The cherry tree: Chapter 5
Title: The cherry tree (5/?)
Pairing: Ohmiya
Summary: Nino doesn’t believe in spirits, but his opinion changes when he meets a very special person.
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1960
Disclaimer: This chapter is co-written with zazasukie Thanks to beastlover for betaing it! <3
Previous chapter
Ohno brusquely turned around, searching for the source of the sudden noise. His eyes opened wide when he glimpsed Nino’s small frame semi hidden behind the bushes.
“Nino.”
“H-Hi. I was passing by and I thought there was something moving near the tree so I decided to take a look. I didn’t intend to interrupt your dance, sorry!” the young student hastily apologized, abandoning his hideout. Again he had been caught red handed stalking the tree spirit. What was Ohno going to think of him? He hoped that the surrounding darkness was enough to hide his burning cheeks.
“Don’t worry, I think it was time to take a rest anyway.” The young man sat on the ground, dismissing Nino’s worries with a graceful movement of his hand. Then, he patted the place next to him, smiling encouragingly at the mortified student. Nino didn’t even think twice and sat near the spirit, so close that their arms were almost brushing. They spent the next minutes in silence. Nino felt too embarrassed to say anything, and Ohno seemed content enough just enjoying the soft caress of the breeze.
“Why do I feel so flustered? Do I have a fever?” Nino felt his forehead, hoping Ohno wouldn't notice, but only his cheeks felt hotter than usual. He risked a quick side-glance at Ohno, and his heart did a funny flip when he found the latter staring intently at him.
“Ho-How are you? Did you get better?” he asked, quickly averting his eyes from the other man.
“I’m almost recovered,” the spirit replied. “Thank you.”
Ohno’s voice came in a breathy whisper that woke goose bumps up and down Nino’s arms and neck. Had the spirit’s voice always had that distinct raspy tone? Was it the effect of the night and their closeness? Nino didn’t know, but he could swear that his heart had never beaten this fast in his whole life. He wondered if Ohno was able to hear it.
“And you? You look tired,” Ohno continued with a slight frown, snapping the young student out of his thoughts.
“Well, I’m studying for my exams; Graduation Day is near and we have lot of tests before it.”
“And I have been playing video games until late again,” he admitted to himself, but he wasn’t going to say that aloud.
“Graduation Day?” Ohno titled his head with an expression slightly interrogative.
“Don’t you know what it is?” Nino stared at the other man incredulously until he remembered that Ohno was the spirit of a tree. “Could it be the first time he's heard about it?”
“It’s a ceremony in which the school gives diplomas to the students that have passed their tests, and therefore ended their high school years, finally becoming adults,” he tried to explain awkwardly. “Usually, the student’s family and beloved ones attend the ceremony and then they celebrate the occasion by eating all together and…”
“There is food involved?” asked Ohno suddenly perking up.
“Well, not always” Nino replied amused, but he hastily corrected himself when he saw Ohno’s face fall a bit. “But almost everybody celebrates it in that way!” he assured the disappointed spirit.
“That must be nice” Ohno answered looking dreamily at the lake's quiet water.
“W-Would you like to celebrate it with me?” Nino spluttered without thinking.
The student regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. “Where did that come from? And how could I have been so blunt?” He could feel his whole face turning bright red. He quickly averted his gaze and focused it in his short fingers. “I could prepare a picnic, like the other time, and we could enjoy it here and… well, it's just an idea but…”
“Are you going to make those delicious rice balls again?” Ohno was looking hopefully at him, oblivious to the student's embarrassment.
“Of course!” the young student replied immediately.
“Then o.k., but only if you get high marks in your exams,” Ohno answered with a crooked smile.
“It’s a promise then!” Nino exclaimed, deliriously happy, extending his pinky finger in the other man’s direction... and feeling incredibly stupid immediately afterwards. But Ohno just intertwined his pinky finger with Nino’s without a word. They looked at each other and laughed aloud.
A few minutes later, the young man let out a reluctant sigh and got up slowly, “I think it’s time to resume my dancing.”
Nino nodded and said goodbye to him. When he was leaving the park, he could see Ohno dancing again near the lake.
“Now that I think about it, I didn’t ask him what he was doing. I wonder why he is dancing in the middle of the night.”
~~
The next day, when Nino crossed the park on his way to school, he saw something that rendered him speechless, “The tree has blossomed!” the young student exclaimed amazed.
He slowly approached the tree, looking in awe at its heavy branches, now covered with delicate, little, pink flowers.
“How is this possible? I’m sure that yesterday, the tree didn’t have a single bud… and now it’s in full bloom!” He reverently touched the trunk.
“Maybe he was dancing to make the tree blossom?” he thought enjoying the magnificent sight of the branches of the tree completely covered by flowers.
“I have to work hard too!” he decided remembering his promise with Ohno.
The following days, the young student spent almost all his time studying in order to excel in his exams, though he made sure not to neglect his tree either. The fact that it was in full bloom now, didn’t mean that it was completely recovered, did it? Moreover, he liked to spend at least a few minutes talking to it everyday. It made him feel calmer.
“No more video games? No more visits to the game center either? Only studying? Who are you and what have you done with my friend Nino?” Aiba mocked him one day, but Nino could see that he was really puzzled by his recent behavior. Anyway, Nino was determined to make Ohno proud of him, so he kept studying diligently and completely ignored Aiba’s whining and mocking jokes.
~~
“Nino! Wake up or you will be late for school,” the young student could hear his mother calling him from the first floor. He grumbled a bit and stubbornly tried to return to the wonderful dream he was having. Where was he? Ah, yes! He was enjoying a picnic with Ohno under the sakura blossoms and they were about to kiss… KISS?!
He brusquely opened his eyes and lifted his head, looking bewildered at his surroundings like a doe suddenly surprised by the lights of a car. What was that?... And why wasn’t he laying in his bed? He grimaced when he felt the sudden sharp pain coming from his stiff neck.
“Next time I should study in my bed, not in my desk,” he thought carefully rubbing his sore shoulders and neck. Absentmindedly, he looked out the window in front of his desk, and his mouth dropped open in surprise. The street was full of leaves, broken branches, papers… He blinked, stunned by the destruction in front of him.
“Nino, darling, I really think you should close your mouth before you start drooling on your text books,” Nino’s mother entered her son’s room and began to pick up the discarded clothes on her son’s bed. “It’s not very cool, you know?”
“W-What has happened?” he asked his mother, pointing, bewildered, out the window.
“You didn’t notice the storm last night?” asked his mother incredulously. “I thought we were going to lose our roof for sure!”
“S-Storm? I didn’t notice anything!”
“Well, I suppose you were too tired to notice anything,” his mother smiled gently at him, smoothing down her son’s bed hair with her hand. “Breakfast is ready. Come down quickly or it will get cold,” she added before leaving the room
“It must have been a really strong storm,” Nino looked outside the window anxiously. . “After all of Ohno’s hard work… Could the tree have lost its blossoms? Maybe even some of its branches! I should check it before I go to school”
However, when he arrived at the park he found it closed for renovations. He stared in surprise at the workers that were moving lights, wooden benches and other things into the park.
“What is all of this?” he asked one of the workers, confused.
“Sorry, the park is currently closed. The Prime Minister is going to visit our town in a few weeks and the Mayor has ordered us to prepare the park and other public places for his visit.”
“When will the park be open again?” he asked anxiously.
“The latest storm has tripled our work, but I think it will be open again at the end of the next week.”
Nino sighed, disappointed, and left the park dragging his feet. He spent the following days studying for his exams and wondering if his tree would be fine without him.
~~
The tests passed in the blink of an eye, and Nino soon found Aiba and himself exiting the big hall where the Graduation Ceremony had taken place, with their diplomas in their hands. Nino’s proud family had left already, leaving the two friends alone to celebrate the event.
“The Graduation Ceremony was really fun, right Nino?” Aiba exclaimed bouncing happily beside him and hitting Nino’s head softly with his diploma. “By the way, how have you managed to achieve those high marks? Tell me your secret!” he pestered, poking Nino in the ribs.
“Studying?” he laughed poking Aiba back.
“Boooooring!” Aiba stuck out his tongue at his friend. “Anyway, what are you going to do now? Do you want to go to a karaoke place?”
“Maybe later. They’re going to open the park today, and I want to make sure that my tree is o.k.”
“Your tree? What are you now, a gardener?” Aiba joked, looking puzzled at his friend.
“Something like that. I’ll call you later!” Nino said goodbye to his friend and hurried to his house to pick up the picnic basket he had prepared that morning - with an extra service of rice balls for Ohno, of course. After that, he made his way to the park as fast as he could, anxious to see the tree spirit again.
When he arrived, he hurried through the trees dodging the people that were enjoying the day, celebrating, throwing parties under the blossomed trees. He didn’t notice anything unusual until he had the lake in sight. At that moment, his eyes widened, shocked, watching the clearing among the sakura trees.
“Wh-What!? I must be dreaming,” the picnic basket fell on the ground forgotten. “It can’t be true!!” he cried out horrified and ran towards the clearing, his heart beating painfully in his chest.
Where the old sakura tree once stood, there was only a solitary stump.
“The workers cut down the tree, boy,” an old man seated on a bench, drinking a beer, told him. “It was old and seemed to be ill too. I heard the storm we had three weeks ago broke it.”
“No…no!” Nino shook his head vehemently, “It’s impossible. It was almost completely healed… It had even blossomed for the first time in years!”
The old man looked at the distressed student and shrugged his shoulders. Who could understand young people these days? He got up and continued on his way drinking his beer.
Nino’s legs gave way and he fell on his knees beside the stump. He felt his cheeks becoming wet with tears he hadn’t noticed he had shed. He caressed the stump of the old tree, realizing that he would never be able to celebrate his graduation with Ohno.
Next chapter
Pairing: Ohmiya
Summary: Nino doesn’t believe in spirits, but his opinion changes when he meets a very special person.
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1960
Disclaimer: This chapter is co-written with zazasukie Thanks to beastlover for betaing it! <3
Previous chapter
Ohno brusquely turned around, searching for the source of the sudden noise. His eyes opened wide when he glimpsed Nino’s small frame semi hidden behind the bushes.
“Nino.”
“H-Hi. I was passing by and I thought there was something moving near the tree so I decided to take a look. I didn’t intend to interrupt your dance, sorry!” the young student hastily apologized, abandoning his hideout. Again he had been caught red handed stalking the tree spirit. What was Ohno going to think of him? He hoped that the surrounding darkness was enough to hide his burning cheeks.
“Don’t worry, I think it was time to take a rest anyway.” The young man sat on the ground, dismissing Nino’s worries with a graceful movement of his hand. Then, he patted the place next to him, smiling encouragingly at the mortified student. Nino didn’t even think twice and sat near the spirit, so close that their arms were almost brushing. They spent the next minutes in silence. Nino felt too embarrassed to say anything, and Ohno seemed content enough just enjoying the soft caress of the breeze.
“Why do I feel so flustered? Do I have a fever?” Nino felt his forehead, hoping Ohno wouldn't notice, but only his cheeks felt hotter than usual. He risked a quick side-glance at Ohno, and his heart did a funny flip when he found the latter staring intently at him.
“Ho-How are you? Did you get better?” he asked, quickly averting his eyes from the other man.
“I’m almost recovered,” the spirit replied. “Thank you.”
Ohno’s voice came in a breathy whisper that woke goose bumps up and down Nino’s arms and neck. Had the spirit’s voice always had that distinct raspy tone? Was it the effect of the night and their closeness? Nino didn’t know, but he could swear that his heart had never beaten this fast in his whole life. He wondered if Ohno was able to hear it.
“And you? You look tired,” Ohno continued with a slight frown, snapping the young student out of his thoughts.
“Well, I’m studying for my exams; Graduation Day is near and we have lot of tests before it.”
“And I have been playing video games until late again,” he admitted to himself, but he wasn’t going to say that aloud.
“Graduation Day?” Ohno titled his head with an expression slightly interrogative.
“Don’t you know what it is?” Nino stared at the other man incredulously until he remembered that Ohno was the spirit of a tree. “Could it be the first time he's heard about it?”
“It’s a ceremony in which the school gives diplomas to the students that have passed their tests, and therefore ended their high school years, finally becoming adults,” he tried to explain awkwardly. “Usually, the student’s family and beloved ones attend the ceremony and then they celebrate the occasion by eating all together and…”
“There is food involved?” asked Ohno suddenly perking up.
“Well, not always” Nino replied amused, but he hastily corrected himself when he saw Ohno’s face fall a bit. “But almost everybody celebrates it in that way!” he assured the disappointed spirit.
“That must be nice” Ohno answered looking dreamily at the lake's quiet water.
“W-Would you like to celebrate it with me?” Nino spluttered without thinking.
The student regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. “Where did that come from? And how could I have been so blunt?” He could feel his whole face turning bright red. He quickly averted his gaze and focused it in his short fingers. “I could prepare a picnic, like the other time, and we could enjoy it here and… well, it's just an idea but…”
“Are you going to make those delicious rice balls again?” Ohno was looking hopefully at him, oblivious to the student's embarrassment.
“Of course!” the young student replied immediately.
“Then o.k., but only if you get high marks in your exams,” Ohno answered with a crooked smile.
“It’s a promise then!” Nino exclaimed, deliriously happy, extending his pinky finger in the other man’s direction... and feeling incredibly stupid immediately afterwards. But Ohno just intertwined his pinky finger with Nino’s without a word. They looked at each other and laughed aloud.
A few minutes later, the young man let out a reluctant sigh and got up slowly, “I think it’s time to resume my dancing.”
Nino nodded and said goodbye to him. When he was leaving the park, he could see Ohno dancing again near the lake.
“Now that I think about it, I didn’t ask him what he was doing. I wonder why he is dancing in the middle of the night.”
~~
The next day, when Nino crossed the park on his way to school, he saw something that rendered him speechless, “The tree has blossomed!” the young student exclaimed amazed.
He slowly approached the tree, looking in awe at its heavy branches, now covered with delicate, little, pink flowers.
“How is this possible? I’m sure that yesterday, the tree didn’t have a single bud… and now it’s in full bloom!” He reverently touched the trunk.
“Maybe he was dancing to make the tree blossom?” he thought enjoying the magnificent sight of the branches of the tree completely covered by flowers.
“I have to work hard too!” he decided remembering his promise with Ohno.
The following days, the young student spent almost all his time studying in order to excel in his exams, though he made sure not to neglect his tree either. The fact that it was in full bloom now, didn’t mean that it was completely recovered, did it? Moreover, he liked to spend at least a few minutes talking to it everyday. It made him feel calmer.
“No more video games? No more visits to the game center either? Only studying? Who are you and what have you done with my friend Nino?” Aiba mocked him one day, but Nino could see that he was really puzzled by his recent behavior. Anyway, Nino was determined to make Ohno proud of him, so he kept studying diligently and completely ignored Aiba’s whining and mocking jokes.
~~
“Nino! Wake up or you will be late for school,” the young student could hear his mother calling him from the first floor. He grumbled a bit and stubbornly tried to return to the wonderful dream he was having. Where was he? Ah, yes! He was enjoying a picnic with Ohno under the sakura blossoms and they were about to kiss… KISS?!
He brusquely opened his eyes and lifted his head, looking bewildered at his surroundings like a doe suddenly surprised by the lights of a car. What was that?... And why wasn’t he laying in his bed? He grimaced when he felt the sudden sharp pain coming from his stiff neck.
“Next time I should study in my bed, not in my desk,” he thought carefully rubbing his sore shoulders and neck. Absentmindedly, he looked out the window in front of his desk, and his mouth dropped open in surprise. The street was full of leaves, broken branches, papers… He blinked, stunned by the destruction in front of him.
“Nino, darling, I really think you should close your mouth before you start drooling on your text books,” Nino’s mother entered her son’s room and began to pick up the discarded clothes on her son’s bed. “It’s not very cool, you know?”
“W-What has happened?” he asked his mother, pointing, bewildered, out the window.
“You didn’t notice the storm last night?” asked his mother incredulously. “I thought we were going to lose our roof for sure!”
“S-Storm? I didn’t notice anything!”
“Well, I suppose you were too tired to notice anything,” his mother smiled gently at him, smoothing down her son’s bed hair with her hand. “Breakfast is ready. Come down quickly or it will get cold,” she added before leaving the room
“It must have been a really strong storm,” Nino looked outside the window anxiously. . “After all of Ohno’s hard work… Could the tree have lost its blossoms? Maybe even some of its branches! I should check it before I go to school”
However, when he arrived at the park he found it closed for renovations. He stared in surprise at the workers that were moving lights, wooden benches and other things into the park.
“What is all of this?” he asked one of the workers, confused.
“Sorry, the park is currently closed. The Prime Minister is going to visit our town in a few weeks and the Mayor has ordered us to prepare the park and other public places for his visit.”
“When will the park be open again?” he asked anxiously.
“The latest storm has tripled our work, but I think it will be open again at the end of the next week.”
Nino sighed, disappointed, and left the park dragging his feet. He spent the following days studying for his exams and wondering if his tree would be fine without him.
~~
The tests passed in the blink of an eye, and Nino soon found Aiba and himself exiting the big hall where the Graduation Ceremony had taken place, with their diplomas in their hands. Nino’s proud family had left already, leaving the two friends alone to celebrate the event.
“The Graduation Ceremony was really fun, right Nino?” Aiba exclaimed bouncing happily beside him and hitting Nino’s head softly with his diploma. “By the way, how have you managed to achieve those high marks? Tell me your secret!” he pestered, poking Nino in the ribs.
“Studying?” he laughed poking Aiba back.
“Boooooring!” Aiba stuck out his tongue at his friend. “Anyway, what are you going to do now? Do you want to go to a karaoke place?”
“Maybe later. They’re going to open the park today, and I want to make sure that my tree is o.k.”
“Your tree? What are you now, a gardener?” Aiba joked, looking puzzled at his friend.
“Something like that. I’ll call you later!” Nino said goodbye to his friend and hurried to his house to pick up the picnic basket he had prepared that morning - with an extra service of rice balls for Ohno, of course. After that, he made his way to the park as fast as he could, anxious to see the tree spirit again.
When he arrived, he hurried through the trees dodging the people that were enjoying the day, celebrating, throwing parties under the blossomed trees. He didn’t notice anything unusual until he had the lake in sight. At that moment, his eyes widened, shocked, watching the clearing among the sakura trees.
“Wh-What!? I must be dreaming,” the picnic basket fell on the ground forgotten. “It can’t be true!!” he cried out horrified and ran towards the clearing, his heart beating painfully in his chest.
Where the old sakura tree once stood, there was only a solitary stump.
“The workers cut down the tree, boy,” an old man seated on a bench, drinking a beer, told him. “It was old and seemed to be ill too. I heard the storm we had three weeks ago broke it.”
“No…no!” Nino shook his head vehemently, “It’s impossible. It was almost completely healed… It had even blossomed for the first time in years!”
The old man looked at the distressed student and shrugged his shoulders. Who could understand young people these days? He got up and continued on his way drinking his beer.
Nino’s legs gave way and he fell on his knees beside the stump. He felt his cheeks becoming wet with tears he hadn’t noticed he had shed. He caressed the stump of the old tree, realizing that he would never be able to celebrate his graduation with Ohno.
Next chapter