Defeating the Boss: Game Start

[boblemon]

Title: Defeating the Boss: Game Start (part one)
Rating: PG-13 (R overall)
Pairing: Aiba/Nino, Sho/Jun (Aiba/Jun friendship, OT5 friendship)
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Aiba is finally able to land a job...and along with it, a boss that ignores his existence. What's he going to do about it?
Notes: Office AU for astrangerenters, who donated to the Fund-Raising Project for the Habagat Victims last year oh geez. Thanks to r_tenou for looking over it for me.


His grandma was sick. The whole family was tight on money, and working side by side with his parents at the restaurant wasn’t going to cut it anymore. He needed a job. It didn’t matter what or where it was, but he needed one as soon as possible.

“Why don’t you check this place out?” Touma had said one late night, sliding that life-changing business card across the table. “The owner is a friend of mine. I’m sure he’d help you out with something.”

Hatenai Sora Inc. it had said. Aiba looked the card over and felt somehow relieved.

“Thank you, Touma. You’re a good friend.”

+++

The address had led him to a small, second story office in a generic building. There had been no receptionist, and if Aiba hadn’t been so confident in Touma and desperate for a job, he might have just turned around and feigned a mistake to escape the awkward atmosphere he walked into.

Partitioned walls were used around the wide room to make a few smaller cubicles, and there were all sorts of chords strung across the floor. It took Aiba clearing his throat and asking if anyone was around before a head popped over the top of one of the half sized partitions.

“Yes?” the man answered curiously, a blank expression of surprise on his face.

“I’m here about a job. My friend-“ As the first few words left Aiba’s mouth, a second head popped up in the back of the room to watch him, an expression of amazement this time.

The first man jerked a little, then forced a smile. “One second please.” He shuffled something that was no doubt on a desk out of sight, then straightened up and walked out into the center of the room to face Aiba. Although the employee was wearing a dress shirt and tie, Aiba had a feeling that he was too over-dressed for the atmosphere of the office.

The second man followed curiously, wearing a much more casual and chic outfit, lagging behind and just watching. Aiba was beginning to feel as if there wasn’t actually a job to be found here, and Touma had just given him the only help he could think of.

“Nino, did you hear that?” The first man called out--although he didn’t have to raise his voice much--and turned slightly towards the back corner of the room.

“Geez, yeah,” another voice came, and a new head popped up from where the question had been directed. Aiba glanced over at him too, wondering if he was the boss or something. “You could have just turned him away, Sho-chan.”

‘Sho-chan’ looked caught off guard by the comment and frowned. “We’ve never had someone come in here asking for a job before! I didn’t know what to say!”

“That’s your job, Nino,” were the first words from the chic man, and the way he said it coupled with his bushy furrowed eyebrows made Aiba think he was just a little scary.

“Fine,” Nino complained with a huff, and raised his arms to lean against the top of the short wall in front of him. He was wearing a simple t-shirt, the most casual clothing of the three. “What’s your name?” he finally addressed Aiba directly.

Even though Aiba was sure he was just going to get turned away, the extra few seconds before the rejection allowed him to steel his resolve. “Aiba Masaki,” he answered confidently.

“Aiba-san, who is this friend of yours?” Nino asked politely, although his expression was half bored.

“Ikuta Touma,” came the next reply. But the name didn’t seem to hold any weight with the other man, and instead Nino sighed dramatically.

Suddenly another head popped up, right next to Nino’s. “Touma-kun?” the tanned man asked with an inquisitive tone, glancing at Aiba first and then over at Nino. “He hasn’t come around in a while, has he?”

The scary man looked at the pair and relaxed a bit before half-smirking, and Aiba decided that maybe he was only a little scary. “Nope. We should call him and go out for yakiniku or something, eh Ohno-kun?”

“Yeah, that would be fun,” Ohno replied dreamily, resting his head against Nino’s shoulder.

“Well, as I was saying,” Nino broke in firmly, “We don’t need anyone else here. I’m not sure why Touma sent you.”

Aiba knew that he had to sell himself somehow or risk another failure in his long list of job searching. He would believe in Touma and that promising feeling he had gotten as soon as he had seen that card.

“There must be something,” he started to argue (since it wasn’t like Nino had said that they couldn’t afford another employee).

“Aiba-san,” Nino cut in with an airy voice that felt sharper than the tone would otherwise suggest. “Do you even know what kind of company we’re running here?”

“Video game development,” he replied promptly. It wasn’t like he was going to show up that unprepared! (Okay, so maybe at the first five jobs he had been caught in that same trap, but at least Touma had talked about his friend the video game developer before Aiba had been desperate for a job.)

“That’s correct.” Aiba was sure that Nino’s expression meant he’d been hoping for a wrong answer so he could properly make fun of him. “So see, it’s my company. I design the video games with Oh-chan here,” he patted the man next to him on the shoulder. “And format them with Sho-chan over there,” he added next, pointing to the man that had greeted Aiba first. “Then Jun does the testing.” Jun was obviously the little bit scary man, who was watching him again, albeit with a much more entertained expression.

There was an obvious pause in which Aiba read what Nino wanted him to: We don’t need anything else.

It was Aiba’s turn to furrow his brows, and he glanced down at his hands for a moment while he thought of what could possibly be here for him.

Then he looked straight back at Nino, body thrumming with desperation to win him over. “I’m super creative! My mom is always telling me-“

“Oh-chan’s all the creative I need,” Nino interrupted, but he looked amused that Aiba was at least trying, and his eyes spoke a challenge.

“I can file papers-“

“Sho-chan does that as a hobby,” Nino countered, but a smile was slowly forming on his lips.

“Hey!” Sho broke in, but Aiba wasn’t about to back down.

“I make a mean cup of coffee-“

That one caused Nino to laugh, but he tilted his head towards the eyebrow man. “If Jun didn’t make the best coffee in the world, I wouldn’t have kept him around for so long,” he teased, but Jun just shook his head good-naturedly.

“I can do massages!” It was the end of Aiba’s list, but there was too much momentum for him to stop before he realized how ridiculous he was being, and he had a feeling they were going somewhere. Maybe.

Especially if the way Nino was laughing with his head thrown back was anything to go by.

But then again, finding Aiba funny and giving him a job were two rather different things.

When he finally calmed down, Nino looked over at him with crinkled eyes and asked, “Massages, huh?”

Aiba was just about to fall into a dialogue about how Touma had declared his massages good enough to die for when Jun spoke in a light voice. “Come on Nino. We could use a gopher, couldn’t we?”

“Gopher…?” Aiba asked under his breath. Well, he didn’t mind a job like that, as long as he got paid.

“We could use an extra set of hands around here,” Sho agreed with a warm smile, then added for Aiba in a lowered voice, “Nino’s very strict, just so you know.”

“Not strict, efficient!” Nino corrected, pretending to be exasperated, then shrugged and pushed himself off the wall to turn back to whatever he’d been doing. “Jun, give the gopher some money to go buy us lunch. I feel like eating out today.”

That was how Aiba’s new job began.

+++

It wasn’t Nino that took charge of the position that had been created for Aiba, but Sho. On that first day, they had agreed on a schedule and salary, and Sho had pulled out an unused seat from another part of the office and set it up for Aiba at the corner of his desk. Aiba promised he knew how to use a computer, but after three hours of trial and error, they finally decided that he could take care of the office supplies part of the budget and nothing else. Aiba was a little deflated, but after Sho said he would train him in entering data when there was time, he bounced back right away, just like he always did.

“Sho-chan, would you like another cup of coffee?” Aiba offered as he stretched his arms over his head with a sigh. They’d been busy for a few hours, and it was definitely time for a break-and some exploring. There were still so many places to see around the office!

“Ah, that’s so kind of you Aiba-kun,” Sho replied with a smile. Aiba took that as confirmation and stood up eagerly, glancing around as the rest of the room came into view.

“Oh no you don’t!” he heard behind him, so Aiba turned around with a confused expression and met Jun’s glare over the partitions. “No one touches my coffee pot.”

“Jun-kun?” Aiba asked, trying to remember his name.

“Matsumoto Jun. Matsumoto-san to you.”

Although he was still a little intimidated by him, Aiba couldn’t help but smile at Jun’s aggression, mostly because he had begun to see the kindness hiding underneath it.

“Matsumoto-san, how about a cup of coffee?” he chuckled, then started towards the small kitchen area without waiting for a reply. As expected, Jun huffed after him, still doing his best to put on a prickly air.

The two of them worked in silence, Aiba pulling out the coffee cups and going out of his way to let Jun handle the making coffee part, and it wasn’t until the brown liquid was dripping slowly into the glass pot and they had nothing to do but wait that a conversation was started.

“Matsumoto-san? Do you have anything that you need help with? Like Sho-chan?”

“Why are you calling him Sho-chan already?” Jun replied with an irritated voice. “You only met him this morning.”

“Sho-chan doesn’t mind. Do you Sho-chan?” Aiba asked in a raised voice so that it would carry-although he hadn’t really needed to. The room was small enough that everyone could probably hear them without any problems.

“Not at all,” Sho replied with amusement, although he wasn’t visible from his seated position in the cubicle.

After making an annoyed noise, Jun turned back to the coffee pot and pointedly ignored him. Aiba wasn’t one to give up though.

“What does a gopher do anyway? I won’t be busy just buying food and making coffee all day,” he tried in a conversational tone. It must have been a better topic, because Jun relaxed a little and responded easily.

“Well it doesn’t seem like you’ll be much help to Sho-kun.” It wasn’t surprising that Jun had heard them as they worked-Nino and Ohno must have too.

“I guess I’m not so good with that kind of stuff,” Aiba said good-naturedly, rubbing the back of his head and leaning against the counter.

“Do you play videogames?”

Aiba perked up right away. “Yes. Of course. Who doesn’t?”

Jun glanced over at him and fought an amused smile trying to break out on his lips.

“I might be able to find some work for you. It’s pretty boring testing the same scene over and over with different characters or items. If you can do passable work, I’ll let you help me sometimes.”

“Matsujun! Thank you!”

This time Jun really did smile, but he looked away shyly first before hitting Aiba’s shoulder playfully. “Don’t give me stupid nicknames, Aibaka.”

“Then don’t give me stupid ones!” he laughed back, hitting him similarly in return. They shared an amused look between them, and Aiba was glad that he had been right about Jun after all.

“Hey,” Aiba said, lowering his voice and moving closer so that Jun could hear him properly (and hopefully no one else). “Can I ask for some advice?”

Jun’s expression turned serious and a little eager to help. “What is it?”

“I mean, it’s not like my job has any guidelines, right? Since it was created today or whatever.”

“That’s right. So?”

“So, I mean. What time should I go home tonight? Should I stay late?”

For a second Jun looked relieved at the topic and his expression relaxed. “Ah, stuff like that doesn’t matter around here. We can ask Nino, but I’m sure you can just leave right at five every day.”

“Are you sure?” Aiba felt grateful for the opportunity to have a job in the first place and wanted to prove himself in any way he could. Going home before everyone else would be rude.

“Of course. But you know tonight, we should go out! To celebrate,” Jun grinned. “That way you won’t feel weird if all of us leave together.”

Aiba felt elated at the mere suggestion. Having never worked a serious job before, he had never experienced a welcome party either. “Is that okay?”

“I’ll even sneak it onto the budget sheet,” Jun whispered.

“I heard that! Where’s my coffee?” Nino’s voice sounded from the corner that he hadn’t left all day, followed by a chuckle from Ohno.

“It’s coming!” Jun said in annoyance, then added under his breath, “Slave driver.” Aiba laughed because the affection in his voice was obvious.

+++

Aiba wondered if his initial impression of Nino had been wrong, though Aiba was actually very good at reading people. He should have added that to his resume.

Nino had seemed like an easy-going, lazy-but-motivated type of person that got along well with others easily. After all, he’d given Aiba the job without too much arguing, and openly reveled in the affection he got from Sho, Jun, and Ohno.

Something was off, though, when it came to Aiba.

“Thank you so much, Nino-san! You have no idea how much this means to me,” Aiba gushed happily as they waited for their first rounds of beer. They’d all left the office together to celebrate Aiba’s first day of work, although it was obvious it was just an excuse to get together for dinner (Aiba didn’t mind).

“No problem,” came the light reply, but Nino blatantly ignored Aiba’s hand, which was extended for a handshake. Instead Nino reached over Ohno and began passing out chopsticks to the rest of the table.

Aiba wasn’t affected at all by the reaction, figuring Nino was just shy. Aiba could easily get to shy people, it just took a little time, and they hadn’t really had a chance to talk this morning like he’d done with Jun and Sho. Because of that, he was going to make full use of his welcome party to get on his boss’ good side.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said we needed another pair of hands around the office,” Sho broke in, trying to expand the conversation to the rest of the table. “It might take a few days to get used to things, but even if it’s just odds and ends, anything will help.”

“Yeah, I’m sick of always being pushed around by this jerk,” Jun added, indicating Nino with a flick of his hand. Nino stuck his tongue out at him and Aiba smiled. “I had to be the gopher before you, despite having just as much work as Sho does!”

“Well, Ohno’s not going to be the gopher, and I’m not going to be the gopher,” Nino replied. “And Sho takes too long to do those things, so it’s more efficient if it’s you.”

Jun opened his mouth to argue back with his eyebrows furrowed, but Aiba broke in laughing just as Ohno plainly said, “It doesn’t matter anymore, right? Aiba-kun’s here now.”

Jun glared at him next, then at Nino again, and now Sho was laughing too. That made Jun’s face turn red.

“And the grand prize goes to Jun for making Ohno speak for the first time in the last six hours!” Nino declared grandly, and with the perfect timing he accepted the beers from the waitress and handed Jun the first one. “A toast to his accomplishment!”

“You mean a toast to our newest office arrival!” Jun threw back, then turned to suddenly smile at Aiba, who returned the expression.

“Fine,” Nino sighed, glancing at Aiba as well. “A toast to Aiba-san, the newest employee of Hatenai Sora Inc.,” he amended with less enthusiasm.

“Cheers!” they all said at the same time, clinking glasses together before chugging the alcohol at various lengths and speeds.

Aiba drained half of his in one go, as did Sho. Nino and Ohno only took a quick swallow, while Jun took several in succession, leaving his glass almost as empty as Aiba’s.

“Ah,” Jun let out with an expression that said he was in heaven. “It tastes good doesn’t it? It’s been so long since we’ve all been out together,” he said cheerfully, looking around the table. Aiba hoped that they would have events like these often because he could already tell that he loved work gatherings despite this being his first one.

“I guess the last time was after that company put in a bid for our game,” Sho replied just as enthusiastically, and turned to Jun, who responded straight away, commenting on how drunk Sho had gotten.

Watching them talk for a minute, Aiba’s curiosity got the better of him, and he turned to Nino again, trying to make conversation.

“You know, Touma told me about you a long time ago! I couldn’t believe his friend from school actually makes video games.” Aiba’s voice was a little low as to not interrupt Sho and Jun, and he leaned towards Nino a little, not missing the way that Nino averted his eyes and shifted towards Ohno in turn. “I really wanted to meet you, but never got the chance until now.”

“That’s nice,” Nino responded evenly, then called to the waitress for another round of beers.

But Aiba wasn’t giving up.

“You must have worked so hard to get thing this far,” Aiba paused to take a swig of his beer since there were new ones on the way, then smiled his blinding smile at Nino (who wasn’t even looking). “You must be a really incredible person.”

Aiba only noticed because he was staring, but Nino’s ears were blushing pink and that was one reason for Aiba not to give up hope.  Already feeling a little tipsy, he reached out to touch his boss on the shoulder lightly.

“Nino-san I really want to-“

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t touch me so casually Aiba-san,” Nino snipped, brushing his arm off his shoulder and scooting closer to Ohno so that they were practically flush against each other. Ohno didn’t look at all affected by what was happening around him and took another sip of his beer. Across the table he met Aiba’s gaze and smiled slightly as if you say, don’t let this bother you.

Thankfully Jun came to the rescue and saved the awkward atmosphere, teasing Aiba for drinking so much already when they had barely gotten started. This ended up in Aiba challenging him to who could finish first and both of them downing what was left in their glasses with Sho right behind them. Nino chuckled at their game for a brief second and that made things better.

+++

Although he was somewhat hung over, Aiba did his best to get out of bed and was at the office a full five minutes before the time that Sho had “suggested” the night before. He wasn’t surprised to find Sho there already, typing away at his computer with his desk full of papers, but he was surprised to find Nino in the back room, playing the game that Jun had explained about last night. It was their latest project, one that was already in the final stages and that they were doing their best to wrap up before the end of the year.

Watching Nino work from the entryway of the cubicle, Aiba waited for the right timing before asking, “Nino-san? How about some coffee?”

Nino didn’t bother to turn around, but said, “That would be lovely, Aiba-kun,” in a grateful voice.

After placing his bag down next to his chair in Sho’s office, he strode into the kitchen area and started up the coffee maker just like Jun had done yesterday. As the coffee dripped, Aiba prepared Sho’s and Nino’s cups (the one he’d brought for himself was still in his bag, so he’d have to wait a few more minutes, but that wasn’t a big deal). Then when Jun burst through the front door with his eyes only half open, Aiba pulled out his mug too.

As Jun stomped towards his cubicle, complaining that Nino had made him drink too much-again-Aiba poured the coffees, and turned just in time as Jun came up behind him.

Right as Jun opened his mouth, Aiba held up the mug and thrust it into his hand. Jun took it automatically and looked down at the steaming liquid in surprise, but quickly took a deep drink.

“Ah. Thank you. That’s what I needed.”

“Have some more,” Aiba grinned, holding Jun’s cup steady as he refilled it.

“Wait. You touched my coffee maker.”

“And you didn’t have to wait for the coffee to be made,” Nino chimed in, approached the two of them from the center of the room. “And I didn’t have to listen to you bitch and groan about it not working faster,” he added, taking his own coffee when Aiba handed it to him. He immediately took a sip, then turned back around and retreated into his videogame lair.

“I guess it’s okay,” Jun said begrudgingly as he looked down at his coffee and took another deep swig.

Aiba just smiled, and collected Sho’s mug, heading back to his desk.

“Here you go, Sho-chan,” he said as he sat down in his office chair, placing it in Sho’s hand when he blindly reached for it.

“Ah, it’s so nice to have coffee this early. Usually we have to wait until Jun is satisfied,” he teased back, and Jun hmphed at them as he walked past their open doorway on his way to his own office.

Aiba didn’t reply, just smiled and paused a second before asking, “Hey, Sho-chan? Do you mind if I put up some decorations in my workspace?” Although he had never had his own office before, Aiba was sure the first step to take was making it as homey as possible.

Finally Sho looked over at him directly with a blank expression and blinked once before asking, “You mean like there?” he asked, pointing to the wall on Aiba’s other side.

“Sure. Is that okay? I totally understand if it’s not, because we’re sharing and all and I-“

“It’s no problem, Aiba-kun. It’s just that the only stuff we’ve ever put up is either for the videogames, or Jun’s random fashion cut-outs.”

“They’re for inspiration!” came Jun’s voice from over the partitions, and Aiba giggled silently, sharing a knowing look with Sho.

With permission given, Sho went back to his computer and Aiba pulled his bag into his lap, determined to decorate before he had to start on anything serious. He had prepared several pictures in his drunken state last night, but he hadn’t made any mistakes; first a picture of his family from last year when his little brother had gotten married, and then a few pictures of his pets (well more like seven or eight, but that was only because he had so many).

Last was a picture they had taken together last night. Aiba had been so exceedingly pleased with his welcome party that he had printed it off without a second thought. Now it seemed a little silly putting it up under the photo of his pet monkey, but Aiba didn’t let that stop him. Besides, Sho didn’t notice, since he was still typing away at his computer.

Once he was finished, Aiba pulled out his own personal mug and walked back to the pot of coffee. Ohno was the only one that hadn’t arrived yet, but Aiba wasn’t sure when that would happen, since it was his first morning there and all.  But he wanted to be prepared, so he set Ohno’s cup on the counter before pouring his own and returning to the shared cubicle.

“Hey, Sho-chan?” he asked, leaning against the partition. “When’s Oh-chan coming?” After last night Aiba felt completely comfortable with his new set of nicknames, all except for Nino who, despite getting somewhat tipsy, didn’t say much to Aiba at all. Aiba wasn’t sure what to think of that, other than his boss was just a little introverted, since Aiba’s charms seemed to work on even the shiest people. Something wasn’t matching with them, but Aiba was confident that it would give sooner or later.

“Hmm, Ohno often doesn’t show up until the afternoon,” Sho replied without looking away from his computer. “Nino just lets him do as he pleases, since it’s more effort to pin him down than Nino cares to put out.”

“Oh, okay,” Aiba shrugged and settled down into his chair with his coffee, holding it up to his nose for a delicious sniff before taking a sip of it. “So what should I do today? Want me to help you with something?”

At the suggestion Sho shifted his eyes to look at him warily before schooling his expression and grinning nervously. “I don’t have anything right now, Aiba-kun. Maybe you could take Jun up on his testing offer?”

Although Aiba did indeed realize that Sho just didn’t want him messing anything up, he smiled at the suggestion and nodded. After taking another gulp of his coffee, he sat it in the corner on his side of the desk and stood up without wasting any more time. “I will! Let me know if you think of something!” he added before cheerfully bouncing out of the cubicle and over to Jun’s. There was an empty one between the two offices, but it was full of haphazardly stacked boxes and rolled up posters, and even if they had offered it to Aiba for his own use he would have refused. Sharing one was much better.

Across from the empty cubicle was another one that seemed like it might belong to Nino, if only because of the Mario statue on the desk, but the room didn’t seem to be used much. The Lair was next door and across from Jun’s, so Aiba glanced in there to find Nino in the same position as that morning, nestled into a small worn armchair with a controller in his hands. Aiba wasn’t sure what he was doing besides just playing the current game, but he imagined they had to do a lot of that.

“Hi Jun! I came to help you,” Aiba greeted as he turned around, poking his head through the doorway and glancing around Jun’s space, since he hadn’t seem much of it yet. There were two computer monitors side by side on the desk, but instead of using them, Jun was reviewing a page of notes on a notepad.

“I heard,” he grumbled, then sighed without looking up at him. “Get a chair.”

Aiba bounced back to his cubicle and rolled his office chair back with him, sitting down in the empty space next to Jun at his desk, watching him with bright eyes and waiting for further directions. They didn’t come right away, so he got a little distracted and began looking around at all the clippings that had been put up on the cubicle walls, amusing himself until Jun was ready.

Most of them were of chic male fashion models in various styles of clothes (suits, jeans, scarves, even something that looked like a dress). As Aiba’s eyes shifted from the top of the collage towards the bottom--right in front of him in his seated position--the genre changed a little. There were a few animated clippings along with more medieval looking fashions, and they had notes written next to most of them in what was probably Jun’s handwriting. Farther on and next to Jun’s computer monitor were four white pages of character designs with notes in several different handwritings. Aiba had to look closer, wondering if Jun could actually draw that well. Although the style was very unique, Aiba thought they were amazing, and they must have been for this videogame, if what he’d seen Nino playing was anything to go by.

Aiba’s eyes wandered a little farther and he noticed there was one small picture stuck up behind the monitors, and at first he thought that was strange, since no one could see it back there! But then he craned his head a bit and realized that Jun could see it from where he was sitting. Curious, he stood up and hooked his chin over Jun’s shoulder, then smiled when he realized what it was. It was a photo-the only real photo here-of Jun and Sho sitting side by side and smiling at the camera together. The background looked similar to the restaurant they’d been at last night, so Aiba didn’t think his choice of decoration in his own space was that strange anymore.

“Don’t look at that!” Jun suddenly realized what Aiba was doing and pushed him back in embarrassment. It was the most awake yet that Jun had looked that morning.

“What? Your picture of-“

Jun pressed his hand over Aiba’s mouth and furrowed his brows rather intimidatingly-which would have worked yesterday, but after last night Aiba didn’t think he could think of Jun as scary ever again. “Everyone can hear you,” he whispered-actually more just mouthed the words, but Aiba got the message, smiling and nodding his understanding.

“Now,” Jun huffed, still acting a bit upset as he retracted his hands, “We need to make a copy of this checklist for you first, then I’ll explain what you need to be looking for while we test the newest weapon.”

“Okay,” Aiba grinned, barely able to contain himself, hoping he’d be more help to Jun than he’d been to Sho.

+++

True to Sho’s words, Ohno came in exactly in time for lunch.

Aiba spent several hours before that with Jun, learning how to play the game in the first place, and then what he was supposed to be looking for to test. It seemed to be going better than the paperwork with Sho had, and Jun’s job was definitely more fun-although Aiba could certainly see how playing the same area over and over again could get boring. But if there were other people around it wouldn’t be so bad.

They kept at it until it was time for the lunch break, and then Jun decided that they would eat take out again.

“Honestly, Nino’s stingy,” Jun told him as they finished up their last battle. “We usually all bring our own lunches because he won’t put it on the budget. Although we each deserve it with all the work he makes us do,” he raised his voice a little to make sure Nino could hear them, and Aiba couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Well, I don’t mind, I could buy a bento for myself today-“

“No, no,” Jun argued, although Aiba suspected he had more motives than just being polite. “We forgot to tell you yesterday, and besides, Nino never brings anything anyway. Unless I go buy something for him, he doesn’t eat at all,” Jun continued and Aiba turned a bit more alert, worried to know that his new boss wasn’t taking care of himself.

“I eat dinner,” Nino replied across from them.

“Only if someone leaves it for you!” Jun grumbled, and finally pulled out his checklist to review their last few minutes of gameplay.

“What are you, my mother?”

“Someone has to take care of you.”

Aiba leaned back to look through the doorways, but he couldn’t see Nino from where he was at. He turned back to his own sheet and stared at it without really processing what he was supposed to be doing.

“So, we’ll just get takeout today,” Jun said in a finalized voice, “And put it on the budget. If you remember, please bring a lunch starting tomorrow, Aiba-kun. If not, there’s plenty of time for you to go out and buy something for yourself like Sho does.”

“There’s no arguing with him when he gets this way.” Nino was suddenly leaning in the doorway, looking at Aiba as he spoke, then shifted his attention to Jun, who was glaring at him half-heartedly. “I suppose one more day wouldn’t hurt that much. But I’m taking it out of the coffee allotment.”

At that comment, Jun stood up with a sigh and placed his hands on his hips, facing Nino menacingly. “You won’t. I’ll make sure that Sho takes care of it properly.”

Nino shifted his head to look past Jun and to Aiba again, smirking. “Told you. No arguing with him when he gets this way.”

“Don’t mess with my coffee,” Jun ended the conversation, then turned back to Aiba, who stood up with a smile at the bickering pair. “There’s a nice soba place down the street.”

Nino smiled at Jun knowingly, and Jun pretended to ignore him.

Aiba didn’t get it until he had made it there and back with the order Jun had written out for him (because Nino was picky about his food, and it would take time before Aiba knew everything he didn’t like).

“Here’s yours Sho-chan! The biggest size they had,” Aiba smiled, pulling the box out of the plastic bag and handing it over to the other man, who turned to glance at him curiously before his expression turned into pure delight.

“Soba? My favorite!” he cooed, gingerly taking the box and smilingly brightly. Aiba couldn’t help but smile back, remembering Nino’s knowing expression earlier.

“Jun suggested it,” Aiba explained because he thought it was important to, but Jun was behind him, pushily turning him around with a slight pout and taking the second bag from him hand with more force than necessary.

“Thank you!” Sho turned to Jun with his delighted face, and Jun immediately melted, smiling shyly and nodding before escaping to the back with the two boxes for him and Nino.

Aiba set his own food onto the open desk next to Sho (who moved over some of the scattered papers that had multiplied since Aiba had left that morning), and started for the kitchen with Ohno’s food, which he had gotten just in case.

“No need for that,” came a quiet voice behind him, and Aiba jumped just a little before he swung around and found Ohno standing in the main doorway of the office. “I’ll take it now.”

“Oh-chan!”

“Good morning, Aiba-chan.”

“It’s afternoon,” Sho corrected with a chuckle, leaning back in his chair to look at them through his cubicle door.

“Good afternoon, Sho-chan,” Ohno replied with a small grin, then took the last box out of Aiba’s hands and made his way for Sho’s office.

Aiba grinned and grabbed an extra folding chair from the corner before following Ohno.

“It looks very nice in here,” Ohno was commenting, glancing around at the new pictures as Aiba came up behind him.

“Thank you!” He unfolded the chair and put it down next to his own in the corner, even though there was barely enough room for all three of them at the mid-sized desk.

Without any words exchanged, Ohno sat down and opened his lunch box, still looking around, and now that Sho wasn’t distracted with his work, he seemed to be examining the photos too. Aiba squeezed into his chair and took the lid off of his lunch set, feeling quite comfortable and content with how his new job was turning out.

Ohno dug into the soba right along with him, then snorted out a laugh when his eyes fell on the picture of the five of them together. “Is that from last night?” He turned to Aiba with twinkling eyes.

“Yep! It’s a good picture, right?” Aiba had rounded up the waitress to take it for them, and even though they were all quite drunk, they were smiling and all clustered close together, even if they hadn’t needed to be. Jun was on the end next to Sho with Nino in the middle. Ohno was on Nino’s other side with an arm around his shoulder while Aiba kneeled behind them all with a wide grin on his face.

“I look so drunk!” Sho commented incredulously, his mouth half open and hand poised to eat his lunch.

“You were,” Ohno replied slowly, but rather gleefully. He smiled widely as he glanced over at Sho’s embarrassed expression, then took a big bite of soba.

“Only because Nino,” he tried to defend himself, “kept ordering more rounds of beer!”

“He always does that,” Ohno snickered back.

“Do you go out drinking a lot?” Aiba asked excitedly, mostly because the best group he had for that was Touma and sometimes Kame, from his old baseball team. It was exciting to think he had drinking buddies from work now, too.

“When we have time.” Sho was positively beaming happiness with his mouth half full, and Aiba couldn’t help but catch the emotion. Maybe there had been a reason that he had ended up here after all.

“I want to go too! Next time can I go?” he asked, even if the answer was already obvious.

“Of course, Aiba-kun! You’re a part of the team after all!”

+++

After their lunch hour was over, Aiba took some mail to the post office and ran a few errands outside. By the time he was back, Jun had made a new pot of coffee and finished with the better part of his testing work, so Aiba spent the last few hours before five reviewing his new receipts and making notes on what he had helped Jun with earlier.

When it was time to leave, he made a round of the office to satisfy his guilt, thanking Jun for earlier, and wishing Ohno and Nino (who had moved to the floor in front of the large TV) a good night.

He probably should have asked Nino instead, but Aiba found himself standing in the doorway of Sho’s office with his bag slung over his shoulder.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yes, Aiba-kun,” Sho laughed with a soft smile. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Aiba returned the smile awkwardly but took the opportunity before he lingered too long. “Okay. Goodnight!”

He arrived home a train ride later, and found his mother right away, where she was tidying the kitchen before the dinner rush of customers. Just like the previous day, she wanted to know every detail about his office work, and he didn’t mind sharing it with her. When the orders started building up, he pulled his apron off the hook and jumped right into the thick of things as they continued their conversation.

“So you see, mom, I’m pretty sure that Jun-kun has a crush on Sho-chan, but just is too shy to say anything! But Sho-chan seems like a nice enough guy that even if things didn’t work out that-oops!” He was interrupted as the pot of soup he’d been handling threatened to boil over.

By the time he had it under control, his mother had already started in on a wave of advice that really didn’t do anything to help from Aiba’s place in the relationship, but he listened anyway. That topic turned into a long side-tracked story of his brother’s wife, and Aiba stopped paying attention halfway through, letting his mind wander. Which wasn’t a problem, since he was left alone in the kitchen to finish up the last orders of the night, while his parents started shutting things down in the front.

The rest of the mabo-dofu and kaarage would make a nice bento for tomorrow, so he set it aside and wondered if it would be too personal to invite the others over for dinner sometime. He didn’t think so, but then again he still wasn’t sure where he stood with Nino at the moment, whether they were any closer than when Aiba had taken his first step into the office.  As usual, he’d gotten Sho, Jun, and Ohno to warm up to him with no effort at all. But it was inevitable that Nino would warm up to him too, eventually. Even if Aiba didn’t try (and he did try) it was impossible for anyone to really dislike him. He hoped Nino wasn’t trying to keep distance between them on purpose.

But things like that didn’t matter much to Aiba. He was the sort of person who did what he wanted to without worrying too much about consequences.

+++

On his third day of work Aiba showed up right on time. Just like before, Sho was typing away at his computer and Nino was already in the back playing videogames when he came in, and Aiba had just poured coffee for each of them when Jun came storming through the front door. Jun looked perfect as usual, all except for the sleep bags under his eyes. After dumping his shoulder bag in his office, he marched over to Aiba just as Aiba turned with a steaming cup of coffee for him.

Jun gave him a steely look but immediately took the cup and announced, “Just because I let Aiba use the coffee maker doesn’t mean the rest of you can.”

There was dead silence as he walked back to his cubicle, and Aiba couldn’t help but watch him with a smile, then snickered to himself as he poured his own cup of coffee.

The morning went smoothly after that; Sho put him off again, so he joined Jun in testing the last of the items in the game. They picked up the conversation easily between the two of them as they worked, chatting nonstop into the afternoon. Of course Aiba couldn’t talk about what he really wanted to with the other ears in the room listening, but there were more than enough topics for them to go through, first and foremost the baseball game from last night. They discussed players and the current series until Aiba was sidetracked and started talking about a movie he’d seen last week, which turned into another long conversation. Ohno arrived somewhere in the middle of it all, but he just waved sleepily at them as he passed by, going into The Lair directly across from Jun’s office. Nino gave Ohno a light greeting, but otherwise their conversation wasn’t interrupted at all.

“Ah, I really wanted to see that one!” Jun whined, leaning back in his chair and making it squeak slightly. His eyes were still glued to one of his monitors, where he was battling against Aiba on multiplayer mode, the very last of their checks for that section.

“I was so surprised at the end!” Aiba replied, his mouth ahead of his mind as usual. “Hey, we should watch it together!” he added as he realized it was the perfect activity for their blossoming friendship. “We could all watch it together, like a group party night!” It was be so much fun, just like their drinking, and a really good opportunity for Aiba to try to get Jun and Sho together!

Aiba’s eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm at the prospect as he looked at Jun, who was shaking his head good naturedly in return.

“Maybe as a celebration once we meet our deadline,” Jun said wryly, “Until then, Nino and Sho will be too busy, and me too into another week.”

There was a pause, and Aiba waited, since Jun looked rather thoughtful as he took his turn on the game.

“You know, we should go drinking before then,” Jun said carefully, glancing over. “I doubt anyone else will come, but if it’s okay…just me…” he trailed off and Aiba nodded back without hesitation.

“That would be fine!” Aiba was already grateful enough for the help he’d gotten from Jun, but he’d never had a work friend before and he was willing to do whatever it would take to make them here. “Just tell me when!”

Chuckling first, Jun nodded in relief and shifted his attention back to the screen to finish up, leaving the conversation at that and instead checking the clock in the corner. “It’s about time for a lunch break I think! Did you bring something today? Or do you-“

“No, I brought my own,” Aiba replied, then hesitated, biting his lip and suddenly feeling nervous for a reason he couldn’t place. “And I brought an extra one for Nino-san too.”

The surprised look on Jun’s face was enough to make Aiba laugh, if only he didn’t have such distracting butterflies in his stomach.

“Come again?”

“Well, you see my parents run a Chinese Restaurant and there were plenty of left-overs yesterday, and since you said Nino-san doesn’t bring his own…” Aiba’s voice got quieter until he was only mumbling his motives and shifting his eyes to the decorated wall.

Finally, after wasting several seconds he met Jun’s gaze and sent the silent question asking whether he was pushing boundaries or not. Jun managed a lopsided smile in return and patted Aiba’s shoulder in affirmation. “Even if Nino doesn’t appreciate it, know that I will.”

“I’ll eat it,” came Ohno’s voice, and this time Aiba managed to laugh naturally, putting aside his page of notes to stand as Nino made a mumbled reply and Ohno let out a grunt as if he’d been elbowed in the stomach. Aiba stretched his arms over his head and yawned, his body stiff from sitting in his chair for so long. With a nod from Jun to leave, Aiba headed to his shared cubicle, where the bentos were stored in a bag he’d brought with him.

Sho looked over as he came in, leaning back in his chair with a sigh and smiling lightly.

“Do you have a bento Sho-chan?” Aiba asked, suddenly realizing he hadn’t been thinking about any of the rest of them when he should have been.  Now it was even more suspicious that he had brought something for Nino. It wasn’t like he was trying to bribe him into liking him or something, he was just worried that Nino didn’t eat lunch was all.

“I bought one this morning, don’t worry,” Sho assured him easily, brushing off Aiba’s question. “Nino’s the only one that makes a habit of not eating around here.”

The statement made Aiba relieved and more anxious at the same time, so he busied himself with his bag, pulling out the two lunches, placing one at his usual space next to Sho and taking the other one in both hands. He paused a second to stare at it, then glanced over at Sho watching him. Aiba smiled awkwardly as he left the cubicle, and slowly walked towards The Lair, internally chiding himself for being worried that Nino was going to refuse his gift.

When he entered the room, Ohno turned to him curiously with his ever soft expression, but Nino continued to keep his eyes averted until Aiba was standing right next to him. When he finally turned to Aiba, Nino looked like he hadn’t heard the previous conversation at all, and shifted his line of sight to the box Aiba was holding out for him.

It took Aiba gesturing a little before he finally took it, and Aiba let out a breath of relief before backing up (just in case he changed his mind). Nino acted about as out of place as Aiba felt as he dropped his game remote in his lap to stare at the lunch, before pointedly placing it onto the table next to him, his intentions clear. He wasn’t going to even open it while Aiba was watching, and Aiba was too embarrassed for something like that anyway, so he left as quickly as possible to enjoy his own lunch break.

His face was burning and Sho was grinning from ear to ear, but Aiba pretended as if nothing extraordinary had happened and continued on with his day.

+++

An hour before Aiba was due to head home, he caught Ohno washing out the plastic bento box in the kitchen sink. Walking up to him easily, Aiba smiled unsurely and leaned against him-Oh-chan was just one of those people that you felt like you’d known forever even if it’d only been a few days.

“It was very good,” Ohno told him quietly, smiling as if it was only to himself as he rinsed the soap bubbles off of the lunch container.

There was an ache of doubt in the bottom of Aiba’s stomach as he wondered if that meant his feed-Nino-plan had been a failure and that Ohno had eaten everything.

“That’s good to hear. But you know, I didn’t make it or anything it was just left-overs-“ Aiba explained quickly, even though that was sort of a lie because he may have made an extra batch of fried rice after everything was cleaned up at the restaurant just because he was short a second serving.

“I’d really like to see your family’s place,” Ohno told him with a crinkly grin and Aiba tried to relax. This was the opportunity he’d been looking for after all.

“You can come! Everyone can come!” He giggled lightly. “I’ll make a special course! No shrimp or mushrooms for Nino-san, and lots of beer for Sho-chan!”

“That would be nice,” Ohno replied dreamily, staring off into the space near the cabinet above their heads.

Aiba paused for a second, suddenly remembering that this wasn’t all about getting on Nino’s good side; he wanted to make friends with everyone here and needed to adjust his thoughts accordingly.

“Hey, Oh-chan. Do you want me to bring you a lunch tomorrow too?”

That got the other man’s attention and he turned to him hopefully. “Really?”

“Sure. It’s the least I could do.”

“That would be great. Sharing with Nino is so much trouble,” he added, as if it had been his lunchbox in the first place.

A smile spread across Aiba’s face, both at Ohno’s cute attitude and the subtle hint that Nino had eaten some of it after all. “Leave it to me,” he promised, and grabbed a towel to dry off the bento box.

+++

“I’m sorry none of the others could come,” Jun teased as he poured each of them a glass of beer from the bottle, but Aiba just shook his head with a grin, ecstatic simply about a night out with a friend from work. They’d had to wait until the weekend to make the concrete plans, but Jun seemed just as determined as Aiba was to make it happen before they lost the opportunity. Maybe Jun was just as starved for socializing as Aiba was.

“It’s great that you weren’t too busy!” Aiba chuckled, and raised his beer to clink it against Jun’s. They both took a swig and Aiba let out a sigh of happiness. “It tastes good doesn’t it?”

Jun put down his glass too and agreed, “It’s been a long week. Besides who could disagree with that stupid way you’re smiling?”

Aiba felt himself blush, but only laughed since he knew exactly what stupid smile Jun was referring too.  “I can’t help it if I love my new job so much!”

That comment made Jun laugh this time and he finished his beer in a few swallows. Aiba was waiting to pour him another one, and as he did Jun commented, “I’m glad Nino decided to keep you.”

Aiba’s blush deepened at the thought of his new boss, but he decided to change the subject, not quite ready to breach the topic of office relationships at this point in the night. “I’m just lucky Touma told me to go in the first place!”

“How do you know Touma anyway?” Jun asked conversationally, leaning his elbows on the table. “I’ve been curious ever since you came in.”

“Oh, I’ve known him since we were kids! We went to the same elementary school together and played on the same little league team on weekend,” Aiba explained conversationally, then perked up at Jun’s shocked expression.

“No way! I didn’t think there was anyone that knew him longer than me and Nino! We all went to the same junior high and managed to keep up with each other on and off. Although, recently I haven’t seen him much. He used to come out drinking with everyone from the office, but we’ve been so busy, the only thing we’ve done together in the last year or so is your welcome party. We should’ve gotten Touma to come, even if it was last minute.”

“Next time for sure,” Aiba agreed. Touma had talked about Nino and Jun enough over the years that he knew how close they all were, and Aiba had always wanted to meet the friends Touma talked so much about. Aiba wondered how Touma acted around the two of them, if he was still as playful and teasing as he was around Aiba (he could only imagine Jun encouraging that).

“I can’t believe we’ve never met before. You didn’t go to our school, right?”

“Nope. Touma went to a new school and I stayed in the same area. But he’s made a habit of coming to my parents’ restaurant every once in a while-especially when he’s hungry.”

The two of them laughed together at the comment, and then got distracted when their food arrived.  They reorganized the table, dished out the entrees and refilled their beers before the conversation picked up again, this time from Aiba. “I used to see him at baseball games-even though we weren’t on the same team we were in the same region, so every once in a while we’d face off too.”

“Wait,” Jun suddenly broke in with a raised hand, his eyes widened in disbelief, “Wait, I think I remember you. At one game, the semi-finals when we were juniors, Touma introduced us to his friend-why didn’t I think of that before now?”

Aiba tried to think back, to remember that situation. Touma always seemed to be surrounded by people, just as social as Aiba always was, but there was one face that seemed familiar. As he realized how much Jun had changed in ten years, Aiba couldn’t help but grin, recalling the goofy young kid that had enthusiastically shaken his hand despite being on the opposite team.

“The ultimate hitter from Chiba that took his team all the way to the championship! When Touma said he knew you I couldn’t believe it. What happened? You weren’t there in the last game,” Jun asked excitedly, leaning forward with an eager expression.

There was a moment when Aiba felt a light pain in his chest, but he eased it away as he had learned to do over the years. Although, he couldn’t help himself from shifting in his chair, his smile failing a little bit. “Punctured one of my lungs over-doing it in practice. I couldn’t play any more after that,” he explained curtly. That short period in his life had been so hard, but Aiba wasn’t the type of person to give up, especially not with his family or so many close friends around.

Jun picked up on the mood and ducked his head in a silently apology. Aiba watched him, then smiled his stupid smile, letting his new friend know that nothing was wrong.

“So we have met before,” he clarified as he finally started eating. “Do you still play now?”

Taking another sip of beer, Jun shook his head before adding, “Only messing around with Nino when he’s willing enough to come. He doesn’t like outdoors as much as he used to,” he smiled in amusement. “And he’s too busy now. His work comes first before everything, and while I can admire his ethic, I can’t help but worry about the idiot.”

“You two must be pretty close,” Aiba noted, feeling a bit jealous. If only he could talk to Nino as easily as he and Jun were talking right now.

“I’ve known him as long as Touma. Actually, I quit my job for him when he wanted to start his video game company and needed the extra help. I was doing everything for the first year, testing and all of Sho’s job and putting up with Nino’s selfish demands day in and day out,” he complained, but despite Jun’s tone, it was obvious he wasn’t completely upset about it. “It wasn’t enough with just two of us.”

“Uh huh,” Aiba encouraged around a mouthful of steak. “So you found…?”

“Sho first. I don’t know how we got that lucky,” Jun laughed and took a drink of his beer before continuing with glazed eyes. “Nino made me pass out fliers at the college because he figured we could pay a student less for the same work that a professional would do. Of course no one was interested in a tiny videogame company of all things, and I’d finally gotten desperate just as Sho turned up… he was the only one that stopped to listen to me…” Jun trailed off.

Aiba waited, a warm feeling spreading through his chest at the story.

“We talked for a few minutes,” Jun seemed to come back to himself and focused on Aiba’s intense gaze, “And I… gave him my number and the flier. When he showed up in the office a few days later I thought it was a joke.”

Although that’s what Jun wrote it off as, Aiba, with the little knowledge of Sho that he had, knew there was another reason.

“I made Nino promise to give him a raise when we sold the game rights, but…” Jun suddenly laughed and rubbed his face distractedly as he remembered the situation. “All it took was me showing him what I had done with our bills and invoices and he was already obsessively working on fixing things. Nino wasn’t even going to pay him for the first day since that wasn’t part of the deal… Of course I made sure Sho was treated fairly, since he deserves it. I just have to put up with Nino since it’s my friendly obligation,” he ended endearingly. “We wouldn’t be as far as we are now if it wasn’t for Sho-kun.”

It was such a sweet story, Aiba thought, and knew that Sho and Jun were just meant for each other. Now it was up to him to make sure they saw that too.

“I’m sure Sho-chan feels the same way about you-“ he started to say, but Jun suddenly flushed and cut Aiba off by pouring him another glass of beer.

“And Oh-chan, well that was fate I guess,” the story continued hurriedly. “After Sho’d been with us a year, Nino was going to pitch his newest game idea but needed better art concepts than any of us could do. Same thing as before: he went to a small art studio-I made him do it that time-looking for something quick and cheap, and found Ohno. He’s certainly cheap, but hates having a schedule and comes and goes as he pleases. I’m not sure what agreement they made, but Nino gives him his freedom and bribes him to come into work when he absolutely has to. And that’s just how it’s been for the last few years, until you came.”

“You all sound like amazing people,” Aiba commented enviously (although a little put out that Jun was avoiding the subject). If those were Ohno’s sketches in Jun’s office, then his talent was obvious, and Nino had built a company from scratch! Not to mention Sho running everything alongside Jun… Aiba was actually feeling like he didn’t have much to add to the company after all, and that made him twice as grateful that he’d been given a job in the first place.

“Even so-and I’m not agreeing with you although I’ll concede that Nino’s made it farther than I ever imagined and I’m lucky that Sho’s stuck around and Ohno, well he’s just-“ Jun started rambled before he realized it and took a deep breath to start over. “Anyway, we can’t run the company with four people, that’s what I’m saying. More than anything we need someone who can fill in the gaps-someone who’s good with people because God knows how many times Nino dug us into holes with his stinginess and spoiled attitude…” came the next set of rambling, and Aiba poured Jun another beer to keep him talking. Maybe he could subtly change the topic in his favor, even if Aiba had never been very good at being subtle. Either way, Jun was quite amusing this way, now that the others weren’t there to distract him. Aiba didn’t mind letting him talk all night if he wanted to, no matter the topic.

After a minute of half-nonsense about office politics, Jun finally managed to wrap up with, “What I mean to say is we need you, Aiba, I just know it.”

“Thank you, Jun,” he replied sincerely, even if he wasn’t confident in his own value at their current workplace. Although he didn’t say it, Aiba was pretty sure he needed them more than they needed him. He wouldn’t have even known that want had he not been looking for a job in the first place.

It was a scary thought, to realize he may have never met any of these amazing people if things had been different.

+++

A/N: I don't pretend to know anything about video games or how they are made. I just wrote what's logical. >_>

This thing got out of control. I meant for it to be a oneshot, but I started it last year and couldn't finish it. I was having problems writing the last few months and only wrote a few scenes at a time, and when I was able to write again I realized what kind of a hole I dug myself. I'll be working on the other stories I owe people A.S.A.P. and hopefully keep them a bit shorter. Sorry if that upsets anyone... I imagine half of the requesters don't even remember. =A=;;

Anyway, there's more to this, had to split it into four parts. I'll probably post next weekend because I'm working on a contest piece next so I can't post that. ;) Wish me luck!

Part two: Pause