[One Shot] For Always, Forever
The cherry blossoms sway with the wind, dancing to an unknown rhythm. It was a bright and windy spring day that started as ordinary as any spring day should be. The university grounds were littered with people minding their own business and the sounds they create are always amusing.
Ohno Satoshi sniffed the air and smelled the pork tonkatsu he held in his right hand. It’s almost lunch hour. Beside him, Ninomiya Kazunari noticed his actions and smirked, little hands tightening on the bag he was holding. A minute later, his smirks turned into whining.
“I just can’t understand why we have to be the ones to buy lunch when we could’ve just ordered take out,” he complained and glanced at the white plastic bag he was holding.
Ohno stared ahead blankly, aware only of the complaints his own stomach is making. For four years, he’s the only one who had grown immune to Nino’s occasional whines and pranks and random hobbies. Not that he mind anyway. Ninomiya Kazunari is a whiny brat who (officially) majored in Filming and Directing and (unofficially) earned a degree in Pranking and Bitching People until they die kind of thing.
“Are you even listening?” Nino continued to whine as they made their way to the building to their right. The entrance was littered with people once again, some pulling heavy bags as they prepare to face the world outside the university housing.
“I am listening but my hunger speaks louder than you,” Ohno muttered and winced as someone stepped on his right foot. “Besides, it’s for the best. I have a feeling Jun will whine about his missing black skull shirt and I don’t want to be there when he does,” he reasoned, smiling softly as he imagines Jun whining to Sho and Aiba about his missing shirt. It amazed Ohno that it’s only been a week since Jun noticed that his precious shirt was missing when in fact, Aiba had accidentally burned it with the flat iron a month ago.
Nino chuckled. “Ah…,” he said knowingly, eyes sparkling with mischievous thoughts. As they climbed up the stairs leading to the second floor, he once again smirked at the two girls they passed, hugging each other as if it’s going to be the last time they’ll ever see each other. “Cheesy,” he thought. “Do you think… when we move out tomorrow, we’ll act just like them?” Nino asked and pointed at the two girls.
“Maybe,” Ohno shrugged and continued walking, willing his brain to think only about his hunger and the tonkatsu.
The days that follow graduation is always one of the most bittersweet days for him. It holds the quiet anticipation for something much bigger than university life and yet it also holds a feeling of nostalgia tinged with a bit of sadness. It a period where you get to look back on things and think where do I go from here?
“Ahh… I hear yelling,” Nino commented as they stopped in front of the room that Jun occupies. Jun Matsumoto is a rich student who majored in Business Management and he’s also a picky bastard who hates sharing stuff. That’s the reason why he gets a room of his own (well of course aside from paying for the fee that answers for a supposed roommate).
“Why are you even blaming me?!” Aiba was saying as Nino and Ohno entered the room, his eyes looking everywhere but at Jun and his aura spells only one thing: guilty.
“Because you’re the only one who barges in my room every now and then and takes my clothes without permission,” Jun said, running his fingers through his hair. He gave Ohno and Nino a glance when they announced that they brought lunch but other than that, his whole attention was focused on finding his shirt and torturing Aiba to get the information out of him.
“He has a point, you know,” Sho commented as he tried folding the growing mountain of shirts on Jun’s bed but gave up halfway when he realized he’s not really folding it (more like scrunching it so it fits inside Jun’s bag).
“What an awesome lover you are,” Nino commented sardonically as he pulled Jun’s swiveling chair towards him and watches the fight in delight. Sho merely shrugged and gave him a toothy grin. Sho Sakurai graduated (with honors) with a degree in Broadcast Communication. Nino would always remark that his first impression was that Sho was an incredibly intelligent person who aced all his tests. But that first impression changed when Sho fell in love (and got into a relationship) with Aiba Masaki, Nino’s bestfriend.
“Ask Sho-chan, he knows I didn’t take that shirt,” Aiba said, eyes suddenly catching Sho’s and silently pleading for help. Nino and smirked and took one of the packed meals they brought.
“You’ve been silently eating all this time!” he hissed at Ohno who sat in one of the chairs, watching the whole scenario with a tonkatsu hanging from his mouth.
Jun made an annoyed sound that sounded like ‘achoma’ and then rummaged his closet(s) again. “Of course Sho-kun will defend you! He’s your boyfriend,” he said and threw Sho a dirty look. “And I still think it’s disgusting,” he added just to annoy them.
Sho again shrugged as Aiba sat down beside him, pouting. “He has a point, you know,” Sho said and Aiba almost cursed.
”Will you stop saying that he has a point?!” he demanded. Aiba Masaki is Nino’s bestfriend (sort of) and has this weird love for animals so he took up a course in Marine Biology or something and claimed that fishes are also animals and that at least if he becomes a marine biologist, he can work and swim at the same time. That’s probably one of the reasons why Nino took back his first impression on Sho being intelligent when he fell in love with Aiba. “He’s a complete… utter… idiot,” Nino always say (and would always wonder how Aiba managed to graduate) and Aiba would always deny that he’s an idiot. Of course Aiba will deny it because he’s actually not an idiot (he says). He can speak English and say “Very Danger” in fluent accent and brags about it everytime. Sho didn’t have the heart to tell him he’s got it all wrong.
Oh Love.
Throughout all the drama, Ohno Satoshi watched the whole scenario as he eats his share of the lunch, smiling secretly to himself. None of the four can actually pinpoint what course Ohno actually took. Satoshi would simply say “it has got something to do with arts and painting” and Nino would always argue with him because instead of being interested in paintings and sculpture, Ohno would always read magazines on fishing. “Maybe you should have taken marine biology with Aiba instead,” Nino would comment and Ohno would stay silent.
“You might want to look under your mattress,” Ohno suddenly said and he could swear he saw Jun’s ears move the way dogs’ ears moves when they hear a warning. Aiba shot Ohno a look that sort of says you’re always silent but you speak in the worse timing and Ohno laughed.
He watched as Jun made his way across the room, towards his bed and literally pushed Aiba and Sho off it. He lifted the mattress and there lies the shirt, all dusty and… ruined with a burned hole on the space where the skull should be.
“Well you know, I was just borrowing it and I meant to return it. I even ironed it but the iron got so hot, really hot as in really, really hot without my doing and then when I tried to iron the shirt it was ruined and it’s not really my fault,” Aiba started blabbering, defending himself and backing to the wall nearest him.
“I couldn’t understand why he didn’t just throw it out in the trash or something,” Nino muttered as he escapes from the room with his lunch and Ohno. As they close the door, they could literally hear Aiba screaming “Please don’t kill me!” And Sho saying “Killing him is a crime, you know!” And Jun making “Achoma” sounds the entire time.
“Do you think Jun might kill him?” Nino asked innocently as he opened the door to the room he shares with Ohno. He sighed when they entered and cursed loudly when his lunch slipped from his small hands and landed on the floor with a disgusting sound.
“Ahh… poor tonkatsu,” Ohno calmly says. He briefly stared at the food then walked over to his usual spot near the window, overlooking the university grounds. It’s still littered with people minding their own business and the number of people pulling large bags out of the university gates had increased.
Nino simply glared at him and tried to clean the mess, muttering something about how he’s not that much interested in eating anyway.
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Sho gave up when he couldn’t pry Jun’s hands off Aiba’s throat.
“I could always find another boyfriend,” he teased and sat back down on the bed and started folding - scrunching - Jun’s clothes. Aiba glared at him and the glare turned into pitiful looking eyes and Sho laughed when Jun gave up trying to strangle Aiba.
“Damn those puppy eyes,” Jun muttered and turned to his closet and started pulling out more clothes to pack. Sho groaned and Aiba breathed a sigh of relief.
“Am I forgiven?” Aiba croaked and glared at his boyfriend, muttering something about loyalties and stuff. Jun merely shrugged and continued pulling out his clothes and Sho had to ask just how many clothes he has. When Jun smugly answered “more clothes than you’ll ever have in your entire life”, Sho raised his hands in surrender and glared at him. He crossed his arms on his chest and settled in watching Jun force Aiba into helping him pack. He glanced at the wall that divides Jun’s room from Ohno and Nino’s when he heard Nino’s loud yelp followed by curses.
“Do you think Oh-chan will tell him today?” Sho asked innocently, still staring at the wall. Jun and Aiba stopped and stared at him, their faces drawn with curiosity. When it registered what Sho meant, Jun offered a small smile.
“Well he better,” he said and sat down on the bed beside Sho, ignoring the necessity of packing. “Nino said he’s been accepted for a two-year masteral program in Germany so…”
“Are you kidding me?” Aiba asked incredulously and squeezed himself in between Sho and Jun.
Jun gave him a you-really-are-an-idiot look and ignored him.
“Yeah, Nino showed me the letter. I’m guessing he wants to really pursue film directing huh,” Sho said as his gaze traveled towards the opened windows. “And two years… Ohno-kun really has come right out and confess,” he remarked and Aiba’s eyes widened at him.
“Wait. What exactly are we talking about?” Aiba asked, excitement rising at his sudden discovery. “Are you trying to tell me Oh-chan is in love with Nino?”
Apparently, Jun has had enough and he smacked Aiba with his right hand.
“Yes, now stop butting in on a serious conversation. And you call yourself Nino’s bestfriend?”
Aiba looked hurt but kept his silence nevertheless. Truth is, he has a lot to say but deemed it best that Nino say it himself.
“Ne…” Sho began, his gaze never leaving the window. “Do both of you know where you’re going to head off to after all of these?” he asked as nostalgic memories seeped into his mind.
Jun and Aiba stared at each other then the latter wrapped his arms around Sho’s torso.
“Maybe we can go to Canada and California and get married?” Aiba said and Jun sprang to his feet, cursing loudly.
“Will you two just keep your disturbing plans to yourselves?!” He cried and went back to packing (or trying to pack).
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That night, as the moon peeked through their window, Ohno lay in bed, wide awake and thoughts running a mile a minute. He turned his head and his gaze floated towards the other bed where Nino’s lay, his back turned to him.
“Are you awake?” Ohno ventured and when Nino grunted, he stood up and settled in beside his roommate.
“What are you doing?” Nino asked, but moved nevertheless to give the other man the space he needed.
“Sleeping with you,” Ohno innocently said as he pulled the blanket towards their chins.
Nino grinned and elbowed him from under the blanket. “It sounds weird when you put it that way,” he said.
Silence enveloped them as they both stared at the familiar sight of the moon eavesdropping on their late night conversations. They’ve had four years of memories in this same room, four years of being roommates, of sharing private conversations and comfortable silence. Ohno turned towards Nino and smiled.
“Do you think years from now we’ll remember how it feels like to just… be like this?” he asked, suddenly feeling nostalgic.
Nino turned towards him, their faces inches apart.
“Maybe. Maybe we’ll remember bits and pieces of it,” he laughed softly and pinched Ohno’s nose. “Is there a reason why you’re being so emotional?”
“The fact that we’re going separate ways tomorrow…” Ohno started and swatted Nino’s hand away from his face. Then his gaze softened. “And that fact that you’re going to leaving for Germany the week after next week,” he said and Nino stared at him.
“How did you know?”
“I saw the letter…”
Nino sighed and looked away, his gaze landing on the full moon by their window.
“Well…” he started then looked at Ohno again. “Will you miss me?” he asked directly, his eyes expecting an answer.
“Of course I will miss you,” Ohno said without batting an eyelash. Then to Nino’s surprise, he suddenly sat up and stared at him… then blinked… blinked… “Nino, actually I am…” he fidgeted with his fingers.
Nino stared at him, waiting. “What?”
“I lo…”
“I love you guys, really! And I’ll miss you!” Aiba’s voice sounded and both turned to look at the unlocked door where Aiba stood holding two packs of canned beers. Ohno had this sudden urge to trot over where the other man stood and kill him. Slowly. With pencil leads. Super sharp pencil leads.
His murderous thoughts were broken by Nino’s equally murderous voice that said “You shouldn’t just barge in on people like that. For all you know, a decision changing, life saving conversation is going on,” Nino hissed, sitting up and glaring at Aiba.
Aiba blinked, unsure of why there was a sudden murderous aura inside the room. From behind him, Jun and Sho peeked nervously, knowing full well that they’ve interrupted a very important conversation.
“Sorry?” Aiba ventured and held up the canned beers. “We just thought we’d have a sort of… farewell drinking spree before we officially move out of the dorms tomorrow?”
“Drinking inside the dorm is prohibited,” Sho hissed in his ears but Aiba shrugged it off and trotted inside the room. Without any word, he flopped himself down on the floor beside Nino’s bed, followed by Jun and Sho.
“Seriously…” Ohno murmured but accepted the beer they handed him anyway. For a long moment, they sat in silence, all five of them, reminiscing those early university days when they’d sneak in beer inside the dorms. God knows how many dorm rules they’ve broken and got away with.
“Do you think…” Sho started his usual reveries that have become more frequent the week after graduation. “Do you think Aiba’s vandalisms on the men’s bathroom will still be there many years from now?”
Jun choked on his beer as he laughed while drinking. “What did this idiot write anyway?”
Nino smirked and answered “Something perverted like… the future of the next generation is in your hands… and then he’ll answer his own perversion by saying I’m doing this handsfree!”
Roars of laughter echoed and Aiba flushed a million shades of red.
“I’m with Nino when I wrote that!” he defended but grinned nevertheless.
“You really are an utter moron,” Jun remarked and smacked Aiba lovingly. “I’m really wondering what this chipmunk sees in you.”
“Chipmunk?” Sho asked innocently and the other four rolled their eyes.
“Do you think Sho throwing up on the Media Studies teacher will become school history?” Ohno suddenly blurted out, his face serious and contemplative.
“How the hell did you know about that incident?!” Sho demanded and Nino snorted.
“For someone who graduated with honors, you’re actually quite an idiot. You, Oh-chan and I were classmates for that subject. It’s a pre-requisite for all courses,” Nino said and grinned at the image of Sho coming to school drunk and throwing up on the teacher when confronted.
“Well at least I didn’t fail the subject. Unlike someone here who literally drew trees and flowers and animals when asked to illustrate the symbiotic relationship in the ecosystem,” Sho defended and his gaze went back to Aiba. “He failed Ecology 101, just so you know.”
“That’s too much information!” Aiba complained.
“Come to think of it, he also failed English 101,” Jun continued.
“I did not! The teacher was actually impressed whenever I said very danger,” Aiba said, stressing his English words.
“Oh for goodness’ sake stop with that very danger thing!” Nino cried. “And for the record, the teacher was not impressed, he was about to faint from shock because of your horrible English. And for your information, it’s not very danger, it’s very dangerous.”
For a moment Sho thought “Oh my God how can he be so mean?” And then he realized that it’s probably about time someone tells Aiba that his infamous English expression is grammatically wrong.
“Why are you so mean?!” Aiba cried and made an expression like he was a kicked puppy. It elicited snorts and giggled, contrary to what he expected.
And then there was silence, one that is heavy with memories they’ve acquired for the last four years. There were petty fights and misunderstandings, triumphant moments and those of defeat. There were also feelings that grew in those four years, heartache, heartbreak, depression and promises of bouncing back.
But they’ve had each other.
It wouldn’t have been the same if Jun was not there, or if Aiba was not an idiot, or if Sho did not lend a hand or two on their homeworks, or if Nino is not the whiny little bastard that he is, or if Ohno turned out to be a talkative fool. But there they are, five individuals, bonded together by the simplest of all relationships in the world: friendship.
“Will we still remember each other many years from now?” Ohno suddenly asked, cutting through the silence. His question was met with sighs and silent sniffles.
“Of course,” Nino’s voice suddenly floated in the silenced air. “For always, forever,” he said and planted a kiss on Ohno’s forehead.
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Much later that night, when Aiba, Sho and Jun returned to their rooms and Nino was already sound asleep, Ohno silently walked over towards Nino’s bags stacked in a corner and inserted a note in one of the pockets.
I love you, it simply says.
He sighs and looked around him, knowing full well that he’ll sorely miss being in this room and watching Nino sleep. Most of all… he’ll miss the quiet comfort that comes from knowing that tomorrow, when he wakes up, he’ll still have Nino by his side.
“Two years,” Ohno murmured and vaguely wondered if Nino will ever read that note.
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The air smells the same two years later and the cherry blossoms were blooming once again.
Ohno sat in a ramen shop, a grin on his face as he reads through the letters he’d just received. The man next to him eyed him suspiciously but Ohno was too engrossed reading the letters that he didn’t mind.
Aiba and Sho’s letters were in the form of postcards from their recent trip to Spain.
“Don’t get too tanned fishing or we won’t recognize you,” Aiba had written in his ugly handwriting. Ohno chuckled to himself as he reads Sho’s, written in a neater writing. “You asked once if we’ll remember each other years from now. Just so you know, we’re sending you this to remind you that we still remember you. It’s always nice to have somewhere to return to after a journey, isn’t it? We miss you!” it says and Ohno smiled.
He ripped open Jun’s letter and chuckled once again. Jun had been away on business as he took over his father’s company a year after graduation. Sometimes, when he’s in Japan he would visit Ohno’s art shop and buy a painting then they would go out and drink, reminiscing about their old university days. Whenever he would leave, Ohno would be left with a hollow feeling of longing, of wanting.
Nino never once tried to get in touch with him since the day he left for Germany.
Ohno pouted and as he went through Jun’s letter, his eyes widened.
I went on a business trip to Germany last month and guess what… I met Nino. He asked me to give you a note (which I enclosed here) but since it’ll be another month ‘til I return to Japan, I’m sending you the note via snail mail. (And yes I’ve read it. To hell with privacy. Now stop reading my letter and read that note, idiot!)
With trembling hands, Ohno picked up a small note, much like the one he used two years ago.
I love you too, it simply says and Ohno smiled. Then he blinked and remembered that Nino had never even tried to contact him or to even tell him personally through the phone!
“Two years and he’s only saying it to me now?” he complained loudly and angrily continued eating his ramen, allowing bitter feelings to eat his heart out.
He was in an annoyed, supposedly broken hearted state when a familiar, whiny, bitchy voice suddenly said: “Well for one, the next time you write a note, make sure I won’t take two freaking long years to find it.”
END.