“I can’t help it,” Aiba yelps as Ohno pinches his nose. “I really want to keep the dog!” 
 

“You can’t,” his older brother pipes in and rests his chin on Ohno’s shoulder. “We already have five people to feed. We don’t need another sixth member.”
 

Aiba pouts as this. He’s always wanted a dog and never got to pet one until now; he’s only seen them from far away.


“But niichan!!” Aiba runs his palm on Nino’s face. “You love me right?” Aiba knows this will work since his eyes seemed to work on Nino whenever he wanted something. 
 

“No,” Nino answers. “I’m really sorry.”
 

Aiba sulks back down and watches the dog walk away from them, his eyes starting to water.
 

+
 

Even after Ohno had properly met Sho, he hated the man for taking his first love away from him. But slowly and gradually, he started forgiving the man. Of course, he’s stolen Nino’s first kiss, but his first kiss was also stolen. Speaking of kisses, Ohno turns around and sees Nino glaring at him and tapping his foot impatiently on the floor.
 

“Satoshi!” Nino hisses. “Why do you only care about fishes?!” Nino started calling him Satoshi a long time ago after Ohno had always stuck close to his young master, and treated him better than before. Also for cheering him up when Sho turned Nino down.
 

Ohno smirks. “Are you jealous?”
 

“N-no!” Nino blinks and looks away. “I-I meant why a-are you always with them?”
 

“Because,” Ohno taps the aquarium glass, “I haven’t seen my friends in awhile.”
 

“Oh.”
 

“Yeah,” Ohno breathes. “Oh.”
 

+++
 

“Jun,” Sho whispers in the young man’s ears. “Thanks for taking in Nino and his friends.”
 

“It’s nothing big,” Jun kisses him on the forehead. “They needed help and I was there. Besides, you weren’t the only one who knew Masaki and Satoshi.”
 

“What?” Sho pulls back from his lover’s arms. “Are you telling me something I don’t know?!”
 

Jun just laughs and pulls his lover back, telling him that he will explain everything later.
 

+++
 

“Happy Birthday!!” Nino opens his arms. “Happy Birthday Masaki!!!”
 

Aiba looks around, his eyes starting to water as he ran towards his older brother and crying in his arms. “H-how’d you know?”
 

His brother laughs and ruffles Aiba’s clean hair. “A little bird told me. And…” His brother lets go of him. “I have a present for you.”
 

Aiba gasps, and his eyes grow huge. “A present? Really?! No one has ever given me one before!”
 

“Consider this as our present from all of us!” Nino yells from the kitchen. “Don’t worry, I promise you’ll love this present.”
 

Aiba couldn’t wait. Back then, whenever he told his parents it was his birthday in the following week, or the day before his birthday, his parents promises to bring him a present, but comes home on the night of his birthday, drunk and wasted. He remembers crying out loud, and running up to his room, hitting his pillows and ripping them apart. After his sixth birthday, he never really said anything, and stopped expecting for birthday presents.

Aiba wipes the tears from his face and walks to the living room. When he enters the huge living room, he is immediately greeted warmly by familiar faces: Ohno’s spiky blonde hair shined under the light, his smile making his cheeks chubbier; Sho’s pearly white teeth making Aiba almost blind, and Jun’s long arm around Sho’s shoulders and smiling a mischievous smile.
 

“Happy Birthday!” They all chorused. Aiba couldn’t be more happier with his friends and family in the place where he wants them to be. 
 

“T-thank you,” Aiba cries again. “I-I love y-you guys.” He just couldn’t stop crying. He was thankful to everyone: To Jun who offered them a house to live in, to Sho who saved his life and gave him laughter, to Ohno who treated him like a normal boy, and especially to Nino who took him under his wing, and cared for him like a little brother.
 

“Oh come on!” Sho drags the small boy. “We have a party!!”
 

“Yeah!” Aiba wipes the tears from his face. “Let’s party!”
 

After a happy birthday song, Aiba’s attention was somewhere else: Nino’s presents. But his brother was nowhere to be found, and no one seemed to notice Aiba being so anxious. So he sneaked away from his party, and followed where his brother went. The kitchen was dark, and Aiba couldn’t see anything except he could hear a small yelp coming from a corner somewhere.
 

“Niichan? Is that you?” Aiba slowly walks toward the sound when suddenly, the light turns on. Once again, Ohno, Sho, and Jun were surrounding him and smiling while Nino was on the floor holding something that was moving.
 

“Took you long enough,” Nino clicks his tongue. “Happy Birthday Masaki.”
 

Aiba questions his brother but shuts up when a small puppy walks up to Aiba and rubs its head on his legs. 
 

“A-a dog?” Aiba chokes. “But-but-” Before he could even utter out more than five ‘but’s’, Aiba takes the puppy in his arms and rubs his cheek on the puppy’s head. He never thought that his brother would get him such a present since he rejected Aiba earlier. Wait, Aiba stops, was this why niichan said no to me?
 

“Niichan!” Aiba takes hold of Nino’s arm. “You rejected me earlier because you already brought this for me?!”
 

Nino nods his head and places a small kiss on Aiba’s forehead. “Anything for my little bro. But I’m not going to spoil you.”
 

“T-thank you,” Aiba’s voice starts to waver.
 

“Oh, here he goes again,” he hears Jun chuckle.
 

+++
 

Nino learned to get over Sho since he had other people in his lives. He never really took Ohno’s words to his heart, but the way Ohno had confessed sounded real and sincere. It’s not like he will forgive Ohno; he just admires him in a way. 
 

“You love him,” Jun teases him one day. “You just don’t know it yet. You think he’s still the same Ohno Satoshi, but he changed a lot after, you know, dying.”
 

Nino, nor Ohno, never told Jun about his butler’s death. “How did you know?”
 

Jun smirks, “Oh, a little bird told me.”
 

“ it Jun, I’ll talk to Ohno myself.” And with that said, Nino slightly pushes the latter from his space, and walks up the stairs to Ohno’s room.
 

“Satoshi,” Nino walks in. “Jun tells me something about dying…”
 

“Oh,” Ohno stands up from his half finished painting. “I did die when I saved you from falling off the bridge. Then I just woke up in some guy that looks like me and I thought I was asleep for a night. So when I learned from your parents that you ran away, I had to find you. After spending a few nights with you and Aiba, I’ve having dreams with these voices telling me I was dead and I didn’t believe them at first. But I found it strange how I looked even younger, and I was away for more than three months, did I start to believe in those voices. Until the night when I kissed you,” Ohno blushes, “my soul’s time was up and I just had to get back to you.”
 

“…”
 

“I know right,” Ohno slowly walks to his young master. “It’s complicated, but you’ll soon understand.” 
 

“No,” Nino pushes Ohno away. “What I want to know is, why come back for me?”
 

“Didn’t you hear me,” Ohno tugs his young master closer to him. “I love you.” Ohno smiles when Nino doesn’t push him away.
 

“Whatever,” Nino scoffs. “From now on, I’m your master.”
 

“Yes,” Ohno pulls him back and looks straight in Nino’s eyes. “Master.”


"And Nino, can you sing our song again?"


Nino smiles and gives Ohno a quick peck on the lips. "Sure."

 

"Koi" to iu kasetto te-pu wa
Moroi mon de chottoa shougeki de
Hozon wo eta ima made no omoide tachi ga
Sugu ni kesarete hitori ni naru
Ano hi kimi ga kureta kotoba wa
Boku no kasetto te-pu ni hozon wo e
Futoa toki ni saisei botan wo osu Kimi wa kou itteru　
"Zutto isshou ni iyou ne, zutto"
Ima kimi ga sono sekai ni inai Koto wa teru　
Tsurai hodo teru
Demo ano natsu no hi no oka ni mukau
Genjitsu wo uketorenai boku ga iru Ano hi wo omoidasu
Atsukattandakke?　Ah
Me wo tojite omoidasu

 

A/N:Song by Nino-Casette Tape

 

END