[Arashi] [Sakumiya] Her Silver Lining

[radhaj]

Rating: NC-17 for future chapters
Disclaimer: Those people are not mine. Damn.
Warnings: Transgender character. Sexy stuffs later on. Nothing super kinky this time. Maybe
Summary: The job might not be the most prestigious and by far not something she had envisioned herself doing to support herself at this point of her life. But perhaps this whole thing was exactly what she needed to finally feel confident in who she was.


Chapter 1

Working in the Ninomiya household was, in the end, quite fun. Shouko found that most of the work was perfect for taking her mind off from her day-to-day troubles, although a tad time-consuming. Thus it was a slight struggle to still keep up with her studies while working part-time in the mansion.

She knew she was not the perfect maid, of course, considering the fact that for the bigger part of her life she hadn't even had to deal with any housework herself at all and she was rather... well, clumsy . In her single week working there she had already turned over her mop bucket twice and broken one glass ashtray. Fujita-san always just shook his head at her whenever something like that happened, but never got angry. Truly, she felt incredibly lucky to had been hired by this wonderful man who brought up some good memories for her. He always reminded her that there wasn't any rush to get any of this done, and that the most important thing was that she still continued to be enthusiastic about every task she got. And that this was what he valued the most – her willingness to tackle all the work to the best of her abilities (as meager as they were) and slowly improve. The rooms still got cleaned at some point and she could feel at ease in her position with his grandfatherly presence looking over her.

But not today. Today, the young Master was at home early and Shouko met him for the first time since she got introduced to him.

“Did you clean the keys yet? They're a bit greasy,” he commented immediately after sitting down in front of his piano while Shouko fluttered around the room with a wet rag, cleaning every last speck of dust she could find and trying to pretend as if his sudden entrance to the music room (which was directly connected to his bedroom, which she just finished tidying up a few minutes ago and thank goodness for that because cleaning the room while he was at home would have been even more awkward than this) hadn't flustered her at all. But his comment made her heart jump to her throat and within a couple of seconds she already had a barely damp and a dry cloth both in her hands, and was standing next to the huge instrument. She didn't even know why he made her so nervous, but it was probably because she still was so unsure of what he thought of her even though he was the person she was supposed to be serving the most directly from the entire family.

“I'm so sorry, Sir, I will be done in a few seconds,” she apologized quickly, starting to wipe along the first few keys with the moist cloth first, carefully and lovingly, immediately afterwards wiping them with the dry one to make sure no water was left and then repeating the process on the next set of keys. The entire time the young man was watching her closely.

“You know how to treat it,” he commented approvingly as he saw her washing the keys in the proper manner, “I had to keep reminding the old maid that she can't just swipe a rag over the whole keyboard at once and leave them to dry, and she kept looking at me as if I was being picky and thinking things up. But you... you treat it with proper respect.”

Shouko flushed again (this man seemed to have a knack for making her do this) at the weird praise and lowered her head to hide her face a bit from him.

“I've had piano lessons,” she explained with shyness, “My parents insisted on them at first but I ended up honestly loving them... I know how to take care of the instrument too, from that.”

Bringing up her background was probably not the most clever decision she had ever made, but he had implied the question and she couldn't just ignore him, seeing as his family was paying her wage and it would have been quite rude. However, as expected, the small piece of information immediately perked up the man's interest further. He looked down at her hands, obviously inspecting them for something and she suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious about her long, slim fingers and grown-out, well-manicured nails painted with a candy apple red nail polish. What if there was something out of place with them that she hadn't noticed? At that thought, she tried to hurry with the intention of taking her hands out of his line of sight as quickly as possible, but unexpectedly, just as she was actually done with her task and was about to step away again, he grasped one of her hands, gently but strongly, holding it up between them as if to make a point of some sort.

“These don't exactly look to be in a piano-playing condition,” he pointed out making her feel understandably uncomfortable with the remark, her hand tingling weirdly where it was touched by him.

“That would be because I play no longer, Young Master.”

“But I thought your parents insisted on it?” the man countered immediately and she frowned, softly but determinedly extracting her hand from his warm grip and standing back. Why was he so intrigued by her suddenly? Wasn't this guy supposed to keep himself distanced from everyone, including the servants?

“My parents hardly care about anything I do lately,” she answered as vaguely as she could, dropping the hand to her side and curling it into a loose fist as if to hide her fingertips from further judgment.

“Ahh,” was his only response aside from a knowing nod and she was about to step away but something in his current expression caught her attention in an unnerving way. It was as if she could actually see the way a piece of some puzzle suddenly found its place in his mind. Or, rather, it was as if this certain piece finished the puzzle completely and she was a bit afraid to know what sort realization it was that he had come to from it. But she couldn't let it go either so she found herself lingering at his side, a little awkwardly, clenching the two cloths in one of her hands, feeling curious despite herself.

“How about you, Sir? Did you start playing because your parents wished you to as well?” It was hardly her place to be standing around asking her employer personal questions, but she figured that after getting drilled by him like that she deserved to ask at least one question in return to quench her curiosity. He didn't seem to mind it either and looked at her with a carefree smile.

“Nah, my parents think music is a waste of time, really,” he said, shrugging, brushing his fingers over the newly cleaned keys absently, fondly, “They wanted me to study politics or business management or something “worthwhile”, but I've always ignored that and just did whatever I wanted instead. Pissed them off to no end. Still does, actually, but they've pretty much given up hope on me by now and simply redirected their attention to my sister instead. Bluntly put, I don't know why they still even put up with me, I've gone against them in pretty much every aspect of my life. Other parents throw their kids out for much less valid reasons.”

He intentionally met her eyes as he said that last part and Shouko felt the blood drain from her face and her body freeze. Her mind swirled making her feel momentarily dizzy.

He knew heknewheknew. He had to know, why else would he say that? Oh gods, how did he even figure it out so fast? Was he going to tell his parents? Was he going to get her fired? Or perhaps he intended to blackmail her with the information somehow...

For one frightening moment Shouko almost started hyperventilating, but then her logical mind caught up with her runaway emotions. Ninomiya was still smiling at her in a way that couldn't possibly bear any bad intentions and honestly, how could he have figured it out? If she truly hadn't passed for him, then he would have already said something from the beginning, not waited until now. If he did realize anything at all, it was probably that she was no longer welcome at her parents' home, which wasn't that hard to guess from her earlier remark, but he still wouldn't know why. And he said “less valid reasons” anyway, so whatever he suspected those reasons to be, it would have to be something he thought was undeserving a reaction as severe. So if he didn't judge it to be bad, then he wouldn't be getting her fired for it, right?

Shouko took a calming breath and made herself meet his gaze for a moment. He was looking at her with such an honestly well-meaning twinkle in his eyes that it actually prompted a timid smile from her too.

“You play really well though, Young Master. So I am glad you decided to pursue things that you care about,” she said quietly and then nodded to excuse herself so she could go back to her work, “The keys are clean now so you can continue doing so, young Master,” she added as she was about to step away but then there was a hand resting on her waist, stopping her. She flushed and swirled back around, a question on the tip of her tongue.

“Sir?” she asked, her voice a bit squeaky, the hand feeling so hot on her body that it was almost burning and she couldn't understand why she was affected by a simple touch so much.

“Just as I remembered, you're so very pretty when you blush,” the man complimented her suddenly with a suggestive smirk that immediately made Shouko redden even more darkly and her heart flutter in her chest with a strange emotion. She was about to question him again when he seemed to have had enough of teasing and took his hand away from her lithe waist, using it to gesture at the instrument before him instead, “I want to hear you play,” he revealed the reason he stopped her for finally and her already big eyes widened a little more in surprise.

“Me? No, Sir, really, I am so much worse than you are. It would be embarrassing,” she shook her head emphatically, backing away half a step.

“Well I'd sure hope so, otherwise I would get really depressed that a person who stopped playing years ago is as good as me although I've continued practising daily all this time,” the man answered her pointedly, raising an eyebrow with amusement and she felt a bit silly.

“No but... I wouldn't even be able to remember anything, really. It has been so long...” she continued to refuse although she could feel a small spark of excitement inside her at the possibility of getting to play piano again after all these years. It used to be something that she enjoyed so much but she had to stop after moving away from her parents. She could never afford a piano. Or even fit one in her tiny apartment.

“It's okay, you can start from easy things, I simply want to hear you play. Just look,” he said, turning towards the piano and quickly playing the beginning of a short, silly melody that most piano players got to learn some time during their first few lessons. She couldn't help but giggle at that and reached out one hand to the keyboard herself, quickly finishing the melody, her fingers running over the keys lightly and joyfully as they remembered the movement instinctively.

“See, you can do it,” he encouraged her again and she tilted her head to the side shyly, now seriously considering taking up his offer after all, “Here, sit down,” he urged and promptly lifted himself off the piano stool, gesturing for her to take his place. Still a little unsure, she perched on it timidly, quickly wiping off her hands into the dry rag she still had in her hands while he moved to stand behind her for a better view. Once she was sure her fingers were clean, she let the cloth drop onto her lap and moved her hands to hover over the keys for a moment, thinking, trying to remember.

It wasn't quite like sitting back on a bicycle but it was close. The notes flowed from under her quick fingers smoothly and fluently, and although she made a lot of mistakes and had to improvise some parts of the piece she was playing when she couldn't remember, she didn't let it discourage her. It felt intoxicating and she started feeling almost dizzy from the experience, getting wrapped up in the moment. Ninomiya stood behind her through the entirety of it and although she was lost in the music she was also very aware of his presence the whole time, especially since each time she got stuck on a part for too long he would lean in and take over for a few moments until she remembered how it went again and could play herself once more.

Once the whole piece was over she found herself just sitting with her fingers resting on the keys, a huge exhilarated grin splitting her face. It had felt amazing to be able to play something again and she was so captured by the feeling that it took her a few moments before she realized that the man was still slightly bent over her from behind. She could even feel the warmth radiating from his body because of how closely he had leaned in and she instantly started heating up again as she became aware of it, her heart fluttering non-stop in her chest.

“I think it is hardly appropriate for you to be standing so close to me, Young Master,” she pointed out, hating how her voice trembled a little breathlessly when she spoke.

“I think you missed the part where I explained about me being a person that doesn't really care about what's appropriate and what isn't,” was the young Master's answer, purred straight into her ear, sending a shiver down the side of her neck and then along her spine. But then, contrary to his words, he did step back and to the side, “However, I do know how to back away if I am making a lady uncomfortable,” he amended, punctuating the statement with a quick, cheeky wink at her. Once again not quite sure why the cheaply flirtatious gesture made her body flood with heat, Shouko sprung lightly to her feat from the stool, quickly giving up the seat to its actual owner.

“But I am glad I made you play,” the man intoned as he sat on it while she blushingly bent down to gather the rags that she dropped to the floor when she had stood up, forgetting that they were still on her lap, “You'd get right back to playing well if you just spent some time trying to remember. You're welcome to use my piano whenever you want, you know,” he offered and she found herself shaking her head before he was even finished.

“I couldn't... I don't think I will, Sir,” she declined humbly, “But thank you for letting me play right now,” she thanked him heartily with a tiny bow. Then she turned away and finally walked off to the other side of the room, eager to get back to her work. She had wasted a bit too much time as it was.

“If you are sure,” she heard him say after her, his voice sounding honestly disappointed, “The offer stays, however, in case you change your mind.”

She nodded to acknowledge that she heard him and started cleaning the rest of the room mutely and determinedly, trying to calm down her still far too fast heartbeat somehow, although the fact that she could still feel Ninomiya's eyes following her every move didn't help at all.

“It's a pity though, if you really won't play any longer,” he spoke up again after a while passed with her cleaning up and him playing a little, absent-mindedly, “Your hands seem perfect for it. And here I am, playing, but stuck with these.”

Turning away from the mantle that she was cleaning, Shouko glanced back at the man only to find him staring at his own hands which he now held out in front of him, against the light coming from the huge window, his stubby fingers spread out. He seemed honestly troubled by their shape and his expression was displeased.

“They're cute,” she commented without meaning to do so out loud and immediately reddened brightly once she realized what she just said. The man looked at her, his eyebrow raised, his lips already curling into a small, amused smirk.

“You think so?” he asked, sounding very flirty and suggestive again and she looked away, too shy to answer and pretending to be too busy. But from the corner of her eye she saw him raising his hands again and staring at them with a new sort of consideration now.

“A friend of mine once called them hamburger hands,” he revealed suddenly and Shouko giggled helplessly, only to try and stifle it immediately. The man looked straight at her again with a full grin on his face but she stubbornly didn't turn back anymore, although there was undeniably a smile on her face now too. Noticing that, Ninomiya Kazunari seemed satisfied and finally concentrated on playing seriously, leaving her to her work.