skyhorse8

One-shot - the story of you and me

2010-03-21T05:19:59Z

the story of you and me
Pairing: Ohno/Ninomiya
Rating: PG
Summary: Ohno and Nino, from the beginning

There is a boy wearing a horrendous green sweater standing in front of the studio’s only soda machine. Ohno has seen him on television before while he was in Kyoto. The boy looks at the soda choices carefully and then glances down at the coins that are in the palm of his hand. He does this a couple of times before he finally presses for the drink Ohno was going to get.

“Nice sweater,” Ohno says without thinking. Oops.

The boy turns around and narrows his eyes. “Shut up. My mom made it.”

“Ah - sorry, I’m Ohno.”

“Ninomiya. Nino,” the boy says, almost a little warily.

“I’ve seen you on TV.”

“That’s great,” Nino says and Ohno detects sarcasm in his tone. Ohno grins and Nino frowns, as if Ohno was some sort of alien specimen. “Well, see you around,” the boy says hesitantly, as he turns to return to the studio.

“Yeah,” Ohno agrees, feeding coins from his jean pocket into the machine.

He sees Nino bite back a smile as he pushes for his choice.

+

Ohno remembers his face but can’t seem to remember his name. It floats on the tip of his tongue, taunting him.

The boy bounces up and down on the soles of his heels, excitement radiating off his entire being, as he says a cheerful “Hi, you’re here too! Wow, can you believe we‘re in Hawaii? It’s crazy!” It’s exhausting for Ohno to even watch.

He finally gives up on name-searching and before he can stop himself, he blurts out a “Nice to meet you.” The boy’s toothy smile disappears and the other boy next to him (whose name he just remembers as Nino) ducks his head, hiding a smile behind his hands.

As they get ushered towards a waiting white van, vibrating and spewing noxious fumes into the atmosphere (Ohno‘s image of clear blue skies gets a little crack in it), the boy with the hidden smile taps Ohno on the shoulder and whispers: “He’s Matsumoto Jun.”

“I knew that,” Ohno says, quickly setting his suitcase in the back of the van and getting onto it. Maybe that Sakurai guy would want to sit with him, he thinks as he moves to the back seat. They were the two oddballs out, since the other three guys already seemed chummy with each other.

“Right,” Nino says, clambering down the aisle to sit next to Ohno. Ohno feels his eyes widen.


+

“So this is my last time in Hawaii,” he mumbles to himself, trying to ingrain the image of the sunny sky into his head.

“Why do you say that?,” Nino asks, jolting him from his musings. It takes a moment for him to remember that he’s sitting inside a van; the chattering of AibaShoJun and the smell of cigarettes seemingly sewn into the seams of the seats comes slowly back to him.

“’I’m gonna work in a combini,” Ohno says.

“Huh,” Nino says, looking at him with a strange expression on his face. “So you’re going to quit Johnny’s?”

“Yes,” Ohno says resolutely, feeling the words lift a weight off his shoulders.

“Huh,” Nino says again. Ohno watches as he crosses his arms, then his legs, a little frown between his eyebrows. Ohno notes the little glance Nino shoots at the other three boys sitting in front of them. Then, Nino untangles himself and leans towards Ohno, a small hint of conspiracy playing in his smile. “I am going to do that too,” Nino whispers.

“Want to work in a combini with me?,” Ohno whispers back.

"No way,” Nino laughs, “I’m going to be a movie director.” He then pierces Ohno with a look that dared him to disagree. Ohno doesn’t; he has a feeling that Nino would be good at anything he sets out to do.

“I’ll make a movie about an ordinary guy working in a combini,” Nino promises. Ohno nods amicably and turns back to the window. Somehow, this thread of connection, this single desire to become who they really were, binds himself to this skinny boy.

+

Ohno feels even the littlest rock of the boat under his feet. His hair was whipping into his eyes and his stomach was doing crazy flip flops as the photographer snaps picture after picture.

“Stand closer together and smile!,” barks the photographer. The four other people that have been dragged into this nightmare with him shuffles closer, awkward with their proximity to each other.

“Ohno-san, you’re not smiling,” their new manager comments, standing next to the photographer.

Ohno speculates what would happen if he simply says “I don’t want to smile. I don’t want to be here. It was a lie, you tricked me - you tricked us.”

But Ohno Satoshi wasn’t the kind of guy to complain and shout and fight tooth-and-nail because he’s unhappy; he’s just the kind of guy who imagines himself doing all those things. Ohno smiles bitterly; if only he hadn’t been greedy and accepted the plane ticket.

Besides him, Nino gives his arm a squeeze. We’ll figure out a way somehow, the gesture seems to say. Ohno feels the trembling of Nino’s small pale hands, and senses that the boy is filled with the same sick fear that is churning at the pit of his own stomach.

Ohno is nineteen and Nino is sixteen. They were Arashi.

+

They have roles to play. Ohno is supposed to be quiet and slightly loopy - which, he has to admit, isn’t very hard to be when he doesn’t know practically all of his co-members. Jun is the cute kid that grins a lot, Aiba is the one that is silly and loud (though Ohno thinks he is actually pretty quiet - around him that is), Sho is supposed to be the smart one that every girls’ parents would fall in love with. And Nino - Nino’s all pins and needles and frosty glass; his tongue is sharp and he says things frankly and sarcastically but everyone seems to like him because of that - from the TV hosts to the growing number of fans they were beginning to have.

It’s a phenomenon that Ohno doesn’t think he’ll ever understand.

+

Ohno thinks he spends way too much time touching Nino but he quickly learns that fan service was the way into fan girl hearts, and therefore, as Nino had once explained to Ohno, into their wallets. He doesn’t mind because it’s all in good fun anyway - a hug there and the brush of fingertips there - simple. For an added bonus, Jun gets grossed out and Sho develops a nervous twitch above his right eyebrow, and he and Nino will get a good laugh out of it in their rooms afterwards.

+

Ohno finds out that Nino is not at all what he makes himself out to be.

They are taking in the new city they are touring in when Ohno realizes.

Ohno wishes that the audience could see Nino at this instance, head bent, knees on the pavement, and an easy smile to sooth a lost little boy with snot and tears on his face.

“You’re five,” Nino says, wiping away the tears with his hands. Ohno hovers behind, feeling awkward and inadequate. “Boys your age don’t cry over such a little matter.” Nino stands up, dusting himself off. “Come,” he says, hands reaching for the kid’s grubby ones, “I’ll get you an ice cream cone.”

He ends up buying an popsicle for Ohno too (“Sorry, I don’t have enough money on me,” Nino had said) and they sit at a park bench.

When the harried father comes to find them, Nino says sharply: "You should watch your son better." Ohno sees that his fists are clenched and there is anger - and something else Ohno can’t place - in his eyes.

The father apologizes and the boy waves goodbye and Ohno thinks everything is fine until they are lying in their beds at night and Ohno hears Nino.

“Are you crying?,” he asks, shocked.

“No!” But Ohno hears the emotion in Nino’s voice and he makes his way to the other boy’s bed.

“Why are you crying?,” he asks solemnly. He’s thankful that the room is dark because he won’t know what to do if he actually sees Nino crying.

“I’m not!” Ohno barely keeps himself from rolling his eyes.

“Okay. Fine, you’re not crying,” Ohno says, “So what’s wrong? It‘s about the kid today right?”

He sees the outline of Nino underneath the comforter shift slightly.

“Tell me,” Ohno says, searching for and grasping Nino’s hand.

And for the first time, Nino tells another person his thoughts.

+


Ohno is twenty three and Arashi is on a entertainment show when it happens.

Ohno is looking at Nino, whose eyes are squeezed shut, with his little pearly teeth showing, and head thrown back in a laugh - and something in Ohno’s brain goes ’Pop’ and a surprised ’Oh’ leaves his lips.

+

He wishes he could take back all those hugs and those one second kisses because maybe then, he won’t feel the butterflies in his stomach whenever Nino is nearby.

He feels disgusted with himself.

+

Ohno thinks Nino must see it because isn’t it obvious when his feelings are written in every glance and laced into every smile? Or when his hugs last a little longer than scripted or how when there are no audiences to please or cameras to be in front of, that Ohno still tells him that he likes him sometimes.

Nino will always reply with a ‘I know’ and Ohno’s heart would speed up until Nino’s next sentence is ‘doesn’t everybody?’ and Ohno knows that Nino doesn’t feel the same way he does. Sometimes, Nino will say ‘I like you too’ but it doesn’t mean anything; it just means that they’re friends and nothing more. And maybe it’s better that he doesn’t understand him - will never understand him - because at the end of the day, he’s still Ohno’s best friend and Ohno wouldn’t want to ruin that.

But it hurts just a little bit more every time - every time Nino puts his arms around his shoulders, every time they’re on stage being Taka and Yuuji, every time he spies the ‘Ohmiya’ signs in the audience because it’s all fake fake fake and Ohno’s just being stupid, wanting things that can never come true.

+

Ohno summons up enough courage when he is twenty-five. He finds Nino alone in the green room, flipping idly through a magazine.

Nino’s face brightens up and Ohno feels his heart accelerate. “Oh-chan,” he greets Ohno, patting the seat next to him.

“Nino, I think I -,” he starts. His hands are shaking as he sees Nino’s smile freeze and then melt away. He knows, Ohno thinks, he knows. Because Nino has always been the one who knew him the best.

“Don’t,” Nino warns, anger in his eyes. It’s like a slap to Ohno’s face.

“But I -,” he says, trying to swallow the painful lump in his throat.

“No. Stop it,” Nino says, standing up.

“I thought that - ,” he says, but Nino has already left.

You felt the same.

+

Everything is the same, yet everything is different at the same time. They still tease each other and act their parts in this never-ending play, but off camera, Nino casually shrugs off Ohno’s arm and occupies himself with something away from Ohno.

Ohno feels his heart break.

+

He’s intoxicated by the alcohol, the smoke in the air, and the way they touch him. He wants their pale, manicured-fingertips trailing along his chest and their breathy whispers tickling his ears to take away, to make him forget this pain, so he laughs - he doesn’t know at what - and throws back another glass.

When one of them - he has forgotten their names already - presses her lip against his, he closes his eyes and pretends that he was kissing someone else.

He apologizes to everyone, his head bowed low.

    Nino is the first to say “It’s alright.”

    They are friends again.

+

He sees Nino glaring at him sometimes and he doesn’t know what for.

They’re filming Shukudai-kun when out of the corner of his eye, Ohno sees Nino narrow his eyes at him again and something inside of him finally snaps.

“What’s your problem?,” he confronts Nino after the filming.

Nino is uncharacteristically quiet and looks down at his sneakers.

“Well?,” Ohno says, impatient. “You’ve been glaring at me and it’s fucking annoying. What have I done wrong? Tell me.”

“I like you,” Nino whispers and when he looks up, his eyes are unsure under his baseball cap.

The world pulls out from under Ohno’s feet and he ends up gasping: “What?”

"I said that I like you," Nino says, "And if you make me repeat that a third time, I'll punch your stupid face." Ohno's heart soars up up up and he can't make a sound and his face is turning red but it's not red because he's really tanned and he likes me he likes me he likes me.

They both laugh and blush; it’s a little awkward and silly and it’s like they’re in elementary school again.

Except Ohno's twenty-eight and Nino's twenty-five.

+

They are running through the streets of Tokyo. Inconspicuously, they hope.

Ohno’s legs are killing him as he checks his watch again. “Ten minutes!,” he hollers at Nino, whose hat is threatening to fly off on a breeze. His own sunglasses are sliding off the bridge of his nose.

"Shit, we’re gonna be late,” Nino whines as they dodge between a group of elderly women, “I told you that we couldn’t possibly have time to stop for cake.”

“But they were having a special!,” Ohno yells back.

The studio is finally in sight and Ohno almost sighs out loud in relief. “Five minutes,” he reports to Nino, who is smiling. “We still have time.” Nino’s smile disappears.

“Do we have time?,” Nino says and Ohno sees nervousness on his face before the smile appears again. “Hurry up Oh-chan.”

+

Maybe this was what love is - the wish to be able to memorize every single moment they will spend together. To make those memories everlasting and enduring in a world that is always changing and fickle.

Nino buys a new camera and composes a new song while Ohno paints a portrait of Nino and him.

+

Arashi separates near their fifteenth anniversary. Nothing is forever, Ohno knows. He has told himself many times that one day, there won’t be dances on top of rainbows and crazy board games and songs about mighty storms. They’ll be too old for all those things and a group that might be funnier than them, more talented than them, and younger than them would eclipse their spotlight and they would have to politely bow off the stage and say their ‘thank you’s’ one last time. But it still hurts.

Jun tries to hold in his tears as cameras flash, and thanks all the fans for supporting them. Aiba had no inclination of doing so and the sleeves of his suit was wet already; he speaks between hiccups while Sho puts one arm around his shoulders.

Ohno finds Nino’s hand under the table.

“It’ll be alright.” Ohno wants to reassure Nino, just like Nino did for him fifteen years ago.

If you are there besides me.

+

It’s weird for him not to be introduced as ‘Arashi’s Ohno Satoshi.’

He liked dancing the most and he misses the days of sore ankles, of being greeted by the smell of sweat and determination and pride of the dance studios, and of the leaps and twists and lurches that came with each beat. It was the one thing that kept him training at Johnny’s while his heart ached for home every night. Now, without the dancing, he decides the next best thing was drawing and fishing.

He slowly withdraws from the entertainment industry, appearing in a few stage plays and the occasional drama. He pours his efforts into art galleries and afternoon fishing trips instead of award ceremonies and photo shoots. Ohno rather likes life right now.

One day, he spies a ‘For Sale’ sign on his way to a fishing excursion with Aiba. It was nothing but a grassy plot of land near the beach but Ohno falls in love with it.

He borrows books on house building and calls up his carpenter friend.

+

Ohno is thirty-eight when he gets the first creamy white envelope from the mailbox. He’s invited to a wedding (Jun’s) and his mom fusses all over him.

“Mom, I am almost forty,” he complains, “I think I know how to dress myself by now.”

“Maybe,” his mom says stiffly, throwing suits out onto his bed, “you should find a wife. And then, I’ll stop worrying.”

Ohno just laughs and throws his arms around his mom‘s shoulders. “There’s no girl who’s as perfect as my mom.”

“Well, hurry up,” his mom sighs, “and look for one.”

“Of course I will,” Ohno lies, “I‘ll drag Nino along with me.” His mom just sighs and hands him a black suit.

“You and Ninomiya will end up growing old together if you two don’t get your acts together.”

Ohno rubs his nose to keep from smiling at that thought.

+

They have their biggest argument outside a coffee shop as the sky turned into shades of violet and burnt orange.

“We should tell them,” he says, more to his scarf than to anyone else.

But Nino hears him. “We don’t need anyone’s approval,” Nino snaps and a little cloud of white emerges from his nostrils.

"It's not about their approval," Ohno says, trying to keep the edge out of his voice. Fuck, it's cold, Ohno thinks, shoving his hands deeper into his pocket. Nino glares at him from under his baseball cap.

"Well, what is it then?," Nino says, stopping to face him.

"You're scared aren't you? Or is it shame? Maybe you're ashamed of what we have," Ohno barrels on, "It's been almost seven fucking years, Nino. They deserve to know, my mom deserves to know. She's still trying to introduce me to her friends' daughters."

Nino sticks his chin up in defiance, but he looks nervous. "No," he simply says and walks briskly away.

They don't talk for a week until Ohno's cellphone rings while he's in the middle of pounding nails. "Hello?," he says, wiping sweat off his brows.

"Hey," he hears Nino say softly.

+

They both steel themselves for the looks of repulsion but it never comes.

“We know,” Jun, Sho, and Aiba choruses.

“H-how?,” Ohno sputters. Nino sits wide-eyed next to him.

Aiba rolls his eyes. “Well, duh. We’re not blind and we’re not stupid.”

“Are you sure about that last part?,” Nino says, but there’s relief in his voice.

“Hey!,” Aiba says and he pokes Nino in the head.

+


   Ohno finally completes the house and presents it to Nino when Nino turns thirty-nine.

   He stands, mouth slightly agape and eyes wide. "You built this?," Nino finally says, gesturing.

   Ohno nods.

"You're crazy, you know that?," Nino says.

"I know."

"I don't know how I put up with you," Nino says, and Ohno sees the beginnings of a smile.

   Ohno shrugs nonchalantly.

   Suddenly, arms surround him. "Thanks," Nino says into his neck.

+


Ohno and Nino move in together, into their tiny house by the sea. It is met with chagrin from both sides of the family, but they don’t care. Sho and Aiba helps Ohno with the furniture while Nino sits on the countertop, shouting orders.

The amount of salt and sand that blows into the house along with the breeze and an increasingly dark Ohno makes Nino complain loudly that 'they really should have stayed in the city, what the hell were we thinking?'

+

Life is blissful. Ohno wakes up every morning to find Nino in their sunny little kitchen making breakfast. Ohno paints when inspiration hits and shapes wet clay while Nino sits at his keyboard, muttering and squinting at his latest composition for the next up-and-coming singer. Days are filled with fishing trips, grocery shopping, or sometimes just listening to waves crashing onto gray stones. He was truly at home — something that can't be easily found in just scented candles (no matter how many time Jun says otherwise) and comfy couches.

But something is missing and Ohno can't pinpoint what exactly it is. It isn't until Sho comes over during the summer, wearing khaki pants and a big floppy fishing hat that Ohno realizes the gaping hole in their perfect life.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?," Sho smiles, "Miri, say hello to Uncle Ohno and Nino." Ohno looks down at the little girl clinging to Sho’s left leg. She's inherited Sho's eyes and mouth, Ohno thinks and a sudden ache blossoms in his heart.

Nino bends down, and says: “Hello Miri-chan,” a smile on his face. But Ohno can see that his eyes don’t quite match his smile.


-

"We should get a cat or something."

"A dog."

"Cat."

"Why would you want a cat?,” Nino asks, scornfully.

"'Cause they meow," Ohno says and it causes Nino to laugh so hard that he needs to pause in the middle of his game.

They call up Aiba who volunteers at a shelter and one afternoon, Aiba brings in a basket with a sleeping white ball of fur sprawled out in it.

"So, what are you naming her?," Aiba asks.

"Meow," Nino says immediately.

+

Time passes too quickly; the years become mist and disappear in front of his eyes, slithering like tendrils out of his grasping fingers. Ohno turns sixty and Nino throws a surprise birthday party for him; he invites only Jun, Sho, and Aiba.

“I figured you probably should get a surprise party just once in your life,” Nino says, trying to catch his breath after Ohno almost trips over his fishing poles.

“Leader,” Aiba says - a title that he hasn’t heard for so long - and Ohno finds himself crying.

+

They compare hands one day while sitting on the porch, popsicles dripping onto their pajamas and watermelon-flavored juice at the corners of their mouths.

“As hamburger as ever,” Ohno teases Nino.

“Be quiet,” Nino laughs. Ohno likes it when Nino laughs - the corners of his eyes are stitched together and he’s reminded again of far they’ve come.

Nino takes his hand and traces the bumpy veins running along it. “You have a lot of brown spots,” he says, smirking.

“Oh?,” Ohno replies, poking Nino in the shoulder, “And you don’t?”

Nino shakes his head. “I am eternally seventeen years old, remember?”

+

The night was too cold and Nino twists and turns on the bed.

"You okay?," Ohno says, switching on the lamp.

"God damn - it hurts, Satoshi," Nino says, gritting his teeth and holding out his hands.

   Ohno gets a bath of warm water and silently massages Nino's hands.

+

Nino starts coughing - but they both wave it off as the chill of winter approaches - and really, it was just a common cold, right? Ohno buys cough syrup from the drug store down the road.

One time, at 2 am in the morning, Ohno finds Nino standing, shock written on his face, in their bathroom with blood on his face and flecks of blood on the bathroom mirror.

“Are you alright?,” he says, sleep still clouding his brain.

“Nose bleed,” Nino says quickly, “And then I sneezed,” and Ohno stupidly believes him because it was cold and Nino’s skin had the tendency to dry and crack. And Ohno was sleepy so he just helps Nino clean up and goes back to bed.

When he finds Nino sprawled on the floor of their hallway after coming home from a friend’s art gallery, he panics.

+

"I am fine, Satoshi," Nino grumbles but he stays in the hospital, pale in the face with the blue hospital gown threatening to slide off one shoulder.

+

He has a cup of tea between his hands when the shrill ring of his cell phone sounds, interrupting the quiet atmosphere of the café.

“Sorry,” he mumbles to Jun, who shrugs and waves at the waiter.

“Hello?,” Ohno says, just as the waiter comes, smiling.

The next few seconds are a blur to Ohno. All he hears is his teacup smashing into a million little red pieces and Jun’s cry of surprise before he remembers how to run run run.

+

There are tears burning the corners of his eyes as he clutches at Nino. He doesn’t want to cry. Nino wouldn’t like that.

“It’s okay,” Nino keeps murmuring to him but Ohno knows that it’s a lie because Nino’s skin is far too pale and his breaths come out like staccato notes. Ohno holds him closer - he never wants to let him go. He’ll protect him; time can’t steal him away.

“Stay with me Kazu,” Ohno says, intertwining their fingers together - his slender, calloused ones with Nino’s stubby, smooth ones. The memory of him saying: "Maybe I should play the piano instead" and Nino whacking him with a piano score afterwards flashes in his mind and sends his chest hitching with silent sobs.

“I am tired, Satoshi,” Nino whispers, eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. There is a hint of familiar annoyance in his voice that makes the tears in Ohno’s eyes overflow and streak down his cheeks.

Ohno presses his face into Nino’s hair - it doesn't smell like him at all - not like summer sunshine after hanging the laundry or fluffy pancakes for breakfast - but of disinfectant and age and sickness.

“You can’t go, please, please,“ he says - because how can he live without him when he has always been there with threats, jokes, smiles, sarcasm, pouts and a million other things that Ohno can't begin to list. He can't go, he can't go, he can't go because - because what about really traveling to Uzbekistan and directing movies about combini workers and Meow having her third batch of kittens soon?

"Don't cry, Satoshi," Nino sighs, "You look stupid crying.” But Ohno feels wetness on his sleeves and he knows Nino is crying too.

He wants to tell him how much he means to him, how much he needs him, how he’ll always want him, how he can’t live, can't exist without him and all those corny, clichéd things they’ve laughed at together in those romance movies Jun had acted in, but all he manages is a strangled cry.

“I love you,” Nino says, and Ohno feels him tighten his hold on his hand. “You know that.”

“I do. And I love you too,” Ohno says, laughter tingeing his sobs - they had never felt the need to say those three words out loud because it was clear between the two of them. What they have is as constant as the rising and setting of the sun; it was present in every gesture and moment they share together that saying it would be redundant.

They sit in silence as the world outside their room goes on, cruel and ruthless, not caring that his best friend and the one person he loves is slowly fading away as each minute, each second goes by.

The dusky afternoon sky turns into night when Nino finally sighs his last breath into Ohno’s shoulder - and with his heart ceasing to beat against Ohno’s, his grip on Ohno’s hand loosening, and with Ohno’s hot tears and hushed pleas pressed against his cheeks, Ninomiya Kazunari goes with a little smile on his face.

+

There is only a paragraph about his death on page five of the morning newspaper, since he’s retired from the entertainment world years ago. It makes Ohno sad and a little angry because Nino’s worked for more than half his life and all he gets is a measly paragraph?

At the funeral, he doesn't cry. Instead, he steadfastly stares at the white lilies in front of him.

Jun drives him home afterwards and he unlocks the wooden door with shaking hands. Emotions well up in his throat and the tears he has been holding starts to burn in his eyes as he spies Nino’s scruffy blue house slippers in the entranceway. Their little house is empty and silent - no more angry why are you so late’s and warm hugs and the smell of dinner to greet him. Home doesn't feel like home anymore.

He starts sobbing hysterically, slumping against the cold hard wall, when it finally hits Ohno that it’ll be just him. Jun is there at once, kneeling besides him, but Ohno can’t make out what he is saying.

It feels like his heart will never be whole again.

+

He used to scoff at the idea of a heaven and an afterlife but now, more than ever, he wants all those things to be real. Because maybe he'll get to be with him again.

+

Ohno is nearing eighty and can't remember much unless he looks at their albums, each picture meticulously labeled in Nino's familiar scrawl.

Meow; our baby - March 25th, one reads, and Ohno smiles sadly because Meow has left him a long time ago too and wasn’t that unfair?

Satoshi being an idiot -____-;;;- June 17th. Ohno chuckles at the ridiculous smile on his face as he holds up the tiny - the only - fish he had caught for the day. There was the smudge of Nino’s thumb in the corner, blocking the boot and the bucket he had also caught.

He flips through several more of the albums, nostalgia settling deep in his bones and warming his heart, when he finally comes to the last one. He flips through this one more slowly, fingertips lingering on Nino’s face.

The last picture in the album is of them both wearing party hats in their kitchen, both pointing exaggeratedly at the wall clock. Underneath, January 1st, many happy years to come ~

Ohno cries.

+

When he closes his eyes, all he sees are the flashbacks of memories, clearer than they have ever been - emerging slowly from the depths of time. Pictures of their life etched upon the inside of his eyelids. A sudden breeze drifts in from the open window and Ohno hears him, soft as the rustling of silk.

“Oh-chan.”

“Nino,” he breathes back.

+

There is a boy wearing a horrendous green sweater standing in front of the studio’s only soda machine. Ohno smiles as the pieces of memory click together.

“Ninomiya-san,” he says as the boy looks up from the coins held in his palms, “Am I right?”

The boy smiles and this time, it’s genuine. “Yeah. And you‘re…,” he trails off and a wrinkle forms between his brows.

“Ohno Satoshi,” Ohno smiles.

“I knew that,” Nino huffs.

Ohno laughs out loud. “Right,” he says.

Nino punches him lightly on the shoulder. He is laughing too.

End

Uh…highly unrealistic but yeah. I was writing a gen/band fic (I've changed the other parts meant for the fic into drabbles and I'll link them here later) but Ohmiya/long fic strikes again! -_- This was inspired by this scene (that always manages to make me bawl my eyes out every time I watch it) from the movie 'Up.'

It's been a while since I wrote anything so I hope you liked it. I am finally on break and asdlgjaflkgjhadfg am going to Tokyo tomorrow \o/////
(please, if anyone has been there before, feel free to give me dos & don't s while in Japan ~~so I don't get arrested or something~~ )

One-shot - from this dark, cold hotel room

2010-01-03T20:56:32Z

Title: from this dark cold hotel room
Genre: Arashi, gen.
Pairing: Arashi, Aiba-centric
Rating: PG
Summary: There are some days where Aiba Masaki can’t seem to get out of bed, huddled under the scratchy bed covers, feeling tired and unhappy.

Aiba takes his room card from his jean pocket and swipes it through the sensor. The sensor emits a little beep noise and Aiba pushes down on the cold door handle. He lugs his red suitcase through the doorway, kicking off his shoes at the same time. He locates the pair of slippers and surveys his room.

It was fairly big, but sparse, and not at all like the cramped rooms they stayed in when Arashi was just starting out. It was too cold. The air smelled a little funny. Just an ordinary hotel room.

Clean, crisp white sheets were tucked tightly on the bed - far from the tossed and ruffled blankets and sheets still unmade at his own apartment. Aiba bounces on the bed a few times before he is satisfied.

+++

Aiba pushes aside the cream-colored curtains and looks out at the scenery. The sky was a palette of reds and browns, shot with white streaks of light from the setting sun. Wispy, cotton-like clouds covers the horizon, drenched in the rays of sunset.

On any other evening, he would have gasped and possibly called the others over. He might have said: ‘look, look at the horizon!’ and Matsujun might have smacked him on the head for interrupting his nap and Nino might have said ‘so what?’ and returned to his paused game. He might have thought the sky was absurdly beautiful, his brain trying to puzzle out why it was saturated with these colors (was it because of certain types of gases? or maybe it had something to do with the wavelength of light?) and so on.

But Aiba finds that the scene does not affect him today.

Instead, he sits and thinks about home.

+++

There are some days where Aiba Masaki can’t seem to get out of bed, huddled under the scratchy bed covers, feeling tired and unhappy. This was one of those days. Sunlight streams weakly through the curtains while Aiba watches the red digital numbers on the bedside clock flicker to read 7:00. He closes his eyes again and sighs; today, even the act of opening his eyes was exhausting.

+++

On those rare days where Aiba still has not entered their manager’s room for a run-through of that day’s schedule, one of them will quietly excuse themselves out of the room, grabbing the extra key to Aiba’s room on their way out. The remaining members and their manager will then try to cover the awkward void left by the missing two (but mostly Aiba), turning on the T.V. and commenting loudly about the morning news.

+++

Jun will enter Aiba’s room loudly, shouting: “Aiba, get up! Now! Or else!” He’ll yank the covers off and give Aiba a rough shake on the shoulder. When Aiba merely turns away from him and not shoot up, apologizing (as customary when he just overslept), Jun will then run his hand through his dark hair nervously. Jun could be a little harsh towards Aiba sometimes, but he never scolds Aiba at these moments of vulnerability. He will pull the bed cover over Aiba again and call room service.

Afterwards, when Jun returns to their manager’s room, he’ll announce: “Aiba will be here.” He’ll shoot The Look at anyone who tries to object (nobody ever does). Jun will return back to Aiba’s room in time to receive the breakfast he had ordered.

“Aiba,” he will say, “I’ve got some fried chicken for you.”

+++

Ohno will quietly open the door and announce himself with a little cough. He’ll think: “I am tired” and voice that aloud to the lump sprawled in the middle of the bed. Ohno will then crawl under the covers and Aiba will open his eyes a fraction and breathe: “Leader.” In response, Ohno will yawn widely into Aiba’s face and go to sleep.

Suddenly, the strange room feels not so lonely and strange any more.

+++

Nino will pop their debut album into the CD player and turn the volume up on the highest possible. He’ll press play and the first cords of A*RA*SHI will blast into the room. The hair on Nino’s arms stand up as he plugs his fingers into his ears. That’ll make him remember, Nino will think, satisfied. The picture frame on the desk next to the player will vibrate as he closes the door with a click. Nino will be singing along to their song as he skips down the hall back to their manager’s room.

Their manager later tells Nino: “We all love A*RA*SHI but not at 8 in the morning,” and waves the stack of complaints in the air.

Nino will look up for a split second, smirking, and mumble a ’Sorry’ before looking back down to his DS.

+++

However, today, Sho will be the one excusing himself and grabbing the keycard off the table.

He knocks on room 508 and enters. “What’s wrong Aiba-chan?,” Sho asks, although he already knows the answer.

“Home,” Sho hears Aiba mumble beneath the covers.

“Yeah, I know,” Sho says, sighing. He picks up the black stuffed dog Aiba probably kicked off overnight and places it back on the bed. Then he perches on the edge of the bed, waiting for Aiba to respond.

“I want to go home,” Aiba repeats. It is barely a whisper, as if anything louder would make him hurt more.

“I can tell Manager-san. I am sure he will let you…,” Sho trails off lamely, realizing the impossibility of it. Home was still many miles away - there was still many more months of sweaty dance rehearsals under the blistering sun, many more hours of waving to countless screaming fans and frantic costume changes, and nights in cold, dark hotel rooms. Home was more than just an airplane ride away.

Aiba laughs dryly under the covers.

“To Chiba?,” Sho asks after silence had settled on the room uncomfortably.

Aiba slowly draws off the covers, but even then, Sho is not ready to see the bloodshot eyes and unsmiling face so uncommon on his friend. Sho looks away and is surprised to feel the strength of the unhappiness that hits him. Aiba always has a spark of something that touches every person he meets, something that could warm the coldest hearts and make one forget their sorrows and remember life. Sho has always been certain that Aiba was the sole person on Earth that could make anyone laugh. The something that Aiba had inside of him was something that stayed with a person long after Aiba had left the building or waved goodbye. Today, the spark was gone and it felt as if all the light in the world had dimmed a little.

Aiba nods. “I want to sleep in my own bed. And I miss dad’s cooking.”

“Nino says he uses the microwave,” Sho teases, hoping to spark any emotion in Aiba, any emotion at all - anything other than the dull, resigned tone of voice Aiba was speaking with.

“Nino’s dumb,” Aiba says, voice still monotonous.

“He is sometimes,” Sho says, “What else?” Maybe if they talk about it, Sho thinks, Aiba wouldn’t be so sad?

“I miss walking my dogs. And I even miss Yusuke and mom‘s yelling. Isn’t that weird?,” Aiba smiles wryly.

“Not at all.” Sho remembers the helplessness he felt when he had to miss his brother’s first soccer game because he had a photo shoot or the other countless little things he‘d missed out on, like going drinking with his college friends because he was on a tour. He had been angry for a while at his management, but he realized the bigger things he’ll miss out on if he wasn’t in Johnny’s.

“Walking around, with no one giving me second glances,” Aiba continues. He pauses and looks at Sho. “Being normal. Don’t you sometimes want that too? Not to have submitted that application?”

“Yes,” Sho says. He can’t help but feel a little hurt and scared that Aiba, out of all the people, would be entertaining such thoughts. He tries not to show the panic in his voice: “But we’ll never have met. You’ll never have met Ohno, Jun, and Nino. Even if we did meet, Aiba, do you think we’ll be friends?”

Aiba looks down at his hands and considers. He looks back up at Sho and whispers: “No.”

“Because we’re too different,” Sho says, “And we’ll never have done all those crazy things we‘ve done in the past ten years.”

“Like skydiving with a wet shirt on?”

“Especially that,” Sho says.

“And sleepovers in the green room.”

“Final beams.”

Aiba laughs - carefree and loud - and Sho knows that he’s okay now.

“Sorry Sho-chan. I didn’t mean to make everyone wait for me. I’ll get up now,” Aiba says. He stands up on the bed and stretches.

“So I’ll see you in Manager‘s room?”

Aiba laughs. “I’m not going to run away, Sho-chan. Plus, I haven’t had a chance to see your scared face yet.”

“What?,” Sho says, confused. His stomach tightens as a familiar smile spreads across Aiba’s face. The kind of smile that Sho has long associated with nipple shirts or canoeing in paper boats. Shit.

“You don’t know yet?,” Aiba says giddily. “Everybody knows.”

“Know what?,” Sho repeats stupidly. His body has suddenly gone numb.

“I won‘t tell yooouuu,” Aiba says, mimicking the motion of sealing his lips and throwing away the key.

Sho’s mind races through all the horrible, horrible possibilities awaiting him. Multiple back flips in their dance choreography? Oh dear lord, not those bungee ropes again? “A hint? A teeny tiny hint?,” Sho pleads, mouth going dry.

Aiba cocks his head to one side, thinking.

“Air.”

Shit. “Those bungee ropes again?,” Sho demands, “I almost died of a heart attack, Aiba! How can you let them do it again?”

“Oh Sho. Not bungee cords. We’re kind of uh…upgrading it.”

Sho groans.

+++

When Aiba Masaki laughs, it makes everyone around him feel happy. Being happy and making others happy was Aiba’s true gift. To be able to see the good in every bad thing, to be able to embrace and love anything and everything, to be able to laugh taunts off, to be able to find curiosities in the most mundane things - that was what Aiba Masaki was good at. He might not be as good in a lot of things, like singing or dancing or acting like the others - the mind, body, and soul of Arashi - but Aiba is the heart of Arashi and being good at being happy is enough for him. Of course, there is the occasional darkness in Aiba’s demeanor, a shadow obscuring the light, a rainy day out of all the sunny ones that makes everyone remember how much brightness Aiba radiates.

And it is those days that make them love him even more.

------
Notes: It's been a while since I posted anything, so I thought I should pound out something before school starts again (the horror!). This is a very late present to that bright ball of sunshine. I started another one-shot a while ago; I'll try to finish it before school. Feel free to friend me for updates, but I am a slow-poke. xD

Happy New Year to everybody! My resolution this year is to simply be happy. :D

The title comes from this lovely song. And the 'bungee cord' upgrade is based on the concert where they flew in on wires singing 'Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi'.

One-Shot - Pâtisserie Part 2/2

2009-10-18T19:00:53Z

Title: Pâtisserie - Part 2/2
Genre: AU
Pairing: Ohno/Ninomiya
Rating: PG
Summary: In a certain small town, Ohno Satoshi owns a quaint bakery shop handed down in his family for generations. The tranquility of his sleepy town is shattered when a big-name bakery chain headed by the enigmatic Ninomiya Kazunari moves into the neighborhood.

Day 6

    Bluebells grew so thickly in swathes across the ground that there seemed to be a purple-blue tinge of color hanging in the air. “Holy…,” Nino murmurs, as he follows Ohno.

    “Pretty, isn’t it? I’ve tried to paint them, but I could never get the colors right,” Ohno says.

    On the contrary, Nino thinks, I have been bitten by mosquitoes so many times that I am in danger of getting malaria and I am carrying a humongous hamper of bread. And all that we’ve been talking about is fishing. But Nino says wryly: “Yes. Very pretty.”

    They were delivering bread to an old lady who lived in the countryside. She seemed to be fond of partying with a lot of friends who liked eating bread.

    We’re like Ohno’s Delivery Service, Nino thinks, resignedly, If only we had brooms and didn’t have to ride the bus and then walk a gazillion miles.

    Nino had tried to make Ohno leave him to watch the shop, but to no avail. Ohno just smiled and said: “The countryside’s beautiful. I feel bad having you coped up in here.” As the last golden rays of the sun reflects across the chimney and roof of the lady’s cottage, Nino couldn’t help but moan aloud at another day lost. Another day where he could be back at home, doing nothing productive or playing videogames until he collapse. Instead, he was here in this mosquito-infested place, slowly dying from the overwhelming smell of flowers.

    “Is it too heavy?,” Ohno asks, concern wrinkling his brows. “I can carry it. Here, put it above my hamper.”

    “No, I am fine,” Nino quickly replies. Not.

+++

    “It rains a lot back home,” Jun says, shrugging, “Almost every day.”

    “Really?” Ohno was always used to bright blue unblemished skies. He couldn’t imagine how it would be like living with the rain constantly pounding on the rooftops.

    Jun absentmindedly reaches down to pluck a white daisy. He sniffs it and puts it behind one ear. Then, he does a playful twirl, mimicking the way young girls in town moved in their dresses. He then crosses his eyes, sending Ohno to clutch his stomach.

    “Yeah. It’s nice here,” Jun says once Ohno has quieted down.

    “You don’t have to go back. I mean, you could stay. Here,” Ohno suggests, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. With me, he silently adds. Ohno imagines Jun saying: "Yes, I think I will.” Thinking about it makes him feel like he’s floating.

    “Oh-chan, I don’t belong here.” Jun gives a little apologetic smile.

    Ohno feels his happiness recede like the tide. Of course. A person as exciting as Jun would never like it here, a sleepy town seemingly frozen in time. He hides his disappointment with a shrug. “I see.”

    As they cut through the field and towards the bus stop, he sees Jun pick the daisy from behind his ear and drop it carelessly back onto the ground. Lagging behind, Ohno bends down and pockets the delicate flower.

    “Oh-chan, what are you doing? It’s getting late! Come on!,” Jun cries far in the distance, hands on his hips, a dark silhouette against the crimson sky.

    “Coming!,” Ohno yells back.

Day 9

    “What’s with all the noise today?,” Nino complains to Ohno. He flips the wooden sign to OPEN and continues sweeping the floor. Outside, the buzz of excitement was evident in the air. Passing by the town square, Nino had seen people putting up tents and assembling some sort of a stage. Garlands of flowers and lights were being twirled around the lampposts.

    “Oh. It’s the Midsummer Fair tonight,” Ohno says.

    “Right.” Nino vaguely remembers the kids chattering about it.

    “Yes, the weather’s going to be nice tonight and they have games and-and food. It’s lots of fun for the kids. I mean, for everyone really. For-For grownups as well.” Nino watches with amusement as Ohno stumbles over his words. How articulate is this guy?, he thinks to himself, as Ohno blurts out an inaudible “Sodoyouwanttogotogether?”

    “What did you say?” Nino struggles to keep laughter out of his voice.

    “D-do y-you want to go?,” Ohno asks. His voice sounds weird and he was wringing his fish apron again.

    “Huh,” Nino says. Well, anything is better than doing nothing. “Sure. Hey, why don’t you go home after work - you know, take a shower - and let me help you close up the shop.” It sounds stupid, even to his own ears. Nino crosses his fingers behind his back. Please. Please. Please.

    “I can do it myself, Jun,” Ohno smiles. Ohno was glowing. Not literally of course, but for a second there, Nino couldn’t find the words to speak. He shakes his head a little. Trick of the light.

    “Oh. Okay.,” he says.

+++


    They were walking around the fair grounds sharing a stick of cotton candy.

    “Wow! Goldfish! Jun, they’re giving out actual goldfish!,” Ohno says, pointing to the game stall.

    “You want? I’ll win them for you,” Jun says, scrutinizing the game. “It’s like baseball. I am pretty good at baseball.” Ohno nods, feeling a blush inching up his neck.

    “It’ll cost you five tokens,” the stall keeper says.

    Jun nudges him. “Five tokens Oh-chan.” Oh right. Ohno fumbles for the coins, too happy to even count properly.

    “Three tries,” the stall keeper warns, handing Jun a baseball.

    Jun focuses, eyes narrowing and teeth biting his lower lip in concentration. The stall’s twinkling blue and yellow lights play off Jun’s sharp features. Ohno stares, tuning out the screams and laughter and the nearby carousel music in the background. He feels his hesitation vanish as magically as the sweet cotton candy dissolving on his lips. The moment seems just right so he leans closer, mouth opening to tell Jun how he’s been having these confusing emotions for the past few days and has he been having them too? He doesn’t even know Jun had scored on the first try until something cold was pushed into his hands. The perfect moment was over and Ohno rears back, nearly dropping the bag. Jun snickers. “I chose a fat one,” he says, “It looks like you.”

    Ohno holds the baggie up. Orange scales shimmering in the light, the enormous goldfish drifted lazily in the water. “It‘s so cute. T-thank you. ”

    Jun smirks. “You’re weird,“ he laughs, “I deserve dinner, right?”

    Ohno thinks back to the dwindling amount left in his wallet but brushes it off. “Yes. Yes you do.”

    “Awesome! And Oh-chan? You have some cotton candy stuck to your chin.”

Day 10


    Nino would have been lying if he didn’t think that last night was fun.

    “So we went into the haunted house and he didn’t even flinch,” he tells Aiba.

    “You’re lucky to have him protect you then. Jun was practically clawing my arm off,” Aiba says, ignoring Jun’s snort.

    “Yeah…but he picks his nose,” Nino says, thinking back to the Ferris wheel ride. This conversation was making him feel extremely guilty. “And he eats too fast. He chews with his mouth open,” Nino blabbers on desperately. Somehow, saying all this didn’t make him one ounce happier about the situation.

    As if reading his mind, Aiba says gently: “You don’t have to do it you know.”

    “Do what?” Nino laughs and heads out before Aiba could say anything else.

Day 12

    His hands shake as he tries the key. It doesn’t fit and Nino feels beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. He fumbles for the next one. “Keep calm Ninomiya. This is just like a video game,” a voice in his head says. The brown key doesn’t fit. Nino sucks in a sharp breath of air and glances up. Outside, a few kids were playing hopscotch. No sign of Ohno yet. Fuck. Where’s the damn key? He tries a silver one, nearly missing the lock in his haste. He twists it and the drawer slides open silently.

    There was a musty scent as Nino takes one more look at the street. Dust motes danced and swirled in the air as he reaches for the single wooden box sitting inside. An old birthday card lies on top of it. Nino opens it and the soft, sweet tinkle of a lullaby starts. It’s melody has warped with time but it was still recognizable.

To our dear son Satoshi,
Happy 25th birthday! May all your dreams and hopes come true.
We love you.

    Nino quickly closes it and the music stops abruptly. He sets the card carefully aside and opens the box. Inside, there was a fish hook, a picture of young Ohno with a slightly chubby man and a pretty woman, a black and white one with just the man and the woman, a small worn notebook covered with flour prints, and a blue satin ribbon.

    Nino reaches for the notebook. It was what he has been searching for. The reason he was here pretending to be Matsumoto Jun. Why he was lying. Nino feels his stomach twist at this. He flips the pages open - they were covered with neat, careful handwriting.

    He glances back at the picture. Ohno was smiling widely and his expression was filled with so much happiness that Nino feels a smile tug at the corner of his own mouth. Dammit. He can’t do this. As he flips to the last page, Nino spies something tucked between the page and the cover.

    It was a daisy, brown and wilted. Gross. What’s this doing here?

    Nino hears laughter outside the bakery. He looks up to see Ohno ruffling one of the hopscotch children’s hair. Panicking, he slides everything off the countertop back into the wooden box and slams the drawer shut. Ohno comes in a second later.

    “Welcome back Oh-chan,” Nino says.

---
    He should probably tell Ohno the truth. But he can’t. He was leaving after all, and he won’t come back. He wants to leave Ohno good memories, not bad ones.

+++

    “I have to go soon.”

    The words take Ohno by surprise but he doesn’t ask any questions. He doesn’t try to bend reality.

    By the bright glow of the lamplight, Ohno chips away the last shred of wood. He blows the sawdust left on the surface off.

+++

    It was his last day. “Here,” he says, handing the envelope containing money to Jun. “Thanks for your help.”

    Jun pushes it back to him. The glance he sends is piercing and somehow, without any words, Ohno could understand what Jun wants to say. He puts the envelope back. “I had a nice time here,” Jun says.

    “That’s good,” Ohno smiles, “Will you come visit soon?”

    Jun shakes his head. “I didn’t get along with my relatives very well.” Ohno hums his understanding and they don’t speak of leaving and goodbyes anymore.

    Instead, they eat milk buns together at the little iron tables in the market square and watch the town unfurl like a flower and become alive. When the time does come for goodbyes, Ohno summons up his courage.

    “I made this. For you. Sorry it’s not much,” he says, pressing the wooden figurine into Jun's palm.

    “A goldfish!,“ Jun says, eyes brightening up. He holds the piece up in the air.

    “Well, you won one for me. I thought - I thought I’ll just return the favor,” Ohno tries to smile.

    “Heartwood,” Jun adds after a brief period of silence.

    You remember?,” Ohno says, heart crawling up into the middle of his throat. Will he know? If he does know, will he feel the same way?

    But Jun just nods. They exchange goodbyes and then, he was gone.


Day 14

    Sho passes by the newly opened store, trying not to gape at the long line snaking from it. The line was mostly young girls and Sho wondered why that was. Sleek and elegant, Ninomiya’s Pâtisserie didn’t fit with the rustic surrounding. Wide, open windows looked into a minimalist interior.

    Sho sees a familiar flash of someone at the counter and nearly drops the bag of groceries he was carrying. Charging into the storefront, he was met with cries of “Hey! Get in line!” He ignores them.

    Sho grasps the person’s shoulder and spins her around. Wide startled eyes met his. “Sakiko! What are you doing here?,” Sho gasps, his voice reaching a note that he didn‘t know he could reach. His own sister!

    “Uh - I -.” Before she can finish her sentence, a voice chirps: “Miss?” Sakiko immediately turns to face the counter again. “We‘ve just sold out on the raspberry mousse. Perhaps something else?“ Sho feels his jaw drop as another familiar face shows up.

    “You! You spied on us! I should have known!,” he chokes out at the blond-haired guy.

    The man pulls an innocent face, “Me? But I don’t think I’ve met you before…” He turns to Sakiko: “Perhaps you would like something else?” Sho fumes at the smile the guy throws her way.

    “Get a grip!,” Sho hisses, nudging her.

    “Then a baguette please,” she breathes, batting her eyelashes.

    "Okay," the man says, turning away before Sho could protest. At that moment, several things happen. The tall man spins away too quickly and he was falling down. He latches onto a shelf of baguettes and for a moment, all seems right. Unfortunately, his weight was too much for the shelf and the wooden shelf tumbles down with him. Baguettes of various sizes rain down, causing the man to emit indignant squeaks as each one bounces off his head. Sho laughs, as everyone else inside and outside of the bakery gasps in horror.

    "Ohmygosh, are you alright?" Sakiko cries, practically throwing her body across the counter. A group of girls rush forward, pushing Sho away from the front.

    “Ouch,” he says, ruefully rubbing his elbow.

    "Aiba!," a familiar voice rings out from the kitchen. Jun?, registers in Sho’s brain before he instinctively ducks down. What’s he doing here? Sho takes a peep around a particularly wide girl.

    "I told you to stay in there and let others do the work,” Jun says, coming out and helping Aiba up. "I’m sorry Nino! I‘ll pay for it!," the man named Aiba calls out. Sho frowns, Nino as in Ninomiya? Oh no.   Sho freezes up, a chill snaking down his spine.

    Suddenly, as if he was finally aware of the number of eyes on him, Ninomiya quickly goes back into the kitchen, muttering to himself.

    Ninomiya‘s “You better Aiba!” echoes in Sho’s mind as he picks his way back to the bookstore.

---

    Sho debates the best way to tell Ohno. He analyzes every possible solution to break it to him gently, trying to force Ohno’s hurt eyes and tear-stained cherubic cheeks out of his head. Nobody likes seeing Ohno cry; it was horrible, like kicking a cute little puppy. Even with all the snot. Tomorrow, Sho resolves, as he brushes his teeth, I'll tell him tomorrow.

+++


    “I think you’ve made a mistake Sho,” Ohno says slowly. “Jun can’t be Ninomiya. He was riding the bus. With me. And the sons of CEOs don’t ride buses.” Sho was just overreacting again. Even as Ohno thinks this, he remembers the unsettling feeling he had when Jun had seemed so interested in his bakery.

    Ohno feels his face flush and suddenly, he can‘t breathe properly. His hands clenches into fists, nails digging into his skin. No. It’s not true. But the niggling feeling at the back of his neck gets stronger, filling Ohno with doubt. He needs to find out so he runs.

    “Wait!,” he hears Sho shout behind him. Ohno doesn’t stop - there was blood pounding in his ears and his anger was giving him momentum to run down the streets. It can’t be him, a feeble voice in his head repeats, It can’t. Sho’s wrong. I’ll prove it. He makes it to Ninomiya’s Pâtisserie, almost crashing into the door from the speed he was running at.

    The shop girl’s surprised face flashes by momentarily. “Sir - we’re not opened yet!” Ohno ignores her and pushes past to the back kitchen, where instinct told him was where Ninomiya was going to be.

    Inside, Jun was lounging in a chair, playing with a DS. Ohno’s feels his stomach lurch and a pain in the right of his chest. The world slides away from under his feet like a rug and he feels like he’s falling. The tall stranger Ohno has met before was sitting beside him. Behind them, a dark-haired man in an expensive looking suit was conversing with two, Ohno presumes, pastry chefs. They all look up at his arrival. Ohno thinks he must be a sight, with a flush on face and sweat matting his hair.

    “You lied to me!,” Ohno says, voice breaking with all the emotions threatening to spill out of his heart. An uncomfortable silence prevails, smothering them all. The air crackles with tension and everything was still, like the calm before a storm. Ohno feels the uncontrollable desire to burst into hysterical laughter; perhaps it was an subconscious effort to try make himself believe that this wasn’t true. A more bitter, stronger emotion than anger appears - disappointment.

    Tears blur his vision as he watches Ninomiya open and close his mouth in shock. “O-Oh-chan!,” Ninomiya stammers, eyes darting everywhere else but at him. His DS lays forgotten on the tabletop, battle music still blaring from it. At the corner of Ohno’s eyes, a bag of flour sits nearby. Unconsciously, he reaches over and closes his fingers around the bag. A dusting of white powder fell out onto the flooring - it was open, Ohno realizes, almost giddily.

    “I trusted you,” Ohno finally says, wiping his tears away with the back of his hands. I am so stupid. Hatred towards Ninomiya boiled in Ohno, hatred colored a murky violet and shot with blots of pure black - so much hatred that Ohno’s a little scared of himself.

    Without comprehending his own actions, Ohno flings the open bag at Ninomiya.

+++

    It was like slow motion. The white powder sails across the air, looking like a ominous cloud of smoke.

    Nino scrambles out of the way just in time, almost tripping over his own stool. He hears Aiba gasp beside him, with his eyes bugging out and hands closed tightly over his mouth. Nino whirls around to see Jun covered head to toe with flour. His expression beneath the powdery whiteness was one of extreme shock and horror. “My-my Gucci suit!,” Jun cries out, frantically trying to dust it off.

    Normally, Nino would have started laughing at this scene but hot tears were trickling down Ohno’s cheeks. “I -,” Nino starts, but Ohno throws down the flour bag and runs out. He hears the door being wrenched open outside. After a minute or so, Nino finally hears it closing. It sounds like the dry click of a coffin lid as it closes.

    Nino stares, transfixed at the spot Ohno had been standing before. His heart feels like lead, heavy with guilt. His stomach is churning and he feels sick.

    “We were wrong, Nino-chan. We were wrong,” he hears Aiba sob on his right. Nino feels Aiba’s hands on his shoulders.

    “Too late,” Nino mumbles to himself.

+++

    Ohno feels almost dizzy at his outburst as he stumbles back out onto the street. The raging fire inside of him subsides to a sad smothering flame.

    Ohno had thought that he knew everything there was to Jun - or Ninomiya Kazunari now - but in actuality, he really didn’t know him at all. Where did he live? Did he have any siblings? Nothing. It was a blank slate. Things he did know, like how Nino did great magic tricks and funny imitations - little things that had won Ohno over hardly seemed relevant now. From the beginning, it had all been lies. Getting beyond his eyes and his smile, Ohno could see what was really there.

    He hears footsteps behind him. Ohno turns around, expecting to run, but it was only Sho.

    “Are you okay?,” Sho asks, approaching cautiously, as if Ohno would explode at any moment.

    Ohno breathes out. “Yeah. I am okay.”

    Sho opens his mouth to speak. Ohno cuts him off briskly: “I don’t need to hear your ‘I told you so.’ I know I‘m stupid and I made a mistake of trusting a stranger. It won‘t happen again” Ohno starts walking again.

    “I wasn’t going to say that,” Sho says, gently. “He turned out to not be the person you thought he was. He was a good actor. I was fooled too.” He pats Ohno’s shoulder awkwardly.


+++

    “Stop crying,” Nino snaps, although he feels like crying himself.

    “I-I can’t!,” Aiba hiccups.

    “God. This is just one big mess,” Jun says, clouds of flour rising off him. He rounds on Nino. “This is all your fault.”

    The defense mechanism inside of him wanted to say something mean and spiteful to Jun. Or place the blame on Aiba - anyone but on himself. But Nino says: “I know.”

+++

    “Why don’t you just listen to what he has to say?”

    “What else could he possibly want to say?”

    Ohno wasn’t one to hold grudges, but towards Ninomiya it was different. His little masquerade left something deeper inside of Ohno, a lodged splinter that couldn’t be taken out.

    The splinter refused to budge; it might have been less stubborn had Ohno been left to mope and think things through by himself. But Ninomiya just wouldn’t leave Ohno alone. He would call at the most unexpected times of the day to catch Ohno off guard - even in the middle of the night, when Ohno had woken up to answer the phone groggy and out of it.

    He managed to hear: “Oh-chan! I -” before his brain caught up and he slammed the phone down. No one else called him Oh-chan. He disconnected the telephone.

    Then came the barge-into-the-store method. Disgusted, Ohno would lock himself in the kitchen, while Ninomiya banged on the door shouting: “Please listen to me!” Ohno would call Sho to rescue him. He would hear Sho say: “Just give him some time.” He would hear the impatience in Ninomiya’s voice before the chime of bells signaled that he had finally left. He pretends Nino’s words do not reach him.

    “He’s leaving tomorrow. His friend told me.”

    “I don’t care.”

    The day Ninomiya left, the air was humid and sticky.

    The day afterward, it pours. As Ohno’s front wheel slices through puddles of rain, splattering mud all over his jeans, he can’t help but miss Ninomiya a little. He remembers walking along the same stretch of road with Ninomiya, where the first butterflies start fluttering in his stomach; the memory saddens him, as if all that he has felt was for someone he has created in his mind. He looks behind once again to see whether a bus will appear on the horizon.

+++

    In the middle of meetings, his eyes would wander, picking out a color that Ohno might use to paint or a small bump on the wall that resembled the goldfish he had won for him. The overcast sky outside would somehow remind Nino of the time they met on the bus - of Ohno’s voice, soaring above the noisy bus engine and weaving through the air, ensnaring Nino’s attention.

    Jun would nudge him and Nino would find himself being stared at by twenty pairs of inquisitive eyes, his father‘s included. Nino would have no idea about what they were currently discussing until Jun leaned over and whispered it to his ear. He would make a noncommittal remark and go back to daydreaming about sunshine, windmills, green meadows, and grazing cows.

    “What’s your problem?,” Jun snaps one day, “You almost blew our contract with Nagase Corporations today.”

    “W-What?,” Nino says, dazed.

    “You’ve been spaced out,” Aiba chips in, playing in the corner with Aijunmiya, “Must be thinking about someone special…” Aiba trails off when Nino glares at him.

    “I don’t feel good. I am going home,” Nino announces angrily, pulling his jacket off the chair.

    “But the meeting with your father -,” Jun says, blocking the doorway.

    “Screw him, I am going home.“ Nino brushes past Jun and slams his office door close.

    Aiba and Jun exchanges exasperated expressions. “This can’t go on,” Jun sighs.

    “We need to do something about it,” Aiba says, petting the little German Shepherd puppy.

    “Like what?,” Jun cries, throwing his hands up.

    “Arrange a little renezvous.”

    “It’s rendezvous, Aiba,” says Jun, rolling his eyes.

    “That’s what I just said!”

…
    He tries to compose an explanation, hands poised with a pen and a blank sheet of paper in front of him. Words spill across the paper, but he crosses them out again and again. Every word he writes sounds false to his ears. I am sorry. No matter how long it takes, I wait for your forgiveness. He draws a line through that too and crumbles the paper up.

    Nino ends up lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He tries to remember each conversation they have had - every smile, joke, and look they‘ve exchanged. He tries to catalogue the things he has begun to love - the fingers kneading bread in the morning, the odd conversations during afternoon deliveries to the countryside, the steady hands that guided Nino through the haunted house, so many things Nino had taken for granted. He wishes that he could go back in time and punch himself for every unkind thought he has had towards Ohno.

    Ohno Satoshi. He’s changed. He doesn’t even look the same to Nino anymore. Somehow, over the course of a month, he had turned into a totally different person in Nino‘s head.

    Realization hits Nino so hard that he sits up in bed.

    He’s the same as he has always been. I am the one that’s changed. Me.

    And he, Ninomiya Kazunari, would never be the same again.

    God, I am so stupid. Nino buries his head under a pillow. Frustrated tears soaks through the white linen. He falls asleep when crying tires him out and wakes up to a dream.

    They were sitting together in a field, watching the world change in front of them.

    “How long do you think eternity is?,” Ohno asks. Nino looks up at the sky, blue and boundless.

    “Don’t know. Why?”

    “We’re going to be here,” Ohno says, as the scenery shifts around them; flowers bloomed and died, clouds raced across the sky like phantom horses, and the sun rose and set.

    Nino shrugs. “I don’t really mind.” He lies down on the damp grass to watch the shivering white stars, bright against the midnight background.

    “I thought you said you didn’t belong here. You won’t like it, being stuck with me. You‘ll get tired. Of me,” Ohno says with conviction. He sounds sad.

    Nino closes his eyes as a breeze whisks by, bringing with it the scent of fresh bread and milk. “Never Oh-chan.”

    You should stay beside me, just as you are; but you’re just a dream in the darkness that I will wake up from.


+++

    Sho lowers his newspaper and sighs. Ohno putters around the bakery, looking for nonexistent dust to wipe. His face looks as though it has been broken into a thousand pieces and never properly put back together correctly; sometimes, sewn on too tightly or looking so fragile that it’ll fly apart at a gust of wind. Ohno has always been silent and not all together “there,” but it was getting a little scary for Sho. Nowadays, his friend barely smiles or interrupt Sho with a random thought or input. Alive but dead inside, Sho thinks, watching as Ohno listlessly drifts from the cash register to the window.

    Sho goes home that day, worrying about his friend and as much as he hates to admit it, feeling a hint of jealousy. He couldn’t help but feel like the odd one out when Ninomiya came, taking his best friend from him in such a short period of time. The two of them would be laughing over some sort of joke that Sho wouldn’t get and it wasn’t fair at all. Loud laughter and clapping reminds Sho that he’s been staring at the television for the past half hour. As he switches it off when the house phone rings.

    “Hello?,” he answers. The remote he’s holding drops to the floor with a clatter. “How did you get this number? My-my sister? I am going to murder you!”


+++

     He plans to kill Jun and Aiba once they get off this plane. Possibly by strangulation. Or burning. Either way. Apparently, according to the two idiots (Nino was sure that this great idea was mostly Aiba‘s ), it was alright to kidnap somebody and put them on a plane. Despite loud protests and large amounts of cursing from the kidnapped.

    “Now now, Nino. We’re only taking you to see Ohno-kun,” Aiba says, patting the top of Nino’s head. “Icecream?,” Aiba asks, shoving a chocolate cone practically into his face. Nino scowls and glares out the window.

    “We’re tired of you moping around like some love-sick girl. Really, this is for your own benefit,” Jun says as he flips through a magazine.

    “You’re the girl,” Nino snaps. But he settles back into his seat and takes out the wooden carving from his pocket. He closes his fingers around it tightly, pretending that everything would be alright.

+++

    “We’re a go-go Sho-chan,” a voice chirps on the other line.

    “Um, alright then,” Sho says, trying to maintain calmness in his voice, “I’ll see you guys.”

---
    “Will you stop pushing me Sho? Where are we going?,” Ohno grumbles, slightly irritated.

    “Well, you see, I had some trouble with the um…rice cooker,” Sho says.

    “I don’t know anything about rice cookers! I need to finish baking my brea-,” Ohno freezes. Standing in the middle of the cobble-stoned street was Ninomiya Kazunari. Quickly, he turns to Sho, but finds that his friend had disappeared. Before Ohno could make a retreat, Ninomiya steps forward.

    “Oh-chan!”

    Run, his brain tells him, but he finds that his legs won’t listen to him.

+++

    Eyes flashing and chin sticking out in defiance, Ohno Satoshi didn’t as much as look at him. Nino feels like a pathetic idiot in the designer button-down shirt that Jun picked for him. His palms were moist and his mind was in a blind state of panic. Everything he has meant to say flies out of his head.

    Ohno speaks first: “You must have thought that I was naïve and stupid.”

    Mouth feeling as dry as if he had eaten sand, Nino could only sputter out: “No Oh-chan -”

    “Don’t call me that!,” Ohno cries, hands flying over his ears. “I don’t even know you!” His tone cuts into Nino like a sharp knife.

    He doesn’t mean it. He doesn‘t, Nino tries to reassure himself. He reaches out for Ohno but Ohno stumbles a few steps backwards and Nino grasps only empty air.

    “I am sorry!,” Nino says too loudly. His voice ricochets off the empty street. He clenches his eyes close against the familiar stinging sensation of tears. Taking a deep breath, Nino opens his eyes again and looks at Ohno. “I am very, very sorry for what I did. For lying and betraying your trust. I regret it everyday Ohno-san. Everyday, I think about you -,” Nino stops himself. He quickly detours: “I mean - I think about the pain I am causing you and Sakurai-san. I - I hope that you can still forgive me!” Nino tries to smile to show that he is sincere, but it feels awkward with Ohno brooding in front of him. “But if you can’t, it’s okay. I understand. I just want you to know that I am sorry.”

+++

    Ohno feels all his anger dissipate. All that was left was a strange disconnected sensation. His heart doesn‘t beat any faster nor was there resurging butterflies in his stomach or small bursts of happiness. Nothing. He lets out a sigh. Ohno feels tired. Tired of staying angry and unhappy.

    Maybe they could sit down and talk. Over milk buns. Really talk, without being someone else or under false pretenses. He should get to know Ninomiya in proper light. Start over. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll like the real Ninomiya.

    “Ninomiya-san,“ Ohno says, after an eternity, “Do you want to talk at my place?”

    Ninomiya’s eyes widens and he nods, hesitantly, as if not believing what Ohno has said. “You can call me Nino. If-if you want,” the man stutters.

    “Okay, Nino,” Ohno smiles. A new beginning. “I am Ohno Satoshi. Nice to meet you.” He stretches his hand out for Nino to shake.

    Nino glances at his hand and enthusiastically takes it. “Nice to meet you too!”

…
    Unbeknownst to the two, three pairs of eyes were watching from around a street corner.

    “I can’t see Aiba! Can you move your head?,” Sho complains. Aiba complies by squatting down lower, but he accidentally knees Jun in the head.

    “Owww! What the hell?”

    “Shhh…guys!,” Aiba whispers. “I think they’re gonna get along just fine now.” His grin broadens as Ohno laughs at something Nino says.

…
    “What’s with your shirt today?,” Ohno asks, pointing to the colorful shirt Nino had on. Nino rolls his eyes in such a comical way - in such a familiar way - that Ohno had to bite the inside of his cheeks to keep from smiling.

    “Don’t ask. Someone with a really, really bad sense of fashion made me wear it,” Nino huffs, pulling at his shirt uncomfortably.

    This time, Ohno couldn’t fight it - and he lets out a peal of laughter. His chest feels tight from months of hurt and resentment, so at first, the laugh hurts. But as he pulls in another breath, he feels it fill his entire body and soul. He feels normal again.

+++

    “Maybe I should convert it to a curry shop or something. What do you think Oh-chan?”

    “Hmm?,” Ohno mumbles, “I am listening, Nino.” A yawn escapes him. This feels nice, he thinks, relishing the touch of the sun‘s rays on his face. Something crawls over Ohno’s right hand - a ladybug. Ohno smiles. Ladybugs rhymed with bedbugs. Bedbugs made him think of a bed. A bed made him think of sleep. Maybe he won’t notice that I am sleeping, Ohno thinks, slowly letting the calm afternoon breeze take him away to dreamland. His eyelids droops closer

                                                                               and closer

                                                                                                                                                to sleep.

Sorry Nino, he wants to say as the world disappears, maybe we can talk later.

    He registers a sharp pain on his arm and his eyelids fly open to stare at the blue sky. “That hurts, Nino,“ he says.

    A long, drawn-out sigh and suddenly, Nino‘s pouting face appears in his field of vision. “I said - I can’t be competing with you now. So curry shop or -”

    Ohno rubs the sleepiness out of his eyes. “Why can’t we compete against each other?”

    Nino looks slightly mortified at this question. “B-because - because…Just because, okay?”

---
    “Because he rrreally llllllikes you,” says a voice laced with sweet venom. A giggle sounds and then afterwards, an uncomfortable cough.

    Nino whirls around, hissing: “What are you guys doing here?” Jun was smiling smugly, while Aiba looks on with excited sparkly eyes. Sho stands smiling, holding a picnic basket. Nino steals a glance at Ohno - he was slowly getting up, calmly dusting blades of grass off his shirt. Good. He didn’t hear.

    “Ohno-kun invited us,” Aiba says, bouncing over, “We’ve got pasta made by Matsujun, um…was it omelets that you made, Sho-chan? I can’t really tell.”

    “Yes,” Sho huffs, looking embarrassed and angry at the same time, “What did you think it - ”

    “I like you too Nino.”

    Sho almost drops the hamper while Jun breathes a “Finally.” Aiba just smiles brightly, silent for once.

    Nino gapes as Ohno shifts closer and reaches for his hand. He leads him a short distance away from the other three. Warm, Nino thinks, heart racing and palms beginning to sweat and warm blood rushing to his face. The million other thoughts that was running through his mind vanishes at that instance, and all he could feel, hear, and see was Ohno Satoshi. “Really?,” he says.

    Ohno smiles; they were so close now that Nino could see the way the sunlight creates specks of gold in Ohno’s irises. “Yes. And I would like curry.”

    “What?,” Nino can’t help but squawk. The world begins to start again; he could hear the singing of the birds, and Aiba and Jun poking fun at Sho’s omelets.

    Ohno wrinkles his nose, confused. “The question you asked earlier.”

    “Oh.”

    “I told you I was listening.”

    “You’re too random,” Nino laughs, swatting Ohno on the shoulder. Ohno ducks his head, rubbing the back of his neck.

    “Are you guys gonna make goo goo eyes at each other the whole day or what?,” Aiba shouts, waving his arms. They had already set up a red blanket on the grass and Jun was distributing pasta.

    Nino looks at Ohno and crosses his eyes. Ohno stifles a laugh before crossing his eyes too. “Let’s go,” he says, touching Nino’s elbow.

    A rainbow embroiders the sky as they make their way back.

    So let me confess that when I see you, my heart beats a little quicker. And life becomes a little bit sweeter.

                                              Credit

----------
Notes: Yay! You've made it to the end! *Throws rainbow confetti* I am really sorry for the length of this monster - I'll have to practice writing drabbles or something! XD I haven't posted anything for a while because of school, so I thought I'd tke a break from studying and put this fic on. I think I've been working on it for the past two months and it's been collecting dust in my computer due to a major writer's block and school. Hope you guys liked it. As always, feedback is welcomed.
Here’s the link to some tasty-looking pastries! *runs away to study*

One-Shot - Pâtisserie Part 1/2

2009-10-18T18:24:04Z

Title: Pâtisserie Part 1/2
Genre: AU
Pairing: Ohno/Ninomiya
Rating: PG
Summary: In a certain small town, Ohno Satoshi owns a quaint bakery shop handed down in his family for generations. The tranquility of his sleepy town is shattered when a big-name bakery chain headed by the enigmatic Ninomiya Kazunari moves into the neighborhood.
A/N: Two parts due to LJ word limit.

         Credit

      The smell of freshly baked bread wafts through the air, invading every corner of the tiny bakery with a faint scent of milk and butter, cream and softness. Ohno Satoshi carefully arranges the still-warm loaves of baguettes in the wicker basket, breathing a sigh of content and accomplishment. He doesn’t notice the slightly peeling floral-patterned wallpaper that had been there since his great-grandfather had first opened up the bakery. Nor does he see the worn wooden flooring, scratched and scuffed by many a shoe. All Ohno could see was how the colorful display of macaroons at the window front looked liked little jewels, how the small cakes stood resolutely - like toy soldiers - under the counter, and how the rows of golden-brown bread looked perfectly organized on the wooden shelves. The bakery was home and home was always wonderful. To Ohno, time seemed to move slower in here, with the lazy tick-tock of the clock on the wall and the familiar hum of the ancient air-conditioner.

    The first customer of the day appears, interrupting the silence with the soft jingle of bells. “Morning,” Ohno says.

    “I am dying! Please feed me!,” Sho Sakurai says, dramatically draping himself over the counter. Ohno shakes his head and pretends to sigh long-sufferingly at his friend before selecting a croissant and pouring a glass of milk for him.

    “This is so good,” Sho says, savoring the first bite. Ohno smiles, feeling happiness flowing from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. He always liked it when people complimented his pastries. “Oh yes!,” Sho exclaims, suddenly sitting rod-straight. He puts his fork carefully down on the plate, nervously runs his hand through his hair quickly a few times, and picks the fork back up again. “Ohno-kun - I - how should I put it? I am afraid that I have some bad news for you.” Ohno feels the smile on his face vanish.

    “What news?,” he asks, foreboding resting at the back of his neck. He shifts the weight of his body on the balls of his heels.

    “Well, you know how I told you about the rumor that Ninomiya Corporations is planning to open a place here?,” Sho pauses. “Uh…well…it’s true.”

    “Oh,” Ohno says, relieved, “That’s all?”

    “That’s all? That’s all?,” Sho gapes, the forkful of croissant almost falling out of his hands. “Ohno-kun, this is Ninomiya we’re talking about. You know, the one who owns like a gazillion bakeries around the world?”

    “I am not worried,” Ohno says, absentmindedly wiping the counter with a rag.

    “Ohno-kun…”

    “Sho-kun, I have faith in my -”

    “Yes. But we’re talking about Ninomiya here.”

    “Is the croissant good then?,” Ohno asks, looking Sho in the eyes.

    “Y-Yes. Very good,” Sho answers back truthfully.

    “Then there is nothing to worry about.”

+++

    “So, the lights are being installed right now,” a voice drones on the other end of the line.

    Nino grunts, concentrating on dodging swinging blades.

    “Are you even listening Nino?,” the voice asks sharply.

    Not really. But Nino replies sweetly: “Of course, Jun-kun. Carry on.”

    The voice grumbles on about the ineptness of the construction crew before complaining: “Why did you have to stick me with Aiba here in this forlorn little town? He’s not helping with work at all. All he does is talk to the townspeople.”

    Nino rolls his eyes as he tries to hop onto the shifting boulders. “That’s what I sent him over there for. To interact with people.” A dragon comes out of nowhere and Nino manages to swerve away from it’s angry flames.

    Jun clicks his tongue disapprovingly. “Are you sure you want to make him do that? He might just scare them all off.”

    “Everyone likes Aiba-chan. And I sent him to scout out our competition.” Here, Nino closes his DS with a snap.

    “Right. The Ohno Family Bakery. Shouldn‘t be hard.”

    “You never know,” Nino says, looking at the grey sky outside his office. His eyes narrow. “They might be the competitors we’ve been waiting for.”

    “You say that every time. What’s so different about this time?,” Jun sighs into the line.

    Nino didn’t know how it was different, but instinct told him he had to tread carefully. “Just a feeling I have. We have to be on our guard.”

+++

    The little town buzzes with anticipation as a crew of workers put up the giant sign for Ninomiya’s Pâtisserie. They had never had a big name chain come and install themselves in their little town before. It was a new feeling - the realization that their town was getting a little old-fashioned and it was time that they moved forward with the times.

    Sho sees the new light in everyone’s eyes and continues to badger his friend. “Do you have any plans in store for them? Maybe we should do some sort of promotion thing,” he says, trailing after Ohno in the kitchen.

    “Sho-chan, I can’t concentrate if you’re following me all the time,” Ohno says, carefully shoveling the shaped lumps of dough into the wood-fired oven.

    “I’m just worried for you!,” Sho says shrilly, continuing to shadow Ohno as he went out to the storefront. “It’s been two months and they’re almost ready to open!” Ohno starts whistling and Sho resists his urge to pull out all his hair. “You could at least show some indication that you’re listening to me WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU! Hello? Are you there?”

    Sho almost throws his hands up in exasperation when Ohno whips around (in that graceful manner that always surprised Sho). “Want one?,” Ohno says, offering Sho an éclair. It looks delicious, with chocolate fondant drizzled alluringly all over it.

    “Really?,” Sho says, licking his lips. He reaches out for the éclair but Ohno quickly puts it behind his back.

    “Only if you stop following me around like you’re my mother,” Ohno says.

    “What? I am not - ,” Sho clucks, frowning.

    “Yummy éclair. Just for me…,” Ohno teases, wiggling said pastry enticingly in front of Sho’s eyes.

    “Fine. Give it over dammit,” Sho snaps. Ohno’s smile widens and he cheerfully hands over the éclair. “Stop looking so smug, you manipulative little-boy-with-the-innocent-face-of-an-angel.”

    Ohno laughs and smacks Sho playfully on the back. Sho wonders why he can’t ever stay angry at Ohno for very long.

    The jingle of bells made them both look up. Standing in the doorway was a tall, lanky man Sho was sure he has never seen before. The stranger grins widely before stepping in. “Hello,” he says in a husky voice. Sho frowns. Their town wasn’t exactly on the map as a tourist destination and it was considered to be small, so almost everyone knew each other.

    “Hi,” Ohno greets politely, “How can I help you?”

    The stranger rubs his nose nervously before speaking. “Um…can I look around first? I am not sure what I want yet.” He’s acting awfully suspicious, Sho deduces, crossing his arms.

    “Sure. Take your time,” Ohno says. Something in Sho’s head clicks together at that moment and he drags Ohno off to the kitchen. “What -,” Ohno says, alarmed.

    “Shhhhh…,” Sho hisses, “Don’t you see, Ohno-kun? He’s a spy!” Sho’s eyeballs feels like they were about to pop out of their sockets trying to convey his anxiety. “He’s probably that Ninomiya guy. Or one of his henchmen. Those sneaky bastards!”

    “You‘re being paranoid again, Sho,” Ohno whispers, “Even if he is, he’s still a customer!” With that, he strolls back into the storefront.

    Sho groans, “This is going to be bad!” He follows Ohno.

+++

    “The head pastry chef will be arriving the in five days. The architects are doing a last minute check-up. The art work from the design department came in. The painters finally got off their lazy asses and finished stuff today,” Jun says, checking off a long list, “We’re right on schedule, so we should be able to open in a two weeks.”

    “Awesome,” Nino drawls, slashing his sword at a goblin. “Where’s Aiba-chan?”

    “Here Nino-chan!,” Aiba’s lively voice comes on the other line. It sounds so far away, since they were on speaker phone, and with a twinge in his heart, Nino suddenly realizes that he misses the big idiot very much. Hell, he even misses Jun and his neurotic tendencies.

    He clears his throat of the emotion blocking it and continues: “So?”

    For once, Aiba was silent. Nino hears a staticky shuffle and he pauses his game. “What is it?,” Nino asks, sternly.

    With that, the words came in torrents, like hard rain. It made little sense, like Aiba himself, with short pauses and sound effects thrown into the mix. Instead of making him smile, as Aiba‘s way of expressing himself usually did, Nino finds his eyebrows stitching together.

    He makes his decision.

+++

    The boat rocks under him, like a bucking horse. The pole was firm in his hands, straining and straining, but he doesn’t let go even though his knuckles were turning white. This is it, Ohno thinks, feeling the salty sea breeze on his arms and the sticky sweat on his back. Just as the stubborn tuna was becoming visible beneath the blue waters, a sharp ring jolts the world. The fantasy shatters, it’s pieces drifting slowly away like clouds, and Ohno is left to stare at the flour in front of him.

     He shakes his head to clear away the last vestiges of the dream before reaching for the phone.

    “Hello? Kitagawa-san?”

+++

    Nino stands outside the little airport, feeling like a loser. He checks his watch for what he feels like is the thousandth time. Where is that idiot? He whips out his cell phone, hoping that it had charged itself miraculously. No such luck. Nino shoves the phone back in his jean pocket and waits. He squints upward. The sky here was too bright, in Nino’s opinion, like it had never witnessed the gray clouds that was commonplace in the city. The weather didn’t actually match his mood right now.

    A bus was making its way to a nearby stop and Nino hurries towards it, suitcase banging painfully against his right thigh. The bus door hisses open in front of him as he tries to catch his breath. “This bus goes into town, right?,” Nino asks. The bus driver nods, curiously eyeing him. Nino glances out at the airport grounds for any sign of Aiba before climbing the steps onto the bus.

    It was empty. The air-conditioning was on too high and the busy chattering of the radio pounds at Nino’s jet-lagged head. He clambers all the way to the back seat, getting as far away as possible from the bus driver’s warbling voice as he sings along to an unfamiliar song. Nino throws his suitcase on the vinyl seat across his and tries to make himself comfortable. They left the lonely little airport behind, coasting down an almost deserted road.

    A scattering of buildings - none of which seemed very interesting to Nino - passes by. A few billboards and then, commercialism vanishes.

    The scenery was beautiful, like something out of a dream or a fairy-tale story. Windmills spun lazily in the breeze and little dairy farms dotted the impossibly emerald green landscape. Cows graze contently on salads of flowers studding the land. Nino has never seen cows up close before and peers out, nose almost touching the windowpane. He catches himself when his breath began to fog up the glass.

    “Say!,” the bus driver calls out from the front, “Where are you from, lad?”

    Nino wrinkles his nose at being called a ‘lad.’ “I am from the City,” Nino calls back. The bus driver doesn’t ask anymore since a song that he seemed to like came on. A field of wild flowers passes by, some pink as blushes and others red as blood. Nino could see tiny white butterflies fluttering amongst the flowers. It was calming, after the long flight. He closes his eyes for a bit, losing to the melody that the whining of the engine and the (now strangely comforting) deep timber of the bus driver’s voice created.

+++

    Ohno slaps the straw hat back down on his head before the stubborn breeze could whisk it away. With the hot summer sun beating down his neck and the seemingly endless stretch of gray pavement before him, he could understand why Sho would call him “crazy.” But Ohno likes riding his bicycle through the peaceful countryside -with just the sound of a million cicidas chirping and the gentle whoosh whoosh whoosh of swaying grass. The sweet smell of morning dew fills his lungs and energizes him. He pedals faster, eager to get back to his bakery - where he had bribed Sho to watch over. Although Sho liked eating a lot, he wasn’t exactly the type to differentiate pastries very well.

    As he rides pass a pasture containing flocks of sheep, a honk sounds behind him. Ohno turns around and sees the bus, rattling in the distance. He waves.

+++

    Nino starts awake at the sudden noise, his heart almost leaping out of his chest. He swears under his breath and cranes his neck to see what was going on. The scenery had paused at an pasture.

    The bus driver had the doors open and was shouting to someone outside. “Delivering bread again, Satoshi?,” the bus driver cries out, in a voice loud enough to wake the dead. Nino winces, massaging his temples.

    “Yes. To Kitagawa-san,” the person outside replies back in a much softer voice.

    “Old man’s hips acting up again, eh?,” the bus driver chuckles, “Say, you need a ride back to town? Hop on!”

    “I’m afraid I don’t have any money on me,” the person says, sounding embarrassed.

    “Don’t worry about it!”

    “But -”

    Nino rolls his eyes at their exchange. ‘Just get on the damn bus and let’s get the show on the road!’, he wants to scream.

    The person might’ve heard Nino’s internal voice and with a loud clunk, a bike was quickly being fastened in front of the bus. ‘Thank you,’ Nino sighs mentally. He watches as the man climbs onto the bus. He was baby-faced, with his large brown eyes, round chubby face, and pouting lips. Nino thinks he looks a bit like an owl, with fluffy brown hair under a straw hat. Then, Nino’s attention is captured by the log the man was currently hugging to his body. Someone’s missing a few marbles, Nino thinks to himself.

    The man grins apologetically at Nino and slides into the first row of seats. Nino watches as the man shrugs off his bright orange backpack and takes off his hat. There is a question floating inside of his head but he can’t find the words for it yet. The bus starts to move again.

…

    The bus was winding around a steep, narrow road. The grassy meadows were suddenly replaced by the lapis lazuli-painted sea. Nino tries to focus on how the white foamy tides made little pictures on the sand as they receded but he keeps getting distracted by the singing going on up front.

    Baby-face had a nice voice.

+++


    Ogura-san and him were singing at the top of their lungs. It was a catchy song that made Ohno think of people dancing on rainbows. A commercial break came on and Ohno slumps back into his seat, out of breath.

    He twists his head around to find the pale-faced young man looking at him. Ohno quickly turns forward again, embarrassed; he’s forgotten that he wasn’t the only one on the bus.

    “You have a nice voice,” he hears the pale man remark.

    The tips of his ears red, Ohno mumbles a quick “Thanks” in the man’s direction. He reaches for the log lying beside him and examines it. His fingers traces the rings on the reddish-brown wood. A sweet fragrant smell rises to Ohno’s nose when he hears the creak of springs behind him.

    Ohno whips around to find the man sitting behind him, arms resting on his back rest. “What is that? What are you going to do with it?,” the young man asks, curiosity lighting up his eyes.

    His throat feels fuzzy, like cotton balls were stuffed in it. It always happened when he was speaking to someone he didn’t know very well. All Ohno manages to croak out was: “Heartwood. It’s found in the center of trees and um…I make wood carvings.” He watches as the man nod slowly, as if trying to piece together what Ohno has said in his head.

    “That’s cool.”

    Ohno feels the weight on his headrest disappear as the man heads back to his seat.

+++


    The bus was finally pulling into the town. It was a jumble of colors to Nino - red-tiled roofs of houses, gray-green mountain peaks looming in the background, yellow and white and pink tulips growing out of red clay window boxes - it was all too much for a person used to only the dull gray colors of steel and concrete. The bus drops them off at the market square.

    Nino steps out onto the cobble-stoned street. He was in a town that was foreign to him in every conceivable way; he was a fish out of water at this place - his only comfort was Aiba and Jun being here. They were the only ones he trusted not to screw things up for the first bakery opening under his direction. Nino didn’t want to fuck things up, not when his father had just handed him the reins. The thought of his father always pained him - he was the one who always found faults in every one of Nino’s carefully laid plans for the company. I’ll show them, Nino thinks grimly, I’ll show them all.

    “Do you - do you know where you’re going?,” a voice asks timidly. Nino snaps out of his thinking and looks at the man known only as Satoshi.

    “Yeah. I am good,” Nino smiles, trying to exude confidence that he didn‘t have. His stomach chooses at that precise moment to emit a embarrassingly loud growl. Nino’s smile falters, and he regrets not touching the food served on the airplane.

+++

    Ohno doesn’t know whether he should ignore the sound or not. “Are you hungry?,” he finally says, “I-I own a bakery nearby and um…if you -”

    The man looks up at this and abruptly cuts in. “You own a bakery here?” His brown eyes suddenly turn into slits but when Ohno blinks, they were back to normal.

    “Um…yes,” Ohno replies.

    “I would love to see it!,” the young man says, flashing a big smile. “What’s your name again?” Ohno’s grip on the handlebars of his bike tightens and for a moment, he feels an unsettling feeling at the pit of his stomach.

    “Ohno. Ohno Satoshi.”

+++

    Nino couldn’t believe his luck. His competition couldn’t be anymore - how should he put it? Sleepy? Weird? Incompetent? Baby-faced Ohno Satoshi was definitely not going to be a rival. He didn’t seem to have the physical strength (not that Nino had any of course, but there was always Aiba for those kinds of things), verbal proficiency (his ability to speak without mumbling proved that very well), and the intellectual shrewdness that Nino had. Nino feels a bit disappointed at this; he had been expecting a worthier opponent.

    Nino feels his smile widen. “I am Matsumoto Jun. Nice to meet you!” Nino fervently hopes that Jun never crossed paths with Ohno before. Jun wasn’t exactly the type to socialize with the townspeople.

    To his relief, Ohno accepts the name with a smile. “It’s this way,” Ohno says, pointing to the right. Nino nods enthusiastically, following.

    The market square was busy. Hawkers shouted their wares, while housewives haggled prices. Grizzled old man puffing at cigars sat at the wrought-iron tables, arguing over politics and games of chess. Nino’s head went from side to side, as he tries to take in everything at once. Livestock, spices, ribbons, and things that Nino had never seen before was on display at little stalls. Nino inhales deeply, and the smell of salted fish, fresh mint, and wool invaded his nostrils. A man with crooked teeth suddenly brandishes a shiny pot in front of Nino’s eyes but Ohno politely waves the man away.

    “Are you visiting relatives here?,” Ohno strikes up a conversation as they wandered out of the noisy town square.

    “Yes, very distant cousins of mine,” Nino replies firmly, tugging at his suitcase. Ohno didn’t ask more - Nino was grateful that he wasn’t a very nosy person like someone he knew.

    The bakery had cheerfully painted green panels. Peeling gold letters over the window pane read Ohno Family Bakery . Nino had to admit, it was all very quaint and traditional. He’ll be sad to see it close. Kind of.

    Ohno wheels his bike beside the entrance, leaving his backpack and log sitting in it’s basket. Very trusting of his neighbors, Nino thinks, Perfect. Ohno opens the door for Nino.

    Immediately, he is assailed by the lovely smell. The panic that had dissipated once again rose in Nino’s stomach.

    “Thank God, you’re back!,” a man exclaims, practically knocking Nino over and pouncing on Ohno. “I am so not looking over your store again! Shibata Rie came. I think I am scarred for life!”

    “Thank you Sho-kun,” Ohno says calmly. Sho finally notices Nino standing nearby.

    "Nice to -," Nino steps forward.

    “Excuse us,“ Sho says sternly, before grabbing Ohno by the elbow and guiding him to the kitchen. A whispering session begins and Nino scowls.

+++

    “Weren’t you supposed to pick up Nino? Like an hour ago?,” Jun says, interrupting Aiba’s experiment with flour.

    “Oh shit,” Aiba swears, scrambling out and leaving flour footprints on the floor.

    “Why am I always the one stuck with cleaning up your mess?,” Jun screams after him.

+++

    “What have I told you about bringing complete strangers to your place?,” Sho scolds into Ohno’s ear.

    “He’s hungry!,” Ohno protests back, glancing outside at Nino, “And he’s too skinny.”

    “You have to stop being so trusting!,” Sho says, bopping Ohno lightly on the head, “He might stab you with your own bread knife and steal all your money! You know those City people!”

    “He’s visiting relatives.” Ohno sees Sho relax considerably after this remark.

    “Well…I have to get back to the bookstore,” Sho says hesitantly. “Call me if you need anything.”

    “Yes Mother,” Ohno says, pushing Sho out of the kitchen.

+++

    Nino hesitantly bites into the strawberry fraisier Ohno hands to him.

    He wishes he could spit it out and declare it the most awful thing that he has ever put in his mouth. But life was not always fair. The white sponge cake, in all it’s vanilla cream and strawberry galore, melts in his mouth. Ironically, although Nino’s family had a chain of bakeries, he didn’t particularly like to eat cake or any pastries. He only really liked milk buns. But this. Aiba was not exaggerating. A groan bubbles up into his throat but Nino forces it back down.

    Ohno twitters nervously behind the counter, stealing little peeks at him. He was wringing his apron. Nino thinks it’s a stupid-looking apron, with stupid blue fishes all over it.

    Must. Resist. Must. Resist. But the cake looks so delicious and creamy and - damn you Ohno Satoshi - Nino gives in to the temptation and takes another bite.

    “How is it?,” Ohno asks.

    Nino pushes down the urge to glare daggers at the clueless boy or smack him for deceiving Nino with his looks. Slowly, Nino regains control of his mouth and shapes it into a pretty smile.

    “Delicious!,” Nino exclaims.

+++


    Ohno wrings his fish apron, distressed.

    “Oh please, Oh-chan!,” Matsumoto Jun pleads, “I’ll help you sweep the floor and handle the customers.”

    Ohno can’t remember exactly when in the conversation Jun had started to call him by that name. “I-I don’t know, Matsumoto-san,” Ohno mumbles, biting his bottom lip in indecision. Sho was right. He couldn’t just hire someone he barely knew.

    Matsumoto sidles right up to Ohno, widening his big puppy eyes. “But I am really, really good with customers!” Ohno couldn’t create any coherent sentences at the moment, as he was too mesmerized by how close Matsumoto’s face was. How cute! He had a mole on his chin! Ohno makes inaudible noises at the back of his throat.

    “I double-majored in business administrations and public relations!,” Matsumoto adds cheerfully.

    Before he became too crossed-eyed, Ohno manages to tear his eyes away from Matsumoto’s dimpled smile and replies: “T-then you -you shouldn’t work here. I-I am sure I can get Sho-kun to find you a better -”

    “But I want to work here, Oh-chan!,” Matsumoto cries out, “It’s just for a week or so. Before I go back to the City. I just need a little cash right now.”

    “I don’t -”

    “Please Oh-chan!”


+++

    “YOU WHAT?,” Jun and Aiba exclaims. Nino rolls his eyes at their flabbergasted faces.

    “You’re using my name! Now everyone thinks that the Matsumoto family spawns short, hunchbacked guys!,” Jun cries.

    “Nino is so mean!,” Aiba says at the same time.

    Nino glares at Jun. “Yeah Jun, I’ll be shouting your name from the rooftops. Not. Obviously, I’ll be keeping low.” Nino turns to address Aiba, whose mouth was still hanging open. “It’s not mean. We’re going to be rivals. Anything is fair game.”

    “It is kind of mean,” Jun says, drumming his manicured fingernails against the Formica tabletop.

    “Don’t give me that ’let’s be nice’ crap,” Nino scowls, crossing his arms defensively.

    “What if Ohno finds out? You’ll be toasted!,” Aiba says. He starts laughing and slapping his thighs, “Toasted. Get it?”

    He was met with silence in their small rented cottage. Aiba pouts: “No sense of humor whatsoever. You guys are no fun at all.”

    “Whatever. It’ll just be a week at the most. I’ll find where he keeps his recipes. Copy them all somehow and pass them along to our pastry chef.”

    “Well, that’s a fool-proof plan,” Jun says, sarcasm evident in his voice. “And why can’t we just offer him money like normal people do?”

    “Because he won’t accept the money? Duh,” Nino says, gritting his teeth. “I know he’s not someone out for money. I mean, he’d rather have a piece of useless log over the money some guy offered him.”

    “He sounds a little…weird,” Jun says.

    “Exactly my thoughts.”

    “But it’s still very mean,” Aiba whines.

    “Fine,” Nino snaps, “How about this? I’ll let that puppy of yours follow you to work. Now am I mean anymore?” For some strange reason unbeknownst to himself, Nino always needed the reassurance of both of his friends. Even though he was their boss and he could do practically whatever the hell he wanted.

+++

    The dark room was quiet saved for the deep breathing of a certain baker. The sun had barely rose in the sky when the alarm clock cries it’s ear-piercing shriek. Ohno has to hit the snooze button a couple of times before he could wake up to shower and change for work.

    His house is right behind his bakery and within a few minutes, he had switched on its lights. It was forlorn, working alone every morning in the quiet of dawn, after both his parents had passed on years ago. Ohno lightly dusts the countertop with flour and prepares his flour. Every time he does this, an old memory comes flooding back to him. Of his father carefully showing him how to properly knead the flour, his rough, warm hands encasing his. His mother, hair elegantly tied back with a blue ribbon, would stand by the kitchen opening, giving encouraging words and snapping the occasional picture - tears in her eyes as she mutters about how ‘her baby had grown up so much.’ Those memories were his companions, even though with each passing year, the images keeps getting fainter and more obscured - no matter how hard Ohno tries to concentrate on them. Ohno squeezes his eyes shut now, hands pausing in the cool flour, and tries to grasp the quality of his father’s voice and the particular dress his mother had on that day.

    A sudden knock comes from the storefront, forcing Ohno from the dusty pages of the past and back to the present. He washes his hands and went to the storefront. A grinning Matsumoto Jun was standing outside, his impish face pressed against the window. Ohno grins back and unlocks the door.

+++

    Nino hated having to wake up at the crack of dawn, especially after the all-nighter he pulled beating the Boss. He had dragged himself off the uncomfortable bed and into the bathroom (tripping over Aiba's stack of comic books and golf magazines in the process. He could practically hear Jun‘s voice saying in that instance: “Why couldn‘t you rent a bigger place, you cheapo.”), managed to drag a comb through his hair, and thrown on clothing he blindly chose in the dark . But it was all going to be worth it in the end, Nino reminds himself, as Ohno ushers him into the warm bakery.

    “W-why are you here so early?,” Ohno asks.

    Nino cheerfully replies: “Well, you did hire me. So here I am!”

    “But -”

    “So what are you doing now, Oh-chan?,” Nino asks, skipping into the kitchen. He scans the tabletops for anything resembling notes or recipes. Nothing.

    “Milk buns,” Ohno replies, hesitantly trailing into the kitchen.

    “Can you teach me? I really like them.” Nino turns to Ohno earnestly.

    “I am not very good at - at teaching…”


+++


    “Oh-chan - your hair is dripping on my arm!”

    “Oh - sorry,” Ohno mumbles. His hair was still slightly damp from his shower. He shifts away from Jun but Jun closes the distance.

    “Like this?,” Jun asks, his hands awkwardly attempting to knead the flour.

    Ohno smiles. “Not quite.” He reaches for the much-abused dough.

    “Hey! You have really long fingers!,” Jun says suddenly. He takes Ohno’s right hand and presses his own hand against it. Ohno feels his face turn beet-red and the sensation of light-headedness hits him; it was as if he had stayed out fishing in the sun for too long. Jun’s palm feels warm against his and indeed, his fingers were longer compared to Jun’s short, chubby ones.

    “You have nice hands,” Jun says, before dropping Ohno’s hand and turning back to the lump of dough. The contact was broken and at once, Ohno realizes that he had been holding his breath. He lets out a shaky breath of air. What was that?, Ohno wonders, trying to reorganize his once neat little universe. Fishing always went first, not second. Second is painting - but why is it third?, Ohno panics, trying to mentally shove the image of Jun back.

    “Oh-chan,” Jun speaks up, breaking up his internal battle. He was poking at the dough rather despondently.

    Ohno finds his voice. “Y-yes?”

    “I am not very good at this,” Jun admits, eyes downcast and shoulders slumped. Ohno feels his heart break a little at the sight. “I think I’ll just watch you, okay?” Jun looks up and smiles at Ohno.

    Jun props his elbows onto the counter and observes.

……

    Sho wasn’t very happy when he finds out. He gives Ohno an earful. That is, until Jun mentions something about the economy. They launch into a debate involving GDPs, service sector productivity, and fiscal consolidation. Jun was saying stuff like, “Well, the leading index rose to 78.6 this month from 74.9 in May.” To Ohno, it was like a discussion in a completely different language. He can‘t help but note Sho‘s surprise. He gives a discreet thumbs up behind Sho and receives a mischievous wink back from Jun. Ohno feels his heart do a weird skip.

Day 3

    “We’ll be out of this town in no time, guys. I promise.”

    “I would like to hope so. There’s a shoe sale at Prada soon,” Jun says, “And there’s no nail salon here. And my hair is getting a bit long, don’t you think?” He twirls a strand of his silky black hair idly.

    “Yeah,” Nino agrees, impatiently. They were currently sitting on wooden crates in the back alley of Ninomiya’s Patisserie. The metallic whining of drills and the dull pounding of hammers could be heard inside. Nino had came back during his lunch break. He could see that it had saddened Ohno, who had made sandwiches for the both of them, but Nino had wanted to check in with his friends.

    “Wow. You’re like, a spy Nino!,” Aiba goes excitedly. “007!” He mimics shooting at Jun, who throws a glare that could have zapped any normal human being into a crisp. But not Aiba of course.

    “Does he even have them written down?,” Jun asks.

    “Yes, I’ve asked him,” Nino says, smirking. It disappears quickly. “But it’s under lock.” That drawer besides the cash register gave Nino a headache whenever he went past it. Which was often.

    “Sucks,” Aiba says.

+++


    Ohno sits alone at the counter, munching on a sandwich. The bell jingles, and Ohno looks up, expecting Jun. But it was only a bunch of neighborhood kids coming in. Hiding his disappointment, Ohno greets them.

    “Ohno-san! I caught a fish today!,” the shortest of the group chimes, with a bright smile on his face.

    “That’s great, Chinen!,” Ohno says, mouth still full of ham, “Now how can I -”

    Suddenly, Jun walks in, black hair messy and back hunched. Ohno’s heart starts fluttering like a songbird and he abandons his sandwich. Jun pauses near the door, looking warily at the rowdy kids. The kids fall silent and stares back at him.

    “Who’s that?,” a girl named Yuka asks.

    “I am Matsumoto Jun,” Jun says and Ohno senses the annoyance behind his words. I would be annoyed too, Ohno decides. The kids start talking about the Midsummer Fair and Ohno is relieved that the tension in the air didn’t evolve into a full-blown war.

    “And did you hear? There would be fireworks, acrobatics, and even a magician!,” Rui says, eyes sparkling with anticipation.

    “I bet my card tricks are better,” Jun scoffs in the corner. Uh oh, a little warning voice goes off in Ohno’s head.


    “Oh! That sounds fun,” he says quickly, “Um, would anyone like some sand-”

    “Yeah right!,” the kids choruses.

    “You can’t do card tricks with those hands,” Rui pipes up, “They’re too small and fat!” The others nod in agreement.

    “How much do you guys wanna bet,” Jun interrupts, reaching into his jean pocket. A stack of playing cards appears.
----
    There was an uproar inside the bakery. If any passerby had peeked into The Ohno Family Bakery at that moment, Ohno was sure they would have thought there was a fight going on with all the yelling and pushing.

    The kids try to talk over each other while Ohno simply feels his jaws drop. He blinks. The four Kings stares back at him.

    “But you pulled out four diamonds,” he says, poking at Jun. Jun just smiles mysteriously.

    “Pick a card kid,” Jun says, turning to Chinen, “Don’t show it to me.”

    “H-how many do you know?,” Ohno asks as Chinen shows the card to everyone.

    “I know a hundred or so,” Jun says nonchalantly, shuffling the deck.

    “That’s amazing.” You’re amazing.

    “Thanks. Okay. Is this your card?,” Jun says, flipping over a card with his stubby fingers.

    The kids don’t go home until their mothers come searching for them and the bread they were asked to buy.

+++

Part 2

Oneshot - Sight

2009-07-14T11:40:33Z

Sight
Genre: AU, Angst
Pairing: Ohno/Ninomiya
Rating: PG
Summary: Nino’s world is turned upside down.


    The sound of tires squealing on asphalt makes Nino turn to look out his window. His eyes widen as bright headlights were inches away from him. Before Nino could throw his arms in front of his face, the truck slams into his blue Toyota, sending shards of glass flying. He hears the sickening sound of twisting metal and breaking bones before the world swims in front of him and he blacks out.


+++

    He finds himself lying facedown on the hard ground, a mixture of salty sweet blood and sour bile in his mouth. The world seemed dark; as if someone had dimmed the lights. Nino closes and opens his eyes, but the dark covering still obscured his vision. He is confused for a moment, and tries to raise himself up on his hands. Nino screams in agony, spraying blood on the black asphalt, as the pain hits him. Every muscle in his body was on fire and his bones felt crushed like ice.

    Blurry silhouettes crowd around Nino. Screams and shouts fills the cold night air and Nino tries to curl himself into a fetal position - away from the harsh noises that pounded terribly at his head. A sharp sound of blaring sirens came before the pain became too overpowering and Nino slips back into darkness.

+++

    Ohno Satoshi looks out the window as the blinking red and blue lights of an ambulance flashed by his bus. He closes his eyes and silently prays for the unfortunate person in it. Please be okay.

+++

    His eyelids feels like lead as he tries to lift them.

    It was night time. Nino wonders where he is for a moment. Suddenly, he hears his mother breaking into sobs on his right. Except, he doesn’t see his mother. My room is not dark like this. It was a kind of darkness Nino has never experienced before; he could not make out a single outline or shape or anything, for that matter. It was starting to creep Nino out.

    “Kazu. Kazu! Oh, you’re awake!,” he hears his mother sob out, “Thank God!”

    “Mom? Where are you? Why are the lights turned off? Where am I?,” Nino asks, his voice cracking. His mouth feels bitter and dry, as if he hadn’t brushed his teeth or spoken in a while.

    “Kazu. I am here,” his mom whispers. Nino feels her warm familiar hands close over his. “Don’t be scared.”

    Nino thinks this is a strange thing to say. “Why should I be scared?,” he asks, cocking his head to one side, “And can someone turn on the lights already? It feels like I am blind or something.” He laughs a little at this but stops as his mother bursts into fresh sobs.

    “Kazu, you really can’t see us?,” his sister’s voice cuts across the darkness. Nino feels her hand slip into his hair.

    “Stop that!,” Nino cried out, impatiently. “What is going on? What are you guys doing here in my room? Why are the lights not turned on? Turn it on!”

    He feels his mother tighten her grip on his hand. “Kazu,” she says, after a heavy silence passed in the room, “The lights are on, Kazu.”

    With that, everything comes flooding to Nino. Going home after a long day at work. The sound of tires attempting to swerve at the last minute. A blinding white light. Glass everywhere. The ground. Blood. Darkness.

    Nino clutched his head and fervently whispers, “This cannot be true.” His stomach hurts and Nino feels that he could not move his legs; they were both incased inside casts. His mind freezes and something cold runs down his spine.

    “It’s been two weeks,” whispered his sister. Nino could hear the emotions in her voice; she was trying not to cry. “When we heard that the drunk driver plowed right into your car…we thought…we thought the worst had happened…but now you’re awake…everything is going to be okay, Kazu. We’ll be here to help you.”

    This has got to be a nightmare. Somewhere, a scream bubbles up to his throat. Nino closes his eyes and lets it out.


+++

    Ohno Satoshi winces as a tormented scream echoes down the hallway. A few shouts, punctuated by colorful swear words, follow.

    Ohno turns to his sister. “Do you want me to close the door?”

    “It’s fine. It must be Mrs. Ninomiya’s son coming out of his coma. Poor boy,” his sister sighs, “Who would want to wake up to a world of darkness?”

    Ohno has never seen the boy, but he did bump into his sister and mother a few times around the hospital. They were always courteous - greeting him in the hallways and asking after his sister. Ohno feels sorry for them whenever they happen to see each other - their eyes were always puffy from the lack of sleep, frown lines would be etched between their eyebrows, and their feet dragged as they walked. Ohno understands how they felt - he been the same way when his sister was first diagnosed with cancer.

    “Satoshi, you have to go soon!,” his sister gasps out suddenly, interrupting his thoughts.

    “I can wait a little longer,” Ohno says, checking his watch. He doesn’t admit to it, but Ohno is scared. Scared that his sister passes on while he is somewhere else. Scared that she will be alone when she breathes her last breath. Aside from sharks, that was Ohno’s greatest fear. If Ohno had his way, he would have packed a suitcase to live at the hospital a long time ago.

    “I don’t want you to be late for work,” his sister insisted, pushing at her younger brother, “I’ll be fine! Now go before you miss your bus!”

    “Promise?”

    “Who do you take me for? Of course I’ll be fine,” his sister exclaims, rolling her eyes.

    Ohno reluctantly stands up from the chair at his sister’s bedside and heads towards the doorway.

    “Satoshi!” Ohno turns.

    Her face was pale and gaunt, and the bandanna Ohno had designed for her (covered with smiling sunflowers) had slipped a little, revealing what was left of her once-luscious black hair. The hospital gown was hanging off her too-skinny frame and there were dark bruises on her thin arms , but her eyes were brave and her smile conveyed confidence. Ohno thinks she looks beautiful, just like an angel.

    “I’ll be fighting! I won‘t lose,“ she says firmly, “And when I get out of here, the first thing I’m making you do is clean up your room! So you don‘t have to worry about me, alright?” She gives Ohno an almost pleading look. “Just concentrate on doing your best at work, you hear me?”

    Ohno smiles back and salutes her. “Yes ma’am!”

+++

    “You’re doing good Ninomiya-san. Your progress in rehabilitation this past month has been excellent after the casts have been removed.”

    Nino sits silent in his bed, trying to reign in his anger. He focuses on creating a face for this particular doctor. Fat, watery little eyes, acne marks, thick oily lips, crooked brown teeth, and a red bulbous nose ending with a wart at the end of it. Nino didn’t know why, but all the doctors in this place seemed to look like that.

    “…and I daresay that it is time to -”

    He knows it would only hurt him in the end but Nino can’t push away the question that has been buzzing in his head. “Doctor, what about my eyesight?,” Nino asks, impatiently. His hands clenched tighter to his bed sheets. He knows the answer already; it’s been relayed and explained to him by numerous doctors, many times before. But he just doesn’t get it. All the medical jargon has managed to do was explain away Nino’s blindness in a rational, logical, and reasonable way. Which, clearly to Nino, was complete rubbish because him being fucking blind was not in any way reasonable or logical.

    The doctor pauses in the middle of his sentence. Nino imagines him opening and closing his mouth stupidly like a goldfish. “Now Ninomiya-san, we’ve been over this before ---”

    “I know we’ve been over this,” Nino snarls, “But we will go over it again.”

    The doctor lets out a little sigh that he didn’t know Nino could hear. Nino figures that he must be rolling his mole-like eyes. It further fans the frustration and anger in Nino.

    “Will I be able to play the guitar again? Or the piano?,” Nino demands. He feels a lump in the back of his throat as he attempts to swallow. “How about baseball? Will I---”

    “Ninomiya-san, I think it’s best to…let go of those aspirations and concentrate on recovering.”

    Nino rears back, feeling as if he was punched in the stomach. The fragile little thing residing inside of his heart shatters and Nino feels dead already.

+++

    Ohno goes out to fill the clay vase with water. The hallway smells strongly of disinfectant - an odor Ohno has never gotten used to. Warm sunlight floods in from the double windows at the end of the hallway and Ohno makes out a solitary figure standing near them. It was a man, perhaps a few years younger than himself. Ohno watches as the man tilts his head up, face cast in shadows against the bright light, as if he was trying to absorb the warm rays. Ohno wishes that he had his paints and canvas with him, or at least a sketch pad and a pencil, to capture it.

    Ohno stares, hands holding onto the vase, trying to note down the minute details of the scene in his head for when he returns to his quiet apartment.

    A blue rectangular object suddenly drops out of the man’s robes onto the linoleum floor with a loud ‘clunk.’ The man jumps in surprise and accidentally kicks the object with his feet. It skids a short distance before coming to a stop near Ohno’s sneakers.

    Ohno bends over to pick up the DS, hugging his vase under one arm. Ohno straightens up to find the man on his knees, hands patting over the floor, searching blindly. Ohno frowns and glances at the blue DS in his hands. Ninomiya Kazunari was written neatly on the cover with a black sharpie. Comprehension dawns on Ohno and he strides over to the kneeling man. He taps him gently on the shoulder.

    “You dropped this,” Ohno says, helping the man close his fingers over the DS. Up close, Ninomiya actually looked more like a boy than a man, with sharp features that reminded Ohno a little of pixies.

    “I don’t need your help,” Ninomiya retorts, quickly raising on his feet. Ohno sees him wince at the sudden motion. “Mind your own business.” Ninomiya shoves the blue DS back into the pocket of his robe and glares at Ohno - or rather, glares at a space a little to the right of Ohno‘s head.

    Ohno shrugs off Ninomiya’s rudeness. “I am sorry.”

    Ninomiya’s brown eyes widen slightly in surprise before they turned hostile again.

    “Kazu! There you are!”

    Ohno turns around to find Ninomiya Aiko jogging up towards them, eyes worried.

    “I went to the restroom for a bit and you just had to disappear!,” Aiko huffs, taking her younger brother’s hand. “Oh! Hello Ohno-san,” she smiles at Ohno brightly. “This is Kazunari, my brother.”

    “Um…hi, I am Ohno Satoshi,” Ohno addresses towards the man, whose expression looked as if he had taken a bite out of a lemon. “Nice to meet you.”

    “Yeah. Sure. Do I look like I even care?”

+++

    Lost. Angry. Sad. Seeking answers to questions that have no answers.
    I am losing my head.
    Everything is lost in this eternal darkness.
    No one to blame for this pain.
    Tired. Don’t want to go on.
    I am so scared.
    I am all alone.

    Nino has nothing much to do at home besides lying on his bed and composing depressing songs in his head. He can’t play with his DS. There‘s television, but he feels detached from the whole purpose of watching; hearing laughter for a funny reaction he can’t see leaves Nino disappointed. He doesn’t know whether being at the hospital, where the day was filled with rehabilitation classes, or whether being back at home, where boredom and his badgering sister were his only companions, was better.

    The old familiar weight of his guitar on his lap alleviates his depression a little. Nino tentatively strums his fingers across the tight strings and is satisfied when a clear, ringing note reverberates in the apartment. He concentrates on recalling back the black squiggly notes that he has pored hours over, scratching out and rewriting at his desk.

    In a way, he succeeds at this. But his fingers were too slow and clumsy for his brain. The melody that he has penned dissolves in a mess of wrong notes and lagging tempos.

    Nino finally breaks down and cries.

+++

    There was a spring in his steps as Ohno arrives at the hospital, laden with a big box of cake and a plastic bag filled with soda, potato chips, and other assorted snacks. He had spared no expense. Ohno hopes that it will cheer her up after the latest results of her blood test came back the other day.

    “Satoshi!,” Hitomi’s smile greets him as he carefully puts down everything, “Aren’t you supposed to be at work right now?” Her voice was weaker than usual, but it still had authority in it.

    “But I want to have a party!,” Ohno pouts, placing a kiss on her forehead.

    “Excuses, excuses,” she says, rolling her eyes.

    “How are you feeling today?,” Ohno asks, opening the cake box. He tilts it at Hitomi to let her see from her position lying down.

    “Kind of tired, but still going strong,” she replies, nodding approvingly at the cake. “That looks good.” She carefully sits up in her bed.

    “Have a soda first,” Ohno says, handing her a can, “I uh…forgot to bring a knife, and um…plates and stuff. I’ll be right back!” Ohno turns, embarrassed. He hears Hitomi chuckle at his absentmindedness before there was a sharp intake of pained breath. Ohno whips around and everything happened in slow motion.

    “Hitomi!,” Ohno hears himself cry out; his voice sounds distant and most unlike his own.

    The soda can she was holding falls in a clatter on the floor, spraying foamy globs of soda everywhere. Her body slumps sideways and she was falling, falling, falling off the bed. Ohno feels like he is walking through syrup - too slow, much too slow - as he rushes to break her fall.


    “Ohno-san, your sister is very weak. I suggest you prepare yourself for the inevitable.”

+++

    He could hear the constant tick tock of the clock on his bedside, but he isn’t sure what time it was. Was it early morning? Afternoon? Or was it night? It doesn’t matter to him anymore, since his days now blend flawlessly together. He burrows himself deeper under his blankets. Nino is contemplating about death.

+++

    Ohno slashes another angry red line across his canvas. He has been doing that for the past hour, just sitting in front of his canvas, painting a portrait of his emotions. He hadn’t bothered with washing his face; it was streaked with dried tears and he was still in his black suit from the funeral. He wipes his nose on his damp sleeve.

    Ohno glances at the paintbrush; it’s bristles were ruined from the strength he used to paint. Sighing, he dips it in the bottle of red and applies the final stroke to the canvas. Ohno backs away a bit to stare at it. It was ugly - with red dripping like fresh blood and the occasional blots of black and purple like bruises.

    He lets it dry on the balcony and goes to the bathroom to wash his face and change out of his clothes. He returns to his easel. This time, he was going to paint sunflowers. Gently blending the golden yellow paint, he is reminded of Hitomi’s laughter and the way she radiated warmth, happiness, and strength. Her last words echo in his mind as he paints the first stroke.

Satoshi, be happy.

+++

    The rain pounds a lonely rhythm against the window panes. The apartment is humid from all the windows being closed, and a dreary atmosphere hangs like a dark cloud.

    The TV cackles: “We had predicted sunshine and perfect weather today but it seems that Mother Nature has other plans. This region is experiencing high winds and heavy rain. There is a warning for high tides…”

    “Aiko, I am going to the beach,” Nino speaks up suddenly, breaking the silence.

    “Are you crazy?,” his sister murmurs sleepily next to him, “It’s raining cats and dogs…” She yawns widely, snuggling deeper into their ancient couch. He hears her breathing slow down as she drifted off to sleep.

    Nino stands up silently and counts 10 steps to get to his room. He throws on a jacket with roomy pockets and fumbles around searching for an umbrella. Nino pauses; should he write a note? He shakes his head. They will know why.

    The rain smells refreshing to Nino, after being cooped up in their stuffy apartment for weeks, as he steps out of the building. Nino is thankful that the bus stop was right in front of their building. He stands there, with the rain pattering onto his umbrella, and waits.

+++

    Ohno blinks as a particularly fat drop of rain falls onto his nose. Then, as if the heavens had decided to open up, rain fell fast in torrents, quickly soaking through his clothes and sending shivers through his entire body. He quickly picks up his fishing gear and runs toward the nearest shelter - the public restrooms, cursing all the way at the sudden turn of bad weather.

    His slippered feet squeaks and squishes through puddles of standing rain. Ohno can barely see through his sodden bangs, and the sharp sting of water hitting his eyes wasn‘t helping his progress either.
He clumsily slips and slides up a slight incline until he was finally under the roof of the concrete structure.

    Collapsing against the wall, he takes a moment to wring off his soaking wet clothing. The landscape in front of him was quickly turning stormy, as waves crashes onto the rocks Ohno was situated on a while ago. Through the rain, everything was painted gray and lifeless.

    Suddenly, a flash of yellow in the colorless scenery catches Ohno’s eyes. He squints - and makes out a person - a boy, making his way towards the shorelines, where white foaming tides threatened to sweep anything and everything off into the churning sea. Ohno makes a split decision and runs.

+++

    “Are you sure you want to get off here, sir?,” the concerned bus driver asks Nino, who grips the handrail tightly.

    “Yes,” Nino says, unfurling his umbrella and getting out onto the sidewalk, “Thank you.”

    He heads towards the roaring of the ocean. His head was surprisingly clear, without any of those melancholy thoughts he has been having for the past three months. Perhaps it was because he knew that this was the end to all his pain. He has nothing else to live for. No attachments.

    The salty sea breeze beckons him with it’s tantalizing fingertips.

+++

    “Hey! Stop! It’s dangerous!,” Ohno tries to shout, but the shrill wind snatches his words away. The figure was in the water already, and Ohno could see waves tugging at him.

    Ohno steels his nerves as he enters the water. It was a bone-chilling, mind-numbing, and knee-shaking kind of cold. He felt the skin on his legs burning as though it was fire he was wading through. His sodden clothing weighs him down as he walked in deeper; the water was now at his waist. Ohno’s numbed feet were slipping over silt and sand, as great amounts of sea water made its way into his mouth. He spits it out, gagging at the saltiness. The current was pulling him and the boy further and further away from shore; Ohno’s feet could barely reach the floor. For the first time in his life, Ohno feared the sea.

    “Stop!,” Ohno screams once again at the figure in front of him. He wasn’t far away now, and with a lunge, Ohno wraps his arms around the boy’s waist.

    The boy twists around and Ohno’s jaws drop.

    “You! What the hell do you think you’re doing?,” Ohno yells at Ninomiya.

+++

    “Get off,” Nino cries, trying to break away from the person’s iron grip.

    Now that someone has actually interrupted him, Nino begins to feel the chill of the water, the rolling waves, and how his feet didn’t quite reach the bottom anymore. Fear seizes his heart but Nino is determined. He twists and turns, like a slippery fish, out of the guy’s hands. Nino closes his eyes and submerges.

+++

    Ohno panics when he sees Ninomiya go under. He quickly dives under and eyes stinging, sees Ninomiya with his eyes closed. Ohno snatches at his yellow jacket and pulls Ninomiya up with him. He thrashes around in Ohno’s grip, but Ohno manages to hold on as he trudges closer to shore. Ohno feels his feet hit sand comfortably before screaming at Ninomiya.

    “Are you crazy?,” Ohno yells, sending water droplets flying as he whirls around on the still-struggling man. “Do you not care about your family or something? Do you want your mother and sister to find you half-bloated when the coast guard manages to locate you? If you don’t care about your life, it’s fine. But harming others in the process is not, you selfish bastard.” Ohno forces his teeth to stop chattering.

    Ninomiya narrows his eyes. “Who are you?” He was still trying to extricate himself.

    “Ohno Satoshi, the one you didn’t care about, remember?,” Ohno snaps. His limbs feel tired and heavy as he nearly collapses from fatigue on the shore. “

    “You can’t just mind your own business can you?,” Nino screams back, tears springing out of his unfocused eyes, “I don’t want to live because I am fucking blind, if you haven’t noticed! When you’re blind, all you see is darkness and life is not worth living if you can‘t see anything.”

    Ohno’s anger diminishes and he resorts to a more comforting tone. “Life is precious and you have to treasure every second of it. My sister instilled that in me. No matter what obstacles you face, there is always a solution and throwing your life away is not one of those solutions, Ninomiya-san. Not being able to face those obstacle makes you a coward.” Ohno guides Nino towards the distant shelter. They were both shivering and the falling rain made the trembling even worse.

+++

    Nino refuses to budge. “I don’t care what your stupid sister said,” he shrieks, “Let go ---”

    He doesn’t even register the punch until he tasted blood in his mouth.

    He hears Ohno’s low growl close to his face: “You insult my sister again, I’ll kill you myself.”

    Nino bows his head down in shame and lets Ohno drag him to shelter.

+++

    Ohno shifts uncomfortably next to Nino on the bus. Ohno was still in shock at having punched someone in the face. Someone who was blind and couldn’t have defended himself. Ohno groans inwardly as he glances at the purple bruise that was forming at the corner of Ninomiya‘s jaw; he hadn’t meant to hit the guy - it was just that Nino had dared to attack Hitomi. Ohno turns to Ninomiya and opens his mouth to apologize.

    “I am sorry,” both of them speaking at the same time. Ohno startles into silence.

    “I am sorry I endangered your life. And I am sorry I said those things about your sister,” Nino whispers, “I was really, really, really stupid.”

    “You didn’t mean it,” Ohno puts in quickly, “I am sorry I punched you.”

    “But I still look handsome right?,” Nino jokes.

    Ohno laughs. “Definitely.”

+++

    “I just called your sister - and don’t worry, I didn’t tell her.”

    Nino breathes a sigh of relief. “Sorry for the intrusion,” he apologizes, wiping his damp hair with a towel. Nino thinks he smells a little bit like apples which, he supposes, was how Ohno smells like too. It was a little humiliating that Nino had to be led into the bathroom and be shown where the knobs, soap, and shampoo were; but Ohno didn’t seem to think he was stupid or troublesome.

    “No problem. It’s still pouring and my place is closer,” he hears Ohno say, “Here - have some tea.” Nino finds Ohno’s hands on his, helping him grasp around the cup. It reminds Nino of the day Ohno gave him back his DS.

    “Thanks,” Nino says, appreciatively. “You should hurry and take a shower, your hands are cold.”

    “Yeah, I should,” Ohno says, “Uh…you might not want to move from the couch.” He sounds embarrassed.

    Nino frowns. “Why not?”

    “It’s really messy in here and you might get hurt…you know, if you trip or something.”

    Nino doesn’t know why, but tears start to well up in his eyes. He turns so Ohno can’t see them. “Okay.”

+++


    Wow. His apartment was extremely messy - with the piles of dirty clothing lying forgotten, the dishes in the leaky sink, his art supplies stacked haphazardly in the corner of the small living room, and his fishing poles laying scattered on the floor. Ohno has never been very good at taking care of himself; Hitomi had always been the one who was in charge of all that. Ohno misses her.

    A cough escapes him. Must be getting sick, he thinks to himself. Ohno tries to get into a more comfortable position on the couch, where its ancient springs were poking him in the back. He hears Nino making little noises in his room, unable to sleep. Ohno closes his eyes; he is so tired.

+++

    Nino counts twenty steps to the living room, then five steps to the couch. A loud, hollow cough came from it, followed by a sneeze.

    “Ohno-san, are you okay?,” Nino asks, trying to figure out where to look.

    “I think I have a fever,” he hears a muffled voice say, “But I am not sure.”

    Despite Ohno’s situation, Nino finds himself smiling at the child-like remark. “Let me feel your forehead.” Nino tentatively puts out a hand and feels Ohno take it, putting it on his forehead. Ohno was indeed burning up. Nino contemplates for a moment before saying: “Just stay here and I’ll get a wet towel for your head.”

    “But -”

    “Don’t worry, I can count and remember where stuff are.” Nino had memorized the number of steps for everything because he didn’t want to feel like a burden to Ohno.

    Nino returns with one and hands it to Ohno.

    “I’m gonna make soup,” Nino announces. Nino hears Ohno make a noise that sounded like a chicken being strangled and quickly adds, “I am really good at cooking. Just get out all the ingredients and show me the stove and I am good.”

+++


    Ohno stirs on his bed - which Nino had demanded he take back. The entire night was slightly foggy in Ohno’s brain. He remembers feeling chills, Nino giving him a wet towel to cool his fever down, the strange dream he had (one where he was dressed as a maid and then Bruce Lee), and the soup Nino made. The taste of it still lingered in his mouth.

    He rolls out of bed and pads quietly into the living room. A feeble ray of light manages to break through the heavy gray clouds in the sky and shine through the curtains. It’s beam falls on Nino’s sleeping face and Ohno feels something tug inside of him.

    All of a sudden, Nino blinks awake. He scratches his head, and yawns widely like a cat, stretching his small body along the length of the couch. Ohno wants to continue staring, but figures it might be kind of rude. He clears his throat politely.

    “Morning Nino.” He had insisted Ohno call him that.

    “Good morning Ohno-san.”

    Breakfast passes too fast (it was cereal ‘made’ by Ohno) and soon , he was walking with Nino to the bus stop. Nino clutches tightly at Ohno’s arm as the unfamiliar sounds of traffic cuts through the morning air. Honks made Nino jump and the whistle of passing cars displacing air made him cringe. Ohno feels Nino shake violently as a particularly large delivery truck rumbles past. Maybe he was still reminded of his own accident or maybe the fact that he couldn’t see made the world a scarier place to live in.

    Ohno winds one arm protectively around Nino’s thin waist.

    “It’s okay Nino. I am here.”

+++

    As Nino lies in his bed, waiting for sleep to come, he wonders how Ohno Satoshi looks like. Nino thinks that he must be beautiful beyond words, just like his heart.

    He feels his own heart trill as he replays the scene in his head over again.

    “Ohno-san, can I visit you again?”

    “Of course.”

    “Like tomorrow?”

    He hears Ohno laugh, a nice comforting sound that sounded like the tinkering of piano keys. “Yes Nino, you can visit me whenever you want to.”

    In the dark, a love song blossoms in Nino’s head as he drifts off to the dream world.

+++

    “What are you doing?,” Nino asks on the other line, as the setting sun threw shadows in Ohno’s apartment.

    “I am painting.”

    “Oh. What are you painting?”

    ‘The time I first met you‘, Ohno wants to say. But of course, he can’t. Nino was his friend for approximately three months now and Ohno didn’t want to ruin their wonderful friendship by saying something weird like that. Instead, he replies: “A window. With sunshine streaming through it.”

    “That sounds nice. I wish I could see it,” Ohno hears Nino say wistfully.

+++

    “Can I hear a song Nino?”

    “But I can’t play anymore.”

    “You can. If you just try.”

    Nino tries.

+++

    “Nino are you alright?”

    “I - I am fine. Just - just a bit seasick. No-no need to worry.”

    “At least let me hold your head when you barf.”

    “N-no! It sprays everywhere. You’ll be grossed out! Now-now go and catch some G-2s or whatever they’re called.”

    “I rather be with you.”

+++

    One day, Nino summons up all his courage. “Oh-chan.”

    “Yes Nino?”

    “Can I touch your face?,” Nino blurts out in a rush. Nino feels his own face turn red and looks down.

    He imagines Ohno looking scandalized, frightened, and even horrified, but Ohno just calmly takes Nino’s hands and places them on the sides of his face. His face felt smooth, like a newborn baby’s but he must have not shaven yet, since a shadow of stubble pokes Nino’s hands as they flutter on his chin. Nino shyly traces Ohno’s features. His fingertips brushes against Ohno’s long eyelashes and smoothes out his thin, elegant brows. His hands admire Ohno’s delicate nose and pinches his puffy cheeks. But his hands still as they reach Ohno’s lips.

    Nino is afraid. Afraid that once he touches Ohno‘s lips, he would be lost forever. That he would want to be more than just friends. Ohno won’t ever think of him like how Nino thinks of him. Nino was blind. He was a burden and Ohno deserves someone better than that. Ohno deserves a pretty girl who can go on a boat without hurling her stomach contents out. Or one that knew how to paint. In the end, it was going to be heartbreak for Nino.

    So Nino lets his hands drop back onto his lap. “You feel pretty Oh-chan,” he says, trying very hard to sound cheerful.

Like yesterday, I am again thinking of you
Your soft laughter and your gentle voice
Keeps appearing in my thoughts
If I could make one wish
It would be to see your face.
Just once.
It pains me when I realize that
I will never be able to.

+++

    Ohno worries about Nino. A lot. Ohno wonders if he had done something wrong. After that day where Nino had wanted to touch his face, Nino had seemingly cut all ties with him. He doesn’t call or answer Ohno’s calls.

    Maybe Nino found Ohno really ugly after that episode. Confusion swamps Ohno’s head. He looks around his apartment. It seems much lonelier without Nino‘s sarcasm and brattiness. Or the bright smiles that were sweet like candy. Especially after they had cleaned it up together.

    Everywhere he looks, Ohno is reminded of Nino. At work, there is picture that sits on top of his desk. It was taken on their first and last fishing trip together, where Ohno is grinning ecstatically, holding the small fish (“It’s a freaking goldfish!,” Nino screams after Ohno hands it to him) he had caught after six hours at sea, and Nino is frowning at a spot above the camera, with dribbles of barf still on his shirt. On the bus, Ohno is reminded of the bus rides they took to go places, since Ohno still didn’t have a driver’s license (“Are you sure you’re 27?”). Listening to music reminds Ohno of Nino’s small hands on the piano or strumming the guitar. Even out at sea, where fishing usually took his mind off everything, Ohno only sees Nino hurling in a bucket or Nino shouting at him to ’put on more sunscreen.’ On days where the sun reigns supreme in the sky, the image of Nino standing near the hospital window with an aura of light behind him flashes in Ohno’s head. Rainy days were worse; Ohno paces around his apartment, hoping that Nino won’t go and try kill himself again.

     Ohno glances at the sunflower painting hanging up on the living room wall.

    “I am not happy, Hitomi.”

    Suddenly, Hitomi’s voice echoes in his head: Well, go do something about it.

+++

    Nino knows that he is a selfish person.

    “Well, why are you avoiding me Nino?,” Ohno’s angry voice crashes over him.

    Nino had thought they could be friends. But he was greedy. As usual.

    “There’s something I have to tell you,” he hears himself say.

I can’t pinpoint
The exact time
It happened.
All I know is that
I always find the strength,
A reason to live,
When I am with you.
I realize that I love you.
I hope you
Will love me back too.

+++

    “There’s something I have to tell you,” Nino begins weakly. He was in his old pajamas, sitting on the edge of his bed, knees drawn up close to his body; it made him look like a small boy. This Nino was as delicate and fragile as a glass figurine. He was not the strong, confident one that Ohno admired the most.

    Ohno stands in front of the younger man. His brain is going over all the possible things Nino might be telling him; all of them were bad. Was Nino sick? Did he have leukemia like Hitomi? Ohno’s heart drops to his stomach - he has already lost his sister, he can’t lose Nino too.

    “What is it?,” his voice comes out as a squeak.

    “Give me your hand Oh-chan,’ Nino extends his out towards Ohno.

    Ohno doesn’t hesitate and puts his slightly sweaty hand in Nino’s. He watches as Nino slowly places it over his heart. It was faint at first, like a fluttering butterfly, but soon, Nino’s heart pounds a rhythmic thud thud thud under Ohno’s palm. Ohno knows that this is a significant gesture from Nino, but he doesn’t quite understand it. Nino’s eyes are closed tightly, his mouth set in a thin line. Ohno frantically racks his brain for the right response, frozen like a rock.

    Nino grip tightens on Ohno’s hand. And suddenly, everything was clear to him. Confusion turns into shock. Shock turns into bewilderment again. Butterflies erupts in his stomach and Ohno had the sudden urge to do cartwheels.

+++

    When Ohno doesn’t respond, Nino feels the darkness suffocate him. He quickly drops Ohno’s hand and backs away from him. Ohno’s rejection was even more painful to endure than losing his sight. Humiliation flushes his cheeks and he feels a single teardrop trail off his left cheek.

    “Sorry Oh-chan,” he cries, as his throat constricts and disappointment wells up behind his eyes. “I didn’t mean to make things complicated.” Nino buries his face in his arms.

    “It’s not complicated, it’s actually very simple,” he hears Ohno say.

    “How?,” Nino wails, wiping his tears away. A hand shifts his bangs away from his wet eyes.

    “It’s simple because you love me and I love you.” Nino freezes. His heart feels so full that it might explode right out of his chest.

    “Y-You don’t mind if - if I can’t see?,” Nino manages to whisper.

    “Nino, I am looking into your eyes right now,” Ohno whispers back. Nino feels Ohno's shoulder brush with his. "And I don't care if you're blind. The important thing is that you make me happy, and that's all I care about."

    Ohno pulls Nino in an embrace.

Nino feels like he is floating on Cloud 9.

+++


    “Niiiii-noooo!,” he hears Ohno sing-song from the balcony.

    “What is it Oh-chan?,” he replies, pausing his fingers over the piano keys.

    “There’s a rainbow outside!,” Ohno’s voice comes back. He sounds excited and giddy like a little kid.

    “So?,” Nino calls back, turning back to his piano. “Is it beautiful?,” he adds, after not hearing Ohno’s voice. Nino didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

    “Yes!”

    Nino hums in satisfaction at the reply and sets back to composing.

    Suddenly, he feels Ohno’s warm hands on his shoulders. “But you’re much more beautiful than the rainbow,” Ohno’s breath, smelling of peppermint, lingers on his neck. Nino smiles to himself.

    “Thank you Oh-chan.”

I would be content
If life was like this everyday,
Where each and every moment,
Is filled with happiness.
I want to grow old with
You by my side
To cherish and love you
For the rest of my life.

-------------------------
Notes: This was kind of depressing to write - it's a gazillion more times angstier than my other Ohmiya oneshot. Also, I apologize for making it long too - I hope that you guys didn't fall alsleep XD. The rainbow part came from Niji - it's my favorite line from it. As I am a fairly new fic writer, feedback is always welcome!

One-shot - Call me Nino

2009-07-03T00:02:21Z

Call Me Nino
Genre: AU, Crack!, Fluff?
Pairing: Ohmiya
Rating: PG
Summary: Ohno’s most dreaded day of the year has arrived but when he least expects it, he meets someone who just might change his mind about shopping trips.

    Ohno Satoshi was being led to his doom by his very own mother.

    “Satoshi, pick it up will you?,” his mother scolded, dragging her sluggish son, “By the time we get there, the sale will be over and you need new underwear!”

    Yes, it was one of those days when Ohno wished that he could be more independent - that he was able to buy his own clothes and drive a car like guys his age. Anything that will get his mother off his case about the condition of his unmentionables in front of all these strangers. He could hear the snickers coming from a group of high school girls behind them and the ‘tut tuts’ from the elderly couple hobbling alongside his mother. Ohno wanted the ground to swallow him up already.

    The crowd was pushing and shoving to one destination in the mall - Mitsukoshi’s end of the year sale. Practically everything was slashed off at ridiculously low prices, causing people like Ohno’s mom to go crazy and formulate highly detailed plans during this time of year. His sister would have loved to come too, but had an important meeting (for which she couldn’t call in sick for, as she usually did when these kinds of events took place). Ohno’s father had mumbled something about digestion problems, the bathroom, and toilet paper before hurrying away. Ohno wished he could have made something up about his digestive system but his mother knew him too well.

    “Okay Satoshi, once they open those doors, we rush to the male’s department, get your undies and all the clothes I pointed out to you on our scouting trip,” Mama Ohno reminded her son, “Then, we make our way down to the…” Ohno slowly tuned out her voice (but periodically nodded along of course) and instead, concentrated on getting out the specks of clay that were under his nails.

    “Satoshi! They’re opening! Get ready!,” he heard his mother call out, her voice raising in pitch with all the excitement she had bottled in for the past month. “This is not the time to pick your nails!,” she added shrilly. Ohno snapped right out of his nail-picking. God, he was bored to death but he loved his mother too much to complain. He nodded at his mom in understanding.

    The tall, dark-haired store manager got ready to unlock the double doors, flourishing in the air a little golden key in his heavily ring-adorned fingers. It caused the already excited crowd outside the store to go frantic. Really, Ohno thought, this wasn’t one of those idol concerts where all those crazy fan girls screamed themselves hoarse, so would people just calm down already? He was being jousted left and right by strangers when suddenly, he felt someone’s hand on his butt. At first, Ohno categorized it as an accident. But when the hand did not remove itself from his ass, he realized he was actually being groped by a total stranger. That scared the crap out of Ohno. But before he could scream and alert his mother (who could, with one punch, make the guy or girl fly out of the mall), the doors were unlocked and Ohno was carried along with the crowd, like a salmon in a current.

    “SATOSHI! SATOSHI! GRAB MY HAND!,” his mother screamed as the crowd threatened to separate them (and thus, ruining her plans). Ohno dutifully latched onto her arm, trying to shake that awful feeling of just being groped off.

+

    “CUTICLE T-SHIRTS! EIGHTY PERCENT OFF LADIES!,” cried a shrill husky voice in broken English over the loudspeakers, “COME AND GET THEM!” The person giggled in a hyena-like laugh before the store music came back on again.

    The clothing shelf Mama Ohno threw herself and her son at was already surrounded by housewives and teenagers. Clawing away all her rivals, she frantically loaded up on t-shirts. “SATOSHI! DON’T JUST STAND THERE! FIGHT!,” Mama Ohno screeched at her dumbfounded son. I might as well have given birth to a rock, she thought to herself, snatching shirt after shirt up.

    Ohno wanted to be helpful, so he grabbed onto a bright yellow t-shirt nearby. Immediately, another hand latched onto it. The hand belonged to a skinny, pale boy who looked not a day over seventeen. He was wearing clothes that seemed several sizes bigger than he was. “HEY! IT‘S MINE! GIVE IT BACK!,” snarled the boy, his dark eyes focused entirely on the shirt.

    Ohno panicked - he was a peaceful person by nature and really didn’t know to react to this- this- this feral being. “No - No- it-it’s mine!,” he stammered. But he wasn’t quite sure anymore if he had gotten to the bright yellow shirt first - with this crazy boy scratching at his arms and everything.

    “IT’S MINE YOU LIE -,” the boy cut off as he looked up (prepared to kill with his eyes) at Ohno. “Oh! It’s you!” The boy grinned and instantly let go of the shirt Ohno was pulling hard at. Ohno found himself flying backwards onto the hard floor.

    “OUCH!,” Ohno cried out, rubbing his sore backside.

    “Sorry! Is your - I mean, are you okay?,” cried the boy, helping Ohno stand up. Ohno huffed indignantly and turned to go back to his mom’s side when the boy stuck out his hands. “I am Ninomiya Kazunari. But you can call me Nino.” The boy grinned again, flashing his small white pearly teeth. Was his eyes playing tricks on him, Ohno thought to himself, what happened to the psycho earlier?

    “Uh…sure. Bye,” Ohno replied, turning back to the shelves. Oh crap.

    The shelves were surrounded by an impenetrable wall of people already and Ohno could barely see the top of his mother’s head. Before he could blink, the boy - Nino - ran and rammed his small body into the wall, roaring out a kind of absurd battle-like yell at the same time. What in the world? Ohno watched, disbelief written on his face, as he watched Nino shove people away before disappearing into the fray beside his mom.

+

    “Satoshi, introduce me to this dear boy here,” Mama Ohno smiled at Nino, who was helping them lug their bags of clothing, pans, bedspreads, and shower curtains into their car.

    “Uh…,” Ohno started. He had no idea who this guy was and understandably, he was getting quite jealous of all the compliments his mom was showering onto Nino. So what if he had helped his mom clear off the clothing department, the kitchen department, the bedroom and bathroom aisles? He helped too - by giving encouraging words and holding everything they managed to get their hands on.

    “I am Ninomiya Kazunari. Nice to meet you Mrs. Ohno!,” Nino smiled his laser smile. Ohno’s heart skipped weirdly.

    Just the excitement of the day wearing off, Ohno told himself.

+

    Somehow, Nino managed to squeeze his bony body on top of Ohno during the car ride back home (Mama Ohno had invited the boy to have dinner with them).

    “Ah ~ sorry Oh-chan, all the stuff in here, you know?,” Nino apologized. Ohno thought he caught a glint of mischief in his eyes. And Oh-chan? When had he given Nino permission to call him that? It wasn’t even that crowded in the car. Ohno sighed inwardly and sat rigidly, with Nino’s sharp corners poking into him. It wasn’t altogether unpleasant though. Nino smelled like oranges.

+

   Ohno found out that Nino was good at videogames. He sat back glumly onto the couch to watch his family playing Wii. His stomach was growling - his mother had abandoned making dinner in favor of battling out with Nino.

    “AHHHH - he’s just too good, honey!,” cried his exasperated father, wiping the sweat pouring off him.

    “We. Mustn’t. Give. Up. Dear!,” Mama Ohno gasped out, narrowly missing the tennis ball Nino had fired at them.

    “We’re gonna win this Ninomiya-kun!,” yelled Ohno’s sister, grinning madly.

    “Call me Nino,” the boy replied smoothly, before slamming the ball into Papa and Mama Ohno‘s side of the court.

    Okay, so Ohno wasn’t very good at Wii. Did his family have to hog Nino? Ohno froze. ‘Wait a second,’ he thought to himself wildly, ‘I am supposed to be scared of Nino. You saw those claws of his! And he has such a potty mouth - that poor chipmunk-like store clerk!’

    Ohno shook his head, trying to get all his thoughts of Nino out of his head.


+

    It wasn’t as easy as Ohno had thought it would be. As the night progressed, he began to stare at the very strange Nino, who was sitting next to him at the table. Nino was very polite, constantly praising Mama Ohno’s cooking. Nino was special, in some odd way; Ohno has never met a person so revealing yet so mysterious at the same time. Ohno wonders how many more different personalities Nino has. How many other Ninos was there inside this one Nino? He was like lasagna - multilayered with complex textures. Wait, Ohno thought, that analogy made no sense at all. Ohno forced himself to concentrate back on his food.

   Mama Ohno beamed at Nino‘s praises. “Satoshi! You must learn to chew. You should learn from Nino here! Look at how he eats so very politely,” she trilled.

    “Okay,” mumbled Ohno through a mouth full of rice, quickly grasping onto his mother’s suggestion in order to stare at Nino more. Nino ate his plate of food slowly - as if savoring every little bite.

    Ohno doesn’t know when he had first experienced this sudden feeling in his heart - it was a click, like the final piece of a puzzle being put in place. Things were getting a bit too complicated for Ohno.

+

    Tonight was Ohno’s turn at washing the dishes. Usually, he accepted the task with few complaints but tonight Nino was here, and Ohno can’t possibly be slaving away in the kitchen while Nino was here. Especially when Nino was showing magic tricks!

   He tried shooting pleading glances towards his mother (without looking too desperate of course).
Mama Ohno noticed her son had still not moved a muscle towards the kitchen. “Satoshi! Quit standing there like a statue - go and wash the dishes!”

    And so Ohno was trying not to break all the dishes like last time, while his family was ‘ooohing’ and ‘ahhhing’ outside at Nino’s disappearing card trick. Ohno doesn’t care. Mostly. Playing with soap suds and greasy dishes was probably much more fun.

   “I’ll go see how Oh-chan’s doing.”

    Ohno cocked his head to one side. Nino was coming in here?

    “No Nino! Sit down! You are the guest!”

“No - no, I should help him wash the dishes since I ate here.”

    Ohno ripped off his duck-yellow gloves and tried to straighten up his messy hair. He was both happy and nervous at prospect of being alone with Nino. What should he say? Nino was sharp and witty. Ohno knew that his tongue would probably not obey what his brain wanted to convey. Ohno pulled the gloves back on and reached for the next plate.

    “Need help Oh-chan?,” said a voice extremely close to his ears. Ohno jumped, dropping the plate he was holding. The plate clattered loudly into the sink. He twisted around to see Nino’s eyes smiling with amusement.

    “Oh. Uh. No. Thanks,” Ohno spluttered out. Crap. Suds from the falling plate had flew into his eyes. Ohno tried to blink away the burning sensation at the corners of his eyes, hoping he didn’t look too weird.

   “It looks like you do need help,” Nino smirked, shimmying right up to his face. Nino got out a handkerchief and wetted it a bit in the sink. He then placed one hand on Ohno’s face and began to gently wipe at Ohno’s eyes with the other, brows furrowed and a hint of pink tongue stuck out in concentration . Ohno sees himself reflected inside Nino’s huge puppy eyes.

    With that, Ohno ceases to think straight.

+

    “Come again next time Nino dear!,” Mama Ohno calls from the front door.

   “Thank you again Mrs. Ohno!,” waved Nino, smiling his sparkly smile. Mama Ohno smiles back and goes back inside.

   Ohno steps forward onto the street and Nino notices. They looked at each other for a while.

   “Do you have something you want to tell me Oh-chan?,” Nino asked, hands in his pockets.

‘Yes. Yes. I do. I want to tell you how you somehow wiggled your way into my life and left it in complete chaos from the time that I first met you,’ Ohno thinks to himself, ‘That you are the weirdest, craziest, most interesting person I’ve ever met. That I don’t want to forget your smile and your hands and your baggy clothes. That you’ve become something more in my heart.’

   Ohno feels a bit silly for not being able to say all this. Maybe he's too rash to be feeling all of this. A host of emotions were running through his body, leaving him more confused than ever. “I am glad to have met you, Nino. I-I like you. A lot,” Ohno finally whispers. He stares down at his slightly calloused hands. Anywhere else other than at Nino. Ohno hopes Nino understands that he wasn’t an eloquent person and comprehends what his words really meant.

    Ohno is shocked to find Nino’s small pale hand fit into his darker one. Nino is looking at him, eyes smoky and clear at the same time. Nino smiles, a smile more different than all the other ones Ohno has received. “I think I like you too. A lot.”

   “That’s good,” Ohno whispers back, his voice cracking a bit.

   Their companionable silence was shattered when Ohno‘s yelp of surprise echoed down the deserted street. Ohno rubbed his backside. He widened his eyes in recognition at the grope. “So it was you!”

    “Of course it was me,” Nino laughs, “Silly Oh-chan.”

Ohno thinks a bit (while Nino crosses his arms and pouts) and concludes that he could possibly live with Nino’s strange tendencies to touch people’s backsides, if he could hear Nino laugh like that everyday.

   Ohno smiles shyly back at Nino. “Do you want me to walk you back home?” Nino’s eyes flicker to Ohno’s, his face slowly turning a becoming shade of pink. Nino nods and takes Ohno's extended hand.

+++

Un-Betaed
Should have been working on Chapter 2 of this
But this idea came up when I was watching the HnA mannequin episode. I tried putting the rest of Arashi in it - see if you can spot them out! As I am still a newbie at writing fics, feedback is welcome! ^^