Fallen Warrior, First Meeting

Fencer

 

Ta dah~ First chapter. As for my EXO fanfics, I’m still waiting for my muse to appear. I’ll do my best! And I apologize for the long wait~

Enjoy!

 

Flashback

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“… and the winner is… SAKURAI SHO from JAPAN!”

The fencer flashed a bright smile towards the spectators as his coach gave him a warm hug. A loud squeal and a flying man landed on him.

“NINO!” Sho tsked and his best friend, Satoshi, pulled the man off him. “Are you trying to KILL ME?”

The man, Ninomiya Kazunari, laughed. “Nah, I won’t kill you until you found love. Your happiness, my dear, is my priority now.”

Sho could only laugh and smack his friend. He took a sharp intake of breath and clutched his right wrist. “Ow.”

“Sho-chan, are you okay?” Satoshi asked gently and Sho whimpered in pain.

Nino frowned and shouted, “Give way you idiots. No interviews, no photos. My dearest gold medalist needs his rest. Shoo!”

The trio hurried down the corridor and fled from the camera flashes and voices of the reporters. They entered Nino’s car and they sped towards the hotel where their friend and Sho’s personal doctor is staying.

“MATSU! J! SHO IS HURT!” Nino shouted the moment they burst into the room. The doctor, Matsumoto Jun, walked out calmly from bed room with a bath robe.

“Sho-chan, sit.” He said, gesturing to a chair. He quickly got his first aid box and sat opposite Sho.

Sho bit his inner lips as he grimaced in pain while Jun check on his wrist.

“Err, Sho?” Jun looked at the fencer and apologetically bowed his head. “You can’t fence for a year.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN MATSU? I NEED TO FENCE. I HAVE TO FENCE. FENCING HAS BEEN MY LIFE SINCE I WAS 7.” Sho shouted as he glared angrily at Jun.

“I’m sorry, Sho. But it is a sprained and broken wrist. If you had rested and listened to us when you hurt yourself three months before the competition, I wouldn’t be saying this to you. Now I demand that you will not fence!” Jun glared back and smacked Sho on the head.

 

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Wooden door, rusty doorknob, a quiet surrounding and cheerful screams of children as they run around, playing in the mud. That is where Sakurai Sho, a world class fencer is at now. A village orphanage. He would really blame a person called Ninomiya Kazunari for it.
 

“Hey, Sho-channnnn. I found a perfect place for you to rest and take care of your injury. It is also related to fencing!”

“Whatever Nino. Oh-chan, keep him quiet.” Sho glared at Nino and Satoshi laughed before pulling his boyfriend into his arms.

“Come on, Sho-chan. Let Nino finish his sentence first. You can’t always mope at home because of your injury.”

“Oh-chan~” Sho whined and pouted. “Nino, what did you do in your previous life to get this awesome lover?”

Nino laughed and continued. “So, I found a place in Chiba; an orphanage actually. I have a friend there so I have spoken to him and got you a job teaching little children, aged 13-19, fencing. One, you will be able to keep in touch with fencing. Two, J approves of this. Three, some sea breeze may help you in your recovery.”

“Nino…” Sho smiled and lunged towards the younger man. “ARIGATOU~”

The snarky man smirked and replied, “DOUITASHIMAE.”

 

And so, Sho glanced back to his surroundings and sighed. How could he allow himself to be swayed by Nino’s words? Oh wells, if he back out now, he will never stop hearing Nino’s whines and complains. Sho took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A faint “Wait!” was heard and the door swung open.

A head of brown hair popped out and a cheerful smile graced the man’s lips. His big eyes shone in excitement and tilted his head cutely before he spoke. “Hi, welcome to Johnny’s Orphanage! I’m Aiba Masaki, the oldest orphan here. Happy to be of any service to you.”

Sho blinked and gave a small smile. “I’m Sakurai Sho, Ninomiya Kazunari’s friend in Tokyo?”

The man, Masaki, pouted slightly and nodded. “Ahhhhh. Kazu’s fencer friend right? The gold medalist? Heh heh, congrats on the victory. Kazu can’t keep his mouth shut over the phone about the ‘millisecond’ victory.”

“You don’t know anything about Fencing I guess.” Sho asked curiously.

“Nah, as what Kazu usually say: “Masaki, don’t you dare to touch anything sharp, you might kill yourself accidentally.” I’m just clumsy and careless.” Aiba laughed and stepped aside. “Come in, our guest. The kids are playing in the garden. I’ll show you to your room first then I’ll bring you to meet the kids.”

“Arigatou!” Sho bowed and followed behind Masaki.

The orphanage is built completely with wood and Sho could see that there weren’t any nails used in building it. There are carvings on the staircase that led to the upper floors. Toys were scattered over the floor and Masaki quickly, and shyly, picking them up.

“Sorry for the mess, the kids were playing just now then a new animal came and they rushed out to see it.” Masaki apologized and turned slightly red.

Sho shook his head and replied, “it’s okay.”

They went up again and reached the third floor. Masaki pushed a red door open and Sho followed him.

“This will be your room for now. Mine is just beside yours so if you need anything, just pop by to ask.” Masaki smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“Thanks.” Sho smiled and carried his luggage in.

Masaki closed stepped out and made to close the door. “Oh, come down to the garden when you’re done. That is if you want… We understand that you may be tired.”

Sho gave him a smile, “No problem, Aiba-san. I’ll be down when I’m done with unpacking. Thank you.”

Masaki gave him a smile and nodded. “See you.”

As the door closed with a muted thud, Sho shook his head and smiled as the other man’s smile came up in his mind. Aiba Masaki huh? He quickly placed his clothes away in the cupboard and left the room for the garden. He stopped at the second level and took a short tour around. He spotted a few familiar drawings. “Oh-chan knows this place too?” Sho asked out loud and a soft smile graced his face. He quickly made his way down to the ground level and tentatively followed the loud, excited screams of the kids.

As he walked closer to the crowd, he heard a soft grunt and a baby bear ran towards him and knocked him down. “Ouch.” Sho groaned as the bear snuggled between his collar bones.

“Sakurai-san!! Are you okay?” Masaki ran towards the fallen fencer and lifted the baby bear up. “Bad Yokoyama. Apologize to Sakurai-san now.”

Sho slowly lifted himself up and scratched his head. “Is that a bear, Aiba-san?”

Masaki nodded happily and held out the bear, named Yokoyama, towards Sho. “He likes you a lot.”

Sho stood up and approached the little bear cub cautiously. “Is he… Is he safe? I mean…”

Yokoyama yawned and grunted happily as Sho scratched him behind the ears.

“Masaki niinii! Who is this?” A boy asked and the rest of the children crowd around the pair.

“This is Sakurai Sho. You can call him Sakurai niinii. He will be with us for a while. You must listen to him okay?” Masaki said and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Now, everyone, go back inside and prepare for afternoon lessons now. Wash up now and go to the food hall for tea time!”

“HAI!” the kids shouted and ran into the house, leaving Sho and Masaki together. As the last kid ran in, Masaki turned to Sho just as Sho turned to look at Yokoyama. Their eyes met and Masaki blinked rapidly as his heartbeat increase by a little.

“Erm, Sakurai-san?” He said as Sho laughed softly.

“You know, you can just call me Sho or Sho-kun. I’m your age actually.”

“Hai, S-Sho-kun. Do you want to help me keep Yokoyama in his pen and take a look at other animals we have inside?”

“Sure. Can I carry him?” Sho asked eagerly, forgetting that he actually resented this place,  and Masaki passed the bear cub to him. “Arigatou!”

They made their way to the back of the garden which has a sign: RESTRICTED AREA, ONLY FOR ADULTS. A peacock appeared the moment the duo entered the area and Masaki bend down to his head. Sho looked at him as a smile graced his lips. Masaki stood up and brushed dirt off his pants before walking off, deeper inside. Sho followed him quickly and a small pen is placed there with a dish of water and an empty dish.

“Place Yoko into the pen then follows me. We are going to give him some honey coated meat and oats. It is a special diet so he will grow up to be a strong bear.” Masaki pointed to the pen and Sho gently lowered the bear cub into the pen. He made sure the cub is safe before following Masaki to a room like shed where he started to grab random ingredients to mix.

Masaki placed all the ingredients into the bowl and turned to Sho, “Sho-kun, do you want to mix them?”

Sho nodded and approached the bowl. He took the spoon and mixed the food. After getting Masaki’s approval, he poured the mixture into a feeding bowl and picked it up. They entered the pen and Yoko bounded happily up to Sho. Masaki gestured that Sho should sit down and feed Yoko.

“He once choked on his food as Yoko loves to drown his food fast and it isn’t good for his stomach. Feed him slowly with your hands and make sure he doesn’t gobble everything at one go. I’ll go check on the other animals.” Masaki smiled and left the duo there.

Sho blinked and turned to the cub that is snuggling into his thigh before shifting to sit cross-legged. He placed the bowl down beside himself and pulled Yoko into his legs before taking a piece of meat from the bowl. Yoko looked at the meat and at Sho before he clamped his teeth on the meat. He attempted to tug the meat out of Sho’s hand but the latter frowned and patted Yoko on the head.

“Yoko! Eat slowly! Do you want to be sick again?” Sho scolded as he forced the cub to finish the slice of meat slowly.

When Masaki went back to the pen, he saw Yoko curling up in Sho’s legs and Sho is absentmindedly his head. He laughed softly seeing the sight in front of him and whispered, “Sho-kun! Do you want to join us at the food hall for tea time or you want to stay here with Yoko?”

Sho’s eyes flashed opened and looked at Masaki sleepily. He must have fallen asleep after Yoko had his meal. He nodded and gently lifted Yoko up before bringing him into the den. He came out to see the food bowl was gone and Masaki handed him a towel. He took it gratefully and wiped his hands clean. He followed Masaki back to the house and washed his hands before entering the food hall. Masaki led him to the long table at the front of the room where an old man sat.

“Grandfather? This is Sakurai-san, my friends’ friend form Tokyo.” Masaki waved a hand towards Sakurai and the mentioned man bowed.

“Ah, Sakurai-san? Congrats on the victory.” The old man smiled and Sho bowed again.

“Arigatou, oji-san.”

“You can sit beside our Aiba-chan. How has he been to you? Is he a good guide?”

“Grandfather! I’m here, you know? Sho-kun is in a difficult position.” Masaki whined and Sho laughed.

“He is a great guide.” Sho assured the old man and they sat down at the table.

After the tea time, the older children came back from school and Masaki brought Sho to meet his students. They stood in line and bowed when Masaki introduced him. Sho smiled and bowed back.

“Masaki, do you mind if I have a talk with them privately?” Sho whispered to Masaki and the latter nodded before leaving the room.

“Hi, I’m Sakurai Sho and I’ll be your fencing teacher. Before we start any lessons tomorrow, I want to ask this. Anyone here doesn’t like fencing at all but was forced into this? If yes, raise your hand.” Sho looked at them seriously.

A dozen of hand shot up and Sho smiled. “Then I shall not force you to join. These twelve people need not join the class tomorrow. The rest will report to this room at 4pm sharp. We will end at 6:30pm so you can wash up and get ready for dinner. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes!” they shouted in unison. Sho smiled and shrugged his shoulders. ‘You can go now.”

Sho left the room and found Masaki leaning on the wall, waiting for him. A boy ran up to him and Masaki bend down to give him a hug. He carried the boy up and Sho could see that he was crying. Masaki muttered into his ear and his back soothingly. The boy sniffed and nodded to something Masaki said and Masaki lowered the boy before the boy ran back.

“Oh, you’re done?” Masaki’s voice brought Sho back to reality and he nodded.

“Actually, are there any stores around? I’m curious about the surroundings.” Sho asked and Masaki nodded.

“Do you want me to bring you around the district?” Masaki asked and Sho shrugged his shoulders, “Why not Masaki-kun?”

“But, dinner…” Masaki bit his lips. “I’ll go ask if we could skip dinner tonight. There is a nice ramen store in town.”

“Sure. But if the elders don’t approve, we will return for dinner. I don’t mind, anyway I have 9 months here.” Sho patted Masaki on the back. “We have all the time to try that ramen place.”

Masaki turned to face Sho and nodded happily. “Of course Sho-kun! I’ll go and ask now!”

As Sho watched the back view of Masaki, both young men’s heart beat increased slightly.

 

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Word Count: 2, 351

 

And so Sakurai and Aiba have met! What would happen to them?

If it confusing on the naming terms, I'm sorry! I'm still adjusting to the names and everything.

 

Comments are loved! *hands out cookies*

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