[Fic] My Daughter is My Rival (Chapter 1)
Title: My Daughter is My Rival
Author: neer_nix
Pairing: Yama, Sakuraiba (one-sided)
Rating: PG 13
Length: 3100
Genre: Romance, slight angst, fluff
Disclaimer: none of them is mine, only the plot is.
Warning: un-betaed
Summary: a single father Sakurai Sho never imagined that someday his love rival is his own daughter.
A/N: I’m back with the update! Thank you so much for the feedbacks! I really appreciated it! Even though I wrote Yama as the main pairing, I actually love Sakuraiba’s interaction even more… Maybe that’s because the fact that my OTP is Sakuraiba. Well, never mind my rambling, I hope you also enjoy this chapter! XD
Prologue
Chapter 1
“Ohno sensei, what’s the theme for today’s class?” a boy shouted at Ohno who just entered the class, startled at the sudden question.
“Geez, would you let me at least come into the class first,” Ohno mumbled to himself, not daring to say it out loud, in the end they were just kids.
Ohno was never fond of the idea teaching elementary school kids actually. He preferred to be a real artist to be honest, painting as much as he wanted, having an exhibition, or maybe he could make some sculptures. But of course, his parents were against it. They said that being an artist had no future, that he couldn’t get to eat just from painting. His parents were indeed the old-fashioned type who always thought that artist wasn’t the real job. Being an obedient kid he was, Ohno finally became an art teacher. The truth was Ohno never minded being an art teacher. It was just that he didn’t really like teaching elementary kids. Not because he didn’t like children, but it was because there was no challenge in his job, unless you counted the bratty kids who always took every chances to trouble him as a challenge. Teaching kids to draw was never that hard in the first place. He just needed to play along with whatever they had drawn. Sometimes it frustrated him, but he couldn’t resign from this job. Not before he got a better job than this one.
“Good morning, everyone!” he greeted. “Today, I’d like you to draw ‘Family’ as the theme. Taro kun, help me to pass the paper to the class. Once you got your paper, you could start drawing!”
After about fifteen minutes, Ohno walked around the class to observe their works. They all focused on their own paper although there were some kids who pulled pranks on their friends, but everything was normal.
“Ne Ohno sensei,” a high pitched voice called him. Ohno turned around to look at the source of the voice.
“What is it, Yuri chan?” Ohno smiled softly at the little girl, slightly leaning to her desk.
“How’s my drawing?” she asked cutely.
“Hmm, let me see it,” Ohno took the paper and saw that the child like picture was drawn there with full colors of crayon. There was a little girl with pink dress holding a hand of a man in blue suit with a home as the background, completed with a shining yellow sun and a few of blue clouds.
“So this is Yuri chan’s papa?”Ohno asked, kneeling down so he could look at the girl better.
“Yes! Yuri loves papa so much!” she exclaimed in cheerful tone. Ohno smiled at her.
“Why don’t you draw your mama then?”
The smile on her face disappeared the second she heard Ohno’s question. She looked down as if she didn’t want to tell him about it.
“Ah, but it is okay if you don’t want to tell sensei,” Ohno started to feel bad for asking unnecessary question. Kids were sensitive with family matters and it was obvious that there was something happened with Yuri’s family.
“Mama left us. She doesn’t want to be with me and papa anymore,” she answered in barely audible tone, still looking down.
Ohno looked at her for a second, thinking what the best to do in this kind of situation. Beside it was his own fault that she remembered about his mother. Although he had to admit that he really didn’t know about her family problem since he wasn’t the teacher in charge of her class.
Without saying anything, he stroked her hair tenderly. She looked up at him. Ohno could see that she tried so hard not to cry. He just smiled at her fondly before putting the paper back to her desk.
“You know what, let me tell you something,” Ohno said before leaning to her ear and whispering something.
Once he had done, he pulled back and saw a small had gotten back to her cute face.
“Thank you, sensei! I’ll do it tonight!” She said beamingly.
Ohno stood back and left her after once again stroking her hair. Sakurai Yuri was surely one of his favorite students and he couldn’t deny that he had a soft spot for the little girl.
***
Sho groaned in frustration on his work room. He threw a bunch of paper to his desk. He, again, found misses on his subordinates works after checking it. If it was the first time or at least barely happened, he wouldn’t be so stressed out. But the mistakes often occurred each week. And on top of that, it was the same mistakes that they kept repeating on. He really needed a break or else he would get insane.
He leaned on his tired back on the chair, his fingers rubbing his temple to lessen his pounding head. His mind flied off to the night when he had met up with Nino, Jun and Ohno. Suddenly he straightened his back to reach out for his cell phone. He flipped it open and scrolled through the contacts and found Ohno’s name on the screen. He contemplated on calling the older guy or not. He really thought that Ohno could lessen his stressing day without annoy him with bratty remarks or passionate talks about work. He was sure that Ohno would listen to his story without interfering him. In the end, he pushed the green button and put the device on his ear. But unfortunately, Ohno didn’t pick up his call. Sho glanced at the clock across the room and realized that Ohno must be teaching now. He ended the call and opted to send him a mail instead, asking him whether he got time tonight for a drink.
After sending the mail, he leaned back to his chair, letting out a sigh. He really wanted to know about the older guy better and the more he thought about it, the more he found it creepy somehow. He had never been so interested in someone before and he wondered why. He let out another sigh before finally getting back to work.
***
Finally Ohno’s class period had ended. He took no time to go back to the teacher’s room. He put the teach materials on his desk before rummaging through his bag to find his cell phone. He always checked his cell phone during his free period. He was surprised to find a missed call from Sho. He was about to call him back when he realized that he also received a few mails.
‘Better to check the mails first,’ he thought.
A few mails were from his friends, one from his mother, telling him that she sent a pack of apple they just got from a relative, and one from Sho. He skipped the others mails and opened Sho’s. It was a simple offer to have a drink after work. He thought a bit about his schedule and after a minute pondering whether he would take the offer or not, he finally replied it. In the end, he agreed to meet him that evening.
Ohno leaned back to his chair after sending the reply to Sho. He was recalling their conversation at the bar. He had to admit that he found that Sho’s attractive. Not just his appearance, but also his personality. Most of people would find it boring to listen to him talking about fishing all the time, but Sho listened to him as if he was really interested with his story. It was so easy to talk to him. He couldn’t deny that he was a bit happy when he got the invitation from Sho earlier. Never had he thought that Sho would ask for his accompany when he clearly could ask Nino or Jun. But of course, he wouldn’t complain about it.
“Ohno sensei, would you help me out here?” another teacher called out at him from the other side of the room. Ohno immediately stood up from his chair.
“Sure, I’ll come in second!”
***
This time, Sho arrived first at the usual bar. He already ordered his drink while waiting for Ohno to come. He had finished his works faster so he could leave his workplace earlier that evening. It wasn’t because he wanted to spend a longer time with the older guy, or at least he wouldn’t admit it out loud, but since he had promised Yuri to have dinner with her and Aiba tonight, he thought that he better released his stress first before coming home. He gulped down his drink, feeling it burned his throat in exquisite way. He was enjoying his drink when he heard someone calling his name.
“Sakurai san, I’m sorry I’m late. I was a bit preoccupied with things,” Ohno said, sitting on the seat beside him.
“It’s okay. Sorry for calling you out when you’re busy,” Sho put his glass down.
Ohno ordered his drink before finally turned to face the businessman. He could see that Sho was exhausted in various ways. He smiled sympathetically at the younger man, feeling the need to ease him somehow.
“So, how’s your works?” Ohno opened the conversation.
“Horrible. Sometimes I wonder how I could manage to work with them up till now,” Sho let out a deep sigh, looking at no particular direction.
“Them?”
“My subordinates. They always make the same mistakes and it drove me crazy. Can you believe it? They make the same mistakes every week!” With that Sho nagged at Ohno about his works for about a half haour. Ohno listened to him quietly, giving a not at the right moment or hummed in acknowledgment.
“I know that they actually more capable than what they do now, but I don’t know how to make them work more efficiently,” Sho ended up his story. After a few seconds of silence he suddenly realized that he had just whined at Ohno, who he just knew for a couple of days. “Ah, I’m sorry for rambling about my works like this at you.”
“It’s okay. Sometimes you need to let out your stress with talking to someone like this anyway. Don’t worry, I won’t charge you for rambling at me,” Ohno grinned mischievously at him.
Sho grinned back at him, feeling half of his stress was lifted out from his shoulders.
“Never mind about me then. Now, tell me about your job. I heard from Nino that you’re teaching art at elementary school.”
“Ah, yeah. But actually, I don’t think that I’m suitable teaching kids,” and then Ohno started telling Sho his worries about changing job. To be honest it was the first time Ohno telling about this to anyone else, although he had been contemplating for months already. He was kind of surprised that talking to Sho could make him spilling his reluctant doing his job to the younger man. In the end, they spent another hour discussing about their current jobs.
Their conversation was only interrupted by Sho’s ringing cell phone. He mumbled an apology to Ohno before retrieving his phone to answer the call.
“Papa?” Yuri’s voice was heard through the receiver. “When will you back home? You promised to have dinner with us, right?”
“Ah! Yes, I don’t forget about it. I’ll come back right away. Wait for me, okay?”
“Yay! Papa said, he’ll come back right away Aiba-chan!” Sho could hear Aiba said something in the background although he couldn’t catch what it was.
“Hang up the call then, so papa could go home now,” Sho said to his daughter, chuckling a little bit at her antic.
“Okay then! Bye, papa!” Yuri cheerfully said before hanging up the call.
Sho flipped his phone closed and turned to Ohno in apologetic face.
“You have a daughter, I see,” Ohno said in matter of fact.
“Ah, yes. And this little brat wants me to back home now. I’m sorry, Ohno san, but I have to go home now.”
“It’s okay. It’s time for me to go home too.”
“I really had fun tonight. I hope we can do something like this again soon.”
“Sure! I’d love to!” Ohno smiled at him.
“See you, then!” Sho bowed slightly at the older man before heading out from the bar in slight rush.
Ohno looked at Sho’s back until it disappeared from his sight. He couldn’t explain to himself why, but he felt a slight tinge on his heart when he heard that Sho’s already had a daughter.
‘So he’s married already,’ he smiled bitterly at himself.
After paying for his drinks, he also headed out the bar, with indescribable feeling raging his heart.
***
“I’m home,” Sho shouted out from the front door, removing his shoes before entering the living room. He was welcomed by Yuri and Aiba who clearly rushing their way out from the kitchen.
“Welcome home, Papa!” Yuri run to hug his father when Aiba just approached them with smile plastered on his face.
“Welcome home, Sho san.”
“I’m home Aiba chan,” Sho smiled at Aiba before turning to his little daughter. “So, why are you so desperate to have me coming home for dinner, Yuri?”
“Because there’s something I want to show you!” Yuri said cheekily.
“Hmm, what is it?” Sho ruffled the little girl hair affectionately.
“It’s still a secret! I’ll show you after dinner! And Papa, I helped Aiba chan cooking dinner tonight!” Yuri exclaimed excitedly.
“Really? I bet you bother Aiba chan rather than helping him, right?” Sho tickled Yuri’s sides playfully.
“I’m nooot!” Yuri managed to say between her laughter.
Aiba just chuckled at how close the father and daughter before him. He quietly walked back to the kitchen to prepare the dinner when Sho calling out his name.
“Aiba chan, thanks for having Yuri slept over at yours the other day,” Sho smiled genuinely at the taller guy.
Aiba just smiled at him and muttered a low ‘it’s no problem’ before heading back to the kitchen.
***
The three of them were finally having their dinner together. As usual, the conversation was dominated by the only girl in the room. She excitedly told Sho about her friends and the classes today. Sho and Aiba listened to her babblings amusedly. Once the dinner finished, Sho helped Aiba doing the dishes. Sho felt bad since he always let Aiba do the chores even though it was his own home.
“I’m sorry, Aiba chan,” Sho suddenly spoke while drying the plates with a cloth. Aiba turned his head towards Sho curiously.
“Why are you suddenly apologizing?”
“I feel indebted at you since you always do this kind of things even though I don’t give you anything in return.”
Aiba smiled at the older man, stopping his ministration to face him better.
“You don’t have to feel bad about it, Sho san. I like doing it. And I really like Yuri. So you don’t have to worry about feeling indebted at me. Beside, I could save my money since I always have dinner at yours,” Aiba grinned cheekily at him.
Sho sighed in relief when he heard Aiba’s reply. He really felt grateful to have a neighbor as kind as Aiba. He couldn’t imagine how his life was if he got an ignorant neighbor. Yuri would be lonely every night.
“Ne Aiba chan, don’t you have a girlfriend?” Sho asked again suddenly.
Aiba felt his face getting warm and his heart beat pounding so hard which he afraid that Sho could hear it. He clumsily continued washing the dishes, trying so hard to calm his racing heart beat down.
“N-no,” Aiba felt like smacking himself for stuttered. “Why do you ask?”
“I was just wondering if someone as kind as you got one already. I mean, I bet a lot of girls want to date you, right?” Sho said nonchalantly.
“Ah, no, I’m not really popular with girls actually,” Aiba admitted shyly.
“Eh? Really? But you’re good looking and on top of that, you are so nice! How could girls don’t realize that?” Sho widened his eyes in surprised.
“Well, maybe I’m too preoccupied with the pets already rather than looking for girls,” Aiba said jokingly. “Beside I have fallen in love already with someone.”
“Really? Who is it?” Sho asked excitedly.
“It’s Sakurai san,” Aiba replied. Sho widened his eyes once again in shocked. But before he could form any words, Aiba had spoken again.
“Sakurai Yuri san to be exact,” Aiba said mischievously.
Sho laughed out loud after hearing Aiba’s love confession. But then he cleared his throat, trying to look serious.
“But Aiba san, as Yuri’s father, and I must warn you that I’m quite protective too, I won’t give my daughter to you that easy even though you’ve been practically playing around with her for few years already.”
Both of them let out a set of laughter after Sho finished his kind of war declaration at Aiba. Sho never thought that he could be laughing so hard like this with the younger man. Maybe he just needed to get closer to him to know him better and having so much fun like this.
“What are you laughing about?” Yuri suddenly came in to the kitchen, holding a piece of paper in her hand.
“It’s nothing, Yuri chan,” it was Aiba the one who replied the girl. She just nodded before turning her attention to her father.
“Ne, Papa, have you done yet? There’s something I want to show you.”
“Yes, yes. I’m done already,” Sho said, putting down the plate he was holding before kneeling in front of his daughter.
“I drew this today at school. It’s for you!” Yuri handed out the paper she was holding to Sho.
Sho took the paper and saw the picture on the paper. It was the picture of him and Yuri holding hands, or at least that was written under the picture of the girl and the guy, Yuri and Papa. Under their name, there’s another thing written there.
‘I love Papa. Thank you.’
Sho felt a tug on his heart when he saw the picture and the words that written there. He felt like crying but he knew he wouldn’t let himself crying in front of his daughter, and Aiba was still there too. He didn’t say anything, still looking at the picture mutely.
“Papa?” Yuri tilted her head since she didn’t get any response from her beloved father.
Sho still didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say anything. He only pulled his daughter into a tight embrace, hugging the little girl fondly.
“Thank you, Yuri. Papa loves you too,” Sho managed to say in croaked voice.
Aiba only smiled at them, giving Yuri a peace sign when he saw the girl looked up at him with sparkling eyes and big grin.
***
A/N: Oh, and I’m still looking for a beta. So, please contact me, if you’re interested! Thank you! XD