fic for reveetoile!

[nino_mod]

For: reveetoile
From: :3.

Title: Closer Closer to My Destiny
Pairing/Focus: all possibilities of Nino/Jun/Ohno
Rating: PG-13
Word count: ~40,000
Warnings: none
Summary: Nino was trying to catch a Kairyu when a person fell out of the sky.
Notes: For reveetoile. I enjoyed your prompts and ended up mashing a few of them together. I hope you like it! Thank you to my beta, who was as indispensable as ever. ♥ The His Dark Materials books inspired a few aspects of this story, with much creative license taken.

~~~

Nino was trying to catch a Kairyu when a person fell out of the sky.

He'd been feeling a little irritated, having come all the way (fine, four and a half blocks) to this dreary park on a post-deadline day perfect for guilt-free indoor gaming, only to find that the rumor some internet weirdo had alluded to on one of the forums he frequented was either out of date or an outright lie. There was no speedy orange dragon Pokémon to be found on this stretch of yellowing grass and a few leafy trees--instead, when he squinted up at the overly bright day and sighed dramatically, he saw the exact moment a human shape materialized out of an invisible portal and crashed down into the nearest tree.

Nino about jumped out of his skin, his irritation disappearing with the jackrabbiting of his heart. He felt a sharp prickling something shoot from the back of his neck down his spine as he spun around to see if there was anyone nearby who'd seen what he'd seen. He considered yelling for help, then decided to approach the tree and see what he could see first. Part of him was hoping that too long staring at his phone had caused him to hallucinate.

The sky-person hadn't fallen all the way to the ground. As Nino walked closer, a dark shape was visible, wrapped painfully around a branch not too far above his head. The more clearly he could see, the more obvious it was that it really was a person--a masculine-seeming figure with long dark hair, wearing a dark blue kimono that was dirty and torn, probably from falling through a tree. Nino got close enough to peer up at the pale face and blinked at the strong facial features--they made an immediate impression despite the scrapes and blood. He was just about to call out when the dazed expression on the stranger's face changed to pain, or possibly anger, and a shift of posture led to a sudden tumbling from the branch all the way down to the ground.

Nino froze. There was now a stranger--a bloody, disheveled stranger who looked like they were ready to star in a period drama but in actuality had fallen out of the air above Nino's neighborhood park--sprawled at his feet. What was the protocol here? Should he call the police? An ambulance? A psychiatrist?

He started simple. With as calm a voice as he could manage, he asked, "Are you all right?"

The stranger leapt to his feet, far more quickly than Nino could have done if he'd just hit every branch in a tree on his way to an unfriendly meeting with the ground. That scratched-up, striking face looked more pissed off than anyone Nino had ever seen, and, if Nino wasn't mistaken, he was reaching for a weapon at his hip. Considering the outfit, probably a sword.

Nino took a step back, heart shifting back toward full panic mode. He lifted his hands up automatically, dropping his phone, but the next instant that furious face eased into confusion. No blade appeared.

Even so, Nino did some deep contemplation of running away. If the stranger was up and moving around, Nino's obligation here was through, right? Wouldn't now be a good time to flee the inexplicable scene?

His heart was entirely on board with escape, but his legs didn't seem to be moving, so Nino tried words again.

"Do you need a--"

His words ran out. What did he think this warrior-looking person needed? Their missing sword? A bandaid? A boost back up into the tree so they could try to get back through their portal in the sky?

The stranger crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Nino. Every dirty, bloody inch of him radiated violent irritation, and his figure and posture communicated a dangerous sort of strength. Nino revised his estimate from someone who would act in a period drama to someone who would inspire one. Possibly as a villain.

Nino tore his gaze from that face, those shoulders, the veteran fighter's stance. Looking at the ground seemed safer. He didn't know what one did when confronted with a time-slipped samurai war lord (?), so he tried with great rationality to instead remember what one did when confronted with a bear.

He was just realizing that he didn't know how to deal with a bear, either, when a deep voice said, "My name is Matsumoto Jun."

Nino's eyes shot back up to find he was being watched more calmly now. His knees felt watery, and he identified it as relief that the stranger spoke Japanese, though with an interesting lilt to it. Perhaps non-violent communication was an option after all.

The stranger--Matsumoto Jun--took a step closer, and Nino took a step back. He stammered, "Ninomiya Kazunari. You are not a Kairyu, are you, Matsumoto-san."

Perhaps because it was mere blithering or perhaps because the meaning wasn't understood, the Pokémon reference was ignored. "As I've come from another world to find you, with great expense and effort, you may call me Jun."

"Jun-san," Nino murmured, feeling light-headed. Though the stranger hadn't moved, Nino took another step back. Did hallucinations usually have names? Bears had names. Wait, bears only had names in zoos. "I'm starting to think you aren't a bear, either."

There was a disgruntled huff, at which Nino pulled his gaze up from the contrast between well-worn straw rope sandals and his abandoned smartphone to meet those dark eyes again just as Jun said, "I am a samurai," then muttered as if to himself, "And you had better be worth the trip."

"I'm definitely not worth the trip," Nino said, promptly latching onto this potential way out. "If you need someone to beat you at MarioKart, I'm your guy, but otherwise you should really find someone else. Maybe someone in that direction?" He pointed off randomly into the distance.

"You are my guy," Jun said, the phrase twisting strangely off his tongue. "The alethiometer was clear. To avert a war, I had to come through this door--" he pointed up to where he'd fallen through nothing, "--talk to the man I found when I came through--" he pointed at Nino, "--and say these words."

Nino waited, but Jun didn't say whatever the words were supposed to be. Nino broke the awkward silence. "I definitely can't avert a war. Maybe it was the wrong door?"

He took another step back, but this time Jun stepped forward to follow him. "It said that to get you to help, I had to offer you something." He cleared his throat, looking a little red beneath his layer of smudges and scrapes. "Nino."

"What?" Nino said involuntarily, hearing his nickname from someone who shouldn't have known it. But he must've just guessed. Maybe they had nicknames in weirdo samurai land, too.

Jun started over, looking irritated again at the interruption. "Nino. Help me. I'll purchase you a beverage from the mechanical device."

Nino closed his eyes, hearing a voice from long ago in his head.

"Nino. Please? I'll buy you a drink from the vending machine."

The day he'd met Ohno, the surprise of finding out Ohno knew his name, the way Ohno had looked at him like something was beginning. Nino didn't know what an alethiometer was, but in that moment he decided it was an asshole.

Even so, the words worked. Nino sighed and opened his eyes. "You don't have a sword, do you?"

"No," Jun said. "The alethiometer said not to bring one." He sounded like it had not pleased him to be told to leave his violent weapon at home. He didn't seem to have a bag or anything, either, but maybe he was traveling light.

"Good. Well, come on." Nino turned and started walking, and after a second, he heard Jun's soft tread behind him. "I can't avert a war," he said, feeling this bore repeating, "but I suppose I can offer you a bandaid after all."

Jun didn't say anything, so Nino glanced back to check that there really were no weapons coming at him. Jun was looking at him, and for a moment Nino's heart skipped just looking at this intense stranger. He opened his mouth, but before he could say whatever foolishness he was going to say, past Jun he saw a flash of glossy fur low to the ground. He thought dizzily once more of bears. But no. No, it wasn't a bear...

"Oh," Jun said, following Nino's gaze. "I apologize for my rudeness. Allow me to introduce you to my daemon, Mihi."

Nino rubbed his eyes and looked again. Not only did Jun rudely still not disappear, there was that something else behind him as well, something that must have come through the invisible doorway, something that looked none the worse for wear for landing in a tree.

If Nino didn't know what to do with a bear, he definitely didn't know what to do with a panther.

Politeness was always correct, surely. He started walking again, feeling like he was bobbing along weakly, a balloon on a string, and said without looking back, "Nice to meet you, Mihi-san."

"Perhaps you could return the favor?" Jun said impatiently.

"Huh?"

"Your daemon. In a pocket, perhaps?"

Nino understood that Jun thought he was being impolite, but it was hard to introduce something that didn't exist. Well, he wasn't exactly sure what it was he didn't have, but he was more than sure about not having it. "That's not a thing in this world," he said, before his mind snagged on the word pocket and he remembered that he'd dropped his phone. He stopped short.

To go back and get the phone he'd have to go by the panther, and besides, Jun would probably think he was running away and chase him down. Nino had no hope of outrunning Jun, let alone Mihi.

Still, it was a wrench to leave his phone, especially when he was about to try to take a stranger home without getting murdered.

"Ah," Jun said behind him, closer than Nino had expected. "I almost forgot." He came around in front of Nino, giving him a courteous amount of personal space, and held out Nino's phone.

Nino took it without thinking, and his hand brushed Jun's.

He felt him. Jun was solid. Jun was warm. Nino was pretty sure he was real.

Putting thoughts of Mihi the panther aside for now, because his mind had enough to deal with, Nino said, "Thank you," and smiled up at Jun. Though he could practically see his video game time disappearing as he looked at Jun, it seemed like this was a thing that was happening. His slightly hysterical mind guessed with an attempt at nonchalance that it wouldn't hurt to have a real-life adventure for a few days, so long as they stayed in the safety of his home. He'd explain to Jun that he wasn't the right person, patch up his scrapes, and let him sleep in the guest room (his mind skittered over the image of Jun asleep with a panther curled around him) until Jun was ready to set off again on his redirected quest.

"It was nothing." Jun smiled back. It looked like it hurt, but it was a good smile nonetheless.

And now Nino's heart was racing again. This real-life adventure was unsettling in entirely too many ways.

"Are we going or not?" came a low, feminine voice behind him.

Nino lurched off toward home with his smile frozen on his face. Apparently panther companions of sky samurai could speak.

~~~

Nino spent a week trying to convince Jun his mission lay elsewhere.

Day One

The rest of the first day was spent doing first aid, getting Jun settled into clean clothes, and helping the other-worlders adjust to this more technologically advanced space. (Mihi was particularly fond of the living room's heated floor.) As they were settled onto the sofa watching a drama after dinner, a situation as comforting as it was surreal, Nino kept catching Jun peering around the room as if he could catch Nino's daemon if he just looked hard enough. If Nino were Jun, he thought he'd be more surprised by the TV, but Nino was still living in the house where he'd grown up, so he obviously couldn't relate. When he was getting sleepy, he reached out without thinking to pet Mihi, and thus acquired the knowledge that one did not touch other people's daemons.

Day Two

Jun was (somewhat) patient about having to deal with these practical matters, not to mention letting Nino's mind adjust, but on the second day he didn't stop bringing up his war-averting calling until Nino gave in. Jun was full of questions about Nino, none of which Nino had exciting answers to. The only thing that would distract Jun for any length of time, considering they couldn't leave the house with what looked to be a giant wild animal, was food, so from lunch that day off and on through the end of the week, Nino experimented with all kinds of takeout food. (Jun loved tacos but had taken instant exception to cilantro.) After dinner that night Nino went to turn on the TV again, but this time Jun made him help move the sofa so Jun could do some kind of sword exercises, thankfully minus sword. While at first Nino mourned the loss of his favorite variety show, he found himself quite content to perch on the sofa in the corner, watching Jun move for more than an hour. Nino's oversized t-shirt was tight on Jun, and the borrowed sweatpants clung in ways Nino found fascinating, but it was Jun's concentration, his calm determination and dangerous grace, that made Nino's mind go blank. It was a relief when Jun was done and returned to being the sometimes goofy man on a mission totally out of his element, the one Nino was just barely starting to get used to.

Day Three

Sick of talking about himself, on the third day Nino established the rule that any question Jun asked Nino, he also had to answer himself. The time they spent together was more fun after that--they learned about each other's families (Nino got the impression that Jun's family were some kind of samurai aristocrats), Nino's work as a writer and Jun's work as some sort of combat diplomat (though those were not the words he used), the things they liked and the things they didn't (for example, Jun hated that he had to stay indoors all the time right now), even the folktales of their respective worlds, most of which were eerily similar, though there was an argument from Jun over some being categorized as folktales versus history. He also learned that Jun hadn't known there was more than one world until about a month earlier, it being a closely guarded secret, which made Nino feel strangely better. It was at this point that Nino felt he trusted Jun enough to leave him in the house alone, and he made trips to the grocery store and to buy Jun clothes and other necessities, including a nicer brush for his great quantity of lustrous hair. (Mihi didn't need food, apparently, but Nino bought her a heated blanket.) On a commercial break during a drama that Jun had picked, Nino was crafting an apology text to his best friend, Toma, for forgetting that they'd made plans to hang out that night, when he felt Jun's heat close to him. It turned out Jun was objecting to Nino's cavalier apology, feeling more ceremony was needed to show sincere repentance when you'd let down a friend, but Jun's nearness and how he was intense about just about everything had Nino realizing something quite different: even in clothes that fit, Jun was overwhelming. Nino was going to have to be careful if he didn't want to lose his head. (He thought he'd have a better chance at that if Jun didn't seem set on doing those mesmerizing exercises every day.)

Day Four

In the morning on the fourth day, though, things seemed less weighty. Jun's scrapes and bruises were healing, and he was starting to feel like a completely real if otherworldly person, as well as a friend. However, as well as they got along together, it was clear that Jun was losing hope that Nino was the person he was looking for. There was nothing exciting about Nino--he wrote articles about video games, hung out with his family and a few close friends, and spent time at home, mostly playing games. Nothing about him suggested that he might be the key to an interdimensional pursuit to prevent mass bloodshed. But Jun had come a long way (Nino had heard by this point just how arduous a journey it had been, involving mountains, swamps, and stinging insects, all described at length), and he was, Nino had found, an extremely stubborn person. Though his questions became less frequent, Jun didn't give up. Nino found new reserves of patience, seeing how desperate Jun was to succeed, and alternated between answering anything and everything Jun could think up (and making sure Jun answered as well, because Nino was captivated by Jun and Jun's world) and distracting him with new things to discover. In an effort to keep Jun from dropping into what Nino foresaw would be an agonizing anxiety, Nino introduced him to, among other things, bath bombs, sudoku, and ice cream. (The emergency trip to the store was worth it.)

Day Five

As if even Jun needed a break from worrying about his mission, the topic of exes was the star of the fifth day. While Nino's exes were all men, Jun had dated both men and women. It was adorably clear that Jun felt a particular fondness for an ex-boyfriend he'd had in his early twenties, while Nino admitted that he'd never been with someone he'd really felt he could be with romantically forever. Most of Nino's exes had become his friends, while Jun seemed to prefer getting a clean break. After several days of heroic self-restraint, the fifth day was also the day Nino introduced Jun to video games. This provided an outlet for much of Jun's frustration. It also distracted him from the somewhat tragic results of his attempt to cut his own hair to match a picture he found in a magazine. Nino tried his best to salvage it, but he had to buzz the sides quite close to even it out. He left the top longer, and in the end was rather proud of his success. Jun no longer looked like a period drama hero (or villain); he almost looked like he could be a celebrity. Mihi muttered about what his family would say, but later Nino caught her telling Jun how good it looked as he stared doubtfully in the mirror after brushing his teeth.

Day Six

On the sixth day, Jun mentioned for the first time that he was thinking about what he would do in the unlikely scenario that Nino wasn't the one he was looking for. Because Jun seemed lost and a little scared, Nino suggested a companionable scrubbing of each other's backs before taking a bath together, which his best friend Toma always swore cured all anxiety, especially if afterwards they drank beer. Jun accepted, and therefore it was also on the seventh day that Nino found out that people in Jun's world didn't have bonds. Nino's bond was yellow, its shape reminiscent of a Shiba Inu, and it was about three-quarters the size of Nino's palm. Jun spotted it in its favored location between Nino's shoulder blades and had about a thousand questions simultaneously. Nino explained that everyone had them (and now he could sympathize with Jun about daemons, because seeing that Jun didn't have a bond made Nino's head spin), and that if a person was bound for someone, around age twenty their bond would start gravitating toward that person if they were within a certain distance (contentiously ranging from 50 kilometers to 100, depending on the study). Then Jun wanted to know if Nino was bound for someone (not so far as he could tell), and then to see Nino's bond move, which it didn't do all that much in terms of either location or position, and that was how Nino ended up in the bath with his back to Jun, under intense scrutiny, getting lightheaded from the heat. It took almost an hour for his bond to shift location, and even then only to his shoulder, but the whole thing did, at least, distract Jun from the anxiety about his work. It also gave Nino a shivery kind of pleasure to feel Jun tracing that familiar mark with his fingers, but the circumstances weren't right to let a thought like that out of his head.

Day Seven

Nino fully realized that he didn't really want Jun to leave on the seventh day. He enjoyed Mihi's snarky remarks while they watched dramas. He liked Jun's experiments with cooking and how he'd immediately taken to the comfort of pajamas. The house had enough space that he didn't feel crowded, and when it came down to it, for as much as Nino liked staying home, he also liked being around people. Since Jun would be leaving soon (Nino could tell by the way Jun fidgeted when looking at groceries that needed using up), Nino let himself enjoy their time together without overthinking it. Just because a beautiful stranger fell out of the sky to land at your feet didn't mean you could keep him. Jun would go off to fulfill his duty, and Nino would stay here as always. He didn't think there was email between worlds, so they'd probably never talk to each other again. Still, Nino wasn't so selfish as to wish Jun would give up on his mission, not when he had a real sense of how many lives were at stake. Jun had talked a lot about witches, who were apparently real in Jun's world, and how a local clan had felt in the world signs that many, many people would die if war came about between Nippon, Jun's world's version of Japan, and its neighboring countries. It also sounded like Jun's emperor didn't much care if lives were lost, even Nipponese lives, as long as his empire expanded, but Jun was sure he could stop the war. Even as he selfishly enjoyed having Jun around, Nino hoped he could.

~~~

The next day, when Jun finally said out loud that Nino wasn't who he was looking for and he needed to move on, it was while he was putting lotion on Nino's inexplicably itchy back. Nino figured it helped that Jun could say it without having to make eye contact.

"I understand," he said as soon as Jun gave him an opening. They'd been in the middle of a particularly lazy afternoon, but now Nino could feel that comfortable languor seeping away, leaving unsurprised melancholy in its wake. "If you need any supplies, I'll do an errands run later."

Jun didn't say anything. He continued rubbing circles against Nino's upper back. Every once in a while his fingers slid slowly in a particular spot, which Nino figured was his bond. Nino's entire body was tingling.

He said gently, "You'll be going home, then?"

Jun's hands paused, then rubbed carefully along Nino's shoulder blades. "Yes. I have to go back and ask the alethiometer again. More bribe money, more weeks wasted as the monk consults the endless books in order to frame the question, then again to interpret the answer." He trailed off, a certain grim tone in his voice, and Nino supplied the other source of annoyance.

"More mountains, more swamps, more bugs. I have to say, though, I can't blame the bugs. Who could resist biting you when you're just so sweet?" Nino made a droll face even though Jun couldn't see it.

Jun snorted. "You are ridiculous." It sounded fond, but he added bluntly, "I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Then we'll have a going away party tonight," Nino said. The idea that the warmth against his skin would soon be gone forever had him hunching his shoulders defensively in contrast to his easy words.

"A taco party," Jun said, perking up. He started giving Nino a brisk shoulder massage, clearly winding up the session. "I'll make you a list for the store."

The taco party was more fun than Nino expected. Jun had Nino help with the preparation, but when it came time to eat he made Nino's tacos himself, varying the ingredients each time. Nino was full and satisfied by the time Jun broke out the beer.

As he'd subconsciously expected, Nino ended up lolling on the sofa perilously close to Jun, tipsy and warm and a little sad. Mihi was sprawled at their feet, almost but not quite making contact with Nino. Jun kept pressing his bare feet against her back, making her rumble contentedly.

Nino remembered the feeling of Jun rubbing his back and felt like purring was an appropriate response.

Suddenly Jun reached out and swatted Nino on the shoulder none too lightly. "I think you're bound for someone after all, Nino."

Nino swayed dramatically away as if Jun's blow had rocked him mightily, then bounced back just as dramatically, letting himself knock into Jun, who was laughing. Jun was all heat and muscle and kindness. Nino wanted to use him as a pillow, among other ideas.

"Oh yeah?" he said drowsily, settling back into the cushions, now a fair bit closer to Jun. "Why's that. My bond has had 17 years to find my special someone--if they exist, they probably live in Iceland or something."

"What's Iceland?" Jun asked, distracted. He had developed a real fondness for looking at maps of Nino's world, though he liked to make Nino manipulate the laptop while he looked. (Jun was in awe of Nino's world's technology, but seemed reluctant to actually touch anything he deemed breakable. Nino didn't mind helping.)

"It's far away, and cold." Nino hesitated, alcohol-addled brain slipping on the thought. "Or is it Greenland that's cold?"

Maybe because he'd been drinking, too, Jun let it go for once. "You have someone, and you'll find them. Isn't that why you've loved your past loves but been able to let them go? You're waiting for someone."

"That's just how it is in this world, Jun-kun." Nino squirmed a little farther down into the sofa, trying to think of an excuse to lean against Jun again. "It's pretty clear when things aren't forever, so people find love where they can for as long as they can."

Jun made a thinking noise. "I guess that could be it. But I think... I think it's something..."

With a sudden lack of self-consciousness that was absolutely the result of drinking, Nino tipped close enough to Jun to rest his head lightly against Jun's arm. Continuing this dizzy new trend of not thinking too deeply about what he was doing, he said to Jun's pajama shirt, "If I went to a therapist, they'd agree with you. They'd say it's because of Oh-chan, I know it."

"Oh-chan," Jun said at once, and Nino shivered at that name on Jun's tongue. He also couldn't help noticing that Jun didn't push him away. "I don't remember you mentioning that name. One of your former lovers?"

"No, an old friend." Nino poked Jun's forearm repeatedly through the flannel, enjoying how it made him twitch irritably, then conceded. "I had a bit of a thing for him, honestly, but he disappeared."

"Ah, so the mental health physician would say that's why you don't give all of yourself--"

"I do give all of myself," Nino interrupted. "I'm just saying that Oh-chan taking off without a trace probably would make a therapist want to blame all my problems on him. I don't think it's a problem in the first place, so we'll agree to disagree." He chuckled to himself, his eyes falling shut as he leaned his body closer to Jun's warmth. "I'll agree to disagree with my hypothetical therapist saying imaginary things."

"I want to hear more about this Oh-chan," Jun said imperiously. He tapped Nino on the head none too gently. "More!"

"So bossy," Nino murmured. He could tell he was edging toward sleep, and he didn't try to stop it. If he fell asleep now he'd be sure to melt embarrassingly against Jun, and he thought he'd remember the feeling of sleeping pressed against him for the rest of his life. "I was 15 when we met, so it all felt very momentous. We got to be friends."

He let himself picture Ohno, his soft hair and sweet smile, and could practically hear Ohno's voice in his head. "Nino, I wanna bake bread. Nino, let's go dancing. Nino, hold still so I can draw you properly!" Nino had been younger than Ohno, and possibly a tad pushy, so people had assumed Ohno was the indulgent one, but Nino felt he'd been the one to dote on Ohno. Even now he thought that anyone who really got to know Ohno wouldn't be able to help doting on him.

A flick on the forehead reminded him Jun wanted to hear more. "Well, he left when I was 19, so there's not that much to tell. One moment he was there, all day every day, napping on my bed, stealing food from my fridge, and the next day he was gone."

"Just gone?"

"His parents chose not to file a report with the police, and Oh-chan was 21, so people figured he'd just gone off somewhere. No matter what I said, all his mom would tell me was that he wasn't coming back."

"Sounds like she knew something," Jun said, but when Nino didn't take up this thread of conversation, he changed tacks. "I'm sorry, Nino."

Nino shrugged. "I thought I might be bound for him, but everybody thinks that when they're a teenager and in love."

"If he was over 20 when he left, I guess you would've known by then."

"It takes both to gravitate, so, no, I guess technically I don't know for sure, since I hadn't turned 20 yet. But," Nino poked Jun in the ribs now, "I do know for sure, because my bond wouldn't gravitate toward someone who leaves."

Jun trapped Nino's hand against his body. "As someone who's going to leave, I object. Sometimes there's a good..." he trailed off.

Nino considered getting upset that Jun would suggest Ohno might've had a good reason to leave him without even saying goodbye, but it felt like too much effort. Plus, he really wasn't angry about Ohno leaving, not like he used to be. It was easier now to remember how dear Ohno had been, how much they'd enjoyed spending time together. Nino didn't let himself think about Ohno much, because it was hard not knowing what had happened to him, but when he did, he found himself smiling more often than not.

An indeterminate amount of time later, Nino woke to Jun covering him with a blanket. He tried to sit up, slurring, "I'll sleep in my bed," but Jun pressed him back down.

"I have a question."

Jun sounded very serious, but Nino was drunk on sleepiness, if no longer beer, and complained, "I'm tired, can't it wait?" But as soon as he'd said it, he remembered Jun was leaving tomorrow and felt ashamed.

Jun didn't snap at him. He seemed to hesitate before tentatively smoothing Nino's hair off his forehead. "You might not like it, but I think maybe I've figured out why the alethiometer sent me to you."

Nino smiled and leaned into the way Jun's hand lingered at his temple. "Epic taco parties?"

"That too," Jun chuckled. "But also, I was thinking about your Oh-chan."

"He'd probably have liked tacos," Nino mumbled. "You are on the right track."

Jun was quiet just long enough that Nino opened his eyes to peer up at him. "I think I am, too. I think the alethiometer sent me to you so you could help me find Oh-chan, because I think when he disappeared, he went to another world. Maybe even my world."

Though his pulse sped up, Nino tried not to let his agitation show. He concentrated on staying very still in the hopes that Jun wouldn't move his hand away. After several seconds of appearing deep in thought, Jun moved his hand away only to rest it on Nino's shoulder instead.

This was distracting, but not quite distracting enough to go along with Jun's interpretation. Nino said, "You're making a lot of assumptions based on very little, Jun-kun. I don't like thinking of you being disappointed when it turns out to be a false lead."

"Oh-chan disappeared for good, right? But his parents didn't make a fuss. I don't know how it works in your world, but to me, that sounds like someone very convincing asked them not to."

Nino reflected on what he'd heard of Jun's world and its inhabitants. "An armored bear?"

"They're pretty convincing too, but no." Jun took a deep breath, his fingers tightening on Nino's shoulder. "I think they were visited by a witch."

"Or he ran off and joined the circus," Nino snapped. "You're not making any sense."

"Nino, please. Please help me find him? I think he's the reason I came to your world. Somehow, it just feels like I have to find him."

"If he went to another world, it seems like he stayed there," Nino said grumpily.

Jun shook his head. His fingers slipped to brush against Nino's neck. "If he had, I wouldn't have been sent to you."

Nino brought a hand up to touch Jun's wrist, careful neither to move him away nor encourage him closer. "Help me get to bed, okay? Let me sleep on it."

Jun bit his lip, clearly struggling to be patient, then nodded. He got Nino out from under the blanket and off the sofa, letting Nino cling to him and complain about the cold, then dumped him into the bathroom to wash up. Nino assumed the rest was up to him, and after some water against his face it felt more doable, but Jun was waiting outside the door.

In the end, Nino lay in his bed, with Jun perched on the edge, and watched Jun smooth down the covers. Jun had angular hands, supple wrists, the kind of forearms that Nino assumed were from waving a sword around a lot. Nino could've watched him move for hours, but all too soon the bedding was adjusted to Jun's satisfaction.

Nino's heart was hit with a wave of affection for this serious, charming person. He said impulsively, "If Oh-chan's in this world, you can't go to him alone. For one thing, I don't think they'll let Mihi on the train." Mihi jumped up and curled up on the bed to Nino's other side, making him blink back another swell of fondness.

"I know. I'm asking a lot of you." Jun rolled out his shoulders restlessly. "All I've done since I met you is ask a lot of you."

Nino was a person who tended to be reluctant to do things that weren't within the range of what he liked, but when it came to people he cared about, his reluctance slipped away without him realizing. He'd even stopped keeping track of how much money he'd spent on Jun, which the imaginary therapist in his head noted wasn't so different for him from an admission of devotion.

He said, "Let's talk about it in the morning," but as he watched Jun and Mihi leave the room, he already knew what he was going to do.

~~~

Nino spent three days getting ready for the impending journey with Jun.

Day Nine

When Nino told Jun he would go with him, on the morning of the first day, Jun seemed surprised by how easy Nino made it seem. While it didn't feel easy (finding a person he'd lost almost twenty years ago, and, should Ohno be found, traveling to him with an off-world warrior diplomat and a black panther), now that Nino was decided, there was no point in fretting about it. The first thing he did was call his mom and invite her over for dinner the next day. (On top of all his other worries, Jun took this occasion as one for which he would have to plan everything perfectly.) Then, as Jun and Mihi convened an emergency mission meeting in the living room, Nino perched on a stool at his kitchen counter and stared at his phone. He knew what he should try first, and had been tempted by it many times over the years, but he'd promised himself never to do it. He procrastinated by sending an email to his boss and letting her know he needed a leave of absence, which the nature of his work luckily made fairly easy. That didn't take nearly enough time.

At last he told himself that there was no way this simple plan would work, so there was no need to worry, and googled Ohno's name. Nothing definitively Oh-chan came up. He tried name and their hometown, then name and the word 'circus.' After another few minutes of thought, during which time he tried to picture what sort of career Ohno might have (at the time of his disappearance, he'd worked as a clerk in a convenience store), he tried 'Ohno Satoshi baker' and 'Ohno Satoshi dancer' and 'Ohno Satoshi Chippendale dancer' and 'Ohno Satoshi unemployed' and finally 'Ohno Satoshi artist.' By the time his house-guests came into the kitchen with the beginning of a plan, Nino had an address. It was the address for a shrine (did Ohno think no one would notice?!) but it was what they had to go on. Their journey, thankfully one that could be done by car, would be to an island in the prefecture of Hiroshima, known as Miyajima.

Day Ten

On the second day, Jun turned his list of goods he needed for the trip (a new kimono, footwear, a black blanket so Mihi could lie in the backseat of the car as unobtrusively as possible, etc). Nino didn't know a lot about traditional clothes, so after getting to the shop he had to call his landline, and it took several tries before Jun answered, and then when Nino's powers of description proved to be inadequate, he handed the phone over to the salesperson. He got home with his bundles only to be handed another list--Jun had spent the morning planning their dinner with Nino's mom. Nino left for the grocery store without complaint, because Jun's nervous energy was making the house unbearable. Nino was half-tempted to ask Mihi to lie on Jun and make him take a nap, but he knew by now that person and daemon were inextricably linked. Even if Mihi hid it better, she was just as anxious as Jun. That afternoon, before Jun started dinner preparations, Nino sat them down and asked them to wait upstairs at first when his mom arrived. Jun, he said, looked like a regular albeit absurdly attractive person from Nino's world, but even Nino's intrepid mother would be taken aback by a panther. They agreed, Jun smirking at the compliment, then shooed Nino out of the kitchen.

Nino stress-played video games until his mother arrived. After twenty minutes of ridiculous-feeling explanation, he had Jun and Mihi come downstairs, Jun in his new clothes. It was his only non-pajama outfit, but it also lent an air of believability to the idea that he came from another world. He looked like the man who'd fallen at Nino's feet, minus the blood and dirt. Nino's mom adjusted as best she could, so calm and clever and kind that Nino felt a great deal of pride, and when the meal was over she praised Jun's cooking to the point Jun's thanks started coming out with a stutter. (Nino also heard it as 'see what a person can do if they try, Kazu,' but he was happy for Jun anyway.) His mom agreed to keep an eye on the house while he was gone, though that was really just an excuse to tell her what was going on and where he was going. He didn't want her to worry, for one, and for another she was the most practical person he knew. If there had been something that needed changing in their plan, she would have spotted it the way she spotted and trimmed the one unbalanced tuft of Jun's hair.

Day Eleven

The day before they left, Nino checked his infrequently used car, which appeared to be in working order, then cleaned the hallway and rooms of the second floor (Jun had cleaned the first floor in preparation for Nino's mom's visit). He texted his sister and a few of his friends, apologizing for his recent lack of communication and letting them know he'd be back into regular excellent friendship-providing mettle soon. He and Jun had a final MarioKart tournament all afternoon (with the winner being a matter of much debate), and during dinner Jun thanked Nino for taking him in for the past couple of weeks, telling him he was a lovely host with a charming residence. (Nino didn't know when he became able to read panther amusement, but his surprised expression definitely had Mihi laughing on the inside.) After dinner Nino nervously spread his travel itinerary out on the table, hoping it wasn't too long for Jun's sense of haste. It was only about twelve hours by car, but he started to get carsick if he did much more than three in a day, so he proposed two four-hour days and one three, with the concluding hour covered in the morning of their arrival day.

As a sweetener, he added that this way Jun could see some of Nino's Japan, though not the way Nino would've showed him if Mihi had been a more easily concealed type of daemon. Thankfully, Jun didn't seem impatient at the slow pace, apparently excited to see more of Nino's world. Nino had carefully planned out restaurants along the way where he thought Jun and Mihi's bond would not be stretched painfully with Mihi waiting in the car. (Mihi huffed at this, showing him her very pointy teeth, but didn't otherwise complain.) He also had a list of beautiful sights that could be seen safely, and hotels where the room entrances didn't involve going past the front desk. Before bed they sat at the kitchen table and chatted about this and that in a way that felt strangely familiar considering they hadn't even lived in the same world two weeks previously. It was hard to go to bed knowing they'd be leaving the next day and this stolen time with Jun would end, but after midnight Nino finally stopped showing Jun 'just one more card trick' and went up to his own room. He lay in bed thinking for quite a while before dropping off to sleep.

~~~

They set off in the early afternoon the next day. When everything was packed up and loaded into the car, including Nino, Jun, and Mihi, Nino said grandly, "And so we depart on our road trip, heading to a distant land in search of mysterious prey! According to my maps app, it'll be a total of 843 km, assuming we don't get lost." As Jun's expression went serious, Nino added hastily, "Which we won't. Because of said maps app. We won't get lost, okay?"

But instead of voicing this worry, or even questioning Nino's use of the word 'prey,' or asking another of his endless questions about just how long a kilometer was, all of which were what Nino expected, what Jun actually said was, "What's a road trip?"

Nino would have thought it was self-explanatory. On the other hand, he suddenly saw that this was an excellent opportunity to put into words some of the things he'd been thinking about since last night. (Or really, if you counted his subconscious, since he'd met Jun.)

"A road trip is a journey where the focus is not on the destination, but on the experiences you have along the way. Even more than that, I'd say, it's about the person you're taking the journey with." He turned deliberately, making eye contact with Jun, and held Jun's curious gaze for long enough that Jun's eyes went wide.

Nino smiled at Jun, putting a question into it. It wasn't long before Jun smiled back, a gleam in his eye that made Nino feel hot all over. Nino was just thinking about reaching out when Jun's anticipatory light dimmed.

"Nino," he started seriously. (Nino already didn't like where this was going.) "Our journey has an important destination. When we find your Oh-chan, I'll find my next step, and the chances of being able to stay anywhere near you are close to zero, you know."

This was less conclusive than Nino had feared. For one thing, he noticed Jun didn't show any sort of indication that he wasn't interested.

"Jun-kun," Nino replied, just as seriously. Then he shrugged and smiled again. "One thing about bonds, about this world, I guess, is that people here tend to live in the moment. Most relationships will end. Does that mean we shouldn't ever get close to someone unless it's forever?"

Jun dropped his gaze, looking conflicted. From the back seat, Mihi said sleepily, "He doesn't like to let himself care about anyone he can't keep."

Jun didn't argue the point. However, after a minute that felt like an hour to Nino, Jun sat back in his seat, looking more comfortable, more himself. Actually, with his lounging and aura, he was starting to make the humble passenger seat look like a damn throne. When he reached out, it was just as casual. He put his hand over Nino's where it rested on the center console, then curled his fingers gently into Nino's palm.

Nino's heart went and melted, but he managed not to babble about feelings.

Jun squeezed his hand and pulled away far too quickly, but the expression on his face didn't change. "A road trip," he said, then smiled wide. "I think I'm going to like this sort of journey."

Nino kind of wanted to seal their newfound agreement with a kiss, but he held off, letting Jun set the pace. He pumped his fist and made a grimacing face of great resolve.

"And we're off!"

He was a little overexcited, perhaps, and it took him two tries to get the car started. Luckily, Jun knew absolutely nothing about cars and didn't notice.

Jun's lack of experience with cars was obvious as Nino navigated out of his Tokyo suburb. He clutched his seatbelt with both hands, eyes wild, at Nino's steady, careful driving. Glancing in his rearview mirror, Nino was also pretty sure that Mihi was leaving permanent claw damage on his upholstery even through her blanket.

Nino was starting to get concerned about the trip when they hit the Tomei Expressway and Jun's expression went from stressed to exhilarated in about ten seconds. Evidently speed was what Jun needed, to go fast enough that he enjoyed it more than he worried.

Now that Nino was on the highway and didn't need as much attention to navigation, he reached over and took Jun's hand again. It took some doing before Jun would let go of the seatbelt, but eventually his hand was in Nino's, warm and solid, making Nino's pulse speed up.

They stayed on the expressway for well over an hour, and along the way Jun relaxed enough that they could talk. Nino asked Jun to send Nino's mom a text that they were on their way, something he figured Jun could do if he was walked through it, but Jun shook his head solemnly.

"The smartphone," he said, pronouncing the memorized term with some relish, "is busy navigating. We should not disturb it."

Nino decided to text when they stopped at his first location. He focused on the feel of Jun's skin against his and let himself daydream about what they might get up to in the next few days. Jun seemed content to look out the window, watching Mt Fuji get bigger and impossibly bigger, then recede only slightly behind them as they continued down the coast.

Getting off the expressway and detouring over to Nihondaira added some time to their trip, but spreading the drive across four days meant Nino wasn't as worried about carsickness as he could be, so it felt worth it.

The parking lot was close enough that Jun could go with Nino up onto the platform of the scenic area, and even from the car Mihi's view was spectacular. (Nino advised her to look like a dog and hoped for the best.)

Nino knew it was sappy, but standing next to Jun as they looked out across the clear day at Mt Fuji and the Izu peninsula, he thought Jun was just as beautiful as the view. He took Jun's hand again, smiling to himself at the way Jun's face was alight.

After a second, Jun pulled his hand away, frowning at Nino.

Nino frowned too. "Hm? Should I not...?"

"Romantic relations between men are permitted, but not to be flaunted," Jun said, looking stern. Nino wondered what asshole from his youth he was quoting.

But he was careful not to sound judgmental when he replied, "I understand how you're saying it is in your world, Jun-kun. Here we're just the same as anybody else."

Jun looked disbelieving, but when Nino didn't backtrack, his expression turned confused, maybe a little hopeful. "You're being honest?"

"Always," Nino said, and he offered his hand to Jun. It took Jun a moment, but Nino was patient. When Jun was looking at the breathtaking view again, hand safely wrapped around Nino's, Nino said musingly, "Maybe that's another effect of our bonds? It is really hard to argue with them, I mean--people are bound to who they're bound to and that's that. I've never considered what might be different if we didn't have them."

He wanted to say more, wanted to ask about the culture around this topic in Jun's world, wanted to try to understand something that seemed so backward and unsustainable to him. But they weren't here to satisfy Nino's curiosity, and he didn't want Jun to feel ashamed. He pondered a joke that Jun was attracting far more attention because of his clothes, but rejected that idea as well. Jun and Mihi had decided that a journey for his important work warranted the clothes they thought were most suitable, as in their world's clothes, and no matter how ancient or formal they looked to Nino, Jun did seem more confident in them. (He had changed to zori sandals instead, with his particular choice being ones with soles of lacquered wood, on Nino's recommendation that they were worn more often with kimono in this world than his straw waraji.) Nino turned his gaze back to Mt Fuji, glad that at least something was constant between their worlds.

With a lurch of worry, he said, "Mt Fuji is the same, right? You have this, right?"

Jun chuckled, and something in Nino's chest eased at the sound. "Yes, Nino. Mt Fuji is the same. I'm not sure I've seen it quite this beautiful before, though."

Nino said promptly, "Road trip magic. This isn't our destination but--"

"Or maybe it's the person I'm with," Jun interrupted, looking stubbornly off into the distance.

Nino really, really wanted to kiss him. But if Jun was still getting used to holding hands in public, Nino should probably hold off until they got to their hotel.

(He'd been living with Jun for more than a week, but the idea of sleeping in the same room still made him feel like he'd had way too much caffeine and also needed a cold shower.)

That evening they stopped for Brazilian-style pizza at a fusion restaurant in Kosai. Nino had picked it both for how much he thought Jun would like the food and how closely they could park, but by the time the food arrived Jun was a mess.

He'd held it together in Nihondaira, but seeing how pallid he was, how shaky and distracted, Nino suddenly knew Jun wasn't going to make it through this meal without Mihi closer.

Nino smiled his most endearing smile at the waiter. "I am so sorry for the trouble, but I have just gotten word of some urgent business that needs attending to." He ignored Jun's questioning "Nino?" and leaned closer to the confused waiter. "We really need to go, but wow does this pizza look delicious. Any chance you could box this up for us? Please?"

Jun stayed in the backseat as they ate the pizza in the car. The food was so good that Nino ate too much and felt a little sick, but luckily they didn't have much farther to go before they got to the hotel. Jun ate with gusto though he still looked a little pale. Nino knew what he needed right then was to concentrate on Mihi. He just wished he could do something to comfort him as well.

They took their time eating. It was only about a ten-minute drive to their lodging for the night, but Jun overrode Nino's suggestion that he stay in the backseat. He seemed like he was feeling better. Nino also suspected that he was barely used to the passenger seat and didn't want to have to ride around in a new spot.

They made it to the hotel and into their room without incident. Jun was subdued, and Mihi's movements were dull. Nino realized that the estimated distance they could be apart that Jun had told him during the planning process was not the distance they could be apart comfortably, and he revised his calculations a fair amount shorter in his head.

Nino managed to get Jun into the shower, Mihi lashing her tail impatiently on the tile outside, then into clean pajamas and tucked under the covers on the bed on his side of the room. (Nino had booked the rooms for the trip before his hopes regarding Jun had coalesced into intentions, but even if he hadn't he thought a room with two beds was better. Just because he was full of intentions didn't mean he had to be presumptuous.)

As he perched on the edge of Jun's bed, he remembered a few days ago when their positions were switched. He began patting down and smoothing the bedding just as Jun had, making sure not to accidentally touch Mihi.

Jun smiled at him groggily. It wasn't even nine o'clock, and Nino made another mental note on the theme of 'do not separate Jun and Mihi at all if possible.'

"Today was fun," Jun said, looking young and innocent with the blankets pulled up to his chin. Where the sword-reaching villain of Jun's first hour in this world had gone Nino didn't know.

"I'm glad," Nino said fondly. He brushed some imaginary lint from Jun's shoulder and let his hand linger there.

Jun blinked slowly, big eyes focusing on Nino. "Kiss me?"

Nino was seriously tempted. But he smirked instead, saying, "Maybe tomorrow, if you're lucky." As Jun started to grumble, Nino leaned down and swiftly kissed him on the cheek.

He leapt away, expecting Jun to whack him or grab him or something, but Jun just lay there, smiling goofily at Nino.

Nino flushed unexpectedly. He scrubbed a hand down his face, reminding himself that he was supposed to be an experienced, emotionally in control adult, then looked back at Jun. "Get some sleep, you big nerd."

Jun's eyelids dropped shut. "What's a nerd," he mumbled, but was asleep before Nino could answer.

Nino sat on his bed and looked at Jun for a long time. Then he lay back on top of the covers and stared at the ceiling.

After several minutes of determinedly thinking about what he wanted to write for his next article, Nino gave in to a more pressing concern. It was easy to forget when he was with Jun, but it probably bore some thinking about that he might be seeing Ohno in a few days.

Ohno. Was he really in Japan? Had he really gone to another world? What would Nino feel when he saw him? What if he didn't even recognize him?

He glanced over at Jun, who was snoring softly, and remembered the time he'd kissed Ohno on the cheek when they'd just woken up from a nap in Nino's bed. Ohno had smiled sleepily, and Nino had been too flustered to say anything, let alone try anything else. He'd wondered for a long time what would've happened if he'd pushed that moment further.

When he got up to take his own shower, Nino decided he'd wash away his Ohno worries, too. Not to repress them, or so he hoped, but to let them go. The Ohno he'd known was gone. The one they might find on Miyajima had lived 17 years without Nino, changing who knew how much in that time.

Nino could still remember the sensation of his lips against Ohno's cheek. It was a precious memory to him, and he decided to keep it, letting go of the wondering, the traces of longing, and any remaining bitterness. From his almost four years of being friends with Ohno, there were many good things he'd keep. But he'd made some precious memories today, as well, and his thoughts returned to those with only the slightest nudge.

He only had a few days left with Jun. He intended to make the most of them.

~~~

It took another two days on the road at Nino's slow pace before they reached their last hotel.

Day Thirteen

After the Brazilian pizza incident, Nino didn't try to get Jun out of the car for anything but stretching his legs and using the restroom. Nino had already planned that part of their sightseeing would be simply to drive on roads with good views all around, but now that became the main sightseeing focus. He also let go of his ideas about restaurants. When they got hungry, they stopped where there was a lot of selection, and Jun picked whatever looked good. If the place offered takeout, it was chosen, and if not, they tried again. Jun was much more relaxed in the car on the second day, and Mihi even took a long nap. (She said she liked the way the sun felt through the window and how it filtered intermittently through the trees as they drove.) Over the course of the day Jun tried pancakes and various kinds of fresh fruit, okonomiyaki, curry (and stolen bites of Nino's hamburg steak), and churros, the last of which Nino had never eaten before either.

Their hotel in Himeji was a little nicer that night, and a little busier, but they managed to get in without anyone spotting Mihi. Jun, awake and alert this time, was fascinated by the hotel. He had to open all the little soaps and sniff the bottles of shampoo and lotion, and he went to the ice maker, luckily right by their room, at least three times to get fresh ice. When he returned the last time, flushed with victory, Nino grumbled to Mihi, "Guess you have to be a fancy machine to get any love around here," and in one smooth motion Jun pushed Nino back onto the bed and kissed him. Ice went everywhere, and Mihi had to leap away to avoid being landed on, but Nino had absolutely no regrets. (Fine, he had one regret, which was that later when he stuck his feet under the covers he realized there was a large cold wet spot from the melted ice, right where he put his poor toes.) Apparently people from Jun's world kissed much the same as people from Nino's, but it was Jun, and it felt particularly wonderful.

Nino didn't ever want to stop, but eventually Jun pulled away, looking flustered, and excused himself with sudden formality back to his own bed. Nino was amused and turned on and affectionate and way too many things at once. After a shower he came back to find Jun propped up against the backboard on his bed, reading intently with the reading glasses Nino had bought him at the last rest area because he kept catching Jun squinting at small print. Jun looked up and smiled at him, dispelling any awkwardness. Even sleeping in a different bed from Jun, all Nino could think about was the way Jun's lips had felt on his and the weight of Jun's body over him. But from driving and generally managing the trip, and also from being out of his house so long and from the emotional implications of what they were doing, both with each other and in terms of finding Ohno, he was tired enough that he was asleep before he knew it.

Day Fourteen

On the third day, their last full day before arriving, Nino and Jun talked as much as they had during the first days, when Jun wouldn't stop interrogating him. Now it was simply for the pleasure of getting to know each other further. Nino could still feel the echoes of their kissing the night before, but he wouldn't trade these quiet times of conversation, curiosity and understanding and laughter, for any amount of kissing. (Probably. And luckily, he didn't have to make that choice.) They ate their way through the countryside just like the day before, with Jun experiencing several different Japanese-style pastries, yakisoba, and a seasoned, broiled anago on rice dish called ni-anago which had Nino thinking Jun might have to give up his mission and move to Hiroshima. Jun also discovered the joys of scanning through radio stations, finding all the different music baffling and intoxicating. Nino wondered if he'd have time to buy Jun some sort of MP3 player and load it up with music before Jun left. (Were there solar chargers?) During his radio flipping, Jun found a station broadcasting a baseball game, and this led to an entire hour of questions about baseball. Luckily Nino had played when he was younger and had at least most of the answers. He made yet another note to himself that if there was time, he should teach Jun to play catch. It was hard to keep thinking of things he wanted to do with Jun when he knew their time was running out, but Nino let those emotions wash over him, acknowledging them without dwelling, and gave himself to being with Jun.

As he drove to their final hotel, Jun got him going about Ohno, somehow, and Nino found himself talking about things he'd never talked about with anyone. He talked about the long days of being together, how it was so easy with Ohno, how it felt so right, and how the moments of confusion started off few and far between, when they were just getting to know each other, and grew more frequent as Nino realized just how much he wanted with Ohno. He talked about the age difference, as little as it would seem now, and how it added a layer of ambiguity to their relationship that meant Nino faltered whenever he thought about trying to take the next step. He talked about how he felt like Ohno had made him a better person, just by being himself, because Nino saw the way Ohno was kind, and wanted to be kinder, and saw the way Ohno thought in his own strange way about what kind of person he wanted to be, and considered for the first time that he had a say in how he was and how he turned out. Jun was a good listener (though Mihi gave the illusion of being fast asleep), and they sat together in the car in the parking lot of their hotel for nearly an hour as Jun asked questions and Nino got it all out.

At the end of it all, Nino worried that maybe Jun would think that all this talk about another person he'd loved had soured their own romantic mood, but Jun didn't show any sign of displeasure. When Nino was talking to the hotel staff at the check-in desk, Jun came up behind him, making him jump, and asked the clerk about their room. Nino was distracted by worrying about whether Mihi was close enough in the car, but his attention was yanked back when he heard Jun say that they'd made a mistake, that actually they wanted a room with one bed, not two. As the clerk worked on that request, Jun looked at Nino inquiringly, as if to say it wasn't too late to take it back, but Nino only nodded. (Maybe a few times.) When Nino had thought about having sex with Jun (which ... was a lot), he'd sometimes been concerned about the idea of doing it with a panther in the room, but as it turned out, Mihi was Mihi, and curled up in the entryway and either slept or pretended to, and Nino and Jun were Nino and Jun, falling together onto the queen-sized bed, kissing and laughing and talking about what they liked and what they wanted, taking off Nino's clothes, then Jun's (which was much more time-consuming), and at no point during this time or any of the moments that followed was Nino thinking about anything but Jun.

~~~

On the day they were to arrive in Miyajima and perhaps find Ohno, Nino woke up in Jun's arms. He had to say, as a method for reducing anxiety it was extremely effective. He was hot and a little uncomfortable, and he really had to pee, but at the same time he was blissfully happy.

He nosed against Jun's neck softly, careful not to wake him up as he'd learned Jun was not a morning person, and memorized the feel of Jun's strong arms around him, their legs tangled, Jun's breath against Nino's hair. Then he slipped out of bed and went to clean up.

He came back to find Jun awake, sitting upright in the middle of the bed with bedhead and an irritated expression.

"You were gone," Jun said, vaguely threatening, and Nino laughed.

"I'm right here."

Jun stumbled to the bathroom while Nino pulled on his clothes. When Jun came back, though, naked and grumpy and magnificent, he practically growled to find Nino dressed.

"We're going back to bed for at least another hour."

Nino, surprised, said, "I thought we were planning to leave at--" then cut off at something butting against his leg. He couldn't breathe for a second, worrying he'd crossed a line, then remembered it was Mihi who'd crossed it. He looked down to find her there, her furry head no longer touching him but still so close, and she said, "We can wait an hour. It's our last day, after all."

Nino stared at her, wondering what it meant that she'd touched him but aware it was probably awkward to ask, then nodded.

At this, Jun pulled Nino's clothes off again, a bit rough, and Nino was laughing as Jun tumbled him into bed. They kissed for a long time, skin to skin.

After a while, Nino pressed his forehead to Jun's, breathing him in. "I didn't think we'd get to have this." The pace at which couples came to physical intimacy seemed like it might possibly be slower in Jun's world than in Nino's, was what he'd thought, but it seemed like a question for later. (Or, considering it was their last day, never.)

"Me either," Jun admitted, tilting forward to press another possessive kiss to Nino's mouth. "I wasn't sure until last night, hearing you talk about your Oh-chan." (Jun always called Ohno your Oh-chan, and Nino found it strangely endearing even though it was just that Jun didn't know Ohno by any other name.)

"Hearing about my teenage romantic woes really did it for you, huh," Nino said seriously, and Jun grinned at him.

"No--it made me really glad I'm not young anymore, though." He pulled Nino in as he lay on his back, pillowing Nino's head on his shoulder, and as he trailed his fingers up and down Nino's bare upper arm the atmosphere quivered on the verge of things slowing or things deepening. Nino let Jun decide, curious to see what Jun would say if he spoke more but also happy to have another chance to explore this way of knowing each other, possibly their last chance.

"You reminded me of someone," Jun said at last, then corrected himself, "no, the way I felt with you reminded me of how I felt with him."

"Someone?" Nino asked encouragingly. He spotted a bruise on Jun's chest and fought the urge to bite it.

"You know, the one I told you about, my lover while I was in university."

"Ahhh, the one you always blush when you talk about him, I like that guy." Nino looked up to see Jun was blushing on cue.

"Yes, well, he was the first person I ... did that with," Jun said stiffly, and Nino gave into the need to lean over and press his teeth against the little bruise. Jun made a soft noise, clutching Nino's shoulder, and Nino settled back down, satisfied even as he wanted more. He focused on his breathing, remembering his manners, and managed to pull himself together.

His patience paid off, as Jun said, shyness making his voice gruff, "I always thought I'd be scared, the first time. Even if I were excited, too. But there was something about him, I just felt comfortable. Like... like even if things went wrong, it wouldn't be wrong, because we'd figure it out together, or something. I wasn't afraid."

Nino swallowed hard. "And you felt like that..."

"Last night," Jun said, then cleared his throat. "Yes. Not that I would be scared or anything, not all these years later, but ... but if you'd been my first lover, I wouldn't have been afraid with you, either, is what I thought. And I didn't want to wait anymore."

Nino closed his eyes for a moment, shifting restlessly against Jun's body. When he opened his eyes, Jun's face was turned to him, his expression searching.

In something rare for him, Nino had lost the capacity to put what he was feeling into words. But he knew what he wanted right then, and he let all of that want show as he and Jun stared at each other. It didn't take much of that for Jun to push him over and climb on top of him, mouth finding Nino's, already open, their hands everywhere.

It took longer than the hour Jun had requested ever so politely for them to be getting ready to go at last.

Nino was pulling on his shirt in between helping Jun with his kimono when the thought struck him.

"Did you call him Captain in bed?"

"Hm?" Jun said, as if he didn't understand, but Mihi hissed out what might have been amusement.

"Your lover in university," Nino said, emphasizing the word Jun preferred to use, but taking pains not to tease too much. For a hale and hearty samurai-type, Jun was surprisingly tender, emotionally, and Nino didn't know all his weak spots yet. "You refer to him as Captain, so I was just wondering..."

"No," Jun said, rolling his eyes. He looked flushed again, though, and suddenly Nino thought, I love him. "If you must know, in bed, I called him Satoshi."

"Ugh, so boring," Nino whined, exaggerating it for Jun's amusement. "Not even a nickname?"

"You called me Jun," Jun said, coming over to grasp Nino's chin firmly. "Not even a nickname or anything."

"Yes, well," Nino said, his own cheeks warming. He puckered his lips up in overblown invitation. Jun let him hang, clearly enjoying Nino's no doubt ridiculous face, then leaned in to cover Nino's mouth briefly with his own before letting him go.

"Not enough," Nino said immediately, then wished he hadn't. It wasn't like he'd ever get enough of Jun, not the way things were. To change the subject, he said, "Satoshi, huh, that's a good name."

Jun looked at him askance. "I mean, I guess? It's just a name."

Nino clarified quietly, "No, it's... I meant, that was Oh-chan's name, too."

Jun chuckled. "How'd you get Oh-chan from Satoshi?"

"Ohno Satoshi, smartass. That was my Oh-chan's name." Nino searched the room for his phone charger, having lost too many to leave one in Hiroshima just because he was distracted by Jun's kiss-swollen mouth.

"Ohno Satoshi?"

Jun's voice sounded strange, and Nino turned to find him no longer arranging the drape of his kimono.

An idea shuddered through Nino's mind, making him feel cold. For once the quickness of his mind worked against him as the impossible thought spread too quickly in tandem with the darkening look on Jun's face. He said defensively, not even sure what he was arguing against, "My Oh-chan barely finished high school, and he worked in a convenience store. What was your Captain, some sort of scholar?"

"Yes, a postgraduate theological scholar. But--"

"But nothing," Nino said, then contradicted himself by asking, "Your Captain, was that really his name? They can't be--"

"Yes," Jun said, looking at Nino like he'd seen a ghost. "He was about this tall," he started, holding up a hand at about Nino's height, but Nino cut him off.

"That'll take too long. I have a picture." He dug out his phone and went to a folder he didn't look at very often. It only had one file.

He held out the phone with Ohno's picture on it to Jun. He knew the picture by heart--it was an old photograph he'd scanned and saved on every device, because he thought if he lost the one picture he had of Ohno it would be like Ohno had never existed. Nino had taken the picture on a crappy disposable camera, in the park by his house (come to think of it, the park where he'd met Jun), and Ohno was reaching out for the camera, but his eyes were on Nino, a particularly Ohno look on his face, somewhere between humor and pleasure at Nino's company and sleepiness. It was in the year before Ohno disappeared, and he'd only just taken to cutting his hair shorter. It was aimlessly tufty, dyed a brownish orange that had not been Ohno's original goal.

Jun sat down heavily on the bed. "His hair is different." He sounded like he was choking on the words. "But this is Captain. Satoshi. I'd know him anywhere."

Nino squeezed his eyes shut, processing as best he could, then realized that actually, he was not the person he most needed to worry about right then.

"Jun-kun," he said. His voice sounded like someone else to his own ears. "The person we're going to find today is your Satoshi."

It was a full minute before Jun let the hand holding the phone drop into his lap, and even then he didn't say anything. Mihi was sitting beside him on the bed, leaning heavily against his side.

Nino waited. He was trying to think more about how Jun was feeling than how he himself was. He'd known for days that he might be seeing his Oh-chan soon--Jun only had a fraction of the time to get himself together for the possibility of seeing his Captain. Then again, from all accounts it sounded like Jun and Ohno had parted amicably, with time to say goodbye, and Nino and Ohno, well. Nino bit his lip, telling himself it was beneath him to be jealous of someone's breakup.

"We should go," Jun said abruptly, his voice rough. "Are you ready?"

Nino wanted to say, 'Are you?!', but he held it in. Instead he smiled and held out a hand. "Our road trip isn't over quite yet."

Jun took his hand but didn't stand up right away. He still looked a little dazed. After a moment, though, his eyes focused on Nino.

"Our road trip..." he said, letting Nino help him up. "Yes. Let's get going already." He immediately made it impossible for Nino to get going by pulling him into one more long kiss, but Nino wasn't complaining.

~~~

It was only another hour before they reached Takanosuura Shrine, the place Ohno's website listed as his address.

Day Fifteen (Continued)

After they got through the ten-minute ferry ride, during which time Nino was glad for the daemon-related excuse to stay in the car rather than going up on deck, most of the hour drive was spent talking about Ohno. Nino had always enjoyed hearing the scattered mentions of Jun's university days ex, but now that he knew it was Ohno, he wanted to hear everything. In the process, he got to learn about Jun, too: how Jun, by his own estimation, had been a snobby rich kid sure of his exalted place in the world, and how that had lasted an embarrassingly long time, right up until his second year of university when he'd: 1. belatedly discovered the wide, astonishingly varied world as contained in the many books of the university library, and 2. met Ohno Satoshi. Captain, as he was known, sometimes mockingly, for his tendency to get out on any kind of water, was a taciturn postgraduate scholar, and he was no one, at least from Jun's former point of view. He had no family, no cachet, barely any social skills. His clothes never fit him quite right, and he was so tanned that people liked to point to his unknown origins and speculate he wasn't even Nipponese. This idea fit with the fact that when he did speak, it sounded a little funny, and not just because he sometimes said things no one could understand.

Jun disdained him along with the rest of his crowd for about a week before becoming inexplicably, utterly infatuated. Ohno, despite the deep brown of his skin that made Jun think of long stretches in the sun, spent an unbelievable amount of time in the library. Jun, who'd already been reading every book he could get his hands on and somewhat uncomfortably feeling himself slowly evolve because of it, found himself doing more of his reading there, just to be in the same space as Captain. It took almost a month to coax him into conversation. For one thing, Jun's polished social graces seemed to disappear when Ohno was around, and for another, Ohno had a habit of falling asleep abruptly, leaving Jun stranded halfway to his table with whatever excuse he'd cooked up unused. But then one day, with a few fumbling conversations under Jun's belt, he looked up to see the person who'd sat down beside him at his book-piled table was Ohno, smiling shyly behind his own stack of books.

After that they always sat together, finding moments to talk between books, and then during them, as Jun asked Ohno questions about what he was reading (endless books on the history and theory of alethiometers, many in translation from other languages), and Ohno asked questions about, well, just about everything. Besides the rumor that Ohno was a foreigner, there was also the one that Ohno had bought his way into the advanced scholarship program without having graduated from anywhere. Hearing Ohno's stumbling questions, which only increased as he started to feel comfortable with Jun, gave Jun an idea of how that rumor had started. Ohno was strange. He never seemed like he quite belonged. Jun loved him, and one day, after Ohno brought his lunch out and it seemed twice as big as usual, he asked Jun if they might eat together in the courtyard, offering him half of the food he'd made. (Nino made disbelieving noises about Ohno cooking, but didn't interrupt.) Like Jun's acceptance of his invitation had signaled his interest, after that Ohno often asked Jun out on long walks, or back to his room, or to a tour of book sellers across the city as part of his quest for new books. (This time Nino couldn't help interrupting: he'd never known Oh-chan to be a big reader. Jun thought about it for a second, then offered that he didn't think Ohno was a lover of reading, exactly, but that there had been things he desperately wanted to know and the only way he could acquire the knowledge he needed was through books. Captain, Jun said firmly, was the most driven, determined person he'd ever known. Nino thought about his own perfunctory career, writing articles when the topic interested him, or ones that didn't if he needed the money, and shut up.)

Jun didn't offer any juicy details about his relationship with Ohno, and they were getting close to the shrine anyway. He ended by saying that they'd been lovers for two years, but that Captain had decided to pursue his research further abroad, with it rumored that he was heading up into the far North. He himself, Jun said, had never thought Ohno would stay forever, though Ohno had never mentioned that he was going to leave until a few months before it happened. But there had always been something about him, something restless, out of place. Jun was heartbroken when Ohno said he was leaving, but unsurprised enough that he could handle it with some semblance of grace. Ohno had been with him, and loved him, and that was something Jun could keep forever. (This sounded like the kind of thing Jun had been telling himself for years, Nino thought, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. Also, the idea of having had months to say goodbye to Oh-chan was so lovely Nino could barely imagine it.) Jun was so absorbed in his story, barely needing Nino's occasional questions to keep him going, that he didn't even notice when Nino parked the car. Nino rolled down their windows so Mihi wouldn't get overheated and let Jun finish.

~~~

Nino saw the moment Jun looked up and registered he was looking at Hiroshima Bay. It wasn't like the ocean was all that revelatory, not in the island nation of either Japan or Nippon, but the context changed it. They were stopped. They were done. They were parked by the beach where Nino's app indicated Takanosuura Shrine was, and they'd reached the end of their road trip.

Or at least, so they were assuming. Though they'd been operating under the assumption that this shrine would lead them to Ohno, and, of course, that he was even on this island, this country, this world to begin with, it was by no means a sure thing, Nino knew. Part of him hoped he could keep going with Jun a while longer--and part of him hoped to find Ohno. Part of him genuinely wanted to help Jun along with his mission--and part of him thought screw the mission, let's just go home, the two of them together.

He took Jun's hand and stared out across the sand like Ohno might appear in the distance. What would happen would happen. It might end up that they did find Ohno, and Jun stayed with his former love. Or maybe Jun would go back to his world, and Ohno would come back to their hometown--it was possible. Nino decided to stop thinking about potential outcomes and went back to: what would happen would happen.

There were no other cars in the lot, and the beach looked empty, so by tacit agreement they all three walked along the sand, Jun and Nino close together, Mihi menacing the occasional sea gull. It wasn't long before they found the very shrine Ohno had put as his address.

It stood alone on the sand farthest from the water amid patchy foliage. It was neither big nor very fancy. On the deserted beach looking out across the gentle waves, it had a bleak sort of dignity, from its rough stone steps and foundation to the chipped red paint of the gate leading to the small shrine itself. Nino and Jun walked all around it as if Ohno might be hiding somewhere waiting for them, but the shrine didn't seem to be holding any meaningful secrets for them to discover.

Squishing his sneakers into the sand discontentedly while Jun went up the stone steps and ducked under the gate, Nino realized he'd bought into all the things Jun had talked about more than he'd thought. Part of him had really believed that they would get to this shrine and find Ohno, because that was why the alethiometer had led Jun to Nino, why the witches had counseled Jun to ask the alethiometer, just, it was how it was supposed to be. Instead of getting caught up on what was supposedly meant to happen, he really should have thought of a backup plan.

They walked to the end of the long stretch of sand, Nino thinking distractedly that this would really be quite romantic if he were into the whole 'walking with a partner across sand' phenomenon. Neither he nor Jun spoke. Jun seemed to be in much the same state as Nino: waiting for something to happen but starting to believe it wouldn't.

Turning around, they started back, holding hands again. About halfway to the car, the shrine came into clear view again.

Beside it was a small figure that hadn't been there before.

Nino stumbled, and Jun caught him. Neither started walking again.

From this distance it wasn't clear if it was Ohno they were seeing or just some stranger visiting the beach. Nino wanted to go closer, wanted to know for sure, but wasn't sure if he could. (There was also the niggling worry of what they'd do about Mihi if it weren't Ohno, but Nino figured if they had to they could just run away.)

Nino took a step forward, and Jun did too. Then Nino was walking again, a trace quicker than before, his hand clutching Jun's tightly.

Even before they got close enough to see the person's face, Nino knew it was Ohno. The shape of him, his posture, the way he looked out at the ocean, the soft swoop of his tousled hair. Nino was suddenly very conscious of breathing, of the drag of air in and the way each exhale felt like an overwhelmed sigh. He stopped walking again, but this time, Jun tugged him forward.

When Jun let go of his hand to nudge him along in front, Nino resisted without really knowing why. All he knew was if this was what was going to occur, surely it'd be easier to handle if they were together.

But behind him, Jun said quietly, "I got to say goodbye."

Nino shook his head, his pulse racing as he started to realize that this was happening, for real, right now. Ohno was there. He was there, wearing old jeans and a t-shirt and bright green flip-flops, standing on a patch of sand like it was where he belonged. He made it look so normal, but to Nino, it was incredible.

But even so, Nino said, "No, Jun, what you're here to do--"

"I can wait a little longer," Jun said, and he pushed Nino forward again.

A few more steps, and Nino saw Ohno turn, becoming aware of someone else there. He saw Nino. Something in the way he held himself changed.

A few more steps, and Ohno's face came into focus. He was deeply tan, and visibly older, and Ohno, Ohno, he was Ohno.

A few more steps, and Ohno reached out his hands. Nino took them, the touch flashing through his whole body with an electricity he remembered from so long ago.

He stopped moving, an arms-length from Ohno, their hands twined together between them. Nino looked away from that unfamiliar familiar face, looked down at their hands. His heart was pounding, feeling like a force of nature just as powerful as the endless waves of the ocean.

He stared and stared at the contrast of Ohno's brown hands against Nino's pale ones, and he waited, sure that this was when it would happen. He'd been sure as a teenager, and he was sure again now, with Oh-chan in front of him again, sure that Ohno was meant for him.

He waited for their bonds to gravitate to each other. Was it supposed to take this long? It's not like he'd ever experienced it before.

He held his breath another endless moment, watching, waiting.

But no. He'd seen the way it looked when people found each other. It wasn't supposed to take this long. Which meant... it wasn't happening.

Nino wasn't bound for Ohno after all. He looked up, disbelieving, and met Ohno's eyes.

Ohno was just looking at him, with a steadiness that suggested he hadn't moved his attention from Nino's face since they'd come together by the shrine. He had a small smile pulling at one corner of his mouth, and there were tears running down his cheeks.

Nino's eyes widened, taking this in, feeling Ohno's presence, the reality of his existence there with Nino, still holding his hands, all of it, break over him like a wave. His sadness over the bonds not moving faded. He took the last step forward and pulled Ohno into his arms.

They fit.

Nino knew his body had changed, knew that Ohno's must have, too, but however they'd changed, they still fit. The first time Nino had hugged Ohno like this, something had slotted into place inside him, and that sense of rightness was the same now.

He felt it when Ohno sensed Jun, felt him lift his chin from Nino's shoulder to look.

"Jun-chan?" Ohno said disbelievingly, voice teary.

"Ohno-san," Jun said behind Nino. "It has been a long time."

Even distracted as he was, Nino wanted to smack him. Of course Jun's awkwardness would kick in right then.

As wrong as it felt to let Ohno go, even for a moment, Nino eased himself away and took a step to the side, letting Ohno and Jun come together.

"I am here to stop the war," Jun said stiffly. Nino tried hard not to roll his eyes. By this point he was fully aware of how much Jun had adored Ohno, but he supposed everyone processed a reunion like this in different ways.

"The war?" Ohno wiped his face and focused a bit blearily on Jun. "In which world?"

"Ours," Jun said automatically, then corrected, "I mean, mine. The witches advised me to consult with the monk in charge of the emperor's alethiometer, and it sent me to this world, and to Ninomiya-san--"

This time Nino did roll his eyes. Jun had called him Nino practically from the moment they'd met.

"--who brought me here to you."

"With Mihi?" Ohno said, craning to see past Jun. "Ah, Mihi! So lovely to see you." He waved happily at the stoic panther, looking, frankly, adorable.

Mihi didn't move, but Nino sensed it was a struggle for her not to be more open with her emotions. Maybe they'd be able to let go of the formality once Jun had gotten his explanation out of the way.

"And now I'm here," Jun said, puffing out his chest. Nino thought that behind the confident front, Jun looked utterly overwhelmed to see Ohno again, but he was holding it together, mostly. Nino could only hope he was doing the same.

"I'm not the one you want," Ohno said, still smiling as he looked back at Jun.

Jun took a swift step forward that would have been much more menacing if he weren't visibly trembling. "I keep hearing that," he growled, jerking a thumb at Nino, "but we both know the alethiometer is never wrong."

"Oh, really?" Nino said, surprised. This was information he probably should have caught onto earlier. He'd known, of course, that the tricky little device provided answers, but not that those answers were always right.

"Yes, yes," Ohno said soothingly to Jun. "You've come to the right place, it just wasn't to find me. Don't worry."

Jun's expression went confused and more than a little grouchy at this vagueness. "Ohno-san..."

"Jun-chan," Ohno replied softly. He held out his hands to Jun, just the way he'd done to Nino.

Like a dam bursting, Jun skipped the hand-holding and dove straight into the hug. Mihi rubbed against their legs and purred loudly.

Nino watched them, fixating on Ohno's hands stroking Jun's back, then looked out at the ocean. Though it wasn't that many hours past noon, the day was growing dim. Clouds were gathering heavily on the horizon, casting the scattered islands across the bay in shadow.

Nino knew this was an important moment for all of them, but it was bad enough having to be around all this sand--he really didn't want to get rained on right then. After a few more minutes of Ohno and Jun reuniting beside him, Nino coughed meaningfully.

"Nice place you've got here," he said, gesturing to Takanosuura Shrine. "Would you happen to have a secondary residence nearby, perhaps one with more of a roof?"

Jun let Ohno go, stayed turned to the shrine with his head bowed. Ohno wiped his face again. Then, like he was catching on to what Nino was saying, he looked into the distance at the threatening clouds.

His eyes went sharp, and to Nino he suddenly looked like some sort of veteran sailor or something, reading the weather. (Though in this case Nino thought the weather was being pretty obvious.)

"I can't go in quite yet," Ohno said, squinting across the placid waves. "But it shouldn't be long."

Nino wondered if Ohno had gotten vaguer as he'd gotten older--but no, he'd always been hard to pin down.

"Jun-kun," he said, coming over to Jun's side and resting a hand on the small of his back. "I think it's going to rain. After this we're going with Oh-chan, but perhaps until then we could wait in the car?"

Jun didn't answer right away, though he swayed into Nino's touch, but Mihi said flatly, "I am not staying out here to get wet."

(Nino had always known she was a panther of discernment.)

~~~

It was eight hours before any romantic sort of theme was touched on aloud.

Day Fifteen (Continued, Again)

Those eight hours passed in an overstimulating blur. The trip to Ohno's place was as short as it was surreal (Nino driving, Jun in the passenger seat, Ohno behind Nino, Mihi behind Jun, and, in the twist Nino hadn't seen coming, Ohno's daemon Ranmaru, which was a pelican, perched with inelegant nonchalance on a long-suffering Mihi). Ohno's house was in a clearing surrounded by trees that gave the impression of going forever in all directions despite Nino knowing how close the coast was. It was fairly big, with two stories and an extensive porch, and Nino figured it was within walking distance of the shrine he'd put as his address. When they were inside, Jun tried to get some clarity about his goals and how Ohno was going to help, but Ohno was too distracted by having Jun and Nino there to give a concrete answer. Once Jun had ascertained that it was going to be at least a while before his work's next step became clear, he gave up. Nino spent the time they were doing that going back and forth from the car and getting his and Jun's things settled into the guest room, which had, of all things, twin beds. He used the time to pull himself together, which was easier than he'd expected--maybe he was more like his mom than he'd realized. What part of spending time with his current (if temporary) boyfriend, his boyfriend's ex, and the person he'd once thought he'd be with for life was troublesome, even if the last two were the same person? Why couldn't he deal with staying in an unfamiliar house with a panther and a pelican? Missions? Distant wars? Witches? Nino's mom's indomitable genes appeared to be kicking in, because Nino felt capable of handling it all.

By the time Nino returned to the kitchen, Jun seemed to have adjusted as well--he'd already written Nino a shopping list of ingredients so Jun could cook them all dinner. Nino dragged his feet, whining at the idea of going out again in the rain, but Ohno said he'd go too, so it was decided. It only occurred to Nino that Ranmaru wouldn't be able to come into the store once they were on the road, but then he realized Ranmaru wasn't with them at all. He asked Ohno about it, but Ohno, clearly blissing out over riding in the car in the rain with his long-lost friend Nino at the wheel, said only that he and Ranmaru could stretch (as he put it) a little farther. Nino thought it was quite a bit farther, clearly, but he let it go, deciding to go along with Ohno's carefree joy at their being together. Dinner was strange, too, but cozy. Ohno ate Jun's cooking with gusto, all open appreciation, and Nino watched the play of expressions on Jun's face with great enjoyment. Nino washed the dishes after dinner, Ohno drying beside him, and then they all gathered in Ohno's living room on his enormous and soporifically comfortable sofa. For lack of another idea (just because this bizarre reunion was one Nino could handle didn't mean it wasn't awkward), Nino turned on the TV. It turned out the drama Jun had gotten hooked on while staying at Nino's house was on, so they all curled up on the sofa, which was (sadly?) too large to give them an excuse to touch, and enjoyed the show. (Well, Jun, Mihi, and Nino enjoyed it; Ohno fell asleep almost immediately, and Ranmaru had disappeared somewhere again.)

A few hours later, Nino was sleepy as well. Jun gestured for him to turn off the TV (he was still somewhat distrustful of remote controls), then collected Ohno up against his side, Ohno still drooping drowsily. Rather than putting Ohno to bed, Jun brought him with them to the guest room, plopping him down on Nino's bed. He said, with only a slight implication of a question in his tone, that he was going to get some of Ohno's pajamas from his room, and Ohno nodded, already tilting sideways in a losing battle against sleep. But when Jun came back with a warm shirt and sleep pants in hand, Ohno perked up, wrinkling his nose at some thought, then took the pajamas and disappeared down the hall to the bathroom. Nino wondered if he should take the chance to talk alone with Jun about how long Nino should stay, or what the general plan was, or something, but instead he got out his phone and sent messages to his mom, his sister, and various friends, needing some sort of real-life connection to the people he'd be going back to. Probably soon. Maybe even tomorrow. After that, less finicky than Ohno, Nino decided to change directly into pajamas, planning to shower in the morning.

~~~

He was pulling on his pajama pants when he heard Ohno came back in. Jun was already changed and curled up on his side in bed, reading a book. The longer parts of his hair were clipped back in a way Nino had suggested when Jun got frustrated with having it in his face, being used to hair long enough to tie up, and Nino secretly loved this look. (It was especially good, like now, when Jun was wearing his reading glasses.)

Nino fully expected Ohno to stare at this iteration of Jun, but when he looked back over his shoulder he found that Ohno was looking back at him.

Except Ohno wasn't looking at his face. Nino wasn't yet wearing his t-shirt, and Ohno's eyes were glued to his bare skin.

Nino really wanted to make a joke about Ohno perving on his hot body, but none of them had yet touched on any of their various romantic entanglements, and he didn't want to be the first to do it, even indirectly.

Instead, he turned around and faced Ohno, his very posture and stillness a challenge. He thought, I see you looking at me, Oh-chan, but when Ohno looked up and met his eyes, there was no embarrassment at being caught.

"It changed color," he mumbled, taking a step closer. "Let me see it again."

Nino's brain caught up as Ohno made to move around him to see his bond more closely, and he grabbed his shirt and slipped into it. Bringing up Nino's bond felt like opening the atmosphere between the three of them to things they'd carefully avoided all day, and somehow Nino felt more secure if he were fully clothed for it. (His mind slid to thinking of all the conversations with Ohno he wouldn't mind having naked, but he cut himself off quickly.)

Ohno was staring at him again, this time at his expression.

"You're wrong," Nino said. When Ohno's face started to go stubborn, Nino added teasingly, making obvious his lack of malice, "You just don't remember it properly after abandoning me cruelly for so long."

Ohno's lower lip poked out in an obstinate pout. His face definitely had some changes, but some of his expressions were so exactly the way Nino remembered them that he kept forgetting things like keeping to a natural flow of conversation and, well, breathing.

"What are you talking about," Jun said, sitting up and putting his book on the bedside table. Mihi slitted one eye open from her lounging position between him and the wall. "Or do I even want to--"

Ohno pointed dramatically at Nino, surprising Jun into silence. "His bond is a different color and I wanted to get a better look at it but he covered it up just to spite me and is acting like I don't remember what color his bond is but I do."

Jun blinked. Nino covered a smile with one hand, enjoying that while he was still feeling cautious in their strange situation, and Jun was clearly still self-conscious about various elements of what was going on, Ohno had moved from his initial 'surprised joy' to his 'bemused and not catching up' phase of the afternoon straight to normalcy. (Or, at least Nino assumed this sort of behavior remained one facet of his weird Ohno normal.)

Jun didn't seem to know how to reply to Ohno's miniature tantrum, but Nino remembered this dynamic just fine. He pointed just as excessively at Ohno and said to Jun, "He was ogling my vulnerably naked body, Jun-kun! And then he started in as if he were some sort of expert on another person's personal attributes, when half the time he's so out of it he doesn't even know where his own daemon is."

Ohno frowned. "Jun-chan. What're attributes?" But before Jun could answer, Ohno held up a hand and said, "Unimportant."

"You two," Jun started, sounding caught between irritation and laughter. "Whatever is going on right now, leave me out of it, okay?"

"Impossible," Nino said instantly, hearing Ohno stutter it at just the same time. Nino continued for both of them, "You are the only objective one in this room, and--"

Jun interrupted, "I'm hardly objective about either of you, okay?" He hunched his shoulders up after saying it, not looking at either of them directly. For a beefy warrior-type stuffed into a t-shirt at least two sizes too small, he suddenly looked like a nervous kid. (What the hell was this shirt he was wearing, anyway?)

Nino felt his fighting spirit ebb in the face of this unexpected openness. Ohno, however, was made of stronger stuff, or possible just cared more about their 'argument.'

"The color's different, I know it. It isn't by much, but I know." He moved over to stand by Jun, bumping into him companionably as if that were a totally normal thing to do while squabbling over something with Nino. Before Nino could give in, which he was going to since there was no way to prove it, and honestly, did it really matter anyway, Ohno said, "Do you remember the color of mine?"

Nino felt this like a blow to the stomach.

Ohno gazed steadily at him, his playfully ridiculous energy of a moment before faded. He was leaning visibly against Jun now, and Nino wondered, suddenly, if Ohno weren't quite as back to normal as he'd seemed. Maybe it felt just as momentous to Ohno as to Nino to talk about their bonds--maybe it had been easier to make it a joke than to discuss it directly.

Nino thought back to tracing Ohno's bond over and over--the way Ohno's skin had felt under his fingers, the warmth of his body, the way his eyes slid slowly shut like a cat in the sun. Yes, he remembered the color exactly. So if Ohno remembered, too, and Nino's bond really had changed...

"Jun," he said abruptly, startling Jun into standing at attention. (He was really way too cute.) "I need to see Oh-chan's bond."

"Hm?" Ohno said, looking like he'd been a little distracted by Jun's nearness, too. "What?"

Nino pointed at Ohno one more time, this time with solemn finality. "He is already all warm and cozy in his pajamas. And yet, I need to see it."

Jun's expression firmed in sudden understanding. He started pulling at Ohno's shirt, making Ohno bat at his hands with disapproving noises, and Nino sat on his bed, leaning back on his hands and relaxing like he hadn't a care in the world, as Jun chased Ohno around the room with quickly disappearing grace and Ohno grabbed a pillow to block Jun's hands, a pillow that inevitably came down on Jun's head next.

By the end of it Jun's glasses and his hair clip were fallen to the floor, but he had Ohno pinned securely to the other bed, face down. Mihi was sitting demurely by the door as if she had definitely not just been leaping around the room like an overexcited kitten.

Nino sauntered over, enjoying the way Ohno glared at him while also starting to look sleepy again at finding himself on a bed. Nino put a hand on Jun's shoulder, and they grinned at each other. It was, as it often was, very difficult not to kiss him, but Nino managed it due to not wanting his and Jun's and Ohno's delicate balance to explode in his face. (At least... not yet. Part of him really wanted to know how all the fragments might fit back together afterward.)

He bent to look Ohno in the eye. "I'm going to pull your shirt up now, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ohno muttered. His voice came out quietly, and his eyes drifted shut at the first touch of Nino's hands.

Nino tugged Ohno's shirt up, wondering why the simple motion had his heart in his throat, and looked carefully at Ohno's bond. But it was in shadow, Jun's broad shoulders blocking the light, and Nino couldn't be sure.

"Hold still," Jun said suddenly, making Nino jump, but Ohno only nodded with his eyes still closed. Jun reached over and picked up the lamp on the bedside table, pulling it over to rest on the bed beside Ohno's head.

Now Nino could see properly. He found himself reaching out, wanting to feel it under his hand, but he pulled back before he made contact with Ohno's bare skin.

Ohno's bond was a different color. Only barely, just a shade or two darker than it had been before, but it was different. And if Ohno were right, which it was sure seeming like he was, Nino's was different, too.

Nino had never heard of anyone's bond changing color, at least not like this. When you came into contact with the person you were bound to, the bonds involved gravitated to each other. Eventually they slipped from one person to the other, where they'd stay for the rest of their lives. At that point, there was a slight change in color, Nino knew--a person's new bond took on a glint of their old bond's color, making it clear the person was both bound and settled.

But this... this wasn't that.

Nino reached out again, wonderingly. His hand hovered over Ohno's bond, the unmoving shape of it like a gleaming blue dolphin on Ohno's tanned skin. He looked at Jun, who'd moved from holding Ohno down to simply perching on his hips, still balancing the lamp with one hand, and saw Jun looking at Ohno, too, but not in quite the same way. (Nino supposed if one wasn't fully aware of the importance of bonds, the smooth skin and lean muscle of Ohno's back might be far more interesting.)

Nino looked back down at his hand, still hovering, and his hesitation disappeared. He touched his hand to Ohno's bond, first just his fingertips in the middle, then pressing his whole hand against it solidly. He felt Ohno's steady breathing, his heartbeat.

He traced the bond gently, just once, before Ohno mumbled, "I'm gonna fall asleep for real if you keep doing that."

Nino shifted, feeling like a spell had been broken, and pulled Ohno's shirt back down. He moved back to his own bed, mind spinning back up into confusion after his trance of seconds before. When he was situated on the mattress, back leaning against the wall, he looked across to see Ohno and Jun in much the same posture on Jun's bed. Jun had put his glasses on the table and was finishing up re-clipping his hair.

"Bonds don't do that," he said, as much to himself as to Jun. "This doesn't make any sense."

"They're not moving either," Jun said absently. He was watching Ohno's head dropping sleepily to Jun's shoulder.

"Yes, but like I said, it's normal for them not to move much if they're not--"

"No, I mean," Jun interrupted. He was still looking down at Ohno like he'd never seen anything more precious, and a trace of impatience at being interrupted in this activity was in his voice. "Yours hasn't been moving like it used to. I've been in a good position to see it a lot in the last day or so, and I haven't seen it move at all."

Jun didn't seem aware of just what he'd said, but Nino felt his face going red. He had to bring his hands up to cover it, the hot skin under his hands needing the help to contain what he was feeling. Good position?!

It was a minute before he could bear to check on the general situation. He peeked through his fingers, the heat of his face only now starting to lessen, and saw Ohno looking at him.

Ohno looked confused, and maybe a little lonely. Nino's first unthinking impulse was to tell him there was nothing for him to feel lonely about, but it wasn't a kind of reassurance he could offer with things so unsettled. It felt wrong not to comfort Ohno, but the only true thing he could think of to say was, 'He's going to leave me soon anyway,' and that didn't seem like it would help.

Good position. What the hell, Jun.

When Nino dropped his hands, making himself look away from Ohno in the process, he heard Ohno say, "Changed color and stopped moving?"

Jun, just on the verge of letting himself rest his head against Ohno's, jerked back up. He said, tone edging toward harsh despite his polite phrasing, "It seems to me that this world is full of unnecessary tangles and confusion. I am grateful not to have to deal with such nuisances as bonds."

Something in his words pulled at Nino's mind. Nino considered them, ignoring Jun's momentary bad mood at missing out on a little light cuddling. He considered bonds, how they worked and what they meant, and considered how it was in their world versus Jun's.

It wasn't long before Nino's gaze slid to Ohno, finding Ohno looking back at him intently. When Ohno went to Jun's world, he'd come back with a daemon.

After a moment, they both smiled slowly. Nino could almost feel the click between them--they'd been so close, once, that it has sometimes felt like he could read Ohno's mind, and vice versa, and even after so long apart, right then Nino knew they were thinking the same thing.

Ohno sat up, the break in contact making the nearly visible storm cloud over Jun's head darken. Nino saw that Ohno seemed to have something in mind, so he let Ohno take control of the flow of things from their realization.

"That shirt," Ohno said abruptly. Jun sat up a little straighter, and Nino noticed again that his shirt was awfully tight. It was definitely not something Nino had bought him.

"I'm glad you like it." Ohno looked up at Jun, his voice monotone. "I found it on the beach and haven't had a chance to wash it yet."

Nino realized three things at once.

1. Jun had stolen the shirt he was wearing from Ohno's room.
2. This was an excellent way to move their consideration of bonds to the next level.
3. Ohno, despite the placid look on his face, was enacting revenge for Jun chasing him around and pinning him down at Nino's command.

It took Jun a second to realize what Ohno was saying, but then he yelped loudly, plucking at the shirt as if to get it away from his skin, then yanking it off hastily and throwing it across the room. (Nino didn't bother dodging, as he was quite sure Ohno was bluffing about the beach, and the shirt plopped from his face to his lap.)

Jun paced with his hands in his hair, Mihi moving beside him with the addition of an angrily lashing tail, and both of them were so overcome by the supposed filth Jun had put next to his skin that they didn't notice Ohno trotting along behind them, trying and failing to get the good look at Jun he wanted.

Without bothering to get up, Nino said sweetly, "Maybe a shower?" and Jun went from pacing restlessly to striding with great purpose to the door.

Ohno said in a loud, stern voice, "Stop!" just when Jun's hand touched the door knob. Hearing this, Jun didn't leave the room, but he looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow threateningly like Ohno had better have a really good reason for delaying Jun's cleanliness.

"Don't move, Jun-kun," Nino said, coming off the bed. Jun's gaze switched to him. He started looking more confused than upset.

"Yes, do hold very still," Ohno wheedled. Nino gave him a withering look. This was overkill and sure to put Jun's guard back up.

As expected, Jun frowned and went to open the door, but Nino was prepared for this. He had the shirt Jun had been wearing in hand and used that hand to push the door shut again. Jun flinched back at the sight of the offending garment.

Ohno caught hold of Jun's elbows from behind and said more seriously, "Hold still." (Suddenly Nino was almost wishing to be in Jun's position. That was not a tone he'd ever heard from Ohno before.)

Nino draped the t-shirt over the door knob and walked around so he could see what Ohno was seeing.

He felt dizzy, and without thinking he took Ohno's hand. They'd guessed correctly.

It was still and faint, but it was there. Jun had a bond.

"How long have you been in this world?" Ohno asked Jun. He sounded mellow, but oh, Nino could read that tone. Ohno was well on his way to bone-deep happiness. Nino felt himself smiling dopily.

Jun glared at them over his shoulder. "Two weeks yesterday," he said, making it extra crabby, but he didn't move, either.

Nino reached out with his free hand. Touching Ohno without touching Jun was something which right in that moment was making him feel incomplete. Before he made contact, though, he felt something on his foot through his sock, and he went still.

As expected, he looked down to find Mihi, one of her paws firmly on his toes. Nino wasn't experienced enough with her expressions to know what this particular one meant, so he asked.

"What is it, Mihi?"

She leaned a little more of her weight on his foot. "Don't leave us out of it. Whatever this is."

Nino realized that to Jun, and to Mihi, he and Ohno were enjoying themselves together, possibly at their expense. He'd been distracted by the bond on Jun's back (because Jun had a bond, holy shit), and by what it might mean, and by how Ohno was happy the same way he was, and what that might mean, too, but he didn't like the thought that they were making Jun feel alone.

After a squeeze, he let go of Ohno's hand. He moved, with Mihi letting him go, to grab the shirt from the door and offered it to Jun, saying, "Here," with Ohno filling in right afterward, "It's clean. Sorry, Jun-chan."

Jun took the shirt suspiciously. Nino had a thought, and he put a hand over the shirt to still potential movement. "Jun-kun, we were just looking at your back because we thought maybe we'd find something there. Do you want to go look in the mirror?"

Ohno came around in front of Jun, too, and Jun looked back and forth between them. He said hesitantly, "And did you..."

"We found it," Ohno said, his eyes crinkling happily.

Nino watched Jun see what Nino had sensed not long before--if Ohno were a cup, his happiness would be sloshing over the brim. And yet, Jun hesitated.

Nino considered how to move this along without upsetting Jun further. "Or let's do it this way," he said, smiling at Jun, and pushed an unprotesting Ohno against Jun.

Jun naturally put his arms around Ohno, and despite his frustration with everything right then there was an echo of a smile on his face to feel Ohno there. Nino patted Jun's and Ohno's arms more firmly into place around each other, Ohno sighing contentedly against Jun's bare chest in a way Nino tried desperately not to be distracted by when he was doing something rather important right then, then went over and grabbed his phone from his bed.

When he'd taken the picture and was holding the phone out to Jun, Nino pulled Ohno away to improve Jun's chances of understanding just what he was looking at. Ohno's mouth turned down sulkily, but Nino tugged him in close to his side and motioned for him to concentrate on what was going on with Jun. (Hypocritically, a vocal minority of Nino's mind was clamoring on about the idea that everything going on right then was maybe kind of probably like how it would've felt if he'd confessed to Ohno, way back when, and Ohno had reciprocated. His inner teenage self was rejoicing.)

Jun stared at the phone. Mihi went up on her hind legs to place her front paws against his hip, and he naturally moved so she could see the picture as well.

Nino had expected Jun's reaction to be similar to his and Ohno's--realization accompanied swiftly by happiness and excitement.

Instead, he watched Jun's expression shift from disbelief to confusion to resentment. When he held the phone back out to Nino, Jun said coldly, "And?"

"And?" Nino echoed. He wasn't sure what Jun was asking.

"I'm supposed to be happy that your overcomplicated world has forced me into this system that affects all my choices without my consent?"

"Um," Ohno said, moving off Nino to stand up straight. "Yes? Because--"

"No." Jun spoke with finality. "When I go back to my world I'll pretend it's not there." Mihi sat at his side, tail whipping side to side in a way that made Nino think Jun wasn't as sure as he seemed.

"Let me tell you why I'm happy," Nino said, keeping his budding panic from his voice. "If you'll listen?"

Jun shrugged and looked away. Nino sensed Ohno shifting fretfully beside him.

"I told you how bonds show up on babies here when we're seven days old. And then they start moving--"

"At nineteen days exactly, yes, I remember." At Jun's side, Mihi was still lashing her tail, her muscles bunched up with alarming tension.

"So you came to this world, and, presumably, when you'd been here a week, your bond showed up, just like it did for us. And let's say our bonds changed at the same time, after you'd been here a week. Both of our bonds, their changes linked to yours."

Jun and Mihi went still.

"What if," Ohno put in, "what if the color was like this." He held up a hand. "My bond was this color my whole life. Then, when your bond formed--" He covered the first hand with his second, making them overlap. "What if--"

"So many ifs," Jun said. It didn't come out nearly as scornful as he'd probably meant it to. Nino could tell he was starting to get what they were saying, though it hadn't clicked enough that he'd realized why they were happy.

"Two bonds," Nino said. "It happens."

Ohno nodded in his peripheral vision. "I knew a boat captain with three bonds, once."

Nino turned and lifted his eyebrows at Ohno. Did he really think that was helpful right then?

But Jun said, "So then the color..."

"If Oh-chan's right," Nino said, which he thought was quite gracious, "our bonds changed color because we got a new one, right on top of the old one, and they both stopped moving, so--"

"So like," Ohno interrupted mulishly. He held up his hands again. "Like if you had a piece of colored glass and then another piece, and they were both just the same color, but if you put them together and looked, they'd seem darker just 'cause they were layered." He moved his hands a little closer to Jun's face as if maybe that would help him understand.

Jun swatted his hands away. "But why did they stop moving?"

Nino shoved at Ohno's shoulder when Ohno tried to stick his hands back toward Jun. "So I had a bond, and then I got a new one, right? But new bonds don't move for a while after forming, so what I think is that the new one covered the old one and kept it from moving, too. Or maybe getting a second bond so long after the first changed the first one, too? I mean, I feel like we're making history, here--there is no way this has happened before."

"People have traveled between worlds more than you think." Ohno was clearly brooding a little over being swatted and shoved.

"But then," Jun started, his voice suddenly going soft. "What does that mean? I have a bond? It's going to move?"

Nino said patiently, "We think you have two bonds, just like us. I think we're bound for each other."

"I think so too," Ohno put in, starting to sound happy again already.

"Bound for," Jun started, then shook his head. But he didn't look like he was saying no--more like he wanted to clear his mind so he could come to the correct conclusion more quickly. "All three of us?"

"Four," Mihi said, sounding bemused. "Five if you count that bird."

"Just a few more days before your bond starts moving. There's a real question here about gravitation, considering everything, but if our bonds all start moving at once, and not only that, if we each have two of them, I will consider our being bound as something fully supported by evidence."

Saying it again, that they might all three be bound for each other, had Nino feeling wobbly. His initial idea had rocked him, then the sight of Jun's bond had given him hope that his unbelievable idea wasn't so very unbelievable, but trying to explain it in a way that Jun could understand had kind of distracted him from the fact that his explanation was something he was starting to believe was actually true. He was bound for Ohno, after all, then, if this weren't all an awful misunderstanding, but not only that, he was also bound for Jun.

Jun was silent, but Ohno repeated, "A question about gravitation?"

"Yes, of course," Nino said loftily. If Ohno could be all high and mighty about knowing about other worlds, Nino could tease him for not catching on to this.

"Like with the apple falling on the guy's head?" Ohno said. Nino twisted to give Ohno his most disbelievingly disdainful look, only to find Ohno grinning at him.

Nino found himself grinning back, so he gave in and explained. "For you and me, our bonds started gravitating at twenty, right? But here is the question: do bonds start moving at age twenty or after twenty years?"

Ohno's brow furrowed. "I don't get the difference."

Jun said distractedly, "The difference is I'm over twenty but it hasn't been twenty years since I got this thing."

"Gold star for Jun-kun," Nino agreed. "Though I'm docking points for the singular usage when it should be remembered that by our logic you have two of these things."

"I don't get it," Ohno said again. "Pretty soon our bonds will all start moving--"

"But we don't know if they'll gravitate or not, is the point," Nino cut in. "But what I'm saying is it doesn't matter. If they start moving and we've all got two of them, then that's it."

Jun still wasn't smiling. Nino wondered if he should have phrased it differently--'that's it' did kind of make it sound like Jun's choice in the matter was over.

But then Jun said, "And this idea makes you happy? Makes both of you happy?"

This was the easiest question yet. "Yes," Nino said at once, with Ohno saying the same only half a second slower. "It's the kind of thing that would completely uproot my comfortable life, sure, but I love you. And this one," he said, gesturing nonchalantly at Ohno, "is someone I used to love, and he doesn't seem to have changed so horribly that it wouldn't be possible again."

"Thanks, Nino," Ohno said earnestly, and Nino snorted a laugh while his teenage self crumpled helplessly in an excess of joy. Ohno added, "I want it to be true." He thought for a second, then said more slowly, "But I'm kind of afraid it isn't."

"Yes," Jun said, smiling wryly. "That's something I can understand."

He lifted up the phone to look at the picture again, but of course the screen had gone to sleep. Nino jumped hastily over to unlock it, then moved back to give Jun space.

"It's purple," Jun said. Nino couldn't tell if this displeased him.

"It's beautiful," Ohno said.

Jun looked at Nino, seemingly for confirmation, so Nino nodded. Jun's bond hadn't darkened all the way yet, which was the excuse Nino was giving himself for not noticing earlier, not to mention Nino's lack of frequent good position, but it was already beautiful. Based on the shape, Nino thought it was some kind of bird. Perhaps an owl? (He had to remind himself that it was two bonds, probably, and his inability to take that for granted made his heart stutter in his chest. Nino, too, was more and more afraid that what he so hoped was happening was a misunderstanding, as if the more he thought it might be true the more he feared it wasn't.)

"Well," Jun said. He didn't seem to know what to say. After a moment, he pulled on Ohno's shirt again. Nino noticed Jun had chosen one that was nearly the same purple as his bond(s), but tactfully kept it to himself.

"You can keep that," Ohno said graciously. Nino would have bet anything that the shirt, which had Miyajima Is for Lovers in English splashed across the front along with a cartoon deer, had been a gift that Ohno had stuck in his closet and never worn, but he supposed it was the thought that counted.

Jun rolled his eyes. "As if you were ever getting this back."

Nino didn't think this was quite so effective as a comeback when one considered what it implied about how Jun felt about Ohno, but he let it go.

"Um, we can keep talking," Ohno mumbled, "but I'm just gonna lie down, yeah?"

Jun caught him by the scruff of his pajama shirt. "Go lie down in your own room."

Nino belatedly realized his own overloaded brain could also really, really use some sleep. He kind of felt like there should be something else said in this unprecedented bonding situation, but right then he couldn't think of what it was.

Ohno was slouching out the door when Jun called, "Tomorrow you'd better have some answers about why I was sent here, Captain!" There was a languid wave of Ohno's hand before he disappeared.

Jun went and sat on his bed, and for a while he and Nino stared at each other.

At last, Jun said with his first real smile in a while, "You love me?"

Nino said, "Let's get some sleep," and flopped down on his mattress to the sound of Jun's satisfied chuckle.

~~~

For Jun and Ohno, at least, it was a busy four days leading up to the time when their bonds might move.

Day Sixteen

Now that Nino had something to wait around for, he didn't bother trying to convince himself he should leave. (He wasn't sure he would have been able to convince himself, anyway, not as long as both Ohno and Jun were here and not indicating he was unwelcome.) He let his mom know he'd be staying longer, extended his leave of absence with his boss's grumpy permission, and decided that for the next stretch of time he would practice what he preached and live in the moment as much as possible. On that first day, their first full day in Ohno's house, Nino and Jun woke up to find Ohno gone. Jun muttered about Ohno never having been good at leaving notes, but he seemed a little relieved that it'd be just Nino with him for a while. It was easy to fall back into their dynamic from Nino's house, and Nino found that comforting as well. After scrounging up breakfast, Jun directed Nino in researching Miyajima on his phone, and the way he watched over Nino's shoulder without quite touching him was distracting enough to Nino that he kept fumbling his typing. As Nino vaguely remembered, Miyajima was a popular tourist destination, though all its major attractions were clustered on the other side of the island, and Jun grumbled longingly about wanting to see Itsukushima Shrine with its great torii gate appearing to float at high tide. Nino's sympathetic nodding and grunting backfired when Jun decided he'd just have to send Nino alone with strict instructions to take many pictures and videos. Nino deflected this idea as best he could, but when Jun went so far as to pick out the specific tour he wanted Nino to go on, further resistance seemed futile.

Ranmaru arrived home around lunchtime. It seemed Ohno was out fishing and hadn't thought to tell Jun and Nino until the boat captain heard he had house guests and asked if they should head home earlier than planned. Ohno was still out on the boat, Ranmaru said, but had sent him to say that he should get home in a couple of hours. (Apparently during times on a boat with other people Ranmaru just pretended to be a normal pelican, albeit one weirdly fixated on Ohno.) This was the first Nino had heard Ohno's daemon speak, and, unexpectedly, he found it even more disconcerting talking to a pelican than to a panther. He supposed he'd get used to it quickly--by now with Mihi it would've felt more strange, for example, not to chat with her while Jun was cooking lunch. Now that Jun knew they had some more time before his Ohno interrogation could begin, with Nino deliberately not reminding him that he could just ask his questions of Ranmaru, Jun had Nino search up the most comprehensive online information he could find on bonds. He then asked if he could look at it alone, surprising Nino since Jun didn't like touching the phone, and after Nino explained again about how to scroll he left Jun to it. Nino really wanted to play video games--even a mindless game on his phone would've helped--but without his games and without his phone he went for the next most soothing action and took a nap.

When he went downstairs again Jun and Ohno were deep in conversation. Nino curled up on the chair in the living room and listened, figuring out that someone would be coming to the house in the next few days, and that Ohno thought this someone was who Jun was looking for, but there was no way to hurry it up and Ohno didn't know anything more about what Jun needed to do with them. (It seemed that Ohno had explained all of that some time ago but Jun still hadn't quite accepted it and had just as many questions as he had pestered Nino with. Ohno was much less accommodating about answering, though this didn't seem deliberate. Ohno kept falling into a daze of smiling at Jun, nostalgic fondness emanating from every centimeter of his compact body, and it seemed like he couldn't do that and think about Jun's questions at the same time.) When Jun finally hit a stopping point in his questions, or just ran out of patience, Nino put in that while Ohno might not know about Jun's mission, he probably knew something about what he himself had been up to for, say, the last 17 years or so?, and so Ohno's story, punctuated by questions from Nino and a few from Jun, took up the rest of the time until dinner.

Ohno jumped around a lot, and he focused on what he thought was important, which sometimes meant Nino had to ask a whole series of questions to clarify the points he personally most wanted to hear about, but later, Nino characterized the gist of Ohno's tale to himself as follows.

1. Ohno was at the center of a witches' prophecy. This made him not only very important to witches (or some witches--Nino couldn't get a grasp on just how many witches there were and how they were divided and where they lived, etc), but also a target for those who wanted to keep the possibility in the prophecy from occurring. Witches had found Ohno just before operatives of the Institution, as Ohno called it, and it was only because witches spirited him away that Ohno wasn't killed.

2. The Institution was a force bidding to grab control not only in Jun's Nippon, but in the entire region corresponding to Asia, and, the witches foresaw, worldwide. According to the prophecy, one tipping point in the battle between the Institution and those that opposed them was possession of and the ability to read alethiometers. The Institution was looking to possess every last alethiometer, and if they succeeded, the tide of the battle would turn in their favor, perhaps irrevocably. The witches believed that this could cause the ebb and flow of human progress to stagnate for centuries.

3. Ohno was important to the witches in two ways, with the first being keeping possession of one precious alethiometer. Evidenced (to everyone in the room but Nino) by his daemon being able to travel long distances from him, Ohno had some sort of bond to witches, genetic, reincarnation, something. Witches had the ability to turn attention away from themselves, creating a kind of invisibility--Ohno had no such power, but he could be used to hold such a spell after it was cast, supposedly for long periods and for a greater distance than even the witches had expected. One of the very strongest witches had cast such a spell on the area of the very house they were sitting in, and Ohno, so long as he was within a certain radius on land or water, held it. No one could find it, even if they had a general idea where it was, so long as they hadn't been shown where it was by Ohno himself.

4. The second way Ohno was important didn't make as much as sense to Nino (and the first part had been hard enough to grasp to begin with). Apparently, reading alethiometers was no easy task. It took years and years of study and lengthy consultation with books to even be able to ask a simple question. But the prophecy foretold that Ohno would be able to do it far more quickly and accurately than previously believed possible. It wasn't clear even to the witches why this was, but it was something to do with not only his being able to drop into a certain kind of trance-like state, but also with his sheer stubborn force of will. The witches had sent Ohno to study theology relating to alethiometers, and Ohno, having decided he needed to know, didn't give up until he could do it. He'd read endless books, been tutored for years, and basically thrown himself against the mountain of knowledge he needed, again and again, forgetting and reteaching himself, failing and failing harder, until one day the bulk of his desperately achieved knowledge reached a mass such that when he had the university's prized alethiometer in his hands, and he went into the reading trance, he had enough of a foundation of facts and experience that he could intuit what he needed to do with the alethiometer and how to interpret what it said back to him. (Nino was a little embarrassed to admit that he couldn't even begin to picture this magic machine, but when he brought himself to ask, he was told it was like a golden compass, perhaps the size of Nino's fist, with dials and 36 symbols and endlessly fussy layers of meaning.)

5. Ohno lived within and held the witches' spell, here in his home of almost ten years on Miyajima, and witches came to consult with the alethiometer through him, sometimes several times in a week, sometimes just once in a six-month period. Ohno was an artist, spent a lot of time fishing, and liked to teach himself things, from cooking to knitting to operating small radio-controlled vehicles. He'd come back with a daemon, but because they could stretch a long way it didn't inconvenience him in this world the way it did Jun and Mihi. He was in close communication with his family, who visited frequently, but he didn't say why he hadn't contacted Nino the same way. This question Nino didn't ask.

During dinner, Ohno talked about his fishing trip in far more detail than either Nino or Jun really wanted. Jun told Nino embarrassing stories about the Ohno he'd known at university, and Nino told Jun embarrassing stories about the Ohno he'd known in his youth. Ohno didn't seem to mind much, laughing along helplessly without retaliating, but Nino did manage to coax some anecdotes about young Jun out of him. There was also a long stretch of conversation when Nino asked something he really should've thought of earlier, namely, why hadn't Jun noticed Ohno had a bond while they were in a relationship. It was somehow even harder to process than the fact that Ohno now had a daemon, but according to Ohno, the moment he'd stepped through the door into Jun's world, his bond was nowhere to be seen. Nino found this idea horrifying, but Ohno reassured him that his bond hadn't been gone--somehow he could tell it was still there like it had always been--but the color of it didn't show up, as if it were only visible to the eye in their own world. (Nino decided not to think about it too much, since Ohno had a bond again now, like everyone else.) Afterwards they sat in the living room and watched various variety shows that Nino thought Jun was overstimulated by but Jun insisted he was enjoying. (The way he kept rubbing his temples and how Mihi couldn't sit still said otherwise, but Nino let it go.) Ohno lasted longer that night, but eventually Nino could hear his soft snoring from where he was wedged into the corner of the sofa. Nino was distracted by the way Ohno's shirt had ridden up, just enough to show a flash of skin no less tan than the rest, and by the way Ohno had his legs curled under himself in a way that only emphasized the strong muscles of his thighs and calves. But Ohno was asleep, so Nino made himself stop looking at him like that, and this time they managed to get Ohno into his own bed without any life-changing revelations stalling the procedure. (Though getting a sleep-drunk Ranmaru up the stairs was nothing to sneeze at.) After Nino and Jun talked for a while across the guest room, Nino played a few rounds of a matching game on his phone before falling asleep.

Day Seventeen

Ohno needed to do some sort of work for the witches, and he had a fidgety sort of aura of not wanting to do it in front of people, so after breakfast on the second day Nino took Jun and Mihi for a drive around the island. It turned out that after they'd passed through an area of many signs for some botanical garden the road they were on became restricted access only, but Jun seemed perfectly content to go back the way they'd come, driving again through the endless trees with frequent peeks at the ocean beside them, to the main hub of settlement and tourism with its swarm of people and buildings and a tantalizing glimpse of the gate of Itsukushima Shrine from afar, then back to the trees and the beaches, with snatches of human habitation dispersed along the route, all the way back to the beach where they'd found Ohno and around to the house that Nino's maps app insisted didn't exist. Throughout their trip, which took about two hours including stops at particularly pretty views, Jun spent most of his time gawking out the window at everything from billboards to the docile, ever-present deer, but whenever his attention wandered back Nino took the opportunity to ask the smaller questions he had remaining from Ohno's big explanation of the day before. Since Ohno had seemed overwhelmed to have to talk so much about something so weighty, Nino had saved the less urgent questions to ask Jun in just such a time as this. Jun answered everything easily, as they were all questions about his world from things Nino had heard of for the first time in Jun's presence, and seemed to be more relaxed than he had been since arriving on Miyajima.

Jun's relaxation disappeared when they got back and found Ohno had a guest. She had striking cheekbones and glossy hair that surrounded her in a long, dark cloud that seemed to move even when she didn't. Ohno didn't seem at all awed by her, introducing her as Eiko-chan, but from the way Jun snapped to awed attention, and from the way Nino felt like he'd missed a step going downstairs but never landed on the next one, Nino knew Eiko was a witch. She wore a kimono that was both ragged and somehow clearly exactly the way it was supposed to be, and while she wasn't much for social niceties, she nodded solemnly at Nino when Ohno introduced him. Ohno seemed to have been in the middle of reporting on whatever work he'd been doing in the morning, but when he got to a stopping point, Eiko turned back to Jun. They stared at each other for longer than Nino's composure could handle, but just when Nino was about to run away, Ohno suggested casually that Eiko and Jun could take a walk on the beach. Eiko nodded again, all wild, regal grace, and Jun followed her silently.

Nino and Ohno sat in the kitchen, eating the fried rice Ohno had made, and chatted about nothing. Or at least, they didn't talk about any of the elephants in the room, but it was a balm to Nino to be able to have Ohno like this again, to be able to ask every trivial question and get an answer, to find they still laughed about the same dumb things and never fell into awkward silence. (Nino suspected it could get awkward should they address certain things, but the atmosphere was too precious for him to disturb it right then.) Nino got to hear all about Ohno's family, and updated Ohno about his own in turn. He asked about what it was like having a daemon, though Ohno had a hard time explaining it, and Ohno asked about Nino's work, his hobbies, his relationships. He lit up to hear Nino still knew some of the people they'd gone to high school with, though really neither of them had been close to them at the time. Nino had become friends with them later as his world had opened up with adulthood, and somehow talking about this triggered a competitive impulse in Ohno that ended up with both of them seated at the kitchen table with a pencil and paper listing out their friends to see who had more. Nino argued that closeness should be a part of the judging metric, but Ohno wouldn't hear of it, saying anything that wasn't hard numbers could be twisted. (He gave Nino a significant look as if Nino would ever use his wiles to win meaningless contests.)

When Jun came back around dinner time, Eiko wasn't with him. Something about the way he was holding himself had Nino and Ohno staying close without asking questions. After washing up, Jun went to the kitchen and started to cook with a look on his face like chopping carrots was helping him figure out the meaning of the universe. (Multi-verse?) Nino and Ohno helped, using all their powers of observation to keep out of Jun's way while still being very obviously there for him. When they sat down to eat, Jun took one bite of his pasta before setting down his fork and starting to talk. He talked a little too fast and didn't stop to explain things Nino didn't understand, but Nino listened as best he could. From what he could tell, Ohno's witches (as Nino thought of them) intended to put Jun to work, as their goals were in alignment. They lived in the far North, too far from Jun's Nippon to ally themselves with the witches who'd advised Jun despite all of them wanting to stop the war. (There was something in here about how the threatening war would destroy the bonds between nations and leave them vulnerable to the Institution, but Nino let some of the more big-picture stuff wash over him while trying to pick out the bits that most affected Jun.) Jun was to be a diplomat again, making himself the link between disparate groups and influencing everyone to do what was right for all of them. In that vein, he said he'd be staying here, but then immediately got flustered and amended that he meant this world. (Nino wondered if that were true. He wondered if Jun were already picturing staying here, in this house, with Ohno and perhaps with Nino, and if that meant he was starting to get used to the idea of being bound for them.)

Jun said that Eiko would return with other witches the next day, so Nino should schedule his tour for tomorrow. Nino, who'd hoped Jun had forgotten, got his phone out with a sigh and complied. Ohno peeked over and gave advice as to what guide Nino should pick, though he had to be judging on the photographs alone, and didn't offer to accompany him. Probably he would be huddled with the witches all of the next day, just like Jun. Somehow this thought made Nino glum, like everyone had big important roles to play but he was no one, a pleasant enough companion but easily left behind. But then Jun was prodding him to use the remote to change the channel to the show he liked, and he didn't bother moving away again after, and then Ohno was curled up on Nino's other side, his feet tucked under Nino's thigh as if for warmth, and Nino forgot any existential worries about his relationship to the universe as he was entirely preoccupied with his relationships with these two beloved people.

Day Eighteen

Having gone days without talking about it made the tentative conclusions they'd come to about their bonds start feeling unreal to Nino, and the farce that was his Miyajima tour on the third day only increased that. Somehow, and Nino couldn't get a straight answer from the guide as to why, his tour was the only one of the many groups they saw around the island that day that had only two people: Nino and said guide. Somehow, and this was just bizarre, Nino's guide was wearing, of all things, a pale purple shirt that said Miyajima Is for Lovers, complete with cartoon deer. Finally, the guide, one Aiba Masaki, was weird. He started off absurdly cheerful, herding Nino around to his first few recommended spots like they were childhood friends, but just when Nino started to resign himself to the expenditure of energy and relax into the ridiculousness of the day, Aiba got shy. Nino thought maybe the original bluster had been a tour guide's professional demeanor hiding the fact that Aiba felt a little awkward about being alone with a person he'd just met, so now Nino exerted himself to make Aiba comfortable again. But then this backfired, as it turned out Aiba's shyness was a shallow layer covering an endless reserve of impudent intimacy, and so by the end of the exhausting day, with way too much walking because Aiba kept forgetting that he'd gotten them a golf cart and Nino never knew how far they'd be walking until it was too late, Nino had given his contact information to Aiba and agreed to go to lunch sometime. But there was just something about Aiba that Nino enjoyed, from his mop of wavy hair to his skinny legs sticking out from his cropped jeans, from his high-pitched laugh to how he looked at Nino like he was 110% genuinely enjoying his company, and Nino couldn't quite bring himself to regret it. He had taken a preposterous amount of pictures and videos for Jun, at least half of them of the absurd number of absurdly cute deer all over the place, and lunch had been unexpectedly included in the tour fare, so the day wasn't entirely misspent.

He came home to a house with no one in it but Ohno. Nino started to talk about the tour and Aiba and how he'd accidentally made a friend and now he had one more friend than Ohno, but Ohno seemed abstracted. Nino had left that morning before the witches arrived, but he assumed they'd come and spirited Jun away again. He asked Ohno what he thought was on the witch agenda for the day, but Ohno just shrugged. Nino was starting to get the sense that Ohno, for all he was the key to so much for the witches, did his job without getting too tangled up in the situation otherwise. Nino could relate to this, so he let his questions go and sat in the living room chair and stared at Ohno with bug eyes, just to be silly. From the sofa, Ohno stared back blankly. Nino broke first, but when he laughed in defeat and wiped his teary eyes, Ohno said loudly that he'd spoken to Jun that morning and they'd agreed he could kiss Nino today if Nino was into it so was Nino into it? And of course, yes, Nino was into it--but also he wasn't, because Ohno had left and never come back. Even if he'd had a good reason, he'd been here a while now, back in their own world, and he had a phone, Nino had seen it, but he'd never used it to call Nino. Nino found he was saying all of this out loud, and Ohno was nodding every few words, eyes looking suspiciously wet, so Nino shoved a hand over his own mouth to stop himself from talking so that Ohno could answer the question Nino had waited so long to ask. (It had come out as more of a statement, but Ohno seemed to understand what Nino wanted.)

Ohno talked about how it had been when he'd left, how the witches had stressed he couldn't go back without putting those he loved in danger, and how the whole time he'd been gone he'd missed Nino. (Nino wanted to make a tension-dispelling joke about had he missed Nino while having relations with Jun, but he worried Ohno might take it seriously right then, when honestly, the way Ohno and Jun looked at each other was becoming one of Nino's favorite things about both of them.) According to Ohno, he'd wanted to call Nino as soon as he'd gotten settled here on Miyajima, right after he called his mom. Ohno paused here, thinking, and Nino realized again that he'd forgiven Ohno a long time ago, and that ever since seeing him at Takanosuura Shrine he'd felt that Ohno must've done his best, always, because Ohno would never hurt him on purpose. But knowing that wasn't the same as hearing Ohno explain, so Nino kept his mouth shut and listened. In the end, Ohno said sadly that it hadn't felt fair to Nino, to appear again in his life without being able to actually come home, and also, and here he hunched his shoulders in a way that made Nino wish he'd cut him off after all, Ohno had felt like if he got to know Nino again, everything that felt so important about his work might not seem as important, and he might betray the witches and go find Nino and see if their bonds gravitated and not let him go even if they didn't. Nino was already standing by the time Ohno stumbled through the last words, watching as a blink sent tears down his round cheeks, and then he was sitting by Ohno, holding his hand while Ohno apologized. When Ohno seemed calm again, Nino leaned over and kissed him. After, he could've told Ohno he'd always loved him, or that Ohno didn't need to apologize anymore, and oh, of course, that he really hoped their bonds moved tomorrow, and could they kiss again when they did, but he didn't. They sat there, squished together unnecessarily on the enormous sofa, and held hands until Jun came home.

When Jun returned he was flushed with excitement, like what he'd wanted for so long was in sight and he'd give all of himself in the pursuit of making it a reality. (Nino was starting to suspect Jun was a workaholic.) He paced back and forth in front of them on the sofa for a while, babbling on about the witches and the alliance and the other-world embassies and how with all these people coming together there was a real chance they could avert the war. When he was running out of steam, Mihi jumped up on the chair and started grooming herself, a good sign that Jun was settling down from his work high. Nino and Ohno had been nodding and making encouraging noises while Jun talked, but now he looked over and really saw them, there cuddled together hand in hand, and his face went firm. He strode the last few steps over and knelt abruptly in front of them to ask (presumably Ohno) if he could stay and do his work with this as his home base. Nino kind of wanted to leave any huge life-changing decisions for tomorrow, when they'd have more information, hopefully the kind that made a lot of decisions seem settled, but Ohno simply agreed with a little smile and a light in his eyes that Jun reciprocated. It seemed like Jun might keep on with the overly important questions, so Nino got up and stretched, muttering about how hungry he was, then slipping in a mention of coming back with a mountain of tourist trap pictures.

Jun was successfully distracted, though Nino noticed Ohno was smirking like Nino wasn't getting away with anything, and dinner passed safely with Jun exclaiming over all of Nino's pictures, questioning why so many of them had a poorly winking stranger in them, and stuffing himself with more food than Nino had ever seen him eat in one sitting. It seemed as if the long day of work with the witches had depleted his resources. Afterward, Jun suggested Nino show Ohno his magic tricks, which was a huge success, and then, as if to share in turn, Ohno gave them a tour of his studio, which doubled as his alethiometer reading room. (The destiny-swaying device in question was probably in the plain wooden box on top of the shelves by the door, Nino figured, but he was kind of afraid to see it, let alone touch it, so he didn't ask.) After exclaiming over Ohno's many vibrant paintings, all of which seemed to have a strange continuity despite their varying hues and shapes, Nino excused himself to get ready for bed, pleading exhaustion via berserk tour guide. When Jun came into their room a while later, Nino couldn't help himself--he pointed to his mouth, silently, and Jun obliged with a goodnight kiss. They hadn't kissed in a few days, and Nino felt himself react like a sunflower to the sun. He smiled sleepily at Jun afterward, who bit his lip like he wanted to say something. Instead, he kissed Nino on the forehead before moving to his own bed.

Day Nineteen

Nino woke up on the fourth day with the conscious knowledge that actually, he was perfectly fine being in love with two people more important to world affairs than he was. When it came down to it, Nino liked his low-stakes job, liked having a ton of free time, liked choosing how he spent it to please himself and those he loved. If Ohno was at the center of a prophecy and Jun was on a mission to change the world, surely anyone in a relationship with them should be the flexible one, willing to bend to make sure they could all fit together. Nino could live on Miyajima. Nino could work from this very room, if he had to. Nino didn't mind hiding daemons and living in a house that would never show up on a map. Nino's needs were few: work, money, his people, free time, games. It would be hard to be away from his family and friends, but not impossible, and everything else he could have here. The people he had already could be visited, and he could make new friends here, as well. With his mind settled, he added another entry to his list of needs, Jun and Ohno, and thought, today is the day.

That sense of rightness didn't falter when he walked into the kitchen and saw Ohno pushed up against the fridge in a passionate kiss with Jun. (If anything, it only made Nino more sure his life choices were unimpeachable.) He'd been planning to make them all some eggs for breakfast, but with the refrigerator in use as a makeout spot he supposed toast would suffice. He'd brought home some jam from his tour that Aiba had recommended and Nino thought Jun would love. He puttered around the kitchen getting things ready as Ohno made little noises into Jun's mouth and Jun's hands slid farther and farther up under Ohno's shirt. While the first slices of bread were in the toaster, he went to splash cold water on his face, reminding himself that it would be hours before their bonds moved and everything could be decided permanently. When he got back, Ohno was perched dozily on a stool and Jun was at the stove, making eggs. After breakfast, Ohno took Jun out in the rickety old rowboat he had, Mihi curled in the exact center as far from water as possible and growling unhappily as Nino saw them off. They probably thought he'd wait for them on the beach, but Nino hightailed it back to Ohno's house and flopped on the couch for some quality screen time. (A part of his brain was withering up and dying from a lack of games, but until he could play again, TV would have to do.)

Jun gave Nino an unimpressed look at coming back to find Nino loafing, and this was probably why Nino got sent off to buy taco ingredients so they could initiate Ohno into the rite of the taco party. But Nino didn't mind, because he was getting more and more anxious as the time got closer. Nino had worked out that Jun had probably fallen out of the sky around two or three in the afternoon, and driving to civilization in search of quality tortillas was a welcome distraction. He texted Aiba while he was at the store, just because he was thinking of how Aiba had given him a ranked list of every supermarket and convenience store on the island, of which there were few enough he could do it off the top of his head, and had been about to start in on the restaurants when Nino shoved him into a nearby shrubbery. (Aiba had seemed to take it as a sign of great friendship.) Aiba responded right away, attaching a completely unnecessary picture of his sock/shoe combination that day. Nino, in a moment of true optimism, asked Aiba if he wanted to get that lunch on the following Friday, and Aiba had come back with a long string of emoji and exclamation points that Nino was pretty sure meant yes. When Nino was driving back along the coast with the groceries in the passenger seat, he tried thinking of it as going home, just to see how it felt. It didn't feel quite right--this still felt like someplace he was visiting, not someplace he might, should he play his cards right and the universe oblige, stay forever. But when he thought of Ohno and Jun, the phrase going home didn't feel quite as ill-fitting. He'd always have a home in his little suburb of Tokyo, where he had family, friends, roots--but maybe he could have another home here.

As expected, Ohno was a fan of tacos. Jun fed him and Nino tacos until they couldn't take anymore, and then they all collapsed on the sofa, Ohno groaning and holding his stomach theatrically. Nino checked his phone and found it was already well past one o'clock. He could see Jun was starting to tense up, though Ohno was still rambling disjointedly about the different kinds of fillings, and the fear that had subsided in Nino for the last while as he came to his own personal conclusions about things reminded him that there was still a lot unsettled that wasn't under his control.

~~~

After a few minutes of increasingly awkward silence, Jun said abruptly, "Captain, did you apologize to Nino yet? Because I don't think we can start anything new without that out of the way."

Nino, adoring that Jun had it in his mind so firmly that they were going to start something new, replied for Ohno, "He did."

Jun leaned forward to look across Nino at Ohno. "Enough? 17 years' worth? At least when you left me, I knew you were going. Did you--"

"He did," Nino said again. He smiled at Ohno reassuringly. Ohno smiled back, and Nino thought the faint tension he could feel in Ohno was due to what was possibly about to happen, not Jun's questioning. Just in case, he added on a pat to Ohno's thigh, making himself stop after only the slightest bit of lingering.

Jun said stubbornly, "I don't want this coming back to haunt us. Captain and I broke up properly and I was able to move on. You guys didn't even get together properly, let alone--"

"Jun-kun," Nino interrupted. "It was hard when he left, and I was angry for a while, but I was able to move on, too. I've had important relationships since Oh-chan and haven't even fucked all of them up." He held Jun's gaze and smirked deliberately. "I even got together with this hot guy who dropped out of the sky, so, I am in no need of further apologies."

Ohno echoed from his other side, "Together?"

Nino's smirk went brittle. "Or whatever." He heard Jun take a deep breath, so he added quickly, "Let's wait, okay, let's wait and see what our bonds do--"

"No," Jun said firmly. "I know it's normal for you all, but I don't like the idea of some mark on my skin telling me what to do." Mihi gave a little yowl that Nino took as emphatic agreement. From where he was perched on the back of the chair, Ranmaru made a noise, too, but Nino wasn't experienced with pelican emoting. Disagreement? Amusement? Phantom indigestion?

"Jun," Nino started, turning to face him straight on, but Jun shook his head.

"If these things on our skin move the way you want, great, but either way, I want both of you. No matter what. Even if everything's against us, I'll figure out a way to make it work." He paused before adding in a low voice, "If you'll have me. It would be my honor."

"If it turns out we don't each have two bonds," Nino said, reminding himself to be patient because the obvious things to people here wouldn't be obvious to Jun, "then the likelihood is that at least one of us still has someone we're bound for, I mean, someone else. Making commitments here without being bound, it's awfully complicated. If people want to get married without it, for example, there are all sorts of forms and red tape, and even then the marriages often don't last even up to gravitating with other people."

"Hey Nino," Ohno said mildly, but Nino shook his head with sudden emotion.

"No, I have to explain. Wanting to wait doesn't mean I don't want you, Jun, doesn't mean I don't want you both, it's just how things work here, and I want to know what's going on before we commit--"

"Nino." This time Ohno's voice was commanding. "Breathe."

Nino looked down at his hands, forcing himself to suck in a breath. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. If they could all just wait, probably not even another hour, it would be so easy, the way it was meant to be.

"I didn't mean to question whether you want this," Jun said, a hint of apology in his tone. "But I'm worried it'll bother me, if we let it be decided like this."

"Don't we all want the same thing?" Ohno asked. "Jun-chan wants us to be together no matter what. I think Nino wants that, too, he just... what, wants to know how it'll be right from the beginning?" He sounded less uncertain of the meaning than how he should phrase it.

Nino shrugged. He couldn't help feeling a little cornered, like Jun and Ohno were trying to ease him into something in a way he'd rather not go.

Jun said, "And you? What do you want, Captain?"

Ohno didn't answer right away. When Nino looked up to see just what Ohno was thinking, he found Ohno looking at him like he'd been waiting.

Ohno held up a finger. "If pretty soon it's clear we're bound for each other, let's be together. Yes?"

Jun said softly, "Yes," but Nino bit his lip, waiting to hear what would come next.

Two fingers now. "If pretty soon it's clear we're not bound for each other, let's be together for as long as we can." Ohno watched Nino steadily. "Yes?"

"I'm not sure I care for the way you're becoming the logical one," Nino grumbled, even as his heart lurched hopefully at Ohno's words and Jun's answering 'Yes.'

He felt a hand on his shoulder and leaned lightly into Jun's touch. Having everything spelled out by both of them, that they both wanted it to be the three of them, both wanted him, he could feel himself start to settle into the situation as it was, not as he'd tried to make it.

He couldn't help that it was hard to let go of what he'd imagined since he was a kid. Still, with every moment that passed this alternative way of doing things was starting to seem possible.

Jun said, "You told me that people here have relationships even if they're not bound. I remember. You said I should let myself get close to people, even if it wasn't forever."

Nino sighed. "You're making me sound pushy, and I'm sure that has never been the case." He felt Ohno's hand come to rest on his leg comfortingly.

Well, if Nino was going to be the flexible one, he supposed there were no better people to compromise for. He closed his eyes for a second, letting himself feel Jun's touch, Ohno's touch, their freely given assurances, their love echoing his own.

He leaned back on the sofa and crossed one leg over the other. Jun's hand moved away, but Nino grabbed it and put it back on his shoulder, because if they were doing this he wanted to be touching both of them.

But before he could put his bending into words, Ohno said suddenly, "You guys know I can't leave here, right?"

Nino choked on the words he'd been about to say, coughing into his hand, then nodded hastily. "Because you're holding the spell thing, right?" This was something he'd come to terms with already. Come to think of it, they really should have reassured Ohno on this point before.

Jun said, "Here works for me. It'll be hard sometimes for me and Mihi, but there's a door. I think my work can be done as long as the door is open." His hand tightened on Nino's shoulder. "And I want to be where you are."

Nino nodded again, this time more smoothly. He let the silence go on a moment, pulling Ohno's and Jun's attention to him, then asked, "Do you have high-speed internet capabilities?"

Jun said, "Huh?" but Ohno said hopefully, "I can check email on my phone, easy!"

Nino was about to retort when Jun said, "Oh, are we making demands? Then I need a better bed."

Nino's eyes slid to Ohno, finding him developing quite the sulky look. "What's wrong with the beds I have? A person can sleep on them. I wash the sheets sometimes." He held up a hand with wide eyes as if to say, what more could you ask for?

Settling back even farther into the sofa so Jun could talk directly to Ohno, Nino took advantage of their distraction to take the hands still casually touching him and gather them in his lap wrapped in his own. He was feeling warm and loved, and even the sounds of Jun and Ohno arguing about mattress quality was dear to him.

As Ohno muttered about all mattresses being essentially the same, Jun said loudly, "And also, they're all small size."

Nino provided smoothly, "Twin size," and Jun said, "Thank you, Nino, twin size. Unacceptable."

Ohno said crossly, "What's wrong with--"

"They are perfectly acceptable for one regular-sized human being, so long as the person in question has low standards," Jun said haughtily. "However, I hardly think one of those twin size mattresses will hold all three of us, do you?"

Ohno started, "On the other hand!" as if he weren't giving up the fight, but then he said suddenly, "Oh." Nino peeked at his face and found Ohno looking dumbfounded, which, what exactly had they even been discussing if Ohno was surprised by this?!

But then Ohno was shifting, looking embarrassed and pleased, and he said, "Three of us..." like it was a gift he'd received when he hadn't expected it. Nino thought Ohno had accepted what was going on since they first realized it, but clearly his pondering of certain particulars of their situation hadn't been as fully fleshed out as Nino's.

Nino watched him, seeing the way his small smile started going blank, figuring that Ohno's mind had shifted from the picture of them all cuddling in some giant bed to a different kind of imagining.

"That's settled then," Nino said briskly. He hesitated, thinking that it really, really wasn't much longer until their stupid bonds would move, but he let that go with decreasing reluctance and stayed in the moment instead. He squeezed Ohno's and Jun's hands. "Kiss and make up?"

Nino didn't think seeing Jun and Ohno kissing right in front of him was ever going to get old. Then Jun was kissing Nino, and wow, yeah, that wasn't so bad either, and then Ohno was crowding in close for his turn, and after a while Nino had to nudge the two of them back together so he could close his eyes and try to remember how to breathe.

When he opened his eyes, they had their foreheads pressed together, both breathing hard. Jun's hands were cradling Ohno's jaw, and Ohno had managed to find one of Nino's hands again even while distracted and was holding it like he'd never let go.

Just when Nino was starting to forget about what he'd been waiting for all day, the last four days, his whole life, just when he was ready to pull both of these people down on top of him and not let them up for a good long while, he felt a sudden shock, prickling sparks like the skin between his shoulder blades was experiencing something akin to fireworks, and everything he'd been waiting for shot back into his mind. This time it wasn't accompanied by anxiety, only anticipation, and a small, steady hope inside him that said either way they were going to be all right.

Another thought had Nino groaning loudly. "Why have I let you distract me when really I should've been getting you out of your clothes?"

Ohno said hazily, "Weren't we kind of moving toward... um, but, it feels like maybe we have to do this first?"

Jun reached and tried to claw at his own back, and Mihi came over to rub against his legs for comfort. Ranmaru hopped into the air and beat heavily with his wings once, twice, then was at Ohno's side. Nino had the irrelevant thought, what would my daemon have been? but then he felt the fireworks shifting, more like liquid fire along his skin. Instead of burning it lit him up from the inside out.

Nino said urgently, "Take my hands," and Ohno and Jun put their hands into his lap, all of them twined together like if they just held on to each other what they wanted to happen would come true.

There was a peek of blue from under Ohno's t-shirt, right against the soft skin of his inner arm, and Nino saw his own particular shade of yellow, the one he'd known all his life, appear close to his elbow. Jun's sleeves were longer, but Nino moved to push one up, because it had to be all of them, and there it was, a deeper purple than before.

Bonds moved slowly, but it was almost impossible to catch them at it--when Nino blinked the purple mark on Jun's skin was farther along than it had been before. They shifted along skin like the lazy twirl of a kaleidoscope, dizzying the eye if you tried to follow too closely. But another breath and Nino was sure.

He wasn't seeing one bond for each of them, but two. Pushing up Jun's other sleeve had revealed another owl--there were two dolphins gliding imperceptibly on Ohno's sun-brown skin--Nino's wrists each had the sleek yellow shape that was more like a Shiba Inu than not.

Nino let go of Jun's sleeve and wormed that hand back in with the others, all of them shaking.

Jun demanded, "Wait, what happens, you told me but I can't--"

But before anyone could answer, there was a tingling of Nino's fingers on both hands, and then the tingling changed, like it was at a different frequency than before. Except, no, it wasn't just different--it felt different between his right hand and his left, and Nino pulled away just enough to see that there was a purple owl gleaming on his left hand and a blue dolphin catching the light on his right.

He lifted his hands to look more closely, though a blink later and the bonds were on his wrists, and saw that when he tilted his arms back and forth, there was an obvious golden glint to both shapes, evidence of his having found the people he was bound for.

He dropped his hands and said vaguely, "Let me see," and Ohno held out his arms obligingly so Nino could see the blue glint on purple and on yellow, and he felt Jun grabbing his hands to do the same with Nino's new bonds. Ohno tugged away so he could push Jun's sleeves up quickly before the bonds were out of sight, and he let out a satisfied sigh as they saw the purple glint on yellow and on blue, each adorning Jun's pale skin for a dizzy moment before shifting further up and under his kimono.

"And... now what?" Jun said, sounding awed. He was inspecting Ohno's bonds, now, having pushed his short sleeves up to his shoulders.

"Now what?" Nino echoed, then shrugged, He was grinning so widely it almost hurt. "They keep gravitating until one of us dies is what."

Ohno shoved at Nino with his shoulder, chuckling, "Don't ruin it."

"I'll show you," Nino said, giving Ohno a quick smile before looking at Jun. He put his hand on Jun's shoulder and concentrated.

Ohno explained softly, "Normally bonds stay pretty close to our hearts. But if the person they came from are close, and you think about them enough..."

The beautiful purple owl slid slowly back down Nino's arm, movement unmistakable even as it was impossible to follow.

"Oh," Jun said, surprised, and leaned closer. "They really do move."

"Um, yes?" Ohno said with some confusion.

"He means the shape," Nino said. "The wings just changed position." As he said it, his mental state changed, and the deep purple bond started shifting back up his forearm. "Mine always had a tendency to stay around my upper back, close to my heart, like Oh-chan said, but his used to change around more often, and if anything--"

"Yeah, mine is here more often than not," Ohno said, putting a hand on his chest. "You just got lucky when you chose my back that time." He made a funny face at Jun, but Jun was too overwhelmed to laugh. Nino looked past him to check the state of his daemon, hoping Jun's emotional state was more positive than anxious, and found Mihi sprawled on the sofa at Jun's side, Ranmaru roosting against the glossy fur of her stomach, his feet tucked under him and neck resting back against his body with his long bill along his neck.

"Then, they only do that if you make them?" Jun asked. He was looking at his hands like he wasn't sure how he felt about his body now being the territory of these new marks.

"It's not that exact," Nino said. He took one of Jun's hands and brought it up to kiss the palm. "But usually it doesn't happen much unless you concentrate."

Ohno mirrored Nino's actions, his lips gentle on Jun's skin, and Jun shuddered, his discomfort with his body seeming to fade at least a bit at the stimulation.

Nino cleared his throat. "Then... we're doing this?" He dipped his head low in a bow, saying formally, "Please keep me in your care."

Ohno chuckled, mumbling simply, "Me too," but Jun bowed more deeply than Nino and repeated his words with sincerity.

Jun kept his head bent for longer than Nino felt was necessary. This seemed like an opportunity, so Nino pointed at Jun's head and said, "I cut his hair myself, you know."

Ohno sat up straight, saying, "Ah, I want to try!"

"Next time you should practice on each other before touching mine," Jun said as he straightened. His hands came up to run through his hair as if to check the style was still acceptable.

"Maybe some blond streaks?" Nino ventured.

"You should grow it out again," Mihi rumbled from Jun's side as if Nino hadn't spoken. "It won't help with negotiations for you to look like you're not even from our world."

"Ah," Jun said. His hands came to rest in his lap with a sense of formality. "Negotiations. That reminds me, Eiko-sama is coming back tomorrow, and after that I'll be gone for a while. I apologize to have to leave you so soon after our..." he hesitated, then carefully enunciated, "bonding."

It wasn't the word they usually used for it, which reminded Nino that if he'd been at home and this had happened, his mom would have insisted he have a gravitation shower. Still, Nino appreciated the effort.

"Actually, I will be as well," Nino said, deciding it on the spot. It had been sure to come eventually, but he might as well do it while Jun was gone, too. "I need to go home, talk to my family, arrange moving all my shit. I'll leave my car here and take the train, so the traveling part will be quick, but I don't know how long it'll take otherwise."

Ohno nodded gravely. "I also have many important things to do."

Nino and Jun looked at him expectantly.

Ohno held up one finger, then another. "Fast internet. Giant beds."

Nino said seriously, "I wish you the best of luck on your mission, Ohno-san." Jun clapped Ohno on the shoulder in seeming agreement.

There was a moment when it seemed like no one was sure what to say, but then Ohno said hesitantly, "But not tonight, right?"

Jun smiled. "No, we'll all be here tonight."

"We already had a taco party for lunch," Nino mused. "What can we do for dinner?"

Ohno made a thinking face, then said, "Leftover taco party."

Jun grumbled, "Leftovers aren't special."

"Ah," Nino said, remembering something mentioned during his tour. "We could get takeout--apparently there are a couple of restaurants in Hatsukaichi that specialize in anago." He stage-whispered to Ohno, "Jun-kun would dump both of us for anago, be careful."

Jun lifted his chin as if he were being the bigger person despite Nino's foolishness. "I personally feel that anago is even better with the right companions." He let go of the pompous demeanor to grin at Nino. "Like road trips."

Ohno didn't bother asking about any of that, just said contentedly, "Anago, yum."

Nino slid one arm around Ohno's shoulder and the other around Jun's waist. "Well. With that decided." He pulled them in a little closer, then closer still, ignoring Jun's huff at having to do an ungainly maneuver with his legs caught in the fabric of his kimono.

Ranmaru said, "I think I'll move," and hopped down off the sofa as Mihi said, "Hm?" A moment later she was leaping off to avoid being landed on as Nino toppled over sideways, bringing his loves with him. He landed not quite where he wanted to be, so he wriggled up the cushions as Ohno laughed behind him, moving to press firmly against him, and Jun flailed the arm not trapped under Nino in a bid not to fall to the floor with Mihi.

Then Ohno was nosing against the back of Nino's neck, Nino reaching back to grope the butt he'd missed for so long, and then Jun was pushing a leg between Nino's, reaching across to slide a hand up Ohno's shirt--losing his balance, tipping over, dropping heavily to the floor with a curse at his arm twisting awkwardly where it was caught behind him.

Nino started to sit up so Jun could right himself, but then Ohno gave him a shove from behind and Nino, too, went tumbling off the sofa. Luckily it was easily slow-motion enough that he managed to land in a way that didn't hurt himself or Jun. Just as he was going to chastise Ohno for the push, Ohno leapt gracefully over them, then cuddled in close with a kiss first on Nino's cheek, then Jun's.

"Until I complete the bed mission, maybe the floor?" he offered.

Nino sighed, "Logic again," and leaned down to press his lips to Jun's for a second. Ohno made a pleased noise, moving in yet closer, and soon they were all connected again, Nino's hand cradling Jun's jaw, nose brushing against Ohno's, Jun's arm pulling Ohno in by the waist, his thighs cradling Nino's hips, Ohno's hand stealing up Jun's shirt, tongue sliding into Nino's mouth.

Nino was faintly aware that the sofa was soon occupied by the daemons again. Right then, the floor was good enough for him.

~~~

Though Nino had thought it would take longer, it was only three days before he was back on Miyajima.

Day Twenty

After the glorious haze of the day before, waking up in his twin bed again was kind of a letdown, so Nino went and crawled in with Ohno. (Crawling in with Jun in the morning without prior permission was not to be contemplated.) Perhaps an hour later, Jun came to rouse them and they all went to wash off together before breakfast. Hands wandered as if they were all reminding themselves that this was real, but it stopped at wandering because no one wanted to be mid-coitus when the witches arrived. After breakfast, the eerie gut punch that was a group of witches appeared, and Nino gathered himself to retreat to the bedroom to do his own planning. As it turned out, however, having heard about him from Jun the witches wanted to consult with Nino. Ohno went to work with the alethiometer and Jun said he'd get started on their packing so Nino wouldn't be delayed. Nino, alone with six piercingly wise and inhumanly self-possessed women, felt like he was on a hallucinogenic drug. It was too much to ask people so implacably uncanny to sit on Ohno's mundane sofa, but he managed to eke out the suggestion that they talk on the porch. They spent an hour questioning him. While he never got more comfortable, his words started coming out more smoothly. Jun's upcoming work required an operative to be stationed by the door he'd come in through, the one in Nino's neighborhood park, and they were full of questions of how this person could live there and how communication could be handled. Nino ended up unlocking his phone and holding it out with trembling hands for Eiko. He half-expected it to explode at one touch of her bloodless hands. Eiko looked only for a moment at the phone before passing it back to him and expressing that if Nino felt it were suitable as a communication device, she would trust him. As they were wrapping up their interrogation, Nino was overcome by the need to do more for them, like what little he had was theirs for the taking, and he stumblingly offered his family home as a location for their operative to live, at least until they found their footing in Nino's world. At this all of the witches' eyes zeroed in on him, making him shake with awe and more than a little fear. Finally the barest shift of Eiko's expression conveyed her approval, and Nino found he was even more terrified of her when she smiled.

One of the witches left then, and Nino was sent to tell Jun he was needed to talk with the others. Glad to escape, Nino complied, finding that Jun had finished packing all of their things and was having a tense conversation with Mihi about what their plan of action should be in the coming days. When he had the room to himself, Nino collapsed on his bed for a while, feeling like one puny human unused to the ways of witches should not have been subjected to what he'd just experienced. And yet, it had been strangely beautiful. Nino could see why Ohno worked for these witches, because just being in their presence he could feel their sublime strength and incorruptibility. Still, when it came time to leave it was a relief to know he'd have a break from the overwhelming wonderment of witches. Jun and Ohno helped him carry his things to the parking area by the beach where Aiba was to meet them to take Nino to the ferry. (It turned out Ohno had been close friends with Aiba all along, and he was endlessly smug about having tricked him into taking Aiba's tour and becoming his friend, too.) Despite the innate curiosity Nino sensed in Aiba, he seemed to have reached a point in his friendship with Ohno that he knew when not to ask questions, so when Ohno and Nino walked over and asked him to wait in the car without looking back at them, he did. Jun came over then with Mihi sinuously padding behind him, and Ohno and Jun and Nino said their temporary goodbyes. This caution turned out to be for nothing when the next instant a witch flew (flew!) up to them on some sort of stick (?!) from the direction Aiba was looking.

And so Nino found out that he was to travel back to his hometown with a witch, a taciturn, forbidding witch whose name he remembered, as he'd made himself memorize each witch's name so as not to give offense accidentally, was Mitsuki. She was smaller than Eiko, but she had the same feeling of serene ferocity, as well as the long cloud of black hair Nino associated with witches. Nino wanted to argue but couldn't even get the words out. Instead he managed to ask politely if she needed to retrieve any belongings, making Jun and Ohno snort in laughter behind them. Mitsuki held up her stick and said nothing. Aiba, now out of the car and goggling openly, was looking about on the verge of keeling over at the sight of a panther and a wraithlike woman wearing only a shredded kimono, but the witch's aura didn't give him the space to ask questions. A journey Nino would never be able to fully describe ensued, from the surreal drive to the ferry, Aiba sweating bullets and driving at about half the speed limit, the ferry trip, during which Nino's state of shock was such that it was the only boat ride he'd have in his life without seasickness, five hours of riding with Mitsuki on the train, for which she didn't bother to purchase a ticket, and how no one but Nino noticed she was there, to the final bus ride to Nino's house, when she slipped out in between two unsuspecting businesswomen, having said only that she would see him the next day. Nino got home around dinnertime, but it was all he could do to text Ohno and his mom that he'd arrived safely before collapsing into his own bed and seeking solace in sleep.

Day Twenty-one

Nino's mom came over the next morning, whooping over his settled bonds, tearing up as he told her about Ohno, laughing at his travel tale of terror, getting quiet as he repeated in person that he'd be leaving, laying a hand on his as he haltingly communicated how happy he was and how adrift. He hadn't had doubts in Ohno's house, what would be their house, but while he wasn't doubting now, he was remembering all the things he was about to give up. His house, his neighborhood, his favorite takeout restaurants, the library he'd gone to as a kid, the park where he'd played baseball, the streets he knew like the back of his hand, the freedom to come and go as just another person who belonged there, with nothing to hide. And the people. But his mom sat him down and put a glass of water in front of him, wondering aloud when she'd raised someone who only looked at the negative side of change, and by the time she was done reminding him of all he was gaining he was laughing and holding his hands up in surrender. He told her he'd be more positive as long as she promised to visit often, and she said she did as long as he did, too. It wasn't even half a day's trip on the train, and while Nino felt badly that Ohno couldn't leave, he knew Ohno wouldn't want him to give this up, so he promised wholeheartedly. She was helping him decide what he would take back with him and what he'd leave for the movers when Mitsuki materialized. (Well, she actually knocked on the door, but the effect was somehow the same.) Nino's mom seemed to fall in some sort of awestruck platonic love with Mitsuki at first sight. Mitsuki, grim as she was, let his mom come closer to her than Nino could manage, and actually deigned to respond to a few of her questions, albeit with one-word answers. Nino explained as best he could about his letting Mitsuki stay in his (their) house and how she'd be working between here, where she'd communicate with Jun on Miyajima, and Jun's world through the door in the park. (The location of the door, Nino realized, would be no barrier to a witch.)

Nino's mom thought about this while she and Nino packed a suitcase with necessities (mostly his PlayStation 4 Pro and Switch) and Mitsuki floated around the house staring with spectral preoccupation at everything she came across. When his mom finished dusting off the empty shelves where his most favored gaming equipment had been, Mitsuki was in front of her, waiting, making Nino jump about out of his skin. Somehow, his mom seemed to have been waiting for this, though, and she smiled and said that if Mitsuki were amenable, she'd like to move in here and help her adjust to this world and her mission. Nino couldn't help babbling protests--why should his mother get involved in other worlds and their issues?--but Mitsuki took his mom's hand, making Nino shudder like a cold wind had passed over him, and looked at her steadily. Since it was his mom, even with a witch deeming it settled Nino made himself ask if she was sure, and why, but she said she'd thought she might move back to this house ever since she'd heard he was moving out, because she'd gotten the pleasure she wanted out of her more urban apartment and was ready for a change. This didn't convince Nino, but she added that she thought she'd be good at this, useful, and that Nino wasn't the only one up for adventure. Nino had never considered himself up for adventure, but he couldn't argue with her logic otherwise. His unease at leaving a witch in his hometown faded some knowing his mom would look after her, and vice versa. Mitsuki hovered nearby while Nino helped his mom make dinner, and unbent so far as to nod when his mom offered to teach her to cook with their world's ways. (Somehow this idea made Nino wish there could be a documentary crew focused on his mom and Mitsuki so he could follow their weird adventures safely from Miyajima.)

Day Twenty-two

Nino spent a full day seeing everyone he could fit in. He had breakfast with Koyuki and Ken-chan and their kids, dropped in to terrorize Katsumi at his office job, then went to spend several hours with his sister. She whacked him more than once, saying he had not kept her sufficiently up to date on his life developments, but after she'd interrogated him, and he'd answered with no doubt irritating vagueness in some areas but earnestly in others, she seemed to see how happy he was. Then she cried, and scolded him that he should be crying, too, to lose such an excellent sister as her, but Nino only hugged her and told her she'd never lose him. He dropped in on the recreational baseball team he'd played on the last few years, getting his stomach upset by being tossed in the air in celebration over his gravitation to loud cheering, then went over to Toma's for dinner, finding Haruka and Hiroshi, Mikako, Erika, Akiyoshi and Riisa, and even his old boss Endo there to surprise him. It was almost too much, but they were all people he'd known a long time and would miss terribly, so he let himself be the center of attention and soaked them all in while he could.

When he got home he had to call Ohno to remind himself why he was leaving. It was harder than he'd thought to say goodbye, even in a world with smartphones and absurdly fast trains, but Ohno let him talk it out, not seeming hurt. When Nino was gripping his phone silently, trying to orient himself in a world that had shifted out from under him, Ohno finally spoke, saying softly that Nino should take his time, then in the next breath telling him to come home soon. Nino huffed out a laugh, asking which Ohno meant, but Ohno said he meant both, and that he loved Nino and would wait for him, and for Jun, for as long as they needed. Nino was distracted by the mention of Jun, wondering if Ohno'd had any word, but Ohno knew no more than Nino did, which was that Ohno had taken Jun and Mihi in the rowboat to the door above the rippling waves out past the beach with Takanosuura Shrine, guided by Eiko and the other witches, the same day Nino had left. Nino realized Ohno had just nonchalantly mentioned loving him, which was something they hadn't said yet, so before they hung up he blurted out that he loved Ohno, too, and would be home soon. When he went downstairs, his mom was at the kitchen table with a beer. Nino spent the rest of his time with her, talking about old times and laughing, and she said she'd be calling him a lot with questions about this witch he'd saddled her with, and though her phrasing was purposefully inaccurate, he let it go in favor of agreeing that frequent phone calls were necessary for many reasons. On her third beer she made him show her his bonds, taking an embarrassing amount of pictures that he dearly hoped she wasn't going to send to all her friends, then ordered him to consider this house one of his homes forever and to come back whenever he wanted. Nino nodded, swallowing hard despite her put-on bluster, and thanked her for raising him, just to see her get flustered and have to rub suspiciously at her eyes. (Also, because he meant it.)

Day Twenty-three

When Nino went downstairs on the fourth day, he found his mom briskly practical and his bags by the door. Mitsuki was whispering to her stick (broom?) on the living room floor, but his mom told her matter-of-factly that they needed space, and somehow the witch obediently went out into the yard, as if she'd accepted that humans had weird needs but at least this one human communicated properly about them. Nino's mom told him she'd take care of the rest, hiring the movers and making sure they got everything he needed to his new home, or at least close enough that he could do the rest in multiple trips in his car, and while Nino was resistant at first, she told him that it wasn't going to get any easier so he might as well rip the bandaid off. Plus, she added, he had two people who'd be happy to help him lick his wounds, and that was a horrifying enough thing to hear from his mother that Nino just nodded jerkily and agreed she could take him to the train station after breakfast. She had a tendency to be right about things like this anyway.

The trip back to Miyajima was lightning fast in comparison to his slow road trip with Jun, and a complete breeze in comparison to traveling with a witch, and before he knew it he was getting off the ferry in Hatsukaichi. He expected Aiba there to pick him up, but instead he saw a handsome man in a suit holding up a sign that said NINO YAY! with a very Aiba feeling to it. Nino found out this was Aiba's and Ohno's friend Sho, who was some kind of lawyer and had kind eyes. Nino liked him immediately, quickly so comfortable as to say that he much preferred Sho's company to Aiba's, and Sho took it as he meant it, laughing in a way that made his eyes sparkle. By the time he dropped Nino off at the parking area by the beach, looking concerned as Nino said this was far enough, they were exchanging contact information and making plans for karaoke. Nino thanked Sho for both the ride and their nascent friendship, as he was now two friends up on Ohno and planned to lord it over him mercilessly, and Sho bowed gravely before laughing loudly again like he couldn't help himself. He agreed to tell Aiba that Nino had fallen asleep on the ferry and gotten reported as a suspicious person before waving and driving off.

~~~

Nino didn't haul his luggage the rest of the way down the road immediately.

There was a grassy area with thankfully no sand in sight near the parking area, and he spotted a couple of aging picnic tables there that looked like a good place to rest and think.

Nino didn't care that much about the beautiful view, but it was beautiful, he could acknowledge it--the blue water lit by the clear day, the small islands sleeping in the distance, the way the endless wooded hills behind him seemed to cushion this space from the rest of the world. As a place to take a moment before a turning point in one's life, it did nicely.

He settled on the least decrepit picnic table, glad it didn't feel damp as he sat on the bench and leaned back gingerly. He got out his phone and took his time composing messages to the people he'd seen in his hometown, thanking them and letting them know he'd reached his destination. He thought about texting Ohno, too, but soon enough Nino would be home and could let him know in person that there'd be no getting rid of him from now on. That is, if Ohno were home; Nino considered seeing which way his bond would gravitate, but he decided to let it be.

After staring off across the water and letting his mind wander for two or three minutes, he got bored and played a few rounds of his matching game. This had his eyes straying to his suitcase. If he got to the house and set things up he could be playing games within the hour.

He was just thinking about getting up and gathering his stuff to go when he felt someone's presence.

Nino put his phone away and turned unhurriedly to look at Ohno.

He found him at another of the picnic tables, bent over a large sketchbook. Perhaps because he was thinking about Nino as he drew, the yellow bond that had been Nino's since he was a week old was there on the closer hand. After probably thirty seconds of intent drawing, Ohno looked up to find Nino looking back at him. Ohno went still as if he expected to be shooed away.

Nino lifted an eyebrow. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Ohno's blank face attained the slightest hint of a smile, but he said in a monotone, "Drawing you."

Nino huffed loudly and muttered, "Creepy!" He started shifting like he was going to stand up.

"Wait," Ohno said. "I'm not done."

Nino stopped moving, but didn't relax his weight back against the table. He wanted to hear what Ohno would say next.

"Maybe ten minutes and I'll be finished." Ohno paused before adding shamelessly, "I like your face."

Nino laughed and exclaimed, "And? I'm not waiting around here while some pervert eyeballs me." But as he looked over at Ohno again, he felt his expression soften. What a hapless weirdo this person had always been, and oh, Nino liked it.

"Nino, please? I'll buy you a drink from the vending machine, okay?"

There was an echo of the bewildering thumping of Nino's heart that he'd felt that first day to find that Ohno, the quiet older kid from school he liked the feeling of but had never found a reason to talk to, somehow knew his name. From the first day of school he'd been drawn to Ohno's shy smile, the way he walked, both unassuming and self-assured, and how he didn't laugh along when people's jokes turned mean. Nino hadn't considered that the older boy he was drawn to might be drawn to him as well, but from that first meeting he'd sensed that whatever it was in him that was pulled to Ohno, there was something in Ohno that reciprocated.

The nearest vending machine was probably half an hour's drive away, but Nino ducked his head, now unconsciously continuing the reenactment they'd been staging, and let Ohno draw him. Ohno's gaze was as warm as the mid-afternoon sun on his skin.

Ohno's voice came quietly at last: "Done."

When Nino had been fifteen and caught Ohno drawing him the first time, this had been the point when he'd badgered Ohno to let him see the picture, poked at him with words and then sneaky fingers until they were elbowing each other over the sketchpad and laughing and chasing each other around the deserted skateboard park where Nino had come to read a book. But Nino was more patient now, and he just looked at Ohno, smiling.

After a moment of this, a moment of his heart feeling perilously content, Nino said, "Ready to go home?" and Ohno nodded. He got up and came over to take the handle of Nino's suitcase.

Nino shouldered his backpack and looked out once more at Hiroshima Bay. As if his attention was a signal, a person fell through an invisible doorway in the air, dropping what looked to be about two meters and hitting the water with a splash. A lithe black shape followed, but Nino didn't need that clue to know what he was seeing.

"Shit, Oh-chan!" he said, shaking Ohno by the shoulder, and Ohno squinted in the direction of the noise. "Jun just came through. Can people in his world swim? Do we need to rescue him?"

Ohno's surprise gave way to a guilty look. "Ah. I was supposed to row out there to meet him."

Nino, distracted, tried to picture Jun jumping down into an old rowboat, then shook his head to focus back on the current situation. "Do we need to rescue him or not?!"

"Nah," Ohno said, pointing. Nino looked, and there was a dark shape in the water moving steadily toward land. There didn't appear to be any panicking going on by anyone but Nino, so he assumed both Jun and Mihi would be able to make it to shore without their assistance.

With that settled, Nino shifted tacks to say provokingly, "Oooh, you are going to be in so much trouble."

"Yeah," Ohno sighed. "I came early to draw but then you were here and I forgot. Oh, but look..."

It was much easier to find Jun's shape now, and Nino could make out Mihi as well, but it took him a minute to realize what Ohno was reacting to. Then he realized that the swimming figure looked different, part of it pale and harder to see against the water, and his mind caught up with a snap and realized that Jun had stripped off the layers of his kimono from the waist up, probably to make it easier to swim.

Nino thought distractedly that it didn't sound fun to drag that much sodden fabric around in the ocean. Without taking his eyes from Jun, he took off his backpack and put it by the picnic table again, then walked toward the beach. This seemed like a view that would be worth the sand.

Ohno hooked an arm through Nino's and walked along beside him, both of them fixated on just the same point in the distance. They reached the area in front of Takanosuura Shrine just as Jun was able to stand up and walk the rest of the way, and Nino heard Ohno say, "Hmmmm," in a way that had nothing to do with thinking and everything to do with mindless appreciation.

Nino concurred. Jun was visibly in a temper, but it only added to the picture--a muscular, half-naked warrior rising from the waves, pale skin glistening, features striking, absurd shoulder to waist ratio emphasized by the clothes hanging from his hips. This time, Nino noticed, Jun really did have a sword at his side. Now that Nino couldn't imagine being afraid of him, Jun with a sword was kind of...

"I used to watch him doing his exercises every morning," Ohno breathed. "Jun-chan with a sword, the best."

"Do you think we can get him to do them dressed like that?" Nino asked, gesturing urgently at Jun as if Ohno weren't already staring. "And then we get a bucket and fill it with water, and--"

"But maybe," Ohno said dreamily, "let's not make him angry when he has the sword."

Eyes widening, Nino elbowed Ohno in the side. "Um, too late, Oh-chan."

Jun hit the sand and didn't slow, just strode angrily toward them with his dark hair slicked back and kimono a sodden heap impeding his progress. Mihi stopped and shook herself violently. She was close enough now that Nino could hear her growling.

Nino took a prudent few steps away from Ohno, who made a belated attempt to pull him back. He was still reaching out futilely toward Nino when Jun barreled into him.

Nino winced, expecting Ohno to go flying, but it turned out Jun had wrapped his arms around Ohno, keeping him from falling even as he made impact. Now that the initial clash was over, it looked more like Jun was embracing Ohno than anything else.

Mihi came up as Nino took a cautious step closer. She sat a few paces from Jun and Ohno, and Nino stopped next to her with a hesitant greeting. She didn't answer, so Nino tried Jun next.

"Welcome back, Jun-kun. So, well, yes, that was... anyway. Are we good?" Despite his genuine concern, he was distracted by admiring Jun's bonds, one on each shoulder blade. The next moment he shifted his gaze temporarily as the blue one started wavering dizzyingly over Jun's shoulder toward Ohno.

"We are good," Jun said ominously. "Satoshi-kun forgot to come get me, but he's not the one who tripped me with cloud-pine and sent me toppling into another world's ocean."

"Um," Nino said, mind working, but Jun continued to Ohno, "So wet clothes are enough revenge for you. Accept it with courage."

"I accept," Ohno mumbled. He had his arms wrapped around Jun and didn't seem to mind the wetness in the slightest.

It probably wasn't wise to ask, but Nino had to know. "Which witch, exactly, is the one who did that?"

"Eri-sama," Jun said, his voice not so different from Mihi's growl. "Though she'll never admit it and I won't be able to get revenge, because, you know, she's a witch. We were waiting and waiting but Captain never came, and I guess she got impatient because the next thing I knew her cloud-pine was in front of me and her hand on my back and--Mihi, are you all right?"

"It seems I made it through fast enough that we have no ill effects." Something in her clipped tone made Nino feel like she had a lot more she wanted to say, and none of it pleasant.

Nino, on the other hand, was settling down as he looked at Jun and Ohno. When Sho had dropped him off, Nino had expected not to see Ohno until reaching the house, and there hadn't been any warning that Jun would be back so early. But now it was sinking in that he was here, and they were here, and they'd all be going home, together.

"Jun-kun," Nino said, unable to stop himself. He really didn't like the sand situation, and the idea of getting wet right then was appalling, but... "If I said that I was supposed to remind Oh-chan to go get you, would you have to get revenge on me, too?"

Jun let Ohno go to turn to Nino. "Is that the case?"

Nino smiled. "No," he admitted and held his arms open for Jun. Jun's remaining fierce look melted away in a goofy smile and he walked into Nino's arms and held him close.

Nino closed his eyes, breathing Jun (or, well, salt water) in, feeling him solid against Nino's body, his breathing steady. "Welcome home, Jun-kun."

Jun let out a long breath before holding Nino tighter still. (Nino's jeans getting soaked, which was as unpleasant a sensation as he'd expected, but the feeling of Jun was enough to make up for it, and then some.) "I'm home. How long have you been back?"

"Actually," Nino began, but then Ohno said behind Jun, "My clothes are wet." He didn't sound surprised, exactly, but it was clear that he hadn't started to feel a dislike of his predicament until Jun stopped holding him.

Jun stepped away from Nino. Nino didn't like to let him go, and not just because the breeze against his wet clothes was horrid, but the next moment Jun took Nino's hand. He looked away while he did it, his attempt at nonchalance unable to cover a bit of shyness, and Nino's heart stumbled.

"I don't like this," Ohno said sadly.

Jun snorted. "That's why it's revenge. Can we get to the house already?"

"C'mon, Oh-chan," Nino said, holding out his free hand. "Let's go home, yeah?"

"Everything's squishy."

"Yes, yes," Jun said. He started pulling Nino along toward the house.

"Ah, wait," Nino said and pulled Jun and Ohno the other direction. "My stuff." A thought occurred to him and he looked Jun up and down again. (Then one more time, unable to help himself. The physical attraction was bad enough, but the gleaming blue bond settled over Jun's heart was a particularly unfair blow to Nino's emotions.) "Do you not have stuff?"

Jun shrugged. "All the possessions I left behind are in Nippon, half a world away from this door. Even if an airship came that far north, it'd be a journey of many days."

Somehow this had Ohno perking up and saying, "I got the house ready! Jun-chan, I thought you could have the big bedroom."

"And you?" Jun asked, going with the change of topic. He was weak to Ohno.

"I thought Nino and I could share," Ohno said. He seemed to realize then that he probably should have consulted about this, saying hesitantly, "If that's okay? I got the giant bed for the big room, but I left the twin beds in the guest room."

"I don't mind," Nino said, smiling at Ohno. "For the times I want to sleep alone, a twin bed suffices for those of us with low standards." He turned his smile on Jun.

"If it doesn't bother you," Jun said uncertainly. "I guess I wouldn't want to share all the time, but it does seem kind of..."

"The giant bed is for all of us," Ohno said. "Just, if you need space, then it'll be your room. And you'll have space for your--wait, you don't have any stuff."

"Movers'll bring the rest of my stuff, but I don't really have that much either," Nino said. "It's not like we have to hurry to fill up the space, though, right?"

"I'll get rid of some of my stuff too," Ohno said with determination, which wasn't what Nino had meant. But Jun squeezed his hand, hearing Nino's unhurriedness for the happiness it was.

Nino didn't want to squelch Ohno's sudden enthusiasm for decluttering, but he did want to get his feeling across to Ohno as well. He thought as he pulled on his backpack, Ohno grabbing his suitcase again before Jun could, resting his sketchbook on the long handle. Nino said, "If it turns out we need to rearrange how we do things with the house, I think that's okay, right? We have time."

Jun smiled at him, but Ohno said with faux grimness, "One house. Endless combinations," as if he were the narrator for a movie preview.

Nino sighed gustily and decided to let it go, but Jun said, "Satoshi-kun, focus." Nino wasn't sure that Jun knew what Ohno was referencing, but Jun was getting good at letting references he didn't understand go.

They started off down the road, which seemed to hardly ever have cars, as Ohno said a beat late, "On what," his tone and way of walking making it seem like all he was focusing on were his wet clothes.

"We're moving in together right now?" Jun said. "Some of us are maybe feeling like that's meaningful."

As they walked, the canopy of trees shading their way, Ohno was quiet for a minute or two and had a more serious demeanor. Nino took the opportunity to be grateful that for all his wet jeans and damp shirt, at least his socks and shoes were dry, which had him wondering how Jun could walk so gracefully in the soaked mass of fabric wrapped around his lower body.

Somehow this had him thinking of something he'd never heard much about from Jun, so after checking that Ohno didn't seem near speaking, he said, "What do you do with that sword, anyway?"

Jun's brow furrowed. "What do people usually do with swords?"

"Kill people," Nino said lightly, then swallowed. This might be a question he regretted asking. From the beginning he'd categorized Jun in his mind as a warrior sort of person, but he hadn't thought enough about what that actually meant.

"To be permitted to carry a sword like this was an honor I had to earn. There were times and places where I needed it to protect myself and those I was with, and while it's falling out of favor, there is still the chance I will be called upon to fight with someone who feels I have disrespected them. Having this with me, it's a sign that I take myself and those I interact with seriously, and am prepared to show it." Jun paused for a second, then added, "Here it does seem unnecessary, but this sword, replacing the one I left behind, was a gift from Eiko-sama. Witches don't give unnecessary gifts."

Nino considered Jun's words, feeling for the first time the weight of someone giving up their way of life, literally their world, to be with him and with Ohno. Jun had talked to Nino once about having been raised to think he might end up living somewhere far away to serve his emperor. He and his family had parted with that same resolve when he left on his mission despite his not being able to tell them all of the particulars. Even so, it wasn't like Jun had been raised knowing he'd leave his own world. Nino's sacrifice paled in comparison.

Jun said quietly, "The door to my world is close, though my home, through it, isn't. Perhaps she gave me this sword so that I don't forget which one I belong to." He looked down at Mihi, and she was looking up at him.

Nino didn't know how to respond to this. It felt like the kind of thing Jun, and by extension Nino and Ohno, would be dealing with for years. On a lighter note, he was glad to be able to classify Jun down from potentially bloodstained warrior to a samurai diplomat capable of violence without being prone to it.

Not seeming to have heard what they were saying, Ohno said suddenly, "It doesn't feel real."

"What doesn't, Oh-chan?" Nino asked. Ahead, the house was coming into sight. It wasn't familiar, not yet, but he was willing to make the effort to make it his home.

"After I went to Jun-chan's world, I stopped thinking I was bound for anyone, and now I'm here, and you're here, both of you. And now you're moving in and I got the giant bed and maybe you can figure out the internet 'cause I dunno, Nino, but, and you're both back faster than I thought, and I can't go home."

Jun seemed taken aback, but Nino saw the connection. "You want to see your mom. Seeing my mom, talking to her about this, it helped it feel real to me, too." A corner of his mind realized he shouldn't have tasked Ohno with the internet problem when it wasn't like Ohno could call a technician to their house, but he filed that problem away to deal with later.

Jun said hesitantly, "But the smartphone?"

"In person is better," Nino said, putting words to the slump of Ohno's shoulders. "Shall we invite her for a visit? Ah, but we don't have a guest room, now."

"She has a bedroom here, don't worry!" Ohno was already starting to look more cheerful at the idea of seeing his mom.

"You have another bedroom?" Somehow this was more surprising to Nino than it should have been. "Not your studio?"

"You must've seen it during the tour," Ohno said. "Ah, I forgot to give you the tour. There's her bedroom and another one, too, one upstairs and one back past my studio."

Nino had assumed both of those doors were closets. Clearly he'd been too dazzled by Jun and Ohno and bonding and everything to pay attention to his surroundings. "What kind of bed does it have?" he said. "Why did you put me and Jun-kun in the twin bed room? Wait, why are we going to share--"

"How do we make it real, Satoshi-kun?" Jun interrupted. "I don't like that. I don't like going in that door and having it be like we're not on the same page."

Nino glanced at Ohno, who blinked big eyes at Jun before whispering to Nino, "You don't want to share?" Before Nino could answer, he looked back to Jun and said, "I'm sorry." He looked like he didn't know what else to say.

Nino asked suddenly, "Where's Ranmaru?"

"Huh?" Ohno said, a little put-upon to have yet another question directed his way.

They were almost to the steps up to the porch now. Nino stopped walking. "It's just, I feel like your daemon should be here, too."

"You're right," Jun said. Despite his uncomfortable physical state, he assumed a stance that made it clear he wouldn't be going another step until he was ready.

Ohno looked confused. "Why? Going in the house has to be perfect? Wasn't gravitating the big moment?"

Nino was getting a headache. Ohno's tone was verging on frustration, and Jun had crossed his arms over his chest. Nino hadn't considered before that a relationship with three people involved might mean there were more times when they felt out of sync, but he was considering it now.

Behind them, Ranmaru said, "You came back too soon."

They all turned to see the pelican. Nino honestly was nowhere near reading pelican emotions, so he looked at Ohno again instead. Ohno looked a little ashamed.

Nino gathered up his patience. Ohno wouldn't act like this unless it was important. He thought aloud, "You used to live alone, and now we're here. You thought you'd have more time to process before we came back?"

"I want you here," Ohno said in a small voice. "I promise."

"We know, Satoshi-kun," Jun said. He reached out and laid a hand on Ohno's shoulder. "I'm sorry for pushing."

"Well, we're here now," Nino said. "But we could move back the... whatever Jun-kun and I thought this was. Let's officially move in tomorrow! Or the next day, that's fine, too. We can figure these things out, Oh-chan."

"Ah," Ohno said, looking like something was shifting into place in his mind. "We've got time. I get it." He smiled at Nino, some of his tension slipping away. "I like that."

Nino huffed like he was annoyed before stepping in and kissing Ohno soundly. Jun's arms went around both of them, awkward around Nino's backpack, and he kissed Ohno next.

Mihi said, "Where do you go all the time?" Nino peered over Jun's shoulder to find her addressing Ranmaru.

Ranmaru said solemnly, "I have to be free." The honking noise after might've been a pelican laugh.

Then Jun was turning to Nino, and Nino kissed him at once, his headache seeming to fade (though probably he should take some painkillers when they finally got inside--kissing wouldn't work forever).

A few minutes later, they were going up the steps.

Ohno said, "Oh, this does feel like a big deal."

Jun laughed. "Too late, Captain. We've already decided it isn't."

"We'll all feel what we feel," Nino said, "and so be it, because we have got to get in and get dry."

"Good point," Ohno said with sudden seriousness. The fastidious way he was walking showed loud and clear that he could barely handle the wetness another second. "I'm ready."

"Me too," Jun said. He looked at Nino, like he was confirming they were all okay.

Nino smiled. "Let's do it."

He was thinking that maybe they'd only ever have perfect moments by accident. But this messy moment, and all the ones in the years to come, were moments they'd be in together.

~~~

Epilogue (Day 384)

Nino woke up in his own bed for the first time in three days.

They'd all been sleeping in the king, as the giant bed in Jun's room had been christened, ever since Jun got home, maybe because they'd all been feeling a little desperate for time together, all three of them. A trip home for Nino was an hour to Miyajimaguchi Station on the mainland and five hours on various trains, or an hour or two shorter with a method combining driving, a flight, and a train from Haneda airport, a method Nino had learned from experience wasn't worth the saved time. A trip home for Jun, however, was twelve hours in a car he couldn't drive, spread out over the fewest number of days Nino could do it, an extremely awkward trip with Mitsuki on her cloud-pine to the door in the park, and then it was the mountains, the swamps, the bugs for weeks of arduous travel on foot, all of which he had to repeat on the way back.

Therefore, when Jun decided to make the trip home, it was for two months; therefore, now that he was back after more than three months away, Nino and Ohno were all over him.

Nino had enjoyed the days of desperation--making delicious meals and taking their time eating at a nicely set table, hearing all about Jun's trip and how his family and friends were doing at home, finding the mood could switch in a moment to one where they couldn't keep their hands off each other--but it was nice to get uninterrupted sleep on his own in his familiar twin bed, too.

He looked over and saw Ohno still conked out, Ranmaru roosting in a blanket nest on Ohno's back. Nino sneaked out and to the bathroom before going downstairs. Usually Jun was the last one awake, but today Nino found him already up and in the kitchen, squinting at the back of a box of pancake mix.

Nino went over for a good morning kiss, smiling into it as he felt Mihi rubbing against his legs in greeting.

"Did Oh-chan say when he was giving you his present?" Nino asked as he took a seat at the table.

Jun started rummaging through the fridge. "Not yet. I assume it's that massive thing under the tarp in the trees out back? Also, from how he said it, I thought it was from both of you."

"I helped plan it," Nino conceded, "but he did all the physical labor."

"Have you been using your present?" Jun asked. As he was putting the milk and eggs on the table, he took the opportunity to drop a kiss on Nino's neck under his ear. Nino shivered, a hand coming up to slide into Jun's hair. His mind was suddenly cognizant of the temptation to put off the pancake-making and take Jun upstairs instead, maybe wake up Ohno...

But Jun was moving away to the fruit bowl, so Nino answered, "All the time, thank you."

It had only been a few days before Jun had gone on his visit when one day Jun and Ohno herded Nino down the hallway past Ohno's studio. The small bedroom back there was one Nino had only seen into once. He'd found it crowded with Ohno's painting supplies and finished paintings that hadn't yet sold, with furniture that was clearly there because it hadn't been chosen for areas actually in use. But on that day, after much sneaking on the part of Ohno and Jun and much looking the other direction by Nino, he'd opened the door to find a Nino-focused room, with a desk and ergonomic chair at which he could work on one side, and a big TV and comfortable sofa on the other for him to play games. They hadn't actually moved his computer or gaming systems, both having lacked confidence that they could get everything hooked back up properly, but otherwise it was complete, just waiting for Nino.

Thinking of his den, Nino got up and went to retrieve his phone. He'd left it there charging overnight on the desk next to Jun's MP3 player, which he and Nino were due to add new music to again. Being reminded of this space he'd been given had Nino looking around with renewed appreciation--he loved his bookshelves, the forest view through his window, the blanket his mom had bought him years ago, the art hanging on the walls. Ohno had picked out three of his own paintings for Nino.

Nino stared at one painting after another, wondering again why Ohno had chosen these ones. When he went back to the kitchen and found Ohno slumped over at the table, he asked.

"Your paintings are questions, right, Oh-chan? What are the ones in the den?" He'd asked before, and he got the sense that if he kept asking, someday Ohno would answer.

Ohno turned his head just far enough to the side that he could mumble, "Secrets."

Mihi said, "He's grouchy because he wanted to cook that fish he caught and Jun said breakfast was pancakes."

"We need to use up this fruit," Jun said. He'd lined up on the table their remaining fruit from the farmer's market haul Aiba had given them: one golden pear, three rosy apples, and two slightly wrinkled peaches. Nino noticed that his hair needed a trim again--since it had started so uneven, it needed a lot of attention as it grew out. "They'll go perfectly with our pancakes, and you can make your fish for lunch."

"I'll be out on the boat then," Ohno said, but he sounded more drowsy than upset. "Dinner?"

Nino had still been thinking about the paintings, but at this he said, "Ah, I'm having dinner with Aiba-chan, and after we're going with Sho-chan to karaoke." He leaned his elbows on the table where he sat next to Ohno. "But I don't mind if you eat it without me. We do have our very own fisherman constantly providing us with fresh fish, after all." He poked Ohno, then got a little distracted by trailing his fingers down Ohno's forearm, wiry from fishing on top of the sword exercises Jun had started teaching him, then lingering over his hand. Ohno had particularly pretty hands. Nino loved the long fingers, the delicate veins, the way they were both strong and dexterous...

Ohno pretended to snap at Nino's fingers, pulling him out of his daze.

"Just you and me for a grand fish dinner, then," Jun said and ruffled Ohno's hair.

"What're you doing before that, J?" Nino asked. "Aiba-chan's coming to pick me up at the beach, but I thought maybe he could come early and we could play catch."

"Ah, sounds lovely," Jun said readily. "If you don't mind my lack of skills."

"Pretty soon you'll be better than us," Nino said. He pointed a thumb at Ohno. "And you're already better than this one."

"Flattery," Mihi said dryly, but both she and Jun looked pleased.

Nino wanted to say that when Jun was more comfortable with catch, he could join the baseball team Nino and Aiba had started, but even if Aiba had gotten used to Mihi, she wasn't to be sprung on the rest of the world. One of the witches who came through the door to work with Ohno and Jun, Juri, had become particularly close to Jun, and she'd told Nino she was working on a way for Jun and Mihi to be able to go to populated areas without attracting attention. The problem, she said, was that she could cast the same spell the witches renewed every few months on the house and grounds here, but Jun couldn't hold it the way Ohno could. Even so, Juri seemed hopeful that she would find a way to make it work on Mihi, even if it didn't last long more than a day or so. Nino told himself he'd keep playing catch with Jun until it happened and invite him to the baseball team after.

"I'll come too," Ohno offered. "Always good to see Aiba-chan."

Nino looked at Ohno. He wasn't quite ready to give up on his original question. "Oh-chan, wink for yes, stick your tongue out for no, okay?"

Ohno peeked his eyes open, looking tempted by this game. After only a few seconds he squeezed one eye shut in assent.

Nino was sitting at the side of the table, and Ohno at the end, so Nino turned to face him directly and steepled his fingers like this was a matter of great importance.

"You told me once, Ohno-san, that you painted questions rather than asking the alethiometer. Can you confirm this?"

Ohno winked again. Nino could see a suggestion of a smile on his face now.

"Questions," Nino said, making his tone leisurely, "for which you don't wish to know the answers. Correct?"

After a moment, Ohno stuck out his tongue. Jun, busily cutting fruit, huffed a laugh.

Nino thought. Ohno had only let Nino into his studio two or three times, and he talked about it not much more than that. It seemed like a very personal process, and one that meant a lot to Ohno. Nino also knew that it was deeply connected to Ohno's work with the alethiometer, which he didn't do in front of anyone.

Nino tried again, "You want to know the answers, but you want to find them yourself. Yes?"

Ohno winked, and Jun said, not quite in line with the current vein of questions, "Once I saw the alethiometer symbols in your paintings I couldn't believe I'd never realized before." He noticed Ohno looking a little grumpy again and said, "But you know I can't understand them, Satoshi-kun."

Ohno shrugged, conceding the point, and his eyes went back to Nino expectantly. Nino had known making it a game would hook him.

"The questions in the paintings in the den, do they have something to do with me?" Nino asked.

Ohno was winking before he even finished saying it.

"Are they big questions or small questions?"

Ranmaru landed where the carpet of the living room switched to the tile of the kitchen. "That's not yes or no."

"Oh right," Nino said hastily, "um, are they big questions?"

Ohno didn't respond, but he was still looking at Nino like he was willing to go on.

"I have one," Jun said, and Ohno's gaze went obediently to Jun. "Are one or more of them from before you met Nino again?"

Ohno looked back at Nino and winked. His voice came out low as he admitted, "Whether I'd see him again."

"The one that's mostly yellow," Nino said with sudden certainty. It had reminded him at first sight of the bond he'd had until gravitating with Ohno and Jun. Ohno nodded, forgetting the game.

Jun said, "Hey Nino, would you mind setting the table?"

Nino nodded before leaning over to kiss Ohno's sleepy mouth. He'd let the other two paintings and their questions go until another time.

Thinking about it, he had a guess for his next round of questions: he bet Ohno had painted at least one question during the period he'd been trying to get high-speed internet for the house, or really, any internet connective capabilities at all other than cell phone data. He'd been doing that so specifically for Nino that he might have chosen that painting for the den. (Nino had done his best to help, but what seemed like such a simple question had ended up opening his eyes to the snarled mess their daily lives were constructed on. He hadn't grasped before just how tricky it all was: the spell on the house and how they could live there and why they had necessities like running water and electricity. Nino still didn't understand all of it now, but he got the sense it had taken Ohno, several of the witches, Aiba's side business as a handyman and his willingness to demonstrate things for Ohno on his own house, and Sho's pull with administrative officials, just to get those basic utilities in place. As this had been two or three years into Ohno's residence on Miyajima, Nino found it hard to complain about the lack of internet connection, especially since it wasn't like he was paying rent. Still, it had been a relief when the witches had consented to let Aiba on the property so long as Ohno asked the alethiometer about it first, and Aiba, who was miraculous, had wheedled the nearest broadband company into helping him get the installation done from afar. Nino thought about all this a lot, as he was more dependent than the average human on a fast internet connection. Their whole system here sometimes felt like a house of cards, and Nino wasn't above offering prayers at Takanosuura Shrine to keep it standing.)

A few minutes later, to the sound of pancake batter hitting the frying pan, Ohno said with quiet satisfaction, "After pancakes it'll be time for Jun-chan's present." Ohno had closed his eyes when Nino got up, and Nino was surprised that he wasn't asleep.

"It's a plan," Nino said. Jun nodded with a small smile that Nino was way too charmed by.

Having finished setting the table, Nino wrapped an arm around Jun's waist for a moment, feeling like their home was complete again to have him back. After Jun flipped a pancake, he turned to Nino and kissed him again. They weren't married, Nino thought, tasting peaches on Jun's tongue, but sometimes it felt like they were newlyweds, hiding away in their house in the woods because they couldn't get enough of each other.

If there was a spell that could let Jun go out in their world, even for an hour, Nino was going to ask Jun and Ohno to marry him. He'd already started plotting with Sho a way they could make it legal despite Jun technically not existing in this world.

He felt a touch at his waist that wasn't Jun, then Ohno's lips against his neck. Ohno said against Nino's skin, "Let's all sleep together tonight."

Jun nodded, leaning into Ohno, and Nino said, "Yes, we don't want king-sama to be lonely." Ohno chuckled, but Jun narrowed his eyes at Nino in warning. Every once in a while Nino and Ohno liked to talk about the giant bed in a way that insinuated they were really talking about Jun.

Since Jun's attention went back to the pancakes after that, Nino turned to Ohno, wrapping him up tightly in his arms and feeling Ohno hold him just as close. He whispered, "Do you think we have time to get the present ready?"

"You have five minutes," Jun said crisply behind him. "And you'll need time to wash your hands."

All that really needed to be done was remove the tarp covering the azumaya, so Nino and Ohno scuttled off to get their shoes on and head outside.

Ohno had his studio, and now Nino had his den, and the day after Jun had left they'd come out from their respective areas and looked at each other and had the same thought. Building Jun's present was one way they'd filled up the months until Jun was back.

Most of Jun's work on this side of the door was with witches, both in person with the clan led by Eiko, and with Mitsuki over the computer Jun had forced himself to get and learn to use. Nino hadn't known what kind of work space would be good, but Ohno suggested the traditional arbor because it was something that also existed in Jun's world. It was meant to feel like part of the outdoors, with a roof but no walls, so it was perfect for dealing with witches closely tied to the natural world.

Nino had done research on the simplest kinds to make, and Ohno had picked the one that he thought looked both doable and like something that could be found in Jun's world. It was true that Ohno had done most of the heavy lifting, but Nino had helped him with logistics every step of the way, from how to get the materials when a delivery driver couldn't come to the house to running wiring out so Jun could even use the azumaya when video chatting with Mitsuki. (Nino found these calls endlessly interesting--one side Jun and a panther, the other side a witch, sometimes with her crow daemon. Plus, every once in a while his mom made a cameo appearance.) Jun had a lot of work and needed a dedicated spot on this property to do it; things had only gotten worse in Jun's world since he'd come to this one, from what Nino heard. However, with the alliance between the witches who'd advised Jun in Nippon and the witches who worked with Ohno, and whatever other allies they had that Nino knew less about, Jun seemed hopeful they'd be able to turn the tide.

After Nino and Ohno folded up the tarp and set it aside, they stood and looked at the arbor, Ranmaru coming to perch on Ohno's shoulder. It wasn't fancy, but it had sturdy pillars and a good roof, all of it fitting in with the wooded area surrounding them. It was open on one side, with benches lining the others, and Nino could picture Jun here with Eiko or one of the other witches, Eri, Juri, Rosa, Fumika, Hikari, or Minami, or all of them together--he and Ohno had planned a spacious enough area that all the witches they knew could fit comfortably. The fact that Nino could count at least five deer within eyesight only added to the rightness.

Nino thought Jun would love it. He felt warm all over just thinking about how happy Jun would be, how he and Ohno had worked for months and made this for Jun, how it had been a year today, though no one had mentioned it yet, since they'd gravitated, and Nino was more in love than ever.

As they walked back to the house hand in hand, Nino asked, "Want to study in the den before you go fishing?"

Ohno nodded, his face scrunching in the particular stubborn look that Nino associated with his determination to get a boating license while he saved up to buy his own fishing cruiser. "Oh," he said, his face smoothing as he remembered something. "My mom said she went to your mom's house for dinner last week, did she tell you? Mitsuki-san made kitsune udon."

Nino had eaten Mitsuki's cooking several times on visits home but was always surprised at how normal it was. It was good, sure, but somehow he'd thought he'd be able to tell it was made by a witch. He made a low noise, knowing Ohno would understand it as no, he hadn't heard, but that was interesting.

He couldn't quite focus on that, though, suddenly needing to see Jun again, still raw from missing him for too long. He wanted to see him, compliment his pancakes, hear the way Jun coaxed Ohno into conversation, feel the way Jun reached out every once in a while to rest a hand on Nino's, the other on Ohno's, as if their time apart had been just as hard for him.

A flash of purple in his peripheral vision had Nino looking down to see a bond on his hand twinned to one on Ohno's, the purple owls glinting a faint yellow and blue respectively in the morning sun through the trees. It seemed Ohno had Jun on his mind, too.

They started walking a little faster around the side of the house, then broke into a trot, Ranmaru flying off as they pulled each other along, and Nino's heart lightened at the sound of Ohno's laughter. As they got to the porch Jun opened the door, holding a spatula and looking ready to scold them for being late. When he saw them his expression went soft, his smile automatic.

Nino and Ohno walked up the steps as Jun put the spatula in his apron pocket. By the time they reached him, he had his arms open, waiting. Nino pressed in close, careful not to step on Jun's slippers, and got an arm around Ohno, an arm around Jun, feeling them doing the same with him and with each other.

It hadn't been long, surely not that much longer than their allotted five minutes, but it felt as right as it always did when Nino said, "We're home."

~~~