[multi-chapter] Remarkable [Ohmiya / Sakuraiba] [33]
Title: Remarkable - The Same Difference
Pairing: Ohmiya | Sakuraiba
Rating: R
Genre: alternative, angst, mystery
Summary: Ohno Satoshi - newly hired host in a men's club - was slowly losing his hopes for a better life. Then one day he met a mysterious customer and his whole being suddenly hoped that his life would take a turn for the better. But Ohno couldn't even imagine the consequences this no doubt important meeting would have.
Warning: AU (Alternative Universe), RPS (Real Person Slash)
Translator: lady_alesha♥
Beta: nanao253 ♥
00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09
10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19
20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 30 | 31 | 32
It’s been a while! Sorry for letting you wait so long for this chapter, but...! I think it was better to have a short break there, so the feeling for the actual break in the story would be better :D
As mentioned in the last chapter, we’ll start the second part of Remarkable now! With a change of one basic thing! Hope everyone will like it :D
Chapter 33
“Nino… Nino-san and Masaki-san are really leaving and not coming back?”
“You will forget him. Sooner or later. He was just a customer, a customer that maybe wasn't like all the others... But in the end, nothing would have come of it.”
“Even though it hurts now… It will end. Believe me…”
“Nino… Nino wasn’t just a customer! I won't forget him!”
‘I can't forget him…’
‘I don’t understand… Why do I care so much? Masaki-san… Why did all this happen?’
‘Somehow… I always knew that he wouldn’t come back.’
“Then it’s decided.”
‘Nino-san… What are you doing now?’
He had long ago stopped remembering the names of the towns they visited. They only stayed a few days anyway and then their flight continued, week after week. He didn’t know where exactly he was at the moment. But what did it matter? He had enough money in his pockets and a roof above his head, even though it was just the roof of the bar he was currently sitting in.
The most important thing was that Nino was by his side.
Even though he wasn’t very communicative at the moment. They had been silently sitting in the bar for an hour now.
Aiba Masaki stared down into his drink. He watched small bubbles rise along the glass, only to burst with a nearly inaudible ‘plop’ as soon as they reached the drink’s surface. It had been more than half a year now, but his thoughts turned to one person in particular every time he had a minute to himself.
Sakurai Sho didn’t want to leave his thoughts.
In the first few weeks after he had left the host behind, he had realised that, unbeknownst to him, they had formed a special connection. He thought it might be because he had made him a vampire; at least he believed that was the reason. But there was something else, too. Something he had felt even before he had changed Sho.
‘A feeling… that I’ve had ever since I slept with him…’
But Aiba Masaki couldn’t explain the feeling. And because he wasn’t the type to think about these things for too long, he just put it down to his blood now running through Sho's veins.
But still his thoughts continued to wander and he wondered how Sho was doing and how he was dealing with having become a vampire. Of course, Aiba would have never left him behind without making sure that Sho would be fine on his own. But he wasn’t sure if regularly sending him packages full of donated blood was enough. If it was enough to take care of Sho in this way. But at that point Aiba had to tell himself over and over again that he didn't have another option right now. He couldn’t just fly back to Japan, say ‘hello’ and ask him how he was. Even though sometimes there was nothing he wanted more.
But when they ended up in the same bar again two month later with the same silence between them, Aiba couldn’t take it anymore. Since they had left Japan they had never spoken about what had happened there. Not one word about Sho, not one word about Satoshi.
And Aiba thought it was high time to change that.
“Do you… think about him often…?” he hesitantly asked the question that had been burning on his tongue for so long. He couldn’t continue like this, couldn’t keep silent anymore. Too often his thoughts had drifted to Sho and then to Ohno.
Nino looked up from his drink in surprise and fort he first time that night he really looked at Aiba. For a moment there was silence again. A silence during which Nino looked away again and Aiba almost gave up on getting an answer.
But then Nino spoke.
“Hai.”
Short and to the point.
Aiba had to swallow hard, for a while he hadn't been sure whether Nino felt what he felt or not. But Nino’s words made him happy and allowed hope to blossom.
“Do you miss him…?” he asked immediately, his hesitancy forgotten.
And Nino’s answer came faster than expected.
“Hai. A lot.”
The hope that he would see Sho again one day grew in Aiba.
The tall vampire drew his scarf closer to his neck, then quickly put his hands back into his warm pockets. Why did Japan have to be so cold? Aiba wasn’t used to these temperatures anymore.
It didn’t take long until he had reached the club. His feet had brought him here almost on their own, even though he could hardly believe that he was actually there again. Exactly one week ago, Nino had suddenly turned up on his doorstep. They had talked for a long time and then, more quickly than expected, they had decided to come back. Back to Japan. Back to the two men that had taken up permanent residence in their thoughts over the last year.
Aiba was excited as he stepped into the club. At once he felt Sho's presence even though he couldn't see him yet. But the tingling sensation alone caused feelings to well up in him that he couldn't quite classify.
‘Maybe… it's like someone coming home after a long long time...,' he thought, then shook his head smilingly. Strange thoughts.
Suddenly Sho was there.
And Aiba had to swallow hard.
For a long moment he could only look at Sho. He couldn’t move, couldn’t step closer, he could only watch him. Sho hadn’t noticed him yet. He was leaning against the bar, staring at nothing. And looking as handsome as ever. The aura drawing Aiba in that had surrounded him last year hadn't weakened. In fact, Aiba thought it might have grown stronger, more intense.
Suddenly Sho shook his head and Aiba saw a sad smile appear on his lips while he looked lost in thought.
‘Do you feel… me? And do you think you’re just imagining things? No, Sho, no. I’m here. I’m back…’
His thoughts set him in motion. He crossed the space between them with a few quick steps, his face expressionless, but his insides in turmoil. When the younger vampire suddenly looked up at him, Aiba knew he had recognised him immediately. He could clearly see it in Sho’s eyes, eyes that still reflected his emotions.
Only a few feet from the host he stopped.
And neither of them said a word. They just drank each other in, looked deep into the other's eyes.
Both of them knew that the other felt exactly the same.
No words were necessary.
When Sho slowly lifted his hand to Aiba’s cheek, checking that he was really there and not just a figment of his imagination, Aiba would have liked nothing more than to pull him close and wrap his arms around him. He didn’t know why he didn’t do just that.
“What… are you doing here…?” Sho asked, softly, tenderly, his thumb still drawing circles on Aiba’s cheek. The soft smile automatically rose on Aiba's lips.
“Every now and then… visiting a host club is healthy.” He tried to sound as if it was the most natural thing in the world to suddenly be here again, but he couldn’t quite hide the excitement in his voice.
“So… would you like to keep me company tonight…?”
He fought with himself. Ever since he had come back to Japan, Nino was fighting with himself. A few times he had wanted to go to the bakery Ohno was now working in, had caught himself on his way there, but then he had stopped half-way, turned around and gone back.
Ninomiya Kazunari simply wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing.
That’s why he stayed at his hotel the first few days and leisurely looked at apartments. He didn’t know how long they would stay this time, but he had a feeling that it would be long enough to justify looking for a permanent residence. He hoped it would be long enough.
But in the end his thoughts turned back to Ohno as soon as he allowed them free reign.
‘Does he even want to see me again after everything that’s happened? And will seeing him again be a good thing? Won’t it just hurt him in the end? I know that I will just have to leave him again after a while…’
But his longing for Ohno’s company was too great to fight and finally Nino gave up.
That was why he was standing here now, in this place full of memories. The place in which he had met Ohno back then, out in the cold.
‘It was… snowing… and his clothes were too thin…’
Nino remembered the moment perfectly. It had been the moment he had first felt drawn to the host.
And as if fate had heard him, he suddenly saw him. At first he really thought he was imagining the young man walking down the street with his head lowered. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him. Surely that was too much of a coincidence. But the closer the man got, the clearer he could see him. Ohno Satoshi.
‘I don’t believe this…’
And then it suddenly seemed logical, seeing as this spot was on Ohno’s way home from the bakery. And his shift should have finished only a few minutes earlier. Had Nino’s subconscious known all along? Was that the reason he found himself standing here at the moment?
But all that didn’t matter now. Now that Ohno was coming closer and closer. But he still hadn’t seen him and most likely wasn’t expecting to see him here anyway.
‘Satoshi…’
Nino was frozen to the spot, staring at Ohno, who had nearly reached him now.
‘There… he is…’
Normally he would have left right away, he should have left right away, but something made him stay. Something, or more precisely, longing.
But Ohno didn’t seem to be paying attention to where he was going. Suddenly he bumped into him, staggered back a few steps and immediately bowed deeply.
“Sorry, didn't see you there," he said quickly; and then he just continued walking, without looking at Nino even once.
‘He’s just… walking away…?’
Waves upon waves of feelings crashed into Nino while he could just stand there, frozen, and look at his beloved host’s back.
Suddenly he realized that the feelings he had fought against for the last year, were still there and stronger than ever. And he realized that he couldn’t just let Ohno walk away.
“You should… pay attention to your surroundings…,” he said softly while Ohno was still close enough to hear him.
"Wouldn't want you getting hurt…,” he added with a slight smile.
Ohno stopped abruptly.
And turned around.
For a second nothing happened. Ohno looked at him with wide eyes, just looked at him without moving a muscle. And Nino looked back, trying to make his gaze as soft as possible.
Nino stopped breathing and forced the smile to stay on his face as Ohno slowly came closer.
‘There it is then… the moment that’s going to show how you feel about me after everything…’
Ohno kept staring at him as if he was in a trance. He had reached him now and come to a stop right in front of him. He kept looking at him and Nino could see it in his eyes, the moment something inside him snapped. But the way Ohno looked at him afterwards was different from what he had imagined.
Ohno suddenly looked angry. Absolutely livid.
A second later Nino felt his hands fist the material of his coat.
“You idiot! You damnable idiot!” Ohno screamed at him, shaking him and tightening his grip on the coat. “Why? Why are you suddenly here? God damn it, why? You idiot! You idiot!”
And Nino didn’t put up any resistance. He just let Ohno shake him and scream at him. All the while one thought broke through the defences of his mind, a thought that caused him great sadness:
‘I wasn't the only one who suffered… all last year…’
next chapter