Arashi: Green (06)
FANDOM: Arashi
RATING: G
PAIRING: Sakuraiba, Aimiya (friendship)
DATE: February 14th, 2010
DISCLAIMERS/NOTES: This is a work of fiction. AU.
Chapter Five | Chapter Seven
CHAPTER SIX
“I have really bad news,” Sugimoto told Aiba and Nino as they sat at their usual booth at Saizeriya. “It’s about Jun.”
“Don’t tell me he’s really moving?” Aiba asked, frowning. Suzuki hadn’t been coming to school the last couple of days, so Aiba wasn't able to ask him personally.
Sugimoto nodded. “Unfortunately. He called me up this morning, when I was on the way to school. I thought of looking for you and telling you immediately,” he said to Aiba, “but then I thought it’s probably better to tell everyone at once.”
Nino sighed. “I guess it can’t be helped.”
“Why didn’t he tell me himself?” Aiba asked, wounded.
“He felt really guilty about having to pull out of the band so suddenly, with a live coming up too. He couldn’t face you,” Sugimoto said, leaving out the fact that Suzuki had said that he wouldn’t be able to take it if Aiba got emotional and started crying.
Aiba just looked dejected, while Nino piped up, “Well, at least we’re prepared. Good thing Suzuki’s taught you a lot, Aiba. Do you mind playing bass, at least until we get a new bassist?”
Aiba smiled weakly. “I guess not. Actually, I think I prefer playing bass, so I don’t mind making the change permanent.”
“I guess we’ll ask Sho to join us as a guitarist, then,” Nino said, “unless there are objections?”
“None from me,” Sugimoto said. “He’s pretty good.”
Staring into his glass of water, Aiba said, “I don’t have any objections, either.”
“Good,” Nino said, getting up. “Then it’s settled.” Looking at Aiba, he asked, “You have Sho’s number, right? Could you tell him? I don’t have my phone with me, and I need to run an errand for my mom. I won’t get home til evening, and I think it’s best to tell him as early as possible.”
“Sure,” Aiba said. “I’ll tell Sho.”
})i({
Sakurai Sho was used to being alone. When he was a child, his parents wouldn’t allow him to play with the other children. “They’re too dirty,” his mother would say distastefully, thinking of the children running wild in the playground. Play-dates were occasionally arranged, but they were always carefully watched by nannies, which made Sho feel too shy, and the other child would usually decide that Sho was ‘too boring’ and ignore him.
Sho was good at being alone. He didn’t know how to make small talk, and didn’t really understand most of the things his classmates talked about anyway. He did well in school, but it wasn’t a surprise, since he spent most of his time studying by himself or at cram school. The higher his grades went, the more the other students avoided him. The more they avoided him, the more he kept to himself. He didn’t miss having friends, because he never had any. He never stopped to wonder if there was anything missing in his life, even if the only thing he truly enjoyed was his music lessons.
That is, until Ninomiya came along.
Ninomiya was different; Sho had noticed the fact from the first day of high school. He went to a prestigious school, and most of the students that went there had graduated from the same junior high, so Ninomiya’s presence was a novelty to everyone. His dyed hair and slightly arrogant, rebellious attitude only added to the increasingly ridiculous rumours that swarmed around him. (Sho's classmates would probably say that Sho, too, gave an impression of rebellion and arrogance, but Sho had never realised this at all.) Like Sho, he kept to himself, completely untouched by the others’ attitude towards him. Unlike Sho, for whom solitude was just the way things were, it was a conscious choice for Ninomiya.
He first talked to Sho a week after school started, during lunch time. Their desks were next to each other, so Ninomiya just turned to Sho and said, “you know what?”
Sho gave Nino a startled look, surprised to be talked to by someone other than a teacher. “What?” he asked.
“The lone wolf thing, it’s kind of ridiculous when two people do it at the same time. Especially when they’re next to each other.” Nino smiled at him, and Sho wondered how Nino managed to look friendly and cunning at the same time.
Ninonimya’s presence was like a breath of fresh air in Sho’s closed-in, structured life. Talking with Nino was easy, and Sho didn’t feel at all awkward. Upon realising that Sho learned classical music, Nino began pestering Sho to teach him. Sho helped Nino with some of their classes, and soon enough they were both the top students in school. As for Nino, he taught Sho other things, like how to laugh without reserve, and how it felt to do normal things, like watch movies or eat lunch, with someone else. Suddenly everything seemed new to Sho. Suddenly, everything was fun.
Aiba, on the other hand, was something else entirely. From the first day Sho met Nino’s best friend, he hadn't known what to make of Aiba. He was immediately taken in by the other boy’s energy and friendliness, and he was at once overwhelmed and touched to be pulled into Nino and Aiba’s circle of friends.
Despite Aiba’s friendliness, however, Sho didn’t feel immediately relaxed with him, not the way he was with Nino. He always thought it was a little of his old anxiousness coming back, the way he always felt on edge when he was with Aiba. But he was all right with Sugimoto and Suzuki, so he was beginning to question his feelings towards Aiba.
When his phone rang, he picked it up without glancing at the caller ID.
“Sakurai speaking,” he answered automatically.
“Sho-chan?” Aiba sounded nervous. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Aiba?” he asked back, surprised to receive a phone call from the very person he was thinking about. “What is it?”
“Uh... it’s kind of about Red Shift.” Aiba paused, wondering why he felt so awkward, talking to Sho. Didn’t he talk to Sho normally before this? I didn’t know that I liked him before this, he reminded himself.
“Are you free right now? I’ll meet up with you so that we could talk in person,” Sho told Aiba, sensing Aiba’s awkwardness.
“That’d be great,” Aiba said, relieved. “Not at Saizeriya, though... I’ll meet you at the park near the train station here, is that all right with you?”
Sho assured Aiba that it was, and immediately got ready to leave after hanging up.
})i({
Aiba stared at the delicately wrapped package of chocolates that Yukie-chan had given him. Judging from the shape of the chocolates, he knew that it was the ones he helped her make. He wondered if he really should give the chocolates to Sho, and if he was, how he was going to go about it. What am I thinking? he asked himself. Guys don’t give Valentines chocolates to other guys.
But it was a good break, and he knew that he probably wouldn’t get another chance like this one. Not just a chance to confess his feelings, he knew, but a chance to speak to Sho without Nino around. He sighed, feelings of guilt eating him up inside. Maybe I should just tell Nino, he thought, miserable. Maybe he would understand. Aiba wondered if it was true. Even if he liked a girl, he knew that it would take a while to get Nino to accept it. His best friend would probably go ballistic if he knew Aiba liked a guy, and a guy who happened to be his friend, on top of everything else. What if Nino decided that he’d rather break up the band than have Sho play with us? It wasn’t entirely impossible a situation, Aiba knew. Nino was prone to overdoing things when Aiba was concerned.
“Aiba?” Sho’s voice called out from behind him, causing him to jump in surprise. Sho laughed at his reaction, and he smiled back.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
They both looked at each other for awhile. Sho’s eyes strayed to the chocolate in Aiba’s hands and asked, “Valentine’s chocolates? You’re popular at school, huh?”
Aiba blushed. “That’s not it,” he said, embarrassed. “I kind of helped to make these.”
“Oh? You’re giving them to someone, then?” Sho asked, curious.
“You don’t think it’s weird, for a guy to give chocolates on Valentine’s?”
Sho shrugged. “Why should it be?” he asked. “Overseas, guys give gifts on Valentine’s as well as girls. I don’t think they have White Day like we do.”
Aiba gaped at him. “Are you serious?”
“It’s true.” Sho paused, hestitating. “At least, that’s what I’ve read.”
“I see...”
“So, who’s the lucky girl?” Sho asked. He was surprised to realise that he was more curious than he thought would be normal. He really, truly, needed to know Aiba’s answer, he decided, holding his breath.
Panicking, and unable to tell the truth, Aiba said, “A girl at school. Inoue Mika,” he said, picking one of his classmate’s name at random.
Sho felt a tinge of jealousy, and let go of his breath. “Shouldn’t you have given it to her at school, then?” he asked.
“Um. Well.” Aiba wished that he could disappear. “I didn’t have the nerve to give it to her after all, in the end. I was wondering what to do with the chocolate, since it’d be a waste to throw it.”
Sho eyed the chocolate wistfully. “Well, don’t. It’d really be a waste, since you’ve put so much effort into it.” Before Aiba could protest that it wasn't an effort, Sho asked, “what was it that you wanted to ask about? You said it was about Red Shift?”
“Yeah, that. Suzuki’s family is really moving,” Aiba said sadly. “So he’s going to have to leave the band as well. Nino and I and Sugimoto decided that I’ll take on the bass from now on, so we’d like to ask you to join the band, to take my place as guitarist.”
Sho nodded. “Okay.”
“That’s it?” Aiba asked. “You’re not going to think about it first or anything?”
“What’s there to think about?” Sho asked. “Lately I’ve been hanging out with you guys most of the time anyway, so it’s not like it’s taking up time that I’m spending elsewhere, and I liked playing with all of you the other day.”
Remembering that day, Aiba looked apologetic. “I’m sorry that I was kind of harsh that day,” he said. “I wasn’t in the best of moods.”
“That’s all right.” Sho held out his hand. “Friends?”
Aiba took Sho’s hands and shook it. Neither of them looked at the other in the eye.
})i({
When Sho reached home again, he carelessly placed his bag on the sofa, and was about to walk away when it toppled over, spilling its contents on the floor. He walked over to pick up the fallen items, when he came across the chocolates.
He picked it up and held it out, wondering if Aiba had misplaced it, when he saw the tag. For Sho-chan, it said. His name was written in pencil, and it looked like it had been erased and re-written several times, before the writer decided to leave it alone.
Sho stared at the package for a long time, a smile slowly forming on his lips.
~ to be continued ~
Chapter Five | Chapter Seven
Marineko's Notes:
I know I said that sakuraiba will probably happen in this chp... but apparently... not quite yet?
Oops.
...I hope you'll like this chapter, anyway. ( -_-)
RATING: G
PAIRING: Sakuraiba, Aimiya (friendship)
DATE: February 14th, 2010
DISCLAIMERS/NOTES: This is a work of fiction. AU.
Chapter Five | Chapter Seven
CHAPTER SIX
“I have really bad news,” Sugimoto told Aiba and Nino as they sat at their usual booth at Saizeriya. “It’s about Jun.”
“Don’t tell me he’s really moving?” Aiba asked, frowning. Suzuki hadn’t been coming to school the last couple of days, so Aiba wasn't able to ask him personally.
Sugimoto nodded. “Unfortunately. He called me up this morning, when I was on the way to school. I thought of looking for you and telling you immediately,” he said to Aiba, “but then I thought it’s probably better to tell everyone at once.”
Nino sighed. “I guess it can’t be helped.”
“Why didn’t he tell me himself?” Aiba asked, wounded.
“He felt really guilty about having to pull out of the band so suddenly, with a live coming up too. He couldn’t face you,” Sugimoto said, leaving out the fact that Suzuki had said that he wouldn’t be able to take it if Aiba got emotional and started crying.
Aiba just looked dejected, while Nino piped up, “Well, at least we’re prepared. Good thing Suzuki’s taught you a lot, Aiba. Do you mind playing bass, at least until we get a new bassist?”
Aiba smiled weakly. “I guess not. Actually, I think I prefer playing bass, so I don’t mind making the change permanent.”
“I guess we’ll ask Sho to join us as a guitarist, then,” Nino said, “unless there are objections?”
“None from me,” Sugimoto said. “He’s pretty good.”
Staring into his glass of water, Aiba said, “I don’t have any objections, either.”
“Good,” Nino said, getting up. “Then it’s settled.” Looking at Aiba, he asked, “You have Sho’s number, right? Could you tell him? I don’t have my phone with me, and I need to run an errand for my mom. I won’t get home til evening, and I think it’s best to tell him as early as possible.”
“Sure,” Aiba said. “I’ll tell Sho.”
})i({
Sakurai Sho was used to being alone. When he was a child, his parents wouldn’t allow him to play with the other children. “They’re too dirty,” his mother would say distastefully, thinking of the children running wild in the playground. Play-dates were occasionally arranged, but they were always carefully watched by nannies, which made Sho feel too shy, and the other child would usually decide that Sho was ‘too boring’ and ignore him.
Sho was good at being alone. He didn’t know how to make small talk, and didn’t really understand most of the things his classmates talked about anyway. He did well in school, but it wasn’t a surprise, since he spent most of his time studying by himself or at cram school. The higher his grades went, the more the other students avoided him. The more they avoided him, the more he kept to himself. He didn’t miss having friends, because he never had any. He never stopped to wonder if there was anything missing in his life, even if the only thing he truly enjoyed was his music lessons.
That is, until Ninomiya came along.
Ninomiya was different; Sho had noticed the fact from the first day of high school. He went to a prestigious school, and most of the students that went there had graduated from the same junior high, so Ninomiya’s presence was a novelty to everyone. His dyed hair and slightly arrogant, rebellious attitude only added to the increasingly ridiculous rumours that swarmed around him. (Sho's classmates would probably say that Sho, too, gave an impression of rebellion and arrogance, but Sho had never realised this at all.) Like Sho, he kept to himself, completely untouched by the others’ attitude towards him. Unlike Sho, for whom solitude was just the way things were, it was a conscious choice for Ninomiya.
He first talked to Sho a week after school started, during lunch time. Their desks were next to each other, so Ninomiya just turned to Sho and said, “you know what?”
Sho gave Nino a startled look, surprised to be talked to by someone other than a teacher. “What?” he asked.
“The lone wolf thing, it’s kind of ridiculous when two people do it at the same time. Especially when they’re next to each other.” Nino smiled at him, and Sho wondered how Nino managed to look friendly and cunning at the same time.
Ninonimya’s presence was like a breath of fresh air in Sho’s closed-in, structured life. Talking with Nino was easy, and Sho didn’t feel at all awkward. Upon realising that Sho learned classical music, Nino began pestering Sho to teach him. Sho helped Nino with some of their classes, and soon enough they were both the top students in school. As for Nino, he taught Sho other things, like how to laugh without reserve, and how it felt to do normal things, like watch movies or eat lunch, with someone else. Suddenly everything seemed new to Sho. Suddenly, everything was fun.
Aiba, on the other hand, was something else entirely. From the first day Sho met Nino’s best friend, he hadn't known what to make of Aiba. He was immediately taken in by the other boy’s energy and friendliness, and he was at once overwhelmed and touched to be pulled into Nino and Aiba’s circle of friends.
Despite Aiba’s friendliness, however, Sho didn’t feel immediately relaxed with him, not the way he was with Nino. He always thought it was a little of his old anxiousness coming back, the way he always felt on edge when he was with Aiba. But he was all right with Sugimoto and Suzuki, so he was beginning to question his feelings towards Aiba.
When his phone rang, he picked it up without glancing at the caller ID.
“Sakurai speaking,” he answered automatically.
“Sho-chan?” Aiba sounded nervous. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Aiba?” he asked back, surprised to receive a phone call from the very person he was thinking about. “What is it?”
“Uh... it’s kind of about Red Shift.” Aiba paused, wondering why he felt so awkward, talking to Sho. Didn’t he talk to Sho normally before this? I didn’t know that I liked him before this, he reminded himself.
“Are you free right now? I’ll meet up with you so that we could talk in person,” Sho told Aiba, sensing Aiba’s awkwardness.
“That’d be great,” Aiba said, relieved. “Not at Saizeriya, though... I’ll meet you at the park near the train station here, is that all right with you?”
Sho assured Aiba that it was, and immediately got ready to leave after hanging up.
})i({
Aiba stared at the delicately wrapped package of chocolates that Yukie-chan had given him. Judging from the shape of the chocolates, he knew that it was the ones he helped her make. He wondered if he really should give the chocolates to Sho, and if he was, how he was going to go about it. What am I thinking? he asked himself. Guys don’t give Valentines chocolates to other guys.
But it was a good break, and he knew that he probably wouldn’t get another chance like this one. Not just a chance to confess his feelings, he knew, but a chance to speak to Sho without Nino around. He sighed, feelings of guilt eating him up inside. Maybe I should just tell Nino, he thought, miserable. Maybe he would understand. Aiba wondered if it was true. Even if he liked a girl, he knew that it would take a while to get Nino to accept it. His best friend would probably go ballistic if he knew Aiba liked a guy, and a guy who happened to be his friend, on top of everything else. What if Nino decided that he’d rather break up the band than have Sho play with us? It wasn’t entirely impossible a situation, Aiba knew. Nino was prone to overdoing things when Aiba was concerned.
“Aiba?” Sho’s voice called out from behind him, causing him to jump in surprise. Sho laughed at his reaction, and he smiled back.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
They both looked at each other for awhile. Sho’s eyes strayed to the chocolate in Aiba’s hands and asked, “Valentine’s chocolates? You’re popular at school, huh?”
Aiba blushed. “That’s not it,” he said, embarrassed. “I kind of helped to make these.”
“Oh? You’re giving them to someone, then?” Sho asked, curious.
“You don’t think it’s weird, for a guy to give chocolates on Valentine’s?”
Sho shrugged. “Why should it be?” he asked. “Overseas, guys give gifts on Valentine’s as well as girls. I don’t think they have White Day like we do.”
Aiba gaped at him. “Are you serious?”
“It’s true.” Sho paused, hestitating. “At least, that’s what I’ve read.”
“I see...”
“So, who’s the lucky girl?” Sho asked. He was surprised to realise that he was more curious than he thought would be normal. He really, truly, needed to know Aiba’s answer, he decided, holding his breath.
Panicking, and unable to tell the truth, Aiba said, “A girl at school. Inoue Mika,” he said, picking one of his classmate’s name at random.
Sho felt a tinge of jealousy, and let go of his breath. “Shouldn’t you have given it to her at school, then?” he asked.
“Um. Well.” Aiba wished that he could disappear. “I didn’t have the nerve to give it to her after all, in the end. I was wondering what to do with the chocolate, since it’d be a waste to throw it.”
Sho eyed the chocolate wistfully. “Well, don’t. It’d really be a waste, since you’ve put so much effort into it.” Before Aiba could protest that it wasn't an effort, Sho asked, “what was it that you wanted to ask about? You said it was about Red Shift?”
“Yeah, that. Suzuki’s family is really moving,” Aiba said sadly. “So he’s going to have to leave the band as well. Nino and I and Sugimoto decided that I’ll take on the bass from now on, so we’d like to ask you to join the band, to take my place as guitarist.”
Sho nodded. “Okay.”
“That’s it?” Aiba asked. “You’re not going to think about it first or anything?”
“What’s there to think about?” Sho asked. “Lately I’ve been hanging out with you guys most of the time anyway, so it’s not like it’s taking up time that I’m spending elsewhere, and I liked playing with all of you the other day.”
Remembering that day, Aiba looked apologetic. “I’m sorry that I was kind of harsh that day,” he said. “I wasn’t in the best of moods.”
“That’s all right.” Sho held out his hand. “Friends?”
Aiba took Sho’s hands and shook it. Neither of them looked at the other in the eye.
})i({
When Sho reached home again, he carelessly placed his bag on the sofa, and was about to walk away when it toppled over, spilling its contents on the floor. He walked over to pick up the fallen items, when he came across the chocolates.
He picked it up and held it out, wondering if Aiba had misplaced it, when he saw the tag. For Sho-chan, it said. His name was written in pencil, and it looked like it had been erased and re-written several times, before the writer decided to leave it alone.
Sho stared at the package for a long time, a smile slowly forming on his lips.
~ to be continued ~
Chapter Five | Chapter Seven
Marineko's Notes:
I know I said that sakuraiba will probably happen in this chp... but apparently... not quite yet?
Oops.
...I hope you'll like this chapter, anyway. ( -_-)