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“Hey, do you still have your passport?”
The long haired male stopped tuning his instrument due to the verbal intrusion.
“Um, yeah. Why?”
“Just feeling spontaneous is all.”
Spring holidays were amongst the university students. It was the final push to finish up on their studies and projects before a short taste of freedom.
With their consistent band practices, obedient work schedules and sweat breaking determination to succeed in all aspects of their young adult lives, it was time for a well-deserved break.
Haruki shot an interested look the drummer’s direction to entertain his sudden declaration. Before he could ask any more questions, a bright phone screen was shoved in his face.
Flights.
A list of airlines were presented in front of him just mere millimeters from his nose, bright screen blinding and tiny black text hard to make out.
“Are you planning to send me off to a far away land so you can transform our current music project into some hard-core bone shattering heavy metal band?” Haruki hated Akihiko’s admiration of the metal music scene albeit he never gave any of it a listen with his own ears.
“America.” The drummer cast a grin at Haruki. "Let’s take our asses to America!”
--------
Four weeks had passed and the two young men stepped out of their cab with only their backpacks, the clothes on their backs, and a spark of desire and wonder. Haruki led their way into the airport, hair fastened in a loose messy bun which bobbed up and down with each step. The short haired blond behind him had wished his hair be let down to flow with the emotion of excitement he hoped the man ahead of him was feeling. He also simply wanted to be able to capture every essence of Haruki's appearance that he could. There was no hiding his fascination with the young man’s outward form. He continued to observe his friend as they approached their check-in. The two of them packed as lightly as possible to escalate their check-in process and avoid further fees. They weren’t the richest of men, but they managed to scrape up enough money for the cheapest, and longest, flight.
Ahikiko had packed a book he ordered online outlining the must-see tourist attractions of their destination city. Haruki had downloaded 10 hours of pop music to his mobile phone and carried a neck pillow he had purchased at the gift shop inside the terminal. He planned on snoozing during the trip as his mind kept him restless the whole evening. His internal monologue had feasted on all of his energy. America. A foreign trip with Akihiko. A trip with only the two of us at foreign soil’s disposal.
A chime had suddenly broken out over the loudspeaker.
“Now boarding flight 862, international service to Chicago O’Hare at gate 12.”
It was go time.
-----
The flight was mundane. It appeared that most of the passengers were either Japanese business folk travelling for work, or tourists returning home to their country. Since the flight was so early in the morning most of the people on board were asleep or dialed into their headsets to pass the time. Thirteen hours was quite the commitment.
Akihiko found himself settled back, partially reclined with an airline blanket laid over his torso. His book was held firmly in front of him, eyes scanning the pages, folding back the corners of destinations of interest marked for later visitation.
His bandmate seated next to him was beginning to doze off, head bobbing and dark golden locks falling around his face. Eventually the young man succumbed to sleep and slumped his body over the armrest and onto Akihiko’s shoulder. The thud of Haruki’s sudden weight against his shoulder made the short haired blond jump slightly, but his expression was met with a welcoming smile.
He placed his large hand on his friend’s head gently and peered over at him. Faint wisps of upbeat, guitar heavy music could be heard bleeding trough the ear bud that fell loosely over Haruki’s shoulder as it dislodged from his ear canal while toppling over. Akihiko gave his head a pat and retrieved the loose bud for his own. What could he be indulging in to occupy his ear drums for over thirteen hours?
Akihiko's ear was met with upbeat drumbeats and heavy guitar riffs as a soft spoken man’s voice joined the happy tone to serenade the listener.
“When the sun goes down, I'll meet you halfway
Don't worry about tickets, I know a backway
When the party starts to roll, we'll sneak out to the floor
We can't waste another song
Come take my hand now, dance with me
Just dance with me tonight”
His chest began to feel tight, causing a shallow breath to escape his lips. He focused intently on the song’s lyrics. It was made very evident that this style of pop-esque rock music was designed to showcase song lyrics as they slightly overpowered the instruments supporting them.
“Let the sound take us higher and higher
Turn that volume up louder and louder now
Let the lights burn like fire, like fire
For tonight I can make you feel better
I'll make you feel...”
A heavy shade of crimson and heat crept across his face. Not only was the cheesy bubblegum sentiment of the song reflecting emotion from within himself, but he was also slightly bobbing his head in response to the music. He decided to dial in his focus once more as the next verse rolled in.
“I'll make you feel like you make me when I'm with you
I sink into your eyes like this, I’ll show you
When the party starts to roll, we'll sneak out to the floor
We can't waste another song
Come take my hand now, sing with me
Just sing with me tonight”
Akihiko removed the ear bud from his ear and let the wire gently lay against its owner’s shoulder as to not cause disturbance to the sleeping beauty. The drummer was now met with battling his own internal monologue as he clearly didn’t pack enough items to utilize as distraction. Aki was hoping the long flight would be filled with aimless conversation about band talk, generic life happenings, and adventure planning for their trip. It was hard on him. It was a challenge to be seated next to this man for so many hours with realistically nowhere to escape to if his emotions happened to creep in on him. Now he was faced with the fact that the one person who triggers deep emotions of his was peacefully slumbering against him. He was completely encompassed with a radiating heat and sappy music that was bleeding from the irresistible man beside him.
Aki dropped his focus to the cover of his book. “America – All Within Reach.” Could this be it? Could this trip be his chance to pull away from the daily focuses and agenda back home? Could he channel his inner emotions? No instruments were packed, no practices were planned, this was seven days of two people experiencing the time of their life together, or that’s at least was he was hoping for. His thoughts trailed back to the lyrics he had heard a few moments prior “We can’t waste another song…” No. I can’t waste another song.
The flight was over. The passengers were met with loud bumps and jostling as the aircraft came to a stop. Akihiko was the first of the pair to stand, shaking his legs and stretching his arms as tall as possible while grazing his knuckles against the low ceiling overhead. The act of lengthening his upper body caused his black t-shirt to rise slightly, exposing a few inches of abdominal skin and the elastic of his underwear to peak out. Haruki averted his eyes quickly and attempted to stand up hurriedly . His motions of standing after nearly an entire flight’s worth of sleep caused him to topple over, crashing into the row of seats ahead of them. His face had already been glowing with shame after taking shameless peeks at the man next to him. He let out a whimper of embarrassment as Akihiko reached for his shoulders to steady the young man.
“Hey! You can’t start off your first moments in America injuring yourself. Get a grip Haruki!”
Once Haruki was settled in place with the assistance of his bandmate, he shot back a dirty look which resulted in a gentle shove from the affected party.
“You’re prettier when you smile.” Akihiko chuckled.
“Oh, quiet!” Haruki turned away and began heading down the exit row.
-----
Noise.
This city was noisy. Noise of traffic, pedestrians talking and vocal wind whirled through the atmosphere. It was four in the morning just before the infamous morning rush hour would take place. The time of day big city slickers always prepared for. The two foreign men took a minute to find their bearings. Neither of them were fluent in English, but Akihiko was damn near close. The city ran on train systems, public transport, cab drivers and foot traffic. Akihiko began following signs for the train that would take them downtown. He had purchased two tickets ahead of time as he imagined chaos would ensue as soon as they landed. Haruki followed Akihiko obediently as he feared being separated and not being able to make out all the verbiage posted on the signs and posters decorating the walls while alone.
The two men finally reached their train station which would take them to the main station in the middle of the city. Once their train ride was over, they were faced with a 3 mile walk or twenty-dollar cab fare to the hotel Akihiko had booked ahead of time for the duration of their trip. As the two of them were traveling as university students, they needed to do everything as cheaply as possible.
They opted for the long walk as walking wasn’t anything new and it gave them a chance to scope out the area and save a little cash.
“Hey. This is it.” Aki stopped and elbowed Haruki in the shoulder. He raised his arm and pointed out the hotel in which they would make their home base for the rest of the week. Haruki raised his eyebrow and examined the building. It looked old, but not in poor condition. He gazed higher and higher as he counted up to fifteen rows of windows.
“All the way up.” The man clad in black spoke again.
“Whhaaaaaaatttttttt?”
“It’s a lot more expensive to stay in a lower-level suite, so I had to choose something reasonable without some foreigners having to couch surf at strangers’ apartments.”
“Damn, Akihiko, you know I’m not a fan of heights.” The golden-haired man turned slightly pale and bit his bottom lip.
“And I know you’d hate being a broke college student even more.” Akihiko reached for Haruki's wrist and drug him unwillingly to the hotel entrance.
As Akihiko was more comfortable speaking in the foreign language, he was the one who handled the reservation and check-in process. While he conversed with the clerk, Haruki had his focus on the sturdy, yet tacky looking décor. He was appalled by the stained red carpet and musky stale cigarette smell radiating from the walls. At least when he got to the room, he was able to take a drag of his cigarette, or that’s what be thought was going to happen.
The two headed for the elevator and leaned against the back wall. Akihiko pressed the glowing fifteen button and Haruki took a deep breath. The elevator ride was going smoothly until a large chunk startled Haruki which prompted him to drop his backpack and reach for Akihiko. Their hands met feverishly, and Haruki gripped on tight while he closed his eyes eye tighter. He had filled his whole head and chest with air from the gasp he had taken and refused to exhale.
Akihiko reached for his face, placing calloused fingertips on the scared man's cheek.
“Haruki! Breathe! It’s just an elevator. If you’re gonna die in here I’m gonna die with you and I didn’t travel all this way to die. Breathe, dammit!”
A loud and exasperated gasp filled the small space. Soft sounds of panting and glistening beads of sweat decorated the golden-haired boy as he released. Their hands were still clasped, and Akihiko refused to be the first one to let go.
The elevator door opened, and the two young men headed down the hallway to their room. Akihiko slid the door key in and slowly opened it. The room was cozy to say the least. Aki managed to book a room on the only side of the building that had a view that wasn’t tall monuments of concrete. The room possessed a small sliding glass door with a tiny balcony. The balcony was just large enough for a person to hang their head out of, perhaps smoking a cigarette or watching for street thugs. A park was visible nearby which appeared to house a small-scale stadium used for outdoor local music performances. A baseball stadium was only a few blocks away and the street was lined with bars, restaurants a record shop and a music venue. Ah, that’s why Aki chose this area to stay in. It was perfect for the downtown nightlife.
-----
Haruki grabbed for his backpack. All he had in his bag were the clothes he packed, phone cable, earbuds, and a hairbrush. He vehemently fished for a pack of cigarettes as he realized he was without nicotine for nearing twenty hours. His hands came up empty. Akihiko grunted as he set a thin plastic bag on the small desk. On their trek to the hotel, they had stopped by a small convenience store to purchase a few necessities. They decided they would rely on cheap hotel shampoo and soap but to pick-up other hygiene essentials they couldn’t bring on the cab of the aircraft; a couple packs of smokes; a lighter and a case of popular local beer was necessary. The short-haired blond pulled out the pack of cigarettes that were nestled in the bag and tossed the lighter Haruki’s way.
“Yo. Take a drag and chill out. We’ve made it.”
Akihiko had been feeling slightly sleep deprived. He managed to take a small nap on the flight overseas, but it hadn’t been nearly the amount of rest his bandmate managed. Haruki received a cigarette from Akihiko and made his way to the balcony. Aki took a seat in the office chair accompanying the small office desk adorning their room. He examined Haruki with clouded judgement. He watched as his hips swayed slightly side to side while he took strides to the sliding glass door. He took time to observe how wrinkled his button up shirt had become from the flight, how the back of his messy bun was slightly knotted up and how his socks were mismatched.
How adorable.
The flick and fizzle of the lighter being activated pulled Akihiko out of his thoughts and prompted him to take a closer look around the room. There was only one bed. While Akihiko was internally battling the idea of letting all his reserve go during this trip, he hadn’t intended to make Haruki uncomfortable outside of his routine teasing and hair fondling.
“Ah, Haruki?”
The bassist turned around with the small white stick hanging off of his lip, eyes wide and alert.
“Yeah?”
“Ah, I suppose in my money saving endeavor I managed to book a room with only one bed.”
“…Oh.”
“I’m going to head down to the desk and request a cot or a few extra pillows and I’ll bunker down on the floor. Maybe you’ll feel bad for me at some point and swap places with me for a night.”
The bed was a queen size. Plenty large enough for two adults to fit with enough space to not feel suffocated.
Haruki’s cheeks began to warm up as Akihiko was slipping his shoes on to make a trip fourteen flights beneath them.
“Aki…wait. We just got here. I was able to sleep while you were not. Please take your shoes off and relax.”
Akihiko stopped in his tracks and turned to face his roomie for the week and nodded.
“Deal, but let me share a drag with you first.”
The drummer began to approach the bassist which caused nervous fingers to lose grip of the lighter. Haruki’s slim and delicate fingers managed to fumble the lighter away causing it to slip through the balcony floor boards and free fall a dramatic 160 feet to the pavement below.
“Ah, what a shame.”
Haruki bowed his head in shame.
“Aki, I’m sor—”
He was interrupted by a tall slender figure growing closer and his cigarette snatched from his lips. Haruki promptly turned a dark shade of pink while he watched the undeniably attractive man in front of him take a long drag of his cigarette. Akihiko held the drag in for a moment as he gently leaned over the railing of the tiny balcony. He released the puff of smoke out of the side of his lips, opposite direction of Haruki and stared intently at the pavement below. The sleep deprived man turned to lock eyes with Haruki.
“What a shame.”
He then nestled the cigarette he had previously stolen between the lips of his friend and walked back into the hotel room.
“Wake me up in a couple hours, will ya? And please don’t go tumbling out the window.”
Haruki’s eyes remained wide and glassy seemingly for the entire duration of Akihiko’s nap.
-----
As the bold man slumbered on the only bed in the room, Haruki took it upon himself to hang their clothes up in the closet. He then proceeded to lay out their small purchases along the end of the bathroom sink and started up the small, cheap and abused coffee maker. As the packet of what looked like dirt was being brewed into what he hoped would resemble coffee, Haruki gathered up a change of clothes and a towel and head for the shower.
While exiting the bathroom, whose door directly faced the single bed in the room, Haruki was able to examine the vulnerable state of his friend sprawled on the bed. A pile of drool was gathering on the pillow nestled beneath his bed. Saliva trickling down silver adornments. His t-shirt was once again slightly lifted up which exposed the dimples on Akihiko’s lower back. Haruki was feeling quite fuzzy and anxious inside. His sleep pattern had been completed obliterated, he hadn’t eaten a proper meal outside airline snacks, and the man he had been yearning for a couple years was sprawled out across the single bed in their joined vacation hotel room.
A deep rumble settled in the pit of his stomach. He was convinced if he didn’t eat soon his stomach would start to consume itself. While settling their belongings in the room earlier, Haruki fumbled across a couple menus to local food joints in the area. He could make out some very basic English words on the pages. He didn’t want to wake his sleeping friend who worked hard for this trip, so he was determined to figure out how to order food on his own. Many of the colourful photos of food looked tantalizing, but without being able to point to the photos to the restaurant staff, he was hopeless. The very last menu he came across happened to have numbers accompanying the menu items. He could read numbers. Although he had not a single clue what any of the entrees listed were, he compiled a list of numbers that sounded good – the easiest ones for him to pronounce.
The next challenge Haruki faced was figuring out what Akihiko would enjoy dining on after waking up. He generally wasn’t a picky person and was likely to appreciate anything edible upon ending his slumber. Haruki grabbed the corded phone on the desk and began dialing what appeared to be an American telephone number.
A busy tone played. He hadn’t realized it had just only broke eight o’clock in the morning local time.
The other end of the phone hung up and a defeated Haruki was left with the option of waking up Ahikiko or to travel out onto the street on his own.
He quickly tossed his pride to the side and approached Akihiko.
He sat on the bed next to him and attempted to wiggle his shoulder. Haruki was met with a guttural growl which indicated the sleeping man did not want to be awoken. Haruki tried again.
“Kaji-san, I need your help.”
A wiggle of the shoulder.
“Hrmmmmmm…”
“Akihiko, please. I made coffee.”
“Guhhhhhhhh…”
“Aki-HI-HI!” The golden-haired man was startled when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist which embraced him in a firm grip. Haruki froze in embarrassment for the fourth time that day. Why does he do this to me? Haruki reached to poke Akihiko in the face when he was met with three gentle words.
“Five more minutes.” And with that the grip around Haruki’s waist gripped even tighter which caused Haruki to fall to his side, and rest against Ahikiko.
Haruki once again marinated in the hue of red across his face while he layed closer than ever before to the man he wished was his.
Five minutes was up and Ahikiko rose from the bed and immediately reached for the small styrofoam cups presented next to the atrocious excuse of a coffee machine. He made up two cups of dark water while Haruki had made himself a spot seated at the foot of the bed. Akihiko continued on his beverage journey by locating the pack of beer they had purchased earlier. Haruki looked over at him with a confused look. There was no way Akihiko hadn’t also felt ravenously hungry, and to drink on an empty stomach? That was absolutely ludicrous. Haruki's stomach had once again let out an exacerbated growl which longed for food and nutrition. Why didn't we buy food? Akihiko looked over at the alarm clock next to the bed. It read half past eight o’clock in the morning local time.
“Kaji-san, what’s for dinn—er…breakfast?”
“Mmmmmm…beer and your delicious coffee I suppose.”
“AKIHIKO!”
“Fine, fine, fine. I’ll find us something.”
And in his head Akihiko wished he could have replied with a sincere “You.”