![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rikke_leonhart) wrote2010-09-06 05:37 pm
Fic: Anywhere Is 2/8
Pairing(s): Ohno/Nino, Ohno/OFC, Nino/OFC
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Do. Not. Own. Unfortunately.
Word count: ~5,400
Warning(s): Slash, het, angst in large doses
Summary: Two years ago, the world tilted. Now with the world almost having forced itself upright, it tilts again. Can four people make up for the five they used to be?
Author's Notes: Updates might be irregular. Huge thank yous to all the crazy Mods ♥
| Earlier chapters |
*
Nino was half walking, half running, completely ignoring that his manager was calling out for him to stop and think about it, that he couldn’t just barge in. And he was right, too, because the door to Johnny’s office was solidly and undeniably locked.
Jun followed, stopping behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder, and together, they stood and stared at the door in front of them.
Nino didn’t care that he’d just run from his responsibilities, that he’d been unprofessional and fled his job, because for some reason, the person that had made all their worlds tilt two years ago was back. Only with that door separating them.
“Where is Sho-kun? Aiba-chan?” Nino asked, breaking the silence previously only filled with the sound of their sped up breaths and the jogging footsteps of their managers.
“I don’t know,” Jun admitted, leaning forward and resting his hands on his knees. “Sho’s phone is off, so I guess he’s filming or something. Aiba-chan is filming, too.”
Nino took a deep breath, slumping down to the floor. “Why now? Why not six months ago? A year ago? Why now?”
Jun looked down at him and said, “I don’t know,” even though the question was obviously rhetorical. “I don’t understand it either, Nino. You know we don’t.”
“I want Sho-kun here,” Nino said to that, still focusing on taking deep, even breaths. “And Aiba-chan. We should all be here.”
Jun sat down next to him on the floor, nodding. “But what are we going to say?”
It was Nino’s turn to draw a blank. “What can we say? Two years… not even a single word. What can we possibly say to him that’ll mean something? He obviously didn’t care then, and I doubt he’s started caring while he’s been away.”
“Nino, you don’t mean that,” Jun said, frowning. “You can’t say he never cared. You know better than that.”
Nino knew this, but he couldn’t help but feeling otherwise. Ohno hadn’t cared enough to let them know he was leaving, hadn’t cared enough to even tell them the reason why. Nino had thought that after having known each other for so many years, it was the least they could do for each other. To be honest.
However, Ohno hadn’t even managed that. He’d evaded them all, sidestepped them when they were expecting it the least, because quite frankly – it had never seemed like a possibility, the thought hadn’t even crossed Nino’s mind ever. He’d never have expected that Ohno had it in him to deceive them all, saying goodbye to them the day before like they’d see each other soon, had told Nino that he’d be back.
It had been a lie, all of it had been lies, and Nino was sick and tired of it, hurt and angry. Ohno better have some damn good explanations and excuses, even if Nino thought that nothing Ohno could say would ever justify what he’d done, and nothing could erase the hurt he’d caused to Arashi. Not just Nino, but to them all.
And damn it if Nino still was hurt, because he was. He’d thought that he and Ohno were friends, bee-eff-eff’s, according to Aiba, but still, Ohno hadn’t made a sound of indication that he wasn’t happy and wanted to get away. In Nino’s world, Ohno had equaled security and unconditional trust and support, but it had apparently only been on his end, and Nino hated that thought. Because if that had only been a figment of his imagination, then what else had Ohno said that he hadn’t meant? What else had been lies?
Didn’t those many years mean anything to Ohno?
Nino didn’t think he could be such a poor judge of character – Ohno had never been that person, something must have happened to make him that way. Unbidden, memories of Ohno flashed in his mind, and he angrily fought them down.
“If he knew that we were sitting here, waiting for him, would he come out?”
Jun tilted his head, slanting a look at him. “Would you?”
Nino shrugged. He honestly didn’t know. He tried to imagine being in that position; returning after years away, having left without explanations or reasons… he couldn’t. He couldn’t force his mind to put himself in Ohno’s place, it didn’t just seem possible to just up and leave as Ohno had done. There were simply too many reasons to stay and fight, and that thought was a cause for concern too. Prior to all this, Nino had thought that Ohno was the strongest of them and that out of all of them, Ohno was the one who could withstand anything.
Assuming that something had made Ohno flee, it had to be great enough that he couldn’t beat it even if he’d tried. Maybe he had.
Nino didn’t know anymore. He’d thought he’d known Ohno. Maybe Ohno hadn’t even tried, maybe he’d just surrendered.
He forced himself to take another deep breath, calming his nerves and his raging thoughts. He wanted to not force anger at Ohno, but he didn’t think it was possible. He had no idea how he was going to react.
“I’d hide,” Nino admitted slowly. “And wait for us to go away.”
“But he doesn’t know,” Jun said, “and even if he did, I think he’d face us.”
Nino didn’t even manage to think about a reply, because the door opened and both Jun and Nino shot to their feet, hearts hammering.
And out of the office walked-
Sho.
Nino felt bitter disappointment curl tightly at the bottom of his stomach and he felt nauseous as he watched Sho stand there in the doorway. He turned to Jun when Jun said, “What are you doing here? I couldn’t get a hold of you and your phone is off…”
As Jun trailed off, Nino turned to Sho again, trepidation mounting with each second, because Sho was turning, looking back into the office, smiling encouragingly, and the moment before Nino saw him, he just knew.
Nino had tried to ready himself, yet he was entirely unprepared for the onslaught of emotions rolling over him and through him at the sight of the man who had, at one point, been their beloved Leader and friend.
Ohno had frozen in his tracks, unmoving in the doorway, and it seemed like he’d been completely unprepared for this, too.
Nino desperately tried to breathe.
“Leader,” Jun said beside him and Nino gasped for air as he took in the appearance of the friend that had disappeared.
Ohno looked… different, that was the first thing that came to Nino’s mind. His hair was black and slightly longer than what they’d been used to seeing him with. He was tanned but not too much, and he seemed somehow both broader and more fragile than he’d been when Nino had seen him last. He resembled the Leader he’d known and also somehow someone entirely else at the same time. Ohno was looking at him, and Nino stared right back, seeing apprehension looking back at him, and Nino realized with a jolt – the body language and hooded eyes – that Ohno was frightened.
“Matsumoto-kun,” Ohno rasped, tearing his eyes from Nino. “I-”
“Wait,” Jun cut in, stepping up to Ohno, towering over the smaller man and gazing down at him. To his credit, Nino noted, Ohno stood his ground, standing still and awaiting whatever Jun had in mind for him. Jun reached up and settled a hand on Ohno’s shoulder, and Nino’s heart plummeted when he saw Ohno flinch as if expecting to be hit.
Jun did nothing of that, however, he only gripped Ohno’s shoulder hard and then dragged him close, winding long arms around him.
“It’s you, you jerk,” Jun said tearfully and Nino had to remind himself to breathe, because this was too much. Way too much. A touch on his hand made him look to the side, and Sho had walked up to him, gripping his arm.
“You okay?” Sho asked quietly and Nino forced a nod that turned out as a shrug instead. “Really?”
Nino felt his mouth go dry when Ohno stepped away from Jun with a, Nino supposed, reassuring look and turned to Nino. They stood there, looking at each other, less than two meters between them, and Nino thought it was ridiculous – this was the closest they’d been in two years.
“Ninomiya-kun,” Ohno mumbled, and Nino’s heart ached. Ohno didn’t feel comfortable enough to use their names as he’d always done.
“You idiot,” Nino hissed, crossing the meters between them, and he clutched at Ohno, pressing him close, and when Ohno’s arms tentatively held him back, Nino shuddered.
“I’m so angry at you,” he hissed and he felt Ohno nod.
“I know,” Ohno said.
“I’m so- so-, fuck, I don’t even know,” Nino snapped into Ohno’s hair, and he tightened his grip as if Ohno would disappear any moment.
Ohno swallowed heavily. “I know.”
Nino somehow expected an apology, but it didn’t come. He pulled back, scrutinizing Ohno’s face for the admission of guilt that still hadn’t come.
“You worried us,” he said, voice hard and unforgiving, and Ohno nodded. Nino felt more removed from Ohno than ever despite being closer to him that he’d been in a long time, and he stepped fully away and out of Ohno’s hold. “I can’t even look at you right now.”
Ohno nodded again, apparently already having resigned himself to that. “I know. I never expected you, any of you, to ever want to talk to me again.”
Nino’s breath hitched. Ohno had apparently known how much his departure would hurt them, and Nino wasn’t sure if that made everything better or worse. He wasn’t even sure he’d wanted to know that.
“Aiba-chan,” Jun then said with a cough, clearing his throat. “He’ll want to know you’re here. He’s missed you. We all have.”
Ohno looked both embarrassed and a little pleased at hearing that, but he said nothing.
Sho smiled and walked up to Ohno, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We have to get going, Satoshi-kun, we still have some places to go.”
Nino frowned, and even though he’d said he couldn’t look at Ohno, he couldn’t stop staring. Ohno was really here, alive and well, and Nino simultaneously wanted to push him away and hold on so tightly that Ohno never ever had the chance of leaving again.
“Places?” Nino asked, averting his eyes when Ohno looked at him. He couldn’t, not really. “Which places?”
“I need to get in touch with some people,” Ohno said vaguely, and Nino was relieved that he still knew the way Ohno talked and could recognize the way he evaded the question, and Nino could also feel irritation prickle in his mind at that. However, the hallway in front of Johnny’s office was hardly the place to erupt in a temper tantrum, and they all seemed to realize that since no one said anything the next few moments.
“We really have to get going,” Sho urged again and shot a brief smile at Nino and Jun, and Nino frowned.
Ohno bowed and Nino was sharply reminded of a time where Ohno had thought he didn’t belong with them.
As Ohno and Sho walked slowly down the hallway before getting into the elevator, Sho’s manager trailing them, Nino couldn’t contain the frustrated sigh that wanted out.
“I have a feeling that Sho already knew,” Jun said at length, several seconds after the elevator had closed behind Ohno and Sho. “I think he knew.”
“He’d have told us,” Nino said, trying to sound convincing, but he wasn’t sure. Sho had to have known at least something, since he’d been so calm just now. Nino was just infinitely curious as to what exactly it was that Sho had known, and also why he hadn’t said anything about it.
Nino realized that he had foolishly thought that with Ohno’s return, everything would miraculously solve itself, but now, he knew that everything might just have gotten a whole lot more complicated. It wasn’t just a matter of Ohno returning, it was now also a matter of what Sho had known, how he’d known and if he’d known before Ohno left.
Nino wanted simplicity back in his life.
Simplicity, however, was a distant and unreachable point right now. Just as Nino’s world had righted itself somewhat, it had tilted again, and Nino could literally feel how shaken up he was. Apparently, Jun was feeling the same, because they reached out for each other simultaneously.
“He’s back,” Jun said and his voice still sounded as if he was battling tears. “After all this time…”
Nino just nodded. He didn’t know what he could say and he didn’t know what he wanted to say. He just wanted answers.
“We need to get to Aiba-chan,” Jun said then, “he’s the only one who doesn’t know, and he needs to know, deserves it as much as we do.”
Jun’s phone rang, and at first, he looked like someone who didn’t want to answer, but he did so reluctantly when the phone kept ringing.
“It’s Sho,” Jun said slowly, looking at the glowing display. He accepted the call. “Yes?”
Jun looked up at Nino, nodding slowly, and Nino could see him thinking furiously. “I don’t know.”
Nino crossed his arms, waiting.
Jun sighed. “I really don’t know, Sho-kun, I don’t know if it’s a good idea. Does he even know you’re asking?”
Nino’s interest was officially piqued.
Now looking straight at Nino, Jun held the away from his ear. “Sho-kun wants to know if we’d be interested in going to dinner with Ohno tonight.”
Jun obviously wasn’t too keen on that idea, but Nino was. He wasn’t sure if he’d be feeling that way when the dinner was about to start, but right now, any time he could spend with Ohno and find out why he’d left sounded good to his ears. Even if his heart felt sore and raw, still, and had done so for two years, he wanted to know.
Ohno owed him that much, at least. Nino had thought… Nino angrily squashed that line of thought.
“I think it’s a terrific idea,” Nino said, “Then we can interrogate him.”
Jun placed the phone by his ear again. “Did you hear that? Okay. Sure. See you.”
Nino watched as Jun ended the call, all alarm bells going off at the back of his head. “Jun-kun, are you okay?”
Jun visibly pulled himself together. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? Sometimes, it just seemed like, you, you know,” he added softly and Nino shook his head, because he understood perfectly well what Jun was getting at.
“We all were, it wasn’t just me,” Nino denied, even though he’d certainly thought at times that he’d felt it the most. He knew it was selfish to think that way, because it were their lives as Arashi that had suffered the most, but there was just so much that the others didn’t know. Things that Nino had spent months thinking about and then even longer trying to bury it and forget it all the same.
But it was difficult to forget. Impossible.
He supposed he’d never get the answers to it, because he hadn’t even been able to ask Ohno then. Ohno had been gone when he’d wanted to ask. Maybe Ohno wanted to forget and bury it, too, as much as Nino himself wanted it. Maybe.
Maybe he’d be able to get at least some of the answers tonight.
And then Nino suddenly remembered something.
This was one conversation he wasn’t looking forward to.
*
“Don’t be mad,” Nino said, looking at Miho’s tense back. She stood in the kitchen, washing dishes and she stiffened at his words.
“Mad? That you promised to come visit my parents and then decide a few hours before that you don’t want to?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Nino tried to explain, but it was hard because he knew that it seemed like he’d been looking for an excuse. “I haven’t seen Ohno in years, and now he’s back.”
Miho turned, her mouth tilted in an unhappy line. “I understand that you’ve missed him, but these are my parents and they won’t understand.”
Nino sighed. “I know, but this is really important to me.”
“And this is important to me,” Miho said, leaning back and crossing her arms. “What do we do?”
Shrugging, Nino mimicked her stance, crossing his arms. “I’m going to dinner with Aiba-chan and the others.”
Miho let out a resigned sigh. “I wonder why I’m not surprised.”
“I’d forgotten it when I accepted,” Nino said, belatedly realizing that that might not have been the best thing to admit, and then he realized that he was right as he watched her lips press into a thin line.
“You forgot,” she said coolly.
Nino sighed. “I’m sorry. I can’t say no now, I already said I’d be there.”
“You already said you’d be with me and visit my parents,” she reminded him and then turned back to the dishes.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say to you,” Nino said and he couldn’t be bothered to hide the irritation in his voice. “You don’t understand it.”
“Because you never talk to me!” Miho turned around, still holding a plate in her hands. Her eyes were sad. “You never tell me what’s bothering you and when I ask, you just say it’s nothing!”
“Look,” Nino returned, stalling for time, “I don’t even know half the time, and maybe I really don’t want to talk about it.”
That, apparently, wasn’t the right thing to say either, and he saw her entire posture turn ice cold and she set the plate down.
“I love you,” Miho said, knuckles white as she clenched her fists by her side. “But I’m not going to stand for this. I’m sleeping in my parents’ house tonight, don’t wait up for me.”
“Miho-chan…”
“I mean it,” she said, softer this time, and she turned fully, taking a few steps towards him. “It doesn’t have to mean anything, I just need to think, okay? I love you.”
Nino’s mouth felt dry. “You too,” he said slowly. And when her expression turned resigned, he kicked himself. Why couldn’t he tell her properly?
“We’ll be fine,” Miho said, stepping up to him and kissing his cheek, almost shyly.
Nino closed his eyes and nodded. Of course they would be fine. He loved her. She loved him. Was anything more important than that? As he heard her walk past him, he stood still, listening to her shoving things into a bag, and when the door opened and closed behind her, he allowed himself to breathe.
He couldn’t believe he was actually destroying this, but he felt a strange detachment to the entire situation, as if everything that was happening, and had happened, today really wasn’t happening to him. It had to be someone else’s life.
He couldn’t let himself destroy what he and Miho had; he couldn’t do that, not to Miho who’d been nothing but good to him, distracting his thoughts when he’d almost been consumed. She deserved better than that for the year of her life, more than a year, she’d given him.
Tomorrow, he thought, I’ll call her and tell her I love her. Tomorrow.
For now, he just needed to get some answers from Ohno, and to somehow get this night over and done with, and he hoped that he’d be in one piece when he got back. He could begin to mend the other pieces of his life afterwards.
*
Nino looked up at the apartment building, a mixture of anxiety and queasiness battling for ground in his belly. He didn’t know what would come out of this. The grey sky seemed foreboding, somehow threatening, and he forcibly reminded himself to stand straight, face whatever it was with a raised chin.
Nino supposed that this was where Ohno lived now. It was the address Sho had sent to him, and Nino wasn’t familiar with it. He knew that the apartment Ohno had lived in before he left was sold, and honestly, Nino hadn’t spent too much time thinking about where Ohno would live when and if he ever returned. He supposed that a part of him would forever think of Ohno as living with his parents, because that had been such a solid fact of life for so many years.
But here it was, apparently. Nino tried to calm his nerves, calm the nervous fluttering of his heart, and he approached the building, feeling a familiar joy at seeing Ohno’s name written by the buzzer.
He pressed the name and waited.
He didn’t have to wait long.
“Come on up,” a slightly metallic voice came through to him and the door buzzed, letting Nino through.
Ohno knew that he was coming, but Nino still hesitated by the door, hand hovering and poised to knock. He could still turn around and walk away, it wasn’t too late yet.
But he had to face this sooner or later, and the others would wonder why he hadn’t showed up. If Jun, Aiba and Sho could do this, then so could he. He knocked and the door swung open almost immediately, revealing Sho on the other side.
Sho smiled slightly, but Jun’s words from earlier made Nino’s returning smile forced. It felt horrible not being able to trust Sho completely.
“Am I the only one here?” Nino asked instead, dropping his jacket and toeing off his shoes.
Sho grinned, beckoning his head towards what Nino assumed was the living room, and Nino stepped further in to look. He couldn’t help but smile.
Aiba was on a couch, long arms wrapped tightly around Ohno, his larger body totally dwarfing Ohno’s slighter one. Aiba’s body was trembling and Nino could clearly hear the restrained sobs. Nino’s heart softened. Ohno’s return had caused such emotional tumult in them all, but it had also mended the gap that had he had left.
“He hasn’t let go for half an hour,” Sho said gently, still smiling.
Nino shook his head, smiling in return and this time is was genuine.
“Aiba-chan,” he called and he saw Aiba’s head move. “You’re choking him.”
“’m not,” Aiba sniffled and Ohno chuckled, patting Aiba’s back.
“I’m not going anywhere, I promise,” Ohno said into Aiba’s shoulder and Aiba shook his head.
“I don’t believe you,” he said bluntly and Ohno sighed, turning his head towards Nino.
“Ninomiya-san,” he greeted softly, “welcome to my home.”
The name still sounded foreign from Ohno’s lips and it grated unmercifully on Nino’s heart, but he couldn’t make himself change it at the moment. Instead, Nino looked around, taking in the surroundings, and he was overwhelmed with how little this place felt like Ohno. There were pictures on the walls, pictures of places Nino had only heard of, but there wasn’t anything about the apartment that spoke of Ohno. Maybe Ohno hadn’t moved in properly yet, maybe it just still lacked the distinct feeling of being lived in, but whatever it was, it just didn’t feel like a place Ohno would live.
It lacked something. Or something was just wrong. Nino couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Aiba-san,” Ohno said, and Nino wished he could somehow un-hear the formal way Ohno addressed them, “you’re getting my shirt wet.”
Aiba laughed through his tears. “Deal with it.”
Nino turned to the door when he heard it open and Jun stepped in, clasping Sho’s shoulder in passing. Jun stopped in his tracks when he saw Aiba on the couch, and then he looked to Nino, smiling fondly.
“Are you still okay?” Jun asked him quietly as they watched Sho trying to pry Aiba off of Ohno.
Nino shrugged. He didn’t know yet - the peculiar feeling washing over him with regular intervals hadn’t ceased nor intensified, just a constant reminder of something not being quite right. It was the oddest sensation, being here and feeling like a complete stranger, and a sort of numbness, a strange detachment settled in his bones.
“Aiba-chan sure is happy,” Jun then said, probably sensing he wasn’t going to get more of a reply out of Nino, and Nino was happy that Jun had dropped the subject for now.
He was sure they’d have plenty of moments and opportunities to debate it at a later time it didn’t have to be now, it couldn’t be now when Ohno was here and they all were here, and it had been years since they’d been like this, all together.
They watched as Aiba finally let go of Ohno, but as Ohno got to his feet, Aiba followed, fingers holding on to the material of Ohno’s shirt. Ohno was smiling weakly at Nino as he walked slowly towards him, and Nino grinned.
“Ever the affectionate fool,” Nino grinned and Aiba didn’t even look offended.
Ohno bowed slightly to both Nino and Jun, and Nino wasn’t the only one frowning at that.
“It’s not like we’re strangers,” Jun admonished sharply. “Stop that.”
Ohno’s eyes darted briefly to Jun’s and then he nodded reluctantly.
“I’ll just get to the food,” Ohno said, sounding and looking uncomfortable, and slowly made for the other end of the room, Aiba still trailing his steps. Nino reached out and grabbed Aiba’s arm, keeping him in place while Ohno disappeared into what Nino assumed was the kitchen.
Sho shuffled over to them, the four of them now gathered, and he squirmed under the heavy gazes.
“I assume you know what we want to ask you,” Jun said, cutting the crap, and Nino was grateful because for once, he had no idea how to breach the subject. Jun, however, had no problems doing that.
Sho sighed. “I didn’t know that he’d leave,” he started softly, shooting glances at the doorway to the kitchen. They heard the clinking sounds of plates and bowls being taken out, but even if Ohno could hear them, Nino didn’t care.
“I didn’t know he was coming back either,” Sho continued sincerely, and Nino wrinkled his nose. “Johnny-san called me and wanted me go pick up Satoshi-kun from the airport. That was yesterday.”
Nino almost choked. “Yesterday?”
Sho nodded, looking highly uncomfortable. “I couldn’t tell you, I’m sorry.”
Aiba bit his lip. “That call you got during dance practice, was that it?”
Nodding, Sho lowered his eyes. “Johnny-san forbade me to tell you.”
“So,” Jun cut in sharply, “when we went out to eat, he was here, all along? You could have brought him with you!”
“Be reasonable,” Sho frowned, “I couldn’t. He hasn’t been spotted with us for years, and if all three of you had made a fuss in a public place, the media would’ve had a field day today.”
“It’s not like we haven’t tried that before,” Aiba reasoned, “we’ve come out on top every time.”
“We have,” Sho agreed, but surprisingly, it was Nino who said; “but it wouldn’t have been easy for Ohno-kun.”
Sho nodded, obviously happy that Nino was seeing his point.
“Quite frankly, though,” Nino continued, “I couldn’t care less. He’d deserve it.”
“Nino,” Sho admonished, but Jun placed a placating hand on Sho’s arm.
“Don’t ‘Nino’ me,” Nino snapped. “He has no idea how much shit his resignation put us through! That we’re thoughtful enough to consider how he’d feel if he was to go through a massive media campaign and suddenly have cameras shoved up his nose is his damned luck.”
They all stared at each other for a long moment, and when something dropped in the kitchen, Nino shook his head.
“And we don’t even know why. Why do we keep covering for him?”
“Because we’ve missed him,” Aiba said softly, “because he’s one of us.”
Jun crossed his arms. “But even if he is…”
And the unspoken words hung heavily between them. Despite all the heartache, Nino had no doubts that they all wanted Ohno to come back to them, working alongside them once more, because Ohno really was one of them. Even when he’d been away, they’d all counted Arashi as a five member group, and they wouldn’t stop now, but still the question remained.
Would Ohno even want to come back to them?
“He talked to Johnny-san today,” Aiba said, “right? Doesn’t that mean that he wants to be with us?”
They all turned to look at Sho. Sho shrugged. “They were only discussing boring stuff.”
Frustration tugged at Nino’s mind. “I’m going to see if Ohno needs help,” he said and turned, making for the kitchen.
“Nino,” Jun called out and Nino could hear the disapproving note, but Nino ignored it.
The kitchen was, like the rest of what Nino had seen, new and unused. It seemed almost sterile.
“Did you just move in?”
Ohno, who’d been standing with his back to Nino, startled, and Nino gave a quick smile in apology.
“My things have been here for some time,” Ohno said vaguely, turning briefly to look at Nino and then back at the food.
However determined Nino was that he’d be getting serious answers out of tonight, he still didn’t want to push so far that Ohno would clam up. “How long have you known you’d be back in Japan?”
Ohno shrugged, and the annoyance that had been building up all day strengthened further, but Nino fought to keep it at bay.
“I think I’ve always known,” Ohno said quietly. “Japan is my home, that hasn’t changed.”
And if Nino couldn’t get the answers of why yet, he could still ask, “Where have you been?”
Ohno chuckled, chopping something. “A bit of everywhere… Asia, mostly.”
Nino watched as Ohno carefully stepped to the other side of the kitchen, getting glasses out of a cabinet. He’d missed watching Ohno, Nino admitted quite readily, because Ohno had always been graceful and at ease. Ohno moved slower than Nino remembered, but he guessed that that came from maybe not being as physically fit as he’d been once. But Nino didn’t know Ohno’s form right now, really he had no idea, so it was all guesswork based on the speculation that Ohno probably hadn’t been doing idol dancing while he’d been away.
The curiously broad expanse of Ohno’s shoulders was still slightly hunched, just as Nino remembered, and even if he missed the brown shorter hair, he couldn’t deny that under the black hair and clothes that Nino didn’t recognize, it was still undeniably Ohno.
“I’ve missed you,” the words flew out of Nino’s mouth before he could stop them, and he watched Ohno slowly turn toward him, tentative hope in his eyes.
“I’ve missed you, too,” Ohno returned readily, voice shaking just a bit. “All of you.”
“You were on your own,” Nino said airily, desperate to break the tense atmosphere, because he couldn’t deal with that right now, “of course you’d miss us.”
Ohno seemed to sense the change and responded accordingly, but even though Nino should’ve been relieved, it only served to make him even more desperate, because Ohno had always been so perceptive to his moods and now, more than ever, Nino just wanted to go back, back to the day before Ohno had left, because at that time, Nino had thought that maybe, just maybe.
Angrily, Nino pushed the thoughts away. It wasn’t fair that even after all this time, Ohno still had the ability to affect him so.
“I’m still mad at you,” Nino said then, and followed up with, “You better explain.”
Ohno’s downcast eyes and slumped posture made Nino think of defeat, but at the moment, he just needed to get away from this conversation and not think too hard of the past, so he just ended up offering to carry the plates to the table.
When he came back into the living room, he saw Jun and Aiba looking through a photo album, Sho standing by the window.
“Sho-kun,” Jun asked curiously, gesturing to a picture. “Do you know who that is?”
Sho turned just as Nino made his way over to look at the album. He shook his head.
In that moment, Ohno carried the food onto the table and looked over to them, paling a bit.
“Leader,” Aiba called, lifting the album and pointing at a lovely girl. “Who’s this?”
Still pale, Ohno offered a tentative, weak grin. “That is Fukumori Eri,” he said softly. “My fiancée.”
*
/Tbc
no subject
no subject
no subject
"Oh F*ck" came out of my mouth at once. *looks away apologetically*
I was actually intending to turn in till I saw your update. Chopped a seat straightaway before I started reading.
and. I think I'm gonna ponder over this chapter a lot.
you know, I think this is what Ohno might really do if it was a real situation. and I can't help but feel that I'm reading a true account...
GAH. I hate you but yet I still love you rikke.
PS: I kinda understand why this fic is a monster now. *pats*
no subject
I've been working on this for such a long time, so it makes me all kinds of gleeful that it's making you think about it.
And yes, it really is a monster xD
Thank you :)
no subject
~off to read ♥
no subject
(Well, heart was already a wee bit broken reading about an Ohno who can't bring himself to call his bandmates the way he used to. TEARS UGH)
I'm so emotionally invested in this, it's not even funny. It's the way you write and pace it, I think. Can't wait for the next!
I think if Ohno left Arashi for real, my heart would break into a million little pieces. </3
no subject
It pleases me endlessly that you're following this so intently ♥
Yeah, my heart too, bb ;;__;;
Thank you :)
no subject
Whut? o_____________o
I feel rather tortured with the puzzles thrown about everywhere..
no subject
no subject
That makes me sound really DoM lolno subject
I'm like.... all "O:" and trying not to tear up XD (I'm at school >_>)
BUT UGH. ;~; Can't wait for more...... seriously, I'm not articulate enough to tell you how much I adore this story D: ♥♥
no subject
I'm so happy you like it, it's my baby XD
Thank you :)
no subject
The tension throughout the whole chapter was absolutely palpable. And that last line was like a punch.
you. are. awesome ♥
no subject
I TRY LOL
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
The reasons will only be clear in the last chapters :)
Thank you for reading :)
no subject
Damn it! I can feel Nino's frustration and is not cool DX I want to punch Ohno and make him say WHY lololol
That means that this fic is amazing *______*
no subject
And thank you for your kind words ♥
no subject
sorry for my incoherent, this is so heartbroken but i LOVE it, seriously,
can't really wait for the next....thanks a lot! <3
no subject
Tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on how much homework I have :)
Thank you for reading!
no subject
and your throwing all these hints of what happened between nino and him before he left and all i can think is TELL ME WHY T__T can't wait for the next chapter!!!
(the way you describe ohno's style..bet he looks hot lol)
no subject
Yeah, I know, that's why I described him like that :d
Thank you reading, and thank you for sticking by!
no subject
!!!!!!!!
♥
no subject
♥♥♥
no subject
the meeting was quite unbelievable. I can feel Nino's hesitation. gahhhh~ incoherent, forgive me. it's 12:58am here and I was supposed to be sleeping but I couldn't resist reading this. thank you.
no subject
Thank you!
no subject
I love this! And i actually like Miho-chan, i hope she won't get hurt. T_T
Thank you so much for writing this Rikke!!!
<3<3<3<3<3
no subject
Thank you for reading :)
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
That's all i can say..
oh and I'm happy for the update cuz i was thinking about this fic today in the car =D
Thank yo <3
no subject
Thank you :)
no subject
no subject
it is heart breaking already...
thank god you update fast *__*
thank you for an other great series <3 *thought i already can feel this isnt going to have a happy ending T^T gotta prepare my tissues*
no subject
Thank you so much!
I can't reveal anything about whether or not it's going to be an unhappy ending, though.
no subject
I love you so much, still. So so so much. T______T
no subject
no subject
all the deep feeling nino feeling.....
Still sorry miho.......i vote ohmiya in here....>o<
and i just wanna read more....but wait till u updates...
Thank u^^
no subject
Thank you for reading, I'm glad you're enjoying it!
no subject
no subject
no subject