Now and Forever...Itsumademo... - Chapter 17A
Title: Now and Forever…いつまでも…
Author: Mayonaka no Taiyou/Unare Haineko
Pairing: [Juntoshi] Matsumoto Jun x Ohno Satoshi
Rating: R-ish
Summary: This story follows Ayumu, a more or less normal child born in 2012, three years after the ending of ‘Kodoku kara Umareta Ai’ (which you can read here). His parents, Jun and Ohno, are everything but ‘normal’ in their often unconventional attempts to deal with some of the challenges of parenthood as they try to ‘blend in’ with ‘normal people’.
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Now and Forever…Itsumademo - Chapter 17
Sho heard the sound of the phone ringing loudly in his ear. Rolling over, he fell off the couch and found himself on the carpeted floor of the living room. By the time he reached the phone, whoever had been calling had hung up.
A dream?
He was at his apartment still wearing his clothes from the previous night. His keys and phone were on the coffee table along with two bottle caps and a napkin. When he stood up to make himself some coffee, he felt his joints creak in protest and a pounding resounding deep within his forehead.
What was I doing last night…?
Sho stumbled into the kitchen and found that it was clean and empty.
“Masaki?” he called as he clutched his forehead.
When he received no answer, he called his friend’s name once again.
“Masaki? Where is he?” mumbled Sho, walking through the apartment.
A window…he was hanging out of a window…
Sho stopped and closed his eyes as he tried to remember the occurrences of the previous night.
“That’s quite alright. I can carry it myself. I will write it off as you being courteous and not because you believe me to be too weak to do anything because I am a woman…”
x-x-x-x-x
“What can I get for you?”
“I’ll have a Yebisu Black. Fujiki-san?”
“My usual.”
“A Rolls Royce then.”
“Thank you.”
x-x-x-x-x
“What’s that book you’ve got there?”
“This?”
“Yes.”
“This is…This is…not the book I was looking for…”
“Huh?”
“I’m a PhD student and I’m working on my thesis. However, I need some restricted material, which I haven’t been able to access for quite some time.”
“Any particular reason why?”
“Well, in order to access the restricted materials of the Literature Department, you need to fill out a request form, have it signed by your faculty advisor and turn it into the Head of RM-“
“RM?”
“Restricted Materials.”
“I see.”
“Anyway, I’ve turned in my request form, but I still haven’t gotten an answer. I told my faculty advisor and he was supposed to talk to the Head of RM, but he hasn’t gotten back to me either.”
“So what did you do?”
“Well, I went to the Head’s office to try and get an answer, but the professor was out. The door, however, was open, so I decided to try and take a look to see if my request was anywhere near to being processed.”
“And…?”
“Well, everything was locked except for the top drawer of the desk, so I opened it.”
“What did you find?”
“Thank you for waiting, Yebisu Black and a Rolls Royce-“
“Thank you.”
“I found a key that said ‘RM’. It was one of those keys that are used for file cabinets.”
“So you…”
“Well, there was a file cabinet right next to the desk, so I tried the key and it opened. But then I heard someone coming down the hall so I grabbed one of the books that I needed and put everything back.”
“How did you get out if someone was coming down the hall?”
“The window was open, so I escaped through the window.”
“I watched from outside to see if the Head noticed anything missing, but the Head simply came back, locked up and left for the evening.”
“Why were you running?”
“Because I had told you that I would meet you and I was quite far from the gate. I didn’t want you to think that I had stood you up, so I ran.”
“Oh…I see…”
“See this book?”
“Yes.”
“It’s got the right title, but look…when you open it…it’s nothing but-“
“An English dictionary?”
“Right.”
“Do you suppose the Head of RM did that on purpose?”
“Probably. Everything in that office that wasn’t part of the professor’s research materials was locked. Only that one drawer was open. I’m sure there are students like me all the time who are trying to get RM. The Head probably got tired of students breaking in and messing things up, so the key was purposely left in ‘plain sight’.”
“That’s most unfortunate…”
“Yeah, and I’ll have to sneak back in to return this useless book too…”
x-x-x-x-x
“Would you like me to see you home?”
“That’s alright. I can take care of myself.”
“Are you sure? I can-“
“No, no. You’ve already paid for the drinks. Thank you for your company. Good night.”
That was all that Sho could remember of his encounter with Fujiki Iris. He was certain that there had been more conversation before the hailing of the taxi, nor did he recall paying for the drinks, but he decided that if it was important, he would remember. And since he had forgotten that it must not have been that important. Sho rummaged through the refrigerator looking for something to eat, but all he found was a head of lettuce, three figs, an apple, and an expired carton of milk.
A window!
Sho washed one of the figs and began peeling the skin off the fig while he tried to figure out why his mind kept on going back to a window.
Window…escape…window…Iris…escape…window…MASAKI!
Sho had been looking out of the window of a taxi when his eye suddenly caught sight of someone hanging out of a second story window. They were at a stoplight when Sho took notice that the figure looked strangely familiar. Even if it was not someone that he knew, Sho could not ignore the fact that it was still someone dangling out of a window. He paid the driver and told him that he would be getting off. When he ran to the deserted sidewalk, he saw someone talking to the daredevil on the window sill. Sho heard a ‘NO WAY (嫌だっ)!’ that was most definitely the sound of Aiba’s voice before an ambulance zoomed past with its siren blaring. Distracted by the sound of the siren, Sho turned around and in the meantime, he heard a scratching against rock, followed by a swish and a thud. When Sho turned around, he saw what appeared to be a sparrow fly up and out from the tree towards the street lights, most likely startled by Aiba’s fall. However, when Sho ran to see if Aiba had been injured, he could not find a trace of his companion. He had looked for nearly an hour without a sign of Aiba. By the time he returned home, it had been close to four in the morning and he had collapsed on the couch.
Sho wandered into the living room and picked up his phone.
‘No unread messages’
‘No missed calls’
Sho was about to call Aiba when he remembered that Aiba was upset with him.
Should I call him? But he’s upset with me…What if he’s hurt and I just didn’t see him last night? What if he’s unconscious and slowly dying somewhere?
Then as if someone answered his question, Sho heard the sound of keys and the creak of the front door. Sho ran to the door half expecting to see Aiba beaten up with twigs and leaves in his hair.
“Masaki-“ he started.
Aiba looked up and put his keys into his pocket.
“You’re okay…” Sho breathed with a sigh of relief.
Maybe I was mistaken…
Aiba was holding a shopping bag and was wearing a black long sleeved shirt and jeans.
“I’m sorry, Masaki,” he said, walking up to Aiba and placing his arms around him. “I know you’re mad at me, but please forgive me. I was wrong…”
“Sho-chan…” Aiba whispered as he dropped his shopping bag out from which rolled a few pomegranates.
“Masaki, I’m so glad you’re okay…” Sho said, touching Aiba’s cheek and bringing Aiba’s trembling lips closer to his own. “Please say that you forgive me…”
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“Is he sleeping?” asked Kakia, standing in the back doorway of Suite 11.
“Yeah,” Reiya said, motioning to the naked snoring form of the former leader of Arashi.
“Boy! Search his pockets!” Kakia ordered.
“Yes, ma’am!” Gima said, running in and searching through Ohno’s clothes. “I’ve got his wallet!”
Ohno snorted and moaned.
“Keep him distracted,” hissed Kakia, slipping into the shadows with the Nino lookalike.
Reiya nodded and sauntered over to Ohno.
“Leader,” he cooed, placing his lips onto Ohno’s cock.
“Jun…” Ohno moaned as he allowed Reiya pleasure him, first with his mouth and then with his hands.
“Yes, you’re not tired, are you?” Reiya whispered as he slicked himself up for the fourth time. “I don’t even need to prep your ass…Look it’s so loose…”
“Ahhh!” Ohno groaned as Reiya began to move. “Yesss…”
Ohno was on his belly, drooling into the sheets as Reiya brought him closer to the eighth or ninth orgasm (he had lost count). While Ohno was busy gazing at the inside of his eyelids, Gima returned to the suite and quietly slid Ohno’s wallet back into the pocket he found it in.
“Jun…Jun…!” gasped Ohno.
Gima grimaced as he watched as Reiya worked his ‘magic’ while fading back into the shadows of the back door where he bumped into Kakia.
“Here,” she said, handing Gima a plastic A4 folder after he closed the door behind him.
“What’s this?” he asked opening it.
“Your next assignment,” she said.
“Ohno Satoshi,” read Gima, looking at the expired health insurance card that Kakia had him make a copy of. “DOB: Showa 55.11.26…Sex: Male…Address: Tokyo-to, Mitaka-shi…What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Find out whatever you can about him. Where he works, what he does during the day…”
“But Mitaka is far-“
“I don’t care, boy-“
“But Kakia-sama, this insurance card is expired. Maybe he changed his address-“
“Just go to his address in Mitaka and find out what the hell he’s been up to,” snapped Kakia, losing her cool.
“Okay. What about this boy?” asked Gima, holding up the second sheet which contained a copy of a picture of Ohno with a little boy of two or three with dark eyebrows and an impish smile.
“It must be his son,” reasoned Kakia. “Find out about the boy too. And before you ask, stuff like what his name is, his relationship to Ohno Satoshi, where he goes to daycare, his personality, et cetera. Don’t come back to the club until you have some answers for me.”
“Yes, Kakia-sama,” bowed Gima before scurrying out the door.
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“But if it was only my knowledge that was problematic, wouldn’t it be easier for him to just get rid of me?” Jun asked, looking away, fighting himself to keep the darkest parts of his past locked away.
“But he can’t do that without dissolving Arashi,” explained Miyazono. “If he gets rid of you, he must get rid of the group. And even if he did want to replace you, naturally the others would demand an explanation, so it was not like he could get rid of you even if he wanted to or needed to. Though logically speaking, if it were simply a matter of silencing you, it might have been faster and easier to simply find a way to intimidate, threaten, or humiliate you into silence.”
“Why didn’t he then?”
“First of all, someone like you, Matsumoto-san, is no easy task. It’s less trouble than having to explain your sudden disappearance, but it still could technically backfire on him.”
“Why would something like that backfire?”
“Because you, Matsumoto-san, are like the Komodo dragon. Are you familiar with the Komodo dragon?”
“Isn’t that some sort of ugly poisonous monitor lizard thing?”
“It is not poisonous; it is venomous. And you are not poisonous. You are most definitely venomous.”
“What’s the difference between something ‘poisonous’ versus something ‘venomous’? Same result, right?”
“Something poisonous doesn’t necessarily go looking for things to poison. As in, if you touch them or eat them, you’ll die-or at least get a nasty reaction. Self-defense against predators. Take for example poison ivy. If you touch it, it gives you a nasty rash. It’s poisonous, not venomous.”
“Well, what’s the difference between a poisonous animal and a venomous animal? Aren’t snakes and spiders poisonous?”
“No, those are venomous. If you ate them or touched them, you probably wouldn’t die. But if it bit you, you would at the very least be in a great deal of pain. A poison dart frog, as its name suggests, however, is poisonous. It secretes the toxins through its skin. If you were to touch or eat it, you would most likely die.”
“Okay, I get it with the poisonous animals. Now what about the venomous ones? You said I was ‘venomous’, right?”
“Venomous animals are animals that store their toxins internally and release them through biting or stinging. In other words, they are primarily hunters, but can and will use their venom against whatever is threatening them. The poisonous ones just try to avoid being hunted; it’s more of a defense mechanism. You’re not ‘poisonous’ because when people try to get close to you, you usually snap and growl, which usually wards off any unwanted advances. But in the event that they didn’t take the hint and they still insist on touching you, you will retaliate full force.”
“But why the ugly Komodo dragon? Why couldn’t I be something cool and deadly like a king cobra or something?”
“Komodo dragons eat king cobras. King cobras have natural enemies such as the mongoose, which is immune to its venom. When a king cobra encounters a mongoose, its first instinct is to flee. The only thing that will eat a Komodo dragon is another Komodo dragon. In addition, while the king cobra’s venom does attack the nervous system and causes all sort of wonderful things like severe pain, vertigo, drowsiness, and paralysis, before eventually shutting down the victim’s respiratory system, there is anti-venom for humans. So you can be saved.”
“What about the venom of the Komodo dragon?”
“There’s no anti-venom for that.”
“Why not?”
“While the Komodo dragon has two venom glands in its lower jaw, it also uses the septic pathogens in its saliva to kill its prey. It hunts with the element of surprise, so when something suitable passes by, it charges with a burst of speed, ambushing its prey by attacking the underside of the throat. You can be mauled to death by the Komodo dragon, but it pretty much kills its prey with the toxins venom and saliva. And since no two Komodo dragons have the same saliva composition, there is no anti-venom. Plus, even if you miraculously managed to escape the Komodo dragon, once it bites you, not only is there severe pain like the king cobra, but your wound will become septic, your blood will no longer clot, and your blood pressure drops drastically. This is then followed by paralysis, hypothermia, shock, and eventually you die. The Komodo dragon then uses its exceptional sense of smell which it can detect something dead or dying within a radius of up to nine and a half kilometers to find you and tear apart your flesh for its next meal. You probably haven’t realized it yet, but a bite from you can probably take down anything and anyone. This is the reason why he could not directly attack you. He was afraid to a certain extent of how you might retaliate.”
>>> Chapter 17B
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