(no subject)
Title: Step and Go
Rating: PG13 (some language)
Pairing: Eventually Juntoshi (side pairing! Sakuraiba)
Genre: Romance, Drama
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Chapter: Five of about ten
Summary: Nino convinces Ohno to participate in a “who can seduce Jun first” contest after a particularly troublesome rehearsal. Drama ensues.
Previous: Prologue, One, Two, Three, Four
Chapter 5
Jun began to rub his head, inwardly telling himself to calm down. It was a joke, it had all been some fucking contest between the two of them, messing with Jun’s emotions like that, throwing him around between them, asking him difficult questions about love.
Maybe this was their revenge for him being so unable to understand Sho and Aiba. Maybe he deserved this.
Jun couldn’t make himself believe this, though. As much as the overheard conversation could have destroyed the feelings that had slowly formed in his heart, all he had to do was recall Ohno’s face from the day he had cornered Jun to know Leader hadn’t been lying about his admission.
This did bring a little problem to the surface, though. Well, maybe a quite big problem. According to the tiny bit of the conversation he’d just overheard, it seemed like there had been a prank after all. There was still a possibility that Jun was being too confident in himself, that Ohno really hadn’t been honest with him, that he had just been fooled by his hero’s amazing acting skills. He could still be wrong despite the little confidence he’d managed to cultivate over the last few weeks.
Jun took a deep breath and tried to think, but his thoughts were going all directions. Ohno loved him, wait, he had just admitted it was all a prank. Maybe what he had overheard had been a lie, it was just Nino’s teasing… But Ohno had seemed to know the joke, if that were the case. There had obviously been some conversation before now that Jun had missed, too. It could be Ohno was mad at him for not saying anything to him for the last week, that the two of them had plotted some revenge… But that wasn’t Ohno. Even the different person Jun had seen in Ohno’s eyes a few weeks ago wasn’t heartless enough for such petty revenge.
None of this changed the fact that the two had been messing with his emotions behind his back, though. It seemed at least that Nino’s attachment had been part of this stupid contest the two of them had been talking about. Jun had thought that Ohno was above that, hell, he even though Nino was above something as ruthless as seducing him for the sake of proving him wrong.
Fury from being fooled by the two in such a serious situation, finding out he’d been played, joined with the insecurity of where he stood with Ohno combined to leave him still, even when he heard Nino’s footsteps approaching him.
Jun only stared at him as his band mate pushed open the door and jumped in surprise at the idol waiting for him on the other side.
“Eeh?” Nino’s hand jumped to his own chest, grabbing his shirt. “Jun-kun?” he asked tentatively, his eyes wide.
He was probably hoping Jun hadn’t heard what the two of them had been talking about. Well he had. Enough of it, at least.
“What’s this contest?” Jun demanded without missing a second. Nino didn’t answer right away, so the other star took an educated guess. “To make me fall in love with you?” His voice was very curt.
Or at least seduce him, if what Ohno had said held any value. Dammit, these two and their Goddamned pranks. He had lost a lump of confidence in the truth of what Ohno had told him before.
Even though Jun was trying to hold back his emotions and just get the bare information from Nino, he could still feel his anger and irritation coming to the surface.
The other man swallowed, and shifted his eyes nervously. It had been a long time since Jun had been this angry. Even during all the Sakuraiba stuff he’d only been annoyed, not pissed off. But for some reason now, thinking that all this worrying had been for nothing, he had lost control of himself.
“Something like that…” Nino’s response was tentative.
“Since when?” Jun asked immediately after the affirmative answer. This was an important question. Maybe the contest had started after Ohno’s confession. It wasn’t likely, though. If that were the case, Ohno probably wouldn’t have taken a part in it, or Nino would have already picked up on the awkward vibes between them. Nino wasn’t that cruel, and besides, he didn’t take part in a contest he knew he would lose.
“More than a month ago.” Jun visibly cringed, even though he had tried so hard not to. Damn damn damn. The chance that he had been played, that he had been too naïve, that he was reading into Ohno’s look too much was increasing by the second.
The drama star took a deep breath and brought his hand to his forehead. His fingers rubbed in circles for a second before he collected himself enough to look back up at Nino, who was still standing in the doorway. If this was all some big prank, why did the gamer look so upset, anyway? Usually this was the part where he laughed and explained the rules and what had transpired. But he was just standing there, looking dumbfounded and trying to come up with something to say, maybe some explanation that wouldn’t cause Jun to hit him.
While his opposition was silent, Jun immediately began thinking about the Ohno’s confession a few weeks ago, once again analyzing whether he had been sincere or if the overheard joke had been the truth. It had been a strange situation, one that Jun had not planned for, but afterwards he felt like he knew the true Ohno, not only the one Leader wanted people to know.
Ohno’s eyes had been serious, so serious it had frightened the younger idol. He had known Ohno for a long time and he’d never seen a look like that before. Ohno was always so playful, always smiling, even when it was obvious he didn’t want to be. He always looked like he only half knew what was going on and that he needed someone to explain things to him again. The star was always so cute and endearing.
But… that look. That look had left Jun frozen against the wall. It made him feel like he was looking at a different person altogether. When their eyes had connected, he felt that if he turned away he would lose everything important to him.
He felt like he had seen a glimpse of Ohno’s soul. Just a glimpse.
And it had confused him. Ohno’s soul looked only vaguely like Ohno. It still felt like him, but there was a desperation there that Jun had never seen in his Leader before. The Leader he knew, the one he had worked with for nine years, the one he prided himself on knowing everything about, was not the same Leader.
Honestly, in the pit of Jun’s stomach, he was terrified by how naïve he felt. By how much he didn’t know about Ohno.
And then.
“It’s you.”
Jun’s heart had stopped. Even when he thought of those words now, the tone of Ohno’s voice, the movement of his lips to form the syllables, the way his eyes hadn’t wavered for even for a millisecond, his heart still stopped.
Ohno hadn’t lied. Jun knew in his heart of hearts, the very center of his soul, that in that sound room, Ohno had been telling him the truth. And that’s why overhearing such compromising things from the two friends wouldn’t ruin his life. Even if it had all been a contest, even if Ohno’s confession had been part of it, even if Jun should have seen it coming, he wasn’t going to give up on Leader. This was his final decision.
He’d just have a little more trouble (well, maybe more than a little) making things work out perfectly before confronting him.
Besides, he’d been avoiding Ohno recently, trying to get his own feelings sorted out, and probably hadn’t given him or the band quite the right impression. But he couldn’t help it- he didn’t know how to cope with this new situation.
He hadn’t really been sure of all this dating boys stuff, but he had changed his mind when he realized he couldn’t live without Ohno. That if they didn’t fix this, he would lose the most important person in his life.
Jun still wasn’t sure that meant he loved him, but like was the first step to that, right? And he definitely liked Ohno. When he thought of unbuttoning his shirt and seeing that drastic contrast of pale skin against tanned arms, or Ohno desperately pressed against him as he kissed his neck…
Yeah, he couldn’t definitely live with some of that.
Jun could make this work. He’d have to make this work, if not for purely selfish reasons, at least for the band.
“Jun?” Nino’s nervous voice snapped him back to reality, and he looked up towards him from the floor tile he’d been staring at for the past few minutes. At least his anger had quelled a little bit.
They were silent for a moment, Nino obviously waiting for the other star to say something in response.
“You’re kidding, right?” Jun sighed, placing one hand on his hip and the other one over his eyes. He blinked slowly and rubbed his head again. He’d been awake far too long already and it was making him irritable. Desperation was setting in, too, faster than it usually would.
“You love him, don’t you?”
Jun’s head shot up at Nino’s question (although it sounded too confident to be a question), his eyes wide with surprise and a tinge of worry.
Otherwise, he couldn’t respond. Was he so easy to read? He thought for sure he would have to explain to the rest of the group, Ohno included, that he had just needed time to think and consider Ohno’s implied offer, that maybe he knew deep down that he’d loved Ohno for a while and just needed some prodding to fully realize it.
Since Nino didn’t elaborate, Jun eventually spit out “H-how did you know?” Okay, so he had technically just admitted it was the truth, but at least it would be helpful in finding out about this stupid contest and he wouldn’t have to beat around the bush any longer.
“You’re eyes said so.”
Jun stopped.
What the hell kind of answer was that?
“E-eyes?” God, now Jun couldn’t even get one word out. And he couldn’t look at Nino, either, his gaze was too piercing. Jun felt like he was naked in front of him.
“Why else would you get so upset over this? Usually you’d just say something like ‘Damn Nino’ and let it drop.” Nino’s voice was mostly monotone, but Jun could sense a little hurt there, too.
But at least that reason made sense. It was a valid point.
One that Jun didn’t have an answer to, other than the obvious.
Suddenly Jun realized his situation. He had just told Nino he was in love with Ohno and Nino had told him that it had all been a prank. A wave of understanding overtook him and he dropped his head into his hand again, staring down at the floor and clenching his hair.
“But it’s all just a fucking contest, right?” he mumbled, the confidence he’d possessed of Ohno loving him slowly fading again. Although he thought he knew Ohno better than that, that his friend wouldn’t go as far as to seriously mess with peoples’ emotions, that he would always do what was nice and right… the look from before still haunted him. He didn’t know Ohno anymore. He had lost his confidence in their current relationship, too.
And Nino wasn’t answering. He wasn’t saying “No, it was just a joke, I was just teasing him.” He wasn’t saying “We weren’t serious so don’t worry about it.” He wasn’t saying “Ohno’s really in love with you, too.”
Jun squeezed his eyes shut, not sure what to do with himself. Nino wasn’t helping, just standing there staring at him.
He’d been had. He must have been had. This must have been some way to get him back, to prove him wrong.
A few seconds later, past all of these thoughts shooting through his mind, he heard Nino give a sigh of defeat.
“No. It’s not.”
It took Jun a few seconds to realize the meaning of what Nino said.
Ever so slowly, Matsujun lifted his head a fraction and dropped his hands, looking up at Nino through his long eyelashes.
“What?” His question was barely audible, his voice raspy when he spoke.
“Ohno… Not even a week after I suggested the competition, he said that he didn’t think it was going anywhere and that we should give up. I think… he didn’t like playing with your emotions like that, even though it was all in good fun. I don’t think he wanted to hurt you.” Nino left the obvious “I think he knew you loved him” unsaid.
Jun swallowed. There hadn’t been a contest. Ohno’s words hadn’t been part of the contest. He could still be telling the truth. Damn Nino for taking so long to tell him.
Once again, Jun began to reorganize his thoughts, immediately throwing out the ones that started with “It was all a fucking contest…” That didn’t really explain the conversation in the hallway, but he supposed that could have been teasing after all. He hadn’t really heard the words in context; they could have been talking about anything before hand.
But most importantly, there was still a chance for him with Ohno. Maybe he could use this situation to his advantage and force Nino to help him with the proper dating proposal etiquette. Or at least tell him what to say, since the star couldn’t come up with anything himself.
Jun looked up again and their eyes met. The gamer smiled at him nervously, but his aura was sad. Actually, he’d been acting a little strange during this conversation, seeming nervous when he would usually be laughing, sulking when he should have been boasting. Nino must have had more invested in this contest than Jun realized.
His relief was overtaken once again by anxiety. Nino wasn’t lying, either. If he was, he’d have that mischievous prank glint in his eyes while right now they still looked depressed.
Unable to tell why his band mate was so upset over this when it didn’t seem to concern him, Jun pondered the possibilities. The only reason he could come up with was feeling guilty because his contest had messed with his friends’ emotions… but honestly, that wasn’t anything new. Jun was annoyed by Nino all the time, more than anyone else in the group, anyway. Maybe it was the fact that he had unwittingly screwed up a potential relationship between Jun and Ohno…but if that were the case, wouldn’t he be trying to fix it now instead of just sulking? It would probably be easiest to find the answer by just asking him. If Jun could get it out of him, that was.
The two idols stood still for a moment, not breaking their gaze, despite Jun’s discomfort. Suddenly, it felt like emotions were streaming from Nino’s eyes straight into his, not only showing him everything Nino was feeling, but telling him he was doing this on purpose. He was trying to tell Jun something.
Finally, Nino lowered his gaze, his eyes slowly blinking and then refocusing on his hands, which he had pulled in front of him.
Jun had seen enough, though.
But he was going to pretend like he hadn’t. He couldn’t deal with the pressure of Nino’s confession, too, when he hadn’t even resolved the first one. Jun swallowed and cleared his throat, looking at some poles leaning against the wall to the left. He felt Nino look at him again, but couldn’t meet his gaze.
“Let me be miserable for a little while, would you? Before you two get all Juntoshi on me.”
He couldn’t help but snap his head back in surprise at Nino’s sudden comment. If anyone knew something of Ohno’s feelings it would be Nino, so that gave him hope. It also left him just as nervous as before as he realized the double meaning. Was Nino really going to give up so that….
Jun stopped. He wasn’t going to go there, not now. Not when he was so close to getting Ohno. Besides, Nino had pretty much just told him he was giving up (for the time being anyway). He would have to worry about the gamer’s advances when the time came and hopefully that would be a long, long time.
Jun forced a nervous smile, unsure how to respond to Nino’s request. “Sure…”
“Just promise me you’ll tell him soon? You’re driving him to depression.” Nino laughed despite his continual vibe of sadness, and placed his hands on his hips playfully.
Jun’s heart leapt at the words.
He swallowed slowly before answering.
“I don’t know how…” He looked down at his hands shyly. Actually, that had been the main reason he had been so awkward around Ohno recently. He knew what he should say and do, but getting his body to do it was another matter. Despite being so close to Ohno (and the other member of the band, as a matter of fact) when he realized maybe this is love, suddenly he couldn’t repress his awkward teenage tendencies of blushing and stumbling over his words. Jun knew he had been giving the wrong signals, that Ohno was getting further away and not closer, but he just couldn’t do it. He was too nervous.
This time Nino’s laugh sounded a little more genuine. “The Matsujun having a problem just talking to someone? Someone he’s been in a band with for the last nine years?” Nino leaned his head forward a little to emphasize his incredulity.
Jun blushed at the accusation, but it was completely true and he wouldn’t deny it.
Nino sighed teasingly and walked forward, putting his arm around Jun’s shoulder and slowly turned him, pulling him back across the stage. The two of them walked a few steps with a confused look on the younger’s face before Nino began giving him advice on what to say to Ohno and how to say it.
+ + +
A/N: See? I updated the cliff hanger pretty fast, didn't I? Thanks for reading!
Suggestions and criticism are welcome. ^.^
On to chapter 6!!
Rating: PG13 (some language)
Pairing: Eventually Juntoshi (side pairing! Sakuraiba)
Genre: Romance, Drama
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Chapter: Five of about ten
Summary: Nino convinces Ohno to participate in a “who can seduce Jun first” contest after a particularly troublesome rehearsal. Drama ensues.
Previous: Prologue, One, Two, Three, Four
Chapter 5
Jun began to rub his head, inwardly telling himself to calm down. It was a joke, it had all been some fucking contest between the two of them, messing with Jun’s emotions like that, throwing him around between them, asking him difficult questions about love.
Maybe this was their revenge for him being so unable to understand Sho and Aiba. Maybe he deserved this.
Jun couldn’t make himself believe this, though. As much as the overheard conversation could have destroyed the feelings that had slowly formed in his heart, all he had to do was recall Ohno’s face from the day he had cornered Jun to know Leader hadn’t been lying about his admission.
This did bring a little problem to the surface, though. Well, maybe a quite big problem. According to the tiny bit of the conversation he’d just overheard, it seemed like there had been a prank after all. There was still a possibility that Jun was being too confident in himself, that Ohno really hadn’t been honest with him, that he had just been fooled by his hero’s amazing acting skills. He could still be wrong despite the little confidence he’d managed to cultivate over the last few weeks.
Jun took a deep breath and tried to think, but his thoughts were going all directions. Ohno loved him, wait, he had just admitted it was all a prank. Maybe what he had overheard had been a lie, it was just Nino’s teasing… But Ohno had seemed to know the joke, if that were the case. There had obviously been some conversation before now that Jun had missed, too. It could be Ohno was mad at him for not saying anything to him for the last week, that the two of them had plotted some revenge… But that wasn’t Ohno. Even the different person Jun had seen in Ohno’s eyes a few weeks ago wasn’t heartless enough for such petty revenge.
None of this changed the fact that the two had been messing with his emotions behind his back, though. It seemed at least that Nino’s attachment had been part of this stupid contest the two of them had been talking about. Jun had thought that Ohno was above that, hell, he even though Nino was above something as ruthless as seducing him for the sake of proving him wrong.
Fury from being fooled by the two in such a serious situation, finding out he’d been played, joined with the insecurity of where he stood with Ohno combined to leave him still, even when he heard Nino’s footsteps approaching him.
Jun only stared at him as his band mate pushed open the door and jumped in surprise at the idol waiting for him on the other side.
“Eeh?” Nino’s hand jumped to his own chest, grabbing his shirt. “Jun-kun?” he asked tentatively, his eyes wide.
He was probably hoping Jun hadn’t heard what the two of them had been talking about. Well he had. Enough of it, at least.
“What’s this contest?” Jun demanded without missing a second. Nino didn’t answer right away, so the other star took an educated guess. “To make me fall in love with you?” His voice was very curt.
Or at least seduce him, if what Ohno had said held any value. Dammit, these two and their Goddamned pranks. He had lost a lump of confidence in the truth of what Ohno had told him before.
Even though Jun was trying to hold back his emotions and just get the bare information from Nino, he could still feel his anger and irritation coming to the surface.
The other man swallowed, and shifted his eyes nervously. It had been a long time since Jun had been this angry. Even during all the Sakuraiba stuff he’d only been annoyed, not pissed off. But for some reason now, thinking that all this worrying had been for nothing, he had lost control of himself.
“Something like that…” Nino’s response was tentative.
“Since when?” Jun asked immediately after the affirmative answer. This was an important question. Maybe the contest had started after Ohno’s confession. It wasn’t likely, though. If that were the case, Ohno probably wouldn’t have taken a part in it, or Nino would have already picked up on the awkward vibes between them. Nino wasn’t that cruel, and besides, he didn’t take part in a contest he knew he would lose.
“More than a month ago.” Jun visibly cringed, even though he had tried so hard not to. Damn damn damn. The chance that he had been played, that he had been too naïve, that he was reading into Ohno’s look too much was increasing by the second.
The drama star took a deep breath and brought his hand to his forehead. His fingers rubbed in circles for a second before he collected himself enough to look back up at Nino, who was still standing in the doorway. If this was all some big prank, why did the gamer look so upset, anyway? Usually this was the part where he laughed and explained the rules and what had transpired. But he was just standing there, looking dumbfounded and trying to come up with something to say, maybe some explanation that wouldn’t cause Jun to hit him.
While his opposition was silent, Jun immediately began thinking about the Ohno’s confession a few weeks ago, once again analyzing whether he had been sincere or if the overheard joke had been the truth. It had been a strange situation, one that Jun had not planned for, but afterwards he felt like he knew the true Ohno, not only the one Leader wanted people to know.
Ohno’s eyes had been serious, so serious it had frightened the younger idol. He had known Ohno for a long time and he’d never seen a look like that before. Ohno was always so playful, always smiling, even when it was obvious he didn’t want to be. He always looked like he only half knew what was going on and that he needed someone to explain things to him again. The star was always so cute and endearing.
But… that look. That look had left Jun frozen against the wall. It made him feel like he was looking at a different person altogether. When their eyes had connected, he felt that if he turned away he would lose everything important to him.
He felt like he had seen a glimpse of Ohno’s soul. Just a glimpse.
And it had confused him. Ohno’s soul looked only vaguely like Ohno. It still felt like him, but there was a desperation there that Jun had never seen in his Leader before. The Leader he knew, the one he had worked with for nine years, the one he prided himself on knowing everything about, was not the same Leader.
Honestly, in the pit of Jun’s stomach, he was terrified by how naïve he felt. By how much he didn’t know about Ohno.
And then.
“It’s you.”
Jun’s heart had stopped. Even when he thought of those words now, the tone of Ohno’s voice, the movement of his lips to form the syllables, the way his eyes hadn’t wavered for even for a millisecond, his heart still stopped.
Ohno hadn’t lied. Jun knew in his heart of hearts, the very center of his soul, that in that sound room, Ohno had been telling him the truth. And that’s why overhearing such compromising things from the two friends wouldn’t ruin his life. Even if it had all been a contest, even if Ohno’s confession had been part of it, even if Jun should have seen it coming, he wasn’t going to give up on Leader. This was his final decision.
He’d just have a little more trouble (well, maybe more than a little) making things work out perfectly before confronting him.
Besides, he’d been avoiding Ohno recently, trying to get his own feelings sorted out, and probably hadn’t given him or the band quite the right impression. But he couldn’t help it- he didn’t know how to cope with this new situation.
He hadn’t really been sure of all this dating boys stuff, but he had changed his mind when he realized he couldn’t live without Ohno. That if they didn’t fix this, he would lose the most important person in his life.
Jun still wasn’t sure that meant he loved him, but like was the first step to that, right? And he definitely liked Ohno. When he thought of unbuttoning his shirt and seeing that drastic contrast of pale skin against tanned arms, or Ohno desperately pressed against him as he kissed his neck…
Yeah, he couldn’t definitely live with some of that.
Jun could make this work. He’d have to make this work, if not for purely selfish reasons, at least for the band.
“Jun?” Nino’s nervous voice snapped him back to reality, and he looked up towards him from the floor tile he’d been staring at for the past few minutes. At least his anger had quelled a little bit.
They were silent for a moment, Nino obviously waiting for the other star to say something in response.
“You’re kidding, right?” Jun sighed, placing one hand on his hip and the other one over his eyes. He blinked slowly and rubbed his head again. He’d been awake far too long already and it was making him irritable. Desperation was setting in, too, faster than it usually would.
“You love him, don’t you?”
Jun’s head shot up at Nino’s question (although it sounded too confident to be a question), his eyes wide with surprise and a tinge of worry.
Otherwise, he couldn’t respond. Was he so easy to read? He thought for sure he would have to explain to the rest of the group, Ohno included, that he had just needed time to think and consider Ohno’s implied offer, that maybe he knew deep down that he’d loved Ohno for a while and just needed some prodding to fully realize it.
Since Nino didn’t elaborate, Jun eventually spit out “H-how did you know?” Okay, so he had technically just admitted it was the truth, but at least it would be helpful in finding out about this stupid contest and he wouldn’t have to beat around the bush any longer.
“You’re eyes said so.”
Jun stopped.
What the hell kind of answer was that?
“E-eyes?” God, now Jun couldn’t even get one word out. And he couldn’t look at Nino, either, his gaze was too piercing. Jun felt like he was naked in front of him.
“Why else would you get so upset over this? Usually you’d just say something like ‘Damn Nino’ and let it drop.” Nino’s voice was mostly monotone, but Jun could sense a little hurt there, too.
But at least that reason made sense. It was a valid point.
One that Jun didn’t have an answer to, other than the obvious.
Suddenly Jun realized his situation. He had just told Nino he was in love with Ohno and Nino had told him that it had all been a prank. A wave of understanding overtook him and he dropped his head into his hand again, staring down at the floor and clenching his hair.
“But it’s all just a fucking contest, right?” he mumbled, the confidence he’d possessed of Ohno loving him slowly fading again. Although he thought he knew Ohno better than that, that his friend wouldn’t go as far as to seriously mess with peoples’ emotions, that he would always do what was nice and right… the look from before still haunted him. He didn’t know Ohno anymore. He had lost his confidence in their current relationship, too.
And Nino wasn’t answering. He wasn’t saying “No, it was just a joke, I was just teasing him.” He wasn’t saying “We weren’t serious so don’t worry about it.” He wasn’t saying “Ohno’s really in love with you, too.”
Jun squeezed his eyes shut, not sure what to do with himself. Nino wasn’t helping, just standing there staring at him.
He’d been had. He must have been had. This must have been some way to get him back, to prove him wrong.
A few seconds later, past all of these thoughts shooting through his mind, he heard Nino give a sigh of defeat.
“No. It’s not.”
It took Jun a few seconds to realize the meaning of what Nino said.
Ever so slowly, Matsujun lifted his head a fraction and dropped his hands, looking up at Nino through his long eyelashes.
“What?” His question was barely audible, his voice raspy when he spoke.
“Ohno… Not even a week after I suggested the competition, he said that he didn’t think it was going anywhere and that we should give up. I think… he didn’t like playing with your emotions like that, even though it was all in good fun. I don’t think he wanted to hurt you.” Nino left the obvious “I think he knew you loved him” unsaid.
Jun swallowed. There hadn’t been a contest. Ohno’s words hadn’t been part of the contest. He could still be telling the truth. Damn Nino for taking so long to tell him.
Once again, Jun began to reorganize his thoughts, immediately throwing out the ones that started with “It was all a fucking contest…” That didn’t really explain the conversation in the hallway, but he supposed that could have been teasing after all. He hadn’t really heard the words in context; they could have been talking about anything before hand.
But most importantly, there was still a chance for him with Ohno. Maybe he could use this situation to his advantage and force Nino to help him with the proper dating proposal etiquette. Or at least tell him what to say, since the star couldn’t come up with anything himself.
Jun looked up again and their eyes met. The gamer smiled at him nervously, but his aura was sad. Actually, he’d been acting a little strange during this conversation, seeming nervous when he would usually be laughing, sulking when he should have been boasting. Nino must have had more invested in this contest than Jun realized.
His relief was overtaken once again by anxiety. Nino wasn’t lying, either. If he was, he’d have that mischievous prank glint in his eyes while right now they still looked depressed.
Unable to tell why his band mate was so upset over this when it didn’t seem to concern him, Jun pondered the possibilities. The only reason he could come up with was feeling guilty because his contest had messed with his friends’ emotions… but honestly, that wasn’t anything new. Jun was annoyed by Nino all the time, more than anyone else in the group, anyway. Maybe it was the fact that he had unwittingly screwed up a potential relationship between Jun and Ohno…but if that were the case, wouldn’t he be trying to fix it now instead of just sulking? It would probably be easiest to find the answer by just asking him. If Jun could get it out of him, that was.
The two idols stood still for a moment, not breaking their gaze, despite Jun’s discomfort. Suddenly, it felt like emotions were streaming from Nino’s eyes straight into his, not only showing him everything Nino was feeling, but telling him he was doing this on purpose. He was trying to tell Jun something.
Finally, Nino lowered his gaze, his eyes slowly blinking and then refocusing on his hands, which he had pulled in front of him.
Jun had seen enough, though.
But he was going to pretend like he hadn’t. He couldn’t deal with the pressure of Nino’s confession, too, when he hadn’t even resolved the first one. Jun swallowed and cleared his throat, looking at some poles leaning against the wall to the left. He felt Nino look at him again, but couldn’t meet his gaze.
“Let me be miserable for a little while, would you? Before you two get all Juntoshi on me.”
He couldn’t help but snap his head back in surprise at Nino’s sudden comment. If anyone knew something of Ohno’s feelings it would be Nino, so that gave him hope. It also left him just as nervous as before as he realized the double meaning. Was Nino really going to give up so that….
Jun stopped. He wasn’t going to go there, not now. Not when he was so close to getting Ohno. Besides, Nino had pretty much just told him he was giving up (for the time being anyway). He would have to worry about the gamer’s advances when the time came and hopefully that would be a long, long time.
Jun forced a nervous smile, unsure how to respond to Nino’s request. “Sure…”
“Just promise me you’ll tell him soon? You’re driving him to depression.” Nino laughed despite his continual vibe of sadness, and placed his hands on his hips playfully.
Jun’s heart leapt at the words.
He swallowed slowly before answering.
“I don’t know how…” He looked down at his hands shyly. Actually, that had been the main reason he had been so awkward around Ohno recently. He knew what he should say and do, but getting his body to do it was another matter. Despite being so close to Ohno (and the other member of the band, as a matter of fact) when he realized maybe this is love, suddenly he couldn’t repress his awkward teenage tendencies of blushing and stumbling over his words. Jun knew he had been giving the wrong signals, that Ohno was getting further away and not closer, but he just couldn’t do it. He was too nervous.
This time Nino’s laugh sounded a little more genuine. “The Matsujun having a problem just talking to someone? Someone he’s been in a band with for the last nine years?” Nino leaned his head forward a little to emphasize his incredulity.
Jun blushed at the accusation, but it was completely true and he wouldn’t deny it.
Nino sighed teasingly and walked forward, putting his arm around Jun’s shoulder and slowly turned him, pulling him back across the stage. The two of them walked a few steps with a confused look on the younger’s face before Nino began giving him advice on what to say to Ohno and how to say it.
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A/N: See? I updated the cliff hanger pretty fast, didn't I? Thanks for reading!
Suggestions and criticism are welcome. ^.^
On to chapter 6!!