Star-crossed [Chapter 2]
Title: Star-crossed
Author: Masuhisa
Pairing: Matsumiya
Summary: Based on Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Nino had been taught to hate his father’s other family. Up till now, he had done so, but what happens when he falls for the person who he had been made to abhor?
Disclaimer: Don’t own.
[Prologue][ Chapter 1][ Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Epilogue]
Chapter 2:
Sitting at his desk, staring at the blackboard, Nino wondered if he should really contact Jun or not. The latter’s handkerchief had been washed and folded neatly in his pocket, all Nino needed was the guts to call him.
It’s not like Nino didn’t want to see Jun again, he badly wanted to, but after his first two encounters with Jun, Nino noticed that he couldn’t control himself whenever he was near him. Besides, if he returned Jun his handkerchief, he wouldn’t have an excuse to call the latter. So, being the smart guy that he is, Nino decided to stall for time, and use his triumph card wisely.
Tapping a random tune using the end of his pencil, Nino continued to day dream about his ‘new found friend’. He didn’t really mind not paying attention to his teacher, after all, he was hoping that he would be sent to detention and then he’ll have the chance to see MatsuJun again.
Sadly, this teacher was quite lenient with him, and Nino managed to get away with day dreaming. While the rest of his class was packing up, Nino sat where he was and continued thinking about Jun. That was until Aiba pounced onto him from the back, screaming something incoherent.
“What?!” snapped a pissed Nino, angry that Aiba had gotten him by surprise and snapped him out of his day-dream.
“I asked if you wanted to go to that new arcade,” grinned Aiba at the thought of playing at the arcade which had recently opened several blocks away from their school.
Nino considered his two options. One, he could sit in class and think about Jun. Two, he could go with Aiba and have the time of his life. Then again, he could always go to the arcade and think about Jun. There, he killed two birds with one stone.
The walk to the nearby train station took only a few minutes. When they got there, there were tons of students from WISH High School already at the platform since their school was closer to the station, and Nino and Aiba could only wait at the back hoping that they could get onto the train.
It might have been their lucky day. Even with the sea of WISH High School students in front of them, the two friends managed to board the train, and were off to the arcade.
The train they were on was really ancient, resulting in many jerking and random tweaks. Nino nearly tripped over twice when the train halted too suddenly. Third time’s the charm. The train braked too abruptly, and Nino didn’t see it coming. Nino lunged forward with a gasp. He shut his eyes tightly, waiting for him to collide chin-first into the floor. But that impact never came. Instead, he was standing more or less upright, his head buried into something warm and snugly.
“Is this how you greet someone who lent you his handkerchief and carried you home?” asked a playful voice.
Nino straightened himself, and couldn’t believe who had just broken his fall.
“Jun?” cried Nino in disbelief, “what are you doing here?”
“I was at the other end of the train when I saw you,” replied Jun, “so I decided to pop over and say hi,”
Nino could not describe how elated he was when saw Jun again, it was like a dream come true for him, and he was about to hyperventilate when some honey-haired idiot decided to pop in.
“Hi, I’m Aiba,” smiled Aiba, offering his hand to Jun, “Nino’s best friend,”
“Jun,” the WISH student introduced himself, shaking Aiba’s outstretched hand, “So, Nino, how’s my handkerchief?”
Nino paused.
“It’s still in the wash,” he lied, subconsciously gripping Jun’s handkerchief in his pockets through his pants.
“Oh, okay. Do you guys take this train home? This is the first time I saw you two on this train,” he asked.
“We’re going to the new arcade!” exclaimed Aiba before Nino could reply, “Do you wanna join us?”
Not too long later, Nino found himself staring at the screen, mouthing hanging wide open as he registered the giant ‘You Lose’ flashing at him.
“No way,” muttered Nino in disbelief.
The only thing Jun could do was laugh at Nino’s stunned look, “I may not look like it, but I’m actually a pretty good gamer,”
“Rematch. Now,”
But sadly, after 1023 rematches spanned over 27 days, Nino still could not beat Jun no matter how much he tried or practiced. Not to mention all those money he spent on playing, by the end of the 27 days of straight losing, Nino was broker than broke.
“Damn, I’m out of cash,” pouted Nino, starring into his miserably empty wallet.
Looking at the adorably cute pout on Nino’s face, the corners of Jun’s lips tugged upwards as he noted his opportunity.
“If you don’t mind,” began Jun hesitantly, “I have this game at home. So if you wanna come over and play…”
“Yes!” cried Nino. A second later, he flushed so red he looked like a tomato as he noticed that he sounded very desperate.
But he couldn’t take back what he said (not like he wanted to), and he ended up in the living room of Jun’s house. Timidly, Nino followed behind Jun. Jun’s house was huge! There were three floors and a huge garden at the front of the house! Jun must probably be some lucky rich man’s son.
Fortunately for him, Jun’s parents weren’t home and his older sister had locked herself in her room, so walking through their living room to the staircase wasn’t that awkward for Nino.
That was until he spotted a photo frame sitting innocently on the bookshelf. A chibi picture of Jun wasn’t what caught his eye - it the man in the photo. Without thinking about what he was doing, Nino ran over to the bookshelf and took the frame in his hands.
There was no mistake about it.
The man in the photograph, which was so obviously Jun’s father, was the same man he saw in his mother’s wedding photographs. Nino wanted to put the frame back to its original position and tell himself that his eyes were playing tricks on him, but seriously, the evidence was right there in his hands.
“Nino? What’s wrong?” asked Jun worriedly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
If this were any other time, Nino would have died of happiness at the look of concern in Jun’s eyes. Nino was pretty sure he looked like he was about to cry any moment, how could he not? Just when he thought he found someone who he actually liked, he turned out to be from that family which he had hated ever since he could remember.
Gingerly, he replaced the frame onto the shelf. If he left now, Jun probably wouldn’t know that they were step-brothers. He was certain that Jun’s family hated his the same way his did. No matter how much he detested Jun’s family, he could not bear having Jun loathe him. It was just too much for him to bear.
But just as Nino was about to make a swift escape from the enemy’s territory, an ‘I’m home’ echoed through the living room, ringing loudly in Nino’s ears. He didn’t need to be a genius to figure out from that low pitch that that voice had to know that it was Jun’s father ( and well, his too).
“Oh, welcome home, dad,” greeted Jun, “I brought a friend over today,”
Nino stared at his feet, unsure of how to react now that it wasn’t just Jun and him in the room. He never thought he would have the honour to see his father, but he did know that his blood would boil if he ever did.
As his fist clenched, memories of his childhood started flooding his head, making him more and more angry by the second.
“Eh? Nino doesn’t have a father? That’s probably because he’s so naughty his dad doesn’t want him anymore,”
“Go ahead and tell your dad that we bullied you. Oh wait, you don’t have one,”
“I’m sorry, sweetie, but I can’t afford that game for you. The other kids have it because both their parents are working,”
“What a loser, he doesn’t even have that new Mario game,”
“I know your friends have been to Disneyland before, but I’m too busy with work to bring you,”
“What? Nino hasn’t left Tokyo before? What a moron!”
Nino was dead sure there was smoke coming out from his ears.
“So who’s this friend of yours?” asked their father.
But before Jun could answer, Nino strode up to the old man. Nino didn’t know if it was because of his anger towards his father or because of the casualness in his voice, but either ways, he went straight up to him and delivered a nice punch to his face.
“Ninomiya Kazunari,” he said, looking down at the man on the floor who was holding his cheek.
He saw the man’s eyes widen in shock, making him feel super good about punching him in the face. And just as he was about to leave, he caught Jun’s eyes. The look on Jun’s face showed that he had absolutely no idea what was going on, and Nino was starting to feel a bit sorry. After all, Jun had saved him twice.
Without another word, Nino stormed out of the house, tears streaking down his face. But his heart was bleeding faster than his tears were flowing.