Chapter 37: [37] Storm Beneath Still Waters
The restaurant felt smaller with all of them inside, but the warmth made up for the cramped quarters. Kaito moved between the kitchen and their table, setting down plates of grilled fish that still sizzled, fresh bread that steamed when broken, and bowls of rich soup. The steam carried the scent of salt and bay leaves, a smell so close to a forgotten memory of home it made his shoulders ache to relax.
Pierre watched the man’s weathered hands as he served them, noting how they trembled slightly. Not from age or weakness, but from emotion barely held in check. Kaito’s dark eyes, so much like Mika’s, kept finding Pierre’s face. The man looked at him not with a simple thank you, but with a raw, unguarded reverence that felt heavier than any debt.
"Papa cried when you punched the mean man," Mika announced cheerfully, tearing into her bread. "Happy tears though! Mama cried too, but she always cries when she’s cooking."
"Mika..." Kaito’s voice carried gentle reproach, but his smile took any sting from it.
"What? It’s true! You did cry! Big tears like when I fell off the dock and scraped my knee!"
Alyssa sat at the far end of the table, her spine rigid as a mast. She’d folded her hands in her lap and hadn’t touched her food beyond moving it around her plate. Every few seconds, her green eyes darted toward the family, watching their easy affection like someone studying a foreign language.
"The fish is good," he offered, nudging the conversation toward safer waters.
"You should see the ones I usually catch," Kaito replied, settling into his own chair. "Before..." He gestured vaguely toward the window, where the debris of the monument was still visible. "Before everything changed."
Raven leaned back in her chair, balancing it on two legs. "So what happens now? With the Navy, I mean. Reynolds didn’t look like he wanted the job."
"Reynolds is a good man," Kaito said slowly. "He always looked uncomfortable when Hardy gave orders. Maybe now he can do what’s right instead of what’s commanded."
"The townspeople will help," Mika added between bites. "We’re good at fixing things! Remember when the storm took out half the dock? Everyone worked together and made it even better than before!"
Alyssa’s fork clinked against her plate. "I should..." She stopped, the words catching in her throat. Her knuckles whitened where she gripped the utensil.