Title : Losing Him - Chapter 1
Lenght : Chapter
Author : ica_90
Pairing : Ohmiya (for 85% of the fic), Matsumiya (Friendship,in the next few chapters), Aimiya (Friendship, in the next few chapters), mostly friendship in this one for every other pair
Genre : Angst, Friendship, AU (because Nino quits Arashi, please advice if it’s not)
Rating : PG for now. In my draft, it’ll go to NC-17. Only for a chapter.
Summary : Few weeks after Ohno rejected Nino’s confession, Nino decided to quit Arashi, making Ohno wonder if his rejection was the reason. But he has his own suspicions, and he wanted to know.
Chapter 1
The green room had turn into chaos within the second their manager broke the news to them. It was hell. With Jun going up to their manager furiously, telling him to stop joking about it. Sho was enraged when he left the room and no one knew where he was heading. Aiba was at one side of the room sitting quietly, his stare was empty directing at Ohno.
Nino had decided to quit Arashi.
That one sentence from the manager stabbed him in every direction. He should have guess it. In the last two weeks, Nino started to keep a distance with him, became silent and refusing to talk other than when necessary. He could see, as days passed, how the man became unapproachable, his eyes started to lose the sparks and the smile started to be forced. The last time they meet, Nino was avoiding him with all his might.
He couldn’t help to wonder if the rejection was the reason behind the man’s decision. Nino looked completely devastated the other day and had become worse since then. No more jokes, no more teasing, no more sitting next to each other when they had their private time together in the green room. Nino didn’t even reply his message regarding their change of schedule.
At first, he thought it was normal. He thought that Nino might need some time for himself after what he said. Knowing Nino, the man would be fine after a few days and they’ll be fine again. He and his foolish thoughts. But then, it didn’t. Before he knew it, the distance between them grew even wider and they never spoke again.
He missed the man. What he heard today scared him. He thought he was giving the right answer, but then, it was just a move that resulted in him losing Nino.
“You should have known better!” Jun yelled, startled him. “He talked to you all the time. You should know the reason behind all of this mess,”
Jun was furious. Ohno could see that. The guy was looking at him with an intense glare, demanding an answer that Ohno wasn’t even sure if it was the truth. He stared back at Jun, hoping by doing so Jun would just drop the topic. He just wasn’t ready to tell anyone about it.
“Arghhh!!! Next time I see him, I’m gonna kill him for being a quitter!” Jun said, kicking the sofa in the greenroom, startling Ohno. But nothing shocked him more than when Aiba snapped.
“He’s not a quitter!”
“Then what?” Jun shot back. “A loser? After all the things we achieved, after all the thing we promised to face together, and all of sudden he decided to quit? Without an explanation to us!”
AIba gritted his teeth.
“You don’t know him, Matsujun,”
“If you know him so well, tell us then! The reason why he decided to quit this group!”
Aiba fell silence. His body was shaking, perhaps for holding his anger inside. But instead of explaining anything, he left, leaving both Jun and Ohno inside the room. The room became silent again. Jun calmed down a little from earlier but Ohno could still see his frustration just by looking at the man’s back. Of course, it’s inevitable and it is how they’re supposed to be feeling right now. Frustrated. Angry. Confused. The emotions mixing together as one, rendering them helpless.
He wished that it was just a joke. Nino loved to joke. But with the signs the guy was giving them for the past week, a joke has become an impossible conclusion.
And it was confirmed when Sho came back a few minutes later, much calmer than he was when he left the room.
“Tell me it’s not true,” Jun said, his voice shaking.
Sho sighed, shaking his head.
“Unfortunately, it is. Johnny-san showed me his resignation letter-“
“And that old man approved it?” this time, Sho nodded. “You’re joking,”
“I wish I am, Matsujun…“ Sho replied, pausing his words as he looked at Ohno. He was frowning and wondering as he walked towards Ohno. His look was stern when he spoke up.
“You know the exact reason for his decision, right? Spill it!” Sho said, sounding serious. But all Ohno remained silent.
***
It took him an entire day before he finally was able to tell the other members about what happened between him and Nino weeks ago. Jun and Sho were much calmer than they were yesterday but Aiba was silent. At one point, Ohno wondered if Aiba was going to be the next Nino, judging from the way the man acted since the news broke.
The news had gone public few hours after they got to know about it. The damage was pretty irreparable. A few of the sponsors decided to withdraw their support while others were contemplating about renewing the contracts after they were over. Their next album was postponed and it was almost 100% that they would have to redo. Even worst, gone hiatus.
“But I don’t think that’s the only reason,” Jun spoke, breaking the silence that flooded the room after Ohno finished his part of the story. He told the guys that Nino had confessed to him and he had rejected the man. And everything has gone downhill since that day.
“I wish it wasn’t, Matsujun. But haven’t you noticed? He was silent for weeks, giving us a cold reaction and then, he was just gone. Right after I rejected his feeling,”
Jun shook his head.
“Did you feel guilty when you did that?” Sho shoot a question, making him pause, frowning to think of an answer.
It was confusing to him. The confession came suddenly. Nino was someone so dear to him but he never thought of having any romantic relationship with him. But when Nino came up to him, eyes showed desperation as he said, “I need you to hear me out, will you listen to me?”, something inside him snapped. But he couldn’t reciprocate the man’s feeling.
That was what he thought the last time. But now, Nino was gone. Deep inside, he was longing for the man’s presence. He was used to having Nino next to him and now that the guy was gone, he felt lost.
It was damn confusing.
Somehow, Sho sighed when he received nothing as a reply.
“Hear me out, Ohno-san,” Jun said. “I don’t think that’s the only reason. There must be something other than that.”
Ohno blinked a few times, confused. For some reason, Jun sighed. He never thought it would be so difficult for him to explain, especially now when he wasn’t sure of the reason too. But one thing he knew for sure, Nino wasn’t a guy who quit just because he was rejected.
“He is professional, Ohno-san. Unless it was something very personal, I don’t think he will decide to quit just because you rejected him,”
“I agree,” Sho said out of sudden. “I’ve been trying to ask around. Our managers, Julie-san. But none of them have any idea on what was happening. It seems like the only person who know about this is Johnny-san,”
“Maybe he is,” Jun replied curtly. Somehow, he sighed.
The greenroom had turned quiet the moment Jun finished with his words. Ohno eyed the guy for his reaction. Jun was serious and for once Ohno sure the guy perhaps knew something behind the things that happened. Except, the guy don’t.
Jun’s attention turned and was directed to Aiba who has been silent throughout the conversation. At first, Ohno thought that it was because Aiba was Nino’s best friend and his decision was affecting him. But then he remembered the argument Aiba and Jun had a few days ago, something struck him.
“Aiba-kun…“ Jun spoke, slightly startling the guy. “If you know something, please do not hide it,”
All Aiba did was biting his lips before he shook his head a second later.
His eyes met Aiba for a brief second afterwards. An obvious disappointment was shown in the way Aiba was looking at him before he took his sight away from Ohno.
At this point he was sure of two things. One; he was the reason behind Nino’s decision and two, Aiba knew something. His suspicion grew greater when he thought more about it, trying to solve the two puzzles he just created. Perhaps Jun was right. There might be another reason behind this. Something darker and Aiba just couldn’t give away the secret.
And he determined to find out why.
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a/n : I really have problem on delivering my emotions into this fic. sorry if you find this boring. hopefully i can thrill you enough.