[multi-chapter] Remarkable [Ohmiya / Sakuraiba] [03]
Title: Remarkable - The Same Difference
Pairing: Ohmiya (Sakuraiba in later chapters)
Rating: PG-13 for the first chapters
Genre: alternative, angst, mystery
Summary: Ohno Satoshi - newly hired host in a men's club - was slowly losing his hopes for a better life. Then one day he met a mysterious customer and his whole being suddenly hoped that his life would take a turn for the better. But Ohno couldn't even imagine the consequences this no doubt important meeting would have.
Warning: AU (Alternative Universe), RPS (Real Person Slash)
Translator:
lady_alesha♥
Beta: nanao253♥
Prologue | 01 | 02
Chapter 3
But old habits die hard. It was hardly a week since Ohno met the mysterious customer when everything had gone back to normal. Ninomiya might have changed the young host for a short while, might have shown him his work, his customers, in a new light, but the change hadn’t lasted long. The daily routine had quickly caught up with Satoshi again, pulled him down into his own personal, dark abyss full of gloomy thoughts and made the memory of nice, unknown Ninomiya fade into the background. That’s how fast you can get used to things you don’t even like.
But Satoshi didn’t want to talk about getting used to in this context. He couldn’t get used to the looks, words and touches of his customers. That’s why he had had big trouble with his boss a few days before.
‘Why did that asshole customer have to touch me anyway…?’ he cursed in his thoughts, knowing at the same time that precisely that was his job - he was there so that the customers could touch him and satisfy themselves. But how long had he been saying that to himself now? Ohno didn’t think it would make a difference, but he also knew that he couldn’t escape his new life. He just couldn’t find another job right now! And even if he went to work even more frustrated after the last incident, it didn’t change anything.
Now he was once again sitting at the bar, the only place in the club where everything was still ok. Sometimes he hoped he could just stay sitting here the whole night, simply ignoring the demands of his boss, his colleagues and the customers.
Ohno Satoshi sighed. At least he could still hope.
“Good evening, Satoshi-kun,” a voice with an almost cute tone said next to him.
Ohno jerked back suddenly. Had he been too lost in his thoughts, or had he really not noticed how the person had stepped beside him? Surprised he raised his gaze and looked at Ninomiya’s smiling face.
“G-good evening, Ninomiya-san!” The young host jumped up off his seat right away and bowed quickly, before looking the newcomer over for a second.
He looked different. Ohno couldn’t exactly recall his appearance, but he noticed right away that the young man was wearing more casual and fashionable clothes, which made him appear even younger. To go with the clothes he had made his hair look slightly wind-swept, giving him a cheeky look. And his voice sounded different… whereas he had been focused on sounding mature and polite when they met the first time, he now came across a lot more playful, childish even.
Seeing these rather big changes, Ohno blinked quickly, he didn’t quite know what to say now. But Ninomiya seemed to wait for some kind of reaction from him.
“How are you? I didn’t even see you arrive?”
Why his sentence made Ninomiya grin he didn’t know.
“You seemed to be too lost in thought to notice much of anything around you,” his bemused voice said, then he turned to the bar and ordered a drink.
“I’m fine, thanks, but…” he paused briefly, a big grin gracing his face, “I’m not your customer right now. You can drop the polite act!” With that he once again turned to the bar, grabbed his drink with a quick thank you on his lips and took a big gulp. Ohno watched every one of Ninomiya’s movements closely, once again not knowing what to say. For one thing, he was surprised by his sudden appearance and more than astonished by his mysterious, atypical behaviour. But Ohno couldn’t really judge what was typical for Ninomiya as he hardly knew him!
“Do you want something…?” the young man suddenly addressed him. Ohno had again been silent for too long and not answered his last words. Swallowing, he shook his head again.
“No, thanks,” the host said with a small smile.
‘When he’s not my customer, I have to pay for the drinks myself, but I can’t afford that,’ was the only thought running through his head after Ninomiya’s question. He knew the club’s prices, after all, and also knew that they were way out of his league. Thus he just continued silently watching the young man drink. If he really wasn’t here as his customer, he didn’t have to make an effort to find a topic for conversation.
After some time during which no one spoke, he saw Ninomiya looking at him again, looking him in the eyes for a long time not saying a word. It was as if he was held captive by the visual contact. Ohno could do nothing but keep looking at those deep dark eyes. Ninomiya had this strange air about him that always captivated him.
“And how are you? How is the nervousness?” he suddenly asked, cutting through the tension that had secretly manifested between them during the intense eye contact. His second question was accompanied by a grin that made Ohno blush a little. Why did Ninomiya make him blush so easily?
Forcing himself to nod slightly, the host tried to smile a little.
“It’s getting there, ne…”
That it wasn’t getting there at all wasn’t something he had to advertise in front of Ninomiya, it wasn’t something the customers here cared about after all. The young man had only asked out of politeness, he was sure. Or he wanted to keep talking to Ohno. Or whatever. Ohno was slowly stopping to try and figure Ninomiya out.
But before he could think about it further, a hand on his shoulder interrupted him. Confused he turned around, a questioning look on his face, and looked right into his friend’s smiling face.
Sho.
But Sho wasn’t looking at him, he was looking right past Ohno.
“Ninomiya-san, good evening!”
Sho’s smile widened, but Ohno could tell that it was one of Sho’s fake smiles. He had known his friend too long to not notice immediately when his friend was expressing genuine feelings and when he was putting on a mask for the customers.
“Are you well? I haven’t seen you in our club in quite a while,” the host said politely, but Ohno could hear that his voice was a little strained.
Ninomiya nodded, smiling at the newcomer.
“Ah, good evening, Sho-kun. I am well. But unfortunately we must have missed each other the last few times I was here,” he said in a friendly tone, a tone Ohno knew well. He had talked to him like that the first time they met.
“I hope you don’t mind if I borrow Satoshi-kun for a moment.” The pressure on Ohno’s shoulder increased slightly when Sho said those words. Confused Ohno kept his gaze on Sho, who didn’t say anything else but merely pulled the smaller host along with him. Before he knew what was happening to him, Ohno was roughly pushed up against a wall in the darkest corner of the club. What had gotten into Sho all of a sudden?
“What are you doing with him? Do you even know who he is, god damn it?!” the experienced host rounded on him angrily.
Ohno couldn’t breathe, he had seldom seen his friend this angry. He knew that Sho could get angry fast in any given situation, but he himself had never been subjected to Sho’s anger. But now his anger seemed to be directed solely at him.
Ohno swallowed loudly, knowing that Sho was now waiting for his answer.
“Eh… Sure I know who he is! Ninomiya-san! He was here last week already and he was my customer…” he said quietly, forgetting to choose his words carefully. But he couldn’t imagine what had happened to make Sho this angry, at all.
“He is pretty nice…” he added grinning. He tried to convince Sho with a small smile, regardless of what was going on inside the taller boy’s head at the moment.
A small sigh escaped the host in front of him and made him look confused again, but Ohno felt how the pressure of Sho’s hands decreased slowly.
“You shouldn’t be so naive all the time.” Ohno grimaced slightly at Sho’s words. “Didn’t the other hosts tell you anything?” Worry began lacing Sho’s voice and Ohno didn’t understand anything anymore.
“That guy is pretty strange! Even though he seems so nice at first glance!” the taller host started, his voice clearly strained. But Ohno continued looking at him questioningly; he understood that Sho wanted to talk about Ninomiya, but he had no idea what he was trying to tell him with his words.
And Sho seemed to notice that, because a harried sigh escaped his throat.
“Ok, pay attention! Some hosts say, he’s the best customer there is! He has a lot of money, is nice and almost never goes to the boss to complain! But… before you started working here…” He paused for a moment then continued, his voice gruff, “There were a few hosts who didn’t come back after he was their customer.”
Sho’s voice sounded more serious than ever and he looked at Ohno urgently. The taller host seemed to be really worried.
But Ohno needed a moment for the words to sink in, needed some time to understand them and realise what Sho wanted to say. What he was accusing Ninomiya of.
“Ehh?”
Silence. Sho looked seriously at Ohno, who looked back confused.
“You… you’re just trying to scare me! He is really nice! I … I spilled wine and he just laughed! Nothing else!” the smaller host said, flustered, and thus broke through the silence quickly. Something inside him rebelled against what Sho was telling him, although he had to admit that it wasn’t the first time he had heard stories like that. Just never in connection with Ninomiya’s name.
A young customer, hosts that disappeared. Nobody had ever seen them again. A nice customer. Young and nice. No one knows what happened to them. As if the ground had opened up and swallowed them. The customer was very young and very good-looking.
“I’m just saying… Be careful, ok?” Sho said worriedly and brought Ohno back to the present again, “I have to get back. I have a customer. Take care of yourself.”
And with that his friend disappeared again, leaving the inexperienced host alone in the twilight permeating the darkest corners of the club.
“…Hai…”
For a moment he watched Sho walk away, then he took a deep breath and went back to the bar. Maybe Ninomiya was waiting for him. But maybe he had found another host a long time ago already.
Insecurity swept through his body. As if it had been deep inside him the whole time, only waiting for a trigger to spread and take hold of him.
‘They disappeared…’
But could Ninomiya really have something to do with it?
to be continued
next chapter
Pairing: Ohmiya (Sakuraiba in later chapters)
Rating: PG-13 for the first chapters
Genre: alternative, angst, mystery
Summary: Ohno Satoshi - newly hired host in a men's club - was slowly losing his hopes for a better life. Then one day he met a mysterious customer and his whole being suddenly hoped that his life would take a turn for the better. But Ohno couldn't even imagine the consequences this no doubt important meeting would have.
Warning: AU (Alternative Universe), RPS (Real Person Slash)
Translator:
lady_alesha♥
Beta: nanao253♥
Prologue | 01 | 02
Chapter 3
But old habits die hard. It was hardly a week since Ohno met the mysterious customer when everything had gone back to normal. Ninomiya might have changed the young host for a short while, might have shown him his work, his customers, in a new light, but the change hadn’t lasted long. The daily routine had quickly caught up with Satoshi again, pulled him down into his own personal, dark abyss full of gloomy thoughts and made the memory of nice, unknown Ninomiya fade into the background. That’s how fast you can get used to things you don’t even like.
But Satoshi didn’t want to talk about getting used to in this context. He couldn’t get used to the looks, words and touches of his customers. That’s why he had had big trouble with his boss a few days before.
‘Why did that asshole customer have to touch me anyway…?’ he cursed in his thoughts, knowing at the same time that precisely that was his job - he was there so that the customers could touch him and satisfy themselves. But how long had he been saying that to himself now? Ohno didn’t think it would make a difference, but he also knew that he couldn’t escape his new life. He just couldn’t find another job right now! And even if he went to work even more frustrated after the last incident, it didn’t change anything.
Now he was once again sitting at the bar, the only place in the club where everything was still ok. Sometimes he hoped he could just stay sitting here the whole night, simply ignoring the demands of his boss, his colleagues and the customers.
Ohno Satoshi sighed. At least he could still hope.
“Good evening, Satoshi-kun,” a voice with an almost cute tone said next to him.
Ohno jerked back suddenly. Had he been too lost in his thoughts, or had he really not noticed how the person had stepped beside him? Surprised he raised his gaze and looked at Ninomiya’s smiling face.
“G-good evening, Ninomiya-san!” The young host jumped up off his seat right away and bowed quickly, before looking the newcomer over for a second.
He looked different. Ohno couldn’t exactly recall his appearance, but he noticed right away that the young man was wearing more casual and fashionable clothes, which made him appear even younger. To go with the clothes he had made his hair look slightly wind-swept, giving him a cheeky look. And his voice sounded different… whereas he had been focused on sounding mature and polite when they met the first time, he now came across a lot more playful, childish even.
Seeing these rather big changes, Ohno blinked quickly, he didn’t quite know what to say now. But Ninomiya seemed to wait for some kind of reaction from him.
“How are you? I didn’t even see you arrive?”
Why his sentence made Ninomiya grin he didn’t know.
“You seemed to be too lost in thought to notice much of anything around you,” his bemused voice said, then he turned to the bar and ordered a drink.
“I’m fine, thanks, but…” he paused briefly, a big grin gracing his face, “I’m not your customer right now. You can drop the polite act!” With that he once again turned to the bar, grabbed his drink with a quick thank you on his lips and took a big gulp. Ohno watched every one of Ninomiya’s movements closely, once again not knowing what to say. For one thing, he was surprised by his sudden appearance and more than astonished by his mysterious, atypical behaviour. But Ohno couldn’t really judge what was typical for Ninomiya as he hardly knew him!
“Do you want something…?” the young man suddenly addressed him. Ohno had again been silent for too long and not answered his last words. Swallowing, he shook his head again.
“No, thanks,” the host said with a small smile.
‘When he’s not my customer, I have to pay for the drinks myself, but I can’t afford that,’ was the only thought running through his head after Ninomiya’s question. He knew the club’s prices, after all, and also knew that they were way out of his league. Thus he just continued silently watching the young man drink. If he really wasn’t here as his customer, he didn’t have to make an effort to find a topic for conversation.
After some time during which no one spoke, he saw Ninomiya looking at him again, looking him in the eyes for a long time not saying a word. It was as if he was held captive by the visual contact. Ohno could do nothing but keep looking at those deep dark eyes. Ninomiya had this strange air about him that always captivated him.
“And how are you? How is the nervousness?” he suddenly asked, cutting through the tension that had secretly manifested between them during the intense eye contact. His second question was accompanied by a grin that made Ohno blush a little. Why did Ninomiya make him blush so easily?
Forcing himself to nod slightly, the host tried to smile a little.
“It’s getting there, ne…”
That it wasn’t getting there at all wasn’t something he had to advertise in front of Ninomiya, it wasn’t something the customers here cared about after all. The young man had only asked out of politeness, he was sure. Or he wanted to keep talking to Ohno. Or whatever. Ohno was slowly stopping to try and figure Ninomiya out.
But before he could think about it further, a hand on his shoulder interrupted him. Confused he turned around, a questioning look on his face, and looked right into his friend’s smiling face.
Sho.
But Sho wasn’t looking at him, he was looking right past Ohno.
“Ninomiya-san, good evening!”
Sho’s smile widened, but Ohno could tell that it was one of Sho’s fake smiles. He had known his friend too long to not notice immediately when his friend was expressing genuine feelings and when he was putting on a mask for the customers.
“Are you well? I haven’t seen you in our club in quite a while,” the host said politely, but Ohno could hear that his voice was a little strained.
Ninomiya nodded, smiling at the newcomer.
“Ah, good evening, Sho-kun. I am well. But unfortunately we must have missed each other the last few times I was here,” he said in a friendly tone, a tone Ohno knew well. He had talked to him like that the first time they met.
“I hope you don’t mind if I borrow Satoshi-kun for a moment.” The pressure on Ohno’s shoulder increased slightly when Sho said those words. Confused Ohno kept his gaze on Sho, who didn’t say anything else but merely pulled the smaller host along with him. Before he knew what was happening to him, Ohno was roughly pushed up against a wall in the darkest corner of the club. What had gotten into Sho all of a sudden?
“What are you doing with him? Do you even know who he is, god damn it?!” the experienced host rounded on him angrily.
Ohno couldn’t breathe, he had seldom seen his friend this angry. He knew that Sho could get angry fast in any given situation, but he himself had never been subjected to Sho’s anger. But now his anger seemed to be directed solely at him.
Ohno swallowed loudly, knowing that Sho was now waiting for his answer.
“Eh… Sure I know who he is! Ninomiya-san! He was here last week already and he was my customer…” he said quietly, forgetting to choose his words carefully. But he couldn’t imagine what had happened to make Sho this angry, at all.
“He is pretty nice…” he added grinning. He tried to convince Sho with a small smile, regardless of what was going on inside the taller boy’s head at the moment.
A small sigh escaped the host in front of him and made him look confused again, but Ohno felt how the pressure of Sho’s hands decreased slowly.
“You shouldn’t be so naive all the time.” Ohno grimaced slightly at Sho’s words. “Didn’t the other hosts tell you anything?” Worry began lacing Sho’s voice and Ohno didn’t understand anything anymore.
“That guy is pretty strange! Even though he seems so nice at first glance!” the taller host started, his voice clearly strained. But Ohno continued looking at him questioningly; he understood that Sho wanted to talk about Ninomiya, but he had no idea what he was trying to tell him with his words.
And Sho seemed to notice that, because a harried sigh escaped his throat.
“Ok, pay attention! Some hosts say, he’s the best customer there is! He has a lot of money, is nice and almost never goes to the boss to complain! But… before you started working here…” He paused for a moment then continued, his voice gruff, “There were a few hosts who didn’t come back after he was their customer.”
Sho’s voice sounded more serious than ever and he looked at Ohno urgently. The taller host seemed to be really worried.
But Ohno needed a moment for the words to sink in, needed some time to understand them and realise what Sho wanted to say. What he was accusing Ninomiya of.
“Ehh?”
Silence. Sho looked seriously at Ohno, who looked back confused.
“You… you’re just trying to scare me! He is really nice! I … I spilled wine and he just laughed! Nothing else!” the smaller host said, flustered, and thus broke through the silence quickly. Something inside him rebelled against what Sho was telling him, although he had to admit that it wasn’t the first time he had heard stories like that. Just never in connection with Ninomiya’s name.
A young customer, hosts that disappeared. Nobody had ever seen them again. A nice customer. Young and nice. No one knows what happened to them. As if the ground had opened up and swallowed them. The customer was very young and very good-looking.
“I’m just saying… Be careful, ok?” Sho said worriedly and brought Ohno back to the present again, “I have to get back. I have a customer. Take care of yourself.”
And with that his friend disappeared again, leaving the inexperienced host alone in the twilight permeating the darkest corners of the club.
“…Hai…”
For a moment he watched Sho walk away, then he took a deep breath and went back to the bar. Maybe Ninomiya was waiting for him. But maybe he had found another host a long time ago already.
Insecurity swept through his body. As if it had been deep inside him the whole time, only waiting for a trigger to spread and take hold of him.
‘They disappeared…’
But could Ninomiya really have something to do with it?
to be continued
next chapter