Silence | Book 1

3-13: Sushi

Tristan looked on a little bewildered as Hibiki grabbed his fingers and manipulated them into the right place to use chopsticks. Once he had deemed it satisfactory he took the lead, tapping his own chopsticks twice and picking up a piece of sushi to plop it into his mouth. It all looked so easy, and determined to make it work first try, Tristan firmly put his chopsticks against the sides of a small roll. So far so good. He lifted it up. Suddenly the chopsticks crossed, causing the piece of sushi to drop into his lap and onto the floor. He let out a surprised and frustrated noise, and looked up to see everyone either smiling or chuckling.

Bright red in the face he tried again, but by then he'd already forgotten how exactly to hold it, and his fingers couldn't find the right position. The chopsticks just slipped off, unable to get a grip. Hibiki saw him struggle, and quickly straightened out his fingers again. He tried a third time, determined to make it work, and having learnt from his first mistake, he picked it up without pressing too hard. Everything went well – until about halfway to his mouth, when it slipped out again, and dropped onto his lap instead.

Immediately he heard Killian chuckle, but he just let out a sad noise as he watched the piece of sushi that had betrayed him. Having had quite enough of it, he grabbed it with his fingers, and laid it on the table. Beside him, Hibiki made a gesture for him to hand over the chopsticks, and knowing that he had probably disappointed every single one of Hibiki's ancestors, he willingly let the chopsticks be confiscated.

He watched as Hibiki tore a small piece off of a napkin and rolled it up tightly, then plucked his hair tie out of his hair. His locks fell forward to crown his face, and the only thing keeping it out of his eyes were his glasses. He made sure to clean up the hair tie a bit first, so there were no hairs stuck to it. With deft movements, he quickly stretched and twisted it around the back ends of the chopsticks, then propped the piece of napkin between it. Satisfied with his work, he grabbed Tristan's hand and put the now fool-proof chopsticks between his fingers.

Slowly, Tristan opened and closed the chopsticks, looking at them as if expecting it all to go wrong any moment now. When it didn't he smiled, letting out a soft exhale in amazement.

"You're a bloody genius."

Once more he tried to pick up a piece of sushi, having regained confidence now his chopsticks had gotten an upgrade. Carefully he picked up a third piece, and slowly brought it to his mouth. This time he was smart enough to lean in over the table, in case he would drop it again. He didn't. Unsure what to expect of the flavours he put it in his mouth, only to have the other side of the table burst out in a cheer for his victory over the elusive adversary that was sushi.

He chewed a little, and although the idea of raw fish was slightly off-putting to him, he couldn't say he minded the taste at all.

"It's quite good." He uttered slightly surprised, once he had swallowed his bite, looking at the others for validation. They all grinned at him, but especially Hibiki seemed proud of it, nearly exuberant as he couldn't help but give small and quiet claps because Tristan enjoyed it.

"You've been missing out buddy." Killian pushed forward a plate with a few more pieces for him to try, all with different fillings.

"Maybe I have been..." He mumbled as he took another piece and tried it. "I like this one too. I'd like a few more of those."

Hibiki was quick to make a note of it, crossing it on the list for their second round.

"What's this?" He asked, pointing at another piece of sushi with a large, white piece on top. Hibiki took a good look at it, about to write and show it to him, but Killian was quicker.