Sukisho Fan Fiction ❯ 10 years ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

10 years

 

By Sapadu

 

A/N: Someone pointed out that I had made some spelling errors. Thank you- I was at a quadrary at how to spell those words. Thanks to everyone else for your kind reviews- I feel so grateful.

 

Again, I'm poor and I don't own Sukisho- Nakou-chan, maybe, but most decidedly NOT Sukisho.

 

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"Uwa-a! Nanami-chan no dinner!" Sora praised as the four finished their meal. Sunao was still humbly replacing his chopsticks and wiping his lips, and thus said nothing.

 

"I'm glad you liked it, Hashiba-kun." Nanami replied with a smile, picking up the plates.

 

"Arigatou gozimasu..." Sunao added in, bowing as best he could while still sitting. Nanami continued to smile in his doting, motherly way.

 

"We were happy to see you again, Fujimori-kun. I understand that work must be taxing, but I'm glad to see you doing well." He said, with real concern in his voice.

 

Sunao smiled back, but Sora could see that it didn't reach his eyes.

 

"I'm sorry for causing you to worry." Sunao replied, while Shinichirou glanced over his mug at him.

 

"You're right- you did cause us worry." He lectured sharply and it didn't sound like he was teasing.

 

"Niichan, that's a mean thing to say." Sora reprimanded, though he was secretly agreeing. Shinichirou shrugged and stood up.

 

"De wa... Sunao, if you need to get home early, I can drive you unless you live close by..." He offered and Sunao shook his head, his bangs covering his eyes.

 

"I can walk... I found out today that Hashiba and I are in the same building... again..." Sunao added on that last word with distaste, which made Shinichirou smirk a little.

 

"Well then: Sora, you stay here and help Nanami with the dishes. I'll walk Sunao home." He said, retrieving Sunao's and his own jackets. Both the guests stood and protested this arrangement.

 

"Oi, matte- why do I have to stay behind and clean?" Sora sulked, while Sunao, though a bit more reasonable, also protested,

 

"And I don't need to be escorted home!"

 

"Are you saying that you two regret being INVITED to dinner, tonight?" Shinichirou asked, with a slightly evil smile, which seemed to make them both reconsider.

 

Meanwhile, Nanami puttered around in the kitchen, letting Shinichirou do as h e would, and was thus prepared with a plate to hand to Sora when the blue-haired man resentfully slouched into the kitchen.

 

"Niichan no aitsu... Nanami-chan, you were almost finished, anyway..." Sora groused, glancing at the pile of cleaned dishes, which probably meant the one he was cleaning was his own.

 

Nanami took up a dry cloth and started to dry the clean dishes, putting them away before he looked, very seriously, at Sora.

 

"Hashiba-kun, when you met Fujimori-kun two weeks ago, did he say anything to you?" Nanami asked, while Sora blinked for a moment.

 

"Kind of... we mostly just argued..." Then, something occurred to Sora, "...Well, he did mention that he was a researcher and when I asked if he was okay with that..." Sora trailed off and Nanami stared at the glass in his hands, before he looked back up at Sora.

 

"Hashiba-kun... is it possible that Fujimori-kun is hiding something from you?" Nanami asked, as Sora looked shocked at the proposal.

 

"Fujimori wouldn't..." He started to shout, except the look on Nanami's face stopped him.

 

"Ano tokii... Fujimori-kun acted so sincerely and all of us believed him... even myself and Shinichirou... and in the end, almost all of us were hurt... Hashiba-kun and Fujimori-kun the most... I wouldn't want something like that to happen again..."

 

<"Dakara mou... shimpai shinai de kudasai...">

 

"Especially since Hashiba-kun and Fujimori-kun were almost taken away again... because we'd been so careless..."

 

"Nanami-chan..." Sora's gaze softened as he looked at Nanami, whose expression was mostly unreadable, but it was very obvious he still felt guilty.

 

The door opened, then closed as Shinichirou returned.

 

"Sora." He said, and once he had Sora's attention, proceeded to give him strict instructions, "Since you are living next door to Sunao, I want you to keep an eye on him."

 

"Oi, matte ou- you want me to spy on Fujimori?" Sora demanded, indignantly. Shinichirou nodded.

 

"Furthermore, if any of his behavior seems strange, I want you to tell the both of us as soon as you can. Ii yo?" He pressed. Sora looked between his two surrogate parents before relenting.

 

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"Niichan no aitsu... what the hell is he thinking putting me up to this?" Sora mumbled as he opened his sliding door just enough to let a breeze in from his balcony.

 

What Sora wasn't expecting was to be woken up around midnight. At first, it sounded like his sliding door rattling, but after a few moments of hearing nothing, he dismissed it as the wind.

 

A tap that sounded like something near his bed made Sora's eyes open to see the shadow of someone's head on the wall, it's proximity meaning they were probably standing over his bed. With a start, Sora turned over to see a familiar figure, topped with fluffy pink hair.

 

"...Fujimori..." He demanded, sitting up and glaring, before he realized his first impression was off- the way that Fujimori was looking at him didn't seem quite right... something was different, before it hit Sora.

 

Sunao's eyes weren't their usual shade of soft pink. Instead, they were glowing a bright ruby red.

 

"Ran." Sora growled, recognizing the look which Ran had always given him when Yoru hadn't come out.

 

"Took you long enough to figure it out." Ran sneered, sitting himself down on Sora's mattress without being invited, before leaning his face close to Sora's, "And after all the time and effort it took me to find you, that's all you have to say for yourself?"

 

Sora narrowed his eyes.

 

"What do you want, Ran?" He asked, with a glare. Ran put a hand on his chest and leaned in, lips hovering dangerously close to Sora's ear.

 

"That should be obvious." Ran whispered, coyly. Sora lifted an arm to push him away, turning to lie back down.

 

"Yoru's gone, Ran. He left ten years ago and he's not coming back. Give it up." Sora muttered, turning away. He didn't see the expression on Ran's face.

 

"Yoru won't come back? Zettai?" Ran asked. Sora didn't look back up.

 

"Zettai." He replied.

 

There was a pause, before Sora felt Ran's hand touch his shoulder. Sora shook it off, and then Ran spoke again.

 

"Then... what about Sora coming out?" Ran asked, which surprised Sora enough that he turned over to see a very vulnerable expression on Ran's face.

 

"Didn't you wonder... Since Yoru left years ago, why I was still around?" Ran asked, his face crumbling. Sora blinked, before Ran continued, turning to look down at his feet.

 

"Nao only keeps me around... because he's lonely. Demo... Nao doesn't care whenever I'm lonely... just so... he doesn't have to be all by himself..." Ran explained, and Sora couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Ran, in spite of himself. Sora sat up and stared at Ran's back.

 

It occurred to him that this might be just an act to gain sympathy, but he had the distinct impression that Ran was being sincere. Sora raised a hand and put it on Ran's shoulder.

 

"Omae wa... Fujimori just keeps you around... because you're both... lonely?" Sora asked. Ran nodded, silently, and Sora wondered exactly what he was supposed to do with this. After a moment, Ran turned to look back at Sora.

 

"Onegai... onegai... even if Yoru's never coming back... couldn't you just let me pretend? Couldn't you let me stay and pretend that Yoru's still here, next to me?" Ran pleaded, and he honestly looked like he was going to cry. Sora blinked for a moment, pondering, before he lifted an arm and pulled Ran down next to him, then reaching up for his alarm clock.

 

"What time does Fujimori have to wake up tomorrow?" Sora asked, finding the set button. Ran peered up at him.

 

"4:30..." Ran replied, pulling up the blanket in a very childlike gesture. Sora let out an aggravated sigh.

 

"Nandato... Fujimori had a hard time getting up in time for classes at school... and why so early, anyway?" He groused, setting his alarm, anyway. Ran looked away, pulling the blanket over his nose so his next words were muffled.

 

"Work starts at 6:00 for him..." Ran explained, before mumbling, "I hate when Nao goes to work... It reminds me so much of that place... and..." But Ran stopped, a slight shudder going through his body. Sora frowned, but didn't pry, mostly because he was still too tired, as he lay back down. Ran pressed himself closer to Sora's body, shyly putting an arm around his waist.

 

With a much-put-upon-sigh, Sora put his arms around Ran's shoulders, fingers of one of his hands interlacing with the unbound strands of Ran's pink hair as the other snuggled in closer.

 

Fujimori never slept beside him, Sora reflected- in all the time they'd spent together, they'd never slept next to each other... As he drifted off to sleep, Sora wondered if this was how Yoru had always felt when he'd held Ran and if this was how he would have felt if it had been Sunao he was holding.

 

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Fujimori Sunao flailed around for his alarm clock to try and hit the snooze button and was disgruntled when he felt his arm connect with nothing but air next to the bed.

 

Then, something nudged his side.

 

"Fujimori, get up..." A voice muttered and Sunao's eyes flew wide open as he realized he was neither in his own apartment, nor alone.

 

With a mild shriek, Sunao kicked until his bedmate, one Hashiba Sora, rolled into the wall and he fell off the bed.

 

"HA-HA-HA-HASHIBA!" Sunao shouted, which Sora replied to by pulling Toushizou over his head like a pillow to block his ears.

 

"Ran came in last night. Now, turn off the alarm and get going." Sora's voice was muffled, but still distinct.

 

Sunao bristled at being given orders, but turned off the annoying alarm before glancing down at Sora, who looked nice and warm in his bed.

 

"May I please use your shower, Hashiba?" Sunao asked, still not sure of how Ran had managed to get in. Sora made a noise that sounded a lot like 'Hai', so Sunao invited himself into the bathroom.

 

It was a sty, just like everywhere else in the apartment, but had some semblance of order- all soap was on the counters or in baskets, towels were hung up at least somewhere, and there didn't seem to be any mold growing in the tub, sink, or shower. Sunao reached out to straighten one of the towels which Sora had just stuffed onto the drying rack, all bunched up. It was still damp from not drying properly- Sora had probably used it yesterday morning... or maybe last night.

 

Sunao pulled it off the rack and held it up to his nose, breathing in the scent- musky and tangy, but very subtle. It could only be Sora's natural smell, as all tonics and shampoos for men had a stronger, more definite scent to them.

 

Sunao shook himself and quickly stripped and stepped into the shower. He'd have to borrow a bathrobe, he suddenly realized, but why not- he was using everything else... Sunao washed himself quickly, not even bothering with his hair this morning. He felt his face, wondering if he needed to shave, before his eyes fell upon a razor in the basket.

 

So... Hashiba was shaving? The image made Sunao's head hurt- Sora's face had felt so smooth to the touch and he didn't even have the muzzle of color that a beard and mustache naturally put on a man's chin... not even any scratches from when he'd cut himself...

 

Hashiba's just good with a razor, then. Or he also used some kind of wax or crème with it... That was all. This shouldn't have been bothering Sunao so much... Then, why was it?

 

Sunao stepped out and dried off quickly, now with a clearer idea of how Ran had moved around last night.

 

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Sora hid even further under his blanket as he heard a knock on the door. The knock persisted, so he hauled himself out of bed to the door. His clock read 5:15.

 

"Nandaiyo..." Sora grumbled to see Sunao on the doorstep with, what looked like, a lunch box and his bathrobe.

 

"...Fujimori?" He mumbled. Sunao thrust his hands foreward.

 

"It's just because I don't want to owe you for being considerate enough to set the alarm for me. Just take it, Hashiba."

 

Sora blinked, groggily, then finally accepted the bento and bathrobe before Sunao stormed off. After blinking for a moment, Sora returned inside and curled up under his blankets for another hour and a half of sleep.

 

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A/N: These chapters are getting slowly longer. The part in brackets is Nanami having a flashback- it's Nao's line from Episode two when he's reassuring Nanami.

 

In the next chapter, we will have more deliberate matchmaking. Everyone look forward to it- de kudasai!

 

Uwa! Nanami-chan no dinner!- Yum! Nanami-chan's dinner!

 

Arigatou gozimasu- ...You should know this one if you're into anime at all.

 

De wa- Well, then...

 

Ano tokii- That time...

 

<Flashback line> - With that in mind... please don't worry about me.

 

Zettai- Ever. (In other words, it's a word to establish absolute-ness)

 

Onegai?- Please?

 

Hai- ...See the comment that went with 'Arigatou'

 

Nandaiyo?- Another way of saying Sora's favorite phrase of 'What the hell?'