fic for marmarci! (2/2)

[nino_mod]

For: marmarci
From: :3.

Part 1


+ PLANET EARTH. JAPAN. MAY 20, 2018. Early morning. Ninomiya and Matsumoto apartment. +


Apparently, Sho wasn't the only one who had to sleep on the floor past night, Nino had to find out when he passed through the living room on his way to the kitchen the next morning. Jun must have allowed some of his friends to crash at their place.

Besides Sho in his usual awkward sleeping position on his futon, there was also a young man – Nino knew his face, not his name though – lying in one corner of the room, only his jacket stuffed underneath his head as a pillow. Two girls were cuddling in the opposite corner of the room, sharing a blanket. A few more passed out drunkards were spread over the floor. On the couch, there was an entangled couple, one part of which Nino recognized as Jun's friend Toma, the other an unknown woman.

He frowned. And where was Aiba? This was his usual sleeping spot, after all. Well, maybe some of their guests were sleeping on the roof top, Nino assumed, shrugging.

Kicking an empty beer bottle out of his way, he continued his way, glancing at Sho, who still seemed to sleep peacefully despite the whole mess. When one of the drunkards yawned, stretched his limbs and kicked Sho in the process, Nino cringed. Suddenly, he felt a little guilty. He probably should have seen this coming and offered Sho a place in his room for the night. Just on the floor, of course, just on the floor, and just to save the alien the trouble of having to share a room with a bunch of strangers. Nino's heart stopped beating for the split of a second as he caught himself staring at the man, wondering how it would have been to share his room with him, before he quickly cleared his throat and pulled of his mind, shuffling on.

"I'm not going to make breakfast for everyone, though," Nino grumbled with a pout, ruffling his hair.

When he passed Jun's room, the door flew open, almost hitting Nino, and half-dressed Jun, smelling from alcohol and his dark locks standing on end, appeared in the doorway. As soon as he spotted his best friend, he smiled at him, sleepily.

"I wish you a wonderful good morning, my dear Nino!" Jun chimed in his happiest voice.

Nino frowned at his friend, just to earn another broad grin. That man was currently spreading the aura of a stoned hippie – even if Nino knew for sure, that Jun had and never would touch any drugs. Instead, Nino already had an idea what happened last night that would set the other man in such a good mood. Happy Jun was one thing, but overly relaxed and overjoyed Jun was another. Nino quickly scanned the area around Jun's neck, and just as expected, he could spot a few hickeys there.

"Morning. I can see you had a lot of fun, last night, didn't you?" Nino asked with a challengingly raised eyebrow.

"Oh, you can count on that," Jun replied, chuckling.

The man looked completely satisfied with himself and the world. Well, good for him, Nino thought. He didn't expect – nor want – to find out though who was the one setting Jun's world so apparently right. However, the unasked question answered itself when another person showed up besides Jun, gently pressing against the man's shoulder to make him shift and let him pass through the door. Nino's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, when he recognized the person standing in front of him now – completely naked.

"Good morning, Nino!" Aiba flashed his usual charming smile at the young man, before he turned back to Jun. "I'm shower, you come too?"

Nino's jaw dropped.

"Go ahead, Ma-chan, I'm there in a minute," Jun replied with a smug grin on his lips and a look in his eyes that could have undressed Aiba on the spot, if he wasn't naked already.

"Ma-chan?!" Nino repeated in disbelief, glaring at his best friend once the alien's naked butt had vanished into the bathroom. "Wait, wait!"

"Hm?" Jun tilted his head, but Nino already reached his hand and grabbed Jun's wrist, pulling his confused friend behind him through the corridor into the kitchen where he slammed the door and took a deep breath before he faced his flatmate again and started to interrogate him, trying to keep his voice as low as possible.

"You had sex with Aiba?!"

"Well... yes?" Jun shrugged, rubbing the wrist that Nino had kindly let go off.

"No," Nino shook his head heavily. "Let me rephrase that. You had sex with an alien?!"

Jun just grinned at him again, even broader than before. He crossed his arms in front of his naked chest. "Well... yes," he repeated. "And I have to say, you should try it too."

"Excuse me?!" Nino couldn't believe it.

"Not with Aiba, probably, I might be a little possessive when it comes to sharing my sexual partners," Jun continued. "But if you can get your hands on another alien, if you know what I mean," Jun wiggled his eyebrows, unsettling Nino even more, "I do really recommend it! Did you know that they can... shift forms? Like... you know, even down there?"

Nino just stood there, dumbfounded, his lips parted, but not a single word coming out of his mouth. So, Jun just rambled on.

"He was just as big as my body possibly could handle it and what he did... Really, it was just amazing! The best sex I ever had! It was incredible, really –"

"Jun, please, stop!" Nino finally managed to say, squinting his eyes and lifting his hands in defense. His face must be as red as a tomato by now. "I really don't need to know that, oh my gosh!"

"Just saying, you should try it too," Jun replied, raising his eyebrows and flashing his friend another wide grin. "I'm sure, Sho will volunteer, what do you think? He's your type, isn't he? And I think he likes you. He has that look on his face when you're around and he's basically following you around all the time, in case you didn't notice."

"He likes me, because I feed him," Nino replied, even if he felt his cheeks flushing again, and his heart-rate picking up.

"Oh, you're already that far?!"

"Not literally!" Nino exploded unnerved, before he turned around and started to gather what he needed to prepare Sho's breakfast. How ironic. "But... if I didn't cook for him, he'd possibly have starved to death by now, that man cannot cook for his life."

"Or he would be living on convenience store food," Jun shrugged. "But he chose yours. And did I mention the way he looks at you..."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nino rolled his eyes. "He's probably thinking about the next dish I will make for him, nothing more!"

"Are you sure?"

"He is not – unlike Aiba, obviously – here examining earthlings in any way. Get it?"

"Maybe he changed his mind. Or he thinks he could actually eat you and that's why he looks at you like that," Jun started laughing at his own joke. "Smile Nino, I'm just teasing you a little. They said they won't eat us, remember?"

"I know that was a joke. A bad one, I may say," Nino growled, throwing an annoyed look at his friend. "Seriously, what was in that alien cum, did it damage your brain? No, wait, please tell me you used a condom!"

Jun rolled his eyes. "We did. And it's not like I could get pregnant, so calm down."

"You never know if they have some kind of... alien diseases or something else that could be dangerous for our bodies," Nino intervened, dead serious.

"Wow, come down, man," Jun raised an eyebrow. "It's fine, we're being careful, OK?"

"You're planning to repeat that?!"

"Well, I'm quite fond of Aiba, so if this does not stay as a one-night stand, I wouldn't be disappointed," Jun said, his lips transforming from his broad satisfied grin into a soft and gentle smile.

"Oh I can't believe this...," Nino murmured, his heart clenching at the thought of what all this might mean, what all this might bring...

There, he himself tried to keep himself from developing any feelings for someone coming from galaxies away, who was apparently only here on earth temporarily in order to find a missing person, and then there was Jun who stepped into that trap completely. Nino really wished, his friend did not invest too much feelings, or have too high hopes on this, so that his heart would not get broken, eventually, but the soft smile on his face told a rather different story.

"Now chill, Nino! And I didn’t say you should fall in love with an alien, I just think it would do you good to unleash some of your weird tension with something else other than your dildo, once in a while and wow... did I mention how awesome it was?" the smug grin on Jun's face had returned.

"I don't -", Nino sighed, he honestly didn't even want to give Jun the satisfaction of finishing his protest, but it was out faster than he could stop himself from talking. "I can still find a sexual partner here from earth, if I wanted to. And you're damned right, I am not interested in falling in love with an alien, heaven knows!"

At least, Nino wanted to cling to that one last bit of rationality within himself, that knew better than to do so, no matter what his heart would say.

"You should enjoy life a little more, my friend. As for me, I'm going to the bathroom now, taking care of Aiba's and my body hygiene," Jun said, putting a hand on Nino's shoulder. He wiggled his eyebrows again. "And you, continue feeding your alien, who you are not interested in."

The sarcasm dripping from his friend's voice made Nino almost angry. He sighed.

"Don't forget to kick out your other friends, as soon as they wake up," the man said instead of picking up Jun's teasing. "I'm not going to feed them!"


+ PLANET EARTH. JAPAN. MAY 23, 2018. 06:40 PM, JST. Ninomiya and Matsumoto apartment +


"There's something I want to talk about," Nino announced a few days later while he was serving dinner to his friends. He looked at Aiba and Sho in particular, the latter only looking up from his plate when Nino said his name. "Now that you two seem to be staying here for a while, how do you plan to afford the rent?"

"Rent?" Aiba tilted his head, slightly confused.

Jun frowned. "Rent?! Do you expect them to get a job here?"

"I just mean, don't get me wrong, it's not like we're kicking you out or anything and I don't mind cooking for more than two people," Nino continued. "But don't you agree that if you stay here you should provide something in exchange for the place you sleep and live in, like contribute a little to the living expenses? Plus, I still think we all should pay for our own clothes."

"Let me ask this again, you expect them to search for a job?" Jun asked, as if Nino had gone nuts.

"Why are you so surprised?" Nino frowned. "Do you not mind paying for other people's living expenses? We're not their parents and we're certainly not the welfare! It's one thing to have guests over for a few days but it's another to let someone move in with you and provide everything for free, I believe."

Jun gaped at his friend before pointing at Aiba. "Let me reword this again. He's a prince, and you expect him to search for a job?! Also, they still have to find Aiba's brother, if they are working, when shall they focus on that properly?"

"If you allow," Sho interrupted them, drawing everyone's attention on him. His mouth was covered with curry sauce, the plate before him half empty, and Nino had to resist the strong urge to lean forward and wipe Sho's lips clean with his napkin. "I think Nino is right. It's just logical. If we plan to stay in a foreign place that we call home, even if temporarily, it cannot be assumed that we get everything for free. It might be a bit uncommon, indeed, for a prince to pay rent, however, we have to adapt to Earth's customs. And about the search for Aiba's brother... we will have to try set up a better strategy first. Wandering around aimlessly, obviously doesn't work. And as Nino told me recently, maybe it even just better to give him some time to relax and then, he'll probably contact us by himself."

Nino sighed, feeling relieved. "Thank you, Sho! Finally, someone understands where I'm coming from!"

"Oh, I agree too," Aiba said between two munches. "Sorry, did not come to that idea myself."

"Really?!" Jun flashed the other a surprised look.

"Sure!" Aiba smiled. "Nino and Sho right. Look, Jun, I'm glad you think of me… highly, but here I'm not prince, I'm visitor. It is nice you and Nino letting us stay and give us food for free. I also like sleep in your bed, but now, time we add something too!"

"Aiba, I think you will be a great king one day," Nino said with an appreciating nod.

"Thanks, Nino!" Aiba beamed. "Also, I think it will be fun! Jun, can you help find a job?"

Jun looked at the alien prince for a moment, before he hummed. "Well, if that's really what you want, of course. I'm sure we'll find something fitting for you."

The young man blushed when he received a hug from Aiba in return.

"Do you need help too?" Nino asked Sho, who was about to finish his curry, carefully picking up every last tiny bit of rice he could find on his plate.

"If you could show me how to search for a job," he said between two spoons of sauce, "That would be very appreciated. I'm sure I can handle the rest of the process on my own then."

"You will need a CV and an Earthling ID, that could be a bit complicated or do you have a plan for that?"

"CV?" Sho wondered.

"A piece of paper with all your personal data like name, birthday, address, and information about your previous work places...," Nino explained, already wondering if it would be even possible for the two aliens to provide something like that. "I guess we'll have to make up the information and see how we can fake your IDs." Saying things like these out loud made Nino wonder. Was this really a good idea?

Sho nodded slowly. "I get it. Well, we'll just design something with Kee-ko's software and print everything we need, including the wrong IDs. They should be sufficient, and nobody will realize that they are not our true IDs."

"Is there anything you would like to do, specifically?" Nino asked.

"Hm… I would like to cook," Sho replied, his eyes sparkling.

Nino chuckled. "Sho… we already had this topic."

"I know that I can't cook," the other man replied. "I just thought it would be nice to help you out in the kitchen…"

Actually, Nino found that idea adorable, as it seemed to imply that Sho wanted to spend more time with him – if he wasn't imagining this right now – but in the end, this was probably still not a good idea. "I fear we are not in need of another assistant in the restaurant currently. Anything else that comes to mind? I mean, you're pretty good with language, aren't you? You could work as a translator or an interpreter, or maybe translator is better."

"What does that mean? Translating as a job?"

Nino blinked before his thoughts caught up. Sure, with Aiba and Sho being able to adapt to other languages, probably where they come from the issue of translating things into other languages was not really an issue. However, Earth had so many different folks and countries, and it was simply impossible for humans to learn that many languages, that translating has become something essential in order to ensure the access to worldwide knowledge and entertainment.

"Well, you see, not every species is as talented in picking up languages as you guys are," Nino started to explain. "Hands down to your perfect Japanese and Aiba with his talking to animals?! It's amazing! But normal people need a lot of time and endurance, even a bit of talent to learn another language or two and believe me, there are a lot of them! So we use to translate books from other languages into Japanese, stuff like that. That's what a translator does for a living."

Sho hummed "That sounds like a pretty easy job," he looked up to see Nino and Jun frowning at him. "Sorry, I don't mean any offence to humans' language studying skills…"

Nino shook his head with a soft smile on his lips. "I know, don't worry. But yeah, that's what I meant. For you it would be easy. It would be the perfect job for you. Let's see if we can find some open positions on the internet somewhere, after dinner."


+ PLANET EARTH. JAPAN. MAY 28, 2018. 03:20 PM, JST. Ninomiya and Matsumoto apartment +


Finding a job had been surprisingly easy, at least for Sho. Nino had been absolutely right, with Sho's talent for languages, he quickly found a job in this field. While browsing the internet together with Nino the other day, the two men soon found a Japanese tourist website which was supposed to gather blogs and travel reports from all over the country and put them all together in one place, providing translations into several languages to make the site accessible for international travelers. They were short on translators and everything it took was sending in a CV, ID and a quick work example, followed by a video call interview about two days later, and Sho was hired. And the best thing was, Sho could work flexible hours from home or from wherever he could bring a laptop with him (Nino kindly had lent him his for that purpose as the young man did not really need it that much anyway when he was working for the whole day). Plus, the company behind the website paid on a yen per word rule, so the more Sho worked, the more money he could make.

Since – to Nino's surprise – Sho was able to not only speak Japanese but also English, French, Chinese and lots of more languages flawlessly (for him it wasn't such a big deal but Nino seemed very impressed, which somehow made Sho strangely proud) he could easily double or triple the amount of money he made by translating one report into several languages, which was a good thing. But what he actually enjoyed the most about his job was the content of the travel reports and log posts. More often than not they were not only telling stories about interesting places all over Japan, and also included a lot of descriptions about fascinating food and restaurants recommended to try, which made Sho really curious. Luckily, he managed to convince Nino to cook some of those things for him, which – as expected – was great.

For Aiba, things had not been as easy. The thing with the fake CV and ID was not the problem, actually, both, Jun and Nino were surprised about how credible the papers Aiba and Sho created for themselves turned out, and how real the prints looked. Jun even assured them that not even a specialist might be able to tell the fakes and real ones apart. Since Jun wasn't a specialist, Sho took the comment with a grain of salt, but nevertheless, he counted it as a compliment in his books.

The problem with Aiba was that he had no idea which job he wanted to try, as there were so many different options and he never had really thought about what his strengths might be. The only thing he was being taught at home, alongside with his brother as well as Sho, were basic politics and social studies, as well as war strategies, which were all meant to make a good ruler out of him one day. However, Aiba had not shown a real talent in those things, except that he was good in connecting with people. On earth though, he did not have the same connection to the people like on his home planet, naturally, and so he was quickly lost on what to choose.

In the beginning, Jun had suggested to take Aiba with him to his company and introduce him as a new intern who should assist him in designing and sewing clothes. However, it quickly turned out that Aiba's creative ideas were a bit over the top (even for Jun's taste, the designer had confessed, surprised) and apparently, he had two left hands so even holding a pair of scissors turned out to be very dangerous for Aiba himself, and Jun quickly decided that he better not operate with such items. Sure, Jun had considered hiring Aiba as a model, but after giving this a try, but it turned out not to be the greatest idea. First, as beautiful and handsome as Aiba was, he wasn't really a good actor and so photoshoots proved to be difficult for him and second, despite Aiba's lack of talent as a model, Jun still found him so hot that he just wanted to jump him right away, as he described it. Thus, this idea had quickly died too.

One evening, Aiba tried to become a bartender in a nearby establishment. At first, with his good looks, the owner of the bar was thrilled to hire him, and he also showed an amount of talent in mixing different kinds of alcoholic drinks into several fancy cocktails, but as soon as he was supposed to join drinking, which apparently was expected in this kind of job, it was over. As Sho had already experienced, their species did not go well with alcohol, and the prince ended up dancing half naked on the counter of the bar, smashing some expensive whiskey bottles, before Jun and Nino came to pick him up and rescue the rest of the bar's interior.

"I think I have the perfect idea for a job for you, Ma-chan!" Jun suddenly said.

The young man was working from home on that day, his design sketches spread over the whole living room floor, while Sho was sitting on the couch with Nino's laptop doing some translation work, and Aiba sulking in a corner of the room, trying to talk to a house plant while caressing its long green leaves.

"Hm?" the Ar-Rashian prince lazily turning his head towards Jun.

The man seemed uncharacteristically sad, which was really a very rare sight, and almost broke Sho's heart. He felt guilty to have failed his prince. He wished he could do something to help him get out of that mood slump, but he had no idea how. Thus, Sho turned his attention towards Jun, too, hopeful.

Jun sat up straight, abandoning the pen he was holding and the sketch he was working on, his eyes suddenly bright, as if he just had the best idea in the universe. Well, Sho really hoped he did.

"What about working with animals?" Jun suggested, with excitement written all over his face.

"Work with animals?" Aiba repeated, a small confused crease forming between his eyebrows. "How?"

"I can't believe I didn't think about this earlier...," the man murmured, robbing closer over the floor towards Aiba until he reached him and took the prince's hands in his. "You really like dogs, don't you? And you can even communicate with them!"

Aiba slowly nodded and Sho frowned, a bit puzzled. Was there actually a job on this planet that involved communicating with dogs?

"You could take dogs from the neighbourhood for walks for a fee," Jun started to explain. "There are lots of people who have to work the whole day or have other reasons why they can't take their dogs out into the park or for a stroll around the block, and for this purpose, people pick up those dogs and go for a walk with them before bringing them back to their respective owners and getting money for that service. It's usually something that kids do to make a bit more pocket money, but who says that a grown man can't do the same thing? Especially since dogs like you so much, I think you would be very popular with them."

"Going for walk with dogs for money?" Aiba repeated, stunned. The confusion in his eyes was long replaced by sparkling excitement though.

Jun nodded heavily and pulled Aiba with him to get started right away. "Let's design a proper advertisement with a picture of you and your contact details and distribute them in the area, I'm sure, a lot of people will call and demand your service."

"That sounds like a really good plan!" Sho jumped in.

"Sounds perfect!" Aiba agreed.

For the rest of the evening, the three men – Sho joined to help the others – doodled several designs on paper. Jun's fashion sketches were long forgotten, as well as Sho's half-finished translation on the laptop screen, when Nino came home, calling "I'm back home!" from the entrance area of the apartment.

Sho quickly jumped up to go greet the young man, who just a few seconds later approached the living room and shot him a questioning look about what was going on. Sho quickly explained the situation, and just a minute later, Nino joined the group too, trying to take pictures of a friendly smiling Aiba that they could use for the flyer. He even went the length of going to knock on a neighbour's door and ask if he could borrow their corgi for a few pictures, which turned out to be a very intelligent move. The pictures Nino took of Aiba holding the dog and playing with it turned out to be gorgeous.

In the end of the evening, when Nino provided them with some salad and delicious egg sandwiches that they ate together loitering around the coffee table, Sho found himself smiling. Not because of the sandwiches – well, they were absolutely amazing and thus definitely smile worthy too – but rather because he was amazed about how passionate both, Jun and Nino had been about helping his prince. Sho really appreciated that and when Nino smiled at him, pointing amused at Aiba and Jun who had borrowed his laptop to try out some different fonts for the flyer, Sho couldn't help but smile back. They held eye contact for a few seconds, until Nino averted his look.

Sho definitely noticed the slight change of colour on Nino's cheeks, as they turned from their usual pale whitish colour to a soft pink. Immediately, Sho's heart beat started becoming a bit faster. He recognized this behaviour of Nino form his research, he remembered. It was called "blushing" and its definition read that someone became pink in the face, usually from embarrassment, which could either be triggered by situations like speaking in public or other tasks that might make a person nervous, or, which hopefully was rather the case right now, by people the respective person liked, usually more than other people. Their favourite person, so to speak. Sho wondered – not quite daring to hope – would that mean that he was Nino's favourite person?

If Sho could be sure about one thing, it was that Nino had become his favourite person. Nino did not sound convinced, when Sho told him during the party on the rooftop a few days ago that he didn't mind being his boyfriend. However, the truth was, he had meant what he said. Word for word. He understood that Nino used the boyfriend term as an excuse to get rid of an unwanted admirer, but since then, Sho couldn't help but wish, he was not just an alibi. Maybe, he wouldn't be a great boyfriend, he was inexperienced in being one, but with the amount of research he had done on that topic recently, he was convinced that he could at least give it a try.

Remembering the talk with Nino on the roof top, Sho also recalled how Nino complimented his trait of being straight-forward and honest, so maybe, Sho should just give it a try and ask Nino, he thought. However, as soon as he parted his lips, even before one single word could leave his mouth, Sho was interrupted by Aiba, squealing enthusiastically and announcing that he and Jun had finished their project of creating a flyer for Aiba's future dog-walking business.

"Look at this, look at this, isn't it look amazing?!" Aiba exclaimed, lifting the laptop from the coffee table and showing it around to Nino and Sho, who both agreed. "Jun such a talented designer!"

Aiba turned back to Jun, who just sat there, looking proud of his work, his smile turning into a silly grin as soon as Aiba kissed him on the cheek after yelling a big Thank you at the man.

"You're welcome," Jun replied, wrapping his arms around Aiba and pressing him a little closer. Sho couldn't help but look at them. They were really cute together. He was happy that his prince had found such a good match. "With this, I'm sure you'll quickly get some work. Just let me e-mail the template to my e-mail address so that I can make some prints tomorrow in the office. Sho also needs the laptop back, I guess," he added, and the two men got to work.

As relieved as Sho was that there was finally hope that his prince would find a job here on this planet too, he was disappointed that the moment between him and Nino was now gone. He was even surprised for a second that he recognized it as a "gone moment", however, the longer Sho spent time with these nice human men, the more he felt like his social skills improved, even if it’s just a little. Seeing Jun and Aiba as a working example of human boyfriend and alien boyfriend, also helped, or... did not really help, at least not in this particular moment, because seeing them being so close to each other and so happy, only made Sho wish he and Nino could be like that too. However, they were still far away from that point, Sho knew that, and if he wasn't going to at least try to change something about the situation, something like that would probably never happen between him and Nino.

He could just blurt out his question at the other man now, sure, however, he felt like it was probably better to keep it for another day. It did not mean that he wasn't honest with Nino, it just meant, that he was waiting for a more proper moment, right?

Twenty minutes later, Sho had the laptop back and returned to his usual working spot on the couch, working on the article he was currently translating, Aiba and Jun were playing a board game on the coffee table, and Nino had settled in the opposite corner of the couch, his legs crossed in front of him and a book sitting on top of them. Sho tried to focus on his translation, even if he found himself rather wanting to just look at Nino for the rest of the evening, but he did his best to concentrate.

The article he had started translating was quite interesting – if someone could pay attention –, Sho had to admit. It featured an apparently very popular retreat surrounding around one of the most ancient hot springs in Japan – Arima Onsen, near Kobe in the Kansai region. Apparently, the hot springs, which were supposed to have healing effects on body and soul, were not only very popular with locals as well as tourists, but also the food served in several of the traditional restaurants and hotels there were ranked as extremely high quality. Most impressive – not only according to Sho – seemed to be the so-called Kobe beef, which claimed to be the best beef in the whole country, maybe even on the whole planet.

"Oh wow... I need to try this," Sho murmured, more to himself than to anybody else in the room, as he had to pull himself together not to try licking the extremely appetizing picture of a serving of Kobe beef which was provided with the article.

"Hot spring? Kobe beef?" Aiba, who had popped up behind Sho, asked curiously, scanning the article on the computer screen. "Looks amazing!"

There was a chuckle coming from Nino's corner of the couch, and he and Sho locked eyes for a second as they both looked up from their currently doing. And it was Sho this time, who felt his cheeks blushing and decided to look back onto the screen. At least he knew why he was blushing, because indeed his most favourite person in the galaxies made him feel embarrassed.

"Hot springs are great to retreat and enjoy delicious food, indeed," Nino then said, still looking at Sho, his book closed by now.

Sho continued reading the article for a while, Aiba, and now even Jun, was behind him, sharing his curiosity. Then, upon reading more and more about this seemingly magical place, the man had an idea. He quickly turned around to face the prince, who just looked back, a little confused.

"Doesn't this sound like something your brother would enjoy?" Sho asked, and Aiba blinked at him. "The complete relaxed atmosphere connected with nature, hot water, taking baths, being served delicious food..."

The prince's face lightened up and he parted his lips, starting to dart his eyes between the computer screen and his assistant. "You absolutely right!"

"Wait," Jun intervened. "You think, your brother might actually be there?"

"It's definitely possible," Sho confirmed.

"This is first usable trace!" the prince next to him continued. "Jun, can we go there? To check?"

"Uhm...," Jun sounded a little reluctant. "You know, Kobe isn't just an hour away from here, hot spring retreats can be quite pricey, especially if you want to stay there, and the area does not sounds exactly small so I guess we would need to go there for a few days..."

"Can we go there?" Aiba repeated, making big eyes at the other man.

"Please, Jun, the prince is right, this is our first trace!" Sho added.

"Is it even an actual trace?" Nino mumbled, frowning critically. "Who said he's be there? It's just pure speculation..."

Aiba starting fidgeting after glaring at Nino for a second. "Jun, please!"

"Uhm...," Jun reached his hand to scratch his neck. "I fear I already spent all my money on clothes this month so... we actually need to ask Nino if we want to go there."

"Nino?" Sho started, looking at the young man sitting opposite of him, again. "Please, could we..."

Nino frowned at him even stronger. "Are you sure you don't just want to try Kobe beef?"

Sho stilled for a second, before he replied. "Well, I would definitely not pass on the chance to try some if I had the chance to. However, I truly believe that Aiba is right and we might find a trace of his brother at the hot springs, and maybe even the first prince himself!"

Sho hoped, he was as convincing as he thought he was, knowing that Nino was often someone who needed quite a bit of persuading.

"If it is about the money," the man continued, now seeing Nino still for a moment. "I promise I'll pay back whatever it costs for travelling there and staying there for a few days, once I receive my pay check for the translations I'm working on," Sho promised and upon a second thought, he added, "For travelling, we even could use our ship, it's fast, comfortable and-"

"It's a spaceship!" Nino exclaimed, shocked.

"Oh my gosh, yes! Let's do that!" Jun chimed, throwing his arms in the air.

"Jun, no!" the other human said. "We can't just travel around with a spaceship!"

"Why not?" Sho asked, confused. "You don't need to be concerned about being seen, as we can use the invisibility technology to stay hidden from the eyes of other people. In invisible mode, our ship does not even show up on any radar, I promise."

"Plus, it's for free," Jun added, grinning widely.

Nino's gaze wandered from Sho to Jun to Aiba, back to Sho. They kept staring at each other for a few more seconds, Sho was determined not to give in this time. Eventually, it was Nino who lost their staring contest. The young man sighed and lifted his hands in defeat.

"Fine, you guys won. But I swear, if anything goes wrong, I'm out of the whole thing and you can leave our apartment, get it?" The young man looked at Sho in particular.

Sho just nodded in return, determined. Even if it sounded horrible to his ears that he and Aiba might have to leave the apartment and Nino and Jun behind, he was convinced, this would not happen, so there was nothing to fear.

"Thank you, Nino," Sho said.

Jun was still freaking out, more excited than ever. "Oh wow, we're going to fly in a spaceship!"

"We're going to hot spring!" Aiba joined the other man's excitement.

Sho turned back to his work, planning to get as many translations done during the next days, in order to be able to pay Nino back as soon as possible. His look fell back on the amazing serving of meat, popping out from the article. He pressed his lips together, feeling the inside of his mouth turn wet.

"I'm going to taste Kobe beef...," the man murmured, not even realizing that he had said it out loud, before Nino shot him another glare.

"We're going to search for Aiba's brother!" the man corrected them all.

"Sure."

"Yeah, of course."

"What else."

Nino sighed again, but the crease between his eyebrows slowly vanished and the strict look on his face was soon replaced by the soft smile Sho liked so much seeing on him. Again, he felt his own lips mirroring Nino's expression, and he felt warm and happy with Nino's kindness.

"Seriously guys...," Nino mumbled, when he broke eye contact with Sho again, his cheeks again showing that cute blush, on which Sho still planned to ask Nino about, one day. "Give me my laptop for a few minutes, Sho, I'm going to book some rooms for next weekend."


+ PLANET EARTH. JAPAN. JUNE 1, 2018. 05:35 PM, JST. Arima Hot Springs, near Kobe+


The flight with the alien's space ship was over very quickly, just as promised. With invisibility mode on, everything had gone according to plan, and nothing had happened, much to Nino's delight. Jun was not as delighted as he was, but that was because Sho did not allow him to try flying the spaceship by himself, much to Nino's relief. He kind of understood his best friend's excitement, but that did not mean that he supported his curiosity to the extent that could put them in real danger. Sho on the other hand, seemed to be a very reliable pilot, careful, calm, and trustworthy, like always. And he seemed really proud and happy when Nino told him that.

Upon their invisible landing in a park and checking into one of the many traditional hotels occupying the area, the group of friends immediately started strolling through the streets and parks surrounding the hot springs. There were a lot of tourists from all over the country, but also some foreigners, all of them enjoying the amazingly beautiful nature. Indeed, this place had something magical, Nino admitted.

He couldn't help but smile when he turned to Sho and spotted a twinkle in the man's eyes. He obviously enjoyed the landscape around here, too, and Nino thought this was enough to call the trip a success. However, they were still on their mission to find Aiba's brother, and watching the aliens walk around aimlessly, Nino started wondering what exactly their strategy on finding the missing alien prince, was. Admittedly, due to his working hours, he did not really have the chance to join them on their search, and whenever they met at home, it was all about dinner, breakfast, or random talks. Rather than the search for Aiba's brother, the talks had become all about the men's daily life. Something they – all of them, probably – had become used to just too quickly and too easily.

In fact, Nino already started thinking about how things would be when Sho and Aiba were gone again, as soon as they found their missing prince and left this planet again. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he did not want to think about it. Aiba and Sho had become a part of his life already, an essential part. Just a couple weeks ago, he wouldn't have said that, however, right now he could definitely say that he'd miss them. Especially Sho.

Nino ended up being in his thoughts for a while, simply walking next to his friends, but not really paying attention to what they were doing or talking about. Suddenly, someone laid their hand on top of Nino's shoulder. When the young man – pulled out of his own world – turned around, expecting one of his friends, he was surprised to realize that it was an unfamiliar face instead.

"Hey, are you all by yourself here?" the man – a tall, slim foreigner with blonde hair and light brown eyes – asked him in an accent-free English, flashing him a wide smile. "Want to go for a walk with me?"

"Excuse me?" Nino asked, feeling perplexed, darting a look on the man's hand, which was still on his shoulder, before looking back at him, not sure what the stranger really wanted from him.

The man obviously did not even think about pulling his hand back, which already confused Nino more than enough. Instead, he seemed to even enforce his grip a little bit harder – not to the extent that it was hurtful, but so that he could make Nino focus on him.

"I saw you walking all by yourself and thought you might want some company," the foreigner explained further. "You're really cute, you know?"

"Uhm… I-I am with my friends, actually," Nino stuttered his best attempt in English and tried to step aside in order to get rid of the stranger's grip. By now, he had assumed that the guy was hitting on him, which he definitely did not appreciate.

"Really?" the blonde man asked. "Don't you want to spend the evening with me instead? I'm sure you'll like it," he said, the smile on his face forming into a challenging smirk, his eyes narrowing a little.

"No, thank you, I will stay with my friends," Nino said with an apologetic smile and wringing his shoulder in a swift movement, he was still trying to get rid of the man's hand. Unfortunately, even if the foreigner's hand slipped from his shoulder, the man didn't give up and instead grabbed Nino by his elbow, which almost freaked Nino out.

"I can't see your friends. Come on, don't be shy, I know you'll like it."

"No, really, I am sorry, but I am with my friends," Nino repeated, wondering if his accent was so strong that the other man did not understand him properly. He tried to pull back, but the man's grip was firm, and Nino suddenly felt unexpectedly weak. His heart started beating nervously.

"Come on, Cutie," the blonde guy tried again, now stepping even closer to Nino, trying to reach for his other arm too. "You don't need to be scared. I just want to take a walk and talk with you."

Feeling more and more uncomfortable, having his personal space invaded by a stranger in such an incredibly aggressive way – it was one thing to be hit on by someone, another, if that person became rough – Nino quickly glanced around to seek help. He spotted Aiba and Jun already quite a few steps ahead, talking animatedly about something, but couldn't hear them properly, so they were out of earshot and most likely didn't take notice Nino's situation. Sho on the other hand, was quite a bit behind Nino, but completely distracted by a tree, where he was taking snapshots with his AI-port of its leaves. Damned… Looking back at the stranger and feeling the man's grip tightening around his arm, panic started to rise inside of Nino.

"Please… leave me alone," Nino asked again, trying to stay as calm as possible.

The stranger took another step closer, and this time he reached for Nino's other arm. He was successful, locking the man in his firm grip. Nino winced, and tried to back off, unsuccessfully. He was about to scream for help, when suddenly, he felt a strong arm wrapping around his waist from behind, before he was pulled back.

"Uwah?!"

The foreigner's grip around his arms loosened and there was at least as much surprise written on the man's face as what Nino felt. He instinctively put his hands on the arm wrapped around him and turned back, confused, to see who just rescued him. But before he could turn around, Nino was pressed against the firm chest of his rescuer in a tight embrace, in a swift movement. Nino's nervously beating heart stopped for a moment, when he realized it was Sho, who was now trying to stable the young man pressing against him, determined but gentle at the same time. Nino was surprised by the sudden closeness, the heat of Sho's chest against his cheek and hands, and his strong arms circled around him, not too tight, but in a protective way. Nino's heart started beating again, now even faster than before, but not driven by fear.

"Excuse me, but could you please leave my boyfriend alone?" Sho grumbled in perfect English, his voice firm, even if a little rougher than usual.

"Your boyfriend?!" Nino heard the foreigner remarking in surprise, but he didn't turn to look at him and instead allowed his eyes to search for Sho's face. The unamused look mixed with the usual serious expression of the alien made the man look extremely pissed.

"Boyfriend?" the young man whispered under his breath, not being able to tear his eyes from Sho. He blushed.

"I understand that you try to hit on such a cute guy," Sho continued, tightening his embrace a little bit and causing Nino to blush even more. "But I fear I have to inform you that he's already mine."

"Ah... well, I didn't know that, sorry dude," the foreigner chuckled, nervously, finally giving in, as he lifted his hands in defense. Sho just continued glaring at the man until he took a few steps back. "Well then, lucky you, enjoy your evening, guys."

"Thanks, you too," Sho replied, seemingly polite, the look in his eyes still stern and strict.

He watched the man leave, but did not let go off Nino, not even when the stranger was long out of sight. He continued standing there, pressing Nino close, in protection. By now, Nino felt all hot, the warm afternoon air around them, and the heat radiating from Sho's body, as well as his own glowing face, each paying their tribute to the situation. Even if Nino did not really mind it, when people passing them started giving them suspicious looks, he started to slightly shift in the other man's embrace.

"Uhm... Sho?" he asked, his voice sounding a little croaky. He cleared his throat before he continued. "I think he's gone now, you can…"

"Oh," Sho immediately picked up.

He quickly loosened the grip around Nino and allowing him to take a step away from him. Still, he didn't break their body contact completely, letting his hand rest on Nino's upper arm. In comparison to the grip of the stranger from before, Nino did not feel the urge of backing off, at all.

"I apologize, Nino. I hope I didn't grab your shoulder too tightly," the alien said, even starting to slightly rub his hand up and down on the spot he was touching on Nino's arm, which caused the other to chuckle slightly, feeling amused.

"No, no problem, it's fine," Nino replied, offering a smile. "I'm just… uhm... boyfriend?" he asked, lifting one of his eyebrows, hoping he could express his confusion to the other man.

Sho blinked, and for a moment, Nino thought he saw his face slip, the man cleared his throat and averted his eyes before he quickly got hold of himself again.

"I am sorry if this made you feel uncomfortable, Nino, but I thought it might be a good idea to use myself as your alibi, so that those guys won't harass you any longer," Sho said and Nino smiled at the familiar sound of the phrasing. Hadn't he said something similar during the party on the roof top when he needed to make clear that he wasn't interested in Yuriko?

"So you lied and told them, I'm your boyfriend...," the man murmured. Probably, it was just that, but as Sho last time said he wouldn't mind being Nino's boyfriend, maybe this time he meant it again?

"Was that a bad idea?" Sho asked.

Nino shook his head, smiling. "Uhm... no, it's fine."

"Good," the alien replied, and finally let his arm sink. Nino was almost disappointed, but not for long, as Sho soon after reached for Nino's hand and took it into his, before prompting him to continue their way. "I suggest, you stay close to me and we will continue pretending to be boyfriends, so that nobody else will hit on you accidentally."

"If you ask me, guys, you don't even need to pretend," a familiar voice said with a chuckle.

When Nino looked up from his and Sho's joined hands, he looked right into his best friend's grinning face, Aiba, next to the young designer, grinning even wider.

"Oh, shut up, Jun!" Nino murmured, trying not to blush. He did not let go of Sho's hand though but instead pressed the alien's hand tighter.

"Aren't they cute?" Jun asked Aiba, who just nodded.

"So cute!" the alien prince cooed.

Before Nino could protest or say anything else, Jun turned around, grabbing Aiba's hand in the process, and pulled him forward. "Come on, Ma-chan, I'll take your hand too, so that everybody see that you belong to me and will not dare hitting on you."

"Okay~!"

Nino found Sho staring at him, when he looked to his side, but he didn't feel uncomfortable, instead, he felt protected. He sent Sho a grateful smile, which the other man reciprocated, before they started walking after the other couple, hand in hand.

+

Surprisingly, Nino did not really mind walking with Sho, holding hands, not even, when people around them started staring and whispering behind their hands. At least, like this, no one had the nerves to hit on anyone of them again. Further, Nino found himself liking the connection between his and Sho's body. It was exciting and calming at the same time. He just felt good. He realized just once again that being with Sho felt really good, but he told himself that it didn't matter, since he would never start anything with the alien anyway.

However, just because Nino was ready to share some personal space with Sho, it did not mean that he was also ready to share a room with the other man. Nino had booked two rooms for two people each, and his initial plan was to share a room with his best friend, while the two Ar-Rashians sharing the second room. With Jun and Aiba teaming up once they were back in the hotel, it soon became apparent that they planned to hijack Nino's plan.

"Wait, Jun, where are you going?" Nino asked, when he stopped in front of his and Jun's assigned room, but his friend kept walking behind Aiba.

"Huh?" the young designer turned around, raising his eyebrows. "I'm going to my room," he stated matter-of-factly.

"No no, this is your room. We're sharing," Nino said, pointing at the door in front of him and then gesturing between him and Jun. The way Aiba looked at Jun, and Jun looked back at Aiba, though, gave him an inkling that he might have gotten something wrong. Well… of course.

"No no, this is your room," Jun replied, just as expected, pointing at Nino and then at Sho with a wide grin. "You two are sharing, and I'm sharing with Ma-chan."

"But-," Nino spoke up, already feeling his cheeks turning red at the premise of sharing a room with Sho.

He couldn't even finish his intervention though, as Aiba immediately jumped on the other man – literally, grabbing his arm and starting to jump up and down with an excited, "Jun, come on, I want see our room!"

"Are you serious?!" Nino's voice broke, as he flashed his best friend a desperate look.

He should have known that Jun wanted to spend some alone time with his new alien boyfriend, sure, however, somehow, Nino had hoped his best friend would not leave him alone with the other alien, especially as he already seemed to know how uncomfortable it would make Nino feel. He had been naïve, of course. Nevertheless, this insight didn't sooth his upwelling panic. He quickly grabbed Jun by his elbow and flashed Aiba an apologetic smile as he asked him to kindly lend him his friend for a second, and pulled him away, along the corridor and around a corner, to be able to talk to him, alone.

"You can't leave me alone with him," Nino hissed, knowing how desperate he must sound and how red his face must be.

"Come on, Nino, what's the problem with sharing a room with your boyfriend?" Jun whispered back, obviously teasing him with the reference to the small play from before that the two men used to scare away the stranger. "I bet you two will have a great time. Now loosen up and enjoy. We're on holiday."

Nino quickly shook his head. "We're still on a mission, if I may remind you -"

"Which doesn't mean we cannot have a little fun, can we?" Jun shot back, wiggling his eyebrows.

Trying to suppress a frustrated groan, Nino rubbed his hand over his face before he turned back at Jun, "I don't want to-"

"As I told you, I do really recommend sleeping with an alien," Jun interrupted him right away. "And by now I am one hundred percent convinced that Sho would definitely be willing to share such kind of experience with you. Now don't act as if you aren't interested in him, I see the way you look at him, Nino, you really like him and he's your type, so?"

"He's still an alien," Nino whispered, stubbornly, even if he was not able to negate the rest of Jun's observation right away.

"Argument invalid," his best friend shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

Nino frowned, searching for a working counter argument. He looked Jun right in the eye, before he parted his lips again, took a deep breath.

"But what if-" I really fall in love with him and he breaks my heart when leaving to return to his home planet galaxies away Nino was about to say, when he suddenly got interrupted by a much too enthusiastic alien prince jumping him from around the corner and making him squeal internally in surprise.

"Guys!" the alien yelled, excitedly.

"Gosh, Aiba, don't scare me like that!" Nino exclaimed, pressing his hand over his heart to calm himself down.

"We want go down to the outdoor hot spring and take a bath together, come on!" the alien prince said with a wide grin, reaching for both, Nino and Jun's hands to pull them with him, back to Sho.

"Good idea! Let's take a bath, chill and go for dinner afterwards. You'll join us, Nino?" Jun immediately jumped on the train.

"Surely not!" the other man replied, trying to free his hand from Aiba.

"Why?" Sho asked, once Nino came to halt right in front of him.

"Nino, come one, you're not shying away from joining a public bath with us, are you?" Jun asked, rolling his eyes.

Nino stayed stubborn, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I don't have to. I pass."

"Oh, come on Nino, don't be such a prude!" slowly but surely, Jun seemed to become unnerved by his friend too. He leaned it towards Nino, lowering his voice to a whisper. "I'm sure, Sho wants to see you naked too, so no need to be shy."

A not successful whisper, apparently, as Sho seemed to have picked up Jun's comment and immediately added, "I wouldn't mind, indeed."

As much as Nino appreciated Sho's honesty and straightforwardness, sometimes it was just a little too much to handle. Embarrassed, Nino averted his eyes. Seemingly, there was no escape.

"Anyway, we should get changed, go down to take a bath and then enjoy dinner together. I saw their menu when we checked in before; they have a luxury menu on sale for couples, so we'll get four for the price of two!" Jun grinned.

"We are not a couple!" Nino mumbled.

"We can be," Sho replied, looking directly at Nino, who slightly blushed. His mind was carried back to just about half an hour ago, when Sho was holding his hand, protecting him.

"You mean, we can pretend," he murmured.

Sho shrugged. "Whatever you prefer."

It sounded so neutral, almost indifferent that Nino couldn't help but feel a jab in his heart upon hearing Sho voicing it like that. But what did he expect? What did he even want? He himself didn't know it any longer.

"I'm confused," Nino sighed heavily.

"Why? I think it's pretty simple," Jun intervened.

"But-"

"I want to eat Kobe beef...," Sho murmured, slightly distracted, his mind obviously drifting away to other spheres, and Nino felt like something hit him right into his chest. So, this was all just about food, wasn't it?

"In case you're worried about him seeing you naked, don't worry, his mind seems to be completely distracted by the upcoming dinner," Jun chuckled, turning the knife, grinning.

Nino frowned. "I didn't-"

"Don't tell me, you're disappointed now," his best friend asked in his much too sweet voice, mocking Nino.

"I'm not-"

"OK, then let's get started!" Sho exclaimed, unexpectedly sounding very excited, surprising his friends, but Aiba immediately joined.

"Taking a bath together, yei!"

"Why does nobody let me finish my sentences?!" Nino groaned, frustrated, but was too tired to fight back when Jun finally pushed him and Sho into the same room. He gave up, and just turned around, embarrassed, when Sho started to get undressed right in front of him, to change into the yukata the hotel provided for each guest.

+

Eventually, they ended up taking a bath together. It was relaxing and exciting at the same time, the heat of the water making Nino sleepy, while the view of Sho's – admittedly gorgeous – naked body woke parts of the young man he was glad he could hide under the water.

He tried to put as much distance between him and his friends, as possible, saying something about wanting to enjoy the bath by himself, and luckily, they didn't bother him too much. So, while Nino tried to calm down his head and body, letting the warm water surround him and take off the stress of the day, the only thing he could hear from the other men was a bit chit-chat and laughter in low voices, in order not to disturb any other visitors at the hot spring.

It was an outdoor bath, which was just the best they could have, the hot water warming them up and the fresh evening air cooling their heads. The sky was darkening with every passing second, until stars after stars were popping up in the darkness above them. In the end, Nino really managed to relax, so much, that even when the others let him know they were going back and change for dinner, he told them he'd just enjoy the water for a few more minutes and would follow them soon. Jun quickly reminded Nino not to fall asleep in the water, and they vanished.

Nino didn't fall asleep and he kept his promise and joined his friends for dinner not much later, slightly hungry, happy and in complete harmony with the world. The three men had only ordered something to drink, waiting for their friend, who sat down on the empty seat next to Sho, who was sitting around the corner of the table. When their knees met for a second, Nino blushed a little and pulled back. Sho, whose eyes he met in the process, didn't look away but instead offered him a smile that Nino couldn't help but answer. Jun then indeed managed to convince the waitress that they were two couples. On our honeymoon, he added with a wink and putting his arm around Aiba to highlight his point, and the young girl's cheeks flushed as she turned away bashfully to place the order with the kitchen staff.

Soon, they enjoyed the first course consisting of cabbage salad, pickled pumpkin and fried gyoza (which were good, even if not as good as Nino's, as Sho assured him), before the main course was served – Kobe beef. With that, Sho's attention was completely gone, and Nino (in order not to get jealous of the restaurant's chef who triggered one of the most delightful expressions on Sho's face he had ever seen) had to remind himself that the only reason why Sho was so over the moon was that he never had Kobe beef before.

All of a sudden, as if Sho was reading Nino's mind, he stopped himself in an attack of delight, turning to Nino after swallowing a piece of meat, and looking at him all serious.

"Of course, I'm convinced, if you were the one cooking this meal, it would taste even better, Nino!" Sho said, before returning to his plate full of delicious meat.

He left the other man with flushed red cheeks. How could he even blurt something like this out so straightforwardly? Not that it didn't make Nino's heart stumble a little, not that Nino didn't appreciate Sho's thought, and he sincerely did not doubt that Sho really meant what he just said. It was incredible but on top of it all, absolutely embarrassing. Still, Nino couldn't help but smile, even if his smile was wiped out of his face and replaced by a nonchalant look, as soon as he caught Jun grinning at him widely.

After a gorgeous dinner, the four men decided to shift their position from the restaurant into Nino and Sho's room upstairs, to continue chatting and drinking for a bit longer. While Aiba and Sho, as the responsible aliens they were, kept drinking their Oolong tea, Nino and Jun had switched to beer, which very soon showed its effects. Jun eventually became quite touchy with Aiba, not minding that Sho and Nino watching, which Aiba seemingly enjoyed, as they soon stuck together in an embrace, exchanging small touches and kisses over and over again. Sho did not seem to mind, at all, however, Nino eventually started feeling uncomfortable, as the actions the two men were sharing right in front of him reminded him so much on the things he wanted to do with Sho. Oh well, the alcohol had done its thing and made Nino admit that now, at least to himself. He still wasn't interested in admitting it to any other people inside this room yet, though.

To distract his mind, Nino kept asking Sho questions throughout the whole evening, about his planet, about his and Aiba's journeys, about space in general, trying to take note of every piece of information he got – which were very interesting – but only to find out that he found Sho's moving lips even more interesting after all. He was about to start trying to convince Jun again to stay in this room with him tonight, but when he spotted his best friend and Aiba sharing a heated kiss, he advanced to kicking them out to "get their own room" instead.

With that, in the end, Nino was left with what he initially wanted to prevent so badly – him and Sho alone in a room. His heart beat picked up the second he closed the door behind Jun and his alien boyfriend, and it did not become better when he turned around and saw Sho sitting at the coffee table, sipping from his Oolong tea and realized just once more how adorable and sexy the man looked in that hotel yukata. Just a second later, Sho locked eyes with him.

Nino felt his cheeks blush, cleared his throat and averted his look, starting to walk through the room, passing Sho, until he reached the balcony door and pushed it open to step outside. The cool night air welcomed him, brushing against his face softly, and the sounds of nature embraced the young man immediately. There was the serene rustling of leaves from the trees in beautiful backyard of the hotel, and the soft burble of a fountain. It was wonderful, and wonderfully distracting, when Nino put his arms on top of the wooden handrail, at least, until he heard shuffling footsteps from behind and Sho appeared right next to him, just a minute later.

"Are you OK, Nino?" the man asked in a low voice. "Did you drink too much beer?"

Nino actually considered the possibility to blame it on the beer – just everything. Not just the fact that he indeed was a little tipsy, but also the fact that he felt more and more attracted to Sho, the more time they spent together, as if his heart didn't mind his brains interventions of not falling in love with an alien, might there be just as many reasons for why it was better not to. Maybe, if things got a little out of hand, he also could just blame it on the alcohol, Nino wondered. Jun was right, after all, even if Sho was not that easy to read, the signals had become more frequent over the last couple of weeks, and even a blind man could see, that Sho at least wouldn't be opposed to become a bit experimental, most likely. But wouldn't that be sly of Nino to just go with the flow and then blame the alcohol? He had never been the type for a one-night stand. If something happened, he wanted it to happen in a relationship. He also had never been the type who believed in love at first sight or anything, but what he felt towards Sho was coming very close to that. But if it was just for one night, would he be satisfied? Most likely, not.

"Nino?" Sho asked again, pulling the young man out of his thoughts. "Are you feeling sick?"

Nino slightly turned his head and looked at the alien. His heart was beating faster, and he could really feel the urge of his body to lean sideward against Sho's strong chest, wanting to feel that warm embrace again that they had shared two times now, first on the party of the roof top and for the second time just a few hours ago. Both times it had just been for show, in order to keep other people away, but nevertheless, the body contact felt good. At least so good, that Nino was seeking more of it.

"Ah no, I'm fine, don't worry," Nino finally replied, and if he wasn't mistaken, he thought he saw Sho's serious face relax a bit.

"I'm relieved to hear that," the alien answered just a second later, and Nino smiled, slightly desperate.

On the one hand, of course he liked hearing that Sho was worried about him. It made him feel special, made him get his hopes up that Sho might really feel about him the same way Nino was feeling about him, but at the same time, it just felt difficult. Complicated.

"It's a beautiful night, tonight, isn't it?" Sho continued, when Nino didn't jump on the conversation.

It immediately reminded Nino on their conversation on the roof top during the party. He smiled and, mirroring Sho's answer from back then, replied, "It's indeed a beautiful night."

"This planet is just fascinating. I really like it here," Sho continued. "I can understand why the prince chose this planet to hide."

Nino had to pull himself together, not to say "You could stay". It wasn't his place to make such a suggestion, especially not, knowing how much needed Sho was on his home planet, how much he was needed by Aiba, and how fulfilled he was from his purpose. What could he offer Sho in exchange?

"Recently, I was wondering, if I couldn't stay," the alien suddenly said, making Nino's face slip in surprise. "I mean... I thought about what you said about the prince. Why not wait until he has enough of rest and comes back to Ar-Rash by himself? It might take a bit longer, but, even if the princes' father said he wants to retire soon, I don't think he will retire fully until he can't be sure his sons are ready to take over the lead of his nation. And if we stay here, just a bit longer... there would be no harm done."

Nino was truly surprised by the man's words. He had expected Sho to want to find the prince and get back home as soon as possible. It was true, their search wasn't really crowned by success so far, but it was still their mission. Nino's thoughts surrounding the whole situation ran wild. He was wondering about Aiba and Sho, he was wondering about Aiba's brother, about the search, about the man's escape from his home planet. He wondered again, if it was the right thing to try finding him, in the first place. He wondered, if things weren't better if everybody was free. If the aliens were free, what might they want to do? What might Sho want to do? If he really would want to stay on earth, if he had the possibility to? Maybe, even, forever? Honestly, Nino really wouldn't mind spending more time with the alien, getting to know him better. Even, if he still was scared of getting too close, of getting his heart broken when he found out that it wouldn't last.

"I would like to stay here," the alien kept on talking when Nino still didn't reply, tongue-tied as he was. He looked straight into Nino's eyes, unwavering, for a few long seconds, and Nino just looked back. "I would like to look at the stars every night. Together with you."

Nino held his breath for a moment upon hearing Sho saying those last words. It wasn't quite a confession, but it felt like one. He blushed, searching his mind to say something smart, something witty, something to make the whole situation appear as a joke, not in order to make fun of Sho and his words, but in order to place himself safe, to run away, to not say the words back right away, like his heart told him to do.

"Say, Sho...," Nino finally started talking. He broke their eye-contact and instead guided his look over the balcony down into the beautiful traditional garden. "If you guys are shape shifters, as you already told me, I assume that Aiba's brother is a shape shifter too, right?"

He could almost hear the confusion about the sudden change of topic in Sho's slightly hesitant reply. "Well... yes, we all are, indeed."

"So he must have changed his appearance too, right? For hiding purposes?"

"He's quite smart, so yes, I assume he probably changed his appearance."

"How are you going to recognize him, then?" Nino asked, curious.

He did not receive any reply. Sho had frozen. Nino frowned.

"Sho?"

"It's really beautiful tonight, isn't it?" the alien asked, guiding his look towards the garden.

Nino started having a bad feeling about the situation. Could it be...? It couldn't, right? But he had to make sure.

"Sho... Is it possible that you don't even have any idea for whom you're looking for, exactly?"

Sho sighed, not able to keep the mask of ignorance on his face any longer. He looked at Nino, and it was the first time that Nino saw something like a hint of despair in the alien's eyes.

"I just hope we will kind of recognize him when we see him," Sho said. "We don't know his human form, that's true, but maybe there'll be other hints or some kind of... connection, maybe? His behaviour? I know it's a shot in the dark, but what other choice do we have?"

"You don't sound really hopeful," Nino slightly shook his head, sympathetically. "What about Aiba?"

"I think he kind of relies on me having an idea how to figure things out, so he probably thinks I really can recognize his brother when he crosses our path," Sho admitted. "But honestly, I reached a point at which I rather hope the prince will follow your strategy and get into contact with us by himself, sooner or later, or activate the location system of his AI again..."

"I guess then it's really just a matter of waiting, isn't it?"

Sho didn't reply. He looked demotivated. As if he felt like he lost. Nino's heart tightened. He knew Sho was being serious, but not like that, it was horrible to look at and he wanted to help the alien feel better. If he could maybe cheer him up a little bit? Nino tried to smile, even if it might look a little forced, and leaned a bit closer towards Sho, until his elbow poked Sho's. The alien looked at him, wondering.

"So actually, you only wanted to come here because of the Kobe beef, right?" Nino asked the other man, challenging, his lips pulled into a smirk. "How sleek of you, Sho," he continued, chuckling.

For a moment, Sho just looked back at Nino, but eventually, his lips curled up too, slightly. He smirked. "It was worth it."

"You food junkie," Nino replied, jokingly.

"But I'm glad we came here," Sho said with a sincere smile. "It's a really wonderful place and I enjoy spending time with all of you. Thank you for booking this wonderful hotel for us, Nino."

The young man felt warmth spreading in his chest. He definitely liked smiling Sho way better than desperate Sho, he thought. He stretched his arms and took a deep breath. "Well, at least the trip isn't completely wasted. Let's count it as experience for you and Aiba."

"You're too kind, Nino," Sho replied, before his look turned more serious again. "Even if I wasn't completely honest with you..."

Slightly confused, Nino frowned, letting his arms sink to his sides. "What do you mean?"

"You said you like my trait of being honest, and so I tried to continue being honest with you but recently...," Sho averted his look, he looked bashful. "I feel like there is a misunderstanding between us which is to be blamed on my inability to clearly say what I am thinking in this respect."

"Sho?" Nino's frown deepened. He wasn't going to say it, was he? Nino was just imagining things, why should he -

"Nino, I like you."

Crap. He said it.

Nino shut his eyes, tight, trying to think what this actually meant, or if he was interpreting it wrongly. Wondered, what to do next.

"Sho, you don't know what you're saying," the young man started in a whisper. He couldn't mean it.

Sho shook his head but did not break eye contact with Nino. "I know exactly, what I'm saying," he said, turning to face Nino straight on. "And I'm being honest. I might be not good in this, as I never felt like that before, but I mean it, I like you, actually, more than just like you. I think it's rather a feeling falling into the category of what you earthlings call being in love with someone."

Nino looked at Sho, slightly shaking his head. No, it couldn't be true. And if it was, it would only make things complicated. This was cruel. Why was the alien raising hope in Nino if there was no way things between them would work out in the long run? Why would he make Nino's heart feel like it was bursting, from the joy, and from the pain that would surely come?

"What you love is the food I cook for you every day," Nino tried a way out with a broken chuckle in his voice and a crooked smile on his lips. If there was any chance to talk Sho out of this, he should better try it.

"Well, I truly like your food, that's true," Sho admitted, nodding in appreciation. "However, I can very much distinguish my feelings for food from the feelings for people. I learned quite a lot since I've come to this planet. I learned a lot from Jun and Aiba, I learned a lot from TV shows and movies-"

Nino laughed, hoping his laughter did not sound as desperate as he was feeling right now. "Not very trustworthy sources, if you ask me-"

"Please, let me finish," Sho intervened, all serious and reaching out to grab Nino's hands, making the other man stand still. "And please, don't look down on me. Just because I'm not from here, and not used to feel and show as much emotions like earthlings, it doesn't mean I can't feel. And now, I want to show you my feelings."

Nino swallowed. He looked at Sho, and those beautiful dark brown eyes looked like they were trying to convey the truth. Nino's heart beat fast. The warmth of Sho's hands tickled over his skin and spread over his whole body, even reaching inside Nino's chest.

"Nino, the most I learned from you, since I came to Earth," the alien continued, slightly pressing Nino's hands. "I learned about people's kindness through you, about how important interaction between people is, how important it is, that food is made by hands who care about the food's recipients. You inspired me to learn about things that I never really thought about back home, where I was only functioning the way I should, and not living the way I wanted to. I learned about people's mixed emotions, about contradicting feelings and behaviour, about pride and about friendship, and about love. I learned about you, how conscientious you are fulfilling your job, how much you care for your friends and family. You even care for the friends and family of strangers, or you wouldn't have suggested to help me and Aiba to find his brother. I learned what a wonderful person you are, and I learned, how much I like you. Please, don't look down on me or deny me my feelings."

"I... I don't look down on your feelings, Sho," Nino finally said. He was deeply touched by Sho's words. He took a long breath before he continued. "Listen, I'm sorry. I'm bad in vocalizing myself sometimes, I'm real clumsy when it comes to stuff like this. It's not my place to file your feelings as valid or invalid, you are the only one who knows what you feel, so if you say it... I believe you."

It was true. It wasn't Nino's right to judge the validity of Sho's feelings, and rather than only thinking about all the complicated consequences this confession would bring with it, shouldn't he be grateful that someone as fascinating and pure as Sho was actually genuinely interested in him? He at least should acknowledge the other man's feelings and respect him for voicing them so boldly.

When Sho came another step closer, shortening the distance between the two men, Nino didn't back off, nor did he pull his hands away or avert his eyes. Instead, he looked back at Sho, unwavering, even if his heart was pounding like crazy, even if he felt his cheeks flushing.

"I love you," Sho whispered, and Nino's heart melted.

The next thing, Nino realized, was the sensation of Sho's soft plum warm lips pressing against his own, as if their lips had been drawn together like magnets. He was a little surprised at the sudden action, at the boldness of the man in front of him, and at the same time he was not. A kiss was the logical conclusion of a confession, at least that must be how Sho's train of thought must have went, and honestly, Nino quickly had to admit, that he could get used to that feeling. He found himself loosening the tension that had made his body feel stiff, and even leaned a little forward into the kiss that he now reciprocated. It felt just wonderful. Like something he had dreamed about and finally gotten. Sho let go of Nino's hands, just in favour of pulling him closer into an embrace, and while his hands wrapped around Nino's shoulders, Nino found his own hands passing Sho's sides and sliding to his back, his fingers burying in the fabric of Sho's yukata. It was like they couldn't be close enough to each other...

The kiss heated up, and soon, Nino was short of breath. He drew back a little, his heart pounding in his throat, his mouth hot and wet, his mind and heart both drunken from the affection he felt towards that man in his arms, alien or not, the desire he felt whenever he was close to him, wanting to be even closer, the love Nino had developed for Sho over this short period of them knowing each other. It was like a miracle...

"I... I have to breathe, I'm sorry," Nino chuckled at the slightly confused look of Sho. He let his hands wander forward, until they rested on Sho's chest. "Don't you aliens need to breathe?" he joked, but was quickly shut up by a peck on his lips.

"I'm sorry," Sho whispered as he drew back a little and then leaned a bit forward again, to rest his forehead against Nino's. "I just... I guess my feelings became too overwhelming so that I lost control over myself. I hope you excuse that I did this without asking for your consent."

Nino chuckled. "It's OK."

"Really?"

Nino nodded. "Really. Usually, it's not even something you ask about before doing it, anyway... Which doesn't mean you can just run around and kiss random people, of course, you have to sense if the other person would like it too or not and -"

The young man was interrupted by another kiss, and – of course – he didn't complain. Nino's hands found their way up, to cup Sho's face, intensifying their kiss. It was incredible how right this felt, Nino thought, as he realized, how badly he really had wanted to kiss Sho. Despite the odds, despite he didn't know what the future could offer them. His heart had decided that tonight, it didn't matter.

Their second kiss was softer, longer, and rather consisting of several smaller ones than their first passionate kiss. It was easier for Nino like this, to breathe, and to drag out the enjoyment as long as possible. He felt all warm in Sho's embrace, all safe and right, and when they ended their kiss and Sho gently hugged him closer, Nino instinctively wrapped his arms around him again. He let his eyes closed, when he snuggled his cheek against Sho's warm chest. He could probably spend the eternity of time, standing here like this with him.

"I would like us to go inside and take you in my arms when falling asleep," it was Sho, who broke the silence first. His face, unreadable before, was now showing a soft smile. Nino loved it, and when Sho continued, Nino wasn't so sure if he could really believe his ears. "I never want to let you go."

Nino still felt like he was in a delirium. All this was just so surreal, still so amazing, he indeed started wondering, if anything of this was true or if he was simply dreaming. If he was, he now felt snapped out from his dream, as he took a step back from Sho and looked at him, as if only now realizing what just happened between them. Suddenly, panic rushed over him. No, why couldn't he just enjoy the moment and let things happen? Why did his brain need to interfere now, bringing up all his doubts again?

"I – I'm not tired yet," Nino finally stumbled, torn apart between wanting to go inside and cuddle with Sho for the rest of the night, and wanting to run away and hide and pretend nothing had happened between them. Still, he didn't fully pull away from Sho, as if clinging to the man's yukata would help him make a decision. For now, he probably simply needed a little bit of time alone to clear his mind. "You can go ahead and... I will come inside in a couple of minutes."

Sho smiled softly and lifted one of his hands to gently brush over Nino's face. Instinctively, Nino reached up to put his hand on top of Sho's, slightly snuggling into the warmth.

"Then I'll wait for you inside," Sho said in a low voice. "I'm ready for you, whenever you are."

Not quite sure to which extent Sho was referring right now, Nino became a bit insecure. He didn't want to get the wrong ideas or make Sho have the wrong ones. "Y-you aren't asking me for-"

"I will not force you to have sex with me, Nino," Sho immediately cut him, but this time, Nino was actually grateful that he did not have to finish his sentence by himself.

"So, just cuddling while we fall asleep...," the young man concluded.

Sho nodded. "Right."

"I guess, we can do that," Nino replied. Probably. If they did not cross that last line, maybe things would stay OK.

Sho leaned forward and placed a small tender kiss on Nino's forehead, causing the man to inhale sharply and close his eyes for a second. This closeness between them, no matter how passionate or innocent the touches, felt so intimate, it left Nino with feeling sensitive all over his body. Damned, this man had control over him, it was almost scary. But it was a good sense of excitement, Nino's heart told him. If just his brain would follow this argumentation too.

While watching Sho getting inside to prepare for sleep, Nino tried not to let his inner battle win over the need for relaxing and enjoying the peaceful environment. He took a few long breaths, letting the fresh night air fill his lungs and clear his mind. In the end, it took Nino about ten minutes to be ready to go inside. He paid the bathroom a short visit to get ready for bed, and then found Sho already spread over the floor, occupying one futon of two that he had laid out right next to each other, apparently, waiting for him.

The smile on Sho's face was sweet but insecure, and Nino's heart constricted at that sight. If his behaviour had managed to make Sho feel insecure, the alien might probably be deeper invested emotionally, as Nino had expected. He really had to learn not to expect to know other people's feelings, especially not, when they were usually hard to read, like Sho was.

Nino lay down, following his heart, and cuddled up to the alien. Sho's smile lost the bit of insecurity upon Nino getting closer, and they exchanged a sincere smile, before Sho moved, turning his full body towards Nino and capturing him in an embrace. After pecking Sho's lips, Nino smiled, and closed his eyes.

"Good night, Sho," he whispered, cuddling closer into Sho's hug.

"Sleep well, Nino."


+ PLANET EARTH. JAPAN. JUNE 2, 2018. 07:30 AM, JST. Arima Hot Springs, near Kobe+


"So?" Jun asked.

"So?" Aiba mirrored.

"So what?" Sho repeated, puzzled.

He had just sat down on one of the small floor cushions spread out all around the coffee table in Jun and Aiba's room, which had been designated for letting breakfast for the four guests be served at, since Nino was still asleep in his and Sho's room and did not expect to be bombarded with confusing questions. Sho had made sure that Nino was tucked in properly and had left a small handwritten massage besides his pillow, asking him to join them once he was awake.

"How did it go last night?" Jun prompted.

"With Nino?" Aiba continued.

"Did you-," Jun made a strange gesture Sho couldn't quite fit with a meaning, so he just gave him a slight frown.

However, he had picked up, of course, that the two must be referring to his progress with Nino in regards of love. To them, it wasn't a secret that Sho liked Nino. Really liked him. Aiba had probably known it even way before Sho himself had admitted that his interest in researching about love had never really been that in first place but simply him falling in love with Nino. Still, Aiba had never pushed the topic on him, and had just been the overly happy adorable friend he always was, when Sho finally spilled the beans some time ago and went to his prince for advice. And Jun, well, Jun did not seem to have any problem with imagining his best friend dating an alien, either, as he wasn't a hypocrite but full on supporter. Convincing Nino about all this, had turned to be the most complicated part. Sho had to admit, that sometimes, he did not understand Nino that well. He seemed to be a rather complicated personality among the Earthlings, however, this fact added up even more points on the list why Sho liked him. Nino was interesting. Fascinating. Sho wanted to get to know him better, his mind, his heart, his body, everything of him.

"I told him that I love him," Sho eventually reported.

"Oh!" Aiba clasped his hands before his mouth, mumbling an entranced squeal.

"I think, he didn't believe me," though, Sho added, lowering his look.

Breakfast had already been served, a variety of traditional Japanese small dished, but for some reason, even if they looked delicious and very appealing, Sho did not feel like eating. He frowned a little at himself. Was he sick?

"What?!" Aiba apparently couldn't believe it, whereas Jun just rolled his eyes. Did he expect such a reaction from his best friend?

"At first, at least," Sho continued, trying to make sense. "Well, I don't know if he really does believe me now, but I tried my best to explain my feelings. I'm not used to that and I admit, I was a little... scared. Which I'm not used to, either."

Aiba was pressing his lips together, tightly, and for some reason, he looked like he was about to start crying. The prince leaped over the table in an attempt to hug Sho, just to have Jun hold him back so that he wouldn't swipe all the dishes from the table in that process. In the end, the man jumped up and dashed around the table to fall around his best friend's neck.

"Sho, I so proud of you!" the prince exclaimed, making Sho feel all warm inside at the appreciation.

"So?" Jun asked again. "How did it end?! Tell us!"

"I kissed him."

"Oh my gosh!" Now it was Jun's turn to clasp his hands in front of his mouth, almost freaking out. "That's amazing news! Did he kiss you back?"

Sho nodded, the memory of the scene on the balcony from last night making him feel all excited all over again. He knew he wasn't good in showing emotions, well, he had not been the best in feeling emotions either, before coming here, so this was quite a new experience for him, a little frightening but not just in a negative way.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"

Sho couldn't help but smile a little. It was kind of cute, how excited Jun became too, when hearing about Sho's experience. This human emotion – empathy, as Sho had already learned – was another thing that fascinated him so much about the Earthlings. Feeling with someone, even if they did not share the experience first-hand, was something that most people from his folk – Aiba excluded, as he was an emotional exception all along – was not too big on. But spending time here on Earth definitely had helped Sho with starting to admire empathy, and even slowly but surely develop this skill by himself. He liked that.

"Good, good!" Aiba chimed in, happily, patting Sho's shoulder in approval.

"So? What happened then?" Jun asked further.

"I told him I wanted to hold him in my arms while sleeping."

"How innocent," Jun chuckled.

"How cute!" Aiba cheered.

"He did not agree right away, though... so first, I feared he wouldn't want to. I guess he needed a moment to think about everything I told him," Sho admitted, remembering how long that moment hat felt to him until Nino had finally joined him, and the relief he had felt when he finally had been able to hold him close.

"That's so Nino!" Jun groaned. "I hope he didn't overthink everything, he's a master at this..."

Sho shook his head before he proudly said, "He came to bed a little later, and allowed me to hold him in my arms while sleeping."

Jun chuckled. "Thank God!"

"So cute!" Aiba said again.

"I wanted to kiss him again... but I felt I should better wait and then he pecked my lips and we went to sleep," Sho finished his report. It had been more he had been hoping for. He shouldn't become greedy.

"Sho, I've got a good feeling about this," Jun said, crossing his arms in front of his chest while smirking at him. "You're doing it just right! Give him a little time, I'm sure, everything will turn out well then."

Sho nodded, glad to hear confirmation for his plan, and thankful to receive advice from someone more experienced in this field. He might come back to Jun for relationship advice in the future, if needed. Well, if there would be an actual relationship, that was, which Sho truly hoped for. The concept of a relationship here on Earth was so different than from how it was supposed to be on Ar-Rash, but the more Sho had learned about it, from research, but also from Aiba and Jun, the more appealing it sounded to his ears. He might not be a perfect partner, but he would be willing to learn. For Nino, he would be willing to do a lot of things.

There was a knock on the door, making the three men turn their faces, and a second later, Nino entered the room, still wearing his sleeping yukata, his hair standing on ends. He looked tired, but just as much adorable. Sho's heart started pounding a little faster, happy to see the other man.

"Good morning," Sho immediately greeted him.

"Good morning, guys," Nino replied, breaking in a yawn. He shuffled closer, to the empty space on the floor next to Sho, that Aiba just had freed for the newcomer, returning to Jun on the other side of the table. Nino frowned a little, stopping short. "What's that happy look on your faces, did I miss something?"

"Oh, nothing." Jun answered, but the suspicious grin on his lips didn't leave his face.

Nino shrugged and continued approaching the group. "I was a little confused when you were gone in the morning," he said to Sho in a low voice when he settled down next to him, slightly brushing the man's shoulder with his hand in the process. It was just a short touch, but it made Sho happy.

"I'm sorry," Sho replied. "I thought I was hungry when I woke up so..."

"You didn't touch your breakfast yet, though," Nino pointed out, the frown between his eyebrows increasing. He quickly reached his hand out to cover Sho's forehead, making him startle a little in surprise. Sho could feel his face turn warm from the sudden touch. "You're not sick, are you?" Nino asked, critically.

"I'm not," Sho replied, but it would be a lie if he said he wasn't grateful for Nino's worry. "I was just about to start," he continued, telling the truth. Upon the conversation with Jun and Aiba, and Nino's appearance, his appetite had definitely returned. "Doesn't it look delicious?"

"Let's dig in," Nino nodded, lazily clapping his hands together before reaching out for a glass of water to down it first before he picked up his chopsticks and a small bowl filled with rice and egg. He tried it, chewing slowly, until he let his look wander around between his friends. He put down the chopsticks and rice bowl again. "Seriously, guys, don't think I don't notice you staring at me. What's going on here? Jun? Aiba? Sho? Sho! Did you tell them-"

Feeling caught, Sho quickly nodded. "They asked me what happened last night, and I told them."

"Oh, great...," Nino murmured.

Sho swallowed, the unamused look on Nino's face making him feel insecure all of a sudden, again. It was like there was a pit opening in his stomach and his appetite immediately felt non-existent again. What was this?!

"Are you mad at me now?" Sho asked, worried, leaning a bit forward and searching for eye contact with Nino, who just flashed him a little smile and shook his head. Sho released a long breath that only now realised he had been holding.

"He's just shy," Jun smiled broadly, winking at him. "As I told you, just give him a little time."

"I hate you, Jun," Nino grumbled before he returned to his breakfast.

Jun beamed. "No, you don't."

"No, I don't," Nino gave in, chuckling.

Sho might not have understood the content of that last bit of conversation, but while the choice of words between Nino and Jun did not make complete sense to him, he figured, that there must be affection between them, judging from the looks on their faces. Earthlings were still complicated, but Sho learned more and more about them with each passing day and was willing to continue his studies in order to become able to understand them and their twisted emotions even better. He exchanged a smile with Aiba, as if wanting to practice those human conventions, and then focused on enjoying breakfast again, his appetite back to normal, thankfully.

+

Of course, the mission "searching for the first prince of Ar-Rash" had not really made any real progress during the group's trip to Arima. Well, at least Nino now knew why, even if it was a slightly shocking moment when he found out about how clueless Sho and Aiba really were about this whole search, how little information and references they really had, and how lost Sho felt about the whole mission. It must stress the other man quite a bit. However, on the other hand, he did not seem too opposed to the option of staying still and waiting for things simply to happen, and enjoying his time on Earth in the meantime.

During their trip, things had changed quite dramatically, Nino thought. He was still sitting on the fence while following the inner battle between his heart and brain about the whole thing with Sho, feeling a little lost too. He enjoyed kissing Sho and cuddling with Sho. There’s no doubts about that, but he still wasn't ready to lose his heart to someone who could literally vanish from Earth's surface tomorrow. The idea alone caused Nino's heart to break a little.

Maybe, as long as they did not end up sleeping with each other, Nino would be able to file everything as a crush and nothing more. Then he might be able to keep himself sane and his heart from getting broken completely. He didn't know if it was in Sho's favour, maybe the other man wanted more, or wanted an adventure as long as he was on this planet. Nino did not doubt Sho's feelings towards him, he had learned about Sho's honest nature a long time ago, but he doubted that Sho's view on the situation was the same as his. The cultural differences – as Sho himself had already confirmed – were just different, so Nino wasn't sure if Sho wasn't able to mute his feelings as soon as it became necessary. The man was loyal to his friends and folks after all. He held an important position in the future reign of their planet, and he was bound to the loyal family, wasn't he?

During their ride back home to Tokyo with the spaceship, in the evening, Nino's thoughts drifted off. He started imagining the ship changing course and returning to Ar-Rash, with Nino and Jun on board. He tried to imagine how it would be like, visiting a faraway planet, if he and Jun could even survive on its surface, and he even tried to imagine how it would be to stay there, together with Sho, Aiba and Jun. It sounded like an adventure, but Nino was not sure if he would be ready to do that. What would become of his parents? His job? Earth? Nino was a person of habit. He liked his small world, his small circle of friends, and he loved his family. Most likely, he wouldn't be able to leave them behind in order to follow the man he had a crush on to a star in a distant galaxy. His heart ached at that realization. He might not be able to make such a decision, and he didn't want to. He tried to grasp the meaning behind all this, the miracle, the insanity of having an alien asking him to start a relationship with him, like Sho did after breakfast, and the madness of truly considering agreeing to that request.

Nino tried to occupy his thoughts with different things in order not to fall into a depressing state of mind. He should try and enjoy the moment, shouldn't he? That was what Jun kept telling him, and Jun was a master in enjoying life. So why was it so hard for Nino to follow his best friend's advice?

The man's mood did not really improve, not even when they reached Tokyo and Sho – who had been piloting the ship – had left his position and joined Nino in the back, while Aiba was busy with showing Jun a little more about the ship and Kee-ko's skills. Sho reached for Nino's hand, who let him take it into his, the warmth of the touch immediately spreading between them. It felt so good, Nino had to admit, he wanted more of it. They exited the ship together, leaving Jun and Aiba behind, and went back into the apartment.

Their hands were still linked when they settled down next to each other on the couch in the living room, and Nino absent-mindedly reached for the TV remote to switch on some random program. He wasn't sure what to talk about with Sho, or what to do, so he just waited for things to happen. They ended up watching a music program, featuring music videos from the latest charts.

"Are you OK, Nino?" Sho finally asked after minutes of awkward silence.

Nino turned his face, and when his eyes met Sho's, he swallowed. He wanted to say yes, but what left his lips was, "To be honest, Sho, I'm not sure."

"Is it about this?" the alien asked, pointing at their still linked hands. "Do you feel uncomfortable? I thought you like it, too. I don't want to force you into anything. Do you... did you change your mind about us?"

He sounded worried, and it hurt Nino to put Sho in this state, but if the alien was being honest with him, the least he could do in return was also being honest with Sho. Still, no words were willing to come out of Nino. He simply did not know what to say.

"Is it because I'm not an Earthling?" Sho eventually asked. "Are you perhaps scared about my true form?"

"What? No, Sho... it's nothing like that," Nino replied, frowning. Gosh, was he really making Sho overthink about his form of being already? This was truly not his intention, at all. "I mean, I don't know your real form yet, but I'm sure I won't mind it."

"I don't have a problem if you only like my human form, just a precaution," the alien intervened. "I can stay in this form forever, if you want me to. I mean it, I'd do a lot of things for you if it makes you feel more comfortable."

"That's not the point, Sho," Nino didn't initially intend to jump onto that topic, but now that Sho started it; it made him worry about the other man, too. "But... wouldn't it be like betraying who you really are?"

"I appreciate your concerns, but for my species, as we are shape shifters from birth, our appearance is not as big of a deal as it might be for you Earthlings, who only have one primary shape, so to say," Sho started to explain. "We can change appearance depending on our liking, there are almost no limits and almost no rules except that the crown wishes us to dress adequate to certain events, of course, but that's it. I can decide on how I want to look like, also based on your wishes."

As if to reinforce the sincerity of his statement, Sho pressed Nino's hand, and Nino could feel, that Sho's determination was true. That every single word he just had said, was true. And he couldn't even describe the feeling all this triggered inside him. It was overwhelming to hear someone talking like that, telling they'd be willing to adapt to such an extent. It was heartwarming, and Nino honestly wondered what he had done to deserve all this.

"Sho, my real problem here really does not have to do anything with what you're worrying about, believe me," Nino replied, answering the pressure of Sho's hand. "What I am worried about is what if I really like you and we get together and are happy and then, one day, I'll wake up and you're gone? Back to space, to your home, back to somewhere I could never reach you...," the imagination alone triggered Nino's eyes to become wet. He swallowed. "I... I'm scared. I don't want my heart to get broken."

"And I could never ever break your heart, believe me," Sho replied, almost immediately, reaching his free hand out to place it on Nino's cheek. With a swift motion, his thumb brushed away a single tear that fell from Nino's eyelashes.

"I wished I could…," the man smiled bitterly, but when Sho leaned forward to capture his lips in a soft and tender kiss, he didn't fight it. He couldn't.

"I won't leave you, I promise," Sho whispered as he drew back.

It was too late, though, to keep Nino from crying, as the young man's dam broke and all his emotions flooded over him, setting free big tears, clouding his vision, and unstoppable shaking of his whole body.

"How can you say that when you're the first assistant to the royal prince?" Nino sobbed. "Once you find the missing prince, even if you still don't know how or when that will be, you'll all be gone again, right?"

"But... I don't want to," Sho replied. "I don't want to leave you, and I won't. I promise. Please, Nino... There will be a way for us to stay together. There are other people on my planet who can take over my job –"

"Aiba needs you," Nino continued, slightly shaking his head, but Sho wasn't finished yet.

"Maybe I can find a way to do my job from here, I can consult the princes from the distance and I can travel back and forth if something urgent comes up... or I'll just run away, like the prince and continue with my translator job here on Earth..."

The sweet promise coming out from Sho's mouth sounded so alluring, so hopeful, so irresistible, that Nino's heart melted, and his mental wall crumbled down in an instant. Nino didn't know how realistic Sho's suggestions could be, but the man apparently had thought about various possibilities, and that alone showed Nino that he was indeed being serious about all this. And maybe, he was right? If Sho was really willing to find a way, maybe it would work?

"But..." Could Nino really hope?

Determined, Sho cupped Nino's face with both of his hands, forcing him to look him straight into his eyes. Nino took a deep breath, and held it, looking at Sho. Looking at all the honestly the other man confronted him with. The sincerity, the passion. Love.

"Aiba will understand," Sho said. "He supports us. He wants us to be happy too. Please, Nino! If you like me the way I like you, let's try. I want us to be happy, and if you agree, we will be happy, I swear!"

The softness of Sho's voice in his ears, the warmth of his hands surrounding him, the connection Nino felt between them, it all felt just so real and he really wished he never would have to miss any of them ever.

"We can manage this together," Sho added, his voice almost a whisper.

Again, the man let his thumbs brush over Nino's from tears smeared face, catching a couple of new tears. He leaned closer then, slowly, as if waiting for Nino to push him away or show him his consent, but all Nino could do was keep crying out all his feelings, all the pain, all the swelling hope, all the love he had developed for Sho.

He didn't want to lose him, he really didn't want to. He wanted to believe in his words, wanted Sho to keep his promise. He didn't struggle, when Sho kissed him again, instead, he leaned in, too, reaching for Sho to pull him closer, desperate, needing, and it was almost as if their kiss had some healing effect on Nino's heart, as it immediately made him feel better. When they broke apart again, and Sho looked at him, his eyes filled with hope, Nino couldn't help but simply nodded. Sho smiled softly and brushed a last tear off Nino's cheek.

"OK. We-we can try," the young man eventually whispered voicelessly, looking right back into Sho's eyes.

"Really?" Sho asked, hopefully and Nino nodded again, smiling.

"Sorry for the crying. I'm just... it's complicated," Nino said.

"Don't be sorry," the alien replied. "I'm a bit confused about it, but I think I slowly get a hunch on what your body is trying to express with this reaction."

Nino chuckled at this strange remark, embarrassed, and reached up his hands to rub over his face by himself to remove the traces of his emotional outbreak.

"But it doesn't mean that you are sad, right now, right?" Sho wanted to confirm.

Nino shook his head. "I'm not sad. I'm happy. I'm happy to be with you."

Sho's sincere smile was the best reward Nino could think about. He answered the smile, as best as he could. He took a deep breath, collecting himself again. He could do this. They could do this. And maybe, just maybe, they really had a chance.

Even with all his doubts, in the end, Nino just wasn't able to deny his feelings for Sho. His affection, as well as his desire. And he just wasn't able to resist. They kissed again, forgetting the world around them, and soon, Nino took Sho's hand and pulled him into his room, closing the door behind them. Tonight, hugging wasn't the only thing Nino and Sho did in bed. Tonight, Nino allowed Sho getting closer to him than he had allowed most people, in a long while.


+ PLANET EARTH. JAPAN. JUNE 3, 2018. 06:25 AM, JST. Tokyo, Ninomiya and Matsumoto apartment+


The first emotion Nino felt after waking up in the morning following the night in which he and Sho had sex for the first time, was panic. He didn't want to feel it, but it was there, nagging him like a persistent annoying virus he couldn't cure. He hated it, he hated himself for feeling that way.

He woke up, wrapped in Sho's arms but no matter how good that embrace felt, it wasn't enough to make Nino's doubts disappear.

"I think this was a mistake...," Nino murmured, sighing deeply.

"Why?"

Nino froze, surprised, when Sho mumbled a reply. He thought the alien was still asleep.

"Didn't you like my Ar-Rashian's features?" Sho asked lazily, referring to his naked body underneath the blanket. "I can hide them, if you prefer, change them..."

"No, no that's not it...," Nino immediately tried to make clear. He didn't want Sho to bend himself too much, just because of something he said.

"Would you prefer me being a woman? I can switch gender for you if that is what you want."

Nino sighed again, the frustration he already felt was growing. "In fact, Sho, I really do prefer a male sexual partner, so that was not the issue either. Just in case you haven't noticed yet, I am indeed gay."

"So where is the problem?"

"You are a fucking alien, that's the problem!" Nino exclaimed, just to snap his hand in front of his lips right after those words left his mouth.

He really did not intend them to sound like they did. What he really meant, was the fact that he still had an issue with the possibility of Sho leaving him behind. Where did this incredible persistent fear of loss come from? Why couldn't Nino fight it? Why wasn't Sho assuring him he would find a solution to the problem enough for him to trust him? Luckily, Sho did not seem to take Nino's words badly.

"I can let you fuck me next time if you prefer?" he instead offered, nonchalantly.

Nino blushed deeply. "No, Sho, I like the way we did it."

"So where is the problem? I just want to understand!" Now, even Sho sounded a little annoyed. Or at least truly confused.

"You... ah, forget it, this is frustrating!" Nino groaned before he pushed away the blanket and jumped up. He searched for a set of fresh clothes and put them on, hastily. "I'm going out," he then announced, leaving Sho looking at him, confused. "You know how to make yourself breakfast, don't you?"

"I... yes," Sho replied, but kept frowning at Nino. "Why are you leaving? I am terribly sorry if I did something wrong..."

"No, it's...," Nino rubbed his forehead, completely stressed out by now. "Listen, it's not your fault, OK?"

"I don't get then, why you are so angry."

"I am angry at myself," Nino sighed.

"Why?" Sho asked, truly puzzled.

For falling in love with you Nino thought, but it was like his throat was constricting, unable to let those words out. He couldn't say it out loud, but it was the truth. He was angry at himself, for ultimately, non-arguably, irreversibly falling in love with Sho – an alien – risking his heart to get broken. He was angry at himself for being a coward, for not wanting to take that risk for him and Sho, but the panic was overwhelming. Was it because he hadn't been in a relationship for so long? Was it because all his past relationships had failed? Was it because Nino doubted himself so much that he just couldn't believe that he was able to lead a healthy relationship?

He just couldn't imagine that Sho, even if he might have meant what he said back then, would manage to really stay here with him, here on Earth, far away from home and from Aiba and his brother, forever, once they returned back there. Would Sho be happy if he was apart from the people he grew up with? It wasn't just like moving into another city to stay with your partner, it would be like moving into another galaxy. For him. Was he really worth that much?

If it was Nino, he was almost certain that he wouldn't be able to do that. He wouldn't be able to just leave his place, his home, his people, behind to move to another galaxy. He had thought it through, well, not really, but as far as he had managed to go. And it had scared him. Wouldn't it scare Sho too? Wouldn't he regret it? If Nino tried to imagine leaving his life behind, he expected it to break his heart just as much as being apart from Sho would. No matter what, this was not going to end in a good way, for neither of them, he was convinced about it, so shouldn't he better end it before it was too late?

Nino hated that he allowed himself and Sho to taste that thing between them, to taste how it would be like if they truly were together. It felt good. Just so, so good. He just didn't know if he would be able to give up everything else. Not even for Sho, and so, he couldn't expect Sho doing the same, either, could he?

"You wouldn't understand," Nino sighed. "Just let me go get some fresh air, I'll be outside for a while, and when I'm back, everything will be fine again, OK?" Nino wasn't so sure about that, and he felt bad about giving Sho hope when there probably wasn't a reason to.

"I really do love you, Nino," Sho said, as if he felt like it was important so say it right now. "And I liked what we did last night. I don't mind though if you prefer our relationship to be different, I just want to be with you."

Nino looked at the alien, and his heart ached at the sweetness of his comment. He swallowed. "Thanks, Sho, really. We'll talk about that later, OK?"

"Wait!" Sho called after Nino when the young man turned to leave the room. "It looks like it's raining outside, so don't forget to wear a jacket. Earthlings are getting sick so quickly..."

"I'll take care," Nino smiled at Sho.

+

It was indeed raining, and Nino had taken Sho's advice to heart, wearing his rain jacket as well as water proofed shoes, and even carrying an umbrella with him on his way. He had not told Sho, nor Jun or Aiba, where exactly he planned to go, had not even mentioned that he had a plan, before he had stormed outside, but he exactly knew where to go in such a situation.

The young man just made a call to his work place, asking for another couple of days off and promising to work even harder once he returned, and the next moment he was riding the train home to his parents, to a district at the edge of Tokyo. He would just hang out in his parents' restaurant for a little while, help out with what he could, maybe have a heart-to-heart talk with his mother once she could take some time out of her busy schedule. His parents were usually happy to have him back in their home, and in their restaurant, that they still wished Nino would take over one day (the possibility was not non-existent but for now, Nino very much enjoyed his current job in the heart of Tokyo). He wasn't so sure though, if they appreciated it if their son came running home because he was a lovesick idiot.

During the train ride, Nino tried to ignore his vibrating phone and the incoming messages from Jun as best as he could, until he decided to switch the device off. As much as he loved his best friend, and he could imagine about what Jun wanted to talk about, he just didn't have the nerves to share his tumultuous inner world with him right now. He needed to get his head free, first. Needed his mother telling him that everything would be fine, or his father talking him out of this jam.

Usually, Nino's first place to go when he had a problem was his best friend Jun's room. He always had an open ear for Nino, and some advice on hand, mostly useful. However, in his case, Nino felt like Jun might not be able to understand him. Because Jun had managed to do something that Nino was obviously struggling with, no matter how the odds were. For Jun, it seemed so easy, and Nino admired that, and wished he could follow his friend's example, but for him, everything right now just felt painfully complicated.

If Nino had to name one person on Earth that he envied the most, he would say he envied his best friend Jun. Not because Jun was tall, good-looking, charming, and was successful in his job and with people (which he definitely was, all of that, and more) but first and foremost, because he was brave, and he always found a solution for any problem someone might have. He had been brave enough to drop out from the law studies his parents had talked him into, to pursue a career as a fashion designer even if it meant he'd be constantly broken for the next few years. He had been brave enough to challenge every day with a smile and an easy statement on his lips, and he even was brave enough to enter a relationship with an alien.

It wasn't just envy what Nino felt towards his best friend, of course. Even more than that, it was admiration. He really admired that Jun didn't care about anything, when it came to taking risks, he didn't occupy his mind by overthinking each and every single step he took, unlike Nino, who was a master in that discipline. Jun didn't ask each and every why and when and what if. Instead, he simply jumped into the situation and tried to make the best out of it. Even if it was just for the moment. Even if he did not know where something would lead him.

He had told Nino that he didn't know if Aiba really was the big love everyone talked about, everyone dreamt about, and if it would last or if it would crumble once the alien prince and his friend would finish their mission and be ready to get back home. Maybe their love was big enough and they would last, maybe they would file it as a wonderful time in their lives, glad to have had the chance to experience it together.

Jun simply didn't know, but he also didn't care, and he said that it was OK not to know everything from the beginning. Finding answers wasn't something that happened like the impact of lightning during a thunder storm. It was a journey. Every new thing, every new challenge, every new love was a new adventure, and there were lots of things to be discovered. Everything was a discovery, a learning process. If people knew everything from the beginning, there would be no use to try, and there wouldn't be the need to be brave.

Nino had never been that good with trying or being brave. Once he had an inkling about what he was good at, what he liked, what he wanted, he tended to stick with it. He liked it when things were easy, and he liked going the easy way. He knew, it wasn't always the best thing to do, but was it the wrong thing?

Accepting Aiba and Sho in his life had been easy after a bit of convincing. Falling in love with Sho had been too easy, even with all the obstacles Nino had put into his way. But considering and thinking of their possible future together, was not easy. It was hard. It was painful. Because Nino didn't see a way of this happening, and it scared him. It hurt.

He wished, he could see things like Jun did. He could just try and see how and where things with Sho were going, he could enjoy their time together, and that would be OK. Why couldn't it be that way for him too?

Running away, from the situation, from Sho's feelings, from his own feelings, was easy. Nino had simply grabbed his jacket and an umbrella, jumped on the next train and was off to see his parents. He didn't know yet what he was expecting, what he was hoping to find there, but running home to the place where he grew up, was easy.

He reached his parents' restaurant about almost two hours later, surprising his mother, who immediately broke into a wide smile and abandoned her serving plate on the restaurant's counter in favour of welcoming her son in a warm embrace. However, her smile quickly vanished, when she realized that her son seemed troubled over something. The woman lifted her hand, brushing it through Nino's hair in a loving gesture, but did not immediately ask what was being wrong. Nino was really grateful for that. His mother had the ability to sense people's emotion, and not to push herself onto them but wait until they were ready to talk by themselves about their worries. And with her lovable personality and her warm smile, usually it didn't take long until people would be ready to talk.

First, Nino went to say "Hello" to his father in the kitchen, who he hadn't seen in a while and was happy to see his son, before he went back in the front and joined his mother with preparing the restaurant for opening hours, which would start soon. They talked about bits and pieces, the focus lying on Nino's mother reporting about the current state of Nino's sister and her kids, with whom she had only spoken on the phone this morning, before they switched to exchange some funny customer stories happening in their respective restaurants until the restaurant opened and a few first guests started coming in. Nino helped out during the working hours. As a matter of fact, around noon, he enjoyed his father's best ramen. He continued exchanging a bit chit chat with his mother in between during the rest of the day. They laughed together, and Nino loved how quickly he felt like being right back home. And then, when it became later and later in the evening, and the restaurant slowly became empty... he started talking about Sho.

Of course, he did not mention about Sho being an alien, but he mentioned how adorable he was, even if slightly awkward, which made him like him even more. He mentioned how well they clicked together and how much Sho loved Nino's food. Of course, his mother immediately picked up that Nino and Sho had already passed the stage of simply being friends, even before her son had to mention it, just by listening to her son talking about Sho.

"You really like that man, don't you?" she asked while they starting to clean up the tables, just a bit before closing hours. "But it sounds like there's something troubling you about it."

Sure, she already knew. She was Nino's mother after all. The young man looked at her, trying to smile, but he probably failed halfway. She patted his arm.

"You know, everything would be perfect if he wouldn't be from such a faraway place," Nino started. "He's just here to visit, together with a friend. But I fear they will leave soon again and I have no idea how it – we – should go on after his departure..."

Nino's mother was about to answer her son's question, when suddenly the phone in front of the kitchen rang. Both looked at each other, rather confused. It was unusual to have the phone ringing at such a late time in the restaurant. It rang a few times until Nino's father picked up, grumbling his name into the phone and then called for his son.

"Kazu? It's Jun-kun," Nino's father said. "He says he can't reach you on your cell phone. What happened, did you guys have a fight?"

"Ah... no, we didn't," Nino spoke up before he hurried towards his father. "Sorry, please hand me the phone."

"Nino?" "Thank God, I'm trying to call you for hours but can't get through to your phone. Finally, I reached you!"

"What's the matter?" Nino asked, even if he almost expected the reply he got.

"It's about Sho."

Nino sighed and bit his lower lip. "Jun, I'm sorry, but I'm really not in the mood to talk about Sho with you, at the moment..."

"No, you don't get it. Sho, he's sick!"

"What?" Nino felt his face go pale.

Jun sounded serious. "He spent the whole day outside in the rain, searching for you, idiot! Why are you not reachable via phone?! Why didn't you tell us where you'd go or when you'd be back? I admit I should have thought about trying at your parents' place earlier, but that's not the point -"

"Wait," Nino cut in. "What exactly do you mean by sick?"

It took Jun a moment to reply. "I think it's really bad."

"How badly sick can someone get from being under the rain?!" Nino couldn't hold back, even if he – again – knew that his words sounded more offensive than he actually meant them. What he meant that he was worried, immensely. Why couldn't he just say it like that? "And why did he even do that... I told him, I'd be back," the young man added in a lower voice.

"I don't know, maybe he panicked, just like you did before you ran away!?" Jun shot back, and Nino knew that he deserved it. "Did you even consider his feelings for a second?! Anyway, it's how it is now, but he's not like we Earthlings, this might have a completely different effect on him! He passed out and when he woke up he's just murmuring your name. I'm really worried, Aiba is worried, we don't know what to do and we can certainly not take him to a doctor or a hospital, it's too risky! Now, if you please could get your butt into the next train home?!"

Jun was right. Nino had been an idiot running away and leaving Sho behind, confused and insecure about how things between them would continue from now on. Now it was his fault that Sho was sick. He was a prick, and he felt horrible.

"I'm on my way," Nino simply said and hung up.

"Darling?" His mother asked behind him. "What happened?"

"Sho it seems he's sick and wants me to go back," Nino replied softly. "I still don't know how to make this work but... I think he needs me now, so I have to go home."

"Just a minute, Kazu," his mother reached out to touch her son's arm. "What I wanted to tell you before, you need to know it." He looked at her with a questioning frown, so she continued. "You know that I'm from the north of Hokkaido, don't you?"

"I know, but..." What was her point?

"And your father was born on Okinawa," she finished. "We met during a school trip. Completely randomly and fell in love. Back then, we both were still living in our respective home towns. We were young, too young to just move across the country in order to be together. So you know what we did? We lead a long-distance relationship, for years."

Nino's eyes widened. "I didn't know that..."

"Well, you never asked too many questions about our past," the woman chuckled, shrugging nonchalantly. "I guess it's just something children don't do too much. But let me share this with you. So we were living apart from each other and could only meet a few times a year, but still, our love was strong enough to go through that time, until we were old enough to move together, here to this small town. I don't say that it was always easy, but it was possible. And if you and Sho are truly in love, then no matter the distance, it will work out too, believe me."

Hearing his mother speak like that, made the blinders fall off Nino's eyes. She was right, and he had been so stupid. He had been obsessed with the thought of having to leave this galaxy or make Sho leave his home planet behind, in order to make their relationship work. Yes, maybe, the distance between Ar-Rash and Earth was considerably farther than between Hokkaido and Okinawa, however, the same thing should apply – there was always still the possibility of a long-distance relationship. If Sho and Aiba had managed to come down to Earth once, there was no reason to think that there wasn't a chance that they could come back, right? Somehow, that thought alone was enough for Nino to feel his cracked heart healing. Maybe this was the solution.

Nino immediately felt guilty about being so stupid and almost breaking his head over worrying about the situation between him and Sho so much that he obviously had missed the forest for the trees. He leaned towards his mother and placed a kiss on her cheeks, making her giggle.

"Thank you, Mom," he said with a smile.

"Now quick, your boyfriend is waiting! If you hurry, you might be able to catch the last train," the woman answered, mirroring the smile. "And next time, bring him with you. And Jun, of course."

"He has a boyfriend too, now," Nino added.

"Then bring them all with you, I'll cook dinner for you."

+

Nino quickly bid his parents farewell and took the next available train home. It indeed was the last one, and on the way, there was construction work, so he had to take an alternative route and decided to go the last few stations home by foot. Or rather, run. He was worried like hell for Sho, not knowing how bad things truly were about him, and he couldn't wait to be back with him. He didn't know if he could help, but the thought of having Sho alone, due to his fault, was unbearable.

He reached his apartment a few minutes after midnight, gasping for air and holding his side.

"Did you run here from your parents' place?" Jun asked when Nino entered the living room

"Very funny," Nino panted. "The last few stations... At least, now I know why people are always running like stupid during dramatic scenes in animes and doramas... it feels more productive to run than to just sit in a stupid taxi where you can do nothing but wait..."

"How cute," Jun said, putting his hand over his heart. "You literally came running for Sho. You know, it's not that bad. He just caught a cold, and Aiba says, he'll be fine again in one or two days."

"He, what?!" Nino asked, still busy to catch his breath. "You said it's bad!"

"It was a joke, calm down," his friend lifted his hands. "I just wanted you to come back quickly."

"So he's OK?!" Nino almost freaked out. "So we don't need to find some alien hospital or a crazy doctor and... he just has a cold?!"

Jun nodded. "Just a cold, I swear."

"Do aliens even get colds...," Nino's voice broke when he lifted his hand to his eyes. A second later, a sob escaped from his lips.

"Nino?" now, Jun sounded slightly nervous. "Nino! Oh Gosh, you're crying!"

"I'm not!" Nino shot back, but when lifted his head, facing his best friend again, he felt the tears running down his cheeks betraying him. Damned, why was he weeping so easily nowadays?

"Well, then your face is raining I guess," Jun replied with a smirk on his lips, but reaching his hand to pat Nino's shoulder, who somehow just couldn't stop crying now.

"Sorry this... it's just... it's all a bit too much, OK?" Nino sobbed. "I thought he... oh Gosh..."

"There, there it's all right," Jun said, pulling his friend into a hug. "I'm sorry, OK? I didn't mean to scare you or anything."

"I hate you, Jun," Nino mumbled under tears.

"No, you don't," Jun replied, rubbing his friend's back, soothingly.

"I don't," Nino agreed before they broke their embrace again. "But now, where's Sho?"

At least, he was nowhere to be seen in the living room, his futon folded and put unused into a corner to not take up space when it wasn't needed.

"He's sleeping in your bed," Jun said, matter-of-factly.

"MY bed?!" Nino exclaimed.

"Well, I guess that's where he belongs now, doesn't he?" his friend replied, offering him a challengingly raised eyebrow.

Of course, Jun would know what happened, Nino thought. Why was he even surprised?

"Indeed," he just admitted, starting to approach the door to his bedroom.

"Wait!" Jun suddenly grabbed Nino's elbow, holding him back. The young man just looked at his friend, wondering. "Before you go in there, I think I should warn you that Sho..."

Nino frowned. "What's wrong? I thought he just has a cold?"

"Right, but you should know that he...," Jun seemed to hesitate for a moment, searching for the right words. "He changed his appearance so that he could focus his energy resources on recovering."

Confused, Nino blinked. "What exactly do you mean by changed his appearance?"

"He turned into his true form."

Nino blinked, letting Jun's words sink in for a moment. He felt his heart skip a beat. He remembered the talks with Sho, about their race being shape shifters. He remembered how he told Sho boldly, that he wouldn't mind his "true" appearance. But was he prepared enough to see him in his true form, just like this?

"Nino? Nino! Are you OK?" Jun waved a hand in front of the young man's face. "Are you ready for this?"

The young man swallowed. He had to be ready. He couldn't let Sho down, could he? "I... sure..."

OK, so Nino wasn't completely ready. He had hoped to be able to see Sho's true form one day, after talking to him about that topic again, after telling him that he was ready for everything Sho was. So far, it didn't go according to plan, and Nino apparently was horribly un-spontaneous, but so what? It was Sho they were talking about, the man who he had fallen in love with. It was out of question, he had to be ready. It was as easy as that.

When Nino entered the room, first he could only see Aiba's back, who was sitting next to the bed, Then he turned his head to face the newcomer.

It took Nino a moment to prepare himself mentally, as he had no idea what to expect when he would see Sho in a second, another form of Sho from what he already knew. The images of countless characters from science fiction-based movies and TV shows popped into his mind, and he wondered, if Sho would rather look like an Asgard or a Lurian. He shook his head. Probably, an American TV show had nothing to do with that. However, so far he had received little information about how the Ar-Rashian's true form looked like, from Sho. Nino knew, that they were able to switch gender, but used to prefer one, which was then called their "primary gender", which for both, Aiba and Sho, was male. Sho said, they looked similar to an Earthing species, even if they were taller, their skin looked a little different, their features were larger and their limbs longer... However, no description was as accurate as the actual thing.

"How's he doing?" Nino asked after clearing his throat.

"Don't worry, Nino, I gave him a bit of Ar-Rashian emergency meditation that I found in our ship, he will be fine," Aiba replied with a smile.

"Meditation?" the other man frowned, and Aiba frowned back.

"Did I use the wrong word again?" the alien prince asked. "I meant things that earthlings take when sick. Small pills or liquids or injections..."

"You mean medication?" Nino offered.

Aiba smiled at him widely. "Medication! That's the word!"

"OK, good…," Nino murmured.

"Nino?" the young man was distracted by a whisper coming from his bed.

Relieved to hear Sho's voice, but his heart pounding like crazy, Nino took a few steps forward, until he had a better view on his bed. He had no idea what to expect, no idea what might be appropriate to hope for and what would be OK to fear without hurting the alien's feelings. Of course, he didn't plan to run away again, or anything, but it was legitimate to be a bit nervous, wasn't it?

In the end, though, Nino was simply surprised at the unfamiliar sight. Surprised, but also fascinated.

Sho was lying there in his bed, and while Nino still recognized him by his features and voice, he at the same time looked completely different. His skin was white, whiter than any pale person, Nino had ever seen, himself included, white like a canvas, and yet he was very shimmery, even sparkly. For a silly second, Nino felt a bit reminded of the Twilight series he once had watched the first part of together with Jun, but he quickly brushed the thought away. Sho's face was still the round and cute face Nino loved so much, even if his ears were way bigger, his nose was flatter and his hair was longer and rather resembled the texture of water than actual hair, shining in rainbow colours, changing by itself. It was very interesting, but still not as fascinating as Sho's eyes... Nino took in a sharp breath and his heart stopped beating for a moment at this sight of incredible beauty. Had he loved Sho's brown, human eyes before, he couldn't say that he loved those eyes any less. Sho's eyes were slightly bigger than before and looked like white pools with a tiny galaxy orb in them.

"Sho...," Nino finally gasped, but he wasn't able to say more.

"You're back," Sho whispered with a smile on his lips, the same, full lips he had in his human form, even if its colour was much paler, almost as white as his skin, before he broke into coughing.

His voice sounded different, and Nino wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or because he changed his appearance, but he sounded tired and sick, and when he weakly lifted his hand, Nino did not even take one second of hesitation to dash forward and take Sho's hand in his. It felt just as soft as human skin, even if Sho's fingers were much longer and slimmer compared to his human hand, which was a little strange. Still, it felt warm, that was no different from usual. Nino carefully tightened his grip around Sho's hand and offered him a smile.

"Hey you, how are you feeling?" Nino asked, looking right into Sho's fascinating eyes, as if they hypnotized him.

"Tired, but OK," Sho replied. "I was so scared... I didn't expect you to come back..."

"And I didn't expect you Ar-Rashians to fall sick so quickly," Nino chuckled softly, referring to what Sho had said about Nino's race before he headed out into the rain.

"I obviously underestimated the weather...," the alien admitted.

"I'm just happy it's just a cold," Nino replied, reaching one of his hands to caress Sho's cheeks.

"Aw..."

When the two men realized that the Ar-Rashian prince was still standing behind Nino, closely watching the scene between them, Nino cleared his throat.

"Uhm… Aiba? Could you please go into the living room… keep Jun company or so?"

Aiba looked at him surprised for a second, but apparently, quickly caught on, thankfully. "Oh, you want be alone? Sure, sorry."

"Thanks," Nino smiled, watching the prince walk backwards to the room's exit, still smiling widely, and stopping when he reached the door. Nino raised his eyebrows. "Please close the door behind you."

"Oh, OK," Aiba grinned and then – finally – left the room.

"He's just worried about me," Sho said with a small smile on his lips. "About us, to be exactly."

"I figured," Nino sighed, but a second later, he answered his alien boyfriend's smile. "I don't think, there's need to worry, though. Of course, I'd come back, especially after Jun called me and made it sound like you were going to die!" the slightly desperate chuckle that left Nino's mouth, quickly died down and he became all serious again. "I was so worried…"

"He can be very exaggerating. I really am fine. I don't feel pain, I just need to rest a little and get rid of that annoying cough," Sho grinned. "Ah, I forgot," he added, and the next thing Nino realized was how Sho tried to change his appearance back to his human form, his face's colour starting to shift.

"Wait... wait, stay the way you are," Nino immediately intervened, stopping Sho in his doing. Slowly, the parts of Sho's face that had started to shift, changed back to his Ar-Rashian form.

"Really?" the alien asked, sounding insecure. "Doesn't it make you feel uncomfortable?"

Nino shook his head. "No, it doesn’t, and you have to take care and use your energy wisely don't you? I can't be the one guilty for your recovery progress to slow down just because you..."

"It really doesn't bother you?"

Nino had not expected Sho being that insecure about this, but then, putting himself into the alien man's shoes, he would probably feel the same, worry needlessly about his appearance, if the other would accept him, still find him attractive... seeing it like that, Nino was rather impressed, that a beautiful species like the Ar-Rashians were even attracted to someone looking like a plain human being as he was. But then, didn't it just show that looks did not always matter that much when it came to love?

"You are still you, and no matter which shape you are, it does not bother me, I promise," Nino started to explain. "This form of you might be a bit unusual and unfamiliar, but it doesn't mean it's not beautiful. You are beautiful. No matter in which form."

Nino's heart clenched when he saw relief wash over Sho's face. Throughout the past few days, Sho had become much keener with showing emotions, apparently, and he liked that. It made things easier. The young man took a deep breath before he continued speaking, and carefully brushed his hand over Sho's cheek, pushing aside a strand of hair in the process. It felt off, but not in a bad way.

"I love you too," Nino said, almost in a whisper. "I'm sorry I couldn't say it before. To be honest with you, the only thing that scares me is our future. And my own inability to properly talk things out with you instead of running away. But I'm back, and when you're feeling better, everything will be fine. I am sorry for what I did this morning. I didn't mean to leave you behind like that, I was just…," such an inconsiderate, panicking idiot, Nino wanted to say, but the words got stuck in his throat, and Sho took over.

"You needed some time to think. It's OK, I understand. All this is new to me too, exciting, thrilling, in a good way, but also a bit intimidating," Sho contributed.

Nino sighed. Even if Sho understood, he felt really bad about his behaviour. "I should have considered your feelings too, though. I felt overwhelmed by everything and I was worrying too much about my own feelings, instead of worrying about yours too."

"I'm not mad at you," the alien said, pressing Nino's hand slightly.

"You're too good of a person, you know that?" Nino chuckled softly.

"Really?"

"Really. I don't deserve you," Nino whispered.

"But I still want you."

Nino blushed slightly. "I'm glad to hear that."

They smiled at each other for a long moment, and when things became awkward and Nino felt like they should either say or do something more, he pulled himself together, got up and leaned closer over Sho, until he could place a kiss on his forehead. Something strange happened, when Nino's lips touched Sho's skin. His hair started glowing stronger, suddenly, as if releasing a wave of light, that ran down his strands from the roots to the ends.

"Whoa, what was that?" Nino chuckled surprised, backing off a little, but not letting go off Sho's hand.

"That was an indicator for great happiness," Sho explained.

Nino broke out into a wide grin, his cheeks feeling warm. "That's a pretty cool feature, I might say."

"It's not easy to trigger that, but you did," the alien admitted. "You're the only one who can. Well... and your food, perhaps, I didn't check yet."

Sho smirked, and Nino wasn't sure if the last part of the man's confession had been a joke or the truth (he still had to get used to this slight change in personality that Sho had developed since being in his company), but he felt his chest filling with warmth, and no matter what, Nino couldn't deny how proud and happy he was feeling right now. He must be grinning like a fool by now.

"If it's not asked too much...," Sho continued, "I want you to kiss me, please. I mean... a real kiss."

Usually, Nino wouldn't be able to hold back upon such a request, but Sho was still sick, so he wasn't sure if he wanted to take the risk. "I'll kiss you insane once you've recovered properly, OK? I am not fond of catching some alien cold, sorry. I hope you understand."

"Hm... Sure thing," the alien agreed after a second.

"So, get well soon, you hear me?" Nino replied, kissing Sho's knuckles. There was another wave of light running through Sho's hair, and Nino grinned once more. This was adorable!

"I'm doing my best!"

Despite not wanting to risk getting sick too, in the end, when Sho assured him once more, that he was truly already feeling much better, Nino let himself get persuaded to not go sleep on the couch in the living room, but to share the bed with Sho for the night. They were both tired, so they only talked for a few more minutes, Nino holding Sho from behind, in a tight embrace, assuring him in a whisper, that he would never run away from him again. With an "I love you" on his lips, Nino snuggled closer, burying his face in Sho's neck, and in a matter of seconds, they both had drifted off to sleep.


+ PLANET EARTH. JAPAN. JUNE 4, 2018. 06:30 AM, JST. Tokyo, Ninomiya and Matsumoto apartment+


"Oh, finally!" Jun exclaimed, when in the next morning, Sho and Nino showed up in the kitchen, together, holding hands.

Sho felt much better after a few hours of sleep, his cold was almost gone, and he had even gathered enough energy to shapeshift back into his human appearance. Nino really wondered what was in that medicine Aiba gave him. However, he was happy that Sho was doing better. His appetite, at least, seemed as big as usual, which was always a good sign.

After last night, things seemed so much easier, Nino thought. He had no problem holding hands with Sho in front of Jun, which meant, he wouldn't have a problem with showing the whole world, if necessary, that he and Sho belonged together. Screw their difference in species, screw the miles and miles of distance between their two home planets. Now, finally, Nino was convinced that all of this didn't matter. What mattered was that they loved each other.

When Jun stood up to get his coffee refilled, Nino had to ask Sho to let go off his hand – so that he could prepare his favourite breakfast for him. Sho obeyed, but just under this condition.


+ PLANET EARTH. JAPAN. JUNE 22, 2018. 06:45 PM, JST. Tokyo, Japanese Restaurant +


Since all that relationship drama, and Nino finally stood true to his feelings, not much happened. Nino and Jun went back to work, as usual, also Sho focused on his translation work, in order to pay Nino back for the trip to Arima as soon as possible, and even Aiba started working. Jun's idea that Aiba would be the perfect dog walker had struck like lightning, and by now, the alien prince had become by far the most popular dog walker of the whole neighbourhood. Sometimes, one of the others would accompany him on a stroll, and all three of them agreed that it was pure pleasure to see Aiba walking those small groups of dogs, talking to them, and being extremely excited and happy about it. It was like the man had found his purpose in life.

The two couples got along very well, all in all, even if there were of course a few small quarrels now and then about all and nothing. Nino had tried to stop worrying about his and Sho's future, and to enjoy the time they could spend together as much as possible – and mostly, he succeeded.

They had even almost forgotten about Sho and Aiba's real mission – finding Aiba's brother. Admittedly, there hadn't been any helpful hints about the possible whereabouts of the alien. There had not been any suspicious sightings or anything, and with Nino knowing that the two might probably be unable to recognize the prince in his human form, even if they would run into him openly, made him wonder if there was even any hope for the mission to succeed. In his opinion, waiting was the only option, and he did not mind at all, if Sho and Aiba stayed with him and Jun for longer, while doing so. The two men had settled into their new lives so perfectly. They had adjusted to Jun and Nino's lives so well that Nino was convinced, it would feel wrong once they would be gone. He didn't even want to think about it. However, he also wasn't as naïve to believe that this day would never come.

With Nino being busy at work, and Sho being flexible about working hours as well as his working place, it soon became a habit for him to pay Nino visits at the restaurant and sit in an empty corner or at the bar, if space allowed it, with his laptop, working on translating articles. Sometimes, Jun would join too, when he didn't have to be physically present at the design company, and Aiba usually dropped by in between or after taking different groups of dogs for a walk. It was such a day, when the group of four decided to gather in the restaurant and eat dinner there together before Nino could go home. Once in a while, he thought, it was nice not ho have to cook again right after work, so it was a welcomed change from the usual. He had just finished his shift when bringing his friends' orders to their table, when he found them watching something on the internet with his laptop, as Sho was apparently taking a break from his work.

"What are you guys watching?" he asked when setting the food on the table and taking the empty seat next to Sho.

The alien immediately reached for his order, thanking his boyfriend for preparing it, and took a first bite before he even replied.

"Some TV show about small local successes or something like that," Sho explained between two bites.

Nino just hummed, deciding to watch along for a while. He'd rather watch an episode of one of his favourite TV shows, but if Sho found this interesting, he should keep watching. Over the past weeks, he had learned that Sho and Aiba's interest in human things and matters had grown even more since their arrival, and it was fun to watch their reactions.

"Wow, that's a monster fish!" Aiba exclaimed, pointing at the program, where a young woman was happily chatting about a rare fish catch, while in the background there was a young man standing with an immensely huge fish on his arm and an awkward but proud smile on his face.

It seemed to be a specific type of fish that was thought of being extinct in this area of Japan, however, that man apparently had managed to catch one of them in the lake near the forest north from Tokyo, after days of patiently waiting. Nino frowned, wondering if people didn't get bored during such activities, and already calculated in his head how many books he'd be able to read when there would be nothing to do but wait for a fish to take the bait.

"How many sushi pieces can you make out of one of these?" Sho asked Nino curiously, pulling the man out of his thoughts, and Nino started thinking.

"Well, given the fact that I have never heard of that fish before and I don't know how it looks inside, I can only guess from the size," he started. He tilted his head. "Probably enough for a wedding reception?" Nino offered his boyfriend with a smile, which turned into a teasing smirk quickly, though. "Or for one dinner for you."

"Oh, I'm sure I could manage," Sho broke into a cute laughter, a still strange gesture from the young man, but even more adorable.

Jun, on the other hand, suddenly seemed to be distracted by something on the screen, his expression turned serious. He frowned, leaning a bit closer to the laptop. "Wait… something…"

"Is something wrong?" Nino asked, confused.

"That thing around his neck... doesn't it look familiar to you, somehow?" Jun asked, pointing at a flat, triangular-shaped object with brighter lining around the frame, which was hanging from a strap.

Nino squinted his eyes to see a bit clearer, and indeed, it looked like a familiar device! He turned around to Sho, who had already pulled out Kee-ko's AI-port from his shirt's pocket – the same triangular shape and about the same size as the object hanging around that stranger's neck. Shocked, Jun pointed at the device, voicelessly and Nino parted his lips, but before he could say anything, Sho, who looked all serious again now, was faster.

He turned to face Nino again. "How do you pronounce that name on the screen?"

"What's that question, Sho? You can probably read way more kanji than I am able to," Nino said, completely puzzled.

"I think I know how to read them, indeed," Sho nodded. He tightened the grip on his AI-port. "This cannot be a coincidence, but I need to confirm this, so please tell me how you would pronounce them."

"Ohno Satoshi," Nino read out, looking at Sho, curiously. "Is that what you expected?"

"I knew it… it's Ou-no."

"WHAT?!" Aiba yelled so loud that almost the whole restaurant turned their faces towards the group.

Nino just kept frowning, but something tickled his memory. "Wait... I think you mentioned something like that before, didn't you?"

"Our first prince!" Sho exclaimed. "Ou-no Zat Osh!"

"Oh gosh," Nino murmured, finally settling down his bowl of fried rice.

Could it really be true? Did they really just find a trace to the missing Ar-Rashian prince while randomly watching a TV program during dinner, when for the past almost two months they had just been blindly searching and waiting for someone, none of them had any idea how he exactly looked like?

"My brother!" Aiba meanwhile had jumped up from his seat, spreading over the table and holding the computer screen with both hands.

"Are you sure? It could be just a new version of a smart phone and a similarity in his name or -," Nino asked his boyfriend, slowly but surely becoming a little nervous.

If that man was really the missing prince of Ar-Rash, and they would find him... Nino didn't dare finishing his thoughts. He wasn't ready for it, and apparently, he wasn't as chill about the situation, as he thought he would be.

Instead he tried to calculate the possibility of Sho being right. First, there was the similarity in name, which could or could not be a coincidence. And Sho had mentioned that the man looked a bit familiar to him. Considering the fact that Sho, even when he had turned back into his Ar-Rashian form once, had still had at least a little resemblance with his human version in his features, maybe it was difficult, but not completely impossible to trace the similarities from Ou-no's human form back to his usual form too?

"I am not one hundred percent sure, but it would be really a big coincidence if it wasn't him. It fits, the name follows the same pattern that Aiba and I used for coming up with our names to use for Planet Earth, and the device around that man's neck looks too alike to our technology. It must be an AI-port for Zat-Uhm," Sho said.

"We need to check!" Aiba added, and Sho nodded.

"What's he doing at a lake in the woods?" Jun wondered.

"Fishing for a wedding reception," Sho remarked.

Nino snorted, amused, and a wave of affection for his boyfriend immediately washed away his worries. He was just irresistible. "Don't tell me you're learning how to make a joke?"

Sho looked at him, proudly. "I learned from the master."

"Guys, you know, I approve when you're flirting," Jun interrupted them, "But could you postpone that for later? This is serious! We need to find him! Where did they say the fish was caught?"

Nino leaned a little forward, almost crawling onto Sho's lap (which the other man didn't seem to mind) in the process, and carefully pushed Aiba aside so that he could reach his laptop and scroll down on the website, checking out the video description. It was a recording from earlier that day, so the basic information was already available there, and he quickly read out the location, while Jun took notes with his phone.

"It's our real first trace, it really could be something, this time," Sho said, his face all serious. "However, first, we should finish dinner!"

Of course…

+

"Can we take the spaceship again?" Jun asked, completely excited, once the group had finished their meals and left the restaurant hurriedly.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Nino intervened, immediately. Seriously, his best friend was just too obsessed with that spaceship.

"Oh come on Nino, you're always such a killjoy!" Jun pouted.

Nino glared at him. "I'm not a killjoy, I'm trying to be reasonable here! I mean sure, we could use the spaceship to travel to a village near the forest, however, we have no idea where exactly Aiba's brother could be and do you plan to explore the whole area by foot then? I suggest we rent a car and take that so that we're a bit more flexible once we reached the forest. Sounds reasonable enough?"

"Reasonable enough...," Jun had to admit, but didn't stop pouting. "Ah, shoot, I really wanted to take the spaceship again!"

"What about I take you on a ride another time?" Aiba suggested, squeezing the other man's hand as they walked down the streets next to each other, following Nino's instructions, who had already searched via his phone for a nearby place that rented cars.

"Can he?!"

Sho hummed. "Well, if he's doing an invisible flight-"

"And they don't end up making out in my cockpit again…" Kee-ko's unamused voice popped up from Sho's chest pocket.

Jun just grinned widely, and Nino rolled his eyes. Jun shrugged in response, as if he wanted to say that none of this was his fault.

+

About an hour later, the four men were already on their way, leaving Tokyo, driving north. With Jun behind the steering wheel and Aiba occupying the front-seat passenger's seat, Nino and Sho shared the back row. Nino tried hard, not to worry too much. There was a lot to worry about, but theoretically, he knew exactly that there was no use worrying, and it would be better to simply let things happen and see how everything would go. Sho must have noticed though, that Nino was becoming more and more nervous, even uncomfortable. The man offered his boyfriend a smile, which Nino tried to answer, his heart still filling with warmth every time he saw Sho smile. When Sho reached his hand between them, to take Nino's and intertwine their fingers, Nino didn't pull back, but tightly grabbed Sho's hand in response. Everything would be fine...

"I want drive too!" Aiba announced a little later.

Jun chuckled. "Can you even drive a car? I bet you don't have a Japanese driving license, do you?"

It was Sho, who replied. "Of course we do not have a Japanese driving license specifically, however, we are capable of flying spaceships so I'm confident to assume we are able to drive a car. Also, for the driving license, we can print one, if that's the problem."

Nino released a slightly nervous chuckle. "I am surprised how normal forging documents is for you guys…"

Sho shrugged and looked at Nino with a small smirk on his lips. It looked way too sexy, and Nino started appreciating this new side of the alien quite a bit, he had to admit.

"So, you want to try it, Ma-chan?" Jun asked challenging, and the alien prince nodded heavily.

"Really?" Nino first glared at Jun and then frowned at Sho. He obviously not as enthusiastic about the plan as the others, but Jun already pulled to the side of the road and switched seats with Aiba just a minute later, who broke out in cheers and excitedly started to press random buttons on the dashboard in front of him.

For a few seconds, the radio blasted parts of a heavy metal song on high volume, causing Nino to jump and the whole vehicle to shake, before Aiba turned down the volume with a short, "Whoops, sorry for that."

"Is he a good pilot?" Nino asked, turned to Sho, obviously critical.

The only time he had taken a flight with the aliens' space ship, Sho was the pilot, flying all chill and safe, just like his calm personality. Thus, it would make people suspect that with Aiba and his energetic personality, it would be a completely different story. Sho, in response grabbed Nino's hand tighter. This time, when Nino's heart started beating faster again, but it was caused by a wave of panic, rather than from the touch. He already feared the worst.

"He's an... adventurous pilot," Sho replied, face straight. "I can assure you, he never crashed a ship or anything. However, it could be a little shaky, so I recommend holding onto something," he continued, reinforcing the grip around Nino's hand.

"Oh holy...," Nino sighed, clinging to his boyfriend's hand and searching for more hold with his free hand at the car's door handle, preparing for the worst. "Please, be careful, Aiba!" he added

"Roger!"

+

It turned out to be a very adventurous car ride, indeed, and just as Nino had already suspected it turned out to be a not so brilliant idea to let Aiba drive, even with Sho's assurance that the alien prince had never crashed a ship before. However, a spaceship was still something completely different from a rental car and just because someone could pilot the one thing, it didn't automatically mean the same for the other. At least those were Nino's arguments, however, nobody seemed to care and just let him ramble on until he shut up and kept his worries to himself.

It was a nerve-wrecking ride for Nino, who had soon reached a state in which he worried to have broken Sho's fingers from gripping his hand too tightly. Further, he felt sick, and he just wanted them to reach that damned lake that they had picked as their goal and point from which they intended to start a search for Ohno by foot. However, even before they could reach said lake, it - not that much surprising to Nino – happened.

Aiba caused an accident.

Well, kind of.

It wasn't a rolling over a sharp stone and ruining the tire kind of accident, or a losing control over the car and crash into a tree one. No, worse than that, it was an almost running something over kind of accident!

Maybe the bad lighting along the bumpy road through the forest (the car's front lights were the only real sources of light) was to be blamed, or the fact that Aiba was simply driving too carelessly, especially considering the darkness and bumpiness of the road. However, it led to Aiba and the others completely overlooking something walking on the road in front of them. It was probably not the smartest thing to walk in the middle of the road in a dark night, and so it was understandable that Aiba seemed surprised.

When the driver spotted the obstacle on the road, it was almost too late, and it went so fast that Nino barely took notice of what was really happening. Jun yelled, Aiba stamped onto the brake, and the car slowed down, however, the thing on the road couldn't jump aside fast enough and so ended up being hit – maybe not as badly as it could be, but bad enough to be pushed aside and stumble to the ground, as Aiba turned the car into the other direction in order to limit damages and ended up in the bushes. The alarm system of the car started blinking and beeping, which Aiba quickly took care or in the form of hitting the dashboard to make it stop, and then, there was complete silence.

"What the hell was that?" Nino freaked out.

"Did we just hit something?" Sho asked.

"Maybe it was an animal...," Jun wondered.

"Oh no, do you think its dead?" Aiba clashed his hands in front of his lips.

"We should better go check," Nino started, letting go off Sho's hand (which must be hurting from Nino's grip, by now) and unbuckling his seat belt, before the motion sickness caused from Aiba's reckless driving hit back in full force. "Oh no, sorry, first I –"

The young man pushed open the door of the car as quickly as he could, stumbled a few steps outside and had just enough time to lean over before he threw up. Great. Once he had finished, he searched his trousers' pockets for a tissue and was lucky enough to find one, but he wasn't really feeling that much better. When he thought he'd faint from the dizziness turning his world, someone caught and stabilized him – Sho.

"Nino? Are you OK?" the alien asked, worried, helping him stand straight and putting his arm around the young man's waist to hold him stable.

"It'll be fine, it'll be fine," Nino replied, but the painful look on his face must make clear that he had not reached that state yet.

While Sho was helping Nino, Aiba and Jun had also exited the car, Jun carrying a flashlight, and ran over to whatever the car had hit just a minute before. When Sho and Nino followed them, they quickly got a better view. In front of the two men, there was a young man crouching on the dirty dusty ground of the forest. Nino froze. They hit a person?! This must be a nightmare... The man immediately sent a quick prayer to whatever god who might be listening right now, hoping that the person wasn't badly injured from the crash.

"Are you alright, Mister?" Jun asked the man, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"So Sorry! Didn't see you!" Aiba immediately added.

Jun continued asking questions one after another, trying to figure out the state of the. "Are you hurt? What's your name? How many fingers am I holding up? Shall we call the ambulance?"

"No no, I'm fine, don't worry," the other man simply replied to the last question, dismissing the others, and Nino sighed in relief. It he could talk like that, it couldn't be that bad, right?

"You sure?!" Aiba asked, sounding quite a bit hysterical by now.

"Really!" the stranger ensured him. "You were already slowing down and I was just a little too slow. I just hit my butt and my head a little."

"Good, that nothing bad happened," Sho added, once he and Nino had reached the others. He frowned then, exchanging a short glance with his boyfriend, before he faced the other man again. "Wait… you… I know you!"

"Excuse me?" the stranger asked, frowning back at Sho.

It was then, when Nino realized the similarities – a slightly long nose, slightly pouting lips, tired eyes and brown hair, staying on edges. He couldn't believe it. Was this coincidence even possible?

"We saw you on TV today, we are looking for you," Sho continued. "Ohno Satoshi, right?"

"Yes, that's me, indeed. Ah, is it because of that huge fish?" the man asked, "I'm sorry, I already ate it for dinner, together with a group of villagers. Actually, I was on my way back to my hut right now, before you guys showed up here."

"It is not about the fish," Sho shook his head, "Although… I cannot say I am not interested in how you prepared it… Anyway, Ohno Satoshi, that's not your real name, is it?"

"Who... are you?" The man's frown grew even wider, and he started looking nervously from Sho to Jun, Aiba, Nino, and back to Sho, before his eyes widened in recognition. "Wait… I saw you in that shopping centre, didn't I?"

"Shopping centre?" Nino wondered, looking at his boyfriend, confused.

Sho frowned and tilted his head a little, obviously trying to remember. Then, his eyes lightened up and he took a breath. "I indeed saw you there!" he replied. "Why didn't I realize that earlier…"

Ohno looked at Jun, raising a flirtatious eyebrow at him. "I remember you too. Hey, Pretty."

"Hey back," Jun replied, grinning, before he quickly turned to Nino as if he had felt his death glare on him. "What? I'm not flirting."

"It was marginal," the young man noted, obviously disapproving.

Jun pouted. "I'm just being polite, there's nothing Ma-chan has to worry about. You know that, Ma-chan, don't you?" he said, brushing Aiba's shoulder with his hand.

Aiba nodded heavily. "I thrust Jun!"

"Trust!" Nino yelled frustrated. "It's trust, gosh, I thought you would have learned that word by now…"

"I bumped into you by accident," Ohno continued, when Jun focused back on him.

"Oh, right, you were the one trying glasses, right?"

"Wait, just so that I get this right," Nino interrupted them. "You basically all saw each other already, before. I mean, seriously?!"

He just couldn't grasp the whole situation. There Aiba and Sho were, searching for Aiba's brother for weeks, knowing they didn't even know how he looked like as a human, then, they almost ran him over with a car after they randomly spotted him on TV and decided to follow the clue, and now they realized that they had already met in a stupid shopping centre, weeks ago?!

"So, let me ask you this one more time," Ohno said, ignoring Nino's rambling. He had stood up by now, showing that he indeed wasn't injured. At least! "Who are you guys and what do you want from me? Why are you following me? This can't be a coincidence…"

"You are Ou-no Zat Osh, right?" Sho finally asked the most important question.

"You know me?" the man – now officially admitted as the alien prince they had been searching for, asked, confused.

"It's me, brother, Ah-ee Ba Mashak! We came here to search for you and take you home, brother!" Aiba exclaimed, completely excited. "And that's Za-coo!" he pointed at his friend.

"Or like we called on Earth, Aiba and Sho," the other alien added.

"So it's really you!", Ohno said, and when Aiba offered him a hand to help him up, he took it with a grateful smile.

Still within the motion of pulling the man up to his feet, Aiba pulled him into a tight hug. Ohno laughed, answering the embrace, and then, when Aiba finally let go of him again, he turned to hug Sho too, who looked a little surprised, as if he wasn't used to such an affectionate gesture by the other man. Well, probably, he wasn't, Nino figured, remembering how Sho once told him that he was quite close with Aiba, not so much with Aiba's brother, though.

"And I already thought I was imagining things... When I saw you in that shopping centre, I thought you in particular," Ohno gave Sho a critical look, "were familiar. I guess it's your posture. Those sloping shoulders, I should have recognized them in any form you're in."

"I am not sure if that is a compliment or not…," Nino murmured, but Sho did not complain and Jun just shrugged his shoulders.

"And these – Nino and Jun," Aiba explained, pointing at his friends to introduce them to his older brother.

While Jun nodded politely, Nino simply lifted his hand for a greeting and Ohno acknowledged their short introduction with a "Nice to meet you," before he turned back to his brother and friend. "So, you're here to take me back to Ar-Rash?"

Sho and Aiba exchanged a look, both a little hesitant. Of course, this was the plan, wasn't it? But as simple as this might have sounded in the beginning, now it was a completely different situation. Also, would the first crown prince of Ar-Rash run away when they told him they were searching for him?

"Well...," Sho started, hesitant.

"OK, great!" Ohno said, smiling, and causing the other four men to gape at him as if he was nuts.

"What?!" Aiba asked, exchanging a perplexed look with Sho, who frowned a little, too.

"What?" the older brother raised his eyebrows, questioning.

"We thought since you fled from our home planet, you would need a bit more conviction to return. I did not expect you to agree right away," Sho explained. He was surprised. He couldn't believe that apparently they had worried for nothing.

"Well, to be honest, I just needed a break," Ohno said, lifting his arms and crossing them behind his neck. "And it was great, don't get me wrong, Earth is a wonderful planet, I was able to relax, try a few different human past-times… but, in the end, I think I'm getting bored, things here are more complicated and inconvenient than I thought and… to be honest – and I really did not expect that but – I miss you guys."

"Really? Brother!" Aiba rushed to hug his brother again, his eyes slightly wet.

"Now, that's enough hugging for today," the older alien brother chuckled, but still patted Aiba's hair in an affectionate way before he continued talking. "Also, my ship is damaged, and I don't have the right things here to fix it, I already thought about contacting someone back home soon to get an emergency shuttle sent here, but then that crazy thing with that crazy big fish happened and I postponed it," the man added with a smile. "But it's great if you're here to pick me up."

"I can't believe it," Nino murmured, more to himself than anyone in particular. "He would have contacted them anyway… so we basically came out here for nothing…"

Apparently, Jun heard him, who added in a low voice, "It was a fun car ride, at least."

"Yeah, very fun!" Nino rolled his eyes.

"So, where's your ship?" Ohno asked.

"In Tokyo," Sho replied.

"Then let's go there!"

"Get in the car," Jun invited the older alien brother, pointing at the vehicle. "Oh, I better drive back, I think," he then added with a chuckle, putting his hand on Aiba's arm to hold him back, as the prince just wanted to sit back behind the steering wheel.

"Thank God," Nino murmured.

A little disappointed, Aiba gave in, once Jun pecked his cheek lovingly.

"So he can stay with us in your apartment for the night?" Sho asked while reaching for Nino's hand to pull him back towards the car.

"Well, I mean, the couch is empty now," Jun grinned, exchanging a glance with Nino, who rolled his eyes again at the small side blow. "So, there'd be space for one more person, I guess."

"What are you even talking about?" Ohno asked a little confused, once he had sat down in the car, next to Sho who had slipped into the middle. "Aren't we going home?"

Nino froze. Now, the time to talk about how things would go on from now on had arrived, apparently. Nino feared that moment, ever since he set foot into the car. He tried to mute his thoughts and worries about the situation and the consequences of actually finding the missing prince, only partly succeeding, and with all the tumult he had almost forgotten about it. But what about that? No immediate answer came neither from Aiba, nor Sho. They both, hesitated, again.

When the young man felt Sho's gaze on him, who, a second later, offered his hand again that Nino took immediately, desperately.

"We are currently residing in the home of these two very kind Earthlings," Sho explained. "Jun is a very talented fashion designer, and Nino is the best cook in the world!"

"You're flattering me...," Nino babbled, more to distract himself than to actually provide a reaction to Sho's not so hidden compliment, but Sho just squeezed his hand a little and Nino shut up.

"They took us into their home when we lost your trace and had no place to go," Sho continued. "They gave us a place to sleep and food, they allowed us to stay as long as we wanted to, and when we found out about you, they were instantly there to help us find you."

Ohno looked at Sho as if he did not quite understand. "So… what about home?"

When he did not receive an immediate reply, it was obvious that the older prince was confused over the sudden hesitation coming from his brother and assistant.

"We're not going home tonight," Sho said, slightly shaking his head. "This, finding you, happened so fast, I am not ready to leave right away. It's the same for you, right, Aiba?" Sho asked, and his friend, who turned around from his position in the passenger's seat, nodded.

Jun, a soft smile on his face, lifted his hand up to Aiba's cheek, brushing it slightly, and Nino bit his lip, trying to fight back tears. His heart beat strong and fast in his chest, the thought of Sho not wanting to leave yet, made him feel warm. He knew it was a complicated situation, but he just couldn't help but feel touched knowing that he wouldn't be the only one having a hard time when it would be necessary to part ways.

"Let's drive home into the apartment first," Sho concluded. "And there, we need to talk."

+

And talk, they did. During the car ride, Aiba and Sho asked Ohno about his ship's crash, what happened to his AI, Zat-Uhm, where he had been, what he had done, and they asked him again, why he wasn't that eager to stay here anymore. He went into a bit more detail, admitting that he had expected life on this planet being a bit easier than it actually turned out to be, and that even if he definitely enjoyed fishing and carving wood (he had created some quite impressive figurines, apparently, which he tried to sell off to the villagers, even if they weren't as enthusiastic about them than their creator), he simply missed the comfort he was used too on Ar-Rash.

In the meantime, the AIs, Kee-ko and Zat-Uhm connected via a green coloured signal and took just for a few seconds to update each other silently, distracting Jun for a few seconds, who was extremely impressed by their technology, before Nino scolded him to focus his eyes back on the road.

Once they reached Tokyo, they returned the rental car at a twenty-four-hour service terminal and walked back to Nino and Jun's apartment, where they sat down in the living room to continue their talk. Aiba and Sho told Ohno about how they had followed him to Earth and lost his ship's signal, how they were welcomed by Nino and Jun into their apartment, and what they experienced together since their arrival. Ohno was impressed, especially by the stories of how Aiba and Jun as well as Sho and Nino got together.

When it became a little too embarrassing for Nino (he found it cute how detailed Sho remembered everything that happened between them, and he didn't need to sit next to him with a crimson red face, while Sho talked about it to another alien), the young man went to the kitchen. He planned to prepare some snacks and get some drinks, and quickly found himself regretting that he did not bring someone to help him – or at least to distract his thoughts from downward spiraling into the ocean of a negatively painted future. Nino took twice as long for standard processes like making easy puff pastry cheese sticks and a simple salad, almost spoiling the latter with salt, but he couldn't help but fear the direction the conversation between the aliens would go next. Ohno had already asked when they planned to return to Ar-Rash, and even if Sho and Aiba tried to avoid answering the question, it was clear that they couldn't leave it unanswered forever. They would talk about it, and eventually, they would leave this planet...

With his heart beating fast, his thoughts spinning like crazy, and his hands slightly shaking, Nino tried to take some juice from the fridge. He almost dropped it, if there hadn't been Sho, who caught the paper carton and put it on the kitchen counter.

"Do you need any help?" he asked, turning to his boyfriend.

"I'm beyond help," Nino murmured after releasing a sigh. Frustrated, he rubbed his face. No, he wasn't crying. There was no reason to, not yet.

"You're shaking," Sho said softly, taking his boyfriend's hands in his and pulling him slightly closer. "Are you still feeling sick?"

Nino glanced at the alien, whose eyes were filled with worry, before he averted his eyes and slightly shook his head. He wanted to reply, to tell the man that he was fine, but he couldn't. Instead, he stepped forward, freed his hands and wrapped his arms around Sho, embracing him tightly. He buried his fingers in the back of his boyfriend's shirt and pressed his face against his chest. A little surprised, Sho seemed to hesitate for a second, but then he wrapped his arms around Nino and they simply stood there, saying nothing nor a while.

Nino enjoyed the warmth of their embrace, Sho's soft touches, and he tried to turn his negative thoughts into positive ones. He thought about the conversation with his mother, he thought about how deeply he had fallen for the alien he was holding in his arms, thought about the promises Sho made. That he wouldn't leave him. Well, even if it would come as far as Sho going back to their home planet together with Aiba and Ohno, it did not mean that they would need to break up. They would find a way. They had to. They were too deeply invested in their relationship already to turn back.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine," Sho whispered eventually, while running one hand through Nino's hair, causing the other man to look up at him. "We'll figure things out, I promised, and I intend to keep my promise."

"No matter what, I love you," Nino whispered and pushed his head a little higher, capturing Sho's lips in a gentle kiss.

"I love you too," Sho replied once they parted, "No matter what."

After Nino smiled at him and hugged him tightly once more for a second, they took the snacks the young man had prepared, the juice package and glasses, and went back into the living room, where the others were laughing about a joke Jun apparently made.


+ PLANET EARTH. JAPAN. JUNE 28, 2018. 09:50 PM, JST. Tokyo, on the roof top of the Ninomiya and Matsumoto apartment +


In the end, Ohno was persuaded to stay a little longer on planet Earth. Both, Aiba and Sho were just not ready to leave yet. They had gotten used to their daily life here, and losing their hearts to two Earthlings, so Ohno did not really have much of a choice. Eventually, it was probably thanks to the fact that he had a soft couch to sleep on, some Earthling TV to watch all day long, and Nino's cooking, that made the older alien prince feel comfortable around the apartment.

There had not really been a need to hurry with a report to Ar-Rash, either, which Aiba and Sho had been neglecting more and more anyway, over the past few weeks, not feeling comfortable with sharing the news of "not finding the first prince" each and every day. The current status on their home planet was that they would get in contact once they found the prince, instead of reporting daily. Well, nobody said that they couldn't wait with their report just for a little longer.

There had been a lot of talks during the past few days about how things should go on from now on. A few thousand possibilities had been discussed, the option of simply not reporting to their home planet and staying on Earth all together, sending Ohno back by himself, or the most popular one among the aliens – taking Jun and Nino with them, so that Nino could give cooking classes on Ar-Rash and Jun could design clothes for all interested Ar-Rashians – those were just a few of them.

In the end though, of course, the group found to the most reasonable and probably best solution – at least for now. Aiba, Sho and Ohno would travel back home together, following their original plan, and Nino and Jun would stay on their home planet as well, just where they belonged. It would be a hasty decision to abandon their respective homes. The Ar-Rashians had their family and their responsibilities at home, a lot of things to take care of, while Jun and Nino had their jobs, their friends, and also their families, and it was impossible that any of them gave up their whole lives completely from one day to another.

Of course, all this did not mean that things had to stop. There were definitely plans to see each other again. Neither Aiba nor Sho even considered the option of ending their relationships with Jun, and respectively Nino, for even a second. And so, their only chance to make things last was, to lead long distance relationships for now, until things were settled. It wouldn't be easy, but somehow, they would make it work, for sure. And it wasn't set in stone that this would be the end result. Things could change, could develop, and with the goal of leading a joined life one day in the future, everyone had something to think about, to work for and to look forward too.

For now though, it was time to say good bye, so the five men were now standing on the rooftop, ready to pack a last few things into the still functioning ship, like tons of precooked meals that Nino had cooked for them, all Sho's favourites, of course, and a few bags filled with the clothes that Jun had bought for them.

They had transported Ohno's broken ship to the apartment block just the other day too, having to pull quite an act to manage the transport without being caught (the invisible blankets had been quite useful in this aspect, however, bringing the ship up to the rooftop had almost been impossible and had needed the help of Aiba and Sho's ship) and now belonged to Jun, who had promised to make good use of it. He indeed still planned to get some photoshoots for his designer collections with the ship as futuristic setting, so he was excited that Ohno had allowed him to keep it. Of course, the young man promised Aiba that he will be the only one he'll be making out with in the cockpit.

"At least, you're not connected to that shell any longer," Kee-ko's voice came from Sho's AI-port, directed to Ohno's, carrying the ship's previous AI, Zat-Uhm. "Believe me, you don't even want to know what these two did in my cockpit during that so-called party... it was horrible!"

"I am truly grateful for not having to experience that then, sister," Zat-Uhm agreed.

"Oh yes, I bet," Kee-ko said, followed by a slightly metallic, bitter chuckle.

"Next time, I invite you to my planet. Want to introduce you to my parents," Aiba promised Jun, who had tried to play cool until now, but had finally broken out into tears while clinging to his boyfriend.

"Brave…" Ohno chuckled, obviously not convinced that this was such a good idea, however, Aiba didn't let him unsettle his plans.

"They will not kick him out for having a relationship with an Earthling," Sho, who was standing next to Nino, holding his boyfriend's hand firmly in his, added, determined.

"You think so?" the older alien prince asked, critically. "And what if they do?"

"They did not want to kick you out, when you ran away from home," the other man replied, raising a challenging eyebrow at Ohno, who eventually took the side blow and shrugged it off.

"And even if," Jun sobbed, "Then Ma-chan can live here with me and Nino, forever."

"And I have to reign Ar-Rash all by myself? No, thank you!" the older brother exclaimed.

"You will be a great king," Sho said, teasingly.

"I really have to get used to you being humorous now, Sho. Seriously, don't joke with me, I am still not interested in becoming king…," the prince rumbled on, squinting his eyes at Sho.

Nino couldn't help but chuckle at this remark, and when Ohno offered to take their luggage inside the ship, and Aiba and Jun were busy with their own good bye, Nino and Sho could finally take a moment of silence and focus on each other. Sho pressed Nino's hand when the other man looked at him and reached his free hand around Sho's waist to embrace him. He would miss this, that was for sure, and the longer Nino could hug that still a little awkward but more and more adorable alien, the better.

"I will be back," Sho said, leaning his head against Nino's. "I promise."

"When?" Nino asked immediately, even if he had intended not to do so. They had talked about it. Countless times.

"As soon as I can," the alien continued.

"I will be waiting for you," Nino said, smiling slightly. "Until then, you need to take care and… try to send me a message once in a while, will you?"

"Of course! As often as I can!" Sho replied.

The alien had managed to save a copy of Kee-ko's basic system on Nino's laptop as well as Jun's smart phone, which theoretically should enable the computer and phone to connect with Kee-ko, so that they should be able to communicate even via the distance that would lie between them. Live communication would be unrealistic, however, sending voice or video messages was definitely an option for both sides, the aliens as well as Nino and Jun counted on that technology, to make their long distance relationships more bearable.

When Nino leaned closer, Sho's lips met his halfway, and they shared one of the most intimate kisses, they ever had. It was hard to describe the whole mix of feelings that whirled inside of Nino's heart and mind right now, but their kiss right now had captured all of those emotions just perfectly. There was no need to further say anything. Whatever Nino wanted to say to Sho, Sho already knew. When their hands parted, Nino's heart hurt immensely, but he tried to remind himself, that they would find a solution, that it wouldn't be long until he could touch Sho, feel Sho, kiss Sho again.

Eventually, the aliens stepped towards their ship, waving their friends from Earth goodbye and thanking them again for all their help and support, before they got on and the ship closed up.

Even before the aliens activated their spaceship's invisibility mode, Jun was already clinging onto Nino's arm, still crying. Nino, who had a hard time himself to hold back his tears, chuckled, reaching his hand into the mob of Jun's brown locks and ruffled through them, caring.

"I miss him, Nino!" Jun whined.

"They are not even out of sight yet," Nino replied, pointing at the ship which was now being activated, and slowly started floating in the sky.

"But..."

"Who talked big and said it's no problem at all to lead a long-distance relationship with an alien over galaxies?" Nino chuckled, glancing at his friend. "I believe it was you! Pull yourself together, J!"

Jun pouted. "I hate you, Nino!"

"No, you don't," the other man smirked.

"No, I don't...," Jun replied, sighing.

Then, the ship in front of them had vanished into thin air, and only a silent swooshing noise indicated the invisible spaceship's departure. Suddenly, it was too quiet on the roof top, without the voices of the aliens. All at once, even with Jun by his side, Nino felt lonely. And he knew, Jun must feel the same.

"I really miss him...," Jun whispered.

"I know," Nino murmured.

Jun's body started shaking again from a wave of crying. "It hurts so much."

"I know…," Nino whispered in return. He knew so so well... he felt just the same about Sho. A first silent tear rolled down Nino's cheek, followed by another, and another, until he was sobbing a strange duet with his best friend.

"They'll be back, right?" Jun asked, turning to Nino in order to take his best friend into a hug. At least, they had each other.

"They'll be back," Nino confirmed, wrapping his arms around his friend, thankful to have someone to hold onto in that moment. "Soon, you'll see."


+ PLANET EARTH. JAPAN. JULY 1, 2018. 11:05 PM, JST. Ninomiya and Matsumoto apartment +


It had been a long, exhausting day at work when Nino finally entered his room after sharing a quick late dinner with Jun. He opened his laptop and was excited to see a notification from the interstellar message system that Sho had installed on his computer.

He finally got mail! Even, a video message, as it seemed. Not that he had been counting the hours since his boyfriend promised to reach out to him as soon as possible...

Three days ago, Sho, Aiba and Ohno had left with their spaceship, and Nino had been wondering how long they'd take to reach their home planet. This whole space stuff was a little much for his brain to process, especially since what Sho had tried to explain to him just sounded like complicated science fiction to Nino's ears, but when his boyfriend assured him that he should be able to send him a first message within a few days, Nino focused on that, and now, it finally happened.

Excited, the young man immediately took a seat in front of his desk and with his heart beating faster from the pleasant anticipation to hear that deep wonderful voice again, he clicked the unread message from his alien boyfriend. A new window popped open for playing a video message, the frame showing an almost empty, futuristic looking room, kept entirely in white, only an empty seat in front of the camera. Then, when Nino heard a familiar voice, his heart skipped a beat.

"Kee-ko? Video message recording START.
Language setting: Japanese.

Current Position: Planet Ar-Rash, royal headquarters, living accommodations.

Video message to Ninomiya Kazunari No. 1."

Nino couldn't help but smile, his heartbeat was back, tumbling happily within his chest. He could hear shuffling in the background, then, Sho appeared on screen, taking place on a seat and making himself comfortable. He was in his human form, which he preferred having in Nino's company, probably to feel more equal to the other man. The man formed a slightly awkward smile with his beautiful lips, his cute teeth showing, and then started talking.

"Hello, Nino... uhm... this is a bit awkward... how am I supposed to start this? I am sorry, I am not used to messaging... a boyfriend..."

There was a little blush on Sho's cheeks, which Nino found adorable, but then, Sho cleared his throat, shuffled a bit in his seat, and there was the edge of something that reminded Nino on an iPad or something similar showing in the camera's frame, that the alien man checked out. Maybe a cheat sheet? Anyway, as soon as Sho checked it out, he put it down again, looked back into the camera and continued.

"Maybe I just start with, how are you doing? I really hope you and Jun are doing well. We finished our journey without encountering any problems, and thanks to the jumps through hyper space in just a very short amount of time. Considering the distance between our two home planets, I am happy to have access to such advanced technology as the one built in our ships.

I wanted to get in contact with you as soon as possible, however, once we landed here, things got a little bit out of control. The king and queen were not exactly amused that we took so long to come back to Ar-Rash, honestly. Well, I have to admit that I am not very surprised about that. Thankfully, they were up for a talk so we could explain the whole situation to them. It was not easy, but we did it. The results are... mixed, I would say."

Nino frowned at his boyfriend's words, but he probably would not be surprised. Sho and Aiba's trip to Earth definitely had not turned out as what they had initially planned, after all. Nino just hoped, they were not in too much trouble now.

"About Ohno, he has been grounded for a few days as punishment for leaving Ar-Rash without prior notice, I guess this is the king and queen's way of expressing their worry for their eldest son. Ohno does not seem to mind, though, he is as carefree as always. His parents say, he still has a lot to learn before he can actually take over the responsibilities of a leader.

They were pretty shocked when Aiba told them about his relationship with Jun, and had a pretty nasty fight over it, but Aiba is stubborn and made very clear that he does not plan to abandon his boyfriend, so they have to live with his choice. I admire the prince, honestly, after hearing them fighting, I did not feel like sharing the news about my relationship with you, yet, I hope you understand. I am not planning to lie to them or anything, of course... and it is not like I want to hide things about you, definitely not, it's just... I am waiting for the right moment to tell them. To introduce you..."

There was it again, that slight cute blush on Sho's cheeks, when he tried to explain the last part. Nino chuckled softly, put his elbows in front of his laptop and bedded his chin in his hands, as he continued to watch his boyfriend talk, who apparently took another short look at his cheat sheet, before he continued. It was really cute to see Sho slightly puzzled like this, but it made Nino feel special. He heard Sho doing voice reports to Kee-ko before, during his time on earth, and even if he couldn't understand them due to the different language setting, they always sounded to be very professional. This was different, though. This was a message coming from Sho's heart, as he tried to fit in information as well as emotion, as best as he could. It was so cute...

"Besides these issues, we also had a long talk about our trip to Planet Earth, shared our experiences and everything. Surprisingly, the king and queen seemed to be quite interested. As you remember, we came up with the plan to organize holiday trips to your planet in order to provide our folks with a deeper understanding for Earthling culinary art and bring them closer to the subject of hobbies, so that our people can find a better balance between working and their private life. The royal counsel seemed a bit sceptical at first but after the three of us held a presentation about the advantages, they seemed quite positive about the idea. It will take some time to plan everything out, but first test travels will happen very soon. In fact, the king and queen themselves volunteered to make a first travel to Planet Earth this summer! To be honest, I personally think that they simply want to get to know Jun, so you should maybe warn him..."

Laughing out loud at Sho's comment, Nino leant back in his seat. Well, this would become interesting, wouldn't it?

"Further, we could convince the counsel and the king and queen to consider slowly changing the system of our regime," Sho continued with the earnest things in life, and Nino continued listening closely.

"Especially with Ohno making clear once again that he does not see himself very fit to inherit the king and queen's duties and responsibilities, they agreed on thinking to change from a monarchy to a democracy. A lot of research has to be done to present them an actual concept, however, if everything works out, we might try and find people on Ar-Rash who are actually interested in politics and guiding the folks here, so that they can contest against Aiba and Ohno in order to find the most fitting leader for our planet. Now, the best thing about this, in my opinion is, that in the range of the research that is to be taken, the king and queen agreed on the idea that someone should be sent out to Earth for a few months in order to study as much about political concepts and democracy in particular, as possible. Guess who got assigned to that task?"

Sho made a dramatic pause, his lips now decorated with that rare but genuine smile of him that Nino loved so much, and the young man's heart started beating faster again upon the excitement building up within him. Could it really be?!

"Exactly, it's me!" Sho continued, all smiled, Nino immediately mirroring his expression. It was so adorable how Sho tried to stay professional, but there was no doubt that his private feelings were coming through, which made Nino feel incredibly happy. "I am really excited already. Of course, officially, my main task is to study but this also means that next time when I come back to Earth... to you... I will be able to officially stay there for quite a while, what do you think about this? Honestly, I can't wait. I want to see you again, as soon as I can. I want to -"

"Sho, you finished? I want record message for Jun now!"

The man was suddenly interrupted by the younger of the two alien princes, turning around in his seat, while Aiba – also in his human form – walked up behind his friend. Nino chuckled.

"Hey Nino! All good?" the alien prince waved into the camera a second later, flashing his typical broad grin and Nino couldn't help but smirk. "You finished flirting?" Aiba then asked, turned to Sho, who slightly blushed. Nino bit his lower lip upon that cute gesture of his boyfriend, who now focused back on his video.

"Well, I will show you what I want to do... when we meet again," the alien said, addressing Nino again. "I have to finish now, Aiba wants me to help him with his video for Jun. I will check in again when I know the exact date of my travel to Earth. Take care Nino, I love you!"

The video message stopped, still showing Sho's face, wearing a soft smile, in the frame, and Nino couldn't help but slowly reach out his hand and touch the surface of his laptop's screen, tracing the lines of his boyfriend's face. He let the message sink in for a little longer. The aliens were fine. They were making progress. And the most exciting news – he would be able to meet Sho again, probably very soon. He honestly had not expected it to happen so soon, had even been nervous, worrying – too much, as always – that something might come up, something might go wrong, that Sho might forget about him once he was busy again back on his home planet... but once again, his worry had been proven wrong. He sighed at himself, knowing that he still had to learn having more faith, in everything. As it was now, things were looking great, and Nino honestly couldn't wait to see his boyfriend again.

"Jun?" the young man then yelled through his closed bedroom door.

It just took a few seconds until his friend came running, pushing the door open to see what was wrong. "Yes?"

"Looks like you're going to meet your future parents in law sooner than expected," Nino replied, turning towards the door and grinning at his friend, triumphantly.

The young man couldn't help but chuckle at his best friend's puzzled look, before he shooed him out of his room again, ran his fingers through his hair, just in case there was something to get fixed, and got to work to record a video reply to his alien boyfriend.


THE END

Comments

[orejinsei]

Iyaaaaa~

My infamous sakumiya 😍

Hihihi so much explanations here. The details was no joke.
Thanks for writing this really... I missed them so bad.

I hope the marmarci-san love tbis as much as i do ❤

PS: Ok.. Anon san, are you one of my fav ff author? www
Since there're, Sakumiya ✔ Junba ✔ mention of SatoshixSatomi ✔ mention of Koyama Keichiro ✔ Yuriko ✔ Toma ✔ Keiko ✔
Hihi please pardon me for this www~

[sky_fish7]

Awww thank you my dear <3 I am so happy you enjoyed this fic! ^^ And I guess I don't need to be surprised that you spotted me behind this right away XDD lol

[nicefinalbeam]

The way to someone's heart is through his stomach is about as real as it gets with Sho LOL Honestly what I loved about this story is that it didn't just apply to Sho, but the story also went into all the love and passion that goes into food in general. Humans cooking meals for each other because we take care of each other and we genuinely care about the health and happiness of the people close to us. That was really touching, and it was cute how pleased Nino was whenever Sho would compliment him.

There's something sort of hilarious but also sad about Nino worrying that Sho only cared about his cooking. I'm glad that as the story progressed, that miscommunication was cleared up. But the difficult reality of BEING FROM ANOTHER PLANET definitely was something legitimate for Nino to be concerned with, because falling in love only to lose that person to the distance of space - yikes! You can understand why he'd be hesitant. But Sho was so earnest and devoted, and that made me swoon.

I liked how instantly Aiba and Jun got along with one another. All their shared interests and flirtation was adorable, and I'm glad that they took a risk on one another. It was good to see they were still committed when Aiba went back as well.

Ohno was cute! I'm glad that he never intended to totally abandon the people around him, but just wanted a chance to stretch out and figure out his wants and needs.

So glad that there was a happy ending with Sho and Nino. Thanks for the journey, anon! ♥

[sky_fish7]

Lol yes, that's how to get Sho, right? XD I thought the saying fits him perfectly and yes, humans cooking for each other is something very caring and loving, I think – at least in my case it is. I learned this even more when I realized how much cooking suffers when I don't really take proper care of myself. I caught myself thinking things like "If I cook for others, it's easy, I like doing it, I like them eating my food but when I'm just cooking for myself I don't think it's worth my time." I have to learn that I am worth the time and effort too so I try to put more effort into taking care of myself in this respect now.

The topic of long distance relationships is something wanted to explore a little more, tbh, but things would have become even longer so I reduced it to the issue itself and presenting a solution to it for now. I imagine it not being easy, but Nino and Sho will figure things out ^^

I'm glad you enjoyed Jun and Aiba in this, I wanted them to show the other two that things can work, and I just couldn't end this with Aiba being only Jun's fling so it turned into something serious too xD

I had a bit of a struggle with Ohno, or better said with the part of searching and finding him… it's like his plot (THE plot, actually lol) fell under the table in favour of writing lovey-dovey Sakumiya and Junba LOL I'm sorry Ohno, I wanted to do better, I swear! XD I'm glad you still liked him, though. ^^ I think he can be very stubborn when having an idea, but also beneath that he's caring and harmonious, so I think it fits that in the end he returns voluntarily, right?

Thank you for reading this little monster and leaving such a lovely comment! <3

[marmarci]

Oh my! This! This was beautiful! I loved Sho so much in this story I just want to squeeze him!

**Warning. For those who haven't read it yet: spoilers ahead**

I loved that you wrote the inner voice of both Nino and Sho explaining how their feeling grew little by little, turning into love. I specially loved the parts when Nino and Sho were alone, the closeness, the hugs, the looks, and the cuteness of the lovely confession Sho made in that veranda in Arima!

Well, I'd say -and I think I'm not wrong on this- that you did a very remarkable job in writing sci-fi!! All the details, the background story, the description of the true form of the aliens!! (so beautiful), and the fact that the spaceship looked like a giant snitch made me become a happy ball reading on the couch! In fact, I loved all the references you used along the story, like Jun being a trekie xD That was just great! I also loved Aiba's mistakes while speaking, made me laugh! So funny :) But I would never get in a car with him if he's driving xD It made me smile when I imagined hype Jun and Aiba loving each other around the place (poor Kee-ko!) And Ohno going around on his own fishing and extinct fish! Ohno!! He doesn't want to be a leader in any universe after all!
Oh, and you made me hungry almost for the whole first part, so you know, hahaha.

I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of parts to comment, but what I want to say is that I REALLY appreciate all the effort that you've put into using what I suggested to make this great story (book length no less!! Wow!) Thank you very, very much! It even had a very cute ending where everything fell into place, making me smile like a fool, so you also know ^^; I can't thank you enough!

[sky_fish7]

Hey Dear, thank you so much for your lovely comment! I'm so happy you enjoyed the fic and that you likes Sho so much! I really had fun ^^

I always find it interesting to see different point of views withing a story, so I included both, Nino and Sho's POVs. I had fun including some references and Aiba with his troubles with Japanese. Tbh, I had a very clear image of the true form of the aliens early on. When progressing with the story, I wasn't sure if and when to include it but I thought it would be a pity to leave it out completely. I'm glad you liked all this :)

It was really fun to write this story based on your prompts, thanks for the inspiration. <3

[windyway94]

Thank you so much for writing this fic! For me, this is the best sakumiya fic in this year exchange. I really love your detailed explanation about... everything XD The humor is on point, Aiba with his "typo" and Sho with his food obsession. I laughed so hard when Sho licked Nino's book and Sho's voice record. You portray sakumiya's passion and dedication so well. I love it! :D

[sky_fish7]

Hey dear! Thank you so much, I'm happy you enjoyed this fic :D <3 I really had fun with the humour behind this but I always fear that I can't portray it well, especially when I add some serious parts to a story, so I'm happy you mentioned that you liked it. ^^

[astrangestorm]

Cute, I'm so glad there's a happy ending. I think all the worry on Nino's part was justified - falling in love with someone from another galaxy isn't easy and it gives an entirely new meaning to "long-distance relationship." I like that he struggled with accepting his feelings for Sho because he was simply trying to protect himself and his heart.

I like that in the end Jun, Mr. "I'm Just Having Fun", is genuinely upset when Aiba leaves and that it's Nino who has to comfort him then. But both Jun and Nino getting a happy ending is so great.

Sho ended up being my favorite here. His love of food, his honest and open way of telling Nino his feelings, his devotion to learning as much about life on Earth as he could...it seemed very Sho-like. I liked the gradual way he and Nino came together and their mutual respect and love for each other.

[sky_fish7]

Thank you dear, I'm happy you enjoyed this  It was a bit hard for me to find a good ending but I think I'm satisfied with how it turned out, eventually.

I'm glad you picked up Jun's behavior, I wanted to show how much his affection towards Aiba developed over the story and that it wasn't just a fling for him. Indeed, Nino was trying to protect himself but in the end he just couldn't resist Sho and the chance of what they could have together. I really enjoyed writing Sho here xD I imagined him kind of stoic but also passionate when it comes to things he's interested in, also very honest and straight forward. It was fun to write him like that and I'm glad you liked him so much :D <3

[drarashi93]

You included aliens in this. It could have been ridiculous, but it wasn't. It seemed almost believable. Also your characterization was on point! Amazing Job! I enjoyed this a lot.

[sky_fish7]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed this and that the alien thing didn't turn out ridiculous, I was kinda worried as it was my first time writing something si-fi-y xD <3

[bluelight89]

I liked this so much! The way Nino and Sho got together was so cute and it all began with Sho's love for food (Nino's food) lol and Sho was adorable learning about the Earthlings costumes and way of showing feelings =) I felt bad for Nino being so worried about their relationship but i get him, long distance relationships are difficult but the distance here was so damn big. I almost forgot, like them, that they were supposed to be finding Ohno at a point lol Thanks for sharing!

[sky_fish7]

Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed this fic :D <3 I had fun with Sho and his food obsession lol but wanted to show his progress in learning about human emotions as well as Nino's inner conflict too. It was a bit hard for me to follow the searching-Ohno-plot so I fear that's the biggest weakness of the story lol

[tronella]

I really love this! Poor Sho, living so long without good food, haha.

[sky_fish7]

Thanks, I'm glad you liked this ^^ Yes, poor Sho haha, good this problem got fixed. <3

[shofa]

love this fic :D lol poor Sho had living for long time without good food.

[sky_fish7]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked this fic. Haha yes, poor Sho, right? XD Good this issue got fixed ;) <3