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Ever since their partnership as BAD DOGS, Toya prides himself for his great intuition regarding Akito’s feelings.
He learned to pick up the minor gestures and faces Akito makes, down to the microexpressions. Akito isn’t one to openly express how he feels with others nor does he particularly like showing off the vulnerable side of him to those who know him. Ever since realising that fact, Toya ended up playing around with his own gut feeling, unintentionally training it to the point of recognising Akito's feeling from a single touch of his hand.
…As it is happening right in front of him. The way Akito placed his bottle down on the bench was stiff and rigid, indicating that something is picking at his mind. While the girls do their cool down together, Toya caught up with his partner and sat beside him at the bench.
“Tell me what’s wrong.” Toya stated a bit too bluntly.
Akito stared with wide eyes. “That was sudden. How did you know I…?”
“I can see it in your face.” Toya softly beamed. “You’re not getting any better at hiding how you feel, Akito, especially from me.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you.” Akito chuckled.
He huffed out a deep breath before continuing, “I was looking through an old family album with Ena and our mom. Whenever Dad has an exhibition out of Tokyo, the whole family would follow and we would go on a trip most of the time.”
Toya enjoyed hearing about Akito’s childhood in contrast with a lack of one. While Akito’s father is described as someone who’s too blunt for everyone’s sake, the son clearly favours his mother more. On rare occasions where his own father allows him to sleep over at his partner’s place, eating dinner together with the Shinonomes became something he grew to enjoy.
Akito carried on with his recall, “We found a picture of one of those trips. Dad had something going on in Kyoto, so the rest of us went to Arashiyama. You know about the Sagano Scenic Rail?”
“I think I have heard of it…it’s the same thing as the Sagano Romantic Train, right?”
“Yeah! So the thing that’s been bothering me is…I can’t remember much of it.”
“What do you mean by that?” Toya tilted his head, mildly confused at the odd reason for Akito's unease.
“Out of all the trips we went…going to Arashiyama was my favourite, but I don’t remember why. I seriously remember really enjoying the trip and how fun it was to ride the train. The actual train ride however… I can’t recall a single thing. Not even how the train looks or which station we rode from.”
He hummed, “I see… For you to remember the trip in a fond light, that trip must have been special to you, right? But because you can’t remember, you don’t understand why you felt so?”
“Exactly.” Akito sighed. “I was ten years old when we went, so it makes sense. Still, I don’t get why it bothers me so much.”
As Akito took another swig of his water bottle, Toya sat in thought for a simple solution to his partner’s problem. Deciphering one’s feelings can be a complicated process that takes different approaches to fully understand. That feeling he had was during the trip, at Arashiyama specifically. If it’s a destination that brings out those emotions, then…
“Then why don’t we go there?”
Akito coughed in surprise, regrettably with some water spilled from his bottle. “ Go there? Us? ”
Toya blinked. “We can make it a day trip. Or if we go on a Saturday, we can spend the night there. What do you think?”
“That’s!...
.
.
.
…not a bad idea…” Akito realised. A trip to Arashiyama with Toya… “Wait, how are you gonna convince your dad to let you go?”
To his surprise, Toya flashed a devious smirk. “Or better yet, I don’t?”
“Huh?”
“Father has a recital overseas in two weeks. In that case, who I need to convince is simply my mother. There’s no need for me to do a presentation if it’s her.”
“I still can’t believe you had to do that.” Akito chuckled at that memory. “So this trip… it’s just the two of us, right? The girls aren’t involved?”
“If you want to invite them, I can-”
“No, I mean I want it to just be an ‘us’ trip.” He admitted sheepishly. “We’ve never gone on a trip with just us before, have we?”
“We haven’t. So, is that a yes from you?” Toya grinned.
“You already know the damn answer, partner.”
—
And thus began the planning stages of their trip to Arashiyama.
Due to financial restraints, they chose the day trip route. Kyoto was no doubt a far destination, so the fastest route to get there would be by train. After reaching Kyoto station, they would still need to ride another train to get to the station closest to Torokko Kameoka station, the westmost station in the scenic line.
“Why not head straight to Arashiyama?’ Akito inquired during their lunch break.
Toya explained after swallowing a bite of his food. “If Arashiyama is a part of those feelings, then we can do a one-way-ride on the train and reach Arashiyama instead. We can ride the train first before going around the tourist destinations. Is that okay for you?”
“Definitely. This is honestly my first time seeing you plan a trip…If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask, okay?”
“Don’t worry, I will.” Toya reassured his partner. “Let’s see…”
“Hey…did you check how much it costs?”
“...No…?”
Akito sighed, “Let me have a look, it’d be bad if we ran out of money halfway through the trip just from transportation fees.”
—
When the actual day arrives, Toya couldn't contain the exciting beating in his heart, a similar feeling to when he went camping with his members for the first time. He awoke a bit earlier than intended in the morning. After bidding his mother goodbye, he headed on towards the train station.
As expected of a Saturday, the area was quite packed. Akito made the right call to get the tickets online both for the Shinkansen and the Sagano Scenic Line. Toya had been in contact with his partner since he arrived at the mouth, attempting to search for him in the busy crowd.
He was eventually able to find him, alone by a pillar with a backpack in tow. Toya approached with a smile. "Good morning."
"Mornin'." Akito released a long yawn. “It feels like a school day with how early we got up…”
“Did you have trouble sleeping last night?”
“Nothing bad, guess the nerves and excitement got to me.” He grinned. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to Kyoto.”
“This would be my first time then.” Surprisingly, his father has never gone to Kyoto for a recital, commonly it would be somewhere in Europe. Most of the memories he remembers is being cooped up in the hotel room, sometimes all alone until late night and waiting for his parents to come home.
Those times are over now that he has been given much more freedom in his choices. The both of them quickly headed on to board their train, departing exactly in 15 minutes. Riding the bullet train to another city from Tokyo was rare for his family, either riding the plane or driven by chauffeurs. Toya took the time to truly take in the complex system of the railway, the whirring sound of their train exciting his heart.
Once they got in, Akito guided them to their seats. The train itself had double and triple seats and consisted of multiple carriages like the usual train he’d board. “Go on, you can take the window seat.”
Toya accepted the offer, scooting in before Akito joined him. There were other passengers he noticed that had larger luggage, figuring that they were the ones staying for more than a night or so. All he carried with him was a backpack similar to his partner’s. Not much did he pack: his phone, battery pack, headphones, water bottle, a map he had found online and a novel to pass the time.
“It’ll take a while to reach there, almost three hours or so.” Akito informed him. “Did you bring anything to pass the time?”
He nodded and pulled out his novel. “I’ve been wanting to read this for a while. What about you?”
“I downloaded a few episodes of a show I’m watching. Well, I can nap on the way there too.”
A voice emitting from the speakers blared minutes before the train started moving. In all honesty, the first hour of the trip had Toya watching the passing scenery, accompanied with music playing from his phone through his headphones. He didn’t think of anything in particular, but it clears his mind of worries and unnecessary thoughts.
At some point, he finally started reading his novel. He only went to the bathroom once throughout the ride while Akito went on multiple trips. They rarely spoke during the ride, only making small comments on their surroundings or what the other was doing. Despite the silence, it wasn’t awkward at all, perhaps too used to each other’s presence that it’s automatically comforting.
Passing the second hour mark, Toya felt a mass fall onto his shoulder, hair slightly tickling at his shoulder. Careful to not move the current immobile body part, he craned his head to find Akito had fallen asleep, a peaceful look on his face as his chest calmly rises and lowers in a slow beat.
Chuckling softly, Toya snuck a small peck to his temple. “That’s enough reading for today…”
Throughout the remainder of the ride, he listened to music through his headphones with butterflies on his stomach.
—
“You could’ve woken me up sooner…”
“But I didn’t want to disturb your sleep.” Toya affirmed. “And you woke up minutes before we reached the station.”
Isn’t your shoulder sore though?” Akito asked, still unsure.
To demonstrate, Toya rolled his shoulder in a continuous motion, with a blank face. “I’m okay, see?”
They had boarded another train, this time from Kyoto Station to Umahori station. As they’re starting from the westernmost point of the rail line, they had technically passed the areas, just lacking the views that the Sagano Scenic Railway promised. Though he’s witnessing the unfamiliar streets of Tokyo, it seems like Toya has developed a sense of adventure since that camping trip.
Upon reaching Umahori, this point of the journey required them to walk by foot. Akito reassured him, “Thankfully, it takes about 6 minutes to reach there. Plus, we got the tickets online already. Come on!”
Just as Akito started walking, Toya remembered something at the last minute. “Akito, wait!”
“Hm? What’s the hold up-”
Click!
Akito blinks in surprise when he’s faced with Toya’s phone as the camera faces towards him. “Oi! Did you just take a picture?”
“I did.” Toya grinned happily to himself. “Shiraishi-san asked me to take some pictures of our trip.”
“Don’t just take it like that, I wasn’t ready!”
“It turned out just fine, see?” He was about to show the picture yet Akito quickly covered a large portion of the screen with a whine.
“ No way, what if I made a weird face?”
Toya stared blankly, “But your face always looks good?”
“...eh.” Akito suddenly coughed to the side, his whole arm shielding the reddening parts of his face. “You can’t just- say that so casually…”
“You’re just shy.” Toya teased and caught up with Akito. “Come on, let’s not be late.”
—
The streets were less dense compared to the packed streets in Tokyo. Toya was able to see the glimpse of the Kyoto people’s lives. Not much of a difference truthfully, but hearing their dialects made him feel a bit of a wallflower in the area if not for Akito accompanying him. His partner had a far gaze as he looked around the city, as if seeing something else in his memories at the same time. No doubt Akito was born and raised in Tokyo, but this area provided him with so much nostalgia that rendered him silent.
He wasn’t completely silent, commenting on certain things that made Kyoto different from their hometown. The plain green mountains and acres of paddy fields connected the area with the surrounding nature.
Reaching the station however, Akito became a mute. As expected on a Saturday, there were lots of people doing the exact same thing as them: sitting by the tracks and waiting patiently for the train to arrive. It was the same look Akito had during practice.
Toya inched closer and bumped their shoulder together, hoping to bring out a genial mood out of Akito. “Tell me, what’s on your mind?”
His gaze fell towards the ground. “I still don’t remember…”
“It’s still not coming back, huh…?”
“I really thought I was getting close to something but… yeah, nothing.”
“I’m really sorry, I thought going here may help you remember-”
“Hey.” Akito interrupted his apology, his hand crawling closer to Toya’s and touching lightly by the fingers. “I’m glad you came here with me. It’s nice to be out of the city once in a while.”
Toya looked over with surprise, before returning a gentle smile. “That’s good to hear.”
Red came into view, followed with yellow as the whole train appeared into view. The absence of walls replaced with railings, yellow bench-like chairs arranged nicely within the carriage as well as glass roofs. There was one carriage with nothing at all to shield the seats above, allowing them to bask fully under the sun.
Toya swore he heard a soft gasp from Akito when the train arrived. Everyone had begun to get up and enter yet Akito stayed unmoving as if stuck in time.
From their hands in contact, Toya beckoned Akito to stand up and snap out from his trance. Watching Akito’s face slowly lit up as the memories began to flood back was a sight to behold. He chuckled, holding Akito’s hand tighter.
“Let’s go.”
—
Despite the overwhelming number of passengers, they were the luckiest one out of all. Both boys sat side by side just as they had in the train, yet no one came to sit across them all the way until the conductor announced their departure. A lucky coincidence, and some great privacy, Toya thought to himself.
Akito had been looking everywhere around him from the train’s interior to the nature surrounding the station. There were stars in his eyes, reflected by the sun the moment the ground beneath them moved. He couldn’t keep his eyes away from Akito in anticipation, waiting as if more were to come throughout this magical ride.
The train rode along bright trees that flourish with the new season and eventually cherry blossoms surrounded them. From that point onward, Akito began smiling to himself as he watched the colours blur pass with more to see. There was the river where the people around began to sit up in their seats, eagerly recording the pristine waters surrounded by wide mountains.
Toya himself had been so mesmerised by his surroundings, he jumped when Akito excitedly tapped at his shoulder. “Toya, look!”
Suddenly, everything went dark. Lights blurred past with the wind as Toya realised they were now in a tunnel. Even in the dark, he could make out Akito chuckling to himself. “I remember this part!”
The mere mention of the word ‘remember’ was enough to get Toya on his toes. “You do?”
“I was scared as a kid when we entered the tunnel! I thought it would never end… but at the end of the tunnel was something I couldn’t forget.”
Just as he said that, light began pouring into the tunnel, the mouth getting bigger as the train zoomed out. They were greeted by endless rows of trees and the fresh clear air. Toya felt his heart lighten up despite his lack of fear, was this the very same feeling Akito felt that day?
His partner settled back down into his seat, a satisfactory smile on his face. Boldly this time, he took Toya’s hand in his, interlinking their fingers into the perfect shape of a pearl.
“It’s beautiful…”
Toya couldn’t suppress his reserved smile and flustered cheeks, continuing to watch his partner in peaceful bliss.
“It is.”
—
"Eh!? You still don't remember?"
"Nah," Akito responded after slurping some udon noodles into his mouth. They arrived safely at the Arashiyama station, the very same Akito had remembered so vividly in his past. "It was nice to experience it again now that I'm older, but I still don't know why."
Toya pouted, "I'm sorry I couldn't help much…"
"Don't say that. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have gone here in the first place. And besides…I have another reason why I like this place."
"And why's that?"
Akito smirked, "Because you're here with me."
" Hurk-"
His expression immediately dropped the moment Toya choked on his noodles. "Oh shit- Toya, drink!"
The commotion from their table did raise a few eyebrows embarrassingly enough. Thankfully, Toya recovered enough and left with a coughing fit.
He shot a glare at his partner, "You are restricted from saying those things to me."
"Now who's the one being shy here, hm?"
They stared intently at each other before bursting out laughing.