Bad First Day
Well this is pretty awkward. Amethyst eyes looks back and forth between Yukine and Hawks while her cousin was laying out ground rules for the both of them. “No fried chicken and I mean any type of fried chicken. You can only have it 1-2 times a week.”
“That’s not fair. I work out! I should be rewarded with some KFC!” Hawks argues. He was sitting on the couch with his elbow resting on his leg and his head on his hand. After getting scolded earlier for not having a shirt, he finally decided to put on a simple white v-neck shirt.
“It’s unhealthy! Higa make sure you cook healthy food.” Yukine gives the younger girl a pointed look. The black haired girl simply nods, not even going to try and argue since she wasn’t going to win. “I swear if you make my cousin cry, I will put Dabi on you.” The normally calm pearl colored eyes immediately went cold as she narrowed her eyes into Hawks’ golden ones.
Hawks snorts out a laugh and rolls his eyes. “That’s cute, but I’m not afraid of burnt bacon.”
“You will when I tell him about that thing that happened in our first year of high school and you had this big-“
“Woah woah woah! Ok ok fine! I’ll take care of the kid, damn. Just stop with that shit.” Hawks sighs in relief when Yukine finally stops talking.
“No cussing in front of her either.”
“Am I suppose to walk around her on my tippy toes too?” There was a brief pause and Hawks groans. “Ok I won’t cuss in front of her. Happy?”
Yukine blew at her bangs in annoyance, “Barely.” She spun around and walks towards her younger cousin with a calm smile. “I have to go, but I promise I’ll visit often ok? If you need anything and I Mean Anything,” Her eyes shift to Hawks who looks away with a bored look, “Don’t hesitate to call me.” Higana gives her a small smile which Yukine gives back, following it with a kiss on the younger girl’s cheek. “I love you Higa.” Yukine whispers in Higana’s ear.
“I love you too.” Higana whispers back, feeling the lump in her throat. She already felt lonely and hates the upcoming dreadful feeling when her older cousin walks through those doors.
“No need to walk me out.” Yukine said simply as she starts to walk towards the entrance of this gigantic loft style penthouse apartment. “Keigo.” The white haired girl made the signature ‘I’m watching you’ gesture.
Hawks just gave a cute wave, “Say hi to bacon bits for me!” Only to get a middle finger from Yukine and after giving Higana one last wave, she walks out of the apartment.
Once the door closes, there was just a complete awkward silence between the only two people in the room. Ok, now what? Higana just proceeded to stand in the living area, trying to look at anything but the blond haired man that silently sat still on the couch. Should she talk first or should she just wait until he says something? Her heart starts to feel constricted, to the point it aches. If nothing were to happen soon, Higana knew for sure she was about to start crying. But she didn’t want to cry. Taking a deep breath, her voice came out soft but it caught his attention. “Um... Hawks?”
Hawks gold eyes focuses on her. She didn’t really take a good look at him before, but he is incredibly handsome. His dirty blonde hair was naturally messy even when it was slightly slicked back. His sharp eyes was outline with black marking almost like he was trying to match his name. Is he wearing eyeliner? There was some hair stubble on his chin but it made him even more attractive, if that was possible. It was easy to tell that he’s physically fit even without seeing him shirtless. His shirt was slightly loose, but his sleeves stretched out to form around his biceps. He had two piercings on his left earlobe with two small black hoops. On his right earlobe he had one piercing with a dangling small black cross, but he also has two piercings on his cartilage with the same black hoops.
But let’s get back to the scene. The way his golden eyes meets amethyst, it lit a spark in Higana’s chest. She didn’t know what this feeling was. It was so foreign, but she didn’t make it noticeable since it look like she was the only one feeling it. “Yeah sorry, got lost in my thoughts there kid. Um, to be completely honest I’m using two of the three rooms, and the third room is used as a storage area.” He got off the couch and gestures her to follow him. They went up the staircase leading up to the loft style second floor. Hawks opens up the first door they came across and Higana felt her chin rapidly drop.
To say it’s a mess.... that’s just being nice about it. It look like a horder’s dream.
It was a war zone. There was piles of boxes that looks like they haven’t moved in years, the sudden rush of fresh air caused all the dust in the room to fly around. It also smelled super moldy. Gross. “You can throw most of the things away. Down the hall there is a closet that has spare futons.” Higana just looks at the room a little unsure if she should go in there. What if she walks in and never comes out? “I have to get back to work, try not to make too much noise. Thanks kid,” With that the blonde haired man walks away, not even bothering to wait for her reply.
The younger girl’s mouth opens to talk, but with the way he coldly passes her she decided against it. She looks over the room again, silently crying. “Well... this is going to be a long day.” With that she rolls up her sleeves and took out her packed first aid kit in her school bag. Once her gloves and face mask were on, she took a deep breath and tackled the mountain of useless junk.
~ Time Skip ~
It’s been about 3 hours since Higana started cleaning and she hasn’t felt more proud of herself. After the first hour she managed to finally see the floor. The second hour, she got everything out of the room and placed outside of the penthouse with minimal noise. Now, she just finished sweeping, mopping, and dusting the room. All that is left was a nightstand with a small lamp on it and a simple desk. It was more than enough for Higana since this was just a temporary living space. “Hmm should I get the futon now? Or...” She looks down at her watch and saw that it was about to be seven o’clock. “Oh dinner!”
Taking off her gloves and mask, she rushes downstairs to the kitchen and opens the refrigerator. There was absolutely nothing food wise. Just four beer cans, a random butter stick and one egg on one of the shelves. Who can live like this? She looks in all of the cabinets and all there are was just cooking oil and salt. At least there were an abundance of pots, pans and other necessities needed to eat with but that was really it. Looks like a quick convenience store run is necessary now. Her eyes trails over to Hawks office which he pointed out before he brought her upstairs. Biting her lips nervously, she tiptoes over to his office wondering if she should ask him what he wants to eat. Or if she should tell him she’ll be out for a bit. Hawks already looks like he didn’t want her here. “Maybe I shouldn’t bother him... I’ll just try to be quick.” Determined with that answer, she quickly puts on her coat and shoes. Without making any noise, she left the apartment quietly.
After several minutes, Hawks decided to take a break since he felt his eyes starting to strain. His mind wanders to the kid whose probably still cleaning. A sigh forcefully left his lips, he didn’t mean to treat her this way. But after knowing your crush for 4 years happens to be soulmates with your best friend is a little heartbreaking. “Fuck...” He drags his hand down his face, letting it stop over his mouth. His mood hasn’t improved at all even after distracting himself with writing his draft. “I need a beer.” Maybe he should check on the kid too. With that, he walks only to be greeted with a completely dark apartment. None of the lights were on even the one he would have expect to be on. “What the hell?” Gold eyes narrows a little before he slightly ran up the stairs. “Oi kid? You here?” No reply. He walks into the spare bedroom and his eyes widen. It was absolutely spotless, almost as if you can eat off the floor. But she was nowhere to be found.
He checked the bathroom not even bothering knocking. “Kid?” Nothing.
Hawks ruffles his hair in frustration as he went back downstairs. “Where the hell is she?” He pulls out his phone and thought about contacting her but he realized that he didn’t get her contact info. “Shit.” What if it’s because of how he completely disregarded her? Like even he would leave if he didn’t get a single ounce of help cleaning that mess of a room. But then again why the hell would she just leave without a single word? She didn’t come off as a burden, but with her just sneaking out like this is ridiculous. Does Yukine know about this? Did she decide to have a late night hang out with a boy or something? His face starts to form a deep scowl while he looked for Yukine’s contact info.
His finger hovers over the call button as the entrance door opens revealing Higana with a bunch of plastic grocery bags in her hands. Without noticing Hawks standing there, she places the bags on the floor to take off her shoes and turn on the lights. Finally looking up, calming amethyst meets furious gold and Higana jumps in shock. “Hawks? I’m sorry did you need something? I went to the gro-“
“Is that how irresponsible you are?” Hawks cuts her off, his eyes suddenly turning cold.
Higana lips trembles a little from the accusation. What did she do? “I-I’m sorry b-but I don’t u-understand-“
“You left without saying a single word? What if something happens to you, huh? Yukine would be furious. Stop thinking about yourself and think about how your cousin would have felt!” Hawks didn’t know what he was doing, yelling at her like this. He noticed the grocery bags next to her, but his anger already consumed him. Her shoulders were shaking and her head was down, but he saw her bitting her lips.
“I’m sorry....” She whispers tearfully and bites her lips again to stop herself from crying.
“Instead of saying sorry, stop causing trouble for Yukine.” With that Hawks strode back to his office, hesitating at the door. He looks back at Higana who still stood at the entrance of the apartment. Her hands were trembling and he watches her try to stop by clasping them together. Something inside him wants to wrap his arms around her shaking body, apologize profusely for how he was acting, but he didn’t. His anger stomped on those feelings quickly, then he proceeds back inside his office, slamming the door behind him.
Higana stood there for a couple minute more before moving toward the kitchen. She puts away the ingredients that were for tomorrow’s meals and left out what she needed for dinner. Though all she wanted to do was run upstairs and cry, she couldn’t. At least she shouldn’t. For some reason, no matter how angry Hawks was, there was something behind his voice. Almost sad. And guilty. Heartbreaking. She had some suspicions, but assumptions might get her in more trouble. Something inside her told her to forgive and forget, even though it’s painful. “He looks like he’s in pain.”
Higana carefully plated the fried chicken karaage in a bowl on top of a fresh lettuce leaf. She also made some rice and pickled radish on the side. Yukine told her not to keep letting Hawks eat something like fried every single day, but today should be fine. “Maybe this can cheer him up hopefully...” She tried to make it at least a little more healthy by using chicken breast instead of thigh. After covering it with plastic wrapping, she grabs a note pad from inside one of the drawer stand. She neatly wrote on one of the pages and cleanly rips it off, placing it right next to the nicely presented meal. “I should probably go to sleep... I still have school tomorrow.” Even if she made some for herself there wasn’t a single motivation to eat. It was too lonely to sit and eat alone so she just packed her portion up for lunch tomorrow.
Her eyes trailed over to the dining table, imagining herself having dinner with Yukine gently smiling at her and telling her how amazing the food taste. Tears starts to build up in her eyes before slowly falling down her face. With slump shoulders, she drags her feet upstairs and took out the futon from the closet. She felt herself exhale after staring at the almost empty layout of her temporary room. There was nothing warm about his place at all. Like it was just a house instead of a home. Feeling a little dejected, she went to take a quick shower and retires a little early for tonight. There was no use trying to dwell on something that wasn’t going to change. “I hope tomorrow is a better day. Maybe I should give him space...” With that, she curls up in her blanket and lets sleep wash over her body.
Meanwhile, Hawks left his office feeling like it was a little too quite outside. He saw the light in the kitchen was left on and he walks over. “Kid?” As he got closer, he saw the meal that was perfectly put together on the kitchen counter with a note right next to it.
Hawks,
I’m sorry for not tell you where I was going. I won’t be a burden anymore. I made you some chicken karaage, don’t tell nee-chan please! I made it a little healthier at least with chicken breast instead of thigh. I thought you could use a pick me up since it felt like you were in a bad mood. I hope this could cheer you up. I’m sorry again.
Hawks took off the plastic wrapping around the bowl, taking a piece of chicken and placed it in his mouth. “Shit... this taste really good.” Gold eyes look down guiltily at the meal in front of him. He acted like such an asshole to her, but she still took care of him. “Well I’m not being much of an adult now am I?.” It seems as if this whole week have been mentally draining him. It’s to the point that he let his bad mood affect a kid that wasn’t even apart of it. How mature. Hawks continues to eat with a frown on his face. Even with how delicious it was, he couldn’t help but feel the dreadful guilt that was crawling inside of him. “So much for not making her cry...”