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nilielhTitle : [Fic] I Have Kept You In My Heart (Part 7)
Pairing : Ohno/Jun, Sho/Nino, Ohno/Nino, Eventual Jun/?
Rating : R
Summary : Before Jun, there was only Nino. The man Ohno loved with everything he had, loved with such ferocity that any other emotion would pale in comparison. He was Ohno's everything, the love of his life, the person Ohno dreamed of sharing his whole life with someday. Until Nino's untimely death, six years ago.
Disclaimer : fiction, yo!
Warning : Angst in large doses. Memory loss. Minor character death. One-sided love.
The test results lay discarded on the bed next to Ninomiya’s feet as Sho watched Kazuko-san settled a hand against her son’s temple, fingertips brushing the soft skin under her son’s closed eyes. Sho heaved a sigh and quietly took in the sight before him, his gaze darting between Kazuko-san’s fingers and the peaceful expression on Ninomiya’s face as he sleep.
How hard it must be, he wondered, for everyone involved, especially for Kazuko-san who had to explain everything to everyone, about her son that apparently died that night? Sho was just Ninomiya’s doctor and yet, he’s here worrying himself silly that he could honestly feel the strain of it wearing him down.
He wondered how Kazuko-san and the rest of her family, of those who knew Ninomiya personally was taking this, he had no idea, but he was certain it couldn’t be easy.
“Are you sure nothing else is wrong with him, Sensei?” Kazuko-san asked without taking his attention away from her son’s face. “He’s always sleepy. I feel like he’s sleeping all the time, it’s…should I be worried?”
Sho eyed the test results he brought with him. “I assure you, Kazuko-san, that your son is fine,” he said, smiling quietly to himself knowing that this wasn’t the first time he’d said the same thing, or explained the same thing, either. “He tends to sleep more when he’s tired. It’s normal, at least in his case, it is.”
Kazuko-san sighed and leaned down to press a soft kiss to her son’s head.
“I guess all that talk tired him out,” she said, “Well, I can’t exactly blame him.”
Sho shut his eyes and remembered everything Kazuko-san said earlier, the truth surrounding her son’s accident. His chest tightened yet again, and he could vividly imagine Ninomiya standing in front of that window which he allegedly jumped out off, and shivered at the sheer horror of it all.
Sho honestly wondered what had happened, what could have forced Ninomiya to do what he did, if only to save himself.
Or, was he?
“Y-You said you were certain he didn’t try to kill himself,” he said, to Kazuko-san’s back. The older woman straightened from where she was still stroking Ninomiya’s hair, and turned to give Sho her attention.
“Right?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“But what made you so sure that was the case?” he asked with a frown. He knew he might sound rude by asking her this, but he knew that she’d understand. “I mean, since you said no one was there with him when the accident happened.”
“Did I say that?” she asked.
Sho blinked, then tried recalling everything she’d said earlier. He was most certain she said no one was with Ninomiya when the accident happened, because even Ninomiya asked her about it.
“Yes,” he answered, clearly recalling her saying no when Ninomiya asked if someone was there with him, if it was Aiba or someone else. “I do remember your son asking you and you said no -”
“Well, there was, yes, because he was the one who found my son first, the one who called for help, but that person was cleared of any suspicion. He was able to back his statement up with an evidence stating he wasn’t there when the presumed time of the accident had happened.”
“I - w-what do you mean?” Sho stuttered, frowning. He had no memory of her saying anything about this. “A-Are you saying that person - that person was responsible for…for your son’s accident?” he followed, swallowing hard.
“Then why didn’t you tell your son about it? About that person? Maybe it’ll help trigger his memory of the accident -”
“I couldn’t,” Kazuko-san said, her expression hard, but the look on her eyes and the sound of her voice was nothing but painful. “I can’t.”
“But why?” he insisted, hoping against hope he wouldn’t end up pissing her off by being so fucking insistent. He couldn’t help it - being one was probably already engraved in his bones that it was hard to stray away from doing it.
“Because I knew for certain it’s not possible, that that person couldn’t possibly hurt my son that way, he never would,” Kazuko-san said, and she was once again openly crying now.
“But how are you so sure? Do you know this person, Kazuko-san?”
She met his eyes and nodded. “Yes,” she said, her voice quaking. “That person was the same guy my son spent almost half of his adult life being in love with, after all.”
++
“But he doesn’t remember you.”
Ohno blinked at Aiba, honestly contemplating between calling Aiba out on his horrible prank and punching him, before settling on laughing mirthlessly instead. He wondered what could be worse, getting mad at Aiba for this, or the fact that for a moment there, he almost, almost believed Aiba, too.
What the fuck was he even thinking, really?
“You really think I’m going to believe this bullshit, Aiba-chan?” he said, in between tightly gritted teeth, despite the fact that he was still laughing humorlessly at Aiba’s joke. He leaned back on the chair and shook his head.
It’s quiet for a while, and Ohno spent the minutes staring Aiba over, contemplating between leaving at once and telling Aiba what the fuck Aiba thought he was doing. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it when Aiba visibly shivered, as if he was contemplating things in his head, too.
“I - I”m sorry, but this is - Aiba-chan, this isn’t exactly what I was expecting when I agreed to meet you. I mean, do you have any idea how hard this is for me? Nino’s been dead for like six years, and here I am, still longing for him, still missing him, even though I’m not supposed to anymore.” he said, breathing hard before continuing.
“I know you missed him, too, of course, I know that, but doing this, saying Nino is alive, that’s - that’s not nice, okay? I - please stop this, Aiba-chan.”
Aiba said nothing and simply pulled out his phone before he started fiddling on it. Ohno kept watching him, his pulse racing.
“Here,” Aiba said after a moment, pushing his phone over the table towards Ohno. “Those are the photos and videos I took of him, about half an hour after we arrived in the hospital, because I knew I would eventually need them to convince you.”
Ohno barely gave Aiba’s phone a glance, uncertain. He honestly didn’t think the prank would stretch this long but apparently, Aiba had prepared for the worst.
He pulled back with a scowl. “And what made you think I would -”
“I knew it was going to be hard convincing you, that’s why I took them, Oh-chan,” Aiba said quickly, pushing his phone further forward. Ohno leaned back just as quickly in retaliation. “Please. If after seeing them, you still don’t want to believe me, I swear I’m not going to force you anymore. But just - just check them out, please? You’re not going to lose anything by going through them, right?”
Ohno gave Aiba a look and bit the inside of his cheeks if only to keep himself from hurling hurtful words towards Aiba, knowing it in his heart that Aiba would never deliberately hurt him this way. Not like this, and especially not about the love he lost over an accident six years ago.
Because Aiba was not cruel, and because Aiba knew how a part of him had died with Nino that day, too, for Aiba to even joke about this.
But, if it wasn’t a joke, then what else could it be?
Ohno’s heart was racing even before he considered picking Aiba’s phone up to check the photos Aiba told him to see for himself, could already feel the way that hopeful part of him was nudging into place to convince him, to make him see sense before he shut it off. He swallowed past the lump that seemed to have lodged itself permanently in his throat and felt the way his fingers trembled, anticipation settling at the pit of his stomach as he reached down and closed his fingers around Aiba’s phone and breathed through his nose.
The first photo he had laid his eyes on shook him to the core.
“I - F-Fuck, this -” he swore under his breath, thumb swiping right in quick succession before going back again. There were at least fifty photos there, each one different and yet painfully familiar that Ohno’s heart began to ache in an entirely different way everytime his gaze land on each one, everytime his gaze rake the familiar smile, the familiar eyes, the familiarly placed mole.
He was practically shaking when he’d finally found the courage to tap on the first of the three videos he found there afterward, his heart felt like it was well on its way out his chest through his throat with the way it was pounding hard through his ribcage as equally familiar voices came through and almost bringing Ohno to his knees in shock.
“What are you doing, Aiba-shi?”
“Nothing.”
“You got that thing aimed on my face and you’re saying you’re not doing anything? Give me that, hey!”
“No, you can’t! Just keep talking, come on.”
“Not until you tell me what’s that for! Are you filming me? Oh my god, you are! Stop, stop!”
“Don’t cover your face, no, I said don’t -”
“Get away from me! Mom! Mom!”
“Don’t shout, oh my god!”
“Mom!”
Ohno dropped the phone, watched it stumbled on the table in shock, before it rolled on the ground, the voices from the video seemed louder, deafening; he was breathing hard, feeling like his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest with how hard it was beating inside his ribcage, his fingers clutching the front of his shirt as an almost soundless but powerful sob wretched itself out of his chest, almost stumbling after the phone itself when Aiba caught him in the other man’s arms to steady him.
++
Jun was shaking by the time he was out of the hospital’s parking lot, contemplating between calling Takahashi-san or Shun, anyone who could talk him out of doing something he knew he would regret later, because that was certainly what he felt like he was heading to.
The memories of Ninomiya-san’s very much alive face was enough to make Jun scream, both in shock and in betrayal. He didn’t know what else to think - if Ohno knew, then certainly, this was the reason why Ohno was acting like he did the past few weeks. The pain in Jun’s chest escalated, and he honestly felt like hitting something, or someone, repeatedly, but couldn’t.
Not now, at least.
As expected, the roads were filled with vehicles, commuters braving the lunch time rush, but for once, Jun was cursing the ongoing traffic for a completely different reason. His fingers trembled around their grip on the steering wheel, gritting his teeth in combined annoyance and frustration every time he had to step on the break.
After the seventh time, he thankfully managed to get out of the busy main road, barely able to keep himself from reaching for his phone with all the intention of checking where Ohno was, when something from his peripheral caught his attention and he dropped his phone in haste.
He shut his eyes close and quickly steered the car to the left without thinking twice, only barely feeling the impact when his car hit the concrete barrier.
He was out like a light before he even realized what just happened.
++
“Do you believe me now?” Aiba had to ask, a long moment later, once he was certain Ohno had recovered. He had to take a quick trip inside to get Ohno a glass of cold water, and then coming back out to find Ohno clutching Aiba’s phone again, his knuckles white as he watched the videos Aiba took of Nino.
Ohno didn’t even take his eyes away from Aiba’s phone, as Aiba watched him bite his lips hard enough for it to bleed.
“H-How - W-Why - T-This isn’t -- How is this even possible?”
Aiba shook his head. He’d asked the same thing when he found out about this the first time, how difficult it was to wrap his head around the fact that the best friend he’d mourned the death of for the longest time had been alive all this time.
And seeing Ohno’s reaction now brought him back to that time, when it was him seeing Nino again for the first time in six years, after his ‘death’, and knew that the pain Ohno was going through now was stronger, palpable even in his silence.
“I have no idea either.” Aiba said. He honestly didn’t know whether it was better to keep the truth of keeping Nino’s true condition a secret, at least until he was certain Ohno was calm enough to accept it, or tell Ohno everything now.
He heaved a sigh as Ohno hesitantly put Aiba’s phone down with shaking fingers, using the same trembling digits to brush the tears away from his eyes. Aiba’s chest throbbed with renewed ache, more for the fact that everything was going to be even more complicated than they already were from here on than anything.
“B-But he’s - Fuck, I can’t… I can’t fucking believe this, Aiba-chan,” Ohno said, stuttering, voice breaking with each syllable spoken, his eyes wide and blurry with tears. “I m-mean, h-he’s - fuck, N-Nino’s alive? How did this happen? I mean - but there was a funeral! And h-he - Fuck, he died in my arms! I was there - fuck, how -”
Aiba reached over, curling his fingers around Ohno’s wrist - he was shaking something bad - and held on.
“That’s what we all know,” he said, bracing himself for whatever was going to happen after this because he was certain that withholding the truth wasn’t even an option now. Not when Ohno was slowly losing it, right here in front of Aiba. “But apparently, his heart started beating again while he was being transported to the hospital. Y-You…You weren’t there that time, right? I was told you stayed back to…to check whether the culprit w-was still around.”
Ohno dropped his head on the table and groaned, in pain and misery combined. He didn’t seem to hear a word Aiba had said as he continued muttering, “Oh God, I don’t - What am I supposed to do now, Aiba-chan?” Ohno whimpered, his voice tinged with emotion Aiba couldn’t stand to hear.
“I - Fuck! Fuck, I -” Ohno swore, raising his head from the table and directing his gaze on Aiba straight on. “Let’s go there now. Take me to him now, I want to see him, oh god -” Ohno said, then stood, only to be stopped by the sound of his phone ringing.
Aiba watched as Ohno contemplated between ignoring it and answering it, but the latter prevailed. Ohno took his phone out and answered it without bothering checking who was calling.
“Hello - yes, yes this is Ohno, who is this - what?” Ohno’s voice trailed here, blinking rapidly as his face began to lose its color.
Aiba didn’t realize he was on his feet until he was already standing, worry settling at the pit of his stomach at the sight, scrambling to reach over just seconds before Ohno did the same.
“I have to go, Aiba-chan -”
“What?! Where? I thought you said you want to see Nino -”
That froze Ohno on his feet, but only briefly. Aiba watched him bite his lips, so many things passing through his eyes Aiba couldn’t put his fingers on, before Ohno dropped his gaze and shook his head.
“You have no idea how much I want that, I swear to god, Aiba-chan but I can’t. I can’t, not now.”
“But why -”
Ohno tugged his hand away and bowed his head.
“I have to go. My - Jun had an accident, he’s in the hospital now, I have to go. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
Pairing : Ohno/Jun, Sho/Nino, Ohno/Nino, Eventual Jun/?
Rating : R
Summary : Before Jun, there was only Nino. The man Ohno loved with everything he had, loved with such ferocity that any other emotion would pale in comparison. He was Ohno's everything, the love of his life, the person Ohno dreamed of sharing his whole life with someday. Until Nino's untimely death, six years ago.
Disclaimer : fiction, yo!
Warning : Angst in large doses. Memory loss. Minor character death. One-sided love.
The test results lay discarded on the bed next to Ninomiya’s feet as Sho watched Kazuko-san settled a hand against her son’s temple, fingertips brushing the soft skin under her son’s closed eyes. Sho heaved a sigh and quietly took in the sight before him, his gaze darting between Kazuko-san’s fingers and the peaceful expression on Ninomiya’s face as he sleep.
How hard it must be, he wondered, for everyone involved, especially for Kazuko-san who had to explain everything to everyone, about her son that apparently died that night? Sho was just Ninomiya’s doctor and yet, he’s here worrying himself silly that he could honestly feel the strain of it wearing him down.
He wondered how Kazuko-san and the rest of her family, of those who knew Ninomiya personally was taking this, he had no idea, but he was certain it couldn’t be easy.
“Are you sure nothing else is wrong with him, Sensei?” Kazuko-san asked without taking his attention away from her son’s face. “He’s always sleepy. I feel like he’s sleeping all the time, it’s…should I be worried?”
Sho eyed the test results he brought with him. “I assure you, Kazuko-san, that your son is fine,” he said, smiling quietly to himself knowing that this wasn’t the first time he’d said the same thing, or explained the same thing, either. “He tends to sleep more when he’s tired. It’s normal, at least in his case, it is.”
Kazuko-san sighed and leaned down to press a soft kiss to her son’s head.
“I guess all that talk tired him out,” she said, “Well, I can’t exactly blame him.”
Sho shut his eyes and remembered everything Kazuko-san said earlier, the truth surrounding her son’s accident. His chest tightened yet again, and he could vividly imagine Ninomiya standing in front of that window which he allegedly jumped out off, and shivered at the sheer horror of it all.
Sho honestly wondered what had happened, what could have forced Ninomiya to do what he did, if only to save himself.
Or, was he?
“Y-You said you were certain he didn’t try to kill himself,” he said, to Kazuko-san’s back. The older woman straightened from where she was still stroking Ninomiya’s hair, and turned to give Sho her attention.
“Right?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“But what made you so sure that was the case?” he asked with a frown. He knew he might sound rude by asking her this, but he knew that she’d understand. “I mean, since you said no one was there with him when the accident happened.”
“Did I say that?” she asked.
Sho blinked, then tried recalling everything she’d said earlier. He was most certain she said no one was with Ninomiya when the accident happened, because even Ninomiya asked her about it.
“Yes,” he answered, clearly recalling her saying no when Ninomiya asked if someone was there with him, if it was Aiba or someone else. “I do remember your son asking you and you said no -”
“Well, there was, yes, because he was the one who found my son first, the one who called for help, but that person was cleared of any suspicion. He was able to back his statement up with an evidence stating he wasn’t there when the presumed time of the accident had happened.”
“I - w-what do you mean?” Sho stuttered, frowning. He had no memory of her saying anything about this. “A-Are you saying that person - that person was responsible for…for your son’s accident?” he followed, swallowing hard.
“Then why didn’t you tell your son about it? About that person? Maybe it’ll help trigger his memory of the accident -”
“I couldn’t,” Kazuko-san said, her expression hard, but the look on her eyes and the sound of her voice was nothing but painful. “I can’t.”
“But why?” he insisted, hoping against hope he wouldn’t end up pissing her off by being so fucking insistent. He couldn’t help it - being one was probably already engraved in his bones that it was hard to stray away from doing it.
“Because I knew for certain it’s not possible, that that person couldn’t possibly hurt my son that way, he never would,” Kazuko-san said, and she was once again openly crying now.
“But how are you so sure? Do you know this person, Kazuko-san?”
She met his eyes and nodded. “Yes,” she said, her voice quaking. “That person was the same guy my son spent almost half of his adult life being in love with, after all.”
++
“But he doesn’t remember you.”
Ohno blinked at Aiba, honestly contemplating between calling Aiba out on his horrible prank and punching him, before settling on laughing mirthlessly instead. He wondered what could be worse, getting mad at Aiba for this, or the fact that for a moment there, he almost, almost believed Aiba, too.
What the fuck was he even thinking, really?
“You really think I’m going to believe this bullshit, Aiba-chan?” he said, in between tightly gritted teeth, despite the fact that he was still laughing humorlessly at Aiba’s joke. He leaned back on the chair and shook his head.
It’s quiet for a while, and Ohno spent the minutes staring Aiba over, contemplating between leaving at once and telling Aiba what the fuck Aiba thought he was doing. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it when Aiba visibly shivered, as if he was contemplating things in his head, too.
“I - I”m sorry, but this is - Aiba-chan, this isn’t exactly what I was expecting when I agreed to meet you. I mean, do you have any idea how hard this is for me? Nino’s been dead for like six years, and here I am, still longing for him, still missing him, even though I’m not supposed to anymore.” he said, breathing hard before continuing.
“I know you missed him, too, of course, I know that, but doing this, saying Nino is alive, that’s - that’s not nice, okay? I - please stop this, Aiba-chan.”
Aiba said nothing and simply pulled out his phone before he started fiddling on it. Ohno kept watching him, his pulse racing.
“Here,” Aiba said after a moment, pushing his phone over the table towards Ohno. “Those are the photos and videos I took of him, about half an hour after we arrived in the hospital, because I knew I would eventually need them to convince you.”
Ohno barely gave Aiba’s phone a glance, uncertain. He honestly didn’t think the prank would stretch this long but apparently, Aiba had prepared for the worst.
He pulled back with a scowl. “And what made you think I would -”
“I knew it was going to be hard convincing you, that’s why I took them, Oh-chan,” Aiba said quickly, pushing his phone further forward. Ohno leaned back just as quickly in retaliation. “Please. If after seeing them, you still don’t want to believe me, I swear I’m not going to force you anymore. But just - just check them out, please? You’re not going to lose anything by going through them, right?”
Ohno gave Aiba a look and bit the inside of his cheeks if only to keep himself from hurling hurtful words towards Aiba, knowing it in his heart that Aiba would never deliberately hurt him this way. Not like this, and especially not about the love he lost over an accident six years ago.
Because Aiba was not cruel, and because Aiba knew how a part of him had died with Nino that day, too, for Aiba to even joke about this.
But, if it wasn’t a joke, then what else could it be?
Ohno’s heart was racing even before he considered picking Aiba’s phone up to check the photos Aiba told him to see for himself, could already feel the way that hopeful part of him was nudging into place to convince him, to make him see sense before he shut it off. He swallowed past the lump that seemed to have lodged itself permanently in his throat and felt the way his fingers trembled, anticipation settling at the pit of his stomach as he reached down and closed his fingers around Aiba’s phone and breathed through his nose.
The first photo he had laid his eyes on shook him to the core.
“I - F-Fuck, this -” he swore under his breath, thumb swiping right in quick succession before going back again. There were at least fifty photos there, each one different and yet painfully familiar that Ohno’s heart began to ache in an entirely different way everytime his gaze land on each one, everytime his gaze rake the familiar smile, the familiar eyes, the familiarly placed mole.
He was practically shaking when he’d finally found the courage to tap on the first of the three videos he found there afterward, his heart felt like it was well on its way out his chest through his throat with the way it was pounding hard through his ribcage as equally familiar voices came through and almost bringing Ohno to his knees in shock.
“What are you doing, Aiba-shi?”
“Nothing.”
“You got that thing aimed on my face and you’re saying you’re not doing anything? Give me that, hey!”
“No, you can’t! Just keep talking, come on.”
“Not until you tell me what’s that for! Are you filming me? Oh my god, you are! Stop, stop!”
“Don’t cover your face, no, I said don’t -”
“Get away from me! Mom! Mom!”
“Don’t shout, oh my god!”
“Mom!”
Ohno dropped the phone, watched it stumbled on the table in shock, before it rolled on the ground, the voices from the video seemed louder, deafening; he was breathing hard, feeling like his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest with how hard it was beating inside his ribcage, his fingers clutching the front of his shirt as an almost soundless but powerful sob wretched itself out of his chest, almost stumbling after the phone itself when Aiba caught him in the other man’s arms to steady him.
++
Jun was shaking by the time he was out of the hospital’s parking lot, contemplating between calling Takahashi-san or Shun, anyone who could talk him out of doing something he knew he would regret later, because that was certainly what he felt like he was heading to.
The memories of Ninomiya-san’s very much alive face was enough to make Jun scream, both in shock and in betrayal. He didn’t know what else to think - if Ohno knew, then certainly, this was the reason why Ohno was acting like he did the past few weeks. The pain in Jun’s chest escalated, and he honestly felt like hitting something, or someone, repeatedly, but couldn’t.
Not now, at least.
As expected, the roads were filled with vehicles, commuters braving the lunch time rush, but for once, Jun was cursing the ongoing traffic for a completely different reason. His fingers trembled around their grip on the steering wheel, gritting his teeth in combined annoyance and frustration every time he had to step on the break.
After the seventh time, he thankfully managed to get out of the busy main road, barely able to keep himself from reaching for his phone with all the intention of checking where Ohno was, when something from his peripheral caught his attention and he dropped his phone in haste.
He shut his eyes close and quickly steered the car to the left without thinking twice, only barely feeling the impact when his car hit the concrete barrier.
He was out like a light before he even realized what just happened.
++
“Do you believe me now?” Aiba had to ask, a long moment later, once he was certain Ohno had recovered. He had to take a quick trip inside to get Ohno a glass of cold water, and then coming back out to find Ohno clutching Aiba’s phone again, his knuckles white as he watched the videos Aiba took of Nino.
Ohno didn’t even take his eyes away from Aiba’s phone, as Aiba watched him bite his lips hard enough for it to bleed.
“H-How - W-Why - T-This isn’t -- How is this even possible?”
Aiba shook his head. He’d asked the same thing when he found out about this the first time, how difficult it was to wrap his head around the fact that the best friend he’d mourned the death of for the longest time had been alive all this time.
And seeing Ohno’s reaction now brought him back to that time, when it was him seeing Nino again for the first time in six years, after his ‘death’, and knew that the pain Ohno was going through now was stronger, palpable even in his silence.
“I have no idea either.” Aiba said. He honestly didn’t know whether it was better to keep the truth of keeping Nino’s true condition a secret, at least until he was certain Ohno was calm enough to accept it, or tell Ohno everything now.
He heaved a sigh as Ohno hesitantly put Aiba’s phone down with shaking fingers, using the same trembling digits to brush the tears away from his eyes. Aiba’s chest throbbed with renewed ache, more for the fact that everything was going to be even more complicated than they already were from here on than anything.
“B-But he’s - Fuck, I can’t… I can’t fucking believe this, Aiba-chan,” Ohno said, stuttering, voice breaking with each syllable spoken, his eyes wide and blurry with tears. “I m-mean, h-he’s - fuck, N-Nino’s alive? How did this happen? I mean - but there was a funeral! And h-he - Fuck, he died in my arms! I was there - fuck, how -”
Aiba reached over, curling his fingers around Ohno’s wrist - he was shaking something bad - and held on.
“That’s what we all know,” he said, bracing himself for whatever was going to happen after this because he was certain that withholding the truth wasn’t even an option now. Not when Ohno was slowly losing it, right here in front of Aiba. “But apparently, his heart started beating again while he was being transported to the hospital. Y-You…You weren’t there that time, right? I was told you stayed back to…to check whether the culprit w-was still around.”
Ohno dropped his head on the table and groaned, in pain and misery combined. He didn’t seem to hear a word Aiba had said as he continued muttering, “Oh God, I don’t - What am I supposed to do now, Aiba-chan?” Ohno whimpered, his voice tinged with emotion Aiba couldn’t stand to hear.
“I - Fuck! Fuck, I -” Ohno swore, raising his head from the table and directing his gaze on Aiba straight on. “Let’s go there now. Take me to him now, I want to see him, oh god -” Ohno said, then stood, only to be stopped by the sound of his phone ringing.
Aiba watched as Ohno contemplated between ignoring it and answering it, but the latter prevailed. Ohno took his phone out and answered it without bothering checking who was calling.
“Hello - yes, yes this is Ohno, who is this - what?” Ohno’s voice trailed here, blinking rapidly as his face began to lose its color.
Aiba didn’t realize he was on his feet until he was already standing, worry settling at the pit of his stomach at the sight, scrambling to reach over just seconds before Ohno did the same.
“I have to go, Aiba-chan -”
“What?! Where? I thought you said you want to see Nino -”
That froze Ohno on his feet, but only briefly. Aiba watched him bite his lips, so many things passing through his eyes Aiba couldn’t put his fingers on, before Ohno dropped his gaze and shook his head.
“You have no idea how much I want that, I swear to god, Aiba-chan but I can’t. I can’t, not now.”
“But why -”
Ohno tugged his hand away and bowed his head.
“I have to go. My - Jun had an accident, he’s in the hospital now, I have to go. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
