fic for loregorito!

[nino_mod]

For: loregorito
From: :3.

Title: to the sky, please don't forget
Pairing/Focus: Matsumoto Jun/Ninomiya Kazunari
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 22,453
Warnings: None
Summary: In the 16 years Jun has been a photographer, he has been holding on to the old picture in his wallet to keep him going. Until one day, the universe decides to work its magic. 
Notes: Dearest loregorito, thank you so much for giving me a lot of freedom on what to write. I had a lot of fun writing this fic, and I hope you enjoy. This was inspired by Jun's Hajimari no Uta SP and Nino's upcoming photographer role. Many thanks to Y and D who have been holding my hand throughout the fic, and V for being the best beta I could've ever asked <3 I tried to make everything as realistic as I could, but all mistakes would be mine. Title from Mikazuki.

2003, April.

The sound of waves crashing against the shore echoed, the sun slowly but surely setting, leaving orange reflections on the surface of the water. Jun took a deep breath, eyes fixed on his camera’s viewfinder. The shadow of a man appeared, gaze faraway, and when the light hit perfectly on his sharp cheekbones, highlighting his hair––

Click.

Jun’s finger pressed the shutter button decisively and he finally took his eyes off the viewfinder to look down at the result as he smiled to himself. Finally.

“Kazu,” he called out, grinning. “Look at this.”

Kazu––the model of Jun’s picture just now, also known as Nino––turned to him. “Let me see,” he peered at Jun’s camera, and smiled. “King of perfect timing, Jun-kun. I guess it was worth it to travel all the way to the Noto Peninsula.”

Jun’s grin broadened, and he patted the space on the rock next to him, gesturing at Kazu to sit. “I told Professor Noriyuki I’d do the beach article properly, so.”

“Always such a perfectionist,” Nino snorted, but Jun could hear the affection in his voice, so he didn’t say anything. He hopped to sit on the rock, close to Jun, watching the sky changing colors, the waves softly brushing the shore still.

“Thank you for agreeing to help me, Kazu.” Jun said, his voice soft, almost lost in the ocean. His hand reached out to cover Nino’s, and Nino flipped his hand to entwine his small fingers with Jun’s.

“Always a pleasure, Jun-kun,” he gave him a small smile, and Jun found that if he could spend the rest of his life like this––with Nino by his side, watching sunsets from the deserted corner of a beach in the Noto Peninsula, with Nino’s fingers laced with his, he would.

But of course, nothing was beautiful because it lasted.

***

2019, April.

Jun straightened his tie for the god-knew-how-many time today. It was his 2nd exhibition already, but the nervousness was something he didn’t know how to get rid of. His sister had smoothed his tie earlier, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his forehead, telling him how proud she was of him, and yet he didn’t feel less nervous. Instead, he felt more so.

His theme this time was In the rush, portraying busy lives throughout Tokyo. He had been working on this for the past year, alongside his journalist job, and now, here he was.

People were starting to flock around. Despite his young age, he had been climbing the tough steps to the top since he was around 27, slowly but steadily. With the help of wonderful friends and connections, Jun was one of the top photographers in Tokyo. It was satisfying to see his hard work paying off, but also working hard had no end in Jun’s vocabulary.

Jun walked around, nodding to the people he recognized, smiling back at those who smiled at him. Shun and Toma had been some of the first people to come, punching Jun’s arm lightly while telling him not to be nervous. One of Shun’s little girls had kissed Jun’s cheek, complimenting one of his works. It calmed Jun, it made him happy.

Sho and Aiba were somewhere amongst the crowd, too. Sho gave him the usual squeeze on his shoulder, smiling warmly, congratulating him on his hard work and expecting to see more in the future. It was the same, usual Sho-kun who always encouraged Jun before he assigned him a project at work or praised him for his hard work whenever the project for an article ended.

Aiba was the usual bright, happy sunshine that he was. He had brought Jun sunflowers, knowing they were some of his favorites. Aiba was the one who had helped Jun brainstorm ideas for a lot of his works and pulled him out of slumps countless of times. The fashion designer said a lot of weird things sometimes, but they helped. They helped when Jun had no idea where to start, when he felt lost.

Jun allowed himself a small smile at the thought of these people––the people who had been holding his hand since the very start, who picked up the pieces whenever Jun fell apart. They brought him here, to this day, this one moment.

The rays of sunshine were blazing through the open glasses, brightening the venue. It’s a sunny day, Jun thought. His steps abruptly came to a halt when he saw a face he hadn’t seen in years. Okay, in 16 years, to be exact.

“Magnificent thing, isn’t it?” The figure said, smiling while looking admiringly at one of the pictures.

Jun felt like his heart had stopped.

“In the rush, huh? You did so well portraying the theme. I’m impressed,” he turned to Jun, soft sunlight caressing his slightly wavy hair. “Matsumoto Jun-san? It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Ninomiya Kazunari.”

Jun didn’t need the man to tell him, he knew. Ninomiya Kazunari, Nino, his Kazu, the one who had suddenly disappeared to Germany on their second year of college without a word. No one had known what had happened to him back then. Jun had tried, asking his professor, sending letters that always got sent back. He’d tried everything, but it had been fruitless.

16 years later, he was there.

But he didn’t seem to have any recollection of who Jun was.

Jun took a deep breath before putting on his most professional smile, offering his hand. “Thank you for coming today, Ninomiya-san. Are you a photographer, too?”

“Call me Nino,” he flashed a grin before pulling a business card out of his suit pocket. “I’m a photographer, too. I was a freelancer, though. I just came back to Japan 2 weeks ago, and Sho-chan told me to come here.”

“You’re a friend of Sho-kun?” Jun blinked. To be fair, it wasn’t like he’d ever told Sho about Nino and how he had abruptly left Jun like there’d been nothing special between them––okay, there hadn’t been anything special, but Jun had been in love. Even if it had been one-sided.

“Why, yes. I didn’t regret coming, though, so I have to thank him later for recommending it to me. Lovely works you’ve got here, Matsumoto-san,” Nino smiled again.

There was a slight slash of disappointment slicing Jun’s heart at the fact that Nino didn’t remember a thing about him, and he couldn’t believe he was feeling heartbroken over a crush that had happened 16 years ago, but now all the feelings came back and enveloped him all at once. That day at the Noto Peninsula, the sunset they had watched together, how Nino had sat next to him, unaware of Jun’s mad heartbeat. The feeling of his fingers intertwined with Jun’s. The days they’d spent together having lunch, and how kind Nino had been when Jun had asked him to help with his project.

Everything hurt, Nino’s business card felt like it was burning in his palm, and even thinking of him as Nino instead of Kazu in his head hurt. He felt like his necktie was too tight and the room was too hot, and all the calm and serenity he had felt the minute before had gone god-knew-where. It took everything in him to focus and manage another smile at Nino.

“Thank you so much for making the time to come today,” Jun said, not liking how strained his voice sounded. “I’m glad you like the photos. It took quite some time to finish this one, but I like how varied it turned out to be.”

“Certainly, this can be a tricky topic. One miss and this would have been simply regarded as basic street photography. But this is on another level, Matsumoto-san. You’re very good,” Nino said softly, and Jun’s heart clenched. “Do you have any photobooks I can buy? I’d love to see more of your work.”

“They’re sold at the shop section of the venue,” Jun pointed at one of the corners.

“Thank you. I’ll be going, then. It was nice meeting you, Matsumoto-san,” Nino grinned again.

“It was nice meeting you, Nino,” again, he didn’t say. Jun probably should have just told him that it was him, it was Jun-kun from college days, the one he’d come to the Noto Peninsula with, the one who still kept that picture of him in his wallet–-not that Nino knew that, of course.

But a part of him was scared. Scared that even after Jun revealed that, Nino would look at him confusedly instead of recognising him. Scared of the possibility of Nino completely forgetting about him instead of simply not recognising him now. But it’d been 16 years, after all. People moved on, Nino had moved on, Jun was simply the one who hadn’t.

The 16-year-old picture of Nino’s silhouette against the sunset said a lot about his attachment.

He watched as Nino’s back disappeared into the crowd, and finally found some strength in himself to turn on his heels and go to the washroom. Jun rolled up his sleeves and turned on the faucet, splashing water on his face before staring at his reflection in the mirror.

He took a deep breath, inhaling, exhaling, like Aiba always taught him whenever he felt like he was on edge, panicking over deadlines, panicking over a blank mind. He remembered Shun’s daughter’s kiss, remembered Toma’s arm around his shoulder, remembered his mother’s voice over the phone this morning, remembered his sister’s smile when she had fixed his tie for him before they opened up.

Jun inhaled deeply once more, eyes closed, and Nino’s smile filled his vision. The sunset from 16 years ago, the soft crashing sound of the waves. He opened them, exhaling, remembered Yuu’s voice telling him she was proud of him, remembered Aiba’s sunflowers and his smile, remembered Sho’s rich laughter.

Jun looked at his reflection one more time, before exhaling slowly.

Nino was back. He didn’t remember Jun.

But Jun was going to be okay.

***

Of course it didn’t work like that, because the universe just loved being a total bitch to Jun sometimes.

It had been 3 weeks since his encounter with Nino, and he still hadn’t gotten the chance–-or courage––to ask Sho about him. But now with his exhibition done, wrapped up and successful, he had finally gone back to the office, ready for whatever assignment Sho had prepared for him next.

Jun hadn’t been late for work, he had gotten through his first 2 cups of morning coffee without any trouble, curling up in his chair in the kitchen, waking up slowly while savoring the bitter taste in his mouth. He had actually been in a good enough mood to walk to the station and catch the train despite the morning rush. Aiko had greeted him and told him he looked good today when he’d passed the receptionist table.

It had been a good day, until he was called to Sho’s office, just like every other Monday.

It was just like every other Monday, except Nino was sitting in front of Sho’s table.

Jun couldn’t believe his life.

“Matsujun, this is Ninomiya Kazunari, our newest recruit. You met him at the exhibition, I assume?” Sho gestured for Jun to sit down on the chair next to Nino. He inclined his head, stiffly moving to take the empty seat.

“We met, yes. What’s with the sudden recruit, Sakurai-san, if I may ask?”

“Kamenashi quit last week, it was pretty abrupt, but we needed to fill the position as fast as possible. The two of you were the only active photographers in the photography division, and with you away for the exhibition, we were short of hands,” Sho explained. “I knew Nino from when I went to his exhibition in Germany a couple of years ago. He just came back to Japan around a month ago, so I thought I could offer him the position,”

Jun took a deep breath. Okay. So his partner quit and now his old crush was his new partner. What a very good day indeed.

“Understood, sir,” he inclined his head once again. He could complain to Sho once they weren’t at work. “May I ask what my assignment is for this edition, sir?”

“The firefly festival in Kugayama. Nino will be responsible for the Japan Media Arts Festival,” he said, passing them their respective documents containing the details of the assignments.

In all honesty, Jun had been aiming for the Japan Media Arts Festival. He was a big fan of that kind of thing, and since he hadn’t had time to go, he thought he could fit it in his schedule if he had gone for work instead. And now there went his chance, gone taken just like that by Ninomiya effing Kazunari.

Jun took a brief look at his assignment, figuring that getting upset about it wouldn’t do anything good, and it’d be uncharacteristic of him to act all childish because of some stupid old crush. He looked up at Sho and bowed a little once again.

“Understood, sir, I’ll be going, then.”

Ninomiya echoed him, and as soon as Sho dismissed the two of them, Jun was out of his office. He threw himself into his chair, looking at the board with pictures and to-do-lists on it. He had a deal with a fashion magazine for a photoshoot tonight, and he figured he might as well prepare the concept for that while brainstorming for his new assignment.

A hand landed on his shoulder. Nino.

“I look forward to working with you, J,” he grinned, and Jun knew it was going to drive him crazy. He was completely fucked. Also, J? What the hell?

“Likewise,” he replied shortly before going back to the papers in front of him.

Honestly, Jun had no idea how in the world he was supposed to work with Nino, but then he hit himself hard and reminded himself that he took pride in being a professional. He could definitely do his job even while working with his former crush.

It wasn’t like Jun was still in love with Nino, he wasn’t. It was probably the fact that Nino had disappeared from his life so abruptly and suddenly, and how it had taken Jun years and years to get over the fact that he was really gone.

After all, Nino was probably the first guy Jun had actually genuinely loved, despite him never knowing. Of course, he’d been with his share of girls and some guys during high school, but none were as memorable as Nino. He’d been merely curious before. What he’d felt for Nino hadn’t been something that was born out of curiosity.

He took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on his desk before shaking his head and deciding to do the work he needed to get done.

***

“I had absolutely no idea you knew Nino, Matsujun, I swear,” Sho clasped his hand in front of him, looking like he was holding back a laugh after Jun had told him about his thing with Nino.

“Sure, you had no idea so you told him to come to my exhibition, made him my partner at work and then gave him the assignment I was aiming for. You had no idea at all, totally,” Jun sipped his beer before narrowing his eyes at Sho. They were at one of their favorite soba places, one they frequented a lot when work allowed them.

“What? I was just being a good friend in recommending your exhibition to people, and a good boss in finding you a competent new partner because you became partnerless! What are you being all cynical about?” Sho retorted, still laughing a little at Jun’s scowl. “I had no idea you knew him, or that he was your first love or whatever, or the fact that he didn’t remember a thing about you. I would never, Matsujun,”

Jun sighed. “I know you would never.” Another sigh. “But you won’t partner us up for some article or some shit, right? I don’t want to be stuck in a long-term project with that person, seriously,”

Sho smiled behind his can of beer.

“Ah, you’re so cute, Matsujun. Are you falling for him again?”

“Like hell I am. With that cocky, self-righteous guy who thinks he’s such a big deal? No, thank you, Sho-kun,” Jun rolled his eyes, taking more sips of beer. Sho was grinning in front of him and Jun didn’t have the energy to deal with whatever teasing he had come up with now.

“Ah, the department is going to be so exciting from now on,” Sho sing-sang.

“It’s not like I’m going to work with him a lot, right?” Jun sighed. “I’ll be a little bit busy for the next few months anyway, Sho-kun. Got some projects piling up.”

“Well, you got along too well with Kame! Someone needs to push your buttons a bit sometimes, Aiba-chan spoils you too much,” Sho replied, and Jun resisted the urge to roll his eyes because Sho spoiled him just as much as Aiba did sometimes. “And it’s alright, Matsujun, just take care,”

Jun took out his wallet and passed it over on the table.

“What, you’re paying?”

“You wish. There’s a picture in it, take a look,”

Sho opened the wallet, before taking out the old, printed picture from that day on the beach 16 years ago. He stilled, fingers gently holding the paper, and he looked up at Jun.

“This is Nino?”

Jun said nothing, and Sho flipped the picture. His eyes widened, and Jun didn’t even need to ask why. It was clearly there, Jun wrote it many years ago.

26/4/2003. Kazu.

“Matsujun…”

“He just meant a lot to me, he really did, and he still does,” Jun said, voice low. “I have no idea what to do now that he’s back into my life and he doesn't remember a thing about me. That something so significant for me turned out to be so insignificant to him,”

Sho’s eyes were kind when he softly pressed the picture against Jun’s palm.

“At times like this, Matsujun,” he said slowly. “You just have to go with the flow.”

Jun stared at the scenery he had stuck at the back of his mind one more time, before Sho’s words enveloped him thoroughly. Go with the flow. Go with the flow.

Yes, that was the only thing he could do.

***

“Good work on the firefly festival project, Matsujun,” Sho peeked at his workspace. Nino was behind Jun, sorting through the pictures he took. “The magazine editors are working on it right now, it’ll be in this month’s feature.” He smiled, and Jun inclined his head.

“Nino, are you done with Japan Media Arts?” He inquired, and Nino jumped in his seat.

“Yes, yes, I am. I’ll send the finalized files to you tonight, Sho-chan,” he grinned like a cat in his seat after he’d twirled to face Sho. Meanwhile, Jun was horrified at the honorific he’d attached to Sho’s given name at work. The last time Jun checked, Sho was their boss.

“I’ll be waiting, then. Don’t take too long, Nino. They need time to process it as well,” Sho said one last time before he nodded at both of them and took his leave.

“Say,” Jun said after a moment of silence. “Why would you call Sho-kun “Sho-chan”? We’re at work, you know. Even I call him Sakurai-san,”

Nino laughed, loudly and richly, and Jun absolutely hated it.

“Don’t be too serious, J. You wouldn’t want to get wrinkles too early, right?” He said, a smile still lingering on his youthful face. “Sho-chan doesn’t mind, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind either if you called him Sho-kun. Have a little fun?”

“Work is work, having fun is having fun, personal life is personal life,” Jun shrugged. “Well, I was just curious. Apologies for bothering you in the middle of work,”

Jun turned on his chair to face his computer again, looking through the files Sho had just given him.

“Hey, it’s all good, no need to be so serious,” Jun heard the wheels of Nino’s chair dragging closer to him and he closed his eyes for a moment, before turning just to see Nino’s face right in front of him.

Jun blinked, taking it all in. Nino’s skin looked unbelievably smooth, peppered with small moles here and there, aside from the prominent one on the left side of his chin. His eyes were bright brown, and Jun felt like he’d never really paid attention to Nino’s eyes back in college. He had sharp cheekbones, and his nose complemented his face features harmoniously. And oh, how Jun wanted to run his hand along his chee––

Wait.

Jun didn’t. Jun did not.

He snapped back to reality and fell back, Nino quickly mirroring him. Nino mumbled a soft sorry, though Jun hated that he was so pale to the point Jun could see how the blush crept to his ears.

Jun took a deep breath before looking at Nino again.

“It’s not about being serious or not, I was merely curious, alright?”

Nino nodded, and seeing this more timid version of him felt weird to Jun. He had always been loud, snarky, smart, witty. This was a whole different Nino Jun was witnessing, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was pretty intrigued.

“I know, I was just saying, no need to be so serious with me at work. Just chill out, J, seriously,” he said, the light tone back to his voice. “Actually, what are you doing tonight?”

One of Jun’s eyebrows arched. “Well, nothing, actually,”

“Then let’s get ramen together. The two of us,” he proposed, eyes twinkling. When Jun didn’t grace him with a reply, he groaned. “Come on, J! We’ve been partnered for a week now and we barely know each other, I didn’t even get my proper welcome dinner. You can pick the restaurant, okay?”

“Why so suddenly?”

“I mean, I’m finished with my first project here, it’s only right that we go out and celebrate,” he grinned. Jun was pretty weirded out because as far as he remembered, Nino had always avoided going out of his house as much as possible, especially if it was for something trivial as being “finished with his first project”. Jun had no idea if that had changed in the past 16 years, of course, but still, it felt pretty out of character.

There were a million voices in Jun’s head telling him that he should decline, not go, it was a bad idea, and yet he was clinging to that one whisper telling him to go.

This might be your only chance.

“Well, okay, then,” he relented. “I’ll LINE you the address later,”

Nino’s cat-like grin widened, and Jun wanted it to stay there forever.

“Okay, J.”

***

Jun had picked his favorite ramen place for his dinner with Nino. He had been frequenting it since he was fresh out of university and he continued until now since the vibe was refreshing, and it was something Jun needed from time to time. He came here a lot with Sho, and even more often with Aiba.

The owner, Matsuoka, had all of Jun’s fussy preferences memorized. He’d seen Jun bring a lot of people to the restaurant, sometimes for a date, sometimes just for a quick dinner with a friend, and Jun couldn’t help but wonder which category his dinner with Nino would fall into. Jun inhaled and opened the shop’s sliding door, welcomed by the usual tempting smell.

Jun looked around to scan the place for the presence of Nino, finding that the man hadn’t arrived yet. Almost all of the tables were full, even the stools at the counter, but he was sure that there was no sign of Nino anywhere. He let out a breath of relief; with this he now would have some time to mentally prepare himself first.

“Matsujun!” Matsuoka greeted him with a wide smile from behind the counter.

“Matsu-nii!” Jun grinned, waving before closing the door behind him. The shop was packed with people, another busy day. “I’m meeting someone, he hasn’t arrived yet, though.”

“A date?” Matsuoka asked, eyes glinting.

Jun laughed. How he wished he could say yes.

“No, no, a new colleague,” he replied instead. “I’ll be at my usual place, Matsu-nii!”

“You got it! The usual order?”

Jun nodded. “But I’ll wait until he arrives first.”

Matsuoka gave him one last wave before getting back to work and Jun slipped to the empty table at the corner––a miracle it hadn’t been occupied by anyone, considering how busy the place was.

It wasn’t 5 minutes before Jun saw Nino entering the shop, looking a little bit lost and confused. He stood up to draw his attention, waving, and when Nino caught sight of him, the smaller man’s cat-like grin was back. He waved back and made his way to Jun’s table.

“I’m sorry, it was a little hard to find the place.”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t been waiting long,” Jun offered him a small smile. It was easier when they weren’t at work, Jun realized. Easier when Jun didn’t have to think about Nino as someone he had to prove himself to. This felt like they were just normal friends–no feelings or awkward past attached.

This was good. This was comfortable.

Jun ordered his usual ramen for Nino as well, and settled back in his seat, a slightly awkward silence enveloping both of them.

“Where were you before you came back to Japan?” Jun asked, breaking the silence. Nino’s eyes flicked to look at his face, and Jun tried not to look away.

“Amsterdam.” Nino answered shortly, and Jun hummed in reply. Then it probably meant Nino had been moving around, since Sho had said something about his exhibition in Germany.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Jun started, despite his brain yelling at him to stick to light, conversational topics. “Why did you come back? I mean… you must have succeeded overseas, right? Sho-kun showed me some of your projects.”

Nino looked like he was contemplating his answer, lips pressing around the straw of his drink a little too tightly. He fixed his gaze on the table, and Jun finally noticed he had been holding his breath.

“I got a pretty bad creative block. A slump, you can say, I guess,” he said. Jun realized Nino was sharing more than what one would usually share with a colleague. should be allowed to know, and yet here he was anyway. “For the past year before I came back here I haven’t been able to create anything good, my projects were failing, you see. So I thought I’d come home and start over, which was when Sho-yan told me I could come to him.”

“Is it getting better though, now?”

Nino smiled. “Your work inspired me a lot, J. That day at the exhibition, it made me glad that I came home.”

It’s not like you came home to me, though, Jun wanted to say. But he couldn’t, because this information alone was affecting him so badly that if only Nino had known, if only he had known about how Jun had felt many years ago, if only he had known he was the same person who still inhabited Jun’s wallet after all that time, if only he had known he was the reason Jun kept going on the days it got hard, Jun would have cried right here in front of him.

But Nino didn’t know, so Jun couldn’t do that. He could only sit there under Nino’s soft gaze, a far contrast with his teasing, snarky manner.

He was thankfully saved from having to respond to Nino’s confession by Matsuoka who came to deliver their ramen order. “Here you go, Matsujun, and you’re…”

“Ninomiya. Nino is okay.” Nino grinned up at Matsuoka.

“Nino! Enjoy!” He gave them one last friendly salute and Jun thanked him before picking up his chopsticks.

“This has been my favorite for many years. I have no idea what you like, but I promise you’re not going to regret this.” Jun promised, heart swelling and Nino taking up the challenge with a smirk.

“I haven’t been in Tokyo for over 15 years, J. Any ramen is delicious to me at this point,” he took a mouthful of ramen, and Jun waited. When Nino’s eyes widened and gleamed in delight, Jun let out his own smirk. “But this is … exceptional. Wow.”

“I told you.”

“Matsumoto Jun, professional ramen expert, side job photographer.” Nino chirped and it made Jun laugh.

“You haven’t seen my sushi recommendation.” He replied, twirling the noodles with his chopsticks.

“Ah, unfortunately, I can’t eat raw stuff.”

“That’s too bad. I have impeccable taste in sushi.” Jun grinned. “Well, I have flawless taste in ramen as well so I guess at least you can enjoy that.”

“I bet you’re the type who gets that luxury sushi with only super duper fresh fish.” Nino rolled his eyes, but there was no bite to his words. Long gone was the serious conversation they were having before.

“Quality is above everything, Nino,” Jun claimed in an ironic wise tone. Nino was shaking with laughter in front of him. “Maybe if you tasted my quality sushi, your hate for raw things would disappear in an instant.”

“Ah, I didn’t know that was how it worked,” Nino shook his head. “I’m sorry to have doubted you, ramen and sushi expert, Matsumoto Jun.”

Jun grinned, feeling a warmth slowly enveloping his heart, and every mouthful of ramen probably just made him smile wider, feel warmer, happier, happier, happier. It was honestly a wonder how he could be this happy just by eating ramen and talking shit with someone, except this wasn’t just someone. This was Nino, a whole new Nino Jun would have to adapt to, but it was Nino nevertheless.

Jun had a feeling he was going to regret this when he got home––how he probably should’ve had just remained just a little bit distant with Nino lest he fell for him again,instead of ignoring all the warnings his head was giving him. But right now, the rich sound of Nino’s loud laughter and the way his head tipped back when he laughed were effective enough to shut everything down.

When the night ended and Jun realized he didn’t want it to, when he and Nino walked back to the train station and said their goodbyes, when they took their respective trains to go home and Jun wished he could be sitting next to Nino in the crowded train, he realized he had probably gotten himself into something he was totally not ready for.

But as Nino’s smile played at the back of his head, Jun thought, maybe this time, it was worth the shot.

***

Nino, not to Jun’s surprise, was an excellent photographer. He had a brilliant sense for catching moments and capturing them on camera, making them look magical while still keeping it real. Jun wondered what the world would look like through Nino’s eyes, through Nino’s camera lenses. But it also sparked the competitive fire in Jun.

They were partners, Jun wanted to reassure himself, there wasn’t supposed to be any competition, and yet Jun couldn’t help wanting to prove Nino that while he hadn’t been here for the past 16 years, Jun had still grown a lot as a photographer.

Jun wanted Nino to see the best of him.

That day, Jun had a photoshoot with a certain fashion magazine, and since Nino was free, he decided to tag along. Jun had no idea what to feel about the situation, but since he had no strength to actually resist Nino’s request, here they were now.

Nino was next to him as he worked, as Jun had introduced him as his assistant. Nino had grumbled at the back, but Jun had pretended he hadn’t heard: it was not like he was the one who had dragged him here. He took picture after picture, bringing to life the concept he had in his mind.

“Say, J,” Nino’s voice interrupted him. He hummed, without looking up. “Don’t you think it would be better with her leaning against those pillows? It’d make it a brighter shot. Tell the lighting staff to move a little bit more to the right.”

“You think it would still keep the cheerful mood?”

“You’re the photographer, you tell the model to. This is not your work alone.” Nino shrugged.

Jun contemplated a little and did what Nino said, taking really good shots as results.

“Thanks, Nino.” He whispered, and Nino looked at him in surprise. Jun didn’t reply, simply shot him a quick smile and went back to work.

He continued working as though Nino wasn’t there, but Jun could feel his eyes on him, watching every instruction Jun gave, every shot he snapped. It was pretty hard to ignore, and Jun was starting to think having Nino here wasn’t much of a good idea.

Jun looked at the last picture he’d taken and shook his head. This one wouldn’t work with this lens, so he turned around to take a wider one, but it was offered to him first.

“It’d be better with this one, right?” Nino said, a lazy grin on his face and the lense Jun was about to take already in his hand.

Jun stared at him for a good 2 seconds before coming to his senses. He smiled lightly. “Thank you, Nino.”

“Anytime. It’s better if I’m doing something instead of just standing here watching you.”

Jun chuckled and turned back to the models.

They were working with several models, and among them was Kiko Mizuhara. The top-name model was a good friend of Jun’s, having met him through a lot of photoshoots and shared drinks, and she had even visited his exhibition one time since she had an interest in that kind of thing. Kiko was a bright, cheerful girl, and it was easy to be around her. They both liked arts, to the point that when Jun had been in charge of her photoshoot at an art museum, they’d ended up spending more time talking about the pieces than actually working.

Except she also had sharp eyes, and it took her less than a day to realize that Nino wasn’t just  a normal colleague to Jun.

“Jun-kun, you found someone, and he’s cute, and you didn’t even tell me?” Kiko complained during one of their breaks. Nino was at the toilet, and Jun raised his eyebrows.

“What someone? Who’s cute?”

“Your assistant. If you guys haven’t noticed, you’ve been flirting the whole time over there. Even Aya-chan and Meisa-chan are wondering, you know?” Kiko rolled her eyes, crossing her long legs. She was so expressive, and it was always amusing to see her getting all frustrated at Jun like this.

“He’s just a colleague,” Jun answered shortly. “He’s free this afternoon, so he asked me if he could tag along. He just came back to Japan, he’s probably building networks, right?”

“Just a colleague. Okay, sure, Jun-kun. Whatever you say.”

Jun gave Kiko a look and the woman just grinned at him. “Fine, not just a colleague, but there’s nothing between us at the moment. Not a boyfriend, not a fling, no flirting at all. Nothing.”

Kiko scoffed. “You’re going to clear up a space in your schedule for me, we’re going to go for drinks and you’re going to tell me all about this Just-A-Colleague dude.”

Jun sighed, but he relented. “Fine.”

It was then thatNino came back from the bathroom, his face damp with water, and walked back to his spot next to Jun.

“We’re not starting?”

“They haven’t called us yet,” Jun shrugged, then he gestured at Kiko. “Nino, this is Kiko. She’s the only person who doesn’t think my hobby to go to art museums alone is weird. Kiko, this is Nino, my colleague.”

“Hi, Nino!” Kiko greeted him cheerfully, and Nino mirrored the sentiment with a nod. “Jun-kun told me you’ve just gotten back to Japan, where were you at?”

“I was in Amsterdam, though before that, I’ve stayed in Berlin and Athens, too. I got a photography scholarship in Greece.” Nino explained, and Jun had heard of this during their ramen night, had heard the stories Nino had to tell about his days in Athens.

Kiko hummed and asked a few more questions, enthusiastically listening to what Nino had to say. Jun stayed silent and observe them, the way Nino politely responded to Kiko’s enthusiasm and how at times, his eyes would spark while telling an episode he seemed excited about. He noticed that as much as a hikikomori Nino was, he was a people person. Combined with Kiko, you would have thought they’d known each other for years instead of 10 minutes.

“Matsumoto-san, Mizuhara-san, we’re ready to start again.”

Nino waved to Kiko who left to go back on standby, and he squeezed Jun’s shoulder.

“Time to get back to work, J.”

The feel of his touch lingered until Jun got back home.

***

“I think this would look good with the sweaters, though, Matsujun!”

Jun was doing his monthly clothes shopping with Aiba. Not exactly monthly, though. Sometimes when they got really busy, they only got to go back to it after 3 months or two, but Jun liked to refer to it as their monthly clothes shopping anyway. It was one of his favorite times of the month, setting a time up with Aiba and just going shopping their hearts out.

Aiba had always been a fun shopping partner, with a good taste in fashion, too. He didn’t judge Jun for his studded shoes, didn’t judge him for his love for fedoras, didn’t laugh at his choices of jackets. He put together an outfit that he thought would look good on Jun, and it was good, it was comfortable.

So now here he was, in a department store in Tokyo, Aiba holding up tartan pants to match the sweater Jun had just put in his shopping bag. It was a Sunday, and for once their schedule actually matched, so Jun had been excited when Aiba had messaged him this morning. He needed this.

He took the tartan trousers, matched it with the black sweater and he completed the outfit with the scarf he had put in the shopping bag earlier. “This works?”

“Perfect, Matsujun!” Aiba grinned. “Gonna sweep your photographer off his feet.”

Jun rolled his eyes. “There’s no one to sweep off their feet, don’t start, Masaki.”

Aiba just gave him a failed wink, and Jun knew he was going to talk a lot about this after Jun had drunkenly spilled out everything to him the other day they went drinking together. He sighed and put everything in his shopping bag.

He handed a pretty dark pink, almost red hoodie to Aiba. It complemented his tanned skin well, and Aiba hummed in approval, fitting it on.

“You know, Matsujun, it’s okay to be happy.”

“Hmm?”

“You talk about this Nino guy as if he’s such a pain, but really, you’ve been doing better, you know? I saw your recent pictures, they’re a lot better than they usually are, and you’re already an amazing photographer. You don’t bother me in the middle of the night that often, and Sho-chan said you’ve been in a better mood lately.”

“You and Sho-kun need to stop gossiping over me, really.” Jun sighed.

“You’re missing the point. Seriously, if he makes you a better person, then why hesitate?”

Jun pressed a brown-ish coat against himself, staring at the mirror, Aiba leaning on the wall next to him. “Mmhm, I’m not the one who should judge whether I’ve become a better person or not, right?”

“Matsujun.”

Jun sighed, hanging the coat back on the rack. “What if I only feel like I’m attracted to him simply because they’re leftover feelings from 16 years ago? I don’t want to act on that kind of half-hearted feelings, Masaki. I can’t. I can’t with this amount of uncertainty.”

“But you like him the way he is right now, right? He doesn’t remember you, this isn’t the Nino you liked back then, but you like this Nino no less. And he makes you a better person, I don’t see why you shouldn’t give it a shot.” Aiba pressed as they made their way to the cashier.

“Because life is like a mathematical problem, Masaki,” Jun replied, dropping his shopping bag in front of the cashier once they arrived. Aiba eyed him confusedly. “If it’s too easy, then you have it wrong.”

He grinned when Aiba found it funny enough to laugh at; it was his favorite quote although he had loved math back in school.

“But when it’s genuinely easy, then you just have to take it and go for it, right?” He smiled at Jun, eyes kind. Jun paid the cashier and just sighed deeply, he couldn’t let Aiba talk him into properly acknowledging that he liked Nino, or whatever Aiba was trying to do right now.

They walked side by side outside the department store, and on their way to grab dinner, Jun was thinking, thinking, thinking.

That was more or less the same thing Sho told him. Go with the flow, Sho had said. But when it’s genuinely easy, then you just have to take it and go for it, right?

Aiba squeezed Jun’s shoulder lightly. “I really want you to make him fall head over heels for you and sweep him off his feet wearing the outfit I picked for you, okay? You looked so good, Matsujun. He can’t be so mad to pass on this.”

Jun chuckled lightly at the subtle compliment. Trust Aiba to be the most skilled man in making other people smile.

“I think you’ll like him, Masaki.” was all Jun said.

Aiba smiled and left it at that.

“Do you want to get cakes?”

***

“A joint project?”

Sho glanced at him warily, likely preparing for a bad reaction from Jun’s side. And while Jun wanted to kill Sho for actually doing exactly the one thing he had asked him not to, he knew that was to happen eventually anyway. He and Nino were partners, it was only obvious that they’d have joint projects.

Jun pulled his most professional face, and when he glanced at Nino, he was merely looking at Sho with curious eyes.

“Yes. There’s a series of Kiriko Festivals throughout the Noto Peninsula. Though you’ll just have to cover the ones in Noto Town: Abare Festival, Koiji Fire Festival, and Doiyasa Festival. All of them are in Noto Town, but they’re quite spread out through July, so you will have to stay there for the month. I’ll have someone make the arrangements and a team will cover for your absence here.”

Okay. A joint project was to be expected. But being with Nino for a whole month? And in Noto Peninsula, no less? The universe was laughing at Jun.

“Accommodations?” Jun inquired.

“They’re being arranged, Matsujun. If everything goes well, you will leave on Thursday. The details of your schedule are in the file. During these 3 weeks, I also ask you to research Noto Peninsula’s culture and sightseeing spots, too. Preparations for the festivals and other notable things. This is a big project, I trust that I will be able to leave it in your hands?”

“Yes, sir.” Nino and Jun said in unison, inclining their heads.

“Good, Nino, you can go back. Matsujun, can I have a word?”

Nino bowed once again before leaving the office, and once they were left alone, Sho sighed and sat back on his chair, looking at Jun and gesturing for him to take a seat in front of him.

“You okay, Matsujun?” Sho asked, eyes soft. And now, this was the Sho-kun who was Jun’s friend, the Sho-kun who had been softly encouraging him all these years.

Jun sighed deeply. “I will be. I’ll have to be, won’t I?”

“I’m sorry, I’d have sent you or Nino there alone but it’d be too much work. It’ll be easier with two people.”

“What are you apologizing for?” Jun shook his head. “This is work, there’s nothing out of the ordinary here. We’re partners, we’re bound to work together. Besides, those are just my personal feelings. We’ll get by somehow, I’ll get by. I promise, Sho-kun.”

“Take care of yourself, alright? If you want, just divide the workload with Nino and then you guys can go do your own thing.” Sho nodded at him, voice kind, and Jun smiled.

“I will. Thank you, Sho-kun. Don’t miss me while I’m gone.”

Sho snorted. “You’ve been gone for longer than this. You can go, Matsujun.”

***

Thursday had Nino and Jun yawning with Jun miserably sipping his coffee at 6 am in the morning. It was a 3 hour and a half trip by train from Tokyo to the Noto Peninsula, and then another hour from Wakura Onsen to Noto Town. Jun was clearly not awake enough for this, and while Nino still looked like he was a little bit fresher than him, he still thought trains shouldn’t be allowed to leave so early.

Jun and Nino boarded the train in silence, mostly because Jun was still too sleepy to function and because Nino knew better than to bother him after Sho’s warning yesterday (“Nino, you have to be careful. This person is a monster in the morning.” “Stop badmouthing me, Sho-kun.” “I’m not, I’m just trying to save his life.”).

Jun lifted his suitcase to put it on the rack over his head, and wordlessly lifted Nino’s up too, arranging it next to his. He felt Nino’s gaze on him, but didn’t say anything.

“Thanks, J.” He heard Nino mumble, and he simply nodded in return, as this was no time to be overthinking things.

He then dropped his overnight bag on the space on the floor in front of him and pulled out a small gray blanket with white stripes. He curled in the seat, covering himself with the blanket, and felt sleepiness engulfing him.

“I’ll get some more sleep first.” He said, on the verge of sleep.

“Go ahead,” Nino said, and Jun saw him already plugging his earphones in his gaming device. “I’ll wake you when we get to Kanazawa, we have to switch trains later.”

Jun hummed and got into a more comfortable position, giving Nino a view of his back as he faced the window. He thought he heard a distant rest well, J. But he was already drifting off, and as the sunlight softly crept through the window, Jun let sleep take him.

He woke to a comfortable weight on his shoulder, his name being whispered repeatedly, and the sun shining straight into the train. Jun squinted, and he turned around.

“We’re arriving in around 10 minutes. Just walk a little, and then you can go back to sleep.” Nino informed him, and Jun was surprised he managed to process that information with his mind still half-asleep. He struggled to get up and saw that Nino was still in his previous position, his earphones in, gaming device in his hands.

Jun checked his phone, seeing a message from Aiba (Safe trip, Jun-tan! <3 <3 <3 Update me if anything happens with Nino-chan <3 <3 <3) with a gazillion sparkly hearts and kissing emojis that Jun rolled his eyes at, and a message from Sho (Safe trip, Matsujun. Take care and let Nino live please) which he sighed at. He had such meddling friends, truly.

After Jun made himself a little bit more presentable, he was content just sipping the coffee he’d packed from home in his thermos, watching Nino on the periphery of his vision. The man looked most attractive to Jun like this. He loved Nino when he was holding his camera, completely in the zone, capturing moments one by one. But this Nino was different, his guard down, in his own world with his fingers swiftly moving on his gaming device.

Nino didn’t seem to be aware of Jun staring, still completely lost in the game. Jun leaned back and closed his eyes lightly, maybe this whole being with Nino for a whole month was starting to sound not so bad after all. He inhaled deeply, slowly waking up.

The voice from the speaker announced that they were arriving at Kanazawa Station, so Jun rubbed his eyes once more before getting up and getting their luggage ready. He silently got Nino’s suitcase down too, letting the owner take care of it once it was on the ground again.

Nino led the way as they proceeded to change trains and take the one to Wakura Onsen Station, and when Jun checked the time, it was only a little bit over half past 8. Jun felt unusually awake, though. He felt alert and Nino’s calming, steady presence close to him was helping more than he’d thought.

They got on their next train without a hitch, Nino immediately leaving the window seat to Jun and taking the aisle. The smaller man took the handle of Jun’s suitcase from him, their hands brushing. Jun tried not to react, but his heart couldn’t help but leap at Nino lifting his suitcase up to the racks, before adding his own next to it.

“You didn’t have to, though,” Jun said in a low voice, but then he gave Nino a small smile. “But thank you.”

“Why, you’re welcome, J.” Nino grinned, gesturing for Jun to take his seat first.

Jun sat down and got into a comfortable position, wrapping the blanket around himself again, but this time, he didn’t go to sleep.

“You already looked at some stuff for Noto Town?”

“Yeah, things are scattered here and there, and transportation is quite a problem, but we can just divide things up between us and see how we’re going to do it.” Nino answered, eyes already glued to his gaming device.

Jun hummed, going through the Noto Peninsula websites he’d bookmarked in his browser the other day. He’d had a short meeting with Sho regarding the places they were planning to visit and feature.

“‘Koiji Beach gets its name from a tragic ancient story in which two lovers were deceived by a jealous suitor,’” Jun read out loud, and Nino hummed next to him. “Resulting in an accidental death and suicide. Wow, is this Shakespeare?”

“I’ve never liked the trope of lovers dying together, though. It’s not even as romantic as it seems to be, dying together. If I were to die, I’d want my lover to stay alive for me.” Nino commented.

“Shakespeare is shaking his head at you from his grave. Though I agree, a little bit.” Jun chuckled. “It’s very pretty.”

“Should we go together for that one? It’s in Noto, right? So it should be close.” Nino suggested.

Jun’s heart ached a little because the Noto Peninsula and beaches still a hit a little bit too close to home for him, but he found himself agreeing slowly. “Mhm, good idea. They say the sunset is not to be missed.”

“Then we’ll go see it.” Nino said shortly.

The universe was really, really laughing at Jun.

They continued talking throughout the train ride, a comfortable, soft atmosphere around them. Nino multitasked while playing his games, and Jun spent time drawing up concepts while discussing the destinations with Nino. It was still way too early in the morning, but Jun had Nino’s steady presence and comforting hums next to him, and he found that he couldn’t really prefer this any other way.

***

When the car the company had rented stopped in front of the place they’d be staying at in Noto Town, it was almost 11 am. Nino looked over at Jun.

“Should we get breakfast first?”

“Okay.” Jun smiled, and the both of them asked the inn’s staff to take care of their luggage first before they set out again.

The sun was high up, the sky clear in Noto Town. Nino squinted at the bright light, though Jun remembered him hating the sun in general. He smiled at the sight. Nino was walking lightly, and Jun felt a strong urge in his heart to just reach out and take a hold of his hand.

(He didn’t.)

They arrived at a small shop, the smell of fresh, cooked fish invading their senses once Jun opened the sliding door. “Welcome!” A rich voice came from inside, and then a small, tanned man with sleepy eyes came into view, smiling warmly at them. It was a normal-looking restaurant, with a few stools at the counter and some tables in the room. There were some paintings on the walls and the place was ornated with numerous eccentric interior decorations.

“Hi, we were wondering if we could get breakfast?” Nino inquired.

“Of course, of course,” the man gestured excitedly for them to take a sit. “You came to the right place. The Noto Peninsula is known for its seafood, and we serve one of the best seafood dishes here in Noto Town.”

“We’d love to try your recommendation, then,” Jun smiled at him. “Would you mind if we take pictures? We’re from Storm Publishing in Tokyo, and we’re doing a feature on the Noto Peninsula.” He gestured at his camera.

“Feel free, feel free! I’ll answer any questions you have to ask later,” the man nodded. “Now make yourself comfortable as I prepare your breakfast.”

“Thank you, …” Jun trailed off, not knowing the man’s name.

“Ah, I’m Ohno Satoshi. But please call me Oh-chan.” He smiled.

“Thank you, Oh-chan.” Jun said but then he chuckled a bit because, as expected, it felt weird to call someone he’d just met with such a cute nickname.

He and Nino waited in a comfortable silence. The thing about the Noto Peninsula was that it was not exactly the busiest of places. There was a slight feel of coming home for Jun despite the fact that he’d never actually lived there. Deep down he wondered if Nino felt the same, even just a little bit.

Nino stood up to look around. They were the only people in the shop, probably because it was way past breakfast time. His camera held expertly in his hands, Nino took pictures of the interiors. It was a fairly regular restaurant, but perhaps they might be of some use.

“Do you want to go anywhere today?” Jun asked, going through his options of places to go.

“I want to meet the people in the neighborhood first. If we’re going to see how everyone’s preparing for the festival, we need to know them first, right?” Nino replied, sitting back next to Jun.

“Alright, then. We’ll go around. Can’t we at least wait until it’s a bit later in the afternoon, though? It’s seriously hot.” Jun sighed.

“I thought I was the one who hated the sun? Don’t you want to get all tanned, J?” Nino smirked, one eyebrow arching.

Jun rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t be getting a tan, I’d just get a sunburn.”

Nino’s laugh was rich and low, but it made Jun’s stomach feel funny. “Alright then, we’ll go back to the inn, rest a little, and then make a schedule. You’ll report to Sho-chan?”

“Okay.”

“The first festival is tomorrow, you know? Abare Festival. Tomorrow and Saturday.” Nino reminded him. “I don’t think we have time to cover much of the preparation for this one, but I guess we can go ask around today and we’ll have all day tomorrow, anyway, since the festival is at night.”

Jun hummed; he had actually come up with a schedule, but since Nino said he wanted to discuss it, he’d probably end up pretending he hadn’t come up with anything yet.

Ohno, thankfully, broke the silence when he came with two breakfast sets. “Here you go! Rice, misozuke salmon and seaweed soup with our special broth, too. I caught the salmon myself this morning.”

“Oh-chan, you fish?” Nino asked.

“I do. I’m not the only one in this restaurant, of course. Most of the time I’m in the middle of the sea.” Ohno explained.

Jun took a bite of his rice with misozuke salmon and moaned in happiness. His stomach was empty from the long trip and this was exactly what he needed. “This is very good, Oh-chan.” He grinned. “Guess I’ll be a regular. Nino and I here will be around for the next month.”

“Is that so? Well, I hope you’ll be enjoying your time here, then. Do take some time to go down to other cities and towns in the Noto Peninsula. I know moving around can be hard here, but there are always buses if you plan ahead.” Ohno grinned.

“We’ll keep it in mind. Are you going to participate in the festivals, Oh-chan?” Nino was the one who talked this time, his lips glistening with miso from the salmon, and Jun looked away, focusing back on his food.

“Ah, yes, I will! Everyone does. Many people come at this time of the year to witness our festivals, it’s one of Noto’s biggest sources of pride,” Ohno nodded with enthusiasm. “Everyone’s working very hard to prepare for the festival.”

“We thought so, that’s so cool, really.”

They learned that Ohno had two people who helped him around the restaurant when it got busy, especially at night. Their names were Chinen and Nakajima, and both of them dreamed of becoming cooks one day. They also heard stories about the people in the neighborhood––Satomi, the owner of the inn Jun and Nino were staying at, Ken, the fisherman, Toma the mailman, and Keiko the hairdresser.

They talked and talked even way after Jun and Nino had finished their breakfast, their plates clean. Listening to Ohno’s stories, Jun was starting to think maybe he would be able to slowly, slowly get used to the idea of spending the whole month in Noto, after all.

With the way Nino’s eyes sparkled at any new information they got, the way he looked like he was glowing when he was in the zone, taking pictures with his camera, the way he leaned back on his seat, Jun thought, this month, nothing would be able to stop him from anything.

***

Another thing Jun wasn’t looking forward to during this whole trip was the fact that he and Nino were going to be sharing the same room.

It was not like they’d be sharing the same futon or anything, but it still meant being in a really close proximity with Nino for the entire month, and Jun had no idea if he was capable of handling that. As he watched Nino settle for the night, his hair still damp from the bath, his body wrapped in the yukata provided by the inn as he stretched like a cat on the top of his futon, Jun felt like he would go crazy if he had to put up with it for a whole month.

They had spent the day walking around the neighborhood, acquainting themselves with the local people, a lot of whom were familiar from Ohno’s stories. They hadn’t been to any sightseeing spots yet, opting to simply decide on a schedule first and send it to Sho, who replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

Jun opened his book and rolled onto his futon to lie on his stomach, opening the volume at the page he had neatly marked with his bookmark.

“How very you to properly put a bookmark in it.” Nino’s voice came from the other side, and Jun turned his head towards him curiously.

“Hmm?”

“I mean, I completely expected you not to be the kind of person who dog-ears their books, or puts them upside down open at the last page they read, that sort of thing,” Nino elaborated, smiling at him. “You take very good care of your belongings, J, that’s what I’m saying.”

Jun chuckled. “I guess I do. I always end up getting too attached to them, though. That’s not a good thing, is it?”

Nino made a contemplating sound. “Hmmm, but don’t you think it’s okay to get attached to something just a little bit, sometimes? You have to have something to hold onto in your life.”

Jun hummed, finding this comfortable, nice.

He thought of the picture in his wallet, an attachment that never seemed to go away.

“I guess you’re right.”

Jun dared himself to glance up at Nino, but it was a mistake because he caught the other man staring back at him  and they both looked away. Jun tried to ignore the blush creeping up his cheeks, though he could only hope the lighting of their room was dim enough to hide it.

“I guess if there’s anything I’m attached to, it’s my gaming device,” Nino started, and Jun had to hide a smile. “And my camera.” He finished.

“I can see that.” Jun turned to Nino once again, now lying on his side. Nino grinned back.

“And it is something I can hold onto, you see. I go on everyday because I want to continue capturing things with my camera, and as for my gaming device, well, it’s my life.” Nino said, and Jun felt like this conversation was too intimate to brush off as casual, bedtime talk.

“I think it’s beautiful,” Jun whispered quietly. “To have something you genuinely hold onto, I think it’s beautiful.”

He heard Nino’s smile more than he saw it.

“It’s our job to see the beauty in everything, right? Even the ugliness, it’s our job to turn it into something beautiful people would want to see.”

Jun found the corners of his lips lifting up at Nino’s words.

“You’re right,” he sighed contentedly. “Let’s do our best starting tomorrow.”

“We shall do that,” Nino agreed. “Good night, J.”

“Good night, Nino.”

Jun was fast asleep when Nino looked up at the window, to the moon softly illuminating their room.

“Beautiful, huh. Like whom, I wonder?” Nino smiled to himself, before glancing at the sleeping form on the other side of the room once more, and proceeded to sleep.

***

The next day had Nino and Jun separated and scattered all over the place, gathering as much information and documentation as possible. It had been tiring, considering they would also have to work until late at night for the festival, but it had been fun. Jun had had the pleasure to meet the lovely Satomi-san before leaving the inn, the loud and young Ren-kun who had been working at the kiriko lanterns used at the festival and the bright and energetic Tao-chan who ran a small, modest patisserie in town.

He had spent the day walking around the town. Today, preparations for the Abare Festival were already close to completion. People were putting the finishing touches to the portable shrines and finishing the Kiriko lanterns that were to be used at the festival that night.  

Ren had told Jun all about kiriko, huge lanterns with height ranging from 4 to 15 meters. Jun had been impressed by how involved the younger folks were in the cultural activities of the town. It made sense on how the Noto Peninsula remained one of the warmest places for Jun.

He and Nino had agreed to meet up at the inn around 5 pm to shower and get ready so they could go for dinner together at Ohno’s before the festival started. Nino wasn’t there yet, though, probably delayed by something. Jun opted to wear his white T-shirt and jeans, then sat on the floor of the room before doing more research on the festival.

For the first day, they were simply going to carry 40 huge kiriko lanterns and parade around the city until they reached the city hall, where bonfire would be ignited. Children would be sitting on top of the lanterns, while the adults carried the wooden lanterns all over.

Jun’s thoughts were interrupted when Nino entered the room, hair messy and sweaty and a tired look on his face.

“Ah, you’re all set already. Sorry, I ran into Toma-kun and we got into quite an interesting conversation.” Nino grinned, and Jun waved off his apology. Nino looked good, tired and sweaty, but good nevertheless.

“No worries, we can take our time. It’s only 5 pm.”

“Alright, I’ll shower.” Nino gathered his stuff and stood up again to leave the room.

“Ah, Nino,” Jun stood up. Nino halted in his tracks, turning to him. “Ah, it’s just...you have some…”

Jun’s hand flew to brush off some dirt on Nino’s face, easy to spot because of how pale the man was. Nino froze on the spot, but he didn’t jump nor move away, he just let Jun brush the dirt away.

“There, all good,” said Jun, pulling his hand back.

Nino was dumbstruck for a moment, a pink tinge creeping on his cheekbones, but he recovered fast. “That must’ve been from when I watched them build the lanterns. I’m about to shower, J, don’t worry. But thank you.” He gave Jun his cat-like grin.

Jun rolled his eyes and sat back on the floor to resume his reading. “Off you go, then.”

***

Jun and Nino had their press pass around their neck, which allowed them access to a good view of the festival although it was crowded with a lot of people. It was almost 9 pm, and the festival was about to start. They’d got the okay to cover the event from the head of the festival committee, allowing them to have a broad access to it and its preparation during their time here.

The summer heat together with the light radiating from the Kiriko lanterns were scorching, and despite having already taken off his outer shirt and tied it around his waist, Jun was still so hot. Next to him, Nino was sweating a lot, his pale face reddening from the heat.

When the clock hit 9 pm, Jun and Nino had their cameras ready to capture the moment the festival started, when fireworks were launched into the sky. The colors burst and illuminated the dark sky, the crowd cheering and clapping.

The sounds of their cameras clicking were lost in the cheers, and Nino took a break from his camera, to turn excitedly at Jun, grinning. “This is amazing!” He said, half-yelling to make himself heard over the noise.

“It’s just going to get better!” Jun promised, and Nino laughed, free and happy.

The festival went on with the adults carrying the huge kiriko lanterns to their destination, a huge pole where they’d set a bonfire on. Jun and Nino followed the crowd, both in the zone, capturing the smiles of the excited children sitting on the wooden kiriko, the lively faces of the people carrying the giant lanterns.

The energy was unmistakable, the roar of the excited young folks walking, and Jun chuckled at the sight of Ren leading a group of young guys, all of them with bright smiles on their faces. Nino was focusing on the crowd now, so Jun moved to the lanterns and the scenery, broadening his view.

Once they reached the town hall, the huge bonfire was already lit, fire sparks illuminating the night. Nino was watching the view in awe, and Jun smiled before clicking the shutter.

It was a picture of Nino smiling, unaware of Jun’s presence, the sparks of fire glowing in the frame  like fireflies. Nino’s face was lit up by the fire, which highlighted his sharp cheekbones. Nino’s eyes glinted excitedly at the view in front of him, and Jun felt his heart soaring.

Somewhere in the crowd Ohno waved at them then, somehow able to locate them in the middle of all this sea of people, and when Jun and Nino waved back, he went over.

“You guys are taking pictures of everyone, but you need pictures of you guys too, you know!” Ohno suddenly said, shouting over the loud voices all around him.

Nino laughed, loud. “Well, the job of photographers is to take pictures and not to be taken pictures of, Oh-chan! We’re not models!”

“Give me your camera.” Ohno said, and Jun chuckled but he did. “Just stand there side by side.”

Jun and Nino awkwardly did, smiling at the camera when Ohno held it up in front of his face. Jun’s arm instinctively wrapped around Nino’s narrower shoulders, and while he felt the man stiffen up a little for a moment, he seemed to relax immediately, making a peace sign.

“There you go.” Ohno grinned. “It’s so merry today! Tomorrow is going to be even better, though! They’re going to go wild.”

“I know,” Jun chuckled. Ohno handed him back his camera and as he looked at the result, he thought it was beautiful. Ohno had managed to capture all of the situation around him and Nino even in the dark, and the sparks of fire illuminating the dark was mesmerizing behind them. “Ohno-san, you should be a photographer too, really.” Jun praised him.

“The fish would get lonely,” Ohno frowned.

“You can photograph the fish.” Nino shrugged.

Ohno laughed and Jun joined him, and no one witnessed Jun smiling fondly at Nino who was laughing happily like that day would never end. No one except the soft crackle of the fire and the bright fire sparks which burnt as much as Jun’s heart did.

***

The festival on the second day ended at 2:30 am, and by the time Jun and Nino reached their inn, they were dead tired. Showered and clean, Jun crawled from his futon to the low table in the middle of the room where he deposited his camera. He lay on the floor and looked through the pictures he took.

The past two nights had been full of energy, and Jun couldn’t believe it was only their third day, but they’d finished one out of three festivals already. Starting tomorrow, Jun and Nino would explore further, visiting sightseeing spots to feature in the magazine. Jun reached for his phone and sent a message to Sho, adding a green check next to Abare Festival.

Sho hadn’t gone to sleep yet and sent him a thumbs-up emoji in response. Looking at the floating dots indicating that he was typing, Jun waited.

How are you holding up?

Well, that wasn’t what Jun had been expecting; he had been expecting a work related message.

Good. I guess he’s not so bad as a roommate.

Ah, so easy to resist, then?

Jun rolled his eyes. It was almost 3 am, he wanted to yell at Sho to go to sleep instead of bothering him with pointless messages like this. He sent Sho rolling-eyes emojis.

Just go to sleep, boss.

Sho sent a laughing emoji.

Good work, Matsujun. I expect the Abare Festival report to be in my emails when I open my inbox on Monday. Tell Nino to get some rest, too.

You’ll have it by then. Good night, Sho-kun.

When Jun looked up from his phone, Nino entered the room, his hair damp from the shower and his skin slightly reddened from the heat. He gave Jun a questioning look.

“Sho-san said he expects the report to be sent to him by Monday, but other than that, he said good work. He also recommended you get some rest.” Jun reported.

Nino gave a light chuckle, nodding and thanking Jun. He checked his phone and stilled, and Jun pretended he didn’t know what he had just sent to Nino.

It was the picture from the first night of the festival; Jun had transferred it from his camera to his phone and sent it to Nino’s phone. It had ended up being such a good picture after all, he wondered if maybe he should post it on his Instagram or something.

(On second thought: no. Aiba would have had a field day.)

Jun smiled to himself and got into his futon, Nino doing the same on the other side of the room. He gave Jun a soft smile, lit up by the moonlight creeping through the windows of the room, the dim light adding to the melancholy of it.

“Thank you for your hard work yesterday. Let’s do our best tomorrow too, J,” Nino said in a soft tone. “Rest well.”

“Good night, Nino. We still got a lot of work to do.” Jun grinned, his mind already foggy with sleep.

“You’re right. Good night, Jun-kun.” Nino whispered.

Jun didn’t have the time to freak out or remember about the different way Nino had just called him, nor did he have the energy to realize that it was what Nino used to call him many years ago. He was already drifting to sleep, heart full of light sparks and the sight of Nino smiling softly at him lingering behind his eyelids.

***

They worked separately for the next few days to cover a broader area and lessen the workload for each other. They also went to different parts of the Noto Peninsula: Nanao City, Wajima City and Anamizu Town. All of them were scattered all over the region, so it took quite a lot of energy and time to travel around with the bus. Sometimes, Nino would already be tucked under his blanket when Jun arrived, and vice versa.

It was okay and it was good because they got closer in ways that were not work related. When Nino was already up and ready and Jun just woke up, his hair a mess from sleeping,both of them would sit there at the low table eating their breakfast––Nino already in jeans and a jacket, and Jun still in his yukata.

If they both finished early, they would grab dinner together at Ohno’s restaurant, and in the past week, they’d had the pleasure of meeting Chinen, a small guy who adored Ohno with all his heart, and Nakajima, a passionate guy who, for some reasons unknown to Jun and Nino, really liked to say the word Sexy.

But today, they were both going down town to observe people’s daily lives, and then they’d be heading to Koiji Coast before dusk to witness the famous sunset at the beach that was known for the tragic love legend.

“Ah, Matsumoto-san, Ninomiya-san! Heading out together today?” Satomi asked when they passed the reception desk, smiling brightly at the sight of the two of them.

“Ah, Satomi-san. Good morning,” Nino greeted cheerfully and Jun inclined his head. “Yes, we’re going around to observe locals’ daily lives today. It’ll make for a good article, you know?” Nino had a cheeky smile on his face, and Jun wanted to sigh.

“I see! Well, it’s such a nice day outside today, so I hope you both have a good time,” Satomi smiled before tilting her head at Jun. Jun raised a questioning eyebrow, and Satomi leaned towards him. “Matsumoto-san, is this a date?” she whispered, a playful look in her eyes.

Jun sighed and shook his head, then he watched as Satomi leaned forward to whisper something in Nino’s ear as well to avoid suspicion, but Jun knew it must have been about a completely different topic.

I wish, Jun had wanted to reply.

Satomi let them go with a wave, wishing a cheerful “Good luck!” in their direction before looking at Jun with a glint in her eyes, and Jun groaned internally. Was he being so transparent? What was even happening, really?

Nino stretched like a cat once he was out of the building, the sun softly caressing him. It was chilly for a summer day in Noto Town, which made it comfortable as it wasn’t too hot nor too cold.

“I used to do this all the time back in Greece. One of my projects back when I was studying there was to focus on people’s daily lives like this, finding beauty in them,” Nino said and Jun hummed next to him. “It’s really interesting, honestly.”

“That was partially why I picked In the rush as a theme, too. Sometimes, the things that we never notice are the most beautiful ones.”

“Right?” Nino turned to him, his expression childlike, happy, carefree.

“Nino! Jun-san!” A voice called out to them and they turned their heads to find Ikuta Toma, the town’s famous mailman. He had a wide smile plastered on his face and he was carrying a stack of newspapers on the back of his bicycle.

“Good morning, Ikuta-san,” Jun greeted.

“Morning, Toma!” Nino greeted, and Jun’s eyes widened at the familiarity between them.

“I told you to drop the formalities, Jun-san. Toma is okay,” the mailman grinned. “It’s rare to see the two of you together outside of Ohno-san’s shop.”

Jun laughed, because he had a point. He and Nino didn’t exactly go out together unless they were having dinner at Ohno’s. “We’re going to take pictures around the town today!” He said, gesturing to the cameras around their necks.

“Sounds fun!” Toma grinned. “Is that all you’ll be doing all day?”

“Ah, no, we’re visiting the Koiji Coast too this evening.” Jun elaborated.

“Ah, yes, the perfect date spot.” Toma let out a low cackle. “Well then, I have to go back to work! Have fun, you two!” He waved goodbye and was gone in a flash.

Nino and Jun stared at each other for 2 seconds, taken aback by Toma’s allusion to a date. Then they burst into laughter, giggling, with no one but the summer glimmer as their witness.

***

Jun and Nino were sitting by the rocks in front of the coastline, ice creams in their hands. The sun was still high up, and yet a gentle breeze blowing from the sea was softly caressing their skin. Their hair messed up from the wind, they were engulfed in a comfortable silence.

“The thing about being a photographer is that if you’re lucky, your job comes with travelling,” Nino said, voice light and airy, a hidden giggle in it.

“Yeah,” Jun agreed. “I don’t think I would have been able to spend a whole month enjoying Noto Peninsula like this if I weren’t one.”

“You like this kind of thing? You seemed like the…” Nino trailed off.

“The what?” Jun inquired, nudging Nino’s elbow.

“The busy city type. Tokyo and its fancy, busy streets fit you. You look like you’d fit right in New York, Paris, Milan. The bright, spectacular cities, you know.” Nino smiled, but there was a hint of blush on his face, and Jun liked it.

He laughed at Nino’s words, partly because it was scary how they were almost accurate.

“I guess you’re right. New York and Paris are some of my favorite cities, and I really like visiting them whenever I’m able to, but I guess I appreciate towns with a slower pace like this one from time to time, you know?” Jun said.

“Hmm, you’re right. It’s nice to be in smaller towns and villages too.” Nino agreed.

Jun took in the view in front of him, the coast immediately chasing the shoreline, a never-ending cycle. The sun light reflected on the sea, the sound of the waves repeatedly hitting their ears. He inhaled slowly and gathered his courage to tell Nino what he’d been dying to say.

“Can I have a little of yours?” Jun asked, desperately trying to keep his voice steady and casual.

“Mmm?” Nino turned to him, confused, but then his eyes softened in understanding and he chuckled. “Sure, J, if you let me have yours, too?”

Jun handed his cookies and cream ice cream cone to Nino as he received Nino’s strawberry chips one, and he brought it to his lips, trying to push the idea that this was somewhat an indirect kiss to the furthest corner of his mind.

Jun licked the taste of strawberry away from his lips, letting it linger on his tongue. He watched as Nino brought his cookies and cream to his mouth, seeming to enjoy the taste.

“Strawberry cookies and chips,” he commented. Jun grinned.

Nino looked over at him while giggling as they ended back each other’s ice creams. Jun moved to lean back against one of the rocks when Nino’s hand reached up to his face.

Nino brushed the upper corner of his lips delicately with his thumb, and Jun’s heart stopped.

The moment was over in a flash, but Jun was still dumbstruck, sitting there. Nino’s bright, brown eyes were looking straight into his,his head tilted. “There was a little bit of ice cream left,” he explained, and yet Jun’s heart didn’t slow down in the least.

“Oh,” Jun recovered, nodding, trying to brush it off as something as casual as possible. He distracted himself by taking another mouthful of his ice cream, looking up at the sky. “We should finish this and get going again.”

“Just a bit more, a bit more.” Nino said, and Jun leaned back against the rock behind him.

The irregular beating of his heart wasn’t unwelcome, if anything, he felt like it might be soaring. Nino’s light touch lingered stronger than the taste of his strawberry chips ice cream, and Jun knew he was going to have a hard time forgetting about it.

They let themselves enjoy a few more moments under the sun, with only the sound of the waves as their background music, sitting next to each other as they finished their ice creams.

***

The sun was already getting ready to set by the time Jun and Nino arrived at Koiji Coast. The sky was still blue, albeit a darker shade of it, distant clouds shimmering at the edges. The sound of the waves slowly hitting the shore was calming, soothing.

Jun took a picture of the panorama while Nino walked in front of him, taking in the view around him.

“Such a beautiful place to be associated with such a tragedy,” he commented, and Jun let out a laugh.

“It’s probably more material for another one of those “there’s no rose without a thorn” life lessons, right?” he replied casually, as he caught up and fell into step next to Nino.

Nino hummed before finding a spot on the sand and sitting down, whereas Jun kept walking some more, exploring the beach to get pictures and content for the magazines. He snapped enough pictures before walking back to where Nino was sitting, the man currently swiping on something on his phone, and Jun took a seat in the space next to him.

“It’s very pretty. Not many people either, surprisingly.” Jun said, because it was true. Other than people who were in the deeper parts of the area, Jun and Nino were currently the only ones sitting on the sand, watching the sky slowly changing shades from blue to purple.

Jun lay down to take pictures of the sky, of the way the colors reflected on the water, and they both settled in a comfortable quiet, staring at the way the universe painted the sky into different hues.

Jun felt a soft, light touch on his right hand, and he tried very hard not to jump when Nino’s small hand covered his. Jun closed his eyes, remembering the scene from 16 years before––Noto Peninsula, sunsets, holding hands, Nino. When he flipped his hand to slowly slip his long fingers between Nino’s stubby ones, he heard Nino’s soft intake of breath.

Their hands fit like puzzle pieces meant to be together, and Jun caressed Nino’s hand with his thumb, feeling the man tense before relaxing again. The sky had turned a darker shade of orange now, tinged with some streaks of black. Jun’s heart was beating so fast he thought it was about to jump out of his chest.

“You know,” Nino started, and Jun admired how steady his voice sounded. Jun didn’t think he would be able to speak. “This is a part of Enmusubi Beach. It means making connections with others.”

“Yeah, I read that in the guidebook.” Jun managed to get out.

“I wonder how many people have connected on this beach, right.” Nino said, voice steady, comforting. His fingers were still entwined with Jun’s, unmoving, sending little sparks of electricity across Jun’s body.

“Mhm, I’m glad I got to be connected with you somehow.”

Nino turned to him, eyes wide, and for a second Jun was panicking because just where in the world had that sudden rush of courage come from? Who had even thought it was a good idea to say that?

But Nino went back to looking at the sky, a bright mix of orange and a little bit of red. “I’m glad, too, J,” he said without looking at Jun, giving his hand a light squeeze, and Jun swore his heart almost stopped. “I’m glad Sho-chan sent me to your wonderful exhibition that day and offered me this job. I’m glad we somehow made it work as partners.”

Jun chuckled. “Yeah. Whatever it was that brought us here, I don’t think I regret any of it.” He said, and Nino hummed in agreement.

The sun was finally reaching its final moments of the day, the big ball of gas looked so far away from the coastline as it slowly set. The scenery looked magical with the way the orange light was illuminating the water, and Jun felt Nino slowly pull his hand away.

“I’m sorry, I have to--” he gestured at his camera, and Jun let out a small laugh.

“Go ahead.”

Nino stood up to walk forward, trying to find a good position to capture the beautiful scenery of the sunset was creating. Meanwhile Jun, overwhelmed by the rush of nostalgia, picked up his camera to snap a picture for himself.

Nino against the sunset, his delicate silhouette in front of the sea.

A perfect recreation of the picture from 16 years ago.

Once the sun was fully set, Nino turned to him, beaming brighter than the sun itself, and Jun found that whatever had brought him here, he was happy that he got to be connected with Nino in this moment, this very second.

***

It was dark when they started walking back towards the inn and decided to stop by at Ohno’s place first. The place was a little bit crowded, but there was still space at the counter and Kento smiled bright at the sight of Nino and Jun entering.

“Ninomiya-kun! Jun-kun!”

“Hi, Kento, do you still have two of your special menus?” Jun asked brightly.

Kento gave him a salute. “Coming right up!”

Nino sat down next to him as always, as Jun was still feeling the tingly sparks from before on his fingertips. He and Nino had made small talk on their way back to Ohno’s place, like the handholding had never happened, and yet the afterglow remained.

Jun was so happy, so happy.

While they were waiting for their food, Jun was messing around with his camera a little bit, transferring some of the pictures to his phone. One of them was the picture of Nino against the sunset, and Jun’s heart warmed. There wee pictures he had asked people to take with the both of them, pictures of Nino he’d taken without him noticing and pictures of Jun that Nino had taken with his camera.

He put everything back into his bag when Kento came to deliver their food, setting their meals down in front of them.

“I think we’ll have to go back to working separately tomorrow,” Nino said and Jun nodded at him. The following day would be Monday and  the Doiyasa Festival would take place on a weekend. “We’ll get more work done that way. I already forwarded you the updated schedule.”

Jun took a mouthful of his rice and nodded again. “Noted, captain.”

Nino laughed. “Shouldn’t you be the captain? You’re the senpai, right?”

“Well, yes, but we can switch. Captains need sleep too.”

Jun thought his answer made no sense since he was just saying whatever popped into his head at this point, but Nino let out a small chuckle at it, shaking his head. “You’re such an airhead.”

Jun hummed, considering his words. “I think my best friend is rubbing off on me.”

“You’re just an airhead, J, period.” Nino rolled his eyes, and it earned him a laugh from Jun.

Once they’d finished their meals, Jun got up.

“I need to go to the washroom,” he said and fished his wallet out of his pocket to hand it to Nino. “Would you mind taking how much I owe? I’ll be back.”

Nino accepted the wallet and waved him off, as Jun turned his back to go to the toilet.

***

Jun was confused.

It had been 5 days since their sunset “date” to the Koiji Coast, which had ended with Nino closing up like a clam once they had gotten back to their inn that night. Nino had taken a shower and curled up in his futon without speaking a word to Jun, giving only curt replies to his many attempts to start a conversation. He had gone to sleep without even saying good night.

Jun had thought he had just been tired, that Nino would have gone back to his usual self the next day. But when Jun had woken up the following morning, Nino had already left. The futon across the room had been neatly made and rolled up and Nino’s camera, which had been sitting next to Jun’s the previous night, had disappeared together with its owner.

It honestly hadn’t taken a genius to figure out that Nino had started avoiding Jun entirely and out of nowhere, too. He would come back late from his trips, and even when he was early, he refused Jun’s invitations to have dinner at Ohno’s, claiming that he was tired and proceeding to settle down with his gaming devices. He’d stopped having deep conversations with Jun before they went to sleep, and Jun was starting to feel like Nino was slipping away from his grasp.

Not that Nino had ever belonged to him in the first place, but now Jun ended up playing back each and every day that he had spent with Nino––not because it gave him joy, not because he wanted to remember how happy he had been on those days, but simply because he was trying to find where he had fucked up, what he had done wrong.

Had it been the hand-holding? Had Jun been too obvious? Had he been too transparent and he’d stupidly given away how he felt towards Nino? Had he made Nino uncomfortable?

Jun had no idea, Nino wouldn’t talk to him, and on top of everything, they still had their work to take care of. For the past 5 days work had been keeping Jun busy, as he had started to explore the more remote places of the Noto Peninsula.

He was in the middle of observing the preparations for the Doiyasa Festival that was to be held the next day when his phone rang.

He held it up to his ear, and a familiar voice greeted him.

“Matsujun!”

“Masaki, hello.”

“Guess where I am right now?”

“Um… at work?”

Aiba let out an exaggerated sigh. “Noto Town! I’m in front of your inn right now, Sho-chan told me all the details,” he said in an excited tone, ending the sentence with a giggle.

“You came all the way here?” Jun’s eyes widened.

“Yep! I missed you, Matsujun! Are you still working now? Let’s go for a drink or something tonight! I think I might stay for the Doiyasa Festival.”

Jun was still trying to get over his shock, but he somehow managed to get a hold of himself. “Alright, alright. I’m going to wrap up here, you can wait in the lobby of the inn, okay? I won’t be long.”

“Okay! See you, Matsujun!” Aiba hung up.

Jun took a deep breath and gathered his belongings before rushing back to meet his energetic best friend.

***

“Jun-kun!” Ohno smiled widely at the sight of him entering the restaurant. It was fairly emptier than it usually was, probably because of the early hour. The small man perked at the sight of Jun bringing someone else. “You’re not with Nino today?”

“Nino hasn’t gotten back yet,” Jun explained, then he turned to Aiba. “This is my best friend, Aiba Masaki. He’s extremely clingy to the point he followed me all the way here. Masaki, this is Oh-chan, and he makes crazy good seafood dishes.”

“Hi, Oh-chan! Thanks for taking care of Matsujun for the past couple of weeks!” Aiba greeted Ohno excitedly, his smile so bright that it could light up an entire town.

“Welcome to Noto Town, Aiba-san,” Ohno smiled. “Would you like our special menu?”

“Please!” Aiba beamed.

“I’ll have the usual, too, Oh-chan. Also, can we have a couple of beers?” Jun grinned.

“Coming right up!”

Ohno came back with two glasses of beer and disappeared again to the kitchen in the back. For a moment, Jun and Aiba sat in silence, taking their time savoring the burning taste of beer on their tongues.

“How are you, Matsujun?” Aiba finally broke the silence between them, looking at Jun with the kind eyes Jun could never be grateful enough for.

Jun took a huge swig of his beer. “Good! Everyone here is so nice and I’m having a lot of fun looking around the cities, too,” he shrugged. “I guess I really do enjoy this part of being a photographer.”

“I bet.” Aiba chuckled.

“What about you? Is it okay for you to be here? What about work?”

“I just finished a big commission for a client, so I got the next 4 days off.” Aiba grinned, waving off his worry. “You haven’t texted me at all for almost a week. And before you ask ‘what about it?’, I'm not trying to be that annoying clingy friend, Matsujun. I’m asking because before you used to text me everyday to tell me about Nino breathing or Nino just existing, and suddenly you stopped.”

Jun sighed. Aiba might be a little bit airheaded and he looked like he had a short attention span, but Jun could never hide anything from him. He was transparent to Aiba, even when the other man was so far from him.

“What? Did you guys get together and were too busy doing fun things? Please tell me that’s the case,” Aiba narrowed his eyes at him.

Jun let out a hollow laugh. “Yeah, well, I wish, Masaki.”

Aiba’s eyes softened and the joking tone vanished from his voice. “What’s wrong, Jun-chan?”

Now, Jun knew he was serious. Because Aiba only called him that when he was in deep shit and his friend was there to save the day. Or when he was being weirdly affectionate, but this time it was the former.

“He stopped talking to me.”

“He what?”

“He stopped talking to me. Nino. After that night when we went to the Koiji Coast, we went home and he just… stopped talking. I have no idea why, Masaki. He leaves early in the morning and comes back to our room late at night, he barely responds whenever I try and start a conversation. It’s all so confusing, really, because I have no idea what in the world I did wrong.”

Aiba was contemplating his answer when Ohno came with their food, and Aiba gasped in delight at the smell and the sight.

“Oh, everything looks amazing, Oh-chan!” Aiba exclaimed, and Ohno gave him a satisfied smile.

“Oh-chan caught everything by himself in the morning,” Jun informed him, smiling.

“I hope you’ll enjoy your meal. I have to go back to the kitchen now. Give my regards to Nino please, Jun-kun,” Ohno grinned and Jun nodded politely. Aiba waited until Ohno had left before he turned to Jun again, his mouth full of rice and salmon.

“Do you have any idea why he’s suddenly avoiding you, though?” he managed to say, although it was barely comprehensible.

“Chew first, then talk,” Jun scolded. But then he hummed. “I don’t know, I mean… we kinda, held hands, at the beach. But I have no idea if that’s the reason why he’s acting this way. I don’t know, Masaki, was I too transparent? Did he find out and get uncomfortable? I couldn’t tell at all.”

“Calm down, Jun-chan. I bet you’ve been panicking and overthinking like this for the past 5 days instead of calling me up, I know you. Now calm down and eat,” Aiba grinned, gesturing at Jun’s food. “So you held hands, interesting.”

Jun swallowed his food. “He didn’t react when it happened, he even told me that he was glad that he got to meet me. We’d spent the whole day together, eating ice cream, talking about nothing, then we had gone to the beach together. Once we got back to the inn after dinner, he suddenly got cold.”

“And any attempts that you made to talk to him have failed, yeah,” Aiba sighed. He patted the top of Jun’s head. “It’s okay, Jun-chan, I’m sure it’s not your fault.”

“We don’t know that, though. All I know is that it might have been,” Jun shrugged. “I wish he would just tell me straight up what’s wrong, though. We still need to work as partners. We’ve been working separately these 5 days, but the festival is tomorrow, and we’re going to need to work together. I can’t have him avoiding me completely like this.”

Aiba hummed, contemplating.

“Do you remember what I told you during our last monthly shopping, Jun-chan?”

“Something similar to what Sho-kun told me. About taking a chance, going with the flow, or whatever.”

“Exactly. This time, too, there’s no difference. Okay, you think you might have fucked up something and now he’s not talking to you. But instead of beating yourself up about it, wouldn’t it be better to take a chance once again, to try to go with the flow once again instead of fighting it?” Aiba smiled gently at him, his voice soft and kind. “Maybe you should take the risk.”

Jun swallowed his miso soup, staring into the bowl without knowing what to say.

Aiba’s comforting touch was on his arm once again.

“Don’t fight it, but also be brave enough to make an effort,” Aiba squeezed comfortingly. “And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll take you to your favorite shops for a jumbo super shopping session, no worries.”

Jun thought of Nino’s kind eyes. He thought of his words and the way his fingers had felt against Jun’s. He thought of the way Nino’s silhouette remained the prettiest thing he’d ever seen even though 16 years had passed already.

He found himself looking at Aiba.

“I’ll try.”

For Nino, he would.

***

The Doiyasa Festival started with people sending the huge kiriko lanterns out to the sea, decorated with paintings. The paintings themselves had taken 2 months to be completed, and Jun heard a lot of stories on how they were made from Ren.

Nino was standing next to Jun, still without a word, though he would occasionally share a joke with Toma who was tagging along with them. Aiba stood behind Jun, a comforting presence despite the storm raging inside his best friend’s heart.

(Aiba had introduced himself to Nino in the morning as he had stayed over in their shared room, claiming that he had gotten Sho’s approval. Nino hadn’t said much, he’d just inclined his head politely at Aiba’s bright greeting, and Jun had felt his heart falling for him once more.)

The locals were dragging the big kiriko lanterns on carriages with wheels, just like they had done during the Abare Festival, with children sitting on them and the sounds of drums accompanying the whole trip.  

Jun took one final glance at Nino before pushing all thoughts of him off his mind. It was not the time for this. Today he needed to focus on work, and he couldn’t let any personal feelings affect his work ethic. He took a deep breath and fixed his press pass around his neck before raising him camera and looking through the viewfinder.

Toma and Aiba stayed behind, while Jun tried to match Nino’s pace.

“Say, Nino,” he started, his voice coming out too quietly compared to the loud cheers of the crowd. Still, he knew that Nino had heard him.

“Hmm?”

“Did I …” Jun paused, a gazillion of things swirling inside his head. He wasn’t ready for Nino’s answer. “Did I forward to you the approved schedule for next week?” He said instead.

Don’t be such a cowardly fool, his brain scolded him, but Jun couldn’t find it in himself to care at the moment. He couldn’t risk losing his composure in the middle of an important job.

Nino hummed in contemplation. “I don’t think you did. It’s okay, don’t worry about it. You can send it once we’re done.”

Nino’s tone was absolutely unreadable, expressionless and cold. It made him wonder where the Nino he had gotten to know during those past months had gone. He had hidden immediately behind his tough, strong walls.

The things Jun would do to take those walls down.

“Matsujun! They’re loading the kiriko floats onto the boats, wow.” Aiba’s amazed voice pulled Jun out of his thoughts, the man’s hand gripping his shoulder.

Jun hummed, smiling as he captured moment after moment. The excitement of the crowd at the festival was contagious, and Jun allowed himself a moment to turn around and take a 2-shot selfie with Aiba.

Jun leaned closer to his friend, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and smiling brightly at the camera as Aiba took a picture of the two of them with the floating kiriko lanterns in the background. Aiba grinned at Jun and gestured for him to go back to taking pictures.

Soon after, the fireworks were launched, and the boats started cruising on the sea. Their reflections looked beautiful on the surface of the water, illuminated by the colorful fireworks in the sky. Jun lowered his camera to glance at Nino, finding the man gazing up at the sky.

“Beautiful, right?” Jun dared himself to say.

To his surprise, Nino smiled.

“Yeah, but they’re not the only beautiful ones tonight.”

***

“Just… what the fuck is up with him, Masaki?” Jun groaned, closing his eyes. They were sitting on the sand, sharing taiyaki, the moon shyly shining from behind the clouds. “He ignored me for a week, went all cold and emotionless, and then suddenly they’re not the only beautiful ones tonight??? What the actual fuck, honestly.”

Aiba just hummed through Jun’s rant, his usual reaction. Jun appreciated it, though. At times like this, he simply needed a friendly ear.

“Check your phone,” Aiba told him.

Jun did, finding a notification that Aiba had tagged him on Instagram in the selfie they had taken earlier (and Sho had already commented “So fun!! I’m jealous” with puppy eyes emojis which made Jun laugh), but as he was scrolling down, a notification that Aiba had sent him a picture popped up.

Jun opened it, and it was a picture of him and Nino standing side by side. Jun had his camera pressed to his face, his expression serious and focused on the task. But Nino wasn’t holding his camera, he wasn’t looking through his lense, he was staring at someone with a soft, fond expression.

Jun.

Aiba smiled at Jun, the kind of smile that made Jun want to kill him.

“Nino-chan really kept his eyes on the most beautiful view tonight, huh~” Aiba leered at him. Jun rolled his eyes, fighting the warmth creeping up his cheeks. “He wasn’t wrong, though, Jun-chan. You really do look the most attractive when you’re working. I don’t blame him.”

“But wasn’t he giving me the cold shoulder?” Jun sighed. “I don’t understand these mixed signals, I can’t do this, for God's sake.”

“This is why you two blockheads need to talk.” It was Aiba’s turn to roll his eyes.

“After the final festival, okay? I can’t do this in the middle of work.” Jun looked at him straight in the eyes. “I’ll make it work, I promise. And I know you told Sho-kun and that he’s aware of the situation, but I’ll assure him that everything’s going to be okay.”

Aiba’s eyes were kind, understanding.

“Okay, Jun-chan,” he smiled. “But don’t push yourself too much, okay? No need to keep everything inside. Call me up if you ever need to, or even Sho-chan. I know he’s your boss, but before that, he’s your friend.”

Jun gave him a small nod.

“Let’s go back.”

Jun did.

***

Aiba left for Tokyo the following Sunday, and Jun felt the constant gnawing inside him making a reappearance. Nino’s behaviour didn’t change, though with their time slowly running out, they had to hurry and gather materials on the places they hadn’t found the time to visit, people they hadn’t got the time to meet.

Sometimes Nino would soften–mostly when he was tired from a long day or when he had his guard down. He would smile at Jun the way he used to before he closed himself off that terrible night, he would respond and engage in conversations with Jun light-heartedly, his tone colorful instead of distant and cold. But he would also go back to showing no emotions in the blink of an eye, and Jun was even more and more confused.

He knew that he had to talk to Nino, but he didn’t know if it was a good idea to do it in the middle of the project. He was scared that if he confronted Nino about it, they’d end up making the situation even worse–and that was completely against Jun’s work ethic.

But he only had 2 days left until the very last festival–Koiji Fire Festival, during which the lovers from the Koiji coast legend were said to have their once-in-a-year rendezvous. He’d set it straight once and for all with Nino at Koiji Fire Festival, and then they’d go home and everything would hopefully go back to the way it was.

(If it didn’t, well, then Jun would have to figure something out, since he couldn’t work with a partner who didn’t even talk to him.)

“Did something happen with Nino, Jun-kun?”

Ohno’s soft voice cut short Jun’s thoughts and he found the fisherman looking at him gently as he put down his food in front of him.

“Hm?”

“I haven’t seen you with him for so long. Neither have Yuri and Kento.” Ohno elaborated.

Jun took a sip of his miso soup. “I’m not sure if something happened or not, either,” he shrugged, and Ohno gave him a questioning look. “He simply got distant, all of a sudden. I don’t understand the cause, but he’s giving me the cold shoulder.”

“Even though nothing happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Jun said firmly, but then he thought back a little. “Or maybe something did, but I didn’t realize it.”

Ohno hummed in contemplation. “Nino still does come here, you know,” he said, and Jun’s eyes widened. “It’s just he’s never with you. He also always looks like he’s so troubled about something, pretty much the same expression you’ve been wearing. So I decided to ask.”

“Did he say anything?”

“No, he said it’s just work stuff. He clearly looked like he didn’t want me to ask further, though.” Ohno shrugged. “But I’d hate to see you guys spending the little time you have left here like this, you know?”

“I know, I’m sorry, Oh-chan,” Jun looked at him straight in the eyes, apologizing genuinely.

Ohno gave him a gentle smile. “There’s nothing to apologize for, I just want to see you guys back on your feet. And by the way, isn’t it about time?”

“About time for?”

“Jun-kun, you spent 3 weeks sharing a room with Nino and you still haven't done anything? Not even a kiss? A confession?” Ohno let out an exaggerated sigh.

Jun was sure if he hadn’t been blushing before, he was now. “That wouldn’t be professional. We’re here for work.”

“I know. But you’re not on duty 24/7 here.” Ohno reasoned, and well, Jun got his point. “Well, I don’t know if you’re waiting for the Koiji Fire Festival with the romantic theme and all, but I’d be very sad if you two didn’t end up together.”

“I don’t even know if he feels the same.” Jun mumbled, but it wasn’t lost in Ohno’s ears.

“Oh, I’m sure he does,” Ohno smiled reassuringly. When Jun gave him an unsure look, his smile grew even wider. “I can’t believe you’re this dense, Jun-kun. Just give it a shot, alright?”

Jun gave him a tiny nod.

“Now,” Ohno beamed, perking up. “Kento has been experimenting with desserts lately, would you like to try his strawberry shortcake?”

Jun’s eyes brightened.

“I’d love to.”

***

Jun was halfway through packing his belongings when Nino opened the sliding door, looking positively refreshed after a shower. His pale skin made a nice contrast against the dark green yukata, and his hair was still damp.

“You’re packing already?”

Jun was surprised, but he tried not to show it. “Yeah, tomorrow will be hectic with all the preparation for the festivals, and since we’re leaving on Monday, I thought I should start now.” He answered, going for a nonchalant tone.

“I see,” was all Nino said, before he proceeded to grab his gaming device and sat down on his futon.

“Nino,” Jun turned towards him and Nino, who had been about to put his earphones on, halted in his tracks, looking at him questioningly. “Did I do something wrong?”

Nino’s whole form stiffened, and Jun knew it had been a bad idea to ask, but he needed to know. He needed answers. “No, J, you didn’t,” Nino said finally, but the tension didn’t leave his body.

“Then why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not,” Nino answered calmly, his eyes giving away nothing. “I just have my own issues to deal with currently. I’m sorry if it’s affected you, but work-wise, we’ve been doing just fine. We’re work partners, right? I don’t need to share with you everything that’s happening to me.”

So was that all Jun was to Nino, a work partner? A colleague? Then had Jun been expecting too much? Had he been overthinking it, reading too much into it, thinking that to Nino he might have meant more than just a friend, more than just a colleague?

Jun wanted to laugh.

He could feel his heart cracking into pieces inside his chest, and he wondered if this had really been a good idea. He remembered the feel of Nino’s fingers against his, the way Nino had smiled at him, the conversations that had been all but small talk, the soft good nights, the way Nino looked at him in the picture Aiba had taken, Ohno’s amused laugh when he had been insecure about how Nino felt towards him. He remembered the press of Nino’s fingers against his face when he had wiped away the ice cream, remembered Nino’s jokes, Nino’s laugh, Nino’s kind eyes.

He wondered if all of it had been just a lie.

“I see,” Jun said, finding his voice clipped but not knowing why. “Yeah, we’re just work partners. You don’t need to. I’m sorry if it felt like I was meddling. I was just wondering, but if there’s anything I can help with… don’t hesitate to tell me, okay?”

Nino didn’t say anything else, simply inclined his head.

Jun got into his futon without another word, pushing the blanket up to his chin.

He didn’t bother to say good night to Nino.

***

Jun gave himself a pat on the back the next day for being able to function normally and effectively, putting his broken heart aside to worry about later, and doing his thing. Both he and Nino were staying in Noto today, having already finished their assignments in the other parts of the peninsula, but Jun chose work separately anyway.

He received a message from Sho when he woke up in the morning; there was a sticker of a dog holding a “do your best!” banner and he’d written ‘Last day before the final festival!!! Final spurt!!’ with a lot of fireworks emojis. It was silly, but it made Jun smile.

Jun read information about the Koiji Fire Festival. As he already knew, the festival originated from the famous lovers of the legend, so people were going to let two kiriko floats on the sea, resembling the two lovers. There would be fireworks making up characters in the sky, guaranteeing a romantic vibe throughout the festival.

How ironic, Jun thought to himself. A romantic festival to conclude a work trip of nostalgia with his old crush who didn’t remember him at all.

Jun went to the beach to find a group of young people -probably fresh out of high school, one of them being Ren-, who were intent in discussing the festival. Jun ended up joining them, listening to their stories about the festivals, about their town and their families.

“What’s Tokyo like, Matsumoto-san?” One of the lively ones, Kaito, asked, his eyes shining with interest.

Jun hummed, contemplating his answer. “Busy, but also interesting because there’s always something new. It gets a little bit tiring sometimes, though,” he smiled. “My previous exhibition was about Tokyo’s busy life, actually. People were just living their own life.”

“Have you always wanted to be a photographer?” asked a taller one–Jinguji, as he introduced himself.

Jun had no idea how this became a question and answer session for him, but he found that he didn’t mind anyway. “I guess so, yeah. I thought it was beautiful that I could make a moment of beauty, of happiness, of sadness, of fear, stand still with my camera,” he gestured at his camera. “The world I’ve seen through this has taught me a lot of things, I guess.”

The young boys reacted with long ooohs which made Jun grin in amusement. Maybe he could start a coaching class.

“But I really like Noto,” he said, a small smile playing on his lips. His heart tightened in happiness as the boys’ eyes brightened. “It’s a really lovely town, and I’ve visited the other cities as well. They’re all beautiful and have such a warm atmosphere. I wish I could call this place home as well.”

“Ah, but who said you can’t, Jun-kun?” Ren jumped in, his smile reaching his eyes. “You’re always welcome to come back here, always welcome to treat this place like home. Actually, please do come back here!”

“He’s right, Matsumoto-san!” Sho–Jun was still amused by the fact that this kid shared a name with his boss–interjected. “I hope this place is bright and comfortable enough for you to consider it one of your homes, too.”

“After all,” a smaller, delicate kid started. “Home doesn’t have to be 4 walls, right?”

Jun smiled. At first he really had felt like he had been babysitting these kids, but now it was as if they were the ones putting the raging storm in Jun’s heart to rest, filling the gaping hole in his chest, making his heart full and happy.

“If you guys say so,” he said, giddy. His thoughts drifted to Nino, to the sunset from 16 years before, forever immortalized in the picture he had taken. “This place means a lot to me, after all.”

Jun was saying goodbye to the kids as they were going back to their discussion when everything fell into place.

Sunset. The picture. Nino.

His wallet.

“I need to go to the washroom,” he said and fished for his wallet out of his pocket to hand it to Nino. “Would you mind taking how much I owe? I’ll be back.”

Nino accepted the wallet and waved him off, as Jun turned his back to go to the toilet.

Jun took a deep breath.

“Well, shit.”

***

Jun knew he should talk to Nino, especially now that he knew what was most likely to be the reason behind his silence. But it was hard to get his words out. He was lost–not knowing what to do, not knowing what to say. Jun went to sleep before Nino even got back that night, letting the exhaustion get the best of him.

There was no sign of Nino when Jun woke up the next day, which was nothing new, actually. Nino almost always woke up first, leaving the room earlier than he did. Jun stretched like a cat before scrambling over to fix his yukata and he sat down at the low table to have his breakfast.

His thoughts went back to the sudden realization he’d had the day before. If Nino remembered that picture, then he’d already found out that Jun had known him for years now. Seeing his face in someone else’s wallet had probably been creepy enough, and to think said person was his own colleague who might have been someone he knew from College …

Jun sighed deeply, it probably would have been better if he had told Nino the truth since the very beginning. Had he told him that he’d known him back in college, then things might have been easier now. But since Jun had already gotten himself tangled in this situation, there was no undoing it.

Jun out away the empty dish and started his laptop, loading the pictures from the past 3 days and selecting the ones he wanted to submit to Sho. These pictures didn’t have Nino in them, as Jun had been travelling alone, and they mostly featured the locals doing their own things, kindly letting Jun intrude in their daily lives for his work.

He opened a folder he’d created on the very first day they’d arrived in Noto, smiling thinly at it. He had named the folder Kazu and it was dedicated to all the pictures that had Nino in the frame. There was Nino on their very first day, Nino at the festival, Nino taking pictures and the scenery he’d been photographing. Then there was the picture that Ohno had taken of them together at Abare Festival and another picture they’d asked a stranger to take, with Nino pressing close to Jun and Jun’s arm around Nino’s shoulders.

It brought Jun back to every moment he had shared with Nino. The day Nino had come to his exhibition, when he’d seen Nino standing in front of Sho’s table, their ramen date. It brought Jun back to each and every one of Nino’s snarky remarks, his jokes, the way his eyes always seemed to shine whenever he was holding his camera or playing on his gaming devices.

Jun closed his eyes, and he found that he didn’t want to lose this.

He didn’t want to lose Nino for the second time.

He had to make this right.

***

Koiji Beach was full of people who were attending the festival, couples holding hands, kids running around, familiar people Jun had met in the past month. Ren and his group of friends had also passed by Jun, waving excitedly and telling Jun and Nino to enjoy the festival. Aiba and Sho had both sent him fireworks emojis and cheering stickers, which made Jun a bit more positive about talking things out with Nino.

Nino was next to him, hands clutching his camera. The kiriko floats had been brought to the beach and were currently being carried offshore. Once everything was set, the fireworks would start.

Jun didn’t say anything for most of the time, focusing on getting the best angle since it was hard with so many people, even with his press pass. Sho had told him that the Koiji Fire Festival was going to be one of the highlights in their feature, so he had to make sure that everything was perfect–there was absolutely no room for mistakes. Thankfully, Nino seemed to share the same thoughts, and they worked together perfectly, covering the parts the other couldn’t, getting angles the other was unable to get.

There would be time for him and Nino to talk.

Everyone got excited once the fireworks set off, mixes of colors bursting into the sky, and Jun saw Ren and Kaito light up small torches on the tip of a bamboo before starting to dance, making sparks of fires. He smiled, taking more pictures, capturing those moments.

The kiriko floats looked like they were dancing on the sea, and the amazing sight was complemented by the fireworks and torches, both big and small. It looked like flames dancing on the sea, and it was definitely one of the most beautiful things Jun had ever witnessed in his life.

The two lovers were reuniting, having a rendezvous in the middle of the sea.

Jun found Nino sitting on the white sand in a quieter corner of the beach, watching the festival continued. He didn’t move as Jun sat down next to him, much less spoke. His gaze was fixed on the sky, the reflection of the fireworks glinting in his brown eyes.

“Magnificent thing, isn’t it?” Nino broke the silence between them, and Jun turned to face him. He remembered–it was the first thing Nino had said to him at his exhibition.

“What is?”

“Everything,” Nino gestured around them. “Koiji. Romance, the path of love. The story of the two lovers having their little rendezvous. It’s like another version of Orihime and Hikoboshi, Vega and Altair. Tonight is their reunion.”

Jun hummed in agreement.

“But they weren’t the only ones having a reunion tonight,” Nino said, before turning to lock his gaze with Jun’s. “Matsumoto Jun, Tokyo University of the Arts, 2001.”

Jun sighed, and Nino had a hesitant smile on his lips.

“You could’ve told me, really,” Nino continued. “I didn’t know what to do, you know? Unfortunately, my time at university back then wasn’t the best time of my life, most of it has been a blur. I accepted the offer and moved to Greece because I needed to move on with my life, leave it all behind. Including you.”

“I mean, you forgot, you looked like you had absolutely no idea,” Jun admitted. “I guess I have to say that it hurt a little bit, that you’d forgotten completely. But then again, 16 years have passed. I thought that maybe you were never even aware that I existed in your life.”

Nino let out a low chuckle. “Meanwhile you’ve had that picture in your wallet for all these 16 years?”

Jun blushed, thankful that the darkness of the night hid it, but gave a timid nod.

“Why?”

Jun thought of his younger self, excitedly printing that picture out and putting it in his wallet. He had changed wallets so many times in the timespan of 16 years, but that picture never failed to make it there. It had been many years later that he accepted the real reason why he couldn’t seem to let go of that picture, of that memory, of that sunset at the Noto Peninsula in 2003.

“Because I love you.”

The admission came in a quiet whisper, like the sound of ink scribbles on paper at midnight, like the way the stars twinkle at night, being silent witnesses. Jun almost couldn’t hear himself, but he knew that Nino heard him clearly. He felt like time had stopped, and yet, he couldn’t stop the thundering beat of his heart.

“I loved you back then, I loved you always, I love you now,” Jun said, closing his eyes. The sound of cheering, the fireworks and the whole festival were drowning his voice out, but right now, there was nothing but this. “Which is pretty weird, considering you haven’t been here for the past 16 years, and yet, I love you.”

He felt fingers on his cheeks and, turning his head towards Nino, he suddenly found big, brown eyes right in front of him. This close, Jun could see even the smallest of Nino’s beauty marks, how wide his eyes were, the shape of his nose--

“Kazu.”

Nino’s eyes widened, and the next moment, Jun felt a pair of soft lips against his.

The kiss was hesitant, an inquiry, but to Jun, it was the answer to 16 years worth of feelings. Jun’s hand flew to the back of Nino’s head as he kissed him back, feeling his fingers caressing his cheek, the way he pressed his lips insistently against Jun’s.

Nino pulled away only for Jun to lean in for more, planting chaste, quick kisses on Nino’s mouth, then he looked up to see Nino’s eyes, his heart filled with warmth.

“Jun-kun,” Nino whispered against Jun’s lips, and Jun’s heart tightened because of the old nickname. “I’m glad the universe allowed me to reunite with you again.”

Jun laughed softly, and dropped a kiss at the corner of Nino’s mouth.

“Me too, Kazu. Me too.”

The stars, fireworks and the lovers of Koiji beach were dancing in joy, but it was nothing compared to the way Jun’s heart was dancing in his chest as Nino’s arms wrapped around his neck, lips against his.

He was home.

***

2020, August

Jun fixed his tie, straightening his suit jacket. His third exhibition was opening shortly, and he was just a little bit nervous. He was in a blue suit, a thin black tie around his neck. He had swiped his bangs away from his face, spending quite a lot of time working on his hair earlier in the morning.

The theme Jun had picked for his exhibition this time was tsunagu– to connect, to link, to join. It had been inspired by Enmusubi Beach, where the Koiji Coast was located. He’d portrayed the many connections people made with each other throughout all of their lives–kids going to school for the first time, weddings, team work, anything.

He had come up with the idea in the middle of a movie night with Nino, the smaller man cuddled in Jun’s arms and Jun’s chest against Nino’s back, as they curled on the sheets while watching Aladdin on Jun’s laptop.

As the end credits rolled, Nino turned his head back and Jun’s arms wrapped around him to press one languid kiss on his lips, A Whole New World playing softly in the background––one neither of them could care about as they made out at a slow pace, as if they had all the time in the world.

“I thought about it,” Jun hummed in between kisses.

“Hmm?” Nino responded, resting his cheek against Jun’s collarbone as he peppered Jun’s neck with featherlight kisses.

“The theme for my next exhibition,” he said. Nino looked up, his thumb drawing patterns on Jun’s arm, a soothing gesture. “Tsunagu. To connect, to join, to link. I was looking at the Noto Peninsula pictures the other day, when I found the ones of Enmusubi Beach. It was a moment of awakening.”

Nino chuckled warmly, it vibrated against Jun’s skin and made his whole body tingle. “That’s nice. I like it.”

Jun hummed, already mapping out concepts in his head, but his thoughts were interrupted by Nino’s light pinch on his cheek. He looked down, eyebrows raising.

“Lovely idea, Jun-kun, but please save it for tomorrow morning. You’re distracted. I can’t believe you’re thinking about work in the middle of making out, I’m offended,” he feigned a hurt expression, but it wasn’t hard for Jun to pick up on the amused tone in his voice. “You really do love work, huh.”

Jun laughed at his petulant tone, knowing Nino didn’t actually mind. Despite his complaints that Jun worked too hard, he would always support him in his work while making sure that Jun wasn’t overworking himself. It was something even Sho was amazed about.

Jun shoved away all thoughts of work for the rest of the night, giving his lover his full attention.

It had been more than a year since the kiss at the Koiji Fire Festival, and Nino and Jun had gone through quite a lot as their relationship progressed. They’d stayed as partners at work–Sho believed that they were professional enough in their job not to let their relationship interfere with it. They would give each other pieces of advice on their works, becoming some of the best partners Storm Publishing had ever had.

Nino had moved in Jun’s apartment 7 months into their relationship, even though it hadn’t been such a big deal––most of Nino’s stuff had already been at Jun’s place, and the only things he’d had to move were his work equipment and his gaming stuff.

(Jun had complained about the latter, but had let Nino make his “babies” comfortable in his house anyway.)

Nino, Jun learned, was a lot clingier and softer than the image he gave off. He loved wearing Jun’s hoodies, looking like he was swimming in them. He liked watching Jun cook and pressing his cheek against Jun’s back when he did. He would press close to Jun on their occasional dates and paid attention to a lot of the little things Jun did.

Of course, it wasn’t all roses and strawberries. There were days when they were both tired from work and photo shoots that dragged on for way too long, and they wouldn’t even have the energy to greet each other––but Nino would still wake up spooned against Jun. Some days Jun would be annoyed at his omurice being forgotten by Nino, who had already passed out with his game controller in hand. Nino would grumble at Jun’s texts reminding him to water his dying bonsai whenever Jun had to go on a trip, and yet did it anyway. They had their petty fights too. Like that time Nino left the house after accidentally packing Jun’s camera lens into his bag, although Jun was supposed to bring it to work that day. He made it up to him by bringing home crab cream croquettes that night.

It wasn’t all roses and strawberries, they had to compromise and put effort into their relationship, but they made it work anyway.

Jun had framed the picture of Nino he had taken at sunset at Koiji Coast and now it sat nicely on his desk at work. One day he walked by Nino’s desk to find a framed picture of a selfie he’d taken on the train next to a sleeping Jun. Jun walked past and pretended he didn’t notice, but the small smile didn’t leave his lips the whole day.

They had their pictures of each other (and pictures of the both of them) all over the house. Jun put up display ropes for them to hang their pictures –almost everything from Jun’s Kazu folder made it there. He tried not to look too surprised when Nino revealed that he had quite an amount of Jun’s pictures too, and they spent a whole Sunday decorating the house with them.

(Jun was starting to get worried there might be no more space for new pictures, but they could deal with it when the time came.)

They had gone over to Ohno’s for breakfast the Monday after Koiji Fire Festival, walking hand in hand, and the fisherman had beamed brightly, claiming their breakfast that morning was on the house.

“It’s your last one, and I really want to congratulate you guys, okay?” he had assured them. Nino had squeezed his hand under the counter, and Jun’s heart had been so full.

Sho had greeted them with a knowing smile when Jun and Nino had returned to the office that week, before bursting into laughter. “Well, at least I’m glad that my Noto Peninsula mission was a success,” he had shrugged, winking at them.

Jun’s “Sho-kun!” had been lost in Sho and Nino’s laughter.

Aiba and Nino had hit it off perfectly once Jun had got them together to meet properly this time, Nino immediately inviting him over for a game session, and he barely invited anyone over ever. Jun knew those two would team up to make his life a lot more colorful from now on, but he found that he didn’t mind at all.

Despite everything, they made it work. Jun still had that picture from 17 years ago in his wallet, irreplaceable, but he knew that the only thing that mattered now was that Nino was here and he wasn’t leaving a second time. Nino was here, holding his hand, and he was here to stay no matter how many sunsets they watched.

Jun took a deep breath before walking around the venue, as the staff was doing final checks of the display. His heart soared when he caught a glance of Nino in his suit–a darker shade of blue compared to Jun’s–, staring at the picture of two linked hands at a beach.

He walked over, heart thundering.

“Magnificent thing, isn’t it?”

Jun grinned when Nino turned around to face him, a smirk playing on his lips. Nino had his bangs covering his forehead, but Jun had been the one who had tended to his hair this morning, styling it to perfection.

“What is?” Jun played along.

“Being connected with others,” Nino said, smiling as he stepped closer to Jun. “The fact that we’re all connected somehow, and there might be many more connections we haven’t discovered yet.”

Nino stopped once he was in Jun’s space, the two of them sharing a breath.

“It is, indeed,” Jun said, his voice barely a whisper. “I think it’s beautiful that although those connections can break, the universe will always find a way to reconnect them if they’re meant to be.”

“So sappy, Jun-kun,” Nino’s arms wrapped around Jun’s waist, chuckling.

“People are going to come in any minute now.”

“Sshh,” Nino’s smirk grew wider. “Don’t ruin the moment now.”

Jun obliged, his hand flying to cup Nino’s nape as he closed the distance between them, kissing him deep and slow. They took their time, taking advantage of the still-empty venue, their mouths separating and meeting again in a slow rhythm.

Jun pulled away to press his forehead against Nino’s.

“I’m glad the universe let me connect with you, Kazu.”

Nino laughed warmly, happily, and it made Jun’s heart grow so big he thought it would burst. Then he said the words that had brought them to where they were right now.

“I’m glad the universe let us connect with each other, too.”

Comments

[loregorito]

OMG! I LOVE IT ALREADY!!

My dearest Anon, thank you so much for writing this for me! I'm in the middle of a trip now, but I'll read it and comment as soon as I can!

I'm so exciteeeed!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! ♡♡♡♡

[loregorito]

(I'm sorry for the delay!)

My dear Anon, I LOVE THIS FIC SO MUCH! *o* Thank you again for writing this for me, I'm so emotional, and happy! I read the whole fic with a smile on my face, and by the end of it, there were happy tears on my eyes. So beautiful, so romantic! :')

- "Jun looked at his reflection one more time, before exhaling slowly.


Nino was back. He didn’t remember Jun.


But Jun was going to be okay."


T_________T I LOVE THIS SO MUCH, I WANT TO HUG YOU. AND JUN. BOTH OF YOU.

- I loved the usual MatsuMiya bickering with love you put in this, specially in the ramen part. So, so cute.

- Jun's friends teasing him and giving pieces of advice about his relationship with Nino was so good and so nice to read! Specially Sho and Aiba! I absolutely love ShoJun and JunBa, even as friends, so thank you so much for writing their friendship moments! <3

- "Aiba squeezed Jun’s shoulder lightly. “I really want you to make him fall head over heels for you and sweep him off his feet wearing the outfit I picked for you, okay? You looked so good, Matsujun. He can’t be so mad to pass on this.”


Jun chuckled lightly at the subtle compliment. Trust Aiba to be the most skilled man in making other people smile.


“I think you’ll like him, Masaki.” was all Jun said.


Aiba smiled and left it at that.


“Do you want to get cakes?” "


I SCREAMED.


- "If they both finished early, they would grab dinner together at Ohno’s restaurant, and in the past week, they’d had the pleasure of meeting Chinen, a small guy who adored Ohno with all his heart, and Nakajima, a passionate guy who, for some reasons unknown to Jun and Nino, really liked to say the word Sexy." LOL


- Jun taking Nino's picture again, 16 years later... Ç___Ç

- The bits of slow burn you put in this made my heart flutter and I. LO.VED. IT.

- OMG JUN'S CONFESSION AND THEIR KISS GOT ME LIKE TT_______________TT SO BEAUTIFUL, SO ROMANTIC, SO CUTE, I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IIIITTT

- And the ending <3 A perfect ending for a perfect fic!

Once again, thank you so much for this! And once again, I love this. <3

[eggrater]

Helloooo dearest recipient!! I'm so happy you liked the fic, ahhh, I was so nervous since I wasn't exactly sure what I'd make from your sign up, so I tried working my way around it, so I'm really happy if it's to your liking!! Also, I know you love Junba, so I'm very happy if the Junba friendship I put in fit with you :) I had a lot of fun writing this, thank you for reading!

[(Anonymous)]

OMG this is sooooooo sweet and heartwarming 💖💖💖💖💖
👏👏👏

[eggrater]

thank you for reading!! <3

[mikunicchi]

My dearest writer-san, what have you done to me? I'm crying because how beautiful this whole story is and I just can't seem to be able to stop. If I have to describe the whole story with one word, I can only think of "beautiful" as suitable.

I love the premise of both Jun and Nino being photographers and that Jun has waited for Nino for 16 years... I'm crying (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ) it is so good really... He kept that photo close to himself for all those years and I can't shake that off...

And of course, all the romantic gestures between Jun and Nino... I was squealing so hard when they held hands and when they exchanged touches omg the loveliest things in this fic... I can't count them all I am just too overwhelmed by how beautiful it it ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡

Reading this as a whole in one go just makes me want to go back to the start and read it all over again.
You just put some water to my withered heart with the amaount of romanticism and fluff I just feel so content with everything.

Now I can go and study since I got my perfect dosage of fluff ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡

Thank you for writing this and sharing with us dearest writer 💜💛

[eggrater]

YUKINA!!! Gosh, thank you sooooo much <333 I'm so happy if you liked it, it was quite a struggle to figure out if everything was alright (as in, was it too boring, too fluffy, too little angst, but I'm sure you know these already ahah). So I'm very happy to hear that it all worked out just well at the end! I also love little gestures, so ofc I made sure they have enough of them in it ;) Thank you so much for reading (and for everything, really! This wouldn't be here without you <3)

[leiva21]

The ending makes me happy and super warm inside. I’m glad that Jun meets Nino again after years of separation and it’s pretty nostalgic that the place they had been together before is also the place they finally got together, and this time Nino is not going away from Jun anymore.
Thanks for this fic writer-san, I really like it a lot

[eggrater]

I enjoyed doing the parallels and let Jun reel in his feelings as he slowly rediscovered how he feels for Nino all over again :D Thank you so much for reading!

[nicefinalbeam]

I don't blame Nino at all for needing time to process what he saw in Jun's wallet. While we're rooting so strongly for Jun because we know he's had these feelings so long, we forget that it would be fresh news to Nino. It was sad to see Jun hurt, but I was glad that Nino was able to take his time and search his feelings before they reunited properly!

There were a lot of lovely things in this story, anon! The framed picture on Jun's desk at work - AWWW! I loved how Ohno was sort of looking over them warmly, observing in his way. How nicely Jun and Nino fit together, enough that other people would just assume they were already together. Supportive Aiba being there for Jun, and Sho's gentle guidance too.

Really nice read, thank you!

[eggrater]

Nino's feelings were the ones I was pretty worried about in the fic since it was all Jun's POV, but I wanted to make sure to get it across that it must have been shaking to Nino too, so I'm glad if it all worked out :) I tried to keep the Matsumiya chemistry and the right dosage of the other 3, glad if you liked it! Thank you so much for reading!

[learashi]

Poor Jun, keeping those feelings in his heart for so many years. I can't begin to imagine his pain whe Nino didn't recognize him or remember.
Thank you for giving them such a romantic happy ending.
Also huge thanks for the casual inclusion of Kinpuri. You made my fangirl heart beat just that little bit faster.

[eggrater]

You know me, I like making Jun suffer ;) but I also want him happy so he'll always get happy endings for me, LOL. Thank you so much for reading!