Disclaimers: Only Michael, Aiko, and the plot belong to me. Gravitation STILL doesn't belong to me.
Notes: um…this is going to be told through Michael's POV, so you get an idea of how he's dealing with the things going on and how he feels. Some of you WON'T be surprised…
~*The Bible of Kumagoro—Getting Closer to Your God*~
I looked around nervously as I waited for Tatsuha and his friend to show up. I hadn't wanted to go in the first place, really I hadn't. I was scared, but Aiko had told me I had to. She had insisted that it would be good for me to spend more time with Tatsuha without her to rely on. She insisted this would be our 'very first date,' but I didn't want it to be! I was glad one of his friends was coming with him. I was too shy to be stuck alone with him.
See, I liked Tatsuha…a lot. He reminded me of an old friend of mine. He moved to another state a couple years ago. I'd really liked him. And yes, I'd liked him in a way I wasn't supposed to. I…I sort of told him that, and we started growing apart. I think he was afraid I'd do something weird, and then he moved.
So now I was starting to fall for Tatsuha. I'd only be in this country for a while, but I couldn't help myself. He was everything my friend used to be, and more. Dark hair, pretty eyes, sweet personality, and the ability to put up with me. I hadn't always been THIS shy; I just sort of stopped talking to people after Casey moved. I was afraid they'd drift away from me like he had, so I drifted away from them myself. Aiko wouldn't let me, though, and demanded that I make friends here at least. However, that fear was keeping me from wanting to spend any time alone with Tatsuha. I was afraid I WOULD do something weird.
"Hey Michael, what's up?" I jumped as I heard Tatsuha behind me, spinning around quickly. I guess I must have looked as confused as I felt because he laughed nervously and pointed to what I guess must have been his friend. "Sorry, I should have told you we were coming from Ryuichi's house, huh?" So…his name was Ryuichi. It sounded sort of familiar, but I couldn't place from where.
"I guess so," I managed after a while, having a feeling that I should say something. Tatsuha smiled and reached over to pat my shoulder reassuringly. I felt my cheeks grow hot immediately. I was only wearing a tank top; I could feel his fingers against my skin as he touched me. It was…too close. I was afraid of him. I was afraid of hoping for too much, and getting less than I wanted and ending up hurt. I was afraid of hoping for anything at all.
"Oh, sorry. This is my friend Ryuichi. Ryuichi, this is my friend Michael." I nodded and tried to get past my inner thoughts to say hello, but I was beaten to it.
"Hi Michael!" I blinked and stepped forward suddenly, staring hard at the person next to Tatsuha. He was shorter than the both of us, with greenish-brown hair, wearing a tee shirt, jeans, and sunglasses.
"Did you…just speak English?" I asked cautiously, not bothering to think of it in Japanese. Ryuichi nodded happily and held up three fingers.
"I lived in America for three years." I couldn't believe it! It had been so long since I'd been able to speak without thinking. This was great! He spoke English, and not heavily accented English, either! "I'm better with English than Japanese, actually. That's why I figured this would be easier on you. You wouldn't want to try and figure out my Japanese. Kind of sad, since I'm Japanese, huh?" I laughed and shook my head, feeling much more at ease now that I was in a familiar situation again.
"But you're so good at it! It's hard to hear your accent at all, it's amazing! Besides, everyone has problems with their own language sometimes. There are times I just can't think of the work I want or get lost in my own sentences because I just can't seem to make them understandable."
"Like right then," we both offered at once, laughing. Tatsuha seemed lost in our conversation, but he seemed happy enough, leaning against the wall as we talked. Mostly about nothing, just getting acquainted. We both jumped as Tatsuha whistled for us, holding up the tickets to the movie.
"If you guys don't want to see the movie, fine, but I have tickets if you do." Both of us dropped the conversation and ran over to where he was standing, following him into the theater. There was no way I was going to make Tatsuha buy something for me and then not use it. That was incredibly rude. We'd all decided we'd go out to eat after the movie, that way we could go to one of the earlier showings.
We'd also decided to go to something I'd never seen, that way we all had to suffer through it if it was bad, and we could ALL be surprised. Therefore, we'd ended up going to see one of those 'big hit' movies that I'd just happened to miss. I was a wuss, that wasn't necessarily my fault.
"How about right here?" Tatsuha asked after a while of walking upward, pointing to a row of seats. I nodded and Ryuichi cheered his agreement happily. I made my way down the row a little so we were near the middle and I heard Tatsuha laugh softly. "Okay, now that we've established Michael is on one end, who do you want to be in the middle?" I blinked and Tatsuha motioned to himself and Ryuichi. "Who do you want to sit next to? Ryuichi and you seem to get along, but we've known each other for a while longer.
"You," I answered softly, and I was sure I was blushing again. Tatsuha nodded and followed to sit down next to me, and Ryuichi sat down next to him happily, bouncing with energy. We all talked for a while about nothing before the movie started, and Ryuichi had been right. It took me a while to understand his Japanese. Tatsuha seemed to get it, but he didn't have to worry about translating it back into any other language.
The movie was actually pretty good, but also longer than we'd thought. Eventually Tatsuha ended up playing around, poking me when something scary/surprising happened. I think I screamed a couple times, and he just laughed quietly. It was actually really fun, even though he did really get me once or twice (he normally ended up poking me too early or late and it didn't work).
"Well that was fun, huh?" Tatsuha asked as the movie ended, stretching as we all walked down the aisle. I nodded and he rested his hands on his hips as we walked along, turning to smile at me. "You jumped a couple times. So'd Ryuichi. You guys were too funny," he offered happily, and I smiled slightly in return.
I screamed as I tripped, catching onto a chair so I didn't fall on my head or something. I blinked as I registered Tatsuha's arm around my chest, looking over at him. He was leaning down next to me and he let go when he saw I'd caught myself.
"You okay?" he asked worriedly, reaching a hand out to rub my arm gently. I knew that Tatsuha must have noticed my blush by then and he stopped, merely holding onto my arm. "You're not hurt, are you?" I shook my head slowly, letting go of the chair and reaching my hand back to cover my ankle. God I hated being such a klutz sometimes!
"Hey assholes, out of the middle of the aisle!" I blinked and looked up at the people passing us, who glared at me in return. Tatsuha also watched them go. He didn't look too happy about it.
"Assholes," he threw back when they were gone, and I screamed as he picked me up carefully, sitting me down on the chair. "You'd think they didn't give a damn about anyone but themselves," he spat again, standing up and leaning against the back of the chair in front of me. "You /gonna/ be okay?" I nodded, leaning over to rub my ankle slowly. It just hurt a little bit, really.
"Yeah, it doesn't hurt that much…" He nodded, smiling. I looked down at the floor as we waited, blinked as something was thrust into my vision. I sat up and looked up at the owner, recognizing it as being Tatsuha's friend Ryuichi, holding a small pink rabbit in front of my face. Smiling he leaned it's head forward so that it kissed my nose, giggling slightly.
"Kumagoro says get better soon na no da!" he cheered happily in Japanese, waving the bunny to indicate that it was supposed to be Kumagoro. I laughed softly and nodded, standing up. My ankle still hurt a little bit, but that was okay. Walking would probably make it go away anyway.
"I thought I told you to leave him at home," Tatsuha scolded his friend as we continued out of the theater, and I could feel his hand against my back as we walked. I couldn't help but smile happily at the thought that Tatsuha was trying to protect me. Maybe I had a tiny chance after all. No! I couldn't think that, or I'd just get my hopes up and hurt myself. They continued arguing the whole way to the restaurant, and eventually Tatsuha's arm disappeared. This was all so much fun, I hadn't done anything like this in a while. Maybe Aiko was right and I really DID need to spend more time hanging out without her.
We didn't go anywhere special for dinner, just graced the nearest McDonalds with our presence. Some weren't as happy as others about us being there, but we enjoyed ourselves, joking and talking. I felt really at ease hanging out with Ryuichi. I didn't know why, but his personality just made it a lot easier to be myself. Maybe it was his childishness that assured me that it was all right to look stupid every once in a while, and Tatsuha wouldn't mind it at all.
"So, did you enjoy yourself?" Tatsuha asked after we'd finished eating. We were just sitting and talking now, not wanting to get up just yet. I nodded happily and he smiled. "Good. You know what, I haven't seen you so happy in all the time you've been here. You have a really pretty smile. Try and open up a bit more," he offered supportively, getting up and motioning for Ryuichi and me to follow. My cheeks were burning and I didn't look up again from the table.
"Tatsuha, can you wait for us outside na no ka?" I heard Ryuichi ask quietly and I heard Tatsuha's footsteps as he left. It was silent for a while, minus the noise of people behind me. However, the background noise made things worse since no one talked for a while after Tatsuha left. "You…like him, don't you?" I jumped and looked up suddenly, staring at Ryuichi fearfully before nodding slowly. I didn't want to be talking about this! It was embarrassing! He shook his head slowly and stood up, walking over to where I was sitting and kneeling down next to me. "That's what I thought," he stated as he rested his hands on my knees. Did he…like me? Was that what this was all about? "Have you told him that?" I shook my head slowly and I almost screamed as Ryuichi pressed his forehead against his hands.
"Wha…what are you doing?" I asked nervously, looking around quickly at all the people staring at us. I felt like I was going to die of embarrassment.
"I like him, too." My eyes grew wider as I stared down at him, clenching tightly around the sides of my chair.
"Someone's going to get hurt like this," I offered softly, standing up. "Have you told him?" Ryuichi didn't move from where he was sitting, hands now by his sides.
"It's gone be his choice. Which one of us gets left behind…" he stated softly from the floor and I kneeled down next to him.
"Come on. I'm not going to try anything. I can barely talk to him. If you have to worry about this, worry about it later." He nodded and looked up at me, sunglasses sliding down his nose slightly to show his bright blue eyes. Even if Tatsuha did like me back, it would only be for a year, so it was best if I kept my mouth shut. I might tell him eventually, if I ever got up the nerve, but I wouldn't expect anything out of it. Tatsuha knew I wasn't going to be there very long, as well.
"Tatsuha's right. You have a pretty smile," he offered happily, standing up. I stood up as well, and followed his happily bouncing form out of the restaurant. I had a feeling I should know who he was, but I disregarded it. Now wasn't a time to worry.
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WHEE! Michael's chapter is FINISHED! Can't say I'm too happy with it but oh well, it's out of the way.
Remember, reviews make me write faster! Be kind, please. ^_^
*Walks around with review button* Reviews for the fanfic authors? Reviews for the fanfic authors?