Challenge Accepted - Part 1
A handsome guy stood in front of him. It was weird. He couldn’t see the face, it was blurred but he knew that the man was everything he was looking for.
“Oh, honey,” He told the guy, taking a step towards the man. “You’re finally here!”
Strangely, he still couldn’t have a good look at the man’s face. It remained obscured. And, even though he had been walking for quite some time, it did nothing to shorten the distance between them.
Unfortunately, before he could reach the guy, a whirlwind appeared behind the guy and swallowed him. He blinked and couldn't believe that the guy had just disappeared.
“NO!” He shouted. “DON’T LEAVE ME!”
"I found my soulmate,"
Nino announced the news to Aiba during breakfast. They had been best friends since childhood and now, the man was also his housemate since the two of them got a job at the same company.
"Eh?" As expected, Aiba was surprised. "When? Where? How?"
"In my dream," answered Nino, grinning at the other man. He didn't believe this kind of thing such as soulmates exist. But, once in a while, he loved to tease his friend who had a different opinion about it. So, using the dream from last night, he decided to tease his friend.
"Be serious, Nino," chided Aiba.
"I'm telling you the truth," Nino continued acting. "A handsome man was in my dream last night. I cannot see his face but I know he is the one for me,"
Aiba rolled his eyes. "You just want to make fun of me for believing in those things,”
Nino only smiled cheerfully at Aiba without making any comments about it. Coming from different backgrounds was enough to explain why they had different views about things like this. Both Aiba’s parents were lovely to each other, leading Aiba to believe in true love since his parents found each other. Nino, on the other hand… well, let’s just say that his family was a total opposite of Aiba’s.
“Hmm…” Aiba tapped his chin, something that he always did when he came up with something ridiculous. “Maybe it’s a sign…”
“A sign for what?” said Nino. He had an inkling what it would be.
“A sign that you’re going to meet your soulmate,” responded Aiba. Not a surprise at all. it was just like what Nino had suspected. “Ah….” As usual, Aiba’s eyes were sparkling whenever he had stupid ideas. “I know who he is!”
Nino rolled his eyes. He refrained from saying anything, waiting for Aiba to say it first so he had more things to tease Aiba later.
“It must be the new guy who will start in our office today!”
“Huh?” He didn’t know there would be a new staff in their company.
“You know…” Aiba scratched his head as if trying to remember something. “Ah, no wonder you didn’t know. You weren’t there when Mr Honda told us about it last Friday. Someone from the Kyoto branch will be transferred to the HQ and he will start today. So, he must be your soulmate! You had a dream about him and boom… you guys will meet each other later,”
This time, Nino couldn’t stop himself from laughing. It was the most bizarre thing he ever heard. Oh, Aiba, he was so pure and innocent! Nino had no intention of making fun of his friend but Aiba always gave him a reason to do so with his way of thinking.
“Nino, I’m serious,” pouted Aiba, his nostrils flaring.
“Aiba, that was stupid!” argued Nino. “Just because you have met your soulmate, it doesn’t mean everyone will have one,”
“What are you talking about?” asked Aiba, frowning. “I haven’t found my soulmate yet,”
“Really?” teased Nino. “How about the owner of the cafe? I know he is the reason you go to that cafe for lunch,”
There was a cafe in the same building as their office building and Aiba was a frequent visitor. Regardless of what he said, Nino knew Aiba went there because of the owner.
“I go there because the food is delicious and cheap. It has nothing to do with Sho-chan,” It was useless for Aiba to deny it with a blush on his face. See, his friend even knew the man’s name, proving that he couldn’t keep the crush a secret from Nino.
“Yeah, right…” said Nino, wiggling his eyebrows to taunt his friend. “Deny it all you want. I know your feeling for him,”
“Whatever,” Another pout from Aiba. That’s what he always does whenever he cannot come up with anything to prove Nino is wrong. “This is not about me. This is about you and your soulmate. What if…”
“Aiba-chan, I’m gonna stop you right there. It’s…”
“But, what if…”
“Okay, let’s do this. If he is anything like the man I dreamt about, I will believe he is my soulmate and stop teasing you for believing in something like that,”
“Describe the man you see in your dream,” demanded Aiba. “How will I know if he is different than the one in your dream if I don’t have his description?”
“I’ve told you… I don’t see his face,”
“But, you could tell me about his hair… or height… or anything else you could see,”
“Sounds fair… well, he is short, around my height. His hair was black and spiky and…” That was a lie. Nino didn’t remember anything about the man. Now, let’s add something else which would make it more interesting. “... tanned skin,”
“Tanned skin?” repeated Aiba. “Are you making this up?”
Well, sometimes Aiba was not that stupid.
“I’m not,” denied Nino. “He was just like I described. The man in my dream has tanned skin. So, I don’t think the new guy is my soulmate,”
Aiba glared at him, looking upset. “Fine… but if the new guy is just like the man you describe, what will you do?”
“Well, I will ask him out on a date,”
“Okay,” Aiba agreed even though he still looked unsure.
“Hmm… but, it’s not fair, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“How about if he is nothing like the man in my dream? What will you do?”
“I will buy you any games you want,” Nino enjoyed playing games and whenever a new game comes out, he would be pestering Aiba to buy it for him.
“Awww… that’s so generous of you,” responded Nino, smirking. It would be nice not to spend any money on games. But… well, he wanted it to be different this time. “How about we do this? If I lose, I will go on a date. If you lose, you also have to do the same thing. Ask Sho-chan out, Aiba-chan!”
“WHAT?” Aiba went pale as he shook his head. “No, I will not do it,”
Of course, his friend would not do it. Nino had a better chance of winning. Oh yes, he was confident he would win this. But, it’s a good thing, right? Aiba could finally move to the next step with his crush.
“Fine if you don’t want to do it. We both don’t have to do it, then,”
Aiba tilted his head, perhaps to consider his options. After a while, he finally nodded.
“Okay,” Aiba said in a lower voice.
“Great!” said Nino happily, holding his hand out for Aiba to shake. “It’s a bet, then. Let the best man win,”
The two of them shook hands to make it official.
“You should probably start planning the date because you will lose,” teased Nino.
Aiba stuck his tongue out at Nino. “I will make sure you eat your words, Nino,”
“Too bad… that’s not going to happen,” retorted Nino with a wide smile on his face. Aiba will not win this. It’s impossible. Most Japanese are fair-skinned. So, unless the man came from abroad, there’s no way the new guy will fit the description he gave Aiba earlier.
And, off he went to the office with the brooding Aiba. His friend wasn’t like his usual self on their way there, perhaps dreading the punishment that he would have to do later. Nino kept smiling even though he hadn’t officially won the bet.
When he arrived at the office, it was already noisy and he dared to bet it was about the new guy. Apparently, the man had arrived and was now in the pantry, being interrogated by the chatterbox in the office. Putting his stuff on the table, Nino then signalled Aiba to follow him to the pantry. His friend followed, looking defeated. Nino whistled happily. Oh, victory would soon be his!
However, in a matter of seconds, the smile on his face disappeared, replaced by a gasp. What he saw right in front of him wasn’t what he expected. The only unfamiliar face in the pantry had spiky black hair. He was standing, surrounded by a few older staff and Nino could see the man was about the same height as him.
But, those things weren’t a surprise for Nino. No… something else caught his attention. The man’s skin… Nino couldn’t stop staring at the man’s tanned skin. But, how? He looked Japanese but why was his skin darker than everyone else?
“I always go fishing. That’s how I get my dark skin,” the man said as if answering the question in Nino’s mind. Turned out, one of the staff asked him about his skin.
Aiba seemed to be recovering faster than Nino. His friend whistled happily, smirking at Nino.
“I heard wedding bells,” taunted Aiba. “But, you need to go on a date first, okay? I can help you plan for it,”
Damn! Nino clenched his teeth. How did he lose this bet?
A/N: Well, a new idea came to my mind when I watched a drama on my local tv programme. At first, I want to swap Nino's and Ohno's character. But, as I started writing, Nino suited the role better. I hope you will like this new fic from me. I'm not abandoning my older fics. I just need more time and motivation to do it.