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ninoexchange2011-06-22 05:00 pm
nino-mod.livejournal.com) wrote in ninoexchange2011-06-22 05:00 pm
Entry tags:
fic for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
littlealex
For: littlealex
From:clipsie
Title: Smoke in the Mirror Leads to Random Happenings
Pairing/Focus: Nino, Jun, Ohno, with guest appearances by other Johnny's
Rating: G
Warnings: AU
Summary: A lot can happen when you decide to go the cheap route.
Notes: Hopefully this is something you’d like to receive,littlealex. My humour and ideas about things can be a little off, but in the end, I do hope you’ll enjoy it. I’d also like to thank my very patient, lovely beta, who did a wonderful job beta-ing, and the mod of this exchange who put up with my awkward schedule so graciously.
~~One A~~
“Hello, Yoko-Hina Car Rentals, Murakami speaking. How may I help you?”
“I’d like to complain about a car I rented.”
“Can I get your name and date of rental please?”
“Of course. My name is Ninomiya Kazunari, and I rented the car on June 14, 2011.”
“What seems to be the problem then?”
“Well…”
~~Two~~
It was a nice day in June when it all started, though where it started, one could hardly tell the weather. There were no windows in the back room of the theatre, and the two employees who were sitting in there didn’t seem to mind, as they were having a conversation all their own.
“A trip? You want to take me on a trip?”
“Yes Nino, is that so hard to believe? You hardly leave your house, and when you do, it’s for work.”
Looking up from his game system in his hands, Nino stared at his standing friend for a moment, before looking back to the task at hand, saving Princess Peach, as he said, “What if I don’t feel like going? How are you even going to plan this anyway?”
“We can go to a travel agent,” the friend said as he sat beside Nino. “Toma recommended one to me not so long ago. Said he’s pretty decent at getting bookings, and apparently knows a lot of good, inexpensive places to go.”
Humming a tone of thought, Nino didn’t change his focus from the screen in front of him for a few moments. Just because his birthday was coming up didn’t mean he wanted to go anywhere. What was wrong with spending the day at home and maybe going out for a quick birthday supper? It would be easier and cheaper after all.
His thoughts, though, dissolved slightly when his friend chimed in, “I’ll even pay for the trip.”
“You’ll pay, eh?” Nino grinned at his game as he jumped on another Koopa. “I guess we could meet with this travel agent, Jun-kun.”
"I knew your cheapness would come through, " Jun stated amusedly. "I'll let the agent know we'll be in tomorrow morning then." He shot up from his seat, knocking into Nino while grabbing his cell phone from his pocket, and then began to search through his contacts for the travel agent's number.
“Oi! You made me lose a life.”
~~Three~~
The next morning, Jun arrived at the “House of Nino”, which was really just a tiny, cheap apartment, at the crack of dawn. Okay, maybe not exactly dawn, and it was more along the lines of eight o'clock in the morning, but to Nino, it felt like dawn. Probably would have to Jun as well, if he weren’t already standing at the door immensely excited.
"Our appointment with Sakamoto-san is at nine thirty," were the first words out of his mouth, followed by a quick, "Go get ready. We don't want to be late, do we?"
That could only really be followed by a blank, tired stare from Nino. “Who?”
“The travel agent I was talking about.”
Turning around, he swung the door open a bit more so Jun could follow him in. "Some prior notification would have been nice you know." stated the retreating, sleepy man. "I'll just be a bit then. Why are you so hyper anyway?"
"We're going on a trip. Aren't trips supposed to be exciting?"
"Are they? It sounds to me like you just drank an entire pot of coffee." Looking back around at the taller man in the doorway, he smiled. "Just give me five minutes. You know, you can come inside, right?"
Grinning as he toed off his shoes, Jun looked around. "There's really nothing for me to look at though. I could just stand by the door."
"Except you're not. Your shoes are already off, aren't they?" Nino pointed out as he shut the door to his room to search for some clothes to wear. "How are we getting there anyway?"
"Train."
"I see. Probably because neither of us seem to have a car, eh?" Finding the clothes he would be wearing that day, he padded his way to the bathroom. "If only you hadn't crashed into that toll booth."
"That was a while ago. Can we just forget it please?"
"Ah, that's no fun! I do like that you classify last year as a while ago though." Grinning into the mirror, he turned on the water and continued, "Why haven't you gotten a new car anyway?"
"I haven't really had a need for one I suppose." Knocking on the door, he added, "Are you just about done in there?"
Lifting his face from the cloth he was scrubbing with, he exclaimed a "Yes, yes!" and grabbed a towel to dry off with. "Impatient are we?"
"Yes, do I seem like I am?" He leaned against the wall at the door. "Seriously though, hurry up. It'd be no good if we're late."
"Right." Stepping out, he smiled a tight-lipped smile and said, "Well, we might as well go then."
It didn't take very long for them to get to the offices of Tonisen Travel. It was a relatively small office though, with maybe only four employees working there full time, none of which were there at the moment, and at the helm was Sakamoto Masayuki, the only employee that seemed to be working that day. He had worked at a small agency before, later deciding to run his own.
Arriving at the agency, they were confronted by the strong odour of coffee coming from inside the owner's office. Nino smirked when he noticed this.
“Seems like someone else dove into the coffee this morning.”
Sighing, Jun ignored him in favour of knocking on the door. A knock, which was answered with a gruff “Come in.”
Upon entering the office, the smell was even stronger in the very plain looking room. Mind a few baseball and volleyball things on the walls and shelves. The almost empty pot of coffee sat on the edge of the desk, nearest to where Jun and Nino eventually sat down to sit.
“Hello. Are you by any chance Matsumoto Jun?”
“I am. Thank you for seeing us so early.”
Sakamoto nodded in a dismissive way to the comment and continued, “You two plan on leaving tomorrow, is that right?”
Nino’s eyes widened at that comment. “We’re leaving tomorrow?”
Facing Nino, Jun said, “We are. Didn’t I tell you that?” Thinking for a moment with a look to the side, he then added, “Ah, maybe I didn’t, but we’re going by car.”
“Car… We don’t have a car.”
“No, not right now,” Jun said, as he turned to face Sakamoto, “Which leads me to something I forgot to ask on the phone. Do you know any good car rental places?”
Sakamoto returned his attention to his clients’ conversation as he moved the mug from his lips. “I’d recommend Yoko-Hina Car Rentals. They’re usually pretty good, and not overly expensive.” He then took a sip of coffee, and continued before his client could speak. “Also, Matsumoto-san, I’d just like to let you know everything is in order for your bookings.”
“Ah, it is? Thank you for doing this on such short notice.”
“If you’d like, we can do the car rental right here.”
“Really? Ah, if possible,” Jun glanced at Nino for a second, “could we have the cheapest car possible?”
Sakamoto nodded. “Alright. If you could just give me a moment to call them.” Grabbing for the phone, he quickly scrolled through the contacts.
“So, I’m cheap date, am I?” Nino said, while narrowing his eyes at Jun.
This only caused Jun to grin. “The cheapest date I know. In fact, I don’t know why I’m spending any money at all.”
“Yeah? I’ve been wondering about that. Why are you doing this?”
Jun paused for a moment before scoffing and putting on an offended face. “What? I can’t want to take a trip with my friend for his birthday?”
“No,” Nino looked away, “No, there’s nothing wrong with that at all.”
“… Yes. Ah, just a moment.” Placing his hand over the mouthpiece, Sakamoto looked at his clients, “Would you two like to pick up the car today?”
Jun peeled his eyes away from Nino and looked straight ahead. “If it’s not too much trouble, if we could pick it up right after we leave here?”
“That shouldn’t be any trouble at all. I can just finish up here if you’d like to head off there now.”
Both of them stood up to leave, with Jun asking, “Okay. Do you have an address, by the way?”
“Ah! Right!” Sakamoto grabbed a pad of sticky notes and quickly scribbled the address. Tearing off the page, he handed it over.
Jun grabbed the note from the outstretched hand, and bowed slightly, thanking Sakamoto.
“Make sure you talk to Yoko. He’ll have the car all ready for you when you get there.” He shuffled through a few papers. “Ah, and here’s your reservations and everything. Have a nice trip.”
Thanking Sakamoto again, they headed out the door, away from the coffee smell. On the way out of the building, Nino commented with a, “So, how much coffee do you think he had?”
~~One B~~
“I see. Sakamoto-san does usually go with us.”
“Oh, Sakamoto-san wasn’t the problem at all. He only did what we asked after all.”
“And how was Yoko when you dealt with him?”
“He did give us exactly what we asked for, and that may have been the problem.”
“How so?”
“Well, from what happened the next day.”
~~Four~~
The very next morning was an early one, once again with Jun diving into the pot of coffee, and the next pot. This was all for the sake of getting on the road nice and early though, to beat any traffic that may come about around noon. Nine in the morning is early after all. Their radio of choice while leaving was Sakurai Sho’s morning news and music program.
“In celebrity news, Araki Hirofumi just recently celebrated his 28th birthday. The actor, who is about to star in a summer drama, Scar’s Tale, celebrated his birthday in the hospital from an unfortunate accident that occurred on set yesterday afternoon. Details about the injury have yet to be released.
“Up next we have Perfume with Chocolate Disco.”
Nino turned off the radio. “So, now that we’re out of the city, you’re going to tell me where we’re going, right?”
Laughing, Jun shook his head. “Not at all. It’s supposed to be a surprise after all.”
Sighing, Nino brought out his DS and flipped the radio back on. At this rate, it was going to be a long ride. May as well play some Dragon Quest to pass the time.
He waited an hour before he questioned Jun again. “So, how much more do we have to go?”
Jun quickly glanced over at the passenger. “It’ll still be a while, Nino. You may as well keep playing your game.”
“Or I could look at the passing scenery!” Nino feigned excitement as he shifted his attention out his window.
“You know, I’m not sure if you’d find that interesting-“ He was cut off by Nino.
“Hey! There’s a hitchhiker eating an onigiri at the side of the road.” He tried to focus his eyes more before looking at Jun. “Maybe we should pick him up.”
“Nino, we’re not going to pick up a random person.”
“Can’t we at least talk to him then? I mean, look at him, he actually kind of cute.” Nino cooed.
“Since when do you want to talk to people?”
“What? I can’t want to talk to some random stranger eating an onigiri?”
Jun paused and sighed. “I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that. Let me just turn around.”
It was another five minutes before Jun could actually turn around, and a little while until they got to the man sitting at the side of the road, who was still eating the onigiri. After Jun brought the vehicle to a stop, Nino ran out of the car, or, well, lazily got out, and sauntered over to the man equally as fast.
Upon arriving, he simply sat down beside the man, and while looking over in a childish way, said, “Hi, I’m Nino.”
The man, who hadn’t noticed them at all at this point, way too engrossed in his onigiri, looked to his side, slightly startled, a piece of rice stuck to his chin.
This only made Nino giggle. “I must have scared you, huh?”
Turning his attention back to his rice, the man mumbled a slow, “Ah, no, it’s alright. I’m Ohno by the way.”
“Nice to meet you Ohno-san.” Shifting a bit, Nino looked out towards the road and said, “It’s a nice day out today, isn’t it?”
Ohno chewed on his food for a bit before responding, still mumbling, “It is. That’s why I decided to walk today.” He ate some more.
“Walking? Ah, that seems silly. Where are you heading?”
Ohno didn’t really respond, but rather pointed to the direction in which Nino and Jun were heading initially. This made Nino grin rather mischievously as he yelled, “Jun-kun! We have another passenger!”
Staring at Nino as he stood up, Ohno asked, “Is it really okay?”
Already heading to the vehicle, Nino turned around and simply said, “Yeah, come on then.”
~~Five~~
Thirty minutes had passed after they had picked up Ohno, against Jun’s wishes that is. You could never be too careful with these random hitchhikers, could you? He did start to warm up to the man a bit though. He was quiet that and seemed to manage to distract Nino enough during the car ride, so that he wasn’t asking questions all the time, unless he dragged Ohno to ask with him that is.
This was when the trouble started though. Trips were just never as easy as they seemed they would be. The trouble though, well, that was the sudden appearance of smoke coming from the back of the vehicle that Jun noticed when he casually looked through the rear view mirror. Grumbling to himself, Jun pulled over on the side of the highway they were on, in the middle of nowhere, and stopped the vehicle.
Realizing they had stopped, Nino looked up from the game he was teaching Ohno to play on his DS. “What’s wrong Jun-kun?”
Jun only unbuckled his seatbelt angrily and slammed the car door when he exited the vehicle. He kicking the tire as he went by to the front of the car to pull out his cell phone, which just made allowed him to kick the car itself.
Seeing this, Nino unbuckled his seatbelt and joined the unhappy man outside. “What’s wrong Jun-kun?”
Jun shifted his eyes to his friend, trying to decide where to begin. He decided it best to begin from the car. “There’s smoke coming out of the back of the vehicle, and absolutely no cell phone service here.” He tried to look calmer once he finished.
Nino only patted his back while he shook his head simply. “Jun-kun, Jun-kun, Jun-kun. Looks like we’ll have to hitchhike then, doesn’t it?”
Sighing, Jun resigned himself to his fate. At least they were with someone who knew how to hitchhike he supposed. It could be worse, though it was almost lunchtime.
After getting everything together, and arranging it in a way that would be easy for the three of them to carry, though Ohno’s fishing rod caused a bit of a problem at the start when it caught on everything, they set out up the road. Though they didn’t really get anywhere until the second time they set out. Jun had forgotten the registration papers for the rental in the car’s glove box.
They had only been walking for about fifteen minutes before a car with two men slowed down beside them, and the window rolled down to reveal a widely grinning man. “Oi! Do you want a ride?”
The three of them looked to the car’s window, and at the rest of the car. It looked like it could fit five people comfortably enough, though they were random strangers. Nino wasn’t fazed at all by this though, and just smiled back and said, “Thank you for the ride.”
The car suddenly stopped when he said the words, as the same smiling man looked at them. “Get in then. Just put your bags with you though, the trunk’s a bit full at the moment.”
Jun was the first to enter the car, followed by Nino, and then Ohno. Once everyone got settled, they headed off.
“So, I hope you don’t mind, but we can only take you to the restaurant we’re going to, if that’s alright?” It was a different man this time. Another smiling man, but this time, not the driver, as the other one turned out to be. It was an American style car it seemed.
“That sounds fine. We’re rather hungry actually, or well, at least two of us are.” Nino smirked a little, “We picked up the sleepy looking one while he was eating not too long ago.”
Jun just watched Nino as he talked to the two strange men, while Ohno responded with a “I am a bit hungry.”
Nino just stared at him when he said this before chuckling a bit. “Ah, I guess I was wrong. By the way, who do we have to thank for saving us from the harsh outdoor elements?”
The second smiling man laughed a bit, and responded, “I’m Inohara Yoshihiko, though please just call me Inocchi, and this man here, driving, is Kokubun Taichi.”
Taichi looked through the rear view mirror at his passengers and said, in a nice manner, “It’s nice to be saving you, but who exactly is it we saved?”
“I’m Ninomiya Kazunari, just Nino is fine though. The man to my right is Matsumoto Jun, and this man here is Ohno…” He stared blankly to his left, until the heard the quiet mumble of “Satoshi”. He then brightly said, “Satoshi. Ohno Satoshi, ah, that’s your name!”
This caused a slight laugh from Jun, which he tried to hide behind his hand, as his eyes shifted from Nino and away a few times. Composing himself, he asked the smiling men, “So, how good is this restaurant?”
Inocchi looked at the man with an even wider, excited grin. “It’s actually rather good. Some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had, and the water they serve you, it’s delicious. The coffee too.”
~~Six~~
The restaurant they reached was a small, out of the way place, with a very good atmosphere and smell. The atmosphere was likely caused by the worker though, as he greeted all of them cheerfully upon entering.
“Ah, please come in, and sit where ever you’d like!” he exclaimed with his raspy voice, walking past with dishes. “I’ll be right with you.”
The five of them chose a table on the opposite of the restaurant from a group of young guys, one of which seemed to be wearing a baseball uniform. Cheers of “You did great, Kamenashi-kun!” and “Way to beat that red jersey team!” could be heard from where they stood.
Nino’s interest was piqued for a bit as he looked at Jun when he sat down. “Ah, remember when we used to play baseball? We were just like them.”
Jun smiled and replied with a, “Yeah. Those were good times.”
The conversation about baseball could have gone on between the two for longer, if it weren’t for the worker appearing behind them rather quickly.
“Aiba-chan! How are you today?”
“Inocchi! I’m doing well. It’s been actually rather busy today, as you can probably see.” The grin on the waiter’s face was almost blinding from the cheer it radiated. “Seems they won a baseball game.”
Nino laughed at this and as a result got hit by Jun, with a pointed look directed at him.
“What’s the special today then?” Inocchi asked.
Aiba giggled slightly at this, and stated with zeal, “It’s mapo tofu today. Would you like to have that?”
A chorus of agreement terms were heard around the table, as for the case of the three, now hitchhikers, there were really just hungry, and their saviours seemed to approve of this dish anyway. Aiba then left to have their order made.
“So, what are you three going to do after this?” Taichi looked at them seriously.
“Well, seeing as we’re not in the middle of nowhere anymore, I guess we’ll call a tow truck and the car rental place.” Jun answered with confidence.
“Ah, I take it you weren’t getting any reception then.” Taichi’s face continued looking serious, though now with a hint of pity. “There’s no reception here either.”
“What?” Jun’s face fell. “I guess we could see if Aiba has a phone we can use then.”
Sitting back, Taichi nodded, and added a, “You could try that.”
After he said that, the restaurant was invaded by another group of five. A very loud group of five, who ended up choosing a seat close to where Nino and the rest were sitting. They seemed to quiet down a bit when the idea of food finally hit them, though the one who was initially the quietest got a bit louder.
Ignoring them, Nino asked Taichi and Inocchi, “So, do you two come here often then?”
Inocchi decided to answer this one, going with a, “We try to come here once a month, and normally we have other people with us. I guess they were all busy this month, so Taichi and I decided to come here to waste some time.”
“We’re business partners, so it’s alright if we take a bit extra for lunch.” Taichi added in. “Ah, I never asked before, but why exactly were you guys hitchhiking there?”
Nino rolled his eyes at this question and started on his tale of it being his birthday present, and how they met with Ohno on the way to their destination, and decided to take him along, as he was heading in the same direction. Inocchi and Taichi only nodded while he went on with his story, up until when they picked them up.
His story was met with a chorus of “Happy Birthday” from the three people he had just met, as well as the waiter named Aiba, who chose that moment to appear with some drinks, and tacked on a, “Your meal will be free today then. I’ll even add in something special for you.” before he left to serve some more tables.
In the end, they spent a good hour sitting there, eating the surprisingly delicious mapo tofu, and just chatting among themselves, until Inocchi and Taichi decided they had been there just long enough that they could get away with. The three hitchhikers were sad to see them go, but at least they had made it somewhere.
After seeing them leave, it was decided to be the best time to ask about using the restaurant’s phone.
Nino went up to the back counter and asked Aiba. “So, is there a phone that we can use?”
Aiba looked up from what he was working on, and switched his grin to a face that was quite the change and kind of upset looking. “Sadly, I don’t. I forgot to pay the phone bill recently.”
Not quite knowing how to respond to that, Nino smiled as politely as possible and thanked the man anyway, before walking back to their table.
“He’s forgotten to pay the phone bill. I guess we’ll be back to walking some more, until we find a place to call.”
The other two just sat up without a word and began collecting their things, to get back on the road. That is until the loud group of five said something, specifically the one in the orange shirt. “You know, we could probably take you somewhere.”
~~Seven~~
They ended up going with the group of five, who, as it turns out, had a vehicle that could seat eight, though it was still a bit cramped. There were a lot of bags in that vehicle after all. They even gave the new passengers the middle seat. If they kept this up, they would make it in record time for people who had encountered many troubles along the way.
Ohno had explained where he was going during the lunch the three of them managed to get, and so, upon entering the car, Nino explained where to go to the driver.
During the drive, Ohno has managed to fall asleep on Nino’s shoulder, so it was surprising to him when they seemed to get to the right place with ease.
The driver, Ryo, looked back in the mirror, and requested for them to leave as he arrived. As it turned out, the man in orange who offered them the ride was named Maru, and the rest were Subaru, Yasuda, and Ohkura, who also happened to be asleep for most of the car ride. It was also quite enjoyable they found, especially because they were all around their age.
In the end though, they all had to say goodbye, and Ohno, Nino, and Jun waved goodbye as they pulled away from the area.
“There’s a cabin just through here, and if I’m right, Tsuyoshi-kun should be home.” Ohno said, leading the way.
Nino and Jun found they couldn’t really say anything, and it had already been explained that they could get a ride easily from there if they’d like. By now though, they were as hungry as they were at lunch, so they thought it would be nice to get a meal.
Ohno walked ahead of them into the house, ahead enough that the door had closed behind him before the other two had entered. When they tried the door, the found it to be locked, and could not enter. Thinking it was an accident; they rang the doorbell, which was answered by a man that they had never met before.
“Ah, hello. What can I do for you?”
This only caused Nino and Jun to exchange looks before asking, “I’m sorry, we were brought here by Ohno-san. Can we go inside to meet him?”
The man only looked at the two in a puzzled manner before opening the door and letting the two in to the front area. He waited for them to finish taking off their shoes before he spoke. “I’m Okada Junichi, and I currently live here. If I could ask you to wait in the living room.”
Nino and Jun only nodded in agreement as they walked to the room they were directed to. Okada though, walked into a different room, and soon returned with another man, who introduced himself as Domoto Tsuyoshi.
Tsuyoshi soon explained to the two men that Ohno hadn’t lived there for over a year, as he had moved back home for a bit to deal with a few things. He had even just been talking to the man the day before about when he’s move back in, and he hadn’t expressed any interest in the near future. Not only that, but neither of the two men currently living there had seen or heard him come inside.
Nino and Jun listened carefully to what the man before them was saying, and soon wondered, though they never vocalized, what exactly they had encountered, if the man was still that far away.
They continued pondering for a bit, before they were all interrupted by a soft voice. “So, is anyone going to come eat?”
~~One C~~
“I get what the car stalling has to do with us, but the rest?”
”Good story isn’t it?”
“Well, yes... I don’t quite get the ending though.”
“Oh, as it turned out, Ohno-san really had travelled with us. We were both about to blame the car sputtering on a ghostly encounter until Okada-san and Domoto-san both saw him.”
“I see, it’s good he wasn’t actually a ghost then.”
“Mmmhmm, and he’s a nice guy too, that Ohno-san. He baked me a birthday cake before sending us on our way with Domoto-san driving us.”
“Ah, It’s good that you got to your destination.”
“Yep, though it’s thanks to your failure of a car that we had to go through all of that effort to get there.”
“Ah, I’m terribly sorry about that Ninomiya-san. Is there anything we can do for you in regards to the car?”
“Yeah. I’d like a refund.”
littlealexFrom:
clipsieTitle: Smoke in the Mirror Leads to Random Happenings
Pairing/Focus: Nino, Jun, Ohno, with guest appearances by other Johnny's
Rating: G
Warnings: AU
Summary: A lot can happen when you decide to go the cheap route.
Notes: Hopefully this is something you’d like to receive,
littlealex. My humour and ideas about things can be a little off, but in the end, I do hope you’ll enjoy it. I’d also like to thank my very patient, lovely beta, who did a wonderful job beta-ing, and the mod of this exchange who put up with my awkward schedule so graciously. ~~One A~~
“Hello, Yoko-Hina Car Rentals, Murakami speaking. How may I help you?”
“I’d like to complain about a car I rented.”
“Can I get your name and date of rental please?”
“Of course. My name is Ninomiya Kazunari, and I rented the car on June 14, 2011.”
“What seems to be the problem then?”
“Well…”
~~Two~~
It was a nice day in June when it all started, though where it started, one could hardly tell the weather. There were no windows in the back room of the theatre, and the two employees who were sitting in there didn’t seem to mind, as they were having a conversation all their own.
“A trip? You want to take me on a trip?”
“Yes Nino, is that so hard to believe? You hardly leave your house, and when you do, it’s for work.”
Looking up from his game system in his hands, Nino stared at his standing friend for a moment, before looking back to the task at hand, saving Princess Peach, as he said, “What if I don’t feel like going? How are you even going to plan this anyway?”
“We can go to a travel agent,” the friend said as he sat beside Nino. “Toma recommended one to me not so long ago. Said he’s pretty decent at getting bookings, and apparently knows a lot of good, inexpensive places to go.”
Humming a tone of thought, Nino didn’t change his focus from the screen in front of him for a few moments. Just because his birthday was coming up didn’t mean he wanted to go anywhere. What was wrong with spending the day at home and maybe going out for a quick birthday supper? It would be easier and cheaper after all.
His thoughts, though, dissolved slightly when his friend chimed in, “I’ll even pay for the trip.”
“You’ll pay, eh?” Nino grinned at his game as he jumped on another Koopa. “I guess we could meet with this travel agent, Jun-kun.”
"I knew your cheapness would come through, " Jun stated amusedly. "I'll let the agent know we'll be in tomorrow morning then." He shot up from his seat, knocking into Nino while grabbing his cell phone from his pocket, and then began to search through his contacts for the travel agent's number.
“Oi! You made me lose a life.”
~~Three~~
The next morning, Jun arrived at the “House of Nino”, which was really just a tiny, cheap apartment, at the crack of dawn. Okay, maybe not exactly dawn, and it was more along the lines of eight o'clock in the morning, but to Nino, it felt like dawn. Probably would have to Jun as well, if he weren’t already standing at the door immensely excited.
"Our appointment with Sakamoto-san is at nine thirty," were the first words out of his mouth, followed by a quick, "Go get ready. We don't want to be late, do we?"
That could only really be followed by a blank, tired stare from Nino. “Who?”
“The travel agent I was talking about.”
Turning around, he swung the door open a bit more so Jun could follow him in. "Some prior notification would have been nice you know." stated the retreating, sleepy man. "I'll just be a bit then. Why are you so hyper anyway?"
"We're going on a trip. Aren't trips supposed to be exciting?"
"Are they? It sounds to me like you just drank an entire pot of coffee." Looking back around at the taller man in the doorway, he smiled. "Just give me five minutes. You know, you can come inside, right?"
Grinning as he toed off his shoes, Jun looked around. "There's really nothing for me to look at though. I could just stand by the door."
"Except you're not. Your shoes are already off, aren't they?" Nino pointed out as he shut the door to his room to search for some clothes to wear. "How are we getting there anyway?"
"Train."
"I see. Probably because neither of us seem to have a car, eh?" Finding the clothes he would be wearing that day, he padded his way to the bathroom. "If only you hadn't crashed into that toll booth."
"That was a while ago. Can we just forget it please?"
"Ah, that's no fun! I do like that you classify last year as a while ago though." Grinning into the mirror, he turned on the water and continued, "Why haven't you gotten a new car anyway?"
"I haven't really had a need for one I suppose." Knocking on the door, he added, "Are you just about done in there?"
Lifting his face from the cloth he was scrubbing with, he exclaimed a "Yes, yes!" and grabbed a towel to dry off with. "Impatient are we?"
"Yes, do I seem like I am?" He leaned against the wall at the door. "Seriously though, hurry up. It'd be no good if we're late."
"Right." Stepping out, he smiled a tight-lipped smile and said, "Well, we might as well go then."
It didn't take very long for them to get to the offices of Tonisen Travel. It was a relatively small office though, with maybe only four employees working there full time, none of which were there at the moment, and at the helm was Sakamoto Masayuki, the only employee that seemed to be working that day. He had worked at a small agency before, later deciding to run his own.
Arriving at the agency, they were confronted by the strong odour of coffee coming from inside the owner's office. Nino smirked when he noticed this.
“Seems like someone else dove into the coffee this morning.”
Sighing, Jun ignored him in favour of knocking on the door. A knock, which was answered with a gruff “Come in.”
Upon entering the office, the smell was even stronger in the very plain looking room. Mind a few baseball and volleyball things on the walls and shelves. The almost empty pot of coffee sat on the edge of the desk, nearest to where Jun and Nino eventually sat down to sit.
“Hello. Are you by any chance Matsumoto Jun?”
“I am. Thank you for seeing us so early.”
Sakamoto nodded in a dismissive way to the comment and continued, “You two plan on leaving tomorrow, is that right?”
Nino’s eyes widened at that comment. “We’re leaving tomorrow?”
Facing Nino, Jun said, “We are. Didn’t I tell you that?” Thinking for a moment with a look to the side, he then added, “Ah, maybe I didn’t, but we’re going by car.”
“Car… We don’t have a car.”
“No, not right now,” Jun said, as he turned to face Sakamoto, “Which leads me to something I forgot to ask on the phone. Do you know any good car rental places?”
Sakamoto returned his attention to his clients’ conversation as he moved the mug from his lips. “I’d recommend Yoko-Hina Car Rentals. They’re usually pretty good, and not overly expensive.” He then took a sip of coffee, and continued before his client could speak. “Also, Matsumoto-san, I’d just like to let you know everything is in order for your bookings.”
“Ah, it is? Thank you for doing this on such short notice.”
“If you’d like, we can do the car rental right here.”
“Really? Ah, if possible,” Jun glanced at Nino for a second, “could we have the cheapest car possible?”
Sakamoto nodded. “Alright. If you could just give me a moment to call them.” Grabbing for the phone, he quickly scrolled through the contacts.
“So, I’m cheap date, am I?” Nino said, while narrowing his eyes at Jun.
This only caused Jun to grin. “The cheapest date I know. In fact, I don’t know why I’m spending any money at all.”
“Yeah? I’ve been wondering about that. Why are you doing this?”
Jun paused for a moment before scoffing and putting on an offended face. “What? I can’t want to take a trip with my friend for his birthday?”
“No,” Nino looked away, “No, there’s nothing wrong with that at all.”
“… Yes. Ah, just a moment.” Placing his hand over the mouthpiece, Sakamoto looked at his clients, “Would you two like to pick up the car today?”
Jun peeled his eyes away from Nino and looked straight ahead. “If it’s not too much trouble, if we could pick it up right after we leave here?”
“That shouldn’t be any trouble at all. I can just finish up here if you’d like to head off there now.”
Both of them stood up to leave, with Jun asking, “Okay. Do you have an address, by the way?”
“Ah! Right!” Sakamoto grabbed a pad of sticky notes and quickly scribbled the address. Tearing off the page, he handed it over.
Jun grabbed the note from the outstretched hand, and bowed slightly, thanking Sakamoto.
“Make sure you talk to Yoko. He’ll have the car all ready for you when you get there.” He shuffled through a few papers. “Ah, and here’s your reservations and everything. Have a nice trip.”
Thanking Sakamoto again, they headed out the door, away from the coffee smell. On the way out of the building, Nino commented with a, “So, how much coffee do you think he had?”
~~One B~~
“I see. Sakamoto-san does usually go with us.”
“Oh, Sakamoto-san wasn’t the problem at all. He only did what we asked after all.”
“And how was Yoko when you dealt with him?”
“He did give us exactly what we asked for, and that may have been the problem.”
“How so?”
“Well, from what happened the next day.”
~~Four~~
The very next morning was an early one, once again with Jun diving into the pot of coffee, and the next pot. This was all for the sake of getting on the road nice and early though, to beat any traffic that may come about around noon. Nine in the morning is early after all. Their radio of choice while leaving was Sakurai Sho’s morning news and music program.
“In celebrity news, Araki Hirofumi just recently celebrated his 28th birthday. The actor, who is about to star in a summer drama, Scar’s Tale, celebrated his birthday in the hospital from an unfortunate accident that occurred on set yesterday afternoon. Details about the injury have yet to be released.
“Up next we have Perfume with Chocolate Disco.”
Nino turned off the radio. “So, now that we’re out of the city, you’re going to tell me where we’re going, right?”
Laughing, Jun shook his head. “Not at all. It’s supposed to be a surprise after all.”
Sighing, Nino brought out his DS and flipped the radio back on. At this rate, it was going to be a long ride. May as well play some Dragon Quest to pass the time.
He waited an hour before he questioned Jun again. “So, how much more do we have to go?”
Jun quickly glanced over at the passenger. “It’ll still be a while, Nino. You may as well keep playing your game.”
“Or I could look at the passing scenery!” Nino feigned excitement as he shifted his attention out his window.
“You know, I’m not sure if you’d find that interesting-“ He was cut off by Nino.
“Hey! There’s a hitchhiker eating an onigiri at the side of the road.” He tried to focus his eyes more before looking at Jun. “Maybe we should pick him up.”
“Nino, we’re not going to pick up a random person.”
“Can’t we at least talk to him then? I mean, look at him, he actually kind of cute.” Nino cooed.
“Since when do you want to talk to people?”
“What? I can’t want to talk to some random stranger eating an onigiri?”
Jun paused and sighed. “I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that. Let me just turn around.”
It was another five minutes before Jun could actually turn around, and a little while until they got to the man sitting at the side of the road, who was still eating the onigiri. After Jun brought the vehicle to a stop, Nino ran out of the car, or, well, lazily got out, and sauntered over to the man equally as fast.
Upon arriving, he simply sat down beside the man, and while looking over in a childish way, said, “Hi, I’m Nino.”
The man, who hadn’t noticed them at all at this point, way too engrossed in his onigiri, looked to his side, slightly startled, a piece of rice stuck to his chin.
This only made Nino giggle. “I must have scared you, huh?”
Turning his attention back to his rice, the man mumbled a slow, “Ah, no, it’s alright. I’m Ohno by the way.”
“Nice to meet you Ohno-san.” Shifting a bit, Nino looked out towards the road and said, “It’s a nice day out today, isn’t it?”
Ohno chewed on his food for a bit before responding, still mumbling, “It is. That’s why I decided to walk today.” He ate some more.
“Walking? Ah, that seems silly. Where are you heading?”
Ohno didn’t really respond, but rather pointed to the direction in which Nino and Jun were heading initially. This made Nino grin rather mischievously as he yelled, “Jun-kun! We have another passenger!”
Staring at Nino as he stood up, Ohno asked, “Is it really okay?”
Already heading to the vehicle, Nino turned around and simply said, “Yeah, come on then.”
~~Five~~
Thirty minutes had passed after they had picked up Ohno, against Jun’s wishes that is. You could never be too careful with these random hitchhikers, could you? He did start to warm up to the man a bit though. He was quiet that and seemed to manage to distract Nino enough during the car ride, so that he wasn’t asking questions all the time, unless he dragged Ohno to ask with him that is.
This was when the trouble started though. Trips were just never as easy as they seemed they would be. The trouble though, well, that was the sudden appearance of smoke coming from the back of the vehicle that Jun noticed when he casually looked through the rear view mirror. Grumbling to himself, Jun pulled over on the side of the highway they were on, in the middle of nowhere, and stopped the vehicle.
Realizing they had stopped, Nino looked up from the game he was teaching Ohno to play on his DS. “What’s wrong Jun-kun?”
Jun only unbuckled his seatbelt angrily and slammed the car door when he exited the vehicle. He kicking the tire as he went by to the front of the car to pull out his cell phone, which just made allowed him to kick the car itself.
Seeing this, Nino unbuckled his seatbelt and joined the unhappy man outside. “What’s wrong Jun-kun?”
Jun shifted his eyes to his friend, trying to decide where to begin. He decided it best to begin from the car. “There’s smoke coming out of the back of the vehicle, and absolutely no cell phone service here.” He tried to look calmer once he finished.
Nino only patted his back while he shook his head simply. “Jun-kun, Jun-kun, Jun-kun. Looks like we’ll have to hitchhike then, doesn’t it?”
Sighing, Jun resigned himself to his fate. At least they were with someone who knew how to hitchhike he supposed. It could be worse, though it was almost lunchtime.
After getting everything together, and arranging it in a way that would be easy for the three of them to carry, though Ohno’s fishing rod caused a bit of a problem at the start when it caught on everything, they set out up the road. Though they didn’t really get anywhere until the second time they set out. Jun had forgotten the registration papers for the rental in the car’s glove box.
They had only been walking for about fifteen minutes before a car with two men slowed down beside them, and the window rolled down to reveal a widely grinning man. “Oi! Do you want a ride?”
The three of them looked to the car’s window, and at the rest of the car. It looked like it could fit five people comfortably enough, though they were random strangers. Nino wasn’t fazed at all by this though, and just smiled back and said, “Thank you for the ride.”
The car suddenly stopped when he said the words, as the same smiling man looked at them. “Get in then. Just put your bags with you though, the trunk’s a bit full at the moment.”
Jun was the first to enter the car, followed by Nino, and then Ohno. Once everyone got settled, they headed off.
“So, I hope you don’t mind, but we can only take you to the restaurant we’re going to, if that’s alright?” It was a different man this time. Another smiling man, but this time, not the driver, as the other one turned out to be. It was an American style car it seemed.
“That sounds fine. We’re rather hungry actually, or well, at least two of us are.” Nino smirked a little, “We picked up the sleepy looking one while he was eating not too long ago.”
Jun just watched Nino as he talked to the two strange men, while Ohno responded with a “I am a bit hungry.”
Nino just stared at him when he said this before chuckling a bit. “Ah, I guess I was wrong. By the way, who do we have to thank for saving us from the harsh outdoor elements?”
The second smiling man laughed a bit, and responded, “I’m Inohara Yoshihiko, though please just call me Inocchi, and this man here, driving, is Kokubun Taichi.”
Taichi looked through the rear view mirror at his passengers and said, in a nice manner, “It’s nice to be saving you, but who exactly is it we saved?”
“I’m Ninomiya Kazunari, just Nino is fine though. The man to my right is Matsumoto Jun, and this man here is Ohno…” He stared blankly to his left, until the heard the quiet mumble of “Satoshi”. He then brightly said, “Satoshi. Ohno Satoshi, ah, that’s your name!”
This caused a slight laugh from Jun, which he tried to hide behind his hand, as his eyes shifted from Nino and away a few times. Composing himself, he asked the smiling men, “So, how good is this restaurant?”
Inocchi looked at the man with an even wider, excited grin. “It’s actually rather good. Some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had, and the water they serve you, it’s delicious. The coffee too.”
~~Six~~
The restaurant they reached was a small, out of the way place, with a very good atmosphere and smell. The atmosphere was likely caused by the worker though, as he greeted all of them cheerfully upon entering.
“Ah, please come in, and sit where ever you’d like!” he exclaimed with his raspy voice, walking past with dishes. “I’ll be right with you.”
The five of them chose a table on the opposite of the restaurant from a group of young guys, one of which seemed to be wearing a baseball uniform. Cheers of “You did great, Kamenashi-kun!” and “Way to beat that red jersey team!” could be heard from where they stood.
Nino’s interest was piqued for a bit as he looked at Jun when he sat down. “Ah, remember when we used to play baseball? We were just like them.”
Jun smiled and replied with a, “Yeah. Those were good times.”
The conversation about baseball could have gone on between the two for longer, if it weren’t for the worker appearing behind them rather quickly.
“Aiba-chan! How are you today?”
“Inocchi! I’m doing well. It’s been actually rather busy today, as you can probably see.” The grin on the waiter’s face was almost blinding from the cheer it radiated. “Seems they won a baseball game.”
Nino laughed at this and as a result got hit by Jun, with a pointed look directed at him.
“What’s the special today then?” Inocchi asked.
Aiba giggled slightly at this, and stated with zeal, “It’s mapo tofu today. Would you like to have that?”
A chorus of agreement terms were heard around the table, as for the case of the three, now hitchhikers, there were really just hungry, and their saviours seemed to approve of this dish anyway. Aiba then left to have their order made.
“So, what are you three going to do after this?” Taichi looked at them seriously.
“Well, seeing as we’re not in the middle of nowhere anymore, I guess we’ll call a tow truck and the car rental place.” Jun answered with confidence.
“Ah, I take it you weren’t getting any reception then.” Taichi’s face continued looking serious, though now with a hint of pity. “There’s no reception here either.”
“What?” Jun’s face fell. “I guess we could see if Aiba has a phone we can use then.”
Sitting back, Taichi nodded, and added a, “You could try that.”
After he said that, the restaurant was invaded by another group of five. A very loud group of five, who ended up choosing a seat close to where Nino and the rest were sitting. They seemed to quiet down a bit when the idea of food finally hit them, though the one who was initially the quietest got a bit louder.
Ignoring them, Nino asked Taichi and Inocchi, “So, do you two come here often then?”
Inocchi decided to answer this one, going with a, “We try to come here once a month, and normally we have other people with us. I guess they were all busy this month, so Taichi and I decided to come here to waste some time.”
“We’re business partners, so it’s alright if we take a bit extra for lunch.” Taichi added in. “Ah, I never asked before, but why exactly were you guys hitchhiking there?”
Nino rolled his eyes at this question and started on his tale of it being his birthday present, and how they met with Ohno on the way to their destination, and decided to take him along, as he was heading in the same direction. Inocchi and Taichi only nodded while he went on with his story, up until when they picked them up.
His story was met with a chorus of “Happy Birthday” from the three people he had just met, as well as the waiter named Aiba, who chose that moment to appear with some drinks, and tacked on a, “Your meal will be free today then. I’ll even add in something special for you.” before he left to serve some more tables.
In the end, they spent a good hour sitting there, eating the surprisingly delicious mapo tofu, and just chatting among themselves, until Inocchi and Taichi decided they had been there just long enough that they could get away with. The three hitchhikers were sad to see them go, but at least they had made it somewhere.
After seeing them leave, it was decided to be the best time to ask about using the restaurant’s phone.
Nino went up to the back counter and asked Aiba. “So, is there a phone that we can use?”
Aiba looked up from what he was working on, and switched his grin to a face that was quite the change and kind of upset looking. “Sadly, I don’t. I forgot to pay the phone bill recently.”
Not quite knowing how to respond to that, Nino smiled as politely as possible and thanked the man anyway, before walking back to their table.
“He’s forgotten to pay the phone bill. I guess we’ll be back to walking some more, until we find a place to call.”
The other two just sat up without a word and began collecting their things, to get back on the road. That is until the loud group of five said something, specifically the one in the orange shirt. “You know, we could probably take you somewhere.”
~~Seven~~
They ended up going with the group of five, who, as it turns out, had a vehicle that could seat eight, though it was still a bit cramped. There were a lot of bags in that vehicle after all. They even gave the new passengers the middle seat. If they kept this up, they would make it in record time for people who had encountered many troubles along the way.
Ohno had explained where he was going during the lunch the three of them managed to get, and so, upon entering the car, Nino explained where to go to the driver.
During the drive, Ohno has managed to fall asleep on Nino’s shoulder, so it was surprising to him when they seemed to get to the right place with ease.
The driver, Ryo, looked back in the mirror, and requested for them to leave as he arrived. As it turned out, the man in orange who offered them the ride was named Maru, and the rest were Subaru, Yasuda, and Ohkura, who also happened to be asleep for most of the car ride. It was also quite enjoyable they found, especially because they were all around their age.
In the end though, they all had to say goodbye, and Ohno, Nino, and Jun waved goodbye as they pulled away from the area.
“There’s a cabin just through here, and if I’m right, Tsuyoshi-kun should be home.” Ohno said, leading the way.
Nino and Jun found they couldn’t really say anything, and it had already been explained that they could get a ride easily from there if they’d like. By now though, they were as hungry as they were at lunch, so they thought it would be nice to get a meal.
Ohno walked ahead of them into the house, ahead enough that the door had closed behind him before the other two had entered. When they tried the door, the found it to be locked, and could not enter. Thinking it was an accident; they rang the doorbell, which was answered by a man that they had never met before.
“Ah, hello. What can I do for you?”
This only caused Nino and Jun to exchange looks before asking, “I’m sorry, we were brought here by Ohno-san. Can we go inside to meet him?”
The man only looked at the two in a puzzled manner before opening the door and letting the two in to the front area. He waited for them to finish taking off their shoes before he spoke. “I’m Okada Junichi, and I currently live here. If I could ask you to wait in the living room.”
Nino and Jun only nodded in agreement as they walked to the room they were directed to. Okada though, walked into a different room, and soon returned with another man, who introduced himself as Domoto Tsuyoshi.
Tsuyoshi soon explained to the two men that Ohno hadn’t lived there for over a year, as he had moved back home for a bit to deal with a few things. He had even just been talking to the man the day before about when he’s move back in, and he hadn’t expressed any interest in the near future. Not only that, but neither of the two men currently living there had seen or heard him come inside.
Nino and Jun listened carefully to what the man before them was saying, and soon wondered, though they never vocalized, what exactly they had encountered, if the man was still that far away.
They continued pondering for a bit, before they were all interrupted by a soft voice. “So, is anyone going to come eat?”
~~One C~~
“I get what the car stalling has to do with us, but the rest?”
”Good story isn’t it?”
“Well, yes... I don’t quite get the ending though.”
“Oh, as it turned out, Ohno-san really had travelled with us. We were both about to blame the car sputtering on a ghostly encounter until Okada-san and Domoto-san both saw him.”
“I see, it’s good he wasn’t actually a ghost then.”
“Mmmhmm, and he’s a nice guy too, that Ohno-san. He baked me a birthday cake before sending us on our way with Domoto-san driving us.”
“Ah, It’s good that you got to your destination.”
“Yep, though it’s thanks to your failure of a car that we had to go through all of that effort to get there.”
“Ah, I’m terribly sorry about that Ninomiya-san. Is there anything we can do for you in regards to the car?”
“Yeah. I’d like a refund.”
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