Arashi: Green (09)
FANDOM: Arashi
RATING: G
PAIRING: Sakuraiba, aimiya friendship
DATE: February 28th, 2010
NOTES: I don't own Arashi.
Chapter Eight | Chapter Ten
CHAPTER NINE
Nino was sulking. Aiba probably wouldn’t quite have phrased it that way, but that was certainly how Sho saw it. He avoided Sho and Aiba throughout the next week, which was difficult, since Aiba was his neighbour and Sho sat next to him in school, and he had stated that the only reason he was still going to show up at practise was because he was a professional and didn’t let the fact that he had two traitorous idiots as band mates stop him from practising.
Aiba was nearly in tears when Nino had said that, but Sho just squeezed his hand comfortingly and said quietly that Nino would have to learn to get over himself. One good thing about what happened, though, was that he and Aiba told Sugimoto about their relationship, as there was no way they could hide the tension between Aiba, Nino and Sho from the drummer.
Sugimoto was surprised to hear the news, but he took it rather well, especially when compared to Nino’s reaction. But then again, Sho supposed, judging from Sugimoto’s choice of girlfriend, the drummer had to be an open-minded guy. It was pretty strange, really, because from outward appearances Sugimoto looked like your average school nerd. Which goes to show that appearances are deceiving, Sho supposed. He had thought that Nino was a pretty rational guy, but it seemed like Nino tends to abandon all reason when it came to Aiba.
Since Nino was pretending that Sho didn’t exist, Sho had retreated back into his usual solitude in school. Somehow, it was a lot harder than it used to be. Partly it was because since he and Nino started to hang out in school, his classmates had started to see him in a different way. For the first time, he didn’t seem so unreachable - it was as if they were thinking, if Ninomiya-kun could befriend Sakurai-kun, then why couldn’t they? No one really approached either of them, but if a lot of their classmates talked about them a lot when they weren’t friends, when they have started to pair up in school they seemed to be the main subject of all the gossips. Sho didn’t really used to care about all that, but now that even Nino was ignoring him, he was suddenly aware of everything people had said about him.
“He must be pretty terrible after all, since even someone like Ninomiya-kun had stopped talking to him...”
“Yeah, I heard that his family’s rich, so he must be really stuck up...”
Laughter. “That’s a well-known fact. Everyone could see that he thinks he’s better than everyone; look at the way he never really participates in anything, like he’s too good to hang out with the likes of us...”
Sho pretended not to hear, and busied himself with his notes, as he usually did. He wondered what was going to happen after school. It was Friday, and usually he and Nino would go back together to meet up Aiba and Sugimoto, but now... when the last school bell rang, signifying the end of the day, he glanced at Nino. The other boy didn’t even look his way as he grabbed his bag and walked off to the music club’s room, where they had left their guitars for safe keeping while at school.
He felt like confronting Nino, because it seemed really childish to ignore him now when they were going to have to rehearse together anyway, but he didn’t really feel like he had the energy to do so. He was more concerned about Aiba, who was pretty broken up about how things had turned out.
})i({
As he walked out of the school entrance, a voice called out. “Sakurai-kun.”
Sho turned to see a girl behind him. She had long dark hair, which she kept in a ponytail, and she was taking off her glasses to keep inside her bag. Akiya Michiyo, Sho thought, remembering her name. She was in his class, but they had never spoken to each other before this. He remembered her well, though, because she was pretty loud and outspoken in class, and was cheerful most of the time, which reminded Sho a little of Aiba.
“Did you and Ninomiya-kun have a fight?” she asked him. Normally Sho would dismiss her question, thinking that she was only gathering information to gossip about tomorrow, but she sounded truly concerned. He frowned, wondering why it was any of her business.
“Sorry for butting into your problems,” she said. “It’s just that you and Ninomiya-kun remind me of my boyfriend and his best friend, so I kind of got a little more interested than what’s appropriate, I guess.”
Sho smiled back. “Thanks for asking,” he said to her. “It’s nice of you.”
Michiyo noted the fact that Sho completely avoided answering her question, so she pointed to his guitar, changing the subject. “Do you play that, or is it just to look cool?”
“Yeah, I play it,” Sho said, a little embarrassed. No one at school knew that he and Nino were in a band, although he supposed that anyone could guess it, since they would bring their guitars to school on Fridays. “I’m in a band, right now.”
“That’s cool,” Michiyo said. “I wish I could play instruments, but it seems like my only talent is studying. Although it’s not cute at all that you’re the top student in school and according to rumours, you’re filthy rich, as if most of the students here aren’t, haha, and now you’re saying you’re in a band? Too perfect to believe. I think you should try to cultivate a flaw or two, just to maintain a balance.” She said it teasingly, and Sho couldn’t help but smile back.
“Believe me, I have more than my fair share of flaws,” Sho said. “Haven’t you heard the rumours? Apparently I’m an evil masochist who tortures his servants for pleasure. Not to mention I hate all humankind and spend the entire school year planning to burn everything to the ground as soon as I graduate.”
Michiyo laughed. “I like you,” she stated right then, as if she had seriously thought about it, and considered Sho as a worthy friend. “All right, see you later, I guess... my boyfriend’s waiting for me over there,” she said, pointing. Sho saw a skinny guy with spiked hair and a scowl on his face in the direction where she was pointing, and assumed she was talking about him. “Good luck with the band, and hope you and Ninomiya-kun settle things between you!” she called out as she walked away, waving goodbye.
})i({
When Sho reached the train platform, Nino was still there, waiting for the train. Sho walked up to Nino, and asked, “don’t you think the silent treatment is a little childish?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nino said. “I’m not talking to you because I have nothing to talk to you about, not because I’m trying to be all passive-aggressive or whatever.”
“Mmm,” Sho murmured in acknowledgement, and didn’t move away. The two of them stood side by side at the platform, Nino looking straight ahead, Sho looking at Nino. “Look, I’m sorry about not telling you earlier,” Sho said.
“It’s your business, not mine,” Nino snapped, turning to glare at Sho. “I should’ve guessed, since I haven’t seen either of you much in the last week. What, you’ve been dating all this time and decided not to tell me?” He wasn’t really thinking about what he was saying, but when he saw the guilt in Sho’s face, he realised that he had hit on the truth. He swore. “Seems like I’ve hit the bull’s eye.”
He couldn’t think of what else to say, as a lot of different thoughts and feelings churned within him. He wanted to tell Sho, stay away from my best friend. He wanted to demand, why didn’t you tell me? He wanted to shake both Sho and Aiba and say, you don’t date band members; it’s only going to end badly. He wanted to give both of them a smack in the head so that they would realise that they were both guys, and that dating each other would be weird. He felt betrayed, and abandoned, somehow, on top of the anger he felt towards Sho (he blamed Sho entirely) and the increasing concern he had for Aiba (suddenly all the rumours about Sho in school seemed like they might be true, and he was starting to imagine all the scenarios in which Sho would hurt Aiba). Amidst all those feelings, there was the hurt that Aiba didn’t tell him anything, and the panic rising at the thought that the reason Aiba had been distant in the last week was because his friend no longer needed him, now that he had Sho.
Sho was about to reply, but the train arrived, and Nino walked in without glancing back at him. The door was already closing when Sho hurried in, and it almost closed on him. Neither of the boys spoke on rest of the way to the studio.
})i({
Nino didn’t say much during practise, except to bark out instructions. Aiba looked utterly miserable, while Sugimoto, strangely enough, seemed completely at ease with how everyone was acting. When Nino called out their break time, both Sho and Aiba couldn’t wait to get out of the studio. For once, Sho didn’t care about what other people thought, and pulled Aiba into a hug as soon as they were in the reception area.
“I don’t think I can take it anymore,” Aiba said, his voice muffled. “I just want to be friends with Nino again.”
“I know,” Sho murmured. “I’m sorry.” He missed Nino’s friendship, too, but in a way he felt like he deserved Nino’s anger. He just wished that Aiba would be spared from it. Sho felt like he was to blame for what was going on, although the logical part of his mind told him that all three of them played a part in the turn of events. Knowing something didn’t really change how you felt about it, he realised, as he still felt like everything was his fault.
~ to be continued ~
Chapter Eight | Chapter Ten
Marineko's Notes:
Well, since this fic seems to be pretty Aimiya-centric, in that BFF kind of way, (the alternate title, Apastron, refers to them too) I'm adding the Aimiya tag back.
Hope that you liked it?
RATING: G
PAIRING: Sakuraiba, aimiya friendship
DATE: February 28th, 2010
NOTES: I don't own Arashi.
Chapter Eight | Chapter Ten
CHAPTER NINE
Nino was sulking. Aiba probably wouldn’t quite have phrased it that way, but that was certainly how Sho saw it. He avoided Sho and Aiba throughout the next week, which was difficult, since Aiba was his neighbour and Sho sat next to him in school, and he had stated that the only reason he was still going to show up at practise was because he was a professional and didn’t let the fact that he had two traitorous idiots as band mates stop him from practising.
Aiba was nearly in tears when Nino had said that, but Sho just squeezed his hand comfortingly and said quietly that Nino would have to learn to get over himself. One good thing about what happened, though, was that he and Aiba told Sugimoto about their relationship, as there was no way they could hide the tension between Aiba, Nino and Sho from the drummer.
Sugimoto was surprised to hear the news, but he took it rather well, especially when compared to Nino’s reaction. But then again, Sho supposed, judging from Sugimoto’s choice of girlfriend, the drummer had to be an open-minded guy. It was pretty strange, really, because from outward appearances Sugimoto looked like your average school nerd. Which goes to show that appearances are deceiving, Sho supposed. He had thought that Nino was a pretty rational guy, but it seemed like Nino tends to abandon all reason when it came to Aiba.
Since Nino was pretending that Sho didn’t exist, Sho had retreated back into his usual solitude in school. Somehow, it was a lot harder than it used to be. Partly it was because since he and Nino started to hang out in school, his classmates had started to see him in a different way. For the first time, he didn’t seem so unreachable - it was as if they were thinking, if Ninomiya-kun could befriend Sakurai-kun, then why couldn’t they? No one really approached either of them, but if a lot of their classmates talked about them a lot when they weren’t friends, when they have started to pair up in school they seemed to be the main subject of all the gossips. Sho didn’t really used to care about all that, but now that even Nino was ignoring him, he was suddenly aware of everything people had said about him.
“He must be pretty terrible after all, since even someone like Ninomiya-kun had stopped talking to him...”
“Yeah, I heard that his family’s rich, so he must be really stuck up...”
Laughter. “That’s a well-known fact. Everyone could see that he thinks he’s better than everyone; look at the way he never really participates in anything, like he’s too good to hang out with the likes of us...”
Sho pretended not to hear, and busied himself with his notes, as he usually did. He wondered what was going to happen after school. It was Friday, and usually he and Nino would go back together to meet up Aiba and Sugimoto, but now... when the last school bell rang, signifying the end of the day, he glanced at Nino. The other boy didn’t even look his way as he grabbed his bag and walked off to the music club’s room, where they had left their guitars for safe keeping while at school.
He felt like confronting Nino, because it seemed really childish to ignore him now when they were going to have to rehearse together anyway, but he didn’t really feel like he had the energy to do so. He was more concerned about Aiba, who was pretty broken up about how things had turned out.
})i({
As he walked out of the school entrance, a voice called out. “Sakurai-kun.”
Sho turned to see a girl behind him. She had long dark hair, which she kept in a ponytail, and she was taking off her glasses to keep inside her bag. Akiya Michiyo, Sho thought, remembering her name. She was in his class, but they had never spoken to each other before this. He remembered her well, though, because she was pretty loud and outspoken in class, and was cheerful most of the time, which reminded Sho a little of Aiba.
“Did you and Ninomiya-kun have a fight?” she asked him. Normally Sho would dismiss her question, thinking that she was only gathering information to gossip about tomorrow, but she sounded truly concerned. He frowned, wondering why it was any of her business.
“Sorry for butting into your problems,” she said. “It’s just that you and Ninomiya-kun remind me of my boyfriend and his best friend, so I kind of got a little more interested than what’s appropriate, I guess.”
Sho smiled back. “Thanks for asking,” he said to her. “It’s nice of you.”
Michiyo noted the fact that Sho completely avoided answering her question, so she pointed to his guitar, changing the subject. “Do you play that, or is it just to look cool?”
“Yeah, I play it,” Sho said, a little embarrassed. No one at school knew that he and Nino were in a band, although he supposed that anyone could guess it, since they would bring their guitars to school on Fridays. “I’m in a band, right now.”
“That’s cool,” Michiyo said. “I wish I could play instruments, but it seems like my only talent is studying. Although it’s not cute at all that you’re the top student in school and according to rumours, you’re filthy rich, as if most of the students here aren’t, haha, and now you’re saying you’re in a band? Too perfect to believe. I think you should try to cultivate a flaw or two, just to maintain a balance.” She said it teasingly, and Sho couldn’t help but smile back.
“Believe me, I have more than my fair share of flaws,” Sho said. “Haven’t you heard the rumours? Apparently I’m an evil masochist who tortures his servants for pleasure. Not to mention I hate all humankind and spend the entire school year planning to burn everything to the ground as soon as I graduate.”
Michiyo laughed. “I like you,” she stated right then, as if she had seriously thought about it, and considered Sho as a worthy friend. “All right, see you later, I guess... my boyfriend’s waiting for me over there,” she said, pointing. Sho saw a skinny guy with spiked hair and a scowl on his face in the direction where she was pointing, and assumed she was talking about him. “Good luck with the band, and hope you and Ninomiya-kun settle things between you!” she called out as she walked away, waving goodbye.
})i({
When Sho reached the train platform, Nino was still there, waiting for the train. Sho walked up to Nino, and asked, “don’t you think the silent treatment is a little childish?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nino said. “I’m not talking to you because I have nothing to talk to you about, not because I’m trying to be all passive-aggressive or whatever.”
“Mmm,” Sho murmured in acknowledgement, and didn’t move away. The two of them stood side by side at the platform, Nino looking straight ahead, Sho looking at Nino. “Look, I’m sorry about not telling you earlier,” Sho said.
“It’s your business, not mine,” Nino snapped, turning to glare at Sho. “I should’ve guessed, since I haven’t seen either of you much in the last week. What, you’ve been dating all this time and decided not to tell me?” He wasn’t really thinking about what he was saying, but when he saw the guilt in Sho’s face, he realised that he had hit on the truth. He swore. “Seems like I’ve hit the bull’s eye.”
He couldn’t think of what else to say, as a lot of different thoughts and feelings churned within him. He wanted to tell Sho, stay away from my best friend. He wanted to demand, why didn’t you tell me? He wanted to shake both Sho and Aiba and say, you don’t date band members; it’s only going to end badly. He wanted to give both of them a smack in the head so that they would realise that they were both guys, and that dating each other would be weird. He felt betrayed, and abandoned, somehow, on top of the anger he felt towards Sho (he blamed Sho entirely) and the increasing concern he had for Aiba (suddenly all the rumours about Sho in school seemed like they might be true, and he was starting to imagine all the scenarios in which Sho would hurt Aiba). Amidst all those feelings, there was the hurt that Aiba didn’t tell him anything, and the panic rising at the thought that the reason Aiba had been distant in the last week was because his friend no longer needed him, now that he had Sho.
Sho was about to reply, but the train arrived, and Nino walked in without glancing back at him. The door was already closing when Sho hurried in, and it almost closed on him. Neither of the boys spoke on rest of the way to the studio.
})i({
Nino didn’t say much during practise, except to bark out instructions. Aiba looked utterly miserable, while Sugimoto, strangely enough, seemed completely at ease with how everyone was acting. When Nino called out their break time, both Sho and Aiba couldn’t wait to get out of the studio. For once, Sho didn’t care about what other people thought, and pulled Aiba into a hug as soon as they were in the reception area.
“I don’t think I can take it anymore,” Aiba said, his voice muffled. “I just want to be friends with Nino again.”
“I know,” Sho murmured. “I’m sorry.” He missed Nino’s friendship, too, but in a way he felt like he deserved Nino’s anger. He just wished that Aiba would be spared from it. Sho felt like he was to blame for what was going on, although the logical part of his mind told him that all three of them played a part in the turn of events. Knowing something didn’t really change how you felt about it, he realised, as he still felt like everything was his fault.
~ to be continued ~
Chapter Eight | Chapter Ten
Marineko's Notes:
Well, since this fic seems to be pretty Aimiya-centric, in that BFF kind of way, (the alternate title, Apastron, refers to them too) I'm adding the Aimiya tag back.
Hope that you liked it?