Snow On The Peak

Chapter four

Kazunari took a deep breath as he went over the instuctions the lady gave him in the bread shop. Past the city, down an old road, keep going until you reach a small house. He walked outside the city and kept walking on the dirt road. The sound of the rocks on his shoes sounded peaceful, and it had been a long time since he'd actually listened to that sound.

Then, at that moment, he looked up and saw the house. It didn't look small. It looked like any other house Kazunari had seen, but looks could be deceiving. He walked up to the door and just as he was about to knock the door opened. "Uwa!" the lady exclaimed jumping back a little. "Ah, sumi masen! You're Ninomiya-san, right?"

Kazunari nodded. "Hai."

"Ohno Naru desu. I knew somehow you'd end up here. My aunt's very cunning. Satoshi just got home from work, so you can go in and visit with him. I have to go to town, but be nice to my brother!"

And with that, the lady ran off down the road leaving Kazunari just standing there. He finally mustered up the courage to go inside, and he carefully walked around the hallway until he saw a door partly open. He looked in and froze. The man he had kept thinking about was naked from the chest up. He must be changing, Kazunari thought looking away. But it couldn't get the image of the man's tanned beautiful body out of his mind. Finally, he got the courage to speak. "Ano... Ohno-san?"

He heard the man freeze before he shuffled to the door and opened it. He looked suprised when he saw who was at his door. "Ninomiya-san," he said. "Come in."

Kazunari did and he came and sat on a cushion at a small table Satoshi had out. Satoshi, now fully clothed, sat across from him. "Ninomiya-san, I'm suprised to see you here," Satoshi told him. "What brings you out here?"

"I didn't really have a chance to see you all that much when we met," Kazunari said, making up an excuse. The truth was, he wanted to see if his heart would react the same way it did before. So far, it was. "I wanted to formally introduce myself."

"Ah," Satoshi said. "There's no need for that Ninomiya-san."

"Ano," Kaazunari started. "You don't have to call me that. Mostly everyone calls me Kazunari."

"Okay, Kazunari-san," Satoshi tried. It felt weird, and it made his heart start to beat. "There's no need to formally introduce yourself. We've already met, but I do think that my aunt is wanting us to be friends," he chuckled. "She likes to get into other people's businesses."

"It's okay," Kazunari laughed with him. "She's a sweet lady. Matsumoto-san is nice too, and I think your sister might like him a little bit."

"I know. She's not very good at being subtle. I'm trying to arrange it so that they can be married."

"Matsumoto-san would make a great husband." Kazunari dreaded asking this question. "What about you? Is there anyone that you fancy?"

Satoshi froze and looked at him for a minute trying to think of what to say. "Not really," he said truthfully. "Or at least, not anyone that my family would approve of."

Kazunari frowned. "That's sad. If you love a person, you should be able to be with them and not care what your family thinks."

"I agree."

"Why wouldn't your family like them?"

"I would rather not say why," Satoshi said looking away. "I've only met the person a few days ago."

"Oh." Kazunari's heart jumped. Maybe it was possible.

"Kazunari-san, maybe you should head back," Satoshi said. "It looks like it might rain again."

Kazunari looked out the window and saw the dark clouds rolling in. "Ah, I guess you're right." He stood up. "I guess I'll see myself out." He bowed and as he was about to leave, he was stopped.

"Kazunari-san?"

Kazunari turned and looked at Satoshi, who had also stood up. "If you ever need a friend or someone to talk to, you can always come here."

Kazunari felt as if his heart was going to pound out of his chest. This wasn't normal. "Thank you Ohno-san."

"You can call me Satoshi. Mostly everyone does."

Kazunari nodded. "Thank you, Satoshi-san."