Work Text:
Hanazono Gakurouta decided that he must be cursed.
Gaku stood, shell-shocked, in the middle of a circle of work-colleagues all of whom seemed to believe the exact opposite.
“You’re so damn lucky!” someone said, with a tinge of jealousy and a hard slap on Gaku’s back. “Be careful,” another teased with a threateningly dark chuckle, “My wife would murder for something like that! Better watch out!” And, finally, the office gossip, who leaned in to whisper, “It’s criminal that they let the unmarried people put their names in that pool. A trip for two! Think of the debauchery,” the images of which Gaku very much would not like to consider. Luckily she didn’t wait for his reply before continuing, “I’m glad a nice, young married man like yourself won.” And then, of course she had to add, “Maybe it will be a memorable conception for your first child!”
Gaku just nodded and murmured appropriately through the whole thing, trying desperately to hide his growing desolation.
What on earth were he and Yuriko going to do with an all-expenses paid trip to some backwater ryokan?
A “couple’s getaway” no less!
On the way home, Gaku considered throwing the vacation package away.
He’d had the thick envelope halfway into the garbage bin at the train station. Reconsidering at the last minute, he pulled it back out. Surely, the company would know if he never used the gift. They might even expect him to reimburse them for the money wasted if they didn’t go!
The rest of the commute home was spent in similar agony. Could he convince Yuriko to go on her own? Maybe he could tell the company he’d unexpectedly fallen ill but had encouraged his friend, no “wife”--he still had such trouble even thinking that word--to go on her own. But, what would Yuriko even do in a small town in Hokkaido in the winter?
He smiled to himself for the first time since he boarded the train for home. Yuriko would spend the weekend wrapped in a quilt reading her Boys’ Love manga. Much like she did during her weekends at home in the winter.
Maybe this could work. Gaku pulled out his phone. Perhaps he could convince her to go if there were a bookshop that sold BL nearby. Oh! There were several in Sapporo! He had just figured out that both Comic Toranoana and Comic Buster were very near each other and, pulling out the materials to check to see how close they would be to the hotel, Gaku realized his fatal mistake.
He had to go along. Everything was in his name.
#
Yuriko found an easy recipe to try. Normally, she would wait to start so that she and Gakurouta could cook together, but she was feeling adventurous today. Plus, she thought it might be nice to surprise him by, maybe, for once, being competent in the kitchen. She’d just set the chicken and cabbage simmering in milk on the burner when she heard the door open. Over her shoulder she gave a cheery welcome home, “Okaeri!”
She turned around when she realized Gakurouta never even said he was home. She nearly dropped the cooking spoon when she saw his dejected pose. His head hung down and his shoulders slumped. Normally, he was very conscientious to set his briefcase to the side, but he just let it fall from his hands.
What was with this gloomy look? Had he seen Sasuke kissing a new girlfriend on the way home or something? The last time she’d seen him this depressed was when he’d told her that story of accidental voyeurism. “Gakurouta-san? Are you okay?”
“I have terrible news.”
She gasped and held her breath. By the BL Gods, had someone died? Yuriko’s heart was in her throat and, thus, she almost couldn’t process what came out of his mouth next.
“I won the office lottery.”
WHAT.
Gakurouta plopped down at the table she’d set out for the meal and slammed his head down. In an upraised fist, he held a thick envelope.
She scurried over in her stocking feet to snatch the papers from him. Despite what he’d said, part of Yuriko feared that he’d somehow gotten fired. Maybe someone had started a rumor that he was gay--which, wasn’t even really a rumor so much as the truth--and he’d had gotten the sack.
But, no. As her eyes scanned the material in the envelope, it appeared that what Gakurouta said was true. Apparently, he--well, the both of them, actually, were the recipients of an all-expenses paid trip for a “winter getaway weekend.” The package included roundtrip airplane tickets, a night in a Sopporo hotel during the famous snow festival, and then an overnight at a ski lodge onsen somewhere with “wilderness views” and…
Oh.
Yuriko suddenly saw the problem.
… a private, couples onsen.
#
“I’m so sorry,” Gaku said miserably into the table’s wood. He couldn’t even lift his head to look at Yuriko. “My team did well this quarter and the company is always doing this sort of thing for ‘morale.’ It would have looked strange if I didn’t put my name into the pot. I never thought I’d win. Especially since I’m pretty sure that Istuki from accounting put his name in more than once.”
Gaku could hear Yurkio settling down beside him on the floor. He expected her to share in his misery, but instead he could almost hear the stars in her eyes. “It’s our very own onsen episode!!”
Finally, Gaku had to lift his head.
Yuriko clutched the package to her chest. Her eyes were as wide as her grin. She must have seen his confusion in his expression, because she blushed and waved her hand quickly. “No, no, I don’t mean like for you and me, but doesn’t every manga have a sento or onsen episode? It’s just like in Kochi!”
Gaku sat up straighter and considered. He remembered Kochi, since Yuriko had allowed him to read that series in preparation for the trip they took to see the gallery show. The adventure had been a little awkward at first, but they’d had enough fun that they even talked about doing something like that again. “But,” Gaku hesitated. “This isn’t a day trip. We’d be away for the whole weekend.”
And, he couldn’t say out loud, they’d be expected to share a bath. And maybe even a bed.
He must have looked white as a sheet, because Yuriko set the papers down carefully. “You look sick. Did you catch a fever?”
He shook his head frantically.“What if….?” Gaku’s mouth worked. His face flushed hot with embarrassment.
Yuriko waited, but the more she stared at him the harder it was to articulate his thoughts.
Finally, he blurted out, “My Space Love volume three, chapter two!”
Her face scrunched together, but then the lightbulb must have clicked. Her mouth made a little ‘oh.’ “Gakurouta-san! You read that one! I told you to stay away from the Omegaverse stuff!”
He had no defense. He’d broken the stricture, but his curiosity had consumed him.
Yuriko continued to shake her head, but gave him a little smile. “I remember chapter two. Don’t worry! That trope is pure fiction. We're not going to have an ‘oh, no! There’s only one bed!’ scene! We can just call ahead and tell the hotel that we need separate beds! I’ll explain that you’re a restless sleeper and that it’s just more comfortable for us. Hotels do this sort of thing all the time!”
Gaku felt a wave of a relief rush through him. He always forgot that Yuriko was a world-traveller. She’d spent that year studying abroad in America, so of course she’d know all about how hotels worked. Still, the thought terrified him. “Are you sure?”
She gave him a very patient smile. “Even if the hotel is booked, we can always request extra linens. I can sleep on the floor. Or, if it’s an executive suite, sometimes they have a couch or even a roll out bed.” Yuriko picked the materials from the vacation packet to flip through them. “But this ryokan looks very traditional and that makes it very easy. Getting an extra mattress won’t be a problem.”
Her confidence was infectious. He was starting to think they could do this. But, he was still unsure of one thing. “What about the bath?”
She chuckled. “I was worried at first, too! But, actually, having a private bath will be great. We won’t have to go to a public one. No stranger will offer to wash my back,” she shivered at the thought. Coming back to herself with a shake, she added, “And just because it’s made for two doesn’t mean we have to use it together!”
Oh, right. Of course, it didn’t. That made sense. “But, do you really want to go? Will it be any fun?”
Before she could answer, the fire alarm went off. Yuriko leapt to her feet, “Oh! Not again! That’s dinner ruined!”
#
She scraped the congealed, burnt milk custard out of the pot and Gakurouta called for takeout. Setting the pot in the drainer to dry, she continued to seriously consider his earlier question.
It was true that, being an otaku, she was generally more “indoorsy” than the sort of stylish people who took ski trips. But, because she was such a big reader, it was rarely difficult for her to find fun so long as there was somewhere warm and comfortable to read the latest tankoban of a favorite series. “I think I could enjoy this trip. I like to travel and I’ve never been to Hokkaido. The Sapporo winter festival is famous. And, while it’s true that it’s not my normal jam, I do think it might be fun to see. What about you, Gakurouta-san? “
He’d come over to help put away the ingredients she’d laid out for the finishing touches for the now-ruined dinner. As he put the scallions back into the fridge’s vegetable drawer, he said, “I missed my middle school class trip to the onsen. I got the flu.” He paused, his back still to her when he added quietly. “Actually, that was a lie that I told everyone. I was afraid of sleeping in the same room as Sousuke. I was scared… that the others would see how much I love him. I thought it would be written all over my face.”
A classic BL tale!
But, Yuriko could hear the hurt in Gaku’s voice. “Do you not want to go? Will it bring back bad memories?”
He turned his head enough to flash her a quiet, sad smile. “Maybe it would be okay to make new memories.”
New memories?
Yuriko thought that wasn’t a bad idea. After all, her own memories of her first overnight trip to a sento wasn’t all that great either. Middle school was the time when all the girls really wanted to sneak into the boys’ room to--well, Yuriko still wasn’t exactly sure what they wanted to do. Apparently, it was titillating to catch glimpses of their favorites sleeping or maybe it was some sort of general rite of flirting that she couldn’t fully grasp. It didn’t really matter, since the result was the same. She’d gone along to go along, but so much of that trip had made her feel confused and a little bit lonely.
Plus, even though the sento was kind of neat, she’d never been fond of all the ‘skinship’ rituals. All that mutual scrubbing was the literal worst.
Her trip wasn’t nearly as angst-ridden as Gaku’s experience, but it was easy to see it wouldn’t suck to write over her memories either. She gave him a hopeful grin. “Okay! Let’s try it.”
#
Gaku wasn’t sure he should bring his camera, but Yuriko insisted.
“You’ve got that new Insta to fill,” she reminded him. Their suitcases were set out in the living room and Yuriko looked around the clean, empty space. “Also,” she noted, “We probably need a few pictures of us, you know… together.”
The thought made Gaku frown. They had their wedding photo displayed prominently, but, even Gaku had to admit, they both looked miserable in the picture. It probably wasn’t very convincing. Yuriko was right. Normal married couples always had photos of themselves together, didn’t they?
Getting up from where he’d been packing his camera, he went to his bedroom to get his copy of 800 Strengths of a Perfect Husband. Maybe it would have some tips on the sorts of pictures they should be taking!
#
Gakurouta surprised Yuriko by being much more comfortable on this flight. He was almost relaxed! It wasn’t long after takeoff that he settled in, and they were able to spend their time flipping through the brochure on the Sapporo Snow Festival together.
Yuriko was just starting to look forward to seeing all the ice and snow sculptures when a woman who had been headed back to her seat stopped beside them to exclaim, “Oh! Are you two part of the couples getaway package, too!? I think there are five or so of us on this same flight. Isn’t that wonderful? Maybe we can all do things together!”
Yuriko tried to hold on to her smile, but ice seeped into her soul.
Gakurouta looked just as miserable as she felt. He gripped the brochure with such whitening knuckles that he was in danger of crushing it.
“Oh, um,” she managed. “Yes, that sounds… uh, great.”
#
When they finally closed the door on their private hotel room, Gaku hung his head. “This was a mistake.”
Yuriko melted onto her bed. At least she had been right and the hotel had no problem giving them a room with two separate beds. But, having to keep up the appearance of being a happy couple on the shuttle bus ride to the hotel had utterly exhausted them both. He was pretty sure his knees trembled from the effort.
Worse, they’d somehow agreed to go out with the group to dinner to tryjingisukan, the marinated lamb dish that Sapporo was famous for.
“Why are there people?” Yuriko moaned miserably into the sheets.
Gaku realized he hadn’t let go of the doorknob. Not only was he still clutching it, but he also rested his forehead against the door. Shutting his eyes forlornly, he agreed, “I don’t know.”
“I guess… I guess it never even occurred to me that a lot of companies would be giving out the same package.” Yuriko pulled a pillow over her head. “My face hurts from fake smiling.”
His did, too.
Her voice squeaked in desperation. “We can’t skip, can we?”
Ah, he wanted to. But, it would be the height of rudeness to skip out, especially since they’d agreed. “I could fake an illness.”
The bed creaked as Yuriko shot straight upright. “No! That’s the last thing you should do! The whole point of this trip was to erase your fake flu memory! We can’t do that! Anything but that!”
He turned to look at her then, because the only other option was going through with the dinner. When their eyes met, Yuriko’s expression was very serious. She also seemed to understand what her decision meant. Giving him a stiff nod, Yuriko’s face hardened with resolve.
Suddenly, he felt her fierceness flowing into him. If she could be brave, he could try. “So, we do this?”
Her face was weirdly adorable, filled with such grim determination. She raised a fist as though they were going into battle. “We do this!”
#
Yuriko was extremely practiced at avoiding revealing her otaku nature, but when confronted with straight-forward questions, she tended to just tell the truth. Also, to be fair, she was very distracted by the deliciously tender lamb and the helmet-shaped bowl that the jingisukan had arrived in. “Us? Oh,” she said absently, still chewing on a bit of onion and corn, “we met through an omiai, a matchmaker.”
The table went silent.
She blinked. Was it that unusual?
Beside her, Gakurouta blurted out, “My grandmother was very traditional. She insisted!”
As Yuriko watched, Gakurouta deftly deflected any questions about her by recounting disaster set-up after disaster set-up. Some of the stories were quite funny, particularly the one where the girl followed him for three blocks demanding to know which part of her face he disliked so much. She’d apparently been desperate enough to be willing to have plastic surgery, or maybe had already had a lot? Yuriko was only half-listening because she could see what Gakurouta was really doing.
These stories were a defense mechanism of sorts. Somehow, at some point, he’d learned to turn his pain into something entertaining, something more memorable than the fact that he wasn’t otherwise dating.
Still, she knew how much Gakurouta hated all those eyes on him. She felt guilty having put him into this position. What could she do for him? How could she show her appreciation for his sacrifice?
A sudden thought hit her. When Gakurouta finished up his latest story, she stood up suddenly, bowed, and said, “Sorry! We have to leave early! We’re trying for a baby and it’s my time of month!”
The table looked a little shocked, but she just grabbed Gaku’s hand again and, together, they escaped into the night.
#
Yuriko dragged him, running, for two whole blocks before slowing down to catch their breaths. Gaku wasn’t sure what to say about Yuriko’s lie, but it had been an amazing rescue. They stood on the crowded Sapporo sidewalk, breath coming in icy puffs. He wanted to dance and shout, he was so happy. He turned ready to take both her hands in his and swing her around joyfully, when he noticed Yuriko had tears in the corner of her eyes.
“I’m sorry! That was so embarrassing! I can’t believe I said that!” Burrowing her face in her hands, Yuriko sobbed. “People are going to look at us now and think….”
Gaku shook his head, holding back his laughter. “No no, no,” he insisted, “It was perfect! You were perfect!!”
She blinked disbelievingly. “I am? It was?”
Gaku’s smile was wide. “It was! Now we can stay indoors anytime we like. No one is going to even blink if we skip the ski lessons, not show up to breakfast, sleep in, or go out all on our own--all of it! Your quick thinking saved this vacation! It’s ours again, Yuriko! Thanks to you!”
She dried her eyes on her sleeves. The edge of a smile returning. Hesitantly, she said, “I was looking forward to volume seven of Night Pleasures.”
He nodded, “Me, too.”
#
Gakurouta was right. Even though a breakfast invitation was floated, everyone in the group just smiled or winked encouragingly at them when they demurred for some ‘alone time.’
Instead of jostling for a seat at a huge group table in the crowded, noisy hotel restaurant, the two of them slipped out into the cold, crisp February air. Sapporo in the morning was hushed, a grey sky heavy with the promise of snow muffled the usual hustle and bustle. Big, storybook sized flakes began to fall just as they ducked into a cozy coffee shop.
They sat together in companionable silence until the caffeine hit. Outside the frost-lined window the snow was piling up.
Gakurouta pulled out the materials he’d picked up at the hotel about the snow festival. His face seemed concerned as he asked, “I would like to tour the snow castle, but, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to skip much of the rest. I found us a couple of good manga shops only about ten minutes away.”
Us?
He might not be 2-D, Yuriko thought, smiling into the rim of her coffee mug, but somehow this man gets me.
“I do want to try the miso buttercorn ramen,” Yuriko insisted. “And maybe we could share a grilled crab shell?”
Gakurouta nodded seriously. He took out a pen and, after hunting through the map of food vendors, circled the appropriate booths. “Anything else?”
Yuriko found that she didn’t mind the idea of the crowds so much if he would be with her. She shrugged, “I think that’s all, but we can play it by ear. It will depend on how good the snow sculptures really are.”
That night they returned back to the hotel late, full of hot-buttered crab and carrying loads of new manga. Gakurota surprised Yuriko by handing her a pair of book slip covers. She laughed when she saw the subject.
She read the covers aloud: “Maybe Baby? And How to Conceive on the First Try? Where did you even get these?”
“I bought them at the shop across the street.”
Yuriko had been so engrossed in finding the final volume of Night Pleasures that she hadn’t even noticed him sneaking off. Grabbing the nearest manga from the pile on her bed, she tried it out. The fake cover fit like a glove.
No one would dare interrupt their reading on the bus to the ryokan tomorrow.
She gave Gakurouta a mischievous smile. “Now who’s the clever one?”
His blush was almost cute.
#
The next day, after several hours on the bus where they were able to read uninterrupted, Yuriko insisted that Gaku be the first to try the private couple’s onsen. She waved him off, being deeply snuggled under a pile of blankets near their suite’s fireplace, another new manga in hand.
After a quick shower in the bathroom, he tip-toed out to the outdoor pool. Though it was clearly man-made, the onsen had been cleverly designed to seem like a naturally occurring rock formation. The volcanic spring fed water smelled faintly of tin and sulfur, but not unpleasantly.
A privacy fence hid him from view of the other occupied ‘honeymoon suites,’ but Gaku could still see crystalline, snow-covered mountains beyond. Above him, clear and brilliant lay Ama no Gawa, the River of Heaven, the Milky Way. As he sank into the warm water, a shooting star streaked across the sky.
When he saw another, he called out to Yuriko. “Come see! There’s a meteor shower!”
She shuffled out, still completely wrapped in her blankets. Her eyes glittered when she caught sight of a third, then a fourth streak. “It’s so beautiful,” she said. Then, suddenly, she looked him in the eye, her manga clutched to her chest. “Oh! Gakurouta-san! We have to make a wish!”
He wished for many more days like this.
Only much later, on the flight back, did Galu realize that he’d also forgotten to add Sousuke to his wishes. He wasn’t sure what to make of that since his love for Sousuke was still there, buried deep in his heart.
As the plane came in for a landing, Gaku took a look through the camera roll. It was filled to bursting with pictures. There was himself and Yuriko posing by their favorite snow sculpture in Sapporo; her laughing in the snow with ski-clad legs in the air; their selfie in pajamas; the goofy snowman they’d made, the fancy foods brought up for a private room service; and finally, that great artsy shot he’d caught of her curled up in the windowsill reading the last page of the final volume of Night Pleasures, her expression wistful and longing.
They might not be a typical couple, Gaku thought as he chose several of the pictures to print and set around the living room, but these photos would be treasured memories nonetheless.
They were, he decided, in their own way, a happy couple.