Deviant
Oneshot: 5181wc
Pair: Sakuraiba
Rating: Pg-13ish, stuff happens, but nothing too explicit.
Genre:AU and...Drama? Not angst but not entirely fluff....
DC: I do not own Arashi at this point in time, but a penny saved is a penny earned....>.>
Summary: As part of a program at his university, Sho takes on a delinquent 'little brother' but the job isn't quite as easy as Sho had thought it would be.
Note: This fic was inspired by Aiba's super old Shonentachi drama, in which he was a (hot) badass in a biker gang. As such, his normally sweet, happy-go-lucky demeanor has been warped intentionally. Do not expect the usual Aiba here. Simply because the world needs to see more of badass!Aiba :D Oh, and in my mind when I wrote this, Sho is 20, and Aiba is 18 so you don't think the ages are too x___o. Though the lovely umitsubame beta'd for me, there might still be errors/confusions because I was dead tired when I wrote it :D Sorry in advance for suckage
Sakurai Sho lagged behind his peers, trying to match the list of names and numbers on the papers in his hand to the faces in the cells they were passing. Even if he didn’t know which delinquent he would be assigned to, he wanted to be prepared.
It was his first time in a juvenile detention center, as it was for many in the ‘Little Brother, Big World program,’ for which he was glad. The cells they were passing now were barren, containing a bed and a toilet, with little privacy due to the shatter proof windows that faced the hall. A few of the prisoners were allowed books or newspapers, things they asked for as rewards for good behavior.
Sho paused in front of a cell, distracted by a ghost of movement from within. His eyebrows raised in surprise when a tennis ball appeared again, tossed up in a lazy arch. He chanced a step closer to the window, to see the inmate’s face, which was calm, serene even, as he tossed, caught, and tossed the ball again. By stepping forward though, he snared the attention of the prisoner, who’s large brown eyes locked onto his, after the ball had been caught again.
Embarrassed at being seen, Sho stepped back with a slight bow, his eyes flickering to the name plate and number on the door, before he scurried to catch up with his seminar group that was already at the end of the hall.
Safe within the confines of his peers, Sho looked though the list of ‘little brothers’ that were about to be released, accepting induction into the ’Little Brother, Big World’ program over probation and found the same name that had been on the door. ‘Aiba Masaki, huh…I…wonder what he did to get in here…’
Nearly a month later, Sho sat nervously in the bedroom of a modest house, waiting for his assigned ‘little brother’ to appear. He had been excited almost, to learn that he had been assigned the tennis ball boy, but that excitement warped to fret. Despite the seminars, and classes, he still had no idea what to expect, and could only hope that things would go well. To calm his nerves he ran over how he would introduce himself, if he should take the stern approach, or the friendly one…
Suddenly, and startlingly so, the door opened. It was the tennis ball boy, though he was much taller then Sho remembered, and lanky to boot.
Aiba glanced once at Sho, who was sitting at the small desk, before looking away. Shedding his jacket, and throwing his bag in the corner of the room, the boy remained silent, as if the stranger in his room were no more then a bug on the wall.
Fighting back a peeved outburst at being ignored, Sho cleared his throat, and began his speech. “I’m Sakurai Sho, fro-”
“I know who you are, so save your breath.” The boy spoke in a husky voice, his light brown hair framing his face handsomely when he turned around at last.
Taken aback at being interrupted, Sho persevered though gritted teeth. Closing his eyes he exhaled and continued. “I’m Sakurai Sho, from Keio University’s Little Brother Big World program-”
“Listen, Sho.”
Sho’s eyes snapped open, and he found himself staring at the ball of the boy’s nose, which was a hair’s breadth from his. Startled, he tried to move back, but a strong grip had closed around the scruff of his neck. Frightened, Sho’s vision shifted from the nose to the large brown eyes he remembered from the Juvenile detention center, though they were now cold, and determined. “W-What-”
Without blinking, the boy seamed his hand over Sho‘s mouth, and lowered his voice till it was little more then a threatening wind. “Shut up. The only reason you are here is because of my mother. I don’t want to be friends with you, I don’t want to learn anything from you. I don’t have any intention of following your little college club’s ’curriculum’ The only reason you’re here is so that my probation officer won‘t be harassing me night and day. Understood?”
Muted by the hand still over his lips, Sho nodded, their eyes still locked together.
“Good.” The grip was dropped, and Aiba stepped away.
‘I know they said at the seminar that it would be difficult to get him to open up, but this is insane!’ In the middle of his thoughts, Sho glanced at the boy, who was strangely headed to the window.
It wasn’t until Aiba was halfway out of the window, did Sho remember that he had been lead up a flight of stairs to get to the bedroom, which he translated much to late, into being on the second floor. As soon as the realization hit, he jumped forward, to pull the kid back in, but he was too late. Rushing to the window, afraid of what he might see, Sho let out a sigh of relief when he saw the boy was safe, standing on a small roof, probably that of the garage, but two feet below the sill. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?! That’s dangerous, what if you fall?!”
“There are worse things then falling from such a small distance.“ The boy rolled his eyes at Sho’s shouts from the window, and walked along the roof to a large tree. “What are you, my mother?”
“No, but I should call her in here!” Sho yelled defiantly.
“Like she cares.“ The boy grabbed hold of a branch, swinging nimbly to another, further down the tree. It pained Sho to realize that at the volume he had been shouting, Aiba’s mother who had shown him to the room a few minutes ago, probably heard all the ruckus, yet she hadn’t appeared to stop her son.
Recovering himself just as Aiba reached the ground, Sho persisted. “Maybe I care!”
“Give me a break.” Aiba laughed, though the sound was heartless. “After we met for the first time five minutes ago, you care about me? The only reason you signed up to be a ‘big brother’ is for your resume’s sake.”
“That isn’t fair!” Sho shouted, but the boy had disappeared around the side of the garage. After a moment, an engine was revved, and Aiba coasted from the garage to the street on a small motorcycle. It had once been red, but there were numerous dents and scratches on the vehicle that could be seen at a distance, scars from battle Sho realized with a hard swallow.
Pulling his hair back with his hand, Aiba pulled on a black helmet, undoubtedly worn more for it’s identity concealing properties, then protective ones. And then he was gone, speeding along the residential street.
Sho watched in silence, until the glowing red tail light was out of sight.
Unhurriedly, Sho gathered up his backpack, and made his way back downstairs, to find Mrs. Aiba drinking in the living room.
“A-ah…um…I‘ll be taking my leave now…”
“Perhaps the probation would have been better….” She said indifferently, before looking at Sho directly. “He’s always been a bit far gone so don’t feel obligated to try again next week. You’ll just be wasting your time.”
“I…I see.” Sho smiled weakly, bowing respectfully before letting himself out the door.
‘At the seminar meeting tomorrow,’ Sho thought, as he walked to the bus stop. ‘I’ll request an exchange for another kid…the tennis ball boy won’t even give me the time of day!’
As many things lately in Sho’s life, requesting for an exchange of little brothers didn’t go as planned. He waited though the entire lesson, to approach their presiding counselor, but as soon as the seminar ended, he was surrounded by nosy friends he was beginning to wish he didn’t have.
“Sakurai-kun how did it go?”
“About that I-” Sho made himself busy by fussing with his notebook before putting it in his bag.
“Are you kidding? It’s Sakurai, it was probably too easy for him!”
“Ah, wait no…it really wasn’t-” He glanced up in horror, dropping his bag with a loud thunk on the desk.
“That’s our Sakurai. I bet you’ll turn your little bro into the next prime minister!”
“What? That‘s not even-” Sho spoke, horrified.
“Haha, so true…if not a prime minister, then a famous Nobel prize winning scientist!”
“Now you’re just making fun of me! Please listen I really-” He pleaded.
“Shush guys, he’s trying to talk!” The group fell quiet, and a silence weighted with high expectations fell on Sho’s shoulders, heavier then the heavens borne by Atlas.
Defeated by the overwhelming guilt, Sho forced a smile, “I….I…………I’ll do my best.”
“What are you doing here?” The tennis ball boy Aiba threw his bag in on the bed, starring at Sho in the horrible but fixated way one would gape at a particularly deadly car accident.
Irritated once again at Aiba’s rudeness, Sho indicated a few books he had laid out on the desk. “I thought we’d study today. I know you’re a senior in high school this year, so you should be working hard for entrance exams. What’s your strongest subject?”
“English.” Aiba was stunned into an answer, but as soon as the word left his mouth, he woke from the trance. “I’m not gonna stay for this.”
And exactly as the week before, Aiba walked to the window, and forced it open.
“Why don’t you leave though the front door?” Sho spoke conversationally, walking over to the window much calmer then he had previously. “Your mom already knows you’re sneaking out by the sound of your bike.”
“It’s funner this way.” For a moment so brief Sho questioned himself, as he saw a smile, genuine this time, without a hint of sarcasm, on Aiba’s lips.
Then Aiba jumped out the window, onto the garage roof. He was halfway down the tree when Sho did something both very stupid, and unnecessary.
He jumped out the window too, and landed shakily on the roof below.
‘There is a big difference,’ Sho realized as he clutched the roof top when the vertigo hit, ‘between thinking something would be cool, and it turning out to be so. Oh god…don’t look down, don’t look down…’
Sho looked down, and let out a unique whimper like shriek.
Aiba saw the whole thing, and found it highly entertaining. Hugging the tree so he wouldn’t fall while laughing, Aiba spoke, “What the hell did you do that for?”
“H-help.” Weakly, with his vision locked on the cement driveway a deadly fall below, Sho pleaded.
“…You got yourself there, you can get yourself down. Unless….don’t tell me….you’re afraid of heights?”
“I-I’m not afraid of heights….I’m just af-afraid of falling from them.”
With an annoyed sigh, Aiba climbed back up the tree, “Quit looking at the ground and give me your hand, wuss.”
“Not a wuss…” But Sho was very thankful for the help, and took Aiba’s hand. It was a slow process, full of insults and teasing, but eventually Sho was on the ground, safe and unharmed, thanks to Aiba.
“You are a pain in the ass.” Aiba punched Sho’s arm, before heading to his bike, which Sho could now see clearly. Though the body was indeed worse for wear, it was obvious that it was taken care of well. Aiba kicked the stand away, and wheeled it down the driveway. “Why are you still here? Go home already.”
“Ah….” Sho’s mind was blank. It didn’t help that he felt he just survived a life or death experience after jumping out of the window. One thing he knew though, was that he didn’t quite want to leave Aiba’s company yet. “Um….are you sure you want to leave? We don‘t have to study, we could just hang out….”
Aiba stared at Sho again, but his expression was stoic and unreadable. Before he could respond, the sound of a dozen small engines could be heard storming down the street. Aiba sighed, pulling back his hair before pulling on his helmet, mounting the bike in the process.
“SEE YOU NEXT THURSDAY!” Cupping his hands over his mouth Sho shouted, as Aiba sped off, blending into the gang as it paraded by, a few with bats knocking over trashcans into the street.
“….if you haven’t been arrested by then.” He let his hands fall to his sides, listening to the disrupting fleet of motorcycles until they were indistinguishable from normal traffic.
“You must have no life.” Aiba sighed, not even surprised to find Sho in his room the following week.
“I have a life.” Sho pouted.
“Then you must not have a girlfriend.”
“I do if you must know.” Sho spoke happily, though things hadn’t been paradise with the girl he had been seeing from campus. They weren’t steady, and he knew she was seeing at least one other guy, if not more.
“You don’t have to lie to impress me. I couldn’t care less you know.”
“I’m not lying.” Sho pulled out his phone from his pocket, flipping it open so Aiba could see the wallpaper, a picture of the girl taken during their most recent date. “She’s my girl.”
Sho got the sudden notion that he had said something wrong, though he wasn't sure why. Aiba frowned, then, rather exiting the room via the window as he always had previously, he turned on his heel and left the room though the door, slamming it violently behind him.
Confused, Sho waited, either for the boy’s return, or the sound of the motorcycle. When neither came, he rose to his feet, and left the room as well. Descending the stairs, he was surprised to find Aiba in the living room, flipping on the TV like the most normal kid in the world.
‘Perhaps,’ Sho decided with a small twinge in his stomach that he blamed on stress, ‘the girlfriend conversation had nothing to do with his sudden desire to watch TV.’
Brushing aside the thought and feeling, Sho smiled, watching Aiba flip lazily through the channels. “You know….your mom left after she let me in. She also said I could help myself to whatever food is in the house…”
“So?”
“Are you thirsty?”
“Eh?” Aiba looked back over the couch at Sho, who had walked to the fridge. His eyes grew wide when Sho, with a triumphant grin, returned with two bottles of beer.
With the same smile, he held out a bottle.
His eyes never leaving Sho’s, Aiba’s hand closed around the bottle.
“Hi.”
“Ah…hello.” Sho blinked. It was the first time Aiba had ever opened the front door. He could sense instantly that today something was different.
“Come with me.” Aiba joined Sho on the porch, locking the door without waiting for Sho to agree.
“Um…but…you’re not…. taking me to meet your gang are you?” Sho tried to hide the tone of fear in his voice when he saw Aiba was wheeling out his bike.
“Do you want to meet them?”
“I’d rather not.”
“They aren’t bad people.” Aiba said, defiantly, defending his friends.
“I didn’t say they were.” Sho could tell it was a touchy subject, so he quickly changed topics, while walking over to the motorcycle. “So where are we going then?”
“On a date.” Aiba smiled, and Sho rolled his eyes at the obvious joke, taking the spare helmet Aiba held out for him.
Sho couldn’t decide which was a worse experience, dangling from the roof of the garage, or riding on the back of Aiba’s motorcycle. In both cases, it seemed his hands played the most important part. Holding onto the roof then, and clinging desperately to Aiba’s back now. Yet where the roof was solid and immobile, Aiba would lean forward, or into turns instinctively. After the second of these turns, Sho abandoned any hope of looking cool, and threw his arms around Aiba’s stomach, knotting them together desperately. Suddenly, unexplainably, he felt safe. Even though nothing other then his hold had changed, he could now open his eyes, and watch the city pass.
He smiled to himself, feeling he had conquered at least one fear, and had no way of knowing that Aiba was smiling too.
“…A zoo.” Sho stated dumbly, running his hand though his hair after pulling off the helmet.
“Is it? Ah crap…I meant to take you to the docks…” Aiba smacked his own head, his helmet under his arm as they walked to the gates.
“Shut up.” Sho frowned, paying for two tickets. “Seriously, why are we here?”
“It’s a d.a.t.e.o.” Aiba spelled out in English, making Sho laugh.
“Didn’t you say English was your strongest subject?”
“You can tell?” Aiba grinned, the smile spreading to his eyes for the first time, the sight of which made that stress borne twinge return to Sho’s stomach, with vigor.
“Fine. Be that way.…should I grab a zoo map?” With his thumb, Sho indicated the information center, where paper maps were free for the taking.
“No, I don’t need one.” Aiba set off towards the primate habitat, leaving Sho with no choice but to follow.
For ten minutes, they stared at the same cage. Sho snaped a few pictures with his cell phone, teetering on boredom after another five minutes passed. At long last Sho ventured. “Can we move on?”
“Not yet. That monkey looks suspicious.” Aiba pointed at a monkey that had been asleep since they got there.
“……..what do you think it’s going to do?” Sho asked, chuckling lightly.
“Throw shit at us.” Spoke Aiba, with total conviction.
“A-Aiba-kun…it’s not going to…it’s asleep.”
“That’s what it wants you to think. Trust me. I know monkeys.”
Sho marveled at the boy beside him. There was nothing similar to this Aiba at the zoo and the rebellious biker at home. Before he knew it, he was staring. Not at the monkeys, but at Aiba, as if seeing him for the first time, taking in small details such as the way the top of his ear poked out between locks of hair, the way his adams apple bobbed when he swallowed, or tried to provoke the sleeping monkey into action. Which brought his gaze to Aiba’s thick lips, a pink tongue darting out briefly for moistening purposes.
“Fine, lets go see the tigers…I heard a cub was born a little while ago.” Aiba stood suddenly, glaring at the monkeys, the movement breaking Sho’s trance.
“S-sounds good…”
For the next week, following the ‘field trip’ to the zoo, Sho suddenly dreaded the coming Thursday afternoon he was to spend with Aiba. He didn’t know why this anxiety suddenly set in, but it was sure as hell distracting to the rest of his life. The more he tried to focus, the harder it was, even during a small lunchtime date with his girlfriend, in which he failed to notice that she was hitting on a guy at the table next to theirs.
But time progressed as if to spite Sho, with Thursday arriving in considerably less time then a normal week, he felt, as he forced himself to ring the doorbell to the Aiba household.
“Masaki already left.” Mrs. Aiba yawned, without any sort of greeting when she opened the door. “He probably won’t be back till late, so don’t worry about today.”
“O-oh.” As much as he had been anxious, it was nothing compared to a settling disappointment caused by the news. ‘Is he avoiding me? Why would he though….we’ve made so much progress…’
The next week, Sho was relieved to see, Aiba was home, leaning against the bike, waiting in the drive way with two helmets.
“What happened to you last week?” Sho couldn’t hide his grin, as he took the helmet held out for him.
“I have a life too, you know.”
“It’s not like you have a girlfriend.” Chuckling, Sho climbed on the bike behind Aiba.
“What if I do?” The response, though muffled by Aiba’s helmet, felt like it had been shouted in Sho’s ear. And those stomach cramps came back, fiercer then ever.
And they were off, but they hadn’t gone very far when Aiba pulled over. “Go in there and buy us some drinks and snacks.” Aiba pointed to a convenience store across the road.
“Sure but…why don’t you come with me?” Sho pulled off the head gear and checked his wallet to make sure he had cash.
“I’m not allowed near or in convenience stores anymore.”
“Eh? Wha-……oh. Oh.” In the past month and a half Sho had wondered time and again what Aiba had done to get arrested and sent to juvenile detention. The information wasn’t provided though the seminar so that the ‘big brothers’ wouldn’t be biased against the ‘little brothers.’
“It was just vandalism…I didn’t hurt anyone.” Aiba, looked nervous for the first time, and the effect made him seem so much more human, closer to who he became at the zoo.
“It’s fine, Aiba-kun. You know it was wrong, and you were punished for it. I’m not your judge, or your probation officer.” Warmly Sho ruffled Aiba’s hair. “How was that, too textbook for a big brother?”
“Shut up and go buy the stuff.” Aiba pushed Sho away, muttering softly, a few minutes later, as he watched the college student shop for chips and soda though the windows. “Still spouting that ‘brothers’ crap….god he’s slow.”
“You pick the weirdest hangout spots.” Mildly Sho commented, as he sipped his coke swinging slowly on the swing set. A small park, consisting of no more then two swings and a slide was their destination that evening.
“Why am I drinking orange soda instead of beer?” Ignoring Sho’s comment, Aiba made a face after a sip from his can, swinging next to Sho.
“Riding on your bike is risky enough. I’d rather not having you drunk when we go home.”
They were quiet for quite some time, letting twilight dissipate into true darkness around them. Crushing his empty can between his palms, Aiba stood, throwing it into a nearby bin before walking to his bike. “Why…do you always come back?”
“…After the first day I nearly didn’t. I tried to swap you out for another kid in the program.” Sho smiled sadly at the thought. “I’m glad I didn’t though.”
“So you came to like me.” Aiba sat backwards on his bike, leaning his elbows on the handle bars.
“I guess so.” Sho blinked, throwing his can into the bin too, though he missed on his first try.
“What will it take to scare you away then?”
“E-Eh?” Assuming Aiba wanted to leave, Sho stood behind the bike, waiting for Aiba to turn around rather then face him.
Suddenly a hand was on the back of his neck again, though it wasn’t violent or terrifying as it had been the first time. Their noses came just as close if not closer, with Aiba leaning forward over the back of the bike. Sho could feel his heart rate accelerate, the blush forming on his face, at their closeness. So close that…
‘Our lips are touching.’ Sho realized, surprised because the action had been so gentle, so soft he hadn’t felt the contact at first. ‘Wait…that means we’re……kissing.’
Though he didn’t know when it began, he certainly knew when the kiss ended. Aiba pushed him away, and turned around on the bike, reaching to the ground where he put his helmet, pulling it on and waiting for Sho to do the same.
It was the following Monday evening, nearly four entire days later, while Sho was taking notes on the news for a communications class did he realize, quite out of the blue that he loved Aiba. It was a startling revelation, the physical sort that made him fall back on his bed, dazed. How it happened….when it happened…why…all those questions and more exploded chain reaction style in his brain, but none were more pressing then whether or not Aiba felt anything back. His finger tips ran over his lips as he wondered, ‘Who started that kiss? Perhaps I did it , accidentally, acting on feelings I didn’t know I had. Or was it Aiba? Moving forward just so the angle of our lips would match….’
By some miracle, Sho made it though his Tuesday classes. The entire time he was thinking of Aiba of course, so much so that he didn’t realize when his last class was over, and forgot to grab food as he walked down the cafeteria line for dinner. By late Tuesday evening, Sho had had enough. Which brought him to Aiba’s house of all places, at a very inappropriate time of night.
He paced on the sidewalk, debating with himself, as to what to do now that he was here, and whether or not he was too stalker like. What he really, really, and most urgently needed was peace of mind. Some kind of closure so he could stop his thoughts from obsessing about a person he was supposed to be taking care of as a little brother. ‘Thank god we aren’t though…or it would be so gross…well it already is gross because we’re guys, which makes us gay, but it could be worse so it’s.... maybe it’s ok…and if he rejects me then I won’t even have to worry about the gay part….oh god….wh-what if he does…reject me…’ Unable to bear his thoughts a moment longer, Sho steeled himself with a great inhale, and walked up the driveway.
Sho noticed first that Aiba’s bike was tucked away on the side of the garage, and with a glance at Aiba’s lit window, determined that his target was indeed home. The second order of business was getting to that window, the only means of which was the tree and garage roof method that was Aiba’s normal escape route.
For a very, very long time, Sho stared at the tree. It would be far safer to just turn around and go home, to confront Aiba during their normal meeting on Thursday. But that would mean two more days of suffering under uncertainties, of spacing out while thinking about what he could be doing with, and (though he would never admit it) sometimes to Aiba.
Sho inhaled deeply, once, twice, and a third time, summoning every last drop of courage he possessed. With a mighty exhale, Sho grabbed the lowest tree branch, and began his ascent.
From what he remembered though the fear-fogged journey down the tree so many weeks ago, there were five branches to grab, but only three footholds. He made it up to the second without trouble, though paralyzing terror was becoming a contender against his progress as he found the third, one he would have to swing to. Thinking of Aiba, of just the reward of seeing him as soon as he cleared the tree, Sho bit his lip, took the next branch in hand, and swung-
And missed.
“EEP” Sho squeaked, as he rocked back, the bark of the tree grating his hands as his full weight suddenly depended on them. Seconds passed in heartbeats as Sho held on for dear life, scared beyond measure. By some graceful act of god, Sho found a foot hold on the previous branch, and clung to the tree trunk, thanking anyone and everyone he could name that he had survived.
But he had to try again, because going down would be much, much worse after coming so far. Gauging the distance to the next branch again, Sho whispered another prayer, and swung forward.
And this time, he made it.
From there, getting to the roof was easy. The slope wasn’t near as severe as he remembered, or perhaps after the tree, it was just relieving to have something large and solid to stand on.
And then he was at the window. He could see Aiba, lying on his bed with headphones in his ears, mindlessly tossing a tennis ball against the wall. Sho smiled, the memory of seeing Aiba for the first time in his cell resurfacing.
Attempting to still his heart that had already been going over time during his journey to the window, and was only accelerating as he watched Aiba, Sho knocked on the window.
His timing wasn’t perfect, as Aiba was startled by the window, and failed to catch the ball that bounced back to his face. Rubbing his forehead where it was hit, Aiba crossed to the window, openly surprised. “If you think I’m going to want to study with you now, you’ve-”
“I like you. A lot.” Sho blurted out, biting his lip as the words were carried away.
“…so?”
“…What…um…how…me?”
“You want me to say I like you back?”
“T-that would be nice.”
“Hand me your cell phone.”
“E-eh? Why?” Sho removed the device from his pocket, handing it to Aiba.
“Her picture is still on it, isn’t…….what is this?”
“That sleeping monkey you said would throw crap at us when we went to the zoo. I thought it was funny so I made it the background…”
“What about your girlfriend?” Aiba persisted, thrusting the phone back into Sho’s hand. “Shouldn’t you be confessing to her?”
Aiba’s sharp tone hurt Sho, and he realized at once that like so many things when it came to this kid, it wasn’t going to turn out like he expected. “She‘s been cheating on me for a while…but why do you care?”
A shadow, visible even though Aiba was already silhouetted against the bedroom light passed his face. “Did that whore hurt you? Should I take care of whatever guy she was sleeping with?”
“W-what? Masaki, no!”
“…’Masaki’? When did we get so familiar?”
“Sorry…it just slipped…” Sho blushed.
“I’ll forgive you…only because you’re Sho-chan.” Soft wrinkles creased the corner of Aiba’s eyes, and Sho recognized fondly, the kind Aiba from the zoo had returned. “You can come in…if you want.”
“Thanks…” Sho stepped inside, his lingering fear of heights transforming into that of rejection. He stood dumbly in the middle of the room, as Aiba closed the window.
And then came the awful silence. The kind of silence that makes one think of the worst possible outcomes during any situation, all while making your stomach churn more violently then the sea during the storm of the century.
“W-well?” Under the turmoil his mind, heart and core were undergoing, Sho could mange only a feeble whisper.
“Well what?” Aiba plopped back on his bed.
“I like you.”
“And?”
“STOP MESSING WITH ME! Just yes or no….. please.”
Aiba laughed. It wasn’t his cold heartless laugh, but a bubbly one, warmer then a billion and a half suns. “Can’t you tell?”
Sho was speechless, his breath stolen by the grinning wonder on the bed. He was drawn to Aiba’s side, a magnetism he was thankful for, because without it’s help, Sho feared he would be struck still by that laugh forever.
Their lips came together again. It wasn’t exactly gentle, but that didn’t make it any less wonderful. And Sho was fifty percent certain that he initiated the kiss this time.
But for the third, fourth, and fifth kisses, it was hard to tell. Their breathing matched, heavy but excited, and piece by piece they slowly uncovered flesh, kissing in soft exploratory expeditions across the new territory.
Their hands laced, knocking gently against Aiba’s headboard as they switched from sitting to laying, from kissing, to…
“…Ma…Masaki…un..na…it hurts.”
“S-sorry…should I stop?”
“Never.”