fic for southview! (2/2)

[nino_mod]

For: southview
From: :3.

My Boss, My Weirdo (1/2)


Of course, Nino brought Sho home. He would have done so, even if the other man wouldn't have suddenly turned so soft and have begged him to bring him. He was his secretary after all. He was Sakurai Sho trash, after all.

Nino tried hard to keep himself together now that he was sitting behind the steering wheel of his car, Sho sitting next to him in the passenger seat and they were driving through the city, soothing minimalistic melodies as their background music. Ever since Nino had told his boss once, that it was his choice of what music to play while they were driving in his car, Sho had never once complained. However, right now, Nino felt really strange about it and for once, the music did not help a bit to calm him down, anyway. So, he reached out and turned down the volume. He could feel Sho's confused look on him, after that.

"I figured, we should better talk than listen to music," Nino said, but kept his eyes on the street in front of him.

"Talk?" Sho repeated, slightly confused.

"Yeah, talk," Nino repeated. "That's what friends do, mostly. So... if there's anything on your mind that you would like to talk about, now it's your chance."

There was silence in the car for a few minutes, the only noise reaching their ears was the motor of the car and the noise from the car's wheels rolling over the asphalt street, and Nino already cursed himself internally for having turned off the music and creating this literal awkward silence between him and Sho. But that's what it was, now. Maybe, he just needed to be a bit patient.

Indeed, just when Nino was about to turn around and check if Sho had fallen asleep while driving, the other man finally started talking.

"You know...," Sho obviously struggled to find the right words, and the alcohol in his system was surely not helping, but he tried. "Actually, I don't want to be the heir of the Sakurai Group. I don't even want to be a boss..."

Nino couldn't say fright away if Sho's confession just now surprised him, or not. He let his boss' words sink in, considered their meaning, made connections. Actually, if someone thought about it, it made sense. It explained quite a bit. Nino couldn't help but glance at the man next to him, eager to see the expression on Sho's face. He looked sad. Nino swallowed. When Sho didn't continue, Nino saw it upon himself to bring the conversation forward.

"You want to elaborate on this a bit more?" he asked, gently.

Sho sighed deeply. He lifted one hand and for a moment, Nino thought Sho was about to be sick, but in the end, he only covered his eyes with his hand. It took him a while to collect his words, but Nino didn't mind.

"I don't want to... be stuck. I want to live my own life," the man finally said. His voice sounded hoarse, almost breaking. Nino kept silence, kept driving, allowed Sho to take all the time he needed. "This sucks. First, I've been sent away to study in a foreign country. I mean, that was an interesting experience and I am thankful for the opportunity, but... When I came back, everything was still the same. Everyone still wanted the same things of me, and they did not even ask me what I want. I'm so tired of it..."

Nino swallowed. Hearing Sho talking like that, unexpectedly hit him right in the heart. Harder, than he thought. It was as if he could feel Sho's frustration and pain first hand, and suddenly, he felt something that had been missing for the whole time - a connection between them, between their current selves.

"What do you want to become then, if not the heir of your father's business?" Nino dared to ask. He wanted to know more.

"I want to be free...," Sho sighed.

Nino chuckled, softly. "In our society, that's a big word, free... not many people can claim to be that."

After a couple minutes of silence, Sho asked, "Are you free, Ninomiya-san?"

Nino hummed, thoughtful. "No, not really. But it doesn't mean that I'm miserable because of it."

"No?"

Nino continued. "Well, I indeed could imagine an easier job than working the whole day underneath someone who pushes me around, let's me make reservations and appointments for them, insults my coffee making skills -"

"Actually... I like your chocolate coffee quite a lot," Sho cut in, suddenly.

For a moment, Nino glanced at him, before he focused back on the street. "You know... I don't mind it that much. I'm glad to help. But even if it's my job, I'd like to know if I did something well or not – talking about constructive criticism here – and I definitely do appreciate a thank you in between."

"Is that why you like Matsumoto complimenting you so much?" Nino could see in the corner of his eyes that Sho was now glancing at him with furrowed eyebrows and crossed arms in front of his body.

"It's not –," Nino wanted to protest, but he didn't really know how else he should put it.

"OK," Sho interrupted him instead. "I get your point. I'm grateful, OK? I'm sorry if I'm not making that clear sometimes..."

Nino was actually surprised to hear his boss getting worked up about this right now. Not even in a negative way, just, as if it was something he wanted to set straight.

The secretary appreciated that and so he just said, "Thank you," before he fell silent again.

Sho looked at him, almost so persistently that Nino got distracted from looking at the street in front of him. It was, as if there was something burning on his tongue that he wanted to say, or to ask, but even when Nino raised his eyebrows at him to prompt him to talk, Sho kept silent. So, Nino decided to continue the talking.

"You know, there's this funny story," he said. "Back then, when we were kids, you said when we're grown up... I mean, back then, when we played together... You know, I remember that quite well, compared to you."

Nino's tone was meant to be teasing, not annoyed or mad. He didn't mean it in a provoking way, he just wanted to show a hit of his bitterness about the situation, once more. He felt himself stumbling a bit on his sentence, so he hoped it still met his intentions.

"OK," Sho said, nodding, as if he was taking note of his secretary's message. "No need to rub that in. What did I say?"

Nino swallowed before he continued, suddenly doubting if he really should say what he had planned to.

"You said you're going to marry me so that my dad doesn't have to be your dad's secretary anymore and we'll all become a big happy family," Nino said. He couldn't believe, what he did just now. But now that he was at it, he was going to finish. "But now my father is dead and I took over his job as your family's secretary... isn't it a bit ironic?"

"Sorry about your father," Sho said, sincerely. Nino just nodded. Then, Sho said more, surprising his secretary a bit with what he said. "I kind of feel like I should appologize now for not marrying you, but I guess, you have to blame Japanese government for that one. Maybe we can try again in a few years when they open up to same sex marriage a bit more?"

Nino could feel the heat flushing into his face, his cheeks warming up. If Sho, for whatever reason, was trying to cheer him up with saying something stupid like that, it kind of worked. The young man even chuckled shortly.

"Stop making fun of me, as if you would ever marry me," he murmured.

Sho cleared his throat, averted his look and didn't say more about the topic. Probably, he himself didn't even know how to carry on his joke.

Instead, Sho asked another question. "What was your initial plan? As a job, I mean?"

Nino looked at Sho, slightly surprised, but he sounded sincerely interested, so Nino saw no reason why he schouldn't give an honest reply.

"I wanted to become a game designer. I was studying at university and damned, I don't like to brag, but I was good... Then, everything went downhill. My father got sick, very quickly, had to step back from his job, he eventually died... and I had to follow his footsteps as your father's secretary."

"Why?" Sho asked. "I mean, why couldn't you just continue your studies and my father went to find another secretary?"

"Because my father wasn't free, either," Nino replied. "He was indebted to your father. And now I'm indebted to him. To your family."

"Your father borrowed money from us?" Sho asked and Nino just nodded. "Why?"

Nino took a deep breath before he started to explain his situation. "Because of my mom. She was sick too, during my childhood... needed surgery, was bedridden for a long time and needed to stay in the hospital and when my father couldn't pay the bills anymore, he asked your father for help. Since then, the Sakurai family paid for the bills and your father promised that my father could work off his depths. But then, he got sick too, and so paying the hospital bills never ended. My mom is sitting in a wheelchair and still recovering from her illness, slowly. She lives in a nice apartment now, barrier free and with the help she needs because I can't take care of her by myself... I couldn't afford all this without your father's help. So, I'm still paying off our debts with your family. Probably will for quite a few more years."

"Oh gosh, I had no idea." Slowly, Sho reached out to place his hand on Nino's thigh, as if to comfort him.

Nino jumped a little at the unexpected touch, but didn't dare say anything and just let Sho's hand rest there for the last couple of minutes of their drive.

"I – I figured," Nino just replied. "Anyway, that's how it is. That's why I can't just do what I'd like to, that's why I can't be free. But it's OK. As I said, I don't mind it that much. And I'm doing this for my family."

Sho's grip on Nino's thigh suddenly tightened a little, causing the secretary to glance at his boss, confused and with red flushed cheeks. He was even more irritated when he saw Sho's bottom lip shivering slightly, and his eyes blinking faster than usual.

"Ah – Sakurai-san?!" To say that Nino was shocked at this reaction of his boss, was an understatement. "What's wrong, are you... are you crying?!"

"I'm sorry," Sho said, sniffling.

"What? No, please... ah, here, take this," Nino said, reaching in front of Sho to his car's glove box and pointing at a package of tissues that Sho grabbed instantly.

The man fumbled a bit with the package one-handedly until he could pull out one of the tissues, shook it to unfold and then blew his nose. Gosh, how drunk that man must be that he even started crying, Nino wondered. If he wasn't so shocked about this sudden outburst, he might even have been amused.

"I'm sorry you had it so hard. With your parents, with university... you're doing a great job, you hear me?" Sho then said, whining.

"Uhm... well, thank you," Nino replied, still absolutely irritated by what just had happened, and trying hard to focus back on the street. It was only just a few minutes more until they would reach Sho's house, he needed to pay attention to bring them there, safely.

"I'm glad," his boss sniffed.

"About what?"

"About you being my secretary," Sho said.

Nino's heart felt warm about his boss' statement. He chuckled, softly and then finally turned the steering wheel to enter the drive way to Sho's house.

"Don't tell me, Sakurai Sho sincerely wants to make me feel better?"

"I mean it. I'm glad to have you by my side. As you can see, I'm a mess," the man chuckled in reply, gesturing awkwardly at himself with his free hand. "Without you, I'm an even bigger mess. We might both not be free, but at least we're stuck here together."

Nino didn't know what to say to that, but he felt his heart beating strongly in his chest by now, and once he finally stopped the car, he couldn't resist but dropped his hand on top of Sho's, pressing it gently. Sho's hand was warm and big, just like he remembered it being when they had been younger. Sure, they must both have been growing since that time, but still, their hands fit together nicely. Nino swallowed, and looked at Sho with a tender smile, who sniffled a last few times while looking back at Nino. For just a moment, everything seemed to be fine.

"Come on, I'll bring you inside," Nino finally said in a low voice, a couple of minutes later.

Sho nodded. "Thank you."

+ + +

Nothing more had happened the previous night, Nino had brought Sho inside of his house, helped him into the bathroom and Sho had announced that he was good with that, when Nino mentioned, that a friend was waiting back home. Nino still offered Sho that he could call or text him, if there was anything else he could help with. It was only in the next morning thought that Nino heard again from his boss, and this only because he had tried to reach him first and he was calling back.

"Good morning, Sakurai-san," Nino said when he picked up the call. It was almost midday, but assuming that his boss had been sleeping in today, the greeting should be accurate.

"Good morning, Ninomiya-san."

Nino pushed his phone closer to his ear. It wasn't the first time that he and Sho were talking over the phone, of course, but it was a bit different this time, after all, he had been the one initiating the call and not drunken-boss-Sho.

"Do you feel any better today?"

"Better?" Sho asked.

Nino frowned. He knew, he shouldn't even have dared to keep his hope high that things with Sho would be different after last night, after they both had broken out of what kept them to properly communicate with each other. However, after their kind of heart-to-heart talk yesterday in the car, with his boss ending to tear up, even, Nino felt like maybe, something had changed... They had exchanges their deepest and most honest thoughts, had both confessed that they were feeling more or less trapped in their lives.

Furthermore, Nino finally had a good guess on what made Sho drink so much, or at least, he could imagine what his reason was – his dissatisfaction with his job. Sure, Nino could have dived a bit deeper into the topic, but it seemed like Sho had not really wanted to share even more than he did with his secretary for now. Instead, Sho had started to ask Nino about his own situation, and so it had been him, who opened up to the other man.

Actually, Nino had only told Sho what he had wanted to tell him since all these things happened. If they had been in contact during the time Sho was gone, Nino would have called him and told him about everything. Like this, it felt like they caught up a bit, filled that gap between their past friendship and their current relationship a little bit. Hell, Sho even had been crying about Nino being burdened with the debts of his family, and the biggest miracles of all, he had said both to Nino, that he was sorry for his behaviour, as well as that he was thankful for what Nino does for him in his job. Things, Nino never had dared to hope hearing from his weird, stubborn boss, but apparently, the alcohol had loosened his tongue quite a bit.

Still, Nino wanted to know more about Sho. He was quite happy that he now knew that Sho wasn't such a prick he had thought he had become after coming back from Europe. He had seen his vulnerable side, even if just a glance of it. He knew, that his kind Sho-chan was still in there, somewhere.

Maybe, in the long run, they would be able to fix this and befome real friends again, so that they could talk more about the things that troubled them. Nino wanted to tell Sho, that he was doing a good job, but that if he didn't want to do what his father wanted him to, maybe he should talk to him. He wanted to tell him that he was happy to listen to his sorrows if this meant that Sho would stop getting drunk multiple days a week. He would be willing to do a lot of things for that man, that was for sure.

However, once more, things turned out to be differently as Nino had expected them to be and thus, instead of what he had hoped, Sho did not seem to have opened up to him at all, or he simply closed up again, because he was just back to his usual self.

"Well... after drinking yesterday, you felt quite down, to say the least," Nino finally continued. His heart was already prepared for what would probably follow, but he couldn't say that it would hurt less. "You even... cried. And I'm sorry, I think that one was my fault."

"What are you talking about? I'm not crying. Ever. Especially not in front of my employees," Sho's voice sounded cold over the speaker and Nino bit his lower lip.

He swallowed, his mouth suddenly feeling dry and his heart beating in his throat, and while wondering what he could say, if he should try to remind his boss on their conversation, if he should tell him that it was him who had talked about them being friends, that he was a mess without Nino, it was Sho who continued speaking.

"Seriously, I don't know what you're talking about," the man at the other side of the line snorted. "Have you been dreaming of me or what?"

Oh, how much Nino hated it when Sho was talking like that. As if he was definitely not the problem in any way, Mister Perfect, although it was Nino who did all the important work and Sho was the one who had emotional melt downs in izakayas because he couldn't handle his life. Was this his way to cope with things? Make fun of other people? Nino was so confused, he didn't know any longer what to think and which side of Sho he should believe in. He just knew, that he had enough of this!

"Definitely, not! Forget it, I just wanted to check in on you to see if you're OK, have a nice weekend!" Nino burst, and ended the call.

He had better things to do than to waste his nerves on his stupid boss!

While Nino had planned to go through the journal again to re-read some of his favourite passages, the one that he landed on when flipping the book open wasn't particularty one that he had been searching for. Still, Nino's eyes immediately flew over the text again.


It's harder to see with my heads in the clouds but my feet on the floor.
I can't seem to keep any wolves from my door.

The funny thing is, you wait for a sign and then ten come along.
A swing and a miss, it never rains but it pours.

On the horizon, stars are darker, worse than ever before.
The sun isn't rising, so I can't see the shore.

Drowning in the water, against the current I can barely hold on.
But one thing that I remember, it's always darkest before the dawn, in the eye of the storm.


This time, those words hit Nino hard. He felt like they fit just too well to the situation that Sho had started to describe to him. Feeling trapped, feeling forced to do things he didn't want to, being overwhelmed, not being able to work up against the wave of commitments and responsibilities that other people were pushing on him. He could just imagine the pressure on Sho's shoulders.

Nino remembered his mother's words. That it surely had not been easy for Sho to come back after years in a foreign country, having to readjust with his old home, his new job, the old expectations of his parents.

No, it surely wasn't easy, Nino thought. Maybe, he should be more considerate, more supportive. Push back his own problems with Sho and focus on trying to crack the tough shell around the man to help him crawl out and face his troubles.

It was true, after all, night is darkest before dawn breaks. But if Sho had reached a dark point in his life, maybe it could just become better from here.

+ + +

The second meeting with the representative of the Matsumoto Group, the heir, Jun, and his secretary, which was appointed for Monday morning again, did not seem to go off any better than the first one, to Nino's disappointment. If anything, he felt like in between two kindergarten kids trying to solve their discrepancies in a puddle of mud, even if they weren't splashing wet dirt at each other, but ridiculously shallow insults, in the disguise of business talk.

The worst thing about this situation was, that they did not manage to get any step closer to a mutual ground for the "Hana Yashiki"-project, while the good thing – and Nino just had to try to see something positive in this chaos or he would turn crazy – was, that Sho got quite some practice in arguing with a disagreeing business partner. Which was something he had not exactly excelled so far, if Nino dared to say so.

However, of course it was not a pleasant task for Nino to go upstairs into Sho's father's office after the meeting, once Jun and Mrs. Inoue had left, while Sho had slipped away into his office, alone, to think about another strategy to convince Jun about his ideas, and brief the company president with an update on the matter.

"It's my son's first big project that he has to deal with as the main responsible," President Sakurai started after Nino's unsuccessful report. "I don't expect everything to happen smoothly from the beginning, you can tell Sho that it's OK if it takes time. Good things always take time and I also know that the Matsumotos are not the easiest people to deal with, believe me! There's a reason why we couldn't get together on the same table before, and it would be a miracle if things worked well right away. But keep up the good work and we will see results, eventually. Keep me updated, please."

"Of course." Nino nodded and bowed slightly, ready to leave, but Sho's father held him back.

"Tell me, Ninomiya-kun, what do you think about my son's work so far? In general, I mean," the man asked. "Is he doing OK? He does not really talk about it when we're having dinner together, he wants to keep work at work, he said, and I can't monitor him all day."

"I -," Nino did not really know how to continue. He remembered that conversation with Sho – drunk Sho, but still Sho – about not liking his job, but it was definitely not his place to say anything about that to Sho's father. "I think he has potential. It's surely not an easy task to enter a business as big as the Sakurai Group's, without any real experience in the business world, but he's doing his best, don't worry. I'm here to support him as best as I can."

President Sakurai nodded, understandingly. "Thank you, Ninomiya-kun. I knew I can count on you."

"I'll do my best."

"Tell Sho, that I'd like to have dinner with him, he doesn't need to be upset about the failed meeting," the man added. Nino smiled sympathetically. Knowing that the man in front of him probably just wanted to give a pep talk to his son, and cheer him up a little bit.

"I'll let him know."

When Nino was back downstairs, he surprisingly crossed paths with Jun in the corridor. Slightly confused, he exchanged a look with the young man, who just grinned widely and seemed to intend to follow Nino to his desk.

"Matsumoto-san, I thought you already left," Nino said while he continued walking. "Did you loose something, perhaps?"

"I did," Jun replied, but his words paired with his happy face didn't make sense to Nino.

"What did you loose?" he frowned, as he reached his desk and put down his notes that he had just needed for his report at the company president's office. "Maybe I can look after it and inform you."

"I lost my heart," Jun declared, staring at Nino.

The secretary frowned. "What?" he asked, bluntly.

"I lost my heart to you," the man in front of him repeated. "And I noticed, you didn't hit me up yet on my invitation for a date, so I figured, I'd ask again what you think about it."

Nino snorted, hinting a slight roll of his eyes. "What is this, are you and Sakurai-san in a competition about who can make me feel more embarrassed? Excuse my attitude, Matsumoto-san, but I don't think that's something we should talk about in a working environment."

"It's fine, it's fine, your cheeky attitude is what attracts me," Jun said, unimpressed. "You are bold, to be honest, for a secretary, this is quite rare, but I like it."

"It's really not my place to talk to you like that, please just forget about it," Nino added, trying to get back to his work.

"Don't worry. And to come back to your assumption, well, I don't know about Sakurai-san, but I am taking my advances towards you very seriously," the heir of the Matsumoto Group didn't give up, apparently.

Nino wondered what to do. He had to try to stay polite, and professional, when he said, "Then, just in case, I would like to remind you that we have a non-dating policy here at work."

However, Jun only seemed to take Nino's words as a challenge. "This doesn't mean you can't date anyone outside of this company, right?"

Damned, Nino's plan obviously hadn't worked out. "I... I feel honoured, really, but I would really like to keep our relationship as a business-type of relationship, please."

"So hard-working, Ninomiya-san, how about taking a break and having a little fun in between?"

"It's OK, I do have quite a good vison about fun, you don't need to worry about me," Nino said, forcing himself to smile. Jun didn't need to know that Nino's definition of fun was practically just to be summed up as reading and playing games, but the secretary was of the opinion, that this had to suffice. "So, I appreciate the offer, but no thank you."

"Well, I'll take that as a maybe some other time," Jun declared, pushing his hands into the pockets of his suit's trousers. He grinned, in order to enforce his decision on not giving up yet. "Have a nice day, Ninomiya-san."

"Same to you, Matsumoto-san."

+ + +

It wasn't the last time that Jun tried to ask Nino out. Sometimes, the young man used to show up unannounced, accidentally just before lunch time, to ask if Nino was free to grab a snack or a coffee or whatever. Sometimes, it was difficult for Nino to send him away. That man was persistent! He even tried to tell him that he used to take his lunch-break alone, so he could go out into the park and read a bit after eating, but the only thing that Jun had to say about that was that he liked the park a lot too, that he even used to go there sometimes, and wouldn't mind to join Nino. Nino didn't exactly tell Jun that he would mind, and pretended to be too busy for going to take a break that day, anyway, just to scoff his lunch down in between two meetings, later on.

One time, when Sho saw Jun hanging out at Nino's desk, keeping his secretary from working, he joined them and somehow they ended up going to the cafeteria for lunch as the strange group of three they turned out to be. Nino wasn't sure what was the most uncomfortable thing about this situation. That Jun was still trying to ask him out, that Sho persistently repeated that he wouldn't allow Jun to headhunt Nino as his secretary, by no means, or that the three of them shared a table. Nino only knew that this was his weirdest lunch since he started working at the Sakurai Group, and truly longed for his down time alone in the park, reading or playing games...

"Are you free for a coffee or something? I heard there's a new place just outside across the street, which is especially popular with new couples."

"He is having coffee with me, in the office later on, Matsumoto-san. Don't bother."

"Oh, in your office?" Jun raised a curious eyebrow.

Sho immediately gave him a death glare. "That wasn't an invitation."

"Didn't feel like it but maybe I still have a few things to cover regarding our project?" the other man suggested.

"I think that's what our Monday meetings are for," grumbled Sho.

"But don't you think we're progressing rather slowly?" his rival continued. "Maybe we should start meeting twice a week, instead."

"Actually, this wouldn't be such a bad idea, Sakurai-san," Nino intervened, and considering their slow progress in the project, it truly wasn't.

They had finally finished their lunch break, and Nino was unusually eager to get back to his desk and drown himself in work. Even if he agreed on needing to speed up the process a bit to push the "Hana Yashiki"-project further, he didn't want to spend more of his precious spare time with those two in the same room, for more than necessary. Shared work time was enough already.

Once they arrived back in front of Sho's office, the man's father was there, waiting for his son. He politely greeted Jun, exchanged a few words with him and made sure the young man would send his greetings to Matsumoto Senior, and then the company president vanished together with Sho in his son's office. Sho didn't look too amused, he probably didn't want to leave Jun and Nino unattended, but he couldn't do anything against it. Now with one problem out of the way, Nino wished, the second one would just leave, too, but of course, this would have been way too easy.

"Come on, Ninomiya-kun, give me a chance," Jun continued, once Sho's office door was closed. "You know, you're kinda lucky, actually. Look at all these girls, they'd be over the moon if I asked them to go out with me."

Indeed, there were two young women looking around the corner to Nino's working space at the moment, quickly blushing when Jun waved his hand at them and running away, giggling like school girls. Jun grinned at the secretary, as to prove his point. Nino rolled his eyes and groaned silently.

"I am surrounded by narcissists...," he murmured.

"Hm?" Luckily, Jun hadn't understood what he just said.

"Ah, nothing, I just said, maybe I'm not like other girls," Nino said, tilting his head and forced himself to smile. "First of all, I'm not a girl."

"Doesn't mean you can't like me," Jun stated. "I mean if someone considers this tension between you and Sakurai-san, it's obvious that you're not unaffected by the male gender. So," the young man set himself in posture and gestured at his own body just to add even more for Nino to cringe about, "You can surely find something attractive about me, too, right?"

"Please excuse my straightforwardness, but I can tell you for sure that if there is something that I definitely do not find attractive, it's complacency and narcissism," Nino dared to say, hoping he wasn't going too far but seriously, he just couldn't hold his tongue anymore. "Also, there is no tension between me and my boss, I just need to pay particular attention to him because I am his private secretary," at least nothing like sexual tension or the like, Nino just wanted to make clear.

"First, what you call complacency and narcissism, I call a healthy amount of confidence," Jun said with a broad grin. At least, his ego was so big, that he had not taken Nino's word as an offence, apparently. "And did you just say that you are not interested in Sakurai-san that way?"

"Of course, I'm not!" Nino exclaimed, hoping that the hotness he felt burning in his cheeks didn't betray him.

"Which means I can still try winning you over. Good."

"That's not what I wanted to -"

"Just wait for it, sooner or later, I'll convince you," Jun said, his healthy amount of confidence speaking for him.

"Please, don't..."

"Have a nice day, Ninomiya-san! Next time I'll bring flowers!"

Nino frowned deeply, but before he could protest, Jun was gone. Well, better that way, at least now Nino could focus back on his work. Or at least, he thought he could, however, it turned out that it wasn't granted Nino to just have a fifteen minutes to work in peace, as soon after, when Sho's father left again, Sho wanted to talk to him.

"What can I do for you? Would you like to have your chocolate coffee now?" Nino asked his boss as he stood in front of Sho's desk, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"I just wanted to make something clear," Sho said in a serious voice. He had folded his hands and was holding them in front of his face, his elbows put on his desk to stabilize his position. He was frowning. It must be something very serious then.

"What is it?" Nino dared to ask.

"I just wanted to set straight, that I don't think that you would have time for a relationship at the moment, Ninomiya-san," Sho started. Nino frowned at his boss. Sho cleared his throat before he continued. "I mean, there's a lot of work to do when you're the private secretary of the heir of such a big business as the Sakurai Group -"

"I know," Nino nodded.

"And didn't you say you like playing games in your spare time?"

Nino frowned "I did?" When did I tell him about that?

Sho didn't pick up Nino's question and just kept talking. "Imagine you were dating a jerk like Matsumoto-san and he would steal all your spare time."

"First, there's no immediate reason to call Matsumoto-san a jerk," Nino dared to interrupt his boss. "And second, isn't it you who steals all my spare time with calling me whenever you're drunk, several times a week?"

Sho seemed to be taken aback a little by the accusation but what could he say against the truth?

"I... uhm... I'm just saying there's a lot of work, if you start a relationship with somebody, you'd surely slack off at work and I would not appreciate that," the company heir finally said.

"I get it," Nino replied, intentionally only confirming that he had understood what Sho just said, not though, that he would comply to his request. There were lines, even a boss shouldn't cross, and the private life of a secretary was part of that, at least to Nino's understanding.

"Good."

"Okay... Is there more I can do for you at the moment?" Nino asked, ready to finally leave. "I'd need to work on some e-mails, otherwise."

"I'm... uhm... no, we're done here. Go back to work. Ah... but, I'd really like to have a chocolate coffee, if you don't mind?"

Nino sighed but flashed a fake smile at his boss. "Of course, just give me five minutes."

+ + +

It turned out, that Jun had not been joking, when he said that he would bring flowers for Nino next time they would meet. It was just that Nino had not expected to meet him again, so soon. In fact, in the first moment, he did not even realise that it was Jun who was hiding behind what seemed to be the biggest bouquet of flowers that any shop in Tokyo could offer.

"Oh wow, what is that?!" Nino asked, when the explosion of purple, white and green came through the corridor and stopped just in front of his desk.

The secretary put down his coffee mug and tried to figure out what was going on. He had just been taking a sip from his after lunch break coffee and preparing some files for Sho on his computer, but obviously, things had to wait for a bit, now.

"Beautiful flowers for a beautiful man," came a cheerful, familiar voice from behind the bunch of flowers.

"Matsumoto-san, is that you?!" Nino asked.

The man leaned to the side, just so much, that his face was showing, and grinned broadly at Nino.

"It's me!" Jun chimed. "I heard it's your birthday. So, Happy Birthday!"

"Oh, wow, thank you!" Nino replied, stunned about the fact that Jun even knew about that.

The heir of the Matsumoto Group pushed the flower bouquet a little forward, until Nino finally stood up from his chair and took it in his arms. Now, he couldn't see anything anymore, and everything was just smelling of flowers. So, he decided to carefully put them aside.

"Do you like them?" Jun asked, still smiling broadly.

Nino couldn't help but reciprocate that smile. "They are very beautiful, indeed." He meant it.

"I thought you'd like them," the other man replied, obviously pleased with himself. He pointed at the flower arrangement and added, "There's also an envelope including an invitation for dinner and a self-written poem, just for you, by the way."

Nino frowned but chuckled at the way Jun was tilting his head and pointing at a purple envelop hidden between the flowers. As always, he gave off a very confident impression, but mixed with his usual charm, it wasn't being annoying or upsetting, no, it was, yeah, Nino could at least see, why people might like it. He reached for the envelope and opened it. After all, there was nothing wrong with accepting a birthday present from a business partner, right?

Indeed, there was an invitation for dinner, a famous high-class burger restaurant in the city that Nino had definitely heard of but never been there, because it was so expensive.

"Someone did their homework, I suppose or how come you know about my love for hamburgers?" Nino laughed.

"I have my sources," Jun replied, wiggling an eyebrow at the other man.

"Really, I'm grateful for this gesture, but isn't that too generous?" the secretary dared asking, but Jun immediately shook his head.

"Not at all! Please accept it."

Nino would think of it. "And you write poems?" he asked, instead of giving a direct reply. Actually, that was the part that was even more interesting to Nino at this very moment.

"I do," Jun agreed, straightening his posture.

He looked proud, which made him quite a bit attractive, Nino had to admit. In the end, he couldn't suppress his curiosity, and opened up the folded card inside the envelope, a purple flower matching the flower bouquet he had received from Jun printed on the front. The poem was not written by hand, but printed on another piece of paper that was lying inside of the card. Only the signature was done by hand.


"Baby, you're my umbrella.
Gently, you accepted me with your small palms and sun like smile
so that I won't get wet by the cold rain falling in my heart.

Baby, you're my umbrella.
The umbrella that should have been lost which I had been searching for, is always with me
In a place closer than anyone, was always waiting for me to noticed it.

M. J."


Nino frowned a little but tilted his head with a small smile on his lips, as he knew that Jun was watching him for a reaction. He tried to push his original thoughts away, as they were kind of ridiculous.

So I'm supposed to be an umbrella, huh? Does that mean I'm supposed to catch all the rain for him and he'll stay dry? He wondered. You're an idiot, you're not interpreting this romantically enough! He even referenced to your small hands! Nino cleared his throat. Well, great, he managed to point out one of my biggest complexes.

"So... do you like it?" Jun asked, his eyes shining, as he couldn't wait any longer for a feedback.

"Uhm, yeah, it's... lovely," Nino replied, flashing a smile at the other man. "Thank you very much. Do you often write poems?"

"Yeah, when I have time to do so," Jun replied willingly. "In the beginning, I used to write by hand but since I lost a notebook once, I switched to writing digitally."

Nino froze for a second. Did Jun just say, he lost a notebook, once? But before Nino could take the chance and ask for details, Jun had already jumped to the next topic.

"So, are we going for dinner sometime? In the burger restaurant, I mean?" Jun continued, pointing at the papers in Nino's hands. "As the invitation says, it's on me, even if you want to eat the whole menu."

"Yeah, sure," Nino shrugged. It was a free meal, after all and he could imagine worse things than spending an evening in a fancy restaurant together with Matsumoto Jun. He didn't need to count it as a real date, if he didn't want to and how things would proceed afterwards were still a completely different question.

"Great, text me the times when you're available this week and I'll make a reservation," the man in front of him beamed at him. "I have to go now but believe me, I can't wait to see you again. I wish you a lovely birthday!"

"Thanks, Matsumoto-san."

Jun floated away, grinning from one ear to the other, and even greeted Sho, who was just coming along the corridor and passing him, in a cheerful voice, before stopping in front of the elevator door and pressing the button to wait for the cabin to reach the level he was currently at. Nino tried to keep his smile in place, when Jun turned back to wave at him, but with every second more passing, he started doubting if it had really been a good idea to agree on Jun's plans.

"I heard something about birthday?" Sho frowned at Nino as he reached his secretary's desk. He was holding a cup of coffee in his hand, from the cafeteria downstairs, as he must have just come back from lunch.

"Ah, yeah. It's my birthday," Nino replied, casually.

His boss paled. "I thought, that's tomorrow. On the 17th?!"

"Well, today is the 17th," Nino replied, raising an eyebrow.

"No, it's not, it's the 16th," Sho retorted.

"Believe me, it's the 17th," Nino repleated. "Did you mix up the date again?" It wasn't the first time it happened to Sho.

"Then... I fear, I messed up," Sho replied, obviously trying to keep his pomposure. "I'm sorry I didn't congratulate you properly."

Nino shrugged. "It's OK."

"No, it's not...," Sho exclaimed. He truly looked shocked. "I should at least be able to contragulate my private secretary to his birthday,on his birthday, no? Why wasn't there an entry in my schedule?"

"I don't consider this so important that I put my own birthday on our schedule," Nino replied, frowning at the other man. Sho sounded pissed off but Nino wasn't sure if he was pissed at him or at himself. "Really, it's not a big deal."

"Then who made a big deal out of it with sending you this huge bunch of flowers?" Sho asked, making a strange gesture with his hand towards the purple, white and green flower arrangement taking up almost half of Nino's desk. His eyebrows knitted. "Don't tell me, Matsumoto – is that why he was here?"

"It's indeed a present from Matsumoto-san," Nino confirmed.

Sho snorted. "I can't believe it. Is he really being serious about you?"

"So what, if he is?" Nino immediately shot back. Slowly but surely, he was really starting to take this personal. "Would that be so strange if someone was interested in me?"

His boss didn't reply, brushed his hand through his dark hair and threw another look at the flower bouquet, and then back at Nino. He snorted again and then stormed into his office, apparently upset by what Nino just told him. The automatic blinds were being shut just a second after Sho had taken place behind his desk, and Nino rolled his eyes. So Sakurai Sho was being childish again. If Nino didn't know it better, he'd actually really think that his boss was jealous. But that was ridiculous. Sho wasn't interested in him in that way. He was only unable to stand the thought that Jun could outdo him in any situation.

To Nino's utter confusion, just about half an hour later, there appeared another excessively big bunch of flowers showed up right in front of Nino's desk.

His colleague and fellow secretary Satomi was standing at his table at that moment, because she wanted to get some special tips from Nino regarding President Sakurai, who she was now assigned to, when the flowers arrived. She looked just as stunned and confused as Nino did.

"A delivery for Ninomiya Kazunari-san?" came a stranger's voice from behind the bush.

"Uhm... yes, that's me?" Nino replied, hesitantly.

"This is for you!" the young man behind the flowers exclaimed and placed the bouquet onto Nino's table, right next to the one he had received earlier. Then, the man lifted his green baseball cap and slightly bowed at the secretary. "Have a nice day and please recommend Dandelion Flower Delivery. Thank you!"

"Uhm, thanks," Nino stammered, still confused, and while the delivery boy headed off again, Nino faced the bunch of flowers.

This time it was a warm mix of red, yellow and orange colours as it came to the choice for the flowers. Nino blinked, when he saw it.

It was at least as beautiful as the other flower bouquet he had received, but honestly, it was getting a little cramped on his working desk. He was still confused. He had never received that many flowers – especially not such extremely big arrangements – before on his birthday, at least not in the office. Sure, his mother usually gave him a small, colourful bouquet when he dropped by for dinner and to eat a piece of home-made birthday cake at her place, but at work, this was definitely something new. Nino scanned the flower bouquet, searching for something specific. However, he just couldn't find it. Was there no note attached to the flowers? So how should he know to whom he was indebted now?

"Wow! Now, someone got some generous admirers here!" Satomi said, smiling at Nino with a wide smile. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Nino just blushed a little bit and murmured something about this was a story for some other time, just when Sho came out of the office, eying first the bunch of flowers, and then letting his glance wander to Nino. He looked a little insecure, or was Nino imagining things?

Satomi also seemed to feel that something was off, because she just quickly collected some of Nino's notes for her, smiled at her friend and left the place immediately after wishing him and Sho a nice day.

"I thought I heard something," the man remarked as he closed the glass door behind himself and walked in front of Nino's desk. He was eying the flowers.

"Ah yes, it was a delivery for... me, apparently," Nino started, and suddenly, he had quite a suspicion from whom those flowers could have been sent. Could it be? He looked at his boss, who quickly averted his eyes. Nino swallowed. His heart just made a little jump in his chest. "Sakurai-san, do you perhaps know where those flowers come from?"

"Yeah... I do," Sho said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"So?" Nino raised an eyebrow.

His boss cleared his throat before he answered, "I ordered them."

"For me?" Nino asked, his suspicion confirmed. He tried to act surprise and at the same time hide the small flash of happiness he was just experiencing. He was being stupid, wasn't he?

"Because of your birthday," Sho said, making a weird gesture with his hand. He sometimes did that, Nino had noticed, especially, when he was nervous. "You like flowers, after all, don't you?"

"I really do, but you know that's not necessary, right?" the secretary replied, but it was becoming harder and harder by every second to keep his face serious.

Damned, this whole situation was just too silly, and Nino didn't know if Sho really wanted to make him happy or just intended to compete with Jun. Anyway, he wanted to smile!

"Don't worry, they were cheap," Sho said, trying to sound casual. "On sale."

"That big bunch of flowers was on sale?" Nino repeated, not really believing his boss. He probably should just keep it at that, but honestly, he was already so used to bicker with Sho, that he couldn't hold himself back.

"That's what I just told you, didn't I?" the other man stayed stubborn.

Nino chuckled. "You didn't happen to write a poem, did you?" he asked, joking.

"What?! No, why should I?! No, I didn't!" Sho frowned and immediately negated, maybe a little stronger than necessary. "I – I don't do sappy things like writing poems, seriously, does it look to you as if I had time for something like that?"

"Don't mind my question," Nino shook his head. After all, he really just had made a joke.

Sho frowned at him. "Did Matsumoto write a poem?"

"He did," Nino replied.

"And... is it good?"

"It's... interesting."

"What did he write?" For someone who claimed not to be interested in stuff like sappy poems and the like, Sho showed quite a bit interest, Nino realised.

"Something... umbrella," he answered, not sure how to describe the content of Jun's poem differently.

Sho frowned at him. "What?!"

"It was supposed to be some kind of romantic allegory, I suppose."

"Let me read it," Nino's boss demanded, his hand stretched out at him.

"What? No, he wrote it for me, I don't think it's supposed to be for anybody else's to see."

Sho rolled his eyes. "Come on, we are talking about Matsumoto Jun, he has probably already posted a picture of it on his social media."

He had a point. At least, nobody would be surprised about that.

"Fine... here," Nino gave in, fishing for the birthday card with the poem inside and handing it to Sho, who read it carefully before sending another questioning look at his secretary.

"So, you're his umbrella, huh? Catching all the dirt or what?"

Nino blushed. Why did Sho just need to make it sound bad? And why did Sho just need to sound exactly like he himself had sounded in his thoughts when he had read Jun's lines for the first time?

"Don't say anything," Nino begged his boss in a low voice.

Sho chuckled. "That guy has probably too much spare time."

"No, wait, don't be mean!" Nino immediately jumped in.

Sho was being unfair. He thought about how much work Jun must have – probably – invested in his poem, and he also thought about the black journal lying on his bed side table at home. He didn't know yet, if it was Jun whom it belonged to, even if after today he was seriously starting to suspect him being the owner of it, but whoever had written those words inside there, didn't simply have too much spare time. That person but rather had an entire world of feelings inside them, that only surfaced in the form of words on a blank page. It was something wonderful.

"I think it's cool to have a creative hobby."

Sho looked at him, slightly surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah, so give that back to me and leave Matsumoto be!" Nino replied, and Sho did. "Uhm... thanks for the flowers," Nino added. He still wanted to tell his boss that he was truly happy about them, but somehow, the moment was ruined.

"Don't mention it," Sho murmured, and vanished back inside his office. The automatic blends stayed close for the next few hours.

+ + +

"I don't know what to think about this, but probably, they are pushing their power game a little too far now," Nino added as a caption to the picture of his two huge flower bouquets that he sent to Aiba.

It didn't take long until he received a reply by his best friend.

"Two high-class people being in love with you, Ninomi! One of them openly, the other in secret. If this doesn't sound like a romance K-drama, I don't know what does."

Nino rolled his eyes before he typed his reply. "The only thing high-class about these two are their egos. I think they are simply rivalling in every part of their lives, as if they're bored and I just got into their line of fire. Next time, they will probably compare their dicks at the company restroom."

"Now that's something I'd like to see."

"Idiot!"

"Aren't you curious about their dicks?" Winky face.

Nino quickly glanced up from his phone, blushing slightly, to check if anyone was watching him at the moment. He was alone. "Forget it, I'm not texting with you about other guys' dicks!"

"What a pity!" Sad face, winky face, again. "So let's text about something else."

"Actually, there is something else," Nino typed, hesitating for a few seconds before he finally hit the send button.

"Spit it out, Bro!"

"Matsumoto wrote a poem."

"He did?"

Nino wondered how to put his thoughts. "It's a little weird but I just came to think about it - what if he's the one?"

"The one who???"

"The one who wrote that journal I told you about some time ago," Nino explained.

"Gosh yes, the journal, I almost forgot about that!! I mean, if he does writing in his spare time, it'd be possible!!!!! OMG!!!" Way too many exclamation marks. That's an excited Aiba Masaki for you.

"I guess, I need to analyse that further, but he said he writes quite a bit, and he said since he lost a notebook once, he switched to writing digitally."

"You think he's talking about that black journal you found? Do you think he lost it?"

"At least he also mentioned the park near the office and his own office is close, so there's the possibility that he's been there and maybe lost something there. Or do you think I'm jumping to conclusions?"

"Maybe, but this sounds like a true hint, you should probably ask him about it. And wait, does this mean if he's the one who wrote the journal, you'd consider going out with him? Because if I may remember you, you said you LOVE that journal and the one who wrote it."

"That was just to emphasize how great the writing is, don't overanalyze that. Anyway, actually, since he invited me to that new fancy burger restaurant, I already accepted a date with Matsumoto, kind of."

"My Ninomi~! Flowers don't get him, a poem doesn't, but a delicious hamburger does~"

"Let's not talk about that. What I meant to say is, I think people who write are interesting, that's all. And, I really do love flowers! And now I have a lot of them. It makes me feel happy. Like I'm sitting in my own garden. But don't tell anyone."

"My lips are sealed! But what about Sho-kun? Are you sure you want to go on a date with the Matsumoto-guy? Sho-kun might not like that."

"I still think, he wouldn't actually care."

"You know, how I think about that," read Aiba's text. Yeah, sure, Aiba's conspiracy theory that actually, Sho remembered everything about him and Nino and that he was just a shy guy who couldn't voice his feelings properly. As if! "Let's try and see. Add your date with Matsumoto into your schedule at work and see how Sho reacts."

Nino considered his friend's suggestion for a moment. Maybe, this wasn't even such a bad idea. He'd be curious at least, how Sho would react if he found out that Nino did not put his own birthday into the calendar, but a "date" with Sho's rival. Or was this going too far?

The secretary couldn't even finish his thought, when suddenly the glass door of his boss's office flew open. Immediately, Nino hid his private phone and straightened his posture. Sho stopped right in front of him, but didn't say anything.

Slightly confused, Nino asked, "Can I help you with something?"

Sho didn't reply immediately and instead cleared his throat before he started. "You know, I think, those flowers are not enough."

"What?" Nino frowned. "What do you mean? They are beautiful, I love them!"

"I am happy to hear that, but listen to me," his boss continued. "I decided to take you out for dinner," he said before he quickly added, "Because it's your birthday... and to make up for me messing up the date. That was really dumb."

"Uhm... excuse me but -"

"No buts, it's decided, finish up for today and we are ready to go," Sho exclaimed. "I've already made a reservation in a high-class restaurant. See it as a sign of my gratitude for your hard work."

"I am really sorry," Nino cut in, "That's really a generous gesture of you and I'm grateful but actually, I already do have dinner plans."

"What?!" Sho raised both eyebrows. "Don't tell me, Matsumoto –"

"With my mom," Nino finished his sentence.

"Oh."

"You see, it's a family tradition... we're having dinner at her apartment, she baked a much too sweet birthday cake for me that I still love... it's something small and probably not fancy, but it's enough for me and I won't miss it for any possible gourmet dinner," the secretary set straight. "So I'm sorry, but I think you have to cancel your reservation."

"OK. No problem, I can do that," his boss nodded, although he looked still a little bumped by Nino's rejection.

Nino admitted, if he didn't have had any plans yet, he would have probably accepted, just because it was the first time, that Sho actually invited him to something other than a cup of coffee when they were on the way back from a meeting outside of the office building – which usually was covered by the company as expenses anyways.

"Then, at least let me drive you," Sho suddenly suggested, causing Nino to frown.

"Why?" the other man asked, slightly suscpicious.

"Can't I do something nice for my private secretary on his birthday?" Sho asked slightly snippish before he cleared his throat and got back to being more serious. "I mean it, let me drive you and greet your mother."

Nino wanted to ask what Sho had to do with his mother, since he most likely did not remember the woman herself from the few times he had met her as a kid, and certainly did not remember that Nino had already talked to him about her, but Sho looked so serious at the moment, that he feared, he would become mad at him if he declined this offer as well. And what damage could he do, if he just dropped him off at his mother's apartment, said Hello and left again? Besides that Nino wouldn't have a car to get from his mother's place to his own afterwards. Well, it wasn't that far, maybe he could just take a long evening walk or hop on a bus. His car was rather a thing of convenience in connection with his job, but not exactly necessary to come around to all the places he needed.

"Fine, if you insist," Nino therefore agreed and for a moment, he thought he could see a smile on Sho's face. Just... for a moment, before it was gone again.

"Good," his boss said. "So, let me know once you're finished and we're good to go."

+ + +

And this was, how Nino ended up with his boss in tow when he visited his mother this evening. Of course, his mother was super excited to see her son's boss slash former childhood friend and of course she invited Sho to come in and share dinner and some birthday cake with them. Nino wanted to protest, but in the end, he didn't stand a chance against his mother and his boss, so he just complied and closed the door behind all of them.

They had some small-talk over dinner, which mostly contained talk about food, which seemed to be Sho's to go topic whenever it came to a small-talk situation, and then went over to Nino's mother talking about how much of a picky eater her son had been as a child, and still was – even if he greatly improved, as Nino insisted on. Sho laughed while he added an anecdote about how much Nino had been struggling with trying to eat sushi during a business lunch, until he had given up on it and ordered chawan mushi instead, lots of it. His excuse had been, that he was allergic to raw fish, however, now, Sho knew better. Nino blushed, and asked him not to spread his new knowledge.

After dinner, Nino's mom insisted on giving her son his birthday present, who gratefully took the lovingly wrapped gift from his mother and placed a small kiss on her cheek to thank her, before he read the birthday card and eventually unwrapped the present.

"You finished the patchwork!" Nino exclaimed, when he revealed the fluffy, cosy quilt. He took it in his hands and pressed his cheek against the soft fabric. The man beamed at his mother. "It feels amazing!"

"Wow, that's a colourful blanket!" Sho said, seemingly surprised.

"My mother made it herself," the secretary immediately explained, before he turned to the woman again. "But Mom, I wanted to buy it, so that I can contribute to your project."

"It's fine," she chuckled with a proud smile. "I supported the project in your name."

"That's so sweet, Mom, really!" Nino said, before he suddenly noticed something else. "Oh! And what's that?" he was now holding a gift card for his favourite gaming store in his hands which had fallen out between the folds of the patchwork quilt onto his lap. "Wow, thank you, you didn't have to!"

His mother just waved her hand before her face. "It's not much that I can give you, so please, just accept it, will you?"

"Of course, thank you!" Nino said, lovingly, and rewarded the woman with a second kiss, causing her to giggle cutely.

"You made this by yourself, Ninomiya-san?" Sho asked, curiously joining the conversation. "That's amazing! It looks like a lot of work!"

"Thank you. It's in all of Kazu's favourite colours," Nino's mother said proudly.

Sho chuckled, turning towards his secretary. "You have five favourite colours?" he asked, teasingly.

"What?" Nino pouted. "Anything wrong with that?"

"No, no, no, it's fine," Sho said with a grin. When Nino looked at him, Sho's expression looked calm. Gentle...

"I just like colourful stuff, don't make a big deal out of it, please," Nino added, feeling his face flushing a bit. "Mom, thank you, I really love it!"

"Did you also get something from Sho-san?" the woman finally asked, curiously.

"I did, actually," Nino started. "A beautiful bunch of flowers."

"How lovely!" the woman slightly clapped her hands. "I'm sure it must be bigger than mine here," she chuckled. Nino's look fell onto a small but beautifully coloured flower bouquet that his mother had placed in the centre of the table – also in all of his favourite colours.

"It's huge," Nino said and then playfully rolled his eyes. "He completely exaggerated. I needed to leave it at work and it's taking half of my desk space. But yes, it's lovely."

Nino's mother laughed, highly amused, and when Nino looked at Sho, Sho was laughing too, his eyes formed into cute little creshents and his perfect teeth showing through his smile. Nino's heart jumped a little bit.

"Actually, I also wanted to invite your son for dinner, but he was very clear when he told me that he can't miss dinner with his mother, so that's why I'm here," Sho then added, smiling. He then looked at Nino again. "I still plan to kidnap him for a drink later on, though."

"What? You didn't say anything," Nino said, hoping that he wasn't blushing even more. He didn't even know why hearing this made him so happy right now but somehow, he just couldn't help it.

"What a nice idea!" his mother seemed to be supportive of it, too.

"But you really don't need to -," Nino murmured, slightly embarrassed.

His mother nudged him in the side. "Come on, Kazu, your boss is inviting you, don't be rude and just accept!"

"Well... OK, then... thank you," her son finally accepted.

"But first, we need to eat the cake!" his mother exclaimed, rolling her wheelchair to the fridge and opening it up to get the cake. Sho immediately jumped up from his place, simultaneously with Nino, but he was closer to reach out to lend her a helping hand.

"Can I get the plates or something?" Sho asked the woman, who thankfully indicated on where the young man could find said objects.

This way, it didn't take long until the table was set for dessert and they were ready to cut the cake – not before Nino's mother had sang her son a birthday song, though, on which she insisted, and in which's performance even Sho joined, his voice sounding deep and warm and very pleasant to Nino's ears.

For a moment, Nino was close to tears, although he hoped that with the shimmering candles in front of him, it didn't show too much. He blew the candles, Sho and his mother clapped their hands, and Nino chuckled softly while he cut the cake and handed out one piece each onto the prepared plates. As predicted, the cake was a little too sweet for Nino's taste, but paired with a cup of green tea, it was perfect, and he really liked the flavours his mother chose for him. Sho even was so delighted, that he asked for seconds, which Nino's mother gladly provided him with.

+ + +

When Sho took Nino out for the promised drink, it kind of felt different from before, to ride in Sho's car,Emily. Sho was a good driver, Nino had to give him that, and the choice of music was more than acceptable too, nothing too crazy, instead, unexpectedly but in a pleasant way, Sho seemed to be a fan of jazz, which Nino didn't mind.

Things were slightly strange today, Nino thought. He just couldn't explain to himself, why. Did something change about Sho? Was it still about the flowers from Jun? Was Aiba right and that weird, unresolved tension that was building up between Nino and his boss over and over again was grounded on Sho being jealous of Jun daring to ask Nino out openly, while he didn't? He was in fact acting a bit weird, but still, this did not make enough sense. It would imply that Sho was interested in Nino, perhaps even in a romantic way, but why should he? And on top of everything, Sho was dating Keiko.

They arrived at the "Akatsuki", which wasn't a surprising choice to Nino, since Sho often had informed him – in a drunken state, but very passionately – that the izakaya had the best drinks and snacks in the area and that he – quote – "would never want to go anywhere else for a good drink". Nino didn't mind it. He liked the atmosphere, as well as the barkeeper, Mr. Ohno, who had taken care of Sho quite a bit during his alcohol escapades, until Nino arrived to take the baton.

It was a surprise though, that this time, Sho didn't take place at the bar directly, but let a waitress guide him and Nino to one of the separated table in the back of the izakaya, which gave them much more privacy than usual. Sho ordered a beer for starters for the two of them, they toasted once more to Nino's birthday, which felt weird, because he usually only toasted with his mom and then with Aiba at the next possible occasion, but it was the first time in a long while that he was actually going out on his birthday.

It was also surprising, that apparently, Nino and Sho found quite a few topics to talk about. Like when Sho asked Nino how he usually spent his lunch breaks and Nino took it as a chance to elaborate a bit on his like for nature and his hobbies, or when Nino asked Sho about his choice of music in the car, and the man started to rave about a variety of great jazz concerts that he had been able to visit during his trip to Europe.

They shared a few small snacks, like a plate of edamame and a serving of potato fries while continuing to talk about this and that, and Nino ordered a few more beers, while – also surprisingly – Sho after his first one stuck to non-alcoholic beverages. Nino felt it was a good idea to praise Sho for his decision, who seemed to have struggled a little with it, so Nino appreciated it even more. His boss was responsible enough to say, that since he was driving, of course he wouldn't take in so much alcohol. Maybe, Nino should make Sho drive him more often, if this meant he wouldn't get drunk so often.

So while Sho stayed sober, Nino started to get a little tipsy, and a little more with each sip from his beer. He really wasn't much of a drinker, but good beer was something he couldn't say no to, sometimes and the one they served in the Izakaya was from a small brevery he'd never heard before, but was really delicious. If all of the alcohol had such a high quality here, Nino couldn't blame Sho too much for calling this his favourite place.

A bit later, Nino excused himself to the toilet, and when he came back, he found himself a little dizzy. He even stumbled shortly, enough to make a squeaky sound and to alarm Sho, who immediately jumped up and caught Nino in his arms.

Nino blushed and tried to straighten up again, but the dizziness stayed and so in the end he was thankful that Sho helped him sit back down, even if somehow this way they both landed at the same side of the table instead of opposite to each other with the table between them. Sho ordered a glass of water for Nino, to help him clear his head a little, and while Nino tried to chuckle away his sudden nervousness that he felt spreading, sitting so close to Sho, they kept talking.

"Actually, I was wondering about something," Sho suddenly switched from their conversation about baseball to another topic. "The other night... when you picked me up from here –"

"Which night? There have been plenty," his secretary interrupted him quickly, giggling.

Sho tilted his head in agreement, but tried further. "That night in which I told you about not wanting to become the president of my father's company?"

"Wait...," Nino frowned, and gave his boss a confused look. Yeah, he was tipsy, but he was not tipsy enough to not catch on this. "I thought you don't remember anything from when you're drunk."

Taking a deep breath, Sho said, "What if I told you I do?"

"Wait, what?!" The speed of Nino's heartbeat suddenly doubled up and no, that wasn't the alcohol's fault.

"I remember what we talked about," Nino's boss confessed. "And I also remember... that I kissed you once."

"You remember that kiss?" Nino could hear his own voice break.

Sho nodded. "I do, actually."

"Then why did you lie to me and pretend you didn't?!" the other man burst. The confusion was real, this didn't make any sense to Nino, at all.

Sho looked at him, a little guilty.

"I didn't want to make things between us even more awkward than they already are," he tried to explain. "I mean... things are complicated enough, already so... and if I pretend it didn't happen or if I pretend I forgot about it, what's the difference?"

"There's a huge difference!" Nino exclaimed.

He couldn't believe Sho's words. He knew, he was pretty worked up now, the alcohol was already having some effect on him and probably made him even more emotional than usual, so he tried his best to calm himself down. He didn't want to risk a fight between them, now that they were finally spending a really nice evening together, finally getting to know each other better after so many years of not hearing from each other at all... And he by all means needed to avoid the breakout of a rash, which he definitely couldn't need at a moment like this. Nino breathed in and breathed out, slowly, calming down. But seriously, how could Sho just drop a truth bomb like that so casually while they were sitting here, way too close to each other and Nino way to tipsy to trust his own actions?!

"Let's just not talk about this, please," Nino finally added, deciding this was possibly the best way to handle this confession right now, and reaching for the glass of water in front of him.

"But I want to talk about it," Sho said carefully, his voice sounding gentle.

The man turned his whole body to face his secretary better, and then even touched Nino's arm. The secretary's look first brushed Sho's hand, and then wandered up to Sho's eyes. He was so damned close....

"And I want to kiss you again," Sho whispered.

For a second, Nino forgot how to breathe.

What did he just say?

Then, once he fully comprehended the meaning behind the words that had just left Sho's pretty lips, he drew in a hectic breath, chuckled nervously and tried to focus back on his water. The glass was half full. Or was it half empty? Nino didn't know what to think anymore.

"You're making fun of me," he murmured, slightly shaking his head.

"No, I mean it," Sho said, his face absolutely serious.

Nino chuckled once more, but when Sho's expression did not change, he turned serious, too. "Even if you'd mean it, which I seriously doubt, I don't think this would be a good idea."

"Why not?" his boss asked. Now, there was a cute small pout on his face that Nino couldn't help but notice. "I think I'm a good kisser, you might like it."

"Sakurai-san, please..."

"Oh, come on, Nino..."

Nino's heart skipped a beat. "Only friends call me like that," he bubbled, defensively.

Sho didn't stop looking straight at him. "Then let's become friends."

"Friends don't kiss," Nino dared to point out, arching an eyebrow.

"Lovers do," Sho retorted.

Nino snorted. "That's something we definitely are not."

"Just let me kiss you, and we'll see where we'll get from there," his boss suggested, and Nino couldn't believe that he was really serious about what he just said. It sounded so ridiculous.

"How can you even say something like that?" Nino asked, frowning deeply. There were quite a few things they should set straight here, so he just continued talking. "If you're making fun of me, let me tell you that this is definitely not funny. I'm also not in for a one-night stand or anything, if that's what you're aiming for, just so you know. Are you planning to date me? What about your girlfriend, Keiko? You're already dating her, I don't want to be just a secret affair or something like that!"

"Correction," Sho cut in. "Keiko and I, we are fake-dating."

"Fake-dating?!" Nino snorted. "Any more surprising news you want to share? You don't actually expect me to believe that, do you? Why would you even do that, to begin with?"

His boss sighed before he replied.

"Here's the thing. My parents want me to get married so they tried to set me up with Keiko, who I knew from school," he started. "However, I don't want to. At least, I don't want to marry Keiko or any other woman." Nino didn't get it. "It's fine, because Keiko doesn't want to be with me, either. So, we came to the conclusion that for the sake of our parents, we're going to pretend, while each of us can have their own love life as they please. You see, she's dating a rock star quite a bit older than her and I... let's say this fake-relationship with Keiko is just as far as I want to take any relationship with a woman."

"You mean you're not into women?" Nino asked, just to confirm.

"Exactly. I'm into men," Sho nodded. He took a deep breath. "More precisely, I'm into you."

This is too good to be true. This can't be real, there must be a catch! Nino thought, quickly averting his eyes. He took a long sip from his water. And another one, to finish it.

"I – I don't know what to say right now, I think this is crazy," he finally stammered.

He could feel Sho's hand slowly slipping down his arm, until it reached his hand. He didn't do anything against it, though, when Sho intertwined their fingers and gently pressed Nino's hand. The only thing Nino could do at this moment was trying not to freak out. He unintentionally answered the grip of Sho's hand a little bit. Or was it intentional? Was his body reacting before his brain? He ended up clenching Sho's hand, feeling his cheeks burn from heat, and his heart pound in his throat.

If this was real... if Sho just had confessed to Nino that he wanted to kiss him, that he was into him... could he really believe him? They had gotten along so poorly ever since Sho had come back to Japan. Maybe, Nino had had just too much alcohol and was dreaming right now? It would explain why tonight was so entirely different from anything else before. But this didn't change their situation of being boss and secretary now, instead of childhood friends, and if this wasn't complicated enough, there was still the fact that Sho didn't remember anything from their past. So, how exactly should it have happened, that he ended up liking Nino? Was he only acting up because of Jun's advances towards his secretary or was he really meaning what he said? There were so many questions that Nino couldn't ask but needed the answers to.

"Just tell me if I don't have a chance," Sho whispered, pressing Nino's hand again, causing the other man to look back at him.

"I-I'm so confused," was everything that Nino could reply.

"It could be so simple, if you just let it happen," Sho said. "So... what will happen if I try to kiss you again? Will you push me away, like you did last time?"

"I'm still sorry about that," Nino murmured.

Sho shook his head. "It's OK. I know that I surprised you back then. But this time, I'm giving you a heads up, so what will you do?"

The look in Sho's eyes was speaking from longing, it was piercing, and it made Nino's heart tumble. If he didn't knew before, that this was what he wanted, all this time, then he was certain now.

"Maybe," he started, his voice barely a whisper, his eyes focused on Sho's, "Maybe you should just give it a try."

And Sho did. He carefully leaned a bit forward, his eyes still locked with Nino's, until he closed them before he bridged the last few centimetres between them. Nino too, closed his eyes, just slightly wetted his lips, and took a deep breath. His heart was pounding like crazy, and he probably could never really be prepared for what was following, but he was eager to find out.

This time, when they kissed, it wasn't a shock. It wasn't causing a kneejerk reaction resulting in confused hearts and injured heads. This time, when they kissed, it felt like a long kept secret dream coming true. Nino held his breath when Sho's lips first brushed his, softly, just a touch of warm skin on skin. He slowly moved his lips a tiny little bit, to indicate that the contact was welcome, inviting Sho to keep going. Sho let go off Nino's hand to change their position a little and make it more comfortable, without breaking the contact of their lips. Then, there was Sho's hand running up Nino's arm, his sensitive neck, causing him to shiver a little bit, until Sho's long fingers came to rest at the back of Nino's head and his thumb gently brushed the skin of his ear. His other hand found its way to Nino's lower back and caused a little tingle running up Nino's spine.

The young man shivered slightly, he gasped, and he couldn't help but sigh into their kiss, while Sho moved still a little closer, smoothly, his hold on the other man making Nino want to press his whole body against the other man. Nino took a breath when their lips shortly parted, and reached his hands towards Sho, letting them settle on the man's hips and pulling himself a little bit closer. Their lips found each other again, almost instantly.

Again, this gentle touch, but this time, it was just the start. Their movements sped up, their lips pressed against each other, again and again, soft but eager. The touches were becoming a bit more sloppy, quicker, more demanding, more passionate, and it took just a few seconds until they were completely lost in their kiss. It felt so good that Nino wished, it would never end.

Of course, all good things had to come to an end. So did the kiss with Sho, the one after that and the one after that, and so did their evening. Being quite tipsy, Nino was glad that his boss was still up to drive him home, but since he had already crossed the line of trusting himself upon his actions, Nino insisted on getting out of the car and into his apartment by himself.

He could walk, it wasn't a problem, even if he had to admit, that his knees felt a bit weak when he remembered the kisses he just shared with Sho. However, he wasn't sure if he could resist inviting Sho inside if the man would bring him to the door. He wanted to keep this for another time, though, wanted to nurture what they started to build tonight, and make it bloom, slowly but steadily. So, all that Nino did was thank the other man for the wonderful evening, kiss him once more, get out of the car, and enter his apartment, closing the door behind him.

This night, Nino went to bed drunk, for the first time in a long while. Drunk not only from the extremely delicious beer he had discovered at the "Akatsuki", but also drunk on his feelings for Sho, that had been suppressed for so long but now were finally completely free. Even if Nino didn't fully know yet how things would progress from now on, he knew that things would change, probably for the better. He really hoped so.

+ + +

Nino was happy that his birthday had been on a Friday. He didn't have a real hangover on Saturday, at least not from the alcohol. He was a little overwhelmed by his feelings though, as well as the happenings from the previous night.

First thing he had thought when he woke up in the morning was, that everything had been a dream. He and Sho kissed, not only once, that just could have been way too good to be true. However, a look on his private phone screen and a text from Sho were all that Nino needed to get right back to reality. A reality, in which Sho had indeed kissed him and Nino had kissed Sho back.

The secretary blushed when he read the message Sho had sent him.

It read, "You are cute when you're tipsy, but I hope you don't have a hangover today."

Nino pressed his phone against his chest, his heartbeat had speedingd up, and he was feeling all tingly inside when he allowed himself to fully dive back into the memory of what had happened.

Sho had confessed that he remembered exactly and everything what he had been doing or saying when he was drunk, including his first kissing attempt with Nino. He had also confesset that he was only fake-dating Keiko, had confessed that in reality, he was into Nino and the biggest thing of the evening had been their mutual kiss. A real kiss, this time, one that ended without bumps on Sho's head or Nino going up in a stress reaction and instead had lead to even more kisses! It had just been so good... something young Nino had barely allowed himself to dream about, years ago, something current Nino had never seen becoming real, but not it had, and Nino couldn't wait to repeat it.

"Thank you for inviting me for my birthday. Thanks for being honest with me and thanks for kissing me, I really liked that," he typed as a reply.

He hesitated a little before sending the message, but screw insecurities. They had been kissing, after all, and he had loved it, that was a fact and if Nino planned to make this a regular thing, he should probably try to set this straight with Sho from the beginning.

Sho's answer came in, immediately. "I liked that too. I meant what I said. I really do like you. And I hope you're on board, when I want to do it again."

Nino clenched his phone and he could have squealed from happiness at that moment. Which was what he did, before he sent another reply.

"I'm in!" he had typed. "I'm glad you told me the truth. I didn't spell it out yesterday, but I guess you already figured that I like you too."

Blushing, Nino put away his phone and jumped up to get a shower and get ready for the day. Maybe, he could keep up texting a bit with Sho or even call him later on. He was already thinking about what they could talk about... Anyway, he had also scheduled lunch with Aiba, who wanted to celebrate Nino's birthday with his best friend, too, before spending the rest of the day gaming. Nino would probably also tell Aiba in all details how things with Sho had progressed, and he was already curious about his friend's reaction to the news.

+ + +

Of course, Aiba had been super excited for Nino when he heard about what happened the previous night. He even wanted to hear all the details up to how exactly Sho kissed Nino, and stuff like that, but Nino decided that there were a few things that he did not need his best friend to know. So the details about the kiss stayed a secret and when Aiba asked his best friend if Sho perhaps spent the night at this place, Nino had just playfully slapped his shoulder. They weren't that far yet, after all and Nino did not want to rush things. So far, everything rather still felt like a dream.

As Nino had kind of hoped for, he and Sho had kept texting over the whole weekend, about small things, like Sho asking Nino for ideas what he could eat for lunch, exchanged movie recommendations, casually setting up a movie date for the near future, and Nino told Sho about the game he was about to play with Aiba for the rest of the day.

It was fun to read when Sho texted him that one day he'd like to watch Nino playing his favourite game, and Nino was tempted to invite his boss over on the spot, but in the end, he didn't. Not yet. He wanted to take it slow, enjoy them, and explore this new thing between them, thoroughly. As much as he wanted to hang out on cloud nine, in the end, things weren't that easy, after all.

He couldn't completely ignore the fact that he and Sho might have completely different views on their new-found relationship. While for Nino, his past feelings for Sho were still a huge part of his life, Sho didn't have that. Taking this into account, Nino found it quite wondersome that Sho even happened to fall for him. For what exactly? Nino couldn't think about any exceptionally good qualities about himself that made him worthy to fall in love for.

"You're a cute guy, you are smart, and you have a great personality!" Of course, Aiba immediately scolded Nino when he voiced his doubts. "Don't you dare even thinking of not being worthy or something stupid like this. If something, I think that your boss is not worthy of you! He's been quite an idiot sometimes, if I might say. But still, I support you guys. It's your dream finally coming true."

About the "being an idiot"-thing, Nino pleasantly noticed that Sho in one of his messages even apologized for that.

"For some reason, when facing other people, my brain doesn't function properly. I end up saying stupid things or behaving like a jerk, although it's not what I intend to do. It makes me react strangely and causes misunderstandings, and I am sorry for being such an idiot sometimes. I was impolite to you when there was no reason for it, or I snapped at you when you did nothing wrong. I think, I'm just not that great in communicating with people."

Nino smirked at Sho's text. It was already worth a lot that Sho was insightful about his behaviour and of course Nino knew that he himself was far from a perfect behaviour too.

"When it comes to you, I tend to overreact. So, I'm also sorry for snapping at you or being impolite. Especially as your secretary I should be more careful."

"I deserve it, really! Thank you for all your hard work all the time. I really appreciate it, you're the best secretary I can imagine."

Nino smirked at the compliment. It felt truly honest and if he had been feeling mistreated by Sho before, now, everything felt OK. He didn't know what exactly had made the magic work, if the trigger might have been Sho being jealous of Jun to realise what he really felt for Nino, if it had been them being honest to each other, if it had been that magical kiss... but Nino didn't care. The strange tension between him and Sho was finally gone. He didn't mind how, he just hoped that with this, things would continue to become even better.

+ + +

Exchanging text messages and even a few short phone calls with Sho throughout the whole weekend had been such a bliss and very insightful. In the end, Nino felt that actually, Sho had not even changed as much from the boy he had been before he left to Europe as he thought he had. He was just not showing all of his emotions to the outside anymore. Sho now was more enigmatic, more introverted, also more clumsy, but the more they talked to each other, the better Nino could understand why Sho was the way he was and the only thing he discovered was, that he loved him anyways..

They talked about Sho's time in Europe, how the language barrier had made it hard for him to connect to other people in the beginning, how the distance had made him grow estranged to his parents and how disconnected and strange he had felt when coming back to Japan. As if he didn't know where he belonged to. How he ended up wishing he could fulfil his own dreams rather than his parents' (Nino still had to find out what exactly those dreams were, as Sho kept silent about them so far) but how obliged he felt to them because of all the possibilities they had offered him. His fear of disappointing them. That all of these things were reasons why he turned towards drinking instead of properly addressing his issues.

"You have me to talk to, from now on," Nino had texted Sho on Sunday evening. "I'll always be here for you."

"I wished I could jump through my phone and cover you in kisses, right now. Sorry for being a little excited."

"It's fine, I'm excited, too," Nino had replied.

And it was true. The memories of Friday night were still clouding Nino's mind, he was still longing for Sho's lips so desperately, that he had even dreamt of kissing him again.

On Monday morning, Nino was even a little earlier in the office as usual. This was probably because he had not been able to sleep much, too nervous about returning to work, about facing Sho again. He was just about to prepare a few things, like today's meeting schedule and printing out a few important stats that Sho would need to take a look at, when a familiar voice startled him.

"Hey."

Nino's heart skipped a beat. It was Sho, and like always, he looked just gorgeous. Maybe today even more than usual.

"Hey," Nino replied, feeling the corners of his lips curling up.

"You're early again, aren't you?" Sho said.

Nino chuckled. "If anyone is early today, it's you," he grinned at his boss, who indeed usually showed up much later in the morning.

"I couldn't wait to see you," the other man whispered, and Nino blushed. Sho looked around as if to check if anyone else was near them, and then looked back at his secretary. "I'd like to see you in my office. Now."

"O-OK," Nino replied, and stood up, following his boss, immediately.

Sho even held the door open for Nino and when they had both entered the room, Sho hurried to his desk, grabbing the remote for the automatic blends, and closed them. Nino looked back, slightly confused, but when Sho came back to his side, just as fast as he had vanished, looking at him with his eyes full of longing and desire, Nino understood.

They stood there for a few seconds, both feeling a little awkward, looking each other into the eye. Nino's heart was now pounding like crazy. He swallowed, his mouth suddenly feeling a bit dry, but he didn't look away. He had been anticipating this, had been dreaming about this!

It was Sho then, who averted his eyes, his face slightly tinted red. It was such a rare sight, that it made Nino's heart jump again in excitement. Sho slowly reached his hands up to Nino's arms, and touched them, gently. He took a step towards the secretary, still not daring to look at him, but bringing himself closer into Nino's private space. Automatically, Nino lifted his arms, Sho's hands slipping to his elbows, then wandering to Nino's hips, while Nino's hands reached Sho's face.

"Look at me," he whispered, shuffling a little closer to decrease the gap between their bodies. His hands brushed Sho's cheeks, and Sho finally looked at him again. Nino smiled. "I missed you."

Nino didn't know who of them eventually initiated it, but a moment later, they were kissing again. Sho's arms were wrapping tighter around Nino's waist, pressing him close, and Nino's hands were cupping Sho's face, while their lips were pressed together, gently. It was just a light touch at first, like butterfly kisses, but they didn't last long on that level and soon, their lips were parted wider, their tongues exploring each others' mouths and if they didn't still have a whole workday ahead, Nino might have wanted Sho to pick him up and take him right here and now on his desk.

Of course, Nino didn't say that out loud, but he silently hoped that Sho's thoughts were drifting into the same direction. However, such things were first not for the office and second to keep for later. Something to look forward too. They had just started to explore each other and Nino had waited for so long already, they didn't need to rush now.

Their breaths were hitching when they came apart, their lips wet, and cheeks flushed red. Sho's eyes looked a little glassy, as if he was in trance, and Nino couldn't help but caress the man's cheeks while whispering sweet little somethings at him, as if he wanted to bring him back from wherever he just went to.

Sho's eyes cleared up, and he leaned forward to hold Nino even tighter, who felt a little squished by the embrace. He giggled slightly.

"What happend to the non-dating policy at work, by the way?" Nino looked at Sho, teasingly.

"I'm the boss here – well, one of them –, so I guess I can take some liberties," Sho grinned, confidently, and brushed his lips against Nino's once more before he hugged him even closer.

"Cheeky...," Nino chuckled softly, wrapping his arms tighter around Sho, pressing him close.

"I'm sorry," Sho whispered into Nino's ear, making the other wonder.

"What's wrong?" the secretary asked in a low voice.

Sho slowly loosened their embrace again, so that they could look at each other again.

"It's just," he began. "I know I just said that but... I'm sorry but I hope you understand that we need to do such things in secret for now. As I told you, my parents think that Keiko and I... I just can't tell them yet, you see?"

Nino forced himself to smile. He tilted his head but his eyes did not leave Sho's. As much as he wished that things were simpler, he indeed understood. He couldn't expect Sho to change his whole life on the spot, and they were only together, if you could even call it that, since yeah, when... Friday? Today? When does something like this even officially count? Anyway, Nino understood, and so he nodded.

"It's not like I want to hide you or anything," Sho continued his explanation. "I want you to be my boyfriend and I know now that I want to change things, with my job, with... coming out... It's just, I can't do it overnight and I don't think it's the right time to break those news to my parents. So, I hope you can wait for a bit until I can stand up for us."

"It's OK," Nino replied. Hearing Sho telling him he wants to be his boyfriend was already so precious, he almost couldn't handle it. "I understand. Such things take time. I... I have to admit I don't like the idea of being a secret mistress or something, but since you said you and Keiko are not real, I can live with that for a while. And regarding your parents, I can wait. Let's go through this together."

"Thank you," Sho said, his relief showing clearly on his face. He leaned forward, kissing Nino's forehead lovingly.

They smiled at each other again.

"Oh, by the way," Nino then said, as he found he should break the news rather sooner than later to Sho, "I'm telling you this because I don't want to keep it a secret but I do plan to go out for dinner with Matsumoto sometime this week."

"What?" Sho looked at the man in his arms, slightly taken aback. "Why?"

"You see, he invited me to that fancy burger restaurant as a birthday present and I love hamburgers and I'd be stupid to let this invitation go to waste, right?"

"Is this a date?" Sho arched an eyebrow at Nino.

"No! Don't worry, it's not," the secretary immediately set clear. "It's just dinner, I want to have it out of the way and I plan to tell him once and for all that I don't want to date him."

"OK...," Sho replied, although Nino could see that he wasn't too fond of the idea. "You really must like burgers, don't you?"

"Almost as much as I like you," Nino grinned and Sho chuckled.

Since it was Monday, it was also time for another "Hana Yashiki" meeting with Jun and his secretary, which seemed to go a little smoother this time, probably because before the meeting, Nino had confirmed an appointment for dinner with Jun on Friday, which seemed to lift the man's spirit quite a bit and since he obviously felt superior to Sho now – the rivalry between those two really was no joke – he even seemed a little more lax when it came to decision making and let Sho have a little more say than usual.

After the meeting though, Sho pinned Nino against the wall in a hidden corner and stressed that he should try to set things straight with Jun better sooner than later, so he wouldn't get his hopes high. Of course, Sho was right, and Nino already felt a little guilty, but one thing at a time, he would clear up any misunderstanding.

They kissed again, shortly, before they forced themselves to get back to their respective work. They would keep on sneaking kisses in between meetings and other duties anyway, throughout the day, even if they didn't know about that yet. Anyway, those automatic blinds in Sho's office turned out to be very convenient.

+ + +

The days seemed to just fly through the week, fully packed with work, mixed with little interactions between Nino and Sho, when they managed to find a moment alone. They went out to watch a movie on Tuesday and then dropped by for dinner in the "Akatsuki", where Mr. Ohno only sent an approving glance at them when he saw them coming in together again. He must have seen them last week, or at least have some kind of suspicion, but he didn't say anything and just served them with his special of the day and some drinks.

Surprisingly, Sho declined his usual glass of whiskey and stuck to coke, saying that with Nino around he didn't need alcohol to feel good. Nino then also chose to stick to non-alcoholic beverages, as he also felt like wanting to enjoy their evening as sober as possible. Things were going really well.

When Friday arrived, Nino had already screwed his we can wait way of thinking and was pretty sure that it wouldn't take that long until he and Sho would end up in bed together. The question was only about when, where and how exactly they would do it.

Tonight, though, was reserved for Nino's dinner with Jun. Sho called it a "break-up dinner", although Nino insisted that there was nothing to break-up if there wasn't anything going on between two parties.

Nino dared to reject Sho's offer to drive him to the restaurant where he and Jun were supposed to meet, but agreed on contacting him when it was over, to not set off Sho even more than he already was. The man tried hard not to show his jealousy – which by now Nino had official proof for that it was, as Sho himself had confessed it – but in the end, it was still obvious. Sho had been exceptionally demanding today, trying to catch Nino for a secret kiss even more often than usual, even offering him that he would love to meet him after the dinner and spend some time together. Nino couldn't tell that he wasn't tempted to agree on that, so he promised to give Sho a call. The prospects of seeing his boyfriend again after a probably not 100% comfortable date with someone he was about to reject, didn't sound that bad after all.

The secretary already felt bad when he entered the restaurant and first thing he saw was Jun waiving at him from a table in the middle of the room. The restaurant was indeed very fancy for a burger restaurant, modern furniture, a few but very impressive flower arrangements, no eating burger with your hands, apparently, and there was even classical music playing in the background.

Something felt a little off about this place, Nino couldn't help but notice, or maybe he was just too used to simply normal burger and family restaurants. Anyway, Nino would definitely not come here if he wasn't invited. The fact alone that outside of the restaurant, were the menu was displayed, were no prizes mentioned, indicated that he would probably not even be able to afford the simplest hamburger with small fries. However, the expectations on the taste of the burger had just risen when Nino saw a waiter passing by while he walked up to Jun, and the smell had been just incredibly delicious.

"You're here!" Jun said, standing up from his seat when Nino approached, and walking towards the young man to pull his chair back and show him to sit down. Wow, those were really gentleman-like matters, the secretary noticed.

"Good evening," Nino said, taking his seat. "Thank you for the invitation."

"It's my pleasure," the other man replied, smiling politely.

Shortly after, there was a young waitress at their table, providing them with some wet hand towels and water as well as handing each of them a menu. It took Nino half an eternity to decide on one of the burger menus because there were so many good looking ones on here that it seemed impossible to choose. Only when Jun started giving some recommendations, Nino was finally able to narrow down and eventually make a decision.

It didn't take long until their drinks came – apparently, Jun has already ordered some wine for him and Nino – that the waitress served them, and Jun lifted his glass to make a small toast on a wonderful evening. Nino smiled at him, but tried to keep it neutral, and the same went for the rest of their conversation for that evening. No matter which topics Jun would start, no matter what advances he would try to make towards Nino, the secretary, would try to answer as quickly and shortly as possible and did everything to avoid Jun from possibly misinterpreting anything that he said.

When Jun one time reached out his hand over the table, probably to touch Nino's, the young man quickly reached for his glass and therefore smoothly – at least he thought it was – avoided skin contact. Their food was served and soon, it was quiet at the table, both of them busy with eating, only praising the food's taste once in a while, as it was truly delicious. Now, Nino wanted to know the prizes for such quality burgers even less.

They had almost finished when Nino remembered, though, that there was something he had actually wanted to ask Jun, so he just got started.

"So, your poem recently," Nino said after he had swallowed down a fork full of delicious meat with sauce, "That was really interesting."

"Thank you," Jun toasted at him.

"I wanted to ask, do you write often?" Nino said.

He still had not forgotten that short moment of suspicion over Jun possibly being the one who wrote that journal which was still lying on Nino's bedside table, read all over, each and every single page of it.

With all the turmoil around Sho recently, his initial mission on trying to find out whom it belonged to had fallen quite into the background, actually, however, if he was going to set things with Jun straight, he could also clear up this possibility, first. Nino had talked to Aiba about this, who agreed that the suspicion was at least justified. Jun was obviously the creative type. Not only his poem for Nino but also his contributions to the "Hana Yashiki" meetings were proof of that. He also worked nearby in another office building, but it wasn't too far from the park Nino usually went to for lunch break. He even mentioned, that he lost a notebook, once, and even if Nino did not know the exact time when that happened, there was at least a slight chance that the journal currently in Nino's possession, was what Jun had lost.

"Not that often, actually," Jun replied after thinking for a moment. "Recently, I'm rather into photography."

"Oh, is that so?" Nino frowned. Maybe, he was wrong, after all. "Then you don't happen to have lost that notebook you mentioned only recently?"

Jun shook his head, slightly confused. "No, no, that's been a long time ago."

"I see. Then it's my mistake, I'm sorry."

Jun flashed a slightly confused look at Nino, but the secretary just waved his hand. This had been enough to shake his theory.

They continued eating, and Nino felt his thoughts wandering off to the black journal again, wondering, whom it could belong to, and what else he could do to find that out to give it back and shower the author with positive feedback. Although he would really like to meet the writer in person, Nino had also thought about just bringing the journal back to where he found it, the bench in the park, and leave it there, as a last resort. He had taken notes on most of the work by now, and even if it was just a sentence or too, he could just put them into the journal and hope the owner would pick it up again and read them. Maybe he would miss the writer that way, but it was more important to get it back to its rightful owner. But what was if someone else took it while Nino wasn't watching? Or what would happen if it started raining? He couldn't risk it to get all dirty and ruined...

"Ninomiya-san?" Nino heard Jun's voice breaking through his thoughts. "Are you listening to me?"

"I'm sorry," the secretary replied. "I was in thoughts. What did you say?"

"I was wondering if you were interested in coming over to my place afterwards," Jun said, throwing Nino a certain look. "I would love to continue hanging out and... getting to know each other better."

Nino knew that code, and even if he still wasn't completely sure if Jun had only avanced him for tonight, for a one-night stand only, perhaps, or if he intended to take things with Nino serious, he didn't approve of what it implied. And he couldn't make Jun think any longer, that he actually had a chance, no matter how nice and charming he was to him. Nino's heart was taken already. Had always been taken, by no one else but Sho.

Slowly, the young man swallowed his bite of meat and put down knife and fork, folding his hands.

"Uhm... listen, Matsumoto-san," he started. Actually, Nino had planned to wait with this until after dinner, but this was perhaps the best opportunity to get it over. "I am really grateful for your nice gestures, the flowers, this invitation... the food is really amazing! And I know you'd like to... deepen our relationship,” whatever that would mean, exactly, "However... I really have to say that me being flattered is everything that is to that. If you were hoping for more, I must disappoint you. I am not interested in going out with you."

There was no immediate reaction from Jun, who just stared at Nino for a few seconds. Nino became slightly insecure, wondering if he shouldn't have waited with talking about this until after dinner, indeed. But said was said and there was nothing he could do about it now. At least, he definitely did not intend to take his words back.

"Are you being serious?" Jun eventually asked, putting down his own silver wear.

"Excuse me?" Nino asked, frowning at the suddenly stern tone of the other man's voice.

Jun pulled his table napkin from his collar and put it down on the table, maybe a bit harder than necessary, so that the table wear clattered slightly. Surprised, Nino drew back a bit, not having expected the sudden change of atmosphere.

"You agree on going to dinner with me and now... Can you really reject me as simply as that?" Jun looked at him from the other side of the table. He looked disappointed, but obviously tried to hold his composure.

"I am really sorry, but to be completely honest...," Nino started, trying to stay clear but friendly, "My heart already belongs to someone else."

"I don't believe it!” Jun yelled, loud enough to make half of the room turn, and definitely loud enough to alarm one guest in particular, who must have been hidden nearby on one of the tables.

Things after that happened really fast. Suddenly, there was Sho standing next to Jun – what was he even doing here?! – grabbing his rival's collar and pulling him up from his seat. A woman nearby screeched, surprised, when Sho pushed Jun away. Nino, immediately on high alert, jumped up from his seat, his hands pushed down on the table.

"Sakurai-san!"

But before he could say more, Sho had already pulled back one fisted hand and now pushed it forward until his knuckles touched Jun's face. Instinctively, Jun had already stepped back a little, so that the other man's hit barely brushed the corner of his mouth, but it must hurt nevertheless, as the Matsumoto Group's heir reached up one hand to cover the spot, groaning, and his hand came off with small traces of blood on it. Nino cringed at the sight.

"Don't you ever dare raising your voice in front of him, idiot!" Sho grumbled at Jun.

"Sakurai-san, he didn't even do anything, we were just talking!” Nino wanted to clarify. He didn't know what had gotten to Sho that he had him freak out so suddenly.

"Excuse me, Sirs, but I need to ask you to leave," a waiter had stepped closer and tried to dissolve the tension, however, he was completely ignored.

"You are the idiot," Jun hissed, obviously provocated now by Sho's behaviour, before he jumped forward, his own bloody hand fisted, and ready to punch back.

Unfortunately, Sho's reflexes weren't as quick as Jun's, and so, Jun hit him full force in the face.

"SHO!"

Nino clasped his hands in front of his mouth, his boss groaned, tumbling back, covering his face with both hands and when he dared pulling them away, there was a splash of red liquid running from his nose. The room filled with surprised gasps and this time, at least three women screamed. Nino's pulse quickened, his breath started hitching, and panic rose inside of him. He felt worry about Sho's state crawl up inside of him just as fast as he could feel a rash crawling up his skin. No no no no no, this was not the time for such a stress reaction, he had to do something or the situation would escalate even more and those two idiots in front of him would knock each other into next week.

"Sirs!" the waiter spoke up, trying to mountain the turmoil with his voice, but it was an impossible task, especially, since he didn't seem brave enough to step closer towards the two men and kept a safe distance.

"Fuck!" Sho yelled, "That hurt!" and if Nino hadn't started running and wasn't jumping in between him and Jun, he didn't want to know what would have happened next.

"STOP!" Nino screamed from the top of his lungs, drawing Jun's as well as Sho's attention at him, who stared at him now. Well, usually, Nino didn't get that loud, but the situation right now wasn't usual and called for special methods. "Both of you, just stop, OK?! We're not in kindergarten here, step back!"

Nino had jumped right into the middle of his fight, probably more surprised about his quick feet, than anybody else, especially because now his knees were shaking. He could feel his heartbeat in his throat, could feel the blood rush through his veins. By now, half of his body felt itchy, but this was not the time for something like that. He swallowed and pulled himself together. He knitted his eyebrows and took a deep breath before he looked from left to right, glaring at both men while making sure none of them came close to each other again.

When he was sure that he had brought a safe distance between them, that Sho wasn't about to faint any second, and both had calmed down enough to guide their attention towards the secretary, he continued.

"You two – we're getting out of here," Nino said. "This is not the place for such a scene. No, wait, Sakurai-san, you go first. Matsumoto-san, follow me."

The two obeyed and got ready to get outside. When the young waitress who had been serving Nino and Jun's table came running towards Jun, slightly nervous, the young man pulled out a few bills from his wallet – probably way too many – and pressed them into her hands before he resumed walking after Nino, keeping some distance to Sho.

Nino guided them towards his car that he had parked not far from the restaurant and ordered them to take a seat, one of them in the back, the other together with him in the front. Matsumoto took the backseat after receiving a glare from Sho that could have been destined to kill, and once all the doors were closed, Nino pulled out and threw some paper tissues towards both men so they could clean their faces a little bit. Then, he turned around in the driver's seat so that he was facing both of them, his look no less lethal than Sho's from before.

"Ninomiya-san--" the Matsumoto Group's heir started, but was immediately cut.

"WHAT?!" the secretary snapped, probably more aggressive than he had intended to be. At least, Jun's tone was back to normal again, probably a sign that Nino's outburst had been impressive enough.

"I'm sorry but... are you having an allergic reaction or something?"

Damned, Jun seemed to have noticed that something was wrong with Nino. Sho also looked at him with worry, but honestly, Nino just wanted to not think of it. Not now. It would just become worse if he paid attention to it.

"No, it's nothing, just ignore it," he murmured therefore, squinting his eyes and trying his best to keep his fingers off the itching skin. He even fisted his hands, so hard that he could feel the pain caused by his fingernails pressing into his palms.

"But –"

"I said, ignore it. So, can we talk like grown-up people now? Great. So, listen!" Nino started, shooting glares between Sho and Jun, before his eyes eventually focused on Jun. "Matsumoto-san, I would very much appreciate if you wouldn't just hit my boss so brutally right into the face!"

"But he –"

"I know he started, but that's no reason for a grown-up man to punch back! And I'm really sorry for hurting you with my rejection, but it can't be helped. I'm fine with being business partners or even friends with you if you are interested in that, but more than that is just not possible," he said, the look in his eyes softened a little bit to a mixture of regret and determination.

Regret that he had to hurt him, although Jun had been so nice to him, but determination because he knew it was the right thing to tell him the truth. Regarding their past, Nino had managed to make peace with that. He knew that Jun had changed, from a young bully who didn't know how to deal with the power and status he had been given from birth, to a respectable adult, maybe a little over confident, but over all a very nice guy. He probably had not meant to raise his voice at Nino, if Nino had not hurt him first with rejecting him. It was a human reaction. It just showed, that he had truly cared and not just played with Nino. At least, that was what the secretary wanted to believe. He wanted to treat Jun and his feelings with respect, even if he couldn't reciprocate them. It was just not possible and that was his own fault. His heart already belonged to someone else. Always had, and always will.

"And YOU!" he turned his head towards the man who had stolen his heart, and took a deep breath. "What were you even thinking?! First, have you been following us?! And seconds, what made you jump at Matsumoto-san like a lunatic, punching him out of the blue?”

Sho looked back at Nino, guilty. "I thought he was going to do something to you... I was worried, I misinterpreted the situation and jumped to conclusions,” the man explained. "I am sorry...”

"Don't tell me, you're sorry, tell Matsumoto-san!” Nino replied. "Don't just start a fight with our business partner and... Don't let someone just punch you in the face like that, oh my gosh I was so scared..."

"I am sorry for raising my voice," Jun murmured from the backseat, looking at Nino sheepishly. "And I'm sorry for punching back,” the man even addressed at Sho.

"Thank you, Matsumoto-san, apology accepted," Nino replied. "But seriously, both of you, there is no reason why two grown men should start to hit each other, especially not in a public setting, you get it?! Not only is it completely childish, you also both have a reputation to keep!"

"Got it," Sho murmured, finally saying something.

"Sorry...," Jun said again, in a low voice.

Nino then raised an eyebrow at Sho, as if to tell him look, he's a decent guy who can stand up for his mistakes, now do the same.

"I'm sorry, Matsumoto-san,” Sho mumbled. Jun just looked at him, but said nothing.

Nino sighed and lifted his hands to carefully press them against both sides of his neck. The pressure helped to calm down the itching feeling for a bit. Yeah, he could do this, he had this under control. The issue was almost solved, right?

"Matsumoto-san, are you hurt?" the secretary eventually asked, pointing at the slightly red stained tissue in the man's hand.

"Not really,” Jun shrugged before his lips turned into a smirk. "That guy over there hits like a kid."

"I –" Sho wanted to defend himself, but Nino just lifted one of his hands and the two other men stopped talking immediately.

"Please, don't say anything further. Matsumoto-san, I apologize for everything from my end, but if you're doing fine, please just leave for tonight, OK?"

Jun sighed, crossing his hands in front of his chest. "Fine. I'll leave."

"Again, thanks for the invitation," Nino added.

"Yeah, sure...," Jun murmured, although he still seemed to be disappointed, and finally reached his hand to the car door handle, opening the door and stepping outside.

"And you are coming with me! I need to take a closer look at that," Nino sighed, pointing at Sho's injured face, who just sat there, like a lost sheep.

+ + +

Actually, Nino wanted to drive Sho to the hospital to get his nose checked, but the man insisted that it was not broken and that Nino was over-reacting. And that's what probably happened. To be honest, Nino was so stressed out about the whole situation, everything breaking free to its full extent only now, that Jun had left, that Sho even offered to drive when he saw Nino's shaking hands. But Nino insisted that he had everything under control, took a deep breath, and so in the end they reached the compromise to drive to Nino's place which was the closest of all options.

Nino definitely had imagined Sho's first visit over to his apartment differently from what it was now – him shooing Sho inside, into the living room, forcing him to sit down and he himself vanishing into the bathroom to get the first aid kit. His hands were still shaking, even more now that he couldn't focus his grip onto the steering wheel of his car any longer, and so he wasn't even surprised when he dropped the first aid kit first thing after pulling it out from the cabinet underneath the sink. Still, Nino cursed and clenched his hands to stop the shaking.

He tried to calm down, and purposefully avoided to look into the mirror in front of him. He was scared about what he might see. Judging from the feeling of his burning skin, he must have a rash at both sides of his neck, even reaching up to the lower ends of his ears and the sides of his cheeks. It must look bad, or at least it showed enough for people to notice. Jun hat pointed it out and Sho had seen it too. Nino had even felt Sho's eyes on him, for the whole time of their drive here.

Hastily, Nino splashed his face with cold water and did his usual quick first-aid measurements with a cold wet hand towel for a few seconds on the affected parts of his skin, just to numb the worst itching. He wasn't really convinced that it was helping at the moment, though, he was still too worked up.

However, he didn't have time for that now, Sho was waiting in the living room with a bruised face and even if the man claimed that he was fine, Nino would only believe it once he had checked him properly. That punch had not been nothing, that had looked horrible, and all the blood... Nino squinted his eyes and pulled himself together. He reached down to the floor, picking up the first aid kit and hurried back to Sho.

"Are you OK? What's wrong?" Sho asked, confused, when Nino came back.

"I'm fine," the secretary said, kneeling down in front of Sho. He put the first aid kit onto the coffee table and opened it, reaching for some disinfectant spray, a hand towel and some crème in case they would need it. "We'll take care of you now."

Nino put some of the disinfectant onto the small hand towel and reached his hand out to Sho's face. Although the man had cleared most of the blood by now with a paper towel, there were still a few traces left. Thankfully, the bleeding from his nose seemed to have stopped now, at least.

"No, Ninomiya-san, stop it," Sho pulled back a little, the look in his eyes serious. "I'm worried! I mean, look at you, you're completely worked up and your skin... there's obviously something wrong and I want you to tell me the truth. Are you having an allergic reaction? Like when you visited my parents? Was it something you ate, do you need medicine or shall I get you to the hospital?"

"NO!" Nino yelled, squinting his eyes for a moment. Don't think about it! "Just don't talk about it, please! Now let me check your face. Here, hold this."

The secretary reached out again, pushed the small bottle of disinfectant into the other man's hands to keep him busy and proceeded to carefully clean his boss' face. Not only his nose had been hit from one side, also the whole area around that was affected. At least, the skin looked reddened – which would turn into blue, soon, probably – and there was a scrape on the lower front of his cheek, presumably caused by some of the jewellry Jun used to wear.

"Ouch!" Sho hissed.

"What?! What exactly does hurt? Is it your nose? Shouldn't we better let it get checked by a professional?!" Nino immediately freaked out a little.

His boyfriend shook his head. "No, well yes, my nose hurts, but not that badly, but that stuff burns!"

"Well, yes, it's to disinfect wounds, it has to burn," Nino replied.

"I don't like it!" Sho pouted.

"Don't be a child now!" Nino snapped and continued his procedure. Apparently, there was also a small cut on Sho's lips that burned when the secretary touched it. "Hold still, will you, oh my gosh!"

Sho did as he was instructed, and instead of whining, he focused on watching Nino up closely while the young man was finally finishing the painful cleaning and was now applying a bit of crème to the hurtful area on Sho's face. Nino tried to pretend not to notice his boyfriend's gaze on him.

"Are you that mad at me?" Sho suddenly asked carefully.

"I am!" the other man replied instantly. His voice was maybe a little louder than he intended. "First of all, you're hurt! Second, because of that scene you and Matsumoto pulled of in the restaurant I now have to worry as your secretary, what kind of consequences this will have and third, I couldn't even finish my burger!"

Sho chuckled at the last bit but when Nino shot him a death glare, he immediately stopped and quickly apologized.

"I am feeling super stressed due to all of this just in case you can't tell, so please," Nino continued. "Just shut up for a moment and let me do my job!"

"You're shaking like crazy. Please talk to me! What's wrong?" the other man asked again.

"I already told you, I'm feeling stressed!"

"I can see that, but what –"

"OK, listen," Nino sighed and dropped his hands after finishing to apply the crème on Sho's skin. He hesitated for a little longer but then lifted one hand to vaguely point at his reddened neck area. He averted his eyes and blushed, ashamed about what he would reveal next. His heartbeat quickened again, he could feel his breathe shaking when he inhaled deeply. He fisted his hands in his lap. "This isn't an allergic reaction, this is the result of a super stressful situation that I obviously can't properly handle."

"This is a stress reaction?" Sho asked, to make sure he understood correctly.

Nino nodded, still clenching his hands. "Yes, and the more we talk about it, the more I think about it, the more I want to..." it was already creeping through all of his thoughts, the idea of just reaching up and scratch that horrible itching feeling away. It was like he was possessed by the idea of it and it was so so hard to fight it! Nino's hands got fidgety. His skin was burning, "Ah, crap! I can't – I can't do this!"

Not being able to contain his composure any longer, Nino jumped up as if stung by a bee, his whole body was shaking now. He pulled of his suits' jacket and almost ripped off the first two buttons of his dress shirt when he tried to free his neck. His hands flew up, deformed into claws, his short fingernails starting to scratch at the reddened skin, trying to loosen the tension. It was a good thing Nino always kept his nails extra short, otherwise he probably would have ripped his skin open by now. However, the friction wasn't making things any better, even if the initial touch sent a signal of relief to his brain cells, however, the more he scratched, the worse the itching got. Welcome back to the vicious circle.

Nino wanted to cry. From the pain, and from the shame that ran over him once he realised his defeat. He had fought so strongly against this recently, he had been so good in keeping everything under control, but there, everything it took was his boyfriend getting hit in the face and he was experiencing his full-forced personalized panic attack. And as if this wasn't enough yet, all of that right in front of said boyfriend. Amazing.

"Ninomiya-san, what are you doing, stop it!" Sho had jumped up too by now, panicky.

"I need to scratch it, it itches so horribly that it's painful," Nino whined. He could feel the tears collecting in his eyes.

"But you'll scratch yourself bloody if you continue!" Sho screamed, starting to try to get a hold of his secretary, which proved more difficult than he probably expected.

"I can't stop it!" Nino said, his voice cracking. He struggled, not only against himself, but also against his boss's grip, who had started to aim for Nino's wrists now.

"You can! Listen to me, you can! Look at me," finally, Sho managed to grab Nino's hands. He immediately pulled them down and held onto them, strongly. Instinctively, Nino pulled up his shoulders and tried to rub his neck against them, as if that would substitute the scratching, which of course it did not. "Nino, look at me!"

And Nino did, still shaking, his breath hitching, but he couldn't help but notice the switch to his nick name... How did you call me just now?

"Everything will be fine, OK?" Sho continued. "You can calm down. First, we'll take care of you and then we can talk. We'll talk about everything you want and try to find solutions. Deal?"

Nino still didn't say anything. He was trying to fight back some tears. His whole body still felt like it was on fire, but at least the pressure of Sho's fingers clasping around his wrists, which had also started to develop a slight rash in the meantime, felt a little soothing. The man didn't even consider to let go of Nino's hands, and that was a good thing.

"Now tell me what we can do to make this better," Sho asked gently, his worried gaze on his boyfriend. "Do you take any medicine or something?"

Nino slightly shook his head. "Since my overall situation has already improved quite a bit, I'm off medicine nowadays. I need to calm down, sit it out and try not to worsen the damage..."

"So let's try that. What can we do to make you calm down? Ah... your relaxation music. Does that help?" the other man asked.

"Sometimes," Nino replied. "Mostly."

"So we'll do that," Sho smiled softly and then started to look around in the living room. "Ah wait... Where's your music player? Or your phone?"

"Left trouser pocket."

Sho quickly switched to hold both of Nino's slim wrists with only one hand and let his now free hand slip into Nino's trousers' pocket to pull out his cell phone. Nino told him the lock key and there already was the music app on the home screen. Sho tapped on it, selected a playlist called Relax, activated the speaker and put the phone down on the coffee table. Soon, the room was filled with relaxing, slow music paired with sounds of nature. Nino had closed his eyes for a moment and tried some breathing exercises, but their success was not satisfying.

"What else helps you?" Sho continued. He himself seemed to have calmed down by now, his voice low, slow and trying to sooth Nino's mind. "What about the itching, anything we can do against that?"

"Coolness helps a bit, usually," Nino explained. "Cold water or I also have some cooling packages in the fridge, I could put them on."

"OK," his boss nodded. "So come on, let's get them. No, don't even think about me letting go of your hands, if you scratch, you'll make everything worse."

With that, Sho made Nino accompany him into the kitchen, holding his hands and paying attention that the young man couldn't just pull free all of a sudden, They reached the fridge, Sho opened it and followed Nino's directions on where to find mentioned cooling pads. Soon after, they were back in the living room and while Sho made Nino sit on his own palms, he himself tried his best to place the cooling packages on and around Nino's neck the best as he could without making them slip away all the time. It wasn't an easy task, but he got it to work, somehow.

"OK, next step. You're still not calm enough," Sho noticed. Indeed, Nino was still fidgety. "... And your breathing is still too quickly, so let's do some more breathing exercises."

Nino just nodded.

"Good, so... I'm sorry, I don't really have any idea what I'm doing so... let's just breathe in and out slowly, will that do?" Sho asked.

Nino nodded again. Sho took Nino's hands once more and even if Nino knew that it was just to prevent him from doing something dangerous, his heart melted a little. It's been the first time that someone else than his mother, Aiba or his therapist tried to help him. And it was Sho. Nino felt ashamed, but at the same time, he felt happy and thankful that instead of looking at him with disgust – a reaction Nino had not only once received in the past by at least some strangers – Sho was sincerely paying attention to him and trying to make him feel better.

"Good," the man said in his low voice, before he slowly continued. "Close your eyes... Breathe in.... breathe out... relax. Breathe in.... breathe out.... relax. Breathe in... That's good, you're doing great, Nino. See, I think it already works."

When Nino breathed out again, he managed to reply with a simple "Yes".

It had already started to help. He could feel his body calming down, could feel the tension in his hands lessen, the shaking slowly but surely stopping.

The next moment, Sho suddenly let go off Nino's hands and instead hugged him, making him gasp for a moment, but then, Nino lifted his hands, wrapped them around his boyfriend's back and pressed himself even closer into their embrace. He could feel how this, Sho's closeness, the warmth of his body, is affection he was Nino showering with, helped him to relax even more.

"I'm sorry...," Nino murmured after a few seconds of silence against Sho's shoulder. He could feel how his held-back tears now started rolling down his cheeks, relieving the last chunk of stress that weighted on him.

"About what?" the other man wondered. "Hey, no need to cry, it's fine, it's fine! I'm here."

"I'm disgusting," Nino whined, revealing the negative thoughts that were always at the back of his mind in such a situation.

"What? No! You are not disgusting, what are you talking about?" Sho asked, shocked at the other man's statement. He pulled him closer and lifted one hand to gently brush it over the back of Nino's head.

"And I'm weak," Nino whispered, still under tears. "I couldn't control it and now I'm even crying, how embarrassing."

"Don't say that," Sho said in his soothing voice, hugging Nino even tighter. "Let it out, it's fine. Can I get you anything?"

Nino shook his head, brushing his nose against Sho's neck in the process. After staying like this for a few minutes, until the secretary seemed to have calmed down again, they loosened their embrace. Sho gently caught one last tear that was hanging from Nino's eyelashes with his finger, before the other man wiped his eyes.

"Tell me more about it. If you can? So I can be prepared next time and help you better," Sho suggested.

Nino took a deep breath and considered his options. Probably, it was best if he was finally honest. There was no use of hiding this anymore. He still couldn't get rid of the feeling of embarrassment that he experience every time he suffers from an attack like this, but sometimes, he just couldn't help it. The only thing he could do was trying to reduce the stress factors in his life. Which of course didn't mean that he wanted to stop things with Sho, no, to the contrary. He wanted to be honest with him, and like Sho said, if he knew what was going on, he was prepared and maybe even could help Nino avoid such situations in the future.

"I have something called stress-induced urticarial," Nino started to explain. "It's some kind of psycho-somatic condition. So, yeah... basically, the trigger is negative stress, and the result is urticaria... some kind of rash, accompanied with itching. As long as I don't scratch, I can cope with it, will away the itching, mostly, but sometimes... and then it's like I can't stop."

"I'm surprised I never really noticed anything...," Sho said. He sounded a bit guilty, something that Nino definitely did not want.

"I'm good at hiding it," the man therefore quickly explained. "I use to say it's an allergic reaction, when it gets noticable, like some kind of white lie, you could say? You see, I still feel embarrassed about it when it happens."

Sho looked at him and slowly nodded. But he had more questions, apparently. "Did you always have that?"

"It first started when my mother was sick, mostly when I was with her in the hospital and got scared of losing her," Nino continued his story. "Like this, it got detected quite early and therapy helped me to get it under control, well, mostly.... It's just that under unusually stressful conditions, it comes through. Like when my father died some years ago. Or..."

"Or when I got hit? Or did it start again even earlier? Is it my fault?" Sho worried out loud, looking at his boyfriend with big rueful eyes.

Immediately, Nino shook his head. "It's not your fault, there's no need to blame yourself for my inability of keeping control over this. You taking the blame would be the same as if I said it's my fault that Matsumoto hit you. You see, it's connected, but it's rather just a trigger than someone's fault. If that makes sense. Or do you directly blame me for that?"

"No. It was my own fault," the other man replied without hesitation. "I couldn't control myself and hit him and then he hit back. The result was the consequence of my action."

"See?" Nino raised his eyebrows. "That's basically the same thing."

"Still, I'm sorry," Sho said, his hands starting to rub up and down Nino's arms. "For being responsible for so much stress you had to experience recently. For triggering you."

Nino chuckled, but then, his expression turned serious. Due to the whole panic in between he had totally forgotten that actually, he had been in the middle of holding a lecture to Sho, just in case he really needed it.

"Real talk, you and Matsumoto... You have quite a temper, don't you?" the secretary crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You really should be more careful, don't you think you have a reputation to protect? And what about the reputation of your father? You're the Sakurai Group's heir, you shouldn't beat up a business partner!"

"Of course not, but can I be honest with you?" Sho intervened. "I don't care that much about my reputation. I don't want to impress my father or impress society, I want to be my own person and as my own person, I also want to protect those people who are important to me. And I promised you, didn't I?"

"Promised me?" Nino frowned. "Promised me what?"

And then, Sho said something that Nino had never even dreamt of hearing anymore.

"When we were children, and those other kids bullied you, and Matsumoto was one of them, I promised to protect you."

"Wait, are you... Are you just telling me that you remember?" Nino asked, dumbfounded. "I mean... that we have been friends?" Sho just looked at him, nibbling his lower lip. "Sakurai-san?!"

"I...," the man shuffled a bit to and fro on the couch, seemingly nervous. "OK, listen, I should probably tell you something. But first, I want you to stop calling me Sakurai-san."

Nino gaped at his boss. No, his boyfriend. OK, he was both, but suddenly stopping to call him by his last name, when he just had gotten used to it over these past weeks? Even if they had started dating now, wasn't this too early? But wait, they were also old childhood friend, and even if Nino had presumed that Sho had forgotten about him, which he had told him, after all, wouldn't it be just a tiny step back to that time?

"Please, it's just too awkward," Sho continued. "We're dating now after all, aren't we? At least I hope we're still dating when I finished talking."

"So how should I call you, then?" Nino asked, carefully.

"Just call me Sho. Like before when you yelled my name in the restaurant... did you even notice that?"

Apparently, Nino did not. At least, he couldn't remember, had he really called Sho by his first name?

"That felt good," the other man's smile quickly turned into a smirk. He reached out to nudge Nino, who was still pretty serious about the whole situation. Sho smirked. "Or if you prefer, I'm totally fine with Sho-chan, too. You know, like you called me back then."

Nino still couldn't grasp it. "I – but you said you don't remember me..."

"Of course I do remember you...," Sho murmured. He felt obviously bad about keeping it a secret, but that wasn't enough for Nino. Not after he had gone through so much pain because of this.

"Then why have you been lying to me this whole time?" he demanded to know, hopefully, though, he did not sound as desperate as he thought he did.

"I'm sorry, I know it was stupid," sighed Sho. "I didn't know what to do, everything was just too awkward and I didn't know how to handle the situation. I was so excited to come back but we haven't been in contact for so long and so I came up with that stupid idea to pretend I didn't remember you and start anew. I thought it would be easier for both of us, but honestly, how stupid is that, as if I could ever forget you... and we did poorly in the beginning. I'm sick of all the pretending."

"Why haven't we been in contact, then for the past years? We texted each other, until you suddenly stopped!" Nino threw into the round. "If you never forgot about me, then why?"

Another sigh by Sho. "Actually, that's another stupid thing that happened… you see, I lost my phone back then and all my data with it… time passed and since we had not seen each other in such a long time, I was insecure about trying to get your contact again… and faster than I thought, more time passed and I never tried to find out your number. I'm sorry."

Nino found himself pouting. Lost his phone... Was it really that simple? However, if Sho told the truth, this would mean, "So you didn't just stop texting with me because you weren't interested in your childhood friend anymore?"

The other man shook his head, vehemently. "Definitely not!"

"Maybe you should have tried a bit harder, then!" Nino replied, still pouting. "I thought I did something wrong, like I annoyed you to death with my texts or something...”

"No, really, it's my fault, I know, I should have tried to get your number again, I'm sorry. For so many things," his boyfriend replied. "I'm sorry for not trying to get back to you sooner. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for you when things with your dad happened. And I'm really sorry for lying to you when I came back and almost ruining things with being such a clums. But I missed you, believe me, I missed you so much and I'm so happy to have you back.... Nino."

It was Nino now, who had reached out his hands to take Sho's in his. He could feel the sincerity of the man's words, and he believed in them. He could become angry now, that Sho had been lying to him all this time, maybe he even felt a little bit betrayed, but on the other hand, he could understand. He understood how weird it must have felt for Sho to come back after years, finding so many things changed, and not being able to handle everything. His parents' expectations of him, in his job as well as with Keiko, sure, none of that had been easy.

And he and Nino? He must have felt estranged over the years, and that was understandable too. It had been weird for Nino as well. However, the most important thing was that despite the awkwardness, they had eventually found together again, and that alone was a miracle. Nino would be a fool to risk that now. He gently pressed Sho's hands, and Sho pressed back, smiling shyly.

"Sho...," the young man said, trying out to say his boyfriend's name like this. "So what's your plan from now on?"

Sho swallowed visibly and straightened his back a little. His and Nino's hands were still joined between them, and their bodies were facing each other. The man looked straight into Nino's eyes.

"I told you, I want to be myself, right?" he started. "I want to be with you. I want us to be friends again, and I want us to be lovers." He paused, looking at Nino, as if waiting for confirmation.

Which Nino gladly gave him. He smiled and nodded. "I think, we're on a good way to be that, both of it," he said and Sho smiled back. "What else? That's not everything, right?"

Sho nodded and took a deep breath. "I want to get courageous enough to tell my father. About us and about what I really want to do as a career."

"And I will support you in this," the secretary added. "Just... although you once told me already that you don't want to be your father's company heir... you also didn't tell me yet what else it is you want to become," Nino pointed out. "If you don't want to pretend anymore, then start with me. Tell me everything."

"I never told you because... when it comes to that part of my life, I'm not too confident to tell other people, but it's you so I want to tell you. Just, promise you won't laugh, OK?" Sho asked, slightly nervous.

Nino pressed his boyfriend's hands. "I promise, I won't laugh."

"Good...," Sho sighed. "You see, the truth is, I want to become a writer."

Nino blinked. He had to admit, he was a little surprised about this confession.

"A writer?"

"Yeah, like... you promised not to laugh, right? You said, creative hobbies are cool, right?" Sho wanted to confirm, although he sounded still a bit insecure.

Nino nodded. "Yeah. And I already said, I won't laugh."

Sho took a deep breath.

"So... I never told anyone but I really enjoy writing. In various forms, like short stories or poems or just things, my thoughts, anything!" the other man started. He sounded excited. Nino smiled at him when he continued. "You might not have expected it, you might think I should be happy and content with the future my parents provided me with, but the truth is, I just want to be free. As who I am now, I can't express myself freely when I'm discussing business plans for hotels all day long, and I feel completely uninspired when reading annual financial reports and shit like that."

At this point, Nino actually chuckled shortly, but only because he understood exactly what Sho meant. Annual financial reports were the personification of boredom, after all.

"For my whole life, other people chose for me what I should do," Sho said. "It wasn't my decision to go to Europe and leave you behind. It was my parents' and even if I know they meant well, it wasn't what I wanted. I'm kind of glad though because, even if I was unhappy there most of the time, being lonely also strengthened my interest in literature. It made me realise what I truly want to be."

"That's amazing," Nino whispered, touched by Sho's sincerety. "It really is. And as I said, I will fully support you. Well, before I promise that, you'll have to show me some of your writing though," he chuckled softly.

Sho nodded. "I'll think about what I can show you, soon."

"I can't wait," his boyfriend replied.

"So how's the itching now?" Sho asked, carefully checking Nino's neck. From all the hugging and pulling apart the cooling packages had slipped around so he reached out to properly put them back, slightly pressing the coolness against Nino's irritated skin.

"Better, thank you, but you know what else helps to make it better?" the secretary answered. He put his hand on top of Sho's, holding it in place, and they looked each other into the eye. "Distraction."

And as if Sho knew exactly what Nino meant, they closed the last distance between them again and their lips met for a small but tender kiss.

"Ouch," Sho murmured, chuckling when they came apart shortly after.

"What's wrong?" Nino asked, his gaze hazy. With one of his hands, he cupped Sho's face.

"Ah, just my lip, but it's fine. Saliva is supposed to help the healing process, right? So let's keep going," Sho replied, already leaning forward again.

Nino snorted, pulling back a little and giving the man in front of him a critical look. "I thought this only applies if it's your own..."

"You little know-it-all," Sho chuckled, crawling closer. "As far as I'm concerned, as I want to kiss you anyway, there'll be a lot of saliva involved, yours and mine so it'll be fine..."

Nino couldn't say anything against that and instead just allowed Sho to kiss him again. Sho was gentle but also demanding, and it was so exciting – the good kind of exciting – that Nino's heart was racing like crazy. They were leaning back on the couch, the slightly taller man was by now almost covering Nino, and the latter could feel how things became hotter.

The man willingly parted his lips to grant Sho's tongue access to his mouth, it felt hot and warm and so soft and he loved it so much, kissing Sho was definitely Nino's new addiction. They took their sweet time to explore each other, slowing down and speeding up the movements of their hungry lips, as if playing together. They kissed each other's faces, Nino kissed Sho's neck, Sho kissed the tip of Nino's nose, just to tease him, and then they were back again, connecting their lips in a passionate kiss.

It didn't take long before Nino made Sho stop, putting his finger on Sho's lips to keep him from kissing him once more. When the other man opened his eyes and looked at his boyfriend, confused, ready to protest, Nino just smirked at him and sat up, reaching at one of Sho's hands and pulled him up with him from the couch, just to guide him into his bedroom. Sho grinned as soon as he understood the message, and complied, following his boyfriend.

Once the door was closed behind them, Nino immediately pulled Sho closer for an embrace. The cooling packages had long gotten lost, so Sho tried to be extra careful to not touch Nino's sensitive skin and the young man really appreciated his boyfriend's thoughtfulness. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his small bottle of aloe vera gel, showing it to Sho, who took it in his hands and looked at Nino, slightly confused.

"Could you maybe help me apply this?" Nino asked, blushing. "It helps my skin to relax and numbs the sensitivity so... we can keep going without needing to pay too much attention to this situation here," Nino sloppily pointed at his neck area.

Sho chuckled slightly and then leaned forward to place a small kiss on Nino's forehead, who looked up at him upon the sweet gesture.

"Sure," Sho said, putting the bottle down on top of Nin's bed and getting closer again, to put his arms around his boyfriend's waist. "But first, we need to undress you."

Nino laughed. He reached up his hands to put them around Sho's neck, and wile he leaned into another gentle kiss, Sho started fumbling with the rest of the buttons of Nino's shirt, undoing one by one, getting slightly impatient, until he was finally done. He gently guided Nino backwards to the bed, made him sit down and while Nino willingly leaned back, Sho pushed the shirt down his boyfriend's shoulders.

Sho was just about to reach for the bottle of aloe vera gel when his gaze fell onto Nino's bedside table. He frowned, and broke his action.

"Hey, everything OK?" Nino asked silently, his voice a little shaky. Not only the excitement of the situation had gotten to him, but seeing Sho suddenly distracted, made him doubt, immediately. What, if Sho copped out now?

Sho abandoned the aloe vera gel again, and reached out his hand, taking the black journal into his hands that had been placed on Nino's bedside table. He carefully took it in both hands, turned it, and looked at Nino, his eyes widened. Nino looked back at him, utterly confused.

"Sorry but... why do you have that?" Sho asked in a low voice.

"What? I found it," Nino replied.

"Where... where did you find that?" Sho demanded to know. "That's my journal, I was searching of it!"

A shiver ran down Nino's spine when he realised the meaning of Sho's words, and he sat up again so he could face him properly. "It's really yours?"

Sho flipped open the journal, letting his hands touch the paper and slowly skimmed through it. He still looked confused, but also as if he found back a long lost treasure.

"I thought I lost it weeks ago, I couldn't find it anywhere, why–?"

"I swear, I didn't take it from your house or anything if that's what you mean," Nino immediately set straight, lifting his hands. He just remembered how particular Sho had been about someone touching his stuff, and he didn't want any misunderstanding to occur between them. "I found it in the park near the office building... shortly before we met again. I couldn't find the owner of it so I brought it back with me and since then -"

"So that's where I left it...," Sho murmured before he started chuckling. "I remember, I was just exploring the area a little bit when I came back, I thought, before starting to work there, I might just take a look at the place and the park was really nice..."

"It really is," Nino replied. "I use to spend most of my lunch breaks there. That's when I found it, at the foot of my usual bench. I didn't know whom it belonged too and it looked like rain so I didn't want to leave it behind and get ruined."

"Thank you," Sho replied with a broad smile on his face. "It would have been a pity if all the work I put into it had gone to waste." Then, his smile suddenly vanished, and a hint of panic crawled over his face. "Have you... have you read it?"

Nino slowly nodded, only now realising what the whole situation really meant. Sho was the one who wrote all those beautiful words collected in there...

"I'm... sorry?" Nino offered, smiling carefully.

"Oh gosh... well, now I'm embarrassed," Sho chuckled. "I can't actually say that this is supposed to be seen by anyone yet."

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have," Nino said. "I didn't mean to, at first. I just wanted to see if I can find a name or a clue on who's the owner of it to return it, but then I started reading what's in there and I... I just couldn't stop. It's so good, Sho, seriously, it's so good, I love every single word you've written in there!"

Sho's face flushed deeply red. He sheepishly pressed the journal against his chest and Nino's heart jumped at that adorable sight.

He had met a lot of different versions of Sho throughout his life.

He had met kind, sweet Sho-chan, the one who used to play with him, read books with him, and who promised to protect him against his bullies. He had met a slightly jerky Sho, grown-up and a show-off, bragging with his fake-girlfriend and his red Ferrari that he had named after a European woman (although as of what Nino had learned by now, he wondered if it really was the name of an ex-girlfriend or just a random name). He had met his boss, Sakurai-san, slightly overwhelmed by his new duties and clumsy in treating his personal, but smart enough to catch up with all the important things he should know.

He had met Sho, the desperate drinker who tried to drown his sorrows in alcohol but actually was getting eaten up from inside from his loneliness. A Sho who was as fascinating as anyone could be, when confessing his deepest feelings. Gentle, when he embraced someone, passionate, when he kissed someone. A very jealous Sho, who wasn't willing to share Nino with anyone, especially not with a certain Matsumoto Jun, and who would punch anyone in the face who dared to raise his voice at his boyfriend.

He had met a man who was caring, when his boyfriend suffered, and now, sweet and fragile, Sho, the artist's soul.

Nino's chest was overflowing with love for each and every version of Sho. His Sho. He couldn't deny it. He had been in love with that man ever since they had met during their childhood and he probably had never stopped loving him, even while they have been separated, and now, his love was growing constantly. He was completely sold to this man.

"Can I have it back?" Sho asked, finally, pointing at the journal in his hands.

"Ah, sure, it's yours, after all," Nino replied, but then, he remembered something. "Ah, wait, just a moment!"

He wanted to reach at the journal, which Sho was still clenching and probably didn't want to let go anymore. Then, he pulled back his hands and just slightly tilted his head.

"Uhm... there are a few notes in there," Nino started, blushing slightly.

"Ah, right," Sho said, flipping through the pages again. "I though those are bookmarks... wait... what are those notes?"

Nino cleared his throat. "I just took a few notes about some passages..."

"About some passages?" Sho chuckled, once he had realised the whole extent of Nino's doing, which consisted of a lot of notes. "Did you review the whole thing?!"

Slightly embarrassed, Nino shrugged. "Well, kind of?"

"I want to read all of them!" Sho exclaimed, laughing sweetly. He then started reading out loud a random note that he picked from the middle of the journal, obviously happy, but also a little bit embarrassed, too. "You made me fall in love with your writing. Wow now that's quite a big compliment..."

"I guess I can't deny it," Nino said, covering his face with his hands. "It's not only the boy inside you that I love or the you how you are now, I also love you, the writer."

Sho stared at Nino and his sudden confession. He reached out one hand, and Nino did the same. When their hands connected, Sho smiled, sincerely happy.

"I love you too, Nino."

Nino blushed again, his heart bubbling over in his chest upon hearing those words. He had dreamed of this day to come, even if he had never expected it to come true, but now here they were.

"A-Anyway," the young man cleared his throat, "I'm sorry for reading this without permission."

"It's OK," Sho gently pressed Nino's hand. "I think, if there's anyone in the world who I want to read it, it's you. I want you to know everything about me, my deepest thoughts, I want you to know who I am... and I think, it's easier for me to express myself through writing."

"You're great with words," Nino said, and he meant it.

"Perhaps only with written words," Sho chuckled. "I'm also good in non-verbal communication, though," he then added, wiggling his eyebrows, causing Nino to laugh shortly. He put the journal back on top of Nino's bedside table and then came crawling closer again.

"I need you to prove that," the young secretary chuckled, amused.

"Well, then, let's continue to make you relax," Sho said.

He smirking, and even if indeed he reached for the bottle of aleo vera gel first, to finally help apply it onto Nino's skin, his boyfriend knew exactly, that this would not be the only body contact they'd share tonight.

Nino smirked too, and pulled Sho on top of him, to kiss him again on his beautiful lips.

+ + +

The two men spent a lazy morning in bed on the next day, cuddling, kissing, and talking about the sun and the moon. They exchanged stupid and not so stupid ideas about how they painted the future, how they wanted to tackle life together from now on. Nothing was written yet on the blank page they created, only the fact that they wanted to challenge the future together. They wanted to support each other and be each other's anchors, each other's confidants, friends and lovers.

After Nino had taken a long shower, the two men went into the kitchen and prepared breakfast – French toast after Sho's request, which apparently had been his favourite breakfast in Europe – and when they sat down together to eat, Sho pushed his journal towards Nino. It was opened on a new page, with a new text written on it.

"Inspiration hit me while you were in the bathroom," Sho said, blushing slightly. "From now on, I want you to be the first one to read my works, and I'm prepared to receive any feedback that you seem fit."

Nino didn't care if his breakfast would turn cold in the meantime, and immediately grabbed the journal to read Sho's new addition to it.


Everyday, sleeping face down alone, always feeling like nothing matters at all.
Acting strong and pushing myself too hard, it's not as if I want to be this way.
Everyone happens to have common sense on hand. Why are you all running so splendidly?
If I can just catch up, I want to catch up and give a clever laugh.

If we try to recall the clear sky from then, our smiling faces are blurred in our memory.

That's why we gulp down the bitter, frustrating, ordinary days.
There's no choice but to make certain of it with our own eyes.
Nothing stays the same so there's no reason to give up.
Everything starts from here, right?

Hold justice up high above your head before you lose sight of it, the truth is definitely there.

That's why even if you long for a life like you see in the movies,
The things that are truly important are right here.
Nothing has finished yet, not even your conceited dreams.
Until the dawn breaks, until then.

See, don't you think so too? Now's the time, get up now!


"It's wonderful," Nino said, smiling, "Melancholic, but still, full of hope."

Sho smiled back.

+ + +

Epilogue

+ + +

In the end, the situation with the Matsumoto Group was solved by a simple but genuine apology by all parties involved. While Sho appologized once more, this time more sincere, first for spying on Jun and especially for hitting Jun, Jun apologized too, again, for hitting back and everything had been filed as a misunderstanding with passionate outcome. Nino also apologized once more for rejecting Jun as well as for letting the whole situation escalate. He should have been clearer about his feelings and intentions in the first place, invitation to a fancy burger restaurant or not. Jun, who had clarified his motives in the meantime, namely, that he indeed had developed a crush on Nino, had started to accept the situation and over the next few month had been able to overcome his feelings for Nino. Currently, the young company heir was searching for a new love.

Speaking about burgers, by the way, Nino never went back to that fancy place, and instead he much preferred trying out new, cheaper restaurants together with his boyfriend, occasionally bringing along friends. Sho even started to make a fun game out of testing all the city's burgers and making a giant analytical burger chart in order to find the perfect burger for his boyfriend. In order not to be a downer, Nino couldn't bring it over himself to tell Sho that he did not care too much about the details and the most important thing for him actually was that the two of them were together when eating a delicious burger.

Alternatively to the various burger restaurants, the couple also liked to spend their evenings off in the "Akatsuki", either sitting at the bar and talking with Mr. Ohno, or sharing a table with Aiba, who they sometimes brought along, or even Jun, who they once had met there too, inviting him to their table for a drink. Sometimes, Mr. Ohno even joined them for a glass or two, when the izakaya wasn't too busy. Of course, Sho had not gone back to drinking uncontrollably, and like this, had managed to get his alcohol consumption back to a non-worrisome level, which was better for everyone involved.

The five men got along with each other surprisingly well, so that they eventually made their outings together a regular thing, and after about a year, Jun and Sho called each other close friends and even now, one more year later, their friendship was still going strong.

The business relationship between the Matsumoto Group and the Sakurai Group was still continuing, something that had been on a wanky leg after the escalation between the two young heirs, but of course, they had managed to get together in a professional way, after making up. They decided to restart their project for the "Hana Yashiki" hotel chain, this time with a much better foundation – understanding for each other, no jealousy, a developing friendship and true professionalism. By now, the project was in full bloom. Just recently, the plans for a first branch had been finished by a young and passionate team of architects, and it had found Sho and Jun's approval almost immediately.

Sho had become clear with his father and his mother about a lot of things in the meantime. It had taken a little time and he had been doing it step by step, but Nino had supported him with each, standing behind him, not only as his secretary, but also as his life partner.

The first thing, Sho had become clear about was his fake-relationship with Keiko, who he had had a serious talk with and who had agreed, that their farce had been ridiculous to begin with, and they should just stop it. So, Sho admitted that they had never been a real thing, that he was not planning on marrying any woman, and that he was rather very much in love with Nino.

Even when his father had been surprised at first, he soon accepted it, knowing that his son was in the best hands possible. After all, Sho's father trusted Nino. When it came to Sho's mother, the women threw a wink at the young secretary as reaction to his and hier son's confession of being a couple, and Nino immediately had the suspicion, that she perhaps was not that much surprised about it. Anyway, all in all, Sho's parents had been way more acceptant and supportive, than Sho had ever expected.

Sho was getting along really well with Nino's mother and it had not taken more than their first meeting anyway, to make the woman accept the young man as her son's possible future husban as she liked to call him. Nino was slightly embarrassed about her directness, but Sho just laughed, wholeheartedly, and let her do as she pleased. Nino's and Sho's mothers got more in contact too, after that, which went so far that Nino's mother joined Mrs. Sakurai's book club and Mrs. Sakurai even joined Nino's mother's patchwork club which had become a huge success, by the way.

It took Sho a little longer to break the news to his father, that he did not want to become the president of their family business, and this was also what took his father a little longer to accept, but in the end, they even came to a solution regarding this.

While Sho agreed on staying in charge for the "Hana Yashiki" project, as the representative of a younger generation, as well as a shareholder of the business, he declined from his high position and rather became something like a freelancer working together with his father. Like this, he stayed involved, but he wasn't the main responsible person and did not have to carry the burden of becoming his father's successor on his shoulders. He promised to help his father search for someone taking over that position within the realms of his best employees, instead.

Sho did not have to spend as much time in the office now with mundane uninspiring tasks anymore, and instead he could focus on working on his writing. He was even aspiring to write his first full-lengsh novel, based on Nino's favourite short story out of Sho's journal, and was currently working hard to finish his first draft. Of course, Nino was reading every chapter first thing once Sho finished it, providing him with praise and criticism alike, in order to help him make the best possible version out of it and Sho really appreciated his boyfriend's support. Not only Nino was extremely proud of him, also Sho's parents were proud of their son.

For Nino, things had changed too. He was still in charge of Sho to help him with the hotel chain project at work, but had not gone back to pick up more tasks, as if like working more for Sho's father again, or something like that. He had found an agreement with Mr. Sakurai Senior, that kindly allowed him to keep the good conditions for the pay back of his father's debts and keep his mother's place in her home, as long as he continued working for the Sakurai Group on the side. Nino's main focus though, especially to his best friend Aiba's delight, had become going back to university to finish his degree in game designing.

Nino wasn't completely sure yet if he would pick up a job in the gaming business after he finished his degree, or if he would go back to work more hours for the Sakurai Group, as he found he quite liked his job there, after all, but either way, he was happy that he could finally do what he really wanted, and he enjoyed his new-found, partial freedom. Sometimes, you couldn't just have one thing or the other, but you needed to make compromises, and Nino was willing to do that.

By now, Sho had moved out of the house his parents had provided him, and instead had moved into Nino's place so that they could spend as much time together as possible. With him offering to pay a large percentage of the rent, which still seemed to be peanuts for him, it also helped Nino to save up money for paying back his family debts. He was really grateful for that. His place was even smaller with two people, of course, but somehow, they managed not to annoy each other too much. When Sho was working on his novel from home, and needed some quiet time, Nino was either studying himself, went to visit his mother, or he met up with Aiba for some gaming sessions at Aiba's place.

Things were busy but going well and the most important thing was, that everyone was happy. Nino couldn't believe his luck. He had found back the friendship and love from his childhood, they had developed into a real thing rather than a possibility, and he couldn't ask for more. He loved waking up in the mornings in Sho's embrace, having breakfast together, kissing him whenever he wanted, or just hanging out on the couch together, watching a movie or reading. He couldn't be any happier. Or so, he thought.

It was Nino's birthday, once again, when he was surprised by Sho with something he had never expected. It was a lazy morning, as they had decided to sleep in and keep the tasks for the day low. Sho was still in the bathroom, while Nino had planned to make a can of coffee for them.

The surprise wasn't only the huge bunch of beautiful flowers that was placed on the breakfast table – Nino had no idea when Sho had gotten that one delivered, he must have slept through everything after an exhausting but wonderful night with his boyfriend – but rather what was placed next to it. Sho's old, black journal.

Nino wondered. It had been a while since he had had it in hands, as by now, it was almost filled up completely and Sho had long started a new one to fill it with his literary ideas. However, there it was and the strangest thing was, that there was a post-it on it, telling Nino to read me.

The young man frowned, picked it up and settled on his chair while flipping through the pages. He smiled while revisiting lots of things he had loved ever since he read them for the first time, poems, short stories, collections of Sho's thoughts... and then, he finally reached the last page. He hadn't realised that it must have been blank up to today, and that only now, it had been filled with something.

I want us to walk under the same umbrella, from now and forever.
Nino, will you marry me?

Nino stared at it for minutes, not realising how time passed. Then, he jumped up like crazy, and went on search for the closest pen or pencil or whatever writing device that he could find lying around. Once he found a pen, he grabbed it, uncapped it, and sat back down at the table. His hand was slightly shaking from excitement, so his writing was perhaps a little scrawly, but he didn't care. He just wanted to write down one single word.

After he finished, and yes, it looked scrawly, Nino closed the notebook and pressed it against his chest. He took a deep breath, only now realising that his breathing was shaking, too. He was so excited. Luckily, this was what he called positive stress, and so he knew that no matter how much he was shaking, no matter how fast his heart was beating and how short he was of breath, no matter how teary his eyes were, he didn't need to panic. This would not cause any stress reaction for him. This was just sheer, simple happiness flooding his system.

When Sho came back from the bathroom, showered and his hair still wet, Nino was still sitting there, pressing the notebook against him. He was facing his back towards Sho, though, so the other man couldn't see it. Anyway, Sho didn't seem to be brave enough to step closer and so he just stood there in the doorway, quiet, until he finally found the courage to speak.

"Uhm... did you... see my notebook?" Sho asked, shyly and pretending to be innocent, and Nino couldn't help but smirk at his boyfriend's nervous behaviour.

Nino jumped up from his chair, whirled around and reached both hands out towards Sho, still clenching the journal. He felt his face flushed red and there were tears streaming down his cheeks, and Sho almost panicked, but Nino just pushed the journal further into Sho's direction, motioning him to open it.

So Sho did, flipping to the last page immediately, and just a second later, his own eyes became teary.

He dropped the opened journal to the floor and rushed forward to scoop Nino up into a tight hug, and the two men were embracing each other, crying together, laughing together, and just being happy.

"I love you, Nino, I love you!" Sho almost yelled, as if he wanted the whole world to know.

"I love you too," Nino replied, in a whisper instead, before he leaned in to kiss Sho with all his love.

The open page on the floor read one scrawly word as Nino's reply.

Yes.

+ + + THE END + + +




Additional Notes:
Lyric translation credits for „After the rain“ to mikuunichi, lyric translation credits for „Dandelion“ to yarukizero, thanks for your hard work and sharing it with the fandom!
„Eye of the storm“ lyrics I partially borrowed from ONE OK ROCK.
The crappy poem titled „What is a kiss“ was written by me lol. I'm sure, real Sho would have come up with something way better, I'm sorry! XD

Comments

[galuhdayinta]

This way of writing, I think I know who is this. :p

[galuhdayinta]

I spend my last weekend to read this story and I feel like sjfhaskfhadsfk this is so good! As expected of my favorite sakumiya writer <3

Uuhhh there’s so many things I want to talk about, I hope I can put all of it in this comment. I don’t think I put things in order, sorry haha I guess I’m too excited :((((

First, the setting! Well, you GOT me there. You put Nino in such situations, both family situations and complicated situation with Sho ... OMG. I can’t. The feels are too much :((( poor Ninooooo :(((( not to mention that this story has a point of view from Nino, it made me went ‘Aaaaaaaaaahhh someone pls hug Nino’ somehow I’m proud of Nino in this story, because despite the problems he had, he still could live and go on :”)

Do I need to convey my anger towards Sho here? To be honest, to be reaaallly honest, I don’t really like how Sho scaredly avoided Nino and pretended he didn’t know Nino. When he confessed that I was like ?????????????????? DUDE WTF. You’re smart, you have the power play, you .... why you couldn’t face your own childhood friend slash crush? Sho should’ve noticed something weird in Nino in the first place at the introduction dinner (Sho even noticed the rash, but why he didn’t notice Nino’s expression?) Or is it that Nino hid his expression so well? Idk. But I feel like Sho is really a jerk here, sorry Sho, you’re smart and all but you’re a scaredy cat, leaving my poor Nino in his own miserable thoughts. God, I can’t believe it >:(

So somehow Sho had a crush on Nino too since back then? Looking at how Sho suddenly kissed Nino when he was drunk.

Well, at least Sho did it properly on Nino’s birthday, as he confessed and asked for a kiss politely. Why can’t Sho do it like that in the first place? The more I symphatize with Nino, the more I feel irritated at Sho. I mean, Nino is such a considerate person despite his own problems. He put other than his own first.

But well, the negative side of Nino is that he sometimes overthinking stuff. Not sometimes but often, I mean, everytime LOL. I don’t blame Nino for having such an overthinking habit, looking at his situations. He always has this melancholy feelings despite his snarky sayings.

I’m glad that Nino had Aiba <3 I always love Aiba and Nino’s relationship as best friend forever. I like how you potrait Aiba as a forever angel, always stay by Nino’s side whenever Nino needs someone to talk <3 Aiba is someone who can voice out Nino’s true feelings that Nino doesn’t want to admit it, and someone who supports Nino no matter what. Eventhough his talks sometimes aren’t reassuring and even worse Nino’s state (like at the first scene, when he shared his fun thoughts about how romantic Nino and Sho’s reunion would be, making Nino had too happy expectations while in fact, uhh, ...) but I still like Aiba as he simply voices out what he thinks without hesitation. That character really helps Nino who has difficulty to say what he thinks.

But yeah, to be honest I feel really irritated at Sho, because of his scaredy cat nature, and at the same time, Nino overthinking stuff. IT’S JUST ....... GOD. That’s why the two of them had complicated relationship at the very first! Why can’t they be honest sdfajkdhlaskfhkasfdh

I wonder why Sho decided to confess everything, like, EVERYTHING, including his feelings and his lies. See? After Sho confessed, everything became better, really better. HASHTAG SHOOK MY HEAD. It’s really good to see Sho finally voices out his true feelings.

Well, I know I know, Sho has his own problems too. But it doesn’t mean that he pushed all of his emotions inside, right? At least, if he didn’t want to be awkward, at least he didn’t have to pretend he didn’t know Nino!!! Omg. I really wonder the reason Sho suddenly blurted all of his secrets. Is it because of his jealousy towards Jun, after all?

Anyway, I love the banter between Sho and Nino during office (eventhough it made Nino stressed XD). Sho tried to be cocky and confident (and failed), while Nino tried to comply all of his orders.

About Jun, hahahahaha I also like how you potrait him as narcissist XDDD it’s a bit weird on how Jun suddenly had interest with Nino despite him being bully when they were children. And they already met when they’re grown ups like a year ago right? I wonder why Jun suddenly start liking Nino when Sho is around. THAT UMBRELLA POEM (and the narcisstic –M. J.– in the end XDD), I’m sorry Jun, I couldn’t help but laugh at it I’m XDDDDDD

The tension between Sho and Jun is so good, I can see why they fight each other naturally as they both have the same blockhead LOL. but at the same time, I think they can be good friends if the two of them lower their ego for abit. I mean, they have the same situation (heirs of the company etc), I’m sure they have a lot to discuss. That is, if Jun didn’t really bother with the fact that Sho has Nino now :p

OH! I appreciate your comedic lines that I found in some paragraphs xD here are my best favorite lines:

1. Nino’s wild thoughts about Sho. ‘... If their son had turned out only half as good looking as his parents, he must be the crush of half Europe.’ XD

2. Aiba when he heard that Sho didn’t recognize Nino. ‘ “What?!” something crashed and Aiba cursed. He must have let something drop.’ XDDDD

3. Nino when he was being openly flirted with Jun. ‘ “I am surrounded by narcissists ...,” he murmured’ XDDDDDDDDDD
‘"Please excuse my straightforwardness, but I can tell you for sure that if there is something that I definitely do not find attractive, it's complacency and narcissism," Nino dared to say’ NINO IS THE BEST, REALLY XD

Regarding the poem stuff, like the black note, it doesn’t really have any important impact on the story I think? But still, it’s so good to know that Sho is the owner (instead of umbrella Jun XDD). I can’t really imagine Sho as writers (poem writers) as he’s shown as snarky and sassy attitude in this story. But well, maybe deep in Sho’s heart he’s actually a really softie? XD <3

Your description when they were kissing!!!!!!! (Imitating how many Aiba put exclamation mark LOL) <3 they’re so sweet, too sweet I could melt <3 you really did a great job!

The ending is beautiful, I like how you end with Sho and Nino reunited and became one, with mountains of problems are still there to be solve. But now, they have each other, so they would tackle the problems together. I can see that images when I read the epilog :”) ah Sho and Nino just so cute together <3 I also like the propose in the end <3 wait, will they get married in other country? Sho said himself that Japan currently didn’t allow same-sex marriage right? XDD I smell a light and fun sequel here :p

P.S I still wonder the reason why Sho named his car ‘Emily’ xDDD I hope if he has a new car, he will name him ‘Nino’ or ‘Kazu’ <3

Thank you for writing this great story! It’s very dramatic and sappy, tbh it’s too much drama for me (who don’t really like heavy, teary drama in the first place dsfdsfds) (and made me feel so sorry about Nino, really! I still think you’re too far on putting Nino’s situations :((( ) but overall I love this story! I’m waiting for your another sakumiya series <3 (psst, cough colourful world cough)

[southview]

Dear Anon,

First of all, thank you so much for writing this wonderful fanfic! I read them but I will review about it possibly on the weekends. I have report that I need to hand out before Friday. I’ll write more, definitely. I’m really sorry! But I assure you that I enjoy the fanfic so so much! <3

[southview]

Hello. I'm really sorry for the late review. I finished my report and also my mid-exam. Apparently, I didn't have time to review this even on the weekends because I was too tired. Anyway.... let's talk about the fanfic! :3

First of all, thank you for writing Sakumiya for me instead of Matsumiya or Aimiya HAHAHAH XD I really expect Sakumiya at least! I really miss reading them and this is my first time reading a Sakumiya fic after a year or so. Second of all, I'm SOOOOO happy that you used at least 3 of the prompts that I gave in the form. I was so shocked that you made drunk!Sho and at the same time, the secretary x assistant. I assume that you watched 'What's Wrong with Secretary Kim?' then? I hope you enjoy and finish the drama soon ^^

I feel like you can read my mind, anon. You made Ohno as the owner of the izakaya and that's what I've been wanting! The idea was already like a year ago and I'm glad that you made it for me at last (I'm sorry HAHAHA but really, how you write about drunk!Sho was on point!). Ah, you also put the lost journal prompt! I'm really happy~ Funny how you actually combine all of the prompts but everything is still make sense. You wrote an amazing piece of art.

As for the secretary x assistant, I'm really surprised that you make Sho as a jerk at first. I really like it, even if it isn't fluff at first, I feel like the ending compensate on what and why Sho did it. And also, I'm happy to see Matsumiya and how Jun is very funny in the story. Damn, I laughed so hard when I read his 'umbrella' poem and Nino was like "So I'm supposed to be an umbrella, huh? Does that mean I'm supposed to catch all the rain for him and he'll stay dry?" XD Jun being flirty made me day soooo much. Ah, I like how Aiba is being a supportive friend but also likes to embarrass Nino a lot pfft.

I think I don't have to tell you that you wrote Nino perfectly in this, right? Because you do! Even though Nino suffers a lot because of Sho ahahaha. At least it's still worth it with the happy ending ;) I find it really sweet how Sho still likes him even when he had to pretend not to know Nino. I really love the ending on how they live together and Sho told his family about Nino and also what he actually wanted for his life. I feel like Sakurai Shun in here is so kind and he tries to understand his employees is one of the things that I like about your fanfic. A good work ethic is needed in this kind of society (even if it's just fiction hahaha). And also, thank you for adding Keiko here because I love her so much and also, a little of Satomi-chan! :3 All of my favorite people are here and I feel awwww.

One of my favorite scene is actually when Sho was drunk and confessed a lot of things to Nino, even he was actually conscious. I think that's really sweet. Another one would be when Sho confessed about the truth to Nino. Damn, I was really emotional :") Umm, and also, Sho's jealousy whenever Jun flirts with Nino is something too XD Hmm, what else? Oh, oh! the way Sho proposed Nino is so cuteee? Aaaaaa, that is a propose goal I swear >< Simple and very touching. I really feel uwu uwu uwu uwu. I really love everything that you wrote in this fanfic! <3

Oh, one thing. Nino's psychosomatic condition is very relatable to me. Thank you for putting that in the story. I guess you don't know about this and it's a coincidence. I actually have it myself but it's more on allergy and not as bad as Nino. When I'm stressed, I will get allergy reaction such as rashes and also deep cuts on my fingers which made it hard for me to write and move them freely sometimes (especially when i played the piano). The reaction will come at night when I'm asleep, unlike Nino who will get the reaction right away on his neck. The doctors said I have atopic dermatitis and it's incurable. Every doctor said that it will be gone after I'm 18 but guess what? I still have to live with it HAHA. Ugh. But anyway... It's getting better now, compared when I was still in puberty. So, it is very relatable for someone who has similar situation. I feel like I understand Nino's pain :")

Anon, thank you so much for writing a masterpiece for me. I'm really bad at writing reviews but please bear with me XD I really appreciate on what you wrote. I bet there are blood, tears and sweat on writing this 75,500 words fanfic. I adore the bittersweet love of Nino and Sho here. You made me cry when Sho actually forgotten about Nino and also when he told the truth T___T I know I've been saying this for couple of times but... I'm so so happy and I'm very grateful to get a beautiful fanfic for my first NinoEx. Thank you so so so much, Anon. God bless you for writing a masterpiece! YOU ARE THE BEST <3 I hope you write more Sakumiya fanfics in the near future :) お疲れ様でした！本当にありがとう〜

[mikunicchi]

Dear Anon,
I just finished reading this and I am so content with everything happened in the story. I ended up being a crying mess because I love the ending (IT WAS SO GOOD) and I'm overly amazed by what an amazing work you have produced.
Thank you for letting me live this absolute pleasure through the story. It was one of the best reads of my life!!!!

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Anon

You wrote such a wonderful fic here! 🔥👏💖
The story, characters, choice of words, this was everything I loved 💛💛💛
This style is kinda familiar so I dare to put a guess on who wrote this 😆

I'm not joining the exchange bcs I just can't write but I love read all of Nino-centric fics so I ended up catching up with this exchange, and I really love reading every fics so far (thank you everyone 🙏)

[yumi_usagi]

I love it. Thank you very much for sharing, anon-san!
I’m so happy to see a long Sakumiya fic, it’s been awhile.
I really like Nino’s condition, it’s very interesting.
Sho was such a jerk at the beginning, but you said more fluff at the end so I was looking forward to it. And I love all the fluff you gave us.
Aiba is such a good friend. Jun was cute with his crush to Nino. Ohno was so nice too.
Thanks again, anon-san!

[reveetoile]

Thank you for this, it was a really cute story overall :) I enjoyed reading it

[satoyan]

WOW, you created a whole world here! It really is like watching a drama, not even a drama special but a whole series with a ton of character growth and plot and a long, slow relationship arc with ups and down, it's amazing. I can't believe how much effort you must have been into creating something so wonderful. I would also like to give a special shout out to Aiba, and to his and Nino's friendship, because the pure sweetness and support and mutual enjoyment of it warmed my heart to no end. Thank you for sharing! ♥

[(Anonymous)]

Loved it... although Sho was a complete Dougherty at times but I always luv sakumiya

[(Anonymous)]

Super loving it!