Title: Shout Out Towards Tomorrow (Chapter Five)
Characters: Sho, Aiba, Ohno
Rating: G
Warning(s): None
Note:.
To delve more into the title, it’s just like the song “Asu ni Mukatte Hoero”. Get the lyrics here.
Ahh I still have another chapter to post XD I dunno when I’ll get to it, but soon I hope. After all this other things I need ta post ><;
Please enjoy~!
Chapter Six! CLICK!

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Once Sho started talking, the words flowed from his mouth like an unstoppable waterfall. There wasn’t much to tell but by the end of the waterfall (which apparently did have an ending) Aiba had learned about his enclosure and about how he had run away from home. He had basically spilled everything and the lanky boy had just listened with no sign of interruption or disinterest.

            He was sitting of his soccer ball in front of Aiba who was rocking back and forth on his swing. The boy’s face was in the palms of his hands and his eyes didn’t leave Sho. Sho stared back, unsure of what to do or say since his short story was over. Out of no where, Aiba jumped off the swing, sending it spinning. Sho fell off his soccer ball in surprise, causing the ball to roll away. Sho scrambled to retrieve the ball and then looked at Aiba worriedly, hoping he wasn’t having any ideas like calling the police to come and pick him up. He had run away from home. “What’s the matter?”

            “School!” Aiba exclaimed, grabbing his duffel bag off of the ground. “I hafta get back to school!”

            Sho arched an eyebrow. Was this guy actually mad? Had he just told everything to a mad person? Had he judged him wrong? It was night… and a Saturday night which meant there was no school the next day.

            He opened his mouth to question Aiba but refrained when he saw the other boy’s eyes light up. “I know! Why don’t you come stay with me in my dorm room! I’m sure Oh-chan wouldn’t mind! It would also mean that you don’t have to sleep outside alone tonight! Wouldn’t that be scary anyway? Come on, let’s go!”

            Sho sighed. At least Aiba wasn’t mad. He was just energetic. He took interest in watching the boy’s tension grow. He had never met anyone much like Aiba. His heart grew warm but his legs remained immobile when Aiba started walking.

            Sho stood, wanting to see if the scatterbrained boy would just leave him there, but Aiba turned around, beckoning for Sho to follow. “C’mon, Sho-chan! Aren’t you coming?” He smiled, large and bright. Shi’s eyes widened, taken aback by the intensity of the action. It was the first time he had seen such a genuinely beaming smile. His lips twitched in response and he hurriedly grabbed his bag, tucking the ball back inside.

            He came up beside Aiba and looked down to the ground, happiness flushing his cheeks. “Thanks Aiba-san.”

            “Eh? For what?” Aiba asked, looking confused.

            Sho laughed for the first time in a while and put a hand on Aiba’s skinny shoulder. “Let’s go to that school of yours.”

~*~

            Ohno was lying in his bed, scowling up at the ceiling like he had been for the previous two hours. Sleep was somehow refusing to overtake him, no matter how much he wished for it. He had his hands clenched together under his head. They itched with the need to create but his mind would not work. The minute he sat in front of a blank piece of paper and held a pen in his hand, the itching would stop, but no lines would flow from the pen. Sitting like that tormented him so he moved to his bed where his hands started to itch again.

            He heard a key turn in the lock of his door. Startled, Ohno sat up and stared at the door. Only he and Aiba had the key to the room, but Aiba was at his parent’s. And even though that’s how it should be, Aiba was the one to poke his head in the crack of the door. He was smiling as usual, but not looking towards Ohno. His head was turned the other direction and Ohno shifted to try to get a glimpse of what Aiba was looking at but the boy’s lumpy duffel blocked the way. It wasn’t until he came in that Ohno could see that Aiba had brought another person with him. A boy about his own age who looked surprisingly like a squirrel or a chipmunk peeked into the room. Aiba had brought back a squirrel before, too. So Ohno wondered why this time he had a boy that looked like a chipmunk, though he had to admit a good looking chipmunk, along with him.

            “Oh-chan! Oh-chan!” Aiba said, waving a hand in Ohno’s face. His head snapped up too focus on Aiba. “Don’t space out like that, Oh-chan. Guess what! I made a new friend! This is Sho-chan. Sho-chan, this is Oh-chan!” Aiba pulled Ohno off the bed and dragged him over to Sho.

            “Yoroshiku,” Sho said, politely. Ohno nodded and ducked his head in reply.

            “Ne, Riida,” Aiba said, ignoring Ohno’s customary ‘Not Riida,’. “Is it ok if he stays here tonight?” he pleaded with puppy-dog eyes. “He had no where else to go!”

            Ohno considered. He had no reason to say no. “I guess,” he said, rubbing the back of his head and yawning. “But it’s your room, too. You don’t have to ask me permission. At least you didn’t bring home a squirrel this time.” You brought home a chipmunk.

            Sho looked at Aiba incredulously. “You brought a squirrel into school?? How?”

            Aiba smiled bashfully, as if it was something to be proud of, and took Sho’s bag to set it at the edge of his bed. “Ehehe you remember that, Riida?” He questioned although he already knew the answer, and started to unpack his own bags.

            Ohno sighed, falling back onto his bed. “How could I forget that? It ravaged some of my drawings.” Aiba nodded solemnly to Sho.

            “You draw?” Sho asked, looking Ohno up and down. Ohno shifted under his gaze.

            “He’s an artist!” Aiba replied enthusiastically. “Ne, Oh-chan, show him some of your work!”

            Ohno grimaced and crawled under his covers. He didn’t feel much like dwelling on the topic of his artwork so he switched over to Aiba, eyeing him worriedly. “Anyway, Aiba, why’d you come back a day early?”

            Aiba froze, back stiffening. Sho cast a worried glance from Aiba to Ohno. A tiny smile appeared on Aiba’s face which was far from the enthusiastic one brightening the room earlier. “Um… Well, my parent’s didn’t need the extra help this weekend I guess… So I came back early because I guessed that Oh-chan would miss me.” He grinned sheepishly at Ohno and then turned away, finishing his unpacking. Ohno looked at Sho, who shrugged and sat on the end of Aiba’s bed.

            The silence for the rest of the night was infuriating, and the itching of Ohno’s hands was not helping it. Hours passed with Ohno drifting in and out of sleep. Aiba had lent his bed to Sho and decided to sleep on the floor. Ohno turned away from the wall he had been facing most of the night to look at his guest.

            Sho was sleeping peacefully, a slight smile on his lips. Not even Aiba smiled in his sleep, which made Ohno wonder of this boy’s story and of Aiba’s of the night. Something had obviously happened with his parent’s and he wasn’t letting up. Ohno couldn’t help but worry, but from experience, he knew that Aiba would solve it himself. And Sho, what about that boy? What was he doing here, all alone? There was no way that he was new to the school, plus they had no space left in this room for another person. Aiba always brought in stray things, though. Maybe this boy was a runaway. It was a possibility.

            The more Ohno looked at Sho, the more he thought the sleeping boy would turn into a nice painting. Quickly and carefully as not to wake up Aiba who was sprawled on the floor, Ohno picked up his pad and pencil from the desk.

            Back on his bed, then began to sketch. All of the tension of the past weeks with nothing filling up his pages was released and a tiny smile pricked his lips. He started with Sho’s hair, shaping his face. Then he went to the eyes, sketching the thick lashes with quick proximity. The chk chk of the pencil on paper exhilarated him. He hadn’t heard it in the longest time. But when he passed Sho’s round nose and reached his pouty, cherry red lips, the pencil stopped moving. He tried to move it in the curve of those lips, but it wouldn’t budge. Tears pricked Ohno’s tired eyes. Once again, he failed to create a piece of artwork. He sniffed and rubbed his nose, pushing the pad and pencil under his pillow.

            Before he laid his head down on the now lumpy pillow, he decided that the next day he would get some air. Maybe he could get some inspiration.