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yume_to_ameTitle: Me without you 11/?
Pairing: Junba, Sakumiya, Ohno/?, others possible
Rating: up to R
Genre: AU, romance
Plot: Although they are both young students at college, both the youngest brothers within three, and both part of high society, there are worlds between Jun and Masaki. Jun comes from a rich, traditional and conservative family, while Masaki's family gained wealth and fame by luck. Masaki is cheerful and enjoys life to the fullest. Jun is unusually earnest and distanced. Although part of the same glamorous world, their paths would have never crossed, they would have never even talked, but then Masaki's brothers decide he needs to catch up with his studies, and hire Jun as his tutor. With being so different it seems they will never get closer, until they realize that they both hold a sad secret.
Note: This is dedicated to
yukitsubute. I had (and still have) a lot of fun writing this, and I wonder where it takes me to. I can promise you some fluff, some fun and some drama (the usual ^^) There might even be some hurt & comfort.
Sho hears screams and the sound of something breaking. Then there are more screams, and when he opens his eyes, he is lying on his back on the floor of a room, looking up to Takuya and Jun, looking at him in worry and anger.
“Where am I?” he coughs. “It’s you two so I’m for sure not in heaven.”
Jun’s lips tug slightly, and Sho isn’t sure if he is amused or annoyed or sad now. “You are in my room now,” Jun complains. “You broke through my window!”
“What?” Sho chuckles “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“He is not being ridiculous!” Takuya huffs, and grabs his arm to help him in an upright position. His shoulder aches and his knee hurts a bit, but other than that he seems to be fine. A few scratches and bruises probably. Takuya points into the direction of Jun’s window. Well… into the direction where Jun’s window was.
“Oh.” Sho blushes. Indeed. Apparently when the ladder ripped he kind of made a Tarzan-like entrance into his little brother’s room. Just that he wasn’t as cool as Tarzan. “Well, good that no one got hurt.”
“Are you stupid,” Takuya scolds.
“Yes,” Jun huffs. “That was freaking dangerous!”
“How could you be so reckless!?” Takuya continues his scolding.
Jun seems to agree. “You could have seriously gotten hurt!! Did you even think properly before?”
“Obviously not,” Takuya joins his scolding. “How could you even do something so reckless! And why? Why did you have to swing yourself from the roof!?”
Sho is inclined to explain to them that it was a ladder and not a rope, and that it unfortunately broke midway. And that it wasn’t his intention to swing into Jun’s room, but to knock at his window.
“Did you want to commit suicide?” Jun huffs. “If yes, then it’s the way to go, you idiot!”
“I just wanted to talk to you!” Sho finally dares to stop their scolding.
“We don’t have locks in this house,” Jun argues. “You could have just come through the door.”
He couldn’t. They both know he couldn’t invade Jun’s privacy without him allowing it.
“He is right,” Takuya agrees with a frown. “Jun’s room is in the third floor, do you even know how high that is? Never do something so dangerous again!”
“It’s really the worst,” Jun agrees.
“Hey, why are you ganging up on me now!” Sho asks, pointing both his index fingers at his two brothers. “How is what I did worse than snapping at my younger brother or saying that I want to die?” Sho dares.
“I didn’t say I want to die,” Jun argues. “I said it would be simpler for you if I did! That’s something entirely different.”
“It’s-“
“It’s even more stupid,” Takuya puts a stop to their discussion. “Which doesn’t mean throwing yourself through a window is a good idea.”
“Hey,” Sho intervenes. “I think within us three I just treated this situation the most mature!”
Takuya swallows visibly, while Jun blinks. Unbelievable, finally it seems to sink into their minds. Sho lets out a little sigh.
It takes a while for them to recover from the whole drama, then Takuya is the one going to action, as always. He has always been the one who could react the fastest and just do something. “Just sit down here,” Takuya says, and grabs both his and Jun’s arm, pulling them away from the sharp glass and making them sit down at the other end of the room. “And don’t move.” He frowns, pointing an accusing finger at Sho. “Especially not you! You are like the tornado of destruction!”
“I am not the tornado of destruction!” Sho blushes in embarrassment. “I am not always that clumsy!”
“First you broke the porcelain and then the window of Jun’s room,” Takuya argues.
“Don’t blame all of that on me,” Sho retorts. “I broke the porcelain because Jun fell against me. And Jun fell against me because you slapped him, if I may remind you!”
Now it’s Takuya’s turn to blush slightly, much to Sho’s delight. It rarely happens after all. But it wouldn’t be Takuya if he didn’t regain his composure immediately again. “So I assume someone also pushed you from the roof or dropped against you there to make you use an unstable children’s ladder and break through Jun’s window?”
Sho blushes deeply at that, and Jun’s lips tug into a smile.
Takuya cleans up the mess quietly, just like he did it before with the porcelain while he makes Jun and Sho wait in a safe distance. To Sho’s embarrassment he has to admit that Takuya is indeed graceful and skilled in his movements, unlike himself. In comparison to him he always sees his shortcomings. He is less charming than Takuya, less intelligent, less pretty, with less charisma. He isn’t even as tall as he is. He sighs slightly, earning him a worried gaze from Jun. They both sit on the floor in silence. Jun has stretched out his legs, a thoughtful expression on his face, and Sho wants to rob closer to him and talk, but doesn’t know how.
Then Takuya puts the garbage bag aside and sits down between them. To Sho’s surprise he puts an arm around his and Jun’s shoulders and pulls them against his body. “I love you guys,” he says in a surprisingly hoarse voice. And. “I am sorry. I really don’t know how to deal with conflicts. I’m so sorry for snapping at you, Jun. It was not right.”
Sho assumes that Jun is probably equally surprised as he is. He has never expected Takuya to actually apologizing directly.
“It’s okay,” Jun says all of a sudden, and chuckles. “It wasn’t a glorious moment from me either.”
“It’s okay,” Sho agrees into Takuya’s shoulder. But he can hardly speak as Takuya’s grip is almost too tight. On the other side he can hear Jun gurgling something incomprehensible, apparently also caught in Takuya’s gorilla grip.
“You are not fair,” Sho manages to breath out a complaint. “Just because you are tall and strong.”
Takuya laughs.
~~~
“We have nothing to eat,” Sho complains. “And I don’t want to eat the weird leftovers from two days ago. To be honest, and I know this comes as a shock to you now, I hate Brussel sprouts!”
“You do?” Takuya asks in disbelief. “I hate them too. I just ate them because I thought you love it. Hence I made our cook prepare it once a month.”
“Does that mean we both ate it for the sake of each other?”
Jun grins while he listens to their conversation. It seems that when it’s about food Sho turns into a 5-year old.
“What do you think?” Takuya suddenly wants to know from him.
Jun blinks. “Brussel sprouts? They look cute.”
“Cute?” Sho says in disbelief. “They are green! Nothing that’s green is cute!”
“Clover?” Takuya argues.
“Beautiful. Not cute.”
“That dude from the DC movie, he was wearing a green costume,” Takuya continues, much to Jun’s surprise making a modern-pop-culture reference. When did he watch Green Lantern? Or rather: Who made him watch it?
“Green Lantern?” Jun asks to make sure. “Not sure if he is cute…”
“He isn’t even hot!” Sho complains.
“But Brussel sprouts have cute little leaves,” Jun argues. “It’s like a whole salad, just in a tiny version with leaves and a core.”
“But it tastes horrible!”
“Oh.” Jun’s head perks up. “Masaki-kun’s favourite colour is green. And… he is cute… right?”
Sho and Takuya exchange a glance he can’t quite understand, looking weirdly amused, before Sho chuckles. “Yes, maybe, but Brussel sprouts are still horrible.”
“Okay,” Takuya interrupts the discussion. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. What are we going to eat?”
Sho as the self-proclaimed hero of the night is lying on the sofa, propped up on a bunch of pillows and being attended to by his brothers. “I’m happy with anything, just spare me-“
“The Brussel sprouts,” Jun interrupts him with a grin. “We know. I could cook something,” he offers.
“Most certainly not,” Takuya intervenes. “You are not going to work for us. I’ve just realized that we really left you alone too much.”
“So what are we going to do,” Sho asks carefully.
Takuya takes a deep breath like he is about to announce the impossible. “Order something in.”
Sho’s mouth drops open. “No!” he breaths out. “We… take-away food? Pizza… or something alike?”
“Have you never ordered something in?” Jun asks in disbelief. When his brothers shake their heads, he asks further. “Ever?”
They both shrug.
“Then it’s about time you give it a try.”
“And how does it work?” Sho wants to know.
“Where do we call?”
“You can also order via App,” Jun starts to explain. When they both stare at him, he grins. “You know what, I’ll order a vast variety of food, you just prepare your credit card.”
Takuya grins. “That much I can help.”
An hour later they are surrounded by all kinds of food, pizza, Chinese, sushi, Jun even added something from a gourmet restaurant that also provides home delivery service. Takuya shows him a thankful smile for that.
“Listen, Jun,” Sho says when he bits into a piece of pizza, sighing happily. “This is so much better than Brussel sprouts,” he grins before getting earnest again. “We can’t imagine a life without you,” he says, obviously wary about how to continue.
“Exactly,” Takuya agrees, while he starts eating his pizza with a fork and knife. Jun decides to generously ignore it. Takuya and Sho already stepped way out of their box anyway. “We didn’t have any freedom when we grew up, so we wanted you to have as much freedom as you want.”
“We didn’t know you would take it for a lack of interest,” Sho explains. “You know, when I didn’t have the best grades possible, the man that… let’s say produced me would always hit me. I never wanted to put pressure on you because of your grades, that’s why I never said anything at all.”
“God, that jerk,” Takuya says brutally honest, much to Jun’s surprise.
“Yeah, you know what he did once when I was in my rebellious phase? He let me kneel on the ground for hours. I collapsed at one point,” Sho says dryly.
Jun’s eyes widen in horror. He didn’t even know these stories, none of them actually talked about their father.
Takuya looks pissed. “That’s why I hated him so much,” he admits. “I never liked him. He was a bad husband to our mother, and an even worse father. Some people shouldn’t become parents.”
“He wasn’t as horrible to you and your mother though, right?” Sho asks so hopefully that Jun could only nod half-heartedly.
Sho seems to be relieved. “That’s also the reason I never praised you for anything, Jun, because I was concentrating so much on not saying anything negative.”
They are silent for a while, then Takuya looks at them thoughtfully. “I want us to drop the honorifics,” he says, much to Jun’s surprise. “I never liked it, but kind of stuck with it… because I was used to it. But I really don’t want my brothers to call me -san. It’s weird, and it puts a distance between us that isn’t necessary.”
“Is it really okay?” Jun asks in surprise.
“We are who we are,” Takuya chuckles. “And we’ll always be this serious family, we can’t change everything. But we can open up towards each other.”
“Fine with me,” Sho agrees immediately. “I hated it anyways.”
When they both look at Jun expectantly, he can only nod. It’s weird for him to change patterns now after he grew up with it, but he can’t disappoint them and crush their motivation by telling them that. If he thinks about it, he actually has to agree with them. After seeing Masaki and his brothers, he doesn’t want to have that much distance to his own.
~~~
“Where are we going to?” Nino asks, giggling slightly when Sho pulls him along. “It’s rare that we don’t meet directly at the restaurant.”
“It just so happens that I’m in an incredible good mood,” Sho points out. “And I still want to show you my gratitude for your help back then at the dinner. That’s why we are going somewhere special.”
“Really?” Nino’s heart skips a beat when Sho wraps his hand around his wrist and pulls him along, all the time grinning like an idiot. A cute idiot though. Nino likes this side of him. Sho is someone who comes off as so serious and so smart all the time, that seeing him silly is a nice change. Especially since no one ever sees him like that, except for his family, and Nino.
“You will like it,” Sho promises and winks at him.
Nino blushes slightly. “So I assume everything turned out well?” he asks mainly to distract from his own embarrassment.
Sho nods and picks up his pace, grinning. “Everything’s good between us. We talked a lot.”
Nino nods contently. “Say, Sho-san…” he eyes Sho’s hand carefully. “What happened to your arm? There is a huge bruise.”
“Oh that,” Sho chuckles. “I had an accident, my shoulder looked even worse, and I had to make a brief visit to the hospital-“
Nino halts immediately, forcing Sho to stop too. “You were hurt so badly!?” he blurts out
“Just a little. An accident. But Takuya wanted me to check on it properly, so…” he blinks at Nino. “Are you alright?”
Nino figures he must look really dumb with his eyes widened in horror and his lips quivering. “I… why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why?” Sho blinks. “I’m alright.”
“But you forced yourself to go out with me tonight, while you are still not feeling well!” Nino argues, feeling guilty immediately.
“Kazu-kun,” Sho smiles. “I’m alright. I just had a brief check-up at hospital, I didn’t have to stay.” He pauses, looking at Nino thoughtfully. “If you want me to, I’ll tell you next time when something happens, so that you don’t need to worry.”
“Yes!” Nino exclaims a little too eagerly.
Sho nods, and when he turns around, his movements seem a bit nervous. There is not much time to linger on this weird development though as they soon approach a building, something Nino has seen a few times already, on TV ad online, he has wanted to go there, but never found someone to go with him, and someone who was willing to pay the money.
“Final Fantasy restaurant!?”
“Yes, I booked us the… eh… Mogry corner, if I remember correctly. We are having a full-course dinner,” Sho adds. “Do you like it?”
Nino’s eyes widen. “Are you kidding?” he whispers in awe. “Oh my god, I’ve always wanted to come here. And a whole dinner on top of that. That’s… that’s too much, Sho-san, I can’t make you spend so much money.”
Sho chuckles. “Yes, you can. This won’t drive me into poverty, especially not with one restaurant visit, believe me. Besides, I’ve the perfect excuse now to visit such a restaurant.” He grins. “So, what do you say? Because with or without you, I’m going in.”
Nino chuckles, and nods. “Let’s go!”
It’s only when he sits in front of his perfect rice and steak, all Final Fantasy themed, and his heart beats uncontrolled whenever Sho asks him something or says something, that Nino knows he can’t quite ignore this feeling anymore. The twitching of his stomach is not because he ate something wrong or because he worries about his exams, but because he simply likes Sho.
Out of all. Finally someone he truly likes and it’s a billionaire, older, settled in life, and the brother of his best friend’s boyfriend (or whatever Masaki defines Jun as). On top of that he is sure that Sho has zero interest in him. He probably only sees a kid in him.
“Do you want dessert?” Sho asks with a smile. “I saw something about a cake. Shaped as a chocobo, whatever that means.”
“I’m not sure,” Nino chuckles. “I have already eaten so much.”
“There is always place for dessert,” Sho says wisely, and Nino just can’t deny his wish. When they sit over their cakes, Sho looks at him thoughtfully.
“I’ve an idea or rather a request…” he starts, almost sounding wary. Nino looks up curiously. “I’ve two tickets for a musical next week. I wanted to go with Jun, but he is busy, I just wondered if you would like to accompany me?”
YES YES YES YES! It’s not like he is that much interested into musicals, but YES! “Well,” Nino pretends to give it a little thinking, his heart jumping like crazy at the prospect of actually going out with Sho. “I think I can squeeze it into my schedule.”
~~~
It’s the first time Masaki meets Jun at university. They are both having a class at the same time and decide to go for lunch together.
“This is like a dream come true,” Masaki chirps.
“What?” Jun blinks in surprise. “Eating ramen here?”
Masaki grins. How could anyone be so serious and knowledged, yet so oblivious? “It’s a dream to meet you for my lunch break,” he explains happily. “I don’t care for the restaurant. We could have also gone for fast food or buy a cheap bento box. It’s just great to meet you.”
A beautiful, shy smile curls around Jun’s lips. “Really?” he asks. “I’m happy to meet you too. When I have a bad day, I’m always feeling better when I see you.”
If this wasn’t Jun, it would sound so cheesy. But Jun just sounds honest and sincere, and Masaki’s chest feels all warm suddenly. “You don’t have a bad day today, have you?” he asks to diffuse his own embarrassment.
Jun smiles and shakes his head. “No.”
“What happened after we had the dinner last week?” Masaki asks nervously. “You said you had a fight with your brothers. It’s all my fault, isn’t it? I’m sorry, I pushed Sho-san too much. He for sure got angry.”
Jun grins much to Masaki’s surprise. “Sho wasn’t angry at all. I had a fight with Takuya-sa… I mean with Takuya.” He pauses. “It was pretty bad. I kind of exploded with all kind of emotions. Guess I haven’t talked to them honestly for too long, and then I suddenly was too worked up to talk calmly with them. He got angry too, and it kind of escalated.” He smirks. “Then Sho threw himself from the roof and landed in my room, which is why my window is broken now, and then we made up and talked and decided to drop the honorifics.” He pauses. “And it’s not your fault,” he urges. “In fact I would have never been able to stand up for myself against Sho or Takuya without you. I’m really thankful for the confidence you gave me.”
Masaki stares at Jun, his mouth dropping open. What? Who dropped from the roof? Is that some sort of metaphor he doesn’t get? “So, when you say Sho-san dropped from the roof, you actually mean…”
“He took a ladder and wanted to climb down from the roof to knock against my window and talk to me, because he knew I wouldn’t let him in when he knocked at my door. He is really clumsy, so he didn’t tie the ladder to the balustrade properly, and almost dropped down. He managed to swing himself into my room though. Just that the window was closed.”
“You are serious?” Masaki stutters.
Jun looks at him in surprise. “Do I look like I’m joking?” he asks, sounding uncertain all of a sudden.
“Not at all, which is why I’m confused,” Masaki points out.
“Why?” Jun teases. “Did you think your family is the only crazy one?”
Masaki grins all of a sudden, liking the way Jun could also be silly and teasing. “So, you guys made up?” he asks happily.
“I think we still have quite a way to go,” Jun admits. “But we’ve finally made some progress. All thanks to you.”
“I doubt that’s true,” Masaki points out sadly. “I made things escalate.”
“Masaki-kun,” Jun looks around before he takes Masaki’s hand into his. “Without you I wouldn’t be able to talk to my brothers now. I would have not learned to understand Sho better and speak my mind. We would have never fought and instead carried on like we were before, and we would all be miserable and feel bad about our relationship.”
“Jun…” Masaki blushes, brushing his thumb over Jun’s hand. When no one is looking, he bends forward and plants a swift kiss on Jun’s lips. When he draws back, Jun’s eyes shine, and he looks happier than he ever did before. Masaki decides to take a risk. “May I ask something?” he asks carefully.
Jun nods. “Of course.”
“Let’s say we would be able to date openly, and people approach me and ask: Who is this stunning guy at your side? What should I answer then? This is Jun-kun, my friend? Or my boyfriend?” Much to Masaki’s surprise Jun blushes.
“I don’t mind,” Jun stutters. “How do you want to call me?”
“I would like to date you seriously, like couples would do it,” Masaki admits, wondering where the hell he gets his courage from right now. Maybe it’s because of Jun’s honest and encouraging words from before. “Only if you want to of course,” he adds hastily.
Jun licks over his lips nervously, then he nods. “I would like that too,” he finally admits shyly.
Masaki’s eyes widen. “Really? You are not just saying this to make me happy?”
Jun returns his smile. “Yes, really.”
Masaki’s stomach feels all fuzzy by Jun’s words and his honest smile. It’s really been worth it, he thinks. The rocky start they had, the little dramas surrounding their relationship before getting together and all the misunderstanding, because in the end it led them together. Jun’s reasoning might be different to his own sometimes, and the way he can be serious doesn’t seem to comply with Masaki’s sight of the world, but somehow the way Jun is and how he acts makes Masaki whole again. It’s like he didn’t even realize that something was missing in his life before. Now that he regained this missing piece again, it’s just so obvious to him that he wasn’t really happy before.
Jun has thanked him for helping him stand up against his brothers. When the time comes and Masaki will feel ready to talk about everything, he will thank Jun too for the things he helped him to realize and hopefully overcome.
~~~
“You?”
Sho’s eyes are wide opened when Ryo and Nino step through the front door together. Jun invited them with Masaki and his best girlfriend Kiko. Nino has told him beforehand that he would be there tonight to visit Jun – to be honest, any excuse to write Sho a message is a good excuse. He assumes though that Sho is rather surprised to see Ryo.
“Hello, boss,” Ryo chirps happily, and pads into the living room.
“You are wearing a punk jacket and cut jeans,” Sho states in an uncertain tone while he obviously tries to state a fact.
Nino grins while he follows him. “Get over it,” he teases. “I’ve never seen him in a suit. Besides, he is hot.”
“He is?” Sho asks and frowns. Much to Nino’s surprise he looks pissed all of a sudden. He only shoves them to the living room where a girl with endless legs is feeding Jun with fruits and Masaki looks at her kind of annoyed.
“This is going to be an awesome evening,” Ryo states happily, and Nino wonders where the hell he gets his confidence from because all he sees for now is an annoyed Masaki and Sho, who seems to sulk out of no valid reasons. He sighs a bit, before sporting a brave smile and going into the cave of the lion – namely Masaki, as the lion.
Much to Nino’s surprise Kiko isn’t all that annoying though, she is rather fun and laidback, pretty much like a female version of Masaki, which is probably why Masaki seems to panic. Then however Kiko tells them how she is dating a hot professor at college at the moment.
Nino grins. “See,” he whispers towards Masaki. “Jun’s definitely not her type.”
Masaki blushes. “Am I so obvious?”
“Please, Ryo and I almost didn’t dare to go into this room.” Right at this moment Ryo starts playing catch-the-chocolate-raisins-with-your-mouth with Kiko. “Okay, I almost didn’t dare to enter.”
“You think I’m overreacting?” Masaki wants to know.
Nino grins. “No!” he exclaims dramatically.
They both giggle, earning them a sceptical glance from Jun. Masaki blinks slightly in confusion, while Nino has to hide a grin. Well, at least they are both equally jealous.
Later that evening when Jun and Masaki finally managed to sit next to each other without any distraction, their fingers secretly brushing against each other – secretly to everyone but Nino’s sharp eyes – Nino decides it’s save enough to leave them alone and look after his own problem.
He finds Sho in his study. Unexpectedly – or maybe not so unexpectedly – his heart races the instant he sees him in front of his desk through the half-opened door. God, what is he even doing here? He bites down on his lips nervously. He wanted to look for him and start a casual talk with him, but… now that he is here, it just dawns on him that this is Sho’s home, not just a restaurant or a place each of them can retreat from easily. This is Sho’s territory, and he is right in front of it and has no idea what he actually wants to do. What is he even thinking? That Sho might be interested in a teenage-looking guy who is only a little older than his own brother? He for sure sees just a kid in him.
Nino is about to turn around and head back to the others when Sho suddenly turns to face the door. He blinks in surprise. “Kazu-kun?”
“Ah, yes,” Nino stutters, not able to control his reactions at all. “I… I was looking for the toilette.”
What the hell is wrong with him!? This is the most idiotic thing he could possibly say!
“Oh, this is not it,” Sho smiles. “Just go down the hallway and then turn left.”
Nino sighs inwardly. Yes, he knows that. Sho is about to turn around again, when Nino steps forward. “I’m not dating Ryo-kun or anything like that,” he blurts out, frowning at himself. Now, this was subtle, Ninomiya, like really subtle! Why can he be so sarcastic and cool when it’s about Masaki’s love issues, while he himself is at a complete loss when it’s about himself?
Sho turns around again, his eyes wide for a moment. Then he smiles slightly. “Is that so,” he muses. Okay, this reaction seems not too bad. Apparently he doesn’t believe Nino is a lunatic.
“Are you working?” Nino asks carefully.
“No, just reading my newspapers,” Sho chuckles. “Boring huh?”
Nino shakes his head. “Not at all. But why don’t you join us?”
Sho grins. “And get killed by Jun?”
“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Nino answers and carefully takes a step into the room. Sho points at the comfortable armchair next to him, signalling Nino to sit down there. “Although he told me you broke his window, which is why we are in the living room in the first place.”
Sho pouts a bit. “Did he also tell you that it was an accident?”
“Yes, though I can’t quite imagine what kind of an accident led to you breaking the window? Did you play football?”
“Yeah, with my body,” Sho jokes. He must have caught Nino’s confusion because he grins. “It was right after the infamous dinner at Satoshi-san’s place. It’s a long story though,” he teases. “It starts with a family fight, with Takuya snapping at Jun, with me accidentally breaking the ugly family porcelain to me dropping through Jun’s window from outside, and all of us making up and eating great pizza Jun ordered for us.”
Nino’s mouth drops open. “We just met two days ago, and you didn’t tell me this awesome story!? Was this the reason why you got hurt!? So… the accident was actually you almost dropping from the roof?”
“Well, when we meet I want to hear something about you, not tell you something about my boring life.”
Nino isn’t sure if he should blush now or be annoyed that Sho won’t tell him something so important. He goes for mix out of both and grumbles something. “So tell me now?”
“Are you sure you won’t prefer to hang out with the young folks instead?” Sho asks, looking almost doubtful.
“Nah, I enjoy age and wisdom sometimes,” Nino jokes, finally able to let his sarcasm shine through.
Sho chuckles. “Don’t forget, playing the insensitive elephant is my job!”
It’s an awesome evening they share, and Nino is glad the others are so pre-occupied with flirting that they don’t really miss him. At one point though Takuya comes home too, and Nino is almost a hundred percent convinced that he would indeed realize something, so he re-joins the others. Before he leaves Sho’s study though, Sho smiles at him. “Next week, Thursday?”
“Of course.” Nino can’t hold back the dorky smile appearing on his lips. “Just mail me the details.”
Much later that evening, when they say their goodbyes and Masaki makes up an excuse to stay a bit longer – probably to kiss a certain someone – he and Ryo walk home together. They are living in the same area, or rather the friend Ryo stays with tonight and Nino live close by, and it’s better to go together anyway.
It’s when they pass a small park that a guy in a black jacket and hat approaches them. “Hey,” he says.
Ryo and Nino exchange a glance. Nino wonders if Ryo thinks the same, that they should be careful. He does, it seems, because Ryo only nods politely but resumes walking. The guy follows them. “So which one of you is Sho-san’s lover?”
Nino and Ryo exchange a surprised glance.
“He is been seen with a black-haired slender guy recently. Which one of you is it.” The guy steps closer, he reeks of alcohol and cigarettes, and sweat, and something about him unsettles Nino deeply.
To his surprise it’s Ryo who speaks up. “Who wants to know that?” he asks calmly.
The guy pulls out a cigarette, and Ryo gladly plays along by lightening it. “No one.” The guy says. “Just curious.”
“Well,” Ryo continues. “We are not the only black-haired small guys in this city,” he says, and sounds so convincing that Nino is relieved. The guy halts, not following them anymore and watching them leave.
When they are far enough away, Ryo grabs Nino’s arm. “This is dangerous, Nino-kun. We should tell-“
“No.” Nino shakes his head. “I’m sure it’s a coincidence. Probably someone is prying about Sho-kun or something like that.”
“Sho-kun?” Ryo is surprisingly earnest now. For a guy so messy like him it’s a surprising twist. “You should be careful if you date him. A family of their wealth and history, and with his job, he doesn’t only have friends.”
Ryo’s eyes are wide-opened and serious, he doesn’t look like the crazy sexy guitarist from that indie band at all now, but rather like the lawyer attorney he is. “Ryo-kun,” Nino begs. “I’ll be careful. But please let me be the one who tells Sho-kun when the timing is right. I don’t want to unsettle him over nothing.”
Ryo sighs. “Fine,” he gives in. “Maybe you are right.”
A/N: Nino finally acknowledged that he might or might not like Sho :D
Meanwhile more background information of Junxbrothers (and yes, Sho did indeed want to climb down the wall and knock at Jun's window. He is such a brilliant mind :D )
As for Nino... someone is not happy he is meeting Sho?
Oh, and I've realized this chapter is not so Junba-centric. But Junba will have a major plot coming up, so I need to lay out the other side-stories further before going that way :D
Pairing: Junba, Sakumiya, Ohno/?, others possible
Rating: up to R
Genre: AU, romance
Plot: Although they are both young students at college, both the youngest brothers within three, and both part of high society, there are worlds between Jun and Masaki. Jun comes from a rich, traditional and conservative family, while Masaki's family gained wealth and fame by luck. Masaki is cheerful and enjoys life to the fullest. Jun is unusually earnest and distanced. Although part of the same glamorous world, their paths would have never crossed, they would have never even talked, but then Masaki's brothers decide he needs to catch up with his studies, and hire Jun as his tutor. With being so different it seems they will never get closer, until they realize that they both hold a sad secret.
Note: This is dedicated to
yukitsubute. I had (and still have) a lot of fun writing this, and I wonder where it takes me to. I can promise you some fluff, some fun and some drama (the usual ^^) There might even be some hurt & comfort.Sho hears screams and the sound of something breaking. Then there are more screams, and when he opens his eyes, he is lying on his back on the floor of a room, looking up to Takuya and Jun, looking at him in worry and anger.
“Where am I?” he coughs. “It’s you two so I’m for sure not in heaven.”
Jun’s lips tug slightly, and Sho isn’t sure if he is amused or annoyed or sad now. “You are in my room now,” Jun complains. “You broke through my window!”
“What?” Sho chuckles “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“He is not being ridiculous!” Takuya huffs, and grabs his arm to help him in an upright position. His shoulder aches and his knee hurts a bit, but other than that he seems to be fine. A few scratches and bruises probably. Takuya points into the direction of Jun’s window. Well… into the direction where Jun’s window was.
“Oh.” Sho blushes. Indeed. Apparently when the ladder ripped he kind of made a Tarzan-like entrance into his little brother’s room. Just that he wasn’t as cool as Tarzan. “Well, good that no one got hurt.”
“Are you stupid,” Takuya scolds.
“Yes,” Jun huffs. “That was freaking dangerous!”
“How could you be so reckless!?” Takuya continues his scolding.
Jun seems to agree. “You could have seriously gotten hurt!! Did you even think properly before?”
“Obviously not,” Takuya joins his scolding. “How could you even do something so reckless! And why? Why did you have to swing yourself from the roof!?”
Sho is inclined to explain to them that it was a ladder and not a rope, and that it unfortunately broke midway. And that it wasn’t his intention to swing into Jun’s room, but to knock at his window.
“Did you want to commit suicide?” Jun huffs. “If yes, then it’s the way to go, you idiot!”
“I just wanted to talk to you!” Sho finally dares to stop their scolding.
“We don’t have locks in this house,” Jun argues. “You could have just come through the door.”
He couldn’t. They both know he couldn’t invade Jun’s privacy without him allowing it.
“He is right,” Takuya agrees with a frown. “Jun’s room is in the third floor, do you even know how high that is? Never do something so dangerous again!”
“It’s really the worst,” Jun agrees.
“Hey, why are you ganging up on me now!” Sho asks, pointing both his index fingers at his two brothers. “How is what I did worse than snapping at my younger brother or saying that I want to die?” Sho dares.
“I didn’t say I want to die,” Jun argues. “I said it would be simpler for you if I did! That’s something entirely different.”
“It’s-“
“It’s even more stupid,” Takuya puts a stop to their discussion. “Which doesn’t mean throwing yourself through a window is a good idea.”
“Hey,” Sho intervenes. “I think within us three I just treated this situation the most mature!”
Takuya swallows visibly, while Jun blinks. Unbelievable, finally it seems to sink into their minds. Sho lets out a little sigh.
It takes a while for them to recover from the whole drama, then Takuya is the one going to action, as always. He has always been the one who could react the fastest and just do something. “Just sit down here,” Takuya says, and grabs both his and Jun’s arm, pulling them away from the sharp glass and making them sit down at the other end of the room. “And don’t move.” He frowns, pointing an accusing finger at Sho. “Especially not you! You are like the tornado of destruction!”
“I am not the tornado of destruction!” Sho blushes in embarrassment. “I am not always that clumsy!”
“First you broke the porcelain and then the window of Jun’s room,” Takuya argues.
“Don’t blame all of that on me,” Sho retorts. “I broke the porcelain because Jun fell against me. And Jun fell against me because you slapped him, if I may remind you!”
Now it’s Takuya’s turn to blush slightly, much to Sho’s delight. It rarely happens after all. But it wouldn’t be Takuya if he didn’t regain his composure immediately again. “So I assume someone also pushed you from the roof or dropped against you there to make you use an unstable children’s ladder and break through Jun’s window?”
Sho blushes deeply at that, and Jun’s lips tug into a smile.
Takuya cleans up the mess quietly, just like he did it before with the porcelain while he makes Jun and Sho wait in a safe distance. To Sho’s embarrassment he has to admit that Takuya is indeed graceful and skilled in his movements, unlike himself. In comparison to him he always sees his shortcomings. He is less charming than Takuya, less intelligent, less pretty, with less charisma. He isn’t even as tall as he is. He sighs slightly, earning him a worried gaze from Jun. They both sit on the floor in silence. Jun has stretched out his legs, a thoughtful expression on his face, and Sho wants to rob closer to him and talk, but doesn’t know how.
Then Takuya puts the garbage bag aside and sits down between them. To Sho’s surprise he puts an arm around his and Jun’s shoulders and pulls them against his body. “I love you guys,” he says in a surprisingly hoarse voice. And. “I am sorry. I really don’t know how to deal with conflicts. I’m so sorry for snapping at you, Jun. It was not right.”
Sho assumes that Jun is probably equally surprised as he is. He has never expected Takuya to actually apologizing directly.
“It’s okay,” Jun says all of a sudden, and chuckles. “It wasn’t a glorious moment from me either.”
“It’s okay,” Sho agrees into Takuya’s shoulder. But he can hardly speak as Takuya’s grip is almost too tight. On the other side he can hear Jun gurgling something incomprehensible, apparently also caught in Takuya’s gorilla grip.
“You are not fair,” Sho manages to breath out a complaint. “Just because you are tall and strong.”
Takuya laughs.
~~~
“We have nothing to eat,” Sho complains. “And I don’t want to eat the weird leftovers from two days ago. To be honest, and I know this comes as a shock to you now, I hate Brussel sprouts!”
“You do?” Takuya asks in disbelief. “I hate them too. I just ate them because I thought you love it. Hence I made our cook prepare it once a month.”
“Does that mean we both ate it for the sake of each other?”
Jun grins while he listens to their conversation. It seems that when it’s about food Sho turns into a 5-year old.
“What do you think?” Takuya suddenly wants to know from him.
Jun blinks. “Brussel sprouts? They look cute.”
“Cute?” Sho says in disbelief. “They are green! Nothing that’s green is cute!”
“Clover?” Takuya argues.
“Beautiful. Not cute.”
“That dude from the DC movie, he was wearing a green costume,” Takuya continues, much to Jun’s surprise making a modern-pop-culture reference. When did he watch Green Lantern? Or rather: Who made him watch it?
“Green Lantern?” Jun asks to make sure. “Not sure if he is cute…”
“He isn’t even hot!” Sho complains.
“But Brussel sprouts have cute little leaves,” Jun argues. “It’s like a whole salad, just in a tiny version with leaves and a core.”
“But it tastes horrible!”
“Oh.” Jun’s head perks up. “Masaki-kun’s favourite colour is green. And… he is cute… right?”
Sho and Takuya exchange a glance he can’t quite understand, looking weirdly amused, before Sho chuckles. “Yes, maybe, but Brussel sprouts are still horrible.”
“Okay,” Takuya interrupts the discussion. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. What are we going to eat?”
Sho as the self-proclaimed hero of the night is lying on the sofa, propped up on a bunch of pillows and being attended to by his brothers. “I’m happy with anything, just spare me-“
“The Brussel sprouts,” Jun interrupts him with a grin. “We know. I could cook something,” he offers.
“Most certainly not,” Takuya intervenes. “You are not going to work for us. I’ve just realized that we really left you alone too much.”
“So what are we going to do,” Sho asks carefully.
Takuya takes a deep breath like he is about to announce the impossible. “Order something in.”
Sho’s mouth drops open. “No!” he breaths out. “We… take-away food? Pizza… or something alike?”
“Have you never ordered something in?” Jun asks in disbelief. When his brothers shake their heads, he asks further. “Ever?”
They both shrug.
“Then it’s about time you give it a try.”
“And how does it work?” Sho wants to know.
“Where do we call?”
“You can also order via App,” Jun starts to explain. When they both stare at him, he grins. “You know what, I’ll order a vast variety of food, you just prepare your credit card.”
Takuya grins. “That much I can help.”
An hour later they are surrounded by all kinds of food, pizza, Chinese, sushi, Jun even added something from a gourmet restaurant that also provides home delivery service. Takuya shows him a thankful smile for that.
“Listen, Jun,” Sho says when he bits into a piece of pizza, sighing happily. “This is so much better than Brussel sprouts,” he grins before getting earnest again. “We can’t imagine a life without you,” he says, obviously wary about how to continue.
“Exactly,” Takuya agrees, while he starts eating his pizza with a fork and knife. Jun decides to generously ignore it. Takuya and Sho already stepped way out of their box anyway. “We didn’t have any freedom when we grew up, so we wanted you to have as much freedom as you want.”
“We didn’t know you would take it for a lack of interest,” Sho explains. “You know, when I didn’t have the best grades possible, the man that… let’s say produced me would always hit me. I never wanted to put pressure on you because of your grades, that’s why I never said anything at all.”
“God, that jerk,” Takuya says brutally honest, much to Jun’s surprise.
“Yeah, you know what he did once when I was in my rebellious phase? He let me kneel on the ground for hours. I collapsed at one point,” Sho says dryly.
Jun’s eyes widen in horror. He didn’t even know these stories, none of them actually talked about their father.
Takuya looks pissed. “That’s why I hated him so much,” he admits. “I never liked him. He was a bad husband to our mother, and an even worse father. Some people shouldn’t become parents.”
“He wasn’t as horrible to you and your mother though, right?” Sho asks so hopefully that Jun could only nod half-heartedly.
Sho seems to be relieved. “That’s also the reason I never praised you for anything, Jun, because I was concentrating so much on not saying anything negative.”
They are silent for a while, then Takuya looks at them thoughtfully. “I want us to drop the honorifics,” he says, much to Jun’s surprise. “I never liked it, but kind of stuck with it… because I was used to it. But I really don’t want my brothers to call me -san. It’s weird, and it puts a distance between us that isn’t necessary.”
“Is it really okay?” Jun asks in surprise.
“We are who we are,” Takuya chuckles. “And we’ll always be this serious family, we can’t change everything. But we can open up towards each other.”
“Fine with me,” Sho agrees immediately. “I hated it anyways.”
When they both look at Jun expectantly, he can only nod. It’s weird for him to change patterns now after he grew up with it, but he can’t disappoint them and crush their motivation by telling them that. If he thinks about it, he actually has to agree with them. After seeing Masaki and his brothers, he doesn’t want to have that much distance to his own.
~~~
“Where are we going to?” Nino asks, giggling slightly when Sho pulls him along. “It’s rare that we don’t meet directly at the restaurant.”
“It just so happens that I’m in an incredible good mood,” Sho points out. “And I still want to show you my gratitude for your help back then at the dinner. That’s why we are going somewhere special.”
“Really?” Nino’s heart skips a beat when Sho wraps his hand around his wrist and pulls him along, all the time grinning like an idiot. A cute idiot though. Nino likes this side of him. Sho is someone who comes off as so serious and so smart all the time, that seeing him silly is a nice change. Especially since no one ever sees him like that, except for his family, and Nino.
“You will like it,” Sho promises and winks at him.
Nino blushes slightly. “So I assume everything turned out well?” he asks mainly to distract from his own embarrassment.
Sho nods and picks up his pace, grinning. “Everything’s good between us. We talked a lot.”
Nino nods contently. “Say, Sho-san…” he eyes Sho’s hand carefully. “What happened to your arm? There is a huge bruise.”
“Oh that,” Sho chuckles. “I had an accident, my shoulder looked even worse, and I had to make a brief visit to the hospital-“
Nino halts immediately, forcing Sho to stop too. “You were hurt so badly!?” he blurts out
“Just a little. An accident. But Takuya wanted me to check on it properly, so…” he blinks at Nino. “Are you alright?”
Nino figures he must look really dumb with his eyes widened in horror and his lips quivering. “I… why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why?” Sho blinks. “I’m alright.”
“But you forced yourself to go out with me tonight, while you are still not feeling well!” Nino argues, feeling guilty immediately.
“Kazu-kun,” Sho smiles. “I’m alright. I just had a brief check-up at hospital, I didn’t have to stay.” He pauses, looking at Nino thoughtfully. “If you want me to, I’ll tell you next time when something happens, so that you don’t need to worry.”
“Yes!” Nino exclaims a little too eagerly.
Sho nods, and when he turns around, his movements seem a bit nervous. There is not much time to linger on this weird development though as they soon approach a building, something Nino has seen a few times already, on TV ad online, he has wanted to go there, but never found someone to go with him, and someone who was willing to pay the money.
“Final Fantasy restaurant!?”
“Yes, I booked us the… eh… Mogry corner, if I remember correctly. We are having a full-course dinner,” Sho adds. “Do you like it?”
Nino’s eyes widen. “Are you kidding?” he whispers in awe. “Oh my god, I’ve always wanted to come here. And a whole dinner on top of that. That’s… that’s too much, Sho-san, I can’t make you spend so much money.”
Sho chuckles. “Yes, you can. This won’t drive me into poverty, especially not with one restaurant visit, believe me. Besides, I’ve the perfect excuse now to visit such a restaurant.” He grins. “So, what do you say? Because with or without you, I’m going in.”
Nino chuckles, and nods. “Let’s go!”
It’s only when he sits in front of his perfect rice and steak, all Final Fantasy themed, and his heart beats uncontrolled whenever Sho asks him something or says something, that Nino knows he can’t quite ignore this feeling anymore. The twitching of his stomach is not because he ate something wrong or because he worries about his exams, but because he simply likes Sho.
Out of all. Finally someone he truly likes and it’s a billionaire, older, settled in life, and the brother of his best friend’s boyfriend (or whatever Masaki defines Jun as). On top of that he is sure that Sho has zero interest in him. He probably only sees a kid in him.
“Do you want dessert?” Sho asks with a smile. “I saw something about a cake. Shaped as a chocobo, whatever that means.”
“I’m not sure,” Nino chuckles. “I have already eaten so much.”
“There is always place for dessert,” Sho says wisely, and Nino just can’t deny his wish. When they sit over their cakes, Sho looks at him thoughtfully.
“I’ve an idea or rather a request…” he starts, almost sounding wary. Nino looks up curiously. “I’ve two tickets for a musical next week. I wanted to go with Jun, but he is busy, I just wondered if you would like to accompany me?”
YES YES YES YES! It’s not like he is that much interested into musicals, but YES! “Well,” Nino pretends to give it a little thinking, his heart jumping like crazy at the prospect of actually going out with Sho. “I think I can squeeze it into my schedule.”
~~~
It’s the first time Masaki meets Jun at university. They are both having a class at the same time and decide to go for lunch together.
“This is like a dream come true,” Masaki chirps.
“What?” Jun blinks in surprise. “Eating ramen here?”
Masaki grins. How could anyone be so serious and knowledged, yet so oblivious? “It’s a dream to meet you for my lunch break,” he explains happily. “I don’t care for the restaurant. We could have also gone for fast food or buy a cheap bento box. It’s just great to meet you.”
A beautiful, shy smile curls around Jun’s lips. “Really?” he asks. “I’m happy to meet you too. When I have a bad day, I’m always feeling better when I see you.”
If this wasn’t Jun, it would sound so cheesy. But Jun just sounds honest and sincere, and Masaki’s chest feels all warm suddenly. “You don’t have a bad day today, have you?” he asks to diffuse his own embarrassment.
Jun smiles and shakes his head. “No.”
“What happened after we had the dinner last week?” Masaki asks nervously. “You said you had a fight with your brothers. It’s all my fault, isn’t it? I’m sorry, I pushed Sho-san too much. He for sure got angry.”
Jun grins much to Masaki’s surprise. “Sho wasn’t angry at all. I had a fight with Takuya-sa… I mean with Takuya.” He pauses. “It was pretty bad. I kind of exploded with all kind of emotions. Guess I haven’t talked to them honestly for too long, and then I suddenly was too worked up to talk calmly with them. He got angry too, and it kind of escalated.” He smirks. “Then Sho threw himself from the roof and landed in my room, which is why my window is broken now, and then we made up and talked and decided to drop the honorifics.” He pauses. “And it’s not your fault,” he urges. “In fact I would have never been able to stand up for myself against Sho or Takuya without you. I’m really thankful for the confidence you gave me.”
Masaki stares at Jun, his mouth dropping open. What? Who dropped from the roof? Is that some sort of metaphor he doesn’t get? “So, when you say Sho-san dropped from the roof, you actually mean…”
“He took a ladder and wanted to climb down from the roof to knock against my window and talk to me, because he knew I wouldn’t let him in when he knocked at my door. He is really clumsy, so he didn’t tie the ladder to the balustrade properly, and almost dropped down. He managed to swing himself into my room though. Just that the window was closed.”
“You are serious?” Masaki stutters.
Jun looks at him in surprise. “Do I look like I’m joking?” he asks, sounding uncertain all of a sudden.
“Not at all, which is why I’m confused,” Masaki points out.
“Why?” Jun teases. “Did you think your family is the only crazy one?”
Masaki grins all of a sudden, liking the way Jun could also be silly and teasing. “So, you guys made up?” he asks happily.
“I think we still have quite a way to go,” Jun admits. “But we’ve finally made some progress. All thanks to you.”
“I doubt that’s true,” Masaki points out sadly. “I made things escalate.”
“Masaki-kun,” Jun looks around before he takes Masaki’s hand into his. “Without you I wouldn’t be able to talk to my brothers now. I would have not learned to understand Sho better and speak my mind. We would have never fought and instead carried on like we were before, and we would all be miserable and feel bad about our relationship.”
“Jun…” Masaki blushes, brushing his thumb over Jun’s hand. When no one is looking, he bends forward and plants a swift kiss on Jun’s lips. When he draws back, Jun’s eyes shine, and he looks happier than he ever did before. Masaki decides to take a risk. “May I ask something?” he asks carefully.
Jun nods. “Of course.”
“Let’s say we would be able to date openly, and people approach me and ask: Who is this stunning guy at your side? What should I answer then? This is Jun-kun, my friend? Or my boyfriend?” Much to Masaki’s surprise Jun blushes.
“I don’t mind,” Jun stutters. “How do you want to call me?”
“I would like to date you seriously, like couples would do it,” Masaki admits, wondering where the hell he gets his courage from right now. Maybe it’s because of Jun’s honest and encouraging words from before. “Only if you want to of course,” he adds hastily.
Jun licks over his lips nervously, then he nods. “I would like that too,” he finally admits shyly.
Masaki’s eyes widen. “Really? You are not just saying this to make me happy?”
Jun returns his smile. “Yes, really.”
Masaki’s stomach feels all fuzzy by Jun’s words and his honest smile. It’s really been worth it, he thinks. The rocky start they had, the little dramas surrounding their relationship before getting together and all the misunderstanding, because in the end it led them together. Jun’s reasoning might be different to his own sometimes, and the way he can be serious doesn’t seem to comply with Masaki’s sight of the world, but somehow the way Jun is and how he acts makes Masaki whole again. It’s like he didn’t even realize that something was missing in his life before. Now that he regained this missing piece again, it’s just so obvious to him that he wasn’t really happy before.
Jun has thanked him for helping him stand up against his brothers. When the time comes and Masaki will feel ready to talk about everything, he will thank Jun too for the things he helped him to realize and hopefully overcome.
~~~
“You?”
Sho’s eyes are wide opened when Ryo and Nino step through the front door together. Jun invited them with Masaki and his best girlfriend Kiko. Nino has told him beforehand that he would be there tonight to visit Jun – to be honest, any excuse to write Sho a message is a good excuse. He assumes though that Sho is rather surprised to see Ryo.
“Hello, boss,” Ryo chirps happily, and pads into the living room.
“You are wearing a punk jacket and cut jeans,” Sho states in an uncertain tone while he obviously tries to state a fact.
Nino grins while he follows him. “Get over it,” he teases. “I’ve never seen him in a suit. Besides, he is hot.”
“He is?” Sho asks and frowns. Much to Nino’s surprise he looks pissed all of a sudden. He only shoves them to the living room where a girl with endless legs is feeding Jun with fruits and Masaki looks at her kind of annoyed.
“This is going to be an awesome evening,” Ryo states happily, and Nino wonders where the hell he gets his confidence from because all he sees for now is an annoyed Masaki and Sho, who seems to sulk out of no valid reasons. He sighs a bit, before sporting a brave smile and going into the cave of the lion – namely Masaki, as the lion.
Much to Nino’s surprise Kiko isn’t all that annoying though, she is rather fun and laidback, pretty much like a female version of Masaki, which is probably why Masaki seems to panic. Then however Kiko tells them how she is dating a hot professor at college at the moment.
Nino grins. “See,” he whispers towards Masaki. “Jun’s definitely not her type.”
Masaki blushes. “Am I so obvious?”
“Please, Ryo and I almost didn’t dare to go into this room.” Right at this moment Ryo starts playing catch-the-chocolate-raisins-with-your-mouth with Kiko. “Okay, I almost didn’t dare to enter.”
“You think I’m overreacting?” Masaki wants to know.
Nino grins. “No!” he exclaims dramatically.
They both giggle, earning them a sceptical glance from Jun. Masaki blinks slightly in confusion, while Nino has to hide a grin. Well, at least they are both equally jealous.
Later that evening when Jun and Masaki finally managed to sit next to each other without any distraction, their fingers secretly brushing against each other – secretly to everyone but Nino’s sharp eyes – Nino decides it’s save enough to leave them alone and look after his own problem.
He finds Sho in his study. Unexpectedly – or maybe not so unexpectedly – his heart races the instant he sees him in front of his desk through the half-opened door. God, what is he even doing here? He bites down on his lips nervously. He wanted to look for him and start a casual talk with him, but… now that he is here, it just dawns on him that this is Sho’s home, not just a restaurant or a place each of them can retreat from easily. This is Sho’s territory, and he is right in front of it and has no idea what he actually wants to do. What is he even thinking? That Sho might be interested in a teenage-looking guy who is only a little older than his own brother? He for sure sees just a kid in him.
Nino is about to turn around and head back to the others when Sho suddenly turns to face the door. He blinks in surprise. “Kazu-kun?”
“Ah, yes,” Nino stutters, not able to control his reactions at all. “I… I was looking for the toilette.”
What the hell is wrong with him!? This is the most idiotic thing he could possibly say!
“Oh, this is not it,” Sho smiles. “Just go down the hallway and then turn left.”
Nino sighs inwardly. Yes, he knows that. Sho is about to turn around again, when Nino steps forward. “I’m not dating Ryo-kun or anything like that,” he blurts out, frowning at himself. Now, this was subtle, Ninomiya, like really subtle! Why can he be so sarcastic and cool when it’s about Masaki’s love issues, while he himself is at a complete loss when it’s about himself?
Sho turns around again, his eyes wide for a moment. Then he smiles slightly. “Is that so,” he muses. Okay, this reaction seems not too bad. Apparently he doesn’t believe Nino is a lunatic.
“Are you working?” Nino asks carefully.
“No, just reading my newspapers,” Sho chuckles. “Boring huh?”
Nino shakes his head. “Not at all. But why don’t you join us?”
Sho grins. “And get killed by Jun?”
“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Nino answers and carefully takes a step into the room. Sho points at the comfortable armchair next to him, signalling Nino to sit down there. “Although he told me you broke his window, which is why we are in the living room in the first place.”
Sho pouts a bit. “Did he also tell you that it was an accident?”
“Yes, though I can’t quite imagine what kind of an accident led to you breaking the window? Did you play football?”
“Yeah, with my body,” Sho jokes. He must have caught Nino’s confusion because he grins. “It was right after the infamous dinner at Satoshi-san’s place. It’s a long story though,” he teases. “It starts with a family fight, with Takuya snapping at Jun, with me accidentally breaking the ugly family porcelain to me dropping through Jun’s window from outside, and all of us making up and eating great pizza Jun ordered for us.”
Nino’s mouth drops open. “We just met two days ago, and you didn’t tell me this awesome story!? Was this the reason why you got hurt!? So… the accident was actually you almost dropping from the roof?”
“Well, when we meet I want to hear something about you, not tell you something about my boring life.”
Nino isn’t sure if he should blush now or be annoyed that Sho won’t tell him something so important. He goes for mix out of both and grumbles something. “So tell me now?”
“Are you sure you won’t prefer to hang out with the young folks instead?” Sho asks, looking almost doubtful.
“Nah, I enjoy age and wisdom sometimes,” Nino jokes, finally able to let his sarcasm shine through.
Sho chuckles. “Don’t forget, playing the insensitive elephant is my job!”
It’s an awesome evening they share, and Nino is glad the others are so pre-occupied with flirting that they don’t really miss him. At one point though Takuya comes home too, and Nino is almost a hundred percent convinced that he would indeed realize something, so he re-joins the others. Before he leaves Sho’s study though, Sho smiles at him. “Next week, Thursday?”
“Of course.” Nino can’t hold back the dorky smile appearing on his lips. “Just mail me the details.”
Much later that evening, when they say their goodbyes and Masaki makes up an excuse to stay a bit longer – probably to kiss a certain someone – he and Ryo walk home together. They are living in the same area, or rather the friend Ryo stays with tonight and Nino live close by, and it’s better to go together anyway.
It’s when they pass a small park that a guy in a black jacket and hat approaches them. “Hey,” he says.
Ryo and Nino exchange a glance. Nino wonders if Ryo thinks the same, that they should be careful. He does, it seems, because Ryo only nods politely but resumes walking. The guy follows them. “So which one of you is Sho-san’s lover?”
Nino and Ryo exchange a surprised glance.
“He is been seen with a black-haired slender guy recently. Which one of you is it.” The guy steps closer, he reeks of alcohol and cigarettes, and sweat, and something about him unsettles Nino deeply.
To his surprise it’s Ryo who speaks up. “Who wants to know that?” he asks calmly.
The guy pulls out a cigarette, and Ryo gladly plays along by lightening it. “No one.” The guy says. “Just curious.”
“Well,” Ryo continues. “We are not the only black-haired small guys in this city,” he says, and sounds so convincing that Nino is relieved. The guy halts, not following them anymore and watching them leave.
When they are far enough away, Ryo grabs Nino’s arm. “This is dangerous, Nino-kun. We should tell-“
“No.” Nino shakes his head. “I’m sure it’s a coincidence. Probably someone is prying about Sho-kun or something like that.”
“Sho-kun?” Ryo is surprisingly earnest now. For a guy so messy like him it’s a surprising twist. “You should be careful if you date him. A family of their wealth and history, and with his job, he doesn’t only have friends.”
Ryo’s eyes are wide-opened and serious, he doesn’t look like the crazy sexy guitarist from that indie band at all now, but rather like the lawyer attorney he is. “Ryo-kun,” Nino begs. “I’ll be careful. But please let me be the one who tells Sho-kun when the timing is right. I don’t want to unsettle him over nothing.”
Ryo sighs. “Fine,” he gives in. “Maybe you are right.”
A/N: Nino finally acknowledged that he might or might not like Sho :D
Meanwhile more background information of Junxbrothers (and yes, Sho did indeed want to climb down the wall and knock at Jun's window. He is such a brilliant mind :D )
As for Nino... someone is not happy he is meeting Sho?
Oh, and I've realized this chapter is not so Junba-centric. But Junba will have a major plot coming up, so I need to lay out the other side-stories further before going that way :D
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Date: 2017-02-12 02:56 pm (UTC)SPOOOOOTTTTTOhhhhh there's a fire between Sho and Nino - but I am slightly worried about that guy in the end 😲 I hope nothing bad will happen. Nino should talk with Sho NOW!
Oh I loved that the brothers finally got closer again. That was so nice to see, really. ❤
Ahhhhhhhhh JunBa are sooooooo cute together, I am melting!! Aiba is so sweet when he asks about dating Jun. They are so insecure but also so cute. I want more love between them! ❤❤❤❤ They try hiding their jealous feelings? *lol* that's so major cute, they don't want to see the other with a different person, awwwwww....
Thanks so much for the update, I really want more JunBa love interaction ❤❤❤😘😍😍😍😍
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:11 pm (UTC)Jun and Masaki are really still very careful around each other and a bit insecure, but the feeling is there and they want to move towards each other <3
Thanks so much for your lovely comment, dear! ♥
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Date: 2017-02-12 04:31 pm (UTC)leave a better comment tomorrow: Sho the "tornado of destruction". Haha he's stealing the show and it's supposed to be about Jun and Masaki!This is a surprisingly good development for Jun and his brothers (thanks to the Tarzan-scene Sho had done). All this time, they really didn't know each other and just assume, assume, assume (which is very dangerous IRL). And woah, the older brothers talking about how their father was not a good father and that the reason why they looked like they didn't care was that they wanted Jun to be free (but Jun thought the opposite). Not so sure now, does this mean that the un-loved mother was the first wife? :/
Sho and Nino are too cute here (I don't really go for Sakumiya but this one is just adorable). Hmm... and who is that dangerous guy?
And why does Jun and Masaki hide whatever they have? Is it not allowed (probably not because, well, look at Takuya and Shingo)? Are they just being stubborn or shy? Or is it, once again an "assume, assume" situation? Frustrating, really.
Thanks for this. I know my comment is long but it's just too good. :)b
P.S. Sho is totally stealing the show for this fic.
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:15 pm (UTC)But he deserves some spotlight anyway, after all it's only thanks to his weird idea that Jun talks with them :D
I guess Masaki and Jun are still quite uncertain about everything. They are not sure if they can tell anyone... (although Shingo already spilled the news about himself after all...)
Thanks so much for your comment, dear! ♥
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Date: 2017-02-12 04:58 pm (UTC)Junba~ 💚💜 woot woot!! I love cheesy Jun 😍
Omg who the heck is that creepy guy?? Why would he care about sho?? Please be safe, minna!!
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:16 pm (UTC)They are quite sweet towards each other now, right? (finally^^)
The creepy guy will return soon OO
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Date: 2017-02-12 07:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-19 03:16 pm (UTC)I was a bit worried because the focus shifts a bit to the other pairs too, but I think it's necessary or I would lose some plot lines :-)
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Date: 2017-02-12 07:42 pm (UTC)*squeels so much*
you really manage it to make me squeel and grin like crazy with every chapter of this story!!!
*_____*
i LOVE the fact, that they finally behave like brothers!!!
that is so great!
and how jun just said, that aiba likes green and that he is cute! *__________*
that was so awesome!
and than sho and nino!
and how everybody was jelous at the party! *___*
but who was that creepy guy at the end?
i am worried now...
anyways i can't wait for the next one and hope the next week will go over fast!!! XD
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:17 pm (UTC)Yes, somehow Jun and Masaki still manage to be uncertain about each other.
And Nino has his problems too... with Sho being subconsiously jealous :D
The creepy guy might be a problem later on.... >
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Date: 2017-02-12 07:55 pm (UTC)I love that those three uptight brothers have relaxed somewhat. Sho's extreme clumsiness definitely did them all a favour.
I don't like creepy guy and what he might mean...
More Junba next time? 💚💜
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:18 pm (UTC)Haha, yes, they never had food delivered, they are also very uncertain about anything modern (good they have Jun around :D)
Creepy guy at the end will return... unfortunately.
As for Junba: I'll soon put the spotlight on them again, but first I need to solve some plot lines ^^
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Date: 2017-02-12 09:49 pm (UTC)The unkown guy at the end he smells like problems. Not good.
See you next chapter <3
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:19 pm (UTC)Yes, finally they talked, right? It's a good step into the right direction!
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Date: 2017-02-13 12:53 am (UTC)But so good Jun and his brothers talked about their problems and improved their relationship, even if Sho had to be so dramatic, lol
I'm both with Jun and Sho (& Kimitaku). They are cute but they taste horrible XD
Nino was very sweet, but the ending was worrysome, hope everything goes well for Sakumiya
I love Junba as always, so cute and beautiful couple^^
Thanks for sharing!
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:20 pm (UTC)Thanks so much for your sweet comment! ♥
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Date: 2017-02-13 01:28 am (UTC)Don't make Sakumiya apart when them not together yet T.T
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:20 pm (UTC)Thanks so much for reading and commenting! ♥
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Date: 2017-02-13 07:14 am (UTC)Awh....and sakumiya is so sweet!!!
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:21 pm (UTC)Yes, now Jun's family is slowly adorable too, now that they opened up towards each other. :-)
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Date: 2017-02-13 10:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-19 03:22 pm (UTC)And yes! Finally Jun and his brothers try to open up towards each other :D
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Date: 2017-02-13 12:14 pm (UTC)Hahahahhah.... Sho...sho.... Your so crazy......
Kkkkkkkk awww the hopeless awfully cute nino..... But who is the man that talk to ryo n nino??! Hmmmm..... Something smell fishy.....(#ohno come)
Wow.... Finally the matsu brothers with good relationship!!!!!
Aaaaand.. Really takuya san n sho san can curse!!!😱😂😂😂😂
Thanks for update😘😘
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:23 pm (UTC)Now Jun and his brothers are moving into the right direction, finally.
Thanks so much for your lovely comment <3
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Date: 2017-02-13 03:04 pm (UTC)Jun and Aiba are jealous with no reason to be muhahahaha Please you two, just get out with it and tell the world (but finally the talked about it, that's progress!! Now onto more dating
and kissing...)Sakumiya is LOVE!! I can see why Nino would be insecure, and who wouldn't be, really? Sho does look unattainable, and the difference in age (especially when you're the younger brother's friend) is no joke either. To be honest, at first I hadn't thought about it, but now that you showed us Nino's thoughts it dawned on me. He's Sho's baby brother's friend. That's tough.
That guy at the end had me O.O I hope he's not going to try to hurt Nino D: I foresee drama D:
Thank you for the update! <3
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:24 pm (UTC)Sho and Nino are in a difficult position, right? Masaki and Jun and also Shingo and Takuya share similarities. Similar age, position, doubts.... they are on one level, while there is quite a gap between Sho and Nino (and now we have a creepy guy too...)
Thanks so much for your lovely comment!! ♥
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Date: 2017-02-13 03:49 pm (UTC)PS. Don't you even DARE hurt Nino T_T
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:25 pm (UTC)Age difference, I know, it can be quite interesting, right? :D I have a thing for that too in fics ^^
Thanks so much for your comment! (and yay, what kind of idea did you get for ABO? :D) ♥
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Date: 2017-02-14 04:35 pm (UTC)Who that guy who looking for sho lover
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:26 pm (UTC)Thanks so much for your comment!! ♥
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Date: 2017-02-18 06:06 am (UTC)Nino and Sho are getting cuter to each other. Now I'm curious about the stranger asking question about Nino...
Thanks for the chapter!
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Date: 2017-02-19 03:27 pm (UTC)The stranger screams trouble, right? ><
Thanks so much for your lovely comment! ♥