A Different kind of Treasure (part 3)
A/N: Sorry, real life hasn't been kind these last few days
Band: Arashi
Rating: G (for now :3)
Synopsis: For a competition on saigo_no_lady Junba fic with prompt - 'a super exciting pirate/etc. AU where they fall in love and there are battles and they are both very dashing and maybe the rest of Arashi shows up'
Part 3: Lost names
“Masaki?” Sho prompted, looking confused. “Is Satoshi right? Did he know your name?” He used the moment of questioning to also look them over, checking to make sure they hadn’t been injured at all in the fight. As much as his friends thought he was over protective of everyone he wasn’t fretting about any of those he didn’t know on the ship, just this handful of ragtag pirates that he felt endearingly responsible for.
“Yeah…” Aiba frowned, looking away. He didn’t have any idea how the other pirate could know him. It wasn’t even fair! He was the one looking for him after all. So why wasn’t he finding out any of the answers?
“Wait, that wasn’t the pirate girl you’ve been looking for is it?” Nino tried to hold in his smirk as Aiba blushed. “It was, wasn’t it?!”
Sho frowned, turning to Nino as he finished off checking Aiba for wounds. “He was a guy, right?” He looked him up and down, a look of concern on his face. “You’re bleeding.”
Nino shook him off with a wave of his hand, raising an eyebrow at his question. “It’s just a little cut and you’re kidding, right?” He looked to Aiba before laughing when he didn’t amend Sho himself. “Wow, he’s definitely got some womanly hips…”
“Nino!” Aiba spluttered, trying his very hardest not to think about the other man’s hips at that precise moment, though it did break any small train of thought that had been present before.
Nino shrugged. “Well, when we find him again expect more teasing.” He waited for a second as if he’d realised something before leaning forward. “Oh and here’s a present.” He grinned before hitting Aiba’s forearm hard.
“Hey, what was that for?” A whine followed as Aiba rubbed his arm quickly.
“For trying to chase after him like a lovesick puppy.” Nino looked over at Sho as if to make his point.
“That’s true…I thought you learning to be a pirate was so that you didn’t do something…I was about to say reckless but I think we all know that becoming a pirate was a pretty reckless move.” Sho sighed, shaking his head with an endearing smile. “You need to learn running after him isn’t going to just make everything work the way you want it to. Hell, he’s the enemy right at this moment in time.” He finally took a look around the ship, wincing at the blood splattered deck, a few unlucky sailors still moaning in pain with little to no chance of recovery.
“He is not.” Aiba spoke quickly and confidently, looking up at Sho in shock for even considering that.
“Oh? And how do you know for sure?” Sho sounded distracted as if debating what their next course of action was. They had no allegiance to the ship or its crew, he and Nino at least had only boarded to keep an eye on the other two.
“I-I just do, OK.” Aiba paused, thinking it through, the feeling behind his words feeling familiar. “I don’t know how I know I just know he’s not a bad guy.”
“Which brings us back to the question at hand. How do you know him?” Ohno entered the conversation quietly, the others almost forgetting he was there with his silent demeanour.
“Yeah that’s right. Were there some crucial details you forgot to mention when you first told me and Sho about him?” Nino gave Aiba a knowing nudge and a wink. “Well? Were you friendlier with him than you let on?”
“What? No!” Aiba spluttered, his mind going blank at the thought.
“Nino, that’s enough. We’ll never get an answer out of him if you keep teasing him.” Ohno tried to keep a straight face, his mouth quirking up at the corner as Sho and Nino fell about laughing beside them. Especially when Nino tried to apologize but his words wouldn’t come out properly. “Come on Masaki, how did he know you? And well enough to call you by…what was it? Masa?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Aiba sunk down to sit on the deck, running a hand through his hair. “He looked so sad when he realised I didn’t remember him.” He glared at the sea, not even noticed his friends had stopped laughing. “How is that I want to get to know him and yet he already knows me? It’s not fair!”
“You don’t remember?” Sho looked from the others to Aiba in shock. “But if this is the guy you’ve been looking for how could you not-”
“Not helping.” Nino rolled his eyes, giving Sho a soft kick before squatting down in front of his friend, whose head had flopped heavily into his knees at Sho’s words. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone call you Masa before.”
Aiba stared at him for a second, his eyebrows furrowing at the thought. “Someone has called me that before…” The small sense of familiarity at the nickname spread through him now that Nino mentioned it.
“But haven’t you two been friends since you were kids?” Sho started in shock, still remembering the first time he’d seen the pair thick as thieves. He’d even wondered whether they were brothers from time to time the way they treated each other.
“Only since Masaki moved to the port.” Nino shrugged, a small smile on his face. “Someone got himself lost on his first day here.”
“Yeah and some little pickpocket saw their chance to pretend to help me.” Aiba mock glared at the grinning brat.
“Well you were showing how lost you were with that adorable little panicked look on your face. You were easy prey.” Nino patted him on the head. “At least it was me who got to you first and you sure learnt quickly that you had to walk about like you were confident in yourself.”
“Going off track again.” Ohno sighed, shaking his head. “But I guess if Masaki doesn’t remember then we’re not going to get anywhere just by asking, are we? And I am curious.” He smiled at the pair of them. “If you started off like that how did you two become friends?”
“You have met him, right?” Nino pointed at Aiba as if that answered everything. “Have you ever tried not being friends with someone when they’re this persistent that they want to be your friend? And when they’re positive you saved their life by taking them back home again to the point of crying in thanks.” He felt Sho’s rumble of laughter against his back as he stood behind him and he quickly relaxed back using Sho as a backrest before his brain could tell him not to. He looked up with a pout as if Sho could help him for his earlier mistakes with Aiba. “I even told him that I pickpocketed him and that I wasn’t trying to help him to get away and you know what I get as a response? A shocked silence for a second and then a grinning ‘I forgive you. Can we be friends now?’”
“Well that’s Masaki for you and you love it really.” Sho laughed as Nino shrugged.
“So there you were trying to con him but it looks to me like Masaki got the upper hand in that fight.”
“Yeah, well, he hasn’t won one since so I guess he can keep that win.” Nino stood up, still staying close to Sho and feeling a happy tingle that he didn’t step back away from him as he did so, instead keeping him steady as the ship listed to one side. He held out a hand to Aiba, nudging his head with it when he didn’t look up. “Come on, you’ll remember things more quickly after some food and a rest instead of sitting down there on deck.”
Aiba jolted, not even noticing Nino stand up before scurrying up after him. He looked at his friend in determination. “He told me I could come find him when I remembered so I have to remember quickly, right?”
“If that’s a subtle hint for help then yes.” Nino coughed as Aiba looked stunned. “What? I want to tease this new boyfriend of yours, alright?”
“Do you think giving yourself a time pressure will help you remember more quickly?”
“It’s worth a shot, why?” Aiba turned to Ohno who was looking like he was debating on whether or not to divulge information. “Why, Satoshi? What are you thinking? Tell me.”
Ohno shrugged. “I don’t know for certain but he just helped you, didn’t he?”
“He saved my life if that’s what you mean.” Aiba turned to Sho who looked baffled. “See? Not the enemy. He protected me from one of the other crew members.”
“And probably risked himself a lot more by not staying here with us.” Ohno spoke up before any more questions could be asked. “If you trust him then I’ll believe you, though that’s probably helped by the fact that I saw what happened. So we need to get to him as soon as possible because I bet at least somebody on his ship saw what happened too.” He gave them all a steely look. “And I don’t think that’ll go down well with his crew, do you?”
~~~~
“So have you remembered anything yet?” Nino poked his head around their cabin door later that evening. They’d been assigned to help out with odd jobs while the injured were seen to and hadn’t had much time to talk throughout the rest of the day, though he had noticed an oddly distant look in his friend’s eyes.
“Nope, not yet. I just can’t think how I could have met him before and not recognised him.” Aiba sighed, lying flat out on his bed, feeling more tired from all the thinking he’d been doing than the actual menial tasks they’d had to do.
“Hmm~” Nino came in and sat beside him, staring off at the opposite wall. “Well maybe you saw him a long time ago? You’ve grown a lot since I first saw you after all. If we’d met that one time and not become friends do you think we’d be able to recognise each other?”
“Maybe…but he recognised me.”
“Yeah well, you’re not the most intelligent person are you?” Nino ducked a soft swipe. “I’m joking, maybe he’s changed a lot more than you?” He sighed, shrugged. “It was only an idea. It’s just I’ve never heard someone call you that and I know most of your friends since we’ve been friends.”
“True.” Aiba laughed softly until he caught Nino’s expression. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just…” Nino frowned, thinking back to the first time they’d met. “I don’t know how much you remember of your first day in port, you were so frantic after all.” He smiled softly at the thought. “But when I asked if you were lost you shook your head and said you were looking for someone. Then I pointed out that you couldn’t look for someone if you didn’t know where you were. You don’t remember?” He sighed when Aiba shook his head. “Anyway, it was just an idea. I’ve got to get back up on deck now.”
“Ehh? Aren’t we finished for the night?”
“Well yeah but Sho wanted to get out of cooking duty so they’ve got him scrubbing the deck instead. I think he’d like some company while he’s trying to get rid of bloodstains, don’t you?” Nino stood up, stretching as he looked down again. “Just get some sleep; maybe everything will be clearer in the morning.”
“OK, night.” Aiba shouted after him before looking up at the ceiling, exhaustion pulling at him even as his mind tried to continue whirling until he fell into a fitful slumber.
Aiba looked around in awe at the sea spread out before him, standing on tiptoes to see over the ships railing. He was buzzing with excitement and thinking about all the different things he could do while on board. He spun around quickly, taking off down the length of the ship until a soft scuttling noise down a flight of stairs caught his attention. He stood, debating for a second before curiosity got the better of him.
“Where are you going?”
Aiba jumped, looking around to see a suspicious sailor staring at him. He smiled brightly before answering. “Exploring.”
The man stared at him for a few seconds longer before shrugging. “What’s the harm? Your parents are paying enough for us to ferry you. Just don’t get yourself hurt, alright?”
“Don’t worry; I get hurt all the time. Mum and Dad know that it’s my own fault most of the time.” Aiba didn’t wait around for the man to stop him though he was sure he heard the man grumble something in return to his words. He took the stairs two at a time before he hit the bottom, peering into the gloom as he waited for his eyes to adjust. He heard the scuttling noise again, further away this time. “Hello?” The sound stopped for a second, making him smile because it meant that he wasn’t imagining it and whatever it was had heard him. “Are you exploring too?” He pouted as the sound got further away again but decided to follow instead of shouting again, darting around the cargo hold as quietly as possible. He heard the noise stop again, feeling closer this time as if someone was waiting just out of reach in the shadows. He kept still himself, waiting, until a small sigh of relief echoed through to him and he darted around the corner.
A pair of wide eyes greeted him over a hand as if the person had realised their mistake in sighing and tried to stop themselves.
Aiba took in what he could in the semi darkness; a small thin boy crouched before him, trying to make himself smaller to hide amongst the cargo. He blinked as the boy gulped and then gave him a steely look that didn’t seem to fit his small demeanour but did at the same time. It took him a second to realise the boy hadn’t wanted to be found and was now waiting for him to make the next move. He smiled brightly. “Hi, I’m Masaki. What’s your name?” He tilted his head when the boy didn’t answer. “Can’t you talk?”
“Of course I can.” The boy snapped before cursing, crossing his arms. “So, you going to go tell everyone I’m here?”
It took another minute for Aiba to catch on. “You’re a stowaway?”
“Wow, how did you find me when no one else has yet, genius?” The boy’s eyebrows rose in disbelief at his naivety.
Aiba pouted at his words, realising it was going to take more than his usual bright smile to get his boy to trust him. He gave him another look up and down as he stood up. “Are you hungry?”
“What?”
“Are you hungry? I’m guessing as you’re stowing away you haven’t had much chance to grab some food.”
“You just want to leave so you can tell someone I’m here.”
“That’s not very fair.” Aiba bit out before hushing himself in case someone came to ask him what was going on. “Look, either way I know you’re here, right? So if I go get you something to eat and no one comes down with me, does that show that I’m being truthful?” He crouched back down in front of the other boy, looking him straight in the eye. “It’d be nice to have a friend on board that’s all.”
The boy stared at him suspiciously before sighing and shaking his head. “I guess I don’t have much choice, do I?” He rubbed his face with the back of his hand before glancing back up at Aiba. “Well, Masaki, I’m-”
A clattering sound outside his cabin jolted Aiba out of his dream, almost making him fall out of bed as he tried to locate the source of the noise.
“You’re so clumsy!” Nino’s voice snapped from the other side of the door before he opened it and peeked through, sighing at what he saw. “See? You woke Masaki.”
“Sorry…” A mumble from Sho had Aiba guessing what had happened without even having to ask. Not that he was in the mood to ask anyway.
“Go back to-” Nino stopped when he saw Aiba’s expression. “What is it?”
“Jun.” Aiba looked up at him, not really paying attention to what was happening. “His name’s Jun.”
Band: Arashi
Rating: G (for now :3)
Synopsis: For a competition on saigo_no_lady Junba fic with prompt - 'a super exciting pirate/etc. AU where they fall in love and there are battles and they are both very dashing and maybe the rest of Arashi shows up'
Part 3: Lost names
“Masaki?” Sho prompted, looking confused. “Is Satoshi right? Did he know your name?” He used the moment of questioning to also look them over, checking to make sure they hadn’t been injured at all in the fight. As much as his friends thought he was over protective of everyone he wasn’t fretting about any of those he didn’t know on the ship, just this handful of ragtag pirates that he felt endearingly responsible for.
“Yeah…” Aiba frowned, looking away. He didn’t have any idea how the other pirate could know him. It wasn’t even fair! He was the one looking for him after all. So why wasn’t he finding out any of the answers?
“Wait, that wasn’t the pirate girl you’ve been looking for is it?” Nino tried to hold in his smirk as Aiba blushed. “It was, wasn’t it?!”
Sho frowned, turning to Nino as he finished off checking Aiba for wounds. “He was a guy, right?” He looked him up and down, a look of concern on his face. “You’re bleeding.”
Nino shook him off with a wave of his hand, raising an eyebrow at his question. “It’s just a little cut and you’re kidding, right?” He looked to Aiba before laughing when he didn’t amend Sho himself. “Wow, he’s definitely got some womanly hips…”
“Nino!” Aiba spluttered, trying his very hardest not to think about the other man’s hips at that precise moment, though it did break any small train of thought that had been present before.
Nino shrugged. “Well, when we find him again expect more teasing.” He waited for a second as if he’d realised something before leaning forward. “Oh and here’s a present.” He grinned before hitting Aiba’s forearm hard.
“Hey, what was that for?” A whine followed as Aiba rubbed his arm quickly.
“For trying to chase after him like a lovesick puppy.” Nino looked over at Sho as if to make his point.
“That’s true…I thought you learning to be a pirate was so that you didn’t do something…I was about to say reckless but I think we all know that becoming a pirate was a pretty reckless move.” Sho sighed, shaking his head with an endearing smile. “You need to learn running after him isn’t going to just make everything work the way you want it to. Hell, he’s the enemy right at this moment in time.” He finally took a look around the ship, wincing at the blood splattered deck, a few unlucky sailors still moaning in pain with little to no chance of recovery.
“He is not.” Aiba spoke quickly and confidently, looking up at Sho in shock for even considering that.
“Oh? And how do you know for sure?” Sho sounded distracted as if debating what their next course of action was. They had no allegiance to the ship or its crew, he and Nino at least had only boarded to keep an eye on the other two.
“I-I just do, OK.” Aiba paused, thinking it through, the feeling behind his words feeling familiar. “I don’t know how I know I just know he’s not a bad guy.”
“Which brings us back to the question at hand. How do you know him?” Ohno entered the conversation quietly, the others almost forgetting he was there with his silent demeanour.
“Yeah that’s right. Were there some crucial details you forgot to mention when you first told me and Sho about him?” Nino gave Aiba a knowing nudge and a wink. “Well? Were you friendlier with him than you let on?”
“What? No!” Aiba spluttered, his mind going blank at the thought.
“Nino, that’s enough. We’ll never get an answer out of him if you keep teasing him.” Ohno tried to keep a straight face, his mouth quirking up at the corner as Sho and Nino fell about laughing beside them. Especially when Nino tried to apologize but his words wouldn’t come out properly. “Come on Masaki, how did he know you? And well enough to call you by…what was it? Masa?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Aiba sunk down to sit on the deck, running a hand through his hair. “He looked so sad when he realised I didn’t remember him.” He glared at the sea, not even noticed his friends had stopped laughing. “How is that I want to get to know him and yet he already knows me? It’s not fair!”
“You don’t remember?” Sho looked from the others to Aiba in shock. “But if this is the guy you’ve been looking for how could you not-”
“Not helping.” Nino rolled his eyes, giving Sho a soft kick before squatting down in front of his friend, whose head had flopped heavily into his knees at Sho’s words. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone call you Masa before.”
Aiba stared at him for a second, his eyebrows furrowing at the thought. “Someone has called me that before…” The small sense of familiarity at the nickname spread through him now that Nino mentioned it.
“But haven’t you two been friends since you were kids?” Sho started in shock, still remembering the first time he’d seen the pair thick as thieves. He’d even wondered whether they were brothers from time to time the way they treated each other.
“Only since Masaki moved to the port.” Nino shrugged, a small smile on his face. “Someone got himself lost on his first day here.”
“Yeah and some little pickpocket saw their chance to pretend to help me.” Aiba mock glared at the grinning brat.
“Well you were showing how lost you were with that adorable little panicked look on your face. You were easy prey.” Nino patted him on the head. “At least it was me who got to you first and you sure learnt quickly that you had to walk about like you were confident in yourself.”
“Going off track again.” Ohno sighed, shaking his head. “But I guess if Masaki doesn’t remember then we’re not going to get anywhere just by asking, are we? And I am curious.” He smiled at the pair of them. “If you started off like that how did you two become friends?”
“You have met him, right?” Nino pointed at Aiba as if that answered everything. “Have you ever tried not being friends with someone when they’re this persistent that they want to be your friend? And when they’re positive you saved their life by taking them back home again to the point of crying in thanks.” He felt Sho’s rumble of laughter against his back as he stood behind him and he quickly relaxed back using Sho as a backrest before his brain could tell him not to. He looked up with a pout as if Sho could help him for his earlier mistakes with Aiba. “I even told him that I pickpocketed him and that I wasn’t trying to help him to get away and you know what I get as a response? A shocked silence for a second and then a grinning ‘I forgive you. Can we be friends now?’”
“Well that’s Masaki for you and you love it really.” Sho laughed as Nino shrugged.
“So there you were trying to con him but it looks to me like Masaki got the upper hand in that fight.”
“Yeah, well, he hasn’t won one since so I guess he can keep that win.” Nino stood up, still staying close to Sho and feeling a happy tingle that he didn’t step back away from him as he did so, instead keeping him steady as the ship listed to one side. He held out a hand to Aiba, nudging his head with it when he didn’t look up. “Come on, you’ll remember things more quickly after some food and a rest instead of sitting down there on deck.”
Aiba jolted, not even noticing Nino stand up before scurrying up after him. He looked at his friend in determination. “He told me I could come find him when I remembered so I have to remember quickly, right?”
“If that’s a subtle hint for help then yes.” Nino coughed as Aiba looked stunned. “What? I want to tease this new boyfriend of yours, alright?”
“Do you think giving yourself a time pressure will help you remember more quickly?”
“It’s worth a shot, why?” Aiba turned to Ohno who was looking like he was debating on whether or not to divulge information. “Why, Satoshi? What are you thinking? Tell me.”
Ohno shrugged. “I don’t know for certain but he just helped you, didn’t he?”
“He saved my life if that’s what you mean.” Aiba turned to Sho who looked baffled. “See? Not the enemy. He protected me from one of the other crew members.”
“And probably risked himself a lot more by not staying here with us.” Ohno spoke up before any more questions could be asked. “If you trust him then I’ll believe you, though that’s probably helped by the fact that I saw what happened. So we need to get to him as soon as possible because I bet at least somebody on his ship saw what happened too.” He gave them all a steely look. “And I don’t think that’ll go down well with his crew, do you?”
~~~~
“So have you remembered anything yet?” Nino poked his head around their cabin door later that evening. They’d been assigned to help out with odd jobs while the injured were seen to and hadn’t had much time to talk throughout the rest of the day, though he had noticed an oddly distant look in his friend’s eyes.
“Nope, not yet. I just can’t think how I could have met him before and not recognised him.” Aiba sighed, lying flat out on his bed, feeling more tired from all the thinking he’d been doing than the actual menial tasks they’d had to do.
“Hmm~” Nino came in and sat beside him, staring off at the opposite wall. “Well maybe you saw him a long time ago? You’ve grown a lot since I first saw you after all. If we’d met that one time and not become friends do you think we’d be able to recognise each other?”
“Maybe…but he recognised me.”
“Yeah well, you’re not the most intelligent person are you?” Nino ducked a soft swipe. “I’m joking, maybe he’s changed a lot more than you?” He sighed, shrugged. “It was only an idea. It’s just I’ve never heard someone call you that and I know most of your friends since we’ve been friends.”
“True.” Aiba laughed softly until he caught Nino’s expression. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just…” Nino frowned, thinking back to the first time they’d met. “I don’t know how much you remember of your first day in port, you were so frantic after all.” He smiled softly at the thought. “But when I asked if you were lost you shook your head and said you were looking for someone. Then I pointed out that you couldn’t look for someone if you didn’t know where you were. You don’t remember?” He sighed when Aiba shook his head. “Anyway, it was just an idea. I’ve got to get back up on deck now.”
“Ehh? Aren’t we finished for the night?”
“Well yeah but Sho wanted to get out of cooking duty so they’ve got him scrubbing the deck instead. I think he’d like some company while he’s trying to get rid of bloodstains, don’t you?” Nino stood up, stretching as he looked down again. “Just get some sleep; maybe everything will be clearer in the morning.”
“OK, night.” Aiba shouted after him before looking up at the ceiling, exhaustion pulling at him even as his mind tried to continue whirling until he fell into a fitful slumber.
Aiba looked around in awe at the sea spread out before him, standing on tiptoes to see over the ships railing. He was buzzing with excitement and thinking about all the different things he could do while on board. He spun around quickly, taking off down the length of the ship until a soft scuttling noise down a flight of stairs caught his attention. He stood, debating for a second before curiosity got the better of him.
“Where are you going?”
Aiba jumped, looking around to see a suspicious sailor staring at him. He smiled brightly before answering. “Exploring.”
The man stared at him for a few seconds longer before shrugging. “What’s the harm? Your parents are paying enough for us to ferry you. Just don’t get yourself hurt, alright?”
“Don’t worry; I get hurt all the time. Mum and Dad know that it’s my own fault most of the time.” Aiba didn’t wait around for the man to stop him though he was sure he heard the man grumble something in return to his words. He took the stairs two at a time before he hit the bottom, peering into the gloom as he waited for his eyes to adjust. He heard the scuttling noise again, further away this time. “Hello?” The sound stopped for a second, making him smile because it meant that he wasn’t imagining it and whatever it was had heard him. “Are you exploring too?” He pouted as the sound got further away again but decided to follow instead of shouting again, darting around the cargo hold as quietly as possible. He heard the noise stop again, feeling closer this time as if someone was waiting just out of reach in the shadows. He kept still himself, waiting, until a small sigh of relief echoed through to him and he darted around the corner.
A pair of wide eyes greeted him over a hand as if the person had realised their mistake in sighing and tried to stop themselves.
Aiba took in what he could in the semi darkness; a small thin boy crouched before him, trying to make himself smaller to hide amongst the cargo. He blinked as the boy gulped and then gave him a steely look that didn’t seem to fit his small demeanour but did at the same time. It took him a second to realise the boy hadn’t wanted to be found and was now waiting for him to make the next move. He smiled brightly. “Hi, I’m Masaki. What’s your name?” He tilted his head when the boy didn’t answer. “Can’t you talk?”
“Of course I can.” The boy snapped before cursing, crossing his arms. “So, you going to go tell everyone I’m here?”
It took another minute for Aiba to catch on. “You’re a stowaway?”
“Wow, how did you find me when no one else has yet, genius?” The boy’s eyebrows rose in disbelief at his naivety.
Aiba pouted at his words, realising it was going to take more than his usual bright smile to get his boy to trust him. He gave him another look up and down as he stood up. “Are you hungry?”
“What?”
“Are you hungry? I’m guessing as you’re stowing away you haven’t had much chance to grab some food.”
“You just want to leave so you can tell someone I’m here.”
“That’s not very fair.” Aiba bit out before hushing himself in case someone came to ask him what was going on. “Look, either way I know you’re here, right? So if I go get you something to eat and no one comes down with me, does that show that I’m being truthful?” He crouched back down in front of the other boy, looking him straight in the eye. “It’d be nice to have a friend on board that’s all.”
The boy stared at him suspiciously before sighing and shaking his head. “I guess I don’t have much choice, do I?” He rubbed his face with the back of his hand before glancing back up at Aiba. “Well, Masaki, I’m-”
A clattering sound outside his cabin jolted Aiba out of his dream, almost making him fall out of bed as he tried to locate the source of the noise.
“You’re so clumsy!” Nino’s voice snapped from the other side of the door before he opened it and peeked through, sighing at what he saw. “See? You woke Masaki.”
“Sorry…” A mumble from Sho had Aiba guessing what had happened without even having to ask. Not that he was in the mood to ask anyway.
“Go back to-” Nino stopped when he saw Aiba’s expression. “What is it?”
“Jun.” Aiba looked up at him, not really paying attention to what was happening. “His name’s Jun.”