Going Home
29. Reunited - Might be good for either when Nino returns from America. Or Arashi getting back together after the hiatus.
Nino felt nervous as he stared out of the window of the plan. He was playing with the cable of his headphones as he put his head back against the headrest, closing his eyes for the hundredth of time, to try to get some sleep.
He was so super tired. They left for the airport right after they filmed the last scene for the movie, Nino had already packed his bags and given them to his manager for supervision. It was not that a night more or less in the super posh hotel was too expensive for the agency, but Nino had talked long with his manager. He missed Japan, he missed being home, and the last scene was supposed to be shot early enough that they could catch the last plane home instead of staying a whole other day.
Of course, he was tired after waking up early and working the whole day. The last scenes had also been very emotional, but he was too nervous to sleep.
They had promised each other to write regularly. The members had promised him to write him what they were up to and what he all missed, but it was horrible. It made it seem as if Nino was not necessary for their group to work. Maybe he was even hindering them. He was not sure, it was complicated. Nobody told him that he was useless, in fact, everybody had told him that they missed him a lot and that he had to come back soon.
Nino liked to joke that Arashi was the other four persons. Of course, he somehow knew that they were the five of them. He belonged to the others, he saw the five of them on shows, on pictures and everywhere else. He knew that he was known for his jokes and snarky side and he loved it. But at the same time, it was the truth. When he saw them in real person, it was the other four, not the five of them. He stupidly feared that they would realise that it was the true form. Logically he knew it was wrong of him to think like that. But it was hard to shut up the non-logical side of his brain.
He sighed and put his forehead against the cool glass of the window panel, staring at the clouds under them. He closed his eyes again and listened to the sounds of the plane. A small smile on his face as the sounds and movements became even clearer than all the time here.
Soon he was home. Maybe he should have written to the others that he was coming home, at least his mother to make sure that his flat was tidy and his fridge had food in it, but he felt like take out. He wanted rice balls. The real good ones from the conbini. He missed rice a lot.
Again he moved on his seat, grimacing softly since it was uncomfortable to sit for such a long time. In the end, neither he nor the other four wrote daily. It was too hard with their lives as they were too busy and messages never seemed to be enough. He missed hearing their voices and laughing together with them.
But calling had been too expensive - not even talking about their messed up schedules and the time difference - so that was not possible. His lips formed a small smile as he remembered the only time he had actually spoken to one of the others in these last few weeks.
It was totally by chance that he had lunch while his manager called the agency to talk about times and appointments that he was not interested in. But he had to coordinate with their overall manager about Arashi and Nino had yelled a greeting, feeling like it, to have a small connection to Arashi and their home had felt nice.
It was totally lucky that Ohno had been with their manager by that time and that the other man had said his name, making Ohno beg for a chance to get the phone for a short exchange of words.
Even now it made Nino’s heart beat faster and his smile more genuine. He had missed Ohno the most. They both had known that it would be especially hard for them to be separated for so long, after just starting their relationship. But it was a once in a lifetime chance and both had feared that it would stand between them if Nino said no. Not even speaking of how stupid it would be in general to say no to such a big chance to be in a Hollywood movie. Nino liked the idea of promoting Arashi more to the world, but he disliked the idea of being seen as an actor. At least that was what he had realised throughout the month of filming. He belonged to Arashi if Arashi would still take him. Even more: He belonged to Ohno. And he wished that he would have reached out to the man that he was coming home.
But, Nino thought, as he stared at the reflection in the window, he looked awful, tired, worn out and he knew he would have a meal - miso soup and rice balls sounded perfect - and then sleep for at least 24 hours. So there was no use in having someone over just to watch him sleep.
Nino played with his music player, choosing the next song he wanted to hear and turned on his seat again. He wanted to fall asleep. The flight would be over sooner then. Also, the darkness and silence in the plan were slightly eery. He felt as if he was disturbing everybody already asleep and he didn’t like that.
Soon, Nino thought as with another sigh he closed his eyes, trying to sleep again, soon he would be home.
Nino stumbled into his flat, his bag dragging behind himself and he yawned loudly, pretty sure he was dislodging something while doing so. He had fallen asleep on the plane, way too late to be coherent now and he was glad that his manager had made sure to bring him home first with a taxi then leaving him on his own.
“So tired,” he mumbled on his way to his bed, falling on top of the sheets and sighing happily. He was home, this was his bed, the smell of his laundry detergent, finally home. He fell asleep without wondering why they smelled so fresh and were comfortable nor why the rooms were aired out as he was way too exhausted to care or realise.
Nino woke the next morning to the smell of coffee and he blinked in surprise as he forced his eyes open and rolled to his side. He rubbed his eyes, staying silent for a second and wondering if he should panic that someone was in his home. But that someone was making coffee and that was a reason to trust whoever it was. At least he would get a coffee before being murdered.
Nino rubbed his eyes, yawning again and rolling out of bed. He grimaced as he realised that he was still wearing the jeans and shirt that he had travelled in - what a stupid decision to wear jeans yesterday. He changed out to them into comfortable jogging bottoms that had a hole on around his knee and a shirt that he had worn so often that the fabric was super soft on his skin that new clothes could never achieve.
He opened the door to his bedroom, not remembering when he had closed it and was surprised to not fall over the bag he was so sure he had thrown down there. Not caring for any murder traps while he was dead to his feet.
He lost his air for a second and his heart skipped a beat as he recognised the voice that was lowly humming a song Nino was not sure he knew as soon as she opened the door. His steps fastened and he came to a halt in the doorway to his kitchen.
The coffee machine was on, the last drop of the liquid dripping down, the table was set for two with silly colourful flowers on the side, and Nino would never admit how much he loved them there. His eyes then fell to the source of the voice and the smile came without him wanting to as he looked at the broad back of his boyfriend - Ohno being here meant he still was right? Ohno was not going to break up after he prepared him breakfast.
“Oh-chan,” he whispered slightly choked. It smelled of rice and soup and eggs and fish and everything he loved in a Japanese breakfast and he was sure that it was tons better than anything he could get at a conbini.
“Breakfast is almost ready,” Ohno said and looked at him with a smile that made Nino’s insides squirm. “Help yourself to some coffee.”
“Uhn,” Nino said, filling one cup of coffee and then another for Ohno before sitting down. Just a few seconds later Ohno put the pan down in the middle of the table, together with the rest of the prepared food.
“This looks delicious,” Nino said, wriggling slightly and Ohno grinned.
“I thought you might want some breakfast.”
“Why…?” Nino asked in the end. He had not told Ohno he was going home today. So why was the other here?
“A bird at the agency told me, and I could not hold back as I wanted to be the first to greet my now-famous boyfriend,” Ohno explained and chuckled when Nino jumped to his feet and hugged him around the neck tightly. Hiding his tears to not show how happy those words made him, how much he had missed him and how much he needed someone to be here with him today.
“Welcome home,” Ohno whispered as he hugged him more tightly.
Nino chuckled and rubbed his eyes as he moved back to look at him for a moment. “I’m home.”
Nino felt nervous as he stared out of the window of the plan. He was playing with the cable of his headphones as he put his head back against the headrest, closing his eyes for the hundredth of time, to try to get some sleep.
He was so super tired. They left for the airport right after they filmed the last scene for the movie, Nino had already packed his bags and given them to his manager for supervision. It was not that a night more or less in the super posh hotel was too expensive for the agency, but Nino had talked long with his manager. He missed Japan, he missed being home, and the last scene was supposed to be shot early enough that they could catch the last plane home instead of staying a whole other day.
Of course, he was tired after waking up early and working the whole day. The last scenes had also been very emotional, but he was too nervous to sleep.
They had promised each other to write regularly. The members had promised him to write him what they were up to and what he all missed, but it was horrible. It made it seem as if Nino was not necessary for their group to work. Maybe he was even hindering them. He was not sure, it was complicated. Nobody told him that he was useless, in fact, everybody had told him that they missed him a lot and that he had to come back soon.
Nino liked to joke that Arashi was the other four persons. Of course, he somehow knew that they were the five of them. He belonged to the others, he saw the five of them on shows, on pictures and everywhere else. He knew that he was known for his jokes and snarky side and he loved it. But at the same time, it was the truth. When he saw them in real person, it was the other four, not the five of them. He stupidly feared that they would realise that it was the true form. Logically he knew it was wrong of him to think like that. But it was hard to shut up the non-logical side of his brain.
He sighed and put his forehead against the cool glass of the window panel, staring at the clouds under them. He closed his eyes again and listened to the sounds of the plane. A small smile on his face as the sounds and movements became even clearer than all the time here.
Soon he was home. Maybe he should have written to the others that he was coming home, at least his mother to make sure that his flat was tidy and his fridge had food in it, but he felt like take out. He wanted rice balls. The real good ones from the conbini. He missed rice a lot.
Again he moved on his seat, grimacing softly since it was uncomfortable to sit for such a long time. In the end, neither he nor the other four wrote daily. It was too hard with their lives as they were too busy and messages never seemed to be enough. He missed hearing their voices and laughing together with them.
But calling had been too expensive - not even talking about their messed up schedules and the time difference - so that was not possible. His lips formed a small smile as he remembered the only time he had actually spoken to one of the others in these last few weeks.
It was totally by chance that he had lunch while his manager called the agency to talk about times and appointments that he was not interested in. But he had to coordinate with their overall manager about Arashi and Nino had yelled a greeting, feeling like it, to have a small connection to Arashi and their home had felt nice.
It was totally lucky that Ohno had been with their manager by that time and that the other man had said his name, making Ohno beg for a chance to get the phone for a short exchange of words.
Even now it made Nino’s heart beat faster and his smile more genuine. He had missed Ohno the most. They both had known that it would be especially hard for them to be separated for so long, after just starting their relationship. But it was a once in a lifetime chance and both had feared that it would stand between them if Nino said no. Not even speaking of how stupid it would be in general to say no to such a big chance to be in a Hollywood movie. Nino liked the idea of promoting Arashi more to the world, but he disliked the idea of being seen as an actor. At least that was what he had realised throughout the month of filming. He belonged to Arashi if Arashi would still take him. Even more: He belonged to Ohno. And he wished that he would have reached out to the man that he was coming home.
But, Nino thought, as he stared at the reflection in the window, he looked awful, tired, worn out and he knew he would have a meal - miso soup and rice balls sounded perfect - and then sleep for at least 24 hours. So there was no use in having someone over just to watch him sleep.
Nino played with his music player, choosing the next song he wanted to hear and turned on his seat again. He wanted to fall asleep. The flight would be over sooner then. Also, the darkness and silence in the plan were slightly eery. He felt as if he was disturbing everybody already asleep and he didn’t like that.
Soon, Nino thought as with another sigh he closed his eyes, trying to sleep again, soon he would be home.
Nino stumbled into his flat, his bag dragging behind himself and he yawned loudly, pretty sure he was dislodging something while doing so. He had fallen asleep on the plane, way too late to be coherent now and he was glad that his manager had made sure to bring him home first with a taxi then leaving him on his own.
“So tired,” he mumbled on his way to his bed, falling on top of the sheets and sighing happily. He was home, this was his bed, the smell of his laundry detergent, finally home. He fell asleep without wondering why they smelled so fresh and were comfortable nor why the rooms were aired out as he was way too exhausted to care or realise.
Nino woke the next morning to the smell of coffee and he blinked in surprise as he forced his eyes open and rolled to his side. He rubbed his eyes, staying silent for a second and wondering if he should panic that someone was in his home. But that someone was making coffee and that was a reason to trust whoever it was. At least he would get a coffee before being murdered.
Nino rubbed his eyes, yawning again and rolling out of bed. He grimaced as he realised that he was still wearing the jeans and shirt that he had travelled in - what a stupid decision to wear jeans yesterday. He changed out to them into comfortable jogging bottoms that had a hole on around his knee and a shirt that he had worn so often that the fabric was super soft on his skin that new clothes could never achieve.
He opened the door to his bedroom, not remembering when he had closed it and was surprised to not fall over the bag he was so sure he had thrown down there. Not caring for any murder traps while he was dead to his feet.
He lost his air for a second and his heart skipped a beat as he recognised the voice that was lowly humming a song Nino was not sure he knew as soon as she opened the door. His steps fastened and he came to a halt in the doorway to his kitchen.
The coffee machine was on, the last drop of the liquid dripping down, the table was set for two with silly colourful flowers on the side, and Nino would never admit how much he loved them there. His eyes then fell to the source of the voice and the smile came without him wanting to as he looked at the broad back of his boyfriend - Ohno being here meant he still was right? Ohno was not going to break up after he prepared him breakfast.
“Oh-chan,” he whispered slightly choked. It smelled of rice and soup and eggs and fish and everything he loved in a Japanese breakfast and he was sure that it was tons better than anything he could get at a conbini.
“Breakfast is almost ready,” Ohno said and looked at him with a smile that made Nino’s insides squirm. “Help yourself to some coffee.”
“Uhn,” Nino said, filling one cup of coffee and then another for Ohno before sitting down. Just a few seconds later Ohno put the pan down in the middle of the table, together with the rest of the prepared food.
“This looks delicious,” Nino said, wriggling slightly and Ohno grinned.
“I thought you might want some breakfast.”
“Why…?” Nino asked in the end. He had not told Ohno he was going home today. So why was the other here?
“A bird at the agency told me, and I could not hold back as I wanted to be the first to greet my now-famous boyfriend,” Ohno explained and chuckled when Nino jumped to his feet and hugged him around the neck tightly. Hiding his tears to not show how happy those words made him, how much he had missed him and how much he needed someone to be here with him today.
“Welcome home,” Ohno whispered as he hugged him more tightly.
Nino chuckled and rubbed his eyes as he moved back to look at him for a moment. “I’m home.”