5 Times the Universe Set the Scene and One Time Ohmiya Took the Hint
Title: 5 Times the Universe Set the Scene and One Time Ohmiya Took the Hint
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Ohmiya with hints at Sakuraiba
Summary: Someone, somewhere, is muttering "finally"
Note: My epic! This is literally the longest thing I've written in a long time (even for school). I was just excited to try writing something non-Daisuke Universe, I suppose.
i.
The band had been together for roughly half a year and still, Jun watched his bandmates through the eyes of an observer and not yet a friend. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the boys; they all got along rather well. It just took Jun a while to warm up to people and he didn’t like sharing if he could help it.
Aiba seemed to have no problem with sharing and as the most open and excitable member of their group, he was easy to get along with. Jun liked him, even if he did drive him a little crazy sometimes. Sho was also a nice presence, a bit more calm and collected (and smart) but easily drawn into Aiba’s exuberance. You could read those two like a book. It relaxed Jun to have to easy personalities in the group.
Ohno and Nino were a whole other story. Ohno was nice enough. He was kind of the gentle leader of their group and Jun felt complacent when he was with him. The only thing was it was impossible to tell what Ohno was thinking. Half the time, he was staring into space and gave no indication that he knew what was going on around him. He could listen to someone talk for hours with only nods of the head and encouraging smiles. It was like talking to a sympathetic wall. He could dance and he could sing but Jun wondered if he could function by himself in society.
Nino, meanwhile, was a troublemaker. Obviously trying to make up for the awkwardness of having to spend so much time with people he didn’t know, he talked a mile a minute about nothing and tried to pull pranks for no discernable reason. There was obviously more going on in Nino’s head than he shared with the group but Jun respected Nino’s shell. If Jun didn’t want to share, what right did he have to demand it of Nino?
They were between people on the photo shoot at the moment and the five of them sat together in the greenroom. Aiba was bothering Sho. Aiba had taken a real liking to the somewhat serious guy. Jun could understand. Aiba must have never really had anyone that could balance out his energy level and it was new and refreshing for him. Plus, Sho seemed to get a kick out of Aiba, too.
Jun sat next to Nino on the couch, reading a magazine. Nino kept giving him side-glances and Jun began to worry that Nino was trying to think up something to do to him. In time, Jun was sure, he’d be able to counter Nino’s pranks but at this point, he was a sitting duck.
Nino’s notice, though, was quickly diverted from himself to Ohno, seated across from them on the other couch. Ohno sat smiling blandly forward, as if engrossed in a pleasant movie that Jun couldn’t see. Nino glanced around and determined that he wasn’t missing anything. He looked mildly perturbed and confused.
“You’ve gotten better, you know.”
The soft yet proud voice was directed at Nino. Jun looked down at his magazine, not wanting to intrude but couldn’t help listening.
“What?” Nino sounded confused but the air of annoyance that had been fluttering around him was gone.
“You’re getting better at photo shoots. You used to be really stiff, like you didn’t want to be there. I can tell you don’t really like them. But you’re getting better. You can pretend you enjoy them. And that’s what counts.” He smiled wider. “I’m really proud of you.”
Nino was silent, as if shocked that Ohno had noticed. In truth, Jun hadn’t noticed himself. Not that he would have been looking but he had thought Nino looked like the rest of them at photo shoots: vaguely ridiculous but up for the game. Had he really been that uncomfortable?
“Don’t be weirded out or anything. It’s easy to notice how stiff your shoulders get when you walk out in front of the camera. Plus, that fake smile is only fooling the fans. And before you ask, yes, I can tell. You smile when Aiba shoves too much ramen in his mouth, not when a cameraman tells you to.”
Nino just stared at Ohno and Jun laughed quietly to himself. It was kind of nice to see Nino bounced down a peg. Not that he didn’t like the guy but he did kind of give off the air that he thought he was more clever than the others.
“Be careful,” Nino said after a minute’s hesitation, “I just might fall for you.”
Jun rolled his eyes but Ohno chuckled in response and sunk back into the couch.
ii.
It had been two days since Hanako had broken up with Nino. It was hard in the Jimusho for girlfriends, considering they were technically illegal. Sho had never really tried it. He’d gone out with a few girls but it had never really turned into anything. Nino, though, was always trying to throw himself into a relationship. As guarded as he was, Sho could tell that Nino needed someone to confide in and he was always looking for her. It was too bad that he had never managed to find a quality girl, though.
After days of trying to cheer him up, the band had decided that Nino needed some alone time and had left him at the bar, telling him to call if he needed them. He had nodded but it was obvious his mind was elsewhere. On the way out, Ohno double-checked with everyone to make sure their phones were on and that they planned to keep them that way. Jun accused him of being paranoid but Ohno just shrugged.
Ohno and Sho had decided to hit a karaoke place before going home, Nino’s sad demeanor weighing heavily on their minds. Sho had never seen Nino quite like this. The heavy sighs, the shuffling gate, it was like a different person. That, though, was nothing compared to what he had noticed about Ohno.
The man was a different person around a depressed Nino. He had stepped up his game, trying to be talkative (for him) when the younger man was around. The minute Nino was out of earshot, though, he’d sigh louder, obvious worry painted on his features. Half the reason Sho had suggested karaoke was simply to cheer up Ohno. All of this depression going around was surely not good for their group. Who was next? God forbid Aiba.
Presently, Ohno was sitting in the corner of their booth, staring at his cell phone as Sho tried to find a song they both could sing (that wasn’t one of their own). After several minutes, though, Sho was desperately flipping through the enka section, feeling strained. It was then that Ohno shot up out of his seat and headed towards the door.
“Where are you going?” Sho asked, half confused and half relieved.
“I’m taking Nino home.”
Ohno walked out the door with a purpose to his stride and Sho didn’t know what else to do but follow him. He quickly paid for the room on their way out and managed to fall into step behind Ohno who, Sho discovered, could walk really fast when he was on a mission.
In fifteen minutes, they were standing in front of the bar they had left their friend in. Ohno marched inside and Sho followed, suddenly feeling meek for no real reason. Nino still sat perched in his same seat, although a lot more glasses surrounded him than when they left. He turned when he heard the door open and the gigantic smile on his face belied how much he’d had to drink.
“Sho-chan! Oh-chan! You came to see me!” He sounded like a little boy, infectious glee in his tone. What kind of drink gave you that kind of energy?
“I came to take you home,” Ohno said strictly, as if he were cutting off Nino’s recess. Nino frowned.
“But I’m having fun here. I made friends with the bartender. His name is Yamamoto.” The bartender put up a hand in greeting from the other side of the counter. “Sit down and have a drink. You only just got here.”
Ohno, however, did not sit down but grabbed Nino around the upper arm and pulled him off his barstool. Nino was about to protest but thought better about it, stumbling after Ohno and waving a goodbye to Yamamoto.
On the way home, it became apparent just how drunk Nino was. He sat on the train, cuddled into Ohno as if seeking warmth even though it wasn’t very cold. Ohno didn’t seem to mind, though, and put his arm around Nino, as if comforting a child. Sho felt vaguely like a third wheel but refused to give any credence to that.
Ohno’s stop was coming up but it was increasingly clear that he was taking Nino home first. Sho wondered if Ohno would be going home tonight.
“Oh-chan?” a small voice came out of Nino. He had clearly forgotten Sho’s presence. “Why do girls suck?” Ohno smiled gently, as Ohno was wont to do.
“Not all girls suck. Hanako was just … not right for you. There are more girls out there. You’ll meet a good one someday.” Nino seemed unconvinced and snuggled into Ohno’s chest.
“I like Oh-chan better. I’m just going to date you instead.” Sho and Ohno made eye contact and Ohno shook his head, amused.
“Okay. You can just date me until you meet someone better.” Nino smiled, snuggled closer, and promptly fell asleep.
“…was that wise?” Sho felt the need to ask. Ohno just smiled, shrugged, and patted Nino on the shoulder.
iii.
One of their managers stormed into the dressing room, raging about the something. Aiba didn’t really know, as he was fairly certain he wasn’t the cause. He quickly went through everything he had done that day in his head and came to the conclusion that he didn’t do anything to make someone in charge of them that upset. Maybe a little but not rage and storm into a room. This had to be Nino.
Nino, Aiba was sure, took pride in his pranks. He spent a lot of time and effort into making each one bigger and better than the last. Aiba particularly thought the time when Nino involved the whole concert audience was the pinnacle of his accomplishments but Nino was always thinking of a new one. And it usually meant trouble for at least one of them.
Upon closer look, the upset man was one of the managers in charge of photo shoots, magazines and the like. He was holding something that looked like a mock up of their latest concert pamphlet. Aiba remembered doing the interview for that particular one. He mentioned that watermelons were the best combustible fruits on the market. He wasn’t sure if anyone was going to be excited by that piece of information but he had gone to a lot of trouble to figure it out and figured the world deserved to know.
“Who did it? Who changed the wording?!” the man was yelling. Aiba glanced at the faces around him. Sho looked confused, Jun didn’t look fazed, Ohno wasn’t even really paying attention and Nino … yep, Nino was holding back laughter. Nino definitely did something. Instead of being annoyed like he was pretty sure Jun would be, though, Aiba was excited. Something funny was about to happen.
“Changed the wording?” Sho asked curiously, grabbing the papers from the man’s hand. Like normal, Sho was the one to take charge. Aiba smiled and bounced over to glance at the paper over Sho’s shoulder. Sho shifted his weight to give Aiba more room to lean into him.
“I don’t see anything wrong,” Sho blinked at the frustrated man. In response, the manager pointed at the ‘member bio’ section and took a step back.
“Aiba is our resident idiot,” Sho read out loud. “Sometimes we wonder how he managed to stay alive all these years.” Aiba blinked but didn’t say anything. It was kind of true. Sho read on.
“Jun cares too much about his appearance. One day his clothes will be stolen and he will be left only with a robe. We shall see how cool he is on that day.” Jun glared at Nino, obviously aware of who somehow changed their concert pamphlet. Nino just smiled sweetly and shrugged, as if he had no idea what they were talking about.
“Sho is our…” Sho trailed off and then turned to look at Nino with a hard expression Aiba rarely saw on the man. “Nino, when you take a ‘p’ out of ‘rapper’, it has a very different connotation in English. I’m going to assume you didn’t know that because I like to believe the best in people.” Nino just grinned innocently again. He totally knew.
Aiba grabbed the paper from Sho’s hands, aware he probably wouldn’t read the rest.
“Nino is the brains behind the group and in charge of everything from rehearsals to planning the … Nino, we don’t have group orgies!” Aiba exclaimed, more confused than agitated.
“The fans don’t know that,” Nino replied, finally sort of accepting the blame. “Don’t you think that rumors of group orgies will get attention? I bet it will.” The singsong tone was getting to Jun.
“Would you stop trying to get gay rumors to start? Our PVs are bad enough. You don’t have to encourage them.” Jun’s tone was harsh but Nino just smiled brighter.
“And here I though you liked our PVs the most, Jun. You certainly dress the most interesting out of all of us.”
“I’m warning you, Nino,” Jun spat out through ground teeth. Nino was treading on thin ice. Aiba wondered when the last time Nino was this close to death was and figured it was probably some time last week. Nino was about to taunt Jun back when another voice piped in.
“Wait. What does it say about me?” Ohno looked genuinely curious. Aiba, upon reflecting that he hadn’t read a ridiculous statement about Ohno yet, looked down at the paper in his hand.
“Oh-chan is the leader of the group and quite a tasty piece of ass. He, however, is property of Nino so no one is allowed to even fantasize about him.” Aiba managed to get through the entire thing without laughing but once the fantasize part was out it was too late. He was on the ground, hysterical.
Sho looked confused and Jun looked disgusted. Nino, however, didn’t look at any of them. He just turned his eyes to Ohno, partly abashed and partly curious. Ohno didn’t say anything for a moment. Finally, his eyes met Nino’s.
“That’s all very sweet, Nino, but I don’t think we can publish it. My mom might read it and I don’t think she would like hearing anything about my ass.” His tone was completely serious and slightly apologetic. Nino shrugged and grabbed the paper from Aiba’s hand on the floor.
“I guess I’ll take this back up and fix it, then.” Nino’s tone suggested he was a little annoyed that not everyone reacted as he wished to his joke but Aiba noticed the slouch in his shoulders and his downcast eyes.
The minute Nino was out the door, Aiba went over and hugged Sho. When Sho asked him what it was for, Aiba said it was because he was glad Sho wasn’t really a rapist. In truth, though, Nino’s expression kept flittering about in his mind, reminding him that happiness could be close but ever fleeting and Aiba hugged tighter.
iv.
Ohno felt like a terrible son. Here he was, suddenly enjoying a random and senseless boom in popularity and like a prodigal son, forgot all about his mother.
Freestyle had been in stores for a month now but he was still bouncing around everywhere, from interview to interview. It was different, always being the one in the news. Ohno wasn’t sure if he liked it yet, but he suddenly understood why the others always seemed so horribly tired after they had embarked on their own solo projects. He couldn’t even imagine how Nino had survived over in America. The idea of living alone in a foreign country like that scared him. There was no way he could be gone that long.
And yet, somehow, he had let this all get to his head. He hadn’t meant to. And maybe he was blowing this out of proportion a little but he was pretty sure the voicemail that was still ringing in his head was enough evidence to land him in the “Worst Son Ever” category.
He had been across the city, doing yet another appearance. He was really sick of them by now but still somehow managed a meek smile whenever they brought up his exhibit. Yes, he was proud of it but it was time the spotlight moved to someone else. This particular guest appearance seemed to never end, though. What Ohno was sure would only take an hour and a half at most was going on the four hour mark. Ohno just wanted to get home.
Once he was offstage, he pulled out his cell phone, about to call his mother and apologize. They had planned a big dinner that night (they still hadn’t been able to really celebrate his exhibit and had planned for tonight, since both Ohnos had felt the fervor would have died down by now) and he felt horrible for being late. She didn’t pick up her phone, though. Ohno stared down at his cell, confused. His mom always picked up the phone.
It was at this moment his phone decided to tell him that he had one new voicemail. Punching the button and placing the phone to his ear, Ohno curiously waited for the message to begin.
It was from his mother. She sounded very flustered and all she said was “Satoshi, would you come home? Quickly, if possible. I just…. I really need you home. Could you--” And then it cut off.
Ohno’s eyes flashed wide open and he ran nonstop to the closet train station. He tried her phone every five minutes, hoping beyond hope she’d pick up. Whatever happened sounded bad. Ohno was petrified but determined to get home as fast as possible.
A half an hour later, he stood in front of the door, desperately trying to get his key to work. Frantic to get in, he couldn’t really position the key correctly. He was just about to try kicking the door down when it opened of its own accord. He looked up into the confused face of his mother.
“What’s the matter, honey? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Ohno was just so glad to see his mother safe and sound. He sighed in relief and slumped down, energy leaving his body. He’d used more adrenaline today than he had in months. She ushered him inside and took off his jacket, putting it in the hall closet before leading him to the table.
“Honey, are you alright? Was the interview horrible? I know it was last minute but surely it couldn’t have been that bad.” Ohno’s mother was looking at him with concern that Ohno couldn’t fathom. Hadn’t she been the one in trouble?
“It went fine, Mom. I’m curious, though: what did you mean in that voicemail you left me? Why did I have to get home so quickly?” Ohno’s mother flushed in embarrassment.
“Oh, I was just having so much trouble trying to get the rice the way I wanted it. I needed another pair of hands. I thought that you could help me but I had forgotten you had an interview so far away. I’m sorry I didn’t call you back. My phone died and I can’t find the charger.”
Ohno sighed in relief. That explained why he couldn’t call her and why the phone had cut off so ominously mid-sentence. With a small grunt of weariness, he pushed himself out of his seat.
“Okay, then. Let’s get to work on that rice.” Ohno’s mother looked embarrassed again.
“About that, sweetie. Dinner’s already finished.”
“I thought you needed help with it.” Ohno looked in confusion down at his mother.
“Dinner is served!” Another voice called out as it glided toward the table from the kitchen. Nino, clad in a pink frilly apron, held a steaming plate of chahan that looked delicious. He smiled encouragingly towards Ohno’s mother before addressing another, more abashed one to his best friend.
“Why’s Nino here?” Ohno asked in a tone more confused than anything else.
“Nino here was on his way home from work when he decided to come over and check up on me. Isn’t that sweet?” Ohno’s mother fixed Nino with one of her most appreciative smiles and Nino blushed.
Ohno was speechless. Nino’s work had been in a completely different direction, at least a twenty-minute train ride away. And Nino never blushed.
“Well, I know it’s been hard with Oh-chan being so busy all of the sudden so I thought I would come over and make sure everything was going all right. I didn’t know I’d be needed in the kitchen or I would have called Jun.” Nino’s tone was light and airy but there was true concern laced inside his words. Ohno could tell, he could feel, that Nino was embarrassed being caught acting like a decent human being. Something clenched in his chest.
“Don’t be modest!” Ohno’s mother gave Nino a loving smack on the arm. “You’re great in the kitchen. Much more helpful than Satoshi would have been. Now sit down and join us for dinner.” Ohno’s mother pulled out the chair next to her.
“Oh, no. I shouldn’t. It’s a family dinner and I need to be going anyway. I have filming in the morning and…” Nino trailed off, eyes darting towards the door. Ohno knew for a fact that Nino had the next day off.
“Stay.” It was only one word but Nino turned around, eyes curious towards Ohno. Gratitude welled inside of him and Ohno could see the second that Nino realized that he had really touched a nerve. He smiled sheepishly and sunk down into the seat Ohno’s mother had offered him.
“I guess I can stay for a little bit, then. But not very long. Early day tomorrow and everything.” It was a clear defeat. And for some reason, Ohno felt a sense of complacency, like it was right that Nino attend an Ohno family dinner. He smiled and sat back down as his mother began grabbing plates out of the cupboard. The two men just smiled at each other, glad to be in the other’s company.
“Nino’s such a good boy,” Ohno’s mother called from the kitchen. “You picked a good boyfriend, Satoshi.”
Ohno spluttered into a coughing fit and Nino looked away.
v.
Yamada hadn’t been working for Johnny’s very long; in fact, he wasn’t quite sure how he had managed to get the job in the first place. He had asked his brother-in-law to put in a good word for him and the next thing he knew, he was working backstage as a go-to man. It was a good job (better than what he had been doing) and really, he enjoyed it. It was just times like this that were awkward.
He had been called into the Arashi dressing room, only told that there was something that he should check up on. Knowing that the vent in that room tended to get clogged sometimes, he grabbed his toolkit and headed down the hall.
The scene that met his eyes, however, had nothing to do with a clogged ventilation shaft. There seemed to be some kind of stand off going on. The little one (Ninomiya?) stood at one end of one of the couches, looking not quite angry but not happy either. The one that usually had the blond spiky hair (Ohno. That was it.) was on the other end, looking confused and a little put out. The other three stood across the room, watching the scene with trepidation. Yamada, not knowing exactly why he was there, joined them.
“Um,” he tried to the member closest to him. The young man shushed him without taking his eyes away from the duo. Yamada, feeling kind of useless but nonetheless intrigued, shrugged and turned his attention towards them, too. He’d figure out what he was needed for after the confrontation.
“Answer me,” the little one demanded. There was anger and a touch of concern, Yamada thought, in his tone. The other one looked up to meet his eyes, as if he wasn’t sure where the power behind the words came from.
“Three times, I think. Really, it’s no big deal,” Ohno (he was pretty sure) tried to shrug off the question. Yamada didn’t understand and looked back at the young man on his right.
“Three times what?” The kid with the short brown hair gave him an annoyed glance.
“Nino asked him how many times Ohno went fishing last week. Now, shush!” With that he turned back to the melee (if that was the appropriate word). Yamada didn’t see why fishing was such a big deal but hoped the rest of the confrontation would fill in the blanks.
“Three times! And did you remember to bring dinner out with you on the water?!” Nino was angry. Ohno gave him a sheepish shrug Yamada took to mean ‘no’. Nino exploded.
“Seriously! You need to eat! You’re skin and bones! Instead of fishing, you should be eating food. I can’t believe you! You are ridiculous!” Nino was frustrated, that was clear. The more he talked, however, the more Ohno eyed him with annoyance.
“I like fishing. Don’t lecture me about that. I’m stressed enough; I don’t need you trying to take away my hobby. It’s keeping me sane, Kazu.” Nino visibly relaxed at the address but shook it off quickly.
“I don’t care if you go crazy as long as you’re alive. That’s it! I’m going to your house and taking your fishing pole. There is going to be no fishing until filming for Maou is complete. If worse comes to worst, I will come to your house and force you to eat every day.” Ohno jumped up at that.
“This is none of your business, Kazu! Why don’t you just leave me alone? I’ll live. I was fine before I met you and I’d be fine if you weren’t here. I don’t need you to do this. Why do you even care?”
“I care!” There was a hint of something in Nino’s cry but Yamada couldn’t place it. “I care, Satoshi. But if you can’t see that, then whatever. Starve. At least I’ll be able to tell you ‘I told you so’ at your funeral.”
With that, Nino turned and stormed out of the room. The door slammed behind him. Ohno watched the closed door for a few moments and then turned and left the room himself through the side door. The click that followed his exit wasn’t as angry as a door slam but seemed eerily foreboding. Yamada wasn’t entirely sure what he just witnessed but he knew something had just happened.
The other three members of the group seemed to exhale collectively. The pretty one he was pretty sure his daughter had a poster of in her room walked over and sunk down in the couch. The other two looked at each other worriedly.
“Sho,” the one that had been standing next to him asked the other, “what are we going to do?”
“Nothing,” the other told him. “This isn’t our problem; it’s theirs. They need to figure it out themselves.”
“But I don’t like Leader and Nino fighting. It doesn’t feel right,” the other man whined.
“I know,” Sho assured him, “but we just need to let them be. They’ll cool down and talk about it. They always do.” The brown haired man sighed and nodded.
It was then that the couched member looked up and noticed Yamada. He blinked and then addressed him.
“….Can we help you?” Yamada coughed embarrassedly.
“I was told there was something I needed to check up on in here? I’m sorry to intrude.” The one called Sho looked over at him and smiled.
“Oh, I think I called you. We need a little help. Aiba somehow managed to clog the sink with a stuffed animal. At least, we’re pretty sure it’s stuffed.” The brown haired man laughed awkwardly.
Yamada was glad he brought his toolkit. This could be a long afternoon.
vi.
Nino sat in his dressing room, playing the newest Dragon Quest game. Well, playing it for the fifth time. All he had done lately was play that game. After his fight with Ohno three weeks before, all he really wanted to do was play video games.
In video games, there was a clear villain. There was a path you were following to a clearly defined goal. You leveled up and you improved. You never went backwards. You never questioned your goal. There was none of this grey space his life seemed to exist in lately.
A knock on the door alerted him to someone else’s presence. Not in the mood to get the door himself, he grunted as a means of welcoming the other. It was probably a staffer or AD or something, letting him know that filming was delayed or there was lunch in the greenroom if he wanted or any number of things he really didn’t care about right now. He didn’t even look up until he heard a slight cough, obviously meant to get his attention.
A glance up showed him what he kind of expected. Ohno stood in front of him, looking hesitant but insistent. They hadn’t really talked since their fight earlier that month. Nino had been keeping his distance as he noticed that the more time he spent with the older man, the angrier he got. Nino would never apologize, as he firmly believed he was right. And he hated to lose.
Ohno had kept his distance as well that first week. Emotions were running high. However, as time wore on, Ohno had visibly grown tired of their fight and had tried to subtly gain Nino’s trust back. Nino saw through it, though. If Ohno wouldn’t admit that he was two skipped meals away from malnutrition, Nino didn’t want to have anything to do with him. He was too worried to let the man win that argument.
“I heard about your new drama,” Ohno started in. “Congratulations. You and Ryo, huh? That’ll be a dream collaboration. And I’ve heard from Jun that that Toda girl is really nice. You sure are good at what you do, huh?” Ohno was trying. Nino didn’t care.
“What do you want?” Nino asked impatiently, not even pausing his game. Ohno frowned and sat down on the couch facing Nino. Obviously this was not the reception he was hoping for.
“I want to talk. I want to .... Nino, can you turn that off?” Nino had every intention of playing Dragon Quest straight through his “talk” with Ohno but the sincerity in his friend’s voice broke through to him. With an exaggerated sigh, he saved the game and flipped the DS closed, placing it on the table in front of him and fixing Ohno with his most annoyed glare.
“Fine, then. Shoot,” Ohno smoothed his clothes, trying to calm himself considering Nino wasn’t being the most cooperative. He tried again.
“Nino, I’m sorry for our fight the other day. I was just so frustrated with my lack of free time and I took it out on you. You were only worried about me. I realize that.” Ohno sounded sincere, okay he obviously was sincere, but Nino was still annoyed.
“Took you long enough to figure out…” Nino muttered. Nino’s frustration came through in his voice and he winced a bit. Ohno took it in stride though. Standing up, he crossed the table between them and sat next to Nino on the couch. Nino wasn’t entirely sure what this was supposed to signify but he let it happen.
“It’s my fault.”
“You’re right, it’s your fault.”
“Kazu, let me talk.” Nino made a hand signal letting Ohno know he’d be quiet, even if he wasn’t happy about it.
“ I was just so angry with myself for not listening to you. If I should listen to anyone, I kept thinking, I should listen to you. And I didn’t know why I felt like that. Being in a fight with you was worse than I could imagine. I mean, I know we’ve fought before but never like this. This felt … different.” Ohno’s voice was becoming vague and so were his words. Still, Nino had an idea of what he meant.
“It felt wrong. Us being apart feels wrong,” Nino supplied. Ohno nodded.
It was then that something inside of Nino snapped. He was sick and tired of doing nothing about things like this. If there was ever a man of action, Nino decided, he was it.
“I’m sick of this,” Nino said, looking Ohno straight in the eye, “so let’s figure this out.” And with that, he leaned forward and kissed Ohno.
Ohno didn’t do anything at first but then again, neither did Nino. This was unfamiliar and awkward territory. Neither person knew exactly how to proceed. But, Nino thought, it didn’t feel wrong. Slowly, he brought one hand up to cup Ohno’s face. Taking that hand as a cue, Ohno leaned forward, into Nino, and all of the sudden, the situation turned from not wrong to very, very right.
It was perhaps a minute before they broke apart, each needing to breathe again. It took even longer for either to garner the courage to look at the other. Ohno won that battle first.
“What was that for?” he asked softly. Nino shrugged.
“I was sick of our sexual tension. I wanted to break it, see if there was a reason for it.” His tone implied indifference but he couldn’t look at Ohno. He was worried his instincts had been wrong.
“So,” Ohno asked after a beat, “is there a reason for it?” He watched Nino’s face, not giving Nino any indication of what he was thinking. Nino didn’t like walking into the unknown; he didn’t know how to answer.
“I don’t know. What do you think?” He asked shyly, still unable to meet Ohno’s eyes. Ohno finally couldn’t take it anymore and smiled.
“I think there’s something there,” he replied and captured Nino’s lips again.
After each man felt he could draw a map of the other’s mouth, Ohno felt the need to pull back. Nino made a vague annoyed sound and tugged at him. Ohno resisted.
“What does this mean, Kazu?” Nino blinked at him.
“What does what mean?”
“This,” Ohno vaguely motioned towards the two of them. “Us. What does it mean?” Nino shrugged.
“Does it have to mean anything? Do we have to give it a name?” Ohno considered that for a minute.
“I guess not. But what do we tell the others?” Nino grinned.
“We don’t have to tell them anything. I’m sure they’ll figure it out soon enough.” Ohno shivered at the look on Nino’s face. He couldn’t tell if it boded well or ill for him. He had the strangest notion it could be both.
“But they’ll wonder why we stopped fighting, at least,” Ohno tried to keep up the conversation. Nino was getting annoyed. He had discovered in the last half an hour that he liked Ohno’s ass. He knew he always had professed a love for it but he had never truly understood its greatness until now. And he wanted to get back to it.
“I don’t know. We’ll just tell them…” Nino trailed off, trying to think of an accurate explanation for what had just happened without giving too much away. Half of the fun, he had already decided, would be getting them to guess on their own. With a few hints he was looking forward to giving.
“I got it!” Ohno grinned. “We’ll tell them Ohmiya SK finally came to their senses.” Nino smiled back at him.
“My Oh-chan is brilliant.”
They were thirty minutes late to rehearsal. Honestly? No one minded.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Ohmiya with hints at Sakuraiba
Summary: Someone, somewhere, is muttering "finally"
Note: My epic! This is literally the longest thing I've written in a long time (even for school). I was just excited to try writing something non-Daisuke Universe, I suppose.
i.
The band had been together for roughly half a year and still, Jun watched his bandmates through the eyes of an observer and not yet a friend. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the boys; they all got along rather well. It just took Jun a while to warm up to people and he didn’t like sharing if he could help it.
Aiba seemed to have no problem with sharing and as the most open and excitable member of their group, he was easy to get along with. Jun liked him, even if he did drive him a little crazy sometimes. Sho was also a nice presence, a bit more calm and collected (and smart) but easily drawn into Aiba’s exuberance. You could read those two like a book. It relaxed Jun to have to easy personalities in the group.
Ohno and Nino were a whole other story. Ohno was nice enough. He was kind of the gentle leader of their group and Jun felt complacent when he was with him. The only thing was it was impossible to tell what Ohno was thinking. Half the time, he was staring into space and gave no indication that he knew what was going on around him. He could listen to someone talk for hours with only nods of the head and encouraging smiles. It was like talking to a sympathetic wall. He could dance and he could sing but Jun wondered if he could function by himself in society.
Nino, meanwhile, was a troublemaker. Obviously trying to make up for the awkwardness of having to spend so much time with people he didn’t know, he talked a mile a minute about nothing and tried to pull pranks for no discernable reason. There was obviously more going on in Nino’s head than he shared with the group but Jun respected Nino’s shell. If Jun didn’t want to share, what right did he have to demand it of Nino?
They were between people on the photo shoot at the moment and the five of them sat together in the greenroom. Aiba was bothering Sho. Aiba had taken a real liking to the somewhat serious guy. Jun could understand. Aiba must have never really had anyone that could balance out his energy level and it was new and refreshing for him. Plus, Sho seemed to get a kick out of Aiba, too.
Jun sat next to Nino on the couch, reading a magazine. Nino kept giving him side-glances and Jun began to worry that Nino was trying to think up something to do to him. In time, Jun was sure, he’d be able to counter Nino’s pranks but at this point, he was a sitting duck.
Nino’s notice, though, was quickly diverted from himself to Ohno, seated across from them on the other couch. Ohno sat smiling blandly forward, as if engrossed in a pleasant movie that Jun couldn’t see. Nino glanced around and determined that he wasn’t missing anything. He looked mildly perturbed and confused.
“You’ve gotten better, you know.”
The soft yet proud voice was directed at Nino. Jun looked down at his magazine, not wanting to intrude but couldn’t help listening.
“What?” Nino sounded confused but the air of annoyance that had been fluttering around him was gone.
“You’re getting better at photo shoots. You used to be really stiff, like you didn’t want to be there. I can tell you don’t really like them. But you’re getting better. You can pretend you enjoy them. And that’s what counts.” He smiled wider. “I’m really proud of you.”
Nino was silent, as if shocked that Ohno had noticed. In truth, Jun hadn’t noticed himself. Not that he would have been looking but he had thought Nino looked like the rest of them at photo shoots: vaguely ridiculous but up for the game. Had he really been that uncomfortable?
“Don’t be weirded out or anything. It’s easy to notice how stiff your shoulders get when you walk out in front of the camera. Plus, that fake smile is only fooling the fans. And before you ask, yes, I can tell. You smile when Aiba shoves too much ramen in his mouth, not when a cameraman tells you to.”
Nino just stared at Ohno and Jun laughed quietly to himself. It was kind of nice to see Nino bounced down a peg. Not that he didn’t like the guy but he did kind of give off the air that he thought he was more clever than the others.
“Be careful,” Nino said after a minute’s hesitation, “I just might fall for you.”
Jun rolled his eyes but Ohno chuckled in response and sunk back into the couch.
ii.
It had been two days since Hanako had broken up with Nino. It was hard in the Jimusho for girlfriends, considering they were technically illegal. Sho had never really tried it. He’d gone out with a few girls but it had never really turned into anything. Nino, though, was always trying to throw himself into a relationship. As guarded as he was, Sho could tell that Nino needed someone to confide in and he was always looking for her. It was too bad that he had never managed to find a quality girl, though.
After days of trying to cheer him up, the band had decided that Nino needed some alone time and had left him at the bar, telling him to call if he needed them. He had nodded but it was obvious his mind was elsewhere. On the way out, Ohno double-checked with everyone to make sure their phones were on and that they planned to keep them that way. Jun accused him of being paranoid but Ohno just shrugged.
Ohno and Sho had decided to hit a karaoke place before going home, Nino’s sad demeanor weighing heavily on their minds. Sho had never seen Nino quite like this. The heavy sighs, the shuffling gate, it was like a different person. That, though, was nothing compared to what he had noticed about Ohno.
The man was a different person around a depressed Nino. He had stepped up his game, trying to be talkative (for him) when the younger man was around. The minute Nino was out of earshot, though, he’d sigh louder, obvious worry painted on his features. Half the reason Sho had suggested karaoke was simply to cheer up Ohno. All of this depression going around was surely not good for their group. Who was next? God forbid Aiba.
Presently, Ohno was sitting in the corner of their booth, staring at his cell phone as Sho tried to find a song they both could sing (that wasn’t one of their own). After several minutes, though, Sho was desperately flipping through the enka section, feeling strained. It was then that Ohno shot up out of his seat and headed towards the door.
“Where are you going?” Sho asked, half confused and half relieved.
“I’m taking Nino home.”
Ohno walked out the door with a purpose to his stride and Sho didn’t know what else to do but follow him. He quickly paid for the room on their way out and managed to fall into step behind Ohno who, Sho discovered, could walk really fast when he was on a mission.
In fifteen minutes, they were standing in front of the bar they had left their friend in. Ohno marched inside and Sho followed, suddenly feeling meek for no real reason. Nino still sat perched in his same seat, although a lot more glasses surrounded him than when they left. He turned when he heard the door open and the gigantic smile on his face belied how much he’d had to drink.
“Sho-chan! Oh-chan! You came to see me!” He sounded like a little boy, infectious glee in his tone. What kind of drink gave you that kind of energy?
“I came to take you home,” Ohno said strictly, as if he were cutting off Nino’s recess. Nino frowned.
“But I’m having fun here. I made friends with the bartender. His name is Yamamoto.” The bartender put up a hand in greeting from the other side of the counter. “Sit down and have a drink. You only just got here.”
Ohno, however, did not sit down but grabbed Nino around the upper arm and pulled him off his barstool. Nino was about to protest but thought better about it, stumbling after Ohno and waving a goodbye to Yamamoto.
On the way home, it became apparent just how drunk Nino was. He sat on the train, cuddled into Ohno as if seeking warmth even though it wasn’t very cold. Ohno didn’t seem to mind, though, and put his arm around Nino, as if comforting a child. Sho felt vaguely like a third wheel but refused to give any credence to that.
Ohno’s stop was coming up but it was increasingly clear that he was taking Nino home first. Sho wondered if Ohno would be going home tonight.
“Oh-chan?” a small voice came out of Nino. He had clearly forgotten Sho’s presence. “Why do girls suck?” Ohno smiled gently, as Ohno was wont to do.
“Not all girls suck. Hanako was just … not right for you. There are more girls out there. You’ll meet a good one someday.” Nino seemed unconvinced and snuggled into Ohno’s chest.
“I like Oh-chan better. I’m just going to date you instead.” Sho and Ohno made eye contact and Ohno shook his head, amused.
“Okay. You can just date me until you meet someone better.” Nino smiled, snuggled closer, and promptly fell asleep.
“…was that wise?” Sho felt the need to ask. Ohno just smiled, shrugged, and patted Nino on the shoulder.
iii.
One of their managers stormed into the dressing room, raging about the something. Aiba didn’t really know, as he was fairly certain he wasn’t the cause. He quickly went through everything he had done that day in his head and came to the conclusion that he didn’t do anything to make someone in charge of them that upset. Maybe a little but not rage and storm into a room. This had to be Nino.
Nino, Aiba was sure, took pride in his pranks. He spent a lot of time and effort into making each one bigger and better than the last. Aiba particularly thought the time when Nino involved the whole concert audience was the pinnacle of his accomplishments but Nino was always thinking of a new one. And it usually meant trouble for at least one of them.
Upon closer look, the upset man was one of the managers in charge of photo shoots, magazines and the like. He was holding something that looked like a mock up of their latest concert pamphlet. Aiba remembered doing the interview for that particular one. He mentioned that watermelons were the best combustible fruits on the market. He wasn’t sure if anyone was going to be excited by that piece of information but he had gone to a lot of trouble to figure it out and figured the world deserved to know.
“Who did it? Who changed the wording?!” the man was yelling. Aiba glanced at the faces around him. Sho looked confused, Jun didn’t look fazed, Ohno wasn’t even really paying attention and Nino … yep, Nino was holding back laughter. Nino definitely did something. Instead of being annoyed like he was pretty sure Jun would be, though, Aiba was excited. Something funny was about to happen.
“Changed the wording?” Sho asked curiously, grabbing the papers from the man’s hand. Like normal, Sho was the one to take charge. Aiba smiled and bounced over to glance at the paper over Sho’s shoulder. Sho shifted his weight to give Aiba more room to lean into him.
“I don’t see anything wrong,” Sho blinked at the frustrated man. In response, the manager pointed at the ‘member bio’ section and took a step back.
“Aiba is our resident idiot,” Sho read out loud. “Sometimes we wonder how he managed to stay alive all these years.” Aiba blinked but didn’t say anything. It was kind of true. Sho read on.
“Jun cares too much about his appearance. One day his clothes will be stolen and he will be left only with a robe. We shall see how cool he is on that day.” Jun glared at Nino, obviously aware of who somehow changed their concert pamphlet. Nino just smiled sweetly and shrugged, as if he had no idea what they were talking about.
“Sho is our…” Sho trailed off and then turned to look at Nino with a hard expression Aiba rarely saw on the man. “Nino, when you take a ‘p’ out of ‘rapper’, it has a very different connotation in English. I’m going to assume you didn’t know that because I like to believe the best in people.” Nino just grinned innocently again. He totally knew.
Aiba grabbed the paper from Sho’s hands, aware he probably wouldn’t read the rest.
“Nino is the brains behind the group and in charge of everything from rehearsals to planning the … Nino, we don’t have group orgies!” Aiba exclaimed, more confused than agitated.
“The fans don’t know that,” Nino replied, finally sort of accepting the blame. “Don’t you think that rumors of group orgies will get attention? I bet it will.” The singsong tone was getting to Jun.
“Would you stop trying to get gay rumors to start? Our PVs are bad enough. You don’t have to encourage them.” Jun’s tone was harsh but Nino just smiled brighter.
“And here I though you liked our PVs the most, Jun. You certainly dress the most interesting out of all of us.”
“I’m warning you, Nino,” Jun spat out through ground teeth. Nino was treading on thin ice. Aiba wondered when the last time Nino was this close to death was and figured it was probably some time last week. Nino was about to taunt Jun back when another voice piped in.
“Wait. What does it say about me?” Ohno looked genuinely curious. Aiba, upon reflecting that he hadn’t read a ridiculous statement about Ohno yet, looked down at the paper in his hand.
“Oh-chan is the leader of the group and quite a tasty piece of ass. He, however, is property of Nino so no one is allowed to even fantasize about him.” Aiba managed to get through the entire thing without laughing but once the fantasize part was out it was too late. He was on the ground, hysterical.
Sho looked confused and Jun looked disgusted. Nino, however, didn’t look at any of them. He just turned his eyes to Ohno, partly abashed and partly curious. Ohno didn’t say anything for a moment. Finally, his eyes met Nino’s.
“That’s all very sweet, Nino, but I don’t think we can publish it. My mom might read it and I don’t think she would like hearing anything about my ass.” His tone was completely serious and slightly apologetic. Nino shrugged and grabbed the paper from Aiba’s hand on the floor.
“I guess I’ll take this back up and fix it, then.” Nino’s tone suggested he was a little annoyed that not everyone reacted as he wished to his joke but Aiba noticed the slouch in his shoulders and his downcast eyes.
The minute Nino was out the door, Aiba went over and hugged Sho. When Sho asked him what it was for, Aiba said it was because he was glad Sho wasn’t really a rapist. In truth, though, Nino’s expression kept flittering about in his mind, reminding him that happiness could be close but ever fleeting and Aiba hugged tighter.
iv.
Ohno felt like a terrible son. Here he was, suddenly enjoying a random and senseless boom in popularity and like a prodigal son, forgot all about his mother.
Freestyle had been in stores for a month now but he was still bouncing around everywhere, from interview to interview. It was different, always being the one in the news. Ohno wasn’t sure if he liked it yet, but he suddenly understood why the others always seemed so horribly tired after they had embarked on their own solo projects. He couldn’t even imagine how Nino had survived over in America. The idea of living alone in a foreign country like that scared him. There was no way he could be gone that long.
And yet, somehow, he had let this all get to his head. He hadn’t meant to. And maybe he was blowing this out of proportion a little but he was pretty sure the voicemail that was still ringing in his head was enough evidence to land him in the “Worst Son Ever” category.
He had been across the city, doing yet another appearance. He was really sick of them by now but still somehow managed a meek smile whenever they brought up his exhibit. Yes, he was proud of it but it was time the spotlight moved to someone else. This particular guest appearance seemed to never end, though. What Ohno was sure would only take an hour and a half at most was going on the four hour mark. Ohno just wanted to get home.
Once he was offstage, he pulled out his cell phone, about to call his mother and apologize. They had planned a big dinner that night (they still hadn’t been able to really celebrate his exhibit and had planned for tonight, since both Ohnos had felt the fervor would have died down by now) and he felt horrible for being late. She didn’t pick up her phone, though. Ohno stared down at his cell, confused. His mom always picked up the phone.
It was at this moment his phone decided to tell him that he had one new voicemail. Punching the button and placing the phone to his ear, Ohno curiously waited for the message to begin.
It was from his mother. She sounded very flustered and all she said was “Satoshi, would you come home? Quickly, if possible. I just…. I really need you home. Could you--” And then it cut off.
Ohno’s eyes flashed wide open and he ran nonstop to the closet train station. He tried her phone every five minutes, hoping beyond hope she’d pick up. Whatever happened sounded bad. Ohno was petrified but determined to get home as fast as possible.
A half an hour later, he stood in front of the door, desperately trying to get his key to work. Frantic to get in, he couldn’t really position the key correctly. He was just about to try kicking the door down when it opened of its own accord. He looked up into the confused face of his mother.
“What’s the matter, honey? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Ohno was just so glad to see his mother safe and sound. He sighed in relief and slumped down, energy leaving his body. He’d used more adrenaline today than he had in months. She ushered him inside and took off his jacket, putting it in the hall closet before leading him to the table.
“Honey, are you alright? Was the interview horrible? I know it was last minute but surely it couldn’t have been that bad.” Ohno’s mother was looking at him with concern that Ohno couldn’t fathom. Hadn’t she been the one in trouble?
“It went fine, Mom. I’m curious, though: what did you mean in that voicemail you left me? Why did I have to get home so quickly?” Ohno’s mother flushed in embarrassment.
“Oh, I was just having so much trouble trying to get the rice the way I wanted it. I needed another pair of hands. I thought that you could help me but I had forgotten you had an interview so far away. I’m sorry I didn’t call you back. My phone died and I can’t find the charger.”
Ohno sighed in relief. That explained why he couldn’t call her and why the phone had cut off so ominously mid-sentence. With a small grunt of weariness, he pushed himself out of his seat.
“Okay, then. Let’s get to work on that rice.” Ohno’s mother looked embarrassed again.
“About that, sweetie. Dinner’s already finished.”
“I thought you needed help with it.” Ohno looked in confusion down at his mother.
“Dinner is served!” Another voice called out as it glided toward the table from the kitchen. Nino, clad in a pink frilly apron, held a steaming plate of chahan that looked delicious. He smiled encouragingly towards Ohno’s mother before addressing another, more abashed one to his best friend.
“Why’s Nino here?” Ohno asked in a tone more confused than anything else.
“Nino here was on his way home from work when he decided to come over and check up on me. Isn’t that sweet?” Ohno’s mother fixed Nino with one of her most appreciative smiles and Nino blushed.
Ohno was speechless. Nino’s work had been in a completely different direction, at least a twenty-minute train ride away. And Nino never blushed.
“Well, I know it’s been hard with Oh-chan being so busy all of the sudden so I thought I would come over and make sure everything was going all right. I didn’t know I’d be needed in the kitchen or I would have called Jun.” Nino’s tone was light and airy but there was true concern laced inside his words. Ohno could tell, he could feel, that Nino was embarrassed being caught acting like a decent human being. Something clenched in his chest.
“Don’t be modest!” Ohno’s mother gave Nino a loving smack on the arm. “You’re great in the kitchen. Much more helpful than Satoshi would have been. Now sit down and join us for dinner.” Ohno’s mother pulled out the chair next to her.
“Oh, no. I shouldn’t. It’s a family dinner and I need to be going anyway. I have filming in the morning and…” Nino trailed off, eyes darting towards the door. Ohno knew for a fact that Nino had the next day off.
“Stay.” It was only one word but Nino turned around, eyes curious towards Ohno. Gratitude welled inside of him and Ohno could see the second that Nino realized that he had really touched a nerve. He smiled sheepishly and sunk down into the seat Ohno’s mother had offered him.
“I guess I can stay for a little bit, then. But not very long. Early day tomorrow and everything.” It was a clear defeat. And for some reason, Ohno felt a sense of complacency, like it was right that Nino attend an Ohno family dinner. He smiled and sat back down as his mother began grabbing plates out of the cupboard. The two men just smiled at each other, glad to be in the other’s company.
“Nino’s such a good boy,” Ohno’s mother called from the kitchen. “You picked a good boyfriend, Satoshi.”
Ohno spluttered into a coughing fit and Nino looked away.
v.
Yamada hadn’t been working for Johnny’s very long; in fact, he wasn’t quite sure how he had managed to get the job in the first place. He had asked his brother-in-law to put in a good word for him and the next thing he knew, he was working backstage as a go-to man. It was a good job (better than what he had been doing) and really, he enjoyed it. It was just times like this that were awkward.
He had been called into the Arashi dressing room, only told that there was something that he should check up on. Knowing that the vent in that room tended to get clogged sometimes, he grabbed his toolkit and headed down the hall.
The scene that met his eyes, however, had nothing to do with a clogged ventilation shaft. There seemed to be some kind of stand off going on. The little one (Ninomiya?) stood at one end of one of the couches, looking not quite angry but not happy either. The one that usually had the blond spiky hair (Ohno. That was it.) was on the other end, looking confused and a little put out. The other three stood across the room, watching the scene with trepidation. Yamada, not knowing exactly why he was there, joined them.
“Um,” he tried to the member closest to him. The young man shushed him without taking his eyes away from the duo. Yamada, feeling kind of useless but nonetheless intrigued, shrugged and turned his attention towards them, too. He’d figure out what he was needed for after the confrontation.
“Answer me,” the little one demanded. There was anger and a touch of concern, Yamada thought, in his tone. The other one looked up to meet his eyes, as if he wasn’t sure where the power behind the words came from.
“Three times, I think. Really, it’s no big deal,” Ohno (he was pretty sure) tried to shrug off the question. Yamada didn’t understand and looked back at the young man on his right.
“Three times what?” The kid with the short brown hair gave him an annoyed glance.
“Nino asked him how many times Ohno went fishing last week. Now, shush!” With that he turned back to the melee (if that was the appropriate word). Yamada didn’t see why fishing was such a big deal but hoped the rest of the confrontation would fill in the blanks.
“Three times! And did you remember to bring dinner out with you on the water?!” Nino was angry. Ohno gave him a sheepish shrug Yamada took to mean ‘no’. Nino exploded.
“Seriously! You need to eat! You’re skin and bones! Instead of fishing, you should be eating food. I can’t believe you! You are ridiculous!” Nino was frustrated, that was clear. The more he talked, however, the more Ohno eyed him with annoyance.
“I like fishing. Don’t lecture me about that. I’m stressed enough; I don’t need you trying to take away my hobby. It’s keeping me sane, Kazu.” Nino visibly relaxed at the address but shook it off quickly.
“I don’t care if you go crazy as long as you’re alive. That’s it! I’m going to your house and taking your fishing pole. There is going to be no fishing until filming for Maou is complete. If worse comes to worst, I will come to your house and force you to eat every day.” Ohno jumped up at that.
“This is none of your business, Kazu! Why don’t you just leave me alone? I’ll live. I was fine before I met you and I’d be fine if you weren’t here. I don’t need you to do this. Why do you even care?”
“I care!” There was a hint of something in Nino’s cry but Yamada couldn’t place it. “I care, Satoshi. But if you can’t see that, then whatever. Starve. At least I’ll be able to tell you ‘I told you so’ at your funeral.”
With that, Nino turned and stormed out of the room. The door slammed behind him. Ohno watched the closed door for a few moments and then turned and left the room himself through the side door. The click that followed his exit wasn’t as angry as a door slam but seemed eerily foreboding. Yamada wasn’t entirely sure what he just witnessed but he knew something had just happened.
The other three members of the group seemed to exhale collectively. The pretty one he was pretty sure his daughter had a poster of in her room walked over and sunk down in the couch. The other two looked at each other worriedly.
“Sho,” the one that had been standing next to him asked the other, “what are we going to do?”
“Nothing,” the other told him. “This isn’t our problem; it’s theirs. They need to figure it out themselves.”
“But I don’t like Leader and Nino fighting. It doesn’t feel right,” the other man whined.
“I know,” Sho assured him, “but we just need to let them be. They’ll cool down and talk about it. They always do.” The brown haired man sighed and nodded.
It was then that the couched member looked up and noticed Yamada. He blinked and then addressed him.
“….Can we help you?” Yamada coughed embarrassedly.
“I was told there was something I needed to check up on in here? I’m sorry to intrude.” The one called Sho looked over at him and smiled.
“Oh, I think I called you. We need a little help. Aiba somehow managed to clog the sink with a stuffed animal. At least, we’re pretty sure it’s stuffed.” The brown haired man laughed awkwardly.
Yamada was glad he brought his toolkit. This could be a long afternoon.
vi.
Nino sat in his dressing room, playing the newest Dragon Quest game. Well, playing it for the fifth time. All he had done lately was play that game. After his fight with Ohno three weeks before, all he really wanted to do was play video games.
In video games, there was a clear villain. There was a path you were following to a clearly defined goal. You leveled up and you improved. You never went backwards. You never questioned your goal. There was none of this grey space his life seemed to exist in lately.
A knock on the door alerted him to someone else’s presence. Not in the mood to get the door himself, he grunted as a means of welcoming the other. It was probably a staffer or AD or something, letting him know that filming was delayed or there was lunch in the greenroom if he wanted or any number of things he really didn’t care about right now. He didn’t even look up until he heard a slight cough, obviously meant to get his attention.
A glance up showed him what he kind of expected. Ohno stood in front of him, looking hesitant but insistent. They hadn’t really talked since their fight earlier that month. Nino had been keeping his distance as he noticed that the more time he spent with the older man, the angrier he got. Nino would never apologize, as he firmly believed he was right. And he hated to lose.
Ohno had kept his distance as well that first week. Emotions were running high. However, as time wore on, Ohno had visibly grown tired of their fight and had tried to subtly gain Nino’s trust back. Nino saw through it, though. If Ohno wouldn’t admit that he was two skipped meals away from malnutrition, Nino didn’t want to have anything to do with him. He was too worried to let the man win that argument.
“I heard about your new drama,” Ohno started in. “Congratulations. You and Ryo, huh? That’ll be a dream collaboration. And I’ve heard from Jun that that Toda girl is really nice. You sure are good at what you do, huh?” Ohno was trying. Nino didn’t care.
“What do you want?” Nino asked impatiently, not even pausing his game. Ohno frowned and sat down on the couch facing Nino. Obviously this was not the reception he was hoping for.
“I want to talk. I want to .... Nino, can you turn that off?” Nino had every intention of playing Dragon Quest straight through his “talk” with Ohno but the sincerity in his friend’s voice broke through to him. With an exaggerated sigh, he saved the game and flipped the DS closed, placing it on the table in front of him and fixing Ohno with his most annoyed glare.
“Fine, then. Shoot,” Ohno smoothed his clothes, trying to calm himself considering Nino wasn’t being the most cooperative. He tried again.
“Nino, I’m sorry for our fight the other day. I was just so frustrated with my lack of free time and I took it out on you. You were only worried about me. I realize that.” Ohno sounded sincere, okay he obviously was sincere, but Nino was still annoyed.
“Took you long enough to figure out…” Nino muttered. Nino’s frustration came through in his voice and he winced a bit. Ohno took it in stride though. Standing up, he crossed the table between them and sat next to Nino on the couch. Nino wasn’t entirely sure what this was supposed to signify but he let it happen.
“It’s my fault.”
“You’re right, it’s your fault.”
“Kazu, let me talk.” Nino made a hand signal letting Ohno know he’d be quiet, even if he wasn’t happy about it.
“ I was just so angry with myself for not listening to you. If I should listen to anyone, I kept thinking, I should listen to you. And I didn’t know why I felt like that. Being in a fight with you was worse than I could imagine. I mean, I know we’ve fought before but never like this. This felt … different.” Ohno’s voice was becoming vague and so were his words. Still, Nino had an idea of what he meant.
“It felt wrong. Us being apart feels wrong,” Nino supplied. Ohno nodded.
It was then that something inside of Nino snapped. He was sick and tired of doing nothing about things like this. If there was ever a man of action, Nino decided, he was it.
“I’m sick of this,” Nino said, looking Ohno straight in the eye, “so let’s figure this out.” And with that, he leaned forward and kissed Ohno.
Ohno didn’t do anything at first but then again, neither did Nino. This was unfamiliar and awkward territory. Neither person knew exactly how to proceed. But, Nino thought, it didn’t feel wrong. Slowly, he brought one hand up to cup Ohno’s face. Taking that hand as a cue, Ohno leaned forward, into Nino, and all of the sudden, the situation turned from not wrong to very, very right.
It was perhaps a minute before they broke apart, each needing to breathe again. It took even longer for either to garner the courage to look at the other. Ohno won that battle first.
“What was that for?” he asked softly. Nino shrugged.
“I was sick of our sexual tension. I wanted to break it, see if there was a reason for it.” His tone implied indifference but he couldn’t look at Ohno. He was worried his instincts had been wrong.
“So,” Ohno asked after a beat, “is there a reason for it?” He watched Nino’s face, not giving Nino any indication of what he was thinking. Nino didn’t like walking into the unknown; he didn’t know how to answer.
“I don’t know. What do you think?” He asked shyly, still unable to meet Ohno’s eyes. Ohno finally couldn’t take it anymore and smiled.
“I think there’s something there,” he replied and captured Nino’s lips again.
After each man felt he could draw a map of the other’s mouth, Ohno felt the need to pull back. Nino made a vague annoyed sound and tugged at him. Ohno resisted.
“What does this mean, Kazu?” Nino blinked at him.
“What does what mean?”
“This,” Ohno vaguely motioned towards the two of them. “Us. What does it mean?” Nino shrugged.
“Does it have to mean anything? Do we have to give it a name?” Ohno considered that for a minute.
“I guess not. But what do we tell the others?” Nino grinned.
“We don’t have to tell them anything. I’m sure they’ll figure it out soon enough.” Ohno shivered at the look on Nino’s face. He couldn’t tell if it boded well or ill for him. He had the strangest notion it could be both.
“But they’ll wonder why we stopped fighting, at least,” Ohno tried to keep up the conversation. Nino was getting annoyed. He had discovered in the last half an hour that he liked Ohno’s ass. He knew he always had professed a love for it but he had never truly understood its greatness until now. And he wanted to get back to it.
“I don’t know. We’ll just tell them…” Nino trailed off, trying to think of an accurate explanation for what had just happened without giving too much away. Half of the fun, he had already decided, would be getting them to guess on their own. With a few hints he was looking forward to giving.
“I got it!” Ohno grinned. “We’ll tell them Ohmiya SK finally came to their senses.” Nino smiled back at him.
“My Oh-chan is brilliant.”
They were thirty minutes late to rehearsal. Honestly? No one minded.