The Dragon's Girl | Taiju Shiba | Tokyo Revengers

Chapter 19

My skull was pounding painfully with a heavy headache when I walked out of the bathroom the next morning. Yuzuha woke me up fifteen minutes ago for breakfast as she went downstairs before me. The events of everything that had happened last night were still playing in my mind, doing nothing but worsening that awful headache.

My feet shuffled the empty hallway then came to a stop at the top of the stairs as my eyes glanced at his door. It was closed, as usual, and seemed very quiet. Telling me he was probably still asleep in there. Something I sighed of relief about because I didn't have it in me to face him yet.

Down the stairs, I started hearing soft murmurs and clacking of dishes as I kept walking towards the kitchen. I recognized Rosa's voice along with Yuzuha's, then my nose picked on the warm smell of pancakes and I immediately felt hungry despite my anxious stomach.

"Oh wow!" Yuzuha said, "they taste even better than the pancake mix from the store!" She was standing by Rosa near the stove as I walked in.

"Good morning." I said, my lips tugging in a tired smile.

"Good morning!" They both said, Yuzuha glancing back at me and Rosa smiling warmly as I walked further into the kitchen. But then my body came to a halt and my smile instantly faded when I caught the figure that was sitting quietly at the kitchen table. Inky arms bare from the sleeveless t-shirt he was wearing and hands busy holding a cup of coffee in one, while a lit cigarette in the other, as I looked and caught his glare at me. I turned away instantly at Yuzuha's back and held both of my hands together.

"Sit down, Emi, you have to try Rosa's pancakes." Yuzuha turned to look at me. I stood frozen, not really wanting to sit down at the table, where he was sitting. "Emi!" Yuzuha snapped her fingers and I shook my head.

"I don't feel like eating." I said, my hands now pressing over one another in front of me.

"Aw just try them! Just one bite!" But she was piling more than one bite, one piece of pancake after the other on a plate for me. I shook my head again.

"Sit down." His voice came annoyed and stern that it made me turn instantly at him. He was still looking at me. Yuzuha's eyes moved from me to glance at him then back at me.

And in my panicky moment I nodded quickly. "Sure." Then headed for the very far chair at the table, far away from him.

"Here, they're so good." She placed the plate in front of me along with a knife and a fork. Then brought me a bottle of syrup.

"That's more than enough, thank you." I whispered when she placed a small plate of butter. Yuzuha just smiled then turned back to go talking with Rosa while making more pancakes. I kept staring down at my plate, knowing full well he was still glaring at me. My eyes only caught the movements of his hand rising and falling as he kept dragging breaths from his cigarette, his smoke mixing with the pancake's smell.

"Try them, Emi." He said in a stern, yet mocking, manner. I looked up at him then at Yuzuha, who didn't seem to pay attention to us.

I nodded, my hands reaching for my fork. Then I took a small bite, chewing slowly. And they indeed tasted good. And I thought I'd be really enjoying them if it wasn't for the pressing gaze of his eyes on my every move and the growing anxiety inside of me.

On my second bite, I heard a pair of feet walking towards the kitchen. Then seconds later, Hakkai's shirtless body walked in.

"Morning." He murmured. Me, Yuzuha and Rosa greeted him back. Taiju stayed silent, his eyes still fixed at me. Hakkai glanced at the table then, his eyes blankly moved from his brother then to me, a grim expression taking over his face. I turned back to my plate, the embarrassment of the encounter between us last night, here in the kitchen, started taking over me again. And it made me feel dispirited deep down. As if I somehow let him down in a way, I could only relate to it as the same way I felt when I saw him in the Black Dragon uniform.