Butterflies? Or something telling me to run away? || GiyuShino

Chapter 18 | Kanae

Holding tight while it lasted,

I thought we were forever.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Faint sunlight leaked in through the sides of the curtains covering the window in the room, Kocho stirred and slowly opened her eyes a little. A second of confusion flashed across her face as she looked around the unfamiliar room and recalled last night's events, Tomioka was still sleeping soundly next to her.

A small smile formed on her face as she carefully sat up, making sure her movements weren't large enough to wake up the Water Pillar. Quietly slipping out of bed, she made her way to the door but stopped midway as if remembering something before returning to the side of the bed. She gently pecked Tomioka's forehead and readjusted the sheets so that he was tucked in, before leaving to make some breakfast for the two of them.

It was still quite early, the clock in his living area showed that it was just a bit past 6am. She yawned and fumbled around trying to find Tomioka's keys. As she opened the various drawers near his desk, a drawing caught her eye in one of the drawers.

The drawing was clearly a portrait of someone important to him, as it was carefully preserved in a simple but expensive looking frame. The person was an elegant looking girl, probably around the same age they were. She smiled happily in the picture, and reminded Kocho of her own sister.

Where has she seen this face before?

She didn't want to poke her nose too much into his stuff however, so she closed the drawer and resumed her quest in finding his keys. She'll ask him about it later.

Finally finding his keys in one of the drawers, she went back into her room to quickly change into a simple kimono that she usually wore on her days off, then proceeded to head downstairs towards the kitchen. The estate was quiet, it looked like most people were still asleep or away on a mission.

Approaching the kitchen, she noticed someone was already in there.

"Ah, Shinazugawa-san" she smiled gracefully "good morning"

The rough looking man looked over his shoulder "Morning", he watched as she made her way next to him and started to open the cupboards to find some toast for her breakfast.

"The toast is in there" he indicated at the cupboard to her left and continued with making his coffee.

The air in the kitchen was quite awkward, but somehow it felt like there was something the both of them needed to address.

"Kocho-"

"Shinazugawa-san-"

They looked at each other speechless.

"Ah, you go first" Kocho looked over at him with an apologetic smile.

"I was just wondering if you'd join me for breakfast?" He didn't look up from stirring his coffee, but Kocho could feel some sort of tension through his gruff voice.

"I'd love to."

He nodded and picked up his coffee cup, "I'll be waiting for you outside at the table then"

Kocho continued to make her breakfast, and after a bit of thought she added an extra portion to what she was making. She just had a feeling that their breakfast wouldn't just be a 5-minute chat.

As she approached the table, Shinazugawa put down the paper he was reading and stood up to help her with one of the plates she had in hand. Kocho was surprised by this gentleman like behaviour that really did not match his appearance, but thanked him regardless.