From Then Till Now (Chapter 5)
Title: From Then Till Now
Group/pairing: Arashi/ Ohmiya
Word Count: 2671 words
Rating: PG
Summary: Nino had thought he had left his past behind for good until he meets an old ghost he once loved.
Disclaimer: So far I only own two photosets of Sho and a set of Arashi playing cards. I wish I'd own Arashi, but no. I don't. ._.
Author note: Chapter 5 is shorter but it is by far my proudest work in the series because of the amount of work I did in the last scene. .. Eheh. I will leave it here. Enjoy~ ^^/ Comments and feedback are dearly loved. <3
Chapter 5
At the hotel lobby right beside the theme park, Jun walked over to the waiting group, holding six keys in his hands.
"Okay, time to go to our rooms to put our stuff down!" Jun announced.
"How are we rooming, by the way?" Sho asked, "there are only five guys and one girl. Shizuka-chan will need to sleep alone."
"Mmm. Me and Aiba-kun here will share a room, and then the three of you can share a room." Jun said.
"Should we seriously leave the lovebirds together?" Shizuka teased goodnaturedly.
"Yeah I wonder too," Nino joined in, "I don't want to be woken up at night by odd sounds."
"Oh SHUSH, you two!" Jun said while Aiba flushed beside him, "anyway, Nino-kun, Sho-kun and Ohno-kun, you three will share a room."
Nino blinked in shock at the fact that he was about to room with Ohno.
".. Shizuka-chan.. can't I sleep in your room?" Nino asked.
"Sure..." Shizuka answered with a megawatt smile, "but by tomorrow morning, your games AND your 3DS will disappear and you won't even know what happened to them for the rest of your life."
"...On second thoughts, I'll be okay with sharing."
"I thought so."
"Right, let's go then!" Jun said, dragging his luggage over to the lift.
Sho turned to Nino and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.
"It's okay," he whispered, "if we DO share a bed, I'll make sure to sleep right in between you two so you won't have to worry too much about it."
Nino only stared ahead in dread and shuffled obediently with the pack.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cartloads of people screamed as the nearest rollercoaster ride braked some distance before a near-vertical drop. Without warning, the ride sped forward faster than before, plunging its passengers straight downwards.
Some distance away, the viking ship swung towards the side in a scary angle, and a group of girls looked excitedly at the all the thrill rides around them.
"Shall we go to that tall mega swing thing?" one of them asked.
"No no no let's go bungee jumping before that!" another said, "it's the main attraction here!"
"B-bungee jumping... What is this place?!" Sho asked shakily as he felt all the blood drain from his face.
"I've booked rooms in the hotel just next door, so we can play here to our heart's content," Jun explained, and Aiba's eyes lit up in anticipation and excitement.
"LET'S GO, GUYS~" Aiba said excitedly, hustling the group over to queue for a ride nearby. Sho gulped as he watched the ride speed back to its position. He could tell something was off about it, but he was not sure what.
"Ohhh, is this the one in the pictures the last time?" Shizuka asked Jun, "the one that went backwards?"
"BACKWARDS?!" Sho asked in shock.
"Yes, backwards," Shizuka answered matter-of-factly, "and that one over there is a famous gondola ride that shoots waaaaay up. Even while you're still ground-level, the ride itself is floorless so it's REAALLY scary!"
"I hear it goes about 50 meters up too!" Jun said, "ahhh I can't wait to go on that one~"
"I'll pass on it. Can I go back to the hotel room now?" Nino said.
"Mou, Nino-kun! It's so rare that we all get to go out and play like this!" Aiba said, "at least try some rides!"
"No no no, he's the type of person who'd rather stay in the hotel room the whole day with his game console and not come out," Shizuka said, "I know this guy too well."
"Well, I know that's why we're dragging this dude out, but..." Sho said and looked around nervously at the thrill rides around him, "I pictured something a tad bit less... exciting."
"Oh come on," Jun said, "go big or go home! If it's going to be fun, it should be so to the max, right?"
"Oh God, no," Sho thought as he watched them get closer and closer to his doom.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The group started trying out various rides for the rest of the morning until it was time for lunch.
"Shall we go?" Nino grumbled.
"It'd be nice if we could," Sho said, his face slightly pale and tired.
"Actually, why don't we just look around? I think there are some small gift shops and game shops." Shizuka suggested.
"Well, what do you sugge-Jun-kun? Jun-kun?!" Ohno called and looked around.
"Ehh? Already? He left already?!" Sho asked, looking around.
"Ahh..." Shizuka said, "well, I guess the four of us are left on our own then."
"Let's just look around then," Nino said as the four of them strolled towards the game shops. Shizuka looked over at the prize shooting games and had an idea.
"Shall we play this?" she asked.
"Why?" Sho asked, "do you want a stuffed toy?"
"No, but let's make it interesting. Whoever manages to shoot a prize down first will win." Shizuka said.
"What about the loser?" Ohno asked.
"They will have to go on the ride that the winners choose," Shizuka said, "it could be that sky-high ride or.."
"Or.. bungee-jumping?" Nino said with a grin.
"I REALLY don't like this game!" Sho said fearfully, and Nino patted him on the back.
"Don't worry, Sho-chan. I'll pray for you from the ground that you'll come back to us," Nino said, and Sho huffed determinedly.
"I won't lose! Let's go!" Sho said and stepped right up to the game stall.
"What do you think?" Ohno asked Shizuka and she shook her head.
"Sho-kun doesn't look good with heights but… unfortunately, it's Nino-kun he's up against," Shizuka said with a slightly nervous smile.
True enough, Sho lost the game.
Shizuka held the gun in position and tried to focus.
"This is bad," she thought as she felt her hands shake slightly," my body won't listen to me..."
She tried knocking a small prize off with her gun, but made consecutive misses, and Ohno ended up winning by a lucky shot.
"... This is odd... Shizuka is usually good at these sort of shooting games," Nino thought as he watched her look rather embarrassed at her loss.
The party of four now found themselves at the foot of a bungee jumping platform.
"Have fun bungee-jumping~" Nino cheered and Sho looked nervously at Nino and Ohno from the queue.
"... Is it a good idea leaving Nino-kun with Ohno-san?" Sho asked with a worried smile on his face, "why not I just-"
"Sho-kun…are you scared of heights?" Shizuka teased.
"N-no! I'm not scared of heights! I just..." Sho said with a flushing face, "I just don't like high places.."
"So you ARE scared."
"No!"
Ohno grinned as he watched Sho and Shizuka bicker amidst the queue.
"...Do you think Shizuka-chan has found her prince yet?" he asked. Nino looked at him in surprise and looked away.
"I don't get what you mean," he answered.
"You don't remember?" Ohno asked, "the faceless prince she's marrying?"
"…Oh.." Nino murmured awkwardly, "I don't know."
"... Nino-kun?"
"I'm really thirsty. I'll like a drink," Nino said and walked briskly away from Ohno. Ohno looked uneasily at Sho and Shizuka before running over to follow Nino.
Shizuka felt her phone vibrate and looked at it. With a puzzled frown, she looked around outside the crowd.
"What is it?" Sho asked.
"I think Nino-kun and Ohno-kun went off to have a drink," Shizuka said, "though if he were thirsty he shouldn't really drink any alcohol..."
"Le-let's escape from this queue!" Sho insisted, "we can just tell them that we went on and they won't know!"
"Tsk tsk tsk," Shizuka clicked her tongue disapprovingly, "how dishonest of you, Sho-kun."
"But..."
"Besides," Shizuka said seriously, "maybe all Ohno-kun needs right now is a chance to right things."
Sho looked at her thoughtfully.
"Really?"
"Yeah," Shizuka nodded, "when I spoke to him earlier…he did seem really tormented from everything he did."
"Oh? You warm up pretty fast to him," Sho said with a smile.
"Well, we had been friends before after all," Shizuka said as she rubbed a little on her eyes, "having to leave so suddenly must have been harder on him than for any of us. I still don't know why he left, but I guess I'll know soon enough."
"That's tru-"
"Alright, next!" someone called from the distance, "hand over your bags, please!"
"Oh no.." Sho murmured with dread as they inched closer and closer towards the tall tower ahead.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
/// flashback ///
"I like your hands," Nino said as they sat by the benches in the playground. Ohno smiled as he aligned his hand with Nino's, his deft fingers stretching just enough to be slightly longer than Nino's stubby ones.
"Nino's hands are cuter," Ohno murmured. Nino pouted in reply.
"No they are not," he said, "my hands are round, fat and have shorter fingers. Just like hamburger patties."
"…hamburger hands?" Ohno said with a whimsical smile, "could you have eaten too many hamburgers?"
"Shut up!" Nino said with an embarrassed face.
"It's okay though," Ohno said softly as he looked at both their hands. He then slowly tilted his hand in a small angle to the side, letting his fingers slip neatly right between Nino's. Interlocking their fingers intimately, he drew their hands closer, brushing his thumb against the side of Nino's thumb.
"I still like your hands," he said.
Nino said nothing of it but looked into the pitch-black sky, the warmth of their hands bringing colour to his cheeks.
"…so why did you call me here anyway? We have school later on, you know." Nino asked.
Ohno only smiled into the distance. As if on cue, the orange glow of the rising sun peeked from the horizon, brightening the pitch-black skies. As the sun rose, rays of light swept across their town and everything seemed to turn to gold.
"Whoa..." Nino murmured in capitivated awe.
"Keep looking," Ohno whispered, and Nino nodded as he took in the beautiful scenery that unfolded before him. Just then, he felt a something soft touch his cheek gently. He turned to see Ohno's face just a few centimetres away from him.
"...even though I told you to keep looking," Ohno said shyly, the glow of the sunrise revealing his blushing face. Nino felt his face heat up and looked down at their hands.
"I can't possibly look anywhere else when you do that," Nino mumbled with an embarrassed pout.
"Then…will you just look at me then?" Ohno asked, and Nino looked up in surprise as he felt Ohno lean in to touch their foreheads together.
"I…like you, Nino," Ohno said tenderly.
Nino could almost feel his heart soar at Ohno's confession as he smiled and nudged back at Ohno with his forehead.
"Hmm… let me consider it," Nino said, and Ohno froze in shock.
"Eh?"
Without warning, Nino leaned in and pecked him quickly on the lips. Ohno seemed to be even more stunned at his move.
"Wh-what.."
"Oh-chan, you're slow on the uptake, huh," Nino said with a playful grin,"I will only say this once. Listen carefully."
Ohno nodded as he tried to follow.
"I..." Nino began and trailed off, before purposefully leaning in again to tenderly touch Ohno's lips with his own. The warmth of their lips spread like wildfire to their hearts as they tightened their grip on each others' hands.
///flashback///
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Well? How was life?"
Ohno looked up in surprise from the sudden question. Ever since he had followed Nino and sat quietly beside him with a mug of beer, he had been busy with organising his thoughts and memories of the past. It was a lengthy, uncomfortable silence that hung between them, the only sound being each others' gulping and requests for refills.
"You've been gone for seven years," Nino said, "how was life in your new home?"
"Well…it was fine," Ohno said hesitantly, "I studied a bit, made new friends…had fun with the friendly neighbours.."
"... So I suppose it wasn't that bad then," Nino said as he took a gulp of beer, "leaving us, that is."
"Nino," Ohno began exasperatedly," it's not that, I-"
"Whatever. Forget it," Nino said, "I don't want to remember it. Forget it." He then gulped down the rest of his beer and asked for a refill. The silence sank down between them again. Ohno could not help but feel the weight of those dismissive words on him, because while those seven years tortured him so, to Nino he seemed to pay it no mind. He took a few deep breaths and ordered another mug of beer.
"How was your life?" Ohno asked back.
"Nothing happens here," Nino murmured,"I studied. Went to college. Learned music and song writing."
"And.. Shizuka?"
"Went to college. Learned music and conducting."
Ohno knew Nino was not even bothering with being friendly anymore. "Nino, I-"
"Don't pretend to be interested," Nino said indifferently.
The brute force of his words squeezed itself around his heart like a noose.
"Nino, about why I-"
"Like I said, I don't want to-"
"Do you really think I can allow you to forget everything?!" Ohno demanded, and Nino simply laughed coldly at his response.
"I don't want to hear that from you, Ohno Satoshi," Nino bit back, "you were the one who left me and Shizuka. And here you are after seven long years and you have the bloody cheek to tell me what to do, huh!"
"I know, I know and I know!" Ohno yelled, "I know I was the one who was wrong, alright?!"
"No, you don't, you bloody idiot!" Nino hollered back, "you don't know a damn thing!"
"Don't give me that," Ohno said in a low, pained voice, "you are the one who doesn't know a damn thing."
Nino slammed his fist down on the table irritably.
"Enough. I've had enough of your shit. Don't appear before me ever again," Nino said icily, tossing some money on the table and sauntering out. Ohno opened his wallet and followed suit before stomping fast out of the bar. With a strong, forceful grip, he managed to grab Nino's arm.
"Let go, you bastard!" Nino yelled.
"Not a chance," Ohno growled as he dragged him out past the bar's doorway. With an increasingly mad Nino in tow, he led them both into a quiet alley and pinned him up by his hands against the hard, brick wall.
"Get lost," Nino snarled.
"I did. Seven years ago. And do you have any idea how those seven blasted years tormented me?!"
"No. No no no, it's not about that. It's whether YOU have any idea how THOSE seven blasted years tormented ME!"
"And so you thought I wasn't affected in any way?!"
"YOU?! Affected?!" Nino retorted incredulously with a laugh, "YOU, Ohno Satoshi? The boy who left us alone and went to a new neighbourhood to live a whole new life with a whole new bunch of people? Exactly how goddamn 'affected' can you ge-"
Before Nino could finish, Ohno had painfully grabbed the back of his hair and tugged it downwards. As his chin jerked up, Ohno leaned in and forcefully smashed their lips hungrily together in a fierce kiss. Nino fisted his hands and pounded them hard against Ohno's chest, but Ohno's arm remained tightly wrapped around him, the other hand now strengthening its grip on his hair as he deepened the kiss. A strong breeze blew around them and Nino felt his world spin faster around him as he felt Ohno's tongue invade his mouth.
"More," Ohno growled harshly against his lips," than you ever knew."
As if to prove his point, Ohno pushed him harder against the wall as his tongue plunged deeper again into his mouth. Nino's world faded out into a black void as he felt the moist heat of the lips he sought after for past seven years crash feverishly against his own, stealing his breaths over and over again.
All too soon the warmth left his lips as Ohno abruptly turned away and ran. For the first time in seven years, Nino felt hot tears fall out of his eyes as his heart felt a toxic mix of anger, confusion, and... to a small degree.. hope.
A/N: Listened to "Earned It" as I wrote the bar+fight+kiss scene. *fangirl scream* I can now sleep peacefully in my bed of feels. Ahhh *\*^.^*/* *tosses feels*
And NOPE. I did NOT watch the movie. XD
Group/pairing: Arashi/ Ohmiya
Word Count: 2671 words
Rating: PG
Summary: Nino had thought he had left his past behind for good until he meets an old ghost he once loved.
Disclaimer: So far I only own two photosets of Sho and a set of Arashi playing cards. I wish I'd own Arashi, but no. I don't. ._.
Author note: Chapter 5 is shorter but it is by far my proudest work in the series because of the amount of work I did in the last scene. .. Eheh. I will leave it here. Enjoy~ ^^/ Comments and feedback are dearly loved. <3
Chapter 5
At the hotel lobby right beside the theme park, Jun walked over to the waiting group, holding six keys in his hands.
"Okay, time to go to our rooms to put our stuff down!" Jun announced.
"How are we rooming, by the way?" Sho asked, "there are only five guys and one girl. Shizuka-chan will need to sleep alone."
"Mmm. Me and Aiba-kun here will share a room, and then the three of you can share a room." Jun said.
"Should we seriously leave the lovebirds together?" Shizuka teased goodnaturedly.
"Yeah I wonder too," Nino joined in, "I don't want to be woken up at night by odd sounds."
"Oh SHUSH, you two!" Jun said while Aiba flushed beside him, "anyway, Nino-kun, Sho-kun and Ohno-kun, you three will share a room."
Nino blinked in shock at the fact that he was about to room with Ohno.
".. Shizuka-chan.. can't I sleep in your room?" Nino asked.
"Sure..." Shizuka answered with a megawatt smile, "but by tomorrow morning, your games AND your 3DS will disappear and you won't even know what happened to them for the rest of your life."
"...On second thoughts, I'll be okay with sharing."
"I thought so."
"Right, let's go then!" Jun said, dragging his luggage over to the lift.
Sho turned to Nino and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.
"It's okay," he whispered, "if we DO share a bed, I'll make sure to sleep right in between you two so you won't have to worry too much about it."
Nino only stared ahead in dread and shuffled obediently with the pack.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cartloads of people screamed as the nearest rollercoaster ride braked some distance before a near-vertical drop. Without warning, the ride sped forward faster than before, plunging its passengers straight downwards.
Some distance away, the viking ship swung towards the side in a scary angle, and a group of girls looked excitedly at the all the thrill rides around them.
"Shall we go to that tall mega swing thing?" one of them asked.
"No no no let's go bungee jumping before that!" another said, "it's the main attraction here!"
"B-bungee jumping... What is this place?!" Sho asked shakily as he felt all the blood drain from his face.
"I've booked rooms in the hotel just next door, so we can play here to our heart's content," Jun explained, and Aiba's eyes lit up in anticipation and excitement.
"LET'S GO, GUYS~" Aiba said excitedly, hustling the group over to queue for a ride nearby. Sho gulped as he watched the ride speed back to its position. He could tell something was off about it, but he was not sure what.
"Ohhh, is this the one in the pictures the last time?" Shizuka asked Jun, "the one that went backwards?"
"BACKWARDS?!" Sho asked in shock.
"Yes, backwards," Shizuka answered matter-of-factly, "and that one over there is a famous gondola ride that shoots waaaaay up. Even while you're still ground-level, the ride itself is floorless so it's REAALLY scary!"
"I hear it goes about 50 meters up too!" Jun said, "ahhh I can't wait to go on that one~"
"I'll pass on it. Can I go back to the hotel room now?" Nino said.
"Mou, Nino-kun! It's so rare that we all get to go out and play like this!" Aiba said, "at least try some rides!"
"No no no, he's the type of person who'd rather stay in the hotel room the whole day with his game console and not come out," Shizuka said, "I know this guy too well."
"Well, I know that's why we're dragging this dude out, but..." Sho said and looked around nervously at the thrill rides around him, "I pictured something a tad bit less... exciting."
"Oh come on," Jun said, "go big or go home! If it's going to be fun, it should be so to the max, right?"
"Oh God, no," Sho thought as he watched them get closer and closer to his doom.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The group started trying out various rides for the rest of the morning until it was time for lunch.
"Shall we go?" Nino grumbled.
"It'd be nice if we could," Sho said, his face slightly pale and tired.
"Actually, why don't we just look around? I think there are some small gift shops and game shops." Shizuka suggested.
"Well, what do you sugge-Jun-kun? Jun-kun?!" Ohno called and looked around.
"Ehh? Already? He left already?!" Sho asked, looking around.
"Ahh..." Shizuka said, "well, I guess the four of us are left on our own then."
"Let's just look around then," Nino said as the four of them strolled towards the game shops. Shizuka looked over at the prize shooting games and had an idea.
"Shall we play this?" she asked.
"Why?" Sho asked, "do you want a stuffed toy?"
"No, but let's make it interesting. Whoever manages to shoot a prize down first will win." Shizuka said.
"What about the loser?" Ohno asked.
"They will have to go on the ride that the winners choose," Shizuka said, "it could be that sky-high ride or.."
"Or.. bungee-jumping?" Nino said with a grin.
"I REALLY don't like this game!" Sho said fearfully, and Nino patted him on the back.
"Don't worry, Sho-chan. I'll pray for you from the ground that you'll come back to us," Nino said, and Sho huffed determinedly.
"I won't lose! Let's go!" Sho said and stepped right up to the game stall.
"What do you think?" Ohno asked Shizuka and she shook her head.
"Sho-kun doesn't look good with heights but… unfortunately, it's Nino-kun he's up against," Shizuka said with a slightly nervous smile.
True enough, Sho lost the game.
Shizuka held the gun in position and tried to focus.
"This is bad," she thought as she felt her hands shake slightly," my body won't listen to me..."
She tried knocking a small prize off with her gun, but made consecutive misses, and Ohno ended up winning by a lucky shot.
"... This is odd... Shizuka is usually good at these sort of shooting games," Nino thought as he watched her look rather embarrassed at her loss.
The party of four now found themselves at the foot of a bungee jumping platform.
"Have fun bungee-jumping~" Nino cheered and Sho looked nervously at Nino and Ohno from the queue.
"... Is it a good idea leaving Nino-kun with Ohno-san?" Sho asked with a worried smile on his face, "why not I just-"
"Sho-kun…are you scared of heights?" Shizuka teased.
"N-no! I'm not scared of heights! I just..." Sho said with a flushing face, "I just don't like high places.."
"So you ARE scared."
"No!"
Ohno grinned as he watched Sho and Shizuka bicker amidst the queue.
"...Do you think Shizuka-chan has found her prince yet?" he asked. Nino looked at him in surprise and looked away.
"I don't get what you mean," he answered.
"You don't remember?" Ohno asked, "the faceless prince she's marrying?"
"…Oh.." Nino murmured awkwardly, "I don't know."
"... Nino-kun?"
"I'm really thirsty. I'll like a drink," Nino said and walked briskly away from Ohno. Ohno looked uneasily at Sho and Shizuka before running over to follow Nino.
Shizuka felt her phone vibrate and looked at it. With a puzzled frown, she looked around outside the crowd.
"What is it?" Sho asked.
"I think Nino-kun and Ohno-kun went off to have a drink," Shizuka said, "though if he were thirsty he shouldn't really drink any alcohol..."
"Le-let's escape from this queue!" Sho insisted, "we can just tell them that we went on and they won't know!"
"Tsk tsk tsk," Shizuka clicked her tongue disapprovingly, "how dishonest of you, Sho-kun."
"But..."
"Besides," Shizuka said seriously, "maybe all Ohno-kun needs right now is a chance to right things."
Sho looked at her thoughtfully.
"Really?"
"Yeah," Shizuka nodded, "when I spoke to him earlier…he did seem really tormented from everything he did."
"Oh? You warm up pretty fast to him," Sho said with a smile.
"Well, we had been friends before after all," Shizuka said as she rubbed a little on her eyes, "having to leave so suddenly must have been harder on him than for any of us. I still don't know why he left, but I guess I'll know soon enough."
"That's tru-"
"Alright, next!" someone called from the distance, "hand over your bags, please!"
"Oh no.." Sho murmured with dread as they inched closer and closer towards the tall tower ahead.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
/// flashback ///
"I like your hands," Nino said as they sat by the benches in the playground. Ohno smiled as he aligned his hand with Nino's, his deft fingers stretching just enough to be slightly longer than Nino's stubby ones.
"Nino's hands are cuter," Ohno murmured. Nino pouted in reply.
"No they are not," he said, "my hands are round, fat and have shorter fingers. Just like hamburger patties."
"…hamburger hands?" Ohno said with a whimsical smile, "could you have eaten too many hamburgers?"
"Shut up!" Nino said with an embarrassed face.
"It's okay though," Ohno said softly as he looked at both their hands. He then slowly tilted his hand in a small angle to the side, letting his fingers slip neatly right between Nino's. Interlocking their fingers intimately, he drew their hands closer, brushing his thumb against the side of Nino's thumb.
"I still like your hands," he said.
Nino said nothing of it but looked into the pitch-black sky, the warmth of their hands bringing colour to his cheeks.
"…so why did you call me here anyway? We have school later on, you know." Nino asked.
Ohno only smiled into the distance. As if on cue, the orange glow of the rising sun peeked from the horizon, brightening the pitch-black skies. As the sun rose, rays of light swept across their town and everything seemed to turn to gold.
"Whoa..." Nino murmured in capitivated awe.
"Keep looking," Ohno whispered, and Nino nodded as he took in the beautiful scenery that unfolded before him. Just then, he felt a something soft touch his cheek gently. He turned to see Ohno's face just a few centimetres away from him.
"...even though I told you to keep looking," Ohno said shyly, the glow of the sunrise revealing his blushing face. Nino felt his face heat up and looked down at their hands.
"I can't possibly look anywhere else when you do that," Nino mumbled with an embarrassed pout.
"Then…will you just look at me then?" Ohno asked, and Nino looked up in surprise as he felt Ohno lean in to touch their foreheads together.
"I…like you, Nino," Ohno said tenderly.
Nino could almost feel his heart soar at Ohno's confession as he smiled and nudged back at Ohno with his forehead.
"Hmm… let me consider it," Nino said, and Ohno froze in shock.
"Eh?"
Without warning, Nino leaned in and pecked him quickly on the lips. Ohno seemed to be even more stunned at his move.
"Wh-what.."
"Oh-chan, you're slow on the uptake, huh," Nino said with a playful grin,"I will only say this once. Listen carefully."
Ohno nodded as he tried to follow.
"I..." Nino began and trailed off, before purposefully leaning in again to tenderly touch Ohno's lips with his own. The warmth of their lips spread like wildfire to their hearts as they tightened their grip on each others' hands.
///flashback///
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Well? How was life?"
Ohno looked up in surprise from the sudden question. Ever since he had followed Nino and sat quietly beside him with a mug of beer, he had been busy with organising his thoughts and memories of the past. It was a lengthy, uncomfortable silence that hung between them, the only sound being each others' gulping and requests for refills.
"You've been gone for seven years," Nino said, "how was life in your new home?"
"Well…it was fine," Ohno said hesitantly, "I studied a bit, made new friends…had fun with the friendly neighbours.."
"... So I suppose it wasn't that bad then," Nino said as he took a gulp of beer, "leaving us, that is."
"Nino," Ohno began exasperatedly," it's not that, I-"
"Whatever. Forget it," Nino said, "I don't want to remember it. Forget it." He then gulped down the rest of his beer and asked for a refill. The silence sank down between them again. Ohno could not help but feel the weight of those dismissive words on him, because while those seven years tortured him so, to Nino he seemed to pay it no mind. He took a few deep breaths and ordered another mug of beer.
"How was your life?" Ohno asked back.
"Nothing happens here," Nino murmured,"I studied. Went to college. Learned music and song writing."
"And.. Shizuka?"
"Went to college. Learned music and conducting."
Ohno knew Nino was not even bothering with being friendly anymore. "Nino, I-"
"Don't pretend to be interested," Nino said indifferently.
The brute force of his words squeezed itself around his heart like a noose.
"Nino, about why I-"
"Like I said, I don't want to-"
"Do you really think I can allow you to forget everything?!" Ohno demanded, and Nino simply laughed coldly at his response.
"I don't want to hear that from you, Ohno Satoshi," Nino bit back, "you were the one who left me and Shizuka. And here you are after seven long years and you have the bloody cheek to tell me what to do, huh!"
"I know, I know and I know!" Ohno yelled, "I know I was the one who was wrong, alright?!"
"No, you don't, you bloody idiot!" Nino hollered back, "you don't know a damn thing!"
"Don't give me that," Ohno said in a low, pained voice, "you are the one who doesn't know a damn thing."
Nino slammed his fist down on the table irritably.
"Enough. I've had enough of your shit. Don't appear before me ever again," Nino said icily, tossing some money on the table and sauntering out. Ohno opened his wallet and followed suit before stomping fast out of the bar. With a strong, forceful grip, he managed to grab Nino's arm.
"Let go, you bastard!" Nino yelled.
"Not a chance," Ohno growled as he dragged him out past the bar's doorway. With an increasingly mad Nino in tow, he led them both into a quiet alley and pinned him up by his hands against the hard, brick wall.
"Get lost," Nino snarled.
"I did. Seven years ago. And do you have any idea how those seven blasted years tormented me?!"
"No. No no no, it's not about that. It's whether YOU have any idea how THOSE seven blasted years tormented ME!"
"And so you thought I wasn't affected in any way?!"
"YOU?! Affected?!" Nino retorted incredulously with a laugh, "YOU, Ohno Satoshi? The boy who left us alone and went to a new neighbourhood to live a whole new life with a whole new bunch of people? Exactly how goddamn 'affected' can you ge-"
Before Nino could finish, Ohno had painfully grabbed the back of his hair and tugged it downwards. As his chin jerked up, Ohno leaned in and forcefully smashed their lips hungrily together in a fierce kiss. Nino fisted his hands and pounded them hard against Ohno's chest, but Ohno's arm remained tightly wrapped around him, the other hand now strengthening its grip on his hair as he deepened the kiss. A strong breeze blew around them and Nino felt his world spin faster around him as he felt Ohno's tongue invade his mouth.
"More," Ohno growled harshly against his lips," than you ever knew."
As if to prove his point, Ohno pushed him harder against the wall as his tongue plunged deeper again into his mouth. Nino's world faded out into a black void as he felt the moist heat of the lips he sought after for past seven years crash feverishly against his own, stealing his breaths over and over again.
All too soon the warmth left his lips as Ohno abruptly turned away and ran. For the first time in seven years, Nino felt hot tears fall out of his eyes as his heart felt a toxic mix of anger, confusion, and... to a small degree.. hope.
A/N: Listened to "Earned It" as I wrote the bar+fight+kiss scene. *fangirl scream* I can now sleep peacefully in my bed of feels. Ahhh *\*^.^*/* *tosses feels*
And NOPE. I did NOT watch the movie. XD