The Start of a New Beginning (Chapter 3)
Old Love and Sweet MelodiesNino waved Aiba’s tiny finger from his face, slightly irritated at Aiba for being so energetic first thing in the morning. He kept his eyes closed and turned over to the side, grumbling as he ignored Aiba poking him harder and harder each time Nino grumbled.
“OK!” Nino sat up, hitting his head on the roof of their shelter. “I’m up!”
“Yay!” Aiba fist pumped the air. “Can we finally go to the park?” Ever since Nino promised to Aiba that they would go to the park it never happened since he was trying his best to earn money. It’s been 2 weeks already and Aiba had been pleading him every morning with a pout in his face. Nino smiled and grabbed Aiba’s chubby cheeks.
“Shall we?” Aiba’s eyes flashed with happiness as he jumped up and down, dragging Nino along with him to the empty park. The boy was happy and so was Nino. He watched the boy run up and down the stairs, slide down the tiny slide he couldn’t fit in anymore, swing on the tall swing, fall from the jungle bar, tending to his new born scratch, slip and fall, laugh and forget. It was such a memorable moment, to see Aiba enjoy his childhood. If only Aiba were his biological younger brother, maybe – just maybe – he wouldn’t have left home.
“Be careful!” Nino chuckled. “Don’t rush. We have all day.” Aiba’s eyes sparkled.
“Really?!”
“Yes, really,” he smiled. “Let me clean your wounds.” After cleaning Aiba’s new scratches, he walked back to the bench, stopping when he noticed something from the corner of his eyes. How long has he been there?
“Hey,” Nino kicked the hooded person’s foot. “What are you doing here?” The person shrugged and mumbled something before turning his back to Nino.
“Can you leave? You’re scaring kids away,” he pointed out looking to Aiba’s direction. He lied, though; he just wanted it to be him and Aiba in the park.
“Go away,” the stranger mumbled in a deep voice. “I don’t give about kids.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said, go away,” the stranger repeated, still refusing to move a single muscle.
“Please!” Nino heard himself plead, which he barely does, and pushed the man. “Can you please go?”
“Okay!” the person finally gave in, standing up and shoving Nino in the process. “I’ll leave.”
“Finally,” Nino breathed out as he went back to the bench, watching Aiba have fun by himself. He had forgotten about the strange man sleeping in the park as he invited himself to play with Aiba. Round and round they went, Nino chasing after the energetic kid, as he tried catching up avoiding to slip and fall. He heard himself laughing along with the kid, enjoying the moment he was never able to have since 1st grade. Finally, Aiba had given up, exhausted, and Nino took this chance to attack him, tickling him until Aiba started coughing wildly.
“Aiba?” Nino poked the little boy still coughing on the floor. “I-I didn’t tickle you that hard… Did I?” The boy didn’t answer and just continued coughing until he couldn’t breathe anymore that he passed out. Nino thought that the boy was joking around, pretending to play dead so Nino could stop bothering him. But he thought wrong when the boy didn’t wake up after a couple of nudges.
He panicked, scared that he actually tickled him hard enough to cough wildly and pass out. For the love of god, Nino needed Ohno more than anything, but he knew his old friend had passed… Having no other choice, he rushed the small boy to the nearest hospital, ignoring another person chasing after him.
When he had finally made it, he used his full name and the nurse immediately knew who he was so they brought Aiba to the emergency room. Having waiting hours and hours for Aiba to come out, he didn’t notice the same person calling for him earlier as he was heading to the hospital.
“Uh,” the person startled Nino. “…What happened to Aiba-chan?” Nino heard this familiar voice and backed away almost immediately seeming like he didn’t want the person who looked like Ohno close to him. He didn’t want to talk to anyone right now but seeing how the latter looked so much like his old friend, he spilled everything out saying it was his entire fault and that he was a bad person.
He waited for an answer like he always did when he was around Ohno, but he turned away when the latter was taking way too long. “What are you doing here anyway?” Nino asked him exasperatedly. He didn’t mean for his tone to come out like that, but he noted that he treated the latter like he did to Ohno.
“I was on the way to the bakery, but I saw you holding Aiba-chan so I ran after you.”
“Well you didn’t need to. We could handle ourselves just fine.”
The man didn’t speak for a while until a rushed nurse passed by. “It’s not your fault.”
Nino shook his head and once again said that it was his fault, blaming himself for even agreeing to go out. He should have known that something bad was going to happen, but he couldn’t tell the future. He wasn’t ever sure of what’s going to happen to Aiba and him when they lose money. The latter sighed.
“Look,” he said, “It’s not your fault. Things happen for a reason, so don’t go around and always blame yourself when you see a flower getting crushed ok?”
Nino turned to look at the person who looked like Ohno, shocked that the man had said many things in just a sentence. The Ohno he knew wasn’t like that.
“All I’m saying is, don’t sweat it. Expect for the unexpected.”
Nino nodded his head, trying his best to listen to what the man advised as they waited for Aiba patiently. “You never told me how you knew me and Aiba,” Nino pointed out, his eyes refusing to meet the man’s. He was afraid that if he looked at them, he might just lose it and cry in front of the whole world. “Hell, I don’t even know you but you just reminded me of a friend I used to have.”
“I… I can’t say yet,” the man answered. “But in time I will tell you. Now is not a good time.”
“Oh. Right.”
As the two sat there in silence, waiting for the doctor to come out and tell Nino exactly what happened, Nino edged away from the latter, the awkwardness visible around them. By now, Nino would be talking on and on if it was his old friend, but the person beside him was way different. He didn’t know his hobbies, he didn’t know if he would obey to Nino’s orders, he doesn’t even know how old the latter actually was. Every time he glanced sideways while the latter wasn’t looking, he looked so much like Ohno, but he was way too young the last like Nino remembered him. The old man had wrinkles, a kind look in his eyes, and a smile plastered on his face. The person besides him was different: no smile, cold eyes, and young.
Just as he heard the latter wanting to say something, a doctor came from the emergency room and Nino ran to the doctor as fast as he could, forgetting about the person he left sitting by himself. Judging by the looks on the doctor’s face, Aiba was fine.
“The boy, Aiba Masaki is it?” The doctor looked from his clipboard. Nino nodded, too anxious to answer.
“Well,” the doctor started. “He collapsed from using too much of his energy, and his lungs were contracting a bit. Try not to let the boy run as much or play any kind of wind instruments. Is that clear Ninomiya-sama?”
Nino nodded his head again not paying attention to how the doctor addressed him and continued gawking at the door, expecting Aiba to come out.
“Oh, one more thing,” the doctor turned around, “Do you want me to call his and your parents?”
For the sake of not returning home and having Aiba to himself he answered, “No, I-I’ve got him.” He pointed towards the younger Ohno without thinking. A small part of him was actually glad that the man was there.
With that said, the doctor turned back around saying something about his coffee, and Nino lingered the hallway pacing back and forth anxiously. To answer his prayers, Aiba came out lying on a bed, waving his hand at Nino and the person who looked like Ohno, while chattering away with the nurses laughing along with him. Thank the gods Aiba was OK.
+++
That same day, he laid on his bed that night, sleeping peacefully as dreams filled the back of his eyes. He saw the boy, Ninomiya, again. Nino was younger this time, and the boy was looking at him with joy in his eyes, as he laughed at something he said. At exactly midnight, while Ohno was peacefully asleep, a cold draft entered his room; his window nor the door was opened. There were whispers, but Ohno, deep into his dreams, took it as someone conversing with him in his dream. The last thing he heard in his dream was a man’s voice, “I’m going to borrow you only for a short while.”
TBC
Comments