Koisuru Boukun One-Shots

Dance With Me

[A fluffy one-shot]

Little white seashells and iridescent sea glass littered the Oahu coastline, making the sand glitter in the evening sun. The iconic sound and melodies from slack-key guitarist carried across the distant, lapping, ocean waves at the shoreline and brought with it the lulling calm that the island was well known for; certainly an upgrade from staying in Canada where it was far colder and lacked Japanese food.
Another research trip, suggested by Professor Fukushima, had brought Tatsumi all the way to the Hawaiian islands—which—he was admittedly excited for, aside from the fact, the professor had suggested that Morinaga accompany him. And it had irked Tatsumi to the nth degree when Morinaga hadn't given it a second thought when he said yes.
He had made an agreement with Morinaga; as long as the bastard didn't do anything he didn't like, he would have no problem with him accompanying him. And to Tatsumi's pleasant surprise, Morinaga had kept true to his word.
Although, upon their first steps on the island, Morinaga had suffocated him with a bone-crushing hug, and had mentioned something to the effect of being on a 'honeymoon' with him, which had Tatsumi blushing from ear to ear.
Not standing Morinaga's child-like demeanor, he had shoved the younger man off him and had stormed to the exit where someone, with a sign in hand—which had his and Morinaga's name scribed in kanji on them—waited for them; their greeter was their designated driver, and chauffeur, for on and around the island and university.
Something Tatsumi had quickly learned was that this island, in particular, had a lot of Japanese influence and became greatly appreciative of it; it meant that there were more Japanese people and Japanese speaking people—and that he wouldn't have to brush up, work, on his English which was also a relief.
He had also come to the conclusion that here he would more likely find some ramen places...
Once arriving at the university he and Morinaga where supposed to be researching at, Tatsumi had figured and planned a laid-back evening of recuperation and sleeping off jet-lag, but that idea was utterly shattered by the surprise welcome and celebratory, party thrown by the agriculture department for their esteemed, fellow, researcher; he appreciated the gesture but found no need for it, along with finding it a bit irritating; probably just another excuse for the American student's to have some 'fun.'
He had to concede that at certain parts of the party, he had grown some interests in the evening activities. Some of the female agricultural students were the infamous hula dancers the islands were known for, and Tatsumi couldn't help but watch with great interest; how they gracefully, yet almost sensually, swayed their hips back in forth to the rhythm of the music, how their arms moved so fluidly and languidly, that each carefully placed step told a moving story that correlated to the song they were dancing to.
At the dances, Morinaga had definitely seen the interest grow in Tatsumi's eyes—which only amounted to the young man's anxiety and jealousy that always seemed to bubble up in his throat—and made his heart twinge. So, Morinaga had taken it upon himself to pull Tatsumi's attention away from the dancers and to other things—such as himself; though it didn't really work and only irritated the older man.
Which brought Tatsumi to his current situation.
Quite a bit of time had passed since Morinaga had pulled his attention from the hula girls, and onto other things when he realized that it was already quite late. The older researcher had decided to take a step outside of the whole 'fiasco-party' that had been thrown in his favor.
He had become extremely irritated and couldn't quite place why he was feeling that way—or rather, didn't want to admit to himself why.
Throughout some point of the night, he had become quite aware of just how much attention his kohai seemed to attract.
He couldn't help but notice the bashful and coy smiles thrown in his direction; Tatsumi wondered if the idiot noticed the attempted flirting and was playing dumb or just completely oblivious to their advances.
Although he wished he hadn't, the researcher had caught a  younger girl, with sun-kissed skin and red-auburn hair, stealing glimpses of his tall, dark-haired, kohai. She didn't have the ideal Japanese beauty standard, but still lovely nonetheless—her bright childlike eyes had reminded him of Kanako. She was a little beauty, Tatsumi had to admit, but she certainly wasn't Morinaga's type.
Tatsumi had been standing next to Morinaga when she had introduced herself and asked him in earnest to dance with her.
And to Tatsumi's utmost surprise, the bastard had said 'yes!'
The fact that Morinaga said yes for some reason considerably bothered him, and though he tried to convince himself that perhaps his kohai was trying to be straight for the night—which he wouldn't complain about—it had still dampened his mood.
As soon as Morinaga had gone off to dance with the young girl, Tatsumi had decided to get a drink and sit at one of the many tables.
Though Tatsumi didn't know, Morinaga had caught Tatsumi's looks of displeasure—and annoyed glances—and watched as Tatsumi shook his head stiffly, as if he was fighting an inner battle.
Whether Tatsumi's glances were directed, or indirected, at him, was beyond Morinaga, but he nonetheless noticed.
Finally fed up with his irritation, Tatsumi found his way out of the party.
Tatsumi stood now on a back patio of the university that overlooked the ocean, and watched as the sun dipped below the horizon while puffing out smoke from his cigarette, just barely listening to the airy Hawaiian music still playing on the dance floor.
He didn't hear as the door to the patio opened and closed.
A gentle breeze blew at Tatsumi's bangs, blowing them away from his face and allowed the orange glow from the sunset to light his eyes. Morinaga stayed at the door to marvel at the man's supple beauty and the way he leaned against the railing.
"Senpai?"
Tatsumi's head whipped around to view the familiar voice.
Morinaga.
Tatsumi stomped his cigarette, putting it out.
"What do you want." Not a question—a demand.
"I saw that you had gone out a while ago and hadn't returned. I wanted to see if you were all right..."
"I'm fine, idiot, go away."
"Senpai, you don't sound fine... Whats wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong."
"Senpai," Morinaga tested.
"You're irritating, leave me be." Tatsumi clenched his fists.
"Please tell me whats bothering you. Have I done something to displease you?"
Morinaga saw a vein feather in Tatsumi's jaw and immediately regretted asking. Tatsumi couldn't help but snap.
"Why did you say 'yes' to that girl! Are you pretending to be  something that you're not?"
Morinaga was taken aback by the response.
Tatsumi's words flew out of his mouth, along with a steady stream of curses, but they went unheard by his kohai.
Before Morinaga could make out a response and process the words said by his senpai, Tatsumi began to storm for the patio door—hoping to retreat all the way back to their rented dormitories.
Was this jealousy? Morinaga wondered. Then, an idea struck. Morinaga whipped back around and called, "Dance with me, Senpai."
Tatsumi stopped dead in his tracks allowing Morinaga to catch up to him.
Morinaga took his hand and began to drag him back to the patio where Tatsumi had previously been. "N-no!" Tatsumi pleaded, "I don't even know how to dance!"
"That's ok, Senpai. Just follow my lead; I'm not very good either."
"I-idiot! What even makes you think I'll dance with you."
"Because you got jealous when that girl asked me to dance earlier and I said 'yes.'"
Tatsumi's face flushed beet red at the comment and huffily said, "I did not!"
Morinaga smiled at him knowingly; Tatsumi was just being his usual defensive self.
"Asshole! Why don't you just go back in there and dance with that girl some more!" Trying to pull free of Morinaga's grip on his wrist.
Admittedly, Morinaga had stepped on the young girl's toes one-too-many times—and had apologized for each time—and didn't want to hurt her toes any further than he already had; or any other girls toes for that matter.
"I said no! You asshole!"  The older researcher yanked free from Morinaga's grasp and collapsed to the floor and proceeded to beeline to the door.
"How cruel, Senpai. Are you really going to leave me all alone? No one is here to see us anyway." He pouted, genuinely hurt.
"No! I'd rather not make a fool of myself more than I already have, and you know I'm not a homo!"
"You don't have to be a homo to dance with someone, Senpai—" Morinaga broke.
All he had wanted that night was to spend time with the one he loved, and—for once—not do anything suggestive and simply be with Tatsumi.
Tatsumi caught the hurtful expression that had befallen Morinaga's face.
"Stop, just, stop..." Tatsumi's shoulders sagged. "What do you want me to do?"
"Just," Morinaga let out a pleading sigh and held his arms open, "Dance with me, Senpai. Please?"
Tatsumi bowed his head in frustration but stayed planted in his place. He looked at the door then back to his kohai. He sighed in defeat and took hesitant steps to his kohai. "If anyone sees us, know that I will not hesitate to hit you."
"It's just us, Senpai, I promise."
By now, Morinaga was used to his Senpai's empty threats—though he still cautioned depending on the tone of voice Tatsumi used—but he knew very well that the most severe punishment he would ever receive is a punch to the face. Maybe, perhaps, a kick to the groin—but nothing more.
Stepping into Morinaga's arms—and sensing no malice—Tatsumi allowed himself to be enveloped by his kohai.
Morinaga gingerly wrapped an arm around Tatsumi's waist and pulled the shorter man closer to himself and made his other hand occupy Tatsumi's.
Tatsumi rested his hand on Morinaga's chest.
Morinaga kissed the top of Tatsumi's head and watched as his senpai's blush substantially redden at the small gesture. Morinaga couldn't help but grin.
"Thank you." He said earnestly.
Tatsumi's response was a measly grumble—one that could be mistaken for a small grunt—but stayed in his kohai's arms.
Tatsumi could feel Morinaga's shoulders shake as the man let out a small chuckle.
Tatsumi's racing heart warmed at the gleeful sound.
The older man's heart began to calm as he rested his head in the crook of Morinaga's shoulder, inhaling his kohai's scent—pine with a hint of citrus.
Washed in Hawaiian starlight and aloha—love—the two swayed back and forth to the gentle music that coupled their hearts.
"I love you, Senpai."
"I know, idiot."

— — —

(A/N) I'm sorry I haven't posted more, life has been really chaotic school and family wise...
I have a lot of ideas that I'm writing down and hope to publish soon. I'll try to post once a week and you can be sure to see two books are in the foreseeable—and near—future.