alice nine fanfic Cross Game part 36

Cross Game Part 36

By nightfall, the two teenagers were sitting in a small restaurant not far away from the station, finishing their meal.

The restaurant they had ended up in was not some fancy restaurant. Still nonetheless, the food was tasty; there were many customers during the dinner rush but the place was not noisy. Everyone could sit comfortable around their tables and enjoyed their meals relaxingly, chatting with friends and families. However, despite the good food, Saga didn’t eat much. Though after a day full of activities, he actually was hungry; still, somehow he had managed to lose his appetite.  

Tora, who sat opposite of the blonde across the table, had also noticed the younger man’s lack of appetite after a few attempts of encouraging the blonde to eat up, which only met with little to none reaction. Finally, the raven head  sighed, “Why are you so quiet? Is something wrong?”

“I’m just tired,” shaking his head, Saga replied simply, without revealing the real reason.

Tora could almost swear that Saga was upset; the only problem was, he didn’t know what had caused it. Could it be…?

Putting his fork down, the raven-haired teen tried another approach, “Are you feeling alright?”

Immediately, Saga was surprised by Tora’s question, “What? I’m fine!”

“I was just thinking…” Tora threw up his hands a bit, ”maybe you aren’t feeling alright because of your...pregnancy.”

The fact that Tora was worried about him, and the raven head’s awkward mention of the word ‘pregnancy’, brought a smile on Saga’ s face and warmth to his heart, “I feel okay, don’t worry.”

So he could cross out discomfort being the source of Saga’s unusual quietness. He should try something else.

At the back of his head, Tora had a vague suspicion that Saga was being upset over something, but the young boy didn’t want to bring it up in front of him. He sighed, feeling a bit hurt that Saga was unwilling to share what was going on in his mind. In the past, it might annoy him; but now, he knew better than to press the issue.

He thought to himself, perhaps when Saga was ready, he would tell him what was bothering him.

****

After dinner, the pair went back to the train station to take a train home. Their train arrived on time; and thankfully, it had already past the rush hour, so they managed to find seats to sit beside one another.

It would take about half an hour for them to get to their station. Around them, they could hear the noise of machines running, they could hear small talks among other passengers; but between them, there seemed to be nothing more to say.

Leaning back against the soft backrest behind him, Saga felt tiredness slowly spread across his limbs. It was strange, when he was moving around from place to place and having activities, he didn’t feel tired; but once he sat down with nothing more to do, his body seemed to finally start giving out signal to demand rest.

Glancing down at his watch, the blonde was a bit taken when he realised what time it actually was. 8:45 PM? Why was he feeling so tired even though it wasn’t even 9:00PM?

Like most teenagers, Saga was used to stay up all night. Back then, exhaustion didn’t seem to be able to touch him; but apparently, pregnancy had changed this for him, just like it had changed so many other things.

It wouldn’t take long for the train to arrive at their station. Saga kept reminding himself as he struggled to keep his eyes open. But slowly, the weight of slumberness was dragging him downward.


Tora was being drawn out of his thoughts by a weight pressed onto his shoulder, a warm body slowly leaning onto him for support. He glanced down to find Saga falling asleep; his slumbering form came to rest on him as the younger man took his nap.

Tora sighed to himself, recalling Saga did mention he was tired when they were having dinner.

Looking down, he could only see the top of Saga’s head, his blond locks had hidden most of his face away from his view. Still, the delicate form pressing warmly against him stirred up a strange sensation from within Tora’s body. As if to highlight this sensation; up close, Tora could also smell the clean light scent of shampoo Saga had used to wash his hair.  

It was the same feeling again, just like what happened back in the cinema. When Saga was so close to him, making him feel all funny inside; that urge to claim the younger boy as his own. But it was more than just possessiveness. The thought of Saga leaning against him so trustingly, relying on him, made the older boy feel so happy. Ridiculously happy. The thought of holding Saga close to him, the thought of the two of them, together; with no one else to disturb them—

The raven head didn’t even know when he wrapped his arm around the blonde’s shoulder, helping the latter to lay his head on a more comfortable angle on the crook of his shoulder.

Saga murmured something incoherent when he was being moved, but he didn’t wake up; for that, the raven head was glad. At the back of his mind, he feared the spell would be broken if Saga opened his eyes and realised he had fallen onto Tora’s shoulder. He didn’t know how the blonde would react, but his guessing was on a look of pure shock and a quick shove to untangle himself. The raven head would rather prefer a quiet, sweet stolen moment like this.

For a brief moment, the world around them seemingly ceased to exist when he kept his eyes on his sleeping husband, feeling his gentle weight pressed to his side, his breathing slow and even; his form entirely relax in sleep, relying on Tora for support and comfort. The raven head didn’t want this to end.

Tora was brought back to reality when he heard a mechanical voice announced through the train’s sound system that their station would be the next stop. They would soon have to be on the move.

Drawing in a breath, Tora called to his younger husband, “Wake up, sleepy head.”

“Hhhh...” Saga murmured again sleepy.

“We have to get off the train soon, so...Saga, wake up. ”

His words seemed to finally catch the blonde’s attention; with a little stir, Saga opened his eyes and slowly turned his head up.

“We’ll have to get off the train, you said?” The younger teen repeated Tora’s sentence sleepily, whilst he was still leaning onto his husband, without showing any sign of changing his position.

“Yes,” the raven head could only reply positively to Saga’s question, even though he couldn’t shrug off the feeling that part of him was still being reluctant to let this moment come to an end.

A faint smile ghosted across Saga’s lips, “Let’s go then.”

The older boy nodded at those words, and soon the train came to a stop, and the two of them were on their way out of the carriage, once again holding hands.

****

Later that night, Saga found himself sitting on his and Tora’s bedroom; more particularly speaking, sitting on their bed. Previously, he had taken a shower and changed, after he was finished, it was Tora’s turn to use the bathroom.

Saga had fallen asleep on the train home, but now after a shower, the blonde felt a little more refreshed, now he had changed into clean nightwear, ready to go to sleep. Still, he would prefer to wait for Tora to return and said goodnight to the older boy before calling it a day.

Whilst he waited, the blonde heard a familiar ringtone started beeping loudly.

Instantly, Saga recognised the ringtone of Tora’s iPhone and turned his head to where the sound came from. He soon realised Tora’s iPhone had been left at the corner of the bed, he also saw the screen of said iPhone flashing, indicating that someone was phoning in. Although Saga swore he didn’t mean to spy, still he couldn’t stop himself from noticing Keiko’s name flashing brightly on Tora’s iPhone’s screen.

The moment he caught sight of Keiko's name flashing on Tora's iPhone, the thought that came to him was: “...So he still saves her number.”;  and there was no denying that the discovery upset him.

Stupid! Why should he be so bothered by Keiko’s phone call? It wasn’t like Tora must cut off his connections with his friends! It wasn’t like there was anything going on…

Nothing was going on now, right?

However, it wasn’t just any friend in question, it was Keiko. This fact alone bothered him.

Tora and Keiko...they did have a past together. Saga knew as much, but he also knew they had broken up. They used to date before Keiko finished high school and went studying abroad. As a matter of speak, they never went ‘public’ and confirmed their relationship to other students, but there had been enough rumors circulating which made students at least realise something was going on between them. In high school, keeping secret for a long period of time was close to impossible, especially when the couple in question was a girl as well-known as Keiko and a boy like Tora, who had his own fame as the captain of the school’s football team.  

To be honest, the blonde knew none of the detail about their relationship; in fact, no one knew. In their school, some of the popular students used dating as a mean to boost their popularity and fame, but neither Keiko and Tora were willing to use this method. Though many people in school had guessed on the fact that they were an ‘item’ and would have loved to gossip about them; still, the pair had been subtle about their relationship and hadn’t let much detail slipped.

However, he did know how breaking up with Keiko had affected Tora, he had witnessed the aftermath of the break up first hand. That day in the garden, Tora looked drained, lost, heartbroken. He acted out of character because he was so sad. A guy like Tora would not have reacted like this if he hadn’t been serious about this relationship. So he must have had real feelings for the older girl.  

Thinking about that day again upset Saga even more.

The blonde was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Tora stepping out from the bathroom. The older teen had also changed into his pyjamas, with a towel in his hand; his pale skin looked flushed after the shower.

“I think I’d heard my phone ringing when I was in the bathroom,” Tora asked casually whilst dropping the towel on a chair nearby.

Unable to pretend oblivious but having no desire to answer with words, Saga could only nod.

“So...who’d called?” The older boy asked questioningly.

“...Keiko,” Saga replied without a thought, but instantly he realised it sounded suspicious that he could be so certain of the caller’s identity, he had to awkwardly tune down his claim, “I think it was Keiko.”

Surprised, Tora moved towards the bed and picked up his iPhone. He checked the LINE messenger, it didn’t take long for him to find Keiko had left him a message to invite him to her live performance in a club.

A smile came up to him then, remembering Keiko’s wish to get her training and become a vocalist, now it seemed the older girl had made her dream come true.

It was her sweet singing voice which caught his attention at the beginning. Tora had encountered other pretty, popular girls before and he had never fallen short of female admirers; but Keiko was different from those girls. She was humble and was always nice to everyone even when she was so popular, not once had she used her fame and beauty to her advantage or to manipulate others even when countless of boys were ready to drop down and worship the ground she stepped on.

It didn’t take Tora long to become one of those silly boys, once he got to know Keiko personally and started falling for her.  

He liked her a lot, once. But what attracted him the most wasn’t her outward appearance; he adored her outgoing, cheerful personality, he admired how despite being fragile-looking, Keiko could be so bold, outspoken and independent. She also had an unwavering determination to follow her dreams; she was much, much more than just a pretty face.

Thinking back of their brief encounter with Keiko today, the raven-haired teen was surprised by how he could talk to Keiko so calmly. And once the feeling of awkwardness faded away, they could even chat in a friendly, familiar manner, just like old friends who hadn’t met each other for a long time.

It would be nice for them to start hanging out again, right? But at the back of his mind, Tora wasn’t at ease with this idea. Despite the pleasantly surprising reunion with Keiko, he felt that something was amiss.

At this moment, Tora's iPhone vibrated again, and he switched the small device on only to find out there was a new message from Keiko.

Tiger san? Are you here?

It was only natural for the raven head to text back.

Hi Keiko, I’m here!>O<

^___^

I saw your invitation, but sorry that I can’t go!

Arghhhhh….why?

Tora thought for a moment, then he texted in the reason. Because I’ll be grounded, starting from tomorrow!

Really? Here came Keiko’s surprised reply.

Yesssss

Why would you be grounded?

It’s a long story =__=

It’s okay.>Keiko’s messages kept appearing on the screen. So maybe next time then!^_^

Yes next time! Tora texted back, secretly feeling glad that Keiko did not ask him about the reason of his grounding. It really did spare him of much embarrassment.

Tora put down his iPhone then; when he looked up, he found his younger husband sat leaning against the headboard, watching him thoughtfully, as if he was about to ask him something. But then Saga looked away quickly, as though he was embarrassed of being caught peering.

“What’s it?” Puzzled, Tora asked.

Saga only shook his head, he didn't want to push the issue. He still felt strange about the fact that Keiko was once again making contact with Tora; at the back of his mind, he wanted to ask what had they been saying through their chat, but Saga knew it was immature to demand this from Tora.

They went silent after that. Tora left the iPhone on the nightstand before moving to sit next to Saga, and then he told the younger one about Keiko invitation, although Saga didn’t ask him about it.

“.......” Saga continued to stay quiet after hearing about Keiko’s invitation. If he were to be completely honest with himself, he would admit he was glad that Tora had turned down Keiko’s invitation.

Tora was about to say something but then his iPhone started ringing again, the raven head looked down to see Keiko had left him yet another message.

Feeling disturbed, Saga did the only thing he could think of, “I will go and get a drink.”

“Oh, sure...” Tora replied casually, his attention being placed elsewhere.

Saga shifted off from the bed and left the room.


***

Tora checked his LINE messenger again, only to find Keiko had only sent a ‘goodnight’ message to him.

After replying Keiko’s message quickly with another ‘goodnight’ of his own, only then did Tora truly realise Saga had gone.

The raven head put down his iPhone again, leaning back entirely against the headboard, thinking back to the events of today, he couldn’t help thinking that everything had gone quite smoothly until Saga’s mood seemed to change a bit—right after they had met Keiko?

Was he imagining it, or was Saga acting jealous?

If it were the case, he should talk to Saga about it as soon as possible, he should tell his younger husband there was nothing to be worry about; that he and Keiko were just friends.

It was not something he was used to, though. Back then, he didn’t need to explain his relationships to anyone, but now it felt as though he should come clean about it somehow, to put any doubt into rest. Perhaps it was what marriage was about? It was different, and he wasn’t sure he could put it off smoothly, still he felt he should at least try.  

To lighten the mood, Tora then did something he usually would not consider doing: he fished the photo stickers out from his pocket, thinking it was time to put those stickers into some good use.

He turned the sticker so the photos were facing him, those small photos showed him and Saga standing close together, with cartoonish ornaments and comical words surrounding them both. Everything was glowing under a soft pinkish light.

Usually, Tora would think such stickers were too much of a cliché and would not put it on his personal item, but looking at Saga’s face in the photo, he felt more than willing to make an exclusion.

Tora had just done sticking the photo sticker onto the case of his iPhone when he heard the bedroom door open. He saw Saga entering their room through the door and closing it again afterwards. Almost in a rush, the raven head put his iPhone on the bedside table and straightened up at his sitting position against the headboard. He looked like he was anticipating something, whereas the blonde was completely oblivious to it. To be honest, Tora was expecting a small talk before they went to sleep. Either about today and how they spent it together, or about their ‘date’, anything...the raven head just wanted to talk to his husband. But Saga showed no sign that he was up to small talk tonight. Especially when his lips were pressing tightly together,  and the fatigueness seemed still etched on his body, not fully washed away.

It didn’t take long until finally, Saga made his way towards the bed after putting his glass of water on the bedside table—it was now half-empty after the blonde drank the content earlier. Naturally, Tora shifted to give the blonde more space. Even after Saga tucked himself under the comforter, Tora still hadn’t uttered a word. The dark-haired teen reasoned to himself that maybe he could wait until tomorrow to talk to Saga. He was about to agree with his own decision when he heard Saga muttering good night to him. The older teen watched in silence as his younger husband turned on his side, his back facing Tora.

“Good night, Saga…” Replied Tora.

Tora reached out to turn the lamp off. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to sleep yet. He tilted his head to the side again, trying to make out Saga’s feature despite of the darkness. His mind was full of thoughts...and worries. He was itching just to grab the blonde’s shoulder and make his husband face him and talk about what exactly was wrong between them right now, but he knew better not to ruin an exhausted pregnant person’s mood. Earlier at the restaurant, he could have sworn Saga looked like he was in a bad mood already.

Lost in his deep thoughts, Tora was a bit startled when he heard a rustle and the bed moved simultaneously. Without a word, Saga shifted himself closer to Tora and the raven head quickly welcomed him in his embrace. Tora didn’t expect this at all, but now here they were, holding each other in sleep. Although Tora found out that neither of them had fallen asleep yet. He felt Saga put his hand on his clothed chest, as the blonde made Tora’s arm as his makeshift pillow.

“Thank you for today, Tora.”

And just by hearing Saga whispered those words to him had managed to form a smile on Tora’s face, and all his worries could be put to rest for the time being. Putting his own hand above Saga’s, he whispered back, “Anytime.”

to be continued.