[Multi-chapter] Change (18/??)
Title: Change
Authors: syunikiss1990
Bet: andreja1989 ArigaPYON~!
Pairing: SakurAiba, Aimiya (friendship), Yama (friendship), Junba (friendship)
Genre: AU, Romance, Drama, School
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: They are not ours, they belong to themselves...
*MASTERPOST*
I... want to see you smile again, Masaki.
The one sentenced message came unexpected and completely wiped Aiba off his feet. He was happy it came while he was alone in his room so nobody could see the mess he turned into the moment he opened it. Tears dropped on his shaking hands as he replied.
You’ll need to give me a reason...
He took a deep breath and turned his phone off, afraid that he would do something stupid otherwise. Last week when he had seen Sakurai at school again he was relieved. A little voice in his head told him the older boy would be okay. Maybe with time but at least he hadn't done anything Aiba had feared he would do. He had wanted to rush to the boy and talk to him but he had made himself a promise. He would stay strong and keep away from Sakurai. It would be best for both of them. But the guilt in those beautiful eyes... What if he had wanted to talk to him? What if this message had been some kind of a final plea or even goodbye? His own thoughts started to scare him. On impulse he turned on his phone again, looking at the screen and hoping for a reply. He didn't know how long he just sat there, he didn't remember moving to his bed but when he woke up the next morning there still wasn't anything. Fear crawled into his heart. What did Sho want to say with that message? Making up his mind he decided to look for the older student during lunch, giving up his own promise to stay away from him. He just missed him so much he couldn't pretend he didn't feel anything for him any longer.
***
The gym was empty. Confused Aiba looked around, trying to find Sakurai even though he already knew he wasn't here. This was the only place the older student would be during lunch. If he walked around anywhere it would mean he would end up in a fight. Maybe that was the reason he wasn't here? Was he somewhere in a fight again? As fast as his feet could carry him he ran around the school, looking for Sakurai in every possible place. He even went to his classroom but he wasn't there either.
"Aiba-kun, what are you doing here? Oh I know, you remembered my magical hands and want more now?" Matsumoto smiled widely and winked when Aiba turned to him.
"MatsuJun, do you know if Sakurai-kun is here today?" Matsumoto frowned.
"That monster? Now that you say it, I don't think I have seen him today. But why do you care where that bastard is?"
"He isn't a monster. You don't know him, so don't call him names just like that." Mad Aiba turned around but his anger soon faded and made place for fear again. Where was Sho? Why wasn't he at school? The afternoon classes went by but Aiba couldn't remember anything of them. All he could think about were different scenario's with Sho. As soon as the bell went off he dashed out of the school, his feet leading him to the only place left he could try. But Sho's apartment was dark from the outside, it was quite clear nobody was home. After a few minutes of ringing the bell and knocking on the door Aiba sighed and gave up. If Sakurai would have been home he would have opened the door by now. Giving one final look at the window of the apartment he could see he turned around and jumped up in surprise.
"Are you looking for Sakurai-kun?" An unfamiliar man asked, looking at the apartment as well.
"Y-yes, you know him?"
"I know him. I have been a friend of his mother before that bitch went insane. I'm surprised they still live here." Aiba just looked at the man, not knowing what he was talking about. Sho's mother? Sho never talked about his mother. And what did this man mean with before she went insane?
"I pity that boy, it must be hard for him. I heard he lost all of his friends but I can see now that's just a rumor. If you find him tell him Toisho Ryo said hi." The man smiled and bowed, walking away while whistling a song Masaki didn't know. As he watched the man go Masaki still wondered what he had been talking about. Sho had an insane mother and lost all of his friends? Was there some connection? Was that why he acted this way? He shook his head, trying to stop his mind from making up too much images. He needed to find Sho but right now he didn't know where to start. He didn't know who he could ask for information, the man he had been talking about already disappeared somewhere he didn't know. Suddenly it hit him. He did know someone who might know more about Sho! Looking at the time he sighed. The chance Ohno would still be in the school building was very little but that didn't mean he couldn't try.
***
"Ohno-sensei! I need to talk to you." Aiba stopped in front of the school doctor who was just closing his office. Ohno looked surprised but unlocked his door again, opening it to let the student in.
"Of course Aiba-kun, come in. Is everything all right?" Something in the tone of Ohno's voice and the way he looked at him told Aiba that the doctor indeed did know more. Sighing deeply he decided to get straight to the point.
"No, it's not all right. I need to know where Sho is." Satoshi's eyes widened almost comically but he quickly grabbed himself together.
"I can't tell you where he is. You need to ask Sho, not me."
"No sensei, I know you know where he is. I really need to talk to him. I need to know if he is okay." Satoshi slowly shook his head.
"I can't tell you Aiba-kun. I promised him."
"I don't care! I deserve to know the truth. I can't take this anymore sensei. Please..." He started to shake and sat down on the settee. The doctor sighed and sat down in front of him.
"Aiba-kun, have you talked to anyone about what happened? The way you are reacting now can be normal for your situation but if you don't talk about it, it might get out of hand."
"I need to talk to Sho-chan, not to anyone else. I'm sure I'll understand when I can talk to him. Ohno-sensei, what is going on? Why can't Sho tell me anything? And I walked into a man today who told me something about his mother being insane. Can you at least tell what that is about? Is that the reason he is acting like this? Has he lost his mother?"
"Aiba-kun stop. I can't give you the answers you are looking for. It's not right if I would give them to you." Masaki looked at the doctor with pleading eyes.
"Then please tell me where he is so I can talk to him. After that message he sent two days ago... I'm afraid something happened." For a while Ohno stared at him before he took a deep breath.
"I can see you won't give up. Just promise me you won't do anything stupid with the information I will give you." Aiba nodded his head, waiting impatiently as the doctor started to search for something.
"Sho won't like this but here." Ohno gave him a small flyer of a place that turned out to be some kind of clinic in Kobe. Not completely understanding Aiba looked up, the doctor smiling gently.
"I´m only breaking my promise because I saw what you did to him. You managed to change him in a way I wouldn't have thought is possible. I can see that even though he has hurt you, you are still willing to listen to his story. To give him a chance nobody gave him before. I believe he deserves this chance but he is too scared to ask for it himself. And you deserve to know the truth after everything you did for him. If you go there you will probably force the answer out of him." Aiba smiled, tears filling his eyes. He still didn't understand completely but if Ohno told him he could find his answers in this clinic he would go.
"Thank you sensei. I'll go there tomorrow."
"Aiba-kun, wait. You are supposed to go to school tomorrow. And on top of that, aren't you supposed to train for your competition? The whole school is depending on your race next week. He will still be there this weekend, I´m sure of that." Aiba looked at the doctor for a moment. He was right, tomorrow he had one of his last important trainings for the competition. But he felt like he couldn't do anything, not before he had talked to Sho.
"I can't. I need to talk to Sho first. I can't run as long as I don't know what's going on. I need to know sensei." For a moment the doctor looked like he was going to say something against it but then he changed his mind. It was clear for him the student needed this to get at ease and even if he wanted to oppose, there was nothing he could really do.
"I expect you to come to my office on Monday then, I'll give you some advice for your ankle. Without your training the chance of pain while running will be much bigger but if you wrap your ankle in the right way we can prevent that." Aiba smiled widely, making the doctor a promise he would come and excused himself; he had an important trip to plan for tomorrow.
***
The trip to Kobe didn't take as long as he had expected. The train had moved fast through the country, getting him in front of the clinic much faster than he had secretly hoped. He still hadn´t found the right way to do this. He still didn´t know why Sho was in this clinic but he did have a few theories on that. Though there was only one way to find out the truth. Grabbing the flyer tightly, he took a deep breath before walking in, straight to the reception desk. The woman behind smiled kindly at him.
"Can you please tell me where I can find Sakurai?" He asked softly as if he was afraid someone would scold him if he talked too loud. The woman looked at her screen, frowning as she looked up the information.
"Sakurai-san isn't allowed to have visitors at the moment. Only her son can see her." So it was Sho's mother who was inside the clinic not Sho himself. A few questions were now answered but a lot remained.
"I'm a good friend of Sho-kun. He asked me to come over." The woman smiled warmly.
"I see. If you can please wait in the room to your left I'll inform him you are here."
"No wait. I... He... I wanted to surprise him. I'm supposed to arrive tomorrow." He tried to sound as honest as possible and smiled weakly. Luckily the woman seemed to believe him and smiled.
"I see. I'll bring you to the room then. It's actually nice to know he has a nice friend like you, you seem like a good kid." The woman leaded him through the corridors to a door with the name Sakurai on it. He bowed as she left him alone and with a shaking hand he knocked. When he didn't hear anything he slowly opened the door, his eyes slowly getting used to the dim light in the room. He didn't see anyone until he realized there was someone lying on the bed. He held his breath with surprise, the woman on the bed looked like Sho but extremely pale and thin. Softly he closed the door behind him, stepping forward to find the woman staring at him with hollow eyes.
"Who are you?" She asked with a raspy voice, making him realize how impolite he was. He bowed but just as he wanted to introduce himself the door opened again. Quickly he turned around, looking straight into Sho's surprised eyes.
"Masaki? How did you... what are you doing here?"