Chapter Text
00 | Countdown start
Takemichi jumps out of his bed as soon as his alarm rings. Outside, behind the thin curtains barely hiding the window, the sky is still as dark as ink, not showing the slightest hint of color. He can still see the moon, its round shape glowing in the night and its reflection on the grass in the garden; he can even see the stars too, when he opens the window to let some fresh air in. Instantly, a light breeze starts to brush his face, swirling his black curls above his head, and he smiles.
“So, this is finally happening,” he whispers.
Next to him, hanging above his desk among dozens of postcards from all parts of the world, a huge calendar takes up a large part of the wall. All the days are crossed out, up to a date carefully highlighted and circled in several colors. December 8 th .
Today .
As he closes the window and tiptoes to the bedroom door, a sleepy voice drifts out from under the covers.
“Don’t come back too late, okay?”
Takemichi stops. Snuggled under the blankets, his wife, Hina, is smiling at him in the semi-darkness, her eyes still half-lidded by sleep. Takemichi smiles back, sending her a virtual kiss with the tips of his fingers.
“I won’t, don’t worry,” he softly assures her.
Hina nods, then goes back to sleep, and he closes the door behind him to head to the bathroom. His clothes are already prepared – some fitted jeans and a white dress shirt, both perfectly ironed. He has to look his best, after all, today is an important day.
After a whole year spent abroad, competing in international motorbike races, Mikey is finally coming back home. A whole year apart from each other, when he’d heard from the one he considers his best friend only by episodic phone calls and brief postcards. Takemichi has been counting the days since he left, not missing a single one of his victories on the television, waiting with a diffuse ache in his chest for him to come back.
And today, it’s finally happening.
“Today, I’m finally seeing you again.”
As he gets into the shower, he tries to ignore the way those simple words make his heart swell like nothing else has for a long time.