Title:Welcome (Part 6)
Pairings:ShoxAiba, JunxOC
Genre:Fluff, Preschool AU, Angst, Friendship
Rating:PG
Disclaimer:I own nothing but the plot
Word Count:1364
Summary:He was afraid that his parents will say no.

With his little legs, he paced around Masaki’s bed as he impatiently waited for his parents he called an hour ago. They should have been there already since this was one of the few hospitals his father owned, and it wasn’t that far from their house. Yet they still hadn’t shown up or bothered to call back at all.

“Sakurai-kun, it would be best to just go home for the day.”

“No,” He snarled as he pushed Jun’s hand away. “I want to stay here with Masaki and I won’t leave until my parents are here.”

Jun said nothing more since this was the hundredth time he offered to ride him home, and his hand to hold on to. Without another word, he walked back to the couch he sat on besides the door and closed his eyes as he yawned. Sho know’s he just putting a burden on him, but he was glad that there was an adult with him for the time being. At least he was here.

As he continued to pace back and forth around the bed, he glanced at the clock. It was past 6pm, the time his father usually comes home from work, but since today was a Tuesday, he had an off day. So where were they? Just as he was about to take another step around the corner, he heard the door slide open. It must be the doctor so he ignored it.

“Sho?”

He gasped in surprise and looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. When he saw both of his parent’s faces, he ran towards them with arms open wide, and his eyes beginning to tear up.

“M-mom...” He sobbed as he hugged her legs. “Masaki is... he was hurt and he doesn’t have a dad now...”

His mother didn’t say anything to him at all, not even soothing words to calm him down. Instead, he felt her hands on either side of his shoulders and was pulled away from her legs. He looked at her, shocked and unhappy that she wasn’t being supportive. However, she was in more of a shock when he heard skin slapping against another.

His usual sweet and calm mother had physically hurt someone when they haven’t even done anything to deserve it. Let alone the man who had helped him save Masaki.

“Mom!” Sho yelled as he ran towards Jun and pushed her away. “He didn’t do anything! I swear! He helped me save Masaki.”

“Move aside.”

“N-no...” He weakly mumbled, refusing to meet his mother’s eyes. When he made a quick glance, he wished he hadn’t. It was like there was fire in her eyes that had completely burned away all the sweetness she had in her. “D-don’t hurt him...”

Sho trembled when he saw her foot take a step towards them as he continued to push Jun away. To be honest, he was scared of her. He told himself that he would never see his mom in this way, but he couldn’t help it since he had to help a friend in need. Just when he thought she was about to raise her hand again, he sighed in relief when his father came into the picture.

“Elli, honey,” Came his dad’s voice. “Calm down. We’ve already discussed this in the car, have we not?”

“...”

“Come outside with me for a bit... Sho, do you mind?”

He shook his head right away, afraid that his mom will be infuriated if he said yes, even if that meant he had to wait again. When his dad took his mom away, he was finally able to breath again.

“I’m sorry...” He mumbled as he turned around to face Jun. “It’s because of me that my mom hurt you. It wasn’t supposed to be this way and it was supposed to be me...”

“What are you talking about?” Jun questions, his voice oddly calm after what just happened. “I didn’t mind... besides, I kind of missed it when she slapped me.”

Sho flinched. “What? You know my mom?”

“Of course,” he laughed. “She and I were friends way back... I haven’t seen her since she married your father. But she still looks so beautiful...”

Sho grimaced at the fact that someone, else other than his father, complimented her natural beauty. It wasn’t that she was hideous, but Jun to him was just a stranger. Maybe if he was saying it to his mom, that would be fine, but not in front of him. That was way too weird. “Ew...” He frowned as Jun continued to laugh. “Don’t say that. I don’t even know you that well.”

“I know,” He shrugged. “But you would have...”

Sho tilted his head to the side in confusion. Was he supposed to know this man? But if he was his mom’s friend, why hadn’t he known about him. So far, he had seen all off his mom’s friends, but never this person. Just as he was about to question him, however, he heard a very small groan coming from Masaki’s bed.

“Masaki!” He immediately reacted as he ran towards besides his friend. “Are you awake?”

His friend made no reply, but instead he twitched one of his fingers in response.

“You’re awake!” He yelled excitedly as he gently took Masaki’s hand. He was too busy to notice that Jun had left the room, and that his parents came in a minute later. “J-- Mom?”

She was no longer angry, but was sniffling repeatedly. Her eyes were reddened and her cheeks had a trail of dried tears running down to her chin. When he saw this, he ran to her and embraced her legs again.

“Is it because of me?”

“No...” She lightly chuckled and sniffled at the same time. “It’s not your fault darling. And I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s ok...” He smiled, glad that his mom wasn’t mad at him. “Mom... did you know who that man was though?”

“I don’t. Why, did he tell you something?”

Sho looked up to see that she had a suspicious look in her eyes. It was as if she was hiding something, or wasn’t completely telling him the truth. “He said you and him were friends... is that true?”

She immediately shook her head although the suspicious aura around her hasn’t left. He was about to question her again when he heard another small groan coming from Masaki.

“Oh mom!” He jumped from her as he felt his lips curl into a smile. “I want to introduce you to someone! He’s Masaki and he doesn’t have a dad. Can we pretty please keep him?!”

“Well...” She paused and turned around to face his dad. “What do you think, Arai?”

He eyed his dad, desperately gesturing him to say yes. Even if he wasn’t allowed to eat cookies, he should at least say yes to this one. Even if his mom would probably say no.

“Yes,” His dad finally answered. “Since he’s not a pet either, he can live with us.”

“Yes!” Sho celebrated as he threw his arms in the air. “I have a brother! Thank you, dad... How about you mom?”

He stared hard at her, finding some kind of way to make her agree. At first, she frowned as she looked at Masaki and then at him. Then she looked away, lightly tapped her foot on the ground and mumbled something so soft that Sho couldn’t hear her.

“She said yes,” His father says so he didn’t have to go to her to ask for her answer again. “She also--”

Sho cut him off as he began to run around the room, yelling and screaming at the top of his lungs. When he ended up besides Masaki’s bed, he can see that he was fully awake and his huge eyes were staring at him.

“You’re my brother now!” Sho told him as he grabbed his hand and held it. “Welcome to the family!”

Although Masaki had a mask around him, Sho can clearly see that he tried to smile. But that was enough for him to see that he smiled as well as he clasped Masaki’s hand tighter.

TBC