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InSaiyan wrote:I wonder what she was about to say? Maybe it was nothing.

I'm right there with you, Hisao. InSaiyan is a cruel cruel man.

Another great chapter, the description of the dancing was done fairly well! Hopefully they'll get to talk more later in the day.

Thank you all for the kind words and the help correcting some mistakes! I love hearing how people are interpreting the story so far and it only drives me more to know that it's being enjoyed in one way or another.

Zerebos wrote:I'm right there with you, Hisao. InSaiyan is a cruel cruel man.

Hahaha! Don't hate the player, hate the game.

InSaiyan wrote:

Zerebos wrote:I'm right there with you, Hisao. InSaiyan is a cruel cruel man.

Hahaha! Don't hate the player, hate the game.

That's something I've really gotten used to accepting...wait, are we talking about in the story or real life?

Part 4:
Slow-Crawl (Continued)

-----

The sound of my own steps echoing through the empty hallway is the only noise that I can hear as I make my way away from the dance room, my mind still spinning from the events of the morning. I glance down at my wristwatch as I make my way towards the Nurses office, gauging how much time I have left.

There's still about an hour until class starts, so I still have plenty of time to check out the locker room and get ready for the day. I decide that I may as well take care of that before going to see Nurse. Soon enough, I can see the large blue door up ahead.

I gently push the door open as I approach, dipping inside the locker room and letting the door swing back as I let go. The large room that I walk into is lined with tall blue lockers on all four of its walls. There are long wooden benches on each side of the room, I assume that they're for allowing people to sit down while they change. I guess it makes sense in a place like this, where some people may struggle with stuff like that.

I see very few locks on the lockers, and the ones that I do see seem to look pretty unused, with a layer of dust settled on them. I sit my bag and books down on the bench to my left, glancing over my right shoulder at the large archway that separates this room from the next.

I straighten myself up and walk through the opening, looking around at my new surroundings. To my right, there's a row of sinks and small mirrors that line the wall, most of which look a little more aged than I expected. To my left side, a row of dark grey bathroom stalls stand against one another.

There's smaller archways leading to other rooms on either side of me. I take a few steps to my left, peaking around the corner of the closer opening.

The room is quite spacious, with a large drain in the middle of the floor. I can see more stalls lining the walls, but they're a little bigger than the bathroom stalls, each one with its own large glass door, for added privacy. That's an unexpected surprise, I always thought that locker room showers would be much more...open. Based off of the dry floors, I'll say that it's a safe bet that nobody uses these either.

I turn and make my way to the opening on the other side of the room. The room is very small, almost as if it's a foyer, of sorts. There are tall wooden shelves on either side of the small room, with rows and rows of folded white towels sitting on them. There's a large wooden door with a small sign on it facing me as I enter the room, the sign reads "Sauna" in a fancy font.

My curiosity gets the better of me as I read the sign. I push the door open and poke my head in to investigate further. A thick cloud of steam hits my face, the heat from it sending a wave of pleasure through my body. The unfamiliar scent and sudden heat that lies in the air makes me cough a little as I try to catch my breath.

I clear my throat as I regain myself a little bit. The small room is covered in wood paneling, from the floor to the ceiling. There are several rows of wooden benches across two sides of the room, all of which are, thankfully, unoccupied. Someone must have been in here recently though, considering the steam that's still rising off of the small metal container that's sitting off to my right side.





Through the thick steam, I can vaguely see another door on the left side of the room, just a few feet to my side. It's not labeled, but it has to either lead to the swimming pool or the girls locker rooms.

The thought of the girls locker room being connected to the boys like that doesn't seem right for a school setting, but Yamaku doesn't seem to take too many extra measures to separate the sexes, considering that we all live right next to each other in our own dorm rooms. Come to think of it, I've yet to even seen the night-time security guards that I've heard stories about. I guess that means that they're either really good at their jobs, or really bad.

I shut the door of the sauna and walk back through the empty boys locker room. I'd actually really like to try the sauna out sometime, I've never been in one before, but I hear that they're very relaxing...I could probably use that. I quickly find an empty locker and put my hygiene supplies on the shelves in it. I hang up my school uniform to let it straighten some of its wrinkles out a little before I put it on after my shower.

I shove the gym shorts and t-shirt into my bag as I grab the shampoo, preparing myself to get the school day started. After stripping down the rest of the way, I grab one of the towels off of the shelves and make my way across the room and into the showers.

---

The showers were, surprisingly, cleaner than I expected. It seems the janitor staff here only focus on a few areas of the locker room, but that must be one of them. It was especially nice, not having to worry about someone else walking in, especially because that someone would normally be Kenji, had I showered at the dorms.

I think I'm going to make this part of my morning ritual now. Waking up a little earlier doesn't seem quite so bad if it's always going to be like this. I throw my gym bag in the bottom of the locker, I'll probably just come back for it after class is out for the day. I grab up my books as I turn and make my way towards the door.

Exiting the locker room, I glance down at my watch again. Still plenty of time left, but I may have to skip breakfast to make it to class on time, depending on how lengthy Nurse wants to make this meeting. The hallways are a little more lively as I turn the corner, making my way towards his office. Medical personnel shuffle back and forth, all reading the clipboards held in front of them.

I smile and nod as I pass by a few of them, but most are already too busy with their day-to-day work to notice. I soon approach the door to Nurses office. I say a silent prayer to myself before tapping on the wooden surface.

A few seconds pass by and I can faintly hear shuffling from the other side, but nobody says anything. Suddenly, I hear a light tap on the door from the other side, mimicking my own. I pause for a moment before hesitantly tapping again, a little harder this time. Again, I'm only met with a mimicking tap back, followed by a muffled chuckle and a distant familiar voice.

"Well, we're all done her-...what...are you doing Emi?" I hear the nurse question from a little ways away, my ear practically pressed against the door now.
"Ah, man~!" I hear a girly voice respond back. I step back as the door swings open, revealing the cute prankster on the other side. "You gave it away, no fun!"
"Goodmorning Emi." I state blankly, trying to force a disapproving look onto my features.
"Goodmorning Hisao! Did I have you confused?" She excitedly questions, an expectant look in her eyes.
"Yeah, you sure got me." I dully answer back. "Don't you know not to pick on the new guy?" I shoot her a playful smile, laughing a little to myself.

"Eh? You're not THAT new anymore Hisao." She laughs back. "Besides," She starts again, leaning in and whispering. "You already have a girlfriend, you're fitting in just fine." She cups her mouth and pushes her lips together to form a teasing kissy-face. I can feel the blood rushing to my head already. Nurse seems a little confused by our conversation, awkwardly chuckling to himself as he scoots up behind Emi.
"Alright Emi, off to class you go. I have other patients to tend to, you know." He jokingly states, lightly pushing her towards the door.
"Fiiine. See you two later!" She states as she steps out the door. She bolts off down the hallway, only looking over her shoulder to wave farewell.

"Come on in Hisao, let's have a look at you." Nurse states, waving me into the room. I agree with a nod, shuffling through the door and taking a seat on the edge of the examination bed. "So, busy weekend?" He asks curiously, a big grin pushing his cheeks upwards.
"Yeah, you could...you could say that." I nervously answer back. "I...made a decision."
"Really? That's great!" He answers, giving me an expectant look.
"I'm going to...uhm," I start, shooting my head downwards before quickly finishing my statement. "Dance." I close my eyes and brace myself for the onslaught of laughter and pointing, but it doesn't come.

I wait for a few more seconds, only silence filling the air between us. I slowly bring my head upwards to meet his curious gaze. He has one eyebrow raised in confusion and a small grin on his face.
"Hisao, are you okay?" He questions with a chuckle.
"Yeah, I'm fine...w-why?" I question back.
"You look like you're struggling, relax." He states. "So, you're going to be a dancer, huh?"
"Well, I'm...going to try." I weakly answer back.
"Well, that's a great choice. I think that I can guess who talked you into that." He chuckles.

I want to bring up his relationship with Natsumes Father, but I hold off. I'm curious, but that seems to be a little more personal of a topic than we have ever discussed before. I'll save that question for later down the road, maybe.

"She's an exceptional young lady Hisao, just mind your step." He states with a wink, giving me a light tap on the shoulder. "Dancing should be totally safe for you, but do start slow. Natsume has been doing this for a long time, and she learned from the very best, so listen to her advice and you should be perfectly fine."
"I...I can do that. No problem." I answer back, trying to not look as shocked as I'm feeling. I was expecting some kind of reaction from Nurse, considering his apparent closeness with Natsumes Father, but he seems pretty happy with the situation.

He steps forward, rubbing his stethoscope on his jacket, his lips forming into a stern line as his eyebrows furrow a little. "From now on, come here right after you finish up, before getting ready for the day. I can gauge a more accurate reading on how your body is handling everything if there's less of a break in between." He states blankly, motioning for me to get ready to be checked.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't know." I answer back, fumbling with the buttons of my uniform.

He moves the stethoscope over my back as I take deep breaths each time that he switches to a new spot. He makes quiet "mhm" noises to himself each time, I assume that means that I'm not dying. He moves the stethoscope to my chest as he focuses on my heartbeat.
"Hey Hisao," he starts, moving his eyes up to mine. "What do you think of Natsume?" He grins, raising one purple eyebrow in a sly manner.
"Wh-what? What do you mean?" I question back in confusion.
"Ah, I thought so." He states with a smirk, removing the stethoscope from my chest.

Wait, what the hell?! This is some kind of abuse of power, or something. I feel a little violated, being prodded at like that.

"That's not really fair, is it?" I speak up, my voice taking on an irritated tone.
"Relax Hisao," He starts with another grin. "I already knew the answer. I...just wanted to make sure."
"Patient confidentiality is a thing here, right?" I ask.
"Sure is. Secret is safe with me." He answers back with a nod.
"You won't tell her Father, right?" I blurt out nervously.

Maybe I shouldn't have brought that up, now he knows that Natsume must have told me something.

"Hmm? Her father?" He questions with a smirk. "She must have mentioned that we're friends, huh?"
"Yeah, but that was pretty much all that she mentioned." I answer back.
"Hmm. I'll keep it between us for now, but he's going to eventually want to know who his daughter is dating Hisao." He states, crossing his arms and leaning against the cabinet behind him.
"We're not dating!" I blurt out. "She doesn't even know that I like her like that."

It feels kind of strange saying that out loud. I've been thinking about it pretty often the last few days, but now that I've actually said it, it seems more...real, somehow.

"Is that so?" He says, his eyes widening in surprise. "Well, I'll keep it a secret, but," he pauses for a moment. "You should probably tell her yourself sometime soon, I'm not very good with these things." He chuckles lightly, walking over to his desk and scribbling down a few things in a folder.
"I'll...work on it." I state, my cheeks burning from embarrassment.

I'm not sure if I should be mad or happy about this meeting. It really had little to do with my health, rather than him just satisfying his own curiosity. As much as I would like to think that I could just confess to Natsume right now, I know that I'm not going to be able to. I trust Nurse to keep a lid on it, I don't see him as someone who would get involved in such a matter, despite his jokes.

"Well, everything looks good Hisao, you better be off to class." He states, closing the folder on his desk and walking back to in front of me. He leans against the counter behind him once more. "Good luck with everything."
"Thanks." I answer back, buttoning my shirt as I stand up. "See you tomorrow."
"You bet!" He responds with a nod and wink, his purple hair staying perfectly in place.

I stride over to the door, letting it close behind me as I pass though it. I let a sigh of relief escape my lungs as I regain myself a little. I have about fifteen minutes until class now, which means that I should be able to grab something quick for breakfast before heading there.

The halls are like a lively bees nest now, students pacing here and there, some of them dip into classes, some are coming out. Nobody looks very thrilled to be here though. I assume that's something like a 'crash' after a sugar high, given the busy weekend that most of us had.

The cafeteria is quickly emptying as I try to fight through the crowd like a trout swimming upstream. I grab a random fruit out of a large bowl sitting on the counter of the breakfast line. An apple will have to do, I don't have time for much else.

---

I shuffle into the classroom behind a handful of other students, slowly turning my head to the side to glance at the corner of the room. Natsume has her body turned to the side in her desk, listening intently as Naomi excitedly tells her something. Shizune and Misha are signing back and forth as I slide into my desk, but stop suddenly when Shizune locks her eyes on to me.

I try to ignore the pairs gaze, shuffling some books around my desk to fake looking busy. I'm not much of an actor, and I can painfully see that my show isn't working very well as I hear Misha shift around in her seat.

"Hicchan," Misha calls from beside me. "Were you at the festival? We never even saw you." I look up from my desk, giving up the facade. Mishas arms are crossed and an expression of forced disappointment is on her face.
"I didn't know that you two were expecting me." I answer back. "I'm sorry."
"Hmmm...I guess that we'll forgive you this time Hicchan! Wahaha~!" She states with a grin. "So, did you at least have fun?"
"Sure did. I was really impressed by everything, especially the fireworks." I respond back, trying to force a little bit of extra enthusiasm into my words so she doesn't catch that I'm not interested in having this conversation.

There's a small pause in our chat while the two girls sign back and forth between one another. I kind of wish that I knew sign language, it doesn't seem fair that they have an almost secret language that I can't understand. Misha turns back to me as Shizune folds her hands together on her desk after adjusting her glasses.

"Did you have a good time.." Misha snickers to herself, creating a pause. "With your girlfriend~? Wahaha~!"
"She's...not my girlfriend, Misha." I bitterly answer back, trying to remain quiet in spite of Mishas echoing laughter.
"Oh, come on Hicchan~! Why not? It's obvious that you like her!" Misha states with a flash of her big white teeth.
"Quiet down Misha, the whole school can hear you." I respond back through my teeth.

Shizune pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose before quickly signing something to Misha, her hands becoming a blur for a second.

"Shicchan says that a man should be decisive about these things. You shouldn't be so afraid." Misha translates, a small hint of confusion pushing an eyebrow up.
"I'm not afraid, I just don't like recklessly rushing into things . Not everything is so black and white, you know. I can't treat everything in my life as if I have something to prove, like Shizune does." I answer back, obviously irritated at their prying and Mishas inability to keep quiet.

The bell rings, cutting our conversation off. I'm thankful for the interference, I was starting to get irritated and I don't want to say anything that I could regret later. I know that the girls are just doing their normal prying, but I'm already a little tired of being prodded at about this topic today.

Misha seems a little confused, or maybe guilty, by our conversation, nervously shifting her body back and forth in her desk. To be fair, she was kind of stuck in the crossfire for the latter part of the conversation. I feel kind of bad for snapping at her now. Shizune looks a little flustered too, but she quickly recovers as she brings her books out.

Mutou stands from his desk chair at the front of the room, slouching his shoulders. He looks exhausted still from the events of the weekend. I can't imagine him being a heavy drinker, but I guess that could be possible too.

"I hope that everyone had fun at the festival this weekend. Unfortunately, we're back to the real world today." He blankly states, stretching his lanky arms out from his sides. "Finals will be here in a little over a month, we will be focusing on preparing ourselves for that for the remainder of that time." He runs his blood-shot eyes before turning towards the board.

It feels strange to already be so close to finals, given that I've only been here for a couple of weeks. I'm thankful that I've always done pretty well in school, otherwise, I would be a little more worried about it than I am.

Mutou, with his hand trembling slightly, writes a list of different page numbers on the board. His hand pauses as he looks down, apparently lost in thought for a moment. He shakes his head a little after a second, snapping his attention back to the board as he begins writing again.

He turns back to the class, his eyelids drooping heavily.
"We'll start with this for today. Everyone read over the pages and take notes." He blankly states, awkwardly striding over to his desk and plopping down in the seat.

So, I think it's safe to assume that class is going to be pretty boring today. I idly flip through the pages in my book, trying not to think of how slowly time is passing. I've already read most of this material before, and I've never had an issue with it in the past.

I fold my arms on the desk in front of me, resting my chin on them as I glance through the window to my side.

-----

Nice chapter, short and sweet, although I can definitely see this setting up a few things for the future with Hisao.

Not to tread on Mirage's territory but there was a couple cases of mixed up tenses.

I'm not an expert on saunas by any definition, but would they really have it running in the mornings before class?
Also, not even labelling the door to the girls' locker room seems excessively lax... Accidents waiting to happen

Not to tread on Mirage's territory but there was a couple cases of mixed up tenses.

"were"

Joking aside I didn't notice any tense problems while reading the chapter, but I might have overlooked some since it's late, and I should really be in bed by now...

One thing I noticed though is that you tend to begin a lot of paragraphs and sentences with "I [verb]". It's really not that bad - I only noticed just now when I skimmed over the text a second time to spot the wonky tenses Zerebos mentioned.
Anyway you could try to put in a bit more variation there - using gerunds for example.

Mirage_GSM wrote:Also, not even lbelling the door to the girls' locker room seems excessively lax

*labelling

Also, I think in the text InSaiyan mentions that Hisao does not check what is on the other side of the door, so it may be the pool or the locker room. I could have misread that though.

Apparently I was too tired to even write my own sentence properly. Maybe we shouldn't trust my judgement on the tenses this time around...

Part 4:
Slow-Crawl (Continued)

-----

The bell for lunch suddenly rings through my ears, bringing me back into consciousness. Raising my head up from the desk, I look around the room in a daze, trying to regain my senses before I gather my stuff up to leave. The classroom is quickly emptying, but several students still have their heads down, so deep into their sleep that the lunch bell didn't even phase them.

"Hicchan," I hear Misha call from my other side, her voice taking on a much softer tone than normal. I turn to meet her big golden eyes, a small sense of sadness rests deep within them. "We're sorry for earlier. We didn't mean to be so snoopy and make you mad."

I'm a little stunned by the sudden apology, I can't say that I saw that coming from the two of them. If I was a betting man, I would bet that this is mostly Shizunes doing. I don't think that Misha even understood what was going on, so Shizune probably had to explain it to her at some point.

"Don't worry about it." I answer back, trying to reassure her with a smile. "Maybe I should loosen up a little." Shizune gives a small smile back to me as she stands from her desk, quickly signing something to Misha before stepping off towards the door.

"Okay, okay~!" Misha exclaims, waking several of the nearby students who still had their heads down. "We gotta go Hicchan...important student council business to tend to!" She excitedly states with a wink, standing to her feet and making her way past my desk. "See you later Hicchan~!"
"See you." I answer back, standing up after gathering my books.

Glancing around the room, I see that I must have missed Natsume and Naomi. They probably already made their way to lunch during Mishas apology. I think that I'll head to the Newspaper room today too, despite not really being directly invited. The last time that I didn't show up Natsume seemed a little disappointed, so I really don't think that I have much need for one anymore.

The walk there is filled with me dodging the crowds of other students that move through the halls. I find it a little strange that I still don't recognize most of the students here. There's a slight burning sensation in my legs when I take steps forward, from the stretching this morning. It feels like my hamstrings are made of jello. It's a little depressing to think that something as simple as stretching can have such an effect on me. I really am out of shape.

The unpleasant smell of painting supplies fills my nose as I pass by the Art room. I can faintly hear the girls voices from the open door up ahead of me, it reflexively forces my legs to stop before I reach the doorway. I hate to eavesdrop, but I also don't want to walk in and interrupt their conversation. Not able to decide which would be ruder of me, I lean my shoulder against the wall, just around the corner of the door, and wait patiently for a break in their conversation.

"-going to do then?" I hear Naomis sharp voice question. "You can't just wait around forever and not doing anything about it Natty."
"I know that, but what if I'm totally wrong? What if it doesn't work out...like last time?" Natsume worriedly explains to her.
"What if it turns out to be fine, and you've just been worrying too much about it?" Naomi says. "Besides, last time wasn't anything like this, that was just..."
"Yeah, I know, I know! I'm just worried that it could screw things up." Natsume interupts. I hear Naomi exhale in an irritated manner.
"It didn't 'screw things up' before, did It? Quite the opposite, actually! Haha~!" Naomi teases at her.
"That's a little different though, don't you think?" Natsume questions back.

There's a small pause and I almost step forward but stop myself as Naomi starts speaking again.
"Just give it a week? If nothing changes, then maybe it's best to just let it go." I hear Natsume exhale in irritation now.
"Fine. We'll see what happens." She answer back.

I wish that I knew what they were talking about, but I don't plan on asking. Whatever it is, it seems like it's something that I should leave between just the two of them. I patiently wait for a few moments of silence to pass by before deciding to take my opportunity.

I take a few soft steps in place, gradually letting my steps get harder and louder, trying to simulate the noise of me walking towards the door. It's probably...no, it's definitely unnecessary, but I don't want them to think that I was eavesdropping, even though...I kind of was.

I slowly round the corner and dip into the room, trying my best to act casual. The girls jump a little in surprise and lock their eyes onto me. After a moment of awkward silence, Naomi speaks up.
"H-Hisao! We were just about to have lunch, how nice of you to join us! Haha!" She shoots a big toothy grin at me before sliding her chair over to the table and pushing around some piles of papers.
"I was going to ask you to come after class, but...I saw that you and Misha were talking and I didn't want to interrupt." Natsume apologetically explains.

I take a nearby seat and scoot up to the table, turning to the girls beside of me before speaking up.
"Don't worry, you can totally interrupt next time." I state, laughing to myself.
"I'll make sure to remember that." She playfully laughs back.

Naomi brings out a few steaming containers of food and sits them on the table after clearing off a spot for them. After what happened last time, I offer to grab the plates and utensils. Natsume doesn't resist the idea much, but I can tell that it still bothers her.

Lunch passes by quickly, each of us happily eating away at the food Naomi had prepared. I'm not sure when she finds the time to make all of this stuff, but her cooking skills are pretty impressive. Maybe she can give me some pointers some day.

Soon after our lunch has been cleaned up, the three of us begin our journey back to the classroom as the bell rings across the school grounds. I'm not looking forward to another class session, but I can probably get caught up on my beauty sleep, at this rate.

Saying my farewells to Natsume and Naomi as we walk into the classroom, we part ways to take our seats. There are two empty seats where the student council girls normally sit, there must be some pretty important matters to address for them to miss class again. For some reason, I find myself doubting that though. I get the feeling that they use their positions to skip pretty often.

A few more students trickle into the room before the bell rings, signaling the start of class. I open my book and prepare for the lesson, but I think I'm expecting too much. Mutou is still sitting at his desk, the same look of drowsiness on his features from earlier. He exhales heavily before straightening himself up in his chair.

"Let's just..." He trails off, rubbing the back of his neck and closing his eyes in thought. "Let's pick up where we left off before lunch. Please, take advantage of this time." He leans back in his chair again, letting his shoulders sag a little. I can't help but to wonder about what has him so down. He doesn't seem like the type to get excited about much, but he's practically a zombie today.

My eyes focus on the board at the front of the class, and I can see that it still has the same page numbers on it from earlier. Maybe I should have just skipped class too?

I open my book, trying to put some form of effort into studying. It doesn't last long though, I already know this material pretty well and I still don't foresee any issues. I glance around the room, most students already have their heads down. Naomi is idly doodling on a piece of paper, her chin resting on her hand. Natsume is twirling a curl of her auburn hair around her finger, leaned back in her desk and staring at the ceiling overhead. Every few minutes she fiddles with her reading glasses on the bridge of her nose.

I cross my arms on my desk, just like earlier. I glance out the window to my side again, giving up the thought of doing any studying right now. My thoughts soon flood with the same thoughts that I had at the festival. I know that I can't wait forever to make an effort to confess to Natsume, but I'm still so unsure about everything. Am I rushing things? What if the girls earlier conversation had been about me? What if Natsume does like me back, and I'm waiting too long to tell her? I wish that I were more confident, this would be much easier.

My chin rests on my arms, as my eyelids begin to get heavy. I see some birds flying by in the distance outside, resting on tree branches and chirping at one another. It's a shame that I have to be stuck in class all day, it sure is nice outside.




My body gives up the fight, slowly drifting away as my eyelids finally meet one another.


-----

It's a little strange that I still don't recognize hardly anybody here.

Much too negative

I have to say that this is the laziest I've ever seen Mutou in any story here

Probably partied the hardest in this story than any other.

InSaiyan wrote:I take a nearby seat and scoot up to the table, turning to the girls beside of me before speaking up.

I think that should be "to the girls beside me" or "to the girls to the side of me." But I'm no grammar nazi.

I like this chapter a lot, I wonder what the conversation was actually about... another tease by InSaiyan!

Mirage_GSM wrote:I have to say that this is the laziest I've ever seen Mutou in any story here

Clearly he partied with Nurse AND Mr. Ooe.

Part 5:
Baby Steps

-----

According to my calendar, today is Tuesday, but I swear that it feels just like a second Monday. I woke up with a pounding headache this morning, and it reminded me that I never brought my sleep issues up to Nurse yesterday, not that I was given much opportunity to anyways. I really need to make sure that I do that today.

I quickly change over into my gym shorts and a plain T-shirt after downing my morning dose of pills. I'm a little later than I wanted to be to meet Natsume, but it shouldn't be too big of a deal. I gather up my books for the day and throw a school uniform in my gym bag as I make my way for the door.

Quickly shuffling through the exit of the dorm building, I glance down at my watch. Fifteen minutes late on my second day of dancing...that won't win me any points with Natsume, but I can't really picture her being mad at me. Actually, I can't picture her being mad at anything.

My eyes expectantly lock onto the bench as I make my way through the courtyard, but I'm only left disappointed. It's empty, as is the rest of the shadow-covered grounds. I panic for a second, thinking that Natsume may have overslept or something. I pull my phone out, considering the idea of calling her, but my plans are interrupted by a little white envelope icon on its display.

I flip the phone open and read the text message.
"I went ahead to the misc room. Meet me there if you wake up with enough time sleepyhead." The text reads. I can't help but to laugh at the playful message.

Deciding that there's now no reason to call her, I slide the phone back into my bag. I would label her as 'impatient', but she's obviously had this same routine for awhile now, I shouldn't expect her to change that whenever I show up late...even if it is only by fifteen minutes. I quickly step off, making my way towards the auxiliary building.

A few of the staff members are sitting in a small break room drinking coffee, each shooting me a strange look as I pass by, as if to ask why I'm here. Ignoring their glances, I make my way further down the hall and round the corner. My footsteps echo off of the walls as I quickly stride down the hallway, trying to recover some lost time.

I dip into the locker room, cramming my bag and books into the locker. Luckily, all of my hygiene and shower supplies are still where I left them yesterday. I might actually be the only person who uses this locker room, so I don't think that I have to worry with getting a lock, for now.

As I exit and make my way further down the hall, I begin to hear faint tones of music coming from somewhere towards the end of it. I'm sure that there's only one room that it could possibly be coming from, and it makes me a little curious.

Approaching the cracked doorway of the dance room, I slow my steps down, the music getting louder and louder as I get closer. It's a smooth mixture of violins and pianos, coming together to form a soft melody. There's a certain pattern to it that makes me want to tap my toe to the rhythm, pretty fitting for the room that it's coming from.

I peek through the crack in the door, but I can't see much. I lightly push it open a little more, allowing me to see what's going on more clearly. Natsume spins and twirls to the flow of the music. She effortlessly raises herself up on her toes and prances around the wooden floors, her bare feet making soft -pt- noises each time they come back down. Her wavy auburn hair flows loosely through the air, creating soft waves of color as she moves. She's wearing a uniform-like one piece outfit, the spandex-like material showing off every curve of her tight figure. I can feel myself staring, but I can't seem to make myself quit.


Artwork courtesy of: Emi


The way that she moves reminds me of the way that birds fly around outside; Just like it's second nature to her. It's something so foreign, yet fascinating, to me. Her body doesn't seem to carry any of the nervousness that it does at times. She seems totally free and calm right now, and the more I watch, the stronger the longing feeling in my chest becomes.

Relaxing a little, I lean my shoulder into the doors frame as I take a step forward, trying to soak in everything about her in this moment. Her body perfectly matches the tones of the music, each note played making her body react in a new and exciting way.

Soon enough, the music slows down and so does her body. The final notes begin to fade as she pauses her movements, holding her hands slightly away from her side's and lifting her body up on her toes in a final stance. She lowers her body back down as the notes finally cut off, relaxing her posture a little as she strides over to the stereo in the corner.

I softly step through the doorway, letting an impressed "Wow" escape my lips and echo through the, now quiet, room. Natsume spins around in shock. Her eyes lock on to mine from across the room as she jumps back in surprise, letting a sharp -EEK- slip out as she shoots her thin fingers up to her mouth. Her eyes are wide with embarassment and her cheeks burst with a bright pink color.

"Hi-Hisao?! I thought that you were skipping out or something?" She anxiously questions.
"Just got a little bit of a late start, I'm sorry." I answer back with a smile, closing the distance between us. "Natsume, you..you wer-"
"Awful, I know. Ugh...I'm sorry that I'm wearing this silly thing too, this is so embarra-" She jumps in, her voice tight and her words rushed.
"Natsume," I interrupt back. She lifts her face up to mine nervously, meeting my gaze. "That was...amazing, really." I state, trying to be reassuring. "I'm really impressed." I give her a playful wink, as if that was her goal.

She shifts her eyes back and forth across my face, as if she were searching for something on it. As her shoulders lose their tenseness, she lets her hands fall, clasping them together in front if her chest. Her finger tips are still painted in the bright green coat that they were at the festival. The rest of her body relaxes a little more as a small smile creeps onto her face.

"Thanks Hisao." She says genuinely. "Still want to speed things up today?" She questions, her voice still a little shakey, despite her relaxed posture.
"I'll...do my best!" I answer back, chuckling to myself.

I plop my body down and begin stretching, my muscles painfully protesting as I lunge from side to side. I follow Natsumes lead again, trying to match her movements but still coming up a little short. I can see the potential health benefits from stretching like this over time. We might as well be doing a short Yoga routine, considering the variety of stretches that Natsume does. As she finishes up, I glance down at my watch to gauge how much time we have left.

There's still a little over an hour until class, plenty of time to get some dancing in before I need to go see Nurse and get ready. I stand to my feet, slowly dragging my loose legs over to the middle of the wooden floors to meet her.

"I'm going to play a different track today. It's the same as yesterday, but the ticks are going to be quicker and I'm going to add some different things in." She explains with a sly grin. "Maybe, if you're doing okay, we'll try something...a little different." I nod my head, nervously agreeing to the proposition. She skips over to the stereo and presses it on, allowing the quick -tick- pattern to enter into the room around us.

She shoots her hand towards me and steps forward, resting her other hand on my shoulder. I gently take her offered hand and cautiously place my other hand on her hip. The tight one-piece that she's wearing doesn't leave much to the imagination, and the feeling of my hand resting on the tightly stretched material over her skin brings an all too familiar warmth to my face.

I raise my eyes up to hers, trying to make sure that I'm still doing the right thing. Her cheeks are flushed with color, her eyes bright as they reflect the rising sun starting to come through the windows behind her. The corner of her lips push upwards in a sly way.

"I uhm...was just seeing if this leotard would still fit, I really didn't think that you were going to show up." She chuckles nervously to herself, looking down at her outfit. "I don't think I had...developed quite as much, when I wore it last" I glance down to where she's looking and find myself staring directly at her chest. I don't mean to stare, but it seems like the spandex material is fighting to not rip down the middle. If, by some chance, it did rip...I don't think my heart would allow me to survive.

"You aren't...thinking any dirty thoughts, are you Hisao?" She playfully questions, raising her face up and lifting an eyebrow in curiosity.

Only about a dozen, or so.

I freeze for a moment, trying to think of a good answer, but I think that my brain is fried. It takes me a few seconds, but I snap out of my daze and shoot my head up suddenly.
"N-No! No, of course not." I lie to her.

My few inches of height advantage on her give me a hard to ignore view of the cleavage of her chest. I try to control my eyes, but I feel my hormones taking over. My heart is beating in my throat, it feels like I could pass out from all the pressure in my head. The ticks coming from the stereo seem so much louder than they were a few seconds ago.

"Hmmm~," She hums, pulling on my shoulder and drawing her body in a little closer to mine. "Why not?" She playfully whispers in a seductive tone, pushing her chest out a little bit and giving her best shot at puppy dog eyes.
"Well I...I-" I nervously stutter, soon being interrupted by Natsumes nervous giggling. I can feel my hands starting to shake a little.

"I'm sorry Hisao. I just like messing with you." She chuckles. "You're...almost as anxious as I am sometimes, it's...kind of nice."
"You...you remember that I have a weak heart, right?" I nervously chuckle back, trying to regain my senses.

She suddenly stops giggling and takes on a more serious expression.
"I...I didn't mean to-." She nervously starts.
"I don't mind the playing though. I think I'll be just fine Natsume." I clarify with a chuckle. "Hopefully." I playfully shoot her a wink.

We share a few moments of laughter together, both of our cheeks bursting with color now. I've never seen Natsume joke around like that before, especially not in that manner. I can't say that I'm against it, but for someone who has some occasional anxiety, she, surprisingly, played the seductive role pretty well.

The ticks coming from the stereo are considerably faster today, and, as we begin to move together, I can already notice the difference from yesterday. Natsume pushes and pulls on my shoulder to help guide me in which direction I need to go, but I soon find myself staring at our feet again to keep up.

After a few moments of stumbling around, I think I'm actually starting to get the hang of it. I feel Natsumes fingers gently slide over my shoulder and towards my sternum. She delicately taps underneath my chin with her finger tip as we move. I raise my head up to meet her gaze as she puts her hand back on my shoulder.
"You're doing fine." She says with a confident smile.
"If...if you say so." I weakly answer back.

Looking into the depth of her eyes, I find myself soon becoming lost in them. The emerald color of her right eye beautifully soaks in the sunlight that's trickling in through the window. I can almost see my reflection in the deep brown of her left eye. It's an almost familiar feeling, getting lost in their unique beauty now. I can't help but to smile as our eyes carefully stay connected while we move. Natsume smiles back, her cheeks still a little pink from our earlier conversation.

Time slips by slowly as I get more comfortable with the rhythm and the new movements. We twist and turn, just like yesterday, but every few turns Natsume does a graceful spin away from my body, and effortlessly spins back into our starting position on the next tick. It's not necessarily hard to keep up with, but it is much more advanced than yesterdays routine.

I can start to feel a slight strain on my body as time further passes by. A certain tightness in my chest makes my breathing a little more labored, and I can feel my awkward heartbeat picking up it's pace as we spin around the room. Suddenly, Natsume stops, tapping my shoulder lightly to get my attention.

"Think you're ready for something new?" She questions with a cute smile. I'm not sure that I am, but how can I say no?
"Sure." I answer back, forcing some confidence into my voice.

She breaks our position, excitedly striding over to the stereo and flipping through the different tracks. Seeming to have found what she was looking for, she stands up and skips back over to me. We quickly find our starting position once again, anticipation and excitement beam from her eyes.


(Song being played)


The soft tones of the piano keys caress my ears gently as our bodies begin to move. Natsume softly guides me as we start, but I soon find my body moving on its own, trying its best to sync with each note that's played.

There's a sense of excitement that I feel now that there's actual music to go along with our movements, as if there's more purpose behind them now. I can feel my body relaxing more and more as the song goes on, it shifts almost automatically to the ups and downs of the tempo.

Natsumes eyes close as she breathes in deeply, seeming to almost melt in my hands. For someone who has never had a partner before, this still seems like it's almost second nature to her. I guess that certain aspects of dance must carry over, whether you're with a partner or not.

I watch her soft features as we continue to move through the room together. My senses dive further and further into the music as we dance on. There's an unfamiliar feeling of weightlessness that soon overtakes me. My mind pushes all the anxious thoughts out as we move together, as one. I think I'm starting to understand what Natsume meant when she said that she used dancing to cope with her issues in the past.

Time seems to stand still around us. The outside world soon becomes a blur, along with everything else with it. The anxiety of finding my purpose at Yamaku suddenly seems so small in comparison to this moment. The anxiety of fitting in...of figuring out my own limits...of coming to terms with my issue...it all fades into a distant fog in the back of my mind as we move together to the music.

A few final notes play through the open room as our bodies slow down, soon coming to a rest as the notes gently fade out. My heart is beating angrily in my chest, a combined effort of the dancing itself and the flood of emotions that I feel right now. I've been trying to keep my control over it, but I can feel it starting to boil over within me now. I don't think that I can hold it in much longer, nor do I want to.

"Natsume," I start, my throat tightening as I try to form words. She slowly opens her eyes, the morning sun casting an orange glow over her features as we stand mere inches apart, still holding one another in our starting position. The bright green and deep brown pools of her eyes only serve to make my heart increase its awkward pace even more.

"I...I," I stutter. I can feel my face burning hot, but I know that I have to get this out.
"What's wrong Hisao?" She questions, a sudden look of worry raising her eyebrows upwards.
"Nothing's...wrong." I weakly answer back. "I...I just.." I exhale, giving up any form of confidence that I was desperately trying to hang onto. "I've just...really enjoyed dancing with you the past few days."

Pathetic

I look down in disappointment, but all I can see is her chest glistening with a light covering of sweat. I awkwardly shift my head to the side in embarrassment. I can't believe that I still couldn't confess my feelings for her. I'm ashamed and mad, but there's not much that I can do about it now. I blew it.

"Well...I'm really glad that you decided to join me. Dancing alone can get...old after awhile." She states, a hint of disappointment lining her words. She lets out a small sigh, shifting her head towards the window to our side. "Hisao, was that all that you had to say?" She questions softly, her words coming out in almost a whisper.

I furrow my brow in annoyance at myself.

No. No, that wasn't all that I wanted to say.

It's just everything that I could say that doesn't ask for much confidence from me. The fact that she is asking tells me that she already knows something is up, so what good does me hiding it do now? I'm only going to make things worse if I lie to her.

I give her hand a gentle squeeze and move my other hand from her hip to the small of her back as I lean in closer, lightly pushing our bodies together.
"I like you Natsume." I push out from my lungs. The words ring through my head. I almost can't believe that I actually said it. Time itself stands still for, what feels like, minutes. I can feel my heart beat violently against her collarbone.

"Well, I like you too Hisao." Natsume nervously chuckles back, moving her hand across the nape of my neck and leaning in to my hug. She obviously missed my meaning.
"No...Natsume, I like you." I clarify, emphasizing the word. "I've felt...differently about you for a few days now...I...I just didn't want to tell you." A few moments of silence drift by as we hold each other closely.

"Wh-...R-Really?" She whispers back, her voice trembling slightly. "Why...would you want to keep that a secret?"
"I...well, it wasn't a secret." I nervously start. "I just..." I lose my train of thought for a moment, trying to find the best way to say it without it coming across the wrong way. "I just...knew that I didn't stand a chance with...someone like you." I admit.

She leans back, bringing us face to face now, her expression a mix of irritation and nervousness.
"Hisao, don't talk like that! Didn't you just tell me recently that I shouldn't be so hard on myself?" She shoots back.
"I'm...I'm sorr-" I start, trying to smooth over the situation.
"Don't be, I...I understand." She states, taking her hand from mine. She leans in once again, shooting her now freed hand over my shoulder and crossing it over her other on my neck as she nestles her head into my upper chest. I gently wrap my other arm around her, holding her more tightly to my body.

"Hisao," She softly whispers, the heat from her voice sending goosebumps across my neck as she speaks. "Of course I like you too."
Everything around me stops for a moment as I take in the words. I question if I really heard them, or if my mind is just playing a cruel joke on me. I feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience.
"I'm...no good at this Hisao." She begins again. "I'm...new to this, I guess you could say."

Trying to regain my senses, I softly shake my head. It puts me back into my body, but my mind is still violently wrestling with the previous statement.

"You...you like me?" I question in disbelief, almost to myself.
"Well, yeah. I...I thought that I made that pretty obvious...or, at least, I tried to." She pauses. "I told you that I'm new at this!" She points out playfully.
"To be fair, it probably wasn't your fault. I couldn't pick up a hint if you dropped it on my foot." I chuckle back.

We share a few seconds of comfortable silence, both of us enjoying the moment of honesty that we're sharing. I quickly recover myself enough to cafefully ponder everything that she said. I'm actually really glad that she doesn't have any experience with this type of thing either, I don't feel quite so silly now. Sure, we're still just 'friends', as far as titles go, but I can't say that I'm disappointed in the outcome. At least now we're friends that know that we like each other, and that's much better than before.

"Just...give me some time to think things through, okay?" She whispers softly into my chest.
"Take all the time that you need." I answer back. "I've never really done this before either."
"Really?" She asks in disbelief.
"Hard to believe, I know...such a steal like me." I sarcastically chuckle back at her. She giggles into my chest, squeezing my neck a little harder.

A few more seconds silently pass by as we hold each other, seemingly content with our morning workout and the topic of our conversation. It may not have led to anything more than a confession, but some progress is better than none at all. We soon break our embrace as we silently gather up our belongings and make our way out of the room and into the hallway.

"I'll see you in class, okay?" Natsume says, as we approach the pink door of the girls locker room.
"You bet." I answer back with a smile, waving her farewell as I step off towards Nurses office.
"Hisao?" I hear her gently question from over my shoulder. I stop, turning around to see her upper body peaking out from the locker room. "Thank you for dancing with me." She says, her airy voice filling my head.
"My pleasure Natsume." I smile back again as she dips into the locker room.

I feel a certain sense of accomplishment and confidence as I stride down the hall and round the corner. I finally confessed my feelings to Natsume, and, better yet, she reciprocated with her own. I'm starting to realize that every time that I worry about something, it turns out to always be better than I expect. I wish I could just be more confident in myself, but I have a feeling that that's easier said than done.

I almost can't believe it still. She...actually likes me. I want to triumphantly jump up and down in the hallway, but...I'm not going to do that. The thought of having a potential girlfriend feels strange, what the heck does that even entail? Am I...supposed to buy her flowers, or something? Should I ask her on a date? What does someone even do on a date? Taking her to the Shanghai seems pretty lame.

"Blah."

I'm getting ahead of myself already. We aren't even actually dating yet. I guess I'll just give her some time to think about everything, whatever that means. I probably shouldn't worry too much about it until she wants to talk about it again.

Navigating my way through the halls, I soon find myself in front of Nurses door, ready for another check-up. I just hope that it goes better than yesterdays did.

-----

It's about damn time Hisao! For a second there I thought he wasn't going to confess in this chapter and I was really disappointed, but I'm happy to say I'm very wrong.

Another great chapter, InSaiyan, perhaps my favorite thus far because it contains such an important plot point. Although it will be interesting to see how things progress with Natsume thinking things over.

I'm sorry that I'm wearing this silly thing too, this is so embarra-"

"I uhm...was just seeing if this leotard would still fit, I really didn't think that you were going to show up." She chuckles nervously to herself, looking down at her outfit. "I don't think I had...developed quite as much, when I wore it last"

Hmm...
I wonder if she really wore that getup "by accident". Suspicious...

Seriously, though, I'm not quite sure what to think of Natsume. On one hand she seems to be genuinely embarrassed by that stuff most of the time, but then...

"Why not?" She playfully whispers in a seductive tone, pushing her chest out a little bit and giving her best shot at puppy dog eyes.

stuff like this happens.

So I guess there are two possibilities:
a) Natsume is not quite the innocent that she pretends to be most of the time and just has her acting down pat or
b) You as the author choose to make gags like this at the expense of her characterization.

Come to think of it the story being narrated by Hisao opens up possibility
c) Hisao is just blind to her wiles and cunning.

(If I were you I'd claim option c is correct regardless.)

wow good art i wonder who made it