Non-challenge: A Policeman's Tale (Day 40)
Title: A Policeman's Tale (Day 40)
Author: ytak
Word count: 1028
Rating (chapter): K+ (PG)
Rating (whole story): T (PG-13)
Comments: And with this chapter I am 2/3 of the way through! Yay! A paticular note about this chapter, it is purely inspired by one of candy_chan's "One Sentence" challenges. She said I could use the idea. Isn't she nice? It's #33 but don't read it if you don't want to spoil the chapter.
Other chapters can be read through here or here.
Day 40
“While it is very nice to cuddle with you, Wataru,” Miwako said dryly but not in poor humor, “I'd much rather be doing it on your couch inside than outside on a winter's night.”
Takagi had to sigh a little. The evening had not gone quite the way he planned...
----
The day started out great. The sun was shining and there was only a slight bite in the air that promised to disappear as the day wore on. The weather reports indicated that the snow would melt during the day. The night was supposed to be a warm, for the winter, night with light cloud cover.
Takagi woke up with an excellent idea for dinner. Shrimp tempura with lightly fried vegetables accompanied by some good miso and a reasonably priced saké. He had to grin at himself. I'll take it as a sign since I dreamed about it, he thought climbing out of bed and beginning his regular morning routine.
I wonder if Miwako-san would like to watch a movie after dinner? He cast him memory back and decided that she would baring any interesting cases that might have come up during the day. Then she wold rather talk about them. He shook his head to clear it, The question is what would she like to watch? Action? Comedy? Drama? A chick flick? The last one gave him a laugh. And an idea. While he was not crazy about the movie, he had a sneaking suspicion that Miwako would probably like it.
Frantically, he searched around the apartment for a sheet of paper (there was no way he was going to use a sheet from his police notebook and he would deny if anyone asked) and a pen to write down the idea before he forgot.
He, also, scribbled down the list of ingredients for dinner. Without looking, he knew that he did not have any of them. Or any that were still good to use. Some parts of the pantry had not been explored since he had moved into the apartment. He did not want to know what might be living back there, even though he could recall shoving some tempura batter back there at some point.
The rest of the day proceeded without too many hitches. The day consisted of two trips to the grocery store, one trip to the movie rental place, and an afternoon spent frantically picking up the place to make it appropriate for company.
With a little work and a lot of looking for that cookbook he knew was in the kitchen somewhere (and he could not understand how it had gotten hidden under the utensil tray), he eventually got everything together and laid everything out so he could make it fresh.
Takagi jumped, nearly cutting himself with the knife, as someone knocked at the door. He glanced at the time and went into a slight panic when he realized that it had to be Miwako. It's all right, he told himself. You are ready. Just keep telling yourself that.
He quickly slid the vegetables into a bowl next to some shrimp, wiped his hands and jogged to the door. The sound of it opening and closing reached his ears before he reached the door.
“Miwako-san?” he said, rounding the corner to the entry.
She stood in the doorway wearing a lopsided grin. “Sorry, I didn't feel like waiting,” she said, sounding completely unapologetic. In a moment, she had slipped out of her work shoes and into the extra set of house slippers Takagi left by the door.
The thought that he should buy her a pair of house slippers crossed his mind. The thought caused him to blush slightly. It seemed a rather... intimate thing to do. But it is a good idea, he thought, leading Miwako to the small living room.
“I was thinking dinner and a movie,” Takagi said, reaching into a bag from a nearby rental center. Nervously, he pulled Titanic from it and showed it to her. He hoped he did right. The popularity of the movie had frightened him when it came out. He suspected that she might like it, though, he had a difficult time imagining her going to the theaters to watch it. But if she did not want to watch it, he had a couple of good comedies and action movies to choose from.
She blinked and she gave him a grin that he could not categorize. Deciding that the smile was a good thing, he proceeded to put the movie in. In another moment, they were on the couch, watching the title screen roll by.
A bit into the movie, Takagi worked his way out of Miwako's embrace to start the supper. In short order, the vegetables were in the skillet, cooking. He reached over to turn on the timer and slipped back to rejoin Miwako on the couch.
A little while later, Miwako sat up, “It's getting a little warm in here.” She sniffed, “Is something burning?”
“Shit!” Takagi leaped off the couch and dashed for the kitchen just as the smoke alarm went off. Smoke rolled along the ceiling coming from the kitchen. He noticed Miwako standing just behind him. She grabbed hold of his arm and they quickly left the apartment.
Takagi was not sure who called the fire department but considering how fast they arrived, someone either noticed that something was not right before he did or a fire engine had been in the area. Either way, his apartment did not go up in flames.
In fact, from what he was overhearing, there was only smoke damage. Hopefully it will clear out quickly.
He sighed. Miwako leaned against him to keep warm. Unconsciously, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in closer.
“Excuse me? Is this yours?” asked a fireman. He held a scorched pan that was crusted with burned batter. Sheepishly, Takagi nodded.
Miwako snuggled in closer to him. “That you tried to make supper was very sweet but you're not allowed to cook tempura again!”
The firefighters closest to Miwako and Takagi nodded empathically and the rest all hollered their agreement.