The Baseball (Part 10)

Title: The Baseball
Author: KrystalKatz
Rating: R
Length: Chaptered, short series
Genre: High school au, romance
Parings: Matsumoto Jun/Ninomiya Kazunari, Sakurai Sho/Aiba Masaki, Ohno Satoshi/Kamenashi Kazuya
 Disclaimer: I only own the plot,
A/N: Matsumoto and Sakurai are older than the others in this.
 
Two days later Matsu could finally go to work without feeling guilty for leaving Nino, the younger guy was still a little sick but since he was able to play on the Wii again, Matsu knew he was well on the way to recovery. That day the shooting started in earnest and most of his scenes were with Hiro as they had to act out their characters ‘best friends’ roles which was easier said than done when Matsu wanted to punch him every time Hiro kept whispering that he was going ‘fuck his little boyfriend’. By the end of one day he was drained than he ever had been before, but when he came home and Nino was waiting to say ‘welcome home’ everything else seemed to fly out of the window. He dropped his bag down and hugged him tightly, breathing in his scent
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I slept for a bit this afternoon though, Nee-chan and Aiba are coming by is that okay?”
“Of course it is” Matsu half lied after today all he wanted was a hot shower and to curl up with a good book or Nino, Nino being the preferred but Nino seemed so honestly happy that they were coming that he had a quick shower and ordered food that arrived just as Kari did.
“Welcome” Matsu smiled at her and Kari beamed a very Nino like smile, and he decided, if he was straight he would have dated her in heartbeat but maybe that just showed how much he loved her brother.
“Wow, your place is amazing” Kari said not even bothering to hide her amazement as she looked around
“You should try cleaning it” Nino joked giving her a faint smile
“Hey, brat” She grinned hugging her brother tightly and putting one hand on his forehead and the other on her own “I guess Matsumoto-san has been taking care of you, ne?”
“Yes”
“Ninomiya-chan, you don’t have to keep calling me ‘Matsumoto-san’ Matsu or Jun is fine” The model told her with and smile
“Thank-you, and I’m either Nino or Kari”
“Nino?” Matsu frowned looking at Nino who shrugged with a smile
“Both our nicknames are ‘Nino’” He said
“It was Masa that started it” Kari laughed “When Kazu first met him in school he couldn’t pronounce Ninomiya so we both became ‘Nino’ or Nino-nee and Nino”
“Ah I see, you and Aiba really known each other a long time”
“Yep” Nino answered with a laugh coming further into the kitchen
“And you’re both gay? You’ve never thought about dating each other?” Matsu asked slightly more sharply than he had intended causing both Ninomiya siblings to laugh
“I could ask about you and Sakurai-san” Nino pointed out “But I never have”
“Now that would have been creepy for me to come home to…Kazu and Masa dating” Kari said with a mock shudder, “I think of them both as my brothers”
“So have you?”
“No, we kissed a few times, but we decided we were just friends” Nino answered after his laughter had died down and he had finished a small coughing fit. “So you and Sakurai-san…”
“I had a crush on him when I first started out but I think it made him uncomfortable I grew out of it though and we agreed that we worked better as friends, no I never kissed him” Matsu said answering the question in Nino’s eyes. Nino smiled relieved and sank into one of the chairs resting his head on his arms until the doorbell rang, Kari was still laughing as Matsu went to answer it,
“Wow, you two seem like you’re very much in love” She said patting his back “But… Is everything really okay?”
“Is something wrong?”
“I was watching a programme with grandma the other day and it was about the drama Matsu-‘s in, it was his co-star Jiro or Hiro whatever it was, anyway he was saying something’s that… Um… Hinted about you”
“What kind of things?” Nino asked his eyes narrowing at the mention of that guy
“Just that ‘Matsumoto-san’s type is young and ‘tomboyish’’ and ‘Would be more interested in baseball than make-up’ He didn’t openly say anything but… You didn’t have to be a genius to figure things out…” Kari chewed her lip her eyes glinting and Nino knew that just like when they were younger she wanted to be able to deal with anyone that threatened her baby brother’s happiness. It didn’t matter if it was the schoolyard bully or a famous actor she was prepared to go out fighting. Nino smiled wanting to reassure her
“Everything’s fine Nee-chan,” He said though he decided to have a talk with Matsu later. They were didn’t have time any more conversation because Aiba came into the kitchen followed by Matsu and Sakurai.
“Seriously stay away from my paintings” Matsu said looking at Aiba who gave a laugh, though he looked nervous and was staying closer to Sakurai than he would have normally done.
“Okay this really isn’t fair” Kari said with a laugh “surrounded by four good looking guys and not one of them is my boyfriend” Nino rolled his eyes, he knew his sisters sex life wasn’t as bad as she pretended, in fact it was rare for her to visit without a boyfriend in tow. The other three could also tell she wasn’t really whining and with everything that had been happening recently they were happy to have someone that treated them all as normal couples. Throughout the meal Kari didn’t bat an eyelid if they touched each other and called each other ‘baby’ or in the case of the SakurAiba pair, as she had decided to call them, ‘love’ and ‘sweetie’. Her fists did clench when she heard about Kieta and the reason that Aiba was now living with the manager. She wasn’t a parent but along with her grandparents she had raised Nino so she could understand the expectations some parents had on their children but she was a firm believer that their happiness came first. If Nino told her his dream was to walk on the moon she would have done anything to make that happen, luckily he had never wanted anything so farfetched, when he was younger it was baseball, Nino had just started on the team when their parents had died, for weeks after the accident he hadn’t touched the glove and ball because ‘Papa was meant to teach me’ it had broken her heart to watch him just stare at it every day. So she had learnt and told him that ‘papa had asked me in a dream to teach him’, she could still remember the look on her boyfriend’s face at the time when she asked him to teach her everything he could about baseball. Now all he was asking her to do was accept the way he was born, that was easy. She smiled as she watched Nino and Matsu they were so obviously in love even if it wasn’t as open as SakurAiba the way they looked at each other was so cute she decided.
“Are you okay?” Matsu was asking as Nino’s was gathering the dishes, Nino gave a nod and a small smile but truthfully his head had started to ache again Matsu didn’t seem convinced and he quickly stood up “Go and sit down I can do that”
“But you’ve been at work all day”
“I can carry dishes to the sink Kazu” Matsu said pinching his nose tightly “I’m not that much older than you”
“I’ll help” Kari, Aiba and Sakurai chorused together causing Matsu to raise an eyebrow and look around at them,
“I’ll do it” Matsu told them “But if you really want to help, Sho-san, will you make a drink?”
“Of course” Sakurai answered untangling his arm from around Aiba’s and going to the kettle, while Kari, Aiba and Nino went to the living area. Nino sat on the sofa pinching his nose as he tried to listen to Aiba and all the gossip from school he had missed out on.
“What about your family?” He asked after a while. Aiba went quiet for a minute “Are you really staying with Sakurai?”
“Yes” Aiba nodded “Sho-chan went to fetch my stuff the other day”
“Masaki” both Nino’s said sadly and Aiba gave them a sad smile and a shrug
“It’s okay though, I’m happier with Sho-chan and Wiggles” He told them almost jumping up with excitement when Sakurai and Matsu came into the room. Nino watched his friend like he had been most of the evening Aiba was normally a ball of energy anyway but he really did look happier. He blinked when he felt a cool hand on his forehead he looked up and saw Matsu chewing his lip his brow creased with a frown.
“Maybe you should go to bed, I don’t want you getting bad again”
“I’m fine, Nurse” Nino laughed waving the hand away
“Pneumonia isn’t a laughing matter”
“What?!” Kari almost screamed “You had pneumonia?”
“It’s not that bad” Nino said flashing a glare at the model who just shrugged as he sat down next to him
“The doctor wanted him to go to hospital but he refused, so he gave him some strong antibiotics...”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because, Nee-chan, you would over react like you are doing...” Nino sighed his head really was throbbing now and he wished he had just agreed to go to bed. Matsu was already fishing for the painkillers in his bag, he gave them to Nino and then handed him the drink. Nino took it gratefully Aiba, Sakurai and Kari left soon after.
“Come on baby, let’s go to bed” Matsu said running a hand over Nino’s forehead. Nino had to agree this time.
“Jun, nee-chan mentioned that Hiro was saying some things” Nino said as they were lying in bed, Matsu put his book down and gave a sigh
“I was going to talk to you about it when you were feeling better” he admitted “There have been a lot of rumours lately… About my sexuality”
“What the fuck does that have to do with anyone?” Nino snapped angrily and Matsu smiled kissing his shoulder,
“Nothing, but people think it does because I’m in the public eye, I’m not that famous yet, but this special is getting a lot of publicity and Sho-san thinks I could get more acting roles. But with more roles the more my private life will be put under a microscope and the more the so called press will enjoy getting a kick out of any scandals I may have, which includes the fact that I’m gay and you” Matsu looked at him sadly “Hiro’s doing his best to tell the whole of Japan that I’m into guys, if we’re seen together more than once or twice people will assume the truth. It means the time we can spend together in public will be greatly reduced,”
“It’s not like we go out much anyway” Nino shrugged and rested his head against him, the model smiled resting his chin on the younger guys head
“There’s also the fact that my father is appearing in the drama I said that it’s okay to deal with him but as I’ve gotten older I’ve started to look more and more like him, so people are going to add things together, that will bring more trouble… You shouldn’t have to deal with all this, Kazu… If… If you think it’s too much hassle, I’ll… I’ll understand if you decide to leave me…”
“Okay, I’ll leave you” Nino said and he heard Matsu’s heart thud in his chest and he gave a small laugh “You’re an idiot, Jun” He mumbled kissing the skin “I told you I love you, I very rarely tell nee-chan I love her or my grandma, don’t try and push me away, because I’m happy with you”
“Thank-you”
“Hmm” Nino mumbled running his fingers down Matsu’s stomach, until he reached the faint trail of hairs that disappeared into his boxers. He really wanted to follow them but today had really taken it out of him, he gave a sigh hoping he’d hurry up and get better. Matsu seemed to understand his feeing and grabbed his hand, and kissing his fingers
“You should get some sleep…”
“Okay” Nino answered snuggling to him as Matsu took his glasses off and switched the light out. The model smiled as he felt Nino’s soft breath tickling at him, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Nino was getting better and that soon he would be going home. Tonight with everyone being there it had felt like he had a real family, and it was all thanks to the small guy in his arms. His pressed his lips to Nino’s cheek
“I really love you”
“Hmm, me too” Nino replied sleepily snuggling further against him. The next day Matsu almost wished he had never been born, it was the first day of filming with Takashi and for some reason Takashi seemed more annoying than ever, trying to insist that he visit his parents, and Hiro was being his ever charming self, he tried to ignore them both but there seemed to be an almost evil glint in Hiro’s eyes that he didn’t understand. The only silver lining in his day was that as soon as filming was over he would be able to go home and curl up with Nino. This was the pattern of their lives for a week, as soon as Nino was fully recovered he would even have a meal waiting for him. Matsu felt like a happily married man but he should have known that it was too good to last, on the Friday night after filming Hiro vanished but as he was heading to the changing room he was aware that he was getting a lot more stares and whispers than normal. One look at his bag told him the reason, sat proudly on top was a newspaper with the headline ‘Scandal! Matsumoto Jun gay!’ he read the article several times sinking into the make-up chair, he threw the paper into his bag and then got changed in record time, just as he was about to leave he received a phone call from Sakurai telling him that the agency needed to speak with him tomorrow morning. He got a taxi chewing his bottom painfully as he cursed Hiro, he knew it was him there was no one else it could be.
“Jun what’s wrong?” Nino asked seeing his lover’s tenser than normal face, Matsu didn’t answer just pulled the newspaper out of the bag. Nino took it and let out a loud gasp
“Matsumoto Jun, star of the drama “Dreams of Tears” revealed to be in a homosexual relationship with high school student Ninomiya Kazunari” Nino read he hands going white as he gripped the paper tightly, there was even a photo of them holding hands and another of them kissing in the doorway of Matsu’s apartment and even where Nino went to school “A close friend of the couple states that they have been dating for five months…’ Close friend?”
“I’m guessing it’s Hiro” Matsu mumbled
“But the photos…”
“We weren’t as careful as we thought ne?”
“What’s going to happen, with your agency?”
“They decided we have to have a talk” Matsu sighed staring at the paper
“I’m sorry, Jun” Nino said hanging his head, Matsu’s entire career could be over due to this.
“Idiot, unless you sold the pictures don’t apologise, I should be the one…”
“We already talked about this” Nino mumbled glaring at the paper wishing he could make the words vanish. There was a loud knock at the door and Matsu went to answer it, Kari and Nino’s grandmother came in, the later holding her own copy of the paper
“G-Grandma” He said nervously, she looked at him and then looked at Matsu before letting out a sigh
“Kazu-chan, I know I’m off a different generation and I might not like to hear things, but I don’t like being told about my own grandson from her in number 42” She said folding her arms across her chest her eyes glinting as they looked at him “Now, Kari-chan tells me that you’ve gotten yourself a decent partner but… He can’t be that decent if he didn’t want to be introduced properly”
“Grandma”
“I’m sorry, Ninomiya-san, I have been very rude” Matsu said bowing his head deeply
“Indeed you have, I am Ninomiya Kikomi”
“Matsumoto Jun”
“I see… So what was said in the papers is it all true?”
“Yes ma’am” Matsu answered
“Do you love my grandson?”
“Yes, ma’am , very much”
“Good answer, so what are you going to do about this?” She asked motioning to the paper in her hand,
“I’ll think of something I promise”
“Jun, stop being an idiot, this isn’t all about you… We’ll sort it out together” Nino snapped hitting him. Kikomi gave a short laugh
“Good answer Kazunari, you have my full support” She told them “Though there’s very little I can do about this”
“Thanks grandma” Nino grinned while Matsu’s mouth felt like it was about to hit the floor
“Funny looking isn’t he?” Kikomi laughed whole heartedly
“I guess you now know where we get our lovable personalities from” Kari laughed putting her arms around both Nino and Kikomi and despite the seriousness of the situation Matsu couldn’t help but chuckle.
“If you weren’t serious I would have taken Kazu home but I’m positive you’ll be good for each other” the old lady told him. Kari and Kikomi stayed for most of the evening and Matsu felt once again how much he felt like he had a family. After they’d left a heavy cloud almost settled over the lovers again but Nino refused to let that happen, he sat on Matsu’s lap and kissed him deeply their first real kiss since he had gotten sick. Matsu let his hands trail over his back and ass they didn’t do more than kiss and heavy petting but it’s what both their hearts needed like they were reaffirming their love for each other and each was telling the other ‘It’s okay, I’m with you, I’ll be here no matter what’. They fell asleep together on the settee, though both their dreams were dark. The next day Matsu was stood in front of the owner of his agency trying to defend himself
“Are you a complete idiot?” The owner asked stabbing the paper with his finger “I don’t give a crap who you sleep with, gay, straight, animal I do care when pictures are splashed all over the front covers. Can you explain?”
“No” Matsu answered knowing this wasn’t the time for excuses. The owner clicked his tongue
“And how are you going to proceed with this?”
“Sir?”
“Are you going to openly come out or are you going to deny it?”
“If I openly come out…”
“Then after you’re finished with the filming for this special your contract with us will be dissolved”
“And If I deny it?”
“I will hire the best damage control team I can and I will get eye witness accounts from all the girls you slept with and you will be able to carry on, you will of course have to cut all ties with this boy” As soon as those words were out of the owners mouth Matsu’s mind was made up
“Then at the end of filming you can dissolve my contract…”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes” Matsu nodded calmly and then turned on his heel and left feeling better than he had done in years. When he was out of the office he saw Sakurai was waiting for him one look at his face told him the manager had heard and the smile on his face let him know he approved “I’m sorry” Matsu gasped quickly “I’ve more than likely fucked you over…”
“Relax, you did the right thing, if I was in your shoes I would have said the same…”
“You can’t tell Kazu, he’ll blame himself… I’ll figure something else out before I tell him” The model said his hands trembling slightly. Sakurai led him from the building an took him to a nearby café, the time they left Matsu was feeling calmer and was able to go home and act calm in front of Nino. He told him almost everything the owner had said only leaving out his choice at the end. Nino looked troubled by it but they didn’t have much time to think as Kari, Kikomi Aiba and Sakurai all showed up. After that the weekend went by smoothly and Nino said that on Monday he would be going back to school. Nino’s first day back at school after his illness and the whispering started as soon as he stepped into the school yard. Groups of students had the newspaper, he just smirked as they looked at him pretending not to care about some of the dirty looks he was getting. The whispering continued as entered his classroom, it was strange since the baseball team knew and accepted it he just assumed everyone else knew but it was a big school and the baseball team seemed to have kept it a big secret. Now he seemed to be the centre of everyone’s attention he sat next to Aiba and pressed his head to the wood.
“Careful Aiba-chan, you know what those fag boys are like, he’ll be in your pants before you know it”
“I think my boyfriend would have something to say about that” Aiba snapped hotly, causing the guy to blink in surprise his face whitening
“You mean you’re a fucking fag too?”
“That’s right”
“Masa’, it’s okay he’s not worth it” Nino mumbled he was so tired of having to defend himself, even his grandmother was having to deal with comments, not that Kikomi was letting them bother her, as with everything else she took it in a stride.  
“But Kazu…”
“Just leave it” Nino snapped standing up again his chair landing on the floor with aloud crash. He grabbed his bag and storming out of the class, his classmates staring at him stunned. He made it to the baseball field and sat down, he didn’t regret falling in love and staying with Matsu but right now he wished he had breasts.
“Ninomiya-kun” Nino turned when he heard the coach calling to him “Can you come to my office?” Nino had a sinking feeling as he went into the coaches’ office; the coach patted his shoulder and told him to sit. Facing hi was two of the representatives from the college, and Nino’s bad feeling grew, the slightly fatter of the two cleared his throat loudly and then looked at his paper
“With all the attention you’ve been getting lately with regards to your personal life… We can’t guarantee you the scholarship, I’m sorry, we worried that with everything that is happening you won’t be able to concentrate on baseball”
“So what you’re really saying is that because I’m gay you don’t want e on your team” Nino said “If that’s what you mean you could have the guts to say it”
“Okay, we feel that our established team would be uncomfortable having you there”
“Fine” The student said standing up and leaving the office before he said something he regretted. He stormed into the changing room swearing loudly and then noticed kame biting back a sob as he pulled on his shirt. Nino saw a dark bruise shaped like a fist on his side
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just an accident” the younger answered and Nino knew he was lying but didn’t force the issue still fuming about what he had been just told. “They revoked your scholarship?” Kame asked Nino looked at him with a raised eyebrow, “I overheard” Nino kicked the locker and then nodded
“Yeah, having a fag on the team would bring down morale apparently, fucking shit it” He swore looking at his jersey, “Why should it matter to them who the fuck I sleep with?”
“Because life’s not that kind” Kame mumbled sitting on the bench and looking at him as Nino kicked the locker again, “Aren’t there other schools?”
“There are but it will just be the same, who’d want a gay guy on their team? Here the coach made sure could have time to prove ourselves I can’t fucking deal with all that shit again. Jun’s just going to blame himself over this crap… Why the fuck am I telling you this?”
“Because I’m the only one here” Kame answered with a small smile, “and it’s good to vent”
“What would you know about it? You can’t even come out” Nino snapped regretting it when he saw Kame flinch, he hadn’t really come out either “Sorry”
“No you’re right, I can’t, I want to for Satoshi but I’m a coward” the younger guy said looking down at his hands “My dad would kill me” Nino blinked surprised at how serious he sounded and then thought about the bruise and what Ohno had said about ‘he has a lot going on’ Kame gave a nervous laugh “Um… So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know” Nino mumbled the only thing that would smooth things over for him and Matsu would be if the model denied that they were dating and as the agency had said get him in some photo’s with women. Nino knew he wouldn’t be able to cope with that he was even jealous of Matsu’s female co-star. He sank to the floor and rested his head in his lap, Kame closed his locker and came to sit beside him and then to Nino’s shock and amazement the younger guy hugged him tightly, Nino let out a sigh and returned the hug a sob escaping his lips
“What the fuck is going on here?” A voice screamed from the doorway and they both jumped apart, Kame was obviously terrified as he looked at the man.
“D-Dad” Kame gasped and Nino knew he was right about the bruise he’d seen. Mr Kamenashi’s eyes were murderous as they looked at Nino
“What the fuck do you think you were doing to my son you fucking queer?” He snapped his fists clenching. Nino closed his eyes there was nothing he could say to get himself out of this,
 
 
A/N; sigh I really have to get a new computer, >.< this one is on its last legs… Um next part is Kame/Ohno I know people don’t really like their story line so I’m sorry >.< hope you enjoy this MatsuMiya ^.^