Work Text:
1. Run an Errand
This story timeline is before Sho being Nino’s boyfriend.
The teachers and caregivers were having a weekly meeting at the daycare to discuss their joint activity for the upcoming Mother’s Day. They wanted the students and elders to make carnation origamis and a message for women they loved, like their mom, daughter, or sister.
“We’re running out of glue, crayon, drawing book, and origami paper. Is there anyone who can buy it?” Aiba asked.
“I can, but I don’t know where to buy them,” Sho raised his hand and replied.
“Want me to accompany you?” Nino offered his help.
“Ah- Eh? Really?”
“Yes. I have a scooter anyway, and I’m familiar with art supplies stores here.”
“Thank you very much, Nino-san.”
“You’re welcome. Take your jacket and helmet now,” Nino stood and left the meeting room.
“Yes!” Sho hurried to wear his jacket and helmet while Nino walked to the parking lot. ”We’re going!” Sho ran and followed Nino.
“Sho-sensei is lively, right?” Ohno said while waved his hand.
“As expected of a newcomer,” Aiba replied.
-
“Uwah... So crowded,” Sho got off of the scooter and gulped hard.
The store was big and looked full of stationery and art supplies. The customers swarmed, bringing rolls of paper and shopping basket. Sho thought it was a rather small store, but it was somehow a grocery store for art supplies.
“Because this place sells cheaper and better art supplies than other stores,” Nino took off his helmet. “Shall we go?”
“Yeah,” Sho nodded, and they walked to the store.
They each took a shopping basket and jostled with other customers. The art supplies assistants were ready to guide and advise customers for buying stuff there. According to the shop assistant, all the things they needed were on the second floor. So, they climbed upstairs and searched for everything on the shopping list. The second floor wasn’t too crowded, like downstairs, but it wasn’t quiet either.
“I never knew that Hakone had a place like this,” Sho strolled from aisle to aisle, then took some packs of glue.
“You thought only Tokyo had it?” Nino followed him and chuckled.
“Well, it’s smaller than my favorite store in Tokyo, but it’s still big for an art supplies store. Somehow it has a similar nuance with my favorite store.”
“Do you miss your life in Tokyo?” Nino asked out of the blue.
Sho hummed, “Sometimes. Living in a bustling town for so long then moved to a quieter place makes me miss the crowd. But I’m happy here,” Sho smiled.
“Good then, because your students seem cling on you too much...” Nino shook his head but grinned afterward. “I can’t see myself doing that every day. Once in a week is enough.”
“But they’re cute, right?”
“Only when they’re being good kids,” Sho chuckled and crouched to take some boxes of crayon.
Nino checked on the shopping list, “I’ll get some of drawing book and origami paper then.” Sho nodded.
Nino then searched the drawing book aisle and found it. Nino took some packs of book and origami paper.
“Hmmm, I got glue and crayon. Now...” Sho was too focused on the shopping list until he walked past Nino quickly.
“Sensei, wait!” Nino chased Sho, but he slipped on the floor and he fell with a loud thud. His items in the shopping basket scattered on the floor. All customer turned their gaze on him.
Sho turned backward abruptly and ran to Nino, “Nino-san!” He checked on his colleague, “You okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” Nino nodded and rubbed his hurting elbow.
Sho helped Nino stood up and brushed his knees clean, “Come on, let’s finish this before the store is getting more crowded,” Sho put Nino's items in his own shopping basket. He then held Nino's hand and pulled him to the cashier.
“Eh? Sensei-”
“Stay with me,” Nino only nodded and held Sho’s hand tightly.
Sho led him downstairs and dodged many customers to open the way. They roamed through the crowd while holding hands to reach the cashier spot. They didn’t let go of each other, even on the cashier queue. The payment was rather fast, and they walked out from the store.
“Sensei...” Nino called him reluctantly.
“What?”
“Your hand...” Nino lifted their intertwined hands and Sho flustered. He then let go of Nino abruptly and Nino chuckled.
Sho muttered, “I- I just don’t want you fall again...” Sho pointed at Nino’s elbow, “Is your elbow okay?”
Nino nodded and wore his helmet, “Yeah, don’t worry. My knee hurts, though.”
Sho panicked, “Eh? What should we do? Should I drive now?”
Nino laughed, “No, you don’t need to.” He patted his scooter, “She won’t walk unless I drive her, you know.”
Sho sighed and nodded, “But tell me if you’re hurt anywhere, okay?”
“Okay. Come on, let’s go back,” Nino gripped onto the scooter's handlebar. Sho’s warmth still lingered on his hand, and he could feel it now on his back. Nino gripped harder and grinned.
2. Sho's Favorite Omurice
The italic dialog in this story is spoken in English. This is a slice of a scene in my previous fic, Meet the Witch.
“Kazu, do you know why Sho loves my omurice?” Sho’s mom, Yoko-san, stood up next to Nino in the kitchen making lunch together.
“Because your omurice is good?”
“No, more than that.”
“Eh?” Nino turned to her.
“He was a picky eater back then. He told me that veggies smelt and tasted weird and he didn’t like it. I always had difficulties to make him ate it,” Yoko-san chuckled.
“Sho was a picky eater? Couldn’t imagine that. He eats everything!”
“After eating my omurice,” Yoko-san smiled smugly. “He once fell sick of eating too little veggies, even his dad couldn’t convince him to eat veggies. But he liked eggs, so I made an omurice with full of chopped veggies. I didn’t have time to finely chopped all the veggies, so I bought a manual food processor, processed all the ingredients, and simmered it into a tomato sauce to make a ketchup rice. I was nervous if he found out I put veggies in there. But after one bite, he gobbled up everything quickly. I never saw him ate like that. It was a touching moment. He wanted more omurice, so more chopped veggies. He regained his strength and healed fast.”
“Wow... Did he know that he ate veggies in there?”
“No, at first. But weeks after that, I told him I put many veggies in his omurice. Did you know his response?”
“Was he mad?”
“No. He said, ‘Mom, veggies can be that delicious?!’” Nino stifled a chuckle. “Then I said, ‘Yes, because you don’t know them well. Would you try to get to know them?’ His curiosity on veggies raised up and as a new mom, I searched more creative recipes for him. His dad liked to buy veggies chart and toys to help him learnt about veggies. The rest is history. That’s why he always requests omurice every time he goes home or when I visit him.”
“Mom... You’re excellent!” Nino clapped.
“No, I’m just a desperate mom,” Yoko-san waved off.
“Mom, stop telling that story to Kazu. That’s embarrassing!” Sho shouted from their behind.
Sho’s mom turned around, “Mind your business, Sakurai, Jr. Have you set the table?”
“Yes, yeeesss...” Sho rolled his eyes.
Yoko-san gave her attention to Nino again, “You can have the recipe tho.”
“No, thanks. My omurice won’t be as delicious as yours. Besides, that recipe is a special bond between you two,” Nino smiled.
Yoko-san closed her distance to Nino and whispered, “If I can give an advice, find your touch on the ketchup rice. And don’t forget to balance the taste between the omelet and the rice. Sho may didn’t realize, but he likes rich-flavored foods.”
Nino beamed, “Roger!”
3. Movie Night and Matching Bruises
Lately, Saturday night is movie night for Sho and Nino. They watched movie until midnight, then lazed around on Sunday. They usually watched in Sho’s house and sometimes in Nino’s if Hiro was at home on the weekend. This time, they were in Nino’s house. They were watching a romcom movie. They waited for Hiro to sleep before watching the movie. Sho sat side by side with Nino on the sofa. They were focusing on the movie, laughing at the comedic scene, then a romantic scene came.
Sho circled his arm to Nino’s shoulders and Nino looked up, “Sho?”
“Hm?” Sho’s hand was on Nino’s shoulder but his gaze was still on TV.
“You’re reenacting the scene...”
“Yes. Why?”
“I- Oh! They’re kissing!”
“Should we do that too?” Sho hovered his face in front of Nino. Nino chuckled and closed his eyes-
“Kazu... Wanna pee...”
Hiro’s voice startled them and they accidentally hit their foreheads hard, “Ouch!” as they arched backward and touched their forehead.
“Ugh...” Sho hissed in pain while Nino leaned on the sofa backrest while rubbing his forehead. “You okay?” Sho checked Nino’s forehead.
“I’m fine, I’m fine, just dizzy...” Nino groaned. They looked at each other and giggled hard.
“Why are you laughing?” Hiro looked up and asked innocently.
Sho craned his neck to meet Hiro’s eyes, “Because we’re happy, right? Nino-sensei?” Sho looked at Nino and Nino giggled.
-
All teachers and caregivers were having lunch in the meeting room.
“Sensei? What’s wrong with your forehead?” Aiba, who sat across Sho, asked.
“Oh- Ah-” Sho replied nervously while stared at Nino beside him, “I hit my door yesterday, hehe, yes.”
Aiba hummed, “But Nino has the same bruise, I saw it this morning. Did he hit his head on his door too? See? It’s purple,” Aiba pointed at Nino’s forehead. Sho bulged his eyes and his colleagues stifled a giggle. Nino just glared at Sho, and Sho covered his face with his hands.
“Aiba-chan is too naïve!” Joshima-san said, and everyone laughed hard.
4. Beautiful Eyes
Sho and Nino were watching an origami tutorial on YouTube. It had easy steps, but it had a lot of steps to follow so they needed to pay attention closely. They held their origami paper and followed the steps one by one.
“Kazu.”
“Hm?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay.”
“Kazu...”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay.”
“Kazu...”
“Sho, tell me what you want or...”
“Or what?”
“I’ll-”
“ARGH! NO! STOP!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA KAZU, NO! ARGH-”
“TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT OR I’LL TICKLE YOU UNTIL YOU DIE!”
“NO- STOOOP! WON’T TELL YOU- HAHAHAHAHAHA KA- KAZUUU!”
“SHO- HAHAHAHA- YOU CAN’T DO THIS- AH!”
“HAHAHA I CAN! ARGH, STOP! PEE BREAK! PEE BREAK!”
“YOU HAVE TIME TO MAKE A PUN, HUH? HUUUH?! TAKE THIS, SAKURAI!”
“AAAARGH! NO! SORRY! SORRY!”
How could Sho confess that Nino had the most beautiful eyes when he was in his serious mode?
5. The Emperor’s New Clothes
“Shooo-chaaan, waaakeee uuup~ Theee diiiinneeer iiis reeeadyyy~”
“Why do you talk like that? And your ears...”
“Whaaat dooo yooou meeean? I aaalwaaays taaalk liiike thiiis~ Myyy eeears aaare aaalwaaays liiike thiiis~”
“Huh? Huh?”
“Eeeat yooour diiineeer, Shooo-chaaan~”
“Sho?” Nino’s face blocked his sight.
“Huh? Kazu?” Sho’s voice croaked. “You’re here? You speak normally,” he cleared his throat.
“... Yes? What were you dreaming of?” Nino frowned and helped Sho got up to lean on the headrest.
“You talked slowly... And you had a pair of cat ears that always moving...” Sho muttered.
“Weird dream,” Nino chuckled. “The dinner is ready. Eat it and take your flu med, okay?” Nino put a thermometer below Sho’s armpit. “How are you feeling now?”
“Better, but still confused and feel hot. How ‘bout Hiro-kun?”
“He’s with Matsuda-san. I’ll go home after you eat your dinner. Is it okay?”
“Yeah, thanks a lot.” The thermometer beeped and Nino looked at the result.
“Eat a lot and take a good rest. It’s 38,5oC.”
“I take too much rest,” Sho sighed.
“You want your students catch your cold?”
“No...” Sho shook his head weakly.
“So, eat something delicious and sleep a lot. That’s the best medicine,” Nino put the dinner tray on Sho’s bed. Sho ate slowly and had difficulty of swallowing his food, as expected of the earliest symptom of flu. Nino waited for him to finish his meal while tidying his room. It seemed like Sho was sleeping all day, which was good, as his room was rather tidy. But not with his working desk.
“What are you working on? Your desk is messy!” Nino threw the crumpled origami papers and other trash in the trash bin.
Sho gulped his food, “I’m practicing a new origami technic. A hard one. And planning a new activity for the next month,” Nino hummed and nodded. “I’m done...”
“Gochisousama...” Nino took the tray and put it on the sink. “Drink your med!” Nino shouted from the kitchen. Sho only grunted as his response. After washing the dish, Nino went back to Sho’s room.
“You’re going home?”
“Yes, maybe in 30 mins.”
“Can you read me this?” Sho walked wobbly to his working desk and took a picture storybook. “I’ll sleep after that. My eyes hurt, can’t read...” Sho rubbed his eyes tiredly. “To think I’ll be having a storytelling time in 2 days...”
Nino read the title, “... The Emperor’s New Clothes. Okay.”
“Thanks... Sit here...” Sho patted beside him.
Nino sat comfortably and opened the book, “The Emperor’s New Clothes...” Nino read and Sho listened, sometimes gave a comment about the story. From the middle part of the story, Nino felt his shoulder was getting heavier. Sho apparently leaned his head on his shoulder, half-awakened. “Wanna sleep?” Nino whispered.
“No, keep reading...” Sho mumbled. “Just resting my head...”
Nino smiled fondly and continued the story, “... The Emperor carried forth at the front of the procession just as splendid as he ever was. And behind him, his retinue carried on their arms the imagined train of his splendid robes. The end,” Nino turned left and heard Sho’s soft snore. His breath was slow and steady. “Ah, so cute. I love you,” Nino patted Sho’s head and tucked Sho in carefully. Nino checked his temperature again and kissed Sho’s temple. “Still high. Hope you’ll get better tomorrow...”
Nino took his phone from his pocket. “Hello, Matsuda-san? It’s Ninomiya. I’m really sorry. I’ll sleep in Sho-sensei’s house tonight. Yes, his fever is still rather high. May Hiro sleep in your house tonight, please? Thank you very much, Matsuda-san. Sorry for troubling you. Good night.”
Nino was walking out of Sho’s room when- “Kazuuu~ Why did you become a cat emperor?” Sho was sleeptalking.
He wheezed hard, walked back to Sho, and whispered, “Nyan~”
Sho was panicked in his sleep and thrashed around while Nino chuckled, holding his stomach. Nino then hugged Sho’s head and said, “Sho, Sho, it’s okay. I’m a cat only in your dream. Sleep tight and I’ll be a human again tomorrow.”
Sho, still in his unconscious state, nodded and calmed himself down. Nino patted his head and kissed his temple fondly.