Sakuraiba Exchange 2020
Title: Study on Love
Pairings: Sakuraiba, Matsumiya (side)
Genre: university!AU, fluff, romance, humor, slight angst
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The forbidden fruit is always the most tempting one. Resisting is impossible and futile. So why even try?
A/N: originally posted here, written for abyarashi for the Sakuraiba Exchange 2020. please, read the other stories, they're all great!
“Shit, shit, shit…” Aiba mumbled under his breath. He couldn’t believe he was this unlucky. It was his first day as a university student and he overslept today of all days! And if that wasn’t enough, of course he missed the train on top of everything! So typical of his luck. Now he only had minutes left or he’d be late for his first class. Also, Jun and Nino were blowing up his phone with texts though he stopped checking them since he got off the train. He bumped into people constantly and normally he would stop and apologize and make sure no one got injured because of him but he really couldn’t afford to do that right now.
“Finally!” Jun glared at him when he finally reached the door of the lecture hall.
“Let me guess, you overslept?” Nino asked smirking.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to but…” Aiba said panting, looking at his friends with puppy eyes.
“Oh, who cares?! Get moving!” Jun barked, pushing them into the lecture hall.
Thanks to Aiba being late, the only open seats left were in the front row, right in front of the professor’s desk. They had barely settled in their seats when the door at the back of the hall opened and a man clad in a suit walked in with confident steps.
“Tell me that’s the teacher’s assistant…” Nino mumbled through his teeth.
“What are you talking about?” Aiba asked whispering.
“I doubt there’d be much studying here. A young teacher looking like that… Believe me,” Nino snorted silently hiding his smirk behind his palm.
“My name is professor Sakurai, welcome to the Intro to Econ course! You’re not children anymore so I won’t lie to you, it’s not an easy class and I’ll expect a lot from you. But my office door will be always open for you if you’d have any questions,” he paused and looked over the students. “Unless your questions are stupid, in which case, please, take those somewhere else…”
Hesitant laughter rippled through the class, the students unsure whether it was a joke or they should take it seriously. Either way, Aiba instantly found himself wanting to do his best to meet the professor’s expectations, no matter how high they were.
Professor Sakurai left his station behind his desk with a stack of papers, starting to distribute them.
“This is the syllabus for the semester. Here, you will also find the mandatory and recommended reading lists,” he explained as he walked along the seats. “I hope you chose your current seat carefully because I’ll expect you to keep it for the rest of the semester,” the professor said just as he passed Aiba the course syllabus. Their fingers brushed only for the fracture of a second, yet, it was enough to send a lightning zip through Aiba’s body. A silent gasp left Aiba’s lips as he looked up at his teacher but averted his eyes as soon as he met that intense gaze.
Aiba passed the rest of the lecture in a buzz and, before he knew it, his friends were dragging him out of the lecture hall. He still felt like he was under some kind of spell when he and Nino settled at a table in the campus cafeteria while Jun stood in line for coffee, claiming he was in need of a re-fuel before their next lecture.
“By the way, I hope you’ll take responsibility,” Nino said looking at Aiba, clicking his tongue annoyed when he met the blank expression on Aiba’s face, clearly showing that he didn’t have the slightest idea of what Nino was talking about. “For having to sit in the front row for the whole semester!” Nino clarified. “If you hadn’t been late this morning, we could’ve gotten a much better spot. Preferably one where I could’ve played PazuDora during the lectures…” he said pouting.
“That’s not what you’re supposed to come to university for,” Jun said with a slightly scolding tone as he sat down next to them with the biggest to-go cup of coffee the cafeteria offered.
“You know I just come here for you, love!” Nino shot back with a toothy grin and while Jun was too busy fighting back the blush from his neck, Nino stole his coffee and took a large sip of it. At this, Jun’s expression quickly turned annoyed but he made no attempt to take his coffee back. It wasn’t an unusual thing after all.
“If you wanted coffee, I would’ve bought one for you too, you know. You just have to ask…” he said with a huff, but taking back his coffee only when it was out of Nino’s greedy paws.
“But it’s cheaper to share yours,” Nino said as if it was the most natural thing. And in their relationship, it actually was.
Aiba watched them silently with a fond smile on his face but with a slight ache in his heart. He didn’t mind it in the slightest when his best friends got together in their final year of high school. It was actually way better than them shooting moony eyes at each other every time when they thought no one was watching. But sometimes Aiba got lonely around them. He knew they didn’t do it on purpose, they didn’t mean to exclude him but sometimes they just forgot about the world around them and started to get all lovey-dovey... Like now… Aiba wished he had someone like that too…
“Ah!” Aiba cried out when Professor Sakurai’s face just popped up in his mind with that thought.
“What’s with you, Aiba-shi?” Nino asked looking at him with a frown.
“Ehm… Nothing?...” Aiba said, hoping his face was not as red as he felt. “Shouldn’t we… you know… get going? It’s not good to be late on the first day, right?... Nino, you wanted to choose our seats, didn’t you?”
“Wow! You’re a university student for a few hours only and you’re already brighter! This place must be magical!” Nino said with a teasing smirk, earning a slap on the head from Jun as they got up to go to their next lecture…
***
A few months passed and Aiba felt quite proud of himself for getting the hang of this university life. Most of his classes were interesting enough and he got good enough grades so far. But then there was professor Sakurai’s class.
The professor already threw a few pop-quizzes at them, they had to present a paper by last week and an exam was coming up in a few weeks. He kept his word from the first day, he was expecting a lot from them. It was stressing Aiba immensely. He wanted to do well. He was sure he was doing his best but unfortunately it didn’t seem to be enough.
“You should ask for help from the prof,” Jun said last week when Aiba was whining to him how he had trouble writing his paper. “He helped me a lot when I asked him the other day.”
But Aiba didn’t take Jun’s advice. Partially because he was slightly intimidated by the professor, so smart and good-looking! But also because he wanted to impress him with his paper after his not so great results on the quizzes. Well, looking at the graded paper in his hand, he obviously failed at that.
He stared dejectedly at the failing grade written in bright red ink on the top of his paper. It was embarrassing, especially since Jun next to him received flying colors (of course!) and even Nino (who still played his games under the table) got an above the average mark.
“Aiba-kun, a moment!”
Aiba immediately tensed when the professor called him after the lecture ended. Just when he was about to scamper out of the hall with his shame.
“Someone’s in trouble!” Nino whispered on singsong tone and with a teasing grin on his face.
Jun on the other hand seemed to be more understanding.
“We’ll wait for you outside,” he said before he dragged his boyfriend away.
Aiba trudged to the professor’s desk, clinging to the strap of his backpack nervously.
“Yes?”
“Come to my office once you have finished with your classes,” the professor said without looking up from packing up his notes.
“Ehm… Can I…? Why?...” Aiba asked stuttering.
At this the professor did look up at him. His eyes were hard and intense but then he just picked up his bag and left his student standing there not saying anything else, let alone offering any explanation to Aiba.
“I’m so screwed…” Aiba mumbled dejectedly as he shuffled out of the lecture hall to catch up with his friends.
It was the first time that Aiba wasn’t looking forward to the end of his last class of the day. He was already dreading the scolding that was to come once he reached his professor’s office. But as he headed to the office, he had to admit that deep down a part of him was excited to meet the man twice in one day. It was ridiculous and hopeless, Aiba knew it, having a crush on his professor like in a manga or something… But he couldn’t help it. The man was so handsome, and all that foreign-sounding jargon flowing from those lips so sexily…
Gathering whatever courage he could find in himself, Aiba knocked.
“Professor? It’s Aiba, you wanted to see me?” he opened the door slightly.
“Yes! Come in, Aiba-kun! Take a seat!”
Aiba shuffled to the offered seat and all but collapsed onto it. When he looked up, his eyes met Professor Sakurai’s intense gaze. It was the first time he found himself under the sole focus of those eyes. He tried his best not to blush or fidget.
“I’m sure you know why I called you.”
Aiba just nodded mutely while his professor carried on.
“Your performance in my class is barely reaching the acceptable level. It’s not an easy class, I admit that but that’s why I warned you about it on the first day. It’s okay, it won’t be the first time someone drops out,” he said in a serious but almost emotionless tone, handing a form to Aiba. “I filled and signed it already. All you have to do is hand it in at the student center.”
Aiba gaped at the professor with wide eyes but he didn’t take the offered paper.
“Please, professor, don’t make me! I’ll do my best, I promise! I’ll do anything, just give me a chance!” he cried. “Please, don’t make me drop your class!”
Sakurai raised an eyebrow at this unexpected reaction. It was definitely the first time any of his failing students would beg to be allowed to stay on his course. It surely had a high drop-out rate but he also made sure that those who remained were the brightest. And now, out of all his students, it had to be Aiba Masaki who wouldn’t listen to him! With his puppy eyes and perfect, bright smile… The boy was a big enough distraction to him without the image of him begging to him so desperately.
“Did you say anything?” he asked despite knowing better. He got up from his chair and walked over to where Aiba was sitting.
“Yes! Anything!” Aiba repeated nodding firmly, his hope rising even when Sakurai’s close proximity sent his breathing and heartbeat into overdrive.
Sakurai pulled back suddenly, his face unreadable.
“Fine, then. I’ll expect you to be here tomorrow morning at 7 sharp,” he said as he turned away to return to his seat behind his desk.
“Wha…?” Aiba squeaked, confused and dizzy.
“That was all, Aiba-kun…” Sakurai said dismissively. His voice alone was enough to make Aiba scamper out of the office but he couldn’t chase away the strange anticipation he felt swelling in his chest.
***
And with that, Aiba found himself as the unofficial, personal slave of Professor Sakurai Sho. The professor demanded him to get his prints and copies done for his classes or publications. Or to get his reference books from the library from the other side of campus. And when he finally had no more crazy errands for Aiba, he still expected him to be on stand-by in his office in case anything came up.
“You should report him to the dean. I’m sure it’s not legal or ethical,” Jun commented, which was kind of weird coming from the same guy who insisted that Aiba asked for help from the professor just a month ago, emphasizing non-stop how nice and helpful he was. “He shouldn’t be allowed to do this to you…”
Jun, Nino and Aiba were sitting around a table in the library, working on their respective school work.
“No, no, it’s not that bad as you think!” Aiba protested silently, trying not to disturb the other students in the library.
“Of course you’d say that ’cause you have a crush on the prof…” Nino said with a smirk. “Or you’re simply a masochist. I can’t see any other possible explanation for anyone going through all that hell willingly.”
“Am not!” Aiba snapped, feeling his face heating up in embarrassment for either of those possibilities Nino voiced. Mostly because he was not willing to admit to Nino (or to anyone else for that matter) that he did harbor a crush on the professor. Just a slight one… ‘Okay, a big one, so what?!’
Nino just raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. It was an obvious challenge for Aiba to try proving him wrong.
“It really is not that bad!” Aiba repeated insistently. “Like… a few weeks ago, he got me a desk in his office!” he said, oblivious of the beaming smile that adorned his face as he said it.
“What?” Jun asked looking up from his books with a confused expression, fixing his glass on the bridge of his nose. “He got you a desk and you’re this excited?” he asked, obviously not being able to connect the dots there.
“He said it was annoying how I kept fidgeting by his door and it was distracting and disturbing his work. So until he needs something from me, I should just sit there, do whatever I want as long as I do it in silence…”
“I see…” Jun commented as he turned back to his school work.
“I’m not sure that is something to be excited for…” Nino said looking at Jun for confirmation. “He called you annoying and you brag about it? It’s so you, Aiba-shi…”
“I’m not bragging…” Aiba mumbled weakly. Maybe he shouldn’t have said this. He should’ve told them how the professor helped with his school work. Last week he offered some constructive comment on his paper for another class. He even proofread it for him! But Aiba was sure there was no point in telling Nino now. He knew his friend already made up his mind.
“Tell that to your face…” Nino said snickering before he turned back to his paper.
Before Aiba could say anything else in his defense, his phone pinged with an incoming message. He grabbed the phone without wasting as much as a second.
“Ah! I have to take some books for professor Sakurai,” Aiba said as an explanation as he suddenly started throwing his books into his bag. “See you guys later!”
“Sure, don’t make your master wait!” Nino said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Aiba didn’t dignify that comment with an answer, he just rushed away.
“Professor? Here are the books you were asking for,” Aiba said as he entered the office.
Sakurai didn’t even look up when Aiba entered, too busy typing away on his laptop.
“Finally, Aiba-kun! I’ve had been waiting for those books ages!” he said grumbling.
Aiba stood with his feet rooting in the ground at that answer. He was used to Sakurai being demanding and unreasonable most of the time, and almost never showing the slightest gratitude for Aiba’s effort but this answer was way harsher than the situation called for. It didn’t even take him 30 minutes to get here and that was only because…
He looked down at the plastic bag hanging from his wrist. Why did he even bother?...
“Are you waiting for a written instruction or something, Aiba-kun? Just leave the books on the table and leave!” Sakurai snapped at him, still typing away furiously.
“As you wish, professor…” Aiba mumbled pouting, dropping everything he brought on the table as instructed before he stomped out of the office…
‘Come to my office!’
Aiba blinked sleepily at the message on his phone. What would professor Sakurai want from him at such an hour? It was late already! Just a few hours ago Sakurai was dismissing him from his office rather rudely, so what did he want now?! Why was he even in the office at this hour?
‘NOW!’
His phone pinged with another incoming text and it made Aiba literally jump out of bed. It was also unexpected of Sakurai. Normally, he would just write what he wanted then waited no matter how long it took Aiba to complete his unreasonable demands. Though he did complain when he thought Aiba took too long.
In the end, Aiba decided to do as requested, mostly out of curiosity, though Nino surely would’ve called it something else… Like being a pushover or something…
“Professor Sakurai? You wanted to see me?” Aiba called, though he had to realize how much he started to hate this question. Why was he doing this again? Because if he wanted to be honest, it wasn’t about staying in his class for a while. He really fell for someone he really should’ve not. He fell badly and all he achieved was… Maybe he should’ve just dropped the class when Sakurai told him to…
The office door was suddenly slammed open.
Aiba took a step back startled. This was a first too. The professor usually just called out for him to enter. Never before did he bother to come and open the door for him, not even when he ordered Aiba to bring him a bunch of books, printouts or what not.
Yet here he was now. Standing in the doorway, looking a bit rumpled, hair a mess. Like he was stressing over something. Hard. Now, that thought scared Aiba. Was that him? Did he mess up something? Or did he forget something? Did he just bring the wrong books earlier?
But Aiba didn’t get the chance to find out what he did wrong or even ask about it. Because Sakurai just grabbed his arm without a word and dragged him in the office.
“Professor?” Aiba asked unsure, finding himself pinned to the closed door.
“You brought me dinner.”
Aiba’s eyes widened before he quickly looked away from those dark eyes. He had no idea what he should say to that statement. Mostly because it sounded like an accusation coming from Sakurai.
“You brought me dinner! Why would you do that?” Sakurai asked more urgently this time.
“I… thought you should have proper food in case you’d pull another all-nighter…” Aiba mumbled staring at the wall to the side.
“But why? How did you even know?”
Sakurai sounded more and more frustrated with every syllable. And it made Aiba want to disappear from the face of the Earth or at least from this room. But considering his cornered state, it was impossible.
“You have a deadline tomorrow, don’t you? For that research paper… It sounded important when you talked about it on the phone and you looked so excited. And I thought it would be unfortunate if you couldn’t finish on time and…” Aiba said, his eyes fleeting up to Sakurai’s face. ‘Oh my, I’m sounding like a stalker…’ he thought panicking. “And you see, the cafeteria was closed already and I always thought one needs proper food to be able to do quality work and…” he rushed, blabbing whatever was coming to his mind.
“Aiba-kun…”
“And the food in the vending machines on the campus are all junk. That’s totally no good in this case and…” Aiba kept takling in panic, not even hearing Sakurai as he tried to interrupt him.
“Masaki!”
Aiba’s mouth snapped shut at this, looking at Sakurai with wide eyes. Did he really just call him ‘Masaki’? That couldn’t be, now could it?
“I’m sorry?” Aiba asked whispering.
“Don’t be,” Sakurai said before pressing his lips onto Aiba’s.
Aiba was sure he was dreaming. It wouldn’t, couldn’t happen any other way. But dream or not, Aiba kissed back. Sloppy and inexperienced but enthusiastic all the same. Still, all too soon for Aiba’s taste, Sakurai broke the kiss and stepped back from him abruptly.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,” Sakurai said hurriedly, turning away from Aiba.
“What?” Aiba asked confused. Wasn’t it Sakurai who jumped him and initiated the kiss at the first place? Then why was he acting like that now? Like he… regretted this…
“You’re a student and I’m a teacher here… I’m your teacher. What was I thinking?! Making a move on my student, damn!” Sakurai rambled walking up and down in the office like Aiba wasn’t even there.
“Oh… So… if it’s like that… I just… leave… I’m sorry I bothered you,” Aiba mumbled hurt and confused, while he was patting for the doorknob hoping he could leave the room before he broke down crying.
“Wait, wait! Don’t go, please!” Sakurai suddenly grabbed his arm.
“Why? Why shouldn’t I? You obviously regret… whatever this was…” Aiba snapped trying to tug his arm free of Sakurai’s grip. “Let me go, please…”
“I don’t!” Sakurai cut in. “Regret it, I mean. I don’t think it as a mistake either. But… You’re my student! I don’t know what to do! This year was the first time I almost messed up my introduction speech just because you were sitting there right in front of me!... I wanted to kiss you ever since that day…”
At this, Aiba couldn’t stop himself from turning around, looking at his professor. Eyes wide, surprised yet hopeful.
“You what?” he asked amazed.
Sakurai laughed awkwardly at this.
“If it wasn’t clear by now, I like you but I’m really bad at this relationship stuff…” he admitted. “I shouldn’t be with you for so many reasons, yet I still can’t stay away from you. And it also looks like even me being a jerk wasn’t enough to chase you away either,” Sakurai said with a sheepish expression on his face but his eyes softened when his gaze met Aiba’s. “Despite all those ugly things I did and said to you, you care. You paid attention to me. You brought me dinner!”
“You are not a jerk!” Aiba protested weakly. Even if what Sakurai said was kinda true, he really didn’t like the sound of anyone, including Sakurai himself, talking about him like that.
“It’s really nice of you to say that but we both know that’s not true… The way I wanted to kick you out from my class?... I’m sorry for that, actually. Really,” Sakurai said stepping closer to Aiba, looking at him with soft eyes, taking Aiba’s hands in his. “So… despite me being the biggest jerk to you throughout this semester so far, will you give me a chance to make it up to you? To make it right?”
****
“What’s with you this morning? You’re weirder than usual…” Nino commented when he and Jun found Aiba already waiting for them at the entrance of the university.
Aiba was bouncing and waving as soon as he spotted them in the crowd and now he was grinning widely. Though he couldn’t meet Sakurai since that night a few days ago, they did text a lot and spoke on the phone every day. And today they could finally meet again!
“I love you too, Nino-chan! Isn’t today beautiful? Today will be a great day, I’m sure of it!” Aiba blabbed as they started to walk to their first class.
“Tone it down, would you? You’re way too hyper for this hour…” Jun groaned.
“I’m sorry? I just feel excited, you know?”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t mind J. We were out of coffee this morning so he didn’t have his fix yet,” Nino said quickly to comfort Aiba when he started to pout.
“O…kay…” Aiba said a bit unsure. “Then why don’t we stop for coffee first to cheer up Jun-tan?” Aiba proposed, his mood bouncing back quickly as usual.
“Now that’s a good idea!” Jun said, his mood immediately improving…
“So… will you tell us finally what got you so hyper today?” Jun asked, three coffees and all their classes later.
Aiba fiddled around with his backpack, staring at his feet bashfully.
“I… might have a date later…” he confessed mumbling. When he looked up to find his friends grinning at him madly.
“Yeah? And who’s the idiot you managed to bag?”
“Kazu! That’s mean! Even from you…” Jun scolded his boyfriend. “So who is he? Is he going here too? When did you two meet? And when will you introduce him to us?”
“Oh, J! Can you be a little less girly about this? Or do you want me to leave you two alone so you can braid each other’s hair?” Nino asked making gagging noises.
“You can always leave if you’re not interested,” Jun said, shrugging him off.
Nino gasped, putting a hand on his chest for dramatic effect.
“Talk about being mean! I thought I was your boyfriend!”
Seeing them bantering, Aiba quickly forgot about the embarrassment that Jun’s questions caused. Trying to hold back his giggles, he waved his hand to break up their play-fight.
“Hey, guys, stop it, would you?” Aiba asked but pulled back quickly when both of his friends suddenly turned to look at him with identical expectant expression on their faces. “What?”
“So? Will you answer J? I’m afraid he’d die otherwise…” Nino said expertly ducking out of arms reach before Jun could slap him for that comment.
“Ehm… I’d love to but I can’t now. We agreed to meet up right about now,” Aiba said with a bright smile, though he felt his cheeks heating up at the thought of meeting Sho.
“Oh… so if we followed you, we could find out about your mystery date!” the dangerous sparks in Nino’s eyes made Aiba’s smile wither slightly.
“Please don’t…” Aiba said, seriously hoping that Nino was only joking. He wasn’t sure that Sho would appreciate his friends ambushing him like that. What if he didn’t want to know his friends at all?... What if he changed his mind about Aiba since that night?... What if…?
Before Aiba’s thoughts could spiral down into total panic, his phone pinged with an incoming text. He grabbed it immediately.
‘Let me know when you’re finished with your classes. I’ll be waiting in my office.’
“Let me guess, it’s that slave-driver professor Sakurai? What does he want from you this time?” Jun asked with an arched eyebrow. “Don’t let him make you be late for your date!”
“Sure, I won’t,” Aiba replied, the grin returning to his face. If only they knew… “Can I go now, mom?”
Jun just scoffed after Aiba affectionately as he skipped away…
“I’m here! Did you…?”
For once Aiba skipped knocking and simply burst into Sakurai’s office but froze abruptly as he entered.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had company, professor… Should I… leave?” he asked, uncertainly eyeing the man who was in the office with Sakurai. He had a cute round face and sleepy eyes. And apparently he and Sakurai must be close considering the two of them were sitting comfortably and giggling like a bunch of school girls. Aiba knew he probably shouldn’t make a big deal out of it but he couldn’t help but feel a bit insecure seeing the scene before him.
“Oh, come in, come in!” Sakurai said jovially, standing up from his seat, with a bright smile on his face that Aiba never saw before. It just made him even more handsome, yet it made an ugly feeling settle in the pit of Aiba’s stomach. He didn’t like it one bit.
“I don’t want to bother…” Aiba mumbled. He already felt like intruding on something he shouldn’t. Still, he took a step into the office to close the door but stayed next to it, as far from the two men as he could within the room.
“Did you finally get an assistant for yourself as I told you to?” he asked, obviously aiming the question to Sakurai though his eyes didn’t leave Aiba’s face. “I’m Ohno. Please take care of my Sho-kun, will you?” he asked with a charming smile.
“I… Sure… What?!” Aiba stuttered confused. ‘Did he say ‘my Sho-kun’? What does that mean? He and Sakurai professor…?’ Frightening questions started to swirl around in Aiba’s mind. Though he really wanted to hear an explanation that what happened between them a few days ago wasn’t just a sick joke, he was afraid to even look at Sakurai. So he just lowered his head and stared at his feet, stubbornly trying to hold back his tears.
“Satoshi! Could you please not say things that can be misunderstood?” Sakurai scolded him when he saw Aiba’s dejected posture. He marched to him and took his hand in a weak attempt to offer some comfort to him. “Satoshi is my childhood friend. He decided to drop by today, unannounced as always…” Sakurai shot a reprimanding glance at his friend who just smiled back at him innocently. “But for once, I’m actually glad he’s here…”
“Hey!”
“…because like this I can introduce the two of you. Satoshi, this is Aiba Masaki. We started dating recently.”
Aiba gasped a little at Sakurai’s bold statement, looking up at him with wide, surprised eyes.
“Oh, so this is Aiba-kun!” Ohno got up from his seat and approached the couple with a smirk on his face. “I heard a lot about you. Actually, Sho-kun just couldn’t shut up about you in the past months…”
“Satoshi!” Sakurai cried out mortified. Even if it was true, he didn’t need to tell Aiba this! Why was he even friends with this guy?! “Thanks for the visit. I’m so sorry that you have to leave already…” he said grabbing his friend’s arm and dragging him to the door.
“But I don’t…!” Ohno protested trying to get out of Sho’s grip but he couldn’t.
“Goodbye, Satoshi!” he said, firmly closing the door behind his friend. He turned back to Aiba slowly, his cheeks slightly pink with embarrassment. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. Satoshi usually just talks without thinking so don’t mind him, please!”
Smiling happily, Aiba skipped to Sakurai and pecked his cheek quickly.
“I don’t mind at all. Actually, I’m happy you let me meet him. I was worried that you might’ve changed your mind since the last time…” Aiba admitted bashfully but with sparkling eyes.
“No, I didn’t! I won’t in the future either!” Sho said with such determination that it made Aiba giggle a bit. It was refreshing to see this serious man act so childishly.
“Good to know,” he said, leaning a bit closer to Sho’s face. “Then… will you meet my friends next?”
Pairings: Sakuraiba, Matsumiya (side)
Genre: university!AU, fluff, romance, humor, slight angst
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The forbidden fruit is always the most tempting one. Resisting is impossible and futile. So why even try?
A/N: originally posted here, written for abyarashi for the Sakuraiba Exchange 2020. please, read the other stories, they're all great!
“Shit, shit, shit…” Aiba mumbled under his breath. He couldn’t believe he was this unlucky. It was his first day as a university student and he overslept today of all days! And if that wasn’t enough, of course he missed the train on top of everything! So typical of his luck. Now he only had minutes left or he’d be late for his first class. Also, Jun and Nino were blowing up his phone with texts though he stopped checking them since he got off the train. He bumped into people constantly and normally he would stop and apologize and make sure no one got injured because of him but he really couldn’t afford to do that right now.
“Finally!” Jun glared at him when he finally reached the door of the lecture hall.
“Let me guess, you overslept?” Nino asked smirking.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to but…” Aiba said panting, looking at his friends with puppy eyes.
“Oh, who cares?! Get moving!” Jun barked, pushing them into the lecture hall.
Thanks to Aiba being late, the only open seats left were in the front row, right in front of the professor’s desk. They had barely settled in their seats when the door at the back of the hall opened and a man clad in a suit walked in with confident steps.
“Tell me that’s the teacher’s assistant…” Nino mumbled through his teeth.
“What are you talking about?” Aiba asked whispering.
“I doubt there’d be much studying here. A young teacher looking like that… Believe me,” Nino snorted silently hiding his smirk behind his palm.
“My name is professor Sakurai, welcome to the Intro to Econ course! You’re not children anymore so I won’t lie to you, it’s not an easy class and I’ll expect a lot from you. But my office door will be always open for you if you’d have any questions,” he paused and looked over the students. “Unless your questions are stupid, in which case, please, take those somewhere else…”
Hesitant laughter rippled through the class, the students unsure whether it was a joke or they should take it seriously. Either way, Aiba instantly found himself wanting to do his best to meet the professor’s expectations, no matter how high they were.
Professor Sakurai left his station behind his desk with a stack of papers, starting to distribute them.
“This is the syllabus for the semester. Here, you will also find the mandatory and recommended reading lists,” he explained as he walked along the seats. “I hope you chose your current seat carefully because I’ll expect you to keep it for the rest of the semester,” the professor said just as he passed Aiba the course syllabus. Their fingers brushed only for the fracture of a second, yet, it was enough to send a lightning zip through Aiba’s body. A silent gasp left Aiba’s lips as he looked up at his teacher but averted his eyes as soon as he met that intense gaze.
Aiba passed the rest of the lecture in a buzz and, before he knew it, his friends were dragging him out of the lecture hall. He still felt like he was under some kind of spell when he and Nino settled at a table in the campus cafeteria while Jun stood in line for coffee, claiming he was in need of a re-fuel before their next lecture.
“By the way, I hope you’ll take responsibility,” Nino said looking at Aiba, clicking his tongue annoyed when he met the blank expression on Aiba’s face, clearly showing that he didn’t have the slightest idea of what Nino was talking about. “For having to sit in the front row for the whole semester!” Nino clarified. “If you hadn’t been late this morning, we could’ve gotten a much better spot. Preferably one where I could’ve played PazuDora during the lectures…” he said pouting.
“That’s not what you’re supposed to come to university for,” Jun said with a slightly scolding tone as he sat down next to them with the biggest to-go cup of coffee the cafeteria offered.
“You know I just come here for you, love!” Nino shot back with a toothy grin and while Jun was too busy fighting back the blush from his neck, Nino stole his coffee and took a large sip of it. At this, Jun’s expression quickly turned annoyed but he made no attempt to take his coffee back. It wasn’t an unusual thing after all.
“If you wanted coffee, I would’ve bought one for you too, you know. You just have to ask…” he said with a huff, but taking back his coffee only when it was out of Nino’s greedy paws.
“But it’s cheaper to share yours,” Nino said as if it was the most natural thing. And in their relationship, it actually was.
Aiba watched them silently with a fond smile on his face but with a slight ache in his heart. He didn’t mind it in the slightest when his best friends got together in their final year of high school. It was actually way better than them shooting moony eyes at each other every time when they thought no one was watching. But sometimes Aiba got lonely around them. He knew they didn’t do it on purpose, they didn’t mean to exclude him but sometimes they just forgot about the world around them and started to get all lovey-dovey... Like now… Aiba wished he had someone like that too…
“Ah!” Aiba cried out when Professor Sakurai’s face just popped up in his mind with that thought.
“What’s with you, Aiba-shi?” Nino asked looking at him with a frown.
“Ehm… Nothing?...” Aiba said, hoping his face was not as red as he felt. “Shouldn’t we… you know… get going? It’s not good to be late on the first day, right?... Nino, you wanted to choose our seats, didn’t you?”
“Wow! You’re a university student for a few hours only and you’re already brighter! This place must be magical!” Nino said with a teasing smirk, earning a slap on the head from Jun as they got up to go to their next lecture…
***
A few months passed and Aiba felt quite proud of himself for getting the hang of this university life. Most of his classes were interesting enough and he got good enough grades so far. But then there was professor Sakurai’s class.
The professor already threw a few pop-quizzes at them, they had to present a paper by last week and an exam was coming up in a few weeks. He kept his word from the first day, he was expecting a lot from them. It was stressing Aiba immensely. He wanted to do well. He was sure he was doing his best but unfortunately it didn’t seem to be enough.
“You should ask for help from the prof,” Jun said last week when Aiba was whining to him how he had trouble writing his paper. “He helped me a lot when I asked him the other day.”
But Aiba didn’t take Jun’s advice. Partially because he was slightly intimidated by the professor, so smart and good-looking! But also because he wanted to impress him with his paper after his not so great results on the quizzes. Well, looking at the graded paper in his hand, he obviously failed at that.
He stared dejectedly at the failing grade written in bright red ink on the top of his paper. It was embarrassing, especially since Jun next to him received flying colors (of course!) and even Nino (who still played his games under the table) got an above the average mark.
“Aiba-kun, a moment!”
Aiba immediately tensed when the professor called him after the lecture ended. Just when he was about to scamper out of the hall with his shame.
“Someone’s in trouble!” Nino whispered on singsong tone and with a teasing grin on his face.
Jun on the other hand seemed to be more understanding.
“We’ll wait for you outside,” he said before he dragged his boyfriend away.
Aiba trudged to the professor’s desk, clinging to the strap of his backpack nervously.
“Yes?”
“Come to my office once you have finished with your classes,” the professor said without looking up from packing up his notes.
“Ehm… Can I…? Why?...” Aiba asked stuttering.
At this the professor did look up at him. His eyes were hard and intense but then he just picked up his bag and left his student standing there not saying anything else, let alone offering any explanation to Aiba.
“I’m so screwed…” Aiba mumbled dejectedly as he shuffled out of the lecture hall to catch up with his friends.
It was the first time that Aiba wasn’t looking forward to the end of his last class of the day. He was already dreading the scolding that was to come once he reached his professor’s office. But as he headed to the office, he had to admit that deep down a part of him was excited to meet the man twice in one day. It was ridiculous and hopeless, Aiba knew it, having a crush on his professor like in a manga or something… But he couldn’t help it. The man was so handsome, and all that foreign-sounding jargon flowing from those lips so sexily…
Gathering whatever courage he could find in himself, Aiba knocked.
“Professor? It’s Aiba, you wanted to see me?” he opened the door slightly.
“Yes! Come in, Aiba-kun! Take a seat!”
Aiba shuffled to the offered seat and all but collapsed onto it. When he looked up, his eyes met Professor Sakurai’s intense gaze. It was the first time he found himself under the sole focus of those eyes. He tried his best not to blush or fidget.
“I’m sure you know why I called you.”
Aiba just nodded mutely while his professor carried on.
“Your performance in my class is barely reaching the acceptable level. It’s not an easy class, I admit that but that’s why I warned you about it on the first day. It’s okay, it won’t be the first time someone drops out,” he said in a serious but almost emotionless tone, handing a form to Aiba. “I filled and signed it already. All you have to do is hand it in at the student center.”
Aiba gaped at the professor with wide eyes but he didn’t take the offered paper.
“Please, professor, don’t make me! I’ll do my best, I promise! I’ll do anything, just give me a chance!” he cried. “Please, don’t make me drop your class!”
Sakurai raised an eyebrow at this unexpected reaction. It was definitely the first time any of his failing students would beg to be allowed to stay on his course. It surely had a high drop-out rate but he also made sure that those who remained were the brightest. And now, out of all his students, it had to be Aiba Masaki who wouldn’t listen to him! With his puppy eyes and perfect, bright smile… The boy was a big enough distraction to him without the image of him begging to him so desperately.
“Did you say anything?” he asked despite knowing better. He got up from his chair and walked over to where Aiba was sitting.
“Yes! Anything!” Aiba repeated nodding firmly, his hope rising even when Sakurai’s close proximity sent his breathing and heartbeat into overdrive.
Sakurai pulled back suddenly, his face unreadable.
“Fine, then. I’ll expect you to be here tomorrow morning at 7 sharp,” he said as he turned away to return to his seat behind his desk.
“Wha…?” Aiba squeaked, confused and dizzy.
“That was all, Aiba-kun…” Sakurai said dismissively. His voice alone was enough to make Aiba scamper out of the office but he couldn’t chase away the strange anticipation he felt swelling in his chest.
***
And with that, Aiba found himself as the unofficial, personal slave of Professor Sakurai Sho. The professor demanded him to get his prints and copies done for his classes or publications. Or to get his reference books from the library from the other side of campus. And when he finally had no more crazy errands for Aiba, he still expected him to be on stand-by in his office in case anything came up.
“You should report him to the dean. I’m sure it’s not legal or ethical,” Jun commented, which was kind of weird coming from the same guy who insisted that Aiba asked for help from the professor just a month ago, emphasizing non-stop how nice and helpful he was. “He shouldn’t be allowed to do this to you…”
Jun, Nino and Aiba were sitting around a table in the library, working on their respective school work.
“No, no, it’s not that bad as you think!” Aiba protested silently, trying not to disturb the other students in the library.
“Of course you’d say that ’cause you have a crush on the prof…” Nino said with a smirk. “Or you’re simply a masochist. I can’t see any other possible explanation for anyone going through all that hell willingly.”
“Am not!” Aiba snapped, feeling his face heating up in embarrassment for either of those possibilities Nino voiced. Mostly because he was not willing to admit to Nino (or to anyone else for that matter) that he did harbor a crush on the professor. Just a slight one… ‘Okay, a big one, so what?!’
Nino just raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. It was an obvious challenge for Aiba to try proving him wrong.
“It really is not that bad!” Aiba repeated insistently. “Like… a few weeks ago, he got me a desk in his office!” he said, oblivious of the beaming smile that adorned his face as he said it.
“What?” Jun asked looking up from his books with a confused expression, fixing his glass on the bridge of his nose. “He got you a desk and you’re this excited?” he asked, obviously not being able to connect the dots there.
“He said it was annoying how I kept fidgeting by his door and it was distracting and disturbing his work. So until he needs something from me, I should just sit there, do whatever I want as long as I do it in silence…”
“I see…” Jun commented as he turned back to his school work.
“I’m not sure that is something to be excited for…” Nino said looking at Jun for confirmation. “He called you annoying and you brag about it? It’s so you, Aiba-shi…”
“I’m not bragging…” Aiba mumbled weakly. Maybe he shouldn’t have said this. He should’ve told them how the professor helped with his school work. Last week he offered some constructive comment on his paper for another class. He even proofread it for him! But Aiba was sure there was no point in telling Nino now. He knew his friend already made up his mind.
“Tell that to your face…” Nino said snickering before he turned back to his paper.
Before Aiba could say anything else in his defense, his phone pinged with an incoming message. He grabbed the phone without wasting as much as a second.
“Ah! I have to take some books for professor Sakurai,” Aiba said as an explanation as he suddenly started throwing his books into his bag. “See you guys later!”
“Sure, don’t make your master wait!” Nino said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Aiba didn’t dignify that comment with an answer, he just rushed away.
“Professor? Here are the books you were asking for,” Aiba said as he entered the office.
Sakurai didn’t even look up when Aiba entered, too busy typing away on his laptop.
“Finally, Aiba-kun! I’ve had been waiting for those books ages!” he said grumbling.
Aiba stood with his feet rooting in the ground at that answer. He was used to Sakurai being demanding and unreasonable most of the time, and almost never showing the slightest gratitude for Aiba’s effort but this answer was way harsher than the situation called for. It didn’t even take him 30 minutes to get here and that was only because…
He looked down at the plastic bag hanging from his wrist. Why did he even bother?...
“Are you waiting for a written instruction or something, Aiba-kun? Just leave the books on the table and leave!” Sakurai snapped at him, still typing away furiously.
“As you wish, professor…” Aiba mumbled pouting, dropping everything he brought on the table as instructed before he stomped out of the office…
‘Come to my office!’
Aiba blinked sleepily at the message on his phone. What would professor Sakurai want from him at such an hour? It was late already! Just a few hours ago Sakurai was dismissing him from his office rather rudely, so what did he want now?! Why was he even in the office at this hour?
‘NOW!’
His phone pinged with another incoming text and it made Aiba literally jump out of bed. It was also unexpected of Sakurai. Normally, he would just write what he wanted then waited no matter how long it took Aiba to complete his unreasonable demands. Though he did complain when he thought Aiba took too long.
In the end, Aiba decided to do as requested, mostly out of curiosity, though Nino surely would’ve called it something else… Like being a pushover or something…
“Professor Sakurai? You wanted to see me?” Aiba called, though he had to realize how much he started to hate this question. Why was he doing this again? Because if he wanted to be honest, it wasn’t about staying in his class for a while. He really fell for someone he really should’ve not. He fell badly and all he achieved was… Maybe he should’ve just dropped the class when Sakurai told him to…
The office door was suddenly slammed open.
Aiba took a step back startled. This was a first too. The professor usually just called out for him to enter. Never before did he bother to come and open the door for him, not even when he ordered Aiba to bring him a bunch of books, printouts or what not.
Yet here he was now. Standing in the doorway, looking a bit rumpled, hair a mess. Like he was stressing over something. Hard. Now, that thought scared Aiba. Was that him? Did he mess up something? Or did he forget something? Did he just bring the wrong books earlier?
But Aiba didn’t get the chance to find out what he did wrong or even ask about it. Because Sakurai just grabbed his arm without a word and dragged him in the office.
“Professor?” Aiba asked unsure, finding himself pinned to the closed door.
“You brought me dinner.”
Aiba’s eyes widened before he quickly looked away from those dark eyes. He had no idea what he should say to that statement. Mostly because it sounded like an accusation coming from Sakurai.
“You brought me dinner! Why would you do that?” Sakurai asked more urgently this time.
“I… thought you should have proper food in case you’d pull another all-nighter…” Aiba mumbled staring at the wall to the side.
“But why? How did you even know?”
Sakurai sounded more and more frustrated with every syllable. And it made Aiba want to disappear from the face of the Earth or at least from this room. But considering his cornered state, it was impossible.
“You have a deadline tomorrow, don’t you? For that research paper… It sounded important when you talked about it on the phone and you looked so excited. And I thought it would be unfortunate if you couldn’t finish on time and…” Aiba said, his eyes fleeting up to Sakurai’s face. ‘Oh my, I’m sounding like a stalker…’ he thought panicking. “And you see, the cafeteria was closed already and I always thought one needs proper food to be able to do quality work and…” he rushed, blabbing whatever was coming to his mind.
“Aiba-kun…”
“And the food in the vending machines on the campus are all junk. That’s totally no good in this case and…” Aiba kept takling in panic, not even hearing Sakurai as he tried to interrupt him.
“Masaki!”
Aiba’s mouth snapped shut at this, looking at Sakurai with wide eyes. Did he really just call him ‘Masaki’? That couldn’t be, now could it?
“I’m sorry?” Aiba asked whispering.
“Don’t be,” Sakurai said before pressing his lips onto Aiba’s.
Aiba was sure he was dreaming. It wouldn’t, couldn’t happen any other way. But dream or not, Aiba kissed back. Sloppy and inexperienced but enthusiastic all the same. Still, all too soon for Aiba’s taste, Sakurai broke the kiss and stepped back from him abruptly.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,” Sakurai said hurriedly, turning away from Aiba.
“What?” Aiba asked confused. Wasn’t it Sakurai who jumped him and initiated the kiss at the first place? Then why was he acting like that now? Like he… regretted this…
“You’re a student and I’m a teacher here… I’m your teacher. What was I thinking?! Making a move on my student, damn!” Sakurai rambled walking up and down in the office like Aiba wasn’t even there.
“Oh… So… if it’s like that… I just… leave… I’m sorry I bothered you,” Aiba mumbled hurt and confused, while he was patting for the doorknob hoping he could leave the room before he broke down crying.
“Wait, wait! Don’t go, please!” Sakurai suddenly grabbed his arm.
“Why? Why shouldn’t I? You obviously regret… whatever this was…” Aiba snapped trying to tug his arm free of Sakurai’s grip. “Let me go, please…”
“I don’t!” Sakurai cut in. “Regret it, I mean. I don’t think it as a mistake either. But… You’re my student! I don’t know what to do! This year was the first time I almost messed up my introduction speech just because you were sitting there right in front of me!... I wanted to kiss you ever since that day…”
At this, Aiba couldn’t stop himself from turning around, looking at his professor. Eyes wide, surprised yet hopeful.
“You what?” he asked amazed.
Sakurai laughed awkwardly at this.
“If it wasn’t clear by now, I like you but I’m really bad at this relationship stuff…” he admitted. “I shouldn’t be with you for so many reasons, yet I still can’t stay away from you. And it also looks like even me being a jerk wasn’t enough to chase you away either,” Sakurai said with a sheepish expression on his face but his eyes softened when his gaze met Aiba’s. “Despite all those ugly things I did and said to you, you care. You paid attention to me. You brought me dinner!”
“You are not a jerk!” Aiba protested weakly. Even if what Sakurai said was kinda true, he really didn’t like the sound of anyone, including Sakurai himself, talking about him like that.
“It’s really nice of you to say that but we both know that’s not true… The way I wanted to kick you out from my class?... I’m sorry for that, actually. Really,” Sakurai said stepping closer to Aiba, looking at him with soft eyes, taking Aiba’s hands in his. “So… despite me being the biggest jerk to you throughout this semester so far, will you give me a chance to make it up to you? To make it right?”
****
“What’s with you this morning? You’re weirder than usual…” Nino commented when he and Jun found Aiba already waiting for them at the entrance of the university.
Aiba was bouncing and waving as soon as he spotted them in the crowd and now he was grinning widely. Though he couldn’t meet Sakurai since that night a few days ago, they did text a lot and spoke on the phone every day. And today they could finally meet again!
“I love you too, Nino-chan! Isn’t today beautiful? Today will be a great day, I’m sure of it!” Aiba blabbed as they started to walk to their first class.
“Tone it down, would you? You’re way too hyper for this hour…” Jun groaned.
“I’m sorry? I just feel excited, you know?”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t mind J. We were out of coffee this morning so he didn’t have his fix yet,” Nino said quickly to comfort Aiba when he started to pout.
“O…kay…” Aiba said a bit unsure. “Then why don’t we stop for coffee first to cheer up Jun-tan?” Aiba proposed, his mood bouncing back quickly as usual.
“Now that’s a good idea!” Jun said, his mood immediately improving…
“So… will you tell us finally what got you so hyper today?” Jun asked, three coffees and all their classes later.
Aiba fiddled around with his backpack, staring at his feet bashfully.
“I… might have a date later…” he confessed mumbling. When he looked up to find his friends grinning at him madly.
“Yeah? And who’s the idiot you managed to bag?”
“Kazu! That’s mean! Even from you…” Jun scolded his boyfriend. “So who is he? Is he going here too? When did you two meet? And when will you introduce him to us?”
“Oh, J! Can you be a little less girly about this? Or do you want me to leave you two alone so you can braid each other’s hair?” Nino asked making gagging noises.
“You can always leave if you’re not interested,” Jun said, shrugging him off.
Nino gasped, putting a hand on his chest for dramatic effect.
“Talk about being mean! I thought I was your boyfriend!”
Seeing them bantering, Aiba quickly forgot about the embarrassment that Jun’s questions caused. Trying to hold back his giggles, he waved his hand to break up their play-fight.
“Hey, guys, stop it, would you?” Aiba asked but pulled back quickly when both of his friends suddenly turned to look at him with identical expectant expression on their faces. “What?”
“So? Will you answer J? I’m afraid he’d die otherwise…” Nino said expertly ducking out of arms reach before Jun could slap him for that comment.
“Ehm… I’d love to but I can’t now. We agreed to meet up right about now,” Aiba said with a bright smile, though he felt his cheeks heating up at the thought of meeting Sho.
“Oh… so if we followed you, we could find out about your mystery date!” the dangerous sparks in Nino’s eyes made Aiba’s smile wither slightly.
“Please don’t…” Aiba said, seriously hoping that Nino was only joking. He wasn’t sure that Sho would appreciate his friends ambushing him like that. What if he didn’t want to know his friends at all?... What if he changed his mind about Aiba since that night?... What if…?
Before Aiba’s thoughts could spiral down into total panic, his phone pinged with an incoming text. He grabbed it immediately.
‘Let me know when you’re finished with your classes. I’ll be waiting in my office.’
“Let me guess, it’s that slave-driver professor Sakurai? What does he want from you this time?” Jun asked with an arched eyebrow. “Don’t let him make you be late for your date!”
“Sure, I won’t,” Aiba replied, the grin returning to his face. If only they knew… “Can I go now, mom?”
Jun just scoffed after Aiba affectionately as he skipped away…
“I’m here! Did you…?”
For once Aiba skipped knocking and simply burst into Sakurai’s office but froze abruptly as he entered.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had company, professor… Should I… leave?” he asked, uncertainly eyeing the man who was in the office with Sakurai. He had a cute round face and sleepy eyes. And apparently he and Sakurai must be close considering the two of them were sitting comfortably and giggling like a bunch of school girls. Aiba knew he probably shouldn’t make a big deal out of it but he couldn’t help but feel a bit insecure seeing the scene before him.
“Oh, come in, come in!” Sakurai said jovially, standing up from his seat, with a bright smile on his face that Aiba never saw before. It just made him even more handsome, yet it made an ugly feeling settle in the pit of Aiba’s stomach. He didn’t like it one bit.
“I don’t want to bother…” Aiba mumbled. He already felt like intruding on something he shouldn’t. Still, he took a step into the office to close the door but stayed next to it, as far from the two men as he could within the room.
“Did you finally get an assistant for yourself as I told you to?” he asked, obviously aiming the question to Sakurai though his eyes didn’t leave Aiba’s face. “I’m Ohno. Please take care of my Sho-kun, will you?” he asked with a charming smile.
“I… Sure… What?!” Aiba stuttered confused. ‘Did he say ‘my Sho-kun’? What does that mean? He and Sakurai professor…?’ Frightening questions started to swirl around in Aiba’s mind. Though he really wanted to hear an explanation that what happened between them a few days ago wasn’t just a sick joke, he was afraid to even look at Sakurai. So he just lowered his head and stared at his feet, stubbornly trying to hold back his tears.
“Satoshi! Could you please not say things that can be misunderstood?” Sakurai scolded him when he saw Aiba’s dejected posture. He marched to him and took his hand in a weak attempt to offer some comfort to him. “Satoshi is my childhood friend. He decided to drop by today, unannounced as always…” Sakurai shot a reprimanding glance at his friend who just smiled back at him innocently. “But for once, I’m actually glad he’s here…”
“Hey!”
“…because like this I can introduce the two of you. Satoshi, this is Aiba Masaki. We started dating recently.”
Aiba gasped a little at Sakurai’s bold statement, looking up at him with wide, surprised eyes.
“Oh, so this is Aiba-kun!” Ohno got up from his seat and approached the couple with a smirk on his face. “I heard a lot about you. Actually, Sho-kun just couldn’t shut up about you in the past months…”
“Satoshi!” Sakurai cried out mortified. Even if it was true, he didn’t need to tell Aiba this! Why was he even friends with this guy?! “Thanks for the visit. I’m so sorry that you have to leave already…” he said grabbing his friend’s arm and dragging him to the door.
“But I don’t…!” Ohno protested trying to get out of Sho’s grip but he couldn’t.
“Goodbye, Satoshi!” he said, firmly closing the door behind his friend. He turned back to Aiba slowly, his cheeks slightly pink with embarrassment. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. Satoshi usually just talks without thinking so don’t mind him, please!”
Smiling happily, Aiba skipped to Sakurai and pecked his cheek quickly.
“I don’t mind at all. Actually, I’m happy you let me meet him. I was worried that you might’ve changed your mind since the last time…” Aiba admitted bashfully but with sparkling eyes.
“No, I didn’t! I won’t in the future either!” Sho said with such determination that it made Aiba giggle a bit. It was refreshing to see this serious man act so childishly.
“Good to know,” he said, leaning a bit closer to Sho’s face. “Then… will you meet my friends next?”