Hearts in Harmony [5/?]
May. 30th, 2010 04:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inourwritemindsGenre: Romance/ Humour/AU/ Slight Angst(very slight)
Rating: PG-13 (perhaps higher as story goes higher)
Pairing: Ohmiya and Sakuraiba
Disclaimer: They own me not vice versa
Summary: Ninomiya Kazunari is in a rut. As an up and coming music artist who long ago gave up his dreams of making it, Ohno Satoshi is refreshing. Ohno Satoshi is an artist traveling from a small town to Tokyo to pursue his dreams of having his own exhibition and Nino is some well needed trouble.
Aiba wasn’t one to worry about things, Nino mused as he watched his best friend toss outfit after outfit onto his unmade bed. He had never worried about money, or his lack thereof, or about things so trivial as going on dates. He had a giddy calmness to him that seemed to draw people to him, whether it was the cashier at the grocery stores or the girls in his old high school. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, he just didn’t find too many things worth worrying about.
Which was why it was a shock, Nino thought in amusement, that he chose now of all times to act like a normal human being.
“Nino,” Aiba called, drawing out the last part in an annoyingly whiny way. “You’re not paying attention to me.”
Nino gave him a withering glare and sank back into the cushions, “Alright, alright! Aiba it’s not that bloody hard to pick out a pair of pants and a shirt. I’m sure if you grabbed something at random you would look fine.”
Aiba looked at him, completely aghast. “No, I wouldn’t! I’d look like you!”
Nino pushed himself off the bed and made his way to the door, “I’m not being paid enough for this.”
“No, Nino! Wait, I’m sorry! I’m just a bit on edge,” Aiba called after him, dropping the outfit he was holding to himself to chase Nino out of the room.
Nino sighed and followed the dejected Aiba back into his room and perched on the edge of the bed. “Aiba, just have a good time! Sho seems like a good guy for you. He’s brainy, obviously, and seems nice enough. Plus, by some kind of miracle, he seems really into you!”
Aiba seemed to brighten instantly, “You’re right.” And after Nino muttered an of course, Aiba added, “And I told you that it’s my charm.”
Nino chuckled, “Yeah, yeah. Now hurry up, I have somewhere I need to be too.”
“On your date with Ohno,” Aiba cheered happily, finally deciding on a plain, grey button up shirt and clean-cut jeans. Though as a touch of Aiba, he was wearing the most atrocious bright yellow tie.
“I’m meeting Jun at the coffee place!” Nino interjected, frowning slightly at Aiba before exclaiming that Aiba could have picked something out at random that looked better than his current attire.
After another hour of putting up with this newly found, stressful Aiba the doorbell rang through the house. Aiba, who was currently stretched out across the couch, flicking nervously through commercials, jumped to attention.
Nino, who was in the kitchen making himself dinner and calming down Aiba who was having random freak-outs, opened the door to another nervous, giddy person.
“Hi, Sho. Aiba should be here-” Nino was cut-off by Aiba tumbling into the kitchen with a loud greeting. “Now, I suppose”
“Hi, Nino,” he chuckled as a pouting, wide-eyed Aiba latched onto his arm.
“What about me?” Aiba smiled hopefully, pushing Sho for the greeting he was expecting.
“What about you?” Sho laughed teasingly, wriggling his arm out of Aiba’s grasp in favour of intertwining their hands.
“It’s rude not to say hello, especially since I’m letting you take me out,” Aiba lectured haughtily.
Sho winked at Nino before sighing, “Well if it’s such a chore, I suppose I could always take Nino out instead. You’re not doing anything are you?”
Nino’s face brightened exaggeratedly, “Oh, nothing important. I always have time for you Sho-kun.”
Aiba, who was watching the exchange between the two men with a giant pout plastered on his face, cried out, “Fine, I’ll go take out Oh-chan out for dinner instead. He’ll at least say hello!”
“Oh-chan?” Nino muttered, almost afraid to admit that he liked the way the name sounded.
Sho laughed heartily before wrapping an arm around Aiba’s waist and pulling him flush against his body. With a small kiss to his earlobe he murmured, “Hello, Aiba-chan.”
Aiba was sporting a deep blush and seemed momentarily stunned but Nino, who had watched the display with acute disgust jumped in. “No foreplay in the kitchen! Take it to Sho’s apartment, we have rules Aiba!”
Sho, who still had his head buried in the crook of Aiba’s neck asked curiously, “Rules?”
“Stupid rules,” Aiba muttered, at the same time Nino answered in the affirmative.
With a hurried goodbye, Nino managed to push the two out the door before he was subjected to anymore public displays of affection. With a sigh of relief, he made his way back to where is sticky rice was cooking and let the thoughts that were pushing at the back of his mind swarm his head.
The first and foremost being, would Ohno be there that night, and if so how would he deal with it?
He hadn’t expected this man to bring back all the unwanted memories he had kept locked away in the back of his mind. It wasn’t fair, he thought bitterly, he had worked all these years to block the thoughts of him and now they were manifesting themselves in his every thought. If this man thought he could just show up on Nino’s subway and make Nino confront all those emotions he had so securely locked away, then he was desperately mistaken.
With determination, Nino pushed the thoughts and the tears from his eyes and called Jun to see if they were still on.
Aiba smiled brightly up at Sho, who returned it tenfold before asking again, “Where are you taking me?”
“Down a dark alleyway where I can have my way with you,” Sho laughed, enjoying coming up with new responses every time Aiba asked and the current count was at fifteen.
“Sho-kun,” Aiba whined, “Did I dress appropriately? Is my tie too much?”
“Yes Aiba, you’re tie is way too much,” he smiled, referring to the colour and vividness. “I like it, though.”
“Really?” Aiba beamed, taking in every compliment Sho was giving him, “Nino didn’t.”
Nino’s a smart man, Sho thought with a silent laugh. He gave Aiba a reassuring smile and guided him further down the street.
They had been walking for several minutes and Aiba was beginning to feel impatient. Sho seemed to be pleased with himself for keeping quiet about his date plans even when Aiba had tried to persuasively force it out of him. They turned a corner and entered the business district and Aiba turned to Sho to complain again.
His complaint caught in his throat though as he saw the discreet look of longing on the other man’s face. He couldn’t help what he blurted next because the older man looked so crestfallen. “Why aren’t you working in ecology?”
“Economics, Aiba-chan,” Sho sighed but the small smile proved he wasn’t as annoyed as he sounded. His voice was weary and full of despondency as he continued, “The bar is a family business, I suppose. My dad fell ill a couple years back and it was tough on everybody. I was already in Keio working towards my degree when my dad requested I keep the bar going. He was so proud of it, I couldn’t exactly refuse so I worked hard to finish my degree and took over the management of the place. As you could probably tell, the place is really low on business and it’s got a lot of wear and tear so with lack of money for employees I volunteered to bartend part-time.”
Aiba felt speechless. Sho had done all that for his family, given up all his hopes to make them happy. He had given up on the success Aiba knew he was capable of to grant his fathers request.
“I could help out!” Aiba‘s voice was fierce with determination. He wanted Sho-kun to have a chance in life. A chance Aiba knew was not really destined in his future, but was almost guaranteed in Sho’s. “You won’t have to pay me or anything and then you could apply for a new job!”
Sho smiled, the weary expression never disappearing, “Aiba I appreciate that, really. Life doesn’t work like that though. Even if you took over bartending, I still have to run the place which is a full-time job in itself. It’s just not realistic but thanks for the offer.”
Aiba opened his mouth to tell Sho off but the older man held up his hand, “Aiba, really it’s fine. Were here anyways, so let’s just enjoy ourselves, okay?”
Aiba tried to stop the nod but he wanted Sho to smile. He wanted him to have fun, so if that meant using that night to make him the happiest he’d ever felt, Aiba was determined to make that happen.
He looked up at the large gate they had stopped in front of and turned gleefully back to Sho, “Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise!”
Sho laughed at the grinning overgrown child and gripped his hand tighter, “Nino told me you’d never been to this one before because of its hours. They got some new species of fish and are open late for the exhibition.”
Aiba jumped up and down dragging a pleased Sho behind him through the large crowds and to the ticket booth of the marine building, “Two admissions please!”
The girl behind the counter gave him a friendly smile, “That’ll be 4,900 yen please.”
Aiba beamed at her and began to pull out his wallet when Sho put his hand over the younger man’s. “I’ve got it Aiba-chan.”
When the younger man opened his mouth to protest Sho shook his head with a smile, “As you pointed out earlier, you are letting me take you out. So it’s only fair that I pay for this privilege.”
Aiba leaned over and place a swift kiss on Sho’s blushing cheek much to the shock of the girl behind the counter, “Thank you Sho-kun! Now hurry up, they have belugas!”
Sho let Aiba drag him through the doors, attempting to mask his own excitement. The Sea Paradise not only held one of the largest aquariums in Japan, it was also full of rides, shops and restaurants. Aiba seemed oblivious to the other features, as Nino had told Sho to expect when Sho had called him earlier asking for suggestions. He was beginning to worry though, that the hour he’d scheduled for the aquarium was not going to be enough and that he’d probably have to drag Aiba out of there in tears.
Aiba didn’t seem to know what to do with himself as he pulled on Sho’s hands pointing to the various exhibitions of fish. “Sho! Look it’s one of those tunnels!” Aiba called merrily, giving Sho’s arm a painful yank as a gesture to follow him.
They walked into the tunnel and both took a moment to look around, and above, at the view in the dimly lit room. The water surrounding them from all around was fascinating. Aiba let out a shrill squeal as he ran to the nearest window and stuck his nose to it, peering wide-eyed at the all the fish.
Sho found himself exchanging knowing glances with some of the parents in the room as their young children ran about the room in a similar manner to Aiba. He allowed himself an eye roll as he approached Aiba who was crouched beside a young child as they both pointed excitedly at the fish gazing back at them through the glass.
“Sorry, he’s with me,” Sho apologized to the parents who were watching Aiba with suspicious eyes as he interacted with their son.
“Look at that fish, he’s pink!” He heard Aiba saying to the young boy, who responded with a loud squeal and giggle.
An hour later, and so many fish that Sho was beginning to think they were all the same species, Sho finally managed to convince Aiba that he needed to get some food in him.
As they exited the aquarium into the busy walkways of the rest of the amusement parks Aiba turned to him, “Sho-kun is the best!”
Sho laughed at his childish tone and pulled him along on the way to the restaurant when Aiba shrieked from beside him, “Sho, please, please, please can we go on the Blue Fall?”
Sho gulped at the lit-up ride towering above the rest of the park and turned back to Aiba, “That’s really tall Aiba-chan, are you sure you’re up to it?”
Aiba laughed and gave him an are-you-kidding-me look, “Of course I’m up to it, I’m not a baby Sho-kun. I can handle it! Please!”
Sho relented with a weak smile, “Sure, Aiba-chan.” He knew he was signing himself up for embarrassment the moment he paid the ticket lady but nevertheless he found himself buckled in beside Aiba, shooting the man nervous glances.
“Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” Aiba was yelling gleefully, jumping in his seat waiting for the ride to shoot up.
Sho opened his mouth to tell Aiba to calm down when the ride suddenly shot into the air, startling a scream from him. He could hear Aiba’s pleased scream from beside him but wouldn’t dare open his eyes as he felt them shooting above Tokyo. A few more times and plenty more screams, Sho found himself standing uncertainly on the ground and clinging to Aiba’s arm.
“Were you scared Sho-kun?” Aiba teased, looking at Sho’s pale face and finding it adorable he’d agreed to go for Aiba’s sake.
“N-no, it just startled me a little,” Sho covered up, peeling himself from Aiba’s arm with great effort and beginning the trek towards the restaurant again.
As the night came to an end, both men effectively stuffed with Korean cuisine and Aiba clutching a stuffed beluga Sho had bought him in exchange for complete silence on the matter of the ride, Aiba stood at his door with Sho.
He felt ridiculous waiting for Sho to kiss him. They were both grown men and so he shouldn’t be acting like a junior high student. In fact, they’d slept together on their first night so a kiss should be nothing to him. He shouldn’t be standing anxiously, and not to mention awkwardly, waiting for the connection of Sho’s lips to his.
And when their lips finally meant, he shouldn’t have melted into Sho’s body like it was the first kiss he’d ever received.
Anyways, I realize I am doing a lot of Sakuraiba and I promise all next chapter will be for Ohmiya! Hope you enjoyed!
