nilielh | Entries tagged with fic : i love you stranger

Title : I Love You, Stranger 12
Rating : PG
Pairing : Ohno/Nino
Disclaimer : fiction, yo!
Word count : around 2200 words
Summary : Losing the love of his life to an accident 2 years prior, Nino decided it was high time he moved on; but things had its major turn around when at the same day he finally found the strength to let go, a man who looked exactly like Ohno appeared out of nowhere.

He didn’t realize he was shaking until he was standing at the edge of Hiro/Ohno’s bed and his knees buckled when he tried to kneel down, just near enough to watch the other man. He stifled a groan by slapping a hand over his mouth and allowing himself to slide down the floor quietly, all the while never leaving the other man’s face as he folded his legs underneath him.

There were so many emotions hitting him all at once, every single one of them striking him stronger than the first and Nino found himself curling into himself until he was calm enough not to wake the older man.

He resisted the urge to crawl beside him, to lay there and curve himself against the older man’s side like the way he used to; he missed the way Ohno’s hands would find his when he’s close enough, because no matter how deeply asleep Ohno was, he’s always been able to wake up when he felt Nino sliding next to him.

“Hi O-Ohchan,” he murmured, mostly to himself and let out a watery smile when Hiro/Ohno stirred, moving to his side until he was facing Nino. Nino knew he wouldn’t be able to resist anymore as he sniffed quietly and wiped the tears off his face before he kneeled up and walked his way near Hiro/Ohno’s bed. Something twisted inside him when Hiro/Ohno’s jaw slackened, and he was momentarily stunned at how badly he missed how dumb Ohno looked like when he’s sleeping like this. Letting out a muffled laugh, he bent down until his face was barely an inch away from the older man’s own, their lips almost touching and he could practically inhale Ohno’s every breath.

There’s a gasping sound he needed to stifle as he reached to touch Hiro/Ohno’s chin with the tips of his fingers at the same time he closed his eyes as fresh pool of tears fell down his face, instantly pulling back when the man very clearly uttered ‘N-Nino’ a few times before his breathing evened out.

He just wished he could somehow enter Ohno’s dreams so he could tell him not to worry, because he’s there, watching him, and that he’s never letting him go this time around.

“I love you so much,” he croaked, his chest felt somewhat lighter than ever but his brain wouldn’t cooperate much as the thought of literally grabbing the older man and runaway was too strong that he had to remind himself that this was real, that he’s just here and wasn’t going anywhere. “S-Satoshi…”

A deep, calming breath and Hiro/Ohno muttered – ‘Kazu, I love you,’ the words reaching Nino’s ears a bit late and for a moment, Nino stood unblinking before he found himself sobbing quietly against Hiro/Ohno’s bed, holding the tips of Hiro/Ohno’s fingers as he let his emotions go, muttering, ‘I’m here, I’m here’ quietly under his breath.

#

“And you think we should believe her?” Jun muttered acidly, his lips quivering and his eyes were burning in a way so scary that not even his half-hearted attempt to calm their youngest friend was enough to calm himself in return.

Nino leaned back, arms still crossed tightly across his chest and with as much determination he could muster, he nodded. “I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t,” he replied, completely ignoring the way Jun clutched and un-clutched his fingers and the fact that he’s currently letting out an almost muffled growl from the back of his throat in a clear mixture of anger and pain.

He still couldn’t understand why Jun thought it was stupid of him to actually like Hiro’s wife, even after he’d narrated her side of the story; maybe it was best to have waited for the result of the final investigations before he told them but he knew his patience started running out the day Ohno unexpectedly appeared in front of him for him to be able wait that long.

“Do you want me to enumerate some, then?” Jun bit back angrily, leaning forward but wasn’t able to move much because he was still wrapped around Aiba’s long arms, keeping him in place.

Sho threw them both an exasperated look before the older man moved to place a hand on top of Nino’s shoulder. “As much as I wanted to jump in sheer happiness after hearing that, Nino, I think Jun is right,” he said, squeezing Nino’s shoulder and looking like he’s debating between convincing Nino and dragging Jun to the ocean to maybe cool him off. Nino stood perfectly still, was trying hard to breathe evenly because he didn’t know what the fuck was wrong for them to chastise him like this.

“I don’t know why you think that,” he said, moving back into his usual slouch position when Sho took his hand back and sighed. Nino let out a deep breath of his own, suddenly feeling so tired about this whole thing. “if you know something ~ anything,” he paused, shifting his gaze onto Aiba and found himself nodding when the taller man smiled sadly back at him. “Shouldn’t you be telling me about it so I could be able to understand as to why in hell you think Hiro’s wife is the evil witch in disguise?” he stated quite dryly which earned him a round of amused snorts from the other three. But Nino’s too tired to be humoring them and frankly, he thought this was just getting too dramatic for his taste.

Nino never expected this kind of reaction from them, not after how stupidly giddy he was coming home that morning and waking them up with the aroma of his ‘breakfast special’ and telling them about the things he found out the night before while the other three were busy inhaling the food he prepared.

Jun’s immediate reply to his ‘we thought wrong, she doesn’t have anything to do with it’ was a startling, “I knew you’re a fool, but I didn’t know that you’re also somewhat dumber than Aiba-chan at times,” in a completely straight face that left Nino gaping.

So, okay, there must be something missing there, like, he didn’t know, maybe Jun was still drunk and had gone deaf because there was no way he’s going to react like that if he understood every single word Nino uttered. But Jun was looking at him like he’s the one who’s gone insane, swallowing what was left of the food he had stuffed into his mouth and leaning back defensively.

Aiba and Sho quickly followed Jun’s stance and Nino was rendered momentarily stunned as he watched them one by one while he tried to pinpoint exactly what he said that made them react that way.

Sho chuckled dryly. “I just, well, we just think it’s safer not to trust her fully until we’re sure that she’s handing Satoshi back. Isn’t that the normal thing to do?” he said with a wave of his hand, a movement Sho learned to execute whenever he’s still in the middle of his inner battle with himself and Nino learned to read the older man the same way he did when it comes to the other three. And right now, Nino was quite sure there was more to that subtle little movement than what Sho wanted him to see.

Nino shook his head in disbelief. “Were you even listening to me?” he asked, annoyed. “Didn’t you just hear what I said? She doesn’t have anything to do with it! She’s just~”

Jun growled. “You don’t know that!” he said, his gaze turned sharp and dark that Nino was sure he was burning a hole through his skull with the way Jun stared him down. “Stop defending her because in the end, you don’t know what she’s plotting behind those sweet little smiles and faked tears. Don’t be so stupid, Nino.”

Nino barked an almost hysterical laugh, throwing his hands in the air in resignation. “I.. I don’t really know what the fuck is happening here but you’re just confusing me more and more. She’s not… she’s not like that, okay? She wouldn’t… she…” he paused, breathed and ended up gaping when Jun wordlessly fetched his phone from his pocket and pressed before plastering it against his right ear.

“Gori-san, hello,” he said, eyes not leaving Nino’s and Nino was rendered confused for what seemed like the 10^th time that hour. His shock must’ve been showing up in his face because Jun’s expression softened in an instant and then he was putting the phone on speaker mode and placing it down the table, “could you please tell us where you are right now?” he asked aloud and Nino found himself shifting his gaze between Jun’s face and the phone in front of them.

“ – the hell is this?” he muttered in between gritted teeth, feeling a hand settled at the small of his back, rubbing insistently as if letting him borrow the strength he needed.

A crackling sound and then the familiar voice of Jun’s PI filled the silence between them. “I’m standing in front of Matsuda-san’s house,” he said, his voice sounded distant and hurried. Nino furrowed his brows and opened his mouth to maybe say something when Gori-san started speaking again. “I’ve been here since Ninomiya-san left this morning and, w-well,”

That statement made Nino frown, whipping his head towards Sho. “What the fuck is this?! You have me followed without even~”

“It’s not like that~” Sho insisted, at the same time Jun grumbled, “Yes we did and we’re not sorry so get over it.” then, “Tell us what you saw, Gori-san,” Jun followed with an almost imperceptible stare that made Nino shudder.

Nino bit his tongue, digging his fingernails against his palm while he tried his hardest not to jump over and claw Jun’s eyes out. His brain seemed to be working overtime, in between focusing his attention to Jun’s phone and Sho’s hand rubbing soothingly up and down his back and imagining wrapping his hands around Jun’s pretty neck all at the same time.

Another seemingly long pause before he heard the older man cleared his throat noisily from the other line, and then,

“A van came around fifteen minutes after Ninomiya-san left… a man I recognized to be Matsuda-san’s older brother came out from the van, together with their parents,” he said, voice filled with unspoken hesitancy that caused another shiver running up Nino’s spine. “Then another twenty minutes passed before they came out, leading Matsuda-san and his family to the van with bags and possibly~”

Nino’s eyes widened, his breathe came out raggedly as Sho’s hand found his at the same time he scrambled for something to hold on to.

No way. There was no way she’s… but, this?

Nino was gasping for breath by the time Jun spoke up again. “ – LEAVING.” Jun said, completely stealing the word straight from Gori-san’s mouth. There was a spark of something dangerous on Jun’s eyes that made him tremble as the corner of their youngest friend’s mouth curled bitterly. “She knew who you were, Nino. She knew exactly what you came there for and she used your vulnerability against you. She’s not what you think she is, Nino. Whatever she told you, those are all lies… oh, probably some of it was true, if only to make her words more believable.”

Nino shook his head in disbelief. “That can’t be true… s-she.. s-she promised she’d… Satoshi… h-he’s.. w-we need to…” by this time, everything started overlapping in his head; her words, her promises and the lingering feeling of finally being able to hold Ohno’s hand and the fact that even though he’d wanted to believe her, this certainly was something he’d never expected. Everything seemed disjointed and blurry and Nino felt himself falling, dizzy and unsure of what he should do next.

Jun stood up then, Aiba following closely behind him; there’s a lump in his throat he needed to swallow, biting back his tears as it threatened to spill out most especially when Aiba moved behind him and wrapped him carefully, tightly in his arms. Jun placed a hand on top of Nino’s head, messing his hair and quietly conveying his support by doing so. Nino sniffed, biting his lower lip and blinking slowly.

“I want full details on this one, Gori-san. If you have to follow them to the ends of the earth, do it! We’re not letting them take our Leader out of our sight from now on. Tell your people exactly that and make sure to send me updates.” Jun grumbled, reaching over to snap the phone shut but stopped short when Gori-san very clearly gasped in a sharp breath. The four of them exchanged looks before shifting their gazes on the phone still lying at the center of the table. “Something wrong, Gori-san? Hello?”

“A report came in just now,” Gori-san followed after another long beat and Nino was bracing himself without him even realizing it. “Five tickets are bought using Matsuda-san’s brother’s credit card just a few minutes ago,” he said with a barely concealed anger that made Nino wonder for a fleeting moment if this was Gori-san they were actually talking to and not Ohno’s father. But then the older man’s words crept their way to his brain and for a moment, Nino thought he was going to collapse at the sheer intensity of the situation especially when Gori-san followed his statement with,

“Looks like Matsuda-san’s family is leaving for America tonight,”

( He didn’t realize he was shaking until he was standing at the edge of Hiro/Ohno’s bed and his knees buckled when he tried to kneel down, just near enough to watch the other man )