Come On! Koibito! 19/21
"You're sure I can't come?" Aiba whined into the phone, fiddling with the cord with his right hand, twirling it round and round his index finger. Nino kept claiming that they should get rid of the old landline and just have their cell phones, since it would be cheaper but there was something about the older phone that Aiba really liked and it was one battle about their apartment that Nino had yet to win. "I'm basically family."
"But you're not really family," Sho sighed back in the phone. Aiba could almost hear him run a hand through his hair and smiled at the image. "I mean, I completely understand why you want to come but I don't think I can pull any strings this time."
"Okay," Aiba finally conceded, frowning and hoping that the point got across over the phone, "fine. I get it. But don't think this is the last time you're going to hear from me, Sakurai Sho!" He giggled.
"Well, I should hope not," Sho laughed back, a deep laugh that made Aiba's insides tingle. "It would be a really bad start for a relationship."
"Shh!" Aiba rebutted smartly, a smile worming its way onto his face. "When do I get to see you next?"
Unfortunately for Aiba, with the end of his "storyline" (as Kimura had put it), he had also been told that that he couldn't exactly continue on the show, after quitting and all. Aiba had moved back into the apartment that Nino and he shared and returned to the pet shop, despite his phone pratically being surgically attached to his head. Nino had been released from the clinic after a day and despite still being rather quiet and reluctant, he was fine and Aiba hadn't been able to convince anyone (let alone Nino) that he needed to stay to help take care of him.
The last time Aiba had seen Sho was two days prior, when Nino had finally kicked Aiba out of his bedroom and he hadn't been able to finagle any way to stay longer. Sho had walked him to the car and hugged him goodbye (he was a lot shyer when he wasn't on camera), waving back as the car drove away. And although that was the last time Aiba had seen his physical presence, the younger man had taken to calling a few times a day, ostensibly to check on Nino but really to make sure Sho hadn't forgotten him (despite the fact that Sho assured him he couldn't ever forget someone that had confessed on national television).
"Hmm," Sho thought out loud into the phone, "I think I get the day after tomorrow off. I could come down and pick you up after work, I suppose. We could get dinner or something?"
"Sounds great!" Aiba smiled, the idea of getting dinner with Sho soon painting his mood for the rest of the day. "Tell Jun and Ohno to say hi to Nino's mom and sister for me!"
"I will," Sho agreed and Aiba could hear the grin in his voice. "I'll call you tomorrow to figure out exactly how to get to the pet store."
"I'm sure I'll talk to you before that," Aiba confided and Sho laughed in agreement.
"Night, Sho."
"Night, Aiba."
-------
There was much to be said about having a few nights off. Well, Ohno hadn't particularly had any days off, considering he'd spent the past few days at Nino's side. Not that he minded it, of course, but there were days off that were spent fishing and days off that were spent making sure Nino got out of bed at least once. Each equally important, if focused on different areas of his life.
Kimura kept sending him text messages, asking him if he needed a replacement or something so that he could get some real time off but Ohno always refused, mainly because Ohno felt in almost as bad a place as he was sure Nino was. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that scene of Nino in the bathtub and quickly had to squeeze Nino's hand, remind himself that he was still there and still safe.
One somewhat good thing the whole situation had done was almost completely erase the awkward tension that had settled between them from the aftermath of Nino's confession. Ohno had never been quite sure what had happened after that night, actively knowing that Nino was avoiding him but never aware of why. Whatever it was, though, had seemed to blow past them. Nino didn't really seem to like Ohno leaving his side, lately, and Ohno was quite content to grant his wish.
The nice thing about the final week of filming was that the challenges (if they could be called that) were individual. Every final episode was fairly simple: the bachelor would go and visit each contestant's family individually, get the inside scoop on each man and simply see what kind of background each person came from. In all honesty, of all the challenges, Ohno had always thought that this one made the most sense, considering what the show was trying to do and that's probably why Kimura let it continue as the last challenge every year, despite how potentially boring it was. By this point, as far as the staff was concerned, if someone wasn't already watching the show, there wasn't really much chance to hook them for the last episode. Or at least, that's what Kimura said in every last planning meeting, probably trying to convince himself as much as the staff.
Shun's house had been first, four or so days ago and Junpei's had been two days before. Since he was Nino's cameraman, he had been allowed to stay back on those days, ostensibly getting the time off but really just watching Nino play video games and running to the kitchen for food when he noticed that hours had passed since they'd eaten. Ironically, he'd had to call his parents every other day or so, reminding them that he was fine and was just taking care of a sick friend (which, as far as they knew, was the truth). His mom always laughed, teasing him about how close he must be to this mysterious friend but he'd shaken it off. His mom had always liked to tease him too much.
"I think we're going to get there around three," Nino was saying into the phone, pacing around the room. It was finally the day when they visited Nino's family and the younger man was obviously slightly anxious. They'd pushed his day back as far as they had been able, trying to let Nino relax for as long as possible (Kimura still felt kind of guilty; it was obvious) but there was no putting it off forever. Nino had complained that he wasn't sure if his mother was watching the show (he hoped she wasn't) and as such, he didn't know if she knew about what had happened the week before. Kimura had sworn up and down that they hadn't aired anything, simply saying that Nino had caught the flu and that was why he had missed most of the week before but there was only so far you could trust the director.
"You don't have to make anything," Nino sighed, slouching on the bed and rolling his eyes good-naturedly at Ohno. "We're going to talk to you guys, not to eat. And no, that is not an insult to your cooking. I'm just saying that you don't have to." A pause. "Fine, if you want to make something, go ahead. I was just trying to save you some work." Ohno smiled, taking comfort in the knowledge that deep down, most moms were the same.
Aiba had been teasing him earlier (before Kimura basically had him man-handled out of the mansion) about finally going to meet Nino's parents. At the time, he'd shrugged it off, not really seeing what the big deal was but now, with it looming in a few hours, he was beginning to understand why people tended to stress out when they met the parents of their significant other/one night stand/best friend. He frowned. This was much too confusing.
"She is going to cook a whole chicken, mark my words," Nino sighed, a fond smile on his face as he closed the phone and put it back in his pocket. "Mothers always want to put in more work than they need to. It's just you, me and Jun, you know?"
"And the rest of the country," Ohno pointed out, rewarded with another Nino eye roll. "Plus, I think they're sending a few more cameras with us to get multiple angle shots. Tamaki and Okada are coming, I think."
"Well, if someone has to come, I guess I'd rather it were them," Nino accepted, nodding. "Okada was always nice to me and Tamaki's your friend, right?"
"Yeah," Ohno smiled before realizing something. "Wait, how did you know I'm friends with Tamaki?"
"I notice more than you think, Oh-chan," Nino replied with a sly smile. "Also, you always used to hang out with him between shots back before we were better friends. Don't be so shocked I remember things." Ohno laughed and nodded, happy that not only did Nino remember random details about him but also that he'd returned to calling him Oh-chan, a nickname that Ohno had never thought he'd like but had somehow become the only thing he wanted Nino to call him.
Nino settled in to play some more Dragon Quest before they had to leave and Ohno found himself zoning out as Nino battled different types of slime monsters. It wasn't until Nagase actually knocked on the door that either man noticed that a few hours had passed.
"We're moving out," he announced. "We need you two downstairs in five minutes." He didn't wait around for a reply. They were basically ready, though, so Nino slipped on a jacket and Ohno grabbed his camera to make their way down.
Jun was waiting in the foyer, actually allowed to ride with them this time since the competition had been cut down so vastly. He looked kind of small, awkwardly playing with his gloves and waving when he noticed them coming down the stairs. Ohno was beginning to worry about what was going to happen at the end of the show, considering it didn't seem to him like Jun particularly loved any of the contestants, as much as he really seemed to like them.
"My sister is going to try to steal your coat, I'm warning you right now," Nino told Jun as the two made their way over to the other man. "It's why I don't have nice things."
"And here I just thought you were a slob," Jun replied, a lazy smile on his face. Nino slapped his arm but there was no malice in it. Somehow, despite how much Nino had disliked Jun at first, the two had become friends, probably due to Aiba's influence.
"I don't think my mom is going to like you," Nino continued, mock seriously. "She always said she was happy we only had one daughter in the family so..."
"I already feel sorry that she has such a disgrace of a son so I'll be kind."
The mock bickering continued for a little while, Nino and Jun trading insults like old friends. He was positive they didn't mean it but Ohno felt a little left out. He frowned and began shuffling his feet. Neither of them noticed.
"In the cars," Nagase called from the front, looking very hassled (he probably was). The three of them piled into one of the vans and began the journey to Nino's familial home. Katsushika wasn't ridiculously far but with traffic it was a bit of a journey. Twenty minutes in, Nino pulled out his DS and began attacking evil mushrooms and confused looking turtles for the rest of the ride. Ohno was comforted a bit by the slight weight of Nino leaning against his right arm but felt kind of awkward having it happen while Jun was there, especially with the weird look he was giving them.
Visions of what Jun must be thinking flashed through Ohno's head. Did he know about them? But how could he know? He probably just thought that they were close friends. Except that Aiba knew about the two of them and he had a pretty big mouth. There was a very good chance that Jun knew. Dear God, if Jun knew, what must he think? Why was he even letting Nino continue in the show?
Unless--this was awful to even think about-- unless he was in love with Nino. It wasn't impossible; Nino was completely lovable, in his Nino-way. And while it was true that the two didn't get along before, this morning itself was proof enough that they'd formed some kind of friendship. Didn't a bunch of those romantic movie leads start off by bickering?
And then there was the whole business of Nino avoiding Ohno for the past two weeks. Maybe he had fallen for Jun? Realized the mistake he'd made with Ohno, that the two of them could only ever be friends? It wasn't impossible. It was true that Nino had been clinging to him ever since the incident but it was also possible that that was simply because Ohno had been the one who'd found him. They were friends and Ohno was there; it wasn't impossible that it was simply an in-the-moment thing.
Ohno bit his lip in thought, zoning out with ridiculous but worrying thoughts playing through his mind the whole way to Nino's.
When they arrived, Nino's mother and sister were waiting out front, much to Nino's chagrin. It was kind of cute how much Nino and his sister looked alike and Ohno felt his heart jump into his throat for reasons he couldn't quite fathom. He was the cameraman, not the boyfriend. He needed to remember that.
"Mom, Katsumi? This is Jun," Nino motioned to Jun who had exited the van behind him. "He is our esteemed bachelor." There was a kind of loving sarcasm in his tone. Ohno wasn't sure how to read it but he wasn't sure he liked it.
"So nice to meet you," Nino's mother shook Jun's hand with a smile. "Thank you for putting up with my boy."
"Mom," Nino frowned. "You're supposed to be on my side."
"Won't you come in?" Mrs. Ninomiya ignored her son, leading Jun by the hand she was still holding. Nino shook his head and joined the other two. Ohno turned to follow when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Nino's sister smiling at him conspiratorially.
"Ohno, right?" She asked, grinning like they were sharing an inside joke Ohno wasn't sure he was aware of. "Nice to finally meet you."
"Um, nice to meet you, too," Ohno played along, not quite sure what was going on. It seemed to work because she winked one more time and shimmied up the steps to follow her family. Despite having no idea what just happened, Ohno followed the parade without much fuss.
Nino's home was as one would expect: a typical, comfortable family abode. Ohno slipped his shoes off at the entranceway, doing his best to capture the whole apartment with his camera. He wanted the audience at home to get the sense of normalcy that Nino was raised in. Maybe. This 'liking his contestant' thing was making work very hard.
Nino, Jun, and Nino's family took a seat in the living room and proceeded to talk, simply talk, for the next forty five minutes. Even though he was there, Ohno felt himself zoning out a bit, half because it was mostly polite talk that no one usually cared about anyway and partly because he was daydreaming about the trouble he would get in if he tried to get Nino to run away with him before the finale. Not that he even knew if Nino would go at this point. When did life get this confusing?
Nagase called a filming break around four thirty, saying they needed to change out the film and other various technicalities. None of them were true, of course; they just wanted a chance to talk about what happened among the staff and give Ohno and Tamaki (the two lead cameras on this shoot) a short break. Ohno watched as Jun took Nino aside into the hallway with a frown. It was short lived, however, as he felt eyes on him from behind.
"Ohno?" Nino's sister asked. "Can I borrow you for a moment?"
"Me?" Ohno asked, honestly surprised. He wasn't sure what he had done to warrant this attention from Katsumi. Maybe Nino had said something? He didn't know if that was good or bad.
"Yes, you," she nodded, grabbing hold of his shirt and dragging him over towards where her mother was still sitting on the couch. It was amusing to know that forcefulness like that ran in the family.
"Ohno?" Nino's mother asked when they got there, rising from her seat and actually shaking Ohno's hand. Ohno blinked to make sure this was actually happening. "It's so nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you, too," Ohno replied automatically. Katsumi pushed him down into the couch before taking a seat next to him. He was in a Ninomiya sandwich and he had no idea what was going on. This felt like dangerous territory.
"You're our favorite, you know," Katsumi confided with a conspiratorial wink.
"Favorite what?" Ohno asked, feeling kind of like an idiot. Katsumi just laughed.
"Thank you so much for taking care of my boy," Nino's mother picked up where her daughter left off. She smiled warmly at Ohno and patted his shoulder with her next words. "I know he's a handful but I can tell he likes you."
"...what?" Ohno asked again, getting gradually more confused and embarrassed at the same time.
"He's actually dating you, right?" Katsumi asked with a grin. "it's okay," she quickly added, "your secret's safe with us. We only want the best for him. Plus, you two look way cuter than him and Jun. Jun's too flashy." Nino's mother nodded in agreement.
"How do you even know?" Ohno asked, dumbfounded. "I mean, we're not dating," he quickly tried to cover his tracks, although he could tell from their faces that he wasn't fooling either of them, despite it being the truth. "We're just really good friends. But how did you even know my name?"
He hoped the next question wouldn't sound too desperate.
"Has he said something?"
...damn.
"Oh, it's obvious," Katsumi giggled. "He hasn't liked someone this much since high school. You should be honored." She punched his arm in an affectionate manner and Ohno found himself warming up to this tiny, girl version of Nino, despite how odd the circumstances were.
"We're really not--" he tried again, only to be shushed by Nino's mother.
"Now, now," she smiled, the same feline smile her two children had clearly inherited, "let's not talk about technicalities. As far as I'm concerned, you're the new boyfriend and thus, you need the speech."
"The speech?" Ohno asked, stomach going back to the familiar confused churning.
"The speech," Katsumi nodded.
"I just have to warn you," Nino's mother's face had turned serious, "about something. Nothing horrible; just something you should know. We're trying to prevent any future fights, you know. We simply like to warn all of Kazu's boyfriends (when we can catch them, of course) about his phobia of water."
"Oh, I know about that," Ohno replied automatically, noticing a second too late that he forgot to deny their relationship again.
"He told you about Dad?" Katsumi asked, sounding impressed. "He must really like you."
"Dad?" Ohno repeated, feeling his stomach drop like a broken elevator. Katsumi and Mrs. Ninomiya made awkward eye contact and Ohno knew he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.
"When Kazu was five years old," Nino's mother began, "his father took him out fishing." Mrs. Ninomiya's eyes were far away, gazing towards the open doorway behind Ohno's head. Ohno already didn't like where this was going, casting a mind's eye on all the fishing equipment he had back home and silently thanking the powers that be that Nino didn't find it when they were cleaning.
"Kazu's dad had always loved fishing, you know. He'd go out at four and come home at nine with a cooler full of fish and dinner for the next week. Kazu always wanted to go out with him and one day, Hiroshi finally let him come along." She paused and Ohno felt the impending dread of how this story would end.
"I got a call later that day, around five, to come pick up Kazu. Some fishermen had found him drifting in the bay." The lingering look of old pain shone in her eyes. "We never found Hiroshi's boat. The weather report and the other fishermen said there were unseasonal winds, that the waves were higher than normal. Kazu's never talked about it."
Katsumi was silent and Nino's mother was gazing at her hands. Ohno felt like a jerk. And he'd tried to take Nino on a boat? What the hell had he been thinking? It didn't even matter that he hadn't known; he should have realized something was wrong. And it was while they were fishing? No wonder Nino always frowned when Ohno mentioned it.
"I didn't know," Ohno heard himself say, his voice distant to his own ears. Both of the women shook their heads, weary but good natured smiles on their faces.
"Don't worry about it," Katsumi recovered first, ruffling Ohno's hair affectionately. "He likes you and I can tell from your expression that you like him. Just be patient and don't try to get him on a cruise anytime in the near future and you two will be fine."
"Break's over!" Nagase's voice broke through the awkward air, bringing Ohno back to reality. He stood up suddenly and turned to the two women.
"I'll go get him," he explained, aware that his voice was shaky but with no idea what to do about it. They just smiled and nodded. He shuffled off towards the hallway, absently thinking on what they had just told him. It was obvious they were trying to calm him, make him feel better but he only felt awful. He didn't know anything about Nino at all. How could he be so stupid?
A strange image caught his eye at the end of the hallway and Ohno stopped. Jun was whispering something in Nino's ear. Nino smiled in response to whatever Jun was saying, half embarrassed, the smile reminding Ohno of the ones he had given him on that night. Nino laughed and turned away, almost shy. And with one last sputter, Ohno's heart dropped out.
"We're shooting again," he called, waiting until the other two looked up before turning and walking back to the living room, feet of lead.
-------
Ohno had intended to go straight home after they returned back to the mansion. Every glance at Nino in the past few hours had sent awkward pains to his chest and he would really rather just go home and spend the night staring at his ceiling. It, apparently, was not to be.
"Oh-chan?" Nino asked quietly as they got out of the van, a tug at the sleeve of his shirt. He turned to meet the younger man's eyes. "Do you have a second?"
Ohno nodded, not really looking forward to the upcoming conversation but aware it would probably have to happen sometime. Was Nino going to tell him it was all a joke? That he hoped they could still be friends? The possibilities were making his head spin and he let Nino drag him off without protest.
They reached the back hallway before Nino turned around, a serious expression on his face that Ohno didn't know if boded well or ill. He began fiddling with his hands and glancing around nervously. Ohno just wished he'd get on with it, tired of this hazy feeling in the pit of his stomach and really just wanting to go home.
"I want to talk to you about the show," Nino finally began. Ohno frowned, not exactly sure what the show had to do with the scenarios running through his mind. Nino looked pretty nervous, though, and Ohno figured it must be important.
"I've been thinking about something for awhile now," Nino continued, talking more to his hands than to Ohno but glancing up every once in awhile to make sure that he was listening. "Aiba kept encouraging me but I've tried to live my life by not doing what Aiba says is a good idea so I kept finding excuses and loopholes and reasons not to do what I knew deep down I should be doing."
Nino took another breath and looked Ohno straight in the eye. Ohno blinked, still not completely sure where this was going but knowing that it must be important. Nino must have lost a bit of confidence because he looked down again quickly, returning his speech to his hands.
"Jun pulled me aside today to talk about it," Nino smiled fondly and Ohno's heart protested. "I didn't even know he knew how I felt, although that was probably pretty stupid of me. I should have known that guy would know everything." Ohno didn't want to hear anymore, pretty sure he knew where this conversation was going. Nino just looked so happy and he didn't know if he could handle the strange, semi-break up that was about to follow.
"Ohno, are you still on set?" Ohno heard Nagase call out from the foyer. It was like a sign from God.
"Coming!" he called before turning to Nino, who was looking quite distressed. "I'm really sorry; I have to go. Tell me tomorrow?"
He didn't even give Nino a chance to respond before running off towards Nagase's voice and the salvation that came from being a staff member.
-------
"Are you sure about this?" Kimura frowned. Not only did this seem like a bad move on the business front (and the ratings front!), but he was sure there was no way that this was good for their relationship. Not that he could say all that to Ohno, who was looking very determined and still didn't know about the hidden cameras.
"I'm sure," he nodded. "I feel like I've just become a distraction and the whole point of my job is to blend in. I'll come back next season when I feel like I'm able to handle the responsibility."
"There's only one episode left to shoot, though," Kimura tried again. "You don't even have to do much for it; it's just stationary work! You're really quitting before the last show of the season?"
"I'm sorry," Ohno said again. With a quick bow, he turned and left the production tent. Kimura sighed and fell back into his chair. This wasn't what he had planned at all. He had hoped that they could have had another Aiba/Sho moment during the final, maybe even encourage Nino with some sort of reward at the end, ostensibly for getting so far but really for making the show more exciting. They were going to form three couples by the end of the season! That had been the plan!
A quick button tap had summoned Nagase to the tent and the look on his face told Kimura that the other man knew that something was wrong. He frowned and motioned for Nagase to sit down.
"Ohno quit," he said when Nagase had taken a seat.
"The day before the finale?" he asked, disbelieving.
"The day before the finale," Kimura nodded.
"What are we going to do?"
"What can we do? We have to set up for the shoot tomorrow, make sure all the arrangements are underway, get those live audience members to the taping without losing a limb. There's way too much to do; there's no time to try and fix this."
"This is awful," Nagase frowned. "What do you think Nino's going to do?"
Kimura hadn't even thought about that. What would Nino do? Should they tell him beforehand? No, it wasn't their place. They'd tell him in the morning, when it became obvious that Ohno wasn't there. What he'd do with that information, Kimura didn't know.
"We'll just have to find out."
~
CoKoi is back! Even though this chapter was near impossible to write. This is the weekend before my finals week (of which I only have two finals) so be aware that the next few (aka the last few) updates should be on track. Two more chapters and an epilogue! We're so close to the end! I've been working on another, shorter series already, though, so even when CoKoi is over, there's definitely more coming, if you guys want to stick around. :) Thank you, everyone, for being so patient. See you at Chapter 20. ♥