The Art of flowers part 4
Jun felt like gawping as Nino walked into the room followed by a taller man carrying buckets full of flowers. The ikebana teacher looked completely different to the way he had done in the store. Then he had been dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt now he was wearing a kimono. It was a dull black and grey combination but it wrapped snuggly around his body and looked as though he belonged in it. Jun had always thought he looked silly wearing traditional clothing, he wore it very seldom and even then, only when forced preferring suits but with Nino his face seemed to suit the outfit he wore. His expression was seriously his hair having pulled back out of his eyes while his mouth was taut and grim as he scanned the room before focusing on him. He looked like a teenage hero from the pages of a manga though not in an over blown comical way but in a natural one.
“I suppose that this is the teacher?” Sho breathed against his ear quietly while the rest of the room started to buzz and twitter. The accountant who had recognised Nino’s name was all by herself in the back but he could see that there was a look of rapt attention and a faint blush in her face leaving Jun with the feeling that her interest was more than a simple ‘I read his name in a magazine’.
“Yeah”
“Looks like he takes his job seriously” Sho sounded almost mournful about that and Jun tried his best not to smirk knowing that his friends fear steamed from his complete lack of artistic ability. It wasn’t as though he didn’t have heart, Sho tried his best in everything that he did but, despite all his best efforts, his art was at the same level it had been when he was only four years old.
“You would if this was all you had been trained for since you were a kid” Jun replied echoing Nino’s words as the man walked over to him followed by his flower carrying companion. “Ninomiya-san, I’m very glad that you could come”
“Thank-you for requesting me” Nino responded in a somewhat mechanical way and Jun suspected that the teacher had been told to do that by the man behind him who had set his buckets of flowers down and was grinning happily at them all. His theory was proved right when the smiling man jabbed Nino hard in the back and he scowled for a moment before asking “I trust that your mother enjoyed her flowers?”
“She did, very much so” Jun answered awkwardly wondering if he should apologise for not recognising Nino as a champion before but that felt too weird to say and he honestly couldn’t work out how that was his fault. Nino’s lips twitched into a genuine pleased smile before he nodded happily and said;
“That’s good”
“Um this is my boss, Sakurai Sho” Jun said slowly when he remembered the man hovering at his side. Nino’s eyes moved slowly over to Sho, his lips losing some of the warmth of his smile as he gave a bow.
“Nice to meet you. This is my colleague Aiba Masaki, he grows the flowers that I use”
“Hello! Nice to meet you all!” Masaki said with a bubbly tone that matched the bright and open expressions of his face. He was a complete contrast to the pale and cool beauty that Nino had but he knew that most people would think him to be the most beautiful of the pair. Everything about him suggested warmth and loving while Nino gave off the distinct impression of coldness and distance as though he didn’t want people to become too close.
“You grow the flowers?” Sho asked in a sort dull amazement and Masaki nodded happily again saying;
“Yes! I have my own nursery!”
“When would you like to start?” Nino asked his voice cutting over Masaki’s and Jun checked his watch for a moment;
“In about ten minutes? We’re waiting for the first break”
“Okay, then I’ll finish getting set up, Masaki?”
“Okay! Nino-chan!” Masaki replied in the same happy way unkerned by the sharpness of Nino’s tone as he turned and walked back out the door again as Nino focused his attention on the flowers that had already been brought.
TBC
A/N: I hope that this okay ^_^
