[Multi-chapter] Blood on blood (7/?)
Title: Blood on blood
Author: tsuchi8562
Pairing: SakurAiba
Genre: drama, romance, angst
Rating: NC-17
Warning: It's quite scary story... If you don't like violence, don't bother to read it.
Disclaimer: Do not own any of them.. Not that I don't want to though...
Beta: My dearest twiny xxdaviexx
Summary: Nino's little investigation
A/N: Sorry for that delay, but lots of things happened.... I didn't forgot the story~! ♥
MASTERPOST
Ninomiya sat in front of his Apple laptop, lost in his thoughts His plan to find information regarding the source of all this situation had proven ineffective because of his stupidity. How could he have overlooked the fact that Sakurai would be at work at that time? Normal people had schedules! He almost spoiled everything. But, ironically, the thing that saved him was a kiss with that most wanted bartender. It wasn’t the best kiss ever, but it wasn’t that bad either Right at that moment, an image of a big, flashy kiss popped up in his mind. Nino's kiss with Matsumoto repeated over and over again in front of his eyes. Kazunari couldn't explain why was he thinking about that spoiled actor so much and that often. It was frustrating, and it was taking his peace of mind away every single time.
After that night in the Moratorium’s VIP room, Ninomiya and Matsumoto met only twice in secret. Both men weren’t sure if Ohno would approve of their meetings even when they had a good excuse. Besides, in that one meeting, they weren’t talking about Sakurai’s case. They had more exciting and better things to do. Those hot nights still sent chills down Ninomiya’s spine whenever he remembered them. He had never experienced anything like this before. It wasn’t love; he knew that for sure. However, this level of desire scared the hell out of him. This passion could quickly change into addiction, and that was the last thing he wanted.
- Enough! - Nino scolded himself and opened his Internet browser. An evil plan was gently flashing in the back of his brain, but it wasn’t too clear yet. He wanted to be certain about Ohno’s motives, but he couldn’t just ask him The mere action of asking, therefore, would become reason enough for his sudden death. Furthermore, Kazunari still remembered Ohno’s Gummy Bears gang, who had attacked him before. He was sure that he didn’t want to cross paths with them ever again.
The photographer had only one thought in his mind: to know more about Satoshi. The owner of the Moratorium was a really mysterious man. Nobody knew anything about his past except for the last six or seven years. The Internet, of course, was a great source of information to find general details of Ohno’s life. The short man was certain that this quick device would help him find small clues that would help him solve the mystery. Nino's search started by typing the name of the Moratorium's owner on Google: Ohno Satoshi. Hundreds of websites appeared mostly connected to events that had taken place in the club. As the owner, it was evident that Ohno’s name would be mentioned. They didn’t bring any new light to Ninomiya’s small investigation. However, he decided to check every single page just to make sure that he wouldn’t miss anything. The truth was that he didn’t want to sit around without a purpose because then his thoughts were running instantly toward the actor and his body.
After several hours, Ninomiya came around one thing that could be interesting for his investigation. A few years ago, a group of important politicians organized a private party in the Moratorium. This event was quite popular in the mass media because one of the attendees was involved in drug issues. The mysterious and troublesome backgrounds of the attendees made this particular club a good place to meet. The journalists gathered in front of the Moratorium the day of the meeting to ask Ohno about that case, and he brilliantly answered something about being pure and other matters. At this moment, Satoshi said something that caught Nino’s attention. It turned out that the club owner had quite a strong connection with the city from which that politician had come from. During the interview, he stated that this place influenced him greatly. After hearing this, the photographer immediately searched for the name of the city and found that its name was Chiba. Could it have been the proprietor’s home city? It was highly possible, but Kazunari had to make sure. He went to the city’s official website and started to explore it. He tried to find out whether a family under the name ‘Ohno’ was already living in Chiba by the time Satoshi was born. He found one, but it was a dead end: none of the members of that family was named Satoshi. Moreover, there was no male or even female who could fit the age span of the Moratorium’s owner. Ninomiya was trying to find some contact information that could place Satoshi with a distant relative, but this was impossible to check. The only clue that could have helped him understand Ohno’s vengeful motives had vanished right in front of his nose.
With no particular reason, he tried to find information about the target of Ohno’s revenge-Sakurai. Unfortunately, he didn’t find any connection between Sho and the city, except one thing that didn’t really count. One time, the caster was having an interview with some sportsman who had been born there. Again, Ninomiya had hit another dead end. He was running out of ideas and didn’t know what his next move could be. Without conviction, he typed the bartender’s name. While checking the sites that showed up, almost all of them about making cocktails or bartender contests, a familiar name came up: the politician that was having a party at the Moratorium. The news reported that Aiba had made a surprising mistake before this man. Masaki had dropped a glass with a fresh made drink. The photographer read the article once more, this time, more carefully. Suddenly, the investigation seemed to be moving forward. The various pieces of a puzzle he had started to collect started to fit in the right place. Just before the glass slipped from the bartender’s hand, the politician was talking about a new apartment building created in his hometown. Could all of this be connected somehow? For Ninomiya, it was hard to believe that Aiba could have made such a simple mistake when he was well-renowned for his genius in bartender skills. Therefore, he was certain that the bartender’s mishap must have been related to the politician’s statement regarding Chiba. Nevertheless, Kazunari still couldn’t find any reasonable connection between Ohno, Aiba, and that city. All of these findings could be mere coincidences, but Nino had a feeling that there was a hidden reason behind it all. And, what was more interesting, if Ohno and Aiba were from the same city, why was Satoshi interested on taking revenge against Sakurai exclusively? There could only be one explanation: he wanted to hurt Masaki anyway. But what was the reason for it? A secret love for the bartender? Jealousy? Something deeper? Millions of questions invaded Kazunari’s thoughts from different angles, almost like those damn Gummy Bears from before, causing him a massive headache. Ninomiya turned the computer off and lied down on the bed. He closed his eyes and tried to take a nap, but many different images crossed his mind from memories of a crazy night with Jun to that damn city. After a few minutes, he gave up and went to the bathroom to take a cold shower, hoping that his frustration would disappear.
While cold water cooled him down, Ninomiya was seriously contemplating revealing everything to Sakurai. He did not like Ohno’s plan at all. Nino could understand the club owner’s desire to destroy Sho’s career for this had also been his objective for the last several years. Destroying the newscaster’s career did not seem to disturb him in any way. Blackmailing, on the other hand, was unacceptable. This was the only thing the photographer could not cope with. His refusal to move forward with this part of the plan could cost him his life, but he needed to wreck Ohno’s plans for his own sake and in Matsumoto’s best interest.
“What is the matter with that Kawaii-ko-chan?!”
~*~
Sakurai was sitting at his desk reading his daily newspaper. It was quite hard to concentrate on the reading though because Aiba was on his mind all the time. The bartender wasn’t being himself recently, so Sho was worried. He was certain that something of great importance must have caused this inadvertent change, but Masaki always avoided the topic whenever it was brought up. Sho’s beloved man was absent-minded and, sometimes, he used to cry alone and hide his tears. This conduct troubled the older man, but his worry never went across. Every question was either ignored or interrupted by a sweet and distracting kiss. The bartender knew exactly how to confuse him and make him forget about the world. Aiba was very important to him, and the last thing he wanted was to lose him. His heart ached, but he stopped asking regardless of the frustration he felt. With or without Aiba’s help, Sakurai was determined to find the whole truth sooner or later.
The newscaster’s stream of thoughts was interrupted by a loud smashing sound on his desk. Someone had thrown a pile of papers right in front of him. The newscaster took the pile of documents and started took a glance at them one by one. Instantly, he started to feel strange. The material that he was examining revolved around the Moratorium, its owner, a party that had taken place a long time ago, and his lover. Caught up by the content of his reading, Sho totally forgot about the person who had brought these documents to his office. After a while, he heard a delicate cough that took him away from his trance. Sakurai’s gaze immediately met the source of the noise-and of his surprise.
- I think that you know me, Sakurai-san…
- Yes… You’re Ninomiya Kazunari, the cruelest paparazzo in this part of the world. What do you want from me?
- Come on! Don’t be so harsh. Geez, I just came to have a small talk with you. And I’m here to help you by the way.
- Help? What do you mean?
- I can’t tell you exactly what’s going on. I’m not that stupid. He would definitely kill me in a very subtle or sublime way. But I think that you’re smart enough to add things up and get the entire scoop…
- I don’t understand…
- Of course, you don’t. I don’t understand it myself… - Nino rubbed his forehead. This whole conversation was not making any sense. Without a hint, it was impossible for Sakurai to get the whole picture. It was quite hard for Ninomiya to share some hints without saying much. A few papers weren’t enough apparently.
The photographer was sure that the newscaster was still in the shadows regarding Matsumoto and Aiba’s little deal. It was obvious that the bartender wanted to protect his lover no matter what. For this reason, that devilish pact had to be kept a secret. It was unlikely for Sakurai to have found out about the pictures that were taken several weeks ago, the ones that didn’t exist, because he was barely conscious that day. Sho was the only person who could destroy Ohno’s plan, but everything was unknown to him. “A blind little kitten” was the first thought that crossed Kazunari’s mind when looking at the newscaster’s confused look. The photographer decided to take a risk.
- Your sweet little monkey is crying a lot recently, ne?
- My who?
- Aiba! Who else?
Sakurai was in shock. How could that little brat possibly know about it? Could he be the reason of Masaki’s daily litters of tears? Did it have something to do with the sadness that had overshadowed his relationship? Sho became angry. Nobody would remain unpunished after hurting his beloved man he thought.
- What did you do to him?! - The taller man stood up and was about to hit Nino, but the paparazzo moved back a few steps and stood against the wall.
- Easy! I didn’t do anything to him! He’s not my type anyway. I’m not Matsumoto! - A small piercing feeling invaded the tranquility of his skin when he said the actor’s name and that irritated him a bit. After a deep breath, Nino said:
- Listen. I really can’t tell you anything. I just know that someone wants to separate you two.
- And you just decided to be the good one and warn me? Come on! Everybody knows the kind of person you are.
- OK… I won’t ask you to trust me. Just check the documents…
- Why should I?
- Stubborn… - Kazunari smirked. He couldn’t do anything to make Sho believe in him. - Do what you want to do. I tried to warn you.
Sakurai was left alone, astonished. He tried to understand everything that had taken place. Why did that photographer come and give him those papers? What was he trying to say in codes? Who wanted to kill him? And why would someone want to separate him from Masaki? This didn’t make any sense at all. Millions of questions remained unanswered and gave him a headache. The newscaster sighed and sat in his armchair. This whole situation had worn him out. First, Aiba’s inexplicable behavior… Now, this mysterious conversation with Ninomiya... There was no doubt that these two things were connected somehow and that the answer was somewhere hidden in those papers. Sho started to read them, but he couldn’t make any sense of it. He read everything a couple of times and started to highlight Aiba’s name without any particular reason. The article about the bartender’s little mistake made Sakurai smile. He even noted the way in which that politician was talking about it. Where was he from? Ah, that’s right: Chiba.
“Wait a minute!” - Sakurai froze. Where had he heard that city’s name before? Of course, he knew that city. He had been there once, but he had a strange feeling that this city was mentioned in some tragic circumstances not so long time ago. When was it? He was thinking hard about it, trying to remember. Suddenly, an image came right into his mind: Aiba, talking about his past. A horrible incident related to Masaki took place in that city. Could it be that this politician was somehow connected with Shin and, thus, Masaki? And what could be the reason behind that strange desire to split them? No matter how long and how strong he thought about it, he couldn’t find any answers. The only way to get to the point of it all was to ask the bartender himself.
Sho stood up and left the building in a hurry with hopes of finding a way to ease Aiba from the pain he was currently feeling. That was his goal after all…