A Fine Line (Chapter 3)
Title: A Fine Line
Group/pairing: Arashi/ Sakumiya
Word Count: 2923 words
Rating: PG
Summary: Sakurai Sho and Ninomiya Kazunari are rivals as neighbours and as work colleagues. As time wears on, the line between love and hate grows thinner and thinner...
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: Last week consisted of a writer's block and some internship interviews. Apologies for the late update. Eheh. ^^;
Chapter 3: An Agreement with Grey Areas
"Oh God.... We're finally done," Nino sighed as he collapsed on the floor.
" 'We' ?! I don't want to hear that from some lazy bum who only ferried bags of trash down the apartment while I did almost all of the household cleaning," Sho grumbled as he sat down and looked around Nino's cleaned up apartment (all thanks to him, of course), "you actually have a really nice place. It's such a pity you are unable to maintain it well."
"Well excuse me for being busy with working!"
"Working? Hah! Bringing Mario to his lost princess doesn't count, just so you know," Sho interjected while tilting his head at Nino's game console. Nino rolled his eyes.
"None of your business," he remarked gruffly as he sat up straight and cleared his throat, "so... ahem.. starting tonight, you will be living here-"
"For no more than a month, I assure you," Sho said, "I do not want to stay here any longer than you want me here."
"Shut up. As I was saying, you will be staying here for no more than a month in MY apartment, so naturally there are going to be rules that you need to abide. My rules, of course," Nino continued while Sho narrowed his eyes at him.
"You are enjoying this, aren't you?" Sho interrupted with a glare.
"Firstly, I did not beg for the ceiling in your home to fall down. And secondly," Nino paused and flashed a Cheshire grin at Sho, "oh yes, I am."
"Great," Sho sighed resignedly, "shoot. Fire away. Feel free to shoot me to death- I'd prefer that right now, actually."
"Putting aside the fact that THAT would be too easy on you," Nino continued with little regard to Sho's helplessness, "Rule number 1, you are NOT to touch my games or gaming equipment."
"I won't touch them if you don't leave them lying around in my way and making a pig sty out of the room."
"Number 2, you will do all the cleaning, cooking, washing and..."
"Objection! I'm your housemate, not your house maid!"
Nino's eyes lit up with a mischievous grin, "shall I put you in a maid costume while you are at it?"
"Shut up! Don't you dare!" Sho protested angrily.
"Well someone's got to keep this place clean," Nino murmured as he lounged on the floor, and Sho stared at him, something clicking in his head. A grin suddenlt found its way up his face as he asked carefully.
".... don't tell me... you do not know how to do any housework?"
Nino pursed his lips and made no reply. Moments later, the entire house was filled with Sho laughing and wheezing on the ground. Nino huffed angrily at Sho and dragged him up while smacking him hard on the arm.
"What's so funny?!"
"Why..." Sho wheezed as he tried to catch his breath, "why did you even move out... if you can't take care of yourself?! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"That's why I need you to do the housework for me!" Nino protested.
"Impossible," Sho said as he sat up with a barely-serious face, "unlike a slacker like you, I have things to do as well."
"... Ahhhh what are we to do?!" Nino complained as he scratched his head.
"I can teach you a little of the stuff to do, after which we can rotate day-to-day duties," Sho suggested, "though really now, any decent man can do at least SOME housework."
"Well pardon me for being less than a decent man, now number three!" Nino declared, "you will not interrupt my gaming sessions!"
"Hold a sec- when are your gaming sessions?" Sho questioned, started to dread his answer.
"Well it starts after dinner from 10pm to 3-"
"THAT WON'T WORK AT ALL!"
"What do you mean?"
"We are BOTH working every morning! You gaming in the wee hours at 3am will keep me awake and make us both late and sleepy at work!"
"But I was on time!"
"You were BARELY on time toda-yesterday! I bet you stayed up too late and overslept yesterday morning! "
"But I still made it, didn't I?!"
Sho face-palmed himself and explained, "traffic in the morning is not smooth all the time, you know. What will happen if an accident occurred just ahead of you, resulting in an obstruction of roads? You'd be late... and all because you couldn't wake up earlier after gaming at 3 am."
"God, you sound like my mo-"
''And unlike YOU," Sho continued, "I have every chance of getting that promotion and I'm not letting you screw this up by making me late and sleepy!"
"Oi, I-"
"Your gaming hours will be changed from 8pm to 11pm. 12 midnight will be the latest I will put up with. Any later and I will not hesitate to pull the power cord."
"Oi! Remember Rule no. 1! You can't touch my gaming equipment!"
"The TV doesn't count as 'gaming equipment', but as a general electronic appliance. As a rent-paying housemate I'm entitled to use it however I please. Also, be grateful. I'd be helping you reduce maintenance fees."
"I'd get nothing out of this!"
"Yes you would. If you do cooperate, I will wake you up so you won't be late. You will have ample time for breakfast, coffee and even some on-the-go console gaming while being on time."
Nino pursed his lips irritably. He knew that Sho had gotten a hold of one of his weak spots. Given his past experience of being consistently late, he knew he couldn't afford to remain stubborn and risk getting fired. Again.
"... Fine. If I'm late even once thanks to you, I'm going to-"
"More importantly," Sho asserted, "how are we going to go about our sleeping arrangements?"
The two men looked to see Nino's lone bed in the corner of his room.
"... one of us will take the couch?" Nino suggested, "and that 'one of us' being you?" Sho sighed, shaking his head and got up.
"Whoa whoa whoa, where are you going at this time of the night?" Nino demanded, pulling him back.
"Just getting my mattress. I'm sure as heck not sleeping on that useless couch and getting backaches because of you."
"But your mattress won't fit in my room!"
"Who says I need to be in your room? I'm taking the living room space. And if there isn't any space, I'll make space," Sho said and left the apartment for his own.
"... Seriously... that idiot..." Nino grumbled and looked around at his cleaned apartment, inhaling the slightly fresher air in his room. He hated to admit it, but it really had been some time since his room felt much cooler and spacious. He glanced momentarily at the closed apartment door before closing his own door and going to sleep.
Some time later, Sho huddled up in his blanket and laid on his own mattress in Nino's living room, sighing in exhaustion. He could hardly believe he was stuck with a buffoon who had absolutely no idea how to do any housework. Silently hurling insults Nino's way, he let his exhaustion and the soft ticking of his nearby alarm clock lull him to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sho's alarm woke him up the next morning, and he obediently got up, giving himself a stretch. He looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and remembered what had happened the previous night.
"Ah... yes... I'm now living in his rubbish dump," Sho murmured with disdain as he got up and looked around, "well, not much of a rubbish dump now, thanks to me. But still..."
He pouted quietly to himself as he moved over to Nino's room and knocked on the door.
"Oi! Ninomiya! Wake up!"he called. When there was no answer, he took the liberty to open the door and walk over to his bed. He could see Nino's hand outstretched from his blanket to his alarm clock. Clearly, he snoozed his alarm, and Sho always wondered why people use it at all.
"Oi! Wake up, snoozer!" he called again, kneeling down on Nino's bed to give him a good shake on the shoulder.
"Mmmm... 5 more minutes..." he murmured sleepily and huddled beneath his blanket.
"Your so-called 5 more minutes will become 5 more hours if you don't get up, now move it!" Sho scolded and pulled the blanket off Nino.
"Ahhh... it's so cold... " Nino murmured and pulled the covers back from Sho to cover himself. Sho sighed, shaking his head.
"Seriously now, how the heck did you survive college?" Sho sighed exasperatedly and spoke louder, "you had better get up or I will do something that you will regret."
Nino simply tossed around in bed, hugging the blanket around himself.
".. I will regret this too, probably," Sho grumbled as he leaned over and reached out his fingers towards Nino's face.
Nino's eyes soon cringed at the sensation of his breath being slowly taken away. He started gasping for air and flailing his arms in his sleep, and when his eyes flew open he came face to face with his new housemate.
With his fingers pinching his nose.
"OI! WHAT THE HELL I CAN'T BREATHE!" Nino hollered and shoved Sho off him, and Sho fell to the ground on Nino's bedroom floor.
"Yep, I'm regretting this," Sho thought as he stood up and dusted himself and turned to a heavily breathing Nino, "as promised, I've woken you up early. Now hurry up and get ready."
True to his word, Sho had managed to bring Nino out of the house just in time to grab breakfast and catch a bus. Nino took in this new routine slowly, letting the coffee awaken his senses. He gazed out of the bus window to see various shops starting to open- a sight that he had rarely seen before. Well then again, he had never been out so early.
He looked in the corner of his eye to see Sho gazing anxiously at his watch and looking ahead. Nino frowned and looked at his phone. It was still very early.
"Oi," Nino said, "what are you looking around so worriedly for? We are on time, aren't we?"
"You don't understand," Sho muttered, "this bus came two minutes later than before. We'd have missed the least crowded train to our stop by the time we arrived."
Nino rolled his eyes. "Come on, stress yourself over these small details and your hair will grow white fast."
"Like I said, you don't understand!" Sho protested, and Nino sighed as he listened to Sho explain how even in the midst of crowded rush hours there would be a train arriving within a small specific gap of time that would be the least crowded. The bus arrived at the stop just as his morning lecture finished and the two men (Sho, actually) bustled hurriedly towards the subway.
They made it 30 minutes before working hours.
"Ahh... I guess we did make it after all," Nino said.
"But goodness, the crowd..." Sho grumbled, dissatisfied, "if I had been earlier we'd probably have gotten the train with less people..."
"Yes yes yes as you have said over and over for the past hour, now shut up and finish your sandwich," Nino dismissed and strode ahead of a slightly pouty Sho.
Sho started up his office computer and started typing immediately, while Nino lounged in his chair, whipping out his Nintendo 3DS. Sho looked over, raising an eyebrow and returned to his screen.
"Don't you think you're acting too much like a kid?"
Nino blinked and gave him a frosty glare, "and don't you think you act like an old man?"
"This 'old man' here has more sense of responsibility than you do. You really ought to grow up," Sho grumbled as his fingers flew across the screen, "this is the time for us both as management consultants to gather information and to remained informed of current affairs."
"Rule no. 3," Nino yelled, "don't interrupt my gaming session."
He then swiveled around in his chair to level a warning glare at Sho, "and yes, that includes now."
Sho rolled his eyes and clicked the print option, and the printer beside him started to produce a neatly typed document. Sho then attached the papers together and handed it over to Nino, who looked up with annoyance.
"I promise to get out of your gaming business after you have signed this," Sho said. Nino looked down to see that Sho had already typed out a contract that stated their rules, rent and other terms.
"It's only covering the very basics, though," Sho said, "we'll add clauses to it when we find out what we can't stand about each other."
"When will this contract end?" Nino asked.
"Well, when the one-month period is over and I move back to my house... or before that if I should ever want to leave earlier." Sho answered.
"What are we going to do if one of us breaches the terms and conditions of this said contract then?"
Sho bit his lip. He had not thought about that. Nino noticed it and sighed.
"Never mind. We will think about what to do then," he said and took out his pen, signing the said piece of paper.
Sho followed up with his own signature and finished just as the clock signalled the start of their work.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At lunch time, Nino strode into the crowded cafeteria, looking around at the food options available. He joined the queue at the same time as another guy and knocked into another man. Pencils spilled across the floor.
"Ah! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking!" Nino apologised as he bent down to pick up the pencils and looked up to see a tanned, chubby-faced man looking kindly at him.
"No, I wasn't looking either," he replied gently with a smile and helped Nino up. Nino handed the pencils over to him.
"You draw?" he asked.
The man nodded with a charming smile. "I'm with the Design department. Ohno Satoshi. Pleasure to meet you."
"Ah! I'm a management consultant. Ninomiya Kazunari," Nino introduced himself, shaking his hand.
"Are you new? I've not seen you around," Ohno commented as they joined the queue.
"Yes, I've recently joined Matsumoto Corporations," Nino answered," I basically do research on this company and deal with any projects coming in."
"I see. It sounds interesting," Ohno commented.
"I like your job much better though," Nino said, gesturing towards Ohno's sketch pad. Ohno chuckled.
"It's nothing much, really. We only come up with artwork for some events. We also do backdrops and stuff," Ohno added, and Nino smiled as he noted the way the man's eyes glittered as he spoke about his work. He is one example of someone who loved his job so much that he never really worked a day in his life.
... Unlike himself.
Nino sighed, and Ohno looked at him in concern.
"Are you alright?"
Nino shook his head. "It's nothing," he said before ordering himself a lunch set.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In the mean time, Sho was looking up more data when a knock came in. He looked up to see the Head of Human Resources at the door.
"Sakurai-san," she said after glancing around at the office, "I think you'll need to leave the research job to Ninomiya-san- you are needed for your first project evaluation."
Sho felt his heart soar- it was his first ever major job. And he was sure that he would do anything to impress his superiors.
Nino returned to see Sho surrounded by stacks of files on his table. Sho looked up.
"I left a message from the Head of Human Resources on your desk," Sho said and returned to work. Nino looked at his post-it, and nodded, resuming his work.
Time flew by and even at 5pm, Sho was still deeply immersed in his own work. He had been flipping files, making small bouts of walking to different departments and making post-it notes that rapidly covered the wall beside him.
"Oi," Nino said, "you are not going back?"
"No, you go," Sho said, his eyes concentrating on various calculations and figures he was performing on the spreadsheet in front of him, "I'm trying to do whatever I can do at the moment."
Nino could only nod and leave Sho to work alone for the night.
Nino gave himself a good stretch as he lounged on the bed that night.
"For once, there is no mother hen nagging me to sleep~" Nino thought as he sat up on the bed and took out his gaming controller and started his long-awaited gaming marathon until 3 am.
He woke up the next morning to his phone ringing repeatedly over and over. Nino opened his eyes and looked around his bedroom before looking at his phone. He blinked at seeing missed calls from a number he had no idea about.
"Who is this..?" he wondered as he called back, only to receive no reply. But moments later, the phone buzzed again and he picked up the phone.
"Hello? Who is this?"
He could not hear anything other than faint snoring. Confused, he hung up his phone and stepped out of his room to get ready. He looked at the empty mattress by the couch in surprise.
"He did not come home last night?" he wondered. Just then, a mail message alert beeped in his room. He checked it to see that it was from the unknown number.
"Good morning. It's Sakurai. I got your phone number from Shinohara-san last night. I used it to give you a wake-up call by auto-redialling up to ten times before stopping. If your phone had been on silent mode until now, I apologise for the inability to wake you up. I would owe you one then."
Nino could only stay frozen in quiet surprise and awe at the message he received before getting ready for work at his slow, sleepy pace that he could manage with only 5 hours of sleep.
Nino reached the office to see Sho napping on his desk table, his phone just a short distance away from his hand. He took his seat with complicated feelings as he looked over at the sleeping man who had helped him even when he did not need to.
Not that he would ever admit that, of course.
A/N: I finished this at 1.51am with a hungry stomach craving for a midnight snack (I swear I can see potato chips and bowls of cup ramen floating before my eyes). Unfortunately I really need to rein in my calorie-consuming stomach. I'm too scared of looking fat. / 3 \
Group/pairing: Arashi/ Sakumiya
Word Count: 2923 words
Rating: PG
Summary: Sakurai Sho and Ninomiya Kazunari are rivals as neighbours and as work colleagues. As time wears on, the line between love and hate grows thinner and thinner...
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: Last week consisted of a writer's block and some internship interviews. Apologies for the late update. Eheh. ^^;
Chapter 3: An Agreement with Grey Areas
"Oh God.... We're finally done," Nino sighed as he collapsed on the floor.
" 'We' ?! I don't want to hear that from some lazy bum who only ferried bags of trash down the apartment while I did almost all of the household cleaning," Sho grumbled as he sat down and looked around Nino's cleaned up apartment (all thanks to him, of course), "you actually have a really nice place. It's such a pity you are unable to maintain it well."
"Well excuse me for being busy with working!"
"Working? Hah! Bringing Mario to his lost princess doesn't count, just so you know," Sho interjected while tilting his head at Nino's game console. Nino rolled his eyes.
"None of your business," he remarked gruffly as he sat up straight and cleared his throat, "so... ahem.. starting tonight, you will be living here-"
"For no more than a month, I assure you," Sho said, "I do not want to stay here any longer than you want me here."
"Shut up. As I was saying, you will be staying here for no more than a month in MY apartment, so naturally there are going to be rules that you need to abide. My rules, of course," Nino continued while Sho narrowed his eyes at him.
"You are enjoying this, aren't you?" Sho interrupted with a glare.
"Firstly, I did not beg for the ceiling in your home to fall down. And secondly," Nino paused and flashed a Cheshire grin at Sho, "oh yes, I am."
"Great," Sho sighed resignedly, "shoot. Fire away. Feel free to shoot me to death- I'd prefer that right now, actually."
"Putting aside the fact that THAT would be too easy on you," Nino continued with little regard to Sho's helplessness, "Rule number 1, you are NOT to touch my games or gaming equipment."
"I won't touch them if you don't leave them lying around in my way and making a pig sty out of the room."
"Number 2, you will do all the cleaning, cooking, washing and..."
"Objection! I'm your housemate, not your house maid!"
Nino's eyes lit up with a mischievous grin, "shall I put you in a maid costume while you are at it?"
"Shut up! Don't you dare!" Sho protested angrily.
"Well someone's got to keep this place clean," Nino murmured as he lounged on the floor, and Sho stared at him, something clicking in his head. A grin suddenlt found its way up his face as he asked carefully.
".... don't tell me... you do not know how to do any housework?"
Nino pursed his lips and made no reply. Moments later, the entire house was filled with Sho laughing and wheezing on the ground. Nino huffed angrily at Sho and dragged him up while smacking him hard on the arm.
"What's so funny?!"
"Why..." Sho wheezed as he tried to catch his breath, "why did you even move out... if you can't take care of yourself?! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"That's why I need you to do the housework for me!" Nino protested.
"Impossible," Sho said as he sat up with a barely-serious face, "unlike a slacker like you, I have things to do as well."
"... Ahhhh what are we to do?!" Nino complained as he scratched his head.
"I can teach you a little of the stuff to do, after which we can rotate day-to-day duties," Sho suggested, "though really now, any decent man can do at least SOME housework."
"Well pardon me for being less than a decent man, now number three!" Nino declared, "you will not interrupt my gaming sessions!"
"Hold a sec- when are your gaming sessions?" Sho questioned, started to dread his answer.
"Well it starts after dinner from 10pm to 3-"
"THAT WON'T WORK AT ALL!"
"What do you mean?"
"We are BOTH working every morning! You gaming in the wee hours at 3am will keep me awake and make us both late and sleepy at work!"
"But I was on time!"
"You were BARELY on time toda-yesterday! I bet you stayed up too late and overslept yesterday morning! "
"But I still made it, didn't I?!"
Sho face-palmed himself and explained, "traffic in the morning is not smooth all the time, you know. What will happen if an accident occurred just ahead of you, resulting in an obstruction of roads? You'd be late... and all because you couldn't wake up earlier after gaming at 3 am."
"God, you sound like my mo-"
''And unlike YOU," Sho continued, "I have every chance of getting that promotion and I'm not letting you screw this up by making me late and sleepy!"
"Oi, I-"
"Your gaming hours will be changed from 8pm to 11pm. 12 midnight will be the latest I will put up with. Any later and I will not hesitate to pull the power cord."
"Oi! Remember Rule no. 1! You can't touch my gaming equipment!"
"The TV doesn't count as 'gaming equipment', but as a general electronic appliance. As a rent-paying housemate I'm entitled to use it however I please. Also, be grateful. I'd be helping you reduce maintenance fees."
"I'd get nothing out of this!"
"Yes you would. If you do cooperate, I will wake you up so you won't be late. You will have ample time for breakfast, coffee and even some on-the-go console gaming while being on time."
Nino pursed his lips irritably. He knew that Sho had gotten a hold of one of his weak spots. Given his past experience of being consistently late, he knew he couldn't afford to remain stubborn and risk getting fired. Again.
"... Fine. If I'm late even once thanks to you, I'm going to-"
"More importantly," Sho asserted, "how are we going to go about our sleeping arrangements?"
The two men looked to see Nino's lone bed in the corner of his room.
"... one of us will take the couch?" Nino suggested, "and that 'one of us' being you?" Sho sighed, shaking his head and got up.
"Whoa whoa whoa, where are you going at this time of the night?" Nino demanded, pulling him back.
"Just getting my mattress. I'm sure as heck not sleeping on that useless couch and getting backaches because of you."
"But your mattress won't fit in my room!"
"Who says I need to be in your room? I'm taking the living room space. And if there isn't any space, I'll make space," Sho said and left the apartment for his own.
"... Seriously... that idiot..." Nino grumbled and looked around at his cleaned apartment, inhaling the slightly fresher air in his room. He hated to admit it, but it really had been some time since his room felt much cooler and spacious. He glanced momentarily at the closed apartment door before closing his own door and going to sleep.
Some time later, Sho huddled up in his blanket and laid on his own mattress in Nino's living room, sighing in exhaustion. He could hardly believe he was stuck with a buffoon who had absolutely no idea how to do any housework. Silently hurling insults Nino's way, he let his exhaustion and the soft ticking of his nearby alarm clock lull him to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sho's alarm woke him up the next morning, and he obediently got up, giving himself a stretch. He looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and remembered what had happened the previous night.
"Ah... yes... I'm now living in his rubbish dump," Sho murmured with disdain as he got up and looked around, "well, not much of a rubbish dump now, thanks to me. But still..."
He pouted quietly to himself as he moved over to Nino's room and knocked on the door.
"Oi! Ninomiya! Wake up!"he called. When there was no answer, he took the liberty to open the door and walk over to his bed. He could see Nino's hand outstretched from his blanket to his alarm clock. Clearly, he snoozed his alarm, and Sho always wondered why people use it at all.
"Oi! Wake up, snoozer!" he called again, kneeling down on Nino's bed to give him a good shake on the shoulder.
"Mmmm... 5 more minutes..." he murmured sleepily and huddled beneath his blanket.
"Your so-called 5 more minutes will become 5 more hours if you don't get up, now move it!" Sho scolded and pulled the blanket off Nino.
"Ahhh... it's so cold... " Nino murmured and pulled the covers back from Sho to cover himself. Sho sighed, shaking his head.
"Seriously now, how the heck did you survive college?" Sho sighed exasperatedly and spoke louder, "you had better get up or I will do something that you will regret."
Nino simply tossed around in bed, hugging the blanket around himself.
".. I will regret this too, probably," Sho grumbled as he leaned over and reached out his fingers towards Nino's face.
Nino's eyes soon cringed at the sensation of his breath being slowly taken away. He started gasping for air and flailing his arms in his sleep, and when his eyes flew open he came face to face with his new housemate.
With his fingers pinching his nose.
"OI! WHAT THE HELL I CAN'T BREATHE!" Nino hollered and shoved Sho off him, and Sho fell to the ground on Nino's bedroom floor.
"Yep, I'm regretting this," Sho thought as he stood up and dusted himself and turned to a heavily breathing Nino, "as promised, I've woken you up early. Now hurry up and get ready."
True to his word, Sho had managed to bring Nino out of the house just in time to grab breakfast and catch a bus. Nino took in this new routine slowly, letting the coffee awaken his senses. He gazed out of the bus window to see various shops starting to open- a sight that he had rarely seen before. Well then again, he had never been out so early.
He looked in the corner of his eye to see Sho gazing anxiously at his watch and looking ahead. Nino frowned and looked at his phone. It was still very early.
"Oi," Nino said, "what are you looking around so worriedly for? We are on time, aren't we?"
"You don't understand," Sho muttered, "this bus came two minutes later than before. We'd have missed the least crowded train to our stop by the time we arrived."
Nino rolled his eyes. "Come on, stress yourself over these small details and your hair will grow white fast."
"Like I said, you don't understand!" Sho protested, and Nino sighed as he listened to Sho explain how even in the midst of crowded rush hours there would be a train arriving within a small specific gap of time that would be the least crowded. The bus arrived at the stop just as his morning lecture finished and the two men (Sho, actually) bustled hurriedly towards the subway.
They made it 30 minutes before working hours.
"Ahh... I guess we did make it after all," Nino said.
"But goodness, the crowd..." Sho grumbled, dissatisfied, "if I had been earlier we'd probably have gotten the train with less people..."
"Yes yes yes as you have said over and over for the past hour, now shut up and finish your sandwich," Nino dismissed and strode ahead of a slightly pouty Sho.
Sho started up his office computer and started typing immediately, while Nino lounged in his chair, whipping out his Nintendo 3DS. Sho looked over, raising an eyebrow and returned to his screen.
"Don't you think you're acting too much like a kid?"
Nino blinked and gave him a frosty glare, "and don't you think you act like an old man?"
"This 'old man' here has more sense of responsibility than you do. You really ought to grow up," Sho grumbled as his fingers flew across the screen, "this is the time for us both as management consultants to gather information and to remained informed of current affairs."
"Rule no. 3," Nino yelled, "don't interrupt my gaming session."
He then swiveled around in his chair to level a warning glare at Sho, "and yes, that includes now."
Sho rolled his eyes and clicked the print option, and the printer beside him started to produce a neatly typed document. Sho then attached the papers together and handed it over to Nino, who looked up with annoyance.
"I promise to get out of your gaming business after you have signed this," Sho said. Nino looked down to see that Sho had already typed out a contract that stated their rules, rent and other terms.
"It's only covering the very basics, though," Sho said, "we'll add clauses to it when we find out what we can't stand about each other."
"When will this contract end?" Nino asked.
"Well, when the one-month period is over and I move back to my house... or before that if I should ever want to leave earlier." Sho answered.
"What are we going to do if one of us breaches the terms and conditions of this said contract then?"
Sho bit his lip. He had not thought about that. Nino noticed it and sighed.
"Never mind. We will think about what to do then," he said and took out his pen, signing the said piece of paper.
Sho followed up with his own signature and finished just as the clock signalled the start of their work.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At lunch time, Nino strode into the crowded cafeteria, looking around at the food options available. He joined the queue at the same time as another guy and knocked into another man. Pencils spilled across the floor.
"Ah! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking!" Nino apologised as he bent down to pick up the pencils and looked up to see a tanned, chubby-faced man looking kindly at him.
"No, I wasn't looking either," he replied gently with a smile and helped Nino up. Nino handed the pencils over to him.
"You draw?" he asked.
The man nodded with a charming smile. "I'm with the Design department. Ohno Satoshi. Pleasure to meet you."
"Ah! I'm a management consultant. Ninomiya Kazunari," Nino introduced himself, shaking his hand.
"Are you new? I've not seen you around," Ohno commented as they joined the queue.
"Yes, I've recently joined Matsumoto Corporations," Nino answered," I basically do research on this company and deal with any projects coming in."
"I see. It sounds interesting," Ohno commented.
"I like your job much better though," Nino said, gesturing towards Ohno's sketch pad. Ohno chuckled.
"It's nothing much, really. We only come up with artwork for some events. We also do backdrops and stuff," Ohno added, and Nino smiled as he noted the way the man's eyes glittered as he spoke about his work. He is one example of someone who loved his job so much that he never really worked a day in his life.
... Unlike himself.
Nino sighed, and Ohno looked at him in concern.
"Are you alright?"
Nino shook his head. "It's nothing," he said before ordering himself a lunch set.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In the mean time, Sho was looking up more data when a knock came in. He looked up to see the Head of Human Resources at the door.
"Sakurai-san," she said after glancing around at the office, "I think you'll need to leave the research job to Ninomiya-san- you are needed for your first project evaluation."
Sho felt his heart soar- it was his first ever major job. And he was sure that he would do anything to impress his superiors.
Nino returned to see Sho surrounded by stacks of files on his table. Sho looked up.
"I left a message from the Head of Human Resources on your desk," Sho said and returned to work. Nino looked at his post-it, and nodded, resuming his work.
Time flew by and even at 5pm, Sho was still deeply immersed in his own work. He had been flipping files, making small bouts of walking to different departments and making post-it notes that rapidly covered the wall beside him.
"Oi," Nino said, "you are not going back?"
"No, you go," Sho said, his eyes concentrating on various calculations and figures he was performing on the spreadsheet in front of him, "I'm trying to do whatever I can do at the moment."
Nino could only nod and leave Sho to work alone for the night.
Nino gave himself a good stretch as he lounged on the bed that night.
"For once, there is no mother hen nagging me to sleep~" Nino thought as he sat up on the bed and took out his gaming controller and started his long-awaited gaming marathon until 3 am.
He woke up the next morning to his phone ringing repeatedly over and over. Nino opened his eyes and looked around his bedroom before looking at his phone. He blinked at seeing missed calls from a number he had no idea about.
"Who is this..?" he wondered as he called back, only to receive no reply. But moments later, the phone buzzed again and he picked up the phone.
"Hello? Who is this?"
He could not hear anything other than faint snoring. Confused, he hung up his phone and stepped out of his room to get ready. He looked at the empty mattress by the couch in surprise.
"He did not come home last night?" he wondered. Just then, a mail message alert beeped in his room. He checked it to see that it was from the unknown number.
"Good morning. It's Sakurai. I got your phone number from Shinohara-san last night. I used it to give you a wake-up call by auto-redialling up to ten times before stopping. If your phone had been on silent mode until now, I apologise for the inability to wake you up. I would owe you one then."
Nino could only stay frozen in quiet surprise and awe at the message he received before getting ready for work at his slow, sleepy pace that he could manage with only 5 hours of sleep.
Nino reached the office to see Sho napping on his desk table, his phone just a short distance away from his hand. He took his seat with complicated feelings as he looked over at the sleeping man who had helped him even when he did not need to.
Not that he would ever admit that, of course.
A/N: I finished this at 1.51am with a hungry stomach craving for a midnight snack (I swear I can see potato chips and bowls of cup ramen floating before my eyes). Unfortunately I really need to rein in my calorie-consuming stomach. I'm too scared of looking fat. / 3 \