[multi-chapter] Remarkable [Ohmiya / Sakuraiba] [14]
Title: Remarkable - The Same Difference
Pairing: Ohmiya | Sakuraiba
Rating: PG-13 for chapter 00 - 15
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 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10| 11 | 12 | 13
This chapter will have the first Sakuraiba-moments ^___^ Though I don't think those were the moments you were waiting for... And it is twice as long as my usual chapters because you will get to know many important things! It's a really really important chapter for the whole story ^__^~ So have fun <3
Chapter 14
“Masaki-san, you don’t usually go to clubs like this, do you? And if you’re only here because of Ninomiya-san that means, you’re only interested in women, right?”
Aiba’s grin widened and he nodded quickly.
“Yep, women. Or Nino-chan!” the customer answered, amused. He reached for his drink and brought it to his full, bow-shaped lips.
Sho didn’t know what to make of him. On the one hand he seemed naïve, very naïve, in everything he said and did. But then there were moments in which the look in Masaki’s eyes changed, in which his eyes turned serious and his voice sounded very grown up. Manly.
“You are really different, Masaki-san,” the host said, laughing quietly to show that he didn’t think this was a bad thing. Masaki was becoming more and more interesting. But at the same time it was strange to talk to this customer in a club like this, if he was really only interested in women.
That’s why he was different. Just like the whole situation was different.
Aiba laughed, too, and kept grinning at Sho.
“Maybe! At least people keep saying I am.”
The two of them were still sitting at the table Ohno and Ninomiya had left a few minutes earlier to go dancing. But Sho didn’t mind being alone with the customer, he had gotten used to working in the club a long time ago and Aiba wasn’t giving him the feeling that he expected him to do anything. It rather seemed as if he didn’t want him to do anything more than talk to him.
Without making a conscious decision, Sho let his gaze move away from the customer and onto the dance floor. But what he saw there made his eyes widen in shock.
He had looked over at Ninomiya and Ohno just in time to see Ninomiya lean in and kiss Ohno.
“W-what are they doing…?!” Sho exclaimed, shocked. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the happy couple.
‘I can’t believe it! Normally he balks at having to get close to someone and now he’s kissing him? Especially him!’
Sho didn’t even notice that he was shaking his head; he just couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
‘This can’t be happening! I told him he should be careful around Ninomiya! Why didn’t he listen to me?!’
“Hm?” Aiba only said, then he followed Sho’s gaze.
The customer started giggling quietly.
“Aww… cute… Looks like things are going well with them.”
Sho thought he must have heard wrong for a moment.
“Good…? Good?” Horrified, the host looked at Aiba. “That’s not good! That’s…! That’s…! I hope for him that it’s all just part of the job!“
He couldn’t stop looking past Masaki to his friend and his friend’s customer. He had to see how far they would go and examine Ohno’s behaviour and his reactions to Ninomiya.
‘I told him not to trust Ninomiya! And he knows perfectly well that relationships between customer and host aren’t allowed!’
Sighing, he tousled his hair, tried to look away and pay attention to Aiba, who was looking very confused, again. But he was confused for a different reason.
“Eh…? Only part of his job? Why…?” he asked when Sho’s eyes were once again resting on him.
“Why don’t you want them… to kiss each other?”
For a moment Sho could only look at the customer in silence while his gaze turned progressively darker.
“Why don’t I want them to kiss?” he asked, nearly growling.
“I hardly think you would understand! You’re Ninomiya-san’s friend after all.”
Scrunching up his nose, Sho looked at Aiba, not hiding the angry look on his face.
“It’s just that… that some hosts have gone missing after coming into contact with Ninomiya.”
Sho could watch something change in Masaki’s eyes. Upon his underhanded accusation, Aiba Masaki’s serious side took over again. But Sho couldn’t tell yet whether that was a good or a bad thing, he could only take a deep breath and continue talking:
“I can’t and won’t risk Satoshi becoming the next victim. On top of that… relationships between hosts and customers are forbidden.”
While he had spoken that last sentence, his gaze had wandered back to Ohno and his customer, critically assessing how far they were going to go and hoping desperately that they would finally pull away from each other.
Then he looked back at Masaki, who had listened to him in silence, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
“I got him this job and I won’t allow anything or anyone to hurt him here,” were the last words Sho intended to say on the subject, the statement closing the subject for him.
But his customer wasn’t ready to let it go.
“Relationships are forbidden…? Why…?” he asked, quickly looking past Sho to the dancing couple, before looking back at Sho obviously disappointed. A reaction Sho couldn’t understand at all.
“With a job like yours, don’t people fall in love easily?”
Sho leaned back on the sofa, sighing. This customer was really naïve.
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? The boss doesn’t want relationships to come out of it, because it would only create problems for him,” he started to explain. “Either the host himself wants to stop working here or the customer doesn’t want the host to keep working at the club. The boss would lose one of his cash cows. But if relationships are forbidden, the customer doesn’t have a choice but to come back to the club over and over again, paying his host every time. That’s just the way it is. Of course, a relationship could be kept secret, but… that’s rare. Especially since the host gets into lots of trouble if the relationship comes to light.”
Another sigh left his throat, he didn’t like the rules he was explaining, but he had gotten used to them and stopped thinking about changing them.
“To make a long story short, it’s all about money.”
Now it was his customers turn to sigh. He grimaced and the host thought he saw the beginnings of a pout.
“Kazu had been alone again for too long! And now he seems to finally have found someone again! No one is allowed to get in between them!” Aiba growled before taking a small sip from his drink and looking away from Sho.
“It’s really just about the money, is it?” he repeated Sho’s words mockingly. Then continued more quietly to himself: “Not as if that hasn’t always been the case...”
For a moment there was silence. Then Aiba turned his eyes back on Sho, looking as if he had something pressing to say.
“I trust Kazu with my life! And I know that he would never hurt Satoshi-kun. Regardless of those rumours. Because my assumption is proven right more and more….” In the ensuing silence, a smile appeared again on Aiba’s lips, a smile that, unlike those of the other customers, reached his eyes and made them sparkle gaily.
“Nino-chan seems to finally have fallen in love again…”
The words hit Sho like a slap in the face.
“In love…?”
His shocked gaze went from Aiba to the couple on the dance floor and back to his customer.
No.
It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.
“That’s bullshit! He hasn’t fallen in love!” he denied hotly.
“Satoshi is only one of many for him! Why else should he have been making out with another host the last time he was here?”
He shook his head violently, tried to belief his own words, tried to talk himself into believing that there was no truth to Masaki’s words.
“I won’t believe your lies, Masaki-san! I think Ninomiya-san isn’t even capable of falling in love. He’s just like all the others. Besides… there’s still the fact that hosts have gone missing after meeting him and you-”
Masaki exhaled loudly, stopping Sho’s rant. He was still smiling, but his smile was less pronounced than before.
“You’re becoming rude, Sho-kun,” he said, his voice still friendly.
“I think I know my friend a little better than you…”
The customer reached for his drink and sipped on it, not taking his eyes off Sho for even a second. And the host could only hold his eyes, could only stare at Masaki and wait for his next words.
“Nino comes to clubs like this to satisfy his need for human contact. Everyone needs that sometimes, right? But everyone has his own way of getting it…,” Masaki said softly, almost warmly. The sound of his voice made Sho shiver, never mind his words. But the host knew he couldn’t allow himself to be swept up in what Masaki was saying, knew he had to contradict him. He wanted to contradict him so much.
“Why do you think he hasn’t taken what he wants from Satoshi-kun yet…? Why do you think he took another host to satisfy his needs…?”
Aiba looked at the couple on the dance floor quickly, but they seemed to still be oblivious to everything around them.
“Satoshi-kun has become too important to him, he doesn’t want to push him into anything he isn’t ready for…”
Sho felt as if he had been hit upside the head by Aiba’s words.
For the moment he could only look at Masaki, all the while trying to convince himself that he could care less what Masaki thought. That he was just a customer, a customer with a different, with the wrong opinion.
“We have different views on love, Masaki-san. If someone is in love, shouldn’t he wait until the one he loves is ready instead of going to someone else for some fun?” Sho said, his voice firm. He crossed his arms in front of his chest to get some additional distance between himself and Masaki.
He shook his head again.
“Even if it makes me rude, Satoshi is more important to me than good behaviour. And if you don’t prove that what you’re saying is true, I will keep an eye on Ninomiya-san.”
But Masaki didn’t lose his smile.
“I don’t think we have different views on love, Sho-kun. I agree with you completely…” he said, after politely waiting for the host to finish speaking. Apparently Sho’s adverse attitude didn’t daunt him.
“The only problem is, I don’t think Nino knows that he’s in love yet. Or he doesn’t want to admit it, even to himself. That’s why he was looking for a distraction. That’s why he didn’t come to the club for months.”
The customer leaned back and put his hands behind his head, his whole body seemed to relax into the cushions behind his back.
“But now he is back and I can almost feel how much he enjoys being in Satoshi-kun’s company. And I’ll do my best to make him realise the extent of his feelings.”
But Sho had no intention of letting himself be calmed by Masaki’s words and actions. He sent him a disparaging look, not liking what he was hearing at all.
‘He wants to help him realise his feelings? Tsss… what feelings? As if Ninomiya even has feelings! He only wants to get Satoshi into his bed and I won’t all-’
But he couldn’t finish his thought, because from the corner of his eye he saw Ninomiya lean towards Ohno again, his arm gripped tightly, and kiss him again.
“That’s enough…!”
And with that he got to his feet. He knew in that moment that he couldn’t allow this to go on any longer. Ninomiya was going too far.
He hadn’t seen or heard him move, but suddenly Aiba was standing in front of him, gripping his shoulder. His grip wasn’t too tight, but there was enough pressure to make Sho stop and look up at him at once.
He was met by Aiba’s serious gaze.
“Satoshi-kun isn’t the only one endangering his job with his behaviour, is he…?” left Masaki’s mouth sharply while his gaze held Sho on the spot. He seemed to know some of the club’s rules after all.
Sho tried to send Aiba his best, derogatory look, but ended up only provoking him further.
“Are you threatening me, Masaki-san?” he hissed. “Forget about it! I only have to mention that you were snooping the last time you were here and you’ll be thrown out!”
Who was this guy? Why did he allow himself to be drawn under his spell? No one threatened Sho! He wasn’t new to this job; he had seen a lot and met a lot of different people here at the club.
But Aiba wasn’t easily intimidated either.
“I don’t want to threaten you, Sho-kun. I really don’t,” he answered, his voice serious. The naïveté that had been there during all of their conversations, had left his voice, making Masaki seem like a totally different person.
“But we both know how well-liked Nino is around here. One word from him and you’re the one who’s thrown out. And that’s what I want to prevent.”
Sho laughed mockingly. Who did he think he was?
“I won’t let anyone pull the wool over my eyes! If Satoshi is that naïve, alright, that’s what I’m here for. To look after him! And if that means risking my job, so be it! It’s not as if I couldn’t start at another club any time. And before I leave, I can still make sure everyone knows what Ninomiya is really like!” the host declared, ready to just push past Aiba.
He got a confused look in return that nearly drove him crazy. Then the customers hand put pressure on his shoulders again; it was uncomfortable, but soothing at the same time.
“Calm down, ok…?” Masaki’s voice sounded distorted, as if he had meant to speak softly, but hadn’t managed to hide his anger.
“If you have something to say to Nino then say it to his face, the way it should be done! But making a scene will only get you thrown out. Then Satoshi-kun will be on his own and you won’t be able to protect him.”
Why did Aiba have to be so goddamn right all of a sudden?
“Don’t touch me!” Angry beyond belief, Sho grit his teeth. He had spoken the words very decisively and looked the customer dead in the eyes, while roughly pushing his hands away.
“As soon as tonight is over, you take him and leave!” He nodded to Nino and Ohno, whose arms were still wrapped around each other, their lips tangled in a demanding kiss.
“I’ll talk Satoshi out of this! And as soon as the next host goes missing I’ll make sure he knows what kind of a person your friend is.”
He had to restrain himself from raising his voice. A moment later Sho turned away, away from Aiba, away from the happy couple, away from everything. He just wanted to get out of there and put an end to the day.
But he heard Masaki follow him.
“Sho-kun…” Much too quickly Masaki had reached him again and fallen into step next to the host. Sho could almost feel his burning gaze on the back of his head.
“I promise you that nothing will happen to Satoshi-kun. I swear.”
Why was Aiba talking softly again all of a sudden? Where had his anger gone? Sho had heard the hissing tone of his voice, had heard that the customer could hardly control himself when he had threatened to expose Ninomiya.
“Nino may have… done a lot of things in his life that were wrong… but he has never hurt a person he loves.” Aiba’s words sounded naïve again and Sho couldn’t shake the feeling that Ninomiya was responsible for the way he talked. The possibility that he was just imagining things wasn’t something he wanted to examine more closely.
“You’re promising me? You?”
A quiet, sarcastic laugh escaped his throat, but Sho only stopped when he had reached the club’s exit.
Slowly he turned to Aiba and gave him the coldest look he could muster.
“Why should I trust you? You’re his friend, are you not? There’s no question whose side you’re on. Maybe… Maybe you’re not any better than he is,” Sho spat and gave Aiba a haughty once over to reinforce his words.
“Believe me… doing this job you learn whom to trust quickly. And I’ve been working here for a long time.”
For Sho the conversation was over. He had made his opinion clear, had shown what he thought of Ninomiya and Aiba. Now all he wanted to do was leave.
But he was prevented from doing so and a heartbeat later he found himself pressed up against the wall. He gasped for breath.
And this time Aiba’s gaze was almost frightening.
“Do you even listen to yourself? You only see the bad in Ninomiya and not listening or trusting someone who knows better isn’t what I would call experience! That’s fear!”
Aiba’s face came closer, his expression hard and serious, making Sho shiver. He didn’t dare to breathe.
Aiba wasn’t hurting him; he was using enough force to press Sho against the wall, but not enough to cause pain. The manoeuvre was meant to intimidate, and it succeeded brilliantly. Sho was scared.
“I don’t know a thing about your life and what you’ve had to go through, but you don’t know anything about mine either. You don’t even know me! And you don’t know Ninomiya!”
His cold, hard voice drove Sho crazy.
“So why…? Why, Sho-kun? Why do you think Ninomiya and I are bad? Because you heard some rumours about some people gone missing? Or because you’re simply too scared to trust anyone…?”
It was too much. All of it, it was just too much. Sho did the only thing he could, he denied.
“What do you know about it, huh? Nothing! You don’t do this job, I do! So stop pretending to know better.”
But he backed away from Aiba’s hard stare until his head hit the cold stones behind him.
“It’s not only the rumours. They disappeared! And the strange thing is, it always happened just after they came into contact with Ninomiya! That’s…”
And there it was. He hesitated and the memories he had tried so hard to bury were there, bombarding him with sensations.
“That’s… not something we should just ignore, Masaki-san,” he finished, his voice weakening.
But Masaki’s grip only tightened around his wrist.
“It’s not something you should bottle up and allow to stop you from trusting others, either. Did they ever find out why those hosts disappeared…? Did they ever connect their disappearance to Ninomiya?”
He had long since lost control of the situation, Sho realized. But Aiba wasn’t done with him yet, his angry eyes held him in place and all he could do was wait and listen.
“The only thing those rumours did was create prejudices. Prejudices that are clouding your judgement, that are making it impossible for you to get to know him. If you would have done that, you would know that he’s a nice, sincere person by now!”
Sho could feel Aiba’s breath on his skin, that’s how close he had gotten to him. He saw him grit his teeth, stopping himself from saying more.
And Sho knew that he had to say something, something to get out of this embarrassing situation.
“If he’s that nice, why do the prejudices exist? Who created the rumours? There had to be a reason for all that! And the reason is Ninomiya!” he said in a last attempt to deny everything Aiba had said. Sho didn’t want to think about what the customer had said, he couldn’t think about it. Not knowing, deep down, that he was right. But admitting that would mean tearing down the walls he had built around himself, it would mean allowing things to come to light that he had tried so hard to forget.
But something else tore down the walls for him.
Suddenly Sho saw them. Aiba’s teeth. Long teeth, unnaturally long teeth.
And nothing could stop the memories from swamping him after that.
“Let go of me…,” he whispered, shocked and frightened.
“Let go of me! NOW!” he suddenly yelled, panicked. He tried to get away, he wanted, no needed, to get away. Away from this man. Away from his memories.
“Sho-kun…?”
But the host didn’t react, he broke free when Aiba loosened his grip and ran. He ran as fast as he could, never once looking back.
He had seen enough anyway.
next chapter
Pairing: Ohmiya | Sakuraiba
Rating: PG-13 for chapter 00 - 15
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 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10| 11 | 12 | 13
This chapter will have the first Sakuraiba-moments ^___^ Though I don't think those were the moments you were waiting for... And it is twice as long as my usual chapters because you will get to know many important things! It's a really really important chapter for the whole story ^__^~ So have fun <3
Chapter 14
“Masaki-san, you don’t usually go to clubs like this, do you? And if you’re only here because of Ninomiya-san that means, you’re only interested in women, right?”
Aiba’s grin widened and he nodded quickly.
“Yep, women. Or Nino-chan!” the customer answered, amused. He reached for his drink and brought it to his full, bow-shaped lips.
Sho didn’t know what to make of him. On the one hand he seemed naïve, very naïve, in everything he said and did. But then there were moments in which the look in Masaki’s eyes changed, in which his eyes turned serious and his voice sounded very grown up. Manly.
“You are really different, Masaki-san,” the host said, laughing quietly to show that he didn’t think this was a bad thing. Masaki was becoming more and more interesting. But at the same time it was strange to talk to this customer in a club like this, if he was really only interested in women.
That’s why he was different. Just like the whole situation was different.
Aiba laughed, too, and kept grinning at Sho.
“Maybe! At least people keep saying I am.”
The two of them were still sitting at the table Ohno and Ninomiya had left a few minutes earlier to go dancing. But Sho didn’t mind being alone with the customer, he had gotten used to working in the club a long time ago and Aiba wasn’t giving him the feeling that he expected him to do anything. It rather seemed as if he didn’t want him to do anything more than talk to him.
Without making a conscious decision, Sho let his gaze move away from the customer and onto the dance floor. But what he saw there made his eyes widen in shock.
He had looked over at Ninomiya and Ohno just in time to see Ninomiya lean in and kiss Ohno.
“W-what are they doing…?!” Sho exclaimed, shocked. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the happy couple.
‘I can’t believe it! Normally he balks at having to get close to someone and now he’s kissing him? Especially him!’
Sho didn’t even notice that he was shaking his head; he just couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
‘This can’t be happening! I told him he should be careful around Ninomiya! Why didn’t he listen to me?!’
“Hm?” Aiba only said, then he followed Sho’s gaze.
The customer started giggling quietly.
“Aww… cute… Looks like things are going well with them.”
Sho thought he must have heard wrong for a moment.
“Good…? Good?” Horrified, the host looked at Aiba. “That’s not good! That’s…! That’s…! I hope for him that it’s all just part of the job!“
He couldn’t stop looking past Masaki to his friend and his friend’s customer. He had to see how far they would go and examine Ohno’s behaviour and his reactions to Ninomiya.
‘I told him not to trust Ninomiya! And he knows perfectly well that relationships between customer and host aren’t allowed!’
Sighing, he tousled his hair, tried to look away and pay attention to Aiba, who was looking very confused, again. But he was confused for a different reason.
“Eh…? Only part of his job? Why…?” he asked when Sho’s eyes were once again resting on him.
“Why don’t you want them… to kiss each other?”
For a moment Sho could only look at the customer in silence while his gaze turned progressively darker.
“Why don’t I want them to kiss?” he asked, nearly growling.
“I hardly think you would understand! You’re Ninomiya-san’s friend after all.”
Scrunching up his nose, Sho looked at Aiba, not hiding the angry look on his face.
“It’s just that… that some hosts have gone missing after coming into contact with Ninomiya.”
Sho could watch something change in Masaki’s eyes. Upon his underhanded accusation, Aiba Masaki’s serious side took over again. But Sho couldn’t tell yet whether that was a good or a bad thing, he could only take a deep breath and continue talking:
“I can’t and won’t risk Satoshi becoming the next victim. On top of that… relationships between hosts and customers are forbidden.”
While he had spoken that last sentence, his gaze had wandered back to Ohno and his customer, critically assessing how far they were going to go and hoping desperately that they would finally pull away from each other.
Then he looked back at Masaki, who had listened to him in silence, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
“I got him this job and I won’t allow anything or anyone to hurt him here,” were the last words Sho intended to say on the subject, the statement closing the subject for him.
But his customer wasn’t ready to let it go.
“Relationships are forbidden…? Why…?” he asked, quickly looking past Sho to the dancing couple, before looking back at Sho obviously disappointed. A reaction Sho couldn’t understand at all.
“With a job like yours, don’t people fall in love easily?”
Sho leaned back on the sofa, sighing. This customer was really naïve.
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? The boss doesn’t want relationships to come out of it, because it would only create problems for him,” he started to explain. “Either the host himself wants to stop working here or the customer doesn’t want the host to keep working at the club. The boss would lose one of his cash cows. But if relationships are forbidden, the customer doesn’t have a choice but to come back to the club over and over again, paying his host every time. That’s just the way it is. Of course, a relationship could be kept secret, but… that’s rare. Especially since the host gets into lots of trouble if the relationship comes to light.”
Another sigh left his throat, he didn’t like the rules he was explaining, but he had gotten used to them and stopped thinking about changing them.
“To make a long story short, it’s all about money.”
Now it was his customers turn to sigh. He grimaced and the host thought he saw the beginnings of a pout.
“Kazu had been alone again for too long! And now he seems to finally have found someone again! No one is allowed to get in between them!” Aiba growled before taking a small sip from his drink and looking away from Sho.
“It’s really just about the money, is it?” he repeated Sho’s words mockingly. Then continued more quietly to himself: “Not as if that hasn’t always been the case...”
For a moment there was silence. Then Aiba turned his eyes back on Sho, looking as if he had something pressing to say.
“I trust Kazu with my life! And I know that he would never hurt Satoshi-kun. Regardless of those rumours. Because my assumption is proven right more and more….” In the ensuing silence, a smile appeared again on Aiba’s lips, a smile that, unlike those of the other customers, reached his eyes and made them sparkle gaily.
“Nino-chan seems to finally have fallen in love again…”
The words hit Sho like a slap in the face.
“In love…?”
His shocked gaze went from Aiba to the couple on the dance floor and back to his customer.
No.
It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.
“That’s bullshit! He hasn’t fallen in love!” he denied hotly.
“Satoshi is only one of many for him! Why else should he have been making out with another host the last time he was here?”
He shook his head violently, tried to belief his own words, tried to talk himself into believing that there was no truth to Masaki’s words.
“I won’t believe your lies, Masaki-san! I think Ninomiya-san isn’t even capable of falling in love. He’s just like all the others. Besides… there’s still the fact that hosts have gone missing after meeting him and you-”
Masaki exhaled loudly, stopping Sho’s rant. He was still smiling, but his smile was less pronounced than before.
“You’re becoming rude, Sho-kun,” he said, his voice still friendly.
“I think I know my friend a little better than you…”
The customer reached for his drink and sipped on it, not taking his eyes off Sho for even a second. And the host could only hold his eyes, could only stare at Masaki and wait for his next words.
“Nino comes to clubs like this to satisfy his need for human contact. Everyone needs that sometimes, right? But everyone has his own way of getting it…,” Masaki said softly, almost warmly. The sound of his voice made Sho shiver, never mind his words. But the host knew he couldn’t allow himself to be swept up in what Masaki was saying, knew he had to contradict him. He wanted to contradict him so much.
“Why do you think he hasn’t taken what he wants from Satoshi-kun yet…? Why do you think he took another host to satisfy his needs…?”
Aiba looked at the couple on the dance floor quickly, but they seemed to still be oblivious to everything around them.
“Satoshi-kun has become too important to him, he doesn’t want to push him into anything he isn’t ready for…”
Sho felt as if he had been hit upside the head by Aiba’s words.
For the moment he could only look at Masaki, all the while trying to convince himself that he could care less what Masaki thought. That he was just a customer, a customer with a different, with the wrong opinion.
“We have different views on love, Masaki-san. If someone is in love, shouldn’t he wait until the one he loves is ready instead of going to someone else for some fun?” Sho said, his voice firm. He crossed his arms in front of his chest to get some additional distance between himself and Masaki.
He shook his head again.
“Even if it makes me rude, Satoshi is more important to me than good behaviour. And if you don’t prove that what you’re saying is true, I will keep an eye on Ninomiya-san.”
But Masaki didn’t lose his smile.
“I don’t think we have different views on love, Sho-kun. I agree with you completely…” he said, after politely waiting for the host to finish speaking. Apparently Sho’s adverse attitude didn’t daunt him.
“The only problem is, I don’t think Nino knows that he’s in love yet. Or he doesn’t want to admit it, even to himself. That’s why he was looking for a distraction. That’s why he didn’t come to the club for months.”
The customer leaned back and put his hands behind his head, his whole body seemed to relax into the cushions behind his back.
“But now he is back and I can almost feel how much he enjoys being in Satoshi-kun’s company. And I’ll do my best to make him realise the extent of his feelings.”
But Sho had no intention of letting himself be calmed by Masaki’s words and actions. He sent him a disparaging look, not liking what he was hearing at all.
‘He wants to help him realise his feelings? Tsss… what feelings? As if Ninomiya even has feelings! He only wants to get Satoshi into his bed and I won’t all-’
But he couldn’t finish his thought, because from the corner of his eye he saw Ninomiya lean towards Ohno again, his arm gripped tightly, and kiss him again.
“That’s enough…!”
And with that he got to his feet. He knew in that moment that he couldn’t allow this to go on any longer. Ninomiya was going too far.
He hadn’t seen or heard him move, but suddenly Aiba was standing in front of him, gripping his shoulder. His grip wasn’t too tight, but there was enough pressure to make Sho stop and look up at him at once.
He was met by Aiba’s serious gaze.
“Satoshi-kun isn’t the only one endangering his job with his behaviour, is he…?” left Masaki’s mouth sharply while his gaze held Sho on the spot. He seemed to know some of the club’s rules after all.
Sho tried to send Aiba his best, derogatory look, but ended up only provoking him further.
“Are you threatening me, Masaki-san?” he hissed. “Forget about it! I only have to mention that you were snooping the last time you were here and you’ll be thrown out!”
Who was this guy? Why did he allow himself to be drawn under his spell? No one threatened Sho! He wasn’t new to this job; he had seen a lot and met a lot of different people here at the club.
But Aiba wasn’t easily intimidated either.
“I don’t want to threaten you, Sho-kun. I really don’t,” he answered, his voice serious. The naïveté that had been there during all of their conversations, had left his voice, making Masaki seem like a totally different person.
“But we both know how well-liked Nino is around here. One word from him and you’re the one who’s thrown out. And that’s what I want to prevent.”
Sho laughed mockingly. Who did he think he was?
“I won’t let anyone pull the wool over my eyes! If Satoshi is that naïve, alright, that’s what I’m here for. To look after him! And if that means risking my job, so be it! It’s not as if I couldn’t start at another club any time. And before I leave, I can still make sure everyone knows what Ninomiya is really like!” the host declared, ready to just push past Aiba.
He got a confused look in return that nearly drove him crazy. Then the customers hand put pressure on his shoulders again; it was uncomfortable, but soothing at the same time.
“Calm down, ok…?” Masaki’s voice sounded distorted, as if he had meant to speak softly, but hadn’t managed to hide his anger.
“If you have something to say to Nino then say it to his face, the way it should be done! But making a scene will only get you thrown out. Then Satoshi-kun will be on his own and you won’t be able to protect him.”
Why did Aiba have to be so goddamn right all of a sudden?
“Don’t touch me!” Angry beyond belief, Sho grit his teeth. He had spoken the words very decisively and looked the customer dead in the eyes, while roughly pushing his hands away.
“As soon as tonight is over, you take him and leave!” He nodded to Nino and Ohno, whose arms were still wrapped around each other, their lips tangled in a demanding kiss.
“I’ll talk Satoshi out of this! And as soon as the next host goes missing I’ll make sure he knows what kind of a person your friend is.”
He had to restrain himself from raising his voice. A moment later Sho turned away, away from Aiba, away from the happy couple, away from everything. He just wanted to get out of there and put an end to the day.
But he heard Masaki follow him.
“Sho-kun…” Much too quickly Masaki had reached him again and fallen into step next to the host. Sho could almost feel his burning gaze on the back of his head.
“I promise you that nothing will happen to Satoshi-kun. I swear.”
Why was Aiba talking softly again all of a sudden? Where had his anger gone? Sho had heard the hissing tone of his voice, had heard that the customer could hardly control himself when he had threatened to expose Ninomiya.
“Nino may have… done a lot of things in his life that were wrong… but he has never hurt a person he loves.” Aiba’s words sounded naïve again and Sho couldn’t shake the feeling that Ninomiya was responsible for the way he talked. The possibility that he was just imagining things wasn’t something he wanted to examine more closely.
“You’re promising me? You?”
A quiet, sarcastic laugh escaped his throat, but Sho only stopped when he had reached the club’s exit.
Slowly he turned to Aiba and gave him the coldest look he could muster.
“Why should I trust you? You’re his friend, are you not? There’s no question whose side you’re on. Maybe… Maybe you’re not any better than he is,” Sho spat and gave Aiba a haughty once over to reinforce his words.
“Believe me… doing this job you learn whom to trust quickly. And I’ve been working here for a long time.”
For Sho the conversation was over. He had made his opinion clear, had shown what he thought of Ninomiya and Aiba. Now all he wanted to do was leave.
But he was prevented from doing so and a heartbeat later he found himself pressed up against the wall. He gasped for breath.
And this time Aiba’s gaze was almost frightening.
“Do you even listen to yourself? You only see the bad in Ninomiya and not listening or trusting someone who knows better isn’t what I would call experience! That’s fear!”
Aiba’s face came closer, his expression hard and serious, making Sho shiver. He didn’t dare to breathe.
Aiba wasn’t hurting him; he was using enough force to press Sho against the wall, but not enough to cause pain. The manoeuvre was meant to intimidate, and it succeeded brilliantly. Sho was scared.
“I don’t know a thing about your life and what you’ve had to go through, but you don’t know anything about mine either. You don’t even know me! And you don’t know Ninomiya!”
His cold, hard voice drove Sho crazy.
“So why…? Why, Sho-kun? Why do you think Ninomiya and I are bad? Because you heard some rumours about some people gone missing? Or because you’re simply too scared to trust anyone…?”
It was too much. All of it, it was just too much. Sho did the only thing he could, he denied.
“What do you know about it, huh? Nothing! You don’t do this job, I do! So stop pretending to know better.”
But he backed away from Aiba’s hard stare until his head hit the cold stones behind him.
“It’s not only the rumours. They disappeared! And the strange thing is, it always happened just after they came into contact with Ninomiya! That’s…”
And there it was. He hesitated and the memories he had tried so hard to bury were there, bombarding him with sensations.
“That’s… not something we should just ignore, Masaki-san,” he finished, his voice weakening.
But Masaki’s grip only tightened around his wrist.
“It’s not something you should bottle up and allow to stop you from trusting others, either. Did they ever find out why those hosts disappeared…? Did they ever connect their disappearance to Ninomiya?”
He had long since lost control of the situation, Sho realized. But Aiba wasn’t done with him yet, his angry eyes held him in place and all he could do was wait and listen.
“The only thing those rumours did was create prejudices. Prejudices that are clouding your judgement, that are making it impossible for you to get to know him. If you would have done that, you would know that he’s a nice, sincere person by now!”
Sho could feel Aiba’s breath on his skin, that’s how close he had gotten to him. He saw him grit his teeth, stopping himself from saying more.
And Sho knew that he had to say something, something to get out of this embarrassing situation.
“If he’s that nice, why do the prejudices exist? Who created the rumours? There had to be a reason for all that! And the reason is Ninomiya!” he said in a last attempt to deny everything Aiba had said. Sho didn’t want to think about what the customer had said, he couldn’t think about it. Not knowing, deep down, that he was right. But admitting that would mean tearing down the walls he had built around himself, it would mean allowing things to come to light that he had tried so hard to forget.
But something else tore down the walls for him.
Suddenly Sho saw them. Aiba’s teeth. Long teeth, unnaturally long teeth.
And nothing could stop the memories from swamping him after that.
“Let go of me…,” he whispered, shocked and frightened.
“Let go of me! NOW!” he suddenly yelled, panicked. He tried to get away, he wanted, no needed, to get away. Away from this man. Away from his memories.
“Sho-kun…?”
But the host didn’t react, he broke free when Aiba loosened his grip and ran. He ran as fast as he could, never once looking back.
He had seen enough anyway.
next chapter