Behind It All - Chapter 2
Title: Behind it all
Pairing: Nino x YOU
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I don't own Arashi, particularly Nino, Johnny's or you.
Summary: Ever since Nino got involved in Johnny's you were there for him. He turned to you, and you were there.
A/N: Since this fic is based on facts that I got from the internet about Arashi and Nino's "history", I don't guarantee that the facts in here are 100% correct.
Junior Days
“Tomorrow’s your first day of officially being a Johnny’s. You should be happier about it,” you said.
Nino was sitting next to you, deep in thought. “I guess I should. But what if this kind of thing isn’t for me?”
“All we can do is wait and see.”
And that’s what you both did in your own ways. While Nino trained as a Junior in the Jimusho, you helped out him in every way you could. You kept yourself busy in helping him at first, but as time passed, Nino got used to being a Junior. He’s been trained to sing and dance and do some tricks like back flips, and he met other Juniors training with him.
There were some newfound friends, like Aiba Masaki.
Nino would always say, “Aiba-kun’s been my friend since our first day. He’s a year older than me, but I find him more playful and more happy-go-lucky than I am. We even ride the same train line together after training.”
He admired some of his senpais too.
“There’s this guy, Satoshi-senpai, who is really admired by a lot in Johnny’s. He’s a great singer and dancer. I haven’t just heard it from others, I’ve seen him perform. Man, I just want to be like him sometimes.”
When you asked if there were “special” guys among them…
“Some guy named Matsumoto Jun. Aiba-kun says this guy’s an elite member, meaning he didn’t go to an audition like most do.”
And, apparently, there was this one guy who would get on his nerves.
“That guy pisses me off,” Nino muttered.
“Who pisses you off?” you asked.
“Sho Sakurai.” He said the name with disgust.
“What’s so bad about him?”
“He’s bossy. Just because he’s my senpai doesn’t mean he has to scold me because of some food that other people didn’t clean up.”
“He scolded you for not cleaning up after eating?”
“He should have scolded my companions, not me.”
“Don’t tell me you made an enemy!”
“I don’t want to think of him as an enemy. I mean, when he needs help I help him and vice versa.”
Other than that, he was surprisingly doing well in the Jimusho.
At fifteen, he starred in his first drama, Amagi Goe. As you sat there next to him watching the drama, you couldn’t help but think about the day he surprised everyone.
~
“Ew! What happened to your hair?”
“What have you done to yourself?”
“Can somebody call the fashion police?”
It was just a regular morning in the classroom, until your classmates started some kind of uproar.
What was the commotion about? Some classmates made harsh comments, while others were just plain confused. Rather, who were they talking about?
whispered in your ear. “Hey, check out Nino’s hairstyle. It’s causing quite a fuss.”
You moved towards the small crowd and saw an irritated Ninomiya wearing a crew cut. Not exactly a short crew cut, but a little longer than that.
“My hairstyle is for work, okay? Now quit bugging me,” Nino said trying to push away from everyone crowding him. He was headed to your direction.
What are you going to do? Was there anything to say to him? His hairstyle was pretty weird, admittedly.
The taunts and comments grew louder. Nino seemed more desperate to get away.
“Everyone! Stop teasing Nino about his haircut!”
What were you doing, trying to get attention to yourself? Only a few people near you glimpsed at you, but they quickly turned their heads away.
When you realized no one would bother to look at you, you stood up on your desk. In a louder voice, you said, “Everyone! Would you please stop creating havoc over Nino’s haircut? You don’t want us to get reported, do you?”
That caught everyone’s attention.
Every pair of eyes was on you now. Nino’s face was filled with shock, his eyes wide open and his jaw slightly dropping.
You were about to get down from your desk when someone yelled, “You’re just saying that because you have a crush on Nino.”
And to add to that, people seemed to nod their heads in agreement. Others started to tease you. You felt your face go red.
“Stop acting so childish!” you said. “The point is that we shouldn’t tease someone about his or her haircut.”
“Yeah, especially if it’s Nino’s,” a voice interrupted.
Your face grew hotter but you continued, “It’s annoying to make too much noise over a haircut. I mean, where’s the sense in that, people?”
You added, “Look, what I’m just pointing out is that we shouldn’t go wild over Nino’s haircut and that we shouldn’t make too much noise or we’d get into trouble-“
“! Explain to me why you are standing on your desk!” your teacher yelled.
“I’m sorry!” you exclaimed, hurriedly jumping from your desk and sitting on your chair.
Everyone else scurried to their seats. Nino brushed against you. “Thanks”, he whispered and quickly went to his seat.
~
You sat there laughing, while Nino gave you a puzzled stare.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“I was thinking about the day you amazed everyone with your haircut,” you answered with a smile.
“Don’t remind me,” Nino groaned. “None of the girls wanted to talk to me during the school trip. The next day.”
“Hey, I did.”
“Yeah, but you were hanging out with and your other friends for the whole trip.”
“Don’t blame me for girls not talking to you. That wasn’t my fault,” you insisted, laughing.
He laughed along with you. After a while, both of you kept quiet.
Breaking the silence, Nino mumbled, “Too bad that’s going to be my last.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That school trip is going to be my last school trip for the rest of my life,” Nino muttered with a seemingly sad smile.
“Rather than moping around like an old man, it would be better to tell me what you’re mumbling about.”
“I wasn’t moping around.”
“So what’s going on this time?”
At first, Nino seemed to hesitate to tell you, but he did. “Because I’m not going to high school.”
The news surprised you. Unconsciously raising your voice, you exclaimed, “What? Why not?”
All he said was, “I knew this would surprise you.” Seeing your stunned expression, he added, “I have a lot of work coming up. I just need to concentrate on my work instead. I’m still going to learn, but through homeschooling.”
There was only one word you could say. “Still…”
“I’ll be alright. Believe me.” Nino said those words, eyes full of conviction.
~
After another day of school, you slowly opened the door to your house when Nino called out your name.
You turned around to see Nino bending down the same way he did three years he told you about joining Johnny’s. Like before, his eyes were directly on yours.
“You will not believe what I am about to tell you.” The words were similar to those before. You made a tiny smile, thinking how this seemed to be a replay of the past.
You decided to fool around a little. “Relax. Come inside and give me the news when you’re ready.”
As soon as both of you got inside, Nino sat on the couch breathing heavily.
Grinning widely, he said, “You will be one of the first to know about this.”
You smiled back and sat down next to him. “Really? Only one of the first? I wanted to be the first.”
“I had to tell my mom you know,” Nino said smirking a little.
“What’s the big news then?” With Nino acting this way, it was obvious that big news was awaiting you.
“It’s a pretty long story. So here goes,” Nino started.
“Remember that guy, Sho Sakurai? I don’t hate him anymore,” Nino said.
“So you made a new friend and lost an enemy,” you interrupted.
“Don’t interrupt my story! Anyway, Sho-kun and I went to the office because we both wanted to quit.”
“You wanted to quit?” you interrupted again.
“That’s beside the point. We went to the office together because we wanted to quit, and then we saw it. A big, bold kanji character on a whole stack of papers full of new group names. Arashi.
“Sho-kun and I examined the paper on top of the stack. Then out of the blue, Johnny-san came and told us that the two of us would debut as Arashi.
Nino sat there with his wide, beaming smile. You couldn’t help but smile either.
Unable to stop yourself, you hugged him, screaming, “Congratulations! All your hard work finally paid off!”
Nino struggled a little. “Aaah! Get off me!” he shouted, laughing away and playfully wrapping his arms around you.
A/N: I got a little excited and posted this chapter already. Please tell me if the chapters are too long. XD
I KNOW YOU WANTED TO HUG NINO. I might post Chapter 3 next week. I think about when this fic series would end :( Thanks for reading! <(^_^)>