[Multi-chapter] Change (5/??)
Title: Change
Authors: syunikiss1990
Beta: 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*
The smile and the sound of Sakurai's laugh kept distracting Aiba from every lesson for the rest of the day. For a moment the older student had looked so careless and happy, his usual heavy atmosphere nowhere to be seen. This made Aiba sure Sakurai could never be as bad as everyone described him. Something must have happened which made everyone believe all those stories but he highly doubted the older boy would say anything about it.
"Okay spill it. Where did you go during lunch?" Nino asked Aiba as soon as the last class ended, getting him out of his thoughts.
"Running?"
"You are asking me? Aiba-chan, you have a stupid grin on your face ever since you came back after lunch. Who is the lucky one?" Aiba looked at his friend with raised eyebrows.
"Lucky one?"
"You are seeing someone right? So tell me, who is it?"
"It's not like that. I have been meeting with a friend, that's all." He wanted to get up but the younger boy sat down on the table and placed his feet on Aiba's legs.
"Not going anywhere until you tell me the truth. Since when do you sneak out to meet a friend during lunch? And since when do you have friends outside our class to meet during lunch?" Aiba's mind worked quickly but he couldn't think of anyone else besides Sakurai. He sighed and looked in his friend’s eyes, knowing he would find out the truth anyway.
"I have been meeting Sakurai-kun." For a while Nino just stared at him, disbelieve written all over his face.
"THE Sakurai? Aiba-chan what are you thinking? Aren't the stories about him clear enough? You should stay away from that guy, you will get into trouble if you hang out with him."
"Look Nino-chan, I think I can make that decision myself. I don't believe he is as bad as everyone says he is. He is actually quite nice."
"He eats kittens for breakfast!" Aiba snorted.
"You seriously believe that?"
"That's not the point. Aiba-chan, you are way too naive. If you go on like this you will end up in fights that aren't yours. I'm serious, stay away from him."
"You are not my mother! Now if you will excuse me, I'm supposed to meet him right now."
"Aiba-chan..."
"I'll see you tomorrow Nino." With those words he stood up, almost throwing his friend off his table on the way but he didn't care. Without looking back he walked out of the classroom, going straight to the place he would meet with Sakurai. When he saw the older student wait for him he relaxed a little, happy that he wasn't turned down.
"Sakurai-kun." For a moment he saw the older student tense up as he called out his name to get his attention but when he turned around and saw the taller boy coming to him he relaxed. Aiba's smile faded when he saw how pale the other boy was.
"Are you okay? You look really pale."
"I'm fine. Long day and I didn't sleep well so I'm a bit tired, that's all." Aiba looked in the older students eyes a bit longer, seeing they were a bit unclear.
"I see. It would be better to go home and rest then. I won't keep you here any longer, see you tomorrow during lunch?"
"Sure, but why did you want to meet me here?"
"That can wait for tomorrow, you need to go home now. Or maybe it would be better if you went to Ohno-sensei?" Sakurai frowned and shook his head.
"No I just need some rest. He already checked everything yesterday. "
"Are you sure? I don't mind taking you there. Or maybe I should walk you home, you seriously don't look good."
"I'm fine really. Besides, don't you have some training to go to?" Suddenly Aiba remembered the older boy was right. He had completely forgotten today was the track and field training day. Smiling apologetically he nodded his head, a bit disappointed he couldn't use the opportunity to get to know where the older student lived. On the other hand, he shouldn't push himself on Sakurai, it would probably scare the other off.
"Right. See you at lunch tomorrow then?" Again the older boy smiled, a view Aiba wouldn't mind seeing every day.
"At lunch." Aiba smiled brightly and dashed off to the training field, trying to cover his loudly beating heart with the effort of running. The thought that he could see the other boy again tomorrow as a friend made his face stay in a wide grin the rest of the day.
***
The next day went different than expected. Masaki had hoped that Nino would have cooled down but the opposite was true. At the beginning of lunch they had a big fight about Sakurai which made Masaki's happy mood from yesterday cool down completely. Even when he stepped into the gym and saw Sho wait for him he couldn't manage to give his usual wide smile. For a while they sat and ate in silence until surprisingly Sho broke it.
"Something happened?" Masaki sighed.
"I'm sorry. I had a fight with a friend which is distracting me."
"What is it about?" Masaki looked at the older student, hesitating if he should tell him what the reason was. What if it made him mad and he didn't want to be friends anymore? That's the last thing he wanted, especially since he was clearly starting to feel more for him. He never felt this way about anyone before. His hesitation gave Sho the answer.
"Your friend isn't happy with you being here, am I right? I told you before, it's better to stay away from me."
"Yes you did but I'm still here right? I really don't get it. How can everyone say those awful things about you when they don't even know you?" Sho smiled wickedly.
"How do you know so sure they aren't true? You barely know me yourself. How are you so sure you can trust me?" Masaki looked in the eyes of the older student, smiling when he looked away.
"I just know. On the other hand, how do you know for sure you can trust me?" For a moment Sho looked at him before he started to laugh loudly.
"You seriously are funny! I'm pretty sure you wouldn't even kill a spider if you saw one."
"That's more because I don't like them up close." Masaki muttered, his cheeks turning red as the other boy started to laugh even louder.
"Look, I just feel like I really need to warn you. Your friend isn't happy with it and I think there are a lot of people who would agree with him."
"I don't care."
"Aiba-kun, you are a popular student, one of the most popular in school for your excellent running skills. My point is that you might end up in a fight that isn't yours because of me. People aren't as forgiving and caring like you might think they are. They can easily stab you in the back if they believe that's the right thing to do." Masaki stared at Sho, not liking the serious and somewhat sad expression on his face.
"It sounds like you are speaking from experience..."
"I just want you to realize what being friends with me, a public enemy of everyone in school, might bring. I understand if you wouldn't want that so I'm not going to stop you if you walk away now."
"I won't. You might think it's stupid but I don't care what everyone else might think."
"How about your friend?"
"Nino is different, we have been friends since kindergarten. He'll come by, I'm sure of that." Sho sighed.
"But everyone else won't be like that. I just don't want to end up being the one who they believe spoiled the model student." This time it was Masaki who started to laugh.
"Model student? There is no way anyone thinks that. But I get your point. Being friends might be a bit difficult but that still doesn't mean I don't want to be. I feel like you already know what we have to do so please tell me what you thought of."
"Well, like this it's fine right? Here nobody has to know about us being friends."
"So meeting in secret?" Sho nodded. "Ah that reminds me, are you doing anything next week's Saturday?"
"Next week's Saturday? I'm not sure, why?"
"Well, since we are friends now we can also do something outside school right? I thought you might like to come over and play some games or something like that." From that point on Masaki kept talking like he usually did, his problem with Nino completely forgotten. Even without knowing if Sho would come or not he kept blabbering about possible things they could do together. In the end Sho did agree to come to his house, after being sure their friendship would stay a secret. At least for the time being.
When Masaki though about it later that day during his usual round he ran after school he still thought it wasn't really necessary to hide their friendship. But if Sho would feel better about it this way he didn't mind. He really liked spending time with the older boy, even when the other didn't say much. It might take some time for him to open up a bit more and he was more than willing to let him take his time. As he drank his water after he finished his rounds he looked up in the sky, the late summer sun shining shyly through the clouds. It made Masaki smile without much reason.
"Don't stare in the sun, it will blind you." Aiba jumped up in surprise as a voice behind him spoke to him warningly. He turned around just in time to see a towel coming towards him, barely able to catch it before it would fall to the ground.
"I have been thinking." Nino said, looking at his friend who wiped the sweat drops off his face. "I still believe you are stupid for becoming friends with that Sakurai boy but I can't stop you if you want to be friends with him. Just be careful okay? I don't like to see you get hurt in any possible way." Masaki smiled.
"Thanks Nino-chan. I knew you wouldn't stay mad about it for a long time. But I must say, I'm surprised you came by so quickly. I was already thinking about what I had to buy you to get on your good side again." Nino's smirk disappeared from his face.
"What? You are kidding me right?" Aiba just smiled and started to walk to the school building to change, followed by his friend closely behind. Even though Nino kept blabbering about random things behind him, Aiba's mind could only think about one thing. Sakurai Sho would come to his house in a bit longer than a week, he really had to clean his room to make a good impression.