Paint, Film, and Stuffed Animals
Title: Paint, Film, and Stuffed Animals
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Aiba/Ohno, Jun/Sho
Genre: Romance, AU
Chapter: one
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Aiba becomes interested in Ohno, a recently popular artist, but it’s difficult to get a boyfriend when you have a kid…Everyone seems to think you’re straight.
“Nino, please? Just for tonight-“ Aiba pleaded with his palms pressed together in front of his nose.
“I already told you I have a date tonight. I’m not canceling again! I watched her last time, remember? When you told me that you had absolutely no other choice-“
“It’s the same this time too! Please Nino! Please, please, please! I don’t have anyone else who can watch her on short notice!”
Despite his begging, though, Nino gave him a firm frown and shook his head. “You used up your emergency babysitting ticket already. I’m going out.” The smaller man finished fastening his jacket and took off towards the door and his friend, whose face was stretched in an anxious grimace, was right on his heels.
Without any more complaints, Aiba simply pouted and stepped outside after Nino and watched with a depressed aura as the man turned and locked the door to the tiny shop they had been standing in until a moment ago, a soft jingle of a bell attached to the door ringing out. It was Nino’s personal secondhand game shop, which turned a fair profit, especially during the summer, and the game-loving owner was the sole employee of the store, who occasionally got a little help from Aiba on the weekends when he needed it. He rarely carried new games, which kept the traffic in the store to a minimum (his patrons were usually older men looking for something very specific), but if someone wanted to purchase something recently released, Nino had his little connections to get it (with a special $5 fee, of course).
Yes, Aiba and Nino had a give and take relationship, although Nino’s side was a little more taking than giving. But then again, Aiba had proven himself to be unreliable and over dependent many times, and Nino hadn’t been shy about telling him as much.
Instead of following the gamer down the street and towards the bar he was no doubt headed for, Aiba shoved his hands in his pocket and started back to his apartment, trying to work out another solution to make the night a success.
A friend from work, an up and coming designer who had worked with Aiba on several photo projects, had called him up a few hours ago, inviting him to a gallery opening of an artist he had done a feature for in an art magazine, a real hot shot even though he’d only been so for a few months. Jumping at the opportunity for inspiration for his own photography, Aiba had immediately agreed, but without considering what he was going to do with Koharu.
Through some strange circumstances (he had certainly considered writing his story down and selling it to a publishing company so they could create a dramatic book series about it), Aiba’s current ‘roommate’ was a six year old girl.
Koharu’s mother, who died upon her birth, was Aiba’s cousin, and last year her husband had joined her in the afterlife, leaving one small and scared child behind.
Masaki’s mother, the only person close enough to care for the girl, had done so for a few months, but failing health and lack of money had led Aiba to volunteer to take over the position, rashly moving Koharu into his place in the city before he had really come to terms with what raising a child entailed.
The first few months had been full of awkward mistakes and tears (on both sides), but Aiba was slowly learning the ins and outs of not only how girls worked (he really didn’t know and he didn’t care to until now) but also stuff he never thought he would need to learn, like what made a diet healthy.
He still wasn’t doing a good job, but between his landlady (who was really quite the sweet grandmother) and his mother’s occasional visits, the two of them were surviving, even with Aiba’s long working hours and lack of neighborhood kids for Koharu to play with.
It was really only moments like this, where he was caught between worrying about ironing out his only suit, how he was going to get to the studio without a car, and what to do with Koharu for the rest of the night, that he was tempted to regret his decision.
She was with Sumiko, his landlady, right now, but Aiba felt guilty about leaving his daughter (if she could be called that) there for too long. Sumiko already did enough for him, what with letting him share his tiny place with Koharu and keeping his rent stagnant for three years, not to mention the occasional breakfast of pancakes with smiley faces for Koharu and fresh coffee for him.
There was no way he could ask the woman to stay up late into the night watching Koharu while Aiba was out with his friends from work, socializing and possibly getting drunk later. There was no way his conscious would let him.
His mind still trying to find a solution, Aiba forced a smile as he walked into the front door of the house-turned-apartment-complex and Koharu immediately brightened from her spot at the worn table sitting just inside the doorway.
“Masaki! Welcome back!”
Aiba smiled and then pulled her into a gentle hug as she came over to greet him.
“Hey Haru, I hope you weren’t any trouble to Ms. Murota while I was out.”
The older woman across from him, coming forward to slowly collect the pencils from the table where Koharu had been drawing before Aiba had arrived, chuckled and offered him a satisfied expression. “Of course not. She’s an angel, just as usual.”
“Thank you so much,” he replied softly and picked Koharu up gently, balancing her on his hip while she clung happily to his neck.
“Did you take care of what you needed to?”
Aiba almost sighed. He hadn’t given Sumiko any details about tonight because he knew that she would insist on watching Koharu for him, and the photographer would rather take the girl with him or not go at all, rather than give into the old woman’s request.
“Sort of,” Aiba replied vaguely instead and nodded to the landlady before heading up the stairs to his one bedroom apartment with Koharu still in his arms.
“Masaki, what’re we having for dinner tonight?” Koharu asked with a small smile, although it was apparent she had picked up on Aiba’s sober mood. He hadn’t told her anything either, just because he didn’t want her to get upset at him leaving, or insist she was fine by herself. Over the last little while Aiba had found that Koharu was far too mature for her age and that he had to make sure he didn’t take advantage of her kindness either. He’d already been scolded once by his mother (and several other people who’d found out) when he left Koharu home alone the first time he couldn’t deny a request to attend a drinking party.
“I haven’t quite decided yet…” he replied with a painful expression (although he was trying to keep it neutral), and set Koharu down gently as they stepped into the threshold of the apartment.
She immediately nodded and shuffled into the makeshift bedroom past the tiny kitchen, picking up one of the stuffed dolls that she had brought with her when she moved to the new apartment and began playing with it.
Aiba really did sigh this time. She did that when she was trying to stay out of his way and Aiba immediately felt a pang of guilt for making Koharu think she was being an inconvenience to him.
Giving up the thought of going out to the art show, Aiba dropped his bag by the doorway and trudged to the fridge to see what he could round up for a meal.
Before he got there, though, his phone started ringing, and so the photographer pulled it out of his pocket, wincing when he saw Sakurai Sho as the caller.
“This is Aiba,” he started curtly, even though he was probably on better terms with Sakurai than that.
“Hey, it’s Sho. I was just wondering what time you wanted me to pick you up.”
Aiba’s face suddenly scrunched up and he turned back towards the front door so that Koharu wouldn’t see the expression. “About that, Sho-san…”
Quickly explaining his situation in a hushed tone while nervously playing with the papers on the cork board he’d put by the entrance, Aiba was surprised when Sho only laughed at him.
“Why don’t you bring her with you? It’s not like there’s an age requirement or anything.”
Aiba paused. Could he really bring a six year old girl to a professional art exhibit? It was true that Koharu was well behaved for someone her age, but still…
“But, you had to get a ticket for me, right?”
Sho’s tone continued to be light hearted. “I’m sure we can convince the doorman to let her in. It’s not like she’s going to eat that much or anything…”
The more they talked the more it seemed like this might work.
“What about a dress? Koharu doesn’t have anything fancy like that…” This excuse sounded more hopeful than the previous one. Aiba didn’t have the money to go out and buy something, but maybe he could make one of Koharu’s sun dresses work.
“Why don’t you go to the studio? Didn’t we use Koharu as an extra during that birthday photo shoot? I’m sure no one will mind if you borrow that dress just for tonight. If you have to, you can put my name down on the bracket.”
Finally a grin graced Aiba’s face and he turned back to where his daughter was blinking at him curiously with a half clothed stuffed animal in her hands. “That sounds fine, Sho-san. Thank you.”
There was another chuckle on the line. “Sure, Aiba. Do you have a car seat for her? I’ll be by to pick you up in an hour--I’ll even take you to the studio to get the dress.”
“Thank you,” he replied again and wondered how he had managed to be lucky enough to meet such a nice man.
+++
Just as Sho had guessed, the doorman had let Koharu in without a second glance and the three of them were suddenly standing in the middle of a room of women in chic gowns and men in suits with cocktail glasses.
Aiba knelt down and smoothed out Koharu’s fancy burgundy colored dress and fixed her hair (which had been done in pig tails by none other than Sho himself), before setting out a few rules.
“You stay by me, okay? I want you to hold my hand the whole time, okay?”
Koharu, who was barely containing her excitement, nodded and immediately took Aiba’s hand to show her compliance.
“Don’t eat or drink anything unless I tell you it’s okay, okay?”
She nodded again.
“And you have to be on your best behavior, okay?” Aiba patted her on the head, figuring the last one was the least of his worries. She smiled at him and her father returned the gesture before standing and turning to Sho, who had watched the scene with an endearing expression.
“Shall we look around?” the designer suggested first, since it was an art exhibition and all, and Aiba agreed with a quick look at Koharu, who was beaming at all of the decorated people around them. Knowing that she had never been to anything like this before, the photographer was glad he’d been able to give her the opportunity instead of leaving her at home or dumping her on someone else. It was probably like a fairy tale to someone her age.
Slowly weaving through the crowd, the trio made their way to the nearest display, which seemed to be the start of the viewing line, and when they finally managed to get a clear look at it (they had to get up in front so Koharu could see, much to Aiba’s embarrassment), his daughter’s face held the same expression that the photographer was feeling inside.
“Masaki, what’s it supposed to be?” she asked quietly, and the man had to lean over to hear her. He blushed, but was eternally grateful that the question hadn’t been loud enough for more than a few immediately people to hear it. “Is it a mailbox?”
Aiba turned back to the giant photograph of what appeared to be something resembling a mailbox, although it was gold and disfigured (with several body parts attached), and forced a smile. He didn’t know how to answer.
“Maybe so, honey.”
He pulled her to the next one before anyone could correct him.
But the rest of the trip turned out about the same. Aiba knew he could have taken time to analyze the pieces if he’d been alone and could probably find some inspiration from them, too, but watching Koharu was taking all of his attention and eventually he was ecstatic to find that he had made it to the end of the displays without causing a scene. They walked back into the center of the room, Aiba feeling a little dazed, and Koharu immediately set her little eyes on the table of (expensive, probably) snack food (which Aiba had planned on making their dinner). They had left Sho behind somewhere towards the beginning, and although the photographer had done a once over of the room to find another familiar face, none had been presented yet. It might be a good thing, since not many people Aiba associated himself with knew about his daughter.
The downside, though, was that he didn’t have anyone to ask about proper party etiquette… he had never attended one of these sorts of things with Koharu. Usually Aiba would take one or two pieces of food after the person he was chatting up did, but he could tell already that if they didn’t make a bee-line for the table, his sweetheart might start pouting… and since the night had turned into pampering her rather than looking for inspiration, Aiba was set on doing just that. If only Sho was around somewhere to reassure him that helping his daughter to whatever she wanted to eat wasn’t rude…
Unable to make a decision before Koharu started pulling him towards the table, Aiba simply let her with a small smile. They stared at it together, Aiba eyeing the chicken looking paste on top of the crackers to the left, and Koharu the tiny cakes to the right.
Without any conversation exchanged between the two of them, the photographer slowly reached forward, dropping Koharu’s hand in favor of retrieving a plate for her, and the girl immediately grasped onto the bottom of his suit jacket, watching with sparkling eyes and the man collected a few treats and offered the full dish to her with a bright grin.
“Make sure you don’t drop any of it, okay?” She nodded avidly and watched the plate closely as Aiba glanced around the room, looking for a reasonable place to eat the food. “There’s a red couch over by that wall, why don’t we sit there?” he asked with a quick glance at his daughter, who only removed her gaze from her dinner for a second to see where Aiba had indicated. She started walking slowly and Aiba said “Don’t bump into anyone!” even though he knew she wouldn’t, and then turned back to the table to get a few crackers for himself and some punch for Koharu.
A few minutes later, the two of them could be found sitting on the sofa, Aiba watching Koharu to make sure she didn’t spill on her dress and trying not to notice the curious looks they were getting from the other patrons.
A smiling woman approached them when the photographer had finished his snack and Koharu had just begun to work on her cake (having eaten the ‘main’ part of her dinner, which had been a slice of cheese and several chicken crackers), but before she could interrupt their meal, someone else called out to him instead.
“Aiba-kun! What a pleasant surprise!”
The photographer turned his eyes from the woman, who had blushed when she noticed him staring back, and then they widened a little as he recognized a film director he had worked with once, almost a year ago now.
“Kamenashi-san,” Aiba immediately stood to greet him, and his daughter barely removing her attention from the cake.
“And who’s this lovely lady?” he asked suavely, bending down to meet Koharu’s eyes, raising the wine glass in his hand a little to keep it from spilling. She blushed at the attention and averted her gaze to Aiba’s arm, grabbing his hand lightly, and Aiba squeezed back.
“Well, she’s-“ he started, swallowed and looked down at Koharu. “Well, she’s my cousin’s…” he tried to continue, but he furrowed his brows and cleared his throat. “She’s my daughter,” Aiba said hesitantly after a second, and Koharu blushed deeper.
“Really?” Kame asked in surprise, looking back at Aiba for a second, but then offered Koharu a handshake, which she consented to after a second of hesitation.
“Her name’s Koharu,” Aiba explained, forcing a relaxed expression, and then he patted her on the head, trying to put her at ease with the stranger.
“Nice to meet you, Koharu. My name’s Kazuya, but you can call me Kazu, okay?”
Koharu finally smiled at him and ducked her chin in understanding, but she was still gripping Aiba’s hand hard with her own.
“I’m a little surprised to see you here,” Kame finally turned his attention back to the photographer. “I didn’t know you were into this sort of art.”
Aiba wasn’t sure what Kame meant by that, but he offered the truth in return. “I was invited by Sakurai-san. I was hoping to get some inspiration, but…” Aiba’s tone was a little timid, which had becoming his signature attitude in the last little while, ever since he had begun protecting Koharu with his reputation as well as himself.
“Oh, I see,” the director replied, so the other man didn’t have to continue. “You look pretty sharp in a suit, by the way. I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of seeing you like this yet,” he added after a second, adjusting Aiba’s bow tie a little and patting him on the shoulder pleasantly, even though they weren’t really that close. But they had been out drinking together once or twice, and Kame was one of the men in ‘the business’ that Aiba could relate to, since they shared the same sexual preferences. They had never dated or had any sort of relationship, but no doubt that was one of the reasons that Kame was so surprised to find that Aiba had a daughter. Aiba had begun keeping his personal life a little more discreet for that reason, but having a child certainly didn’t help his success in love, which was basically dead with no sign of revival. Most potential boyfriends figured he was married, and even if he told them he was single, they assumed he was into women because… well, because he had a kid.
“Yeah…” came the reply to the complement, and Aiba ducked his head while Kame laughed. “It doesn’t really look right, huh?”
“You’re wrong!” the director chuckled. “You look quite dashing, actually…”
Aiba wondered if Kame was trying to hit on him, but before he could really follow that train of thought, he caught Sho watching them with an amused expression a few feet away and was relieved to find a distraction from Kame.
“Sho-san, I’m sorry for leaving you.”
Kame turned immediately to see who Aiba had found, and ducked his head in a greeting as the designer approached them.
“Don’t worry about it.” He didn’t offer anything else, but glanced down at Koharu, who was continually holding tightly onto Aiba with one hand while the other worked at eating the piece of cake with a small fork, not paying attention to the men surrounding her anymore.
“Sakurai!”
All three men turned to see the next guest who had called out to the designer, but it was someone that Aiba didn’t recognize.
“Matsumoto!” Sho smiled brightly and backed up to clear a space for the new arrival in their conversation circle. “Thank you for the tickets! This is simply amazing!”
Aiba felt inclined to share the sentiment, but he couldn’t get a word in between the other two men.
“Of course it wasn’t a problem. I’m glad you could put the last ticket to good use,” he added, looking at Aiba and then at his daughter seated behind him before returning his gaze to Sho. “Did you get to meet Ohno yet? He’s around here somewhere…”
“Unfortunately not. We’ve only been here a little while, though, so…”
“I’ll go find him. I really want you to meet him,” Matsumoto said with an intense expression and Aiba didn’t miss the way the taller man’s hand brushed Sho’s sleeve as he turned to leave again.
When the new addition was gone, Sho returned Aiba’s stare with a tiny smile and then immediately glanced at Koharu, who had just finished her cake and was looking quite content.
“Hey, Aiba. Why don’t I watch Koharu for a few minutes while you look around again? I’m sure one time isn’t enough to take in everything that’s here.”
At the mention of her name, the girl’s head came up and she looked from Aiba to Sho while the photographer responded, “Ah, that’s not necessary, Sho-san…”
“It’s okay, Masaki. If you want to look again,” Koharu offered softly and all three men turned to look at her in surprise.
Bending over to get a better look at his daughter, Aiba brushed away some of the bangs that had fallen into her face and kissed her gently on the head, but he hadn’t even said anything yet when Sho offered his hand to her. “Why don’t we go get another piece of cake?”
Unable to stop the two of them from standing and slowly starting across the room, Aiba simply sighed and then turned to Kame while he smiled at him. “Well, I guess I’ll look around too!” the director chuckled and raised his wine glass at Aiba before slowly starting off in the opposite direction, leaving the photographer alone.
Although Koharu was an angel, Aiba was quite uneasy with leaving her with Sho, because he didn’t want to burden the older man, but also because he could be quite overprotective of her too. He might as well use the chance to look around again, though, at least for a few minutes, because he probably wouldn’t get another one for the rest of the night.
Finding the piece of art that he had been most interested in earlier, the photographer made his way over to it, marveling in the angle that the picture had been taken and where the main figure had been placed. He didn’t really understand the clay figures themselves, but the placement and setup of the photo had certainly been done by someone who knew what he was doing. Aiba wondered if this Ohno fellow had taken the pictures himself or if he had had someone else do it for him. Half of the exhibit had been the actual tiny sculptures, so maybe that was supposed to be the focus…?
Before Aiba could think about it anymore, though, he heard a quiet commotion coming from the food table, where he had been keeping part of his attention focused just in case.
Without even thinking about it, Aiba turned away from the photo and dashed towards the area as fast as he thought he could without embarrassing himself.
As he had feared, Koharu was facing a brown haired man and they were almost glaring at each other, a solitary piece of cake gripped by two sets of hands.
Sho was nowhere to be seen.
“I had it first,” Koharu pouted in a tiny voice and the man gave her an over exaggerated frown.
“No. I did.”
Aiba immediately came up behind his daughter and touched her lightly on the shoulder.
“Honey, you already had one. Why don’t you let him have it?” he asked kindly, but was trying to release her grip on the plate at the same time. “I’m sorry,” Aiba offered, giving the man an apologetic smile.
“But Masaki… he already had one, I saw him take it just a few minutes ago…”
Certainly Aiba hadn’t been lost in his thoughts for that long… right? And where was Sho?
“I ate it already,” the man replied quietly and with an additional small frown at the girl. It was obvious he was feeling guilty about the argument, but wasn’t ready to give up the piece of cake because of it.
“Honey-“ Aiba started again, and finally Koharu let go of the plate, looking down at her shoes in shame. Aiba’s heart clenched and he reached forward to pull her against him in a hug, but the man, who was a few inches shorter than Aiba himself, sighed and set the plate back on the refreshments table.
“Why don’t we split it?” he offered, pulling a clean fork from the display, but, even though Koharu looked hopeful at the suggestion, Aiba pressed his hand into her back and forced a smile.
“You don’t have to do that. We’re-“
“No, I insist.” The man hadn’t met Aiba’s eyes yet, just continued to look at Koharu, who had turned shy. “If she’s willing to fight me for it, she deserves at least half,” he explained, his face breaking out in an apologetic grin.
Koharu smiled back at him and then turned to her father, as if asking for permission to accept his offer. Aiba really would rather reject it, since several people surrounding them were watching the scene unfold with mild interest, but once the shorter man had turned his eyes on him too, open wide and asking for permission just the same as the little girl, there was no way he could say no.
“Great, let’s-“
“Ah, Ohno, there you are.” The man had picked up the slice of cake, but turned as his name was called, and Aiba was surprised to find Matsumoto coming towards them with a bright smile, Sho following a few feet behind him and looking at Koharu nervously.
“Ah, Jun. What can I do for you?” Ohno asked the taller man with a neutral expression, but the use of his first name showed Aiba that they must be good friends.
“I wanted to introduce you to Sakurai Sho,” came the enthusiastic reply, and Matsumoto pulled the designer forward, even though he was wearing a guilty expression and stealing glances at Aiba.
“Nice to meet you,” Sho offered and Ohno reached out to shake his hand.
“You too.”
“Sho, this is Ohno Satoshi.”
It took that long for Aiba to make the connection. This tiny man was the artist who was running this exhibit.
He reached down to grab Koharu’s hand before they were accused of not understanding art properly, but Sho immediately turned to Aiba after he had released Ohno.
“Aiba, I’m sorry-Jun started pulling me around and it looked like she really wanted the cake, so I let her go by herself…” he explained with a pained expression and Aiba forced a smile in return. “I was keeping an eye on her, I promise,” he offered in a low voice, and the photographer was torn between thanking Sho for his good intentions and promising himself he’d never leave Koharu alone again.
“It’s okay, nothing happened,” he said instead, smiling down at his daughter and squeezing the tiny hand that was grasped in his own. “It’s late Sho-san… I’m sorry to be a bother, but we should probably go home… don’t worry, I’ll get a taxi,” Aiba replied quickly.
Of course the older man looked disappointed, but the photographer didn’t want to make more of an ass of himself than he already had tonight, especially with all the guests suddenly watching them, and no doubt Koharu was going to crash as soon as they got back.
He slowly started for the entrance again, but the short artist from before was standing in his way with the slice of desert balanced carefully in his hands.
“What about the cake?”
Aiba stared at him blankly and both men looked down at Koharu together, who glanced at her father and then the sweet. It was obvious she wanted it, but being the good child that she was, she didn’t say as much.
“Come on, let’s go to the back room for a few minutes,” Ohno offered with a smile, ignoring both Sho and Jun, who were watching them intently. Suddenly feeling more relaxed, Aiba chuckled and nodded to the smaller man, who turned to lead them through the crowd of people.
They ducked through a door in the rear of the exhibition hall, and Jun had pulled Sho along with them, mumbling something about Ohno being hard to deal with sometimes and that he didn’t really do what was polite, but that he was actually a really gentle person.
The artist listened to Jun’s words although he pretended not to. His attention was almost completely on this adorable girl that had attended his art exhibition and her father, who appeared to be just as adorable. Although he appreciated Jun’s efforts in preparing such a large party for the opening night of his exhibition, he began feeling stuffy almost immediately, and listening to people talk about how amazing his artwork was was actually really wearing. It made him feel like he had a lot to live up to, which he didn’t like at all.
Careful not to give away his sweet prize too early, Ohno directed the tiny girl to a sofa that he had taken a nap on a few hours ago and set the cake down on a low table in front of it. He took the spot next to her, forcing her dashing looking partner to take the other side, and the artist finally picked up the desert and the fork again.
He looked at the utensil comically while the girl stared at the cake.
Glancing at her and then back at the fork, he smiled sheepishly. “Uh oh, I only grabbed one.”
The girl rewarded him with a wide smile and a giggle.
Pretending not to notice, Ohno turned to Jun, who was talking with Sho again under his breath, standing next to the door they had come through. He looked thrilled that the other man was next to him and Ohno would be making fun of him right now if he didn’t have two other delightful distractions next to him on the couch. Jun had talked so much about Sho in the last week that Ohno was confident he could hold a conversation with the designer without actually letting him say anything in reply.
“Jun-chan,” Ohno called out with a protruding lip, “will you go get us another fork?”
The recipient of the artist’s request stopped talking long enough to glare at him, but he was in a good mood tonight and Ohno knew he would succumb to his whims.
“I’m your manager, not your slave,” came the haughty reply, but Jun still told Sho to wait a second while he ducked back out into the main room. The noise was a little muffled from back here and Ohno was already feeling less tense than he had been a minute ago.
When he turned back to the cutie on the couch next to him and his daughter (who was equally cute), Ohno focused his attention on the girl instead of her father. Despite his appearance, the artist could be quite shy.
“What’s your name, by the way? You didn’t say even though we’re sharing cake and everything…”
“Koharu…” she replied softly, offering Ohno a sweet, irresistible smile.
“Koharu-chan, is it?” he paused, then continued, “Are you here alone?”
“Are you hitting on my daughter?” the man that Ohno had been eyeing for the last few minutes finally spoke up. He was wearing an amused grin that made the artist’s heart start pumping faster, but instead of giving his attention to the girl’s father, he turned back to Koharu instead.
“Who’s this guy? If he’s bugging you, you just let me know…” Ohno tried to put on a tough front even though he was wearing an amused expression, but he didn’t say anything more at the slightly taken-aback look the girl shot him. He hoped he hadn’t said something wrong, since he was just teasing.
“This is Masaki.”
Ohno thought it was a little strange that she didn’t introduce him as ‘papa’ or ‘daddy’, but he didn’t comment and finally met the soft gaze of the stunning specimen of a man across from him.
He had child, so he was basically off limits, Ohno supposed… But he could look, right?
“Nice to meet you, Masaki,” the artist said in his deepest, most sensual voice, and he was rewarded with a dark blush from his victim.
Before he received a response, Jun was holding a fork in front of his nose with a frown.
“Your majesty.”
Without acknowledging the sarcastic comment, Ohno took the fork and offered it to Koharu and then sat the piece of cake between them on his knee. He gave the first bite to the girl and then started on his side almost immediately. Jun had really chosen a good catering company-this was the best cake he’d had since that shop in Osaka. In fact, this would be his fourth slice of the night.
“How old are you Koharu-chan?” he asked between bites, his gaze focused on the child, but his attention almost completely on the man on the opposite side, who was watching them share the piece of food.
“Six.”
“What?!” he replied, looking flabbergasted. “I would have guessed at least eight!” She laughed, grinning wide enough to show her teeth, and Ohno felt relieved that something he had said had been a success.
“So you’re in the first grade?” he guessed.
She nodded with the fork in her mouth and Ohno’s face wrinkled a little in amusement.
They were silent for a second; Jun had taken up his position next to Sho again and the pair was watching the artist enjoying the cake instead of mingling with his guests. He’s always been like that, Jun offered to Sho with folded arms.
“And why did you decide to come to my art exhibit?” Ohno asked before taking the next bite of the sweet in his hand.
“Oh, so you that made that mailbox with the hand?”
Although Masaki looked terrified at what his daughter had said, the artist burst out laughing right away.
“That’s right, I made it. Is that what you came to see?” He was smiling so widely his eyes had scrunched shut and he could barely see the way Koharu’s father was staring at him distractedly.
“Oh, no. I came because Masaki said I could wear this pretty dress and meet some of his friends. And he said there might be cake, too,” she smiled and Ohno finally snuck another peek at the man in question, who had become flustered at the explanation.
“Yeah. If you would have listened to me, you would have already known that Sho brought him,” Jun mumbled, and Ohno briefly thought that if he’d known that Jun would have introduced him earlier he would have been listening more closely. “He’s the photographer that works at Tentoumushi studio, the one that did that shoot featured in Fresh that you liked so much.”
Ohno was suddenly much more interested.
He turned back to Masaki, leaving the rest of the cake at Koharu’s mercy.
“You did that? The one with the fish that was like-“ Ohno made a strange action with his hand, trying to depict the way that the photo had caught all of that movement.
Masaki ducked his head and Ohno grinned even wider.
“I know you’re probably going to pout, but you really need to get back out there, Oh-chan. Johnny just arrived and you at least need to say hello,” Jun suddenly interrupted with an apologetic look.
And pout Ohno did.
But if Masaki was the friend of Jun’s precious Sakurai Sho, Ohno could most certainly arrange another meeting with the man, and with that thought alone, the artist somehow forced himself off the couch, placing the empty plate on the coffee table in front of them along the way.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Koharu,” he said politely and then pattered her on the head, careful not to mess up her hair. Although Ohno wasn’t confident that he could act as suave with Masaki, he tried anyway, offering his hand to the taller man, who had stood as soon as Ohno had. “Masaki. I hope we can chat a little longer next time.”
“Me too.” The photographer gave him a firm handshake and a bright smile, which melted Ohno’s heart into a puddle on the spot. Jun stepped forward to pull him away, shoving him out the door and into the hoards of people waiting to congratulate him or offer him a glass of champagne. It took him several seconds to come back to himself, only the image of Masaki’s bright teeth and wrinkled eyes in his head.
+++
A/N: And here's the Ohba story!! :DD I know most of you were probably expecting something in the Arashi universe, but it's an AU instead! I totally admit it's hard to write Ohba since they're so happy all the time. So I apologize if this story is less focused on plot and more focused on happy fluffy sap.
Fun Fact #1: I basically wrote this story for yarukizero. After finishing Ohno in Wonderland I was hankering to write something and wanted to try some Ohba. She told me she had an idea for a story like this (Aiba in the My Girl universe with Ohno as an artist), but didn't have the time to write it because she's still working on Storm, so I wrote it instead. Although the original idea is hers, I basically did what I wanted to. ^.^; But somehow all the pairings turned out the same as Storm... >.>; Also, coming up with titles is the worst.
Criticism and comments are always welcome. :)
Chapter two
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Aiba/Ohno, Jun/Sho
Genre: Romance, AU
Chapter: one
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Aiba becomes interested in Ohno, a recently popular artist, but it’s difficult to get a boyfriend when you have a kid…Everyone seems to think you’re straight.
“Nino, please? Just for tonight-“ Aiba pleaded with his palms pressed together in front of his nose.
“I already told you I have a date tonight. I’m not canceling again! I watched her last time, remember? When you told me that you had absolutely no other choice-“
“It’s the same this time too! Please Nino! Please, please, please! I don’t have anyone else who can watch her on short notice!”
Despite his begging, though, Nino gave him a firm frown and shook his head. “You used up your emergency babysitting ticket already. I’m going out.” The smaller man finished fastening his jacket and took off towards the door and his friend, whose face was stretched in an anxious grimace, was right on his heels.
Without any more complaints, Aiba simply pouted and stepped outside after Nino and watched with a depressed aura as the man turned and locked the door to the tiny shop they had been standing in until a moment ago, a soft jingle of a bell attached to the door ringing out. It was Nino’s personal secondhand game shop, which turned a fair profit, especially during the summer, and the game-loving owner was the sole employee of the store, who occasionally got a little help from Aiba on the weekends when he needed it. He rarely carried new games, which kept the traffic in the store to a minimum (his patrons were usually older men looking for something very specific), but if someone wanted to purchase something recently released, Nino had his little connections to get it (with a special $5 fee, of course).
Yes, Aiba and Nino had a give and take relationship, although Nino’s side was a little more taking than giving. But then again, Aiba had proven himself to be unreliable and over dependent many times, and Nino hadn’t been shy about telling him as much.
Instead of following the gamer down the street and towards the bar he was no doubt headed for, Aiba shoved his hands in his pocket and started back to his apartment, trying to work out another solution to make the night a success.
A friend from work, an up and coming designer who had worked with Aiba on several photo projects, had called him up a few hours ago, inviting him to a gallery opening of an artist he had done a feature for in an art magazine, a real hot shot even though he’d only been so for a few months. Jumping at the opportunity for inspiration for his own photography, Aiba had immediately agreed, but without considering what he was going to do with Koharu.
Through some strange circumstances (he had certainly considered writing his story down and selling it to a publishing company so they could create a dramatic book series about it), Aiba’s current ‘roommate’ was a six year old girl.
Koharu’s mother, who died upon her birth, was Aiba’s cousin, and last year her husband had joined her in the afterlife, leaving one small and scared child behind.
Masaki’s mother, the only person close enough to care for the girl, had done so for a few months, but failing health and lack of money had led Aiba to volunteer to take over the position, rashly moving Koharu into his place in the city before he had really come to terms with what raising a child entailed.
The first few months had been full of awkward mistakes and tears (on both sides), but Aiba was slowly learning the ins and outs of not only how girls worked (he really didn’t know and he didn’t care to until now) but also stuff he never thought he would need to learn, like what made a diet healthy.
He still wasn’t doing a good job, but between his landlady (who was really quite the sweet grandmother) and his mother’s occasional visits, the two of them were surviving, even with Aiba’s long working hours and lack of neighborhood kids for Koharu to play with.
It was really only moments like this, where he was caught between worrying about ironing out his only suit, how he was going to get to the studio without a car, and what to do with Koharu for the rest of the night, that he was tempted to regret his decision.
She was with Sumiko, his landlady, right now, but Aiba felt guilty about leaving his daughter (if she could be called that) there for too long. Sumiko already did enough for him, what with letting him share his tiny place with Koharu and keeping his rent stagnant for three years, not to mention the occasional breakfast of pancakes with smiley faces for Koharu and fresh coffee for him.
There was no way he could ask the woman to stay up late into the night watching Koharu while Aiba was out with his friends from work, socializing and possibly getting drunk later. There was no way his conscious would let him.
His mind still trying to find a solution, Aiba forced a smile as he walked into the front door of the house-turned-apartment-complex and Koharu immediately brightened from her spot at the worn table sitting just inside the doorway.
“Masaki! Welcome back!”
Aiba smiled and then pulled her into a gentle hug as she came over to greet him.
“Hey Haru, I hope you weren’t any trouble to Ms. Murota while I was out.”
The older woman across from him, coming forward to slowly collect the pencils from the table where Koharu had been drawing before Aiba had arrived, chuckled and offered him a satisfied expression. “Of course not. She’s an angel, just as usual.”
“Thank you so much,” he replied softly and picked Koharu up gently, balancing her on his hip while she clung happily to his neck.
“Did you take care of what you needed to?”
Aiba almost sighed. He hadn’t given Sumiko any details about tonight because he knew that she would insist on watching Koharu for him, and the photographer would rather take the girl with him or not go at all, rather than give into the old woman’s request.
“Sort of,” Aiba replied vaguely instead and nodded to the landlady before heading up the stairs to his one bedroom apartment with Koharu still in his arms.
“Masaki, what’re we having for dinner tonight?” Koharu asked with a small smile, although it was apparent she had picked up on Aiba’s sober mood. He hadn’t told her anything either, just because he didn’t want her to get upset at him leaving, or insist she was fine by herself. Over the last little while Aiba had found that Koharu was far too mature for her age and that he had to make sure he didn’t take advantage of her kindness either. He’d already been scolded once by his mother (and several other people who’d found out) when he left Koharu home alone the first time he couldn’t deny a request to attend a drinking party.
“I haven’t quite decided yet…” he replied with a painful expression (although he was trying to keep it neutral), and set Koharu down gently as they stepped into the threshold of the apartment.
She immediately nodded and shuffled into the makeshift bedroom past the tiny kitchen, picking up one of the stuffed dolls that she had brought with her when she moved to the new apartment and began playing with it.
Aiba really did sigh this time. She did that when she was trying to stay out of his way and Aiba immediately felt a pang of guilt for making Koharu think she was being an inconvenience to him.
Giving up the thought of going out to the art show, Aiba dropped his bag by the doorway and trudged to the fridge to see what he could round up for a meal.
Before he got there, though, his phone started ringing, and so the photographer pulled it out of his pocket, wincing when he saw Sakurai Sho as the caller.
“This is Aiba,” he started curtly, even though he was probably on better terms with Sakurai than that.
“Hey, it’s Sho. I was just wondering what time you wanted me to pick you up.”
Aiba’s face suddenly scrunched up and he turned back towards the front door so that Koharu wouldn’t see the expression. “About that, Sho-san…”
Quickly explaining his situation in a hushed tone while nervously playing with the papers on the cork board he’d put by the entrance, Aiba was surprised when Sho only laughed at him.
“Why don’t you bring her with you? It’s not like there’s an age requirement or anything.”
Aiba paused. Could he really bring a six year old girl to a professional art exhibit? It was true that Koharu was well behaved for someone her age, but still…
“But, you had to get a ticket for me, right?”
Sho’s tone continued to be light hearted. “I’m sure we can convince the doorman to let her in. It’s not like she’s going to eat that much or anything…”
The more they talked the more it seemed like this might work.
“What about a dress? Koharu doesn’t have anything fancy like that…” This excuse sounded more hopeful than the previous one. Aiba didn’t have the money to go out and buy something, but maybe he could make one of Koharu’s sun dresses work.
“Why don’t you go to the studio? Didn’t we use Koharu as an extra during that birthday photo shoot? I’m sure no one will mind if you borrow that dress just for tonight. If you have to, you can put my name down on the bracket.”
Finally a grin graced Aiba’s face and he turned back to where his daughter was blinking at him curiously with a half clothed stuffed animal in her hands. “That sounds fine, Sho-san. Thank you.”
There was another chuckle on the line. “Sure, Aiba. Do you have a car seat for her? I’ll be by to pick you up in an hour--I’ll even take you to the studio to get the dress.”
“Thank you,” he replied again and wondered how he had managed to be lucky enough to meet such a nice man.
+++
Just as Sho had guessed, the doorman had let Koharu in without a second glance and the three of them were suddenly standing in the middle of a room of women in chic gowns and men in suits with cocktail glasses.
Aiba knelt down and smoothed out Koharu’s fancy burgundy colored dress and fixed her hair (which had been done in pig tails by none other than Sho himself), before setting out a few rules.
“You stay by me, okay? I want you to hold my hand the whole time, okay?”
Koharu, who was barely containing her excitement, nodded and immediately took Aiba’s hand to show her compliance.
“Don’t eat or drink anything unless I tell you it’s okay, okay?”
She nodded again.
“And you have to be on your best behavior, okay?” Aiba patted her on the head, figuring the last one was the least of his worries. She smiled at him and her father returned the gesture before standing and turning to Sho, who had watched the scene with an endearing expression.
“Shall we look around?” the designer suggested first, since it was an art exhibition and all, and Aiba agreed with a quick look at Koharu, who was beaming at all of the decorated people around them. Knowing that she had never been to anything like this before, the photographer was glad he’d been able to give her the opportunity instead of leaving her at home or dumping her on someone else. It was probably like a fairy tale to someone her age.
Slowly weaving through the crowd, the trio made their way to the nearest display, which seemed to be the start of the viewing line, and when they finally managed to get a clear look at it (they had to get up in front so Koharu could see, much to Aiba’s embarrassment), his daughter’s face held the same expression that the photographer was feeling inside.
“Masaki, what’s it supposed to be?” she asked quietly, and the man had to lean over to hear her. He blushed, but was eternally grateful that the question hadn’t been loud enough for more than a few immediately people to hear it. “Is it a mailbox?”
Aiba turned back to the giant photograph of what appeared to be something resembling a mailbox, although it was gold and disfigured (with several body parts attached), and forced a smile. He didn’t know how to answer.
“Maybe so, honey.”
He pulled her to the next one before anyone could correct him.
But the rest of the trip turned out about the same. Aiba knew he could have taken time to analyze the pieces if he’d been alone and could probably find some inspiration from them, too, but watching Koharu was taking all of his attention and eventually he was ecstatic to find that he had made it to the end of the displays without causing a scene. They walked back into the center of the room, Aiba feeling a little dazed, and Koharu immediately set her little eyes on the table of (expensive, probably) snack food (which Aiba had planned on making their dinner). They had left Sho behind somewhere towards the beginning, and although the photographer had done a once over of the room to find another familiar face, none had been presented yet. It might be a good thing, since not many people Aiba associated himself with knew about his daughter.
The downside, though, was that he didn’t have anyone to ask about proper party etiquette… he had never attended one of these sorts of things with Koharu. Usually Aiba would take one or two pieces of food after the person he was chatting up did, but he could tell already that if they didn’t make a bee-line for the table, his sweetheart might start pouting… and since the night had turned into pampering her rather than looking for inspiration, Aiba was set on doing just that. If only Sho was around somewhere to reassure him that helping his daughter to whatever she wanted to eat wasn’t rude…
Unable to make a decision before Koharu started pulling him towards the table, Aiba simply let her with a small smile. They stared at it together, Aiba eyeing the chicken looking paste on top of the crackers to the left, and Koharu the tiny cakes to the right.
Without any conversation exchanged between the two of them, the photographer slowly reached forward, dropping Koharu’s hand in favor of retrieving a plate for her, and the girl immediately grasped onto the bottom of his suit jacket, watching with sparkling eyes and the man collected a few treats and offered the full dish to her with a bright grin.
“Make sure you don’t drop any of it, okay?” She nodded avidly and watched the plate closely as Aiba glanced around the room, looking for a reasonable place to eat the food. “There’s a red couch over by that wall, why don’t we sit there?” he asked with a quick glance at his daughter, who only removed her gaze from her dinner for a second to see where Aiba had indicated. She started walking slowly and Aiba said “Don’t bump into anyone!” even though he knew she wouldn’t, and then turned back to the table to get a few crackers for himself and some punch for Koharu.
A few minutes later, the two of them could be found sitting on the sofa, Aiba watching Koharu to make sure she didn’t spill on her dress and trying not to notice the curious looks they were getting from the other patrons.
A smiling woman approached them when the photographer had finished his snack and Koharu had just begun to work on her cake (having eaten the ‘main’ part of her dinner, which had been a slice of cheese and several chicken crackers), but before she could interrupt their meal, someone else called out to him instead.
“Aiba-kun! What a pleasant surprise!”
The photographer turned his eyes from the woman, who had blushed when she noticed him staring back, and then they widened a little as he recognized a film director he had worked with once, almost a year ago now.
“Kamenashi-san,” Aiba immediately stood to greet him, and his daughter barely removing her attention from the cake.
“And who’s this lovely lady?” he asked suavely, bending down to meet Koharu’s eyes, raising the wine glass in his hand a little to keep it from spilling. She blushed at the attention and averted her gaze to Aiba’s arm, grabbing his hand lightly, and Aiba squeezed back.
“Well, she’s-“ he started, swallowed and looked down at Koharu. “Well, she’s my cousin’s…” he tried to continue, but he furrowed his brows and cleared his throat. “She’s my daughter,” Aiba said hesitantly after a second, and Koharu blushed deeper.
“Really?” Kame asked in surprise, looking back at Aiba for a second, but then offered Koharu a handshake, which she consented to after a second of hesitation.
“Her name’s Koharu,” Aiba explained, forcing a relaxed expression, and then he patted her on the head, trying to put her at ease with the stranger.
“Nice to meet you, Koharu. My name’s Kazuya, but you can call me Kazu, okay?”
Koharu finally smiled at him and ducked her chin in understanding, but she was still gripping Aiba’s hand hard with her own.
“I’m a little surprised to see you here,” Kame finally turned his attention back to the photographer. “I didn’t know you were into this sort of art.”
Aiba wasn’t sure what Kame meant by that, but he offered the truth in return. “I was invited by Sakurai-san. I was hoping to get some inspiration, but…” Aiba’s tone was a little timid, which had becoming his signature attitude in the last little while, ever since he had begun protecting Koharu with his reputation as well as himself.
“Oh, I see,” the director replied, so the other man didn’t have to continue. “You look pretty sharp in a suit, by the way. I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of seeing you like this yet,” he added after a second, adjusting Aiba’s bow tie a little and patting him on the shoulder pleasantly, even though they weren’t really that close. But they had been out drinking together once or twice, and Kame was one of the men in ‘the business’ that Aiba could relate to, since they shared the same sexual preferences. They had never dated or had any sort of relationship, but no doubt that was one of the reasons that Kame was so surprised to find that Aiba had a daughter. Aiba had begun keeping his personal life a little more discreet for that reason, but having a child certainly didn’t help his success in love, which was basically dead with no sign of revival. Most potential boyfriends figured he was married, and even if he told them he was single, they assumed he was into women because… well, because he had a kid.
“Yeah…” came the reply to the complement, and Aiba ducked his head while Kame laughed. “It doesn’t really look right, huh?”
“You’re wrong!” the director chuckled. “You look quite dashing, actually…”
Aiba wondered if Kame was trying to hit on him, but before he could really follow that train of thought, he caught Sho watching them with an amused expression a few feet away and was relieved to find a distraction from Kame.
“Sho-san, I’m sorry for leaving you.”
Kame turned immediately to see who Aiba had found, and ducked his head in a greeting as the designer approached them.
“Don’t worry about it.” He didn’t offer anything else, but glanced down at Koharu, who was continually holding tightly onto Aiba with one hand while the other worked at eating the piece of cake with a small fork, not paying attention to the men surrounding her anymore.
“Sakurai!”
All three men turned to see the next guest who had called out to the designer, but it was someone that Aiba didn’t recognize.
“Matsumoto!” Sho smiled brightly and backed up to clear a space for the new arrival in their conversation circle. “Thank you for the tickets! This is simply amazing!”
Aiba felt inclined to share the sentiment, but he couldn’t get a word in between the other two men.
“Of course it wasn’t a problem. I’m glad you could put the last ticket to good use,” he added, looking at Aiba and then at his daughter seated behind him before returning his gaze to Sho. “Did you get to meet Ohno yet? He’s around here somewhere…”
“Unfortunately not. We’ve only been here a little while, though, so…”
“I’ll go find him. I really want you to meet him,” Matsumoto said with an intense expression and Aiba didn’t miss the way the taller man’s hand brushed Sho’s sleeve as he turned to leave again.
When the new addition was gone, Sho returned Aiba’s stare with a tiny smile and then immediately glanced at Koharu, who had just finished her cake and was looking quite content.
“Hey, Aiba. Why don’t I watch Koharu for a few minutes while you look around again? I’m sure one time isn’t enough to take in everything that’s here.”
At the mention of her name, the girl’s head came up and she looked from Aiba to Sho while the photographer responded, “Ah, that’s not necessary, Sho-san…”
“It’s okay, Masaki. If you want to look again,” Koharu offered softly and all three men turned to look at her in surprise.
Bending over to get a better look at his daughter, Aiba brushed away some of the bangs that had fallen into her face and kissed her gently on the head, but he hadn’t even said anything yet when Sho offered his hand to her. “Why don’t we go get another piece of cake?”
Unable to stop the two of them from standing and slowly starting across the room, Aiba simply sighed and then turned to Kame while he smiled at him. “Well, I guess I’ll look around too!” the director chuckled and raised his wine glass at Aiba before slowly starting off in the opposite direction, leaving the photographer alone.
Although Koharu was an angel, Aiba was quite uneasy with leaving her with Sho, because he didn’t want to burden the older man, but also because he could be quite overprotective of her too. He might as well use the chance to look around again, though, at least for a few minutes, because he probably wouldn’t get another one for the rest of the night.
Finding the piece of art that he had been most interested in earlier, the photographer made his way over to it, marveling in the angle that the picture had been taken and where the main figure had been placed. He didn’t really understand the clay figures themselves, but the placement and setup of the photo had certainly been done by someone who knew what he was doing. Aiba wondered if this Ohno fellow had taken the pictures himself or if he had had someone else do it for him. Half of the exhibit had been the actual tiny sculptures, so maybe that was supposed to be the focus…?
Before Aiba could think about it anymore, though, he heard a quiet commotion coming from the food table, where he had been keeping part of his attention focused just in case.
Without even thinking about it, Aiba turned away from the photo and dashed towards the area as fast as he thought he could without embarrassing himself.
As he had feared, Koharu was facing a brown haired man and they were almost glaring at each other, a solitary piece of cake gripped by two sets of hands.
Sho was nowhere to be seen.
“I had it first,” Koharu pouted in a tiny voice and the man gave her an over exaggerated frown.
“No. I did.”
Aiba immediately came up behind his daughter and touched her lightly on the shoulder.
“Honey, you already had one. Why don’t you let him have it?” he asked kindly, but was trying to release her grip on the plate at the same time. “I’m sorry,” Aiba offered, giving the man an apologetic smile.
“But Masaki… he already had one, I saw him take it just a few minutes ago…”
Certainly Aiba hadn’t been lost in his thoughts for that long… right? And where was Sho?
“I ate it already,” the man replied quietly and with an additional small frown at the girl. It was obvious he was feeling guilty about the argument, but wasn’t ready to give up the piece of cake because of it.
“Honey-“ Aiba started again, and finally Koharu let go of the plate, looking down at her shoes in shame. Aiba’s heart clenched and he reached forward to pull her against him in a hug, but the man, who was a few inches shorter than Aiba himself, sighed and set the plate back on the refreshments table.
“Why don’t we split it?” he offered, pulling a clean fork from the display, but, even though Koharu looked hopeful at the suggestion, Aiba pressed his hand into her back and forced a smile.
“You don’t have to do that. We’re-“
“No, I insist.” The man hadn’t met Aiba’s eyes yet, just continued to look at Koharu, who had turned shy. “If she’s willing to fight me for it, she deserves at least half,” he explained, his face breaking out in an apologetic grin.
Koharu smiled back at him and then turned to her father, as if asking for permission to accept his offer. Aiba really would rather reject it, since several people surrounding them were watching the scene unfold with mild interest, but once the shorter man had turned his eyes on him too, open wide and asking for permission just the same as the little girl, there was no way he could say no.
“Great, let’s-“
“Ah, Ohno, there you are.” The man had picked up the slice of cake, but turned as his name was called, and Aiba was surprised to find Matsumoto coming towards them with a bright smile, Sho following a few feet behind him and looking at Koharu nervously.
“Ah, Jun. What can I do for you?” Ohno asked the taller man with a neutral expression, but the use of his first name showed Aiba that they must be good friends.
“I wanted to introduce you to Sakurai Sho,” came the enthusiastic reply, and Matsumoto pulled the designer forward, even though he was wearing a guilty expression and stealing glances at Aiba.
“Nice to meet you,” Sho offered and Ohno reached out to shake his hand.
“You too.”
“Sho, this is Ohno Satoshi.”
It took that long for Aiba to make the connection. This tiny man was the artist who was running this exhibit.
He reached down to grab Koharu’s hand before they were accused of not understanding art properly, but Sho immediately turned to Aiba after he had released Ohno.
“Aiba, I’m sorry-Jun started pulling me around and it looked like she really wanted the cake, so I let her go by herself…” he explained with a pained expression and Aiba forced a smile in return. “I was keeping an eye on her, I promise,” he offered in a low voice, and the photographer was torn between thanking Sho for his good intentions and promising himself he’d never leave Koharu alone again.
“It’s okay, nothing happened,” he said instead, smiling down at his daughter and squeezing the tiny hand that was grasped in his own. “It’s late Sho-san… I’m sorry to be a bother, but we should probably go home… don’t worry, I’ll get a taxi,” Aiba replied quickly.
Of course the older man looked disappointed, but the photographer didn’t want to make more of an ass of himself than he already had tonight, especially with all the guests suddenly watching them, and no doubt Koharu was going to crash as soon as they got back.
He slowly started for the entrance again, but the short artist from before was standing in his way with the slice of desert balanced carefully in his hands.
“What about the cake?”
Aiba stared at him blankly and both men looked down at Koharu together, who glanced at her father and then the sweet. It was obvious she wanted it, but being the good child that she was, she didn’t say as much.
“Come on, let’s go to the back room for a few minutes,” Ohno offered with a smile, ignoring both Sho and Jun, who were watching them intently. Suddenly feeling more relaxed, Aiba chuckled and nodded to the smaller man, who turned to lead them through the crowd of people.
They ducked through a door in the rear of the exhibition hall, and Jun had pulled Sho along with them, mumbling something about Ohno being hard to deal with sometimes and that he didn’t really do what was polite, but that he was actually a really gentle person.
The artist listened to Jun’s words although he pretended not to. His attention was almost completely on this adorable girl that had attended his art exhibition and her father, who appeared to be just as adorable. Although he appreciated Jun’s efforts in preparing such a large party for the opening night of his exhibition, he began feeling stuffy almost immediately, and listening to people talk about how amazing his artwork was was actually really wearing. It made him feel like he had a lot to live up to, which he didn’t like at all.
Careful not to give away his sweet prize too early, Ohno directed the tiny girl to a sofa that he had taken a nap on a few hours ago and set the cake down on a low table in front of it. He took the spot next to her, forcing her dashing looking partner to take the other side, and the artist finally picked up the desert and the fork again.
He looked at the utensil comically while the girl stared at the cake.
Glancing at her and then back at the fork, he smiled sheepishly. “Uh oh, I only grabbed one.”
The girl rewarded him with a wide smile and a giggle.
Pretending not to notice, Ohno turned to Jun, who was talking with Sho again under his breath, standing next to the door they had come through. He looked thrilled that the other man was next to him and Ohno would be making fun of him right now if he didn’t have two other delightful distractions next to him on the couch. Jun had talked so much about Sho in the last week that Ohno was confident he could hold a conversation with the designer without actually letting him say anything in reply.
“Jun-chan,” Ohno called out with a protruding lip, “will you go get us another fork?”
The recipient of the artist’s request stopped talking long enough to glare at him, but he was in a good mood tonight and Ohno knew he would succumb to his whims.
“I’m your manager, not your slave,” came the haughty reply, but Jun still told Sho to wait a second while he ducked back out into the main room. The noise was a little muffled from back here and Ohno was already feeling less tense than he had been a minute ago.
When he turned back to the cutie on the couch next to him and his daughter (who was equally cute), Ohno focused his attention on the girl instead of her father. Despite his appearance, the artist could be quite shy.
“What’s your name, by the way? You didn’t say even though we’re sharing cake and everything…”
“Koharu…” she replied softly, offering Ohno a sweet, irresistible smile.
“Koharu-chan, is it?” he paused, then continued, “Are you here alone?”
“Are you hitting on my daughter?” the man that Ohno had been eyeing for the last few minutes finally spoke up. He was wearing an amused grin that made the artist’s heart start pumping faster, but instead of giving his attention to the girl’s father, he turned back to Koharu instead.
“Who’s this guy? If he’s bugging you, you just let me know…” Ohno tried to put on a tough front even though he was wearing an amused expression, but he didn’t say anything more at the slightly taken-aback look the girl shot him. He hoped he hadn’t said something wrong, since he was just teasing.
“This is Masaki.”
Ohno thought it was a little strange that she didn’t introduce him as ‘papa’ or ‘daddy’, but he didn’t comment and finally met the soft gaze of the stunning specimen of a man across from him.
He had child, so he was basically off limits, Ohno supposed… But he could look, right?
“Nice to meet you, Masaki,” the artist said in his deepest, most sensual voice, and he was rewarded with a dark blush from his victim.
Before he received a response, Jun was holding a fork in front of his nose with a frown.
“Your majesty.”
Without acknowledging the sarcastic comment, Ohno took the fork and offered it to Koharu and then sat the piece of cake between them on his knee. He gave the first bite to the girl and then started on his side almost immediately. Jun had really chosen a good catering company-this was the best cake he’d had since that shop in Osaka. In fact, this would be his fourth slice of the night.
“How old are you Koharu-chan?” he asked between bites, his gaze focused on the child, but his attention almost completely on the man on the opposite side, who was watching them share the piece of food.
“Six.”
“What?!” he replied, looking flabbergasted. “I would have guessed at least eight!” She laughed, grinning wide enough to show her teeth, and Ohno felt relieved that something he had said had been a success.
“So you’re in the first grade?” he guessed.
She nodded with the fork in her mouth and Ohno’s face wrinkled a little in amusement.
They were silent for a second; Jun had taken up his position next to Sho again and the pair was watching the artist enjoying the cake instead of mingling with his guests. He’s always been like that, Jun offered to Sho with folded arms.
“And why did you decide to come to my art exhibit?” Ohno asked before taking the next bite of the sweet in his hand.
“Oh, so you that made that mailbox with the hand?”
Although Masaki looked terrified at what his daughter had said, the artist burst out laughing right away.
“That’s right, I made it. Is that what you came to see?” He was smiling so widely his eyes had scrunched shut and he could barely see the way Koharu’s father was staring at him distractedly.
“Oh, no. I came because Masaki said I could wear this pretty dress and meet some of his friends. And he said there might be cake, too,” she smiled and Ohno finally snuck another peek at the man in question, who had become flustered at the explanation.
“Yeah. If you would have listened to me, you would have already known that Sho brought him,” Jun mumbled, and Ohno briefly thought that if he’d known that Jun would have introduced him earlier he would have been listening more closely. “He’s the photographer that works at Tentoumushi studio, the one that did that shoot featured in Fresh that you liked so much.”
Ohno was suddenly much more interested.
He turned back to Masaki, leaving the rest of the cake at Koharu’s mercy.
“You did that? The one with the fish that was like-“ Ohno made a strange action with his hand, trying to depict the way that the photo had caught all of that movement.
Masaki ducked his head and Ohno grinned even wider.
“I know you’re probably going to pout, but you really need to get back out there, Oh-chan. Johnny just arrived and you at least need to say hello,” Jun suddenly interrupted with an apologetic look.
And pout Ohno did.
But if Masaki was the friend of Jun’s precious Sakurai Sho, Ohno could most certainly arrange another meeting with the man, and with that thought alone, the artist somehow forced himself off the couch, placing the empty plate on the coffee table in front of them along the way.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Koharu,” he said politely and then pattered her on the head, careful not to mess up her hair. Although Ohno wasn’t confident that he could act as suave with Masaki, he tried anyway, offering his hand to the taller man, who had stood as soon as Ohno had. “Masaki. I hope we can chat a little longer next time.”
“Me too.” The photographer gave him a firm handshake and a bright smile, which melted Ohno’s heart into a puddle on the spot. Jun stepped forward to pull him away, shoving him out the door and into the hoards of people waiting to congratulate him or offer him a glass of champagne. It took him several seconds to come back to himself, only the image of Masaki’s bright teeth and wrinkled eyes in his head.
+++
A/N: And here's the Ohba story!! :DD I know most of you were probably expecting something in the Arashi universe, but it's an AU instead! I totally admit it's hard to write Ohba since they're so happy all the time. So I apologize if this story is less focused on plot and more focused on happy fluffy sap.
Fun Fact #1: I basically wrote this story for yarukizero. After finishing Ohno in Wonderland I was hankering to write something and wanted to try some Ohba. She told me she had an idea for a story like this (Aiba in the My Girl universe with Ohno as an artist), but didn't have the time to write it because she's still working on Storm, so I wrote it instead. Although the original idea is hers, I basically did what I wanted to. ^.^; But somehow all the pairings turned out the same as Storm... >.>; Also, coming up with titles is the worst.
Criticism and comments are always welcome. :)
Chapter two