Hisao and Lilly's Married Life: Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Hisao Nakai remembered high school. He remembered the long nights awake lying in bed wondering about the future, and the pressure on him to decide what to do with that future. Aptitude tests that would tell him what he should do, career planning of what he actually wanted to do, and of course what those around him thought he’d do. He remembered the nights of studying that followed one after the other after the other after the other, and the pressure on him making him feel as if he was about to tear his hair out. Now, he got to do that to others. 

That made him smile.

He looked over the heads of the sea of students, the young minds that were wanting to be sculpted and hardened into their own sense of being, and just wished they’d get out of his darn way. 

He loved being a teacher, truly loved working at the school, but at times it just felt like there were far too many people. Alas, aside from trying to slam through the crowd like some sort of 5’7” bulldozer, which was more than likely to end with him being trampled instead of trampling, there was no way though except for simply wading through the sea. Besides, his destination was already in sight.

Hisao moved through the hallway as quick as he could, trying to reach the alcove, dipping and diving through the crowd as so many students poured down the stairs to change classes or to head to lunch. 

A nearby elevator dinged and a short scrawny red-haired girl stepped right in front of him, causing him to jump back for a moment as she led a line of students out and into the crowd.

Hisao stretched his back muscles as he finally reached his destination and entered through the windowless wooden door labeled ‘teacher’s lounge’. He let the door swing shut behind him, causing the sole occupant of the room to lower her cup to her small platter and turn her head in greeting.

“This is exactly what I was expecting.” He says. The woman placed her tea onto the table, her lips rising into a soft and gentle smile. 

“Hello, lover.” said Mrs. Lilly Nakai. She extended a hand towards him, her long fingers adorned by a ring with a simple band and singular stone set into the piece. Hisao barely noticed it as he stepped forwards, his eyes locked onto Lilly’s own unseeing ones. He blinked as the memory of events far passed filled his mind, and bent over to kiss Lilly’s hand. It made her smile, and Hisao felt a warm heat filling his body as his mind imagined a violin playing in the background.

“Good afternoon, Lilly.” He replied, his voice almost a whisper as he forced the words out. He always felt so odd walking in on her alone, as if he was shattering the peaceful aura that surrounded his lovely wife. He breathed hard, suppressing a laugh, at a memory of him telling her that, and how she’d told him that instead of breaking it, his presence enhanced her comfort by so much more.

“What’s funny?” Lilly asked.

Hisao let the laugh loose. He was used to her being able to read him like a book despite being blind. “Just an old memory of walking in on a certain girl in a certain tea room.”

Lilly nodded her head in understanding before releasing his hand and reaching forwards to the table. She brushed her fingers against a small plate set in front of hers, and pushed it slightly to Hisao. “Your tea. Did you bring lunch?” She asked.

Hisao flinched. “Ah, crap. No, I forgot it was my day.”

Lilly pouted at him. “That’s the second time lately…”

“I know I know, I’m sorry Lilly. I meant to grab it, but I’d forgotten. I’m sorry.” He said. He felt his head dip in apology.

“It’s too late for anything to be done about it now.” She said, waving her hand in front of her face and dismissing the issue. “We can just eat when we get home after classes.”

Hisao hissed. “Ohhh gosh. Uhh… Please don’t hate me.” He said.

Lilly’s head shook slightly in surprise, her eyes blinking and going wide. Her long golden hair that flowed over her black teacher’s jacket shook. “Hate you? I could not hate you, Hisao.” He noticed her back straighten slightly. “Now, sit down. Speak to me.”

Hisao did as he was instructed, pulling out his chair and sitting down into it. Lilly waited patiently as he reached forwards and sipped at his own cup of tea. He felt his stomach growl.

Lilly giggled into her hand. “It seems I’m not the only one who is hungry.” She teased. 

“I can’t believe I forgot… Gah.” Hisao said. Lilly reached forwards and groped on the empty table. He slid his hand into hers, and she took it gently.

“To be entirely fair to you,” she said, “it’s not as if you were reminded. We’re hardly with one another when we’re not sleeping or having lunch it feels, as of late. You’re gone in the mornings to run before I wake up and oftentimes when we’re home I’m busy reading over reports from the day or using that infernal computer.”

Hisao snorted a bit of laughter, which caused Lilly to laugh herself. Lilly had received a position as an English teacher at their school, which meant grading papers that were written in English. While Lilly was fluent in English herself, unfortunately this did not help her read essays that the students had written or assignments they had completed. As part of the school’s program, she’d been given a text to speech device that would read student’s assignments out to her through a set of headphones, as well as a few student-teachers to help her in class.

Hisao had tried it once. He was half-sure that the Japanese woman that was the voice of the program could speak English just about as well as he could. Which, he felt, may explain some of the exasperated sighs he could hear coming from the living room as he did his own housework.

He stroked her hand as they sat in silence for a few minutes.

“How has your day been? Health class going well?” Lilly asked, a hopeful ring to her voice.

Hisao bit back a sour reply. “As well as it could be, I guess.”

Lilly’s face fell. She lowered her head slightly. “Still not feeling comfortable?”

“Not… Really.” Hisao admitted. “I want to teach science Lilly, real science. The stuff I prepared for. This is just what I know mostly from, well, being there.”

She patted his hand. “I know sweetheart, I know. Does talking about it bother you?”

Hisao shook his head absently. “No, I’m used to that. Well… Mostly. Talking about how I suffer from arrhythmia with teenage kids is always weird. Most of them don’t understand what it is and the other half seem to think I’ll die on the spot.”

Lilly’s hand grows tighter around Hisao’s and he picks his head up. She does her best to fix him with a challenging stare. “You don’t leave me every morning without reason. You’ve come so very far since we decided on your morning runs.”

Hisao holds himself back from saying that she’s the one who decided on them, but just barely. He took a self-congratulatory sip of tea.

“We haven’t been spending much time together, have we?” Lilly asks.

“No…” Hisao admitted sadly.

“Do you ever miss high school?” Lilly asked.

Hisao looked around the room, thinking. He thought of how he’d spent half of his third year in the hospital. He thought of how little the rest of school from before then seemed to matter, before coming to Yamaku. Before coming to Lilly. That’s when everything really started kicking in, after all. He thought back to a single moment, back to when he lay with Lilly in bed, just staring at her beautiful sleeping face.

“Not for a damn second.” He raised her hand to his lips, kissing it gently. It made her smile. 

The door to the staffroom opened, and in came another teacher. Hisao and Lilly lowered their hands to the table out of reflex, but didn’t let go. Hisao looked over to the open jar to see an older woman entering the room. The woman looked at them before her face lit up in recognition. “Oh yes, oh yes, hello Mrs. Nakai. Mr. Nakai.” The older woman said, bowing her head respectfully. 

Hisao stood from his chair and returned her bow. Lilly nodded, “Good afternoon, Mrs. Nagashi.” She replied.

The name sprung a spring of recognition in Hisao’s mind. He’d forgotten that the plain faced older woman was one of the upper echelons of staff at the school. It’d been thanks to her and a few others that Lilly’s talents weren’t dismissed by the staff at learning of her blindness, and they’d instead changed standard procedures to be able to have Lilly’s expert knowledge in English at their school.

“I recognize the signs. Are the two of you quarrelling?” The greying woman asked.

Both Hisao and Lilly were taken a little off guard. “Not… really?” Hisao looked to Lilly for confirmation, who had bitten her lip in thought. 

After a moment, a very loud and very uncomfortable moment for Hisao, she too spoke up. “It’s more as if we were lamenting.” She said. “Hisao and I have not been able to spend as much time together lately, as our schedules seem to be conflicting at many points.”

Mrs. Nagashi nodded her head wisely. “When you take a full time position as a teacher,” she said, “nobody ever really explains that it’s so much more than the simple hours you’re instructing. To be a teacher is much more than simply lecturing students and grading papers. Your students are often not students. You will come to understand.” She bowed her head to the couple as if passing on wise information, but Hisao’s brow furrowed in puzzlement. He was about to ask more when the older woman continued. “As for your situational predicament, what do the two of you do?”

Lilly waited a moment before responding. “Excuse me?”

“The two of you. What do you do?” She asked as she moved over towards the coffee maker. She took a cup from the side before heading to the nearby sink.

“We’re… teachers…” Hisao said, releasing Lilly’s hand.

Mrs. Nagashi shook her head as she filled her cup with steaming hot water. She withdrew a pouch from her jacket pocket, dunking the tea bag into the water. “That’s what each of you does. What do the two of you do?”

Neither of the pair spoke up. Each of them knew the most they’d done lately was sleep in the same bed. They hadn’t been on a date in what felt like forever, and it’d been months since they just simply sat on the couch with one another just talking.

“There just… hasn’t been time.” Lilly said.

Hisao looked at her mournfully. Not only was there no time, but there wasn’t the money… They were both beginning teachers, enough to make rent, surely, but not for much else. A bit of shame struck Hisao as he could feel the plastic of a certain card searing his side as if it was a red-hot poker, even though his trousers and wallet. Money was tight, and everything just seemed so expensive.

“You must make the time.” Mrs. Nagashi said. She sipped the tea before bowing her head once more. “Good day.”

And with that, she left the room.

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The words of Mrs. Nagashi stuck with Hisao throughout the rest of the day. They nagged at the corners of his mind as he taught, pulled at his mind as he stayed late to help students, distracted him as he tried grading papers. 

‘Make time,’ he kept thinking to himself. ‘If only it were so simple.’

He needed a run. By the time he’d finished with schoolwork, the evening sky was already starting to dip into a light brilliant orange. The tunes of the afternoon played background as, now adorned in his still dirty running clothes from the morning, Hisao made his way down to the school track. 

He left a while later, head thankfully clear, and began walking home. As he walked though, the thoughts of the day slowly began to return to his mind.

He stopped along the way home, picking up a small bento box to eat for dinner. As he reached their apartment building, he groped for his pocket only to realize he was still wearing running shorts. His fingers tugged at the bridge of his nose before searching through his gym bag for his keys.

He entered the lobby to find the guard’s reception desk empty. He’d probably already left for the day. Hisao looked around the lobby and approached the small bulletin board. He scanned it, eyes passing over the familiar notices, hoping for something to catch his eye. Something did. It caused him to look down at his small bento box, and his stomach hungrily growled. He looked back up to the flyer and ripped off a small tag, then went to the nearby stairs and unlocked the door before heading up the few flights to his apartment and waiting wife.

He entered the apartment to see Lilly sitting alone at the kitchen table. She sat there staring with unseeing eyes at a box of white rice with vegetables with such disgust that Hisao worried for a moment that the box had insulted her.

“I hate this.” Lilly said bluntly as the door closed behind him.

“Did they not cook it right?” Hisao asked, dropping his bag next to the door and heading over to her.

“I can’t… I haven’t even eaten anything.” As Hisao got closer he could see what looked like the beginning of tears in her eyes. “I want to eat dinner with my husband. We live in the same home, for God’s sake. I’m-” she paused to sniff, “I’m sick of eating alone.”

Hisao wrapped his arms around her head and she leaned against him. “You know,” he said, “I was just thinking the same thing.”

She rested there for a couple of moments before gently pulling back. She blinked a few times. “What do you mean?” She asked.

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They hadn’t even gotten into the front door and Hisao was already patting himself on the back. It was the most animated he’d seen Lilly in a while, the last time he remembered this sort of girlish excitement from the woman was when they had officially spent their first night at home as a married couple. He could always see it on her when she was excited. She kept her eyes closed, too busy anticipating the upcoming events rather than thinking it was odd for people to see her walking around with her eyes closed. She held onto Hisao’s arm, her gentle fingers flexing and squeezing every few seconds. She didn’t dance, she didn’t hop, she didn’t giddily clap her hands, but Lilly Satou was excited there was no mistake about it.

“What do you think we’ll be making?” Lilly asked. “This is our first meeting, after all, but surely this isn’t the first class.”

“Personally, I hope we just make dinner at this point. I’m famished, and the lunch you made us put a taste for more in my mouth.” 

Lilly beamed with pride. “It’s been forever since we cooked something from home. I woke up a little earlier to fix us something so we didn’t have to get lunch from the cafeteria. We should stop for groceries on the way home, if we’re to have ingredients for tomorrow.”

“You’re really getting into this.” Hisao said. He put a hand over onto Lilly’s shoulder, pulling her close to him. “We haven’t even had a class yet.”

“Well I did used to cook more, you know.” Lilly said. “I made dinner for myself and for Akira constantly. She always chided me about portion sizes, but I never told her I’d given her some from my own plate since I knew she wouldn’t be home till I was asleep anyways.”

“Hah, I can barely make something frozen.” Hisao said. “Well, head chef,” Hisao said with a laugh. “What do you hope we’ll be making?”

She mulled that thought over as they walked through the community center towards the designated room. Hisao could hear the hubbub of communication coming from ahead of them, other couples and groups who’d be attending the cooking classes.

“Cookies.” Lilly said assuredly. 

Hisao glanced at a sign to the right of the door that said, ‘Custom cookies cooking class. Any flavor, any type, learn today!’

“That’s just cheating.” Hisao said.

Lilly put a finger to her nose before laughing, then leaning into Hisao.

“I love you, Hisao. Thank you for doing this with me.”

“I hope you can still say that after trying my cooking,” Hisao replied. Lilly laughed again.

They entered the room and took up post at one of the stations. Hisao told her of several large packets of what seemed to be flour and sugars that sat on the countertop above their stove. Lilly began asking Hisao to tell her where a variety of objects they may need were, and then had to explain what most looked like.

“How have you never used measuring cups?” She’d asked. 

Hisao rolled his eyes. “These things are too tiny for noodles and fish.” He said, holding at the tiny ring of tiny cups.

Lilly shook her head in wonder. “How have I never known this?” She asked nobody in particular.

Before long the class settled down as a rather large woman took the instructors table. Rarely had Hisao ever seen an Asian woman that was so overweight. She wore a white chef’s uniform with a black apron tied tightly over her overfilled stomach, and her straight black hair fell to just around her shoulders. The buttons on the front of the uniform had certainly seen better days, and yet the woman moved with such swiftness and assurance that Hisao found himself watching her hands more than her shifting weight as she unloaded supplies on the teaching station.

“Well I think that’s a good sign.” Hisao said aside to Lilly.

“Excuse me?” She asked.

Hisao blinked at her, and then realized his mistake. “Uh,” he tried to cover, “the head chef just arrived. She seems really experienced.” 

Lilly’s lips perked in suspicion, but she said nothing,

Their well-fed instructor wrote the measurements on the board that they’d need. “Okay, class,” she said in a voice much lighter than her belly, “settle on in. I see we have some new faces joining us this week, and we’re all very happy to welcome you to class!”

There was a mummer of ascension from the class at large. Hisao nodded his head respectfully, as did Lilly.

“So you new folks know, today is Tuesday, and our second meeting is Thursday. We meet on those two nights every week. Today we’re baking cookies, and on Thursday we’ll be cooking from a variety of sea foods, and the drinks that accompany them.”

Lilly squeezed Hisao arm. “White wines.” She whispered.

“You’d say that even about the cookies.” He whispered back.

She squeezed his arm harder, but the smile on her face widened.

The instructor told the groups they’d already had the ingredients they’d need on their stations. She then walked around and passed out instructional sheets, only hesitating for a moment when Lilly didn’t reach out to grab one before Hisao did so. 

And so, the two set to work. The pair worked in tandem, adding the proper ingredients to the mixing bowl. Lilly licked the brown sugar off of her fingers with a happy hum as Hisao stirred the ingredients together. He had to admit, the girl looked as if she was in her element. A brush with her hand here, a wipe of her fingers there, and she’d already seemed to have committed their workstation to memory. When it came time to mold their sugary mess into patties, her long fingers seemed well managed to the task as she gripped the fresh cookie dough and balled it up. She and Hisao laughed as they worked. Hisao watched her drinking in the smells of the other baking treats, and came up behind her, hugging her body to his.

“I think we’ve found ourselves a very good hobby.” He whispered in her ear.

Lilly licked a bit of cookie dough off of her finger before replying. “I think we have too.”

The place was obviously having an effect on her, Hisao noticed as they waited for their products to bake. The pairs were encouraged to mingle and talk, but Hisao and Lilly kept to themselves. Lilly had all but licked the bowl clean as they talked about remedial things that they hadn’t discussed, all the little stories that make up the day. She told him about her student’s presentations, and how exasperated she’d begun to feel every time she heard the word “[Herro.]”

When the oven finally dinged she stepped over to it with prepared grace, pulling the sheet out and placing it on the roof of the oven before carefully probing the cookies.

“Beware,” said a heavy female voice, “they’re quite hot when they’re fresh.” The instructor had apparently heard the ding of the oven, and had come over to examine their products. She looked them over with a critical eye before nodding her head with a pleased look. “They look fantastic.” She said.

“Thank you,” Lilly bowed her head, smiling. 

The woman put a finger to her plump chin. “However looks only go so far when cooking. The question of taste is much much more important.”

Lilly tilted her head. “Should we not allow them to cool first?”

“If you can, you have better self-control than me.” Laughed the hardy lady, her stomach shaking as she did. “They taste best fresh, especially the chocolate chip that you’ve made look so fine.”

Lilly tapped her finger on the countertop before reaching out and taking a cookie from the baking sheet. She had to tug slightly, and some of the cookie was left behind on the sheet. “Ahh, to be a fresh chef.” The instructor said. “It’s always a struggle at first to figure out how much non-stick material to use. Butter is generally a good choice.”

Lilly nodded her head, and Hisao could see her committing it to memory. Then she rose the cookie to her mouth before taking a bite. The warm cookie silently parted as she pulled a mouthful free, and she let her unseeing eyes roll back in her head with a low moan. She chewed as the instructor lightly laughed. “It’s good. Very good.” She said. She took another bite, this one larger and less experimental, as the instructor took a cookie for herself. 

“One of the most important opinions in cooking is your own.” She said. “Don’t be afraid to experiment, but you can hardly go wrong with the classics.” Lilly nodded her head as she finished her cookie, pleased with the praise and notes. “Next week,” the instructor said, “I expect to see the pair of you back here. We’re going to be doing beef with steamed vegetables on Tuesday, and pies on Thursday.” 

“I assure you, we will be.” Lilly said, and the instructor took her leave.

Lilly turned to Hisao, clapping her hands in front of her, evidentially pleased. “This is wonderful!” She exclaimed. “Some of my students have been giving me apples lately, and I know just what to do with them now!”

Then she bit her lip, and Hisao could see that she was pulling herself not to grab another cookie. Hisao laughed and grabbed a pair, handing one to her and receiving a gracious smile. He took a bite, and let a groan of contentment out as he slowly chewed. He watched as the corners of Lilly’s mouth grew wider still with happiness at his enjoyment before she opened up her own mouth to take a large bite. Small bits of fresh melted chocolate stained her lips as she chewed, taking bite after bite of the cookie until it disappeared.

The same thing happened to the rest of the cookies by the time the pair had reached their destination. Hisao parked the car in the lot around the same time as Lilly’s grasping fingers seemed to discover that their supply of cookies had dwindled into nothingness. She pouted. “Aww… I really wanted one more.” 

Hisao snorted. “You’d have wanted one more after that one, too.”

Lilly ignored him. “I’ll have to add that to the list as well, then. ‘Baking supplies.’ What do you think?”

“I think that I’m the luckiest guy on the planet.” He replied.

The pair exited the car, went up to their apartment, their home, and fell asleep together cuddling on the couch for the first time in far too long.