It Was Always You (Chapter 1)
Title: It Was Always You
Pairing: Sakumiya (main), Ohmiya, Sakuraiba
Rating: PG
Summary: Ninomiya Kazunari attempts to confess his feelings to college senior Ohno Satoshi in a letter. However, in a twist of events, the letter did not end up with Ohno, but his roommate Sakurai Sho, who happened to have unrequited feelings for Nino's roommate, Aiba Masaki. The pair finally decide to form an alliance of mutual interests, only to learn that it takes them in a completely different direction...
Notes: For MONTHS now I have been asked/requested/kindly reminded on LINE to write a fic inspired by Toradora!. While I have absolutely no idea what exactly happened in the anime ( no interest in anything apart from horror and mystery, really), having something that started from a letter going to the wrong person was an interesting starting point. And while I had planned it to be a one-shot, stuff happened as I wrote and wrote and wrote and... well, it expanded beyond 10k words in total and it's not even finished XD So... it's now an official series. Enjoy!
"Nino."
"..."
"Neeeeeno!"
"What?"
"Your laser eyes are going to burn a hole in the back of that dude's shirt soon."
Nino snapped out of his daze and turned to see Aiba grinning cheekily from his half-finished bowl of curry udon noodles.
"Shut up," Nino barked as he scarved down another mouthful of ramen into his mouth. Beside him, Aiba Masaki simply giggled as he returned to his meal.
"So..? Do you happen to know that dude or something?" Aiba asked curiously as he cast a glance at the student that Nino was staring at (as discreetly as he believed himself to be). The guy Nino was staring at happened to be about the same build as Nino, but in stark contrast to Nino's jet black hair and fair skin, that guy was tanned and sported mahogany-brown hair that was combed neatly to the sides of his head, framing his smooth, chubby cheeks. From him and Nino, that guy presently sat on the opposite side of the cafeteria, chatting with another friend of his.
Nino chewed on his noodles thoughtfully and shook his head.
"I guess I don't really KNOW him," Nino said as he slurped up the noodles again, "I only met him once."
"Oh? What happened?"
Nino swallowed his noodles and recounted how he had gotten lost with his luggage when he first came and could not find his way to their dormitory room. It was then that he bumped into Whatshisname, dropping all his art stuff to the floor. A flustered Nino had helped to pick up everything before handing them over and asking him for directions. Whatshisname had then kindly offered to show him the way to the dormitories. It was only after Whatshisname had led him to his dorm room and left when Nino realised he did not catch the guy's name.
"WHAT?!" Aiba said exasperatedly, "but you picked up his art supplies! Didn't you looked down at his name or something?"
"When someone drops something on the floor in front of you, do you instinctively look around for their name or return it right back to them?" Nino questioned.
"I would..." Aiba answered, "...just return it to them?"
"Exactly. And that was what I did."
Aiba sighed.
"I get what you mean, but surely you must have had a glimpse of his name somewhere, even if you had no intention of knowing it!"
"Nope," Nino said simply and gave Aiba a mock pout, "that IS a pity."
"A pity for YOU," Aiba jabbed back jokingly, "you are the one who is interested in that dude, not me."
Nino gave him a meek grin before slurping away at his noodles. He looked up to see Whatshisname now alone at his table, doodling away on his sketchbook.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Satoshi-kun!"
Ohno Satoshi looked up to see his best friend carrying a huge tray of food over.
"Ah! Sho-kun! Thanks," Ohno said as Sho placed a bowl of chahan and a smaller bowl of miso soup in front of him, and settled down beside him with a beef rice bowl.
"I can’t believe it. I saw Aiba-san just now," Sho said with a wide smile.
Ohno gave him a blank look.
"Aiba-who?"
Sho frowned.
"Surely you remember Aiba Masaki from our high school, right? The star of the basketball team back then?"
Ohno's sleepy, vacant eyes pondered for a bit before finally realising who Sho was talking about.
"Ahhhh THAT Aiba Masaki," Ohno said as he stuffed a small portion of rice into his mouth, "well, good to know that your high school sweetheart is here in this university with you."
"S-SATOSHI-KUN!" Sho hissed with a rapidly flushing face as he gave Ohno a sharp jab in the ribs, "what if anyone hears you?!"
"Don't worry, Aiba-san and his friend are on the other side of the cafeteria. Even if I yell, they won't hear me."
"That isn't the problem! What if ANYONE hears you?!"
"Speaking of his friend.." Ohno murmured as he focused on the shorter and paler guy beside Aiba, "I think have met him before."
"Oh? You have?"
"Mmm, well it was some time ago though. Hmm," Ohno said blithely as he continued polishing off his bowl.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So? What do you like about him anyway?" Aiba asked as he strode over with Nino to the tray return area with their empty bowls, "I know that you have only officially met him once, but there are probably some other reasons that make you so fixated on him."
"I'm NOT fixated on him!" Nino protested, "I'm just.. curious."
"Hah. Same thing," Aiba joked as he placed his tray down, "so?"
Nino frowned as he placed his bowl beside Aiba's. What DID he like about Whatshisname? Was it just because Whatshisname was handsome and happened to be someone who helped him on his first day of school?
Or was it because Whatshisname just seemed to be similar to him in some way with his quiet nature?
Or was it the way that Whatshisname looks when he holds his pencil and draws it across the surface of the paper with precision and artistic skill?
Or was it-
"Oi!"
Nino felt a sharp poke in his shoulder, only to see Aiba drag him slowly away from the tray return area.
"Let's move, Romeo. We are both in the way," Aiba coaxed as he brought Nino by the shoulders back to where they sat, "now that we have already settled the fact that you are 'curious' about him, why not satisfy that curiosity and get to know him better?"
Nino blinked.
"Aiba Masaki, do you seriously not know me?" Nino asked incredulously, "I do not like talking to strangers."
"But surely if it is someone you are interested in, you wouldn't mind talking a little?"
"It is tough, you know. I only ever met him once in these past few months. ONCE."
"Well, I get what you mean, bu.. OH!" Aiba snapped his fingers as an idea hit him, "write him a letter!"
Nino raised a questioning eyebrow.
"…And that is better than talking because...?"
"I understand why you find it tough," Aiba explained, "I mean, you only spoke to that dude once. If you suddenly pop up out of nowhere like a daisy to strike up a conversation, of course it would be intimidating. But think about it for a second- if you write a letter and you give it to him…you have time to ponder over your words and write whatever you want to say in a way that can impress him."
Nino gave Aiba's words some thought.
"You know.. that was one of those rare moments of wisdom right there," Nino said with a smirk, "maybe, just maaaaybe, that can work."
"Alright!" Aiba said with a fistpump, "I will gladly volunteer to help you write your love letter-"
"THIS IS NOT A LOVE LETTER!"
Pairing: Sakumiya (main), Ohmiya, Sakuraiba
Rating: PG
Summary: Ninomiya Kazunari attempts to confess his feelings to college senior Ohno Satoshi in a letter. However, in a twist of events, the letter did not end up with Ohno, but his roommate Sakurai Sho, who happened to have unrequited feelings for Nino's roommate, Aiba Masaki. The pair finally decide to form an alliance of mutual interests, only to learn that it takes them in a completely different direction...
Notes: For MONTHS now I have been asked/requested/kindly reminded on LINE to write a fic inspired by Toradora!. While I have absolutely no idea what exactly happened in the anime ( no interest in anything apart from horror and mystery, really), having something that started from a letter going to the wrong person was an interesting starting point. And while I had planned it to be a one-shot, stuff happened as I wrote and wrote and wrote and... well, it expanded beyond 10k words in total and it's not even finished XD So... it's now an official series. Enjoy!
"Nino."
"..."
"Neeeeeno!"
"What?"
"Your laser eyes are going to burn a hole in the back of that dude's shirt soon."
Nino snapped out of his daze and turned to see Aiba grinning cheekily from his half-finished bowl of curry udon noodles.
"Shut up," Nino barked as he scarved down another mouthful of ramen into his mouth. Beside him, Aiba Masaki simply giggled as he returned to his meal.
"So..? Do you happen to know that dude or something?" Aiba asked curiously as he cast a glance at the student that Nino was staring at (as discreetly as he believed himself to be). The guy Nino was staring at happened to be about the same build as Nino, but in stark contrast to Nino's jet black hair and fair skin, that guy was tanned and sported mahogany-brown hair that was combed neatly to the sides of his head, framing his smooth, chubby cheeks. From him and Nino, that guy presently sat on the opposite side of the cafeteria, chatting with another friend of his.
Nino chewed on his noodles thoughtfully and shook his head.
"I guess I don't really KNOW him," Nino said as he slurped up the noodles again, "I only met him once."
"Oh? What happened?"
Nino swallowed his noodles and recounted how he had gotten lost with his luggage when he first came and could not find his way to their dormitory room. It was then that he bumped into Whatshisname, dropping all his art stuff to the floor. A flustered Nino had helped to pick up everything before handing them over and asking him for directions. Whatshisname had then kindly offered to show him the way to the dormitories. It was only after Whatshisname had led him to his dorm room and left when Nino realised he did not catch the guy's name.
"WHAT?!" Aiba said exasperatedly, "but you picked up his art supplies! Didn't you looked down at his name or something?"
"When someone drops something on the floor in front of you, do you instinctively look around for their name or return it right back to them?" Nino questioned.
"I would..." Aiba answered, "...just return it to them?"
"Exactly. And that was what I did."
Aiba sighed.
"I get what you mean, but surely you must have had a glimpse of his name somewhere, even if you had no intention of knowing it!"
"Nope," Nino said simply and gave Aiba a mock pout, "that IS a pity."
"A pity for YOU," Aiba jabbed back jokingly, "you are the one who is interested in that dude, not me."
Nino gave him a meek grin before slurping away at his noodles. He looked up to see Whatshisname now alone at his table, doodling away on his sketchbook.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Satoshi-kun!"
Ohno Satoshi looked up to see his best friend carrying a huge tray of food over.
"Ah! Sho-kun! Thanks," Ohno said as Sho placed a bowl of chahan and a smaller bowl of miso soup in front of him, and settled down beside him with a beef rice bowl.
"I can’t believe it. I saw Aiba-san just now," Sho said with a wide smile.
Ohno gave him a blank look.
"Aiba-who?"
Sho frowned.
"Surely you remember Aiba Masaki from our high school, right? The star of the basketball team back then?"
Ohno's sleepy, vacant eyes pondered for a bit before finally realising who Sho was talking about.
"Ahhhh THAT Aiba Masaki," Ohno said as he stuffed a small portion of rice into his mouth, "well, good to know that your high school sweetheart is here in this university with you."
"S-SATOSHI-KUN!" Sho hissed with a rapidly flushing face as he gave Ohno a sharp jab in the ribs, "what if anyone hears you?!"
"Don't worry, Aiba-san and his friend are on the other side of the cafeteria. Even if I yell, they won't hear me."
"That isn't the problem! What if ANYONE hears you?!"
"Speaking of his friend.." Ohno murmured as he focused on the shorter and paler guy beside Aiba, "I think have met him before."
"Oh? You have?"
"Mmm, well it was some time ago though. Hmm," Ohno said blithely as he continued polishing off his bowl.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So? What do you like about him anyway?" Aiba asked as he strode over with Nino to the tray return area with their empty bowls, "I know that you have only officially met him once, but there are probably some other reasons that make you so fixated on him."
"I'm NOT fixated on him!" Nino protested, "I'm just.. curious."
"Hah. Same thing," Aiba joked as he placed his tray down, "so?"
Nino frowned as he placed his bowl beside Aiba's. What DID he like about Whatshisname? Was it just because Whatshisname was handsome and happened to be someone who helped him on his first day of school?
Or was it because Whatshisname just seemed to be similar to him in some way with his quiet nature?
Or was it the way that Whatshisname looks when he holds his pencil and draws it across the surface of the paper with precision and artistic skill?
Or was it-
"Oi!"
Nino felt a sharp poke in his shoulder, only to see Aiba drag him slowly away from the tray return area.
"Let's move, Romeo. We are both in the way," Aiba coaxed as he brought Nino by the shoulders back to where they sat, "now that we have already settled the fact that you are 'curious' about him, why not satisfy that curiosity and get to know him better?"
Nino blinked.
"Aiba Masaki, do you seriously not know me?" Nino asked incredulously, "I do not like talking to strangers."
"But surely if it is someone you are interested in, you wouldn't mind talking a little?"
"It is tough, you know. I only ever met him once in these past few months. ONCE."
"Well, I get what you mean, bu.. OH!" Aiba snapped his fingers as an idea hit him, "write him a letter!"
Nino raised a questioning eyebrow.
"…And that is better than talking because...?"
"I understand why you find it tough," Aiba explained, "I mean, you only spoke to that dude once. If you suddenly pop up out of nowhere like a daisy to strike up a conversation, of course it would be intimidating. But think about it for a second- if you write a letter and you give it to him…you have time to ponder over your words and write whatever you want to say in a way that can impress him."
Nino gave Aiba's words some thought.
"You know.. that was one of those rare moments of wisdom right there," Nino said with a smirk, "maybe, just maaaaybe, that can work."
"Alright!" Aiba said with a fistpump, "I will gladly volunteer to help you write your love letter-"
"THIS IS NOT A LOVE LETTER!"