fic for natsunonamae (3/10)

[nino-mod.livejournal.com]

For: natsunonamae
From: sky_fish7

Part 2


~ * Chapter 3 * ~

Sho is definitely surprised by the unexpected encounter with Ninomiya on the bus after he picked up Satsuki from school and and he's even more surprised to find out that the man is actually his daughter's homeroom teacher. The piano and the strong presence of music in general in Ninomiya's apartment make sense now, he's teaching the subject and according to Satsuki's stories, he seems to be very talented and passionate. Sho asks his daughter to tell him a little more about her teacher – he's just too curious – and the things he learns add to the adorability that he already knows about the young man and conjure a smile on Sho's face that he tries to hide from his daughter.

Something else that Sho definitely does not expect to happen takes place in the evening of the same day then, namely, his phone ringing and a very nervous Ninomiya-sensei wanting to talk to him. Apparently, he got the number from his emergency list which contains numerous cellphone and telephone numbers of his students' parents for well... emergencies. And Ninomiya must have something that he definitely categorized as an emergency because he stresses Sho to meet him as soon as possible for a proper talk. Sho then suggests to meet on the next day after work at a café near school. Ninomiya agrees before he hangs up quickly. Sho can't help but chuckle. He can only assume what the young man wants to talk about, probably, but if he's right, this will become a pretty funny meeting.

And he was right, Sho finds out the next day during their conversation and it indeed is a funny meeting. At least for him.

When Sho shows up at the appointed café, the teacher is already sitting there at a table near the windows, his hair slightly on end, like the other times Sho has seen him, and a mug of tea in front of him. When Sho approaches him with a friendly smile, he stands up clumsily almost pushing over his hot drink, looking at his student's father with an embarrassed blush on his cheeks. Sho has to pull himself together not to grin, this man's subtle cuteness is really dangerous. They bow slightly before sitting down. Sho orders a cup of coffee when the waiter brings him a glass of water in the meantime.

He looks at the teacher again, who quickly averts his eyes and reaches for his tea, taking a sip before hiding behind his mug. Sho clears his throat, not only to get the young man's attention, but also to stop his thoughts from running wild.

"So, what do you want to talk about, Ninomiya-sensei?" Sho asks, finding his composure and faking nescience. "It's just the beginning of the school year and Satsuki is a good girl, I doubt that she has caused any trouble yet."

"Ah, no no, of course not," Ninomiya replies quickly, putting down his mug. "I'm sorry if I have made it look like that, but it's not about your daughter, she's really doing great so far… it's something else."

Sho arches an eyebrow, placing his elbows on the table and folds his hands in front of him, not without noticing how Ninomiya gets distracted by them before he looks back at Sho. "So what is it about then?" he asks with a smirk.

Ninomiya looks at him, parts his lips, probably to say something, and closes them again. He averts his eyes, takes another hasty sip of his tea and then comes back to Sho again. He throws him a doubtful look.

"Hm?" Sho asks.

"Just to make sure...," Ninomiya reaches his finger under his glasses to rub his eye, maybe to buy time, before he finally asks what's burning in his heart. "You're working for a pizza delivery service, aren't you?"

The other man chuckles softly. "Why do you ask? You called our service after all."

"Your service…," the teacher repeats murmuring, a desperate expression appearing on his face and Sho can't help but wish that he is able to read the guy's thoughts at that very moment. "Yeah, I called it. To get some pizza and coke and what did I get? Pizza, coke and you…," he continues and Sho waits patiently for him to add something more. "Uhm… how should I put it... Did I - did I pay you that evening?"

"You mean the pizza and the coke?" Sho arches another eyebrow before he gets distracted by the waiter placing his coffee in front of him.

He nods gratefully before focusing again on Ninomiya. The teacher's cheeks are deep red and his fingertips covering his lips as he is obviously trying hard to find the right words. Sho bites his lips in order not to burst into laughter. This is just too amusing. Too adorable. Too cute.

"No, no…," Ninomiya finally says, giving it another try. "I mean… did I pay for… you, you know what I mean…?"

It's killing Sho, really, it's killing him. Now at the latest it's clear that there is a huge misunderstanding between the two men, yeah, much to Sho's amusement, to be honest. And with that, he can't resist playing along. He takes a sip of his coffee in order to calm down a bit and prepare for his act. He doesn't want to ruin the fun right away after all.

"Ah, that?" he plays along. "No, you didn't pay me."

Ninomiya's face freezes. "I didn't even…"

"Don't tell me, you can't remember anything," Sho then answers with a faked pout.

"I – I'm so sorry, I... Oh gosh..."

Sho wets his lips, shaking his head slightly, not taking his eyes off Ninomiya and in a low, slightly seductive voice he almost whispers. "Don't worry, I did it for free."

He can almost see the cold shiver that runs down Ninomiya's spine that moment.

"You…"

"Well, you see," Sho fakes a sigh, continuing his act. "It was really great and you were so cute. I would have felt bad if I had taken money for it too." Ninomiya's blank face is priceless. Sho smirks. "However, you do owe me 2.400 Yen and a kiss."

"What?!"

"You didn't pay for the pizza and coke," Sho continues. "I covered it up for you in the meantime. You can, well… pay me back, if you know what I mean," Sakurai throws the stunned man in front him a meaningful look and then, he winks.

Ninomiya gulps his face returning to colour – red, to be exact. "With 2.400 yen and… a kiss?!"

"I'm not that cheap, Ninomiya-sensei," Sho chuckles.

"Oh my gosh…"

The slightly hysteric voice of the teacher breaks. There's the blank face again and in fact, Ninomiya looks ready to vanish into thin air, his aura dangerously thinning. OK, maybe, Sho has went a bit too far, he thinks, chuckling. Poor guy, he can’t witness his miserable face any longer. He decides to put an end to his act.

"Calm down," the man says before drinking from his coffee. "I am joking."

Ninomiya looks at him, stunned. "Eh?"

"Don't worry," Sho smiles. "There was nothing."

"What?!" Ninomiya hisses disbelievingly.

"I said nothing happened between us, you can calm down," Sho repeats.

The teacher throws him another stunned face and his questioning eyes almost pierce through him. "Didn't you just –"

Sho can't hold back his laughter any longer. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist, you were so funny."

"Funny?!" Ninomiya asks sceptically. "Are you mocking me?!"

"I'm sorry," Sho says, as he recovers from his flash of laughter. "Really. So... if you want to know what really happened, you passed out before you even could attack me with a kiss."

"Nothing happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Not even the kiss?"

"Not even the kiss," Sho shakes his head.

"But... your message..."

Sho bursts into laughter. Oh right, the message. "It was a joke. A very tasteless joke. I'm sorry."

Ninomiya sighs deeply and now there's an even bigger frown on his forehead. "Uhm… but… I woke up in my bed… naked!"

Sho shrugs. "Well, I brought you there and then I left. Do you think of me, that I'm a beast raping a passed out drunkard?"

"And why was I naked?!"

"You undressed," Sho stated the fact.

"Why should I undress if nothing happened between us?"

The other man still didn't seem to believe him and so, Sho cleared his throat again before putting on the next act. "Sakurai-san, it's so hot in here, isn't it? I think I should take off my shirt," Sho imitates Ninomiya as serious as in that absurd situation possible. "And that's what you did. Well, you tried. You got stuck and asked me for help which I refused but eventually, you managed to get rid of it."

"And my pants?!" Ninomiya asks, feeling horrified.

"Well..."

"And my pants… Oh gosh…," he tries to hide behind his hands. Cute try.

"You were drunk, don't worry, it's OK," Sho tilts his head with a smile on his face.

"Nothing is OK!" Ninomiya burst, slamming his hands on the table, making Sho cringe for a moment and look around to see if anybody was paying attention to them. False alarm, thankfully. "The father of one of my students didn't only see me drunk, he also saw me naked and he even had to bring me to bed. How embarrassing is that?!" again, Ninomiya buries his face in his hands. Again, Sho finds it incredibly cute.

"I think you had your reasons to drink, you were kind of desperate," the man then replies, thinking about Ninomiya's desperation because of his breakup with that Jun-guy.

Ninomiya sighs again before he lets out a desperate chuckle. "Ah right, I forgot that I told you almost the whole miserable love story of my life…"

"It was quite interesting, you know?"

"You're still mocking me," Ninomiya sighs again.

Sho can't stop it. "What happened with your ex - Jun was his name? Did you reconcile?"

"Stop mocking me."

"You said he wanted to stay friends…"

Finally, Ninomiya lets his hands drop again and throws Sho a warning look. "I mean it, stop it!"

That is almost unexpected. Sho takes another sip of his coffee. "OK, sorry."

"So… what now?" the teacher asks in a low voice after a few seconds of silence.

"What do you mean?" Sho looks at him, questioning. "Misunderstanding solved, you can stop being so embarrassed in front of me." He smiles.

"But… what doesn't change is that you saw the teacher of your daughter drunk – and naked –," Ninomiya rubs his cheeks, nervously. "Don't you think that I'm not capable of doing my job and want to tell the headmaster or at least remove your daughter from my class?"

Ohhh, now Sho gets what's really behind all this. "Because I saw you naked?" To be honest, he didn't even think about that.

"Does this even make sense..."

"By the way, I only saw you undressing your shirt and brought you to bed like that, I have no idea how you got rid of the rest of your clothes. Maybe you had some very hot dreams?" Sho adds, probably, this information helps the young teacher to cope with the situation a bit better.

"Really?"

"So no, I don't plan to tell anyone at school about that incident, don't worry."

"I just thought…," Ninomiya sounds almost desperate.

"Chill, Sensei," Sho smiles. "I know that teachers aren't saints either. You were just drunk. And while being drunk you swore to me and all the gods you knew that usually this never happens. So I guess it was a one-off, more or less, and it's not my right to judge your teaching skills because of that."

Ninomiya sighs again, but this time from relief. And what is that, is there a faint smile on his face? "You know, other parents would want me to be fired."

"Well, I don't."

"I don't know what to say…"

"Then let's not talk about it anymore," Sho suggests.

Silence. Ninomiya reaches for his tea, drinks, puts it down again.

"Thank you. You're really nice," he says then, facing Sho properly and bowing slightly.

Sho chuckles. "What did you think I am?"

He didn't expect Ninomiya's answer, which sounds almost like a joke. "A beast that raped a passed-out drunkard? No, I'm sorry; I have no idea what I was thinking," a soft cute chuckle escapes the teacher's lips and Sho can't help but stare at the small smile of the other man.

He forces himself out of his rigor mortis state and smiles back. "It's OK. Let's make a new start, what do you think?"

"Sounds good," Ninomiya nods, finally calmed down, before he takes a serious position, nods and starts to formally introduce himself. "So… my name is Ninomiya Kazunari, I am the homeroom, Maths, and Music teacher of your daughter and usually, I don't drink alcohol. It's nice to meet you."

Sho smiles. That guy is just adorable, he can't help it. But he better follows his example and so, he mimics the other's gesture. "Nice to meet you too. My name is Sakurai Sho, I'm Satsuki's Dad, I'm working as a salesman in an antique store and for a few days a week, I'm a part-time delivery boy. Pizza delivery. No extras."

Ninomiya laughs. Yes, he laughs and it makes Sho's heart jump a little bit. Then, the teacher pulls another frown, looking at Sho, wondering. "Wait… I just realized… you look pretty young for a father of a first year high school girl. May I ask how old you are?"

"You may and I'm 32," Sho replies.

"Wow…"

Yeah, that is the usual reaction, Sho thinks. He's used to it. "When we had our little girl; we were still at high school. Young parents, indeed."

"We?" Ninomiya asks.

"Well... me and Satsuki's mother, of course."

"Your… wife?"

Oh, OK, that is the real question. Sho chuckles. "No, we're not married. I'm single." Is this really the information, Ninomiya is searching for or is this just usual small talk?

"I see…"

Again, silence, until Sho takes over to continue. "And you?"

"Huh?" Ninomiya blinks.

"How old are you?"

"Oh, I'm 30," the teacher replies.

Sho grins. "And single?"

Another frown on Ninomiya's forehead. "You're mocking me again, aren't you? You know exactly that I just got dumped."

"I know. I'm sorry," Sho just can’t resist. He should pull himself together.

"There I get drunk for once in my life and everybody's mocking me…," the teacher murmurs, threatening to fall back into the desperate mood from before.

Sho has to do something, quick, or... "Really, I'm sorry, OK?" Very creative, really.

"You're still a smart ass, aren't you?" Ninomiya surprisingly replies. He bites his lips. "I'm not so sure if I approve of it this time, though."

"You're funnier when you're drunk," Sho smirks.

"Since I don't want to make you angry and risk losing my job, I'm shutting up now," the teacher concludes.

For once, Sho cannot really read the other man's mood. Is he offended now? He probably went too far with his teasing. Time for a piece-offering. "We should get along with each other, no? You're my daughter's teacher after all."

"You're right," Ninomiya agrees, thankfully.

"So, I'd say we're back to square one. No misunderstandings or embarrassment between us, OK?" Sho offers with a smile.

The other still looks a bit dejected. "Easy for you…"

Well, indeed, for Sho the whole situation hasn't been as embarrassing as for the other man. Though, that's no reason to sulk.

"Smile, Ninomiya-san," he says smiling, trying to make the other look at him again. "Just nod and smile. You have an adorable smile."

"You just want me to give your daughter good grades," Ninomiya cutely pouts.

Sho shrugs. "It's worth a try."

A soft chuckle. "Smart ass."

"Handsome smart ass, you said," Sho replies, maybe walking on thin ice, but he has to risk it.

Thankfully, the other doesn't push him back. "Must be true then, I barely make mistakes."

Now Sho has to try hard not to blush. "Is that so?"

"It is."

And Sho loses his heart.

~ * ~

They part ways shortly after, Nino offering to pay the bill as compensation for stealing Sakurai's precious time due to his selfish request to meet. Sakurai accepts the offer and bids Nino farewell with a wide charming smile. As soon as the other is out of sight, Nino allows his limbs to sway freely and lets out one last huge sigh. He's just too relieved that everything went well. For whatever reason, Sakurai wasn't mad at Nino for being a questionable teacher and the most important – they did not really have a one-night stand! Nino folds his hands and sends a quick prayer as thanks to the all the gods that may be out there, and on his way home, he feels definitely lighter.

Nino pulls out his phone as he starts walking to the subway station nearby and dials his best friend's number to share the good news immediately. Luckily, Aiba picks up just a second later.

"Masaki?" Nino asks, excited.

"Nino?"

With a sincere smile on his face, Nino parts his lips. "You know, you're my best and only friend, right?"

"Nino? What's going on, are you drinking again? Should I be worried?" Aiba replies doubtfully.

Nino frowns. "No, I'm not. But I want to talk to you about what really happened when I was drunk last time…"

"What?"

"Oh, it's a funny story…," the teacher smirks.

"Ok, want to come over for dinner?"

Nino quickly checks the time. True, it's dinner time already... He hesitates for a moment. "Is Toma there?"

"No, he has to work tonight, why?" his friend asks.

Nino feels the slight blush on his face. "Because it would be too embarrassing if he listened too to what I have to tell you," Nothing against Aiba's boyfriend, but Nino doesn’t really want him to know. "So, no matter what, you are also not allowed to tell him, you hear me?"

"Your secret's safe with me."

"Promise!"

"I do."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes," Nino seals the deal and ends the call.

About twenty five minutes later, the young teacher finds himself at Aiba's dinner table, a huge pan filled with cha-han in the middle of the table from which Aiba serves Nino and himself a big bowl, topping it with soy sauce and diced spring onions.

"OK wait," he frowns after Nino's excited report. "So you basically thought you had a drunken one-night stand with the delivery boy, then you accidentally met him on the bus, it turned out that he's the father of your student and then it turned out that the one-night stand you thought was a one-night stand wasn't a one-night stand?"

"You said one-night stand quite a lot, didn't you?" Nino notes with an expressionless face as he takes his bowl from Aiba, thanking him with a nod.

His friend chuckles before he takes a first bite. "Sorry, I just never thought I will hear or say this word in connection with you ever again. That's so uncommon for you."

"Well, in the end, like you said, it wasn't even a one-night stand," Nino points out, his chopsticks darting at Aiba.

"That guy only put you to bed because you blacked out," Aiba nods.

"He did," Nino nods too.

"That's really nice, considering that you were strangers."

Nino nods again, hoping that Aiba doesn't notice his slightly blushing cheeks. Then they eat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the tasteful meal.

"I still have not paid him, by the way," Nino says.

"Hm?"

"The pizza and the coke, I mean," the teacher continues. "I didn't have enough change after inviting him for a coffee."

Aiba tries hard not to laugh. Instead, he asks, "You invited him?"

"I was afraid he'd go to the headmaster and get me fired!" Nino stresses. "Paying for his coffee is the least I can do!"

"And then you hadn't enough change to pay your debts," Aiba sums up, amused. "Well done." Nino doesn't reply and instead focuses on his food. Aiba tilts his head. "Well, you might have the chance to meet him again if he's your student's father."

"Don't remind me on that, please," Nino sighs. Even if he and Sakurai solved the misunderstanding weighting on Nino's heart and kind of put things straight, it doesn't mean Nino isn't embarrassed about the situation any longer and he's still not sure what to think about the premise of seeing Sakurai more often in the future, probably, at least on parents' day.

"Will you get into trouble because of that story?"

"No, I don't think so," Nino shakes his head. "He doesn't intend to tell anyone that a high school teacher was drunk and tried to seduce a student's father…," he chuckles when he hears how ridiculous it sounds. "If he keeps his promise, I'm safe."

"He doesn't have a problem with it?" Aiba arches an eyebrow. "He'd just forget about the incident?"

Nino tilts his head. "Well, I have the feeling he won’t exactly forget about it. He mocked me quite a lot." And probably will continue doing so in the future again.

Amused, Aiba looks at his friend, smirking. "Well… maybe he likes you?"

Nino chokes on his food. He puts down his chopsticks and reaches for the drink Aiba has placed in front of him before, swallowing properly before he can finally reply. "What? Bullshit. He must think I'm a lunatic. And a loser."

"Maybe he pities you because you were heart broken," his friend voices his thoughts.

"Makes it even worse," Nino stresses. "I actually showed my ugliest, weakest side to him - a stranger - more than that, father of my student. I still can't believe he doesn't want me to get fired."

"That's why I thought, maybe he likes you," Aiba smirks again.

Nino blushes. "Bullshit."

"We're running in circles here, Nino."

"Obviously."

"Let me make a turn then," Aiba puts down his bowl of cha-han and the chopsticks, causing Nino's attention to automatically focus on him. "Do you like him?"

"What?!" Good, Nino doesn't have any food in his mouth now.

"You can't stop thinking of him, can you?" Aiba starts teasing his friend.

"No, wait," Nino makes him stop, lifting his hand. "I met him two times, I couldn't remember half of it and it was a highly embarrassing situation. Plus, he's a parent. I can't like a parent."

Aiba shrugs. "And if he's a parent, fuck it. I mean - him."

"Masaki!" Nino jumps up, smashes his hands on the table and throws his friend a death glare, his face deep red. He has no words for this.

"Sorry," Aiba tilts his head and pokes out his tongue.

"I don't like him…," Nino murmurs as he sits back down on his chair, his cheeks still blushing and his eyes focusing on his chopsticks now. How embarrassing...

Aiba smirks. "Didn't you say he's handsome?"

"I said, I guess he's handsome," Nino replies, rolling his eyes.

"You have met him again and this time you were sober," his friend points out. "So? Is he handsome?"

"Masaki…"

"And he's really nice, isn't he?" Nino doesn't reply but his reaction is visible. "You're blushing again," Aiba grins.

Nino clicks his tongue. "From the embarrassment, not because I like that guy."

"You didn't mention Jun at all, not since you met that guy on the bus yesterday," his friend then says in a low tone after a short pause.

Nino freezes. It's true. And he hasn't even really thought about Jun either, except of normal stuff that you think about when you meet a workmate. He has been too busy with thinking about his meeting with that delivery boy and since their meeting, he has been too busy thinking about Sakurai himself, and he can't deny it. "That… that's because I'm so deeply embarrassed about this whole situation that I forgot everything else!"

"Maybe that's the good thing from this," his friend replies.

"How can this be good?!" Nino frowns.

Aiba smiles. "You don't look so sad anymore."

~ * ~

Contrary to Nino's hope, he meets Sakurai more often than expected for the next days. He already starts wondering, if they are living that close to each other or if it's really just a coincidence that the two of them are meeting each other in several supermarkets, at the post office, the bank, the music store, Starbucks, or just everywhere. And indeed, when Nino in the teachers' office checking on the file of Sakurai Satsuki, he finds out that the girl and her father are really living not too far away from his own apartment. Why have they never met before, considering that fact? Probably they have but since they didn't know each other, they might not have paid attention.

But now, they do pay attention, oh yes. Whenever Nino spots Sakurai somewhere, first thing he does is trying to hide from the man, instinctively. Even if they have talked things out at their meeting at the café, Nino is still highly embarrassed about the circumstances of their first meeting. And probably, it will follow him forever, even in his dreams... But Sakurai doesn't consider the young teacher's embarrassment at all and instead, for some reason he always manages to spot him, without fail flashes him one of his gorgeous smiles, waives his hand at him friendlily and walks up to him for a small talk.

It's strange, Nino thinks, it's just strange. He's getting nervous each and every time the young father talks to him, no matter what the topic is about. They can talk about school, Satsuki's behaviour at school, or simply the weather, Nino's heart is always pounding like crazy.

Even if with time passing by the embarrassment decreases a bit, the nervousness doesn't and Nino has to admit that it starts bothering him. Aiba's question at the beginning pops into his mind more and more frequently. Once, he and Aiba meet Sakurai and his daughter together at the music store and when father and daughter left the place before the two friends, Aiba asks him again.

"Do you like him?"

"Huh?" Nino turns to his friend, feeling his cheeks redden.

"You look at him as if you like him. You're nervous, you're shy... it's obvious Nino, don't deny it," Aiba lists the evidences for his suspicion.

Quickly, Nino shakes his head. "I told you, I can't like a parent!"

"But you do, don't lie to me!"

"Masaki," Nino sighs, rubbing his neck. "Really, stop that, please..."

"He's indeed handsome, you didn't lie with that, Nino."

"I didn't say...," Nino sighs. Actually, who is he trying to fool? Himself? Too late. And he doesn't stand a chance against Aiba anyway. "OK, yes, he is handsome. Everybody can see it. So?"

"Why shouldn't you like him just because he is the father of your student, I don't get it," his friend asks frustrated.

"Because it's against the school rules to date a parent, maybe?" Nino offers an answer.

"Then don't tell anybody!"

"And hide the relationship for almost three years until Satsuki graduates? No, thanks," Nino frowns. He puts back the CD he was checking a second ago and strolls further to the next row of CD shelves.

"Oh come on," Aiba continues. "Do you think, love will make a halt in front of stupid rules? And you know, hiding a relationship can be very exciting!"

Nino rolls his eyes and turns around to face his friend. "Just because you and Toma had so much fun hiding your relationship from his former boyfriend – which I still don't approve of, by the way – doesn't mean that it's something for everyone and I already had that problem with my relationship with Jun, I have enough of it..."

"Hey, it's not like we were cheating on his boyfriend," his friend starts defending himself and his boyfriend. "It was just..."

"Complicated?"

"Complicated."

"And this, me and Sakurai, would be complicated too," Nino sighs. "I don't like complicated."

"I think he likes you. And I think you like him. For me, this is very simple," Aiba pouts.

"Can you please stop interfering with my love life, Masaki? I know, you mean good, but really! You can't be sure that guy likes me, maybe he just likes mocking me because he knows how easily embarrassed I am. And just because Jun broke up with me it doesn't mean that I'm ready for a new relationship so quickly anyway."

"But-"

"No buts, shut up now!" Nino threatens his friend and indeed, Aiba immediately closes his parted lips. "Sorry, just... don't, OK?"

"OK," his friend replies with a small sigh.

"Good. Because Sakurai and me? That's not an option," the young teacher states to end the topic, probably more to convince himself than his friend about it.

~ * ~

Not an option, he said, Nino thinks. However, he finds himself thinking of Sakurai more than he probably should, he wonders more and more, if this is really true.

One reason for his slowly but surely changing mind is definitely Sakurai's daughter Satsuki. Now that Nino knows that they are related, it's impossible to look at her and not to see her father's handsome traits showing on her face and so, thinking about her father becomes a conditioned reflex for Nino. He curses himself for it, but it's something he cannot act against and things get even worse when he and Satsuki become closer to each other.

Fact is, Satsuki isn't only a very good student, she's also a big musical talent, which Nino realises quite early when she entered high school. With that, and a bit of his encouragement, it's just natural that she doesn't only participate in the music club after school, which Nino is the teacher in charge of, and in the school choir, but she can also often be found in the music room in the evenings practising on the grand piano after all the other students long left the building.

This evening, it's the same and so, when it's Nino's duty to check the corridors for remaining students before the school closes its gates, he isn't too surprised when he finds the girl sitting at the piano, studying some music sheets and practising a difficult part of a composition that she is going to play at a recital of the music club in a few weeks. She's talented, but she's also still a diamond in the rough and still has things to learn along her way.

She's concentrating deeply, that she doesn't even notice it when Nino enters the room and approaches her slowly, stopping next to her. Shortly after, she messes up that one specific part of the composition and starts cursing, drops her fingers on the piano, creating a disharmonious sound that accompanies her frustrated sigh.

"Well well, Sakurai-san, don't punish the piano for your mistakes," Nino says in a low voice, just loud enough to be heard.

The girl turns to her teacher, surprised. "Ninomiya-sensei! I didn't know you're still here!"

"And I didn't know you are still here, Sakurai-san, isn't it time to go home?" the teacher asks. "Doesn't your father get worried when you arrive home so late?"

Satsuki drops her look back to the piano and starts to move her fingers gently, playing a simple melody.

"He's working for the delivery service tonight. I told him I want to practise piano for a bit longer and he said, it's OK if I go straight home afterwards."

"Well, of course it's OK but school will close in a few minutes, it's time to go," Nino points at the clock handing over the music room's door. "Don't you have a piano at home to practise?"

The girl doesn't answer immediately. She plays a few more notes before stopping. "I do have an electronic piano at home, it's very expensive and Dad gave it to me for my 12th birthday but... it doesn't sound the same. I wanted to hear the sound of a real grand piano."

"I see," Nino nods. He can understand that feeling. That’s one reason why he saved up money and bought a grand piano for himself years ago, even if it took up quite some space in his living room.

"Actually, there is an old one in the shop of my dad and his friend Ohno but... I'm in a bad mood today and so I didn't want to go there..."

"You're in a bad mood?"

Satsuki doesn't reply and so both of them do not say anything until Nino sits down on the piano bench next to her and speaks up again.

"Something happened with your dad?" he asks carefully, offering an ear for his student's possible sorrows.

The girl doesn't look at him and just shakes her head but it's obvious that something is troubling her.

"You don't have to tell me," Nino says. "But if you want to talk about something, I'm here. You can trust me."

"I know...," Satsuki replies and then she turns at her teacher and offers him a smile. "Thank you, Sensei."

"Don't mention it," he replies with a smile in return.

"To be honest...," the girl then finally starts and Nino gives her a questioning, but not stressing look. "It's about my mother."

"Your mother?"

"I don't see her often, you know?" the student continues.

"Your parents aren't married, right?"

Satsuki nods.

"Does she live in the city?"

"No," the girl shakes her head. "She's a famous jazz pianist, so she travels the world. She’s in Europe mostly since she's super popular there and so she can't get here very often."

"I see," the young teacher replies, nodding understandingly. "It must be hard for you."

"Oh well, I have to admit, I'm used to it. I grew up with my dad and I never missed anything. He did his best to give me whatever I wished for, and I'm very grateful for that," Satsuki smiles. "My mom instead... There was a time when I didn't even want to meet my mother at all because... well, she abandoned me when I was still a newborn and I couldn't understand why."

"You did nothing wrong, Sakurai-san, I'm sure of it," Nino says in a low voice, feeling sorry for the girl and he can’t help but admire her father for taking care of a child as a single parent.

"I know, but it's a fact that I was a burden to my mother, ever since she got pregnant with me. Once I understood that she isn't born to be a mother and needs to follow her path as a pianist, I somehow can accept that and stopped hating her," she continues and Nino's heart hurts at the bitter thoughts of the teenager. "But then, we agreed that she would come and teach me playing the piano at least once a year," she whispers.

Nino doesn't reply. Looking at the girl's sad face, he feels so damned helpless, not knowing what he can do to cheer her up.

"Soon, it's my birthday," Satsuki explains, a faint smile on her face and Nino immediately understands that this must be the time of the year when her mother visits her daughter and plays the piano together with her. "But she hasn’t called me yet to arrange a meeting... usually she always does. If she doesn't call me, it means she's too busy and probably... she won't come to my birthday this year," the girl says, her eyes slowly filling with tears.

Hastily, Nino searches his trousers' pockets for a package of tissues, offering it to his student who takes it to dry her eyes, quickly, slightly embarrassed. He's not sure how to react, will it be the right thing to give her what may be false hope and tell her she shouldn't make conclusions too early?

"She hasn’t called off the meeting either, has she?" he can't help it, he has to say something. Anything should do at the moment, hopefully.

Satsuki looks at her teacher. "No, but..."

"Then don't give up hope yet," he offers her with an encouraging smile. "Maybe she's really busy at the moment and cannot call you, but I'm sure, she won't forget your agreement to meet on your birthday."

"I hope so," the girl replies, her voice sounding weak.

"Look," Nino says, pointing at the piano sheets in front of the girl. "Won't it be great if you could can show your mother this piece when she arrives? I'll help you with the difficult parts," the teacher offers.

"Really?" Satsuki asks, her eyes starting to shine. "I'd love to show it to her!"

"Alright," Nino smiles again. "Then it's decided! From tomorrow on, whenever you want, you can ask me after school and we'll come here to practise together, alright?"

"Sounds great, Ninomiya-sensei!" the girl answers with an excited nod. "Thank you!"

"Let's give our best!"

"Good. And now, let's go home."

TBC


Part 4