Matsumoto's shop of hopes and dreams - enter on your own risk: Chapter 13 *end*
Title: Matsumoto’s shop of hopes and dreams - enter on your own risk 13/13 *end*
Pairing: Sakumoto, Aimiya, (hints of past(?)Ohmiya and Matsumiya and Juntoshi? (but... well... you'll get it, when you read it. It's not a love triangle (promise!!) or anything, it's rather plot-relevant)
Rating: up to R
Genre: AU, romance, fantasy (There are no vampires or alike. It's more like a fairytale meets our world meets romance meets Nino in a tight gothic-like outfit)
Plot: When you have no other place to visit and lost all your hope, you'll go to a mysterious, little shop. Dealing with hopes and dreams and with his protector Ninomiya at his side, Jun keeps his real identity a secret, constantly on the run. No one knows who he is, what he runs from and where he comes from. One unfortunate day though a young doctor demands his services, asking for a piece of sunshine. It's the beginning of something... like the ticking sound of a clock you can't turn back...
Note: This whole story was inspired by yukitsubute writing me a message: *grumble* it's raining. - with my answer: Buy us some sunshine then :D
Jun’s hand feels tiny in Satoshi’s. He is seven years younger than Satoshi is, and to Satoshi he feels so tiny. “His feet are so small,” Satoshi states in awe while he tickles Jun’s soles.
His mother laughs. “He is a baby, Satoshi. He will grow bigger.”
“He will always be my baby brother,” Satoshi states earnestly. “And Mao-chan will always remain my baby sister.”
His mother chuckles. “Well then, you will always have to protect them.”
Satoshi frowns deeply. “Can I do it?”
His mother smiles proudly. “You are our firstborn, and one day you might inherit the throne. You have many qualities, Satoshi, you have a unique and strong power.”
“It’s scary,” Satoshi states. “Sometimes I can’t control it and then it feels like the whole sky is yelling at me.”
“You will learn to control it,” his mother says. “You have no other choice. But I know you will manage it well.”
“And when I can control it, I can always protect them, right?”
“Right.”
Satoshi puts white jasmine on his mother’s grave. “I wonder if this is what you had in mind for us,” he muses. “Mao married a good man, but becoming a mother is so difficult for her. And although her health suffers she refuses to give up. And Jun tries to save the whole world with his own abilities, all alone He is strong and his power is strong, but it’s only the power of a single person.”
“Please don’t get cheesy now,” Jun’s voice comes from behind him. “I’m not going to die just like that.”
“You almost did die though,” Satoshi points out, watching how Jun puts yellow roses on the grave. “Yellow roses?” he asks in surprise.
Jun smiles. “Mother loved jasmine. But when she married our father she wished for yellow roses. She said yellow roses remind her of hope and of the bright future ahead of her.”
“Really?” Satoshi asks in surprise. “I didn’t know that.”
“She told me when she was teaching me how to use my powers. She was such a good person, and so strong, I still need to learn a lot to be able to be as good as a collector than she is.”
“I wished you wouldn’t try to follow her footsteps,” Satoshi states quietly, nervous about how Jun might react to his words. Their mother was a wonderful woman with a strong and unique power, but in the end her body gave in to her powers and she passed away.
Jun smiles much to Satoshi’s surprise. “I know, you think that being a collector is what killed her, but it’s not her power that is responsible for her death. It’s been her weak health.”
“Hadn’t she worked that much and pushed herself all the time, her health might have been stronger,” Satoshi states bluntly.
“No.” Jun shakes his head. “I know you won’t believe me, but being a collector works mainly over the strength of our mind, not the body. Without being a collector she might have died even earlier. You cannot hate mine and her power and blame it for her death. Preventing me from using it and trying to stop me from developing it, won’t make me healthier or safer.”
Satoshi eyes his brother in surprise. He wasn’t aware of how well Jun knows and understands his motives. “How did you know?”
“That you were trying to prevent me from using my powers for me to be safe?” Jun snorts. “You are easy to look through. As open as a book.”
“That’s true,” Mao states from behind of them before placing red weigela on their mother’s grave. When Satoshi blinks at her, Mao chuckles. “She always told me that I remind her of this flower and that it’s why she loves it so much.” She gets up and clings to Jun’s arm, while eyeing Satoshi. “Old man,” she teases. “You should stop to prevent us from growing. It’s not going to help us or the country or yourself.”
“True,” Jun agrees.
Satoshi lets out a sigh. “Just like when we were kids… you always ganged up with each other against me.”
Jun and Mao chuckle. “Because you would always fuss over us.” They all laugh lightly.
Mao takes a deep breath after a while. “I’m going to try to get pregnant again.”
Satoshi knew she would say something like that at one point, still it sends little spikes of worry through his body. “Mao-chan…”
“I know, what you want to say,” she says calmly. “That I almost didn’t make it through my first pregnancy. That my health is as weak as my mother’s. But becoming a mother is my biggest wish. And I can only grow as a healer when I have a child myself, we all know that.”
“What does Shun say about it?” Jun wants to know.
“He knows what I need,” Mao points out. “He knows that not making me a mother won’t save my life.”
Satoshi lets out a sigh. “You two always do whatever you want.”
“Well, for starters you could have more faith in us,” Jun points out mercilessly before turning to Mao. “It’s against the rules to use my powers to help you get pregnant, but I can use them for issues surrounding your pregnancy. So tell me when you need something.”
“Are you staying?” Mao asks.
“I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do,” Jun points out. “But whether I’ll be here or in the Human world, you know how to contact me. I’m not on the run anymore.”
~~~
Aiba helps Sho with grocery shopping, Sho knows it’s probably because he doesn’t want to be alone, and to be honest, Sho is thankful not to be alone either.
“I know it’s right,” Aiba states after a while. “But why doesn’t it feel right?”
“You mean… your break-up with Nino-kun?” Sho asks, mentioning it mainly because he knows Aiba wants to talk about it.
“I did know from the beginning on that we won’t have a future,” Aiba states quietly. “But I really liked him. And I miss him.”
“I know,” Sho answers more to himself than to Aiba.
“Have you heard anything from Jun?” Aiba asks carefully.
Sho shakes his head.
“I hope he is alright,” Aiba muses.
Sho nods, his mind clouded with worries. He knows Nino wouldn’t have let him go if Jun was still in danger. He ensured him he would be safe now, but Sho needs to see his face and see it with his own eyes to believe it. He is ready for Jun to leave him or to break up with him, but he needs to know he is safe. He just needs to be certain.
There are tears dropping into his soup while he puts onions inside. Sho feels so incredibly sad that he doesn’t even know what to do with all these emotions. How long didn’t he see Jun anymore? He has only known him for a few months, but he grew so close to him that it feels so painful not to have him around anymore.
“You really suck at cooking, you know that?”
Sho spins around, eyes widened in shock. “It’s the onions,” Sho stutters. “The onions, I’m not crying.” His hands shiver when he puts his knife to the side and dries his hands against his trousers. “Jun…” he mumbles. “You are here.”
Jun walks towards him slowly, like he is scared about Sho’s reaction. Sho however just chuckles, hugs him close and presses his lips against Jun’s cheek, and nose, and the other cheek before moving to Jun’s beautiful plump lips. For a while none of them says something, they just kiss, and to Sho it feels like he is feeling Jun’s soft lips for the first time, getting to know their texture again.
He draws back slightly. “Help me with cooking?” he asks. He knows Jun probably has to tell him something important, and he already has a feeling what it’s going to be, hence he wants to delay their talk for a bit.
Jun seems to feel the same because he nods. They make dinner together, Jun prepares his infamous pasta and sends Sho to set the table and do work that’s not too important so that he can’t ruin his precious food. Sometimes Sho hugs him from behind and kisses his beautifully exposed neck. It’s almost like he never left.
Once they ate, Sho takes his hand. “I want to feel you against my body,” he says earnestly. “I want to feel you, Jun.”
“Sho…” Jun says nervously.
“I know, but still, I want to hold you in my arms.”
Jun nods, but his eyes are shimmering sadly. This is probably going to hurt the both of them, but Sho doesn’t mind. He needs to have this moment together with Jun. He just needs it, and from Jun’s touches getting bolder he figures Jun needs it too.
He tries to memorize it all, the feeling of Jun’s soft skin under his fingers, the way his muscles flex when he touches them, the sound of his moans and sighs, and the way he whispers Sho’s name. He doesn’t want to forget any of it. Their lovemaking is particularly soft and slow, both of them cherishing every minute of it.
After Jun comes down from his first orgasm, he lies on his stomach and Sho traces the scars on his back. “They have not faded completely,” he muses.
Jun smiles slightly. “Maybe they never will,” he admits. “Over time they might. I have to learn to live with them and with the memory of how I got them.”
Sho places a kiss against Jun’s shoulder blade, and Jun turns around, wrapping his arms around Sho, and pulling him closer. His eyes are gleaming passionately, and Sho smiles, ready to give Jun all he has.
They manage to make love to each other four times, until both of them are too exhausted to even kiss each other. Jun falls asleep in Sho’s arms. His hair tickles Sho’s nose slightly, but he doesn’t let go, instead he rests his chin against Jun’s head and remains in this position until he falls asleep too.
~~~
Sho has expected that the dream would be over once the next morning approaches, but he hasn’t expected it to hit him so hard. Reality is a real bitch, he thinks. They have breakfast together, and Jun does the dishes afterwards, although Sho tells him not to. He probably doesn’t want to let go yet. But once everything is done there is nothing they can use as an excuse to avoid the inevitable anymore.
Jun smiles sadly and wraps his arms around him. “You saved me,” he mumbles into Sho’s hair. “You saved me. For that I’m going to be always thankful. I’ll never forget what you did for me and your kindness.”
Sho looks up, grabbing Jun’s face with his fingers and brushing over his cheeks with his thumbs. Jun looks sad and tired. “You are not staying, am I right?”
Jun looks crushed all of a sudden. “I love you,” he says. “I really do. Horrible things have been happening and you were there for me when I was the most desperate. But I have been running away from my responsibilities too. I need to go home.”
“Yes,” Sho says quietly.
“You are not surprised?”
“No.” Sho shakes his head. “I knew you would decide like that. After everything that happened. I knew you wouldn’t run again from it.”
Jun moves his hands up and touches Sho’s face softly. “I’ll always be there if you need me. You can always come to me. You know how to reach me now.”
Sho grabs his hands, squeezing them. Not sure what to say as the sight in front of him gets blurred. He hugs Jun tightly.
“A human belongs to this world,” Jun mumbles sadly. It feels like he is crying, but Sho doesn’t dare to look up. “Nino is right. We drag your energy from you by staying. We are here for your dreams and wishes, but when we love you, we will destroy you. I want you to be happy.”
~~~
“Are you sure?” Nino asks.
“No,” Jun answers sadly. “But Sho-san wouldn’t accept a selfish decision from me. That’s how he is.” He pauses. “I’m not sure, but I know it’s right.”
Nino squeezes his hand. He looks relieved, and this moment is enough for Jun to know he did the right thing. Everything else would have been selfish. Sho might have accepted it at the moment, but one day he would have hated him for it. And Nino too. With this decision he will influence several people, dragged them into his own problems. It’s just not right. He cannot destroy so many people’s life. Beside that he can’t leave his family alone once more. Mao will need him, Satoshi will too. He knows none of them will hold him back, but he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if they suffered because of a selfish decision he made.
~~~
Ohno looks up when Jun approaches him. He is in the private saloon of the castle, looking more than a little surprised when Jun suddenly appears in front of him. “What are you doing here?” he asks in mere astonishment.
“What do you mean, Satoshi!?” Jun huffs. “Is this how you greet your cute little brother?”
“Did you just call yourself cute?” Ohno asks in confusion, he exchanges a glance with Shun and Toma, his main guards.
“Satoshi, this is not the time to argue,” Jun says earnestly and snatches the soft bread with butter from him. “Also you should watch your cholesterol. You need to remain king for a long time!” He points at the other two men. “You two are responsible for his health from now on! I gave orders to the kitchen, but I can’t watch his everyday meal!”
Ohno keeps staring at him. “I’m arguing?” he asks carefully.
“I’ve heard you are facing problems with the village at the borders. They are lacking harvest, and need some hope.” Jun frowns.
“But, I told you, we are not going to use the collectors anymore,” Ohno says quietly.
“No one is using me,” Jun points out. “This is my job and my purpose. And I have Nino to watch me. In case I go too far again, he will be there to keep me in reality.” He pauses. “Also you need someone with charm, beauty and influence to go to the Dark Fortress regularly. I hope you didn’t think you were suited for that job?”
His last sentence draws the first grin from Shun and Toma.
“Wait… what!?” Satoshi breaths out.
“I’m very eagerly going to shove it into that idiotic Prince’s face that I’m the person he needs to rely on from now on, if he wants even one percent of his hopes come true,” Jun sneers. “I’ve already talked to the Princess several times, she is very much on my side. After all she wants her baby to grow up in light. I’ll have fun with it. And Nino too.” He pauses. “Or don’t you need us?”
“Of course I do,” Ohno mumbles.
“Just so you know,” Jun continues. “I’m officially offering my service, after all as a collector I’m always a counsellor to the king.” He frowns “However, I’m in no way going to call you king or your majesty and if you think I’ll follow any weird protocol, you are wrong. I’m just going to be me, and you know how fucking difficult I can be. So actually this is your problem from now on. And when the normal people need something, I’ll go even if there is a super-duper important state meeting with the Hidden Manor and those bastards from the Dark Fortress.”
Ohno’s eyes widen, then he turns to Shun and Toma to send them away for a while. Once they are alone, it’s silent around them. Jun shows Ohno a short careful smile before he turns around. “Jun,” Ohno says softly as he stands up and puts a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t say anything,” Jun answers quietly. “Please. I’m scared that if you say something now and try to stop me from doing this, I might make a rash decision and run. And I don’t want to do that anymore.”
Ohno nods, his lips quivering. “Thank you, little brother,” he says quietly.
Jun smiles in relief. When he turns around, he could swear there are tears shimmering in Ohno’s eyes.
~~~
Sho and Aiba meet for a picnic, both of them chewing on the sandwiches Masaki prepared and the maki Sho made. Aiba doesn’t even complain about their bad taste. As for Sho he isn’t quite able to taste anything at all. Having Jun around made his world more colourful - more difficult and dangerous, but also more colourful. Now that he is gone, and it’s all back to just his work, he realizes how grey it was before.
“I know that we don’t have a future with them,” Aiba says all of a sudden. “I know it. Even when I started this thing with Nino-kun, he told me that we probably won’t have a future.”
Sho nods. He would have done the same. If he was in Jun’s place, he would have left him too. He knows Jun can’t drag anyone else into his mess anymore. Life is not easy, and decisions aren’t easy either. Jun let go because he had to. They obviously don’t have a future.
Still… He looks up at the sky, wondering if he and Jun are looking at the same sky at the moment, or if Jun is at a completely different place right now. When he turns his attention back to Aiba, the latter points at the basket.
“Was this letter always here?” Aiba asks in surprise.
Sho blinks in confusion, following Aiba’ finger that points at a thin envelop that lies on top of the picnic basket. With a swift movement Sho jumps up, his eyes scanning his surroundings frantically. He and Aiba were lost in their thoughts and obviously didn’t see or hear anything. Sho frowns when he eyes the forest, it feels like there is a shadow disappearing in there.
“Forget it,” Aiba huffs. “Whoever it was. Forget it. Open the envelope. It’s addressed to you.”
Sho nods, sitting down again and grabbing the envelope, opening it with deft fingers. There is a short letter inside it.
To Sakurai Sho-san
“Addressed to me,” Sho blinks. The handwriting is beautiful, almost like it’s been painted. “I’m going to read it out loud.”
Throughout the unfortunate events of the last weeks our utmost and most important codex was broken, namely that no human trespassers are allowed into our world. As things happened as they unfortunately did, two humans - namely you and your friend - passed our borders and saw our world. We are bound to confidentiality and keeping our borders and our world safe and in secret.
As the king I have no other choice than to react to the breach of our confidentiality rule.
Since we are deeply in your debt for saving our prince, the only option I can offer you - aside from removing your memory or killing you - is to be at our service when needed.
“What?” Aiba blinks. “What kind of service?”
We are currently strengthening our bonds with our neighbouring countries, and occasionally we’ll need contacts and information from the human word. Since our prince is not living in the human world anymore we lack exactly that.
As an exchange for sparing your life for trespassing, you will offer us your services as a doctor and as a contact person with the knowledge about the humans and their world, as it might be inevitable for us occasionally to enter your world.
Establishing his new position as a diplomat my brother, the prince, will be ordered by me to contact you when needed. Until then, stay safe and healthy.
Ohno Satoshi.
Sho stares at the letter for a long while, his heart skipping a few beats. Does this mean…
“There is something else,” Aiba says breathlessly and points at a little extra note sticking to the letter.
Sho takes it carefully, reading it hopefully. Dear Sho-san, I cannot ask from my brother to sacrifice everything he loves. He made his decision for my sake, so I’m going to make a decision for his sake too. This is all I can offer you in a legal way. How you use it, is your choice. It might not be ‘forever’ and maybe you still don’t have a future together, but at least you will have a say in this too. What you make out of your now new and open possibilities is entirely up to you. The only thing I’ll ask of you is to always treat my brother kindly.
“He opened a door for us,” Sho says quietly. “He just… opened a door for us to go to their world whenever we want to.”
Aiba blinks, before he chuckles. “Yes, after all Ohno-san loves his brother the most,” he recites. He eyes Sho curiously. “So, what exactly does this mean for you?”
Sho smiles, careful optimism filling his heart. He might just see Jun again. “I don’t know yet.” He smiles brightly. “But I’ll figure it out.”
~~~
A/N: That's it, the ending! To be honest, I originally planned on breaking Sakumoto up completely, but then I kind of didn't have the hear to do so. I wanted them to have a chance. Ohno provided Sho with an opportunity to work together with Jun. So, they can meet again. I'm normally never writing rather open endings, but I don't know... here it seemed kind of fitting for me. Jun couldn't possibly go back to Sho's world, because his whole family and Nino would be affected by it. And Sho couldn't entirely move to Jun's world either, besides he and Aiba have jobs and family and a life too. But now they have the chance to at least work something out :-)
Thanks everyone who kept reading this until its end. I hope you enjoyed the ride ♥
Next week I'll start posting a new story. A few weeks ago I made a poll on my journal, and I'll start posting the winner of it next week. I think I'll continue to stick on Friday/Saturday for posting.
Pairing: Sakumoto, Aimiya, (hints of past(?)Ohmiya and Matsumiya and Juntoshi? (but... well... you'll get it, when you read it. It's not a love triangle (promise!!) or anything, it's rather plot-relevant)
Rating: up to R
Genre: AU, romance, fantasy (There are no vampires or alike. It's more like a fairytale meets our world meets romance meets Nino in a tight gothic-like outfit)
Plot: When you have no other place to visit and lost all your hope, you'll go to a mysterious, little shop. Dealing with hopes and dreams and with his protector Ninomiya at his side, Jun keeps his real identity a secret, constantly on the run. No one knows who he is, what he runs from and where he comes from. One unfortunate day though a young doctor demands his services, asking for a piece of sunshine. It's the beginning of something... like the ticking sound of a clock you can't turn back...
Note: This whole story was inspired by yukitsubute writing me a message: *grumble* it's raining. - with my answer: Buy us some sunshine then :D
Jun’s hand feels tiny in Satoshi’s. He is seven years younger than Satoshi is, and to Satoshi he feels so tiny. “His feet are so small,” Satoshi states in awe while he tickles Jun’s soles.
His mother laughs. “He is a baby, Satoshi. He will grow bigger.”
“He will always be my baby brother,” Satoshi states earnestly. “And Mao-chan will always remain my baby sister.”
His mother chuckles. “Well then, you will always have to protect them.”
Satoshi frowns deeply. “Can I do it?”
His mother smiles proudly. “You are our firstborn, and one day you might inherit the throne. You have many qualities, Satoshi, you have a unique and strong power.”
“It’s scary,” Satoshi states. “Sometimes I can’t control it and then it feels like the whole sky is yelling at me.”
“You will learn to control it,” his mother says. “You have no other choice. But I know you will manage it well.”
“And when I can control it, I can always protect them, right?”
“Right.”
Satoshi puts white jasmine on his mother’s grave. “I wonder if this is what you had in mind for us,” he muses. “Mao married a good man, but becoming a mother is so difficult for her. And although her health suffers she refuses to give up. And Jun tries to save the whole world with his own abilities, all alone He is strong and his power is strong, but it’s only the power of a single person.”
“Please don’t get cheesy now,” Jun’s voice comes from behind him. “I’m not going to die just like that.”
“You almost did die though,” Satoshi points out, watching how Jun puts yellow roses on the grave. “Yellow roses?” he asks in surprise.
Jun smiles. “Mother loved jasmine. But when she married our father she wished for yellow roses. She said yellow roses remind her of hope and of the bright future ahead of her.”
“Really?” Satoshi asks in surprise. “I didn’t know that.”
“She told me when she was teaching me how to use my powers. She was such a good person, and so strong, I still need to learn a lot to be able to be as good as a collector than she is.”
“I wished you wouldn’t try to follow her footsteps,” Satoshi states quietly, nervous about how Jun might react to his words. Their mother was a wonderful woman with a strong and unique power, but in the end her body gave in to her powers and she passed away.
Jun smiles much to Satoshi’s surprise. “I know, you think that being a collector is what killed her, but it’s not her power that is responsible for her death. It’s been her weak health.”
“Hadn’t she worked that much and pushed herself all the time, her health might have been stronger,” Satoshi states bluntly.
“No.” Jun shakes his head. “I know you won’t believe me, but being a collector works mainly over the strength of our mind, not the body. Without being a collector she might have died even earlier. You cannot hate mine and her power and blame it for her death. Preventing me from using it and trying to stop me from developing it, won’t make me healthier or safer.”
Satoshi eyes his brother in surprise. He wasn’t aware of how well Jun knows and understands his motives. “How did you know?”
“That you were trying to prevent me from using my powers for me to be safe?” Jun snorts. “You are easy to look through. As open as a book.”
“That’s true,” Mao states from behind of them before placing red weigela on their mother’s grave. When Satoshi blinks at her, Mao chuckles. “She always told me that I remind her of this flower and that it’s why she loves it so much.” She gets up and clings to Jun’s arm, while eyeing Satoshi. “Old man,” she teases. “You should stop to prevent us from growing. It’s not going to help us or the country or yourself.”
“True,” Jun agrees.
Satoshi lets out a sigh. “Just like when we were kids… you always ganged up with each other against me.”
Jun and Mao chuckle. “Because you would always fuss over us.” They all laugh lightly.
Mao takes a deep breath after a while. “I’m going to try to get pregnant again.”
Satoshi knew she would say something like that at one point, still it sends little spikes of worry through his body. “Mao-chan…”
“I know, what you want to say,” she says calmly. “That I almost didn’t make it through my first pregnancy. That my health is as weak as my mother’s. But becoming a mother is my biggest wish. And I can only grow as a healer when I have a child myself, we all know that.”
“What does Shun say about it?” Jun wants to know.
“He knows what I need,” Mao points out. “He knows that not making me a mother won’t save my life.”
Satoshi lets out a sigh. “You two always do whatever you want.”
“Well, for starters you could have more faith in us,” Jun points out mercilessly before turning to Mao. “It’s against the rules to use my powers to help you get pregnant, but I can use them for issues surrounding your pregnancy. So tell me when you need something.”
“Are you staying?” Mao asks.
“I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do,” Jun points out. “But whether I’ll be here or in the Human world, you know how to contact me. I’m not on the run anymore.”
~~~
Aiba helps Sho with grocery shopping, Sho knows it’s probably because he doesn’t want to be alone, and to be honest, Sho is thankful not to be alone either.
“I know it’s right,” Aiba states after a while. “But why doesn’t it feel right?”
“You mean… your break-up with Nino-kun?” Sho asks, mentioning it mainly because he knows Aiba wants to talk about it.
“I did know from the beginning on that we won’t have a future,” Aiba states quietly. “But I really liked him. And I miss him.”
“I know,” Sho answers more to himself than to Aiba.
“Have you heard anything from Jun?” Aiba asks carefully.
Sho shakes his head.
“I hope he is alright,” Aiba muses.
Sho nods, his mind clouded with worries. He knows Nino wouldn’t have let him go if Jun was still in danger. He ensured him he would be safe now, but Sho needs to see his face and see it with his own eyes to believe it. He is ready for Jun to leave him or to break up with him, but he needs to know he is safe. He just needs to be certain.
There are tears dropping into his soup while he puts onions inside. Sho feels so incredibly sad that he doesn’t even know what to do with all these emotions. How long didn’t he see Jun anymore? He has only known him for a few months, but he grew so close to him that it feels so painful not to have him around anymore.
“You really suck at cooking, you know that?”
Sho spins around, eyes widened in shock. “It’s the onions,” Sho stutters. “The onions, I’m not crying.” His hands shiver when he puts his knife to the side and dries his hands against his trousers. “Jun…” he mumbles. “You are here.”
Jun walks towards him slowly, like he is scared about Sho’s reaction. Sho however just chuckles, hugs him close and presses his lips against Jun’s cheek, and nose, and the other cheek before moving to Jun’s beautiful plump lips. For a while none of them says something, they just kiss, and to Sho it feels like he is feeling Jun’s soft lips for the first time, getting to know their texture again.
He draws back slightly. “Help me with cooking?” he asks. He knows Jun probably has to tell him something important, and he already has a feeling what it’s going to be, hence he wants to delay their talk for a bit.
Jun seems to feel the same because he nods. They make dinner together, Jun prepares his infamous pasta and sends Sho to set the table and do work that’s not too important so that he can’t ruin his precious food. Sometimes Sho hugs him from behind and kisses his beautifully exposed neck. It’s almost like he never left.
Once they ate, Sho takes his hand. “I want to feel you against my body,” he says earnestly. “I want to feel you, Jun.”
“Sho…” Jun says nervously.
“I know, but still, I want to hold you in my arms.”
Jun nods, but his eyes are shimmering sadly. This is probably going to hurt the both of them, but Sho doesn’t mind. He needs to have this moment together with Jun. He just needs it, and from Jun’s touches getting bolder he figures Jun needs it too.
He tries to memorize it all, the feeling of Jun’s soft skin under his fingers, the way his muscles flex when he touches them, the sound of his moans and sighs, and the way he whispers Sho’s name. He doesn’t want to forget any of it. Their lovemaking is particularly soft and slow, both of them cherishing every minute of it.
After Jun comes down from his first orgasm, he lies on his stomach and Sho traces the scars on his back. “They have not faded completely,” he muses.
Jun smiles slightly. “Maybe they never will,” he admits. “Over time they might. I have to learn to live with them and with the memory of how I got them.”
Sho places a kiss against Jun’s shoulder blade, and Jun turns around, wrapping his arms around Sho, and pulling him closer. His eyes are gleaming passionately, and Sho smiles, ready to give Jun all he has.
They manage to make love to each other four times, until both of them are too exhausted to even kiss each other. Jun falls asleep in Sho’s arms. His hair tickles Sho’s nose slightly, but he doesn’t let go, instead he rests his chin against Jun’s head and remains in this position until he falls asleep too.
~~~
Sho has expected that the dream would be over once the next morning approaches, but he hasn’t expected it to hit him so hard. Reality is a real bitch, he thinks. They have breakfast together, and Jun does the dishes afterwards, although Sho tells him not to. He probably doesn’t want to let go yet. But once everything is done there is nothing they can use as an excuse to avoid the inevitable anymore.
Jun smiles sadly and wraps his arms around him. “You saved me,” he mumbles into Sho’s hair. “You saved me. For that I’m going to be always thankful. I’ll never forget what you did for me and your kindness.”
Sho looks up, grabbing Jun’s face with his fingers and brushing over his cheeks with his thumbs. Jun looks sad and tired. “You are not staying, am I right?”
Jun looks crushed all of a sudden. “I love you,” he says. “I really do. Horrible things have been happening and you were there for me when I was the most desperate. But I have been running away from my responsibilities too. I need to go home.”
“Yes,” Sho says quietly.
“You are not surprised?”
“No.” Sho shakes his head. “I knew you would decide like that. After everything that happened. I knew you wouldn’t run again from it.”
Jun moves his hands up and touches Sho’s face softly. “I’ll always be there if you need me. You can always come to me. You know how to reach me now.”
Sho grabs his hands, squeezing them. Not sure what to say as the sight in front of him gets blurred. He hugs Jun tightly.
“A human belongs to this world,” Jun mumbles sadly. It feels like he is crying, but Sho doesn’t dare to look up. “Nino is right. We drag your energy from you by staying. We are here for your dreams and wishes, but when we love you, we will destroy you. I want you to be happy.”
~~~
“Are you sure?” Nino asks.
“No,” Jun answers sadly. “But Sho-san wouldn’t accept a selfish decision from me. That’s how he is.” He pauses. “I’m not sure, but I know it’s right.”
Nino squeezes his hand. He looks relieved, and this moment is enough for Jun to know he did the right thing. Everything else would have been selfish. Sho might have accepted it at the moment, but one day he would have hated him for it. And Nino too. With this decision he will influence several people, dragged them into his own problems. It’s just not right. He cannot destroy so many people’s life. Beside that he can’t leave his family alone once more. Mao will need him, Satoshi will too. He knows none of them will hold him back, but he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if they suffered because of a selfish decision he made.
~~~
Ohno looks up when Jun approaches him. He is in the private saloon of the castle, looking more than a little surprised when Jun suddenly appears in front of him. “What are you doing here?” he asks in mere astonishment.
“What do you mean, Satoshi!?” Jun huffs. “Is this how you greet your cute little brother?”
“Did you just call yourself cute?” Ohno asks in confusion, he exchanges a glance with Shun and Toma, his main guards.
“Satoshi, this is not the time to argue,” Jun says earnestly and snatches the soft bread with butter from him. “Also you should watch your cholesterol. You need to remain king for a long time!” He points at the other two men. “You two are responsible for his health from now on! I gave orders to the kitchen, but I can’t watch his everyday meal!”
Ohno keeps staring at him. “I’m arguing?” he asks carefully.
“I’ve heard you are facing problems with the village at the borders. They are lacking harvest, and need some hope.” Jun frowns.
“But, I told you, we are not going to use the collectors anymore,” Ohno says quietly.
“No one is using me,” Jun points out. “This is my job and my purpose. And I have Nino to watch me. In case I go too far again, he will be there to keep me in reality.” He pauses. “Also you need someone with charm, beauty and influence to go to the Dark Fortress regularly. I hope you didn’t think you were suited for that job?”
His last sentence draws the first grin from Shun and Toma.
“Wait… what!?” Satoshi breaths out.
“I’m very eagerly going to shove it into that idiotic Prince’s face that I’m the person he needs to rely on from now on, if he wants even one percent of his hopes come true,” Jun sneers. “I’ve already talked to the Princess several times, she is very much on my side. After all she wants her baby to grow up in light. I’ll have fun with it. And Nino too.” He pauses. “Or don’t you need us?”
“Of course I do,” Ohno mumbles.
“Just so you know,” Jun continues. “I’m officially offering my service, after all as a collector I’m always a counsellor to the king.” He frowns “However, I’m in no way going to call you king or your majesty and if you think I’ll follow any weird protocol, you are wrong. I’m just going to be me, and you know how fucking difficult I can be. So actually this is your problem from now on. And when the normal people need something, I’ll go even if there is a super-duper important state meeting with the Hidden Manor and those bastards from the Dark Fortress.”
Ohno’s eyes widen, then he turns to Shun and Toma to send them away for a while. Once they are alone, it’s silent around them. Jun shows Ohno a short careful smile before he turns around. “Jun,” Ohno says softly as he stands up and puts a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t say anything,” Jun answers quietly. “Please. I’m scared that if you say something now and try to stop me from doing this, I might make a rash decision and run. And I don’t want to do that anymore.”
Ohno nods, his lips quivering. “Thank you, little brother,” he says quietly.
Jun smiles in relief. When he turns around, he could swear there are tears shimmering in Ohno’s eyes.
~~~
Sho and Aiba meet for a picnic, both of them chewing on the sandwiches Masaki prepared and the maki Sho made. Aiba doesn’t even complain about their bad taste. As for Sho he isn’t quite able to taste anything at all. Having Jun around made his world more colourful - more difficult and dangerous, but also more colourful. Now that he is gone, and it’s all back to just his work, he realizes how grey it was before.
“I know that we don’t have a future with them,” Aiba says all of a sudden. “I know it. Even when I started this thing with Nino-kun, he told me that we probably won’t have a future.”
Sho nods. He would have done the same. If he was in Jun’s place, he would have left him too. He knows Jun can’t drag anyone else into his mess anymore. Life is not easy, and decisions aren’t easy either. Jun let go because he had to. They obviously don’t have a future.
Still… He looks up at the sky, wondering if he and Jun are looking at the same sky at the moment, or if Jun is at a completely different place right now. When he turns his attention back to Aiba, the latter points at the basket.
“Was this letter always here?” Aiba asks in surprise.
Sho blinks in confusion, following Aiba’ finger that points at a thin envelop that lies on top of the picnic basket. With a swift movement Sho jumps up, his eyes scanning his surroundings frantically. He and Aiba were lost in their thoughts and obviously didn’t see or hear anything. Sho frowns when he eyes the forest, it feels like there is a shadow disappearing in there.
“Forget it,” Aiba huffs. “Whoever it was. Forget it. Open the envelope. It’s addressed to you.”
Sho nods, sitting down again and grabbing the envelope, opening it with deft fingers. There is a short letter inside it.
To Sakurai Sho-san
“Addressed to me,” Sho blinks. The handwriting is beautiful, almost like it’s been painted. “I’m going to read it out loud.”
Throughout the unfortunate events of the last weeks our utmost and most important codex was broken, namely that no human trespassers are allowed into our world. As things happened as they unfortunately did, two humans - namely you and your friend - passed our borders and saw our world. We are bound to confidentiality and keeping our borders and our world safe and in secret.
As the king I have no other choice than to react to the breach of our confidentiality rule.
Since we are deeply in your debt for saving our prince, the only option I can offer you - aside from removing your memory or killing you - is to be at our service when needed.
“What?” Aiba blinks. “What kind of service?”
We are currently strengthening our bonds with our neighbouring countries, and occasionally we’ll need contacts and information from the human word. Since our prince is not living in the human world anymore we lack exactly that.
As an exchange for sparing your life for trespassing, you will offer us your services as a doctor and as a contact person with the knowledge about the humans and their world, as it might be inevitable for us occasionally to enter your world.
Establishing his new position as a diplomat my brother, the prince, will be ordered by me to contact you when needed. Until then, stay safe and healthy.
Ohno Satoshi.
Sho stares at the letter for a long while, his heart skipping a few beats. Does this mean…
“There is something else,” Aiba says breathlessly and points at a little extra note sticking to the letter.
Sho takes it carefully, reading it hopefully. Dear Sho-san, I cannot ask from my brother to sacrifice everything he loves. He made his decision for my sake, so I’m going to make a decision for his sake too. This is all I can offer you in a legal way. How you use it, is your choice. It might not be ‘forever’ and maybe you still don’t have a future together, but at least you will have a say in this too. What you make out of your now new and open possibilities is entirely up to you. The only thing I’ll ask of you is to always treat my brother kindly.
“He opened a door for us,” Sho says quietly. “He just… opened a door for us to go to their world whenever we want to.”
Aiba blinks, before he chuckles. “Yes, after all Ohno-san loves his brother the most,” he recites. He eyes Sho curiously. “So, what exactly does this mean for you?”
Sho smiles, careful optimism filling his heart. He might just see Jun again. “I don’t know yet.” He smiles brightly. “But I’ll figure it out.”
~~~
A/N: That's it, the ending! To be honest, I originally planned on breaking Sakumoto up completely, but then I kind of didn't have the hear to do so. I wanted them to have a chance. Ohno provided Sho with an opportunity to work together with Jun. So, they can meet again. I'm normally never writing rather open endings, but I don't know... here it seemed kind of fitting for me. Jun couldn't possibly go back to Sho's world, because his whole family and Nino would be affected by it. And Sho couldn't entirely move to Jun's world either, besides he and Aiba have jobs and family and a life too. But now they have the chance to at least work something out :-)
Thanks everyone who kept reading this until its end. I hope you enjoyed the ride ♥
Next week I'll start posting a new story. A few weeks ago I made a poll on my journal, and I'll start posting the winner of it next week. I think I'll continue to stick on Friday/Saturday for posting.