inourwriteminds | Hearts in Harmony [9/?] (Reply)

Title: Hearts in Harmony [9/?]
Genre: 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
Beta: tonieboo0013
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.
A/N: I have in no way, forgotten about this story. Far from it actually, seeing as I have been trying to write it almost everyday for a month. So, hurray for finally getting over my writer's block! I really hope you enjoy!

Since befriending Aiba and Nino, Jun had found that the things in life that truly surprised him were minimal. He suspected that one might feel the same way if they’d lived through any of Aiba’s experiments, or one of Nino‘s breakdowns. One might even go so far as to call him a survivor.

Nevertheless, hearing the faint, familiar strumming of Nino’s guitar coming from the store before he‘d even arrived, truly left his mouth hanging open. Allowing himself a quick peek inside the shop window, his eyes were met with the sight of Nino, his guitar firm in his hands and bags prominent under his eyes.

Cautiously, as Jun was unsure of the state Nino was in, he pulled open the door and let himself in, further surprised when Nino didn’t even spare him a glance. “Hey, Matsujun.”

He raised his hand in greeting, which went effectively unnoticed by the musician, and tip-toed past the older man to the desk. Recently, it was rare that Nino was in ‘the zone’, so the last thing he wanted was to be the one to bring him out. Or to be the one subjected to his snappy comments for the interruption.

After doing the morning preparation with little to no sound whatsoever, Jun settled in his regular chair and leaned his head back against the wall, finally allowing himself to really take in the new music Nino was producing. The sound he was met with, however, was not unfamiliar in the slightest and left him gaping at the oblivious musician.

“Your gentle smile. This time, this space. They're so important to me, that I could start to cry,” Nino’s melodic voice sang quietly to himself, a small smile gracing his features.

It wasn’t necessarily the song that had captured Jun’s undivided attention, but the emotion reflected in Nino’s eyes. It was the steady consistency of Nino’s voice and the dry eyes. The smile.

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard that song,” Jun grinned, a perfect picture of nonchalance that even managed to fool himself.

Nino looked up, blinking his eyes rapidly a couple times, as if coming back to reality. “I haven’t really been inspired lately, I guess.”

Jun felt it was better to hold his tongue then to inform Nino that ‘lately’ had been a few years. Sometimes, Jun thought, it was better to just be happy with the little things. He could indeed be completely satisfied with a guitar in Nino’s hand and a real smile on his face.

The reason he’d written the song, Nino had said, was to commemorate their time together and to give them something to smile about even when there seemed to be nothing left. Though, over the years, when Jun heard Nino singing it, he was never true to his word. His face was always a reflection of defeat and misery, and a smile was never present.

---

Jun could feel exhaustion winning against his worry. The last couple months had been a frenzy of news and hospital visits, information, options and decisions. Stress and worry were wearing down his body faster than usual, but his determination to be there for his two friends kept him fighting until the moment his head hit his pillow.

Aiba and him were unwavering in their support for Masato and Nino, making sure to be there for all Nino’s breakdowns and all Masato’s operations. With Masato’s health worsening by the week, both of those were becoming more frequent and though Masato told them that coming everyday was unnecessary and to get some well-needed rest, they both showed up faithfully.

Jun and Aiba were sitting in the waiting room where they spent most of their time recently, chatting about treatment options and discussing the latest information they’d gone over with the doctor. Aiba was the first to hear the familiar sniveling and the unfamiliar sound of Nino’s guitar.

“Nino?” Aiba called, getting up and following the sound into the hallway.

“You're always like that when you're sulking. You hide the things that are important to me,” Nino was singing softly, playing with chords on his guitar.

“New song?” Jun smiled kindly, taking a seat on the other side of the hall beside Aiba.

“Mhm,” Nino paused for a moment, eyes flickering towards the shut door that Masato was behind, “It’s for Masato.”

“That’s nice,” Aiba’s smile was strained. Talking to Nino about Masato was like walking on thin ice and touching on the subject never ended well. “I’m sure he’ll like that.”

“I hope so,” Nino returned the smile but it didn’t quite reach it to his eyes, “I want him to know how much I love him.”

Jun snaked an arm around Nino’s shoulders, “He knows.”

He felt Nino’s shoulders relax and let him melt into his side, “He told me he wants me to smile more, so I wrote this so we’ll both have a reason to.”

Aiba and Jun were both speechless, real smiles beginning to form. Aiba was the first to find coherency, “He has a reason to smile, you know. He’s engaged to someone like you, isn’t he?”

---

“He’s good for you, you know,” Jun stated conversationally, grinning when Nino cocked his head to the side.

“Who?” Nino inquired, and Jun chuckled a little at the confusion.

“You know who,” Jun smirked, watching as Nino’s face lit up with realization and a pout began to form.

Nino effectively shut him up, though, when he smiled sheepishly, “I know.”

---

Nino opened the door to an empty apartment and smiled to himself. Aiba had been gone a lot lately, and he was happy he’d found someone like Sho that was willing to put up with his antics. He sometimes missed coming home to a lover, someone who would welcome you home and wrap their arms around you, which really gave you the feeling of being at home. Though, when he thought of coming home to Aiba cooking dinner, the feeling quickly vanished.

He hung his coat with a sigh and was in the process of turning on his Wii console when the phone ringing pierced the silence and managed to startle him a little.

“Hello?’ He greeted, trying his best not to sound like a frivolous school girl.

“Hi, Nino!” Ohno’s cheerful voice made him smile a little, as he sank back onto the couch, clutching the phone in his hand. “How are you?”

“I’m good, thanks,” Nino answered truthfully, feeling weird that he could say that in all honesty after so long. “How are you?”

“I’m great, I got to do some fishing today,” Ohno’s reply made it clear that he’d just phoned to talk and Nino laid back, resting his head on the arm rest as he made himself comfortable.

“That’s good,” Nino was becoming aware that he was acting like a frivolous school girl, “Did you catch anything?”

“Yes! I caught a few,” Ohno’s voice sounded complacent and it made Nino smile a little. “You should come with me sometime.”

He didn’t really think of how his response would be perceived as he let out a quick, “No, that’s not a good idea!”

Ohno sounded a little defeated as he replied, “It’s okay, it was just a suggestion.”

“I just get horribly seasick,” Nino admitted, abashed, “It’s not you.”

The artist’s voice resumed its usual exuberance when he responded, “Oh, that’s okay then. Maybe sometime I’ll do the fishing and you can join me for the meal?”

Nino let out a small breath of air, his fingers tightening their grip on the phone, “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Great, it’s a date then!” Ohno beamed, his voice holding a tinge of relief.

Great, it’s a date then! Once again, Nino was left wondering what the hell he’d gotten himself into. An actual date, not that it sounded repulsive anymore. Rather, it was the opposite. Nino didn’t know which one was worse.

---

The bartender’s hand found its way into Aiba’s hair, pulling him closer as they kissed heatedly in the confines of Sho’s apartment. The television was creating white noise and a dim light in the dark room as the couple cuddled on the couch.

“How’s Nino doing?” Sho pulled Aiba closer, successfully breaking the kiss to nibble his ear.

“Nino who?” Aiba groaned, wriggling in Sho’s grasp in an attempt to resume what they previously had been doing.

Sho laughed, kissing Aiba’s forehead, “Don’t be like that, he seemed really upset.”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself? He’s being Nino and God only knows what goes on in that man’s head,” Aiba grinned, finally allowing himself to be held, melting into the embrace.

“I couldn’t ask him,” Sho blushed, looking uncomfortable, “I hardly know him well enough to be asking something so personal.”

Aiba smiled widely, “You’re too nice. You know what the first thing I said to Nino was?”

When Sho answered with a raised eyebrow, Aiba giggled, “You’ll need to take me out to get in my pants.”

The bartender rolled his eyes and smacked his boyfriend’s arm lightly, “You’re too weird.”

Sho took Aiba’s offended face in his hands and kissed him lightly, “I never said I didn’t enjoy it.”

Aiba smiled softly, kissing back just as gently, “Nino could always use one more friend.”

Sho chuckled, pressing his lips on the other’s forehead, “I don’t see why, he’s already got such good ones.”

---

Jun allowed himself to drop onto the couch when he got home, too exhausted for food or tidying. His mind had been through too much that day, bringing back memories of the past, which in itself was enough to tire him out.

Hearing the song had reminded him just how far Nino had come. How hard it must have been for him to lose someone so important, but how he’d made it through like he always did.

Nino had been through more than most people their age could imagine, but as Jun watched him now, moving on with his life, he felt his heart swell with pride. He was annoying as hell and had quite the mouth on him, but if anyone deserved another shot at happiness, Jun couldn’t think of anyone better.

---

Jun could feel the sweltering heat causing sweat to drip down his back and form at his hairline. He swiped his hand uselessly at his forehead and as he expected, moments later it had reappeared. Nino had called in earlier to tell him he’d be late coming in, Masato’s check-up results had come in and the doctor had called him back. Quite frankly, Jun was pissed because he expected that Nino was just using it as an excuse to get out of working the morning while he stuck it out in the store without air-conditioning. He knew there was air-conditioning in the hospital, and it wasn’t unusual for Nino to take any excuse to get out of there.

Unusual, though, was the phone call around eleven and Nino’s name popping up on the caller ID. He glared at the phone for a few seconds because Nino knew he was working and probably just wanted to piss him off, but he took a quick peek around the store and upon finding no customers, flipped his phone open.

“What do you want? Some of us are actually working, you know,” Jun spoke snippily, leaning back in his chair and wallowing in his anger.

Though, all frustration was replaced with worry when he was met with a shaky sob instead of the usual sarcastic reply. He felt his back snap upright and his heart beginning to beat a mile a minute because a phone call from a crying Nino who was currently located at the hospital was something to worry about.

“Nino? Nino, are you alright?” Jun was clutching the phone, his mouth pressed against the speaker due to his panic. If he wasn’t so worried, he might have felt bad for shouting in the phone the way he had.

“Masato… I just… Jun?” Nino’s weeping and attempt at speaking were muffled by static, and Jun could feel the phone shaking in his hand.

“Nino! I’m here! What happened?” When he was met with more static and broken words he spoke again, “I’m coming down right now. Don’t go anywhere!”

With a hasty writing of a note for the door and a quick thought to being fired, Jun had his bag and was running for the subway. Nino didn’t get in hysterics very often, nor did he make frequent sobbing calls from the hospital. Jun figured that he had a legitimate excuse for worrying and even if it turned out to be nothing, which his frenzied thoughts disagreed with, at least he’d feel better if he was there with his friend.

When he arrived at the main entrance, panting and nearly hyperventilating, he walked in and scanned the seats. After a quick check at the front desk and obtaining the whereabouts of Masato, he was briskly walking towards the elevator. When he stumbled out and was met with the sight of Nino leaning against the wall, body shaking with sobs, Jun forgot about keeping his cool and broke out into a run. He knelt down, gasping for air, and placed a hand on Nino’s shoulders, watching as his friend lifted his head and looked at him with red-rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks.

Before he had time to open his mouth, Nino had thrown his arms around him, sobbing in the comfort of his best friend’s embrace and whispered shakily, “Masato has stomach cancer.”

---

I will just be pleased if there are still readers! I went to write this chapter about a month ago, but never actually completed because everything I wrote was crap. I kept trying, nearly going mad with frustration, because I thought it was just a passing thing. Turns out, it wasn't! So, I have lots of cookies and love if you still remember this! Thanks for reading c: I really hope you enjoyed it!