[Multi-chapter] The Watches Series: Affinity (12/14)
Title: The Watches Series: Affinity
Authors: syunikiss1990 & tsuchi8562
Beta: andreja1989 <-- as always arigatou ♥
Pairing: SakurAiba
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romance
Rating PG-15
Disclaimer: No, we don't own anything... We're just Border Watch's glaziers
*MASTERPOST*
“Thank you Excellency, we will come over with the first plane.” Sakurai smiled brightly as he turned around towards the man behind him. The news he just heard was great, best news he heard since they finally found a new vessel. Without explaining anything yet he just grabbed the taller man and kissed him passionately while hugging him tightly.
“Easy Sho-chan, you might break my ribs or suffocate me.” Aiba giggled as he pushed him away a bit. Sakurai didn’t care and just kept hugging the other man.
“Nila is ready for the final test, they need us to come over so you can witness it.” He said, laughing as he saw his lover’s eyes lighten up.
“Really?”
“Is it something I would lie about?” Aiba didn’t answer him. Instead he pulled him into another kiss, even more breathtaking which made it difficult to break apart. Just a few more days…
“Come on, we need to ask Yamamoto to find out when the first plane to Delhi leaves from here.” Still smiling, he grabbed the younger man’s hand and pulled him out of their hotel room towards the room their translator was staying. After some explaining to the confused man he went down to the lobby to ask at the reception desk and left them behind. Just in case they had to leave right away, the two of them decided to pack their stuff in their room. It was originally planned they would return to Japan the next morning after two lectures in Beijing. They had thought that the hall in Shanghai had been full but when they arrived the first day to give the lecture, they realized that this wasn’t everything. Due to many students who wanted to come, but due to the limited space couldn’t, they were forced to stay a day longer and give another lecture. But even now not everyone could follow it. They had been discussing the possibilities to stay even longer when Sakurai got the call from India which changed everything.
Sakurai had to admit he was grateful Sachiko had turned up in India, even though he had never wanted to see the face of that girl again. After she pointed out Nila as a vessel he ran some tests on her, finding out that she really was a vessel. Everything started to move quickly after that. The girl was transferred to the Border Watch in Delhi to get her training but to Sakurai’s disappointment they realized it would take weeks, if not months until she would be a fully trained vessel. They weren’t in a rush like they were in Aiba’s case. Now there was a proper vessel who could keep the Treaty without any problems or dangers (at least it looked like that to the rest of the world) so nobody saw the need to rush things. Sakurai just had to live with this, just as Aiba who seemed to have his doubts about everything at first. Later he found out the younger man had his doubts because it seemed to be too good to be true but when everything was going like they had hoped they had both been in heaven. Almost in heaven, since the fact that a new vessel was found didn’t change the fact that they couldn’t do more than simple kisses at the moment but it did mean it would change in a not too long time. And now, after almost four months, the training finally came to an end and the exchange could probably happen in a few days, freeing Aiba from his burden.
Their feeling to pack was right, Yamamoto came back with the news that the plane would leave in two hours and if they would hurry they could make it. Without bothering to pack himself (he would come back later), he leaded them to the car to take them to the airport. It all happened as if it was some kind of dream, Sakurai couldn’t remember much of their trip and even when they arrived in Delhi they couldn’t rest yet. It seemed the people waited their arrival and invited them to some big diner party which was really exhausting after the lecture and the trip. The bright side was that they couldn’t even think of touching each other in any way as they finally arrived in their hotel room as they just collapsed on their bed, completely drained.
The final test was planned for the next afternoon, which was particularly the same as the final test for Masaki. Of course the girl passed without any problems and to their surprise the exchange was planned right away for the next morning. When Sho asked about it to the old friend of his boss she explained to him that it was very special and very important to the Indian Watches to have a vessel and they didn’t want to let the opportunity pass. Everybody seemed to have forgotten about Nila as a widow who should have been burned with her deceased husband. Instead they were treating here like some kind of God, even before she was the Treaty.
“You know, I’m glad we could save that girl by doing this. She really seems like a nice person who would do everything to protect the Treaty. Even though she is not aware of all the consequences yet, I believe it is much better than being killed.” Masaki said once they were back in their small hotel room close do the Delhian Border Watch. Sho softly hummed in agreement and stepped into the bed as well, next to the younger man who was already underneath the sheets.
“The exchange will be tomorrow already... We will finally be free again.” Sho softly laughed.
“You will be free again you mean.”
“Yes, but you will be free to do whatever you want to do to me.” Masaki softly whispered in his ear, making him shiver. Of course the taller man was right, he would finally be able to do everything again, not keep it with kisses and innocent touches only. Suddenly he remembered something that made him extremely nervous out of nowhere. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? How could he ever forget how the Treaty was exchanged? Of course, there were no feelings involved but still, realizing he had to watch Masaki kiss someone else, again, made his blood freeze. The younger man must have picked up his worries as he crawled even closer, even though that was almost impossible.
“Don’t worry, everything will be fine.” The younger man yawned sleepily. Sho smiled and placed a soft kiss on his head.
“I know. Sleep, you will need your energy tomorrow.” Masaki nodded but didn’t close his eyes before claiming his lips in a goodnight kiss, making his heart flutter in a strange but very pleasant way.
***
Why did Masaki look at the girl in front of him in that way? And why did that girl look so endearingly at him? What was going on between the two of them? Sakurai tried his hardest to push every feeling away at this moment, knowing they were irrelevant and coming out of his jealousy but as hard as he tried, he couldn’t manage completely. He tried to calm down, breathe a bit slower but it only made him more nervous. What if something else happened during the exchange? What if the kiss made them have some strange kind of connection, falling in love without knowing it? What if…
The voice of the head of the Delhian Border Watch helped him to snap out of his thoughts, if only just for a second. He couldn’t understand the words he was saying but he knew the drill and didn’t need to be told what was going to happen. Next to Aiba the Japanese woman translated the words to him and he saw him nod. Almost identical words were asked towards the girl in front of his lover and she nodded as well. There it comes, now the exchange would start. He didn’t know if he should watch it or just turn his head away but the last option didn’t feel right at all so he just watched Masaki lean in and place his lips on the lips of the woman. He could feel his heart almost burst out of his chest while he unconsciously held his breath as the seconds which felt like minutes slowly crawled forward, waiting for the moment when they would finally break apart.
---
This was strange; not like the first exchange with Sakurai. Something went wrong, that was obvious but Aiba didn’t have any clue why this could happen. After the first kiss the Treaty didn’t skip to Nila’s body, as it should have. Masaki saw the golden letters shining in front of his mind but after the kiss, he still could feel them in his mind. Confused he looked at Sho, who was staring back at him with somehow mad face and then he looked at Matsuyama.
“It didn’t skip…” Masaki whispered and bit his lip. It seemed that Nila couldn’t really open her mind and trap the Treaty inside. Was she really the vessel? She passed the test though. Akiko became pale and she went to the head of local Border Watch, whispering something, which of course Aiba didn’t understand. Meanwhile he was looking around, searching for beloved’s face, which somehow disappeared from the hall. After a while Sakurai came back to his place and their eyes met. In that moment Masaki noticed that he still has his hand on Nila’s cheek and it seemed that this fact bothered Tokyo’s Border Watch’s officer. Could it be that… That Sho is jealous? Aiba bit his lips to prevent laughing and wanted to ask if he can go to his beloved man for a while but then Matsuyama returned with a bit worried face.
“They say that you should try again. What an impatient people…” The woman was apparently angry.
“Matsuyama-san, I want to say something to Nila, can you translate?”
“Y-yes… Of course I can…” Akiko frowned and nodded, ready to pass Masaki’s message. The man took a deep breath and looked at the small woman in front of him.
“Nila, relax. I know it can be scary but when you will have the Treaty inside you, you will understand everything. It’s nothing to be afraid of. Just open your mind…” With these words Aiba leaned forward and somewhere in the middle of Matsuyama’s translation he kissed the Indian woman again, this time doing something he shouldn’t do. He used his tongue to part Nila’s lips and trying to make pass all the letters with every lick. It was a normal, regular kiss that lovers share but Masaki thought that this is the only way to pass the Treaty effectively. It seemed to work; Aiba felt golden letters leaving his body with some kind of loud whine, like if it wanted to stay in the man’s body forever and now it was brutally taken away. As soon as the exchange was over, Masaki felt lighter and fresher, like after a long sleep. At the same time Nila became weak and with last look at his face she collapsed, leaning against Aiba’s body. It looked as if the Indian woman was shy or embarrassed by the kiss and now was hiding her face in her lover’s chest. For a longer while nobody reacted in any way but then, when it was clear that the woman is unconscious she was taken to the other room. The exchange was over, so no one paid attention for Japanese Border Watch’s officer and regular man, who had nothing to do with the balance anymore. When the room was empty the taller man came closer to Sakurai and smiled shyly.
“It’s over…” Masaki whispered and leaned for a kiss, but Sho moved away.
“We have to go if we don’t want to be late for the nearest plane back home.” Without letting the latter respond in any way the older man grabbed his hand and walked towards the hotel in silence that the younger one was afraid to break. Something was wrong and Aiba knew it has something to do with the exchange. As soon as they were in the room and Sho was checking if they packed everything, the younger man couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Sho-chan, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I am just trying to find my phone charger…”
“It’s on the nightstand. But I wasn’t talking about this, you are mad at me. I can see it, you are mad because of the exchange. You knew how it looks like…”
“You think that I don’t know how silly it is?! I was perfectly aware that you will have to kiss her, but I was… jealous and mad that your lips will touch somebody else’s. Call it stupid, but I just felt that way.”
“Sho-chan… It had to be done. Now my lips belong to you, only you.” The taller man smiled and moved closer to his beloved one. “I belong to you.”
“I know…” Sakurai pouted and sighed. “Still you didn’t have to put your tongue in her mouth and…” The rest of the sentence drowned in Aiba’s lips as he kissed the Border Watch’s officer sweetly, knowing that it can lead to something more. They don’t have to refrain from any touch, any kiss or any other caress anymore. Their nightmare is over and they can fully enjoy their closeness again.
“How long we have until the plane?”
“Not long, we have to go already. Not that I want to though.” The older man smiled and after placing another soft kiss on Masaki’s lips he moved away and sighed. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.”
“No, we don’t.” Aiba sighed and squeezing his beloved man’s hand, pulled him towards the car that was already waiting for them. The whole way, both of them were silent, even more so because of the events that happened in the past few weeks which took far too much strength and emotions cool off. When all tension went down Masaki felt tired and fell asleep, smiling and dreaming about green meadow and Sho who held his hand. The dream was so realistic that he was confused when he woke up in their apartment, covered with a soft blanket, alone in the bedroom. When he rubbed his eyes and didn’t see Sakurai anywhere near, Aiba decided to look for his lover around the apartment. He found the older man in the terrace and de ja vu feeling hit him. It was the same as when Sho found out about the pain he was feeling long time ago. He shared those thoughts with the older man and sat on the bench, cuddling close.
“This time is different, Masaki. Now I know that I can touch you and I won’t hurt you anymore… And I will do it… Believe me, there is nothing that can stop me from…” The Border Watch’s officer couldn’t finish the sentence, because his phone started to ring loudly from the room, signaling the incoming call from Sakurai’s boss.
“There is someone who can…” The taller man sighed and looked at the silhouette disappearing inside. For quite a long time Aiba was alone, admiring the urban view and waiting for Sho to come back. He was startled when he suddenly heard his lover’s voice just above his ear.
“Bad news…”
“You have to go to the office, right?” The taller man sighed and kept staring on the buildings on the other side of the city. The desired moment has to be postponed again but this time because of simple paper work. Sakurai wasn’t the guardian of the Treaty anymore and he had to go back to his old responsibilities. Fortunately Tokyo’s Border Watch’s chief promised Sho a week off. Week full of making love came across Masaki’s mind and probably this was the thing that stopped him from throwing himself on the older man right that second.
“Yes… But I’ll be back soon, I just have to check some files and write the report from the exchange… I have it almost finished though…”
“Then I’ll make a dinner. I have to go to the store though… Don’t worry, I’ll send you a text message every fifteen minutes and…”
“Aiba-chan… You are free now, you don’t have to do this…”
“I keep forgetting…” Masaki send a shy smile to his lover and stood up. So I’ll make a dinner… Romantic one. With candles, dancing and wine… And more…” The taller man winked (or at least tried) and went to the bedroom to change his clothes. When he was alone in the apartment, he started to remind how it looked like before he become the Treaty and blushed. Sakurai wasn’t fully healthy then and it felt like heaven and Aiba couldn’t imagine how good it’ll be right now. Smiling like never before he was skipping happily to the store buying ingredients for his beloved Mabou Tofu.