Work Text:
1. I Want to Hold Your Hand
Otsukaresama AU
2015
Nino was gonna go home from work when his phone vibrated. “Hello? Sho-chan?”
Sho asked, “Still in the office?”
“Yeah, but I’ll be going home in 5 minutes. Why?”
“I’m in the front.”
“Huh?”
“Your office.”
“Huh- EH?” Nino stood up abruptly and his coworkers turned toward him.
“Come on, let’s go home.”
Nino grabbed his backpack and waved their coworkers goodbye. “O- okay- wait- I’m-”
Sho chuckled, “It’s okay, take your time.”
Nino waited for the elevator impatiently, “No- wait, I’m in front of the elevator.”
Nino ran outside the building and recognized the familiar sloping shoulder figure, “Sho-chan…”
Sho turned around and smiled, “Hi.”
“No paparazzi following you?” Nino looked around in wary.
“No. Male newscasters are less profitable for gossip tabloids.”
“Nonsense.” Nino hit Sho’s arm lightly but intertwined their hands. “Let’s go.”
-
“Why did you pick me up? And you don’t bring your car,” Nino asked Sho as they walked together to the station. They didn’t need to hide much from public eyes, as it was at night.
“Just wanna. My work finished earlier and I remember you had a late meeting. So here I am.”
“Suspicious.” Nino squinted his eyes while looking at Sho’s face.
Sho chuckled, “What? I just wanna go home with you.”
“And holding my hand?” Nino lifted their intertwined hands.
“Yes,” Sho swayed their hands and sang, “I wanna hold your hand~ I wanna hold your hand~”
“Stop singing.” Nino chuckled and pulled their hands down.
“Let me be… I need this…” Sho tightened his grip.
“Okay, enjoy this before we arrive at the station…” Nino looked down to hide his blushed cheeks.
-
Too bad, Sho kept stealing Nino’s hand to hold throughout the train ride.
And got a glare from Nino.
But Nino didn’t let the warm hand go.
-
Nino stopped walking, “So… I’m at home now.”
“But I still wanna hold your hand.”
“We can do this later.”
“Promise?”
“Yes. Go home now before the last train arrives.”
“Can’t I sleep here tonight?”
Nino tried escaping from Sho’s tight grip with a giggle. “No, you can’t. Go home.”
“Kazuuu~”
“You can do that when we live together.”
Sho let go of Nino’s hand in shock, “WHAT?!”
Nino muffled Sho’s mouth, “You’re too loud!”
Sho held Nino’s shoulders, “Wait- I mishear nothing, right?”
Nino turned away from Sho’s amused gaze. “No. Now go home! I’m sleepy and tired!”
“Your ears are red!”
“No!” Nino hid his red ears from Sho.
“Okay, okay. Sweet dreams, Kazu.” Sho gave Nino a warm hug before he waved his boyfriend goodbye.
“You too…”
2. Galaxy in Your Eyes
Bike and Scooter Onii-san AU
Ohno was cleaning the nursing home lobby. It was suddenly raining cats and dogs only 5 minutes after the drizzle. Rainy nights often made the elders scared of storm or having a power outage, so he stayed in the home overnight. He heard a faint knock on the door, but he didn’t remember having a guest or visitor at night, moreover in the rainy night like this. He ignored it at first but it was getting louder and persistent. A cold sweat rolled down his spine.
“Oh God, please save us…” He braved himself to peek behind the curtain while gripping the broom stick, ready to hit anyone (or anything?) who knocked that door. He finally checked the outside and saw someone familiar. “Sho-chan?! What are you doing here? You’re wet!” Ohno abruptly opened the door and let the guy in. He then searched for a towel as Sho was shivering a bit.
Sho took some deep breaths and sat on the lounge floor, reluctant to make the couch wet. “I was at home when Yuriko-chan asked me to bring Nino’s jacket and raincoat here. She said that there was an emergency here.” Sho chuckled, “I thought it was only a drizzle so I didn’t wear a raincoat. Then the rain was pouring down on me. I never cycled that fast.”
Ohno gave the towel, and Sho dried his jacket, helmet, and hair. “Yup… Chiyo-san had a panic attack, and she wanted Nino to be at her side. Good that everyone could give the fastest treatment. Nino is in her room now.”
Sho sighed in relief, “Good that everything is under control…”
“Wait until the rain stops before going home. I’ll make you a mug of hot chocolate.” Sho only nodded and took off his jacket. Ohno smiled before leaving him while bringing Nino’s stuff, Sho’s jacket and the towel inside.
Sho didn’t drink his hot chocolate tho. He fell asleep in the lounge, coiled up on the couch while hugging his bike helmet.
-
Sho felt something soft under his head. He heard something like… Nino’s game sound. Ah, he was sleeping on Nino’s lap. He grunted, then took a deep breath.
“Sho?” Nino paused his game and put his attention to Sho.
“Hi…” Sho yawned and woke up to stretch his stiff body, “how’s Chiyo-san?”
“She’s fine and sleeping now,” Nino smiled. “The rain has stopped, but it’s getting late. Would it be better if you stay here tonight?”
Sho nodded, “Yup, good idea. I don’t wanna meet any supernatural creatures on my way home…”
Nino snorted, “Wait- I should show you something!” He pulled Sho’s arm to follow him upstairs.
They arrived on the rooftop of the building. There are small puddles of water left after the rain, but the place was mostly dry.
“Look!” Nino pointed above. The sky was clear of clouds and they could see the sea of stars.
“Oh, my goodness!” Sho gaped at what he saw.
He’d never seen such a mesmerizing scenery for so long. It looked like someone has poured milk in the sky. Was that why they called it the Milky Way? The last time he saw something like this was in Gunma, when he went home for a holiday.
“I’ll search a mat. Wait, okay?” Nino went downstairs and left him for a while.
-
“Summer night feels nice~” Sho stretched his body and laid down on the picnic mat Nino had brought upstairs.
“The air after the rain is refreshing~,” Nino sat beside Sho while hugging his knees, “the wind isn’t too chilling.”
“But it’ll be cold at 2 AM hahahaha~”
“I’ll just need you to hug me then,” Nino looked down on Sho.
“I can give it to you now.” Sho opened his arms.
Nino waved them away playfully and giggled, “Not now!”
“When I was a kid, my dad often took me to a hill near my house between his busy schedule. We even bought a star map to identify the constellations we saw.”
“Sounds fun,” Nino smiled. “I don’t have many memories about my dad. But I somehow remember he enjoyed seeing the night sky while drinking outside.”
“What’s your favorite constellation?”
“Gemini. I don’t really believe in astrology but Gemini is my zodiac sign. I enjoy seeing it at night while drinking. You?”
“I don’t have any specific constellation I like. I like some facts about stars tho.”
“Oh? What’s your favorite?”
Sho woke up and sat while looking at the starry sky. “When you’re seeing star light, you’re actually seeing the past. Star lights we’re seeing now are the lights they emitted from millions light years ago. Even sunlight needs 8 minutes to arrive on Earth.”
“Really? Wow, that’s cool.”
“But I know a star that doesn’t work like that. Somehow I can see our future in there.”
Nino turned to Sho and found Sho had fixated his eyes on him. Nino’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh- wow- haha- you’re too close. What star is that?”
“The star in your eyes, no, that’s not a star. It’s a galaxy.”
Nino squinted. “Another pun to come?”
“No, there’s no any pun in it.”
“Somehow I have a trust issue about your tendency on making terrible puns in serious occasions,” Nino sighed.
Sho chuckled while pulled Nino’s face closer, “I’m deadly serious this time.”
“About pun?”
Sho shoved Nino’s shoulder away and sulked, “Look! When I’m serious, you make fun of me!”
Nino laughed and straightened his back. “Okay, okay, I’m serious.”
“No! I’m mad now!”
“Sho-chan~ Don’t be mad~,” Nino tickled Sho’s side.
“Stooop!” Sho ran away from Nino’s deadly tickling.
-
Ohno was searching Sho in the lounge to give his jacket back after drying it but he couldn’t find him anywhere.
“I thought he slept here with Nino…”
He searched in the caregiver’s room and Chiyo-san’s room but found none. He tried his luck and checked upstairs.
“Sho-chan… Nino- Ah…”
Ohno found them falling asleep under the morning light in each other’s arms. He decided to drape the jacket over them and left with a soft chuckle.
“Lovebirds…”
3. Freedom Tea Party
SCARECROW AU
Eiko kept glancing to the wall clock and her phone, waiting for Sho’s message. Her worry about him and his friends kept her mind full. She hoped they could reunite after years of separation. She resumed her work and sighed. “No news means good news…”
-
This evening was cloudy, but the wind was nice. Eiko’s coffee shop was crowded; her hands were full enough with orders. Since Sho’s departure, she received a quick message from Sho that he and his friends were fine and they’d like to come to her shop someday. She kinda missed Sho’s presence in her shop. He was diligent and a hard worker, tho his jokes somehow were too old. It was fun to work with him.
Her mind was wandering off when she heard a familiar voice.
“Eiko-san! One frappe, please!”
She never ran that fast.
-
“You guys didn’t tell me you will come here tonight!”
Eiko closed her coffee shop early for the reunion party. She brewed something special for the five guys she saved from the soldiers years ago. Sho helped her to prepare their tea party. They brought some delicious pastry to accompany Eiko’s signature tea blend.
“Sho-kun said this is a surprise for you,” Jun replied.
“Oh, well, thank you, Sho-kun. I’m surprised.” Sho just chuckled.
“You work here alone now?” Ohno asked.
“Yeah, for now. I just graduated two Traitors last month. Do you know Yokoyama and Kikuchi?”
“Kikuchi Fuma?” Nino asked and Eiko nodded. “He’s our junior in high school, Sho-chan!”
“Oh, yes! I remember him,” Sho said.
“Eiko-chan, does the Yokoyama you said earlier have thick lips and a Kansai man?” Aiba asked.
“Yes! Do you know him?”
“Oh my, he’s Kimi-chan! My childhood friends! Do you have his contact?”
“Yup!”
“Wow, that’s kinda unexpected.” Sho and Eiko put their party menu on the table, then joined their friends. “Who leads the cheers? Riida?”
Ohno nodded, “Okay,” and held his glass high, followed by the rest. “For freedom!”
“For freedom!”
4. Come Back
Sho and Nino just went home from dance practice. It has been a long while since the last time they danced.
“Tadaima~,” they said in unison while kicking off their shoes.
“My old bones…” Nino walked to the couch with almost zero energy left in his body and flopped on it.
“My body is aching…” Sho flopped on the cold floor near the couch.
“Gimme a back massage…” Nino’s voice was muffled on the soft couch.
“No… I’m tired…” Sho sighed heavily.
“But I’m way more tired…”
“No, we’re equally tired…”
“I still need to make dinner…”
“And I should do the laundry…”
“Sho-chan…”
“You haven’t taken a bath…”
“I have… Can’t you smell my shampooed hair?”
Sho woke up with a heavy sigh. “Okay, okay… Wait…” He took a massage oil from their room. Nino let out a small yay, then took off his shirt.
Nino laid down on his stomach and Sho sat on top of Nino’s legs while massaging his back. Nino hummed sleepily and enjoyed the massage. The massage relaxed his taut muscles as Sho reached his lower back.
“Is your lower back okay?” Sho asked.
“Yeah… I’ve been waiting for this moment to feel the familiar sensation…”
Sho chuckled, “What sensation?”
“The fatigue after dance rehearsal and concert… I missed that feeling…”
Sho massaged his arms. “Hm… yeah, I can relate to it. Three years has gone by so fast; I thought our last concert was yesterday.”
Nino chuckled, “We lost the track of time since our hiatus…”
“And tomorrow is our comeback concert…” Sho smiled warmly.
“I’m nervous, tho…” Nino said, “will it be successful?”
“Yes, it will. Even though there're only Juniors on the audience seat,” Sho laughed.
“No… Our fans will watch it as well. Don’t underestimate them,” Nino flapped his hand backward to hit Sho but failed and Sho just laughed harder.
“We’ve been waitin’ too long~ We been waitin’ to feel it~”
“Stop singing Party Starters on a serious time like this you-” Nino turned his head backward and giggled.
“Hey- But it’s true, right? They’ve been waiting for us to come back on stage as Arashi. And this is it. We’re ready to meet them again.”
“I can imagine their tears when we sing Tadaima…”
“They’d cry in every song, trust me…”
“They’re so good at crying…” Sho playfully hit Nino’s head.
“Let’s give our best tomorrow.” Sho swiped the excess oil on Nino’s back and gave a squeeze on his shoulders.
“Yeah… The last thing I wanna see is the Angry Jun…” Sho cackled as he got off of Nino’s body.
“I thought you find it exciting to watch him scolding the staffs.”
“Not tomorrow, Sho-chan. Not tomorrow…” Nino giggled and yawned.
5. Championships, Olympics, and Games
2021
Sho and Nino were chilling on the balcony while drinking beer, enjoying summer night breeze and clear sky. They were leaning on the balcony rail with a can of beer on their hand. Their neighborhood was rather quiet, tho they could see fireworks from afar. It was full moon. Their face was illuminated by the yellowish silver moonlight.
“Do you realize that our milestones are always involved with Olympics and your championships?” Sho asked out of the blue.
“What do you mean?” Nino turned to Sho.
“We met when you won the Pazudora Championship back in 2013, and made friends quickly.”
“Then I confessed to you after I won the 2014 championship.”
Sho pointed out, “Yeah, that was surprising because it came from you.”
“Did you know that I bet to myself?” Nino looked at the far sky.
“Bet what?”
“I bet that if I won the championship, I should confess to you.”
Sho chugged his beer empty and threw his can into a trashbin, “Why should you do that? You could confess anytime you want.”
Nino grinned shyly, “I guess I wanna be... equal to you? Like... you have lots of achievement. I should be a better person if I wanna be with you. I wanna be someone you’re proud of. Or maybe my gamer ego wanna win your heart with something more than just a confession.”
“Wow...” Sho trailed off and paused, “what if you lost back then? Would you stop seeing me?”
“That wouldn’t happen.” Nino smirked and changed his focus onto Sho’s face, “Because I’m the 1st winner of 2013 and 2014 Pazudora Championship.”
“Your confidence...” Sho rolled his eyes and chuckled, “sometimes I don’t know where you get that from.”
Nino looked away to the sky again, “I don’t wanna lose you and lose to you, I guess.”
“Well, good that you see me as a motivation.”
“How about you? Did you have any plan to take our relationship further?”
Sho chuckled and nodded, “Yeah, but maybe after 2-3 years? You looked like you weren’t interested in that kind of relationship, so I thought I would wait longer. And even if you turned me down, I knew that it was a pleasure to have you as my close friend.”
Nino pointed at Sho with his can, “You’re ready to be dumped.”
Sho turned around so that his back leant against the rail with his elbows supporting his upper body, “Thankfully, you confessed to me instead. I was beyond happy back then.”
“You should see your own face when I confessed. I can’t forget that. So comical and cute and pretty. With your bulged out round eyes.”
“Am I that cute~?” Sho tilted his head cutely.
Nino mimicked Sho’s expression,“Yes! Like, ‘HA?!’” They laughed out loud.
Sho opened a new can of beer and sipped it, feeling the familiar burn flowing in his throat, “The next milestone is living together before Rio Olympics, at your birthday to be exact.”
“We moved all the stuff rather quickly, right? Just in two weeks? Three?” Nino asked.
“Three. I remember that I misread June-“ Nino cackled and got a hit on his head from Sho, ”-as July and pestered you to move out as quick as possible because I thought I couldn’t help you move once I went to Rio.”
Nino rubbed his head, “But it was a good decision because I had summer tournament in mid July and my apartment contract ended not long after that. And we could avoid the summer sun if we moved in June.”
“It’s still hot tho. And it’s raining almost every day.”
“You have AC, right? Don’t complain, you’re the one who propose me.”
“Sorry,” Sho nodded meekly. “The next one is...”
Nino took out a necklace with a ring as the pendant under his shirt, dangling on his neck, “This?”
“Yes, this,” Sho showed the same necklace from his neck.
“I remember that we rushed to register our partnership certificate after I came back from Jakarta.”
“Because I heard the news that Nakano ward will legalize same-sex partnership since June and the government finalized the policy in August. I was beyond excited to legalize ours, too...” Sho looked down and stiffle a shy chuckle.
Nino patted Sho’s arm, “I’m relieved that our partnership was finally legal after living together for 2 years. Our families didn’t really bother about it, too.”
Sho nodded and took a sip of his beer, “Yeah, that’s beyond my expectation. I thought they would somehow oppose our partnership, especially my parents.”
“Are you happy that you live here and I move here instead of you moving out to Saitama?”
“Yes.”
“But Saitama ward has legalized same-sex partnership in April last year, tho.”
“But Nakano was faster.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Nino surrendered and Sho laughed.
“I wanna wear this ring on my finger...” Sho played his ring pendant, “I love to wear it like this but somehow I wanna wear this on the place it should be.”
“Then wear it,” Nino smiled warmly and emptied his can.
Sho looked at Nino, “Should we use it as our next milestone? Hinting to the public that we’re taken? The Paralympics was finished too.”
“Or should we use it as a present for our 3rd partnership anniversary?”
“Good idea.” Sho tilted his head backward while closing his eyes, “Aaah, I’m looking forward to the day when I proudly tell everyone that you’re my husband and we can legalize this partnership into marriage.”
“Another new milestone.” Nino opened another can, “Sometimes I can’t believe that we’ve come this far. The first weeks after we submitted the partnership application, I was like ‘Oh, I’m Sakurai Sho’s husband now’.”
“I feel the same. It felt surreal at first, but I enjoy my new life as your husband.”
“Maybe we should wait until the next Olympics to marry. A real one.”
Sho frowned to think the possibilities, “Winter or Summer?”
“Or should we broaden our scoop into FIFA World Cup?”
Sho pecked Nino’s cheek, “As expected of an eAthlete.”