Title: Destiny Calls
Pairing: Ohmiya
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, mystery, suspense
Summary: Plagued by dreams in which he sees the same man die over and over again, Nino is trying to do the impossible, to escape fate that has chosen him of all people to be a life saver.
Previous chapters:
01 |
02 |
03 |
04A/N: Oh, we're already halfway through! Now it's time to find out how Ohno experiences the whole thing :D For my complete fic list click
here :)
“To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself”
- Soren Kierkegaard
Dream 5 - Unauthorized Risk
For some inexplicable reason his hands were trembling. Nino tightened his grip on the steering wheel and tried to concentrate on the road. Everything looked more or less the same, only the posters moving past on either side of him changed from time to time. The air inside his car was muggy and stifling, but he couldn't make himself roll down the window. He couldn't make himself do anything but keep driving down the road. Aimless.
His head felt like a huge sponge saturated with water that no one took the time to wring out. Full of old, obstinate thoughts without space for anything new. It drove him crazy.
He wouldn't have noticed the next poster if the azure blue sky shown on it hadn't drawn him in. His speed kept him from seeing any details, but the slogan stayed with him. Fly Away With Us. Short and sweet. And if he was honest with himself, he was longing for just that right now.
"The thoughts are free...," he sang quietly and it really helped. He didn't know the rest of the song's lyrics, so he just hummed a random melody. He relaxed and unwittingly closed his eyes for a second.
That's why he didn't see if it was the oncoming driver's fault, or if he himself veered into the other lane. He only felt the hard impact as the two cars crashed against each other, felt an immense jolt go through his body and for a moment he thought he would be catapulted straight out of the windshield. But the seatbelt prevented the worst from happening and the airbag in the steering wheel inflated and cushioned the blow. Nino had been extremely lucky and had he been able to think clearly at that moment, he would have noticed that he had had a little too much luck.
But as it was he only tried to get out of his car as quickly as possible. It seemed as if hours had passed until he finally managed to open his seatbelt.
His mind was doing somersaults in his head, encased in thick cotton wool that made thinking impossible.
He didn't feel any pain as he gathered all his strength to shove the car door open. But he felt an overwhelming dizziness sweep over him when he tried to reach the other car. He could hardly walk in straight line. But his efforts were for naught; through the dented windshield of the other car two dead eyes stared at him, surrounded by deep red blood. Nevertheless Nino recognized the brown hair immediately. His delicate features - distorted as they were by shock and death - didn't lie, this was definitely the man of his dreams.
Nino gasped for breath and woke up.
'This time it's really my fault he died,' he thought as he ripped his eyes open. It felt good to be able to think again, during the dream he had felt as if he was drunk. When his gaze fell onto the empty wine bottle next to his bed, he figured out why.
Still tired beyond belief, Nino closed his eyes again and tried to relax for a little while longer. It was still dark outside, way too early to get up. He even fell asleep again, but this time he didn't dream.
When he woke up again half an hour later he had forgotten his dream almost completely.
"Damn it! This can't be happening," he cursed loudly, immediately running into the bathroom where he splashed cold water onto his face. His head was clear again, but the memories didn't come back. All he could remember were the dead eyes and the blood. Everything else was blurred and he couldn't concentrate on it. He only ever saw this one snapshot. The eyes. It drove him crazy.
"This can’t be happening! But I have to save him! I have to-," a sob interrupted him. It had formed in his throat and surprised him. Only now did he realize that he had tears in his eyes. Despair had snuck up on him and wrapped itself around him like a dark veil. It was slowly becoming too much. Too much had happened, too many feelings had bombarded him and there were way too many thoughts in his head. He couldn't take it anymore.
"You didn't drink your coffee yesterday," Jun scolded him jokingly, trying on vain to lift his mood. All morning long Nino had tried to remember the details of his dream, to see more than just the eyes that were haunting him.
"And now you're not talking to me," Jun added, amused. Nino only rolled his eyes at him in annoyance. A napkin was lying in front of him and he had been trying to sketch what he had seen the night before for quite some time. Maybe something would come to light that could help him. But when only two eyes, some hair and a slightly too long nose appeared on the napkin, he gave up. Not even his subconscious seemed to remember something.
"Nino, at least drink your coffee today," Jun griped.
Nino left Jun's café with way too much warm coffee in his stomach and a few doodles on a napkin; but he hadn't made any real progress. Sadly he climbed into his car and not for the first time that day asked himself why he hadn't taken the train like he usually did. Jun's café was located close to his apartment and Nino was no friend of unnecessary car journeys. It was considerably more expensive and the roads were congested around the clock after all. Nevertheless his car keys had been in his hand when he had left the house that morning. And the fact that he had taken the keys from the key rack without noticing woke the mysterious wish to take the car instead of the train.
Ohno Satoshi was obsessed in every which way. He knew he wasn't himself anymore since the stranger had entered his mind. Ever since he had saved his life at the train station and disappeared immediately, he wanted to meet him again. Since he had saved him from the iron girders on the construction site, Ohno had to see him again. And since he had prevented him from being run over by the truck, Ohno knew that he wouldn't be able to resist any longer.
He was obsessed with his mysterious savior.
There was a lot he didn't understand, but with each time the stranger saved his life, he cared less about it. Of course he was surprised every time - who wouldn't be? - but he was more concerned with finding a way to get his savior to talk to him. Couldn't he see how Ohno longed for it? How important it was to Ohno to get to know him?
Ohno thought he had succeeded when he had seen the young man wait in front of the fishing equipment shop. He thought it had been the chance. How should he have suspected that it was just another attempt to save his life? And that he would find another opportunity to bolt as soon as the fire brigade, an ambulance and an unnecessary horde of spectators had arrived?
But the corners of Ohno's mouth twitched when he thought about the man's last words. They had given him an idea.
'I have to see him again. I have to talk to him. There's no way around it!' ran through his mind again and again as he tightened his grip on the cool steering wheel. Ohno swallowed and started the engine. He drove aimlessly for some time before he turned onto a long, deserted road. Even though he was obsessed with meeting his savior again, a small part of his subconscious still tried to dissuade him. That's why he was driving down this road - in hopes that no one would come toward him.
'The first car I see, that will be the one. Because I have to see you again. And you will only come if I am in danger. You said so yourself, didn't you? It's your duty to save me.'
Ohno Satoshi wasn't the type of person to risk lives needlessly. On the contrary he was a loving and sweet-tempered person by nature. But he was obsessed. And this obsession kept him from considering that his plan could put other people in danger as well.
Nino just wanted to go home in order to try and remember the details of his dream in the peace and quiet of his own four walls. Being under a deadline was getting to him. He knew that come nightfall it would be too late, that he would only have to turn on the TV then to look into the dead eyes of the man he desperately wanted to save. He had to hurry.
That's why he didn't understand that he suddenly had the urge to take a detour.
It was only when he drove along a street that seemed strangely familiar, even though he was sure he had never been there before, that the thought that his subconscious remembered more of the dream than he had thought crept up on him.
'Something happened here... here on this street,' he remembered. The tension was back, his breath rang loud and clear in his ears. It had happened here. And it had something to do with him driving. Was he meant to save him from a car accident?
When he saw a familiar car coming toward him, Nino suddenly remembered everything:
He had to save him from himself.
He didn't think about it, he just did the first thing that came to mind. He jerked the wheel to the side and drove straight into one of the huge billboards on the side of the road. For a few seconds he felt the adrenalin pump through his veins, then his body was jerked forwards, followed by unspeakable pain. With the last of his strength he lifted his head a little, only to see the deep blue poster through the dented windshield. Then everything went black.
Stunned, Ohno stared at the car he had planned to crash into. The whole time he had been driving down the street, only this one car had come towards him; and just now when he was about to cause the accident, it drove into a billboard? He hadn't given the other driver any indication of what he was about to do that could have made him swerve.
But now the car lay in the ditch.
As if this had been what he needed, Ohno suddenly realized the gravity of what he had been about to do. He suddenly understood what had been at stake. Understood the scope of his urge to see one man again.
It was like a punch to the gut when he discovered the man he had wanted to see again so badly unconscious in the other car.
‘Oh God, what was I thinking?'
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