Innocent | Sugawara Koushi

19.

I woke up with a groan when the alarm resounded in the room with sharp tones and vibrations coming from my phone. I didn't get much sleep last night and the last thing I wished for was to go to work. But the bills won't pay for themselves.

I worked up till late hours on the comic book I was drawing, filling the pages with my own distress and unsolved problems and it felt somehow like a therapy. Like I could understand my own mind more after I spilled my feelings over the pages.

Sugawara left in a hurry last night after getting a call from Souta with not-so-innocent question "What would you do if oil was burning on a frying pan?" And I couldn't decide if I was worried or surprised more. After about half an hour I got a text from him that said:

"Sorry I left so quickly, but that idiot can't even make French fries "

After a few messages I found out that nothing had happened thanks to Kyo, who came out of the shower just in time to save him from the disaster.

I took the phone in my hand and pressed the button to stop it from ringing. Only now I saw the last message from Koushi that I didn't get to read last night. I fell asleep quicker than I thought.

The corners of my lips immediately tugged up when I saw that he wanted us to go to dinner with his friends. He mentioned a couple of names, but I didn't know just one of them. Well, this evening will be the best opportunity to meet them all in better circumstances. Because up until now I feel like I just made a fool of myself, especially in front of that policeman.

I looked into my own reflection in a mirror while I was brushing my teeth. This time everything will be fine.

* * *

"Good morning, do you want a table for two?" I smiled a little wider, seeing Souta and Kyo standing at the door of the restaurant. They looked equally surprised when they saw me, but if they wanted to go to the restaurant, it would be a 50% chance that we would meet since there were only two of them in Miyagi. Well, two restaurants and a couple of small cafes, bars and shops, to be exact, but I didn't count them into my list.

"Ugh, actually it would be a table for four." Souta scratched his neck nervously, making my brow shot up. But I didn't ask and just led them to the table.

"Are you okay after yesterday's... incident?" I asked with a small smile while giving the both of them menu cards.

"Yeah, but Koushi said that I'm not allowed to cook in his place anymore. This is why we are eating here." Souta answered with a grumpy expression.

"I told you to wait for me with food." Kyo pointed out, skimming over the positions in the menu.

"But I was hungry and you take shower for hours." He whined,

"I was in the bathroom for less than fifteen minutes."

I watched as they bickered back and forth, wondering if it would be okay to say something at this moment. I looked to the other tables and sent the customers reassuring smile, but before I could say anything, another voice beat me to it.

"Can you not cause a ruckus for once?" I turned around to see a woman who said that and my heart almost stopped.

She was around my parent's age, but her neat appearance made her look quite young. She had shoulder-length, dark blonde hair, but her eyes were what made my jaw hung open.

Her face looks like Sugawara's, but female and with a beauty mark on the other side than him. Behind her was standing a man a little taller, with silver hair and an apologetic smile on his face.