Capítulo 2: Loving a Snake (KnY)
Created by BANIX (FF.net)
Synopsis: "Iguro-san, please, if we're reborn, and if we're reborn again as humans, can I be your bride?" "Of course. If you say you're fine with someone like me, then I'll definitely make you happy. And next time, I will not let you die. I'll protect you for sure." In their past lives, they never got a chance to be together. In their next lives, they fulfilled their promise to each other.
. . .
'I… I really love you, Iguro-san! The meals you made were the most delicious ones I ever had. And you always looked at me with those really sweet eyes of yours.'
Whose voice is this? Who is calling him?
'Iguro-san, please... If we're reborn, and if we're reborn again as humans... can I be your bride?'
How and why does this unknown voice know his name? Does he know her? Why is it that he feels so strongly for the owner of this unknown voice?
'Of course. If you say you are fine with someone like me, then I will definitely make you happy. And next time, I will not let you die. I will protect you for sure.'
Iguro Obanai woke up with a start. He slowly raised a hand to wipe away the cold sweat collecting on his forehead, wondering to himself just why he had been having the same dream for three nights in a row. Was it really a dream? For some reason, it felt very real. He can even feel the emotions of whoever's eyes he was seeing out of. It felt so raw, so real, that it almost felt like he was the person of the dream itself.
What's that dream?
He sighed and shook his head, trying to will away that unknown fear lingering in his heart. A brief look at the clock hanging on the wall of his bedroom told him it is three am in the morning. This would not do. He is taking part in a national kendo competition on behalf of his high school tomorrow. He needs to be at his best.
He slowly got up from bed and went to the restroom to wash the sweat off his face. He walked past the small tank which housed his friend, Kaburamaru, a small white snake which somehow found its way into his home and he ended up taking care of it. To him, Kaburamaru is not a pet, but a friend.
It's sad how he prefers the companionship of a snake rather than other humans, but that's how he is. He's naturally distrustful. The only redeeming feature he has is his skills with a sword in the dojo or a knife in the kitchen. He's naturally good at handling pointy objects for some reason.
Kaburamaru hissed a greeting at him when he walked past. Obanai reached a hand into the little tank which he made a home for his reptile friend and let the white snake climb up his arm and rest itself on his shoulders. It feels natural to have Kaburamaru coil itself around his shoulders, like he belongs there all along.
Pushing the windows open, he leaned against the window sill to look at the moon hanging above the dark night sky. It's a full moon and it is especially bright tonight.
"Iguro-san, please... If we're reborn, and if we're reborn again as humans... can I be your bride?"
That melodious voice from his dream resounded in his mind once more. For some reason, whenever he hears this voice he gets this protective urge to protect her. Yet, he is certain that he had never met anyone with that voice before.
So, who is she? Why does she keep appearing in his dreams like this? How does she look? What is her connection to him?
He doesn't know. All he knows is that the voice won't be going away anytime soon.
"All the best, Iguro! Kick their ass!"
He merely nodded in reply to acknowledge the words of encouragement his fellow members from the kendo club gave him. He is hesitant to call them his friends because he doesn't interact with them all that much. He knows they are decent people, but they are definitely not close enough for him to call them his friends.
They had already arrived at the competition venue. It will be his turn to face his opponent soon. He's sure that he can easily defeat every single competitor here. It's not because he is arrogant. It's confidence. He had been learning kendo ever since he could walk. He knows that he is just that good.
He adjusted the face mask he is wearing as he walked, already decked out in his kendo protective gear sans his helmet. He will wear that stuffy helmet later when he walks into the arena.
"Uh, uh, is it a left turn? Or a right turn? Awawawawa! Why is this place so confusing?! Why are there so many twists and turns?!"
He froze in his tracks when he heard that voice. That voice sounded exactly like the one he kept hearing in his recent dreams.
He knows he should be heading towards the arena because there's only a few minutes left before the match starts, but his feet brought him towards that mysterious yet melodious voice anyway. Before he knew it, he found the owner of that voice. A tall girl around his age with twin braids long enough to hang down past her chest was frantically looking around as though she was lost.
He stood there and watched, blinking his mismatched eyes as he observed her. For some reason, she felt so familiar to him, like he should know her, yet he knows for certain that he had never met her before.
"Ah! Uwah! Can you help me?!" The girl soon noticed him after a second or two. A quick glance told him enough that she is from his high school due to the school uniform she is wearing. The girl looks visibly flustered and looks a little scatterbrain but for some reason he finds this part of her endearing.
"Help?" He parroted, not knowing what he can help her with.
"I-I'm kinda lost in here! I'm supposed to go to the spectator stands to join my friends in cheering and supporting our school's kendo club but then I had to go to the restroom and then when I came out I had no idea how to go back and-"
"Come with me. I know the way." He replied immediately, a small smile slowly working up his face behind the face mask he wore. This girl is very normal, but he likes that.
"R-Really?!" The girl's face brightened up immediately. "Uwah~ Thank you so much~ Wah~"
He shook his head in amusement as he started to lead her out into the arena.
"Thanks once again! Which school are you from?"
"Same as you." He replied. "I'm Iguro Obanai, a second year. You?"
"Wah! What a coincidence! We are in the same school and in the same year! Why hadn't I seen you around before?" She replied energetically and bounced on her feet, fists clenched in front of her chest in an excited manner. "I am Kanroji Mitsuri from Class 2-D! It's nice to meet you, Iguro-san!"
"Likewise." He nodded back as they finally reached the arena. He pointed towards a flight of stairs that would get Kanroji up into the spectator stands. "You can join your friends by going up here."
"Oh, okay! All the best for your upcoming match, Iguro-san! You can do it! I'll be rooting for you!" Kanroji pumped her fist into the air excitedly as she said that. "Go Iguro-san go!"
He waved a goodbye back at her and watched as she happily skipped her way up the stairs to rejoin her friends. He found himself actually genuinely smiling behind his face mask for once, which is a rarity in itself. Shaking his head, he put on his helmet and mentally prepared himself for the upcoming match.
For some reason, he just knew he won't lose, because she is rooting for him. Kanroji Mitsuri, huh?
What a normal and kind girl.
"Uwah~ A gold medal! A gold medal!"
Obanai simply watched as Kanroji squealed over the gold medal he just won from the competition. There is never any doubt that the gold medal will be his because he is that confident in his strength. Kanroji does not need to be so excited over it.
After the competition was over and the usual photo taking, congratulations, blah blah blah whatever was over, it's time to go home. He bumped into Kanroji again, who had specifically waited and stayed behind in order to congratulate him. Naturally, the excitable girl led the conversation. One thing led to another and before he knew it, they were at an eatery having their dinner together.
"You can have the gold medal if you want." He shrugged. He already has too many gold medals and trophies lying somewhere in his room. He had been learning kendo since young and had been in competitions for… how many years has it been? Nah, not important.
"E-E-Eh?" Kanroji was visibly taken aback by his words. "N-No! This is your medal! I didn't win this, you did!"
"I have too many of these at home." He stated as they both dug into their katsudon that were just served to them, only for him to pause when he realised that he first had to get rid of the face mask he wore on his face in order to eat.
He had never taken off his face mask in front of a stranger before.
"Iguro-san?" Kanroji asked in genuine worry. "Is anything the matter?"
"No, I… Uh…" He struggled to find the correct words to say without necessarily offending her, his fingers subconsciously fiddling with the straps on his face mask in his nervousness. "Y-You m-might want to look away when you eat. I, uh, I…"
She tilted her head to a side with a confused look, still not knowing why he said that. A brief silence fell upon them.
"S-Sorry i-if I made you uncomfortable." Kanroji shifted uneasily in her seat before standing up. "I-I will take my leave now. Have a nice day, Iguro-san."
"W-Wait!" Out of relex, he held onto her wrist to prevent her leaving. "I-It's not your fault, it's mine! I, uh…"
His words trailed off once more as he looked away.
"J-Just try not to scream, okay?"
Slowly, and hesitantly, he removed the face mask off his face, revealing the scar that spreads horizontally from the edge of his mouth to his ears. He heard Kanroji giving a shocked gasp and he closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the ruckus she definitely will be making. It's always the same. No matter how he tried to trust and who he showed his scar to, people would flee from him the moment they found out about his ugly scar. This is why he doesn't have any friends. This is why he prefers the companionship of Kaburamaru compared to humans. Only Kaburamaru is not afraid of him.
"W-Who is cruel enough t-to do t-this to you?!"
His head snapped back up to face her when he heard her words. Her voice is not one of fear or pity, but rather one of fierce protectiveness and disbelief. It is one of kindness and has a gentle tone laying underneath.
"Y-You are not scared of… this?"
He slowly pointed to the scar that stretched across the bottom half of his face. She looked at him in stunned silence as though trying to understand what he just said before vehemently shaking her head.
"No! Why would I be scared of you when you were kind enough to help me back there?!" She kept her volume lower than a whisper in order to not draw attention to themselves and he noticed how she used her body to block people's view of his face. "I-It's just- why?! W-Who did this to you?!"
He can only stare at her in silence. She's not afraid of him? She's not going to run away screaming in fear like what people always do whenever he finally mustered the courage to show his scar? Why?
"I-Iguro-san? Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes." He stuttered a little and looked away, somehow not having the courage to look at her face. "I… thank you. This is the most kindness anyone has ever shown me ever since they found out about… this. I am always alone because of this scar, because people are afraid of it. Thank you, Kanroji-san. Just… Thank you."
He heard a sniffle and he slowly turned his head back to face her. Kanroji is visibly struggling not to cry but is also steadily failing as tears start to fall down her face.
"I-I-I can be your friend! S-So d-don't act like this, Iguro-san! Y-You don't n-need to be alone! I don't know why but seeing you acting like this makes me sad! I-I know! You can have my share of katsudon too! Food makes people happy so I will give you my share of food too! So d-dont b-be sad! Wah~ Why am I the one crying instead? Wah~"
For a long time since he last remembered, Obanai felt that he received warmth from somebody else that is not his family. He cannot but help to show her a genuine smile on his face.
"Thank you, Kanroji."
After finally managing to placate Kanroji so that she would stop crying, they finally dug into their katsudon for real. Kanroji kept shoving food into his bowl, saying that eating always makes her feel better so if he eats more he will feel better too. She makes an obvious effort to not mention anything about his scar as they ate their meal and it is blatant to him that she is trying to be discreet about it, but he can still easily pick that up.
She really is a nice and kind girl.
"I got the scar when I was five."
He knows that Kanroji is curious about his scar despite making a visible effort to respect his privacy. It's not like he really minded telling others about his scar. As long as they don't make a big hoohah about it or distance themselves from him because of the sight of his ugly scar he doesn't mind talking about it.
His words got Kanroji to perk up from where she was about to finish her bowl of katsudon. Seeing that he has her attention, he continued.
"I am the youngest son of a yakuza boss." He admitted. "My father has many enemies and when I was five, one of his rivals managed to abduct me and held me hostage. When my father refused to give in to his demands that man took a knife and did this. That's how I got the scar."
He saw how her eyes widened in shock and how her hands subconsciously went to cover her mouth.
"T-That's so… cruel! H-How can a-anyone-"
"That's how the world is." He said with a sigh. "I never managed to make another friend after that day and people always ran away screaming in fear whenever they saw this horrendous scar, so I learnt how to keep to myself. I wore a face mask to hide the scar from view. The only reason why we are eating here is because I personally knew the owner of this eatery. I have been frequenting this place since I was young. Whenever I come here to eat the old lady would let me sit here at the corner of her shop, out of view of other patrons."
He saw how Kanroji began to look around their surroundings. Like he said, they are seated at a separate booth in a corner of the eatery. Nobody could see them if they weren't specifically looking for them here. This is one of the few places where he could actually relax and eat in peace without the fear of anyone seeing his scar.
"U-Uhm, in that case, then there's no need to wear your mask when it's just the two of us!" Kanroji began to talk in a flustered manner, her arms waving about as she spoke. "I don't mind your scar at all, Iguro-san! Not at all! So please don't hide it when it's just the two of us!"
Slowly, he felt his face breaking out into a smile.
"I would like that, Kanroji-san."
"Mitsuri! Call me Mitsuri!"
"Then please call me Obanai."
"E-Eh? Obanai? Not that I'm unhappy to see you but why are you-"
"I've transferred to the Culinary Club as of today." Obanai replied without missing a beat as he walked into the clubroom. The kitchen is a little small because the Culinary Club isn't a very big club to begin with, but it's fine. He will make do.
"But you are from the Kendo Club! And you are so good at kendo too!" She began to talk on and on and he is content to just listen silently. He likes how gentle her voice is and how kind she can be. Time can freeze at this moment forever and he wouldn't mind.
"Winning gets boring after a while." He gave an excuse he had thought up of before coming over. "And it's nice to do something different for a change."
She looked at him as if trying to see if he was lying. He pretended not to notice it as he went through what ingredients the club has in the fridge. He had noticed that Mitsuri has a very huge appetite ever since they first ate together and he told her the story behind his scar. She was initially ashamed of her huge appetite because it wasn't very "ladylike" but he doesn't mind. He likes the companionship of this normal and kind girl, that is all that matters to him. She soon opened up to him and was unafraid of eating bowls after bowls of food in his presence, just like how he became comfortable eating with his scar displayed for her to see.
"Mitsuri, would you like a katsudon?" He asked after confirming what the club has in the fridge. She seems to have a preference for katsudons from what he recalls about the few meals they had with each other thus far. He is confident in his culinary skills to make a perfect katsudon for her.
"You can make one?" She immediately brightened up after hearing that. "That would be great! Oh, oh, I can make great western and western-inspired food! Like pancakes! Or omurice! Or if you want some desserts I can also make sakura mochi and even dango too!"
And so, that's how the two of them ended up spending their afternoon together, cooking in the kitchen in the clubroom of the Culinary Club. That was how they ended up spending many of their afternoons for the remainder of their high school life.
Meeting her was the most fortunate thing to ever have happened to him.
"D-Do you think I look fine? What if your father-"
"Mitsuri. It's fine."
They had officially started dating once high school had ended. Unlike many of their classmates who opted to try and enter university, the two of them chose to study culinary. Food is more than just a pastime or a passion to Mitsuri. To the bubbly and cheerful girl, food is her world. To her, food makes people happy and she wants to make people happy with her food.
To him, food is food, but he is good at cooking a great meal. Furthermore, she loves his cooking, so he might as well pursue a career with her in this field.
Right now, he is at her home, sitting on her bed and watches as his girlfriend tries on attires after attires in order to best leave a good impression on his father since this is their first time meeting each other. Maybe he shouldn't have told her that his father is a yakuza boss. Yes, people's impression of yakuza in this day and age may not be that good and to be perfectly honest with himself, they are justified in thinking that way. He himself is not very deeply involved with whatever his family does for a living. Maybe it is out of guilt of what had happened to him when he was young, maybe it is due to another reason, but his father never let him get involved much with the darker side of the underworld. His father doesn't want him to get involved in the yakuza business. His older siblings are the ones who helps out in their family's business, not him.
In any case, he is glad he can live a life free from conflict. Ever since the start of high school he has been living by himself in an apartment, far from where the rest of his family live in another part of the city because his apartment was a lot nearer to school. It makes commuting a lot easier.
"M-Maybe I should dye my hair back to black?" She began to worry needlessly as she checked her reflection in the mirror. "Pink doesn't seem to be a nice colour so-"
"Mitsuri." He called her name and gently put his hands on her shoulder from behind. "You look fine. You are gorgeous. Father will like you so do not worry. Just be yourself."
He knew his words had the desired effect when she finally calmed down.
"Really?"
"Yeah." He nodded as they both admired each other through their reflection in the mirror. "I told him all about you and he is equally excited about meeting you. Like you, he has an interest in food, so you do not need to worry about not having a common topic to talk. He may be a yakuza boss but he is also an old man. He's just as ordinary as you and I so there's no need to be so nervous and tense. If anything, I will be with you, so just be yourself."
"Okay." She replied with a smile as she looked back up at him. Just the look in her eyes told him everything he needs to know. Just having her look at him told him a lot more than what words could convey.
And so, they left for his home hand-in-hand and Kaburamaru coiled around his shoulders. He is sure his father will approve of her just as how he is sure she will grow to appreciate his father's company.
"We won! We won!"
She hugged him in joy when they won first place in an international cooking competition. They entered as a duo. It wasn't easy getting here and it took them countless hours of practice and hard work to reach the international stage. Years of toiling and experimenting in the kitchen was what allowed them to be up here.
Naturally, after their performance in the competition they received many invitations from many famous restaurants and chefs to work for them. They had sifted through the invites together but none really caught their eye.
"Obanai?" She said softly from where she is leaning her head on his shoulder. "Why don't we open our own place? A place where people can come to eat our cooking and be happy. A place where we can bring smiles to other people's faces because they ate our food. How about it?"
"As long as you are happy." He whispered back to her as he hugged her close. "What do you have in mind?"
"Umm, this sounds weird but I don't want to open a restaurant. What I envisioned is more like… an eatery? A place where anyone can enter and eat. Like the one we dined in when we first met? Restaurants are too classy for me and what I have in mind is more like… a place with a more homely feel to it? I know it is a waste of our talents when we just won an international competition but…"
"Then we shall open an eatery." He said gently yet firmly. "If you want to bring smiles to people's faces through your food, then I will support you every step of the way."
He saw how she looked up at him with a big smile on her face.
"Thank you, Obanai. I'm very lucky to have met you, you know that?"
He pressed a kiss onto her forehead.
"It's me who is lucky to have met such a kind girl like you. I will do anything to make you happy, Mitsuri. Anything."
She let out a laugh as she buried her head into his chest and hugged him close.
"I'm already very happy, Obanai. Very, very happy."
They have been happily married to each other for three years now. Their eatery is doing well despite its small size. Business is booming. Both of them are master chefs who could easily whip up a meal of any type and style if they put their minds into it. Add that to the fact that their eatery is known for serving super large portions due to Mitsuri's insistence and reasoning that people are happy when they get to eat more, and also because of the reasonable prices they priced on their menu, it's not hard to see why business is so good.
He's not good with social interactions, so his wife is the one who usually greets the customers most of the time. He doesn't have an actual problem with that. The only problem he has is when the customers start to ogle at his wife.
That can never be allowed to happen.
And so, their eatery gained a new reputation, that the lady boss' husband who also runs the place with her is scarily good at throwing knives at anyone who stared at his wife for anything more than three seconds. Mitsuri often chewed him out for it because "You just scared all our customers away!" but this is the only thing which he couldn't bring himself to listen to his wife.
He even bought a katana and hung it on the wall in the kitchen He even purposely put it at an angle where it is easily visible to the customers from outside. Sometimes, when he felt like it, he would draw it out and purposely display his skills with the sword and use it to prepare the meals, like cutting up meat or noodles. People were wowed at how he prepared food with a katana of all things. The explanation he gave his wife was "to draw in customers and increase the reputation of their eatery", but deep down he knows it is to deter any of those degenerate pigs who only visits their eatery to ogle at his wife. Like hell he would ever allow any of those pigs to even look at his wife with those lustful eyes.
These pigs steered clear away from their eatery after seeing how good he is with a sword. Good. The further they stay away from his Mitsuri. The better.
The most annoying fellow he ever had to deal with was a scam artist. He's very sure that the Doma guy who tried to hit on his wife is a scam artist that cheats women by entering into fake marriages with them. He is so infamous to the point that he gets covered in special programs on TV. The only reason why the Doma bastard hasn't been prosecuted was because somehow, there's always not enough evidence to do so.
Under usual circumstances Obanai couldn't be bothered to care about the lives of others, but when the Doma bastard had the audacity to try and hit on his wife, that was the last straw.
And so, after making sure that he was alone, he made a call back home. If the police are too incapable of bringing the detestable scam artist to justice, then the yakuza would do what they cannot. He will protect and make her happy, that was the vow he took when he married her and took her in as his wife.
And if Japan suddenly found itself one scam artist short, well, Obanai had absolutely nothing to do with it. Nope. Nothing at all.
Of course, his wife still found out about it because she is his wife. He could still remember her pulling on his ear when she caught him at the scene of the crime and screaming "I had a feeling you were lying!" in front of his father and his underlings. She didn't say a thing nor did she ask what his father's underlings did to Doma, knowing that there are certain things about his side of the family that she is better off not knowing. They are still as close to each other as ever as husband and wife.
But even after dealing with one scum another would appear.
"Yoshiteru-kun. Are you sure your eyes shouldn't be staring elsewhere?"
With a flick of his wrist his knife came flying at the boy who had been staring at his wife's chest for five seconds straight. The only reason why he hadn't drawn the sword hanging on the wall yet was because they are still students.
"EEEEEEK! I'M SORRY!"
Agatsuma Yoshiteru and Kamado Kanata ran as fast as they could out of their eatery the moment his knife embedded itself into the wall exactly two centimeters to the right of Yoshiteru's head. His eyesight had never been that good but he rarely misses when it comes to throwing knives. Hmph. At least they had the courtesy to leave the payment behind on the table this time. Stupid brats.
"Obanai! I told you to stop scaring the children away!"
"They were staring at you in an indecent manner." He replied in a rather unapologetic manner, uncaring if people were taking videos and photos of his knife throwing skills and then posting it on social media. He had become a bit of a celebrity on social media because he's the only person to ever throw knives at their customers and also because of his accuracy in doing so. People actually come to their eatery just to see him throw pointy objects at other people. Some even wanted him to throw knives at them. Weirdos.
He convinced himself that this is all for publicity. Yes, publicity for their eatery. That is what he is going to tell his wife when she scolds him for throwing pointy objects at their customers again.
"Obanai?" His wife approached him when it was just the two of them in the kitchen. Opening hours were over and their staff had already packed up and went home. Just another ten more minutes and they can be on their way too.
"I will be done soon." He promised as he washed the various utensils in the sink.
"Um, it's not about that. I'm in no real hurry. It's just… I…"
He watched in puzzlement when Mitsuri looked away with a blush and began to shuffle her feet uneasily. Her hands are brought close to her chest, a tic of hers that he recognises that she always does when she's nervous.
"Mitsuri? Are you okay?" He walked up to her in concern and quickly looked over her. "Are you feeling unwell? Alright, give me a moment. I will finish up as soon as I can and then I will bring you to see a doc-"
"I-I'm pregnant!"
He stared at her with his mouth wide open when she suddenly blurted out what's on her mind. His brain stopped working as he tried to process the information she just told him.
"I-I-I d-don't know what to do!" She confessed as she began to talk non-stop anxiously. "What if I'm not a good enough mother? I don't know how to raise a child! What if-"
"Mitsuri." He quickly calmed her down but there's no concealing the large smile on his face. "It will be fine. I'm here. We will go through this, together. There's no need to be afraid. I will be here to protect you and our child, alright?"
"Obanai…"
"I do hope that it is a girl, because she will definitely be as beautiful and kind as you." He told her with a smile before his expression turned dark upon realising that if so, he would need to protect not just his wife, but his daughter too. And what if their daughter grows up into a teenager and started dating and-
Oh hell no.
"Then again, I will need to stock up on the knives and buy a few more swords if that is the case. I will need to ask my father if he knows any good swordsmith around and I will also need to-"
Understandably, his wife began to scream at him again.
"Obanai! No more throwing those knives of yours!"
He reluctantly agreed to his wife's request that night, but time would prove that he still ended up throwing knives at his customers anyway.
~END~
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