A/N: Sorry if this seems to jump around a bit. It just felt right this way. I might edit another scene in between the second and third time-skips later, but that’s only if I manage to get it written. I tried quite a few times and it didn’t work. v.v Sorry guys~ OH! And the song to the side I think fits Nao pretty well.

Practice was awkward, that was certain, but easy enough to get through. No, what actually caused me problems was the way everyone acted when I arrived at school the next morning. When I came in, none of the class would meet my eye. Confused, I walked over to question Chie about it- only for her eyes to get about as big as saucers the moment she noticed me.

“N-Nao!” Chie sputtered, suddenly shoving the papers off of her desk into her bag.

I blinked, staring at her for a long moment.

“... what are yo-”

“Look! Mori’s here!”

Surprised, I turned slightly to look towards the door. Just as she’d announced, Mori and Honey were coming through the doorway, greeting the few fangirls we had in our classroom as they crowded around to talk about something. That in itself was slightly strange. They’d been left alone in the classroom for the most part.

“Of course, it’d be strange if he wasn’t here soon, class is ab-” I commented, cutting off when I turned back to find Chie laying her head against her hand, her bag having completely disappeared. There was a suspiciously bright smile on her face which caused a frown to appear on my own. “You’re not up to something, are you?”

“Me?” Chie asked, looking astonished. “Who would ever think that I was up to something? Never. Not in a million year-”

“Chie-chan, could you be bad at keeping secrets?” I mused.

She paled.

“O-of course not!”

“Rea-”

“Oh, look, it’s Ren-kun!” she announced, suddenly standing.

Ren must have been eavesdropping, because he cocked his head at the sudden attention.

“Wh-”

“I need to talk to him about some math,” she continued, hurrying in his direction. “Sorry, Nao-chan~”

“You know,” I commented lightly. “He’s horrible at math.”

She paused next to Ren’s desk, shooting a look between him and I.

“That’s why I need to talk to him! I’m… tutoring him!”

“You are?” Ren questioned.

Chie shot him a dirty look, which actually seemed highly threatening even from where I stood.

“I. Am.”

“... she is,” Ren slowly agreed.

“What’s going o-”

“Nao-chan~” Honey interrupted cheerily. “You’re getting your cast taken off after class, right?”

Startled, I turned my attention away from those two and nodded.

“Yeah, so I’m going to miss the majority of club hours,” I replied thoughtfully.

“You’re still coming back here to get picked up by Takashi, though, right?” he asked, tilting his head.

“I am.”

“Good!” he declared.

Confused, I simply found my seat as he began to chatter about other, unimportant things. Mori took his place between us and when I shot him a questioning look, he simply shrugged, obviously not planning on explaining the matter. Grumbling, I pulled out my school books and began reviewing what we’d be working on today.

I’d just have to wait and see.

__________________________________

For about the dozenth time since I’d exited the doctor’s office, I rubbed my wrist uncomfortably. After all the time I’d had that cast in place it felt rather strange to be walking into the school without it. At the same time, I never wanted to have to wear one again. Just as I was about to open the door into the clubroom,  two hands dropped on my shoulders.

“Nao-senpai!”

I frowned, releasing the door and turning to face the twins.

“Yes?”

“There’s a problem,” one of them began.

“With Mori-senpai!” the other added.

Neither one of them seemed very upset. Whatever they were going on about couldn’t be that important.

“There is?” I asked skeptically.

They gave a set of identical nods.

“He doesn’t know what to get you for your birthday!” they announced.

“... really?” I deadpanned. “You know, he doesn’t seem the type to need you to ask me. If anything, he would just ask me himself.”

The twins exchanged expressions, grins appearing on their faces within a moment.

“You know him pretty well, don’t you?”

“Are you sure you two aren’t dating?”

“We’re not dating!” I snapped. “Where the hell did you get that idea?”

“It’s obvious,” they chimed.

“Tono said he and Kyoya-senpai saw you two together,” the first added.

“And you went on a date the other day,” the second added. “The whole school knows about that.”

I flushed red, clenching my fists at my sides.

“Even if something was going on, it’s none of your business,” I declared.

They grinned.

“So there is something-”

Both of them broke off as a knock came from the other side of the door.

“You can go in now,” they announced.

I frowned.

“What the hell is going-”

One of the twins pulled the door open as the other shoved me inside.

“Nice talking to you!”

I stumbled, only stopped by falling when an arm reached out to catch me. When I glanced up I wasn’t at all surprised to discover Mori looking down at me. Offering him a smile, I stepped back and glanced around the room.

“Happy birthday!”

Perhaps to no one’s surprise, I froze. I’d been expecting something like this by how everyone was acting, but it didn’t mean seeing it was any less of a shock. The room had been decorated in ribbons and balloons and there was a table to the side with a small stack of gifts. Expectant looks came to me from every side of the room where people stood and after a full minute had passed, I sighed.

“Surprises are annoying,” I declared.

Laughter echoed around the room and I pursed my lips, glancing back up at Mori.

“Why is it that every time I say something that should upset people, they laugh or grin?” I grumbled.

A faint smile had appeared on his own face as people started moving in my direction from various places in the room.

“Because they know what you’re really saying,” he replied softly.

Surprise flickered through me as I focused my attention on him.

“And what’s that?” I asked.

“Thank-you.”

I scowled, dropping my gaze from his.

“I never said that… but… I guess I wouldn’t object if that’s what they thought. Something like this isn’t that horrible.”

The party was simple, but fun. They’d managed to pull a lot together within a short amount of time and even I had to admit at the end of it that I had enjoyed myself. The presents, the dancing, the dessert, and the laughter, it made it feel as if…

Well, as if I was back at home. As if I’d always been a part of whatever it was they had going here.

Something like that… no, there was no way I could see it as horrible.

________________________________

Time passed and while he obviously knew what I was going to Mori’s house to do, Uncle never objected. Much to my surprise, practice at home even seemed to be lighter than before, as if he was making sure that I’d have enough energy to work towards the dance competition.

The closer it got, however, the harder I found it was to breathe.

The practice sessions weren’t only hard to attend because of all of the emotions swirling through me. No, it wasn’t just how I found it hard not to focus on the information I’d learned, or on how whenever he got close my breath would catch and my cheeks would flush. It wasn’t just that.

Everyone was helping me in expectation that I would do well. I’d never performed well under pressure, and some part of me knew that even if many things had changed since my last competition, this tiny fact wouldn’t. I always failed. A misstep, a stumble, a move made just a little too slowly putting the rest of the dance off-pace.

Anything could happen.

I’d fail and everyone would be there to see it. To know that they’d been wrong to encourage me. They’d see that it would have just been best to just leave things be.

Put it all together and it began to become too much.

“Shit!”

I slammed my hand down on the floor, glaring at my ankle as I simply sat in the position I’d fallen in. Without a word, Mori quickly knelt beside me, running his hands over my ankle to check for an injury. I shook my head, moving my hands so that they were braced behind me against the flooring.

“It’s fine.”

“Good.”

He didn’t move and neither did I. I simply stared at my ankle as I had been doing since I fell. My breathing came in slow, shallow breaths as tears almost sprung to my eyes at the unfairness of it all.

I’d been practicing like crazy.

How was it that I couldn’t seem to finish a simple turn without falling?

“Dammit.”

The competition was so close, yet I couldn’t do something this simple.

Mori’s hand pulled away from my ankle and he offered it to me silently. Surprised, I stared at it for a moment before taking it. After he’d helped me to my feet, I watched as he stepped away to where the stereo sat. Within a moment he’d restarted the song and I simply stood there, rubbing the hand he’d used to pull me up.

“Try it again.”

“... right.”

Taking a deep breath, I began the steps. That sense of warmth seemed to stay in place as I shifted through the movements, easily pulling myself through one to the other. When it came to the turn once again, however, I misstepped and began to fall. I wasn’t all that surprised when he caught me before I hit the floor.

“Let’s take a break,” I muttered.

As soon as I was solidly on my feet once again, he released me. I stepped over to swipe my water bottle from by the stereo, stubbornly refusing to look at him the whole time.

How could I?

Just that small touch had turned my face red.

“You watched the ending of that dance you guys had, didn’t you?” I asked, focusing on the stereo as the song continued to play.

“I did.”

A wry twist of my lips appeared with his answer. I’d figured he had.

“That’s what happens. I told you guys, didn’t I? It’s not worth putting this much faith in me. You should be able to tell just from watching this practice that it’s useless to just look past the flaws in my steps. The girls who will be competing in my section… they never mess up. I was friends with one of them… she’d always complain about this and that, about how she had to smile for the crowd or that she had to play the nice-girl personality for them like she hated it all. Yet when she stepped on the stage, there was no doubt that she was supposed to be there.

I had opened my mouth to tell him what I’d been thinking this entire time, that I just might mess up, but what came out was more than that. It was as if all the pressure and frustration building up suddenly felt the need to force itself free- much to my annoyance. Even I could hear how much the words sounded like I was throwing my own little pity party.

“Takashi-kun… I’ve never heard someone say that about me. They always say that I’m good, that if I practice a bit more I might be great. They’d say that for the short time that my mother danced for fun, she’d caught the eyes of anyone who got the chance to see her. They said I had the chance to be like that.

“Just a little more practice. Just a little more work. Don’t mess up there, take a deep breath and smile, you’ll work it out eventually. Don’t worry, it was just a bad day. Don’t worry, the people who got first place are geniuses when it comes to dance, it’s not a bad thing to lose to them. Don’t worry, win or lose, you’re still a good dancer.”

By this time my words were rushing out. I knew he was watching me, I could feel it, but he hadn’t said a word.

“Just a little more. Don’t mess up. Don’t worry. Dammit. Just…”

I clutched my water bottle tightly, only faintly noticing how that caused a small amount to almost spill over the sides.

“Try it again.”

I blinked, my grip loosening slightly.

“Worry, mess-up, then try it again,” Mori continued, his voice sounding as if it were right behind me. “You’ll belong on the stage when you can see yourself belonging there.”

I spun around to face him, my eyes widening slightly when I realized I was right. He’d stepped forward and was standing right behind me. I bit my lip, staring up at him.

“I…”

“I always thought you did.”

My breath caught in my throat.

“You… that really was you.”

There was a moment when neither one of us moved. Then he slowly nodded, a faint smile appearing. My brain flatlined for a moment and when it started working again, it was firing doubletime.

“I called you Taka-chan,” I realized, my face lighting up with the thought. “And said you looked like a girl.”

Seemingly amused, he nodded again.

“Shit.”

“Nao-chan…”

“That’s so embarrassing!” I declared, taking a small step back and turning away to place my water bottle on the table again. “Just imagine me doing that. Kami.”

A sound hit the air and I froze in disbelief. A heart-beat later I spun around once more.

“Did… that…”

Had he just laughed?

I simply stared at him as he offered one of those real, heart-stopping smiles in my direction. He’d laughed. Mori had actually laughed- it was probably the biggest display of emotion he’d ever displayed in front of me.

And I’d caused him to do it.

My face lit up even hotter than before. Not seeming to mind, Mori studied me for a moment.

“I’m the one who’s taller than you now,” he commented after a moment.

“Y-yeah,” I managed to reply, dropping my eyes. “I guess that’s true.”

Silence fell.

“You’ve… known who I was… this entire time, haven’t you?” I slowly asked.

When I turned my eyes back to him, Mori nodded. He was silent for a moment, most likely deciding how to reply.

“I knew who you were… to a point,” he replied. “I went to see you dance a few times after Okaasan died. She’d was happy that she’d been chosen as a guest judge of that tournament- it was the most I’d seen her smile after being diagnosed. Going to those tournaments and seeing you dance was a way of remembering her like that.”

Tears almost sprung to my eyes at the thought of a younger him standing in the crowd for that reason. If I’d noticed him back then…

“When you stopped dancing, I was surprised. Then you came to our school, but you looked and acted completely different. Your name was right, but your manner was wrong. You didn’t react to anything the way I’d read or seen. There was that moment when you first visited the club…”

I flushed even deeper if possible, knowing exactly what moment he was talking about. When I’d taken the bite of cake and raised my eyes to meet his, how I’d been embarrassed that he’d seen the expression I must have been making.

“I knew it was you.”

A small part of me noted that this was probably the most I’d heard Mori say at one time.

“I never noticed,” I admitted quietly. “Not even a bit. Some things seemed odd to me, but I always came up with a reasonable excuse.”

“I figured you hadn’t,” he replied simply. “I didn’t mind.”

Silence spread again, only this time it was because while I knew what I wanted to say, I wasn’t sure how to find the words. I turned my back once again, stepping over to adjust the music back to the beginning of ‘Story’. I noticed now how fitting it was that with all of these feelings I couldn’t quite keep a handle on, I was performing a dance to a love song.

“Takashi-kun?” I asked quietly as the music picked up once again.

He didn’t say anything, but I had the distinct feeling that he’d heard me.

“I might not have remembered you from then… but… well… I have noticed you,” I murmured, unsure of whether I was speaking loudly enough for him to hear me or not.

All I knew was that I couldn’t face him.

“And well… I...  I think....”

I cut myself off, adjusting the music again so that it started over.

“I think I might tell you what I noticed,” I decided. “When… I get this right.”

Refusing to look directly at him, I stepped back out into the middle of the room. Bringing my arms into position, I closed my eyes and waited for my signal to begin.

‘You’ll belong on the stage when you can see yourself belonging there.’

I began moving, flowing from one step into another.

‘I always thought you did.’

My heart seemed to be beating so fast that it would burst from my chest. My cheeks burned with the memory of his words. My body seemed to burn with the thought of how close he’d been when I’d turned around after spilling out all of my thoughts.

My feet moved through the spin, not stumbling, not pausing.

I struggled to pull up the following steps in my mind, I’d planned them out but rarely performed them. A second passed and I stopped moving, gesturing for him to restart the song.

I ran through it again. This time making it a few steps further.

Then again. A few steps further than the rerun.

I didn’t stumble over the turn. I didn’t fall and stay down. I ran his words through my mind.

‘Try again.’

‘I always thought you did.’

“Nao.”

I froze, the last notes of the song fading away. He was watching me from where he stood, his expression unreadable.

I was once again hit with that feeling of not knowing what to say, or even of knowing how to breathe. It seemed impossible.

“I finished.”

He nodded, a faint smile appearing with that still unreadable expression.

“You finished.”

“The tournament is in two days. I finally finished.”

I sat myself down right there, rolling the thought over in my mind. I’d finished.

I’d promised to tell him what I thought if I finished.

I was ready to perform.

Was I ready to tell him?

I belonged on that stage.

Did I belong where I sat? At his house? Alone with him?

“Nao.”

His voice was close again. I was startled to discover that he’d closed the distance and was knelt before me, his expression a mixture of concern and that feeling that I couldn’t face. I offered him a small, hesitant smile and a shake of my head.

“I’m fine.”

“Good.”

He started to pull away, most likely to offer me his hand, but I reached out and caught his shirt, stopping him. Mori paused and to his credit didn’t ask anything. He simply settled back in the position he’d been in.

“I said I’d tell you,” I muttered after a moment.

He nodded silently.

I pursed my lips and took a deep breath. Silently, I leaned forward, laying my head against his chest. I could hear his heart beating, and how it was moving nearly as quickly as mine. A moment of hesitation later, I felt him slowly lay his arms around my back, holding me in place.

“Hey, Taka… Takashi-kun?”

His response was his heart beating even faster than before, betraying what would probably have been an unrecognizable emotion to be one I could place.

It was surprising, but obvious. Mori was just as nervous as I was.

“I think… I might like you.”

He didn’t say anything, but a moment later I felt a light pressure on the top of my head. I looked up slightly, surprised. His arms tightened slightly around me, his face suddenly turned in a different direction.

At the same time, I could still see how his cheeks were burning just the smallest shade of pink.

He didn’t have to say anything. Mori wasn’t the type to give big speeches like he had before. This suited him more, much more than anything else.

Just a quiet agreement.

A moment where things left unsaid spoke louder than any words might have.

I smiled and relaxed, glad to stay exactly where I was.

A/N: So, nothing too dramatic, but I think it suits them, don't you? Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was probably one of the most fun to write!

P.S. Just one chapter left, then an epilogue that I apologize for right now so I won't have to later~ It's sort of a mean place to leave you.... but you guys know how much I love cliffhangers! Maybe if I warn you now then you won't hate me too much for it then!