How We Live: (Chapter 2: Truth)

[kiyoshiro]

S-so. I don't really know if I revealed too much in this chapter... and if I'm really showing more of the character's personalities. I know they're a bit two dimensional, but I kind of expected that from my first fanfiction. Expect more Nino magic in the next chapter. Anyways, enjoy chapter two!

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Title: How We Live (Chapter 2: Truth)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Ohmiya, General Arashi Friendship
Word Count: 2307

“Get up.”

Nino grunted. He kicked his left leg weakly and turned onto his side, “No.”

“Up.”

“Go away, Jun-kun.”

“I said to call me Matsumoto and I also said that we start at five, remember?” Jun ripped the sheets off Nino’s bed. Nino let out a frustrated groan. He never was a morning person.

“Fine.” Nino sat up and let out a content sigh as rolled his neck slowly, allowing it to crack and pop loudly. Jun’s face contorted in disgust.

When Nino was finally ready, after having taken his time just to enjoy watching Jun’s face grow redder with impatience, the pair walked down the stairs. A blast of freshly baked bread, chocolate, buttery croissants, and other heavenly smells greeted Nino. His stomach growled, enticed by their scent. Covering his stomach with his right hand, he poked at his ribs, which were jutting out awkwardly. Just when was the last time he had a proper meal, Nino didn’t know.

“Good morning!” Aiba waved as he balanced two glasses between his forearm and chest, “How’d you sleep?"

“Well.” Nino lied.

“Great!” Aiba walked back behind the counter, pulled out a clipboard, and slid the glass door open to count the muffins. He looked up, “Ne, MatsuJun, we’re running low on pumpkin, do you think you could get Nino set up? I think it’s going to be a little hectic today. Oh! And coffee beans, please!”

“Got it,” Jun nodded. He turned to Nino, “Okay, let’s go. I’m going to show you where to get supplies and then you’re on your own. All you have to do after you get supplies is clean the store and take people’s orders. You do know how to work a coffee machine, don’t you?”

“Yes, Jun-pon.”

“Stop that.”

“No.” Nino smirked.

Jun scowled.

-

When the pair returned, the store was bustling with people. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and the low murmurings of people ordering pastries engulfed the store. Men with briefcases sat at the tables, occasionally looking at their expensive watches, and a group of women were chatting on the couch, chewing on bagels. Teenagers were scattered around, eyeing the cupcakes as breakfast and Nino wondered how all these people could fit in such a small store.

By the time it was nine thirty, everyone had left to start the day. Nino grabbed a chair and plopped down, exhausted by the hustle and bustle. This is why I do magic tricks, not freaking busboy work.

Cracking his back, Nino cursed at his sore body.

“Oi!” Jun’s head appeared out of the kitchen, “Get back to work! You have to clean up the tables you know!”

Nino let out another low curse, got up, and went back to cleaning.

-

It was eleven when Nino was finally done.

He was in the middle of wiping a table when Jun and Aiba appeared from out of the kitchen. Jun untied his purple apron and tossed it to Aiba’s awaiting arm.

“Well, I’m off.” Jun gave a wave of his hand as he grabbed his jacket off the coat rack and disappeared out the door.

“Where’s he going?” Nino asked.

“He’s going to work. He’s got to go catch his fish!” Aiba made a reeling motion with his hands and grinned.

Nino smiled back weakly. Aiba really is an energetic guy. He looked at the clock, “When does he come back?”

“Not until eight,” Aiba answered, kicking off his shoes and flopping on to the couch. He stretched his arms, “Yay! Now that Jun-chan is gone, we can play!”

“We can?”

“Of course! We close the shop and then re-open around three. Sho-chan usually comes in around that time and takes over MatsuJun’s job.”

“MatsuJun?” Nino threw Aiba a curious look. Aiba shrugged and leaned forward.

“Ne,” he spoke, his voice suddenly soft, “I’m going to go out for a bit, okay? It’s Oh-chan’s birthday next week and I want to go get his present. Can you stay here and watch the place?”

“Sure,” replied Nino. He didn’t feel like getting up and shopping. He had more important things to do- like napping. More power to him.

“Thank you!” Aiba gave a bright smile and patted Nino’s shoulder, “I shouldn’t be more than two or three hours, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nino waved his hand lazily as Aiba pulled on his rain boots and bounced out the door.

With a soft click of the door, a calm, warm silence filled the bakery and Nino took a moment to breath it all in. As much as he loved being a magician, scraping money to find places to stay was never fun- especially the whole actually spending the money part. Here, he could get food and board for free. Nino entertained the idea of staying permanently until his eyes fluttered softly and drifted off into a light slumber.

-

When Nino awoke, there was man quietly painting at the table. With blurry eyes, Nino got up and walked over. Ohno-san?

“What are you painting?” Nino asked as he took a spot beside the man.

The man didn’t answer. He didn’t even look up. Nino pressed on.

“You’re Ohno-san, right?” Nino carefully examined the man’s face. His lips were pursed together and the small crease in his forehead told Nino that Ohno was in complete concentration. Does he even realize I’m talking to him?

“I’m Ninomiya,” Nino stuck out his hand. Ohno ignored it. Growing irritated, Nino scooted closer.

“Look, ” Nino touched his arm, “I-”

Before Nino could even blink, Ohno jumped out of his chair and backed into the wall. In his fright, his elbow hit a shelf and the two watched as a picture frame shattered on the ground. The glass flew across the wooden surface, as if in slow motion, and Ohno dropped to the floor.

Silence filled the room.

By the time Nino could understand what had happened, Ohno was silently picking up the shards. His hands were a bloody mess.

“I’m sorry,” Nino began as he bent down to grab a piece of glass.

“Don’t!” Ohno’s voice was quiet, but piercing. Pain was evident in his voice and Nino watched helplessly as Ohno stared intently at the floor.

Not knowing what to do, Nino got up and went to the kitchen to get a broom and dustpan. When Nino returned, he found Ohno rooted to the floor, clutching the glass tightly in his fist. Blood began to drip from his hands.

“What are you doing?!” Nino ran over and struggled to unclench Ohno’s hold on the shards, “You’re hurting yourself!”

With a swing of his leg, Nino managed to trip Ohno and push him against the wall. Ohno let out a gasp and stared at Nino with wide eyes.

“Don’t do that!” Nino yelled, pinning Ohno by the wrists.

Ohno’s mouth opened as if to say something, but the words escaped him and he closed it again. Nino looked at Ohno with concerned eyes. He searched endlessly in the quiet man’s eyes for some kind of answer, but only found that same scared look and something else Nino couldn’t quite understand.

“What the hell is going on?!”

Nino turned to find Sho and Aiba in the doorway, faces horrified at the scene before them. Nino watched as their eyes went from Nino, to the broken picture frame, to the blood on Ohno’s hands.

“I can explain,” Nino spoke, desperation evident in his voice.

“Okay,” Sho answered slowly. He wasn’t looking at Nino. He stared intently at Ohno and began to walk closer.

“Satoshi-kun?” he called gently.

Ohno made a stifled sound. His eyes were empty.

“I’ll take care of this one, Sho-chan.” Aiba’s voice was eerily calm and low. Stepping over the broken glass, he slowly wrapped a protective arm around Ohno and guided him into the kitchen. “Come on, Toshi-chan, let’s get you cleaned up.”

“Wha-,” Nino began, “I- I mean, I just wanted to introduce myself and then he freaked out! The picture frame fell over and then… then he just… the glass,” he struggled to find the words.

“It’s alright,” Sho replied softly, guiding Nino the couch. Nino looked back at Sho with a confused expression.

“How?” Nino was frustrated with himself. He used to be a man that could sweet talk his way out of anything and now he couldn’t even find the words to explain an accident. He grabbed at his hair and let out an angry groan.

“Hold on a minute,” Sho pulled off his brown trench coat, revealing his red sweater and khaki pants. Walking over to the fireplace, he threw a log in and sat across from Nino. He leaned forward; his hands folded together, watching Nino carefully.

“Okay,” Sho took a deep breath, “Satoshi…well he’s different. About five years ago, he was involved in something that really, really messed with his mind and now he’s become a bit, unusual. Well, actually, he was never really normal.” Sho paused and then added thoughtfully, “None of us are, actually…” He shook his head, “I don’t blame you if you are a bit confused and even terrified, but I hope you can understand that dealing with Satoshi-kun means being extremely delicate. Anyway, are you alright?”

Sho watched Nino with concern. This was a lot to take in. The sound of crackling firewood filled the room.

Nino let out a small sigh, “I guess I should apologize to him?” He scratched his cheek and looked up at Sho.

“I think you better wait until tomorrow.” Sho’s voice was sympathetic. Even in the warm glow of the fire, Nino’s face looked tired and pale. Sho glanced around nervously to find something to cheer the younger man up.

“Hey,” Sho pulled out a chessboard from under the coffee table, “Do you know how to play?”

“No.”

“Well then!” Sho’s face brightened, “Don’t worry. I can teach you! But just to warn you, I’m really good.”

-

“Checkmate.”

“I don’t get it! How? How?!” Sho grabbed at his hair and stared at the chessboard in disbelief. “You don’t even know how to play!”

Nino snickered as Sho flailed his arms and squawked with defiance.

“I probably should’ve mentioned this, Sho-chan, but I’m really good at games.”

Sho folded his arms and pouted, “You tricked me.”

“That’s my job... well, I mean it used to be.”

“Oh really?” Sho’s ears perked, “Now that I think about it, we never did ask you what you used to do…”

“I was a magician,” Nino replied in a proud voice. Sho’s eyes grew wide.

“Really?! I’m pretty interested in magic myself. I mean I’m just an amateur, but I would do shows for some of the grandparents around town. Do you,” Sho clasped his hands nervously, “I mean, do you think you could show me a few tricks?” He looked up at Nino hopefully.

Nino gave a smug smile, “Sure.”

Sho beamed.

-

When dinner arrived, three of the five men sat at table closest to the fire. Jun and Ohno were in the kitchen while Nino, Sho, and Aiba chatted amicably about new pastry ideas.

“I’m telling you, Mabo Tofu Cake will be a hit!”

“Masaki…” Sho replied weakly.

“Wow, Aiba-chan, you’re kind of an idiot, aren’t you?”

“Oi!” Aiba lightly smacked Nino who was too busy giggling at Aiba’s exuberant behavior to care. Sho laughed loudly.

“You,” Jun appeared from the kitchen, “Ninomiya, I need to talk to you.”

Jun’s face was unreadable. Nino walked over and Jun placed a hand on Nino’s elbow to guide him to a corner. Before speaking, Jun glanced over at Aiba and Sho to make sure that they wouldn’t listen in on the conversation. It didn't really matter; Aiba and Sho were too engrossed in another ridiculous idea to ruin business to pay attention. Jun looked back at Nino.

“Look,” Jun’s voice was low and struggling to stay civil, “I don’t want another accident like today, okay? I understand that you didn’t know about Ohno-kun’s condition so I’m not going to yell at you or anything. But, let me be clear. If that happens again, I will not hesitate to kick your ass out of here. I- ”

A graceful hand landed on Jun’s shoulder.

“Jun-kun,” his voice was quiet and gentle, “D-dinner’s r-ready.”

Jun looked down to meet Ohno’s gaze. Jun’s face softened at the sight and gave Ohno a quick nod.

“I’ll go get the food.” Jun disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving Ohno and Nino by themselves. Nino looked down at his feet awkwardly.

“S-sorry.” Nino mumbled to the floor. He glanced back up at Ohno’s face. It looked different. It still had that same terrified expression, but somehow it was just different. It was the first time he could get a real look at Ohno and was a bit stunned. Ohno was, well, for lack of a better word, cute.

Wait, cute?

Nino shook his mind of the thought and looked back at Ohno anxiously.

“Un,” Ohno grunted quietly in response. His dark brown eyes met Nino’s light auburn ones. There was something in the way he looked into Nino’s eyes that confused him. Ohno was much harder to read than the other three. Nino was about to push further when Ohno broke away from his gaze and walked tentatively to the table. He sat in between Aiba and Sho who both affectionately poked at one of Ohno’s cheeks. Aiba let out mirth-filled laughter. Sho grinned.

Slowly, Ohno’s soft pink lips twisted up into a shy smile.

Nino’s stomach dropped. The sound of blood pumping echoed loudly in his ears and he clutched his forehead in surprise. Must be dizzy from hunger.

“Oi,” Jun kicked at Nino’s leg, “Don’t just stand there. Help me bring the curry over.”

“R-right.”

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Author's Note: !!!!! Ah! Ohno's little scare was fun to write but I'm a bit worried that it came out well, too dramatic. I'm not really sure how the pace is supposed to be, but... ah well. XD

I just HAD to include some Sho!Fail. Poor thing. :D He never wins, but we love him anyway. Right?! :DDD

Special thanks to VAW for the advice! :)

Anyway, comments would be deeply appreciated! I really would love some feedback as to what parts work and don't work and if you think Ohno and Nino's relationship should speed up or slow down. Also, I'm pretty open to any ideas you have for plot. :D

Thank you for reading!