Title:Home Sweet Home: Gradient
Pairing/Character:AibaxNino, JunxNino, Kaze, ShoxOC / Ohno
Genre/Rating:Angst, Fluff, Friendship, Romance / G
Word Count:664
Disclaimer:I own nothing but the plot
Summary:I suddenly felt horrible as I watched the expressions change on his face
Warning:Character death
 

It’s been exactly 23 days since Jun’s birthday passed, and now it’s the Fall season¹. I sat on one of the benches outside, near the playground, when I took a break from teaching Jun how to walk, but I wouldn't exactly call it a break. Instead, as I talked to Jun in hushed tones, Aiba Masaki would be there, talking to me in his loud and breathy voice. Ever since the nuns placed him as a permanent resident of the spare bed besides me, he immediately assumed that I was his friend, or "bedmate" as he called it. But I didn't like the idea of being his friend, not that I've approved of it anyway.

Plus, he's loud, he's annoying, and half of the time, I don’t understand the whole point to his stories - not that it means I’m listening, though. I tried ignoring him by blocking out his voice or moving to the different benches in the huge courtyard, but to no avail. I could still hear his voice ringing in the back of my mind even as he spoke. Eventually, I ended up in the same bench we started from and the seats were still warm.

“Look,” I finally snapped, pulling Jun away when I saw that Aiba tried to get a hold of him. “I like peace and quiet, especially when I’m with Jun.”

“Why?” He asked curiously in that annoying voice I came to dislike.

“Because, I hate getting bothered and Jun’s my - “ I stopped myself when that word came into my mind. Jun, a brother? Probably in another life, but Jun was just a huge responsibility that I was happy to take.

“- Brother,” Aiba continued my sentence, and it surprised me how fast the cheery tone in his voice suddenly became gloomy. The sadness in that one simple word made me wonder how he became one of us. Perhaps he lost somebody along the way and no one wanted him? Or no one just wanted him.

“It’s ok. I understand.” Then he smiled up at me, making it seem as if everything was OK. But I knew one when I saw one: that one kid who believed that there was no hope left for him. “I’ll go and talk to the other kids,” he mumbled quietly as he stood up and gave the ground a sad look, even with that smile on his face. He stood there for a minute, kicking away at invisible dirt. I suddenly felt horrible as I watched the expressions change on his face. I wanted to take back my words.

I ran after him as he began walking away, but it didn’t help that I held Jun’s weight. As soon as I caught up with him, I grabbed his wrist and gently yanked him back. “I didn’t tell you to leave.” I thought that he was going to keep walking, but then he turned around and he had a huge grin on his face.

“Oh.”

I watched him with odd curiosity as he bounced/skipped back to the bench, wondering why he’s happy about being around me rather than being with other kids. Was it because Jun attracted him, or because he pitied me for not having friends, or he just found it fun to bother me? Whatever his reason was, I followed after him and reclaimed my seat. He was quiet for a while, mumbling a few things as he and I played with Jun. But I had a feeling he couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and I just knew my doubt came true when he began rambling on and on again. This time, though, I didn’t indirectly tell him to keep quiet. Instead, I let him talk endlessly.

He talked about robots, magic, unicorns, basically anything that seemed to fascinate the mind that mind of his. When he wasn’t looking, I smiled. Now that I thought about it, he’s the only kid who’s ever bothered to talk to me.

¹Fall starts in September 22.

TBC