TITLE: Wait for Me (01/01)
AUTHOR: aishizuki@LJ
PAIRING: Ohno Satoshi x Sakurai Shoko (Yama)
RATING: G
GENRE: Slice of Life/Romance
TYPE: Oneshot
SUMMARY: Alternate Universe. After a short and sweet call from the person closest to her heart, Shoko thinks her New Year's Eve isn't so bad after all.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Obligatory gift!fic for Sho's 31st birthday! I actually wrote this a little while back and made some corrections thanks to a friend's boyfriend, who generously beta-ed this for me (OH LOOK THIS FIC IS ACTUALLY BETA-ED! A FIRST!) :D I have some other ideas, but I guess I really just needed to post this already. Enjoy!
WARNINGS: Genderbend/fem!Sho, so this is a het fic. Do not read if you are uncomfortable with it.
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Wait for Me
Deep in her heart, Shoko knows that nobody can truly have everything that they need all at the same given time. So she chooses to give -- to give anything she could, to the best of her abilities--to people who need her. Anytime, anywhere.
She knows it does not exactly benefit her to give and not ask for anything in return, but she does it anyway. She believes it was worth doing anyway. She has been blessed much over the past few years, and she knows she can only truly return the favor by being generous and doing good to those who have also been good to her, and even to those who have not.
She regrets not being able to see him before he left to pursue a year of work internship in America. Blame work, she thinks rather bitterly, and resigns herself to sigh yet again, wondering if all giving she has done was only to end in naught. She gives the clock a cursory glance and realizes it's almost six in the evening, nearly time for her to leave work. She decides she has been such a hardworking girl over the past few days and decides to ask her manager if she could leave early. Much to her delight, her kind manager gives his consent and bids her to enjoy the holidays. That's right, she realizes, it's New Year's Eve.
As she steps out into the hallway to grab her coat and straighten out her boots, she glances out of the window to check the sky. It looks as if it is about to snow. She excitedly bolts down the hallway and down the flights of stairs separating her workplace from the ground floor, her feet hitting the pavement just as the last snowfall of the year comes.
She is not particular about being able to catch the first snowfall of the year, as long as she is able to witness and revel in the moment of the last snowfall of the year. These moments remind her of the one her heart yearns for the most, and while it offers her little solace, she feels it brings his heart closer despite the oceans that separate them.
Just as she attempts to spin around as snow makes landfall, nevermind her looking like a complete ditz, she is brought to a surprised halt as her mobile phone vibrates in her pocket before playing the melody of a tone she knew all too well. She rushes to answer the phone, and a smile slowly spreads across her face as she hears the voice over the receiver.
It is Satoshi calling her. She is amazed at how he is still awake and sane despite the sixteen hour difference, yet she admits she has never been happier to receive a call from him, as he has not called her in quite a while.
"Satoshi!" Shoko exclaims with a little laugh at the end. "You called!"
The rich baritone voice chuckles on the other end, and she swears she could see him nodding at that exact moment. "Perfect timing, eh? I was actually waiting for 6 pm to hit there so I could call you after your shift."
Aww, he is definitely too sweet for words to even describe.
"Perfect timing indeed, Satoshi," Shoko responds as she looks up the steadily increasing snowfall. "It's the last snowfall of the year here."
"Really?" Satoshi lets out a sigh. "Damn, it's not even the 31st here yet. You remember last year, don't you?"
Shoko giggles and tells him he did not even need to ask, that she remembers it in its entirety. Her words are enough to convince Satoshi, and he laughs in approval before his tone turns somewhat somber.
"Well, I can't keep the call long, rates are insane here," he tells her, and Shoko swears she could hear an audible sigh. "But I need to tell you something."
Satoshi takes her silence as a sign that she is listening intently.
"I'll be home by summer. I'll send something over for you as an advance birthday gift, though. Wait for me."
At that moment, Shoko knew she could trust him completely with her heart. He is not her boyfriend nor is he her betrothed, but she decides it is worth the wait, the yearning, the reaching out for a love that seems so close yet remains just out of her grasp. She decides she will wait for him, no matter what happens.
She musters yet another smile despite the tears that threaten to fall, and slowly nods, as if Satoshi were right in front of her.
She knows she loves him, and she believes he will be home with her someday.
"Come home soon. I miss you."