Paint, Film, and Stuffed Animals
Title: Paint, Film, and Stuffed Animals
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Aiba/Ohno, Jun/Sho
Genre: Romance, AU
Chapter: three
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Aiba becomes interested in Ohno, a recently popular artist, but it’s difficult to get a boyfriend when you have a kid…Everyone seems to think you’re straight.
Chapter one
Chapter two
As he climbed the stairs to his apartment, home slightly later than usual, Aiba tried to hide the plastic bag behind his usual brown one in hopes that Nino wouldn’t notice, even though the gamer was sharp enough to pick up on almost any deviation in Aiba’s attitude. Unless he was being distracted by something, of course.
But Nino wasn’t playing the Wii with Koharu when he came in and he wasn’t on the phone with his new boyfriend either. He was leaning against the counter in the kitchen looking impatient and hungry, drinking a soda while he chatted with Aiba’s daughter about which dress was better for her new bear.
“You’re late,” Nino said straightly, barely dividing his attention from Koharu. But when Aiba only smiled apologetically and tried to sneak into the living room without saying anything in response, the younger man perked up and stalked towards him. “What’s in the bag, Aiba?”
“It’s nothing, I just stopped at the bookstore after work,” he replied in a tense voice, slipping into the section of the small apartment he considered the bedroom and hid his bag between a small dresser and the wall.
But when he turned around Nino was staring at him with a mischievous glare in his eyes.
“It’s really nothing,” Aiba explained in a mildly nervous voice, and forced his friend to come back into the kitchen with him. “Oh, thanks for picking Koharu up today. As agreed, you can stay for dinner!” the photographer forced out, changing the subject as he made his way to the fridge, opening it up to see what he could round up to cook.
Of course when he looked back, Nino was already in the bedroom again.
“Hey!” Aiba whined, shuffling after him, but he couldn’t stop the gamer from getting to the bag first and (somewhat considerately) dumping the contents onto the floor.
“What? I thought it would be porn or something. These are just your stupid artsy-crap magazines.”
“I told you, didn’t I?” Aiba replied hurriedly, trying to collect the five various periodicals, but Nino picked up one first and looked at it curiously.
“Wait a second. This isn’t the one you usually get. It’s not even about photography.”
Trying to dive for the magazine, Nino moved quickly out of Aiba’s range and immediately began flipping the pages to see if the contents were as dry as he expected them to be.
As he arrived at one of the longer articles, a smirk graced his lips.
“Ah. Ohno Satoshi. I see.”
Aiba pulled the magazine out of his hands with a small scowl and gingerly stacked it on top of the other ones before replacing them in a bag. He hid it back between the wall and the dresser again, even though Nino had already seen it, and pushed the shorter man back into the kitchen once more.
“How about curry?” the photographer asked, making himself smile at Koharu in an attempt to overcome the sour mood Nino’s teasing had put him in.
“Yay!” came the reply from the little girl, who had donned the bear in a wedding dress, and at the same time Nino sighed and rolled his eyes.
Aiba started the rice cooker and began collecting the ingredients he needed on the counter, trying not to pay attention to the way his friend was following him around. He honestly couldn’t tell if Nino was just being overprotective (in fact, Nino had run off at least one of Aiba’s potential boyfriends, but he insisted it was in the photographer’s best interest…which was probably true when he considered he’d never gotten around to introducing any of them to Koharu), or if the gamer was just bored and looking for some entertainment.
“He’s pretty famous, huh?” came the nonchalant question as Aiba began peeling some of the vegetables. Nino was slouching against the counter like when Aiba had come home, making no attempt to help (as he continued to insist he was hopeless at cooking anything).
Trying to avoid the subject, Aiba didn’t answer.
First glancing over at Koharu, who had distractedly walked towards the couch to use it as a prop for her wedding, Nino then leaned closer and smirked, whispering into Aiba’s ear.
“You know, I think that’s worse than buying porn. You’re like, I don’t know, a stalker or something.”
Aiba jumped and stared at his friend incredulously. “I…! I’m…! I’m not a stalker…!”
After a second, he frowned and turned back to his cooking, blushing from embarrassment and shame. He really wished he could kick Nino out and tell him to go home, but he had picked up Koharu from school a few hours ago and it was only fair to fulfill his promise of a free dinner, even if he had to put up with such terrible teasing. “I just want to know more about him, okay?” he added under his breath, hoping that Nino would drop the subject already.
“Well, I guess it’s alright…” the gamer conceded after a few breaths. “As long as you’re not masturbating to it or anything.”
Aiba’s eyes shot over to Koharu first, who wasn’t listening to their conversation, and then he hit Nino on the head. “Hey, watch what you’re saying!”
But the smaller man laughed in return and his friend eventually couldn’t stop himself from at least grinning a little. As Aiba began dropping the chopped vegetables into a pot, Nino leaned his head on the taller man’s shoulder and watched with a content expression.
“He’s a good guy, huh?”
“…Yeah,” the photographer replied in a breathy voice.
“And he’s nice to Koharu, huh?”
“…Yeah.” Aiba couldn’t keep the sweet smile at the thought of Ohno sharing cake with his daughter off of his lips.
“That’s good,” Nino ended awkwardly and the conversation died.
But Aiba turned displeased once again when his impish friend disappeared a few minutes later and returned to the kitchen with one of the magazines back in his hand.
“Nino-“
“You’re otherwise occupied, so I’ll read it to you.”
Aiba groaned and returned to the stove instead of arguing. First of all, when Nino went into brat-mode it was almost impossible to stop him, and second of all, the photographer sort of did want to read those articles right now, especially the one that Nino had.
“Ah, it’s a good one. There’s even an interview,” the gamer started, leaning against the counter comfortably and Aiba simply sighed and began stirring their dinner once again. “Ohno Satoshi, an award winning artist, finds his debut a success, pulling in even more fans from every walk of life. Known for his twenty seven inch clay figure entitled blah blah boring,” Nino paused for a second, scanned the page, and then started again. “…Discovering his young life and current hobbies. Okay, next.”
Not even bothering to sigh again, Aiba simply told himself he could read the entire thing through later when he had some free time, probably after Koharu went to bed tonight.
“How do you feel about your recent debut? God, what a boring question. Next! What do you do in your free time?” Nino’s voice had sped up as if he was barely taking in what he was reading. “Fishing, karaoke, eating? Uh… okay?”
Aiba sent him a glare as if daring him to say something bad about the man he had taken an interest in.
Nino met his look with a raised eyebrow, but flipped a page and continued, “If you hadn’t debuted as an artist, what career would you see yourself in? Haha, okay this is funny. Hmm, that’s a difficult question. I guess that I would have become a fisherman, but I don’t think my mom would have let me (laugher). He’s a little strange,” the gamer added with a chuckle, almost as an after-thought.
“He just doesn’t worry about appearances. That’s all,” the taller man replied defensively, breaking open the curry packet and reading the directions on the back of the box.
“Here’s another good one. What are you looking forward to in the future?” Nino paused before revealing the answer. “Honestly, I just want to continue to make the people in my life happy. If I can see their smiling faces, that’s enough.”
Aiba couldn’t hold a grin at that answer, even though he knew he probably wasn’t the one that had been considered in those words.
“But, if I had to name one thing,” the gamer started again suddenly, “I’d have to say that I’m looking forward to my courtship, engagement, and marriage to my current heart-throb, Aiba Masaki, who-“
Before he could get any more out, a mischievous smirk on his curved lips, the photographer had already jumped at him, almost shouting in his embarrassment. “It doesn’t say that! Give me that magazine!”
After a few tickles in his side, Nino relinquished the periodical and Aiba smoothed out a few wrinkles that had graced the cover, trying to calm down the erratic beating of his heart that had come from Nino’s teasing. He stomped into the bedroom to place the item on his dresser and out of the way before coming back into the kitchen, trying to keep his serious mood despite Nino’s knowing look.
“The curry’s almost done, why don’t you serve the rice?” Aiba asked in a lowered voice, avoiding both his best friend’s stare and Koharu’s, which had fallen on him after the scuffle in the kitchen.
“You got really excited didn’t you? When I said that?” Nino teased, but started towards the cupboard to retrieve three plates, setting them lightly on the counter by the rice cooker.
Getting flustered and losing his upset composure, Aiba looked away from the other man and mumbled, “N-no, I didn’t!”
“Yes, you did! You thought it was actually written there, didn’t you?”
Instead of replying and encouraging Nino more, Aiba ignored the question and walked to the living room to help Koharu clean off the table.
After a tense silence, in which Koharu pulled out three spoons to use and tentatively walked a carton of juice across the apartment, Nino finally sighed and quietly pulled Aiba back into conversation as he began scooping curry onto the plates.
“Even if it didn’t say that, I’m sure Ohno noticed you. He even came over here the other day, right? It was pretty obvious that he likes you.”
Aiba’s mood seemed to lighten a little and he stole a glance at the entrepreneur.
“Are you sure?” he asked tentatively after a moment.
“He was staring at your ass when I walked in.”
Averting his gaze again, Aiba sputtered a few incoherent words, trying to hide his embarrassment at Nino’s straightforward observation.
“Besides, no one would have shown up to return your cell phone the night after a drinking party like that unless he was interested.”
Trying not to sigh again, since he had done so more than enough tonight, the photographer asked, “Are you sure?” Nino was generally the more perceptive of the two of them when it came to Aiba’s relationships, but at the same time Aiba was having a hard time overcoming the fact that someone famous like Ohno might actually like him back.
“Well, I guess Sakurai might, but that’s because he’s anal like that-“
Aiba laughed, because it was true, but he was actually really pleased that Nino hadn’t rejected Ohno yet. The approval of his best friend meant more to him than all the magazines he’d bought, plus the interview he had recorded from the television yesterday morning.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to read and re-read each article later that night.
+++
Ohno stared at Aiba with worry.
Something was wrong, but he couldn’t tell what it was.
They had met by chance (although Ohno had started hanging around the coffee shop that Aiba frequented instead of whichever one he’d happen to find while walking around) and the pair was now enjoying a piece of cake and two cups of coffee between them it in the middle of a Sunday afternoon.
Koharu was at a friend’s house, somewhere across town, and so Aiba had taken the free time to do some much needed personal shopping, at least before Ohno had found him and pulled him into the tiny café.
“Aiba-chan?” he asked quietly, jolting the other man out of his daze. Ohno had taken to calling him the same thing that Sho and Jun did instead of Masaki, since the photographer would blush bright red every time he did, leading to conversations that took too long to complete. The artist didn’t care, but for some reason Aiba seemed to.
“Ah, I’m sorry, Ohno.” After directing his attention to the coffee cup in his hand, Aiba took a sip of it before forcing a smile at his table partner.
“Is there something bothering you?” the artist asked gently when Aiba didn’t try to start up a conversation like he usually did when there was a silence like this.
“Sorry…” he apologized again, and this time glanced at the cake between them. Ohno had taken three bites already, but when he realized that Aiba wasn’t eating any, he stopped and placed his fork gently next to the sweet.
“What is it? Something concerning Koharu?” Ohno quietly prodded, knowing that his daughter was what Aiba spent the most time worrying about.
The brief startled look told the artist that he’d been close at least, and he good-naturedly waited for Aiba to disclose the reason for the way he was unconsciously pushing his bangs out of eyes every few seconds and generally not paying attention to anything.
“Sort of…” he finally started, glancing up long enough for Ohno to meet his eyes. “I was chosen to work on a photobook for a popular idol group.”
“That’s good news, isn’t it?” Ohno asked hesitantly, since Aiba looked anything but excited about it.
“It is… except for the location. They want me to spend the weekend with the rest of the crew, but at the very least I’d have to leave really early that Sunday to get there…And if I caught the last train back home, I’d arrive at the apartment at around 3 in the morning…”
“Ah… You don’t have anyone to watch Koharu?” Ohno guessed, sipping lightly at his steaming cup in his hands. He had been worried that something a little more serious had happened.
“Yeah… I won’t be home at all that day, and then to get back so late…”
Ohno waited for Aiba to continue, since he knew of at least a few other people that Aiba generally used for tough situations like this.
“Nino is going out of town that weekend, so I can’t ask him… I don’t want to bother Ms. Murota with watching her for that long… I won’t have time to take her up to my mother, and she’s in no condition to be traveling down here for something so insignificant…”
Although the artist noticed that Sho wasn’t on that list, he didn’t ask. It was quite obvious that Aiba was picky about who he trusted to take care of his daughter, and although Ohno was pretty sure he wasn’t on the list either, he tried anyway.
“I could watch her.”
Aiba looked surprised at the offer, even though that was obviously where the conversation had been headed.
“I couldn’t-“ he started in return and Ohno didn’t know if he was rejected because of Aiba’s bad habit of not wanting to inconvenience other people or because he was in the Not To Be Trusted group.
“If you’re worried about me, don’t be. It’s not like I have a full time job or anything.” In fact, Ohno was making enough money from selling his paintings to pay his rent more than three times over. He actually wasn’t sure what he should be doing with the money he had left after paying his bills, giving some to Jun to invest, and buying new painting supplies. “It wouldn’t be a problem, especially if it’s only one day. Even if you’re coming home late.”
Much to the artist’s delight, Aiba actually seemed to be considering it.
“You’ll have your cell phone, right?” the artist continued, trying to push the father into agreeing, “You can call and get an update any time you want to. I’ll even send you pictures.”
Ohno stared as Aiba’s lips slowly formed a bright smile and he looked down at his coffee shyly.
“You really don’t mind?” the photographer asked, just above a whisper and Ohno wasn’t sure which was worse: his heart beating so fast or his lungs sudden failure.
“Of course not.”
He couldn’t say anything more than that, even though he could talk a lot longer about how cute Koharu was and how much he loved Masaki.
“Thank you, Ohno!” Aiba said cheerfully, reaching across the table in an attempt to hug him, which turned into an awkward head pat, but the artist still blushed and grinned stupidly as Aiba finally picked up his fork and they finished the cake together.
+++
A/N: This chapter is comparatively short... it was supposed to be with the last chapter, but it ended up too long, so I split them up. =A=; I'm afraid after this they're only going to get longer...
I'd really like some criticism on this work, specifically about the characters. Although it's an AU, I feel like I'm writing them noticeably different from usual, so I'd like to hear what you have to say. Do you like it, is it too much? They'll become a little more "normal" upcoming, but I'm afraid they seem strange right now. Of course Nino is bratty, though. ^.^
Ohno's watching Koharu, I wonder what could happen...?
Chapter four
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Aiba/Ohno, Jun/Sho
Genre: Romance, AU
Chapter: three
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Aiba becomes interested in Ohno, a recently popular artist, but it’s difficult to get a boyfriend when you have a kid…Everyone seems to think you’re straight.
Chapter one
Chapter two
As he climbed the stairs to his apartment, home slightly later than usual, Aiba tried to hide the plastic bag behind his usual brown one in hopes that Nino wouldn’t notice, even though the gamer was sharp enough to pick up on almost any deviation in Aiba’s attitude. Unless he was being distracted by something, of course.
But Nino wasn’t playing the Wii with Koharu when he came in and he wasn’t on the phone with his new boyfriend either. He was leaning against the counter in the kitchen looking impatient and hungry, drinking a soda while he chatted with Aiba’s daughter about which dress was better for her new bear.
“You’re late,” Nino said straightly, barely dividing his attention from Koharu. But when Aiba only smiled apologetically and tried to sneak into the living room without saying anything in response, the younger man perked up and stalked towards him. “What’s in the bag, Aiba?”
“It’s nothing, I just stopped at the bookstore after work,” he replied in a tense voice, slipping into the section of the small apartment he considered the bedroom and hid his bag between a small dresser and the wall.
But when he turned around Nino was staring at him with a mischievous glare in his eyes.
“It’s really nothing,” Aiba explained in a mildly nervous voice, and forced his friend to come back into the kitchen with him. “Oh, thanks for picking Koharu up today. As agreed, you can stay for dinner!” the photographer forced out, changing the subject as he made his way to the fridge, opening it up to see what he could round up to cook.
Of course when he looked back, Nino was already in the bedroom again.
“Hey!” Aiba whined, shuffling after him, but he couldn’t stop the gamer from getting to the bag first and (somewhat considerately) dumping the contents onto the floor.
“What? I thought it would be porn or something. These are just your stupid artsy-crap magazines.”
“I told you, didn’t I?” Aiba replied hurriedly, trying to collect the five various periodicals, but Nino picked up one first and looked at it curiously.
“Wait a second. This isn’t the one you usually get. It’s not even about photography.”
Trying to dive for the magazine, Nino moved quickly out of Aiba’s range and immediately began flipping the pages to see if the contents were as dry as he expected them to be.
As he arrived at one of the longer articles, a smirk graced his lips.
“Ah. Ohno Satoshi. I see.”
Aiba pulled the magazine out of his hands with a small scowl and gingerly stacked it on top of the other ones before replacing them in a bag. He hid it back between the wall and the dresser again, even though Nino had already seen it, and pushed the shorter man back into the kitchen once more.
“How about curry?” the photographer asked, making himself smile at Koharu in an attempt to overcome the sour mood Nino’s teasing had put him in.
“Yay!” came the reply from the little girl, who had donned the bear in a wedding dress, and at the same time Nino sighed and rolled his eyes.
Aiba started the rice cooker and began collecting the ingredients he needed on the counter, trying not to pay attention to the way his friend was following him around. He honestly couldn’t tell if Nino was just being overprotective (in fact, Nino had run off at least one of Aiba’s potential boyfriends, but he insisted it was in the photographer’s best interest…which was probably true when he considered he’d never gotten around to introducing any of them to Koharu), or if the gamer was just bored and looking for some entertainment.
“He’s pretty famous, huh?” came the nonchalant question as Aiba began peeling some of the vegetables. Nino was slouching against the counter like when Aiba had come home, making no attempt to help (as he continued to insist he was hopeless at cooking anything).
Trying to avoid the subject, Aiba didn’t answer.
First glancing over at Koharu, who had distractedly walked towards the couch to use it as a prop for her wedding, Nino then leaned closer and smirked, whispering into Aiba’s ear.
“You know, I think that’s worse than buying porn. You’re like, I don’t know, a stalker or something.”
Aiba jumped and stared at his friend incredulously. “I…! I’m…! I’m not a stalker…!”
After a second, he frowned and turned back to his cooking, blushing from embarrassment and shame. He really wished he could kick Nino out and tell him to go home, but he had picked up Koharu from school a few hours ago and it was only fair to fulfill his promise of a free dinner, even if he had to put up with such terrible teasing. “I just want to know more about him, okay?” he added under his breath, hoping that Nino would drop the subject already.
“Well, I guess it’s alright…” the gamer conceded after a few breaths. “As long as you’re not masturbating to it or anything.”
Aiba’s eyes shot over to Koharu first, who wasn’t listening to their conversation, and then he hit Nino on the head. “Hey, watch what you’re saying!”
But the smaller man laughed in return and his friend eventually couldn’t stop himself from at least grinning a little. As Aiba began dropping the chopped vegetables into a pot, Nino leaned his head on the taller man’s shoulder and watched with a content expression.
“He’s a good guy, huh?”
“…Yeah,” the photographer replied in a breathy voice.
“And he’s nice to Koharu, huh?”
“…Yeah.” Aiba couldn’t keep the sweet smile at the thought of Ohno sharing cake with his daughter off of his lips.
“That’s good,” Nino ended awkwardly and the conversation died.
But Aiba turned displeased once again when his impish friend disappeared a few minutes later and returned to the kitchen with one of the magazines back in his hand.
“Nino-“
“You’re otherwise occupied, so I’ll read it to you.”
Aiba groaned and returned to the stove instead of arguing. First of all, when Nino went into brat-mode it was almost impossible to stop him, and second of all, the photographer sort of did want to read those articles right now, especially the one that Nino had.
“Ah, it’s a good one. There’s even an interview,” the gamer started, leaning against the counter comfortably and Aiba simply sighed and began stirring their dinner once again. “Ohno Satoshi, an award winning artist, finds his debut a success, pulling in even more fans from every walk of life. Known for his twenty seven inch clay figure entitled blah blah boring,” Nino paused for a second, scanned the page, and then started again. “…Discovering his young life and current hobbies. Okay, next.”
Not even bothering to sigh again, Aiba simply told himself he could read the entire thing through later when he had some free time, probably after Koharu went to bed tonight.
“How do you feel about your recent debut? God, what a boring question. Next! What do you do in your free time?” Nino’s voice had sped up as if he was barely taking in what he was reading. “Fishing, karaoke, eating? Uh… okay?”
Aiba sent him a glare as if daring him to say something bad about the man he had taken an interest in.
Nino met his look with a raised eyebrow, but flipped a page and continued, “If you hadn’t debuted as an artist, what career would you see yourself in? Haha, okay this is funny. Hmm, that’s a difficult question. I guess that I would have become a fisherman, but I don’t think my mom would have let me (laugher). He’s a little strange,” the gamer added with a chuckle, almost as an after-thought.
“He just doesn’t worry about appearances. That’s all,” the taller man replied defensively, breaking open the curry packet and reading the directions on the back of the box.
“Here’s another good one. What are you looking forward to in the future?” Nino paused before revealing the answer. “Honestly, I just want to continue to make the people in my life happy. If I can see their smiling faces, that’s enough.”
Aiba couldn’t hold a grin at that answer, even though he knew he probably wasn’t the one that had been considered in those words.
“But, if I had to name one thing,” the gamer started again suddenly, “I’d have to say that I’m looking forward to my courtship, engagement, and marriage to my current heart-throb, Aiba Masaki, who-“
Before he could get any more out, a mischievous smirk on his curved lips, the photographer had already jumped at him, almost shouting in his embarrassment. “It doesn’t say that! Give me that magazine!”
After a few tickles in his side, Nino relinquished the periodical and Aiba smoothed out a few wrinkles that had graced the cover, trying to calm down the erratic beating of his heart that had come from Nino’s teasing. He stomped into the bedroom to place the item on his dresser and out of the way before coming back into the kitchen, trying to keep his serious mood despite Nino’s knowing look.
“The curry’s almost done, why don’t you serve the rice?” Aiba asked in a lowered voice, avoiding both his best friend’s stare and Koharu’s, which had fallen on him after the scuffle in the kitchen.
“You got really excited didn’t you? When I said that?” Nino teased, but started towards the cupboard to retrieve three plates, setting them lightly on the counter by the rice cooker.
Getting flustered and losing his upset composure, Aiba looked away from the other man and mumbled, “N-no, I didn’t!”
“Yes, you did! You thought it was actually written there, didn’t you?”
Instead of replying and encouraging Nino more, Aiba ignored the question and walked to the living room to help Koharu clean off the table.
After a tense silence, in which Koharu pulled out three spoons to use and tentatively walked a carton of juice across the apartment, Nino finally sighed and quietly pulled Aiba back into conversation as he began scooping curry onto the plates.
“Even if it didn’t say that, I’m sure Ohno noticed you. He even came over here the other day, right? It was pretty obvious that he likes you.”
Aiba’s mood seemed to lighten a little and he stole a glance at the entrepreneur.
“Are you sure?” he asked tentatively after a moment.
“He was staring at your ass when I walked in.”
Averting his gaze again, Aiba sputtered a few incoherent words, trying to hide his embarrassment at Nino’s straightforward observation.
“Besides, no one would have shown up to return your cell phone the night after a drinking party like that unless he was interested.”
Trying not to sigh again, since he had done so more than enough tonight, the photographer asked, “Are you sure?” Nino was generally the more perceptive of the two of them when it came to Aiba’s relationships, but at the same time Aiba was having a hard time overcoming the fact that someone famous like Ohno might actually like him back.
“Well, I guess Sakurai might, but that’s because he’s anal like that-“
Aiba laughed, because it was true, but he was actually really pleased that Nino hadn’t rejected Ohno yet. The approval of his best friend meant more to him than all the magazines he’d bought, plus the interview he had recorded from the television yesterday morning.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to read and re-read each article later that night.
+++
Ohno stared at Aiba with worry.
Something was wrong, but he couldn’t tell what it was.
They had met by chance (although Ohno had started hanging around the coffee shop that Aiba frequented instead of whichever one he’d happen to find while walking around) and the pair was now enjoying a piece of cake and two cups of coffee between them it in the middle of a Sunday afternoon.
Koharu was at a friend’s house, somewhere across town, and so Aiba had taken the free time to do some much needed personal shopping, at least before Ohno had found him and pulled him into the tiny café.
“Aiba-chan?” he asked quietly, jolting the other man out of his daze. Ohno had taken to calling him the same thing that Sho and Jun did instead of Masaki, since the photographer would blush bright red every time he did, leading to conversations that took too long to complete. The artist didn’t care, but for some reason Aiba seemed to.
“Ah, I’m sorry, Ohno.” After directing his attention to the coffee cup in his hand, Aiba took a sip of it before forcing a smile at his table partner.
“Is there something bothering you?” the artist asked gently when Aiba didn’t try to start up a conversation like he usually did when there was a silence like this.
“Sorry…” he apologized again, and this time glanced at the cake between them. Ohno had taken three bites already, but when he realized that Aiba wasn’t eating any, he stopped and placed his fork gently next to the sweet.
“What is it? Something concerning Koharu?” Ohno quietly prodded, knowing that his daughter was what Aiba spent the most time worrying about.
The brief startled look told the artist that he’d been close at least, and he good-naturedly waited for Aiba to disclose the reason for the way he was unconsciously pushing his bangs out of eyes every few seconds and generally not paying attention to anything.
“Sort of…” he finally started, glancing up long enough for Ohno to meet his eyes. “I was chosen to work on a photobook for a popular idol group.”
“That’s good news, isn’t it?” Ohno asked hesitantly, since Aiba looked anything but excited about it.
“It is… except for the location. They want me to spend the weekend with the rest of the crew, but at the very least I’d have to leave really early that Sunday to get there…And if I caught the last train back home, I’d arrive at the apartment at around 3 in the morning…”
“Ah… You don’t have anyone to watch Koharu?” Ohno guessed, sipping lightly at his steaming cup in his hands. He had been worried that something a little more serious had happened.
“Yeah… I won’t be home at all that day, and then to get back so late…”
Ohno waited for Aiba to continue, since he knew of at least a few other people that Aiba generally used for tough situations like this.
“Nino is going out of town that weekend, so I can’t ask him… I don’t want to bother Ms. Murota with watching her for that long… I won’t have time to take her up to my mother, and she’s in no condition to be traveling down here for something so insignificant…”
Although the artist noticed that Sho wasn’t on that list, he didn’t ask. It was quite obvious that Aiba was picky about who he trusted to take care of his daughter, and although Ohno was pretty sure he wasn’t on the list either, he tried anyway.
“I could watch her.”
Aiba looked surprised at the offer, even though that was obviously where the conversation had been headed.
“I couldn’t-“ he started in return and Ohno didn’t know if he was rejected because of Aiba’s bad habit of not wanting to inconvenience other people or because he was in the Not To Be Trusted group.
“If you’re worried about me, don’t be. It’s not like I have a full time job or anything.” In fact, Ohno was making enough money from selling his paintings to pay his rent more than three times over. He actually wasn’t sure what he should be doing with the money he had left after paying his bills, giving some to Jun to invest, and buying new painting supplies. “It wouldn’t be a problem, especially if it’s only one day. Even if you’re coming home late.”
Much to the artist’s delight, Aiba actually seemed to be considering it.
“You’ll have your cell phone, right?” the artist continued, trying to push the father into agreeing, “You can call and get an update any time you want to. I’ll even send you pictures.”
Ohno stared as Aiba’s lips slowly formed a bright smile and he looked down at his coffee shyly.
“You really don’t mind?” the photographer asked, just above a whisper and Ohno wasn’t sure which was worse: his heart beating so fast or his lungs sudden failure.
“Of course not.”
He couldn’t say anything more than that, even though he could talk a lot longer about how cute Koharu was and how much he loved Masaki.
“Thank you, Ohno!” Aiba said cheerfully, reaching across the table in an attempt to hug him, which turned into an awkward head pat, but the artist still blushed and grinned stupidly as Aiba finally picked up his fork and they finished the cake together.
+++
A/N: This chapter is comparatively short... it was supposed to be with the last chapter, but it ended up too long, so I split them up. =A=; I'm afraid after this they're only going to get longer...
I'd really like some criticism on this work, specifically about the characters. Although it's an AU, I feel like I'm writing them noticeably different from usual, so I'd like to hear what you have to say. Do you like it, is it too much? They'll become a little more "normal" upcoming, but I'm afraid they seem strange right now. Of course Nino is bratty, though. ^.^
Ohno's watching Koharu, I wonder what could happen...?
Chapter four