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Chattering echoed throughout Classroom 1 at Hoshimi High. Some students were busy chatting about the latest movies; others gossiped about who would pair well with one another; some quietly read, but everyone had the same feeling crossing their minds.
‘Sensei is late again…’
It was the third or fourth time in a row this week that their teacher came late to their classroom. It was unlike him to show up late, and whenever he did, he looked disturbed about something.
“Wonder why Sensei is so late?” A student asked.
“You think he overslept?” Another questioned.
“Probably, but I wonder why?”
“I heard he’s staying up late playing that new video game that came out!”
“Sensei playing games? Yeah, right. I bet he just doesn’t want to go to school cause he committed a crime!”
“That’s stupid…”
“What if it’s a lover’s quarrel?”
“I did see him crying about something while on the phone one day.”
“Oh, no, you think everything is okay?”
“I hope so, those two are so cute together! And their son goes to this school too! It would be horrible for him if something happened to his parents.”
“Maybe there’s something we can do for Sensei?”
“Hopefully soon, I don’t want him to take it out on us either; you remember the last time he got mad.”
The entire classroom grew silent as the final question was asked. Perhaps it was true that their teacher was having relationship problems? Maybe they had an argument or something- maybe-
Just then, the door slid open, and a brown-haired figure rushed in.
“Sorry, sorry everyone, I know I’m late again! Everyone, settle down now.”
“Good morning, Hirose-Sensei!” The class responded as they all hurried to their seats.
“Good morning…everyone?” Hirose blinked and rubbed his eyes; all of his students were seated, attentively staring at him. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing, Hirose-Sensei! We are just ready to learn; that’s all!”
Hirose squinted at his students and placed his hands on his desk. “We all know that’s a lie; now tell me what’s really going on?”
One of the students sheepishly raised their hand.
“Well, you’ve been late for the past few weeks, and we all thought you were having a lovers' quarrel! So we wanted to get on your good side.”
“Yeah!” the other students shouted, “Don’t take it out on us, please!!”
The other students began shouting protests to protect them, causing Hirose to sigh and rub the bridge of his nose.
‘It’s not their fault that I’m late; I shouldn’t take it out on them anyway…still.’
Hirose took a deep breath and looked at his wedding ring. The kids weren’t wrong about the quarrel. But it wasn’t as bad as they thought, kind of.
Nakamura was asked by the Aquarium to help prepare an exhibit for some new octopi that will be living there. And of course, his husband is one of, if not the best, marine biologists for the job. At first Hirose and Akeru were delighted for Nakamura to partake in such an important job. However, Nakamura would be sleeping at the Aquarium to help out with the other workers in preparing the safest and most accurate habitat for the sea creatures. Leaving Hirose alone with Akeru. And with little Akeru needing a lot of attention, preparing food, cleaning, and taking Akeru to and from school, it was a lot of work for one person alone. Hence why Hirose was always late coming to class. Something the principal reprimanded him for.
Unfortunately, today was terrible; Hirose was so frustrated because Akeru spilled his drink on him and the table. He couldn’t help but go to the other room to call his husband.
That did not go as planned, as Hirose, in anger, yelled at his husband for not being there for his son, who was crying alone at the table. Nakamura apologized so much and told him that he was almost done and would be home as soon as he could, but Hirose angrily turned off his phone for the rest of the day and began crying his eyes out. Luckily for him, Akeru came running in, pleading for his dad to stop crying, and began wiping his face with his shirt, even though it was still wet from milk. Hirose gave Akeru a big hug, cleaned him up, and prepared them both for the day. Hirose sighed after dropping off Akeru and walked toward his classroom. Maybe he did go off the rails too suddenly; maybe he should’ve been more patient with his husband. I mean serves Hirose right for all he’s done in high school.
Hirose gently placed his bag on the table and sat down for what felt like ages. He stood up and began his lesson as if nothing had happened.
‘Maybe I should visit him and apologize…’ The teacher wondered as he continued his lesson. He didn’t even remember where he left off the other day. What’s more important to him was making amends to the person he loves the most. Hirose felt the passage of time go from slow to fast as his mind kept racing about his husband.
‘He probably hates me for yelling at him…I did call him an idiot, after all.’
‘I hope he doesn’t love me less after that…and poor Akeru, I should’ve been a better husband and father…’ Hirose’s eyes began to well up a little as his body jolted at the sudden sensation of a student tugging at his shirt.
“Sensei, are you okay?” The student asked.
“Huh, oh yeah, sorry…just thinking about something.”
“You should fix your quarrel, Sensei!” Another student shouted as the bell rang to end the day.
“What?” Hirose questioned.
“Yeah, go for it, Hirose-Sensei!”
Hirose began to laugh at them; here he was moping around and getting told by his students to fix his own problems.
“Of course,” he smiled; it had been a while since he saw his husband in person. He didn’t have time on account of school going on, but he felt like today should be the day to tell Nakamura how he felt. “Thanks, everyone. I’ll go now!”
Cheers erupted from the classroom as Hirose gathered his things. He stood up and headed out the door before peeking his head back in.
“Oh, and I want everyone to read pages 8 through 20 for a quiz tomorrow!”
Various groans could be heard from his classroom as he hurried to pick up his son at the daycare run by the babysitter’s club there. Hirose looked around and spotted his son reading a marine life pop-up book.
“Akeru, Akeru!” Hirose gestured for his son.
“Dad!” Akeru put the book down and ran to Hirose, who gave him a big hug. “I ate all my vegetables today as you said to!”
“Oh, that’s great, Ake!” Hirose gave Akeru a big kiss on the cheek and ruffled his hair. “As a reward, we are gonna go visit your Papa at work.”
“Really?” Akeru’s eyes lit up. “We haven’t seen Papa in weeks! Is it okay, isn’t he busy?”
“He probably is, but don’t you miss him?”
Akeru nodded. “A whole bunch!”
“Good, cause I miss him too! And we should both tell him how much we miss him so he can come home with us!”
“Okay!”
Hirose and Akeru waved goodbye at the caretaker and headed to their car before driving straight to the Aquarium where Nakamura worked. Hirose gripped the steering wheel tightly and clenched his jaw. He hoped he could find his husband; there was a chance that he was in a closed-off area…but that didn’t bother him. He would do anything to talk to Nakamura. Even if it gets him in trouble.
Hirose held Akeru’s hand as the both of them came up to the front desk area. The woman working there greeted them as Hirose tapped the top of the desk.
“Um, two, please, and I have a passcard.” Hirose slid the card to the woman, who nodded and scanned it.
‘Thank goodness Okuto gave us these lifetime passes.’ Hirose chuckled as he grabbed the tickets.
“Um, do you know if Nakamura Okuto is around?” Hirose asked as the woman looked up from her phone.
“We don’t give out info like that, sir.”
“Even if it’s for his husband, asking?”
There was a loud, annoyed sigh from the woman who looked at her computer and then to a nearby phone. She glared at Hirose, who glared back at her.
‘Excuse me for asking…’
“Dad,” Akeru squeezed Hirose’s hand. “Is Papa here?”
“I don’t know, sweetie; I’m waiting on this very nice lady to let us know! Why not wait for me by the fountain?”
“Okay!” Akeru scampered off as Hirose turned back to the woman who just finished getting off the phone.
“Well, Mister Nakamura is very busy lately, but he said that he can meet you by the crabs exhibit.”
“Perfect, thank you!” Hirose nodded as he hurried to where Akeru was and took him aside. “Papa is gonna meet us by the crabbies! Aren’t you excited?”
“Yeah! I can’t wait!” Akeru gleefully skipped toward the entrance of the exhibits and stared at all the fish swimming about. “Whoaaa, Dad, look, look! That one is staring at me!”
“I think it’s saying, hi!” Hirose laughed as Akeru wandered back and forth between the tanks.
Hirose smiled as Akeru looked so happy looking at the marine life…just like how Okuto was when he talked about Octopuses. Hirose’s smile quickly turned into a frown as his mind raced again.
‘Maybe he does love them more than me; that’s crazy. There’s no way he would love work more than me, right? No, no, stop thinking that, Aki; you’re the one in the wrong, not him…you told him to do the job; there’s no need to turn it around on him and blame him for not being there for Akeru and you!’
Hirose slapped his cheeks as he stared at the crabs who were scuttling about. “Akeru, stay close by, okay? Your Papa will be here any minute now.”
“Okay!”
Hirose turned back to the crabs and poked at the glass; he thought back to the first year of high school during that one summer trip where he and Nakamura went to the aquarium. He didn’t think much of it at first, but he felt his heart skip a beat whenever he was around Okuto. He thought it was just him getting excited about the crabbies or that he was with someone whom he deemed a close friend, but the time when Okuto grabbed his arm and told him to “don’t go.” Something changed in Aki’s eyes. His perspective of Nakamura changed, and slowly but surely he began to fall for him. And Hirose began to notice how much Nakamura looked and acted toward him. That shy boy grew up to be such a passionate person. Who even proposed first.
“Maybe I am overthinking things. Why would he hate, Akeru, hate me?” Hirose pressed his head against the glass and sighed.
“Aki!” Hirose jolted at the sound of his name being called. He turned his head and spotted a tall figure running toward him. He didn’t have time to register anything as the figure hugged him tightly, nearly knocking him off his feet. “Aki, oh my gosh, you’re here.”
“Okuto?” Hirose blinked as the taller, dark-haired male released him. “Don’t scare me like that!”
“Sorry, I’m sorry…” Nakamura stepped back and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “I just…didn’t expect you to come here.”
“You’re damn right, mister!” Seeing Okuto activated a switch in Hirose. As if all the pent-up anger and frustration welled up and exploded outward, and the only target was unfortunately his husband.
“You haven’t been home in the past few weeks, leaving me to do all the work at home and take care of Akeru, who misses you a lot!”
“I know, I should’ve called you guys more, it’s just!” Nakamura protested.
“Don’t start! Do you know how hard it is enough without an extra set of hands? It’s bad enough I have students who can’t do anything on their own!” Hirose’s voice began to get louder, causing the other patrons to stare at them before they quickly cleared out.
“Aki, I-”
“Don’t Aki me!” Hirose lifted his hand, and Nakamura braced himself for a hard slap but froze as he felt a warm embrace on him.
“Aki?” Nakamura looked down and felt a wet spot forming on his chest.
‘He’s crying?’
Hirose looked up, tears in his eyes. “Do you know how lonely it is at night without you in my arms, Okuto? I know you love your job and we told you to do your best and everything, but don’t we deserve more attention too?”
“Aki…” Nakamura hugged his husband tightly in a gentle embrace. “I’m so sorry…I should’ve been there for the both of you more. I wanted to call you guys, but I kept getting busier, and well, I ended up focusing too much on work that I forgot the most important things in my life.” Nakamura brushed back Hirose’s tears with his thumbs and gently kissed him.
It was a light and gentle kiss, but to Hirose it felt like all the pressure that had built up immediately went away in a burst of bubbles and sparks. Nakamura still loved him, and Akeru and Hirose loved him back; there was no doubt about it.
“Can you forgive me, Aki?” Okuto asked, a desperate plea in his eyes.
Hirose noticed dark patches under his husband’s eyes, and the realization hit him.
“You haven’t been sleeping, haven’t you?”
Nakamura nodded, “It’s hard to sleep in the company beds without you being in my arms, Aki. I hate sleeping there, I hate that I can’t eat your delicious food, I hate that I can’t see Akeru’s smiling face greeting us every morning…” Tears began to fall from Nakamura’s face. “I miss you both so dearly, so much that I thought if I’d just work through the long nights I could get to you both faster.”
Hirose couldn’t believe his ears…how could he have been so selfish and didn’t think how Okuto felt? Hirose chuckled and pressed his head against his husband's chest.
“I guess we are both idiots, huh.”
“Yeah…I’m sorry, Aki.”
“I’m sorry, too, Okuto.”
The two embraced once more and slowly parted from each other. Nakamura brushed back Aki’s hair and smiled at him.
“Want to go pick up Akeru together?”
“What are you talking about?” Hirose questioned, “He’s right there-” Hirose pointed in the direction where Akeru was, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. “HE WAS RIGHT THERE!”
“OUR SON IS MISSING??” Nakamura shouted, “WE BETTER FIND HIM!”
“HE COULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN FAR, OKUTO!” Hirose shouted back as the two frantically began looking around the crab exhibit, shouting for their son’s name.
‘I’m such an idiot!’ Hirose thought to himself.
“Akeru!”
“Akeru!”
“AKERU!”
“AKERU!” Each shout grew more frantic and desperate as the two met up in front of the crabs again; both coughed and wheezed as they were out of breath.
“Did you find him?” Nakamura asked.
“No,” Hirose replied, “I’m sorry, Okuto. I’m an idiot; I was too emotional that I didn’t keep an eye on Akeru. It’s all my fault.”
“Don’t say that, Aki! I should’ve paid more attention and should’ve known that you both were here…if I didn’t take this job in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened.
The two collected themselves and looked around some more.
“Wait,” Nakamura gestured, “There’s one more place I know we haven’t checked; it just opened up, but It’s tucked away by the crabs, maybe he’s there?”
“What is it?” Hirose asked,
“It’s a Jellyfish exhibit; it has a lot of cool lights that reflect off of the jellyfish's bodies. It’s really cool!”
“Focus, honey.” Hirose snapped.
“Right, right, sorry, come on, I’ll lead the way.”
The pair walked around the crab exhibit and spotted the Jellyfish sign, it was dark, save for the colorful lights flashing about.
“Akeru!” Hirose shouted.
“Dad?”
“Akeru!” Hirose smiled wide as he spotted his son running up to him. Hirose gave him a big hug and held his head. “Why’d you run off like that! You had us worried!”
“I’m sorry, I got bored, and then I saw the cool lights and saw these cool floating guys!” Akeru pointed at the floating jellyfish with glee. “They look so squishy and colorful!”
“Just like you, Akeru.” Nakamura laughed as he ruffled his son’s head. “You had your father, and I scared!”
“Papa!!!” Akeru jumped up into Nakamura’s arms and hugged him tightly. “I missed you!!”
“I missed you too…both of you.” Nakamura hugged both Hirose and Akeru tightly. “I’m sorry for being a terrible father.”
“It’s okay, Papa…” Akeru gently patted Nakamura’s back. “I knew you were okay the whole time; I was not worried…at… all.” Just then, Akeru began to cry loudly.
“Ake…” Hirose wiped his own tears and hugged his son. “There, there, it’s okay.”
“Papa…” Akeru sobbed. “Please, come home!”
“Akeru…Aki.” Nakamura looked at the two most important people in the world and embraced them again, giving them soft kisses. “Yeah, let’s go home together.”
“But what about your work?” Hirose questioned.
“I can do the rest at home; it’s okay.” Nakamura laughed.
“Wait…YOU COULD’VE DONE THAT THE ENTIRE TIME?” Hirose exploded.
“NO I MEAN- I WAS GONNA COME HOME TODAY AS A SURPRISE! HONEST”
Hirose glared at Nakamura, who got on his knees and pleaded with him.
“I’m sorry I should’ve told you sooner, but so much has happened! Is there anything I can do?”
Hirose thought about it for a moment before taking his husband’s hand.
“Yeah, take us to the Zoo and then the amusement park!”
“And get us Ice cream!” Akeru added.
“Yeah, that’s a great idea, Ake! Get us Ice cream!”
“Is…there anything else?” Okuto asked, not thinking about how much it’s gonna hurt his wallet.
“Yeah!” Hirose pulled Nakamura to him and kissed him on the cheek. “To come home.”
Nakamura smiled and held his husband and son’s hands.
“It’s a promise.”