Title:Copy (Part 12)
Pairings:ShoxAiba, JunxOC, ShoxAibaxNino (friendship)
Genre:Fluff, AU, Friendship
Rating:G
Disclaimer:I own nothing but the plot
Word Count:1663
Summary:Nino noticed something about them and points it out to Sho.
 

As soon as the bells for lunch rang, Nino grabbed a chair nearby and placed himself besides Sho’s desk. He sat there, staring at him for a moment before shortly announcing that Masaki had just come from his class, and he too sat besides Sho’s desk. He could hear Nino hum a tune -- probably from one of his video games -- merrily as Nino gave him and Masaki short glances.

“What have you guys been up to lately?” He finally asked as he slouched back onto the chair with a sigh. “For two days, I haven’t really hung out with you guys all that much.”

Oh... they forgot to tell Nino. “We’ve been at the court trying to figure out of Masaki will go back to his father or not,” Sho explained.

“His father?” Nino laughed. “Isn’t his father both of yours?”

This time, it was Masaki’s turn to speak. “No, Nino. Sho’s papa is not my papa.”

“You guys, seriously. Stop--” Nino halted his laughter as his eyes moved from Sho’s to Masaki’s face. “Wait... are you guys serious?”

Both he and his brother nodded their heads.

“Then...” He looked around, leaned in as if they were sharing a confidential secret, and blinked twice before he continued. “...Masaki isn’t your brother?”

“Yes, Nino I thought--”

“Masaki isn’t your brother?!” Nino repeated loud enough for some of their classmates to hear him.

“Sit down,” Sho hissed. “And yes, he’s not. I thought you knew...”

“I didn’t! You’d think just because I became friends with you guys in middle school doesn’t mean I already know you guys aren’t related. None of you even told me anything!”

From the corner of his eyes, he saw his brother give a funny grin. “Whoops. I forgot...”

“Sheesh... and all this time...” Nino mumbled to himself although Sho can clearly hear him. He heard something about two idiots and how those idiots are not smart at all despite how well their grades are in school.

“I’m hungry,” Masaki pouted suddenly, causing Sho to pull his attention from Nino. “Sho-nii, Nino... Can we please eat now before lunch is over?”

“Yes,” They both replied at the same time.

With a grin, Masaki took out the bento their mother made that morning. He unwrapped the cloth from it, and opened the box to reveal an over-exaggerated lunch. As expected, Sho thought, mama would make something like that for us.

There was only tiny bits of meat off the side of the rice, but there were more vegetables displayed in all sorts of character-like shapes around the rice. For Masaki, it was his favorite dish, but for Sho, it wasn’t. He had eaten way too much even before he knew Masaki as a child, and he didn’t want to eat more when he’s older. Shouldn’t he have the freedom to choose his own dish too? Sighing, he ignored Masaki’s lunch even though they were supposed to share it since it was designed for two mouths. Nino, on the other hand, had his own lunch with him and was already devouring half of his lunch.

“Let me have some,” Sho whined as he eyed the meat in his friend’s lunch box.

Nino looked up, glared at him even, before letting out a small scowl. But Sho knew better. Nino was really kind even though he was betrayed from the both of them since middle school. “Just a little bit,” Nino gave in, pushing his lunch towards Sho. “You can’t have anymore after.”

Sho happily indulged himself in Nino’s food although it was different from his taste. Still, he was able to eat meat without their mother knowing (thank goodness Masaki keeps it as a secret from her), or else he’d be in deep trouble. Kind of like back then when Masaki gave him those cookies...

“Cookies...” Sho mumbled quietly as memories of the past came back.

“Huh?” Both his brother and Nino questioned.

“I want cookies.”

Masaki laughed. “You sound like a little kid, Sho-nii. Remember? Mama doesn’t want us to eat unhealthy snacks.”

“So?” Sho shrugged. “I can have it when I want to. She’s not even here.”

“I’m going to tell on you.”

“No you’re not going to Masaki. I’ve been eating Nino’s lunch and you haven’t said anything to her.”

Masaki smirked as if he had something evil planned in his head. “I know. But I can tell when I want to.”

But he knew Masaki was just joking, since after all, he was influenced by Nino, their smart, yet cunning friend. Really, though, it doesn’t matter. Masaki can tell their mother anytime he wanted to as long as he was able to eat at least a cookie. Heck, Masaki can tell their mother about him eating Nino’s lunch, nothing would change.

He heard Nino let out a small laugh.

Sho pulled his eyes from Masaki to Nino. “What’s so funny?”

“I still can’t get myself to believe you guys aren’t brothers, but it seems more like you guys are really brothers... You know what I mean?”

“Well... he is my brother, and he always will be.”

“Yeah, I know. But it just amazes me.”

“What does?”

“That you two practically do everything together and almost do the same thing.”

“Really?” Sho wondered thoughtfully. “We do?”

“Yeah. Wherever you go, Masaki goes. Whatever you do, Masaki does. Same goes for you too, Sho.”

“I’ve never noticed.”

“Well,” Nino smirked as he grabbed his lunch from Sho. “Aren’t you glad I’m here? Because I’m much smar-- Hey!”

Sho felt a sharp sting on his arm as if an oil landed on his skin. Nino had slapped him, he knew. for eating half of his food because really, he couldn’t help himself. Plus, Nino was distracting himself to notice that he had eaten most of the meat but the rice.

“Pay me back, Sho! You owe me food.”

Just as he was about to apologize, to his surprise, Masaki did it for him.

“I’m sorry about Sho-nii, Nino. He’s really fat, you know. I’ll pay you.”

“No, it has to be Sho and you didn’t do anything wrong so don’t apologize for him. (And yes, I agree he’s fat).”

Sho had the right to feel offended, or hurt, since the both of them clearly insulted him in front of his face. However, he let it slide because it was true. He liked eating, and there was nothing wrong with it. “It’s ok, Masaki. I’ll pay for Nino.”

“Sheesh, thank you! And you owe me a lot, you got it?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

Lunch ended rather quickly and he was glad Masaki urged them to eat lunch. As soon as the both of them went back to where they came from, Sho glanced at the seat his brother had just used. It was empty, but the student that used it came back as soon as their teacher came in the room. Nino’s words earlier... he couldn’t get it off his mind. He’s never noticed it before, but now that Nino pointed it out...



Masaki was supposed to stay after school for tutoring, but he decided to go home at the end of the day. Sho, with Nino’s words still in his mind, kept a watchful eye on his brother. When he would stop walking, Masaki would stop. When Sho took a short break from walking halfway the bridge, Masaki copied him as they both watched the river flow beneath them. When Sho announced he wanted ice cream, Masaki wanted the same. When they continued, Sho put his hands in his pockets and as expected, Masaki did the same.

He halted, causing Masaki to bump into him.

“Are you copying me, Masaki?”

His brother shook his head. “No. Why would I?”

“What Nino said earlier...”

Masaki scoffed. “Don’t listen to Nino. He may be smart, but I’m not copying you Sho-nii.”

“Are you sure?” Sho raised an eyebrow as he eyed the ice cream they both had. It was of the same flavor too.

“Yes. I just wanted to have ice cream... Sho-nii... are you ok?”

“I-- Yes, I’m ok. Let’s just go home.”

Maybe it was Nino’s words got into his head or something. That cunning brat.



As soon as Sho and Masaki set foot in their house, they heard shouts coming from the living room. Sho know who it was right away, or who they were: his mom and Jun. They’ve been at it, screaming at each other’s faces since Masaki became his brother. He wanted to ignore it since maybe, they might be fighting about something small again, kind of like a couple would do. Except his mom and Jun aren’t together. They’re just friends. Masaki, on the other hand, wanted to do something about it. He can tell his brother was about to sprint to the living room, but it was a good thing the shouting had finally stopped.

“Boys?” Their mother’s head popped out through the door. “I’m--”

“It’s ok,” Sho sighed, noticing how red her eyes were. Was she crying? “Masaki and I were just going upstairs.”

“Ok,” was the only word that came out of their mother’s mouth. Their mother would usually head to the kitchen right away and make them some of her healthy snacks again, even if she was fighting with Jun. However, it looked like he wasn’t going to the kitchen. Not that it mattered. Sho didn’t like the snacks anyways. Her head disappeared again and the doors were closed.

Masaki gave him a worried glance. “Do you think mama is going to make Jun go away?”

“No. They’re just being... adults. Jun won’t go away just because of this,” Sho assured him. “Come. Let’s go do our homework.”

Even after their bickering had hushed down, Sho can still hear them as clear as day. Weird, Sho thought, shouldn’t mama be fighting with papa instead?

TBC