Saito crossed his arms as he lay quietly against the corridor wall near the infirmary room, and waited patiently for Chizuru to return. The young woman had left him just a few minutes ago to get the entry passes, they needed, but it seemed to him that it had been a much longer time.
He was surprised at himself, he really was. If anyone had ever told him that he would be chasing a girl to any place where she wanted to drag him, he would probably have made fun, even laughed. He was not that kind of boy, he always considered those things a little... silly, he had more important things to look after his time, and nor, there was no girl he wanted to pursue, until now. Chizuru managed to move his heart without any effort.
He didn't complain, he liked her company, and he would go with her wherever she wanted.
He was intrigued how things would turn out. The chestnut girl had told him something about reading stories to children, patients of the hospital, he was glad to know that it was nothing serious, just a controlled virus and then the children would soon return home.
Chizuru had told him that she liked to visit them because hospitals used to be very boring for children, and she wanted to provide them some fun. He was not surprised, the girl was so kind that she did not mind taking up some of her time in such noble work.
He knew that Chizuru had a natural gift to deal with children, but he did not know how to do it, much less tell stories, although his brother was little, he did not remember reading any, his mother had done it, but he had no idea where To begin with, he was sure that the books he liked to read, would not be very fun for children.
He had been honest when she asked. Chizuru said, it wasn't that difficult, and she would help him, he just hoped he wouldn't look like a fool in front of her.
Leaving aside his thoughts, he watched with curiosity a young girl redhead approaching where he was standing. She seemed to have a lot of energy because of the way she moved and smiled constantly.
"Hello," she smiled openly, putting her hands on her hips. Saito looked at her coldly assessing her movements. "Are you a new intern?" she asked suddenly, pointing to a group of older youths who clustered in the halls holding low conversations.
Saito raised an eyebrow, keeping his arms crossed. The woman obviously thought he was there for an internship. Did he have the face of being an intern? Probably not.
"No," he said dryly. "I'm waiting for someone."
After that, he doesn't remember saying anything else because the girl did not stop of talking. He wasn't even listening to her, he wasn't interested in her chatter in the slightest, he was just insistently looking towards the door where Chizuru had disappeared, wishing she would come back soon.
When the door suddenly opened, he was surprised to see the young man who had been very smiling with Chizuru on the day of the festival. He couldn't explain the uncomfortable sensation he felt in his chest just like that day, immediately many questions began to flood his mind. What did he do in the hospital? Did he work there? He was definitely known there, as some nurses approached him very smiling.
"Not many boys like you come here. Who are you coming to see exactly? " The girl asked, pulling him out of his stupor.
Saito didn't know how to answer that, he didn't have much information about the children they were going to visit. He remained silent, waiting for the noisy woman to ignore his lack of response and walk away, but she did not. He looked again toward the place where the young man was who had already left the place and again at the young woman in front of him.
"Is it a patient or someone from the hospital?" she continued, smiling mischievously.
"Is it a routine question or just curiosity?" He asked coldly, he moved uncomfortably because of her proximity, her interrogation was beginning to bother him without mentioning the unpleasant sensation of seeing the young man again. He wasn't a person who judged others, much less without knowing them, so why didn't he like this boy?
"It's routine, everything must be registered, however, I admit that I'm a little curious, maybe, I don't know, I could accompany you to the room or get the person you expect."
"I'm sorry, Mai-Chan, Saito-San is coming with me." When the young girl appeared, Saito felt his heart descend, relieving his discomfort. Once more his heart skipped a beat as she approached and entangled her delicate hand in his, intertwining theirs fingers.
"I should have imagined that it was about you, Chizuru-Chan." The young redhead sighed softly. "Where do you get so many handsome boys?"
"From school" the chestnut girl replied with fun.
"Maybe I should go back to school." The young girl joked in her peculiar cheerful tone.
"What you should do is go back to work." A tall, thin lady suddenly appeared, pulling the girl by the forearm while Mai complained loudly, and they disappeared through a door.
Chizuru laughed and turned to Saito. "Sorry, Mai-Chan is a bit talkative.
"She is a bit scary thing; I thought she would never shut up." Chizuru denied amused, and he couldn't help smiling too.
Once again, he froze while the girl in a delicate gesture raised her soft hands down to his chest smoothing his jacket. When she stopped, she placed a badge in his front pocket and smiled softly.
"Come on," she said, taking his hand again and dragging him down the hall, toward the elevator.
They spent almost an hour locked in that room with the children. Izuki, the young guy he saw in the hallway, joined them; he turned out to be a cousin of one of the children.
Although he initially felt certain distaste for the young man, he turned out to be a pleasant person. He and Chizuru seemed to have a trustworthy friendship, there seemed to be nothing beyond that, and to check it out, left him relieved, he didn't have an explanation for that feeling either. Fuck! Not having the control of his emotions irritated him, it was too complicated.
Both Chizuru and Izuki were good with the children, especially Chizuru, the children loved her; she was so sweet and affectionate that only a fool would not love her. He never thought that being with a group of children inventing stories and seeing their innocent smiles would be entertaining for him.
Everyone added something to the little stories they told, many funny situations, and some crazy things that caused moments of laughter nonstop by the children. He really enjoyed his company, even that Izuki's.
It was already dark when they left the hospital, the breeze was fresh, and for Chizuru seemed the most beautiful night in recent days.
"You liked the children very much." she said softly. "I think you have more fans for your list." She smiled.
Saito tilted his head to look at her, "I don't have a list of fans."
"So you think? Because, you have a lot of fans at school, in that, you look a bit like Okita-San. "
"Those things are not important to me, although I would not mind having a few children as fans." He joked, the ghost of a smile drawn on his face.
Chizuru smiled softly, pleased by his response.
"Thank you for joining me to the hospital." Chizuru turned her gaze to the front. "I know the celebration was not as we expected, but I will compensate, I promise"
"It was good, girl. I had a great day, I mean it. "
The chestnut girl nodded. Saito wouldn't say anything that wasn't true, and she was glad he would have a good time.
They entered the park in front of the hospital, full of Sakura trees and a beautiful lake where Chizuru liked to stop and admire the landscape. She liked it a lot more now that she was with Saito. The young girl stopped on the bridge, looking up at the dark sky, marveling at the immense number of stars that night. Saito stood beside her looking in the same direction. The silence between them was comfortable, she could say that he thought in the same way, however, she urged to hear his deep and masculine voice that she liked and calmed her so much.
"It's a beautiful night," She said with a soft sigh. "From here the stars look much more beautiful, don't you think, Saito-san?"
"Ah," he replied, looking in her direction. "Beautiful," he repeated softly and with that he didn't refer exactly the stars, the girl looked beautiful in the moonlight. Suddenly, came to his mind a conversation he had with Tsubasa a few days ago.
flashback
They were in a small restaurant having dinner after working all afternoon in the office. Tsubasa insisted that in the place prepared the best miso soup he had tasted, he did not object, he was hungry, and he wanted something hot to eat, it was cloudy and the weather was quite cold, so a hot soup was a good choice.
Shortly after being in the place, it started to rain. He could see the torrent of water through the glass windows, it would be a problem to get to his apartment without getting wet, although that did not worry him much, what really worried him was the large amount of thunder that resonated with great intensity, he thought of Chizuru and what Souji had said regarding her fear of thunders, he was worried that she was scared.
Ignoring Tsubasa's mocking smile, he called her to make sure she was okay. He was calmer after talking to her and listening to her relaxed, Kondo-san was at home with her that night. He was willing to go there, accompany her and take care of her if she wanted to.
"You care a lot about her" Tsubasa said while tasting his soup.
"I wanted to say hello to her, that's all" Saito replied with his usual Stoic face, he was not going to give any explanation about the reason for his call; he just wanted to know that she was fine.
"I see," the oldest man grinned softly, finishing the rest of his soup and starting to eat his ramen "Yukimura is lucky to have you."
"I'm nothing special" he was lucky to have met her.
"I don't think she thinks the same way." Tsubasa was almost certain that Saito had feelings for the girl, although perhaps he hadn't noticed. He appreciated the young guy and decided to clarify his ideas a little; he deserved a girl like Yukimura.
"The girls like Yukimura are lovely, when you realize you're caught with them." He saw a slight interest in the young Stoic, and then returned to his unchanging expression.
Saito leaned back on the back of the chair without looking away from Tsubasa.
"Caught?"
"In love" Tsubasa smiled wider. "You know that feeling, right? It is a wonderful feeling, that person provokes in you, feelings that you do not feel for anyone else .."
Saito said nothing completely ignoring the little tug in his heart, in love? Shit, he didn't want to get involved in that conversation, he wasn't good at talking about feelings and Tsubasa was very obtrusive.
"You speak from experience, I suppose," he said coldly.
"Yes, I got caught a few times, it was very difficult not to fall in love with pretty girls, I had one in particular, for me she was the most beautiful girl of all, I wanted to protect her all the time, to see her happy. I was not as difficult boy as you, as we have seen; all girls fall for you, before you for them. " He joked.
"I guess, I have nothing of charming," he replied sarcastically.
"Not what is expected of such a popular young like you, that's for sure, but someday you will fall badly for someone, or maybe you already did."
"Did I do it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow with disinterest. He had never fallen in love before, and he was sure that he was not of any supposed noisy fan. He knew that Tsubasa just wanted to annoy him and didn't intend to enter his game.
"I don't know, it's just a guess, you're surrounded by pretty companions all the time."
Saito looked at him without expression, with parsimony, he took his cup of tea on the table; he was not interested in continuing with the subject.
"Your appreciations are boring," he said stoically.
"So it seems" Tsubasa smiled amused.
After tha,t the man did not mention the subject again, and he was grateful for that. He hoped that the rain would soon stop to finally return to rest at his apartment.
End...
He opened his eyes when the realization hit him. He must admit that when Tsubasa made the comment he did not give much importance, he thought that the man was just being pretentious, he loved to talk about his fans, he just wanted to get out of the unconformable conversation, but now that he thought about the words of the older man carefully, It all started to make sense, it was as if he had been telling him, everything he felt for her.
He liked Chizuru and not exactly as a friend. He was in love with her, he realized that he probably was from the day he met her. Now, he understood why his heart was racing so hard when he was by her side, because he didn't like it when other boys got too closed to her, his desires to please her and see her happy.
She looked so beautiful in front of him and his heart stirred even more. When the cool breeze ruffled her hair, he felt the deep desire to be the one who hid that strand of hair behind her ear, and lost himself in those huge, beautiful brown eyes he liked so much. Assuming he probably looked like a fool staring at her fixedly, he looked back at the sky wanting to know much more.
"What else do you like?" He asked quietly.
"The flowers," she replied with a smile.
"What else?" Chizuru looked at him silently for a few seconds before answering.
"The Clear and sunny days, Sakura trees, sweets" before the latter, she smiled a little, knowing that Saito was already aware of that. "There are many things really."
Saito listened in silence, making sure to keep in his memory everything she liked.
"What do you like?" She asked back.
"The snow," he answered calmly bringing many pleasant memories to his mind. "I really like snow." Chizuru stared at him as he spoke. Suddenly he looked at her making her feel nervous. "I like stars too." Chizuru smiled broadly leaving him hypnotized.
"And when you smile," he added quietly. It was more of a thought, but the words escaped from his mouth before he could stop them.
Chizuru blushed furiously. Did he like her smile? It felt nice to hear him say that, her heart raced.
Saito realized what he had said out loud and quickly cleared his throat. "Well, I think it's time to leave." He didn't want to leave her yet, but tomorrow they had to go to school and still had to prepare a class.
Chizuru nodded and they slowly resumed their path.
"I heard that sell some delicious ice cream near here. If you want, we can go through one." he felt the need to end that night with something she would really like.
"Really?" Her enthusiasm made him happy and that was what he really wanted to achieve.
He nodded softly and they walked towards the establishment.
Saito could not help but appreciate the beautiful pink tone of her cheeks and how she picked up the strand of loose hair behind her ear while they bought the ice creams. He pulled his phone from his jacket when the device started ringing, he saw the number recorded on the screen, but did not answer, he closed the phone and put it back again his pocket, he would return the call when he will arrive to his apartment, he don not wanted to waste the few moments he left with her.
After taking their ice cream, he accompanies her to her house. They walked quietly through the streets of Kyoto and talked about trivial matters. When they arrived in her neighborhood, they both knew that their time together was over.
"Do you want to pass?" Chizuru asked tentatively.
"I would like to, but a have to go home and prepare a class for tomorrow."
Chizuru nodded a little disappointed, but at the same time happy to have spent the whole afternoon with him.
"It was fun, I hope we can do it another day."
"I would love that," he said finding his voice.
"Good night, Saito-San" Chizuru stood on her tiptoe kissing his cheek and retiring almost immediately.
Saito opened his eyes in surprise, feeling how his heart racing.
"Good night, Chizuru."
Chizuru entered the house, saying goodbye one last time, she felt happy. Saito was a pleasant company, and she wanted to spend many evenings with him, spoil him and let him know that he was very special to her.
Saito couldn't stop thinking about Chizuru as he looked distractedly through the bus window. The kiss took him off guard, he did not expect it, but he liked it, it was so sweet that it made him blush furiously, luckily the girl did not notice him, if not, he would have felt ashamed.
Now that he was clear about his feelings for her, he would do everything he could, to make her love him in the same way and if not, he would conform for just having her close. However, he hoped with all his being that she corresponded to his feelings, he would be the happiest.
When he got to his stop of bus, he got off and walked another block. When he turned the corner that led to his building, he froze for a moment, frowning slightly, felt his body tense instantly to see the luxurious black car parked in front of his building.
"Not now," he whispered to himself. Exhaling the air that he was holding, he kept walking with slow steps, flexing the fingers of his hands that were inside the pockets of his pants and still feeling tense.
When he reached the door of the building, he stopped. He watched with parsimony as the car door opened and a man dressed in an elegant black suit, getting out of the car and staring at him fixedly. It hadn't been that long time, but the air still felt tense when they were facing each other, as had happened lately after he had decided to move to Kioto.
"Good night, Hajime," the older man spoke in a low and firm voice. Saito not fail to point out that even in the tone of voice they were similar.
"Good night, father."
Hello everyone, I'm sorry, I had some inconveniences and I couldn't update as fast as I would have liked.
Guest: Of course, Saito will always protect and support Chizuru when she needs it, and I am sure she thanks him. As the chapters pass, we will see a much warmer and protective Saito, although jealousy, misunderstanding and Problems will also shine. Thank you for your patience. Enjoy the chapter.
