[Multi-chapter] Change (2/??)
Title: Change
Authors: tsuchi8562
Bet: andreja1989 ArigaPYON~!
Pairing: SakurAiba, Aimiya (friendship), Yama (friendship), Junba (friendship)
Genre: AU, Romance, Drama, School
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: They are not ours, they belong to themselves...
*MASTERPOST*
It happened again; those bastards attacked him when he least expected. He fought back as much as he could and he almost won but there were too many of them, kicking, beating, spitting and calling him names. He just couldn’t stand there, avoiding attacks; he could get killed. That’s why Sho, the third grade student, ended up in Ohno-sensei’s room and had to get his wounds cleaned. The boy liked the doctor, he didn’t ask many questions and he could be trusted. Maybe that’s why Sakurai could share his secret with the older man? He remembers the day he did it so well; another fight with his so-called friends ended up in this office again and suddenly the words started to flow by themselves. It was like a confession; sharing everything that was bothering him for so long, clearing his mind. Sighing on the memory, with bruises all over and slight pain in his ribs, he came to the doctor and let him do his work.
“Another fight, Sakurai-kun?” Satoshi asked with his usual bored voice reaching for some antiseptics and gauze. Sakurai knew that this was only a look; the doctor was caring and his sleepiness was only his way of protecting his own self from the sociable school personnel. Ohno was a loner, but definitely he wasn’t a freak. He just treasured his privacy more than everything else.
“It seems that I can’t avoid troubles, no matter how much I try, Sensei.” Those were the only words Sho managed to utter when some other student’s quiet voice sounded in the room. After short conversation with Ohno the boy limped inside the room and sat not that far from them. He knew his name; from time to time he saw that student on the track, running after classes alone. It seemed that he was a hardworking guy and his results in different tournaments were a great proof that it paid off. Of course Sakurai didn’t even try to make friends with him; knowing the rumors about him that are spreading around the school. According to them he was a cruel monster and he was eating small kittens for breakfast, but that were the softer ones. Sho used to fight with those fames, but when every single resistant ended up with a regular brawl he gave up. Ignorance is strength. With passing time this sentence became his motto; however this time he couldn’t stay silent. Not when this scumbag hit the most fragile point - started to talk stuff about his mother. As expected, Sakurai landed in the doctor’s office and the guy that attacked him managed to escape. The only comfort that Sho had was the fact that the other one looked worse. He didn’t feel good in the other student’s presence, so he tried to ignore him; he didn’t even look at Aiba, waiting patiently for Ohno to finish taking care of his wounds.
"And that's the last one, you are done. Make sure you clean those wounds tonight and don't take a bath today and tomorrow, that would only be very painful and not good for the healing process." As always, the doctor was extremely protective, taking care of his students as if they were his own kids. He should become a teacher… Yeah, he would be great in that. Sho sighed and nodded, putting his shirt on and biting his lips, because he felt slight pain in his ribs. Thank God he didn’t have any serious wounds on his head this time, only a few scratches… The boy bowed and stood up, heading to the door when he heard the usual words Ohno was throwing at him. Sakurai-kun, watch your back okay? He heard them so many times but no matter how he avoided troubles they seemed to find him themselves. Sho took a deep breath and walked towards his small apartment; he was allowed to because of the wounds he had. In his opinion it wasn’t that serious but probably that old doctor was right. What would happen when friends of the guy he beat up wanted revenge?
“Damn school…” Sho whispered as soon as he closed the door. He didn’t want anything to eat, so he just drank a big gulp of cold milk from the bottle and went to the room. He didn’t feel like doing anything so he just sat on the floor, without moving for couple of hours. After that he took a long bath, ignoring Ohno’s advices. It wasn’t the best idea, because he had to bear burning pain at the beginning, but he needed it. Later Sho went to bed, even though it was still early, falling in shallow sleep, disturbed by some scary but usual dreams.
___
The next day, during lunch Sakurai was as always in the gym. This was the only place where he could be alone at this time; everyone else was eating whether on the roof or outside, since the weather was nice. The last thing Sho wanted was to get in any more trouble. He took a big bite of onigiri he bought on the way to school when he heard someone’s cheery voice quite close to his ear.
“Hello Sakurai-senpai!” Smiled face sat next to him and its owner started to unpack his lunch. The older boy looked surprised and shocked with his mouth half open at the one on his left side. “The rice is falling out of your mouth…” The latter giggled and handed Sho a tissue which the older boy accepted without any word. Why Aiba came here?
“I was looking for you.” Masaki answered as if he could read Sho’s mind. “I wanted to ask if you are okay; your bruises didn’t look good…”
“Since when any bruise looks good?” Sakurai mumbled and finished his onigiri in one bite. Probably that younger one didn’t know that he shouldn’t talk to him so freely. Didn’t he hear the rumors? Even if he didn’t believe in them, the fact that nobody wanted to be his friend should alarm the younger boy. “Listen, don’t you have any other friend who you can eat with?”
“No, Nino is playing his new game and when he does so he can’t see anything except his DS.” Masaki started to eat his egg roll, smiling and looking around. “It’s so… empty here. Don’t you feel lonely?” Aiba’s gaze landed on Sho; his eyes were piercing him and chills ran down his spine. What’s going on with me? Came across Sakurai’s mind.
“I don’t. I like being alone.” The older boy emphasized the last word, hoping that Masaki will understand and leave him be but Aiba just stayed there, staring at Sho in silence. Something in the air made Sakurai’s heart heavy so he sighed, closed his bento box and wiped his lips. Without a word he stood up and headed towards the exit when his kouhai’s voice stopped him.
“Sakurai-senpai, where are you going?” The question sounded so silly that Sho had to laugh after hearing it.
“Listen, I don’t have to explain myself. Believe me, it’ll be better for everyone if you stay away from me.” The older boy said it maybe too harshly but he had to make sure that Masaki will listen and left the building. He walked between the gym and a refuse heap on purpose; he had a certainty that he won’t meet anybody here and he will be able to sneak inside the building without any troubles. Yes, his life in this school looked like that for a quite long time. Sho had to be careful where he was going and trying to avoid practically every single student. This time however nothing seemed to work; Aiba followed him without a word, sneaking like a shadow.
“I asked you to say away from me, didn’t I?” Sakurai hissed, mad more at himself that he wasn’t convincing enough. He was aware that Masaki is quite popular and if anybody sees them together it will bring them both troubles. Aiba can be bullied but Sho will be the one blamed for trying to spoil the model student. The thing will go worse and who knows maybe he will end with a knife in his back? People are capable to do many things out of lack of understanding. Since when you are so mature, Sakurai-kun? Sho asked himself and sighed loudly. Meanwhile the other student was staring at him in silence, probably trying to find some nice excuse. This was the time, if the older student won’t react in harsh way now, it can be too late.
“Listen! I think I made myself clear, right?! I really don’t need anyone to follow me so if you are so kind then stop it! Go to your friend and play with him in his stupid game and leave me alone!”
“But, Sakurai-senpai…”
“I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!!! IS IT THAT HARD TO UNDERSTAND??!” Sho hit the wall with his fist and turned around, heading towards the school. Fortunately his behavior worked, since Masaki didn’t follow him this time. He never raised his voice at anybody without a serious reason. And you can’t call trying to make him happier, less lonely and friendlier a justification to yell at innocent boy! However no matter how guilty he felt, this was the best decision he could ever made. Better for everyone…
Sakurai sighed and sat at his desk in the furthest corner of the classroom. Somebody curved new sign on the top, this time about Sho being a monster that kills puppies and eats them at night. It wasn’t anything new, so Sakurai only traced it with his fingers’ tips and decided to ignore it, as always. Of course there still were some glances full of hatred and disgust and some whispers full of poison but he learned to neglect them. Sho closed himself in tight and safe shell that was protecting him but also gave him an image of a cold and ruthless guy. He wasn’t like that before, those people made him like that. Sakurai fortunately had some harbor where he could open his crust a little, one place where he could show a tiny bit of his true self. Only small piece, because even there, in Kobe, in this small white room he couldn’t show his real face…