It Was Always You (Chapter 4)

[rainbow_teatime]

Title: It Was Always You
Pairing: Sakumiya (main), Ohmiya, Sakuraiba
Rating: PG
Summary: Ninomiya Kazunari attempts to confess his feelings to college senior Ohno Satoshi in a letter. However, in a twist of events, the letter did not end up with Ohno, but his roommate Sakurai Sho, who happened to have unrequited feelings for Nino's roommate, Aiba Masaki. The pair finally decide to form an alliance of mutual interests, only to learn that it takes them in a completely different direction...

Sho and Nino decided to come up with a meet-up point where they could discuss matters pertaining to their secret operation.

 

"Alright! Phase 2!" Nino's voice filled the small space under the grand stands of their school track as he scribbled the title on a piece of paper,"The Merge!"

 

"You know, your title suggestions aren't any better than mine," Sho said primly, "besides, aren't we already past that already? It has been a whole month since we commenced this operation!"

 

"Tsk tsk, Sho-kun! How naive!" Nino said with a confident wag of his index finger,"you think just bumping into hallways and eating lunch together is enough? We both need more than just that if we are going to get our crushes, you know."

 

Sho smirked.

 

"So you finally admit that you have crush on him!"

 

"Wha-NO!" Nino panicked over the slip of his tongue,"like I said over and over-"

 

"Yes yes, you are just CURIOUS about him. I know, Romeo."

 

"Who are you calling Romeo?!"

 

"So? Any ideas on what to do as a group?"

 

Nino laid down on the grass and let out a sigh.

"I have none," he answered, his eyes looking up at the azure blue sky, "well we can all go for a movie."

 

Sho rubbed his chin thoughtfully and laid down beside Nino.

"There is nothing nice to watch. And it isn’t exactly socialising at its best."

 

Nino hummed in deep thought.

 

Just then, Nino felt his phone vibrate. He looked at his phone to see that it was a text from Jun, his lecture mate.

 

An idea flashed across his mind.

 

"I think I found the perfect place for all of us to go."

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Matsumoto Jun's eyes sparkled in recognition as he locked eyes with Sho, who stood outside the amusement park entrance with Ohno.

 

"Sakurai-san! It has been a while!" he greeted as he ran up ahead of Aiba and Nino, who looked at him in surprise.

 

"Jun-kun, you know Sho-chan?" Nino asked.

 

"Back in high school, my results were horrible. However, Sakurai-san helped me by tutoring me."

 

"Eh.. Sho-kun, I didn't know you took in pupils." Ohno said.

 

"I was approached by one of the Heads of Department himself," Sho said,"my grades apparently impressed him and he asked me to try tutoring some students in subjects they had trouble with."

 

"Wow.." Nino remarked in amusement,"small world."

 

"All that aside," Sho said firmly as he looked at the rides with a slight grimace,"... we are really going here?" The rest of the group followed his eyes to watch a thrill ride climb up a tall slope before swooping down on the other side at a break-neck speed.

 

"Yeah! I have received some 2-for-1 coupons for full day passes here, so I wanted to invite Nino-kun to chill out here for a bit," Jun said,"but to be going with more people makes things fun, right?"

 

"Yeah, I agree!" Aiba said happily, "let's go in now!"

 

With that, Jun and Aiba walked in through the gates. Nino followed soon after, and turned to see Sho and Ohno lagging behind.

 

"Everything okay?" Ohno questioned, and Sho nodded quietly without saying a word.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

"Wh-wh-wh-why 'Grave of the Puppetmaster?' Doesn't that carousel over there look more fun?" Sho asked shakily as they stood in front of a haunted house attraction, beckoned by the grim neon sign covered with what looks like fake blood dripping down.

 

"It has been rated as the number one haunted house attraction in the country, I heard," Nino said, "the best thing about it is it has a good combination of mystery, jump scares and.."

 

"Welp, let's go in!" Aiba cheered excitedly as he dragged an excited Jun and a curious Ohno in it. Nino was about to walk in when he looked at Sho standing outside the house, completely frozen.

 

"Sho-kun? We are going in without you."

 

Sho snapped out of his daze and walked quickly after Nino, gulping down his fear as his surroundings grew darker and darker.

 

"Whoa…look at these dismembered dolls.." Aiba murmured as he pointed at one broken porcelain doll hanging from the ceiling.

 

"Uwaaa.. creepy.." Jun said with a wince at the ghastly sight.

 

"I think that is kinda the point of it, though," Nino quipped and looked back at Ohno flashing his charming mega-watt smile, "right?"

 

Ohno only gave his usual amused chuckle as he looked around. "The props are very well made.."

 

"Ahh.. just as expected of the arts student," Nino said, "have you done a lot of stuff like this?"

 

"Well I did have to help out at our school carnivals and plays and what not," Ohno said as he walked past Nino. Nino was about to follow.. but he paused.

 

He turned to see Sho shuffling uncertainly some distance away towards the entrance.

 

"OI." Nino called as he jogged towards him, "what are you doing? Everyone left without you."

 

"I…as expected I have to go off first. I really have somethin-"

 

"Isn't it because your perfectly accurate schedule said that you are free that you are actually here today?"

 

"Well, yeah, but I..."

 

"See? Let's go then-"

 

"NO! I can't! I really can't!"

 

Nino went silent at Sho's voice. It was not like when he teased him a few days ago at their secret headquarters. Rather than embarrassed, Sho sounded afraid. Truly afraid.

 

"... Sho-kun, in complete honesty," Nino said slowly, "... are you scared of ghosts or anything.. Well.. supernatural?"

 

Sho looked at him incredulously, and shifted his eyes for a bit before nodding meekly. “That and.. I’m scared of heights too.”

 

"URGH. YOU BAKA! Why did you not tell me?! And you just walked in here blindly like an idiot!" Nino barked gruffly.

 

"I planned to just cover my ears and close my eyes but.."

 

"...Okay, you do that. I will just help you along like this, okay?" Nino said as he slipped a guiding arm around Sho's shoulders. Sho felt his heart jump as Nino's warmth on his shoulder sent a soft, euphoric sensation down his spine. He shivered lightly in response, and Nino looked at him.

 

"What, you cold or something?"

 

"N-not really. Let's just go get this done with.." Sho urged, clearing his throat as he covered his ears and closed his eyes, "I er…erm. I'm trusting you okay! Don't you dare leave me alone or do something else as mean as that! I will get you for that!"

 

He felt Nino give his head a reassuring pat before giving him a gentle push to get them walking.

 

Through his hands, the ghastly moans and groans of anguished spirits and the high pitched screams of undead dolls came muffled in his ears. He screwed his eyes shut even more as they walked on, trying not to scream at the sudden sounds of laughter that echoed around the walls.

 

Soon enough, he felt Nino tap him repeatedly on his shoulders, as if telling him that everything was alright. He slowly opened his eyes to see that they were nearing the exit already.

 

"There probably is nothing here," Nino said as he gave Sho's shoulders a squeeze, " we can go normally from here."

 

Sho gave a sigh of relief.

 

"Thanks, man," Sho said, "if it weren't for you, I.."

 

Just then, a figure fell from above and hung suspended in mid-air before swinging back and forth, its long hair flowing downwards to reveal the
hollow, emotionless face of a bony skull.

 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

"...Sho-kun, you don't look that well, do you?" Ohno said, his lips pursed in worry as he watched Sho stay right where he was, motionless on a bench.

 

"Ah.. I'm alright, really. I'm just a bit tired," a pale-faced Sho said with a weak smile, "go ahead and have fun. We can meet up again to eat later for dinner."

 

It seemed that the final, unprecedented scare had proved to have taken at least ten years off Sho's life.

 

"Hmm. At this point in time, it is best for Sho if Aiba-chan goes to stay with him," Nino pondered thoughtfully and was about to suggest it when he looked over at Sho. Sho sat right where he was on the bench, beads of sweat falling down the sides of his face, his chest rising and falling with deep breaths to calm himself down.

 

Nino breathed deeply and looked at the others, speaking before his mind processed his thoughts.

 

"I will stay and take care of Sho-kun. You guys can go ahead and have fun."

 

"Eh? Is it really okay?" Ohno asked, "I can also take-"

 

"Maa, if it is Nino-kun, I'm sure he will be alright," Aiba said with a smile, "he might be a grumpy old uncle but he really is reliable."

 

Nino nodded and walked over to sit down beside Sho, waving the others off.

 

"You…are an idiot on so many levels," Sho said tiredly, "first you let me meet the Grim Reaper early back in there, and now you are letting your crush go ahead without you."

 

"Well, if you can talk like that, you must be fine!" Nino said huffily as he gave Sho a sharp poke in his left arm. Sho responded with a weak punch on his right arm, before he laid his arm tiredly on the side of his body.

 

Nino sighed as he took out a bottle of water from his bag and handed it to Sho.

 

"Drink this. It might help to calm your nerves a bit."

 

Sho nodded slowly as he grabbed the bottle, their fingers brushing together for a second before Sho tipped the bottle back to drink.

 

"Next time, we are going to have to establish what we are weak at," Nino said as he relaxed beside Sho, "our future outings at least wouldn't have to endanger our lives like this."

 

"..Pfft. Don't pretend you did not scream too," Sho said with a grin as he gulped down some water.

 

"H-hey! I screamed because YOU screamed like a banshee."

 

"Not because you got scared?"

 

"We can always go back in to test that again and see!"

 

"Firstly, that won't be fair because it won't be scare you anymore. Secondly, I'm good. You can go in it without me."

 

"…I can take you on that scary-looking Rolling Thunder Twister coaster right the-"

 

"NOPE. Not gonna happen."

 

"Tsk," Nino clicked his tongue as he took out his 3DS, "argue less with me and rest. We are having dinner later remember?"

 

Sho laughed but nodded and rested his head back on the bench, while Nino's eyes focused on the Mario character jumping through various levels. Soon, Nino felt a heavy warmth on his shoulder, only to see Sho leaning his head on his right shoulder, his eyes blinking as he watched the screen.

 

"... Wanna play?"

 

"I don't know how."

 

"I'll teach you the controls."

 

"…okay then. If you insist."

 

Sho had to say that was the first time he ever saw Nino flash him a brilliant smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Thankfully, Sho recovered his spirits that day for dinner, and everything from the dinner chatter to the ride back to the campus went smoothly.

 

"Oh! Sho-kun!" Aiba said, "you were just saying that you needed some new clothes, right? I can recommend you a shop that sells some great stuff for cheap!"

 

"Wow, that will really help, thanks!" Sho answered and looked over at Nino, who gave him an approving wink.

Comments

[missxshy]

I love how their relationship is slowly progressing thanks to their cooperate mission to be close to Ohno and Aiba ! (Mention to the mails exchange with Sho's too detailed schedule x))
The scene in the haunted mansion is so cute with Nino helping Sho to get through and the end made me laugh so hard ! x) It reminded me of the 2nd Himitsu no Arashi-chan (the Sakuraiba part) x)

I wonder how it will progress in the next chapter ! Thank you for this :D

[lapetit_chou2]

Lemme give you more cookies!!!!!

Yaaaayyyy!!! Thank you for the additional chapters~
Sho-chan promises cakes and ice cream smoothies when more chapters come~

Fave seen is Sho resting his head on Nino's shoulder to watch him play~ Kyaaaaaaa!!!!!

[nicefinalbeam]

This story is really, really cute so far! I love that the simple crushes they have on the other guys is being slowly overpowered by something stronger developing between them. Sho's feelings when Nino touches him, Nino's need to help Sho out himself at the end of this chapter - all so adorable and telling. They may playfully tease and nag each other, but you can easily see that they also can hold great conversation together and match. :D Looking forward to seeing how this goes forward!