Hana Kimi Fan Fiction ❯ Years Away From What I Need ❯ Introducing Masa ( Chapter 14 )

DISC: I don't own Hana Kimi or the characters. They belong to Hisaya Nakajo. Please don't sue. I'm not profiting from this story, other than the benefit of the joy of writing it.

 

 

The boy was biting his lower lip and wringing his hands as he stood in the doorway, clearly undecided on whether to enter.

 

Nakatsu was chagrined. If he hadn't indulged in that obscene display last week - and his hand was still hurting - the kid wouldn't be hesitating, he was sure. Masa was rarely uncertain about anything. To see that look on his face now... It was something Shuichi was ashamed of. And something he intended to make up to his boys.

 

"Masa, you... can come in whenever you like, you know. I only take my temper out on inanimate objects." His attempt at humor seemed to escape the young man in front of him. "And I'm in a much better mood today, anyway."

 

Tentatively, the boy entered the office, and when Shuichi gestured to the seat across the desk from him, Akahori Masa sat and continued to twiddle his fingers nervously in silence.

 

A moment passed, and Nakatsu decided this would be a good place to start. "Listen, Masa, I'm glad you're here. I... wanted to apologize to you."

 

At that, the boy looked up, startled. "Apologize to ME?"

 

Putting on a serious adult face, he nodded. "Yes. You asked me a question the other day, and I didn't answer. AND, I acted like a complete ass. The only good thing to come out of that whole day is that you kids got to see first-hand that being an idiot like me is a stupid thing to do." He held up a pencil in his left hand. "By the way, have you ever had to try to write with your left hand? It's a pain in the ass." Dropping the pencil on the desk, he continued. "Anyway, I'm sorry I lost my temper. It really won't happen again. I was upset about something that had happened earlier, and I let myself stew about it instead of running several laps like I usually do, and I just wanted to apologize."

 

He smiled kindly at the boy. "Oh, and no, I won't be attending the dance."

 

"Tha- That's too bad, Coach. But we all kinda figured that's what was going on." Masa's smile was trusting and open. "You went to school here. You know how fast news travels. I just wish it had travelled fast enough that we'd heard BEFORE practice. Then, your hand..." he shrugged.

 

Nakatsu laughed. "This wasn't the first time I've done something brash and stupid. It wasn't even the most painful - although it's pretty close."

 

The young, whip-cord thin boy laughed with him. Then grew quiet and tentative as he remembered. "That... That's not really why I'm here, though..."

 

The boy was chewing his lower lip again. "It's not?" Nakatsu studied the boy in front of him. "So... did you need my help with something?"

 

Without looking at him, the boy nodded. "I'm... Can you teach me how to dance?" When the sentence finally came out, it came out in a blast.

 

Blinking in amazement, Nakatsu repeated dumbly, "You want me to teach you how to dance."

 

At this, his young student found his tongue loosened sufficiently to speak, and in a torrent it all came out: "I don't know how to dance, but there's this girl at St. Blossoms, and I really like her a lot, and I know that they're having dance lessons for those who need it, just like they always do for this, but, she's one of the girls helping with the lessons, so if I took the lessons, she'd know I can't dance, and I thought okay, that's fine, cuz at least I'd get to spend time with her, but if she thinks I'm a clod and hopeless at dancing, then I might never win her heart cuz everyone knows that girls equate how well a guy dances with how good they are in-, and then I remembered that everyone was talking about how smooth you were dancing with that one girl when that band was playing in town a few months ago, and I thought that if you could teach me then I could maybe be just a little smooth, and then maybe I'd have a chance, and..."

 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Settle down there. You gotta remember to breathe." Nakatsu smiled at the boy. He nodded. "St. Blossom's girls are really something, aren't they? So. Who's the girl? Tell me about her."

 

"Well, she's taller than most girls. And outgoing and smart. And really athletic. Mostly, she plays tennis, but she could do anything she wants, really. She's... so amazingly beautiful, too. Her name's Nakajo Sakura, and-"

 

"You've gotta be freakin' kidding me. You like Sakura-imouto?"

 

Masa paled and his eyes became like saucers. "She's... your SISTER?" He swallowed hard.

 

Nakatsu laughed. Hard. For several minutes. Meanwhile, the straight-forward boy in front of him fidgeted nervously, trying to figure out whether to join him or to be very, very scared.

 

"Dude. If you're this scared of MY reaction, you don't stand a chance with Sakura-imouto."

 

"She's really your sister?"

 

Chuckling a bit more, he replied, "I'm an only child. She's not really my sister. Relax."

 

A little color came back into Masa's face, and then he got excited, "You know Nakajo-san?"

 

Shaking his head, he replied with a grin, "I thought the rumors about me were so deep that everyone knew everything about me. Tell me, Masa, what rumors HAVE you heard about me?"

 

The boy paled again as he answered slowly, "I... heard... that you've been dating a girl from St. Blossoms. But they said she was only about 5'3", and that she had long hair, so... and Nakajo Sakurasan is 5'7" with short hair."

 

Snorting, Nakatsu said, "I'm not dating Sakura, Masa."

 

"Oh thank god," he sighed and almost collapsed with relief.

 

"So what else do the rumors say?" The new coach leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and folded his hands across his stomach.

 

"Well... I heard that secretly you'd married her. And I heard that she was a spy for the German team and was seducing you away from football so that they'd have a chance at the World Cup this year."

 

Nakatsu raised one eyebrow in disbelief.

 

"But anyone with a brain doesn't believe either of those rumors. And I also heard that you asked the school board to chaperone the dance, but that they wouldn't let you because they were afraid you'd make out on the dance floor and set a bad example. And I heard that they asked you to stop seeing this mystery girl, and you told them you'd rather die than give her up. And that they backed down because they were afraid you'd quit and then enrollment would drop off."

 

"Really, anything else?"

 

Masa looked carefully at his coach, and he could see that the man in front of him truly wanted to know. But still, he'd come here for a reason. "Are you going to teach me how to dance?"

 

"Possibly. I need to find out if you're good enough for my Imouto."

 

"I thought you said she wasn't your sister." The boy looked at him through narrowed eyes.

 

"I sort of adopted her. Now answer." He'd drawn up taller, and was looking at his student the way an older, protective brother looks at his sister's prospective date.

 

Grimacing, the boy blurted out, "Some of the guys think you're a stud for bagging a younger chick. Some think it makes you a pervert. A couple of the guys said that they'd heard that when you were in high school you had a thing for a guy, and that you must be gay. And I heard from one guy, Ryu, whose twin sister goes to St. Blossom's, that you were planning to marry her, and that his sister says you're like some sort of romantic god or something."

 

He chuckled. Then sat upright putting both hands on the desk and staring intently at the young boy, he said, "So what do YOU think?"

 

There was a slight pause before he answered. "HELL! I don't know! There's too many rumors about you dating her for it to be all made up. But... You don't seem like the kind of guy who dates girls just to date them - I mean, back when you were leading us to the World Cup, there were stories about how you never dated. You could have bagged any girl you wanted, right? So... I think you probably... like her. A lot."

 

Nakatsu closed his eyes for a few seconds. "Hmmm." He tapped his finger as he thought. "So no one has any idea who the girl is?"

 

The boy shook his head no. "Ryu says Midori knows - that's his sister - but she won't tell him who it is because 'boys are so stupid that they wouldn't understand how romantic it all is.' He said Midori told him that half the girls at St. Blossoms didn't get it either, so 'how would a bunch of hormone driven boys understand?'

 

"OH! And Kayashima-kun said that he saw you with her dancing in front of the bandstand in town while he was out on a date, and the two of you looked like a matched set. But that's all he would say. So no one really knows who she is."

 

Nakatsu smiled.

 

"So are you going to teach me to dance, Coach?"

 

Screwing up his forehead in thought for a second, an idea came to him, and he grinned from ear to ear. "Akahori-kun, can I assume you don't want anyone to know about this?"

 

The boy blushed a bit, but kept his eyes locked on his coach's as he nodded.

 

"Well then, you are officially hired as my new assistant. I just moved into a new house. I need some help with some landscaping tasks. Every Monday, Wednesday & Friday, after practice, you'll be working in my garden. I want to put in a small pond, and plant some irises and violets." Grinning wider, he said, "YOU'RE going to help me."

 

"But what about the danc-"

 

"That's the official story. And to make it real, you really will be helping me. But my gardening needs are really quite small. SO... the rest of the time, I will be getting to know you better while I teach you to dance. If you're really horrible, I may need you to come on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday, too.

 

"Actually, if I think you're worthy of Sakura, I'll want someone else to meet you, too. But we'll just see how it all works out. So. Tomorrow. After practice. Bring clothes that are easy to move in, and that you don't mind getting dirty."

 

Masa nodded eagerly, and left repeating his thanks over and over again.

 

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At home that night, while he cooked up a quick spaghetti dinner, and she was studying for her Calculus exam, he had a hard time keeping quiet. But since he knew she hated calc, and she this was one test she was really worried about, he let her study in peace.

 

Finally, as he was finishing setting the food out on the table for dinner, she slammed her book closed and exclaimed, "Enough! I can't do anymore. If I don't get it enough for the exam now, I just don't. I can't take in any more of this crap!"

 

Smiling, he bowed at her and said, "Perfect timing as always, because dinner awaits. Come eat, build your energy back up. I know you'll want to try to study some more after this."

 

She smiled gratefully at him. "You know me pretty well."

 

He grinned. "I'm learning."

 

X

 

"You know, you're spoiling me. Sauteed scallops and angelhair pasta in a puntanesca sauce? How many bachelors your age know how to cook like this?"

 

"Yeah, but they don't have you to inspire their culinary skills."

 

She laughed at that. "Every time I go back to the dorm room and tell Sakura about what you cooked, she yells at me to stop torturing her - either to take her with me, or to stop talking about it when all she gets is cafeteria food."

 

He smirked, and his smile became guarded. Secretive. "Good to know... But I'm not quite ready to invite her over yet. Maybe in a couple of weeks..."

 

Raising one eyebrow and pursing her lips, she looked her boyfriend up and down. "Shuichi, you've got that pleased, cat-ate-the-canary look. What's going on?"

 

Forcing his face into the innocent boy expression that usually got him out of trouble with her, he replied, "Have I told you that one of the boys from the football team is going to help me do some gardening?"

 

Narrowing her eyes, she said quietly, "Why would you need help on the garden? It's beautiful already."

 

"Well," he began, "I thought it would be nice to have a little pond set up - with maybe a fountain in it. And I definitely need to plant some violets and irises."

 

While she knew that the thought behind these changes was to make the garden more like home - for her, not him - there was something else going on here. "That'll be nice. And...?"

 

"And... In return for his help, I'm going to be teaching him how to dance to impress a certain someone who goes to school with you."

 

"You don't mean...?"

 

"Yup. Our little girl has someone pining away for her over at Ohsaka. And before you get worried, I'll decide just how worthy he is of teaching before I teach him anything good. If he's not good enough for her, not only will I sabotage the lessons, but I'm planning to warn you so you can warn her."

 

With a big smile, she began to clap her hands. "Oh, yay! I'm so happy! I hope he's a good one. I so want her to be... well... as happy as me." She blushed.

 

"You know what? Me, too."

 

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