Gift Fic for smile_arigatou

[stormymood.livejournal.com]

A piece of rainbow for smile_arigatou

Title: Early mornings
Pairing: Ohmiya (main), Sakuraiba (side), Jun/Mao (side)
Rating/Warnings: PG15
Summary: Nino does not see how he could ever be in a lovey-dovey relationship like his friends are. But you never know what life may throw your way... Or rather, who...
Notes: Firstly: sorry for the terrible summary... Second: I did a mix of your fluffy friendship, first love, and sappy romantic prompt ^ ^ Really hope you like it!!


“Have a nice day!” Mrs. Ninomiya said with a smile as she pulled up next to the school entrance.

Nino nodded. “You too.” he answered as he grabbed his bag and got out of the car.

He yawned and started dragging his feet towards the building’s front doors.

The sky was a forget-me-not blue and a soft breeze swept through the grass on either side of the lane.


The door was heavy but unlocked. Even at this early hour, the school was already open. Though he was probably the only student here, a few teachers liked to come in advance to prepare their classes of the day.

A clock in the corridor showed it was 7:30.

Nino climbed the steps and as he did, he pulled out his iPod and headphones from his bag.

Finally, he reached his destination: the roof.

He settled himself in his usual spot and started listening to his music.


Nino had gotten used to arriving this early. Class did not start until 8:30, but due to his mom’s work, she had to drop him off much earlier and head off to her office, which was on the other side of town.


Around an hour later, Nino got to his feet and headed back down the stairs towards his classroom. He reached it just as the bell sounded.

As he took his usual seat, he heard a chuckle from behind him and turned.

“Exactly on time! For a moment I thought you might not make it...”

“Shut up, Jun... You’re just jealous because you’re late half of the time...”

“Not half of the time!”

Nino smirked. “Yeah... It’s because you’re always lazing around your girlfriend’s classroom...”

Jun was just about to answer back, but their teacher started speaking. So, he instead punched the back of Nino’s shoulder.

*

At 12:30, Jun and Nino carried their lunches to one of the benches outside. There were already 3 people there.

“Hey guys...” Nino said, sitting down. “Hey Mao-chan...” he rolled his eyes as Jun pecked the lips of the only woman in the group.

“Nino! Have you heard?!

The younger man raised an eyebrow. “What is it Aiba?”

The tall man turned excitedly to the other man. “He doesn’t know, Sho!!”

Sho chuckled. “Well, why don’t you bring him out of that misery?”

Aiba turned back to Nino. “There’s going to be a new student! He’ll arrive tomorrow!”

“So what?”

“He’s the son of Ohno Yumiko!”

Jun gasped. “As in the actress?”

Aiba grinned, finally getting the reaction he was waiting for. “As in the actress! And he’s going to be in Sho’s class!”

Sho nodded. “He’s supposed to be a year above me, but apparently, he needs to catch up on some subjects.”

“That’s awesome!” Inoue and Jun sighed dreamily together.

Nino raised an eyebrow.

“Ohno Yumiko is in a drama we watch together. And she’s incredible...” Inoue explained.

“Okay,” Sho let out, sounding impatient. “Now that you’ve told them, will you eat your bento? You know you can’t concentrate in class if you haven’t eaten.”

The taller man nodded happily and Nino sighed exasperatedly. “Couples...”

Inoue laughed as she tried some of the food from Jun’s bento. “You’re jealous, Nino!”

“Are you kidding me? If being in a relationship means acting this lovey-dovey, no thank you!”

“Come on...” Aiba said, his mouth half full of rice. “When you find the right person, it’s so much fun!”

“Yeah well, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t met anyone like that and I’m pretty sure I never will.”


*


The news of the new student and of his famous connections spread quickly throughout the high school corridors that afternoon. It seemed that everyone was talking about that Ohno Satoshi.

Nino had not seen him yet, but all the gossip was already irritating him. All the girls seemed to have fallen for him already... What was so special about him? He was probably a spoiled guy with a huge ego...

Unfortunately, it was a little hard to avoid the subject, especially when his friends were eager to talk about him.

The next day at lunch, Aiba practically ran into Sho in his hurry to have some information. “So?! Have you seen him? Did you talk to him?” he asked very quickly.

The older man laughed.

“He seems very down to earth and he’s not talkative at all. He barely said anything when the teacher asked him to introduce himself!”

“Probably too busy thinking about how cool he feels...” Nino mumbled.

Sho frowned. “Why do you sound so annoyed?”

The younger man sighed. “I just don’t see why everyone is making such a big deal about him! It’s not even him that’s famous; it’s his mom! But he still gets all the attention! He hasn’t done anything special!”

“Nino!” Jun exclaimed furiously as he arrived at the table. “Don’t insult Ohno’s son!”

“Why? Have you met him?”

Jun shook his head. “No but...”

“But I have. And he doesn’t deserve you speaking like that about him.” Sho said firmly, closing the subject.

Nino shrugged and set his focus back on his bento.


*


That night, Nino walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of water and heard sounds coming from the living room.

It was his mom watching television. It looked like a silly romantic drama.

“What are you watching?”

“It’s a new drama with Ohno Yumiko!! It’s so romantic and she’s really touching!” she let out fervently.

Nino glared at her - though she didn’t notice - before heading back to his bedroom. “Not you too!” he muttered as he climbed the steps.


*


About a week later, Nino felt like he was going to explode. If he heard the name Ohno one more time, he was going to hit someone...

In his class... in the corridors... even during breaks with his friends... Ohno Satoshi and his mother were everywhere.

And yet, Nino had only seen the back of him once... from afar, at the end of classes near the school gate, surrounded by a group of ‘fans’... All he’d seen was a fairly short guy with slightly spiky, brown hair.

He was doing his best to avoid him. As soon as he heard any kind of excited whisper or hurried footsteps, he would rush in the other direction.

He was beginning to cherish that peaceful one hour he had before the first class of the day.

That is... until he had an unwanted guest one morning...


Hearing the door to the roof open, he hurriedly brought down his headphones and was getting to his feet to apologize. At this time, it could only be a teacher, and strictly speaking he was not really allowed to be here.


But it was a student. The last student he wanted to see.


He’d never seen his face, but there was no mistaking that spiky brown hair.

“Emm... Mind if I sit up here?” he asked hesitantly.

Nino considered him for a moment with a frown. Finally, he sighed. He couldn’t pretend he ruled on who was allowed here.

“Okay, but don’t sit near me,” he mumbled.

The round sleepy face was illuminated by a wide smile.

Nino blinked in surprise. That seemed too happy a reaction for what he had just said.

Ohno shuffled to the other side of the roof and sat. He pulled out a notebook and a pencil and started drawing on it.

Nino lifted an eyebrow. Ohno Satoshi was definitely stranger than he had expected...

He shrugged and put his headphones back on.



Nino thought that he could just ignore that ever happened. The trouble was... it happened again the morning after, and the one after that...

Before he knew it, his curiosity had been piqued.

As much as he hated to admit it, as he listened to his music, his glance kept shifting to Ohno. To the eyes focused on the paper; to the way he held his pencil; to the small smile which came in the corner of his mouth when he seemed happy about his work...

He just seemed so careless and innocent. Could he really be the proud, selfish character that Nino had built?

So one morning, Nino decided to clear up his doubts. He just had to have a conversation with him and he would know.

He waited patiently for Ohno to arrive, and just before he headed for his side of the roof, Nino called him over.

“Hey... how come you always arrive so early?” he asked, unable to find another question.

Ohno seemed shocked that Nino was starting a conversation. Then, taking it as an invitation, he took a few steps forward and sat by Nino.

“Well... because of my mom’s work. She has to leave really early, and I like eating breakfast with her. And once I’ve eaten breakfast, I figured: there’s no point staying home not doing anything, I might as well come to school,” he explained quietly.

Nino had no idea whether that answered his question. He had mentioned his famous mother... but it did not sound like bragging... did it?

Feeling more confused than ever, he just stayed silent.

After a moment, Ohno asked a little sheepishly. “Emm... do you mind if I stay here then?”

Nino hummed absentmindedly, still pondering on Ohno’s reason for coming early.


The older man took out his notebook and pencil as usual and began to draw; except now, Nino could observe it much better. Ohno was drawing a bird, and Nino was shocked at how realistic it looked. It felt like it might fly off the page!

“What about you?” Ohno asked.

“Huh?” Nino mumbled.

“Why do you come early?”

“Oh. Because my mom drops me off before going to work.”

“I see...”



Weeks passed like this.

The pair would sit next to each other on the roof of the school. Mostly, they did not say much. Nino listened to his music, Ohno drew, and Nino watched him discreetly.

After a while, Nino was convinced that Ohno was definitely not like what he thought. He had not bragged a single time, and definitely was not overconfident. He seemed to be the type of person who happily stayed away from crowds.

Nino started feeling guilty for having thought all those nasty things about him.

“I have to say,” he let out one morning, “when you first came to the school, I thought you were really different.”

Ohno looked curiously at him, and he bit his lip, feeling ashamed. “I thought you were... this spoiled arrogant guy... I am really sorry,” he said looking down. “I think I was jealous of how popular you were. See... I only arrived at this school a year back... and it took me a long time to make friends. So I felt that it was unfair that as soon as you arrived, everyone wanted to be friends with you.”

Nino looked up, hoping he had not offended Ohno, but the latter was just smiling at him.

“That’s funny.”

“Wait, what?!” Nino said frowning.

“Well... I am actually really intimidated by all those people acting friendly with me... They don’t know me at all but they seem to like me a lot already... It’s very confusing...”

Ohno smiled lightly at him.

“I was probably just as lonely surrounded by all those people, as you when you arrived. I think friendship is something that is built. Not something that is just given like that.”

He sighed.

“And anyway, I’m not really used to being the centre of attention. My mom has only been famous for about a year now... since doing a few dramas. I’m really happy for her, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get used to all that... And that’s why I was happy to find you.”

Nino felt like his stomach had just jumped a little.

“Wh-- what do you mean?”

“It was nice having someone who acted a bit distant with me. It felt more... normal.”

He looked around the roof. “Before I found this place, I waited outside the classroom in the mornings, but that was a nightmare... I already have difficulty with people staring at me in class, but there, there were so many people passing by in the corridor gaping at me... It felt so uncomfortable... And so this place feels like... a refuge. It’s... nice.”

“Don’t worry,” Nino murmured. “It will pass. After all... you’re not the famous one, are you?” he said with a small grin.

Ohno pondered on this and then laughed lightly. “Yeah! I’m not famous! You really think people will stop staring after a while?”

Nino nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sure. By the way, how did you find this place?”

“Oh... This friend of yours... Sakurai told me about it. He said he had this friend coming here in the mornings and who would definitely not gape at me...”

Ohno chuckled. “Guess he was right...”

Nino rolled his eyes. “Sho...” he sighed; but he knew he would not tell him about this.


He had not spoken to his friends about his new morning companion. It was like he feared that talking about it would pop the bubble and that lovely dream would end. So now, whenever Jun or Inoue mentioned an episode of Ohno Yumiko’s drama, he simply smiled.


*


“You know, Oh-chan, I’ve been thinking,” Nino said another morning, a few weeks later. “You’re really good at drawing and you seem to like it so much. Maybe you should pursue that, no?”

Ohno seemed to blush a little, which in turn made Nino’s cheeks heat up.

“I... I would love that...” the older man murmured. “But I’m scared of what people would say. They all expect me to follow in my mother’s footsteps and become an actor. She’s so good, they think I would be good as well...”

Nino frowned. “Well... Have you tried acting?”

Ohno sighed. “Yeah... I wasted a year out of school in an acting school and hated every minute of it. That’s why I am a year below here. I have to catch up because of all that time I lost... It’s so embarrassing.” He said frustrated, putting a hand through his hair.

“If it’s not what you want to do, you should not let what other people say affect your choice. I’m sure your mom would feel the same way.”

Ohno looked thoughtful.

“Has she ever said she wanted you to become an actor?”

“No...”

“Well then, what’s the problem?!”

Ohno still looked unconvinced.

“You should talk to her about it.” Nino said with an encouraging smile.

The older nodded and smiled back. “Okay.”

All of a sudden, Nino realized he was looking at Ohno’s lips, wondering how soft they were.

He shook himself and forced his focus up to the clouds passing lazily above them.


What had that been about?! Had he just fantasized on kissing Ohno? But he was just a friend, wasn’t he?

Ohno put a hand on Nino’s shoulder, making him jump.

“Ye-yeah? Wh-what?” he stuttered.

“The bell is about to ring, we have to go!” Ohno said, looking at him surprised. “Why are you so jumpy?”

“Oh! No reason!” Nino said as he got to his feet, feeling his heart beating very fast.


At lunch that day, Nino could not focus on the conversation.

After seeing Aiba kiss Sho briefly, he couldn’t stop picturing him and Ohno in the same scenario, and his mind had gone back to that morning. Why had he thought about that?

He tried to get into the conversation with his friends, but that didn’t help.

“I heard he rejected someone...” Aiba was saying intently. “There’s a rumour he’s gay.”

Nino choked on his juice bottle, and Sho patted his back until he found his breath again.

“Wh--who?”

“Ohno Satoshi...” Aiba murmured.

Inoue Mao nodded. “I have a friend in my class who confessed to him, but he said he could not accept because he already liked someone. When she asked who it was, he just said it was some guy...”

Jun gasped. “I thought he might be gay, but I didn’t know there was someone already!”

Nino’s eyes were widening now. Ohno liked a guy?! Was it... could it be him? Or was it someone else entirely?

“Sho... I need to talk to you,” he mumbled.

The older man looked curious but not surprised.

When they’d walked away from earshot, Nino sighed.

“Okay... so... how do you know if you like someone?” he asked very quickly.

Sho chuckled.

“I never thought I would ever hear you asking me this, Nino! Is this about Ohno?”

Nino rolled his eyes. “Please don’t play innocent... I know you sent him to the roof; but now I need some help. I don’t know what’s wrong with me...”

“Okay, what happened?”

“Well... this morning I...” he felt his cheeks heating up. “I stared at his lips a bit... and I wondered what it would be like to kiss him...” he said barely above a whisper.

Sho frowned. “Hmm... Well... there are two possibilities. Either you’re just attracted to him physically. Or you’ve fallen for him.”

Nino’s eyes widened. “I can’t have! He’s a friend!”

“A friend you want to kiss on the lips...”

“Maybe I’m just discovering I’m gay!”

“You’ve known you were gay before Ohno came to the school, Nino... And besides, do you feel like kissing me?” he asked mockingly.

Nino made a gagging noise. “No way!”

“Good. I don’t think Aiba could forgive you otherwise...” he said, laughing lightly.

“Sho-chan, what should I do?”

“Well... It’s up to you. If you’re just attracted to him, that means you just want to do physical things to him...”

Nino felt like he must be bright red right now.

“But if you think there’s something more than that, it means...” he thought for a moment, and then looked back at Aiba who was laughing loudly at something Jun had said.

“It means you really care about the person, you think about him often, you love the smallest details about him...”


“Sho-chan! What is Nino telling you?” Aiba exclaimed from the table.

“Better get back... Otherwise, they’ll really get suspicious about us...” Sho winked at Nino who punched his shoulder.

“You idiot...”


*


The next day, as Nino stared at the roof’s door, he felt his heart beating so fast it might come out of his chest.

He was standing up. With how he was feeling, he could hardly sit down. He’d thought about it all night, and could only come to one conclusion...

Finally, Ohno walked out and stopped abruptly, surprised to see him standing just in front of him.

“...good morning?”

“Oh-chan, there’s something I’ve got to say.”

He took a deep breath and started speaking, looking away from Ohno.

“I think I’ve fallen for you. I care about you, I think a lot about you when you’re not around and I love the way you smile when you’re focused on drawing, and when you look lost and deep in your thoughts. I heard you like a guy, and I really hope it’s me because I want to kiss you right now,” he said very fast before his courage could run out.

He stared at his feet for a moment, and finally, glanced up.

The look Ohno was giving him made it hard to breathe.

It was like Nino was the only thing that existed at that moment.

“Kiss me,” he let out with a breath.

Nino did not need to be asked twice. He took a few steps forward until Ohno was against the door. He then placed his hands on either side of Ohno’s soft cheeks and kissed him.

It was a little awkward at first, but then they found the right angle, and Nino deepened the kiss impatiently, passionately. He could feel his heart pounding and he felt really warm, but all he knew was he wanted to keep going. He slowly pushed his tongue onto Ohno’s lips, and felt goose bumps as he was let in.

He now had his hands tangled in Ohno’s hair and Ohno moved his hands onto his lower back and pulled him closer, making Nino let out a moan. He softly bit Ohno’s lower lip and smiled as he heard Ohno moaning back.
Slowly, the kiss slowed down until they finally parted, both breathing hard.


“Nino.” Ohno murmured once he’d caught his breath.

“You’re the guy I have fallen for. I only saw you as a friend at first; a friend I really needed when I came to this school. But you were so nice to me and so cute, I started really caring and thinking about you a lot. ”

He blushed a little, but continued: “I love how happy you look when you listen to music and the crooked smile you give me when I arrive in the morning.”

Nino felt his face flushing, but could not stop grinning. “So... what does this mean?”

“Will you go out with me?”

The bell suddenly rang, making both of them jump.

Nino laughed. “Yes!”

Ohno grinned at him, grabbed his hand and they both hurried through the door and down the stairs.


It looked like he was going to be late for the first time ever...

And it was probably not going to be the last.