Connection - Chapter 2
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 thank anna_reading whom 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 :)
“Ryutaro!”
He looked up from his reading when the too energetic voice greeted him. After spending a few seconds to stare blankly at his friend, he deadpanned, “How much sugar did you have this morning?”
His friend only waved his hand dismissively. “Just a couple of spoonful.”
“A few hundreds of spoonful is more like it.” He raised an eyebrow at the almost bouncing boy, wondering if Shintaro was going to act like this if he slipped extra sugar in his pancake.
“Same difference,” was the reply, complete with a dismissive wave of a hand. “Anyway, I just met him!”
He blinked repeatedly. “Him who?”
“Your adopted little brother of course.”
He raised an eyebrow. “My parents adopted a boy?”
His friend rolled his eyes exasperatedly at him. “No. You did.”
Now the other eyebrow was also raised. “I adopted a boy…?”
“Oh for the sake of -! That adorable firstie that you helped yesterday!”
“Ah, him! Why didn’t you just say so?” He smiled charmingly at his friend who seemed to be quietly cursing under his breath. He was sure he heard the word ‘devil’ mentioned a few times.
His smile became a grin at that.
“So, you were saying?”
His grin widened and he shook his head as his friend perked up at his question.
“Right! I met him on the way to school this morning and talked to him for a bit. He’s a real cutie and not only just his face either. The way he carries himself makes me think that I was talking to a child instead of a teenager. It’s so endearing!”
“Even cuter than your little sister?”
“No way! My little Aya-chan is the most adorable-est toddler there is!”
“There’s no such word as adorable-est, Teru.”
“Sure there is. I just created it.”
The smirk sent his way was far too smug for his taste. Only him himself was allowed to smirk like that. Well, in his opinion anyway. He closed his book with an audible snap and stood up.
“Where are you going?”
He smirked at his friend, eyes shining with mischief.
“Finding my adopted little brother.”
Snickering at his friend’s stunned look, he strolled out of the classroom. Might as well make what he just said a truth.
xxx
For the first time in his life, Ainosuke was pleased with his class’ seating arrangement.
He had found out in the morning that the other three who sat surrounding him were also interested in drawing. He couldn’t be more ecstatic! They were talking about their future plans during lunch break and discuss which university they were going to attend when someone tapped him on his shoulder.
The girl who sat on his right side grinned at him before gesturing to the door.
“Someone’s been trying to get your attention, Tanaka-kun.”
He followed his classmate’s hand with his gaze and his eyes widened when he saw a familiar boy standing at the door, grinning and waving at him. By now, the older boy had gain the attention of the rest of their little group as well.
“Is he your brother?” The boy with thick glasses who sat in front of him furrowed his eyebrow. His chin was rested on his hand, elbow on Ainosuke’s desk, “You two don’t look alike.”
He shook his head faintly as he hesitantly waved back. “He’s not.”
“Oh!” The boy who sat diagonal to him hit his let palm lightly with his right fist. “Isn’t he the one who came with you to the opening ceremony right as the bell rang?”
Ainosuke just nodded absently. “Yeah, he’s the one who found me when I got lost yesterday.”
“That was very nice of him. Well, what are you waiting for? Go to him!”
He blinked rapidly before staring at the only girl in their group. “Why?”
The other looked at one another exasperatedly. Less than half a day with Ainosuke and they had already known just how naïve and slow the boy really was.
“Obviously because he wants to talk to you. Why do you think he bothers to come here otherwise?”
He tilted his head, thinking hard but couldn’t find any reason the older boy would be here other than what the girl had said. He smiled sheepishly as the three were giving him dry looks. Sighing in acceptance, he stood up and waved to his three classmates who either waved back or making shooing gesture.
“Finally! I thought I have to shake you or whack you just to get your attention. Have you always been that dense?”
He could not help the pout that formed on his lips after hearing that statement.
“I was not! I just didn’t see you.”
The older boy gave him a dry look. “It took a full minute and three people after you saw me for you to realize that I came to have a chat with you.”
He stared at his senior long and hard. “You want to have a chat with me?”
“I really have no idea how you do that!”
Ainosuke blinked rapidly as Shimada-senpai shook his head in exasperation, turned around and walked away. For a while, he thought that the older boy was angry at him. That was until his senior stopped and turned around once more to raise an eyebrow at him before beckoning to him to follow.
“I am not a dog you know,” he stated irritably as he caught up to the older boy.
A hand was suddenly there to pat his head reassuringly.
“I know you aren’t. You are an extremely dense boy who doesn’t know which is the right thing to focus on.”
He resisted the urge to stomp his foot childishly and settled on sounding petulant, “Am not!”
“You are. You just decided to overlook the reasons that I laid out to you and instead focusing on the part where I said I wanted to have a chat with you. Ah! That is another example.”
Pouting and frowning, Ainosuke crossed his arms even as he continued to follow his senior. “You are just like my brother.”
“Let me guess. Older.”
He gaped openly. “How do you know?”
An infuriating smirk was sent his way.“There is no way that you are an older brother.”
“And what was that supposed to mean?”
“Well, you know, there are some common characteristic possessed by older brothers. Like, for example, responsible, mature -”
“Incredibly annoying, unbelievably over-protective, extremely mischievous…” He sent a smirk to the stunned older boy. “Yes, I agree that I couldn’t have been an older brother.”
The older boy was quiet for a moment before smirking right back at him. “I know. That infuriatingly annoying yet lovable witty comeback can only belong to a younger brother.”
A bright blush stained his cheeks and he stared wide eyed at his senior walking beside him.
The older just smirked wider. “Ah, and that adorable blush can also only belong to a younger brother. Not to mention your habit to pout when -”
“Stop saying such embarrassing things!”
“But it was such a fun thing to do. And you made it so easy.”
“It was not my intention to!”
The two junior and senior, to busy bickering, were unaware of neither the amused looks nor the fond giggles that were sent their way.
“That doesn’t change the fact that you are way too easy to embarrass.”
Ainosuke just pouted, aware that he was not going to win against the older boy. Were all older brothers this annoying? Or is it the one he had the honor to make an acquaintance with?
A chuckle rang from beside him and he turned to look at his senior.
“You are just like Shin.”
He tilted his head in question. “Shin?”
A smiled spread on the older boy’s face. “Shintaro. My younger brother.”
“I see…”
“And yours?”
“What?”
The older boy rolled his eyes. “Your older brother’s name.”
“Oh… Yumeto. He’s twelve ye- Ow!”
He abruptly stopped and rubbed his right eye hard.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Something got into my eye.”
“Tears?”
He could just hear the smirk in the older boy’s voice.
“I’m no-”
His eyes widened when black swarmed his vision. He realized it too late. Without his right eye, he couldn’t see anything. Swearing softly under his breath, he ducked his head and struggled to open his right eye but to no avail. Every time he so much as opened it a tiny bit, his eyes started hurting.
He would need to get rid of whatever had gone into his eyes first.
“Hey, hey! You aren’t seriously crying, are you?”
“I’m not! I told you something got into my eyes!” He pouted in annoyance, momentarily forgetting his current predicament.
“Let me help, look here.”
Biting his lips in trepidation, he guessed from the direction where the voice came from and averted his eyes to where his senior was most hopefully at.
“Ow!”
He yelped and attempted to escape the grip his senior had on his face, pulling ineffectively on the older’s hands. The older had just forcefully opened his right eye, blowing puffs of air into it.
“That hurts!”
He heard a sigh before the hands withdrew. Immediately he started to rub his right eye again.
“How is it? It should be alright now.”
With some sense of apprehension, he slowly opened his eyes, blinking in amazement when he felt the irritating pain no longer there. He let out a sound of amazement and could hear his senior chuckled in amusement.
“Thank you!”
The older boy just grinned, but before he could say anything the bell went off.
“Well, it’s like the time’s up. Let’s go! I’ll walk you back to your class.”
He bristled with indignation.
“I don’t need an escort!”
The only response he got was a laugh.
xxx
The next few weeks went in an almost typical way as it had that day. Somewhere along the way, they had gotten quite close, calling each other by their first name. He would continue to seek the younger boy in one of the breaks they had.
Partly, it was because he had genuinely enjoyed Tanaka Ainosuke’s company. His friends had teased him that he missed being a big brother and had unconsciously searched for a little brother to take care of at school. He had given them a rather hard smack on the back of their heads.
The other reason was to confirm his suspicion.
Ever since that day when the younger had something caught in his eye, he had watched him more closely. That day, Ainosuke had failed to look at him even when his left eye was open.
t was a small thing, hardly noticeable, even more so when you were not particularly looking for it. But it had been there. The small sign that the younger could only see with one eye, only his right one was working. He was sure of it. He had seen the younger having to turn his head to see something on his left side for it was his blind spot.
So he waited for the right time to tell the younger that he knew about his part blindness, and to tell him that his condition did not change anything between them.
His eyes caught a sight of his favorite junior and his lips stretched in a grin. He made his way over and slung his arm around the younger’s shoulders, chuckling when he felt him jumped a bit.
“Ryutaro-senpai! Seriously, one of these days you are going to give me a heart attack!”
“You are way too young to have one.” He stated calmly. “Anyway, I was thinking maybe we could walk back together today.”
The younger frowned as he attempted to push him away to no avail. Finally taking pity on him, he removed his arm. But not before he ruffled his hair.
Ainosuke pouted as he tried to fix his hair. “Why? I thought your house is at the different direction as mine?”
“It dies. But my mother wants me to buy something on the way home and the store is along your route home.” He made a face, but quickly changed it to a smile.
“Ok then,” the younger shrugged and began to lead his senior to the direction of his house.
Ryutaro took a moment to scrutinize his junior before shrugging and jogged to catch up with him. He had been contemplating as to how to tell the younger, but he couldn’t think of anything else but to be blunt with him and hope for the best.
Not the best way, but that was all he could come up with.
“You’re unusually silent today.”
He turned to look at the speaker and grinned. “Knew you secretly enjoy my company, Ainosuke-kun!”
The younger huffed, “I never say I didn’t.”
He blinked at the honest response, not expecting it. A smile spread across his face.
“Then, I should be honest too, I think.”
The boy beside him made a questioning noise but otherwise kept walking.
“You are half-blind, aren’t you?”
He sensed more than see when the younger boy froze in his track and turned around to face him. His heart went out to him when he saw how his confession affected the younger.
Ainosuke had a disbelieving expression on his face. His eyes told him of the younger’s horror of being found out so early, and no small amount of trepidation a well.
“I - I should go.”
He quickly caught the younger’s hand as he tried to get away.
“I don’t think so, Ainosuke-kun. I’m not letting you go until you understand that me knowing this changes anything.”
He held his gaze with the boy’s, trying to make him belief what he had just said. From the younger’s expression though, he could tell that he had not been doing a very good job at it.
“I really should go, Ryutaro-senpai.”
The arm in his hand tried to jerk away, but he kept a firm hand on it, rendering any attempt from the younger useless.
“What are you so afraid of?”
The question made Ainosuke ceased his struggling and bit his lip, turning his face away.
“Look, Ainosuke, I had known this since the second time I met you,” he ignored the disbelieving look the boy was giving him. “And have I been treating you differently? No, right? Whatever it is that got you so scared, it won’t happen with me. So, relax, okay? I told you that I know not to make you uncomfortable, but to let you know that you have someone whom you could rely on at school.”
Brown eyes rounded rather comically at his declaration. “You would do that?”
“What do you think I’ve been doing the past few weeks? Now are you going to run away if I let go of your arm?”
The younger shook his head absentmindedly, his expression still dazed. He smiled and ruffled Ainosuke’s hair in amusement.
“You are so cute.”
“Am not!”
He laughed out loud at the what he know an automatic response.
“See? Nothing’s change.”
He watched silently as the younger blinked his eyes repeatedly before a smile slowly forming on his face. Then, the next thing he knew, he was being tackled into a hug.
Chuckling loudly as he adjusted his balance, he wound his arms around his junior and squeezed back just as tightly.
xxx
“Niichan, I’m home!”
Yumeto raised an eyebrow at the cheerful tone his brother had used. Something good must have happened. He smiled and walked out of his room to greet his younger brother.
“Welcome home. You sound ha- oof!”
He was taken aback when Ainosuke tackled him in enthusiasm. Regaining his composure after a few moments, he returned the hug and gave a gentle squeeze before pulling away.
“Not that I’m not happy, but what’s the occasion?”
Ainosuke grinned at him before stating excitedly, “You were right about Ryutaro-senpai!”
“Hm?” Using his brother’s distracted mood, he led the younger to their room. “So you finally took my advice and told him about your eye?”
“No, actually.”
“Oh?” He sat his brother on the younger’s bed and proceeded to take off his bag. He watched amusedly as Ainosuke went on auto pilot, subconsciously taking his tie and socks, dumping the later in the basket for dirty clothes.
“Yes, he found out by himself, saying that he had known since the second day. And that he won’t treat me differently because of it.”
Yumeto chuckled softly. “I told you he won’t.” He walked towards a wardrobe, intending on fetching his brother a home clothes.
“I know you did, niichan, but I can’t help but worry still.” The younger shrugged off his blazer, hanging it on the hanger behind the door.
“I know, Ainosuke. Here,” he handed the younger his clothes, watching in unconcealed amusement as his little brother blinked at the sweater and pants in his hands. He waited patiently at the outburst he knew was about to come any minute.
“Niichan! I can choose my own clothes just fine!”
Yumeto chuckled and once again ruffled his brother’s hair, grinning at the pout the younger had because of it.
“And I’ve been doing this for years, Ainosuke. Go get change, I’ll wait for you in the kitchen for lunch.”
He walked out of the room with a smile on his face, highly amused at the younger’s grumble even as he did as told. Whistling joyfully, he went to prepare lunch.
k59: as promised, 2nd chapter^^~ i still got 1 more chapter to upload, so i'l cut this short XD i'm going to rant in the next though :P