Living with You - Part 1
Pairing: OhMiya
Summary: Nino had been living together with Ohno for two years because of an incident that happened in their family. They were cold to each other in the beginning but something started to changed between them.
"Yamato!!" Ninomiya 'Nino' Kazunari yelled as he opened the door. A 4-year-old boy peeked his head out from the living room, shouting in excitement to see him home.
"Papa!!! You're early today" said Yamato as he ran towards Nino. Nino immediately scooped him up when he approached. Then, he brought the little boy to the living room. As expected, his rival, Ohno Satoshi, was there.
"Hello," greeted Ohno. He didn't lift up his face to look at Nino, instead he continued to watch the tv. It was obvious that he wasn't happy to see Nino and the feeling was mutual.
"Daddy, papa is home!" Said Yamato as Nino let him go. He immediately go to snuggle with his other father while pulling Nino to sit near them. As usual, it was awkward to be in close proximity with Ohno even though they have been living together for two years.
Yamato was not his son, not even Ohno's. He was their nephew. His parents, Ohno's brother and Nino's sister, died in a car accident. Nino had volunteered to take care of Yamato but received objection from Ohno who pointed out that he wasn't financially stable. At that time, Nino just graduated from university and hadn't found a suitable job yet. Ohno argued that he was the best person to take care of Yamato as his company had been doing well. To counter attack, Nino pointed out that Ohno would be too busy with his work so there was a possibility Ohno might neglect Yamato. Both of them refused to let the other win so their family decided that they should work together to raise Yamato to cover each other's flaw.
"We were about to call you," inform Yamato. "We want to go to your office then all of us can have dinner together,"
"Oh..." Responded Nino.
It didn't take him long to find a job after graduating. He was working for one of the games company in Japan. Since he started working there, he became busy and rarely get home early. However, he will make sure his Sunday free so he can spend time with Yamato. But, today, he got home early because of something that happened in the office.
"Do you want to change first? We're starving so you better hurry," said Ohno.
"No, it's okay. Let's go,"
Yamato stood between them and hold hand with both. Ohno handed the car's key to Nino. Even though he had a car, he never drove because he didn't have a license.
"Where are we going?" Asked Nino. Ohno simply shrugged to let him choose.
"Let's go to kid's cafe so that I can play," suggested Yamato.
"Yes," said Ohno affectionally towards the little boy. It was totally different from the way he spoke with Nino. "But... You have to finish your food first before you play, okay?
"Okay," Yamato nodded in agreement. "Can I sleep with papa today? It has been a while,"
"No, today is Daddy's turn," answered Ohno.
It's true that they took turn to sleep with Yamato. But, because Nino always get home late, Yamato will sleep with Ohno.
"But..."
"Don't argue. You will sleep with daddy today,"
Yamato pouted as a response then looked at Nino, eyes begging for Nino to plead for him. Ohno looked at him as well, expecting him to object. Usually, he would say something and Ohno would give up. But, not today. He didn't have the mood to argue so he didn't say anything. He noticed how Ohno was looking at him with concern but he ignored the look.
"Ohayou,"
Nino was preparing breakfast the next day when Ohno came to the kitchen, still in his pyjamas. As he was the boss of his own company, he can go to work anytime he wants.
"Ohayou," Nino greeted him in return.
Ohno was looking at him strangely again and he knew why. Usually, he had already left for work at this time but today, he dressed casually, showing no sign of going to work.
"I'm taking a day off from work today," he informed Ohno before the other asked anything. "I will take care of Yamato so you don't have to send him to the daycare,"
Ohno nodded his head without saying anything. Nino stared at Ohno as the other ate the breakfast in silent. He wanted to tell Ohno something but he was afraid of Ohno's reaction.
"I will be late tonight," said Ohno, breaking the silence between them. "I will eat dinner outside so you don't have to prepare anything for me,"
"Okay," answered Nino. A strange thought occurred to Nino as he watched Ohno clean the dishes. The scene this morning - with him preparing breakfast and Ohno informed him that he will be late - it looked like a typical scene for married couple. Even though they're not married, he wondered what will happen if one of them get married? Would they fight once again to get custody for Yamato?
"Ninomiya san," Ohno called him softly, getting him back to the reality. "I will let Yamato sleep more as he didn't have to go to the daycare. But, make sure he wake up before 10, okay?"
Nino nodded his head. Ohno then walked away without saying anything.
It had been a week since that morning. Ohno didn't want to say anything at first when Nino didn't go to work for three days. But, when he saw the younger man preparing breakfast wearing a t-shirt again on the forth day, he knew something was wrong. Nino was very committed to his work so he didn't think he would take a long holiday. Even though there were a few times the man stared at his computer as if he was doing his work, Ohno suspected something else. Furthermore, he wasn't looking like his usual self. He was a brat. He never complied to anything Ohno said. But, now, he became a quiet man as if there was something which bothered him.
"What's wrong?" Asked Ohno, approaching the younger man who was sitting on the couch.
They were left alone in the house. His parents just left a few minutes ago, taking Yamato with them. Once in a while, his parents will take care of Yamato for a few days. He was actually glad that they took him away at this moment. Yesterday, Nino scolded the little boy for being too noisy. Nino never yelled at the boy before this. It surprised Yamato so spending a few days away from Nino might be good for both of them.
"I'm okay," answered Nino with a glare. "Just because I look different, it doesn't mean something was wrong,"
Ohno sighed to hear the response. He already expected Nino won't easily tell him anything. They were not close. In fact, he didn't know anything about Nino except for his working place. They will only talk about Yamato. But, he knew Nino wasn't the type to be emotional no matter how bad the situation is. The only time he had seen Nino like this was after the accident that took away Yamato's parents. That was the real reason he was against Nino taking care of Yamato at that time. He was afraid Nino would be too distracted with his own sadness of losing his sister to take a good care of Yamato. He was proven wrong because Nino had been a great father to Yamato despite how busy he was with work.
And, now he saw the same expression again on the younger man. Something terrible must have happened for him to be acting this way again.
"Ninomiya..." He tried again but Nino immediately change the subject.
"When will Yamato get back?"
"The day after tomorrow," answered Ohno. Nino stood up, ready to go away but Ohno was quick to grab his arms.
"Let me go. It hurts, you know," said Nino. But, Ohno didn't let him go even though Nino tried desperately to break free from his grip. He was tempted to laugh even though it wasn't funny. He didn't put too much force on the grip but the man was too weak to get away.
"What do you want," Nino finally gave up and took a seat next to him again. "I know I was terrible this whole week but I have my reason,"
"And I want to know the reason,"
"Look..." Nino gave him his specialty glare again. Maybe he thought the glare will scare him. But, it doesn't work on Ohno. Instead of making him look scary, he looked cute whenever he glared. Maybe his eternal seventeen years old face contributed to that.
"Just give me time to sort things out,"
"Well, I gave you a week but it seems that time is not the problem," Ohno tried to reason with the other guy. "I just want to settle this now so that I don't have to be worried leaving you with Yamato alone. I don't want you to scold Yamato again, not like yesterday. It wasn't something that you would normally do. Clearly, whatever happened affected you more than you think. It caused you to lose your composure and I don't like that,"
Nino didn't say anything at first. Ohno almost gave up as Nino remained quiet for a long time. That's why he was surprised when Nino suddenly opened his mouth to confirm what he thought.
"I lose my job," said Nino softly. "Something happened at work and I was forced to resign,"
Ohno was tempted to ask Nino what happened but he doubt Nino would tell him. So, he sat in silence as Nino continued.
"I was thinking of quitting before but this is too sudden and I'm worried that it will be hard for me to get a new job. If I don't get a job, how can I raise Yamato? I won't be able to contribute anything. I'm afraid that you will use that as an excuse to take Yamato from me, the same way you did before. But, this time, I don't have anything against you because I was wrong. Even though you're busy with work, you never neglect Yamato. I'm the one who neglect him because of work,"
Ohno shook his head, denying everything that Nino thought of him. There's no way he's going to take Yamato from Nino. Nino might think that he neglected Yamato but he didn't think so. There are things that Nino did better than him. For example, cooking. Yamato never said his cooking was awful but he definitely prefer his papa's cooking over his daddy's.
"There's no way I'm going to do that. I'm sure you can find a new job,"
"I don't know. That is my first job. I don't think my manager would be a good referee for my next job,"
"Well, let's try first, okay? You can work with me while searching for a new job. But, I cannot pay you as much as you get from your previous company,"
Ohno couldn't stop what he was saying. There's no way Nino would want to work at his company. It was totally different from his previous job. But, he was surprised when Nino looked at him with a bright smile as if he was interested with his offer.
"Really? There is a vacancy in your company?" Asked Nino. Ohno didn't know how to answer so he nodded awkwardly at Nino. There wasn't a vacancy at his company but he can create a position for Nino. Nino can become his assistant as at the moment, he shared the assistant with his vice president. The assistant became too busy handling the schedule for both of them.
"Yes, you can become my assistant, if you don't mi..."
Ohno was surprised when Nino suddenly hugged him. He cannot continue what he was going to say as he became distracted with Nino's scent. It was a very lovely citrus smell and he wondered what perfume Nino wear to get this lovely scent.
"Thank you! I really appreciate it," he was brought back to reality when Nino let him go from the hug. He cannot process what Nino just told him, so he just nodded, hoping it was appropriate to whatever Nino was saying. He didn't know why Nino's face seemed to turn red but he didn't say anything else except to quickly excuse himself from living room.
Nino walked awkwardly behind Ohno as they both approached the office. Honestly, he didn't know why he agreed with the offer as he didn't know much about Ohno's company. The only thing he know was Ohno had a small motel business.
The office was almost empty when they arrived. There was only a guy who was too concentrate working that he didn't even notice they were coming until Ohno talked to him.
"Sho chan, what are you working on?"
The man called Sho chan turned to look at Ohno. Upon noticing Nino behind Ohno, he smiled brightly to both of them, making him looked even more handsome than he already was.
"I'm analyzing the performance of our motel in Chiba for last month," answered Sho. He stood up and approached them, stretching out his hand to shake with Nino. "Hi, I'm Sakurai Sho. I'm assuming you're Yamato's papa,"
Nino shook the hand and nodded his head.
"Yamato looked like him, especially the eyes," said Sho.
"Yes, Ninomiya san looked just like my sister-in-law and Yamato inherited most of his features from her. That's why Yamato looked like Ninomiya san," explained Ohno.
Ohno then guided him to his room. He also told Sho to inform someone named Aiba to come to his room when he arrived.
"Ohno san, please call me Nino," requested Nino once they were alone in the room. Ohno nodded his head. "So, Sho chan has met Yamato before?"
"Yes. A lot of times. You may think I never neglected Yamato but the truth is, a lot of people are helping me,"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm the boss so I can bring Yamato here anytime. If I'm too busy with meetings, I will send Aiba chan to pick him up at the daycare. Jun even cooked for us sometimes,"
That name sounds familiar. If Nino wasn't mistaken, Yamato had told him before about eating a very delicious pasta, which was cooked by a guy named Jun.
"Yamato loves Jun's pasta," informed Ohno before Nino could ask. They were interrupted by a knock at the door. A lanky guy came inside. Nino assumed he was Aiba.
"Good morning, Riida. Do you need anything?" Asked the guy.
"Yes. This is Nino," Ohno introduced both of them. Nino shook hand with Aiba, liking the way Aiba smiled at him. He had a feeling that he would be able to befriend the other guy.
"Hello! Sho chan was right! You looked just like Yamato. Oh how old are you? If I don't know you're working with GameParadise, I would think that you just finished high school," Aiba talked without stopping. He didn't even give Nino chance to talk. Fortunately, Ohno interrupted him.
"Aiba, you can get to know him later," said Ohno, stopping Aiba from his continuous babbling. "I want you to teach Nino how to do your job. He will take over your job after this,"
"Eh?" Aiba looked surprised. "What do you mean? Why will he take over my job? Did you just fire me?"
This time, it was both Nino and Ohno's turn to be surprised. However, Nino was quick to recover as he realized why Aiba came into that conclusion. Ohno didn't explain the situation properly and that's why Aiba misunderstood what he just said.
"Ah," Said Ohno, finally realizing the confusion. "I want you to focus on helping Sho. Nino, on the other hand, will help me,"
Aiba let out a very long oh. Without delaying any longer, he led Nino outside of the office, ready to brief him with his new job.
Or at least that's what he thought. Once they were outside, Aiba suddenly asked a random question.
"Do you like Riida?"
"Eh?" Nino was dumbfounded with the sudden question.
"I think both of you look cute together," continued Aiba without waiting for Nino to answer.
Nino ignored the stupid comment from Aiba. How could he think of that? He doubted that Aiba will think the same way if he watched how cold both of them treated each other before. Without thinking, he glanced at Ohno's room. Through the glass window, he could see Ohno was talking on the phone. Perhaps noticing that someone was watching him, Ohno turned to look at him and smiled. The sweetest smile that he had ever received.
"Good morning, everyone," a handsome young man with wavy hair arrived, distracting Nino from watching Ohno.
"It's weird to see you energetic in the morning, Jun," said Sho, eyes still at the computer.
Jun? Nino thought to himself. Is this the person who cooked the delicious pasta?
"Well, I've just secured a new job. My friend's company agreed to use our motel as the venue for their family... Eh, who are you?" Said Jun suddenly. Nino wasn't paying attention to his announcement so he was surprised when Jun suddenly looked at him curiously.
"My new assistant," Ohno was the one answering the question.
"Oh, finally!!! We're going to get rid of Aiba," said Jun teasingly. Aiba pouted in response to the teasing.
Nino laughed seeing the way Jun teased Aiba. It was a sight that he didn't normally see in his previous workplace. Everyone was too focus in doing their work so there weren't much interaction between them. However, he felt that the atmosphere was warmer and it made him feel comfortable.
"Is it okay for us to hire a high school student?" Asked Jun, suddenly looking serious.
At first, Nino didn't understand what he meant by that until he noticed how Ohno, Sho and Aiba grinned at him. It was a common misunderstanding. People always assume he was seventeen because of his face.
"He is not seventeen, Jun. He is the same age as you," answered Ohno.
"Eh? Uso!" Said Jun in response. His shocked face was very funny.
"No point to lie," said Ohno. "Anyway, I have a meeting in half an hour. Nino, I want you to join the meeting and observe how Aiba do his work,"
Nino nodded in agreement, silently hoped that he could do the job properly.
"Don't worry. You're going to be fine," said Aiba, patting his back.
"Well, before I forget... Nino, you're an expert in programming, right?" Asked Sho.
"Not an expert... But I know how to do programming. Why?"
Instead of answering him immediately, Sho looked at Ohno as if asking for permission. Ohno, on the hand, nodded his head.
"Okay, I need your help. The system we used to key in the data for our motel right now wasn't... How do I describe it... Well, I didn't really like the system. Can you look at it later? Maybe create a new system for us?"
"Yeah, sure," said Nino. Somehow, he felt happy to know that he could use his skill in programming to work here. Maybe, it wasn't a bad idea to agree to work with Ohno.
Part 2