Disclaimer: I do not and will never own YnM, all the characters are the sole property of Yoko Matsushita. I'm merely borrowing them.
This feels like a filler chapter to me . . . I'll say this again . . . Tsuzuki's side of the story is really tough to write about! . . . XD
Pieces of Me
Chapter 7: Sun Dance
By: LadyYuina
"Gather round children, let's make preparations," Miss Misagi announced to the class. Cheers were heard among the students. Tsuzuki stared out the window as he sat at his desk.
"Tsuzuki," she called.
Standing up before his desk, he asked, "yes?"
"Do you have any suggestions for the upcoming Sun Dance Festival?"
"No." He calmly took his seat and ignored the snickers he heard around him.
"Miss Misagi, I have a suggestion. How about we put Tsuzuki in the Sun Dance play?" a student asked.
"Excellent idea, Minoru. How about it, Tsuzuki?"
"I don't want to." What's the point to this dumb play anyway? I'm sure the others are making me participate so they can make fun of me . . .
"Come on Asato, this is a school effort thing and I believe our class should contribute as much as we can," a girl named Mayu said. "I'll be in the play with you if you want."
"So they can make fools out of themselves," someone snidely commented.
"Kotoko, go stand outside. That was uncalled for," Miss Misagi reprimanded. "Apologize."
Getting up from her seat the girl known as Kotoko said she was sorry before she left the classroom. For the rest of the day, ideas were tossed around the classroom for the festival. Tsuzuki merely fazed in and out of it all.
"I'm home," he called out. No answer. "Ruka?" He found it rather odd since everyday his sister was always home to greet him.
"Boo!"
"Aaauuuhhh!"
"Hahahaha, I got you Tsuzuki, that was fun. I haven't done that for so long!" she said, bubbling with laughter.
"You scared me half to death, that is not funny!" Tsuzuki heatedly replied.
Swinging an arm around her brother's shoulder, she said happily, "lighten up, it's a beautiful day. Enjoy the sunshine and by the way, I heard about the Sun Dance Festival. Sounds like fun!"
"It's not going to be." Will I receive the worst brunt of it all?
"Oh? Why not?"
"I just know it, nothing fin ever goes right for me."
"Come on, give it a chance. There's always something to enjoy in life. Let me teach you how to dance!"
Startled violet eyes stared into navy blue ones. "You know how to dance?" How come I don't remember this about her . . .?
"Of course! I used to dance all the time when I was younger! Come on, I'll show you!"
"Hey . . . Hey, wait a minute!" Tsuzuki was yanked forward and held in an embrace. Before he knew it he was moving to the rhythm of his sister's swaying hips; he was actually enjoying himself! His sister always managed to make him have fun, one way or another.
"Fun?" she huffed.
"Yeah. Show me some more later?" he asked.
"Certainly, anything for my little bro, you sure can work on your cooking skills though, eh?"
Tsuzuki blushed a deep crimson color. "I can really use some improvement on that. Now that I think about it - I can't even boil water . . ."
His sister burst out laughing, it was contagious despite the fact that she was laughing at him. That afternoon was one of the best afternoons of his life with more to come along the way. He was sure of it. No matter how scattered they may be . . .
Peaking around the corner of the school Tsuzuki made sure there was no one around before he sneaked by his classroom.
"Good morning, Asato!"
"Wha-" he whirled around to see Mayu. Where did she suddenly from? I didn't see her anywhere when I scanned the place.
"What are you doing?" she asked. Her eyes took on a certain glow to them. Tsuzuki backed away nervously. "You okay?"
"Me? I'm fine." What does she want from me? If it's money . . . I have nothing to offer.
Mayu cocked slightly to the side curiously when she saw that the boy before her was in deep thought. "What are you thinking about?" Tsuzuki stared down at his shoes. It was as if they were the most fascinating things he had ever seen. "Asato?"
"Um . . . hmmm . . ."
She looked at him closely, their noses were almost touching. A blush crawled up Tsuzuki's cheeks from the ardent closeness of their faces.
I'll tell her straight-out. "Can you call me Tsuzuki instead . . .?" No, that doesn't sound right . . . "If you want lunch money; I don't have any, Mayu." Tsuzuki spoke the words so fast that the poor girl almost didn't make out what he had just said.
"Tsuzuki? Why? That's your last name," she stated. "Asato sounds better. And about the lunch money - I wasn't going to ask you for any. I have my own thank you very much." A smile lit across her features in a playful way.
"I know Tsuzuki is my last name . . . but I think it sounds better than Asato . . ."
"Is it because of your eyes?" she whispered. Damn, she sees right through me, am I that obvious? Better keep myself in better check from here on. Tsuzuki nodded. "Don't worry about it, I think your eyes are just fine."
"Not everyone thinks so."
"Forget what everyone thinks, they just don't know any better. But if you really want me to call you Tsuzuki then I will. How about we become friends? I always see you by yourself at lunch; I don't think anyone deserves to be alone unless they're really mean to others."
Tsuzuki blinked several times, surprised by his classmates willingness to be nice to him let alone be friends. He smiled gratefully. "Thanks, this really means a lot to me."
"No problem. Now let's get into class before the bell rings."
"For the Sun Dance Festival here are the roles of the characters. Tsuzuki is Prince Toshi, Mayu is the peasant girl Reina, and Masato is the horse boy . . ."
The monotone sound of Miss Misagi's voice droned into Tsuzuki's ear. He found it difficult to pay attention. Visions of yesterday's lesson in dancing kept repeating itself in his head.
" . . . Minoru is lastly but not least the villain who tries to ruin Prince Toshi's relationship with Reina. He will be the magi. Everyone got their roles written down?"
A chorus of, "yes teacher," was heard.
"Tsuzuki," Mayu whispered.. "Write down your character role before Miss Misagi walks to your desk."
"Oh!" He immediately scribbled down whatever came to mind; a donkey.
When she came to his desk she quirked an eyebrow at him. "A donkey, Tsuzuki?" Roars of laughter ripped across the classroom. "You're Prince Toshi, correct it and I'll give you your script."
"Yes, sorry Miss Misagi," Tsuzuki squeaked, as he quickly erased the work donkey and replaced it with the words Prince Toshi. His script was then handed to him.
"Okay! We shall commence practicing of the main lead roles for now! Tsuzuki and Mayu, you two are up first!"
Tsuzuki stared down at the written work before him, it had a lot of corny lines strewn across it. Hmph, this shall prove to be interesting . . . Later that day a very tired Tsuzuki returned home from school.
"I'm home."
"Welcome back, how'd school go today?" Ruka asked. This was her normal routine phrase on a normal day.
"Pretty much just rehearsed for the play; I'm tired. Gonna go to sleep . . ."
"Just like father," Ruka muttered but it was loud enough for Tsuzuki to hear.
"I heard that," he shot back.
"Hehe, just telling the truth as it is. By the way, when is the festival being held?"
"This Friday."
"Okay, I'll make sure father and I can attend. What time?"
"Seven pm."
"Hmmm, tight schedule but I should be able to tweak things here and there."
"Don't even bother if you're going to be that busy," Tsuzuki protested.
"I really do want to go and I'm sure father does too."
"Well . . . I'm going to sleep, I'll see you later." A big yawn escaped from his mouth, his eye lids were becoming heavier by the minute. He was a lot more tired than he had anticipated he'd be . . .
When Tsuzuki was called down for dinner it was barely dark outside. Seated at the table was his sister, father and himself. Tsuzuki stared over at the only empty seat that was meant for his mother.
"Eat your veggies," his father instructed.
"Huh?" Violet eyes met chocolate brown ones.
"Your mother used to always say that to Ruka when she was younger," he explained.
"I hated eating vegetables at the time but now I that I think back I'm glad that she made me eat them. I've grown to like 'em now," Ruka said thoughtfully. "You're lucky Tsuzuki, that vegetables are just a natural thing for you."
Scrunching up his face, Tsuzuki cried, "no way! I don't like them at all!"
"You're the sweets king, eh?" his father teased. "If you eat all your vegetables I promise to take you out for dessert."
"Really?" Tsuzuki's face lit up with glee.
"Yeah, but eat your veggies first!" Just to spite his father and sister his plate was cleared off in a minute.
"Oh my. Look at what the mention of sweets does to Tsuzuki," Ruka whispered to their father. He merely laughed.
"Hurry, children, get in your positions. The curtains are going to be raised any second!" Miss Misagi herded the children to their spots. Everyone wait when they were ready for the curtains to raise.
Tsuzuki stared out at the crowd to see his sister and father sitting in the middle row on the left. Ruka waved to him and smiled. The narrator started to speak who was picked as Hironobu.
"Prince Toshio was in a distraught state. The peasant girl Reina was no where to be found."
"Where can she be?" Tsuzuki said, as he feigned a look of worried fretfulness. In actuality he was annoyed and a little embarrassed.
"Prince Toshi." The horse boy came forward on stage and bowed. "I believe I know where thy love is."
"Where? Show me to her now!" Tsuzuki and Masato ran off the stage. Purposely, Masato tripped him; Tsuzuki unceremoniously fell to the floor. His crown flew off the top of his head.
"Oops," Masato said, as he snidely looked at him. Tsuzuki shot him a glare and slowly got to his feet while retrieving his crown.
Mayu appeared onto the stage, she pretended to softly cry. The magi towered before her.
"As you can see Reina, a peasant girl and a prince can never be together. You will only bring him unhappiness in the end."
"That's not true! Toshi said he loved me!" she defended. "I know he does."
A mad howling laugh was heard from the magi. "You make ye laugh, peasant girl."
Tsuzuki and the horse boy rushed onto the scene. "Let Reina go!" Tsuzuki bellowed.
"Toshi, you came for me!" Mayu gasped.
The rest of the play ensued with fighting and tons of sappy moments. The crowd cheered when it was over, all the students in the play rushed on stage and bowed.
Backstage Miss Misagi beamed at them. "Great job everyone, now let's go have some fun ourselves!"
"Come on Tsuzuki, let's go do the Sun Dance," Mayu whispered into his ear.
"Are you sure? With . . . me?" he asked.
"Of course!"
Ruka and Tsuzuki's father came up to them.
"Tsuzuki, you were awesome. You played the part of Prince Toshi splendidly," Ruka complimented.
"Well done, son," his father chided, patting his son on his shoulder gently.
"Thanks." A blush crawled up his cheeks. Mayu idly stood to the side, watching until Tsuzuki realized she was still here with him. "Oh! This is Mayu Kagatana." He gestured towards her and she bowed politely.
"It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Ruka and he's Tsuzuki's father," Ruka greeted. Mr. Tsuzuki bowed in turn and smiled. "You're going to the Sun Dance, Tsuzuki?"
"Uh . . ."
"Yeah, Tsuzuki and I are going to do the Sun Dance together," Mayu inferred.
"Mind if we join?" Ruka gave Tsuzuki a knowing wink a he threw her an exasperated glare.
"Sure," Mayu replied.
"Let's head on over then," Mr. Tsuzuki interrupted.
Out on the dance floor the lights were ablaze. People were dancing. Up on the stage was their classmate Arisa, singing the traditional Sun Dance song.
"They all look so cute!" Ruka squealed. "Come on father, I'd rather dance than stand around and watch!" Tsuzuki and Mayu exchanged glances briefly before trailing behind Ruka and his their father.
The reason it was called the Sun Dance was because everyone danced in a circular motion. Most of them were dressed in bright yellow and orange, their movements were like the flames of the sun. And thus, this was the Sun Dance.