SERIES: In the Dark (8.)
Ohno went to school.
He went to class and paid attention.
He skipped lunch because he wasn’t hungry. There was a black hole in the pit of his stomach, and it was slowly eating him up inside.
He went to the newspaper office to collect his things before Sakurai Sho arrived.
Pencils and pens and SD cards were thrown unceremoniously into Ohno’s bag. He even stole a bottle of whiteout, and hoped Sho would notice.
As he walked out he noticed a pre-print copy of the newspaper that ruined it all on Sho’s desk.
Ohno stared at the picture of Nino, and his heart hurt. It wasn’t that long ago, but somehow it felt like it had been so much longer than two weeks since they’d first met.
His eyes caught on the headline next to the picture. “Son of Dangerous Convict a Baseball Ace?”
Ohno stopped and reread the headline, just in case he had mistaken a kanji or two because Sho sometimes liked to get fancy with his word play.
This time he hadn’t.
Ohno read the story.
Baseball Ace of Shimokawa High School, Ninomiya Kazunari, is revealed to be the son of infamous narcotics smuggler Ninomiya Kenji.
Ninomiya Kenji, age 45, a suspected member of the Yankumi Yakuza Group had been funneling narcotic from Mexico and the United States into Japan for nearly 10 years before he was finally apprehended in a sting operation mounted by the police nearly three years ago. According to Chief Serizawa, who choreographed the operation, “He was dangerous, and a bane to society. His arrest means a safer future for the citizens in this country.”
Kenji’s arrest left his wife and two children fatherless. However, in a household led by a narcotics smuggler, is there a chance that the father’s old ways have already been passed on to his children?
Ninomiya Kazunari, age 16, is a known rebel, and according to insider sources, is a gang leader within his own high school. He commands a small group of twenty or so students in what is superficially defined as a ‘fanclub’ on the pretense of his baseball prowess. With such a sizeable following, Kazunari is well equipped to step into his father’s shoes as a menace to our peaceful society.
Article: Sakurai Sho, Photography: Ohno Satoshi
Ohno stared at the page long after he’d finished reading. Even when mudslinging, Sho always wrote from well researched facts. No wonder Nino was homeless.
He swallowed hard, and wanted so badly to hold Nino. To do something good for him. Spoil him so rotten his teeth fell out. Feed him steak every day for the rest of his life.
But he couldn’t.
He didn’t deserve to be anywhere near Nino.
Because Ohno had betrayed Nino too.
Somehow, in a gray daze primarily spent curled up in his room watching old comedians on tv, two weeks passed, and the big game arrived.
Ohno didn’t watch it, spending all nine innings worth of time shopping with his mother. She liked to bring him along when she wanted to sample nail polish, because they had similar hands, and his, with nails just as long, provided ten extra canvases for testing colors.
When they got back he didn’t check to see what the score was. He didn’t need to. There was no way Nino’s team could lose.
He turned on his tv, swaddled himself in blankets on his bed. He heard his phone buzz but ignored it. His mom was downstairs, and if it wasn’t her then it was no one worth talking to.
“Satoshi, there is someone at the door, could you get it?”
Disgruntled, Ohno put down the basket of laundry his mom had previously asked him to hang out on the veranda.
His mom hadn’t been very sympathetic to his misery after the first few weeks, and his annoyance at the steady increase in chores was beginning to outweigh his depression. There were other clubs at school he could join besides the newspaper. The modern dance club looked like it might be fun.
He opened the door.
“Hey.”
Ohno stared, shocked.
“Nice place you have here.”
His shock turned into fear. “I-I haven’t told anyone anything!”
Matsumoto Jun smiled grimly, but his eyebrows were drawn up in annoyed peaks. “I know. Are you busy right now? I need you to come with me for a bit.”
“I don’t want to.” Ohno said instantly, defensively, and frankly more than a little scared for his and his mother’s lives.
“I’m not going to do anything to you.” Jun said, patiently. Ohno didn’t really believe a word of it. Especially not when Jun had gone so far as to find out where he lived.
“Who is it, Satoshi?” His mom called from inside, poking her head around.
“Please.” Jun said, and now there was an edge to his voice. “It’s about Nino.”
“I…” Ohno swallowed. Something must have happened. Something bad. He felt sick to his stomach.
“Satoshi?” His mom called again.
“A friend.” Matsumoto Jun said, and looked at him, not down his nose and smug, not haughtily, not like his cool self at the fan club parties at all. His face was drawn as if from stress or worry.
Something very bad must have happened to Nino.
“Mom, I’m going out for a bit.”
Jun said nothing. Ohno wasn’t sure where they were going, except the general direction seemed to be towards the river. Ohno was too scared to speak up. Jun had established a very strong wall of silence that Ohno had no strength, courage or confidence to scale.
Is Nino ok? He wanted to ask. Is he hurt? Is he still upset with me?
By the time they arrived at their destination, none other than the diner Ohno had taken Nino to, Ohno was wrought with worry.
Jun opened the door and held it open behind him.
“Table for two?”
“No actually, we’re meeting someone…and I think I see him, thanks!”
Ohno looked into the dining area, and nearly walked into Jun as he saw who was sitting at the table they were headed to.
“What the fuck is he doing here?!” Jun demanded, echoing Ohno’s thoughts. “This was supposed to be a secret meeting!”
“We…need to explain a few things…” Aiba glanced at the person sitting next to him. The person who, not even in parallel universes Ohno could imagine sitting next to Aiba.
Sakurai Sho.