Chapter Text
Since a young age, Hokuto had acquired the habit of reading books at any place and any moment - standing inside the bus heading to university, while eating, waiting for the elevator, and even while walking to get to his apartment. Since he was a big introvert, fixing his eyes in a book was the way he discovered was the most effective to avert talking or interacting with other people.
However, this habit would often bring him problems - he would get too distracted and miss his bus stop, ignore important people, give the impression of being unpleasant, or simply bump into a wall or a person for not paying attention to his steps.
And it was exactly what happened that Friday night; he was just getting back from his part-time job, getting out of the elevator and heading to his apartment, when he violently bumped against someone who was running in the opposite direction.
“Damn!” he almost fell, but was able to hold on to the wall, and only his book met the ground. The stranger, who seemed to be in a hurry, quickly picked his book and returned it to Hokuto, while exclaiming “oh, gosh, sorry!”.
Hokuto was going to say that it was his fault, for reading and walking at the same time, but two things held back his tongue: first, the fact that the other had apologized in perfect english, and second, that the guy was the most handsome person he had ever seen in real life.
He was tall, had red dyed hair, and didn’t really look japanese… But (unfortunately) Hokuto didn’t have the chance to take a proper look at the other’s face, since he rapidly ran to the elevator.
Maybe he was his new neighbour? Ueda Tatsuya, the scary blond guy who lived in the apartment right next to his, had left the place a week ago, and Hokuto was anxious thinking about what kind of person would replace him. Even though Hokuto didn’t have the courage to meet Ueda-san’s eyes when they met in the corridors of the building, he was a quiet, discreet neighbour.
Hokuto tried to read his book while eating the bento he had bought at the nearest combini, but his thoughts kept wandering to the young man he had encountered earlier. He really looked like a foreigner… perhaps he didn’t know japanese? They also looked approximately the same age. And his cologne also smelled good… He shook his head. Stop daydreaming, he said to himself. He could be a serial killer, for all he knew….
(Or an international model, with those looks…)
******************
Saturday was a day without college classes, so Hokuto took the opportunity to wake up late, lazily eat his breakfast and go out for a jog. When exiting the building, he casually asked Aiba-san, the porter, if the 114 apartment had a new resident.
“Oh yes, your new neighbour arrived yesterday, Hokuto-kun! His name is… err… Jesse Lewis! It seems he just arrived from the United States, if I understood it well. Have you met him yet?”.
“Just a glance”, he quickly answered, thanking Aiba-san and exiting the building.
Hokuto loved to run: the wind on his face, the sound of his foot hitting the floor, the endorphins running in his veins, everything would help him forget his worries and clear his mind.
He wasn’t thinking about the incident of the previous day anymore at the end of his exercise, but it came back to his mind when, all sweaty, with messy hair and a wet shirt, Hokuto entered the elevator, and was immediately followed by handsome-foreigner-perhaps-model-Jesse-Lewis.
“Oh my God... I hope I’m not stinking of sweat!” was his immediate thought. Jesse smiled and said “hey!”; he was holding a big box on his hands, and also had a guitar case on his back.
He didn’t know what spirit possessed him that moment (probably the endorphins released after jogging), but before he realized what he was doing, the words were already leaving his mouth, with a heavy accent:
“Hello… are you… are you new in the building?”, Hokuto’s english wasn’t perfect, but he could understand enough and talk a bit.
The other looked a bit confused at first, but then he smiled again (“man, he is even more handsome when smiling…”) and lively answered “Yes, I moved yesterday to the fifth floor. My name is Jesse. And you are…?”
“My name is Hokuto… Matsumura Hokuto. Nice to meet you. Are you american, Jesse-san… Lewis-san?” he wasn’t sure how to call the other.
“Call me Jesse. And yes, I was born in the United States… My father is american, and my mother is japanese. I was living in Los Angeles until last month, but decided to move to Japan…”.
That explained the japanese features he could observe in his face. The doors of the elevator opened to the fifth floor, and the two of them headed to their apartments in silence; Hokuto slowly started to get embarassed, wondering if maybe he had been too intrusive with his questions.
“Oh, we live right next to each other! Nice!” observed Jesse, when they stopped at their respective doors.
“Yes… errr… “ Hokuto was feeling awkward, not knowing how to keep or end the conversation.
“I hope we get along well then! I know we just met each other, but can I ask you a favor, Hokuto?”, he asked, spotting a shy smile.
“Yes! Of course!” was his quick reply.
“My hands are busy, as you can see, so… Could you help me get the key to my apartment? It’s in the pocket of my jeans…”. He turned his back to Hokuto, who was already blushing.
“Hmm… Okay? Excuse me…” He put his hand in the other’s pocket, trying to not touch his butt too much (thankfully, it wasn’t a skinny jeans), and quickly retrieved the key. He could feel his ears hot, and couldn’t meet Jesse’s eyes while opening the other’s apartment.
“Thaaaanks Hokuto! It was nice meeting you! See you sooon!” he winked and closed the door to his apartment with his foot.
Only when he finished his shower, Hokuto realized that Jesse could have just put the box on the floor to pick the key from his pocket.
...Perhaps he was kinda dumb?
******************
Three weeks had passed since Jesse moved, and Hokuto still didn’t have any problems with the other.
Since Hokuto frequented college, and also had his part-time job in a small bookstore nearby, he wouldn’t spend much time home during the week. On weekends, however, he’d often stay inside his apartment all the time (except when the few friends he had at university convinced him to hang out somewhere). The walls of the building were thick enough to muffle most of the sounds from the other apartments, but sometimes louder noises could reach Hokuto’s ears when he was in his living room.
Hokuto soon discovered that Jesse liked to put on some music during the day. Curious, he would lean against the wall dividing their places, trying to recognize the songs; he couldn’t really discern the words, but the melody was pretty recognisable… Seemed like Jesse liked to hear old rock songs… “Hotel California”, “Let it be”, “Stand by me”... He remembered Jesse carrying a guitar case the second time they met; perhaps he also liked to play? The image of Jesse playing the guitar while singing “Can’t help falling in Love” filled Hokuto’s mind.
Hokuto wondered what Jesse was working on (or even if he really worked… Perhaps he was still a college student?). He never saw his neighbour wearing a suit, so he probably wasn’t a salaryman… However, he couldn’t gather courage to ask more about the other, even though Jesse always seemed very friendly during their short encounters in the corridors of the building.
Or should he say, too friendly? Even though Jesse acted in a polite way in their first encounters (besides, of course, asking for Hokuto to put his hand in his back pocket…), gradually, he started to treat Hokuto as a close friend, putting his arm over the other’s shoulders, using a very informal language, and cracking jokes every other time.
If he were to be honest, 70% of the time he wouldn’t really understand Jesse’s jokes; they seemed to be a mix of dad’s jokes, puns, crazy gestures and nonsensical stuff, but Hokuto assumed it was some kind of american humor… Or maybe Jesse was just a weird human being (a very plausible explanation, considering his behaviour...).
There was a time when they crossed each other when Hokuto was getting out of the elevator, while Jesse was entering it at the same time. Jesse took a look at Hokuto’s shirt (where there was a big picture of a monkey), and loudly exclaimed “monkey!”, while pointing at the print. The doors of the elevator closed to Jesse doing what Hokuto guessed was the impression of a monkey, while loudly saying “monkeeeyyyy~~”.
Even so, Hokuto couldn’t help but laugh every single time; eventually, he felt bold enough to play the “tsukkomi”, slapping Jesse’s arm and exclaiming “what the hell are you saying?!”, while laughing, prompting Jesse to laugh even louder - that strange and ugly ‘HAHAHAHAH’ that Hokuto loved, but would never admit liking it.
Until that moment, Hokuto never thought he’d approach a neighbour so easily… It wasn’t like he was shy, but he didn’t have the talent of talking easily with people he’d never met before… However, there was a magnetism in Jesse, a charm that even his lame jokes couldn’t erase - or rather, his lively behaviour just made him an even more interesting person. Hokuto wanted to talk more with Jesse, but the barriers imposed by his own personality still stopped him from inviting the half-american neighbour to a dinner or something.
The two of them had the opportunity to spend more time together one Sunday, when Hokuto and Jesse coincidentally decided to go to the convenience store at the same time. Hokuto was just exiting the building when he heard a loud “Hokutooooo!” behind him. He turned to see Jesse running in his direction.
“Yo, Hokuto! Where are you going?!”
“To the convenience store nearby…”
“Great! I’m going with you then, I need to buy some supplies!” Jesse put his arm over Hokuto’s shoulders and started walking with the other, “let’s go!” he said, in a high-pitched voice, while raising his free arm. As always, Hokuto wondered if Americans didn’t have the clear notion of personal space, while fighting to keep the blush away from his face.
“What supplies do you need?”
“Just the essential… Porn magazines”.
Hokuto choked, which made Jesse laugh out loud. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I’m going after some food”.
Jesse’s definition of “food” seemed to be junk food and instant noodles, but Hokuto convinced him to get meat and vegetables as well.
“But I don’t even cook…” he whined, as Hokuto put a bunch of spinach in his basket.
“Do you want to die before your forties? Are you really eating just trash everyday?”. Hokuto shook his head, disapprovingly. "It’s a miracle that you have such a nice body, considering your diet” he murmured, in japanese, without thinking. When Hokuto realized what he had just said, he quickly glanced at Jesse, but the other was gazing distracted at the shelves.
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Err… nothing”, was his relieved reply, and Hokuto averted his eyes to the ceiling, thankful that Jesse didn’t speak japanese.
(Amidst his embarrassment, he didn’t notice that Jesse’s ears were slightly pinker than before).
“Aren’t you an adult already? You should know how to cook the basics, at least…” was the disapproving remark from Hokuto.
“Well… will you teach me how to cook, sensei~~~?” Jesse replied, bashing his eyelashes and making a puppy face. Hokuto’s heart skipped a beat, and he reacted by slapping Jesse’s head.
“HAHAHAHA, your face just now… sorry, sorry. Errr, to be honest I don’t really trust your cooking skills… I mean, do you need THIS MUCH pepper and hot sauce in your meals…?” Jesse asked, taking a peep at Hokuto’s basket content.
They kept playfully bickering at each other, while paying for their groceries, and all the way to their apartments. It was with sadness that Hokuto bid goodbye to the other, but he felt a bit better when Jesse made him promise to teach him how to cook a simple meal.
“I have some stuff to take care of today, but are you free next weekend? Great, then you are invited to come and cook me something! But choose a recipe without so much spice, you’ll end up having gastritis if you keep eating like this!”. As a farewell, Jesse hugged him (to Hokuto’s surprise) and entered his apartment, happily waving goodbye.
Hokuto entered his own apartment as well, locked the door and slowly fell to the ground, covering his face with his hands. “Damn Jesse, you idiot…”. He was acting like a 14-years old teenager in love, and he wasn’t proud of it… He wondered, with concern, how his relationship with Jesse would evolve from then on…