Fic: Right back to you (Sho/Nino, Ohno/Nino) (2/3)
Previous part
Nino runs up the stairs and along the hallway to his hotel room. He's barely able to open the door with his hands trembling as they do. When he's finally in the room, he sits down on his bed staring at one point on the floor and inhaling the room three times before he stops shaking.
Ohno said he'd wait for him in the lobby.
Nino is overcome with all sorts of feelings, making him wish they'd just take a number and line up properly so he won't feel overwhelmed. But of course they all jumble together and wash over him simultaneously.
It's not that he doubts Ohno's offer. He trusts him like he hasn't trusted anyone in a long time (not even Sho, though he's loath to admit it). He just doesn't know what makes him worthy of Ohno's friendliness. Ohno, whom he found in the middle of the street, and whom he had done nothing for other than constantly asking for favors. Whom he disappointed just a few moments ago.
Nino can't understand why Ohno is doing this. But he knows it's his chance, maybe the only one he gets. At Ohno's he will not only have accommodation but probably learn more about time shifters. After all it seems as if his whole family is full of them. Might be, someone even knows a jumper.
So Nino quickly packs the few belongings he brought from home into his backpack. Even if he believes himself unworthy of Ohno's offer, he's not about to decline. And if only for the sake of company.
He's on the last two steps to the reception, where Ohno is waiting for him, when he catches the concierge's words.
“... just gone up to his room.”
Carefully he peeks around the corner and for a second his breath stops.
There are two policemen. One of them is talking to Ohno, the other shortly bows, turns away from the reception desk, and-
Freezes.
Nino runs over to Ohno and grasps his hand, reviving him. Ohno stares at him, surprised, then looks around him and seemingly gets it quite quickly.
“Did you pay with stolen money?” he asks perplexed. Nino presses his lips together and nods very shortly.
“I have to get away. Come on.” He tightens his grip on Ohno's hand, pulling him along. He's anticipated a struggle, but Ohno just follows him. But the second they've left the hotel, Ohno pulls at Nino's hand making him face him.
“Let time flow again,” he demands urgently.
“No, we have to get further away first. They'll catch up otherwise.”
“They'll be too confused that I'm gone all of a sudden. Let it flow again, come on.” Ohno's voice has an edge to it. Nino keeps on running, alternately looking ahead and back to Ohno.
“Why? It's safer if-”
“Nino, do it now!” Ohno suddenly shouts. Nino's eyes widen and he releases the time flow, only to come to a standstill himself and let go of Ohno.
“What...?” he starts with a trembling voice, but Ohno already grabs his hand again to pull him along this time.
“Well, come on now or they're gonna catch us after all,” he says between clenched teeth. Nino can only nod and comply, though he has no idea where they're headed. The plan was to go to Ohno's parents' house, but he doesn't know whether that is still an option.
Now that the police have found him in Tokyo.
Nino feels a cold shiver run down his spine when the realization sinks in.
“Shit, shit, shit,” he curses while still running alongside Ohno through the cold night. The other merely shakes his head.
He never lets go of his hand, though time has been flowing again for quite a while now.
*
They stop in front of a nice, small house in a narrow side street, both of them completely out of breath. Nino bends down, leaning on his thighs to catch his breath. From the corner of his eyes he sees Ohno mirroring the motion.
“Man, I'm really not as... fit as I thought,” Ohno says, grinning at him. But even though Nino has been running long and hard just now, he hasn't caught up with the events yet.
“Is this your...?” he starts to ask, but he's still too out of breath to finish the question.
Ohno nods. “Yep, that's where I live.”
“But your parents-the police-”
Ohno straightens, deeply inhaling and exhaling once. Nino would've liked to stop being so winded, but he keeps panting like he ran a marathon. Which, in a way, is true.
“They won't find you as quickly here as at the hotel,” Ohno says, but that isn't Nino's concern.
“How can you still let me come to your home even when you know that I... that I...” He can't finish the sentence. It's hard enough to admit to himself that he is a villain. To say it out loud would make it that much more real.
“That you did what? Rob a bank? Well, that's not exactly the nicest way, but I'm far from preaching just because you tried out your powers. Anyways, it couldn't have been that much money, 'cause in that case you would've chosen a better hotel.” At the last sentence Ohno even grins and Nino finds he understands him even less now. It has to show on his face, because Ohno takes a step towards him, smiling sympathetically.
“My aunt won the lottery a few years back because she had simply written down the numbers and winded back a couple of hours.”
Nino is still confused but he slowly begins to comprehend.
“And that's just one of many stories. That's why I surely won't judge you for using your ability for a little robbery at your seventeen years. I know some who did a lot worse. Just be careful they don't catch you. And stop paying with the stolen money for the time being.”
“Okay,” Nino simply answers because he can't manage to say any more. He really has no idea how he deserves this man. But at the same time he is infinitely thankful that it was Ohno who woke up first at the Shibuya crossing.
“I'm glad I've found you,” he blurts out, only then realizing that it's almost exactly what Ohno told him yesterday. But this time Ohno does not laugh at him, he smiles and puts a friendly arm around Nino's shoulders.
“Come on in, little idiot.”
*
When Ohno had spoken of his family, Nino pictured it differently. He expected father, mother, maybe three siblings, aunts and uncles living with them, cousins. He should've known that couldn't be the case when he came upon the small house, but he's surprised nonetheless.
Only Ohno's mother greets them.
“Mina won't be coming home tonight so you two are left alone,” she tells Ohno with a pleasantly soft voice. He merely gives a nod, kissing his mother on the cheek by way of greeting. Nino wonders if he might do that too, when he'll be Ohno's age.
“Are you hungry, Nino? Would you like me to cook anything for you?” she asks then, still softly, with eyes so incredibly loving that Nino feels all warm under her gaze. Ohno is also looking at him inquiringly and if Nino hadn't known they were related, he'd have realized it now. Ohno is the spitting image of his mother.
Nino's stomach answers for him before he can open his mouth. Ohno and his mother laugh the same laugh.
*
Later they are in Ohno's room on the second floor. It's tiny, there is barely enough space on the floor for Nino's futon. However, it would be a lie to say he's missing his lonely hotel room.
“My mother wanted to know if she should call yours. She could try and explain a little, you know,” Ohno says while preparing the bedding for him. Nino is sitting on Ohno's bed, watching him, and thinks about the number of missed calls. About the last message.
» Please come back home. «
He swallows, but the lump building in his throat doesn't go away. Ohno puts the blanket on the futon and sits down next to Nino. He feels warm fingers on his hand.
“Does she know where you are?”
Nino shakes his head, avoiding Ohno's gaze. It's easy, as Ohno's room is full of interesting stuff he can focus on. Some shelves with strange figurines especially catch his attention.
“In that case it's an even better idea. You don't want your mother to worry unnecessarily, do you?” Coming from Ohno it sounds so easy. Nino hasn't called his mom all this time because he has no clue how to explain himself. To let Ohno's mother talk to her sounds like an easy but cowardly way out, as if Nino isn't man enough to face his own mom.
Which actually is the case. He doesn't have the courage. That's why he ran away from home instead of asking for advice or help.
Maybe his father had similar reasons back then?
“Yes. She shouldn't worry anymore,” Nino quickly agrees, pushing all the thoughts about his father way back again.
He writes down his home number for Ohno, looking at his retreating back when he leaves the room. Surely it's a good idea for Ohno's mother to talk to his. After all she's from a family of time shifters and knows what it's like to have a son with such an ability. Or a father.
The thought leaves him pondering. Ohno hasn't mention his own father with one word.
He doesn't wait long when Ohno comes back.
“What about your father?”
And it's almost as if they're back at the Lotteria, only their roles reversed this time. Ohno is looking at him and Nino realizes he has asked the wrong kind of question. But Ohno did the same back then, so Nino can't feel guilty about it.
“Haven't we agreed on taboos?” Ohno tries a jest, but he fails pitifully. His strained tone of voice betrays his true feelings.
“Yes, we did, my father and your power,” Nino counters. He is aware he might be a little unfair, but he's sitting here, in Ohno's house, on Ohno's bed, has just made the acquaintance of his mother, and now feels that Ohno's dad is the last piece of the puzzle still missing to finally understand him a little better.
All he wants is to get to know him.
Ohno swallows, Nino can see his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously. But he does not take his eyes off him.
“My father isn't here anymore,” Ohno says with a subdued voice. “He died last year.”
*
Nino has his face buried in his cushion, taking in the nice, calming scent of it. The cushion almost smells like his at home does. That way it's easy, buried under the blanket, face pressed against the soft fabric; that way he doesn't have to say anything and discuss any topics they'd both rather avoid.
Had he known that Ohno's father is dead, he would've never asked. Or would he?
He listens to Ohno tossing and turning in his bed, the blanket rustling. Nino himself is lying rigidly on the futon, eyes tightly shut. Only when he hears deeper, regular breathing does he dare moving. He slowly turns on his back, then straightens up. A streetlight directly in front of Ohno's window prevents complete darkness. Some light still steals in through the closed curtains, facilitating Nino's way to the door.
He opens it very silently and equally silently closes it again. Standing in the hallway of the unknown house he wonders what exactly he's doing.
He had known from the beginning that sleep would not be an option tonight after all he has learned and that happened. Despite Ohno's words there is still a lurking restlessness as if he fears that any minute the police might come knocking and take him away.
There's light shining up and Nino creeps downstairs. He has no idea what time it is, only that it must be the middle of the night.
Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, he hears someone bustling around in the kitchen. It has to be Ohno's mom. At first he intends to go back up and give sleeping another try, but then he changes his mind. As soon as he enters the kitchen, Ohno's mother turns around, looking puzzled for a second, but quickly changing her expression to a welcoming smile.
“Nino-kun. Can't sleep?” she asks with all the care in her voice only a mother can display.
“I don't think so,” he answers shyly, staying at the doorway.
“Well, come in and sit down. We'll talk a little. Do you want some hot chocolate? To me that's the best sleeping potion there is.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
A short moment later he's sitting at the kitchen table with Ohno's mother, stirring his cocoa in a dark blue mug dotted with yellow stars. At first he feared it might feel strange to sit here alone with her, but now he actually likes it.
And for the first time since running away, he's missing his own mom. But it does not hurt him, he is rather reminded of the fact that there is still someone out there missing him. Someone who loves him.
“I have just talked to your mother on the phone,” Ohno's mom says. The topic couldn't be more fitting.
“She really had no inkling of your power, right?”
Nino is staring at the yellow stars. “No, I don't think so. Perhaps she noticed that I'm different, but never in which way. But then again, I tried to hide it as best as I could.”
She hums understandingly, nodding briefly.
“Was that wrong? Did you know from the beginning? About Ohno... and his dad... that they're different?” he dares to ask even though he's not sure whether that borders on impolite.
“No, no, Nino-kun, it was not wrong at all. You're still quite young and had to face this on your own. You wouldn't have had any idea how to even get her to understand,” she says at once. “My husband told me about it shortly before our marriage. He wanted me to know what I was getting into.” She laughs briefly, and if Nino didn't know that the man she's talking about is dead, he would've never guessed.
“At first, of course, I didn't believe him. But then he stopped time right in front of my eyes and simply left the room. You can imagine how shocked I was when he wasn't standing there anymore.”
“So he could stop time just like me?” Nino asks, though the answer is obvious.
“Yes. Sometimes that was really trying. He used to bug me with it quite a lot. And it didn't get any better when Satoshi was born. Worse even, when we found out that he had inherited his power. The two of them hid away all the time to train.”
Nino is dying to know what kind of ability Ohno has, but he knows it would be unfair to ask his mother. Ohno must have had his reasons not to tell him. Nevertheless it isn’t easy to hold himself back. At the same time he feels jealousy rising. He would've liked to have a father with whom he could try out his gift. With whom he could train.
The look Ohno's mother gives him is full of pity, but on her it's bearable, almost soothing. Nino returns the look, trying a smile but mostly failing.
“Satoshi told me you have no contact with your father,” she says softly. “I know we can't replace your father, but I want you to know that you're always welcome here. And you can stay as long as you like.”
“Thank you,” Nino manages before his voice dies. The following sob catches him by surprise.
*
He's back lying on the futon in Ohno's room, snuggled into the nice-smelling blanket. He's all warm inside from the hot chocolate and so much more, and his eyes are hurting a bit. Ohno's mother has promised not to tell Ohno about their little heart to heart nor about his crying.
At night he dreams about Sho and his mom. They both forgive him.
When Ohno wakes him up the next morning with apologetic eyes, Nino feels completely drained. He does not recall for how long he stayed up yesterday.
“I have to get to work now, but I didn't want to leave just like that. You can stay in bed; I think mom's home the entire day today.” Nino has a few problems following Ohno's words and even more keeping his eyes open at all. But he believes to have grasped the basic meaning at least. He's already fast asleep again when Ohno leaves.
When he wakes up again, the sun is shining right into his face. The curtains are drawn back and the window is opened wide to invite a warm breeze into the room. Nino closes his eyes, relishing the peaceful moment.
Ohno's mother laughs good-humoredly upon seeing him enter the kitchen. “Did my extra special hot chocolate knock you out yesterday?” she teases, making Nino join her laughter.
“Completely.”
“That's great, now I know what to give you whenever you get out of hand.”
They sit down together at the table and it's almost like the other night, only Nino is feeling way better this time. This woman emanates such calm and tenderness that Nino can't help but feel good with her. Whatever it is Ohno definitely inherited from her.
After breakfast (“Actually, it's already time for lunch, darling,” Ohno-mom grins) he suddenly remembers his dream, making him wish to contact his mother. Ohno's mother encouragingly gives him the telephone, leaving him alone in the kitchen. Just before closing the door behind herself, she winks at him.
Nino stares at the phone for a good ten minutes before finally managing to dial his home number. He has no idea what to say, more than ever now that she knows. But he has to do it, wants to do it, because no matter how lovely Ohno's mother is, with her caring manner she has only intensified Nino's longing for his own mom. Actually, she is most likely aware of that.
Nino takes a deep breath, pressing the green symbol. With every ring his heart picks up a beat.
“Mom?” he says as soon as the call is answered.
“Kazunari?” his mother's voice sounds concerned, surprised, relieved, all at once. He longs to stand opposite her, to see her and be able to analyze which emotion her voice really carries.
“Yes. I-I am-” Everything he so carefully planned to say and arranged word by word is gone, vanished. He's searching and searching in his mind for these words but all he finds is emptiness. There's nothing.
“I know,” his mother says lovingly.
“I'm so sorry.”
This time it takes a moment for his mother to answer. He hears her breathing in deeply.
“I know.”
Then there's silence. Nino is pressing the phone so hard against his ear he fears he might get marks on his cheeks. But it's the only way to hear his mother's quiet breathing.
“I miss you. But I can't-I can't come home yet. There's something I have to get done, first.”
The words are difficult to utter, especially since Nino doesn’t know whether it will work, whether he will succeed. And whether he will be able to go home if it doesn’t work.
“I miss you, too,” his mother simply replies. She sounds so sad it almost breaks Nino’s heart. But he pulls himself together, he has to. He owes it to her.
“You’ll have me back soon. Promise. I’ll be back.” Again he thinks about his father. He hopes he didn’t say the same to his mother when he left; hopes that his mother believes him.
“Is it true? What Ohno-san told me? That you-?“ she begins, but Nino doesn’t want her to say it, he doesn’t want to hear it from his mother.
“Yes,” he therefore says quickly, “but I never knew how to tell you.”
“It’s not easy to believe either. But I’ll try.”
“Thanks.”
“Ohno-san said she’ll look after you until you can come home. She seems to be a really loving person,” his mother says and Nino can almost hear her smile through the phone.
“Yes, I think she’s very nice.”
Now his mother is laughing, even if it is only a short laugh. One of the knots in his stomach loosens.
“Take care of yourself. And come back soon. I’ll be waiting here for you.“
Nino is about to hang up when a short ah from his mother holds him back.
“Someone called at the house for you a few times. A boy named Sakurai Sho. Maybe you should give him a call, too, it seemed to be quite important to him,” she adds quickly with an unsuspecting lightness to her voice.
And suddenly all the knots tighten again.
*
“Did it not go well?” Ohno’s mother asks as soon as he comes out of the kitchen.
“No… no, it went well.” Nino forces a smile on his lips. She probably sees through it, but if she does, she doesn’t say anything. Nino is more than grateful for this.
“So, do you like playing with the Wii?” she surprises him by asking. “Our family loves Wii Bowling. We’re downright experts by now. Well apart from Satoshi, maybe, but he just doesn’t get the hang of it.“
Moments later he finds himself in the middle of an exciting and above all very close bowling championship with her. And for the time being he forgets his worries. In the end he wins, but only by a whisker.
“We have to have a rematch sometime. I’m not conceding defeat so easily!” she grins, pretending to be out of breath.
Nino chuckles, “Anytime.”
He receives a cup of hot chocolate as his prize, by now it’s only called the extra special hot chocolate.
“Oh, Satoshi is off work soon. Do you want to pick him up? He works not far from here,” she interjects. Nino takes a big sip of the sweet beverage, this time from a yellow mug with blue stars.
“Sure. Where does he work?”
“Down the street at the Matsumoto Kiyoshi.”
It sounded like a temporary position. Which reminds Nino that he was looking for a job too, and is now living for free with Ohno. And that he can stay as long as he wants to. But he shouldn’t take advantage of the offer for too long or he fears to suffocate from his guilty conscience one night.
*
It’s already dark when Nino steps into the street and he is surprised how quickly the day went by. Sleeping in really messed with his head. But maybe it’s just because autumn is coming and it’s getting dark earlier every day.
Sho steals into his thoughts again as he walks to the MatsuKiyo. He came to his home. More than once. A feeling as if someone is stabbing him in the chest appears, gets worse the longer he thinks about it. And still he imagines it, imagines Sho standing at his door, doing what Nino never managed to do, ringing the bell, asking for him and hearing from his mother that he isn’t home. Every time.
He’s so lost in thought, his gaze trained on the ground, that he flinches when he hears the scream. He automatically looks up, in the direction the scream came from, but immediately regrets it. He is looking straight into the eyes of a man who’s glaring at him malevolently.
“Hey! What are you staring at, asshole?” the man snarls at him, his voice loud and harsh. Next to him there is another man, who has his hand shoved down a woman’s skirt; it is the woman Nino has heard scream. Nino quickly shakes his head, is about to keep walking while hoping desperately that the men will leave him alone - when his arm is grabbed.
“I asked you something, you idiot!” With these words Nino is jerked around, stumbling in the process and almost falling to the floor and taking the guy with him. The strong grip on his upper arm prevents this, though. He is pushed against the wall of the building brutally and harshly breathes in when his back collides with the rough stone. A sharp pain runs along his spine, stopping at his hips.
“Let go!” he shouts immediately, trying to fight against the grip, but not succeeding in getting free.
“That’s not how things work here, kid. If you gawp at our little game, you’ll have to pay. So cough up the dough!”
“I don’t think so!” Nino spits and stops time.
But he didn’t think about the man’s hand, which is still holding him tight. Nino reaches for the fingers closed tightly around his arm, trying to pry them open, away, but they don’t move even an inch. It’s as if he is fighting against a stone statue. He jiggles the hand, pulls at it, but nothing happens.
“Shit. Shit shit shit, come on!” he swears, gritting his teeth and trying to pull on the fingers with all his might.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the guy suddenly shouts and then Nino’s head jerks to the side. A biting pain blossoms on his jaw. The guy has punched him right in the face.
Nino opens his eyes wide as he realizes that time is flowing once more. He quickly stops it again, but the man’s grip stays strong around his arm. Then time starts again, without him doing anything.
“What?” he breathes, perplex, staring into the guy’s angry eyes.
“Your money, piss-ant!”
He doesn’t have money. He doesn’t have anything on him, it’s all lying up safely in Ohno’s room.
Another punch and Nino squeezes his eyes shut. His nose hurts so much he wants to scream, but he presses his lips together as tightly as he can, so he won’t. Something wet runs across his lips, down his chin and he knows that it has to be his blood.
He tries to stop time again, stops again and again, but nothing happens. Time keeps moving, the guy continues, hitting him again and again.
“Stop, please… please,” he then begs, because he doesn’t know what else to do, because he is in too much pain to defend himself in any way. He is afraid to open his eyes.
“Only if you hand over your fucking money!” the guy shouts, ramming his knee into his stomach. Nino wheezes and the hot chocolate almost comes back up.
“I don’t have any,” he chokes out, but of course the man doesn’t believe him.
“Don’t get cute, you bastard!”
Nino grows afraid, very afraid, tries again and again to stop time, but nothing happens. He can’t do it.
He can’t stop time anymore.
Panic like he has never felt before builds up within him, taking over and paralyzing his whole body. He always had a way out, always had this power within him, with which he felt superior to everyone else.
Now there is nothing left and he is helpless, completely at the mercy of these vicious men and there’s nothing he can do. Another punch, even more pain and this time he screams, but it doesn’t change anything, the man doesn’t stop.
Eventually he finds himself lying on the floor, but he doesn’t know when he fell, he only knows that the man is still there, that he hasn’t stopped. But the pain is slowly fading away, his head is growing lighter and he is about to lose consciousness when he hears Ohno.
“Let go of him, you damned asshole!” Ohno shouts and Nino tries to open his eyes, but his eyelids are swollen to such a size that he can only slightly open them. He can barely see Ohno, see how Ohno pushes the guy away from him and falls to his knees in front of him.
“Nino! Shit, Nino, say something.”
“I couldn’t-the time-I couldn’t anymore-,” he manages to say hoarsely and something changes in Ohno’s gaze, guilt creeps into his eyes.
Then everything goes black, but only for a second.
“-at the Matsumoto Kiyoshi,“ Ohno’s mother is saying.
Nino stares at her. The pain is gone, he can fully open his eyes again. There’s no throbbing in his jaw, no pain in his hips. He is standing in front of Ohno’s mother and has no idea what just happened.
“Are you feeling alright? You’re really pale. Maybe you should better stay here.“ Worriedly, Ohno’s mother puts her hand on his forehead.
“I-“ But Nino hesitates, because he slowly begins to understand. He understands.
“I have to go upstairs for a moment,” he tries to say as casually as possible. He has to consciously stop himself from running up the stairs. Upstairs in Ohno’s room he pulls the door shut behind him, locks it, locks himself in, remains standing in the middle of the room and breathes and breathes.
Then realization sets in.
Ohno is a jumper.
Ohno jumped back in time with him. He saved him from those guys that probably wouldn’t have stopped punching and kicking him.
Ohno is the one he has been looking for.
A myriad of things are now flooding Nino’s being and he once again wishes they would just take numbers.
Ohno is a jumper and knows that Nino is looking for one. But he doesn’t want to help him, or he would have said something before now. But despite all this, he just jumped for him.
The guys on the forums on the internet were right. He as a stopper, as a base, does not lose his memories of the events that were jumped over.
And-
He can’t stop time anymore.
He quickly looks around Ohno’s room, frantically looking for a clock. Above the bookcase there is one and he concentrates on the ticking hands of it. They stop for a second, then they tremble and continue ticking. It’s as if he was trying to start the engine of a car that just doesn’t want to turn over anymore.
“What’s going on? Why… why can’t I-?” he speaks out loud what there is within him and is hardly surprised by the desperation that colors his voice. For years now this power has accompanied him, given him quiet whenever he needed quiet, made things possible that made his life easier. It had always just been there, a constant presence, something he could rely on.
He has trusted this power unconditionally. More than any single person around him.
He doesn’t even want to imagine what it would mean for him if he wouldn’t get it back. He tries to calm down, tries telling himself that there is still something within him - there has to be - because Ohno was able to jump with him. Besides, such a strong power can’t just stop existing.
But the fear doesn’t leave him, it is still palpable in all of his limbs. Ohno’s mother is sure to wonder what he is doing up here for so long. Ohno will surely be on his way home already.
Suddenly Nino feels deathly cold.
If Ohno is on the way home, he will have to pass the guys.
What if this time around he will be in Nino’s place? What if that was exactly what Ohno achieved by jumping back in time?
Hurriedly he unlocks the door, runs down the stairs, past Ohno’s mother, who watches him in puzzlement, runs to the front door, but then stops. The door is already opening and a short moment later Ohno is standing in front of him, taking a step back because he nearly walked right into Nino.
“Hey, Nino,” he greets him, obviously surprised.
Nino opens his mouth and wants to say something, but then there is this urge, that is suddenly there and in order to express his relief that Ohno is alright, that nothing happened to him, he throws himself into his arms. Ohno is warm and smells like a mixture of deodorant, sweat and the detergent that Nino’s pillow smells like and for a second he feels weak in the knees because the smell is strangely familiar.
“Woah. Woah. We’ve only known each other for three days and you miss me this much?“ Ohno jokes, but puts his arms around him anyway. Nino hears Ohno’s mother giggling quietly in the background.
“Idiot,” Nino murmurs against Ohno’s coat.
“Sure that I’m the idiot?” Ohno teases, but doesn’t let go of him. Nino pushes further into his warm embrace.
“Yes.”
“Hmmm,” he hums in reply, squeezing Nino tighter for a moment and then letting him go. Nino looks at him; Ohno’s eyes look as tired as they did the day they first met.
“You lied to me,” slips out even though Nino hasn’t decided whether to ask Ohno about it at all. And especially not how to do it. Ohno only raises his eyebrows, utters a questioning sound, but his gaze turns more serious.
“You know a jumper. Because you are one yourself.”
Now Ohno’s eyebrows are scrunched up and Nino sees him look past him, most likely to his mother. Nino quickly shakes his head, making Ohno look back at him.
“She didn’t say anything,” he clarifies.
“How do you know then?” Ohno’s voice is pressed, his mouth pulled a tight line. He isn’t happy at all that Nino has found out.
“Because you jumped with me just now.”
The statement hangs suspended in the air, heavy and oppressive. Nino can hear Ohno’s mother breathe in deeply. Ohno only looks at him blandly.
The he laughs bitterly.
“Nice try. But I don’t jump anymore. And you won’t have changed that.“
“I was beaten up. Your mother suggested picking you up from work and when I walked down the streets there were these two guys assaulting a woman. They didn’t like that I saw them and attacked me.” Nino swallows. The memories are still vivid, the pain almost palpable. As is the fear.
“I couldn’t stop time. It didn’t work anymore. That’s why I couldn’t escape. If you hadn’t come and jumped with me, they might have beaten me to death.“
The shock in Ohno’s eyes makes his whole body shiver. All at once he feels Ohno’s hands on his skin once more, feels them caress his arms, his cheek. Then he sees that there is not only shock in Ohno’s eyes, but also anxiety. A great anxiety.
“I saw those guys, on the way home,” he breathes almost inaudibly and causes another full-body shiver in Nino. “They…?”
“No, they didn’t. You stopped them by jumping back far enough with me.”
Ohno swallows loudly, but Nino can see that he finally believes him. But something is strange. Nino just can’t say exactly what it is.
“Thank god.”
*
He had hoped that Ohno would maybe apologize or explain why he didn’t tell him that he could jump. Or why he doesn’t want to do it anymore. But Ohno doesn’t do anything of the sort. It’s almost as if he was trying to ignore it and hoping that Nino would just forget about it.
It’s pointless to say that Nino can’t forget.
Ohno only hugged him once more (which felt nice, Nino has to admit), but then the conversation seemed to be over for him. Nino didn’t know what to say when Ohno then turned away from him and said hello to his mother.
Even now, as they are sitting together around the table, picking at the Nabe pot together, he doesn’t know what to say. He can hardly eat, even though he hasn’t had anything since breakfast. He notices that Ohno and his mother are desperately trying to uphold a lighthearted conversation but who are they trying to fool? The tension is almost palpable in the air.
When he is back upstairs in Ohno’s room and his gaze falls onto Ohno’s clock, he realizes what is so strange about it all.
“You didn’t…even ask what was wrong with my power. When I told you, I couldn’t stop time anymore.”
Ohno stands still in the middle of the room and says nothing.
“Why?“ Nino asks insistently. Why, why, why, he keeps asking in his head, only to fight against the answer creeping in; only to drown it out.
“You knew, didn’t you?” When you found me, outside in the street, I told you I couldn’t stop time anymore. And you looked at me as if you felt guilty.” The words come out of nowhere. Maybe in defiance of his attempts to keep the thoughts at bay. Maybe that’s why they made their out right away.
Nino only now understands what he has said. And he can see in Ohno’s face that he’s right.
He also sees that Ohno is fighting with himself, can see it in the way he can’t seem to keep his eyes on one spot, how they rove around the room, looking at everything but him. How he bites his lower lip and swallows again and again, swallows and swallows.
“Why can’t I do it anymore?“ Nino tries asking as calmly as he can in that moment.
Ohno slumps down on the bed, puts his hands on his thighs and buries his fingers in the fabric of his pants.
“There’s another reason why I brought you here,“ he begins and Nino tenses automatically. “I wanted you to stop using your power.”
“Congratulations, it worked,“ Nino cuts in grimly. He notices that he’s growing angry, can feel the rage building up in his stomach, like a poison.
“Nino-“ Ohno tries to calm him down, but Nino interrupts him at once.
“Just tell me the truth,“ he demands loudly. It seems to work because Ohno nods, once, twice, and finally looks at him. It’s the same guilty look he gave him earlier while Nino was lying in the street, before Ohno jumped with him.
“We have a potion that can block your power for a while. So you can’t use it anymore. I asked my mother to give it to you without you noticing.“
Ohno could have just punched him in the face. It would have had the same effect.
“You did what? Why? That‘s-what’s it to you how often I use my power? Who do you think you are, deciding for me? Giving me such a potion-I-I can’t believe it!” Nino is beside himself, the rage is bubbling over, splashing through his whole body and infecting all his internal organs, everything is burning, it wants to get out. He can’t believe this.
“Damn it, I trusted you!“ he snaps at him, wants to tear his hair out, wants to do something, anything, with his hands so that he won’t punch Ohno. But he doesn’t do anything, he only balls his hands into fists hard enough to feel his fingernails biting into his flesh.
“I knew that it wouldn’t be enough just to tell you to stop using your power. That’s why… I had to use other means to get you to stop,” Ohno explains and he seems almost too calm to Nino.
“Then tell me why I shouldn’t use this power,“ Nino replies loudly, shouting almost.
But Ohno doesn’t say anything. He only looks at him, seemingly torn and Nino has enough.
“Oh forget it,” he presses out through clenched teeth and is already on the way to the door, when Ohno jumps to his feet, crosses the few meters separating them and wraps his arms around Nino. He presses himself against his back and a moment later Nino feels his warm breath on his shoulder.
“My father,“ Ohno whispers against Nino’s skin and Nino trembles. “He died because of it.“
*
They stand like this for a long while, with Nino’s arms hanging limply by his sides. He doesn’t know what to do with them. Or what to do with his thoughts. Ohno doesn’t say anything else, but after a while he snuffles his nose. Nino hopes he won’t start crying because he wouldn’t know what to do about it.
After a while he dares to open his mouth.
“You can die from it?“ he asks into the emptiness, careful and quiet. He feels Ohno nod against his shoulder.
“Did you think a huge power like that doesn’t leave its mark on the body?” he mumbles into Nino’s shoulder. Although they have been standing here for a few minutes already, Ohno makes no move to let go of him. Nino doesn’t dare to move first, so he keeps staring at the door he’s standing in front of. He’s slowly beginning to feel warm, especially in the spot of skin on his neck Ohno’s breath has been caressing all this time, but he tries to ignore it.
“You’ll die sooner,“ Ohno then says, while Nino stays silent. “For every hour you stop the time, a month is taken off your life, they say.”
Nino remembers his childhood, the hours, days, he stopped unable to do anything about it and grows afraid. How many months have been taken off his life expectancy? How many years has he already lost?
“Why didn’t he stop then? Your father. If he knew?“ Nino has to ask, he just has to talk about Ohno’s father in order not to have to keep thinking about himself.
“He didn’t expect it to happen so soon. He was… like you. Fascinated by this power. Curious to see what he could do with it. Especially when he then found out that I inherited it,” Ohno tells him, his voice trembling. “Moreover, he used it for his job every day. And at some point he had just gotten too used to it.”
Alarmed, Nino realizes how much of himself he can see in these words. Has he not gotten used to this power long ago? Seen it as a inherent part of himself? Had he not panicked when he noticed that he couldn’t stop time anymore?
“And how did he die?“ Nino can hardly hear his own words, his voice is so quiet. Or is it the blood thrumming in his ears?
“His heart just stopped beating.“
Then a long moment passes in which Nino fights. He should receive a medal for the battles he fights against his head, against his subconscious.
But you only get a medal if you win, his subconscious laughs at him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away,“ Ohno surprises him with his apology. “It’s just… not easy for me to talk about. Sometimes I can’t believe that he’s gone.”
Nino knows what it’s like to suddenly not have a father anymore, from one day to the next. That makes it easier to understand Ohno, even though it’s still incredibly difficult.
“And when you stopped time, when it was suddenly completely silent all around me, it felt as if he was back. As if he had never left.“
Ohno’s words are grave, his voice so sad that another knot forms in Nino’s body, but this time it is in his chest, close to his heart.
When Ohno makes even the smallest move to loosen his hold, he turns around immediately and finally gives Ohno a real hug. And then they stand there for another long moment, arm in arm, but this time it isn’t strange, this time it feels exactly right. Nino has only known Ohno for a few days, but he feels closer to him than he does to some of the people he has known all his life.
But this embrace isn’t enough; he owes Ohno something else, too:
“My father left us. He abandoned us, my mother and me. He said he was going to Tokyo and maybe that’s why I’m here now. I don’t know.” The words leave his lips with less difficulty than he expected.
“I thought this topic was a taboo,” Ohno mumbles, lifting his face a little. His eyes are red, but he doesn’t look as if he has been crying.
“Your power was, too. But since I know about it now, I thought it was only fair that you should know about my forbidden topic.” Nino manages a smile. A little smile, only a short twitch of the corners of his mouth, but it is enough to make Ohno smile as well.
“Little idiot.“
*
Afterwards things are more comfortable. There is no tension left in the air, quite the contrary: Nino feels as if something is connecting them, now that they were more open with each other. As if an invisible bond has formed between them because of it.
And then, when they are heading to bed, Ohno pats the bed next to himself invitingly. Had the invitation not come from Ohno, Nino is sure he himself would have asked.
They are just lying next to each other, their shoulders touching, and it feels great. Their talk has created such a level of intimacy that Nino asks himself how he could have ever doubted Ohno. Of course not everything Ohno has done was right, but he did it for Nino, for his well-being, because he was worried about him. And how could he not trust someone like that?
“How long does the potion work anyway?“ Nino asks after a few moments. He doesn’t even know if Ohno is still awake.
“Only a few hours. I think she put it in your hot chocolate this afternoon, so it should stop working by tomorrow.”
So it was the extra special hot chocolate, Nino thinks bitterly.
“And what is it exactly? Where do you get it?”
“It’s a recipe that has been passed down from one generation to the next in my family. It’s mostly meant for young stoppers who haven’t gained control yet. But I think it also works on us shifters.”
Suddenly Nino is sitting up straight.
“Really? It works on a jumper like you?” he asks immediately, suddenly curious as hell.
“… yes, I think so,“ Ohno answers hesitantly.
“So it also works on fast forwarders, right?”
“Yes, I believe it does.”
Nino doesn’t know what to say. If it’s really true, if this potion can really stop fast forwarders and jumpers from using their powers, it would be the solution to all his problems.
It could take Sho’s fear away.
Nino turns to Ohno, who by now has also sat up, with a brilliant smile on his lips.
“This potion is amazing,” he says happily; a joy in his voice that he hasn’t heard for a long time. It’s refreshing to finally feel something like hope again after all the depressing emotions that have accompanied him the last few days.
Ohno still looks a little confused, but he returns his smile.
“A solution to your problem?” he asks softly.
Nino leans back into the pillow and grins at the ceiling.
“Oh yes.“
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