Attention Please: We learn for life (Matsumiya)
Title: Attention Please: We learn for life
Pairing/Group: Matsumiya, the other three appear too (Oh, and Sho is Jun's brother in this :D)
Rating: PG-15
Beta: arashiforyou
Genre: AU in which Matsumiya and the rest of Arashi are teachers :D, romance
Summary: Seaside High is the only high school of the whole prefecture of their little town in the south. There aren’t that many people living here, and there are even less than 40 students and only five teachers. Sometimes life is stressful and difficult, but they wouldn't want to swap it with anything else!
Note: I've always wanted to write a story with Arashi as five hot and quirky teachers. Wouldn't that be cool? :D
I divided all main subjects between the five of them. Oh, and Nino is the math teacher in this just because he is badass enough to pull it off :D
“Forget it, I’M NOT GOING TO SCHOOL!” Nino’s voice is so loud and unusually squeaky that Jun feels like covering his ears in annoyance. “Fuck you, J!” Nino continues both his tantrum and his cursing while he clings to the school’s gate like it’s his own safety buoy.
Jun lets out a frustrated sigh. He feels like he will soon lose his patience. Seriously. He was going to plea Nino’s rationality or he grabs Nino's hips and carries him along like a little kid. “Seriously, Kazu. It’s the same old story every freaking Monday!” He says, already preparing for his next step - mainly for Nino who still refuse to comply and Jun needing to carry him into the school.
Gladly though, nothing of that kind happens because three giggly school girls passes them. They are a bit too late, but because Jun and Nino are late too, they confidently wave at them. “Good morning, Matsumoto-sensei, Ninomiya-sensei!”
Apparently, Nino has decided that his dignity and pride as a teacher is more important than his hatred against anything that has to do with school and Mondays. His class is going to write a math test today. Poor kids. Jun almost feels sorry for them. “Good morning,” Nino answers almost grimly, while Jun nods at the girls a bit.
Once they passed them, Nino turns to face him. “I hate you!” He huffs.
“Yeah, I know,” Jun answers dryly. “You can still hate me inside the building.”
~~~
“You are late! Again! Why are you always late on Mondays!?” Aiba’s eyes are so full of reproach that Jun feels like patting his head. When he does, Aiba’s features soften up a bit and he smiles brightly. “Well, at least you made it.” He says while he gathers all the things he needs for his handcraft class.
“What happened?” Sho says with concern. He has some books in his hands, already on the way to his class. History and Latin are his main subjects. Being a complicated prick is his second. And being Jun’s annoying older brother is his third. Unfortunately, he takes all three jobs way too serious.
“We had some issues,” Jun explains with a grin while Nino throws his jacket across his table in the teacher’s room and grabs a cup of coffee from Aiba. His eyes look at the beverage with so much anger that Jun fears that the milk might actually turn sour.
“Again?” Ohno asks casually. “Every Monday it’s the same, Kazu. Why the hell did you become a teacher if you hate it that much?” He is the only one still sitting at his place, a late breakfast in front him. Freaking art teachers apparently never work.
Nino seems to think the same because he throws Ohno a deathly glare. Before the situation can escalate any further, Jun pats Nino’s back. “Come, let’s go to our classes.”
For a moment, Nino stares at him in soft bewilderment before a dangerous frown appears on his pretty face. “Jun, are you seriously accompanying me to class just to make sure I stay there?”
“Of course I will.”
“What? You think I’d bail!?”
“You already did several times,” Aiba intervenes, sounding reproachful. “Only Jun can handle you. You are so difficult on Mondays, really.”
“Guys!” Sho suddenly tells them firmly. “It’s pretty late already. Let’s set a good example for the kids. At least sometimes.”
When he turns around, Jun rolls his eyes. Out of the corner of his eyes, he can see that Nino has a similar expression. “Good example.” Nino mumbles towards Jun, mimicking Sho’s voice not so nicely. “We are not in a fucking movie.”
Jun agrees, openly. He nods. “True.” He grabs some of his books. He is going to read modern literature with his class today. A topic he loves.
“Lucky you,” Nino grumbles when he sees the books. “The students here like you.”
“They like you too,” Jun argues. “It’s just your subject they don’t like. I mean, come on. Math!”
“Yeah, these insensitive teenagers! Pretty sure they’ll do miserable on today’s test. Half of them are going to study unemployment later on.”
“Nino-chan!” Aiba calls out when he runs by them. “Art and human studies are not unemployment.”
“Whatever,” Nino shrugs the other off while he follows Jun. “Not everyone can be a literature teacher like you. You are clearly in advance for the popularity ranking. And for all these teenage girls' sleepless nights because they dream of Matsumoto-sensei doing not so sensei-like things with them,” Nino teases, and much to Jun’s relief, his mood is slowly lightening up.
“Well,“ Jun takes the joke, “I’m pretty sure some of the guys have that dream too.”
Nino laughs. His mood is clearly up now. He nods a bit when he disappears in class. “See you later, J.”
~~~
When Jun hears the bells ring, ending the school day, he almost sighs in relief. It’s been a tiring day with an especially tiring start. “Get home safely, girls,” he tells his female students. They giggle a bit and wave at him happily. “And guys, stay sober.” The male students laugh and stop for a moment to joke around with him. It’s these moments that Jun enjoys being a teacher. He loves the interactions with the young teenagers. It’s not so much about the ideal to fill in their head with knowledge and science, but to awaken their dreams for their future, to make them think about what they want, to be able to lead them a tiny bit.
Seaside High is the only high school of the whole prefecture of their little town in the south. There aren’t that many people living here, and there are even less than 40 students and only five teachers-more the prefecture can afford.
If Jun thinks of the teacher’s meeting today, he gets a headache. They have basically divided the main subjects between themselves, which means that Ohno has to teach both art and music. “I’ve not studied music!” He complained back then when they reopened the school two years ago. Aiba’s answer was swift and pragmatic. “But you studied at art college. Music is art too. Hence, your cup of tea.”
The same trail of pragmatic logic had brought Japanese and Old-Japanese upon Jun, even though he has only studied literature. When the others had shoved that subject towards him, he had spent almost these entire two years reading and studying about Old-Japanese for himself while teaching it to his students at the same time. But even now he still doesn’t feel too confident about his knowledge.
Aiba studied biology. And because he was at a science faculty, he happily agreed to teach chemistry as well. He has always been the least complicated within them. Unlike Nino who originally studied math and because of their lack of teachers has to teach home economics as well-a subject he has basically no idea about. As for the remaining subjects, they basically take turns teaching them.
It was a beautiful job and an even more beautiful time with the others, but sometimes it was freaking difficult.
“If you continue pondering that much, you’ll get wrinkles.” He can hear Nino’s teasing voice next to him. “I don’t want to think what that might do to your beautiful face.”
“Woke up from your Monday-morning-tantrum?” Jun teases right back. The slight embarrassed blush on Nino’s cheeks is worth it.
“I just hate Mondays,” he says and adds, “Sorry. Been an idiot today. More than normally and more than on normal Mondays.” When Jun smiles slightly and waves it off, Nino looks around a bit. “All students gone home?”
“Mm,” Jun nods.
“Good.” Nino moves a bit closer, his hands on Jun’s waist first before they move up to his face. “I’m sorry I said I hate you,” he says and his eyes shine in caramel-brown. Bambi-like eyes, Jun says sometimes. “You lost weight,” Nino continues. “You work too much.”
Jun can clearly hear the complaint in Nino’s voice, though he doesn’t agree because Nino is so damn skinny himself, and wraps his arms around Nino’s own tiny waist to pull him closer and shut him up. When they kiss, it’s like the world stops spinning for a moment. Instead, Jun’s head does. Nino is too good at that.
They move away from each other. “We should probably go to the meeting. Sho always gets pretty annoyed when someone comes too late. He is such a pain sometimes”
Nino grins though he is clearly displeased with the interruption of his seduction. “You always say that, but secretly you love him to bits.”
Jun can’t help a smile.
~~~
“It’s a new month. We have to decide on the new circle for the remaining side-subjects.” Sho looks tired when he looks down at the sheets of paper in front of him. Jun frowns at that. He doesn’t like that look.
“Who is doing handcraft next month?” He jumps to Sho’s help.
“I could take that,” Aiba suggests.
“But you already taught it last month. It’s not particularly fair,” Nino intervenes.
Aiba blushes a bit. “Yes, but I need to dissect a frog next week. You know I hate doing that! So I thought, maybe, if I took the handcraft class for one more month, one of you could take that task from me.”
Sho and Jun exchange a glance before they both grin. “And who should do that instead of you?” Jun wants to know. “Last month when you were sick and I had to teach your biology class, it was a natural catastrophe.”
“Not as bad as when I had to jump in for his chemistry class,” Ohno argues.
“Yes,” Nino agrees with a bright grin. “You almost set the laboratory on fire.”
Before Aiba could jump into the discussion as well, Sho interrupts them. “Nino, can’t you take Aiba-chan’s biology class? At least you have a clue about what you do, unlike the rest of us.”
“Technically yes, but wasn’t I supposed to hold the informatics class?”
“I could do that for you,” Sho says and when Nino nods. He fills in their names into the schedule that’s hanging in the middle of the teacher’s room for all of them to see.
“That means I’m alone for sport class for one month when Sho has to take the informatics class,” Jun says. It’s the only class he and Sho are basically switching between each other on a weekly basis because the others hate it. He wants to sound supportive and relaxed, but he adds, “It’s also my turn for culture class.” He frowns slightly at the thought of having to teach so many hours.
“It’s too much!” Nino butts in immediately before anyone else can say anything. He sends Jun an encouraging smile. “We have to rethink everything.”
“No, we don’t need to,” Ohno intervenes. It’s only then that Jun realizes that Ohno has hardly said anything until now. He has basically stayed invisible. Jun wonders why but doesn’t want to ask with everyone else listening. “I can help with both classes.”
“You hate the sport class,” Aiba argues.
Ohno shrugs. “Jun can’t do both classes, it’s impossible. Should he overwork himself, one of us has to do his classes, which would be horrifying. Old-Japanese! The only thing worse is when we have to jump in for Sho’s Latin classes.”
Despite the tense and exhausting situation, Nino and Aiba laugh. Even Jun has to chuckle. To his surprise, Sho keeps a straight face through this interaction. Not even a smile escapes his lips. What the hell happened?
“We could go swimming with our sports class tomorrow,” Jun suggests to diffuse the weird tension.
“A bunch of teenagers checking each other and their hot literature teacher out?” Ohno jokes. “Well, sounds like fun!” He teases and his face lights up a bit, while Nino’s gets gloomier.
~~~
Sho opens the door to their two-story bungalow with his elbow. They hardly ever lock the door. No one is around to break into their house after all. Jun follows him and puts the groceries on the table.
“I’m letting the door open,” he tells Sho. He enjoys the slight breeze that comes from the ocean and how they can hear the waves from their veranda. It’s a small village here and one that can only be reached via car and ferry, even though it’s not an island. But driving over the mountains would take too long. Still, Jun loves this place. The others do too, that’s why they came back and decided to bring some life back to it by re-opening the school.
When he coincidentally looks at Sho’s phone, he can see Ohno is calling. “It’s Satoshi-kun,” he tells his brother and points at the phone “He's calling.”
Sho shrugs and looks slightly annoyed all of a sudden. “Let him. I’ll call back later.”
Jun feels like he should be more surprised than he actually is. Ohno’s quiet attitude and Sho’s tired expression makes a lot more sense now. “Sho…” He takes the phone and looks at it for a while. “You have ten missed calls from him.”
“Leave it. I already told you I’m going to call back later,” Sho says, his voice more tense and unusually hostile. This is exactly the moment others retreat, Jun though as his brother doesn’t care at all.
“Later? As in never?” He says calmly.
“Shut up, Jun. What do you know!?” Sho answers sharply. His lips move a bit like he is talking to himself. Jun guesses that he is counting from one to ten to cool down. Last year, Aiba had given him a self-therapy book against short temper. It was supposed to be a joke, but Sho had taken it more serious than expected.
“I know more than you think I do. I’m just saying-“ Jun starts.
“I don’t want to know what you are saying! I told you - leave it, the fuck, alone!” Sho interrupts him, his voice vibrating slightly. He has these typical dark eyes that sends anyone else packing immediately. Jun takes the kitchen knife instead and starts cutting vegetables. He has learned that staying calm is the best strategy.
“Fine,” Jun says and puts some vegetables into the pan. “I just think that you should talk with the person you like and not waste your effort on yelling at me.”
For a while, it’s silent. Sho sets the table, and Jun prepares their dinner. After a while, he can hear Sho letting out a sigh. Jun turns around, seeing how Sho supports himself on the table, not looking at him. “I’m sorry, Jun,” he says, “for taking it out on you.”
“Never mind.” Normally, Jun would have stayed angry a little longer. He hates to get yelled at, especially by Sho and he hates this kind of tantrum in general. But there is something in Sho’s eyes that awakens his sympathy-must have been a huge fight with Ohno. “Let’s eat,” he says, “and have a drink together.”
“Pina Colada at the veranda?” Sho asks, smiling slightly. “Don’t you have a date or something else to do tonight?”
“No,” Jun lies.
When Sho isn’t watching, he grabs his own phone. Kazu, I’m sorry. I can’t drop by yet. Sho’s having a problem. I’m seriously worried this time.
The answer comes fast. When will you drop by then?
Not sure if I’ll make it tonight. I’ll call you, okay?
Nino’s answer comes fast again. Fine. ò_ó If you don’t want to meet, I’ll drop by at Masaki’s instead!
It’s a clear provocation, Jun knows that. He feels pissed suddenly. Have fun. He types in his phone and switches it off.
This evening, he and Sho are both getting hopelessly drunk, each of them sitting on a wicker chair at the beach right in front of their house, feet buried in the cool sand while they look at the dark and beautiful ocean.
It’s only the next day when Jun wakes up with a huge headache and a sensitive stomach that he pads down to the kitchen and switches his phone on again. Nino has called at least 15 times.
Fuck. He curses inwardly. Just yesterday he judged Sho for not talking to Ohno. And here he is, not better at all.
“Drink this,” Sho says and holds a cold glass with water against Jun’s forehead. “Aspirin and magnesium. Seriously, it’s like we were 15 again.”
“You never were 15. You always were 30, even as a 10-year old,” Jun grumbles and indeed feels like his sulky teenage self again.
Sho chuckles, much to Jun’s surprise. “I’ve always liked you hangover-ish. You are the cute younger brother from years ago then, not my so mature grown up one.”
“Did you already eat breakfast?” Jun asks to diffuse his brother from this rather embarrassing topic.
“Hell no,” Sho sighs. “After we emptied a whole bottle of gin yesterday and I spent half of my night head hanging over our toilet, I should definitely not eat too much today.”
“Say Sho-“
“Hm?”
“Was it your fault or Satoshi-kun’s?” He did not specify his questions anymore; he knows that Sho understands he's talking about whatever happened between them.
Sho sighs deeply. “Had you asked me yesterday, I would have probably said Satoshi. Now I’m not sure anymore. I guess I’m just too complicated to be with.”
“Don’t say that!” Jun answers sharply. “I won’t let anyone insult my brother. Even if it’s my brother himself. I’m the only one who is allowed to judge you. And since we are already at it, you should drink some aspirin too, you look like a ghost, idiot.”
~~~
“What happened to you?” Aiba asks promptly when he sees them. “You both look sick.”
Normally Jun loves Aiba’s cheerfulness, today though he feels like biting his head off. Jun grumbles something alongside the words haven’t slept well and sits down at his table. His gaze brushes towards Nino, but he doesn’t look at him any longer than necessary. He doesn’t say anything else either.
He hears Sho greeting the others first before saying “Good morning” towards Ohno. His voice is so cold that it sends a shiver over Jun’s spine. They are indeed having a bad day, he thinks.
Jun rests his head against his palm. He still has a headache. “I think I’m writing a not-graded test today,” he mumbles more to himself than the others. “For me and the kids to see if they understood everything and how they might do for the real exams in two weeks.”
“Hm…” Ohno says, most likely wondering over the fact that Jun normally never does something like that. It isn’t normally part of his teaching methods. But then, maybe he doesn’t wonder at all. Jun is sure that Ohno can guess that he and Sho got hopelessly drunk yesterday.
It’s twenty minutes later when he is walking towards his class that Nino suddenly walks next to him. “Did you drink too much, Jun?”
“Hm,” Jun says, his ears ringing slightly.
“Are you going to ignore me for the rest of the day?” Nino asks persistently.
Jun pauses when he reaches his class. He holds the door knob in his hands when he turns around to look at his friend. “I can’t believe you tried to put pressure on me by bringing up Masaki’s name,” he says. He can hear his voice vibrating slightly in anger.
He can see how Nino opens his lips to say something. Before Nino can do so, Jun flees into the classroom.
It’s later that he finds a note sticking to his books. I’m truly sorry. Talk to me again, please!
~~~
“Take it easy,” Ohno says calmly when he and Jun are walking towards the ocean for the sports class. “It’s hot and the sun is burning down. Have you eaten anything today?”
Jun shakes his head. “No. I’m afraid I might throw up then.”
“I thought so. Here, eat this. It’s just dry zwieback. Totally harmless.”
Jun feels like he should oppose, otherwise he might throw up for real. But Ohno’s calmness is somewhat convincing so he takes the risk. He takes a careful bite. For a moment, the world starts spinning around him. It feels like little knifes are attacking his stomach. Then, he suddenly feels a little better. His circulatory system is more stable all of a sudden. “Thanks, Satoshi-kun.”
Ohno smiles and nods before he looks at Jun openly. “Say, Jun-kun, how mad is Sho?”
“On a scale from one to ten?” Jun smiles slightly. “Probably a solid eight, maybe even nine. But then Sho doesn’t know anything from one to five. It’s always above that.”
“Probably,” Ohno chuckles.
“Was it your fault?” Jun wants to know.
“I guess. Mostly, yes.” Ohno tilts his head. “I hardly doubt he is without fault in that issue though.”
“My brother is difficult sometimes,” Jun says honestly. “I know that more than anyone else. But believe me, he is worth it.”
Ohno looks at Jun in surprise for a moment, then he laughs openly. “What a rare insight from you. Normally, you always complain about him.”
Jun smacks him, chuckling too now. “Stop it, idiot.”
They both drop down in the warm sand while waiting for their students to arrive. “You know,” Ohno continues when he has calmed down, “I know he is worth it. So don’t worry. I’ll talk to him soon.”
“He is stubborn. So be prepared.”
“Yeah,” Ohno grins. “Just like you. Stubborn, short-tempered, and way too composed when you are hurt.” He moves aside when Jun throws a handful of sand in his direction. “You should talk to Nino too,” he suggests. “He feels seriously guilty and down. I met him earlier this morning while he was waiting for you.”
Jun is silent for a while, he looks up at the sky - it’s without any clouds today - before he shifts his glance towards the ocean. It’s calm, only a few tiny waves appear on the surface. So alluring and beautiful. “It should be easier to like someone.” he finally says. “It shouldn’t be that complicated.”
“I know.”
~~~
To be honest he is almost glad that Ohno is doing this class together with him. At this place, there is basically no student who can’t swim. It’s just natural that everyone learns to swim when living right next to the ocean. Still, it’s a whole lot responsibility to hold a swimming class in the ocean.
“Matsumoto-sensei!” One of the girls calls out while pointing at the beach. “Ninomiya-sensei is here too.”
Jun shifts his glance towards the beach in surprise. She was right. Nino was sitting at the beach, watching them. Some of the pupils wave towards him, and he waves back.
“Come on,” Ohno mumbles silently. “Don’t make it that difficult and overdramatic.”
It’s probably the slight tone of reproach in Ohno’s voice-and the fact that he might call him a drama queen for the next two weeks-that finally pushes him to give in. He waves a bit towards the beach, not particularly convinced first, but even from the distance he can see how Nino’s face lights up a bit and he smiles carefully.
He loses track of Nino during the next hour though because holding a sport class in the ocean is indeed a horrible responsibility. And he decides - with or without Ohno’s help - he is going to play volleyball for the next class.
When he steps out of his wet swimming shorts in the teacher’s changing room, he feels two arms hugging him from behind - a nose nuzzling his hair and wet lips trailing over his neck. “Kazu-“ Jun sighs slightly when Nino kisses his sensitive spot right at the back of his neck. “I’m all wet and not wearing any clothes.”
Nino snickers and his lips vibrate against his skin. “I know.”
Jun considers his options a bit, then he decides to just go with the flow. “Door locked?” He asks carefully.
“Please-“ Nino grins when Jun turns around and pulls him closer. They move towards the bench right next to the lockers. “You are talking to me. I never enter a room alone with you without locking the door,” he continues while lying down on the bench, his legs wrapped around Jun while the latter hovers above him. “I’m always prepared.”
~~~
“Oh, a rare guest?” Sho says when Jun and Nino arrive at Jun’s place. Nino throws Jun a wary glance like he isn’t too sure if Sho is joking or being serious. Jun, on the other hand, sighs.
“Can you be any more awkward?” He asks Sho.
The latter blushes slightly. “No harm intended,” he says and probably means it. Trust Sho to make a situation more awkward than necessary while having the best intentions.
Jun doesn’t get any time to answer though. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Ohno’s grey little truck halting behind their bungalow. A cloud of dust disperses. Sho has seen the truck too because he looks surprised and nervous all of a sudden. Jun smiles slightly.
“Beach?” Jun turns towards Nino.
Nino lets out a sigh. “Don’t tell me you want to go swimming again? Didn’t you have enough?”
“I promise you-“ Jun starts then he bends forward, whispering something in Nino’s ear, something he knows is dirty enough that Nino would do anything for.
He is right because Nino grins all of a sudden and nods. “Let’s go swimming. I’m all into it suddenly!”
“What did you promise him?” Sho asks sounding slightly alarmed.
Jun merely smirks. “Secret. But it involves some ties. And a whip.”
After this straight-forward announcement, Jun thinks Sho looks like he needs therapy. But he gladly doesn’t have enough time to get on his nerves because Ohno appears right behind them. “Can we talk?” He asks in his calm matter-of-fact voice, the one that Jun knows sometimes pisses off Sho. But it’s just so soothing at the same time.
“See you later,” Jun waves and hurries after Nino. The latter is already in the water, covered up to his hips. He is not wearing any clothes, so Jun gets rid of all of his too. When he arrives next to Nino’s side, the latter turns around, flashing him a beautiful smile. He wraps his arms around Jun’s hips and stretches a bit to kiss him. Jun bends forward slightly. It feels a bit sappy, like this stupid Twilight movie they watched with Aiba last week, but he doesn’t care.
When they move apart, Nino grins anyway and gladly interrupts the sap. “I can’t wait to use those ties,” he says.
Jun grins and jumps head first into the ocean. When he comes up to the surface again, he looks towards their house. He can’t help but smile. He can clearly see Ohno hugging Sho.
~~~
“Isn’t it too warm for a long-sleeved sweater?” Sho asks in surprise when Jun pads into the kitchen the next day. Normally, that would draw a teasing comment from Jun about why it’s suddenly Sho’s business what he is wearing and when. But it’s almost lunch time, and Jun is just glad that Sho doesn’t bother him with stupid questions about why he slept so long. Judging by the look on Sho’s face, he just got up himself.
“Damage prevention,” Jun says and grins. Actually, he only wears it since he always feels cold when getting up. For a moment, Sho looks at him through questioning eyes before he rolls his eyes.
He frowns. “Can’t you just have normal sex!?”
“You mean boring,“ Jun smirks. “Like you and Satoshi-kun?” He laughs when Sho first throws some coffee beans into his direction before he chases him through the house.
At one point, they stumble over Ohno lying on one of the canvas chairs on the veranda. “Why are you two so active all the time?” He mumbles tiredly.
“Oh-“ Jun pulls his eyebrows up and throws his brother a teasing glance. “You had a sleepover party, I guess?” He jokes.
Ohno grins. “You could call it like that, yes.” He sounds content, Jun thinks, and Sho looks happy too, so he drops the teasing though normally he would have made another joke about their sex life. Instead, he decides that they are all going to have a late breakfast outside.
“Where is Kazu?” Ohno asks when he sits down at the perfectly set table on the veranda. He had asked to help, but he got on Jun’s nerves with his random way of putting the dishes. So he decided to place himself on a seat with a cup of tea in his hands and let the rest cook alone. “Didn’t he stay overnight?”
Jun chuckles. “Actually I didn’t stay overnight. We weren’t here last night. He is meeting Masaki today anyway. They are going to help Masaki’s mother with re-painting her garden fence.”
“Ah-“ Ohno nods and doesn’t ask any further. Instead, he drinks his oolong tea and eats one of the rice cakes Sho has offered him.
~~~
Jun goes shopping with Aiba mainly because Nino hates shopping. Sho is a pain in the butt during these occasions, and Ohno is no help at all. It has always been like this, even when they were teenagers and already hanging out with each other all the time.
Hence, he and Aiba are shopping buddies since a long time already. They always go in tons of shops, buy too many stuff, and go for lunch in between and later for a drink. It takes the whole day. For anyone else but them, it apparently seems to be a horrifying thought.
“Be brutally honest,” Aiba demands and shifts around a little, “what do you think about this trouser?”
The trouser has red stripes and ends slightly above the ankles. A slightly too long and wide green blouse covers Aiba's upper body, held together by a loose tie. Everyone else would have looked freaking stupid with it, but it seems pretty fashionable on Aiba. “Fits you,” Jun says. “But never lend it to anyone.”
Aiba laughs. “What about you?”
Jun turns around a little. Over a blue blazer, Jun dresses himself in a white shirt with BITCH written on it in capital, glittery, pink letters with a pair of random jeans. Aiba gives him thumbs up. “Awesome pick, Jun! Nino will love that shirt. Sho will hate it.”
Jun smiles a bit. “I know.”
They go for an Italian restaurant later and eat spaghetti and seafood. Later on, they take a look at a few other shops, mainly shoes and accessories.
“We spent too much money,” Aiba sighs when he puts on his new hat.
Jun, wearing his new sunglasses, shrugs. “That’s why we are only doing this once every few months.”
“A few drinks?” Aiba wants to know.
“Beach bar?”
“Awesome!”
There is a little guitar band playing at the beach bar. They search a place outside though it’s awfully crowded this time around. Well, it’s not that any of them minds. Aiba settles for some Mojito, Jun for Mai tai.
“Warm night,” Aiba mumbles randomly while he squishes and crashes the ice of his Mojito slightly.
Jun nods, feeling tired of their long shopping day. He is used to the sticky warm air of summer, but right now it feels a little exhausting. “Say, Masaki, anything new in your life?” He finally asks casually.
“I’m meeting my pen pal next week,” Aiba answers and sucks at his straw.
Jun stares at him in surprise. “What!? But-” he pauses, eyeing his friend curiously. “Didn’t you say you don’t want to go on a blind date. Ever.”
“It’s not a blind date anymore,” Aiba giggles. “I’ve seen a photo of Ryo by now.”
There are probably tons of things Jun feels like saying now. Be careful. What if the photo is fake? What if you are getting tricked. What if. Aiba grins and chews on an ice cube. It’s almost like he can read his thoughts. “I’m probably too much in my teacher mode right now,” Jun says.
“At least you didn’t react like Sho or Satoshi would,” Aiba jokes.
“Well,” Jun empties his Mai tai with one sip, “at least I’ve that much going for me.”
He thinks life with Nino could be a little easier. But when he listens how Aiba talks about his pen pal, he wouldn’t want to swap Nino with anyone else. It is how it is. Sometimes annoying and difficult, but most of the time excited and fun.
~~~
It’s Monday. Another faithful, sunny, Monday morning. This time, though, Jun isn’t alone with Nino’s temper tantrum. Aiba is a little too late too and happily helps him carry Nino inside. On their way into the building, Nino accidentally kicks both Aiba and Jun, leaving Aiba with a bruise on his arm and Jun with a little scratch on his right cheek.
“I can’t believe it,” Sho mumbles when they finally reach the conference room.
Ohno, on the other hand, grins openly. “Next time take valium, Kazu. It might help us all.”
A few minutes later, Nino’s senses seems to be back because he crawls to his place and hides behind a cup of tea. “Oh dear,” he sighs after a while.
“Yeah,” Aiba grins and spins around in his swivel chair until Ohno finally stops him. He looks a little dizzy. “You need therapy.”
“Obviously,” Nino grumbles. “I even hurt Jun.”
“Yes,” Jun says seriously while Nino throws him a slightly fearful glance, like he is afraid that they will get into a fight again or Jun will be mad at him like a few weeks ago. “I’m obviously in an abusive relationship.”
Aiba chuckles slightly while Sho and Ohno exchange a grin. “This is very serious,” Sho plays along. “I’m worried about you.”
“Maybe you should call the police?” Ohno suggests innocently.
Nino watches them for a while. Jun can’t tell if he is surprised, embarrassed, or a little angry. But then he laughs all of a sudden. “I got it,” he smiles. “I need to do something about my Monday-morning-crisis.”
“What’s your problem with Mondays anyway?” Aiba asks.
“A new week begins.”
“Ah-“ Aiba utters and eyes the other carefully. Jun just shrugs. “And?”
“It means the old week is over.”
“And?”
“I don’t like things being over,” Nino explains surprisingly earnest. “I like the old week, so why look forward to a new week?”
For a moment, it’s silent around them. Then, Aiba grunts. “And they say I’m the stupid one here.”
~~~
“It’s hard to explain,” Nino tries it again when he and Jun walk to their classrooms.
“It’s also quite hard to understand,” Jun admits.
Nino nods slightly but doesn’t say anything. After a while, he lets out a frustrated sigh. Then he looks around carefully before he grabs Jun’s hand and pulls him into a little storage room. “I’m working on it. So please bear with me and my psychosis a little longer,” he says, sounding so honest that Jun feels a little touched.
Jun touches Nino’s faces affectionately. He still looks so freaking young at first glance, but here and there Jun can see little furrows and wrinkles, almost invisible. It suits him, Jun thinks, makes him look more mature and gives him an almost sophisticated touch. “I will,” he promises. “So don’t pressure yourself.”
Nino nods.
“You could join Sho with his self-therapy book. The one he got from Aiba,” Jun jokes, and it finally draws a smile from Nino.
“I’m not that desperate yet,” Nino grins. “See you later for lunch?” He wants to know, before he pats against his bag. “For now, I need to hurry to Aiba’s class. Dissection! Finally. I can’t wait,” he smiles a little too diabolical. Jun is glad that he doesn’t know what the hell Nino is going to dissect today.
~~~
He doesn’t get to think too much about it though because he is pretty busy the whole day too: preparation for their school theater, doing preparations for the end-term exams next week, and sports class.
The girls giggle when Jun and Ohno step on the sport field. “How do you and Sho manage to survive that?” Ohno mumbles in slight irritation. “Like, every day.”
“Hm?” Jun blinks a little, then he shrugs. He doesn’t even realize the flirting anymore. “You get used to it,” he says.
Ohno shakes his head, obviously not believing it. Jun can’t help but throw a little teasing in their talk. “Maybe they are checking you out not me? Fresh meat, you know.”
“Oh, shut up,” Ohno grumbles and Jun laughs. Ohno throws him a surprised glance during the sport lesson, but it’s only at the end that he finally dares to ask. “You are in a good mood, Jun.”
“Yes,” Jun throws the volleyball towards his students. “Guys, work a little harder!“ He calls towards them. “The girls are pretty much wiping the floor with you.”
“Riki and Mika are playing in a volleyball club,” some of the guys protest.
Jun grins. “Don’t always use excuses.” When the kids laugh and finally turn to the game again, he remembers that Ohno is still waiting for an answer. “I’ve decided to see things more relaxed from now on.”
Ohno tilts his head but doesn’t ask what exactly he means. Jun is sure that he makes his own conclusions anyway. So, it’s okay.
~~~
It’s home-economics-Thursday, which means that Nino and his class are cooking the school’s lunch. It’s basically the day every week that everyone in the school fears terribly. When Jun peaks into the kitchen carefully, he already knows they’ll be in need for some real food later on.
Some of the girls are hovering over a completely messed up cake - not enough oil maybe? Two guys are trying to save the rice from getting so watery that it might only be edible with a spoon. When they pour the flour into it, Jun starts feeling a little sick. And another group tries to save the meat from burning. Meanwhile, Nino tries his best to look like he knows what he's doing. He is surprisingly convincing with that.
When Jun comes back from his little spying trip, Aiba already eyes him expectantly. “As bad as I hope it is?” He says.
Jun smiles a little. “Maybe even worse.”
“Awesome!” Aiba exclaims and sounds a bit too excited considering that it’s Nino’s cooking class. And that the food is beyond awful most of the time.
Apparently, Jun has lost his mind because he eats some of the food, mainly to support Nino, even though Sho and Ohno have politely declined and Aiba is making a selfie with it. He is probably going to send that to his pen pal.
~~~
The burnt meat with watery rice wasn’t enough for them to feel full. So they settle for Yakiniku after the school day is over. It’s Masaki, Nino, and Jun for now because the other two still have classes. However, it’s fine not to have the older ones around for a moment - gives them room to gossip and talk about private stuff.
“How was your date?” Jun wants to know from Aiba.
Aiba only raises his thumb and grins mischievously.
“Awesome, Masaki,” Nino chuckles. “You are the man.”
“It’s more like you are the man.” Aiba shoots back. “After all, Jun sticks to you despite your weird antics. There must be something about you that I can’t see.”
Jun can’t hold back a grin at that while Nino throws one of the peas from his salad towards Aiba. They giggle a little like they are 16 again. It’s these moments that Jun knows he loves this life and he doesn’t want to swap it, even if it’s difficult and stressful sometimes.
“Are you three kids really teachers?” Ohno asks when he and Sho finally arrive too. They both sit down at their table and Sho snips one of the peas away. He has obviously planned for it to land somewhere else - at the other side of the table maybe - but it accidentally hits Ohno’s forehead.
Aiba laughs so much that he gasps for air while Ohno’s lips tug slightly. He tries hard to keep a straight expression, a little too hard, because it’s freaking obvious that he just wants to burst into laughter as well. When he throws the pea back at Sho, even the latter can’t hide a grin anymore. Nino and Jun exchange a smile. Under the table, Jun can feel Nino angling for his hand; his slender fingers suddenly wrapped around it.
This here is pretty okay, Jun thinks, and squeezes Nino’s hand back. Could be better and more relaxed sometimes, but then he is glad to have what he has.
“Let’s throw a party next week,” Aiba suggests. “School is over then, only the clubs remain, and we’ll hit summer break. Finally, two months of break. What do you say?”
Obviously they agree.
~~~
Nino is dressed in a simple black shirt and jeans. It looks weirdly good on him - he isn’t the fancy type but he still looks good when he dresses casually. Nino-style. They have dyed each other’s hair a little. Now, Nino is all blonde and Jun has pink hair strands sparkling through his black hair. It fits the new shirt he is wearing. The one Sho stared at for five minutes this morning without saying a word. Unfortunately for Sho, his silent disapproval doesn’t work on Jun anymore. It might have worked when he was 15 but now he just finds it fun.
Nino and Jun have appeared like that on the last school day. No uniform for that day.
“With that, it’s obvious that no one can beat you two in the favorite teacher department,” Sho grumbles.
“There are probably a few more reasons for that,” Nino teases back.
“So, what are you two doing after our party tonight? Going on a vacation?” Aiba asks while he first touches Nino’s blonde hair curiously before he moves to Jun’s pink strands of hair and grins when he sees the T-shirt.
“We still need to divide the club activities between all five of us,” Jun explains and puts the stuff on his working table in order. He won’t need most of it until September when school starts again. “Then we’ll decide what to do.”
“Yeah, let’s think properly about that,” Ohno nods and puts some art supplies into a shelf. He puts some other stuff in a bag to take them home. “Next year, we have quite a few new registrations, and the governor wants us to open the boarding school again. Apparently, we built up a good reputation for the school. He even threw in the word elite. However that happened. Let’s try to divide the work during summer holidays so that everyone has at least three weeks of vacation to regather some strength. We’ll need it.”
“Let’s meet at mine and Jun’s place today for the party,” Sho suggests. “We bought some drinks and I can mix us some cocktails. We could have a barbecue at the beach.”
Sho’s suggestion sounds appealing to all of them, so they naturally agree. The day at school is still long though, Jun has to talk to quite a few parents, to some students, give some advice for the summer homework, talk about the upcoming club activities, and help with the preparations for the school play in the afternoon. The others are equally busy because whenever he sees one of his friends, they are running around hectically.
It’s hours later when they all drop down at the veranda of Sho’s and Jun’s little bungalow. Nino and Ohno start the barbecue while the rest of them prepares some drinks.
“So what are you going to do?” Aiba picks up the question from this morning. “Now that you and Kazu are free for the last three weeks of August?”
“We thought about traveling to Europe for two weeks,” Jun explains. “If we still get a somewhat affordable flight. If not, we’ll go to Tokyo for a few days or New York. The last week we’ll be in Okinawa. Relaxing at the beach - but not at home. And you?” He asks back.
“Going for a little secret trip to Osaka. I don’t need any more plans,” Aiba twinkles and Jun knows exactly what, or rather who, he wants to meet. Their first meeting apparently went surprisingly well.
When Nino throws him a curious glance, Jun nods slightly. Later, Jun forms with his lips and Nino nods contently. “What about you, Sho?”
“Satoshi and I are going to take the boat,” Sho explains. “And cruise around for a while.” He grins slightly. “We’ll halt at several beaches and harbors, that’s been my condition. No way I’m going to sleep on a boat for weeks. During the last week, we’ll probably head to Tokyo and watch some exhibitions. The remaining time we’ll spend here and just relax.”
~~~
Jun feels like a college student again when he and Nino set up their plan for their vacation. Just that this time, it’s not only a dream but they are really going to do it. “So, it’s Paris - Florence - Rome - Vienna?” Jun concludes. “How did you get such a cheap flight?”
“My uncle,” Nino grins and joins Jun on the floor. They both hover over a bunch of travel guides now. “Works in a travel agency.”
“I want to see Michelangelo’s paintings,” Jun muses dreamily.
“I want to ride on a Lipizzaner horse,” Nino continues.
“Drive up the Eiffel tower.”
“See the Sistine Chapel.”
“See the Louvre.”
“Have sex at a small hostel room with thin walls!”
“Go to Versailles and Schönbrunn.”
Jun takes a few notes and nods. “It’s going to work. We’ll manage it all.”
“For the last week, let’s do nothing,” Nino suggests. “Just relax a bit in Okinawa at your aunt’s house. She needs someone to do some housesitting anyway, right?”
“Sounds good,” Jun agrees and turns over to lie on his back. He smiles a bit when he feels Nino’s head right next to his, placing a kiss between his right eyebrow and forehead. “Just don’t tell me you also have a psychosis when flying? It’s a Monday,” he jokes.
Nino laughs and lies down next to him. “Don’t worry. I’m saving my psychotic reactions for Mondays on a school day. Holidays don’t count.”
Jun smiles a bit. Sho and Ohno are already on their trip. Once they are back, it’s going to be their time. He can’t wait for it.
Pairing/Group: Matsumiya, the other three appear too (Oh, and Sho is Jun's brother in this :D)
Rating: PG-15
Beta: arashiforyou
Genre: AU in which Matsumiya and the rest of Arashi are teachers :D, romance
Summary: Seaside High is the only high school of the whole prefecture of their little town in the south. There aren’t that many people living here, and there are even less than 40 students and only five teachers. Sometimes life is stressful and difficult, but they wouldn't want to swap it with anything else!
Note: I've always wanted to write a story with Arashi as five hot and quirky teachers. Wouldn't that be cool? :D
I divided all main subjects between the five of them. Oh, and Nino is the math teacher in this just because he is badass enough to pull it off :D
“Forget it, I’M NOT GOING TO SCHOOL!” Nino’s voice is so loud and unusually squeaky that Jun feels like covering his ears in annoyance. “Fuck you, J!” Nino continues both his tantrum and his cursing while he clings to the school’s gate like it’s his own safety buoy.
Jun lets out a frustrated sigh. He feels like he will soon lose his patience. Seriously. He was going to plea Nino’s rationality or he grabs Nino's hips and carries him along like a little kid. “Seriously, Kazu. It’s the same old story every freaking Monday!” He says, already preparing for his next step - mainly for Nino who still refuse to comply and Jun needing to carry him into the school.
Gladly though, nothing of that kind happens because three giggly school girls passes them. They are a bit too late, but because Jun and Nino are late too, they confidently wave at them. “Good morning, Matsumoto-sensei, Ninomiya-sensei!”
Apparently, Nino has decided that his dignity and pride as a teacher is more important than his hatred against anything that has to do with school and Mondays. His class is going to write a math test today. Poor kids. Jun almost feels sorry for them. “Good morning,” Nino answers almost grimly, while Jun nods at the girls a bit.
Once they passed them, Nino turns to face him. “I hate you!” He huffs.
“Yeah, I know,” Jun answers dryly. “You can still hate me inside the building.”
~~~
“You are late! Again! Why are you always late on Mondays!?” Aiba’s eyes are so full of reproach that Jun feels like patting his head. When he does, Aiba’s features soften up a bit and he smiles brightly. “Well, at least you made it.” He says while he gathers all the things he needs for his handcraft class.
“What happened?” Sho says with concern. He has some books in his hands, already on the way to his class. History and Latin are his main subjects. Being a complicated prick is his second. And being Jun’s annoying older brother is his third. Unfortunately, he takes all three jobs way too serious.
“We had some issues,” Jun explains with a grin while Nino throws his jacket across his table in the teacher’s room and grabs a cup of coffee from Aiba. His eyes look at the beverage with so much anger that Jun fears that the milk might actually turn sour.
“Again?” Ohno asks casually. “Every Monday it’s the same, Kazu. Why the hell did you become a teacher if you hate it that much?” He is the only one still sitting at his place, a late breakfast in front him. Freaking art teachers apparently never work.
Nino seems to think the same because he throws Ohno a deathly glare. Before the situation can escalate any further, Jun pats Nino’s back. “Come, let’s go to our classes.”
For a moment, Nino stares at him in soft bewilderment before a dangerous frown appears on his pretty face. “Jun, are you seriously accompanying me to class just to make sure I stay there?”
“Of course I will.”
“What? You think I’d bail!?”
“You already did several times,” Aiba intervenes, sounding reproachful. “Only Jun can handle you. You are so difficult on Mondays, really.”
“Guys!” Sho suddenly tells them firmly. “It’s pretty late already. Let’s set a good example for the kids. At least sometimes.”
When he turns around, Jun rolls his eyes. Out of the corner of his eyes, he can see that Nino has a similar expression. “Good example.” Nino mumbles towards Jun, mimicking Sho’s voice not so nicely. “We are not in a fucking movie.”
Jun agrees, openly. He nods. “True.” He grabs some of his books. He is going to read modern literature with his class today. A topic he loves.
“Lucky you,” Nino grumbles when he sees the books. “The students here like you.”
“They like you too,” Jun argues. “It’s just your subject they don’t like. I mean, come on. Math!”
“Yeah, these insensitive teenagers! Pretty sure they’ll do miserable on today’s test. Half of them are going to study unemployment later on.”
“Nino-chan!” Aiba calls out when he runs by them. “Art and human studies are not unemployment.”
“Whatever,” Nino shrugs the other off while he follows Jun. “Not everyone can be a literature teacher like you. You are clearly in advance for the popularity ranking. And for all these teenage girls' sleepless nights because they dream of Matsumoto-sensei doing not so sensei-like things with them,” Nino teases, and much to Jun’s relief, his mood is slowly lightening up.
“Well,“ Jun takes the joke, “I’m pretty sure some of the guys have that dream too.”
Nino laughs. His mood is clearly up now. He nods a bit when he disappears in class. “See you later, J.”
~~~
When Jun hears the bells ring, ending the school day, he almost sighs in relief. It’s been a tiring day with an especially tiring start. “Get home safely, girls,” he tells his female students. They giggle a bit and wave at him happily. “And guys, stay sober.” The male students laugh and stop for a moment to joke around with him. It’s these moments that Jun enjoys being a teacher. He loves the interactions with the young teenagers. It’s not so much about the ideal to fill in their head with knowledge and science, but to awaken their dreams for their future, to make them think about what they want, to be able to lead them a tiny bit.
Seaside High is the only high school of the whole prefecture of their little town in the south. There aren’t that many people living here, and there are even less than 40 students and only five teachers-more the prefecture can afford.
If Jun thinks of the teacher’s meeting today, he gets a headache. They have basically divided the main subjects between themselves, which means that Ohno has to teach both art and music. “I’ve not studied music!” He complained back then when they reopened the school two years ago. Aiba’s answer was swift and pragmatic. “But you studied at art college. Music is art too. Hence, your cup of tea.”
The same trail of pragmatic logic had brought Japanese and Old-Japanese upon Jun, even though he has only studied literature. When the others had shoved that subject towards him, he had spent almost these entire two years reading and studying about Old-Japanese for himself while teaching it to his students at the same time. But even now he still doesn’t feel too confident about his knowledge.
Aiba studied biology. And because he was at a science faculty, he happily agreed to teach chemistry as well. He has always been the least complicated within them. Unlike Nino who originally studied math and because of their lack of teachers has to teach home economics as well-a subject he has basically no idea about. As for the remaining subjects, they basically take turns teaching them.
It was a beautiful job and an even more beautiful time with the others, but sometimes it was freaking difficult.
“If you continue pondering that much, you’ll get wrinkles.” He can hear Nino’s teasing voice next to him. “I don’t want to think what that might do to your beautiful face.”
“Woke up from your Monday-morning-tantrum?” Jun teases right back. The slight embarrassed blush on Nino’s cheeks is worth it.
“I just hate Mondays,” he says and adds, “Sorry. Been an idiot today. More than normally and more than on normal Mondays.” When Jun smiles slightly and waves it off, Nino looks around a bit. “All students gone home?”
“Mm,” Jun nods.
“Good.” Nino moves a bit closer, his hands on Jun’s waist first before they move up to his face. “I’m sorry I said I hate you,” he says and his eyes shine in caramel-brown. Bambi-like eyes, Jun says sometimes. “You lost weight,” Nino continues. “You work too much.”
Jun can clearly hear the complaint in Nino’s voice, though he doesn’t agree because Nino is so damn skinny himself, and wraps his arms around Nino’s own tiny waist to pull him closer and shut him up. When they kiss, it’s like the world stops spinning for a moment. Instead, Jun’s head does. Nino is too good at that.
They move away from each other. “We should probably go to the meeting. Sho always gets pretty annoyed when someone comes too late. He is such a pain sometimes”
Nino grins though he is clearly displeased with the interruption of his seduction. “You always say that, but secretly you love him to bits.”
Jun can’t help a smile.
~~~
“It’s a new month. We have to decide on the new circle for the remaining side-subjects.” Sho looks tired when he looks down at the sheets of paper in front of him. Jun frowns at that. He doesn’t like that look.
“Who is doing handcraft next month?” He jumps to Sho’s help.
“I could take that,” Aiba suggests.
“But you already taught it last month. It’s not particularly fair,” Nino intervenes.
Aiba blushes a bit. “Yes, but I need to dissect a frog next week. You know I hate doing that! So I thought, maybe, if I took the handcraft class for one more month, one of you could take that task from me.”
Sho and Jun exchange a glance before they both grin. “And who should do that instead of you?” Jun wants to know. “Last month when you were sick and I had to teach your biology class, it was a natural catastrophe.”
“Not as bad as when I had to jump in for his chemistry class,” Ohno argues.
“Yes,” Nino agrees with a bright grin. “You almost set the laboratory on fire.”
Before Aiba could jump into the discussion as well, Sho interrupts them. “Nino, can’t you take Aiba-chan’s biology class? At least you have a clue about what you do, unlike the rest of us.”
“Technically yes, but wasn’t I supposed to hold the informatics class?”
“I could do that for you,” Sho says and when Nino nods. He fills in their names into the schedule that’s hanging in the middle of the teacher’s room for all of them to see.
“That means I’m alone for sport class for one month when Sho has to take the informatics class,” Jun says. It’s the only class he and Sho are basically switching between each other on a weekly basis because the others hate it. He wants to sound supportive and relaxed, but he adds, “It’s also my turn for culture class.” He frowns slightly at the thought of having to teach so many hours.
“It’s too much!” Nino butts in immediately before anyone else can say anything. He sends Jun an encouraging smile. “We have to rethink everything.”
“No, we don’t need to,” Ohno intervenes. It’s only then that Jun realizes that Ohno has hardly said anything until now. He has basically stayed invisible. Jun wonders why but doesn’t want to ask with everyone else listening. “I can help with both classes.”
“You hate the sport class,” Aiba argues.
Ohno shrugs. “Jun can’t do both classes, it’s impossible. Should he overwork himself, one of us has to do his classes, which would be horrifying. Old-Japanese! The only thing worse is when we have to jump in for Sho’s Latin classes.”
Despite the tense and exhausting situation, Nino and Aiba laugh. Even Jun has to chuckle. To his surprise, Sho keeps a straight face through this interaction. Not even a smile escapes his lips. What the hell happened?
“We could go swimming with our sports class tomorrow,” Jun suggests to diffuse the weird tension.
“A bunch of teenagers checking each other and their hot literature teacher out?” Ohno jokes. “Well, sounds like fun!” He teases and his face lights up a bit, while Nino’s gets gloomier.
~~~
Sho opens the door to their two-story bungalow with his elbow. They hardly ever lock the door. No one is around to break into their house after all. Jun follows him and puts the groceries on the table.
“I’m letting the door open,” he tells Sho. He enjoys the slight breeze that comes from the ocean and how they can hear the waves from their veranda. It’s a small village here and one that can only be reached via car and ferry, even though it’s not an island. But driving over the mountains would take too long. Still, Jun loves this place. The others do too, that’s why they came back and decided to bring some life back to it by re-opening the school.
When he coincidentally looks at Sho’s phone, he can see Ohno is calling. “It’s Satoshi-kun,” he tells his brother and points at the phone “He's calling.”
Sho shrugs and looks slightly annoyed all of a sudden. “Let him. I’ll call back later.”
Jun feels like he should be more surprised than he actually is. Ohno’s quiet attitude and Sho’s tired expression makes a lot more sense now. “Sho…” He takes the phone and looks at it for a while. “You have ten missed calls from him.”
“Leave it. I already told you I’m going to call back later,” Sho says, his voice more tense and unusually hostile. This is exactly the moment others retreat, Jun though as his brother doesn’t care at all.
“Later? As in never?” He says calmly.
“Shut up, Jun. What do you know!?” Sho answers sharply. His lips move a bit like he is talking to himself. Jun guesses that he is counting from one to ten to cool down. Last year, Aiba had given him a self-therapy book against short temper. It was supposed to be a joke, but Sho had taken it more serious than expected.
“I know more than you think I do. I’m just saying-“ Jun starts.
“I don’t want to know what you are saying! I told you - leave it, the fuck, alone!” Sho interrupts him, his voice vibrating slightly. He has these typical dark eyes that sends anyone else packing immediately. Jun takes the kitchen knife instead and starts cutting vegetables. He has learned that staying calm is the best strategy.
“Fine,” Jun says and puts some vegetables into the pan. “I just think that you should talk with the person you like and not waste your effort on yelling at me.”
For a while, it’s silent. Sho sets the table, and Jun prepares their dinner. After a while, he can hear Sho letting out a sigh. Jun turns around, seeing how Sho supports himself on the table, not looking at him. “I’m sorry, Jun,” he says, “for taking it out on you.”
“Never mind.” Normally, Jun would have stayed angry a little longer. He hates to get yelled at, especially by Sho and he hates this kind of tantrum in general. But there is something in Sho’s eyes that awakens his sympathy-must have been a huge fight with Ohno. “Let’s eat,” he says, “and have a drink together.”
“Pina Colada at the veranda?” Sho asks, smiling slightly. “Don’t you have a date or something else to do tonight?”
“No,” Jun lies.
When Sho isn’t watching, he grabs his own phone. Kazu, I’m sorry. I can’t drop by yet. Sho’s having a problem. I’m seriously worried this time.
The answer comes fast. When will you drop by then?
Not sure if I’ll make it tonight. I’ll call you, okay?
Nino’s answer comes fast again. Fine. ò_ó If you don’t want to meet, I’ll drop by at Masaki’s instead!
It’s a clear provocation, Jun knows that. He feels pissed suddenly. Have fun. He types in his phone and switches it off.
This evening, he and Sho are both getting hopelessly drunk, each of them sitting on a wicker chair at the beach right in front of their house, feet buried in the cool sand while they look at the dark and beautiful ocean.
It’s only the next day when Jun wakes up with a huge headache and a sensitive stomach that he pads down to the kitchen and switches his phone on again. Nino has called at least 15 times.
Fuck. He curses inwardly. Just yesterday he judged Sho for not talking to Ohno. And here he is, not better at all.
“Drink this,” Sho says and holds a cold glass with water against Jun’s forehead. “Aspirin and magnesium. Seriously, it’s like we were 15 again.”
“You never were 15. You always were 30, even as a 10-year old,” Jun grumbles and indeed feels like his sulky teenage self again.
Sho chuckles, much to Jun’s surprise. “I’ve always liked you hangover-ish. You are the cute younger brother from years ago then, not my so mature grown up one.”
“Did you already eat breakfast?” Jun asks to diffuse his brother from this rather embarrassing topic.
“Hell no,” Sho sighs. “After we emptied a whole bottle of gin yesterday and I spent half of my night head hanging over our toilet, I should definitely not eat too much today.”
“Say Sho-“
“Hm?”
“Was it your fault or Satoshi-kun’s?” He did not specify his questions anymore; he knows that Sho understands he's talking about whatever happened between them.
Sho sighs deeply. “Had you asked me yesterday, I would have probably said Satoshi. Now I’m not sure anymore. I guess I’m just too complicated to be with.”
“Don’t say that!” Jun answers sharply. “I won’t let anyone insult my brother. Even if it’s my brother himself. I’m the only one who is allowed to judge you. And since we are already at it, you should drink some aspirin too, you look like a ghost, idiot.”
~~~
“What happened to you?” Aiba asks promptly when he sees them. “You both look sick.”
Normally Jun loves Aiba’s cheerfulness, today though he feels like biting his head off. Jun grumbles something alongside the words haven’t slept well and sits down at his table. His gaze brushes towards Nino, but he doesn’t look at him any longer than necessary. He doesn’t say anything else either.
He hears Sho greeting the others first before saying “Good morning” towards Ohno. His voice is so cold that it sends a shiver over Jun’s spine. They are indeed having a bad day, he thinks.
Jun rests his head against his palm. He still has a headache. “I think I’m writing a not-graded test today,” he mumbles more to himself than the others. “For me and the kids to see if they understood everything and how they might do for the real exams in two weeks.”
“Hm…” Ohno says, most likely wondering over the fact that Jun normally never does something like that. It isn’t normally part of his teaching methods. But then, maybe he doesn’t wonder at all. Jun is sure that Ohno can guess that he and Sho got hopelessly drunk yesterday.
It’s twenty minutes later when he is walking towards his class that Nino suddenly walks next to him. “Did you drink too much, Jun?”
“Hm,” Jun says, his ears ringing slightly.
“Are you going to ignore me for the rest of the day?” Nino asks persistently.
Jun pauses when he reaches his class. He holds the door knob in his hands when he turns around to look at his friend. “I can’t believe you tried to put pressure on me by bringing up Masaki’s name,” he says. He can hear his voice vibrating slightly in anger.
He can see how Nino opens his lips to say something. Before Nino can do so, Jun flees into the classroom.
It’s later that he finds a note sticking to his books. I’m truly sorry. Talk to me again, please!
~~~
“Take it easy,” Ohno says calmly when he and Jun are walking towards the ocean for the sports class. “It’s hot and the sun is burning down. Have you eaten anything today?”
Jun shakes his head. “No. I’m afraid I might throw up then.”
“I thought so. Here, eat this. It’s just dry zwieback. Totally harmless.”
Jun feels like he should oppose, otherwise he might throw up for real. But Ohno’s calmness is somewhat convincing so he takes the risk. He takes a careful bite. For a moment, the world starts spinning around him. It feels like little knifes are attacking his stomach. Then, he suddenly feels a little better. His circulatory system is more stable all of a sudden. “Thanks, Satoshi-kun.”
Ohno smiles and nods before he looks at Jun openly. “Say, Jun-kun, how mad is Sho?”
“On a scale from one to ten?” Jun smiles slightly. “Probably a solid eight, maybe even nine. But then Sho doesn’t know anything from one to five. It’s always above that.”
“Probably,” Ohno chuckles.
“Was it your fault?” Jun wants to know.
“I guess. Mostly, yes.” Ohno tilts his head. “I hardly doubt he is without fault in that issue though.”
“My brother is difficult sometimes,” Jun says honestly. “I know that more than anyone else. But believe me, he is worth it.”
Ohno looks at Jun in surprise for a moment, then he laughs openly. “What a rare insight from you. Normally, you always complain about him.”
Jun smacks him, chuckling too now. “Stop it, idiot.”
They both drop down in the warm sand while waiting for their students to arrive. “You know,” Ohno continues when he has calmed down, “I know he is worth it. So don’t worry. I’ll talk to him soon.”
“He is stubborn. So be prepared.”
“Yeah,” Ohno grins. “Just like you. Stubborn, short-tempered, and way too composed when you are hurt.” He moves aside when Jun throws a handful of sand in his direction. “You should talk to Nino too,” he suggests. “He feels seriously guilty and down. I met him earlier this morning while he was waiting for you.”
Jun is silent for a while, he looks up at the sky - it’s without any clouds today - before he shifts his glance towards the ocean. It’s calm, only a few tiny waves appear on the surface. So alluring and beautiful. “It should be easier to like someone.” he finally says. “It shouldn’t be that complicated.”
“I know.”
~~~
To be honest he is almost glad that Ohno is doing this class together with him. At this place, there is basically no student who can’t swim. It’s just natural that everyone learns to swim when living right next to the ocean. Still, it’s a whole lot responsibility to hold a swimming class in the ocean.
“Matsumoto-sensei!” One of the girls calls out while pointing at the beach. “Ninomiya-sensei is here too.”
Jun shifts his glance towards the beach in surprise. She was right. Nino was sitting at the beach, watching them. Some of the pupils wave towards him, and he waves back.
“Come on,” Ohno mumbles silently. “Don’t make it that difficult and overdramatic.”
It’s probably the slight tone of reproach in Ohno’s voice-and the fact that he might call him a drama queen for the next two weeks-that finally pushes him to give in. He waves a bit towards the beach, not particularly convinced first, but even from the distance he can see how Nino’s face lights up a bit and he smiles carefully.
He loses track of Nino during the next hour though because holding a sport class in the ocean is indeed a horrible responsibility. And he decides - with or without Ohno’s help - he is going to play volleyball for the next class.
When he steps out of his wet swimming shorts in the teacher’s changing room, he feels two arms hugging him from behind - a nose nuzzling his hair and wet lips trailing over his neck. “Kazu-“ Jun sighs slightly when Nino kisses his sensitive spot right at the back of his neck. “I’m all wet and not wearing any clothes.”
Nino snickers and his lips vibrate against his skin. “I know.”
Jun considers his options a bit, then he decides to just go with the flow. “Door locked?” He asks carefully.
“Please-“ Nino grins when Jun turns around and pulls him closer. They move towards the bench right next to the lockers. “You are talking to me. I never enter a room alone with you without locking the door,” he continues while lying down on the bench, his legs wrapped around Jun while the latter hovers above him. “I’m always prepared.”
~~~
“Oh, a rare guest?” Sho says when Jun and Nino arrive at Jun’s place. Nino throws Jun a wary glance like he isn’t too sure if Sho is joking or being serious. Jun, on the other hand, sighs.
“Can you be any more awkward?” He asks Sho.
The latter blushes slightly. “No harm intended,” he says and probably means it. Trust Sho to make a situation more awkward than necessary while having the best intentions.
Jun doesn’t get any time to answer though. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Ohno’s grey little truck halting behind their bungalow. A cloud of dust disperses. Sho has seen the truck too because he looks surprised and nervous all of a sudden. Jun smiles slightly.
“Beach?” Jun turns towards Nino.
Nino lets out a sigh. “Don’t tell me you want to go swimming again? Didn’t you have enough?”
“I promise you-“ Jun starts then he bends forward, whispering something in Nino’s ear, something he knows is dirty enough that Nino would do anything for.
He is right because Nino grins all of a sudden and nods. “Let’s go swimming. I’m all into it suddenly!”
“What did you promise him?” Sho asks sounding slightly alarmed.
Jun merely smirks. “Secret. But it involves some ties. And a whip.”
After this straight-forward announcement, Jun thinks Sho looks like he needs therapy. But he gladly doesn’t have enough time to get on his nerves because Ohno appears right behind them. “Can we talk?” He asks in his calm matter-of-fact voice, the one that Jun knows sometimes pisses off Sho. But it’s just so soothing at the same time.
“See you later,” Jun waves and hurries after Nino. The latter is already in the water, covered up to his hips. He is not wearing any clothes, so Jun gets rid of all of his too. When he arrives next to Nino’s side, the latter turns around, flashing him a beautiful smile. He wraps his arms around Jun’s hips and stretches a bit to kiss him. Jun bends forward slightly. It feels a bit sappy, like this stupid Twilight movie they watched with Aiba last week, but he doesn’t care.
When they move apart, Nino grins anyway and gladly interrupts the sap. “I can’t wait to use those ties,” he says.
Jun grins and jumps head first into the ocean. When he comes up to the surface again, he looks towards their house. He can’t help but smile. He can clearly see Ohno hugging Sho.
~~~
“Isn’t it too warm for a long-sleeved sweater?” Sho asks in surprise when Jun pads into the kitchen the next day. Normally, that would draw a teasing comment from Jun about why it’s suddenly Sho’s business what he is wearing and when. But it’s almost lunch time, and Jun is just glad that Sho doesn’t bother him with stupid questions about why he slept so long. Judging by the look on Sho’s face, he just got up himself.
“Damage prevention,” Jun says and grins. Actually, he only wears it since he always feels cold when getting up. For a moment, Sho looks at him through questioning eyes before he rolls his eyes.
He frowns. “Can’t you just have normal sex!?”
“You mean boring,“ Jun smirks. “Like you and Satoshi-kun?” He laughs when Sho first throws some coffee beans into his direction before he chases him through the house.
At one point, they stumble over Ohno lying on one of the canvas chairs on the veranda. “Why are you two so active all the time?” He mumbles tiredly.
“Oh-“ Jun pulls his eyebrows up and throws his brother a teasing glance. “You had a sleepover party, I guess?” He jokes.
Ohno grins. “You could call it like that, yes.” He sounds content, Jun thinks, and Sho looks happy too, so he drops the teasing though normally he would have made another joke about their sex life. Instead, he decides that they are all going to have a late breakfast outside.
“Where is Kazu?” Ohno asks when he sits down at the perfectly set table on the veranda. He had asked to help, but he got on Jun’s nerves with his random way of putting the dishes. So he decided to place himself on a seat with a cup of tea in his hands and let the rest cook alone. “Didn’t he stay overnight?”
Jun chuckles. “Actually I didn’t stay overnight. We weren’t here last night. He is meeting Masaki today anyway. They are going to help Masaki’s mother with re-painting her garden fence.”
“Ah-“ Ohno nods and doesn’t ask any further. Instead, he drinks his oolong tea and eats one of the rice cakes Sho has offered him.
~~~
Jun goes shopping with Aiba mainly because Nino hates shopping. Sho is a pain in the butt during these occasions, and Ohno is no help at all. It has always been like this, even when they were teenagers and already hanging out with each other all the time.
Hence, he and Aiba are shopping buddies since a long time already. They always go in tons of shops, buy too many stuff, and go for lunch in between and later for a drink. It takes the whole day. For anyone else but them, it apparently seems to be a horrifying thought.
“Be brutally honest,” Aiba demands and shifts around a little, “what do you think about this trouser?”
The trouser has red stripes and ends slightly above the ankles. A slightly too long and wide green blouse covers Aiba's upper body, held together by a loose tie. Everyone else would have looked freaking stupid with it, but it seems pretty fashionable on Aiba. “Fits you,” Jun says. “But never lend it to anyone.”
Aiba laughs. “What about you?”
Jun turns around a little. Over a blue blazer, Jun dresses himself in a white shirt with BITCH written on it in capital, glittery, pink letters with a pair of random jeans. Aiba gives him thumbs up. “Awesome pick, Jun! Nino will love that shirt. Sho will hate it.”
Jun smiles a bit. “I know.”
They go for an Italian restaurant later and eat spaghetti and seafood. Later on, they take a look at a few other shops, mainly shoes and accessories.
“We spent too much money,” Aiba sighs when he puts on his new hat.
Jun, wearing his new sunglasses, shrugs. “That’s why we are only doing this once every few months.”
“A few drinks?” Aiba wants to know.
“Beach bar?”
“Awesome!”
There is a little guitar band playing at the beach bar. They search a place outside though it’s awfully crowded this time around. Well, it’s not that any of them minds. Aiba settles for some Mojito, Jun for Mai tai.
“Warm night,” Aiba mumbles randomly while he squishes and crashes the ice of his Mojito slightly.
Jun nods, feeling tired of their long shopping day. He is used to the sticky warm air of summer, but right now it feels a little exhausting. “Say, Masaki, anything new in your life?” He finally asks casually.
“I’m meeting my pen pal next week,” Aiba answers and sucks at his straw.
Jun stares at him in surprise. “What!? But-” he pauses, eyeing his friend curiously. “Didn’t you say you don’t want to go on a blind date. Ever.”
“It’s not a blind date anymore,” Aiba giggles. “I’ve seen a photo of Ryo by now.”
There are probably tons of things Jun feels like saying now. Be careful. What if the photo is fake? What if you are getting tricked. What if. Aiba grins and chews on an ice cube. It’s almost like he can read his thoughts. “I’m probably too much in my teacher mode right now,” Jun says.
“At least you didn’t react like Sho or Satoshi would,” Aiba jokes.
“Well,” Jun empties his Mai tai with one sip, “at least I’ve that much going for me.”
He thinks life with Nino could be a little easier. But when he listens how Aiba talks about his pen pal, he wouldn’t want to swap Nino with anyone else. It is how it is. Sometimes annoying and difficult, but most of the time excited and fun.
~~~
It’s Monday. Another faithful, sunny, Monday morning. This time, though, Jun isn’t alone with Nino’s temper tantrum. Aiba is a little too late too and happily helps him carry Nino inside. On their way into the building, Nino accidentally kicks both Aiba and Jun, leaving Aiba with a bruise on his arm and Jun with a little scratch on his right cheek.
“I can’t believe it,” Sho mumbles when they finally reach the conference room.
Ohno, on the other hand, grins openly. “Next time take valium, Kazu. It might help us all.”
A few minutes later, Nino’s senses seems to be back because he crawls to his place and hides behind a cup of tea. “Oh dear,” he sighs after a while.
“Yeah,” Aiba grins and spins around in his swivel chair until Ohno finally stops him. He looks a little dizzy. “You need therapy.”
“Obviously,” Nino grumbles. “I even hurt Jun.”
“Yes,” Jun says seriously while Nino throws him a slightly fearful glance, like he is afraid that they will get into a fight again or Jun will be mad at him like a few weeks ago. “I’m obviously in an abusive relationship.”
Aiba chuckles slightly while Sho and Ohno exchange a grin. “This is very serious,” Sho plays along. “I’m worried about you.”
“Maybe you should call the police?” Ohno suggests innocently.
Nino watches them for a while. Jun can’t tell if he is surprised, embarrassed, or a little angry. But then he laughs all of a sudden. “I got it,” he smiles. “I need to do something about my Monday-morning-crisis.”
“What’s your problem with Mondays anyway?” Aiba asks.
“A new week begins.”
“Ah-“ Aiba utters and eyes the other carefully. Jun just shrugs. “And?”
“It means the old week is over.”
“And?”
“I don’t like things being over,” Nino explains surprisingly earnest. “I like the old week, so why look forward to a new week?”
For a moment, it’s silent around them. Then, Aiba grunts. “And they say I’m the stupid one here.”
~~~
“It’s hard to explain,” Nino tries it again when he and Jun walk to their classrooms.
“It’s also quite hard to understand,” Jun admits.
Nino nods slightly but doesn’t say anything. After a while, he lets out a frustrated sigh. Then he looks around carefully before he grabs Jun’s hand and pulls him into a little storage room. “I’m working on it. So please bear with me and my psychosis a little longer,” he says, sounding so honest that Jun feels a little touched.
Jun touches Nino’s faces affectionately. He still looks so freaking young at first glance, but here and there Jun can see little furrows and wrinkles, almost invisible. It suits him, Jun thinks, makes him look more mature and gives him an almost sophisticated touch. “I will,” he promises. “So don’t pressure yourself.”
Nino nods.
“You could join Sho with his self-therapy book. The one he got from Aiba,” Jun jokes, and it finally draws a smile from Nino.
“I’m not that desperate yet,” Nino grins. “See you later for lunch?” He wants to know, before he pats against his bag. “For now, I need to hurry to Aiba’s class. Dissection! Finally. I can’t wait,” he smiles a little too diabolical. Jun is glad that he doesn’t know what the hell Nino is going to dissect today.
~~~
He doesn’t get to think too much about it though because he is pretty busy the whole day too: preparation for their school theater, doing preparations for the end-term exams next week, and sports class.
The girls giggle when Jun and Ohno step on the sport field. “How do you and Sho manage to survive that?” Ohno mumbles in slight irritation. “Like, every day.”
“Hm?” Jun blinks a little, then he shrugs. He doesn’t even realize the flirting anymore. “You get used to it,” he says.
Ohno shakes his head, obviously not believing it. Jun can’t help but throw a little teasing in their talk. “Maybe they are checking you out not me? Fresh meat, you know.”
“Oh, shut up,” Ohno grumbles and Jun laughs. Ohno throws him a surprised glance during the sport lesson, but it’s only at the end that he finally dares to ask. “You are in a good mood, Jun.”
“Yes,” Jun throws the volleyball towards his students. “Guys, work a little harder!“ He calls towards them. “The girls are pretty much wiping the floor with you.”
“Riki and Mika are playing in a volleyball club,” some of the guys protest.
Jun grins. “Don’t always use excuses.” When the kids laugh and finally turn to the game again, he remembers that Ohno is still waiting for an answer. “I’ve decided to see things more relaxed from now on.”
Ohno tilts his head but doesn’t ask what exactly he means. Jun is sure that he makes his own conclusions anyway. So, it’s okay.
~~~
It’s home-economics-Thursday, which means that Nino and his class are cooking the school’s lunch. It’s basically the day every week that everyone in the school fears terribly. When Jun peaks into the kitchen carefully, he already knows they’ll be in need for some real food later on.
Some of the girls are hovering over a completely messed up cake - not enough oil maybe? Two guys are trying to save the rice from getting so watery that it might only be edible with a spoon. When they pour the flour into it, Jun starts feeling a little sick. And another group tries to save the meat from burning. Meanwhile, Nino tries his best to look like he knows what he's doing. He is surprisingly convincing with that.
When Jun comes back from his little spying trip, Aiba already eyes him expectantly. “As bad as I hope it is?” He says.
Jun smiles a little. “Maybe even worse.”
“Awesome!” Aiba exclaims and sounds a bit too excited considering that it’s Nino’s cooking class. And that the food is beyond awful most of the time.
Apparently, Jun has lost his mind because he eats some of the food, mainly to support Nino, even though Sho and Ohno have politely declined and Aiba is making a selfie with it. He is probably going to send that to his pen pal.
~~~
The burnt meat with watery rice wasn’t enough for them to feel full. So they settle for Yakiniku after the school day is over. It’s Masaki, Nino, and Jun for now because the other two still have classes. However, it’s fine not to have the older ones around for a moment - gives them room to gossip and talk about private stuff.
“How was your date?” Jun wants to know from Aiba.
Aiba only raises his thumb and grins mischievously.
“Awesome, Masaki,” Nino chuckles. “You are the man.”
“It’s more like you are the man.” Aiba shoots back. “After all, Jun sticks to you despite your weird antics. There must be something about you that I can’t see.”
Jun can’t hold back a grin at that while Nino throws one of the peas from his salad towards Aiba. They giggle a little like they are 16 again. It’s these moments that Jun knows he loves this life and he doesn’t want to swap it, even if it’s difficult and stressful sometimes.
“Are you three kids really teachers?” Ohno asks when he and Sho finally arrive too. They both sit down at their table and Sho snips one of the peas away. He has obviously planned for it to land somewhere else - at the other side of the table maybe - but it accidentally hits Ohno’s forehead.
Aiba laughs so much that he gasps for air while Ohno’s lips tug slightly. He tries hard to keep a straight expression, a little too hard, because it’s freaking obvious that he just wants to burst into laughter as well. When he throws the pea back at Sho, even the latter can’t hide a grin anymore. Nino and Jun exchange a smile. Under the table, Jun can feel Nino angling for his hand; his slender fingers suddenly wrapped around it.
This here is pretty okay, Jun thinks, and squeezes Nino’s hand back. Could be better and more relaxed sometimes, but then he is glad to have what he has.
“Let’s throw a party next week,” Aiba suggests. “School is over then, only the clubs remain, and we’ll hit summer break. Finally, two months of break. What do you say?”
Obviously they agree.
~~~
Nino is dressed in a simple black shirt and jeans. It looks weirdly good on him - he isn’t the fancy type but he still looks good when he dresses casually. Nino-style. They have dyed each other’s hair a little. Now, Nino is all blonde and Jun has pink hair strands sparkling through his black hair. It fits the new shirt he is wearing. The one Sho stared at for five minutes this morning without saying a word. Unfortunately for Sho, his silent disapproval doesn’t work on Jun anymore. It might have worked when he was 15 but now he just finds it fun.
Nino and Jun have appeared like that on the last school day. No uniform for that day.
“With that, it’s obvious that no one can beat you two in the favorite teacher department,” Sho grumbles.
“There are probably a few more reasons for that,” Nino teases back.
“So, what are you two doing after our party tonight? Going on a vacation?” Aiba asks while he first touches Nino’s blonde hair curiously before he moves to Jun’s pink strands of hair and grins when he sees the T-shirt.
“We still need to divide the club activities between all five of us,” Jun explains and puts the stuff on his working table in order. He won’t need most of it until September when school starts again. “Then we’ll decide what to do.”
“Yeah, let’s think properly about that,” Ohno nods and puts some art supplies into a shelf. He puts some other stuff in a bag to take them home. “Next year, we have quite a few new registrations, and the governor wants us to open the boarding school again. Apparently, we built up a good reputation for the school. He even threw in the word elite. However that happened. Let’s try to divide the work during summer holidays so that everyone has at least three weeks of vacation to regather some strength. We’ll need it.”
“Let’s meet at mine and Jun’s place today for the party,” Sho suggests. “We bought some drinks and I can mix us some cocktails. We could have a barbecue at the beach.”
Sho’s suggestion sounds appealing to all of them, so they naturally agree. The day at school is still long though, Jun has to talk to quite a few parents, to some students, give some advice for the summer homework, talk about the upcoming club activities, and help with the preparations for the school play in the afternoon. The others are equally busy because whenever he sees one of his friends, they are running around hectically.
It’s hours later when they all drop down at the veranda of Sho’s and Jun’s little bungalow. Nino and Ohno start the barbecue while the rest of them prepares some drinks.
“So what are you going to do?” Aiba picks up the question from this morning. “Now that you and Kazu are free for the last three weeks of August?”
“We thought about traveling to Europe for two weeks,” Jun explains. “If we still get a somewhat affordable flight. If not, we’ll go to Tokyo for a few days or New York. The last week we’ll be in Okinawa. Relaxing at the beach - but not at home. And you?” He asks back.
“Going for a little secret trip to Osaka. I don’t need any more plans,” Aiba twinkles and Jun knows exactly what, or rather who, he wants to meet. Their first meeting apparently went surprisingly well.
When Nino throws him a curious glance, Jun nods slightly. Later, Jun forms with his lips and Nino nods contently. “What about you, Sho?”
“Satoshi and I are going to take the boat,” Sho explains. “And cruise around for a while.” He grins slightly. “We’ll halt at several beaches and harbors, that’s been my condition. No way I’m going to sleep on a boat for weeks. During the last week, we’ll probably head to Tokyo and watch some exhibitions. The remaining time we’ll spend here and just relax.”
~~~
Jun feels like a college student again when he and Nino set up their plan for their vacation. Just that this time, it’s not only a dream but they are really going to do it. “So, it’s Paris - Florence - Rome - Vienna?” Jun concludes. “How did you get such a cheap flight?”
“My uncle,” Nino grins and joins Jun on the floor. They both hover over a bunch of travel guides now. “Works in a travel agency.”
“I want to see Michelangelo’s paintings,” Jun muses dreamily.
“I want to ride on a Lipizzaner horse,” Nino continues.
“Drive up the Eiffel tower.”
“See the Sistine Chapel.”
“See the Louvre.”
“Have sex at a small hostel room with thin walls!”
“Go to Versailles and Schönbrunn.”
Jun takes a few notes and nods. “It’s going to work. We’ll manage it all.”
“For the last week, let’s do nothing,” Nino suggests. “Just relax a bit in Okinawa at your aunt’s house. She needs someone to do some housesitting anyway, right?”
“Sounds good,” Jun agrees and turns over to lie on his back. He smiles a bit when he feels Nino’s head right next to his, placing a kiss between his right eyebrow and forehead. “Just don’t tell me you also have a psychosis when flying? It’s a Monday,” he jokes.
Nino laughs and lies down next to him. “Don’t worry. I’m saving my psychotic reactions for Mondays on a school day. Holidays don’t count.”
Jun smiles a bit. Sho and Ohno are already on their trip. Once they are back, it’s going to be their time. He can’t wait for it.