ShouxHiroto - Alice Nine - Fate Meeting - Chapter 12
Title: Fate Meeting
Author: Leona
Pairing: ShouxHiroto, ToraxSaga, KaixNao
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer : None of this boys are mine…
Summary : Shou is a playboy. Hiroto is a playboy hater. What will happen when the two meet?
Note: Lately I haven’t got a chance to talk to my beta,
marshkitten T_T so this chapter is unbeta…
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11
Chapter 12
It was a quiet afternoon at the café. As usual, there was no customer at this time while Kai was inside the kitchen and Nao hadn’t come yet, so Hiroto was alone. He was sitting in front of the counter, scribbling something on one of the scattered papers on the counter. His eyes focused at the numbers on the paper.
“What are you doing?” Shou came to Hiroto’s side and looked at the papers. “Math?” he asked but got no reply. The smaller boy kept scribbling on the paper. It seemed that he didn’t even notice his existence. “Hi~ro~pon~” Shou poked his back but got no response.
Amused, Shou left the smaller boy to get changed. When he finished changing, he got out and found Hiroto still lost with his homework. Curious, he took a peek from behind the younger boy’s shoulder. Hiroto was still working on the same question.
“You make a mistake there.” Shou whispered, pressing his front to Hiroto’s back.
Hiroto jumped at his seat and looked up to see Shou with his wide eyes.
“Surprise?” The taller boy chuckled at the boy’s reaction. So he really didn’t hear him before.
The small boy blinked at him. “When did you get here?”
“I’ve been here since half an hour ago.” Shou lied smoothly as he took a seat. “I helped Kai at the kitchen.”
Hearing the answer, Hiroto widened his eyes again in disbelief. “Really?”
“No.”
The smaller boy punched the taller’s shoulder. “Be serious!”
“I really love to tease you.” Shou laughed. “I just came in about ten minutes ago.” Hiroto looked at him suspiciously. “Honest.” He added.
Deciding it was no important, the younger one shrugged. “I don’t understand why you always come much later than me.” He asked. “We got out from the school at the same time.”
Shou shrugged and took the question sheet from the counter. “Does it matter? I always come on time.”
Frowning, the smaller waiter took back his paper from Shou’s hand. “Isn’t it better to come early?”
“Why? Do you miss me that much?” Shou winked.
The younger one smacked the other’s forehead. “I’m serious.” He pouted.
“You’re cute when you pout.” The taller boy poked his cheek playfully.
Hiroto swatted the hand with usual ease. Thanks to the other boy, within these past weeks he had become an expert at it. “Don’t change the topic!”
“I’m a busy man, you know.” Shou grinned. “I had to accompany Miki-chan after school.” his gaze turned to the scattered papers on the table. Both of them fell silent as the taller boy picked up the question sheet again and looked through it.
Hearing that, Hiroto didn’t know why but suddenly his mood went down. Ah, that’s right. It was because Shou’s answer reminded him the true nature of the taller waiter. He was a playboy. Ever since he took care of him, Hiroto almost forgot about that. He wanted to slap himself for forgetting that fact.
Shou scooted closer to Hiroto and snatched a pencil from the smaller boy’s red pencil case. “See, to solve this question, first you have to-”
“That’s okay. I can do it by myself.” The smaller boy took the paper back. He had to hold back as not to shout at the other. His mood was really ruined now. For some reason, Hiroto wanted to snap at him right now.
“But you seem to have difficulty with it.” Shou tried to get the paper back but Hiroto won’t let go.
“I said-” Hiroto glared at the other. “I can do it by myself!” The smaller waiter held the paper tightly.
“It’ll take you all night at this rate!”
“I’m used to it!” From the look of the smaller boy’s face, Shou could tell that he was serious. He rolled his eyes. Geez… no wonder Hiroto exhausted himself at the park if he worked all night every time he did his homework.
Suddenly, Shou released the paper, making the smaller boy almost fell back. Instead, he grabbed Hiroto’s face with both of his hands. “Stop being stubborn.” He said. “Look, you’re not alone. You don’t have to do anything by yourself! It’s not a bad thing but you should ask for help when you need it.” Shou released Hiroto’s face and smiled down at the stunned face. “Besides if I help you with this then you’ll have more time to do other things, right?”
Hiroto looked down. “I guess…”
“Good~” Shou patted the younger one’s hair cheerfully. “So about the question…” The taller boy started to explain while Hiroto tried hard to absorb everything that came out from the other’s mouth.
“Oh! Oh! I know! It should be like this right?” The small boy wrote down the answer excitedly. With the help of the older boy, Hiroto began to understand some things he confused before. He was surprised at how good Shou at explaining things. The taller boy made everything seemed easy. His grin became wider when the other gave him a thumb up.
Once again, Hiroto changed his view at the other. “You’re…good.”
At that, Shou grinned. “Well, of course! You’re talking to the top five here.” He bragged proudly. “I’m popular not only because of my good looks but my brain too.”
“Judging from your act, I could never guess that you’re smart.” Hiroto shook his head, laughing at the offended look of Shou.
“What? I have a smart face! Isn’t it obvious?”
“No.” The smaller boy answered bluntly. Shou pouted as Hiroto continued laughing.
**
“Welcome to my messy room.” Tora opened the door to his room for his guest.
The room was indeed a mess. Except the bed, all of Tora’s things were practically scattered around the room. Saga walked carefully into the room as not to step on these things. He tiptoed all the way to the bed and sat on it. “You didn’t lie. This room is really messy.” He said as he looked around the room.
Tora chuckled as he closed the door and walked farther into the room, kicking away anything that stood on his way. “I never lie.” He dropped his bag as he walked passed the small table in the middle of the room. The tall boy continued his journey to the CD rack and rummaged through them.
Feeling comfortable, Saga lay back on the bed and looked at the white ceiling. He turned his face to Tora’s back, smiling slightly. “Your brother also sleeps here?” he asked, noticing the folded extra futon in the corner of the room.
“Nah, he sleeps in another room.” The taller boy answered without looking back. “Why?”
“There’s a futon in the corner.”
“Ah, that was from the last time Hiroto stayed over here. I’m too lazy to get it out.” He shrugged.
“Oh.” Saga frowned. That was not the answer he wanted to hear. “So…I hear Hiroto is your ex-boyfriend?” he asked carefully, his attention focused on the other boy.
Tora laughed. “Where did you hear that?”
“Nao…”
“Ah, yes Nao. He’s the only one who knows about it.”
Saga sat up and fidgeted in the bed, waiting for the continuation. “So?” he asked again when the other boy didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to hear about Tora’s romance with the younger boy but he wanted to know about Tora’s feelings to Hiroto.
“So what? That’s in the past.” The dark haired boy answered simply, making Saga frowned again. It seems Tora didn’t want to cooperate with him.
“Here.” Tora tossed a CD to the boy on the bed. “I can bring it to you tomorrow, you know.” He sat beside the smaller boy.
Looking at the Luna Sea CD on his hand, Saga smiled sheepishly. “I know. I just can’t wait for it.” He replied. Sighing, he lay back again on the bed. The stack of magazines beside the television caught his eyes. It was the only neat pile in the room. Curious, the shorter boy got up and walked to it.
“Spiderman?” he looked at one of the comic he picked up. “You like Spiderman?”
Tora also got up and kneeled beside his guest. “Not really but Hiroto does. His eyes always turned into stars when he read them.” The taller boy picked up a doll of Spiderman holding a guitar near the pile of books. “He even gave me this when I was sick, saying that it will protect me from harm.” Tora smiled fondly at the memory. “He’s a really interesting guy.”
Saga bit his lips as he heard Tora talked about Hiroto. He couldn’t help but feeling jealous of their memories. “Am I not interesting?” he blurted out.
“…What?”
The smaller boy blushed when he realized what he had said. “It’s nothing. I just remember I have something to do. See you later.” Saga got up and fled from the room.
**
“Bye, Kai. Thanks for today!” Hiroto bounced as he walked out of the café with Shou behind him. Kai smiled and waved them off.
The energetic boy turned to look at his companion. “Are you really going to my house?” he asked. “It’s late already.”
“Of course. I promised to help you with your homework, didn’t I?” Shou winked playfully at him.
“…You won’t do anything in my house, will you?”
The taller boy blinked innocently at him. “Me? I’m more scared with what will you do to me. It’s your house after all.”
Hiroto huffed. “Hmmph, like I want to do anything to you.”
“So you prefer I do something to you?” Shou caught the unguarded squirrel from behind.
Hiroto struggled against the laughing boy. “Gyaaa! Help!”
The taller boy laughed as he tried to hold the struggling boy in his arms. It was not an easy task but he enjoyed it nonetheless. Being with the other boy was always made him felt more alive.
“Ugh, you’re really a pervert!” the small boy said breathlessly when he got out from the other’s held.
“I’m not a pervert. I prefer to be called a very affectionate person.” Shou grinned at him. Hiroto snorted at the answer.
“Hey, is this yours?” Shou bent down to pick up a small chibi Spiderman key chain.
Slowly and carefully, Hiroto moved closer to the taller boy to take a look at the small thing. He beamed when he saw that it was indeed his keychain. “It’s mine! Thank you~”
“You seem to be fond of that thing.” Shou gestured at the chibi Spiderman on Hiroto’s hand.
Hiroto nodded as he fixed the keychain on his bag. “Yeah, Tora-shi gave it to me as a repayment for giving him a Spidy doll.”
Shou wanted to sulk at the mentioned of his arch enemy. Suddenly, something went across his mind. He poked Hiroto’s shoulder to get his attention. “Saga likes Tora.” he said out of nowhere.
“Saga?”
Shou nodded. “What do you think about them?”
Hiroto frowned. “Well…I don’t know…so far he seems like a nice guy despite the rumors, unlike a guy I know.” Hiroto gave a pointed look at the innocent looking Shou.
“I wonder who that person is.” Shou pretended to think hard.
The small boy hit the other’s arm. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Don’t you think you should give him a chance?” Shou asked eagerly.
“I don’t understand. Why are you telling me this? You should talk to Tora.”
“I heard you are Tora’s ex-boyfriend.”
Hiroto’s face flushed a bit but he let out a small laugh. “Nao must have told you.” He said. “Ah~ that sure bring back memories.” Hiroto looked into the dark sky.
Didn’t like the faraway look on the other face, Shou blew on Hiroto’s ear, making him shivered. “Stop that!” Seeing that his attention turned back to him, Shou felt satisfied.
“Don’t think about another man in my presence.” The tall boy pouted. “Okay, back to Saga. I think maybe you should give them more time alone?” he suggested.
“Do I need to? I mean I don’t spend that much time with Tora-shi.” Hiroto whined. “I’m only with him at when we go to school in the morning, lunch, and at the café or at his home at night.”
Shou huffed. “That’s all day, Pon.”
Hiroto pouted. “Aw~ but without him, I’ll be bored.”
“You can spend more time with me!” Shou said enthusiastically.
“I know it! It’s your plan to trick me, isn’t it?!” The small boy jumped around pointed his finger accusingly at Shou.
/Oopss…busted!/ Shou grinned sheepishly at Hiroto. “What? I would never do that to you.”
“Shou~”
**
“Welcome to my house!” Hiroto opened the door to his house. “It’s not as big as yours but it’s definitely neater.” He teased, remembering the disaster in the other’s house.
Shou stuck out his tongue and followed Hiroto into the house. The house was a lot smaller than his house but Shou didn’t think any less of it. Hiroto was right. The house was clean and since there was not much furniture, it seemed spacious.
“Sit.” The smaller boy ordered when they got into the living room.
Shou sat on the couch and looked around. “There’s no one home?” he asked.
Hiroto stopped filling the mug with hot water for a moment at the question. “My mom will be home soon.”
The older boy grinned and put his hands on either side of the smaller boy, trapping him between the Shou and the table. “So we’re alone now?” he whispered onto Hiroto’s ear.
Blushing, Hiroto turned around to push the other boy. What he didn’t expect was to find Shou’s face so close to his that he could feel the other’s breathe on him. His eyes transfixed to the pinkish lips in front of him. He wondered if they still felt the same. Hiroto could feel that the other boy leaned even closer to him but he couldn’t find the energy to move away. As Shou’s face get nearer, his eyes slowly closed.
“AAAA!!!!” Finding a sudden strength, Hiroto suddenly screamed, making the other jumped away from him.
The smaller boy felt his legs turned into jelly as he slowly collapse onto the floor. His hand pressed onto his heart. It was still beating so fast.
Shou also had his palm on his heart, but for a different reason. Hiroto’s shout had really surprised him. He looked at the crumpled form on the floor next to the table. The smaller boy’s face was all red, his cute little mouth was opened slightly and his wide eyes fixed on him in disbelief.
“Pon?” He offered his hand to the smaller boy but Hiroto moved away from him.
“You-you-” Hiroto couldn’t voice a coherent sentence. His mind was still blurred at the closeness of the other boy. “Pervert!” It was all Hiroto could think for the moment. He blushed again. He couldn’t believe he almost let Shou kiss him. Maybe bringing him to the house was a big mistake.
Shou chuckled at the reddened face of the younger boy. He crawled over the embarrassed boy and caught his hand before Hiroto could move away again. “I’m sorry.” He said truthfully. He didn’t mean to go that far. Shou was just want to tease Hiroto just like he always did but the close proximity against the blushing boy and those tempting lips was too much for his self control.
Hearing the sincere apology, Hiroto looked down at the hand that caught his arm. He didn’t’ dare to look at Shou’s face. “Jus-just don’t do that again!”
“I can’t promise that.” Shou said seriously and Hiroto eyes flew to the older boy. Their eyes met for a second before Hiroto’s telephone rang, breaking their eye contact.
The small boy scrambled to his feet and ran to pick up the telephone, eager to find a distraction from the hypnotizing eyes of Shou. “He-hello?”
Shou sighed and lay on the floor. He couldn’t believe that the other boy still rejected him even after this long.
DUG!
The taller boy got up quickly when he saw Hiroto dropped the phone and slide down onto the floor just like a few moments ago. “Pon? What happened?” He shook the other’s shoulder when he got no answer.
That did it. Hiroto slowly turned his face to Shou. “My mom…” was the only thing that came out from his mouth.
Hearing some voices, Shou picked up the abandoned telephone. “Hello?”
“Hello, Ogata-san? About your mother…” Shou paled when he heard the man talking. After asking for some questions, he thanked the man and closed the phone.
“Come on, Hiroto. We have to go to the hospital.” He pulled the smaller boy up. Hiroto was staring at nothing, there was no expression on his face. “Pon! We have to see your mother!”
Hiroto turned to him. “Mom? Oh that’s right, I have to go see her…” he pushed the older boy and walked shakily for a few steps before he lost his energy and fell to the floor again.
Sighing, Shou walked to the smaller boy again and hoisted him up. “Come on, I’ll help you.”
“It’s okay.” Hiroto shook his head. His face was calm but Shou could see the fear in his eyes.
“He’s not as strong as he seems to be.”
Nao’s words from before, rang through his mind. He watched as Hiroto tried to get up with shaky legs and felt the truth of those words. “Here.” Shou tried to help him but was pushed away by the other.
“I can go by myself. It has nothing to do with you.”
Groaning in frustration, Shou pinched Hiroto’s cheek until the smaller boy yelped in pain. “You’re not alone, remember?” he poked the other’s forehead.
Hiroto reluctantly nodded.
“Good, now let me help you.” Shou put his arms around Hiroto’s waist to help him walk since the smaller boy seems to lose his ability to walk. They got out from the house and walked for a few minutes until they reached the main road. Shou stopped a taxi and told Hiroto to get in the car.
The two of them didn’t talk at all in the first few minutes in the car. Shou was worried for the other boy. He seemed so shaken by the news. The older boy placed his hand on top of Hiroto’s in a comforting manner.
Feeling the human touch, Hiroto grabbed the larger hand and squeezed it tightly. Shou seemed to understand and pulled Hiroto closer to him.
“I’m scared…” the small boy mumbled into Shou’s shirt.
“It’s going to be all right, Pon. They said your mother is fine, just a little accident.”
“But what if they lied?” Hiroto looked up at Shou with his teary eyes. “She’s the only one I have. I can’t bear to lose her.”
“Don’t be silly. If the doctor said that she’s all right then it must be true.” Shou let Hiroto snuggled closer to him. “Besides you still have me, Nao, Tora, and even Saga so don’t think anything weird, okay?” He soothed the other boy.
Hiroto just tightened his held on the older boy.
**
“Mrs. Ogata? You can go to room 2012.” The receptionist said to the two boys.
“Is she-” Hiroto gulped. “Is she all right?”
The receptionist smiled comfortingly at him. “Don’t worry. She’s fine.”
Both of them bowed to her before hurried to go to the room. Hiroto opened the door slightly and saw his mother lying peacefully on the bed with a bandage on her head. The small boy breathed in relief at the sight. He felt a hand squeezed his shoulder.
Shou smiled warmly at him. “Go.” He mouthed.
Hiroto smiled back at him before he went into the room.
“Hiroto?” his mom’s eyes caught the sight of the short boy.
Hiroto walked over to her and hug her tightly. “You make me really worried, you know.” He said.
“I’m okay. My head hit the road quite hard when the car hit me but other than a few bruises, I’m fine.” His mother smiled weakly at her only son. “You came here alone?”
“No, I came with my senpai-” he looked back to the door but found no one there. Hiroto walked back to the door and checked the hallway but he couldn’t find Shou anywhere.
“Hiroto? Is something wrong?”
Hiroto shook his head and walked back to hug his mother again. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
End of chapter 12
Author: Leona
Pairing: ShouxHiroto, ToraxSaga, KaixNao
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer : None of this boys are mine…
Summary : Shou is a playboy. Hiroto is a playboy hater. What will happen when the two meet?
Note: Lately I haven’t got a chance to talk to my beta,
marshkitten T_T so this chapter is unbeta…
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11
Chapter 12
It was a quiet afternoon at the café. As usual, there was no customer at this time while Kai was inside the kitchen and Nao hadn’t come yet, so Hiroto was alone. He was sitting in front of the counter, scribbling something on one of the scattered papers on the counter. His eyes focused at the numbers on the paper.
“What are you doing?” Shou came to Hiroto’s side and looked at the papers. “Math?” he asked but got no reply. The smaller boy kept scribbling on the paper. It seemed that he didn’t even notice his existence. “Hi~ro~pon~” Shou poked his back but got no response.
Amused, Shou left the smaller boy to get changed. When he finished changing, he got out and found Hiroto still lost with his homework. Curious, he took a peek from behind the younger boy’s shoulder. Hiroto was still working on the same question.
“You make a mistake there.” Shou whispered, pressing his front to Hiroto’s back.
Hiroto jumped at his seat and looked up to see Shou with his wide eyes.
“Surprise?” The taller boy chuckled at the boy’s reaction. So he really didn’t hear him before.
The small boy blinked at him. “When did you get here?”
“I’ve been here since half an hour ago.” Shou lied smoothly as he took a seat. “I helped Kai at the kitchen.”
Hearing the answer, Hiroto widened his eyes again in disbelief. “Really?”
“No.”
The smaller boy punched the taller’s shoulder. “Be serious!”
“I really love to tease you.” Shou laughed. “I just came in about ten minutes ago.” Hiroto looked at him suspiciously. “Honest.” He added.
Deciding it was no important, the younger one shrugged. “I don’t understand why you always come much later than me.” He asked. “We got out from the school at the same time.”
Shou shrugged and took the question sheet from the counter. “Does it matter? I always come on time.”
Frowning, the smaller waiter took back his paper from Shou’s hand. “Isn’t it better to come early?”
“Why? Do you miss me that much?” Shou winked.
The younger one smacked the other’s forehead. “I’m serious.” He pouted.
“You’re cute when you pout.” The taller boy poked his cheek playfully.
Hiroto swatted the hand with usual ease. Thanks to the other boy, within these past weeks he had become an expert at it. “Don’t change the topic!”
“I’m a busy man, you know.” Shou grinned. “I had to accompany Miki-chan after school.” his gaze turned to the scattered papers on the table. Both of them fell silent as the taller boy picked up the question sheet again and looked through it.
Hearing that, Hiroto didn’t know why but suddenly his mood went down. Ah, that’s right. It was because Shou’s answer reminded him the true nature of the taller waiter. He was a playboy. Ever since he took care of him, Hiroto almost forgot about that. He wanted to slap himself for forgetting that fact.
Shou scooted closer to Hiroto and snatched a pencil from the smaller boy’s red pencil case. “See, to solve this question, first you have to-”
“That’s okay. I can do it by myself.” The smaller boy took the paper back. He had to hold back as not to shout at the other. His mood was really ruined now. For some reason, Hiroto wanted to snap at him right now.
“But you seem to have difficulty with it.” Shou tried to get the paper back but Hiroto won’t let go.
“I said-” Hiroto glared at the other. “I can do it by myself!” The smaller waiter held the paper tightly.
“It’ll take you all night at this rate!”
“I’m used to it!” From the look of the smaller boy’s face, Shou could tell that he was serious. He rolled his eyes. Geez… no wonder Hiroto exhausted himself at the park if he worked all night every time he did his homework.
Suddenly, Shou released the paper, making the smaller boy almost fell back. Instead, he grabbed Hiroto’s face with both of his hands. “Stop being stubborn.” He said. “Look, you’re not alone. You don’t have to do anything by yourself! It’s not a bad thing but you should ask for help when you need it.” Shou released Hiroto’s face and smiled down at the stunned face. “Besides if I help you with this then you’ll have more time to do other things, right?”
Hiroto looked down. “I guess…”
“Good~” Shou patted the younger one’s hair cheerfully. “So about the question…” The taller boy started to explain while Hiroto tried hard to absorb everything that came out from the other’s mouth.
“Oh! Oh! I know! It should be like this right?” The small boy wrote down the answer excitedly. With the help of the older boy, Hiroto began to understand some things he confused before. He was surprised at how good Shou at explaining things. The taller boy made everything seemed easy. His grin became wider when the other gave him a thumb up.
Once again, Hiroto changed his view at the other. “You’re…good.”
At that, Shou grinned. “Well, of course! You’re talking to the top five here.” He bragged proudly. “I’m popular not only because of my good looks but my brain too.”
“Judging from your act, I could never guess that you’re smart.” Hiroto shook his head, laughing at the offended look of Shou.
“What? I have a smart face! Isn’t it obvious?”
“No.” The smaller boy answered bluntly. Shou pouted as Hiroto continued laughing.
**
“Welcome to my messy room.” Tora opened the door to his room for his guest.
The room was indeed a mess. Except the bed, all of Tora’s things were practically scattered around the room. Saga walked carefully into the room as not to step on these things. He tiptoed all the way to the bed and sat on it. “You didn’t lie. This room is really messy.” He said as he looked around the room.
Tora chuckled as he closed the door and walked farther into the room, kicking away anything that stood on his way. “I never lie.” He dropped his bag as he walked passed the small table in the middle of the room. The tall boy continued his journey to the CD rack and rummaged through them.
Feeling comfortable, Saga lay back on the bed and looked at the white ceiling. He turned his face to Tora’s back, smiling slightly. “Your brother also sleeps here?” he asked, noticing the folded extra futon in the corner of the room.
“Nah, he sleeps in another room.” The taller boy answered without looking back. “Why?”
“There’s a futon in the corner.”
“Ah, that was from the last time Hiroto stayed over here. I’m too lazy to get it out.” He shrugged.
“Oh.” Saga frowned. That was not the answer he wanted to hear. “So…I hear Hiroto is your ex-boyfriend?” he asked carefully, his attention focused on the other boy.
Tora laughed. “Where did you hear that?”
“Nao…”
“Ah, yes Nao. He’s the only one who knows about it.”
Saga sat up and fidgeted in the bed, waiting for the continuation. “So?” he asked again when the other boy didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to hear about Tora’s romance with the younger boy but he wanted to know about Tora’s feelings to Hiroto.
“So what? That’s in the past.” The dark haired boy answered simply, making Saga frowned again. It seems Tora didn’t want to cooperate with him.
“Here.” Tora tossed a CD to the boy on the bed. “I can bring it to you tomorrow, you know.” He sat beside the smaller boy.
Looking at the Luna Sea CD on his hand, Saga smiled sheepishly. “I know. I just can’t wait for it.” He replied. Sighing, he lay back again on the bed. The stack of magazines beside the television caught his eyes. It was the only neat pile in the room. Curious, the shorter boy got up and walked to it.
“Spiderman?” he looked at one of the comic he picked up. “You like Spiderman?”
Tora also got up and kneeled beside his guest. “Not really but Hiroto does. His eyes always turned into stars when he read them.” The taller boy picked up a doll of Spiderman holding a guitar near the pile of books. “He even gave me this when I was sick, saying that it will protect me from harm.” Tora smiled fondly at the memory. “He’s a really interesting guy.”
Saga bit his lips as he heard Tora talked about Hiroto. He couldn’t help but feeling jealous of their memories. “Am I not interesting?” he blurted out.
“…What?”
The smaller boy blushed when he realized what he had said. “It’s nothing. I just remember I have something to do. See you later.” Saga got up and fled from the room.
**
“Bye, Kai. Thanks for today!” Hiroto bounced as he walked out of the café with Shou behind him. Kai smiled and waved them off.
The energetic boy turned to look at his companion. “Are you really going to my house?” he asked. “It’s late already.”
“Of course. I promised to help you with your homework, didn’t I?” Shou winked playfully at him.
“…You won’t do anything in my house, will you?”
The taller boy blinked innocently at him. “Me? I’m more scared with what will you do to me. It’s your house after all.”
Hiroto huffed. “Hmmph, like I want to do anything to you.”
“So you prefer I do something to you?” Shou caught the unguarded squirrel from behind.
Hiroto struggled against the laughing boy. “Gyaaa! Help!”
The taller boy laughed as he tried to hold the struggling boy in his arms. It was not an easy task but he enjoyed it nonetheless. Being with the other boy was always made him felt more alive.
“Ugh, you’re really a pervert!” the small boy said breathlessly when he got out from the other’s held.
“I’m not a pervert. I prefer to be called a very affectionate person.” Shou grinned at him. Hiroto snorted at the answer.
“Hey, is this yours?” Shou bent down to pick up a small chibi Spiderman key chain.
Slowly and carefully, Hiroto moved closer to the taller boy to take a look at the small thing. He beamed when he saw that it was indeed his keychain. “It’s mine! Thank you~”
“You seem to be fond of that thing.” Shou gestured at the chibi Spiderman on Hiroto’s hand.
Hiroto nodded as he fixed the keychain on his bag. “Yeah, Tora-shi gave it to me as a repayment for giving him a Spidy doll.”
Shou wanted to sulk at the mentioned of his arch enemy. Suddenly, something went across his mind. He poked Hiroto’s shoulder to get his attention. “Saga likes Tora.” he said out of nowhere.
“Saga?”
Shou nodded. “What do you think about them?”
Hiroto frowned. “Well…I don’t know…so far he seems like a nice guy despite the rumors, unlike a guy I know.” Hiroto gave a pointed look at the innocent looking Shou.
“I wonder who that person is.” Shou pretended to think hard.
The small boy hit the other’s arm. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Don’t you think you should give him a chance?” Shou asked eagerly.
“I don’t understand. Why are you telling me this? You should talk to Tora.”
“I heard you are Tora’s ex-boyfriend.”
Hiroto’s face flushed a bit but he let out a small laugh. “Nao must have told you.” He said. “Ah~ that sure bring back memories.” Hiroto looked into the dark sky.
Didn’t like the faraway look on the other face, Shou blew on Hiroto’s ear, making him shivered. “Stop that!” Seeing that his attention turned back to him, Shou felt satisfied.
“Don’t think about another man in my presence.” The tall boy pouted. “Okay, back to Saga. I think maybe you should give them more time alone?” he suggested.
“Do I need to? I mean I don’t spend that much time with Tora-shi.” Hiroto whined. “I’m only with him at when we go to school in the morning, lunch, and at the café or at his home at night.”
Shou huffed. “That’s all day, Pon.”
Hiroto pouted. “Aw~ but without him, I’ll be bored.”
“You can spend more time with me!” Shou said enthusiastically.
“I know it! It’s your plan to trick me, isn’t it?!” The small boy jumped around pointed his finger accusingly at Shou.
/Oopss…busted!/ Shou grinned sheepishly at Hiroto. “What? I would never do that to you.”
“Shou~”
**
“Welcome to my house!” Hiroto opened the door to his house. “It’s not as big as yours but it’s definitely neater.” He teased, remembering the disaster in the other’s house.
Shou stuck out his tongue and followed Hiroto into the house. The house was a lot smaller than his house but Shou didn’t think any less of it. Hiroto was right. The house was clean and since there was not much furniture, it seemed spacious.
“Sit.” The smaller boy ordered when they got into the living room.
Shou sat on the couch and looked around. “There’s no one home?” he asked.
Hiroto stopped filling the mug with hot water for a moment at the question. “My mom will be home soon.”
The older boy grinned and put his hands on either side of the smaller boy, trapping him between the Shou and the table. “So we’re alone now?” he whispered onto Hiroto’s ear.
Blushing, Hiroto turned around to push the other boy. What he didn’t expect was to find Shou’s face so close to his that he could feel the other’s breathe on him. His eyes transfixed to the pinkish lips in front of him. He wondered if they still felt the same. Hiroto could feel that the other boy leaned even closer to him but he couldn’t find the energy to move away. As Shou’s face get nearer, his eyes slowly closed.
“AAAA!!!!” Finding a sudden strength, Hiroto suddenly screamed, making the other jumped away from him.
The smaller boy felt his legs turned into jelly as he slowly collapse onto the floor. His hand pressed onto his heart. It was still beating so fast.
Shou also had his palm on his heart, but for a different reason. Hiroto’s shout had really surprised him. He looked at the crumpled form on the floor next to the table. The smaller boy’s face was all red, his cute little mouth was opened slightly and his wide eyes fixed on him in disbelief.
“Pon?” He offered his hand to the smaller boy but Hiroto moved away from him.
“You-you-” Hiroto couldn’t voice a coherent sentence. His mind was still blurred at the closeness of the other boy. “Pervert!” It was all Hiroto could think for the moment. He blushed again. He couldn’t believe he almost let Shou kiss him. Maybe bringing him to the house was a big mistake.
Shou chuckled at the reddened face of the younger boy. He crawled over the embarrassed boy and caught his hand before Hiroto could move away again. “I’m sorry.” He said truthfully. He didn’t mean to go that far. Shou was just want to tease Hiroto just like he always did but the close proximity against the blushing boy and those tempting lips was too much for his self control.
Hearing the sincere apology, Hiroto looked down at the hand that caught his arm. He didn’t’ dare to look at Shou’s face. “Jus-just don’t do that again!”
“I can’t promise that.” Shou said seriously and Hiroto eyes flew to the older boy. Their eyes met for a second before Hiroto’s telephone rang, breaking their eye contact.
The small boy scrambled to his feet and ran to pick up the telephone, eager to find a distraction from the hypnotizing eyes of Shou. “He-hello?”
Shou sighed and lay on the floor. He couldn’t believe that the other boy still rejected him even after this long.
DUG!
The taller boy got up quickly when he saw Hiroto dropped the phone and slide down onto the floor just like a few moments ago. “Pon? What happened?” He shook the other’s shoulder when he got no answer.
That did it. Hiroto slowly turned his face to Shou. “My mom…” was the only thing that came out from his mouth.
Hearing some voices, Shou picked up the abandoned telephone. “Hello?”
“Hello, Ogata-san? About your mother…” Shou paled when he heard the man talking. After asking for some questions, he thanked the man and closed the phone.
“Come on, Hiroto. We have to go to the hospital.” He pulled the smaller boy up. Hiroto was staring at nothing, there was no expression on his face. “Pon! We have to see your mother!”
Hiroto turned to him. “Mom? Oh that’s right, I have to go see her…” he pushed the older boy and walked shakily for a few steps before he lost his energy and fell to the floor again.
Sighing, Shou walked to the smaller boy again and hoisted him up. “Come on, I’ll help you.”
“It’s okay.” Hiroto shook his head. His face was calm but Shou could see the fear in his eyes.
“He’s not as strong as he seems to be.”
Nao’s words from before, rang through his mind. He watched as Hiroto tried to get up with shaky legs and felt the truth of those words. “Here.” Shou tried to help him but was pushed away by the other.
“I can go by myself. It has nothing to do with you.”
Groaning in frustration, Shou pinched Hiroto’s cheek until the smaller boy yelped in pain. “You’re not alone, remember?” he poked the other’s forehead.
Hiroto reluctantly nodded.
“Good, now let me help you.” Shou put his arms around Hiroto’s waist to help him walk since the smaller boy seems to lose his ability to walk. They got out from the house and walked for a few minutes until they reached the main road. Shou stopped a taxi and told Hiroto to get in the car.
The two of them didn’t talk at all in the first few minutes in the car. Shou was worried for the other boy. He seemed so shaken by the news. The older boy placed his hand on top of Hiroto’s in a comforting manner.
Feeling the human touch, Hiroto grabbed the larger hand and squeezed it tightly. Shou seemed to understand and pulled Hiroto closer to him.
“I’m scared…” the small boy mumbled into Shou’s shirt.
“It’s going to be all right, Pon. They said your mother is fine, just a little accident.”
“But what if they lied?” Hiroto looked up at Shou with his teary eyes. “She’s the only one I have. I can’t bear to lose her.”
“Don’t be silly. If the doctor said that she’s all right then it must be true.” Shou let Hiroto snuggled closer to him. “Besides you still have me, Nao, Tora, and even Saga so don’t think anything weird, okay?” He soothed the other boy.
Hiroto just tightened his held on the older boy.
**
“Mrs. Ogata? You can go to room 2012.” The receptionist said to the two boys.
“Is she-” Hiroto gulped. “Is she all right?”
The receptionist smiled comfortingly at him. “Don’t worry. She’s fine.”
Both of them bowed to her before hurried to go to the room. Hiroto opened the door slightly and saw his mother lying peacefully on the bed with a bandage on her head. The small boy breathed in relief at the sight. He felt a hand squeezed his shoulder.
Shou smiled warmly at him. “Go.” He mouthed.
Hiroto smiled back at him before he went into the room.
“Hiroto?” his mom’s eyes caught the sight of the short boy.
Hiroto walked over to her and hug her tightly. “You make me really worried, you know.” He said.
“I’m okay. My head hit the road quite hard when the car hit me but other than a few bruises, I’m fine.” His mother smiled weakly at her only son. “You came here alone?”
“No, I came with my senpai-” he looked back to the door but found no one there. Hiroto walked back to the door and checked the hallway but he couldn’t find Shou anywhere.
“Hiroto? Is something wrong?”
Hiroto shook his head and walked back to hug his mother again. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
End of chapter 12