[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.
Note: Sorry for missing last Sunday's update but I was very sick and had various other unpleasant happenings getting in the way. But now I'm back, hopefully :) Next update will be back on Sunday though.
Also this chapter might seem a bit different character-wise but they're both nervous so yeah.


Chapter 4

She glared at the reflection of her hair in the small, hand-held mirror which she took out to check on her appearance one last time. The mess on her head refused to cooperate even more than usual this morning and it still seemed slightly wavy to her, no matter how many times she had gone over it with her straightener. Normally, she felt more at ease with her hair down, but Ninomiya's comment about wanting to see it specifically made her feel self-conscious. She took a deep breath and snapped the mirror shut, putting it into her purse. It was far too early for her to get invested into this. He was going to get what he had asked for and if he didn't like it... well, too bad. Schooling her face into a neutral expression that hopefully didn't betray how extraordinarily nervous she was, she stepped out the door of her apartment building.

She was two minutes early but he was already there, standing next to his expensive car which he had (against the rules) parked right in front of the entrance, smoking a cigarette as he waited for her to come out. He was currently looking in a different direction, lost in his thoughts, not noticing her immediately, and she was able to cross most of the distance between them before he finally looked her way, thus she could clearly see how his eyes widened a fraction once he saw her. The corners of her lips twitched a smidgeon more upwards. That was decidedly a positive reaction. Apparently all those hours she had spent deciding on her outfit and perfecting her light make-up paid off. He definitely seemed to appreciate the denim hotpants she was wearing, at least, as he not so subtly checked out her long legs, making her fight off a blush. Good thing it was warm enough today for her to wear those despite it still being such early spring.

“Good morning, Sir,” she greeted timidly as she stopped to stand right in front of him. He was looking astonishingly sharp himself, in his casual but very stylish (no doubt brand-name) attire of a yellow shirt, light brown, flowy cardigan and tight black jeans. Her own clothes had been bought in one of the cheapest shops she knew, but she prided herself in pulling off the red blouse and the dark gray jacket very fashionably. The way he was staring at her only seemed to prove her right.

“I... oh wow, red suits you so great, you look gorgeous, Shouko-chan,” he spoke up then, still apparently mesmerized and struck speechless by her looks, but then forced himself out of his stupor and quickly discarded the cigarette end before straightening out and smiling at her, “And it's “Nino”,” he corrected her playfully but strictly, “I won't stand for any “sirs” while we're on a date, seriously,” he said pointedly and she knew she had no choice this time but to nod hesitantly.

“Nino-san then,” she corrected herself timidly and he rolled his eyes.

“You're hopeless,” he laughed and she shrugged, unapologetic. She didn't want to get into any habits that she might quickly have to get out of again. Besides, as much as he teased her about always being too proper, he was ignoring the fact that she was still going out with her employer, and one couldn't get much more improper than that, “Come on, let's get this started already,” he finished though, opening the car door for her and she gratefully ducked inside.

“May I know where we're going yet?” she inquired as he started the engine, but he just smiled at her mysteriously.

“You'll just have to see.”

The drive was much less silent and awkward than she had feared it might turn out to be. She had never been good at small talk, but he seemed to be perfectly able to keep a light-hearted conversation going between them through the entire drive, asking her about her studies and work and laughing heartily when she confessed that she was the one to blame for the withering number of glass ashtrays in his home.

“I'm a bit clumsy,” she pouted, her cheeks turning pink as he continued to laugh.

“So I see,” he conceded, finally calming down and wiping a happy tear from the corner of his eye, “Is that why I never see you wearing high-heels?” he asked unexpectedly and she promptly looked down at her lap, feeling a bit uncomfortable, “Sorry, I just realized that when I saw you in this outfit because I thought they would have fit it so well.”

“You said to dress comfortably,” she mumbled, hating how defensive she already sounded, but really, couldn't he guess the real reason why she never wore any?

“Indeed I did,” he agreed, accepting the excuse but not leaving the subject alone yet, “I still wish I could see you wear some. It just seems like they would suit you so well,” he commented light-heartedly and she nervously wrung her fingers together in her lap. Really, he could sometimes be incredibly astute but then miss the absolutely obvious the very next second. It wasn't really a mystery why, as a girl, she would be reluctant to seem even taller than she already was. Even if she did, perhaps, secretly, inwardly, really like high heels.

“Most... Most men would probably find me too tall as it is,” she decided to explain after all as he still seemed to be waiting for some sort of answer. She tried to sound dismissive and uncaring, but she doubted she actually succeeded. After all, she was talking about one of her biggest complexes here. But he just raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

“Ah, well... Apparently I'm not “most men”. I never really understood why people would mind something like that. I never cared, I think it's completely outdated. There are millions of things that are more important than the height difference in a relationship. And besides, being shorter than your girlfriend has some great benefits too,” he finished with a sort of insinuating tone that made Shouko blush even though she was not entirely sure why. “I think you shouldn't worry and I think you'd be truly perfect in high heels. But of course you don't have to if you don't actually want to or just feel too uncomfortable about it. That's simply my opinion.”

She was a little surprised to hear his thoughts on the subject but also strangely... pleased. Bashfully, she lifted her eyes again and glanced at his profile.

“Well, I do own one pair...” she revealed shyly. It was a second-hand purchase that she had only allowed herself to make because it had been such a good bargain, seeing as she knew even as she bought them that she would never actually wear them in public. They were an obnoxiously bright red color and at least five inches high, completely impractical as an only pair to own. But she found them gorgeous and sometimes would put them on at home, together with a pretty dress, and spend a few minutes walking back and forth in front of the mirror in them.

The truth was, after all, that she loved how she looked and felt in heels, but just always felt like she shouldn't do it when people could see. But if Ninomiya spoke this way about it...

“I think you should wear them. During our next date perhaps? I'd love to see that,” was the man's immediate answer to her admission and she blushed.

“Next date?” she repeated after him questioningly and he laughed awkwardly.

“I'm getting ahead of myself, right? I just can't help but hope there will be more to come after this,” he said and took his eyes from the road for a second to wink at her. She immediately flushed. What was it with this man and his obsession with winking? And what was it with him and his ability to make her feel so warm and appreciated and flattered with just a couple of words?

“Ah, here we are now,” he suddenly exclaimed and she jerked a little in surprise, instantly looking out the window as they slowed down to see where they were, since she had been completely distracted by the conversation and thus unable to keep track of it before, and widened her eyes. Dread filled her heart and the blush drained from her face as she paled a little instead.

“An amusement park?” she asked, trying to keep the fear from being heard in her voice while her heart hammered unpleasantly against her ribcage. They drove into a huge parking lot and he quickly found them a good spot.

“Yes,” he responded, flashing her a hesitant smile, “To be honest, I was a little nervous about getting this date right for you so I asked a friend for advice and he said that all girls seem to love amusement park dates... I hope you're okay with this?”

For once, he actually looked less than completely confident in himself and she made herself smile as genuinely and reassuringly as possible while something unpleasant seemed to lurch and get stuck in her throat. “All girls liked”... So if she didn't like it then....

“It's great, I love it!” she grinned, forcing enthusiasm into her voice even as her palms started sweating. His happy and relieved expression at hearing it was worth it. Maybe. She struggled to keep her panic down. It would be okay. She could pretend to enjoy this for a few hours, right? She could hold herself under control. Maybe he didn't even mean for them to go on any high rides or she could find some excuse not to go on those. She'd manage.

She quickly blinked back some tears of incredible anxiety as she got out of the car.

“Shall we?” he asked after clicking the car locked and offered her his hand. She hurried to obscurely wipe her palm on the side of her shorts before taking it while a small blush returned to her cheeks, but she needn't have worried. His hand was slightly damp as well as he clasped his fingers around hers. He didn't look at her face while he did so and offered no explanation, instead just leading them to the nearest entrance.

“I already bought us entrance passes over the net,” he explained as they passed the rather long queues to the ticket booths and reached to his back-pocket with his free hand to procure a couple folded up, printed papers that evidently granted them admission into the park, “Apparently there is a rather new roller coaster here that's really popular. Maybe we should queue up for that one first?”

She quietly took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

“Sounds like fun,” she quipped and smiled care-freely at her date.

It sounded like her worst nightmare, actually. She could barely stop herself from simply turning around and bolting back and out of there as fast as she could. But instead, the two of them handed their passes to the staff at the gate, got their “All attractions paid” bracelets and entered the park.

Why did she have to have such rotten luck? For once, she met a person who was nice to her, whom she found incredibly attractive and who was interested in her even though he knew the truth. For the first time in her life she was going on a date that she had truly looked forward to. So why... why did it have to turn out like this in the end, why did it have to be ruined with him choosing to go to an amusement park of all places when she was so terribly acrophobic?

And why couldn't she just tell him that instead of trapping herself in the predicament by pretending to be thrilled about this? She should have just told him the truth and spared herself the stressful experience of trying to get through the date without him noticing her real feelings.

But actually, she knew exactly why she hadn't done that. It was because she was already invested in this, despite her resolution not to get swept away so quickly, and couldn't bear the idea of somehow ruining it by expressing her dislike or even just making him feel bad about choosing the wrong thing. Besides... “All girls”...

Somehow, those thoughts made her more determined and she finally managed to get a grip on herself. The park was big and there were quite a few people as it was Saturday, even if still really early morning: families, small groups of friends, couples... It was a little startling for her to realize that she actually fit into the last category herself. Ninomiya's hand felt warm and reassuring around hers and her smile gradually turned more genuine while she relaxed and looked around, taking in the impressive and beautiful sights around her.

It didn't take them long to find the queue to the roller-coaster that Ninomiya had mentioned, and it was harder to keep the anxiety at bay then, especially as they slowly moved closer to the ride while trying to pass the time by chatting about more general things. The line wasn't as long yet as it would get later in the day, when the park got fuller and busier, but it was still at the “Average waiting time 30 minutes” mark when they joined it. However, the half an hour seemed to pass quite rapidly, as time always did when Shouko wished for it to go slower, and before she knew it, she was taking deep breaths again to keep her panic down. They were already just a couple of minutes away from taking a seat in one of the ride cars themselves.

Would Ninomiya notice if she spent the entire ride with her eyes closed? Would he find that weird? People got scared on those rides in general, didn't they? Closing your eyes wasn't that weird at all and it would help her with her fear a little bit. Or perhaps she should just say that she unexpectedly got a headache and no longer felt like...

“Ah, Shouko-chan, I'm sorry,” her thoughts unexpectedly got interrupted by the sheepish voice of her date. He let go her (very sweaty by now) hand, “But I really need to go to the bathroom, so unfortunately I'll probably miss our time. Would you be okay taking this alone? We could meet up again somewhere close to the exit from the ride?”

She blinked a little dumbly in surprise.

“Huh? Uhm, yes, of course,” she answered without thinking but then suddenly realized what this meant for her, and her mood abruptly brightened, the pressure in her chest getting lower as she simply couldn't believe her luck, “I'll be fine, you can go, we'll just meet there then, in a few minutes,” she gave her permission and that was all he needed, it seemed, before he nodded, apologized quickly again and left the queue while she watched him go.

Had she been thinking a bit more clearly, she probably would have found it incredibly weird that he, apparently, didn't realize that he needed the bathroom until they were at this point and that he seemingly needed it so badly suddenly that he couldn't even hold it the few minutes it would have taken them to finish the ride. But as it was, she was just far too busy being happy about the chance this gave her to avoid taking the ride herself. She just had to wait for him to be out of sight and then she could leave the queue herself, simply go to where they agreed to meet and then wait until he got there after he was finished with his bathroom business. It was the perfect plan. And hopefully, since this was the highest ride in the park, she could later just say she had enough excitement and not go on any other really high rides anymore.

And that was exactly what she did. The family in the line behind her looked at her a bit weirdly as she was the second person to leave from in front of them in as many minutes but she didn't care. She couldn't keep a silly smile off her face. It had worked out, somehow, and this way she could avoid seeming weird to him or hurting his feelings by appearing unappreciative of what he had planned for them. The amount of relief that she felt was ridiculous and had her feeling a little dizzy.

Until, that is, she got close to the meeting spot and saw that he was already there, waiting for her, looking straight at the door from which she was supposed to come out of had she taken the ride. There was no way to pretend that she was coming out of there without him realizing. But... But how could he have got here so soon? It was as if he had gone straight here after leaving her. Surely it would have taken him a while to get to a toilet?

At that point, he must have sensed that someone was staring at him and glanced around only to spot her standing just a few meters away from him. She felt caught, but he visibly froze as well and for a long time they just stared at each other, neither of them knowing what to say or do. A small group of people spilled out from the door he had been looking at, apparently satisfied customers of the ride that she hadn't gone on, and their loud, excited voices finally pulled Shouko out of her stupor. Taking a deep breath and resolving to just confess everything, she took a few steps towards Ninomiya and he walked up to greet her. Then came another period of awkward silence and not meeting each other's eyes.

“I-” she finally opened her mouth but he chose the exact same moment to talk, cutting her off.

“I get terrible motion sickness,” he blurted out, “Can't get on boats or swings or roller coasters... even long car rides can get tough. But I really wanted to bring you on a date you would enjoy because I like you so much, and my friend said there's no way to go wrong with amusement parks so I just... I'm sorry,” he finished, bowing his head in shame, “I obviously lied about having to go to the toilet just to get out of actually riding that thing.”

She just stared at him, not having expected that, and then spoke up herself.

“I'm deathly afraid of heights,” she made her own confession, “Anything more than half a meter off the ground and I'm a shivering mess. But you seemed so hopeful and like you put so much thought into this that I didn't want to ruin it...”

He lifted his head again then and their eyes finally met. A second, then two, and suddenly both of them just burst out into laughter, the ludicrousness of the situation dropping on them in full weight.

“This was unbelievably ridiculous, wasn't it?” he asked, trying to catch his breath, and she nodded, still giggling.

“If we just hadn't tried too much and just told each other the truth...”

“Yeah,” he chuckled again and then the wave of amusement passed, although they stayed with grins on their faces. Shouko still felt stupid, and for sure he was the same, but at least they figured it out before they wasted the entire day on this farce.

“Well... there is still the haunted mansion...” he pointed out, trailing off, and she quickly caught his drift.

“And the mini zoo,” she added, her eyes getting a glint, “You can feed animals there.”

“A lot of different food booths too. I heard the food here is great.”

“I can't wait to try it,” she nodded seriously and then the two of them giggled again.

“So there's no need to go somewhere else?” he asked, and she nodded once more.

“No need at all.”

Both in agreement, they linked their hands anew and got ready to resume their date. Hopefully, more successfully this time.

Comments

[syayamea.livejournal.com]

How are u now? I hope you're ok...take ur time ok~
We'll wait for the update:)

This chapter is loveXD
Shoko is very cute and nino's excuse to not take the
ride is hilarious~~~
But I really like it that nino seems to try not making shoko
uncomfortable...shoko should just follow her feelings ne~

And i also thinks she looks awesome wearing high heels~

Cant wait for the next chap~

[radhaj.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your concern - I'm much better now, health-wise :)

I'm glad yo liked the chapter :) Nino's excuse was supposed to be a little comical as he's not entirely thinking straight xD
And yes, he's putting a lot of effort into making her feel comfortable around him :) And apparently, it's working out as Shouko is starting to trust him more and more :)

I think so too! Shouko has amazing legs, and high-heels would only further highlight them:)

Thank you for your comment <3

[euamokazusho.livejournal.com]

Ok... now I want to see Sho-chan in hotpants XD Aaaaawwww.... these two can't get more cute, it must be impossible <333 The date was perfect and funny and cute and sweet.... and they trying their best to not desappoint each other at the park, God, it was just.... Love it so much >.< Thanks for sharing ^^

[radhaj.livejournal.com]

Don't we all xD Even irl Sho's legs are super amazing xD
I'm glad the date seemed nice to you - it's actually not over yet! The next chapter is a continuation, still :)
Thank you for your support <3

[yumi-usagi.livejournal.com]

Their date is so cute. I love it. Can't wait for next chapter.
Thanks for sharing!

[radhaj.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked it :)
Thank you too <3

[hanarashi.livejournal.com]

I was eating chocolates yesterday while reading this and now I'm eating chocolates while typing this..the chocolates are so sweet because of reading this..actually this is sweeter than the chocolates I'm eating now hahahaahah it's so cute...going on a date with nino is so cute hahhhaah and i was touched by nino's confession that he's really afraid of those stuff but just hid it for Shokou-chan's sake which turned out that both of them are just the same..hahahahah but my wildest imagination and expectation told me that nino's not really afraid and eventually would get Shokou to ride on the roller coaster and nino would enjoy it and Shokou's so scared like hell and she would cling to nino all the time and she would cry on nino's embrace because of too much fear and there will be more sakumiya hugging...wahahahahaha <3 sorry my perverted mind..nyahhahha but this chapter is so cute.....I just took advantage of my little free time to comment on this chapter..thanks!!! mwaaahhhhh

[radhaj.livejournal.com]

xDD be careful not to get a toothache xD well, but i hope it is not TOO sweet either :)

I can understand a desire for more Sakumiya for sure xD But I think he would never GET her on the roller coaster if he already knew she was afraid, because that would go against his goal of making her trust him and be comfortable with him :)

Thank you so very much for leaving such nice comments, I honestly appreciate it incredibly much <3

[sky-fish7.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm sorry for not commenting on every chapter, I wasn't able to catch up reading this series until now but I really really like it! I like how sensitive you are with the whole topic and I really like where this seems to lead to! The characters of Shoko and Nino are so interesting and sooo cute! I loved everything with the song that Nino wrote for her and how nervous he was and how serious... and the date! It was adorable! Both of them feeling unease in an amusement park because of being afraid of heights and getting motion sickness but still concerning about what the other could like! (Nino's excuse to exit the line XD lol it cracked me up!)That was really cute! But maybe next time, Nino shouldn't listen to his friend but find something for a date that both of them really enjoy ^^ Ah, this is sooo cute... I'm already looking forward to the next chapter, thank you so much for sharing!

[radhaj.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is totally fine, I just am really happy whenever people DO comment, so thank you so much <3

Thank you very much for all your kind words. I was afraid people might find the scene a bit too ridiculous, but it seems that it was liked after all xD I just think that people sometimes do the stupidest things when they can't think out of nervousness, thus - Nino's pathetic excuse xD

Oh he definitely learned his lesson :) He normally never asks anyway, because he's confident in his own abilities >_> But this one time he liked his date so much that he was simply too afraid to screw it up somehow and thus asked for advice xD

New chapter is coming very very soon :) Thank you again!