[Fic] Playground Volume 1

[nilielh]

Title : Playground 2 - Tissue Boy
Rating : PG
Pairing : Ohno/Nino
Disclaimer : fiction, yes.
Word count : 1,259 words
Summary : AU. They’ve always been together, since they were children. Best friends. Doing things together, growing up together. Only one thing Ohno didn’t count on – falling in love with his best friend.
Note : EDITED!

“Satoshi, why are there two lunch boxes in your bag?”

The boy looked up from his drawing pad, the expression on his face made his mother giggle quietly under her breath while he sat motionless, staring dazedly back at her as if he hadn’t heard a word she said.

“I said, why are there -”

“The other one is for my ‘tissue boy’ friend,” he answered, cutting his mother’s words off. He’s probably not even aware of his mother’s confused expression because he just ducked down again, biting the corners of his lower lip as he put his concentration back into his drawing.

“Tissue boy - friend?” she asked, putting down her son’s bag at the same time.

Satoshi didn’t even look up this time. “Yeah. Well, that’s just my nickname for him because I forgot to ask for his name.” he replied in a tiny voice and his mother looked all the more confused.

“I’m honestly curious about the ‘boyfriend’ part but let’s discuss the tissue part first, shall we?” she pressed patiently, perfectly aware that her son’s ability to keep up with a conversation is actually ten times slower than that of average kids. She counted to twenty before Satoshi looked up, a little smile forming across his lips as he lifted his drawing pad and pushed it closer to her face.

She drew back and stared, her brows arching in question. “ Who’s that?”

Satoshi grinned and nodded, pointing at the drawing itself. “Tissue boy,” he said. “He was eating them when I first saw him,” he added, his voice suddenly dropped into a whisper much to his mother’s amusement. “I told him those aren’t food and gave him candies instead. But then he started crying so I kissed him on the cheek, just like you always do to Nee-chan when she’s crying and wants something. Also, I promised I’ll bring him food today.” he uttered without pausing.

His mother suddenly burst out laughing. “You did what?!”

Satoshi looked vaguely amused at his mother’s expression, smiled sweetly afterwards and replied.

“Told him I’d bring him food today?”

His mother shook her head. “No, the other thing.”

“ Kissed him?” he mumbled, blinking slowly. His mother looked seemingly amused at the image of her son kissing another boy. It was actually a little disturbing but she couldn’t help but feel giddy at the fact that something caught her son’s attention that clearly wasn’t food or anything that wouldn’t talk to him  when he touched it.

She dramatically cleared her throat and reached out, stroking her son’s cheek tenderly. “That’s brave of you, Satoshi, but –“ she paused here, giggling still. He was still staring up at her, patiently waiting for her to continue. She chuckled and ruffled his hair, fond and equal parts entertained. “Never mind that now. Anyway, what I want to know is if I’ll ever get the chance to meet him too, someday, maybe?”

The smile Satoshi gave back was something she hadn’t seen in such a long time and it made her thank the still mysterious little boy that was the sole reason for that bright, happy smile. She grinned and helped him out of his chair, pressing her son’s uniform when Satoshi stood still as if on cue.

He shrugged his little shoulders. “Sure, if he say yes, then I’ll take him home to meet you,” he said after a moment, eyes crinkling adorably at the edges and she couldn’t help but kneel down and squeezed him tight.

“That’s nice. Please invite him over the next time you see him, okay?”

He nodded, hugging her back. Then he pulled away and reached over to press his little fingers into her cheek, smiled when she puffed her cheeks at the gesture in answer, just to see him shriek in glee. Oh, she had the cutest boy, and she loved him to bits.

“I was planning on marrying him too, someday,” he quipped afterward, making her gape at him in answer. “That way, I can just take him home with me. That’s okay with you, right, Ka-chan?” he asked thoughtfully and stood looking perplexed the minute his mother started laughing, clutching her stomach and gripping the edge of the table to probably avoid falling over.

“What’s funny?” he asked, pouting.

“Satoshi,” his father called from the doorway, “ Why is your mother laughing like that? Did you eat the dog’s food again?”

Satoshi narrowed his eyes and threw his mother one confused little glare before he strutted his way towards his father, pouting adorably and he held out his right hand for their usual morning hand shake.

“No, Tou-chan,” he said with a huff, turning back to find his mother almost bent over on the floor, laughing. “I only asked her if I could marry the boy I met yesterday, just so he wouldn’t have to eat those tissues again and Ka-chan just started –“

“What, what???”

His dad’s jaw dropped open and his mother’s laughter went up a notch higher, confusing him even more. He shrugged and then pushed his way out the door, shaking his head as the sound of his parents joined laughter echoed through the four corners of their house.

#

“This is stupid,” he murmured to himself, annoyance started creeping up his spine but he didn’t want to admit why; it was probably because of some dazed little boy who promised to meet him today but he couldn’t be so sure. Maybe he was just hallucinating. He grimaced when he heard his stomach growl, hands moving under his shirt and started tapping as if he was trying to calm that hungry monster living inside him. “really, really stupid…”

“Tissue boy!”

“ Eh?”

He whipped around only to be faced with a round-cheeked and panting little boy whom he thought was only a product of his imagination, holding out a yellow-colored bento box while he pretty much trying to keep himself upright, breathing raggedly.

“I’m sorry I’m late… Sensei asked me to stay a little bit longer because -”

“Tissue boy?” Nino asked, filtering the other boy’s words and pointing at himself. The other boy looked vaguely confused for a fleeting second before grinning back, his smile bright and shining.

“ Yes, you. Ah, yes. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.. it’s just that I forgot to ask your name and my Mom asked me about you and so I told him about you and, you know, the t-tissue?” the boy said without pausing, his voice trailing at the last syllable and looking down as he nibbled on his lower lip nervously.

“Um, I brought y-you lunch?” the other boy said after a while, pushing the bento against Nino’s chest without looking up.

“It’s Nino,” Nino muttered in a huff, grabbing the lunch box from his hand and wrapping his stubby fingers around the other boy’s small wrist. Nino watched him as he raised his face and caught Nino looking. Nino swore his face heated when the other boy smiled.

“That’s my name,” Nino continued, vaguely wondering whether he should thank the other boy or if he should run. “Call me tissue boy next time and I’m seriously going to hit you.”

“Okay,” the other boy said. “Oh, I guess I haven’t told you my name yet?”

“You did,” Nino said, then realized he was still clutching the other boy’s wrist and immediately let go. “Satoshi-kun, right?”

“Yes, that’s my name.”

Nino nodded, then glanced down at the lunch box he had in his hand. “What is this?”

“Lunch,” the other boy quipped. “My mother made it for you.”

Nino made a face, more in embarrassment than anything. “You didn’t have to, you know?” he said, but obviously, his traitorous stomach thought otherwise as it growled noisily in protest, therefore catching the other boy’s attention.

“Of course I did,” the other boy said, hurriedly; this time, he was the one reaching over to curl his fingers around Nino’s wrist to tug him closer. “I wouldn’t want to see you eating those tissues again. It’ll make your tummy hurt. Come on, you’re hungry. You should eat.”

“It’s okay! I’ll just take this home with me –“

“Eh, but you’re hungry now. You should eat now. Come, my house is near here; I’ll take you there and we can eat together.”

“What?”

The other boy nodded and pivoted, before he started walking and taking Nino with him.

“Eh, wait, wait!”

“Don’t worry, home’s not far,” the other boy said, no bothering waiting for Nino to answer. “I told Mom I’ll take you with me to meet them.”

“What?!”

The other boy stopped then, turned and gave Nino a look. “Um, would you prefer it better if I ask you to marry me first?”

Nino gaped, not exactly understanding what the other boy was saying. “What – what are you talking about?”

“I’ll marry you now if that’s what you want. But you’re hungry, so let’s eat first. I mean, I’m kinda hungry myself too, to be honest.”

“You’re not making sense, Satoshi-kun.”

“It’s the hunger, probably.”

“I don’t think so.”

The other boy pursed his lip, and he looked all kinds of determined that the sight of him made Nino giggle despite himself.

“Anyway, I’ll marry you another day. For now, we eat. Let’s go!”

“No, wait, wait!”