alice nine fanfic Cross Game part 39

Cross Game Part 39

They made the trip back, but during the whole trip, Tora and Saga sat in total silence. Even Nao could feel the tensed atmosphere around them. It did make him a bit nervous whilst driving his car, but then he heard a buzz of someone’s mobile phone. From the rear view mirror, Nao caught sight of his tall brother checking up on his iPhone. Beside the raven head, Saga couldn’t help but steal a glance as well.

Tora got a text message from his buddy, Hiroto. The content was full of exclamation marks, letters in caps lock, and shocked emoji that almost made Tora snort in amusement, until he actually read the question: “I heard rumours today! You’re not the captain anymore! WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

The raven head was about to type in his reply when his ringtone was playing loudly, it nearly startled him. He slid the answer button to the right to answer the call, which was from Hiroto himself. Before he could even say ‘hello’, the brunette’s loud voice was already echoed inside the car. It was just so loud, Saga thought Tora had accidentally put the call on loudspeaker, which the taller teen actually didn’t.

However, before Hiroto could start bombarding Tora with his questions, the raven head had already interjected him, “Not now, Hiroto.”

Saga could hear the brunette’s protest, but Tora added, “Dude, I said, not now. I’ll text you later, ‘kay?”

Tora didn’t even wait for Hiroto to reply, as he immediately ended the call and shoved the device inside his trousers pocket again. He sighed, and once again, his gaze was directed outside the car window. His right hand rested on the car door, propping his chin up. Never once did he expect Saga to talk to him afterwards, “Was it Hiroto? What’s with him?”

Saga sounded hesitant to utter those questions to him, it made the older teen turn his head to the blonde.

“Nothing,” seeing the frown on his younger husband’s forehead, Tora knew that Saga was not happy hearing his short reply, so he added: “It’s nothing important. Don’t worry.”

Shrugging, Saga shifted his eyes away from Tora and muttered quietly, “Okay.”

In any other occasion, the raven head would have done something—anything—to put that frown away, just so Saga would not be upset anymore. But right now, his mind was full of a more important thought.

His concentration was distracted when Nao turned on the radio to get them all relaxed. The older male kept switching the radio frequency and stopped only when he heard a classical music playing, and then he left it at that. Tora stared at the back of his big brother’s head. Maybe, he thought, Nao could help.

~*~

The three of them arrived at home at last. Still, Tora and Saga hadn’t talked to each other again after that short conversation they had in the car. The blonde wasn’t paying attention even when the car entered the gate of Amano residence. Nao dropped them at the veranda whilst he himself proceeded to park the car in the garage.

Saga was waiting for Tora to get inside the house together with him, but the raven head didn’t seem like he was acknowledging the blonde’s presence in the first place. It wasn’t his fault, though, that he didn’t know about his older husband’s mind being placed elsewhere at the moment. Saga’s head lowered, his gaze was glued on his shoes, which made him unaware that Tora stole a glance at him.

He really wanted to...help Saga. The raven-haired knew how much his education meant to Saga, he also knew how much of a blow being dropped out was to the blond; he was also painfully aware of how much at fault he really was in the consequence of Saga being dropped out.

Therefore, he wanted to make amend to his younger husband, starting from now. He truly wanted to help him in a meaningful way.

With these thoughts in his mind, Tora hurried away to find the one he believed could help him: his older brother Nao. He was in so much hurry that he even forgot to say anything to Saga before he left.

Saga watched his husband walking away from him without a word, he watched until the older one disappearing at the end of the hallway. Not once did Tora turn back nor do anything to acknowledge his existence. That upset him.

Was he...avoiding him now? Maybe Tora was still mad over his outburst in the schoolyard.

Saga wanted to go after his husband, but in the next second, he remembered first he needed to talk to his uncle and aunt about the outcome of their meeting with the school’s authority.

***

Nao had gone back to his own room after he went with Saga to his parents and informed them about the school’s authority decision. His thoughts were still lingering on the brief meeting amongst them. Both his parents were upset by the news, though they tried to act positive in front of Saga but the atmosphere was still heavy. For the whole while, Saga had his head downcast, he kept apologising to his uncle and aunt  for causing them so much troubles. The blonde’s mood didn’t seem to change even after both his guardians ensured him there was nothing to apologise about.

Nao watched all the exchanges between them with sympathy,  he didn’t think it was fair for Saga to take all the responsibility, what should they do to help him…?

He was surprised to see his younger brother standing before his bedroom’s door, waiting for him.

“Nao, may I ask you something?”  

“Yes,” Nao answered when he opened his door.

“It’s about Saga...” Tora began hesitatingly, “I know how upset he is about being dropped out, but can we help him to find another school? School that would accept students like him?”

This was what had been in Nao’s mind, but he was a bit surprised that Tora had come up and asked so quickly.

Tora had heard that there were schools which accepted students who were pregnant or with babies under their care.

He wanted to help Saga, but he knew it wasn’t likely that he could do it alone, he needed someone to help as well; and Nao was the first one he could think of.

Delighted by the consideration his younger brother had demoracted, Nao was more than happy to help. He promised to call a few friends, who might offer some information. On the other hand, Tora decided to stay in the study and do some research online.


***

After finished telling his uncle and aunt about the result of their ill-fated meeting with the school’s authority, Saga wandered off to clean his mind.

At first he had thought of going back to his old bedroom to clean his mind, but when he reached to the door, he didn’t feel like getting in anymore. Something had stopped him. It took him a moment to realize he didn’t have the heart to get in because he wanted to look for Tora instead of sitting in his old room and spent time feeling sorry for himself.

Strange how it has become an impulsive need for him to look for Tora when he was upset, back then when he was troubled he would usually find his comfort and support in Shou and Nao; but recently something had changed, now the first person he could think of was Tora. He wanted to see the raven haired teen, although he still didn’t have a single idea about what he would say after he saw his husband.

Although he couldn’t rationalize his own change of heart, still...at this moment, looking for Tora felt right to him.

Eventually, he found Tora in the study, sitting in front of a laptop, with stack of papers spreading around said laptop.

He approached the older boy quietly, only addressing the latter after he walked closer. “Hey.”

Tora looked up from the laptop’s screen, he seemed to be a bit caught off guard. “Hi.”

“What’re you doing?” Saga couldn’t hold back his curiosity.

“I’m looking for...something,” Tora found himself reluctant to tell the blonde what exactly he was up to. So far, he had yet to track down anything of importance. Therefore, the raven-haired teen did not want to get Saga’s hope up for nothing.

Not knowing what else to say, Saga stood there feeling awkward; there was something he should have said to his husband, but he didn’’t even know where to begin.  

Before he could say anything, Tora’s iPhone started beeping all of a sudden.

Both looked down at the device lying in the middle of the desk, a name flashed brightly across the screen; both of them had recognised the name of the caller at the same time.

The caller was Keiko.

Saga kept eyeing the iPhone as though it was some alien object, he had half expected his husband to grip his phone and answer Keiko’s call eagerly—the same like he had seen the older one did when he received messages from the girl. But one second, two second and then three past, the raven head still hadn’t even touched the beeping iPhone.

Tora’s gaze wandered from his phone and then to Saga, although the raven head never prided himself on reading other people’s thoughts;  this time he was almost sure he knew what was in the younger teen’s mind.

Sighing softly, he called his husband’s name, “Saga,”

It finally gave him Saga’s full attention. Finally, the blonde teared his eyes from the still ringing iPhone and averted them towards Tora. The blonde looked confused, as though he didn’t know what to expect now.

Tora shook his head, “Just leave it.”

“But—”

They stared at each other whilst the phone kept ringing, until the ringing stopped eventually. After that, there was only silence. Tora was still staring at Saga, making the younger teen feel even more awkward. At last, the blonde waved in uncertainty, “Maybe I should go back to—”

“Wait,” the raven-haired teen caught Saga’s wrist before the blonde could manage to leave, “Here, have a seat.”

Tora motioned to the empty chair beside him, which Saga occupied soon after. The older teen turned his chair to Saga and the blonde did the same, so they were now face-to-face. His younger husband gripped the edges of the chair, head lowered; like a child about to get lectured. The blonde himself wasn’t even sure why he behaved like that, though. He must admit, the seriousness in Tora’s tone made him nervous.

“Saga, do you have something you want to talk with me?” Tora asked calmly.

However, the question caught the blonde off guard. It didn’t sound like a question to him; it sounded more like a statement. As if the raven head knew that Saga did have something he wanted to talk with him. Remembering the sole reason why he had been feeling some sort of jealousy towards his husband’s past girlfriend made him feel foolish and…...childish.

“There’s nothing between me and her now. Trust me,” said Tora again when Saga didn’t show any sign that he was going to answer the raven head’s question.

The blonde’s head lifted up, looking somewhat surprised at what he had just heard. They both knew who was this ‘her’ referred to. At this moment, Tora was almost feeling relieved that he had finally dragged the subject out in the open. Ever since yesterday, he had sensed something was off with Saga. At the back of his head, he had a vague suspicion that he knew what—or more particularly who—had caused the blonde’s weird mood. Now seeing Saga’s reaction, the raven head was confident that he had guessed correctly.

Saga was once again caught off guard, a sense of relief washed over him—as much as he wanted to deny this feeling, still it would be lying to say he didn’t feel the small sparkle of joy flashing through him when he heard Tora uttering those words: There’s nothing between me and her now.

Still, his feeling at the moment was rather complicated. At one hand he felt relieved, even happy; but on the other hand, he felt somewhat guilty, as though he shouldn’t feel happy over such thing…

He really didn’t know what had possessed him to make him say what he was going to say next, “Make me then.”

Tora tensed, and Saga almost regretted he had said that to him. Just how foolish could he become? Now the raven head could use that chance to embarrass the hell out of him. But then he took his glasses off—which Saga had just noticed that his husband looked good wearing them—and put them on the desk. The raven head slowly reached out for Saga’s hand and rested them on his chest, as he rose up from his chair a bit and leant forward towards the blonde.

“To-Tora...wh—?”

Saga felt Tora’s soft lips on his forehead, and when he looked up, the older teen’s mouth fell upon his, which was slightly open. As soon as it happened, the blonde felt warmth surge throughout his entire body, and he closed his eyes. His hand that was previously pressed on Tora’s chest now moved up and encircled itself around the raven head’s shoulder.

Biting Saga’s lower lip as gently as he could manage, Tora wrapped his arm around the blonde’s hips and moved him forward. He sat back down on his own chair, carefully manoeuvring his younger husband to straddle his thighs. The blonde took a deep breath once he was fully seated on Tora’s lap, breaking the kiss in the process. Their foreheads were pressed together and their lips were merely an inch apart. When Saga whispered his husband’s name, the raven head could feel his warm breath. And before neither of them could pause and wonder what they were doing, they were making out.

Tora caught Saga’s lips again for a good few seconds, before he released them and placed hot kisses on the blonde’s neck. His hand squeezed his husband’s hips, whilst Saga’s soft moans beside his ear began to arouse him. Saga’s breaths hitched in surprise as the raven head pressed their lower halves even closer; his face flushed hotly when he felt the bulge in Tora’s jeans against his crotch. Grasping the older teen’s hair in his fingers, Saga kissed Tora’s jaw, the corner of his lips, before he finally claimed that mouth again with his. He sighed into the warm cavern, feeling as if his body was on fire as his raven-haired husband started guiding his hips to grind against him.

However, Saga gripped Tora’s hair tighter and pulled them apart; although a string of saliva still connected their now parted mouths. The raven head blinked a couple of times as a realisation dawned upon him that they had almost gone too far. Not wanting his older husband to get the wrong idea, Saga caressed Tora’s cheek.

“What does it make us now?” Saga asked breathlessly.

Tora was about to answer when the door to the study was busted open by no other than Nao.

The couple in the study jumped away from each other as quickly as they could.

Nao turned his face away with a groan, “You kids, you know it’s not okay to do the nasty in a place where everyone can walk in? What would happen if our parents see you?”

At Nao’s words, Saga flushed even more brightly than before.

“Nao, you could’ve knocked,” said Tora, subconsciously messing up his already ruffled hair. There was a hint of redness on his face.

“I actually did knock. You guys just didn’t hear,” his big brother rolled his eyes.

Muttering something incoherent, Tora took Saga’s hand and they escaped from the study. Saga couldn’t look at his older cousin in the eyes as they walked past him at the doorway. As the two teenagers walked hand-in-hand on the hallway, probably heading to their shared room, Nao crossed his arms on his chest and leaned back onto the hinge.

“Newlyweds,” Nao commented, but he could hardly hide the mischievous smile at the corners of his lips.

To be continued.