Arashi, Easy Crazy Break Down

Title: Easy Crazy Break Down [Ohno/Nino]
Rating/Warnings: NC-17 for Ohmiya doing exactly what it is they do on stage and screen.
Summary: For his birthday this year, Nino wants to tell people about them.
AN: Based on all the insanity at the Fukuoka Dome concert, and also on every single public appearance Ohno practically ever makes. for longleggedgit, who needs to write more Arashi all the time.

Easy Crazy Break Down

“Hey,” Ohno says, apropos of nothing, but he just remembered and if he doesn’t say something he’ll forget, “you haven’t said what you want for your birthday yet.”

Nino doesn’t answer, because his mouth is full of Ohno’s skin and he’s concentrating on not getting Ohno with his teeth just yet. For the moment, Ohno lets the question go, because he can trust Nino to remember, and Ohno can concentrate instead on the slick drag of Nino’s tongue, on the warmth of Nino’s scalp under his fingers, and on Nino’s weight heavy and familiar and good across Ohno’s legs.

He thinks about it again a bit later, when he’s counting the bumps of Nino’s spine as he runs fingers over them, which makes him think about numbers in general and Nino’s turning twenty-five this year. But then Nino looks down with a sharp smile that says he knows Ohno’s not fully focused. He shifts his knees for better leverage, so that when he rocks down, every other thought flies out of Ohno’s head.

Ohno isn’t thinking about anything more consequential than how the digital five and two on his alarm clock look like a heart when Nino finally says, “So, about my present.”

“Hm?” Ohno is about to ask what present Nino means when Nino pushes himself up on one elbow to make sure Ohno is paying attention, and then Ohno remembers.

“I want to tell people about us,” Nino says.

*****

Ohno brings up Nino’s request during the next meeting of the Curiosity Team, held at an udon shop which Aiba swears nearly killed three juniors with its goodness. What nearly kills Sho is inhaling noodles into his lungs when Ohno relates Nino’s request.

“What people?” Aiba asks as Ohno thumps Sho on the back. Aiba’s wiping sprayed broth off the face of his phone, which he’s left out in the hopes that Jun will call and join them like he’d said he might.

Hope, like Aiba’s affection, springs eternal.

“People,” Ohno shrugs. Sho gasps a breath finally, and Ohno pushes his water glass towards him. “In general? I think he means, you know, mankind.”

“Oooh,” Aiba’s eyes grow round as he catches on. “You mean he wants…”

“Oh god,” Sho groans in between coughs and sips of water. “Why on earth would he tell you he wanted that?”

“Because I asked him what he wanted for his birthday,” Ohno replies reasonably. He slurps some more of his own noodles while Sho wheezes a bit and Aiba takes a turn thumping Sho.

“I think it’s romantic,” Aiba says, and then he gives his phone a pointed look.

Nino, Ohno thinks with affection, is rarely romantic, and only by accident.

“Nino isn’t thinking at all, clearly.” Sho pinches his own arm, and when he does not awake from the nightmare, he goes back to frowning at Ohno. “I mean, has he thought this through?”

“I think so,” Ohno shrugs. “He did take a little bit to answer.”

“No, I mean, has he thought about all of us?” Sho demands, and when Ohno just shrugs again, gaze rather distant, Sho turns to Aiba for support.

“Well,” Aiba says slowly, “I’m not sure we should tell people about all of us together just yet. I think just Captain and Nino-chan will be enough of a shock at first.”

“I agree with Aiba-chan!” Ohno announces.

Aiba and Ohno slap a high five, and Sho beats his head on the table.

*****

Ohno doesn’t call before he shows up at Nino’s apartment, but Nino doesn’t look terribly surprised when he opens the door. He’s wearing only his boxers and a wireless Guitar Hero controller, and as Ohno stands in the doorway and blinks at him, he thinks that he’d give Nino anything he wanted in the whole world.

“Hello to you too,” Nino says, pushing the plastic guitar around to his back so that Ohno can hug him tightly, only murmuring that maybe they should close the door. “How was tonight’s meeting of the Curiosity Team?”

“We had udon,” Ohno reports, hands shifting over Nino as though checking for changes since that afternoon. “But nobody died from its goodness.”

“Maybe next time,” Nino reassures, then adds, when Ohno’s touch gets more possessive, “Careful back there, this is already my third controller.”

After a moment, Nino turns his head to nose at Ohno’s cheek for a kiss, and thank goodness one of them did have the brains to get the door shut, because now Ohno can lean back against it and crush Nino tighter against him, Nino’s skin warm and smooth under Ohno’s restless hands.

When the kiss breaks, both of them are breathing hard, and Nino rests his cheek against Ohno’s shoulder, toying with the short pieces of hair that curl against the back of Ohno’s neck. Ohno’s fingers draw small circles on Nino’s skin while he feels Nino’s heartbeat slowing against his chest.

“Oh-chan?” Nino asks finally, not protesting, just curious.

“You really want to do it?” Ohno asks, and because Nino is a genius, he never has to ask what the hell Ohno is talking about when Ohno waits until most of the way through a conversation in his head to open his mouth.

“Yeah, Oh-chan,” Nino breathes, warm over Ohno’s collarbones, but it isn’t just that which makes Ohno shiver, “I do.”

“Okay,” Ohno says, simple and unworried, because if that’s what Nino wants then they’ll do it. Nino laughs and squeezes Ohno tight enough to make their hearts race again, or maybe that’s the fierce kiss he pulls Ohno’s head down for, but either way his eyes are dark and full of love when he pulls away and tells Ohno to hang on until he finishes this set and saves and then they’ll go to bed.

Ohno doesn’t mind waiting, as he curls on the couch and watches Nino tap his foot in Expert Mode. Nino always makes it worth the wait.

*****

“I call this group meeting to order!” Ohno announces, shamelessly enjoying one of the perks of being Leader to the fullest.

“Wait, Jun-chan isn’t here yet!” Aiba protests, but just then the break room’s door swings open and a morning-ruffled Jun sticks his head in, pushing up his aviators to glare at them.

“Who the hell made this sign?” he demands, pointing at the sign taped to the outside of the door. It reads ‘Arashi Group Meeting ♥’ in hot pink marker. “And stop calling them group meetings, it just makes us sound totally gay!”

“That’s good!” Ohno says, taking control back despite Jun’s narrowing eyes. “Because Nino and I have an announcement.”

“You’re pregnant?” Sho guesses, looking at Nino with wide, hopeful eyes, and when Nino just smiles smugly, Sho claps his hands together. “I knew it!”

“God, I hate all of you,” Jun grouses as he slumps into the last empty chair and bats away Aiba’s attempts at a hug.

“I knew you had it in you, Captain!” Aiba gushes, while Ohno wraps an arm around Nino’s shoulders, radiating paternal pride. Then Aiba makes a horrified face. “I’ll have to learn how to knit!”

“When are you due?” Sho wants to know, making a big show of palming Nino’s flat, idol belly.

“Can we have the real meeting, please?” Jun begs.

“Sure thing, Jun-chan,” Ohno says easily. “Nino and I want to tell people about us.”

“That’s not funny eith—” Jun cuts off suddenly, squinting at Ohno’s face. “Oh, no. No. No. Stop it, say you’re joking.”

“He’s not joking,” Nino says. “What’s the report from the rest of the Curiosity Team?”

“Aiba did some research,” Sho reports immediately.

“Aiba did what?” Nino asks, sounding bemused, and Jun says the same thing sounding much more homicidal.

“He likes Youtube,” Sho explains, and Aiba straightens his back to preen. “Anyway, preliminary research has produced some positive findings.”

“What findings, Agent Sakurai?” Ohno asks, stubbornly refusing to keel over despite Jun’s obvious attempts to kill him with his mind.

“Based on a cross-section of fancams, interview clips, and official footage,” Sho taps some papers against the tabletop in a practiced, newsy manner, “the majority of Arashi’s fanbase believes that you actually came out about three years ago.”

Ohno and Nino grin at each other, and Nino says, “This is doable.”

“It is NOT.” Jun slaps a palm on the table to get everyone’s attention, and he’s wearing his Jun Is Not Kidding face. “Have you lost your mind? You can’t tell people you’re going out!”

“I think we might be married at this point, actually,” Nino remarks, eyeing Jun coolly, although he no doubt is aware of Ohno’s suddenly blush. “Or at least engaged, as much as Oh-chan’s on his knees.”

“HEY!” Ohno exclaims, now totally flustered at the lack of respect he’s being shown as Leader.

“Will you all stop acting like this is a joke?!” Jun demands, a touch of real anger creeping into his tone. “This is our career we’re talking about! These are our lives! I expect this sort of crap out of Ohno and Aiba, but you,” he glares at Nino and then Sho in turn, “and you! I expect better of you!”

Sho looks down at the table, ashamed, but Nino goes right on meeting Jun’s eyes.

“It’s not crap,” he says, and if his voice is even, there’s steel underneath it. “It’s not a joke. And I want to stop pretending that it is.”

Jun sighs heavily and puts his forehead down on the table. After a long moment of silence, he says, “Is it totally necessary that Arashi have some sort of group crisis at least once a year? Is it?”

“I tried breaking my arm,” Sho says seriously. “But Leader said that wasn’t good enough.”

“I’ve told management I need more drama,” Ohno plays along, and only Nino feels the way a shiver runs through Ohno at Sho’s words, “but they just keep putting me in television shows.”

“Not funny,” Jun grumbles, not even bothering to fight Aiba as Aiba sneaks in his hug finally while Jun is defenseless. “We’re not done talking about this.”

“That’s okay,” Ohno says, smiling vaguely at the softness of Nino’s t-shirt under his fingers. “We’re not going anywhere.”

*****

“Jun’s really angry,” Nino comments when they steal a moment alone in a corner of the photoshoot studio. “Sho’s really worried. Aiba thinks we should use it for skit material.”

“I love you, yo,” Ohno murmurs against the curve of Nino’s neck, running his lips over it like he hasn’t memorized it yet, and only Nino’s enough of a genius to know that he’s not changing the subject.

Ohno dislikes discord, especially between the members, and Nino lets him comfort himself with touch for another minute, until someone yells for them from the set of the photoshoot.

During the shoot, Nino summarily ignores the director’s instructions and sprawls across Ohno’s lap, eyes half-slit when Ohno runs a casual hand through his hair, and Jun makes a disgusted noise against Sho’s shoulder.

It sounds more disgusted than usual, not as much tease, and Nino cracks an eye to exchange a single glance with Ohno before they separate to casually molest the other members of their band. Nino collapses in Jun’s lap instead, tugging Aiba down against his own chest and burying fingers in his hair to keep him right where he is. Ohno leans on Sho’s shoulder, and when Sho slides an arm around his waist, Ohno fits himself closer, right into the curve of Sho’s body as they both watch the other three.

“You know,” the harried director tries to take back control, “the theme of this shoot is supposed to be ‘Picnic in Space.'”

Ohno looks down, and it suddenly registers with him that his entire outfit is made of silver plastic and red plaid.

“I think a much better theme would be ‘Sleeping Under the Stars,'” Nino suggests without opening his eyes, and it’s only because Ohno is watching that he sees the twist of Nino’s wrist that makes Aiba give a moan of agreement.

Jun makes another noise, but it’s the normal one this time, and his hand is creeping towards Nino’s shoulder, and Ohno turns his attention to Sho, happy and confident that Nino has the situation in hand.

*****

Tour season gears up, and although the tension isn’t exactly the same as it usually is, Ohno doesn’t think it’s a serious problem until a meeting of the Curiosity Team at the yakiniku place that’s purportedly haunted by the ghost of the owner’s wife after he served her as the lunch special when she wouldn’t stop nagging him about profits.

“Sho’s still worried,” Aiba comments while Sho is at the bathroom.

Ohno squirms, because as Leader he’s supposed to know these things. “Really?”

“Un.” Aiba pops a chunk of meat in his mouth that really does look like a finger, and gives a high-pitched “Delicious!” before continuing. “But Sho-chan’s always worried. It’s Jun-chan, though.”

“Jun’s worried?” Ohno scrunches his brow and tries to imagine Jun making a worried face. All he can come up with is the face Jun made when they used to watch Aiba do the animal segments, but even that always seemed to look more maniacal than worried. “How can you tell?”

“Captain,” Aiba chastises, and Ohno hangs his head. “Jun-chan makes his worried faces on the inside, you know that. Underneath all the punching. Anyway, I tried talking to him already, but it just ends up with me tied to his headboard. And that only makes him feel better for a little while.”

“I should talk to him,” Ohno sighs, reaching for his phone.

“You should take him out and get him drunker than hell,” Aiba advises, and Ohno readily admits that Aiba’s idea is much, much better.

Before he calls Jun, though, Ohno thumbs a quick mail to Nino, because as Leader he should take care of all the members, not just the ones that can be bought off with meat and headboards. So a few minutes later, he’s hanging up with Jun just as Sho comes out of the men’s room looking confusedly pleased and announces that he’s got a date with Nino.

*****

“Don’t think you can buy me off with ice cream and karaoke,” Jun says suspiciously as Ohno pays for the karaoke booth, but Ohno just smiles at him.

“Of course not! That’s why there’s booze.” Ohno pats Jun on the shoulder and then steers him into the room and shuts the door firmly behind them.

They sing senpai songs and mock each other’s solos mercilessly, then move onto the kouhai singles until Jun declares that it’s far too depressing how many tiny, baby-faced, better-financed kouhai they even have.

After a while, Ohno has done his duty as Leader well enough that Jun is spread lazily across Ohno’s lap, too drunk to even remember to be prickly. Aiba was right, Ohno realizes, not that he really doubted him, because with the scowl gone, Jun looks sad and scared underneath.

But Ohno still waits until Jun brings it up himself, because there’s helping out your bandmate, and then there’s playing with fire.

“Ne, Leader,” Jun starts, and it doesn’t have the sarcastic ring to it that Ohno’s title usually does in Jun’s mouth. “You can’t really think this will work out.”

“I think Aiba’s right and everybody already knows,” Ohno shrugs, laying a hand in Jun’s hair. When Jun doesn’t immediately murder him with a parfait glass, Ohno takes that as a sign that it’s okay to run fingers soothingly through Jun’s hair. “Everybody with two brain cells, that is.”

“We are talking about Arashi fangirls,” Jun snorts. He’s silent for a minute, and then he asks, “do you love Nino more than Arashi?”

His voice is very quiet, and the end of his question falls like Jun already thinks he knows the answer. Ohno’s fingers tighten against Jun’s hair in sympathy, because he can see how that should be a really dangerous question.

Sometimes Ohno forgets that even though they all love Arashi, it’s Jun who needs Arashi the most, and it’s Jun who fights them the hardest because he needs them to keep him from falling apart.

“Idiot,” Ohno says, a warm wave of affection for Arashi’s baby washing through his veins that would surely make Jun want to commit ritual suicide. “Nino is Arashi, just like Sho and Aiba are Arashi.”

“You didn’t answer my…” Jun starts, but Ohno interrupts.

“Just like Jun is Arashi,” he finishes. “I love you too, Jun-chan. We won’t leave you behind, don’t worry.”

He expects Jun’s response to be in the form of physical assault, but all Jun does is to sit up so that he can curl up properly in Ohno’s arms, and Ohno hugs him tightly until Jun’s shaking stops.

“If you tell anybody about this,” Jun murmurs, “I’ll kill you with your own shoelaces,” and Ohno just kisses Jun on the cheek because he knows Jun means it.

*****

After that, Jun attitude shifts slightly so that the forces of evil are once again on Ohno and Nino’s side, even if he does keep grumbling under his breath that Nino is only doing this because the kouhai are getting grabby with Leader. Sho looks less like a man holding a metal umbrella in a thunderstorm, Aiba gives Ohno an extra special thank you behind the costume rack, and Ohno starts to feel that all is right with the world.

Until Nino really gets serious, that is.

“I don’t think it’s the best idea we’ve had,” Ohno says, which is the closest he will come to saying that he really doesn’t want to make out with Nino during their Ohmiya SK skit in front of a domeful of fangirls.

“We’ve done it before,” Nino insists. “We used to do it in the skit.”

“Yeah, but…”

Ohno has lots of good reasons why they shouldn’t, because it wasn’t serious back then and so just doing it again certainly won’t prove they’re serious now, because the skit is supposed to be ridiculous, because pretty much no matter what they do during it everyone will assume it’s a gag, which kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

Mostly he doesn’t want to do it because he has the sneaking suspicion that Nino’s motives are purely exhibitionist. But he doesn’t manage to straighten out any of those thoughts enough to say them, and in the end he just sighs in defeat.

“We kissed in the pamphlet last year and nobody cared,” Nino points out, magnanimous enough in victory to set his DS aside and push himself onto the back of the couch to rub Ohno’s shoulders a little.

“We faked kissing in the pamphlet,” Ohno reminds.

“We really did it,” Nino corrects him, honing in with his thumbs on a knot that makes Ohno whimper. “We just made it looked like we faked it.”

“Our lives are too confusing.” Ohno pouts until Nino leans over to kiss it away, and tells him that’s what they’re trying to fix after all.

In the end, Nino agrees to ask everybody else what they think. Sho worries that it’ll be too ridiculous, Aiba asks if they aren’t defeating their own purpose, and Jun calls Nino a perverted exhibitionist.

Ohno’s glad that at least none of this is all in his head for once.

*****

Fukui and Nino’s birthday arrive. They stay up late the night before so that Ohno can wish Nino happy birthday before anyone else, and then get interrupted by three phone calls congratulating Nino as well. They have to start over each time, but Nino tells Ohno he doesn’t mind.

The skit goes on as planned, and however he feels about it, being able to press his mouth to Nino’s in front of a packed dome, both of them slick and shaking from stage rush overcomes Ohno in a way he isn’t prepared for, even after everything.

Nino’s beaming at him, and Ohno breathes a wondering, “We did it,” and then laughs when Aiba repeats it to the crowd, laughs again at the sweetness of Sho asking if everybody is okay and Jun saying they’re all disgusting.

Ohno doesn’t dare stand too close to Nino for too long for the rest of the night, but their joy spreads to the others anyway, Aiba hugging everyone he can get his hands on and Sho and Nino frolicking like grade-schoolers. Even Jun can’t quite hide his amusement since his cool face is shot to hell by adrenaline anyway, and Ohno makes a point of touching him as much as possible, while Jun is too high to keep Ohno from showing him how much they love him.

After the concert, Ohno has the revelation that they get to do it all again the next day, and while he is trying to catch his breath over that, Sho, Aiba, and Jun corner him and ask him if he wants to give Nino a real surprise.

*****

“Don’t you have something you want to say?” Sho asks, and Nino’s face is so priceless that if Ohno weren’t completely terrified, he might fall off the stage laughing.

Instead he clears his throat and wraps his arm around Nino, and the words fall just fall out of his mouth, and as Nino’s expression changes from surprise to pride, Ohno wonders why it’s so much easier to say what he means rather than do a skit about it.

Until he gets to the last word, anyway, but Nino’s laughter helps chase away the sting of Ohno bungling something so important, and then Sho deftly switches them back to dramas and promotions, as though something wonderful and insane hadn’t just happened.

Backstage after the second encore, Ohno finds Nino tucked into a dark corner of the wing, glowing as though the spotlight were still trained on him.

“You really did it,” Nino says, and Ohno flushes because he doesn’t get to outshine Nino’s expectations like this very often.

“I messed up the most important part,” Ohno protests, scuffing his sneaker on the ground, but he lets Nino pull him close, arms tight and shaking around Ohno’s waist.

“No, you didn’t.” Nino kisses Ohno hard enough to stop any further argument. The noise of the crowd still yelling their names is distant over the pounding of Ohno’s blood in his ears, and Ohno wishes that they could do Nino’s birthday over again, every day, forever.

They’re still tangled up together when the others find them a minute later, trading kisses and whispering idiotic things.

“God, you two make me vomit!” Jun announces, grinning wildly. “Get your gay asses out there for the third encore!”

And they do, eventually, but not before everybody gets kissed and whispered a few idiotic things to, because it isn’t like Ohno and Nino could ever leave Arashi behind after all.

*****

“Hey,” Ohno says, a few days later when the shock of it all has worn off a little, if not the wonder.

“Hmm?” Nino asks, face buried in Ohno’s pillow and hand tangled with Ohno’s above his head.

“What was it all about?” Ohno asks, because he’s been wondering. Nino turns his head to blink at Ohno in indulgent confusion.

“It?” he asks. “My birthday?”

“It wasn’t because of Chinen-kun and the Wink-up messages, was it?” Ohno asks. “Because nothing happened at that photoshoot, really!”

“Oh-chan, please.” Nino lets his eyes flutter shut again. “I could take Chinen with my little finger. I should put that in the Wink-up.”

“Was it just because you like having an audience?” Ohno keeps pressing, and Nino rolls onto his side with a displeased grunt before eyeing Ohno.

“Come here,” he says after a second, and Ohno obligingly scrunches down to slide into Nino’s arms. He rubs his cheek against Nino’s bare shoulder while their ankles tangle and Nino works fingers against Ohno’s scalp.

It starts without Ohno noticing, the way they move against each other, and when Nino’s knee slides in between Ohno’s thighs, Ohno tilts his head up for the kiss Nino’s offering. It’s slow and thorough, and it takes Ohno’s breath away like Nino’s skin against his own.

“I want you,” Nino says, and Ohno rolls onto his back and impedes Nino’s hunt for the lube by refusing to stop touching him. Nino turns it up from the sheets and accuses Ohno of losing the cap again, but he’s sliding a finger into Ohno before he could reasonably expect any kind of response.

Nino kisses Ohno’s collarbones lazily while he works him open, uses the edges of his teeth until Ohno’s begging and grabbing at him to stop, but Nino just catches his wrists and holds them out of the way, above his head, then goes right on kissing him in a slow shift, as if checking that every inch of Ohno’s skin tastes the same.

“Hurry,” Ohno pleads, bucking up against Nino’s hand and mouth. “Please, Kazu?”

He feels Nino’s shiver against him, and asks again, repeats the ‘please’ until Nino gives in and pushes himself up. He has to let go of Ohno’s wrists to fiddle with the condom packet, but he gives Ohno a stern look, and Ohno keeps his hands right where they are. But then Nino’s nudging Ohno’s thighs further apart and lining himself up with slick fingers, and Ohno twists his fingers in the pillow and says Nino’s name a few more times as Nino pushes inside of him, hot and blunt and steady.

When he’s as far in as he can be, Nino shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath, and Ohno watches the line of Nino’s body tremble, watches the bob of Nino’s throat as he swallows. He feels stretched too tight around Nino, body still adjusting, but more than that he feels like his chest is too full as well, unable to contain Nino and the Fukuoka shows and Arashi all at the same time.

But Nino opens his eyes like he knows what Ohno’s thinking about and gives him a look of equal parts amusement and exasperation, and Ohno smiles sheepishly back. Murmuring Ohno’s name like a mild curse, Nino starts to move, and Ohno forgets everything else, even Nino’s orders about his hands.

Nino doesn’t seem to mind, though, as Ohno’s hands close around his waist, digging tight into his skin to pull him closer, then dragging hot and teasing up Nino’s ribs. It makes Nino twitch and stutters the rhythm he’s building up, and Nino’s dark chuckle promises revenge.

“Oi, leave me alone,” he says, slapping Ohno’s hands away and hooking his arms under Ohno’s knees to pull his hips up higher, “and touch yourself if you don’t want to get left behind.”

“Mmm,” Ohno agrees, and obeys half of Nino’s command anyway, one hand on himself and the other tight on Nino’s thigh. Nino’s eyes, before Ohno’s slip shut against the pleasure of it, are dark and sharp, raking down Ohno’s body with possessive hunger. Ohno’s skin burns with the weight of Nino’s gaze even when he can’t see it, and he pushes hard into Nino’s touch, breathless and aching and only recalling as an afterthought that he’s supposed to be getting himself off.

“Satoshi,” Nino groans, voice shaking with how close he is, “come on, already!”

Reflexively, Ohno tightens his hand and fists himself at Nino’s pace, and when a change in angle from Nino makes his eyes fly open, he sees Nino’s gaze fixed on his hand, tracking every twitch and thrust. Ohno comes that way, Nino’s eyes hot on his skin, Nino’s hands on his waist holding him steady while he shakes.

“Finally,” Nino murmurs, but it’s pleased and amazed, and thin because Nino doesn’t seem to be able to catch his breath either as he thrusts faster into Ohno. Ohno tightens his hand on Nino’s thigh to let him know he’s there, because he can’t move anything else yet, and watches Nino’s face for the second when Nino lets go, moans softly at the jerk of Nino inside him.

Nino collapses onto his elbows and lets his forehead rest on Ohno’s chest, chest heaving. Ohno’s content to stay right where he is, mind drifting pleasantly, the occasional twitch of tired muscles along the backs of his thighs reminding him that Nino’s still buried inside him.

“Oh-chan always says what he feels,” Nino says. “And then we all have to laugh like it’s a joke. You know we have to do it, and it hurts you a little, but you keep on doing it because you forget, you don’t think about it before you start talking.”

Nino pauses and swallows, catching his breath. Ohno lies still, patient.

“I’m afraid,” Nino continues, “that sooner or later we’ll do it often enough that you will think about it before, and then you’ll stop doing it. I don’t want Oh-chan to ever stop saying what he feels. I wanted you to tell the truth, and I didn’t want to have to laugh at the end.”

“Kazu,” Ohno says, touched, and more than willing to tell Nino that he loves him as often as he wants to hear it, but Nino isn’t interested in an answer. He lifts his head to kiss Ohno quickly, arms starting to shake, and then he pulls away, cleans both of them off enough to curl back up under the blankets.

It takes a few minutes, Nino’s face buried in Ohno’s pillow and their hands tangled above his head, for Ohno to realize that Nino was answering his question. He leans the two inches to kiss Nino’s cheek, thinking Nino’s already asleep.

So it startles a laugh out of him when Nino mumbles into the pillow that Aiba wants to tell the crowd about all of them together in Sapporo.

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  By bec2224, 2011.06.08 @ 2:20 pm

  No matter how many times I read this story I love it!

  bec
• 

  By Sarah, 2013.02.01 @ 7:57 am

  I love you for this… I really do 🙂
  this is one of my favorite stories…
  thank you so much for sharing
• 

  By Mousapelli, 2013.02.01 @ 1:12 pm

  Thank you! I’m really glad you enjoyed it.

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