aibaexchange | Gift fic for Yun_miyake Part Two (Reply)

Part One

The sun was already up and shining brightly, its warm rays making their way through the kitchen window and falling on the small wooden breakfast table. In front of Jun, who was sitting comfortably in his chair, still dressed in pyjamas, a pair of fluffy slippers and a soft blanket thrown around him, there was a cup of freshly brewed coffee, and Sho's already read and neatly folded newspaper.

The coffee was still steaming, and the fresh scent of the brown beverage was gently tickling Jun's brain, trying to wake him up. The first sip he took immediately warmed up his whole body even more. The young man released a satisfied sigh as he leaned back again in his chair, letting the sun warm his cheeks. He closed his eyes for a moment. From the living room, Sho could be heard humming a song but the noise was distant enough not to disturb Jun's – admittedly still slow - train of thoughts.

It was a peaceful morning and it was the chef's only day off during the week. Jun loved his job, he really did, but once in a while, he also really enjoyed not having to get up early and having some time just for himself. He was tempted to take another ten minutes nap right here at the breakfast table. He could afford snoozing off a little, he figured, or at least just sit still and relax for a bit longer.

Sho and Jun quickly learned that the shopping district was far less busy on a Monday than on any other day of the week. The young men concluded that once the new week started, people must be much more motivated to get their stuff done at home, even cooking for themselves, so there was less shopping in general, as well as less eating out on that day. Thus, the two business partners allowed themselves to declare Monday as their official "day off".

Which did not mean that they weren't working, of course, they just did not open up the restaurant for that one day of the week. Sho always had some kind of paper work for the restaurant to do that Jun was just happy he didn't have to deal with, and Jun himself often used this time to browse the internet or go out for a visit to the book store for getting new inspiration for new recipes. He even tried cooking one or two new things, at home, sometimes, and Sho would gladly assist in tasting the new creations.

The only thing Jun missed on such days, although he very much appreciated the chance to sleep in longer, was that he would not meet up with Aiba at the morning market. It had become an almost daily habit already, the two men usually would have some hot peppermint espresso chocolate together or a paper cup of coffee to go and then walk around the market, getting the stuff they needed for their restaurants, and chat about everything under the sun.

Jun had to admit, if someone told him about half a year ago, that he would get up early every morning, voluntarily, he would have burst into laughter. Now though, surprisingly, waking up each and every day was a much less bad thing than before, and Jun couldn't deny that this was largely thanks to the premise of meeting Aiba.

Even now, Jun already thought about if and when he would be able to see Aiba today. Usually, if they didn't meet in the morning, they would cross paths sometime during a break, run into each other at the local conbini or any other shop in the street by chance, and if that didn't happen, Jun would make sure that he and Sho would drop by at the izakaya in the evening. Yes, Jun wanted it that way. Gradually, just like his daily coffee in the morning, seeing Aiba had become just as much a daily essential of Jun's needs.

Jun took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes again, when he realized that it just happened again. His thoughts, as so often recently, had even managed to find their way through his clouded sleepy brain to that man. His heartbeat quickened, making him feel all warm and fuzzy and he felt a smile spreading wider on his lips the more his thoughts stayed on Aiba.

He couldn't be blamed if he was enchanted by that man, could he? Aiba was simply a fascinating human being. He was super nice, he was funny, he was reliable, he had a big heart, and he was a really handsome man, too. The type of handsome man that didn't know how handsome he really was, which made him even more genuine and his personality even more precious. Aiba was like the sun, a source of light and happiness, making the whole world gravitate towards him and spin around him, wanting to be close to him, being warmed by him, all so naturally.

In the beginning, Jun was immensely confused by that man who declared that they had been friends years ago. Jun felt pressured and irritated and his skeptic nature built a wall around himself immediately, as he would normally do, especially when people he didn't know – or at least did not remember – claimed to be part of his past. Ever since Jun had experienced some bad things in this aspect, he became careful and critical, in order to protect himself, but with Aiba, it had turned out to be a completely different story.

The wall Jun built between them in the beginning had started to crumble on the day he first met Aiba at the morning market. Aiba allowed Jun to make his point clear, he allowed him to draw the lines around him that he needed. Then, he simply approached Jun anew, with a friendly smile on his face, and his heart open, to get to know and reacquaint the for him "new" Jun, who didn't know him yet. This gesture was enough for Jun to almost immediately realize that there was actually no need to protect himself from Aiba. Aiba would never harm him. Aiba really was a good person. Actually, he was the best.

Looking back to that day, Jun really regretted that he was mean towards Aiba by forbidding him to call him with his given name. The man was just being friendly and cheerful, as it was his nature, and the disappointment in his eyes from Jun's initial rejection, still stood with Jun as a painful stab in his heart.

Since then, the two of them had come quite far together, re-bonding what apparently had been there years ago, even if for Jun, it all felt new. New and exciting. Once, when Aiba accidentally switched to call Jun by his given name, Jun just let it slip. It did not feel intruding or unfitting, it didn't even really come as a surprise, instead, it felt warm and… right. Since then, he allowed Aiba to call him however he liked. With his friendly personality, Aiba quickly managed to fully gain Jun's trust, and apparently - as Jun couldn’t deny any longer – also his love.

Jun never expected to feel so intrigued by a "stranger", and he really still could not remember a single thing from his joint childhood with Aiba, but this did not keep him from falling in love with the man. He could imagine very well, why he and Aiba were friends before, and by now he reached a point on which he was just grateful that they managed to become friends again.

Maybe, there was even potential for more. Maybe, there had been more, in the past? Jun didn't know, and he did not dare to ask Aiba about this, yet.

Of course, Jun had no idea how Aiba was thinking about the whole situation. It was a fact that Aiba was kind and friendly to everyone and everything. He was popular with his customers at the izakaya, popular with all the sales people at the morning market and the rest of the neighbourhood, and his best friend Nino was obviously overprotective about him. All this just showed, how much people treasured Aiba, and Jun couldn't blame them. It was like the whole world loved Aiba, and Aiba loved the whole world in return.

Thus, it was hard to tell, what exactly Aiba's friendliness towards Jun meant. If it even bore some deeper meaning, or if Aiba was just being nice because Jun was an old friend. Jun had no idea how Aiba would react to a confession of love, if he would be happy and accept his feelings, maybe even answer them, or if he would turn Jun down with an apologetic smile on his face. Jun was pretty sure that Aiba was single at the moment, he surely would know if not, as Aiba didn't seem to be the type to keep a relationship in secret. Moreover, officially Jun didn't even know if Aiba was possibly interested in men.

Eventually, Jun wanted to find out, of course. He didn't plan to build up his crush and lock his feelings all to himself forever. He wanted to share them. He had not been able to do so in a long time, mistrusting most people he got to know – except Sho, probably – and with Aiba, it was different, too.

Actually, not too long ago, Jun even almost told Aiba about his intentions towards him – before he got interrupted by Ishihara. Since then, there had not really been a good chance to convey his feelings. Somehow, fate seemed to be against Jun's plans and with the missed chances, Jun's doubts grew.

Maybe, this was karma, Jun thought. He forgot everything about his childhood friends, he had probably hurt them because of this, and thus, maybe now he wasn't allowed to follow his feelings.

Jun wasn't completely sure how he should deal with this situation, and so he tended to push the issue farther back into a corner of his mind, but he was definitely sure that he enjoyed Aiba's company, and that he wanted to be close to that man as much as he could, and as often as he could. If he should drop by in the izakaya tonight again? Or maybe even for lunch?

Jun's day dreaming about how he would show up at Aiba's place and order some of his special gyoza, was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Jun frowned. Did Sho or he expect some delivery? Did someone of the neighbours need anything?

When Jun heard Sho's voice coming through the wall from the restroom, asking him to answer the door, the bell rang again, and Jun placed the coffee mug that was warming his hands right now, back on the table. He got up, wrapping his blanket a bit tighter around him, not to expose his Funashi-patterned pajamas directly to any potential disrupter.

He shuffled down the short hallway and then quickly glanced through the peephole of their apartment door. What – or better who – he saw then, made his heart skipped a beat.

It was Aiba.

Jun definitely didn't expect such a visitor, but he would be a liar if he said he wasn't overjoyed to see that face. Wasn't he just thinking about when he might be able to see Aiba today? Even if it was definitely earlier than he ever expected… didn’t he have to work at a time like this? As far as Jun could remember, Aiba had once told him that the izakaya didn't really take a day off. But there he was, standing right in front of Jun's door and… yeah, why was he even here?

"Jun? Sho-kun?" Aiba's voice followed a knock against the door. "Is anybody home?"

Looking down at himself, Jun considered for a second to rush into his bedroom and change into more presentable clothes. However, he feared that Aiba would give up and go home, and so he just tightened the blanket around him a bit more and quickly brushed his hand through his hopefully not still too messy looking bed hair.

"Uhm… Coming!" Jun answered, before he reached for the door to unlock and open it.

"Good morning!" Aiba chimed happily, when the door swung open and Jun was greeted by the usual, sun-like smile that made his heart bloom.

"Did you just read my thoughts?" Jun bubbled at a lack of anything smarter and less awkward to say, before he cursed himself inwardly.

"Excuse me?" Aiba frowned, slightly confused. Of course, without knowledge of Jun's whole previous inner monologue, Aiba had no link to that strange comment.

"Ah, forget it," Jun replied, smiling back at his visitor to smooth over the awkwardness he created. "I'm still tired and talking nonsense..."

Someone cleared his throat and Jun and Aiba's heads whirled towards the source of the noise. Nino was standing just a few steps away from Aiba, who he was obviously accompanying.

"Oh." Jun had to admit that he did not notice the young man at all.

"Good Morning," Nino said, sounding much less grumpy than usual.

Jun smiled. Things between him and Nino were still awkward, but ever since the day of the catering at Ohno's gallery, the young man had become significantly nicer to him, almost making Jun feel as if they would be able to be friends – again – one day. Sho confessed to Jun on the same evening that he had clarified the situation about Jun's memory loss to Aiba and Nino, which apparently solved some misunderstandings they had about the situation. Jun had to admit that he didn’t even consider telling his two old friends the whole truth about his amnesia, but maybe, it would have been a good idea to do so from the beginning. Just, when he first came back here, he didn't care then, different from now. In the end, he was grateful for Sho who cleared up everything. Like this, the cards were now open on the table.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners," Jun chuckled. "Good morning to both of you. I'm surprised to see you at a time like this, what about the izakaya?" he looked at Aiba and then turned back to address Nino. "And don't you have film school to attend?"

"I don't have classes today," Nino simply explained, and with that, the topic was done, and they were back to awkward.

"I'm sorry if this comes off like a raid, but we're here to pick you up!" Aiba jumped in, excited. "Since it's your day off, we hoped that you might have a bit of time on hand, how is it?"

"Uhm, yeah, but why?" Jun asked.

"Look!" Aiba reached behind his back and with a broad grin, he pulled out a baseball bat.

"Whoa!" Surprised, Jun stepped back before he raised a playful eyebrow at his friend. "Are you going to rob me for real? I will hand out my most delicious secret recipe only in exchange with your family's secret gyoza recipe."

"I'm really sorry but there is no way I can tell you that," Aiba chuckled irresistibly. He then put down the bat, leaning on it with one hand, and leaned a bit forward, closing the distance between him and Jun. "But maybe there's something else I can offer for trading?"

For a moment, Jun wondered, if the young man in front of him was actually making some suggestive innuendos here or if he was simply joking. Deciding to go with the flow anyway, Jun slightly tilted his head and pursed his lips.

"I can think about it and let you know... ," he said in a low voice, allowing his gaze to drop onto Aiba's beautiful and inviting soft lips before locking eyes with the man again. "There might be something else I'd like to get from you..."

"Oh, is that so?" Aiba stepped even closer, raising an eyebrow while a smirk spread over his lips. "I will wait for your answer then."

Jun held his breath, feeling his heart pounding heavily at the top of his throat. He was so close to leap forward and –

"Ahem!"

When Jun finally managed to take his eyes off from Aiba, he saw Nino staring at him, obviously annoyed. How embarrassing...

"Sorry to interrupt your... conversation," Nino started. "But that's not what we actually come for."

"Uhm, yeah, right," Aiba said, stepping back a little. "Actually, we're here to invite you to come along to play some baseball with us!"

"Baseball, huh? Hm…," for some reason, Jun couldn't help but grin.

It was his day off and there were two of his old childhood friends standing in front of his apartment door to pick him up to go play. Somehow, that was kind of cute, wasn't it? He wondered, if they had done this before, if the feeling he should actually experience right now was nostalgia. However, even without any recollection of joined baseball matches, he was happy that the two men showed up and asking him to accompany them.

"We're on a team since forever and want to use the nice weather for practice," Aiba continued explaining.

"In fact, he's the only active member of said team, nowadays," Nino cut in. "I'm just being dragged along because playing all by himself bores him, and the others can't make it."

"The others?" Jun raised his eyebrows.

"Well, from our team in the old days, there are Yuriko-chan and Toma who are still in town, but they can't come with us today because of work," Aiba started listing. "We even invited Ohno-san to join us last year, but Ishihara forbids him to participate because she's worried for his artist hands… He then came along one time to watch us play and fell asleep while sitting on the bench and sketching."

"What a shame," Jun said but couldn't hide a smirk at that image. Eventually, he wondered if he had ever been part of this funny team too…

"So I thought, you might be interested," Aiba continued. "Do you like baseball?"

"I indeed do like baseball, but I… I can't remember if I ever played it," Jun replied honestly.

Most likely, he did as a kid, and even possible, he probably did so together with Aiba and Nino, Jun thought. They didn't mention that yet, though, maybe they didn't want to make him feel pressured to remember anything. He really appreciated that.

"No problem. Do you want to try it?" Aiba asked. "It's fun!"

"Well, why not?" Jun replied with a smile spreading on his lips. If Aiba asked him to spend time with him, surely, he couldn't refuse.

"Great!" Aiba exclaimed.

He grinned widely at Jun, until something behind the young man suddenly distracted him. When Jun turned around to see what caught Aiba's attention, he almost lost it, when he saw his roommate slowly coming closer, doing a casual walk and -

"Nino look, Sho-kun … he's not wearing a shirt," Aiba commented on the scene, emphasizing the last part of the sentence and nudging his friend teasingly with his elbow, who had apparently frozen.

"He did that on purpose, I swear, just before he was fully dressed," Jun whispered towards the two visitors. "He must have undressed just for you," he added, directed at Nino.

Aiba exchanged a smug grin, first with Jun, then with Nino, who just turned around, leaning with his back against the doorway with crossed arms, so that Sho wasn't in his field of vision any longer. It was clearly visible though; that there was a faint tint of red spreading on the young man's face. So Sho's actions didn't leave him completely cold, at least, Jun noted, pleased.

"Can we just go now?" Nino lamented. As always, he probably would rather eat glass than admit that he could be a tiny bit interested in Sho.

Sho, though, took the young man's repulsive behaviour as a challenge, apparently, as he sped up his steps towards his friends and pushed his head through the front door to greet the visitors.

"Aiba-kun, Ninomiya-kun, what a nice surprise! Did I hear you say baseball?"

"We wanted to find some companions for playing baseball," Aiba explained. "Right, Nino?"

"You wanted to ask him if he wants to come along," the younger man replied, pointing at Jun.

Sho, not caring about the risk of being seen by his neighbours half-dressed like he was, set his feet outside and walked around to Nino. He stopped in front of him and leaned a bit forward, supporting his body with his elbow against the wall next to the young man. His face came dangerously close to Nino's and Jun as well as Aiba could almost see the nervous shiver running down Nino's spine at the intrusion of his personal space.

"Do you need a fourth player?" Sho then asked in a low voice.

Groaning and red like a tomato, Nino turned around after he was defeated in a minute staring contest not even lasting a minute. He pressed himself against the wall between him and Sho as if he needed something to hold on to, his face turned towards Aiba and Jun, who both seemed highly amused by the situation. The pleading look in his eyes made clear that this was obviously too much for him to handle.

"Please, can we go now?" Nino asked again, desperately.

"Well, that's indeed not very subtle," Aiba murmured under his hand, and suddenly, Sho backed off a little, giving Nino more space to breathe.

"Can you even play baseball?" Nino asked his admirer, obviously a bit braver again now with the distance between them.

"I admit, I'm more the soccer type," the man replied. "But I'm not bad at sports in general, I'm sure I can be useful in a baseball match."

"Sure, please join us! The more, the merrier, right?" Of course, Aiba was all in.

"Masaki!" Nino exclaimed in disbelief. "You traitor!"

Jun burst into laughter.

"Then it's settled," Aiba declared excitedly, and Nino had no choice but to give in, too.

He quickly glanced at Sho and – at the sight of the man's naked chest – averted his eyes again, just as fast, before he said, "You should go get dressed, now! You'll catch a cold, like this, Stupid!"

"Don't worry about me, Beautiful," Sho sing-sang, coming a step closer again. "I'm immune against everything."

In the end, Jun couldn't watch the scene anymore and instead carefully took Sho by his elbow.

"We both should get dressed more appropriately," he said, flashing Aiba a smile before he pulled Sho into the apartment. "We'll be right back!"

- - + - -

It turned out that Sho was leaning a bit too far out of the window with his statement of being good at sports, when he completely missed the ball about all the time and it finally even hit his forehead instead of his bat, and knocked him out.

"Woops... and there I thought, he's immune against everything," Nino said from his pitcher position, loud enough so that everyone could hear him.

"Not against being knocked out by baseballs, obviously!" Jun, who immediately ran towards his fallen friend from the middle field, yelling, feeling pissed, while passing the pitcher. "Now look what you did!"

"What?!" Nino's voice cracked. "It's not my fault he can't play! He... just stood there like stupid and didn't even swing the bat properly!"

"Come here now and help us!" Jun shot back when he finally reached Sho and knelt down beside his friend. It seemed, the force of the ball had made the man pass out, and there was a red mark on the spot where it hit his forehead.

"He'll be fine, won't he?" Nino could be heard from his position, still hesitating to come closer, and if Jun heard correctly, he sounded more worried than he might be willing to admit.

"Sho? Sho!" Jun yelled, while reaching his hands to slightly slap Sho's cheeks in order to make him become conscious again.

"Don't panic, Jun," Aiba tried to calm down the young man.

Since he, as the catcher, was positioned closest to Sho when it happened, he was already bending over and checking on the baseball's victim, making sure that he wasn't too badly injured. A groan coming from Sho then assured the two men, that indeed there was no need to freak out.

"Ah, he's coming back, look! Sho-kun? You're alright?"

Another groan followed when the man tried to sit up, supported by Aiba. "Ouch... what was that?"

"Sho! Are you OK?" Jun asked, darting a worried look at his friend.

"What?" Sho looked around a little confused. "Yes, yes I'm OK, just... ouch, that hurt..."

Jun released a sigh of relief and threw his hands around his friend. "Oh thank god..."

When Jun released Sho from his hug, Aiba leaned a bit forward again. He was all calm, which Jun really admired at this moment, and checked the bruise on Sho's forehead once more. He nodded.

"The wound doesn't bleed, it does not seems too bad. I guess, if you take a rest and make sure to cool the bruise, you'll be back to normal in no time," the man said. "Or do you feel dizzy or sick to the stomach or something?"

Sho negated Aiba's question, and claimed to only feel a bit dizzy and light in the head, which was understandable after what happened and surely would go away by itself.

"OK. If you still feel dizzy by the end of the day, you should better go to the hospital to get checked," Aiba noted.

"Thanks, Aiba-kun," Sho said.

"Nino, can you take him to the bench and make sure he's cooling the bruise?" Aiba then reached out to his friend, who was still standing in the same spot from which he had thrown the ball, even if one of his feet had moved a bit forward in the meantime, as if he was about to come closer, but still didn't really have the courage to.

"What?!" the younger man seemed to freak out. "Why me?!"

"Because you threw the ball!" Aiba and Jun replied in sync, before looking at each other, surprised.

"OK, fine...," Nino finally gave up and came closer to the three men.

His face was flushed red when he bent down and looked at Sho. It was obvious that he felt embarrassed and guilty about what happened, but as expected, the young man didn't say a word about it. Jun wasn't really surprised, but he wished, Nino could be a bit more honest about his feelings. In the meantime, he had learned that the young man was far from being the cold and arrogant brat he often pretended to be. He was just a typical case of hard shell, soft core. Still, it could be a bit annoying, at times.

"C-come on, Sakurai-san," Nino finally offered his help to Sho, pulling him up and when Sho, after swaying slightly, got hold of the young man's shoulder, Nino arranged their position properly, so that he could help the injured man safely to the side of the field.

"Who would have thought I just need to let you knock me out in order to get close to you," Sho chuckled, while letting Nino guide him to sit down on the bench where they stored their bags and other stuff.

"Let's pretend that was your damaged brain speaking," Nino murmured, letting go of Sho and devoting himself to search Aiba's bag for the obligatory cooling pad, the man would bring with him wisely – as it wasn't the first time someone got hit by a ball in the history of leisure baseball practices.

"Here, press this to the wound," the young man said, handing the item to Sho, as soon as he found it.

"Thanks." Sho obeying Nino's instructions.

"Uhm... Is there... anything I can do for you?" Nino then asked, insecurely. "Get you something to drink, maybe?"

"There's indeed something...," Sho said after a few seconds of thinking, and Nino just looked at him, curiously when the man parted his lips again. "Can I get your number?"

"Oh, shut up, will you?" the other man exploded.

"Is that a yes?" Sho grinned, not giving up. "You can't deny a dying man his last wish, can you?"

"You're not going to die, oh my gosh," Nino rolled his eyes.

Jun smiled, relieved. If his friend was still in the mood for flirting, the situation couldn't be that bad. He would be fine.

"Lie down now and rest!" Nino commanded, pointing at the bench and letting a towel from Aiba's bag drop on top of Sho's lap, before he added, "Something more realistic that I can provide you with?"

Sho gave his best puppy eyes. "May I use your lap as a pillow?"

It took Nino a while to reply to that question, but in the end, he sat down on the bench next to Sho. He grabbed the towel he had just handed the other man, and put it on top of his lap before averting his eyes, and finally replied with a red-flushed face.

"Fine, but only this time, and only because you're an injured man and it's my fault...," he mumbled.

A wide happy grin grew on Sho's lips, and he didn't dare saying anything more, but shifted and carefully lay down on the bench, bedding his head on the pillow Nino created for him.

"Those two...," Aiba chuckled after witnessing the whole scene together with Jun.

The two men were standing not so far away from the others, but apparently, Aiba felt that it was time to leave them some more privacy. He stood up and as if it was the most normal thing in the world, reached out to take Jun by his hand, pull him up and drag him with him. Jun's heart started racing and suddenly, his hand felt extremely warm, as if Aiba's energy was flowing right into him though their connection. Their hands still linked, because Jun would beware of letting go of Aiba, he swore he would follow him anywhere, they started walking, aiming to just stroll around on the field.

"Has Nino always been like that?" Jun finally asked, when they were out of earshot, trying to get his thoughts off the fact that he was freaking holding hands with Aiba. "So... uhm... rough, I mean?"

"Well," Aiba said, thinking, before he continued his reply with a smile darted at Jun. "He needs time to accept someone's affection – and obviously, he can't deal with flirting – but when he reaches that point I'm sure, everything will be fine, as long as the other person doesn't hurt him and loses his trust."

"Sho won’t even hurt a fly, he will never hurt Nino, I can vouch for that!" Jun immediately said, determined. "He can trust him for sure!"

"I totally believe you," Aiba replied, still smiling.

They walked on for a while, a warm breeze surrounding them, and Aiba was still holding Jun's hand. It felt so nice, that Jun wished the other man would never let go, even if he knew it was a stupid wish. He didn't even know if Aiba was still holding his hand only because he had forgotten that he had pulled Jun with him, or if he indeed wanted to hold Jun's hand.

Suddenly, Jun stopped, but at the same time he enforced the grip around Aiba's hand, to make sure they would stay connected, even if it’s just for a little longer. His heart was pounding hard in his chest, and his eyes started to trace invisible patterns on the ground, as he didn't dare to look at Aiba, who came to halt too, turning around to give Jun a questioning look.

"What's wrong?" Aiba asked, his voice sounding warm, like usual.

Jun swallowed. He pulled himself together and locked eyes with Aiba, finally allowing something that had started to fluster in his heart, to be spoken.

"Did you stop trusting me? You and Nino?" the young man asked. "I mean... I don't know but somehow... I feel like I'm partially at fault for this," he continued, making a vague gesture behind him to indicate that he was still talking about Nino, but thankfully, Aiba seemed to understand exactly what Jun wanted to convey.

Quickly, the man shook his head, heavily. "Don't say that, Jun! It's neither your fault that Nino lost people in his life that he loved, nor that you had an accident and lost your memories about us."

Jun took a deep breath. His guilty conscious wasn't beaten yet. "Still, you guys thought I didn't care about you anymore. You must have thought I'm a huge jerk. But…," he paused, trying to find the right words to express his feelings. "Even if I still can't remember it, I am convinced that I didcare about you guys a lot."

And now, he did again. Especially, when it came to Aiba.

"I believe you, I really do!" Aiba replied, smiling happily. "And now we know what happened to you, and Nino really isn't mad at you anymore, believe me."

"So you think we can really be friends again, all of us?" Jun wanted to clarify, before getting his hopes up too high.

"If you ask me, we already are," Aiba replied with a smile and slightly pressed Jun's hand. "Nino just isn't the type to show affection so openly, you know?" he added, chuckling.

Jun turned around again to look for Nino. Sho had somehow managed to still keep his position with his head bedded on Nino's lap and while pressing down the cooling pad on his forehead. Nino leaned over on the bench, a bit sideway, apparently to scribble something down on a piece of paper. The wind brought the men's voices to where Jun and Aiba were standing, and they could hear them talking, almost as clear, as if they were standing right next to the two men.

"Here we go," Nino said, handing the piece of paper to Sho.

"What? Oh my god, really?" the man asked, excited, as he took it and held it up, so that he could read what was written on it. "Hey, that's not a number," he then lamented, his voice dripping from disappointment. He dropped his hand and started wriggling around in his lying position. "You just wrote idiot!"

"Well, It's what you deserve, idiot," Nino replied before he scolded the other man again, "Now keep still or you'll start feeling sick!"

"So this is Nino's way of showing affection?" Jun asked, throwing a critical frown at Aiba.

The other man chuckled slightly embarrassed. "You… could say so. Well, one of his ways of showing affection. He can be really sweet too, if he wants."

"Sakurai-san?"

Again, Nino's voice could be heard, and once more, Jun turned around to look at him and Sho.

"I - I'm sorry," the young man continued.

There was a pause between the two men, before Sho finally replied.

"What? Sorry, what did you just say?" apparently, he was unable to trust his ears.

"I won't repeat it. You heard me," Nino grumbled. "Now turn around the paper."

"Turn the paper? What?" confused, Sho did as he was told and flipped over the small piece of paper, and if Nino didn't order him again to lay still, he might have jumped up in excitement, unable to believe his eyes. "Oh! Your number?!"

"Shut up now and rest!" Nino simply replied, trying to hide his embarrassed looking face behind his hand.

"Thank you!" Sho said, overly happy. "I'm going to treasure it, I swear!"

"See?" Aiba chuckled, looking at Jun. "He's cute, isn’t he?"

Jun indeed had to admit, that somehow, Aiba was right. It might not be everybody's taste, but he could understand how some people – including Aiba and Sho, apparently – could interpret Nino's behaviour as cute. In the end, the most important thing was that Sho was successful with his approaches towards Nino, and as it seemed, he finally managed to create a crack in Nino's thick shell. Actually, Jun considered this as a quite big achievement, and maybe the first step in the right direction. He was happy for his friend.

A few seconds later, Jun targeted his next words at Aiba again. "How about you?"

"Me?" confused, Aiba lifted his eyebrows. "If I am cute?!"

The other man burst into laughter. "No, no... I – I mean, I'm sure you are, but what I meant is…"

Jun hesitated. This was probably not the right timing to make a love confession to Aiba, but at least, he could use the chance to clear a few things, right? To maybe smooth the way for the future, by trying to put his past, that he even couldn't remember, behind himself.

"Have you ever been mad at me? Because I forgot all about us?" Jun finally asked the question he really wanted an answer for.

"Ah, that's what you're talking about," Aiba caught up, immediately.

He made sure to lock eyes with Jun, and then smiled softly at him. He reached out his free hand to touch Jun's arm, causing Jun's heart to stop beating for a second at the additional touch, and a pleasant shiver running down his spine.

"No, Jun... don't worry," Aiba continued, his voice low and smooth, like it was meant to calm down Jun's doubt. "Deep inside I always knew you wouldn't just let us down. I always had the feeling that there must be a good reason for you to stop contacting us. I didn't know what it was, but I was right, after all. I've never been mad at you."

Jun swallowed. His heart was beating again, now becoming faster and faster with each second. He took a deep breath.

"Disappointed?" he asked. He wasn't finished yet, but Aiba just shook his head slightly.

"Jun... stop it, OK? Everything's good now," soothingly, Aiba allowed his hand to start rubbing Jun's arm, until it slid up and stayed at his shoulder, pressing it lovingly, as if to ensure that Jun could trust him. "I'm just happy you didn't have it worse with the accident. I can't even imagine what happened if you...," he trailed off but quickly got himself back on track. "I missed you and I'm just endlessly grateful that we have been given the chance to meet again."

There was a pause, during which Jun and Aiba just exchanged eye contact. Jun was unable to speak. He didn't know what to say. In fact, Jun probably wouldn't mind staying like this and watch Aiba until the end of time, without saying anything, drowning in his friendly warm brown eyes and feeling his heart pounding fast in his chest... It felt unreal, electrifying, almost magical, and at the same time, strangely familiar... He swallowed again.

"You're too good for this world, you know that?" Jun finally said in an almost whisper, and when Aiba's hand slipped down from his shoulder, to find its way to Aiba's neck that the man scratched, a little embarrassed, Jun immediately missed its presence and warmth.

"Nonsense," Aiba chuckled softly, averting his eyes.

"I mean it!" Jun declared, loud enough to make sure that the other man would look back into his eyes. He could feel his cheeks burning, but hoped, Aiba wouldn't notice. "I'm really happy too that we can meet... again," He continued. "It's... it's like a second chance, isn't it?"

"You're right," Aiba replied after a second of silence. "And I think, we deserve a second chance."

- - + - -

The air of the night was crisp, the sky above one's head was dark and clear, and if someone looked closely, they might even be able to spot a few stars sparkling down on earth from the endless universe. Those stars looked so small, just as small as Jun was feeling.

He and Sho had closed their restaurant about an hour ago, but instead of going home with Sho to accompany him on the couch for the next few hours, watching TV, until they would go to bed, Jun had decided to go for a walk. After a long and exhausting day standing behind the kitchen isle in his restaurant, he felt the urge to move his body around and loosen up a bit, before going home and calling it a day.

Now, he ended up in front of a school building – of course dark and empty at a time like this – or to be more precisely, on the playground opposite said building, sitting on a swing. The chains that linked the swing to the heavy frame, felt cold in his hands when Jun took a hold of them and from this position, he had the direct view over the street, through the bars of the closed school gate, into the yard.

In fact, at first, Jun had considered to go and pay Aiba and Nino a visit at the izakaya after a stroll around the block, but in the end, he decided against it.

Jun wondered, if he was the only one who considered things between him and Aiba getting a little awkward recently, and he wondered, if he should blame this on the crush he had developed on the man. Wasn't it always like that when people fell in love? First, Jun couldn't think of his crush enough, he couldn't see him often enough, his smile and friendly face, to hear his voice and his cheerful laughter, and wanting to be with him as much as possible. Just be with him... It was enough to make someone feel like being on cloud nine and made the heart tingle, until something started gradually pushing away this silly feeling of happiness. Something that sadly was often more powerful than the pleasant, light feeling that spread over one's whole body when being in love, something that cut in deeper, and managed to ram its claws into someone's heart.

Doubts.

Doubts, if there would ever be more. If there would be an opportunity to confess those growing feelings, and if there was even a chance those feelings could be answered. There was never a guarantee for that, and Jun had to consider whether he wanted to risk what they had built now, or keep on being quiet about it.

Of course, nothing more happened between Aiba and Jun on the baseball field the other day. After their cheesy exchange of words, they just walked back to Nino and Sho to pick up the baseball, wanting to play at least a round of catch ball, just the two of them, since they were there already. Nino threw them a slightly suspicious look when he noticed Aiba still holding Jun's hand in his when they came back to the bench. The young man himself was still sitting on the bench with Sho bedding his head on his lap, so in the end, Nino didn't dare say anything and Jun decided to ignore the slight awkwardness between the four of them, once more.

In the end, what stuck with Jun after that day, was the wording "second chance" that he and Aiba had used.

In fact, all this felt new to Jun, but he knew that it was indeed a second chance. Aiba said that they deserved it, but Jun had to admit that he was not completely sure, for what this second chance might be. Just what exactly was Aiba referring to? Their friendship?

Yeah, most likely he was talking about giving their friendship a second chance, what else could he mean? Surely, despite this feeling growing inside of Jun, this did not mean that there was more between him and Aiba in the past... right?

Although Jun's conclusion sounded reasonable to his brain, the young man's heart felt a bit different. That was probably to blame on the fact that by now he was completely in love with Aiba. When people are in love, they interpret every little thing the person they like says, in multiple ways. They might want to see signs for a reflection of their own feelings in every look, word, and little gesture by the other person, right? So what if Aiba actually did not referred to their friendship, but to something in a more romantic way? What if he and Jun had indeed been more in the past and Jun simply forgot about it?

Anyway, Jun concluded, that there were too many "what ifs" in his life recently, especially when it came to Aiba. He was thinking too much, wasn't he? After his accident, hadn't he decided to see his past as his past and his present as the only thing that mattered?

The doctors told him that he was very lucky that he didn't suffer from worse injuries, considering the state in which they apparently found him in at that time. They also told him that the chances he might remember the things he forgot were not zero, but that most likely, the more he pressured himself, the longer it might take to see any results. So, in the end, Jun decided to just focus on what was in front of him. It was all that mattered. He took the chances he got to work on his plans for the future – the only thing he could really remember about his past at that time – he met Sho, made plans with him to fulfil his dream of opening a restaurant and eventually succeeded. This was everything that counted, wasn't it? At least, that was what Jun thought.

Of course, there was a time during which Jun tried to remember. It seemed natural to at least try. However, Jun did not find out anything good from that. His parents never pushed him to remember, and, considering their behaviour, Jun quickly figured that their marriage did not seem to go very well. Maybe, they were never a happy family, and maybe, his parents didn't want him to remember the tough times. Maybe, it was better like this.

Further, one time, Jun was even fooled by some guy who claimed to be an old friend, who Jun apparently owed money. Being young and gullible, Jun believed that guy, gave him money, and then the man was gone from his life – with Jun's money and leaving behind the bitter after taste of being betrayed, and not able to trust anyone ever that soon... It was only when Jun got to know Sho that he started trusting people again. But he stayed careful.

Long story short, Jun soon figured that his past was probably not worth being examined and rediscovered. He had lost the contacts to those people who might really be his friends, but maybe, there wasn't anything good to find either. It probably wasn't worth the trouble. Or so, he thought.

But now, things were different. Now, there was Aiba. And since Jun met Aiba and learned how wonderful a person that man was, slowly but surely a wish was developed in Jun's heart that he didn't think he would ever have again. He wanted to remember. At least, he wanted to remember Aiba and the things between them.

Even if Aiba wasn't pushing him at all, even if he seemed to accept Jun the way he was now, Jun wanted to remember. Maybe, deep inside his heart, that yearning had never really vanished in the first place. Was that the reason why in the end he agreed to Sho's plan to open their restaurant in this area, his old neighbourhood? Jun thought he didn't really care, and just agreed on Sho's suggestion to shut his friend up and to prove his point that he didn't need his past in order to be a fully functional human being. But the more time Jun spent here, the more time he spent with Aiba, the more he felt like – indeed – there was something missing. Something was holding him back.

Being with Aiba made Jun feel good. Very good. He had developed feelings for that man so quickly, and naturally, that he didn't even really try to fight them. But it really started to bother him that he didn't remember anything about Aiba. And that his memory just wasn't coming back.

It hadn't mattered to him before, but now, it did. Now, he wished he could remember the times he spent together with his old friend, just as normal as other people could remember their childhood memories. He wanted to replace that feeling of incompleteness and insecurity with nostalgia and happiness. Yes, he had put the focus on creating new memories and looking forward, but with Aiba, he wanted to share everything, his present, his future, and also his past.

However, maybe, this was too much to wish for. There was nothing coming back to Jun. He had followed Sho's advice to walk around the neighbourhood, to see if there were places that seemed familiar, talk to people who knew Jun from the time he spent here during his childhood. He did. He used break times to discover (with the hope of rediscovering) the shopping district, walked down the river, checked the bay, talked to people, met with Aiba and spent quite a big part of his time with him, either at the morning market, visiting the izakaya together with Sho, or like on his last day off, playing baseball with Aiba and Nino.

Still, there was nothing more than a vaguely familiar feeling, when being with Aiba, that did not feel like it was enough. Jun was confused. He couldn't tell if this feeling was even coming from inside of himself, or if he was being influenced by the apparent fact that he indeed was friends with Aiba before. With this knowledge, his brain might be playing tricks on him, but still, he could not remember. It was frustrating.

The iron chains of the swing, Jun was still sitting on, omitted a silent shriek when the young man slowly pushed himself backwards before loosening his knees and swung forward. He allowed his feet to kick a small stone in the process, that jumped ahead and then rolled over the grass, until it clunked again someone's shoe.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Jun stopped swinging, pushing his legs into the gravel underneath him. He lifted his gaze from the stranger's shoes, just to find out surprisingly, that they didn't belong to a stranger. Jun's heart made a jump when he recognized the man in front of him. "Aiba..."

The man came a few steps closer and in the dim light from a street lamp, Jun could see a smile forming on his face.

"Jun, hey! What are you doing here all alone in the dark?" Aiba asked.

"Oh, I was just going for a walk and ended up here...," Jun replied, truthfully.

Aiba quickly turned around, pointing at the school building on the other side of the street. "This is our old primary school."

"I figured...," Jun smiled.

"It's been a while since I've been here too." There was melancholy in Aiba's voice, as he looked back at the building once again, before turning back to Jun.

"What made you end up here?" the younger man asked.

"Oh, I was just dropping by the conbini but they didn't have our favourite snacks, so I went the extra mile to another store and bought them there. I'm on my way home now," Aiba explained with a smile, lifting a plastic bag for demonstration.

Jun remembered the first encounter – well, reencounter, practically – with Aiba, several weeks ago, when the man dropped a bag of snacks in front of a conbini. Jun couldn't help but grin, feeling the warm feeling spreading inside his chest. Yes, he actually remembered something connected to Aiba, and it felt strange and good at the same time.

"Also got some beer, of course," Aiba added, coming even closer and pulling out some kind of new beer mix beverage with lemon flavour, to show it off. "We don't sell this brand at the izakaya, my parents find it too modern and not fitting our traditional meals..."

Jun hummed. "Looks interesting. For you and Nino?" he assumed.

"Yeah, for me and Nino," Aiba replied. He shuffled over the gravel beneath the swing, approaching Jun even further, until he stood right in front of him. "We planned to watch an episode of our favourite TV-show but...," Aiba pointed at the second swing, next to Jun. "Do you mind if I sit down for a bit?"

"Oh," Jun straightened his back. "No, please, take a seat."

"You want a can of beer?" Aiba offered, smiling.

"How many did you buy?"

"Two."

Jun chuckled. "I can't drink Nino's beer, can I?"

"Then I'll give you my can of beer and I will drink Nino's," the other man grinned.

"Does this make the situation any better?" Jun wondered, but Aiba had already pulled out the two cans of beer, holding one towards Jun.

"Does it not?" he asked, trying to wink and Jun laughed.

"OK, if you insist, I gladly accept your offer," he gave in and took the can Aiba offered, with a thankful nod. They both opened the cans with a soft quiet hiss, and then, Aiba reached out to clink their cans.

"Good then... to the good... new times, I guess," he said, smiling widely.

Of course, Jun saw what Aiba did there, and he appreciated his choice of words, but with respect to Aiba, he added something more, "And the old..."

"To the good old times, and new times," Aiba finally summarized with a soft chuckle.

Jun's heart felt warm and fuzzy. Aiba was just too cute, and he never failed to make Jun smile. The two men took a sip of their lemon beer, which surprisingly didn't taste bad at all, and Jun smirked against the aluminum can when he heard Aiba releasing a satisfied sigh.

"Surprisingly good," Aiba noted and Jun hummed in agreement.

They stayed silent for a while, kept on drinking, and Jun wondered, what they should talk about. It was probably not even necessary to talk, he could just sit here in silence next to Aiba, who started swinging back and forth slightly, his feet still on the gravel underneath him, and just coexist, enjoying the other man's presence. But Jun didn't know, if Aiba felt the same, or if he was rather bored by his silent companion. With his heart beating a bit faster, Jun started searching for the right words to say, when suddenly, he knew what he wanted to talk about.

"Actually," he finally started, immediately drawing Aiba's attention towards him. Jun almost thought about switching directions, but in the end, he stayed true to his plan. "I walked by the school building and decided to stay here because I hoped it would trigger some memories or something... But the fact is, I still can't remember anything at all. It's frustrating."

Aiba stopped swinging, and he blinked at Jun, slightly confused.

"I thought you don't care about remembering your past?" he asked in a silent voice.

"Uhm, I said that, yes. And for a long time, I really thought so," Jun agreed. He averted his eyes, feeling his cheeks getting warmer. "But to be honest, the longer I stay here," the longer he was with Aiba, but he didn't say that out loud, "The more I want to remember." He sighed, lifting his look and guiding it to the opposite side of the street, reading the school's sign. "After all, Sho was right. He said, returning here will surely have some kind of effect on me and yes, it's true, it affects me just... why isn't my memory coming back?"

After a few seconds of silence, Aiba replied, his voice still low. "I wished I could answer that question..."

Jun swallowed. By now, he could feel his fast beating heart like hammering in his throat. If Aiba wanted him to remember too? If maybe there was even a special reason, why he might want him to remember?

"I know, you're not a doctor or anything, I'm sorry..."

"No, it's fine," Aiba replied. "It's understandable that you're frustrated."

Something else popped up Jun's mind. For a moment, he debated with himself if he should bring it to the conversation or not, but then, curiosity won. He turned towards Aiba again, and swallowed once more, trying to work against his suddenly completely dry feeling throat, before he finally gathered the courage to ask.

"Is it true that we... I mean, you and me, that we wanted to open up a restaurant together?"

Aiba blinked at him. "How do you know?"

"Nino seemed to have mentioned something in a text message to Sho and he told me about it," Jun explained, immediately earning a frown from his friend.

"Sorry, wait, Nino is texting Sho-kun?" Aiba asked, shocked. "For real?!"

Jun shrugged. "From time to time, as it seems. You didn't know?"

"I guess, he's hiding it very well," Aiba murmured, furrowing his eyebrows, and Jun couldn't help but smiled, feeling amused.

"Maybe he's still embarrassed."

"Maybe. But I'm happy he's trying," Aiba nodded. "Let's hope things will go well with him and Sho."

"Yes," Jun replied. They were still holding eye contact, but slowly, Jun became insecure again. Aiba didn't reply to his question. Maybe he didn't want to talk about that topic? Aiba told him, he had never been angry at Jun, but what if he wasn't completely honest about that?

"So... about your question," luckily Aiba came back to him, eventually. "Yes, it's true."

Jun sighed heavily. He averted his eyes again, letting his look fall down to the ground. A rush of guilt took over him.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice slightly broken. Hopefully, Aiba could even hear him talking. "I messed up that plan, obviously."

"It's not your fault, you didn't know about it anymore," Aiba replied, again, too good to be true on this planet. "Now things are as they are. There's no need to feel sorry. I admit, first, I was disappointed when I found out you opened a restaurant together with Sho-kun, but I was also happy for you," Aiba smiled honestly, and Jun's heart melted away. "And by the time I found out that you have a reason why you couldn't remember our plan anymore, everything was fine already. Now you've got your own restaurant with Sho-kun, and it's great, and I've got the izakaya, and I love it there too. Everything's fine, really. I'm just happy you're back."

Jun took a deep breath, noticing that he was shaking from emotions by now.

"OK," he whispered. It was everything he could say at that moment.

There was so much more he wanted to say, and do, he wanted to apologize over and over, but it probably would make Aiba feel uncomfortable. He wanted to jump up and throw his arms around Aiba's neck, hugging him close, but that, maybe, would make the other man feel uncomfortable too. In the end, Jun just stayed in place, trying to drown the emotional chaos that was about to overwhelm him. He felt like being on the verge of crying actually, but somehow, with Aiba besides him, he managed to calm down again. Eventually, Jun found his voice once more. He took another sip of his beer, before turning to Aiba again, trying to smile.

"Do you mind talking to me, for a bit longer, Aiba?" he asked, and when he earned a slightly confused look from the other man, he continued. "I mean, would you... tell me some more things from our past? Or, just something, I don't care, just... talk to me for a while please, so that I won't lose my mind..."

Aiba looked at Jun for a few seconds, and of course, he ended up smiling. It was Aiba after all.

"Sure... Let's see...," the young man started, before he paused again.

To Jun's surprise, he then reached his arm out to hook it around the chain of Jun's swing that was closer to him, and with that, automatically pulled them closer together. They were so close, suddenly, Jun's heart stopped beating for a moment. Adjusting their position, Aiba then even went so far that he sneaked his arm around Jun's elbow, and if there was daylight, the immediate blush on Jun's face would have been visible, but thanks to the darkness, he didn't get exposed.

"So, we went to school here, together...," Aiba continued after clearing his throat, pointing with his other hand in which he was still holding his can of beer, towards the building in front of them. "You, me and Nino. We even attended the same class, every year. Except from our first year, then Nino was still in another class, but he always came to meet us during lunch break and whenever possible."

"So he was always the clingy type when it comes to you?" Jun asked, smirking, but apparently, things weren't that simple.

"Well, you and me, we used to be his only friends," Aiba started to explain. "He grew up in an orphanage, you see? Living there wasn't always easy for him. Of course, he had a place to stay, he got food when he was hungry, but he never really felt at home. He was a really small and quiet boy, and at school he often became a victim of bullying."

Jun listened to Aiba's talking silently, his heart feeling slightly heavy about hearing this story about Nino. "But you protected him," he whispered his conclusion.

"We protected him," Aiba corrected him, tightening the grip around Jun's arm, moving even closer to him, until Jun could feel the warmth emitting from Aiba's face. "And he protected us, when needed. We became friends and since then, it's always been the three of us. We became inseparable," Aiba smiled and Jun couldn't help but mirror the expression.

"That sounds so nice... being friends like that with two people from early age," he said, wishing, he could actually remember how it felt. "It's unimaginable how someone could possibly forget that..."

"Don't blame yourself, Jun, please. It's not your fault," Aiba repeated, and Jun knew he was right.

"What about the owners of the flower shop?" he then asked instead, to keep the conversation going. "They are married, aren't they? Aren't they our age too?"

"Ah, yes. Yuriko and Toma attended school here too," Aiba nodded. "Actually, Ishihara-san was in a parallel class too, but we weren’t that close with her at that time, actually."

"What about Ohno-san?" Jun asked, curious.

"Oh, he's not from here. I think he came from Hokkaido or so?" Aiba tilted his head, almost knocking against Jun's in the progress. "He doesn't talk much, as you might have noticed. But I remember clearly the first time he showed up here. That was just a few years ago." The young man chuckled. "It was fun. He rented the place down the street, where he has his gallery and atelier now, and he had no idea on how to handle everything. It was a mess. He was a mess."

Jun chuckled too. "Isn't he still a bit of a mess?"

"Well, a bit?" Aiba replied with a grin. "It's his nature, I guess. But it was far worse at that time. So one day at the izakaya I asked Ishihara, who was searching for a job back then, to go and offer her help to that new quirky artist. She went to him, and she did miracles. She organized not only Ohno's working place, she organized his whole life!"

"And she does, since then, I suppose," Jun added, joining in Aiba's admirations of the woman's achievements.

"She does. She became his full-time assistant, that's really amazing," Aiba said and Jun nodded.

"Are he and Ishihara... you know... together?" the younger man then couldn't resist to ask.

Another cute tilt of Aiba's head. "Well, that's the real question here, isn't it...?"

Apparently, Jun wasn't the only one who saw this as a mystery, he realized, chuckling.

"How did Yuriko and Toma end up together?" he asked instead.

Aiba hummed, wondering. "I think they hit off together during our last school trip when Yuriko guided our completely freaked out Toma out of that haunted house we visited in an amusement park."

Jun burst into laughter at the image of the girl pulling a man close to tears out of a haunted house. Aiba pulling on his elbow to make him stop.

"She's a tough one, isn't she?"

"We're surrounded by powerful women," Aiba admitted with a smirk dancing on his just so beautiful lips.

Jun suddenly realized that by now, their faces had somehow gotten extremely close to each other. He almost forgot to breathe, when seeing Aiba's warm eyes in such close up. They were so close, that, even if this probably would be the most horrible timing on earth, if Jun had the guts to push forward just a little bit, and lean in... their lips would be able to touch.

However, Jun doubted that Aiba was aiming for something like that, anyway, no matter if he was searching for Jun's closeness right now, or not. They were best friends for years, after all, closeness must be their norm, and Aiba was probably just falling back into old habits, which felt new to Jun only. He was surely interpreting too much into Aiba's slightly ambiguous gestures.

Jun swallowed and shyly averted his eyes before clearing his throat. He tried to calm his fast beating heart down, but it seemed almost impossible. Damned, he had to pull himself together! His actual goal was, to find out more about that fascinating man, after all. About his thoughts, his likes and dislikes, his habits... Whatever Aiba was willing to share with him, Jun wanted to know all of it.

"Uhm... what about you?" Jun then finally asked after a few seconds of hesitation. His heart was about to explode, but he just couldn't keep quiet about it. "I mean... Did you have a girlfriend? Or... boyfriend... I mean... Sorry if I'm mistaken and if this might be too private, but as far as I know, you're single at the moment, right?" the young man tried not to stumble over his own words. He didn't want to sound desperate or anything, honestly, he just wanted to find out more about Aiba. "But you must be really popular, even since back then... right?"

The soft, slightly embarrassed chuckle Aiba released upon hearing that, sounded like music to Jun's ears.

"Actually, I tried being with someone, a few times," Aiba started, and Jun's heart immediately sank into his stomach. "But as you say, I'm single at the moment, so obviously, it never worked out for me. In the end, I think that's my fault. I've always been in love with someone else, but I was kind of unlucky..."

Jun didn't know if he should feel sad, lucky, or shocked about that statement. Of course, his jumping heart told him that he should feel relieved that Aiba was indeed still single, and it was probably also a good sign that Aiba didn't immediately defend himself for not having a boyfriend, so Jun could actually hope that Aiba wasn't opposed having a relationship with a man. However, Aiba's statement also contained a hint of sadness, nostalgia and regret and Jun wondered if that meant that the man was longing for that particular someone that he just mentioned.

In the end, Jun couldn't just stay silent, so he braced himself and asked, "You weren't loved back?"

Aiba stiffened slightly, and Jun cursed himself for being so insensitive, but then the man just continued with his reply.

"Well... I'm not quite sure about that, to be honest," he said, turning his face and searching for Jun's eyes again. "But... I was never given the chance to find out."

"What... what happened?" Jun asked, almost in a whisper.

"He –," Aiba started, but then, both, he and Jun jolted by a suddenly playing ringtone coming from Aiba's pocket. The older man jumped, and he happened to loosen the grip around Jun's elbow a bit, causing both of them to sway slightly. "Oh, crap, I'm sorry, that surprised me," Aiba apologized immediately. He had not let go off Jun completely...

"You should take the call, maybe," Jun, who was still recovering from the sudden interruption of their conversation, suggested, and after quickly placing his can of beer on the ground, Aiba did as he was told and pulled out his phone to check on the caller's ID.

"It's Nino," he commented, showing the display to Jun. "I guess, he's waiting for me."

"Right, you wanted to watch something together, didn't you?" Jun added.

"Yeah, Oh -," Aiba giggled. "I still need to go get some new beer."

"I'm sorry I kept you away from your plans," Jun said, and when Aiba eventually let his hand slip through the hook of Jun's elbow, and got up after reaching for the bag with snacks and the half-drunk can of beer. Jun slightly lifted his own can, "And for drinking your beer..."

"No problem, really!" Aiba smiled. "I'll just stop by at the conbini again, it's not that far away. Ah... It's quite late already... shall I escort you back home, first?" he then asked. "I'm sure Nino will understand."

"Thanks for the offer," Jun smiled. "But please don't mind me, I think I'm gonna stay here for a little longer and finish the beer."

"OK, as you wish," Aiba replied with a smile. "Then... see you tomorrow at the morning market?"

Jun nodded, curling up his lips. Of course!

"I'll be there," he said.

"Then I'm looking forward to seeing you there," Aiba smiled at him. He hesitated for a second, before he eventually added, "Good night, Jun, sleep well."

"Good night, Aiba," Jun replied.

The two men exchanged a last waving of their hands, and then Aiba was gone. Jun was all by himself again, well, with his thoughts and the half-drunk can of beer Aiba gave him.

Even if Jun knew that it wasn't Nino's fault that he and Aiba had plans, he silently cursed him for having the most annoying timing on earth when calling Aiba, and interrupting their accidental meeting and their conversation.

Jun was dying to learn more about the whole thing Aiba had started to talk about. He wanted to know who was that person Aiba had feelings for, who was that person who couldn't make this precious man happy, and more than anything – if Aiba was still emotionally involved in a considerable way... if he was still in love with that person.

Yes, maybe he was already a little jealous... and jealousy was surely not a pretty thing, but still, Jun's curiosity was stronger and all he wanted to know was, if he would ever have a tiny chance with Aiba, in case he ever found the courage to tell Aiba that he had fallen in love with him...

Regardless of Aiba's heart's hypothetical current situation on who the man might love, or not, at least, there was a small silver lining to be seen at the horizon, since Aiba had definitely said he, when he had talked about the person he liked. So, Jun's logical conclusion was that he must have been talking about a man. Even if there still was someone else occupying Aiba's heart, with this, Jun's chances might not be completely zero, right?

Anyway, Jun couldn't believe, how someone could be so stupid to reject such a wonderful man like Aiba, and not want to be together with him. If he was the one Aiba was in love with, Jun would want to make sure that Aiba was the happiest person in the whole world. Yes, the more time Jun spent together with Aiba, the more convinced he was how serious he was about him. He would probably do anything for that man.

Of course, Jun wouldn't force himself on Aiba, surely not. The situation between them was promising on the friendship basis, but Jun still had to evaluate how it would be on another level. It was still also a little complicated. Jun still didn't remember their past. There was no guarantee, he ever would, and he had also no idea if that would have a big impact on his current relationship with Aiba, or not.

No matter what, right now and there, while taking the last sip of the beer Aiba gave him, Jun made his decision. No matter, if he would find back his memory, or not, more than anything, he wanted to look into the future. A future his heart and mind were painting in light beautiful colours, with Aiba by his side. He just needed to figure out how things would go from now on.

- - + - -

The morning sky was blue, only a few white cotton candy clouds breaking the monochromacy, not even thick enough to block the sunlight from earth. The screen frame that was catching the travelling clouds shifted, chasing a cat that was strolling down the street, avoiding busy feet on its way.

From the cat, the focus shifted again, now following a young woman carrying buckets filled with the most interesting, rare, and adventurous flowers that her shop could probably offer, positioning and arranging everything in front of a small booth. A sleepy looking man who was obviously unable to keep up with his energetic wife, followed her, almost tripping over his own feet. When the woman took the flower bucket from him and put it down to prevent any damage from happening, she finally realized that she was being observed the whole time. With a friendly smile, she waved.

"It is not unusual for the town's shopping district to be busy, but during the summer festival, it is something special," a voice from the off started narrating the scene while the screen was framing different parts of the neighbourhood. "The streets are decorated with strings of red and white lanterns, which would glow beautifully in the evening and illuminate the dark once the sun will set over the city. Today, since the early morning, everything is receiving its final touch so that the feast can start without further ado."

The screen caught a small group of people walking buy, dressed up, and carrying instruments, while chatting with each other, excitedly, most likely a small band that was here to practise for later.

"Everyone is dressed up in traditional clothes and soon there will be music playing and it will be heard all over the place. People will talk and laugh, children squeal happily, it will be awesome, even better than usual. Spring has turned into summer and the days have become long and warm. While kids are playing around, enjoying the sunny weather, most of the shopping district's inhabitants don't have the time to chill and play. Right now, in the middle of August, they are busy with preparing the annual summer festival."

Again, the focus shifted, this time facing a traditional restaurant within the shopping area.

"So are the owners and maintainers of the popular Aiba's Izakaya," the voice finished, just in time before a young man, wearing a green patterned yukata, suddenly popped into the picture.

"Nino? What are you doing up so early?" the man asked, raising his eyebrows, until he realized what was going on. "Oh, you're filming?" he lifted one of his hands and waved cutely, flashing a bright smile. "Hello, World!"

"May I introduce, this is Aiba Masaki, son and future successor of the owners of the izakaya. And yep, I just started," the voice behind the camera replied. "I want to hand it in as a project at film school and I thought, I'd better start early. Ah, come on, as the representative face of the izakaya, you can help, if you want."

The other man nodded enthusiastically. "Sure, what shall I do?"

"Just stand here....," Nino started, grabbing the sleeve of the other man's yukata and carefully pulling him into place until he was satisfied with the chosen position right in front of the izakaya's entrance, arranging Aiba's arms a bit for the final touch. "Stay exactly like that... and now just look."

"Look at what?" Aiba frowned. "At you?"

There was chuckling coming from behind the camera.

"No, not at me, it looks unnatural if you look right into the camera, unless I'm directing questions at you, so just look into the distance, OK? I just need some kind of thoughtful shot of you for now," Nino gave his directions.

"OK....," Aiba turned his head and stiffened his neck a little bit, cleared his throat, and furrowed his brows. "Like that?"

"Pft," Nino couldn't help but snort.

"What? I'm just looking!" Aiba said, relaxing his posture and throwing his friend a confused look.

"You were looking so damned serious, like a sniper searching for a new victim," the other young man finally burst into laughter.

Aiba shrugged. "I was just doing what you instructed me to do."

"Let's try it from another angle...," Nino murmured, hovering around his model for a while until he found what he wanted. "Ah, now... look at the cat over there."

"Oh... it's so cute!" Aiba smiled naturally, his eyes followed the steps of the animal across the street.

"OK, and cut!" Nino yelled.

Surprised, Aiba turned his head at his friend. "What did I do wrong now?"

"Nothing, it was perfect."

"OK, cool," Aiba smiled.

"I'm going to ask your parents a few questions now, are they awake already?" Nino then asked.

"Awake and busy preparing the food," his friend nodded. "Shall I wait with building up our booth until you finished the interview, so that you can catch it on camera?"

"That would be awesome!"

Aiba gave a thumb-up and flashed his friend another smile.

- - -

Nino stepped inside the izakaya, slowly, so that his camera wouldn't move too quickly, and he could actually film a proper entry into the restaurant. He took his time to capture the interior of the izakaya, which was already prepared for its first guests, until he finally approached two people standing behind the counter of the bar – the owners of the restaurant, who were already busy with preparations.

"I wished I could catch this incredibly delicious smell on camera too, right now," Nino said in a friendly voice, earning a wide smile from the woman behind the counter, who looked up from her work at him just in that moment. "I am sorry to disturb you while working but would you two mind to answer a few questions for the audience?"

"Of course not, dear," the woman replied, before nudging the man standing next to her in his side. "Right, Darling?"

"Sure," the man answered too after clearing his throat and so, Nino started giving them a few directions on where they should stand and how they should face the camera.

"Aiba-san," Nino addressed the couple in front of him once he was done, of course, much more formal than usual. "Thank you for volunteering to this little interview of mine."

"Everything for you, boy," the woman said while nodding.

"Stop calling him boy," her husband said, hinting a roll of his eyes. "He's an... almost grown up man already, can't you see?"

"Thanks, Dad," Nino replied, chuckling.

"Sorry, Kazu-chan. Do we have to start anew?" the woman asked concerned.

"Don't worry, I can cut out what I don't need later on," the young man replied. "So, let me begin. You two are managing the Aiba's Izakaya together for a very long time now, right?"

The couple nodded in unison.

"What is your favourite thing about working at this restaurant after such a long time?" Nino asked.

While the man frowned a little, obviously trying to find a reply to this question, his wife had already started talking in a warm voice. "I like the most that we are working together as a family here. Together with you and Masaki... you two are a great help, Masaki has become such a great cook and you help out so much although you're busy with your studies..."

"Mom, please, don't make me blush," the young man behind the camera intervened. "So my second question is, what's your favourite part about the yearly summer festival?"

Smiling widely, the woman parted her lips again. "I like the most that we can spend it together as a family -"

"Darling, I think he's searching for a different kind of answer, don't you think so?" her husband interrupted her in a strict voice and Nino chuckled softly.

"Oh well but... if you want to hear something different," the woman in front of him frowned, pausing for a second. "Oh, I also really love the fireworks in the evening. Everyone is out there on the streets then, looking up into the sky and then – kaboom!" She gestured wildly, almost hitting her husband.

"Darling... watch out, please!"

"What, everybody loves fireworks, no?" the woman wanted to confirm, giving the camera a questioning look.

"It's indeed a great spectacle," Nino admitted.

Then, Aiba's father cleared his throat again. "I like best that we can sell our best products not only inside the izakaya, but also outside on the street, to strangers and people who might not come inside our restaurant otherwise. Sometimes, we even get new customers through such an event."

"That's a very business oriented answer, I might note," Nino added.

The man in front of him shrugged. "Well, at least someone has to think about the business once in a while, right?" he turned to his wife "Everything you think about are Masaki and Kazu, after all..."

"They are my two lovely sons, so yes, of course!" the woman shot back before realization showed on her face. "Wait, I know... you're just being jealous, you old grumpy man, aren't you?"

Aiba's father sighed deeply. "Whatever..."

"Uhm... thanks for your contribution to my documentary," Nino then said, deciding that he had captured enough of the couple on film and it was time to move on. "I'll get back to you later, then!"

"Have fun filming, Kazu-chan!" Aiba's mother replied, smiling at the young man.

Nino walked back out of the izakaya and set his camera in place to film himself and Aiba putting up the street booth for the festival, before taking his camera again and exchanging the battery, as the first one was about to die. He then decided to take a couple more shots of other stores along the shopping street, starting with the flower shop next door, and afterwards picking other random stores and locations that allowed him to film. Like this, he would be busy for the next few hours.

- - -

With the hours passing and afternoon approaching, the area was getting more and more busy, more shops opening, and more customers showing up, filling the streets with every minute passing. Nino managed to capture pictures from the traditional sweets shop across the street, as well as the porcelain factory around the corner, and even paid Ohno's gallery a short visit, just to find out that the artist had closed his atelier for today, in favour of going out and enjoying the festival. After strolling around together with Ohno, who he just met outside, and chatting for a bit, the two men's ways finally parted again and Nino was back to filming, taking his time to play with close-ups and wide-shots, different angles and camera settings.

"Hey~, Nino~ how's it going?" Someone in a red yukata jumped into the camera frame, suddenly, wearing a huge grin on his face and holding a tray filled with drinks that almost spilled over, if there weren't proper lids on the plastic cups.

"Not now, Sho-san...," the camera man sighed, the camera starting to shake a little bit. "Can't you see that I'm filming here?"

"That's why I'm presenting you these super delicious, cool and refreshing colourful fruit drinks, powered by Wagamama Kitchen, where you can experience the marriage of Western and Japanese kitchen -"

Sighing again, Nino dropped the camera, the lens capturing parts of the yellow fabric of his own yukata, before it was completely covered and darkened.

"This is not some stupid advertisement, I'm trying to film a documentary, you know?" the young man said in the off.

"I'm sorry," Sho replied. "You can cut it out later."

But Nino hadn’t finished complaining. "Don't disturb my concentration, please!"

"Fine, fine," the other man said, but contradicting his words, he did not seem ready to give up completely yet. "I just wanted to ask if you want something to drink, we really have some very interesting choices here. Didn't you mention you like passion fruits? This here is a combination of passion fruit, mango and dragon fruit!"

"Thank you, but not interested."

"It's on the house!" the other man tried to convince Nino.

"No, please, now go and give it to someone else!"

Sho groaned. "Fine, as you wish."

"Come on, now," Nino sighed, frustrated. "Don't give me such a pout..."

"I'm not pouting," the other man replied, stubbornly.

"Oh, you are so pouting!" The bickering kept on.

"Anyway, make sure to drop by our end of the shopping street later, will you?"

"Yeah, fine, if I get some good footage from that," Nino murmured.

"We are offering our trademark watermelon sushi!" the other man chuckled. "I think it's worth to show!"

"OK, OK, I'll drop by later," the camera man promised.

"Good, see you later then!" Sho finished happily.

"Back to work," Nino announced, rather to himself than anybody else, after clearing his throat, and holding up his camera again. His face, red from the heat and sunshine of the day, was shown for a second, before the device got turned around, back to facing the streets, filled with people, after making a small detour over the blue sky. "Oh... it was still recording? Ah... never mind..."

The young man kept wandering around, taking more shots from different angles of the shopping street, close ups of different booths, wide shots to capture the colourful crowd, and whatever else looked beautiful in his eyes, and worthy to be caught on camera.

When his battery was on low again, the young man strolled back to the izakaya, upstairs, where he put some of the footage onto his computer to free up space on his memory card and got another spare battery from his room, so that he could continue filming for a bit longer.

- - -

Later on, back downstairs, Nino took another shot of the Aiba couple behind the counter.

"We are back to the Aiba family's izakaya, my – not biased – personal favourite place in the whole shopping district," Nino commented. "With the evening approaching, life inside the izakaya is just as busy as outside. Mr. and Mrs. Aiba's hands are occupied with taking orders and cooking at the same time, while their son is heading in and out refilling the products that are being sold outside on the street, oh, just in time, Masaki," he stopped as he caught Aiba, who was just on the way back outside with a filled tray. "Would you mind telling us what you have here?"

"Ramen soup in cups served with a drinking straw and chopsticks to eat the noodles either before or after drinking the soup –," Aiba explained proudly.

"Now that sounds like an interesting concept, doesn't it?"

"People love it. And of course," there was more that Aiba could show off, pointing to his tray. "Gyoza, made from our secret family recipe."

"What's the secret ingredient, Aiba-san?" Nino asked.

Aiba grinned. "A secret!"

"Smart!" Nino chuckled. "And there I thought you'd say something cheesy like love..."

Smiling widely into the camera, Aiba slowly shook his head. "Love is always an ingredient for cooking, it's not a secret."

"Touché," Nino replied. Suddenly, the young camera man lost his balance for a second, the frame of his camera swayed a little and losing focus, before it was back to normal. It seemed a bit difficult though, to keep holding the camera straight, as Nino's hand started shaking slightly. "Wow... what was that...?"

"Nino?" Aiba asked, sending his friend a worried look. "Are you alright?"

"Maybe I should –," sit down for a bit, the young man had planned to say, but then, everything happened so fast, he couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Nino!"

When the young man heard his friend yelling his name, it was already too late. He lost balance again, the suddenly turning world around him was only captured on film in a swirl, the pictures too hasty and blurred to properly portray what was going on. A thunk could be heard in the off while the frame darted up to the izakaya's ceiling, a few people screamed in the background.

A second later, the camera's lens hit the ground, and everything turned black.

- - + - -

Despite having decided on wanting to look forward and face fate and love the way they might come at him, Jun had to admit that things were progressing kind of slow.

Surprisingly, he found out that he was much shyer than expected when it came to matters of the heart, so approaching Aiba in that kind of way was a lot harder than he imagined.

Seeing Sho and Nino progressing so damned little (close to zero, to be honest), was not really encouraging either. At least, the two men had become something like friends in the meantime. Apparently, Nino did reply to Sho's text messages regularly now, and sometimes he even texted him first, which always made Sho really excited and was kind of cute, but Nino still had yet to accept Sho's invitation for a real date.

The four friends had more plans together now – sometimes also joined by Toma and Yuriko, who befriended Sho and Jun too over the past couple of months – or all of them met at the izakaya to have a chat once in a while at night, with Ohno and Ishihara joining them as well, usually. They enjoyed spending their spare time together, Jun and Sho had settled in their new home very well, and they both were happy to find friends here immediately. All these great things aside, though, there were little chances to just be alone with their chosen one. That applied to Sho and Nino, as well as to Jun and Aiba.

It was true that actually, Jun and Aiba did spend time as just the two of them, namely almost each and every morning when they met to walk over the morning market in town, and Jun sincerely loved every minute of it. Being with Aiba was great, no doubt. It was fun, it was energizing, it was making Jun feel all warm and cozy, simply put, it was amazing. But going to the market to pick up groceries, chatting with the nice old lady from the vegetable booth there, or with Miyake-san at the fish stall there, and being greeted by almost every person they met in the market, was definitely not the same as spending time alone, just as the two of them, although this was what Jun secretly really wanted. Rather than having the chance to spend time alone with Aiba though, it was like Jun had to share him with the whole world.

Well, to be exact, Jun didn't even know if Aiba was interested in spending time alone with him, at least not in the way Jun was planning to do, eventually. Maybe, Aiba's affection was something completely different from Jun's. If that was true, Jun had to accept it, of course, but he didn't want to fully give up yet, either.

Ever since Aiba mentioned that he had been in love in the past (and maybe still was, Jun never asked any further), Jun started to watch Aiba and his interactions with other people even more closely than he already did, wondering if he might be able to find out if Aiba was still in love, and if that person was, maybe, still within the man's surroundings. But so far, Jun was not successful – or should he count it as a win? He wasn't sure, as he had no idea what that actually meant.

One way or another, it was extremely difficult to read Aiba's behaviour. As the nice and friendly, warm hearted person he was, Aiba was nice to everyone, not only because of his job in the izakaya, but because he was a genuinely nice guy. Of course, that was a great thing and it was even one of the reasons why Jun loved him so much, but it also made it hard to interpret Aiba's words and gestures sometimes. For Jun, it was impossible to tell if Aiba was just being his normal nice when being with him, or if Jun was maybe – as he hoped – also someone special to Aiba, just as Aiba was special to him...

It wasn't like there was no difference at all in how Aiba dealt with people. If people looked closely, they could spot small nuances of variety. Aiba was great with kids of all age, being caring or more on the fun, jokey side, whichever was needed. He was generally very polite to elder people as well as women. Although he was more polite to Ishihara, he and Yuriko seemed to be more on a buddy base. Aiba was teasing when around Toma, as well as Sho, with whom he also loved talking about food together with Jun. While with Ohno, he was being a bit more respectful and never missed to point out how much he admired his work. He knew how to deal with an artist, for sure.

More than that, Aiba was a great son to his parents, and finally, Jun even managed to understand Aiba and Nino's relationship, completely. The two always seemed to find things to tease each other with, but never stopped worrying and caring for each other, maybe being slightly over protective, and sharing a lot of interests. There was a time span of a few days, during which Jun even suspected that Aiba might have been in love with Nino, interpreting him as the crush Aiba had mentioned in front of him some time ago, but he soon understood that more than potential lovers, even more than being friends, Aiba and Nino were family.

With all these observations, in the end, Jun couldn't help but wonder, how Aiba's behaviour towards him might differ from his behaviour towards others... if even. Once, he asked Sho and Sho told him that Aiba was being very nice to him, but Jun wasn't sure if Sho wasn't just interpreting too much into everything, since he was rooting for his friend and Aiba, anyway. And Jun had to admit, he didn't dare to ask Nino. Even if they got along much better now, Nino was still very protective over Aiba and Jun wasn't up for drama and didn't want Nino to tell Aiba what he himself wasn't ready to do yet.

Maybe, the easiest way was just to ask Aiba directly what he thought about him, and if he might consider becoming his boyfriend. However, this was easier said than done. Of course, Jun had thought about this option, he even spent hours of being unable to sleep with drafting his confession to Aiba, rethinking it each and every night, keeping the best parts of it stored in his mind, for the right time. However, the better they got along with each other, the less Jun wanted to put what they had on line – their precious friendship. Even if he couldn't actually remember it, he kind of lostAiba once already, and he didn't want to risk that again.

In the end, Jun decided to put their friendship first – at least for now. He could think about the other options later. Or so, he thought.

Soon, the day of the summer festival, which the whole shopping district was looking forward to for weeks, had finally arrived. The area was decorated beautifully, everyone, no matter if being there to work or partake the festivities or just enjoy the atmosphere, was dressed up nicely in traditional summer clothes, and almost every shop was represented with a small booth in front of their stores. So were the restaurants.

Jun and Sho had thought long and deep about which concept they should use for their "Wagamama Kitchen" booth, ambitious as they were, and had been coming up with all sorts of crazy and complicated ideas, until Aiba recommended that they should keep it simple so that they would be able to prepare and sell everything as fast as possible. Because there would be a lot of people lining up for their food, and he was right. So eventually, Jun abandoned his plan of creating dragon sushi, and instead decided on some easier design like the watermelon one, which he was so used to by now, that it literally took him not longer than making tamago nigiri. The rest was rather "normal" sushi, and that was OK. Aiba was right, there were a lot of people and Jun and his assistant had enough to do with handling the orders they received. Sho was helping out too, of course, but since he proved once more to be clumsy with making same sized rice portions, he was relegated to wandering around with a tray of colourful fresh drinks to sell them to people on the streets.

The business was blooming, everyone seemed happy, and Jun didn't expect anything bad to happen on that day, but apparently, fate was against this plan.

In the late afternoon, when the streets were the busiest, filled with so many people, that it was hard for Jun and his assistant to keep up with all the orders they received at their booth – and hell knew where Sho was with their to go tray at that moment – panic spread in the shopping district, when suddenly, an ambulance car, blue light and siren turned on, tried to make its way through the pedestrian zone. The crowd separated, people jumping to the sides of the streets, closer to the shop windows and countless booths, trying to make space for the vehicle to get through to its destination.

Looking at the ambulance, Jun frowned, wondering what might have happened, but continued working shortly after, hoping that it was nothing too serious. It was then, when some people in the line before their booth started talking about it, and he started worrying.

"It stopped, didn't it?" a young woman wearing a turquoise yukata and a pretty hair up-do asked her boyfriend.

"It did," the young man replied, craning his neck. "Wait, isn't that right in front of the Aiba family's izakaya?"

Jun's head shot up.

"What? Really?" the girl continued. "Gosh, I hope it's nothing bad..."

Her boyfriend put his arm around the young woman's shoulder, and they kept on walking, concerned looks on their faces. "There's nothing we can do, but yes, let's hope so."

By now, Jun felt like his fast beating heart was ready to jump out of his throat, and when he looked down again, he noticed that his hands were slightly trembling. He tried to make it stop, but he couldn't help it. That horrible thought, that indeed someone from the izakaya was in trouble, a guest, one of Aiba's parents, Nino or – worst case scenario, Aiba himself, didn't leave Jun's mind, and suddenly, he couldn't focus on his task any longer. Crap.

"I'm sorry, please watch the booth alone for a few minutes," Jun asked his assistant, putting aside the piece of rice he was just shaping into a nigiri, and wiping his hands in his apron.

"What? All alone?!" the young man next to him threw him a terrified look. "Do you see how many people are lining up at our booth?! Where is Sakurai-san? I can't-"

"Just for a minute, please! I really need to go and check something out!"

"But, Matsumoto-san...," his assistant looked at him as if he was ready to cry, but Jun just couldn't stay there and wait, he had to know!

"I promise I'll be right back and then you can take a break and go eat some ice cream or something!" Jun yelled when he leaped off from behind the booth, and started fighting through the crowd of people from his end of the shopping street to the other end.

The ambulance indeed seemed to have stopped in front of the Aiba's izakaya, Jun concluded what he was able to see from his place. Or maybe, it was the flower shop next door, which wouldn't be any better, of course. This just fuelled the panic growing inside of him. He struggled getting through the crowd, there were just too many people, and it was impossible to run, so he was progressing very slowly... in fact, so slowly, that by the time the young man finally reached the izakaya, the ambulance was driving off already.

"Excuse me? Excuse me, what happened here?!" Jun asked panicky, turned to the next person he could get hold of, putting his hand on his shoulder covered with a blue yukata and making the man face him.

"Matsumoto-kun!" the man said, surprised.

"Ohno-san!" Jun wasn't less surprised, but there was no time for this now. "Did you see what happened? Where's Aiba? And Nino?"

The artist shook his head. "I also just arrived and didn't see anything, but it seems someone fainted and got hurt, people say there's blood inside of the izakaya -"

"You don't know, who?" Jun asked, knowing he must sound a bit desperate, but it couldn't be helped.

Ohno shook his head. "One of the staff, I believe, if I heard people talking correctly, but I don't know if it's Aiba-kun or -"

Jun didn't care what else Ohno had to say, the only thoughts occupying his mind right now were that someone got injured and that there was blood and that it could be Aiba who got hurt and -

"Where is the ambulance heading to?" he stupidly asked the obvious, panicking.

"The hospital nearby I guess," Ohno replied, pointing his hand into a certain direction ahead of them. "It's just a few minutes by car, but first, calm down, Matsumoto-san, we don't even know what exactly –"

There was no chance for Jun to calm down though, fear was eating his common sense as well as his willingness to listen, and instead, Jun's brain turned on speed mode, trying to figure out what should happen next, what he could do in this situation. He needed to go there, go there where Aiba probably was right now, making sure that he was fine, being with him if he wasn't, he just couldn't stay here and wait while doing nothing. He was about to go and make his way through all the people, which seemed to be so damned many at that time, making it seemed like an impossible task. Just then, Jun remembered something, and without thinking any further, he turned around to Ohno once more, put both of his hands on top of the artist's shoulders, locking eyes with him.

"Ohno-san? I'm really sorry but, please, could you do me a favour?" Jun said, Ohno looking back at him with wide opened, confused eyes. "Could you head to our restaurant's booth and help my assistant? I need to go to the hospital, now! I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can but I -"

Ohno frowned at him, confused. "What? But –"

"Please, it won't take long, you only have to form rice balls and decorate them, you're good with your hands, aren't you? You're an artist, I believe in you!" Jun tried to push every button that he could find, and when Ohno still did not look convinced, he reached for his secret weapon. "And you can eat as much sushi as you like once I'm back, and don't need to pay for it! Please!"

Ohno slightly frowned, but Jun thought that he could at least see a hint of consideration in the artist's eyes.

"OK," the man finally said, and it was enough for Jun to take this as confirmation. He completely ignored Ohno's following "But -"

"Thank you!" Instead, Jun simply lowered his head in a quick bow, before turning around and headed off, leaving a still slightly confused looking Ohno behind.

Jun started walking, as fast as he could, following down the street in the direction he saw the ambulance driving off to just a few minutes before. He realized that he had never been to the hospital in this area before, so he had no real clue where to go, but his feet were carrying him forward by themselves and, so he walked on. Jun made a quick check on google maps to find his way, and luckily, the hospital really did not seem too far away. He memorized the path and just the moment he wanted to put away his phone, he thought about something else. He was so stupid, why didn't he consider this option before?! It was so easy and still... it must be the panic, Jun concluded, his brain wasn't working properly.

Without further ado, Jun dialled Aiba's number on speed dial, and pressed his phone against his ear, while continuing his way, but just a second later, upon hearing the waiting line signal, he cursed.

Of course, Aiba didn't pick up. Why wasn't he surprised? If the one something happened to really was Aiba, he was probably busy with other things right now than picking up the phone, if he even had it with him, that was. Oh gosh, what if Aiba was really badly injured? What if something happened to Aiba that was similar to what had happened to Jun? What if due to the accident, he would lose his memory? Lose himself and all these precious joined memories he had created, they had created?

Jun tried to calm himself down, knowing that his worries were drifting off into an unreasonable and irrational direction. Just because something traumatic happened to him in the past, it didn't mean it happened to everyone. Further, it didn't help at all to think stuff like this now. The most important right now was to get to the hospital and check on his friend.

It took Jun probably about fifteen minutes until he reached the building, out of breath, and probably another five minutes to find the right entry. In the meantime, he tried to reach Aiba again twice, by phone, which the other man did not pick up and during the third time, Jun couldn't get through at all, only an ironically calm computer voice telling him that the person he called was currently not available – as if he hadn't noticed by himself!

Being a complete mental wreck, Jun finally entered the right wing of the hospital to reach the emergency section, and the first thing he did was dashing to the reception desk on the left desperately asking the nurse on shift there, where he could find Aiba Masaki. The nurse was busy, so the first time Jun asked, she shooed him and instead picked up a horribly loud ringing phone call that she tried to finish as fast as possible. The young man knew that the woman must be just as busy as everyone seemed to be in here.

Doctors, paramedics and nurses were running through the corridors, injured people sitting in the waiting area, children crying. The smell, that typical hospital smell was awful and the picture of suffering, injured people in front of Jun was horrifying, especially when he imagined Aiba being among them. Though, he couldn't spot him. He wasn't there. Maybe, it was worse, maybe he was admitted to an emergency surgery? The most terrifying pictures popped up Jun's mind, the worry about his friend mixing with his own memories about the time he was hospitalized, a horrible time during which he had no idea what was going on, no idea who he was, it was really the worst time of his entire life...

"Excuse me, Sir?" a voice from seemingly far away finally pulled Jun back into reality. He focused back on the reception, where the nurse who seemingly had time for him now, searched for his eye contact. "Can you please repeat the name of the person you're searching for?"

"Ah, sure, his name is Aiba Masaki," Jun immediately replied, clamping the reception desk with his hands, while waiting for the nurse to put the information into the computer to search for Aiba.

"Hm... it seems there is no Aiba Masaki admitted to our emergency rooms," she then informed Jun just a few seconds later.

"What?" the young man stared at her, surprised. "Are you sure? But I saw the ambulance driving off and this is the closest hospital, he has to -"

"There is no Aiba Masaki here," the nurse shook her head, determined. "Maybe the ambulance was stuck in traffic and he didn't arrive yet, or they brought him to another hospital or –"

Jun's mind was drifting off again, the worry bubbling up once more, and he was desperate about what to do and how to react, when someone called his name.

"Jun?"

Taking in a deep breath, the young man whirled around, he recognized that voice immediately, of course, and literally there was a rock– no, a mountain – falling from his chest, when he saw him approaching, wearing a green yukata that fit him as perfect as a second skin, but most importantly, seemingly healthy and well.

"Aiba!" Jun yelled, the receptionist forgotten completely, when he started running towards the other man, just stopping about two steps before him. "Oh my Gosh, you're alright, thank god!"

Jun's heart was beating like crazy, and he couldn't resist reaching out his hands to touch Aiba all over, as if he wanted to confirm that he was really there, and really healthy and that he wasn't just imagining everything or worse – seeing ghosts or something stupid like that. But yes, Aiba was real, and he was standing there for real, and apparently, he was fine.

"What are you doing here?" Aiba finally asked, confused, his hands loosely holding on to Jun's sides.

"I saw the ambulance," Jun started bubbling. "And Ohno said someone fainted at the izakaya and that there was blood and – why didn't you call me back?!"

"You called?" Aiba frowned, reaching for his yukata's pocket to fetch his phone and give the display a quick check. "Oh, I'm sorry, seems my phone's battery died..."

Jun sighed heavily. "I was so shocked when I heard someone fainted at the izakaya... I thought Nino or you..."

"I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry," the other man confirmed once more, just before he voiced Jun's second worst case scenario. "But it was Nino..."

Jun blanked, panic crawling back up. "Oh Gosh, what happened, is he OK?"

"He's OK, don't worry," Aiba immediately stepped in, putting his hands on Jun's shoulders, trying to calm him down. "It's just, he was filming for the whole day and not drinking enough and then he suddenly lost balance and knocked his head against a table when he fainted –"

"His head?!" Jun's voice broke.

"Calm down, Jun, it sounds worse than it was!" the other man exclaimed. "There was some blood, yes, that's why we called the ambulance, but in the meantime, it turned out to be just a small injury. Nino already woke up again and the doctor said he's fine. He just needed a few stitches and needs to wait for a bit before he can go back home so that they can check that really nothing happened. They sent me away, saying it's enough for one person to stay," Aiba chuckled before continuing the explanation. "Sho is with him for now."

"Oh, good," Jun replied, releasing a relieved sigh. That also explained why he couldn't find Sho anywhere, he reasoned. "He's in good hands then, I guess..."

Aiba slightly pressed Jun's shoulders, and flashed him a smile. "Definitely," he said in a soft voice. "You OK?"

Jun nodded. "I'm just... sorry, I'm just so relieved nothing bad happened. To Nino but also, to you…"

"Didn't my parents tell you what happened?" Aiba then asked, frowning.

It fell from Jun's eyes like scales then, and for the second time, he cursed himself inwardly.

"...Actually, I didn't ask them," he admitted. He simply had not thought of that possibility at all, when he started to panic in front of the izakaya back then. "Gosh, I'm so stupid... of course I should have asked them, why didn't I consider that?! Instead, I just fell into panic right away and..."

"Jun? Listen, I'm really sorry for making you worry."

"It's not your fault, I'm just being stupid," Jun chuckled a little frustrated, but still, the relief over seeing Aiba uninjured and alright, was dominating. Of course. "I'm happy nothing happened to you."

"Thank you...," Aiba said, taking Jun's hand and pressed it slightly.

Jun blushed a little, surprised, but didn't pull back. The slight warm touch of Aiba's fingers made his skin tickle, and his heart beat a little faster again, this time for a completely different reason though. He was looking into Aiba's eyes, the man smiling at him tenderly, and Jun could probably spend the rest of the day staying right there and continuing to lock eyes with Aiba, if he wasn't being interrupted again, this time by another familiar voice.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance," Sho said after clearing his throat.

The man glanced at Jun, grinning, apparently, he had witnessed the whole scene, Jun realized, slightly embarrassed. When Aiba still didn't let go off his hand though, Jun didn't do so either, and so the two men just kept standing there, looking at Sho, coming closer.

"Everything fine with Nino?" Jun finally asked, still a little worried, even if Aiba had already taken most of his fear away.

Sho nodded. "I just noticed that Aiba's phone died when I wanted to call and tell him that the doctors said, Nino can leave in a few hours. I figured he might still be around so I came down here. I'm surprised to see you here, Jun?" the man added, raising an eyebrow.

"Well...," Jun slightly tilted his head.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the whole embarrassing story about his almost panic attack and quick misconception of the whole situation that had stressed him immensely and ended up bringing him here, where he was now standing in the middle of a hospital's emergency ward, holding Aiba's hands. Luckily, Sho didn't seem to insist on hearing every detail of that story, and instead just waved his hand a little to ensure Jun that everything was fine.

"Anyway, you guys, go and enjoy the festival, OK? I can manage here," Sho said, smiling.

"Thank you, Sho," Aiba smiled back at him.

"No problem. I'll bring Nino back to the izakaya as soon as they let him go," the other man promised.

"OK," Aiba nodded once more, thankfully, and then turned back to Jun. While pressing his hand slightly again, he said, "Let's head back, it's slowly getting dark and there are lots of hungry people to feed."

Jun agreed, and after bidding Sho farewell and making sure he would forward Jun's well wishes to Nino, the two men started heading back from the hospital to the shopping district. The city was just as full as before, but instead of experiencing the crowd as a mass of bodies and noises, like he did before, Jun was now able to relax again, and actually even to enjoy the atmosphere. If someone listened closely, there could be voices to pick out, sentences including positive messages, happiness, and of course, there was a lot of laughter. The sky was slowly but surely changing colour, as sunset was coming closer and closer with every minute passing.

It was only now when Jun realized how much his feet were hurting. Those sandals, as well they fit the traditional clothing, were definitely not made for running. Aiba chuckled cutely right next to Jun, as the young man started walking a bit strangely, and even jokingly offered him to carry him piggyback, which Jun, of course, denied politely. Still, he pressed Aiba's hand that was still linked with his own, in response to show him how grateful he was.

They were about to turn back into their shopping street, when suddenly, Jun stopped. He couldn't exactly tell why, but something made him feel that they were taking the wrong path right now. It felt strangely familiar to walk through the neighbourhood together with Aiba, just like this, both of them dressed up in bright colourful yukatas, wearing sandals, and holding hands between them, but something was off. Somehow, Jun felt like usually they would do something different. Just, what?

"You OK, Jun?" being slightly pulled back from the steady rhythm of his steps, Aiba turned around, looking at his friend, confused.

"I'm sorry but... can we take a small detour, perhaps?" Jun suggested, trying to figure what the confusion in his heart and mind tried to tell him.

"Sure, why not."

Aiba shrugged, and let himself be pulled by Jun, whose feet suddenly seemed to walk by themselves, again, as if they knew where they had to take both of them, even if Jun's brain didn't know. Maybe, Jun almost didn't dare to hope, but maybe, his body remembered something more than his mind?

Strangely excitedly, Jun let his feet guide the way, and he instinctively clenched Aiba's hand tighter, as if he wanted to make sure not to lose him. Never again, a voice in his head added. The two men continued walking through the neighbourhood, even if it wasn't the direction they initially wanted to go, and in the end, they ended up in front of a red, wooden bridge, stopping just before it. Jun frowned. He knew this place, he thought, and it wasn't because he was living in this area now for the past few months, exploring it more and more every single day, but it was like he knew it from before. He recognized it. Not the space, not the red colour of the bridge, not the countless beautiful lanterns that started lighting up now as the dark started taking over the sky. He recognized the feeling of being here. It felt strange, but somehow, also magical. For a while, Jun continued enjoying the breathtaking view, its colour scheme changing slightly with each second passing, until it reached a certain degree of darkness and stayed. It had something calming to it.

Jun turned to look at Aiba, who just looked back, saying nothing at all. Jun wanted to ask the other man so many things. If he knew this place too, if they had been here before, together, but it was like he didn't even need to voice these questions, because the answer was lying within himself.

Jun and Aiba started walking almost at the same time, setting one foot after the other on the red bridge. The sound of the sandals on the wooden surface was familiar. The tone of the red tinted by the sun going down and the lanterns spreading their lights was familiar. The warmth coming from Aiba's hand triggered something familiar in Jun. Something that he couldn’t pin-point but gladly welcomed, and when the two men stopped in the middle of the bridge, turning towards the railing, leaning with their free arms on top of the wood, and guiding their gazes over the river that was making its way through the city, like the glittering body of a shimmery snake, that view was familiar too, somehow.

"Somehow, this feels so... I mean, this bridge...," Jun was kind of at a loss for words, unable to put his thoughts and feelings in order right now. He looked at Aiba, almost desperate, as if Aiba would be able to help him catch the right words.

"We came here very often during the festivals, when we were younger," the other man said, and it was just what Jun expected. Smiling, Aiba pointed in the direction of the river flowing down, and Jun recognized the area down there as the upper end of the morning market, where Miyake-san used to set up his stall and sell fishes in the early morning. "We used to watch the – Oh, look, I think we're here just in time for it!"

There was a strange noise, like a distant whistle, and then, making Jun almost jump in surprise, something exploded and suddenly, the sky was filled with countless colourful sparkles, separating in the shape of a flower of fire, raining down into the night, until all the small lights were swallowed by the darkness.

"Fireworks...," Jun whispered, completely mesmerized.

"What?" Aiba asked, obviously unable to hear Jun's whisper.

A second one followed, lighting up the sky again, and it was like the power of the fire spectacle gave new strength and courage to Jun. The young man made use of that by getting even closer to Aiba, so that if he spoke closer to the man's ear and raised his voice a little bit, they were actually able to hold a proper conversation from the spot they were inhabiting right now. The closeness made his heart beat faster again, it was thrilling.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Jun asked his friend.

"What do you mean?"

"Just a few months ago, when I met you for the first time after moving here, I thought you're some crazy guy and I didn't want to have anything to do with you."

"Wow, that sounds harsh," Aiba chuckled. "But I appreciate your honesty."

Jun laughed. "When I say that now, I'm so sorry, really, but... you were like a stranger to me. Then, when you said we know each other from our childhood days, I was so confused... I never bothered much about the things I forgot, after all..."

"You can't miss what you don't know," Aiba said, and it felt like such a familiar statement to Jun, that it almost hurt.

Yes, that was what he used to think after the accident. For a long time. He never considered though, that forgetting and remembering, did not always involve only one person, but that actually, a lot of memories were joined memories of two or more people. He might not have bothered to remember things, but most likely, there were people, who were sad to be forgotten.

"But this time it's different," Jun continued. "It was like I started missing something I didn't know about. I started missing you and I started hating myself for not remembering you and our time together."

"It's not your fault," Aiba said.

"I know, technically it's not but... I feel guilty," the other man replied. "By now, I... I just wished I could remember everything, and somehow I feel like there is something, but I just can't grasp it..."

Aiba pressed Jun's hand, making him look at him again, finally.

"Maybe you shouldn't pressure yourself so much," Aiba said calmly. "Actually, I even think it's interesting like this."

"What?" Jun frowned.

Aiba broke into a smile before he leaned closer to Jun's ear again, as if he wanted to make sure that the man would hear each and every syllable that he was about to say now.

"Like this, we could start anew," Aiba began. "Completely. We were able to get to know each other once again, become friends once again. How many people have the chance to experience a forming friendship with the same person more than once? It might sound strange and sure, I miss the old times too sometimes, but I like the Jun now just as much as the old Jun, if not more. I don't miss you. I'm just happy I found you again."

Jun couldn't help but stare at Aiba, his heartbeat rising with every word that left this man's lips. Those meaningful words hit the young man right in the heart. Just how? How was it possible that Aiba was able to turn everything into something that sounded so positive and light, that all at once, Jun's sorrows and worries seemed to be completely unimportant? More than that, his words made Jun feel so incredibly happy that for a moment, he feared he could be dreaming them.

"So it's OK like this, even if I may never remember all of the past?"

Aiba nodded. "It's OK. And it should be OK for you too. We can't change what cannot be changed, but we can make the best out of our current situation."

"When life gives you lemons –," Jun started.

"Make lemonade," Aiba ended the sentence with an irresistable smile.

Jun smirked, but nodded, admitting. "That sounds very wise."

"What, don't I look like a wise guy?" Aiba asked jokingly.

"More like a nice guy," Jun countered with a grin. "But I know you're smart too."

"Thank you!"

They both smiled and kept looking deeply into each other's eyes, the fireworks in front of them turned into a backdrop, still fascinating, but not as much as what was happening between them at this very moment. At least, for Jun it felt like something was happening between them. And if not, this was probably his chance, to make something happen.

He had been thinking about this for so long now, and yes, he had considered to wait for as long as it would take, but seriously, what was the point in waiting? Today – even if in fact, luckily, nothing bad happened - had showed him once more, that life could be short and unpredictable. He lost years with Aiba because of an accident, and today he feared of losing Aiba again. All this just made clear, how much he really needed and wanted to be with Aiba. How much this man meant to him. Not just as a friend... Aiba was right, he didn't need to care about if he would ever remember their past, they were living here and now, and everything that mattered, was their present, and their future.

"Actually, there's more I wanted to tell you," Jun finally said, gathering all his courage for the final blow. It was now, or never.

"Tell me!" Aiba challenged him with his usual charming smile, and Jun's heart melted.

Jun tried to remember the words he had set aside for this occasion, the perfect confession he had drafted in several pieces to put them together when the time was right, but actually, all he could produce at the moment sounded different from what he had imagined. But, it didn't matter. Those were his feelings right now, and he wanted to share them with Aiba.

"You're not just nice," Jun started. "You're enthusiastic and passionate, you're handsome, you are wonderful, you are simply amazing, and I wanted to tell you that I lo -," but before Jun was able to finish his sentence, Aiba lifted the index finger of his free hand and put it on top of Jun's lips, to mute them.

"Stop that, Jun...," Aiba said, his look changing from the usual friendliness to something more intense... something Jun wasn't used to seeing when looking at Aiba, something he wasn't sure how to interpret.

For a short moment, Jun feared that Aiba would kill his confession right away, and panic rushed back through his body. "What? Why?"

"Because if you keep on like this, I will -"

Aiba's lips kept moving, but just at that very moment, one of the fireworks exploded closer to them, louder than the rest, and thus, Jun wasn't able to hear what the other man said. He frowned, cursing that oh so beautiful but oh so ill-timed firework.

"If I told you that I love you, you'll do what?!" Jun then blurted out his confession towards Aiba, in a pause between two exploding fireworks. Oh crap, he didn't intend to say it like that, he wanted to produce a proper sentence and -

But then, just a second later, Jun was assured once and for all, that his message got through correctly, because what Aiba did then was an answer in itself. Faster than Jun could react, Aiba leaned forward and kissed him right on the lips.

Jun muted, immediately, embracing the feeling of Aiba's soft lips pressing against his, and without hesitation, he answered the kiss, moving his lips against them. That feeling that was now spreading between them wasn't just what he had expected if this would ever happen. No, it was so much more.

That kiss triggered something in Jun, pushing a button that was probably hidden from his sight, so forcefully, that everything broke over Jun at the same time. All at once, just when Jun had once more concluded, that it wasn't important, he remembered. Everything. It felt like a flash rushing through his brain. All the old memories returned together, Aiba's high-pitch laughing from the time he was a child, memories from their joint adventures. Cooking together with Aiba… visiting school together... playing baseball with him and Nino... Having fun during the summer festival, and then... the kiss.

Jun and Aiba's first kiss that had happened right here, at the same place, and the same time, just years ago. On this little red bridge, with the darkening evening surrounding them, with the noises of fireworks being shot into the sky.

The realization of what all of this would mean was overwhelming. As a result from the shock – a positive shock this time, at least – Jun broke their kiss and slightly tumbling, he put his hands on Aiba's shoulders to find support as his knees became weak. Aiba caught him, stabilizing him with his arms wrapped around Jun's waist. The spots where they connected felt warm. So warm and so good...

Before Jun even realized, he started crying.

Aiba immediately began to panic, his body becoming slightly hectic. He stepped from one foot to the other, and after making sure that Jun wouldn't lose balance and crash down, he let his hands wander upwards, until they were cupping Jun's face. Jun darted a look right at the young man, locking eyes with an overly worried looking Aiba, who was now busy catching some of the young man's tears with his thumbs. The soft brush of Aiba's fingers on Jun's skin triggered a slightly tingling feeling. The man took a deep breath, and actually wanted to say something, organize the mess of thoughts and feelings inside him into a bunch of usable words, but the only thing that left his lips, was a desperate sob.

"Uhm… Jun? Jun, what's wrong?" Aiba finally managed to ask. "Am I such a bad kisser?!" he asked, slightly hysteric and if Jun wasn't so busy with crying, he would probably laugh at that cute, silly reaction of the other man.

"Aiba-chan...," he finally produced, still sobbing and his whole body shaking.

Jun just felt so overwhelmed from everything, the atmosphere around them, Aiba right in front of him, the kiss, all those precious memories coming back all at once and melting with their present reality. There were too many feelings inside him and he had no idea how to express them properly, so all that came out where tears and more tears, running down his cheeks, big and hot.

Without any further hesitation, Aiba leaped forward and pulled Jun into a hug, wrapping his arms around him as tight as possible without making the younger man suffocate and pressing him close to his chest. He tried to calm Jun down with soothing noises and slightly rocking back and forth, while rubbing over Jun's back with caressing movements. Jun was overwhelmed by the warmth spreading from Aiba, which was muffling him like a protective cloak, and shutting him away from whatever was outside and could possibly hurt him. Still, somehow, Jun managed to lift his trembling arms and put them around Aiba's back, pressing him closer, and answering Aiba's embrace.

"Wait... how did you just call me?" Aiba suddenly asked, pulling back a little and staring at the other man in disbelief, while he brushed away some more of Jun's tears with one hand.

Jun reached up to circle his arms around Aiba and burying his face in the crook of his neck.

"I called you Aiba-chan," he repeated in almost a whisper. "Like I always used to call you, right?"

"Yes but that was when you still...," Aiba blanked and his eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, Jun, don't tell me you -"

Jun nodded, releasing another sob when he slowly loosened their embrace again and stepped back a little again to look into the other man's eyes. He smiled.

"I remember," he said, his voice slightly cracking from all the crying, but he was trying his best to get hold of himself again. "Everything. I remember this. I remember us."

After staring at Jun for a few seconds, not able to say anything at all, it was Aiba now, who teared up, large tear drops falling down from his lashes faster than he could reach up to wipe his tears away. Well, there was probably no meaning in hiding them, as they both were crying now, anyway.

"You are so beautiful," Jun said, smiling, and released a chuckle when he saw Aiba blushing.

"Wha-what are you talking about, suddenly?" Aiba asked, a bit confused, sniffling, as his tears slowly ebbed away again.

"I just appreciated that you've become such a fine man, Aiba-chan," Jun grinned. "Not that you weren’t already handsome back then, I may add..."

Aiba chuckled, still a bit embarrassed. "I guess, we're a handsome couple, then."

"A couple?" Jun prompted, now being the one to blush.

"I-I'm sorry, I just… I assumed… I guess, I hoped –," Aiba started stuttering, being so adorable, that Jun almost couldn't bear it.

"We are!" the young man exclaimed. "A couple, I mean... If you want that."

Aiba looked at Jun, his big eyes still a bit shiny from the happy tears he cried before, and they were just so beautiful.

"Do you want that?" the slightly taller man then asked, curving his lips into a cute and slightly shy smile.

Jun's heart made a jump and he couldn't help but smile from one ear to the other. He nodded heavily. "You can be sure about that!"

"Oh gosh, I've been waiting so long for this to happen, you have no idea…".

"Wait... does this mean that I was the one you liked but didn't know if he likes you back?" Jun asked. The question of Aiba's mysterious crush had bothered him ever since he mentioned it when they met in front of their old school. He never would have suspected though that he could be the one Aiba had been referring to...

"Yes!"

"I can't believe it...," Jun said, clutching his hands in front of his mouth.

"Jun," Aiba asked in a serious voice, making the other man look at him again. "Let me ask you this, officially," he cleared his voice and straightening up a little more. "Would you like to become my boyfriend?"

Not even able to answer properly, Jun just leaped forward, throwing his arms around Aiba – his now boyfriend, how crazy did that sound – once more, and closed his eyes, when he leaned in to connect their lips again. He tried his best to make it a slow and tender kiss, enjoying Aiba's soft lips against his. It was hard to hold back all of their emotions, and so, very soon, their kiss became hotter, more passionate, and they just couldn't get enough of each other.

"Yes, I'd love to," Jun finally answered Aiba's question, just in case there was still a need to voice it. "Just in case you couldn't figure out by yourself."

They both laughed, smiled at each other and then they kissed again and again, until the fireworks were over, the night darkened, and Jun's cell phone could be heard ringing. It was his assistant, complaining that he was unable to watch over Jun's booth any longer and that Ohno had started eating sushi when he became hungry, so he wasn't any helpful anymore either. So, the two men decided to finally walk back together to release the man from his involuntary task and to support Jun's assistant at least for the last couple of hours.

As they walked down the streets, passing hundreds of people who were laughing, enjoying their time with their families and friends, Aiba and Jun's hands were again connected between them. It was true, what they both said before their kiss. If Jun remembered their past or not, it didn't change the fact that they found each other again, became friends again, and that they fell in love with each other – again, as they now both knew. They wanted to look forward, together. But just having the opportunity, to look back together too, at times, was a very nice bonus, they had to admit.

- - + Three months later + - -

"Satomi-cha~n," Ohno sing sang, putting an arm around the woman's shoulders, who just arrived at the izakaya, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Seriously, how many beers did you have? You're reeking," the woman said, trying to push the artist's arm from her shoulder. She looked quite upset, and Aiba wondered, what – again – might have happened between the two of them. So far, he only could extract from Ohno that he and Ishihara had a fight about something work related, but the man did not shared any details and instead preferred to drown his sorrow in beer.

"I want t-to tell you that you look byuu-beautiffful today, seriously," Ohno tried his best to convey the compliment.

Aiba knew that the man really meant that, as he had mentioned before, how pretty Ishihara was in his eyes. Multiple times. It was a first though that Aiba heard him saying that directly into the woman's face.

"What?!" Ishihara puffed up her cheeks, and put her hands on her hips. "You say that as if I don't look beautiful every day!"

"I love how confident she is," Ohno murmured towards Aiba, who chuckled and nodded agreeing.

"He's drunk, we're going," Ishihara noted, sending Aiba a slightly desperate look.

"I'm sorry, I should have made him stop drinking after the second beer," the chef said, smiling apologetically at the young woman.

"It's not your fault, thanks for calling me," she replied, reaching for her wallet and paying Aiba for whatever Ohno had consumed that evening.

"I'm not d-drunk, I can still hold a paint brush, I swear," Ohno said, trying to counter his assistant's statement, before leaning a bit closer, to whisper something into the woman's ear. "I can paint you, if you wanna... ya know, like that one time... without any-"

Before the man could even finish his sentence – although the critical exchange of looks between Aiba and Nino assured Aiba that they were both thinking the same, about how the artist's whole offer might have sounded – the woman stopped him.

"I said you're reeking from beer, stop that!" Ishihara exclaimed, turning her head away from Ohno's to escape his alcohol breath, and rolling her eyes, but this time, she let Ohno put his arm around her neck without pushing him away when he murmured something about not being able to walk by himself any longer.

Aiba smirked when he saw the slight red blush on the woman's cheeks as she grabbed the artist's hand and held him tight around his waist before wishing Aiba and Nino a good night and approached the exit. Ohno seemed to make use of the situation and pressed as close against the woman as possible, and Ishihara continued to bicker at him until they reached the door. Aiba had a hard time to hold back his laughter.

"Don't catch a cold, Ohno-san!" the chef finally yelled behind the strange couple when Ishihara opened the door and a cold night chill came into the room.

"Won't do that, or I couldn't come to eat your ramen tomorrowow," the artist replied, looking back over his shoulder and stumbling over the last word, while waving at Aiba and Nino before he and Ishihara left the place for good, the soft jingle of the bell hanging over the door bidding them farewell.

"I'm impressed he was still able to pronounce seriously correctly," Nino said smirking, when he and Aiba exchanged another look.

"Especially since beautiful suddenly seemed to be such a difficult word," Aiba replied with a chuckle.

"Well, that was for a different reason, maybe," his friend added with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Possible," Aiba murmured, his lips still forming a smile.

Nobody would come and enter their place for the night, Ohno was their last guest for the evening, and so, the two men decided to start wrapping everything up for tonight. While Nino went to collect the last few empty dishes spread over the tables in the front part of the restaurant, and wiped the surfaces in the process, Aiba sorted some bottles of different beverage behind the bar that they wouldn't need any longer, and filled the sink with water to wash up.

"Oh, Ohno-san left his sketchbook," Aiba noticed, as he reached for the empty beer glass ad spotted the object lying on the counter. "Nino, would you mind and -"

His friend was back at the bar already, pushing some empty dishes into Aiba's hands and then went around to grab the sketchbook, nodding, before rushing through the izakaya and out of the door. When he came back, just about two minutes later, the young man was shivering, and rubbing his arms while complaining how cold it was outside. Thankfully, it was easy to warm up quickly in the izakaya. The air inside was always warm and cozy due to the presence of people, and, of course, the cooking.

"You should have worn a jacket," Aiba scolded his friend, who then just waved off, as everything seemed fine again. "You reached them?"

"They weren't far yet," Nino shrugged and returned to cleaning the empty tables.

"Good," Aiba replied and he couldn't help but release a giggle as he imagined Ohno and Ishihara trying to reach the gallery walking straight.

He stopped, when he tried to remember if the two were wearing warm clothes, and sighed when he recollected Ishihara wearing a beige coat and Ohno-san a thick sweater. It wasn't that far to walk, but still, the days were becoming shorter and the temperature was dropping more and more, so at least during night hours, it had become quite chilly already.

Aiba could not believe how fast the last few months passed, but considering how eventful they had been, maybe he shouldn't be so surprised.

In spring, something happened, that Aiba had already almost given up hoping for – his first love, and best friend, next to Nino, of course,from childhood days had returned to their neighbourhood - Jun. It was a shock at first, not because of Jun's return itself, but because Jun did not seem to remember Aiba and the old times they spent together as kids and teenagers at all, and of course, he had also forgotten their joint dream of opening up a restaurant together one day. Aiba overcame the shock quite quickly, just being happy that Jun was back, and excited to get to know him again and become his friend again, which worked surprisingly well.

In summer, they got closer and closer to each other, but while Aiba wasn't surprised to find out that he was still in love with Jun, it was a surprise for him to find out, that Jun had apparently fallen in love with him too. The summer festival and a chain of incidents then turned out to be the necessary last thing to bring back Jun's memory, and since then, everything was awesome.

It was autumn now, while outside the leaves were starting to fall from the trees, within Aiba and Jun's heart, their love for each other was blossoming, finding new peaks all over again, and keeping the butterflies in their stomachs busy. Since they were both very occupied as chefs in their respective restaurants, there wasn't much time they could spend together. But they tried to make the best out of it and for the upcoming winter months the next year, they even already had some plans together...

"Just in time," Nino murmured as he checked the clock behind Aiba after dropping off the last bowl of finished edamame on the counter next to the sink.

Aiba smirked silently at his friend, who, while Aiba grabbed the bowl to dispose the empty edamame peels, started to undo his apron and was up and away upstairs in record time, just to return a few minutes later, completely changed in a set of – for Nino's standards – extraordinary fashionable clothes, which composed of a really neat looking red-black patterned bottom up shirt and a tight pair of jeans. He was carrying a jacket underneath his arm – he was willing to learn, after all - and he even seemed to have used a bit of wax to try styling his hair in a slightly different way from usual, freeing his forehead from his usual mob of black bangs.

"Uhm... what?" Nino asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend, when Aiba caught himself grinning at the younger man. "Do I... look weird or something?" Nino added nervously, his voice cracking slightly.

"No, no," Aiba replied, breaking out into a sincere laugh. "I think you look mature and kind of cute at the same time. He will definitely like it."

"OK...," Nino said, releasing a sigh of relief while running his fingers through his hair just to realize that it felt quite greasy. "Damned, I'm not used to this shit...," the man noted with a slightly disgusted face and gratefully took the wet kitchen towel Aiba handed him, to wipe his hand.

"Just keep your hands away from that," the older man recommended, earning a quick nod by his friend.

"So... I'm off now," Nino announced, pushing his hands in his navy jeans' pockets. "… Bringing the new flyers to Jun and Sho…"

"Tell Sho to take good care of you and make sure you drink enough!" Aiba replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

Rolling his eyes at his friend's teasing, Nino replied. "I can take care of myself, thank you!"

"Well, we all know how that ended," Aiba added with a triumphant grin, flashing his perfect line of teeth at the other man as he referred to the small disaster that happened during the summer festival a few months ago.

"That was... fate," Nino replied, freeing one of his hands from his pockets to add a dramatic gesture. "All those happenings, in the end, fell right into place and even resulted in you and Jun getting together, after all," he tilted his head and locked eyes with Aiba while finishing his point. "Right?"

Aiba couldn't help but grin like a fool before nodding heavily.

"If that wasn't so true I'd say storyteller Nino is at work," the man then added with a soft giggle.

"Believe me, I would never write such a cheesy script," his friend groaned as a reply.

"Life tells the most beautiful stories."

"Then it's good they don't turn everything into a movie," Nino countered, slightly sticking out his tongue between his smirking lips.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Aiba replied, chuckling.

"Nothing. Just enjoy the gift of fate," Nino ended the teasing with a soft smile and Aiba gladly accepted it.

"Same goes for you," he answered, but he wasn't quite finished yet with teasing his friend. Just a tiny little bit more. He wiggled his eyebrows. "You and Sho."

Nino rolled his eyes, but the cute red blush on his face that Aiba liked so much, was back, instantly.

"We're only meeting," the young man replied in an annoyed tone.

"You're having a date!" Aiba almost exploded from excitement though. "Aren't you going to the late-night screening of that new movie after you dropped the flyers? Without me and Jun, I want to add, so it's technically your first real, official, non-double date with Sho!"

"Stop calling it a date, please, it's making me nervous and sounds way too cheesy," Nino replied, his red blush suddenly vanished in favour of a blank white face.

"I bet, secretly, you're the cheesiest out of all of us."

"Nobody can beat you and Jun."

At least, the young man hadn't lost his quick tongue. And he was probably right, but Aiba didn't want to voluntarily give Nino that point.

"Anyway, enjoy the movie!" Aiba chuckled, making a shooing gesture. "Now hurry, or do you want to make Prince Charming wait?"

"I'm off then," Nino replied as he started to walk, ignoring his friend's last comment, but then, Aiba noticed something else.

"You forgot the flyers!"

"Oh for f-" Quickly, Nino turned around to come back behind the counter and fetching the prepared stack of paper to advertise the izakaya as "the traditional side of the district", that he had planned to take with him to lay out in Jun and Sho's restaurant, as they offered as part of their new deal.

"You're so adorable when you're being nervous, Kazu-chan," Aiba sing-sang happily. Seeing his dear friend like this really made his heart bloom.

"I'm not!" the young man countered, but the red was back to his face without doubt.

"Anyway, don't come home without kissing your boyfriend good night!" Aiba sent a failed wink after his friend, knowing that they weren't that far yet, but in his opinion, today could definitely be the chance.

"Stop it!" Nino whined, but Aiba definitely noticed that his friend did not deny calling Sho his boyfriend, and that alone said a lot.

When Nino was about to open the door, he stumbled a bit backwards in surprise, murmuring a "Sorry, didn't see you", that made Aiba crane his neck curiously to see what was going on by the door. It was Jun, who apparently had just showed up in front of the izakaya's door the moment Nino opened it. The young man was holding a tray, and probably carrying the other part of the deal between the two restaurants.

"Hey Nino! Off to your date with Sho?" Jun asked grinning, after his friend let him inside.

"Gosh, can you guys just stop that, please, it's not a date!" Nino replied and since Aiba could only see his back, he just could imagine his friend rolling his eyes, unnerved, once more.

Jun gave him a strict look. "Don't tell him that, Sho is looking forward to your date for weeks, what am I talking about, months. He even bought you a flower crown for this occasion!"

There was a moment of silence during which Nino just blinked his eyes at Jun, and Jun blinked back at Nino.

"You're joking, aren't you?" Nino finally asked, his voice completely serious.

"Am I?" Jun gave back, just as serious.

Another second of silence. Aiba didn't want to ruin it, but he really had a hard time to keep himself from laughing.

"Whatever…," Nino finally gave up, sighing.

"So it's a date," Jun grinned even wider before leaning a bit forward towards his friend. "Are you finally going to have your first kiss tonight?"

That was enough for Nino, who backed off and jumped to the door, stepping outside and only turning back to his friends to throw them a, "I hate you guys!" His face looked as red as parts of his shirt.

"You don't," Jun said, confidently. "You love us."

"I know, way too much!" Nino yelled with a still deep red face and then finally slammed the door behind him, leaving his two dearest friends behind.

"Charming like always," Jun noted, as he finally came closer to the bar, approaching his boyfriend.

"You know how he is," Aiba smirked. "It's a sign that he's emotionally involved."

"A lot, obviously," Jun chuckled, lifting his eyebrows. "Well, good for Sho, then, I guess."

Amused, Aiba witnessed Jun taking a look around, and checking every corner of the izakaya, if there were any other guests left. Just before, Nino finished cleaning the tables, the small group of uncles bragging about their nieces and nephews, had left and with Ohno being picked up by Ishihara about twenty minutes ago and Nino gone off to meet Sho, the restaurant was finally empty now. Except from Jun and Aiba.

With a wide smile, Jun finally approached the bar, where Aiba was still standing, washing the dishes in order to keep his hands busy and not to dash around the corner and cuddle Jun to death right away.

"Hey," Aiba greeted his boyfriend instead, a smirk on his lips, when Jun reached him. He just wanted to officially say it, and it was always a good start of a proper conversation.

"Hey," Jun replied, also wearing a smirk on his lips. He lifted his eyebrows. "Seems that we're the only people left here."

"Seems so," Aiba replied before he put another glass down into the dish water in the sink and nodded towards the tray covered with a kitchen towel that Jun had placed on the counter just now. "What did you bring with you, master chef?"

Jun smiled, blushing slightly, and Aiba found it oh so cute, that his heart made a little jump.

"As you know, I experimented a little bit again and…," the young man started excitedly, reaching for the kitchen towel and removing it with a dramatic gesture.

"Oh my gosh," Aiba murmured, his eyes growing bigger and bigger when he spotted the most adorable looking squirrel-themed desserts he had ever seen.

Jun cleared his throat.

"May I present - the results!" he proudly announced. "I'm not sure yet what to call them but… there you go with a combination of layered, chestnut flavoured sponge with chocolate cream in between, everything covered in fondant coloured in and flavoured with orange, placed on a small dark chocolate plate, sprinkled with brown and green coloured white chocolate to imitate grass. Oh, and those little chestnuts and leaves are made of marzipan."

"This...," Aiba wasn't even able to find the right words that might accurately describe his impression at that very moment. Eventually, he just ended up with an uninspired, but not less meaningful, "This looks just amazing," that made Jun's eyes sparkle no less than any other compliment he could have made. "It must take so freaking long to make these..."

"But they are perfect for autumn, aren't they?" Jun offered, pushing the tray a bit towards Aiba. "Make sure to put them in a cold place and they should last up to three days. They are freshly made, of course."

"Oh, I doubt they will even survive the night once I tasted one of those," Aiba joked. "Thank you so much, Jun!"

He quickly washed and dried his hands before touching the tray and brought them into the room behind the kitchen, to store the incredible cute and delicious looking sweets in the big fridge to keep them cold and save – at least until the next day, because he was convinced once he put them on the menu for his guests, they would sell out faster than anyone could imagine.

Once Aiba was back in the kitchen, Jun had already come around and placed himself next to the sink, supporting his back at the bar, leaning against it, comfortably. Aiba smirked. Finally, he had the time to appreciate the whole beauty of that man in his full gorgeousness.

By now, Jun had taken off his coat that was hanging over the back of a chair nearby. Underneath, he was wearing his standard casual clothes, a simple but nice fitting pair of light blue jeans, and a colourful stylish shirt with a V-neck, exposing his perfect skin. Around his neck, he was wearing a thin silver necklace with a round pendant that was just reflecting a ray of light from the lamps above the counter at that very moment. Aiba's lips curled up into a smile.

Of course, he recognized the piece of jewelry right away. It was a set, necklace and ring, that he chose to give Jun for his birthday at the end of August, just a couple of weeks after he and Jun had began dating officially, which was literally the day after the summer festival.

The necklace and ring were a bit on the pricy side, Aiba had to admit, and Jun had slapped his new boyfriend's shoulder for going out and buying something so expensive for him, but ever since his birthday, Jun kept wearing it each and every single day, and that made Aiba really happy. Jun was even wearing it while in bed, and while taking a shower – Aiba had made sure to check on this by himself, of course.

Letting his gaze slide up even higher, Aiba reached his boyfriend's handsome face. The smile dancing on his full lips that were surrounded by numerous small cute moles were the most kissable ones Aiba had ever seen, his skin was fair and perfect, and his eyes were the most beautiful on earth. Aiba loved the long lashes surrounding Jun's eyes, the dark orbs that made him want to lose himself inside of them, the thick eyebrows, and also the cute tiny wrinkles in the corners of Jun's eyes that showed up when he was smiling –like now.

For Aiba, Jun was just perfect. Not only on the outside, but especially on the inside. And still, he was amazed with each and every day that passed, that he was allowed to call all of that perfection his. Aiba promised to himself, that he would treasure Jun and their relationship until the end of his life and further, if possible, just like he promised to his boyfriend when he gave him the necklace and ring. And luckily enough, Jun accepted his promise, almost crying from being overwhelmed by joy. OK, maybe Nino was right and Aiba and Jun were indeed the most cheesy people here, but Aiba didn't care at all.

"Hey, earth to Aiba-chan," Jun chuckled, pulling his boyfriend out of his thoughts.

"Oh!"

Aiba startled slightly when Jun waved a dry dish towel in front of his face.

"Let me help you," Jun said with a smile when Aiba raised an eyebrow at him. He then pointed at a couple of already washed bowls. "I could dry those you finished? We're faster if we work together."

"That would be lovely, thank you!" Aiba replied, reaching to his boyfriend and placing a small "hello"-kiss on his forehead, before he continued his task.

"So, I searched for cheap flights and some Airbnb apartments for Europe in January," Jun started as he reached out for the first glass to dry.

They had been talking about making a culinary trip to Europe for a few weeks, ever since they got together, and Aiba was truly excited about the premise of joining Jun on one of his "food adventures", as he used to call them. It would be his first time to travel so far away and there was lots of stuff to research and prepare, and honestly, Aiba already felt a bit lost and overwhelmed by all the opportunities, but together with Jun, he managed to put a plan together, and he was already looking forward to putting that plan into action at the beginning of the next year.

"Oh, you mean like renting an apartment for a few days?" Aiba asked, excited.

Jun nodded. "Exactly. I thought, it would be more interesting than staying in a hotel every night. We can go grocery shopping in the neighbourhood, cook local stuff... just if you want, of course."

"Sure, that sounds amazing!" Aiba flashing his boyfriend a smile. "Oh, but have you guys already decided who will take over your kitchen for the time you're not going to be here?"

"At least, it will definitely not be Sho!" Jun chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

Aiba burst out into nervous laughter. He had to learn the hard way that despite being probably the biggest food fan of them all, Sho was definitely the least talented in cooking. Aiba found out about that, when Jun and Sho hosted a dinner for him and Nino in their apartment recently, and Jun thought, it was time to let Sho try and make the salad dressing once more – just to see him fail, apparently not for the first or second, but the umpteenth time. In the end, Sho was put in charge of mixing the drinks – something he was way more capable of – and Aiba helped Jun make a new salad instead.

"Good...," Aiba chuckled. "But I guess, you can't close the place for so many weeks..."

Jun shook his head. "Certainly not... I think I will train my assistant a little harder and hope he'll be ready by then. He's not bad, he's just a little slow sometimes."

"Or you are just too perfect?" Aiba offered, quickly placing a kiss on Jun's cheek, who blushed slightly and smiled widely. "Maybe, you can also ask Nino to drop by and help out once in a while. I'm sure, he doesn't mind," Aiba then suggested.

"What? Nino can cook?!" Jun threw his boyfriend a skeptical look. Indeed, he had never seen him cooking and Nino wasn't the type to brag over his talents.

"Sure! In fact, he's a really good chef," Aiba started explaining. "He just usually doesn't do it because he doesn't need to. I mean, he lives with a family of chefs, after all," the young man pointed out, even a bit proud.

"Including the cutest chef on earth," Jun added, quickly returning a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek and Aiba grinned from ear to ear, happily, but before he could even lean closer for a real kiss, Jun had already returned to the task in front of him and nodded. "OK, maybe I'll ask him to have an eye on my assistant. I don't want to steal too much time from him, though. He's still a student, after all."

"I'm sure, he'll say yes and help out as much as he can," Aiba reassured the other man, still moaning the missed chance for his kiss. Well, there'll be another chance. Very soon, and at the latest, when this conversation was over. "It means he can spend more time with Sho, after all."

"Granted," Jun laughed. "Spending more time together with a beloved person is always a pro."

"Isn't it?" Aiba asked in a low voice, slowly stepping a bit closer to his boyfriend.

The man tried standing directly behind him to use the chance of Jun being so focused on his task, to surprise him with an embrace, but at the very same moment when he wanted to reach his arms around his boyfriend, the dishtowel in Jun's hand made a flip backwards and accidentally brushed Aiba's face, making him stumble. Jun whirled around, looking at Aiba, and when he realized what was going on, his eyes widened.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!" Jun exclaimed, throwing the dishtowel onto the counter and reaching his hands to touch Aiba's arms and pull him back closer.

"It's OK, nothing happened," Aiba chuckled.

Nothing, but a missed chance, he added in his mind, but there was not enough time to feel bitter about it, as apparently, Jun had indeed interpreted Aiba's behaviour the right way. At least, he started moving closer to Aiba, lowering his eyes so that his long beautiful eyelashes drew patterns of shadow on his beautiful skin before looking up again, a certain look in his eyes and a smug grin on his delicious lips.

"Talking about spending time together...," Jun then said, his voice low, almost a husky whisper as he pressed his body against Aiba's, and the slightly taller man could sense the other's warmth radiating from him. "When will you close up tonight?"

Aiba smirked, taking the chance and finally putting his arms around his boyfriend, his hands joining at the small of his back. "I think, we can close up soon. But... I still have one customer..."

"Oh, shall I tell him to leave?" Jun lifted his eyebrows, challenging, and pretended to try to escape from Aiba's embrace, who just wrapped his arms tighter around him until they were pressed close together, laughing.

Aiba, who had placed his chin on Jun's shoulder in the process, slightly turned his face so that he could whisper at Jun, his lips almost brushing his ear. "To the contrary, I want him to stay. Upstairs."

"Upstairs?" Jun chuckled, but then, he slightly loosened their embrace, but keeping them slightly tangled, so that he could look back into his lover's eyes. He smirked. "You mean, I should stay for the night?"

"Oh yes, please," Aiba replied, smiling.

"Uhm... you know, that's really a compelling offer," Jun started, lifting one hand to start drawing patterns on the fabric covering Aiba's chest. "But...," his voice turned into a whisper. "What about your parents?"

"They are probably asleep already, don't worry," his boyfriend replied without hesitating.

Jun released a soft chuckle. "Yeah but... you know," he gave Aiba that look again. "If we... you know what I mean..."

"Oh!" Aiba exclaimed, surprised, before he lowered his voice again. "You... you don't want to... you know what I mean if my parents are in the same house?"

Jun lowered his look again, and now he had buried both of his hands in the fabric of Aiba's uniform, letting them run up to his shoulders to massage them slightly, lovingly.

"Sorry, am I being prudish?" Jun then asked, making puppy eyes at the other man.

Aiba swallowed. His boyfriend was just too cute, sometimes. Again, he reached his arms back around Jun, and pressed him close to his chest, the man's arms by now slipped around Aiba's neck. Their faces were now so close that they could feel each other's breath. Just a tiny little closer...

"Don't worry, it's OK," Aiba whispered, brushing his hand over Jun's back. "We don't have to stay here. We can go somewhere else? What about the love hotel?"

"Blunt!" the younger man giggled. "Or what about my place, like last time?"

Aiba tilted his head. "Hm... That was when Sho left to visit his parents..."

"You mean, you don't want to you know what when Sho is in the same apartment?" Jun asked, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

"I guess, I am the one being prudish now, aren't I?" Aiba chuckled.

Jun shrugged, a smug grin on his face. "We could tell him to spend the night here, with Nino?"

Aiba gaped at him. "What?! But -"

"As far as I know, nothing like you know what is happening between those two yet," Jun continued, his lifted index finger on top of Aiba's lips for a few seconds, to make him stop talking. "I mean, they didn't even kiss properly yet so... there shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Aiba snickered. "True. And if Nino feels really uncomfortable with Sho staying in the same room, I can offer my room to him for the night."

"Hmmm...."

Aiba's smile vanished when he felt Jun drifting off. He reached his hand and put it under his boyfriend's chin to gently push it up and make them lock eyes again.

"What's wrong," Aiba asked in a soft voice. "You OK, cupcake?"

The use of this special nickname, that Aiba randomly had come up with some time ago, made Jun smile immediately, as Aiba noticed satisfied. The younger man nodded, and cuddled closer into his boyfriend's warm embrace.

"Yeah, sure... I just figured, this is going to be complicated... with you know what for two couples," he started. "Well, that is if Sho and Nino are ever ready," he chuckled, and Aiba joined him. "I mean, I don't want to spend all my nights with you in a love hotel... that's so... I don't know, it's exciting but..."

"I guess, we'll figure something out, don't worry," Aiba replied just after a second of silent cuddling.

The man brushed his lips against Jun's cheeks, once, twice, pushed his head a little aside and made Jun loosen one of his arms to position it a bit better and expose his neck that Aiba started peppering with kisses. He hummed, letting his lips vibrate against Jun's soft skin, which made the other giggle, as he was feeling a bit ticklish by that gesture.

"Soon, we'll be out of town for a while anyway, and there will be no parents, no Nino and no Sho around," Aiba whispered. "And we can do whatever we like... whenever we like... how often we like..."

Jun hummed, consensually. "I am very much looking forward to that."

"Me too," Aiba grinned against Jun's neck, before he placed a last kiss right underneath Jun's earlobe and then tried to loosen their embrace. When Jun, not willing to let go of his boyfriend at that moment, looked at him, almost reproachfully, Aiba continued. "Just let me finish up here quickly, and we can go!"

"Sure, but before that, there's something else I need to do," Jun replied, a teasing smirk dancing on his lips.

The young man pulled Aiba back closer, then he leaned forward, tilting his head slightly upwards, and closed his eyes as he erased the distance between him and Aiba again. When their lips finally met, Aiba immediately stopped his intended movement, and was all back, hugging his beloved one. Without needing much conviction, he wholeheartedly answered the kiss, brushing his lips over Jun's, spreading warmth between them. They both released a content sigh into their kiss, almost at the same time, when they slightly parted their lips, just to find their mouths again, in a wetter, warmer, more passionate kiss. It was even more breath-taking than every kiss Aiba had ever dreamed of sharing with Jun. It was a strange but powerful mixture of innocence and passion.

There was the innocence from their past, when they were not quite what they wanted to be for each other, standing there in the middle of that red bridge surrounded by the hints of romance, but not knowing how to communicate their longing for each other and ending up in a clumsy sweet first kiss before life made them part ways. There was the passion of their present, a feeling of freshness and novelty, after finally finding each other again, still waiting to explore deeper and deeper, but also already feeling strangely familiar and comfortable. And then, there was this sweet hopeful dream of their future that they wanted to share, as friends, as a couple, and maybe, one day, even as business partners, for real. Nothing was set in stone yet, but the possibilities were numerous like the stars in the night sky. The excitement over all those old and new and still unexplored feelings was breaking over them, all at once, and it was just amazing.

Aiba's heart was tumbling in his chest, and he couldn't help but press Jun closer, hold him tighter, kiss him harder, and show him that he intended to never let him go again. Ever. Now, that he was finally back, and would stay with him, as long as fate would allow them to be together.

"Wow... what a kiss," Jun whispered, out of breath, when they finally broke their kiss. His lips looked swollen and just so beautiful that Aiba couldn't hold back and pressed his own lips on top of them again, for one more kiss.

"This surely wasn't the last one," he then whispered into Jun's ear, who giggled, excitedly.

"I hope so," Jun said, smiling at his boyfriend, who had forgotten all about his plans to clean up, and they just got lost in each other's eyes for a couple of minutes, before their lips came back together again.

This was it, their happy ending. It might not be one hundred percent how Aiba had expected their future to be, years ago, when he was young and probably a bit too naive, or how he had expected their dream to turn out, but it was what it was and it would be what it would be.

Their current state was only one shape of Aiba and Jun's dream, a beautiful shape that they had formed together, and separately, to which they had added different ingredients to spice things up a bit, and to refine the taste. Probably, they would add more to their secret recipe for dreams, in the future, and that was totally fine. It did not need to be perfect right now. Just like finding the right ingredients for a recipe for a great meal, finding and fulfilling a dream was a process, a work in progress. The journey might be long, but they would walk it next to each other, together, and they would be as happy as they could be.

THE END