Under The Blue Blue Sky (Ohno/Nino)
Title: Under The Blue Blue Sky
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ohno/Nino
Warnings: None.
Notes: Ohno is an alien!AU. Idek. XD
For airairo because she’s special. Have a safe trip bb. I hope this brings a little sunshine and blue skies to your long ride/flight.
Special thanks to darkdropout for lots of handholding and emergency beta reading.
On his first day on Earth, Satoshi sees and learns a lot. Humans are many, they are loud and they seem to appreciate colour in a way people from his own planet never have. For example, there's that green fuzzy thing they've covered the ground with, kind of like mama's old carpet except cooler to the touch. Or the way they repaint the sky different shades throughout the day. It's pretty, but it does seem like a lot of work to go through. They also dress very strangely.
As for him, Satoshi doesn't meet him until his second day, under the blue blue sky and on a large area of fuzzy green. There are several of them actually, throwing a round thing that looks like something Satoshi would normally eat, but Satoshi can't take his eyes off of him.
He's small, just like Satoshi, and the thing on his head is skewed in the cutest way. He's also louder than any of the other as he starts calling out strange words: Aiba, Matsujun, Shochan... Satoshi's not sure what all of those are, but he can't help but be fascinated as the human boy suddenly turns his way and points a short finger at him.
"You, the space cadet, stop picking at your nose. You're with me."
Satoshi feels his heart swell and his face break into a large smile. So he wasn't looking to settle down so quickly, but then it's just as his mama said: if love invites you on board, say thank you and don't forget to take off your boots.
*
He is Nino. Satoshi thinks it’s a cute name and he repeats it in his mind several times as he stands under the hot sun, watching as all the human boys run around, hitting that round thing with a wooden stick and yelling at each other. It seems like it’s supposed to be a fun game, but most of them have such serious faces on that Satoshi isn’t sure if he should look like he’s enjoying himself.
He is, though. Because there he is, Nino, his first human contact, and already Satoshi’s taken.
Love is such a nice feeling on Earth. Light and bright. A little breathtaking as he is made to run across the field to catch and throw things.
They lose his first human game, and Satoshi still has no idea what the rules are, but he thinks he wouldn’t mind playing again. With Nino.
“You suck at baseball,” Nino tells him, taking off his little hat to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Satoshi stares, then does the same. He’s sweating too; Earth is much warmer than his home planet.
“I’ve never done this before,” he says a little proudly.
“That explains a lot,” Nino says, screwing his hat back on. “You should get a glove. You know, for next time.”
Satoshi beams and nods enthusiastically.
“Well, anyway…” Nino says, making a strange little sound at the back of his throat. He plants the tip of his shoe into the dust, looking down, then turns around briskly and walks away.
Satoshi is about to follow when a tap on his shoulder stops him, and he turns around, looking up and up until he finally meets the eyes of a much taller human. Then again, he did hear that humans could occasionally get really tall. Satoshi doesn’t really see the point. On his planet, everyone grows up to be the same height. It makes sense that way.
“Hi! Are you new here?”
Satoshi blinks into the sunshine and the human smiles encouragingly. Satoshi smiles back, glad that smiles mean the same thing everywhere across the universe.
“Hi,” he says.
“It was fun playing with you today. What’s your name? We’re going for ice cream, do you want to join us?”
Satoshi takes a moment to process this. He wonders if asking so many confusing questions at once is a defensive strategy or just a bad human habit.
“My name is Satoshi,” he says, choosing the question he can actually answer. What is ice cream anyway? Satoshi knows ice, of course, but he’s never had any creamy one to go for.
“I’m Aiba Masaki,” the human answers, grinning, and - oh! - so that’s what Aiba means. “So are you in for ice cream?”
*
Satoshi follows Nino all the way back home, down the street, through the little alley behind that building marked as "train station", then two blocks down and over a fence. On Satoshi's planet, there are fences too, but they're meant to keep you from passing on the other side. When Nino jumps over, though, Satoshi doesn't question it, he just jumps right after him.
When he gets to the front step of Nino's house, though, Nino just offers a brief "see ya!" before shutting the door in Satoshi's face, and Satoshi, taken aback, finds himself completely at a loss of what to do.
Does Nino want him to wait out here? What does "see ya!" mean? Because Satoshi can't see Nino anymore like this, and he's pretty sure humans don't have x-ray vision either.
Satoshi doesn't move.
"Is that your friend outside?" he hears a voice from inside the house. Nino's mama? Satoshi starts paying more attention. He'd like Nino to meet his mama too.
"Don't you want to invite him in?" she asks.
"He's not my friend," Nino says, and Satoshi looks at the window just in time to see Nino's little fingers and the curtains moving back into place.
Well, he's not wrong, Satoshi thinks. They've only just met, and friendship can take a long time to build. Just because they've chosen each other as life partner doesn't mean they're friends.
Yet. Satoshi can be patient.
Satoshi waits. He waits and waits until everything slowly becomes dark. When Nino finally comes back, Satoshi's heart does a little happy jump in his chest. It was getting lonely out here.
"Why are you still here?" Nino asks, looking at him like maybe he doesn't understand what is going on either.
"I was waiting for you," Satoshi says.
Nino blinks, then does something funny with his eyebrows. "Why?"
"Because we're not friends yet, but I want us to be," Satoshi explains. "So I'll wait."
"Creep," Nino says, and Satoshi has no idea what that means, but he's happy when Nino sits down next to him on the front porch. Maybe if Nino waits with him, they can become friends faster?
"Don't you have a home to go back to?" Nino asks after a moment.
"My home is far," Satoshi says simply.
Nino pulls on the edge on his sleeves and wraps his hands into them. Satoshi watches them disappear, a little disappointed because Nino's hands are very cute and he prefers when he can see them.
"Did you run away?" Nino suddenly asks, and Satoshi blinks slowly before shaking his head.
"No," he says. "I didn't run."
It is possible that Nino doesn’t fully understand the extent of the distance Satoshi is talking about. It’s possible he doesn’t know that Satoshi isn’t actually from anywhere around here, like him, human. Satoshi thinks about telling him, thinks about explaining how he would have gotten here lifetimes too late had he tried to run, but he also remembers what they told him before he left home: humans don’t take too well to being told they don’t know everything.
Nino shivers a little, and Satoshi moves closer.
“Well,” Nino says, springing to his feet and dusting off his pants. “I guess I better go back inside now. I’ll see you around?”
Satoshi blinks. “Around?” he asks, but Nino’s already closing the door on him again.
He sits there for a while on Nino’s front porch, and he gets a little cold waiting, then he gets a little sleepy. He tries to pull on his sleeves the way Nino did earlier, but his barely cover his elbows, no matter how hard he tries to stretch the fabric. He thinks about home, about his bedroom and his bed and his pillow. He thinks about his mama who used to tell him stories about Earth when he was a little boy. Then he thinks about Nino.
He doesn’t regret leaving home. It’s just that it feels a little warmer when Nino is around.
*
Nino doesn’t come back until the sun is out and shining again.
“Please tell me you didn’t spend the night there,” Nino says as Satoshi follows him down the street. He’s wearing that little funny hat again, the same one he was wearing when Satoshi first saw him in the field. He wasn’t wearing it when he sat by Satoshi’s side on the top step. It’s a cute hat, Satoshi decides, even if it makes him want to reach out and tip it back just so he can see Nino’s face better.
Satoshi tilts his head to the side and smiles. “You’re so cute,” he says.
Nino bristles. For a moment, he looks just like that little creature Satoshi used to keep as a pet when he was a kid. It makes Satoshi happy.
“You’re such a weirdo,” Nino says.
“Is that a bad thing?” Satoshi asks, and for a moment Nino looks at him - really looks at him. Satoshi holds his breath, then Nino blinks and looks away, the top of his cheeks turning a cute shade of pink.
“Whatever,” Nino mutters, and Satoshi falls just a little bit more in love.
*
The days of Nino’s life are very similar one to another. Satoshi learns about baseball and video games, milk buns and hamburgers. He learns that ice cream is cold but delicious, that riding a bike is easier here than back home, and that Nino always smiles when he talks about his friends, even when he tries to hide it.
Satoshi also learns about Aiba-kun, Sho-chan and Matsujun, and he thinks that if Nino wasn’t already enough to make him want to stay, they would be.
One day, Satoshi asks how long it usually takes to become friends. Aiba laughs that little laugh that makes Satoshi want to join in. “We’re already friends,” he announces, placing his arm around Satoshi’s shoulder, warm and welcoming.
Somehow, the seed of belonging plants itself into Satoshi’s heart.
*
That night, after Nino has once again left him on the front porch, Satoshi remembers Aiba’s words. Friends. They’re already friends. So he goes up to Nino’s door and knocks.
“Hi, I’m Nino’s friend,” he says when the door opens. “Can I come in?”
Nino’s mama gives him a surprised look, as he stands, hopeful, his little alien heart racing. But then, she smiles and steps back, opening the door for him. Her smile, Satoshi notices, is a lot like Nino’s.
“Kazu, your friend is here,” she calls, and Satoshi’s heart gives a little jolt.
Then Nino comes padding down the stairs and Satoshi’s chest tighten in a whole different way. Oh, he thinks, and he blinks slowly but the amazement doesn’t die down. Nino looks even smaller than usual, his checkered pants covering most of his bare feet, and his shirt a little wet on the shoulders. His hair is wet too, and he looks soft. And warm. And lovely. And everything Satoshi didn’t know he came here for.
This is the private Nino that only privileged people get to see. And today Satoshi is one of those.
“What are you doing here?” Nino asks, then his eyes shift to the side, to his mama, and the next thing Satoshi knows Nino’s little fingers are around his wrist, pulling him towards the stairs.
“Let’s go to my room,” Nino says, and Satoshi is only too happy to follow.
Nino’s room is small and suits him. It also smells like him, fresh and tingly and all human boy. It’s surprisingly clean too, his bed done and his books neatly lined up on shelves, except for a small area in the corner cluttered with wires and strange shiny colorful boxes and disks. Satoshi is fascinated.
This is Nino’s secret space. Kazu’s secret space, he thinks, then giggles a little.
“What’s funny?” Nino asks.
“Your mama calls you Kazu,” Satoshi says, smiling. “It’s cute.”
“Shut up,” Nino grumbles, and Satoshi thinks that’s even cuter.
They sit on Nino’s bed, and Satoshi watches as Nino moves his hands on his lap, smoothing down the fabric of his pants, following the vertical lines, then the horizontal ones. Those must be Nino’s sleeping clothes, Satoshi thinks. There’s even a matching shirt lying at the foot of the bed, but Nino is wearing a short-sleeve shirt instead.
“So why are you here?” Nino asks.
“Because I wanted to see you,” Satoshi replies simply. He always wants to see Nino.
Nino makes a strange little sound by clicking his tongue, then he sighs. “Don’t say things like that. It’s weird,” he says, and Satoshi blinks. “People are going to think you like me or something.”
Satoshi isn’t sure what people Nino is talking about, but “I like you.”
Nino looks at him, and Satoshi looks back. Then Nino covers his face with his hands, and Satoshi just barely has time to see the way his cheeks are turning red.
“I mean, that way,” Nino says from behind his hands.
Satoshi doesn’t know what that way is, but it probably doesn’t matter because he likes Nino in all the ways.
“Can I stay here?” he asks.
Nino peeks at him through his fingers. “What, you mean for the night?”
For the night is a start, Satoshi thinks, and he nods.
Nino takes out what he calls the guest futon, and Nino’s mama hands Satoshi a pile of blankets. They’re the ones Aiba-kun uses when he sleeps over, she says, and Satoshi wonders just how many of Nino’s friends have shared his private space before. Maybe this is not as special as he first thought? Yet, when Nino’s mama smiles at him, he can’t help but feel like there are secrets hiding at the corner of her lips, something intimate reflected in the flush of Nino’s cheeks and meant only for Satoshi.
When he slips under the covers, the sheets feel cool against his skin, crisp and clean. When he buries his nose into the pillow, however, he is a little disappointed to find no trace of Nino in the cotton. Even the sleeping clothes that Nino has lent him for the night smell like nothing but laundry.
“You’re weird,” Nino says, voice quiet but cutting easily through the dark.
Satoshi rolls to his side so he can look at the odd outline of Nino’s body under the blankets. It’s not the first time Nino says that to him, and Satoshi is starting to understand that it’s Nino’s word of choice for anything he doesn’t understand.
“You too,” he whispers back, and he watches as Nino sinks a little lower under the covers.
Satoshi sleeps peacefully that night, and when he wakes up there are rays of sunlight streaking the room and the soft weight of Nino’s head upon his chest. Deep inside him, Satoshi feels his sense of belonging shiver and grow leaves.
“I don’t get you at all,” Nino says, voice a little muffled into the blanket. “Why do you keep following me around?”
“Because I want to be with you,” Satoshi smiles softly. His fingers walk across the blanket, climbing up and stretching to touch Nino’s hair, but before they can reach Nino shifts away.
“For the rest of my life, I want to stay with you,” Satoshi says to Nino’s face this time.
Nino scrunches his face and makes a little groaning sound. “That’s… Why would you want to do that?” he asks. His voice is a little breathy, and it makes Satoshi feel tingly inside.
“Because you picked me,” Satoshi replies.
Nino looks incredulous. “What?”
“You picked me,” Satoshi repeats calmly. “That day, in the field. You said you wanted me to be with you.” To him, it’s just so obvious, so simple.
And yet Nino is shaking his head, pulling away slightly. “But that… That’s baseball! It’s a game. I also picked Aiba-kun and Sho-chan and the rest of the team.”
Satoshi pauses, considering for a moment. Yes, that is also true, but…
“Then I picked you,” he says. “And now you can pick me.”
* * *
* * *
Satoshi goes back to his space pod. On his planet, it’s day 17 since he left. On Earth, he counted 42 dawns. Summer is drawing to an end. Satoshi knows because he heard Nino’s mama say it. What it means exactly, he’s not entirely sure of it, but a new sense of urgency starts building inside his stomach.
He keys in a short message for his mama on the pod’s communication device. He knows he’s not really supposed to use it in Earth’s atmosphere unless there is an emergency, but he is careful to keep the content as inconspicuous as possible.
I am well. I’m in love. Food is delicious.
He doesn’t make any mention about his return, though he knows he will have to think about it eventually. Later. When he’s ready. Or when he knows for sure…
*
When Satoshi goes back to Nino’s, that feeling in his stomach is still there, a little heavy and a little restless. He thinks maybe he’s hungry, but even after Nino’s mama serves him some cute space pod shaped rice balls, the feeling doesn’t go away. So he thinks maybe it means something important is about to happen.
Nino is in his room. His mama said he was working on summer homework, but Satoshi finds him curled up in bed, fast asleep with his game remote lying on his stomach. Satoshi wants to tell Nino about his mama, about the message he sent her and the feeling he feels. Instead he watches the remote move up and down with each of Nino’s breaths and smiles.
“Don’t tell my mum I’m not working on my homework,” Nino mumbles.
Satoshi lies down next to Nino. “I won’t tell,” he whispers, then reaches out tentatively to run his hand through Nino’s hair. He’s been wanting to do this a lot. So soft, he thinks.
“What are you doing?” Nino asks, his voice heavy with sleep and just a little cracked around the edges.
“Your hair is soft,” Satoshi smiles.
When Nino cracks an eye open, his lashes seem to tangle together, and Satoshi can’t help but lean in to take a closer look, feeling both fascinated and completely charmed.
Then Nino shifts closer, their eyes meet, and Satoshi’s breath catches in his throat.
It feels strange, like there’s a ball of feelings growing in Satoshi’s chest and there isn’t enough of him to contain it anymore. The feeling isn’t new, but he finds it expends exponentially the closer Nino gets. His heart is beating really fast too, and his skin feels hot and tingly.
Maybe he’s been on Earth for too long. Is this what being human feels like?
Nino’s little fingers curl into Satoshi’s shirt. Satoshi can feel their movement over his stomach, tying little knots of wonder inside his belly. When Nino breathes, the air shudders against Satoshi’s lips, and Satoshi parts his lips, peeking his tongue out to try and taste it.
And then Nino’s lips are on his, and the world bursts into stars. It’s like flying through space again. The same dizzying flashes of light, the same vertiginous weightlessness. But there is no navigator this time.
Then Nino pulls back and Satoshi is thrown completely out of balance.
“Oh,” he breathes. “Can you do that again?”
Nino’s face turns bright red.
*
Nino doesn’t do it again, sadly. Satoshi figures it’s something special that humans can’t do all the time. Maybe it’s dangerous for their hearts. It does make Satoshi’s own heart race just thinking about it. He also figures it must mean something, more than his little alien mind can grasp at the moment. So he goes to seek more information.
“When a person presses their lips against someone else’s lips, what does it mean?” he asks Aiba.
“A kiss?” Aiba says, bouncing on the ball of his feet. Then he freezes mid-motion before jumping, eyes wide and hands up in apparent excitement. “Wait, did someone kiss you? Did Nino kiss you?”
Satoshi brings his fingers up to touch his lips. A kiss. Ah, so that’s what it was. A little happy flutter starts building into his stomach as he thinks about all the stories his mama has told him as a kid. Human kisses, aren’t they gestures of love? Has Nino chosen him back? Will they get married and live happily ever after?
“Nino kissed me,” he says, suddenly filled with wonder and amazement, and when he hears Aiba giggle, Satoshi can’t help but beam back with joy.
*
They lose at baseball again. Satoshi’s starting to wonder if he perhaps misunderstood the purpose of playing, but Aiba tells him it doesn’t matter. “As long as we’re having fun, right?”
Satoshi grins and nods. He likes that, how they can all be together and just enjoy themselves no matter the outcome of the game. Well, maybe things would be different if they did win, but to know for sure Satoshi guesses he’ll just have to wait and see.
Today, however, the mood is different. Instead of tired smiles and consolatory ice cream, Satoshi sees tensed shoulders and long faces. He doesn’t know what is going on, but it’s unsettling.
When he starts looking for Nino, he finds him with Jun, facing each other and speaking in sharp tones he’s never heard either of them use before.
“That ball was coming right at you,” Jun is saying.
“It would have been if you didn’t throw like a girl,” Nino replies.
“Oh, fuck you. It was coming straight at you and you missed it. Don’t go blaming others for your own inability to focus on the game,” Jun bites back.
“What are you saying?” Nino asks, straightening his back up as his steps closer, but still ending up having to look up as he stares at Jun confrontationally.
“Oh, come on, Nino. Everyone knows about your big crush on Satoshi-kun,” Jun says.
“I don’t have a crush,” Nino protests.
“But you kissed him!” Aiba quips in.
The look Nino sends his way before running off is completely unfamiliar, but Satoshi can’t help but feel like he’s done something bad. Nino doesn’t look happy. He doesn’t look filled with overflowing love and wonder or ready for his happy ending. Instead, he looks upset, and Satoshi doesn’t really understand what has caused this crush Nino is suffering from, but it sounds painful and he is sure he doesn’t want Nino to feel hurt.
*
It’s much later when Satoshi finds Nino sitting alone down on the riverbank. They’ve been here before, and Satoshi remembers how green the grass looked under the blue sky. It’s now a dark gray under his feet, and he has a brief moment to wonder if everything really changes color along with the sky - like the flowers in mama’s garden back home - before he gets distracted by the pale glow of Nino’s skin.
It could be the contrast against the dark catching his attention, but Satoshi prefers to believe that it’s just the way things are supposed to be, like he came to Earth because he was meant to be the one looking at Nino like this.
“What?” Nino asks.
“I went to your house,” Satoshi says. “I went looking for you, but your mama said you were brooding here.”
Nino makes a gruff little sound, and Satoshi smiles, adding it to the list of things he wishes he could sample and send back home. When he sits down next to Nino, the grass feels a little wet, and he walks his fingers into it until they reach Nino’s hand.
“I’m not brooding, you know,” Nino says. “You didn’t have to follow me here if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m not worried,” Satoshi replies simply.
Nino’s fingers move against his, but they don’t pull away. Satoshi spreads his fingers, letting Nino’s slide in between, then curls his hand around Nino’s.
“I just need a bit of time alone to think,” Nino sighs.
“Can I be alone with you?” Satoshi asks.
Nino doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t let go of Satoshi’s hand so Satoshi stays. For a little while, they just sit there, alone together. The stars shine brightly above them, different from the ones back home but beautiful just the same. Over there, stars are visible all the time, so much so that Satoshi used to forget to admire them. Maybe that’s why the sight seems that much more precious here.
If Satoshi were to look at Nino every day for the rest of his life, would he ever forget to love him?
“Why did you have to tell everyone?” Nino asks.
Satoshi has to think a little to figure out what Nino is referring to. The kiss. It has to be the kiss because it’s the only thing Satoshi has told anyone about. Except he didn’t tell everyone.
“I only told Aiba-chan.”
Nino tsks. “Same difference,” he says.
Satoshi rubs his nose, feeling a bit befuddled. Is Nino mad? Did Satoshi do something wrong? “I wanted to know what it meant,” he explains. “I didn’t know kisses are supposed to be secret.”
Nino looks a bit incredulous. “Your mom never told you it’s bad to kiss and tell?”
Satoshi blinks.
“Why would you even ask Aiba in the first place?” Nino asks.
“Because Aiba-chan has a lot of answers,” Satoshi says. “And my mama didn’t tell me not to kiss and tell,” he adds a little pitifully. He didn’t mean to make Nino upset. He’d never hurt Nino on purpose. Ever.
Nino sighs and moves closer, letting go of Satoshi’s hand but putting his arm around Satoshi’s shoulder instead.
“You’re a bit of a lunatic, aren’t you?” Nino says softly, nudging Satoshi’s knee with his own.
“I was embarrassed,” Nino admits quietly.
“Why?” Satoshi asks.
“Because…” Nino trails off, and Satoshi waits patiently as Nino seems to be looking for his words. “Because you’re a guy, you know. We’re both guys. That type of thing, well, it’s a little… And I never really talked about it with my friends before.”
“Would it be better if I was a girl?” Satoshi asks. A lot of the kissing stories he remembers involve a boy and a girl. Satoshi never really stopped to wonder about this, but maybe Nino minds?
“No. Maybe. I don’t know,” Nino says. His arm slides off Satoshi shoulder, and Satoshi is glad when he doesn’t move away, staying warm and close pressed against Satoshi’s side.
“It’s because I like you,” Nino says softly. “I like you a lot.”
Satoshi feels his heart skip a beat. In this moment, with Nino, he thinks he couldn’t possibly be happier.
“Are you going to kiss me again?” he whispers, leaning a little closer just in case.
But Nino only laughs. “Idiot,” he says. All Satoshi really cares about, though, is the small little “not here” mumbled right after.
*
“You should ask your questions to me,” Nino says on the way back home. “I’m smarter than Aiba-chan anyway.”
“Okay,” Satoshi smiles, feeling warm and pleased. Nino likes him. Nino is going to kiss him again. Not here, but somewhere else, maybe in Nino’s room, maybe tonight. “What does lunatic mean?” he asks.
“Means you’re from the moon,” Nino says, tugging at Satoshi’s ear playfully.
“I’m not though,” Satoshi says, leaning into the touch. “I’m from a whole different planet.”
Nino laughs. “Well, that would explain a lot.”
*
It turns out the explanation wasn’t enough, because when Nino sees Satoshi’s pod, he runs.
It happens accidentally. Not that Satoshi wants to hide things from Nino, but he also doesn’t mean to show him right away.
By the time Satoshi catches up to him, Nino has run all the way home, and Satoshi finds him sitting on the front porch looking pale and stricken.
“Nino,” Satoshi says softly.
“Are you really… I mean…” Nino clears his throat. He’s not looking at him directly, but Satoshi can feel his attention hovering around him carefully, studying him.
“I’m not from here,” Satoshi confirms, and though Nino doesn’t physically move away, he feels the distance lengthen between them as Nino draw his legs in tightly against his chest.
“This is…” Nino speaks only after a little while. “I really don’t know what to think right now.” His voice is different from usual. Fragile and vulnerable. It makes Satoshi’s chest feel tight and uneasy.
“I think maybe… I think it’d be best if you left for now,” Nino says quietly, and Satoshi’s heart stops.
“You want me to leave?” he asks, breath thin and dry.
“Just for now!” Nino clarifies quickly. “Not, you know, all the way…”
Satoshi’s breath hitches. “Oh,” he says, then gives a small nod. “Okay. ”
*
Satoshi spends the night in his pod, feeling a little unsure for the first time since he landed on this planet, since he set foot in that field and laid eyes on Nino. He was ready to tell Nino, but what if Nino didn’t want to know? Like his mama always said: the unripe truth has a sour taste. Maybe he should have been more patient.
The next day, Nino doesn’t show up for baseball. He’s also not there at the ice cream shop or at the arcade, and Satoshi wonders if maybe it’s too late to be patient now because his heart doesn’t seem to like it very much at all.
“Nino’s acting all shifty. Did he kiss you again?” Aiba asks.
“No,” Satoshi replies a little sadly. He pokes at his watermelon slice, his spirits too low to wonder what’s so water-like about it. “I think I said something he didn’t want to hear.”
“Did you tell him you love him?” Aiba asks, all wide eyes and eagerness.
“Would it make things better?” Satoshi asks.
*
Telling Nino he loves him does two things: 1. It makes Nino’s face turn red, and 2. It causes the door to be shut right into Satoshi’s face. With hindsight, Satoshi thinks it might not have been the best solution.
And yet, the next day Nino is back on the field, the soft pinkish taint on his cheeks the only reminder that anything out of the ordinary happened. They play. They lose. Satoshi can’t tell the difference because to him having Nino back by his side is a definite win. Especially when Nino doesn’t run off right after the game. Satoshi takes this as a chance.
“Can I walk you home?” he asks hopefully.
Nino seems a little hesitant. “Are you going to do anything weird?” he asks.
“Like what?” Satoshi asks, willing and eager to do or not do all the weird things Nino wants him to if it means they can be friends again.
Nino shrugs. “Nothing, I guess,” he says, and that doesn’t really answer anything, but then the fact that he does let Satoshi walk with him after is all the answer Satoshi truly needs.
*
Nino asks a lot of questions over the next few days. “Do you have any special powers? How did you get here? Why? Where is your planet? Is there really no baseball over there?”
Satoshi tries to answer as best as he can because he can tell that Nino is curious but also a little scared. Maybe it’s normal, Satoshi thinks, because Nino’s mama never told him any stories about other galaxies and their people when he was little. Not that he can blame her.
“Would you like to visit my pod?” he offers, because it seems only fair, and maybe it would help.
Nino blinks. “Your…? No,” he says quickly. Then, “Well, maybe later?”
“Okay,” Satoshi agrees easily.
“Do you look any different?” Nino asks. “On your planet, I mean.”
Satoshi smiles. “I don’t know,” he admits. “But this is who I am.”
Nino nods. Maybe he understands.
“Are you ever going back?” Nino asks.
Satoshi takes a breath. For the first time since he landed on this planet, he ponders. Home, he thinks. His mama, his family, his friends. His childhood bedroom, the flowers in mama’s garden, and all the landscapes he used to draw as a kid. It all seems so far away now. It is all so far away, so very far away.
“If you wanted to stay, I think it’d be okay,” Nino says with a small shrug, his voice quiet and a little more tentative. “I mean, we have baseball here, and games. And I’m sure Aiba-chan would miss you if you left. And J. Sho-chan…”
“And you.”
“Yeah,” Nino says.
Satoshi smiles. Just like that, his heart suddenly feels lighter, and when Nino looks at him and smiles back, Satoshi knows. This is home now.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ohno/Nino
Warnings: None.
Notes: Ohno is an alien!AU. Idek. XD
For airairo because she’s special. Have a safe trip bb. I hope this brings a little sunshine and blue skies to your long ride/flight.
Special thanks to darkdropout for lots of handholding and emergency beta reading.
On his first day on Earth, Satoshi sees and learns a lot. Humans are many, they are loud and they seem to appreciate colour in a way people from his own planet never have. For example, there's that green fuzzy thing they've covered the ground with, kind of like mama's old carpet except cooler to the touch. Or the way they repaint the sky different shades throughout the day. It's pretty, but it does seem like a lot of work to go through. They also dress very strangely.
As for him, Satoshi doesn't meet him until his second day, under the blue blue sky and on a large area of fuzzy green. There are several of them actually, throwing a round thing that looks like something Satoshi would normally eat, but Satoshi can't take his eyes off of him.
He's small, just like Satoshi, and the thing on his head is skewed in the cutest way. He's also louder than any of the other as he starts calling out strange words: Aiba, Matsujun, Shochan... Satoshi's not sure what all of those are, but he can't help but be fascinated as the human boy suddenly turns his way and points a short finger at him.
"You, the space cadet, stop picking at your nose. You're with me."
Satoshi feels his heart swell and his face break into a large smile. So he wasn't looking to settle down so quickly, but then it's just as his mama said: if love invites you on board, say thank you and don't forget to take off your boots.
*
He is Nino. Satoshi thinks it’s a cute name and he repeats it in his mind several times as he stands under the hot sun, watching as all the human boys run around, hitting that round thing with a wooden stick and yelling at each other. It seems like it’s supposed to be a fun game, but most of them have such serious faces on that Satoshi isn’t sure if he should look like he’s enjoying himself.
He is, though. Because there he is, Nino, his first human contact, and already Satoshi’s taken.
Love is such a nice feeling on Earth. Light and bright. A little breathtaking as he is made to run across the field to catch and throw things.
They lose his first human game, and Satoshi still has no idea what the rules are, but he thinks he wouldn’t mind playing again. With Nino.
“You suck at baseball,” Nino tells him, taking off his little hat to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Satoshi stares, then does the same. He’s sweating too; Earth is much warmer than his home planet.
“I’ve never done this before,” he says a little proudly.
“That explains a lot,” Nino says, screwing his hat back on. “You should get a glove. You know, for next time.”
Satoshi beams and nods enthusiastically.
“Well, anyway…” Nino says, making a strange little sound at the back of his throat. He plants the tip of his shoe into the dust, looking down, then turns around briskly and walks away.
Satoshi is about to follow when a tap on his shoulder stops him, and he turns around, looking up and up until he finally meets the eyes of a much taller human. Then again, he did hear that humans could occasionally get really tall. Satoshi doesn’t really see the point. On his planet, everyone grows up to be the same height. It makes sense that way.
“Hi! Are you new here?”
Satoshi blinks into the sunshine and the human smiles encouragingly. Satoshi smiles back, glad that smiles mean the same thing everywhere across the universe.
“Hi,” he says.
“It was fun playing with you today. What’s your name? We’re going for ice cream, do you want to join us?”
Satoshi takes a moment to process this. He wonders if asking so many confusing questions at once is a defensive strategy or just a bad human habit.
“My name is Satoshi,” he says, choosing the question he can actually answer. What is ice cream anyway? Satoshi knows ice, of course, but he’s never had any creamy one to go for.
“I’m Aiba Masaki,” the human answers, grinning, and - oh! - so that’s what Aiba means. “So are you in for ice cream?”
*
Satoshi follows Nino all the way back home, down the street, through the little alley behind that building marked as "train station", then two blocks down and over a fence. On Satoshi's planet, there are fences too, but they're meant to keep you from passing on the other side. When Nino jumps over, though, Satoshi doesn't question it, he just jumps right after him.
When he gets to the front step of Nino's house, though, Nino just offers a brief "see ya!" before shutting the door in Satoshi's face, and Satoshi, taken aback, finds himself completely at a loss of what to do.
Does Nino want him to wait out here? What does "see ya!" mean? Because Satoshi can't see Nino anymore like this, and he's pretty sure humans don't have x-ray vision either.
Satoshi doesn't move.
"Is that your friend outside?" he hears a voice from inside the house. Nino's mama? Satoshi starts paying more attention. He'd like Nino to meet his mama too.
"Don't you want to invite him in?" she asks.
"He's not my friend," Nino says, and Satoshi looks at the window just in time to see Nino's little fingers and the curtains moving back into place.
Well, he's not wrong, Satoshi thinks. They've only just met, and friendship can take a long time to build. Just because they've chosen each other as life partner doesn't mean they're friends.
Yet. Satoshi can be patient.
Satoshi waits. He waits and waits until everything slowly becomes dark. When Nino finally comes back, Satoshi's heart does a little happy jump in his chest. It was getting lonely out here.
"Why are you still here?" Nino asks, looking at him like maybe he doesn't understand what is going on either.
"I was waiting for you," Satoshi says.
Nino blinks, then does something funny with his eyebrows. "Why?"
"Because we're not friends yet, but I want us to be," Satoshi explains. "So I'll wait."
"Creep," Nino says, and Satoshi has no idea what that means, but he's happy when Nino sits down next to him on the front porch. Maybe if Nino waits with him, they can become friends faster?
"Don't you have a home to go back to?" Nino asks after a moment.
"My home is far," Satoshi says simply.
Nino pulls on the edge on his sleeves and wraps his hands into them. Satoshi watches them disappear, a little disappointed because Nino's hands are very cute and he prefers when he can see them.
"Did you run away?" Nino suddenly asks, and Satoshi blinks slowly before shaking his head.
"No," he says. "I didn't run."
It is possible that Nino doesn’t fully understand the extent of the distance Satoshi is talking about. It’s possible he doesn’t know that Satoshi isn’t actually from anywhere around here, like him, human. Satoshi thinks about telling him, thinks about explaining how he would have gotten here lifetimes too late had he tried to run, but he also remembers what they told him before he left home: humans don’t take too well to being told they don’t know everything.
Nino shivers a little, and Satoshi moves closer.
“Well,” Nino says, springing to his feet and dusting off his pants. “I guess I better go back inside now. I’ll see you around?”
Satoshi blinks. “Around?” he asks, but Nino’s already closing the door on him again.
He sits there for a while on Nino’s front porch, and he gets a little cold waiting, then he gets a little sleepy. He tries to pull on his sleeves the way Nino did earlier, but his barely cover his elbows, no matter how hard he tries to stretch the fabric. He thinks about home, about his bedroom and his bed and his pillow. He thinks about his mama who used to tell him stories about Earth when he was a little boy. Then he thinks about Nino.
He doesn’t regret leaving home. It’s just that it feels a little warmer when Nino is around.
*
Nino doesn’t come back until the sun is out and shining again.
“Please tell me you didn’t spend the night there,” Nino says as Satoshi follows him down the street. He’s wearing that little funny hat again, the same one he was wearing when Satoshi first saw him in the field. He wasn’t wearing it when he sat by Satoshi’s side on the top step. It’s a cute hat, Satoshi decides, even if it makes him want to reach out and tip it back just so he can see Nino’s face better.
Satoshi tilts his head to the side and smiles. “You’re so cute,” he says.
Nino bristles. For a moment, he looks just like that little creature Satoshi used to keep as a pet when he was a kid. It makes Satoshi happy.
“You’re such a weirdo,” Nino says.
“Is that a bad thing?” Satoshi asks, and for a moment Nino looks at him - really looks at him. Satoshi holds his breath, then Nino blinks and looks away, the top of his cheeks turning a cute shade of pink.
“Whatever,” Nino mutters, and Satoshi falls just a little bit more in love.
*
The days of Nino’s life are very similar one to another. Satoshi learns about baseball and video games, milk buns and hamburgers. He learns that ice cream is cold but delicious, that riding a bike is easier here than back home, and that Nino always smiles when he talks about his friends, even when he tries to hide it.
Satoshi also learns about Aiba-kun, Sho-chan and Matsujun, and he thinks that if Nino wasn’t already enough to make him want to stay, they would be.
One day, Satoshi asks how long it usually takes to become friends. Aiba laughs that little laugh that makes Satoshi want to join in. “We’re already friends,” he announces, placing his arm around Satoshi’s shoulder, warm and welcoming.
Somehow, the seed of belonging plants itself into Satoshi’s heart.
*
That night, after Nino has once again left him on the front porch, Satoshi remembers Aiba’s words. Friends. They’re already friends. So he goes up to Nino’s door and knocks.
“Hi, I’m Nino’s friend,” he says when the door opens. “Can I come in?”
Nino’s mama gives him a surprised look, as he stands, hopeful, his little alien heart racing. But then, she smiles and steps back, opening the door for him. Her smile, Satoshi notices, is a lot like Nino’s.
“Kazu, your friend is here,” she calls, and Satoshi’s heart gives a little jolt.
Then Nino comes padding down the stairs and Satoshi’s chest tighten in a whole different way. Oh, he thinks, and he blinks slowly but the amazement doesn’t die down. Nino looks even smaller than usual, his checkered pants covering most of his bare feet, and his shirt a little wet on the shoulders. His hair is wet too, and he looks soft. And warm. And lovely. And everything Satoshi didn’t know he came here for.
This is the private Nino that only privileged people get to see. And today Satoshi is one of those.
“What are you doing here?” Nino asks, then his eyes shift to the side, to his mama, and the next thing Satoshi knows Nino’s little fingers are around his wrist, pulling him towards the stairs.
“Let’s go to my room,” Nino says, and Satoshi is only too happy to follow.
Nino’s room is small and suits him. It also smells like him, fresh and tingly and all human boy. It’s surprisingly clean too, his bed done and his books neatly lined up on shelves, except for a small area in the corner cluttered with wires and strange shiny colorful boxes and disks. Satoshi is fascinated.
This is Nino’s secret space. Kazu’s secret space, he thinks, then giggles a little.
“What’s funny?” Nino asks.
“Your mama calls you Kazu,” Satoshi says, smiling. “It’s cute.”
“Shut up,” Nino grumbles, and Satoshi thinks that’s even cuter.
They sit on Nino’s bed, and Satoshi watches as Nino moves his hands on his lap, smoothing down the fabric of his pants, following the vertical lines, then the horizontal ones. Those must be Nino’s sleeping clothes, Satoshi thinks. There’s even a matching shirt lying at the foot of the bed, but Nino is wearing a short-sleeve shirt instead.
“So why are you here?” Nino asks.
“Because I wanted to see you,” Satoshi replies simply. He always wants to see Nino.
Nino makes a strange little sound by clicking his tongue, then he sighs. “Don’t say things like that. It’s weird,” he says, and Satoshi blinks. “People are going to think you like me or something.”
Satoshi isn’t sure what people Nino is talking about, but “I like you.”
Nino looks at him, and Satoshi looks back. Then Nino covers his face with his hands, and Satoshi just barely has time to see the way his cheeks are turning red.
“I mean, that way,” Nino says from behind his hands.
Satoshi doesn’t know what that way is, but it probably doesn’t matter because he likes Nino in all the ways.
“Can I stay here?” he asks.
Nino peeks at him through his fingers. “What, you mean for the night?”
For the night is a start, Satoshi thinks, and he nods.
Nino takes out what he calls the guest futon, and Nino’s mama hands Satoshi a pile of blankets. They’re the ones Aiba-kun uses when he sleeps over, she says, and Satoshi wonders just how many of Nino’s friends have shared his private space before. Maybe this is not as special as he first thought? Yet, when Nino’s mama smiles at him, he can’t help but feel like there are secrets hiding at the corner of her lips, something intimate reflected in the flush of Nino’s cheeks and meant only for Satoshi.
When he slips under the covers, the sheets feel cool against his skin, crisp and clean. When he buries his nose into the pillow, however, he is a little disappointed to find no trace of Nino in the cotton. Even the sleeping clothes that Nino has lent him for the night smell like nothing but laundry.
“You’re weird,” Nino says, voice quiet but cutting easily through the dark.
Satoshi rolls to his side so he can look at the odd outline of Nino’s body under the blankets. It’s not the first time Nino says that to him, and Satoshi is starting to understand that it’s Nino’s word of choice for anything he doesn’t understand.
“You too,” he whispers back, and he watches as Nino sinks a little lower under the covers.
Satoshi sleeps peacefully that night, and when he wakes up there are rays of sunlight streaking the room and the soft weight of Nino’s head upon his chest. Deep inside him, Satoshi feels his sense of belonging shiver and grow leaves.
“I don’t get you at all,” Nino says, voice a little muffled into the blanket. “Why do you keep following me around?”
“Because I want to be with you,” Satoshi smiles softly. His fingers walk across the blanket, climbing up and stretching to touch Nino’s hair, but before they can reach Nino shifts away.
“For the rest of my life, I want to stay with you,” Satoshi says to Nino’s face this time.
Nino scrunches his face and makes a little groaning sound. “That’s… Why would you want to do that?” he asks. His voice is a little breathy, and it makes Satoshi feel tingly inside.
“Because you picked me,” Satoshi replies.
Nino looks incredulous. “What?”
“You picked me,” Satoshi repeats calmly. “That day, in the field. You said you wanted me to be with you.” To him, it’s just so obvious, so simple.
And yet Nino is shaking his head, pulling away slightly. “But that… That’s baseball! It’s a game. I also picked Aiba-kun and Sho-chan and the rest of the team.”
Satoshi pauses, considering for a moment. Yes, that is also true, but…
“Then I picked you,” he says. “And now you can pick me.”
* * *
* * *
Satoshi goes back to his space pod. On his planet, it’s day 17 since he left. On Earth, he counted 42 dawns. Summer is drawing to an end. Satoshi knows because he heard Nino’s mama say it. What it means exactly, he’s not entirely sure of it, but a new sense of urgency starts building inside his stomach.
He keys in a short message for his mama on the pod’s communication device. He knows he’s not really supposed to use it in Earth’s atmosphere unless there is an emergency, but he is careful to keep the content as inconspicuous as possible.
I am well. I’m in love. Food is delicious.
He doesn’t make any mention about his return, though he knows he will have to think about it eventually. Later. When he’s ready. Or when he knows for sure…
*
When Satoshi goes back to Nino’s, that feeling in his stomach is still there, a little heavy and a little restless. He thinks maybe he’s hungry, but even after Nino’s mama serves him some cute space pod shaped rice balls, the feeling doesn’t go away. So he thinks maybe it means something important is about to happen.
Nino is in his room. His mama said he was working on summer homework, but Satoshi finds him curled up in bed, fast asleep with his game remote lying on his stomach. Satoshi wants to tell Nino about his mama, about the message he sent her and the feeling he feels. Instead he watches the remote move up and down with each of Nino’s breaths and smiles.
“Don’t tell my mum I’m not working on my homework,” Nino mumbles.
Satoshi lies down next to Nino. “I won’t tell,” he whispers, then reaches out tentatively to run his hand through Nino’s hair. He’s been wanting to do this a lot. So soft, he thinks.
“What are you doing?” Nino asks, his voice heavy with sleep and just a little cracked around the edges.
“Your hair is soft,” Satoshi smiles.
When Nino cracks an eye open, his lashes seem to tangle together, and Satoshi can’t help but lean in to take a closer look, feeling both fascinated and completely charmed.
Then Nino shifts closer, their eyes meet, and Satoshi’s breath catches in his throat.
It feels strange, like there’s a ball of feelings growing in Satoshi’s chest and there isn’t enough of him to contain it anymore. The feeling isn’t new, but he finds it expends exponentially the closer Nino gets. His heart is beating really fast too, and his skin feels hot and tingly.
Maybe he’s been on Earth for too long. Is this what being human feels like?
Nino’s little fingers curl into Satoshi’s shirt. Satoshi can feel their movement over his stomach, tying little knots of wonder inside his belly. When Nino breathes, the air shudders against Satoshi’s lips, and Satoshi parts his lips, peeking his tongue out to try and taste it.
And then Nino’s lips are on his, and the world bursts into stars. It’s like flying through space again. The same dizzying flashes of light, the same vertiginous weightlessness. But there is no navigator this time.
Then Nino pulls back and Satoshi is thrown completely out of balance.
“Oh,” he breathes. “Can you do that again?”
Nino’s face turns bright red.
*
Nino doesn’t do it again, sadly. Satoshi figures it’s something special that humans can’t do all the time. Maybe it’s dangerous for their hearts. It does make Satoshi’s own heart race just thinking about it. He also figures it must mean something, more than his little alien mind can grasp at the moment. So he goes to seek more information.
“When a person presses their lips against someone else’s lips, what does it mean?” he asks Aiba.
“A kiss?” Aiba says, bouncing on the ball of his feet. Then he freezes mid-motion before jumping, eyes wide and hands up in apparent excitement. “Wait, did someone kiss you? Did Nino kiss you?”
Satoshi brings his fingers up to touch his lips. A kiss. Ah, so that’s what it was. A little happy flutter starts building into his stomach as he thinks about all the stories his mama has told him as a kid. Human kisses, aren’t they gestures of love? Has Nino chosen him back? Will they get married and live happily ever after?
“Nino kissed me,” he says, suddenly filled with wonder and amazement, and when he hears Aiba giggle, Satoshi can’t help but beam back with joy.
*
They lose at baseball again. Satoshi’s starting to wonder if he perhaps misunderstood the purpose of playing, but Aiba tells him it doesn’t matter. “As long as we’re having fun, right?”
Satoshi grins and nods. He likes that, how they can all be together and just enjoy themselves no matter the outcome of the game. Well, maybe things would be different if they did win, but to know for sure Satoshi guesses he’ll just have to wait and see.
Today, however, the mood is different. Instead of tired smiles and consolatory ice cream, Satoshi sees tensed shoulders and long faces. He doesn’t know what is going on, but it’s unsettling.
When he starts looking for Nino, he finds him with Jun, facing each other and speaking in sharp tones he’s never heard either of them use before.
“That ball was coming right at you,” Jun is saying.
“It would have been if you didn’t throw like a girl,” Nino replies.
“Oh, fuck you. It was coming straight at you and you missed it. Don’t go blaming others for your own inability to focus on the game,” Jun bites back.
“What are you saying?” Nino asks, straightening his back up as his steps closer, but still ending up having to look up as he stares at Jun confrontationally.
“Oh, come on, Nino. Everyone knows about your big crush on Satoshi-kun,” Jun says.
“I don’t have a crush,” Nino protests.
“But you kissed him!” Aiba quips in.
The look Nino sends his way before running off is completely unfamiliar, but Satoshi can’t help but feel like he’s done something bad. Nino doesn’t look happy. He doesn’t look filled with overflowing love and wonder or ready for his happy ending. Instead, he looks upset, and Satoshi doesn’t really understand what has caused this crush Nino is suffering from, but it sounds painful and he is sure he doesn’t want Nino to feel hurt.
*
It’s much later when Satoshi finds Nino sitting alone down on the riverbank. They’ve been here before, and Satoshi remembers how green the grass looked under the blue sky. It’s now a dark gray under his feet, and he has a brief moment to wonder if everything really changes color along with the sky - like the flowers in mama’s garden back home - before he gets distracted by the pale glow of Nino’s skin.
It could be the contrast against the dark catching his attention, but Satoshi prefers to believe that it’s just the way things are supposed to be, like he came to Earth because he was meant to be the one looking at Nino like this.
“What?” Nino asks.
“I went to your house,” Satoshi says. “I went looking for you, but your mama said you were brooding here.”
Nino makes a gruff little sound, and Satoshi smiles, adding it to the list of things he wishes he could sample and send back home. When he sits down next to Nino, the grass feels a little wet, and he walks his fingers into it until they reach Nino’s hand.
“I’m not brooding, you know,” Nino says. “You didn’t have to follow me here if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m not worried,” Satoshi replies simply.
Nino’s fingers move against his, but they don’t pull away. Satoshi spreads his fingers, letting Nino’s slide in between, then curls his hand around Nino’s.
“I just need a bit of time alone to think,” Nino sighs.
“Can I be alone with you?” Satoshi asks.
Nino doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t let go of Satoshi’s hand so Satoshi stays. For a little while, they just sit there, alone together. The stars shine brightly above them, different from the ones back home but beautiful just the same. Over there, stars are visible all the time, so much so that Satoshi used to forget to admire them. Maybe that’s why the sight seems that much more precious here.
If Satoshi were to look at Nino every day for the rest of his life, would he ever forget to love him?
“Why did you have to tell everyone?” Nino asks.
Satoshi has to think a little to figure out what Nino is referring to. The kiss. It has to be the kiss because it’s the only thing Satoshi has told anyone about. Except he didn’t tell everyone.
“I only told Aiba-chan.”
Nino tsks. “Same difference,” he says.
Satoshi rubs his nose, feeling a bit befuddled. Is Nino mad? Did Satoshi do something wrong? “I wanted to know what it meant,” he explains. “I didn’t know kisses are supposed to be secret.”
Nino looks a bit incredulous. “Your mom never told you it’s bad to kiss and tell?”
Satoshi blinks.
“Why would you even ask Aiba in the first place?” Nino asks.
“Because Aiba-chan has a lot of answers,” Satoshi says. “And my mama didn’t tell me not to kiss and tell,” he adds a little pitifully. He didn’t mean to make Nino upset. He’d never hurt Nino on purpose. Ever.
Nino sighs and moves closer, letting go of Satoshi’s hand but putting his arm around Satoshi’s shoulder instead.
“You’re a bit of a lunatic, aren’t you?” Nino says softly, nudging Satoshi’s knee with his own.
“I was embarrassed,” Nino admits quietly.
“Why?” Satoshi asks.
“Because…” Nino trails off, and Satoshi waits patiently as Nino seems to be looking for his words. “Because you’re a guy, you know. We’re both guys. That type of thing, well, it’s a little… And I never really talked about it with my friends before.”
“Would it be better if I was a girl?” Satoshi asks. A lot of the kissing stories he remembers involve a boy and a girl. Satoshi never really stopped to wonder about this, but maybe Nino minds?
“No. Maybe. I don’t know,” Nino says. His arm slides off Satoshi shoulder, and Satoshi is glad when he doesn’t move away, staying warm and close pressed against Satoshi’s side.
“It’s because I like you,” Nino says softly. “I like you a lot.”
Satoshi feels his heart skip a beat. In this moment, with Nino, he thinks he couldn’t possibly be happier.
“Are you going to kiss me again?” he whispers, leaning a little closer just in case.
But Nino only laughs. “Idiot,” he says. All Satoshi really cares about, though, is the small little “not here” mumbled right after.
*
“You should ask your questions to me,” Nino says on the way back home. “I’m smarter than Aiba-chan anyway.”
“Okay,” Satoshi smiles, feeling warm and pleased. Nino likes him. Nino is going to kiss him again. Not here, but somewhere else, maybe in Nino’s room, maybe tonight. “What does lunatic mean?” he asks.
“Means you’re from the moon,” Nino says, tugging at Satoshi’s ear playfully.
“I’m not though,” Satoshi says, leaning into the touch. “I’m from a whole different planet.”
Nino laughs. “Well, that would explain a lot.”
*
It turns out the explanation wasn’t enough, because when Nino sees Satoshi’s pod, he runs.
It happens accidentally. Not that Satoshi wants to hide things from Nino, but he also doesn’t mean to show him right away.
By the time Satoshi catches up to him, Nino has run all the way home, and Satoshi finds him sitting on the front porch looking pale and stricken.
“Nino,” Satoshi says softly.
“Are you really… I mean…” Nino clears his throat. He’s not looking at him directly, but Satoshi can feel his attention hovering around him carefully, studying him.
“I’m not from here,” Satoshi confirms, and though Nino doesn’t physically move away, he feels the distance lengthen between them as Nino draw his legs in tightly against his chest.
“This is…” Nino speaks only after a little while. “I really don’t know what to think right now.” His voice is different from usual. Fragile and vulnerable. It makes Satoshi’s chest feel tight and uneasy.
“I think maybe… I think it’d be best if you left for now,” Nino says quietly, and Satoshi’s heart stops.
“You want me to leave?” he asks, breath thin and dry.
“Just for now!” Nino clarifies quickly. “Not, you know, all the way…”
Satoshi’s breath hitches. “Oh,” he says, then gives a small nod. “Okay. ”
*
Satoshi spends the night in his pod, feeling a little unsure for the first time since he landed on this planet, since he set foot in that field and laid eyes on Nino. He was ready to tell Nino, but what if Nino didn’t want to know? Like his mama always said: the unripe truth has a sour taste. Maybe he should have been more patient.
The next day, Nino doesn’t show up for baseball. He’s also not there at the ice cream shop or at the arcade, and Satoshi wonders if maybe it’s too late to be patient now because his heart doesn’t seem to like it very much at all.
“Nino’s acting all shifty. Did he kiss you again?” Aiba asks.
“No,” Satoshi replies a little sadly. He pokes at his watermelon slice, his spirits too low to wonder what’s so water-like about it. “I think I said something he didn’t want to hear.”
“Did you tell him you love him?” Aiba asks, all wide eyes and eagerness.
“Would it make things better?” Satoshi asks.
*
Telling Nino he loves him does two things: 1. It makes Nino’s face turn red, and 2. It causes the door to be shut right into Satoshi’s face. With hindsight, Satoshi thinks it might not have been the best solution.
And yet, the next day Nino is back on the field, the soft pinkish taint on his cheeks the only reminder that anything out of the ordinary happened. They play. They lose. Satoshi can’t tell the difference because to him having Nino back by his side is a definite win. Especially when Nino doesn’t run off right after the game. Satoshi takes this as a chance.
“Can I walk you home?” he asks hopefully.
Nino seems a little hesitant. “Are you going to do anything weird?” he asks.
“Like what?” Satoshi asks, willing and eager to do or not do all the weird things Nino wants him to if it means they can be friends again.
Nino shrugs. “Nothing, I guess,” he says, and that doesn’t really answer anything, but then the fact that he does let Satoshi walk with him after is all the answer Satoshi truly needs.
*
Nino asks a lot of questions over the next few days. “Do you have any special powers? How did you get here? Why? Where is your planet? Is there really no baseball over there?”
Satoshi tries to answer as best as he can because he can tell that Nino is curious but also a little scared. Maybe it’s normal, Satoshi thinks, because Nino’s mama never told him any stories about other galaxies and their people when he was little. Not that he can blame her.
“Would you like to visit my pod?” he offers, because it seems only fair, and maybe it would help.
Nino blinks. “Your…? No,” he says quickly. Then, “Well, maybe later?”
“Okay,” Satoshi agrees easily.
“Do you look any different?” Nino asks. “On your planet, I mean.”
Satoshi smiles. “I don’t know,” he admits. “But this is who I am.”
Nino nods. Maybe he understands.
“Are you ever going back?” Nino asks.
Satoshi takes a breath. For the first time since he landed on this planet, he ponders. Home, he thinks. His mama, his family, his friends. His childhood bedroom, the flowers in mama’s garden, and all the landscapes he used to draw as a kid. It all seems so far away now. It is all so far away, so very far away.
“If you wanted to stay, I think it’d be okay,” Nino says with a small shrug, his voice quiet and a little more tentative. “I mean, we have baseball here, and games. And I’m sure Aiba-chan would miss you if you left. And J. Sho-chan…”
“And you.”
“Yeah,” Nino says.
Satoshi smiles. Just like that, his heart suddenly feels lighter, and when Nino looks at him and smiles back, Satoshi knows. This is home now.