Chapter 12: Boy to man, girl to woman.
"hummm... is he soon?" Naruko thought, laying down in the couch, thinking on Angelo.
"Niichan, is he coming?" She asked Naruto, while he was playing videogames
"I don't know." He answered, without stopping looking at the TV.
One minute later…
"Niichan…"
"What is it?"
"Is he coming now?"
"I don't know."
"Ahh…."
"This is this stage is final boss! Focus! Focus…!" Naruto thought. Then…
"Niichan… Niichan… Niichan…! NIICHAN!"
"WHAT IS IT, DATTEBAYO?"
"IS HE COMING NOW?"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
"HAAAAA!"
"You lose." The video game voice said, as Naruto's character was killed.
"HAAAA! LOOK WHAT YOU DID! I LOST." Naruto yelled. Naruko then raised up, headed for the console and the television. "What are you going to do?!" Naruto asked. Naruko hold the videogame and the cables, then she unplugged every single cable plugged between the videogame and the television with one push. "NO NO NO NO NO NO! ARGH, I DIDN'T SAVED IT. I'LL HAVE TO START FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE STAGE!" he said as she unplugged the cables.
"BAKA! (IDIOT)" She yelled at him as she returned to the couch and sided, with her arms crossed and very angry.
"BAKA!" He yelled back.
"BAKA!" She yelled at him.
"BAKA NARUKO!" He yelled at her.
"BAKA NARUTO!" She yelled at him.
"I HATE YOU!" They yelled at each other, as she gone to her bedroom, and he plugged the videogame. She jumped on her mattress, biting and holding her pillow before she calmed down and just held the pillow with a sad face.
"Niichan baka…." She whispered.
"motousan baka…" he whispered, also sad. He resumed playing after he started again, but cannot concentrate. Five minutes after the fight, he turns the video game off…
"Niichan…" she says as she returns to the living room.
"What is it…?"
"I'm sorry, niichan…. For had yelled at you…"
"I'm sorry for had yelled at you too…"
"…hug?"
"Hug." Then they hug each other, and let a tear fall.
"I love you, niichan…"
"I love you too, motousan…"
Meanwhile…
"Okay…. Breathe in…. stay focused….stay focused…." Angelo thought, as André drives to Naruko's house.
"Look, you don't have to do it if you aren't feeling well. You just need to call her, tell her you are not feeling well. Just that. I promise I won't make any joke of you." André says, as he sees Angelo very nervous and breathing heavily.
"No… I'm…. I'm fine, thanks bro. I just need to… stay calm and focus… she asked to use this time to take her in a date after all…"
"You sure?"
"Yep. Just need to… face it like a… game level. Or a mission… Whooa, I'm so nervous."
"Just chill out, bicho. Nothing especial about it. You will just take her on a date, take her back, she takes you to her room and then, BOOM."
"Kinda ironic… every teenager always dream of a moment like those. I, for one, tried to plan every detail… now its happening and I'm behaving like when I was 8 years old."
"See, man. Every dude like us pass through this. What's the big deal with you?"
"Big deal is Naruko isn't any girl. I know she's special and different of anyone else. Like mom would say: 'asked to be pretty and overdid it.'"
"Guess is with her that the shy japa girl stereotype dies."
"Damm yes, man. How far is from her house anyway?"
"GPS says is 10 minutes if we take the Bay and 4 if we cut around the Palace quarter."
"Okay…" Angelo then closes his eyes and thinks:
"I have planned this moment for years. I just have to make a strategy who will suits her and me. Remember… she comes first… keep in mind her priorities are the main objective, so don't do nothing she doesn't want to do… I won't do it unforgettable just because is our first one, but it's also because I love her and… and…. Ahhh."
"*woof* *woof*…. I'm ready." Angelo says to André, in a serious tone and face. André then look back with a serious face too, and noodles positive with his face, before he turns on a street.
"Keep… her… in mind." Angelo thinks, as he remembers of Naruko's face.
Two minutes later…
"Huh? It's him?" Naruko thinks with excitement as she hears a knock on the door, she raises up and races to it, and opens it.
"Oh… Hinata-chan. Is you."
"Were you…waiting for someone, Naruko-chan?"
"I was waiting for Angelo-kun… enter." She says with disappointment as she lets Hinata enter.
"Arigatou…" Hinata says, as she looks confused to Naruko, who stay in the door, disappointed.
"Yo Hinata. You ready to go?" Naruto said, as he raised up and walked towards Hinata.
"H-hai, Naruto-kun." She says.
"hey…moutosan… why you are like this,'ttebayo?"
"…nothing…niichan. You can go now… don't worry about me."
"Hey… I am you brother, Naruko. I cannot let you here like that. Say…Hinata-chan…"
"Hai…" Hinata says.
"You… I dunno… don't mind if we stay here with Naruko-moutosan… don't you?"
"Humm…. No… not at all…"
"… arigatou … both of you…" Naruko says. Then she sits and crouches on the couch, and her disappointment have not disappeared. Naruto and Hinata cannot do anything but watch.
"Angelo-kun…. This was our special day…. Where are you…? I miss you…" She thinks, before putting she bends her head down, her forehead touches her arms. Then…
"Niichan…?" She says with confusion as she sees her brother kindly holding her chin.
"There's a pizza left on the freezer. I'll put it of them on the microwave, but only if you promise you will cheer up. Hai?" he says, smiling.
"Hai!" She says, happy.
Meanwhile…
"Uh oh…" André says.
"What?" Angelo asks.
"Take a look." They then see the streets around the Imperial Palace filled with traffic.
"Dammit…" Angelo thinks. "Let's see…" He thinks again, as he searches in the GPS.
"Gonna take now fifteen minutes through the Palace now… hey what you're doing?" André says, and then he notes Angelo making some adjustments on the route on the GPS.
"Looking for a shortcut… bingo. Let's go." He says as he founds an alternate route, and André drives through it. "Hang in there…Naruko. I'm almost there." He thinks.
"First one is ready!" Naruto says, on his house, when he takes out the pizza.
"Humm…yummy." Naruko says.
"Here. Watch out girls, it's hot." Naruto says as he puts the pizza on the table, where the girls are.
"Itadakimasu!" They all say, before separating the pizza between them. Naruto picks the first one, and then picks one to Hinata.
"Arigatou…Naruto-kun." She says.
"Eh…its nothing." He reply.
Naruko then picks up her piece. She stares it for some seconds before eating a part of it, then she turns to the living room window, still waiting….
"Your destination is 150 meters away." The GPS voice says.
"I can already see their house… I think my heart will jump out of my breast." Angelo says.
"Bicho, calm down. Remember, she asked you to take her on a date before that."
"I know, but still. You know how I am. Can't help but to feel excited about it."
"Your destination is 50 meters away." The GPS says. "You arrived at your destination." It adds seconds later, as André parks. Then they look at each other.
"There you go." André says.
"Thanks bro… I… I not even know what to say now… you are with me even on these moments." Angelo say.
"Yeah… we have been through better and worse. That's why we're brothers." André says. Then they do a bro fist, before leaving the car. Angelo can't hold himself and opens the door, which Naruko hears. She stop eating and gets frozen for a second.
"He is here." She says.
"What?" Naruto asks while eating.
"He is here! Niichan, he is here! Angelo-kun has come!" she says overexcited and runs to the door.
"Sorry for being late…" Angelo was saying, but is caught by surprise when Naruko jumps on him and kisses him while hugging him. He almost falls with her, but maintains his balance with the help of André.
"I missed you so much! Where have you been?!" She asks him, while he keeps holding her.
"Ahh… er… t-the… tr-tra…" He tries to spell, but he can't. He's blushing so much that his face is full of a medium red color.
"Traffic." André says.
"Traffic!" Angelo says.
"Okay… Best part is that Hinata-chan is already here. So I think we can skip the date part…hihi." She whispers on his ear and he gets petrified.
"Hey, eh… can we eat something?" André says.
"Sure!" She says. Then they head to the kitchen, however…
"I guess it was supposed to have a pizza here." André says, as he looks to the empty plate.
"Niichan…" Naruko says to her brother, a little angry.
"Go… gomen nasai." Hinata says.
"… She ate that alone?" Angelo asks.
"She has your appetite." André says to Angelo.
"Ehh?" Naruko asks.
"Is just… that my parents got used to order two pizzas back home… One for me… and the other for them and my sister."
"Aw… too bad... that was the last one." She says.
"Humm…" He says, and then he picks up his phone, and open the gallery as André sits. Naruko, Naruto and Hinata look curious, as Angelo looks at the refrigerator, and picks up some ingredients, each one after looking at his phone. Naruko come to behind him, with her hands on her back and ask in a curious tone.
"What are you doing, Angelo-kun?" She asks.
"A pizza."
"Really? You know how to cook one?" She asks excited.
"Yep. Mom taught me how to make one." He says.
"Sugoii! Aaand when you're done?"
"Hum… 10 minutes."
"Nice!"
"So what we do in the meantime?" André asks.
"We can play some games!" Naruto says.
"Sure." André says. Then they leave to the living room, and when they arrive, Naruko asks.
"Um… André-san…"
"Yes?"
"Um… on Angelo-kun's phone… there was some pictures of him with some prizes and…"
"…and?"
"I wanted to ask you of what they're about and if he has another nice secrets!" She asks, excited and smiling, with her eyes closed and with her hand on the back of her head.
André looks down for a moment, thinks a little, then says.
"Okay. Guess anytime he would tell you more."
"So, eh, how much you, Jade-san and Angelo-san told us, 'ttebayo?" Naruto asks.
"Not much. He likes to spare chitchat and anything like it when comes down to feelings. Just in cases of really emotional situations." André says.
"Ow… wakateru." Naruto and Naruko say.
"Better you three sit. The story's long." André, say as they sit. He turns on his phone, and open the gallery. "See this?" he says as he show a picture of several young children, on a small classroom.
"What is it?" the trio say.
"It's him, when he was starting the kindergarten. I dunno much about him on his age, except what he and his mother told to me and my mom." He then points out to a smiling boy, close to the teacher.
"Wow… how old was him?" Naruko asks.
"Two years. Same as me, but I started at a different school." André says.
"Sugoii…" the trio say.
"According to his parents, he stayed there until the 1st grade, when he moved to another school. They said when he left, everyone, since his classmates, to his teachers were speaking of him with high praise." André then shows a picture of Angelo a little more older, on the front of another school.
"This is him on the 2nd grade. Let's say it wasn't the best school year for him."
"Why? Angelo-kun didn't liked the new school?" Naruko ask.
"Haha! He not just didn't liked it. He hated it. His grades weren't impressive anymore, and his calligraphy gone so bad that even him asked to leave that school when it ended. Of course, they let him change it. And now, there comes the good part…" He then chooses another picture. This time, there's André, Angelo, Mateus and Kaio on it. They're in the front of another, bigger building. André's eyes get shining by the picture.
"André-san…" Naruko asks.
"…yes…?" André answers, and get emotional.
"Who… are those?" Naruko and Naruto ask.
"… the old gang." André says, and let a tear fall. The trio can't do anything, but to watch it.
"This one…" he points to Mateus. "…his name is Mateus. And the fatty…" he points to Kaio. "… his name is Kaio, or as I and Mateus called him 'annoying fatty' except Angelo. He had a lot of respect for the three of us when we were becoming friends. Speaking of which, he said it was the first time he found a competition." André says.
"Competition?" the twins ask.
"Yes." André says smiling, with his closed. "He was quite brilliant, but still lagged behind me and Kaio. On sports, well… even Kaio could win against him. As a friend, sometimes he was like… her." He says, referring to Hinata.
"…watashi (me)?" Hinata says.
"Yep. He used, or still is, I dunno, the blondie here says, quite shy like Hinaha here. On the other hand, he was like you, Naruto." André says. Naruto thinks for sometime.
"Hum… like me… hum, I'm already liking him more. If he was like me, then he was a handsome, athletic, and popular guy!" Naruto says, full of pride of himself.
"Nope. He was stupid and idiot like you." André says, destroying Naruto's pride and Naruko burst into laughs.
"Hahahahaha. Besides, niichan, André-san is speaking of Angelo-kun when he was a kid, not the guy he's now…" Naruko says.
"So, I'm handsome, athletic and popular now?" Naruto say, trying to rebuild his pride. André makes an eye sweep on him and say.
"Well… you're datetable." André says.
"Can we return to Angelo-kun…? Omegai?" Naruko says.
"Sure. We're getting on the part I like the most." André says.
"What is?" Naruto asks.
"The part where I saw her for the first time." André says, as he shows a group picture, which now includes Jade.
"Ohh… Jade-san…" the trio says.
"Yeah… Angelo was still a goofy back there… haha, he almost made her hate me. Because of that, I sometimes think he owns me a few punches on his face… although, like me, despite being a something like a genius. From that year to the next, we noticed he changed. He was more friendly, a little more kind, and started to be…. Less shameful on sports. But…"
"But…?" The trio say.
"But looks like, this time, destiny wanted to put a trap on his path." André shows another picture. However, this time and for Naruko's anger, Angelo is holding hands with a girl with the same age as him, with brown hair, black eyes, tanned skin, and at the same size as him.
"That chic… she's the one who broke Angelo-kun's heart….! I don't even know her, but… I'll never forgive her…!" Naruko thinks. "She's the chic called Luisa… isn't?" She says angry.
"Imotousan…" Naruto says, surprised by his sister.
"Naruko-chan…" Hinata also say, surprised.
"André-san, I want you to tell me more about this." Naruko says, angry and determinated.
"Sorry?"
"I want to know about this girl! I want to know how she entered on Angelo-kun's life! I want to know how she almost destroyed his life! I… I… I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HER!" She says, leaving everyone in shock. Naruko lets a tear fall as she says:
"She… she used him…! she… played with his feelings like he was a toy…! What kind of a girl do this to a guy who likes her?! How can a girl call herself someone's girlfriend… and do this?! How can someone do this… and nobody stops until is too late…?!" She lets a tear fall from another eye, as she says:
"André-san… WHY YOU LET HER DO THIS TO HIM?!" she says crying. Andre then thinks:
"Dammit, he wasn't lying. This blondie isn't a normal girl. I now even doubt there's someone like her in any other part of the world, with the exception of her brother. She and Angelo are only this close by just two or three months. Practically just the time Jade and I are married. How can she and her brother take Angelo's pain so deep… and understand it at the point of off having this hormonal reaction?! What the hell in on their minds after all? I am his closet friend and never had this reaction… my anger to Luisa was just on the moment be and Angelo discovered everything. Does she loves him this much? His obsession on not making that happen again won't see it… unless… everything happen as agreed when she invited him to this date… Only one thing I know for sure… when Angelo gets back here and sees she crying… he sure will lose his mind and turn everything…" he then closes his eyes. "… A damm big mess."
André keeps his eyes closed with a serious expression and says.
"Everything started to happen on the beginning of the year. She entered as a freshmen, and since the beginning, he had crush on her. Every now and then, I would turn around to him, and would see him looking at her. Sometimes she would even look back. Once in a time, she would even smile to him…" (André notices Naruko closing and holding her hand with stroke) * She's doing again… They aren't that different after all…* "… and he would smile back…"
As he sees this, Naruto starts to think…
"I can see imotousan really feeling for Angelo-san… she is feeling what I felt when we met them for the first time…" ( Naruto then remembers of the first time he met Angelo… * "PEOPLE SHOULD'T BE ABLE TO DO THIS TO OTHER PEOPLE! PEOPLE AREN NOT TOYS!" he remembers*…)
"… imotousan… are you really loving him this much…? Is this how is feeling the other's pain because of love…?"
Meanwhile, in the kitchen…
"Is he still thinking I can't hear this much? I know André is talking about my past, and now he's talking about Luisa… but… that scream… was… Naruko's?..." * "WHY YOU LET HER DO THIS TO HIM?!" * "… That was…her voice…? I… was… so stupid… Always thinking about her above everything … that forgot the obivious… if I love her on this relationship… she loves me too… and she is showing it. She had to scream so I finally would hear… Today is the last chance to bury the boy I was." Angelo thinks.
"I'm coming with everything. Naruko, I'm not letting you down…!" He says to himself.
André finishes talking, and everyone turns to upset Naruko.
"I…Imotousan…?"
"Naruko-chan…" Hinata tries to reach her.
"I see…. Neither you couldn't had done anything…isn't?" Naruko says.
"…no. Who would ever knew that it would end like that? And do so much damage to him? It surprised us all. But of course, it did break him to pieces. As if a depression wasn't enough, it gave him a obsession. If you three watched those old terror movies like, I dunno, Frankenstein, but if you did try to imagine this: Angelo, before everything would be the respected scientist, then when he got depressed… the scientist got insane."
"Uh, André-san… didn't you told that… on the day we met?" Hinata asks.
"No. We told what you all needed to know, not what you wanted to know." André says.
"W-why?!" Naruko asks.
"That was the first we met each other, to start. Why would we open the book about this? Isn't something very pleasant to tell." André answers.
"… and what happened next?" She asked, still determinated to know the truth.
"Imoutosan… is not very good to keep asking such things… you still want to keep asking?"
"Hai!" She says deteminated. "What next?" she asks.
"What is next is that I discovered that brains are useless if you aren't strong. The pepperoni pizza is mine. Don't you all dare to touch it; except you, my angel, I'll divide it with all the pleasure… but just three pieces. Rest is mine." Angelo says, coming from the kitchen with two pizzas, a mozzarella and a pepperoni pizza.
"An… Angelo-kun…!" Naruko says surprised. Angelo then looks at her eyes.
"… Why is she crying?" he asks.
"Well… eh… she…" André tries to explain.
"Why. Is. She. Crying?" Angelo asks again, more seriously. After some instants, Naruko raises up and suddenly hugs him.
"I am okay… Angelo-kun… I'll take care of you…" she says on his ear. He gets speechless, and slowly sits down, with Naruko on his lap and puts the pizza on the nearby table.
"…what?" Angelo says.
"I'm going to take care of you…Angelo-kun." She says. He thinks for a minute, and says.
"That's my job, you know. I'm the one supposed to take care of you. I'm your boyfriend." He says, a little happy.
"You can take care of me… and I take care of you." She says, innocently as always.
"Ow hey, can you two save it for later? I'm still hungry!" Naruto says.
"I want my piece already." André says, then his phone rings. "Oops, gotta go. My girl calls." André says, as he sees his phone, pick up is piece and raises up.
"Wait man, you're going now? But I…" Angelo lifts up, but let his piece fall on his shirt, leaving a big spot of tomato sauce and pepperoni on it.
"Oh… better take it off, or will leave a spot." He says, then he smiles. "Maybe your muscles will impress her." He says laughing, and Angelo blushes.
"Ehh? Muscles, Angelo-kun?" Naruko say interested.
"Dodgeball muscles! Enjoy, gal!" André says from the door, and Angelo gets speechless.
"Hum… can I see it, Angelo-kun?" She asks, in an innocent voice.
"C-c couldn't be a-anywhere else?!" Angelo says.
"But I want now…" She says with the innocent voice, and with a needy face. Angelo's mind gets lost and he's unable to think. He then can't stand seeing Naruko's face, and finally, takes of his shirt, very nervous. His breastplate and arms are now shown to be, although slim, very muscular.
"A-A… Angelo-kun… you are… so hot." Naruko thinks to himself. She and Hinata are hypnotized, Angelo's get totally medium red, and he sweats from his forehead.
"H-Hinata…?! Y-you too?!" Naruto asks, shocked by Hinata. Angelo puts his face in shame.
"Hey HEY! Nothing to see here!" Naruto says, as he covers Hinata's eyes and turns her to the opposite direction.
"N-Naruto-kun…w-why is Angelo-san' s muscles…!?" Hinata says, very confused.
"AHH?! EHHH!? HOPE YOU'RE SATISFIED NOW, TEME!" Naruto yells. Naruko's nose do a small nosebleed, and Angelo notices.
"Y-your… your n-nose is…!"he says, still very nervous.
"... think on something… think…" she thinks. "Ahh…" she says, as she makes a fake faint. However, Angelo grabs her.
"You okay?!" Angelo asks her.
"I'm dizzy… can you take me to my bed… Angelo-kun?" She says, as she wraps her arms around his neck and shoulder.
"EEHHHHH?!" Naruto yells.
"Ahh… ahh… can't I take you a medicine or something?!" Angelo says, as he doesn't know what to do.
"But you said you would take care of me… you don't want to take care of me, Angelo-kun?!" Se says.
"Dammit, she has more think that I ever thought! Geez… if Naruto doesn't kills me now, her parents will…"
"Okay… h-hold on…" He says as he raises up and carries her on his arms.
"AHH. WHAT YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Naruto yells and Angelo freezes.
"Knock it off." She turns to him and gestures with her mouth but doesn't make any sound.
"I KNEW IT. YOU AREN'T SICK. I'M GOING TO TELL TOUSAN AND KACHAN." He yells and points to her, moments before she and Angelo enter her room. Just as they enter, she picks up a paper ball and throws at Naruto, who hits at his forehead. Hinata picks it up, opens it and sees something written on it and she reads with him.
"If you tell kachan and tousan, I'll tell about that one time when you asked me to cover you to Neji-san. You owe me that one."
Naruto and Hinata get extremely embarrassed and their faces get medium red too.
"…ahh… H..Hinata… shouldn't we be going now…?" Naruto says.
"H-h..H-hai!" HInata says, and she and Naruto leave the house.
"There you go…" Angelo says as he crouches and lays Naruko on her bed. "Now I think I…" He says as he turns around, but is interrupted when he notices her holding his arm.
"Where are you going…? Are leaving me alone?" She says. He thinks and says.
"No, sure not. It's not very nice to leave you by yourself."
He then head to her bed again, and crouches at her side, laying on his knees. She then lays at his side.
"I haven't felt nothing like this in a long time…" She says.
"Neither I did… I.. don't know what to do now." He says
"I do." She says. She then raises up and when she does, their faces are very close from each other, and then they kiss. When they finish, their foreheads touch and their eyes close.
"I won't do nothing you don't want to…" he says.
"I only want you… nothing else." She says.
"I just… only want you too…" he says.
He then slowly and tenderly passes his hand over her head, then through one of hair ponytails. His other hand also tenderly passes over her right cheek, then up through her forehead. He then starts kissing her neck as her right hand then slowly raises up and then, she passes her hand on his ear, and stops at his neck.
Finally, they finally lay down with her on the top of him and they kiss each other again…
…
"I love you…" he says.
"I love you…" she says.
…
[23: 34]
"Humm… uh…? What…? I fell asleep… what happened…?" he thinks, as he awakes. Confused, he opens his eyes slowly and raises but remain sited. The blue light of the moon, which passes throughout the glass of the window, is the only light present. He uses it to look around, and finds all of both his and her clothes and the end of the bed. Very nervous by it, he look below the blanket above him and her, and gets desperate when he sees that both of them are totally stripped of their clothes.
"Ah heck… What I done…?!" he says desperate. She then suddenly awakes, wrapping her arms on his left arm.
"…hummm… sore.. hanan desuka (What is it?)" she says sleepy. Angelo tries to spell something, but Naruko's stripped body makes his mind go to 1000 per hour. As expected, he nosebleeds.
"Ahh… we did…?!" he asks, very confused. She giggles and say.
"Humrum. That was a magic first time! Just the way I always imagined!" she says, with her eyes closed and smiling. However, Angelo just gets shocked and more nervous.
"B-but… what will your parents say?! W-what they will think of it?! Did we at least had taken some protection?!" he says, desperate.
"Baka na koto iwanaide! (Don't say nonsense!) I may look a bit of a airhead, but it care of everything so nothing wrong would happen. You wasn't that worried when we started, so why are you worried now?" She says, trying to ease things up.
"No, it isn't that! It's just…! ... who I am trying to trick…? I'll never stop being the crybaby weak boy… you deserve someone better than this." He says sad. Naruko looks serious, then sees him closes his eyes and cry, under the moon's light. She then sits on his lap and tenderly hold his hand, and uses it to clean his tears.
"I like you because you're sensitive, funny and had shown you want to keep me safe. This is why you're special to me. All I want, is that you keep caring for me the way you're doing now." She says. Then she closes her eyes, but opens again, surprised, when he hugs her.
"You're the best thing that ever happened to me and I'm just too scared to lose you too…! I love you so much, Naruko…! You made me feel so good again when I thought I had nothing… you.. saved me…! Thank you… Thank you!" he says, crying.
"Angelo-kun… Angelo-kun!" she says, a she hugs him back. "You are everything… I always wanted…" She thinks. They lay again, and sleep, she laying on his chest while he hugs her back.