Principals of School
Title: Principals of School: The Beginning
Rating: PG13-ish
Pairing: Jun/Nino (side Sho/Ohno)
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: The adventures of Jun, a new teacher at a tiny school, as he tries deal with his coworkers-- specifically one socially awkward creep that he can't seem to get off his mind.
Notes: Not betaed, I apologize. Also not related to anything I've previously written and the universe is very very loosely based off of my own experiences at Japanese schools.
The Beginning
“This is it,” Matsuoka said as they finally pulled out of dense forest and into… slightly less dense forest. Jun was seated in the passenger’s seat of the compact car, the enthusiasm that he had felt several hours ago bubbling back up inside of him as he leaned forward trying to get a view of… anything.
“What is it? There’s nothing here,” he said patiently.
“There’s a house,” the other man replied, pointing to their left, and indeed behind some trees a roof could be seen.
Jun decided not to complain and instead took in everything he could about this place that was going to be his home for the next year (or possibly more, it was too early to be making that decision). He had just entered society as a full time worker, and although he knew his first teaching job would be the very bottom rung, he was just happy for the opportunity and ready to prove himself to his new boss and coworkers. Immediately.
Matsuoka, the only person from the board of education willing enough to cart him all the way out here along with a few boxes of things that he needed while he waited for his other belongings to arrive from his parents’ house, seemed to be enjoying the (long) drive, and whistled along with the stereo as they passed the next house, which was several minutes away from the first.
Apparently there was one grocery store and a drug store too, both locally owned, as well as an elementary and junior high school of course.
That was about all, other than the sparse houses (all of which Jun could count without using all ten fingers). He was a little surprised (because although he knew it was small, this was just too much), but still brimming with motivation and curiosity.
They pulled into the junior high school parking lot (really just an expanse of dirt), and Jun took in his new workplace-home (quite literally as the teacher’s apartments were only a car’s length away from the small building). It was nice, although more of a moderately-sized log cabin than anything like a school.
“Better introduce you to the other teachers first,” Matsuoka grinned, putting the car into park and climbing out himself, leaving his suit jacket draped over the middle seat, although Jun straightened up everything he could of his own, his suit intact in order to make sure he left a good first impression.
Together they walked inside and Jun admired the entranceway, adorned with pictures and projects made by past students, as well as more trophies and awards than he thought reasonable for such a small place, all carefully dusted and displayed in order to be the most pleasing to the eye.
Jun smiled.
The school year still hadn’t started yet, but the other teachers were there, and so they made their way to the small faculty room with a hand carved sign over the door, even though it was obvious what the room was through the large window set in the wall in front of it.
He was met with three (barely) mildly surprised faces as he was introduced, and although he bowed deeply and held himself proudly, the reaction was unimpressed expressions (although one was grinning so widely he couldn’t have been anything but excited).
“Ah, the fresh meat is here,” the smallest one grinned and Jun’s eyes shot to him, not at all liking the way his lips curved so mischievously.
“His name is Matsumoto, Nino, don’t be rude,” another one said lightly, attempting to offer Jun a consoling smile, and Jun swallowed a bit, trying not to be too nervous. They were certainly acting very laid back, even though this was probably one of the most exciting things that had happened here… well, since the teacher Jun was replacing left, he assumed.
“That’s right. I’m Matsumoto Jun! Nice to meet you!” He bowed again for good measure, drawing a laugh from the last teacher.
“No need to be so uptight Jun-chan,” said the grinning man, and he stood from his small-ish desk. “I’ll make some tea, okay?”
“Uhm… thank you?” he replied cautiously as the man took off into the mini side kitchen, then turned to Matsuoka, who was motioning towards the closed door leading to the principal’s office, and another teacher-the more mature one-stood with a slight bob of his head, stopping them for a second before going in himself.
Although he tried to close the door after himself, it was left open just a bit, enough for Jun to see that the principal was sleeping in his oversized chair, and that the other man was ever so gently waking him up, leaning down to whisper in his ear and touching his face gently as his eyes opened.
Jun looked away with a red face and his stare immediately fell on the smirking lips of that teacher left behind, who was watching him with a knowing gaze.
It seemed like he wanted to say something, but his brown eyes flickered to Matsuoka, who had wandered over to the window on the other side of the room, which led to a view of the beautiful mountains across the road that they had driven in on, and he didn’t.
A few seconds later the other man opened the door again and smiled in apology. “Sato-I mean, Principal Ohno is ready to see you.”
“Thanks Sho, we’ll just be a minute. Then I’ll leave this guy in your hands,” he replied with a wink and Jun felt himself begin to sweat, wondering how many of these people were just using him for their own ends… oh well, he had to start somewhere, right? He didn’t mind if this job was going to led him to something better, and besides, he needed the work experience no matter what.
They walked into the principal’s office, which was almost the same size as the teacher’s room, and Jun bowed to the small-very tan-man before taking a seat on the couch as directed. Matsuoka sat next to him, and right after the principal-Ohno?-was across from them on a plush chair, the giggling man came in with a tray and three cups of green tea.
“Thanks Aiba-chan,” Ohno said sleepily and Jun was just a little ashamed at the man’s lack of tact.
“No problem Oh-chan, I mean Mr. Principal,” he continued to grin and then backed out of the room with a wave to Jun…which he found himself returning before he could stop himself.
Matsuoka introduced him again.
“This is Jun, your new Japanese slash music teacher.”
“W-music?” Jun whispered to him, because he was certified in Japanese and Japanese only.
“You said you could sing, right?” Matsuoka replied nonchalantly, not bothering to lower his voice, and Ohno looked amused but not surprised.
“Nice to meet you,” he said with a gentle smile and Jun forced one in return, vowing to figure things out later. “We all teach two subjects here,” he continued kindly, and Jun calmed down a little. “Because it’s a small school, so we can’t afford too many teachers, you know?”
Jun knew, although he would have liked a bit of warning first. But at least he could read music, even if he probably wasn’t very good at singing (and in fact had only said so to make a good impression).
“Anyway, I’ve got another appointment-a lunch appointment,” Matsuoka grinned at Ohno, who seemed to understand what that meant (probably just goofing off before he actually got back to the board of education office), “So let’s make this short.”
He took a sip of his tea without even waiting for Ohno to offer it to him and Jun was a little ashamed again, hoping that his bad manners weren’t going to affect Jun’s impression too.
But Ohno seemed like he was expecting as much and motioned to Jun’s own tea with a sparkle in his eyes, as if he was teasing him for being too strict about all of this.
It was bitter, but just the consistency that Jun liked and he almost smiled but stopped himself because he should be getting upset now, not allowing these people to walk all over him and treat him like… like he didn’t know anything!!
While Jun was too busy trying to figure out what was going on, the other two finished the paperwork in a few minutes and Matsuoka only gave a quick greeting to the others as he left the office, Jun stunned with Ohno patting his back gently, the two of them half standing in Ohno’s private workspace and half in the teacher’s as they watched him go.
There was dead silence for a minute as Jun looked around at his new “family,” feeling more like he’d fallen into a den of lions.
Except Ohno certainly seemed like a nice boss for a lion.
He patted him again and said, “They all know about you, but let me introduce you to everyone else.” Jun wanted to know how and what they knew about him, but the words died on his lips, too interested in knowing about his coworkers in return.
First he pointed to the mature one, whose desk was covered in papers almost as bad as any salaried worker in Tokyo… although he looked much less over-worked than one.
“That’s Sho-chan. He teaches English and is my vice principal. Ask him if you need help or anything, okay?” he started with a dazed grin at the said man, and Sho smiled back with his own lazy smile, nodding his head at Ohno and then speaking to Jun.
“I’ll do what I can. After we’re done let’s go to your apartment, okay? Matsuoka’s probably unloading all of your stuff onto the doorstep now,” he chuckled, and although Jun didn’t like that image, he couldn’t help but laugh… just a bit.
“Next is Aiba-chan,” Ohno continued, pointing at the chipper man who made perfect tea. “He teaches Science and P.E.” His desk was considerably less cluttered, and he was staring at Jun himself with dreamy eyes, waving again without saying anything else.
“And then Nino.”
The smirky man saluted-actually saluted-while leaning back in his chair and looking somewhere between completely interested and trying not to be.
Ohno tugged on his arm lightly, so Jun turned to him, bending over just a little so that Ohno could whisper in his ear, even though he could probably be heard by the rest of the room anyway, “Don’t be too surprised if he knows a lot about you… we have a lot of free time here and he was excited to hear you were younger than him… he tends to be on the internet a lot, so he found your profile on that social networking website-“
Jun immediately turned to the man called Nino, who was glaring at the principal but looked away as soon as Jun looked at him, and pretended to not be listening to their conversation.
“Anyway, he’s the math and computer science teacher,” he said to the rest of the room and everyone turned to look at Nino, who was frowning at his notebook on his meticulously organized desk, playing with the spiral binding and acting… cutely shy.
“Don’t let him near your computer or he’ll hack it,” Aiba suddenly threw in with a throaty chuckle, and Nino basically jumped out of his chair to smack him on the head.
“Shut up! You deserved that!”
They bantered back and forth and Jun blinked at him, wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. This seemed more like a frat boy dorm room than a teacher’s lounge.
“Anyway, I teach everything else,” Ohno finished, patting Jun once again on the back before shrugging at his blank look. “You know, Art, Cooking, extracurricular activities…” Suddenly he smiled and looked somewhere past Jun’s shoulder, staring into space. “Me and Chinen are going fishing this year.”
“Chinen?” Jun asked blankly, turning to the other teachers when Ohno, still stuck in his daze, started back into his office, completely losing interest in the happenings of the room… probably returning to his mid-afternoon nap.
Nino had settled back into his seat, and although he still looked a bit upset, he answered Jun’s question without meeting his gaze.
“Chinen’s the sole student of this school. Better remember his name.”
“Wait… sole student?” Jun asked slowly, walking forward to lean over the bare desk that would no doubt belong to him by the end of the day, trying to get closer to Nino. “I thought there were three.”
Even three seemed like an impossibly small school, but this place was in the middle of nowhere… why did it still exist even now?
“The other two moved. Siblings,” Nino said curtly, finally meeting Jun’s eyes with a serious expression for the first time… except that it slipped into amusement again only a few seconds later. “Ah, they didn’t tell you did they? How tiny this place is? But don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. We carpool to the next town over for groceries.”
Jun’s eyes were wide. He had expected this, although even his lowest expectations… seemed like he was hoping for too much now.
Nino continued to smile lightly, resting his head heavily on his palm as if he was enjoying Jun’s pain.
“Actually, this is the worst it’s been,” Aiba added helpfully, scooting his chair a little closer to Nino’s, although he was pushed back when he crossed the line between their desks (the rejection didn’t seem to faze the P.E. teacher in the least). “We didn’t expect to lose Utako-chan and Hiroshi-kun this year… but there are some sixth graders, so next year we’ll have more students… and maybe someone will move here,” he added enthusiastically with a wide smile and Jun wondered if he actually thought that was possible.
Nino beat him to it.
“Are you an idiot? No one comes here,” he finally dropped his pose to bop Aiba on the head again.
“Jun-chan came here!”
Was he ‘chan’ already?
“Because he had to, duh!”
“I’m sure he’ll like it once he gets settled in,” Aiba started again with bright eyes, and before he could be forced to say something nice about this place that had basically flipped his life over, Sho broke in gently.
“Let’s take care of your stuff, shall we?”
“Sure,” Jun replied somewhat dejectedly, sulking as he automatically followed Sho out the door, lost in his own thoughts.
+++
It turned out all of them lived in the teacher’s dorms, as well as two female teachers from the elementary school (which was a brisk five minutes’ walk away), three apartments each per floor, of which there were two.
Jun’s apartment, obviously, was in the middle on the bottom floor, where his four boxes had been piled (Matsuoka’s car was nowhere in sight), and after a short explanation from Sho, he found out that his neighbors were Nino and Aiba on either side, and that two women were upstairs.
Since the last apartment was left vague on purpose, as Sho unlocked the front door and began picking up boxes, Jun couldn’t help but ask, drawing a deep blush from the otherwise completely composed man.
“Oh. I share it with Sato-Principal Ohno.”
Jun didn’t ask more than that, as he had his suspicions already.
Sho graciously helped him unpack a few things and checked the electricity and water, suggesting that Jun come back to the school when he felt like it because they would have a small welcome party for him there (since there was no restaurant within an hour’s drive), and Jun could only nod dumbly.
Because he didn’t feel like unpacking anymore (and there wasn’t much to anyway) he ended up talking to his mom on the phone for an hour, ranting about his new situation and listening to her good advice about making friends and taking advantage of the relaxing atmosphere, then pulled out his computer and checked his email before getting restless and heading back to the school before five.
Sho met him with a smile, and Ohno was out of his office, enjoying a cup of coffee at the tidy desk next to Sho’s, obviously designated for his use should he feel like it (and partially covered in Sho’s papers).
“Ah, Matsumoto-san, I’m glad you came back. If you want to look around the school, feel free.”
“Oh! I’ll give him a tour!!” Aiba suddenly volunteered, shooting up from his desk where he had been leisurely sipping at his own cup, apparently having nothing to do (which Jun didn’t find unusual, since it was still summer break and all).
“Thank you, Aiba-san,” he replied with a slight bow, actually eager to see the school, completely over his initial depression after talking to his mother, and maybe he could ask some questions too.
“Oh, you can call me Aiba-chan-everyone does!” came the chipper reply, and Jun couldn’t help but smile a bit, even if he thought teachers should be shown respect in every situation.
“I’ll come too,” the computer teacher threw in, his tone obviously bored, and he stood with the same feeling, like he was only participating because it was at least something to get him away from his desk. “Everyone calls me Nino, by the way. Not Nino-chan,” he said pointedly, looking at Aiba with what Jun supposed was a glare.
“Have a good time,” Ohno suddenly threw in with a small wave, smiling wide enough that his eyes crinkled shut and Jun’s cute meter went off the wall. He had a huge weakness for cute things, even if most people were surprised by that admission… not that he admitted it much.
Without being able to help himself, he smiled back and followed the other two out of the teacher’s room.
“Well, first here’s the gym,” Aiba said as he started towards a door on the right, eventually dragging them all the way across the waxed floor to show Jun where they kept the sports equipment and explaining that, although he was the official teacher, the others often showed up for class, not only so the kids would have extra people to play against, but also because most of the time they wanted the time away from their desk… which Jun was already not really looking forward to by the sound of it.
After a talk about what sports Jun could play (not necessarily what he liked) with a lot of snide comments from Nino, they made their way back into the main reception area, which connected all the rooms together. Next was the lunch room, right next to the gym, and then across the building to the art/kitchen/workshop/general purpose room, which was full of calligraphy, self portraits, and even a few very nice framed pieces.
Jun stared.
“Oh-chan made those,” Aiba explained. “He was an artist in Tokyo before he was principal here.”
His eyes widened a bit as he took in the details of one particular piece, in the style of graffiti, which was really popular right now-Jun should know since he loved going to Tokyo and especially loved seeing artwork there, the newest, freshest, and most controversial.
“Why did he move here?” he asked incredulously under his breath, and Nino chuckled before answering him-surprisingly lacking his earlier sarcasm.
“He likes it. Sort of country bumpkin at heart, I guess. His hobbies are fishing, which there is plenty of here, and art, which he can do anywhere.”
Jun couldn’t wrap his head around that… obviously Ohno had some talent, so why wasn’t he pushing his full potential?
“Oh, if that’s bad, wait ‘til you hear about Sho,” Nino started next, leaning against Jun’s back to look at the picture with him, and Jun didn’t push him off because he really wanted to know. “Graduate of Keio university, worked as a newscaster for two years before-bam, out of the blue Ohno decides he wants to move to the country and Sho can’t say no to him.”
“Wait, they knew each other before they moved?” Jun turned around to look at Nino in surprise and the smaller man just rolled his eyes, assuming Jun would have guessed the answer already.
“More than knew each other. Let’s just say we give them plenty of alone time in Oh-chan’s office.”
Jun’s eyes widened again at the implication of inappropriate things at school, and Nino winked at him cutely before starting for the door again, pulling Aiba out of his daze (he had been fixing a drawing that had been hanging on the board by a magnet, and Jun looked at it quizzically, not really making out what it was… maybe a monkey?) and they started off again, Jun wondering what was so magical about this school to make two amazing men stay here.
“What about you guys? How’d you get here?”
Aiba raised his eyebrow questioningly, like he didn’t know what Jun meant, then shrugged while Nino kept his mouth shut and dodged the subject.
Jun huffed, but followed as they started up the open flight of stairs in the middle of the room, going to the second floor.
“These are the classrooms,” Aiba explained, pointing to the four rooms that were facing now, the hallway leading to them more of a balcony, opening to the room below them over a high metal rail, and the top half of walls here were made of glass too, so that you could see into each of them from the hallway, and all the way to the other side, where the mountain greenery was shining through. “That one’s the computer lab,” he started, although Jun thought that a room should have more than three computers (laptops at that) to be considered a “lab,” but he didn’t say as much. “Since there’s only Chinen in 9th grade this year, Sho’s converted one to an English room, and the other is just going to be free… unless you want to do something with it?” Aiba ended hopefully, but Jun simply looked at him blankly.
“We could make it a music room?” he suggested after a second, and Aiba’s face lit up instantly.
“Yeah! We can move the electric piano up here-“
“Actually, I can’t really play the piano,” Jun admitted with a sour expression, looking down.
“I can,” Nino threw in nonchalantly and Jun glared at him.
“Why don’t you teach music, then?”
Nino smiled in a fakely pleasant manner and replied, “I already teach two subjects.”
Jun rolled his eyes. “You probably sing better than me too.”
“Probably.”
Jun shot him a look and stomped off to the classrooms to see what he was being given to work with.
By the time they made it back down to the teacher’s room, almost an hour later, Jun was feeling pretty motivated again, ideas running through his head (and although he didn’t ever intend to be a music teacher, at least it was a fun subject). From what Aiba had said, Chinen was a good kid, so instead he focused his attention from motivating his student (it was weird to think that in the singular form, even if it was only in his head) to creating interesting lessons.
“Ah, Jun-kun,” Sho said with a smile, the two other teachers still in the same positions as before, only Ohno was using his desk as an art station instead, a piece of paper on top of it with an already mostly finished sketch. “I hope these two did a proper job of showing you around.”
It was different looking at the man, now that he knew he was incredibly smart and incredibly in love, and the same with Ohno too… only somehow the thought that he was rather lazy too still remained.
Jun was unable to respond and it didn’t seem like the other two were going to defend themselves, automatically heading for their desks.
“That one’s yours,” Sho explained after a second, pointing to the desk across from Nino, and Jun nodded before sitting down there, barely catching Nino’s eye. He was smirking again, although not as pronouncedly as earlier.
And Nino kept staring at him, even after Jun met his gaze.
Jun wasn’t exactly the type of guy to get flustered easily, especially not by a pipsqueak that had a mouth too big for his own good, but there was something about that unwavering gaze that just rubbed him wrongly, and after a few seconds he had to look away.
Nino was still staring at him, but he distracted himself by looking around the room at the generic school posters, time schedule, and the blackboard that had the special events for the day written out.
Immediately his eyes were drawn to the corner of the board where a note was written out in precise handwriting.
Jun’s cellphone number. Don’t forget it!
Around the note was a word bubble and a face drawn in a different color chalk, a caricature of what was obviously Nino because of the mole on his chin, and around that was a variety of other doodles, sparkles and words and hearts, and Jun froze as he looked at it.
His number was actually written out. Not his usual number… no. It was his new number, the one that he had to get three days ago because only one company covered this isolated area and therefore he had no choice but to change.
“How the hell did you get that?” he asked with wide eyes, looking at Nino, because even if he had searched his name online, hacked into his social networking account, and even his e-mail, there was no way Nino could have managed to find something so personal so fast.
His smirk widened mysteriously and he just continued to stare at Jun… creepily.
“Oh, that’s because of Nino’s other job,” Aiba started helpfully before Nino’s face scrunched up in annoyance and he threw himself at his coworker.
“Shut up! You were supposed to wait until he was properly freaked out!”
Aiba just laughed and Sho, with a calm smile, leaned a little over Ohno’s desk, which was between him and Jun, and continued. “Nino works for the phone company as online support. He was stalking the data base for a full week waiting for you to get a new phone.”
“Why is everyone against me?!” Nino spat out in exasperation, falling back into his own chair and sighing to the ceiling.
“If it makes you feel any better, I really am freaked out,” Jun said in an almost incredulous voice, and that earned him a smile from Nino-an actual smile instead of a smirk.
It was cute.
Jun felt his heart speed up exponentially but luckily enough he was saved by a ringing bell, which brought Sho out of his seat and to an intercom.
“Sho, dear, I brought by the sushi and beer you asked me for,” said an elderly woman’s voice as soon as Sho had inquired about the visitor (obviously he was expecting her).
“Thank you Mrs. Aiba, I’ll come right out with the money,” he replied promptly, then ended the call and pulled a tin box that had been sitting on his desk into his hand, counting out several bills that were inside.
Jun looked at Nino curiously out of habit, then realized the math teacher was on the verge of being a stalker, so he turned to Aiba instead.
“It’s for your welcome party! My grandma made some sushi and bought the beer from the store so none of us had to leave.”
“Not that any of us were willing,” Nino said under his breath, and Aiba just laughed at him.
“You would have finished half the beer before you got back here!”
“At least then we won’t have to pay your family-“
“Hey, you know it’s just because none of us can cook in the first place,” Aiba chuckled, standing up and ready to follow Sho out the door to help, but paused when he noticed Nino, who was staring at Jun happily again with a calculating expression, eyes narrowed.
“But Jun can, so let’s have him do it from now on.”
Jun tried not to be too upset at that comment. Since he had moved away from home he had been proud of his advances in cooking and even enjoyed it most of the time, often posting about it on his blog or sending pictures to his friends and family, which is obviously why Nino knew. And, actually, as long as he wasn’t expected to pay for the supplies himself, he probably wouldn’t mind cooking for this small group.
“Should I pitch in…?” he asked unsurely, catching Aiba before he went out the door and ignoring Nino’s comment (he had a feeling he’d be doing that a lot in the next few weeks). The tin box was obviously a collection from the rest of them to pay for whatever they had ordered for the party, if Jun was properly reading Nino’s complaining.
“Of course not! It’s your party,” Aiba replied happily, but Nino shrugged and added, “But you can if you want.”
Without saying anything Ohno also got up to follow the other two teachers to the front of the school to collect the delivery, and because Jun didn’t want to be left alone with his awkward stalker, he did the same (even though Nino trailed just a few feet behind him anyway).
As they got there, Aiba was trying to convince the woman to come inside for a cup of green tea while Ohno started unpacking the small metal cart parked next to her in the doorway. He handed a large covered platter to Jun, then started on the six packs of beer, of which there were five… One for each? That was a lot, though.
“Oh don’t you worry about this old woman, honey.”
“Come on, grandma,” Aiba continued to prod as Sho gave her the money, “I’ll introduce you to Jun!”
“This young whippersnapper?” she asked, looking at Jun beadily, and he nodded at her in return, barely able to understand what she said through her heavy accent.
“That’s right, but don’t you want to talk to him? He used to live in the city.”
“No thanks, Masaki honey. Need to get back home and start on dinner.”
She folded the bills without counting them and stuffed them into her sash before taking the emptied cart and slowly heading out the door with uneven steps.
Well, that explained why Aiba was here. Because of his family.
They all threw out thank you as she finally disappeared, and Sho shook his head with a small smile. “She brought too much again.”
“It’s fine!” Nino laughed, holding two packs of beer in his hands, “Enough to last ‘til the weekend.”
They set up their party in the small lunch room at one of the two lines of tables, and Jun’s stomach growled as soon as they uncovered the oversized platter of handmade sushi, and it was only then that he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast (which had been a burnt piece of toast and coffee).
Without any delay they broke up the beers too and started eating, obviously not worried about anyone else coming to the school, or even calling, and although that rubbed Jun the wrong way on so many levels, he forgot about his annoyance as soon as he had that first swallow of freezing beer.
After they had gotten a good head start on the eating part, Sho prodded Ohno into giving an opening speech for their party (which consisted of a vague poem about the mountains and fishing and a toast to Jun), and Jun had to introduce himself again.
“Tell us about school,” Sho prompted after Jun had finished his usual boring name, age, and goals in life, and Jun stood sat awkwardly as the rest of them starting throwing out their own suggestions.
“No, about the city!”
“I want to hear about your hobbies,” Ohno threw in softly before being over taken by Nino’s request for his sex history.
Jun ignored him, as did the rest (although Aiba mumbled something about him being worse than usual), and reached for another piece of sushi before following a tangent of his family, love of cooking, and lack of any other talents.
They had all had at least one full beer by then, so Jun’s unrestrained rambling was met with a series of loud objections, the more pronounced of which was Nino’s argument of but you’re so hot!
With a smile and feeling closer to these guys already, Jun hugged Ohno on a whim, creating a chain reaction and getting mobbed himself.
If that wasn’t bad enough, an hour later when most of the food was gone (although it was so much) and almost as much beer, Aiba pulled out his favorite idol CD and started singing karoke (although it wasn’t really karoke) and Ohno joined him in a synchronized dance after the first song was over.
“Sho-chan, come on!” he giggled, trying to pull the vice principal up to the front with them. “We can do that one we learned last year for the cultural festival for Jun!”
It took a few seconds for someone to realize that Nino was missing from their formation (he was looking inconspicuous by sitting next to Jun and mimicking his anticipatory expression), and it took Jun’s own prompting to get him up there.
But they did the choreography perfectly, although it looked hilarious as four men instead of three women, especially the subtle hand movements and hip jerked, and Jun was laughing so hard he almost wet himself as he watched, Ohno completely into it with Aiba (who was singing quite loudly along with it), Sho who looked completely embarrassed and Nino who was… once again, adorable. Somewhere between focused on his work and striving to see Jun’s reactions.
Although he was the only one applauding when they were done, the sound echoed in the room, causing each of them to beam proudly back at him, obviously pleased with the feedback.
As they walked back to the table, the music still going, Sho placed his hand gently on Ohno’s lower back and smiled, blinking sleepily even though his counterpart looked more awake than when Jun had shown up in the first place.
“Well, I guess it’s time for the ‘after party,’” Nino smirked as he took up the seat next to Jun again, which had been previously occupied by Aiba (who didn’t seem to notice and sat on Nino’s other side, taking the final piece of sushi and finishing his beer with a loud gulp.
“Sorry we’re such old men,” Sho laughed back at him, wrapping his arm around Ohno when the principal leaned against him and closed his eyes.
“We going home Sho-chan?” he asked quietly, rubbing his face against the taller man’s chest and making Jun smile at how adorable that action was.
“Yes, Satoshi. Go get your things,” Sho quietly suggested, and Ohno managed to straighten up again with an airy look at him.
“’Kay,” he replied simply before automatically making his way back to the entrance and into the teacher’s room while Sho turned to the table and started cleaning up their mess.
The rest of them pitched in, Jun not saying anything about the obvious forbidden relationship going on between principal and vice principal (because it was so cute), and watching distractedly as Nino began collecting the still full cans of beer and slipping them into a box, the only one not completely destroyed in their earlier rush.
“After party at Jun’s!” he said suddenly, catching the look directed at him, and Jun stiffened. His place wasn’t fit for a party! was his first thought, quickly replaced by the fact that he didn’t want this night to end.
So that’s how they ended up there, in a room with no furniture except for a (probably moldy) futon that had been lent to him, a short table, and his four boxes. Sho and Ohno had retreated to their apartment upstairs, leaving the other three to do what they would.
They continued on with the beer, which wasn’t cold anymore so Jun put most of it in the fridge that also technically didn’t belong to him, and started on a slightly questionable conversation mostly revolving around Nino inquiring about Jun’s private life.
Jun tried to question back, but Nino was much more evasive than he was in his drunken state, and somehow they ended up on this:
“Have you ever kissed another man, Jun?” Nino slurred, leaning closer with half-lidded eyes, and Jun couldn’t look away as he shook his head.
Nino smiled cutely and mumbled good before planting a wet kiss on his lips, which Jun didn’t react to at all. He just continued staring at him, even when he backed away.
“Haha, got your first-“ he paused to hiccup, “Gay kiss.”
Then he was tackled to the floor and Aiba was kissing him too while Nino laughed, loud and uninhibited.
“Got your second one!” he added happily before he tried to push himself up again (unable to do so very well because of his awkward position and less than sober brain).
+++
A/N: First want to emphasize that this is all fiction. Although I said it was based on some of my experiences, that means essentially about the Japanese school system, atmosphere, and the fact that having a one person school is actually quite possible. Most of this is just made up, as any fanfiction is. If you'd like any clarification, I'd be happy to explain more.
Okay, now, I've been hankering for creepy!Nino/creeped out!Jun after reading through the fanfiction awards, and decided to write this when it started becoming something more than just random daydreaming. I haven't finished it, which is rare because usually I finish something completely before I start posting it for fear of never completing it and making you guys hate me (see also: that epilogue to Paint, Film, and Stuffed Animals). But on the up side, the overall storyline is pretty loose, sort of something that I can come back to later if I feel like it and add more...? Or can finish when I want to...?
Anyway, I'd love to hear your opinion on this. Also, I'm finally back to work on Monday...! Although I technically only have one full month left until I'm (potentially) moving...! D:
One more thing: Still got a contest event going on! If you haven't left a word prompt yet, hurry up and do so! And if you want to contribute something to the first contest, I'd love you...! <3
Rating: PG13-ish
Pairing: Jun/Nino (side Sho/Ohno)
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: The adventures of Jun, a new teacher at a tiny school, as he tries deal with his coworkers-- specifically one socially awkward creep that he can't seem to get off his mind.
Notes: Not betaed, I apologize. Also not related to anything I've previously written and the universe is very very loosely based off of my own experiences at Japanese schools.
The Beginning
“This is it,” Matsuoka said as they finally pulled out of dense forest and into… slightly less dense forest. Jun was seated in the passenger’s seat of the compact car, the enthusiasm that he had felt several hours ago bubbling back up inside of him as he leaned forward trying to get a view of… anything.
“What is it? There’s nothing here,” he said patiently.
“There’s a house,” the other man replied, pointing to their left, and indeed behind some trees a roof could be seen.
Jun decided not to complain and instead took in everything he could about this place that was going to be his home for the next year (or possibly more, it was too early to be making that decision). He had just entered society as a full time worker, and although he knew his first teaching job would be the very bottom rung, he was just happy for the opportunity and ready to prove himself to his new boss and coworkers. Immediately.
Matsuoka, the only person from the board of education willing enough to cart him all the way out here along with a few boxes of things that he needed while he waited for his other belongings to arrive from his parents’ house, seemed to be enjoying the (long) drive, and whistled along with the stereo as they passed the next house, which was several minutes away from the first.
Apparently there was one grocery store and a drug store too, both locally owned, as well as an elementary and junior high school of course.
That was about all, other than the sparse houses (all of which Jun could count without using all ten fingers). He was a little surprised (because although he knew it was small, this was just too much), but still brimming with motivation and curiosity.
They pulled into the junior high school parking lot (really just an expanse of dirt), and Jun took in his new workplace-home (quite literally as the teacher’s apartments were only a car’s length away from the small building). It was nice, although more of a moderately-sized log cabin than anything like a school.
“Better introduce you to the other teachers first,” Matsuoka grinned, putting the car into park and climbing out himself, leaving his suit jacket draped over the middle seat, although Jun straightened up everything he could of his own, his suit intact in order to make sure he left a good first impression.
Together they walked inside and Jun admired the entranceway, adorned with pictures and projects made by past students, as well as more trophies and awards than he thought reasonable for such a small place, all carefully dusted and displayed in order to be the most pleasing to the eye.
Jun smiled.
The school year still hadn’t started yet, but the other teachers were there, and so they made their way to the small faculty room with a hand carved sign over the door, even though it was obvious what the room was through the large window set in the wall in front of it.
He was met with three (barely) mildly surprised faces as he was introduced, and although he bowed deeply and held himself proudly, the reaction was unimpressed expressions (although one was grinning so widely he couldn’t have been anything but excited).
“Ah, the fresh meat is here,” the smallest one grinned and Jun’s eyes shot to him, not at all liking the way his lips curved so mischievously.
“His name is Matsumoto, Nino, don’t be rude,” another one said lightly, attempting to offer Jun a consoling smile, and Jun swallowed a bit, trying not to be too nervous. They were certainly acting very laid back, even though this was probably one of the most exciting things that had happened here… well, since the teacher Jun was replacing left, he assumed.
“That’s right. I’m Matsumoto Jun! Nice to meet you!” He bowed again for good measure, drawing a laugh from the last teacher.
“No need to be so uptight Jun-chan,” said the grinning man, and he stood from his small-ish desk. “I’ll make some tea, okay?”
“Uhm… thank you?” he replied cautiously as the man took off into the mini side kitchen, then turned to Matsuoka, who was motioning towards the closed door leading to the principal’s office, and another teacher-the more mature one-stood with a slight bob of his head, stopping them for a second before going in himself.
Although he tried to close the door after himself, it was left open just a bit, enough for Jun to see that the principal was sleeping in his oversized chair, and that the other man was ever so gently waking him up, leaning down to whisper in his ear and touching his face gently as his eyes opened.
Jun looked away with a red face and his stare immediately fell on the smirking lips of that teacher left behind, who was watching him with a knowing gaze.
It seemed like he wanted to say something, but his brown eyes flickered to Matsuoka, who had wandered over to the window on the other side of the room, which led to a view of the beautiful mountains across the road that they had driven in on, and he didn’t.
A few seconds later the other man opened the door again and smiled in apology. “Sato-I mean, Principal Ohno is ready to see you.”
“Thanks Sho, we’ll just be a minute. Then I’ll leave this guy in your hands,” he replied with a wink and Jun felt himself begin to sweat, wondering how many of these people were just using him for their own ends… oh well, he had to start somewhere, right? He didn’t mind if this job was going to led him to something better, and besides, he needed the work experience no matter what.
They walked into the principal’s office, which was almost the same size as the teacher’s room, and Jun bowed to the small-very tan-man before taking a seat on the couch as directed. Matsuoka sat next to him, and right after the principal-Ohno?-was across from them on a plush chair, the giggling man came in with a tray and three cups of green tea.
“Thanks Aiba-chan,” Ohno said sleepily and Jun was just a little ashamed at the man’s lack of tact.
“No problem Oh-chan, I mean Mr. Principal,” he continued to grin and then backed out of the room with a wave to Jun…which he found himself returning before he could stop himself.
Matsuoka introduced him again.
“This is Jun, your new Japanese slash music teacher.”
“W-music?” Jun whispered to him, because he was certified in Japanese and Japanese only.
“You said you could sing, right?” Matsuoka replied nonchalantly, not bothering to lower his voice, and Ohno looked amused but not surprised.
“Nice to meet you,” he said with a gentle smile and Jun forced one in return, vowing to figure things out later. “We all teach two subjects here,” he continued kindly, and Jun calmed down a little. “Because it’s a small school, so we can’t afford too many teachers, you know?”
Jun knew, although he would have liked a bit of warning first. But at least he could read music, even if he probably wasn’t very good at singing (and in fact had only said so to make a good impression).
“Anyway, I’ve got another appointment-a lunch appointment,” Matsuoka grinned at Ohno, who seemed to understand what that meant (probably just goofing off before he actually got back to the board of education office), “So let’s make this short.”
He took a sip of his tea without even waiting for Ohno to offer it to him and Jun was a little ashamed again, hoping that his bad manners weren’t going to affect Jun’s impression too.
But Ohno seemed like he was expecting as much and motioned to Jun’s own tea with a sparkle in his eyes, as if he was teasing him for being too strict about all of this.
It was bitter, but just the consistency that Jun liked and he almost smiled but stopped himself because he should be getting upset now, not allowing these people to walk all over him and treat him like… like he didn’t know anything!!
While Jun was too busy trying to figure out what was going on, the other two finished the paperwork in a few minutes and Matsuoka only gave a quick greeting to the others as he left the office, Jun stunned with Ohno patting his back gently, the two of them half standing in Ohno’s private workspace and half in the teacher’s as they watched him go.
There was dead silence for a minute as Jun looked around at his new “family,” feeling more like he’d fallen into a den of lions.
Except Ohno certainly seemed like a nice boss for a lion.
He patted him again and said, “They all know about you, but let me introduce you to everyone else.” Jun wanted to know how and what they knew about him, but the words died on his lips, too interested in knowing about his coworkers in return.
First he pointed to the mature one, whose desk was covered in papers almost as bad as any salaried worker in Tokyo… although he looked much less over-worked than one.
“That’s Sho-chan. He teaches English and is my vice principal. Ask him if you need help or anything, okay?” he started with a dazed grin at the said man, and Sho smiled back with his own lazy smile, nodding his head at Ohno and then speaking to Jun.
“I’ll do what I can. After we’re done let’s go to your apartment, okay? Matsuoka’s probably unloading all of your stuff onto the doorstep now,” he chuckled, and although Jun didn’t like that image, he couldn’t help but laugh… just a bit.
“Next is Aiba-chan,” Ohno continued, pointing at the chipper man who made perfect tea. “He teaches Science and P.E.” His desk was considerably less cluttered, and he was staring at Jun himself with dreamy eyes, waving again without saying anything else.
“And then Nino.”
The smirky man saluted-actually saluted-while leaning back in his chair and looking somewhere between completely interested and trying not to be.
Ohno tugged on his arm lightly, so Jun turned to him, bending over just a little so that Ohno could whisper in his ear, even though he could probably be heard by the rest of the room anyway, “Don’t be too surprised if he knows a lot about you… we have a lot of free time here and he was excited to hear you were younger than him… he tends to be on the internet a lot, so he found your profile on that social networking website-“
Jun immediately turned to the man called Nino, who was glaring at the principal but looked away as soon as Jun looked at him, and pretended to not be listening to their conversation.
“Anyway, he’s the math and computer science teacher,” he said to the rest of the room and everyone turned to look at Nino, who was frowning at his notebook on his meticulously organized desk, playing with the spiral binding and acting… cutely shy.
“Don’t let him near your computer or he’ll hack it,” Aiba suddenly threw in with a throaty chuckle, and Nino basically jumped out of his chair to smack him on the head.
“Shut up! You deserved that!”
They bantered back and forth and Jun blinked at him, wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. This seemed more like a frat boy dorm room than a teacher’s lounge.
“Anyway, I teach everything else,” Ohno finished, patting Jun once again on the back before shrugging at his blank look. “You know, Art, Cooking, extracurricular activities…” Suddenly he smiled and looked somewhere past Jun’s shoulder, staring into space. “Me and Chinen are going fishing this year.”
“Chinen?” Jun asked blankly, turning to the other teachers when Ohno, still stuck in his daze, started back into his office, completely losing interest in the happenings of the room… probably returning to his mid-afternoon nap.
Nino had settled back into his seat, and although he still looked a bit upset, he answered Jun’s question without meeting his gaze.
“Chinen’s the sole student of this school. Better remember his name.”
“Wait… sole student?” Jun asked slowly, walking forward to lean over the bare desk that would no doubt belong to him by the end of the day, trying to get closer to Nino. “I thought there were three.”
Even three seemed like an impossibly small school, but this place was in the middle of nowhere… why did it still exist even now?
“The other two moved. Siblings,” Nino said curtly, finally meeting Jun’s eyes with a serious expression for the first time… except that it slipped into amusement again only a few seconds later. “Ah, they didn’t tell you did they? How tiny this place is? But don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. We carpool to the next town over for groceries.”
Jun’s eyes were wide. He had expected this, although even his lowest expectations… seemed like he was hoping for too much now.
Nino continued to smile lightly, resting his head heavily on his palm as if he was enjoying Jun’s pain.
“Actually, this is the worst it’s been,” Aiba added helpfully, scooting his chair a little closer to Nino’s, although he was pushed back when he crossed the line between their desks (the rejection didn’t seem to faze the P.E. teacher in the least). “We didn’t expect to lose Utako-chan and Hiroshi-kun this year… but there are some sixth graders, so next year we’ll have more students… and maybe someone will move here,” he added enthusiastically with a wide smile and Jun wondered if he actually thought that was possible.
Nino beat him to it.
“Are you an idiot? No one comes here,” he finally dropped his pose to bop Aiba on the head again.
“Jun-chan came here!”
Was he ‘chan’ already?
“Because he had to, duh!”
“I’m sure he’ll like it once he gets settled in,” Aiba started again with bright eyes, and before he could be forced to say something nice about this place that had basically flipped his life over, Sho broke in gently.
“Let’s take care of your stuff, shall we?”
“Sure,” Jun replied somewhat dejectedly, sulking as he automatically followed Sho out the door, lost in his own thoughts.
+++
It turned out all of them lived in the teacher’s dorms, as well as two female teachers from the elementary school (which was a brisk five minutes’ walk away), three apartments each per floor, of which there were two.
Jun’s apartment, obviously, was in the middle on the bottom floor, where his four boxes had been piled (Matsuoka’s car was nowhere in sight), and after a short explanation from Sho, he found out that his neighbors were Nino and Aiba on either side, and that two women were upstairs.
Since the last apartment was left vague on purpose, as Sho unlocked the front door and began picking up boxes, Jun couldn’t help but ask, drawing a deep blush from the otherwise completely composed man.
“Oh. I share it with Sato-Principal Ohno.”
Jun didn’t ask more than that, as he had his suspicions already.
Sho graciously helped him unpack a few things and checked the electricity and water, suggesting that Jun come back to the school when he felt like it because they would have a small welcome party for him there (since there was no restaurant within an hour’s drive), and Jun could only nod dumbly.
Because he didn’t feel like unpacking anymore (and there wasn’t much to anyway) he ended up talking to his mom on the phone for an hour, ranting about his new situation and listening to her good advice about making friends and taking advantage of the relaxing atmosphere, then pulled out his computer and checked his email before getting restless and heading back to the school before five.
Sho met him with a smile, and Ohno was out of his office, enjoying a cup of coffee at the tidy desk next to Sho’s, obviously designated for his use should he feel like it (and partially covered in Sho’s papers).
“Ah, Matsumoto-san, I’m glad you came back. If you want to look around the school, feel free.”
“Oh! I’ll give him a tour!!” Aiba suddenly volunteered, shooting up from his desk where he had been leisurely sipping at his own cup, apparently having nothing to do (which Jun didn’t find unusual, since it was still summer break and all).
“Thank you, Aiba-san,” he replied with a slight bow, actually eager to see the school, completely over his initial depression after talking to his mother, and maybe he could ask some questions too.
“Oh, you can call me Aiba-chan-everyone does!” came the chipper reply, and Jun couldn’t help but smile a bit, even if he thought teachers should be shown respect in every situation.
“I’ll come too,” the computer teacher threw in, his tone obviously bored, and he stood with the same feeling, like he was only participating because it was at least something to get him away from his desk. “Everyone calls me Nino, by the way. Not Nino-chan,” he said pointedly, looking at Aiba with what Jun supposed was a glare.
“Have a good time,” Ohno suddenly threw in with a small wave, smiling wide enough that his eyes crinkled shut and Jun’s cute meter went off the wall. He had a huge weakness for cute things, even if most people were surprised by that admission… not that he admitted it much.
Without being able to help himself, he smiled back and followed the other two out of the teacher’s room.
“Well, first here’s the gym,” Aiba said as he started towards a door on the right, eventually dragging them all the way across the waxed floor to show Jun where they kept the sports equipment and explaining that, although he was the official teacher, the others often showed up for class, not only so the kids would have extra people to play against, but also because most of the time they wanted the time away from their desk… which Jun was already not really looking forward to by the sound of it.
After a talk about what sports Jun could play (not necessarily what he liked) with a lot of snide comments from Nino, they made their way back into the main reception area, which connected all the rooms together. Next was the lunch room, right next to the gym, and then across the building to the art/kitchen/workshop/general purpose room, which was full of calligraphy, self portraits, and even a few very nice framed pieces.
Jun stared.
“Oh-chan made those,” Aiba explained. “He was an artist in Tokyo before he was principal here.”
His eyes widened a bit as he took in the details of one particular piece, in the style of graffiti, which was really popular right now-Jun should know since he loved going to Tokyo and especially loved seeing artwork there, the newest, freshest, and most controversial.
“Why did he move here?” he asked incredulously under his breath, and Nino chuckled before answering him-surprisingly lacking his earlier sarcasm.
“He likes it. Sort of country bumpkin at heart, I guess. His hobbies are fishing, which there is plenty of here, and art, which he can do anywhere.”
Jun couldn’t wrap his head around that… obviously Ohno had some talent, so why wasn’t he pushing his full potential?
“Oh, if that’s bad, wait ‘til you hear about Sho,” Nino started next, leaning against Jun’s back to look at the picture with him, and Jun didn’t push him off because he really wanted to know. “Graduate of Keio university, worked as a newscaster for two years before-bam, out of the blue Ohno decides he wants to move to the country and Sho can’t say no to him.”
“Wait, they knew each other before they moved?” Jun turned around to look at Nino in surprise and the smaller man just rolled his eyes, assuming Jun would have guessed the answer already.
“More than knew each other. Let’s just say we give them plenty of alone time in Oh-chan’s office.”
Jun’s eyes widened again at the implication of inappropriate things at school, and Nino winked at him cutely before starting for the door again, pulling Aiba out of his daze (he had been fixing a drawing that had been hanging on the board by a magnet, and Jun looked at it quizzically, not really making out what it was… maybe a monkey?) and they started off again, Jun wondering what was so magical about this school to make two amazing men stay here.
“What about you guys? How’d you get here?”
Aiba raised his eyebrow questioningly, like he didn’t know what Jun meant, then shrugged while Nino kept his mouth shut and dodged the subject.
Jun huffed, but followed as they started up the open flight of stairs in the middle of the room, going to the second floor.
“These are the classrooms,” Aiba explained, pointing to the four rooms that were facing now, the hallway leading to them more of a balcony, opening to the room below them over a high metal rail, and the top half of walls here were made of glass too, so that you could see into each of them from the hallway, and all the way to the other side, where the mountain greenery was shining through. “That one’s the computer lab,” he started, although Jun thought that a room should have more than three computers (laptops at that) to be considered a “lab,” but he didn’t say as much. “Since there’s only Chinen in 9th grade this year, Sho’s converted one to an English room, and the other is just going to be free… unless you want to do something with it?” Aiba ended hopefully, but Jun simply looked at him blankly.
“We could make it a music room?” he suggested after a second, and Aiba’s face lit up instantly.
“Yeah! We can move the electric piano up here-“
“Actually, I can’t really play the piano,” Jun admitted with a sour expression, looking down.
“I can,” Nino threw in nonchalantly and Jun glared at him.
“Why don’t you teach music, then?”
Nino smiled in a fakely pleasant manner and replied, “I already teach two subjects.”
Jun rolled his eyes. “You probably sing better than me too.”
“Probably.”
Jun shot him a look and stomped off to the classrooms to see what he was being given to work with.
By the time they made it back down to the teacher’s room, almost an hour later, Jun was feeling pretty motivated again, ideas running through his head (and although he didn’t ever intend to be a music teacher, at least it was a fun subject). From what Aiba had said, Chinen was a good kid, so instead he focused his attention from motivating his student (it was weird to think that in the singular form, even if it was only in his head) to creating interesting lessons.
“Ah, Jun-kun,” Sho said with a smile, the two other teachers still in the same positions as before, only Ohno was using his desk as an art station instead, a piece of paper on top of it with an already mostly finished sketch. “I hope these two did a proper job of showing you around.”
It was different looking at the man, now that he knew he was incredibly smart and incredibly in love, and the same with Ohno too… only somehow the thought that he was rather lazy too still remained.
Jun was unable to respond and it didn’t seem like the other two were going to defend themselves, automatically heading for their desks.
“That one’s yours,” Sho explained after a second, pointing to the desk across from Nino, and Jun nodded before sitting down there, barely catching Nino’s eye. He was smirking again, although not as pronouncedly as earlier.
And Nino kept staring at him, even after Jun met his gaze.
Jun wasn’t exactly the type of guy to get flustered easily, especially not by a pipsqueak that had a mouth too big for his own good, but there was something about that unwavering gaze that just rubbed him wrongly, and after a few seconds he had to look away.
Nino was still staring at him, but he distracted himself by looking around the room at the generic school posters, time schedule, and the blackboard that had the special events for the day written out.
Immediately his eyes were drawn to the corner of the board where a note was written out in precise handwriting.
Jun’s cellphone number. Don’t forget it!
Around the note was a word bubble and a face drawn in a different color chalk, a caricature of what was obviously Nino because of the mole on his chin, and around that was a variety of other doodles, sparkles and words and hearts, and Jun froze as he looked at it.
His number was actually written out. Not his usual number… no. It was his new number, the one that he had to get three days ago because only one company covered this isolated area and therefore he had no choice but to change.
“How the hell did you get that?” he asked with wide eyes, looking at Nino, because even if he had searched his name online, hacked into his social networking account, and even his e-mail, there was no way Nino could have managed to find something so personal so fast.
His smirk widened mysteriously and he just continued to stare at Jun… creepily.
“Oh, that’s because of Nino’s other job,” Aiba started helpfully before Nino’s face scrunched up in annoyance and he threw himself at his coworker.
“Shut up! You were supposed to wait until he was properly freaked out!”
Aiba just laughed and Sho, with a calm smile, leaned a little over Ohno’s desk, which was between him and Jun, and continued. “Nino works for the phone company as online support. He was stalking the data base for a full week waiting for you to get a new phone.”
“Why is everyone against me?!” Nino spat out in exasperation, falling back into his own chair and sighing to the ceiling.
“If it makes you feel any better, I really am freaked out,” Jun said in an almost incredulous voice, and that earned him a smile from Nino-an actual smile instead of a smirk.
It was cute.
Jun felt his heart speed up exponentially but luckily enough he was saved by a ringing bell, which brought Sho out of his seat and to an intercom.
“Sho, dear, I brought by the sushi and beer you asked me for,” said an elderly woman’s voice as soon as Sho had inquired about the visitor (obviously he was expecting her).
“Thank you Mrs. Aiba, I’ll come right out with the money,” he replied promptly, then ended the call and pulled a tin box that had been sitting on his desk into his hand, counting out several bills that were inside.
Jun looked at Nino curiously out of habit, then realized the math teacher was on the verge of being a stalker, so he turned to Aiba instead.
“It’s for your welcome party! My grandma made some sushi and bought the beer from the store so none of us had to leave.”
“Not that any of us were willing,” Nino said under his breath, and Aiba just laughed at him.
“You would have finished half the beer before you got back here!”
“At least then we won’t have to pay your family-“
“Hey, you know it’s just because none of us can cook in the first place,” Aiba chuckled, standing up and ready to follow Sho out the door to help, but paused when he noticed Nino, who was staring at Jun happily again with a calculating expression, eyes narrowed.
“But Jun can, so let’s have him do it from now on.”
Jun tried not to be too upset at that comment. Since he had moved away from home he had been proud of his advances in cooking and even enjoyed it most of the time, often posting about it on his blog or sending pictures to his friends and family, which is obviously why Nino knew. And, actually, as long as he wasn’t expected to pay for the supplies himself, he probably wouldn’t mind cooking for this small group.
“Should I pitch in…?” he asked unsurely, catching Aiba before he went out the door and ignoring Nino’s comment (he had a feeling he’d be doing that a lot in the next few weeks). The tin box was obviously a collection from the rest of them to pay for whatever they had ordered for the party, if Jun was properly reading Nino’s complaining.
“Of course not! It’s your party,” Aiba replied happily, but Nino shrugged and added, “But you can if you want.”
Without saying anything Ohno also got up to follow the other two teachers to the front of the school to collect the delivery, and because Jun didn’t want to be left alone with his awkward stalker, he did the same (even though Nino trailed just a few feet behind him anyway).
As they got there, Aiba was trying to convince the woman to come inside for a cup of green tea while Ohno started unpacking the small metal cart parked next to her in the doorway. He handed a large covered platter to Jun, then started on the six packs of beer, of which there were five… One for each? That was a lot, though.
“Oh don’t you worry about this old woman, honey.”
“Come on, grandma,” Aiba continued to prod as Sho gave her the money, “I’ll introduce you to Jun!”
“This young whippersnapper?” she asked, looking at Jun beadily, and he nodded at her in return, barely able to understand what she said through her heavy accent.
“That’s right, but don’t you want to talk to him? He used to live in the city.”
“No thanks, Masaki honey. Need to get back home and start on dinner.”
She folded the bills without counting them and stuffed them into her sash before taking the emptied cart and slowly heading out the door with uneven steps.
Well, that explained why Aiba was here. Because of his family.
They all threw out thank you as she finally disappeared, and Sho shook his head with a small smile. “She brought too much again.”
“It’s fine!” Nino laughed, holding two packs of beer in his hands, “Enough to last ‘til the weekend.”
They set up their party in the small lunch room at one of the two lines of tables, and Jun’s stomach growled as soon as they uncovered the oversized platter of handmade sushi, and it was only then that he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast (which had been a burnt piece of toast and coffee).
Without any delay they broke up the beers too and started eating, obviously not worried about anyone else coming to the school, or even calling, and although that rubbed Jun the wrong way on so many levels, he forgot about his annoyance as soon as he had that first swallow of freezing beer.
After they had gotten a good head start on the eating part, Sho prodded Ohno into giving an opening speech for their party (which consisted of a vague poem about the mountains and fishing and a toast to Jun), and Jun had to introduce himself again.
“Tell us about school,” Sho prompted after Jun had finished his usual boring name, age, and goals in life, and Jun stood sat awkwardly as the rest of them starting throwing out their own suggestions.
“No, about the city!”
“I want to hear about your hobbies,” Ohno threw in softly before being over taken by Nino’s request for his sex history.
Jun ignored him, as did the rest (although Aiba mumbled something about him being worse than usual), and reached for another piece of sushi before following a tangent of his family, love of cooking, and lack of any other talents.
They had all had at least one full beer by then, so Jun’s unrestrained rambling was met with a series of loud objections, the more pronounced of which was Nino’s argument of but you’re so hot!
With a smile and feeling closer to these guys already, Jun hugged Ohno on a whim, creating a chain reaction and getting mobbed himself.
If that wasn’t bad enough, an hour later when most of the food was gone (although it was so much) and almost as much beer, Aiba pulled out his favorite idol CD and started singing karoke (although it wasn’t really karoke) and Ohno joined him in a synchronized dance after the first song was over.
“Sho-chan, come on!” he giggled, trying to pull the vice principal up to the front with them. “We can do that one we learned last year for the cultural festival for Jun!”
It took a few seconds for someone to realize that Nino was missing from their formation (he was looking inconspicuous by sitting next to Jun and mimicking his anticipatory expression), and it took Jun’s own prompting to get him up there.
But they did the choreography perfectly, although it looked hilarious as four men instead of three women, especially the subtle hand movements and hip jerked, and Jun was laughing so hard he almost wet himself as he watched, Ohno completely into it with Aiba (who was singing quite loudly along with it), Sho who looked completely embarrassed and Nino who was… once again, adorable. Somewhere between focused on his work and striving to see Jun’s reactions.
Although he was the only one applauding when they were done, the sound echoed in the room, causing each of them to beam proudly back at him, obviously pleased with the feedback.
As they walked back to the table, the music still going, Sho placed his hand gently on Ohno’s lower back and smiled, blinking sleepily even though his counterpart looked more awake than when Jun had shown up in the first place.
“Well, I guess it’s time for the ‘after party,’” Nino smirked as he took up the seat next to Jun again, which had been previously occupied by Aiba (who didn’t seem to notice and sat on Nino’s other side, taking the final piece of sushi and finishing his beer with a loud gulp.
“Sorry we’re such old men,” Sho laughed back at him, wrapping his arm around Ohno when the principal leaned against him and closed his eyes.
“We going home Sho-chan?” he asked quietly, rubbing his face against the taller man’s chest and making Jun smile at how adorable that action was.
“Yes, Satoshi. Go get your things,” Sho quietly suggested, and Ohno managed to straighten up again with an airy look at him.
“’Kay,” he replied simply before automatically making his way back to the entrance and into the teacher’s room while Sho turned to the table and started cleaning up their mess.
The rest of them pitched in, Jun not saying anything about the obvious forbidden relationship going on between principal and vice principal (because it was so cute), and watching distractedly as Nino began collecting the still full cans of beer and slipping them into a box, the only one not completely destroyed in their earlier rush.
“After party at Jun’s!” he said suddenly, catching the look directed at him, and Jun stiffened. His place wasn’t fit for a party! was his first thought, quickly replaced by the fact that he didn’t want this night to end.
So that’s how they ended up there, in a room with no furniture except for a (probably moldy) futon that had been lent to him, a short table, and his four boxes. Sho and Ohno had retreated to their apartment upstairs, leaving the other three to do what they would.
They continued on with the beer, which wasn’t cold anymore so Jun put most of it in the fridge that also technically didn’t belong to him, and started on a slightly questionable conversation mostly revolving around Nino inquiring about Jun’s private life.
Jun tried to question back, but Nino was much more evasive than he was in his drunken state, and somehow they ended up on this:
“Have you ever kissed another man, Jun?” Nino slurred, leaning closer with half-lidded eyes, and Jun couldn’t look away as he shook his head.
Nino smiled cutely and mumbled good before planting a wet kiss on his lips, which Jun didn’t react to at all. He just continued staring at him, even when he backed away.
“Haha, got your first-“ he paused to hiccup, “Gay kiss.”
Then he was tackled to the floor and Aiba was kissing him too while Nino laughed, loud and uninhibited.
“Got your second one!” he added happily before he tried to push himself up again (unable to do so very well because of his awkward position and less than sober brain).
+++
A/N: First want to emphasize that this is all fiction. Although I said it was based on some of my experiences, that means essentially about the Japanese school system, atmosphere, and the fact that having a one person school is actually quite possible. Most of this is just made up, as any fanfiction is. If you'd like any clarification, I'd be happy to explain more.
Okay, now, I've been hankering for creepy!Nino/creeped out!Jun after reading through the fanfiction awards, and decided to write this when it started becoming something more than just random daydreaming. I haven't finished it, which is rare because usually I finish something completely before I start posting it for fear of never completing it and making you guys hate me (see also: that epilogue to Paint, Film, and Stuffed Animals). But on the up side, the overall storyline is pretty loose, sort of something that I can come back to later if I feel like it and add more...? Or can finish when I want to...?
Anyway, I'd love to hear your opinion on this. Also, I'm finally back to work on Monday...! Although I technically only have one full month left until I'm (potentially) moving...! D:
One more thing: Still got a contest event going on! If you haven't left a word prompt yet, hurry up and do so! And if you want to contribute something to the first contest, I'd love you...! <3