ending's a bit rough (not the best though...) cos i just finished it awhile ago.
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Chapter Sixteen
Was Superman ever afraid of anything other than kryptonite? I couldn't answer that since I'm not a fan of him but I was guessing maybe not. I was just asking because that's what I was feeling right now. My stomach was filled with butterflies and I felt like running away or throwing up, whichever option came first.
I was standing beside my car, right across the street from Nino's house and was just...staring. I've been standing there for awhile now, trying to make myself move but couldn't. I thought I was okay but when I got there, it hit me how nervous I was. I can't do this, I thought. I have to get out of here now!
I turned around and unlocked the car. I was about to open the door when a hand stopped me. "Where do you think you're going?"
I stopped and looked up to see Nino behind me. "Ah, I was just - "
He took my hand away from the car door, taking my keys as well and locking the car. "Running away, aren't you? Too bad, you're already here." He took the bag I was holding. "What's this?"
"A gift." I took it back from him as we walked down the street towards his house. It was a simple two story house, with two low bronze gates and a sign that said "Ninomiya" at the front. The house was simple, consisting of a garage with three cars and a small lawn next to it while the house was painted in hues of cream, ivory and dark brown.
He opened the gate and led me in, holding my hand while walking down the small pathway. Halfway through, my feet fails me as it stops walking.
"What's wrong?" He asks, noticing I've stopped.
"Nino, I can't do this." The words run past my mouth before I could even stop them. "I'm sorry. I'm nervous as hell - I don't think I can do this. I mean, your mother is probably expecting your dream girl to come through that door and she gets...me. I just - I - "
He rolled his eyes and snorted. "Is that all?" He waved a hand. "Stage fright. Don't worry. Most actors have it. Here." He puts his hands on my shoulders. "Just close your eyes and take a deep breath. Then exhale."
I did as he said, several times in fact, just to stop myself from shaking. After awhile, I open my eyes and...he's staring at me. "What?"
He shook his head. "Nothing, nothing." He takes a step back. "Let me get a good look at you."
I slowly give a 180 degree turn, my arms raised. My skirt twirled, which forced me to stop and our eyes met. My eyes traveled over him, checking his clothes as well (fitted denim jeans, loose blue collared shirt, sneakers, black sports watch on his right wrist and a beanie cap).
"Are you ready?" He takes my hand again, tugging it.
"No, I - "
"Let's go!" He pulls me and leads me into the house.
"Okasan? Tadaima!! Why don't you come and greet your gay child?" He yells as soon as we enter. He closes the door behind him, taking my coat for me on his way.
A woman comes out of the hallway, wearing an apron. "Okaeri! How was your da - " She stops as soon as she sees me.
He plants a kiss on her cheek. "Anyway, I'm home and I brought my BOYFRIEND with me."
"Oh, I...didn't know you brought someone with you." She smiled and gave a bow. "Welcome."
I bow back. "I thought she knew I was coming today..." I whisper to Nino.
"Oops. I forgot." He shrugs. "Anyway, you're here now, aren't you??" He rolls eyes "Lets just get this over with..."
I frown. "But I thought you told her!!" I give him an evil stare. "Nino!!"
"Just stop bothering me with that. We're here now, aren't we?" He turns back to his mom. "Where's everybody? Ah, I hope they're having dinner. I'm hungry." He smirks at me.
I step forward and give a bow. "Ano...Hanari Furimoto desu. Nice to meet you." I hand her the bag. "This is for you."
"Ah...uh h-hai...Harumi Ninomiya desu. Nice to meet you. Sorry for my son's manners." She takes the bag.
I smile shyly. "It's okay. I've gotten used to it."
"Well, you shouldn't. Don't let him get away with that." She slaps Nino on the head.
"Itai~" Nino rubs his head and whines. "Okasan!" I shake my head as he asks "What's for dinner? I'm starving!"
"Well, well, not hurting that much, I see..." His mother remarked. "You go on ahead. Dinner will be ready in five minutes."
He runs towards the dining room, dragging me along. As soon as we enter, his mother comes in and tells me to make myself comfortable. I ask her if I could help.
"Ah! No, no. It's okay." She waves her hands at me "Sit down, sit down! You're our guest. Please, sit down. Nino! Help her sit down!"
"Okay." He pulls out a chair for me. "Should I help instead?" He asks his mother. But before she could answer, several people and kids come into the room. "Ah... I'm sorry. Everyone, this is my girlfriend Hanari. Hanari, this is...everyone."
"Konban-wa!" I give everyone a bow. "Hanari Furimoto desu. Nice to meet you."
Nino suddenly slaps my butt - "Oi! Don't get too friendly! You're mine!" - and wraps his arms around me, pulling me close. Then he turns around, realizing that everyone is there. "Ah, I'm sorry. How's everyone?"
I blush furiously at his actions. "Nino!! stop that!!" I hiss as I pull away. "Ah, gomen." I say to his family.
"It's okay. We all know he's a little prankster right from the beginning." They laugh.
I look up at Nino. "Got that right!" I reach out and pinch his butt. I raise an eyebrow at him, giving a smile and pinching his cheeks.
Everybody laughs again. "Looks like he finally met his match." Someone remarked.
He laughs uncomfortably as everyone sits down. He sits next to me as his mother brings out the food. I lean over to whisper in his ear. "You broke our agreement..."
"Which was?"
I give him a glare. "I thought we agreed no touching!" I pinch his arm "Back off Nino, if you want this to work!"
He says nothing, just turning back to his family. "It's been a long time now since the family gathered like this..."
"Hey! I thought you were gay?" A young boy suddenly asks. "Where's Ohno-niichan?"
"Ohno's not your ichiban anymore?" Another kid asks. Then another kid pipes up "I'm telling him you're cheating!" Pretty soon, his, what I'm guessing are, nephews and nieces start bombarding us with questions. "Did you dump Ohno?"; "Where's your boyfriend Ohno?"; "Did you guys break up?", etc.
"Ah well..." Nino puts his hands over his chest - "I was not good enough for him..." - and pretends to cry.
I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. "Isn't it the other way around?"
He suddenly stops. "Ah, right. HE was just... not enough for me.. unable to give the love I want." He puts on a hurtful look.
Everyone laughs. "Anyway, Ohno's probably sleeping at home, too lazy to make any contacts with Earth..." Nino continues.
"Or stuffing his face in..." I reply quietly. Realizing what I just did, I quickly cover my mouth.
"Oh.. so you know Ohno-kun too..." His mom laughs as she sits down "...and well..."
"So, Hanari, is it? How did you meet this dwarf of my brother?" His sister, Kumiko, points to Nino with a chopstick as soon as we start eating.
"Um... It's actually quite funny really..." I laugh nervously as Nino interrupts with "She spilled coffee all over me..."
"You spilled coffee on him?" Kumiko asks, in between spoonfuls of rice. "Hahaha! Nice job!" She gives me the thumbs up.
"HEY!!!!" Nino protests as everybody laughs.
I chuckle. "Yeah, I did. He wasn't looking where he was going so he got hot coffee down his clothes."
"WHAT? PLEASE! You were the one not looking!" He makes a face.
"Now, that's NOT true...." I shot back.
"How long have you been going out?" His mother asks suddenly.
We both stop, looking at her. "Ah..." Nino scratches his head. "..about a month?"
I continue eating, giving him a 'That-was-close!' look in between. (Almost a week is more like it.)
"Ah....I see..." She nods.
"So how did you guys get together?" Kumiko smiles at us.
I nudge Nino, who is suddenly quiet. "It wasn't my fault!" He quickly blurts out.
I roll my eyes at him. "We MOVED from that topic. Pay attention! She's asking us a question."
"Oh, sorry." He blinks a few times. "Ah, well...she just asked me out instead to pay for everything. After, she apologized for spilling coffee on me..."
"That is so like you. Making people pay for your food..." Kumiko smirks at him.
"...but then, we got to talking and got to know each other..." I continued.
"And you still decided to go out with him? Amazing..." His sister shakes her head.
"Gee, thanks Kumi-chan..." He pouts.
I grin at him. "Well, he IS pretty likeable, once you get to know him. He grows on you. Like an annoying disease or something..." I absently stroke Nino's hair.
"Stop it. I'm not a kid!" Nino slightly moves away from me.
"You haven't changed." Kumiko says. "You should be happy that you found a great girl like her, bearing with all your...issues..."
"Well, I am HAPPY." He grins, his open mouth full of half-chewed food.
"EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!" All the kids yell.
"KAZUNARI!" His mother scolds.
Nino closes his mouth and rolls eyes. "Sorry..."
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After dinner, Kumiko brought out some coffee and dessert. I stand up and offer to help out but she refused. "It's okay, you just sit down and relax. you're our honored guest!"
"What's with the cake? It looks weird..." Nino inspects the plate Kumiko passes to him.
"Well, I think it looks wonderful!" I nod at Kumiko. "Be nice!" I tell Nino.
"Not If I get a piece of strawberry cake." He mutters.
I roll my eyes. "Stop it already! I'll buy you a strawberry cake instead, okay? Happy now?"
"Yeah!" He smiles at me.
After dessert, Nino helped clear the dishes.
"Ano...it's getting kind of late..." Kumiko interrupts. She glances at the clock. "...and the kids have school tomorrow..."
"Ah, really? I should probably go too..." I stand up, along with some people. "Thank you for a wonderful dinner. And also for the wonderful company."
"Oh, it was no problem at all!! And we're glad that you enjoyed yourself tonight! We really enjoyed meeting and getting to know you!" His mom pats my hands.
"Ah, thank you so much." I grin back.
"So.. can we go now? Mom, you're keeping her up. She's got work tomorrow." Nino interrupts.
"Ah, sorry. Yes, yes." She waves a hand to Nino. "Make sure she gets in safely, okay?"
I thank his mother and everyone else, saying good night as I get my coat and bag. We heard his mom say "She made a good influence on him" while Nino opens the door for me.
"I heard that!" He shouts back before closing the door. We walk down the steps when his expression suddenly changes. He leans and whispers to me, "Keep on acting. My mom likes to spy around. Ah, she even watched as I said goodbye to Oh-chan..."
"Really?" My eyes go wide and I pull his hand. "Well then, let's give her a performance, shall we?"
"Wow, a little blackmailing did good to your brains..." Realizing what he said, he quickly raised a hand. "Ah.. I didn't mean that! Sorry..." He looks away.
I glare at him, letting go of his hand. I start walking away but he suddenly grabs my hand. "Play along," He whispers, leaning close. I sigh and slide my hand into his as we walk towards the gate.
He opens it, stepping back. "After you, my lady."
"Thank you!" I give him a curtsy as I walk out first. We cross the street towards my car. I get the keys out from my bag and unlock the door.
"Wait," He says
I turn around. "Nani?"
He lets go of my hand and starts to trace up with his hands through my arms to my shoulders.
"What are you doing??" I choke, raising my eyebrows at him.
"The Finale." He nods back at me.
Quickly realizing what Nino's doing, I step forward and put my arms around him.
"And don't forget to smile..." He breathed slowly against my ear.
"Like this?" Smiling innocently, I slide my arms around Nino's waist, pulling him closer and hugging him, my head resting against his shoulder.
Nino's arms wrap around me as I close my eyes and smile. "Yeah...something like that~"
My cheeks brush against his chest and I could hear his heart beating. It was a mixture of fast and slow, skipping two beats at the same time. His hands gently rub my back, making me all warm from the cold air. I shiver slightly as a fuzzy feeling creeps up on me. This is nice...
"I think we can stop now," He whispers a little later, slightly pulling me away. "My mom's probably gone back inside." His arms let me go and he takes a step back. "Be careful on the way home, okay? Wouldn't want anything to happen to you. After all, I still need to present you from time to time..."
I blink as he pulls away. "Present...right..." I nod at him, trying to understand what he just said.
"Okay... car door closing and some waving...you driving away to freedom and...so...yeah. Bye!" He steps back and waves.
I slowly turn around and step forward, getting into the car, a little bit confused. As I close the door, I pull the window down. "Bye..." I awkwardly bow my head at him.
"Bye bye~" He bows back, flashing me a small smile and waving happily after.
I drive away, my mind in a swirl. What just happened back there??, I thought to myself.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice my cell phone vibrating. I picked it and flipped it open, seeing that I received a text message. Eh?
My eyes squints a bit to read the message.
Sent by: Nino
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Oyasumi! Sweet Dreams~ ^_^V
- Nino
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Translation:
Okasan = Mother
Tadaima = I'm home
Okaeri = Welcome home
Gomen = Sorry
Itai = Ouch
Nii-chan = elder/older brother
Ichiban = number one/ favorite
Nani = what?
Oyasumi = goodnight
(note: this is just a rough translation so feel free to correct me if i'm wrong.)
--> yikes! so many words...the original chapter was written in a mixture of english and japanese and i thought it sounded better in japanese in my head so i retained some of the words....
also, thanks to Yuki for helping me out. writing credits also go to her.
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ending sucks, all i can say...
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