Morning
by Leareth
Chapter Two
Arashi knew something was up the moment she stepped out of her room and into the corridor. Usually when she came out of her room she could hear Sorata preparing breakfast since the young monk had a habit of humming or whistling while he cooked. This morning, even though there was the sound of someone in the kitchen, there was no music. Frowning a little, Arashi made her way downstairs and turned left into the kitchen. Once she got there she stopped in the doorway and stared in shock.
The Sakurazukamori looked back at her. "Good morning," he said cordially.
Arashi's shock didn't last long. In a heartbeat she had summoned her sword and moved into an attack position. Breakfast was obviously on hold. "How did you get in here and what are you doing?" she demanded.
"I'm making breakfast." The Sakurazukamori indicated the pot of water waiting on the stove and the rice-pot he was holding. "You'll pardon me if it's only for one person. By the way, the lighter for the gas stove is broken."
Arashi blinked at this complete non sequitur. "What?"
"Got it," said a voice from off-side. Arashi turned her head as much as she could without removing her eyes from the Sakurazukamori to find Sorata coming down the stairs behind her. Sorata's face lit up. "Ah, Nee-chan! Good morning! Did you sleep well?"
"Get back and put up a kekkai," she ordered tensely. "There's a Dragon of Earth in the kitchen."
"Yes, I know." Sorata scowled, walking closer. "He's making breakfast and made me go up to get his cigarette lighter so he can light the stove."
The second non sequitur in less than a minute left Arashi floundering for something to say. In front of her, the Sakurazukamori had turned his attention to Sorata. "Ah, Arisugawa-kun. Did you find it?"
"Yeah." With a grim face Sorata took Arashi's arm and gently took her aside; Arashi was too startled to resist. "It's okay, I think," he muttered under his breath. "I found him upstairs in Subaru-san's room but he hasn't done anything, he just wants to make breakfast. Yes, really—"
"If you're going to spend the next five minutes explaining the situation to your comrade, then please do it after you've handed me the lighter," said the Sakurazukamori. He was opening cupboards around the kitchen apparently looking for something. "Where do you store your rice?"
Sorata entered the kitchen as if there were a snake on the floor. "Bottom of the pantry," he said shortly, putting the lighter on the kitchen bench. He then returned, took Arashi's sword-arm, and led her back to the far side of the dinner table. Arashi let him, but didn't dismiss her sword.
"Are you out of your mind?" she demanded.
Sorata looked unhappy. "The guy came in by himself through the window in Subaru-san's room. He says he's not here to pick a fight and he doesn't seem to have done anything yet, and I didn't want to just start flinging electricity about since the rest of the house wasn't up yet—"
"What was he doing in Sumeragi-san's room?" interrupted Arashi.
"I don't know. I don't want to know. I found him sitting in Subaru-san's bed with Subaru-san's head in his lap, believe it or not."
The mental image that brought up was disturbing. "Is Sumeragi-san all right?"
"I think so, but that guy put him to sleep. Said that Subaru-san needed his rest—"
"You have no fish in the fridge." The Sakurazukamori stood in the kitchen doorway. Arashi immediately moved into a defensive position. The Sakurazukamori glanced at her sword, but otherwise didn't respond. "I need you to go buy some salmon," he said to Sorata.
"What!" Sorata's jaw dropped. "Why?"
"Subaru-kun prefers grilled salmon with his breakfast when he remembers to eat it. As I recall there's a shop fifteen minutes walk away from here or two minutes if you're flying—"
"How do you know that?"
"This isn't the first time I've been to this house, though it's the first time I've been downstairs," said the Sakurazukamori patiently. "As I was saying, I need some salmon. Go buy some."
Sorata glared. "If you think I'm going to leave the house while you're here—"
"I have no doubt the Ise Priestess will keep a very close eye on me," the Sakurazukamori said smoothly. Suddenly he smirked; Arashi didn't like it. "Really, Arisugawa-kun, I couldn't care less if you trusted me or not, but I will tell you that if I wanted to destroy the home of the Seals I would have done it long ago."
Sorata glared for a moment, visibly struggling to make a decision. The Sakurazukamori watched him patiently, obviously not intending to move until someone obeyed him. "Fine," Sorata gritted out. "But you're giving me the money – hell as if I'm paying for your goods."
"Of course." The Sakurazukamori reached into his pocket for his wallet, and counted out several notes. "That should be enough."
Sorata came around the table and took the money warily as if expecting it to explode. "Salmon, right?" he asked. The Sakurazukamori nodded, already turning back to the kitchen. Arashi wondered if she was still sleeping and having some surreal dream, because the situation was entirely too weird. This was the Sakurazukamori, a Dragon of Earth, in their house and instead of attacking them, he was … being domestic.
Sorata paused as he passed her for the front door. His clear grey eyes met hers, silently communicating the obvious message. Arashi nodded; despite Sorata's teasing and her reservations about his feelings for her, in a situation like this they understood each other perfectly. Sorata flashed a smile, then left. The sound of the door closing echoed through the hall.
Arashi was left alone with the Sakurazukamori. Sort of alone – Subaru, Yuzuriha and Kamui were upstairs, but she couldn't afford to take the few seconds to run upstairs to get them, and raising her voice would only alert her enemy as well. Until the others came down, she had to deal with the Dragon of Earth by herself if he was going to do anything. And right now he was …
She glanced into the kitchen. The Sakurazukamori, having lit the stove and put the pot of water to boil, was now kneeling in the pantry opening the rice-bin. Eyes narrowed suspiciously, Arashi moved closer until she stood in the kitchen doorway effectively blocking it, sword still in hand. She moved silently, but the Sakurazukamori still looked up. Arashi's lips tightened as his mismatched eyes met hers. "If you're going to keep watch over me," he said calmly, "why don't you get a chair and make yourself comfortable?"
"You don't need to concern yourself about me," said Arashi.
The Sakurazukamori smiled, or at least that was the impression he gave. "I can hardly allow a young lady to stand." Abruptly he stood up leaving the measuring cup and rice-pot on the floor. Arashi immediately tensed and raised her sword, but the man simply walked past her to the dining table. He took one of the chairs there and moved to place it beside the door, adjusting it to make sure it provided a good view of the kitchen. "There we go."
Arashi simply Looked at him. The Sakurazukamori merely smiled. "Suit yourself." He returned to the kitchen pantry and knelt down again, measuring out the rice. Arashi watched the Sakurazukamori warily; despite the fact that his back was to her she didn't think for a moment that he was ignoring her, or that he had dropped his defences. If half of what she knew about him was true he was quite capable of doing serious damage from a kneeling position. "So you're the Ise Hidden Shrine Maiden," he said. "You're about what I expected."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Arashi, suspicious of the sudden conversation.
"Focused. Reserved with a quiet intensity. Lovely as well, though I'm sure you'll be far more beautiful if you smiled once in a while."
Arashi ignored the compliment; with all the practice she got from Sorata, it was very easy to do. "Why are you cooking breakfast?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Because Subaru-kun needs to eat something. He rarely eats breakfast, and when he does, he doesn't eat much, am I right?"
Arashi frowned. Yuzuriha, Sorata and Kamui always tried to convince Subaru to eat breakfast properly without success, so much so that it was almost a daily morning ritual. "How do you know so much about Sumeragi-san?"
"I know a lot of things about Subaru-kun," said the Sakurazukamori matter-of-factly. He stood up and went to the sink to wash the rice. Still uncertain of the situation – and disturbed by the implications of his last statement – she tightened her grip on her sword, but otherwise let him move unhindered. Suddenly, he paused and looked at her. "How many people live in this house?"
Arashi hesitated for a moment before realising that given how much the Sakurazukamori knew about them already it was pointless trying to hide that information. "Five."
"And I'm presuming that other than Subaru-kun, the other four which includes yourself and Arisugawa-kun, all eat breakfast regularly."
Where on earth was he going with this? "Yes."
"Very well, then." Before Arashi could say anything, the Sakurazukamori returned to the rice-bin and quickly added several more cups of rice to the pot.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
The Sakurazukamori smirked as he went to wash the rice – Arashi got the impression that he was getting a kick out of the situation. "If I'm using your kitchen, it would be very impolite not to include the rest of the household."
"You're going to make breakfast for all of us?"
"It's just as easy to cook rice for six people as it is for one. Don't worry, I won't poison the food."
Arashi's eyes narrowed. "Six? Who's the sixth person?"
The Sakurazukamori poured water over the rice. "Myself."
"You?"
"Why not?" The Sakurazukamori gave another smirk – oh, he was definitely getting a kick out of this. "I haven't eaten yet either."
Arashi could find nothing to reply to this. She stared as the Sakurazukamori went to put the rice-pot in the cooker and turn it on, all the while behaving as if it were his very own kitchen. She was still trying to come to grips with the idea of the Sakurazukamori as their personal cook for the morning when a vicious snarl was heard and Inuki came pelting down the stairs heading straight for the Sakurazukamori's throat.
Chapter One Chapter Three