Unmask me (Chapter 6) (Final Chapter)
The bright sunlight tickled Sho's eyes open as he snuggled further into the couch. It was so comfortable and warm. He liked mornings such as this when he could sleep with Nino in his arms.
...
Wait a minute.
Sho looked down in shock to see Nino sleeping comfortably on top of him, his white cotton t-shirt riding up slightly above his tummy. His lips were curved in a smile as he slept like a cozy cat on top of him.
"Wow.." Sho thought," he must have been so tired carrying me up here after I got drunk."
He then looked at the glass of water and aspirin tablet on the table.
"Not sure if you can hear but here goes. I left some stuff beside you. Take them tomorrow."
"Ahhh so these are the stuff he was talking about," Sho said as he slowly rolled Nino off him to sleep on the sofa. He then popped in the tablet and sipped on the glass of water.
"... but you trust me?"
"And yet somehow...I..."
"I am so sorry. God I did something stupid."
"Don't think that. I don't mind."
Sho choked and started coughing on his glass of water as bits and fragments of last night returned to his memory.
He had kissed Nino.
He had actually kissed Nino.
"Oh my God," Sho mumbled in panic as he glanced at Nino's dishevelled hair and shirt,"Oh my God I think I just did something terribly idiotic and I-"
"Sho-kun?"
Sho felt his hair raise as he heard Nino call him from the couch. He turned stiffly to see Nino rubbing his eyes sleepily as he sat up, the sun rays making his jet black hair seem a little brown- WAIT. This was NO time to be admiring him.
"N-nino," Sho began, when Nino smiled.
"Ah, you took the aspirin and water. Good. How are you feeling?"
Sho scrambled to get his mind working again as he tried not to appear too nervous.
"O-oh I feel a lot better. Sorry for troubling you again."
"You know, i was just thinking that you are always so polite even when you get drunk," Nino remarked as he got up," don't get me wrong. It is an endearing quality."
"E-e-en-endearing?" Sho stammered as he looked away to conceal the blush on his cheeks.
"Sho-kun? Are you okay? You don't seem well."
"Huh?" Sho turned back to Nino, only to see him much closer than before.
"N-no! I just remembered that I have to pay my rent! I'll be off, bye!"
"O-oi! Sho-kun!"
Sho bolted fast out of the door before Nino could stop him.
!!!!!!!!!
Sho slammed the door of his apartment close as he sank down to the floor against the door. He closed his eyes as he inhaled deeply, trying to get more oxygen in his brain so he could at least process everything in his mind.
Just then, his phone vibrated. He looked at it to see a text message from Nino.
"Are you okay? Beep me if you feel sick or something."
"It doesn't sound like he remembers," Sho thought and tossed his phone aside, hearing it clatter on the floor some distance away from him.
For the first time in his life, the four walls around him felt so stifling.
For the first time in his entire life, he felt so... unsure.
Uncertain.
Almost as if he were standing over a precipice.
He knew, more than anything, the name of the feeling that had been growing in his heart ever since they had gone out for ramen together. But at the same time, that feeling had cast an all-too-familiar shadow of doubt on his heart.
After all, he had been at that place before, hadn't he?
"I... I don't know what to do.." Sho thought as he closed his eyes and laid his head on the door, feeling his heart torn in two.
Part of him ached to run back to Nino, grab him by the shoulders and kiss his every breath away.
The other part of him presently felt too weak and afraid to even stand.
Knowing he had work the next day, he tried to sleep that night.
But when he dreamt of Nino pinning him down on his bed and peppering kisses down his neck, he woke up with a start in the middle of the night, knowing he would never be able to sleep again.
!!!!!!!!!
The next evening, Sho strolled out of his office, looking vacantly at the cars passing by him on the damp asphalt. The crowds snaked around him in a blur as he reflected deep in his thoughts on what Jun had told him earlier.
*flashback*
"Sho-kun?" Jun called from beside him, and Sho jumped out of his thoughts, "are you alright? You look like a wreck. Did you manage to sleep?"
Sho smiled sheepishly and shook his head.
"Too many things to think about."
Jun sighed.
"Shot in the dark, but I'm going to guess that it is about that dude who took your books."
"He's not just that to me anymore," Sho stated as he sipped on his coffee, "he is also someone I love eating ramen with. He is someone I just like chilling at his house with. He is someone who just makes me feel so comfortable, you know?"
"Uh huh."
"And that one time when I was driving to a beach house for a short trip to drag out into fresh air," Sho continued, " I really really REALLY wanted to just remove my mask."
Jun blinked in surprise and looked up at him.
"I wanted to be like him and feel the wind on my face. I wanted him to see me and appreciate me for the person that I am beneath this mask," Sho confided, his eyes now burning with a slight sting, "but I kept remembering that one time when I caught...well.. you-know-who without her mask and I just.. I just don't know anymore."
Jun's lips curled up in a knowing smile as he patted Sho on the shoulder.
"So you care for him that much?"
"I don't think that even cuts it," Sho said with a deep breath, "I think-no- I KNOW that I.."
"Well? Go tell him then, why don't you?"
Sho shook his head as he looked down at the papers in front of him.
"I can't. It's not so simple," he said.
"No, no. Don't you see? You are the one who has been complicating things on your own because you overthink,"Jun said firmly, "you KNOW what you feel. Rather than shun the difficulties, isn't it more important to face up to it?"
"You know what I had been through, Jun," Sho protested tiredly,"how do I know that same thing won't happen? How do I trust him?"
Jun pointed to his mask.
"Dude. It's obvious. You already want to trust him. In fact, you wouldn't even be this troubled if you did not already trust him, would you?"
Sho went silent.
"A bit of advice," Jun said,"Sho-kun, you have always been a straight-laced person who follows every rule in the book, haven't you?"
Sho nodded.
"Isn't even more precious, then, that you found someone you are willing to break the rules for?"
*/flashback*
Sho ate his shellfish quietly as his eyes roamed the place. His eyes caught sight of a small painting of a beach house.
"There. Hug it until you stop shivering,"
"It's not... bad, I suppose. It's actually pretty nice,"
"Shall we come back again together some time?"
"This is no good," Sho laughed quietly to himself,"why do I keep seeing him in everything?"
He gulped down what was left of his drink and placed his chopsticks down on the table before leaving.
He slowly came to a stop in his steps as he looked up ahead at the route to his home, his hands clenching slowly into a fist as his heart raced.
He remembered their brief first encounter at the bookshop and how a simple mixup with their books had led them to meet.
He remembered the first time he had seen Nino without his mask and how handsome his features were.
He remembered the comfortable hours they shared in that beach house with Nino sleeping on his shoulder.
The kiss from the night he got drunk still lingered on his lips.
He needed Nino. He needed him more than he had ever expected he would.
He made a sharp turnaround and hurried along the pavement in the opposite direction away from home, flagging down a taxi to Nino's home.
!!!!!!!!!
The door to the apartment swung open to reveal a surprised Nino in his baggy sweatpants and t-shirt.
"Sho-kun! This is...such a surprise..." Nino said as he brought Sho in, "did you need something?"
Sho took a deep breath as he plucked his courage and began.
"R..remember that time when I was drunk and you brought me back?"
Nino nodded. "Yeah. It was not too long ago. I would remember."
"Well.. did I do anything strange?"
Nino seemed to momentarily freeze for a moment as Sho looked straight at him through his mask.
"N-no you didn't. You just fell asleep, " Nino said as he gulped,"I was just so tired from carrying you that I fell asleep on top of you, that's all."
Sho exhaled as he looked into Nino's eyes. He bit his lip as he reached for the knot behind his head and slowly tugged it free. He let the mask fall into his hands as he lowered it and looked up at Nino once more, his face now fully revealed. Nino's eyes widened in shock.
"H-hey! Your mask.."
"Nino.. I did not forget," Sho said calmly, "I mean, I couldn't.. and I guess I really did not want to forget."
Sho took a slow step forward as he gradually closed the distance between them.
"I'm so, so sorry I reacted the way I did that morning," he apologised, "it was stupid of me. I.. I should have calmed down and explained that I had my share of insecurities and had no guts to take anything further than I wanted."
"No, I.."
"Nino, just let me finish this," Sho said shakily with a smile, "and yet in spite of those insecurities I... I wanted to trust in you. Even now, I want to believe that no matter how imperfect this is, some part of my feelings did get through to you."
Sho then carefully took Nino's face in his hands and leaned down to rest his forehead against his.
"I've fallen for you," he whispered, his breath seeming to set blushes on both their cheeks. After a long while, Sho gave a short sight of relief.
"I.. I think that came out well," Sho mumbled awkwardly as he stood up, only to feel Nino wrap his arms around his neck. Before he could react, Nino had run his fingers through his hair and was right there in his arms, kissing him with abandon. He breathed between their lips and closed his eyes as he sought out Nino's tongue, the moist warmth of the kiss melting away his senses. After a long, passionate liplock, Nino leaned their foreheads together, panting hard as he tried to breathe.
"You know, I.. I never forgot either," Nino whispered, "because after that vodka-flavoured kiss, I have never wanted you more."
"I'm so sorry for making you pretend to forget."
"...I did think you would be handsome under that mask," Nino said as he reached out a hand to trace Sho's facial features, "had I known, I would have ripped off this mask a lot sooner."
Sho chuckled and closed his eyes as he felt Nino's thumb caress the bridge of his nose, trailing slowly up to his forehead. It then brushed across his eyebrow and up against his temples. He felt Nino's hands move down to cup his cheeks and draw him close for a teasing peck.
"I love you too, Sho," Nino whispered as they embraced, enjoying the intimacy that they had both craved for so long. Sho looked at the mask that had fallen to the ground somewhere along the way and smiled.
He guessed he would not need to wear that around in Nino's home anymore.
But he had a better idea- he should get that Ohno guy to make a set of matching masks just for the two of them. And boy, would he have a story to tell.
Author note: I had so many alternative scenarios in this story that I had scrapped out- from Sho being shock-stabbed and revealing his mask in Nino's arms (I found that a bit too cliche) to Nino unmasking Sho in bed before some sexy time. XD Welp, I'm kind of glad the story unfolded the way that it did. Hehe. Thoughts? ;)