Matsuri
[Title] Matsuri
[Pairing] AibaxNino
[Rating] G
[Genre] Romance, AU
[Words] 2085
[Disclaimer] All I own is some magazines and CDs....
[Summary] Ohno invites Nino to meet his friend at the festival who is "Tall, with brown hair, whose eyes always seem to sparkle." This stranger takes an immediate liking to Nino...
Ohno had invited Nino to the local matsuri because there was nothing better to do on a hot summer evening, and because he wanted Nino to meet his friend. Nino was somewhat apprehensive about meeting someone new because he liked to keep to himself, but Ohno had managed to convince him to come anyway.
As they were walking the two blocks to the matsuri from Ohno’s house, Nino questioned Ohno about the person he was going to meet. “What’s he like?”
“Well, he’s tall, kind of silly, and he works at the zoo for a living,” Ohno finished pointedly.
“Really? The zoo huh…” Nino pondered what a tall silly guy would be doing at a zoo.
“What does he look like?”
“Well, I already said he’s tall…” Ohno thought a moment. “His hair is brown and straight, and his eyes always seem to sparkle…” Ohno’s voice trailed off and Nino just rolled his eyes.
“He sounds like an average Joe to me.”
They finally arrived at the matsuri and were greeted by a thousand smells, sounds, and colors. Most of the booths wore red and white and advertised their wares by banners strung across their roofs. Takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yaki soba, shaved ice, and crepes were the most common foods, and each booth had a long line behind it. There were also a few games, like ring toss, goldfish fishing, and a lottery. People were crowded around each of these booths as well, watching, playing and waiting in line. Many of the young people wore yukata, the girls dressed in every color of the rainbow and the boys in neutral tones like dark blues, blacks, browns and whites. The swish-thwacking sound of geta on the cement rose above the din of voices whenever someone wearing them passed by.
After taking surveying the matsuri for a few minutes, Ohno managed to convince Nino to buy some yaki soba to share, for tradition’s sake. They had just found a bench to sit on when Ohno’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He shoved the carton of yaki soba at Nino and reached for his phone.
“Moshi moshi? Aiba? Hi! Hey, how are you! Yeah, we just got here. What? We’re by the yaki soba stand near the water fountain. Yeah, it’s coming from the south entrance. Okay. Okay. We’ll be here.” He snapped his phone shut and smiled at Nino as he replaced his phone back in his pocket. “That was my friend. He said he’d be here in about ten minutes.” Ohno grabbed the carton back from Nino, who had not even opened it, and released a pair of chopsticks from their casing. “Let’s eat!”
Nino followed Ohno, who didn’t even wait for him and took a few bites. “Ohh, it’s so delicious!” Ohno squealed in delight as he took another bite. Nino said nothing and took a bite of minced ginger to nibble on.
“So, I meant to ask. Is this guy coming alone or with other people?” Nino chewed on his chopsticks and looked at Ohno.
The older man took a moment to clear his mouth. “He’s coming with his two friends, Jun and Sho. Jun is a model and Sho is a new anchor.” Nino nearly spit out his ginger in surprise.
“What? Those guys must be famous! Why would they ever come here?” he questioned, a slight frown on his face.
“They’re my friends, and that’s why they’re coming here.” Saying no more, Ohno stuffed another helping of soba in his mouth. After watching the other man eat for a moment, Nino started chewing on his chopsticks again. Nino just stared at the crowd and tried to imagine what he had gotten himself into when finally Ohno stood up and waved to someone behind Nino’s back. Nino turned to look and his eyes widened when he saw three very good looking men come walking toward them. He yanked the chopsticks out of his mouth and put his hands behind his back before rising on somewhat unsteady legs.
“Hey guys!” Ohno called when the three finally came into hearing range. Each of the three took the small man into a hug one at a time when they arrived in front of the bench. Nino stood by awkwardly until Ohno pulled him to his side. “This is my friend from college, Ninomiya Kazunari.” Jun was the first to offer his hand to Nino.
“I’m Matsumoto Jun. Nice to meet you.” Nino had a hard time tearing his eyes from the well shaped face as Jun shook his hand warmly. Next was Sho.
“Hello, Sho Sakurai here. Nice to meet you.” Nino was again awestruck and could only stare. Last was Aiba.
“Hi, I’m Aiba Masaki. So nice to finally meet you.” Aiba pumped Nino’s hand excitedly and flashed a huge smile. Just like Ohno had said, his eyes really did sparkle. They also crinkled so adorably at the edges. Nino did not want to begin to think about the deep chocolate brown of his irises, so he looked away quickly. Aiba was not fazed and snatched a look at the forgotten carton of yakisoba. “I see you guys already have something to eat. Mind if we go get something, too?”
“Sure, we’ll go with you!” Ohno grabbed the yaki soba and proceeded to stuff his face as the five walked toward the food stalls. Jun and Sho talked animatedly to each other in front as Nino walked behind them next Ohno. That was until Aiba sidled up next to him.
“So, I hear you’re into games. What’s your favorite?” Aiba’s eyes sparkled as he caught Nino’s glance, which made the younger man look quickly away.
“Um…well…I’m really into, um, Dragon Quest…” his voice trailed off as his eyes darted to Aiba’s smiling face on his right. He licked his lips and continued, staring as Sho and Jun’s heads in front of him. “Yeah, I would have to say Dragon Quest.”
“I see.” Aiba smiled like he had just won a prize. “Anything else?” Nino would have liked to smack the smirk off the older man’s face, but he nearly ran into Jun who had stopped without warning.
“Hey, watch where you’re-” Nino stopped when he realized who he was talking to. “I mean, you need to be careful and not just stop like that.”
“Sorry, but there’s the takoyaki stand.” Jun pointed with a thin finger to the right. Sho, Jun and Ohno jumped in line, but Nino stood back.
“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” Aiba asked with worry painted in his voice.
“I..I already had some yaki soba. That’s enough for me.” Aiba grinned impishly as Nino avoided his glance.
“I’ll buy you some. It looks like you could stand to eat a bit more…”
“Oh no, I don’t need to eat anything else, really.” He laughed nervously, eyes darting to meet Aiba’s gaze, then looking away again.
“Fine, I’ll just have to buy you a crepe…” Nino’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. If there was one thing he could not resist, it was sweets.
“That, that sounds good.” Aiba grinned, and went over to tell the others. Ohno looked at Nino with a knowing smirk as Aiba gestured toward the crepe stand animatedly, which made Nino ponder. He had little time to think as Aiba hurried back and grabbed his wrist.
“C’mon, let’s eat crepes!” Aiba yanked on his wrist and practically pulled him all the way to the crepe stand. “Now what looks good?” he questioned when they finally stood in front of the stand.
“Well, I am a fan of matcha ice cream with azuki sauce…”
“Great! I’ll get it for you!” He called, already half-way to the line. Nino watched the older man fidget impatiently as he stood in line, bounce with hands on the counter as he placed their orders, and hurriedly come running with the crepes. “Here!” He held out the green crepe to Nino, already licking the whipped cream off of his own. Nino offered his thanks, and they began slowly walking back towards the others. They found the other three still standing in line for takoyaki, so Aiba called their names and waved to them to let them know that he and Nino had their crepes.
“What flavor did you get?” Nino asked as he watched Aiba devour his crepe.
He answered between mouthfuls, “Well, it’s strawberry cheesecake.” Nino let out a small gasp as he had half a crepe shoved in his face. “Want some?” Aiba had a dorky smile plastered on his face, and Nino could barely help himself as he smiled back.
“Sure.” Nino took a small bite, which made Aiba roll his eyes.
“You seriously can’t have had enough,” he laughed as he smashed the crepe into Nino’s face. Nino’s head jerked back and his face broke into a huge grin as soon as Aiba removed the crepe. Nino’s face was now covered in melted ice cream and strawberries. This made Aiba start belly-laughing, which in turn made the other three look to see what was going on. Ohno’s face was the first to break into a smile, and the other two followed suit. When Aiba gained control of himself, he took a napkin and wiped Nino’s face off gently as the younger man just stood there, defeated but smiling.
“I think I’ve had enough now.” Nino beamed brilliantly at Aiba and was finally able to meet his gaze without looking away. “But I don’t think you have.” He reached to smash his own crepe in to Aiba’s cheek, cackling the entire time. This made the other three howl with laugher until people started to look at them strangely and move a few paces away. Aiba chuckled happily and tried his best to lick the ice cream off his face, but failed. Nino giggled and took his own napkin to clean the taller man’s face off. Aiba managed to catch Nino’s gaze, which made the younger man stop with his hand on the elder’s face. Nino quickly realized what was happening and tore his eyes and hand away. In the time it took to do this, the other three had received their takoyaki, so they trotted over to the pair.
“Okay, now shall we find somewhere to sit?” Sho asked, looking at Nino and Aiba with a smirk. He turned without waiting for an answer, Jun following after him. Ohno’s gaze rested on the pair for a moment before turning too. They stood and finished their crepes for a moment before slowly beginning to walk the way the others had disappeared.
“So, um, Nino?” Aiba purposely kept his line of vision from catching on Nino as he talked.
“Yeah?” Nino asked calmly, glancing in Aiba’s direction only to see him taking in the sights around them.
“Do you… Are you seeing anyone currently?” The younger man’s heart skipped a beat for a second before he could recover.
“No. I’m not seeing anyone now.” He had a lump in his throat, but he managed to get the words through.
“Well, if it’s okay…” Aiba let his voice trail off as he finally looked Nino in the face. “Could I have your number?” Nino immediately smirked as the fog cleared from his brain.
“What on earth would you want that for?” He was not going to let Aiba off easily.
“Well, I mean, I would probably like to talk to you after this, and I just thought maybe you would like to talk to me too…” The words that had come out in a rush suddenly stood still in his mouth as he tried to make sense his brain. He rubbed his eye sockets and let out a sigh. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Nino holding out a piece of paper, looking bored.
“Just in case you have something interesting to talk about.” He fluttered the paper in Aiba’s face, who took it with a smile.
“I promise I’ll try not to bore you, Nino-sama.” Aiba took off to catch up with the others, leaving Nino sputtering something about ‘sama’ before he ran to chase Aiba down.
+++++++++++
The next evening, as Nino was sitting at home getting ready to turn on the Playstation, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He opened it and put it to his ear with a “Moshi moshi.”
“Hi Nino, I was just wondering what you were up to tonight,” responded a voice that Nino could not help but smile upon hearing.
[Pairing] AibaxNino
[Rating] G
[Genre] Romance, AU
[Words] 2085
[Disclaimer] All I own is some magazines and CDs....
[Summary] Ohno invites Nino to meet his friend at the festival who is "Tall, with brown hair, whose eyes always seem to sparkle." This stranger takes an immediate liking to Nino...
Ohno had invited Nino to the local matsuri because there was nothing better to do on a hot summer evening, and because he wanted Nino to meet his friend. Nino was somewhat apprehensive about meeting someone new because he liked to keep to himself, but Ohno had managed to convince him to come anyway.
As they were walking the two blocks to the matsuri from Ohno’s house, Nino questioned Ohno about the person he was going to meet. “What’s he like?”
“Well, he’s tall, kind of silly, and he works at the zoo for a living,” Ohno finished pointedly.
“Really? The zoo huh…” Nino pondered what a tall silly guy would be doing at a zoo.
“What does he look like?”
“Well, I already said he’s tall…” Ohno thought a moment. “His hair is brown and straight, and his eyes always seem to sparkle…” Ohno’s voice trailed off and Nino just rolled his eyes.
“He sounds like an average Joe to me.”
They finally arrived at the matsuri and were greeted by a thousand smells, sounds, and colors. Most of the booths wore red and white and advertised their wares by banners strung across their roofs. Takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yaki soba, shaved ice, and crepes were the most common foods, and each booth had a long line behind it. There were also a few games, like ring toss, goldfish fishing, and a lottery. People were crowded around each of these booths as well, watching, playing and waiting in line. Many of the young people wore yukata, the girls dressed in every color of the rainbow and the boys in neutral tones like dark blues, blacks, browns and whites. The swish-thwacking sound of geta on the cement rose above the din of voices whenever someone wearing them passed by.
After taking surveying the matsuri for a few minutes, Ohno managed to convince Nino to buy some yaki soba to share, for tradition’s sake. They had just found a bench to sit on when Ohno’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He shoved the carton of yaki soba at Nino and reached for his phone.
“Moshi moshi? Aiba? Hi! Hey, how are you! Yeah, we just got here. What? We’re by the yaki soba stand near the water fountain. Yeah, it’s coming from the south entrance. Okay. Okay. We’ll be here.” He snapped his phone shut and smiled at Nino as he replaced his phone back in his pocket. “That was my friend. He said he’d be here in about ten minutes.” Ohno grabbed the carton back from Nino, who had not even opened it, and released a pair of chopsticks from their casing. “Let’s eat!”
Nino followed Ohno, who didn’t even wait for him and took a few bites. “Ohh, it’s so delicious!” Ohno squealed in delight as he took another bite. Nino said nothing and took a bite of minced ginger to nibble on.
“So, I meant to ask. Is this guy coming alone or with other people?” Nino chewed on his chopsticks and looked at Ohno.
The older man took a moment to clear his mouth. “He’s coming with his two friends, Jun and Sho. Jun is a model and Sho is a new anchor.” Nino nearly spit out his ginger in surprise.
“What? Those guys must be famous! Why would they ever come here?” he questioned, a slight frown on his face.
“They’re my friends, and that’s why they’re coming here.” Saying no more, Ohno stuffed another helping of soba in his mouth. After watching the other man eat for a moment, Nino started chewing on his chopsticks again. Nino just stared at the crowd and tried to imagine what he had gotten himself into when finally Ohno stood up and waved to someone behind Nino’s back. Nino turned to look and his eyes widened when he saw three very good looking men come walking toward them. He yanked the chopsticks out of his mouth and put his hands behind his back before rising on somewhat unsteady legs.
“Hey guys!” Ohno called when the three finally came into hearing range. Each of the three took the small man into a hug one at a time when they arrived in front of the bench. Nino stood by awkwardly until Ohno pulled him to his side. “This is my friend from college, Ninomiya Kazunari.” Jun was the first to offer his hand to Nino.
“I’m Matsumoto Jun. Nice to meet you.” Nino had a hard time tearing his eyes from the well shaped face as Jun shook his hand warmly. Next was Sho.
“Hello, Sho Sakurai here. Nice to meet you.” Nino was again awestruck and could only stare. Last was Aiba.
“Hi, I’m Aiba Masaki. So nice to finally meet you.” Aiba pumped Nino’s hand excitedly and flashed a huge smile. Just like Ohno had said, his eyes really did sparkle. They also crinkled so adorably at the edges. Nino did not want to begin to think about the deep chocolate brown of his irises, so he looked away quickly. Aiba was not fazed and snatched a look at the forgotten carton of yakisoba. “I see you guys already have something to eat. Mind if we go get something, too?”
“Sure, we’ll go with you!” Ohno grabbed the yaki soba and proceeded to stuff his face as the five walked toward the food stalls. Jun and Sho talked animatedly to each other in front as Nino walked behind them next Ohno. That was until Aiba sidled up next to him.
“So, I hear you’re into games. What’s your favorite?” Aiba’s eyes sparkled as he caught Nino’s glance, which made the younger man look quickly away.
“Um…well…I’m really into, um, Dragon Quest…” his voice trailed off as his eyes darted to Aiba’s smiling face on his right. He licked his lips and continued, staring as Sho and Jun’s heads in front of him. “Yeah, I would have to say Dragon Quest.”
“I see.” Aiba smiled like he had just won a prize. “Anything else?” Nino would have liked to smack the smirk off the older man’s face, but he nearly ran into Jun who had stopped without warning.
“Hey, watch where you’re-” Nino stopped when he realized who he was talking to. “I mean, you need to be careful and not just stop like that.”
“Sorry, but there’s the takoyaki stand.” Jun pointed with a thin finger to the right. Sho, Jun and Ohno jumped in line, but Nino stood back.
“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” Aiba asked with worry painted in his voice.
“I..I already had some yaki soba. That’s enough for me.” Aiba grinned impishly as Nino avoided his glance.
“I’ll buy you some. It looks like you could stand to eat a bit more…”
“Oh no, I don’t need to eat anything else, really.” He laughed nervously, eyes darting to meet Aiba’s gaze, then looking away again.
“Fine, I’ll just have to buy you a crepe…” Nino’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. If there was one thing he could not resist, it was sweets.
“That, that sounds good.” Aiba grinned, and went over to tell the others. Ohno looked at Nino with a knowing smirk as Aiba gestured toward the crepe stand animatedly, which made Nino ponder. He had little time to think as Aiba hurried back and grabbed his wrist.
“C’mon, let’s eat crepes!” Aiba yanked on his wrist and practically pulled him all the way to the crepe stand. “Now what looks good?” he questioned when they finally stood in front of the stand.
“Well, I am a fan of matcha ice cream with azuki sauce…”
“Great! I’ll get it for you!” He called, already half-way to the line. Nino watched the older man fidget impatiently as he stood in line, bounce with hands on the counter as he placed their orders, and hurriedly come running with the crepes. “Here!” He held out the green crepe to Nino, already licking the whipped cream off of his own. Nino offered his thanks, and they began slowly walking back towards the others. They found the other three still standing in line for takoyaki, so Aiba called their names and waved to them to let them know that he and Nino had their crepes.
“What flavor did you get?” Nino asked as he watched Aiba devour his crepe.
He answered between mouthfuls, “Well, it’s strawberry cheesecake.” Nino let out a small gasp as he had half a crepe shoved in his face. “Want some?” Aiba had a dorky smile plastered on his face, and Nino could barely help himself as he smiled back.
“Sure.” Nino took a small bite, which made Aiba roll his eyes.
“You seriously can’t have had enough,” he laughed as he smashed the crepe into Nino’s face. Nino’s head jerked back and his face broke into a huge grin as soon as Aiba removed the crepe. Nino’s face was now covered in melted ice cream and strawberries. This made Aiba start belly-laughing, which in turn made the other three look to see what was going on. Ohno’s face was the first to break into a smile, and the other two followed suit. When Aiba gained control of himself, he took a napkin and wiped Nino’s face off gently as the younger man just stood there, defeated but smiling.
“I think I’ve had enough now.” Nino beamed brilliantly at Aiba and was finally able to meet his gaze without looking away. “But I don’t think you have.” He reached to smash his own crepe in to Aiba’s cheek, cackling the entire time. This made the other three howl with laugher until people started to look at them strangely and move a few paces away. Aiba chuckled happily and tried his best to lick the ice cream off his face, but failed. Nino giggled and took his own napkin to clean the taller man’s face off. Aiba managed to catch Nino’s gaze, which made the younger man stop with his hand on the elder’s face. Nino quickly realized what was happening and tore his eyes and hand away. In the time it took to do this, the other three had received their takoyaki, so they trotted over to the pair.
“Okay, now shall we find somewhere to sit?” Sho asked, looking at Nino and Aiba with a smirk. He turned without waiting for an answer, Jun following after him. Ohno’s gaze rested on the pair for a moment before turning too. They stood and finished their crepes for a moment before slowly beginning to walk the way the others had disappeared.
“So, um, Nino?” Aiba purposely kept his line of vision from catching on Nino as he talked.
“Yeah?” Nino asked calmly, glancing in Aiba’s direction only to see him taking in the sights around them.
“Do you… Are you seeing anyone currently?” The younger man’s heart skipped a beat for a second before he could recover.
“No. I’m not seeing anyone now.” He had a lump in his throat, but he managed to get the words through.
“Well, if it’s okay…” Aiba let his voice trail off as he finally looked Nino in the face. “Could I have your number?” Nino immediately smirked as the fog cleared from his brain.
“What on earth would you want that for?” He was not going to let Aiba off easily.
“Well, I mean, I would probably like to talk to you after this, and I just thought maybe you would like to talk to me too…” The words that had come out in a rush suddenly stood still in his mouth as he tried to make sense his brain. He rubbed his eye sockets and let out a sigh. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Nino holding out a piece of paper, looking bored.
“Just in case you have something interesting to talk about.” He fluttered the paper in Aiba’s face, who took it with a smile.
“I promise I’ll try not to bore you, Nino-sama.” Aiba took off to catch up with the others, leaving Nino sputtering something about ‘sama’ before he ran to chase Aiba down.
+++++++++++
The next evening, as Nino was sitting at home getting ready to turn on the Playstation, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He opened it and put it to his ear with a “Moshi moshi.”
“Hi Nino, I was just wondering what you were up to tonight,” responded a voice that Nino could not help but smile upon hearing.