When You Were Young / Protection (Chap. 3)
When You Were Young - Chapter 3
Chaptertitle: Protection
Pairing: Sakurai Sho & Aiba Masaki
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: I don't own Sakuraiba. Just the plot.
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Protection
Chapter 3
The blackboard in Aiba’s class was once again covered in difficult technical words and terms that he didn’t have a clue about, but all he did focus on now was the word “class trip” that was written on it in a bright orange colour. Well, that was definitely better than logarithm or math stuff in general. The president of the class was standing at the teacher’s desk, explaining their upcoming class trip and revealing where they’re going to.
“We are going to Okinawa, guys!” The whole class was cheering, celebrating with their friends and starting to talk noisily about what they’re going to do at the beach. Aiba really wanted to be excited too because he loved the beach and the sea, but he didn’t want to spend the trip with his bullies… and Sho. Ever since the almost-kiss happened, both avoided any contact to each other which actually kind of hurt the tall boy. Already two weeks have passed and he thought that they would at least talk normally again, but Aiba was too shy to make the first step and Sho didn’t even look at him anymore. Aiba’s mood dropped immediately and he laid his head on his desk, sighing in desperation. When a voice suddenly called his name, he slowly raised his head and saw the class president standing in front of him.
He started to blab about something like sharing rooms and double beds which Aiba was absolutely not interested in. But then under all the explanations he heard a familiar name.
“What… what did you just say?”
“That you’re going to share a room with Sakurai-kun. Because of whatever reason he rejected every boy in class as a roommate but you. So you’ll share a room with him.”
Before Aiba could even say anything the class president walked to the next person, leaving him speechless behind. His gaze automatically drifted to Sho and the younger boy froze when he saw how the top student stared at him. But as Aiba was looking at him, Sho immediately focused back on the blackboard. An unfamiliar warmth started to spread in Aiba’s chest - only this one gaze already made his heart race unusually fast. He kind of could imagine how the girls around him always felt when they were talking and fangirling about Sho.
“Yo, Aiba” Two boys were blocking his sight suddenly and looked down to him. “So you’re in a room with your bodyguard now? Seems like the princess needs protection.” One of them snorted and laughed at his buddy right next to him. “Do you think that that’ll help you?” Suddenly he took Aiba’s math book and opened a random page before he pointed at it.
Weakling. Poor son of middle-class parents who run a Chinese restaurant. Nothing worth.
As if he wasn’t bothered enough with Sho, the bullies still didn’t stop with their childish acts. Aiba just stared at the book, tears slowly started to form in his eyes, but he did his best to suppress them. It didn’t bother him if they offended him, but talking about his parents like that was simply unforgivable. The tears were making his sight blurry and he saw how his book was suddenly taken away from his desk and replaced by another one without anything bad written in it.
“Fuck off. I told you to leave him alone.” Sho was standing right next to them with Aiba’s book in his hand.
“Look who we have here. The prince himself. Are you going to protect him or what?”
“Yes, I will” Sho’s voice was full of confidence and conviction as he glared at them in anger. “I’d love to know what the principal has to say to your bullying when he hears about that. I’m sure that your scholarship would be in danger, wouldn’t it?” The bully growled at Sho’s words and the hatred in his eyes scared Aiba even more, but Sho seemed to be unimpressed.
“Come on, let’s get some fresh air” Sho then looked to Aiba, his gaze immediately softened as he gripped the taller boy’s wrist, pulling him up. Aiba didn’t even dare to say one word when Sho headed to the rooftop of the school where he let go of his classmate again. Actually Sho really wanted to say something to him - ask him why he didn’t even defend himself, but suddenly his younger classmate started to cry out loud which made it impossible to say anything bad to him. The whole bullying was too much for him at that point and he couldn’t handle it anymore.
Immediately Sho went one step forward and took the crying boy in his arms, comforting him by caressing his back and his hair gently. Sho was relieved when he felt how Aiba tightened the hug and cried even louder in the crook of his neck. Time seemed to stand still in that certain moment and no one of them wanted to let go. After a few minutes passed Aiba eventually pulled back and wiped the tears away from his face. The awkward silence once again found its way between Aiba and Sho, but both of them were trapped in their own thoughts, not caring about how weird the current situation was. Somehow Aiba really wanted to say something to Sho, but the intense look from the older boy made him unable to speak.
“Ne, do you snore?”
…Snore? Aiba raised his head and looked at Sho in confusion. “Well, you know, I can’t sleep with someone in a room if that person is snoring.”
Snoring. He seriously talked about snoring.
Aiba laughed brightly and shook his head. The smile that Sho received made him laugh too and he gazed at his classmate happily. For quite a while they were just standing on the rooftop and smiled at each other - at that moment nothing else mattered.
“You know… you are not as half as tough and dangerous as you look” Aiba said and rubbed his arm up and down. Sho just laughed and the corners of his mouth went up even more - he knew all about the rumors about him being a delinquent, beating up people and having a secret motorcycle gang. Actually he just really loved to wear that kind of stuff, he didn’t really think about how people would react to it or what they would think about him.
“Well you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, right? Appearance doesn’t equal character all the time.” Lightly Aiba nodded his head in agreement and showed a small crooked smile. He somehow felt happy that his classmate opened up to him and that he got to know the real Sho behind the bleached ruffled hair, the silver piercing in his earlobe and the chain that dangled down from his trousers.
The smile on Aiba’s face didn’t fade “You helped me again… thank you. I feel really stupid and weak, but… somehow it feels good to be protected like that” The flush on his cheeks brightened up his face as he looked shyly at Sho. He knew that his words sounded cheesy and were super-embarrassing, but Aiba just felt like saying that to him. His heart made a jump when Sho approached him and put his palm on the taller boy’s upper arm, leaning a bit closer.
“And I will protect you.” The heartwarming smirk on Sho’s face encouraged Aiba to go back to the classroom with new confidence, blending out the bullies and getting excited for their trip together. Now he couldn’t wait to go to Okinawa - to enjoy the sun, the sea and his time with Sho.
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Comment: Happy Aiba-month everyone! I am so excited.. mostly because I am finally able to open my advent-calender. xD But also because of our Aiba getting 30 in a few days! Kind of surreal isn't it..
So the next chapter will cover their class trip.. I just love the idea of Sakuraiba being in one room together.. at a class trip.. ah, my fantasy is once again taking over control :')
* Okinawa