[Sakumoto Fic]: Thunderstorms and Tempest Cloud 3: The Downpour Doesn't Let Up
Pairing: Sakumoto
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,883 words
Genre: Romance, angst
Disclaimer: Purely a figment of my imagination; the fic, that is. Not them, of course. :)
Summary: DoS is gonna turn himself into DoM soon if he keeps fretting about "What if...".
A/N: Switch of perspective for this part, and the revelation of which member it was that stumbled into the stairwell confrontation. Short part to avoid a need to cut into parts, but here’s a bonus. J Comments are love.
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[ Prologue] | [ Chapter 1] | [ Chapter 2.1] | [ Chapter 2.2]
The footsteps that belonged to Jun were fading, even as he could hear the paces picking up speed. Soon, those sounds disappeared altogether, leaving only the dragged out breaths that Sho realised he was having difficulty drawing into his trembling body. That, and the nervous clearance of a throat above him.
The coldness of the floor should have chilled him, but the heat coursing through his veins didn’t seem to allow that fact to register. In fact, it served as a welcome balm. Starring up into the questioning gaze of the only other person still in the immediate vicinity, Sho didn’t know what to say.
“What… happened?” The question was neutral, curious but respectful not to push further if Sho didn’t want to say anything.
What happened was precisely what Sho wanted to know too. He had no idea what had provoked the exchange that had just occurred.
“You may have regretted what you said that night, and I won’t… can’t blame you for it.”
What night was Jun referring to? The last time Sho recalled the two of them having a conversation was the previous week about filming the coming Ousama no Branch promotions for the Himitsu no Arashi-chan Special. After that… after that, he’d been busy with the final shootings and crank-up party for Tokujou. Although… he vaguely recalled seeing Jun’s cell number in his handphone’s ‘called numbers’ list when he’d gotten his battery recharged a couple of days back. But try as he might, he didn’t remember any recent private conversation he had with the younger man that had to do with answers or any matter where he had changed his mind. Or did he? Any further musings were interrupted by the voice at his side.
“Come on. Oh-chan’s doing what he can to keep Nino from hunting you guys down, so let’s not make it harder for him.” Aiba tried to keep his tone light, even as he reached out a hand to help the still-stunned man off the ground.
With Aiba trailing slightly behind, both men were silent as they made their way back to the other two members. Ever the rational and logical one, Sho tried to roll over the events of the past few days to see if he could come up with a plausible explanation for what had transpired in the stairwell, and almost failed to notice as the door to their green room swung open a little too forcefully.
“What’s with the hold up?” Nino pulled up short, his impatience seeming to rise a notch as he craned his neck to glance behind the two men and realised that they were still a man short. Sho’s felt his jaw tighten a little as he tried to find an excuse to account for Jun’s absence, but before he could say anything, the brief flicker of confusion on Nino’s face, then subsequent narrowing of his eyes caused him to turn back to look at Aiba. Sho barely caught the animal trainer desperately gesticulating behind him. Flushing in embarrassment to have been caught in the act, Aiba quickly wrapped his arms tightly around himself and developed a fierce interest in tracing the carpeted hallway with his sneakered toe.
“Sho, what did you say to Hime-sama that we’re still waiting for Jun to grace us with his presence?” Nino said huffily, crossing his arms to lean his weight on the door.
The muffled moan behind him did little to bring down the ire that Sho was beginning to feel rise in him. He was the one who had had his ass handed to him, and yet somehow he was the one who had been sent to the firing squad. What he considered ‘reasonability’ had pretty much taken a flying leap out the window, and the last thing he needed right now was a mouthing-off from the resident gamer. Nonetheless, he knew that whatever had happened between Jun and himself could not be blamed on Nino, so he took a deep breath to rein in his temper. Biting back an unnecessary retort, he sidestepped the slighter-built man to enter the waiting room. Catching Ohno’s upward glance as he entered, he wondered if it was his imagination when a flash of worry seemed to cross the older man’s expression.
“Jun… needs ten minutes,” Sho offered weakly. The oldest gave a non-committal smile that, if nothing else, showed that he did not want a piece of Sho’s already frazzled nerves. Sighing, he dropped his weight on the couch, noting mockingly to himself that he was taking the seat that Jun had previously occupied. Staring at the somewhat crumpled sheaf of papers Jun had placed on the table, Sho was again drawn into the web of his own confusion.
When Nino and Aiba silently entered barely a minute later, Sho felt two pairs of eyes trained on him, despite pointed ignorance of the glances Aiba and Nino took turns throwing at him. Undoubtedly, Aiba had clued his staring partner in on what he had heard, but Sho was in no mood to answer any questions when he had so many of his own.
When Jun finally re-entered after around five minutes, Sho was uncertain whether to be relieved or frustrated at the former’s aloof attempt to avoid any eye contact. The group members filed out to the Shukudai set in an awkward silence which everyone felt, but no one addressed. The relief, however, was apparent on the faces of the members of the staff who were aware of the delay, but could do nothing to hasten things.
“Is everything okay?” Ogura-san asked. Sho could only give a tense smile, but was unsure of how much to reveal in the first place.
“Sorry Ogura-san.” Jun stepped in to respond, and Sho felt a tinge of gratefulness despite whatever was happening between the two of them.
“Everything okay, Jun-kun? Your eyes look a little red and worse for wear,” noted the senior with concern in his voice.
“Just… my contacts. Giving me some problems,” Jun stumbled a little. It was a clear signal to Sho that Jun was obviously badly upset to the extent that the usual perfectionist had not thought of an excuse to explain the need for the delay.
It was not a realization that gave him much comfort.
Thankfully, the shoot for the final episode proceeded smoothly without a hitch, and those not in the know would have thought there were absolutely no problems within the group as they bantered effortlessly. Sho was, however, constantly keeping a discrete eye on the youngest, telling himself that it was just to ensure no further emotional strain would be added since the fallout from their earlier conversation - if the words they had spoken could even be called that. Yet, Jun’s demeanour betrayed nothing of the sort. They could even laugh with each other when Jun became the golden Pharaoh as part of his punishment in the games. As moments passed, Sho wondered if the encounter in the stairwell had indeed just been a figment of his overactive mind. But he was reminded again it was not when he noted Jun occasionally slipped into moments of quietness towards the end when he thought no one was looking, or drifted to sit slightly apart from everyone else. These moments, however, were far and few in between, and only apparent to Sho because he was looking for them.
By the time the lights had finally dimmed on the set leaving only Nino’s and Riida’s candles to provide weak lighting, Sho found his eyes straying over to the one whose countenance was made only too obvious from the gold powder. Under the cover of darkness, Jun still interjected with comments, but the initial façade of at least trying to interact with him for the cameras had all but disappeared.
In fact, Sho found himself trying to fight the wetness he felt gathering in his eyes as Riida commented about how the atmosphere among the five had steadily grown in the past eight years. A paradox really, considering the words Jun had flung at him just awhile ago were still ringing in his ears. “A decade of history between us should stand for so much more…”
This… thing between Jun and himself. What was the missing piece of information that seemed to hold the key to what was wrong between himself and Jun? Surely one thing - whatever it was - could not tear apart the years they had spent together. And why was it that it hurt so much to think that Jun was so angry with him? The pain he saw in the other’s eyes was still too fresh, too raw for him to be able to regard its implications neutrally.
As the lights came up in the studio again, Sho swallowed past the lump of unease in his throat and pondered on how he could approach Jun with filming done for the day. Deciding that he still had time to figure out an approach strategy with Jun needing time to clean the powder off his face, he could not hide the crestfallen expression on his face upon returning to the break room. A break room that was empty, save for Nino who - with a poker face - had informed him that his target had rushed off with the excuse that he would clean off the gold makeup upon reaching home where he did not need to rush for time.
“Sho-chan.” Sho’s head snapped up at the sound of his name on Nino’s lips. He threw a weary glance in preparation of a verbal tussle. “Let’s go for drinks.”
“Why?” He didn’t bother to hide the surprise in his voice, and suspicion lined the question.
A heavy sigh accompanied the almost bored expression in Nino’s eyes. “Cos I’m broke, dying for a drink, and you’re paying.”
Sho gave a long-suffering sigh of his own. He knew Nino wasn’t as stingy as how he portrayed himself to the media, nor as snarky. Underneath the snappish manner, he understood that the gamer was just trying to extend an olive branch, probably in compensation for their earlier altercation. Since he couldn’t seem to figure out the solution, and in fact was still in the dark on what the problem was in the first place, maybe talking it out with someone might just shed some light on the matter.
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As Nino waited in the hallway for Sho to pack his belongings, he typed a quick message on his cellphone. Checking it to make sure that the instructions in the words were clear with little room for misunderstanding by its reader, he pressed the ‘Send’ button. Still holding on to the phone in his hand, he leaned his head back onto the wall, wondering how things could have degenerated between his two bandmates so unexpectedly.
As Sho exited the room, Nino hurriedly slipped the phone into his pocket before the older man could notice his movements. Rolling his eyes dramatically, he pushed himself off the wall, draping an arm around the sloping shoulders. Nagging good-naturedly about how Sho’s ‘speedy’ movement belied his true age, he led their way out of the building and into the deepening shadows overcast with stars that, while few, were still trying to spread their light in the night-time sky.
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Cloud 4.1 here.