fic for bubbly (1/2)
For: bubbly
From: jadeswallow
Title: Necessary Separations
Pairing: Nino/Sho, Nino/Jun, Ohno/Jun, Sho/Maki, Aiba/Becky
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: No real warning except that 1/10 of this is PORN.
Summary: Nino is a postman, Nino is young, Nino is amused, Nino is in love, Nino is confused, Nino is afraid. Happiness is a footstep away; all he needs to do is just move his feet, but sometimes things are harder than they sound.
Notes:
To bubbly, thank you for introducing me to Steampunk genre. However, I’m really afraid that I can’t pull “the punk” (individualism/anarchy/satirical/social criticism) off in the time given, so I offer you this fluffy Steampulp instead. I hope that it suffices. Huge thanks to my best friend, who read this story first and gave me some positive feedbacks. A million thanks for my betas too. I couldn’t do it without you guys, sorry for troubling you in the last minute! The inspiration comes from a quote, which simply says, “If you really care about someone, you will make an effort to be a part of his life.”
1.
Nino has never liked being a postman. Sure, he loves the sky, and he loves flying, but there are a few reasons for why he doesn’t like the job.
The uniform feels itchy on his skin; the blue color looks bad on him; the stupid hat is too heavy and too big, covering his eyes and forcing him to lift it up from time to time in order to better see the path in front of him; people to whom he delivered letters never properly give their gratitude -- one person even slammed the door in front of his face once; one lens of his goggles’ has cracked; the mechanical wings are too heavy, and as old as they are, often break down in the middle of his tasks.
Truth be told, he would much prefer a job at the library, where he could get paid just for sitting and reading comics for hours. Unfortunately, this job was the only one available besides construction work, and with the deadline for his rent looming closer, he swallows his pride and wears his stupid uniform and stupid heavy mechanical wings and takes off every morning to deliver the mail- never stopping to regret how he has foolishly spent all his money to buy various magic cards.
2.
Fate starts rolling after Nino delivers a mail to a painter, Ohno, who lives downhill. Ohno often gets mail from his mother -- too often in Nino’s opinion, but Ohno is genuinely happy every time he receives a letter so Nino decides it’s best to keep his mouth shut.
They talk for a while and Ohno teaches Nino how to draw. Before Nino realizes it, time has ticked away, and he needs to go. Waving goodbye to Ohno, Nino takes off and hopes that he can finish that day’s deliveries as soon as possible, but it seems that fate has something else in mind since halfway to the next house, Nino starts feeling water droplets in his face.
He looks above as the rain starts getting heavier, and kicks himself, because he should have stayed a bit longer at Ohno’s place, drinking a glass of warm milk while watching Ohno paint instead.
Of all the matters he hates about his job, what Nino loathes the most is when it rains. If he stays in the air, not only he will be wet, but also his mechanical wings will get even rustier, and Nino hates to stop every now and then just to fix them. He looks around for the best place to hide until it stops.
3.
He curses his luck as he floats into the middle of a luxurious residential complex with no stores to take a shelter in, and Nino starts to lose hope - silently promising himself to quit his job tomorrow -- when he finally notices an open window from a tower on his left.
He rejoices and quickly flies over to the window, hovering in front of it for a while. Seeing no one to whom he can ask permission, he decides to go inside first and explain later.
4.
As soon as he is inside, he shakes his wet hair, turning the floor below into a puddle of water, and searches for a towel to dry his body. He can’t find one, so he grabs the curtain instead; he will say sorry later.
As his eyes scan the room, he sees that it is some kind of a laboratory, full of weird liquids with all different colors bubbling inside test tubes of different heights. There are also monstrous looking machines full of metallic knobs and switches.
Nino stands in awe, amused and fascinated by the view in front of him. He moves forward and knocks a sphere with smoke inside, giggling slightly. Looking around, he notices a large blackboard covering almost all the wall to his left with numbers and scribbles written in it and some drawings, which seem frustratingly drawn, in the corner.
Nino gets closer to observe them, his fingers scanning the drawings. At the bottom, there’s a picture of an animal that seems like a mix of a platypus and worm with OTTER written below it. Nino bursts out laughing but hastily covers his mouth. The one to its left shows a cow with very short hands and black and white circles on its body, the word PANDA written below it. Nino quickly looks to the right and sees a drawing of an alien, which appears to be someone’s effort to draw a GRASSHOPPER.
He grins and searches for chalk, trying to remember what Ohno has taught him. After finishing his own version of an OTTER, PANDA, and GRASSHOPPER, Nino steps back and nods at the results, satisfied. He glances at the window to see that the rain has finally stopped, and decides to leave, but not before he leaves a message,
These are what they are supposed to look like ♥
5.
Nino can’t stop smiling all day, remembering the cuteness of the drawn animals and imagining what the drawer’s expression will be like when he or she discovers that someone has entered the room and corrected the drawings.
His childhood friend turned roommate, Aiba, asks why he looks so content, and for a moment, Nino thinks he should tell him, but instead, Nino just shushes him and tells him it’s a secret. He decides to not quit his job yet and plans to stop by the tower again tomorrow.
6.
It is already noon when Nino arrives at the tower. He has class in a few hours, but who cares about class when there is something much more interesting?
Nino takes a peek inside the room, but still, no one is inside. Curious, he sits on the window bay and knocks a few times, waiting to see if someone will answer. When no one responds after his third knock, he shrugs and steps inside the room, walking straight to the blackboard.
He smiles smugly when he sees that the drawings are still there, a big question mark written with pink chalk added to the side. Nino touches the drawings. Pink is cute, even if it’s just the color of some irrelevant chalk.
Someone coughs, and Nino turns around.
Behind him, stands a man near his age who is fully dressed in a white t-shirt, a beige vest and a suit of the same color. Nino stares at him, quite impolitely, observing his sharp brown eyes and a cute heart-shaped face, and notices his slopping shoulders, as well as his full red lips, which Nino finds pretty.
The man moves swiftly in front of him, and for a second, Nino thinks he will be scolded. Instead, the man smiles and asks, “Are you the one who drew them?” His voice is low but sounds gracious, and Nino thinks he likes him already.
He smiles back. “Yes, I am. Is that okay?”
The man offers his hand. “I’m Sakurai Sho”.
Nino shakes it. “Ninomiya Kazunari, but you can call me Nino.”
Sho lets go of his hand and shrugs his head to the large table at the left side of the room, encouraging Nino to come. Nino follows, and Sho offers him a seat and food. He smiles shyly when Nino points out that there are two boxes of noodles in the table. “I thought you might come back to teach me how to draw.”
Nino laughs. “I’m not that good in drawing.”
Sho grins. “Still better than me.”
For a moment there they lock eyes but quickly turn away, embarrassed, only to look at each other again. Nino feels his stomach tighten and pink color creep over his cheeks. Sho bites his lip and fidgets in his chair. Nino wonders if this is what people call love at first sight.
7.
Their first conversation goes smoothly as Nino immediately feels at ease with Sho. He doesn’t hold back, and Sho doesn’t either. Nino slurps his noodles and explains how he came inside uninvited, because he desperately needed shelter from the rain, and Sho answers that he figured that out due to the pool of water on the floor when he came back.
Nino coughs, having completely forgotten about the water and the curtain. He repeatedly says sorry but scolds Sho too, because he recklessly left his windows open. Sho smiles sheepishly, promising not to do that again. Then Nino realizes he is not supposed to say that, because if Sho closes his windows, how will he able to enter the tower again? Sho sees him pout and as if he knows exactly what’s going on in Nino’s head, calms him down by saying that he will always be there from noon to night so Nino can visit anytime he wishes.
Nino nods and plays with his fingers, feeling mysteriously happy just for that simple invitation.
8.
Sho is a master scholar, studying about machines at a well-known university, but he is taking a break for a while to teach his juniors, and for another unexplained reason that momentarily paints a gloomy expression on his face. It seems that the numbers and equations on the blackboard are for Sho’s newest invention, which still has glitches and mishaps here and there. He is in town to finish it but he still has no idea how to do it. He will get it done eventually, though, Sho quickly adds. He has to.
Nino points at the drawings, and Sho’s face reddens. The drawings are there when he starts feeling frustrated, but never having been an animal observer -- or that’s how he tries to explain it -- the drawings never turned out very well.
Sho nudges Nino softly, “What about you?” So Nino tells him how he is studying music at a school nearby, but he needs money, and has to work to earn his living, thus his job as a postman, which in the end, led him to Sho’s tower. Sho asks if he has class today and Nino answers nonchalantly, “There’s nothing much to learn there anyway.”
Sho looks at him and nods, understanding. It’s a small city with a small music school after all. He changes the topic to tell the story of how he locks himself in the tower so he can focus more on his invention. But he has started to feel lonely and was amused when he sees Nino’s scribbles. He admits that he felt scared at first to know that someone had entered his room without permission, so he decided to hide to see what the person looked like.
Nino asks about what Sho thinks of him and Sho blushes, mumbling that his appearance matches his drawings and that Nino is smaller than he expected. Nino sulks and Sho quickly adds that small is not bad at all -- in fact small is cute -- causing him to blush again. Nino feels a sudden outburst of happiness swelling in his chest.
9.
He can’t sleep that night, continuously feeling giddy when he remembers Sho, who is definitely better than his imagination. Aiba pokes him and asks curiously what happened, but Nino answers that it’s nothing.
Aiba’s girlfriend, Becky, comes by and points out how clear it is that Nino is in love, and Aiba jumps at him, demanding to know who has stolen his heart. Aiba’s words, not his. Nino tells him to get off, because he is choking him to death.
10.
Nino comes back every day since, stealing times between mail delivery and classes, just to see Sho or hear his blabbering. Sho loves to talk. Sometimes he just mumbles to himself while writing on the blackboard or counting numbers with his abacus, sighing because he still can’t find the correct equation.
Nino loves to just sit there in the window, watching how Sho moves, smiles, talks, thinks, and laughing at him when he messes up his hair in frustration if he can’t figure something out. Nino tells him he needs to relax a little bit more, so Sho requests that he bring his musical equipments tomorrow. Concerned, Nino asks him if Sho feels bothered by the way he watches him. Sho shakes his head, convincing him that he honestly wants to hear Nino play.
The next day, Nino brings his violin and two homemade lunchboxes, because Sho can’t cook and always orders expensive meals. Sho responds by smiling from ear to ear and cleans up the meal until the very last piece of rice is gone, claiming that he never ate anything so delicious in his entire life. Nino snorts, accuses him of lying, and remarks that Sho needs to learn to save more money. Sho leans forward and kisses his cheek, murmuring his thanks, and Nino is suddenly too lost of words to reply.
11.
Nino has never felt so happy. He hums all day long. Even his itchy blue uniform now looks like the most beautiful outfit in the world, and the rustic mechanical wings are the best invention man ever made.
Ohno notices this too, and one day when Nino delivers him a letter, he points out calmly and quite matter of factly, “You’re in love.”
Nino plays with his brush. “You think?”
Ohno smiles sweetly. “Good for you.” and Nino replies. “I like you, Ohno, not like like, but I like you.”
Ohno grabs his brush back. “I like you too, but you should stop trying to steal my brush.”
12.
Exam time comes, and he can’t see Sho as often as he wants to. Thankfully, the telephone has been invented, so Nino finds himself talking to Sho every night before they go to sleep.
“What did you eat today?”
“Um, I tried to cook hotcakes this morning but failed.”
“You shouldn’t do it if you don’t know how to cook, what a waste of flour.”
“And sugar too.”
“You wasted sugar too?!”
“Um.”
“Do you know how expensive sugar is? Next time just order it from your usual café!”
“But you said they are extremely expensive and they cheat their customers!”
“Then what did you eat after that hotcakes failure?”
“Eggs! I can at least cook eggs.”
“Try sausage tomorrow. It’s as easy as eggs.”
“Hey, Nino.”
“Um?”
“I miss your cooking”
“…”
“Well, what can I do? It’s exam time…”
“I know…”
The next morning, Sho’s address shows up on his list of deliveries. When Nino knocks on the window and says how the handwriting in the letter for Sho looks suspiciously like Sho’s own handwriting, Sho admits that he deliberately did that so Nino would come to the tower. Nino flies away in embarrassment, not to mention overflowing happiness, but scolds him on their phone conversation that night.
“Don’t do that again, okay? It’ll be suspicious if I deliver a letter to you every day.”
“Then come tomorrow.”
“Do you miss my cooking that much?”
“And your songs too. Come on, you can study here.”
“….Then I’ll come.”
“I’ll be waiting.” Sho hangs up.
13.
When Nino asks him what his new invention is about, Sho just smiles, pats his head, and says that he has sworn never to tell anyone before he has successfully created the machine.
Nino removes his hand and grumbles, “I am not a child.”
Sho reaches him, “I have never seen you as a child,” and he bows his head down to capture his lips. Nino gasps, hands immediately reaching for Sho’s shoulder, grabbing them as Sho bites his lips playfully. “Never as a child,” he whispers, and Nino closes his eyes, feeling warm and fuzzy.
Sho put his hands on Nino’s wrist, pulling him closer, and Nino sighs as Sho’s tongue enters his mouth, exploring and demanding. Nino grips harder and whimpers when Sho pulls back, “Pervert.”
Sho grins and whispers back, tossing Nino’s bangs aside before kissing his lips once more, “Can’t help it.”
14.
Winter is nearing when Nino accidentally sees him as he walks down the street on his way home from school.
Jun.
Matsumoto Jun.
Someone from his past he never thought he would see again. Nino drops his books in surprise, and Jun raises his head. “Kazu.”
Nino gulps. “Jun.”
Part 2
From: jadeswallow
Title: Necessary Separations
Pairing: Nino/Sho, Nino/Jun, Ohno/Jun, Sho/Maki, Aiba/Becky
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: No real warning except that 1/10 of this is PORN.
Summary: Nino is a postman, Nino is young, Nino is amused, Nino is in love, Nino is confused, Nino is afraid. Happiness is a footstep away; all he needs to do is just move his feet, but sometimes things are harder than they sound.
Notes:
To bubbly, thank you for introducing me to Steampunk genre. However, I’m really afraid that I can’t pull “the punk” (individualism/anarchy/satirical/social criticism) off in the time given, so I offer you this fluffy Steampulp instead. I hope that it suffices. Huge thanks to my best friend, who read this story first and gave me some positive feedbacks. A million thanks for my betas too. I couldn’t do it without you guys, sorry for troubling you in the last minute! The inspiration comes from a quote, which simply says, “If you really care about someone, you will make an effort to be a part of his life.”
1.
Nino has never liked being a postman. Sure, he loves the sky, and he loves flying, but there are a few reasons for why he doesn’t like the job.
The uniform feels itchy on his skin; the blue color looks bad on him; the stupid hat is too heavy and too big, covering his eyes and forcing him to lift it up from time to time in order to better see the path in front of him; people to whom he delivered letters never properly give their gratitude -- one person even slammed the door in front of his face once; one lens of his goggles’ has cracked; the mechanical wings are too heavy, and as old as they are, often break down in the middle of his tasks.
Truth be told, he would much prefer a job at the library, where he could get paid just for sitting and reading comics for hours. Unfortunately, this job was the only one available besides construction work, and with the deadline for his rent looming closer, he swallows his pride and wears his stupid uniform and stupid heavy mechanical wings and takes off every morning to deliver the mail- never stopping to regret how he has foolishly spent all his money to buy various magic cards.
2.
Fate starts rolling after Nino delivers a mail to a painter, Ohno, who lives downhill. Ohno often gets mail from his mother -- too often in Nino’s opinion, but Ohno is genuinely happy every time he receives a letter so Nino decides it’s best to keep his mouth shut.
They talk for a while and Ohno teaches Nino how to draw. Before Nino realizes it, time has ticked away, and he needs to go. Waving goodbye to Ohno, Nino takes off and hopes that he can finish that day’s deliveries as soon as possible, but it seems that fate has something else in mind since halfway to the next house, Nino starts feeling water droplets in his face.
He looks above as the rain starts getting heavier, and kicks himself, because he should have stayed a bit longer at Ohno’s place, drinking a glass of warm milk while watching Ohno paint instead.
Of all the matters he hates about his job, what Nino loathes the most is when it rains. If he stays in the air, not only he will be wet, but also his mechanical wings will get even rustier, and Nino hates to stop every now and then just to fix them. He looks around for the best place to hide until it stops.
3.
He curses his luck as he floats into the middle of a luxurious residential complex with no stores to take a shelter in, and Nino starts to lose hope - silently promising himself to quit his job tomorrow -- when he finally notices an open window from a tower on his left.
He rejoices and quickly flies over to the window, hovering in front of it for a while. Seeing no one to whom he can ask permission, he decides to go inside first and explain later.
4.
As soon as he is inside, he shakes his wet hair, turning the floor below into a puddle of water, and searches for a towel to dry his body. He can’t find one, so he grabs the curtain instead; he will say sorry later.
As his eyes scan the room, he sees that it is some kind of a laboratory, full of weird liquids with all different colors bubbling inside test tubes of different heights. There are also monstrous looking machines full of metallic knobs and switches.
Nino stands in awe, amused and fascinated by the view in front of him. He moves forward and knocks a sphere with smoke inside, giggling slightly. Looking around, he notices a large blackboard covering almost all the wall to his left with numbers and scribbles written in it and some drawings, which seem frustratingly drawn, in the corner.
Nino gets closer to observe them, his fingers scanning the drawings. At the bottom, there’s a picture of an animal that seems like a mix of a platypus and worm with OTTER written below it. Nino bursts out laughing but hastily covers his mouth. The one to its left shows a cow with very short hands and black and white circles on its body, the word PANDA written below it. Nino quickly looks to the right and sees a drawing of an alien, which appears to be someone’s effort to draw a GRASSHOPPER.
He grins and searches for chalk, trying to remember what Ohno has taught him. After finishing his own version of an OTTER, PANDA, and GRASSHOPPER, Nino steps back and nods at the results, satisfied. He glances at the window to see that the rain has finally stopped, and decides to leave, but not before he leaves a message,
These are what they are supposed to look like ♥
5.
Nino can’t stop smiling all day, remembering the cuteness of the drawn animals and imagining what the drawer’s expression will be like when he or she discovers that someone has entered the room and corrected the drawings.
His childhood friend turned roommate, Aiba, asks why he looks so content, and for a moment, Nino thinks he should tell him, but instead, Nino just shushes him and tells him it’s a secret. He decides to not quit his job yet and plans to stop by the tower again tomorrow.
6.
It is already noon when Nino arrives at the tower. He has class in a few hours, but who cares about class when there is something much more interesting?
Nino takes a peek inside the room, but still, no one is inside. Curious, he sits on the window bay and knocks a few times, waiting to see if someone will answer. When no one responds after his third knock, he shrugs and steps inside the room, walking straight to the blackboard.
He smiles smugly when he sees that the drawings are still there, a big question mark written with pink chalk added to the side. Nino touches the drawings. Pink is cute, even if it’s just the color of some irrelevant chalk.
Someone coughs, and Nino turns around.
Behind him, stands a man near his age who is fully dressed in a white t-shirt, a beige vest and a suit of the same color. Nino stares at him, quite impolitely, observing his sharp brown eyes and a cute heart-shaped face, and notices his slopping shoulders, as well as his full red lips, which Nino finds pretty.
The man moves swiftly in front of him, and for a second, Nino thinks he will be scolded. Instead, the man smiles and asks, “Are you the one who drew them?” His voice is low but sounds gracious, and Nino thinks he likes him already.
He smiles back. “Yes, I am. Is that okay?”
The man offers his hand. “I’m Sakurai Sho”.
Nino shakes it. “Ninomiya Kazunari, but you can call me Nino.”
Sho lets go of his hand and shrugs his head to the large table at the left side of the room, encouraging Nino to come. Nino follows, and Sho offers him a seat and food. He smiles shyly when Nino points out that there are two boxes of noodles in the table. “I thought you might come back to teach me how to draw.”
Nino laughs. “I’m not that good in drawing.”
Sho grins. “Still better than me.”
For a moment there they lock eyes but quickly turn away, embarrassed, only to look at each other again. Nino feels his stomach tighten and pink color creep over his cheeks. Sho bites his lip and fidgets in his chair. Nino wonders if this is what people call love at first sight.
7.
Their first conversation goes smoothly as Nino immediately feels at ease with Sho. He doesn’t hold back, and Sho doesn’t either. Nino slurps his noodles and explains how he came inside uninvited, because he desperately needed shelter from the rain, and Sho answers that he figured that out due to the pool of water on the floor when he came back.
Nino coughs, having completely forgotten about the water and the curtain. He repeatedly says sorry but scolds Sho too, because he recklessly left his windows open. Sho smiles sheepishly, promising not to do that again. Then Nino realizes he is not supposed to say that, because if Sho closes his windows, how will he able to enter the tower again? Sho sees him pout and as if he knows exactly what’s going on in Nino’s head, calms him down by saying that he will always be there from noon to night so Nino can visit anytime he wishes.
Nino nods and plays with his fingers, feeling mysteriously happy just for that simple invitation.
8.
Sho is a master scholar, studying about machines at a well-known university, but he is taking a break for a while to teach his juniors, and for another unexplained reason that momentarily paints a gloomy expression on his face. It seems that the numbers and equations on the blackboard are for Sho’s newest invention, which still has glitches and mishaps here and there. He is in town to finish it but he still has no idea how to do it. He will get it done eventually, though, Sho quickly adds. He has to.
Nino points at the drawings, and Sho’s face reddens. The drawings are there when he starts feeling frustrated, but never having been an animal observer -- or that’s how he tries to explain it -- the drawings never turned out very well.
Sho nudges Nino softly, “What about you?” So Nino tells him how he is studying music at a school nearby, but he needs money, and has to work to earn his living, thus his job as a postman, which in the end, led him to Sho’s tower. Sho asks if he has class today and Nino answers nonchalantly, “There’s nothing much to learn there anyway.”
Sho looks at him and nods, understanding. It’s a small city with a small music school after all. He changes the topic to tell the story of how he locks himself in the tower so he can focus more on his invention. But he has started to feel lonely and was amused when he sees Nino’s scribbles. He admits that he felt scared at first to know that someone had entered his room without permission, so he decided to hide to see what the person looked like.
Nino asks about what Sho thinks of him and Sho blushes, mumbling that his appearance matches his drawings and that Nino is smaller than he expected. Nino sulks and Sho quickly adds that small is not bad at all -- in fact small is cute -- causing him to blush again. Nino feels a sudden outburst of happiness swelling in his chest.
9.
He can’t sleep that night, continuously feeling giddy when he remembers Sho, who is definitely better than his imagination. Aiba pokes him and asks curiously what happened, but Nino answers that it’s nothing.
Aiba’s girlfriend, Becky, comes by and points out how clear it is that Nino is in love, and Aiba jumps at him, demanding to know who has stolen his heart. Aiba’s words, not his. Nino tells him to get off, because he is choking him to death.
10.
Nino comes back every day since, stealing times between mail delivery and classes, just to see Sho or hear his blabbering. Sho loves to talk. Sometimes he just mumbles to himself while writing on the blackboard or counting numbers with his abacus, sighing because he still can’t find the correct equation.
Nino loves to just sit there in the window, watching how Sho moves, smiles, talks, thinks, and laughing at him when he messes up his hair in frustration if he can’t figure something out. Nino tells him he needs to relax a little bit more, so Sho requests that he bring his musical equipments tomorrow. Concerned, Nino asks him if Sho feels bothered by the way he watches him. Sho shakes his head, convincing him that he honestly wants to hear Nino play.
The next day, Nino brings his violin and two homemade lunchboxes, because Sho can’t cook and always orders expensive meals. Sho responds by smiling from ear to ear and cleans up the meal until the very last piece of rice is gone, claiming that he never ate anything so delicious in his entire life. Nino snorts, accuses him of lying, and remarks that Sho needs to learn to save more money. Sho leans forward and kisses his cheek, murmuring his thanks, and Nino is suddenly too lost of words to reply.
11.
Nino has never felt so happy. He hums all day long. Even his itchy blue uniform now looks like the most beautiful outfit in the world, and the rustic mechanical wings are the best invention man ever made.
Ohno notices this too, and one day when Nino delivers him a letter, he points out calmly and quite matter of factly, “You’re in love.”
Nino plays with his brush. “You think?”
Ohno smiles sweetly. “Good for you.” and Nino replies. “I like you, Ohno, not like like, but I like you.”
Ohno grabs his brush back. “I like you too, but you should stop trying to steal my brush.”
12.
Exam time comes, and he can’t see Sho as often as he wants to. Thankfully, the telephone has been invented, so Nino finds himself talking to Sho every night before they go to sleep.
“What did you eat today?”
“Um, I tried to cook hotcakes this morning but failed.”
“You shouldn’t do it if you don’t know how to cook, what a waste of flour.”
“And sugar too.”
“You wasted sugar too?!”
“Um.”
“Do you know how expensive sugar is? Next time just order it from your usual café!”
“But you said they are extremely expensive and they cheat their customers!”
“Then what did you eat after that hotcakes failure?”
“Eggs! I can at least cook eggs.”
“Try sausage tomorrow. It’s as easy as eggs.”
“Hey, Nino.”
“Um?”
“I miss your cooking”
“…”
“Well, what can I do? It’s exam time…”
“I know…”
The next morning, Sho’s address shows up on his list of deliveries. When Nino knocks on the window and says how the handwriting in the letter for Sho looks suspiciously like Sho’s own handwriting, Sho admits that he deliberately did that so Nino would come to the tower. Nino flies away in embarrassment, not to mention overflowing happiness, but scolds him on their phone conversation that night.
“Don’t do that again, okay? It’ll be suspicious if I deliver a letter to you every day.”
“Then come tomorrow.”
“Do you miss my cooking that much?”
“And your songs too. Come on, you can study here.”
“….Then I’ll come.”
“I’ll be waiting.” Sho hangs up.
13.
When Nino asks him what his new invention is about, Sho just smiles, pats his head, and says that he has sworn never to tell anyone before he has successfully created the machine.
Nino removes his hand and grumbles, “I am not a child.”
Sho reaches him, “I have never seen you as a child,” and he bows his head down to capture his lips. Nino gasps, hands immediately reaching for Sho’s shoulder, grabbing them as Sho bites his lips playfully. “Never as a child,” he whispers, and Nino closes his eyes, feeling warm and fuzzy.
Sho put his hands on Nino’s wrist, pulling him closer, and Nino sighs as Sho’s tongue enters his mouth, exploring and demanding. Nino grips harder and whimpers when Sho pulls back, “Pervert.”
Sho grins and whispers back, tossing Nino’s bangs aside before kissing his lips once more, “Can’t help it.”
14.
Winter is nearing when Nino accidentally sees him as he walks down the street on his way home from school.
Jun.
Matsumoto Jun.
Someone from his past he never thought he would see again. Nino drops his books in surprise, and Jun raises his head. “Kazu.”
Nino gulps. “Jun.”
Part 2