[multi-chap] Life (Re)Starts Here Ch.1/??
Title: Life (Re)Starts Here
Author: Saana
Pairing: Sakuraiba (main)
Rating: PG-13 (mostly, probably… might change?... J)
Genre: AU, slice of life, family life, fluff, angst
Disc.: this is a fanfiction, which means I’m a fan and this is fiction
Summary: Sho’s life falling apart in an instant and as he finds himself a single father with a five-year old boy, he decides to move back to the small town on the Chiba coast where he spent his childhood, trying to pick up the pieces of his life and raise his son…
Chapter 1
Sho killed the engine after parking the car and dropped his head back to the headrest. Closing his eyes, he let out a long sigh. It was a long and tiring journey. He gave himself one more moment of peace and silence before getting out of the car.
Despite it was spring already, the evenings were still chilly so Sho zipped up his jacket to keep warm while studied the simple two-story apartment building in front of him that will be their home from now on. Once again he tried to wrap his head around the fact how his life could turn completely upside-down just in a few short week.
“I can’t do this anymore! You’re never here! You expect me to do everything? You’re the worst, Sakurai Sho! I’ve had enough!”
Sho still felt the same shock, he felt that day when she threw all those accusations at him. He knew that part of it was true, that wasn't completely free of blame. He was a workaholic, he willingly admitted it in all his life but that was no secret in front of anyone who knew him. It wasn't a secret from her either. She even said that it was a trait of him that she adored in him, that he was passionate of his job, a hard-worker, ambitious. She even encouraged him for that last promotion he received. She should’ve known that with the promotion would come more work, more responsibility and even more business trips that will pull him away from home. Yet now she was doing this? How could she do this to them?... How could she do this to him?! Sho had no idea. His mind just shut down on him every time he tried to understand the situation, her reasoning behind her actions. Was he really this blind-sided that he didn’t see it coming at all?
Sho shook his head to clear it from all those questions he had no answer for and just made it harder for him to focus on the things he had to do now. It was useless to dwell on what happened or to wallow in self-pity. What he had to do now, was moving on. This was a new start. A new place, a new job. ‘Just look forward, Sakurai. One step at a time...’ he recalled his most recent mantra in his head.
“Sho-kun! You’re finally here! Welcome back!”
“Satoshi-kun!” Sho smiled at his friend.
He found no words to describe how grateful he was for the pure luck that brought Ohno back in his life. Even though they were friends all through elementary and middle school, they’ve not seen each other since middle school graduation. Not since Sho’s family moved from this small town at the Chiba coast to Tokyo for his father to pursue his ambitions as a politician. But last year’s reunion - where Sho attended rather reluctantly - gave them a chance to re-new their friendship. And though Sho had never expected or asked it from him, Ohno went above and beyond to help in the past weeks’ mess that became Sho’s life.
“I was about to call you. You said you’ll be here an hour earlier. I started to worry…” Ohno said with a touch of reprimanding in his voice and a pout on his lips.
“Yeah, sorry about that. But I wanted Shin-chan to have one last fun day before taking him from the only life he knew. And as always, it was impossible to get him to leave the aquarium on time.”
“Well, if you were at the aquarium, then all is forgiven,” Ohno said chuckling. As a passionate fisherman himself, Ohno had his own little company that organized fishing trips, he believed anything related to the ocean warranted as an adequate excuse for almost anything and everything. He soon became serious, as he peered into the car. “How is he?”
Sho also bent a little to look at his son sleeping on the backseat.
“There are better days and then there are worse days. Today, he had fun for sure. But I’m afraid things might just start to turn to though from now on. Everything will be new and unfamiliar for him here, but I think it’s still better than staying at the place where everything would remind him that his mother left him...” Sho said, concern clearly visible on his face as he looked back at his friend. “It is the right decision, right, Satoshi-kun?...”
“Let’s just take it one step at a time, okay, Sho-kun?” Ohno said with an encouraging smile. “And first, you need a good night’s sleep. Lucky for you, we already prepared your bed. So let’s get you moved in finally!”
“Really? Wow, thanks!” Sho said, relieved that at least there was one less thing he needed to do before being able to get some rest. He didn’t even bother to ask whom Ohno meant when he said ‘we’.
“Don’t get your hopes up, it’s just the beds. All the other boxes are waiting for you to unpack.”
“Either way, I’m really grateful. Thank you,” Sho said sincerely. “I could’ve not done this without you...”
But Ohno just waved him off with a soft smile on his lips.
“Come on, let’s get you inside. I’m sure Shin-chan would sleep better in an actual bed than on your backseat.”
Sho just nodded and picked up his son from the car while Ohno took their bags from the trunk and they headed up to Sho’s new apartment.
“Thank you again for everything, Satoshi-kun,” Sho said again seriously when Ohno was about to leave.
“Anytime. Everything will be okay, trust me. You’re home now. Good night, Sho-kun!” Ohno said before leaving.
Three days later Sho’s apartment was still mostly packed in boxes but Sho felt accomplished enough knowing that Shin’s room was perfect. Sho enrolled him in the near-by kindergarten and tomorrow will be his first day there. Just like Sho’s first day at his new job.
“Big day tomorrow, right?” Sho asked with a cheerful smile as he tucked in Shin that night. “Are you excited?”
“Yeah, I guess…” the boy said fidgeting a bit under the covers. “But… wanna know what I’m really excited for?... The beach!” the boy exclaimed before his father even had the chance to open his mouth. “You said we’ll go to the beach when we’re here but we didn’t! And it’s been ages since we’re here!” The little boy said looking at this dad with wide doe eyes.
Sho burst out laughing at this. His boy really was an impatient one! He felt his chest swell with love for him more and more each day when he saw him act like this.
“Well, if you’ll be a good boy, I’m sure we can go there this weekend. How about that?”
“But that’s so far!” the boy whines pouting at his dad.
“Ah-ah! This is not how good boy behaves!” Sho said scolding him gently. “Maybe we should just stay home and finish unpacking this weekend…” he continued, pretending to consider it.
“No! You can’t! I’ll be good, I promise! Please, daddy!” Shin said quickly.
“Okay, okay, but you have to sleep now,” Sho said with a soft smile, kissing the boy’s forehead. “Good night, my little prince!”
The next morning went smoother than Sho expected it. Shin was unusually excited to see his new kindergarten. If he wanted to be honest, part of Sho was happy and relieved that his son was adapting to their new life. But he couldn’t deny that it kind of stung to see how easily Shin ran off from him.
“It can’t be helped…” he mumbled under his breath chuckling a bit as he walked away from the kindergarten. As long as his son was happy, so was Sho.
When he arrived to his new workplace, Sho took a deep, calming breath. He felt weirdly anxious despite how good his interview went. Or maybe he was anxious because how easily he passed the interview. His new boss barely asked any questions, insisting how impressive Sho’s resume was and considering Ohno’s recommendation, he was sure that Sho will do just fine in his new position.
‘Here goes nothing…’ Sho thought before entering the office.
“Good morning! I’m Sakurai Sho, I’m starting today. Please, keep me in your favor!” he said as a greeting to the man who was already sitting in the small and slightly cramped room.
“Ah, Sakurai-san, nice to meet you! My name is Matsumoto Jun. Higashiyama-san assigned me to help you get settled here,” the man - Matsumoto - said with a warm, welcoming smile. “Now, I’m not comfortable with keeping you in the dark so let me put all cards on the table for you: you have until the end of the week to get the hang of it,” Matsumoto said simply.
“What?” Sho’s eyes bulged at that statement. “And if I can’t then… am I…?” he asked already dreading the answer.
Matsumoto’s eyes widened suddenly.
“Oh, no, no, no! It’s not a threat or anything! Gosh, sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like that,” he said with a slightly embarrassed laugh. “I just really can’t spare more time to train you. I understand that this is not what you did before but you see, we’re really swamped here. Fortunately, or at the moment, it’s rather unfortunate that we’re the only publishing company around here. I was telling Higashiyama-san for a really long time that we need to hire more people but he didn’t do anything about it until now. So you see, I really need you to get the hang of it as soon as possible so you’ll be able to handle projects on your own.”
“Ah!...” Sho felt like a huge weight was lifted from his chest as the imminent threat of unemployment disappeared from his near-future.
“Based on your CV, you look like someone capable and that’s exactly what we need here. Toma, who should be here already actually…” Jun mumbled checking his watch. “…is not much of a help most of the time…”
“I heard that!” Someone commented from behind their backs, and the words were accompanied with the sound of the front door shutting closed.
“Good, I never meant it as a secret,” Jun shot back without actually looking at the newcomer. “And you’re late. Again… Toma, this is Sakurai-san, he starts today so try to be nice and don’t scare him off, would you?”
“Why would say that? I’m always nice!” Tome retorted mock-offended. “Sakurai-san, don’t believe a word he says about me. I’m the nice one. Our Jun-kun here is an incorrigible workaholic,” Tome stage-whispered to Sho. “And what’s worse is that he expects everybody else to be like that. Working like 40 hours a day! So boring!”
Jun just rolled his eyes at Toma’s words. It wasn’t the first time he heard this, and most certainly wasn’t be the last either.
Sho felt the tension ease from his shoulders as he witnessed the good-natured bickering between his two new colleagues. Maybe he really had no reason to worry about this new job. For one thing it became obvious already that this place had a really different mood than the competitive pressure of his previous work place.
“Now, if you’re quite finished with this childish whining, Toma, I’m most certain that you have work to do. So go, do it!”
“Yeah, yeah, got it, boss!” Toma said with a shit-eating grin on his face and dropped himself at his desk.
“Well, I’m not saying that I can’t understand such attitude, but with a five-year boy waiting for me at home, I’m afraid I won’t be able to put in forty hours every day…” he said joking.
“Don’t mind him, Sakurai-san, he’s just exaggerating as always. You’ll get used to it. And you’re not expected to do any over-time unless it is really necessary. Higashiyama-san said you have a kid, of course we can adjust your schedule anytime you need it, okay?”
“Yeah, thank you,” Sho nodded smiling gratefully.
“Now, where were we before someone interrupted us so rudely…?”
“So, how’s the new job, Sho-kun?”
Sho tried to balance the phone between his shoulder and ear while he unloaded the fresh laundry from the machine. Part of him was amazed that he so far managed to do all kind of household chores and keep their little home from falling apart completely. Now a few weeks in the new job, he started to gain a little confidence in that too. Even Matsumoto-san seemed to be impressed how quick he was catching on.
“Getting there,” Sho said simply. “I think I didn’t thank you yet for arranging it, so thanks, Satoshi-kun.”
“It’s nothing. ‘M glad I could help.”
“Speaking of help…” Sho started. “I might need to ask another favor… Toma-kun insists on holding that welcome party this Friday. I tried to turn him down, but he really is insistent on this one. So I was wondering if you could watch Shin-chan for me?... Just a few hours is fine! I don’t plan on staying out all night or anything!” Sho added hurriedly when he sensed hesitation from Ohno.
“Ehm… I’d love to but I have a few clients who booked a night fishing trip for Friday… I’m sorry…” Ohno sounded honestly sad which only made Sho feel guiltier for taking advantage of his friend’s kindness.
“Oh, it’s okay, don’t feel bad. You don’t have to apologize. I’m sorry for always taking advantage of your help. I just tell him no, it’s fine. It’s not like we don’t see each other at work every day,” Sho said forcing out a laugh just to break the ice. “Anyway,… I should be going. There’s laundry to finish and it’s soon time for Shin-chan to go to bed so…”
“Wait, Sho-kun! I know someone who’d be a great babysitter. We can drop by tomorrow so you all can get to know each other, okay? And then you can decide, okay?”
“Oh, wow! Thanks again, I guess…” Sho said a little taken aback, but honestly a little unsure about the idea. Shin-chan was sometimes slow to trust new people and leaving him with a near-stranger… Heck, with an actual stranger ‘cause even Sho didn’t know this person! Even if Sho trusted Ohno not to bring a suspicious person around his boy, he had his worries. But letting them meet… there was no harm in that, right? “Alright, I see you tomorrow then,” he agreed finally before saying their goodbyes.
“Daddy? Who did you talk to?”
Sho looked down at his son standing at his feet, clinging onto his pants.
“It was uncle Satoshi. He comes to visit tomorrow and he brings a friend to meet us. Are you excited?” Sho asked with a wide smile.
Shin just shrugged his little shoulder uncertainly.
“I guess…”
Sho let out a slow sigh. It was again a day when Shin was in a clingy mood so he just picked the boy up in his arms, hugging him tightly.
“It will be okay, I promise you…” Sho whispered while his son was clinging onto his neck. “Let’s take a bath then you can pick a book we read before bed, okay?” he asked smiling, trying to cheer the boy up.
“Okay, daddy…”
The next day Sho made sure to get off of work early and rushed home with Shin-chan after picking him up from the kindergarten. Even if he improved a lot since his messy teenage days, being a single father of a little boy left its impression on their home. An impression that wasn’t quite fitting to receive guests. So Sho was trying to do his best during the limited time before Satoshi arrived with this potential babysitter he was talking about. Sho didn’t want their messy home to deter them from agreeing to look after Shin-chan. Considering Shin would like them at all, Sho reminded himself. If not, Sho could care less about what anyone thought, he will kick them out without hesitation!
The ringing doorbell interrupted his train of thoughts. He quickly dumped the stack of newspapers he gathered from the living room in his own room to get them out of sight before rushing to open the door, finding his friend there with a young man, probably college-aged.
“Hey, Sho-kun! Do you remember my little brother, Masaki?”
A/N: hey there! so I promised to keep writing, right? I was working on this one for a while now. actually it's mostly based a very, very old request from vicco_vicky (yeah, I didn't forget about all those requests you put in ages ago, I'm just really slow to fulfill them, sorry? 🤣) anyway, happy birthday to Sho-chan! yay! I feel like recently I write more Sho-centric fics though my ichiban is Aiba-chan 😂🤷♂️ also, I'm not sure how long this will be though I have the story mostly in my head but probably it'll be shorter than my usual multi-chaps, I hope you won't mind. anyway, let me know what you think! 😘❤💚
Author: Saana
Pairing: Sakuraiba (main)
Rating: PG-13 (mostly, probably… might change?... J)
Genre: AU, slice of life, family life, fluff, angst
Disc.: this is a fanfiction, which means I’m a fan and this is fiction
Summary: Sho’s life falling apart in an instant and as he finds himself a single father with a five-year old boy, he decides to move back to the small town on the Chiba coast where he spent his childhood, trying to pick up the pieces of his life and raise his son…
Chapter 1
Sho killed the engine after parking the car and dropped his head back to the headrest. Closing his eyes, he let out a long sigh. It was a long and tiring journey. He gave himself one more moment of peace and silence before getting out of the car.
Despite it was spring already, the evenings were still chilly so Sho zipped up his jacket to keep warm while studied the simple two-story apartment building in front of him that will be their home from now on. Once again he tried to wrap his head around the fact how his life could turn completely upside-down just in a few short week.
“I can’t do this anymore! You’re never here! You expect me to do everything? You’re the worst, Sakurai Sho! I’ve had enough!”
Sho still felt the same shock, he felt that day when she threw all those accusations at him. He knew that part of it was true, that wasn't completely free of blame. He was a workaholic, he willingly admitted it in all his life but that was no secret in front of anyone who knew him. It wasn't a secret from her either. She even said that it was a trait of him that she adored in him, that he was passionate of his job, a hard-worker, ambitious. She even encouraged him for that last promotion he received. She should’ve known that with the promotion would come more work, more responsibility and even more business trips that will pull him away from home. Yet now she was doing this? How could she do this to them?... How could she do this to him?! Sho had no idea. His mind just shut down on him every time he tried to understand the situation, her reasoning behind her actions. Was he really this blind-sided that he didn’t see it coming at all?
Sho shook his head to clear it from all those questions he had no answer for and just made it harder for him to focus on the things he had to do now. It was useless to dwell on what happened or to wallow in self-pity. What he had to do now, was moving on. This was a new start. A new place, a new job. ‘Just look forward, Sakurai. One step at a time...’ he recalled his most recent mantra in his head.
“Sho-kun! You’re finally here! Welcome back!”
“Satoshi-kun!” Sho smiled at his friend.
He found no words to describe how grateful he was for the pure luck that brought Ohno back in his life. Even though they were friends all through elementary and middle school, they’ve not seen each other since middle school graduation. Not since Sho’s family moved from this small town at the Chiba coast to Tokyo for his father to pursue his ambitions as a politician. But last year’s reunion - where Sho attended rather reluctantly - gave them a chance to re-new their friendship. And though Sho had never expected or asked it from him, Ohno went above and beyond to help in the past weeks’ mess that became Sho’s life.
“I was about to call you. You said you’ll be here an hour earlier. I started to worry…” Ohno said with a touch of reprimanding in his voice and a pout on his lips.
“Yeah, sorry about that. But I wanted Shin-chan to have one last fun day before taking him from the only life he knew. And as always, it was impossible to get him to leave the aquarium on time.”
“Well, if you were at the aquarium, then all is forgiven,” Ohno said chuckling. As a passionate fisherman himself, Ohno had his own little company that organized fishing trips, he believed anything related to the ocean warranted as an adequate excuse for almost anything and everything. He soon became serious, as he peered into the car. “How is he?”
Sho also bent a little to look at his son sleeping on the backseat.
“There are better days and then there are worse days. Today, he had fun for sure. But I’m afraid things might just start to turn to though from now on. Everything will be new and unfamiliar for him here, but I think it’s still better than staying at the place where everything would remind him that his mother left him...” Sho said, concern clearly visible on his face as he looked back at his friend. “It is the right decision, right, Satoshi-kun?...”
“Let’s just take it one step at a time, okay, Sho-kun?” Ohno said with an encouraging smile. “And first, you need a good night’s sleep. Lucky for you, we already prepared your bed. So let’s get you moved in finally!”
“Really? Wow, thanks!” Sho said, relieved that at least there was one less thing he needed to do before being able to get some rest. He didn’t even bother to ask whom Ohno meant when he said ‘we’.
“Don’t get your hopes up, it’s just the beds. All the other boxes are waiting for you to unpack.”
“Either way, I’m really grateful. Thank you,” Sho said sincerely. “I could’ve not done this without you...”
But Ohno just waved him off with a soft smile on his lips.
“Come on, let’s get you inside. I’m sure Shin-chan would sleep better in an actual bed than on your backseat.”
Sho just nodded and picked up his son from the car while Ohno took their bags from the trunk and they headed up to Sho’s new apartment.
“Thank you again for everything, Satoshi-kun,” Sho said again seriously when Ohno was about to leave.
“Anytime. Everything will be okay, trust me. You’re home now. Good night, Sho-kun!” Ohno said before leaving.
Three days later Sho’s apartment was still mostly packed in boxes but Sho felt accomplished enough knowing that Shin’s room was perfect. Sho enrolled him in the near-by kindergarten and tomorrow will be his first day there. Just like Sho’s first day at his new job.
“Big day tomorrow, right?” Sho asked with a cheerful smile as he tucked in Shin that night. “Are you excited?”
“Yeah, I guess…” the boy said fidgeting a bit under the covers. “But… wanna know what I’m really excited for?... The beach!” the boy exclaimed before his father even had the chance to open his mouth. “You said we’ll go to the beach when we’re here but we didn’t! And it’s been ages since we’re here!” The little boy said looking at this dad with wide doe eyes.
Sho burst out laughing at this. His boy really was an impatient one! He felt his chest swell with love for him more and more each day when he saw him act like this.
“Well, if you’ll be a good boy, I’m sure we can go there this weekend. How about that?”
“But that’s so far!” the boy whines pouting at his dad.
“Ah-ah! This is not how good boy behaves!” Sho said scolding him gently. “Maybe we should just stay home and finish unpacking this weekend…” he continued, pretending to consider it.
“No! You can’t! I’ll be good, I promise! Please, daddy!” Shin said quickly.
“Okay, okay, but you have to sleep now,” Sho said with a soft smile, kissing the boy’s forehead. “Good night, my little prince!”
The next morning went smoother than Sho expected it. Shin was unusually excited to see his new kindergarten. If he wanted to be honest, part of Sho was happy and relieved that his son was adapting to their new life. But he couldn’t deny that it kind of stung to see how easily Shin ran off from him.
“It can’t be helped…” he mumbled under his breath chuckling a bit as he walked away from the kindergarten. As long as his son was happy, so was Sho.
When he arrived to his new workplace, Sho took a deep, calming breath. He felt weirdly anxious despite how good his interview went. Or maybe he was anxious because how easily he passed the interview. His new boss barely asked any questions, insisting how impressive Sho’s resume was and considering Ohno’s recommendation, he was sure that Sho will do just fine in his new position.
‘Here goes nothing…’ Sho thought before entering the office.
“Good morning! I’m Sakurai Sho, I’m starting today. Please, keep me in your favor!” he said as a greeting to the man who was already sitting in the small and slightly cramped room.
“Ah, Sakurai-san, nice to meet you! My name is Matsumoto Jun. Higashiyama-san assigned me to help you get settled here,” the man - Matsumoto - said with a warm, welcoming smile. “Now, I’m not comfortable with keeping you in the dark so let me put all cards on the table for you: you have until the end of the week to get the hang of it,” Matsumoto said simply.
“What?” Sho’s eyes bulged at that statement. “And if I can’t then… am I…?” he asked already dreading the answer.
Matsumoto’s eyes widened suddenly.
“Oh, no, no, no! It’s not a threat or anything! Gosh, sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like that,” he said with a slightly embarrassed laugh. “I just really can’t spare more time to train you. I understand that this is not what you did before but you see, we’re really swamped here. Fortunately, or at the moment, it’s rather unfortunate that we’re the only publishing company around here. I was telling Higashiyama-san for a really long time that we need to hire more people but he didn’t do anything about it until now. So you see, I really need you to get the hang of it as soon as possible so you’ll be able to handle projects on your own.”
“Ah!...” Sho felt like a huge weight was lifted from his chest as the imminent threat of unemployment disappeared from his near-future.
“Based on your CV, you look like someone capable and that’s exactly what we need here. Toma, who should be here already actually…” Jun mumbled checking his watch. “…is not much of a help most of the time…”
“I heard that!” Someone commented from behind their backs, and the words were accompanied with the sound of the front door shutting closed.
“Good, I never meant it as a secret,” Jun shot back without actually looking at the newcomer. “And you’re late. Again… Toma, this is Sakurai-san, he starts today so try to be nice and don’t scare him off, would you?”
“Why would say that? I’m always nice!” Tome retorted mock-offended. “Sakurai-san, don’t believe a word he says about me. I’m the nice one. Our Jun-kun here is an incorrigible workaholic,” Tome stage-whispered to Sho. “And what’s worse is that he expects everybody else to be like that. Working like 40 hours a day! So boring!”
Jun just rolled his eyes at Toma’s words. It wasn’t the first time he heard this, and most certainly wasn’t be the last either.
Sho felt the tension ease from his shoulders as he witnessed the good-natured bickering between his two new colleagues. Maybe he really had no reason to worry about this new job. For one thing it became obvious already that this place had a really different mood than the competitive pressure of his previous work place.
“Now, if you’re quite finished with this childish whining, Toma, I’m most certain that you have work to do. So go, do it!”
“Yeah, yeah, got it, boss!” Toma said with a shit-eating grin on his face and dropped himself at his desk.
“Well, I’m not saying that I can’t understand such attitude, but with a five-year boy waiting for me at home, I’m afraid I won’t be able to put in forty hours every day…” he said joking.
“Don’t mind him, Sakurai-san, he’s just exaggerating as always. You’ll get used to it. And you’re not expected to do any over-time unless it is really necessary. Higashiyama-san said you have a kid, of course we can adjust your schedule anytime you need it, okay?”
“Yeah, thank you,” Sho nodded smiling gratefully.
“Now, where were we before someone interrupted us so rudely…?”
“So, how’s the new job, Sho-kun?”
Sho tried to balance the phone between his shoulder and ear while he unloaded the fresh laundry from the machine. Part of him was amazed that he so far managed to do all kind of household chores and keep their little home from falling apart completely. Now a few weeks in the new job, he started to gain a little confidence in that too. Even Matsumoto-san seemed to be impressed how quick he was catching on.
“Getting there,” Sho said simply. “I think I didn’t thank you yet for arranging it, so thanks, Satoshi-kun.”
“It’s nothing. ‘M glad I could help.”
“Speaking of help…” Sho started. “I might need to ask another favor… Toma-kun insists on holding that welcome party this Friday. I tried to turn him down, but he really is insistent on this one. So I was wondering if you could watch Shin-chan for me?... Just a few hours is fine! I don’t plan on staying out all night or anything!” Sho added hurriedly when he sensed hesitation from Ohno.
“Ehm… I’d love to but I have a few clients who booked a night fishing trip for Friday… I’m sorry…” Ohno sounded honestly sad which only made Sho feel guiltier for taking advantage of his friend’s kindness.
“Oh, it’s okay, don’t feel bad. You don’t have to apologize. I’m sorry for always taking advantage of your help. I just tell him no, it’s fine. It’s not like we don’t see each other at work every day,” Sho said forcing out a laugh just to break the ice. “Anyway,… I should be going. There’s laundry to finish and it’s soon time for Shin-chan to go to bed so…”
“Wait, Sho-kun! I know someone who’d be a great babysitter. We can drop by tomorrow so you all can get to know each other, okay? And then you can decide, okay?”
“Oh, wow! Thanks again, I guess…” Sho said a little taken aback, but honestly a little unsure about the idea. Shin-chan was sometimes slow to trust new people and leaving him with a near-stranger… Heck, with an actual stranger ‘cause even Sho didn’t know this person! Even if Sho trusted Ohno not to bring a suspicious person around his boy, he had his worries. But letting them meet… there was no harm in that, right? “Alright, I see you tomorrow then,” he agreed finally before saying their goodbyes.
“Daddy? Who did you talk to?”
Sho looked down at his son standing at his feet, clinging onto his pants.
“It was uncle Satoshi. He comes to visit tomorrow and he brings a friend to meet us. Are you excited?” Sho asked with a wide smile.
Shin just shrugged his little shoulder uncertainly.
“I guess…”
Sho let out a slow sigh. It was again a day when Shin was in a clingy mood so he just picked the boy up in his arms, hugging him tightly.
“It will be okay, I promise you…” Sho whispered while his son was clinging onto his neck. “Let’s take a bath then you can pick a book we read before bed, okay?” he asked smiling, trying to cheer the boy up.
“Okay, daddy…”
The next day Sho made sure to get off of work early and rushed home with Shin-chan after picking him up from the kindergarten. Even if he improved a lot since his messy teenage days, being a single father of a little boy left its impression on their home. An impression that wasn’t quite fitting to receive guests. So Sho was trying to do his best during the limited time before Satoshi arrived with this potential babysitter he was talking about. Sho didn’t want their messy home to deter them from agreeing to look after Shin-chan. Considering Shin would like them at all, Sho reminded himself. If not, Sho could care less about what anyone thought, he will kick them out without hesitation!
The ringing doorbell interrupted his train of thoughts. He quickly dumped the stack of newspapers he gathered from the living room in his own room to get them out of sight before rushing to open the door, finding his friend there with a young man, probably college-aged.
“Hey, Sho-kun! Do you remember my little brother, Masaki?”
A/N: hey there! so I promised to keep writing, right? I was working on this one for a while now. actually it's mostly based a very, very old request from vicco_vicky (yeah, I didn't forget about all those requests you put in ages ago, I'm just really slow to fulfill them, sorry? 🤣) anyway, happy birthday to Sho-chan! yay! I feel like recently I write more Sho-centric fics though my ichiban is Aiba-chan 😂🤷♂️ also, I'm not sure how long this will be though I have the story mostly in my head but probably it'll be shorter than my usual multi-chaps, I hope you won't mind. anyway, let me know what you think! 😘❤💚