Title:Case (Part 9)
Pairings:ShoxAiba, JunxOC, ShoxAibaxNino (friendship)
Genre:Fluff, Preschool AU, Angst, Friendship
Rating:PG
Disclaimer:I own nothing but the plot
Word Count:1456
Summary:10 years had passed, and today was the day Masaki's father was to be released.
 

Sho was still amazed at the rate of Masaki’s learning ability. It felt like it wasn’t that long ago when his brother suffered from delayed speech and the limitation of learning something new. It was as if a smart bug crawled into his head and made quite a nice living in there. Though on the other hand, his brother was the complete opposite of him. Masaki was a socialite while he buried his head in books. His brother was the center of attention while everyone else ignored him. The only thing they had in common was getting good grades in school, their last names, their parents, and Nino (the only friend they had in common; heck, he was the only person Sho befriended out of all of his classmates).

Today was supposed to be the day Masaki’s real father would be released from prison, and it seems that he was running late. Jun had already called and texted about a billion times an hour ago to which Sho gladly ignored. He didn’t want to be bothered by seeing that sickening man again, and he couldn’t stomach the thought of Masaki seeing him either. It would be best just to stay home with his brother, and Nino, instead of going out to meet someone he didn’t want to see.

Sho was in the middle of explaining to Masaki how easy it was to find sine on a triangle when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He knew right away that it was Jun mad-texting him, but he fished for his phone anyways. He swiped his finger across the notification and saw capped texts spread out all over his screen. It was obvious Jun was yelling through the text but he missed something important: an exclamation point at the end. Though he didn’t have to read the text to know what Jun wanted.

Rolling his eyes, he dialed the man’s number after finally deciding to call him. The release should be over by now, Sho thought.

“What the hell took you so long?!” Came Jun’s blaring voice from the end of the line. “You were supposed to be here an hour ago at the court with your brother!”

“So? What does the court have to do with me?”

“Not you,” The man spat, “Masaki-kun. They need him for this court case against his father. I’m trying my best to keep them apart, you know?! That man is desperately begging for his son...”

“Despera-- Wait, what?” Did he hear it right? Why would that man want his son after what he did?

“You heard me, Sho-kun. I don’t need to repeat it again.”

“I-- You’re lying right? You’re just playing around to bring me there.”

“I’m not lying. Get your here in five minutes.”

“But Jun-san I--” He was cut off when the line went silent meaning Jun was no longer there.

Sho groaned as he threw the phone across the room, startling both Nino and Masaki. They both gave him questioning looks, but Masaki seemed to be more interested in his dilemma. He shot Nino an apology look and was glad that the latter understood him. Once their friend was out of sight, Sho took a seat from the couch opposite of Masaki.

“What’s the matter, Sho-nii?” Masaki asked him when he sighed. “Was it that... ert again?”

Oh, how he hated lying to Masaki. He told him earlier, when Jun kept bothering him over the phone, that it was just a ert trying to get it with him. He didn’t want to go through explaining everything to Masaki and why Jun was bothering him so much. Now that lying had to come to an end eventually, and he had no choice but to tell him the truth.

“He wasn’t a ert, Masaki. It was just Jun-san.”

“Then why’d you--”

“He wants the both of us at the court,” Sho cut him off, getting straight to the point. It was a pain to explain why he lied. “Do you mind cutting of your tutoring session to come with me?”

Masaki smiled. “Of course not! I’ll go with you.”

“Good,” Sho sighed in relief. “Get dressed in something nice. I’ll explain everything on the way.”



Sho didn’t do as he said. The ride to the court felt like long one since he couldn’t find a starting point to explain everything to Masaki. In fact, he didn’t even know if Masaki remembered what happened 10 years ago. His brother never asked him what happened to his biological father, or when he’ll come back from “paradise”. Explaining everything to him now might hurt him, and Sho didn’t want that. Instead, he kept his mouth shut and kept his eyes on the road as he ignored Masaki glancing at him.

“We’re here, young masters,” Their old chauffeur announced as soon as the car halted to a stop. “Would you like me to you?”

Sho shook his head, his lips forming a straight line as he stared at the building. “No, we’re fine.”

“Then I’ll be waiting here, young masters. Have a good time.”

He was tempted to tell the chauffeur to bring him home right away, but Masaki was already out of the car; there was no backing out. He was already standing in front of the court and he could see Jun running towards them looking angry and relieved at the same time. If he didn’t see that familiar face come into view, he swore he was going to throw up.

“Fi-- Sho-kun, are you ok? You look pale?” Jun asked, the anger in his voice gone as he put a hand on his shoulder.

“I... I’m fine... Let’s go...”

Jun gave him one more look before he ushered the both of them into the building. He wished that at this moment, he could just run away from all of this, and take Masaki somewhere far away where no one will ever find him. But this kind of situation couldn’t be helped. It was already 10 years and his time was up...



Sho fiddled with his hands nervously as he watched Masaki’s real father defending himself while Jun threw a million questions to his face (over the past years, Jun decided to become a part-time lawyer). Even though 10 years had passed, the man still looked the same to him. His eyes were still as dark on the day he and Jun caught him beating Masaki, and his long hair still hung down. The only change was the color of his hair; it was much grayer when he saw him last at the prison.

“And you say you still want your kid, but look,” Jun gestured to his table and pointed out to a very confused Masaki. “He’s grown into a fine young man in the Sakurai household without you. Imagine what it would be like if he was under your care.”

“But he’s my only son... I didn’t mean to hurt him...”

“Did you? I’ve read reports, Aiba-san, from your neighbors. They all said the same thing: that you never wanted to have Masaki-kun in the first place.”

“But I didn’t mean it,” The man cried. “I was stressed, everything was going wrong, and... and Masaki... he was the only I could depend on...”

Jun scoffed. “Depend on... More like to beat on. Your honor,” He turned to the judge, “We all know this man doesn’t deserve to have Masaki back. He’s better off with the Sakurai family.”

“Matsumoto-san, this isn’t based off your opinion. We’ll have the jury to decide before I make the decisions.”

“But Judge, I--”

“Enough,” The judge cut him off as he pounded the gavel. “We’ll continue this tomorrow. Bring the next case in.”

Sho sighed in relief when the man was dragged back away from the courtroom. He was glad that it ended right away, but it didn’t seem like Jun was happy about it. The man looked like he had been through hell that he could spot a single strand of white hair from where he sat. Though on the other hand, he can see that Masaki was still so confused as if he really had no idea of the current situation. Did he really forget 10 years ago and his father?

“Sho-nii...” Masaki mumbled as soon as they were both in the car after seeing Jun off. “I... I remember everything now...”

“What--”

“Can I cry?”

Sho was baffled at Masaki’s sudden request. He really thought that Masaki pushed away all of those bad memories, but it seems like it still lived in his consciousness. Without a word, he slipped his arm around Masaki and pulled him into a hug. Does this mean that Masaki would go back to him?

TBC