Chapter 14-Ohno’s POV

I sighed as I watched Matsumoto-san leave after one last bow. Usually, I’m not really allowed to answer customers’ resquets personally, and my boss already scolded me about this, but I couldn’t help but agree to help him after seeing those passionate eyes of his.

“Oh-chan, do you know that guy?” My boss asked.

“No, that was the first time I met him.”

“Oh, because both of you had this really surprised expression on your face when you guys met each other…”

“Oh… he was kind of similar to this guy I knew. Not his face… but his name.” An image of Nino popped up in my head, and I could imagine him saying “Jun-kun”.

“Boss, just now you said both of us looked surprised, right? So he looked surprised too??”

“Yeah, that’s what it looked like to me.”

“Oh…” Maybe Matsumoto-san is Nino’s friend? But would Nino talk about me to other people? Hm…

After work, I met up with Sho-kun and we headed to the ‘Piano’ together. God, I really love that place. The same cheerful chime of the bells welcomed me as I pushed through the door.

“Sho-chan! Oh-chan! Welcome!”

“Welcome!” Nino got up from his seat and trotted towards us, and I was relieved to see that the pained expression that he had on his face the last time I saw him was gone. Instead, he was beaming happily and welcomed Sho-kun and me.

“Thank you for the mails.” I said to Nino, and his cheeks reddened a little as he shook his head. So cute.

“Huh? When did Satoshi-kun and Nino become so close??”

“Haha, it's a secret. ;)”

“Hey come on man, that makes me want to know even more!”

“It’s okay Sho-chan! You’ll always have me!” Aiba-chan jumped on to Sho-kun and hugged on to him.

“Woah, idiot, that’s not what I meant, get off, get off!”  Sho-kun was trying to shrug him off and push him off but Aiba-chan grabbed on with all his might. These idiots. :D My eyes met with Nino’s and we both laughed as we watched the two fighting with each other.

“A painting of a Sun?”

“Yeah.” All the customer had left the restaurant, so Aiba-chan and Nino were both drinking beer with us. I’m not allowed to release personal information about my clients so I didn’t talk about it too clearly, but when I said that I have to draw for my next job, Sho-kun and Nino started asking questions interestedly.

“So Ohno-san is like a jack-of-all-trades?”

“No, but I kinda lost to his passionate feelings. It was like he really really loved acting.”

“Ma-kun, don’t you think it kind of sounds like Jun-kun?”

“Yeah, it does.”

“…Jun-kun?”

“Yeah! We work together at this café, and he does acting too!” Is this a coincidence? But I’m not supposed tell other people who my clients are, so I keep my mouth shut.

“Nino, you work at a café?”

“Yeah, in the mornings and during lunch. It’s not far from here, actually. It’s only about a five-minute walk. You guys should come sometime! The coffee is delicious~”

“Yes! Satoshi-kun, let’s go!”

“Of course!” By going to this café, I’ll probably get to know more about you… and this “Jun-kun”. The way you say his name makes it sound like he’s a wonderful person… I felt my chest squeeze. This is probably my jealous feeling towards this person that I was about to meet.

Matsumoto’s POV

The day I met Ohno-san for the first time, I took the drawing of the Sun that Ohno-san drew to show the people in my theatre group, and they absolutely loved it. After a few days, I walked to the “Rainbow” just like always. Everyday, I get there and change into my uniform probably about 10 minutes before work starts, and Kazu comes about 5 minutes before work starts, so I was very surprised when I opened the door and saw Kazu standing there, all ready for work.

“…Is it going to snow tomorrow?”

“I expected you to say something like, ‘Oh my god! Why are you here already?!’” After mimicking my voice, he pouted and glared at me.

“Oh my god! Why are you here already?” 

“You’re saying it in a monotone! Fine, whatever, forget it!” Kazu stuck his lips out even more and faced his back towards me.

“Aww, Kazu-kun is so cute!” I ruffled his hair roughly as if I was petting a dog.

“You’re teasing me, aren’t you?!” …I’m being serious. You honestly don’t understand what you look like from other peoples’ point of view.

“So? Why are you here so early today?” Kazu’s eyes beamed and I suddenly had a bad feeling about what was going to happen.

“Ohno-san and Sho-chan are coming to the café today!” I knew it. I’m always right when I feel like something bad is about to happen.

“They’re really good people, I swear.” Kazu grinned happily. I’m guessing that you’re thinking about ‘Ohno-san’ right now… I knew that I would meet him one day, but I didn’t know that it’ll be so soon… I tightened my apron around my waist and tried to forget the pained feelings inside my chest.

Ohno’s POV

Whenever I am with Sho-kun, everything is arranged so smoothly. He had chosen when to meet and he already promised Nino that we were going to be there. In the end, we decided that Sho-kun and I will visit the “Rainbow” together when we neither of us have work. 

“Satoshi-kun!” I saw Sho-kun across the street, waving at me happily. He was wearing a cardigan over his t-shirt and he wore loose pants, which made him look a lot younger and relaxed than when he was in a suit. I also wear proper clothing when I go to work, but when I don’t, I normally wear black for no reason in particular. Its just comfortable. Even now, I’m wearing right now is also black; a black t-shirt and a pair of black pants.

“You really look good in black.”

“Um… Thanks.” I smiled rather embarrassedly. Sho-kun smiled back and took out a small folded piece of paper from his pocket, and when I peeked in to see what it was, it was a map, which had the directions to the “Rainbow” jotted down underneath it.

“It’s this way, come on.”  Sho-kun walked a few steps before me and we got there in less than 5 minutes.

“Masaki was right, it’s very close to the ‘Piano’.” He pushed open the door to see Nino waiting for us.

“You’re here! Welcome!” Nino smiled happily. He was wearing a black long apron around his waist over his white t-shirt. Although it’s very simple, he looks very good in it… He led us through the shop and took us to a table next to the window. The Sun was shining brightly through it and it was creating pretty patterns on the table.

“Thank you for coming today. What would you like to order?” He handed us each a fancy menu swiftly. Just the single movement made my heart race.

“Umm, what do you recommend?”

“Coffee.” He smiled and showed a row of perfect teeth.

“Then I’ll have that.”

“Me too.”

“Okay, please wait for a while.” I don’t know what he found funny, but Nino started giggling and went back into the kitchen. I looked around the café. The age of the customers varied, but they all seemed to like the atmosphere of the café. The rich smell of coffee filled my nose and I took a deep breath in to try to calm my excited feelings. 

Two mugs of coffee were soon delivered to our table, and when I took a sip, the blend of the bitterness and the sweetness spread in my mouth.

“It’s so good!” I stared at my mug in disbelief. I wanted to tell Nino how good it was, but another customer called him, so he apologized and left after he told me to enjoy my time here. I glanced over at the front of the restaurant and saw the master of the café, the same one that I saw in one of Nino’s photos that he sent me.

“Is he the one that made the coffee? It’s delicious.” Sho-kun nodded towards the master.

“Yeah, I think so.” The master was chatting to a customer as if they were old friends.

I suddenly heard a small laugh, and I turned my head towards the kitchen. I saw Nino laughing with someone… but I couldn’t see the other person that he was talking to. Nino reached his hands towards him and grabbed his arm. Nino was smiling so warmly… I’ve never seen that expression on his face before. This person must be very special to him. I felt my chest squeeze and I tried to ignore the jealousy bubbling up in my stomach. Nino pulled the arm that he was holding on to and trotted back towards us with someone following him. So familiar…

“So it was you after all, Matsumoto-san.” Nino looked surprised and looked from him to me, back and forth until he finally blurted out, “You two know each other?!”

“Thank you, Ohno-san. All of my friends really liked the sketch that you drew for me. You really helped me a lot.”

“Oh, so you're the client that Satoshi-kun was talking about,” Sho-kun nodded as if he finally understood what was going on.

“That was Jun-kun?! You could have told me!”

“Well, you only referred him as ‘Ohno-san’, so it could have been a different person with the same last name, right?”

“…Yeah, I geuss so…” Nino looked a little bit disappointed but still happy as Matsumoto-san smiled at him protectively. I was just simply staring at Nino, who had a completely different atmosphere around him when he was with Matsumoto-san.  

Matsumoto’s POV

~~~

“Sho-chan and Ohno-san are here, I want to introduce you to them!”

“How are you going to introduce me?”

“Umm… something like, he’s my best friend?”

“It’s okay, it’s kind of embarrassing, so you know…” Kazu insisted and pulled me outside towards the table. Sitting there was of course… Ohno-san.

~~~

“Oh, but Sho-chan and Jun-kun haven’t met before, right? This is Matsumoto Jun. He’s one of my best friends and he is very important to me. He is also very good friends with Ma-kun.”

“Oh, I see. Nice to meet you, I am Sakurai Sho.”

“Nice to meet you. Aiba-san talks about you a lot.”

“Are you serious? Nino told me the same thing a while back. Why does he talk about me to other people so much?!” Despite of his words, Sakurai-san looked rather happy and he sipped his coffee cheerfully.

“So how’s the coffe?”

“Oh, it’s wonderful! The master is so good at making it!”

“Right?” Kaze looked pleased as he added, “Do you want another mug? I’ll give it to you for free as a service.”

“Oh no, it’s our fault for coming so suddenly. Please let us pay for it. It’s so delicious.” Ohno-san smiled warmly and looked directly into Kazu’s eyes as he said so.

“…Alright. Thanks.” I took my eyes off Kazu’s profile and looked at Ohno-san. The way he talks and looks at Kazu… It was so… warm and protective. I glanced sideways and saw the master beckoning us towards him.

“Kazu, the master is calling us. I’m going to go back.”

“Oh, okay, me too. Please enjoy the rest of your time here!” I bowed towards Ohno-san and Sakurai-san with Kazu and as I came back up, my eyes locked with Ohno-san’s. His expression was a little different from when I met him at work… but I didn’t know how to describe it. I wonder what he is thinking right now? I wondered as I walked back towards the master. 

Sakurai's POV

We left the café and walked under the warm rays of the Sun. I knew that summer was getting closer and closer. I glanced at Satoshi-kun. In the café, he kept changing facial expressions and I knew that I had to make him confess. I was worried that he wouldn't tell me the truth, but we kept walking until we reached the park where we were reunited. There were a few children playing in the park and they were shrieking excitedly as they chased each other around the cherry blossom tree. I sat down on the bench, and Satoshi-kun took a seat beside me. 

"Summer is so close. It's getting really hot these days."

"Yeah… When I met you in the park, the cherry blossoms were blooming." All of the flower petals had dropped and the tree was full with bright green leaves that made the whole area smell nice and fresh. 

"It's kinda… weird isn't it? If we didn't bump into each other here, we probably wouldn't be here talking to each other right now, and I wouldn't have taken you to Masaki's restaurant."

"Yeah… It's weird." He looked at nothing in particular as he replied softly and he gazed at something faraway. I can probably guess who you're thinking about right now…

"Nino?"

"What?" Satoshi-kun's head snapped toward my direction and looked at me surprisingly. I looked back at him straight in the eyes and smiled. Don't worry, I will always stand by you, no matter what you do, or… who you like. 

"You were thinking about Nino just now, weren't you?"

"Honestly Sho-kun, my face is like an open book to you. You always know what I'm thinking about." He smiled, but I swore I could see a slight shade of pink in his cheeks.

"Your expression is different when you think about him," I replied, "I can't explain it properly, but it's very… soft and… kind." I don't want to force it out of you, but I want you to tell me yourself. By talking about your feelings to someone else, you can accept yourself and take a step forward, right? So you can do this. I'm your best friend. You can tell me.

"…Sho-kun…"

"Yeah?"

"…I, well, I like Nino." He whispered in a voice that I could barely hear. That's what I wanted to hear. Good job, Satoshi-kun. Don't forget that I will also support you and I will stay by your side no matter what. 

Ohno's POV

This was the first time that I had spoken my feelings out loud, and my voice was a lot more quiet and weak than I expected it to be. I avoided meeting eyes with Sho-kun, scared about how he will react to what I had said. Then suddenly, he smacked me hard on the back.

"Woah!" I shouted surprisingly and looked at Sho-kun, who was smiling happily. 

"Good job, Satoshi-kun! Oh, I'm so glad! If you didn't tell me even after I said this much, I was scared of what to do next!"

"…Huh?" My mind couldn't catch up with the conversation.

"…Wait, you knew all along?"

"Of course I knew! You were really really obvious. I mean, even from the first day that you met Nino, you were acting so strange!"

"…I'm simply mind-blown." Even I had realized my feelings towards him at the time, but he knew all along that I liked Nino. But still… I gathered up my courage and asked him in a whispered voice, "…Don't you find me… weird?" Boys were supposed to fall in love with girls, after all. I have always believed that that was the normal thing, and I also believed that everyone else around me thought so as well. That was like common sense to me, so that's one of the reasons why it took so slow for me to figure out my feelings towards Nino. But right now, I don't care about any of that anymore. I just know that I have fallen in love with you. I didn't think it was weird, but everyone around would probably find it weird…

"What about you, Satoshi-kun? Do you find yourself weird?"

"…No. Not at all." Sho-kun grinned from ear to ear. Then, he brought his hand to his mouth and started thinking with a hard expression on his face.

"Well, if you ask me, I've only liked girls before so I might find it a little bit weird, but I don't find you liking Nino weird." He trusted me, and he believed in me. "I'm always here for you, and I will support you no matter what, Satoshi-kun." His smile was like the Sun, shining upon me and warming my heart. 

"Thanks." I tried to express all of my grateful feelings towards him with just the one word, and I think he understood. I'm proud of being Sho-kun's friend. If he supports me, then I guess I have to try my best to make everything work out...

---And that was the beginning of a very long summer.