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nilielhRating : PG
Pairing : Ohno/Nino
Disclaimer : fiction, yo!
Summary : On the day Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami, the Jimusho gathered all of its artist for a headcount. All were present except for one : Arashi's Leader, Ohno Satoshi, was missing.
Note : This took place during the 2011 earthquake.
“So what did you tell her?” Sho asked when he was done talking. They’re back at the temporary shelter the Jimusho reserved for them, at the balcony, smoking like he was seventeen again, agitated and unsure of what to do with his life.
He took a long drag from his cigarette and let the smoke out in one go. “The truth,” he said, wondered if Sho could hear the uncertainty tainting his voice, if Sho could see the way his fingers were shaking around the cigarette.
“And that is?”
“That I have no idea what she meant,” he said as he briefly glanced at Sho. “because I really don’t.”
Sho gave him a look. “Of course, you don’t,” Sho said. “I’m sure you wouldn’t have let Satoshi-kun go then if you knew he was upset about something or if you knew that the reason he goes out to fish is because something is bothering him.”
He wasn’t sure about that because now, when he thought about what Ohno’s mother had told him, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d somehow noticed it before, and that he just hadn’t given it much thought the way he probably should have.
“True,” he said. “I’d have probably tried to shake it out of him if I knew,” he added.
Sho laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing. “So don’t let it bother you, okay? I’m sure Satoshi-kun wouldn’t want you to be upset about something you have no idea about.”
He nodded, throat tight. “Let him tell me that to my face, Sho-chan, when he comes back,”
Sho gripped him tight before Sho pulled him into an even tighter hug. “I’ll keep that in mind, Nino,” Sho said. “so how about we sleep for now so we can go and start early tomorrow?”
He nodded, letting Sho guide him back inside without another word.
+
He’d been staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep despite his best effort. There were just so many things running through his head, things he only remembered now that he didn’t before.
Tiny, everyday things like Ohno giving him coffee in the morning, like Ohno sending him picture messages about mundane things he saw and thought were interesting; things like Ohno arriving late at work because he happened to stay up late the night before watching Nino’s dramas, of Ohno buying things for himself and for Nino just because he thought Nino might like it too.
A gentle touch to his cheek took him out of his reverie and found Aiba staring blearily at him.
“Can’t sleep?”
He shook his head. Aiba scooted a little closer, closer than Nino normally allowed and bumped his head carefully against Nino’s.
“Thinking too much?”
He allowed himself a little smile at that. “Can’t help it,” he said.
Aiba’s fingers reached over to smooth the frown Nino didn’t know was marring his forehead, closing his eyes in sheer gratefulness, for his friends, for everyone who had been kind enough to keep him grounded ever since Ohno went missing.
“Sure you can,” Aiba said, his voice husky with sleep. “just imagine us being on a camping trip. It’s too easy. Sho-chan snoring like a drunken old man will surely help,” he said. As if on cue, Sho snored so loudly the sound startled even Jun. After a few minutes, thankfully, Jun settled back and Sho continued snoring lightly into his pillow.
“Without Leader?” he asked.
Aiba was silent for a moment before Nino felt his arms go around him. “He’s just late,” Aiba said.
“He’s already five days late, Aiba-chan,”
“Nino –“
He turned, hiding his face against one of his longest friend’s chest, feeling Aiba’s fingers on his hair. “Five days. God, I miss him,” he whispered, knew that the misery tainting his voice was as real as his fingers shaking against their grip on Aiba’s shirtfront.
Aiba didn’t say anything then, he just held him tight and let Nino borrowed the strength he needed, knowing that it was the only thing Aiba could do for him for now.
+
Nino woke to his phone vibrating under his pillow.
It was three in the morning. Sho and Aiba and Jun were fast asleep, Sho snoring lightly against his shoulder, one of Aiba’s legs thrown over his hips. Jun was curled on Aiba’s side, face mashed against the back of Aiba’s head.
Nino squinted at his phone’s screen, at the unknown number calling him. His first instinct was to cancel it, annoyed at being interrupted at crap o’clock in the morning by some unknown jerk but then realized there were only a handful of people who knew this number. Just the rest of Arashi, his personal manager and his mother. He hadn’t given their overall manager this number yet (he just changed it a month ago) so it should be either one of those six.
He was sure his mother wouldn’t call – he already talked to her earlier, after his unplanned trip back to Ohno’s parent’s home, after all, and his manager wouldn’t either. His three other bandmates were here, sleeping, so there could only be one.
He was jerking up, only vaguely careful not to jostle his sleeping companions in his haste to leave the futon they were sharing, sliding his thumb across his mobile’s screen to answer the call when he was vertical enough to do so.
“Hello?” he answered, kicking the comforter aside and vaguely considering the merits of waking his bandmates up. He didn’t though,because then all his attention focused on the quiet breathing he was hearing on the other end of the line, of the painful familiarity of it all.
He wasn’t sure but just that, just the sound of that quiet breathing was enough to bring him back to that night he called Ohno, moments before he supposed Ohno boarded that boat. His chest ached with present pain, realized he was clutching the front of his chest as he leaned his forehead against the nearest wall, heaving hard.
“O-Oh-chan, is this you?” he whispered, voice shaking something bad, along with the rest of him. “I-If this is you, p-please just. Please say something. Please tell me you’re okay, please. I – I just need to know you’re okay,” he said.
He knew he was close to begging, close to weeping but he didn’t care, couldn’t find it in him to care, to be embarrassed about this. He didn’t mind the embarrassment this would entail, if this was meant as a joke, if Ohno was playing them, it didn’t matter. He’d forgive the other man, no questions asked, so long as he knew he was okay. That was all that mattered.
“H-Hello?” he repeated, careful this time. The quiet breathing returned and Nino’s heart ached even more.
“Nino,”
“Oh-chan! Oh my god, Oh-chan?!”
+
“Oh-chan? Hello? Leader? Hello?!” he half-yelled, straining hard to hear as he pressed his phone tightly against his ear. Behind him, he heard the noises of covers being thrown aside, the sounds of shuffling feet before his bandmates came fully into view.
Another quiet breath followed by a blood-chilling version of his name and the line was cut, leaving him with the dial tone and the urge to throw his phone against the nearest wall.
“Fuck!”
“What, what happened?” Jun was the first to ask, clutching his forearm tight enough to hurt; he looked sleep-deprived and a tiny bit murderous probably for being woken up so suddenly but it was evident in the curl of his lips that Jun was certainly worried too. Aiba and Sho were stumbling afterwards, wearing twin looks of what was obviously written all over Jun’s face.
He snatched his phone off his ear and checked the screen, sliding his finger across to unlock it, thumbing the call button to check. The last call, as expected, was there, and he was tapping the number and pressing his phone back to his ear without bothering answering Jun.
The call came through after just a few seconds, the familiar sounds of a phone ringing was making his heart race.
“What the hell, Nino –“ Jun grumbled but Nino simply held his hand out to stop him, already entirely convinced that he was calling a public payphone when the ringing continued. He ended the call, checked the number again with a frown.
He copied the number without missing a beat, pasting it on Google in the same hurried breath.
0776 Fukui, it said.
He raised his head and shuffled up on his feet. “We’re going to Fukui.”
“What?” three voices hissed after him while he searched for his bag, rummaging around it for a change of shirt and pants.
“That was Leader on the phone a while ago,” he said, deciding on the black FM Yokohama shirt he stole from Ohno. “the area code said he called from Fukui so we’re going there to –“
“But how did you know it was him?” it was Sho this time.
“It was him, Sho-chan,” he grunted, sure of it, throwing his used shirt aside and putting on the new one. He was putting on his pants when he realized none of them were moving. “he called my name and he – he was breathing quietly and he –“
“Nino, are you sure you’re not just hallucinating? You haven’t been sleeping properly in days so maybe –“
“I’m not forcing you to believe me, Sho-chan!” he hissed, desperation running through his bloodstream. “But I’m telling you, it was him. He called me! There are only six people who know this number, the four of you, Ji-chan and my mother. I haven’t even informed our overall manager that I’ve changed my number again yet so that narrowed it down to the three of you, Leader and my mother. My manager will not bother calling me at this hour, my mother too, and the three of you were all sleeping beside me moments ago. Go figure it out, Sho-chan.”
“Fuck.”
He pocketed his phone at the same time Jun and Aiba stumbled on their haste to change clothes as Sho remained sitting there, gaping at him until a pair of shirt and pants hit him square in the face.
“Get changed, Sakurai!” Jun commanded firmly as he hopped on his pants and it would have been entirely hilarious if not for the fact that Nino’s heart was racing, adrenaline pumping through his veins like wildfire.
+
So Nino supposed he should have expected Julie-san throwing them back to this room the second she was told what was happening, what the four of them were planning exactly the moment Sho requested for a standby driver to drive them to Fukui to one of Julie-san’s staff manning the front desk. None of their managers were awake enough at this hour to contact their PAs after all, so they had to decide on the spot. Either they drive themselves there using the company car and risk the chances of them getting into an accident themselves so, as per Sho’s bright suggestion, they did it the official way.
“I can’t stay here and do nothing, Sho-chan!” he half-yelled, fingers shaking with agitation as the four of them were ushered back into the room they’re using temporarily. He was pacing back and forth like a hungry animal waiting for its prey, already thinking of how he could sneak out the second he had the chance. His car was still at the parking lot after all so it would be easy to drive himself out here without Julie-san and her army of minions knowing it.
At least that was what he kept telling himself.
“Nino, please, sit down,” Sho said, trying to sound diplomatic despite the fact that he, too, looked obviously pissed at being escorted back to this room like a troublesome child. “you know there’s no way we can pass through that door without those guards throwing us back in the second we set one foot outside so, please, please, calm the fuck down.”
“How do you expect me to calm down if I don’t know what is happening out there?!” he hissed back, covering his pain and his frustration with anger. “Leader is – Leader might be in danger and we –“
The door opened so abruptly and behind it, Julie-san emerged, her expression unreadable through all those layers of makeup even at this time of the night (or morning), their overall manager trailing after her.
“The four of you,” she said, pointing at the lot of them with a scowl so fierce it completely rivaled Jun’s own in the mornings. “come with me.” she said and turned away as quickly as she had arrived.
Nino exchanged glances with the other three and followed her out, knowing for sure they are screwed.
+
“Whose idea was it for the four of you to drive straight to Fukui at this hour when you know the chances of aftershocks is at its highest?” she ranted immediately after the door behind them locked. They were in her makeshift office, and she was leaning against the edge of her executive table by her hips.
No one talked but he knew she wasn’t expecting them to. “Ninomiya-kun,” she called, her eyes sharp as a hawk’s. Nino felt his throat clam up at the sight of her furrowed fake brows.
“Yes?”
“Show me your phone.”
“Excuse me?”
She quirked her eyebrow at him as if quietly saying ‘you heard me and I’m not going to repeat it again’. Nino swallowed hard, took his phone out and held it out to her.
“Unlock it,”
Jaw clenched, he pressed his thumb firmly against the home button as it unlocked before handing it over back to her. She took it without a word. Nino watched her tap away at the screen, before pausing. For a few seconds, she simply stared at Nino’s phone before she held it up.
“So this was what made you decide to go to Fukui,” she said, and it was obviously a statement rather than a question, and the look on her face made Nino recoil. He was sure she was going to give them hell for this but he didn’t – couldn’t care.
“Yes,” he answered, holding his head high. “I gave that number to the PI you asked me to talk to a while ago so I’m pretty sure –“
“This number had not been working since the earthquake, Ninomiya-kun,” she told him. As if on cue, she tapped the number and the speakerphone icon before turning his phone to them, allowing them to see and hear.
The number you dialed is temporarily out of reach. Please try again later.
The number you dialed is temporarily out of reach. Please try again later.
“No, that’s not possible –“
“It is, Ninomiya-kun,” she countered, tapping to end the call. “Our contacts are there, right this second, to where this number had been placed. It was a public payphone, as I’m pretty sure you have already guessed. They were able to track the location as soon as you gave them this number.”
She paused here and gave Nino a look that spoke volume but Nino knew that wasn’t it. He knew there’s a but coming and Nino found himself bracing himself for it.
“The thing is,” she said, sliding his phone on the table and leaving it there. “there is no way anyone could have placed a call from that payphone,”
“What do you mean?” it was Jun this time; Nino felt as if his throat had closed up, already imagining the worst out of all this.
“The call couldn’t have been placed from there because that payphone had been destroyed along with most of the establishments around the area,” she said, sounding wary and something else Nino couldn’t exactly put his fingers on but it didn’t matter, nothing would, not when his heart was pounding hard through his ribcage, feeling like he was breathing underwater.
“So how the fuck did this happen?”
