Rent-A-Friend [4/4]
No matter how hard he concentrated, he just couldn't get the landscape to come out right. He'd been working on this painting for three days now and the paint was almost visible to the naked eye with how thick he had slathered it on. Something just wasn't right and no matter how many different ways he worked the brush, there was no way he was going to get it the way he wanted it.
With a sigh, Ohno set down the brush and ran a hand through his hair. He felt odd ends sticking up but couldn't bring himself to care. It wasn't like anyone was going to see him, anyway. Sho was busy setting up for a new show at the gallery and Aiba had taken Jun out to dinner. Tonight, like the past few nights, it was just Ohno, his paints and his thoughts.
Despite his best efforts, it was beginning to be harder and harder not to think of the wedding. For so many months, he had managed to forget about the friend he had lost, drowning himself in work and new acquaintances. Ohno had thought he had moved on, grown up somewhat. He had people he could legitimately call friends now; he would be okay without Nino.
The wedding had brought all the feelings he had been denying into light, though. It wasn't friendship that Ohno was lacking; it was Nino's. Everyone else was fine, great, amazing but they weren't him, they weren't Nino. That had counted for more than Ohno would allow himself to be aware of.
On the train ride home from the wedding, Jun had looked at him with disappointment that Ohno had trouble placing. Ohno had failed at something, that much was clear, but despite having a few issues with how Jun viewed wedding manners, he couldn't think of any other thing the younger man could be cross with him about.
"I can't believe you didn't say anything," Jun finally sighed, looking almost as down as Ohno felt himself. Ohno shifted slightly, leaning closer to the hand holding on to the white plastic rung, swaying with the rhythmic pulse of the train.
"About what?" he asked, although he had a sinking feeling that he knew what Jun was talking about. Jun was the one that had, somehow, for some reason, set that whole confusing business up. It didn't make any sense to Ohno how Jun knew anything about it or why he would do something like that but it had happened and Jun seemed to know why.
His assumptions were proven correct when Jun only gave him a look, a look that knew everything and Ohno could only sigh, sinking forward, hand tightening on the ring.
"He was the one that denied knowing me first," Ohno frowned, knowing that it wasn't a very good excuse. It was Nino's job not to know; Ohno had no such claim. Ohno was the one that had the freedom to change the situation but he lost his nerve and now here he was, riding the train home with a man that didn't like him all that much in the first place, feeling much worse for the wear.
"Well, you could have said something," Jun muttered, seeming almost as mad at himself as Ohno did. Which really didn't make much sense because, as far as Ohno could see, Jun wasn't even connected to this mess. He turned slightly, head resting on his raised arm, to give Jun a curious look.
"Why do you even care? How do you even know?"
Jun moved to ignore him, turning his body slightly, as if to read one of the ads decorating the top of the train but Ohno wasn't going to let him out of the interrogation. The train jolted without warning and he used it as a chance to bump roughly into Jun, until the other man looked back at him with a frown and a sigh.
"You honestly don't remember talking to me before Aiba brought me over, do you?" He asked, much to Ohno's surprise. He quickly began scanning through his brain for any instance of meeting Jun before that night at Sho's. He couldn't think of an occasion but Jun was looking at him with one eyebrow cocked in annoyance and Ohno knew that there must be a right answer that he was missing. With the arrival of a brief moment of clarity, Ohno looked up in mild shock.
"You answered the phone," he murmured, not very clearly but Jun seemed to understand, nodding with the look of a man that had a weight lifted off his shoulders. Even his body lifted slightly, no longer leaning forward towards the salaryman seated in front of them. Thoughts were swirling through Ohno's mind. This meant that Jun and Nino knew each other, however peripherally. This meant that something was going on, that something was happening.
Jun must have noticed something in Ohno's face because he chuckled slightly, a sound Ohno rarely heard out of the younger man in reference to himself. He turned to face him.
"You really are a mess, aren't you?" Jun asked, amusement in his eyes. "Both of you are hopeless."
"Both of you?" Ohno repeated, confused. Jun just nodded again, still looking like he was enjoying some private joke.
"You don't even recognize the guy that sets up your fateful meeting over the phone," Jun smiled, "and even when I say where I work, you just nod without paying attention. Maybe you rubbed off on him; he's been off his game for months."
"He has?" Ohno asked, curious. Nino was always so composed, a constant question of a person. To think that he was doing badly didn't make any sense.
"Just sits around the office and plays that damned DS of his," Jun nodded. "He hasn't taken a job in months."
"But we just saw him," Ohno frowned. "He was playing that girl's brother."
"He is that girl's brother," Jun smirked. "You were at Ayaka Ninomiya's wedding, genius."
The doors opened, announcing Jun's stop and the younger man exited the train without so much as a goodbye, a small smile on his face. As the doors closed again in front of Ohno's confused face, Jun turned on the platform and gave him a wave. Ohno didn't know what to think anymore.
Days had passed and Jun hadn't said anymore, claiming that he had said all he could. He didn't give Ohno Nino's number (although Ohno didn't ask) and he didn't tell the others, although Ohno thought Aiba probably knew. The taller man was really bad at hiding the grin that would peak around the edges of his mouth when he asked Ohno how the wedding was.
There really didn't seem to be much more to do, although Ohno knew he was lying to himself. He was scared, quite frankly. The only thing he could think to do was to call the agency but even that seemed like a bad idea. If Jun answered, he'd make fun of him again. He didn't even know what he'd say if Nino answered.
So it was back to painting. Painting couldn't throw him questions he didn't know the answers to. Pictures couldn't fill his legs with a strange feeling both hollow and blue that made him just want to sit on the couch all day and watch sad movies like the ones his mother had when he was little. Easels didn't guilt you with memories and possibilities.
He'd finished three since the wedding, each in vibrant shades of yellow that Ohno had found in the back of a storage closet he thought he'd locked months ago.
-------
A week had passed and nothing had changed. Sho came over one afternoon, dragging what looked like a dead body from some bad gangster movie over his back. Ohno blinked.
"What is that?" Ohno asked, as Sho let out a few deep breaths after depositing his burden in the middle of Ohno's living room. Sho wouldn't answer until he'd taken a few gulps from the water bottle that Ohno passed him, wiping the back of his hand against his mouth as if he'd done something ridiculously strenuous.
"Extra futon," he finally answered. Ohno looked at him doubtfully before going over and poking the mysterious object. It did appear to be an extra futon (and much lighter than Sho's production had made it out to be) but that didn't explain why Sho had brought it over and he said as much.
"Aiba told me to bring it over," Sho shrugged. "Wouldn't tell me why." A sudden evil smirk came on the otherwise straight-laced man's face. "Maybe he and Jun had a fight and he has to stay the night at your place."
Ohno laughed along with Sho, imaging the many reasons they could think of why Jun would kick Aiba out of the apartment, their favorite idea involving Jun's prize set of rings and Aiba's knack for odd experiments that involved freezing things and then seeing what happened to them.
It was getting late and Ohno asked if Sho wanted to stay for dinner but the other man had something gallery-related he had to get to. He did manage to help Ohno find a place to lay out the futon (Sho was convinced Aiba would be knocking rather soon) but he was quickly on his way, dashing out the door as if he were running late rather than an hour early.
Aiba didn't come that night and Ohno curled up on the futon, too tired with wondering to make it to his own room.
-------
When he'd heard the knock on the door, he had obviously assumed it was Aiba, finally on his way over from the apartment he shared with Jun, most likely with a few little suitcases under his arm and that kind of hopeful grin he gave when he needed something. What he didn't expect to meet were the curiously guarded eyes of one Ninomiya Kazunari.
Ohno froze in the doorway, not sure what to say and not sure what to do. Nino's eyes were shy for only an instant before he appeared to flip a switch in his brain and strode into the apartment with that same confident smile Ohno had come to associate with him. He sank down into the couch like he had never left, the spot on the left end finally looking whole again.
"Oh-chan," he smiled, although his voice was not as forceful as it might otherwise have been. "What, you're going to act like you don't know me?"
Ohno was still trying to connect dots in his brain while he closed the front door, ignoring the lingering sense of deja vu. When he turned back to the couch, Nino was smiling hesitantly at him and Ohno recognized that, for once, Nino was risking just as much as Ohno wished he had earlier.
"What are you doing here?" he asked finally, walking over to sink down into the other edge of the couch, tired eyes turned to Nino's cautious ones. The other man looked down at his hands, shrugged.
"Can't a man visit his best friend?" he asked without meeting Ohno's eyes. There were so many things Ohno was warring within himself to say. Since when are we best friends? I thought we didn't know each other. Did your heart skip a beat when you saw me, too? Who the hell do you think you are? I missed you.
"What about your work?" he finally managed, just the right amount of hurt seeping into his voice to make Nino wince, reaching out to grab a pillow and pulling it to himself.
"I quit."
"What?" Ohno asked, not having expected that answer. Jun hadn't said anything about that and Nino looked rather guilty, staring down at the pillow that was clenched between his fingers rather than at Ohno. "What about Matsumoto?"
"What about Jun?" Nino bit back, looking angry all of the sudden but not at him. "Little prick thinks he can tell me what to do with my life. I make my own decisions, not bend to the beck and call of his majesty. Just because the company was his idea..." Nino trailed off but he'd never really been speaking to Ohno, anyway.
"I don't think Matsumoto meant anything harmful," Ohno tried, thinking back on the self-satisfied smile of Jun's as he mocked Ohno on the train. It had been annoying but it hadn't been unkind. Nino didn't want to hear it, though, groaning in frustration and letting his head sink back to the arm of the couch.
"Don't you go defending Jun," he moaned, staring up that the ceiling. "He doesn't deserve it. He was the one that didn't like you in the first place."
"I knew Matsumoto didn't like me," Ohno smiled, amused. "Although, I thought maybe he had warmed up to me."
"Well, don't feel bad about him," Nino looked back up, "because Jun of all people does not deserve your sympathy."
"Nino," Ohno frowned, feeling an uncomfortable churning in his stomach as there was both nothing and too much to say. The slighter man looked across the couch at him, pillow brought up under his neck. He looked lost.
Ohno knew he had meant to say something but the words got lost on the way to his mouth. It didn't matter, though; Nino read his thoughts with a glance and sighed, sinking back into the couch.
"Jun and I were best friends growing up," he explained to the pillow, obviously aware of the way Ohno's eyes watched him, savoring the truth he was finally being made privy too. "We lived down the street from each other and our sisters were friends. Inevitably, we would start to play together and it just kind of went from there. We always seemed to be in the same class at school and for years, it was just him and I, against the world."
Nino took a breath. Ohno scooted a millimeter closer.
"For some reason," Nino continued, "from a very early age, I had gotten it into my head that Jun had a thing for Aya. My sister," he specified, looking over at Ohno. "You met her. Anyways, Jun just always seemed to light up when she was in the room and for some reason, it always made me feel kind of jealous because I wished Jun would be that excited to see me. I'm sure you can see where this is going." Nino sighed, novels worth of history in the single action.
"First love seems like a strong word for it but I suppose that's the best way to describe it. The world revolved around Jun for me and I hated that he liked my sister." He paused. "I hated it even more when he started going out with the transfer student in our last year of high school." He looked at Ohno with a bitter smile. "His name was Hideki.
But despite all that, I never hated Jun. He was just Jun and when he said he had the best idea for a company, where I could use my natural talent of pulling pranks on people and we could make tons of money, I quit my job at the convenience store and followed him. And we did make money. We even managed to hire more people and make it more of an agency and less of two friends taking phone calls from their apartment.
Jun met Aiba and that was the end. I had always known it would be. It doesn't do any good to stay in love when you know there's no hope but I'm not very good at falling out of it. I think, somewhere, Jun always knew but he never said anything, which was for the best. And then, four months later, he sent me over to your place. And that, as they say, was that."
Nino wouldn't meet Ohno's eyes, staring at the pillow in his hands like it would somehow give him all the answers.
"Nino, was that story true?" Ohno sighed, leaning back into the couch under the weight of the story. Nino shifted guiltily in his seat.
"Most of it," he shrugged. This wasn't going to work; not like this.
"Nino," Ohno asked in barely a whisper, tired of anxiety and tired of fear and just tired, "Nino, I don't even know what to believe anymore. What's real?"
"I missed you," Nino responded, looking straight ahead, into open space. Ohno's breath caught. "I missed you every single day. It got so bad that they had to stop sending me out the last few months; I couldn't concentrate on anything. I just sat on the couch, killing monsters on my DS like that could somehow solve something. I kept up with your work over the internet but I didn't have the nerve to do anything about it. I even stole one of those stupid fire alarm posters off the signboard by my apartment." He suddenly turned, making eye contact. "Why did you think it would be a good idea to pair a turtle with Blinky, anyway? That doesn't make any sense." He took a quick breath, his voice softening.
"I looked like a crazy stalker, especially if anyone would have looked at the search history on my laptop and it was all because of you. But for some reason, I just couldn't get over my stupid preoccupation with this job that I don't even like. Do you want to know what's real, Satoshi? I'm real and so are this damned annoying feelings I have. I don't know if this is love but it's lasted too long for infatuation or lust. All I know is that it's something and it exists so if you want to kick me out of your apartment like the freak I know I am, I totally understand but I really, really wish you wouldn't."
His speech said, Nino turned his face to look at him, fear and hope mixing in his eyes to a near unreadable emotion and Ohno didn't know what else to do other than lean forward and pull the slighter man into his arms. Nino didn't react for a moment, perhaps still confused at what had happened, but he soon moved, arms clutching at the material of Ohno's shirt and face burying itself in the nape of Ohno's neck. Ohno ran a hand lightly up and down Nino's back, trying to calm him and Nino only grabbed on tighter. Ohno turned his face slightly and kissed the top of Nino's head. His hair smelled like cheap shampoo and Ohno was charmed.
"So, you're not going to kick me out, then?" Nino's voice came wavering from somewhere near Ohno's shoulder. Ohno smiled, nuzzling the top of Nino's head again.
"No, I hadn't planned on it."
Nino pulled himself back slowly, still lightly in Ohno's arms, and pressed his forehead against Ohno's.
"I like you."
"I like you, too."
"Can I stay here tonight?"
"You can stay here for the week, if you want."
"Why do you have a futon in the living room?"
"Aiba."
"Ah."
They were silent for a moment, each breathing in the scent, the presence, the fulfillment that had been so long missed. Ohno wondered vaguely if this is what those happy endings in fairy tales talked about. Then Nino smiled devilishly and leaned forward to quickly peck Ohno's lips before sliding off the couch, onto the futon and pulling at Ohno's hand to join him and Ohno knew that it was.
-------
"Cheers!" five voices exclaimed before knocking their glasses together and taking a swig of the beer Aiba had brought over. Sho gave Ohno an amused smile across the table as Jun complained that Aiba had clinked his glass too strongly and spilled part of his beer on him. Nino tossed a napkin at Jun's face and the other man grabbed it with an annoyed click of the tongue. Nino giggled and squeezed Ohno's hand under the table.
The party was supposedly to celebrate Aiba's signing a new client but everyone knew what it was really for. Jun had brought sushi; Aiba had brought more alcohol than Ohno had thought he'd consume in a lifetime. Sho wasn't completely privy to the whole story but had caught on soon enough, especially with some beer in him.
The revelry continued into the night, with Aiba bringing some board game that he claimed to have invented in college. They all agreed to play, much to Jun's dismay. A few hours later, Ohno found himself in his bathroom, trying to wash permanent marker off his face, ripping two pairs of stockings off his head in the effort. A knock on the door alerted him of someone else's presence.
"Can I have a word, brother?" Jun asked semi-seriously, pulling the stocking off his own head. Ohno nodded, a bit confused but not about to let that ruin what appeared to be a serious conversation.
Jun wouldn't look him in the eyes for a second and Ohno began to wonder if maybe the alcohol was affecting the younger man more than it appeared to. He wrung his hands for a moment before looking up suddenly, making eye contact with Ohno and almost startling him into the sink.
"If you hurt him," Jun growled, "I will make you wish you weren't born." His eyes seemed to flash and as scared as he was, Ohno could see how much Jun cared in the depths of his face. He nodded once and Jun deflated again, back into the man he had been hours before, laughing at Aiba's side.
"Don't worry," he smiled softly, "I just have to say those things. Old friend privilege. I know you won't." He paused again before reaching over and patting Ohno on the shoulder. "Take care of him, won't you?" Ohno hadn't been expecting the approval but nodded again, nonetheless. Jun's smile looked relieved.
"Thank you," he said earnestly, before turning to make his way back towards the living room. Ohno let out a breath again. He didn't know if he'd ever quite feel comfortable around Jun but for Aiba and Nino, he'd try.
A few more attempts to scrub his face and Ohno walked to the living room, where he found a pile of limbs scattered about the place. Aiba and Jun lay tangled in a mass on the couch, Sho leaned against the right side, seeming to have fallen asleep while putting a blanket over the other two men. Ohno smiled and pulled another blanket from the closet, putting it around Sho's shoulders.
Nino had managed to make it to the futon that was still on Ohno's living room floor, despite the fact that two weeks had passed and it technically belonged to Sho. When Ohno bent down to make sure Nino had enough blanket over him, one eye opened and Nino grinned at him sleepily.
"Where're you goin'?" he asked, a yawn punctuating the question. Ohno opened his mouth to respond but Nino just smiled wider. "That's right, nowhere." A hand curled around Ohno's wrist and pulled gently down until Ohno found himself lying next to the slighter man.
Nino inched forward and pressed a kiss to Ohno's neck before snuggling into him, throwing an arm over his stomach. Ohno turned to face Nino, kissing the tip of his nose and eliciting a small chuckle before Nino's breathing evened out and Ohno knew that he was the only person still awake.
One arm sliding around Nino, Ohno let himself begin to lose the battle of consciousness, content to hear the quiet breathing of four other people around him. He may have come to Tokyo without knowing anyone but if being friendless for most of his life led him to this, he wouldn't have changed a thing.
~
And that was the end of Rent-A-Friend. I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm working on something for White Day and I have no idea what my next series will be (I'm leaning towards space exploration) so keep an eye open! Thanks for reading~ ♥