Chapter One - The Blue of the Storm

In high school, Orimoto Izumi had crossed Yagami Hikari's path a grand total of four times. Every single one of these times was because of their best friends and their inevitable squabbles. Because of that, the impression that Izumi got of the shorter girl was… peacemaker. Soft and gentle, unwilling to make waves, but could cut deep with words. Yes, that felt like her. But that was only a hypothesis gained from watching her break up two people close and different.

So seeing her walk into her mother's Italian restaurant at the behest of Motomiya Daisuke, who she only even heard about from Kouichi-kun's commentary was almost enough to drop her customer's change. Izumi made herself recover and finish the order.

"Come on, you have to listen to the doctor, Hikari-chan," she heard him say, tugging the girl along. "You heard him. You need your nutrients!"

"I'm not hungry, Daisuke-kun." Her voice sounded so tired, not marathon tired, but people tired. Like there was more crowding in the world than there had been before. "I'm just tired."

"You're always tired. You still need nutrients."

She heard Hikari sigh. Izumi bit back a smile. "Welcome you two! What can I get you?"

"Two ravioli and one strawberry crepe set!" Daisuke stirred in place as he spoke, leaning forward on the counter as if he could see into the kitchen and eat the secrets with his eyes.

Yagami Hikari stared at him beneath her slightly unkempt bangs and made a face. "You've been planning this."

Daisuke beamed at her. "Yep." He started pulling change furiously from his pockets. IT was like watching Takuya desperate to get the first taiyaki only to fall to Tomoki's raw speed and childlike agility, even all these years later. "It was this or listen to Takeru refuse to get on with it for the third session in a row and now you can't even sip some sake. So what's the point?"

For a moment, Hikari struggled with what was very likely fond exasperation as she looked up at Izumi. Izumi gave her a sympathetic grin over the register. Hikari smiled a little and then looked at Daisuke. "I don't even like sake," she reminded him.

"I know. But now you have an excuse."

Hikari gave him the vaguest look of what was possibly displeasure. Izumi wanted to ask, because the young man seemed to be making way too big of a deal about it. However, his tanned face flushed with sheepish guilt as he dropped his money into her hands. Izumi took that as a 'do not ask or he will die a slow death' and simply handed back his change.

"A server will bring it out in a little bit!"

Daisuke waved on and led Hikari to sit down. Nothing about it seemed particularly unusual. But then, she didn't know them very well.

"How's classes?"

Izumi tried very hard not to listen it, busying herself with another customer until those ran out and she had to go wipe down tables. So in the end she was eavesdropping. Poor sod.

Hikari let out a sign. "Close to over. The internships have to call back soon. Everyone's been… polite."

"Jerks."

"Daisuke-kun." Izumi didn't have to look up to hear Hikari's voice turn. Another pause and she let out a heavy sigh. "Well, you're not wrong."

"I'm never wrong except when I am." His voice held a trace of smugness. Hikari laughed.

Izumi chanced to look up and saw Hikari's smile fade into faint unease. "I'll be fine, Daisuke-kun. A few more months, then I'll be on break. Be able to ride this out."

Izumi didn't hear the rest, having gone to check on the next customer. For all of her curiosity, there was a strange pit thick in her stomach. This, whatever it was, was something she should not hear.

Daisuke, being intent on the here and now hadn't quite noticed the cashier listening in. Hikari, however had. She had recognized her but, as was becoming commonplace after everything, she was much more reluctant to meet a person's eyes, especially that of a familiar stranger. She wasn't sure which was more shameful: the age she was at or at the loneliness of her current position.

You could always get an abortion. She could hear Takeru-kun's voice saying so in his somewhat understanding way. Because he had a somewhat self-deluding temperament, he could accept why Hikari very likely was not going to do so, and it had nothing to do with the potential pain of the operation or the stigma behind that. It was very likely because of something Hikari couldn't even understand herself.

So even if she wasn't ashamed, the flow of people were leery of her doing it. Except her friends and she didn't know why, and her family, but she understood why when it came to them. They were all dysfunctional, somehow.

"You're going to eat everything I put in front of you today, Hikari-chan."

Sometimes Daisuke-kun's absolute certainty could be… trying, at best. She loved him for it but… trying. He and Takeru-kun both, for different reasons. "I will, Daisuke-kun," she agreed. "So long as it's approved by the doctor."

"Hey." He frowned, playfully but still a frown, at her. "I'm the one who asked the lady."

"Gynecologist," Hikari rattled off in interruption, just to make sure he hadn't said it because it was a longer word.

"Yeah that." Daisuke narrowed his burgundy eyes at her, clearly wise to her word games by now, she really did not deserve him. "I'm the one who asked all about dietary stuff. We can't trust your mother-"

No, they really couldn't. She could keep a household together when it was the most necessary, but that only extended as far as raising children, not raising children into parents legitimately. But that was fine. That was a bit much to ask after the talking monsters and world saving plots.

"Your dad is not allowed to touch anything again after that beer can chicken-"

She was never thinking of that unmitigated disaster as chicken-

"And no offense to Taichi-san, but he's turning so much into Koushiro-senpai lately, I wouldn't be surprised if we found him in a sleeping bag on your bedroom floor."

"I didn't need that thought or image in my head, thank you Daisuke-kun." Hikari smiled wearily to offset the bitter note in her voice. He wasn't blaming her, not really. He didn't do that even when he should. Didn't help that he was surrounded by people who blamed themselves for everything.

Daisuke grinned sheepishly now. "Right, sorry." He waved down Izumi as she actually did return with the food. But then again, most people were getting takeout right now. It would make sense for her to not trouble what other workers there were here. "Thanks! It looks awesome!"

Looking down at the delicately decorated plates, Hikari had to agree. She wasn't the same kind of pasta fanatic as Daisuke-kun, who in his rush to understand everything about cooking and noodle making and business, had gotten so absurdly creative she had caught Ken-kun complaining about losing his taste buds. However, she knew was a beautiful plate looked like and seeing these tiny little filled pastas covered with carefully spread sauces make her actually feel like eating somewhat. Her stomach didn't gurgle, but it was rare she was ever that level of hungry anyway.

As she examined the crepes, horror began to creep into her chest. She was going to have to cook for a little one. No, never mind cook, she was going to have to go in that unspoken battle of the moms for who made the prettier box of food and she could only cook in the most basic sense. She could make it and it looked edible.

"My father loves styling plates." Izumi's voice, cheerful and clear, cut through the rapidly rising wave of fear. "He's taught me everything I know."

"Aww… lucky!" Daisuke seemed to be fiddling with his fork because forks were legitimately a nightmare. (But could you actually use chopsticks in an Italian restaurant? Wasn't that an extreme faux-pas?) "My mom's good, but she has way too much to do."

"I know that feeling." Izumi laughed and Hikari focused on the sound, zeroed in and used it to keep breathing before she threw up all over the nice plates. She could blame it on morning sickness, but really.) "THey both work here so it was either learn how to cook or nick from plates."

Daisuke snorted and grinned at her his easy smile as Hikari pulled herself up like a dolphin from deep underwater.

Hikari looked at Izumi with something between curiosity and pleading. "Izumi-san, do you… do you take a cooking class?"

Izumi, befuddled, shook her head. "I help run the cooking club at my university a few blocks down."

Convenient. "I…" Hikari steeled herself. "I need to improve my cooking skills. Would you help me?"

"I…" Izumi's eyes went wide, so thoroughly put on the spot. "I… sure. I suppose I could… I'm not that good though."

Hikari knew hesitation. She tended to have it as a constant companion. "That… That's okay, this is just really important to me." She tried to smile. "I'll pay you. Please."

Izumi, dumbstruck, nodded.

A/N: And we're back! This is for snapplefics on tumblr/I think something similar here. She posted a Takeru/Kouichi fic that I really liked and I asked if I could write these two together for her and she said yes! Sorry it took this long to come out! Also if you've read My Sanctuary, you probably recognize this scenario.

Challenges: digiotpweek, novella masterclass Frontier 10, diversity writing DFC (AM) J5, AU Diversity Boot Camp - kettle, interseason boot camp - pickle, three sided box