One Petal /// Oneshot - Part II
“This one of Saya-chan is really good”, Kazuya said looking at a photo. “She has those cute dimples and they come out here pretty nicely.”
Jin looked at the photo over Kazuya’s shoulder, frowned slightly.
“You know, she merely smiles that genuinely, so this is really a great picture.” Kazuya smiled and looked up from the picture then. “You did great on this, Tama-chan.”
The younger boy blushed and said his Thanks and Jin wondered when exactly he had become Tama-chan to Kazuya.
The picture wasn’t that great, actually. The light didn’t work and another kid had sneaked its way in, just half of its face in the picture.
But sure, on a personal level, he saw pretty well what Kazuya was talking about. On a level like that, light and format didn’t matter.
On that personal level, he would just see Saya-chan smiling widely and that was actually something rare, as Jin had noticed. They had gotten to know the kids pretty well already and seeing them every day, being around them, watching them, Jin had figured out their personalities quite quickly.
They had been working there for four days by now; it was Friday and the children had gotten more than used to them. Actually, Jin thought and watched Kazuya leaning in to talk to the other teacher, they could have left already. The gathered material was more than enough.
But Jin didn’t really want to; somehow he sensed that he should use all of the time he had settled to work here.
Hitomi chuckled and Jin frowned over that, raised his camera to take a picture of that scene. They surely looked like a couple, and he couldn’t say why, but it bugged him, made him feel jealous.
It wasn’t that he liked Kazuya in that way, Jin told himself. It was just that ever since he had seen Kazuya he had fascinated Jin, and hence, Jin wanted to get closer, find out who that person really was. But that was a lot more complicated than he would have thought.
Jin shook his head and looked away again, deciding that he shouldn’t look at another man like that. It was anything but right.
“Akanishi-san”, Yuta said from behind him and he turned to him. “My SD is full, I guess.”
Jin nodded and looked at the display of his own camera. “Okay, let’s get them emptied.”
They excused themselves and together left the room to get to a one down the corridor. It was actually a storage room, but they had made some space for a table and two chairs, so that Jin and Yuta could use it to put up their laptops and check their pictures.
“This one’s really good”, Jin said, as Yuta had put his SD card in and pointed at the preview of a file.
“Eh?” Yuta opened it and looked at the older one over his shoulder. “You can say it from just seeing the small preview?”
“That’s most important.” Jin smiled slightly. “At first sight, the picture needs to work in its concept and composition.”
Yuta nodded and looked at the picture of two girls playing together. “I see.” He clicked further through the files and together, they discussed which ones they would keep. As they had everything selected and saved, Jin handed him over his SD.
The files opened in the preview window; Yuta frowned and threw Jin a look. “Akanishi-san…”
Jin noticed it himself. A lot of his pictures didn’t show the children. He kept quiet and took over to go through the files.
Yuta backed away and just watched him, saw him scrolling through the pictures, choosing a few just from the previews.
“He has an interesting face, doesn’t he?”
Jin stopped and shortly glanced at the boy. “What?”
“Kazuya-san, I mean”, Yuta answered him. “He is an interesting person.”
Jin shrugged a shoulder. He didn’t want any comments from a kid to the fact that most of the pictures he had taken showed Kazuya.
“It’s your last day, isn’t it”, Jin asked, changing the topic.
Yuta took a moment, then he nodded. “The week went by so quickly.”
“Let’s go out for drinks tonight.” Jin turned to him with a slight smile. “You’ve done well over this week.”
The boy’s face lit up and he beamed at Jin. “Honestly?”
Nodding, Jin crossed his legs, looking at Yuta. “You did. You helped out a lot and you have quite some potential. I am going to write my review over the weekend and you’ll definitely get it, so you can use it when you apply for jobs in future.”
Happy, Yuta bowed to him. “Thank you, Akanishi-san.”
“Not at all”, Jin answered and turned again. “So, when we’re done tonight, let’s go out to celebrate this a bit, okay?”
“I’d love to; thank you.”
They both looked up, when someone knocked at the door and then pulled it open slightly. Hitomi came in sight and smiled at them, apologizing to disturb.
“Yuta-kun, you wanted to help getting the snacks ready, didn’t you? I’d start now.”
Yuta nodded and looked at Jin. “Is it okay, if I help out with that?”
“Sure, go ahead”, Jin answered and smiled at them.
The room fell silent, after they had left and Jin leaned back, closed his eyes. This was rather relaxing. The kids were always loud and there was always someone talking, when he was out there in the class rooms.
So, getting some rest here was definitely relaxing and a bit of what Jin needed.
He sat straight again and opened the files on his computer, looking through the pictures. He hadn’t noticed he had taken that many pictures of Kazuya.
They were all pretty, he had to admit. It was because of the motive, for sure, but there really wasn’t one he would not have picked.
They all had that gentle aura, that gentleness that had fascinated Jin from the very beginning. Kazuya didn’t even need soft light in the background to make him look as if he was shining slightly.
It was amazing.
Jin gulped at his thoughts and palmed his face. It was pathetic, but at the moment, he acted like a teenager having a huge crush.
He should have felt uncomfortable even just at the thought, but he didn’t, instead he wished there was anything he could do to develop anything out of that.
His hands moved almost automatically, opening another file, hidden on his laptop, but Jin always found it quickly, knowing exactly where it was, so he could look at it.
He had scanned the picture he had taken back then; the one of Kazuya that hadn’t left his mind over the whole time.
Jin looked at it now, and wondered if he had somehow fallen in love at first sight back then. He couldn’t explain that feeling otherwise; that feeling that had always been within him when he had looked at the picture. Longing, painful, melancholic.
But now, Jin didn’t really know anymore. Meeting the person, getting to know Kazuya; he probably hadn’t fallen in love, after all.
Love at first sight only existed in fairy tales and in real life you would only feel attracted to a face, to an interesting aura. Getting to know the person always was disappointing.
Since, in a way, he didn’t know Kazuya at all. They talked, their eyes occasionally met, and even though Kazuya always looked nice and gentle, Jin couldn’t look behind that smile at all.
Jin couldn’t read him at all, and that was disturbing to him.
He stared at the picture for a little longer, before he sighed and got up from the chair, walking out of the room to get to the restroom.
He had just rounded the corner, when Kazuya came from the other side of the corridor, a few pictures in his hands.
“Jin-san”, he said politely and knocked the door, before he opened it slightly. “You forgot some of the pictures in the class room. The kids were already all over them.”
He stepped in and noticed no one was there.
Kazuya sighed, since he had actually hoped to find Jin here and see him alone for a few minutes, but apparently the older one had gone off to somewhere else.
He walked over to the table and put down the pictures, then his eye was caught by the image shown on the laptop’s monitor.
Kazuya stood for a moment, staring at it in disbelief, before he stepped closer and bent over the chair to look closer.
“That’s me”, he mumbled; stunned. He studied the picture closely and tilted his head, wondered if it was real or some kind of manipulation.
“Where does that come from?” Kazuya minimized the file to have a look at its details, but nothing gave a hint to when or where the picture had been taken.
“Are you looking for something specific?”
Kazuya spun around and looked at Jin, his eyes round.
It was the first time, Jin thought, that he could see any emotions apart from that calmness and gentleness he was used to in Kazuya’s face.
Kazuya shook his head, bowed slightly. “I am sorry, I just brought the pictures you forgot in the class room and then…”
Jin remembered and he cursed under his breath. “You’ve seen the picture.”
Kazuya looked at him again, bit his lip, while fidgeting his hands. “I’m… Where is that from?”
Jin went over to him and opened the file, so that both of them could look at it again. “It’s a random shoot I took a few years ago, apparently.”
Blinking, Kazuya eyed him.
“I was just thinking that somewhere I had seen your face before, so I went through my files and remembered just now that I had taken a photo of you before.”
Kazuya seemed to relax. “Oh.”
“Don’t worry, I am not a stalker or anything”, Jin assured him with a slight smile.
“I didn’t think that.” Kazuya turned his head to look at the picture again. “I was just kind of… amazed by its looks.”
Jin laughed slightly. “What?”
“I almost didn’t even recognise myself”, Kazuya admitted and laughed, as well. “The light and everything… it’s so soft.”
Jin turned, he couldn’t take that. “It’s actually not that good photography.”
Kazuya nodded. “I shouldn’t say that, since it shows me, actually, but I think it’s a really beautiful picture.”
Trying to hold back a comment on how that was due to Kazuya’s appearance, Jin just nodded and closed the file, shut the laptop closed. “Thanks.”
They awkwardly stood like that for a minute, then Jin cleared his throat and pointed at the door. “Well, let’s get back then?”
Kazuya watched him walking off ahead and followed him out.
It was a little strange, he thought and remembered the picture again. He couldn’t clearly imagine it anymore, but he still had that gentleness in mind; the soft colours and subtle forms.
He would have liked if Jin had been embarrassed about it, Kazuya figured. He had kind of hoped Jin was looking at him like that, taking pictures of him in that way.
He had never wanted something like that before; especially not from a person he didn’t even know. But somehow, Kazuya felt like that thinking of Jin.
Unfortunately, it was nothing but a coincidence Jin had taken that picture. He hadn’t even remembered it, so it probably wasn’t that special to him.
Jin only looked at that picture from a professional view - there was nothing else to it.
“Kazuya-san, drink something more, really, I can understand if you need to.”
Yuta took the bottle and refilled Kazuya’s glass.
“How come you can stand the alcohol much better than I can?” Kazuya eyed the boy, but didn’t hesitate to take a sip from his glass, as soon as it was full again.
That was due to the fact that Yuta always just filled Kazuya’s glass instead of his own, Jin thought and smiled over the scene in front of him.
Kazuya already had emptied the third bottle on his own, while Yuta and him were still at their first.
It had been an unexceptional hard day for Kazuya, after all. Until their encounter, everything had been normal, but after that, things had slowly gone down.
Everything had started with Hana-chan, the rabbit, disappearing. Jin and Yuta had actively helped to find her and after a few hours, she could have been found in the back yard, hidden under some toys.
Kazuya had kept his nerves the whole time, even though the children had all cried and complained. He had kept smiling at them, telling them Hana-chan would be back soon for sure.
After that, at lunch, Kenta-kun and Riina-chan had gotten into a fight and it had ended with Kenta-kun’s face buried in his mash potatoes, crying over how mean Riina-chan was.
Jin had to admit she had guts. Even he hadn’t done something like that back then, and he had caused a lot of trouble, actually, when he’d been a kindergartener.
However, Kazuya had tried to calm both of them down, but Kenta-kun had gotten mad at him for not being entirely on his side, but telling them that both of them were at fault for starting to fight in the first place.
So, Kenta-kun had not talked for the rest of the day, had kept ignoring either Kazuya as well as Hitomi, and when Kazuya had tried to talk to him once more in the afternoon, he had just glared at his teacher, pointing out how much he hated him.
And still, Kazuya had kept his face, had shown no single emotion to that, except for that calmness and a gentle smile.
“I am sure Kenta-kun is going to apologize for that on Monday morning”, Yuta said and gave him a sympathetic look.
“It’s okay”, Kazuya answered. “I don’t mind. He didn’t mean it, after all.”
Jin leaned in. He had invited Kazuya along, because he had thought he could need this, getting to talk and drink, after a day like that. “Don’t you feel down because of that?”
Kazuya smiled at him. “It’s fine; I know he doesn’t hate me.”
“But only saying something like that to someone else is already quite hurting, isn’t it?” Yuta tilted his head, taking some of the snacks they had ordered.
“They say those things all the time.” Kazuya shrugged. “Let’s not talk about that, it’s Yuta’s last day, after all, and we should talk about more cheerful stuff.”
Not arguing that, Jin and Yuta gave in and Jin had to admit the atmosphere really was nice. He enjoyed the evening a lot. Yuta was a good boy and ambitious, as well as intelligent. He would get far in his future, Jin was sure about that and if he could, he would make sure to help him with that.
Kazuya on the other hand was a riddle.
He talked a lot, they laughed and got drunk together, but still, Jin didn’t have the feeling of looking behind that mask, or getting to see anything real.
Kazuya seemed to always keep his control.
It was already late at night, the streets empty, when they walked back home. Yuta had parted from them a few minutes ago to catch his train and now, Jin and Kazuya were walking in silence.
Jin would have to get on the train, as well, but strangely, he didn’t want to leave yet. Instead he rather wanted to stay with Kazuya for a little longer.
“They’ve started to bloom”, Kazuya pointed out and Jin followed his gaze to the trees at the side of the walk.
Blossoms were yet about to open and Jin wondered if he would think of Kazuya for the rest of his life, seeing cherry blossoms.
“It’ll take another few weeks, before they’ll actually bloom all, but a few of them started already, it seems”, he agreed and looked back at Kazuya.
The younger one gave him a smile. “Will you come to take photos when they are in full blossom?”
Jin laughed slightly. “You can find cherry trees everywhere; I don’t have to come out here for that.”
As he noticed Kazuya look, he blinked and stopped, let Kazuya walk ahead.
Had that just been disappointment?
“The principal told us today that you decided to make Monday your last day already.”
Jin nodded, and followed to catch up again. “Yeah, when I planned this out, I didn’t know Yuta would come along, so by now, having the material of two people, I gathered more than enough.”
“Makes sense”, Kazuya answered and smiled. “The kids will miss you.”
“They liked Yuta a lot better, though, and they did well on saying goodbye to him today, so I don’t think it’ll be too bad.”
“It’ll feel lonely without you and Yuta around.”
“Hitomi-Sensei is there, isn’t she?” Jin threw him a look. “And I think the two of you are more than just getting along well.”
Frowning, Kazuya stretched his arms, looked up to the sky. It was still a little chilly at night. “If you think we had something going on, I have to tell you that it’s not the case. Everyone talks about us like that.”
“Do you like her?” Jin couldn’t resist that question.
“She’s a nice woman. I think her boyfriend thinks the same.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Kazuya looked back at Jin and tilted his head. “I don’t like her in that way, no. I am not interested in her in a romantic way.”
Jin just nodded. He somehow felt relieved.
Kazuya laughed and stopped in front of a house, turned to Jin. “Where exactly are you going?”
“I was accompanying you home”, Jin answered, not really knowing if that was what Kazuya actually meant.
“We’re there already. This place isn’t big, so you can reach everything within five minutes.”
Jin nodded. It really was a small town; everyone knowing the other. “I’ll get my train then.”
It hit him again, and Jin felt his heart beat quickening, as Kazuya smiled at him in that gentle way.
“Take care. Thanks for the treat, Jin.”
Nodding, Jin took a step away and raised his hand, waving slightly. “Good night, Kazuya. I’ll see you on Monday.”
Kazuya stood where he was and kept looking at Jin’s back until he was gone.
It was a pity, he hadn’t gotten any more time to get closer to him, after all. Monday, he would leave and then, Kazuya’s life would be back to normal.
He thought about Kenta-kun’s face again, the way he had looked at him with hatred eyes, telling him he hated Kazuya.
It was difficult to be bear, after all, but he didn’t like others seeing him suffer, so he had to lock that inside himself and pretend to be okay.
He wasn’t courageous enough to make a step forward and let Jin know what he felt; that he thought love at first sight probably existed and he just experienced it.
No one believed in that anymore; it was out-dated and just happened in fairy tales, after all.
Kazuya sighed and locked up his door, stumbled in to fall to his futon at the floor.
He wished he hadn’t let Jin go; instead, he should have taken the step, should just have said something, asked him to come in, should have kissed him, probably.
Anything would have been better than this, regretting to let the chance slip.
Why couldn’t Jin see what he saw, feel what he felt; just like love at first sight from all those fairy tales was supposed to go?
In a fairy tale, everything would have gone different from this.
Jin didn’t quite know how he had ended up like that, but when Kazuya had asked him with that pleading look, he could not have said no by all means.
Saya-chan’s mother had called in that morning, telling them Saya-chan wouldn’t come, since she was sick. So, for the walk that had been planned today, they were one child short and since all children walked paired up, there was naturally one of them having no partner.
Of course, it happened to be Kenta-kun, and since he was still mad at Kazuya, he had refused to walk at his teacher’s hand.
Hence, Jin had ended up like this.
Walking behind the rest of the pairs of children, with Kenta-kun holding on to his hand.
“You know Kenta-kun, if you weren’t mad at everyone around you, you’d walk ahead there with your friends”, Jin said to him and made the boy look up at him with that. “Now, you have to walk with me, the boring photographer guy.”
Kenta-kun blinked his eye and shook his head. “It’s fine. I like Jin-kun.”
Smiling, Jin didn’t answer to that, he only lightly squeezed the boy’s hand.
They reached a meadow, where they settled and both teachers played various games with the children.
It was a sunny day, still a bit chilly, but just typically spring.
They had prepared lunch as a picnic and of course, all the children were excited over that.
“I can’t believe he’s such a bullhead”, Kazuya murmured and Jin followed his look, saw Kenta-kun sitting all alone, ignoring his bento.
Kazuya wanted to get up and Jin instantly grabbed the younger man’s hand, holding him back.
Confused, Kazuya looked at him, but didn’t pull away.
“Let me go.”
“What?”
“I’ll go talk to him.”
Kazuya laughed slightly. “Jin, this is my job, after all.”
“I know”, Jin said calmly and got up, tightening his grip around Kazuya hand. “He doesn’t see it like that, though.”
Kazuya bit his lip, looked at Jin, before he nodded.
Jin smiled slightly and then went over to Kenta.
“Hey, buddy.” He sat down next to the child. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“I don’t want to eat”, Kenta-kun answered with a stubborn expression.
“Are you still mad at Kazuya-Sensei?”
Kenta-kun’s lips became a small line. “Kazuya-Sensei didn’t side with Kenta-kun.”
Jin nodded and lay back, staring up to the sky. Kenta curiously eyed him over his shoulder.
“I can understand that. He is your friend, after all.”
The child nodded. “And he didn’t stay with me when I wanted him to. He even said it was Kenta-kun’s fault!”
“Kazuya-Sensei is a good friend of yours, isn’t he?”
Kenta-kun nodded slowly.
“That’s why it hurts even more if he doesn’t meet your expectations in him, huh?” Jin turned his head to look at him.
As he didn’t get an answer, Jin just went on. “Kazuya- Sensei is my good friend, too.”
“Really?!”
Jin smiled. A few lies were okay. “Sure. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with him?”
“Everyone here is friends with Kazuya-Sensei”, Kenta-kun told him.
“I know.” Jin nodded. “That’s why he needs to be fair to everyone.”
Kenta-kun looked at him with round eyes. “But Riina-chan was being mean and…”
Jin leaned in closer, until his voice was almost only a whisper, so that nobody would hear. “You pulled her hair, didn’t you?”
As if he had been busted, Kenta gasped slightly. “But only…”
“It doesn’t matter why, Kenta-kun”, Jin said. “But Kazuya-Sensei is friends with Riina-chan, too, and how could he decide whom he should side with?”
Kenta-kun bit his lip and looked down at his lap. “Is Kazuya-Sensei mad at Kenta-kun for getting angry and saying mean things?”
Jin smiled at that. It was so easy. “He is not mad. But he’s sad you said you’d hate him. You don’t want your friends to hate you, do you?”
Kenta quickly shook his head and looked up at Jin. “I don’t really hate Kazuya-Sensei.”
Jin patted his hair. “I know, buddy. Don’t be mad anymore. Everyone wants to play with you, too, so take your bento and go over to your friends, okay?”
Kenta-kun smiled at him and nodded then. “Jin-kun is really cool.”
“Thanks, Kenta-kun, you’re really cool, too.”
Kazuya watched them, as Kenta got up and smiled brightly, before he hurried over to a few other boys to sit with them.
He turned his head to Jin, as the older male came back into his direction.
“So, after all, you’re doing well with kids.”
Jin smiled and sat next to Kazuya. “Only with those I can understand.”
The teacher laughed and Jin couldn’t resist; he raised his camera and took a photo, smiled at the preview he got at the display.
“Delete that”, Kazuya said embarrassed.
Jin grinned and shook his head. “I won’t. I’ll put it to the other one.”
“I am not feeling comfortable on that thought at all.”
“You can take one of me and keep it, too. If you want”, Jin offered, more joking than anything else.
But Kazuya nodded. “I want that.”
“Eh?” Jin blinked his eyes. “Really?”
Reaching out one hand, the younger male took the camera. “Don’t you dare posing or anything.”
Jin laughed at that and lowered his head in the moment Kazuya pressed the button.
Satisfied, Kazuya checked his work and handed the camera back to Jin. “And don’t you dare deleting it. I want exactly that picture.”
Jin didn’t even bother to look at it. He turned off his camera and put it back into its case, then he looked back at the male beside him. “I won’t.”
As it had been time to get back to the kindergarten, Jin decided he wouldn’t go back with them.
He said his goodbye to all of them and waved, as they walked off.
It made him smile, as he saw Kenta-kun taking Kazuya’s hand shyly and the way Kazuya smiled down at him.
It was good to keep Kazuya in mind like that.
Still gentle and calm; just like he had always seen him in the picture.
Jin turned, as well, didn’t notice Kazuya looked back in just exactly that moment.
It’s been more than two weeks and somehow, Jin had managed to just forget about it.
At least most of the time, when he was working.
The project was finished already, the client more than satisfied. His boss had praised him a lot for that and he had written out a very good review for Yuta.
Everything had gone just as he had wanted it to go and yet, Jin thought, he was far from being satisfied.
His new assignment was nothing but working in the studio again and it was fine; he liked his work, after all.
But each day again, he wondered what Kazuya was doing, how he was managing the class, if he was getting on better and better with Hitomi-Sensei or if there was anything else.
Jin had kept some of the developed pictures to himself and carried them with him every time. Of Kazuya laughing, playing with the kids, staring out of the window, his look distant.
And one that showed himself; gently laughing, but genuinely and honest.
Laughing in a way, Jin hadn’t thought he would ever look while laughing.
He left the train station and sighed to himself now, looking over the place in front of him. He hadn’t thought to see it so soon again.
But as he had gone home from work this noon, he had crossed a street and one petal had flattered his way.
Seeing it, Jin had stopped to pick it up and have a look.
One single petal was enough to remind him, to make him realise that he wouldn’t ever forget anymore.
So, Jin had come back to this place.
It was afternoon already and the sun was standing low.
Jin walked down the path, heading towards the kindergarten to go and see Kazuya. He would have to wait for much longer most likely, but that was okay. He’d be off the next day, anyways.
As he went along the path, he raised his head and stopped for a moment, watching the trees at the side.
Kazuya had asked him to come back and take pictures of them when they’d be in full blossom.
They were now - blooming fully and fairly. Their scent was filling the air, pink petals were flattering down to the ground.
Jin pulled out his camera and started to take photos, changed his camera’s settings to get different effects and walked along the road.
As something else came into his motive, he lowered his camera slowly, stood where he was.
It was Kazuya leaning against the railing behind the trees, staring over the huge dyke beneath. A few petals had fallen around him, sticking to his shoulders and hair.
Jin slowly went closer and lifted his camera again to take a picture.
Click, click, click.
Kazuya turned to that sound and his lips parted slightly, as he saw Jin.
The older male put his camera into its case and then walked over to lean against the railing next to Kazuya.
“What…”, the younger one started.
“The cherry trees are in full blossom now, aren’t they?”
Kazuya smiled slowly. “You came out here for that, even though there are cherry trees blooming everywhere?”
Jin nodded, his eyes looking straight forward. Then he remembered and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Kazuya.
“Those are for you.”
Kazuya took it and gave Jin a curious look, before he opened it and pulled out the pictures. They were at least twenty, he assumed and the first was of him and Riina-chan, both grinning at each other.
He smiled, as he remembered the moment and flipped through the rest; saw his own face in each of those pictures. It made him wonder, but still, his smile didn’t fade.
Only, when he got to that last one, it slowly died down. It was the one he had seen on Jin’s laptop, but it was different in format from the others and it looked used and a bit creased.
“I’ve developed it, after I had taken it two years ago.”
Kazuya looked up at Jin and frowned slightly.
Jin smiled at him, tapped his finger against the picture in Kazuya’s hand. “You told them a fairy tale, about the spirit of a cherry tree that had fallen in love with a man. It was sad and yet you looked like this…”
Kazuya lowered his gaze to the image again. “I like that fairy tale.”
“Since even though she disappeared, she never really left him, after all”, Jin agreed. Then he continued: “Somehow, I kept that picture for a few weeks, but then, I forgot about it. But last year, as the cherry blossoms started to bloom, I remembered the story and I remembered you. So I looked the picture up again and from then on, I kind of always had it with me.”
Kazuya stared at him. “Were you…?”
Jin gave him a short glance. “I was so surprised to see you again, to even get to know you, since I kind of felt like I already did.”
“So, you did recognize me immediately, not only on Friday.”
Jin laughed a bit. “Is that important?”
Kazuya nodded sincerely and put the pictures back to the envelope and raised it a bit. “You took quite some pictures of me.”
“I have about trice as much at home.”
His expression got gentle. “You have a crush.”
Jin blushed and looked away from Kazuya. He didn’t want to say it like that. “Love at first sight only happens in fairy tales, so I assume that’s what it is.”
Kazuya came a bit closer and ran his hand over Jin’s arm, leaned in to the older male’s ear. “And I thought I was a childish fool for assuming I had fallen in love at first sight.”
Jin turned his head to Kazuya, his eyes big, but as he wanted to say something, it was cut by a brush of Kazuya’s lips against his. It was just short and subtle, but it silenced him completely.
Jin turned to put his arms around Kazuya and pull him into his embrace, hold him close.
They stood like that for a while, soft cherry blossoms dancing around them in the wind that was moving their hair. Kazuya’s hands came up to caress Jin’s back, to run his fingers up to his nape.
Then Jin pulled back a bit and smiled at him, leaning in to take a full kiss.
Kazuya’s hand gripped Jin’s, as he leaned against the railing again, smiled as he tapped the envelope against the other’s shoulder. “Thanks for the pictures.”
“I’ll take a lot more from now on.”
Kazuya blinked at him and he frowned slightly. “That’s right. Where is the one I wanted?”
Jin laughed. “That wasn’t good enough to waste money on developing it.”
“Jin.”
The older male tilted his head back and closed his eyes with a sigh, feeling Kazuya leaning closer to him. “Okay, okay. You’ll get it next time.”
The cherry trees stood in full blossom and Kazuya smiled, as he looked out of the window of the class room.
About half a year ago, Jin had moved in to Kazuya’s place. He just took forty minutes to get to work on the train from here and since Kazuya was the one who had to get up earlier, they had agreed on staying at his apartment.
That was just fair, Kazuya thought.
It was Jin’s day off today, so when he had left this morning, the older one had still been sleeping. Other days, they would get up together, would have breakfast and talk about the upcoming day, the previous one or just stay silent.
In any way, they always enjoyed being together, having the other one just around and present.
“Kazuya-Sensei”, one of the children called him and he turned to them, getting back to play with them.
As all children had been picked up by their parents in the afternoon, Kazuya tidied up the room, then he changed. With a smile, he looked at the picture of Jin in his locker, traced his finger of his laughing image and closed the door then to go home.
As he came out of the building, he saw Jin waiting at the gate for him and hurried over.
“I thought you may want to have a walk with me”, Jin asked and reached out his hand.
Kazuya took it without hesitation.
They walked for a while and Jin took pictures - of the tress, the sky, the people; of Kazuya.
The younger one watched him and smiled slightly, as Jin came over to him, caught his lips in a kiss.
Sometimes, fairy tales did work out in reality. It was just a matter of how much one believed in it, of how much you really wanted it to be reality.
Sometimes, Kazuya thought and held on to Jin’s hand, as they walked back along the path lined with blooming cherry trees, reality itself was the fairy tale.
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A/N#2: The fairy tale Kazuya tells is called "One Petal" by Shinohara Hitoshi.
Thanks a lot for reading, I hope you liked it <3
Jin looked at the photo over Kazuya’s shoulder, frowned slightly.
“You know, she merely smiles that genuinely, so this is really a great picture.” Kazuya smiled and looked up from the picture then. “You did great on this, Tama-chan.”
The younger boy blushed and said his Thanks and Jin wondered when exactly he had become Tama-chan to Kazuya.
The picture wasn’t that great, actually. The light didn’t work and another kid had sneaked its way in, just half of its face in the picture.
But sure, on a personal level, he saw pretty well what Kazuya was talking about. On a level like that, light and format didn’t matter.
On that personal level, he would just see Saya-chan smiling widely and that was actually something rare, as Jin had noticed. They had gotten to know the kids pretty well already and seeing them every day, being around them, watching them, Jin had figured out their personalities quite quickly.
They had been working there for four days by now; it was Friday and the children had gotten more than used to them. Actually, Jin thought and watched Kazuya leaning in to talk to the other teacher, they could have left already. The gathered material was more than enough.
But Jin didn’t really want to; somehow he sensed that he should use all of the time he had settled to work here.
Hitomi chuckled and Jin frowned over that, raised his camera to take a picture of that scene. They surely looked like a couple, and he couldn’t say why, but it bugged him, made him feel jealous.
It wasn’t that he liked Kazuya in that way, Jin told himself. It was just that ever since he had seen Kazuya he had fascinated Jin, and hence, Jin wanted to get closer, find out who that person really was. But that was a lot more complicated than he would have thought.
Jin shook his head and looked away again, deciding that he shouldn’t look at another man like that. It was anything but right.
“Akanishi-san”, Yuta said from behind him and he turned to him. “My SD is full, I guess.”
Jin nodded and looked at the display of his own camera. “Okay, let’s get them emptied.”
They excused themselves and together left the room to get to a one down the corridor. It was actually a storage room, but they had made some space for a table and two chairs, so that Jin and Yuta could use it to put up their laptops and check their pictures.
“This one’s really good”, Jin said, as Yuta had put his SD card in and pointed at the preview of a file.
“Eh?” Yuta opened it and looked at the older one over his shoulder. “You can say it from just seeing the small preview?”
“That’s most important.” Jin smiled slightly. “At first sight, the picture needs to work in its concept and composition.”
Yuta nodded and looked at the picture of two girls playing together. “I see.” He clicked further through the files and together, they discussed which ones they would keep. As they had everything selected and saved, Jin handed him over his SD.
The files opened in the preview window; Yuta frowned and threw Jin a look. “Akanishi-san…”
Jin noticed it himself. A lot of his pictures didn’t show the children. He kept quiet and took over to go through the files.
Yuta backed away and just watched him, saw him scrolling through the pictures, choosing a few just from the previews.
“He has an interesting face, doesn’t he?”
Jin stopped and shortly glanced at the boy. “What?”
“Kazuya-san, I mean”, Yuta answered him. “He is an interesting person.”
Jin shrugged a shoulder. He didn’t want any comments from a kid to the fact that most of the pictures he had taken showed Kazuya.
“It’s your last day, isn’t it”, Jin asked, changing the topic.
Yuta took a moment, then he nodded. “The week went by so quickly.”
“Let’s go out for drinks tonight.” Jin turned to him with a slight smile. “You’ve done well over this week.”
The boy’s face lit up and he beamed at Jin. “Honestly?”
Nodding, Jin crossed his legs, looking at Yuta. “You did. You helped out a lot and you have quite some potential. I am going to write my review over the weekend and you’ll definitely get it, so you can use it when you apply for jobs in future.”
Happy, Yuta bowed to him. “Thank you, Akanishi-san.”
“Not at all”, Jin answered and turned again. “So, when we’re done tonight, let’s go out to celebrate this a bit, okay?”
“I’d love to; thank you.”
They both looked up, when someone knocked at the door and then pulled it open slightly. Hitomi came in sight and smiled at them, apologizing to disturb.
“Yuta-kun, you wanted to help getting the snacks ready, didn’t you? I’d start now.”
Yuta nodded and looked at Jin. “Is it okay, if I help out with that?”
“Sure, go ahead”, Jin answered and smiled at them.
The room fell silent, after they had left and Jin leaned back, closed his eyes. This was rather relaxing. The kids were always loud and there was always someone talking, when he was out there in the class rooms.
So, getting some rest here was definitely relaxing and a bit of what Jin needed.
He sat straight again and opened the files on his computer, looking through the pictures. He hadn’t noticed he had taken that many pictures of Kazuya.
They were all pretty, he had to admit. It was because of the motive, for sure, but there really wasn’t one he would not have picked.
They all had that gentle aura, that gentleness that had fascinated Jin from the very beginning. Kazuya didn’t even need soft light in the background to make him look as if he was shining slightly.
It was amazing.
Jin gulped at his thoughts and palmed his face. It was pathetic, but at the moment, he acted like a teenager having a huge crush.
He should have felt uncomfortable even just at the thought, but he didn’t, instead he wished there was anything he could do to develop anything out of that.
His hands moved almost automatically, opening another file, hidden on his laptop, but Jin always found it quickly, knowing exactly where it was, so he could look at it.
He had scanned the picture he had taken back then; the one of Kazuya that hadn’t left his mind over the whole time.
Jin looked at it now, and wondered if he had somehow fallen in love at first sight back then. He couldn’t explain that feeling otherwise; that feeling that had always been within him when he had looked at the picture. Longing, painful, melancholic.
But now, Jin didn’t really know anymore. Meeting the person, getting to know Kazuya; he probably hadn’t fallen in love, after all.
Love at first sight only existed in fairy tales and in real life you would only feel attracted to a face, to an interesting aura. Getting to know the person always was disappointing.
Since, in a way, he didn’t know Kazuya at all. They talked, their eyes occasionally met, and even though Kazuya always looked nice and gentle, Jin couldn’t look behind that smile at all.
Jin couldn’t read him at all, and that was disturbing to him.
He stared at the picture for a little longer, before he sighed and got up from the chair, walking out of the room to get to the restroom.
He had just rounded the corner, when Kazuya came from the other side of the corridor, a few pictures in his hands.
“Jin-san”, he said politely and knocked the door, before he opened it slightly. “You forgot some of the pictures in the class room. The kids were already all over them.”
He stepped in and noticed no one was there.
Kazuya sighed, since he had actually hoped to find Jin here and see him alone for a few minutes, but apparently the older one had gone off to somewhere else.
He walked over to the table and put down the pictures, then his eye was caught by the image shown on the laptop’s monitor.
Kazuya stood for a moment, staring at it in disbelief, before he stepped closer and bent over the chair to look closer.
“That’s me”, he mumbled; stunned. He studied the picture closely and tilted his head, wondered if it was real or some kind of manipulation.
“Where does that come from?” Kazuya minimized the file to have a look at its details, but nothing gave a hint to when or where the picture had been taken.
“Are you looking for something specific?”
Kazuya spun around and looked at Jin, his eyes round.
It was the first time, Jin thought, that he could see any emotions apart from that calmness and gentleness he was used to in Kazuya’s face.
Kazuya shook his head, bowed slightly. “I am sorry, I just brought the pictures you forgot in the class room and then…”
Jin remembered and he cursed under his breath. “You’ve seen the picture.”
Kazuya looked at him again, bit his lip, while fidgeting his hands. “I’m… Where is that from?”
Jin went over to him and opened the file, so that both of them could look at it again. “It’s a random shoot I took a few years ago, apparently.”
Blinking, Kazuya eyed him.
“I was just thinking that somewhere I had seen your face before, so I went through my files and remembered just now that I had taken a photo of you before.”
Kazuya seemed to relax. “Oh.”
“Don’t worry, I am not a stalker or anything”, Jin assured him with a slight smile.
“I didn’t think that.” Kazuya turned his head to look at the picture again. “I was just kind of… amazed by its looks.”
Jin laughed slightly. “What?”
“I almost didn’t even recognise myself”, Kazuya admitted and laughed, as well. “The light and everything… it’s so soft.”
Jin turned, he couldn’t take that. “It’s actually not that good photography.”
Kazuya nodded. “I shouldn’t say that, since it shows me, actually, but I think it’s a really beautiful picture.”
Trying to hold back a comment on how that was due to Kazuya’s appearance, Jin just nodded and closed the file, shut the laptop closed. “Thanks.”
They awkwardly stood like that for a minute, then Jin cleared his throat and pointed at the door. “Well, let’s get back then?”
Kazuya watched him walking off ahead and followed him out.
It was a little strange, he thought and remembered the picture again. He couldn’t clearly imagine it anymore, but he still had that gentleness in mind; the soft colours and subtle forms.
He would have liked if Jin had been embarrassed about it, Kazuya figured. He had kind of hoped Jin was looking at him like that, taking pictures of him in that way.
He had never wanted something like that before; especially not from a person he didn’t even know. But somehow, Kazuya felt like that thinking of Jin.
Unfortunately, it was nothing but a coincidence Jin had taken that picture. He hadn’t even remembered it, so it probably wasn’t that special to him.
Jin only looked at that picture from a professional view - there was nothing else to it.
“Kazuya-san, drink something more, really, I can understand if you need to.”
Yuta took the bottle and refilled Kazuya’s glass.
“How come you can stand the alcohol much better than I can?” Kazuya eyed the boy, but didn’t hesitate to take a sip from his glass, as soon as it was full again.
That was due to the fact that Yuta always just filled Kazuya’s glass instead of his own, Jin thought and smiled over the scene in front of him.
Kazuya already had emptied the third bottle on his own, while Yuta and him were still at their first.
It had been an unexceptional hard day for Kazuya, after all. Until their encounter, everything had been normal, but after that, things had slowly gone down.
Everything had started with Hana-chan, the rabbit, disappearing. Jin and Yuta had actively helped to find her and after a few hours, she could have been found in the back yard, hidden under some toys.
Kazuya had kept his nerves the whole time, even though the children had all cried and complained. He had kept smiling at them, telling them Hana-chan would be back soon for sure.
After that, at lunch, Kenta-kun and Riina-chan had gotten into a fight and it had ended with Kenta-kun’s face buried in his mash potatoes, crying over how mean Riina-chan was.
Jin had to admit she had guts. Even he hadn’t done something like that back then, and he had caused a lot of trouble, actually, when he’d been a kindergartener.
However, Kazuya had tried to calm both of them down, but Kenta-kun had gotten mad at him for not being entirely on his side, but telling them that both of them were at fault for starting to fight in the first place.
So, Kenta-kun had not talked for the rest of the day, had kept ignoring either Kazuya as well as Hitomi, and when Kazuya had tried to talk to him once more in the afternoon, he had just glared at his teacher, pointing out how much he hated him.
And still, Kazuya had kept his face, had shown no single emotion to that, except for that calmness and a gentle smile.
“I am sure Kenta-kun is going to apologize for that on Monday morning”, Yuta said and gave him a sympathetic look.
“It’s okay”, Kazuya answered. “I don’t mind. He didn’t mean it, after all.”
Jin leaned in. He had invited Kazuya along, because he had thought he could need this, getting to talk and drink, after a day like that. “Don’t you feel down because of that?”
Kazuya smiled at him. “It’s fine; I know he doesn’t hate me.”
“But only saying something like that to someone else is already quite hurting, isn’t it?” Yuta tilted his head, taking some of the snacks they had ordered.
“They say those things all the time.” Kazuya shrugged. “Let’s not talk about that, it’s Yuta’s last day, after all, and we should talk about more cheerful stuff.”
Not arguing that, Jin and Yuta gave in and Jin had to admit the atmosphere really was nice. He enjoyed the evening a lot. Yuta was a good boy and ambitious, as well as intelligent. He would get far in his future, Jin was sure about that and if he could, he would make sure to help him with that.
Kazuya on the other hand was a riddle.
He talked a lot, they laughed and got drunk together, but still, Jin didn’t have the feeling of looking behind that mask, or getting to see anything real.
Kazuya seemed to always keep his control.
It was already late at night, the streets empty, when they walked back home. Yuta had parted from them a few minutes ago to catch his train and now, Jin and Kazuya were walking in silence.
Jin would have to get on the train, as well, but strangely, he didn’t want to leave yet. Instead he rather wanted to stay with Kazuya for a little longer.
“They’ve started to bloom”, Kazuya pointed out and Jin followed his gaze to the trees at the side of the walk.
Blossoms were yet about to open and Jin wondered if he would think of Kazuya for the rest of his life, seeing cherry blossoms.
“It’ll take another few weeks, before they’ll actually bloom all, but a few of them started already, it seems”, he agreed and looked back at Kazuya.
The younger one gave him a smile. “Will you come to take photos when they are in full blossom?”
Jin laughed slightly. “You can find cherry trees everywhere; I don’t have to come out here for that.”
As he noticed Kazuya look, he blinked and stopped, let Kazuya walk ahead.
Had that just been disappointment?
“The principal told us today that you decided to make Monday your last day already.”
Jin nodded, and followed to catch up again. “Yeah, when I planned this out, I didn’t know Yuta would come along, so by now, having the material of two people, I gathered more than enough.”
“Makes sense”, Kazuya answered and smiled. “The kids will miss you.”
“They liked Yuta a lot better, though, and they did well on saying goodbye to him today, so I don’t think it’ll be too bad.”
“It’ll feel lonely without you and Yuta around.”
“Hitomi-Sensei is there, isn’t she?” Jin threw him a look. “And I think the two of you are more than just getting along well.”
Frowning, Kazuya stretched his arms, looked up to the sky. It was still a little chilly at night. “If you think we had something going on, I have to tell you that it’s not the case. Everyone talks about us like that.”
“Do you like her?” Jin couldn’t resist that question.
“She’s a nice woman. I think her boyfriend thinks the same.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Kazuya looked back at Jin and tilted his head. “I don’t like her in that way, no. I am not interested in her in a romantic way.”
Jin just nodded. He somehow felt relieved.
Kazuya laughed and stopped in front of a house, turned to Jin. “Where exactly are you going?”
“I was accompanying you home”, Jin answered, not really knowing if that was what Kazuya actually meant.
“We’re there already. This place isn’t big, so you can reach everything within five minutes.”
Jin nodded. It really was a small town; everyone knowing the other. “I’ll get my train then.”
It hit him again, and Jin felt his heart beat quickening, as Kazuya smiled at him in that gentle way.
“Take care. Thanks for the treat, Jin.”
Nodding, Jin took a step away and raised his hand, waving slightly. “Good night, Kazuya. I’ll see you on Monday.”
Kazuya stood where he was and kept looking at Jin’s back until he was gone.
It was a pity, he hadn’t gotten any more time to get closer to him, after all. Monday, he would leave and then, Kazuya’s life would be back to normal.
He thought about Kenta-kun’s face again, the way he had looked at him with hatred eyes, telling him he hated Kazuya.
It was difficult to be bear, after all, but he didn’t like others seeing him suffer, so he had to lock that inside himself and pretend to be okay.
He wasn’t courageous enough to make a step forward and let Jin know what he felt; that he thought love at first sight probably existed and he just experienced it.
No one believed in that anymore; it was out-dated and just happened in fairy tales, after all.
Kazuya sighed and locked up his door, stumbled in to fall to his futon at the floor.
He wished he hadn’t let Jin go; instead, he should have taken the step, should just have said something, asked him to come in, should have kissed him, probably.
Anything would have been better than this, regretting to let the chance slip.
Why couldn’t Jin see what he saw, feel what he felt; just like love at first sight from all those fairy tales was supposed to go?
In a fairy tale, everything would have gone different from this.
Jin didn’t quite know how he had ended up like that, but when Kazuya had asked him with that pleading look, he could not have said no by all means.
Saya-chan’s mother had called in that morning, telling them Saya-chan wouldn’t come, since she was sick. So, for the walk that had been planned today, they were one child short and since all children walked paired up, there was naturally one of them having no partner.
Of course, it happened to be Kenta-kun, and since he was still mad at Kazuya, he had refused to walk at his teacher’s hand.
Hence, Jin had ended up like this.
Walking behind the rest of the pairs of children, with Kenta-kun holding on to his hand.
“You know Kenta-kun, if you weren’t mad at everyone around you, you’d walk ahead there with your friends”, Jin said to him and made the boy look up at him with that. “Now, you have to walk with me, the boring photographer guy.”
Kenta-kun blinked his eye and shook his head. “It’s fine. I like Jin-kun.”
Smiling, Jin didn’t answer to that, he only lightly squeezed the boy’s hand.
They reached a meadow, where they settled and both teachers played various games with the children.
It was a sunny day, still a bit chilly, but just typically spring.
They had prepared lunch as a picnic and of course, all the children were excited over that.
“I can’t believe he’s such a bullhead”, Kazuya murmured and Jin followed his look, saw Kenta-kun sitting all alone, ignoring his bento.
Kazuya wanted to get up and Jin instantly grabbed the younger man’s hand, holding him back.
Confused, Kazuya looked at him, but didn’t pull away.
“Let me go.”
“What?”
“I’ll go talk to him.”
Kazuya laughed slightly. “Jin, this is my job, after all.”
“I know”, Jin said calmly and got up, tightening his grip around Kazuya hand. “He doesn’t see it like that, though.”
Kazuya bit his lip, looked at Jin, before he nodded.
Jin smiled slightly and then went over to Kenta.
“Hey, buddy.” He sat down next to the child. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“I don’t want to eat”, Kenta-kun answered with a stubborn expression.
“Are you still mad at Kazuya-Sensei?”
Kenta-kun’s lips became a small line. “Kazuya-Sensei didn’t side with Kenta-kun.”
Jin nodded and lay back, staring up to the sky. Kenta curiously eyed him over his shoulder.
“I can understand that. He is your friend, after all.”
The child nodded. “And he didn’t stay with me when I wanted him to. He even said it was Kenta-kun’s fault!”
“Kazuya-Sensei is a good friend of yours, isn’t he?”
Kenta-kun nodded slowly.
“That’s why it hurts even more if he doesn’t meet your expectations in him, huh?” Jin turned his head to look at him.
As he didn’t get an answer, Jin just went on. “Kazuya- Sensei is my good friend, too.”
“Really?!”
Jin smiled. A few lies were okay. “Sure. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with him?”
“Everyone here is friends with Kazuya-Sensei”, Kenta-kun told him.
“I know.” Jin nodded. “That’s why he needs to be fair to everyone.”
Kenta-kun looked at him with round eyes. “But Riina-chan was being mean and…”
Jin leaned in closer, until his voice was almost only a whisper, so that nobody would hear. “You pulled her hair, didn’t you?”
As if he had been busted, Kenta gasped slightly. “But only…”
“It doesn’t matter why, Kenta-kun”, Jin said. “But Kazuya-Sensei is friends with Riina-chan, too, and how could he decide whom he should side with?”
Kenta-kun bit his lip and looked down at his lap. “Is Kazuya-Sensei mad at Kenta-kun for getting angry and saying mean things?”
Jin smiled at that. It was so easy. “He is not mad. But he’s sad you said you’d hate him. You don’t want your friends to hate you, do you?”
Kenta quickly shook his head and looked up at Jin. “I don’t really hate Kazuya-Sensei.”
Jin patted his hair. “I know, buddy. Don’t be mad anymore. Everyone wants to play with you, too, so take your bento and go over to your friends, okay?”
Kenta-kun smiled at him and nodded then. “Jin-kun is really cool.”
“Thanks, Kenta-kun, you’re really cool, too.”
Kazuya watched them, as Kenta got up and smiled brightly, before he hurried over to a few other boys to sit with them.
He turned his head to Jin, as the older male came back into his direction.
“So, after all, you’re doing well with kids.”
Jin smiled and sat next to Kazuya. “Only with those I can understand.”
The teacher laughed and Jin couldn’t resist; he raised his camera and took a photo, smiled at the preview he got at the display.
“Delete that”, Kazuya said embarrassed.
Jin grinned and shook his head. “I won’t. I’ll put it to the other one.”
“I am not feeling comfortable on that thought at all.”
“You can take one of me and keep it, too. If you want”, Jin offered, more joking than anything else.
But Kazuya nodded. “I want that.”
“Eh?” Jin blinked his eyes. “Really?”
Reaching out one hand, the younger male took the camera. “Don’t you dare posing or anything.”
Jin laughed at that and lowered his head in the moment Kazuya pressed the button.
Satisfied, Kazuya checked his work and handed the camera back to Jin. “And don’t you dare deleting it. I want exactly that picture.”
Jin didn’t even bother to look at it. He turned off his camera and put it back into its case, then he looked back at the male beside him. “I won’t.”
As it had been time to get back to the kindergarten, Jin decided he wouldn’t go back with them.
He said his goodbye to all of them and waved, as they walked off.
It made him smile, as he saw Kenta-kun taking Kazuya’s hand shyly and the way Kazuya smiled down at him.
It was good to keep Kazuya in mind like that.
Still gentle and calm; just like he had always seen him in the picture.
Jin turned, as well, didn’t notice Kazuya looked back in just exactly that moment.
It’s been more than two weeks and somehow, Jin had managed to just forget about it.
At least most of the time, when he was working.
The project was finished already, the client more than satisfied. His boss had praised him a lot for that and he had written out a very good review for Yuta.
Everything had gone just as he had wanted it to go and yet, Jin thought, he was far from being satisfied.
His new assignment was nothing but working in the studio again and it was fine; he liked his work, after all.
But each day again, he wondered what Kazuya was doing, how he was managing the class, if he was getting on better and better with Hitomi-Sensei or if there was anything else.
Jin had kept some of the developed pictures to himself and carried them with him every time. Of Kazuya laughing, playing with the kids, staring out of the window, his look distant.
And one that showed himself; gently laughing, but genuinely and honest.
Laughing in a way, Jin hadn’t thought he would ever look while laughing.
He left the train station and sighed to himself now, looking over the place in front of him. He hadn’t thought to see it so soon again.
But as he had gone home from work this noon, he had crossed a street and one petal had flattered his way.
Seeing it, Jin had stopped to pick it up and have a look.
One single petal was enough to remind him, to make him realise that he wouldn’t ever forget anymore.
So, Jin had come back to this place.
It was afternoon already and the sun was standing low.
Jin walked down the path, heading towards the kindergarten to go and see Kazuya. He would have to wait for much longer most likely, but that was okay. He’d be off the next day, anyways.
As he went along the path, he raised his head and stopped for a moment, watching the trees at the side.
Kazuya had asked him to come back and take pictures of them when they’d be in full blossom.
They were now - blooming fully and fairly. Their scent was filling the air, pink petals were flattering down to the ground.
Jin pulled out his camera and started to take photos, changed his camera’s settings to get different effects and walked along the road.
As something else came into his motive, he lowered his camera slowly, stood where he was.
It was Kazuya leaning against the railing behind the trees, staring over the huge dyke beneath. A few petals had fallen around him, sticking to his shoulders and hair.
Jin slowly went closer and lifted his camera again to take a picture.
Click, click, click.
Kazuya turned to that sound and his lips parted slightly, as he saw Jin.
The older male put his camera into its case and then walked over to lean against the railing next to Kazuya.
“What…”, the younger one started.
“The cherry trees are in full blossom now, aren’t they?”
Kazuya smiled slowly. “You came out here for that, even though there are cherry trees blooming everywhere?”
Jin nodded, his eyes looking straight forward. Then he remembered and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Kazuya.
“Those are for you.”
Kazuya took it and gave Jin a curious look, before he opened it and pulled out the pictures. They were at least twenty, he assumed and the first was of him and Riina-chan, both grinning at each other.
He smiled, as he remembered the moment and flipped through the rest; saw his own face in each of those pictures. It made him wonder, but still, his smile didn’t fade.
Only, when he got to that last one, it slowly died down. It was the one he had seen on Jin’s laptop, but it was different in format from the others and it looked used and a bit creased.
“I’ve developed it, after I had taken it two years ago.”
Kazuya looked up at Jin and frowned slightly.
Jin smiled at him, tapped his finger against the picture in Kazuya’s hand. “You told them a fairy tale, about the spirit of a cherry tree that had fallen in love with a man. It was sad and yet you looked like this…”
Kazuya lowered his gaze to the image again. “I like that fairy tale.”
“Since even though she disappeared, she never really left him, after all”, Jin agreed. Then he continued: “Somehow, I kept that picture for a few weeks, but then, I forgot about it. But last year, as the cherry blossoms started to bloom, I remembered the story and I remembered you. So I looked the picture up again and from then on, I kind of always had it with me.”
Kazuya stared at him. “Were you…?”
Jin gave him a short glance. “I was so surprised to see you again, to even get to know you, since I kind of felt like I already did.”
“So, you did recognize me immediately, not only on Friday.”
Jin laughed a bit. “Is that important?”
Kazuya nodded sincerely and put the pictures back to the envelope and raised it a bit. “You took quite some pictures of me.”
“I have about trice as much at home.”
His expression got gentle. “You have a crush.”
Jin blushed and looked away from Kazuya. He didn’t want to say it like that. “Love at first sight only happens in fairy tales, so I assume that’s what it is.”
Kazuya came a bit closer and ran his hand over Jin’s arm, leaned in to the older male’s ear. “And I thought I was a childish fool for assuming I had fallen in love at first sight.”
Jin turned his head to Kazuya, his eyes big, but as he wanted to say something, it was cut by a brush of Kazuya’s lips against his. It was just short and subtle, but it silenced him completely.
Jin turned to put his arms around Kazuya and pull him into his embrace, hold him close.
They stood like that for a while, soft cherry blossoms dancing around them in the wind that was moving their hair. Kazuya’s hands came up to caress Jin’s back, to run his fingers up to his nape.
Then Jin pulled back a bit and smiled at him, leaning in to take a full kiss.
Kazuya’s hand gripped Jin’s, as he leaned against the railing again, smiled as he tapped the envelope against the other’s shoulder. “Thanks for the pictures.”
“I’ll take a lot more from now on.”
Kazuya blinked at him and he frowned slightly. “That’s right. Where is the one I wanted?”
Jin laughed. “That wasn’t good enough to waste money on developing it.”
“Jin.”
The older male tilted his head back and closed his eyes with a sigh, feeling Kazuya leaning closer to him. “Okay, okay. You’ll get it next time.”
The cherry trees stood in full blossom and Kazuya smiled, as he looked out of the window of the class room.
About half a year ago, Jin had moved in to Kazuya’s place. He just took forty minutes to get to work on the train from here and since Kazuya was the one who had to get up earlier, they had agreed on staying at his apartment.
That was just fair, Kazuya thought.
It was Jin’s day off today, so when he had left this morning, the older one had still been sleeping. Other days, they would get up together, would have breakfast and talk about the upcoming day, the previous one or just stay silent.
In any way, they always enjoyed being together, having the other one just around and present.
“Kazuya-Sensei”, one of the children called him and he turned to them, getting back to play with them.
As all children had been picked up by their parents in the afternoon, Kazuya tidied up the room, then he changed. With a smile, he looked at the picture of Jin in his locker, traced his finger of his laughing image and closed the door then to go home.
As he came out of the building, he saw Jin waiting at the gate for him and hurried over.
“I thought you may want to have a walk with me”, Jin asked and reached out his hand.
Kazuya took it without hesitation.
They walked for a while and Jin took pictures - of the tress, the sky, the people; of Kazuya.
The younger one watched him and smiled slightly, as Jin came over to him, caught his lips in a kiss.
Sometimes, fairy tales did work out in reality. It was just a matter of how much one believed in it, of how much you really wanted it to be reality.
Sometimes, Kazuya thought and held on to Jin’s hand, as they walked back along the path lined with blooming cherry trees, reality itself was the fairy tale.
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A/N#2: The fairy tale Kazuya tells is called "One Petal" by Shinohara Hitoshi.
Thanks a lot for reading, I hope you liked it <3