You were doing twists and turns as graceful as a goddess. You cartwheel-ed and then you did a triple jump. You went from a moderate arabesque to a tip toed jump. You start to shift from gymnastics to ballet, and everything was going as smooth as you thought they would when your poise was broken by a voice that resounded in the gym.

"Saki-chan!!!"

You fell flat on your . The rotten boy who just came in laughed at your face. You glared. He had no place here in the first place.

"What do you want Chinen-kun?" you puffed. "I came to practice like the usual," he smiled.

You scowled. You wanted to scoff at him, but you decided to not. He started doing his warm-ups at his usual spot. You stared at his back.

Really, you hated this guy. He was an amateur after all. Sure, you are an avid fan of his father’s, but not him. He is way too naïve in acrobatics. You even pity Chinen-san that he has such a wasted son. After all, he could only do some jumps and a lousy back flip.

BIG DEAL.

You could do six back flips in one go. You could jump higher than three feet.

The reason why you have to roll your eyes when girls scream and faint at the sight of him when he back flips. You wanted to scream at the STUPID people.

What do they see in him?!

"Um, Saki-chan, did I do it right?" he suddenly said. Oh sure, you were watching him. So you replied. "Not good enough, obviously. Can you make your legs go any higher?"

He pouted. "Okay, I will try." You waved your hands in disgust. "Don’t bother. Do what you want. I’m not your coach so don’t disturb me when I practice. I don’t want to be a failure like you." He flinched at your words. Who cares?

You turned around and then you scoffed. He couldn’t even perfect a back flip! You concentrated as you went up to the balance beam. On it, you did a tip toe turn and then proceeded to a squat turn. You then walked on toes, did a step hop, and breathed deeply. It was still good since you hadn’t fallen from the beam yet. For the final step, you braced yourself for a split jump. To your utter surprise, you didn’t fall. You were able to split gracefully on air. And at last, you did a jump off. You were up with feeling proud of yourself when you heard Chinen clapping like mad.

"Saki-sama," he joked. "Anata wa suteki dea." (You were magnificent)

You beamed. Of course you are!

"Duh," you said, getting all high and mighty. "Of course I am. I’m not like you, you worthless piece of waste."

He pouted, and then his pout became a frown. Soon enough you saw tears starting to form in his eyes.

You started to panic. "Chinen! You know I’m just joking! I’m always like this right? Sheesh, you’re such a baby." You said as you went up to him and wiped his falling tears. You pinched his cheeks in hope that he’ll stop crying.

"But you said I’m a worthless piece of waste! Am I really that bad?" he asked, matching it with his puppy-dog-eyes.

You wanted to say yes.

But seeing him crying like this made you feel guilty. "Okay, I take it back. You’ve got potential," inside you puked. Yeah, right. But then he smiled. You heaved a sigh of relief.

He looked questioningly at you. "Why did you just sigh?"

You groaned. "Kankenai." (None of your business)

_____________________________________________________________________

You were looking forward for today. You had been praised well by Chinen’s father, and now he would be coming again to watch you. Yes, to watch you.

You could only sigh dreamily.

"Saki-chan!!!"

You swiftly turned your back. Only to see Chinen.

"Nani yo?" (What?)

"Otoosan can’t make it, he says he’s sorry. He had something up just this morning, so yup. He says I’m going to accompany you instead."

He beamed. You mourned. How can this happen?

You did a crouch jump, but you suddenly feel not in the mood. You started to pack your things.

"Why are you going to leave?"

Because I can’t stand you, you thought. He blocked your way, still smiling.

"If you don’t want to practice, then spend the day with me instead!" he said. You looked at him disbelievingly. Did you hear correctly?

He smiled down at you as he took your hand. "Leave your things here," he said. "Ikuzo!" (Let’s go!)

You gulped.

_____________________________________________________________________

You puffed and puffed, and then puffed some more. You took a seat at a nearby bench to regain energy. Energy that has been sapped right out of you just because of a certain boy.

"Saki-chan!!! Let’s go ride some bicycles next!" he said. You could only stare. He still had energy? You start to respect him, well, you had to. Look at his stamina.

His ever-boosted stamina. And you don’t have such thing.

You groaned as you tried to stand.

"What’s wrong?" he asked.

What’s wrong?! Oh nothing’s wrong, you think. You’re just obviously dead-tired and he doesn’t know and hell, you wanted to go home.

"I want to go home," you stated bluntly. He looked at you, and then sighed.

"Okay, I’m going to walk you home."

You happily let him. Home at last.

_____________________________________________________________________

Your elder sister was looking cheekily at you once you stepped into your house.

"So," she said. "How was your date with Yuri-chan sis? Had any fun?"

You blushed. But then rolled your eyes. Fun? Yup, it was definitely not.

"Of course it wasn’t fun. It was hell-like and tiring." You stated.

She laughed. "Yeah, right. Don’t talk like you’re sure of yourself. Soon enough you’ll find yourself falling for him."

You laughed back. "Impossible."

_____________________________________________________________________

You were once again, practicing. You were almost going to finish your stunt moves when you fell of the beam. You groaned as you tried to stand up, in vain. Chinen was like a lightening. He was already by your side.

"Saki, don’t move any more. You’ll worsen your sprain." He calmly said as he restrained you from moving. You glared. What does he want you to do? Crawl with one foot to reach home?

He reached out to you and in one swift you’re on his back. He was literally carrying you. You blushed.

"What are you doing?!" you almost screeched. "Put me down! I do not want to be blamed if you suddenly fall because you can’t carry me!"

He chuckled. "I may be small, but see? I can carry you. Besides, you’re surprisingly very light."

You were red as a tomato. Good thing he can’t see since you’re at his back.

"Hey," he said after some time. "You’ve been quiet. Does your sprain hurt?" he asked, massaging your right foot. You flinched when he hit the hurting spot.

"Sorry. So it does. Once I get you home, I’m going to bandage that for you alright?"

You could only nod meekly.

_____________________________________________________________________

He successfully carried you to your home. You smiled in relief as you handed him the door key since no one was in yet. It was still afternoon.

He gently put you down on your bed once he was able to go up the second floor and reach your bedroom. He gasped in surprise when he saw your cabinet.

"Wow! I can’t believe you have this many awards!" he said, gazing through your ribbons, medals, and trophies. "How many place have you received anyway?"

You smiled. "Sixteen gold, twenty-three silvers and six bronze."

He stared at you. "Wow…"

"Hey, I’m going to prepare the bandage okay?"

"Mm.."

Once he was back, he started to tend to your foot. You were really surprised since he did it so perfectly.

You asked. "How come you’re good with doing this?"

He shrugged. "Well, when I was a kid I kept on spraining my ankles since I can’t do any back flips right. So my dad taught me how. Besides, every time I try a different stunt I always end up spraining my foot."

You laughed. He stared at you. "What?" he asked.

You shook your head. "Nothing. It just really proves you’re just really an amateur after all."

He pouted. "You’re still saying that?"

You still laughed. "Well," he said. "I may be an amateur, but being an amateur means you can still do it and that you have potential right? I can still improve."

You smiled. "Well, yeah. Whatever. If you say so."

But he didn’t smile. He was actually gazing at you in such a way that made you feel uncomfortable.

"Chinen, what are you staring for?" you asked.

He started closing in the distance that separates you until his forehead was resting on yours. You could feel his breath on your face. You felt the heat creep up to your face as you tried to speak.

"Uhm, Chinen?"

"I’m amateur when it comes to getting along with you." He suddenly said. "But that just means I have to improve right?"

You stared. You didn’t get what he was saying.

He smiled as he gave you a kiss.

You were so surprised you instinctively pushed him away, making your sprain hurt.

"Stop taking advantage of the handicapped!" you blurted out. He laughed when he saw your red face.

"I guess I’m still an amateur yes?" he said. But then he reached out to your red face and pinched it slightly. "But this is a proof I can still improve on you getting to like me."

You stared. You cannot believe what he just said.

_____________________________________________________________________

YOU CANNOT BELIEVE HE JUST SAID AND DID THAT.

(Oh well, it seems that he isn’t just an amateur after all. You obviously already fell for him. And if he still doesn’t notice that you did, good luck on you trying to make him into a professional!)

 

OWARI.