Reminisce (Part 13)
CookiesSummary:Nino noticed something about them and points it out to Sho.
It was one of those days where Sho and Masaki had nothing better. On these days, either Sho or Masaki would call Nino over to play some of his games, but they were too lazy to call his friend over. Besides, Nino was probably at some arcade playing his money away at this very moment. Instead, Masaki decided to hang out with Sho in his room because he seeked his company and complained that there was nothing fun to do.
“And being with me is fun?” Sho asked in amusement. “I’m no fun. If you were me, you would be reading books right now.”
“You only read books when I’m not here,” Masaki pointed out with a breathy laugh. “And yes, it’s fun because I love being with you.”
“Oh really? Even if we’re doing nothing right now.” They really were doing nothing other than lying down on Sho’s bed, staring at the bare ceiling that stared back at them in silent amusement. Sho wondered if the ceiling was a person, the ceiling would probably tell him that they were a weird set of siblings and to stop staring at it whenever they were bored.
“Yeah,” Masaki giggled. “I could never be bored around you, nii-chan”
“Me too,” Sho confessed and took his brother’s hand in his. How long has it been since they had a day to themselves? No parents to tell them what to do. No Nino bothering them about their school work or teasing either of them. No Jun bothering them about Masaki or visiting them just to see their mother. No Ohno to come and spend time with them. No one. Just the two of them and it was enough.
“Nino says that this isn’t normal,” Masaki said, pointing at their intertwined hands.
Sho shrugged and squeezed his brother’s hand. “Who cares what he thinks? Besides, we haven’t held hands in forever. I missed this, you know.”
“Yeah, me too. Who cares about that Nino thinks?!... But you know, nii-chan, I really, really love you.”
Sho, startled at the sudden confession, sat up and stared at his brother’s calm face. “Where is this coming from?” He asked, half amused and half confused. Never, in all the ten years, had Masaki said something like this and for some reason Sho felt something tug at his heart when Masaki confessed so openly.
“From me, silly,” Aiba giggled. “And I’m really happy I have a brother. If I hadn’t given you that cookie ten years ago, we wouldn’t be here now.”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t,” Sho agreed in a whisper as he lied back down beside his brother. In all the ten years Masaki had been his brother, he completely forgot about the horrible past that Masaki had suffered from, except when the trial of Masaki’s father’s release happened. For those ten years, he’s always thought of Masaki as his real brother and somehow Masaki’s horrible past had slipped past that. Nevertheless, Sho was really, really thankful that Masaki had given him that cookie. And speaking of which, he remembered how he used to be the most boring kid before Masaki, and how he completely changed when he desperately wanted Masaki as his brother.
“Wow,” Sho said out loud without thinking. “I’ve changed that much.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Oh, was I talking out loud?”
“Duh,” Masaki giggled. “No seriously though, what do you mean?”
“Well, remember the day we met?... I used to be such a loser. All I wanted was to read and be with dad all day instead of being in preschool with all the other kids. But when we finally met, I changed in an instant! I just wanted to play with you all the time and I became one of those weird kids that I never thought I would become.”
Masaki pouted. “Are you saying I did something bad?”
“No, not at all!” Sho laughed. “I meant to say that being with you is fun! It made my childhood so much better and less boring. Geez, if we never met, imagine where we would be right now…” Sho mumbled without thinking and stopped himself when he saw Masaki frown in the corner of his eyes. “I-I’m sorry Masaki. I didn’t mean to--”
“It’s fine, nii-chan,” Masaki mumbled quietly as he looked away. “I know you didn’t mean it.”
“Masaki…” But his brother didn’t say anything more so Sho decided to keep his mouth shut. For now, he wanted to comfort his brother. When he released Masaki’s hand, he heard a small whimper from his brother, but he sighed in relief when Sho embraced him from behind. If Nino was there, he would also say that what they were doing was weird, but because his little brother was so important to him that Sho couldn’t stand seeing him hurt, he didn’t care at this moment.
“I love you, too,” Sho said silently, hoping that his words would comfort his little brother.
“I’m glad,” Masaki said for some reason Sho could imagine Masaki smiling.
TBC
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