"Urgh, the bitch is here," Jun said, pointing at Serina who was sitting in the lobby. She was playing with her phone. "Should I go there and give her a piece of my mind?"
"No, please," He told Jun and Aiba nodded in agreement. The three of them had just finished lunch. He was in a good mood. He didn't want Serina to ruin it.
"You guys are so soft," Jun said in protest. "I hate her,"
As if she knew they were talking about her, she turned, looking straight at them. She stood up and walked towards them with a smile. Nino recognized the smile. It meant that she was once again up to something.
"Hello, Ninomiya san, you look happy," She greeted them. "And seeing you happy makes me happy too,"
Yeah, right! What did she want to do this time? Another video to show, perhaps?
“Anyway, are you free?” She asked. “I want to talk with you in private,”
“He’s not going anywhere with you,” Jun answered for him. His voice was stern.
“Yes,” Aiba agreed. His sunshine friend who was always friendly sounded different this time. Maybe he was not as intimidating as Jun but it was enough to make people scared of him. “No talking in private with him,”
She clasped her hands, not affected at all by Jun and Aiba. “You have two bodyguards with you now. Impressive,”
“What video do you want to show me this time?” Nino asked her.
She gave him a smirk before she answered. “No video. Perhaps I should take a picture with Satoshi earlier. Do you know? We have lunch together,”
What did she say? Lunch with Ohno? What did that mean? Why did Ohno go out with her when he asked Nino to give him another chance?
“Let’s talk,” She said once again, looking at him with hopeful eyes.
“I’ve told you…”
Nino stopped Jun. After considering for a while, he didn’t think it was a bad idea to go with her. He was ready to see whatever she wanted to show him this time. “It’s okay. I’ll go with her,”
“Are you crazy?” Both Aiba and Jun rolled their eyes, giving him a disapproving look.
“He wants to go with me. Why do you guys want to stop him?” Serina interjected. “Come, follow me,”
He followed her despite the protest from Jun and Aiba. Before he left, he warned them not to follow him. Everything would be all right, he assured them. Or, perhaps he was actually trying to convince himself. If Serina tried to attack him, he had an advantage, right?
She brought him to the roof. There’s no one else there.
“What do you want to tell me?” He asked.
But, she didn’t answer, only looked at him from head to toe, scrutinizing every aspect of him. It was uncomfortable to see the way she was looking at him.
“Do you know that I hate you?” She finally said after she was done examining him.
“I know,” Nino answered. “The feeling is mutual,”
“I don’t understand,” She continued. “I’ve tried everything to get him back. But, everything was futile. No matter what I did, he still loves you. I tricked him into believing that you killed his stupid friend. But, he didn’t buy it. Urgh, it was easier to manipulate him back then. Do you want to know something? His friend wasn’t killed by a drunk driver. He was killed by someone I hired. I asked the real killer to make it look like an accident,”
Nino blinked his eyes. What did she say? Was she telling him the truth? Or was she trying to mess with him again?
“He deserved it. He tried to get between Satoshi and me. I spent years nurturing Satoshi to be my perfect worshipper. But, Satoshi started to defy me because of him. So, I seduced him and they fought because of me. It was really fun to watch,” She had a dreamy look on her, probably to reminisce the finest moment in her life. Nino, on the other hand, felt nauseated to see how she viewed it as a success.
“But… urgh… that stupid guy found out that I’m just using him. And he wants to dump me,” She laughed dryly. “No one can dump me. That’s why I have to punish him,”
Nino started to regret his decision to come with her to the roof. He was stupid. Why did he think it was a good idea to go with her? He shouldn’t come here. This bitch was crazy.
"I should go. I don't want to know about this," He was about to move but Serina stopped him.
"You cannot go yet," She said. There was something scary about her. And to be honest, Nino was afraid to go against her. Was this how Ohno always felt around her?
Seeing that he didn't move from his position, Serina continued her story.
“Even though his death was classified as an accident, I felt insecure. I’m afraid someone will figure out the truth. That’s why I have to flee Japan. I was happy in New York until I saw the picture of you and Satoshi. How dare you take what is mine. Satoshi is mine. FOREVER!”
“Ohchan is not…”
“Who gives you permission to talk?” She scowled at him. “I’ve been thinking about this. I tried to make him hate you. It doesn’t work. I made you hate him. I don’t think it works, either. So, you left me with no choice. I have to eliminate you,”
She took out a gun from her bag and directed it towards Nino. He blinked his eyes in surprise, having a hard time believing the direction that this confrontation was going to. Was it a real gun? If it was real, how did she get it? Urgh, why was he thinking about that? He should escape from her.
He tried to think of something. To make her put the gun away. But, nothing came out right now. He couldn’t even move, too afraid of her.
Everything happened too quickly after that. He heard the sound of the gunshot and he was pushed away from his position. Someone was lying down with blood on him and his eyes widened to see it was Ohno. He quickly went to him, realizing Ohno had been shot. How did he… Ah, now was not the time to think about that. He had to make sure Ohno was safe. He didn’t want Ohno to die.
Ohno opened his eyes, feeling pain in his body. He looked around, trying to see where he was and why he felt pain. From the surrounding, he might be in a hospital. Hmmm… how did he end up here?
Someone was holding his hand. The person was sleeping, covering his face with hair and preventing Ohno from seeing the face. But, he knew who he was. He recognized the hand.
What happened, he tried to remember. His memories were hazy but he remembered talking with Sho about Nino and Serina when Aiba called Sho. Then, he followed Sho to the rooftop only to see Serina was about to shoot Nino. Without thinking properly, he pushed Nino aside and perhaps he was shot. That would explain the wound on his body and why he felt pain. But, it’s okay as long as Nino was safe.
His movement roused Nino from his sleep. When he saw Ohno had woken up, he looked relieved before he smacked his head.
“Stupid idiot dumb Maou! Do you know how worried I was when you were shot?” Nino scolded him. But, he only responded with a smile, feeling nostalgic to hear the nickname once again.
“Are you okay, Kazunari?” Ah, he had called Nino by his first name again. But, Nino didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m okay because you took the bullet for me. Don’t do that again, please,”
“If I don’t do it, she will kill you and no… I won’t let that happen,”
“You are lucky the bullet missed your heart. How do you feel?”
Ohno smiled at him, assuring Nino that he was okay. “What happened to Serina nee-chan?”
“Well…” Nino tried to look neutral. But, his expression suggested that he was actually happy for whatever happened to Serina. “She ran away after she shot you. But, she was hit by a truck and is still unconscious. Not quite sure what kind of injuries she had but if she survived, the injury will cause her a lot of pain,”
Oh. He didn’t know if he wanted to feel sorry for her. She had caused him enough misery.
“I don’t feel bad for her,” Nino said. “In fact, I think she deserved it after what she did to your friend,”
“What do you mean?” Ohno asked. Nino looked away as if he was trying to escape from him. Maybe, it wasn’t something that he had planned to tell him. “Do you know something about the accident that killed him?”
Reluctantly, Nino nodded his head. “You should probably rest,”
“But, I want to know,” Ohno protested.
“I will tell you later,” Nino raised his right hand to promise. “Now, please rest. You need it,”
Ohno could only pout. He didn't have much energy to continue his protest because of his injury. So, he closed his eyes, trying to sleep when he felt a kiss on his forehead. He hoped the kiss meant that he still had his chance to be with Nino.
However, when he woke up, Nino wasn't in the room. Instead, it was his sister who was with him and it made him think that perhaps everything that happened earlier was just a dream.
"You're going to give him another chance, right?" Jun asked when they were on the way home from the hospital. He was sitting at the back seat with Jun while the lovebirds sat in front. He wanted to stay in the hospital but Ohno's sister told him to rest at home.
"Why? You don't like it?" He asked for confirmation. He hadn't made a decision yet but his heart was leaning towards giving Ohno another chance. After almost losing Ohno today, he couldn't bear the thought of living without Ohno in his life.
"Not really," Jun shrugged him off. "I just think that maybe getting shot was a better punishment than a punch,"
"Jun!" The three of them scolded the youngest.
"Fine," Jun said in defeat. "I can see that he loves you and after you explained his relationship with that bitch, I don't think he is a bad person. He is just stupid,"
Nino only gave him a smile, agreeing with what Jun had said. He gave his attention to his friends who were sitting in front of him. "How about you two?"
"Whatever you want to do, Nino," Aiba said.
"Me too," Sho hummed in agreement. "But, I think if Ohno san hurts you again, Jun won't hesitate to punch him,"
"Of course," Jun agreed. "I won't even ask for your permission,"
Nino went to the hospital during lunch that day. He had applied for a half-day break from work and it was approved without much problem. As he had said, the head of the human resource department had a soft spot for him. Plus, he rarely applied for leave.
Ohno's mother was with Ohno when he arrived at the hospital. She asked him how he felt while Ohno continued to stare at him.
"I will leave the two of you alone," Ohno's mother said. Once she left, Nino brought his attention to the man on the bed who was still staring at him without saying anything.
"Can you stop staring? It's creepy,"
"Are you real?"
Nino couldn't stop laughing as he remembered how Ohno had said the exact same thing yesterday.
"Of course, I'm real. Do you think I'm a ghost?"
"No," Ohno shook his head. "I just thought… it was a dream. You were with me when I first woke up. But, the next time, you were gone. So, I thought it was just a dream,"
Nino gave him a smile before leaning forward to put a kiss on Ohno's lips.
"Does it feel real this time?" He asked shyly to which Ohno responded with a chuckle.
"You are real," Ohno said, caressing his face.
"Thank you, Ohchan for saving my life. I really appreciate it,"
"I… maybe…I hurt you… it's a punishment," Ohno seemed to be at a loss of what to say. "I'm sorry for hurting you,"
"Let's put things about Serina away. I'm willing to give this relationship a new start if you want it,"
Ohno was beamed with happiness because of what he said. "Do you mean…"
"Yes… I've been thinking about this. I'm not giving you another chance as a reward for saving me. I almost lost you and I realized I cannot live with you. That's why I want to give us another chance,"
"Nino!" Ohno exclaimed. "You make me so happy. Thank you so much…" Ohno stopped for a while. "Can I call you Kazunari?"
"Yes," Nino nodded his head. "Just a reminder… if you hurt me again, Jun will definitely punch you,"
Ohno seemed to be taken aback with what he said. "Matsumoto san is scary. But, I promise I won't hurt you anymore. Thank you, Kazunari. Thank you for giving me another chance. I will treasure you,"
Then, they leaned forward for another quick kiss.
Poll A/N: I want to post this earlier but it's Wednesday so I have to watch The Flash & Legends of Tomorrow first before posting this. I hope it isn't as lame as I thought. I keep thinking on how to make Ohno redeem himself so I decided to make him sacrifice for Nino. As for Serina, death seemed to be too easy for her and that's why I decided to make her survive the accident but she will have to suffer because of how serious her injury is. Hope it was okay.
Thank you so much for supporting me. Thanks to this fic, I know I have a few silent readers who participate in the poll. Thank you for reading and participating in the poll as well as commenting on this fic.
Anyway, next month will be Nino's birthday but I don't know what to write for his birthday. If you have any suggestion, please let me know.