Guidance (Part 13)
Sprout
Summary:Sakurai wants to talk to Aiba, really badly. Ohno gives Aiba guidance to help him with his confusion.
“Ba-ba-ba-ba!”
Aiba woke up to the sound of Kazu’s silly babbling, followed by tiny slaps from a tiny hand landing on his face. A smile immediately played on his lips when he felt Kazu’s tiny head drop next to him with a whispered thud. There was nothing better than waking up next to his son and that was what Aiba loved the most. Before Kazu, his mornings were dull and boring, but with Kazu, it was fun, amazing, refreshing, but a wee bit stressful when Kazu decided to cry. As Aiba opened his eyes, he focused them on Kazu’s tiny face and saw that Kazu was staring at him with curious unblinking eyes. Because of him, his mornings were better.
Except, this morning Aiba was lost and confused. He didn’t remember going to sleep last night, except when he followed Sakurai to the beach, heard him talking to someone on the phone… and then a kiss on his lips… Kiss! Aiba sat up on his bed and covered his lips in shock. He started to remember now. He misunderstood Sakurai over the phone, thinking that Sakurai had feelings for someone else, but it turns out those feelings were for Aiba! And then the kiss… Aiba couldn’t help but swoon and fell beside Kazu. And just like Kazu, Aiba babbled excitedly as he remembered last night’s kiss.
“You look happy,” Ohno pointed out during breakfast, but Aiba only half-heard because he kept getting distracted with Sakurai, who kept glancing at him every minute or so. “You look happy,” Ohno repeated when Aiba finally turned his attention towards him.
“Huh? What? Oh… I’ve always been happy,” Aiba laughed nervously as he shoved a piece of bacon in his mouth. He could feel Sakurai’s eyes on him and he knew that the man wanted to talk to him. This whole morning, while Aiba’s parents were preparing breakfast, Aiba did his best to avoid Sakurai to the fullest. It’s not that he didn’t want to talk to him -- Aiba had lots to tell him -- but it’s just that Aiba was afraid he’s going to faint again like last night. It was embarrassing enough that it happened last night, especially after Sakurai had kissed him… He jumped in his seat and everyone turned their head towards him before they resumed eating and chatting. Aiba, however, still couldn’t help but look up at Sakurai. He almost choked on his bacon when he realized that Sakurai stopped glancing at him and was staring at him from across the table.
“No, I meant that you look super-duper happy right now,” Ohno pointed out. “Did something happen between you and Sakurai-san?”
“N-nothing!” Aiba piped up and he felt his cheeks grow hot. “A-a-and what makes you think I was with Sakurai last night?” He whispered so no one would overhear, especially Sakurai who was still staring at him.
“Sakurai came rushing back here with you unconscious in his arms…”
“A-ah! About that--”
Before Aiba could make up an excuse on the spot, Kazu began crying and demanded Aiba’s attention right away. He threw an apologetic look to Ohno before he scooped up his crying son and cradled him close to his chest.
“I’ve already fed you,” Aiba pouted as he gently rocked Kazu from side to side in attempt to calm him down, but Kazu kept on crying. “Let papa eat, too, okay?”
“He wants to play,” his sister-in-law told him from across the table. “Why don’t we put all the children together? They’re all done eating, anyway.”
“That’s a good idea!” Aiba’s mother piped up. “Oh, they’re going to make great childhood friends!”
Kazu finally calmed down once all the children were together. Aiba found it amusing how Kazu became calm once he was with other children his age, but he couldn’t help but feel saddened that he didn’t have the ability to calm Kazu at will. How did his mother do it?
They made sure to keep the children at a close watch to keep their parents from being anxious, but at least the parents had less to worry about. While the adults were busy eating, talking and basking in the morning light from the porch, the children were busy playing and talking to each other. Despite how less anxious Aiba felt, however, it rose every single moment he glanced up at Sakurai’s direction. He knew the latter wanted to talk to him about last night and about them, but Aiba wasn’t ready! How could he be? He wasn’t even ready last night when Sakurai had openly confessed to him, especially when Sakurai kissed him right after. Heck, Aiba was confused and didn’t know how he felt about Sakurai, other than the fact that the doctor gave him the butterflies in his stomach.
When breakfast was finally over, Aiba was going to make a run for Kazu and up to his room when all of a sudden his mother grabbed his arm. “Sakurai-san, Masaki. Can you two wash the dishes? I’ll take care of Kazu-chan and the children.”
“Ma, I-I can take care of the children.”
“No,” his mother snapped. “I want to take care of the children and that’s final.” Before Aiba could protest some more, his mother turned away from him and skipped happily to the living room until all there was left of the adults were him and Sakurai.
“Ma-- Aiba-san…”
“Dishes!” Aiba exclaimed nervously when he realized that Sakurai went back to addressing him by his last name. He sped walk past Sakurai and moved the dishes from the table on the porch to the kitchen sink. It was very rude of him to cut off Sakurai, but Aiba wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. “I’ll do ‘em all. You can go and--”
“Aiba-san, I want to talk to you. Please.”
It’s not like Aiba could tell him that he wasn’t ready! It’ll just come off as rude and besides, Aiba was curiously eager as to what Sakurai wanted to talk about all morning.
“About last night,” Sakurai began simultaneously as they began with the dishes. “I’m sorry. I know I was moving too fast and it was rude of me when I haven’t even asked you how you felt. I’ll back off, if you want. I’ll resign too if that’ll make you feel better.”
“No,” Aiba found himself replying right away. “You don’t have to. I-I don’t… dislike you, at all.”
“Really?!” Sakurai exclaimed as he sighed in relief. “I really thought that you disliked me because of last night… I’m sorry…”
“Y-you don’t have to be… Just, give me some time to think about it.”
“Okay.”
From the corner of his eyes, he could see that Sakurai was smiling so wide that Aiba couldn’t help but smile with him. It was absolutely adorable seeing a very serious man act like a grown kid before him, and it made Aiba feel special to see the man in such a state. He wondered, then, if he was the only one who had witnessed Sakurai like that.
“Ah, I’m sorry,” Sakurai apologized once again for reasons Aiba didn’t know until he looked down and saw that the back of their hands were touching. It felt so warm and comforting, but Aiba pulled away with a tiny yelp.
“I-it’s okay,” Aiba laughed nervously and grabbed the soaped plate on his side of the sink. He rinsed it with so much effort, trying to ignore that warm feeling rushing in his body and failed to notice that Sakurai was watching him with silent amusement.
“So, did you sort out whatever it was between you and Sakurai-san?” Ohno asked him as they finally settled on their towels, each with their own kids lying on top of their chest. Today really was a good day to go the beach and he was glad that his mother begged them all to go to the beach with her.
“Yeah, I did,” he said, surprised that the man didn’t ask him what it was about. Well, at least he didn’t have to explain about it without being awkward at all, but Aiba was curious of what Ohno had to say about it. “Would it be weird for two men to date each other?”
“No, why would it? Besides, isn’t that the huge thing going on for the past few years? It’s totally okay for people to love each other no matter what gender.”
Ohno had a point. Almost every time Aiba switched to the news channel, there was always news about the LGBT campaign and Aiba even read up about it. Just like Ohno said, Aiba didn’t have a problem with it either… but he still didn’t know how he exactly felt about Sakurai! Besides, this was the first time he’s felt this way before about anybody and it was certainly a very good feeling that Aiba enjoyed more often than he thought about it. What if this feeling, though, was only respect and admiration towards Sakurai? The doctor was a very honorable person and he earned a lot of respect in his field due to his title of the top five doctors within the neighborhood. But on the other hand, Aiba felt that it was more than that. Sure, he respected the doctor and admired him and his amazing personality, but there was this pull on his heart that made him feel lighter on his feet.
“Love, huh?” Aiba mumbled as he stared into Kazu’s brown eyes. “Is that how I feel?”
“You know, when I met my ex-wife, it was love at first sight,” Ohno began and it surprised Aiba that the man began talking about such a sensitive topic. When he first met Ohno, he remembered the pained look on the man’s face and how he became suddenly depressed just mentioning his ex-wife. Maybe Ohno was trying his best to be confident for him. “I was very confused at first and I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride. But I knew, the moment when we finally held hands and shared our first kiss, that I was in love with her. That she would be the mother to our future children. And that we would be together forever… But when Jun was born, I got a job. I barely gave myself to her, she became unhappy, and there was someone else… What I’m trying to say is, Aiba-san, you should go for it no matter the consequence. Even if there are some people who disapprove, just go for it.”
“W-what?” Aiba was very confused and he wasn’t sure what Ohno was talking about. Was he, perhaps, trying to encourage him?
Ohno titled his head to the side, “Oh, I thought this was about you and Sakurai-san.”
“I-- well… uh…” Aiba didn’t know what to say, but he was thankful towards Ohno for his encouragement. It actually helped Aiba a little because he needed guidance in the first place, and there was no one left to talk to other than Ohno, who he hoped would give him an unbiased reply. “I don’t even know how I feel about Sakurai-sensei.”
“That’s okay,” Ohno said. “If anything, getting to know him better is a good start, to be honest.”
“You’re right,” Aiba sighed, glad that he went to the park that one day and met Ohno. “Thank you, Oh-chan.”
“You’re welcome. Oh, and speaking of which,” He sat up and took Kazu off Aiba’s chest. “You could start now. He keeps looking this way. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of Kazu-chan. Besides, he, too, needs to get to know Jun.”
As Ohno mentioned, Sakurai kept glancing at him from afar. Aiba did notice it, but he kept being shy about admitting it until now . Aiba laughed in agreement as he watched Ohno sit the two children besides him. “I’m really glad I met you, Oh-chan. Thank you very much.”
“You’re very welcome. Now go! His eyes are practically begging you to go to him.”
After being literally shooed by Ohno, he walked up to Sakurai. He saw that the man was soaked from top to bottom and Aiba couldn’t help but notice how Sakurai’s swimming trunks stuck to his legs and he could clearly see a big bulge on Sakurai’s crotch. He immediately looked away when he felt his cheeks burn as hot as the sun.
“Hi,” Aiba greeted him awkwardly when he had Sakurai’s attention.
“Hello,” Sakurai grinned, causing Aiba’s heart to pound wildly against his chest. “Will you walk with me?”
“S-sure.”
Sakurai didn’t talk to him for a while as they walked, which surprised Aiba because the man always asked about how Kazu was doing. It wasn’t until they were far, far away from Aiba’s family that Sakurai halted to a stop and grabbed Aiba’s hand.
“I’ve always wanted to do this… Crap, I’m sorry,” Sakurai quickly apologized, but was about to pull away when Aiba found himself squeezing Sakurai’s hand to prevent him from doing so.
“I don’t dislike it,” Aiba murmured quietly. Even if he was confused at the moment, he decided to take Ohno’s advice. Besides, holding Sakurai’s hand felt just right and it made Aiba feel all happy and bubbly inside. When he looked up, he saw that Sakurai smiled widely at him from ear to ear and Aiba smiled back at him as they intertwined their fingers in between their bodies.
TBC
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