GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY!!!
Jun. 17th, 2011 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
to be honest, i was completely bent on forgetting this day that i almost forgot that it is Nino's birthday!
so, before anything else...
to Arashi's one and only eternal 17...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NINO!!!
and as is my personal custom, i have come up with a fic, two this time, to celebrate this occasion...
which is where my post title enters...
GUILTY or NOT GUILTY!!!
as most of you have already known, Nino and Sasaki Nozomi's supposed dating rumor had been circling Japan's tabloid magazines for about two weeks or so now... and here is me just playing with the situation and the rumors...
one fic says guilty (that the rumors are true), the other one says not! :):):)
TITLE: Assurances
CHARACTERS: Ninomiya Kazunari, Nagasawa Masami
PAIRING: Nino/Masami
RATINGS: PG
Genre: RL
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
SUMMARY: He considered that she might really be more affected than what she's saying. he never expected that though.
They say that people, especially men, knows they’re in trouble, even if they didn’t really know what caused them to be in trouble.
Which is why when Nino was met with nothing but silence when he entered his apartment (despite all the signs indicating that someone is already in and that someone would usually be at the sofa, watching TV, reading her scripts, or even sleeping, just because she’s waiting for him to arrive), he immediately felt his heart throbbing quite painfully.
He was nervous all right, but it wasn’t because he was guilty.
Of course not!
He had already told her that she, meaning the other woman, was really just what their agencies claimed them to be, one of his acquaintances. Nothing was going on. He wasn’t cheating on her.
She said she understood.
But Nino does have reason to worry. After all, no matter how confident she could be of his innocence (in that matter), numerous stories floating around and new ones coming up almost every other day could take its toll. And then of course, there’s that thing both Sho and Jun told him during one of their training sessions for the concert.
Both guys said that he still should assure her, prove to her his innocence, because she’s still a woman and she could still get jealous. And then there’s the fact too that she could be feeling hurt about the circumstances surrounding how the fans reacted to this particular relationship rumor of his. They said she could be more affected than what she’s showing.
And judging by the fact that he still can not figure out where she is (he’s checked at the kitchen and she wasn’t there), he can’t help but think that the guys may have a point.
When he finally entered his room though, that thinking changed. Sho and Jun didn’t just have a point, they were right. Because right in front of him, on the bed, he saw Masami curled in a fetus-like position, in her hands the very first shirt she brought him, and judging by her eyes, she looked like she had just been crying.
He felt something in his heart being tugged at the sight. When he considered the option that Arashi’s more serious combo were right when they said she was more affected than she’s showing, he didn’t really expect tears. Sitting next to her slowly, so that he would not end up waking her, he let his eyes take her presence in completely.
For years this woman had stayed by his side, survived his addictions, his attitudes, his hectic life. Never really had he seen her cry.
Moving slowly, he slid behind her before slowly embracing her from behind. This act stirred Masami awake.
“Hey,” she murmured as she turned her head to look at him. “You’re home.”
“Yeah,” he could only say, tightening his hold on her waist.
Something in him knew that she’s unlikely to tell him the reason of her tears, even if he asks, which is why he ended up just nuzzling the back of her neck.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Remember that rumor about me and Sasaki Nozomi-san?” he started.
“Un,” Masami simply said although he felt her stiffening a bit.
“Are you sure you’re not affected by it or anything?”
“You already said there’s nothing going on between the two of you right?”
“You haven’t answered my question,” Nino said, as his other hand moved so that she was fully engulfed in his embrace. “You’re not affected.”
Masami didn’t say anything immediately for a while and then Nino heard her breathe deeply before she said “No.”
“Really?” Nino asked. He’s already sure she is affected, he just wants her to admit it to him.
It took her another long silence before she finally said “I just felt a bit hurt, you know.”
“Hurt about what?” he prompted.
“About everyone else’s reaction to that rumor of yours with her,” Masami shrugged. “It seems like it’s practically all right to them. Back when it was you and me, everyone seemed ready to hang me immediately.”
It’s Nino’s turn to be silent for a while when he heard that, mainly because what she just said was true. He remembered it clearly because while Ohno, Sho, Aiba and Jun showed support, everyone else was practically screaming “No!”
He ended up smiling though when he said “Do you want to know the reason why that happened?”
“Because I’m a lot less appealing than she is?” Masami laughed sadly.
“No,” Nino simply said before kissing the back of her ear. “Because everyone knows that that rumor is fake and what we had then, what he have right now, what we’ll always have, is real,” he whispered in her ear.
For a few seconds, Masami said nothing before he heard her sniff.
“Hey, are you crying?” he asked, making him turn to her. The last thing he had in plan is to make the woman cry, again, because of him.
When Masami did turn around, he saw a tear falling from her eye. He also saw a glow in her eyes, and a smile in her face.
“Thank you,” she could only say and Nino knew that those tears weren’t of sorrow.
He smiled, closing in the gap between their lips with both of them murmuring the words “I love you…”
-----THE END-----
and here's the other one...
TITLE: Set-up (Jun's Payback Time)
CHARACTERS: Ohno Satoshi, Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, Matsumoto Jun, Sasaki Nozomi
PAIRING: Nino/Nozomi, (Slight) Jun/Mao
RATINGS: PG
Genre: RL
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
SUMMARY: Nino's biggest mistake was categorically answering his group mates' question.
Nino initially thought that it was just Jun’s way of taking his revenge.
He’s in a relatively popular restaurant in downtown Tokyo at the moment, after Ohno, in a once in a lifetime occurrence, invited him to dinner. It was a bit weird really, Ohno suddenly inviting him out like that. But since he had long since been practically demanding the guy to invite him out, he agreed.
And that’s when he first saw them.
It was actually the “him” part of “them” he saw first. It’s practically impossible really, for the guy not to noticed, even when they were seated somewhere by the side. He had always heard and believed that this particular group mate of his had the most difficult facial feature to hide, and it wasn’t just even about the eyebrows. Somehow, it still may have something to do with the eyes. Whatever it is though, Nino noticed Jun immediately.
He also noticed immediately that the woman he’s with can not be the guy’s girl friend, Inoue Mao.
By the time they were led towards their table, which was just a couple of tables away from Jun and his “date”, Nino had recognized who the “her” part of “them” was.
He tried downplaying it at first, although he would have loved to go straight to their table and pretend to mingle just so he can ask what’s going on and why she’s there with him. But it seemed that Ohno had not noticed their youngest as the guy buried his nose on the menu, deliberating on what fish dish he’d like to eat.
The same can not be said for Jun though, who had met Nino’s eyes barely moments from them sitting down. Nino knew what that look meant. It was a dare, an open and very provoking one. That’s when he knew that he was doing it on purpose.
After all, it had happened in the past, just that he was at the giving part of it, and not the receiving end.
About 3 years ago, after all, back when Jun still had not admitted, even to himself, that he has feelings for his then co-star, Nino, along with the other three guys of Arashi, had bombarded the guy numerous questions about him and Mao. When Ohno finally came out with the question “Are you two together?” Jun had answered it, in what Sho describes as a categorical answer, that it is not the case.
That resulted to him, just because he’s Nino and he did have quite a huge crush on the woman, openly and outrageously flirting with Mao, especially during those moments she would come to their concerts and Shun would drag her all the way to the backstage (Mao would only just smile and bow her head). He knew, along with everyone else, that he’s putting his life in the line with what he’s doing but he simply said, while within Jun’s earshot that Jun did say that the two of them were not together.
He knew that Jun would take it as a dare and that was really what he intended to. It’s like he was telling the guy to claim her completely or don’t claim her at all.
It’s now Jun’s turn to return the favor though because he did, just recently, say that he and Sasaki Nozomi are not together.
It was just after the news broke out to the media, with Nino knowing that any and all of his group mates could blurt out the demanding question any moment. After all, he had not told them anything along the lines of being in a relationship.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to share it though, he just decided that it wasn’t time for that yet.
His mistake though was saying something along the lines Jun said when he said he and Mao weren’t together. In Sho’s words, he answered Aiba’s (because it was Aiba who blurted it out this time, and not Ohno) question categorically.
But downplaying it didn’t really last long as he continued watching Jun and Nozomi at the corner of his eyes.
It seems like Nozomi had not noticed him and Ohno entering, nor did she look like she’s noticing anything much, not when her full attention is on Jun. Nino could understand that part though, knowing how enthralling the guy can be even just normally, and even more so when Jun is determined to be enticing.
From an outsider’s point of view, it can be said that they were just talking normally, nothing special, nothing romantic, but Nino still saw green, even despite the knowledge that Jun is doing it on purpose.
Before he could even think of something to do though, he was distracted by the appearance of a body next to him, making him turn to the menu in search for anything familiar to eat, thinking that it was the waiter, just to avoid an issue.
His eyes were still on the menu (though his other senses are on the couple of tables away from them) when he heard Ohno ask the guy he presumed to be the waiter, “Any suggestions?”
He almost wanted to snort at how undecided their 30 year old still is but then he heard a familiar voice speaking next to him, making him put down the menu is shock to look up.
“Since it’s you Ohchan, it would always be fish,” said the familiar voice in a tone as though delivering the news. “But the yakiniku here is great so you may want to try that. Also, there are just for today dishes namely Admit-It-Already and Jealous-As-Hell, maybe this one would think of picking one of those,” Sho added as he looked at Nino meaningfully.
“What the heck are you doing here?!” Nino exclaimed as he glared at the guy now looking quite smugly at him.
“This is a group project, don’t you know?” Sho simply smiled as he slid next to Ohno. “We all decided that we want to witness it too.”
“We?!” Nino repeated, groaning at the implication of what he had just been said. It wasn’t just Jun getting even after all, it’s everyone else in Arashi.
“Yep, we!” Aiba exclaimed jumping next to him out of nowhere with a digital camera in his hand. “Seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised if you and Sasaki-san gets caught if you two go out one of these days. The moment you saw her, you didn’t notice anything else!”
“I did not!” Nino blurted, turning a bit hot around the collars as he did so, sliding to the side to allow Aiba to sit next to him.
While Sho and Ohno snorted, Aiba chuckled and said, raising his camera a bit as he did so, “Do you really want to see how your eyes turned green when you see her with Jun-chan?”
Nino simply snorted before taking another peek at “them”. She still had not noticed anything in particular although Jun apparently had with the way he purposely (at least to Nino’s eyes) seated to allow them clear view of her reactions without her seeing them, or maybe just him (because really, ethics dictates that a person should face the person she’s talking to, which is what’s Nozomi doing).
From what he’s seen so far, and that is, if he’s being objective, there was nothing romantic about what’s going on two tables away, not from Jun or Nozomi. But it’s Jun he’s talking about, the guy who had baited a huge number of fans to Arashi just because he’s acting cool and/or romantic on TV. Besides, it’s been a while since he had actually been in a relationship so that alone allows him to be a little bit more possessive, or something like that.
The few seconds it took him to observe Jun and Nozomi resulted to even more time given to the three others, now occupying the table with him, observing him that by the time he dragged his own eyes back to his table, three pairs of eyes were looking at him interestedly.
“What?!” he growled, annoyed at how they’re looking at him, like they’re reading everything so clearly. He’s not used to that kind of feeling. He’s used to making them ask and wonder what’s really on his mind.
Before anyone of them could say anything though, the waiter arrived to take their orders.
-----
“You know,” Sho started when the waiter left. “If you’re already at that level already, why don’t you just admit it?”
“Yeah,” Ohno seconded. “Even just to us, really. It’s not like it’s anything new.”
“So is that what this is about?” Nino snorted, reaching out for a tissue paper just to have something to occupy his hands with. “For you guys to make me admit that we’re in a relationship?”
“No!” Aiba chuckled next to him. “If anything, it’s more to torture you.”
“Which, I say, is working very, very well…” Ohno added, nodding towards the tissue paper Nino had just taken, or what used to be a tissue paper but is now a pile of shredded pieces on the table in just a few seconds.
“But then again,” Aiba continued. “That may have been part of the plan too.”
“Yeah,” Sho agreed. “Since you just practically admitted it too…”
Nino blinked furiously for a while, trying to digest when that happened before he ended up groaning and burying his face in his hands.
“I hate you guys!’ he told his palms, causing the three to chuckle.
Then Aiba said “Well, you better start loving us again because someone supposedly just noticed that the rest of his group is here and is now bringing his dinner companion over. Of course, you wouldn’t want his dinner companion to think that you hate your group mates, right?”
True enough, when Nino looked up, he saw Jun and Nozomi approaching their table, his eyes catching immediately how Jun’s hand is on Nozomi’s elbow, guiding her.
“So, what’s with everyone from Arashi doing here?” Jun asked, his tone doused in amazement when his eyes says otherwise especially when those pair met Nino’s.
“Jun-kun!” Sho exclaimed, sounding completely surprised too and so did the Aiba and Ohno, Nino had a harder time trying to look the part when he’s supposed to be used to that already. “What are you doing here?”
“Dinner,” Jun simply said before turning to the woman beside her who’s now eyeing everyone in the table in surprise though the guys did notice how her eyes softened when it landed on Nino. “I think you all know Sasaki Nozomi-kun, right?”
Before Jun could proceed with any sort of introduction though, Nino stood up and said “Yeah. But just so it’s official, everyone meet Sasaki Nozomi, my girl friend.”
-----
“So, anyone here worried of Nino’s retribution?” Sho asked as four-fifths of Arashi drove away from the restaurant together in one car, Jun’s, with Jun behind the wheel and Sho next to him and Aiba and Ohno at the back. Dinner had already ended successfully and peacefully.
“Should we?” Ohno asked, leaning his head on the glass window.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Aiba said. “He’s Nino after all. And we just played a very effective prank on him.”
“Yeah, he’d want to get even,” Sho added, turning around to face Jun. “You’re not afraid?”
“This was me getting even,” Jun simply snorted. “But if he has plans, it’s good, I can just get back at him anytime,” he added confidently.
“Oooh…” Aiba exclaimed.
“How did you invite her out anyway?” Sho asked. “You still haven’t said anything about that part.”
“I just told her I wanted to know something before the media blows it over,” Jun shrugged. “I think she was under the impression that we didn’t approve of her for Nino until I told her otherwise.”
Sho snorted.
“Kinda hard to disapprove of a woman who’s sticking by Nino despite all the news of him being a sexual powerhouse,” he said seriously before they all ended up chuckling at their absent group mate’s expense.
-----
“So, how was the introduction to the proverbial second family?” Nino asked as he drove his way towards Nozomi’s apartment.
“Scary, weird, but heartwarming at the same time,” Nozomi admitted.
Nino chuckled, turning to her briefly before turning to curve that leads to her home.
“I wasn’t expecting to meet them all tonight though,” Nozomi continued. “I even thought when Matsumoto-kun contacted me that he wanted to talk to confirm if we’re together and tell me to get away if we really are.”
Looking away from the road briefly, Nino saw that there really was worry in her eyes. Then he smiled. Taking her hands with his left hand as his eyes returned to the road, he said “That would never happen. I promise you.”
When he felt Nozomi’s fingers entwining with his, he added with a chuckle “Besides, while you were worrying about that and not thinking of meeting everyone tonight, those guys fully expected to meet you.”
“How would you know?” Nozomi asked.
“I’ve lived with them long enough to know that it’s the case,” Nino simply smiled before raising their entwined hands to his lips and kissing the back of her palm.
Seeing her smile at the corner of his eye, Nino couldn’t help but smile too. His friends had met her and from what he’s seen, they’re okay with her. She looks happy and he’s happy too. He’s at peace with that.
-----THE END-----
and there goes my fics!!! :):):)
first try on the NinoXNozomi one... :) had fund doing it... LOL...
how was the fics? enjoyed it or not?
tell me what you think! :):):)
so, before anything else...
to Arashi's one and only eternal 17...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NINO!!!
and as is my personal custom, i have come up with a fic, two this time, to celebrate this occasion...
which is where my post title enters...
GUILTY or NOT GUILTY!!!
as most of you have already known, Nino and Sasaki Nozomi's supposed dating rumor had been circling Japan's tabloid magazines for about two weeks or so now... and here is me just playing with the situation and the rumors...
one fic says guilty (that the rumors are true), the other one says not! :):):)
TITLE: Assurances
CHARACTERS: Ninomiya Kazunari, Nagasawa Masami
PAIRING: Nino/Masami
RATINGS: PG
Genre: RL
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
SUMMARY: He considered that she might really be more affected than what she's saying. he never expected that though.
They say that people, especially men, knows they’re in trouble, even if they didn’t really know what caused them to be in trouble.
Which is why when Nino was met with nothing but silence when he entered his apartment (despite all the signs indicating that someone is already in and that someone would usually be at the sofa, watching TV, reading her scripts, or even sleeping, just because she’s waiting for him to arrive), he immediately felt his heart throbbing quite painfully.
He was nervous all right, but it wasn’t because he was guilty.
Of course not!
He had already told her that she, meaning the other woman, was really just what their agencies claimed them to be, one of his acquaintances. Nothing was going on. He wasn’t cheating on her.
She said she understood.
But Nino does have reason to worry. After all, no matter how confident she could be of his innocence (in that matter), numerous stories floating around and new ones coming up almost every other day could take its toll. And then of course, there’s that thing both Sho and Jun told him during one of their training sessions for the concert.
Both guys said that he still should assure her, prove to her his innocence, because she’s still a woman and she could still get jealous. And then there’s the fact too that she could be feeling hurt about the circumstances surrounding how the fans reacted to this particular relationship rumor of his. They said she could be more affected than what she’s showing.
And judging by the fact that he still can not figure out where she is (he’s checked at the kitchen and she wasn’t there), he can’t help but think that the guys may have a point.
When he finally entered his room though, that thinking changed. Sho and Jun didn’t just have a point, they were right. Because right in front of him, on the bed, he saw Masami curled in a fetus-like position, in her hands the very first shirt she brought him, and judging by her eyes, she looked like she had just been crying.
He felt something in his heart being tugged at the sight. When he considered the option that Arashi’s more serious combo were right when they said she was more affected than she’s showing, he didn’t really expect tears. Sitting next to her slowly, so that he would not end up waking her, he let his eyes take her presence in completely.
For years this woman had stayed by his side, survived his addictions, his attitudes, his hectic life. Never really had he seen her cry.
Moving slowly, he slid behind her before slowly embracing her from behind. This act stirred Masami awake.
“Hey,” she murmured as she turned her head to look at him. “You’re home.”
“Yeah,” he could only say, tightening his hold on her waist.
Something in him knew that she’s unlikely to tell him the reason of her tears, even if he asks, which is why he ended up just nuzzling the back of her neck.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Remember that rumor about me and Sasaki Nozomi-san?” he started.
“Un,” Masami simply said although he felt her stiffening a bit.
“Are you sure you’re not affected by it or anything?”
“You already said there’s nothing going on between the two of you right?”
“You haven’t answered my question,” Nino said, as his other hand moved so that she was fully engulfed in his embrace. “You’re not affected.”
Masami didn’t say anything immediately for a while and then Nino heard her breathe deeply before she said “No.”
“Really?” Nino asked. He’s already sure she is affected, he just wants her to admit it to him.
It took her another long silence before she finally said “I just felt a bit hurt, you know.”
“Hurt about what?” he prompted.
“About everyone else’s reaction to that rumor of yours with her,” Masami shrugged. “It seems like it’s practically all right to them. Back when it was you and me, everyone seemed ready to hang me immediately.”
It’s Nino’s turn to be silent for a while when he heard that, mainly because what she just said was true. He remembered it clearly because while Ohno, Sho, Aiba and Jun showed support, everyone else was practically screaming “No!”
He ended up smiling though when he said “Do you want to know the reason why that happened?”
“Because I’m a lot less appealing than she is?” Masami laughed sadly.
“No,” Nino simply said before kissing the back of her ear. “Because everyone knows that that rumor is fake and what we had then, what he have right now, what we’ll always have, is real,” he whispered in her ear.
For a few seconds, Masami said nothing before he heard her sniff.
“Hey, are you crying?” he asked, making him turn to her. The last thing he had in plan is to make the woman cry, again, because of him.
When Masami did turn around, he saw a tear falling from her eye. He also saw a glow in her eyes, and a smile in her face.
“Thank you,” she could only say and Nino knew that those tears weren’t of sorrow.
He smiled, closing in the gap between their lips with both of them murmuring the words “I love you…”
-----THE END-----
and here's the other one...
TITLE: Set-up (Jun's Payback Time)
CHARACTERS: Ohno Satoshi, Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, Matsumoto Jun, Sasaki Nozomi
PAIRING: Nino/Nozomi, (Slight) Jun/Mao
RATINGS: PG
Genre: RL
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
SUMMARY: Nino's biggest mistake was categorically answering his group mates' question.
Nino initially thought that it was just Jun’s way of taking his revenge.
He’s in a relatively popular restaurant in downtown Tokyo at the moment, after Ohno, in a once in a lifetime occurrence, invited him to dinner. It was a bit weird really, Ohno suddenly inviting him out like that. But since he had long since been practically demanding the guy to invite him out, he agreed.
And that’s when he first saw them.
It was actually the “him” part of “them” he saw first. It’s practically impossible really, for the guy not to noticed, even when they were seated somewhere by the side. He had always heard and believed that this particular group mate of his had the most difficult facial feature to hide, and it wasn’t just even about the eyebrows. Somehow, it still may have something to do with the eyes. Whatever it is though, Nino noticed Jun immediately.
He also noticed immediately that the woman he’s with can not be the guy’s girl friend, Inoue Mao.
By the time they were led towards their table, which was just a couple of tables away from Jun and his “date”, Nino had recognized who the “her” part of “them” was.
He tried downplaying it at first, although he would have loved to go straight to their table and pretend to mingle just so he can ask what’s going on and why she’s there with him. But it seemed that Ohno had not noticed their youngest as the guy buried his nose on the menu, deliberating on what fish dish he’d like to eat.
The same can not be said for Jun though, who had met Nino’s eyes barely moments from them sitting down. Nino knew what that look meant. It was a dare, an open and very provoking one. That’s when he knew that he was doing it on purpose.
After all, it had happened in the past, just that he was at the giving part of it, and not the receiving end.
About 3 years ago, after all, back when Jun still had not admitted, even to himself, that he has feelings for his then co-star, Nino, along with the other three guys of Arashi, had bombarded the guy numerous questions about him and Mao. When Ohno finally came out with the question “Are you two together?” Jun had answered it, in what Sho describes as a categorical answer, that it is not the case.
That resulted to him, just because he’s Nino and he did have quite a huge crush on the woman, openly and outrageously flirting with Mao, especially during those moments she would come to their concerts and Shun would drag her all the way to the backstage (Mao would only just smile and bow her head). He knew, along with everyone else, that he’s putting his life in the line with what he’s doing but he simply said, while within Jun’s earshot that Jun did say that the two of them were not together.
He knew that Jun would take it as a dare and that was really what he intended to. It’s like he was telling the guy to claim her completely or don’t claim her at all.
It’s now Jun’s turn to return the favor though because he did, just recently, say that he and Sasaki Nozomi are not together.
It was just after the news broke out to the media, with Nino knowing that any and all of his group mates could blurt out the demanding question any moment. After all, he had not told them anything along the lines of being in a relationship.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to share it though, he just decided that it wasn’t time for that yet.
His mistake though was saying something along the lines Jun said when he said he and Mao weren’t together. In Sho’s words, he answered Aiba’s (because it was Aiba who blurted it out this time, and not Ohno) question categorically.
But downplaying it didn’t really last long as he continued watching Jun and Nozomi at the corner of his eyes.
It seems like Nozomi had not noticed him and Ohno entering, nor did she look like she’s noticing anything much, not when her full attention is on Jun. Nino could understand that part though, knowing how enthralling the guy can be even just normally, and even more so when Jun is determined to be enticing.
From an outsider’s point of view, it can be said that they were just talking normally, nothing special, nothing romantic, but Nino still saw green, even despite the knowledge that Jun is doing it on purpose.
Before he could even think of something to do though, he was distracted by the appearance of a body next to him, making him turn to the menu in search for anything familiar to eat, thinking that it was the waiter, just to avoid an issue.
His eyes were still on the menu (though his other senses are on the couple of tables away from them) when he heard Ohno ask the guy he presumed to be the waiter, “Any suggestions?”
He almost wanted to snort at how undecided their 30 year old still is but then he heard a familiar voice speaking next to him, making him put down the menu is shock to look up.
“Since it’s you Ohchan, it would always be fish,” said the familiar voice in a tone as though delivering the news. “But the yakiniku here is great so you may want to try that. Also, there are just for today dishes namely Admit-It-Already and Jealous-As-Hell, maybe this one would think of picking one of those,” Sho added as he looked at Nino meaningfully.
“What the heck are you doing here?!” Nino exclaimed as he glared at the guy now looking quite smugly at him.
“This is a group project, don’t you know?” Sho simply smiled as he slid next to Ohno. “We all decided that we want to witness it too.”
“We?!” Nino repeated, groaning at the implication of what he had just been said. It wasn’t just Jun getting even after all, it’s everyone else in Arashi.
“Yep, we!” Aiba exclaimed jumping next to him out of nowhere with a digital camera in his hand. “Seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised if you and Sasaki-san gets caught if you two go out one of these days. The moment you saw her, you didn’t notice anything else!”
“I did not!” Nino blurted, turning a bit hot around the collars as he did so, sliding to the side to allow Aiba to sit next to him.
While Sho and Ohno snorted, Aiba chuckled and said, raising his camera a bit as he did so, “Do you really want to see how your eyes turned green when you see her with Jun-chan?”
Nino simply snorted before taking another peek at “them”. She still had not noticed anything in particular although Jun apparently had with the way he purposely (at least to Nino’s eyes) seated to allow them clear view of her reactions without her seeing them, or maybe just him (because really, ethics dictates that a person should face the person she’s talking to, which is what’s Nozomi doing).
From what he’s seen so far, and that is, if he’s being objective, there was nothing romantic about what’s going on two tables away, not from Jun or Nozomi. But it’s Jun he’s talking about, the guy who had baited a huge number of fans to Arashi just because he’s acting cool and/or romantic on TV. Besides, it’s been a while since he had actually been in a relationship so that alone allows him to be a little bit more possessive, or something like that.
The few seconds it took him to observe Jun and Nozomi resulted to even more time given to the three others, now occupying the table with him, observing him that by the time he dragged his own eyes back to his table, three pairs of eyes were looking at him interestedly.
“What?!” he growled, annoyed at how they’re looking at him, like they’re reading everything so clearly. He’s not used to that kind of feeling. He’s used to making them ask and wonder what’s really on his mind.
Before anyone of them could say anything though, the waiter arrived to take their orders.
-----
“You know,” Sho started when the waiter left. “If you’re already at that level already, why don’t you just admit it?”
“Yeah,” Ohno seconded. “Even just to us, really. It’s not like it’s anything new.”
“So is that what this is about?” Nino snorted, reaching out for a tissue paper just to have something to occupy his hands with. “For you guys to make me admit that we’re in a relationship?”
“No!” Aiba chuckled next to him. “If anything, it’s more to torture you.”
“Which, I say, is working very, very well…” Ohno added, nodding towards the tissue paper Nino had just taken, or what used to be a tissue paper but is now a pile of shredded pieces on the table in just a few seconds.
“But then again,” Aiba continued. “That may have been part of the plan too.”
“Yeah,” Sho agreed. “Since you just practically admitted it too…”
Nino blinked furiously for a while, trying to digest when that happened before he ended up groaning and burying his face in his hands.
“I hate you guys!’ he told his palms, causing the three to chuckle.
Then Aiba said “Well, you better start loving us again because someone supposedly just noticed that the rest of his group is here and is now bringing his dinner companion over. Of course, you wouldn’t want his dinner companion to think that you hate your group mates, right?”
True enough, when Nino looked up, he saw Jun and Nozomi approaching their table, his eyes catching immediately how Jun’s hand is on Nozomi’s elbow, guiding her.
“So, what’s with everyone from Arashi doing here?” Jun asked, his tone doused in amazement when his eyes says otherwise especially when those pair met Nino’s.
“Jun-kun!” Sho exclaimed, sounding completely surprised too and so did the Aiba and Ohno, Nino had a harder time trying to look the part when he’s supposed to be used to that already. “What are you doing here?”
“Dinner,” Jun simply said before turning to the woman beside her who’s now eyeing everyone in the table in surprise though the guys did notice how her eyes softened when it landed on Nino. “I think you all know Sasaki Nozomi-kun, right?”
Before Jun could proceed with any sort of introduction though, Nino stood up and said “Yeah. But just so it’s official, everyone meet Sasaki Nozomi, my girl friend.”
-----
“So, anyone here worried of Nino’s retribution?” Sho asked as four-fifths of Arashi drove away from the restaurant together in one car, Jun’s, with Jun behind the wheel and Sho next to him and Aiba and Ohno at the back. Dinner had already ended successfully and peacefully.
“Should we?” Ohno asked, leaning his head on the glass window.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Aiba said. “He’s Nino after all. And we just played a very effective prank on him.”
“Yeah, he’d want to get even,” Sho added, turning around to face Jun. “You’re not afraid?”
“This was me getting even,” Jun simply snorted. “But if he has plans, it’s good, I can just get back at him anytime,” he added confidently.
“Oooh…” Aiba exclaimed.
“How did you invite her out anyway?” Sho asked. “You still haven’t said anything about that part.”
“I just told her I wanted to know something before the media blows it over,” Jun shrugged. “I think she was under the impression that we didn’t approve of her for Nino until I told her otherwise.”
Sho snorted.
“Kinda hard to disapprove of a woman who’s sticking by Nino despite all the news of him being a sexual powerhouse,” he said seriously before they all ended up chuckling at their absent group mate’s expense.
-----
“So, how was the introduction to the proverbial second family?” Nino asked as he drove his way towards Nozomi’s apartment.
“Scary, weird, but heartwarming at the same time,” Nozomi admitted.
Nino chuckled, turning to her briefly before turning to curve that leads to her home.
“I wasn’t expecting to meet them all tonight though,” Nozomi continued. “I even thought when Matsumoto-kun contacted me that he wanted to talk to confirm if we’re together and tell me to get away if we really are.”
Looking away from the road briefly, Nino saw that there really was worry in her eyes. Then he smiled. Taking her hands with his left hand as his eyes returned to the road, he said “That would never happen. I promise you.”
When he felt Nozomi’s fingers entwining with his, he added with a chuckle “Besides, while you were worrying about that and not thinking of meeting everyone tonight, those guys fully expected to meet you.”
“How would you know?” Nozomi asked.
“I’ve lived with them long enough to know that it’s the case,” Nino simply smiled before raising their entwined hands to his lips and kissing the back of her palm.
Seeing her smile at the corner of his eye, Nino couldn’t help but smile too. His friends had met her and from what he’s seen, they’re okay with her. She looks happy and he’s happy too. He’s at peace with that.
-----THE END-----
and there goes my fics!!! :):):)
first try on the NinoXNozomi one... :) had fund doing it... LOL...
how was the fics? enjoyed it or not?
tell me what you think! :):):)