It's my pleasure to present another CCS story; this one centered on the relationship between Sakura's parents. I should have written one about how they met ages ago, but I never had this well-thought out tale to tell. The story I have written is inspired by one of my favorite Japanese films, "Be with you" (I highly recommend this movie). This piece, here, that I have put together is a two-parter. Originally, I had one long story that did not flow as nicely. It still has a few rough patches. I am going to apologize ahead of time if in the middle of the story you find some parts confusing. The transitions may cause that bit of confusion, so I will be happy to address any queries if you leave them in your reviews. There is a lot of jumping back and forth between the past and the present without proper indication. It is just the way I formatted the story and, although I have been doing some edits here and there for the past few months, I strongly believe that this story is finally complete. You will see what I mean when I post the final chapter. Of course, there is also a hint of S & S in this story. Who could forget them? Be sure to review and critique. That is the way I roll around here.
-MistyWing
Time Capsule
By MistyWing
Standard Disclaimer: No, the characters don't belong to me.
Note: Words in italics signifies a character's inner thoughts.
"Hoeeeee!" An adolescent girl's cry pierced the neighborhood, rupturing the bubble of tranquility that contained the area. The world came to a complete standstill. The petite grandma, sleeping in her lawn chair on her front porch stopped briefly in her snoring; the Great Dane reposing with his head on his front legs brought his head up; the mother of two little boys, who lived next door, poked her head through her kitchen window and heaved a sigh. Everyone recognized the cry and knew its origin too well.
The yellow house situated down the long and wide borough, was a chaotic nest in the middle of a serene universe, all because of one overexcited teenager preparing for a date with her boyfriend. In the center of this small chaotic world, reclined two men in the living room.
The older of the two, Fujitaka, sitting in his chaise lounge smiled and said in delight, "normalcy at last."
The younger, his name is Touya, smirked, "You call this normal? I'm glad I came home this weekend to set things straight." He flipped through the channels on the T.V. When he found nothing on T.V. that was suitable to his brooding mood his emotionless face turned into a disgusted sneer.
Soon, there was frantic thumping behind them to warn them that an anxious girl was in their presence. Her labored breathing masked the patter of her bare feet against the floor.
Fujitaka turned his head to acknowledge her, as he always did, calmly. "What's the matter, Sakura?"
"Otou-san, I can't find Okaa-san's earrings anywhere. I took them out of her jewelry box two days ago because I knew they would match the outfit I planned on wearing tonight, but now I can't find them!"
Fujitaka angled his head to Touya, pushing his spectacles to his eyes and casting a severe frown at his son. Sakura had not noticed where her father shifted his eyes because she started running back and forth between the rooms of the first floor. She had already gone through the top floor for her mother's treasured earrings and came up with nothing.
Touya was apparently too engrossed in the T.V. program that was featuring sea lions in their natural habitat to catch the ongoing commotion hemming in around the sofa where he sat. He acted as if he did not care that chaos encased him.
Fujitaka gave a shake of his head as he got up from his seat. "Let me help you, dear. Where did you last see them?"
"I left them on the tray next to the T.V. this morning before I left for school," she said, "I only tried them on once in the afternoon and I swear I put them back on the tray, but…"
As his little sister spoke, Touya was counting down under his breath, "Three… Two… One-"
"Onii-chan!" The girl came hurtling into the room and practically tackled her brother into the sofa. "Where did you put them?"
"Kaiju," Touya gasped as she shoved her fists into his shirt collar and sat on his stomach.
"Speak, you oaf!"
Fujitaka chortled in the next room and they could here him sliding something across the floor.
"Otou… Otou… Otou—gah!" Touya rolled to the side and landed on his stomach. His back caught the full weight of his falling sister. He heard her yelp in surprise, while Touya thought he was on the verge of a black out.
"You deserve that," Fujitaka murmured, reentering the scene with a cocked eyebrow. His eyes were on his son.
"You always taught us that violence never justifies the ends," Touya challenged in a low grumble as he sat up and tossed his weightless sister off his back. Scrawny little squirt weighed nothing…
"He's been home all day in front of the T.V. Tell him to give them back!" Sakura cried fiercely. She had her hands bunched in the tail of Touya's t-shirt. …Once a baby, always a baby even at seventeen.
Fujitaka's gaze flew swiftly across his daughter's face. Then, he said to her one stern word.
"Please," Sakura repeated, pensively.
Their father's eyes softened to honey tones and textures again.
"Touya," he promptly said, his tone edgier than the look he cast his adult son.
"I don't have them."
Fujitaka frowned again, but Touya was only aware of the face of his sister as she crawled around him to see eye to eye with him.
Her green eyes crisscrossed between shades of darker and lighter greens. Though her look was skeptical, Touya could see the doubt gradually ebb away. With a tilt of her chin and her brows furrowed, she asked him, "Are you sure?"
"As sure as the fact that your nose is too large for your face."
Sakura clasped both her hands over her perfect, little nose and turned to the T.V. She continued to search the shelves and drawers at lightning speed. Touya finally saw what she was wearing, now that she had her back turned to him. The last of Touya's humor vanquished as he looked on at his little sister in a pink, strapless dress and white leggings. The dress was knee high, but it hugged her curves and accentuated the fact that she was not small anymore. She would never be small again even if Touya willed it. She would never be small again even if he had the power to switch heaven and earth.
Fujitaka watched as the look on the young man's face turned sour. Then, it all went down hill as the annoyance turned to acidic bitterness and that to pure rage.
"That pink makes your skin look puke green. It suits your eyes only in that sense," Touya muttered, his phrasing as acerbic as his eyes.
She quickly glared at him as she heavily propped a book into its place on the shelf again, yet she said nothing. This was because she knew who would come in her defense.
"Touya, don't be mean just because your sister looks pretty," Fujitaka gently chided. Usually I just let the name-calling and the degeneracy slide, but tonight was supposed to be special for Sakura and I want to make sure that I could present her to Syaoran-kun in her full splendor. Nothing was going to ruin the night.
Touya tapped the power button and tossed the remote aside. "I can't watch this anymore!" He shouted in irritation.
"Does it take a little more juice to exercise your brain on T.V. mode?"
Touya glared daggers at the small of Sakura's back. She knew what he was doing, but she blatantly ignored him. She just kept her face turned and her hand running in the inner crevices of the bookshelf she was combing. Touya was tired of glaring at her after a while, so he yawned and stretched on the sofa. He closed his eyes yet the dark scowl remained on his face.
"Hey!" Sakura suddenly exclaimed, seizing everyone's attention. They saw her pull out an old key hanging off a black cord. "What's this?"
Fujitaka's eyes lit up and Sakura was thinking… Finding mysterious keys never boded well on my part. Maybe it was best to pretend that I had not found it and prevent accidentally opening another book to unlock another form of ancient power…
"That belonged to your okaa-san!"
Sakura's face brightened with a captivating smile that reached her green eyes. "What does it open?" She asked mysteriously, unconsciously using her whispery voice.
Fujitaka's expression became puzzled as he realized even he didn't know. However, Touya, who had straightened to see what all the commotion was about, settled his eyes on the artifact as if it were some worldly treasure. Sakura looked inquiringly at her brother and he answered her in a voice bundled in awe, "Time capsule."
"Time capsule?"
Touya stood on his feet and came up to her to take the key from her hand. "Okaa-san and I hid the time capsule somewhere in the attic before she went away," he explained. "I remember."
"Good luck finding it. Have you seen the attic of late?" Sakura snorted, accompanied by a roll of her eyes.
"You were young when the both of you hid it," Fujitaka said, his tone hinting that he didn't expect Touya to remember the whereabouts of his late wife's time capsule.
Touya whirled around to face his father. "It was just a couple of days after Sakura was born."
Fujitaka's tawny eyes flickered between remorse and joy. His heart could not seem to make up its mind on whether to welcome this finding or bury it back in the crevice where it once was. The memory of Nadeshiko wrought an unpredictable charm to the threesome, but sorrow still held his residence in a corner of the house. That is why only one photo of Nadeshiko was located on the lamp stand in the foyer. Each family member would bid his or her farewell as he or she left for school or work and each family member would greet her upon his or her return home. They gave her a word every time the door was open to let them in or out as if she were just as alive and breathing like the rest of them. For Fujitaka, seeing her face was a reprieve from loneliness.
It had been nearly fourteen years since the day Nadeshiko had disappeared from their lives. Young Touya had coped with the lost in his personal way by keeping to himself. Little Sakura who could not understand what was missing in her life expressed rapt solemnity that no three-year-old should ever have to show. However, for Fujitaka, he had lost his soul mate. The days without her were as empty as a hole in the ground in which even time could never fill.
"I can find it," Touya added, key clutched tightly in his grip. "I'm going to need time because I have no recollection of where we placed it."
Sakura went around to her father and held his hand. She led him to the sofa and together they curled up there. Sakura placed her head on Fujitaka's shoulder and started babbling about something like flowers and earrings. Were they back to the earrings?
Touya plopped into the sofa, taking up the empty seat on Fujitaka's other side. He held out the key to the man without looking at him. When Fujitaka took it, he started running a finger down the shaft and back up again to the ring hole. He stroked the teeth at one end and traced the circle of the other end.
"Okaa-san must have put important things in that time capsule," Touya stated.
"Don't you know what's in it?" Sakura asked.
"I was seven. I remember your red, wrinkly face that reminded me of the putrefied and that's about it."
Sakura glowered vengefully at her brother. She was inches from climbing over Fujitaka and strangling Touya by the throat.
"When Nadeshiko was around it was paradise," their father suddenly said, disrupting the silent battle taking place.
Her eyes were still glaring at the young man over Fujitaka's head, but she addressed her questions to Fujitaka. "How did you meet Okaa-san? How was your first date? How did you fall in love? Was it love at first sight?" Her eyes glowed when they regarded Fujitaka. Indisputably, her sense of aspiration was due to her experience with idyllic romance.
What did she see through that window, anyway; no doubt, she saw a castle in the sky, Touya thought grumpily. She wastes too much time with that gaki and she doesn't even know it. She was delusional. See, Touya was interested in the answers to those questions as well. Nevertheless, he didn't believe he was delusional like his younger sibling. Curiosity purely affected his reason for wanting to know. He marveled his parents' history whether it contained sap or crap. After all, stories from Fujitaka were always better than anything that was on T.V.
Fujitaka started, his voice threaded with a touch of fondness. "We met in high school. Nadeshiko was in my history class. She was number one and excelled above all my other students."
"You were a teacher, though! You weren't allowed to mingle with the students," Sakura gasped.
"No one had to know I had one favorite in particular. It's not a crime for a teacher to have a favorite student and it didn't hurt the other students' feelings if my thoughts were private. I just knew the moment I saw her that she was someone special."
Sakura sighed, earning her father's warm smile.
Fujitaka went on, "It was my first year teaching at the high school. I got that job right after finishing university studies. Amamiya Nadeshiko was the girl who sat in the third row right next to the window on the far right. Sometimes I caught her daydreaming, looking out the window at the track and field. I should have reprimanded her the first time I saw her doing that, but I couldn't bring myself to embarrass the girl."
"Instead, when the class was over she was called to the front of the room, to the teacher's desk…"
Nadeshiko was writing something in her red notebook, long after the teacher had dismissed the class. She was unaware that the teacher was giving her a long contemplative look when the last of the stragglers filed out.
"Amamiya-san, may I speak to you in private for a moment?" Fujitaka asked, quietly. His expression was unreadable.
Nadeshiko quickly picked up her notebook and stuffed it in her bag. She scrambled to the front. The sophomore had her eyes downcast as she drifted to the front of the room. She would only glance up demurely when he spoke to her. Otherwise, she had her emerald eyes glued to her black, squeaky-clean shoes when she replied to him.
Fujitaka said, "Amamiya-san, you were half-listening again."
Her shoulders flinched visibly. "I heard you, sensei. You were going over the myth you assigned last night and relating it to the naval strategies during the war."
Fujitaka tilted his head and regarded her with renewed respect. "Any listener with her divided attention could tell me that."
She fidgeted, silently waiting for him to put her on the chopping block.
"As long as you pay me some attention and your grades stay up, then I shouldn't penalize you for going off into Amamiya-world, right?" He was teasing her!
Nadeshiko looked at him, seeing him smiling for the first time since she met him. Fujitaka rarely smiled because he was supposed to uphold his station as the serious history teacher that the headmaster just hired. He crossed his arms in front of him and the smile slowly melted, yet his eyes were still glowing.
"I know my teaching style is a little unorthodox, but I want to get everyone interested. I want everyone to relate to history and not just memorize names and dates. I don't want all of you to take this course because it's the least popular course and thus there's more room in the class. I don't find being the 'last resort' worthwhile…" Fujitaka paused in his ramble. He was stunned that he felt sure enough to speak so openly and freely to a student. Student… He didn't even open up to his colleagues. It made him wonder what made him particularly at ease around the sophomore.
"I talk too much. I won't hold you up anymore, Amamiya-san. Go on."
Nadeshiko pulled her bag over her shoulder and left as quickly as the rest of the students had. It seemed she was as relieved as the rest of the class to get out of that boring lecture.
Fujitaka watched her many times during the course of the year. He began to imagine seeing her even though she wasn't always physically there. There was something about that girl imprinting her image and character in his mind. Of course, his feelings for the student did not surprise him. She had the same sort of bewitching power on all the boys in the school, especially the jocks. Her good looks attracted plenty of attention and her intellectual background just made her even more becoming in Fujitaka's eyes.
He watched her from his desk in the teachers' office. Lucky for him he got the desk right next to the window facing the track. Tuesdays and Thursdays, he watched her run the fifty and hundred meter. After studying the girl daily, he knew this girl was not only a history wiz, but a star athlete as well. She had all the girls and boys flocking around her.
"If only she could add as well as she runs. If I was her, I'd trade that track record for a better math score," Suma-sensei huffed behind Fujitaka.
"I don't understand. She's a good student. She is always prepared for class-"
Suma-sensei rolled his eyes at his younger colleague, "Are you describing Sora from Class E? He's the top student in my class."
Fujitaka's tongue was stuck to his cheek and he couldn't say anything. He didn't know who Sora was because there wasn't a Sora in his history class.
"I just finished grading their midterms." Suma-sensei slapped Nadeshiko's paper on Fujitaka's desk. A gigantic, scarlet twenty-three and a sad face below it blared at him. "If she doesn't get her act together, she won't pass this year. She will be held back for this class. I guarantee it."
Held back for one class. That fact didn't bring about the disbelief on Fujitaka's face. It was the look of self-satisfaction, from the senior teacher, that brought the look of surprise on Fujitaka's face. How could a teacher be cheerful about failing one of his students? If a child fails, then the teacher is a failure, too.
He had to do something to help her. With Nadeshiko's exam in his hand, Fujitaka stood up from his chair. At exactly the same time he left the room, a great cheer erupted from outdoors.
"Little Miss Perfect broke another record," Suma-sensei sneered to himself.
Fujitaka stood by the bleachers for a moment as he watched the students congregate in the center of the field. In the center of the crowd, Fujitaka could pick out the slender girl with the wavy, dark hair. The smile that lit up her face grew wider as more people came to crowd her. With her beautiful hair pulled back in a ponytail, her face seemed to glow. That glow was not solely due to the light sheen of perspiration.
Fujitaka paced a few steps and stopped behind the coach, Aiko-sensei. He opened his mouth to speak, but broke off when he saw the basketball captain walking up to Nadeshiko. That boy was a star athlete with outstanding grades to boot. Fujitaka never had him for a student, but he knew who he was because the whole school knew who he was. Word traveled fast in the community. The other teachers had also told him about this one; this was Honda Takamaru.
The strong and smart always came together. For a short instant, Fujitaka remembered high school again. Those years were lonely years where people ignored him altogether. Even if he could have had his choice of friends, the strong and smart would never be among them. He had been on the shady side of scrawniness. His size made him invisible amongst his peers and his mediocre grades made him forgettable to his teachers. Studying at the university had changed him drastically, but he still thought of himself as a weirdo. Up until now he was still somewhat of an outcast; speaking only if he needed to draw a point across the room. Yet, Fujitaka did change. He only noticed the change now when he watched the boy interacting with his brilliant student. Fujitaka's pride was now big enough to make him step up if not chew up his old self.
"Aiko-sensei, excuse me for the interruption," Fujitaka's voice carried cleanly through the stadium. Suddenly he felt vulnerable under all the eyes scrutinizing him. He did well not to show how uncomfortable he felt. After all, he was a teacher, now.
"Not a problem, Kinomoto-san."
A hushed noise rose from the students. Nadeshiko, who had been speaking animatedly to the boy that Fujitaka would never have been friends with had he been their age, slowly shifted her gaze to him as well.
Fujitaka's mouth became slightly dry. Outward appearance showed a man, who seemed composed. He held the rolled up exam in his hand and waved it at Nadeshiko. "Amamiya-san, come to the classroom after practice." He quickly turned from the track, giving a brisk nod to his colleague, Aiko.
He strode back into his office to gather a few things and returned to his classroom where he held his lessons. When he got there, Nadeshiko was already standing by the window waiting for him. Upon hearing him enter, she half turned, so that he saw her face. The setting sun's light cast an afterglow on her delicate features. Her earlier exercises left her face flushed.
Fujitaka put on a convivial smile even as he admired her natural beauty and essence. He pulled a chair in front of his desk and gestured for her to sit down. She fluidly wound through the desks that surrounded her and came to the front of the room to seat her self.
"Suma-sensei told me you're having trouble in his class."
"I struggle to understand his lessons sometime," she admitted plaintively.
Fujitaka unfurled her exam and placed the packet in front of her. Her face immediately flamed and she dropped her gaze to her hands in her lap.
"Trigonometry is very simple if you think of it this way…"
Then, he started writing all over her exam in a blue pen. His small handwriting went right over the red X's. Thus began their math tutor sessions after practice.
"Okaa-san was like me! She couldn't understand math!" Sakura exclaimed.
During the intermission, Fujitaka was sipping some juice that Touya had poured for the three of them.
"Fortunate for her, Otou-san was around to help," Touya, uttered, taking a gulp of his drink as he handed another glass to Sakura. "However… Otou-san, I'm surprised you weren't so popular in high school. I mean… Surely there were a handful of airheads who admired you…"
"Others didn't concern me, so they didn't take an interest in me," he stated.
"I don't take interest in those stupid girls from school and they still follow me around," Touya grumbled back.
With a playful tilt of his head, Fujitaka smiled at his son. "Fortunate for you, you inherited your mother's good traits."
Sakura snorted. "Okaa-san wasn't rude and mean. I doubt she called me Kaiju either."
"She called you Saki or Plum," Fujitaka murmured, lost in his thoughts. "She called Touya Tu or Bean a lot."
"Kawaii name! I'll call Onii-"
"Shut up, Sakura!" Touya suddenly snapped.
She wilted, setting her glass down. She turned her face around and became very silent.
"Syaoran-kun will be here soon," Fujitaka supplied cheerily. "I know that should make you happy, dear."
She wrapped her hand around her father's arm and nestled close to him.
"I didn't have confidence around your mother when we were together. I knew how I felt about her even though I also knew that we could only have a student-teacher relationship."
Sakura stared at him oddly.
"Yeah, I was in love with her. I suspected I fell in love the first day I met her," Fujitaka said, reading her look the way a father who knew his daughter inside out would. "I wanted to tell her when she graduated, but I probably would have backed out like a coward. I never got out of my weird head and I was fixed on these idiotic notions."
She squeezed his arm and looked at him imploringly. "Don't say that, Otou-san. You're no coward and you're definitely not weird."
"Ha, your okaa-san said the same thing."
"That's because it's the truth," Touya added.
Fujitaka switched gears, dismissing his children's objections on his aspect of his own character. "It didn't really matter how drained of confidence I was back then. I fell in love with her first."
"You don't know that, Otou-san… When Syaoran confessed I was too shocked to reciprocate, but I knew. I knew that he was the only one in the world for me. I was just too slow to understand myself and needed him to prod me first."
"I remember you were devastated when he returned to Hong Kong for a year."
Sakura stretched her spine and glanced over at her brother. "I felt safe even though he was far away because I knew how he felt and he knew how I felt. That's love."
Fujitaka brought his hand over her crown. "You're right." His eyes settled on Touya, who twitched nervously. The young man looked torn, his eyes dark with design.
"Besides, you and Onii-chan helped me get through the days without him."
Touya flinched back and returned his dark eyes to his younger sister. His stare stayed on her as she continued to prattle about love again. Neither Sakura nor Fujitaka noticed Touya approach her. He was standing over her when his hand suddenly shot out. She abruptly turned to Touya in surprise at the feel of him pinching her ear lobe.
"Onii-chan!" Sakura shouted, jumping up from her seat and grabbing at her brother's arms. Now, a glittering pink diamond tear drop dangled from her left ear. She shouted at him as she shook him by the elbows, "Give me the other one!"
Touya picked her up by the shoulders and placed her back in her seat the same way he would handle a stuffed doll. He grumbled, "If I feel you earn it before the day ends I'll return it to you."
"But, Syaoran's going to be here soon!"
Touya crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you think, Otou-san?"
"Fair enough," Fujitaka smiled.
"Fair? It's not fair, Otou-san, and you know it."
"I do, but since I have ascertained that your mother's precious earrings are indeed not lost, I don't mind whoever is in possession of them as long as I always know where they are."
"But, I need them," she complained.
"You'll get the other one soon enough, chatter-bug. Now, let Otou-san finish the story."
Fujitaka looked up, making a wistful face at his children. "Well, it's true that since the day I met your okaa-san everyday afterward has been a wonder and a thrill. She gave me two great children, who both keep my hands full no matter how old they get. No day is ever boring."
"Otou-san," Sakura moaned.
"Right… Like I said, ever since I met Nadeshiko, all my days were filled with anticipation. I anticipated seeing her lovely face everyday. I used to take a boring commute to work, but the anticipation of teaching and seeing my Nadeshiko made it all bearable. I left the apartment at 7:30 and walked to the train station, which took about fifteen minutes. I took the 7:45 and reached the Fuji District Station at 8:05. I walked up a sloped path through the neighborhood and reached the school by 8:20; the timing always allowed for me to get to my office before homeroom began. It was the same everyday. The walk only changed after the tutoring started."
"Huh?" Sakura and Touya both called out at the same time.
At the sight of their quizzical stares, Fujitaka laughed wholeheartedly. "I expect this. Well…" He shrugged. "I would normally just walk through the gates and get over to the stairs safe and sound, but one day, en route, I got distracted by Amamiya Sonomi. That girl was standing by the big bell tree that grew by the headmaster's personal office window. She was looking up and talking to the tree that extended high into the sky…"
"Amamiya-san!" Fujitaka called, after taking the few strides to meet the student. He knew Sonomi because she was a relative to his student and she belonged to a remarkably rich family. The bell tree that was located in the school yard had been a gift from Amamiya Sonomi's father among the many gifts he bestowed to the school and its headmaster.
Fujitaka had been strayed from his path only to tell the girl to stop talking to her father's tree and get to class. He hadn't expected to get there and hear the branch somewhere above their heads snap.
"Nadeshiko-chan!" Sonomi screamed both hands over her face in horror.
Fujitaka dropped his shoulder bag and reached out his arms just as Nadeshiko crashed into him. He hit the floor as she landed, cushioning her small, lithe body. Fujitaka had the wind knocked out of his lungs.
"Ki-Kinomoto-sensei!" Sonomi cried hysterically, seeing, as Nadeshiko was safe.
Fujitaka's chocolate brown eyes rolled behind his closed eyelids. "Amamiya-san," he groaned. "You have five minutes to get to homeroom before I report you to the headmaster."
Slowly, Nadeshiko shifted, but suddenly Fujitaka's hand came out to snatch her around the wrist. "I meant Amamiya Sonomi-san… You are staying right here, young lady," he said in a low pitched tone.
Nadeshiko gulped, while Sonomi scurried away, glancing back at them furtively just before disappearing into the building.
The teacher sat up slowly, his muscles creaking as he moved. "Amamiya-san, it is very dangerous to be climbing up trees. Were you spying on the headmaster?"
Nadeshiko was red and speechless all at once. Her lower lip trembled as her eyes focused on the space just above his shoulder. His hand touched her chin to tip her head back in place, so that their eyes could meet. "Answer me, Amamiya. You could have injured yourself or worse."
Silently, she nodded.
With a subjugated shake of his head, Fujitaka righted her on her feet. "Get to homeroom, now. I'm not sending you to the headmaster's office, but tomorrow come after school. I have some tasks for you."
She nodded and hurried to homeroom the same way her cousin had left.
Left alone, Fujitaka pondered over his actions that morning. Giving the girl detention was a light punishment. He knew he was being both soft and selfish. For example, he lightened her punishment for having to be in her presence at detention. He enjoyed every moment he had in her company. If having her talk to him in detention bestowed her company upon him, then, so be it. Another sample of his thoughts would say something like this; Nadeshiko had a worse thing coming if her math grade didn't come up. If he got her in trouble with the headmaster, the final ring to the gong might sound sooner rather than never. The thought that made him most selfish of all were none of these thoughts, though. What made him most selfish of all was having enjoyed how she felt in the circle of his arms. He would never forget her supple touch when she was on top of him. It was the first and only time. It was his only excuse for being in close contact with his favorite student. This was not only selfish. It was prohibited.
The rest of the day was full of other surprises. One of the other instructors, who was also a history expert had overridden Fujitaka's proposal. Fujitaka had all the provisions of education written down and had the headmaster head-over-heels with the idea of changing the history final. He even had the new history final written out aside from his ideas on how to improve the curricula in the school. A confrontation was bound to hit near the end of the week.
"Teacher workshops? What is this? Do you believe we have time to chit chat when there are stacks of papers to grade and lesson plans to prepare?" Toei-sensei of the history department exclaimed in outrage.
Three men occupied the headmaster's office. Toei-sensei and Fujitaka stood facing each other. The headmaster was seated behind his desk at a safe distance. Fujitaka remained composed, utilizing his cool demeanor to get Toei-sensei to calm down.
"I got my tenure when your parents were changing your diapers and you're telling me that this school needs change!" Toei-sensei spat, pointing an accusatory finger at Fujitaka.
"Toei is right, Kinomoto. The school is running smoothly the way it is," The headmaster supplied.
Fujitaka turned to the headmaster. "Earlier, you said that you thought my idea was great. You hired me specifically because of the plan I had for the school and for the students. Some students have trouble keeping up and if we could just accommodate them in some other ways…"
"Not everyone can keep up. That's why prestigious schools like these exist. We pick out the good apples from the bad ones."
Fujitaka's skin prickled. His composure cracked an inch. He sent a glare at his older colleague. "This is not an apple farm with apples ripe for harvest. You are a well-educated man who is supposed to be dedicated to every single student."
"Enough," the headmaster retorted. "It is settled. I'm sorry, Kinomoto. I will have to agree with Toei on this matter. He has been here longer than you and I. He has earned his tenure and has all the other teachers following him. It isn't easy for any of them to learn the new ways of teaching our students. No more talk of work shops after faculty meetings and interactive activities in the classroom."
"At least consider the portion of the final exam I wrote."
The headmaster said nothing. He just gave Fujitaka the grimmest look in which his mouth was set in a straight and firm line.
"You've wasted both your time and efforts this entire year, Kinomoto," Toei told him off gruffly. He eyed the door, waiting for the younger man to take leave. Fujitaka left briskly.
At the end of the day, there was an up roar at the faculty meeting. Toei's voice was the main source of din inside the conference room. He was disheveled and blurry eyed when he announced that the answer key to this year's final went missing. Not just the answer key to his portion of the test, but also the answer keys to the whole final were stolen. They were supposed to be in Toei's desk drawer, but in their place was Kinomoto's history portion of the final exam. Immediately Toei put the blame on him.
Suma stood up. "Don't be ridiculous. He's a teacher."
Utada also stood up. "He was with me in the office all afternoon. He hadn't the time to do something like that."
The headmaster was the third to speak. "Toei, no more accusations."
Kinomoto felt relieved, but the next few weeks were going to be brutally hellish. Most of the faculty, especially the ones closest to Toei stared at him as if a guilt cloud hung over him. He was worried that one particular person would find him even stranger than before because of the smooth way most of the teachers were ostracizing him in the extremely thick air. The air was thickening still as the rumors of this weird history teacher circled through the student body.
"Thanks to you, sensei, I passed the last math exam," Nadeshiko said with a smile that reminded him of sunshine on that rainy day of their tutoring session.
"You've worked hard," he stated, not looking up from his reading.
"Will you help me next year with the calculus?"
Fujitaka set his book down and actually made eye contact with her. "As long as I'm here, I will help you. I might need to review multi-variable calculus, though."
Nadeshiko beamed, turning over her homework sheet to graph the next derivative.
Other than Amamiya Nadeshiko, school was insufferable in every shape and form. The shape that this school was in could use some remodeling and its form was very dilapidated on the inside. No one on the outside would have seen its true form. Fujitaka knew this because when he had been looking in from the outside he did not make out the deformity in the autonomy of the school. These flaws of the school were mainly caused by a few super conservative members of the faculty.
When the day came that the university located a few stations away gave him a call, leaving the school wasn't even a difficult choice. This university was also a sister school to the high school he was teaching at. The people at the university were hiring him for the doctorate program in archaeology. He had waited for this opportunity since he graduated. He never thought he would get the chance.
However, one person was instilled in his mind. His favorite Nadeshiko would have to be left behind if he were to pursue his work. He had no other reason to stay, but her.
"That's wonderful. Good luck, Kinomoto-sensei," she told him. She bowed to him and left for home. Math tutoring was missed that day and that day was his last day teaching at the high school. He also believed it would be the last time he saw Nadeshiko, the splendid girl who ran 50 meters in 6.18 seconds, the lovely girl who knew the answer to every question he asked in class, the only girl who would bite off the eraser end of her pencil before she could even solve a long division problem. He would surely miss the unattainable Nadeshiko who could never be his. When he left, he tried to promise himself not to think of her.
The promise was an impossible one to keep. By the end of the three weeks working at his new job, he phoned Amamiyas' residence.
"Moshi moshi," a female answered.
"Amamiya-san, how are you?" He hesitantly asked, somewhat flummoxed by the sound of her voice. He hadn't spoken to her in ages and just hearing her voice made him breathless with admiration.
"Ah, Kinomoto-sensei! I'm fine. How are you?" She answered him, her young voice unable to hide her excitement at hearing from her old history teacher.
"Wonderful… How are you doing in math?"
"The final will be in two weeks. Honda-kun invited me to study with him."
Fujitaka was grateful to be speaking with her over the phone. He didn't think he could withhold the dark look that suddenly came over his face at her mentioning Honda Takamaru if they were actually speaking face to face.
"Oh, yes. I heard that Honda-san was good at math. He will be an excellent help. If you need any extra help feel free to-"
"I'll take you up on that offer, sensei!"
There was a moment of complete silence. The silence was only sliced by Fujitaka's laughter. "Bring your textbook and notes to the university. I'll be at the university gates when you get out of school, so drop by."
Fujitaka felt lighthearted when he hung up. The heaviness and tedium of everyday seemed tolerable again.
If only he had the courage to ask for a date the next day when he met her… She was no longer his student and he was no longer her teacher, so it wasn't unlawful to socialize with her outside the classroom setting. Still he was hesitant to stop her from disappearing again when he walked her to the gates after their tutor session. He was concerned over rejection. Nevertheless, it was his only chance. If he didn't ask now, there would be no tomorrow.
"Amamiya-san, are you in a hurry to get home?"
She paused and turned half-way towards him, "No, it's still early."
"Do you want to get a cof-" He broke off, remembering whom he was talking to and how old she was, "a hot cocoa?"
She teetered on her heels, beaming beautifully for him. "You can have coffee. I'll get a hot cocoa."
At the shop, Fujitaka ended up spewing his life to her. In that venue they were both unmasked. No longer were they teacher and student or tutor and tutee, they were just a man and a woman enjoying coffee and hot cocoa. Thus, Fujitaka felt comfortable talking about his favorite book, favorite color, and favorite food. He went on to talk about his lack of a family, which led to his devotion to work. He told her about some of the archaeological excavating he was going to do for the university. He told her just about everything that was going through his head. His stream of consciousness was probably confusing, but since she rarely said a word, his words spilled forth to fill the vacuity. Fujitaka would remember this day as his most embarrassing when he looked back into his memories of bloopers.
He kept talking because he thought it could have been the last time they talked, though he prayed they would talk some more. Too bad, she had school and he had work that would take him out of the region. It was just too bad that they both were busy and virtually light years apart, Fujitaka thought.
He walked her to the train station in frosty silence.
She was the first to speak and break their silence as they walked. "Sensei, it's getting cold out…"
Fujitaka glanced at her. Thoughtlessly, he reached out and snatched her frigid hand from her side. A silent gasp broke from her lips as his fingers entwined around hers. Wordlessly, he tucked their entwined hands into his coat pocket. There was a question in his eyes, but she wasn't looking at him. She was blushing and smiling at the first missed train that sped by them.
Their first date was what inspired the months to follow with phone calls and love letters. Fujitaka was on cloud nine every time he heard her voice or saw her curly words on paper. The excavation days were not lonely when he thought of what she said to him.
One day, when he was coming home from an excavation in Egypt, he thought of only her. He went directly to her school after getting off his flight. He waited for the next fifteen minutes for the bell to ring and call the students home. The students poured from the front entrance, each one passing him as if he were a phantom. His smile grew more and more, though, at the anticipation of seeing Nadeshiko's face once more.
Time stopped when he saw her at last. She wasn't alone. As the smile froze over Fujitaka's face his heart sunk. He was watching Nadeshiko clutching at Honda-san's arm as they both came out of the double doors. Of course, they were together, Fujitaka thought grimly. They were perfect for each other. He was just her confidant and teacher. She could never see him as anything more.
Turning away from the couple, he sealed his broken heart and stepped away. He was perfectly all right with being invisible again.
Woe upon him, she called him at night to ask him how his trip was.
He ignored her cheerful chatter and strained to speak in his firmest teacher's voice. "Amamiya-san we should end this."
"What?" She asked breathlessly.
There was a long pause. "I'm just very busy," he finally said.
"Oh, then, I'll call you at a better time."
"No… I'll be busy everyday. Stop calling and don't write me anymore letters." With that said, he hung up.
Summer came and the days weren't only gradually growing longer, heavier, and sweltering, but they were also becoming gradually unbearable. He sometimes took his books and papers outside because the central air condition was broken inside the building. He would spread a tablecloth out under him and sit in the grass at the back of the building. He occupied his mind with work, so papers and books would be scattered around him as he scanned and digested the information provided by them.
One particularly sunny day, a shadow drifted over his reading. To his astonishment, he looked up and saw Nadeshiko grinning down at him.
"It's been a while," she said flatly. She had her hands tucked behind her back. A whimsical smile touched her face.
Fujitaka started at the sound of her voice. "I'm busy," he finally stated bluntly, returning his attention to the book he was reading.
"Yeah, that's what one of your students told me when I asked him where I could find you."
"Can I help you with something?" He asked, avoiding eye contact with her. His hands were touching his books and papers. He was gathering them up, now.
"I just wanted to see you, Fujitaka… Are you so busy you can't even spare me a minute?" Her tone was between hysterical and irate.
A minute with her usually stretched into hours. Fujitaka could not afford to expose himself in her presence. Whatever was left of his heart may just fail at her hands.
Without heeding her question or attempting to answer it, he occupied himself with tidying up.
Nadeshiko bent down on her knees in supplication. "Why? Is there another girl?" The question was an anguished whisper.
Fujitaka chuckled. "Of course not." He made the mistake of glancing at her. The glance turned into a full-blown staring contest. His chocolate coated eyes met her glittering emerald stare.
"Then, why?"
He heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm twenty-four and you're only sixteen…"
"You're not old, baka! Don't give me that excuse!" She was on the verge of tears as she snapped at him.
He folded the blanket and placed it neatly over his books. He mustered an apologetic look to mask his pain. "I have nothing else to say. I'm sorry, Amamiya-san," he said it with finality and resolve.
He turned his back on her and walked away. Even as he walked back into the building, he heard her sobs and the pounding of her footfalls going in the opposite direction.
Some nights he could hear her sobbing as if she stood beside his bed as he slept. Sometimes he wandered to the bell tree grove half expecting her to fall out of one of the trees. Sometimes, he went to the library to review calculus just to relive the ancient of days.
It hurt much more when the school year started. Having to walk to one of his lectures at the university was a task of endurance. It was drastically like déjà vu to be teaching again. The similarity was vague, but the familiarity was too much. Weeks into teaching, he gained the fortitude to resign.
The night he was writing up his resignation letter, Nadeshiko called one more time.
"Moshi moshi."
After a slight pause, she resolutely told him, "Let's meet."
"Sugoi!" Sakura unexpectedly interrupted. "Then, what happened?"
Fujitaka coughed. "My voice is getting a little rusty. Second intermission?"
"But what about the reunion?" Sakura whined.
"The doorbell has been ringing for the past minute, dear." Fujitaka provided helpfully.
"Hoeeeee!"
"Where are you going, Kaiju?"
"To touch up my make-up!" She screamed back.
"The gaki probably heard that!"
"Hoeeeee!"
Touya's eyes followed the deft movements of his father. The older man was at ease even under all the hail of commotion. Fujitaka also slowly studied his son with a thoughtful look. Poor Touya couldn't get past the fact that his sister was growing up. The flickering of emotions that passed Touya's visage was vastly visible.
"I hope this is just a phase."
Fujitaka beamed. "The self conscientiousness is, but her love for Syaoran-kun isn't."
Touya coughed at the word 'love' and growled at the name 'Syaoran.'
The doorbell rang the hundredth time. "You should probably answer the door."
At the sight of Touya cracking his knuckles one by one, Fujitaka got up from his recline. "On second thought, let's both answer the door."
Touya opened the door and Fujitaka started the hellos. Just as Syaoran's hand dropped from a manly gripped handshake with Touya, Sakura leapt out of the house and into Syaoran's arms.
Syaoran looked over her shoulder as she clung to his neck. He met the glare of her brother and smothered his own fears and rage when he met Fujitaka's exultant eyes and wide grin.
"What time will you bring her back to us?" Fujitaka asked, pleasantly. He also wrapped a hand around his son's shoulder as he spoke.
"Ten," Syaoran said affirmatively.
"Okay. Take note that I don't mind if you're a few minutes late."
"I mind," Touya said roughly.
"Onii-chan!"
Sakura had to loosen her hold on Syaoran's neck to crane her neck around and glare at her brother. Syaoran was finally able to see her face and the missing earring on her right earlobe.
His hands settled on her hips as he said in mild surprise, "Sakura, you're missing an earring."
At this, Touya stepped forward and pinched her right ear. "There, Sakura."
"Thank you, Onii-chan," she whispered, a soft smile directed to her brother.
He shrugged. "You still look like a kaiju."
She disregarded the comment as Syaoran escorted her to his car.
Fujitaka stayed hovering in the doorway long after Syaoran had driven off. Touya snapped out of it the moment the car had disappeared from view.
"I'm going to look for the time capsule." Touya jumped back and headed up the stairs. "Call me when dinner's ready!"
Fujitaka gave a blasé wave behind him. After a moment of silence, he remembered to shut the door.
TO BE CONTINUED
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