The Most Beautiful Dance

After about half an hour, Ando took a look around while he was parking his bike. He smiled as he saw the bike was parked a little further. He started to climb the stairs by jumping the rungs two by two.

Ando was happy for being a cloudy night today. Therefore, his face was not going to be seen. Still, he put on his hood.

Since he climbed the stairs impatiently, he was out of breath. When he finished climbing, he bent on his knees and tried to rest. After a while he heard the footsteps and startled. He opened his eyes and saw the sneakers which he gifted to Eita on his birthday.

“I came earlier since I didn’t want you to see me out of breath like you,” Eita said and that made Ando smile. Ando straightened up and showed that smile to Eita. He was not sure how much Eita could see his bruised face. So, he couldn’t keep that smiling face longer and looked at the ground again by embarrassment.

Eita saw that embarrassment and swore himself one more time. Yamato was right. Ando was feeling like he was ugly. Eita got closer to Ando slowly and closed Ando’s hood much more. Ando got surprised to that move because he was waiting Eita’s insist to see his face.

“I understand that you don’t want to show your injured face to me,” Eita said with a kind voice. Then he hugged Ando and rested Ando’s head on his chest. “I fact, I can’t look at you, either,” he added.

“Am I so ugly right now?” Ando asked with a trembling voice. “No!” Eita objected with a lovely voice. He kissed Ando’s hood. Then he put his chin on his head and “I’m afraid you would look at me as if you are seeing a murderer not your lover,” he added.

Ando hugged him slowly and laughed. “If someone did the things which were did to me to you, I would do much worse things than you did,” he answered. Eita smiled to this answer.

Both of them were relaxed. They stayed like that for a while. However, both of them were the same height so Ando had to bend his knees and Eita had to tiptoe. Eita guessed Ando could be tired so he let Ando go. He held Ando’s hands and “If one of us was shorter, hugging like that would be easier,” he said by smile.

Ando smiled and “Is my height a bother to you?” he asked. “No, on the contrary I am glad since my eyes see your chest when you sit on my lap,” Eita answered. Ando left Eita’s one hand and pinched his arm with shy. “How shameless,” he said.

They hold their hands and walked to the city view hill where they confessed to each other. Then Ando left Eita’s hand and went to fence which saw the cliff. He felt the cold wind which was hitting his face. Eita stayed at his place.

“It’s cold here in this season,” Ando muttered. “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to come here earlier,” Eita said. Ando turned to Eita and “No problem,” he said by smile. Then he turned to the city view again. The wind opened his hood but he continued to watch the view.

Eita came closer to Ando slowly. But he was watching his own view, not the city view. The wind got stronger for a while. The clouds dispersed and the moonlight illuminated everything. Ando could see the further districts by clear air. The lights were dancing on the city. Since Ando was distracted by that view, he couldn’t realize that his face was shown clearly. His smiling face was the same face under the cherry blossom trees two years before.

“So beautiful,” Eita muttered because of his own beautiful view. “Isn’t it?” Ando asked excitingly and turned his face to him. Then they met eye to eye. Finally, Ando figured that Eita was watching him not the city view and he said that for Ando.

Ando panicked. He moved away and turned his back. He could feel the blush on his cheeks. “Who finds a man so beautiful?” he muttered to himself.

Eita watched Ando’s cute reaction for a while. His hands were in his pocket. Since his compliment about Ando’s beauty came out of your mouth spontaneously, he got embarrassed, too. He scratched the tip of his nose as a showing style of his embarrassment. Then he looked at the city view and “You were crying on that day,” he said.

Ando startled and looked at Eita. He thought Eita was talking about the kidnaping issue. But Eita’s next words were telling a different story. He was still looking at the city view.

“It was a narrow and one way street. A man collapsed suddenly. Someone checked him. He figured his heart stopped pounding and started the heart massage. Because of the narrow street was crowded, the ambulance couldn’t enter the street. The person who was massaging him continued to do that again and again,” Eita started to story.

Ando looked at Eita by surprise. Eita ignored that looking and continued to talk. “In fact, I didn't tell the story from the beginning. I was a third-year university student. We were having lunch with my friends on that moment. One of the girls pointed someone who was standing across the street and told how much handsome he was. He was a young man who had nice clothes and a nice bag. He was holding books and seemed like he was waiting somebody important. I watched him for a while. ‘Who knows how tidy his life is.’ That was my first opinion about him.”

Eita stopped talking a few seconds. He smiled as if he was going to tell a sorrowful story. Then he continued to talk.

“After a few minutes that young man startled. When I looked at where he was looking, I saw a man lying on the ground. That young man run there and checked the unconscious man. He figured that his heart stopped and he began to massage him. Ambulance was late and people started to watch what was going on. And, the only person who was helping that man was him. It was a rainy day so that man’s nice clothes and books got dirty. He ignored his stuffs and continued to CPR. Then, first aid team arrived and took over CPR. He still helped them and finally they could feel that man’s heartbeats and took him to the hospital.”

Eita paused his story and continued to look at Ando. Ando was listening to him by surprise. Eita thought that Ando was aware what he was talking about. He got closer to Ando and continued his story by changing the main lead.

“You got up. People ignored you, your ruined, soaked and muddy books and clothes. You were looking at the sky and crying. Then you bended down a corner and continued to cry by burying your head in your knees. After that, as you remember...”

Ando didn’t say anything for a while. Then he turned his face to the city view. “That day was the day when I decided to leave the school.” he said. Eita got surprised and “But... You’re still going?” he said. Ando continued to smile.

“My father was a doctor. I mean my biological father... Shizuku-sama's biological child was ill and he was staying at the hospital which my father was working. In past, Shizuku-sama was an owner of a few big casinos and she had a lot of enemies. One day a murderer tried to kill his child at hospital but my father realized that and put himself in front of the gun and shot down. He sacrificed himself for Shizuku-sama's child. He couldn’t be saved and he died. After that, Shizuku-sama took me who had not a father and a mother. What do you think what happened to that child?”

“I don’t have even a guess,” Eita answered.

“He died from his illness just two weeks later,” Ando said with a joking voice. This story still seemed like a joke to Ando. Eita was being able to see that clearly.

“Shizuku-sama took me and left the town. Then she opened that orphanage.” Ando continued to talk. He sighed once. Then “When I was a child, when we visited my father’s grave, she used to say ‘If there is another world where the souls go and if the souls can see this world, I'm sure your father is being devastated because he couldn’t cure my son. But... But he should be happy that he could make him live without pain two weeks more.’ I always wanted to do my father’s job. I wanted to be just like him. But you know... How much my new family is nice to me yet I wasn’t feeling like my strength was enough for both of my medical education and family matters. No matter how much I worked hard, that was not enough for me. So, I decided to leave the school on that week. That day was the last day when I was going to spend with my friends. I was going to have a last nice day with them and never going to turned to that school life. I even wore nice clothes for that day. Then, the things which you told happened.”

-On That Day Three Years Ago-

-Ando focused to save the arrested man that he forgot himself. When he heard that man’s heartbeats were back, he got relaxed. Since his nerves were relaxed, he realized what he had done. He thought what he wanted to do in this life and he couldn’t continue to do both medical education and family matters at the same time. Therefore, he started to cry. His tears were falling like waterfall.

While he was crying by burying his head on his knees, he startled to something which was put on his head. It was a leather jacket. Then he heard Eita’s voice. “Damn... Crying on the street... You’re wrong if you think the rain was hiding your tears.” Eita said.

Eita put Ando’s drenched books and bag in front of him kindly. He looked at the person who was crying under the jacket. “Good Grief... Just now, you did the coolest saving in this word alone. You’re were just like a hero but now you’re crying like a child.” he complained. Then he gave a cheerful tone to his voice and “Anyway... I’m proud of you instead of you, too. Good luck with your life!” he added and left there. Ando raised his head and looked at the owner of the voice who mingled with first his friends then the crowd. -

Ando smiled by shy and turned to Eita. “I can't never forget that day. I’ve been working hard for both my family and education since that day. The leather jacket which you put on my head has been my most precious treasure,” he said. Then he lowered his head “Whenever I have been having hard times, whenever I have decided to give up, I have looked at that treasure which is hanging on the wall and ‘You can do it, Ando!’ I have said myself.” he added.

While he was saying that, he raised his arms and clenched his fists and that made Ando so cute that Eita hugged him. Ando got surprised yet he hugged Eita, too. “Now you better to look at the owner of that jacket, not the jacket itself.” he muttered. Ando chuckled and “A pajama top has been added to that jacket. The blood stain was hard to clean, though,” he said. Eita smiled.

“I love you,” Ando whispered to Eita’s ear. Eita kissed him from his forehead and “I love you, too, my most precious treasure...” he said. That hugging finished until Ando got a phone call.

While Ryunosuke was waiting Ando at the entrée, he saw who dropped Ando home and he didn’t get surprised. He didn’t get angry rather he laughed. Two young yakuza bosses on their bikes at night were seeming funny. Ando’s happy face was enough for him. He didn’t question him.