[One-shot] Stalker
Title: Stalker
Pairing: Ohmiya
Rating: PG
Genre: Fluff, Romance
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story
Summary: They met one day at that place, and since then he couldn't forget that boy.
Beta-ed by potatoos , without her this fic wouldn't be here ♥♥♥ Thank you so much dear ^-^
A/N: After the previous one, I just couldn't say this is an angsty fic - it's more like fluff only :D. Hope you will enjoy it? ^-^
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When the bell signaled the end of the morning class, Ohno sighed in relief since he hadn’t been able to put anything into his mind since early in the morning. He collected his stuff hastily and took his bentou before rushing out of the classroom, and tried to escape as fast as possible before Sho had any chance to hold him back.
He skipped two staircases at a time and reached the terrace right when Nino was opening the door, and he slid in together with him. Nino turned to him, and with a surprise smile he asked.
“Why are you in such a hurry?”
Ohno just mumbled in response as he strode to their usual place under the shelf, where they could look far beyond the trees and to the horizon.
“Breathe, Ohchan,” Nino laughed. His laugh was welcoming in this quiet place, and it made Ohno relax immediately. He took out his bentou and shove at Nino who was staring at him, surprised.
“We can share this,” Ohno said, his breathing slowly evened out. Nino just smiled and took the box gratefully.
“How come you know that I forget my bentou today?” He asked and sat down, and motioned Ohno to sit beside him. The older boy obeyed happily, and he leaned back to rest his head on the wall behind him.
“You never eat enough,” Ohno answered, a little out of question, and it just made Nino laugh one more time. Ohno smiled softly. He loved this - he loved making Nino laugh. Because at times like this, the frown on Nino’s face disappeared, and there was only joy. He loved it when he was the one who made Nino laugh.
It was a hot summer day when Ohno first met Nino here, at the hidden place on the terrace. Ohno had a summer class with his art teacher, and he spent nearly everyday painting and drawing or just spacing out in class. When he got tired of his brushes and canvases, he would then take his time to wander around the school and explore some places that no student even bothered to visit. One of those days, he came to the terrace. At first he didn’t notice the small figure at the corner, who was almost hidden by the shelves. He looked around and took a deep breath, feeling all refreshed. However, when he turned around and caught a pair of eyes staring at him, his heart nearly jumped out of his ribcages. Nino at that time, Ohno recalled with a smile, was like a ghost. A soul. He didn’t seem to breathe or to live at all. Therefore at first, Ohno was startled when he saw him, the feeling of seeing something unreal sent shivers down Ohno’s spine. He couldn’t even bring his legs to run away, and he found himself staring back at those eyes, which looked a little distant and cold.
But then Nino moved. He stood up abruptly, broke off their eye contact, and without a word he left the terrace, and didn’t bother to look at the intruder. Ohno stood rooted to the ground and when Nino had disappeared, he realised that he had been holding his breath for a long time.
“What’s this, Ohchan?” Nino’s voice brought him back to the present. Nino sat beside him and opened the bentou, peering inside before taking out a piece of food.
“It’s a sausage!” Ohno pouted when Nino giggled at the weird shape of the sausage. Okay, he had to admit that he was not good at cooking, but cutting wasn’t that hard and he thought it really looked like an octopus.
“And this?” Nino picked up another one and looked at Ohno with his mischievous smirk, and Ohno could feel his ears turn red.
“It’s a piece of carrot!” He protested. And it definitely looked like a flower!
“Ahhh,” Nino faked a sigh as he closed his eyes dramatically “Is it okay to eat that?”
“Well, if you don’t like it, then give it back!” Ohno pouted and reached out his hand, but Nino grinned and hugged the box closer to himself.
“No way, I’m going to eat it all!” Nino chortled when Ohno tried to take the box back. He moved away and Ohno leaned in, reaching out his hand to snatch the box back but Nino was faster and Ohno suddenly lost his balance and fell onto Nino’s lap.
They both froze for a moment, and Ohno felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest as he was suddenly aware of how close they were, and Nino’s warmth could be felt on his red face. He immediately backed away with a small apology, and looked up hesitantly to see Nino’s face as there was no response from Nino.
Nino was smiling again, and he straightened back up at his seat, acting like nothing had happened, purposely ignoring Ohno’s strange reaction.
“Which one do you want to eat?”
Ohno could see what Nino was intending to do, so his face heat up when he pointed randomly at a piece of food, his heart beating furiously so that he almost heard its thumps.
And when Nino picked up the egg with his chopsticks to feed Ohno, Ohno’s heart seemed to stop beating. He couldn’t stop the happiness inside him, spreading like wild fire and he couldn’t stop grinning after that either. It was hard to chew the egg with his widened smile, and Nino laughed again when he saw Ohno’s childish face.
A year before, Ohno thought, it was a totally different story.
“What are you doing here?” The boy asked with a strange harsh voice. Ohno stared at him, didn’t know how to answer with those eyes looking at him angrily.
He had been searching for this boy since summer. It was hard, because after their first accidental meeting, projects had taken up all of his time and he needed to spend all day at the art class to finish his drawing. He had tried coming to the terrace once or twice, but that boy wasn’t there. It was disappointing every time he thought about it. And though Ohno didn’t know why it was so important for him to find the boy, he still felt the need to see him again.
His chance came when the school year started again and everyone was back to school. At the first day, Ohno was wandering around and as a habit he glanced over the boys in the school yard, but still he saw no sign of him. When he was almost convinced that maybe that boy had already left the school or was just a visitor, he heard a loud thump behind his back.
Everyone turned back to the source of the noise and so did Ohno, and he caught sight of two boys, one who looked bewildered at the mess on the ground - he definitely did something and the trash can was now laying helplessly there and litter was scattered all around, one looked bored and pretended not to know his friend by the way his head turned away, annoyed. And Ohno immediately realized that it was the boy whom he had been searching for for days. He wanted to approach him and at least say hi, but before he could do that, the younger boy had already kicked his friend annoyingly.
“Aiba-chan, it’s your fault!! Clear it already!!” Then he walked away.
“Nino-chan!!! Aren’t going to help me??” The boy called Aiba cried, and with puppy eyes he caught his friend’s arms, making he turn around in annoyance.
“Fine, fine!!!” He grunted and they worked together, collecting those cans and bags and putting them back into the trash can.
Ohno could do nothing but to stared at them until they were finished, and when they finally walked away, he was tugged back to reality.
So, his name is Nino, Ohno smiled to himself.
Since then, Ohno always saw Nino when he wandered around the school. Because he knew Nino’s class, thanks to Sho, As the President of student council, Sho knew most students in this school, so Ohno always made it a point to walk across Nino’s classroom, just to peer inside to catch a glimpse of Nino. He also knew Nino’s schedule, so he would usually stop at the yard where Nino was playing baseball, and he stood outside for hours just to see Nino running with a serious look on his face. He discovered that Nino would come to somewhere at lunch time alone, so one day, he decided to follow him. And it happened to be here, at the terrace when they first met. Ohno didn’t show up the first time he discovered this, but the desire to introduce himself and being something with Nino - not only a stalker like this - took over his mind. This might freak Nino out if he found out that someone was watching him closely like this, so he wanted to be Nino’s friend - or at least let Nino know of his existence.
So that’s why now he was standing in front of Nino, at a loss for words, with the other staring at him angrily. He could only stutter.
“I…”
Nino chucked, clearly annoyed with Ohno’s intrusion before turned away and was about to leave when Ohno called to him desperately.
“Wait!”
Nino turned back and his frown deepened. Ohno swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, his courage was extinguished by Nino’s cold attitude.
“I… I’m Ohno Satoshi.”
“Why do I need to know who you are?” Nino groaned and turned away again.
“Nino!” The name slipped out Ohno’s mouth, and he immediately regretted when Nino turned back with alert eyes.
“How do you know my name?”
“I…” Ohno stammered. He took a deep breath before continuing. He couldn’t let go of this chance so easily. “I heard your friend call you that.”
Nino’s eyes softened, but there was no hint that Nino was going to listen to him.
“Hey, we’re not complete strangers, aren’t we? We met here before…”
“You are that boy?” Nino’s eyes widened, and Ohno sighed in relief. Somehow it made him happy that Nino had remembered him. “Still, what are you doing here?”
“It’s not like you own this place,” Ohno winced “I can come here wherever I want to, right?”
“Fine, but I’m leaving!” Nino snapped back, but he couldn’t move since Ohno was faster. He took Nino’s arms in his.
“Can’t we share this place?” Ohno asked hopefully. Nino looked at him in disbelief.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s not like I’ll be here all the time,” Ohno insisted “You will come back again, won’t you?”
“And why would it matter to you?” Nino asked, raising his voice. “Whether I’ll come back or not?!”
“Because I’d feel guilty if you don’t!” Ohno’s voice was also raised. “You came here first and it felt like I disturbed you…”
“Well, you did!” Nino struggled out of Ohno’s hold, but Ohno didn’t let go. “What is wrong with you??!”
“Will you come back here again?” Ohno asked, softer this time, and it created a silence between them. Nino stared at him, his eyes were torn between amused and bewildered, and Ohno held his breath. For a long moment, no one said anything, until Nino nodded quietly. A grin appeared on Ohno’s face as he let go of Nino’s arm, feeling relief all over. Nino grunted.
“But not when you’re here,” He added, but Ohno just smiled. He felt like he had just won a prize, because he could finally talk to Nino like this. Nino eyed him curiously, and asked.
“What is your name again?”
“Ohno Satoshi,” Ohno replied with a smile.
“Oh, Ohchan then,” Nino decided “And my name…”
“Ninomiya Kazunari,” Ohno cut him off “I know.”
Nino’s eyes widened.
When they finished their lunch, with Nino barely eat anything but feeding Ohno all the time and with Ohno insisting Nino eat something, they lay down and looked up to the sky. Ohno could feel Nino’s breathing close to him, and he couldn’t think of anything else because his mind was too occupied with the thought of rolling onto his side and just hugging Nino tightly in his arms.
But he found no courage to do that so he kept himself still and stared onto the sky. Nino seemed to have fallen asleep beside him, his breathing evening out and it took all of Ohno’s self control to not kiss him on his lips.
It wasn’t a surprise for Ohno to realize that he was in love with Nino. It was like love at first sight on Ohno’s part, and since then his feelings had developed into something was hard to hide. But he was uncertain about Nino’s feelings - Nino had never showed anything more than just friendship between them. He treated Ohno just like how he treated his best friend Aiba, whom Ohno had met sometimes.
Nino was always kind to him, but it seemed like he had never crossed the line between them. Nino always reminded him that they were friends, and that was why Ohno didn’t dare to take a step forward - he hid his true feelings from Nino, and just enjoyed their days together, as much as he could manage.
But something happened and he had no idea what he should do about it.
“Ohno-kun? You are Ninomiya-kun’s friend?” Yuriko asked with blushed cheek and Ohno could feel the insecure feeling dwelling inside him. She was his classmate, who had barely talked to him, and now for the first time she did. And it was about Nino.
“Yes, but…” Ohno started. Yuriko looked hopeful when she grinned at him.
“Can you… give this to him for me?” She handed him a present, her eyes lighting up cheerfully “It’s his birthday tomorrow, but I… I think if you give this to him he would accept it…” She flushed. Ohno almost felt angry.
“Why don’t you give this to him instead?” He asked.
“He doesn’t usually accept any presents…” She mumbled, her voice pleading “Please, Ohno-kun, just give it to him, okay?”
And she shoved the box into his hand, mumbled a thank you before running away with her red cheeks. Ohno held the box hesitantly as he didn’t know how to deal with it.
Nino stirred beside him, and Ohno turned to look at his sleeping face. The present was still lying in his pocket - he had no chance to give it to Nino yet. Today was his birthday… And Ohno had no idea what he would give him for his birthday. He wanted to say happy birthday too, but something was caught in his throat whenever he looked at Nino, so he still hadn’t said it yet.
Nino woke up slowly as he opened his eyes and stared at Ohno.
“Hi,” He smiled, and Nino smiled back.
“Hi,” Nino snuggled closer to Ohno’s side, his face burying into Ohno’s shoulder. Ohno could feel his cheeks getting warmer.
“Nino… There’s…” Ohno started, and Nino looked up at him, waiting with an arched eyebrow.
“Well…” Ohno stammered, and Nino’s frown appeared again on his face. Ohno sat up and took out the present. He handed it to Nino rather hesitantly. Nino’s eyes lit up a little, but when Nino saw the handwriting on the gift card, his eyes darkened.
“What is this?” He asked, sounding angry. And for a second, Ohno felt like he was the reason for Nino to be angry. The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
“Well… My friend asked me to give this to you…” Ohno swallowed hard.
“And you did as she told you?” Nino looked up. Was it him or did Nino really looked disappointed, and almost frustrated?
“No, but…” Ohno said, but Nino cut him off before he could say anything.
“Give it back to whoever it is, Ohchan,” Nino said coldly “I won’t take it.”
“But, Nino…” Ohno almost pitied for the girl. Why was Nino so difficult about this?
“I said no,” Nino huffed, and it surprised Ohno how angry Nino looked. “Why are you doing this, Ohchan?”
“I… I just…”
“I don’t need them! I don’t care if someone likes me or not!” Nino raised his voice. And Ohno felt something in his chest ached, as the words sunk in helplessly.
“It…doesn’t matter to you?” Ohno asked quietly.
“What?” Nino arched his eyebrows in annoyance.
“It doesn’t matter to you if there is someone who cares about you…?” Ohno lowered his head, feeling the pain spreading, numbing his mind.
“I don’t care,” Nino answered after a while of silence. “I’m tired of ‘love’ already. Don’t you ever ask me about that again.”
And with that, Nino sat up and walked away, leaving Ohno behind. His eyes dropped on the ground, as he didn’t dare to look at Nino’s small back, because he knew Nino was leaving, and maybe, he could never be important enough to hold him back.
“Why did it become like that?” Aiba asked with his widened eyes. Today Ohno couldn’t bring himself to go to the terrace, as he was worried that Nino might be there and he didn’t want to see Ohno. Or worst, Nino chose not to be there - he chose to avoid Ohno, and Ohno didn’t know how he would face it.
He suddenly felt tired about everything, so he just followed Sho and Aiba to their place. After he told them about that incident, about how Nino reacted strangely and leaving in anger, Aiba gave him a shocked look.
“I don’t know…” Ohno mumbled “I just… I gave him the present, and he…”
“You gave him a present which was not from you?” Sho asked, his eyebrows knitted in disbelief. Ohno nodded, still confused. Sho only groaned in disappointment when he saw Ohno’s look. “Come on, Satoshi, don’t you think he was waiting for your present? And when you finally gave him one, it turned out that it was from someone else!”
“He must be so disappointed,” Aiba chucked in agreement.
“And angry,” Sho added as he glanced at Ohno.
“And frustrated,” Aiba continued.
“And hurt,”
“Okay, okay, I got it!” Ohno groaned, his face buried into his palms helplessly. Maybe the other two were right. Maybe it was because of him that Nino had been like that, because he hadn’t thought about Nino’s feelings enough…
“But he told me he was tired of love…” Ohno mumbled. And as if he had just remembered, Nino’s sad look was saying the opposite, that he was lonely, and was being needy. That he was waiting for someone to hold his hand.
Why didn’t Ohno notice it sooner?
“I’d be tired of love if I was in love with you,” Aiba crossed his arms and said with a fake serious tone “Because you don’t understand how he feels when he’s in love!”
“But…” Ohno stammered. What could he say right now? He looked from Aiba and Sho, and when the two nodded encouragingly, he mumbled. “I need to go find him…”
“Go,” Aiba grinned and patted his shoulder friendly “And good luck!”
Ohno nodded. He stood up and bid his goodbye then turned away.
He just hoped Nino was there.
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The terrace was deserted when he came, and Ohno couldn’t deny the disappointment that was rising in his chest almost painfully. He sat down at their place, and looked around, trying desperately to look for Nino, but the other boy was nowhere to be seen. It was so hot here, as there was no wind and the sun was shining right above their head. Ohno lay down, his tummy growling annoyingly as he hadn’t eaten anything for lunch - he was too occupied with thoughts about Nino that he didn’t feel like eating.
He didn’t know how long he had been there, but he had drifted off into a slight sleep, until he heard footsteps of someone approaching. He didn’t dare to move, his eyelid lit up a little to see the familiar feet coming, and the feeling relief spreading inside his chest.
When the boy sat down beside him, he opened his eyes and sat up, startling the other boy as he jumped back and widened his eyes.
“I thought you were asleep,” Nino grunted, purposefully moving away, leaving a wide gap between them. But Ohno immediately reached out his hand and caught Nino’s arm, tugging him back. Nino looked at him questioningly.
“I’m sorry,” Ohno said sincerely “I’m really sorry, Nino.”
“What are you sorry for?” Nino looked away, clearly didn’t want to talk about what had happened the day before. But Ohno forced him to look at him and Nino did, though a frown ceased his forehead.
“Sorry, I didn’t think about your feelings when I gave you that…” Ohno mumbled.
Nino raised an eyebrow and didn’t say anything. Ohno continued.
“I wanted to give you my present too, but since I didn’t know what to give you…”
“I hate it when you help others confess to me,” Nino cut him off softly “I didn’t expect you to give me anything… I knew you wouldn’t. But… giving me that present? What were you thinking of?”
“I… I didn’t think anything.” Ohno bit his lips.
“As expected,” Nino laughed humorlessly. “Anyway, just forget it. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
The smile on Nino’s face wasn’t real, and it made Ohno’s heart squirmed. He pondered over the idea for a couple more minutes, and when Nino finally made an end to the conversation, he continued hesitantly.
“Nino…”
Nino raised his eyebrow questioningly.
“Did you mean it?”
“Did I mean what?”
“Did you mean it when you said you didn’t care if someone loved you?” Ohno took a deep breath. He finally asked it, the question that had haunted him since Nino said it yesterday.
Nino kept silence for a while, and Ohno stared into Nino’s eyes, shifting until he was face to face with Nino, his hand came to Nino’s and he squeezed it tightly.
“No,” Nino’s answer was just like a breath. As soon as Ohno heard it, he smiled genuinely at Nino, whose lips curved up into a slight smile, and just that gave Ohno enough courage to come to a decision.
“So… can I give you my present now?” Ohno grinned, and Nino just titled his head in confusion. His eyes darted around to see if Ohno had anything with him, but when he saw nothing, he looked back at Ohno questioningly.
Ohno beamed cheerfully when Nino nodded, and he leaned in closer, until their lips met in a very slight and innocent kiss.
He could almost taste Nino from the contact.
When he pulled back, Nino’s eyes were still wide open, and he looked stunned, but his cheeks were flushing helplessly and Ohno found it so cute that he couldn’t help but also put kisses on his cheeks.
“Please… say something, Nino,” He said when Nino had no reaction, and he started to panic at what might happen. What if Nino didn’t like this? What if he wasn’t the one that Nino liked? And what if… what if Nino hated him because of this?
“What…” Nino mumbled “You kissed me…!”
“Yes… I guess that’s what I did,” Ohno titled his head. Nino blinked for some more times before coming back to his senses.
“It’s… your present?” Nino mumbled in disbelief.
“Yeah.”
Nino’s hand came to his lips and he lightly touched it almost absent-mindedly. Ohno, who didn’t understand what Nino’s reaction meant, as he didn’t know if Nino hated or liked it or whatever, just sat there nervously and stared at Nino for what felt like hours.
“Ohchan,” Nino said finally, and he looked at Ohno, joy was evident in his eyes. “Thank you.”
“Really?” Ohno’s face broke into a smile, and at Nino’s nod, he couldn’t be happier. Nino was looking at him with his warm eyes; maybe Nino liked him back…
“Really,” Nino nodded reassuringly, before continuing, “Could you kiss me again?”
“Sure,” Ohno grinned, and he leaned in again. This time though, Nino closed his eyes waiting for him, and Ohno felt like he was the happiest person on Earth.
“This will only be for you,” Ohno added when they finally broke apart, and Nino’s grin was priceless that Ohno felt like he could give up anything to see that again. Nino caressed Ohno’s lips gently before grinning mischievously.
“Mine.”