a sigh, Aoi fixed the towels under her umbrella and settled one, watching Mulan head down to the ocean shore to watch the waves come in and out. Her inner tube rested on the ground beside her. She looked over at Tatsuo. His eyes were closed, his breaths slow. Was he asleep?
“Senpai?” she asked.
“Yeah?” Nope. Definitely not asleep.
“I’m sorry about what Tachibana-san said.”
He was silent for a moment. “Not your problem.”
“Still, I’m sorry.” She should have told Asagi and her father what Tatsuo was like. About his tattoos. About his looks. She should have warned them. “I’m sorry about how my dad was acting yesterday.”
He looked away from her. “Forget about it.”
“Still, I’m really sorry.”
“Just drop it.” He raised his voice at her.
Aoi flinched away from him. Why was he still angry with her? She’d thought they ended the night on good terms, even if you considered the burned hand and sleeping together comment.
Surely he can’t be me he’s mad at. She wanted to tell herself that, but a small part of her had her doubts.
She sat there for a while, watching the girls splash around in the water. They were laughing, having a good time. Aoi wanted to join them. It was too moody here with Tatsuo.
So she stood and stripped down to her swimsuit. “I’m gonna go float in the ocean,” she said.
“Do what you want.”
She walked away slowly. She didn’t want to play. She just wanted to float, soak in the summer sun, and laugh with the other girls. Maybe that would make her feel a little better.
All she’d wanted was to have a good time, and so far Tatsuo was ruining everything. Selfish. Well, if it wasn’t the beach, then maybe she’ll have fun at the festival tonight.
Something had to go right.
Aoi breathed a sigh as she stepped out of the shower into the humid bathroom. She stood on the mat, dried herself off, then wrapped a towel around her body. She was free at last from the saltwater and sand that clung to her body.
Even so, the ocean had been nice. It was warm and calming. She could float around in her inner tube without a care. That was the first sign things were looking up.
But tonight would be even better. She only had to wait an hour more to have fun at a festival.
She peeked out of the bathroom to make sure the coast was clear, then scurried across the hall to her room.
First, she had to get dressed. The problem was, she couldn’t decide what to wear. She couldn’t choose at home, so she brought several outfits with her. One was a simple white T-shirt and blue shorts with a matching hoodie in case she got cold. Another was a pretty, slightly fancy dress that fell to her knees with matching slip-ons. She wasn’t sure if it was too fancy or not for the festival, but she also worried the shorts and T-shirt were too casual.
Before she could get very far with her internal debate, her father interrupted her with a knock on the door. “Aoi, are you in there?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you.”
Aoi put on some pajamas. They definitely weren’t her festival clothes, but she could change after the conversation. “Come on in.”
Mr. Arisawa walked into her room and took a seat on her bed, patting the spot next to him. It was all too familiar to when she tried to introduce Mulan to her father. She had a bad feeling about this.
Even so, she took a seat next to him.
“So,” he said hesitantly. “Nishihara-san and Tachibana-san seem nice.”
“They are.” She noticed how he didn’t include Tatsuo in that.
“But that Akabori boy . . .” His voice trailed off and he shook his head. “I’m not so sure you should be hanging around him. You don’t want to be associated with any bad choices he makes.”
She should have known he’d say something like that, but it still kind of upset her. Everyone seemed to judge Tatsuo before they got the chance to know him. But they were wrong. Her father was wrong.
“Tatsuo’s a good guy, Dad.”
“Honey, I know what you’re thinking. You’re young, he’s exciting, and maybe you think you can change him, but people don’t—”
“No! Dad, I mean it. He’s a Linked, like me. So are Nishihara-chan and Tachibana-chan. We’re all Linked.”
Her father paused, surprised. “They have gems and spirits, too?”
Mulan appeared in the room. “Yes, sir. We have found ea
ch other through a common cause to fight for justice and protect the innocent.”
Aoi fought the urge to roll her eyes. Mulan said it like a script, like it was their unofficial motto or something.
Mr. Arisawa crossed his arms. “Including Akabori? Who’s his spirit, then?”
“That’s private, Dad,” Aoi said, thinking of Touya’s words.
Mr. Arisawa sighed softly and smiled. “Fine. I’ll trust your choice in friends. After all, anyone connected to a famous hero must be a good guy.”
Aoi grinned cheerfully. Crisis averted. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Anyway, I have a gift for you. Here you go.” He handed over a large square package which Aoi gratefully took. Her eyes lit up as she turned it over in her hands, wondering what was inside.
Well, this was certainly a surprise. The trip alone was an amazing gift. She hadn’t expected anything else.
“I’ll leave you to it.” With a wink, her dad got up and left the room with a quiet click of the door. Aoi plucked the matching envelope from the box, attached by a pale, blue ribbon. No doubt, this was for her. She didn’t even need to see her name on it to know. But she checked the words on the envelope anyways.
To: Aoi-chan
From: Mama
Those four words spurred her. She had a reason to be excited now. Aoi quickly opened the envelope. The card inside was bubbled and blue. “For a very special girl,” it read.
Aoi smiled and opened the card. It was nothing fancy compared to her mother’s typical gifts. In fact, it was surprisingly simple, perhaps even boring to some. But that didn’t matter. This card and whatever was in the box was important. They were from Mama.
To my darling girl,
If you’re reading this, you must have just gotten your gift from your father. If he told me right, it’s for a festival you’re going to. I hope you’ve been having an excellent time with your friends, and I hope my gift makes it even better.
Linked: The War of the Gems - Book 1 Page 22
