Now and Forever...Itsumademo... - Chapter 11B
Title: Now and Forever…いつまでも…
Author: Mayonaka no Taiyou/Unare Haineko
Pairing: [Juntoshi] Matsumoto Jun x Ohno Satoshi
Rating: R-ish. [I am changing this rating to R due to the direction I am taking with this story. I probably should have done it earlier, but I think it is time to officially change it since I have decided which direction ( Read more... )
I’ve noticed a habit of Aiba’s. He tends to tug at the bandages and poke at his bandaged wounds whenever he thinks that he’s doing something wrong by Sho. Within Chapter 11, we have two instances of this, namely (a) when he hears muffled sounds of sex and he pokes at his wounds thinking of Sho, and (b) when Fa-nine offers him some ‘ass’, he pokes at his wounds again thinking about Sho and how he can’t possibly betray him. This happened in an earlier chapter when Sho pleads with Aiba not to go out. Once again, Aiba prods at his own wounds.
Despite the fact that Aiba keeps telling himself he can’t betray Sho in any way, he is betraying Sho’s trust by cutting his wrists time and time again. What makes this thing even more ironic is that Aiba seems to treat his wrist slashes as ‘badges of honour’ that he wears to remind himself to be loyal to Sho. It’s as if he needs to remind himself of his loyalty and fidelity.
(1) Why does he need to remind himself of it?
(2) Does he fear that he would stray?
(3) He doesn’t trust himself to remain ‘loyal’ and ‘true’ and ‘faithful’ to Sho if he doesn’t see those slashes on his wrists?
(4) Does he actually want Sho to hurt him emotionally so that he can continue slashing his wrists to ‘prove his worth’ to Sho as it were?
I also have to ask:
(5) Is the fellow who chatted up Aiba up at the club significant? It was a blink-and-miss line, but one never knows with your stories…
On Tiny & Jersey
The double entendre you created with Tiny is wonderful. The Chinese character太 has two meanings - (a) sun, and (b) huge. If we take meaning (b) and read as太兄 as ‘Huge Brother’, it creates some laughs since Tiny is a hulky sort of fellow. The name is pronounced as ‘Tiny’ in Japanese. We know ‘Tiny’ means small or minute in English. However, the meaning of the name is literally ‘huge brother’. A delicious irony, which of cheered me up considerable when I read it. Now, I have a few questions vis-à-vis Tiny.
Tiny is a friendly enough chap (I can tell that), but he talks too much when he’s among people he likes (e.g. Aiba). That means he is an indiscreet fellow. We know that because he has revealed that Fa-nine gives ‘extra’ to regular clients like M. Jersey; and Tiny also nearly reveals the location of M. Jersey’s soiree.
(1) What role does Tiny have in our little drama?
(2) If he can reveal that Fa-nine gives away extras to regular patrons and he nearly lets slip the location of Jersey’s party, what else has Tiny let slip?
(3) If indeed Tiny has let slip about things (to those he likes and those he trusts), what sort of things has he blabbed about? About Fa-nine’s business? About Aiba?
(4) If he has blabbed about Aiba, to whom has he blabbed and what did he say?
(5) Are these people to whom Tiny has blabbed reliable? Are they really trustworthy?
Additionally, I have to ask about Jersey:
(6) Who is Jersey?
(7) Does Jersey resell the drugs he obtains from Fa-nine to his young and rich ‘guests’ at his party?
(8) What kind of set does Jersey move in society that he rubs shoulders with the young and rich and extremely bored lot?
(9) Where is his soiree? The mention of using the ‘back gate’ somehow conjures images of servants in the back door letting Tiny in to peddle his wares.
(10) How does all the Jersey and Fa-nine business tie in with the Aiba business? Is it through Tiny’s rather amiable but shockingly loose tongue?
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(5) the club fellow--not significant. Don't worry about him. Just making a point about Aiba's issues with fidelity.
Tiny. I thought you might get a kick out of his name. 太 is read as 'tai' in Japanese and 兄 is read as 'nii' like in 'niisan'. Tiny is named after this guy I used to work with. His nickname was 'Tiny' but he was a huge Polynesian man. He looked really scary, but he was really nice (and extremely talkative).
Tiny is indeed significant (while not to the extent of someone like Daisuke or Kei) and despite Fa-nine's efforts to keep certain aspects (such as the client's true identities) confidential, Tiny will of course inevitably let something slip...nothing new.
Jersey! Yes...Jersey is also significant towards the main plot. Just between the two of us, Jersey is a nickname (like Ki-Sa-Ma) that Fa-nine has given to this particular client. And as you can see, for good reason, lest Tiny spill the real identities of this particular client (who is actually--*gasp* someone M. Aiba is familiar with! You can probably figure his identity out...). But...you didn't hear me say that... *walks away whistling*
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The pun over "Tiny" is wonderful. It was one of the highlights of this chapter, other than Jun's self-blame (which is my favourite of his reflection series so far). I do expect the garrulous Tiny to say something. You've practically set things up for that, as indicated above.
Ah ha! I knew Jersey was important! Vindication! *bwahaha* Must figure out all about Jersey
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