Birthday Surprise

Arriving at Narita Airport, Tatsuha made his way to the bullet trains heading into Tokyo. As he exited the train an hour later, feeling somewhat warm after being bundled up against the December weather while on the overcrowded train car, Tatsuha went looking for a vending machine. Finding one, he selected an iced coffee and popped it open.

As he began to drink the ice-cold coffee, he felt someone grab his shoulder from behind. Using a Akido move he had learned during the past eleven years of extra-curricular training, he dropped the nearly-full can, turned and grabbed his assailant’s wrist. Just as he prepared to throw the person grabbing him, he realized that the wrist belonged to none other than a sunglasses-wearing Sakuma Ryuichi, who wore a painful look on his face because of the awkward angle forced on his wrist. Tatsuha's jaw dropped as he went pale and released the wrist. Quickly turning to face him, the embarrassed young man bowed low to the rock star, who was rubbing at his wrist.

"I am SO sorry, Sakuma-sama, I didn't expect to be grabbed! I thought you were trying to rob me, well not you, exactly, I definitely didn't want to hurt you, I wasn't expecting anyone. I didn't expect anyone to show up to pick me up...I'm SO SORRY, please don't hate me!" the younger man gushed, keeping his face toward the ground while he apologized.

While Tatsuha spoke, Ryuichi stared at him, his sapphire eyes puzzled until the torrent of words ceased. Ryuichi smiled timidly as he explained, "Its okay Tatsuha-kun, I suppose I should have expected it. I shouldn't have grabbed you from behind, especially here in Tokyo, but when I thought about you standing there, I thought that I could come get you myself instead of sending a bodyguard to come get you. After all, they don't know what you look like, but I know what you look like..."

Tatsuha slowly stood back upright during the rant and by the end of it was staring down at the ground in front of the smaller man, his face a bright crimson. It wasn't anywhere close to how he had imagined meeting his god. Past fantasies of meeting the vocalist were more along the lines of bumping into him while he perused a music store looking for a rare Nittle Grasper CD, after sneaking backstage after a concert, or even by knocking on a hotel door to be met by a nude Ryuichi, fresh from a shower, assailed the younger man's memory while the actual Ryuichi spoke.

Realizing that he had missed some of what his god had said, Tatsuha bowed, and then straightened up once again before interrupting the vocalist's ramblings. "I'm sorry, Sakuma-san, but if you were to tell me which way we're going, I'll be happy to escort you there," he suggested, holding out his elbow for Ryuichi to take.

"Oh, it’s not far, the limo's right over this way...and don’t call me that, it’s my Dad’s name, not mine. Ryuichi’s fine. Or even Ryu," the shorter man told him as he walked on the now nearly empty train platform towards their car. Tatsuha happily escorted Ryuichi over to the limo and then assisted him into the vehicle, before getting in himself, sitting close enough to be able to reach out and touch his god, if he so dared. He put on his seatbelt and then as he smiled a bit embarrassed, murmured, "Uh...Sakuma-sa…Ryuichi? You forgot to put on your seatbelt."

Ryuichi, who up until this point had been rattling on about how his day had been going, stopped and looked down, then looked back up into Tatsuha's ebony eyes and blushed.

"I guess I forgot," he said, before fastening it securely around his tiny waist. Tatsuha's eyes were glued to Ryuichi's hands and waist the entire time, not leaving him for an instant.

‘I can't believe I'm in a limo with Ryuichi! And I just told him to fasten his seatbelt...and he LISTENED!’ The younger man thought to himself as the driver pulled out into traffic.

"So Tatsuha-kun, are you in monk training or going to college?" The rock god asked. The raven-haired man blinked blankly, the question being totally unexpected.

"Uh...I'm doing both, actually. I'm...going to college for religious studies, and still in monk's training." Feeling more comfortable as he spoke about a subject he was well-versed with, as well as had been asked about quite often by those who knew the monk, he explained how the two went hand in hand with each other, and how he didn't think that he would find it as fascinating as he did. Ryuichi nodded in all the right places, and seemed, at least to Tatsuha to be truly interested in what he was saying.

As the car stopped at a red light and Tatsuha began to explain how he was also learning about other religions and how different they all were, Ryuichi leaned closer to him, and smiled.

"Would you like to kiss me, Tatsuha-kun?" he purred, the sensual look that many would have sold their grandmother's soul just to see up close staring him in the face. The younger man's eyes bulged as he stopped mid-sentence and dropped his jaw.

"Uh...I...I would like to very much, Saku…Ryuichi," he managed to choke out as the limo began to move once again.

"Good, because I want to kiss you," the vocalist purred again as he moved closer, put both arms around Tatsuha's neck and kissed his lips.

‘Kami, I could die happy now, just don't let this be another dream, PLEASE!’ Tatsuha thought to himself as he closed his eyes and returned the kiss, the lower half of his body responding instantly.

His sapphire eyes still open, Ryuichi pulled back and smiled as Tatsuha opened his eyes and gazed into his. "Did you like that, Tatsuha-kun?" the singer murmured. Like a love-struck teen, which he had beat only by the factor of a day, the young man nodded.

"Good, because I've wanted to do that for a long time," Ryuichi replied as he smiled even wider before he closed his eyes, leaned forward and kissed him once again.

Tatsuha raised his arms to place them around Ryuichi and pull him closer, but the seatbelt kept the pair apart despite what the younger man wanted. He unfastened it to continue the make-out session, leaning toward Ryuichi. Tatsuha raised one hand and ran it through the singer’s mossy-colored locks as the kiss became more heated.

As the limo rapidly moved from one lane to another, a smaller car chose that time to cut off the much larger vehicle in an attempt to make a left-hand turn in front of them, which caused the limo to rear-end the other car. Tatsuha, who was now sitting free in the back, went flying at the impact and hit the side of his head on the window separating the driver’s seat from the passenger area.

The last thing he remembered before passing out was Ryuichi hovering over him, a worried look in his eyes as the vocalist reached down to touch his face.

*~*~*~*~*
Waking up a bit later, Tatsuha realized that he was not in the back seat of a limo. The dark room he lay in was silent, and he sighed to himself.

‘Shit, that was the most realistic dream about Ryuichi I’ve ever had,’ he thought as he noticed the erection the dream caused as well as a headache on the right side of his head. ‘I’ll take care of one problem first, then the headache,’ he thought to himself as he reached under the sheet to relieve his most pressing ache. Feeling something on the back of his right hand drag on his top sheet, he blinked and brought his hand out to see what it was.

‘An…IV?’ he thought, his eyes focusing on the foreign object. The light from a nearby streetlight streaming through the window in his room, he stared at his hand and tried to think back to the last thing he could remember, his erection going limp with apprehension.

‘Ryuichi…looking worried…leaning over me,’ he thought as he sat up abruptly at the memory. At the sudden movement, he inadvertently pulled off one of the cardiac monitor leads he had failed to notice were stuck to his chest. As the sound of the machine’s alarm went off, the dark-haired man could hear the sound of feet running toward the room. As the door opened, a light switch was flicked on. He turned to look at the intruders, temporarily blinded by the brightness as his head began to hurt even more. As he moaned slightly in pain, his eyes watering as he blinked, he heard the footsteps enter the room and a female voice say “Oh good, he’s awake,” and then a voice he previously thought was only a dream say, “Tatsuha! Are you all right?”

His eyes took a few more moments before they adjusted to the lights, his head throbbing. He turned toward the beloved voice and blinked again as Ryuichi sat down in a chair next to the bed, concern on his face. As the doctor turned off the alarm and began to examine him, he stared at the rock star, who took his left hand and patted it, a huge grin on his face.

“You’ll be all better now. The doctor said you had a concussion from the impact. What do you remember?” Ryuichi asked while he patted Tatsuha’s limp hand.

Grateful that he no longer had his more visually obvious problem, Tatsuha thought for a moment. “I remember telling you to put on your seatbelt…and then…you were looking down at me. That wasn’t a dream? What happened?” the younger man asked as he stared down at his hand as it lay in Ryuichi’s much smaller hands.

“Our limo hit another car. Don’t worry, the other driver’s fine, as is the chauffer. You were the only one hurt,” the singer explained as the doctor took out a penlight and shined it into Tatsuha’s eyes.

“Follow my finger,” she instructed the younger man, which he did with no problem.

“Uesugi-san, I’m keeping you here for twenty four hours so that I can keep you under observation, in case of complications. Your family has been notified and will be arriving in a bit,” she explained as Tatsuha groaned. “Apparently your sister and brother-in-law, whose number was in your phone, are away on vacation, but they’ll be flying back into town and should be here later today. I spoke to your sister, and she told me that your brother is away on a book tour, but he’s cutting it short and will be returning tonight.” She picked up his chart and wrote some notes in it as Tatsuha absorbed the news. She turned and smiled at him. “I’ll make sure the nurse gives you something for the headache you probably have,” she told the younger man.

“Don’t worry Tatsuha-kun. You’ll be staying with me when you get discharged. I was planning it anyway,” Ryuichi stated as the doctor unhooked Tatsuha from the cardiac monitor and left.

“So…now my entire family knows I’m here in Tokyo. Great…” he muttered as he hung his head. The movement caused his head to pound more.

“Why? Is that a problem? You are an adult now, you know,” Ryuichi said in a soft voice.

“Oh, that’s right! I am!” Tatsuha exclaimed as he turned to gaze at the owner of the voice and grinned at him, who grinned back.

“But first, I have to use the restroom, Tatsuha. So I’ll be right back, okay?”

Tatsuha looked over at the corner of his room, where a sign on one of the closed doors read ‘restroom.’ “There’s one right there, Sa…Ryuichi. You can use that one if you like.”

“No Tatsuha-kun. That’s for patients. I’ll go use the public one. Its okay, I’ll be right back, I promise.” The lead singer smiled, tilted his head to one side, gave Tatsuha’s hand one more pat, stood and left.

‘I can’t believe I’m in a hospital room that Ryuichi just left!’ the raven-haired man thought to himself as the room door closed quietly behind the smaller man. He sat in the bed and pondered his situation. So much had happened in the past few minutes. He took in a deep breath just as a nicotine craving hit. 'I need a smoke. They won’t miss me if I just slip out for a bit.'

Climbing out of bed, Tatsuha spotted a nearby IV pole with wheels. Hooking the bag of clear fluid onto the fastener at the top of it, he took the pole by the middle and wheeled it like he had seen in hospital shows on TV. Going over to another door labeled ‘closet,’ he found his black jeans, backpack, shirt and jacket hanging on hooks. He slipped into the jeans and took out the pack and lighter from his jacket, before he realized the sleeve wouldn’t fit over his IV. He shrugged and instead placed the jacket across his shoulders. Going over to the door, he slowly opened it and peeked out. Seeing that the nearby nurses’ station was currently empty, he walked past it and headed toward the elevator. He pushed the button and waited patiently for the car to arrive. As the door opened, he noted that there was someone else on it. Ignoring them, he walked inside and pushed the button for the lobby.

“What are YOU doing here?” he heard as he shook out a cigarette and placed it into his mouth. He turned to the only other occupant of the elevator and stopped, the cigarette hanging loosely in his mouth as he recognized the boy from the airport bathroom staring back at him.

“Me? I was in a car accident! What are YOU doing here?” Tatsuha said by way of explanation. He returned the glare, which caused the teen to drop his gaze.

“Oh,” the boy said guiltily as he shuffled his feet and adjusted his shapeless hat with one hand, the other one holding the book that he had signed with a bookmark now in the front of it.

Tatsuha glared at the boy a bit longer, and then took the book from the startled boy’s hand. He flipped it open to where the bookmark had been placed and began reading.

“Do you actually LIKE this stuff?” he asked as he read a paragraph. As the elevator doors opened on the lobby floor, he took hold of the IV pole and walked off with it, still holding the book as he read some more.

“HEY! Give me back my book!” The boy cried out, surprised. Tatsuha walked out the front door as the boy followed, annoyed. He read a bit longer, then turned to the boy and smiled.

“My aniki really is pretty good-not that I’d read this kinda crap, but still…why are YOU reading it? Isn’t it a bit, adult, for you, kid?” the raven-haired man asked, emphasizing the other’s age as he slipped the book under an arm and lit his cigarette.

“I’m not reading it. I’m reading it…to someone else. They’re a huge fan of Yuki-sensei. I think its crap. I’d rather read about Bad Luck or Nittle Grasper. I have one of Sakuma-san’s unofficial bios back in the room. I read it when…” he said as he blushed and glared at Tatsuha. “Can I have the book back, please?” he asked once again.

“Not until you tell me why you’re here,” he asked as he inhaled deep from his cigarette and grinned mischievously.

“Why is that any of your business,” the boy retorted as he balled up his fists at his sides.

“I guess you don’t want this book back all that much then,” Tatsuha said as he grabbed the IV pole and began to walk away again. The boy glared a bit longer, then all the fight seemed to leave him. “Fine, I’ll tell you.”

Tatsuha turned back to the boy as he took the cigarette out of his mouth and exhaled into the night air.

The boy seemed to gather himself as he stood, staring at the ground for a few moments before he raised his head and stared at Tatsuha, defeat now behind his light brown eyes.

“My father was in an accident at his job. He’s a construction worker here in Tokyo, and a steel beam hit him in the chest. It caused his spleen to rupture and he bled inside. A…a lot. He came out of surgery okay but…he’s…in a coma right now. I read this to him because he’s a fan, and I’m hoping that he might wake up if he hears my voice reading to him.” The boy glared defiantly at the older man as a single tear fell unnoticed down his cheek.

Tatsuha stared back for a moment before silently handing him back the book.

Ignoring the tear, Tatsuha inhaled again as the boy looked down at the ground and seemed to curl around the book. “Hey, what’s your name anyway, kid? I’m Uesugi Tatsuha.”

“Michi… Honami Michihiro, but everyone calls me Michi. I take it Yuki is a penname?” the boy said as he looked back up at Tatsuha, who gazed coolly at the teen.

“Yeah. Um…if you like, I’ll get my bro to really autograph it,” Tatsuha offered. “He’s due here later today anyway to make sure that I haven’t busted my head open and spilled my brains on the car seat or some such,” he murmured as he rubbed his head, put out the cigarette and turned to go. “Where were you heading anyway when I saw you on the elevator?”

“Out for a breath of fresh air. I’ve been in that room almost since I got here from Kyoto.”

“Come on, I’ll walk you back up,” he said as he began to walk back inside the hospital. Michi followed, the book still pressed to his chest.

“THERE you are! I thought I’d find you out here, Tatsuha-kun!” cried a familiar voice as they entered the lobby.

'Shit, how could I forget about Ryuichi?' Tatsuha asked himself as the singer hurried over and took his hand. Michi, who had been trailing him head down until he heard Ryuichi’s voice, stopped, his mouth open as he stared at the pair while the mossy-haired vocalist fussed at the young monk.

“You…you know Sakuma Ryuichi-sama?” Michi asked, shocked.

“Uh…yeah. He’s my…friend,” Tatsuha answered, blushing slightly.

“Hi, who are you?” Ryuichi asked the teen as the couple walked over to him and held out his hand before he remembered he was in Japan instead of America and murmured to himself, “Oh yeah, that’s right,” and bowed slightly instead.

Michi blanched at the direct acknowledgement of his presence by the rock legend, and as Ryuichi brought his head up and smiled, he watched in amazement as the teen turned and ran toward the open elevator, startling the overly made-up secretary that was getting off of it and heading out for a smoke. Panic plainly written on his face, Michi frantically pushed the button leading to his floor as Tatsuha hurried over to the elevator door, the IV pole now slowing him down.

“Wait! What’s wrong? Michi!” the monk cried just as the doors closed in his face.

“DAMN!” he yelled, as Ryuichi and the secretary both shushed at him to be quieter.

“What was that all about?” the smaller man asked as he walked over to Tatsuha, who stood in front of the elevator doors and glared at them for daring to shut in his face.

“He’s…a new friend. I met him at the airport in Kyoto. Never expected to see him here…” Tatsuha said by way of explanation as he pulled out another cigarette and went to light it. He remembered where he was and fumed as he put it back in the pack and pushed the button to return to his floor

“He came all the way here from Kyoto to visit someone?” Ryuichi asked as the elevator binged and the doors opened to an empty car.

“Yeah…his dad was in a construction accident and is in a coma. He reads bro’s books to him, hoping that he’ll wake up, since his dad’s a fan,” Tatsuha explained as they got on the elevator and he pushed the button to his floor.

“Oh, that’s sad,” Ryuichi said as the doors closed. “Maybe we can find out what room he’s in and go visit…?”

“I don’t think that he wants us visiting his dad, Ryuichi. I think Michi’s kinda proud, and doesn’t want charity.” He sighed and leaned against the elevator wall. Ryuichi leaned against him and smiled.

“Poor thing, you look worried. Let me help,” the singer said, moving to stand in front of Tatsuha, got up on his tiptoes and kissed the younger man on the lips.

All thoughts of Michi flew from Tatsuha’s mind as Ryuichi’s soft lips touched his. He bent over and swept the diminutive man into his arms. While the elevator binged for their floor, an elderly cleaning lady got the shock of her life when the doors opened and she saw the two men kissing passionately.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tsuzuku
(To Be Continued)

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