In Time

[nilielh]

Title : In Time – Interlude
Rating : R
Pairing : Ohno/Nino
Genre : Angst. Romance
Disclaimer : fiction, yo!
Summary : Where I came from, Leader’s gone. He’s dead. Buried six feet under the ground where I can no longer reach him. Where you can no longer reach him. You want to know why I’m here? Well then, there’s your answer.
Note : based on a very old Meme Prompt - Future!Nino is from 2 years in the future. Lots of Future!Nino pissing present day Nino off. I’m not even sure if I did this right but I guess it's alright as long as there’d be lots of pissing, though with lots of angst, too. So sorry for that.



“Leader, hey, wait up,” he called, jogging the rest of the way to where Ohno stood near his manager’s car, hand poised at the door. It was hard enough to do this in front of an audience so he waited until his bandmates were gone, opting on staying back and pretending to be engrossed on his game while the others piled out one by one but he didn’t count on Ohno leaving with them just as quickly.

Good thing he knew where Ohno’s manager’s car was parked so it was easier for him to find where Ohno was at the moment, rather than scouring the whole parking area just to locate Ohno’s manager’s car. Well, of course there’s the option of calling either Ohno or his manager, the easier way to be honest, but he didn’t want to.

It was bad enough that he was already thinking of scrapping this stupid, stupid plan of his, what with the way his equally stupid heart was well on its way to killing him but god, he had to do this. He had to – it had been almost two decades now, afterall, and he didn’t think he’d last two more without telling Ohno how disgustingly in love he was – still is – for the older man.

It’s this or give it up entirely. Which he couldn’t, not now, not anymore.

Leader waited until he was close enough to ask, “What is it? You forgot something in my bag or what?” the older man said, obviously teasing, and he couldn’t help but remember the incident regarding a certain volume of manga that Aiba owned, the same one he snatched out of Aiba’s bag and hid inside their Leader’s own.


He grinned and rolled his eyes to the heavens if only to cover the way his hands were trembling and the way his heart was pounding hard through his ribcage.

“Not this time, no,” he returned, reaching over and aiming a light punch against Ohno’s arm. “I just… I need to…”

“What?” Ohno was obviously grinning, their attentions shifting to Ohno’s manager’s obnoxious knocking through the window, pointing at his watch. “Out with it, brat,” Ohno said, returning the punch playfully and the contact almost made him dizzy. “I think Manager-san needs to go somewhere important after he dropped me home so –“

“Are you free tonight?” he asked, quickly, before he changed his mind.

“Uh, not really,” Ohno said, looking slightly sheepish. “I’m actually going straight to the docks now, my fishing buddies have been waiting for me for more than an hour already,”

“R-Right,” He nodded, shoulders slumping in disappointment. “How about tomorrow?” he asked, hopeful.

Ohno’s smile was part-teasing, part-indulgent. He nodded and leaned back heavily against the car’s door, arms crossed over his chest.

“Yeah, I think I got some free time tomorrow,” Leader said.

He knew he just lit up like a light in Christmas morning but he couldn’t be bothered to cover it up with a lie now. “Then can I – can you squeeze me in your schedule tomorrow? An hour or two will be enough, I think,”

“Enough time for what?” Ohno asked, a tad confused.

He tsked. “N-Nothing, just. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah? Call me once you docked, or mail me, whatever you prefer. Just. Yeah, call me what time I should pick you up and I’ll be there,”

“Why, aren’t you supposed to be working tomorrow?”

He nodded. “Yes, but only in the morning,” he said, cheeks burning. “I’m sure you’ll be docking by the time I finished,” he said, “Just. Two hours, Leader; I just need two hours of your time tomorrow,” he asked, feeling the proverbial desperation settling over his bones. “It’s… it’s important,”

Ohno eyed him somewhat warily. “If it’s so important, then why don’t you just tell me now?”

He shook his head. “No time,” he said, “I’ll just. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Ohno still looked confused for all of five seconds before he was beaming, an almost wicked grin breaking at the corners of the older man’s mouth. Then he was reaching over to mock-punch him in the chin, one hand blindly seeking the door’s handle, mumbling something under his breath that he didn’t quite catch because he was too busy swallowing past the lump that formed in his throat.

“What?”

Ohno grinned, raised his arm again and to his surprise, Ohno graced a tender finger across his cheek, before his hand slid down to cup his jaw.

“I hope so,” Ohno murmured and let go without another word, opening and closing the door behind, Ohno waving at him through the car’s window before they drove off.

He stood there, wondering why he suddenly felt cold when Ohno left, why his heart began pounding hard, terrified without even knowing why.


+++

It’s already all over the news when he got here.

People are swarming the docks, bystanders, onlookers, policemen, the media – they are all over the place, crowding the already tightly-packed space, everyone looking over the spectacle happening not too far from the docks itself. He didn't bother covering his face when he threw himself out from the car – Aiba’s manager’s car – clutching his phone to his ear and listening to Ohno’s voice prompt on repeat.

The crowd parted without prompting, letting him through as he half-jogged towards the docks’ edge. He was only vaguely aware at the sounds of quiet murmurs coming from behind him, and was more focused at the sight in front of him to pay attention to anything at the moment.

There are choppers approaching from above, and motorboats from down below; he couldn't see clearly, and maybe that’s a good thing because right now, all he wanted was for Ohno to fucking answer his phone and tell him he’s good, that he just forgot to charge his phone and that it’s been just a big misunderstanding, that he was somewhere safe.

Hi. You’re calling Satoshi’s phone. I’m sorry I can’t answer right now so just leave your name and I promise to call you back later.

Hi. You’re calling Satoshi’s phone. I’m sorry I can’t answer – “Fuck, answer the phone, Oh-chan!” he cursed, feeling so close to throwing his phone into the water, shaking to the core as someone tugged him back into someone else’s chest at the same time the first motorboat stopped and hauled up a body onto the platform.

“Move,” the guy in the marine uniform shouted, shoving everyone out of the way as three uniformed guys followed suit, helping a limp body up onto the platform; it was covered from head to toe with something that looks like a body bag, but the minute they haul the body up from the boat, the arm slipped out from the little opening, and Nino’s eyes immediately riveted to the familiar set of fingers that are now marred with blood.

He was throwing himself forward before anyone could stop him, ending up falling over on his knees as he crawled his way towards the body with an almost ear-splitting scream.

“Nooooooooooo!”


+++

Ohno's parents arrived not even half hour after their son's body was brought in. Even from out here, he could hear the screams, the heartbreaking sobs of Ohno's mother and sister. Jun had been the first to leave the room, followed by Sho who had his arms around Aiba's trembling form after Sho's countless attempts to take him out, too.

He stubbornly refused to go, had stubbornly refused to shed another tear as he took in the sight before him without actually seeing it. The way Ohno's mother cradled her son's head in her arms as she cried.

And then something about the way she brought his hand to her face, nuzzling it, made something inside him snapped that in the next instant he found himself stumbling out the door, walking a few steps out the hallway before his legs gave out on him.

He was startled by his phone vibrating inside his jacket pocket and he absently searched for it with all the intention of turning it off.

However, he realized that the reason it was vibrating was because of the numerous unopened voice messages he received earlier. He thought of ignoring them in favor of mourning but then he caught sight of the sender's name and his eyes grew wide.

The messages were from Ohno.

His fingers were trembling something bad when he opened the first one, slapping the phone into his ear as Ohno's voice came through.

I can't fish properly. I wonder whose fault that is.
End of message.

This is seriously annoying, couldn't you just corner me at work to say whatever important things you wants to say instead of saying it without actually saying it when I'm off to fish? Now I can't concentrate because the only thing I could think of is you.
End of message.

All these nonsense is making me want to swim back so we can talk. God, I hate you.
End of message.

I'm like a big ball of anticipation and it's disgusting. What the hell.
End of message.

You better make this worth my time or else I'm going to beat you.
End of message.

God damn it all, Kazunari.
End of message.

The last one was sent a few minutes before the reported time of the incident and his heart was in chaos the moment he heard the noises in the background, followed by what could only be Ohno's voice.

If I don't make it home, Kazu... static noises, silence. I love you too, Ohno said, followed by loud coughing and groaning. Please know that I've always loved you. Always.

Then the line went dead.

"Oh god, Oh-chan." he whispered, broken and trembling to the core as he clutched his phone to his chest, and sobbed violently.