Chapter 6


Chapter 7

Why was it, after all these months, that he still craved a cigarette at times like this? Reita looked at his watch, moments later glancing at the dashboard clock and then within the same minute he checked his phone for both the time and any new messages; neither had changed.

His thoughts turned to Ruki for a moment and he wondered how his friend was coping with total immersement in Matsumoto family life. The mental images made him smile and briefly took his mind off the fact that his sister’s flight had landed a full thirty minutes earlier and there was still no sign of her. It was a tap on the passenger window that stirred him from thoughts of Ruki near-carving new lyrics into his pad (he pressed hard enough to rip the paper at times) and Reita looked up to see the two parking attendants who had walked past his very conspicuous dragstrip-red American import twice already and were not going to give him a third chance.

“Excuse me Sir, you cannot park here. This area is for drop off and pick up only, please move along to the short term parking lot.”

“Sorry…” he turned in his seat a little to place both hands on his knees and bow his head towards the brown-uniformed man who was peering curiously in at whoever might be driving such an unusual car. “I’ll move right away.”

He grumbled to himself for a second, noting that the attendant had bowed himself and moved back from the car but when he looked up, he was naturally relieved to see his sister leading her husband and a trolley piled high with cases out through the revolving doors. They stopped, her looking up and down the roadway for him and when she spotted his immaculately-polished car (for it was terribly conspicuous) she waved one arm wildly in the air and tugged on the front of the trolley, steering both it and her husband along towards the waiting blonde. She was wearing a pink bobble hat with absurdly long tassels that hung down over her jacket and Reita couldn’t help but smile for he thought she looked ridiculous!

Swapping the warmth of the car for the chill January evening air, he wished for the second time that day that he had brought a thicker coat.

“Little brother,” she said into his chest as they hugged for she was Ruki’s height and barely came up to his chin. “Happy new year. Guess what…” She reached back, taking her husband’s hand in hers and squeezing tightly.

“What?” Reita said, deciding that it was far too cold to be chatting in the open air like this and moving round behind the car to open the boot, wondering if all of the cases would fit in past the stereo system’s bass amplifier nestled to one side.

“I’m pregnant, two months. You’re going to be an uncle!”

“You’re what??!” He stared at her, wide eyed, his hands still resting on the topmost suitcase.

Dan rolled his eyes skyward, opening the back door of Reita‘s car and putting the first of their many bags on the back seat. “I thought we were going to wait and tell everyone together…”

Reita’s face however, remained frozen in shock.

“Pregnant,” she grinned, patting her tummy. “I’m due July 21st. Maybe we should call her Umi…”

“What makes you think it’s going to be a girl?” Dan shook his head then with a slight smile, stepping forwards to bow as Reita held out his hand. Noting the other’s greeting, the two performed the exact same ritual in reverse resulting in a laugh from both and a swift ‘clap on the back’ hug. “Hello Akira. How‘s things?”

Reita nodded slowly and taking his time, replied in his best English.

“I’m well thank you. How is your trip in Edin… Edinbaa…” He frowned, stupid name of the city where Dan’s family lived was damn near unpronounceable. Instead, he stuck with, “Scotland?”

His brother-in-law smiled broadly and started helping him with the suitcases, this time replying in his own mother-tongue.

“Cold, there was a nasty wee wind bitter enough to blow your socks off!”

“Uh… OK.” ‘Cold’ he could just about get, but the rest of those words were delivered with that accent that he knew he would never understand.

Sofia giggled at them both, opening the rear passenger side door of the car. “He’s never going to understand you if you speak Scottish to him! Come on you two, it’s freezing out here!”

The two men looked at each other and Dan shrugged in half-apology, passing a large bag of tax-free chocolates through to his wife who was digging deep in another bag.

“Congratulations for your becoming pregnant” The blonde bowed low and was reasonably thankful when the answer came in Japanese far superior to his own English.

“Thanks Akira, or should I say… Uncle.”










“Pregnant…”

“Yes Mama, aren’t you pleased?”

“You’re pregnant.” Kariko slumped heavily down on the sofa, her mouth open in what seemed like shock. She leant dramatically on her son’s shoulder but he could tell that she was faking and kept quiet, enjoying the look of horror on his elder sister’s face. Sofia shot a worried glance back at her husband and knelt down in front of her mother.

“Mama? I thought that you would be pleased… Dan’s family are so happy for us… I…”

“Pregnant. Pregnant! Pregnant!!!“ She lunged forwards and grabbed Sofia by the shoulders and almost shook her with excitement. “You’re pregnant! You’re going to have my grandchild! Pregnant Mama (the grandmother merely smiled and nodded), pregnant Akichan!
Get that boyfriend of yours over here, this is a family celebration! Pregnant!!!” She clapped her hands in glee.

From Reita’s expression, you would have thought that she’d asked him to bathe naked in a tub full of nattou. His hand went instinctively for the phone in his pocket but hesitation caught him and he decided that it would be best to check that his ears were not deceiving him.

“You want me to call Matsumoto? Are you sure? I didn‘t think that you…”

Kariko stood next to her daughter, both of them in exactly the same pose - hands on hips and looking most disapprovingly at the blonde fidgeting with his phone in front of them. He was wearing his ‘present’ from Sofia - a black version of the same hat which she had worn at the airport. It did not suit him at all but he didn’t have the heart to say anything to her - it would be stowed away in a drawer on his return home, never to be seen again!

“Akira, you obviously seem in no hurry to provide me with any cute grandchildren so you should thank your sister for stepping up to the task. Now, come along, telephone him.”






Face squashed into his bed, Ruki still could not believe what he had done or rather, what he had not done. Why hadn’t he told Yune the truth? Why had he let him believe that his relationship with Reita didn’t exist? And why the hell had he kissed him?!

The spark had been there though, it was undeniable; those ten seconds had dragged him back nearly five years and he was twenty-one again and drunkenly making out with his best friend in an elevator. Yune had stolen so many of his “firsts”. His first kiss, his first fuck but being his first love - that had always been reserved for Akira… hadn’t it?

“I’m such a fuck up…” he moaned into the covers. “Fuck up“ he repeated, this time emphasising the extra syllables that his language gave to the English words. Reluctantly, the vibration of his phone stirred him off the bed and he glared at his reflection briefly in the mirror, mouthing his new mantra silently and agreeing with the reflection when it accused him back.

He scooped the phone up from his old desk and looked to see who was desperate enough to want to talk to Japan’s number one fuck up.

*SUZUKI*

Every drop of colour drained from his already pale face and he froze, completely unable to move let alone answer the call. It only took a split second for Ruki’s mind to wholeheartedly decide how this situation would be handled; maybe it was being back in his teenage home that brought it on because when he answered the phone there was no excusing his attitude.

“Yeah?”

“Hey Taka, can you come over? My mother wants everyone here…”

Ruki cut him off mid sentence, “Your mother wants me there? What for? So I can corrupt her precious baby some more?” Stoppit idiot! he screamed at himself inside.

“Uh… no. Sofia came home today. She’s pregnant… isn’t that great news! We’re having a little celebration.”

“Yeah, wonderful.” Snap out of it! he scolded himself. He knew exactly what he was doing, it was his standard defense mechanism. Act like a teenager, sulk, be moody. Reita would hate him, split up with him and he would never have to confess to that kiss. Problem solved.

“Taka? What’s wrong?” Muffled sounds from the phone said that Reita had walked outside and there was a slight echo when he spoke again signalling that he was in the corridor outside his family’s apartment. “She wants you here as part of the family. It’s like someone’s flipped a switch in her head. Now that there’s a grandchild imminent, she’ll be off my back about getting a girlfriend rather than being with you.”

“She should have accpeted us anyway, baby or no baby. Even my fucked up family have managed to come to terms with it. You should have told them sooner.”

Ruki felt a little vindicated when he heard the abrupt change in tone of Reita’s voice.

“They’ve had five years, Matsumoto. My family have had little more than a few months. And your family probably knew all along because you’ve always been… Whereas I‘ve always been…”

“I’ve always been what?” Ruki snapped. Thoughts of Yune aside, Reita was having a personal dig at him and he wasn’t pleased about this in the slightest.

“Well, effeminate. I’ve always been more masculine, I…”

“Fucking effeminate?? You don’t seem to mind when you’ve got my cock inside you! I’m man enough for you then, aren’t I!”

“Taka… that’s not what I meant. I’m just a bit shocked by Sofia’s news, I’m sorry. Come over, I want you here.”

He lit a cigarette and pushed open the large sliding window, sitting on the ledge to smoke as he so often had in years past. Two deep breaths of smoke and a long pause later, he felt calm enough to speak. He had to fight his nature, he had to be sensible about the whole Yune situation. Not start fights for no reason, not give Reita any reason to think that anything was wrong or different between them. Because he would implement plan B.

He would lie.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m really pleased for Sofia, but I‘m a bit tired. I’ll come over tomorrow morning. Is that OK?”

Silence. And then, “Things will get better now with my mother, I promise. I’ll make an excuse for you or something, have an early night Taka. Get your beauty sleep - you sure need it! I’ll still come over in the morning though if that’s OK?”

“Of course it is. ‘Night Aki…”

He placed the phone back on the desk next to Yune’s business card and decided there and then that he would visit the music school the next day and sort everything out once and for all before Reita even arrived and he would never have to know a thing about any of it.