[ongoing] Let the Game Begin- (1/?)
a/n: I'll try my best to update weekly. yes. weekly. :) Comments are loved.
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CHAPTER 1: Insult
“I love you..”
“I love you too..”
For some reason, Nino couldn’t just get that part out of his head. Seeing how the two boldly confessed their feelings toward each other in front of the crowd and in national TV, he realized by now, or probably knew it all along, that he had lost the game to Shi’s heart.
Oh well, I should’ve let it go long ago!.. He thought as he looked around, tearing himself away from the crowd to see if he could find traces of the twins. After it was revealed that all the things were just a set-up, Shuji and Shuri suddenly went missing making all of them worried, but, Nino is being Nino so he definitely had second thoughts about it. For some reason, his mind just kept on telling him that those twins had something to do with the “incident”.
Nino kept walking until he heard voices, kids voices, arguing, but he couldn’t make sense of anything that they were talking about since the voices were muffled, add the distance that was between him and the location of the sources. His eyes wandered over a corner and there they were, talking animatedly with someone over the phone.
He rushed onto their direction, feeling excited to hear all about the details and wondering how Sho and Shi would react on the assumption that the twins were the ones behind it all, when a woman bumped into him suddenly, like those in the films where a woman and a man would bump into each other and the rest is history.
Except, history doesn’t sit well with Nino’s vocabulary.
+++++++++++++++
Ninomiya! She gasped seeing the familiar face of the man who had just knocked her, making her fall, ass first, on the solid ground-an unwise position for someone who’s wearing a skirt. She placed a hand on her bottom, feeling the pain that was from the impact, unaware that she was showing off her panties from the way she sat there, her face flustered, and her long black hair all over the places while expecting a help from him.
But to her frustration, Nino didn’t trouble. Instead, he just stared at her annoyingly, his expression flickered with wicked intent, as he held his gaze on her and on her lacy black thin lined panties, heat rushing all over his system. So she likes lacy undergarments huh? I wonder if she wears matching undergarments.. He thought eyes focused on her chest and felt a bit of disappointment seeing how it didn’t stood out that much, especially with that two piece suit she’s wearing. In fact, it even made her br3ast look smaller.
“Hey!” She fixed her eyes on him and realized where he was staring. She unconsciously placed both arms all over her chest before helping herself to stand, which was harder than expected especially when she could not use both hands to support her weight at the moment. She scowled while dusting off her skirt and fixed her hair, after which, she grabbed her bag on the ground and turned to leave. “You perv-”
That snapped Nino out of his thoughts.
"Oi mate kudasai!" he raised his voice on her , unmindful that it was his fault for not keeping his eyes on the road, scolding himself for having dirty thoughts about her, even if it was just for a couple of heartbeats. “Who would want to stare at that thing? It’s not even worth a second look.” He sneered to hide his embarrassment. He could still feel that heat all over his body and he hated it.
“You!!” She turned around and glared at him. She only had taken few steps so the distance between them was enough for her to hear his words clearly.
Nino just smirked and rolled his eyes to emphasize his words. “Why? Offended are we?”
“Ninomiya Kazunari.” She said, her eyes narrowed and lips pursed for a moment. “So, BRAT is still your middle name huh?”
Hearing his name and that statement, Nino’s expression was that of a surprise then turned sour. Rather than a question, he uttered a statement. “You know me.”
She smirked seeing the change in his aura. “My oh my. You’re one-hell-of-a-famous idol, do you actually thought that I won’t recognize you? And you didn’t even bother to fashion yourself with a disguise.”
He didn’t expect her answer to be like that. He himself didn’t know why, but something was telling him that the girl knows him, not the usual idol knowledge, but something different, something deeper. But Nino kept his thoughts to himself. Oh well, its impossible, there’s no way that she knows me..
She still wanted to argue and to see what kind of expressions his face will show, but then she remembered that she was running late for a meeting. She straightened up before walking hastily away from him, muttered “F.Y.I. It’ll take more than that to offend me,” not too sure whether he heard it or not, and sped her way off to the direction she's heading with her thoughts gone out of control because of their encounter.
Oh well, its been years, and he probably doesn’t remember me anymore.
- - -
Nino gazed at the retreating figure of the girl with troubled expression on his face and contemplated on what took place a while ago. For him to be affected that much just by seeing the girl’s underwear, how long has it been since he felt like that? He didn’t know. What he knew was that it won’t do him well for the most part that he’d have very unsettling feelings towards the girl, as if the girl could see through him and was reading his soul. Like how she had addressed him, and her remark about his personality, it was giving him a wistful feeling.
He looked at her one last time until his eyes caught sight of something from the ground-..It must be hers..He picked it up out of curiosity but what he saw couldn’t believe his eyes. It was a keychain he recognized as Ratina*, a character from Enix’s game. Why did she have something like this? He thought while looking at it closely and noticed the carving at the back.
絵里
おかげで!
-堀井
(Thanks!-Horii-san)
Eh? Why would Horii-san thank her? Nino felt envious out of the blue. He was so fixated on the famous games designer’s name that he didn’t notice the other name that was carved just above the ‘thank you note’. A sudden thought crossed his mind but he refused to entertain it. Nah~ there’s no way she was acquainted with him..She probably found this in the streets when its owner accidentally dropped it. Mah,~ time to talk with the kids. He placed the keychain inside his pocket and cleared his mind off the things about the woman before he began walking. Reaching the corner, Nino hid behind a lamp post to listen.
What do you intend to do with your parents? I think they will be mad.
He heard an old man’s voice over the speaker phone. Johnny? He thought but kept on listening.
“HAi. We’re aware of that jiichan,” said a boy’s voice. “But we’ll deal with it..”
Have you reached your goal? Said the old man.
“We’ll see about that jiichan,” The girl sounded haste. “although there were still negative opinions, I think the chances are high..”
Its show time! Nino smirked and thought of a better idea. He thought that if the twins will do it alone, they’ll probably be scolded to their hearts content, and he could imagine Sho’s rage at the moment. “And besides, they have their uncle with them!” He announced making his presence known.
Ninomiya-san?
He heard his boss’ voice. “Figures.. Konbanwa Johnny-san, did you enjoy the show?” Nino asked amusedly, although deep in his thoughts, it was again filled with that confession and his heart once again remembered the pain of realization. He wished it had just retained his encounter with that unknown woman awhile ago, the sudden excitement that occupied his body, those dirty thoughts that ran on his mind for a couple of heartbeats, so that he wouldn’t have to go through these emotions with Shi repeatedly albeit the fact that he knew he wouldn’t be able to take it off his mind for a while.
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“How’s Shi-chan?” Ohno asked the moment Sho entered the greenroom. It was only 9hours past that incident involving Sho and his kids but their manager had summoned them that morning for a reason they don’t know.
“Still unconscious, but her condition’s stable now..” Sho said more to himself than to Ohno, smiling timidly because in all honesty he himself didn’t know which particular emotion to display. According to the attending physician, the stress brought about by that incident had caused Shi’s brain to shut for a while. But that wasn’t the one bothering him at that time. Kneading his temple, he contemplated on what the management wanted this time, whether it had to do with his kids involvement or not. Whatever it is, best not to let his guard down.
“Oh! She really has the habit to shut her mind off whenever it’s necessary ne~” Aiba remarked, missing out the dark stare that Sho gave him or the cold look on Nino’s eyes the moment he heard his tactless statement. “But Angel-chan is Angel-chan, so she’ll be out of that state sooner or later. I hope its sooner,” He said cheerfully, nodding to himself for something he thought was nice of him.
Hearing that, Sho dropped of his gaze onto the newspaper, muttering curses to himself for thinking that the miracle boy had meant something unpleasant by his comments. He shook his head, his body tensed all over-that thing about Shi had been stressing him, making his mood bad and his line of thoughts worse.
On the other side of the room, Nino contented himself on Ohno’s lap, playing with the keychain from last night, eyes a hint of amusement, while waiting for their manager to arrive. The last thing he needed was to concern himself with things about Shi, especially now that he had finally managed to convince himself that he had lost and the game was over-a thing which he should’ve done long ago.
“ohayou!” Jun greeted. It has been a while since they had this kind of happenings inside their greenroom. When no answer came back, he seated himself on one of the empty couch with raised eyebrows. “At least have the decency to greet back,” He said feigning a hurt expression, which turned out effective because all eyes turned to him. Jun crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes. “Its etiquette you know.” He said matter-of-factly.
“Ah. Ohayou!” It was Ohno who first recovered from shock.
“Ridaa, what’s wrong?” He inquired eyes on the oldest member.
“Shi-chan’s still unconscious,” The leader replied without meeting his eyes, “But his condition is stable.”
“I see..” Jun paused for a moment, searching for the right word. “Then, why the gloomy atmosphere?” He asked, this time addressing all the members.
“Eh? Jun-chan’s not worried?” Aiba pouted seeing that familiar smug on Jun’s face.
“About what?”
“About-” But Aiba wasn’t able to come up with an answer. Luckily for him, Nino had an answer prepared.
“The management just summoned us. They didn’t even let the matter about Shi to pass even for at least a day. Heck, we don’t even know why they called us up.” Nino pulled himself on a sitting position before putting the keychain inside his pocket.
“I know” Jun stated casually, distracting the rest of the guys.
“How-” Sho shot him a wary expression before he was cut in midsentence by the clicking sound of the door which opened seconds after and in came their manager, face void of emotion only a forced out smile when he spoke.
“Exactly.” Manager-san pointed. “I also want to know how Jun managed to find out today’s agenda.”
“Oh. Sorry, I don’t mean to eavesdrop. .” Jun stated apologetically.
“I see.” Their manager didn’t open his mouth for a while.
Jun and the rest of the guys exchanged glances, Nino nudging Ohno on the side, while Aiba clasped and unclasped his hands. Sho waited for the manager’s next words which came after few minutes of silence.
“Boys. In conference room 8, now!” He bellowed before striding out of the room leaving the guys’ in their disorganized thoughts.
Nino hated it. How their manager still think of them as boys and how he kept on calling them “boys” despite the fact that they’re all grown up now, (aside the fact that he still looked like 17), and not the teenagers they used to be. Seconds after hearing their manager’s voice, what he hated now was how they scrambled on their feet, with Aiba almost tripping on the floor, and how they were outside walking hurriedly towards the elevator that will take them to conference room 8.
- - -
“Excuse me, where can I find conference room 8?” She asked smilingly, startling the busy receptionist.
“8th floor ma’am.” The receptionist paused admiring her. “Just use the elevator on the lobby’s right side. When you reach the 8th floor, walked straight and you’ll find conference room 8 on the left corner.”
“Thank you,” She bowed thanking him before she turned to leave. She still hadn’t managed to take a step for when the receptionist called her.
“Maam?” He asked uncertain if she heard him or not.
“Yes?” She turned around unwillingly before forcing out a smile.
“Your I.D please.”
“Ah, sorry,” She rummaged through her bag and found her company I.D. “Is this okay?” She said showing off her ID.
“Yes Ma’am.”
“Here,” She handed him her identification card and started walking without waiting for the receptionist’s reaction. She was running late for a meeting, courtesy of her unfortunate encounter with that brat idol last night which earned her few hours lack of sleep add the time she spent looking for her keychain. She was half walking, half running towards the direction where the receptionist instructed her to go, felt grateful that she arrived just in time when the elevator doors opened and found that it was empty. She let herself in and waited for others to ride while silently hoping that no one will need the service of the elevator at that moment.
After waiting for about two minutes, she sighed in relief, thinking that she had the entire elevator to herself. She pressed down the number 8 button and waited. It felt hours being there, let alone the sound that came from the elevator shaft each time the door opens on every floor. That feeling lasted until the 5th floor, when 5 men entered the elevator, the tallest one missing the tiny gap between the compartment and the concrete ground making him loose his balance and almost fell on the floor if not for the other guy catching him in time. Each bore funny expressions, depending on how one perceives the word “funny”. In her case, seeing the tremor on their faces, that kind of fear she only see in the movies, seemed really odd and not fit for their seemingly gorgeous faces, making them look funny. She covered her mouth to suppress her laughter, except, it wasn’t enough to hide the sound of her stifled giggle. Worst, as quiet as it sound, it still didn’t escape the guys hearing, making one of them, the shortest (given her point of view), to look at her with furrowed eyebrows, not to mention with eyes which narrowed into a slit.
Seeing that, she stood there frozen, grasping the weight of the situation she was in, especially when she’s dealing with guys from ARASHI. She only realized that after having a second look on them, especially on the one which she supposed as the shortest, that one, being Ninomiya Kazunari.
“Ne~ Jun-chan, which floor?” She heard a throaty voice asked the guy which she recognized as Matsumoto Jun. The one who asked is Aiba Masaki. Next to him was Sakurai Sho, the one whose controversy flooded the late night and even the morning news. In front of him, alongside Ninomiya, was their leader, Ohno Satoshi.
“No need Aiba-chan, since the girl seemed to be going on the same floor as us,” Jun said, his eyes on the number 8 button which was already lit, keeping his cool after sensing that Nino didn’t like the girl’s action from a while ago.
“Ah sou~” Aiba nodded turning his head to look at her. For a moment, he just stared at her, eyes reading her, then afterward gave her a toothy grin after deciding that she was not a mean person, making her all the more conscious about herself.
She smiled back, as she felt it was necessary to do so since his smile left a genuine impression on her.
“This isn’t the time for flirting,” Nino stated loudly, making all attentions turned on him. He place a hand inside his pocket and gripped the keychain inside, releasing the sudden anger he felt for an unknown reason. HE recognized the girl from last night the moment they entered the elevator just a moment ago, but her reaction towards them, her stifled laughter, it just made his temper rise.
Just how many insults did I need to take from this man? She thought raising an eyebrow, her expression was that of annoyance but realized later that if she give in to his whims, he would just insult her continuously. So instead, she composed herself and smiled widely at Nino, making him confused, before saying, “Oh. But I think, your friend, Aiba-san, never meant it that way.”
“Uwaa~ you know me?” Aiba looked at her excitedly. She just nodded.
“But I’m not talking about him,” Nino scoffed seeing that before throwing off an annoyed expression, “I meant you.”
“Mou~ Nino-chan, I’m sure, she also didn’t mean it like that..look at her, she’s so pretty and very much decent.!” Aiba was rolling his eyes to emphasize each word. “You, of all people, should be able to tell that..” Aiba defended before beaming at her, making her heart skipped a beat. “Right Miss-”
“Summers. Eri Summers.”
“Right. right.Summers-Ah! Eri-chan. I hope you don’t mind-”Aiba was lost at what to do since it was really weird for him to call him Summers-san. Something about it just isn't right.
“Ah,of course I don’t mind. Since calling me Summers-san would be plain awkward, don’t you think?”
Hearing her say that, a sudden memory flickered on Nino’s mind.
Hello. I'm Eri Summers. I know that in your country you call each other by last name, but I think calling me Summers-san will be awkward, so Eri's just fine-
Ah! what was that? He felt troubled. Looking at the girl, and at the same time searching through his memory, it finally hit him. That’s why she looked familiar, that’s why he felt nostalgic.
“Eh? Summers? Summers Eri-chan?”
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Notes:
*Ratina- She's a character from the latest installment of Enix' Dragon Quest, bearing the title Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. Click the name above for some of her screenshots.
*Yuji Horii- a game designer, best known as the creator of Dragon Quest. Click the name above for some detailed information.
PROLOGUE