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ninoexchange2016-06-22 07:44 am
nino-mod.livejournal.com) wrote in ninoexchange2016-06-22 07:44 am
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fic for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cupcake4mafia (1/2)
For: cupcake4mafia
From:airairo
Title: Catch
Pairing/Focus: Nino/Ohno, a little Nino/Jun
Rating: R
Warnings: None.
Summary: Two years ago Nino left behind his life of crime. Or he thought so anyway.
Notes: Forcupcake4mafia! You’re one of my favorite writers in this fandom and I had such a great time writing for you. Thank you for all of your inspiring prompts. I ended up using a few ideas from several of them and this is what I came up with! I really hope this is something you’ll enjoy <3 Thank you for everything, L!
“So,” Jun says. He’s got a wild grin on his face. It’s almost as if he’s been waiting years just to say that word to Nino in just this moment.
Nino notices that the cameras are surveying the floor of the gallery. It’s too late to do anything about the alarm. The police are on the way.
“They already know we’re here,” Nino says.
“They do,” Jun says, casually. He watches the cameras moving from side to side.
At this point it doesn’t matter much if they’re caught on film. Even so, Jun will do anything to avoid it. It’s Nino, though, that manages to keep the cameras gaze from landing on them.
“Ah,” Jun says, impressed. “You don’t really need me anymore.”
Nino looks out at the floor of the gallery again. An exhibition at night always looks a little funny. Like the pieces of artwork are practicing standing still so they’re ready to be looked at when it’s opening time. They’ve managed to shut off the alarm and with it the sense of urgency has left. Nino sighs, though, stretching his legs since he’s going to need a good performance out of them.
“So,” Nino says. “We need to run.”
“Probably,” Jun says.
---
When Nino had started out he’d been a hero. He hadn’t set out for anything necessarily. But he’d thought about it when he was a kid looking at the world with big, hopeful eyes. The baseball players he’d looked up to had been heroes to him. When his mother took him to see a game for the first time he nearly passed out from excitement. He didn’t eat enough and the combination of that and the hot, summer sun made him weak and sluggish. He’d insisted on staying though.
He remembers his mother bringing him a cold drink. Then he remembers jumping out of his seat when he saw a double for the first time with his own eyes. Then he’d jumped up again when he saw a triple.
After that he remembers a home run and the ball sailing past the infield, past the outfield, then curving around as if it were a boomerang and slowing down so it floated like a feather swaying its way down into his hand.
He remembers leaving then. His mother taking him by the arm. He remembers steps. Fast ones. Then he remembers hearing people behind them and moving faster until his mother finally just picked him up and carried him piggyback style. She’d run to the street and hailed a taxi and when they were safely in the back seat she’d leaned all the way back to catch her breath and Nino opened his hand where he was still clutching the baseball tightly.
“Did I do something bad?” Nino remembers asking.
He remembers clearly the way his mother had shaken her head. He didn’t know if she was telling him yes or no. It was just a back and forth motion while she looked out the window at something Nino couldn’t see from where he was sitting.
Now, looking back, he knows exactly what happened. It was the day whatever was inside of him awakened. And it was shortly after that when he decided to be a hero. He was young then and Aiba was still waiting to awaken but both of them figured there had to be a latent ability in there somewhere. Nino had done some heroic things like retrieve a woman’s hat when it was carried away by a gust of wind. He’d climbed a tree and put a baby bird back into its nest without touching it (Aiba’s suggestion) and pulled a balloon down from the sky when the string slipped from the wrist of a little girl in a stroller. Little everyday things. Because he and Aiba figured they could be little everyday heroes.
It feels now like that happened in another lifetime. Since then Nino hasn’t done anything hero-like at all. For the last two years he’s hardly used his ability. He works at a vintage shop and on his day off he sleeps until late in the afternoon when sometimes the only movement he does is reach for the 3DS and flip on the switch with his thumb.
Aiba comes over sometimes and they drink or watch movies together. Life is simple. Easy. And just like this Nino is content.
---
The doorbell rings early in the morning. It’s something Nino would usually ignore, but something pulls from deep inside of him and he feels almost drawn to the entrance. He steps quietly towards the door so he can look out and see who it is. A man, probably roughly the same age as himself, wearing a loose sweater and baggy jeans.
Against all of his better judgment, Nino opens the door a finger width and peers outside.
“Uh,” the guy says. “Hi. I just moved in downstairs.”
Nino opens the door a little more and the sun is bright in his eyes. “Nino,” Nino says.
“I’m Ohno,” says the guy in the loose sweater. It falls a little off of one shoulder and Nino can’t help but trace the line of his collarbone with his eyes.
“Welcome to the neighborhood,” Nino says, smiling his friendliest smile. He doesn’t really want to know anyone in the building, but something had pulled him to the door so he may as well be friendly as long as he’s here.
“For you,” Ohno says. He holds up a small package. “Nice to meet you." Nino takes it and thanks him and he doesn’t open it up until Ohno has left. He listens for his footsteps, loud first then quieter as they gradually go down the stairs. The package is wrapped with a small ribbon and inside is some hand soap and a small towel. Nino smiles. His mother told him to do the same whenever he moved into a new place and she would have been fond of Ohno for greeting his new neighbors properly.
He slips his fingers between the blinds and looks outside. There isn’t a new car out in the parking lot, but he does notice a new bicycle against the rack. He takes a quick snapshot in his mind. New guy downstairs. Ohno. Sweater.
---
The phone call comes late in the afternoon. Nino has dozed off on the floor with his back against the sofa and his phone buzzes against the wood of the coffee table. He reaches for it with his eyes closed and knocks it off the table, then groans as he reaches for it, every tired muscle in his body coming back to life.
It’s just out of reach and, though he rarely does this, he uses his mind to close the space between his hand and the phone only a few inches away. It slides along the tabletop and Nino picks it up.
The message is from no one. Just a blank space in the from field. There isn’t a time or a date. It’s a message that is there and not all at once.
Which means it’s from Matsumoto Jun.
Blue Cafe at 9 tonight. Can you make it?
It sounds like a request more than a message. It also doesn’t sound anything like a message one would receive from an old friend who he hadn’t heard from in two years.
After he and Aiba had decided to be heroes they’d met Jun in high school. Jun could do things like make the lights flicker in the hallways of the school or interfere with the sounds of the intercom. But he wasn’t a troublemaker so even when Aiba urged him to do something funny he’d always refuse.
Yeah.
Nino sends the message and doesn’t expect a reply. He doesn’t get one.
He naps until around seven then he gets up and changes into clothes that can be worn outside. He wouldn’t mind just going out in his sweats, but Jun probably wouldn’t like it. He smiles to himself as he slips a long sleeved T-shirt and a pair of denim shorts. Matsumoto Jun, he thinks. The last time he saw him Jun was running and telling Nino not to follow him. And he hasn’t spoken to him since then.
---
Aiba always thought Nino’s ability was the funniest thing in the world.
“Can you pick me up?” he’d ask him.
Nino would laugh and shake his head. It was impossible, right?
Aiba would throw paper airplanes off of the highway bridge and wait for Nino to turn them around so they would sail right back into his hand. Sometimes Aiba would toss something else like one of his textbooks or his lunchbox and let Nino bring those back to him too. He liked the way Aiba would go from panic to relief when he’d wait until whatever he’d thrown had just barely grazed the street below.
His lunchbox was a little scratched from brushing up against a rock and he’d chided Nino for it but Nino just told him he was asking for it.
Nino tried to get Jun to use his ability to turn off the convenience store sign or to make the movies at the theater start playing in reverse. He wouldn’t ever do it, but he did use his ability on rare occasions. At the school play he caused a lightening effect that impressed the audience so much the students and director had no choice but to take credit for it. Then he caused a blackout on a day that Nino was late for school allowing him to sneak to his desk undetected.
Nino could draw things towards him and Jun could create grand distractions.
They finished high school then finished college and when they robbed their first museum together it was symmetry. Jun understood the wiring of the cameras, location of the sensors. He could shut off any security devices that were an obstacle to them and the museums and galleries became like a playground. They’d take what they liked and leave things they didn’t need anymore.
Everything he took was something he either planned on returning, he had very good use for or something he didn’t think anyone would ever miss. Jun was the same, but there was something Jun always wanted more than anything else. It wasn’t a jewel or a famous work of art. It was a simple tapestry. Ancient and priceless and essentially ownerless. Jun’s reasons for wanting it seemed simple enough. He probably liked the way it looked. It was centuries old and turned up from time to time in exhibitions. The tapestry came and went and sometimes Nino wasn’t sure if Jun wanted it for himself or just wanted simply to appreciate it the way people in museums normally do. Looking at it until their senses are full then moving to the next piece of art without an urge to pluck it off the wall and keep it.
---
Instead of driving, Nino opts to take the train. He thinks about inviting Aiba, but decides against it. If Jun had wanted a reunion he would have asked Nino to bring him along or he’d just ask Aiba himself. Nino leaves, locking the door behind him, and when the elevator takes him from the third floor down to the second a familiar face gets on the elevator with him.
“Ohno-san,” Nino says, pleased with himself for remembering his name. Ohno is wearing another loose sweater, this one black with some flecks of shiny fabric woven in.
“Hey,” Ohno says. “Nino?”
“That’s me,” Nino says.
He smiles and Ohno smiles back at him. In moments they’re on the ground floor and somehow, even though the elevator can comfortably fit at least five people, the two of them are close together in one corner. When the door opens, Nino can’t help but feel a little self conscious about how close they are, but he doesn’t try to move away. Sometimes things are just drawn to him whether he wills it or not.
“I... I’ll see you later!” Ohno calls out as he’s walking away. Quickly, Nino notes. He almost wants to follow after Ohno. He forgets about Jun for a moment and thinks he could just go after Ohno now while he has the chance. It wouldn’t be hard to catch up with him. It isn’t as if he wants to find out where he’s going but more that he just wants to be around him. He shakes his head, trying to shake the thoughts out. It’s almost nine and even if Jun will forgive him for being a little late he shouldn’t push it when it’s been years since the last time they saw each other.
Most of the cafes around here close in the evening, but this one stays open as late as the bars. It might be an alternative, a place for people to go when they want quiet company. It’s a perfect place for Jun. Contrary to the name of the cafe, the interior of Blue Cafe isn’t blue. It’s a dark beige for the most part, a muddy color that reminds him of earth. The tables and chairs, though, are brighter and give the cafe warmth. It feels like going down into a secret place unknown by everyone else. Jun is sitting at a bright, orange table and doesn’t look any different from the last time Nino saw him.
“Jun,” Nino says, cheerfully. He can see that Jun is trying to put on a front, but the smile that breaks through the facade is the one Nino always remembered. He feels a familiar hum in his chest. Jun has always had something electric about him and Nino has always had a reaction just from being near him.
“You look different,” Jun says.
“I got more handsome,” Nino says.
“Yeah that’s it,” Jun grins. Nino takes the seat in the booth across from him and just takes in the image of Jun. It might be another two years before he sees him again.
Nino wants to ask Jun if there was a reason for asking him here. But the longer Jun takes to tell him his purpose the more time Nino can just sit here with him. Everything feels uncomplicated. Jun orders another cup of cappuccino and a crumbly piece of cake while Nino orders simple black. Jun asks how he’s been and he tells him about the vintage shop. Jun looks a little surprised at first, but the expression only passes his face for a moment.
“You’re still doing it aren’t you,” Nino says.
“What we used to do?” Jun asks.
Nino nods.
“Not really,” Jun says. “Well. Not in the way you think.”
Jun says something vague about using the internet these days. Perhaps that was why his chosen means of communication was sending an email directly from his mind to Nino’s phone. Jun doesn’t say exactly what he’s been up to, but Nino can imagine. Probably manipulating things like internal records and causing delivery drivers to bring things directly to him instead of their intended destination. Then after they’ve covered every topic other than the one they both know they’re here for, Jun finally comes out with it.
“There’s something I want,” Jun says.
Nino feels something ripple under his skin. Jun wants to work with him again and Nino wants to say yes. Jun holds his gaze while Nino feels himself being pulled in both directions. He misses the thrill of working with Jun, but he promised himself after coming so close to getting caught the last time he’d give it up for good.
“Sorry,” Nino says, shaking his head regretfully.
Jun just flicks his wrist. “I expected you to say no,” he says. “I’m going alone.”
Nino looks up at him again, meeting his eyes. Jun must have figured out a way to do it without Nino over these last couple of years. The thought makes him feel a little empty and he brings the cup of cooling coffee to his lips.
“Hikers should always tell someone when they’re going into the mountains alone,” Jun says. “It’s like that. I just want someone to know where I’m going. In case anything happens, you know?”
“I don’t think there will be any bears or anything,” Nino says, laughing a little. “Unless you plan to break in to a zoo.”
Jun grins. “I haven’t done this since the last time we were together,” he says.
Nino looks at him, searching his face. He supposes Jun has been working exclusively online. Somehow it doesn’t suit him, Nino thinks. Jun always had a style to his work. He’d slip past security cameras unnoticed even if he could have just disabled them. He liked the challenge, even going as far as telling Nino not to use his ability sometimes when he thought he could retrieve whatever it was they were after with his own hands.
He thinks about asking Jun why. Why now? But he doesn’t need to because the reason isn’t important. It’s just simply something that Jun wants.
“You’re the only one I trust,” Jun says.
Nino nods. He won’t argue with that. Besides Aiba, Jun is the only one he trusts too.
Jun holds up his cup like he wants to make a toast. Which looks a little funny with coffee mugs, but Nino lifts his as well and makes a promise to Jun as their glasses touch.
---
When Nino arrives at home it’s well after midnight. He’s only barely caught the last train and the road that leads to his apartment building is dark because one of the street lights on the corner is burnt out.
He makes his way to the building, footsteps awkwardly echoing down the empty street. Then to the elevator where someone else is about to get on.
“Hey,” he says, casually, just to be neighborly, then the person turns around and it’s Ohno again.
“It’s you,” Ohno says.
“It’s you too,” Nino says. He’s about to make a joke about how they have to stop meeting like this or about Ohno following him or how they can start their own elevator club where they arrange to come and go together. But instead of making a joke, instead of saying anything at all, he’s kissing Ohno there by the side of the elevator. The doors open and he keeps kissing Ohno, feeling Ohno’s arms wind around his back, the the doors close again with neither of them making a move to get on.
It’s a strange feeling. He almost doesn’t know Ohno at all. Just his name and his face and that he gave Nino soap and a towel. The feeling wells up in his chest. Like a craving. And he kisses Ohno with their bodies tight together until Ohno suggests getting on the elevator and going up together.
“My place?” Nino asks, not wanting to break the kiss for any reason. Ohno nods and they’re kissing again and Nino is fumbling with the elevator buttons. Somehow they get out of the elevator and to Nino’s front door where he drops his keys while trying to take them out of his pocket. They have to break apart then and for just a moment Nino has to think about what it’s like to not kiss Ohno.
“I um...” Nino says. He picks the keys up then fumbles with the keychain. It’s a little bulky. A dog keychain that Aiba gave him because he said it looked like Nino.
“Yeah...” Ohno says. Nino feels relieved that Ohno also doesn’t know what to say. Then when he gets up and unlocks the door, he realizes that he’s holding Ohno’s hand and he doesn’t remember either of them reaching out for it.
“It’s not like I do this a lot,” Nino says. They get inside, the door closes and Nino can’t help but press Ohno against it. He wants to kiss him again. Ohno nods, answering a question Nino hasn’t even asked, so he does lean in and do it again.
He takes off his shoes and kicks them aside. Ohno breathes bedroom against his lips so he takes Ohno there while they step on each other with their bare feet, hitting the wall as they round the corner, and ending up as a tangle on the bed.
Nino pulls on Ohno’s shirt, tugging it up and over his head. Then Ohno does the same to him and he feels the heat of his skin on Ohno’s. That feeling swells in his chest again he feels Ohno’s hands on him, exploring, up to the back of his neck down to the waist of his jeans. He pushes Ohno down so he’s lying on his back and Nino gets between his legs, spreading them apart. Ohno’s shirt is off and his skin looks flushed pink. Nino can’t help but grin at his good fortune.
“You said you don’t do this a lot,” Ohno says. There is a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips and Nino really likes that too.
“I don’t,” Nino says, cutely. Then he reaches to start undoing Ohno’s belt.
Nino isn’t lying exactly. It’s less the quantity but the quality. Though he knows he’s good at social niceties, he doesn’t often like going through the motions. Even so, he’s had two other people in this bed besides Ohno. He did have a girlfriend briefly when he first moved to this apartment. Then he supposes Aiba also counts even if they haven’t done more than clumsy handjobs after too much to drink.
Jun has never been here, but Nino had never planned on saying no if the opportunity ever arose.
He pulls Ohno’s jeans down as if he’s unwrapping a present. Ohno is hard and his erection strains against his underwear. Nino feels him, wrapping his fingers around and stroking through the fabric.
“Do you mind if I...” Nino says, bringing a finger to his lips and Ohno shakes his head no. Not at all. Do it now. Nino nearly hears him think it. Ohno swallows and Nino pulls his jeans and underwear all the way off, letting them fall onto the floor.
He takes Ohno in his mouth deeply. He doesn’t feel like teasing or drawing it out. He just wants to make Ohno feel good right now. He sets a quick pace then he looks up to meet Ohno’s eyes. When he looks up, Ohno is looking down at him, his eyes piercing. He’s so different from the seemingly shy neighbor he met on the elevator. It’s funny, Nino thinks, someone like him with someone like Ohno.
He feels Ohno’s hand moving through his hair encouragingly and Nino quickens the pace, using his hand to stroke the base of Ohno’s cock while taking the rest in his mouth. He feels Ohno’s hips move and he presses his thumb into Ohno’s hip as if to say it’s okay. Do it. And when he meets Ohno’s eyes again he sees Ohno nod just before his eyes flutter closed and he lets go.
In the morning, Nino remembers after that Ohno had stroked him roughly and it only took a few moments for him to come. He was so turned on that even after sleeping and waking again he still feels like his skin is raised all over. Like he could just turn over now and do it to Ohno all over again. And he could, seeing as Ohno is still here in the bed. He’s holding on to Nino so tight, arms wrapped around him like they’re woven together.
It’s so quiet and peaceful in the room that when the phone rings it slices the silence in two.
---
Aiba’s voice sounds a little thin on the other end of the line.
“Where are you?” Nino asks.
“I don’t know,” Aiba says.
“What do you see?” Nino asks.
“Um...” Aiba says. “Nothing really. I’m blindfolded.”
Nino stands up then, walking to the window with his phone where he looks outside. Nothing out of the ordinary.
“Then do you hear anything?” Nino asks. He can hear something in the background even over the phone. It sounds like two men talking to each other. Then the clink of a glass on a table and the sound of silverware sliding along the surface of a plate.
“You can hear them right?” Aiba says.
“I hear someone,” Nino says.
“They’re letting me call you.”
There is an odd tightness in Nino’s chest. Something is off about all of this.
“Who?”
“I guess I kind of got myself kidnaped?” Aiba says with a sheepish laugh that has no place after what he’s just said.
“Aiba--”
“Don’t worry though!” he says. “It’s okay. If you just give them what they want they’ll let me go. They’re actually pretty nice.”
“They don’t sound nice,” Nino says. It’s the first time he’s ever had a call like this from Aiba. Part of the reason he stopped partnering with Jun was because he knew too well how things like this can happen. Usually it’s just for ransom purposes. The kidnappers have no intention of harming anyone, that would get the police involved deeper than they want. As a means of insurance, they’d take a temporary hostage. They especially happened to people like Nino and Jun. People with abilities.
He hears Ohno turning over in the bed and he starts changing into his clothes while holding the phone between his face and his shoulder.
“They just want the Iwasaki diamond,” Aiba says. “Whatever that is. I don’t really know but they said you’d know.”
Nino knows. It isn’t ancient but it is something of a national treasure. A quick search on his computer doesn’t tell him much. The diamond isn’t on display in any museums right now.
He scribbles a note to Ohno and leaves it next to the bed. It says Call me with his phone number written next to the brief two word message. It feels strange and impersonal after what happened last night. Even more than that, Nino feels physically torn when he leaves the apartment. He wants Ohno to be close to him, so much that his ability almost gets away from him and he pulls a pair of slippers and an umbrella from the entrance as his body tries to pull Ohno towards him. He takes a deep breath. When he was a kid it wasn’t easy to control, but now he can focus and calm down. He breathes in and out a few times. The slippers and umbrella drop to the floor and Nino quickly closes the door behind him.
---
Jun told Nino not only the museum he’d hit but also the time and day he intended to do so. Nino didn’t write any of the information down on the off chance that anyone could find it. He hesitated even thinking about it too much. He’d never met anyone with the ability to read minds but that didn’t mean a person like that didn’t exist.
He’s extra careful about all of his actions now that Aiba is being held. The first thing he did was get on his bicycle and ride around Aiba’s neighborhood. He tries to imagine the things Aiba would likely have on him. His baseball cap, his sneakers, his keys. He tries to draw those items to himself, but even he knows he’s taking a chance trying something like that. If the object is one he can’t see he’s never been able to draw it to him.
The museum Jun told him about is located in downtown Tokyo. A touristy area where there are always too many people. After Nino rides his bicycle unsuccessfully around Aiba’s neighborhood he takes the train to the station near the museum just for a look around. Jun will be here later tonight so he doesn’t want to draw attention. It’s easy to get lost in the crowd and Nino does exactly that.
There is a complicated system of security cameras, but it’s one that Jun can easily manage. Nino has seen him at work. He has to be touching some part of the system to make it work. Even just a cable or cord is enough. He closes his eyes and makes a kind of humming sound, then he surges electricity inside and he can disable or manipulate anything as he likes. If there are this many external cameras Nino can only imagine the spiderweb of an alarm system that is likely set up inside.
He’s careful to stay mixed in with the crowd, but even so he’s not immune to bad luck. Although this situation could be seen one of two ways.
It’s bad luck because he’s been spotted by someone he recognizes and who definitely recognizes him. But it’s not so bad because he’s always had an easy time of dealing with this person in particular.
“Ninomiya-san,” a man says, approaching Nino in a T-shirt and jeans and looking nothing like the police officer Nino knows him to be.
“Sakurai,” Nino nods.
“It’s been a while hasn’t it?” Sakurai says. He looks smug as if he’s caught Nino in the act even though he hasn’t caught him doing anything but stand on the sidewalk. Nino is pretty sure that isn’t a crime.
He does know though that to Sakurai he’s probably the one who got away. The last time Nino worked with Jun, Sakurai had very nearly arrested them. They’d hit a gallery that time and taken five small, pink diamonds. Jun had managed to touch Sakurai’s police car and disable the radio and the electronic locks. Then they’d left two of the diamonds behind as a brief distraction and they’d run faster than Nino ever had in his life or ever would again.
Just thinking about that time everything comes back to Nino so easily. The way his feet felt on the pavement and the drizzling rain felt on his skin. The way everything was mixed up inside of him. He liked doing this with Jun, but there was a reason why the moment Nino’s mother had taken him away from public view was the moment she discovered he had an ability.
“Did you quit the force?” Nino asks. “Never seen you in jeans before.”
Sakurai shakes his head. “No,” he says. Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his badge. He doesn’t open it all the way but Nino gets the point.
“Too bad,” Nino says. “I would have asked you if you wanted to go and get a drink.” He grins his best grin and can’t help but feel satisfied when Sakurai coughs.
Sakurai is another one that he wouldn’t say no to. Not that it would ever happen.
Seeing Sakurai here was lucky, he decides. He can warn Jun and make sure he knows what he’s getting into if he comes back here later. The place is obviously being watched. Nino also notices that a couple of armored vans have passed behind where Sakurai is standing. They must be preparing for a new exhibition and that might by why some plain clothes cops are keeping an eye on the area. Jun has been stealing things while in transit recently and maybe he’s caught their attention doing so.
“You’re not getting into trouble somewhere we can’t see you right?” Sakurai asks.
Nino puts his hand on his heart. “I’m just a law abiding citizen,” he says. “Swear.”
One of the armored vans pulls around to the side of the museum. Nino watches in his peripheral vision. When the van parks Nino aims at a sheet of paper on the dashboard. It’s small, the size of a receipt, and Nino pulls it into a gust of wind where some leaves from the trees are spinning in circles through the air. It just looks like some trash caught up in the breeze. Nino turns the other way to direct Sakurai’s attention away from what he’s doing behind his back.
“I’ll trust you for now,” Sakurai says. “You really have stayed out of trouble for a while.”
“Good,” Nino says. For the most part it’s true.
The breeze has already died down but Nino pulls some leaves up into the air to create the illusion it’s still moving. Then with the paper stuck to the back of a leaf he pulls both of them into his hand and slips the paper into his back pocket letting the leaf blow past him.
“Have you been in contact with Matsumoto?” Sakurai asks.
“Not for a long time,” Nino says. Sakurai really is too relaxed if he’s asking something like that. Then he hooks his hand in his back pocket. Sakurai doesn’t seem to have noticed the slip of paper at all.
“Keep up the good work then,” Sakurai says. He turns around to look behind him and Nino enjoys the view from behind.
“Jeans suit you,” Nino says. He watches as Sakurai turns slowly around. He’s laughing but he looks just the tiniest bit flushed. Nino has always thought of Sakurai as someone who he’d have been good friends with if things had gone a little differently for both of them.
He waits until he’s on the train before looking at the slip of paper. It’s a printed inventory list labeled Car 2943. Several items are there but then he sees it at the bottom. The Iwasaki diamond.
Part 2
cupcake4mafiaFrom:
airairoTitle: Catch
Pairing/Focus: Nino/Ohno, a little Nino/Jun
Rating: R
Warnings: None.
Summary: Two years ago Nino left behind his life of crime. Or he thought so anyway.
Notes: For
cupcake4mafia! You’re one of my favorite writers in this fandom and I had such a great time writing for you. Thank you for all of your inspiring prompts. I ended up using a few ideas from several of them and this is what I came up with! I really hope this is something you’ll enjoy <3 Thank you for everything, L!“So,” Jun says. He’s got a wild grin on his face. It’s almost as if he’s been waiting years just to say that word to Nino in just this moment.
Nino notices that the cameras are surveying the floor of the gallery. It’s too late to do anything about the alarm. The police are on the way.
“They already know we’re here,” Nino says.
“They do,” Jun says, casually. He watches the cameras moving from side to side.
At this point it doesn’t matter much if they’re caught on film. Even so, Jun will do anything to avoid it. It’s Nino, though, that manages to keep the cameras gaze from landing on them.
“Ah,” Jun says, impressed. “You don’t really need me anymore.”
Nino looks out at the floor of the gallery again. An exhibition at night always looks a little funny. Like the pieces of artwork are practicing standing still so they’re ready to be looked at when it’s opening time. They’ve managed to shut off the alarm and with it the sense of urgency has left. Nino sighs, though, stretching his legs since he’s going to need a good performance out of them.
“So,” Nino says. “We need to run.”
“Probably,” Jun says.
---
When Nino had started out he’d been a hero. He hadn’t set out for anything necessarily. But he’d thought about it when he was a kid looking at the world with big, hopeful eyes. The baseball players he’d looked up to had been heroes to him. When his mother took him to see a game for the first time he nearly passed out from excitement. He didn’t eat enough and the combination of that and the hot, summer sun made him weak and sluggish. He’d insisted on staying though.
He remembers his mother bringing him a cold drink. Then he remembers jumping out of his seat when he saw a double for the first time with his own eyes. Then he’d jumped up again when he saw a triple.
After that he remembers a home run and the ball sailing past the infield, past the outfield, then curving around as if it were a boomerang and slowing down so it floated like a feather swaying its way down into his hand.
He remembers leaving then. His mother taking him by the arm. He remembers steps. Fast ones. Then he remembers hearing people behind them and moving faster until his mother finally just picked him up and carried him piggyback style. She’d run to the street and hailed a taxi and when they were safely in the back seat she’d leaned all the way back to catch her breath and Nino opened his hand where he was still clutching the baseball tightly.
“Did I do something bad?” Nino remembers asking.
He remembers clearly the way his mother had shaken her head. He didn’t know if she was telling him yes or no. It was just a back and forth motion while she looked out the window at something Nino couldn’t see from where he was sitting.
Now, looking back, he knows exactly what happened. It was the day whatever was inside of him awakened. And it was shortly after that when he decided to be a hero. He was young then and Aiba was still waiting to awaken but both of them figured there had to be a latent ability in there somewhere. Nino had done some heroic things like retrieve a woman’s hat when it was carried away by a gust of wind. He’d climbed a tree and put a baby bird back into its nest without touching it (Aiba’s suggestion) and pulled a balloon down from the sky when the string slipped from the wrist of a little girl in a stroller. Little everyday things. Because he and Aiba figured they could be little everyday heroes.
It feels now like that happened in another lifetime. Since then Nino hasn’t done anything hero-like at all. For the last two years he’s hardly used his ability. He works at a vintage shop and on his day off he sleeps until late in the afternoon when sometimes the only movement he does is reach for the 3DS and flip on the switch with his thumb.
Aiba comes over sometimes and they drink or watch movies together. Life is simple. Easy. And just like this Nino is content.
---
The doorbell rings early in the morning. It’s something Nino would usually ignore, but something pulls from deep inside of him and he feels almost drawn to the entrance. He steps quietly towards the door so he can look out and see who it is. A man, probably roughly the same age as himself, wearing a loose sweater and baggy jeans.
Against all of his better judgment, Nino opens the door a finger width and peers outside.
“Uh,” the guy says. “Hi. I just moved in downstairs.”
Nino opens the door a little more and the sun is bright in his eyes. “Nino,” Nino says.
“I’m Ohno,” says the guy in the loose sweater. It falls a little off of one shoulder and Nino can’t help but trace the line of his collarbone with his eyes.
“Welcome to the neighborhood,” Nino says, smiling his friendliest smile. He doesn’t really want to know anyone in the building, but something had pulled him to the door so he may as well be friendly as long as he’s here.
“For you,” Ohno says. He holds up a small package. “Nice to meet you." Nino takes it and thanks him and he doesn’t open it up until Ohno has left. He listens for his footsteps, loud first then quieter as they gradually go down the stairs. The package is wrapped with a small ribbon and inside is some hand soap and a small towel. Nino smiles. His mother told him to do the same whenever he moved into a new place and she would have been fond of Ohno for greeting his new neighbors properly.
He slips his fingers between the blinds and looks outside. There isn’t a new car out in the parking lot, but he does notice a new bicycle against the rack. He takes a quick snapshot in his mind. New guy downstairs. Ohno. Sweater.
---
The phone call comes late in the afternoon. Nino has dozed off on the floor with his back against the sofa and his phone buzzes against the wood of the coffee table. He reaches for it with his eyes closed and knocks it off the table, then groans as he reaches for it, every tired muscle in his body coming back to life.
It’s just out of reach and, though he rarely does this, he uses his mind to close the space between his hand and the phone only a few inches away. It slides along the tabletop and Nino picks it up.
The message is from no one. Just a blank space in the from field. There isn’t a time or a date. It’s a message that is there and not all at once.
Which means it’s from Matsumoto Jun.
Blue Cafe at 9 tonight. Can you make it?
It sounds like a request more than a message. It also doesn’t sound anything like a message one would receive from an old friend who he hadn’t heard from in two years.
After he and Aiba had decided to be heroes they’d met Jun in high school. Jun could do things like make the lights flicker in the hallways of the school or interfere with the sounds of the intercom. But he wasn’t a troublemaker so even when Aiba urged him to do something funny he’d always refuse.
Yeah.
Nino sends the message and doesn’t expect a reply. He doesn’t get one.
He naps until around seven then he gets up and changes into clothes that can be worn outside. He wouldn’t mind just going out in his sweats, but Jun probably wouldn’t like it. He smiles to himself as he slips a long sleeved T-shirt and a pair of denim shorts. Matsumoto Jun, he thinks. The last time he saw him Jun was running and telling Nino not to follow him. And he hasn’t spoken to him since then.
---
Aiba always thought Nino’s ability was the funniest thing in the world.
“Can you pick me up?” he’d ask him.
Nino would laugh and shake his head. It was impossible, right?
Aiba would throw paper airplanes off of the highway bridge and wait for Nino to turn them around so they would sail right back into his hand. Sometimes Aiba would toss something else like one of his textbooks or his lunchbox and let Nino bring those back to him too. He liked the way Aiba would go from panic to relief when he’d wait until whatever he’d thrown had just barely grazed the street below.
His lunchbox was a little scratched from brushing up against a rock and he’d chided Nino for it but Nino just told him he was asking for it.
Nino tried to get Jun to use his ability to turn off the convenience store sign or to make the movies at the theater start playing in reverse. He wouldn’t ever do it, but he did use his ability on rare occasions. At the school play he caused a lightening effect that impressed the audience so much the students and director had no choice but to take credit for it. Then he caused a blackout on a day that Nino was late for school allowing him to sneak to his desk undetected.
Nino could draw things towards him and Jun could create grand distractions.
They finished high school then finished college and when they robbed their first museum together it was symmetry. Jun understood the wiring of the cameras, location of the sensors. He could shut off any security devices that were an obstacle to them and the museums and galleries became like a playground. They’d take what they liked and leave things they didn’t need anymore.
Everything he took was something he either planned on returning, he had very good use for or something he didn’t think anyone would ever miss. Jun was the same, but there was something Jun always wanted more than anything else. It wasn’t a jewel or a famous work of art. It was a simple tapestry. Ancient and priceless and essentially ownerless. Jun’s reasons for wanting it seemed simple enough. He probably liked the way it looked. It was centuries old and turned up from time to time in exhibitions. The tapestry came and went and sometimes Nino wasn’t sure if Jun wanted it for himself or just wanted simply to appreciate it the way people in museums normally do. Looking at it until their senses are full then moving to the next piece of art without an urge to pluck it off the wall and keep it.
---
Instead of driving, Nino opts to take the train. He thinks about inviting Aiba, but decides against it. If Jun had wanted a reunion he would have asked Nino to bring him along or he’d just ask Aiba himself. Nino leaves, locking the door behind him, and when the elevator takes him from the third floor down to the second a familiar face gets on the elevator with him.
“Ohno-san,” Nino says, pleased with himself for remembering his name. Ohno is wearing another loose sweater, this one black with some flecks of shiny fabric woven in.
“Hey,” Ohno says. “Nino?”
“That’s me,” Nino says.
He smiles and Ohno smiles back at him. In moments they’re on the ground floor and somehow, even though the elevator can comfortably fit at least five people, the two of them are close together in one corner. When the door opens, Nino can’t help but feel a little self conscious about how close they are, but he doesn’t try to move away. Sometimes things are just drawn to him whether he wills it or not.
“I... I’ll see you later!” Ohno calls out as he’s walking away. Quickly, Nino notes. He almost wants to follow after Ohno. He forgets about Jun for a moment and thinks he could just go after Ohno now while he has the chance. It wouldn’t be hard to catch up with him. It isn’t as if he wants to find out where he’s going but more that he just wants to be around him. He shakes his head, trying to shake the thoughts out. It’s almost nine and even if Jun will forgive him for being a little late he shouldn’t push it when it’s been years since the last time they saw each other.
Most of the cafes around here close in the evening, but this one stays open as late as the bars. It might be an alternative, a place for people to go when they want quiet company. It’s a perfect place for Jun. Contrary to the name of the cafe, the interior of Blue Cafe isn’t blue. It’s a dark beige for the most part, a muddy color that reminds him of earth. The tables and chairs, though, are brighter and give the cafe warmth. It feels like going down into a secret place unknown by everyone else. Jun is sitting at a bright, orange table and doesn’t look any different from the last time Nino saw him.
“Jun,” Nino says, cheerfully. He can see that Jun is trying to put on a front, but the smile that breaks through the facade is the one Nino always remembered. He feels a familiar hum in his chest. Jun has always had something electric about him and Nino has always had a reaction just from being near him.
“You look different,” Jun says.
“I got more handsome,” Nino says.
“Yeah that’s it,” Jun grins. Nino takes the seat in the booth across from him and just takes in the image of Jun. It might be another two years before he sees him again.
Nino wants to ask Jun if there was a reason for asking him here. But the longer Jun takes to tell him his purpose the more time Nino can just sit here with him. Everything feels uncomplicated. Jun orders another cup of cappuccino and a crumbly piece of cake while Nino orders simple black. Jun asks how he’s been and he tells him about the vintage shop. Jun looks a little surprised at first, but the expression only passes his face for a moment.
“You’re still doing it aren’t you,” Nino says.
“What we used to do?” Jun asks.
Nino nods.
“Not really,” Jun says. “Well. Not in the way you think.”
Jun says something vague about using the internet these days. Perhaps that was why his chosen means of communication was sending an email directly from his mind to Nino’s phone. Jun doesn’t say exactly what he’s been up to, but Nino can imagine. Probably manipulating things like internal records and causing delivery drivers to bring things directly to him instead of their intended destination. Then after they’ve covered every topic other than the one they both know they’re here for, Jun finally comes out with it.
“There’s something I want,” Jun says.
Nino feels something ripple under his skin. Jun wants to work with him again and Nino wants to say yes. Jun holds his gaze while Nino feels himself being pulled in both directions. He misses the thrill of working with Jun, but he promised himself after coming so close to getting caught the last time he’d give it up for good.
“Sorry,” Nino says, shaking his head regretfully.
Jun just flicks his wrist. “I expected you to say no,” he says. “I’m going alone.”
Nino looks up at him again, meeting his eyes. Jun must have figured out a way to do it without Nino over these last couple of years. The thought makes him feel a little empty and he brings the cup of cooling coffee to his lips.
“Hikers should always tell someone when they’re going into the mountains alone,” Jun says. “It’s like that. I just want someone to know where I’m going. In case anything happens, you know?”
“I don’t think there will be any bears or anything,” Nino says, laughing a little. “Unless you plan to break in to a zoo.”
Jun grins. “I haven’t done this since the last time we were together,” he says.
Nino looks at him, searching his face. He supposes Jun has been working exclusively online. Somehow it doesn’t suit him, Nino thinks. Jun always had a style to his work. He’d slip past security cameras unnoticed even if he could have just disabled them. He liked the challenge, even going as far as telling Nino not to use his ability sometimes when he thought he could retrieve whatever it was they were after with his own hands.
He thinks about asking Jun why. Why now? But he doesn’t need to because the reason isn’t important. It’s just simply something that Jun wants.
“You’re the only one I trust,” Jun says.
Nino nods. He won’t argue with that. Besides Aiba, Jun is the only one he trusts too.
Jun holds up his cup like he wants to make a toast. Which looks a little funny with coffee mugs, but Nino lifts his as well and makes a promise to Jun as their glasses touch.
---
When Nino arrives at home it’s well after midnight. He’s only barely caught the last train and the road that leads to his apartment building is dark because one of the street lights on the corner is burnt out.
He makes his way to the building, footsteps awkwardly echoing down the empty street. Then to the elevator where someone else is about to get on.
“Hey,” he says, casually, just to be neighborly, then the person turns around and it’s Ohno again.
“It’s you,” Ohno says.
“It’s you too,” Nino says. He’s about to make a joke about how they have to stop meeting like this or about Ohno following him or how they can start their own elevator club where they arrange to come and go together. But instead of making a joke, instead of saying anything at all, he’s kissing Ohno there by the side of the elevator. The doors open and he keeps kissing Ohno, feeling Ohno’s arms wind around his back, the the doors close again with neither of them making a move to get on.
It’s a strange feeling. He almost doesn’t know Ohno at all. Just his name and his face and that he gave Nino soap and a towel. The feeling wells up in his chest. Like a craving. And he kisses Ohno with their bodies tight together until Ohno suggests getting on the elevator and going up together.
“My place?” Nino asks, not wanting to break the kiss for any reason. Ohno nods and they’re kissing again and Nino is fumbling with the elevator buttons. Somehow they get out of the elevator and to Nino’s front door where he drops his keys while trying to take them out of his pocket. They have to break apart then and for just a moment Nino has to think about what it’s like to not kiss Ohno.
“I um...” Nino says. He picks the keys up then fumbles with the keychain. It’s a little bulky. A dog keychain that Aiba gave him because he said it looked like Nino.
“Yeah...” Ohno says. Nino feels relieved that Ohno also doesn’t know what to say. Then when he gets up and unlocks the door, he realizes that he’s holding Ohno’s hand and he doesn’t remember either of them reaching out for it.
“It’s not like I do this a lot,” Nino says. They get inside, the door closes and Nino can’t help but press Ohno against it. He wants to kiss him again. Ohno nods, answering a question Nino hasn’t even asked, so he does lean in and do it again.
He takes off his shoes and kicks them aside. Ohno breathes bedroom against his lips so he takes Ohno there while they step on each other with their bare feet, hitting the wall as they round the corner, and ending up as a tangle on the bed.
Nino pulls on Ohno’s shirt, tugging it up and over his head. Then Ohno does the same to him and he feels the heat of his skin on Ohno’s. That feeling swells in his chest again he feels Ohno’s hands on him, exploring, up to the back of his neck down to the waist of his jeans. He pushes Ohno down so he’s lying on his back and Nino gets between his legs, spreading them apart. Ohno’s shirt is off and his skin looks flushed pink. Nino can’t help but grin at his good fortune.
“You said you don’t do this a lot,” Ohno says. There is a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips and Nino really likes that too.
“I don’t,” Nino says, cutely. Then he reaches to start undoing Ohno’s belt.
Nino isn’t lying exactly. It’s less the quantity but the quality. Though he knows he’s good at social niceties, he doesn’t often like going through the motions. Even so, he’s had two other people in this bed besides Ohno. He did have a girlfriend briefly when he first moved to this apartment. Then he supposes Aiba also counts even if they haven’t done more than clumsy handjobs after too much to drink.
Jun has never been here, but Nino had never planned on saying no if the opportunity ever arose.
He pulls Ohno’s jeans down as if he’s unwrapping a present. Ohno is hard and his erection strains against his underwear. Nino feels him, wrapping his fingers around and stroking through the fabric.
“Do you mind if I...” Nino says, bringing a finger to his lips and Ohno shakes his head no. Not at all. Do it now. Nino nearly hears him think it. Ohno swallows and Nino pulls his jeans and underwear all the way off, letting them fall onto the floor.
He takes Ohno in his mouth deeply. He doesn’t feel like teasing or drawing it out. He just wants to make Ohno feel good right now. He sets a quick pace then he looks up to meet Ohno’s eyes. When he looks up, Ohno is looking down at him, his eyes piercing. He’s so different from the seemingly shy neighbor he met on the elevator. It’s funny, Nino thinks, someone like him with someone like Ohno.
He feels Ohno’s hand moving through his hair encouragingly and Nino quickens the pace, using his hand to stroke the base of Ohno’s cock while taking the rest in his mouth. He feels Ohno’s hips move and he presses his thumb into Ohno’s hip as if to say it’s okay. Do it. And when he meets Ohno’s eyes again he sees Ohno nod just before his eyes flutter closed and he lets go.
In the morning, Nino remembers after that Ohno had stroked him roughly and it only took a few moments for him to come. He was so turned on that even after sleeping and waking again he still feels like his skin is raised all over. Like he could just turn over now and do it to Ohno all over again. And he could, seeing as Ohno is still here in the bed. He’s holding on to Nino so tight, arms wrapped around him like they’re woven together.
It’s so quiet and peaceful in the room that when the phone rings it slices the silence in two.
---
Aiba’s voice sounds a little thin on the other end of the line.
“Where are you?” Nino asks.
“I don’t know,” Aiba says.
“What do you see?” Nino asks.
“Um...” Aiba says. “Nothing really. I’m blindfolded.”
Nino stands up then, walking to the window with his phone where he looks outside. Nothing out of the ordinary.
“Then do you hear anything?” Nino asks. He can hear something in the background even over the phone. It sounds like two men talking to each other. Then the clink of a glass on a table and the sound of silverware sliding along the surface of a plate.
“You can hear them right?” Aiba says.
“I hear someone,” Nino says.
“They’re letting me call you.”
There is an odd tightness in Nino’s chest. Something is off about all of this.
“Who?”
“I guess I kind of got myself kidnaped?” Aiba says with a sheepish laugh that has no place after what he’s just said.
“Aiba--”
“Don’t worry though!” he says. “It’s okay. If you just give them what they want they’ll let me go. They’re actually pretty nice.”
“They don’t sound nice,” Nino says. It’s the first time he’s ever had a call like this from Aiba. Part of the reason he stopped partnering with Jun was because he knew too well how things like this can happen. Usually it’s just for ransom purposes. The kidnappers have no intention of harming anyone, that would get the police involved deeper than they want. As a means of insurance, they’d take a temporary hostage. They especially happened to people like Nino and Jun. People with abilities.
He hears Ohno turning over in the bed and he starts changing into his clothes while holding the phone between his face and his shoulder.
“They just want the Iwasaki diamond,” Aiba says. “Whatever that is. I don’t really know but they said you’d know.”
Nino knows. It isn’t ancient but it is something of a national treasure. A quick search on his computer doesn’t tell him much. The diamond isn’t on display in any museums right now.
He scribbles a note to Ohno and leaves it next to the bed. It says Call me with his phone number written next to the brief two word message. It feels strange and impersonal after what happened last night. Even more than that, Nino feels physically torn when he leaves the apartment. He wants Ohno to be close to him, so much that his ability almost gets away from him and he pulls a pair of slippers and an umbrella from the entrance as his body tries to pull Ohno towards him. He takes a deep breath. When he was a kid it wasn’t easy to control, but now he can focus and calm down. He breathes in and out a few times. The slippers and umbrella drop to the floor and Nino quickly closes the door behind him.
---
Jun told Nino not only the museum he’d hit but also the time and day he intended to do so. Nino didn’t write any of the information down on the off chance that anyone could find it. He hesitated even thinking about it too much. He’d never met anyone with the ability to read minds but that didn’t mean a person like that didn’t exist.
He’s extra careful about all of his actions now that Aiba is being held. The first thing he did was get on his bicycle and ride around Aiba’s neighborhood. He tries to imagine the things Aiba would likely have on him. His baseball cap, his sneakers, his keys. He tries to draw those items to himself, but even he knows he’s taking a chance trying something like that. If the object is one he can’t see he’s never been able to draw it to him.
The museum Jun told him about is located in downtown Tokyo. A touristy area where there are always too many people. After Nino rides his bicycle unsuccessfully around Aiba’s neighborhood he takes the train to the station near the museum just for a look around. Jun will be here later tonight so he doesn’t want to draw attention. It’s easy to get lost in the crowd and Nino does exactly that.
There is a complicated system of security cameras, but it’s one that Jun can easily manage. Nino has seen him at work. He has to be touching some part of the system to make it work. Even just a cable or cord is enough. He closes his eyes and makes a kind of humming sound, then he surges electricity inside and he can disable or manipulate anything as he likes. If there are this many external cameras Nino can only imagine the spiderweb of an alarm system that is likely set up inside.
He’s careful to stay mixed in with the crowd, but even so he’s not immune to bad luck. Although this situation could be seen one of two ways.
It’s bad luck because he’s been spotted by someone he recognizes and who definitely recognizes him. But it’s not so bad because he’s always had an easy time of dealing with this person in particular.
“Ninomiya-san,” a man says, approaching Nino in a T-shirt and jeans and looking nothing like the police officer Nino knows him to be.
“Sakurai,” Nino nods.
“It’s been a while hasn’t it?” Sakurai says. He looks smug as if he’s caught Nino in the act even though he hasn’t caught him doing anything but stand on the sidewalk. Nino is pretty sure that isn’t a crime.
He does know though that to Sakurai he’s probably the one who got away. The last time Nino worked with Jun, Sakurai had very nearly arrested them. They’d hit a gallery that time and taken five small, pink diamonds. Jun had managed to touch Sakurai’s police car and disable the radio and the electronic locks. Then they’d left two of the diamonds behind as a brief distraction and they’d run faster than Nino ever had in his life or ever would again.
Just thinking about that time everything comes back to Nino so easily. The way his feet felt on the pavement and the drizzling rain felt on his skin. The way everything was mixed up inside of him. He liked doing this with Jun, but there was a reason why the moment Nino’s mother had taken him away from public view was the moment she discovered he had an ability.
“Did you quit the force?” Nino asks. “Never seen you in jeans before.”
Sakurai shakes his head. “No,” he says. Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his badge. He doesn’t open it all the way but Nino gets the point.
“Too bad,” Nino says. “I would have asked you if you wanted to go and get a drink.” He grins his best grin and can’t help but feel satisfied when Sakurai coughs.
Sakurai is another one that he wouldn’t say no to. Not that it would ever happen.
Seeing Sakurai here was lucky, he decides. He can warn Jun and make sure he knows what he’s getting into if he comes back here later. The place is obviously being watched. Nino also notices that a couple of armored vans have passed behind where Sakurai is standing. They must be preparing for a new exhibition and that might by why some plain clothes cops are keeping an eye on the area. Jun has been stealing things while in transit recently and maybe he’s caught their attention doing so.
“You’re not getting into trouble somewhere we can’t see you right?” Sakurai asks.
Nino puts his hand on his heart. “I’m just a law abiding citizen,” he says. “Swear.”
One of the armored vans pulls around to the side of the museum. Nino watches in his peripheral vision. When the van parks Nino aims at a sheet of paper on the dashboard. It’s small, the size of a receipt, and Nino pulls it into a gust of wind where some leaves from the trees are spinning in circles through the air. It just looks like some trash caught up in the breeze. Nino turns the other way to direct Sakurai’s attention away from what he’s doing behind his back.
“I’ll trust you for now,” Sakurai says. “You really have stayed out of trouble for a while.”
“Good,” Nino says. For the most part it’s true.
The breeze has already died down but Nino pulls some leaves up into the air to create the illusion it’s still moving. Then with the paper stuck to the back of a leaf he pulls both of them into his hand and slips the paper into his back pocket letting the leaf blow past him.
“Have you been in contact with Matsumoto?” Sakurai asks.
“Not for a long time,” Nino says. Sakurai really is too relaxed if he’s asking something like that. Then he hooks his hand in his back pocket. Sakurai doesn’t seem to have noticed the slip of paper at all.
“Keep up the good work then,” Sakurai says. He turns around to look behind him and Nino enjoys the view from behind.
“Jeans suit you,” Nino says. He watches as Sakurai turns slowly around. He’s laughing but he looks just the tiniest bit flushed. Nino has always thought of Sakurai as someone who he’d have been good friends with if things had gone a little differently for both of them.
He waits until he’s on the train before looking at the slip of paper. It’s a printed inventory list labeled Car 2943. Several items are there but then he sees it at the bottom. The Iwasaki diamond.
Part 2