“Nino, what does this look like?” Ohno nudged him on the side and handed him his blue sketchbook. Lately, his friend has really been into drawing that it’s the only thing he does during his free time. He just takes a seat next to Nino and draws as if he wasn’t there. Sometimes, Ohno would ask him to be his model, which he gladly accepted.

“Is that supposed to be Aibaka?!” Nino guffawed as soon as he laid his eyes on the drawing. It really resembled the said latter since it was a drawing of a goofy monkey. It’s arms were on it’s chest as if it were beating his chest, and the fur was exactly the same hair color as Aiba had. “I have to show this to him.”

“It’s not him!” Ohno pouted and snatched his sketchbook back. “…But what did you think?”

“I like it very much,” Nino answered honestly. Ever since Ohno started this new hobby, he was bad at it at first. But lately, he’s been practicing so much that he falls asleep during class because of it, and he’s been improving. His drawings had details that Ohno had to point out for him, and he almost thought that it was a picture, not a drawing.

“But can I have it? I wanna show Aibaka and tell him I found his ancestors.”

Ohno looked hesitant at first, but he handed him the drawing anyways. Nino grabbed the drawing from him and tucked it away in his backpack, making sure it was put somewhere neatly. Leaning back to the white and luxurious chair in their school, Nino wondered why he was even there when he could hang out with Ohno at the rooftop. But then he remembered the other three and they were the reason why he and Ohno were in a secluded place. He was pretty sure Aiba and the lot couldn’t find them.

“Nino, why do you hate Aiba-kun so much? He’s fun to be with,” Ohno asked him after a long minute of silence.

“That’s what you think,” Nino frowned. When really, Ohno got along with them because he was nice. He felt as if he became closer to them, he’ll become more naïve and boring like the rest of them. Which is the reason why he only wanted Ohno to himself, and nobody else was allowed to get close to him.

Just as Nino was about to put his head down on the white marble table, he heard the door of the room slam open. He put his head and up groaned when he realized who it was. It was that monkey with… Matsumoto, right? behind him with worried looks on their faces.

“How’d you find us?” Nino grumbled. He was so sure that no one knew this place, but seeing that Aiba was there, he didn’t seem that stupid to him at the moment.

Aiba shook his head, his hair shaking along with it. “That doesn’t matter. Right now, we have to save Sho-chan!”

“That’s none of my--”

“Let’s go,” Ohno grabbed him before he had the chance to rest his head again. He fears that, in the future, his resting time will be taking away because of this lot.

“Fine,” Nino gritted his teeth since he can never go against Ohno’s wishes. Besides, he owed him real big for being his friend and sticking with him despite his problems.

He allowed himself to be pulled by Ohno with Aiba and Jun in the front. They led them to the school’s garden and they came to an abrupt stop at the same time he heard someone groan loudly. He knew who it was, but he didn’t want to look. He pushed Ohno in his place and the latter told him that it was Sho. It was obvious enough that it was Sho since his stuff was trashed everywhere. He was about to slap his friend’s head when Aiba pulled him behind the bushes and told him to use his magic powers.

“I don’t have magic powers,” Nino rolled his eyes at the stupidity and pulled his arm back. Though he would be glad if he had magic powers so he can get rid of them.

“Did I say that?” Aiba shook his head and giggled. “I meant…Can you please help him? He really needs ours-- mostly yours-- help!”

“And what do you want me to do?” Nino raised an eyebrow.

“Just…keep him in your house. Just for a couple of days please?!”

“And why would I want to do that?”

“Nino,” Ohno budged him. “Just do it, I promise something good will happen.”

He hated the fact that it was Ohno who told him to do it. Whenever he insisted, there was no backing out aware that he will soon regret it. He glared at Ohno and turned his direction to Aiba. Taking one last look at Sho, who had already passed out, he nodded his head.

“Thank you, thank you!” Aiba jumped up and down before throwing himself on him. He managed to get out of his grip before Aiba can squeeze the air out of him. He really, really should have just stayed home.

“What do you suppose we do with him?” Nino asked Ohno as soon as they got home with Sho in their arms. “What do you think happened?” He’s been dying to know ever since they left school. All this weight should be worth the reason.

“Let’s ask him later,” Ohno grunted after they laid Sho’s still body on the sofa. It was what they intended but they heard a soft groan and realized that Sho woke up. He was messed up pretty bad. Nino didn’t have the time to look at him earlier since he was too busy being annoyed by Aiba.

There were cuts and bruises on his face and dried up blood ran all over his cheeks. In just a couple of days, this guy was already in trouble. What did he even do to get beat up by a couple of no-good losers?

“Wa…ter…” Sho chocked out his voice barely audible.

Ohno ringed in a maid and it came as soon as the bell hit the last note.  He grabbed the cup of glass from her tray and he told Sho to sit up. When the latter didn’t move, Ohno made his way besides him and lifted his head up so he could sit.

It him hard when he saw Ohno tend to the student. No one else was allowed to have Ohno’s sympathy but his own, and he didn’t have to be so nice to the student. He wanted to pull him away but it would only make him look like the bad guy.

“Hurry up,” he said instead of using the violent way. All he needed was Sho’s story and he could have Ohno all to himself the whole afternoon.

“He’ll tell us when he is ready,” Ohno told him as he slowly got up from Sho’s head.

He was pushed out of his own living room and into the comfort of his room. He hung out with Ohno in there for awhile until he was called out to dinner. As soon as he went downstairs, with Ohno behind him, he heard a round of laughter followed by his parents complimenting someone.

“Who--”

“You didn’t tell me you had other friends,” his mom smiled at him as she handed Sho a white plate full of food. He had almost forgotten about him, and was about to take his seat when he realized that Sho had claimed it. He wanted to throw a tantrum but it would only make him look like a child. Instead he took the farthest seat away from him and dragged Ohno along.

“He thinks he can get along with my parents just cause I let him live here,” Nino mumbled.

“What was that, son?” his dad asked him from across the table.

“Nothing,” Nino grumbled.

Throughout dinner, Nino was ignored. He wanted to pull Ohno away from their conversation but he could see that he was having fun. There really was nothing he could do about it than just sit, eat, and watch them all interact. He could see that Sho was already taken care of and his parents were laughing with him. What did he have that he didn’t?

He couldn’t take this anymore so he silently excused himself, leaving Ohno and the rest all to themselves.

TBC