Smile Again
Title: Smile Again
Rating: barely R
Pairing: Aiba/Ohno
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: For some reason, Aiba has kind of lost his trademark smile, and Ohno is determined to find out why.
Notes: Prompt for yukichan-tb's Celebration Contest here!!! Set around 2009, possibly OOC-ness?
Recently something had happened to Aiba.
It progressed over a few months, and it was subtle, subtle enough Ohno imagined that no one else noticed, at least not in the way that he did. They probably thought that Aiba was tired or overworked, or that he was getting sick or something.
But Ohno knew the difference.
It was in the way he smiled.
Even when he was worn down, he always had the energy for that one grin when he bid them goodnight, or when he was sick, he still always laughed at Nino’s jokes even if it was more like a wheeze.
Recently, though, Aiba’s smiles were different.
There was the strained gratuitous smile, and the forced polite smile, and the I’m trying to let you know that nothing is wrong smile-that one irritated Leader the most.
In fact there was an entire array of them, but none of them were that smile, the one that made Ohno relax and want to smile back and feel like he could make it a few more hours even though he was dead on his feet.
Now when Aiba smiled, he didn’t look happy at all.
+++
Ohno decided to ask him about it.
After a location shoot that included several hours of driving, Sho and Nino in a separate van ahead of them, and Jun asleep on the middle seat, Ohno faced him slowly and reached over, making Aiba jump as he gently took his hand.
“Aiba-chan…” His voice was soft and he hoped it conveyed the fact that he wanted to help him.
“What is it Oh-chan?” Aiba’s eyes were opened wide with anxiety, and he scooted closer to him on the seat.
“Are you… okay?” He wasn’t sure what else to ask without making assumptions, and he really had no idea why Masaki was depressed. It was true that they worked hard, but today had been spent mostly in the car so none of them were particularly tired (except Jun who had stayed up the previous night for drama filming).
Actually Aiba looked surprised at the question, but he relaxed only slightly, still tense, and averted his eyes.
“Of course I’m okay!” he replied along with one of his uncomfortable tight-lipped smiles.
Ohno frowned at that and felt a twinge of irritation at Aiba thinking that would work on him.
And he continued to frown until Aiba glanced over, guilt filtering across his face before he sighed and dropped his head onto Ohno’s shoulder.
“I didn’t mean to worry you…” He turned slightly and brushed his nose against his throat in an additional apology, and Ohno finally relaxed a bit, slipping his free arm around Aiba’s torso. “I’m really okay, Oh-chan…” he insisted.
“Masaki…”
Then Aiba looked at him and smiled, really smiled, and kissed him lightly on the lips.
“I’m glad you care, though, Oh-chan. Thank you.”
And there wasn’t really much he could do to argue against that, so he only held Aiba as he snuggled up against him again and tried to calm his erratic heartbeat as they both settled in for their long trip home.
+++
Since then Aiba’s real smile hadn’t returned despite several filmings together, and Ohno knew that there was no way he could pry anything out of him unless he at least knew where to start.
And Ohno was worried enough that he didn’t mind a little leg work, so he went to his manager and asked for Aiba’s schedule. It wasn’t a weird request because he was the group Leader after all (and that power was abused more than most people imagined). The manager didn’t ask why, but he had a list of excuses anyway if he did.
There wasn’t anything amiss, though. Aiba wasn’t being overworked, but he wasn’t underworked either, just a solid schedule with enough time for him to get home for a decent night’s sleep, and a day off here and there. It wasn’t too rough altogether, since the sparse dramas Aiba had appeared in the last few years weren’t very demanding, so unlike Jun and Ohno himself in their current leading roles, he could go home almost every night.
Besides, he had the regular variety shows and filming with Shimura Ken’s animal program, and it was more than enough to keep him busy, but not exhausted.
So the problem wasn’t with that, Ohno thought.
He thanked his manager and decided he’d ask around about Aiba’s family. But if that had been the problem, he didn’t see why Aiba hadn’t told him when he had asked, and if it had been about Arashi, Aiba probably would have come to him first.
No, Ohno decided it was something personal, but that didn’t mean he was going to stop his investigation of everything else as well.
+++
Then he noticed when Aiba’s forced smile simply turned into a grimace.
It was while they were actually on air, Nino and Aiba “arguing” while the rest of them watched. It was supposed to be amusing, Nino teasing Aiba about being stupid and forgetting their dance steps which had caused him to mess up during their latest performance. It was a true story, although slightly embellished by Nino for the purpose of entertainment, and Aiba was fighting back just as weakly as he always did, basically letting the other man say whatever he wanted.
Only this time Aiba’s tight smile screamed shut up, and his eyes were flashing, and Ohno almost stepped in between them to prevent something from happening.
But Nino noticed too, or decided to back off, and he took a few steps closer to Sho, smoothly turning the conversation towards a mistake that the older man had made during the same performance and obviously ignoring Aiba.
Unsure what to do but sharing a quick look with Jun, Ohno came up behind Aiba slowly while the cameras were turned away.
Still upset, he turned to Leader as a form of cover even though he looked ashamed that he had to, and a little depressed. Nothing had happened, in fact Aiba’s facade had barely cracked at all, but something had changed inside of him, something had broken and Ohno desperately wanted to fix it.
“Aiba-chan?” he asked again with searching eyes, and received one of those painful forced smiles in return.
“I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath and turned back to Nino and Sho as the audience laughed at something they had said, and Ohno didn’t leave his side for the rest of the day.
+++
He had a guess now, so he planned his next move, the one that always worked with Aiba, especially when Ohno was the one to initiate such a thing.
The next day, when they both had a free night, they went to Ginza together, to a high class bar that Ohno knew his friend loved, probably because it was expensive, but didn’t require any formal wear.
They sat in the corner and drank the first round in silence. Aiba had a resigned air about him and there were no forced smiles or assurances that everything was fine, and he waited for Ohno to begin the conversation, which he did as soon as the bartender stepped out of hearing range.
“Masaki…” he said slowly, attacking mercilessly to get his way this time. “Something’s bothering you.”
Without a reaction, other than downing the shot that had been placed before him a minute ago, Aiba only stared at the counter, still looking ashamed and almost afraid.
So Ohno let the silence seep in a little deeper, holding his tequila in his hand loosely and focusing on it for a moment, before downing it himself and licking some salt off the rim of the glass.
“Is it because of Nino?” he started with, already knowing where the conversation would lead.
And as expected, Aiba’s head whipped around, his expression open for obvious interpretation.
“No! No, nothing like that!” He was horrified that Ohno would even suggest such a reason.
“Then the dance moves?” Leader continued picking out small things, things that would egg Aiba on, get him talking so he’d stop thinking about whatever was holding him back. “Making a mistake that was easily fixed?”
“No… Of course not…”
“Then what, Masaki? Getting criticized?”
“It’s… it’s not even that, really…”
There it was, the emotions finally bursting through the build up that had been trying to keep them at bay.
“I just… I can’t do anything, Leader. I’m not smart like Sho-chan, I mess up choreography, I can’t act… Everyone makes fun of me all the time. I know it’s supposed to be funny, but it only makes me feel stupid…”
Ohno motioned the bartender over for another round and their conversation lapsed as Aiba held his head in one hand and it gave them both a moment to think.
Then he said it, and Leader felt like he suddenly understood what the problem was although he couldn’t quite put it into words or thoughts, but it was there, tugging at his stomach a little painfully and begging for attention from him.
“And…Oh-chan,” Aiba explained in almost a whisper, staring at his alcohol. “Well, Oh-chan’s amazing.”
It wasn’t uncommon that the two of them had to compete against each other despite how close they were privately, because that’s just how Johnny’s-the entire entertainment industry-was. But Ohno realized everything now, overwhelmingly, and saw how much of a gap had widened between them over the last few years. (He had noticed the gap, felt the gap like it was swallowing him little by little but he never knew the reason behind it other than Aiba had moved on, had found something else, didn’t need him like he used to-but now he needed him again and Ohno couldn’t describe how relieved that made him feel inside.)
Finally in a decisive voice, Leader knew what he wanted to say.
“Aiba is Aiba. And we’re not Arashi without him.”
While he said it he watched the other man, watched how he raised his head and glanced over at him tentatively and looked a little stunned at the simple words. But the spark was back in his eyes and Ohno knew he had said something right, or had at least started to get there.
“None of us are as smart as Sho, first of all, and we all make mistakes in choreography-“
“Not as much as me, Oh-chan,” Aiba interrupted in a quiet voice and Ohno leaned closer to him and patted his head, feeling just a little drunk.
“Not as much as you, Aiba. But we also can’t laugh like you do or smile, or beam like the sun and steal people’s hearts with one look-“ he was rambling and he knew he was, but he couldn’t stop and Aiba was looking encouraged.
And he smiled. Small, barely a quirk to his lips, but he smiled for him, and replied, “I don’t beam like the sun.”
“Yes you do,” Ohno argued, but before he could continue, Aiba broke in again.
“And I’m not the only one that steals hearts with just a look.”
The meanings of those words were a little lost on Ohno, but Aiba was looking at him and he was close and he sort of wanted him-really wanted him, but they weren’t done yet.
“Besides, you’re cute when you’re stupid,” he said blankly, then felt himself flush a little and decided to correct those words a bit. “I mean, not to say that you’re stupid-“ Aiba was only amused now, inching closer by the second while Ohno lost control of his mouth, “You just do stupid things sometimes but I think it’s cute so you shouldn’t stop because I’m sure other people also think that-“
He finally shut up as Aiba pressed his mouth against his, the two of them barely hidden in their little corner of the dark bar, and Ohno wondered if this meant his talk had been a success or not.
It was left at that, a brief taste of Aiba’s sweet lips, but their bodies were still touching everywhere as Aiba leaned against him and confided in him the last part, the part that had been hidden from him all this time.
“I didn’t want Oh-chan to think I wasn’t good enough. I wanted Oh-chan to think I was cool and successful and that I was working hard and deserved my place in Arashi…”
Now Ohno really did think Aiba was stupid, because he already thought all of those things and a lot more.
He told him as much, and Aiba laughed his airy laugh and drunkenly leaned his head against Ohno’s chest.
“Nino was only trying to help you.” He felt like he needed to say this, because Ohno was sure the other members felt the same as he did, that Aiba just needed a little push in finding his niche in the entertainment industry, and a confidence boost as well, and actually what Nino had found was pretty golden. Even if Aiba didn’t like it, he was adorable floundering for answers and making mistakes and arguing with them over stupid things. “But you can fight back, you know. Nino won’t break,” he added with an amused thought of what would happen when Aiba actually started standing up for himself.
“Maybe I’ll do that…” he replied distractedly, then lifted his head to look at Ohno straight in the eyes. “Come home with me?”
It was an invitation for quite more than that, one that Leader had worried he would never get again after that gap between them had appeared.
“Okay,” he said slowly, and allowed Aiba to signal for their check.
+++
It had been a while, and Ohno hoped neither of them would regret their rash decision the next morning.
Aiba’s apartment was rather bare, since he went back to his parent’s house as often as he could, but there was enough, hints of life like clothing discarded on the floor, an empty ramen cup abandoned on the counter, and a small entertainment center for the TV--but Ohno didn’t particularly notice any of these slight changes until the next day.
What he did notice was the rough texture of Aiba’s fingers, and the comfortable used feeling of the futon on his back, and the sounds that he couldn’t stop from coming out of his mouth as Aiba undressed him and stared at him.
“Are you sure it’s okay?” he asked gently, collecting Ohno in his arms and kissing him on the neck, dragging his tongue along the curves there until he reached his ear and then sucking with the perfect technique to make Ohno’s chest burst with passion.
“Yes...”
And once he was inside of him, Ohno couldn’t get enough of that feeling, of being connected to the person he wanted the most right now. He clung to his back and moaned and then when Aiba slowed down, he knew what to do, knew what Aiba wanted to see.
They changed positions, and he rode him, Aiba’s grip tight on his hips and Ohno’s breath was coming in gasps as he watched the other man come completely undone for him, for the way he was surrounding him and taking him into the most intimate place he possibly could, and the way he was coming for him, for both of them caught somewhere between what they wanted and what they needed.
“Come inside of me… please,” he managed to get out in his euphoria, and sent Aiba over the edge too, his body jerking with overwhelming pleasure. Leader savored the feeling of knowing he had done that, he had made Masaki feel that good.
“Oh-chan…” he panted, pulling him down for another kiss and groping his ass obviously, pulling his cock out only to fill it with his fingers, savoring what they had just done.
“Masaki…?” he managed to get out in return when the fingers didn’t stop, and he moaned quietly as they teased him.
“One more time?”
+++
The next morning it seemed as though something had completely shifted, and after he managed to get out of bed and some painkillers into his stomach, Ohno decided to confront the changes head on instead of waiting.
Aiba appeared as if he had returned to his cheerful old self, and smiled brightly for him when Ohno wandered over.
“Oh-chan! I’m warming up some soup so just wait a minute, okay?”
When he turned to the microwave automatically, dazed (he would have been confused had he not been so sleepy), Aiba stepped up next to him and they watched it together for about three seconds before Aiba wrapped him in his arms slowly and kissed him on the nose.
“This is okay, right?” he asked quietly, and Ohno hugged him back, full of a warm content feeling.
“If it’s okay with you.”
“More than okay. I’ll keep trying hard, and even if I look stupid… If you’re there, if Arashi is there, I can do it.”
That made Ohno chuckle and he added for good measure, “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Better not.”
Omake
“Well, uh… the thing is…” Sho said nervously as he glanced between Aiba and Ohno, on edge ever since they had walked in, holding hands and looking on top of the world.
“Out with it already!” Jun prodded with a frown, tired of waiting for Sho and obviously knowing what was going on and dying to talk about it.
“Nino… he’s…”
Of course the last member wasn’t in the room, which wasn’t that unusual, but Masaki was sort of worried now.
“He feels really bad about making you upset…” Sho tried, looking at Jun for backup, but the younger man only motioned for him to hurry up. It wasn’t only Ohno who had seen Aiba’s change that day, but he had been the fastest, and probably the most effective at curing it.
“He’s threatening someone somewhere to get you a leading drama role,” Jun finally broke in, giving up on Sho’s more subtle tactics. “He thinks that will make up for it.”
Aiba blinked in surprised, not sure how he felt about having his own drama. It would be a lot of work, but good experience, and he could probably even make Nino help him, but…
“He could have just treated me to ramen,” he said his thoughts out loud, and both Jun and Sho sighed and shook their heads before turning away in exasperation.
But next to him, Ohno just smiled widely in amusement.
+++
A/N: First, not 100% satisfied with this, even after several revisions, so if you have any criticism, I'd love to hear it. Feel free to send me a PM if you'd prefer that.
Second, I'd sort of been wanting to write a slightly serious story with Aiba getting discouraged about his work in general, and the prompt yukichan-tb gave me fit that perfectly. Somehow I managed to finish it despite not being completely satisfied. Aiba is also not his happy happy self, which I imagine some fans would rather not read so I labeled it OOC.
I ended up getting sick, but somehow managed to make it through the week. More updates to come as I recover!!
Rating: barely R
Pairing: Aiba/Ohno
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: For some reason, Aiba has kind of lost his trademark smile, and Ohno is determined to find out why.
Notes: Prompt for yukichan-tb's Celebration Contest here!!! Set around 2009, possibly OOC-ness?
Recently something had happened to Aiba.
It progressed over a few months, and it was subtle, subtle enough Ohno imagined that no one else noticed, at least not in the way that he did. They probably thought that Aiba was tired or overworked, or that he was getting sick or something.
But Ohno knew the difference.
It was in the way he smiled.
Even when he was worn down, he always had the energy for that one grin when he bid them goodnight, or when he was sick, he still always laughed at Nino’s jokes even if it was more like a wheeze.
Recently, though, Aiba’s smiles were different.
There was the strained gratuitous smile, and the forced polite smile, and the I’m trying to let you know that nothing is wrong smile-that one irritated Leader the most.
In fact there was an entire array of them, but none of them were that smile, the one that made Ohno relax and want to smile back and feel like he could make it a few more hours even though he was dead on his feet.
Now when Aiba smiled, he didn’t look happy at all.
+++
Ohno decided to ask him about it.
After a location shoot that included several hours of driving, Sho and Nino in a separate van ahead of them, and Jun asleep on the middle seat, Ohno faced him slowly and reached over, making Aiba jump as he gently took his hand.
“Aiba-chan…” His voice was soft and he hoped it conveyed the fact that he wanted to help him.
“What is it Oh-chan?” Aiba’s eyes were opened wide with anxiety, and he scooted closer to him on the seat.
“Are you… okay?” He wasn’t sure what else to ask without making assumptions, and he really had no idea why Masaki was depressed. It was true that they worked hard, but today had been spent mostly in the car so none of them were particularly tired (except Jun who had stayed up the previous night for drama filming).
Actually Aiba looked surprised at the question, but he relaxed only slightly, still tense, and averted his eyes.
“Of course I’m okay!” he replied along with one of his uncomfortable tight-lipped smiles.
Ohno frowned at that and felt a twinge of irritation at Aiba thinking that would work on him.
And he continued to frown until Aiba glanced over, guilt filtering across his face before he sighed and dropped his head onto Ohno’s shoulder.
“I didn’t mean to worry you…” He turned slightly and brushed his nose against his throat in an additional apology, and Ohno finally relaxed a bit, slipping his free arm around Aiba’s torso. “I’m really okay, Oh-chan…” he insisted.
“Masaki…”
Then Aiba looked at him and smiled, really smiled, and kissed him lightly on the lips.
“I’m glad you care, though, Oh-chan. Thank you.”
And there wasn’t really much he could do to argue against that, so he only held Aiba as he snuggled up against him again and tried to calm his erratic heartbeat as they both settled in for their long trip home.
+++
Since then Aiba’s real smile hadn’t returned despite several filmings together, and Ohno knew that there was no way he could pry anything out of him unless he at least knew where to start.
And Ohno was worried enough that he didn’t mind a little leg work, so he went to his manager and asked for Aiba’s schedule. It wasn’t a weird request because he was the group Leader after all (and that power was abused more than most people imagined). The manager didn’t ask why, but he had a list of excuses anyway if he did.
There wasn’t anything amiss, though. Aiba wasn’t being overworked, but he wasn’t underworked either, just a solid schedule with enough time for him to get home for a decent night’s sleep, and a day off here and there. It wasn’t too rough altogether, since the sparse dramas Aiba had appeared in the last few years weren’t very demanding, so unlike Jun and Ohno himself in their current leading roles, he could go home almost every night.
Besides, he had the regular variety shows and filming with Shimura Ken’s animal program, and it was more than enough to keep him busy, but not exhausted.
So the problem wasn’t with that, Ohno thought.
He thanked his manager and decided he’d ask around about Aiba’s family. But if that had been the problem, he didn’t see why Aiba hadn’t told him when he had asked, and if it had been about Arashi, Aiba probably would have come to him first.
No, Ohno decided it was something personal, but that didn’t mean he was going to stop his investigation of everything else as well.
+++
Then he noticed when Aiba’s forced smile simply turned into a grimace.
It was while they were actually on air, Nino and Aiba “arguing” while the rest of them watched. It was supposed to be amusing, Nino teasing Aiba about being stupid and forgetting their dance steps which had caused him to mess up during their latest performance. It was a true story, although slightly embellished by Nino for the purpose of entertainment, and Aiba was fighting back just as weakly as he always did, basically letting the other man say whatever he wanted.
Only this time Aiba’s tight smile screamed shut up, and his eyes were flashing, and Ohno almost stepped in between them to prevent something from happening.
But Nino noticed too, or decided to back off, and he took a few steps closer to Sho, smoothly turning the conversation towards a mistake that the older man had made during the same performance and obviously ignoring Aiba.
Unsure what to do but sharing a quick look with Jun, Ohno came up behind Aiba slowly while the cameras were turned away.
Still upset, he turned to Leader as a form of cover even though he looked ashamed that he had to, and a little depressed. Nothing had happened, in fact Aiba’s facade had barely cracked at all, but something had changed inside of him, something had broken and Ohno desperately wanted to fix it.
“Aiba-chan?” he asked again with searching eyes, and received one of those painful forced smiles in return.
“I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath and turned back to Nino and Sho as the audience laughed at something they had said, and Ohno didn’t leave his side for the rest of the day.
+++
He had a guess now, so he planned his next move, the one that always worked with Aiba, especially when Ohno was the one to initiate such a thing.
The next day, when they both had a free night, they went to Ginza together, to a high class bar that Ohno knew his friend loved, probably because it was expensive, but didn’t require any formal wear.
They sat in the corner and drank the first round in silence. Aiba had a resigned air about him and there were no forced smiles or assurances that everything was fine, and he waited for Ohno to begin the conversation, which he did as soon as the bartender stepped out of hearing range.
“Masaki…” he said slowly, attacking mercilessly to get his way this time. “Something’s bothering you.”
Without a reaction, other than downing the shot that had been placed before him a minute ago, Aiba only stared at the counter, still looking ashamed and almost afraid.
So Ohno let the silence seep in a little deeper, holding his tequila in his hand loosely and focusing on it for a moment, before downing it himself and licking some salt off the rim of the glass.
“Is it because of Nino?” he started with, already knowing where the conversation would lead.
And as expected, Aiba’s head whipped around, his expression open for obvious interpretation.
“No! No, nothing like that!” He was horrified that Ohno would even suggest such a reason.
“Then the dance moves?” Leader continued picking out small things, things that would egg Aiba on, get him talking so he’d stop thinking about whatever was holding him back. “Making a mistake that was easily fixed?”
“No… Of course not…”
“Then what, Masaki? Getting criticized?”
“It’s… it’s not even that, really…”
There it was, the emotions finally bursting through the build up that had been trying to keep them at bay.
“I just… I can’t do anything, Leader. I’m not smart like Sho-chan, I mess up choreography, I can’t act… Everyone makes fun of me all the time. I know it’s supposed to be funny, but it only makes me feel stupid…”
Ohno motioned the bartender over for another round and their conversation lapsed as Aiba held his head in one hand and it gave them both a moment to think.
Then he said it, and Leader felt like he suddenly understood what the problem was although he couldn’t quite put it into words or thoughts, but it was there, tugging at his stomach a little painfully and begging for attention from him.
“And…Oh-chan,” Aiba explained in almost a whisper, staring at his alcohol. “Well, Oh-chan’s amazing.”
It wasn’t uncommon that the two of them had to compete against each other despite how close they were privately, because that’s just how Johnny’s-the entire entertainment industry-was. But Ohno realized everything now, overwhelmingly, and saw how much of a gap had widened between them over the last few years. (He had noticed the gap, felt the gap like it was swallowing him little by little but he never knew the reason behind it other than Aiba had moved on, had found something else, didn’t need him like he used to-but now he needed him again and Ohno couldn’t describe how relieved that made him feel inside.)
Finally in a decisive voice, Leader knew what he wanted to say.
“Aiba is Aiba. And we’re not Arashi without him.”
While he said it he watched the other man, watched how he raised his head and glanced over at him tentatively and looked a little stunned at the simple words. But the spark was back in his eyes and Ohno knew he had said something right, or had at least started to get there.
“None of us are as smart as Sho, first of all, and we all make mistakes in choreography-“
“Not as much as me, Oh-chan,” Aiba interrupted in a quiet voice and Ohno leaned closer to him and patted his head, feeling just a little drunk.
“Not as much as you, Aiba. But we also can’t laugh like you do or smile, or beam like the sun and steal people’s hearts with one look-“ he was rambling and he knew he was, but he couldn’t stop and Aiba was looking encouraged.
And he smiled. Small, barely a quirk to his lips, but he smiled for him, and replied, “I don’t beam like the sun.”
“Yes you do,” Ohno argued, but before he could continue, Aiba broke in again.
“And I’m not the only one that steals hearts with just a look.”
The meanings of those words were a little lost on Ohno, but Aiba was looking at him and he was close and he sort of wanted him-really wanted him, but they weren’t done yet.
“Besides, you’re cute when you’re stupid,” he said blankly, then felt himself flush a little and decided to correct those words a bit. “I mean, not to say that you’re stupid-“ Aiba was only amused now, inching closer by the second while Ohno lost control of his mouth, “You just do stupid things sometimes but I think it’s cute so you shouldn’t stop because I’m sure other people also think that-“
He finally shut up as Aiba pressed his mouth against his, the two of them barely hidden in their little corner of the dark bar, and Ohno wondered if this meant his talk had been a success or not.
It was left at that, a brief taste of Aiba’s sweet lips, but their bodies were still touching everywhere as Aiba leaned against him and confided in him the last part, the part that had been hidden from him all this time.
“I didn’t want Oh-chan to think I wasn’t good enough. I wanted Oh-chan to think I was cool and successful and that I was working hard and deserved my place in Arashi…”
Now Ohno really did think Aiba was stupid, because he already thought all of those things and a lot more.
He told him as much, and Aiba laughed his airy laugh and drunkenly leaned his head against Ohno’s chest.
“Nino was only trying to help you.” He felt like he needed to say this, because Ohno was sure the other members felt the same as he did, that Aiba just needed a little push in finding his niche in the entertainment industry, and a confidence boost as well, and actually what Nino had found was pretty golden. Even if Aiba didn’t like it, he was adorable floundering for answers and making mistakes and arguing with them over stupid things. “But you can fight back, you know. Nino won’t break,” he added with an amused thought of what would happen when Aiba actually started standing up for himself.
“Maybe I’ll do that…” he replied distractedly, then lifted his head to look at Ohno straight in the eyes. “Come home with me?”
It was an invitation for quite more than that, one that Leader had worried he would never get again after that gap between them had appeared.
“Okay,” he said slowly, and allowed Aiba to signal for their check.
+++
It had been a while, and Ohno hoped neither of them would regret their rash decision the next morning.
Aiba’s apartment was rather bare, since he went back to his parent’s house as often as he could, but there was enough, hints of life like clothing discarded on the floor, an empty ramen cup abandoned on the counter, and a small entertainment center for the TV--but Ohno didn’t particularly notice any of these slight changes until the next day.
What he did notice was the rough texture of Aiba’s fingers, and the comfortable used feeling of the futon on his back, and the sounds that he couldn’t stop from coming out of his mouth as Aiba undressed him and stared at him.
“Are you sure it’s okay?” he asked gently, collecting Ohno in his arms and kissing him on the neck, dragging his tongue along the curves there until he reached his ear and then sucking with the perfect technique to make Ohno’s chest burst with passion.
“Yes...”
And once he was inside of him, Ohno couldn’t get enough of that feeling, of being connected to the person he wanted the most right now. He clung to his back and moaned and then when Aiba slowed down, he knew what to do, knew what Aiba wanted to see.
They changed positions, and he rode him, Aiba’s grip tight on his hips and Ohno’s breath was coming in gasps as he watched the other man come completely undone for him, for the way he was surrounding him and taking him into the most intimate place he possibly could, and the way he was coming for him, for both of them caught somewhere between what they wanted and what they needed.
“Come inside of me… please,” he managed to get out in his euphoria, and sent Aiba over the edge too, his body jerking with overwhelming pleasure. Leader savored the feeling of knowing he had done that, he had made Masaki feel that good.
“Oh-chan…” he panted, pulling him down for another kiss and groping his ass obviously, pulling his cock out only to fill it with his fingers, savoring what they had just done.
“Masaki…?” he managed to get out in return when the fingers didn’t stop, and he moaned quietly as they teased him.
“One more time?”
+++
The next morning it seemed as though something had completely shifted, and after he managed to get out of bed and some painkillers into his stomach, Ohno decided to confront the changes head on instead of waiting.
Aiba appeared as if he had returned to his cheerful old self, and smiled brightly for him when Ohno wandered over.
“Oh-chan! I’m warming up some soup so just wait a minute, okay?”
When he turned to the microwave automatically, dazed (he would have been confused had he not been so sleepy), Aiba stepped up next to him and they watched it together for about three seconds before Aiba wrapped him in his arms slowly and kissed him on the nose.
“This is okay, right?” he asked quietly, and Ohno hugged him back, full of a warm content feeling.
“If it’s okay with you.”
“More than okay. I’ll keep trying hard, and even if I look stupid… If you’re there, if Arashi is there, I can do it.”
That made Ohno chuckle and he added for good measure, “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Better not.”
Omake
“Well, uh… the thing is…” Sho said nervously as he glanced between Aiba and Ohno, on edge ever since they had walked in, holding hands and looking on top of the world.
“Out with it already!” Jun prodded with a frown, tired of waiting for Sho and obviously knowing what was going on and dying to talk about it.
“Nino… he’s…”
Of course the last member wasn’t in the room, which wasn’t that unusual, but Masaki was sort of worried now.
“He feels really bad about making you upset…” Sho tried, looking at Jun for backup, but the younger man only motioned for him to hurry up. It wasn’t only Ohno who had seen Aiba’s change that day, but he had been the fastest, and probably the most effective at curing it.
“He’s threatening someone somewhere to get you a leading drama role,” Jun finally broke in, giving up on Sho’s more subtle tactics. “He thinks that will make up for it.”
Aiba blinked in surprised, not sure how he felt about having his own drama. It would be a lot of work, but good experience, and he could probably even make Nino help him, but…
“He could have just treated me to ramen,” he said his thoughts out loud, and both Jun and Sho sighed and shook their heads before turning away in exasperation.
But next to him, Ohno just smiled widely in amusement.
+++
A/N: First, not 100% satisfied with this, even after several revisions, so if you have any criticism, I'd love to hear it. Feel free to send me a PM if you'd prefer that.
Second, I'd sort of been wanting to write a slightly serious story with Aiba getting discouraged about his work in general, and the prompt yukichan-tb gave me fit that perfectly. Somehow I managed to finish it despite not being completely satisfied. Aiba is also not his happy happy self, which I imagine some fans would rather not read so I labeled it OOC.
I ended up getting sick, but somehow managed to make it through the week. More updates to come as I recover!!