[Sakumoto Fic]: Thunderstorms and Tempest Cloud 4.1: Raindrops Are Falling On Everyone's Heads
Pairing: Sakumoto, though member-ai has demanded that their voices be heard in the fic as well.
Rating: G
Word Count: 3,802 words
Genre: Romance, angst
Disclaimer: Purely a figment of my imagination; the fic, that is. Not them, of course. :)
Summary: Sho and Jun seem to keep getting their wires crossed, and words that have been exchanged have left the two bandmates at an impasse. How much worse or better can the misunderstanding go?
A/N: J Comments are love ©.
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[ Prologue] | [ Chapter 1] | [ Chapter 2.1] | [ Chapter 2.2] | [ Chapter 3]
[Late March 2010]
All it took was two knocks before Nino practically yanked the door off its hooks. The eyes staring back at him got past the initial shock, then flashed with some discomfort, even as Nino felt his nerves getting more frayed. He’d expected the other man to get back to him after the late-night text he sent, but it had taken longer than he had been patient for.
“Why didn’t you come that night?” Nino tried to keep the accusatory tone out of his voice.
“I’d left the phone on silent mode for Shukudai filming. Forgot to switch it back till the next morning.”
“Did you at least do what I asked you to?”
“To talk to him?” A deep sigh. “Yeah. I- tried to.” The hesitation hung heavily, though Nino couldn’t quite figure out the cause.
“Well? What did he say?” Nino’s calm tone could only do so much to hide the curiosity gnawing away at his insides.
“Hmmm... not much... actually.”
“What do you mean ‘not much’?” It was as if the bottom had dropped out from under Nino and he didn’t understand the words that had registered in his brain. He knew Sho and Jun were both pretty stubborn when they stuck to their guns, but after his drinking session with Sho, he had expected them to talk about whatever it was that had the two normally level-headed ones at odds with each other. From the sounds of things, the two were still likely stuck back at square one.
“Well, nothing I really understood. I mean... you know no matter how he’s feeling personally, he doesn’t let it get in the way of work,” and adding with a shrug, “and we had a job to do.”
Nino rubbed a weary hand over his eyes and couldn’t fault the other man’s words. Of course, he understood that private matters could hardly be discussed on their filming sites, but he thought that more headway would have been made given the personality of the guy standing before him.
“Come on in first. We can’t jolly well have this conversation in the hallway,” Nino stepped to one side to allow the obviously tired man into his apartment.
Watching the taller chap arrange his limbs on his couch to get comfortable, Nino got warm drinks for them and extra blankets before settling himself on the opposite end of the sofa. The intermittent rain had started again outside when the night sky had arrived, and Nino suspected that he was likely to have an extra body stay over in the coming hours. While he watched the eyelids lose their usual alertness and gradually begin to droop, Nino knew the next 24 hours would more than suffice to give the man enough time to rest since he had a free day, but he himself did not have the luxury. That said, he wanted to get a better grip on the situation before he had to head into filming the next morning with a certain member whose reaction could probably range anywhere between that of a shut-down, cornered animal or prima donna hard-ass, depending on how things had panned out thus far.
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[Three nights ago]
For someone who was ‘dying for a drink’, Nino sure was challenging the speed he could get drunk... against a snail. Staring down to the bottom of his almost-full glass of golden liquid, Nino threw a glance at Sho who was nursing his first of a similar alcoholic concoction, but taking long pulls through the thin straw the bartender had provided. And who looked the very epitome of his animal namesake as his eyes took on a surreally glossy shine, his nose twitching every few seconds when his intake of the fluids were accompanied with sniffles. If Nino had any doubt why Jun nicknamed Sho a chipmunk - behind the man’s back of course - this evening left little doubt.
“You do know you’re going to get high faster that way than drinking it straight right?” Nino said with a quirk to his lips, even as Sho turned innocent-wide orbs in his direction, his gusto never slowing down on the sipping motion. A muffled “hmmm” was the only reply he received. And before he could even respond to that, the older man who had reached the bottom of his glass was motioning the barkeep over to send for another round.
“Tsk. Money outta wallet. Mine. Don’t mind.”
“I’m gonna order the most expensive drink.” Nino threatened mockingly to see if the man was paying attention.
“Don’t mind.”
“To take home.”
“Don’t mind.”
“I’m gonna call Oh-chan to join us.”
“Don’t mind.” A loud yawn accompanied the words that time.
“To make out in front of you.”
“Hmmm,” as the other man grew quieter, choosing to sprawl almost fully across the counter.
“What happened to ‘Don’t mind?’”
“So long... as not Jun.” The words were soft, mumbled, but unmistakable.
Nino’s eyes widened slightly at the quiet words, unsure if it was an unintended confession, or that lowered sobriety had loosened the man’s tongue. Even before tonight, he had his suspicions about the two more stoic members, but even if he was right, something was obviously off on this night.
Reaching over to gently nudge the other man and check that he was still awake, Nino decided that now was as good a time as any to broach the true reason for the evening’s outing. Sho had been quiet on their way over to the bar, and they had kept the conversation to their thoughts on the night’s taping. Nino had detected the sadness in the other man’s words over the fact that it was their last Shukudai taping; they all were. However, there was more to the downcast look in Sho’s eyes, as though the events of the night spelled an end to something more as well. Nino could only hazard a guess that it was linked to Jun, but he did not want to jump to any conclusions as yet.
Having heard from Aiba - insofar that the man’s hasty, garbled words could be trusted - about Jun’s and Sho’s supposed ‘fight’ in the stairwell, he felt a twinge of guilt for his sharp words at the latter’s initial return to the green room. How was he supposed to know what had happened between the two? They were usually not prone to hissy fits or bouts of temper tantrums. So he’d decided to just make it up to Sho by helping the two bridge whatever differences it was that had them at loggerheads. How hard could talking to two reasonable males who had a shared thirteen-year history behind them be afterall?
...Right?
Not that this had any bearing on why he’d carefully avoided the topic till Sho was more relaxed, less uptight, and more likely to give over some of his notoriously famous control.
“What happened tonight Sho?” Nino’s words were deliberately vague, leaving it to Sho to share what he was comfortable with. Better to give him some sense of security in holding the reins before the younger man took over.
“My ego got hurt. Butt... bruised.” And even as he spoke, the man showed unexpected swiftness for one on the way to getting sloshed, unabashedly taking to his feet and patting said body part with loud smacks as he pouted at Nino.
Flushing hotly, Nino pulled Sho back to his seat. Even his tsukkomis were limited to public air-time when they were acknowledged as attempts to milk the audience for laughs. Thankfully, there were few patrons, and they were seated at the far end of the bar counter, the furthest away from the main entrance. The bar was well-known for its discretion, which was why they were here in the first place.
Okay. Change of tactics.
“You. Jun. What happened?”
This time, the face before him practically crumpled on itself as Sho dropped his chin onto his hands on the countertop, and Nino would have laughed had the moment been less serious.
“Jun-kun’s angry ‘cause of what I said.” The man practically mumbled through his fingers that could not stop their twiddling.
Forcing his eyes away from the distracting sight, Nino pushed in a little closer. “What DID you say?” Despite the current lack of progress, he was glad that Sho was at least coherent enough to follow the track of their conversation.
A pause before the sad words were said softly. “I... can’t remember.”
“And you didn’t ask?” Nino’s tone was filled with disbelief. The Sho he knew would not have just let matters be. Heck, the Jun he knew would not have just lost his temper, not the way Aiba described it.
A condescending *ppfftt* sounded from Sho. “He pushed me,” sounding like an eight-year-old instead of his twenty-eight years. The disgruntlement seemed childish, but then again, so was his current attempt to use his tongue to touch a toothpick to his nose.
Nino chewed on his lower lip, a frown making its way to his eyebrows as he wondered if trying to talk sense with Sho would actually work with his current condition. A frown that gradually eased as a thought occurred to him.
“So... you don’t want to be friends with Jun anymore?” Nino cajoled the still-pouting man-child.
The thought of losing Jun as a long-time companion must have registered somewhere in his alcohol-influenced brain because despite the pout that had been permanently planted on Sho’s face, the affronted look in his eyes was slowly replaced with uncertainty at the words, and shimmered with slight wetness. If this had been normal circumstance, Nino would have never allowed the opportunity to slip past him to have a laugh at the expense of the consistently-fail member of the group. However... He may not have understood what had transpired between the two, but he knew the two had a special friendship that the rest of Arashi could not really touch. The way they seemed to be able to read each other’s minds when each needed the unspoken support of the other, and yet trusting enough to let go at the opportune time and salvage the other’s pride of ultimately resolving his own issues.
“Sho?” Nino wondered if the lack of response was because the other had again fallen into his own world of inebriation.
“Jun-chan was mean... but I get mean too. Sometimes...”
“So... what are you going to do?”
“Do? Me?” The child-like eyes that stared back at Nino was clearly lost for ideas and Nino had to bite back a sigh of impatience.
“Maybe... talk to Jun-kun?”
A little fear crept into the countenance of the man who seemed to currently be operating at the mental capacity of a grade-schooler. Whispering softly to Nino as if he was afraid that others would overhear him, he asked with wide eyes, “What if he pushes me again?”
Holding in his laughter at the guileless expression on Sho’s face, Nino was somewhat relieved that despite his obvious state of intoxication, he still wanted to mend the bridges between Jun and himself.
“You’re older. You push back and make him listen. You want to keep this friend right?”
A fierce light gradually lit up the other man’s eyes. “I don’t want to push him. But... I’ll make him listen. Yeah... yeah, that’s right.” A smile full of teeth met Nino as Sho’s mood lightened considerably. “Nino-chan! You’re so smart!”
Only registering the other man jumping up from his seat, Nino was hardly given a second before he found himself engulfed in a bear hug that practically knocked the slighter man off his seat. Thankful that Sho was at least sombre enough to comprehend the logic of the situation, Nino could not help but feel a little pleased with himself at setting Sho on the path of working out whatever was wrong between Jun and himself.
Pulling back to note the soft laughter from Sho, the pure happiness that emanated from the man, Nino knew that in the end, whatever was going on between Jun and Sho wouldn’t tear Arashi apart; both were professional enough not to purposely let something personal shake up the group or their work commitments. But the boat had nonetheless been rocked; that the filming for Shukudai had been delayed was evidence enough, and a friendship - or something more? He didn’t know what name to even put to it at this point - was at stake.
Unable to keep the sappy grin off his own face, Nino saw the joy on the other’s face now that he had an objective to work towards. Not that he really suspected otherwise, but this was his affirmation - and he had to admit, to his delight - that there was likely more between the two. And Nino noted from the look on Sho’s face, it seemed that the previously angst-ridden man had also come to the same conclusion. As the expression on the other’s face hardened with childishly-grim determination, Nino reckoned that the risk of losing Jun’s comradeship was not something that Sho was likely to compromise on, however hard-headed their youngest member was going to be.
Hiding the smile in the watery depths of his glass, Nino decided that the battle had been half-won. Now, if only he could confirm that other matters had been taken care of as instructed.
Furtively checking his phone to see if there had been any missed calls or messages, he wanted to sigh in frustration when none were noted. Why was there still no reply since his message?
Glancing discretely at his watch so as not to draw Sho’s attention, he calculated that he had given Aiba more than enough time to get back to him. He could only hope that he would receive a reply soon.
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Cloud 4.2 here.
A/N: So sorry for the long wait for this part. Hopefully the length and movement of the plot made up for your patience? LJ still forces me to make the cut! Argh!