Arashi: Red Shift (08)
FANDOM: Arashi
PAIRING: Sakuraiba
RATING: PG
WORD COUNT: 2,094
DATE: January 24, 2010
NOTES: I don't own Arashi, nor do I know much about them - this fic is entirely AU and fictional. This is for arashic0804!
Chapter Seven | END
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sho gazed at the lake from his balcony. The sun was beginning to set. He remembered talking to Aiba at the very same balcony, only a few weeks ago. When he brought Red Shift to his lake house, he had hoped that Aiba would notice, or remember.
I should’ve just told him, Sho thought. But of course my stupid pride got in the way.
A loud crash from downstairs jerked him out of his thoughts. He stood up, and headed downstairs warily. He had bought the place as soon as he gained access to his trust fund, during his first year in college. His parents thought he had gone crazy, spending all the money in one go. In all the years since then, there haven’t been any problems with break-ins, but there’s always the first time. He usually kept the large house fully staffed throughout the year, except the one week each year that he spent there, so that he could be alone.
When he heard a second crash in the kitchen, he felt a little relieved. Surely a thief wouldn’t be making so much noise? Maybe a stray cat had come in somehow. He paused in front of the kitchen doorway, and peered in.
Aiba was sitting down amidst several pots and pans on the floor, cursing.
“If you’re moonlighting as a thief, you should stick to your day job,” Sho commented, amused by the sight.
“Why’d you have to have such a big kitchen, anyway?” Aiba muttered angrily. “I just opened that door and all these stuff fell on me.”
Sho walked in and pulled Aiba up. “What were you doing in my kitchen in the first place?”
“I wanted to put your birthday cake in the fridge first, but you don’t seem to have one,” Aiba answered shortly. He turned to the cake, and saw that a large pan had fallen on the cake box. “Great. Now it’s ruined.” He picked up the box, and took a quick look. “I guess it’s still edible, if a little squashed.”
“The fridges are through that door over there, I think,” Sho said, pointing. He picked up the fallen kitchenware and stacked them on the nearest counter. When Aiba returned, he asked, “How’d you get in?”
“One of the windows was open,” Aiba said. “You should be more careful, really.”
“One of the maids probably forgot to close it when they left.” Sho looked at Aiba uncertainly, amazed that after seven years, Aiba still made him feel like an awkward teenager. However, that didn’t mean that he had to act like one, he reminded himself. “Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re here? Other than delivering a cake, that is.”
“I - that is... well.” Now that the crisis of the cake was over, Aiba didn’t know what to say. He had concentrated too much on getting to Sho’s place that he hadn’t thought of what he wanted to do once he got there. “Aiba Cake Delivery Service, uhm, at your service! Sorry for breaking into your house?”
“I was going to sit on the deck outside to watch the sunset. Why don’t you join me?”
Aiba followed Sho out, where they sat facing the lake. “It’s really beautiful out here,” Aiba murmured. Sho just closed his eyes, enjoying the sun, and didn’t say a thing. Just one moment, he thought to himself. Just give me this moment to pretend everything was like how it’s supposed to be.
“Do you know,” Aiba said, breaking off Sho’s thoughts, “that taking the train here takes so much longer than by plane? I set out yesterday!”
Sho laughed. “Of course the train would take longer. Isn’t that common sense?”
“I didn’t think about that,” Aiba admitted. “All I remembered was it didn’t take us that long to arrive the last time we came.”
Sho didn’t answer, but when Aiba turned to look at him, he saw that Sho was smiling in amusement. Aiba’s heart skipped a beat. Calm down, he told himself. You don’t know if he still feels the same way about you.
“I just realised, yesterday...” Aiba said softly, gathering his courage. “This house used to be a small hotel, didn’t it?”
Sho’s eyes flickered open, and he turned to look at Aiba. “Yeah. I had it renovated into a house when I bought it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, the last time we came?”
“I wanted you to realise it yourself,” Sho murmured.
“I knew the placed looked familiar,” Aiba said, “but it looks different now, from the hotel brochure. This was the place I was going to take you, on your birthday, seven years ago.”
Sho nodded. “I know. I only stay here a week of every year.”
Aiba’s throat felt dry. “On your birthday?”
Sho let out a short laugh, remembering that Aiba had once asked the very same question, in very much the same tone. “Better mine than yours,” he murmured.
“Sho-chan.”
“Hmm?”
“You never do things like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like spending a large amount of money just to be here a week in a whole year. You’re never that extravagant, that irresponsible with money. Can’t you just book a place at the hotel like a normal person?”
“I wanted this place,” Sho said, as if it was that simple. “It was a piece of you, kind of. When I’m here, I felt like you were here, too. I could pretend that things were how they should’ve been, if I had done things differently, and had come here with you instead.”
Aiba shook his head. “I had a lot of time to think, on the train ride here. If we hadn’t broken up back then, I don’t know what would’ve happened. We probably would’ve come here, and we probably would’ve been happy. I was looking forward to surprising you with the trip, so much,” he said. “But after that? I know your parents. They would probably have disowned you if you didn’t go to the college they chose. You would have had a hard time trying to build your career and keep our relationship a secret. And if you didn’t leave the band to do your own thing, you probably would have ended up blaming me for never being able to be all you’re capable of being.”
“I would never blame you.”
“Yes, you would,” Aiba insisted. “Over time, you would. Maybe there was a way for us to be together despite all that, but I doubt that we would’ve found it back then. We were still kids, each of us bent on having things our own way.”
“We’re not kids anymore.”
“No, we’re not.”
They looked at each other for awhile, not knowing what to say. Aiba wondered where all the things he had planned to say, and ask, went - he couldn’t remember any of it. Sho felt as if his heart would explode right out of his chest, it was beating so hard. “Maybe I’m still a kid after all,” he said wryly. “I’m certainly behaving like one.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Aiba started to say, but Sho had moved closer, and taken hold of his shoulders. Sho eased Aiba to him, and saw Aiba’s eyes widen as their lips touched. He had expected Aiba to push him away, but the other man only gave a breathy sigh, and parted his lips, inviting Sho to deepen the kiss. Sho wondered at how Aiba tasted familiar and strange at the same time, and how that taste sent sizzles coursing through his veins. He had always wanted Aiba, but this feeling was stronger, somehow. Rather than the feverish desire he remembered, what he was feeling was richer, calmer, and yet more pleasurable, more passionate at the same time. He didn’t know that people actually could feel this way.
Aiba’s hands had taken hold of him, shifting their position so that Aiba was kneeling over Sho. His throat hummed in pleasure, and his hands moved from Aiba’s shoulders, over his back, finally settling on his hips. He wanted to get up, drag Aiba into the house, and finish what his impulse had started, but Aiba had already stilled, and jolted away from Sho, gasping for breath.
“It’s getting dark,” Aiba said, getting up, still breathing heavily. “I have to...” he took another breath, trying to think of something. “I just have to go.” He left Sho, and hurried into the house, presumably to get his things.
Sho let out a curse, and glanced at the cold lake, and down at himself. “Me and my... stupid,” he muttered to himself. “So stupid. You’re not a fucking teenager anymore. Stop acting like one.” He unbuttoned his shirt, and let it fall to the floor as he got up, and dove into the water.
The good thing about living on a lake was that you always had the lake to jump into when you needed a cold shower.
})i({
When Sho finally surfaced, he grabbed his shirt and shrugged it on, but didn’t bother to button it back up, as he was dripping wet and needed to change anyway. He trudged through the vast living area, which used to be the hotel lobby, not bothering to turn on the lights. He was going to head up to his room, when he noticed a small light in the kitchen, so he went there instead, and hoped.
A birthday cake, slightly battered by the pan, sat on the kitchen counter. A single candle was on it, newly lit. On the other side of the counter was Aiba.
“I thought you’d left,” Sho said hoarsely. He swallowed, and stepped forward.
“I couldn’t leave yet,” Aiba said. “Not without wishing you a happy birthday first.”
Yet.
The word hung over Sho like a dark cloud, reminding him that Aiba was no longer his, and that he had no right to stop him, not after giving up on Aiba so many years ago.
“Why did you come here?”
“I told you.”
“No, you didn’t. I asked, but you didn’t answer.”
“I wanted to know why you listened to Yuu-chan when he asked you to leave me,” Aiba said. “But I’ve figured out the answer on the way here.” He looked down at the cake, and frowned at the candle, a quarter of which had been burned away. “I also wanted to tell you that I’m still in love with you. I always felt like I should have gone after you, when you left... so here I am. Chasing after you.” He looked back at Sho, his eyes a little wild. “I’m not trying to pressure you or make you feel bad or anything. I just thought... that you should know.”
Sho crossed over into the kitchen, walked around the counter, and embraced Aiba, burying his face in curve of Aiba’s neck. He breathed in. Aiba smelled of soap and salt. Aiba smelled like home. “I still love you, too,” he murmured. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Aiba stiffened, and asked warily, “What did you say?”
“I’ve missed you. So much.”
“No, before that.”
Sho lifted his head, and looked at Aiba in the eye. “I love you?”
Tremulously, Aiba said, “you’ve never said that before.”
“Yes, I have.”
“No, you haven’t. Throughout the whole time we’ve been together, you’ve never said it.”
“Well, I was young and stupid, and too proud to know what’s good for me, then,” Sho said, causing Aiba to laugh softly. He smiled and leaned forward so that their foreheads touched, and said, “Aiba Masaki, I love you. Please take me back. I’m begging you.”
“Sho-chan...?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re kind of dripping all over me.”
“Oh. Sorry.” Sho pulled back quickly, and banged his elbow on the edge of the counter. “Fuck!” He rubbed at his elbow. “Oww...”
Aiba doubled over, clutching Sho’s other arm. His shoulders were trembling with laughter. “You’re still such a dork,” he said.
“Glad that I amuse you,” Sho muttered. “My elbow really hurts.”
Aiba bit his lip, and sobered up, but Sho could still see the laughter in his eyes. “You should change, before you catch a cold,” Aiba said. “But first, you should -” he turned to the cake, but the light on the candle had already flickered away. “Does the wish still work if you light the candle twice?” he asked.
“It’s okay. I’ve finally got the wish I made seven years ago,” Sho answered.
This time, when Sho leaned over to kiss him, Aiba didn’t complain about the wet hair and clothes.
- the end -
Chapter Seven | END
Marineko's notes:
Finally, we've come to the end! This was my first Arashi fic, so I'd like to thank everyone for sticking with me and reading this through until now. If you enjoyed it, thank arashic0804 since this fic wouldn't even exist if she hadn't filled my head with Arashi stuff until I completely fell for Sho, lol.
I started this fic a few days after Aiba's birthday (I actually conceived the idea for the fic on his birthday), and decided to finish it by Sho's birthday. [Happy Birthday to Sho!! ♥♥♥]
I might be writing more fics in the RedShiftverse, and right now I'm considering another prequel (about Sho/Nino/Aiba in high school) or a sequel focusing on Jun/Ohno/Nino. Tell me what you think!
PAIRING: Sakuraiba
RATING: PG
WORD COUNT: 2,094
DATE: January 24, 2010
NOTES: I don't own Arashi, nor do I know much about them - this fic is entirely AU and fictional. This is for arashic0804!
Chapter Seven | END
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sho gazed at the lake from his balcony. The sun was beginning to set. He remembered talking to Aiba at the very same balcony, only a few weeks ago. When he brought Red Shift to his lake house, he had hoped that Aiba would notice, or remember.
I should’ve just told him, Sho thought. But of course my stupid pride got in the way.
A loud crash from downstairs jerked him out of his thoughts. He stood up, and headed downstairs warily. He had bought the place as soon as he gained access to his trust fund, during his first year in college. His parents thought he had gone crazy, spending all the money in one go. In all the years since then, there haven’t been any problems with break-ins, but there’s always the first time. He usually kept the large house fully staffed throughout the year, except the one week each year that he spent there, so that he could be alone.
When he heard a second crash in the kitchen, he felt a little relieved. Surely a thief wouldn’t be making so much noise? Maybe a stray cat had come in somehow. He paused in front of the kitchen doorway, and peered in.
Aiba was sitting down amidst several pots and pans on the floor, cursing.
“If you’re moonlighting as a thief, you should stick to your day job,” Sho commented, amused by the sight.
“Why’d you have to have such a big kitchen, anyway?” Aiba muttered angrily. “I just opened that door and all these stuff fell on me.”
Sho walked in and pulled Aiba up. “What were you doing in my kitchen in the first place?”
“I wanted to put your birthday cake in the fridge first, but you don’t seem to have one,” Aiba answered shortly. He turned to the cake, and saw that a large pan had fallen on the cake box. “Great. Now it’s ruined.” He picked up the box, and took a quick look. “I guess it’s still edible, if a little squashed.”
“The fridges are through that door over there, I think,” Sho said, pointing. He picked up the fallen kitchenware and stacked them on the nearest counter. When Aiba returned, he asked, “How’d you get in?”
“One of the windows was open,” Aiba said. “You should be more careful, really.”
“One of the maids probably forgot to close it when they left.” Sho looked at Aiba uncertainly, amazed that after seven years, Aiba still made him feel like an awkward teenager. However, that didn’t mean that he had to act like one, he reminded himself. “Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re here? Other than delivering a cake, that is.”
“I - that is... well.” Now that the crisis of the cake was over, Aiba didn’t know what to say. He had concentrated too much on getting to Sho’s place that he hadn’t thought of what he wanted to do once he got there. “Aiba Cake Delivery Service, uhm, at your service! Sorry for breaking into your house?”
“I was going to sit on the deck outside to watch the sunset. Why don’t you join me?”
Aiba followed Sho out, where they sat facing the lake. “It’s really beautiful out here,” Aiba murmured. Sho just closed his eyes, enjoying the sun, and didn’t say a thing. Just one moment, he thought to himself. Just give me this moment to pretend everything was like how it’s supposed to be.
“Do you know,” Aiba said, breaking off Sho’s thoughts, “that taking the train here takes so much longer than by plane? I set out yesterday!”
Sho laughed. “Of course the train would take longer. Isn’t that common sense?”
“I didn’t think about that,” Aiba admitted. “All I remembered was it didn’t take us that long to arrive the last time we came.”
Sho didn’t answer, but when Aiba turned to look at him, he saw that Sho was smiling in amusement. Aiba’s heart skipped a beat. Calm down, he told himself. You don’t know if he still feels the same way about you.
“I just realised, yesterday...” Aiba said softly, gathering his courage. “This house used to be a small hotel, didn’t it?”
Sho’s eyes flickered open, and he turned to look at Aiba. “Yeah. I had it renovated into a house when I bought it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, the last time we came?”
“I wanted you to realise it yourself,” Sho murmured.
“I knew the placed looked familiar,” Aiba said, “but it looks different now, from the hotel brochure. This was the place I was going to take you, on your birthday, seven years ago.”
Sho nodded. “I know. I only stay here a week of every year.”
Aiba’s throat felt dry. “On your birthday?”
Sho let out a short laugh, remembering that Aiba had once asked the very same question, in very much the same tone. “Better mine than yours,” he murmured.
“Sho-chan.”
“Hmm?”
“You never do things like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like spending a large amount of money just to be here a week in a whole year. You’re never that extravagant, that irresponsible with money. Can’t you just book a place at the hotel like a normal person?”
“I wanted this place,” Sho said, as if it was that simple. “It was a piece of you, kind of. When I’m here, I felt like you were here, too. I could pretend that things were how they should’ve been, if I had done things differently, and had come here with you instead.”
Aiba shook his head. “I had a lot of time to think, on the train ride here. If we hadn’t broken up back then, I don’t know what would’ve happened. We probably would’ve come here, and we probably would’ve been happy. I was looking forward to surprising you with the trip, so much,” he said. “But after that? I know your parents. They would probably have disowned you if you didn’t go to the college they chose. You would have had a hard time trying to build your career and keep our relationship a secret. And if you didn’t leave the band to do your own thing, you probably would have ended up blaming me for never being able to be all you’re capable of being.”
“I would never blame you.”
“Yes, you would,” Aiba insisted. “Over time, you would. Maybe there was a way for us to be together despite all that, but I doubt that we would’ve found it back then. We were still kids, each of us bent on having things our own way.”
“We’re not kids anymore.”
“No, we’re not.”
They looked at each other for awhile, not knowing what to say. Aiba wondered where all the things he had planned to say, and ask, went - he couldn’t remember any of it. Sho felt as if his heart would explode right out of his chest, it was beating so hard. “Maybe I’m still a kid after all,” he said wryly. “I’m certainly behaving like one.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Aiba started to say, but Sho had moved closer, and taken hold of his shoulders. Sho eased Aiba to him, and saw Aiba’s eyes widen as their lips touched. He had expected Aiba to push him away, but the other man only gave a breathy sigh, and parted his lips, inviting Sho to deepen the kiss. Sho wondered at how Aiba tasted familiar and strange at the same time, and how that taste sent sizzles coursing through his veins. He had always wanted Aiba, but this feeling was stronger, somehow. Rather than the feverish desire he remembered, what he was feeling was richer, calmer, and yet more pleasurable, more passionate at the same time. He didn’t know that people actually could feel this way.
Aiba’s hands had taken hold of him, shifting their position so that Aiba was kneeling over Sho. His throat hummed in pleasure, and his hands moved from Aiba’s shoulders, over his back, finally settling on his hips. He wanted to get up, drag Aiba into the house, and finish what his impulse had started, but Aiba had already stilled, and jolted away from Sho, gasping for breath.
“It’s getting dark,” Aiba said, getting up, still breathing heavily. “I have to...” he took another breath, trying to think of something. “I just have to go.” He left Sho, and hurried into the house, presumably to get his things.
Sho let out a curse, and glanced at the cold lake, and down at himself. “Me and my... stupid,” he muttered to himself. “So stupid. You’re not a fucking teenager anymore. Stop acting like one.” He unbuttoned his shirt, and let it fall to the floor as he got up, and dove into the water.
The good thing about living on a lake was that you always had the lake to jump into when you needed a cold shower.
})i({
When Sho finally surfaced, he grabbed his shirt and shrugged it on, but didn’t bother to button it back up, as he was dripping wet and needed to change anyway. He trudged through the vast living area, which used to be the hotel lobby, not bothering to turn on the lights. He was going to head up to his room, when he noticed a small light in the kitchen, so he went there instead, and hoped.
A birthday cake, slightly battered by the pan, sat on the kitchen counter. A single candle was on it, newly lit. On the other side of the counter was Aiba.
“I thought you’d left,” Sho said hoarsely. He swallowed, and stepped forward.
“I couldn’t leave yet,” Aiba said. “Not without wishing you a happy birthday first.”
Yet.
The word hung over Sho like a dark cloud, reminding him that Aiba was no longer his, and that he had no right to stop him, not after giving up on Aiba so many years ago.
“Why did you come here?”
“I told you.”
“No, you didn’t. I asked, but you didn’t answer.”
“I wanted to know why you listened to Yuu-chan when he asked you to leave me,” Aiba said. “But I’ve figured out the answer on the way here.” He looked down at the cake, and frowned at the candle, a quarter of which had been burned away. “I also wanted to tell you that I’m still in love with you. I always felt like I should have gone after you, when you left... so here I am. Chasing after you.” He looked back at Sho, his eyes a little wild. “I’m not trying to pressure you or make you feel bad or anything. I just thought... that you should know.”
Sho crossed over into the kitchen, walked around the counter, and embraced Aiba, burying his face in curve of Aiba’s neck. He breathed in. Aiba smelled of soap and salt. Aiba smelled like home. “I still love you, too,” he murmured. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Aiba stiffened, and asked warily, “What did you say?”
“I’ve missed you. So much.”
“No, before that.”
Sho lifted his head, and looked at Aiba in the eye. “I love you?”
Tremulously, Aiba said, “you’ve never said that before.”
“Yes, I have.”
“No, you haven’t. Throughout the whole time we’ve been together, you’ve never said it.”
“Well, I was young and stupid, and too proud to know what’s good for me, then,” Sho said, causing Aiba to laugh softly. He smiled and leaned forward so that their foreheads touched, and said, “Aiba Masaki, I love you. Please take me back. I’m begging you.”
“Sho-chan...?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re kind of dripping all over me.”
“Oh. Sorry.” Sho pulled back quickly, and banged his elbow on the edge of the counter. “Fuck!” He rubbed at his elbow. “Oww...”
Aiba doubled over, clutching Sho’s other arm. His shoulders were trembling with laughter. “You’re still such a dork,” he said.
“Glad that I amuse you,” Sho muttered. “My elbow really hurts.”
Aiba bit his lip, and sobered up, but Sho could still see the laughter in his eyes. “You should change, before you catch a cold,” Aiba said. “But first, you should -” he turned to the cake, but the light on the candle had already flickered away. “Does the wish still work if you light the candle twice?” he asked.
“It’s okay. I’ve finally got the wish I made seven years ago,” Sho answered.
This time, when Sho leaned over to kiss him, Aiba didn’t complain about the wet hair and clothes.
- the end -
Chapter Seven | END
Marineko's notes:
Finally, we've come to the end! This was my first Arashi fic, so I'd like to thank everyone for sticking with me and reading this through until now. If you enjoyed it, thank arashic0804 since this fic wouldn't even exist if she hadn't filled my head with Arashi stuff until I completely fell for Sho, lol.
I started this fic a few days after Aiba's birthday (I actually conceived the idea for the fic on his birthday), and decided to finish it by Sho's birthday. [Happy Birthday to Sho!! ♥♥♥]
I might be writing more fics in the RedShiftverse, and right now I'm considering another prequel (about Sho/Nino/Aiba in high school) or a sequel focusing on Jun/Ohno/Nino. Tell me what you think!