NINO

Ohno surprised me with an unexpected call even though I already saw him during rehearsals. He said something about meeting at my school around seven in the morning tomorrow, but he said nothing more. W-was this a date? But why so earlier in the morning? Oh well, at least I’d be able to see Ohno tomorrow.

“So, how was your Christmas without me?” Aiba had asked with a stupid grin on his face. I vaguely told him about the part where I saw that person from the past, but I stopped there when I realized who I was talking to. If I told Aiba, he won’t stop teasing me about it.

“I-It’s okay,” I shrugged to make it seem like I was telling the truth. “It was less annoying.”

“Hey!” Aiba pouted and punched me lightly on the shoulder. “I missed you too.”

I rolled my eyes. “We see each other everyday. I don’t miss you.”

“Oh, harsh,” Aiba pretended to wince, but I knew that he knew I didn’t mean it. “No, really, what happened on Christmas day? Sho told me that Ohno never came to drop off his presents and he received a text from Ohno that he was with you.”

“O-oh.”

I was like a deer caught in the headlights. Aiba could see that I was getting nervous and hesitant and he made it even worse by asking me questions. To be honest, on Christmas I didn’t even notice Ohno following me home after that. I didn’t even notice him until he sat down next to me on my couch and said a quiet hello.

Christmas day

I was still dazed as ever and I was amazed that I found my way back home. Sighing, I kicked off my shoes and dragged my feet to my couch. Once I sat, I was still in a daze until I heard a quiet hello.

“You scared the crap out of me!” I exclaimed when I realized that Ohno was sitting so close to me and he had a sleepy smile on his face. But when I realized that Ohno had followed me, my cheeks began to burn. I scrambled away from Ohno and noticed a hurt look on Ohno’s face for a second before he replaced it with his sleep grin.

“I’m sorry,” Ohno bowed apologetically before sitting back up. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Uh…”

“You don’t have a Christmas tree?” Ohno asked as he looked around.

“No…” I stopped putting up Christmas trees three years ago because I thought that it was useless. Besides, it was a once a year thing and I had to put it away before the year ended. At least Aiba always put up a Christmas tree in his apartment, which is where we usually celebrate Christmas… Or more like getting drunk on Christmas.

Ohno pouted. “You should have called me. I would love to help you put up a Christmas tree.”

I actually did consider it before, but I didn’t want to be a pest to Ohno… and that I actually couldn’t bring myself to call him. If I called him, that meant I had to talk to him, look at him, and then… and then… All of a sudden, the kiss from earlier flashed in my head like strobe lights. I suddenly became dizzy and I forgot how to breathe. I glanced at Ohno who was busy with observing my apartment. It was as if the kiss never happened and Ohno seemed too relax about it.

“Uh, I’m gonna make tea,” I announced as I got up and sped walked towards the kitchen. I totally forgot about being a good host and I just had to get away from there because it was getting hot by the minute.

“Okay.”

Ohno was still where I left him, except I noticed that his head kept drooping before he pulled it back up again. Was he falling asleep? I slowly and quietly approached him so not to disturb him, but as soon as I set the tray down on the coffee table, Ohno’s head sprung back up and he threw me his sleepy grin.

“A-are you tired?”

“Nope,” Ohno shook his head, but I could sense that he was lying.

“You don’t have to stay up,” I told him. “I-If you want…” I gulped as I prepared myself to say the next words. “...You could sleep on my couch.”

“Really?!” Ohno’s eyes sparkled, but then he pouted. “No. I don’t want that. I want to spend Christmas with you, Nino.”

At that moment, I saw a thousand fireworks across the sky and I felt so light on my feet. I felt something I hadn’t felt in a while, and it was really good feeling that I couldn’t shake off. Even my heart was racing fast that I feared my chest won’t be able to handle this pace. My head as well kept screaming at the fact that he wanted to spend Christmas with boring me, and he even addressed me informally. I could probably die right now, except Ohno was in my apartment and I didn’t want to shock my guest.

“This tea is lovely,” Ohno commented as he set his empty cup down on the tray. I dared not to look at him because I might just lose it. “Can I have some more?”

“H-have my cup,” I stuttered and I wanted to slap myself. Kazunari, this isn’t you. You’re supposed to be cool headed and you won’t let anything get to you, that little voice told me, but I pushed it away. Right now, I couldn’t be more happier than spending Christmas with Ohno.

“H-how about a Christmas movie?” I recommended, still not looking up from my hands.

“That sounds good!” Ohno grinned. “And some popcorn.”

“Okay.” I got up right away and headed to the kitchen with the tray, surprised that Ohno had finished my share of the tea. It was a good thing, though, that Ohno didn’t follow me to the kitchen because I was grinning like an idiot. It was so out of character, but I didn’t care.

Present

No, I couldn’t tell Aiba about all that and how we both fell asleep on the couch in the middle of the Christmas movie and I woke up the next day on my bed and I saw a small small red box on my night stand. No, I couldn’t. But stupid me couldn’t contain my excitement and spilled everything to Aiba, even the kiss. By the time I finished explaining my story, Aiba had a wide cheshire grin on his face. Oh, he was planning something in that head of his, and I might or might not like it. But if it came to Aiba, I will most probably not like it at all.

OHNO

As soon as I saw Ninomiya walking towards me with that shy and awkward smile, I felt alive. Before Ninomiya came, I was extremely exhausted because I didn’t get enough sleep last night after rehearsals. I couldn’t get over the many mistakes I made last night, especially when I knew that Ninomiya was watching me. It was really embarrassing and I just wanted to give up. But every time I glanced at Nino, I felt even more motivated for this performance to be the best there is. I immediately grinned at the sight of Ninomiya. Just seeing him made me the happiest person alive.

“Are you ready?” I asked him once we were face to face.

Ninomiya looked nervous all of a sudden and I forgot to tell him that we were getting private lessons from Matsumoto today, noting how he didn’t have his practice stuff with him.

“Oops. Matsumoto-sama is giving us private lessons today and I forgot to tell you that last night.”

I tilted my head to the side when I saw Ninomiya’s upset pout, but it must have been my imagination.

“It’s okay. I’ll let him know we’ll be a little late. Let’s get your stuff.”

Ninomiya quickly turned around and I saw that look he gave Matsumoto that one night. Was he being jealous again? I grinned even wider as I followed Ninomiya. As much as it made me feel guilty to the bone, seeing Ninomiya jealous was the cutest thing ever.

Matsumoto’s house wasn’t that far from Ninomiya’s school, but we decided to take the public transportation instead of walking. I could tell Ninomiya was tired as well and I didn’t want us to walk to make us even more tired.

Once we finally arrived, however, I couldn’t help but gasp. As expected of the premier danseur noble, his house was huge and lavish. It was a gated house and it looked like one of those modern houses that I saw in my mom’s house magazines. It was much bigger than my house so I assumed that Matsumoto has a one or two studios in there.

I pushed what looked like a doorbell beside the gate, but I jumped back startled when I saw Matsumoto’s face on a screen on top of the buzzer.

“Oh, Ohno-kun, Ninomiya-kun. Come in.”

I heard a small click and the gate opened all by itself. Just then, a man dressed in a butler suit came from nowhere and escorted them to the front door steps. How long had the old man been standing there? Was he some kind of ninja?

The butler bowed as he opened the door for us and moved a little so we could go inside. Once we were inside, the butler closed the door behind us and I gasped. Even the inside of the house was beautiful, but it made me feel lonely. There was no one around at all, not even a maid and everything looked spotless. Despite it’s beautiful interior design, it didn’t feel like there was life in this big house. Just then, Matsumoto descended down a set of stairs. He was already suited in his practice clothes.

“Follow me,” Matsumoto simply said and walked past the stairs.

We followed him through the kitchen followed by a hallway. Then we took a left turn to another hallway, and then another until we hit the only door in this hallway. Once we were past through the door, my eyes widened. We were in a studio and it was big enough to fit at least twenty people. I knew he had a studio. I wanted to grin at Nino for my correct assumption, but his eyes were focused on Matsumoto and they didn’t look as friendly. I gulped. Jealous Ninomiya was cute, but it scared me sometimes.

NINO

I really don’t like that guy. I really don’t. Still, I had no choice but to be in the same room as him because he was our instructor and he was even giving us these private lessons for free. Well, at least he considered me as well so Ohno wouldn’t be alone with him.

Matsumoto began with pointing out our strengths and weaknesses that he noticed over the past few weeks of rehearsals. My strengths were more than weaknesses, as well as Ohno, but he said we needed more improvement. I agreed with him because I was struggling with those weaknesses for a while, but I definitely don’t agree when he touched Ohno’s legs to check his muscles. He touched my legs too and I wanted to kick him, but I didn’t want to risk it.

“Alright, we’ll begin with the basics,” Matsumoto said after checking their leg muscles.

And so, our private lessons began.

I was sweating more than I did during rehearsals or dance exams. Matsumoto worked us really hard in making our weaknesses into strengths and I was beginning to feel dizzy. It was a good thing he gave us a thirty minute break, and even offered to make us some light snacks. I was thankful for that, but I still didn’t like him.

Once he was gone, I gave out a long sigh and lied down on the cold wooden floor. Ohno lied down beside me, but not too close so our skin wasn’t touching.

“Thank you for wearing it,” Ohno spoke out loud, his voice echoing in the room.

“Wha-- Oh,” I held out my hand in the air and eyed the simple brown braided bracelet. I rarely wore bracelets, or jewelry for that matter, but I really liked this one because it was simple and it was a perfect fit. “T-thank you for. I really like it.”

“Good.” Ohno sat up and coughed lightly. “You don’t have to be like that, you know.”

“W-what?”

“Be jealous.”

I felt my heart skip a beat. How did he know?...

“Matsumoto-sama may be my idol, but he’s not my type.”

“...”

“Besides, I already like someone else.”

I felt my heart jump double, but then it flattened. There could be possibilities that this someone wasn’t me, but why would Ohno tell me this unless… unless he wanted me to know. Was he trying to say that it… it… it… I didn’t continue my thought because I was starting to feel super dizzy and I might just be close to passing out. I decided to push it away instead when Matsumoto came back with two trays of snacks and drinks. After our thirty minute break, Matsumoto announced that we were going to work on our parts for the rest of today. Although I wanted to go home, I was looking forward to it. Anything to keep my mind off of Ohno’s earlier confession and to keep myself from passing out.

\\\♥///

I gotta say, I must have improved after our private lesson, but Matsumoto just had to say that we needed more work, especially when right after I was feeling so proud. It crushed my self-worth by a little bit, but at least Matsumoto was kind enough to give us these lessons for free… Now that I thought about it, why did he give it to us for free?

“You two are welcome to stay over,” Matsumoto told them as he turned off the lights to the studio.

“Really?!” Ohno exclaimed and his eyes sparkled in delight.

“Yeah. Really.”

“Uh…I don’t know,” I hesitated. I wasn’t really sure about staying over because I felt uncomfortable and I barely knew Matsumoto.

“I’m not a serial killer,” Matsumoto smirked. He must have noticed that I was giving him weird looks. “Besides… it’s just me.”

My mouth flew open right away. Was it just me or was Matsumoto pointing out that he was lonely and that by inviting us to sleep over was a way to get over it? I suddenly felt pity for the man and wondered why such a famous ballet dancer would be lonely. Doesn’t he at least have a few friends to invite over? What if he didn’t have friends?

“Just for a night,” Ohno told him and wrapped an arm around my arm and pulled me closer.

“Good,” Jun sighed in relief as he ran his hand through his damp hair. “Make yourself at home. Drinks are in the fridge, wine is underneath the island, and the general food area is in the kitchen.”

“Awesome,” Ohno giggled. It was like something Aiba would say, and I feared that Aiba being with Sakurai was probably rubbing off on Ohno.

Matsumoto excused himself for a bit, came back with extra set of clothes, and told them the bathrooms were located on one of the hallways we passed to go to the studio. Before Ohno and I went to the bathroom, however, I noticed a long solemn look on Matsumoto’s face. I decided then, to forgive the man a little because he looked really lonely.

TBC