"As long as you're by my side, I'll always be happy. I'll always be a winner, because I have you."
"A—Are you sure about this, Takao-kun?" You ask unsurely, as you look down at the hard surface of the roof's floor. You'd been overjoyed when he offered to teach you how to do a backflip, something you'd watched him do in amazement, and had agreed immediately. However, now that you were actually about to do it, you were feeling a bit anxious.
"Heh, don't worry (l/n)-chan. I've done this before. You're in very good hands." Takao laughs, throwing his arm around your shoulders again and squeezing them comfortingly. "Remember, all you have to do is get in the right position and jump up like I told you. I'll be responsible for actually flipping you backwards. You know, until you get over the fear that comes with it."
You smile appreciatively at him, but Takao notices you're still nervous. Smiling gently, he pulls his arm back and softly pats your head.
"Don't be scared. I'll be spotting you, and you're safe in my hands. I won't let you get hurt." Takao promises you earnestly, and his eyes are staring straight back into yours seriously. "I swear, I won't let you even touch the ground. I'll keep you safe, no matter what!"
His eyes spark determinedly and, as if to reinforce his statement, he securely puts his hands on your body, and you feel yourself blushing immediately.
"Alright Takao-kun, I trust you." You respond honestly. And though it seems odd to say this to someone you've just met, you know it's true. Takao radiates a sincere openness, and it's impossible not to believe in him. And you have no doubt that, with his toned, muscular arms, he will have no trouble lifting you, and as such you don't have the slightest fear of being dropped.
"So…it was like this?" You inquire, as you set your body in the position he showed you before.
"Yeah, perfect! Just like that! And just jump whenever you're ready." Takao grins. He readies his own body to spot you, and he narrows his eyes slightly as they focus entirely on you.
You take a long deep breath and steady yourself, as you begin to swing your arms. You can feel Takao's strong hands holding onto your body tightly. Before you can psych yourself out, you jump up as high as you can.
Unfortunately, shortly after you do so, your nerves get the best of you, and you cry out as your limbs start to flail outwards to gain purchase again. You can just see yourself falling away from Takao before you squeeze your eyes shut and brace yourself for impact.
But instead, you feel yourself pulled and then twisted in the air, and you end up falling on something warm and firm. You feel yourself being embraced tightly, and something strong and gentle cradles your head securely against whatever you fell on. You're so close, and you can hear your heart beating very fast…no, that isn't it. You're hearing someone else's heartbeat…
You slowly move your head up, and you find yourself looking up at Takao's face. In an instant, you realise what happened. You know Takao's hands never left your body, even as you'd started to fall. He must have pulled you back and turned so that he would hit the ground instead, and you would fall safely on him.
"Takao-kun! Are you alright?! I'm so sorry!" You cry out loud, as you feel tears coming to your eyes again. Takao gives a wheezy laugh, clearly a bit winded, but grins impishly at you. His hand, which was holding your head protectively against his chest, drops down to rest on your shoulders comfortably.
"See? Toldya' I wouldn't let you touch the ground." He chuckles, before coughing and taking a moment to catch his breath.
He was right, not one part of your body had hit the ground. You breathe a long sigh of relief, grateful that he was unharmed.
However, now that you're no longer afraid that he's hurt, you realise just what kind of position you're in. With Takao's strong arms still wrapped around your body, your chest is pushing into his, while your legs are tangled with his own from the fall. You already feel your cheeks turning a hot red when Takao raises his head to look down at you, and suddenly his face is only a few inches away from yours.
You feel your heart start to beat faster, as you stare back at Takao anxiously. You notice that his cheeks are a bit red too, and his piercing blue eyes have narrowed slightly, watching you closely. He pulls his arms back from around you to support himself as he pulls his upper body up.
Slowly, Takao moves his face towards yours…
But before anything can happen, a sharp ringing sound echoes through the roof as the bell rings and startles you both, making you pull back from one another suddenly.
"Ah! I-I'll be late!" You cry out nervously as you push your hands down on Takao's chest and raise your upper body away from him, arching your back. Honestly, being late isn't something you're really worried about, at least not right now, but you're so embarrassed you feel like your cheeks are on fire and your heart is going to burst out of your chest. You need a little more time to calm yourself.
Unfortunately, it looks like you're not done being embarrassed just yet.
"Heh, the other view was even better, but this one is pretty nice too~~" You hear Takao snickering just below you, and you look down at him. You quickly realise that with the way your body is positioned, his face is now right in front of your chest. He's looking up at you and laughing again as you blush even harder.
Desperately, you try to push your body up while frantically trying to untangle your legs from him. Unfortunately Takao tries to get up at the same time, and in surprise you end up falling back.
Both of you completely freeze, eyes open wide in shock. In your urgency to get off of him, you ended up falling backwards, and your backside is now resting comfortably on his lower stomach.
Takao looks down to where you're sitting, and then back up to you with a slack-jawed expression. "Are-Are you doing this on purpose?!" He asks you, bursting out into laugher and falling back down onto the ground.
"N—N-N—No! Of c—c-c-course not!" You say, stammering desperately. "I—I-I'm so sorry, I didn't-didn't mean to-!"
He leans back up, takes one look at you, and turns to the side as he covers his face. "I can't handle it, you're just too cute…" he snorts with muffled laugher for a few moments.
His eyes dart back to you, almost tearing up from his laughter. "So…are you planning on staying there? Not that I really mind, but-"
"Oh! S-S-Sorry!" You stutter, as you quickly push yourself off of him, and stumble to your feet. You step to the side and hurriedly try to dust yourself off, while Takao sits up and quickly grabs the box of chocolates you gave him, placing it securely on his lap. When you turn around you see him with his chin resting on his palm as he looks up to you, trying to look calm and collected. He probably would have pulled it off if he wasn't still shaking from trying to muffle his raucous laughter.
You take a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down after being so thoroughly embarrassed, and you smile softly as you look back at him, though your cheeks are still practically on fire.
"You really are a very fun person to spend time with, Takao-kun. I'm so glad I met you today, and I really want to meet up with you again!" You tell him cheerfully, your hands clasped in front of you as you give him a quick bow.
"Ha! I enjoyed spending time with you too." Takao chuckles. "And I'm glad to see you're smiling face. It's much prettier than your sad one." He teases you good-naturedly.
You blush and give him a quick nod in thanks, before turning around and running towards the door. However you skid to a stop just in front of it, and turn back to him.
"Takao-kun, I still really want to learn how to do a backflip! Let's try again sometime!"
Takao freezes, his eyes wide in shock as he looks back and you, and after a few moments of silence he bursts into laughter again.
"Doesn't matter if you're doin' this on purpose or not, you're just too adorable." He chortles. He notices you blushing even darker, and he waves his hand amiably as he calms down.
"Heh, don't worry about that. Anyways, I promise I'll teach you how to do a back-flip. Maybe on some soft grass next time. And with a second spotter." he snorts, winking at you playfully.
"T—Thank you, Takao-kun! Have a good Valentine's…rest of Valentine's…have a good day!" You stumble, waving goodbye and spinning around quickly to hide your red face. Still hearing his chuckles behind you, you run through the roof door and head down the stairs.
The moment you leave, Takao gives a long sigh, and smiles kindly as he looks down at the box of chocolates in his lap.
"Boy, this sure came in handy." He snickers, as he gently tosses the box into the air, catching it quickly. He opens the box and lets out another low whistle, impressed by the beautiful chocolates.
"This was a pretty nice Valentine's Day, but…" He pauses to toss a piece of chocolate behind him, and looking straight ahead he catches it easily. He throws it back up and catches it again, this time in his mouth, looking back at the roof door you just ran through.
"…I got a feeling the next one will be even better."
-
Note: Do not try and learn how to do a backflip, or how to be a spotter, from this story. Seriously, there are a lot of great resources online for how to do a backflip and how to learn to do one, please use them. The same is true for how to act as a spotter for a person doing a backflip. This story is not one of those resources.
I hope you enjoyed Takao's story! Next updates will be for the GoM/Kagami!
Although I still wonder who Takao is planning to rope in to being a second spotter... ;)