[Oneshot] 5 & 1/2 Minute Hallway - Part 2/3
Title: 5 & 1/2 Minute Hallway (Part 2/3)
Genre: AU
Pairing: Jun/Sho
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it. ~ Thomas Fuller
Notes: This story is dedicated to catacombkid, because it would not have happened without her. She'll argue the point, but she's totally wrong. >.> Seriously, thank you sooooo much! ♥♥♥♥ Loads of thank to nanyakanya and mitsuchan, too, for letting me bother them with snippets while I was writing it. XD ♥
Title taken from the Poe song of the same name.
On to part two!
Jun had never intended to start a romantic relationship with Sho. Well, not consciously, at least. He supposed, looking back on it, that there had always been a sort of niggling feeling in the back of his brain that hinted at the possibility, but he’d blatantly ignored it for as long as he could. By the time he’d finally acknowledged it, he’d already been so deep into the situation that there really was no turning back, even if he’d wanted to. Which he most definitely did not.
Sho was the first person outside of his family that Jun could remember being completely himself around, no putting on a good face or forcing himself to mold himself to fit the other’s expectations.
It was nice. Comfortable.
“I have no idea what’s going on,” Jun mumbled, one eyebrow arched delicately as he poked at the container of chinese takeout with his chopstick, digging around for anything that looked appetizing enough to eat. Beside him, Sho was fixated on the TV, his own container of takeout resting between his legs, forgotten in favor of the tiny black and white ball flying around the screen.
“Oh, come on, ref… that was clearly offsides!”
Jun turned his head, smirking to himself as Sho waved one hand at the tv, his brows drawn together in a frown. “Is your team losing?”
“Huh?” Sho mumbled, glancing at Jun quickly before looking back at the tv. “No, they’re tied-oh, come on! Pay attention, Foster. You should have had that one!”
“I don’t think they’re tied anymore,” Jun pointed out as he watched the ball fly into the net in slow motion, Sho looking more and more upset beside him each time they replayed the goal from a different angle.
“Well, they would be if the goalie would pay attention,” Sho huffed, suddenly remembering the half-eaten container of sweet and sour pork in his lap and leaning forward to set it down on the coffee table with a bit more force than necessary. He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the TV as he watched the seconds on the clock tick down.
Jun snorted and continued to poke at his food calmly, stealing glanced at Sho out of the corner of his eye.
“Watching baseball is never this stressful.”
“Yeah, because baseball is boring,” Sho mumbled under his breath, his eyes still fixed on the TV.
“Excuse me?” Jun gaped, his eyebrows arched in disbelief as he stared at Sho. For his part, Sho kept his eyes fixed on the TV, oblivious to anything and everything but the movements of the ball across the TV screen.
Jun sighed and leaned forward, grabbing one of the takeout containers and sitting back to pick through it for something good. He really had no idea what was going on with the game at this point, and he didn’t really care. Soccer was definitely not his cup of tea.
After a few minutes he leaned forward again, switching the picked-through container of food for another, picking through it for anything good and repeating the process with another new containr a few minutes later. After the third container, Sho’s eyes started to wander from the tv, stealing glances at Jun every time the other leaned forward.
There was a minute-thirty left on the clock when Jun leaned forward for his fourth container. Beside him, Sho sighed and turned to look at Jun, watching him pick through the leftover pork and vegetables.
“Jun… stop,” Sho mumbled, frowning as he watched Jun pop a water chestnut into his mouth. “That is really distracting.”
“What?” Jun asked, chewing slowly as he blinked up at Sho. “I’m just sitting here.”
“You keep moving,” Sho pointed out as Jun leaned forward to switch out food containers again.
Jun sat back and gave Sho a look. “I wasn’t trying to distract you on purpose. If I was, you’d know it.”
“Sorry just… it’s hard to pay attention when you’re moving around like that,” Sho murmured, stealing another glance at Jun out of the corner of his eyes.
Jun snorted softly and leaned forward to set the food aside. “Soccer obviously isn’t that interesting if that’s all it takes to distract you.”
“You’re shaking the couch.” Sho groaned internally at his explanation, wondering when he’d turned into his father. He remembered him saying the same thing to Sho when he was younger and they’d tried watching games together. Sho had never made it past half-time before he got kicked out of the room.
Sho felt Jun shift beside him again, the couch cushions shifting beneath him, and he turned to look at the other with a sigh. He opened his mouth to protest and ask if Jun could please just sit still for five more minutes when he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Jun smiling at him, their faces mere centimeters apart. He had just enough time to wonder why the other was so close before Jun leaned forward, brushing their lips together in a quick, chaste kiss.
Jun was still smiling as he pulled away, the look on his face one of smug satisfaction. “That was a distraction.”
Sho cheeks were red as he watched Jun settle back into the couch, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “You’re not allowed to watch soccer with me anymore.”
--
Evening was just beginning when Ohno got home, having just come off a 12 hour shift and feeling every minute of it in his bones. His shoulders were slumped as he shuffled down the hallway towards his apartment, his expression weary as he dug his key out of his pocket. He enjoyed his new job, for the most part, but being an intern at a busy restaurant meant long hours and not a lot of recognition. The latter he didn't mind so much, since the learning experience was what he was there for, but the first tended to cut into the time he reserved for meals and sleep, and that did actually bother him. It wasn't that he couldn't do it, but if he was going to miss sleep or meals he preferred it to be because he'd lost track of time painting or fishing or doing something else that he loved.
He heard voices down the hall and couldn't help but turn, hand frozen in mid air, hovering around the doorknob. He usually wasn’t nosy when it came to his neighbors, but his weariness somehow made his curiosity greater, as if he couldn't fend it off when he was this tired. The door next to his opened, and an unfamiliar man spilled out, all lanky, long limbs and chestnut hair and pale skin. He was grinning as he stepped back, a smile so bright that Ohno felt the corners of his mouth twitching up in response just from looking at it.
"Sho-chan, you don't have a wear a tie. It's just dinner," he said, giggling as he reached out, tugging his companion out into the hall. The sound was low and breathy, a genuine happiness in it that you didn't hear in most people's laughter. There was something bright about him, cheerful, something that made you want to say hello and return the smile, even if it wasn't be directed at you.
"But it's a nice restaurant," his partner protested and Ohno blinked, recognizing his neighbor. He was frowning as he looked down at his shirt and tie, his apartment door hanging half open, forgotten behind him. There was that same slightly nervous tension in his frame that Ohno had seen when they'd met in the elevators or chatted at the mailboxes, but it seemed different, somehow. Maybe because the man that was with him seemed so oblivious to it.
"Sho-chan is so serious," the man chided, still giggling as he reached forward to tug at Sho's tie. The way he smiled and looked pleased with himself as he straightened it made Ohno smile a little, his ease a welcome contrast to the nervous tension in Sho's shoulders and the way he fidgeted a little at the touch. It made Ohno think of nights out with his best friend in High School, friendly pats on the back and the way they'd lean against each other while watching tv, without thinking. "You’re always trying to impress people. You shouldn't try so hard."
Sho blushed and swatted at the other's hand, his smile embarrassed. "I'm not," he insisted, his voice almost too soft for Ohno to hear as he looked away from his friend. His cheeks went a bit red as he caught sight of Ohno, guilt flitting across his face for a second before he forced a smile, the expression tight lipped and overly polite. It reminded Ohno of the smiles that you got from bank tellers or convenience store clerks, a sort of uncomfortable politeness born of necessity. "Ah... Ohno-san."
"Evening," Ohno mumbled, bowing his head a little and offering Sho a half-smile, unable to miss the way that Sho's eyes flitted guiltily to Ohno's apartment door before focusing on his face again. There was a slight pause, then, a moment of awkward silence where Sho's face went thoughtful, and Ohno found himself at a loss for what to say.
"Ah... Ohno. You're Sho-chan's new neighbor, right?" The other man broke the silence, stepping forward to offer Ohno a hand to shake, his smile wiping away the awkward atmosphere and making things seem suddenly lighter. "I've heard a lot about you."
"You have?" Ohno couldn't help but ask as he took the other's hand, smiling a little as their eyes met. Up close the man seemed even brighter, so full of life and energy that it practically spilled out of him, through his eyes and his smile and his soft, breathy laugh.
"Ah... Ohno-san, this is Aiba Masaki. My friend," Sho broke in, rubbing the back of his head as he gave Ohno an embarrassed smile. "You'll have to forgive him. He's like this with everyone, whether he knows you or not."
"Like this? What's that supposed to mean?" Aiba asked, giggling even as he tried to look offended. "You're such an old man sometimes."
Ohno laughed at the look that Sho gave Aiba in return. "I don't mind."
"See?" Aiba said, turning to give Sho a look, as if Ohno had just proven his point. "He doesn't mind if I'm friendly. People like it when you're friendly, Sho-chan. You should try it." He smiled then, a friendly affection in his gaze as he watched Sho try very obviously not to look embarrassed.
"I'm friendly," Sho mumbled, barely loud enough to hear, and Aiba turned to wink at Ohno.
Aiba just laughed and shook his head and patted Sho on the back, his gaze full of fondness and friendly affection. His hand lingered forgotten against Sho's back as he turned to look at Ohno, fingertips resting against the crisp material of Sho's shirt. "You should come over for dinner, sometime. Sho-chan's a terrible cook, but I promise to make him order takeout."
Ohno laughed softly and nodded, Sho's soft protest sounding half-hearted at best. Ohno didn't think he could really blame him. Aiba seemed like the type of person that it would be hard to say no to. "Sure."
"We'll have to make plans sometime, then," Aiba grinned, hand dropping from Sho's back. Ohno let his gaze drift over to Sho and caught the other man staring past him at the faded numbering on Ohno’s apartment door, his eyes distant. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Sho looked away under the pretense of checking his watch, his expression unreadable.
"It's almost 7. We should go so we don't miss the train." He didn't wait for Aiba's answer before he stepped around him, moving to close and lock his apartment door, leaving Aiba to end the conversation and say their goodbye.
"Ah... we have reservations at this really nice restaurant," Aiba explained, his expression almost apologetic. "It was nice meeting you, though, Ohno-san. We'll have to talk again soon."
"You, too," Ohno answered, nodding at them both as they moved past him towards the elevators, Aiba smiling and giving a short wave, and Sho nodding politely and not quite meeting his gaze. He watched them disappear down the hall for a moment before he turned to unlock his apartment door and stepped inside, hoping that he actually would be able to see them again soon.
"I'm home," he called out as he slipped off his shoes, still smiling slightly to himself, his earlier exhaustion all but forgotten. It was only when he heard the soft "welcome home" and turned to find Jun standing at the end of the entryway, staring at the door with a pinched look on his face, that his smile faded. It was dim in the entryway, but Ohno could still see the way Jun's brows furrowed as he turned away suddenly and headed towards his room, murmuring something about having work to do.
A frown replaced Ohno's smile as he stared after him, his expression thoughtful.
--
Sho had never really been a big fan of drama, whether it was written or on screen or playing out in real life. He liked excitement, sure, and he liked it when things were interesting because, really, who didn’t, but drama was an entirely different matter.
He’d come from what most people would consider a normal family and had gone from a comfortable, relatively quiet childhood to an equally comfortable, relatively quiet adulthood, and that was the way he liked it. He couldn’t stand overly loud or emotional people, and he hated every overdone love story that he’d seen, on the large or big screen, especially if it was one that was meant to make you cry. He liked quieter, more subtle movies with storylines that unfolded slowly, revealing themselves so slowly that you didn’t fully realize what was happening until the ending credits had started to roll.
It made sense, in a way, then, that his relationship with Jun ended up doing that exact thing, building slowly around them both until one day when Sho stopped to think about it was already there, as much a part of his life as his daily commute or his weekly trip to the grocery store.
“I should go home soon.” Sho mumbled around a mouthful of ice cream, his tone implying just how much of a chore doing that would be. They’d eaten a big dinner and were currently enjoying an even bigger dessert, the tub of ice cream sitting between them on the couch as they paid half-attention to the late night crime drama on the tv.
“You could just stay the night,” Jun suggested around a mouthful of Rocky Road, his voice and attitude nonchalant.
“I just live down the hall,” Sho pointed out, laughing softly as he turned to give the other an indulgent look. “I think I can make it that far. I didn’t eat that much pasta for dinner.”
Jun laughed with him, the sound slightly forced as he took another bite of ice cream. His voice was so soft when he finally spoke again that Sho almost didn’t hear him over the TV. “I know, but you still could, if you wanted to.”
“Stay the night?” Sho guessed, his expression slightly confused. “Why would I want to-“
Jun looked away from the ice cream just long enough to meet Sho’s eyes, the meaning behind his look significant enough that even Sho found himself hard pressed to misinterpret it. “Wait, you mean… oh. OH.”
Jun nodded once, twice, a slightly embarrassed smile forming on his lips as he sat the ice cream aside and reached over to take Sho’s spoon from his now trembling fingers. He rose from the couch and leaned in, taking Sho’s hand in his own as he whispered again. “Stay the night.”
Sho swallowed and nodded, his hand tightening around Jun’s as he let the other pull him off the couch and lead him into the bedroom.
--
"Oh... Nino," Ohno blinked and smiled as he held the door open and motioned the other man into the apartment.
Nino smiled briefly as he slipped his shoes off, watching as Ohno closed the door behind him and disappeared into the apartment. His smile widened into a grin as he trailed behind Ohno, glancing into the empty living room before following the other into the kitchen. "So, that guy's still hiding in his room, huh?"
Ohno frowned slightly and nodded as he peeled potatoes over the sink. "I haven't seen him for a few days."
Nino nodded, humming thoughtfully as he leaned against the counter beside Ohno, watching the other's surprisingly deft fingers at work. "You know about what happened to him?"
"He overheard something," Ohno mumbled, shrugging as he sat the finished potato aside and picked up another. "It upset him."
"Not that," Nino corrected him, his eyes searching Ohno's face as he continued. "Last year. You know about what happened, don't you?"
Ohno's hands stilled as he turned his head to meet Nino's eyes, his gaze knowing. "Yes. My mom's good friends with Matsumoto-san."
Nino nodded, pursing his lips slightly. "She told you about it?"
"Some," Ohno admitted, his words slow and expression thoughtful.
"And the rest?" Nino asked, turning his gaze away to stare out into the kitchen.
Ohno shrugged and resumed peeling. "I just figured it out."
"Observant," Nino commented, grinning a little to himself. "You're more observant than most people, you know."
"I was born this way," Ohno answered with another shrug and a slight smile.
--
For someone who was known for his flair, both when it came to fashion and food, Jun tended to be more attracted to the quieter, simpler side of things when it came to all other aspects of his life. His car was more practical than flashy, his apartment was spacious but homey and affordable, and his time off was more often than not spent curled up on his couch at home.
Maybe it was because there was so much flash that went into his wardrobe, or that, as someone who was paid to spend a good portion of his life in overpriced, stuffy restaurants, surrounded by their fake atmosphere, he craved something more quiet and real in his downtime.
Whatever the cause, he was definitely much happier curled up on his couch in sweatpants and a t-shirt with Sho, than trussed up in one of his Armani suits, seated stiffly at a table in the latest and greatest restaurant in Ginza.
When Jun thought back on it, those rather unremarkable evenings spent at home were always the best.
“There is no way baseball is better than soccer,” Sho mumbled, his voice muffled as he buried his face against the side of Jun’s neck.
It was warm with Sho practically laying on him like this, a warmth that made Jun feel sated and lazy and relaxed in a way that he’d never really thought was possible. Jun sighed, running his fingers through Sho’s hair as he argued with him half-heartedly. “How would you know? You haven’t even watched any of the game.”
“I watched enough.” Sho sighed, his breath hot against Jun’s neck, sending a shiver down the younger man’s spine.
Jun was embarrassed by the hitch he could hear in his own breathing, and the way that his head tilted to the side to make room for Sho’s lips as the other started to scatter lazy kisses against his skin. “Hm… I don’t think so. You promised a whole game and it’s not even the bottom of the fourth….”
Sho chuckled, the sound soft and sleepy as he pressed closer, his lips moving a bit more deliberately against Jun’s skin. It was a bit cramped on the couch with both of them, but Jun found himself trying to press closer automatically, his body shivering as he felt Sho’s fingers playing with the hem of his shirt.
He grunted, the sound soft and full of as much annoyance as arousal as he wound his fingers through Sho’s hair and urged the other’s face closer. “I’m trying to watch the game.”
Sho snorted and pulled back as much as he could manage with the grip that Jun had on his hair. “Then I guess I’ll let you watch.”
Jun frowned, turning his head to give Sho a dirty look. “Don’t you dare.”
Sho laughed, the sound low as he buried his face back against the side of Jun’s neck, fingers running along the other’s stomach playfully. Jun could feel the other’s lips curl into a smile against his skin and made a rather embarrassing noise in answer. “But you said you wanted to watch the game.”
“There are still three innings to go,” Jun mumbled, his fingers tightening in Sho’s hair as the other’s fingers inched their way up his chest. “I figure I’ll only be missing half an inning, tops.”
Sho laughed, the sound vibrating through his entire body and, by default, Jun’s. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not.”
“You should,” Jun answered, the breathy laugh following his words enough to take the sting out of them. “I guess you’ll just have to prove me wrong.”
“I guess so,” Sho answered, laughing softly as he pressed closer and accepted the other’s challenge.
--
“Can we make this short today? I have work.”
“Well, good morning to you, too.” Nino smirked as Jun took a seat across from him, the look of disdain he
wore on his face a bit more exaggerated than normal. “And you know the answer to that. It’s not up to me-“
“’It’s up to you’. Yes, I’ve heard it before,” Jun answered with a sigh and a bored look. “You say that, but when I don’t talk you just sit here all day, shuffling cards and making me feel guilty.”
“I don’t do anything to make you feel guilty,” Nino corrected, stuffing the aforementioned cards into his pocket and folding his hands across his lap. “I think you’re projecting.”
“Well, then, why don’t we talk about it?” Jun mumbled dryly.
“No, I have something else to talk about today,” Nino replied, his voice altogether too cheerful. Jun straightened a little in his chair and gave the other man a weary look. He hated it when Nino sounded cheerful. Nothing good ever came of it. “Let’s talk about Aiba.”
“What about him?” Jun asked, stiffening at the mention of the name.
“Who is he?”
“You know who he is,” Jun answered, frowning and shifting a little in his seat, very carefully looking anywhere but at Nino’s face. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have asked.”
“Maybe I want to know who he is to you,” Nino answered, and Jun didn’t have to look to know that he was smiling at him.
“He’s no one to me,” Jun answered, his words clipped, a bit sharper than intended.
“Humor me.”
Jun shifted again, his brows furrowed as he mumbled something fast and soft and completely inaudible.
“I didn’t catch that.”
“Sho’s boyfriend,” Jun snapped, lips drawn into a tight line as he lifted his head to glare daggers at Nino across the coffee table. “His new boyfriend.”
“Hm,” Nino answered, the sound dismissive, even as his expression softened. It only lasted a moment, but Jun still caught it before it disappeared beneath one of his infuriating smiles. “What if I told you they were just friends and there was no romantic interest there?”
“Then you’d be a liar,” Jun answered, some of the fierceness going out of his voice as he gave Nino a searching look, then mentally berated himself for it. “Why does it matter, anyway? Sho and I haven’t spoken since the accident.”
“It obviously matters to you,” Nino answered, something almost resembling understanding in his voice as he met Jun’s eyes.
“Sho can do whatever he wants.” Jun swallowed hard and looked away then, eyes drifting over to a dusty pile of magazines resting on a side table. “I don’t have any say over his life. I’m not even a part of it anymore.”
“Hm,” Nino answered again, pausing for a long moment-to actually gather his thoughts or simply for dramatic effect, Jun wasn’t sure, though he suspected the later-and then answered, simply, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
--
By the time Sho had been living in his apartment for a year, he and Jun had already started to leave their mark on each other’s living spaces. Sho had an empty drawer at the bottom of his dresser that he let Jun keep a few odd pairs of pants and shirts in, for those mornings when they overslept or he was just too lazy to get up in time to wander back to his apartment to get ready for the day. Likewise, Jun had made extra space in his closet, leaving enough room for Sho to hang his suit on nights when he stayed over to keep it from getting wrinkled.
There were extra toothbrushes and razors and sticks of deodorant in each of their bathrooms, and small reminders scattered throughout the rest of their rooms-a stack of food magazines on Sho’s coffee table, a copy of the day’s paper with the soccer scores circled in Jun’s living room, a corkscrew crammed in the drawer that held Sho’s silverware. Neither of them really noticed any of these things, since at this point they just seemed to belong. It would have been probably been more noticeable, instead, if they’d suddenly been gone.
"Did you pack an extra tie? You want to be able to change it up if you're going to impress these guys. If you just take one tie they'll peg you for someone sent to do their boss's dirty work."
Sho smiled a little to himself as he settled back against the pillows on his bed, his suitcase lying open on the floor, a list of last minute items to pack before he left for his flight in the morning resting atop his stack of clean underwear and socks. He could hear Jun in the bathroom, rooting around in the medicine cabinet, no doubt sorting the bottles according the size and color and frequency of use.
"Yes, dear," Sho called back, his voice teasing. He didn't bother pointing out to Jun that he was someone being sent out to do the boss's dirty work. Jun was acting more nervous about this trip than he was. "Now stop organizing my medicine cabinet and come to bed."
The rattling sounds stopped abruptly, and Sho heard the slight squeak of the hinges on the cabinet door as it closed. "I'm not. I have to take out my contacts."
Sho was carefully not to laugh out loud at the other. "Well, when you're done with that, then."
After a few more minutes and the familiar sounds that went along with Jun taking out his contacts and washing his face, the other emerged from the bathroom, glasses perched on his nose and his hair pulled back in a rather unattractive headband. Sho grinned at him and patted the bed next to him, not missing the glance that Jun threw his open suitcase and, more importantly, the list sitting just inside.
"You packed your briefcase already, right?"
"Yes. You watched me do it... and checked it over afterwards," Sho reminded him as he reached out to grab Jun's arm, tugging the other towards the bed. "Stop worrying. We'll check the list again in the morning."
"I'm not worried. I just know that you'd forget your head if it wasn't screwed on. Or if I wasn’t there to check it." Jun frowned but climbed onto the bed and under the covers beside Sho without any further protest. He was quiet for a long moment, his face thoughtful as he fluffed the pillows behind his head and arranged them just so, taking twice as long as usual.
Sho waited until it looked like he'd worked out some of his restlessness before reaching out to turn the other's face towards him and lean in for a quick kiss. "It'll be fine, Jun. I promise."
"Hm," Jun answered non-commitally, smiling weakly as he met Sho's eyes. "I guess even you can't screw up too badly in three days. Even if you are meeting with one of your company's biggest clients...," Jun trailed off, his voice and smile growing playful.
Sho groaned and shook his head, the smile never leaving his face. "Thanks for reminding me. I'd forgotten completely."
Jun's smile turned to a full-fledged grin as Sho wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled them both down to settle against the pillows. He hummed softly in his throat and met Sho's eyes across the pillows, sliding an arm around his waist. "What will you do without me around?"
"Get a decent amount of sleep and watch soccer games in peace?" Sho answered, his face thoughtful.
Jun laughed and pinched the other's arm playfully. "Just for that, I expect you to call me every night and give me a play-by-play of your day."
"If you want me to call, you don't have to make up some lame excuse. I know you're going to miss me." Sho laughed, flinching as Jun pinched him again.
"Please. You're going to miss me. It's not like three days apart from you is going to kill me. I might actually get something productive done for once," Jun mumbled, smiling even as he rolled his eyes.
"We'll see who misses who," Sho teased as he rolled onto his side and pulled the other closer.
"Yeah, we'll see."
--
“There’s one last thing we need to deal with.”
Nino’s voice was soft, almost gentle, but the words still made Jun apprehensive. Two blissful, Nino free days had passed since their last horrible conversation, but hoping for three had probably been too much to ask. He lowered his magazine to look up at the other man, his mouth drawn into a tight line and his eyes just a touch too wide with poorly concealed fear. He’d spent a year making it a point not to think about any of these things, and he wasn’t so sure after the last few things that they’d talked about that he wanted to go any further. “I thought you said I was making progress.”
“You are.”
“Then why do I need to deal with anything? I’ve done enough for now, haven’t I?”
“The point of progress is to keep moving forward,” Nino explained in that same hushed tone. Jun preferred Nino’s sarcasm to this, this… understanding. This pity.
Jun swallowed, his throat tight as he met Nino’s eyes, silent as he ran a list of excuses through his head. He knew that none of them were valid, really, and that Nino was right. He’d dealt with small things, made some progress, but they all amounted to nothing if he didn't take this last final step and face the one thing he’d been avoiding for this past year.
A year. He turned his head and glanced at the calendar, eyes running over Ohno’s hasty scribbles until his eyes fell on the date. It was exactly one year today.
He sighed, his shoulders slumping a little as he turned to meet Nino’s eyes. “I’ll get my coat.”
--
It was a mild April day, but Jun was bundled up as if against the cold, his hands shoved into the pockets of his coat and his face half-hidden by a scarf. Despite the warmth of the day and the faint scent of flowers on the air, Jun couldn't help but feel hollow as he walked silently beside Nino, careful to avoid brushing up against any of the crowd flowing around them. He pushed his face further into the scarf and breathed in deeply, focusing on it and Nino at his side as he fought the urge to run.
The scarf was alpaca wool, soft and exotic and dyed a brilliant shade of red that stood out in a stark contrast against the paleness of his skin. It smelled faintly of dust and mothballs and disuse, and he wrinkled his nose, trying to remember the last time he’d worn it. It was over a year ago, back before things shifted, when the world was still bright. There was a movie to see and Sho beside him, waiting patiently in line while Jun shivered in the cold.
“What is taking so long?”
“It’s opening night.” Sho’s voice was soft and amused as he watched Jun shift from foot to foot beside him, his very fashionable, but woefully thin, name brand coat doing very little to keep out the cold.
Jun huffed, his breath a soft white cloud as it drifted in the air between them. He frowned, wishing for once that Sho wasn’t quite so right all the time. “Yeah, well… everyone didn’t have to come to the 7 o’clock showing. There are plenty of others.”
Sho just laughed softly, his breath escaping him in puffs of white that drifted outwards to mix with Jun’s breath between them. He watched Jun continue to shift uncomfortably, his frown deepening as the line continued not to move and the air around them just seemed to get colder.
Jun was just thinking that the movie had better damn well be worth frostbite when he felt something around his neck, a soft warmth that hadn’t been there seconds before. He looked down to see familiar red wool, and suddenly Sho was standing in front of him, his hands looping the scarf around Jun’s neck a bit clumsily.
He reached up as Sho took a step back to eye his handy work, his fingers running over the surprisingly soft, well-loved wool of the scarf. He could still feel Sho’s heat on it and smell the faint scent of his shampoo and aftershave. “Sho, I-aren’t you cold without this?”
Sho grinned and shook his head at him, that infuriating know-it-all grin that Jun secretly loved. “I wore a real winter coat.”
Jun glared at him half-heartedly for the comment. “Too bad it went out of style 3 years ago.”
“Then maybe I should take my scarf back. It’ll make my jacket less offensive,” Sho shot back as the line finally started moving, the look on his face saying that he had no intention of doing so.
“No, I look better than you with or without the scarf, so you might as well just leave it,” Jun mumbled, burying his face a little deeper into the scarf and inhaling deeply.
“Maybe you should just keep it, then.”
It was a joke, but Jun found himself nodding anyway, his smile hidden behind deep red wool as he answered, “Maybe I should.”
Jun smiled at the memory, his face still half-buried in the scarf a Nino stopped in front of him. He moved to stand beside him, his eyes following as Nino lifted a hand silently and pointed out at the road in front of them.
Jun stared out at it, his smile slowly fading.
Continue to Part 3
Genre: AU
Pairing: Jun/Sho
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it. ~ Thomas Fuller
Notes: This story is dedicated to catacombkid, because it would not have happened without her. She'll argue the point, but she's totally wrong. >.> Seriously, thank you sooooo much! ♥♥♥♥ Loads of thank to nanyakanya and mitsuchan, too, for letting me bother them with snippets while I was writing it. XD ♥
Title taken from the Poe song of the same name.
On to part two!
Jun had never intended to start a romantic relationship with Sho. Well, not consciously, at least. He supposed, looking back on it, that there had always been a sort of niggling feeling in the back of his brain that hinted at the possibility, but he’d blatantly ignored it for as long as he could. By the time he’d finally acknowledged it, he’d already been so deep into the situation that there really was no turning back, even if he’d wanted to. Which he most definitely did not.
Sho was the first person outside of his family that Jun could remember being completely himself around, no putting on a good face or forcing himself to mold himself to fit the other’s expectations.
It was nice. Comfortable.
“I have no idea what’s going on,” Jun mumbled, one eyebrow arched delicately as he poked at the container of chinese takeout with his chopstick, digging around for anything that looked appetizing enough to eat. Beside him, Sho was fixated on the TV, his own container of takeout resting between his legs, forgotten in favor of the tiny black and white ball flying around the screen.
“Oh, come on, ref… that was clearly offsides!”
Jun turned his head, smirking to himself as Sho waved one hand at the tv, his brows drawn together in a frown. “Is your team losing?”
“Huh?” Sho mumbled, glancing at Jun quickly before looking back at the tv. “No, they’re tied-oh, come on! Pay attention, Foster. You should have had that one!”
“I don’t think they’re tied anymore,” Jun pointed out as he watched the ball fly into the net in slow motion, Sho looking more and more upset beside him each time they replayed the goal from a different angle.
“Well, they would be if the goalie would pay attention,” Sho huffed, suddenly remembering the half-eaten container of sweet and sour pork in his lap and leaning forward to set it down on the coffee table with a bit more force than necessary. He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the TV as he watched the seconds on the clock tick down.
Jun snorted and continued to poke at his food calmly, stealing glanced at Sho out of the corner of his eye.
“Watching baseball is never this stressful.”
“Yeah, because baseball is boring,” Sho mumbled under his breath, his eyes still fixed on the TV.
“Excuse me?” Jun gaped, his eyebrows arched in disbelief as he stared at Sho. For his part, Sho kept his eyes fixed on the TV, oblivious to anything and everything but the movements of the ball across the TV screen.
Jun sighed and leaned forward, grabbing one of the takeout containers and sitting back to pick through it for something good. He really had no idea what was going on with the game at this point, and he didn’t really care. Soccer was definitely not his cup of tea.
After a few minutes he leaned forward again, switching the picked-through container of food for another, picking through it for anything good and repeating the process with another new containr a few minutes later. After the third container, Sho’s eyes started to wander from the tv, stealing glances at Jun every time the other leaned forward.
There was a minute-thirty left on the clock when Jun leaned forward for his fourth container. Beside him, Sho sighed and turned to look at Jun, watching him pick through the leftover pork and vegetables.
“Jun… stop,” Sho mumbled, frowning as he watched Jun pop a water chestnut into his mouth. “That is really distracting.”
“What?” Jun asked, chewing slowly as he blinked up at Sho. “I’m just sitting here.”
“You keep moving,” Sho pointed out as Jun leaned forward to switch out food containers again.
Jun sat back and gave Sho a look. “I wasn’t trying to distract you on purpose. If I was, you’d know it.”
“Sorry just… it’s hard to pay attention when you’re moving around like that,” Sho murmured, stealing another glance at Jun out of the corner of his eyes.
Jun snorted softly and leaned forward to set the food aside. “Soccer obviously isn’t that interesting if that’s all it takes to distract you.”
“You’re shaking the couch.” Sho groaned internally at his explanation, wondering when he’d turned into his father. He remembered him saying the same thing to Sho when he was younger and they’d tried watching games together. Sho had never made it past half-time before he got kicked out of the room.
Sho felt Jun shift beside him again, the couch cushions shifting beneath him, and he turned to look at the other with a sigh. He opened his mouth to protest and ask if Jun could please just sit still for five more minutes when he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Jun smiling at him, their faces mere centimeters apart. He had just enough time to wonder why the other was so close before Jun leaned forward, brushing their lips together in a quick, chaste kiss.
Jun was still smiling as he pulled away, the look on his face one of smug satisfaction. “That was a distraction.”
Sho cheeks were red as he watched Jun settle back into the couch, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “You’re not allowed to watch soccer with me anymore.”
--
Evening was just beginning when Ohno got home, having just come off a 12 hour shift and feeling every minute of it in his bones. His shoulders were slumped as he shuffled down the hallway towards his apartment, his expression weary as he dug his key out of his pocket. He enjoyed his new job, for the most part, but being an intern at a busy restaurant meant long hours and not a lot of recognition. The latter he didn't mind so much, since the learning experience was what he was there for, but the first tended to cut into the time he reserved for meals and sleep, and that did actually bother him. It wasn't that he couldn't do it, but if he was going to miss sleep or meals he preferred it to be because he'd lost track of time painting or fishing or doing something else that he loved.
He heard voices down the hall and couldn't help but turn, hand frozen in mid air, hovering around the doorknob. He usually wasn’t nosy when it came to his neighbors, but his weariness somehow made his curiosity greater, as if he couldn't fend it off when he was this tired. The door next to his opened, and an unfamiliar man spilled out, all lanky, long limbs and chestnut hair and pale skin. He was grinning as he stepped back, a smile so bright that Ohno felt the corners of his mouth twitching up in response just from looking at it.
"Sho-chan, you don't have a wear a tie. It's just dinner," he said, giggling as he reached out, tugging his companion out into the hall. The sound was low and breathy, a genuine happiness in it that you didn't hear in most people's laughter. There was something bright about him, cheerful, something that made you want to say hello and return the smile, even if it wasn't be directed at you.
"But it's a nice restaurant," his partner protested and Ohno blinked, recognizing his neighbor. He was frowning as he looked down at his shirt and tie, his apartment door hanging half open, forgotten behind him. There was that same slightly nervous tension in his frame that Ohno had seen when they'd met in the elevators or chatted at the mailboxes, but it seemed different, somehow. Maybe because the man that was with him seemed so oblivious to it.
"Sho-chan is so serious," the man chided, still giggling as he reached forward to tug at Sho's tie. The way he smiled and looked pleased with himself as he straightened it made Ohno smile a little, his ease a welcome contrast to the nervous tension in Sho's shoulders and the way he fidgeted a little at the touch. It made Ohno think of nights out with his best friend in High School, friendly pats on the back and the way they'd lean against each other while watching tv, without thinking. "You’re always trying to impress people. You shouldn't try so hard."
Sho blushed and swatted at the other's hand, his smile embarrassed. "I'm not," he insisted, his voice almost too soft for Ohno to hear as he looked away from his friend. His cheeks went a bit red as he caught sight of Ohno, guilt flitting across his face for a second before he forced a smile, the expression tight lipped and overly polite. It reminded Ohno of the smiles that you got from bank tellers or convenience store clerks, a sort of uncomfortable politeness born of necessity. "Ah... Ohno-san."
"Evening," Ohno mumbled, bowing his head a little and offering Sho a half-smile, unable to miss the way that Sho's eyes flitted guiltily to Ohno's apartment door before focusing on his face again. There was a slight pause, then, a moment of awkward silence where Sho's face went thoughtful, and Ohno found himself at a loss for what to say.
"Ah... Ohno. You're Sho-chan's new neighbor, right?" The other man broke the silence, stepping forward to offer Ohno a hand to shake, his smile wiping away the awkward atmosphere and making things seem suddenly lighter. "I've heard a lot about you."
"You have?" Ohno couldn't help but ask as he took the other's hand, smiling a little as their eyes met. Up close the man seemed even brighter, so full of life and energy that it practically spilled out of him, through his eyes and his smile and his soft, breathy laugh.
"Ah... Ohno-san, this is Aiba Masaki. My friend," Sho broke in, rubbing the back of his head as he gave Ohno an embarrassed smile. "You'll have to forgive him. He's like this with everyone, whether he knows you or not."
"Like this? What's that supposed to mean?" Aiba asked, giggling even as he tried to look offended. "You're such an old man sometimes."
Ohno laughed at the look that Sho gave Aiba in return. "I don't mind."
"See?" Aiba said, turning to give Sho a look, as if Ohno had just proven his point. "He doesn't mind if I'm friendly. People like it when you're friendly, Sho-chan. You should try it." He smiled then, a friendly affection in his gaze as he watched Sho try very obviously not to look embarrassed.
"I'm friendly," Sho mumbled, barely loud enough to hear, and Aiba turned to wink at Ohno.
Aiba just laughed and shook his head and patted Sho on the back, his gaze full of fondness and friendly affection. His hand lingered forgotten against Sho's back as he turned to look at Ohno, fingertips resting against the crisp material of Sho's shirt. "You should come over for dinner, sometime. Sho-chan's a terrible cook, but I promise to make him order takeout."
Ohno laughed softly and nodded, Sho's soft protest sounding half-hearted at best. Ohno didn't think he could really blame him. Aiba seemed like the type of person that it would be hard to say no to. "Sure."
"We'll have to make plans sometime, then," Aiba grinned, hand dropping from Sho's back. Ohno let his gaze drift over to Sho and caught the other man staring past him at the faded numbering on Ohno’s apartment door, his eyes distant. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Sho looked away under the pretense of checking his watch, his expression unreadable.
"It's almost 7. We should go so we don't miss the train." He didn't wait for Aiba's answer before he stepped around him, moving to close and lock his apartment door, leaving Aiba to end the conversation and say their goodbye.
"Ah... we have reservations at this really nice restaurant," Aiba explained, his expression almost apologetic. "It was nice meeting you, though, Ohno-san. We'll have to talk again soon."
"You, too," Ohno answered, nodding at them both as they moved past him towards the elevators, Aiba smiling and giving a short wave, and Sho nodding politely and not quite meeting his gaze. He watched them disappear down the hall for a moment before he turned to unlock his apartment door and stepped inside, hoping that he actually would be able to see them again soon.
"I'm home," he called out as he slipped off his shoes, still smiling slightly to himself, his earlier exhaustion all but forgotten. It was only when he heard the soft "welcome home" and turned to find Jun standing at the end of the entryway, staring at the door with a pinched look on his face, that his smile faded. It was dim in the entryway, but Ohno could still see the way Jun's brows furrowed as he turned away suddenly and headed towards his room, murmuring something about having work to do.
A frown replaced Ohno's smile as he stared after him, his expression thoughtful.
--
Sho had never really been a big fan of drama, whether it was written or on screen or playing out in real life. He liked excitement, sure, and he liked it when things were interesting because, really, who didn’t, but drama was an entirely different matter.
He’d come from what most people would consider a normal family and had gone from a comfortable, relatively quiet childhood to an equally comfortable, relatively quiet adulthood, and that was the way he liked it. He couldn’t stand overly loud or emotional people, and he hated every overdone love story that he’d seen, on the large or big screen, especially if it was one that was meant to make you cry. He liked quieter, more subtle movies with storylines that unfolded slowly, revealing themselves so slowly that you didn’t fully realize what was happening until the ending credits had started to roll.
It made sense, in a way, then, that his relationship with Jun ended up doing that exact thing, building slowly around them both until one day when Sho stopped to think about it was already there, as much a part of his life as his daily commute or his weekly trip to the grocery store.
“I should go home soon.” Sho mumbled around a mouthful of ice cream, his tone implying just how much of a chore doing that would be. They’d eaten a big dinner and were currently enjoying an even bigger dessert, the tub of ice cream sitting between them on the couch as they paid half-attention to the late night crime drama on the tv.
“You could just stay the night,” Jun suggested around a mouthful of Rocky Road, his voice and attitude nonchalant.
“I just live down the hall,” Sho pointed out, laughing softly as he turned to give the other an indulgent look. “I think I can make it that far. I didn’t eat that much pasta for dinner.”
Jun laughed with him, the sound slightly forced as he took another bite of ice cream. His voice was so soft when he finally spoke again that Sho almost didn’t hear him over the TV. “I know, but you still could, if you wanted to.”
“Stay the night?” Sho guessed, his expression slightly confused. “Why would I want to-“
Jun looked away from the ice cream just long enough to meet Sho’s eyes, the meaning behind his look significant enough that even Sho found himself hard pressed to misinterpret it. “Wait, you mean… oh. OH.”
Jun nodded once, twice, a slightly embarrassed smile forming on his lips as he sat the ice cream aside and reached over to take Sho’s spoon from his now trembling fingers. He rose from the couch and leaned in, taking Sho’s hand in his own as he whispered again. “Stay the night.”
Sho swallowed and nodded, his hand tightening around Jun’s as he let the other pull him off the couch and lead him into the bedroom.
--
"Oh... Nino," Ohno blinked and smiled as he held the door open and motioned the other man into the apartment.
Nino smiled briefly as he slipped his shoes off, watching as Ohno closed the door behind him and disappeared into the apartment. His smile widened into a grin as he trailed behind Ohno, glancing into the empty living room before following the other into the kitchen. "So, that guy's still hiding in his room, huh?"
Ohno frowned slightly and nodded as he peeled potatoes over the sink. "I haven't seen him for a few days."
Nino nodded, humming thoughtfully as he leaned against the counter beside Ohno, watching the other's surprisingly deft fingers at work. "You know about what happened to him?"
"He overheard something," Ohno mumbled, shrugging as he sat the finished potato aside and picked up another. "It upset him."
"Not that," Nino corrected him, his eyes searching Ohno's face as he continued. "Last year. You know about what happened, don't you?"
Ohno's hands stilled as he turned his head to meet Nino's eyes, his gaze knowing. "Yes. My mom's good friends with Matsumoto-san."
Nino nodded, pursing his lips slightly. "She told you about it?"
"Some," Ohno admitted, his words slow and expression thoughtful.
"And the rest?" Nino asked, turning his gaze away to stare out into the kitchen.
Ohno shrugged and resumed peeling. "I just figured it out."
"Observant," Nino commented, grinning a little to himself. "You're more observant than most people, you know."
"I was born this way," Ohno answered with another shrug and a slight smile.
--
For someone who was known for his flair, both when it came to fashion and food, Jun tended to be more attracted to the quieter, simpler side of things when it came to all other aspects of his life. His car was more practical than flashy, his apartment was spacious but homey and affordable, and his time off was more often than not spent curled up on his couch at home.
Maybe it was because there was so much flash that went into his wardrobe, or that, as someone who was paid to spend a good portion of his life in overpriced, stuffy restaurants, surrounded by their fake atmosphere, he craved something more quiet and real in his downtime.
Whatever the cause, he was definitely much happier curled up on his couch in sweatpants and a t-shirt with Sho, than trussed up in one of his Armani suits, seated stiffly at a table in the latest and greatest restaurant in Ginza.
When Jun thought back on it, those rather unremarkable evenings spent at home were always the best.
“There is no way baseball is better than soccer,” Sho mumbled, his voice muffled as he buried his face against the side of Jun’s neck.
It was warm with Sho practically laying on him like this, a warmth that made Jun feel sated and lazy and relaxed in a way that he’d never really thought was possible. Jun sighed, running his fingers through Sho’s hair as he argued with him half-heartedly. “How would you know? You haven’t even watched any of the game.”
“I watched enough.” Sho sighed, his breath hot against Jun’s neck, sending a shiver down the younger man’s spine.
Jun was embarrassed by the hitch he could hear in his own breathing, and the way that his head tilted to the side to make room for Sho’s lips as the other started to scatter lazy kisses against his skin. “Hm… I don’t think so. You promised a whole game and it’s not even the bottom of the fourth….”
Sho chuckled, the sound soft and sleepy as he pressed closer, his lips moving a bit more deliberately against Jun’s skin. It was a bit cramped on the couch with both of them, but Jun found himself trying to press closer automatically, his body shivering as he felt Sho’s fingers playing with the hem of his shirt.
He grunted, the sound soft and full of as much annoyance as arousal as he wound his fingers through Sho’s hair and urged the other’s face closer. “I’m trying to watch the game.”
Sho snorted and pulled back as much as he could manage with the grip that Jun had on his hair. “Then I guess I’ll let you watch.”
Jun frowned, turning his head to give Sho a dirty look. “Don’t you dare.”
Sho laughed, the sound low as he buried his face back against the side of Jun’s neck, fingers running along the other’s stomach playfully. Jun could feel the other’s lips curl into a smile against his skin and made a rather embarrassing noise in answer. “But you said you wanted to watch the game.”
“There are still three innings to go,” Jun mumbled, his fingers tightening in Sho’s hair as the other’s fingers inched their way up his chest. “I figure I’ll only be missing half an inning, tops.”
Sho laughed, the sound vibrating through his entire body and, by default, Jun’s. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not.”
“You should,” Jun answered, the breathy laugh following his words enough to take the sting out of them. “I guess you’ll just have to prove me wrong.”
“I guess so,” Sho answered, laughing softly as he pressed closer and accepted the other’s challenge.
--
“Can we make this short today? I have work.”
“Well, good morning to you, too.” Nino smirked as Jun took a seat across from him, the look of disdain he
wore on his face a bit more exaggerated than normal. “And you know the answer to that. It’s not up to me-“
“’It’s up to you’. Yes, I’ve heard it before,” Jun answered with a sigh and a bored look. “You say that, but when I don’t talk you just sit here all day, shuffling cards and making me feel guilty.”
“I don’t do anything to make you feel guilty,” Nino corrected, stuffing the aforementioned cards into his pocket and folding his hands across his lap. “I think you’re projecting.”
“Well, then, why don’t we talk about it?” Jun mumbled dryly.
“No, I have something else to talk about today,” Nino replied, his voice altogether too cheerful. Jun straightened a little in his chair and gave the other man a weary look. He hated it when Nino sounded cheerful. Nothing good ever came of it. “Let’s talk about Aiba.”
“What about him?” Jun asked, stiffening at the mention of the name.
“Who is he?”
“You know who he is,” Jun answered, frowning and shifting a little in his seat, very carefully looking anywhere but at Nino’s face. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have asked.”
“Maybe I want to know who he is to you,” Nino answered, and Jun didn’t have to look to know that he was smiling at him.
“He’s no one to me,” Jun answered, his words clipped, a bit sharper than intended.
“Humor me.”
Jun shifted again, his brows furrowed as he mumbled something fast and soft and completely inaudible.
“I didn’t catch that.”
“Sho’s boyfriend,” Jun snapped, lips drawn into a tight line as he lifted his head to glare daggers at Nino across the coffee table. “His new boyfriend.”
“Hm,” Nino answered, the sound dismissive, even as his expression softened. It only lasted a moment, but Jun still caught it before it disappeared beneath one of his infuriating smiles. “What if I told you they were just friends and there was no romantic interest there?”
“Then you’d be a liar,” Jun answered, some of the fierceness going out of his voice as he gave Nino a searching look, then mentally berated himself for it. “Why does it matter, anyway? Sho and I haven’t spoken since the accident.”
“It obviously matters to you,” Nino answered, something almost resembling understanding in his voice as he met Jun’s eyes.
“Sho can do whatever he wants.” Jun swallowed hard and looked away then, eyes drifting over to a dusty pile of magazines resting on a side table. “I don’t have any say over his life. I’m not even a part of it anymore.”
“Hm,” Nino answered again, pausing for a long moment-to actually gather his thoughts or simply for dramatic effect, Jun wasn’t sure, though he suspected the later-and then answered, simply, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
--
By the time Sho had been living in his apartment for a year, he and Jun had already started to leave their mark on each other’s living spaces. Sho had an empty drawer at the bottom of his dresser that he let Jun keep a few odd pairs of pants and shirts in, for those mornings when they overslept or he was just too lazy to get up in time to wander back to his apartment to get ready for the day. Likewise, Jun had made extra space in his closet, leaving enough room for Sho to hang his suit on nights when he stayed over to keep it from getting wrinkled.
There were extra toothbrushes and razors and sticks of deodorant in each of their bathrooms, and small reminders scattered throughout the rest of their rooms-a stack of food magazines on Sho’s coffee table, a copy of the day’s paper with the soccer scores circled in Jun’s living room, a corkscrew crammed in the drawer that held Sho’s silverware. Neither of them really noticed any of these things, since at this point they just seemed to belong. It would have been probably been more noticeable, instead, if they’d suddenly been gone.
"Did you pack an extra tie? You want to be able to change it up if you're going to impress these guys. If you just take one tie they'll peg you for someone sent to do their boss's dirty work."
Sho smiled a little to himself as he settled back against the pillows on his bed, his suitcase lying open on the floor, a list of last minute items to pack before he left for his flight in the morning resting atop his stack of clean underwear and socks. He could hear Jun in the bathroom, rooting around in the medicine cabinet, no doubt sorting the bottles according the size and color and frequency of use.
"Yes, dear," Sho called back, his voice teasing. He didn't bother pointing out to Jun that he was someone being sent out to do the boss's dirty work. Jun was acting more nervous about this trip than he was. "Now stop organizing my medicine cabinet and come to bed."
The rattling sounds stopped abruptly, and Sho heard the slight squeak of the hinges on the cabinet door as it closed. "I'm not. I have to take out my contacts."
Sho was carefully not to laugh out loud at the other. "Well, when you're done with that, then."
After a few more minutes and the familiar sounds that went along with Jun taking out his contacts and washing his face, the other emerged from the bathroom, glasses perched on his nose and his hair pulled back in a rather unattractive headband. Sho grinned at him and patted the bed next to him, not missing the glance that Jun threw his open suitcase and, more importantly, the list sitting just inside.
"You packed your briefcase already, right?"
"Yes. You watched me do it... and checked it over afterwards," Sho reminded him as he reached out to grab Jun's arm, tugging the other towards the bed. "Stop worrying. We'll check the list again in the morning."
"I'm not worried. I just know that you'd forget your head if it wasn't screwed on. Or if I wasn’t there to check it." Jun frowned but climbed onto the bed and under the covers beside Sho without any further protest. He was quiet for a long moment, his face thoughtful as he fluffed the pillows behind his head and arranged them just so, taking twice as long as usual.
Sho waited until it looked like he'd worked out some of his restlessness before reaching out to turn the other's face towards him and lean in for a quick kiss. "It'll be fine, Jun. I promise."
"Hm," Jun answered non-commitally, smiling weakly as he met Sho's eyes. "I guess even you can't screw up too badly in three days. Even if you are meeting with one of your company's biggest clients...," Jun trailed off, his voice and smile growing playful.
Sho groaned and shook his head, the smile never leaving his face. "Thanks for reminding me. I'd forgotten completely."
Jun's smile turned to a full-fledged grin as Sho wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled them both down to settle against the pillows. He hummed softly in his throat and met Sho's eyes across the pillows, sliding an arm around his waist. "What will you do without me around?"
"Get a decent amount of sleep and watch soccer games in peace?" Sho answered, his face thoughtful.
Jun laughed and pinched the other's arm playfully. "Just for that, I expect you to call me every night and give me a play-by-play of your day."
"If you want me to call, you don't have to make up some lame excuse. I know you're going to miss me." Sho laughed, flinching as Jun pinched him again.
"Please. You're going to miss me. It's not like three days apart from you is going to kill me. I might actually get something productive done for once," Jun mumbled, smiling even as he rolled his eyes.
"We'll see who misses who," Sho teased as he rolled onto his side and pulled the other closer.
"Yeah, we'll see."
--
“There’s one last thing we need to deal with.”
Nino’s voice was soft, almost gentle, but the words still made Jun apprehensive. Two blissful, Nino free days had passed since their last horrible conversation, but hoping for three had probably been too much to ask. He lowered his magazine to look up at the other man, his mouth drawn into a tight line and his eyes just a touch too wide with poorly concealed fear. He’d spent a year making it a point not to think about any of these things, and he wasn’t so sure after the last few things that they’d talked about that he wanted to go any further. “I thought you said I was making progress.”
“You are.”
“Then why do I need to deal with anything? I’ve done enough for now, haven’t I?”
“The point of progress is to keep moving forward,” Nino explained in that same hushed tone. Jun preferred Nino’s sarcasm to this, this… understanding. This pity.
Jun swallowed, his throat tight as he met Nino’s eyes, silent as he ran a list of excuses through his head. He knew that none of them were valid, really, and that Nino was right. He’d dealt with small things, made some progress, but they all amounted to nothing if he didn't take this last final step and face the one thing he’d been avoiding for this past year.
A year. He turned his head and glanced at the calendar, eyes running over Ohno’s hasty scribbles until his eyes fell on the date. It was exactly one year today.
He sighed, his shoulders slumping a little as he turned to meet Nino’s eyes. “I’ll get my coat.”
--
It was a mild April day, but Jun was bundled up as if against the cold, his hands shoved into the pockets of his coat and his face half-hidden by a scarf. Despite the warmth of the day and the faint scent of flowers on the air, Jun couldn't help but feel hollow as he walked silently beside Nino, careful to avoid brushing up against any of the crowd flowing around them. He pushed his face further into the scarf and breathed in deeply, focusing on it and Nino at his side as he fought the urge to run.
The scarf was alpaca wool, soft and exotic and dyed a brilliant shade of red that stood out in a stark contrast against the paleness of his skin. It smelled faintly of dust and mothballs and disuse, and he wrinkled his nose, trying to remember the last time he’d worn it. It was over a year ago, back before things shifted, when the world was still bright. There was a movie to see and Sho beside him, waiting patiently in line while Jun shivered in the cold.
“What is taking so long?”
“It’s opening night.” Sho’s voice was soft and amused as he watched Jun shift from foot to foot beside him, his very fashionable, but woefully thin, name brand coat doing very little to keep out the cold.
Jun huffed, his breath a soft white cloud as it drifted in the air between them. He frowned, wishing for once that Sho wasn’t quite so right all the time. “Yeah, well… everyone didn’t have to come to the 7 o’clock showing. There are plenty of others.”
Sho just laughed softly, his breath escaping him in puffs of white that drifted outwards to mix with Jun’s breath between them. He watched Jun continue to shift uncomfortably, his frown deepening as the line continued not to move and the air around them just seemed to get colder.
Jun was just thinking that the movie had better damn well be worth frostbite when he felt something around his neck, a soft warmth that hadn’t been there seconds before. He looked down to see familiar red wool, and suddenly Sho was standing in front of him, his hands looping the scarf around Jun’s neck a bit clumsily.
He reached up as Sho took a step back to eye his handy work, his fingers running over the surprisingly soft, well-loved wool of the scarf. He could still feel Sho’s heat on it and smell the faint scent of his shampoo and aftershave. “Sho, I-aren’t you cold without this?”
Sho grinned and shook his head at him, that infuriating know-it-all grin that Jun secretly loved. “I wore a real winter coat.”
Jun glared at him half-heartedly for the comment. “Too bad it went out of style 3 years ago.”
“Then maybe I should take my scarf back. It’ll make my jacket less offensive,” Sho shot back as the line finally started moving, the look on his face saying that he had no intention of doing so.
“No, I look better than you with or without the scarf, so you might as well just leave it,” Jun mumbled, burying his face a little deeper into the scarf and inhaling deeply.
“Maybe you should just keep it, then.”
It was a joke, but Jun found himself nodding anyway, his smile hidden behind deep red wool as he answered, “Maybe I should.”
Jun smiled at the memory, his face still half-buried in the scarf a Nino stopped in front of him. He moved to stand beside him, his eyes following as Nino lifted a hand silently and pointed out at the road in front of them.
Jun stared out at it, his smile slowly fading.
Continue to Part 3