Reaching You (Chapter 7)
Title: Reaching You
Group/pairing: Arashi/ Sakumiya, Matsumiya, Aiba x Becky
Prompt: Hand
Word Count: 3178 words
Rating: PG
Summary: Sho has been watching Nino for a long while now... and Nino never knew he existed. Why? Because he's an angel from Heaven.
Disclaimer: So far I only own two photosets of Sho and a set of Arashi playing cards. I wish I'd own Arashi, but no. I don't. ._.
Author notes: Wrote this on Christmas Eve while nursing a fever and a headache. I'm feeling slightly better though. Hmm.. After this I'm going to rest up to recover for the Christmas dinner...T^T
Excruciating pain surged through Sho's mortal body as he felt the impact of the fall against the cold hard concrete rip through him.
His head ached as sounds of traffic, blaring sirens of the incoming ambulance and the blabber of numerous concerned voices rung strongly in his head like never before.
He opened his eyes and closed them again, the bright flashes of light from the ambulance and car headlights too much for him. He blinked with his eyes shut several times before slowing opening his eyes to slowly let the light in.
He was lying face up on the concrete pavement, his eyes looking up to see a crowd of people gathering over him.
"They can see me..." he thought, "they can see me..."
Red lights flashed in his eyes as the crowd made way for the paramedics. As they helped him into a stretcher, Sho's eyes widened in surprise. They could touch him. And he could feel them.
He could feel with his skin. He felt something trickle down the side of his head. He reached up with his hand, feeling the liquid with his hand before looking at it.
It was bright red.
It was his blood.
The ultimate proof that he had become a mortal.
"I'm... Mortal... Like Nino.. " Sho thought as his eyes fell shut once again,"Nino... Wait for me... I'll reach you... Soon..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Wow, did you see the news? " a colleague in Nino's workplace said,"someone had leapt down Tokyo Tower!"
Nino's blood ran cold. It couldn't be. It. Could. Not. Be.
"Yeah, it's a miracle! The man survived with a slight blow on the head. But that was it - no broken bones... Nothing!" another colleague said.
"No one knows who he is, though. There was nothing to identify on him," the man sitting beside Nino said, "I wonder how he got there. Was he crazy?"
"It could be a crazy man for all we know, " one lady said," anyhow he as said to be in the Tokyo University Hospital. "
It took no less than a minute for Nino to dash out of work.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
" What?! Sho-chan is in Tokyo University Hospital right now?! " Aiba asked worriedly into the phone.
" Yes... He sounds okay according to my colleagues but what if he isn't?! " Nino asked," was it serious for you when you fell?!"
"Well no, I was licked to consciousness by a dog, "Aiba said," I was in Chiba then so... "
Nino sighed in relief. If Aiba could survive that fall and if the reports say that he's fine, Sho should be alive.
" I'll.. See you later. I'm on a taxi ride there now. " Nino said and hung up. And bit his lip as he waited.
Something in his heart clenched.
"Sho-chan might be an angel right now," Aiba said, "but he does not have to stay one forever. God has given every being one thing- freewill. If he chooses to, he could give himself up as an angel and become a human being, just like I did."
"Was that really what he did? Did he fall to give up his immortality and power? " Nino thought.
"But.. Sho would have no reason to give up such privileges, right?" Nino asked. Aiba watched him and gave a chuckle.
"He has a reason, Nino," Aiba said, "and it's because.. he is irrevocably, undeniably and passionately in love with you."
" And... He did it for me.... " Nino felt his heart tighten even more in his chest. The last thing he had ever told him in his face was that he did not want to hear anything and wanted him out of his sight. How he had so regretted his words!
"Just wait... wait for me..." Nino prayed fervently as the taxi took him towards the hospital, "you had better wait for me, Sho. I have too many things I want to tell you.."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sho stirred in sleep, awakening and realising for the first time how his body was feeling- sleepy, weary, slightly weak and painful.
This was what being in the hospital was like. He wondered if that was exactly how Aiba felt when he had been hospitalised for those two weeks. Just then he heard panicked footsteps pattering over to his ward.
He looked up, expecting to see the doctor or nurse in charge of him, but his expectations were over-answered by Nino's presence.
Nino stood by the doorway, heaving breathlessly as he watched Sho very carefully,his expression completely unreadable.
Never had he ever seen Sho with bandages around his head or white cloth patches on his cheek.
Never had he seen Sho with bleeding abrasions on his arms or any look of pain on his face.
But there Sho sat in front of him on the hospital bed, staring right back into his eyes.
He could not help but draw near to him very, very slowly. Sho watched his every move, seemingly more attentive to him than he had ever been. When he was near enough to touch, Nino reached out for Sho's face, caressing his cheek gently.
In the next moment, Nino drew his hand back to land a sharp punch squarely into Sho's jaw. Sho doubled over in pain against the pillow, hissing as he glared at Nino.
"Why did you do that?" Nino asked coldly, "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"
Sho turned away. "It has nothing to do with you, don't worry."
"You liar!" Nino cried as he landed another punch, this time into Sho's chest. Sho growled in pain and felt himself being seized by the collar.
"Did you feel that? Huh? Did you finally feel that?!" Nino spat as he released his grip roughly, "you are now exposed to every single punch I land on you. You are now prone to everything that every human goes through - Pain.Weakness. Certain death. Does that make you happy? Huh? Does it?!"
Sho made no noise.
"Don't you dare lie to me and tell me it has nothing to do with me," Nino said, biting his lip, " just don't."
"So what if it had something to do with you?" Sho asked incredulously, "I'm the one who is becoming human!"
"And I'm the one who knows all too well what you have thrown away!" Nino yelled, and Sho could see tears streaming slowly out of Nino's eyes.
"You could have stayed just as stupidly handsome as you are forever," Nino said, now quite close to crying, "you could have walked right through a wall or teleport right now to Paris or London if you wanted to. You could help so many people, just like you always had. You... you could..."
Sho could see that Nino was breaking down quite slowly. Nino was soon sitting down right beside the bed, burying his head in his hands.
"You could.. have lived forever..." Nino breathed shakily, "but instead, you were just so..so.. SO FREAKING STUPID to want to give it all up, you BAKA!"
Sho tried his best and sat up on the bed, looking at Nino's shaking form.
"Nino, I-"
"Do you have any idea," Nino said, "how bad... how FREAKING bad I felt when I heard the news?"
Sho could not believe that his Fall had affected Nino so much.
"The last thing I told you was that I wanted you to leave... and that I did not know what to believe anymore..." Nino said, "and the next thing I know, you were throwing yourself off the top of Tokyo Tower! Do you know how guilty it makes me?!"
Nino covered his face with his palms, wiping the tears off his face.
"Why.." Nino questioned, "why.. the hell... do you have to be so stupid?"
There was a long, heavy silence that fell in between them. Just then, Sho spoke up.
"You are the stupid one," he said. Nino looked up in disbelief.
"I wasn't the one who-" Nino was about to finish his sentence when he felt himself being tugged strongly into a tight embrace. Sho apparently did not care that his mortal body still hurt from his fall and Nino's punches- he wanted Nino in his arms right then and right there.
"Why... are you so stupid?" Sho whispered as he drew back to lean his forehead against Nino's , "could you really not know why I did this?"
Nino made no reply.
"I could stay young and strong forever," Sho said, his voice quivering violently with emotion, "I could live for eternity. but it would mean nothing if you're not there with me!"
Nino stood motionless in shock in Sho's arms.
"And don't feel guilty for something that I did," Sho said, "because it was not a choice you made, but one that I made with my own freewill."
Nino direct his eyes back on the ground, not knowing what to say. But when he felt Sho tilt his chin up gently, he was not sure if he needed or wanted to say anything after all.
“Nino, don't you see?” Sho whispered, "I gave up my forever, because I want to love you through yours.”
"Sho-s-" Nino was about to say something when he was silenced by Sho's lips pressing down on his own.
There was something distinctly different in the kiss, and they were both aware of it. Nino could feel that Sho was intently moving his lips against his, and Sho could not help softly into Nino's mouth as he felt Nino's soft lips melting him slowly like butter in a furnace. He had never known that a kiss could feel so mind-blowing and so enrapturing. Nino felt his tears fall from his eyes again as he moved his arms to wrap around Sho's body, pouring his emotions and feelings into that one kiss while holding him close.
Neither of them wanted to let go. Not after they had taken such painful turns to come to this. When they finally drew apart to breathe, Nino looked at Sho's swollen lips.
"Did you feel that?" Nino asled, his mind completely hazy from their liplock. Sho, this time, smiled and stole a small kiss from Nino's unsuspecting lips.
"Yes," Sho said, "I felt everything... more than I ever wanted to feel."
"Thank goodness..." Nino replied, a happy sense of relief washing over him, "if you didn't I'd have punched you again just to make sure."
Sho chuckled as he reached for Nino's face, thumbing away the streaks of tears that flowed out of Nino's eyes. He gazed at Nino's face in his hands in wonderment as he let his hands wander from his forehead to the bridge of his nose, his flawlessly smooth cheeks and that tiny mole on the side of his chin. Nino looked away with a beet-red face.
"What are you doing, you idiot.." Nino muttered. Sho grinned and engulfed Nino into a hug.
"Just wondering if that's how it feels to touch the face of someone you love," Sho said. Nino blushed into the hug, burying his face into Sho's shoulders.
"You speak so mushily without reserve," Nino whined, embarrassed. Sho pulled away and looked at him.
"You don't like it?" he asked. Nino shook his head and leaned his head on Sho's shoulders again.
"Don't stop that, baka," Nino said. Sho simply nodded and sat up.
"There is one problem, though," Sho said, "... I don't know how all of this works, so..."
Nino simply gave him a kittenish grin, taking Sho's pillow to set it down on the bed.
"I'll show you everything..." Nino said with a wink, "but before that, you need to get out of here first."
Sho nodded slowly and rested his head against the pillow, his eyes falling shut.
"... is this how it feels like?" Sho asked. Nino looked at him.
"Is what how it feels like?" NIno asked back.
"Sleeping and dreaming," Sho murmured. Nino reached over to caress Sho's bandaged forehead before leaning down to kiss him goodnight.
"Yup. This is exactly how it feels." Nino answered before resting his head on the side of Sho's bed, clasping Sho's hands in his own before drifting with him to sleep.
They did not notice two people in the doorway behind them, nor one angel who stood beside Sho's sleeping form.
Satoshi gazed down at his friend who had once been an angel. He then looked at Nino, who slept while holding Sho's hand. He walked over to Nino, smoothing out his hair gently.
"I'll leave Sho to your care," he said before leaving with a satisfied smile on his face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I see that Nino finally understood both Sho's feelings and his own," Aiba commented as he stood in the doorway with Jun, watching the pair sleep.
Jun pursed his lips, nodding slowly as he watched his best friend sleep alongside the man he loved. He sighed. "Sho-san is very lucky," he commented.
"Not always," Aiba said as he directed Jun away, "no one can really understand everything that he had gone through to be with him."
"Perhaps," Jun remarked, casting a backward glance at his best friend before walking away.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day, a nurse walked over to Sho's ward with a grave look on her face. "This patient is unidentified. I can't find any medical records on him anywhere at all.." she thought.
She slid open the door to find that the bed was empty, with a small note attached to the pillow.
"Thank you for your care.
-Random unidentified patient."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Was it really okay to leave like that?!" Sho asked incredulously as Nino bundled him away into the taxi.
"Well, your injuries are not that serious and there are no official institutions with your personal records anyway, so that can't really be a problem." Nino said as he gave the taxi driver the directions to his house.
"Where are we going then?" Sho asked. Nino reached for Sho's hand, interlocking their fingers together, and Sho felt his toes curl from the intimate gesture.
"To my house, where I'll take very good care of you," Nino said, looking out of the window with a smile. The sun shone brightly in the sky, marking a new beginning for them.
A/N: No no no the story is NOT ending here yet! (I know it seems that way from the ending, but NO. I have plenty lined up ahead. >D)
Group/pairing: Arashi/ Sakumiya, Matsumiya, Aiba x Becky
Prompt: Hand
Word Count: 3178 words
Rating: PG
Summary: Sho has been watching Nino for a long while now... and Nino never knew he existed. Why? Because he's an angel from Heaven.
Disclaimer: So far I only own two photosets of Sho and a set of Arashi playing cards. I wish I'd own Arashi, but no. I don't. ._.
Author notes: Wrote this on Christmas Eve while nursing a fever and a headache. I'm feeling slightly better though. Hmm.. After this I'm going to rest up to recover for the Christmas dinner...T^T
Excruciating pain surged through Sho's mortal body as he felt the impact of the fall against the cold hard concrete rip through him.
His head ached as sounds of traffic, blaring sirens of the incoming ambulance and the blabber of numerous concerned voices rung strongly in his head like never before.
He opened his eyes and closed them again, the bright flashes of light from the ambulance and car headlights too much for him. He blinked with his eyes shut several times before slowing opening his eyes to slowly let the light in.
He was lying face up on the concrete pavement, his eyes looking up to see a crowd of people gathering over him.
"They can see me..." he thought, "they can see me..."
Red lights flashed in his eyes as the crowd made way for the paramedics. As they helped him into a stretcher, Sho's eyes widened in surprise. They could touch him. And he could feel them.
He could feel with his skin. He felt something trickle down the side of his head. He reached up with his hand, feeling the liquid with his hand before looking at it.
It was bright red.
It was his blood.
The ultimate proof that he had become a mortal.
"I'm... Mortal... Like Nino.. " Sho thought as his eyes fell shut once again,"Nino... Wait for me... I'll reach you... Soon..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Wow, did you see the news? " a colleague in Nino's workplace said,"someone had leapt down Tokyo Tower!"
Nino's blood ran cold. It couldn't be. It. Could. Not. Be.
"Yeah, it's a miracle! The man survived with a slight blow on the head. But that was it - no broken bones... Nothing!" another colleague said.
"No one knows who he is, though. There was nothing to identify on him," the man sitting beside Nino said, "I wonder how he got there. Was he crazy?"
"It could be a crazy man for all we know, " one lady said," anyhow he as said to be in the Tokyo University Hospital. "
It took no less than a minute for Nino to dash out of work.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
" What?! Sho-chan is in Tokyo University Hospital right now?! " Aiba asked worriedly into the phone.
" Yes... He sounds okay according to my colleagues but what if he isn't?! " Nino asked," was it serious for you when you fell?!"
"Well no, I was licked to consciousness by a dog, "Aiba said," I was in Chiba then so... "
Nino sighed in relief. If Aiba could survive that fall and if the reports say that he's fine, Sho should be alive.
" I'll.. See you later. I'm on a taxi ride there now. " Nino said and hung up. And bit his lip as he waited.
Something in his heart clenched.
"Sho-chan might be an angel right now," Aiba said, "but he does not have to stay one forever. God has given every being one thing- freewill. If he chooses to, he could give himself up as an angel and become a human being, just like I did."
"Was that really what he did? Did he fall to give up his immortality and power? " Nino thought.
"But.. Sho would have no reason to give up such privileges, right?" Nino asked. Aiba watched him and gave a chuckle.
"He has a reason, Nino," Aiba said, "and it's because.. he is irrevocably, undeniably and passionately in love with you."
" And... He did it for me.... " Nino felt his heart tighten even more in his chest. The last thing he had ever told him in his face was that he did not want to hear anything and wanted him out of his sight. How he had so regretted his words!
"Just wait... wait for me..." Nino prayed fervently as the taxi took him towards the hospital, "you had better wait for me, Sho. I have too many things I want to tell you.."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sho stirred in sleep, awakening and realising for the first time how his body was feeling- sleepy, weary, slightly weak and painful.
This was what being in the hospital was like. He wondered if that was exactly how Aiba felt when he had been hospitalised for those two weeks. Just then he heard panicked footsteps pattering over to his ward.
He looked up, expecting to see the doctor or nurse in charge of him, but his expectations were over-answered by Nino's presence.
Nino stood by the doorway, heaving breathlessly as he watched Sho very carefully,his expression completely unreadable.
Never had he ever seen Sho with bandages around his head or white cloth patches on his cheek.
Never had he seen Sho with bleeding abrasions on his arms or any look of pain on his face.
But there Sho sat in front of him on the hospital bed, staring right back into his eyes.
He could not help but draw near to him very, very slowly. Sho watched his every move, seemingly more attentive to him than he had ever been. When he was near enough to touch, Nino reached out for Sho's face, caressing his cheek gently.
In the next moment, Nino drew his hand back to land a sharp punch squarely into Sho's jaw. Sho doubled over in pain against the pillow, hissing as he glared at Nino.
"Why did you do that?" Nino asked coldly, "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"
Sho turned away. "It has nothing to do with you, don't worry."
"You liar!" Nino cried as he landed another punch, this time into Sho's chest. Sho growled in pain and felt himself being seized by the collar.
"Did you feel that? Huh? Did you finally feel that?!" Nino spat as he released his grip roughly, "you are now exposed to every single punch I land on you. You are now prone to everything that every human goes through - Pain.Weakness. Certain death. Does that make you happy? Huh? Does it?!"
Sho made no noise.
"Don't you dare lie to me and tell me it has nothing to do with me," Nino said, biting his lip, " just don't."
"So what if it had something to do with you?" Sho asked incredulously, "I'm the one who is becoming human!"
"And I'm the one who knows all too well what you have thrown away!" Nino yelled, and Sho could see tears streaming slowly out of Nino's eyes.
"You could have stayed just as stupidly handsome as you are forever," Nino said, now quite close to crying, "you could have walked right through a wall or teleport right now to Paris or London if you wanted to. You could help so many people, just like you always had. You... you could..."
Sho could see that Nino was breaking down quite slowly. Nino was soon sitting down right beside the bed, burying his head in his hands.
"You could.. have lived forever..." Nino breathed shakily, "but instead, you were just so..so.. SO FREAKING STUPID to want to give it all up, you BAKA!"
Sho tried his best and sat up on the bed, looking at Nino's shaking form.
"Nino, I-"
"Do you have any idea," Nino said, "how bad... how FREAKING bad I felt when I heard the news?"
Sho could not believe that his Fall had affected Nino so much.
"The last thing I told you was that I wanted you to leave... and that I did not know what to believe anymore..." Nino said, "and the next thing I know, you were throwing yourself off the top of Tokyo Tower! Do you know how guilty it makes me?!"
Nino covered his face with his palms, wiping the tears off his face.
"Why.." Nino questioned, "why.. the hell... do you have to be so stupid?"
There was a long, heavy silence that fell in between them. Just then, Sho spoke up.
"You are the stupid one," he said. Nino looked up in disbelief.
"I wasn't the one who-" Nino was about to finish his sentence when he felt himself being tugged strongly into a tight embrace. Sho apparently did not care that his mortal body still hurt from his fall and Nino's punches- he wanted Nino in his arms right then and right there.
"Why... are you so stupid?" Sho whispered as he drew back to lean his forehead against Nino's , "could you really not know why I did this?"
Nino made no reply.
"I could stay young and strong forever," Sho said, his voice quivering violently with emotion, "I could live for eternity. but it would mean nothing if you're not there with me!"
Nino stood motionless in shock in Sho's arms.
"And don't feel guilty for something that I did," Sho said, "because it was not a choice you made, but one that I made with my own freewill."
Nino direct his eyes back on the ground, not knowing what to say. But when he felt Sho tilt his chin up gently, he was not sure if he needed or wanted to say anything after all.
“Nino, don't you see?” Sho whispered, "I gave up my forever, because I want to love you through yours.”
"Sho-s-" Nino was about to say something when he was silenced by Sho's lips pressing down on his own.
There was something distinctly different in the kiss, and they were both aware of it. Nino could feel that Sho was intently moving his lips against his, and Sho could not help softly into Nino's mouth as he felt Nino's soft lips melting him slowly like butter in a furnace. He had never known that a kiss could feel so mind-blowing and so enrapturing. Nino felt his tears fall from his eyes again as he moved his arms to wrap around Sho's body, pouring his emotions and feelings into that one kiss while holding him close.
Neither of them wanted to let go. Not after they had taken such painful turns to come to this. When they finally drew apart to breathe, Nino looked at Sho's swollen lips.
"Did you feel that?" Nino asled, his mind completely hazy from their liplock. Sho, this time, smiled and stole a small kiss from Nino's unsuspecting lips.
"Yes," Sho said, "I felt everything... more than I ever wanted to feel."
"Thank goodness..." Nino replied, a happy sense of relief washing over him, "if you didn't I'd have punched you again just to make sure."
Sho chuckled as he reached for Nino's face, thumbing away the streaks of tears that flowed out of Nino's eyes. He gazed at Nino's face in his hands in wonderment as he let his hands wander from his forehead to the bridge of his nose, his flawlessly smooth cheeks and that tiny mole on the side of his chin. Nino looked away with a beet-red face.
"What are you doing, you idiot.." Nino muttered. Sho grinned and engulfed Nino into a hug.
"Just wondering if that's how it feels to touch the face of someone you love," Sho said. Nino blushed into the hug, burying his face into Sho's shoulders.
"You speak so mushily without reserve," Nino whined, embarrassed. Sho pulled away and looked at him.
"You don't like it?" he asked. Nino shook his head and leaned his head on Sho's shoulders again.
"Don't stop that, baka," Nino said. Sho simply nodded and sat up.
"There is one problem, though," Sho said, "... I don't know how all of this works, so..."
Nino simply gave him a kittenish grin, taking Sho's pillow to set it down on the bed.
"I'll show you everything..." Nino said with a wink, "but before that, you need to get out of here first."
Sho nodded slowly and rested his head against the pillow, his eyes falling shut.
"... is this how it feels like?" Sho asked. Nino looked at him.
"Is what how it feels like?" NIno asked back.
"Sleeping and dreaming," Sho murmured. Nino reached over to caress Sho's bandaged forehead before leaning down to kiss him goodnight.
"Yup. This is exactly how it feels." Nino answered before resting his head on the side of Sho's bed, clasping Sho's hands in his own before drifting with him to sleep.
They did not notice two people in the doorway behind them, nor one angel who stood beside Sho's sleeping form.
Satoshi gazed down at his friend who had once been an angel. He then looked at Nino, who slept while holding Sho's hand. He walked over to Nino, smoothing out his hair gently.
"I'll leave Sho to your care," he said before leaving with a satisfied smile on his face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I see that Nino finally understood both Sho's feelings and his own," Aiba commented as he stood in the doorway with Jun, watching the pair sleep.
Jun pursed his lips, nodding slowly as he watched his best friend sleep alongside the man he loved. He sighed. "Sho-san is very lucky," he commented.
"Not always," Aiba said as he directed Jun away, "no one can really understand everything that he had gone through to be with him."
"Perhaps," Jun remarked, casting a backward glance at his best friend before walking away.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day, a nurse walked over to Sho's ward with a grave look on her face. "This patient is unidentified. I can't find any medical records on him anywhere at all.." she thought.
She slid open the door to find that the bed was empty, with a small note attached to the pillow.
"Thank you for your care.
-Random unidentified patient."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Was it really okay to leave like that?!" Sho asked incredulously as Nino bundled him away into the taxi.
"Well, your injuries are not that serious and there are no official institutions with your personal records anyway, so that can't really be a problem." Nino said as he gave the taxi driver the directions to his house.
"Where are we going then?" Sho asked. Nino reached for Sho's hand, interlocking their fingers together, and Sho felt his toes curl from the intimate gesture.
"To my house, where I'll take very good care of you," Nino said, looking out of the window with a smile. The sun shone brightly in the sky, marking a new beginning for them.
A/N: No no no the story is NOT ending here yet! (I know it seems that way from the ending, but NO. I have plenty lined up ahead. >D)