24K Magic (one shot)
Jan. 7th, 2017 03:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yun_miyakeTitle: 24K Magic
Pairing: Sakumiya
Length: one shot 5k words
Genre: romance all the way
Rating: pg
Disclaimer: This is only my imagination, none of them are mine
Summary: Nino is a university student with the ability to hypnotize people and he made money off it by working as a part timer magician in various clubs. He coincidently met Sakurai Sho at the club he was working at and got a huge crush on him, but Sho happened to be the popular student at campus who got everybody’s attention including the famous Matsumoto Jun.
Beta Reader:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sky_fish7 , thank you so much, Sky, for sparing your time to beta this Sakumiya one shot for me ^^.
Thanks for your lovely comments on the story, I've added some parts and I hope it looks okay :)
Some note: It’s some kind of cheesy with prompt night and crush in the first sight, but Nino is always being Nino in the fic.
“Nino, stop that!”
“Stop what?” Nino turned his head at the man beside him.
“You’re hypnotizing me, I can’t even type the right word,” Ohno grumbled, slamming the laptop shut.
“Sorry,” Nino grinned, “I need to practice for tonight.”
“You can find someone else for that,” Ohno grinded his teeth, “Ask Aiba to volunteer, I’m sure he will do it willingly.”
Nino pouted and left Ohno to head over towards the chair at the corner of the room. He slumped there while resuming the game on his phone. Ohno didn’t cooperate with him recently because of the last assignment he had to finish within a month, it meant that Nino had to find somebody else to practice but what kind of idiot would want to be hypnotized?
Maybe Ohno was right that he should ask Aiba to volunteer, but the man was on his study trip to Okinawa. Irritated, he stood up and walked out from the classroom, leaving Ohno behind, who sank once again into his books.
There were many things that Nino needed to worry about, but his performance tonight probably was the most urgent right now. He had been working part time as a magician at various clubs already. For some reason he had a good ability in hypnotizing people, including making them his temporary boyfriend (he had tried it once). It was not an enjoyable experience, though, since the person made a blank expression all the time. He did that just to impress his ex and every time he remembered that, he felt dumb.
The second urgent thing that he needed to worry about was the fact that he had no partner for the prompt night which was arranged by the famous Matsumoto Jun. Nino didn’t want to join because it was the most stupid thing ever, but Matsumoto had threatened that everyone who dared to step back from his prompt night would pay for their stupidity. The whole campus knew how that man’s head worked; Matsumoto would make sure that all of them would participate with their partner.
Nino had no partner.
Nobody wanted to be his partner.
Ever….
He pushed the thought of Matsumoto aside and resumed the game on his phone, trying to clear his mind. He must calm down in order to perform nicely tonight but it was hard for him to focus.
He stepped towards the doorstep and watched Ohno from there. The man was seriously typing something on his laptop.
I love girls with old man’s pants.
Nino chanted and knew his mantra worked on Ohno because the man threw a pen after him as he typed the words on his laptop unconsciously.
***
Everyone clapped their hands when Nino finished his performance that night. He bowed deeply and thanked the crowd. He had successfully hypnotized the girl and her fiancé to dance tango on stage and a middle-aged man to sing a Linkin Park song.
The club owner patted his shoulder lightly as he left the stage towards the dressing room.He had asked Nino to become a regular performer here with rather good payment, but Nino didn't give him an answer yet. He was about to walk out the room when a man entered; a bundle of papers in his hand and walking in rapid speed towards the backstage.
Nino had never seen him before, he could smell the man’s perfume and knew it was an expensive brand. He usually went home after the performance, but tonight, his curiosity won. He wanted to find out who that man was, since somehow, he was worried that he might be a rival. If he was a magician, then Nino needed to agree with the offer to perform here regularly before the chance was taken by somebody else.
He walked out from the backstage area and headed towards the main room. What welcomed him was the sound of piano which was really well-played. All guests’ eyes were focused on the man on the stage, playing the music beautifully.
Nino took a seat on one of the empty chairs in the back and watched the man playing. He was drowned by the piano sound which filled the room, it was one of Mozart's pieces, which Nino happened to recognize. The man at the piano was probably at the same age with him, he had a nice figure and a super handsome face, which attracted Nino's attention - out of his will.
He was the type of person who hardly praised someone else's appearance, not even Matsumoto Jun's, who was well-known for being a role model on the entire campus with his fashion sense.
The man kept on playing the piano, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the music and when he finished, everyone gave him standing ovations. The club owner approached him to the stage and shook the man's hand.
"It's an honor, Sakurai-san, having you perform in our club," the middle-aged man smiled broadly at the pianist, "And welcome back to Japan."
"Thank you," Sakurai answered, his smile was something blinding, "You're exaggerating, I'm honored to be back here."
Nino couldn't hear the rest of the conversation since everyone started to make noise. He kept on watching that Sakurai guy until he disappeared backstage. He shook his head, it wasn't the right time to adore someone, he was in the middle of work and that Sakurai guy was just an unknown subject who should be ignored.
He rose and walked towards the backstage in order to take his stuff. There, he saw Sakurai sitting on the chair he usually sat on. The man even seemed to move Nino's stuff away in order to occupy the seat.
"Excuse me, you're sitting on my chair," Nino said, approaching the man.
Now that they were very close, he could see that Sakurai had beautiful lips and perfect face lines. His eyebrows were shaped in a very elegant way and it made him even more handsome than he already was. He gazed at Nino curiously.
"Sorry, but I didn't find your name on this chair, so..."
"My stuff was here and you moved it away."
"Oh," Sakurai seemed to realize something. He took Nino's bag and pink cardigan and handed them to Nino. "Here they are, unharmed," the man offered him a smile.
Nino took them angrily and chanted something, 'You will slip on your feet on the way home'.
"Pardon me?"
Nino didn't stay any longer, he took his belongings and walked away from the dressing room. He felt so stupid for hypnotizing Sakurai, but despite of his interesting appearance, that man had something annoying. Something, which told everyone that he came from a higher social status. Nino grimaced; what was the point of thinking about Sakurai? He didn't know the man anyway, their lives weren't connected and they probably would never meet again.
He would be surprised to find out that fate was completely the opposite.
***
"Ninomi, how's the progress of your partner hunting for Matsumoto’s prompt night?" Aiba asked as he sat down beside Nino on the park bench where he was reading a book, peacefully, before Aiba came.
"I never hunt any partners," Nino mumbled, not even lifting his head to look at Aiba.
"I can be your partner," Aiba said, circling his right hand around his shoulder.
"No," Nino answered shortly, "You're the last person on earth I want to go with."
"That's so mean, you know," Aiba pouted. "Anyway, did you hear that we got a new transfer student? Not actually a transfer student, since he was originally studying here, before winning a student exchange."
"I'm not interested."
"Alright, then I am gonna ask him to come to the prompt with me," Aiba said.
"Go ahead," Nino mumbled, thinking that he should hypnotize Aiba before the man could say another word.
He closed his book and rose off the chair, following Aiba's steps towards the main building. They would join a seminar about the classic literature, the only subject Nino liked so far. They walked side by side towards the entrance and picked their seats in the third row.
"Hi," Nino heard someone greeting him.
He turned his head towards the caller and saw Sakurai with a bandage on his left temple.
"I slipped on my way home," he mumbled.
"Oh, really?" Nino responded coldly, not mentioning that his stomach clenched in an unpleasant way since he was the reason behind the accident. He didn't mean it, he just wanted to try whether his mantra was strong enough to make someone slip on their feet accidentally. Or, maybe that Sakurai guy was just too clumsy, so that he didn't pay attention on his way. Nino hoped it was the latter.
"You know him?" Aiba whispered.
"No," Nino shook his head.
"He's the one I'm talking about, the one who won the student exchange program and from what I've heard, he's some kind of idol on this campus, perhaps even more popular than Matsujun."
“None of them are my business,” Nino answered coldly.
“You’re Nino, right?” Sakurai addressed him, not caring that Nino was obviously not interested in talking to him, . “Sorry, I got your name from the performer list at the club the other day.”
Nino looked into Sakurai’s eyes and immediately regretted it; they were shiny like the bright morning sunshine and he hated every particle of Sho’s face, which made all the butterflies in his stomach take off. Sakurai extended his hand to shake Nino's, but he couldn’t move an inch, keeping on sneaking into Sho’s eyes.
Sakurai pulled his hand, “Did I offend you?”
“No,” Nino averted his gaze away. “I am Nino.”
“Nice to meet you, you can call me Sho.”
“Sho?” Nino turned his head to Sho again, but he avoided the guy’s eyes on purpose. “Nice to meet you too.”
They stopped the conversation when the lecturer entered the room. Nino wondered what kind of thing Sho had studied abroad; and what was with the piano performance that night? He stole a glance at the guy, who was paying serious attention on the lecturer.
Aiba left the hall immediately as the class ended. Meanwhile, Nino took his time to collect his belongings in order to wait for Sho, but his excitement didn’t last long, since an intruder came in the form of Matsumoto Jun.
“Sho-kun, welcome back,” he approached Sho and gave the man a brief hug.
Nino shouldered his bag, trying to be invincible to Matsumoto, but it seemed that the man was too occupied with Sho anyway, to notice him. Nino didn’t know why he never could hypnotize Matsumoto; maybe because there was some kind of grunt inside him towards the man. It was not hatred, but something else he couldn’t name.
He looked back to both, Sho and Matsumoto, and got annoyed. He took a deep breath and mumbled ‘Spill the mineral water on Matsumoto’s expensive coat’.
***
“You can hypnotize someone to be your partner,” Ohno said casually.
“I don’t even have any candidate or maybe you want to be hypnotized,” Nino answered, slumping beside Ohno at the library.
“I already got one,” Ohno mumbled.
“You know, it’s really stupid to participate in Matsumoto’s game.”
“You can withdraw anytime you like.”
“And everyone will accuse me as a coward,” Nino groaned.
“Then you have to participate. It’s just for fun, it doesn’t mean Matsumoto wants to make us look stupid,” Ohno said while patting Nino’s shoulder lightly.
Ohno didn’t know the ‘thing’ between him and Matsumoto. Nino could sense that Matsumoto saw him as some kind of threat to his already-so-perfect-life even if it was stupid, because Nino literally had nothing compared to Matsumoto. However, he was sure that the man would embarrass him.
Nino gulped, he never had any partner to the prompt, he always became a lone wolf and got embarrassed afterwards. It was not because of his looks, he had been classified as one of the most handsome students at campus. The reason was his cold behaviour. He didn’t mean to be cold, it was his nature and people tended to judge him as a heartless person.
They were also scared of his magic (it was not even real magic, he just happened to have a technique to hypnotize people and made money off it). Well, maybe sometime he used it to the people who annoyed him, including Sho when they met for the first time.
“I’m going home,” Nino mumbled, grabbing his bag and walking towards the campus gate.
He avoided the main corridor Matsumoto usually took and walked alone through a hidden path along the campus garden which lead him to the exit. He didn’t expect to find Sho there. The man was all alone and he was smoking. It was a surprise to Nino, since Sho fit every description of a perfect, disciplined young master from a wealthy family.
He pretended not to see the man but it was useless since there were just the two of them on that narrow path.
“Nino, going home?” Sho asked.
“Yeah,” Nino answered shortly.
“I was impressed by your performance at the club, the owner told me that you’re really good in magic show,” Sho said, throwing his cigarette butt on the ground and stepping on it.
“Thanks,” Nino stopped and looked at the man before him. He had just realized their height difference and knew that he would fit perfectly on Sho’s chest if the man held him (what the fuck was he thinking now). “Your piano playing was cool too,” he complimented Sho as well.
“It’s been a while since I played,” Sho said, smiling at him. “When will you perform again?”
“Next two days,” Nino answered.
“I’ll be there,” Sho said. “I have to go, my next lesson should be starting anytime soon.”
“Alright,” Nino tried to smile but he knew his lips only formed a stiff grin.
“Bye, Nino.”
“Bye, Sho.”
***
Nino didn’t know whether his next meetings with Sho were purely coincidence or the man had completely remembered Nino’s schedule, because they met almost everywhere; in class, in the corridor, the library, even at a specific park bench, in the canteen and even the toilet.
Sho would greet him happily every time they met, which gained Nino jealous gazes from everyone because all of them wanted the same attention from Sho. Nino had just fount out that Sho had been one of the most popular students, before he left to Sweden (he wasn’t here back then) and how everyone gossiped that Sho had a special relationship with Jun but it ended as Sho left for Stockholm. Nino couldn’t guess why Sho decided to take the same semester all over again as he returned to Japan, but it wasn’t his issue. His issue became rather that Nino got now accused by everybody of hypnotizing Sho, since the man was clearly showing him affection.
Nino must admit that he was interested in Sho since the first time they met, but he never expected a reply. He had gotten used to one-sided love or watching his crush being snatched away from him.
It was a disaster when Sho said that he wanted to go with him to Matsumoto’s prompt night.
He was reading a book in the library when Sho came to sit down beside him. The latter brought a thick novel with him, reading it in silence for a good ten minutes before whispering to Nino.
“Would you come to the prompt with me?”
Nino thought that Sho was reading a line from his book until he noticed that the other man was facing him with a smile on his lips.
“Pardon me?”
“Do you have a partner already?” Sho asked, frowning slightly.
“I’m sorry, what are you talking about?” Nino closed the book in his hands after inserting the bookmark in between the pages he was reading. He faced Sho whose eyes were locked to him.
“I want you to come with me to the prompt,” Sho said firmly, he put down his book and held Nino’s hand, squishing his fingers softly, “Only if you like, I bet you’ve got a lot of offers already.”
Nino wanted to pull his hand away from Sho’s grip, but he couldn’t do that, he felt that all of his muscles stiffened as if Sho had hypnotized them, making them immobilize. He knew it would come sooner or later – Sho had shown him an affection more than he could imagined. It was about time before one of them confessed their feeling.
“No,” Nino shook his head. “I mean, nobody invited me to that prompt,” he looked at Sho’s face and averted his gaze immediately, he couldn’t look into those eyes for more than three seconds.
“So, would you like to go with me?”
Nino should have said yes and end of story, but he unconsciously chanted his mantra to hypnotize Sho in order to make him forget that he had invited Nino to go.
He knew that he would regret what he had done, because he wanted to go with Sho – for heaven’s sake. However, it seemed too good to be true to hear the invitation directly from Sho’s mouth. Nino was scared that it was just his wild hallucination.
He avoided Sho for the time being until the man cornered him in the male toilet after class. Nino knew that he couldn’t lie to himself any longer, not caring about the consequences that Matsumoto would bash him forever for coming to the prompt with Sho.
“Nino, come with me to the prompt.”
“I guess I have no choice,” he said, smiling at Sho.
***
Everyone seemed to disbelieve as the news spread. All of them (including Ohno and Aiba) were like ‘Ninomiya and Sakurai?!’.
The worst part was the prompt night itself, when they went there together. Nino never liked party in whatever forms. He always avoided it the best he could. He didn’t like being surrounded by many people whom he didn’t really know. He wasn’t good in starting the conversation and always flustered when people tried to involve him in a group talk.
He had been to Matsumoto’s party twice and they had caused severe trauma to him. The man wanted to become the center of the party which Nino didn’t really care because it was his party anyway, but when some of his friends asked Nino to perform his magic, Matsumoto turned mad because Nino had stolen his stage. Nino wondered why Matsumoto even bothered to invite him in the first place if he disliked Nino that much. Maybe because Matsumoto befriended Ohno for helping him finished his assignments and Ohno was Nino’s best friend so it would be rude to leave Nino uninvited.
One thing which made Nino hate party – he simply didn’t know what to wear. Aiba had told him that he still looked nice only by wearing a Mickey Mouse printed T-shirt, but he would go together with Sho, he couldn’t wear that ugly T-shirt. After a long confusion, he finally chose his simple jacket above a dark green checked shirt.
Sho had insisted to pick him up to his dormitory, but Nino denied because he still felt uneasy if Sho was near him, so he went to Matsumoto’s place with Ohno by subway. Ohno wore one of his best outfits, he looked like a young master in his suits. Unlike Nino, Ohno loved to attend parties, he told Nino that his partner was a girl two years their junior. Nino wasn’t really interested to find out who that girl was, so he simply didn’t make any comments.
Nino found Sho waiting for him at the entrance of Matsumoto’s house. He looked handsome (or Nino could categorize him as super handsome) in his dark suits with nice a nice necktie. Maybe because Sho had spent two years in Europe that he always wanted to dress properly for an event, not mentioning the meaningless Matsumoto’s prompt night.
“You look nice,” Sho said as he saw Nino approached.
“Thank you,” Nino answered shyly. He was far from nice, his old jacket looked way too ugly compared to Sho’s.
Sho tried to grip his hand, but Nino avoided it. He could sense everyone’s gaze at them; almost all of the party attendees looked down on him for having Sho beside him. Nino reminded himself that it wasn’t his fault if Sho liked him, let it be, he thought sourly.
Matsumoto delivered his speech from the small stage in the middle of the party venue. He wore a long cloak above a dark red shirt which looked expensive. He had changed his hair colour for this party which somehow made him look cuter, even though he had never been cute in Nino’s eyes.
The party was perfect; the music which played as the back sound was as good as they expected. Some couples already took the floor to dance with their partners, Ohno was among them, he held a pretty girl in his arm and smiled at Nino as their eyes met.
Nino was glad when Sho mentioned that he couldn’t dance, it was somehow a relief because he didn’t want to step on the dancefloor and looked stupid. Both of them took a drink instead and sat down on the chairs at the far corner, away from the dancefloor. A few couples were there, enjoying their drink while talking in low voices.
“Do you have any other plans after the party?” Sho asked out of the blue. His hand finally found Nino’s and this time, the latter couldn’t do anything to avoid it.
“No,” Nino shook his head, waiting for Sho to response.
“I’ve been thinking,” Sho said, shifting closer to Nino and placing his right hand on Nino’s waist. “What if we go for a midnight date after this.”
Nino was about to answer when Matsumoto appeared in front of them. He looked at Nino from head to toe; his face formed a frightening expression. He grinded his teeth when he saw Sho’s hand on Nino’s waist.
Matsumoto grabbed Nino by the elbow and pulled him towards the center of the party venue where the swimming pool was located. Nino knew it wasn’t a good sign.
"You've been hypnotizing him!"
Matsumoto cornered him and almost pushed him into the swimming pool. Everybody turned at them to watch, it was not a secret anymore that both of them didn't really like each other.
Nino sighed deeply, he knew it would be a waste of time to talk with this guy. Matsumoto would have accused him anyway.
"You can ask him to confirm whether I was hypnotizing him to come with me," Nino pointed at Sho who stared blankly at them, not knowing what to do.
Matsumoto glared at him with a burning gaze and decided to retreat, he turned at Sho and said nothing. Then, he faced Nino again and this time he pushed him into the cold swimming pool for real. Nino could hear people screaming; but it was more to Matsumoto's anger than worrying about him.
He fell into the super cold water and felt a hundred small needles stabbed his skin. He swam to the edge of the pool with all the strength he got because his fingers had already turned numb within just a few seconds.
He saw Sho approaching the pool, the worrisome was clearly shown on his face. The other party attendees pretended not to see him, Nino knew they would be in trouble if they dared to help him.
"Are you okay?" Sho extended his hand and helped him out.
"I'm fine," Nino said. He climbed up the pool, wiped his face and just realized that he had his phone in his pocket. It wasn't a water-proof phone so he was sure that it had been damaged. "I'd better leave."
"I'm going with you," Sho said, following him.
"Matsumoto would accuse me hypnotizing you again if he sees us," Nino shivered coldly.
"Let him be," Sho said.
Everybody whispered behind their hands when they saw Nino walking towards the exit with Sho behind him.
"You'll catch a cold," Sho said, "You better change your clothes first."
"I didn't bring any extra clothes with me."
"You can wear mine, I store some in my car, come on," Sho grabbed Nino's wrist and guided him towards the parking lot.
"You don't need to be kind to me," Nino mumbled, "I'm just a bastard, you know."
"I'm a bastard too, we're equal," Sho said, smiling at him. "Did you really hypnotize me to come to the prompt with you?"
"No," Nino shook his head, "You asked me to go with you and I denied, but because you insisted, I hypnotize you to forget about it, just a little bit," he grinned.
"Why?"
Nino hesitated; he was glad that Sho asked him out to the prompt, but he had been confused by the sudden invitation. He didn't get used to it, he didn't deserve someone's attention, he hated the feeling that Sho was paying attention at him, it just embarrassed him.
Besides, he didn't want to have any connection with Matsumoto's friends; what he would get afterward was just a humiliation, being pushed into the cold swimming pool by him was only the first.
They reached Sho’s car at the end of the parking lot, it was an old-fashioned car, it seemed that Sho liked classic style for his vehicle. He opened the trunk and took a tote bag from there. He fished inside and pulled a bundle of clothes.
"Here," Sho handed him an old pair of jeans and a jacket, "Just for emergency," the man added.
"Thanks," Nino took the clothes from Sho's hand and headed towards the nearest restroom. He changed his clothes as fast as he could and blushed all of a sudden since he had no underwear inside.
Sho was waiting for him when he finished, he smiled at Nino and opened the car for him.
"Where are we going?" Sho asked.
"I don't know, it's too early to go home," Nino said, boarding the car and fastening the seat belt.
"Let's just drive around, I bet you don't want to meet people at this point," Sho glanced at his clothes.
"I'm not crazy about fashion," Nino said, shivering. He felt pretty bad. Maybe there had been something else other than water inside that damned swimming pool, maybe Matsumoto had put in some poison and pushed him in on purpose, so he could kill Nino without being detected. He shook his head; he always thought something bad when it was about Matsumoto. Probably, that guy was that bad and he was just overthinking.
“Are you okay?” Sho asked him.
“I don’t know, it’s very cold.”
“You can wear my jacket,” Sho said, taking off his jacket and handed it to Nino.
“Thanks,” Nino covered his upper body with the jacket, but he still shivered badly.
Sho drove the car away from Matsumoto's house; he hummed along the way which gained an amusing grin from Nino.
“Sho, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Is there something between you and Matsumoto?”
Sho chuckled and shook his head, “He liked me, but that was a long time ago. He hates losing, maybe he’s jealous of your magic and because I like you,” Sho paused to wait for Nino’s response, but Nino couldn’t answer to that joking-like statement.
“Did I say I like you?” Sho confirmed innocently.
“Yes, you did,” Nino sneezed. He had no energy left to digest what Sho meant, whether that ‘like’ was just between friends who liked each other’s presence or something deeper than that. He would ask the man later on, when they were in better circumstances.
"Can we stop for a can of beer?" Nino asked after half an hour; when they were already out of Yokohama area.
"Alright," Sho turned left and searched for the nearest convenient store where they could have some beer. He told Nino to wait in the car, saying that it was freezing outside. He watched Sho walking towards the entrance, Sho should have enjoyed the party if he didn’t choose to leave with Nino. He shouldn’t have asked Nino to come to that stupid prompt at the first place.
Sho came back with four cans of beer and two packs of snacks, he handed one of the cans to Nino and tore the snack plastic apart. They sipped the beer and ate the snack in silence, feeling so weird to end up in this place.
“Sho, I’m sorry,” Nino said as he finished his beer.
“For what?”
“For dragging you out from the party, you should be there instead of keeping me company.”
Sho sipped his beer and tossed the empty can to the plastic bag, he turned at Nino and smiled, “It’s more fun to be with you,” he placed his hand on Nino’s chin and leaned closer.
Nino knew what would happen; he tried so hard not to sneeze as Sho’s face leaned closer, but it was too late, he sneezed hard and hit Sho’s forehead with his.
“I’m sorry,” he said, feeling so embarrassed that he wished he could just drowned into the ground.
Sho laughed and handed him some tissue, he helped Nino cleaning his nose and still laughed amusingly. “You’re so cute, you know.”
“Thank you very much,” Nino said sarcastically.
Sho moved to the backseat and invited him to do the same, “Come here, I’ll warm you up,” Sho said, opening his arms widely.
“Are you going to rape me?” Nino asked, wiping his wet nose.
“I’ll think about it.”
Nino crawled to the back seat and placed his head in Sho’s arms. The man wrapped him in a tight embrace; Nino could hear his heartbeat clearly. Sho’s right hand brushed his hair softly, this was way better than staying at Matsumoto’s party, Nino thought. He closed his eyes and wrapped his hand around Sho’s waist; being pushed into a cold swimming pool wasn’t a bad thing after all.
***
"Magic guy," Ohno called him.
Nino shrugged, "Does everyone call me by that name?"
"No, just me," Ohno said, smiling at him, "Matsumoto seemed angry."
"It was obvious," Nino rolled his eyes at Ohno.
"So, how's your relationship with that Sakurai guy?"
Nino didn't answer; he looked outside the window, to the maple tree, which leaves had already turned red. It was obvious that everyone gazed at him with the strange look after the incident, he hoped that they would put a blame on Matsumoto instead of him. After all, Matsumoto was the one who pushed him into the pool, not the opposite.
"Listen, I didn't do anything to Sakurai, he was the one who asked me out. Why do people accuse me as the suspect? Do they think that I don't deserve Sakurai's attention?" Nino angrily shut his computer down.
"Maybe because everyone assumed that Sakurai was Matsumoto's crush, something like that," Ohno concluded as if it could solve everything.
"That is stupid," Nino shook his head, remembering what Sho told him about the thing between him and Matsumoto.
"You can hypnotize Matsumoto and make him jump from the roof," Ohno suggested.
Nino laughed for real, he wasn't that much of a moron to kill somebody with his power. Maybe Matsumoto deserved it sometime, but he knew he couldn't do anything to that man.
He stuffed his laptop into his rucksack and headed towards the campus park. He saw Sho walking the opposite direction with him, he recalled what happened that night and blushed. He wasn’t ready to meet Sho again after their lovey dovey cuddling inside Sho’s car; he didn’t know what to say to the other man. He needed to change direction now, but Sho was faster, he caught his hand and pulled him out of the crowd.
"I've been searching for you," Sho said. “I missed you.”
"I'm busy with my last assignment," Nino mumbled, avoiding Sho’s gaze on purpose. He had been missing Sho as well, but he couldn’t ask Sho to meet, he wasn’t good in asking people out.
"Would you accompany me tonight?" Sho asked.
"Where to? Is it a date?"
"I'll be performing at the city hall," Sho said, choosing his words carefully. “We can go for a date after that,” the man gave him a sweet smile and Nino knew he couldn’t say no.
"So?" Nino said, trying to look ignorance.
"I need you to be there."
"I don't get it," Nino shook his head, "You're the one who will be performing there, you don't need me."
"I said that I will bring my magician friend," Sho said, smiling broadly at him. "You’ll be performing as well, I’ve registered your name.”
“You can’t just…” Nino said half way, but stopped immediately as Sho leaned closer to him.
Their position was way too compromising, Sho's hand leaned to the wall behind him, they somehow looked like doing a 'kabe don'. It was the right time to hypnotize Sho, but Nino's brain couldn't think straight when the man's lips touched his. It was enough to stop Nino’s heartbeat; Sho’s lips were soft and they could send Nino to the unconsciousness anytime soon. He didn’t want the kiss to end, but they were in the campus corridor, everyone could spot them every time.
"I really wanted to kiss you, since the first time we met," Sho said as they parted.
"Oh, please," Nino rolled his eyes as he heard that, "Well, maybe me too, just a little bit."
Sho chuckled, "You might be able to hypnotize people, but I can read your mind. I know that you will be going with me to the city hall."
Nino shrugged, but it seemed that Sho considered it as a yes.
"I have to go," Sho said, glancing at his watch, "See you tomorrow, Nino."
The latter touched his lips when Sho disappeared towards the crowd of the students at the corridor. Sho's lips were there a few minutes ago and he didn't need to hypnotize him to kiss him, he smiled at himself, it was more beautiful than he had imagined. He shouldn't doubt Sho anymore; he deserved his attention and he wouldn't care too much of what people said. He walked away with a lighter heart towards the gate while humming softly, looking forward to perform in the city hall, together with Sho.
THE END
A.N: First fic in 2017 and it's Sakumiya, yay!!
How was your New Year everybody?
I hope you guys had a good time and good resolution for a year ahead, happy new year :))
Pairing: Sakumiya
Length: one shot 5k words
Genre: romance all the way
Rating: pg
Disclaimer: This is only my imagination, none of them are mine
Summary: Nino is a university student with the ability to hypnotize people and he made money off it by working as a part timer magician in various clubs. He coincidently met Sakurai Sho at the club he was working at and got a huge crush on him, but Sho happened to be the popular student at campus who got everybody’s attention including the famous Matsumoto Jun.
Beta Reader:
sky_fish7 , thank you so much, Sky, for sparing your time to beta this Sakumiya one shot for me ^^. Thanks for your lovely comments on the story, I've added some parts and I hope it looks okay :)
Some note: It’s some kind of cheesy with prompt night and crush in the first sight, but Nino is always being Nino in the fic.
“Nino, stop that!”
“Stop what?” Nino turned his head at the man beside him.
“You’re hypnotizing me, I can’t even type the right word,” Ohno grumbled, slamming the laptop shut.
“Sorry,” Nino grinned, “I need to practice for tonight.”
“You can find someone else for that,” Ohno grinded his teeth, “Ask Aiba to volunteer, I’m sure he will do it willingly.”
Nino pouted and left Ohno to head over towards the chair at the corner of the room. He slumped there while resuming the game on his phone. Ohno didn’t cooperate with him recently because of the last assignment he had to finish within a month, it meant that Nino had to find somebody else to practice but what kind of idiot would want to be hypnotized?
Maybe Ohno was right that he should ask Aiba to volunteer, but the man was on his study trip to Okinawa. Irritated, he stood up and walked out from the classroom, leaving Ohno behind, who sank once again into his books.
There were many things that Nino needed to worry about, but his performance tonight probably was the most urgent right now. He had been working part time as a magician at various clubs already. For some reason he had a good ability in hypnotizing people, including making them his temporary boyfriend (he had tried it once). It was not an enjoyable experience, though, since the person made a blank expression all the time. He did that just to impress his ex and every time he remembered that, he felt dumb.
The second urgent thing that he needed to worry about was the fact that he had no partner for the prompt night which was arranged by the famous Matsumoto Jun. Nino didn’t want to join because it was the most stupid thing ever, but Matsumoto had threatened that everyone who dared to step back from his prompt night would pay for their stupidity. The whole campus knew how that man’s head worked; Matsumoto would make sure that all of them would participate with their partner.
Nino had no partner.
Nobody wanted to be his partner.
Ever….
He pushed the thought of Matsumoto aside and resumed the game on his phone, trying to clear his mind. He must calm down in order to perform nicely tonight but it was hard for him to focus.
He stepped towards the doorstep and watched Ohno from there. The man was seriously typing something on his laptop.
I love girls with old man’s pants.
Nino chanted and knew his mantra worked on Ohno because the man threw a pen after him as he typed the words on his laptop unconsciously.
***
Everyone clapped their hands when Nino finished his performance that night. He bowed deeply and thanked the crowd. He had successfully hypnotized the girl and her fiancé to dance tango on stage and a middle-aged man to sing a Linkin Park song.
The club owner patted his shoulder lightly as he left the stage towards the dressing room.He had asked Nino to become a regular performer here with rather good payment, but Nino didn't give him an answer yet. He was about to walk out the room when a man entered; a bundle of papers in his hand and walking in rapid speed towards the backstage.
Nino had never seen him before, he could smell the man’s perfume and knew it was an expensive brand. He usually went home after the performance, but tonight, his curiosity won. He wanted to find out who that man was, since somehow, he was worried that he might be a rival. If he was a magician, then Nino needed to agree with the offer to perform here regularly before the chance was taken by somebody else.
He walked out from the backstage area and headed towards the main room. What welcomed him was the sound of piano which was really well-played. All guests’ eyes were focused on the man on the stage, playing the music beautifully.
Nino took a seat on one of the empty chairs in the back and watched the man playing. He was drowned by the piano sound which filled the room, it was one of Mozart's pieces, which Nino happened to recognize. The man at the piano was probably at the same age with him, he had a nice figure and a super handsome face, which attracted Nino's attention - out of his will.
He was the type of person who hardly praised someone else's appearance, not even Matsumoto Jun's, who was well-known for being a role model on the entire campus with his fashion sense.
The man kept on playing the piano, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the music and when he finished, everyone gave him standing ovations. The club owner approached him to the stage and shook the man's hand.
"It's an honor, Sakurai-san, having you perform in our club," the middle-aged man smiled broadly at the pianist, "And welcome back to Japan."
"Thank you," Sakurai answered, his smile was something blinding, "You're exaggerating, I'm honored to be back here."
Nino couldn't hear the rest of the conversation since everyone started to make noise. He kept on watching that Sakurai guy until he disappeared backstage. He shook his head, it wasn't the right time to adore someone, he was in the middle of work and that Sakurai guy was just an unknown subject who should be ignored.
He rose and walked towards the backstage in order to take his stuff. There, he saw Sakurai sitting on the chair he usually sat on. The man even seemed to move Nino's stuff away in order to occupy the seat.
"Excuse me, you're sitting on my chair," Nino said, approaching the man.
Now that they were very close, he could see that Sakurai had beautiful lips and perfect face lines. His eyebrows were shaped in a very elegant way and it made him even more handsome than he already was. He gazed at Nino curiously.
"Sorry, but I didn't find your name on this chair, so..."
"My stuff was here and you moved it away."
"Oh," Sakurai seemed to realize something. He took Nino's bag and pink cardigan and handed them to Nino. "Here they are, unharmed," the man offered him a smile.
Nino took them angrily and chanted something, 'You will slip on your feet on the way home'.
"Pardon me?"
Nino didn't stay any longer, he took his belongings and walked away from the dressing room. He felt so stupid for hypnotizing Sakurai, but despite of his interesting appearance, that man had something annoying. Something, which told everyone that he came from a higher social status. Nino grimaced; what was the point of thinking about Sakurai? He didn't know the man anyway, their lives weren't connected and they probably would never meet again.
He would be surprised to find out that fate was completely the opposite.
***
"Ninomi, how's the progress of your partner hunting for Matsumoto’s prompt night?" Aiba asked as he sat down beside Nino on the park bench where he was reading a book, peacefully, before Aiba came.
"I never hunt any partners," Nino mumbled, not even lifting his head to look at Aiba.
"I can be your partner," Aiba said, circling his right hand around his shoulder.
"No," Nino answered shortly, "You're the last person on earth I want to go with."
"That's so mean, you know," Aiba pouted. "Anyway, did you hear that we got a new transfer student? Not actually a transfer student, since he was originally studying here, before winning a student exchange."
"I'm not interested."
"Alright, then I am gonna ask him to come to the prompt with me," Aiba said.
"Go ahead," Nino mumbled, thinking that he should hypnotize Aiba before the man could say another word.
He closed his book and rose off the chair, following Aiba's steps towards the main building. They would join a seminar about the classic literature, the only subject Nino liked so far. They walked side by side towards the entrance and picked their seats in the third row.
"Hi," Nino heard someone greeting him.
He turned his head towards the caller and saw Sakurai with a bandage on his left temple.
"I slipped on my way home," he mumbled.
"Oh, really?" Nino responded coldly, not mentioning that his stomach clenched in an unpleasant way since he was the reason behind the accident. He didn't mean it, he just wanted to try whether his mantra was strong enough to make someone slip on their feet accidentally. Or, maybe that Sakurai guy was just too clumsy, so that he didn't pay attention on his way. Nino hoped it was the latter.
"You know him?" Aiba whispered.
"No," Nino shook his head.
"He's the one I'm talking about, the one who won the student exchange program and from what I've heard, he's some kind of idol on this campus, perhaps even more popular than Matsujun."
“None of them are my business,” Nino answered coldly.
“You’re Nino, right?” Sakurai addressed him, not caring that Nino was obviously not interested in talking to him, . “Sorry, I got your name from the performer list at the club the other day.”
Nino looked into Sakurai’s eyes and immediately regretted it; they were shiny like the bright morning sunshine and he hated every particle of Sho’s face, which made all the butterflies in his stomach take off. Sakurai extended his hand to shake Nino's, but he couldn’t move an inch, keeping on sneaking into Sho’s eyes.
Sakurai pulled his hand, “Did I offend you?”
“No,” Nino averted his gaze away. “I am Nino.”
“Nice to meet you, you can call me Sho.”
“Sho?” Nino turned his head to Sho again, but he avoided the guy’s eyes on purpose. “Nice to meet you too.”
They stopped the conversation when the lecturer entered the room. Nino wondered what kind of thing Sho had studied abroad; and what was with the piano performance that night? He stole a glance at the guy, who was paying serious attention on the lecturer.
Aiba left the hall immediately as the class ended. Meanwhile, Nino took his time to collect his belongings in order to wait for Sho, but his excitement didn’t last long, since an intruder came in the form of Matsumoto Jun.
“Sho-kun, welcome back,” he approached Sho and gave the man a brief hug.
Nino shouldered his bag, trying to be invincible to Matsumoto, but it seemed that the man was too occupied with Sho anyway, to notice him. Nino didn’t know why he never could hypnotize Matsumoto; maybe because there was some kind of grunt inside him towards the man. It was not hatred, but something else he couldn’t name.
He looked back to both, Sho and Matsumoto, and got annoyed. He took a deep breath and mumbled ‘Spill the mineral water on Matsumoto’s expensive coat’.
***
“You can hypnotize someone to be your partner,” Ohno said casually.
“I don’t even have any candidate or maybe you want to be hypnotized,” Nino answered, slumping beside Ohno at the library.
“I already got one,” Ohno mumbled.
“You know, it’s really stupid to participate in Matsumoto’s game.”
“You can withdraw anytime you like.”
“And everyone will accuse me as a coward,” Nino groaned.
“Then you have to participate. It’s just for fun, it doesn’t mean Matsumoto wants to make us look stupid,” Ohno said while patting Nino’s shoulder lightly.
Ohno didn’t know the ‘thing’ between him and Matsumoto. Nino could sense that Matsumoto saw him as some kind of threat to his already-so-perfect-life even if it was stupid, because Nino literally had nothing compared to Matsumoto. However, he was sure that the man would embarrass him.
Nino gulped, he never had any partner to the prompt, he always became a lone wolf and got embarrassed afterwards. It was not because of his looks, he had been classified as one of the most handsome students at campus. The reason was his cold behaviour. He didn’t mean to be cold, it was his nature and people tended to judge him as a heartless person.
They were also scared of his magic (it was not even real magic, he just happened to have a technique to hypnotize people and made money off it). Well, maybe sometime he used it to the people who annoyed him, including Sho when they met for the first time.
“I’m going home,” Nino mumbled, grabbing his bag and walking towards the campus gate.
He avoided the main corridor Matsumoto usually took and walked alone through a hidden path along the campus garden which lead him to the exit. He didn’t expect to find Sho there. The man was all alone and he was smoking. It was a surprise to Nino, since Sho fit every description of a perfect, disciplined young master from a wealthy family.
He pretended not to see the man but it was useless since there were just the two of them on that narrow path.
“Nino, going home?” Sho asked.
“Yeah,” Nino answered shortly.
“I was impressed by your performance at the club, the owner told me that you’re really good in magic show,” Sho said, throwing his cigarette butt on the ground and stepping on it.
“Thanks,” Nino stopped and looked at the man before him. He had just realized their height difference and knew that he would fit perfectly on Sho’s chest if the man held him (what the fuck was he thinking now). “Your piano playing was cool too,” he complimented Sho as well.
“It’s been a while since I played,” Sho said, smiling at him. “When will you perform again?”
“Next two days,” Nino answered.
“I’ll be there,” Sho said. “I have to go, my next lesson should be starting anytime soon.”
“Alright,” Nino tried to smile but he knew his lips only formed a stiff grin.
“Bye, Nino.”
“Bye, Sho.”
***
Nino didn’t know whether his next meetings with Sho were purely coincidence or the man had completely remembered Nino’s schedule, because they met almost everywhere; in class, in the corridor, the library, even at a specific park bench, in the canteen and even the toilet.
Sho would greet him happily every time they met, which gained Nino jealous gazes from everyone because all of them wanted the same attention from Sho. Nino had just fount out that Sho had been one of the most popular students, before he left to Sweden (he wasn’t here back then) and how everyone gossiped that Sho had a special relationship with Jun but it ended as Sho left for Stockholm. Nino couldn’t guess why Sho decided to take the same semester all over again as he returned to Japan, but it wasn’t his issue. His issue became rather that Nino got now accused by everybody of hypnotizing Sho, since the man was clearly showing him affection.
Nino must admit that he was interested in Sho since the first time they met, but he never expected a reply. He had gotten used to one-sided love or watching his crush being snatched away from him.
It was a disaster when Sho said that he wanted to go with him to Matsumoto’s prompt night.
He was reading a book in the library when Sho came to sit down beside him. The latter brought a thick novel with him, reading it in silence for a good ten minutes before whispering to Nino.
“Would you come to the prompt with me?”
Nino thought that Sho was reading a line from his book until he noticed that the other man was facing him with a smile on his lips.
“Pardon me?”
“Do you have a partner already?” Sho asked, frowning slightly.
“I’m sorry, what are you talking about?” Nino closed the book in his hands after inserting the bookmark in between the pages he was reading. He faced Sho whose eyes were locked to him.
“I want you to come with me to the prompt,” Sho said firmly, he put down his book and held Nino’s hand, squishing his fingers softly, “Only if you like, I bet you’ve got a lot of offers already.”
Nino wanted to pull his hand away from Sho’s grip, but he couldn’t do that, he felt that all of his muscles stiffened as if Sho had hypnotized them, making them immobilize. He knew it would come sooner or later – Sho had shown him an affection more than he could imagined. It was about time before one of them confessed their feeling.
“No,” Nino shook his head. “I mean, nobody invited me to that prompt,” he looked at Sho’s face and averted his gaze immediately, he couldn’t look into those eyes for more than three seconds.
“So, would you like to go with me?”
Nino should have said yes and end of story, but he unconsciously chanted his mantra to hypnotize Sho in order to make him forget that he had invited Nino to go.
He knew that he would regret what he had done, because he wanted to go with Sho – for heaven’s sake. However, it seemed too good to be true to hear the invitation directly from Sho’s mouth. Nino was scared that it was just his wild hallucination.
He avoided Sho for the time being until the man cornered him in the male toilet after class. Nino knew that he couldn’t lie to himself any longer, not caring about the consequences that Matsumoto would bash him forever for coming to the prompt with Sho.
“Nino, come with me to the prompt.”
“I guess I have no choice,” he said, smiling at Sho.
***
Everyone seemed to disbelieve as the news spread. All of them (including Ohno and Aiba) were like ‘Ninomiya and Sakurai?!’.
The worst part was the prompt night itself, when they went there together. Nino never liked party in whatever forms. He always avoided it the best he could. He didn’t like being surrounded by many people whom he didn’t really know. He wasn’t good in starting the conversation and always flustered when people tried to involve him in a group talk.
He had been to Matsumoto’s party twice and they had caused severe trauma to him. The man wanted to become the center of the party which Nino didn’t really care because it was his party anyway, but when some of his friends asked Nino to perform his magic, Matsumoto turned mad because Nino had stolen his stage. Nino wondered why Matsumoto even bothered to invite him in the first place if he disliked Nino that much. Maybe because Matsumoto befriended Ohno for helping him finished his assignments and Ohno was Nino’s best friend so it would be rude to leave Nino uninvited.
One thing which made Nino hate party – he simply didn’t know what to wear. Aiba had told him that he still looked nice only by wearing a Mickey Mouse printed T-shirt, but he would go together with Sho, he couldn’t wear that ugly T-shirt. After a long confusion, he finally chose his simple jacket above a dark green checked shirt.
Sho had insisted to pick him up to his dormitory, but Nino denied because he still felt uneasy if Sho was near him, so he went to Matsumoto’s place with Ohno by subway. Ohno wore one of his best outfits, he looked like a young master in his suits. Unlike Nino, Ohno loved to attend parties, he told Nino that his partner was a girl two years their junior. Nino wasn’t really interested to find out who that girl was, so he simply didn’t make any comments.
Nino found Sho waiting for him at the entrance of Matsumoto’s house. He looked handsome (or Nino could categorize him as super handsome) in his dark suits with nice a nice necktie. Maybe because Sho had spent two years in Europe that he always wanted to dress properly for an event, not mentioning the meaningless Matsumoto’s prompt night.
“You look nice,” Sho said as he saw Nino approached.
“Thank you,” Nino answered shyly. He was far from nice, his old jacket looked way too ugly compared to Sho’s.
Sho tried to grip his hand, but Nino avoided it. He could sense everyone’s gaze at them; almost all of the party attendees looked down on him for having Sho beside him. Nino reminded himself that it wasn’t his fault if Sho liked him, let it be, he thought sourly.
Matsumoto delivered his speech from the small stage in the middle of the party venue. He wore a long cloak above a dark red shirt which looked expensive. He had changed his hair colour for this party which somehow made him look cuter, even though he had never been cute in Nino’s eyes.
The party was perfect; the music which played as the back sound was as good as they expected. Some couples already took the floor to dance with their partners, Ohno was among them, he held a pretty girl in his arm and smiled at Nino as their eyes met.
Nino was glad when Sho mentioned that he couldn’t dance, it was somehow a relief because he didn’t want to step on the dancefloor and looked stupid. Both of them took a drink instead and sat down on the chairs at the far corner, away from the dancefloor. A few couples were there, enjoying their drink while talking in low voices.
“Do you have any other plans after the party?” Sho asked out of the blue. His hand finally found Nino’s and this time, the latter couldn’t do anything to avoid it.
“No,” Nino shook his head, waiting for Sho to response.
“I’ve been thinking,” Sho said, shifting closer to Nino and placing his right hand on Nino’s waist. “What if we go for a midnight date after this.”
Nino was about to answer when Matsumoto appeared in front of them. He looked at Nino from head to toe; his face formed a frightening expression. He grinded his teeth when he saw Sho’s hand on Nino’s waist.
Matsumoto grabbed Nino by the elbow and pulled him towards the center of the party venue where the swimming pool was located. Nino knew it wasn’t a good sign.
"You've been hypnotizing him!"
Matsumoto cornered him and almost pushed him into the swimming pool. Everybody turned at them to watch, it was not a secret anymore that both of them didn't really like each other.
Nino sighed deeply, he knew it would be a waste of time to talk with this guy. Matsumoto would have accused him anyway.
"You can ask him to confirm whether I was hypnotizing him to come with me," Nino pointed at Sho who stared blankly at them, not knowing what to do.
Matsumoto glared at him with a burning gaze and decided to retreat, he turned at Sho and said nothing. Then, he faced Nino again and this time he pushed him into the cold swimming pool for real. Nino could hear people screaming; but it was more to Matsumoto's anger than worrying about him.
He fell into the super cold water and felt a hundred small needles stabbed his skin. He swam to the edge of the pool with all the strength he got because his fingers had already turned numb within just a few seconds.
He saw Sho approaching the pool, the worrisome was clearly shown on his face. The other party attendees pretended not to see him, Nino knew they would be in trouble if they dared to help him.
"Are you okay?" Sho extended his hand and helped him out.
"I'm fine," Nino said. He climbed up the pool, wiped his face and just realized that he had his phone in his pocket. It wasn't a water-proof phone so he was sure that it had been damaged. "I'd better leave."
"I'm going with you," Sho said, following him.
"Matsumoto would accuse me hypnotizing you again if he sees us," Nino shivered coldly.
"Let him be," Sho said.
Everybody whispered behind their hands when they saw Nino walking towards the exit with Sho behind him.
"You'll catch a cold," Sho said, "You better change your clothes first."
"I didn't bring any extra clothes with me."
"You can wear mine, I store some in my car, come on," Sho grabbed Nino's wrist and guided him towards the parking lot.
"You don't need to be kind to me," Nino mumbled, "I'm just a bastard, you know."
"I'm a bastard too, we're equal," Sho said, smiling at him. "Did you really hypnotize me to come to the prompt with you?"
"No," Nino shook his head, "You asked me to go with you and I denied, but because you insisted, I hypnotize you to forget about it, just a little bit," he grinned.
"Why?"
Nino hesitated; he was glad that Sho asked him out to the prompt, but he had been confused by the sudden invitation. He didn't get used to it, he didn't deserve someone's attention, he hated the feeling that Sho was paying attention at him, it just embarrassed him.
Besides, he didn't want to have any connection with Matsumoto's friends; what he would get afterward was just a humiliation, being pushed into the cold swimming pool by him was only the first.
They reached Sho’s car at the end of the parking lot, it was an old-fashioned car, it seemed that Sho liked classic style for his vehicle. He opened the trunk and took a tote bag from there. He fished inside and pulled a bundle of clothes.
"Here," Sho handed him an old pair of jeans and a jacket, "Just for emergency," the man added.
"Thanks," Nino took the clothes from Sho's hand and headed towards the nearest restroom. He changed his clothes as fast as he could and blushed all of a sudden since he had no underwear inside.
Sho was waiting for him when he finished, he smiled at Nino and opened the car for him.
"Where are we going?" Sho asked.
"I don't know, it's too early to go home," Nino said, boarding the car and fastening the seat belt.
"Let's just drive around, I bet you don't want to meet people at this point," Sho glanced at his clothes.
"I'm not crazy about fashion," Nino said, shivering. He felt pretty bad. Maybe there had been something else other than water inside that damned swimming pool, maybe Matsumoto had put in some poison and pushed him in on purpose, so he could kill Nino without being detected. He shook his head; he always thought something bad when it was about Matsumoto. Probably, that guy was that bad and he was just overthinking.
“Are you okay?” Sho asked him.
“I don’t know, it’s very cold.”
“You can wear my jacket,” Sho said, taking off his jacket and handed it to Nino.
“Thanks,” Nino covered his upper body with the jacket, but he still shivered badly.
Sho drove the car away from Matsumoto's house; he hummed along the way which gained an amusing grin from Nino.
“Sho, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Is there something between you and Matsumoto?”
Sho chuckled and shook his head, “He liked me, but that was a long time ago. He hates losing, maybe he’s jealous of your magic and because I like you,” Sho paused to wait for Nino’s response, but Nino couldn’t answer to that joking-like statement.
“Did I say I like you?” Sho confirmed innocently.
“Yes, you did,” Nino sneezed. He had no energy left to digest what Sho meant, whether that ‘like’ was just between friends who liked each other’s presence or something deeper than that. He would ask the man later on, when they were in better circumstances.
"Can we stop for a can of beer?" Nino asked after half an hour; when they were already out of Yokohama area.
"Alright," Sho turned left and searched for the nearest convenient store where they could have some beer. He told Nino to wait in the car, saying that it was freezing outside. He watched Sho walking towards the entrance, Sho should have enjoyed the party if he didn’t choose to leave with Nino. He shouldn’t have asked Nino to come to that stupid prompt at the first place.
Sho came back with four cans of beer and two packs of snacks, he handed one of the cans to Nino and tore the snack plastic apart. They sipped the beer and ate the snack in silence, feeling so weird to end up in this place.
“Sho, I’m sorry,” Nino said as he finished his beer.
“For what?”
“For dragging you out from the party, you should be there instead of keeping me company.”
Sho sipped his beer and tossed the empty can to the plastic bag, he turned at Nino and smiled, “It’s more fun to be with you,” he placed his hand on Nino’s chin and leaned closer.
Nino knew what would happen; he tried so hard not to sneeze as Sho’s face leaned closer, but it was too late, he sneezed hard and hit Sho’s forehead with his.
“I’m sorry,” he said, feeling so embarrassed that he wished he could just drowned into the ground.
Sho laughed and handed him some tissue, he helped Nino cleaning his nose and still laughed amusingly. “You’re so cute, you know.”
“Thank you very much,” Nino said sarcastically.
Sho moved to the backseat and invited him to do the same, “Come here, I’ll warm you up,” Sho said, opening his arms widely.
“Are you going to rape me?” Nino asked, wiping his wet nose.
“I’ll think about it.”
Nino crawled to the back seat and placed his head in Sho’s arms. The man wrapped him in a tight embrace; Nino could hear his heartbeat clearly. Sho’s right hand brushed his hair softly, this was way better than staying at Matsumoto’s party, Nino thought. He closed his eyes and wrapped his hand around Sho’s waist; being pushed into a cold swimming pool wasn’t a bad thing after all.
***
"Magic guy," Ohno called him.
Nino shrugged, "Does everyone call me by that name?"
"No, just me," Ohno said, smiling at him, "Matsumoto seemed angry."
"It was obvious," Nino rolled his eyes at Ohno.
"So, how's your relationship with that Sakurai guy?"
Nino didn't answer; he looked outside the window, to the maple tree, which leaves had already turned red. It was obvious that everyone gazed at him with the strange look after the incident, he hoped that they would put a blame on Matsumoto instead of him. After all, Matsumoto was the one who pushed him into the pool, not the opposite.
"Listen, I didn't do anything to Sakurai, he was the one who asked me out. Why do people accuse me as the suspect? Do they think that I don't deserve Sakurai's attention?" Nino angrily shut his computer down.
"Maybe because everyone assumed that Sakurai was Matsumoto's crush, something like that," Ohno concluded as if it could solve everything.
"That is stupid," Nino shook his head, remembering what Sho told him about the thing between him and Matsumoto.
"You can hypnotize Matsumoto and make him jump from the roof," Ohno suggested.
Nino laughed for real, he wasn't that much of a moron to kill somebody with his power. Maybe Matsumoto deserved it sometime, but he knew he couldn't do anything to that man.
He stuffed his laptop into his rucksack and headed towards the campus park. He saw Sho walking the opposite direction with him, he recalled what happened that night and blushed. He wasn’t ready to meet Sho again after their lovey dovey cuddling inside Sho’s car; he didn’t know what to say to the other man. He needed to change direction now, but Sho was faster, he caught his hand and pulled him out of the crowd.
"I've been searching for you," Sho said. “I missed you.”
"I'm busy with my last assignment," Nino mumbled, avoiding Sho’s gaze on purpose. He had been missing Sho as well, but he couldn’t ask Sho to meet, he wasn’t good in asking people out.
"Would you accompany me tonight?" Sho asked.
"Where to? Is it a date?"
"I'll be performing at the city hall," Sho said, choosing his words carefully. “We can go for a date after that,” the man gave him a sweet smile and Nino knew he couldn’t say no.
"So?" Nino said, trying to look ignorance.
"I need you to be there."
"I don't get it," Nino shook his head, "You're the one who will be performing there, you don't need me."
"I said that I will bring my magician friend," Sho said, smiling broadly at him. "You’ll be performing as well, I’ve registered your name.”
“You can’t just…” Nino said half way, but stopped immediately as Sho leaned closer to him.
Their position was way too compromising, Sho's hand leaned to the wall behind him, they somehow looked like doing a 'kabe don'. It was the right time to hypnotize Sho, but Nino's brain couldn't think straight when the man's lips touched his. It was enough to stop Nino’s heartbeat; Sho’s lips were soft and they could send Nino to the unconsciousness anytime soon. He didn’t want the kiss to end, but they were in the campus corridor, everyone could spot them every time.
"I really wanted to kiss you, since the first time we met," Sho said as they parted.
"Oh, please," Nino rolled his eyes as he heard that, "Well, maybe me too, just a little bit."
Sho chuckled, "You might be able to hypnotize people, but I can read your mind. I know that you will be going with me to the city hall."
Nino shrugged, but it seemed that Sho considered it as a yes.
"I have to go," Sho said, glancing at his watch, "See you tomorrow, Nino."
The latter touched his lips when Sho disappeared towards the crowd of the students at the corridor. Sho's lips were there a few minutes ago and he didn't need to hypnotize him to kiss him, he smiled at himself, it was more beautiful than he had imagined. He shouldn't doubt Sho anymore; he deserved his attention and he wouldn't care too much of what people said. He walked away with a lighter heart towards the gate while humming softly, looking forward to perform in the city hall, together with Sho.
THE END
A.N: First fic in 2017 and it's Sakumiya, yay!!
How was your New Year everybody?
I hope you guys had a good time and good resolution for a year ahead, happy new year :))
