Seasoning Part 4
Really... Diehard Maotsujun fans should turn away now!!
***
“Ninomiya Kazunari! You idiot! What did you do to Mao-chan?! She is pissed at you.” Nino wasn’t surprised when later that evening before a taping of Himitsu no Arashi-chan, Matsujun came crashing into the green room, his temper flaring.
The rest of Arashi followed him through the door. Nino ignored them and continued to play on his DS.
Then Matsumoto Jun did the unforgivable. He grabbed Nino’s DS and turned it off… BEFORE Nino could press SAVE. Frustration and anger raged inside of him.
“NANDA!?” He stood up and grabbed Jun by the collar. Nino new he didn’t look all that threatening. Why did he have to be so damn short? Jun just stared down at him.
“They’re doing that intense staring thing again,” Aiba said in awe. Both Sho and Ohno slapped their hands over his mouth to prevent him from speaking.
“You said you wouldn’t hurt Mao-chan,” Jun accused him.
“And you said it was ok for me to go after her,” Nino countered.
“It is.”
“Then why were you calling her? And why was she being so secretive?”
“I was calling her to cancel our plans for the weekend.”
“What are you doing making plans with her in the first place?” Nino knew he sounded irrational, but he needed answers.
“I can’t make plans with my friend?” Jun was stalling and they both knew it.
Nino tugged on Jun’s collar, his head hanging down low. “Jun, do you love Mao?”
Jun sighed. “Yes, I love her.” Nino went rigid. “But I’m not in love her. Not like you.”
Ninomiya through his hands up in the air. “Well, that’s just peachy, because she obviously loves you!” Nino didn’t realize that he had started yelling and pacing.
“Kazu…” Jun started to say. Nino ignored him.
“She seemed reluctant to get out of the plans that you two had.”
“Nino…”
“And she sure wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to spend time with me.”
“Ninomiya…”
“And she hit me. Sure I deserved it. But she still hit me.”
“I’m gay.”
“And she definitely wasn’t running into my arms when I tried to kis…”
The silence in the room was deafening.
EH?!
“EH!!!???” Ohno, Sho, and a muffled Aiba loudly echoed his sentiments.
Jun averted his eyes and shuffled his feet.
“I didn’t know how to tell you guys. I’ve been meaning to for a while, I just didn’t know how. But when your feelings for Mao were starting to get obvious… well, I knew it was only a matter of time.”
“…”
“You’re gay?” Nino asked.
“You’re gay?” the others echoed.
“I’m gay.”
“Ohh… that explains so much…” Sho nodded his head in understanding. The others agreed.
“Oi,” Jun glared at them. “ANYWAY Mao knows.” He walked up to Nino and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Mao is one of my best friends. I love her. And she loves me. She’s been helping me keep this underwraps for a while, though I’m sure it’s been costing her.”
Ninomiya’s brain was on overload.
“You’re gay.”
Jun sighed. “Yes.”
“You’re not IN love with Mao-chan?”
“No. I’m in love with someone else.”
“Who?”
“I don’t want to say too much yet, but let’s just say, everyone thought he was covering for me and Mao when it was really the other way around.”
“Huh? Oh.”
“OHHH!!” It dawned on the rest of the members.
“So Mao isn’t in love with you?” It was taking a while to process all this information, but Nino wanted to make sure he wasn’t jumping to any conclusions again.
“No. Mao isn’t in love with ME.”
“I messed up didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.”
“I have to fix it, don’t I?”
“Yes, you do.”
“Do I have a chance with her?”
“You have to take that up with her.”
Nino looked over to his DS, his feelings over his unfinished game nothing compared to the rush of emotions about Mao. He smiled. He had an idea.
“OH!!” Everyone turned to Aiba, who had let out a loud noise. “OHHHHH!!! That’s what you meant before about video games. Nino-kun wants to date Mao-chan.”
They all stopped at stared at him. “Baka,” they all muttered, before exiting to begin taping.
* * *
Nino could feel Mao’s eyes on him as he played with wires and adjusted the television in the green room. But every time he turned around, she’d look away. He sighed. It had been like that since he entered the room 10 minutes ago. She wasn’t speaking to him. She wasn’t acknowledging him. She blatantly ignored him when he said good morning to her. But when he wasn’t looking, she was watching him.
“Yosshi!” he was finished. He had spent the past five minutes hooking up his Wii to the TV.
He looked over at Mao. She buried her face in a magazine she was “reading”.
“Ne, Mao-chan,” he called to her. She flipped a page.
Nino stepped a little bit closer to where she sat, curled up on the couch. “Mao-chan.” She loudly flipped another page.
Kneeling behind the couch, he placed his chin up on the back so he was almost next to her shoulder. Her hair smelled like mangos.
“Ne, Mao-chan.” He was surprised she didn’t rip the page with the force she turned it. “You know your magazine is upside down right?” It wasn’t, but it tickled him to see her look at the magazine in surprise and flip it over so that is was upside down. When she realized he had tricked her, she glared at him.
“I’m sorry about the things I said yesterday. I didn’t mean them.” She pouted her lips and concentrated on the magazine. “You were right. I was jealous. And I really don’t want you to be mad at me anymore.”
Still nothing.
“If you want, you can hit me again. Give me matching bruises.” She glanced back at him with an eyebrow raised. He made puppy-dog eyes at her. “Right here.” He lifted his fist and lightly hit his cheek.
She smirked. Nino felt victorious.
“Hountoni gomennasai, Mao-san.”
Mao peered at him closely, examining his face. Her lips were still pursed. She seemed to be satisfied with what she saw and finally spoke to him. “What’s the Wii for?”
“Ah. I thought you’d never ask.” Nino stood up and motioned for her to join him. “This was just in case you still wanted to beat me up. I figured we could handle our problems in a non-violent way.” He shyly held up Wii Resort.
Mao rewarded him with a laugh. “I also figured it would a more fun way to pass the time together between takes while they’re changing around sets... or something.”
“Oh.”
“Do you want to play? I’ll even switch the controllers around so I have the handicap.”
Mao pushed him playfully. “Don’t you dare go easy on me. Besides, I know you’re ambidextrous. It doesn’t matter which hands the controllers are in.”
Nino was surprised. “You know that about me?”
Mao stared at the screen. “I know more about you than you think.”
He worked hard to suppress his smile. “Oh.”
They waited in silence as the Wii started up and Nino set up the controllers.
“So to play, you have to set up your Mii- it’s a character you can dress and name, then play.”
“I do know that, Oniichan has a Wii. It’s not like I haven’t played before.” Mao poked his forehead with her finger. He responded by sticking out his tongue at her.
Then Mao started laughing. “Did you make Arashi Miis?!” She pointed to the screen. “AWW Sho-kun is so cute!”
“The guys made their own... but they may have some evil clones running around in there that I made.”
“Like that? Is that supposed to be Jun?” She pointed to one name DoS. He had a large afro and a unibrow.
“Maybe.”
“Aww, you made Hanadan characters! Kawaii!... Though... did you have to make Tsukushi so short?”
“She is short.” He got a smack on the arm for that.
Nino watched as Mao explored his little Mii community, his heart pounding loudly. He bit his lip as Mao’s eyes went a little wider.
“Ne, Nino-kun?”
“Un?”
“You made most of these characters, right?”
“So desu.”
“Did you make the one that says NinomiyaIsReallySorry?”
“So desu.”
“How about the one that says NinoIsAStupidJerk?”
“So desu.”
“And the one that’s called,” Mao stopped to clear her throat, “KazuLovesMao.”
“Yep.”
“And KazunariXMao...and NinoHeartsMao... and...”
Nino turned to Mao, then took the controllers from her. He placed her hands in his.
“I made all of those too.”
“Oh.”
Instead of saying anything more, Mao picked up the controllers again. She started to make her own Mii.
MaoLovesKazuToo.
Nino stared at the screen. Then stared at Mao.
“Really?”
She smiled brightly. “Hooooountou ni. Really, really, really...mff...” Nino had grabbed the back of Mao’s head and pulled her in for a deep kiss.
A perfect kiss with the sweetest lips he’d ever laid his own on.
When they finally pulled apart they were both a little breathless. Nino looked down tenderly at Mao, her cheeks gone bright right. She quickly ducked her head and hid her face against Nino’s shoulder. Mao lightly punched him in the stomach.
“Baka. I’ve been waiting for such a long time for you to say it.”
Nino laughingly tried to lift her chin up but she wouldn’t let him. “Eh? Nani? Say what?”
She punched him again.
“Oi.” He finally got a grasp of her chin and lifted her face up to him. “I love you, you violent girl, you. I’ll never let you go. ”
Giggling, Mao placed a small kiss on his lips. “I love you too, you baka boy.”
They were both laughing when Nino pulled her in for another kiss. I was right, Nino thought, just a pinch of Mao and life was just that much sweeter.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;
Nino is my ichiban :)
***
“Ninomiya Kazunari! You idiot! What did you do to Mao-chan?! She is pissed at you.” Nino wasn’t surprised when later that evening before a taping of Himitsu no Arashi-chan, Matsujun came crashing into the green room, his temper flaring.
The rest of Arashi followed him through the door. Nino ignored them and continued to play on his DS.
Then Matsumoto Jun did the unforgivable. He grabbed Nino’s DS and turned it off… BEFORE Nino could press SAVE. Frustration and anger raged inside of him.
“NANDA!?” He stood up and grabbed Jun by the collar. Nino new he didn’t look all that threatening. Why did he have to be so damn short? Jun just stared down at him.
“They’re doing that intense staring thing again,” Aiba said in awe. Both Sho and Ohno slapped their hands over his mouth to prevent him from speaking.
“You said you wouldn’t hurt Mao-chan,” Jun accused him.
“And you said it was ok for me to go after her,” Nino countered.
“It is.”
“Then why were you calling her? And why was she being so secretive?”
“I was calling her to cancel our plans for the weekend.”
“What are you doing making plans with her in the first place?” Nino knew he sounded irrational, but he needed answers.
“I can’t make plans with my friend?” Jun was stalling and they both knew it.
Nino tugged on Jun’s collar, his head hanging down low. “Jun, do you love Mao?”
Jun sighed. “Yes, I love her.” Nino went rigid. “But I’m not in love her. Not like you.”
Ninomiya through his hands up in the air. “Well, that’s just peachy, because she obviously loves you!” Nino didn’t realize that he had started yelling and pacing.
“Kazu…” Jun started to say. Nino ignored him.
“She seemed reluctant to get out of the plans that you two had.”
“Nino…”
“And she sure wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to spend time with me.”
“Ninomiya…”
“And she hit me. Sure I deserved it. But she still hit me.”
“I’m gay.”
“And she definitely wasn’t running into my arms when I tried to kis…”
The silence in the room was deafening.
EH?!
“EH!!!???” Ohno, Sho, and a muffled Aiba loudly echoed his sentiments.
Jun averted his eyes and shuffled his feet.
“I didn’t know how to tell you guys. I’ve been meaning to for a while, I just didn’t know how. But when your feelings for Mao were starting to get obvious… well, I knew it was only a matter of time.”
“…”
“You’re gay?” Nino asked.
“You’re gay?” the others echoed.
“I’m gay.”
“Ohh… that explains so much…” Sho nodded his head in understanding. The others agreed.
“Oi,” Jun glared at them. “ANYWAY Mao knows.” He walked up to Nino and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Mao is one of my best friends. I love her. And she loves me. She’s been helping me keep this underwraps for a while, though I’m sure it’s been costing her.”
Ninomiya’s brain was on overload.
“You’re gay.”
Jun sighed. “Yes.”
“You’re not IN love with Mao-chan?”
“No. I’m in love with someone else.”
“Who?”
“I don’t want to say too much yet, but let’s just say, everyone thought he was covering for me and Mao when it was really the other way around.”
“Huh? Oh.”
“OHHH!!” It dawned on the rest of the members.
“So Mao isn’t in love with you?” It was taking a while to process all this information, but Nino wanted to make sure he wasn’t jumping to any conclusions again.
“No. Mao isn’t in love with ME.”
“I messed up didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.”
“I have to fix it, don’t I?”
“Yes, you do.”
“Do I have a chance with her?”
“You have to take that up with her.”
Nino looked over to his DS, his feelings over his unfinished game nothing compared to the rush of emotions about Mao. He smiled. He had an idea.
“OH!!” Everyone turned to Aiba, who had let out a loud noise. “OHHHHH!!! That’s what you meant before about video games. Nino-kun wants to date Mao-chan.”
They all stopped at stared at him. “Baka,” they all muttered, before exiting to begin taping.
* * *
Nino could feel Mao’s eyes on him as he played with wires and adjusted the television in the green room. But every time he turned around, she’d look away. He sighed. It had been like that since he entered the room 10 minutes ago. She wasn’t speaking to him. She wasn’t acknowledging him. She blatantly ignored him when he said good morning to her. But when he wasn’t looking, she was watching him.
“Yosshi!” he was finished. He had spent the past five minutes hooking up his Wii to the TV.
He looked over at Mao. She buried her face in a magazine she was “reading”.
“Ne, Mao-chan,” he called to her. She flipped a page.
Nino stepped a little bit closer to where she sat, curled up on the couch. “Mao-chan.” She loudly flipped another page.
Kneeling behind the couch, he placed his chin up on the back so he was almost next to her shoulder. Her hair smelled like mangos.
“Ne, Mao-chan.” He was surprised she didn’t rip the page with the force she turned it. “You know your magazine is upside down right?” It wasn’t, but it tickled him to see her look at the magazine in surprise and flip it over so that is was upside down. When she realized he had tricked her, she glared at him.
“I’m sorry about the things I said yesterday. I didn’t mean them.” She pouted her lips and concentrated on the magazine. “You were right. I was jealous. And I really don’t want you to be mad at me anymore.”
Still nothing.
“If you want, you can hit me again. Give me matching bruises.” She glanced back at him with an eyebrow raised. He made puppy-dog eyes at her. “Right here.” He lifted his fist and lightly hit his cheek.
She smirked. Nino felt victorious.
“Hountoni gomennasai, Mao-san.”
Mao peered at him closely, examining his face. Her lips were still pursed. She seemed to be satisfied with what she saw and finally spoke to him. “What’s the Wii for?”
“Ah. I thought you’d never ask.” Nino stood up and motioned for her to join him. “This was just in case you still wanted to beat me up. I figured we could handle our problems in a non-violent way.” He shyly held up Wii Resort.
Mao rewarded him with a laugh. “I also figured it would a more fun way to pass the time together between takes while they’re changing around sets... or something.”
“Oh.”
“Do you want to play? I’ll even switch the controllers around so I have the handicap.”
Mao pushed him playfully. “Don’t you dare go easy on me. Besides, I know you’re ambidextrous. It doesn’t matter which hands the controllers are in.”
Nino was surprised. “You know that about me?”
Mao stared at the screen. “I know more about you than you think.”
He worked hard to suppress his smile. “Oh.”
They waited in silence as the Wii started up and Nino set up the controllers.
“So to play, you have to set up your Mii- it’s a character you can dress and name, then play.”
“I do know that, Oniichan has a Wii. It’s not like I haven’t played before.” Mao poked his forehead with her finger. He responded by sticking out his tongue at her.
Then Mao started laughing. “Did you make Arashi Miis?!” She pointed to the screen. “AWW Sho-kun is so cute!”
“The guys made their own... but they may have some evil clones running around in there that I made.”
“Like that? Is that supposed to be Jun?” She pointed to one name DoS. He had a large afro and a unibrow.
“Maybe.”
“Aww, you made Hanadan characters! Kawaii!... Though... did you have to make Tsukushi so short?”
“She is short.” He got a smack on the arm for that.
Nino watched as Mao explored his little Mii community, his heart pounding loudly. He bit his lip as Mao’s eyes went a little wider.
“Ne, Nino-kun?”
“Un?”
“You made most of these characters, right?”
“So desu.”
“Did you make the one that says NinomiyaIsReallySorry?”
“So desu.”
“How about the one that says NinoIsAStupidJerk?”
“So desu.”
“And the one that’s called,” Mao stopped to clear her throat, “KazuLovesMao.”
“Yep.”
“And KazunariXMao...and NinoHeartsMao... and...”
Nino turned to Mao, then took the controllers from her. He placed her hands in his.
“I made all of those too.”
“Oh.”
Instead of saying anything more, Mao picked up the controllers again. She started to make her own Mii.
MaoLovesKazuToo.
Nino stared at the screen. Then stared at Mao.
“Really?”
She smiled brightly. “Hooooountou ni. Really, really, really...mff...” Nino had grabbed the back of Mao’s head and pulled her in for a deep kiss.
A perfect kiss with the sweetest lips he’d ever laid his own on.
When they finally pulled apart they were both a little breathless. Nino looked down tenderly at Mao, her cheeks gone bright right. She quickly ducked her head and hid her face against Nino’s shoulder. Mao lightly punched him in the stomach.
“Baka. I’ve been waiting for such a long time for you to say it.”
Nino laughingly tried to lift her chin up but she wouldn’t let him. “Eh? Nani? Say what?”
She punched him again.
“Oi.” He finally got a grasp of her chin and lifted her face up to him. “I love you, you violent girl, you. I’ll never let you go. ”
Giggling, Mao placed a small kiss on his lips. “I love you too, you baka boy.”
They were both laughing when Nino pulled her in for another kiss. I was right, Nino thought, just a pinch of Mao and life was just that much sweeter.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;
Nino is my ichiban :)