[Multi-chapter] Change (20/??)
Title: Change
Authors: syunikiss1990
Bet: andreja1989 ArigaPYON~!
Pairing: SakurAiba, Aimiya (friendship), Yama (friendship), Junba (friendship)
Genre: AU, Romance, Drama, School
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: They are not ours, they belong to themselves...
*MASTERPOST*
Going to Kobe had put Aiba's mind at ease but at the same time he still couldn't stop worrying about Sakurai. Now that he understood more about the older boy and his past he felt sorry for him. If he looked at his own life, he almost felt guilty for having it so easy. But he was happy he went, they made up and now he could fully concentrate on his training again. Not that he had any other choice as everyone was watching him after not showing up on Friday and not wanting to tell where he went. His coach had gone insane, demanded him to come to school to train the whole weekend, yelling at him for half an hour the first day about the importance of the competition which would take place in only four days. Afterwards he had been put through the toughest training so far until he was finally allowed to go home when he made his round in double time. Luckily his mother freaked out when he came home and scolded his coach for giving him such an extreme training and the next day went by smoothly.
His only problem now was Nino, who kept sending him messages to ask where he went. Aiba had a slight feeling his friend knew something, especially when he had given him a weird look on Monday. Nino didn't say much, only that he acted strange and even though he was now looking better and less troubled, he could see his friend didn't trust the change. Luckily he couldn't deal with his friend right now, the day of the competition was coming closer and closer and every free minute Aiba had was spend on it. He wished Sakurai could be here, knowing he would feel supported by it but he knew that wasn't possible now. Sakurai had to stay in Kobe for a few more days, both for his mother and his own appointment. But that didn't stop the older boy from calling in the morning of the competition day. They chit-chatted a bit before the subject finally came to the competition of that day. Aiba smiled widely when Sakurai wished him luck and jumped up, grabbing his back to leave his house.
"Sho-chan, I'll win this one for you. I promise. I'll show you that I can be strong and give you the courage to win your own fight."
"Masaki..."
"I have to go now. Even though my race is in the last part of the day I have to be there the whole day. Our coach wants everyone of the team to support and cheer on each other." Aiba hesitated for a second. He wanted to say he wished Sakurai could be here but it wouldn't be fair of him right now to say such selfish thing so he decided to keep his words for himself. Sakurai needed to concentrate on himself for now. There would be more competitions in the future to which he could come.
"Good luck Masaki. Be careful with your ankle."
"I will, Ohno-sensei will tape it before the race so it will be okay."
"Great! Oh, give Ohno-sensei my greetings and thank him for what he did." Aiba sighed. He had already done that and thinking about it now made him remember the doctor's request.
"He wants you to come to him when you get back. He said he needed a word with you and then you can thank him yourself."
"I will. In fact, you can tell him I'll come back to Tokyo tomorrow, after today there isn't much reason to stay here for the rest of the week." Aiba's heart jumped up slightly, starting to feel happy with the thought he could see his beloved sempai tomorrow again.
"Really? But what about your therapy?"
"I need to talk to Tanaka-sensei once in a week for now, so not much reason to stay in Kobe all the time. Especially not now when I have something to come back to in Tokyo again." Aiba was happy the other boy couldn't see him right now as he was blushing brightly.
"I miss you Sho-chan..." He softly said, the feeling growing stronger now with each passing second.
"Me too Masaki. Promise me you will call tonight? I want to know everything about your victory." Aiba smiled widely at the trust the older boy had in him.
"Of course! I really have to go now, love you Sho-chan!" Without waiting for an answer he hung up and quickly ran to school. The others had arrived already and he was warmly greeted. It became pretty clear to him they were all depending on him. The last race was always seen as the main event and everyone wanted him to win. The thought made him nervous but he pushed it aside, trying to enjoy the others in their own games. It was no surprise that Matsumoto won the high-jumping contest, jumping over the bar elegantly and Aiba cheered just as loud as everyone for him. With passing time some others lost and won and slowly it was getting time for him to warm up.
"Good luck Aiba-chan, kick their asses!" Nino waved at him from the sideline, making Masaki smile and wave back. Slowly he started stretching his body, watching his opponents. He tried out his taped foot, finding it quite comfortable. During his warming up he watched the two rounds before his own, seeing the winners of those rounds were quite good. It made him nervous but he decided to let it go. He needed to get through his own first round first; he could worry about the rest later.
The first round passed without any trouble, getting him in the semi-finals as today's favorite. His teammates had some trouble getting through to the semi-finals as well. Only one of them did but he was in the first half and didn't manage to get a place in the final round. Most of the people around the course were now cheering for Masaki, seeing the competition was held at their school. A loud cheering came for everywhere when Masaki passed the finish line first again, getting him into the finals with no trouble at all.
"You are doing great Aiba-kun. Keep this up and you will win for sure. How is your ankle?" Masaki smiled widely at his coach who handed him a bottle of water.
"My ankle is fine thanks to Ohno-sensei. I'll try my best!" For a while he chatted with his coach and teammates, discussing his opponents and getting ready for the final round. After fifteen minutes the competitors were called to the start and he got up, getting some last words and good luck from his coach. As he walked to his place he spotted Nino, a wide grin splitting the face of his best friends.
"You can have them Aiba-chan, show them your back only!" Nino shouted louder than the other cheers he heard. He waved shortly at his friend before getting in his serious mode. He had promised himself one thing for today; to win this competition. Not for himself but for Sho.
Not sure why his eyes scanned through the audience again, his heart skipping a beat when he thought he saw Sho's face somewhere between the other unfamiliar faces. Quickly he got his eyes on the ground again, taking position. He couldn't use his mind playing tricks on him right now, he had to focus. Sho is in Kobe, not here. Steadying his breath he heard the referee's voice to get them ready. He shut down everything, focusing on this moment only. When the pistol went off his feet carried him as fast as they could. His eyes were only on the track in front of him. He didn't know of his opponents were in front or behind but he didn't care. The first half was no problem at all but he could feel it was taking his body more effort to keep on running in this speed. Just 200 meters more... 100... 50... He only slowed down once he was far past the finish line, looking back and seeing he was the first who had passed. Breathing heavily he lay down on the ground, the sound of the crowd coming back full force. He could hear his name being shouted and his coach appeared above him with a wide smile.
"You did it! Congratulations!" His coach reached out, helping the runner back on his feet. His teammates surrounded them, hitting him on his back and all congratulating him. With a wide smile he thanked all of them, laughing as they lifted him on their shoulders to make a round of honor. After a quick shower he came back to the field for the award ceremony, jumping up the stage under loud cheering when his name was called. Everything went by in a blur, impatiently waiting for the moment he could finally call Sho. With the support of his coach he quickly got through the crowd back to the dressing room but just when he wanted to go in a figure at the end of the corridor caught his attention. For a moment he froze, blinking his eyes a couple of times before excusing himself to his now confused coach. With new energy he ran to the end of the corridor, jumping on the boy waiting for him with open arms.
"Sho-chan!" Not sure why tears started to fall down his face. Slightly sobbing he hid his face in the shoulder of the older boy, embracing him even tighter.
"What happened? What's wrong?" Sho asked worried, pushing the taller boy away a little to look at his face. Masaki just smiled and shook his head, pulling Sho closer again.
"Nothing is wrong, I'm just so happy to see you. I won Sho-chan! I kept my promise."
"I know, I saw."
"Yes... Wait, why are you back already? I thought you weren't supposed to come until tomorrow." Sho smiled and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.
"I didn't want to miss this. When we talked on the phone this morning I realized just hearing you talk about the race afterwards wouldn't be enough. I love watching you run. I'm so glad I made it just in time for the final race, you were perfect." Masaki blushed and smiled. Just when he wanted to say something Sho was roughly pulled out of his arms, a fist hitting his face hard enough to make him fall down.
"Don't you dare to touch him ever again you monster!" Nino hissed through clenched teeth, starting to kick the boy on the floor while yelling more insults.
"Nino stop!" Masaki pulled his friend away from Sho, grabbing his arm tightly to make sure he wouldn't get away.
"Let go Aiba! I'll make sure he won't be able to hurt you anymore."
"No! Nino stop it! Just listen..."
"No you listen! How can you still be with him after what he has done?!"
"I love him Nino! It wasn't his fault okay? We talked about it and..." Nino turned around to look at his friend, disbelieve and anger flaming in his eyes.
"Are you insane?! How can you still defend him?! He raped you!"
"No he didn't! Nino can you just listen to us? Please..."
"No Aiba. I don't want to be part of this anymore. If you want to ruin your life fine, just don't come running to me anymore when it goes wrong. If you stay with him you are no longer my friend." The silence that followed was crushing Aiba's soul. How could Nino ask this of him?
"Nino please..."
"No! No more Nino please! It's your decision Aiba." Aiba looked at his friend, tears burning in his eyes. He didn't want to lose his best friend but he loved Sho more than anyone else. Nino's eyes widened, the answer already clear on Aiba's face even though he wouldn't say it.
"You are insane, both of you. Maybe you are fit for each other after all." He turned around and walked away.
"Nino!" Aiba shouted but the younger boy didn't react. He wanted to go after him but two arms around his waist stopped him.
"Give him some time." Sakurai softly said, pulling the taller boy against his body which made Aiba shiver unwillingly. The older boy seemed to notice and loosened his grip, grabbing his shoulders to turn him around. Aiba gasped softly when he saw blood in the corner of Sakurai's mouth.
"Let's go to Ohno-sensei, he needs to check on you." He mumbled softly but Sakurai shook his head.
"I'm fine, it's just a bruise. I'm sorry for causing you trouble once again. Maybe I shouldn't have come after all..."
"No! It's not your fault, Nino is just acting stupid. I'm happy you came."
"Ninomiya-kun is right, you should stop defending me. I did things for which I can't blame anyone but me. I'm sorry..." Aiba sighed and looked at the older boy.
"Can we please stop talking about this now? It was supposed to be a happy day but now..." He bit his lips to stop his tears. His happiness about winning the competition and Sho showing up had completely disappeared.
"Let's make it a great day again then. What do you want to do?"
"I think my mother made some kind of celebration dinner." Sho's smile wavered slightly but he nodded.
"I see, you don't want to keep her waiting then." The slight disappointed tone of Sakurai's voice made Aiba smile.
"She probably made way too much, so we could use an extra stomach..."
"I see..." Sho's smile came back fully on his face when Masaki pulled him with him towards the dressing room to get his bag.
"Masaki?" Sho softly asked to get the younger boys attention when they were in the empty dressing room, making Masaki turn to him questionably. The older boy stepped closer, making the distance between their bodies disappear.
"I love you." Masaki smiled and wanted to say something back but his words were lost on Sho's lips, finally giving him the kiss he had waited for since the day he left Kobe.