085. Angrily spit it out and call her a liar.

I knew she was lying and that just set me off like a match. I spit out the warm milk and looked her in the eye yelling, "The fuck you did! Your tiny tits couldn’t make an ounce, much less a cup." I wasn't going to be made the fool by a ditz like her as a silly little game.

Natsumi just broke into a snarfing laugh and almost upchucked her food all over herself, but managed to get control of herself. "Matsumoto, you are one fucking stupid baka!"

At first, I was confused, but then Yuki said quietly, "No, it’s okay Kenji. It was stupid of me to…" Instantly by Yuki’s tearful eyes I could see that she had known that, but had just told me that as a silly romantic ploy to get intimate with me. And now I had horribly insulted her announced in public.

I can’t believe I had been so blind! Yuki always seemed like a nice person, just a little slow, but really I was the slow one. Suddenly I could see half my life more clearly than ever. All the times I’d ignored her or taken her advances as something completely different, never realizing she had been hitting on me for at least a few years. "Yuki, I…" I started, but had no clue what to say. I had ruined what was probably my last chance with her.

"Matsumoto, I have some more questions about that fire," Natsumi interrupted as I struggled to find some way to apologize to Yuki.

"Not now," I snapped at her and instantly regretted it.

"Yes now," she bellowed as she practically threw me away from Yuki. I tripped and tumbled to the dirt, trying to curse and fight her, but she just picked me up and forcefully led me down the road.

"Can’t you see I was trying to…" I berated my oppressor.

"…Make an even bigger fool of yourself?" she laughed. "Yeah, I saw that. That was why I stepped in."

"Why you…" I repeated dumbly.

"Look, Matsumoto," she said now in a much softer voice. I’d really never heard her talk to me with what seemed like genuine concern before, so was doubtful that was what I was hearing now. "You are dense as a rock, lazy, and will probably end up a useless drunk like your father," she put me down over and over so I tried to grumble back, but she interrupted me, "But despite all your numerous flaws, you are somehow still a decent person."

I was shocked that she had said something so complimentary about me, much less to my face. "You could do a lot worse than a nice girl like Yuki, and for some reason, she seems to have significantly lowered her standards to have a soft spot for you." Natsumi obviously had detected Yuki’s advances long before I had and strangely seemed to be acting like a parent giving me advice. I guess being one of the town leaders, with all the menfolk at the war, she felt she had **** but to step in.

I was just beginning to accept this heart to heart we were having when we heard a shrill scream piercing the quiet as we got closer to the Takahashi Manor. Natsumi took off running and I sprinted close at her heels wondering what was happening. As soon as we got inside I could smell smoke and I tailed the brutish redhead into the large kitchen where Azami had sat on the floor holding one swelling red hand against her chest and a small fire burning brightly on the stove.

Natsumi grabbed a bucket of water, but I shouted, "No!" I almost couldn’t believe she listened since she acts so much on instinct, but she held off and looked at me, clearly giving me only just enough time to explain before she followed through. "It’s a grease fire. That bucket will set the whole house on fire!" Then I looked around and found a large pot lid and quickly shoved it down into the flames and almost instantly the fire was contained.

"Good work, son," Natsumi said and then moved to check on the older woman. For some reason, her tiny words of approval stuck in me like a pin. She had said ‘son' instead of Matsumoto, but old people did that sometimes. Maybe she just was trying to be a little more personable, but something still seemed odd about the way she had said it.

"It’s my hand," Azami explained the obvious.

"Here," she said placing the bucket into her arms. Azami winced in pain as she dunked her hand. "I just saw Madam Yamada in town. Let’s get you down to her and she will have some healing herbs." Then Natsumi helped her up.

"Ah!" Azami cried out as she tried to stand and pulled up one leg. "I think I twisted my ankle when I fell," she explained.

"I’ll help you, Azi," Natsumi assured in a tone that seemed far more friendly tone than I’d ever heard her use with anyone else before.

"Just like old times, eh Nat?" Azami chuckled in spite of the obvious discomfort. Then she took a moment to look at me. "And thank you Kenji. For saving us." I started to try and blow it off like it was no big deal, but Azami cut me off. " Without your quick thinking, Nat and I might have both died." She was clearly being the most sincere I’d ever seen. "Thank you," she said one more time, then nodded to Natsumi who had her hanging off her, while still holding the bucket to soak her hand in it. "Alright, let’s go."

The two of them limped off back to town and I doused the flames in the stove. I walked around the large house that was once mine, but was quiet and empty now. For some reason, I daydreamed that it was mine once more. Walking the halls and large rooms where I learned to walk, the pond in the back where I learned to swim, and the dark scary basement where I always feared to tread. I don’t know how long I stood staring down into those grey stone steps leading down to where Chizu has burnt to **** just last night, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about her and Hazuka suddenly, strangely, and spontaneously catching fire and passing away just last night. I don’t know how long I was lost in thought before I was shaken from my deep thoughts by Setsuko and Yuki coming in. They were just chatting about Azami’s injury and walked right in on me stupidly standing in the hallway.

"Watch where you're going, plebe!" Setsuko yelled at me and then pushed me out of her way.

Yuki followed along apologetically mute for a moment, but then changed her mind and said, "Oh, Setsu, sorry. I forgot I have to go home and help my Granmama file her calluses tonight."

Setsuko whipped around and started, "But I thought you said…" Then she looked at me scowling, then back at her friend. "Really?"

"Yeah… Sorry," Yuki shrugged to the blonde before she turned about, and looked back at me. I couldn’t help but remember what had happened along with Natsumi’s words of guidance a little bit ago and blushed. To my surprise, Yuki then asked me, "Hey, Kenji. Walk me back to town?"

"Um, sure," I said too embarrassed to even look Yuki in the eye, but she followed me out the front door and out of the manor house. We walked in silence for a minute without the courage to say anything or even look at Yuki. As we left the Takahashi grounds I finally asked, "So your grandmother’s calluses must be pretty bad."

"Naw," she shrugged. "I just sluffed her feet last night so she’s all set."

Now I was confused. "Then why did you say…"

"Boy, Setsu is right about one thing," she interrupted me. "You are pretty slow, but I still think you have a sexy butt." I blushed, trying to figure out what she meant, but then she grabbed my arm and said. "I’m bored. Wanna do something interesting.?"

"Um… Okay," I answered taken aback. "Like what?"

"I don’t know. Anything," she chirped and gave me a funny look. "Surprise me."