Bright Burning

Bento

Her flat hand came at me like a pitch of a curveball, ready to not only destroy anything in its path but to make me afraid and obedient to her. I could tell from a first glance that she was the type of women to feed off of fear, the kind of women that thinks the only way to be noticed in the world is to beat it until only one black eye can see you.

Luckily I grew up with a brother, my hand caught her wrist before it could collide with my own face. I tried not being to smug about it as I Just smiled sweetly, "I'm so sorry you lost your father." My Japanese came out perfectly and I think I was more proud about that than I was with my reflexes.

Man oh man was she angry, she tried to pull away but I kept my grip as I stared down at her. My personality could be a mix of hopeless romantic and clumsy English teacher but my hatred for hateful people outweighed any of those qualities of mine. I promised Akira's grandfather that I would protect her and if that meant protecting her from his own daughter than I think he would understand.

"Laura please." Akira came to my side and put her hand on my arm. Her eyes were wide and pleading and I sighed seeing the red hand mark on her face. She whispered for me to stop so I did so without thinking twice, my soft hand went up to meet her face calmly and I felt how warm her beautiful skin was. I couldn't ever imagine catching an angel from the sky and pulling her down to the earth only to beat her until she was smashed into the floor and closer to hell.

I could hear her mother cussing again so I turned towards her and put my hands behind my back.

"You are a perv! That is a child and you are taking advantage of my own daughter." Her English was shaky and broken but I mentally thanked her for teaching Akira how to communicate in two languages. "If that stupid man couldn't see it, he was a fool."

Akira got between us and held her hands out but I ignored her as I could feel my own face heat up, call me names and there's a big chance I can take it without even blinking but to call me a pervert was pushing boundaries that I didn't know I had. "She is not a child." My Japanese probably sounded like her English.

"She is barely 18! You are a woman who should be at home cooking for children."

I almost laughed at the fact that those words came from her but I only stepped forward to continue, "If this was other circumstances than I would agree with you, but she has been left to take care of not only herself but her elderly grandparents. She goes to school and takes care of everything that you left so I don't think YOU get to judge anyone on maturity level." God I could feel myself point at her and I knew I was getting so angry that I could barely think, my brain was only letting me act and not do anything else.

"Get out of my house!" Her scream was loud and I'm sure the woman down the road with the rice could hear how it sounded desperate and toe curling. "Don't you dare come back or I will call the police!"

I looked down at Akira but she was sitting down on the floor below the sink. Her hand was holding her forehead and I realized I had messed up royally. She couldn't even look at me as I bent down to try and move her hands so I could look into her eyes to tell her everything would be ok, that I could fix it. "Baby I'm sorry."

"Just go." She whispered. He bottom lip quivered and my heart broke in to two. I'm sure it was right of me to get angry at her mother but I suppose I did take it too far. I made a difficult situation even worse and I don't think her grandfather would have been very pleased with me.

"Call me please." I whispered kissing the top of her head before standing up. Her mother stood with her arms crossed, her feet tapped the floor impatiently and I looked her up and down. Her eye's gestured towards the door and I knew there was no other way to go.

My steps started until I was next to her. I paused weighing if I should do it but I was already in deep shit so why not finish with a bang. "If I find out you laid another hand on her, I'll handle it the way most Americans handle abusers." She didn't react so I kept going until I was out of the house and alone on the paved road from before. I honestly didn't know what to do from there, my mind that was racing so quickly suddenly stopped. leaving me alone with no idea of what to do next.

I took off my heels and held them in my hand as I started walking down the long road hoping it would make the trip a little easier. Sometimes a small truck would appear but I would deny the ride for fear that I would have to talk to someone and give a pretend smile. There was no way I could even muster anything fake like that with how I was feeling.

Whatever I felt though, I knew Akira was feeling it 100x harder. She not only lost her grandfather, but she had to be left alone with a woman who didn't seem to love her or care for her the way a mother should. And that happened because I went to far, putting my nose into business that wasn't mine. Sure she deserved it but nothing I did made it easier for the poor girl.

There was a fleeting thought in my head that maybe I could go out and drink with Amy. Numb the pain with someone who needed to drink a whole keg to feel a buzz but I couldn't do something that selfish. If Akira did call needing me I needed to be totally ready to jump up and serve. It was the least I could do for her.

With that idea in mind I took what money I had and bought dinner from a food truck so I wouldn't have to get back out. It was a colorful bento box and I looked at it like it was an alien. Yes it steamed and smell good but I came to realize any good food was quickly outweighed when it could be made at home by the woman you loved. Nothing could compare to the food Akira could make. I hoped to taste the food again and tell her how much I love it.

Opening my apartment and seeing how totally depressing it felt to be there I threw my belongings down and plugged in a charger so I could charge my phone by my futon. I put two bottles of water near it and put my sad food in front so I could be totally ready to pick up at the first ring. Even if I wasn't there physically I was ready to be. I wasn't going to do anything without her permission though, there was no way I could make things worse and miss out on her forgiving me.

"Laura?" I heard a knock on my door but ignored it at Amy tried again with a fun rhythm. Closing my eyes I hoped she would go away. "I know you are in there, I saw you come home. Is everything ok?" Again I stayed silent as I stared at my phone, just hoping it would ring and her picture would pop up. The one where her nose was scrunched and her hair flew in all directions. "If you need to talk just call." Her footsteps disappeared down the hall and I breathed out knowing she couldn't hear me anymore, sure she was just being nice and helpful but I couldn't handle it. I didn't need her I needed Akira.