Timeless Love - Chapter 4
Title: Timeless Love
Author: Me
Pairing: Ohmiya, Sakuraiba, and Juntoshi
Rating: PG-13 (will change in future chapters)
Genre: AU, drama, action, violence, romance, angst
Summary: Nino has these feelings for Ohno but why? Love could never die or get old. Warning: character death
A/N: Inspired by Zhang Lin’s “Timeless” music video and unbeta-ed.
Thank you for everyone who read chapter 3. I’m happy that at least one person caught on to my plot (a bit too early there strawberrymuse-chan!) Now that I have finally introduced the plot twist, time for more twists! Who doesn’t love a rollercoaster Ohmiya fanfic?
Question: What does the genre AU mean? I have always wanted to ask that...
Previous Chapters...
Chapter 1 -
http://animesempaigirl.livejournal.com/4440.html
Chapter 2 -
http://animesempaigirl.livejournal.com/4878.html
Chapter 3 part 1 -
http://animesempaigirl.livejournal.com/6396.html
Chapter 4 part 2 -
http://animesempaigirl.livejournal.com/6530.html
Chapter 4
Human emotions are not something to joke about. They are the biggest mystery of this universe. Emotions are sometime many people question where there are possible answers. A thin thread connects the heart and the mind but if certain events happen, that thread breaks. That’s how fragile the relation is between the mind and the heart.
The morning sun was peeking over the metal jungle of the Tokyo metropolis. A resounding beep rang throughout the house. Nino’s hand slammed into his alarm, silencing the device as he slowly sat up. His vision was blurred for a second but he rubbed his eyes with one hand and stretched. Nino started the day off with his normal morning routine. Brushing teeth, changing clothes, shower (depends on his mood), and proceeds to his kitchen. After gulping down some medicine, Nino went through his pantry before clocking his clock.
“Ah! So early!” Nino groaned aloud. “Why did my alarm go off so early today!?” he complained aloud. Nino immediately went over to his couch and collapsed, hugging a square cushion as a substitute body pillow.
After a peaceful hour of dozing out, Nino’s cell phone rang. Nino cursed as he dug into his pocket. “Who the hell calls me so early?” Nino didn’t bother looking at the caller ID as he flipped his phone open. “This better be important.”
A grave voice answered. “It will be after I tell you the entire story, Jester.”
Nino quickly sat up and checked the clock again. “This is extremely early for you to even call me, Jin-chan.”
Akanishi Jin huffed on the other side of the line. “I told you to never call me that.”
Nino grinned wickedly as he slowly walked back to his bedroom. “Sorry but that’s what you get for calling me by my street name. Aiba is a huge influence.”
Akanishi groaned. “Thankfully only a select few of those outside of my gang knows my real name. I don’t need more ‘Jin-chans’ cat calls.”
In the streets, gang members usually don’t know another gang member’s real name unless told so. Even so, it’s dangerous for just anyone to know someone’s real name. The streets only happened at the dead of night. If there were discussions about the streets during the day or in a location that isn’t appropriate, it must be important.
Nino rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wake up. “Bakanishi. What is this so-called important news that requires you to wake me up at 8 in the morning?”
There was an uncomfortable pause before the sounds of bed sheets rustled. Nino grew very impatient.
“Oi! Tell me right now or else I will hang up Akumi”, Nino growled, using Akanishi’s street name.
“I got it. Geez, Nino is definitely not a morning person.”
Nino rolled his eyes as he intolerantly clicked his tongue. “You think?” he asked sarcastically.
There was a heavy sigh. “Last night, around probably 3 am, one of my newer recruits found one of your men getting beat up in a back alley of some club.”
Nino stiffened. “Did they catch the mugger?” he asked cautiously.
“Not exactly. Before my men could get there, someone else took care of the bastard.”
Nino’s ear perked up. “Eh? Who?” Nino knew Akanishi shrugged. He has known this bastard for too long. “Oi, don’t shrug.”
“Gomen. My men found out that the person was part of the new gang that I’m pretty sure you heard of from your right hand men.”
Nino cursed. “Damn it. We seriously don’t need another gang on our grounds.”
“I was able to arrange a meeting time. My gang, your gang, and this newbie gang will meet in 2 days from today in the abandon apartment complexes at midnight.”
“Which complex, Bakanishi?”
A chuckle rolled into Nino’s ear. “You’ll see.” Then there was a click, signaling the end of the conversation.
Nino made a face at the phone, mumbling something about gross girly men. He collapsed on his bed. He turned to look at the clock and groaned. “It’s only 8 o’clock! What am I going to do now?”
It all came back in a rush. What Nino did yesterday night? He sat straight back up so fast the blood couldn’t keep up and he got lightheaded for a second. Nevertheless, his face turned beet red with embarrassment. “I can’t believe that happened.”
“I can’t believe that happened”, Ohno whispered to himself as he looked at the once-clean-now-messy office. He scratched his head and stretched a bit before cleaning the office up. It only took him a minute but everything was back in order. Ohno glanced at his watch and sighed.
“Wah, it’s almost 6 am.”
He ran to the back kitchen and greeted the workers. Ohno pulled out a tray of clean mugs and walked back to the front, only to see some of the part-time morning servers come in.
“Ohayo, Ohno-san!”
“Morning, Ohno-san!”
“Oi, Kana-chan. Stop saying things in English. Ah, ohayo Ohno-san.”
Ohno nodded at the workers. “Ohayo Nakajima-kun. Ohayo Nishino-kun.” He turned to the last one with a grin. “Good morning, Tsujiro-chan. Remember, it’s better if you say ‘good’ in front of the ‘morning’.”
He continued to discuss random topics with them as they ran around, prepping the coffee shop to open up at six. Time flies by when a worker is busy satisfying customers early in the morning. Before Ohno knew it, the afternoon arrived and it was still busy.
“It’s because the rain finally cleared out!” Nakajima explained happily as he put up a tray. “With it becomes sunny, business men and women venture off to coffee shops to enjoy delicious beverages.”
Ohno laughed and poked Nakajima’s forehead with the end of a wooden spoon. “Oi oi. Those were my lines.”
“Actually, since Nakajima-kun is such an ossan, those lines suit him” Nishino teased aloud from across the shop.
“Oi shut up Nishino.”
Nishino stuck his tongue out. “Make me!”
Nakajima charged after Nishino with a tray, threatening him with all sorts of weird stuff. Ohno couldn’t help it but laugh. He continued to make the mixture as Tsujiro Kana walked over and poured a fresh mug of Decaf.
“How old are they? Five?” she asked as she tried to hold in her laughter.
Ohno shrugged. “Men never grew old at heart.”
“Right~” Tsujiro dragged out as she went to give her customer his coffee.
The bell rang, signaling a new customer. Ohno ignored it and continued to mix. Nakajima and Nishino were still playing around. Tsujiro sighed and walked up to the customer, who was laughing at the two oversized babies.
“Ignore my co-workers. Would you like to that a seat sir?” she asked, gestured towards a table next to the window in the corner.
He smiled at her, causing her heart to beat faster. “Perfect.” He went ahead and walked over to the seat. Tsujiro placed a hand over her heart and took deep breathe.
“Does he make your heart go ‘doki doki’, Kana-chan?”
Tsujiro spun around, ready to punch the creepy whispering voice when all she saw was the two buffoons. “Oh, it’s only you guys.” She frowned. “Don’t sneak up on me like that! I could have punched you for real.”
Nakajima and Nishino continued to stare at her with crossed arms. Nishino’s broom bumped the wall a bit. “You didn’t answer the question, Kana-chan.”
She rolled her eyes and walked away. “Such overgrown babies.”
Nakajima and Nishino began to follow her but Tsujiro spun around and gave them a withering look that made the boys back away. As soon as she turned around, the two ran to the counter and hid behind the dessert counter, peeking through the clear glass. Ohno saw them and laughed.
“Sorry about that”, Tsujiro said as she pulled out a pen from her waist apron. “My name is Tsujiro. What can I get for you today sir?”
The man observed the menu for a second before looking up at the ‘specials’ board. “Give me a #4 with your special coffee, please.”
She scribbled it down with a smile. “Alright. Anything else, sir?”
The customer had a wicked smile. She had a slightly bad feeling about this. Most men whom were asked this question asked for perverted things, causing Tsujiro to scream and punch the men out cold. This would result in her poor boss apologizing over and over again as Nakajima comforted her and Nishino icing the pervert’s bruise. Tsujiro gripped her pen tightly, prepping herself to resist the urge to punch him.
“Ohno.”
Tsujiro froze and blinked for a second before laughing dryly. “I’m sorry. I must have heard you wrong sir. W…what did you want?”
The stranger smirked and leaned back in his chair. “You heard you loud and clear, Tsujiro-chan. I want Ohno Satoshi.” He glanced at her shocked expression and chuckled. “I believe you know him as your boss.”
“NANI??!” Nakajima and Nishino yelled out, disrupting the quiet calm atmosphere.
Ohno heard all of this and slowly turned around. Sitting there in broad daylight with nothing but a smile and something that wasn’t pajamas was Ninomiya Kazunari. He was wearing a nice pair of jeans tucked into his boots, a white tank top and a plaid open button-down short sleeve shirt. Ohno froze for a second but it was long enough for the wooden spoon to slip and hit the ground.
“Ohno-san, the spoon!”
Ohno snapped out of it and immediately grabbed a cleaning towel. “Ah! Gomen, I wasn’t pay attention.”
Nakajima helped Ohno clean the small mess while Nishino ran to the kitchen to clean the spoon. Ohno stood back up and felt the blood rush to his ear. Tsujiro giggled when she punched in Nino’s order.
“Ohno-san. The customer asked for you.”
Ohno shot a failed death glare at the girl. “Tsujiro is in charge until I come back.” Nakajima and Nishino complained aloud as Tsujiro grinned.
Ohno pulled the chair opposite of Nino out and sat down, looking out the window instead of him. There was a strange feeling in the air before someone finally spoke up.
“Your coffee shop looks even better during the day time” Nino praised the store.
Ohno couldn’t muster up enough confidence to look at him. “Thank you.”
Nino chuckled. “Maybe I’ll stop by the shop before I head off to work every day.” Ohno couldn’t stop the smile growing on his face. Nino laughed. “Finally, a smile! Good cause for a second there, I thought I was talking to a robot.”
Ohno looked up, only to see Nino grinning from ear to ear. The sunlight was perfect, emitting enough light into the shop to create a glow around the man. Ohno returned the grin with the equal amount of energy and glow.
“It’s kind of hard to believe you are here, especially after last night.”
Nino crossed his arms with a fake pout. “Geez, that’s one hell of a greeting, Oh-chan.”
They laughed as Tsujiro brought over Nino’s lunch and coffee. He smiled at her and did a little bow. “I’m sorry for joke, Tsujiro-san.”
“No, no. It’s perfectly fine”, she reassured him. “Ohno-san, do you want lunch as well? Might as well take a lunch break.”
Ohno sighed. “You baby me too much, Tsujiro-chan.”
She shrugged. “If someone has to be the mother around here, it should be me. And besides, I practice babying the two idiots all the time.”
“Oi!”
“We aren’t deaf you know!”
Tsujiro laughed and walked back behind the counter to get Ohno’s lunch.
Nino enjoyed his sandwich and chips. “They seem nice.”
Ohno chuckled. “Yeah. The three of them are an interesting bunch.” He pointed at Nishino. “Nishino Ryo and Nakajima Tomoaki are childhood friends. Tsujiro Kana befriended both of them in middle. Now all three go to college together.”
Nino watched the three of them interact. “They are close.”
Ohno nodded. “Yeah. It’s kind of nice to see the younger generation like this every day.”
Nino raised an eyebrow. “Younger generation? How old are you Oh-chan?”
Ohno pondered for a second before answering back. “Close to 29-years-old now.”
Nino choked on his coffee but swallowed anyways. “Eh?! You are that old??”
Ohno looked surprised. “Wait, how old are you, Nino-san?”
Nino grinned. “26 years old.”
“Really? You look a lot younger then 26.”
“You have baby cheeks. You look like one of them”, Nino said while gesturing towards the college students.
“Really?” Ohno touched his cheeks. “Wow, they really are round and soft.”
Nino laughed. They continued to chat for a bit before Ohno stood up. “I need to get back to work.”
Nino stood up as well. “I finished my lunch.”
Ohno bowed. “It was nice to eat with you, Nino-san.” Suddenly, Nino threw one of his arms over shoulders, block the three spying college student.
“Drop the san, Oh-chan. I think we’re past that now”, Nino whispered into Ohno’s ear, causing the poor coffee shop owner to turn pink. “You know my number. Call me when you get out of work.”
Satisfied with this, Nino waved to the college students and walked out of the coffee shop with a smug grin. Tsujiro, Nakajima, and Nishino launched questions as soon as they were in the kitchen.
“Who was that?”
“Seems too casual with Ohno-san.”
“And looks like a playboy as well.”
Ohno laughed at as he gestured the cooks to ignore them. “It’s okay. Nino-kun is a friend of mine. He tends to be very friendly and no, he is not a playboy.”
Tsujiro smiled. “It’s nice to know that Ohno-san has friends.”
“Are you saying that Ohno-san doesn’t have friends, Kana-chan?” Nakajima asked.
Tsujiro smack the back of his head. “Baka. It’s just nice to actually meet our boss’s friends.”
Nishino nodded. “Kana-chan has a point, Tomo-kun.”
Ohno clapped his hands to get their attention. “Now that we have finished that, let’s get back to work.”
The day went on without any problems. The three morning part-timers left and Taka came in for his evening shift. It was getting close to closing time. As Ohno cleaned a table, the bell rang as Ikuta Toma stepped into the store.
“Ohno. Yo.”
Ohno waved back and beckoned Toma towards himself. “Taka-kun! Cover for me please. I’ll be in the office for a bit.”
Taka nodded as he continued to make fresh coffee. Ohno and Toma walk to the office and closed the door. Toma sighed in relief as he plopped down on the mini sofa.
“Work was stressful today!” he whined as Ohno sat down in his office chair and turned the computer on.
“Really? Doing what?”
Toma grabbed a small pillow and hugged it. “New project. Can’t give you any details except for the fact that it forced me to actually do research.”
Ohno checked his email for a second before jolting something down on a post-it note. “Basically, it’s too time consuming for you.”
Toma faced Ohno and gave him a loopy smile. “I’m so glad you understand, Oh-chan. With this new project, I won’t be able to drink your delicious coffee every night.” He sat up and rested his head in both of his hands while watching Ohno type on the computer.
“You never have any free time now, Oh-chan.”
Ohno shrugged a bit as he continued to type a reply to his business partners. “I have to run the shop every day. I don’t have any employees experienced enough to man the shop without me.” He hit enter with a satisfied ‘thump’ and turned in his chair to face his best friend. “My shop will always be here with fresh coffee, Toma-kun. Come anytime during your free time.”
Toma gave him a heartwarming smile. “Thanks,” he whispered. There was an awkward silence before Toma cleared his throat and stood up. “Well, I gotta go. I only had about a half hour of a break. I only came for a snack and a chat.”
Ohno followed Toma out the office. “Let me make you something to go then.”
Toma left the coffee shop with a bag of freshly made sandwiches, a cup of hot coffee, and a huge smile. Ohno leaned against the counter and watched Taka serve some evening guests. The part-timer came around the counter and sighed as he leaned on the wall to rest.
“I’m tired.”
“From what?” Ohno asked with concern for his employee.
Taka made random shapes in the air with his hands. “School, family, personal problems.”
Ohno pondered for a second. “Is a money problem?”
Taka laughed a bit as he sipped his frappe he made himself. “Money is ok. I love this job, Ohno-san. Don’t get me wrong. But my family is running into money problems, which is turning into personal problems and school problems.”
Ohno nodded. “I totally understand exactly where you’re coming from.”
The two sat next to each other, thinking in their own worlds. Ohno glanced at the younger man. Taka’s full name is Mori Taka. He is in his last year of college, studying food management. Ohno remembers the first time Taka came in 2 years ago.
“Mori Taka-desu. My dream is to open a famous pantry store in Shibuya!”
Ohno laughed to himself. The youth are hard workers. He turned to the part-timer.
“Would you like it if I gave you manager position for evening shifts, Taka-kun?” asked the cautious coffee shop owner.
Taka was shocked at the random offer.
“Are you being serious boss?”
Ohno made a face. “When am I never serious? Wait, don’t answer that.” Ohno stood up. “Of course I’m serious. You have been here for two years now. You are a deligent worker and the only person I trust to manage the store alone.” Ohno smiled at Taka. “I need some evenings to myself now. I’ll give you some more details about this at a later time, Taka-kun.” He made a serious expression as he studied Taka. “Are you willing to step it up, Mori Taka?”
Taka stood up. “Are you kidding? You got yourself a new manager, Ohno-san.”
The two men clasped hands. Ohno liked this idea. Now his evenings were free. Ohno picked up his phone and dialed a number. As it rang a few times, Ohno finished the rest of the closing duties and waved Taka a good night when someone else picked up the other line.
“You took a long time to call me.”
Ohno chuckled at the greeting as he took his apron off and gathered his things together. “Gomen. There was a good amount of people in the shop tonight.”
Nino laughed. “You almost done closing, Oh-chan?”
Ohno nodded as he checked his email one last time. “Yeah.”
Nino gave Ohno his home address and told him to not take his time getting to Nino’s house. Ohno laughed at Nino’s demand as Ohno locked the front door and pulled the window blinds down before setting the alarm and walking out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nino was patiently tapping on the computer keyboard when his phone rang. He glanced at the number and grumbled to himself as he hit a button.
“What?”
“Geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of bed today”, Aiba immediately said.
Nino sighed and rolled his head back. “Sorry. I a bit jumpy today.”
“Ah. Why?”
Nino raised an eyebrow at the response. “Does it need a reason, Masaki?”
“Ah, gomen gomen. See the reason I called is to ask if Akumi told you yet…”
Nino shut the laptop and walked to the kitchen to get a beer. “Yes, Bakanishi told me everything.”
“Good,” Aiba said. “He will confirm the exact location to me and Sho and then we will pick you up in two days’ time.”
“Got it.” Nino took a swig of his beer as he shuffled to the living room and collapse in his previous position.
“Dressed and ready to go, Kazu. This is serious business”, Aiba’s grave voice cut through the relaxing atmosphere.
Nino clicked his tongue. “Stop lecturing your own boss. I know exactly what to do.”
“Good.”
Suddenly, another voice interrupting Nino’s and Aiba’s conversation. “Masaki, our printer ran out of paper.”
“Ah, gomen! There should be a new pack in the coat closet, Sho” Aiba replied to the distant voice.
Nino chuckled. “Tell your boyfriend I said hi.”
“Oi! He is not my boyfriend!” Aiba shouted back. “Just a moocher, mooching my printer paper.”
Nino rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Ja ne.”
Nino clicked the end button and rolled his head back to relax on top of the couch when he finally noticed Ohno bending over Nino on the other side.
“Woah, you scared me!” Nino said as he jolted up.
Ohno laughed as he went around and sat next to Nino. “Gomen. I locked the door after I came in.” He sipped Nino’s beer and made a face. “Not my favorite brand.”
Nino leaned forward and gave Ohno a soft kiss. He pulled back with a sly grin. “Now do you like the brand?”
Ohno held a blank face before a goofy smile broke out. “Maybe.”
The rest of the night, the two men got to know each other and chatted until the dark hours of night. Meanwhile….
Akanishi Jin was sitting at his desk, glaring at his computer screen before a knock was heard.
“Enter.”
His right-hand man came in with a stack of paper at hand. “I found something interesting about the information you gather, Oyabun.”
Akanishi looked up. “Ah, thank you very much K2.”
Kamenashi Kazuya nodded. “It seems that a particular dead group of assassins are still alive.”
Akanishi snapped his head up from reading the papers. “Alive?”
Kame nodded with a grave look as he sat down at a chair across the desk. “Hime was able to dig around before he found out there is a slight chance one of their men survived.”
Akanishi growled a bit before furiously reading the packet. “But that’s impossible. The previous oyabuns terminated the entire unit.”
“It’s possible that they are alive. It’s only a rumor”, Kame reassured the stressed out mafia boss.
“Rumors are always triggered by something.” Akanishi slapped the papers down. “We will absolutely get to the bottom of this rumor. We cannot let even one person from that assassin group be alive.”
Kame massaged his temples and agreed with his boss. “A storm is brewing and will soon that over the world…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YATTA~!!!!! I finally finished the fourth chapter of Timeless Love. Funny because I wrote a one-shot for Ohno’s bday and for the competition on Ohno_Daily. I hope you enjoyed this. Who are these people from the assassin group? And what are their roles? You’ll find out soon or later! Depends on the amount of comments XP
Author: Me
Pairing: Ohmiya, Sakuraiba, and Juntoshi
Rating: PG-13 (will change in future chapters)
Genre: AU, drama, action, violence, romance, angst
Summary: Nino has these feelings for Ohno but why? Love could never die or get old. Warning: character death
A/N: Inspired by Zhang Lin’s “Timeless” music video and unbeta-ed.
Thank you for everyone who read chapter 3. I’m happy that at least one person caught on to my plot (a bit too early there strawberrymuse-chan!) Now that I have finally introduced the plot twist, time for more twists! Who doesn’t love a rollercoaster Ohmiya fanfic?
Question: What does the genre AU mean? I have always wanted to ask that...
Previous Chapters...
Chapter 1 -
http://animesempaigirl.livejournal.com/4440.html
Chapter 2 -
http://animesempaigirl.livejournal.com/4878.html
Chapter 3 part 1 -
http://animesempaigirl.livejournal.com/6396.html
Chapter 4 part 2 -
http://animesempaigirl.livejournal.com/6530.html
Chapter 4
Human emotions are not something to joke about. They are the biggest mystery of this universe. Emotions are sometime many people question where there are possible answers. A thin thread connects the heart and the mind but if certain events happen, that thread breaks. That’s how fragile the relation is between the mind and the heart.
The morning sun was peeking over the metal jungle of the Tokyo metropolis. A resounding beep rang throughout the house. Nino’s hand slammed into his alarm, silencing the device as he slowly sat up. His vision was blurred for a second but he rubbed his eyes with one hand and stretched. Nino started the day off with his normal morning routine. Brushing teeth, changing clothes, shower (depends on his mood), and proceeds to his kitchen. After gulping down some medicine, Nino went through his pantry before clocking his clock.
“Ah! So early!” Nino groaned aloud. “Why did my alarm go off so early today!?” he complained aloud. Nino immediately went over to his couch and collapsed, hugging a square cushion as a substitute body pillow.
After a peaceful hour of dozing out, Nino’s cell phone rang. Nino cursed as he dug into his pocket. “Who the hell calls me so early?” Nino didn’t bother looking at the caller ID as he flipped his phone open. “This better be important.”
A grave voice answered. “It will be after I tell you the entire story, Jester.”
Nino quickly sat up and checked the clock again. “This is extremely early for you to even call me, Jin-chan.”
Akanishi Jin huffed on the other side of the line. “I told you to never call me that.”
Nino grinned wickedly as he slowly walked back to his bedroom. “Sorry but that’s what you get for calling me by my street name. Aiba is a huge influence.”
Akanishi groaned. “Thankfully only a select few of those outside of my gang knows my real name. I don’t need more ‘Jin-chans’ cat calls.”
In the streets, gang members usually don’t know another gang member’s real name unless told so. Even so, it’s dangerous for just anyone to know someone’s real name. The streets only happened at the dead of night. If there were discussions about the streets during the day or in a location that isn’t appropriate, it must be important.
Nino rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wake up. “Bakanishi. What is this so-called important news that requires you to wake me up at 8 in the morning?”
There was an uncomfortable pause before the sounds of bed sheets rustled. Nino grew very impatient.
“Oi! Tell me right now or else I will hang up Akumi”, Nino growled, using Akanishi’s street name.
“I got it. Geez, Nino is definitely not a morning person.”
Nino rolled his eyes as he intolerantly clicked his tongue. “You think?” he asked sarcastically.
There was a heavy sigh. “Last night, around probably 3 am, one of my newer recruits found one of your men getting beat up in a back alley of some club.”
Nino stiffened. “Did they catch the mugger?” he asked cautiously.
“Not exactly. Before my men could get there, someone else took care of the bastard.”
Nino’s ear perked up. “Eh? Who?” Nino knew Akanishi shrugged. He has known this bastard for too long. “Oi, don’t shrug.”
“Gomen. My men found out that the person was part of the new gang that I’m pretty sure you heard of from your right hand men.”
Nino cursed. “Damn it. We seriously don’t need another gang on our grounds.”
“I was able to arrange a meeting time. My gang, your gang, and this newbie gang will meet in 2 days from today in the abandon apartment complexes at midnight.”
“Which complex, Bakanishi?”
A chuckle rolled into Nino’s ear. “You’ll see.” Then there was a click, signaling the end of the conversation.
Nino made a face at the phone, mumbling something about gross girly men. He collapsed on his bed. He turned to look at the clock and groaned. “It’s only 8 o’clock! What am I going to do now?”
It all came back in a rush. What Nino did yesterday night? He sat straight back up so fast the blood couldn’t keep up and he got lightheaded for a second. Nevertheless, his face turned beet red with embarrassment. “I can’t believe that happened.”
“I can’t believe that happened”, Ohno whispered to himself as he looked at the once-clean-now-messy office. He scratched his head and stretched a bit before cleaning the office up. It only took him a minute but everything was back in order. Ohno glanced at his watch and sighed.
“Wah, it’s almost 6 am.”
He ran to the back kitchen and greeted the workers. Ohno pulled out a tray of clean mugs and walked back to the front, only to see some of the part-time morning servers come in.
“Ohayo, Ohno-san!”
“Morning, Ohno-san!”
“Oi, Kana-chan. Stop saying things in English. Ah, ohayo Ohno-san.”
Ohno nodded at the workers. “Ohayo Nakajima-kun. Ohayo Nishino-kun.” He turned to the last one with a grin. “Good morning, Tsujiro-chan. Remember, it’s better if you say ‘good’ in front of the ‘morning’.”
He continued to discuss random topics with them as they ran around, prepping the coffee shop to open up at six. Time flies by when a worker is busy satisfying customers early in the morning. Before Ohno knew it, the afternoon arrived and it was still busy.
“It’s because the rain finally cleared out!” Nakajima explained happily as he put up a tray. “With it becomes sunny, business men and women venture off to coffee shops to enjoy delicious beverages.”
Ohno laughed and poked Nakajima’s forehead with the end of a wooden spoon. “Oi oi. Those were my lines.”
“Actually, since Nakajima-kun is such an ossan, those lines suit him” Nishino teased aloud from across the shop.
“Oi shut up Nishino.”
Nishino stuck his tongue out. “Make me!”
Nakajima charged after Nishino with a tray, threatening him with all sorts of weird stuff. Ohno couldn’t help it but laugh. He continued to make the mixture as Tsujiro Kana walked over and poured a fresh mug of Decaf.
“How old are they? Five?” she asked as she tried to hold in her laughter.
Ohno shrugged. “Men never grew old at heart.”
“Right~” Tsujiro dragged out as she went to give her customer his coffee.
The bell rang, signaling a new customer. Ohno ignored it and continued to mix. Nakajima and Nishino were still playing around. Tsujiro sighed and walked up to the customer, who was laughing at the two oversized babies.
“Ignore my co-workers. Would you like to that a seat sir?” she asked, gestured towards a table next to the window in the corner.
He smiled at her, causing her heart to beat faster. “Perfect.” He went ahead and walked over to the seat. Tsujiro placed a hand over her heart and took deep breathe.
“Does he make your heart go ‘doki doki’, Kana-chan?”
Tsujiro spun around, ready to punch the creepy whispering voice when all she saw was the two buffoons. “Oh, it’s only you guys.” She frowned. “Don’t sneak up on me like that! I could have punched you for real.”
Nakajima and Nishino continued to stare at her with crossed arms. Nishino’s broom bumped the wall a bit. “You didn’t answer the question, Kana-chan.”
She rolled her eyes and walked away. “Such overgrown babies.”
Nakajima and Nishino began to follow her but Tsujiro spun around and gave them a withering look that made the boys back away. As soon as she turned around, the two ran to the counter and hid behind the dessert counter, peeking through the clear glass. Ohno saw them and laughed.
“Sorry about that”, Tsujiro said as she pulled out a pen from her waist apron. “My name is Tsujiro. What can I get for you today sir?”
The man observed the menu for a second before looking up at the ‘specials’ board. “Give me a #4 with your special coffee, please.”
She scribbled it down with a smile. “Alright. Anything else, sir?”
The customer had a wicked smile. She had a slightly bad feeling about this. Most men whom were asked this question asked for perverted things, causing Tsujiro to scream and punch the men out cold. This would result in her poor boss apologizing over and over again as Nakajima comforted her and Nishino icing the pervert’s bruise. Tsujiro gripped her pen tightly, prepping herself to resist the urge to punch him.
“Ohno.”
Tsujiro froze and blinked for a second before laughing dryly. “I’m sorry. I must have heard you wrong sir. W…what did you want?”
The stranger smirked and leaned back in his chair. “You heard you loud and clear, Tsujiro-chan. I want Ohno Satoshi.” He glanced at her shocked expression and chuckled. “I believe you know him as your boss.”
“NANI??!” Nakajima and Nishino yelled out, disrupting the quiet calm atmosphere.
Ohno heard all of this and slowly turned around. Sitting there in broad daylight with nothing but a smile and something that wasn’t pajamas was Ninomiya Kazunari. He was wearing a nice pair of jeans tucked into his boots, a white tank top and a plaid open button-down short sleeve shirt. Ohno froze for a second but it was long enough for the wooden spoon to slip and hit the ground.
“Ohno-san, the spoon!”
Ohno snapped out of it and immediately grabbed a cleaning towel. “Ah! Gomen, I wasn’t pay attention.”
Nakajima helped Ohno clean the small mess while Nishino ran to the kitchen to clean the spoon. Ohno stood back up and felt the blood rush to his ear. Tsujiro giggled when she punched in Nino’s order.
“Ohno-san. The customer asked for you.”
Ohno shot a failed death glare at the girl. “Tsujiro is in charge until I come back.” Nakajima and Nishino complained aloud as Tsujiro grinned.
Ohno pulled the chair opposite of Nino out and sat down, looking out the window instead of him. There was a strange feeling in the air before someone finally spoke up.
“Your coffee shop looks even better during the day time” Nino praised the store.
Ohno couldn’t muster up enough confidence to look at him. “Thank you.”
Nino chuckled. “Maybe I’ll stop by the shop before I head off to work every day.” Ohno couldn’t stop the smile growing on his face. Nino laughed. “Finally, a smile! Good cause for a second there, I thought I was talking to a robot.”
Ohno looked up, only to see Nino grinning from ear to ear. The sunlight was perfect, emitting enough light into the shop to create a glow around the man. Ohno returned the grin with the equal amount of energy and glow.
“It’s kind of hard to believe you are here, especially after last night.”
Nino crossed his arms with a fake pout. “Geez, that’s one hell of a greeting, Oh-chan.”
They laughed as Tsujiro brought over Nino’s lunch and coffee. He smiled at her and did a little bow. “I’m sorry for joke, Tsujiro-san.”
“No, no. It’s perfectly fine”, she reassured him. “Ohno-san, do you want lunch as well? Might as well take a lunch break.”
Ohno sighed. “You baby me too much, Tsujiro-chan.”
She shrugged. “If someone has to be the mother around here, it should be me. And besides, I practice babying the two idiots all the time.”
“Oi!”
“We aren’t deaf you know!”
Tsujiro laughed and walked back behind the counter to get Ohno’s lunch.
Nino enjoyed his sandwich and chips. “They seem nice.”
Ohno chuckled. “Yeah. The three of them are an interesting bunch.” He pointed at Nishino. “Nishino Ryo and Nakajima Tomoaki are childhood friends. Tsujiro Kana befriended both of them in middle. Now all three go to college together.”
Nino watched the three of them interact. “They are close.”
Ohno nodded. “Yeah. It’s kind of nice to see the younger generation like this every day.”
Nino raised an eyebrow. “Younger generation? How old are you Oh-chan?”
Ohno pondered for a second before answering back. “Close to 29-years-old now.”
Nino choked on his coffee but swallowed anyways. “Eh?! You are that old??”
Ohno looked surprised. “Wait, how old are you, Nino-san?”
Nino grinned. “26 years old.”
“Really? You look a lot younger then 26.”
“You have baby cheeks. You look like one of them”, Nino said while gesturing towards the college students.
“Really?” Ohno touched his cheeks. “Wow, they really are round and soft.”
Nino laughed. They continued to chat for a bit before Ohno stood up. “I need to get back to work.”
Nino stood up as well. “I finished my lunch.”
Ohno bowed. “It was nice to eat with you, Nino-san.” Suddenly, Nino threw one of his arms over shoulders, block the three spying college student.
“Drop the san, Oh-chan. I think we’re past that now”, Nino whispered into Ohno’s ear, causing the poor coffee shop owner to turn pink. “You know my number. Call me when you get out of work.”
Satisfied with this, Nino waved to the college students and walked out of the coffee shop with a smug grin. Tsujiro, Nakajima, and Nishino launched questions as soon as they were in the kitchen.
“Who was that?”
“Seems too casual with Ohno-san.”
“And looks like a playboy as well.”
Ohno laughed at as he gestured the cooks to ignore them. “It’s okay. Nino-kun is a friend of mine. He tends to be very friendly and no, he is not a playboy.”
Tsujiro smiled. “It’s nice to know that Ohno-san has friends.”
“Are you saying that Ohno-san doesn’t have friends, Kana-chan?” Nakajima asked.
Tsujiro smack the back of his head. “Baka. It’s just nice to actually meet our boss’s friends.”
Nishino nodded. “Kana-chan has a point, Tomo-kun.”
Ohno clapped his hands to get their attention. “Now that we have finished that, let’s get back to work.”
The day went on without any problems. The three morning part-timers left and Taka came in for his evening shift. It was getting close to closing time. As Ohno cleaned a table, the bell rang as Ikuta Toma stepped into the store.
“Ohno. Yo.”
Ohno waved back and beckoned Toma towards himself. “Taka-kun! Cover for me please. I’ll be in the office for a bit.”
Taka nodded as he continued to make fresh coffee. Ohno and Toma walk to the office and closed the door. Toma sighed in relief as he plopped down on the mini sofa.
“Work was stressful today!” he whined as Ohno sat down in his office chair and turned the computer on.
“Really? Doing what?”
Toma grabbed a small pillow and hugged it. “New project. Can’t give you any details except for the fact that it forced me to actually do research.”
Ohno checked his email for a second before jolting something down on a post-it note. “Basically, it’s too time consuming for you.”
Toma faced Ohno and gave him a loopy smile. “I’m so glad you understand, Oh-chan. With this new project, I won’t be able to drink your delicious coffee every night.” He sat up and rested his head in both of his hands while watching Ohno type on the computer.
“You never have any free time now, Oh-chan.”
Ohno shrugged a bit as he continued to type a reply to his business partners. “I have to run the shop every day. I don’t have any employees experienced enough to man the shop without me.” He hit enter with a satisfied ‘thump’ and turned in his chair to face his best friend. “My shop will always be here with fresh coffee, Toma-kun. Come anytime during your free time.”
Toma gave him a heartwarming smile. “Thanks,” he whispered. There was an awkward silence before Toma cleared his throat and stood up. “Well, I gotta go. I only had about a half hour of a break. I only came for a snack and a chat.”
Ohno followed Toma out the office. “Let me make you something to go then.”
Toma left the coffee shop with a bag of freshly made sandwiches, a cup of hot coffee, and a huge smile. Ohno leaned against the counter and watched Taka serve some evening guests. The part-timer came around the counter and sighed as he leaned on the wall to rest.
“I’m tired.”
“From what?” Ohno asked with concern for his employee.
Taka made random shapes in the air with his hands. “School, family, personal problems.”
Ohno pondered for a second. “Is a money problem?”
Taka laughed a bit as he sipped his frappe he made himself. “Money is ok. I love this job, Ohno-san. Don’t get me wrong. But my family is running into money problems, which is turning into personal problems and school problems.”
Ohno nodded. “I totally understand exactly where you’re coming from.”
The two sat next to each other, thinking in their own worlds. Ohno glanced at the younger man. Taka’s full name is Mori Taka. He is in his last year of college, studying food management. Ohno remembers the first time Taka came in 2 years ago.
“Mori Taka-desu. My dream is to open a famous pantry store in Shibuya!”
Ohno laughed to himself. The youth are hard workers. He turned to the part-timer.
“Would you like it if I gave you manager position for evening shifts, Taka-kun?” asked the cautious coffee shop owner.
Taka was shocked at the random offer.
“Are you being serious boss?”
Ohno made a face. “When am I never serious? Wait, don’t answer that.” Ohno stood up. “Of course I’m serious. You have been here for two years now. You are a deligent worker and the only person I trust to manage the store alone.” Ohno smiled at Taka. “I need some evenings to myself now. I’ll give you some more details about this at a later time, Taka-kun.” He made a serious expression as he studied Taka. “Are you willing to step it up, Mori Taka?”
Taka stood up. “Are you kidding? You got yourself a new manager, Ohno-san.”
The two men clasped hands. Ohno liked this idea. Now his evenings were free. Ohno picked up his phone and dialed a number. As it rang a few times, Ohno finished the rest of the closing duties and waved Taka a good night when someone else picked up the other line.
“You took a long time to call me.”
Ohno chuckled at the greeting as he took his apron off and gathered his things together. “Gomen. There was a good amount of people in the shop tonight.”
Nino laughed. “You almost done closing, Oh-chan?”
Ohno nodded as he checked his email one last time. “Yeah.”
Nino gave Ohno his home address and told him to not take his time getting to Nino’s house. Ohno laughed at Nino’s demand as Ohno locked the front door and pulled the window blinds down before setting the alarm and walking out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nino was patiently tapping on the computer keyboard when his phone rang. He glanced at the number and grumbled to himself as he hit a button.
“What?”
“Geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of bed today”, Aiba immediately said.
Nino sighed and rolled his head back. “Sorry. I a bit jumpy today.”
“Ah. Why?”
Nino raised an eyebrow at the response. “Does it need a reason, Masaki?”
“Ah, gomen gomen. See the reason I called is to ask if Akumi told you yet…”
Nino shut the laptop and walked to the kitchen to get a beer. “Yes, Bakanishi told me everything.”
“Good,” Aiba said. “He will confirm the exact location to me and Sho and then we will pick you up in two days’ time.”
“Got it.” Nino took a swig of his beer as he shuffled to the living room and collapse in his previous position.
“Dressed and ready to go, Kazu. This is serious business”, Aiba’s grave voice cut through the relaxing atmosphere.
Nino clicked his tongue. “Stop lecturing your own boss. I know exactly what to do.”
“Good.”
Suddenly, another voice interrupting Nino’s and Aiba’s conversation. “Masaki, our printer ran out of paper.”
“Ah, gomen! There should be a new pack in the coat closet, Sho” Aiba replied to the distant voice.
Nino chuckled. “Tell your boyfriend I said hi.”
“Oi! He is not my boyfriend!” Aiba shouted back. “Just a moocher, mooching my printer paper.”
Nino rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Ja ne.”
Nino clicked the end button and rolled his head back to relax on top of the couch when he finally noticed Ohno bending over Nino on the other side.
“Woah, you scared me!” Nino said as he jolted up.
Ohno laughed as he went around and sat next to Nino. “Gomen. I locked the door after I came in.” He sipped Nino’s beer and made a face. “Not my favorite brand.”
Nino leaned forward and gave Ohno a soft kiss. He pulled back with a sly grin. “Now do you like the brand?”
Ohno held a blank face before a goofy smile broke out. “Maybe.”
The rest of the night, the two men got to know each other and chatted until the dark hours of night. Meanwhile….
Akanishi Jin was sitting at his desk, glaring at his computer screen before a knock was heard.
“Enter.”
His right-hand man came in with a stack of paper at hand. “I found something interesting about the information you gather, Oyabun.”
Akanishi looked up. “Ah, thank you very much K2.”
Kamenashi Kazuya nodded. “It seems that a particular dead group of assassins are still alive.”
Akanishi snapped his head up from reading the papers. “Alive?”
Kame nodded with a grave look as he sat down at a chair across the desk. “Hime was able to dig around before he found out there is a slight chance one of their men survived.”
Akanishi growled a bit before furiously reading the packet. “But that’s impossible. The previous oyabuns terminated the entire unit.”
“It’s possible that they are alive. It’s only a rumor”, Kame reassured the stressed out mafia boss.
“Rumors are always triggered by something.” Akanishi slapped the papers down. “We will absolutely get to the bottom of this rumor. We cannot let even one person from that assassin group be alive.”
Kame massaged his temples and agreed with his boss. “A storm is brewing and will soon that over the world…”
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YATTA~!!!!! I finally finished the fourth chapter of Timeless Love. Funny because I wrote a one-shot for Ohno’s bday and for the competition on Ohno_Daily. I hope you enjoyed this. Who are these people from the assassin group? And what are their roles? You’ll find out soon or later! Depends on the amount of comments XP