[multi-chap] Life (Re)Starts Here Ch.4/??
Title: Life (Re)Starts Here for vicco_vicky
Author: Saana
Pairing: Sakuraiba
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…
Previous chapters:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Just as he promised, Masaki showed up on Sho’s doorstep a few days later with a bright smile on his face and a plastic bag dangling in his hand.
“Masaki-kun? What are you doing here?” Sho asked, surprised but definitely delighted to see Masaki.
“Cooking lesson,” Masaki said with a bright grin. “I promised to come and teach you, didn’t I?”
“You were serious?”
“Of course I was! Eating take-out all the time is really not good for you two. So let’s get started right away, Sho-chan!” Masaki said bouncing on the ball of his feet, trying to cover up how anxious he actually was to show up at Sho’s place without prior notice or arrangement.
As Sho stepped to the side nodding and let Masaki in the apartment, he started to have a feeling that he’ll always have a hard time saying ‘no’ to Masaki.
“Masaki-nii!” Shin-chan cried out happily when he spotted him and rushed to hug him. “Did you come to play with me?”
“Hello, Shin-chan!” Masaki ruffled the boy’s hair. “Sure, we can play. But a bit later, okay? First, I’m gonna help your daddy to cook dinner. Do you want to help us too?”
“Okay!” Shin agreed easily, looking up at Masaki with adoring eyes. Sho shook his head amazed. If he asked something from him, it always depended on the boy’s mood whether he did so or not, but it looked like Shin would agree to anything Masaki asked of him. He was practically in love with Masaki. Though, Sho could totally understand him…
“Great! Let’s get started then!” Masaki took Shin’s hand and they headed to the kitchen. “Sho-chan, hurry up! You have a lot to learn, after all!” Masaki shouted teasing.
“Yeah, hurry up, daddy!” Shin said, mimicking Masaki’s tone giggling.
Seeing them gang up on him, Sho was lost for words. But as long as Shin was laughing Sho was willing to endure being the butt of the joke. So he just followed them to the kitchen, ready to do his best with this cooking lesson…
“And where are you going this time? You’re away from home a lot recently…”
Masaki groaned but didn’t stop putting on his sneakers, determined to leave their dorm (and Nino). The sooner, the better, in his opinion.
“Will you ever stop this inquisition every time I’m about to step out this door? You’re not my mom, in case you’d forgotten!”
“That’s not an answer to my question!”
Masaki sighed loudly and giving in to his fate, turned back to face Nino.
“I’m going over to Sho-chan’s place to teach him to cook,” he reported obediently.
“Still working hard to seduce daddy, I see…” Nino commented with a smirk.
“You make it sound so dirty…” Masaki protested, feeling his cheeks heat up but he couldn’t contradict Nino.
“Well, it’s the truth. He’s old. He is a dad. And your brother’s best friend, mind you… That makes it dirty…”
“You sure have some face to say it when you’re the one who has the actual hots for my brother!” Masaki retorted with a huff. He didn’t mind Nino crushing on his brother, but he was all talk and it started to really annoy him!
“I can’t help it. Have you seen his butt? It’s perfect! And…”
“I don’t wanna hear it!” Masaki interrupted him shouting loudly. Nino just laughed at him. “At least I’m doing something…” he mumbled pouting, trying to save face.
“Who says I don’t?”
Masaki looked horrified at that. He really didn’t want to hear any details!
“I’m out of here!” he said, tearing the door open and almost knocking over Kaza-pon, who just arrived back. “Nino-chan is being pervy again, just so you know…” he said as a warning before rushing off.
Soon what started out as simply cooking lessons, became a regular thing at least two or three times a week that started with Masaki coming over with whatever ingredients were necessary for the dinner that day, then he stayed so they all ate together and then he stayed some more to play with Shin until it was bed time for the boy.
Fried rice, curry, salads and pasta dishes… They made it all, and as much as Sho enjoyed each dish they made and treasured each moment in the process, he hardly dared to cook other than miso soup or fried eggs on his own.
And his hesitance was well-founded…
“Sho-chan, what are you doing?!” Masaki yelled at him suddenly what made Sho - who was about to dice the onion - freeze up immediately.
Tonight it was yakisoba on the lesson menu and Masaki tasked Sho with cutting the vegetables. Anything that involved the use of the chef knife was the task why Sho feared cooking on his own but of course he wasn’t planning on admitting it to Masaki; trying his hardest to live up to the confidence Masaki seemed to have in him. Obviously, he was doing something wrong in his trying. Having no idea what it was exactly that he did (or not did), he peered at Masaki carefully, waiting for an explanation.
“What am I doing?” he asked back, blinking uncertainly, not daring to move a muscle.
Masaki clicked his tongue and stepped behind Sho, his hands coming to cover Sho’s.
“Seriously, you’ll cut your own fingers one of these days if I’m not here to watch out for you…” Masaki murmured into Sho’s ear teasingly. “Here… like this… See? It’s safe this way…” he continues, adjusting Sho’s grip to the right position.
A low grunt left Sho’s throat and he could only hope that Masaki would take it as his sign of understanding and not… not something else… Man, it was embarrassing! Sure, it was a long time but this was not the time or place to get turned on just because Masaki’s lean, toned body was pressed to his back. ‘He’s your best friend’s little brother!’ That thought quickly quenched his mood and even if it left an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, at least he was able to focus back on cooking.
By then, Masaki’s warm presence disappeared from his back and he was back at his previous place to finish setting up the hot plate they borrowed from Ohno for tonight. He was cool and collected, as if nothing out of ordinary happened…
Later when they were already gathered around the dining table, Sho’s phone rang.
“Sho-san, sorry to bother you at this time,” Jun’s voice came through as soon as Sho picked up. “Did you finish the Takeda project plan?”
“Huh?... I did but… isn’t that due for next week?” Sho asked confused.
“I know but they called just now, saying they need it tomorrow morning so they’re sending someone over to pick it up right now,” Jun explained hurriedly and Sho could hear drawers being pulled out and pushed back In quick succession, indicating that Jun was probably still looking for the said document even while they were talking.
“I left it on my desk, I think…”
“If it was there, I would’ve not called you!” Jun snapped at him, obviously losing whatever was left of his patience. Jun really didn’t like when others deterred from previous arrangements. That much Sho gathered already since he started to work alongside with him.
Sho cringed at this, rushing to his bedroom to search his bag. He dumped all its content onto his bed.
“Ah!” he cried out when he find the folder of the project plan. “It’s here… I might have accidentally packed it up earlier today… What should I do now?...” he asked on a panicky voice. He didn’t make such mistake since he was fresh out of university and started to work for the first time.
“Bring it here! What else?” Jun snapped at him again. “Hurry!” he said before cutting the line.
“I can stay and watch Shin-chan…” Masaki said behind his back. Sho turned to look at him surprised. With Jun yelling at him through the phone, he didn’t hear Masaki’s footsteps approaching. “It’s for work, isn’t it? Go! It’s no problem for me…” Masaki said more firmly when he saw that Sho as always wanted to protest even in his panicked state. ‘He really is bad at accepting help, isn’t he?’ Masaki thought, part amused and part charmed, but made sure Sho could not see this on his face.
“Thank you!” Sho said finally, flashing a quick smile to Masaki before rushing out. He only stopped for a moment to press a goodbye-kiss on Shin’s forehead, promising him to be back soon…
In the end, he didn’t come back soon despite his promise to Shin-chan.
It turned out, their client not only needed the plan earlier than agreed on, but they suddenly had a lot of additional requests that were not included in their original order so Sho and Jun had to re-do the plan from the scratch.
“I’m home…” Sho mumbled silently while he toed off his shoes.
He found the lights on in the living room but Masaki was sound asleep, his head rested on a bunch of books and notes, his school work probably, that was laid out on the coffee table. Sho’s heart clenched affectionately at the sight. Unable to resist the temptation, he brushed his fingers through Masaki’s soft hair.
“Masaki-kun…”
“’M not sleepin’!...” Masaki slurred shooting up straight, looking around confused before his sleep-clouded eyes settled on Sho. “Ah, Sho-chan… Welcome back…”
Sho tried to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat at the sight. At those words…
“I’m sorry it took so long,” he said instead.
“Mmm… No problem... Shin-chan was a good boy as always. He bathed, I’ve read a book for him…” Masaki said with a yawn as he reached for his backpack.
“I can offer the couch only but… why don’t you stay here?... It’s late...” Sho offered; feeling a little uneasy when he thought about Masaki going out at such a late hour.
“Hmm… Okay…” Masaki agreed without much fussing, another yawn escaping him as he crawled up on the couch.
Sho smiled softly as he went to grab a pillow and a blanket for him.
“Good night, Masaki-kun…” he whispered, when he was tucked in, eyes closed.
“Night, Sho-chan… I’ll make you breakfast,… promise…” Masaki mumbled half-asleep already.
Sho not expected him to hear him at all but when he heard Masaki’s reply, he felt affection swell up in his chest.
“You don’t have to…” he snorted shaking his head and turned to go to bed himself.
“For you… I want to…” Masaki murmured.
Sho’s breath hitched at that confession whispered in the dark…
A/N: new chap here, yay! I hope you're not getting tired of all fluff but barely anything happening 😅 I'll try to step up the pace soon 😉 until then, let me know what you think! 💚❤
Author: Saana
Pairing: Sakuraiba
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…
Previous chapters:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Just as he promised, Masaki showed up on Sho’s doorstep a few days later with a bright smile on his face and a plastic bag dangling in his hand.
“Masaki-kun? What are you doing here?” Sho asked, surprised but definitely delighted to see Masaki.
“Cooking lesson,” Masaki said with a bright grin. “I promised to come and teach you, didn’t I?”
“You were serious?”
“Of course I was! Eating take-out all the time is really not good for you two. So let’s get started right away, Sho-chan!” Masaki said bouncing on the ball of his feet, trying to cover up how anxious he actually was to show up at Sho’s place without prior notice or arrangement.
As Sho stepped to the side nodding and let Masaki in the apartment, he started to have a feeling that he’ll always have a hard time saying ‘no’ to Masaki.
“Masaki-nii!” Shin-chan cried out happily when he spotted him and rushed to hug him. “Did you come to play with me?”
“Hello, Shin-chan!” Masaki ruffled the boy’s hair. “Sure, we can play. But a bit later, okay? First, I’m gonna help your daddy to cook dinner. Do you want to help us too?”
“Okay!” Shin agreed easily, looking up at Masaki with adoring eyes. Sho shook his head amazed. If he asked something from him, it always depended on the boy’s mood whether he did so or not, but it looked like Shin would agree to anything Masaki asked of him. He was practically in love with Masaki. Though, Sho could totally understand him…
“Great! Let’s get started then!” Masaki took Shin’s hand and they headed to the kitchen. “Sho-chan, hurry up! You have a lot to learn, after all!” Masaki shouted teasing.
“Yeah, hurry up, daddy!” Shin said, mimicking Masaki’s tone giggling.
Seeing them gang up on him, Sho was lost for words. But as long as Shin was laughing Sho was willing to endure being the butt of the joke. So he just followed them to the kitchen, ready to do his best with this cooking lesson…
“And where are you going this time? You’re away from home a lot recently…”
Masaki groaned but didn’t stop putting on his sneakers, determined to leave their dorm (and Nino). The sooner, the better, in his opinion.
“Will you ever stop this inquisition every time I’m about to step out this door? You’re not my mom, in case you’d forgotten!”
“That’s not an answer to my question!”
Masaki sighed loudly and giving in to his fate, turned back to face Nino.
“I’m going over to Sho-chan’s place to teach him to cook,” he reported obediently.
“Still working hard to seduce daddy, I see…” Nino commented with a smirk.
“You make it sound so dirty…” Masaki protested, feeling his cheeks heat up but he couldn’t contradict Nino.
“Well, it’s the truth. He’s old. He is a dad. And your brother’s best friend, mind you… That makes it dirty…”
“You sure have some face to say it when you’re the one who has the actual hots for my brother!” Masaki retorted with a huff. He didn’t mind Nino crushing on his brother, but he was all talk and it started to really annoy him!
“I can’t help it. Have you seen his butt? It’s perfect! And…”
“I don’t wanna hear it!” Masaki interrupted him shouting loudly. Nino just laughed at him. “At least I’m doing something…” he mumbled pouting, trying to save face.
“Who says I don’t?”
Masaki looked horrified at that. He really didn’t want to hear any details!
“I’m out of here!” he said, tearing the door open and almost knocking over Kaza-pon, who just arrived back. “Nino-chan is being pervy again, just so you know…” he said as a warning before rushing off.
Soon what started out as simply cooking lessons, became a regular thing at least two or three times a week that started with Masaki coming over with whatever ingredients were necessary for the dinner that day, then he stayed so they all ate together and then he stayed some more to play with Shin until it was bed time for the boy.
Fried rice, curry, salads and pasta dishes… They made it all, and as much as Sho enjoyed each dish they made and treasured each moment in the process, he hardly dared to cook other than miso soup or fried eggs on his own.
And his hesitance was well-founded…
“Sho-chan, what are you doing?!” Masaki yelled at him suddenly what made Sho - who was about to dice the onion - freeze up immediately.
Tonight it was yakisoba on the lesson menu and Masaki tasked Sho with cutting the vegetables. Anything that involved the use of the chef knife was the task why Sho feared cooking on his own but of course he wasn’t planning on admitting it to Masaki; trying his hardest to live up to the confidence Masaki seemed to have in him. Obviously, he was doing something wrong in his trying. Having no idea what it was exactly that he did (or not did), he peered at Masaki carefully, waiting for an explanation.
“What am I doing?” he asked back, blinking uncertainly, not daring to move a muscle.
Masaki clicked his tongue and stepped behind Sho, his hands coming to cover Sho’s.
“Seriously, you’ll cut your own fingers one of these days if I’m not here to watch out for you…” Masaki murmured into Sho’s ear teasingly. “Here… like this… See? It’s safe this way…” he continues, adjusting Sho’s grip to the right position.
A low grunt left Sho’s throat and he could only hope that Masaki would take it as his sign of understanding and not… not something else… Man, it was embarrassing! Sure, it was a long time but this was not the time or place to get turned on just because Masaki’s lean, toned body was pressed to his back. ‘He’s your best friend’s little brother!’ That thought quickly quenched his mood and even if it left an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, at least he was able to focus back on cooking.
By then, Masaki’s warm presence disappeared from his back and he was back at his previous place to finish setting up the hot plate they borrowed from Ohno for tonight. He was cool and collected, as if nothing out of ordinary happened…
Later when they were already gathered around the dining table, Sho’s phone rang.
“Sho-san, sorry to bother you at this time,” Jun’s voice came through as soon as Sho picked up. “Did you finish the Takeda project plan?”
“Huh?... I did but… isn’t that due for next week?” Sho asked confused.
“I know but they called just now, saying they need it tomorrow morning so they’re sending someone over to pick it up right now,” Jun explained hurriedly and Sho could hear drawers being pulled out and pushed back In quick succession, indicating that Jun was probably still looking for the said document even while they were talking.
“I left it on my desk, I think…”
“If it was there, I would’ve not called you!” Jun snapped at him, obviously losing whatever was left of his patience. Jun really didn’t like when others deterred from previous arrangements. That much Sho gathered already since he started to work alongside with him.
Sho cringed at this, rushing to his bedroom to search his bag. He dumped all its content onto his bed.
“Ah!” he cried out when he find the folder of the project plan. “It’s here… I might have accidentally packed it up earlier today… What should I do now?...” he asked on a panicky voice. He didn’t make such mistake since he was fresh out of university and started to work for the first time.
“Bring it here! What else?” Jun snapped at him again. “Hurry!” he said before cutting the line.
“I can stay and watch Shin-chan…” Masaki said behind his back. Sho turned to look at him surprised. With Jun yelling at him through the phone, he didn’t hear Masaki’s footsteps approaching. “It’s for work, isn’t it? Go! It’s no problem for me…” Masaki said more firmly when he saw that Sho as always wanted to protest even in his panicked state. ‘He really is bad at accepting help, isn’t he?’ Masaki thought, part amused and part charmed, but made sure Sho could not see this on his face.
“Thank you!” Sho said finally, flashing a quick smile to Masaki before rushing out. He only stopped for a moment to press a goodbye-kiss on Shin’s forehead, promising him to be back soon…
In the end, he didn’t come back soon despite his promise to Shin-chan.
It turned out, their client not only needed the plan earlier than agreed on, but they suddenly had a lot of additional requests that were not included in their original order so Sho and Jun had to re-do the plan from the scratch.
“I’m home…” Sho mumbled silently while he toed off his shoes.
He found the lights on in the living room but Masaki was sound asleep, his head rested on a bunch of books and notes, his school work probably, that was laid out on the coffee table. Sho’s heart clenched affectionately at the sight. Unable to resist the temptation, he brushed his fingers through Masaki’s soft hair.
“Masaki-kun…”
“’M not sleepin’!...” Masaki slurred shooting up straight, looking around confused before his sleep-clouded eyes settled on Sho. “Ah, Sho-chan… Welcome back…”
Sho tried to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat at the sight. At those words…
“I’m sorry it took so long,” he said instead.
“Mmm… No problem... Shin-chan was a good boy as always. He bathed, I’ve read a book for him…” Masaki said with a yawn as he reached for his backpack.
“I can offer the couch only but… why don’t you stay here?... It’s late...” Sho offered; feeling a little uneasy when he thought about Masaki going out at such a late hour.
“Hmm… Okay…” Masaki agreed without much fussing, another yawn escaping him as he crawled up on the couch.
Sho smiled softly as he went to grab a pillow and a blanket for him.
“Good night, Masaki-kun…” he whispered, when he was tucked in, eyes closed.
“Night, Sho-chan… I’ll make you breakfast,… promise…” Masaki mumbled half-asleep already.
Sho not expected him to hear him at all but when he heard Masaki’s reply, he felt affection swell up in his chest.
“You don’t have to…” he snorted shaking his head and turned to go to bed himself.
“For you… I want to…” Masaki murmured.
Sho’s breath hitched at that confession whispered in the dark…
A/N: new chap here, yay! I hope you're not getting tired of all fluff but barely anything happening 😅 I'll try to step up the pace soon 😉 until then, let me know what you think! 💚❤