Someday I'll Fly Away
Title: Someday I'll Fly Away
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Sho/Ohno
Genre: romance, drama, angst?
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: After not hearing from Sho for thirteen years, Ohno faces the choice of giving up on his only love, or continuing to believe.
Note: For the AIN'T NO 山 HIGH ENOUGH contest at oretachinosong.
Part one
Monday evening
“Oh-chan!” Aiba delightfully cried out, clasping his hands together as his eyes sparkled, “You’ve never taken me out drinking before!” The two of them had been out to eat more times that he could count, but Ohno was rather profession while he was still in the public eye. Tonight was simply an exception.
The first thing he’d done when they had met at the office that morning was to offer to treat Aiba to dinner before promptly giving him his box of candy, leaving his secretary almost stunned at his direct attitude. They talked briefly about their vacations, but they had a lot to catch up on because of that, so they got to work immediately and managed to finish everything within time for a reasonable dinner.
Ohno had led them to a bar that he frequented privately, each time securing his trusted taxi service to take him home without problems, which was very discreet and always on time. Tonight would be the same, only with an additional stop for his secretary as well.
“You can have all you want,” he offered in a light tone as they looked at the menu, although he felt tense somewhere at the bottom of his stomach. It would take a few drinks before he would loosen up enough to approach the topic casually enough, despite the new sense of freedom he had discovered at his mother’s house.
So they started with a more in-depth conversation about what they had done with their free time while eating their meal (Aiba much more enthusiastically than his boss) and continued drinking even after they were done.
“Oh-chan!” Aiba slurred after about an hour, leaning over the table with a huge grin on his face. “You’re so nice today! I can’t believe we’re drinking together!” he repeated for about the tenth time, but it still wasn’t annoying yet.
Not really as drunk as Aiba-or at least how he was acting-Ohno could still feel his quickened heartbeat hammering in his chest as he saw his opening and pushed himself to take it. It was his first time doing this with anyone since parting with Sho, so it was only natural that he wasn’t sure how to go about bringing the topic up.
“Well, actually Aiba-kun… I had something I wanted to talk about with you today…”
“Wow! Really?!” he brightened, as if it wasn’t a usual occurrence. It was, but Ohno usually didn’t come out and admit it to him, he supposed.
“It’s not work related…” he added, finding himself stalling a bit, then swallowing and closed his eyes for just a second. “I mean… about love. I want to talk to you about love,” he said plainly.
“Are you in love, Oh-chan?” Aiba asked with sparkling eyes, his whole demeanor changing as he became attentive and curious, and Ohno couldn’t pull his eyes away from him, completely charmed by the best friend he had (even if Aiba didn’t feel the same in return or know about his status; Ohno was positive Aiba had a wide array of friends to choose from).
“I’m not entirely sure. I was hoping you could help me figure that out.”
“Does your heart go kyuuun when you see that person? Does your stomach flutter? I heard those are pretty sure signs of being in love!”
Ohno sighed and smiled sadly without being able to stop himself. He glanced down at his empty beer mug and then met Aiba’s eyes, suddenly reminded of his last meeting with Sho in the coffee shop.
“Are you seeing anyone?” he asked suddenly.
“Oh…” Aiba promptly blushed, assuming his face could get any redder than it already was, and he grinned shyly. “You know Nino…?”
“That kid from the news station?” Ohno asked incredulously. He had already guessed that Aiba had someone, although he wasn’t sure it was a girl or not, since Aiba had never volunteered the information and Ohno had never bothered to ask.
“He’s not a kid!” Aiba cried, although he looked completely amused at the comment. “He’s like the same age as me!”
“That’s not possible,” Ohno replied straightly, imagining the petite reporter in his mind who still looked like he had just graduated from high school, although he could certainly agree that his intellect was on par with Ohno’s own, even if the uses were quite different for each of them.
Aiba laughed again, throwing his head back, and then recovered quickly with a knowing look in his eyes. “I’ll tell you more about it later,” he promised, then tried his best to look serious, which was a failure from Ohno’s perspective, but he was glad for the attempt. “I want to hear about your person first.”
There was a moment where Ohno felt like he had been cornered, but it was easier to share his secrets that way, and he found the story of Sho and that year they had shared together simply falling out of his mouth along with all the stress he had been carrying for the last twenty odd years because of it.
At the end, as he explained the letter he had just gotten from Sho telling him to move on, he found tears coming to his eyes and Aiba was there for him as he finally broke down, holding him like Sho had done so long ago, those times only distant memories now, glimpses of his childhood.
He clung to Aiba’s dress shirt and buried his face in his friend’s chest, finding comfort for his situation for the first time ever as Aiba patted his head and whispered caring words into his ear, telling him it would be okay and that they would come up with a solution between the two of them and that Ohno didn’t have to face this alone. Aiba would make sure that he would never be alone.
But with just that much, only talking and depending on Aiba, Ohno already knew what his decision would be now, before the two of them had even properly discussed it.
Six months later, March
“Oh-chan,” Aiba whispered, poking his head into the office and looking at the older man with wide eyes. “Your three o’clock’s here and he’s gorgeous.”
Ohno raised an eyebrow as he looked up from his computer and spared a second to be amused at Aiba’s expression before he nodded, closing up a folder on his left and motioning for Aiba to send him in. He pulled out the file that had been prepared and started glancing over the client’s profile during the time it took his door to open again, Aiba holding it for a young man wearing black sunglasses and a sharp, stylish suit.
Standing to bow slightly to him, Ohno motioned towards the leather seat across from him, indicating for him to sit down, before asking, “Matsumoto-san, is that correct?”
“Yes,” the man cooly replied as he sat, and Ohno also took his seat as Aiba closed the door to give them privacy.
“What can I do for you?” he started with abruptly, as he did with all of his clients, not really one for small talk for more reasons than it wasted his time. His hands were folded on his desk, and he gave his full attention to the man, ready to start taking notes if need be.
“I need your… professional advice,” Matsumoto said tentatively in his smooth voice, taking off his glasses and immediately meeting Ohno’s eyes with a piercing stare of his own, as if he wanted to uncover every secret he could before revealing the ones he held.
It made Ohno feel a little uncomfortable, but he had nothing to hide, so he didn’t react.
“Advice, Matsumoto-san?”
“You have quite the reputation, you know?” he replied instead of clarifying, leaning back as far as he could in the chair and crossing his legs, brushing some of his stylish hair out of his eyes and unconsciously tucking it behind his ear.
“I am quite aware of my… reputation,” Ohno replied cautiously, wondering what exactly was going on and what Matsumoto wanted with him. Recently most of his clients started off with crying and begging him for help, or threatening him if he didn’t comply with their wishes.
They sat in tense silence, simply staring at each other, before Matsumoto finally gave in and sighed, leaning forward again, more seriously and obviously irritated that Ohno wasn’t willing to play whatever game he had tried to start.
“I don’t need you as an actual lawyer, Ohno-san. I am part of… an organization, if you will. A friend of mine-“ he paused for effect, even if it was completely lost on Ohno, “broke some rules-“
For some reason that got Ohno’s attention, though, and he felt his entire body tense up.
Matsumoto noticed and eyed him critically, but Ohno tried to ignore the response and urged, “Your friend?”
“Yes…” he leaned back again, although his eyes didn’t lose their intense look. “And my…superiors need to be persuaded.”
As Ohno processed the information, all he could think of was that it was all very vague. It seemed as if his client was being vague on purpose, actually.
“What kind of rules did he break?” Ohno inquired, trying to make his tone lighter than it had been before, and started jotting down a few notes in order to avoid those eyes for just a few seconds.
Apparently this was not what Matsumoto was expecting because it took him a few moments to think about his answer.
“Let me put it this way. Imagine my ‘organization’ is like a cult,” he paused, obviously expecting Ohno to react to that, either with an incredulous gaze or certain doubt, but he did neither, simply writing his notes before looking up to encourage him to continue his explanation. “And in this cult we have rules. Not necessarily the same rules as society, but treated just the same to us. If we break them, we’re punished. If we use authority that is not ours to use…” he trailed off, and Ohno still felt like he was missing something important in this explanation.
He stared at Jun with the same blank expression and finally the other man sighed in frustration and apparently gave up on waiting for Ohno’s enlightenment, instead decided to explain himself further.
“So my friend, he broke some rules, and my superiors are punishing him. I came to you because I simply need a solid argument to convince them to give him a second chance, or even better, to…let him out of the cult, so to speak.”
Ohno was… confused, to say the least, but he intertwined his fingers on top of his desk solemnly and searched Matsumoto’s face again to see if he could figure out what the underlying problem was, the one that wasn’t being said explicitly.
“I’m not sure if I can-“ he started tentatively, after he proceeded to find nothing to help him, but he was interrupted before he could properly reject the case.
“Money is not an issue. I’ll pay you anything.”
“I’m afraid that you’ve mistaken the-“
“I can’t give you any details that would get me in trouble, but otherwise I promise that I will help you all that I can.”
Ohno was used to dealing with hard clients, but he had a feeling that Matsumoto was going to be the most persistent out of all of them.
“Besides, Aiba already said you’d take my case-“
He immediately dropped his head into his hand in unbelief at his secretary. It wasn’t something that he did often, only the most charitable of cases, so he wondered if Aiba was actually that seduced by Matsumoto’s looks despite the fact that he was certain Aiba had a perfectly willing boyfriend to go home to at the end of the day.
“I do apologize for my secretary-“ Ohno tried to argue back, meeting Matsumoto’s eyes with what he was sure was a tired expression, but the other man obviously still had a long way to go.
“I traveled quite far to meet with you specifically, Ohno. And I assure you…” he leaned forward again, this time placing his hand lightly on top of his desk and coming as close as he could to Ohno’s face, as if to seduce him as well, “My friend would also appreciate your help.”
As they stared at each other it was almost as if an invisible battle was taking place, stubborn personality again desperation, and Ohno knew from experience that desperation always won in the end but that didn’t stop him from trying.
Matsumoto knew, though, and smirked as he backed away, and that alone made Ohno drop his gaze, glancing at the sparse notes he’d made before politely confirming, “I’ll see what I can do to help you, Matsumoto-san.”
“I appreciate your compliance, Ohno-san.”
“Bring what you need to with you next time and we’ll get started. You can schedule your appointment with Aiba.”
“I’ll do just that,” he replied before standing, and offered Ohno a much more genuine bow than he had initially before turning and opening the door, but then ruined the atmosphere by winking at Ohno before he left altogether, still leaving the lawyer wondering what exactly had just happened, and what he had gotten himself in to.
November
Ohno was returning to the office after a morning in court, looking forward to simply seeing Aiba and eating some Chinese food from his parents’ restaurant to celebrate yet another victory to add to his unreasonable list.
But when he walked in he was met with quite different scenery than he was expecting, a huge bouquet of flowers taking up most of Aiba’s coffee table along with three boxes from a local cake shop and a long legged Matsumoto eating a plate of what was supposed to be Ohno’s lunch as he talked with Aiba animatedly about something or another.
They both turned to him and laughed at the surprised look on his face, Aiba standing and placing his own lunch on his desk as he came over to greet his boss.
“Oh-chan! Jun came to visit!” he explained, placing one hand on Ohno’s upper back and taking his suitcase in his other hand, leading him towards the open spot on the couch next to Jun, who also stood to greet him, smiling wider than he had in the entire time he’d been coming to Ohno’s office to work on his ‘project,’ which they had managed to finish somehow, despite the many loopholes.
“Just thought I’d drop by and say thanks for your help,” Jun offered with a shrug, sitting again, and scarfing down a mouthful of Chinese noodles.
Allowing himself to be led Aiba, still too dazed to do anything, Ohno nodded slightly and asked casually, “I suppose that means your plan was a success?”
“Great success, thanks to you, Ohno-san. I brought you some wine too,” he grinned, pulling the bottle out from where it was hidden under the huge arrangement of flowers, and showed it to him. “How about some with lunch? In fact, why don’t you just lock that door over there and put up the closed sign and we’ll have the whole bottle?” he laughed, and Aiba giggled as well, obviously agreeing as he disappeared behind the flowers to make a plate of food for his boss as well.
“I think that would be very unprofessional, Matsumoto-san, although I appreciate the sentiment.”
He laughed at the reply, as though he had expected as much, and returned the bottle to its original spot. “Well, at least there’s coffee and cake, right?” he asked Aiba sympathetically and the secretary nodded in return, sending Ohno a teasing look as he gave him his lunch.
Ohno remained quiet during his break, at first feeling really strange with a new presence during their lunch period, but over time he got used to Jun being there and how much he amplified Aiba’s energy in this setting, and just as they were finishing up the cake, he finally got out something resembling a smile at Aiba being teased about his bad taste in men as they looked at a picture of Nino on his cell phone.
“He’s like sixteen!”
“He’s not!”
“He so is! Look at him!”
“Oh-chan! Help me out here,” Aiba whined, although his expression was completely opposite of upset.
“He does look like he’s sixteen, doesn’t he?” he commented instead, and the other two burst out laughing so hard he thought the neighboring offices would come over and complain.
When they finally died down, Matsumoto stood and placed his hands on his hips, looking first at Aiba and then back to Ohno. “Well guys, it was fun, but I, unfortunately, have to get going.”
Aiba pretended to pout, but followed him as he headed towards the door, and Ohno awkwardly shook his hand when Matsumoto held it out, feeling as if he’d managed to make another friend other than Aiba (and maybe Nino, if he counted).
“I really appreciate your help, Ohno. More than you’ll probably ever realize,” he said with a smile, then patted Aiba heavily on the shoulder in farewell and waved slightly as he pulled his sunglasses out and headed down the hallway.
Once he was out of sight Ohno glanced and Aiba once, sharing a warm look, then nodded almost determinedly and retrieved his suitcase.
“Guess I’d better get back to work too,” he said quietly and Aiba saluted him with a huge smile on his face, which deserved at least an amused look in return, so Ohno gave it to him before retreating to his own office.
He turned on the light and sat his suitcase down on his desk slowly, immediately noticing the red envelope placed neatly in front of his computer, this time his name and office address written in the familiar handwriting and no postal stamp.
Ohno basically ripped the back open, not even bothering to sit down.
Satoshi-kun,
Honestly, I’m not sure how much time has passed since I’ve last seen you, or even my last letter. Time is different here, I think, but I pray that it is similar enough that we still have a chance.
Satoshi…Can I see you? Things have changed thanks to Jun and… I want to see you. If you’ll still have me, if you haven’t moved on, if you still remember me, if you’ve even been getting my letters.
I’m afraid to hope that things will work out, but without hope I have nothing.
Please, Satoshi. If you can… if you’re willing… on your next birthday, meet me at our café, the last place we parted? I know that place probably holds difficult memories for your now, as it does for me, so let’s replace it with something better.
If you haven’t forgotten me, that is. If you haven’t given up on us already…
Yours sincerely,
Sho
Ohno couldn’t believe what he was reading.
“I’d never give up on us, Sho…” he said to no one in particular, even as he was overwhelmed with emotion and he felt tears come to his eyes. “I’ve just been waiting this whole time…”
Thinking faster than he had in a long time, he pulled his calendar over to check the date. His birthday was within the week, but… that was too soon, wasn’t it? Sho had picked a specific date, like he hadn’t known exactly when he would be back, and a strange location, as if he didn’t know where Ohno would be at any particular time, didn’t know his cellphone or how to contact him.
Something weird was going on, but Ohno didn’t even care anymore. He could see Sho… it didn’t matter if he had to go there every year until he died, if there was a small chance he could even just meet for one night, for one hour… just like Sho, he was desperate enough for even that much.
His heart was beating wildly as he sat down in his chair, still holding the letter firmly in his hands, and he re-read it again, then again and again until he had it memorized, and he couldn’t concentrate at all, but this time he didn’t care one little bit.
What had changed?
Maybe…
Thanks to Jun he had written. And Matsumoto’s case had been suspicious all the way through…
No, it wasn’t possible. It had to be a coincidence, and if it wasn’t, well he’d just have to ask Sho when he saw him…
A huge smile spread across Ohno’s lips at the thought of seeing the man that had occupied his life from the day the two of them had met. How had Sho changed? He would probably still be taller than Ohno, but just as handsome as he had been back then. Although Ohno had become bitter with those thoughts before, he could feel those feelings flaking off of him like a worn out skin and hoped the same was true for Sho. Yes, it had taken so many years, but just maybe…
Suddenly he jumped up in his seat and eyes widened.
He needed to tell Aiba!
November 26th
It was his birthday and he had taken the whole day off.
Not to celebrate or see his mother, but something much more important.
He was standing in front of a convenience store in the freezing cold anxiously looking up and down the street for the person he was waiting for, had been waiting seventeen years for.
Because over the seventeen years he had been waiting, just as he and Sho had both changed, so had everything else. Their café had been torn down along with half of the rest of the previous shops, now replaced by a parking lot on one side and a department store on the other, although on the corner, where the coffee shop had once stood, a small convenience store had been placed, and that was the closest thing that Ohno could get to a meeting spot, hoping that Sho would still be able to find his way here despite the lack of landmarks. At least where he was, Ohno was visible from both directions and could be found if only Sho was in the vicinity.
Morning passed and gave way to a beaming sun overhead. He got a call from Aiba, who had decided to spend his day off at home with his dog and as backup in case Ohno needed it, but after he confirmed that we was still waiting, Aiba offered to bring him something to eat (which he refused, because he was sitting in front of a convenience store for heaven’s sake) and Ohno wasn’t in the mood to make light talk past that.
Noon came and went as well, and Ohno finally gave in a bought a rice ball that he ate while swiveling his head back and forth, leaning against the short fence separating the sidewalk from the road, the most suitable and comfortable spot he could find.
Maybe it really was too soon. Sho obviously didn’t realize what he had promised with the letter coming right before Ohno’s birthday and it was too much to hope for anyway, really. Ohno tried to be content with even the idea of meeting Sho next year. He’d be content with any time, he told himself, even if he was becoming impatient now that he had a promise to rely on.
The sun moved over the hours and eventually disappeared behind the tall buildings and Ohno folded his arms across his chest. He had of course worn a scarf as well as his expensive leather jacket and a pair of jeans he had bought two days ago in preparation for the weather he knew was coming, and he probably looked rather frightening to most people walking by with the intense look that was on his face. Although he didn’t really care, he naturally tried to soften his expression, not wanting Sho to miss him over something stupid like that. He had thinned a bit over the years, even though his cheeks were still rather chubby, and his hair was longer and naturally black instead of spiked blond like it had been in high school.
He wasn’t even sure if he was recognizable at this point.
“You’ve been waiting out here for a while, haven’t you?”
Ohno turned sharply at the voice next to him and sighed in disappointment when he saw who it was. “Oh, Nino.”
He leaned against the fence with him, a convenience store sack in his hand and glanced at Ohno as he glanced back down at the ground, where he had been lost in his own thoughts until a moment ago.
Then a plastic bento was shoved into his face, startling him, and he looked up to find Nino grinning at him, wiggling the box in order to get him to take it.
“Don’t worry, I’ll send Aiba the bill,” he laughed light heartedly, then drew a second identical bento out of his bag as soon as Ohno accepted it.
His stomach rumbled as he set eyes on the food and he slowly broke apart the cheap wooden chopsticks and peeled off the plastic lid, thankful for Nino’s kindness just when he was starting to feel depressed and hopeless.
“What happened? Got stood up for a date?” the reporter teased as he took his own small bite of food, staring at the building across the street. “I can see the headline now… The famous lawyer Ohno Satoshi meets heartbreak!”
Nino laughed at his own joke, but Ohno found it hit far too close to home to count.
“That’s old news, Nino,” he said solemnly, then took a bite of rice as he saw the other man’s shocked and guilty expression out of the corner of his eye.
Awkward silence fell over them, but Ohno was still glad for the company. It was almost dark now, although the florescent lights from the store in front of him would light the entire night for him.
“W-what are you doing here anyway? It’s pretty far from the office,” Nino ventured a change in topic, and Ohno turned to look at him straightforwardly before replying.
“My house is near here, actually.”
“Oh, I get it. Well, I’m here because I had a story to cover about that park,” Nino motioned across the other street, to the park that he had met Sho at rather often. It had gotten a bit smaller in the last few years, but at least it still existed. “I saw you over here earlier, so I thought I’d say hello before I headed back for the night,” Nino explained, searching for a safer conversation than the one he had initially started.
Ohno didn’t reply, turning back to his food, simply because he couldn’t think of anything to say. Except, “Thank you,” he added after a second and Nino shook his head, apparently unable to understand Ohno very well.
“Uhm… you’re welcome,” he responded blankly, continuing to eat.
They watched various street lights illuminate over the course of about ten minutes, Ohno still distractedly checking for any signs of Sho, although he couldn’t see far in either direction any more, before he finally broke down, even if he hadn’t realized there had been any pressure from Nino (although he figured Nino’s presence alone put pressure on him, whether the younger man realized it or not), and admitted, “It’s my birthday.”
Nino looked surprised again, his eyes widening and chopsticks sliding out of his fingers a little until he tightened his grip reflexively to catch them.
“I… didn’t know.”
“Of course not.”
A pause, then, “Happy Birthday.”
“Thank you.”
There was really nothing else to say, so they finished the food quietly and then Nino took a few steps back to the convenience store to politely throw away the trash for them.
He returned with a cheap piece of cake and handed it to Ohno along with a cup of steaming coffee.
Noticing there was only one, it was quite obvious to the lawyer that Nino probably needed to be leaving by now. It was late, and Aiba was waiting for him today.
“Whoever left you here like this, Oh-chan… they’re a real jerk,” he said sincerely, then patted him on the shoulder. “But don’t give up. I have a good feeling about tonight, so just wait a bit longer, okay?”
Ohno felt almost moved by the words, even though they weren’t exactly normal, and swallowed with his throat constricting. “I will, Nino.”
“And you’re not alone. If you need someone to do some ass kickin’,” he laughed, then pointed at himself, “You know where to go.”
In response he managed a smile then held up the cup of coffee in a silent thank you as Nino started towards the park, turning back to give him a thumbs up before disappearing behind the trees.
Significantly encouraged by the visit, Ohno stayed in place despite the dropping temperature, slowly eating his cake and sipping at his coffee, even thought it turned cold before he got to the bottom of the cup.
Aiba called again after about an hour, obviously hearing from Nino that Sho hadn’t come and begging Ohno for his permission to at least give his lover some hints, and once they hung up Ohno checked the time, finding himself with three hours until his birthday was officially over.
One year was nothing after all this time. He could wait until his next birthday.
Unconsciously he rubbed his hands together, squinting up and down the streets around him for any signs of Sho, but still nothing could be seen. There was a brief moment where he considered getting another cup of coffee, but he was terrified of what would happen if he walked in there the second that Sho walked by and they missed each other by a terrible twist of fate.
His mother called as well, oblivious to his birthday plans, assuming he was simply getting home from work as he would any other weekday, and he put her off for a few minutes, assuring her she wasn’t bothering him, but that it would be better if he could talk tomorrow. She wished him a happy birthday anyway, having already delivered his gift-the scarf he was wearing, knit painstakingly for him-to the office yesterday.
Once he hung up, he checked the time again. An hour was all he had left, but there was no use leaving now after being here all day, so he stayed even though he was discouraged all of a sudden, wondering if he had be too eager about the whole thing, if he was going to crash tomorrow once he realized that Sho still wasn’t a part of current life.
Forty-five minutes. The only thing that caught his eye was an old man jogging past him in sports gear.
Thirty minutes. He could count on one hand the people who had wished him happy birthday, Nino included.
Twenty minutes. There were tears obscuring his vision, although he assured himself it was from the cold and not anything else. Waiting another year would be nothing.
Fifteen minutes. He was tired of counting.
Maybe Sho really hadn’t been able to find the place. Maybe he was losing his cool running around the neighborhood trying to locate him, looking for something that didn’t exist anymore, his sense of direction all messed up. Maybe he would head to Ohno’s mother’s house instead, although he was sure he would have gotten a phone call if that were the case.
More likely he just hadn’t been able to make everything work to get here on time. There was no telling where he was anymore, he could be on the other side of the world for all Ohno knew, and that wasn’t something that could overcome so quickly or easily.
His watched beeped once and he looked at it automatically.
It was midnight. His birthday was over and Sho hadn’t come.
Just five more minutes, he told himself. Five more minutes couldn’t hurt and Sho had been late on more occasions than he could remember.
Five turned into ten, which turned into twenty and then an hour. The streets were black outside of Ohno’s fluorescent light halo, with only the occasional ball of brightness here or there, and they did nothing to help him keep watch at this time of night.
In no time it was 2 a.m. and Ohno didn’t care about the fact that he had work tomorrow (although he could cancel it if he absolutely had to). He was almost delirious now, continuously rubbing his hands together and shivering and he had begun to pace back a forth a little. The trains would have stopped already, so even if Sho had meant to come today, he would have no way to do it now. He should just find a taxi and go home to his warm bed. If Sho really wanted to find him that badly, he could easily look up his office, or go to his mother’s house or an entire array of possibilities, but somehow that wasn’t satisfactory at all, not as satisfactory as when Ohno actually doing something-
He suddenly heard running footsteps and turned automatically with puffed eyes, hearing the heavy breaths before the person had even stepped into the light.
“Satoshi…?”
For a serious moment he actually thought he was hallucinating and had dreamed up Sho’s arrival to satisfy his burnt out mind, but that didn’t stop him from stumbling forward as a lanky form came into the light, dressed in strange clothing with bright colors and no fashion cut he had ever heard of before.
But he recognized the face smiling back at him, the same as his mother’s picture, the features that had grown mature but not unfamiliar, and he was throwing himself into Sho’s arms, tears streaming down his cheeks as he finally broke down.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry,” Sho was gasping as he pulled Ohno against him, one hand on his lower back and the other firmly pressing Ohno’s head into his shoulder as they both shook with emotions that had been repressed for far too long.
“Sho-kun… You’re real, right? Please tell me you’re real,” Ohno begged, his voice muffle against through the strange clothing, but Sho replied just the same, letting out a sound indistinguishable as a laugh or a sob.
“I’m real, Satoshi, and I’m right here.”
Yes, that was the important part, wasn’t it?
Ohno pulled back enough that he could stare into Sho’s face, the lights next to them reflecting off his eyes like diamonds, and he wasn’t embarrassed at all when Sho leaned down to kiss him passionately, in plain view of anyone that was walking by. He kissed back with the same enthusiasm, his hands gripping hard on Sho’s jacket in order to keep himself from crumbling onto the ground. But as much as he loved kissing Sho, there were still other important things on his mind, so he broke the kiss himself, instead looking back to Sho’s face as cold fingers wiped the tears from his own.
“Are you…” He almost couldn’t bring himself to ask it. But he had to. “Are you… staying?
Sho smiled, and that was really the answer, although he added, “For as long as you’ll have me.”
Ohno managed to pull himself together enough to smack his shoulder at the implication before finding himself tucked against Sho’s chest once again.
“I’m sorry I was late… I didn’t realize what time it would be here…”
Ohno found the explanation confusing, but didn’t mind.
“If Jun hadn’t…” Sho trailed off and Ohno held him tighter. He knew it had been a hard ordeal for him to return here, but they could discuss the details later.
“Sho… let’s go home,” he said quietly, looking back up at his long lost love, and Sho nodded, smiling at the same time that he sniffed, wiping his nose.
As if suddenly realizing something, the lawyer pulled himself out of Sho’s embrace to double check his clothing again, evaluating it as thin and not at all suited for the temperature that it currently was.
“You never learn, do you?” he chided softly, pulling off the scarf that his mother had made for him and wrapping it around Sho’s neck instead.
“Sorry. In the future there’s better temperature control.”
Ohno blinked at him as Sho raised his bare hand to touch the scarf reverently, obviously reminiscing of their happier past.
“The future.”
“It’s a long story, Satoshi, and I’m afraid I don’t remember most of it anymore.” He was smiling, but there was a melancholy edge to it. It passed, though, as he moved his hand to rest on Ohno’s cheek gently.
“Let’s go home. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Five years later, exactly
“You know I’m an old man now. It’s getting harder for me to stay up this late,” Ohno teased, lying on his back in the double bed that he had been sharing with Sho ever since their reunion. Of course Sho was next to him and just as naked, casually brushing his fingers over Ohno’s torso as they waited for 2 a.m. to roll around.
His watch beeped from the bedside table and they both looked at it before turning back to each other with wide smiles, Sho leaning down for a kiss just like the one they had shared back then.
“I love you, Satoshi,” he whispered against his lips before kissing him again, making Ohno wait for his own chance at the same words until later.
Of course Sho’s story wasn’t very convincing, and Ohno would have pronounced him insane if he had never met Jun and helped him with that case, which seemed to fill in a lot of the spaces that Sho was lacking. Time travel was still completely impossible in his book, but if it was true that Sho had given up his life somewhere else as well as any key memories that would be harmful in the past just to be with Ohno once again, well that was just about the most romantic story he had ever been told.
And it didn’t matter. Sho had stayed, true to his words, and apparently had been allowed to. Ohno retired after taking a year to wrap up his remaining cases and tie up any loose ends he had, unwilling to waste his time in the office when he could easily be at home with his soul mate instead, and although he still resumed his practices temporarily here and there when he couldn’t say no (mostly charity cases brought forward by Aiba), instead he had dedicated himself to fishing on the weekend and art classes the rest of the time.
His mother had been delighted that the two men had been suddenly reunited, and completely accepted their relationship before Ohno could even tell her about it, making them promise to visit her as much as possible, and neither could resist her homemade food anyway, so they made a point to attend dinner at her house at least once a week.
Aiba, who had lost his job with a rather content attitude, opened a volunteer pet clinic (that never lacked in donors) and was still dating Nino, who continued his job at the TV station and managed to get Sho a position there as well, as a weekend newscaster. He was only on late at night, but it was a job he managed to squeeze into without showing his school records (because there were none), and effectively left the two in debt to Nino for the rest of their lives (something they weren’t allowed to forget, even if Nino never called in his favor).
A week after Sho had returned to him, a huge bouquet of flowers had shown up in the office accompanied by three pieces of cake and a bottle of wine, although Jun was not there to accompany them this time (but Sho was). There was a note address to Ohno, though.
Even if I’m not around, we’re still friends. I’ll come if you need me.
That made him smile, though. He could finally fill an entire hand with the people he cared for, if he included Sho who had reclaimed the deepest place in his heart.
It had taken far too many years, but they were together again, and finally happy.
+++
A/N: First thanks for anyone who voted or participated in the contest! There were 17 entries which is a pretty good turn out compared to the other contests I've participated in. :D I had a good time and got a little motivation from it!
Otherwise...I didn't think I was going to get this done on time. I wrote it in a whirlwind over the course of about a week and didn't have time to re-read it as much as I wanted to, so I was actually really insecure about the birthday scene. And as you can see it's pretty long, so I wanted to cut something out but couldn't make a decision.
As for the time travel aspect... Yes, when I was thinking up reasons for why Sho had left, the one that came to mind was The Girl Who Leapt Through Time... Possibly because someone else posted a fic based of that recently...?
Also I noticed a lot of requests for Sho's side of the story at the original post... which I'm not sure about writing because it would take much more leg work than keeping it vague. But I can understand wanting to know more of the mechanics of the story. At least now it's the last thing on my plate along with everything else.
By the way it's your last chance to leave a word prompt for my contest! I meant to close it already but I forgot to put up a notification, so I thought I'd leave it open for one more day. :) But the submitting your personal work contest is still open for a while!
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Sho/Ohno
Genre: romance, drama, angst?
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: After not hearing from Sho for thirteen years, Ohno faces the choice of giving up on his only love, or continuing to believe.
Note: For the AIN'T NO 山 HIGH ENOUGH contest at oretachinosong.
Part one
Monday evening
“Oh-chan!” Aiba delightfully cried out, clasping his hands together as his eyes sparkled, “You’ve never taken me out drinking before!” The two of them had been out to eat more times that he could count, but Ohno was rather profession while he was still in the public eye. Tonight was simply an exception.
The first thing he’d done when they had met at the office that morning was to offer to treat Aiba to dinner before promptly giving him his box of candy, leaving his secretary almost stunned at his direct attitude. They talked briefly about their vacations, but they had a lot to catch up on because of that, so they got to work immediately and managed to finish everything within time for a reasonable dinner.
Ohno had led them to a bar that he frequented privately, each time securing his trusted taxi service to take him home without problems, which was very discreet and always on time. Tonight would be the same, only with an additional stop for his secretary as well.
“You can have all you want,” he offered in a light tone as they looked at the menu, although he felt tense somewhere at the bottom of his stomach. It would take a few drinks before he would loosen up enough to approach the topic casually enough, despite the new sense of freedom he had discovered at his mother’s house.
So they started with a more in-depth conversation about what they had done with their free time while eating their meal (Aiba much more enthusiastically than his boss) and continued drinking even after they were done.
“Oh-chan!” Aiba slurred after about an hour, leaning over the table with a huge grin on his face. “You’re so nice today! I can’t believe we’re drinking together!” he repeated for about the tenth time, but it still wasn’t annoying yet.
Not really as drunk as Aiba-or at least how he was acting-Ohno could still feel his quickened heartbeat hammering in his chest as he saw his opening and pushed himself to take it. It was his first time doing this with anyone since parting with Sho, so it was only natural that he wasn’t sure how to go about bringing the topic up.
“Well, actually Aiba-kun… I had something I wanted to talk about with you today…”
“Wow! Really?!” he brightened, as if it wasn’t a usual occurrence. It was, but Ohno usually didn’t come out and admit it to him, he supposed.
“It’s not work related…” he added, finding himself stalling a bit, then swallowing and closed his eyes for just a second. “I mean… about love. I want to talk to you about love,” he said plainly.
“Are you in love, Oh-chan?” Aiba asked with sparkling eyes, his whole demeanor changing as he became attentive and curious, and Ohno couldn’t pull his eyes away from him, completely charmed by the best friend he had (even if Aiba didn’t feel the same in return or know about his status; Ohno was positive Aiba had a wide array of friends to choose from).
“I’m not entirely sure. I was hoping you could help me figure that out.”
“Does your heart go kyuuun when you see that person? Does your stomach flutter? I heard those are pretty sure signs of being in love!”
Ohno sighed and smiled sadly without being able to stop himself. He glanced down at his empty beer mug and then met Aiba’s eyes, suddenly reminded of his last meeting with Sho in the coffee shop.
“Are you seeing anyone?” he asked suddenly.
“Oh…” Aiba promptly blushed, assuming his face could get any redder than it already was, and he grinned shyly. “You know Nino…?”
“That kid from the news station?” Ohno asked incredulously. He had already guessed that Aiba had someone, although he wasn’t sure it was a girl or not, since Aiba had never volunteered the information and Ohno had never bothered to ask.
“He’s not a kid!” Aiba cried, although he looked completely amused at the comment. “He’s like the same age as me!”
“That’s not possible,” Ohno replied straightly, imagining the petite reporter in his mind who still looked like he had just graduated from high school, although he could certainly agree that his intellect was on par with Ohno’s own, even if the uses were quite different for each of them.
Aiba laughed again, throwing his head back, and then recovered quickly with a knowing look in his eyes. “I’ll tell you more about it later,” he promised, then tried his best to look serious, which was a failure from Ohno’s perspective, but he was glad for the attempt. “I want to hear about your person first.”
There was a moment where Ohno felt like he had been cornered, but it was easier to share his secrets that way, and he found the story of Sho and that year they had shared together simply falling out of his mouth along with all the stress he had been carrying for the last twenty odd years because of it.
At the end, as he explained the letter he had just gotten from Sho telling him to move on, he found tears coming to his eyes and Aiba was there for him as he finally broke down, holding him like Sho had done so long ago, those times only distant memories now, glimpses of his childhood.
He clung to Aiba’s dress shirt and buried his face in his friend’s chest, finding comfort for his situation for the first time ever as Aiba patted his head and whispered caring words into his ear, telling him it would be okay and that they would come up with a solution between the two of them and that Ohno didn’t have to face this alone. Aiba would make sure that he would never be alone.
But with just that much, only talking and depending on Aiba, Ohno already knew what his decision would be now, before the two of them had even properly discussed it.
Six months later, March
“Oh-chan,” Aiba whispered, poking his head into the office and looking at the older man with wide eyes. “Your three o’clock’s here and he’s gorgeous.”
Ohno raised an eyebrow as he looked up from his computer and spared a second to be amused at Aiba’s expression before he nodded, closing up a folder on his left and motioning for Aiba to send him in. He pulled out the file that had been prepared and started glancing over the client’s profile during the time it took his door to open again, Aiba holding it for a young man wearing black sunglasses and a sharp, stylish suit.
Standing to bow slightly to him, Ohno motioned towards the leather seat across from him, indicating for him to sit down, before asking, “Matsumoto-san, is that correct?”
“Yes,” the man cooly replied as he sat, and Ohno also took his seat as Aiba closed the door to give them privacy.
“What can I do for you?” he started with abruptly, as he did with all of his clients, not really one for small talk for more reasons than it wasted his time. His hands were folded on his desk, and he gave his full attention to the man, ready to start taking notes if need be.
“I need your… professional advice,” Matsumoto said tentatively in his smooth voice, taking off his glasses and immediately meeting Ohno’s eyes with a piercing stare of his own, as if he wanted to uncover every secret he could before revealing the ones he held.
It made Ohno feel a little uncomfortable, but he had nothing to hide, so he didn’t react.
“Advice, Matsumoto-san?”
“You have quite the reputation, you know?” he replied instead of clarifying, leaning back as far as he could in the chair and crossing his legs, brushing some of his stylish hair out of his eyes and unconsciously tucking it behind his ear.
“I am quite aware of my… reputation,” Ohno replied cautiously, wondering what exactly was going on and what Matsumoto wanted with him. Recently most of his clients started off with crying and begging him for help, or threatening him if he didn’t comply with their wishes.
They sat in tense silence, simply staring at each other, before Matsumoto finally gave in and sighed, leaning forward again, more seriously and obviously irritated that Ohno wasn’t willing to play whatever game he had tried to start.
“I don’t need you as an actual lawyer, Ohno-san. I am part of… an organization, if you will. A friend of mine-“ he paused for effect, even if it was completely lost on Ohno, “broke some rules-“
For some reason that got Ohno’s attention, though, and he felt his entire body tense up.
Matsumoto noticed and eyed him critically, but Ohno tried to ignore the response and urged, “Your friend?”
“Yes…” he leaned back again, although his eyes didn’t lose their intense look. “And my…superiors need to be persuaded.”
As Ohno processed the information, all he could think of was that it was all very vague. It seemed as if his client was being vague on purpose, actually.
“What kind of rules did he break?” Ohno inquired, trying to make his tone lighter than it had been before, and started jotting down a few notes in order to avoid those eyes for just a few seconds.
Apparently this was not what Matsumoto was expecting because it took him a few moments to think about his answer.
“Let me put it this way. Imagine my ‘organization’ is like a cult,” he paused, obviously expecting Ohno to react to that, either with an incredulous gaze or certain doubt, but he did neither, simply writing his notes before looking up to encourage him to continue his explanation. “And in this cult we have rules. Not necessarily the same rules as society, but treated just the same to us. If we break them, we’re punished. If we use authority that is not ours to use…” he trailed off, and Ohno still felt like he was missing something important in this explanation.
He stared at Jun with the same blank expression and finally the other man sighed in frustration and apparently gave up on waiting for Ohno’s enlightenment, instead decided to explain himself further.
“So my friend, he broke some rules, and my superiors are punishing him. I came to you because I simply need a solid argument to convince them to give him a second chance, or even better, to…let him out of the cult, so to speak.”
Ohno was… confused, to say the least, but he intertwined his fingers on top of his desk solemnly and searched Matsumoto’s face again to see if he could figure out what the underlying problem was, the one that wasn’t being said explicitly.
“I’m not sure if I can-“ he started tentatively, after he proceeded to find nothing to help him, but he was interrupted before he could properly reject the case.
“Money is not an issue. I’ll pay you anything.”
“I’m afraid that you’ve mistaken the-“
“I can’t give you any details that would get me in trouble, but otherwise I promise that I will help you all that I can.”
Ohno was used to dealing with hard clients, but he had a feeling that Matsumoto was going to be the most persistent out of all of them.
“Besides, Aiba already said you’d take my case-“
He immediately dropped his head into his hand in unbelief at his secretary. It wasn’t something that he did often, only the most charitable of cases, so he wondered if Aiba was actually that seduced by Matsumoto’s looks despite the fact that he was certain Aiba had a perfectly willing boyfriend to go home to at the end of the day.
“I do apologize for my secretary-“ Ohno tried to argue back, meeting Matsumoto’s eyes with what he was sure was a tired expression, but the other man obviously still had a long way to go.
“I traveled quite far to meet with you specifically, Ohno. And I assure you…” he leaned forward again, this time placing his hand lightly on top of his desk and coming as close as he could to Ohno’s face, as if to seduce him as well, “My friend would also appreciate your help.”
As they stared at each other it was almost as if an invisible battle was taking place, stubborn personality again desperation, and Ohno knew from experience that desperation always won in the end but that didn’t stop him from trying.
Matsumoto knew, though, and smirked as he backed away, and that alone made Ohno drop his gaze, glancing at the sparse notes he’d made before politely confirming, “I’ll see what I can do to help you, Matsumoto-san.”
“I appreciate your compliance, Ohno-san.”
“Bring what you need to with you next time and we’ll get started. You can schedule your appointment with Aiba.”
“I’ll do just that,” he replied before standing, and offered Ohno a much more genuine bow than he had initially before turning and opening the door, but then ruined the atmosphere by winking at Ohno before he left altogether, still leaving the lawyer wondering what exactly had just happened, and what he had gotten himself in to.
November
Ohno was returning to the office after a morning in court, looking forward to simply seeing Aiba and eating some Chinese food from his parents’ restaurant to celebrate yet another victory to add to his unreasonable list.
But when he walked in he was met with quite different scenery than he was expecting, a huge bouquet of flowers taking up most of Aiba’s coffee table along with three boxes from a local cake shop and a long legged Matsumoto eating a plate of what was supposed to be Ohno’s lunch as he talked with Aiba animatedly about something or another.
They both turned to him and laughed at the surprised look on his face, Aiba standing and placing his own lunch on his desk as he came over to greet his boss.
“Oh-chan! Jun came to visit!” he explained, placing one hand on Ohno’s upper back and taking his suitcase in his other hand, leading him towards the open spot on the couch next to Jun, who also stood to greet him, smiling wider than he had in the entire time he’d been coming to Ohno’s office to work on his ‘project,’ which they had managed to finish somehow, despite the many loopholes.
“Just thought I’d drop by and say thanks for your help,” Jun offered with a shrug, sitting again, and scarfing down a mouthful of Chinese noodles.
Allowing himself to be led Aiba, still too dazed to do anything, Ohno nodded slightly and asked casually, “I suppose that means your plan was a success?”
“Great success, thanks to you, Ohno-san. I brought you some wine too,” he grinned, pulling the bottle out from where it was hidden under the huge arrangement of flowers, and showed it to him. “How about some with lunch? In fact, why don’t you just lock that door over there and put up the closed sign and we’ll have the whole bottle?” he laughed, and Aiba giggled as well, obviously agreeing as he disappeared behind the flowers to make a plate of food for his boss as well.
“I think that would be very unprofessional, Matsumoto-san, although I appreciate the sentiment.”
He laughed at the reply, as though he had expected as much, and returned the bottle to its original spot. “Well, at least there’s coffee and cake, right?” he asked Aiba sympathetically and the secretary nodded in return, sending Ohno a teasing look as he gave him his lunch.
Ohno remained quiet during his break, at first feeling really strange with a new presence during their lunch period, but over time he got used to Jun being there and how much he amplified Aiba’s energy in this setting, and just as they were finishing up the cake, he finally got out something resembling a smile at Aiba being teased about his bad taste in men as they looked at a picture of Nino on his cell phone.
“He’s like sixteen!”
“He’s not!”
“He so is! Look at him!”
“Oh-chan! Help me out here,” Aiba whined, although his expression was completely opposite of upset.
“He does look like he’s sixteen, doesn’t he?” he commented instead, and the other two burst out laughing so hard he thought the neighboring offices would come over and complain.
When they finally died down, Matsumoto stood and placed his hands on his hips, looking first at Aiba and then back to Ohno. “Well guys, it was fun, but I, unfortunately, have to get going.”
Aiba pretended to pout, but followed him as he headed towards the door, and Ohno awkwardly shook his hand when Matsumoto held it out, feeling as if he’d managed to make another friend other than Aiba (and maybe Nino, if he counted).
“I really appreciate your help, Ohno. More than you’ll probably ever realize,” he said with a smile, then patted Aiba heavily on the shoulder in farewell and waved slightly as he pulled his sunglasses out and headed down the hallway.
Once he was out of sight Ohno glanced and Aiba once, sharing a warm look, then nodded almost determinedly and retrieved his suitcase.
“Guess I’d better get back to work too,” he said quietly and Aiba saluted him with a huge smile on his face, which deserved at least an amused look in return, so Ohno gave it to him before retreating to his own office.
He turned on the light and sat his suitcase down on his desk slowly, immediately noticing the red envelope placed neatly in front of his computer, this time his name and office address written in the familiar handwriting and no postal stamp.
Ohno basically ripped the back open, not even bothering to sit down.
Satoshi-kun,
Honestly, I’m not sure how much time has passed since I’ve last seen you, or even my last letter. Time is different here, I think, but I pray that it is similar enough that we still have a chance.
Satoshi…Can I see you? Things have changed thanks to Jun and… I want to see you. If you’ll still have me, if you haven’t moved on, if you still remember me, if you’ve even been getting my letters.
I’m afraid to hope that things will work out, but without hope I have nothing.
Please, Satoshi. If you can… if you’re willing… on your next birthday, meet me at our café, the last place we parted? I know that place probably holds difficult memories for your now, as it does for me, so let’s replace it with something better.
If you haven’t forgotten me, that is. If you haven’t given up on us already…
Yours sincerely,
Sho
Ohno couldn’t believe what he was reading.
“I’d never give up on us, Sho…” he said to no one in particular, even as he was overwhelmed with emotion and he felt tears come to his eyes. “I’ve just been waiting this whole time…”
Thinking faster than he had in a long time, he pulled his calendar over to check the date. His birthday was within the week, but… that was too soon, wasn’t it? Sho had picked a specific date, like he hadn’t known exactly when he would be back, and a strange location, as if he didn’t know where Ohno would be at any particular time, didn’t know his cellphone or how to contact him.
Something weird was going on, but Ohno didn’t even care anymore. He could see Sho… it didn’t matter if he had to go there every year until he died, if there was a small chance he could even just meet for one night, for one hour… just like Sho, he was desperate enough for even that much.
His heart was beating wildly as he sat down in his chair, still holding the letter firmly in his hands, and he re-read it again, then again and again until he had it memorized, and he couldn’t concentrate at all, but this time he didn’t care one little bit.
What had changed?
Maybe…
Thanks to Jun he had written. And Matsumoto’s case had been suspicious all the way through…
No, it wasn’t possible. It had to be a coincidence, and if it wasn’t, well he’d just have to ask Sho when he saw him…
A huge smile spread across Ohno’s lips at the thought of seeing the man that had occupied his life from the day the two of them had met. How had Sho changed? He would probably still be taller than Ohno, but just as handsome as he had been back then. Although Ohno had become bitter with those thoughts before, he could feel those feelings flaking off of him like a worn out skin and hoped the same was true for Sho. Yes, it had taken so many years, but just maybe…
Suddenly he jumped up in his seat and eyes widened.
He needed to tell Aiba!
November 26th
It was his birthday and he had taken the whole day off.
Not to celebrate or see his mother, but something much more important.
He was standing in front of a convenience store in the freezing cold anxiously looking up and down the street for the person he was waiting for, had been waiting seventeen years for.
Because over the seventeen years he had been waiting, just as he and Sho had both changed, so had everything else. Their café had been torn down along with half of the rest of the previous shops, now replaced by a parking lot on one side and a department store on the other, although on the corner, where the coffee shop had once stood, a small convenience store had been placed, and that was the closest thing that Ohno could get to a meeting spot, hoping that Sho would still be able to find his way here despite the lack of landmarks. At least where he was, Ohno was visible from both directions and could be found if only Sho was in the vicinity.
Morning passed and gave way to a beaming sun overhead. He got a call from Aiba, who had decided to spend his day off at home with his dog and as backup in case Ohno needed it, but after he confirmed that we was still waiting, Aiba offered to bring him something to eat (which he refused, because he was sitting in front of a convenience store for heaven’s sake) and Ohno wasn’t in the mood to make light talk past that.
Noon came and went as well, and Ohno finally gave in a bought a rice ball that he ate while swiveling his head back and forth, leaning against the short fence separating the sidewalk from the road, the most suitable and comfortable spot he could find.
Maybe it really was too soon. Sho obviously didn’t realize what he had promised with the letter coming right before Ohno’s birthday and it was too much to hope for anyway, really. Ohno tried to be content with even the idea of meeting Sho next year. He’d be content with any time, he told himself, even if he was becoming impatient now that he had a promise to rely on.
The sun moved over the hours and eventually disappeared behind the tall buildings and Ohno folded his arms across his chest. He had of course worn a scarf as well as his expensive leather jacket and a pair of jeans he had bought two days ago in preparation for the weather he knew was coming, and he probably looked rather frightening to most people walking by with the intense look that was on his face. Although he didn’t really care, he naturally tried to soften his expression, not wanting Sho to miss him over something stupid like that. He had thinned a bit over the years, even though his cheeks were still rather chubby, and his hair was longer and naturally black instead of spiked blond like it had been in high school.
He wasn’t even sure if he was recognizable at this point.
“You’ve been waiting out here for a while, haven’t you?”
Ohno turned sharply at the voice next to him and sighed in disappointment when he saw who it was. “Oh, Nino.”
He leaned against the fence with him, a convenience store sack in his hand and glanced at Ohno as he glanced back down at the ground, where he had been lost in his own thoughts until a moment ago.
Then a plastic bento was shoved into his face, startling him, and he looked up to find Nino grinning at him, wiggling the box in order to get him to take it.
“Don’t worry, I’ll send Aiba the bill,” he laughed light heartedly, then drew a second identical bento out of his bag as soon as Ohno accepted it.
His stomach rumbled as he set eyes on the food and he slowly broke apart the cheap wooden chopsticks and peeled off the plastic lid, thankful for Nino’s kindness just when he was starting to feel depressed and hopeless.
“What happened? Got stood up for a date?” the reporter teased as he took his own small bite of food, staring at the building across the street. “I can see the headline now… The famous lawyer Ohno Satoshi meets heartbreak!”
Nino laughed at his own joke, but Ohno found it hit far too close to home to count.
“That’s old news, Nino,” he said solemnly, then took a bite of rice as he saw the other man’s shocked and guilty expression out of the corner of his eye.
Awkward silence fell over them, but Ohno was still glad for the company. It was almost dark now, although the florescent lights from the store in front of him would light the entire night for him.
“W-what are you doing here anyway? It’s pretty far from the office,” Nino ventured a change in topic, and Ohno turned to look at him straightforwardly before replying.
“My house is near here, actually.”
“Oh, I get it. Well, I’m here because I had a story to cover about that park,” Nino motioned across the other street, to the park that he had met Sho at rather often. It had gotten a bit smaller in the last few years, but at least it still existed. “I saw you over here earlier, so I thought I’d say hello before I headed back for the night,” Nino explained, searching for a safer conversation than the one he had initially started.
Ohno didn’t reply, turning back to his food, simply because he couldn’t think of anything to say. Except, “Thank you,” he added after a second and Nino shook his head, apparently unable to understand Ohno very well.
“Uhm… you’re welcome,” he responded blankly, continuing to eat.
They watched various street lights illuminate over the course of about ten minutes, Ohno still distractedly checking for any signs of Sho, although he couldn’t see far in either direction any more, before he finally broke down, even if he hadn’t realized there had been any pressure from Nino (although he figured Nino’s presence alone put pressure on him, whether the younger man realized it or not), and admitted, “It’s my birthday.”
Nino looked surprised again, his eyes widening and chopsticks sliding out of his fingers a little until he tightened his grip reflexively to catch them.
“I… didn’t know.”
“Of course not.”
A pause, then, “Happy Birthday.”
“Thank you.”
There was really nothing else to say, so they finished the food quietly and then Nino took a few steps back to the convenience store to politely throw away the trash for them.
He returned with a cheap piece of cake and handed it to Ohno along with a cup of steaming coffee.
Noticing there was only one, it was quite obvious to the lawyer that Nino probably needed to be leaving by now. It was late, and Aiba was waiting for him today.
“Whoever left you here like this, Oh-chan… they’re a real jerk,” he said sincerely, then patted him on the shoulder. “But don’t give up. I have a good feeling about tonight, so just wait a bit longer, okay?”
Ohno felt almost moved by the words, even though they weren’t exactly normal, and swallowed with his throat constricting. “I will, Nino.”
“And you’re not alone. If you need someone to do some ass kickin’,” he laughed, then pointed at himself, “You know where to go.”
In response he managed a smile then held up the cup of coffee in a silent thank you as Nino started towards the park, turning back to give him a thumbs up before disappearing behind the trees.
Significantly encouraged by the visit, Ohno stayed in place despite the dropping temperature, slowly eating his cake and sipping at his coffee, even thought it turned cold before he got to the bottom of the cup.
Aiba called again after about an hour, obviously hearing from Nino that Sho hadn’t come and begging Ohno for his permission to at least give his lover some hints, and once they hung up Ohno checked the time, finding himself with three hours until his birthday was officially over.
One year was nothing after all this time. He could wait until his next birthday.
Unconsciously he rubbed his hands together, squinting up and down the streets around him for any signs of Sho, but still nothing could be seen. There was a brief moment where he considered getting another cup of coffee, but he was terrified of what would happen if he walked in there the second that Sho walked by and they missed each other by a terrible twist of fate.
His mother called as well, oblivious to his birthday plans, assuming he was simply getting home from work as he would any other weekday, and he put her off for a few minutes, assuring her she wasn’t bothering him, but that it would be better if he could talk tomorrow. She wished him a happy birthday anyway, having already delivered his gift-the scarf he was wearing, knit painstakingly for him-to the office yesterday.
Once he hung up, he checked the time again. An hour was all he had left, but there was no use leaving now after being here all day, so he stayed even though he was discouraged all of a sudden, wondering if he had be too eager about the whole thing, if he was going to crash tomorrow once he realized that Sho still wasn’t a part of current life.
Forty-five minutes. The only thing that caught his eye was an old man jogging past him in sports gear.
Thirty minutes. He could count on one hand the people who had wished him happy birthday, Nino included.
Twenty minutes. There were tears obscuring his vision, although he assured himself it was from the cold and not anything else. Waiting another year would be nothing.
Fifteen minutes. He was tired of counting.
Maybe Sho really hadn’t been able to find the place. Maybe he was losing his cool running around the neighborhood trying to locate him, looking for something that didn’t exist anymore, his sense of direction all messed up. Maybe he would head to Ohno’s mother’s house instead, although he was sure he would have gotten a phone call if that were the case.
More likely he just hadn’t been able to make everything work to get here on time. There was no telling where he was anymore, he could be on the other side of the world for all Ohno knew, and that wasn’t something that could overcome so quickly or easily.
His watched beeped once and he looked at it automatically.
It was midnight. His birthday was over and Sho hadn’t come.
Just five more minutes, he told himself. Five more minutes couldn’t hurt and Sho had been late on more occasions than he could remember.
Five turned into ten, which turned into twenty and then an hour. The streets were black outside of Ohno’s fluorescent light halo, with only the occasional ball of brightness here or there, and they did nothing to help him keep watch at this time of night.
In no time it was 2 a.m. and Ohno didn’t care about the fact that he had work tomorrow (although he could cancel it if he absolutely had to). He was almost delirious now, continuously rubbing his hands together and shivering and he had begun to pace back a forth a little. The trains would have stopped already, so even if Sho had meant to come today, he would have no way to do it now. He should just find a taxi and go home to his warm bed. If Sho really wanted to find him that badly, he could easily look up his office, or go to his mother’s house or an entire array of possibilities, but somehow that wasn’t satisfactory at all, not as satisfactory as when Ohno actually doing something-
He suddenly heard running footsteps and turned automatically with puffed eyes, hearing the heavy breaths before the person had even stepped into the light.
“Satoshi…?”
For a serious moment he actually thought he was hallucinating and had dreamed up Sho’s arrival to satisfy his burnt out mind, but that didn’t stop him from stumbling forward as a lanky form came into the light, dressed in strange clothing with bright colors and no fashion cut he had ever heard of before.
But he recognized the face smiling back at him, the same as his mother’s picture, the features that had grown mature but not unfamiliar, and he was throwing himself into Sho’s arms, tears streaming down his cheeks as he finally broke down.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry,” Sho was gasping as he pulled Ohno against him, one hand on his lower back and the other firmly pressing Ohno’s head into his shoulder as they both shook with emotions that had been repressed for far too long.
“Sho-kun… You’re real, right? Please tell me you’re real,” Ohno begged, his voice muffle against through the strange clothing, but Sho replied just the same, letting out a sound indistinguishable as a laugh or a sob.
“I’m real, Satoshi, and I’m right here.”
Yes, that was the important part, wasn’t it?
Ohno pulled back enough that he could stare into Sho’s face, the lights next to them reflecting off his eyes like diamonds, and he wasn’t embarrassed at all when Sho leaned down to kiss him passionately, in plain view of anyone that was walking by. He kissed back with the same enthusiasm, his hands gripping hard on Sho’s jacket in order to keep himself from crumbling onto the ground. But as much as he loved kissing Sho, there were still other important things on his mind, so he broke the kiss himself, instead looking back to Sho’s face as cold fingers wiped the tears from his own.
“Are you…” He almost couldn’t bring himself to ask it. But he had to. “Are you… staying?
Sho smiled, and that was really the answer, although he added, “For as long as you’ll have me.”
Ohno managed to pull himself together enough to smack his shoulder at the implication before finding himself tucked against Sho’s chest once again.
“I’m sorry I was late… I didn’t realize what time it would be here…”
Ohno found the explanation confusing, but didn’t mind.
“If Jun hadn’t…” Sho trailed off and Ohno held him tighter. He knew it had been a hard ordeal for him to return here, but they could discuss the details later.
“Sho… let’s go home,” he said quietly, looking back up at his long lost love, and Sho nodded, smiling at the same time that he sniffed, wiping his nose.
As if suddenly realizing something, the lawyer pulled himself out of Sho’s embrace to double check his clothing again, evaluating it as thin and not at all suited for the temperature that it currently was.
“You never learn, do you?” he chided softly, pulling off the scarf that his mother had made for him and wrapping it around Sho’s neck instead.
“Sorry. In the future there’s better temperature control.”
Ohno blinked at him as Sho raised his bare hand to touch the scarf reverently, obviously reminiscing of their happier past.
“The future.”
“It’s a long story, Satoshi, and I’m afraid I don’t remember most of it anymore.” He was smiling, but there was a melancholy edge to it. It passed, though, as he moved his hand to rest on Ohno’s cheek gently.
“Let’s go home. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Five years later, exactly
“You know I’m an old man now. It’s getting harder for me to stay up this late,” Ohno teased, lying on his back in the double bed that he had been sharing with Sho ever since their reunion. Of course Sho was next to him and just as naked, casually brushing his fingers over Ohno’s torso as they waited for 2 a.m. to roll around.
His watch beeped from the bedside table and they both looked at it before turning back to each other with wide smiles, Sho leaning down for a kiss just like the one they had shared back then.
“I love you, Satoshi,” he whispered against his lips before kissing him again, making Ohno wait for his own chance at the same words until later.
Of course Sho’s story wasn’t very convincing, and Ohno would have pronounced him insane if he had never met Jun and helped him with that case, which seemed to fill in a lot of the spaces that Sho was lacking. Time travel was still completely impossible in his book, but if it was true that Sho had given up his life somewhere else as well as any key memories that would be harmful in the past just to be with Ohno once again, well that was just about the most romantic story he had ever been told.
And it didn’t matter. Sho had stayed, true to his words, and apparently had been allowed to. Ohno retired after taking a year to wrap up his remaining cases and tie up any loose ends he had, unwilling to waste his time in the office when he could easily be at home with his soul mate instead, and although he still resumed his practices temporarily here and there when he couldn’t say no (mostly charity cases brought forward by Aiba), instead he had dedicated himself to fishing on the weekend and art classes the rest of the time.
His mother had been delighted that the two men had been suddenly reunited, and completely accepted their relationship before Ohno could even tell her about it, making them promise to visit her as much as possible, and neither could resist her homemade food anyway, so they made a point to attend dinner at her house at least once a week.
Aiba, who had lost his job with a rather content attitude, opened a volunteer pet clinic (that never lacked in donors) and was still dating Nino, who continued his job at the TV station and managed to get Sho a position there as well, as a weekend newscaster. He was only on late at night, but it was a job he managed to squeeze into without showing his school records (because there were none), and effectively left the two in debt to Nino for the rest of their lives (something they weren’t allowed to forget, even if Nino never called in his favor).
A week after Sho had returned to him, a huge bouquet of flowers had shown up in the office accompanied by three pieces of cake and a bottle of wine, although Jun was not there to accompany them this time (but Sho was). There was a note address to Ohno, though.
Even if I’m not around, we’re still friends. I’ll come if you need me.
That made him smile, though. He could finally fill an entire hand with the people he cared for, if he included Sho who had reclaimed the deepest place in his heart.
It had taken far too many years, but they were together again, and finally happy.
+++
A/N: First thanks for anyone who voted or participated in the contest! There were 17 entries which is a pretty good turn out compared to the other contests I've participated in. :D I had a good time and got a little motivation from it!
Otherwise...I didn't think I was going to get this done on time. I wrote it in a whirlwind over the course of about a week and didn't have time to re-read it as much as I wanted to, so I was actually really insecure about the birthday scene. And as you can see it's pretty long, so I wanted to cut something out but couldn't make a decision.
As for the time travel aspect... Yes, when I was thinking up reasons for why Sho had left, the one that came to mind was The Girl Who Leapt Through Time... Possibly because someone else posted a fic based of that recently...?
Also I noticed a lot of requests for Sho's side of the story at the original post... which I'm not sure about writing because it would take much more leg work than keeping it vague. But I can understand wanting to know more of the mechanics of the story. At least now it's the last thing on my plate along with everything else.
By the way it's your last chance to leave a word prompt for my contest! I meant to close it already but I forgot to put up a notification, so I thought I'd leave it open for one more day. :) But the submitting your personal work contest is still open for a while!