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neko_kirin3104Brothers
[Ohno/Sho+Sho/Jun] [PG-13] [AU]
Warning: minor character death (mentioned)
The day he first saw Masaki and Satoshi, five-year-old Sho did not really think much of them. He was just staying the weekend and they were just a couple of oddballs playing a noisy game of tag all over Shimura Park.
The fact that he secretly giggled at how the two of them would wobble and trip while making chase, laugh and shriek at the top of their lungs like they didn't care at all that they're starting to sound girly, didn't mean that Sho found them even remotely interesting.
No. Never.
At least, that's what he kept telling himself.
+++++
He liked playing in the sandbox.
He liked how nobody would come near it whenever he was there—
"Weird…" one of the oddballs said, crouching in front of what was obviously another of Sho's failed attempts at building a sandcastle.
"Yeah, uhm… It's interesting…" the other one agreed, gently patting a crumbling wall back into place. "Lemme fix it for you."
"Satoshi's really good with sandcastles." The first boy grinned, eyes gleaming with shameless pride. "I'm Masaki. You live in that huge house at Kisarazu Hill, right?"
"My Dad does. I live with my Mom."
"Oh."
"Just… call me Sho…"
+++++
When you're a kid, you tend to rely too much on what the adults have to say.
Mom had never slacked off before. She always came on time to pick him up.
The weekend she failed to come, Sho had readied up a bunch of stories to tell her about his new friends.
It wasn't going to be another boring ride back home—
"Is she really gonna come tomorrow?"
He saw it all in the way Butler Ariyoshi's eyes dimmed, then softened before the old man turned his bedside lamp off. "Goodnight, Young Master…"
He never saw his mom again.
+++++
Mom didn't leave him, contrary to what his betrayed and angered heart believed for a long time.
He had to find the truth out on his own, too—
"Who did it, Ariyoshi?! Who the hell did it?!" he screamed, the old newspaper that told him everything crumpling helplessly in his fist. He just turned seven, but he's quite sure he'd never feel angrier than this for the rest of his life.
"You're too young to understand, Youn—"
He threw the paper at the butler's face. "FUCK YOU!!"
That's another yen going into his swear jar.
It was hardly worth it.
+++++
Mom's death didn't give Sho cause to scream nor shed a tear.
There was no pain, agony, guilt or regret.
Those things came much, much later on, when the anger finally rebounded and tore through the initial numbness. Settled in and thrived unnoticed at one corner of his mind—
"Hey…"
But right now, seeing Masaki's densely boyish smile, while Satoshi held a peppermint vanilla ice cream under his nose, with Macchan and Nino flopping down beside him on the sandbox without another word, he felt like he could just be a kid again.
And that this was just another weekend.
+++++
The sandbox made it easy enough to be silly, careless.
Happy—
When he's on his own, Sho felt like he's growing up way too fast. Mapping out a future that just got grimmer and nastier the longer he stayed inside.
So he hardly ever did.
Even when his dad (who, he suspected, was probably haunted by his mom) tried to stay longer at home between his money-hoarding trips to spend more time with him.
Sho would really rather be with his friends.
He never had to talk about his mom with them.
And sometimes, that's all a boy really needed.
+++++
Sho's greatest fear had always been that he'd eventually forget…
About his mom. About what happened. And about what he planned to do.
But Masaki's smile always had that effect on him. And along with the way Satoshi always looked out for him (didn't take the boy long to figure out just how clumsy he was), even Nino's constant wisecracks and Macchan's often witty shotbacks, always made it easy—too damn easy—to just settle back into the moment and forget.
Just forget.
It could only last for long, of course.
He was always grateful for every second of it.
+++++
When Masaki belly-flopped into the swamp, Sho knew it was only a matter of time before they all dived in to join the fun.
Satoshi jumped of his own will before Sho, Macchan, and Nino even made it out of the tree line.
Nino pushed Sho in.
And because Macchan had been clinging to Sho's hand all the way here, Macchan fell in too, but not without grabbing a handful of Nino along the way.
They knew about the stories surrounding the so-called enchanted forest at the outskirt of town.
But they were too young, too spunky to take heed…
+++++
"It could be that…" Sammy mused, rubbing a hand to his chin, eyes narrowed like he's serious. "But why'd it take this long to manifest? You said it's been almost a year ago, yes?"
"If we knew, d'you think we'd even bother asking you?" Nino retorted, rolling his eyes. They had just buried his broken DS that afternoon, and Macchan had yet to make good on his promise.
"Oh-oh! Somebody woke up on the wrong side of life!" Sammy teased. "You need to grow up and get laid soon, honey-boo~!"
"Ewww! Gross!!"
"In the meantime, lemme look into this, okay?"
+++++
The night Satoshi kissed him for the first time, Sho had been awake. And he kept his eyes close because it didn't feel right.
They were just eight. And there were just the two of them in that tent. Their parents were in the bigger one right next to it.
Their parents.
His dad and Satoshi's mom.
His new mom.
This was their first camping trip together as a family—
"Sho-chan…"
And Satoshi just had to ruin it by making his heart beat too fast for mere brotherly affections—
"I… I love you…"
No.
It didn't feel right at all.
+++++
Sho had always trusted Satoshi. He knew Satoshi felt the same way about him.
But he thought it best to keep it a secret that he knew how his brother felt, the same way that he had kept what he knew about his mom's death from everyone else.
It was for the better.
It also did get easier as the years passed.
Easier not to tremble whenever Satoshi got too close that they're swapping sweats.
Easier to take his brother's subtle advances as a joke to tease the boy with.
It got easier.
But the thing with his mom didn't.
+++++
The night he saw Ryoko's hand bleeding, Sho just lost it.
"What did you do?!" he growled, shoving Satoshi against the fridge. "What the fuck did you do to my mom?!"
"Leggo!" Satoshi gripped his wrists, eyes flashing with territorial rage. "She's MY Mom, dammit!!"
He gasped. And let go. His chest swelling from what he had just done. His mind reeling from what he had come close to doing—
"Sho-kun, honey. It's all right." Ryoko said, squeezing his shoulder. "I'm okay. It's just a knife cut. It's not Satoshi's fault."
He couldn't even remember walking out of the kitchen.
+++++
It didn't take long for Satoshi to storm angrily into his room.
"What the hell was that all about, Sho?!"
"Close the door, ‘Nii-chan," he grumbled, his face buried into the pillows.
He heard Satoshi sigh, before feeling the boy's weight, his brother's forgiving, loving warmth beside him. "Sho-chan… Whatever it is, you know you can tell me, right?"
And he did. All of it. From finding out about his mom's murder in the papers. To his vengeful plans when he got old enough to run off into the city—
Satoshi had kept a closer watch on him since then.
+++++
He had been too busy keeping himself from cringing every few seconds under his brother's now extra watchful eyes that Macchan's sudden confession came at him like a joke—
A sneeze that just happened to have words in it.
He didn't expect to phase either. Macchan's kiss wasn't all that epic to begin with.
But he did.
He phased.
He had been harnessing his powers on his own. Trying to learn all he could about it. Making it a part of himself—
"I've got to tell ‘Nii-chan about this!"
He figured he could always take care of Macchan later on.
+++++
Sho's powers had never caused him trouble since he learned to rein his temper in.
But there's only so much that a superboy could do while he's asleep—
"What the…?!" Satoshi pushed the door close with the gentlest of clicks. "You did this?"
"Yes." Sho clutched the blanket consciously around himself. He had just lost his favorite pajamas—the ones Satoshi gifted him just last year—to his sleep-spinning. His round eyes were already glinting with unshed tears. "What do we do now?"
"You're sleeping in my room from now on," Satoshi said, grinning. "We'll leave the mess to Ariyoshi."
+++++
Their late night talks always started out from nothing and ended up saying everything—
"Masaki's been acting really weird lately." Satoshi's gaze was focused at the glow stars on the ceiling.
"As opposed to what?" Sho snickered. "That ranchuu goldfish was really cute, though."
Satoshi sighed. "Yeah…"
"I'm surprised you didn't set him on fire…"
"I'm surprised you still haven't talked to Matsujun—"
"Don't change the subject—"
"He confessed to you, Sho-chan. The least you could do is to give the boy a straight answer."
He heard a note of melancholy in his brother's voice.
He decided to ignore it.
+++++
Coming back from Masaki's elaborately reconstructed dream world left them all reeling from an overflow of adrenaline and fluff…
It's a good thing they had Sammy's oden to help them all wind down before calling it a night.
Sho took advantage of the moment and offered to walk Macchan home—
"Listen. I'm sorry for running out on you last time… I… uh… Well…"
Macchan grabbed his hand and kept walking, smiling. "It's okay, Sho-kun. It's totally okay…"
He grips the boy's hand in turn. It's all the straight answer they both needed. "No more flirting with girls in school, okay?"
+++++
"I'm moving back to my room tonight…"
"Oh…"
Sho almost feels sorry for his brother's failed attempt at keeping a straight face. "Don't take it personal. It's just that, we've both got partners to answer to now, right?" He tries to laugh and almost chokes himself. "I'm heading out…"
"Are you… still thinking of going to the city, Sho-chan?"
He stops an inch short of opening the door. "Satoshi, let's not—"
"I'm not gonna stop you. I just want you to know that it's not gonna bring your Mom back."
"I know that," he grunts, his jaws clenching painfully. "But does it really matter?"
Sho's greatest fear has always been that he'll eventually forget—
"Yes... It matters to me. Matters to all of us you're gonna be leaving behind."
But when Satoshi's saying things like these, looking at him like nothing has ever changed—nothing will ever change—it always makes it easy—too damn easy—to do just that.
And Sho can never afford to do that.
He doesn't ever wanna forget—
"I've already made up my mind, Satoshi-kun…"
There is a sheer note of finality to the way he closes the door that night.
The softest click. The harshest bite.
It ends a lot of things. Gives promises to nothing but complicated beginnings.
He likes Macchan. He knows it's for the best.
He's leaving for the city in a couple of years. He knows it's also for the best.
But that look in Satoshi's eyes, the one he's always been familiar with, the warm and gentle, deep and unspoken affections they have never gotten a chance to talk about… It's gonna take a while to get used to not wanting that.
This, too, has got to be for the best—
"Goodnight, ‘Niichan…"
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no subject
But when did Ohno and Aiba become official yet?
Could Ohno's father be the villain since haven't heard from him. Or could it be Sho's mother? Maybe she faked her death.
Wait for more.
P.S. Maybe one night Sho and Ohno give in to each other for old times sake ;) before Sho leaves for the city.
OK I know it's a Ohba lol but hey can't hate a girl for tring right:)
no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 06:54 pm (UTC)Oh~! You've hit something I've been thinking about for a while regarding the villain. We'll see how it turns out, ne? ^^
That's really tempting about Ohno and Sho. Brings a whole lot of complications.I'll definitely think about it~!
Thank you very much for reading~! ^_____^<333
no subject
Date: 2014-12-29 02:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 06:58 pm (UTC)My lips are sealed regarding the villain, lol~!
Awww, but this has always been an Ohno/Aiba fic from the start. Gomen, ne? There's more Yama coming though, after this series. Definitely. ^^
Thank you very much for reading~! ^____^<333
no subject
Date: 2014-12-29 10:20 pm (UTC)Poor Sho...
And I seriously don't know how to feel about him and Satoshi :/ And Jun!!! AND MASAKI!!! So so complicated... hope that will end well for the four of them ^^
As for the villain, I think it's maybe whoever killed Sho's mom? Or is it Sho? Please tell me it's not Sho! oAo hahaha!
Thank you for this! :)
no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 07:00 pm (UTC)All I can tell you is that it's not going to be Sho. I've already had my fun making him (sort of) a villain in another superhero fic I wrote, hehe. So it's not going to be him for this series. And I'm not gonna tell you anything more. :3
Thank you very much for reading~! ^____^<333