忍ぶ心 Shinobu Kokoro

[boblemon]

Title: Part 2: Shinobu Kokoro
Rating: PG13 (mild violence, some sexuality)
Pairing: Jun/Ohno, Sho/Nino
Genre: action, AU
Chapter: thirteen
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Ohno Satoshi is the student of a strong ninja lord who has lived his life following his teacher’s strict guidance. But what happens when he slowly learns he has to live for himself?

Part 1: Shinobu Ishi ( Chapter one, Chapter two, Chapter three, Chapter four, Chapter five, Chapter six, Chapter seven)
Part 2: Shinobu Kokoro Chapter eight, Chapter nine, Chapter ten, Chapter eleven, Chapter twelve



Jun didn’t know what to do.

As Nino began offhandedly asking Aiba how did this happen, reviewing details of that particular mission, and excluding anything that had to do with Jun or the situation he had been in, they retreated to the medical wing together.

Jun could barely breathe through the anxiety clouding his brain, but he was also trying not to let the other two understand why he would know more about it than them.

It had been his uncle, the fucking bastard, that had destroyed his precious village and left Sho and Ohno in dire conditions. They could be dead right now and it would have been due to Jun being born into that family and for not being strong enough to resist his capture or kill himself in that dungeon. It was his fault for being a coward and for falling in love with Ohno and for wanting something better in life than to be pawn under his uncle’s fingers.

But Jun stopped the pent-up tears from falling or even showing, thanks to Nakai’s training, and kept his mouth shut until they reached the room that Ohno and Sho were housed in, along with three other injured boys.

Jun took his seat next to the wall at the foot of the row of futons and stared at Leader’s lifeless body and Nino sat in the space next to him, looking at Sho. Aiba shuffled forward and double checked on their friends’ comfort, mumbling that this was fairly extreme revenge for just stealing two prisoners from his dungeons, but he couldn’t look Jun in the face and neither could Nino.

But inside of the youngest ninja’s head it wasn’t too much. He was feeling lucky that a whole army hadn’t come.

Lord Matsumoto had been controlling Jun’s father’s land at the untimely death of his dear brother. Those words that echoed in his head still caused Jun’s blood to boil in fury, but there was nothing he could do about it; the boy was useless in trying to make anything better. As long as he had been at his uncle’s castle, the man had rights to whatever belonged to Jun, which was now everything that had belonged to Jun’s father and his family as well.

Once Jun had escaped, though, everything had fallen out of his Uncle’s hands and back into his own, despite the ninja having no intention of claiming it. He wanted to stay here with Nino and Aiba and Sho and Ohno and live a normal life. Well, the closest thing he’d ever get to normal.

There was only one failsafe means of fixing everything now.

If Jun was dead, all of that baggage would disappear.

The property would be split and given to the land’s minor lords and Jun’s uncle couldn’t touch it.

So many times in that dungeon Jun wished he had the courage to go through with killing himself, or to talk the princess into doing it for him.

But even if he had, it would be easy for Matsumoto to simply replace Jun with someone else and pretend that nothing had happened. No, he needed the princess to be saved and tell her kingdom that Jun had escaped, too, and that Lord Matsumoto had no right to rule over what no longer belonged to him.

Because of that, though, Jun had destroyed everything valuable to him now. It was only a matter of time until another group of soldiers attacked this place, scouring for him.

In fact, he had nearly turned himself in during the scuffle a few days ago, guessing their motives.

He’d almost told the ninja that it’s me you want, leave these people alone and surrendered to them, despite the slight possibility of being wrong.

But he couldn’t. Not with Ohno there protecting him.

“Jun, are you okay?” Nino whispered next to him and it was only then that Jun realized his facade had dropped and a tear was slowly sliding down his face as he stared at his injured friends.

He was such a coward.

“Ah, s-sorry,” his voiced cracked and he brushed the tear away.

But Nino was looking at him with pity and he couldn’t stop his doubts from bursting out of his mouth.

“This is my fault. This whole thing,” his said in a steady tone, but another tear slipped out and he wiped it along with the first.

“No, it’s not,” Nino said with a creased brow, his hand resting on Jun’s shoulder.

The younger ninja dropped his head in his hand and bitterly thought, if only you knew. Nino certainly wouldn’t be consoling him like this if he found out that Jun was really just a key to his uncle owning a quarter of the entire country, that Jun was really the reason that Sho was in the condition he was in now.

He was the reason that Ohno was in the condition he was too, Jun reminded himself.

He was a coward, unable to take any action against his uncle and save the new family he loved so deeply.

Jun’s eyes widened a fraction in realization.

There was still time.

He could still turn himself in.

He could go to his uncle and tell him that if he left these people alone he would be compliant, that he would do whatever he was asked to.

“I have to leave,” Jun said suddenly, distractedly.

He tried to stand, but Nino was gripping his arm.

“Jun, calm down.”

Jun looked at his friend with a wild emotion in his eyes, but he wasn’t resisting and, in fact, retook his spot next to the weapons master right away.

Nino averted his gaze to Ohno’s immobile body and the younger followed his look, relaxing instantly.

Nino was right. There was no way Jun would be able to leave Ohno. He was spineless like that. He had finally found someone to take care of him and he would never be able to leave his protector now. Even when it came down to sacrificing himself to save the older boy, he still couldn’t do it.

Jun dropped his head in his hands again and silently let the tears run down his face.

Nino was looking helplessly at his friend, uncomfortable with the sudden change in attitude.

It was obvious that this whole thing had something to do with Jun, but he also knew that the boy was probably taking it harder than he should, since Ohno had been hurt because of it. It was more likely the princess was the source of the problem--she was the target after all--but Nino knew it was worthless trying to prove that to Jun in the state he was in right now.

Nino wasn’t stupid, though. He knew that Ohno and Jun were keeping something from the rest of them, it was blatantly clear at Jun’s reaction to Jyani’s statement, but Nino had always trusted Ohno despite the kind of situation they were in. Leader simply knew what to do under any circumstances and how to protect the ones he loved.

In fact, Nino didn’t even blame the older boy for running off to find his precious Jun and leaving the rest of them to take care of themselves.

Jun needed protecting, after all.

“Don’t worry,” Nino pushed forward his voice, projecting the confidence he wasn’t feeling. “Jyani will think up something. He’ll fix this.”

+++

When the medic ninjas tried to kick them out that night, Jun wouldn’t look at them, instead opting to stare at the floor.

Nino sat next to him in the same position.

They weren’t leaving.

The ninja stepped forward, obviously ready to take care of the cheeky brats and throw them into the hallway, but Aiba touched him gently from behind, asking if they could talk.

Neither of them were sure what Aiba said (or threatened), but the herbalist was back after a few minutes, alone, with a forced smile on his face.

“I’m on duty to monitor the rooms tonight, so I’ll be in and out, okay?”

Nino nodded, but Aiba sat down next to him instead of leaving his friends, and they simply stared at the two men in the futons in front of them.

Half an hour later, nothing more said between the group in all that time, Aiba finally stood with a sigh and gave the other Arashi members some simple instructions.

“If anyone wakes up, even those boys,” motioning to the rooms other occupants, “come get me, will you?”

Nino and Jun stared up at the composed ninja with uneasy expressions and nodded simultaneously.

When he left, Nino tentatively took Jun’s hand in his, placing them in his lap, pretending that nothing was happening and that he certainly didn’t need any comfort as they stared at their incapacitated friends. The two of them leaned against each other, lost in their respective thoughts.

After Aiba had ducked his head on them a little while later and Jun gave him a wave of his hand indicating that everything was okay, he smiled and darted back into the hall again. Nino had begun dozing lightly on Jun’s shoulder, but even if he had wanted to, the illusionist knew that he wasn’t going to be getting any sleep tonight.

He was trying to come up with a plan, even though he wasn’t as smart as Sho or as witty as Nino. But Jun was the only one that had the complete set of details, something that even Ohno and Jyani were missing.

He had briefly considered going to Jyani and spilling the truth, but there must have been a reason that Ohno was keeping it a secret, so he decided against it, at least until he could talk with Leader about it.

Of course there was always the temptation to just run away, since that way he wouldn’t be putting the village in danger any more, but there was no way of telling his uncle that he had done so unless Jun showed up at his doorstep.

Which was also an option.

Jun could also return to his father’s castle and take up what was rightfully his, but he didn’t like that idea at all. He had no idea how to rule over so much, plus he didn’t have any militia to back him up against his uncle, and there was no telling whether the subjects would follow him or not. And all of these problems were assuming he could get over the first one of leaving Arashi and the ninja village behind.

There was also the most morbid alternative, the one that had been sitting in the back of his mind since he’d begun thinking about it: he could return home, authenticate his heritage, and then commit suicide in front of a group of witnesses.

But he’d still have to leave Ohno and Nino and Sho and Aiba and Touma and Yamapi and…

Jun’s thoughts continued to twist, becoming more and more dismal the more time he spent on it.

Halfway through the night, though, a soft sigh sounded across the room, and Jun immediately perked up, looking at the injured row of boys to see who had let out the sound.

Jun’s eyes fell on Ohno and his heart skipped a beat as the injured ninja let out a louder groan with his face scrunched up in pain (although he sometimes wore the same expression when he had to wake up in the morning).

Nino’s head shot up as Jun leaned forward and began crawled across the floor. He was right behind him, automatically following the younger boy when he moved.

“Oh-chan,” Nino whispered happily as their captain’s eyes fluttered opened; Nino was already completely awake, even though it usually took five times that long. “I’ll get Aiba,” he told Jun with an excited look, then stood and rushed to the door.

Jun stared at his precious friend’s face as Ohno’s eyes slowly began to focus, and his hand was gently brushing the swordmaster’s skin while he tried to hold back the happy tears threatening to spill down his cheeks.

“Jun…” came the weak, sleep-muffled voice. Ohno took a deep breath and tried to lift his own body, but the younger ninja kept him down. “Jun, what happened?”

“You need to get some rest,” he replied with a smile, stroking the corner of Ohno’s mouth with his thumb.

“What happened?” Leader asked again, his voice a little firmer this time. “Sho…?”

Jun warmly smiled again and nodded his head towards the bed next to Ohno. Leader turned slowly, tentative about his injured shoulder, and took a sigh of relief when he saw the archer laid out next to him with a clean bandage around his chest.

“They said he’ll probably be okay. He was injured while…” Jun started to explain, but the words stuck on his tongue, reminding himself that he was too much of a coward to do the same thing for someone he loved.

“Jun?” Ohno asked questioningly, turning to meet his eyes with a worried look.

“Sorry.” He repressed his emotions and smiled again, although he knew this one was dry and unauthentic. “He was injured protecting Nino. Stabbed in the chest,” Jun clarified, sitting back a little, content to just look at Ohno.

He was going to leave.

He was going to leave and turn himself over to his uncle and save his loved ones.

He was going to leave the second Ohno fell back asleep.

The older boy’s face drifted into a gentle smile and Jun’s heart almost broke. “Thank God. When I saw him unconscious and Nino was…”

Nodding, as if understanding exactly what Ohno meant, Jun laid down in the small space between Ohno and the wall, propping himself up on his elbow to chat with the older man.

He poked Ohno teasingly on the cheek, drawing another large grin from the swordmaster, and said with mock-annoyance, although it was quite real inside of Jun’s stomach, “When I saw you… collapsing like that in the middle of the street.” Jun tried to keep his tone light, but he was pretty sure the underlying worry was being conveyed because Leader averted his gaze sheepishly.

If he was never going to be able to see Ohno again, Jun was going to make this moment worth repeating in his head for the rest of his life.

He slowly rested his head against Leader’s chest and closed his eyes for a second.

“I was so worried,” he admitted, memorizing the musky scent of sweat and bandages wafting from the older man. Ohno’s hand fell into his hair and began running through it comfortingly, and Jun tried to memorize that, too.

But after a second he opened his eyes and turned his head to face Ohno, propping himself up a little.

“Don’t die on me, you jerk,” he said with a teasing smile, but there were potential tears welling up again and his throat was constricting. “I can’t… I can’t live without you anymore.”

Leader gave him a reassuring grin and nodded gently, the grip of his hand in Jun’s hair getting tighter. His gaze darted around the younger boy’s face, first at his hold on his friend’s hair, then to Jun’s lips and then back to his unwavering stare. Jun tried to return the smile, but he had to wipe away the moisture from his eyes off on the back of his hand and he knew he was forcing the expression.

A second later, Ohno’s hand slipped from his hair to gently cup his cheek, thumb running back and forth in small motions near his mouth.

Jun’s heart was pounding. If he let this go on any longer he knew he’d lose his nerve to leave.

“Ohno, you should get back to sleep,” Jun chided, his grin faltering as he looked deeply into the other ninja’s eyes. Even though he had said that, his face was slowly leaning closer to Ohno’s instead of retreating to leave him to rest.

But he needed to remember this forever. He needed to remember his brief tryst of freedom and the man whom he had loved desperately.

Their lips were getting closer and Ohno was looking at Jun the same way he was looking back at Ohno.

He took a shaky breath and his eyes were about to flutter shut, but the door promptly opened and Aiba and Nino rushed through.

They looked a little apprehensive at Jun’s and Ohno’s close proximity, and Jun knew that both of them understood that they had just interrupted something important.

But the illusionist pulled back with a nervous grin and forced his embarrassment down while the other two tentatively approached the futon.

“Oh-chan, how’re you feeling?” Aiba asked with a relieved expression, a vial of something held in his hands. He stepped closer and Jun retreated to let the herbalist take his close spot to their captain. Without hesitation, Aiba knelt and held out his hand to touch Ohno’s forehead, his eyes filtering over the bandages on his arms to check them. “Oh wow, you’re really warm,” Aiba said, his voice suddenly full of worry, but Nino was repressing a grin at Ohno’s mortified look.

Watching the exchange, Jun was also feeling a nervous at the sudden interruption, but it was actually good timing. If he had kissed Ohno, he probably wouldn’t have been able to leave like he had resolved to do.

Like he was going to do.

Jun swallowed his apprehension and resigned himself to his fate, telling himself it was for Ohno and the rest of his friends. This is what he needed to do to save them.

He immediately headed for the door, trying not to draw any attention with the action.

“Jun, where’re you going?” Nino asked jokingly. Jun paused and turned back for a second, trying to relax his features and return the laid back expression.

“Oh, there was something in our room that was I going to grab,” he replied nonchalantly. In fact, he was going to try to get his traveling pack without waking up Touma or Yamapi and promptly take off.

He turned back to the exit, hiding his melancholy intentions, but Nino darted after him.

“I’ll come with you!”

Jun looked at him incredulously as he continued to move, but he was unable to come up with an excuse for the shorter ninja not to follow him.

So they retreated into the hall and Nino slid the door shut behind them.

There was an unsure silence for just a moment.

“Sorry about all of that, Jun.” Nino’s voice was shy and teasing and he elbowed the illusionist lightly in the side as they started for their private quarters. “Looks like you were finally making the moves on him…”

Jun blushed, his thoughts distracted from the direct path of delivering himself into his uncle’s clutches.

“It wasn’t anything like that…” he replied in a low, flustered tone, “I was just checking to make sure he was okay…”

The response from Nino was a knowing smile and an exaggerated nod of his head. But after a second, as they neared the entrance to their private rooms, he added, “You know how to deal with Oh-chan, right? You just have to push him down and-“

“I said I was just checking on him…” Jun’s face was burning and he couldn’t bring himself to meet Nino’s gaze. He slid the door opened gently and looked down at Touma and Yamapi lying next to each other, the other three futons laid out but not slept in.

Nino rolled his eyes at Jun’s excuse and then looked around the room. After an instant he asked, “What did you come here for?” quietly.

Jun blinked a few times and lost all of his nerve as he stared at Touma and Yamapi.

He couldn’t leave Ohno or the rest of them.

Eyes lowered, Jun mumbled, “I forgot,” and the two of them retreated to the medical wing.

+++

Leader had been asleep by the time Jun had returned to his side that night, but by the afternoon the following day, the swordsman was awake and listening intently as Nino and Aiba explained the meeting with Jyani to him.

Jun had stayed back when he realized that the subject had been brought up, simply staring at his hands in the corner and waiting for Leader to respond. Nino, of course, had noticed the shy behavior, but ignored it while Ohno listened intently to the narrative.

“He said it was revenge for the mission we did almost a year ago. The one that we broke that princess free?” Nino once again avoided Jun’s name and the situation that had arisen from it. He didn’t want to sound like he was blaming the boy like Jyani had, and plus, he was still convinced it was the princess’ fault.

Ohno narrowed his eyes at the explanation and nodded a little. He was propped up against the wall with a pillow at his back and his arm in a sling against his chest, taking pressure off his shoulder.

“Jyani said his name was Matsumoto,” Aiba added, seated on the other side of Nino, wiping a wet cloth against Sho’s face, who was still unconscious.

Nino was curious when he noticed Ohno freeze immediately at the additional information, the older man’s shoulder stiff and his breath becoming shallow. “Matsumoto?” he repeated under his breath, looking down thoughtfully at his free hand.

Suddenly Leader threw the futon cover off of his lower body with his mobile arm and struggled to stand by himself with an angry look on his face.

Before he’d even gotten to his knees, though, Nino was pulling him back down with all of his might.

“I have to talk to Jyani,” Ohno said in a stern voice, still halfway off the ground.

Aiba frantically leaned over to help Nino pull the older ninja back down and said anxiously, “Oh-chan, you need to rest! You can’t get up!” He gulped when the swordmaster didn’t comply with his request, and then offered, “You can meet with Jyani tomorrow, or I can get him to come in here tonight.”

Ohno almost glared at the two of them and Nino nearly released the older man completely, losing his strength at the look. But his hands continued to grasp onto Ohno’s waist, trying to keep him down without hurting him.

“I need to talk with Jyani,” Ohno said again, with determination shining in his eyes. He stared at Nino and then Aiba before his gaze rested on Jun in the corner, who was now watching the group helplessly. “Right now.”

“Calm down, Ohno-“ Nino started pleadingly.

“Okay, but you have to let me help you-“ Aiba conceded at the same time, letting Ohno slowly stand up as Nino dropped his hold, too.

When Leader let out a wince as he readjusted his shoulder and straightened his back, Jun shot up, too, unsure of what to do with himself.

Aiba reached forward and grabbed Ohno lightly as their captain staggered, and he slowly helped the older boy past the line of futons. The pair slowly made their way to the exit, Aiba mumbling encouragement as they went.

Swallowing and still unsure of what to do with himself or what Leader’s intentions were, Jun simply stared at Aiba and Ohno until the door was about to close behind them, then jumped at it the same moment Nino did. They dashed into the hallway together and followed a few feet behind their teammates, Aiba still telling the captain that he needed to take it easy, that he needed to stay in bed a few more days before he did anything else like this.

When they made it to the missions hall, where Jyani would probably be, Nino darted in to see if the village lord was there or not. He walked back out less than a minute later and waited with the group while the room was prepared, but it seemed like immediately Jyani was at the door himself, looking worriedly at Ohno.

“Satoshi, you should stay in bed.”

“Please. I need to talk with you,” he replied seriously. “Alone,” was added after a second.

Aiba looked startled at the request, but allowed Jyani to help Ohno into the room and none of the other ninja made any complaints about being excluded from the meeting.

Instead, they opted to wait in the hallway until it was over.

Nino and Aiba chatted lightly about Ohno’s strange attitude and tried to assure Jun that everything would turn out fine, but the younger boy was silently staring at the door the whole time, trying to imagine what was going on inside the room opposite him.

But an hour had already passed without an end in sight when one of the Main Building’s servants came running over, out of breath, and explained to Aiba that Sho had started to regain consciousness.

Jun volunteered to stay behind to wait for Leader, and the other two Arashi members offered him a quick thanks and rushed off.

And all he could do was stare into the garden, thinking once more that he should simply leave in order to protect all of these people that had become dear to him.

“Jun.”

The boy immediately turned around and darted over to Ohno as he was helped to the door by Jyani, who was wearing a stoic and unsatisfied expression.

Taking the smaller ninja from him, Jun met the village leader’s gaze and then Ohno’s, trying to figure out what their conversation had been about.

“Sho’s awake,” he offered offhandedly, trying to avoid finding out what they were going to do with him.

“That’s great,” Ohno replied, attempting to force a smile. Jyani nodded and shut the door behind them without a single word, leaving the pair alone in the hallway.

Jun swallowed and averted his gaze, not sure he wanted to know about what Leader was planning, even if this was the only chance the two of them would have to be together without interruption for a while.

But they started back to the medical wing at Ohno’s direction, Jun gently holding the older boy up under the armpit as they slowly walked.

Nervous enough to not even notice the close proximity, Jun couldn’t bring himself to say anything else to his idol, even to bring up something about the other Arashi members or the half destroyed village. Meanwhile, Ohno was looking thoughtful and serious and not revealing anything about his inner emotions to Jun’s keen senses. Not even if he was in pain or not.

They entered the room and immediately spotted Nino kissing Sho frantically while Aiba and two medics watched, tears pouring down his face even as his boyfriend looked mildly dazed and embarrassed.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Nino repeated when he fell back just a little, his hands still grasping tightly onto Sho’s face. “Don’t ever do something like that again, you stupid, stupid ninja,” he sniffed.

Ohno and Jun offered a congratulatory smile when Aiba turned to them, and Leader was led back to his futon in order to get some more rest.

The herbalist continued to care for Sho, who was taking ragged breaths but trying to look like he was okay, and Jun immediately sat next to Ohno as he laid back on his bedding. Nino was standing now, pacing around the foot of their futons and watching his friends intently as Aiba worked.

Less than ten minutes later, Sho was back asleep after being given some pain medicine, all the while Aiba mumbling that everything would be fine, and Nino had promised he’d be by his side the next time he woke up.

Finally, the commotion subsiding, Aiba and Nino turned back to Ohno, who seemed content but thoughtful.

“What was that all about?” Aiba finally asked tentatively.

The captain sighed and glanced at Jun out of the corner of his eye.

“I’m going to see Lord Matsumoto.”

Jun almost fell forward, even though he was seated.

“Wh-what?” Nino asked before the illusionist could.

“I’m going to meet with him, explain to him the details of that mission, and then, if that doesn’t fix it, threaten him.”

“Oh-chan…” Aiba stared at Ohno with an incredulous expression. “You… you can’t do that…”

“If he wants revenge, he’s looking in the wrong place.”

Even as Leader said these words, Jun swallowed, knowing that he was lying to the other boys, and possibly even to himself. Matsumoto had had the right target, actually, he just hadn’t quite succeeded in his plans yet.

“I asked Jyani for permission to set up the meeting. If it goes wrong, we’ll try something else. He’s got too big of an empire to fight against, but we could assassinate him.”

Jun’s throat constricted as Ohno continued to talk. Instead of just handing Jun to his uncle like he should be doing, Leader was protecting him with everything he had. The boy repressed the tears he felt coming, ducking his head toward his chest, just like he had been doing since the attack. He was such a coward for not being able to do the same to protect Ohno.

“I don’t know about this…” Nino said, looking down at the futon distractedly. “It sounds like a bad idea…”

“I’m leaving in five days.”

At that announcement, Jun’s head shot back up, Nino’s eyes widened and Aiba immediately began arguing with him.

“No, you can’t. You need at least three weeks-“

“Jyani’s allowing me to. We have to get this taken care of before something else happens.”

“But, Oh-chan, can’t someone go for you? Can’t you write a message out?” Aiba pleaded.

“No,” Ohno replied slowly but completely sure of himself and his plan, “I need to go myself, as a representative of the village.”

Jun saw through that, too, knowing that Ohno was the only other one that understood any of the situation they were in right now and that all of this trouble was due to the nature of Jun’s birth. But it was also true that anyone who would go representing Jyani and his people would be Ohno.

“I’m going, too.”

At Jun’s challenge, Ohno looked startled.

But he firmly set his brows and a heartbeat later replied, “No you’re not.”

“I’m going,” Jun said resolutely, staring at Leader with a determined expression. He realized that he was walking right into the lion’s den, but that was exactly why he wanted to go. If worst came to worst he could pull off his mask and offer himself in exchange for Ohno.

“No,” Ohno said harshly, looking angry, which was the first time Jun had ever seen him that way. “You. Are. Not. Going.”

“I’m going, too,” Nino cut in and Aiba followed him a moment later, also volunteering.

“Me, too. You need me to make sure you don’t hurt yourself more.”

“You can’t go without us, Oh-chan. Especially in your condition,” Nino argued before the older man could properly respond.

“Fine,” Ohno looked between Nino and Aiba, and then continued, “but Jun is not coming.”

The pair glanced at the youngest ninja, who was frowning deeply and looking just as unmovable as Ohno was.

“He’s not ready,” the captain tried to explain a moment later, his voice barely faltering, but Jun knew that wasn’t really the reason.

“I’m ready,” he replied with a dangerously low tone, but Ohno didn’t look affected by it at all.

“Oh-chan, I think Jun needs to come, too,” Aiba said softly. Nino nodded next to him, looking confused at the fight of the two he thought were ‘getting to know each other better’.

+++

The next day, when Sho was caught up on the Arashi drama, he insisted on coming, too.

“No, no, no, no,” Nino replied immediately. “You have a hole in your chest. You are not coming.”

Suddenly he realized why Ohno had argued so hard the day before, even though Jun hadn’t been the one lying flat on his back in the futon.

“Everyone else is going, why can’t I?” Sho furrowed his brows.

“You have a hole. In your chest.”

Aiba sighed, stopped in the middle of changing the bandages around Sho’s middle. “I think Nino-chan’s right. You’re not in any condition to be traveling. Oh-chan’s just got an injured shoulder. I can take care of that if something happens.”

But the archer was just as hardheaded as the rest of them and so they pushed their leaving date back three days in order to accommodate him.

+++

The night before they were due to leave, Jun had pulled Ohno aside and into the garden resting in the middle of the Main Building. Leader was up and around a bit now although his arm was still in a sling, but he had made plans with Aiba already to hide his injury once they were almost to the rendezvous point.

They had received a reply to Ohno’s arrival announcement four days prior, in flowing scrip that had said not much, only in a lot of words. Basically, from what Sho explained and just as they had requested, Matsumoto would meet with them and negotiate terms with the group of boys in a small monastery just outside of his ruling reach, a place that would be neutral for both of them.

“You shouldn’t come,” Ohno said immediately when they sat down in their usual spot, looking out over the pond. “You need to stay here.”

“I’m coming,” Jun was getting tired of repeating the same thing over and over, but at the same time he understood why Leader was being so stubborn about all of this. Ohno was going to follow his promise of protection to the death.

Except, of course, Jun wasn’t exactly willing to let him do that.

“We already planned out all the details, Leader. I’m not going to be Jun tomorrow, I’m going to be Touma. He won’t recognize me, even if I take my headgear off. My hair’s cut now and I’m taller than I used to be. Besides, I don’t even know if I ever saw the man face to face.” Jun was purposefully avoiding any specific details, just in case someone was listening in on them. It seemed like, in this building, that eavesdropping was always a concern.

And although everything that Jun said was true, if it came down to it, he could prove himself as the heir to his father’s property by picking out a signet ring and writing out his family line.

“Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Just let me do the talking,” Ohno commanded, giving Jun a stern look.

But the younger boy let out a slight smile at Leader’s over-protectiveness. He leaned his head against his shoulder and closed his eyes.

“Thank you, Ohno.”

The swordmaster’s hand fell on his knee lightly and Jun sighed, trying not to be nervous for their fast approaching confrontation.

+++

A/N: Dude, guys, I'm sorry about the weird updates. I meant to do it yesterday but I keep forgetting I was a little sick and ended up laying in bed reading most of the night. And we're almost to the end of part 2, although I actually am really poor at planning and haven't been working on a new banner or anything...By the way, we're only halfway through the story. >__>;

Anyway, a little more romance in this chapter, and you all got to find out about Jun! I hope it makes sense! If you have any questions, please ask, because there are a lot of details that didn't make it into the final version of this, but still remain in my head. :) I'm always open to criticism and in fact have a specific point I want to ask you guys about. In response to a comment I got a while ago, I started replacing descriptive titles like "the older man/the swordmaster/the gamer" with simple "he/character's name" and I was just wondering if this story reads easier than say, Paint Film and Stuffed Animals or the like, because of that? Or if you even noticed? I realize this is a hard question, especially if this story is the only one of mine you've read, but I'd really appreciate any insight on this topic! ^___^

Chapter fourteen