Beneath the... (Chapter 7)
Title: Beneath the…
Rating: R for words.
Characters: OT5 (All Arashi members as brothers)
Genre: AU, drama, family, angst
Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine~
Summary: 2 years ago Osayama Satoshi was involved in a terrible accident that made him lost partial of his memories. Even though he survived the impact, he becomes mentally incapable and has to depend on his younger brothers to lead normal life. What he didn’t expect when waking up though was to find all his once caring brothers had turned into people who were completely different from his memory. Sho has changed into a hot-tempered workaholic, Kazunari becomes an introvert who refuses to talk with anyone, and Jun drowns himself in party, alcohol and women every single night. To make it even confusing, nobody in the house is allowed to speak about Masaki who for some unknown reasons has disappeared without a trace.
Will Satoshi find the answer he is seeking for in the end? Or something…is actually is hidden beneath the mess?
A/N: Their surname is Osayama. Un-betaed!
Chapter 7 : Beneath the lie
For the countless time, Kazu looks at his phone screen again to read the message he received from a particular someone. Even though it comes from a private number and the sender obviously tried to hide his identity judging from the straight to the point content, the word ‘Nii-san’ already indirectly revealed who the person actually is.
‘It’s so typical him…’
Without he realizes it, a smile already shows on his face when remembers how airhead that person can be sometimes. However, it immediately disappears when he put it down once hears rushing footsteps comes from outside. By the time Sho opens the front door and hurriedly get inside with the anxious Jun following behind, the guy already returns to his gloomy self again.
“Is it true? Someone will send Nii-san back this evening?”
Kazu’s small nod immediately makes Sho huffs his breath in great relief. More than aware with how Jun always acts in this situation though, the fourth brother already expects the next question to come from the latter.
“Why that person knows your number? Do you know him?”
From the side of his eyes, he notices how Sho suddenly turns to him again. Even before the two of them return there actually, he already struggles with himself whether he should tell them the real identity of the sender or not. He made a huge mistake for hiding something that he believes will certainly affect the relationship between the five of them, but never in his worst dream to see it ended up so terrible twice when he eventually decided to reveal the truth - first, on the day before Masaki’s left, and second, right before their eldest brother’s accident happened. That is why this time he strongly feels he shouldn’t let himself to make the same choice if he hopes for a different outcome.
Though, in the end like he expects it, he still can’t bring himself to say it loud. Not after watching how big the damage it creates to their family now.
“It seems like he was my acquaintance from University. Nii-san probably told him my name.”
He clenches tightly around his phone when see Jun nods by the explanation, seemingly satisfied. The house then returns into its usual silence when the youngest brother enters the kitchen while Sho slumps on the couch and massages his forehead. Kazu himself chooses to not engage with any talk as he retreats into his room and wait until the estimated time that the message sender said he will send Nii-san back with bus before. By the time he closes the door and sits on his bed later, he can’t help from reading the same message again, his eyes at the same time already dim with obvious guilt and sadness.
Sho’s full of rage screams that warned Masaki to never show himself in front any of them again still rang in his ears. The second brother and he had been shouting at each other like mad people in the living room after the unusually quiet third brother left with his hurriedly packed stuff without saying a single word which he believed due to fear of triggering Sho’s outburst again. He already demanded some full explanations behind their sudden fight, but all Sho kept repeating was ‘traitor’ and endless curses that clearly directed to Masaki. If not because he had witnessed the entire scene himself, he will never believe that the once playful second brother who seemed to always have a soft spot on the clumsy third brother will go as far as punching the younger one until the latter’s left with bruises and bleeding lip before. He couldn’t grasp what exactly had happened, but he knew it must be something terrible until it pushed Sho to the edge of sanity like now. Nevertheless, there was no way he could accept the fact that the older one can easily abandon their brother just like that, what more when the reason is work related.
Later, someone suddenly slammed open the front door.
“Kazu!”
The fourth brother can feel the burden he is carrying turned a bit lighter once he saw Satoshi’s face. Meanwhile, the eldest among the three hurriedly approach them with his clearly panic look.
“Finally. Have you listened to my voicemail?”
“I did. Where’s Masaki now?” the question instantly left Satoshi’s mouth as soon as he stood in front the younger man. Kazu on the other hand couldn’t help from felt guiltier when realized that their eldest brother had been running back to home judging from the latter’s breathing and soaked with sweat shirt. Unable to form a word to explain the situation however, Kazu just quietly moved his stern gaze to Sho who was still standing in the middle of the messy living room with books and broken things surrounding him. That was more than a clear unspoken hint for Satoshi to understand everything as he determinedly walked toward their second brother.
“Sho, what actually happened?”
Instead of answering, the angry man just punched the shelf beside him. That though didn’t scare Satoshi even a bit as he stepped closer.
“Did something happen in the company?”
“He betrayed us! I can’t believe that *sshole did that to me, to our hard-work after all this time! I trusted him so much yet he still surrendered to those motherf*ckers!! I’m so going to f*cking kill him the next time I see him again!!!”
Another poor glass made decoration ended up shatter into pieces when the mad Sho throw it hard onto the wall. Worried, Kazu hurriedly grabbed for Satoshi’s arm to stop the latter from moving forward. Their ill-temper brother seem like he had been possessed by demon as he keeps on shouting and throwing stuff to everywhere. It took two full minutes until the latter finally stopped and pulled his own hair due to frustration before Satoshi decided to speak again.
“I know you’re angry right now, Sho. I know you’re the type who will never get angry unless for a reasonable reason. But we can’t let Masaki leave like this. It’s unfair for him.”
“Like he f*king knows what ‘fair’ actually mean! That mother*cker didn’t even think about us when he did his sh*t before!”
“But at least you should talk with us before coming up with that decision. This involve us as well, Sho. Also, it isn’t right to treat him like this at home when the reason is company related, right?”
As Satoshi continued to talk, Kazu started to feel more and more at ease. He knew that no matter how laidback and quiet their eldest brother normally is, during critical time like this the latter will become a very reliable man. That was the reason why he desperately tried to reach for him when he failed to stop Sho from bashing Masaki as he had been both shouted and firmly told by those two to stay out of the matter. He knew even if he insisted to break them, it might worsen the situation due to Sho’s dangerous state when he is at the peak of his anger like now. Yet, being the eldest and the one that Sho always respect since small, the fourth brother realized that there was no way Sho will dare to lose his temper at Satoshi like the way he did to them.
Before he realized it, Sho already settled himself on the couch though still breathing hard. That was when Satoshi suddenly turned to him and said that they are going to find Masaki. However, the two of them didn’t even manage to move far when Sho suddenly shouted his threat.
“I’m not letting anyone to go and find him! Don’t any of you dare to bring back that ungrateful *sshole to here!”
Despite the hoarseness after the long period of screaming, the dangerous tone enough to stop them. Disturbed by that, Satoshi was about to say something back when Sho swiftly cut him.
“There’s proof he leaked out confidential information to LAB! And you guys also know what it means when he’s selling it to our family company’s biggest enemy, right?! IT MEANS HE’S A F*CKING UNGRATEFUL, TRAITOR!!!”
That one name instantly made cold sweat trickled down to Kazu’s face. After all, it didn’t sound so unfamiliar to him after he accidentally found a hidden secret about their family years ago. If what Sho just said was true, then the second brother himself might be already aware about ‘that’. And somehow it would be very understandable for him as well if Masaki suddenly decided to turn his back from their family company. The fact just how terrible the conversation that the two of them had last night ended up, though Masaki just mostly cried for the entire time that he nearly couldn’t form a proper word, enough to support his guess. He felt like his head started to spin by the overwhelming realization until Satoshi suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him along.
“For now I still can’t agree with your decision, Sho. We will talk about this again after we found Masaki back.” with that Satoshi led them outside despite Sho’s shout. Whatever thing that left the eldest brother’s mouth afterwards however slipped from the younger one’s mind since he already felt too disorientated to think rationally about anything else. Even when they took separate way to increase their chance of finding Masaki back, Kazu couldn’t help but keep on pondering guiltily to himself.
…Was this his fault for trying to hide the truth?
Thinking back now, he wonders if things will be different if he didn’t decide to tell Satoshi that very night as well. As soon as he finished explaining the real story to the older man, Satoshi grew even worried and desperate that later, leading to the accident which turned him into a mentally incapable man like now. He still regrets it. He still truly regrets it a lot for trying to keep the truth to himself though he swears it is not because he wants any of these horrible things to happen.
Yet, all the poor man can do now is just bury his stained with tears face on his palms as he endlessly cringes on the unfixable mistakes he had created because of his naivety…
***
The atmosphere during the entire way back is very pleasant. Both excited with the fact that he is returning home and having Masaki with him, Satoshi can’t stop talking about his job and things that happened at home during Masaki’s absence. The mood is very delightful as none of them try to touch any triggering subjects and just enjoy the bus ride, though that doesn’t stop the older one from noticing the sorrow look that his brother tries to hide every time he turns to other way. Later, once realize that they are getting closer to their stop, Satoshi finally musters all his courage to ask what had been bothering him for the past hours.
“You wi-ll see the-m, ri-ght?”
He notices how Masaki flinches by the question though still showing his smile in the end. The forced expression that the younger one is actually wearing though grows clearer as the bus moves closer to their stop. However, much to Satoshi’s pleasant surprise, Masaki still follows him to get off from the bus and accepts it when he takes his hand to lead them home. From time to time Satoshi will turn to the younger one and share about everything around them despite well-aware with the fact that the latter actually know about most of it since he also was living in there until two years ago.
Yet, it isn’t until they are only a few roads from home that he finally notices how Masaki’s hand is growing tenser and colder against his. Soon, the younger one suddenly stops walking, making him to halt as well before turning with worried look.
“I think…I’ll stop here. Nii-san know the way, right?”
The older brother becomes even more confused when notice Masaki’s discomfort.
“Bu-t Masa-ki…you a-re al-ready he-re …”
“It’s okay. I’m more than happy to see Nii-san already. It’s been a while so…I feel embarrassed to see them.”
The awkward smile Masaki tries to show makes him even sadder. Even though he really wants them to have family reunion today, he understands that he should not force Masaki any further after their conversation during lunch before. Furthermore, he also notices that rather than embarrassment, the younger man actually seems more like he is afraid of something. And somehow that reminds him with one thing that Masaki mentioned last night.
“M-asa-ki…wha-t do you mea-nt by yo-u did un-for-giv-able mis-take to our fami-ly? You on-ly told me a-bout the com-pany.” Satoshi though immediately regretted his question when see the change of Masaki’s expression. Before he could apologize however, they heard familiar voices are approaching not far from there. It doesn’t take long until they recognize that the voice belong to no other than Sho and Jun who are busily throwing questions to Kazu about something they can’t grasp. Excited by the realization, Satoshi hurriedly runs toward the voices to show them what surprise he has with him. By the time he is supposed to take turn to right though, he nearly bumps into the three younger brothers who also want to make their turn at the corner. Both shock and relief with the encounter, the three younger brothers immediately question if he is okay and need to call for help. Sho possibly will already erupt with his rage if not because Jun is quick enough to cut in.
“Where have you been?? We are so worried!”
“Abo-ut that…I-I want to su-rpi-se you gu-ys, but I got lo-st. B-But I met a go-od man! He to-ok me to Ma-”
“Good man? Who’s he? Are you okay?”
“I’m f-ine, Sh-o. He’s ni-ce!”
“Was he the one who took Nii-san here?”
“No! It wa-s Masa-!” he quickly turns around to show them the third brother. However, his big grin immediately drops when he can’t find the younger man anywhere in there. Ignoring the three brothers’ prying questions, Satoshi just run along the road that they took together before to search for the familiar silhouette, hoping and praying that the latter hasn’t left the area yet. Yet, by the time he reaches the previous bus stop, the bus already starts to move to the next destination. He wants to go after it, but Sho was faster when he quickly pulls him aback.
“Where are you going?! You just arrived!”
“B-But-”
Satoshi can’t bring himself to finish the sentence as he hopelessly watches the leaving bus in front. Even when he is being dragged home by his brothers later, his eyes just remain at the bus until it disappears from his sight.
…Now, when he tries to remember it again, he finally realizes what Masaki had said to him right before he starts running to look for the others.
“I’m sorry, Nii-san.”
***
>In the end they still didn't meet each other. It might be still a huge step for their family...
>But next chapter will take a BIG turn so please look forward for it :)
>Thank You SO much for reading and commenting as always!
Rating: R for words.
Characters: OT5 (All Arashi members as brothers)
Genre: AU, drama, family, angst
Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine~
Summary: 2 years ago Osayama Satoshi was involved in a terrible accident that made him lost partial of his memories. Even though he survived the impact, he becomes mentally incapable and has to depend on his younger brothers to lead normal life. What he didn’t expect when waking up though was to find all his once caring brothers had turned into people who were completely different from his memory. Sho has changed into a hot-tempered workaholic, Kazunari becomes an introvert who refuses to talk with anyone, and Jun drowns himself in party, alcohol and women every single night. To make it even confusing, nobody in the house is allowed to speak about Masaki who for some unknown reasons has disappeared without a trace.
Will Satoshi find the answer he is seeking for in the end? Or something…is actually is hidden beneath the mess?
A/N: Their surname is Osayama. Un-betaed!
Chapter 7 : Beneath the lie
For the countless time, Kazu looks at his phone screen again to read the message he received from a particular someone. Even though it comes from a private number and the sender obviously tried to hide his identity judging from the straight to the point content, the word ‘Nii-san’ already indirectly revealed who the person actually is.
‘It’s so typical him…’
Without he realizes it, a smile already shows on his face when remembers how airhead that person can be sometimes. However, it immediately disappears when he put it down once hears rushing footsteps comes from outside. By the time Sho opens the front door and hurriedly get inside with the anxious Jun following behind, the guy already returns to his gloomy self again.
“Is it true? Someone will send Nii-san back this evening?”
Kazu’s small nod immediately makes Sho huffs his breath in great relief. More than aware with how Jun always acts in this situation though, the fourth brother already expects the next question to come from the latter.
“Why that person knows your number? Do you know him?”
From the side of his eyes, he notices how Sho suddenly turns to him again. Even before the two of them return there actually, he already struggles with himself whether he should tell them the real identity of the sender or not. He made a huge mistake for hiding something that he believes will certainly affect the relationship between the five of them, but never in his worst dream to see it ended up so terrible twice when he eventually decided to reveal the truth - first, on the day before Masaki’s left, and second, right before their eldest brother’s accident happened. That is why this time he strongly feels he shouldn’t let himself to make the same choice if he hopes for a different outcome.
Though, in the end like he expects it, he still can’t bring himself to say it loud. Not after watching how big the damage it creates to their family now.
“It seems like he was my acquaintance from University. Nii-san probably told him my name.”
He clenches tightly around his phone when see Jun nods by the explanation, seemingly satisfied. The house then returns into its usual silence when the youngest brother enters the kitchen while Sho slumps on the couch and massages his forehead. Kazu himself chooses to not engage with any talk as he retreats into his room and wait until the estimated time that the message sender said he will send Nii-san back with bus before. By the time he closes the door and sits on his bed later, he can’t help from reading the same message again, his eyes at the same time already dim with obvious guilt and sadness.
Sho’s full of rage screams that warned Masaki to never show himself in front any of them again still rang in his ears. The second brother and he had been shouting at each other like mad people in the living room after the unusually quiet third brother left with his hurriedly packed stuff without saying a single word which he believed due to fear of triggering Sho’s outburst again. He already demanded some full explanations behind their sudden fight, but all Sho kept repeating was ‘traitor’ and endless curses that clearly directed to Masaki. If not because he had witnessed the entire scene himself, he will never believe that the once playful second brother who seemed to always have a soft spot on the clumsy third brother will go as far as punching the younger one until the latter’s left with bruises and bleeding lip before. He couldn’t grasp what exactly had happened, but he knew it must be something terrible until it pushed Sho to the edge of sanity like now. Nevertheless, there was no way he could accept the fact that the older one can easily abandon their brother just like that, what more when the reason is work related.
Later, someone suddenly slammed open the front door.
“Kazu!”
The fourth brother can feel the burden he is carrying turned a bit lighter once he saw Satoshi’s face. Meanwhile, the eldest among the three hurriedly approach them with his clearly panic look.
“Finally. Have you listened to my voicemail?”
“I did. Where’s Masaki now?” the question instantly left Satoshi’s mouth as soon as he stood in front the younger man. Kazu on the other hand couldn’t help from felt guiltier when realized that their eldest brother had been running back to home judging from the latter’s breathing and soaked with sweat shirt. Unable to form a word to explain the situation however, Kazu just quietly moved his stern gaze to Sho who was still standing in the middle of the messy living room with books and broken things surrounding him. That was more than a clear unspoken hint for Satoshi to understand everything as he determinedly walked toward their second brother.
“Sho, what actually happened?”
Instead of answering, the angry man just punched the shelf beside him. That though didn’t scare Satoshi even a bit as he stepped closer.
“Did something happen in the company?”
“He betrayed us! I can’t believe that *sshole did that to me, to our hard-work after all this time! I trusted him so much yet he still surrendered to those motherf*ckers!! I’m so going to f*cking kill him the next time I see him again!!!”
Another poor glass made decoration ended up shatter into pieces when the mad Sho throw it hard onto the wall. Worried, Kazu hurriedly grabbed for Satoshi’s arm to stop the latter from moving forward. Their ill-temper brother seem like he had been possessed by demon as he keeps on shouting and throwing stuff to everywhere. It took two full minutes until the latter finally stopped and pulled his own hair due to frustration before Satoshi decided to speak again.
“I know you’re angry right now, Sho. I know you’re the type who will never get angry unless for a reasonable reason. But we can’t let Masaki leave like this. It’s unfair for him.”
“Like he f*king knows what ‘fair’ actually mean! That mother*cker didn’t even think about us when he did his sh*t before!”
“But at least you should talk with us before coming up with that decision. This involve us as well, Sho. Also, it isn’t right to treat him like this at home when the reason is company related, right?”
As Satoshi continued to talk, Kazu started to feel more and more at ease. He knew that no matter how laidback and quiet their eldest brother normally is, during critical time like this the latter will become a very reliable man. That was the reason why he desperately tried to reach for him when he failed to stop Sho from bashing Masaki as he had been both shouted and firmly told by those two to stay out of the matter. He knew even if he insisted to break them, it might worsen the situation due to Sho’s dangerous state when he is at the peak of his anger like now. Yet, being the eldest and the one that Sho always respect since small, the fourth brother realized that there was no way Sho will dare to lose his temper at Satoshi like the way he did to them.
Before he realized it, Sho already settled himself on the couch though still breathing hard. That was when Satoshi suddenly turned to him and said that they are going to find Masaki. However, the two of them didn’t even manage to move far when Sho suddenly shouted his threat.
“I’m not letting anyone to go and find him! Don’t any of you dare to bring back that ungrateful *sshole to here!”
Despite the hoarseness after the long period of screaming, the dangerous tone enough to stop them. Disturbed by that, Satoshi was about to say something back when Sho swiftly cut him.
“There’s proof he leaked out confidential information to LAB! And you guys also know what it means when he’s selling it to our family company’s biggest enemy, right?! IT MEANS HE’S A F*CKING UNGRATEFUL, TRAITOR!!!”
That one name instantly made cold sweat trickled down to Kazu’s face. After all, it didn’t sound so unfamiliar to him after he accidentally found a hidden secret about their family years ago. If what Sho just said was true, then the second brother himself might be already aware about ‘that’. And somehow it would be very understandable for him as well if Masaki suddenly decided to turn his back from their family company. The fact just how terrible the conversation that the two of them had last night ended up, though Masaki just mostly cried for the entire time that he nearly couldn’t form a proper word, enough to support his guess. He felt like his head started to spin by the overwhelming realization until Satoshi suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him along.
“For now I still can’t agree with your decision, Sho. We will talk about this again after we found Masaki back.” with that Satoshi led them outside despite Sho’s shout. Whatever thing that left the eldest brother’s mouth afterwards however slipped from the younger one’s mind since he already felt too disorientated to think rationally about anything else. Even when they took separate way to increase their chance of finding Masaki back, Kazu couldn’t help but keep on pondering guiltily to himself.
…Was this his fault for trying to hide the truth?
Thinking back now, he wonders if things will be different if he didn’t decide to tell Satoshi that very night as well. As soon as he finished explaining the real story to the older man, Satoshi grew even worried and desperate that later, leading to the accident which turned him into a mentally incapable man like now. He still regrets it. He still truly regrets it a lot for trying to keep the truth to himself though he swears it is not because he wants any of these horrible things to happen.
Yet, all the poor man can do now is just bury his stained with tears face on his palms as he endlessly cringes on the unfixable mistakes he had created because of his naivety…
***
The atmosphere during the entire way back is very pleasant. Both excited with the fact that he is returning home and having Masaki with him, Satoshi can’t stop talking about his job and things that happened at home during Masaki’s absence. The mood is very delightful as none of them try to touch any triggering subjects and just enjoy the bus ride, though that doesn’t stop the older one from noticing the sorrow look that his brother tries to hide every time he turns to other way. Later, once realize that they are getting closer to their stop, Satoshi finally musters all his courage to ask what had been bothering him for the past hours.
“You wi-ll see the-m, ri-ght?”
He notices how Masaki flinches by the question though still showing his smile in the end. The forced expression that the younger one is actually wearing though grows clearer as the bus moves closer to their stop. However, much to Satoshi’s pleasant surprise, Masaki still follows him to get off from the bus and accepts it when he takes his hand to lead them home. From time to time Satoshi will turn to the younger one and share about everything around them despite well-aware with the fact that the latter actually know about most of it since he also was living in there until two years ago.
Yet, it isn’t until they are only a few roads from home that he finally notices how Masaki’s hand is growing tenser and colder against his. Soon, the younger one suddenly stops walking, making him to halt as well before turning with worried look.
“I think…I’ll stop here. Nii-san know the way, right?”
The older brother becomes even more confused when notice Masaki’s discomfort.
“Bu-t Masa-ki…you a-re al-ready he-re …”
“It’s okay. I’m more than happy to see Nii-san already. It’s been a while so…I feel embarrassed to see them.”
The awkward smile Masaki tries to show makes him even sadder. Even though he really wants them to have family reunion today, he understands that he should not force Masaki any further after their conversation during lunch before. Furthermore, he also notices that rather than embarrassment, the younger man actually seems more like he is afraid of something. And somehow that reminds him with one thing that Masaki mentioned last night.
“M-asa-ki…wha-t do you mea-nt by yo-u did un-for-giv-able mis-take to our fami-ly? You on-ly told me a-bout the com-pany.” Satoshi though immediately regretted his question when see the change of Masaki’s expression. Before he could apologize however, they heard familiar voices are approaching not far from there. It doesn’t take long until they recognize that the voice belong to no other than Sho and Jun who are busily throwing questions to Kazu about something they can’t grasp. Excited by the realization, Satoshi hurriedly runs toward the voices to show them what surprise he has with him. By the time he is supposed to take turn to right though, he nearly bumps into the three younger brothers who also want to make their turn at the corner. Both shock and relief with the encounter, the three younger brothers immediately question if he is okay and need to call for help. Sho possibly will already erupt with his rage if not because Jun is quick enough to cut in.
“Where have you been?? We are so worried!”
“Abo-ut that…I-I want to su-rpi-se you gu-ys, but I got lo-st. B-But I met a go-od man! He to-ok me to Ma-”
“Good man? Who’s he? Are you okay?”
“I’m f-ine, Sh-o. He’s ni-ce!”
“Was he the one who took Nii-san here?”
“No! It wa-s Masa-!” he quickly turns around to show them the third brother. However, his big grin immediately drops when he can’t find the younger man anywhere in there. Ignoring the three brothers’ prying questions, Satoshi just run along the road that they took together before to search for the familiar silhouette, hoping and praying that the latter hasn’t left the area yet. Yet, by the time he reaches the previous bus stop, the bus already starts to move to the next destination. He wants to go after it, but Sho was faster when he quickly pulls him aback.
“Where are you going?! You just arrived!”
“B-But-”
Satoshi can’t bring himself to finish the sentence as he hopelessly watches the leaving bus in front. Even when he is being dragged home by his brothers later, his eyes just remain at the bus until it disappears from his sight.
…Now, when he tries to remember it again, he finally realizes what Masaki had said to him right before he starts running to look for the others.
“I’m sorry, Nii-san.”
***
>In the end they still didn't meet each other. It might be still a huge step for their family...
>But next chapter will take a BIG turn so please look forward for it :)
>Thank You SO much for reading and commenting as always!