Title: Birthday Kiss
Author: KantanaAmaya
Pairing: Sakurai Sho/Ninomiya Kazunari
Rating: PG
Summary: Sakurai Sho is the manager of the school's basketball team. Ninomiya Kazunari is the best friend of their star player. How are their lives intertwined?
Disclaimer: Arashi=Not mine. End of discussion.
Author's Notes: I know, bad summary. I had this idea as a multi-chapter, but with no pairing, but I have yet to start it. So this is just a spin-off of [what I believe is] my own idea. And one last thing: Happy Birthday, Sakurai Sho! This is all dedicated to him~!
---+---
It was a known fact that girls preferred guys that played sports. Sure, intellect always helped, but it was mostly about sports. That was bad news for guys like Sakurai Sho. He tried to play sports, and that was more effort than some could say, but the truth was, he was just bad. On his side, however, were superior grades and unbelievable good looks. Yet, at this school, he just wasn't popular.
'There has to be a way to be on the team without playing, right?' The second-year student thought to himself. Then it hit him. He was smart, why couldn't he manage the team? He knew all of the rules, kind of, and what he did not know he could learn! Studying was always easier to him than most. It was during that lunch period alone that he decided his fate. The next sport calling for registration would be his ticket to school-wide popularity!
Ninomiya Kazunari was a first-year student. He was cute, many girls would admit that easily, but he was just really strange. He didn't talk to many people, and whenever a teacher was not looking he would be glued to his Nintendo DS Lite like it was a source of life for him. Sports? If sarcasm was one, he would be president of the entire male population. Since it is not, fortunately or unfortunately for him, that meant he did not play any. That alone deemed him a 'weird kid', and he had zero friends because of that. Except for one...
Every high school girl's dream man was Matsumoto Jun. He was tall, good-looking, had above average grades, but best of all, he was trying out for the basketball team. For a freshman, that was a gutsy move. Freshman never made the team as anything more than a towel boy. This young man, however, had skills. He excelled in it! It was as if he had been playing it all his life. The only possible stain on his 'record' would be his best friend: Ninomiya Kazunari. The other male known as Nino was not even near the same level “MatsuJun”. It was almost a shame, most female students thought, that such a perfect guy could hang out with such an imperfect dork. Jun didn't really care about all of that, though. Nino was Nino, and he would always be his best friend. Ninomiya thought the same way. MatsuJun was MatsuJun, and even if the other went through seventeen girlfriends before he even found one, they would still hang out every Saturday night watching a movie randomly selected by one of them at Matsumoto's home.
---+---
The day after basketball tryouts, results were posted on the large bulletin board in the lobby of the school. Sakurai Sho rushed immediately to the cork board covered with fliers. None stood out as much as the white piece of paper with black, solid print, however. There was already a small group hovering around the paper, and Sho pushed slightly to get through; he wasn't tall enough to see over everybody. One he got close enough to be able to read the paper, he quickly skimmed through the list of players, noting that one of the new members of the team was a first year student. He saw him yesterday at tryouts, and he had to admit that the kid was good. Finished being amazed at the list of fellow classmates, his eyes scrolled down the paper to the very bottom. The team manager. Sakurai read carefully, just to make sure the name he read was correct. In large bold print, he read:
櫻井翔。
That was his name! “Sakurai Sho”! The senior let out a breath he did not remember holding, ecstatic that he was now officially a member of a sports team, without the risk of embarrassing himself. Fully content with himself, he backed out of the circle, on his way out feeling a few hands clap him on the back with a “congratulations, Sakurai-kun” attached to it. He grinned proudly, until he ran into another student, he stumbled forward, feeling the other student's hands grip his arms for support. Luckily, the pair did not fall over, but Sho just had to know who it was he hit so he could properly apologize. Looking down into the eyes of the shorter student, Sakurai was surprised that the person in his arms was a male, and not female. The position was just too comfortable for it to be a guy. He blinked the shock away and helped the other guy stand up, the shorter immediately released his tight grip on the arms he gripped so tightly before, looking down slightly embarrassed.
“Sorry about that. I didn't see you at tryouts yesterday, are you checking the list?” Sho questioned, know such a small boy like him would not have made the team. He was much too skinny, he could tell just by looking at him. Plus, he weighed nothing.
“I wasn't there. Did Matsumoto Jun make it?” the other student questioned, looking up slightly to meet Sakurai's brown eyes with his own. Sakurai was slightly entranced by their color for a moment before responding.
“The first year? Yeah, he made it. And you are...?” Sakurai normally wouldn't bother with asking someone random like that for his name, but he just couldn't help but ask.
“Thanks.” The younger turned around and began walking down the hallway, not answering the older male.
“Hey! You didn't te-”
“It's Nino. Ninomiya Kazunari,” the thin young man said, waving to the other student as he walked away.
“Sakurai Sho!” Sho shouted down the hallway, the hand waving to him turning into a thumbs up before slipping back into the pocket of the male's slacks. He watched the other student walk down the hallway until he couldn't see him anymore, and then broke out of his stupor, turning to go to his own class. He couldn't wait for the day to end for one reason: that afternoon, he had basketball practice.
---+---
It had already been almost two months since basketball season started, and it had reached the month of January. Sakurai had learned every rule of basketball, all the names and faces of the players, and who had what number jersey early on. He felt proud of himself, but not just because of that. He had also made a new friend outside of the basketball team, although every player knew who he was by now. Ninomiya Kazunari, best friend of the famed Matsumoto Jun, waited for MatsuJun at practice every day, and since Sakurai didn't have much work during practice, he sat and kept him company until he had to make sure everything was organized again before everyone left. The two had gotten fairly close over that time. But today would be a first for the two of them. Matsumoto left with the other players like usual, so Sakurai assumed Ninomiya had as well. He thought he was alone in the gymnasium, until he locked the door to the supply closet and stepped onto the floor, seeing a figure standing slightly hunched by the door.
“Nino?” the older questioned, wondering why the other male would still be here if that was him.
“Took you long enough. Thought I would have to beat another level standing here waiting for you,” Nino teased, patting the DS in his pocket for an unneeded clarification. Sho walked up to him, hoisting his bag back up onto his shoulder.
“Where is-”
“I told MatsuJun to go on ahead. Today I'm walking home with you.” The younger student said this so certainly Sakurai would have thought it had already been planned. He was still curious, but he just shrugged his shoulders and guided Ninomiya out of the door, shutting and locking it. They walked in silence for awhile, getting past the front of the school before Sakurai decided to ask the one thing that had been crossing his mind ever since he met Ninomiya for the second time at their very first basketball practice.
“You and Matsumoto-kun are pretty close, aren't you.” It was more of a statement than a question, but Sakurai hoped it implied what he meant it to.
“So are we.”
That was not the reply Sho was expecting. Now he would have to be more blunt about it, and he was so sure Ninomiya would know what he meant without that bluntness. The younger man was very observant, and very intelligent.
“Yeah, but it isn't the same, is it?”
“No, it isn't.”
“Because you and Matsumoto-kun seem to b-”
“He's my best friend.”
Hmmm. That was another interesting answer. That was one of the intriguing things about Ninomiya Kazunari. He was never predictable, and it took a lot for Sho to remember the little things about him that did stay the same. The senior wished that he lived a bit farther away from the school for once, so he could finished the conversation, but sadly, he just reached his front door. Looking from Nino to the door, he made a decision, opening the door for Ninomiya to follow him in. The shorter male nodded with a small smile gracing his thin lips, removing his shoes at the same time Sakurai was. His parents wouldn't be home from work yet, so it would be okay until then. He led the other up to his room before trying to continue the conversation. He sat on his bed while Kazunari sat in his desk chair, spinning it to face him.
“Then what am I?”
Ninomiya looked up from the interesting rug placed in the middle of the room. “Hmm?”
“You said Matsumoto-kun was your best friend. Well, then, what does that make me?”
Sakurai received a smirk in response. It was a bit scary, to know that Nino was thinking and to not know what he was thinking of. The facial expression on its own, however, was alluring.
“You stare at me a lot, Sho-kun.” The sentence brought Sakurai completely back to reality, questioning the truth to it. Inwardly, he knew that he did stare at the other male a lot, but he really did not want to admit it.
“You wouldn't know that unless you were staring back, Nino,” was the retort from the senior, surprised he could think of a comeback so quickly. He wondered if that was the right thing to say, however, when the gamer got that smirk again. He moved from the chair, seeming to be moving slower than usual, to sit beside Sakurai. Directly beside Sakurai.
“So you noticed?”
Okay, this conversation was turning a little weird. The two were too deep to change the subject, though, and Sakurai would rather get an answer to his question now then have to go through this ordeal again.
“But if you stare at me, won't Matsumoto-kun get jealous?”
That seemed to surprise Ninomiya a bit. He blinked a few times before grinning his childlike grin and laughing. He actually laughed. It would have been cute had it not been in response to his question. Sakurai always thought there was something going on between Matsumoto and Ninomiya, but he had always been afraid to ask. Now that he believe it was okay, he was being laughed at. Great. After a minute or two, however, the giggling subsided, and Nino sat up straight again, answering the manager properly this time.
“So you think that I'm gay...for MatsuJun?” Okay, so he was still giggling a little bit, not able to complete his query without one slipping. Sakurai only managed to nod in response, a bit shocked at Nino's bluntness, although by now he really shouldn't have been.
“You're wrong,” Kazunari told him, looking him straight in the eyes, serious this time. Sakurai gulped from the intensity.
“Ah, I'm sorry, then. I'd just always thought that, well, you two were so...”
“If it were anybody, I would be gay for you, Sho-kun.”
Nino answered with such seriousness again that Sakurai could not manage to speak. Was that supposed to be a confession? Because if it was a joke, Ninomiya had to have been the best actor Sho had ever seen in his entire life. It was a bit unnerving, not knowing what to say or if he was supposed to wait for Nino. Apparently, he was just supposed to wait, since Nino spoke up again.
“Sho-kun, what day is it?”
“The 25th. Why?”
Ninomiya leaned over quickly, his shoulder touching Sakurai's as he brought his thin lips to Sho's full ones, kissing the older man until he began to kiss back, where Nino pulled away. Still centimeters away from the other student's face, he spoke one last time before bringing their lips together one more time.
“Happy birthday, Sho-kun.”
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