prompt 37

[aibamods]

Title: Sanctuary

Pairing: Aiba/the other four

Rating: G

Word count: 13,866 words

Summary: Aiba struggles with the demands of office life. When he has a rare opportunity for a weekend away at an onsen retreat, he decides to quit his job and beg for work there instead. Slowly but surely the onsen becomes his home, and its regulars his family. AKA AIBA LOVES BATHS.

Notes: I hope this fit the prompt some way or another. Thank you for the idea! And shout out to mod-san and beta-san for their wonderfulness!

“Aiba-kun, I’m leaving this part to you. Thanks!”

Another stack of papers was put on top of piling up files that occupied Aiba’s working desk. Not expecting that, Aiba just stared dumbfoundedly at the extra load of work his partner just left of him. It was supposed to be their joint work which needed to be completed by next week, but since it was Aiba who had more experience in their field, he was always tasked to do the much more difficult part by the head of their division.

Both Aiba and the other man – Kanagawa – were employed by the company around the same time as marketing planners more than two years ago. As the only new workers in that division, they would usually hang out together and help each other especially when it came to their job. Being a bright and passionate person though, it didn’t take long before Aiba grew closer with every person in their division and managed to build a good network with their clients that later made him able to be entrusted with much harder tasks. Everything was going fine until he noticed that he was frequently paired up with his current partner in almost every job he received. Of course, he was more than happy to help his friend who seemed still struggling to find his place in that office, but when the workloads started to increase on his side while his friend was specifically ordered to only deal with their report by the superior, it began to bother him. There were a lot of times he had to stay behind after work to prepare the materials for the next meeting with their clients and their upcoming presentation while his partner could always disappear on clock. Before Aiba realized it, the life he was leading started to circle around nothing else but works. He even lost count of the last time he was able to spend time just chilling by himself at home or talk with people aside from his co-workers and the staffs from the company cafeteria.

Today was no different than those days. It was nearing 7 o’clock in the evening – nearly two hours after their office hours – when Aiba was almost finished with his presentation’s preparation. Later when he moved away to grab for a cup of coffee at the pantry, he eventually noticed that he was once again the last remaining person in the office despite already submitting his part earlier than the rest. The white-collar worker knew he really should talk with Kanagawa about their workload, but when he thought of doing so before, he saw the latter was called by their head of division to come to her office. Maybe next time he should go and see her as well to let her know that he was dissatisfied with the way she split their job.

After spending another 2 hours fixing several more parts of their presentation, Aiba eventually completed it and hurried to gather his stuff so he could reach home fast. On his way to the metro station, he made a stop at a convenience store as he usually did and grabbed the first bento he found on the rack just to fill in his empty stomach with something. He missed cooking a proper meal at home after months of eating take-out food, but he was always too drained to even make a simple snack once he arrived home later.

By the time he finally left the store, he noticed two familiar figures were walking on the pedestrian walk not far from him. At first, he didn’t pay much attention to them since he just wanted to rush home, but their familiar laughter roused his curiosity. It took him twice to properly look at the couple before he was finally convinced by what he just saw that he nearly dropped the bento he just bought. After all, seeing those two all over each other in the middle of public place despite the disapproving eyes around them was one thing.

But finding out that the couple was none other than Kanagawa and their head of division was definitely another.

***

He was fuming.

Maybe that was even an understatement considering how close he was to confronting Kanagawa and their supervisor last night after finding out what kind of relationship those two actually have. It made sense now why he was always the one who was tasked with the tricky parts while his partner was given a much simpler job and was even allowed to return home on time each time. Their head of division probably paired Kanagawa with him on purpose so that the two of them could spend more time together after work while Aiba had to work his butt off alone to finish what was supposed to be done by two people! And since Aiba himself was one of the newest workers in their division and had the closest relationship with that guy, it made him become the easiest prey since there was no way he could both question her decision and refuse his friend’s request.

Later, the furious man was startled by a big round of applause which filled the prestigious hotel’s ballroom that he currently stood in. As he looked up from his drink, he saw Kanagawa left his side and walk to the stage in front to claim his award from the company president who was waiting with a big smile on his face. Aiba was too lost in his thoughts that he completely forgot he was attending the company’s annual party to honour those workers who had contributed to the company’s successful performance for that year. Later when Kanagawa was asked to give a few words by the MC, Aiba could hear some people from his division were talking among themselves about the questionable result.

“I would like to thank everyone who gave me the opportunities to be involved in a lot of challenging works so far despite being a newbie in this field. And most of that goes to my mentor AKA head of division – Ms. Ueshima – who also nominated my name for the ‘Best Newcomer’ award tonight. I appreciate all her advice or else I wouldn’t be able to tie a deal with so many great clients.”

The rest of the speech sounded so distant in Aiba’s ears. He only woke up from his thought when another round of applause occupied the place and he saw his partner leaves the stage to greet their supervisor. When the event proceeded with more awardees invited to the front to claim their award, the previous anger that Aiba felt was replaced with sadness. Disappointment. Unappreciation.

It wasn’t his dream to become a white-collar worker. He preferred a job that would let him to be as creative as he pleased with a real human relationship instead of interaction just out of obligation which happened in most of workplaces. However, as he grew up and entered one of the best universities in Tokyo, that way of thinking started to change. Listening to people talk every single day about how important it was in this era to find a stable job at a good company than pursuing the thing that you truly love started to influence his mindset bit by bit. He started to believe that probably our dream and reality could never coexist together.

Yet, when he found this job, he was relieved. At the very least, it let him meet a lot of people and help his clients with whatever things that troubled them as much as he could. The job itself was fun and the wage was quite high considering how famous the marketing firm was especially in giving marketing advice. He couldn’t feel luckier to be hired in such a good company with a bearable job scope regardless of how demanding it can be sometimes.

Now, however, he started to question his decision. Is it worth it to continue with this job? Could he keep on doing things that he actually didn’t have a passion for? Must he force himself to do this job until he grew old and perhaps, regret the fact that he didn’t have the courage to pursue what he really wanted when he was still young?

He knew he should try to file a report against the mistreatment by the head division, but he was ninety-nine percent sure the consequences would affect him more than the supervisor and his partner themselves. Indeed, he was mad at their action, but there was no way he could confront those two when the supervisor clearly had a strong position in that company. The fact that she could influence the result of the previous ‘Best Newcomer’ award was more than enough to prove just how powerful she was, at least among the people at the same level as her. Even if he chose the safe path which was asking Ms. Ueshima to at least distribute an equal workload between Kanagawa and him, he knew she will just repeat the same excuses that she had told him so far – that either the other guy was too lacking of experience to handle such a job or she wanted to give Aiba more opportunity to improve himself. But what could a person actually learned from if he was told to do the same job over and over again for 6 months straight? Not to mention that his partner couldn’t even do his job right though the latter had been doing the same thing almost every day.

As soon as the party was over, Aiba politely rejected everyone’s invitation for another round of drink and returned home instead. As soon as he arrived, he didn’t wait any longer to grab some cans of beer from the refrigerator and began to drink his heart out. Noises from rolling television show in front of him became the background sound as he crushed another empty can follow by another – the cycle repeated until he slumped on the couch.

For a short while, everything seemed so blurry and slow in his head. It wasn’t until he felt his dog come to his lap and lick away his tears that he came to realize he actually had been crying the whole time, his cat had long since curled up beside him like she was trying to give some of her warmth…

***

The loud ring from his alarm clock awoke Aiba from another dreamless sleep. Sighing from the usual the disturbance, he immediately dropped one hand to the floor and blindly searched for his poor fallen clock. He had lost count of just how many times he had to replace it within the last 6 months alone, just because there was a ‘culprit’ who thought it was fun to crash onto it after he fell asleep.

As soon as he found the alarm clock, he immediately put it back on the nightstand before he heard approaching small footsteps from the living room. The sound immediately stopped when reached his bedside, but that was the only sign he needed to get a firmer grip on his clock on its place – later successfully preventing it from being pushed away by his cat when she jumped to the nightstand. Soon, he heard another footstep coming from the living room with more obvious excitement to give him the usual morning greeting. It didn’t take long before he felt a weight on his side, followed by familiar nudges and licks all over his face.

“Good mornin’ to you too, Ou-chan. Hime, stop pushing my clock. You have the whole bed for you to lie down with us.”

Like understanding his words, the cat immediately stopped before joined him and Ouji on the bed. And as usual, she found a place on Aiba’s chest and stood on it while Ouji – or Ou-chan – kept on licking his cheek until Hime moved to sit right on top of Aiba’s face.

Yeah. It was their routine for every single morning.

“Good morning to you too, Hime.” the sound came out more like a muffle since Aiba’s mouth was literally covered by the cat’s stomach. Though still pretty much sleepy after crying his heart out last night, Aiba lifted his cat and put her on the empty side beside him. Meanwhile, seeing his owner’s face was fully exposed again, the dog rushed to nudge and lick him all over until Aiba couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s okay, Ou-chan. I’m planning to take a day off today. You don’t have to worry if I’m going to be late for work.”

Ouji immediately stopped though still wiggling his tail excitedly. That brought a smile to Aiba’s face despite the slightly swollen eyes he still had. Deep inside, he felt bad for always having to leave these two adopted babies of his at home almost every day until night. He knew he should be more responsible since it was him who decided to take Ouji in after he found out his neighbour wanted to give Ouji to shelter, while Hime was found on his way home after work when she was still a kitten. These two babies were the light of his life to go through his monochrome days so far or else he couldn’t guarantee in what state he would turn to by now. That was why he never got annoyed when Ouji ambushed him every morning or got angry at Hime when she destroyed his alarm clock since he knew it was one of their ways to both show and seek affection from him.

“The weather seems good today. How about we have a stroll outside?”

Ouji seemed so excited with the idea that he began to lick Aiba’s face again before he ran to the living room. That reaction amused Aiba so much though he still took his time to get up from his bed and changed his clothes. After calling his workplace and letting them know that he will take a day off today, he grabbed other important stuff before he went to Hime who was still curled comfortably on the bed.

“Hime, you will turn into a lazy, fat mistress if you continue this way. Come and join us this time, won’t you?”

The cat just purred instead. Despite the lack of enthusiasm, Aiba put his cat inside the bag he often used to carry her when they were strolling outside anyway. After putting a lash on Ouji and wearing the bag with Hime tucked obediently inside, he finally stepped outside – his face immediately brightened once he realized just how good the weather was. The walk to their favourite park will usually took more than 15 minutes since the road was always crowded with people who were also taking their pet for a walk, but since it was a weekday, Ouji was free to stroll everywhere he wanted for the first time. Later when they arrived at the park which was nearly unoccupied except for them and a few more elders, he finally released Ouji from his lash. Without taking his eyes off the excited dog which was now sniffing everything on his way, Aiba went to sit on the nearest bench while he put the bag that contained Hime beside him. It was a very peaceful day with a cool breeze gently hitting his face which more or less helped to make him forget about the mess that was currently happening at his workplace until his hand made contact with Hime’s empty bag. Immediately, he turned to his side where he was shocked by the fact that his cat was nowhere to be seen.

“Hime!” the young man hurriedly got up and looked around to find for his precious cat. Usually, Hime would never leave his side even when he took her out of the comfy bag to put her on his lap, but for some reasons today she just disappeared without a sound. Just when he was about to kneel under the bench to see if she was hiding there, he was startled by Ouji’s endless bark not far from there. Worried, he quickly took both Ouji’s lash and Hime’s bag with him and ran to look for the noise’s source. How shocked he was though when he found his dog was pacing back and forth near a painter who was feeding Hime with something.

“Ou-chan! Hime! What are you guys doing?”

Ouji immediately perked his ears and ran toward him from the call. Much to Aiba’s surprise, the painter also turned to his direction though with confusion written all over his face.

“Do I know you?”

Aiba who was picking up his excited dog was dumbfounded by the question. He observed the guy with chubby cheeks and a sleepy gaze a bit more before shaking his head slowly.

“I’m afraid not, sir.”

“Then how do you know my name?”

Aiba blinked a few times from the question.

“Pardon?”

Ouji’s bark made them turn to the dog. It wasn’t until the painter heard what Aiba addressed his dog with that he eventually exploded with laughter. The poor Aiba who was still confused with the entire situation on the other hand just staring back at the man until the latter smilingly introduced himself.

“My name is Ohno. But some people call me Oh-chan.”

It took a few seconds before the painter’s explanation sank into the white-collar man’s brain. Such unexpected coincidence made both them laughed out together until Aiba eventually stopped due to lack of breath.

“I’m Aiba. And this is Ouji, but I often call him Ou-chan.”

“That explain our resemblance. Nice to meet you, Ou-chan.” Ohno smilingly greeted the dog while patting it on the head. Just then, they were startled by a loud mewl from Aiba’s cat who had just finished eating only God knows what.

“I’m so sorry. Did Hime bother you, take your food, or anything? I will pay for it. She usually isn’t like this–”

“It’s okay. She wasn’t bothering me at all. But I hope you don’t mind I gave her salmon though. She probably smelled my bento and wanted a few bites of it.”

Aiba gasped aloud and bowed really low while still hugging his poodle.

“I’m really, really sorry! I will pay for your salmon! What bento was it? I will go to the store and buy it –” he couldn’t continue when Ohno already cut him off and let him know that it was completely fine. Though he still feel guilty by the trouble he had caused the man, Ohno unexpectedly didn’t seem bothered by it and even asked Hime if she wanted more of his salmon. Despite Aiba’s effort to turn down such kindness, in the end, he had no choice but to let Hime finish all the remaining salmon that Ohno offered since the bento owner himself insisted on doing so. Both men then sat in silence as they watched Hime enjoying her food while Ouji sniffed Ohno’s hand.

“Are you an artist, Ohno-san? That’s very pretty.”

Aiba’s question eventually broke the silence between them. The painter immediately turned to him and chuckled.

“Thank you. I just draw for fun actually. People usually come here on weekend, so I take that opportunity to use this park for either sleeping or drawing.”

“I take it that you always come here on weekday?”

“Not every day, but I come here when I feel like I want to draw something. This place is a bit far from my house so nobody knows that I’m here. Sometimes we just need to relax and escape from our demanding job, don’t you think so?”

Aiba nodded to acknowledge his words.

“I actually took a day off today too. The weather is nice, so I thought I should bring Ou-chan and Hime here. It helps me to calm down myself a bit...”

The painter just stared at Aiba who started to get lose in his own thoughts. The quietness between them though was broken by Ohno’s phone ringtone which for some reasons had been set so loud that it scared off Aiba’s cat and dog. While apologizing profusely for the nuisance, Ohno quickly moved a few meters away and picked up the phone call.

“You put the volume to max on purpose, didn’t you? So that I have no choice but to pick up your call.”

Aiba swore he could hear whoever was talking on the other line was on the edge of losing his cool judging from the audible screams even though the painter seemed unfazed with it. Only ‘fine’ and ‘yes’ came out from Ohno’s mouth before whoever the angry person was cut the call short and left the painter pouting childishly. Unsure with what he was supposed to do, Aiba just sat awkwardly in his place when the painter began to gather his painting tools while grumbling about someone who Aiba believed was the person who made the previous phone call. Later, before the painter was about to leave the place, he suddenly took out a piece of paper from his pocket and gave it to him. Though confused, Aiba took it anyway despite the fact that he could barely understand what was written there due to the too flashy design.

“Onsen voucher?”

“I thought you probably need it. The voucher will expire by the end of this year, so you still have time until then. Just go there whenever you’re free or whenever you think you need an escape from your job.

Before the white-collar worker could say anything in return, the painter already bid him goodbye and left the place with his painting tools. Not expecting how the day had turned out so far, Aiba studied the voucher once again in disbelieve. It wasn’t until he noticed his dog was chasing after a female dog which was walked by another visitor in there that he finally shoved it into his pocket and rushed to take his pets home – not without apologizing endlessly to the female dog’s owner with a very red face.

***

The next day he returned to the office, his working desk was again full of files and unfinished documents. The real surprise though was to find out the presentation’s slides that he had worked really hard for had been printed without his permission and were now lying on the top of the work pile with sticky notes and red scribbles all over the pages. Completely perplexed with the situation, Aiba quickly turned to the lady who sat next to him for an explanation. What she earned from her however was only a sympathized look before they were both startled by Kanagawa who was coming towards their direction.

“Aiba-san! I was waiting for you! Ueshime-san wanted to see our presentation’s progress, so I printed it from your computer. But she found too many careless mistakes and vague parts, so she said she wants to see you as soon as you’re in the office.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before you submitted it to her? How did you even log into my computer?”

“You told me the password a long time ago, remember? I know you already finished everything, so I printed the slides and gave it to Ueshima-san since she said she wants to see it.”

Now he felt like the biggest idiot in the world for letting the man in front him know what his password was. Served him right for being too trustworthy just because he wanted to make it easier for the latter to look at his previous jobs as references for their project a long time ago.

“At least you should let me know first, Kanagawa-san. The one you showed to Ueshima-san is the outline. I keep the completed version in the folder.”

“Oh, shoot. So she just looked through those 30 pages for nothing? I’m so screwed.”

Aiba pretended to not listen to the other one’s whine and quietly logged in to his computer to print the correct slides. By the time he finished compiling all the needed documents, he went toward the direction of Ueshima’s office though he was immediately blocked by Kanagawa.

“Let me give it to her. I was the one who submitted the wrong one after all.”

Aiba frowned upon the latter’s troubled look.

“I think it’s better if I see her myself. If she has any question about the content, I know how to answer it.”

“No, it’s fine. I must take responsibility for my mistake anyway. You don’t have any idea how furious she was yesterday. At least I can fix it and please her by showing this.”

The last remark bugged him. He swore at this point it would be much better if he didn’t have any idea about what kind of relationship the man in front him had with their supervisor since he was super close to losing his cool after knowing that they just took advantage of him after this long time. Yet, he still tried to calm himself down by taking a deep breath before beaming at the latter with a reassuring smile.

“It’s fine. I will explain everything to her. We’re together in this, so I’m partly at fault as well. Maybe you can put the materials for our project in order instead? Everything needed is on my desk. Let’s discuss how we should proceed from there after I finish talking with Ms. Ueshima.”

“That’s not my job. I was told to only do the report if it comes to our project.”

“But this is our joint work, Kanagawa-san.”

“Aiba-san, it’s not my responsibility to cover up your part. I have my own scope and same goes to you.”

Now that snapped something in the usually cheerful man’s chest. Thankfully, their senior who was working nearby suddenly cut in before Aiba could say something that he would definitely regret it later.

“I would say the same time thing for you, Kanagawa-san. It’s not Aiba-san’s responsibility to cover your mess every single time, but he does it anyway because he’s just too kind to leave you hanging. Don’t be so cocky just because you got awarded last time.”

Kanagawa’s face instantly turned red due to anger by that. Both men didn’t realize their conversation was heard by the rest of the staff in there until now, but neither could care about it now. Deep inside Aiba’s heart, he was really thankful that at least someone paid attention to the unfair situation he was facing and backed him up for it.

“How does it have anything to do with the award? I got it because I deserved it. That’s all. It goes to whoever deserved to have it.”

Some of the staff there didn’t even bother to hide their annoyance by the shameless remark. The talk, however, couldn’t go any further when the head of their division suddenly came out from her office after noticing how tense the atmosphere was in there. It didn’t take long before she realized the expression that Kanagawa had and came to approach both him and Aiba.

“What’s going on here?”

“Aiba-san told me that the handout I showed yesterday was actually the outline, so I wanted to make up for my fault by submitting the completed version to you by myself, Ueshima-san. But Aiba-san didn’t want me to and asked me to do parts which are not supposed to be my job scope instead.”

Such poor excuse rose the eyebrows of many people in there. This time, regardless of whatever relationship existed between those two, Aiba was sure the influenced woman would not accept Kanagawa’s reasoning considering how unprofessional and unreasonable it sounded. How wrong he was, however, when he noticed the silent gaze exchange between those two before the lady suddenly let out a sigh.

“Fine. Aiba-san, just let Kanagawa-san do it. You can proceed with your job instead.”

Aiba nearly popped his eyes by that. He didn’t even manage to say a word when the grinning Kanagawa just snatched away all the documents from his hands. As soon as he saw both the head of the division and Kanagawa were about to leave the place, he hurriedly went after them.

“Ueshima-san, I’m the one who analysed and made that. Please let me do the explanation instead so you have clearer insight about what we are going to present to the board next week.”

“You have to listen to order, Aiba-san. Ueshima-san entrusted me with this job.”

The temper that Aiba tried extremely hard to restrain before was on the edge of bursting by his partner’s arrogance. However, it was what the influential woman said next that was enough to snap his last string.

“Aiba-san, Kanagawa-san deserved to learn more from you. You have enough experience in this matter, so why not give him a chance to improve his capability? Besides, this way you can focus on doing your real part while he does the explanation to me, right? I believe that is what you’re supposed to care about more.”

“Why? So the two of you can leave on clock and go to bar together again after work?”

The entire division turned into dead silence by his words. Both the head division and his partner on the other hand had turned into pale white as the rest of the people in there eyed them questioningly. Instead of saying anything back however, the woman just told everyone to resume their job before telling Kanagawa to hurry up since she had more jobs to do. Everything returned to its usual state after that when everyone returned to their job as if the previous talk didn’t happen at all even though the staff clearly had their own suspicion with what was happening behind the head department’s office wall.

Unfortunately for Aiba, it was totally a different story. As soon as he returned to his desk, he immediately slumped into his chair. Even if he wanted to cringe at himself for being unable to remain professional by not mentioning those two’s private affair at workplace, he knew he had reached his limit. All the stress and exhaustion due to endless work for the past six months had been catching up to him to the point the previous confrontation finally made him lose everything. He knew he just dug his own grave by mentioning their relationship. He knew he should mind his words more if he wanted to keep his job and his current house so that his pets and he could have a comfortable place to live together, but what they just said and did to him was more than he could handle anymore. He had remained patient for so long – only to be taken advantage of over and over again – though he realized it partly due to his own fault for being too naïve and coward.

After taking a moment to calm himself down, he finally moved his chair closer to his working desk and typed his resignation letter on the computer. Each word naturally flown from every tap he made as what had happened for the past months came into his mind that made his urge to quit grew bigger and bigger to the point he was more than certain he wouldn’t mind even if he got kicked out straight away after handing it to the higher up.

…Or so he thought.

By the time the clock finally reached 7 in the evening and everyone already had gone home except for him again, his resignation letter was still safely saved in his computer. Even though it looked like Kanagawa cooperated more with him to complete their project after seeing Ueshima, Aiba was more than aware that he should be the one who made the first step soon – which in this case was to submit his withdrawal letter before they planned anything behind his back. He didn’t believe those two would let such thing passed without batting their eyes since if news of their relationship spreads until the top management, it would mean the doom of their career. Working with the fear of being defamed anytime was enough of a red sign for him to leave there as quickly as he could, but once he submitted the letter, he knew it will also mean that it would be hellish for him to find another good job like the one he had now somewhere else. And he would also have to let go of his precious Ouji and Hime since there are not so many places that will let the owner keep two pets in their house in Tokyo.

With each tick from clock, Aiba became even more torn with his decision. When the doubt of the impossibility to find a better job out there consumed him more and more, he eventually chose to turn off his computer and keep the letter there for the time being. After taking another look at his working space, he took a deep breath and headed out, the burden on his shoulders felt heavier for some reasons as he imagined how his life from now on was going to be.

***

A week later

‘Welcome to Oomatsuri Onsen!’

It took Aiba three times to look back and forth at the voucher in his hand and the sparkling signboard in front to make sure that he arrived at the correct place. Looking at over-the-top decorations and abstract colour on the wall, anyone would think this place was straight out of a Pachinko place instead of the image of a hot spring that people would usually expect. Not to mention how out of place it felt since the area was surrounded with beautiful green nature which made it more fitting for a luxurious inn instead just like the elegant traditional Japanese restaurant that was located a few steps away from there. That probably explained why there were more customers that came to the restaurant judging from the chatting noises he could hear even from his spot, unlike the hot spring that had not even a single car at the customers parking lot except for his.

After pondering to himself in front the entrance, Aiba eventually decided to give the place a try and stepped inside the inn. All his doubt about the place, however, was instantly blown away when he was greeted with a magnificent detailed illustration of mountains and a mystical dragon that filled the whole corridor and ceiling. The realization that the inn must be either rich or a very well-known to the point they can hire an artist to paint such outstanding art made him so ashamed for being judgemental toward the place until he heard a voice came from beside him.

“Sir, are you coming to try the special cuisine?”

Aiba immediately turned to the voice, only to realize that the reception was actually just right beside him. He would probably already dig a hole to hide for successfully making himself look like a weirdo in front the receptionist if not because he noticed that the other man was holding a game and probably just noticed about his presence there anyway.

“Well…no. I was invited to come here.”

“Then I guess you’re one of the guests for today’s event? The event is held at the restaurant right in front here. I can lead you to there –” the receptionist was about to came out from behind the counter when Aiba showed him the Onsen voucher he had. It took a split second before the inn staff widened his eyes and rushed to make a phone call after asking Aiba to wait for a while. By the time he eventually hung it up with a pretty much surprised face, Aiba just confusedly stared him until the latter finally startled from his daze.

“Sorry for making you wait, sir. I believe this is your first time in here?”

Aiba dumbly nodded. When the receptionist took out a pamphlet and started to give a brief introduction of the inn, types of Onsen they have and how each indoor bath has its own theme that designed by the inn’s owner, Aiba became more and more intrigued with the place. It had been a while since the last time he paid a visit to an Onsen due to his hectic schedule, so listening to the place’s uniqueness compared to other inns he had been to before just made him became more and more excited to walk around there himself. As the receptionist led him toward a sea-themed Onsen door which was located a bit further away from the other indoor pond, Aiba was spilled with another shocking information.

“You’re the only visitor we have now sir, so feel free to try any Onsen we have here.”

“What? For real? Is this place not open for operation yet today?”

The other man laughed while shaking his head instead.

“We’re open from afternoon until 11pm, sir. It’s just…we rarely have customers lately. There are times when we only have one customer for a few days straight.”

Aiba couldn’t ask further about it when the receptionist slide open a door in a sea blue colour. After explaining briefly how to use the locker room and the shower, Aiba watched the inn staff wishing him a good stay before leaving the place so the customer could enjoy his bathing time in private. For the whole time from getting undressed until washing himself however, Aiba couldn’t help but think about the reason behind the inn’s lack of visitor. The place over the top appearance from outside could be one of the reasons that turned people off from coming, but he was pretty sure it alone wouldn’t be enough to chase people away.

Later, when he finally entered the bathing area and saw the calming illustration it had on the huge wall there, he was more than sure that the place deserved a better reputation than what it currently had. The fact that even the lighting, decorations, and flooring were carefully designed to create fitting aura with the room’s theme raised more questions in his head for the place’s lack of recognition. As he soaked himself until his neck was under the water, he became more curious as to why nobody bothered to come here, especially those who had paid a visit before. It was impossible such as great as this place did not have its own fanbase.

‘But…I guess…everything great will reach its end one day…’

That thought made him leaned on the side of the pond with a sigh, his eyes tried to catch as many details as possible that were painted by whoever artist the inn hired to create such masterpiece for the visitors’ enjoyment. Somehow it hurts him just to think how long this inn could survive if it couldn’t generate enough income to sustain its business. After all, he didn’t see anything lacking with the inn except maybe for the exterior design though if someone asked him, he would say it was fixable and could turn into one of the inn’s charms.

Just then, he heard someone slid open the door into the locker room while whistling. Aiba, however, didn’t pay attention to the visitor and continued to stare at the illustration in front him until he heard a loud gasp.

“Aiba-chan?”

Aiba finally startled from his thought and turned to look at the voice’s source. How surprised he was though to see his old university friend who was approaching him with a huge grin.

“Sho-chan! It’s been a while!”

Sho just laughed when Aiba literally bounced in the water while pointing out his unchanging look despite nearly 5 years since the last time they bumped into each other. He swore the cheerful man would already come to hug him as soon as he entered the bath if not because he immediately hit the latter on the head while babbling about how inappropriate their situation was despite his uncontainable laughter. By the time they sat in the water while facing the huge illustration, they both stayed in comfortable silence until Aiba started the conversation first.

“It’s really been a while. The last time we see each other was during our last assignment together. I remember you said you were going to be a journalist after you got your degree even if you had to go against your parents.”

“I did. And guess what? It’s not in the business field. It’s related to something I really love. I’m free from my parents’ grip.”

More than happy for his friend who finally achieved his long-time dream, Aiba congratulated the latter while patting him on the shoulder. Yet, when Sho tried to dig about his work life, Aiba avoided the topic by reminiscing about their university life instead which was bought by Sho instantly.

The two of them had gotten to know each other after they were paired for an assignment that required them to do a lot of interview and research together. In the beginning, the atmosphere between them was very awkward due to Sho’s grumpy attitude even though he still came to their meeting on time and finished his part. It was later when Sho finally opened up that he was only taking business study since it was his parents’ wish even though he had no interest on it or whatsoever.

“I have to thank you for telling me that I should use my degree to turn the table to reach my dream, Aiba-chan. You’re right. If I continue to slack off on my study so I can upset my parents for controlling my life, in the end, it’s my life that will be ruined. I will never reach this far.”

“No need to thank me. As a friend, I want the best for you. You deserve what you have now after what you’ve been through, Sho-chan. I’m so proud of you.” Seeing the grin that already appeared on Sho’s face made Aiba unable to contain his smile as well. The Sho from 5 years ago would definitely retort if being praised like that, so it made him so glad to see how laid-back his friend now. There were so many things resurfacing on his head – the nostalgia of their university life, those silly things they had done together, their passionate talk about dreams and the future before it suddenly took a sharp turn to remind Aiba of the situation at his workplace. Though he originally came here to clear up his head, in the end, he still could not escape from reality no matter what he tried to do.

“Aiba-chan? What happened?”

Sho’s question took him aback. It would be easier to lie if the man only asked if he was fine, but this was Sho he was talking about. And Sho was a man who knew what to say and how to push once he was determined to get the answer.

“I notice you look so deep in your thought when I came here. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

Aiba couldn’t bring himself to even look up despite the gentleness under the tone. How could he after all? He felt ashamed. So ashamed toward the man beside him who earned what he dreamt of after struggling on a long and bumpy journey for years, unlike him who gave up immediately once finding out the harshness of real life.

“It’s not worth mentioning, Sho-chan. You don’t have to mind about it. It will pass.”

Sho’s firm look made him swallowed down instead. This won’t be a good sign. He should know his friend was not the type to retreat easily if he made it too obvious that he was dodging the question.

“No problem isn’t worth mentioning, Aiba-chan. I believe it is important if it makes you doubt to yourself like this.”

The fact that Sho could see through him that easily made him speechless. His mask dropped when he felt Sho’s hand on his shoulder like trying to comfort him.

“Aiba, you always try your best to please other people by being harsh on yourself. And I know it’s not my place to say if it’s right or wrong, but…if it made you ponder to yourself like this, maybe you can try to reach out and talk about it with someone. You don’t have to keep it to yourself.”

Through his blurry eyes due to tears, Aiba finally lifted his face and met Sho’s reassuring gaze. After taking several deep breath, he finally shared about the dilemma he had at his current workplace. Even though it was embarrassing to disclose about it at first since it made him feel so weak compared to his friend, Sho’s full attention on his story encouraged him to continue until the part where he confronted Kanagawa and their head division. The frown that Sho showed him enough to let him know that he was not the only one who think how absurd the whole situation was.

“I do think you should try to file a report to the human resources department, Aiba. It could get even worse if this continues.”

“I know Sho­-chan. At first, I was scared. There’s no chance I can win over them with the influence she has but…what you just said before about reaching your dream makes me realize. Maybe I’ve long given up with that firm. I don’t have the heart to continue working in there, but I’m also afraid if I quit, it will only end up with me in another job that I’m not into. Or even if I found one, what if I have to give up Ou-chan and Hime? I don’t want that…”

Aiba’s gloomy expression made Sho pat him on back sympathetically. Not wanting his friend to lose in sadness on his rare weekend’s retreat, Sho tried to cheer him up by suggesting they try a different onsen theme that the inn has. His heart clenched when he noticed his friend forced a smile but decided to ignore it for now as he dragged Aiba away from there. Right after they covered themselves with small towel provided there, they heard someone open the door from outside. As soon as they saw a man in a staff uniform entered the space while carrying clean towels, Aiba’s jaw immediately dropped.

“Ohno-san!”

Ohno instantly rose his sleepy gaze by the call. A smile immediately appeared on his face when greeted by familiar faces.

“It’s nice to see you again, Aiba-san. I was informed you were here by Nino when you arrived, but I couldn’t come and greet you personally since my cousin wanted to see me.”

“It’s fine. I’m sure you have a lot of work to do. Anyway, I must thank you for giving the voucher. I would had no idea such as good inn as this existed from the first place if not because of you. This place is very beautiful. The onsen is great. And all the illustrations you have here just mind-blowing. It must cost a fortune to hire a skilful artist to create such fine art like this. Everything here is just amazing.”

Sho’s amused chuckle puzzled Aiba who finally stop complimenting the place. He looked at both men confusedly when his friend started laughing aloud while the other man already turned to beet red as he smiled awkwardly at Aiba.

“I’ve told you so many times, Ohno-kun! Only blinds can’t see the potential you have!”

Aiba blinked even more when Ohno muttered shut up at Sho while walking toward the basket of clean towels not far from there. When the latter began arranging the stuff they had there, Sho finally moved closer to poor Aiba who was still confused with what was actually happening there.

“The one who draws all these illustrations is Ohno-kun. He does painting as a hobby. This inn used to be the typical empty-walls-inn like everywhere else until he took over and painted all the blank walls he could find. Cool, isn’t he?”

Aiba’s eyes widened due to amazement by the explanation. Who would have thought Ohno was actually THAT talented in art after all? Yet as soon as everything Sho had said sink into him, he immediately turned to his friend again – looking even more surprised than he had ever been in his entire life.

“Did you just say ‘took over’?”

“Yup. He’s the seventh generation. He always refuses to do the administration job though, so people always mistake him as one of the staff.”

Aiba was beyond dumbfounded at this point. He could hardly digest the previous revelation, let alone this one. When he met Ohno for the first time at the park, he would never have expected the painter would turn out to be an heir of an amazing inn, but to find out that he didn’t even like to act according to his position was definitely something else. Aiba was still frozen due to shock that when the inn’s owner was about to go outside with a basket of unused shampoos when someone slid open the door from outside first.

“SATOSHI! DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY AGAIN! THIS MEETING IS IMPORTANT!”

The scream made both him and Sho jumped. Scared, Aiba immediately took a few steps back when a man with distinctive features stormed into the space while scolding Ohno about the awaiting guests and contract in the meeting room. Seemingly used to the entire situation, Sho however just sighed before turning to Aiba who was clearly perplexed with the whole situation there.

“That guy is Ohno-kun’s cousin. He’s the owner of the restaurant nearby here.”

Aiba instantly turned to Sho, surprised by yet another surprising revelation.

“You mean the one in front here? That luxury Japanese restaurant? Do the two of them belong to a noble family or something? Hold on. How do you even know all these people?”

“My grandparents used to hold a family gathering in here every year, so I grew up knowing about this inn. And about the restaurant, Matsumoto-kun decided to open it since he is not interested into joining his family’s business. I heard it took years for him to complete his recipe and build his restaurant from scratch.”

The two of them turned to the cousins when Ohno started to protest by saying that he refused to see those double-faced entrepreneurs. Aiba swore the man called Matsumoto was so close to losing his cool by the remark if not because Ohno pointed out about the presence of him and Sho in there. In a blink of an eye, the scary expression that Matsumoto had before was replaced with embarrassment as he rushed to apologize.

“How rude of me! I’m so sorry that you had to witness this!” Matsumoto then bowed down really low which caused Aiba to quickly shake his head. That chance, on the other hand, was taken by Ohno to add salt to the injury by scolding his cousin for making their customers uncomfortable. Feeling offended by that, the restaurant owner immediately grabbed Ohno’s arm and pulled him a bit further from Aiba and Sho while whispering angrily.

“Anyway, you know how crucial this agreement is if you want to keep this inn on business, right? You only need to be there and sign it. The rest will be handled by them. They will know what they should do to promote this inn.”

“You do realize that the agreement benefits them more than us, right? I’m against it because the agreement will not do any good for us in the long-term. Also, they intended to change this inn’s concept.”

“Then, do you have any idea how to market this place? How to make relations and promote it to the right audience? You yourself told me before that you’re not good with making business relations and marketing stuff, so unless you have a plan on how to solve these problems, just get along with them this time. You have rejected so many offers to make partnership before. I’m afraid we’re not going to get a good offer like this one in the future.”

When Ohno still refused the idea, Aiba thought the one named Matsumoto would lose his temper and make his cousin to follow his word with force. Instead, the young restaurant owner just breath out a sigh.

“Satoshi, I know you despise your grandfather. I know…you were not interested in inheriting this place from the first place. But I’ve seen your effort to modernize this inn to at least make it survive long enough when your late father was in charge. I’m sure you want to do the business in the way you like, but we have to find any way we can now if we want to keep this inn in business.”

“Then you can take over this place. I don’t mind.”

“You know that’s not the point, right?”

This time, it was Ohno’s turn to heave out a sigh. The air was so thick as the cousins did not seem like they will listen to each other’s wish with Aiba awkwardly standing at the side – contemplating if he should leave the place. Yet right before he could suggest the idea to Sho, he felt his friend’s hand on his shoulder before he was pushed a bit forward.

“Ohno-kun, if you still haven’t found the solution how to market this place, can you please give this man a chance? As his friend, I can reassure you he will be the best candidate for this field. He was a marketing consultant at the firm he used to work at, so I’m pretty sure he will know what he can do to market this inn.”

Sho’s words shocked the said person more than both Ohno and Matsumoto themselves. The fact that he was presented to the two great men in such an inappropriate situation and attire turned him to deep red due to shame but Sho’s encouraging smile made him hold himself from scolding his friend for the lack of consideration.

“Which firm did you work at before?”

Ohno’s sudden question dumbfounded him. If not because of Sho squeezing his shoulder, he probably would have remained looking like a fool in front of a man who could possibly be his employer. The moment he mentioned the name of the firm he worked at, both Ohno and Matsumoto widened their eyes due to surprise.

“Why would you quit from that place? That firm is one of the best in its field, right?”

Matsumoto’s question made Aiba clench his hand tight. Before he could open his mouth though Ohno already beat him to it.

“You’re hired.”

Aiba nearly popped his eyes out. He remained frozen even when Sho pat him as a congratulating gesture while Ohno told him to give his contact to Nino at the reception. Despite Matsumoto’s attempt to argue about the hasty decision, the inn’s successor just waved it away and rushed to the door – seemingly thrilled to chase away those businessmen who waited for him at the meeting room. Before he left, he turned to Aiba one more time while smiling widely.

“Next time you come here, don’t forget to bring Hime and Ou-chan with you. It will be fun to have pets running around here. We also have a house for the staff, so you can stay there if it’s too far for you to go back and forth from your home.”

Regardless of Matsumoto’s fear that some customers might feel uncomfortable or have an animal allergy, Ohno continued to walk away with the worried cousin tailing him. Silence immediately returned to the changing room as soon as Matsumoto closed the door behind him, leaving behind the still frozen Aiba with Sho grinning widely beside him. When Aiba didn’t react the slightest despite having been hired just less than one minute ago, Sho couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s shocked expression.

“Congratulations, Aiba-chan! Guess I’ll see you around here after this.”

Sho’s voice finally brought Aiba back to earth. Seeing his friend’s proud expression made everything sink into him to the point he nearly broke down into tears if not for Sho’s comforting pat on his shoulder. Unable to express just how thankful he was toward the man, he immediately pulled Sho into a bear hug, sending his friend still due to shock. Listening to Aiba’s endless thanks however made the journalist return the hug before both men were startled when someone suddenly slid open the door from outside. As soon as they were greeted by the inn receptionist who also seemed shocked to see them, both friends eventually realized how compromising their position was. No wonder why the other man couldn’t wipe his smirk off his face as he grabbed for the basket full of unused shampoo that Ohno forgot to carry along before.

“I’m sorry for intruding. I’ll leave you two for some privacy…”

The receptionist’s knowing smile made Aiba and Sho quickly pull away from each other. They nearly squeaked as they rushed to stop the receptionist who was about to close the door – couldn’t afford the thought that they could be misunderstood by the people there since one man was a regular customer of the inn while the other was just about to begin his career there.

***

The next day after he was hired, Aiba immediately submitted his short-notice resignation letter which of course cause an uproar in his department. Everyone tried to prey the real reason behind his decision but Aiba pretended not to catch it while continuing to pack up his stuff. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed the relieved look on Kanagawa’s and Ms. Ueshima’s face, but he could care less about it. After all, what was more important now was that he finally found a new job and they could no longer take advantage of him for their personal interests.

***

Working at the inn was surprisingly very relaxed compared to when Aiba was still at the firm. Indeed, there were a lot of things he needed to learn especially when it came to the background of the place and how the management there worked, but it was bearable. Yet, one thing he didn’t expect was just how much freedom Ohno gave him including letting him work at flexible hours. He was even provided with his own office which connected to a small garden where Ouji and Hime could move around freely. Even Matsumoto who he thought would despise him so much due to how improper the whole situation was when he got hired was unexpectedly kind and always gave some useful advice in how to deal with Ohno’s carefree personality. At some points, he also started to wonder who the real heir of the inn was looking at how knowledgeable Matsumoto was in almost everything, but the realization that he was not in a position to question it made him keep it to himself. Nevertheless, everything was going fine so far and all the staff there welcomed him and his pets with open arms except for one person who seemed indifferent though he tried not to mind it.

However, if there was one thing that he couldn’t resist from the moment he started working there it was definitely the Onsen. Of course, he couldn’t enter it during business hours, so he always waited until the last customer left before he soaked himself in the sea-themed room. Sometimes the other staff would join him there, but most of the times he would be on his own since the rest had their own favourite themed room.

And today, was no different from those days. As he stripped himself in the changing room, he couldn’t help but feel slightly giddy by the thought that he would monopolize the huge bath to himself again. Yet as soon as he entered the water, he heard someone come in. He immediately turned around. The moment his eyes met Ninomiya’s who just realized his presence, he saw the receptionist halted while mouthing ‘uh-oh’. That immediately made Aiba rush to stop the other before he could think of retreating.

“You misunderstood everything, Ninomiya-san! The reason why I hugged my friend last time was because I was so happy! I’m actually as straight as a ruler!”

Thick silence filled the bathing space with both men just staring at each other. When Ninomiya let out of a sudden burst into laughter, Aiba blinked his eyes in confusion.

“Calm down. You and Sho-kun already explained everything to me last time, right? You’re so funny Aiba-san.”

Aiba just scratched his head to cover his embarrassment. Both men didn’t say anything more afterward. When the quiet grew more and more unbearable, the taller among the two tried to form sentence to start a conversation but dropped the idea almost instantly due to fear of rejection. After all, it was Ninomiya who was seemingly not thrilled with the idea of him joining the inn though he didn’t seem to oppose it either. The awkwardness was so obvious with Aiba frowning deeply while the receptionist relaxed at the edge of the bath until Ninomiya suddenly snorted laughter.

“Stop thinking too much. Did you know you voiced your thoughts?”

Aiba gasped in horror. Did the bad habit he thought he had gotten rid of before return without him realizing it? Great. Now there was no hope for him to get along with Ninomiya anymore…

“Just kidding. You’re frowning too much. It’s so easy to see in your head, you know.”

Fine. Screw it. He didn’t want to get along with this Ninomiya guy anymore.

“I heard you quit from your previous firm to work in here. That takes quite a lot of courage to do that, doesn’t it?”

Aiba frowned even deeper at the question. At first, he thought the man was trying to make fun of him again, but the serious look that the other had made him realized that Ninomiya probably wasn’t that bad after all.

“It was…at first. But then I realized that the stress wasn’t worth it. Regardless of the salary I got there, there was no point of continuing something I had no passion about anymore.”

As soon as the last word escaped his mouth, Aiba closely observed the receptionist’s reaction for any sign of mockery. Surprisingly, the other just smiled and nodded to show his compassion. Despite being very curious about the reason behind the unexpected reaction, Aiba chose not to dig further.

“Ninomiya-san, when we first met, you asked me if I came here because I wanted to try ‘special cuisine’ and if I was one of the guests for the event that was held at Matsumoto-san’s restaurant. Has…that situation happened a lot? I mean have a lot of people came here only because they’re looking for Matsumoto-san’s restaurant?”

“…More than you can think of. But you see, Jun’s restaurant rose into fame only after a famous gourmet writer praised the food. Before that, the situation here was much worse. I heard that this inn had lost a lot of its regular customers after Oh-chan’s father was named as the heir. It seemed like the other relatives couldn’t accept it, so they convinced the customers that they’re close with to not come over as a sign of protest.”

Now one of the mysteries of the place was finally solved. Though he wasn’t sure why Ninomiya would share with him such a confidential story, at least it would help him to come up with better plans to improve the inn’s critical situation.

Then one thing clicked into his mind.

“Wait. What did you call Ohno-san?”

His shocked face earned another laughter from Ninomiya.

“Oh-chan. He doesn’t like to be treated as a boss even if, well, he’s in fact, one. Try to call him that. He’ll like it.”

Not sure what he was supposed to do with such information, Aiba just grinned awkwardly. Now when he thoughts about it, the person that Ohno referred to when they met at the park back then must have been Ninomiya.

“Oh­-chan often came to the store I worked at to buy bento and chat about random things. Then one day he just showed up and asked me if I wanted to work as a receptionist in here since the previous one quit without saying anything. I was curious why he would look for me out of all people who have the qualified certifications, so I immediately accepted his offer. Even now I still can’t predict how that old man thinks at all.”

Regardless of how light Ninomiya’s tone was while talking about the story, Aiba couldn’t help but be amazed by it. So many unbelievable things happened surrounding this inn which as cheesy as it sounded, was nothing but a miracle for him. He didn’t know why Ohno agreed to hire him in the first place but seeing how cool everyone in there was despite the crisis they had, he was more than thankful for being accepted to be part of the team.

“And for Jun’s case… I think he feels indebted toward Oh-chan. The next heir was supposed to be him since Oh-chan’s father didn’t want the tension in their family to continue, but Jun refused the position. Jun wasn’t interested in this inn in the first place and only come back here to open his own restaurant. Again, that caused a huge problem in the family until Oh-chan stepped in and declared that he would take over instead. That decision was what allowed Jun to open his own restaurant, but since Oh-chan is both inexperienced and uninterested with this place…Jun still has to cover him a lot in the end. It’s so difficult to be born into a rich family with all this drama, you know.”

Now that explained why Matsumoto was more familiar with the situation in the inn than Ohno. The fact that the restaurant owner was willing to go that far for an inn that he wasn’t actually interested in for some reasons warmed his heart. After all, he was more than sure that it must be difficult to spend time and energy on managing a newly established restaurant, so to know that Matsumoto would go that far just to save this inn earned so much respect from him.

But then that raised another question. Noticing Ohno’s lack of enthusiasm toward the inn from the first time he met him, he wondered if Ohno actually cared about the place and his employees’ welfare. Or was the man just acting according to what he felt at that moment?

“Now I’m telling you all this, you know what you must do, right? We’ll lose this place if you mess up with your planning.”

Aiba just nodded while smiling. Even though Ninomiya tried to appear threatening, he didn’t feel intimidated by it. The receptionist clearly just loved the inn too much to the point that he was willing to share the internal problem that the management had to a newbie like him so they could find a way to save the place. Unlike the firm that he worked at before, it was obvious that every single worker in there decided to stay not because of professional interest but because they felt affection towards the inn. And for some reason, it boosted his motivation to work harder for everyone, especially since he was entrusted with a very important job that might determine the fate of the inn.

***

Entering the third months Aiba was working at the inn, they could see a rapid change had happened with the number of visitors they had per day. Be it for business or a private trip, the amount of internet bookings showed obvious growth, thanks to Aiba’s unique strategies after months of trying to build relationships with a numbers of firms, coming up with suitable agreements with other travel agencies, and tons and tons of hours spent promoting and marketing on every platform he could find to the point that Ohno himself had to force him to get some rest. He could not feel happier when saw more customers were coming there and how bright the expression that the staff had as they greeted and treated each visitor. Even the normally indifferent Ninomiya seemed more energetic as he naturally attracted the customers with his charm and playful side that some of them would ask for him when they didn’t see the receptionist around. Now, he knew what Ohno actually saw in Ninomiya when he offered him the receptionist position several months ago. Despite being called an unreliable leader by a lot of people in the business, Ohno unexpectedly had pretty good eyes to see a person’s potential.

“Aiba-kun. Are you free now?”

Matsumoto’s sudden voice startled him from his own thoughts. Seeing the younger man looking at him expectantly, he quickly nodded and followed the other to a small Japanese garden. As soon as they settled on a stone-made bench in the middle of it, Aiba was greeted with the widest smile he had ever seen and felt a soft pat on his back.

“I don’t even know where I should start, Aiba-kun. You’ve done something that both Satoshi and I failed to achieve just a few months after you started working here. I hated it when my cousin refused to listen to me, but now I’m glad he insisted on hiring you. If it wasn’t for you, I couldn’t imagine what would have happened to this inn by now. Thank you very much.”

“It’s me who is supposed to say thank you. I would be completely lost if not because of the advice from you Matsumoto-san. I didn’t have any idea about this inn and how the business was run, and you patiently helped me even though you’re busy with your restaurant.”

“We’ll do anything to save this place, Aiba-kun. I admit I was sceptical at first especially, well, the way we first met. But I know Satoshi wouldn’t jeopardize this inn’s situation just because he seems like he doesn’t care about it. That guy has a much better instinct then I have, so that’s why I believed in his decision. And he was right.”

Hearing that coming from the mouth of a successful entrepreneur amazed Aiba. If someone who was as brilliant as Matsumoto thought that highly about Ohno, that usually laid-back man must be having some qualities that he still hadn’t seen yet.

“I’m flattered Matsumoto-san, but I don’t think I deserve these…”

“Come on. Just accept the praises, would you?”

Though still flustered by it, Aiba nodded appreciatively at the younger man.

Just then they were startled by a loud scream that came from the front yard. When the voice’s owner started to rant about something they couldn’t catch, they immediately ran to the direction of the noise until they found a woman who was pulling her daughter away from Hime who was already hiding behind a bush. Panicked, Aiba rushed to grab his cat while staring worriedly at the mother and daughter pair

“I’m sorry. Did my cat do something?”

The mother snapped at the question and glared at Aiba once she noticed the inn’s uniform he wore.

“How could you let your pet run around here?! What if it scratches my child?! Unbelievable!”

“I’m sorry if my cat made you feel uncomfortable, ma’am. She’s never come to the front side before. My deepest apologies for being careless.”

“Mom, it’s actually me who brought the cat here. She’s so cute and fluffy so I carried her from the backyard. Can we have one too? Please?”

The mother quickly hushed her daughter, evidently flustered for quickly jumping to conclusions. That, however, wasn’t enough to make her let the matter go as she stomped toward Aiba.

“That cat scared my daughter! It could have hurt her! Are you going to take responsibility for it?! I demand reasonable compensation for this unprofessionalism!”

Aiba lost his words at the unexpected turn of event. Even Matsumoto beside him furrowed his eyebrows before dropping his gaze to the little girl who was clearly confused with the entire situation.

“Did the cat scare you, young lady?”

The little girl immediately shook her head. When she started to describe excitedly how well-behaved Hime was when she scooped up the cat and had her in her arms, Matsumoto threw a stern look towards the mother. Aiba however was already pale from the whole incident as every cell in his head tried really hard to come up with the best solution without hurting both the customer’s feelings and the inn’s image. The fact that Matsumoto was more than ready to confront the woman made it even worse when the cause was his pet. He couldn’t afford to be told to leave the place when he barely started his career and had grown to love it. The worst, however, hadn’t come until he heard Ohno’s voice from the entrance.

“What’s happening here?”

Aiba’s heart raced when he heard the owner of the inn approaching them closer. Ohno had never shown any sign of interest in nearly anything when it came to the place before, so the fact that he came to see the customer himself was definitely not a good sign. The only thing he had in his mind when both Matsumoto and the customer started to explain the whole situation was how he was going to come up with another resignation letter until he was startled by Ohno’s voice.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but I can’t quite grasp the problem. From what I’ve understood, your daughter doesn’t seem like she has a problem with the cat.”

“She’s a kid so of course we can’t take her words seriously! My point is what if this creature carries diseases or germs and infects people with it?! Are you going to take responsibility for it?! Either give us reasonable compensation or throw this animal away! And this man should be fired for bringing this pet with him here!”

Aiba clutched his cat closer to his chest at the woman’s glare. He had given up at this point. From his working experience so far, there was no way a newbie would be allowed to stay at a company when a customer clearly stated that they were not satisfied with him or her. He was waiting for the worst to come out from Ohno’s mouth when he heard the older man suddenly heaved out a sigh.

“I refuse. He’s an important asset to this place. And he didn’t do anything wrong at all in this matter. Also, the presence of his pets here actually helps a lot in lifting the mood at the workplace, so I refuse to do that as well. All the staff here loves his cat and dog.”

Ohno’s calm reply stunned both the woman and Aiba. When the woman started to stumble on her words due to shock, Aiba noticed from the corner of his eyes that Matsumoto was already smirking amusedly. His own cousin didn’t even apologize for refusing to listen to the customer’s demand after all.

“H-How could you say that to your customer! I’m going to file a complaint to your boss!”

“I am the owner of this inn, so…”

The woman’s expression darkened with that. Not bothered by it in the slightest, Ohno just returned her look with a calm one before their attention went to a group of female visitors who seemed about to leave the place. When the customers suddenly squealed happily and asked if they could touch the cat that Aiba still had in his arms, Aiba dumbly nodded and let them take Hime from him. Seeing how excited the ladies were as they pat the for-some-reason-suddenly-turned obedient cat while taking several pictures together with the inn’s signboard as the background, Aiba and Matsumoto immediately exchanged a look. Those pictures would definitely be uploaded on the internet later and indirectly help to promote the place to the younger audience.

“Look, mom! They also have a dog here! This place is so amazing!”

The angry mother was surprised when her daughter suddenly pulled away from her and ran. As soon as they realized that she was heading toward Nino who was now standing at the entrance while hugging Ouji, those visitors who were gathered around Hime squealed even louder and rushed to see the dog closer. Their excitement attracted the attention of people who had just left Matsumoto’s restaurant to the point that both the dog and cat were quickly swarmed by numbers of people who couldn’t wait to snap pictures with those furry animals. At the same time, the positive reaction they had from those people made Ohno smilingly turned to the angry woman. Clearly enraged by it though, the woman immediately grabbed for her daughter’s hand and stomped toward her car while the three of them just watched quietly.

“I hope that young lady will be fine. Her mother doesn’t seem like someone who is fun to hang out with.”

Ninomiya’s voice made them turn around. It seemed like the receptionist didn’t need to stay behind and hold Ouji anymore since the dog was safe in the arm of a lovey-dovey couple who wanted to take a selfie with him.

“I heard what she was screaming about from the counter, so when I saw there are customers who were so excited about Hime, I think it will be nice if we show Ouji as well. Who knows if there are dog-lovers among them.”

When Ohno gave him a thumbs up as an approval, Ninomiya just returned the gesture with a wink before disappearing back inside the inn. Matsumoto at the same time left to approach those thrilled visitors and offer his help to take their pictures instead. Still shocked with how the entire situation turned out though, Aiba just blinked his eyes several times until he finally snapped out of his thoughts and bowed down at Ohno.

“I deeply apologize for what happened.”

“Huh?”

The obvious confusion in his employer’s voice made Aiba clench his hands tight. He jumped a little when he felt hands on his shoulders but obeyed when Ohno made him meet his eyes properly.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Aiba-kun. There’s no reason to apologize for something that wasn’t your fault.”

“But she was upset about Hime. She couldn’t be one of our regular customers if I wasn’t careless–”

“Look at behind you, Aiba-kun. Can you see how big their smiles are because of Hime and Ou-chan?”

Aiba halted his words as the other man looked at the group of people who were still busy posing with his pets. As soon as he turned to follow the direction of Ohno’s eyes, his heart was warmed up by the next thing that came from his employer.

“I noticed that you looked so down during our first meeting. You looked like you were trapped in something that you couldn’t find a way to escape from. That’s why I gave you that voucher. I always hoped that even if was a long shot…this place, the onsen, all the illustrations, and the homey feeling that the staff gave would at least help to make the visitors forget about their draining real lives. I know how you feel, Aiba-kun. I’m the last person who should be entrusted when it comes to running a business, so I always try to find a way to escape from this suffocating responsibility. That’s why we met at that park before.”

The honesty put Aiba at a loss for words. Who would think someone who always seemed laid-back and impulsive like the man in front him actually had a lot of things on his mind? All the staff including Ninomiya probably noticed the same thing as well and that was why they decided to stay even though they knew the inn was on the edge of closing down.

“We never had a proper talk after you were hired, so you’re probably not clear about one thing. In here, all the staff is one big family. You might be a newbie, a senior, a freak, or whatever, but we will always support each other. And just to let you know, I have zero tolerance with people who take advantage of others – be it the staff, our business partners, or customers. A win-win situation would be a completely different story though.”

The way Aiba looked at the man in front him completely changed with that. He couldn’t help but teared up a bit, especially when the memories of what he had gone through at his previous firm resurfaced.

“You don’t have any idea how thankful we are for having you during this crisis, Aiba-kun. You saved this place.”

Aiba quickly shook his head to deny it. He was certain now he made the right decision to resign from that toxic environment. The previous firm he worked at might be the best when it came to wages and reputation, but not in terms of a support system and human interaction. Ohno probably noticed that he was about to cry too, so he didn’t push the talk further.

“And I really have to thank Sho-kun after this for recommending you to us. He saved both this inn and Jun’s restaurant when we were at the brink of shutting down our business.”

The sudden mention of his friend made Aiba frowned. As far as he knew, Ninomiya told him that Matsumoto’s restaurant rose to fame due to a review from famous gourmet critic. But Sho told him that he was now working as a not-business-related journalist, so how come –

Wait. Sho did mention he was working for something related to the thing he loved. Could it be…?

“Was Sho-chan the one who wrote the review about Matsumoto­-san’s restaurant?”

“Yup. But we never knew about it until a famous food critic recognized Sho-kun when he was alone and literally stuffing his mouth with food at Jun’s restaurant. Not a pleasant way to be recognized, but thanks to that we got to know that Sho-kun is professional at his job.”

Aiba couldn’t help but giggle when the image of Sho looking like a deer caught in headlights with his mouth stuffed with food came into his mind. He would definitely give that genius another bear hug when they saw each other next time.

“Also, this is business, Aiba-kun. You must have the courage to lose something big if you want to earn something better – just like with what happened today. Don’t tell Jun what I just said though. He will go all out with his cousin-I-know-you’re-actually-passionate-about-this-job-but-just-too-dumb-and-too-stubborn-to-admit-it mode.”

When Ohno walked away at the end of the last sentence, Aiba noticed the faint blush on his chubby cheeks. That put a huge smile on his face as he couldn’t ignore the warm, bubbly feelings he had inside when the memories of how he ended up there came into his mind. Finally, he found a job that he knew was worth working for. Finally, he was no longer stuck at a job that would restrain both his abilities and personality.

And finally, he found a place that will provide him with peace and a family to return to.

“Hey, Aiba-chan. You’ve got a call.”

Ninomiya’s sudden voice made him turn to the younger man who was now standing at the entrance. He couldn’t help but grin to himself at the change of honorific as he dashed inside the inn, a ton of ideas on how he could make the best of the inn’s charm at the same time already flooding into his mind.

*the end*

 

Comments

[ladyc2]

Poor Aiba, his office life was pretty tough. Glad he ran into first Ohno at the park and then Sho at the onsen to change his life around. This story had such a found family feel to it. It was great.

Thank you for writing this.

[reveetoile]

Poor Aiba his old workplace sounds awful luckily he found Ohno and a new great job :D

[midori_sunshine]

Loved this so much >u< glad aiba and the others were able to find happiness working at ohno's onsen ^^