Connection - Chapter 1
Title : Connection
Setting : Hidarime Tantei EYE
Summary : AU from pre-special drama until the end of episode 8. Ainosuke had met someone who looks after him aside from his brother when he attends Junior High School, and, no, it was not Sayama-sensei. A bit of a hint, it was the older brother of a certain boy who appeared in the 4th episode.
Rating : K+
Disclaimer : The drama n characters are not mine. I need to than anna_reading hom I affectionately call A-tan for the plot. She was the one who first thought of it, I just threw some suggestion here and there. So, she is my co-author XD Any mistake in the writing, though, is mine alone :)
“You sure you don’t need me to walk you there?”
“Niichan, seriously, I’m almost 14!”
Yumeto chuckled at his younger brother’s indignant face. He reached out his hand to ruffle his brother’s hair affectionately, causing the younger to pout mightily as he attempted to duck the older’s hand.
“Hey, it’s your first day in Junior High School. Could you really blame me for being excited?”
“Exactly! I’m the one entering Junior High School, not you, remember?”
“I know, Ainosuke. I know.”
Yumeto grinned as he caught his little brother around the waist and lifted him up. He then proceeded to twirl him around, ignoring Ainosuke’s shriek even as the younger latched onto him, fearing of falling.
“My little brother is growing up!” He laughed joyfully.
Placing the younger down, he took advantage of Ainosuke’s disoriented state to pull him onto the bed and sat the younger in front of him. He watched patiently - albeit also amusedly - as his little brother blinked repeatedly in attempt to get rid of the dizziness caused by his earlier action.
“I really hate it when you do that,” Ainosuke finally said, his pout once again making itself known.
Yumeto merely grinned.
“Only because it means that you still have a long way to go to match my height, little brother.”
“At least I’m still growing,” the younger huffed and moved to sat on his brother’s lap rather than in front of him.
ldquo;You know then, that sooner or later you’re going to be too big and heavy for me to sit on my lap,” he reminded even when he pulled his brother closer.
Ainosuke made a humming noise and snuggled to him, startling a chuckle out of him.
“I think it will still be much later for that to happen,” he complied, knowing what his little brother’s somewhat unconscious action meant. He sighed softly and adjusted his position so he could hold his brother instead.
“You sure you’ll be alright tomorrow?”
“I’ll be fine, niichan. Stop worrying so much,” Ainosuke replied with a hint of exasperation and amusement in his voice.
Yumeto resisted the urge to snort at his brother’s response.
“You know as well as I do that what you asked of me just now is simply impossible to achieve,” he deadpanned, reaching up to start caressing his brother’s hair.
“Only be-” Ainosuke’s retort was interrupted by a yawn, to which Yumeto chuckled. “-cause you are a mother hen.”
Yumeto hummed and started to sway gently, “Or you just attract far too much trouble than what is healthy.”
“Am not,” came the sleepy reply as the owner of the voice went limp in the older’s arms, face completely relaxed.
The older continued to rock his little brother for a few more seconds, before moving to lay his brother properly on the bed. He tucked his brother in and kissed his forehead.
He glanced at the clock on the table, sighing when he saw that the time was now well past his little brother’s usual bed time.
It was a bit hard to get Ainosuke to sleep as the younger was practically bouncing with enthusiasm and a bit of nervousness. But he had been taking care of the younger ever since he first set his eyes on his baby brother and hence had a few tricks up his sleeve.
First, get him to relax, a playful banter would help. Then, get him settled on the bed - either trick him or force him. Once he started to get more affectionate and started to snuggle close, hold him. Combined that with rocking him back and forth for a few minutes…
A rather smug smile spread across his face.
“Works every time.”
xxx
Shimada Ryutaro, currently 15 years old, was chatting amiably with his classmates while strolling the corridor of his school when his steps faltered.
His two companions though, busy recalling his story and the other laughing because of the story, failed to notice him stopping.
“So, I chase them around for more than fifteen minutes! I swear, kids are cute but that’s just on the outside. They are little devils in-”
“Ryutaro?”
He looked away from direction of the foyer to stare at his two friends who had finally notice he wasn’t beside them. The both of them were looking at him curiously.
He grinned at them.
“You guys go ahead. I have something to do first.”
Without waiting for their reply, he whirled around and took off to the left corridor instead of continuing straight.
“Oi, Ryutaro! You’re going to be late for the opening ceremony!” He heard his friend called out to him and he threw a grin over his shoulder while waving to them.
“I won’t!”
To himself he added, “But someone will be if I don’t hurry.”
He sighed heavily, cursing his big brotherly heart that won’t let him ignore that student he had seen earlier.
Turning at the corner, he only got a chance to catch a glimpse of dark brown head before someone collided rather painfully into him. He staggered but managed to keep his balance, rubbing his jaw where that someone’s head had hit.
A rather quiet groan reached his ears and he looked down to see a boy sitting on the floor before him. The boy wore the same uniform as him and carried same bag as the boy that he had spot earlier.
Well, it seemed that he had successfully caught on with the boy he saw about to get lost earlier.
He bent down a bit and offered his hand to the still sitting boy.
“Sorry for that. You okay?”
A hand, slightly smaller than his own, grabbed his and he automatically pulled the other boy up. He watch silently as the boy dust himself off before looking up and gave him a small smile. He was a bit wary at the hint of mischievousness that the smile had.
“I’m fine, thanks. Though I would prefer it without the crash.”
He blinked rather stupidly while inwardly groaning. This boy was far too much like his own little brother for his comfort. Both had naivety, sweet and sarcasm rolled into one. He knew right then that his head - and heart - had deemed this boy as another little brother and resigned himself to the fact that he would look after him subconsciously.
It was a strange notion, seeing as he hadn’t even known this newly acquainted boy’s name, but he guessed he could live with it. It also helped that this boy was very-
“Cute,” he said before he could stop himself.
The other boy merely raised an eyebrow, though the near pout that was gracing the younger’s lips and the pinkened cheeks gave away his embarrassment. He fought to hold the chuckle bubbling in his chest.
“Thanks, and you’re tall.”
He couldn’t help it, really - the boy was just too adorable - he chuckled.
“A strange way to admit that you’re short, but thanks.”
A full on pout that he got for that really did not help him to control his mirth. Still, remembering the initial reason he ran after this boy, he struggled to at least tone down his chuckle.
“First year?”
He grinned when the boy nodded mutely, pout still in place.
“Lost?”
Another nod. His grin broadened even as he turned around and gestured to the boy to follow him.
“Come on then.”
Hurried footsteps echoed in the hall and Ryutaro watched amusedly as the boy tried to keep up with him.
“Where are we going?”
He raised an eyebrow while casting a disbelieving stare at the boy beside him.
“Opening ceremony, where else?”
“Oh…” The boy blushed lightly, realizing that he should have thought of that himself, “Thank you.”
Ryutaro threw him a grin, gesturing to the boy to hurry as they broke into a light jog.
“Shimada Ryutaro, second year.” His eyes caught the smile that now gracing the younger’s lips.
“Tanaka Ainosuke.”
xxx
Ainosuke sighed as he opened the door to the small apartment where he lived with his brother. He was so tired that if he could as he pleased, he would just plop down onto his mattress. He can’t though. Today was his turn to cook dinner, he reminded himself as he rested his back against the door.
He had woken up especially early today, even earlier than his alarm; he blamed that on his nerves. Despite that though, he ended up almost late to the opening ceremony. The school was just so big, bigger than his elementary school had been.
His classmates were nice enough. He had even seen some familiar faces from his previous school attending there. The teachers were also very friendly.
He chuckled lightly. Guess his thought that junior high school teachers were scary was not true, for the ones he had met at least. He couldn’t say much about the others since he had not met them all yet.
Sighing tiredly, he proceeded to take off his shoes.
The fact still remained though. He was not good in socializing.
His brother had always said that his ‘condition’ was not something that should hinder him from making close friends. His response was always the same: he didn’t like the way they looked at him once they knew about his part blindness.
He really dislikes the pity and, sometimes, mockery that entered their eyes whenever they saw him afterwards.
So he distanced himself from them.
Sure he had friends - he was not exactly a loner. But none that he could call a close friend.
“Stop thinking too hard.”
He snapped his head up and blinked when he saw his older brother frowning at him with his arms crossed from the direction of the kitchen. The sight would be intimidating if not for the - rather frilly - apron his brother was wearing and the ladle he was clutching in his right hand.
“Aren’t you supposed to be working right now?”
His brother shrugged and, uncrossing his arms, walked towards him.
“Got released early. But enough of that.” Blinking again in confusion, he could only watch as his brother patted his head gently. “What happened today that got you so quiet? You were a bundle of energy yesterday.”
He closed his eyes and let his big brother fussed over him.
“I’m just tired, niichan. No need to worry.”
A snort and suddenly he was guided away from his standing spot. Knowing that resisting would only be futile, he kept his eyes closed, trusting his big brother to lead him.
Ainosuke felt his hand being tugged stronger than necessary and yelped when he lost his balance, opening his eyes unconsciously. Then, he was landing on something soft. Looking around, he noticed that his brother had led him to their room and that he was sitting on his bed.
Hands landed on his shoulders and he turned to stare at his brother who was kneeling in front of him.
“Now, tell me, what’s wrong?”
“I’m tired…?”
His brother just snorted, clearly not believing him.
“If that’s all, you would have clung onto me the moment you saw me.”
He bit his bottom lip nervously. “Do you…?”
A pair of gentle brown eyes stared at him expectantly, encouraging him to continue silently.
“Do you think I’ll be able to make friends?”
“Oh, Ainosuke…”
The hands that were on his shoulders moved to wrap around him and then he was pulled forward into his brother’s warm embrace. Ainosuke let himself be manhandled by his brother, knowing that in the end he would end up on his brother’s lap.
It was a position that he would always find himself in every time he was upset and his brother was in the vicinity.
“What I think, you’ll find more mature people in junior high. I’m sure you’ll find someone who will treat you normally without a care in the world about your eyesight.”
He snuggled closer to his brother.
“But what if - ”
“Now, none of that. Tell me how your first day went.”
He pulled away from his brother, but not making any move to get away from where he was seated.
“Well, I was almost late to the opening ceremony…”
“Even when you went an hour before school start?”
His cheeks pinkened. “I got lost.”
“On the way to school?”
He shook his head, the blush on his cheeks deepened. “I can’t find the school hall.”
There was a few seconds of silence before it was broken by the sound of his brother’s laughter.
He pouted. “It was not funny! I was really panicking and no one was there and the school was so big and -”
“So, how did you find it in the end?”
Ainosuke crossed his arms indignantly as his brother ruffled his hair. “Someone found me.”
His brother grinned, far too used to his little tantrum to be affected by it. “Teacher?”
He shook his head. “A senior.”
“Oh?”
He nodded and made a small noise of confirmation. “He’s really nice about it too, even if he ran into me first. He reminded me a bit of you actually.”
His brother hummed and pulled him closer. “How so?”
“He has that big brotherly aura that you have.”
“Big brotherly aura, huh? Any chance that this senior may be different than the rest of the students you’ve met then? He sounds like a decent person.”
He almost snorted at the smug tone that had entered his brother’s voice.
His brother chuckled and manhandled him once again to deposit him onto the bed. A hand ruffled his hair and a kiss was pressed against his forehead.
“Just be open to your friends, alright? They may just accept you the way you are.”
A last pat on his head and his brother walked out of the room.
Be open about it…
He sighed and let himself fall onto the mattress, staring at the ceiling.
It’s not that he didn’t want to, but - although he would never admit it out loud - he was scared. He didn’t want to repeat what happened in elementary school.
His brother had been right though. He always had, he reminded himself with a soft chuckle. Perhaps, some of them had matured enough to accept him the way he was and not treat him any different.
He turned onto his side, curling up.
It was true, what he had told his brother. Shimada-senpai had reminded him of his brother and so, to his logic, he had to have a younger brother.
Maybe, Shimada-senpai could be as mature as his brother… and be his first friend.
Well - he thought as he closed his eyes and snuggled deeper into the mattress - he could hope.
k59: i'm kind of please of how this turn out.. mainly because of the amount of fluff i managed to sneak into this XD tell me how you think of this, ok? this is the first time i include a character from real world into drama fic, so... anyway, hope you're enjoying reading this as much as i do writing it XD