Circle of Friends: Chapter 14
Title: Circle of Friends
Pairing: A pairing that consist of five people....
Rating: Pg-13
Jun lingered around as his eyes would occasionally fell upon the same spot, to the same person. He stepped closer to the desk before he cleared his throat. Sho gripped his pen tighter before he stopped writing and looked up.
“Do you know where Aiba-chan is?” Jun asked, firmly meeting his eyes.
“He told me he has a fever” Sho answered shortly.
“What…?” Jun said to himself. “Are you going to visit him after school?”
“Of course”
Jun nodded before he cleared his throat again. “You…are gloomy…though…” he mumbled, almost unclear.
“It’s not me, it’s the class” Sho answered, still shortly.
“I know” Jun said slowly. “It always happens when Aiba-chan is not around.” But then he looked back at Sho. “But still…somehow you forgot your math book, and that never happens” he said, his eyebrows rose.
“I think I’m just becoming an old man” Sho said as his eyes went back to his book, to where his hand had stopped writing. He couldn’t even construct the words properly because there were just too many things to think about. But as he kept on staring at his book, some very slow words came out from Jun’s mouth, too small, but significant enough for him to catch.
“The four of us aren’t here for nothing” Jun said, sounding irritated, before he turned, ready to walk away.
Sho pressed his lips and let go of his pen before he stood up.
“Together” He suddenly blurted out that made Jun to stop on his track and his eyes darted back at Sho. “Let’s go together…” Sho managed to say. And as soon as he said it, he could feel the tense in him disappeared, the sudden relief that washed over him was more soothing than he expected. “Do you want to go together?”
Jun frowned at him. He couldn’t believe what he has heard. How blunt, he said it as though we didn’t just wasted the whole year hating each other…
“Would you even bother to explain why your attitude is changing all of the sudden? Do you even realize how much time we have wasted hating each other? ”
Sho shook his head and without realizing it he was smiling for some reason; smiling at his own stupidity. “I was mad at you, but hate…” he paused before he looked back at Jun “Did you hate me?”
“Yes I did”
I hate you for not realizing how much I care…
****
Nino made his tenth shift at his standing spot, before he made probably his fifth throat clearing sound; still the awkwardness didn’t disappear. He swallowed before he made another glance and decided it would be his last one.
“Do you want to go and eat?” Nino asked finally.
Ohno lifted his head and looked up at Nino from his sketchbook. That look was brief, in fact too brief, the look itself wasn’t cold, but the briefness was. “Ok” Ohno said, without looking up. He left Nino with silence for awhile as he made his last sketch at the book and stood up as he closed the book.
“Why aren’t you looking at me properly?” Nino suddenly asked, as he tried hard to hide the disappointment in his voice.
“I am…” Ohno said slowly.
“If you’re angry at me just say it. If you don’t want to eat with me…why can’t just say it?”
Ohno didn’t reply. The silence made Nino frown even more. “I’m-I’m not someone else. I’m not that stranger that you feel you must not say no to. Or a stranger that you feel you must be polite to. If you don’t want to come with me, I want to hear you say it” he paused for awhile, as his eyes were reading Ohno’s face. Ohno’s eyes were still wasn’t meeting his which made him so angry he abruptly pushed Ohno to sit again.
“Don’t make me feel like I’m a stranger you can’t be honest with!”
Ohno kept his eyes to his desk; his face was low as he tried to hide his expression from Nino. “I’m angry at you” he mumbled. “I-I feel like you have lied to me.”
Nino suddenly felt some relief in his heart, the burden of watching Ohno’s replies that didn’t match his expression were slowly eating him from inside. Nino nodded slowly, before he backed away as he decided to leave.
“You don’t want to eat with me anymore?” Ohno suddenly asked, making Nino to stop on his track. He turned around to look at Ohno’s eyes which were already looking at him.
“Hmm?” Nino asked mildly.
“I was afraid if I tell you the truth you will not ask me to come along with you anymore.”
Nino stared at Ohno as he frowned a little at Ohno’s words. Does he even know what angry means? Nino made a small sigh as he walked back at Ohno and grabbed him by his wrist. “That was kind of wrong” Nino said as they walked out of the class, still hand in hand.
“What is wrong?”
“The way that you are angry at me is kind of wrong”
“Is there any other way to be angry?”
Nino’s grip at Ohno’s hand tightens as he smiled. “Never mind”
****
Aiba kept on paddling as hard as he could. The atmosphere around him was getting tense as he could see the glimpse of the students from his school. He briefly lowered his cap and paddled harder. This is bad…this is bad…this is bad… I don’t remember this many of them living in this area…
“Ah, that delivery guy looks like Aiba-san, doesn’t he?”
“Who?”
Oh no! Aiba quickly made a sharp turn and ended up at a small street with dead end. He threw his bike away and pressed himself to the wall as his eyes were closely watching the students who were passing by. He held his breath as the students slowly walked past the small street. When they were far enough he closed his eyes as he breathed out in relief.
“I need to get back home fast” he said to himself, while he lowered his cap again and mounted his bike. He quickly started to paddle again. As he passed by the houses that looked almost blur to him, different images started to play in his head.
“Aiba-chan…I’m waiting outside, what are you doing?”
Aiba quickly hid himself at the side of his bookshelf before he slowly ducked and made his way towards the window to take a peak. He watched him as he held his breath. Aiba swallowed and pressed his lips. He decided that he would have to say it. For the first time he would have to lie to him…
“I’m sick” He said before he faked a cough.
“Really? What is it? Can I go upstairs?”
“No! It’s okay, just a cold, you’re already late after all.” Aiba said before he swallowed a lump in his throat. “You should go. You’ll-“he faked another cough. “You’ll miss the train”
“It…doesn’t matter anymore”
Aiba made a frowned as he noted some strange tone in that voice. “You’ll be okay?” he spontaneously asked. “What’s wrong?”
“So you’re not going? You’ll be okay, right?”
“Oh! Right!” Aiba blurted out; somehow the fact that he was faking his own sickness had slipped his mind. He quickly faked another cough. “I-I’ll be fine. I’m at home after all”
“Okay” Sho said slowly before he cut the line.
Aiba frowned at the phone, before his eyes darted back at Sho who was already making his way to the street. He kept on watching until Sho was out of his sight. When the distance already swallowed the figure of him, the reality suddenly hit him. For the first time, for the first ever since he made the decision for himself, he felt like he wanted to cry.
“We’re not going to walk together ever again…”
Aiba made another quick turn. He paddled so hard he stood up as he rode the bike. He didn’t want to stop, even though he felt as though the time had stopped moving for him. He came into a halt in front of the restaurant and stood there staring at it without even bother to dismount his bike.
“Th-this is it?” He said to himself slowly. He had been repeating it to himself, but still, as he stood there staring at the restaurant, he knew he couldn’t believe it no matter how many times the phrase was repeated.
“Masaki”
Aiba looked at his father.
“Your friend is here”
“Sho-chan?!”
****
The ride was the most traumatizing moment. If silent could kill they probably had been the most vulnerable victims, but there were always that small and forced movement that saved them. It was either the flipping of Sho’s book or the tapping sound from Jun’s shoe. Still as they kept their gazes locked on other people, they knew that the wound of not being able to talk to each other normally again would slowly kill them anyway.
Sho closed his book slowly as he frowned. He wasn’t even digesting what he was reading, and his head had started to play games on him again. Tell him now or you’ll never do it ever. Just tell him now. “Matsujun” He began.
Jun stopped taping his shoes and looked at him; faint curiosity in his eyes, even though he had decided that his eyes should have shown not even the slightest interest. He looked away as he mumbled a simple “What?”
“If I tell you something promise me you’ll-stay calm…”
“Is there anything else that can make our condition worst? I can’t think of anything” Jun said as he began to take interest in his fingers.
“Rin…Rina-senseiandIarenotdating” Sho said under his breath as he stared at the floor.
Jun frowned as he quickly had his eyes on Sho. “I didn’t catch that”
“Rina…sensei…” he swallowed. “She’s a good woman…”
“Do you want me to kill you?!” Jun asked widening his eyes as he stood up. “Why must you suddenly bring her up? Are you an idiot?!”
“I guess I am” Sho said slowly to himself. Jun made a loud sigh. “I’m sitting somewhere else, don’t expect me to walk with you either” he said as he picked up his bag.
“We are not dating” Sho suddenly said, steadily this time, before he looked at Jun in the eyes. “We are not dating” he repeated.
Jun blinked. “You broke up with her?”
Sho shook his head. “No, I didn’t date her. I never dated her. It was a misunderstanding. You were wrong…”
Jun’s grip loosened and his bag fell on the floor. He stood there motionless for a moment, before his eyes started to blink repeatedly. “W-what?”
“I didn’t date her. She was Taichi-kun’s girlfriend, and I was asked to look after her. But since he already decided on your sister-“
“Wait!” Jun blurted. “You guys weren’t dating?” Jun asked, frowning to his limit.
“We weren’t”
“I-I accused you for something you didn’t do?”
“And I was so mad at you that I made an absurd decision not to explain…”
Jun slumped himself next to Sho again, while Sho leaned back in his seat. They sat in silence as they stared at the floor. At the feet that stood in front of them. At all those people who had nothing to do with them, but somehow staring at those feet gave more comfort than they could have by looking at each other.
“I would have believed you.” Jun suddenly said. “Come to think of it, I would have believed you”
Sho lifted his gaze towards Jun and he waited, even though in his heart he just wanted those words to stop flowing, because he knew that those words would hurt him and he didn’t want to know.
“Even if I saw you in bed with her, even if she claimed that you slept with her …If you have told me that you have nothing to do with her…I would have believed you”
Sho smiled a little at him, a smile that conversely expressed the expected pain in his heart.
“Thank you”
***
Hana frowned at the bowl of Ramen that was given to her. “Th-this is free?”
“Yes, you can have it. Since you’re not Sho-chan, you know. When I heard my father said that there’s a friend of mine waiting I really thought that it is Sho-chan”
“You don’t want to see him?”
“I…I sort of lied to him today. Even Hanabi thinks that I’m sick, right?”
“It was quite unexpected. I thought Aiba-san will never fall sick.” She smiled. “Since, you know what they say about…not…so-brilliant -people…they never fall sick”
“Oi! That’s pretty rude”
“It’s what they say. Not my theory”
“But it’s rude that you’re applying it to me” He said pouting. Aiba made a sigh afterwards. “I don’t think I can go to school anymore…” he said as his hand started to play with some dead leaves in front of them.
”Do you want to go?”
He looked at her, before his eyes started looking around cautiously. “O-of course I do. But you must not tell my father that. Or he’ll scold me for it”
“I think even your father want you to go”
“If you were in my place, Hanabi-chan, what would you do?”
She looked at him before she forced a smile. “I would cry.”
“You’re a girl after all”
“What would you do if they come?” Hana asked as she started to eat. “You lied, you know”
Aiba sighed. “Can I cry too?” He said.
Not long afterwards, the phone in his pocket started to ring. Hana watched as he widened his eyes at her and quickly grabbed his phone with trembling hands. He stared at the caller and immediately the color in his face drained as his face became pale. Aiba answered his phone after he swallowed the lump in his throat.
“He-hello?”
“Ma-chan, we’re coming”
“Now?”
“Yeah, we’re walking to your restaurant right now”
Aiba quickly stood up. He cut the line and stared at Hana with a panic look. “What should I do? They are coming. They? Does that mean all four of them? OR THE WHOLE CLASS?!”
“You mean like a parade?”
“A PARADE?!?! HANABI AND A PARADE?!!”
“Please don’t include my nickname in a weird phrase”
Aiba sat down again as he started to mess up his hair. “W-what should I do?”
However, even before the anxiety on Aiba’s face could disappear, the two guys appeared in front of him with a mild smile on their faces. Hana watched as the anxiety and the tense on Aiba’s face quickly soften, just as quickly as his face sadden. She watched the mild smile on Jun and Sho’s faces disappeared with every confessing word that came out of Aiba’s mouth. She saw how their disappointment with Aiba’s dishonesty gradually changed to mixed expressions of concern and anxiety.
“I’m sorry that I lied” Aiba said as tears started to swarm his eyes.
“Why must you feel that you have to lie to me?”
“Sho-san” Jun said, as he gave a quick nudge at Sho’s elbow.
“I just want to know” Sho quickly said. “I want to know why he thinks he can no longer be honest with us”
“I-I thought…wouldn’t it be nice if my friends don’t have to worry about me. Even just for a little while longer”
“Don’t be stupid” Both Jun and Sho said spontaneously.
It took another 15 minutes before Ohno and Nino turned up together. It took only ten seconds for Nino to give angry smacks on Aiba’s head as Ohno tried to stop him. Hana watched them as they sat together and made a comfortable spot under the huge tree.
And it wasn’t long before there were some muffled laughers.
Some comfortable silence.
And long lost smiles.
****
“You changed your mind?”
“No. But…I-If you can help with something I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll follow whatever you say”
“You’re willing to give up your plan here because you need help?”
“It’s very important”
“More important than your own life’s decision?”
“Right now…I can’t see anything else more important”
P/S: Sorry that there are so little of Ohmiya, but to include them more probably means to torture them more...somehow can't bring myself to do that T_T
Pairing: A pairing that consist of five people....
Rating: Pg-13
Jun lingered around as his eyes would occasionally fell upon the same spot, to the same person. He stepped closer to the desk before he cleared his throat. Sho gripped his pen tighter before he stopped writing and looked up.
“Do you know where Aiba-chan is?” Jun asked, firmly meeting his eyes.
“He told me he has a fever” Sho answered shortly.
“What…?” Jun said to himself. “Are you going to visit him after school?”
“Of course”
Jun nodded before he cleared his throat again. “You…are gloomy…though…” he mumbled, almost unclear.
“It’s not me, it’s the class” Sho answered, still shortly.
“I know” Jun said slowly. “It always happens when Aiba-chan is not around.” But then he looked back at Sho. “But still…somehow you forgot your math book, and that never happens” he said, his eyebrows rose.
“I think I’m just becoming an old man” Sho said as his eyes went back to his book, to where his hand had stopped writing. He couldn’t even construct the words properly because there were just too many things to think about. But as he kept on staring at his book, some very slow words came out from Jun’s mouth, too small, but significant enough for him to catch.
“The four of us aren’t here for nothing” Jun said, sounding irritated, before he turned, ready to walk away.
Sho pressed his lips and let go of his pen before he stood up.
“Together” He suddenly blurted out that made Jun to stop on his track and his eyes darted back at Sho. “Let’s go together…” Sho managed to say. And as soon as he said it, he could feel the tense in him disappeared, the sudden relief that washed over him was more soothing than he expected. “Do you want to go together?”
Jun frowned at him. He couldn’t believe what he has heard. How blunt, he said it as though we didn’t just wasted the whole year hating each other…
“Would you even bother to explain why your attitude is changing all of the sudden? Do you even realize how much time we have wasted hating each other? ”
Sho shook his head and without realizing it he was smiling for some reason; smiling at his own stupidity. “I was mad at you, but hate…” he paused before he looked back at Jun “Did you hate me?”
“Yes I did”
I hate you for not realizing how much I care…
****
Nino made his tenth shift at his standing spot, before he made probably his fifth throat clearing sound; still the awkwardness didn’t disappear. He swallowed before he made another glance and decided it would be his last one.
“Do you want to go and eat?” Nino asked finally.
Ohno lifted his head and looked up at Nino from his sketchbook. That look was brief, in fact too brief, the look itself wasn’t cold, but the briefness was. “Ok” Ohno said, without looking up. He left Nino with silence for awhile as he made his last sketch at the book and stood up as he closed the book.
“Why aren’t you looking at me properly?” Nino suddenly asked, as he tried hard to hide the disappointment in his voice.
“I am…” Ohno said slowly.
“If you’re angry at me just say it. If you don’t want to eat with me…why can’t just say it?”
Ohno didn’t reply. The silence made Nino frown even more. “I’m-I’m not someone else. I’m not that stranger that you feel you must not say no to. Or a stranger that you feel you must be polite to. If you don’t want to come with me, I want to hear you say it” he paused for awhile, as his eyes were reading Ohno’s face. Ohno’s eyes were still wasn’t meeting his which made him so angry he abruptly pushed Ohno to sit again.
“Don’t make me feel like I’m a stranger you can’t be honest with!”
Ohno kept his eyes to his desk; his face was low as he tried to hide his expression from Nino. “I’m angry at you” he mumbled. “I-I feel like you have lied to me.”
Nino suddenly felt some relief in his heart, the burden of watching Ohno’s replies that didn’t match his expression were slowly eating him from inside. Nino nodded slowly, before he backed away as he decided to leave.
“You don’t want to eat with me anymore?” Ohno suddenly asked, making Nino to stop on his track. He turned around to look at Ohno’s eyes which were already looking at him.
“Hmm?” Nino asked mildly.
“I was afraid if I tell you the truth you will not ask me to come along with you anymore.”
Nino stared at Ohno as he frowned a little at Ohno’s words. Does he even know what angry means? Nino made a small sigh as he walked back at Ohno and grabbed him by his wrist. “That was kind of wrong” Nino said as they walked out of the class, still hand in hand.
“What is wrong?”
“The way that you are angry at me is kind of wrong”
“Is there any other way to be angry?”
Nino’s grip at Ohno’s hand tightens as he smiled. “Never mind”
****
Aiba kept on paddling as hard as he could. The atmosphere around him was getting tense as he could see the glimpse of the students from his school. He briefly lowered his cap and paddled harder. This is bad…this is bad…this is bad… I don’t remember this many of them living in this area…
“Ah, that delivery guy looks like Aiba-san, doesn’t he?”
“Who?”
Oh no! Aiba quickly made a sharp turn and ended up at a small street with dead end. He threw his bike away and pressed himself to the wall as his eyes were closely watching the students who were passing by. He held his breath as the students slowly walked past the small street. When they were far enough he closed his eyes as he breathed out in relief.
“I need to get back home fast” he said to himself, while he lowered his cap again and mounted his bike. He quickly started to paddle again. As he passed by the houses that looked almost blur to him, different images started to play in his head.
“Aiba-chan…I’m waiting outside, what are you doing?”
Aiba quickly hid himself at the side of his bookshelf before he slowly ducked and made his way towards the window to take a peak. He watched him as he held his breath. Aiba swallowed and pressed his lips. He decided that he would have to say it. For the first time he would have to lie to him…
“I’m sick” He said before he faked a cough.
“Really? What is it? Can I go upstairs?”
“No! It’s okay, just a cold, you’re already late after all.” Aiba said before he swallowed a lump in his throat. “You should go. You’ll-“he faked another cough. “You’ll miss the train”
“It…doesn’t matter anymore”
Aiba made a frowned as he noted some strange tone in that voice. “You’ll be okay?” he spontaneously asked. “What’s wrong?”
“So you’re not going? You’ll be okay, right?”
“Oh! Right!” Aiba blurted out; somehow the fact that he was faking his own sickness had slipped his mind. He quickly faked another cough. “I-I’ll be fine. I’m at home after all”
“Okay” Sho said slowly before he cut the line.
Aiba frowned at the phone, before his eyes darted back at Sho who was already making his way to the street. He kept on watching until Sho was out of his sight. When the distance already swallowed the figure of him, the reality suddenly hit him. For the first time, for the first ever since he made the decision for himself, he felt like he wanted to cry.
“We’re not going to walk together ever again…”
Aiba made another quick turn. He paddled so hard he stood up as he rode the bike. He didn’t want to stop, even though he felt as though the time had stopped moving for him. He came into a halt in front of the restaurant and stood there staring at it without even bother to dismount his bike.
“Th-this is it?” He said to himself slowly. He had been repeating it to himself, but still, as he stood there staring at the restaurant, he knew he couldn’t believe it no matter how many times the phrase was repeated.
“Masaki”
Aiba looked at his father.
“Your friend is here”
“Sho-chan?!”
****
The ride was the most traumatizing moment. If silent could kill they probably had been the most vulnerable victims, but there were always that small and forced movement that saved them. It was either the flipping of Sho’s book or the tapping sound from Jun’s shoe. Still as they kept their gazes locked on other people, they knew that the wound of not being able to talk to each other normally again would slowly kill them anyway.
Sho closed his book slowly as he frowned. He wasn’t even digesting what he was reading, and his head had started to play games on him again. Tell him now or you’ll never do it ever. Just tell him now. “Matsujun” He began.
Jun stopped taping his shoes and looked at him; faint curiosity in his eyes, even though he had decided that his eyes should have shown not even the slightest interest. He looked away as he mumbled a simple “What?”
“If I tell you something promise me you’ll-stay calm…”
“Is there anything else that can make our condition worst? I can’t think of anything” Jun said as he began to take interest in his fingers.
“Rin…Rina-senseiandIarenotdating” Sho said under his breath as he stared at the floor.
Jun frowned as he quickly had his eyes on Sho. “I didn’t catch that”
“Rina…sensei…” he swallowed. “She’s a good woman…”
“Do you want me to kill you?!” Jun asked widening his eyes as he stood up. “Why must you suddenly bring her up? Are you an idiot?!”
“I guess I am” Sho said slowly to himself. Jun made a loud sigh. “I’m sitting somewhere else, don’t expect me to walk with you either” he said as he picked up his bag.
“We are not dating” Sho suddenly said, steadily this time, before he looked at Jun in the eyes. “We are not dating” he repeated.
Jun blinked. “You broke up with her?”
Sho shook his head. “No, I didn’t date her. I never dated her. It was a misunderstanding. You were wrong…”
Jun’s grip loosened and his bag fell on the floor. He stood there motionless for a moment, before his eyes started to blink repeatedly. “W-what?”
“I didn’t date her. She was Taichi-kun’s girlfriend, and I was asked to look after her. But since he already decided on your sister-“
“Wait!” Jun blurted. “You guys weren’t dating?” Jun asked, frowning to his limit.
“We weren’t”
“I-I accused you for something you didn’t do?”
“And I was so mad at you that I made an absurd decision not to explain…”
Jun slumped himself next to Sho again, while Sho leaned back in his seat. They sat in silence as they stared at the floor. At the feet that stood in front of them. At all those people who had nothing to do with them, but somehow staring at those feet gave more comfort than they could have by looking at each other.
“I would have believed you.” Jun suddenly said. “Come to think of it, I would have believed you”
Sho lifted his gaze towards Jun and he waited, even though in his heart he just wanted those words to stop flowing, because he knew that those words would hurt him and he didn’t want to know.
“Even if I saw you in bed with her, even if she claimed that you slept with her …If you have told me that you have nothing to do with her…I would have believed you”
Sho smiled a little at him, a smile that conversely expressed the expected pain in his heart.
“Thank you”
***
Hana frowned at the bowl of Ramen that was given to her. “Th-this is free?”
“Yes, you can have it. Since you’re not Sho-chan, you know. When I heard my father said that there’s a friend of mine waiting I really thought that it is Sho-chan”
“You don’t want to see him?”
“I…I sort of lied to him today. Even Hanabi thinks that I’m sick, right?”
“It was quite unexpected. I thought Aiba-san will never fall sick.” She smiled. “Since, you know what they say about…not…so-brilliant -people…they never fall sick”
“Oi! That’s pretty rude”
“It’s what they say. Not my theory”
“But it’s rude that you’re applying it to me” He said pouting. Aiba made a sigh afterwards. “I don’t think I can go to school anymore…” he said as his hand started to play with some dead leaves in front of them.
”Do you want to go?”
He looked at her, before his eyes started looking around cautiously. “O-of course I do. But you must not tell my father that. Or he’ll scold me for it”
“I think even your father want you to go”
“If you were in my place, Hanabi-chan, what would you do?”
She looked at him before she forced a smile. “I would cry.”
“You’re a girl after all”
“What would you do if they come?” Hana asked as she started to eat. “You lied, you know”
Aiba sighed. “Can I cry too?” He said.
Not long afterwards, the phone in his pocket started to ring. Hana watched as he widened his eyes at her and quickly grabbed his phone with trembling hands. He stared at the caller and immediately the color in his face drained as his face became pale. Aiba answered his phone after he swallowed the lump in his throat.
“He-hello?”
“Ma-chan, we’re coming”
“Now?”
“Yeah, we’re walking to your restaurant right now”
Aiba quickly stood up. He cut the line and stared at Hana with a panic look. “What should I do? They are coming. They? Does that mean all four of them? OR THE WHOLE CLASS?!”
“You mean like a parade?”
“A PARADE?!?! HANABI AND A PARADE?!!”
“Please don’t include my nickname in a weird phrase”
Aiba sat down again as he started to mess up his hair. “W-what should I do?”
However, even before the anxiety on Aiba’s face could disappear, the two guys appeared in front of him with a mild smile on their faces. Hana watched as the anxiety and the tense on Aiba’s face quickly soften, just as quickly as his face sadden. She watched the mild smile on Jun and Sho’s faces disappeared with every confessing word that came out of Aiba’s mouth. She saw how their disappointment with Aiba’s dishonesty gradually changed to mixed expressions of concern and anxiety.
“I’m sorry that I lied” Aiba said as tears started to swarm his eyes.
“Why must you feel that you have to lie to me?”
“Sho-san” Jun said, as he gave a quick nudge at Sho’s elbow.
“I just want to know” Sho quickly said. “I want to know why he thinks he can no longer be honest with us”
“I-I thought…wouldn’t it be nice if my friends don’t have to worry about me. Even just for a little while longer”
“Don’t be stupid” Both Jun and Sho said spontaneously.
It took another 15 minutes before Ohno and Nino turned up together. It took only ten seconds for Nino to give angry smacks on Aiba’s head as Ohno tried to stop him. Hana watched them as they sat together and made a comfortable spot under the huge tree.
And it wasn’t long before there were some muffled laughers.
Some comfortable silence.
And long lost smiles.
****
“You changed your mind?”
“No. But…I-If you can help with something I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll follow whatever you say”
“You’re willing to give up your plan here because you need help?”
“It’s very important”
“More important than your own life’s decision?”
“Right now…I can’t see anything else more important”
P/S: Sorry that there are so little of Ohmiya, but to include them more probably means to torture them more...somehow can't bring myself to do that T_T