The ninth part of my 100 Themes Challenge is Drive. Writing this story with AAR- Night Drive stuck in my head :L
Crossover fiction. OC stuff as usual with slight yaoi hints..?
Chariku pressed his forehead against the icy glass window panes, the vibrations of the bus massaging his thoughts as the darkened highway sped past him.
The roads were littered with neon signs and bleating cars and buildings which were all unfamiliar to him. Sighing, he decided to focus his attention on the blinking eletrical bilboard of a restaraunt as the bus wheezed to a halt at a red light.
A hustle of people crossed the road, umbrella's and briefcases guarding them from the steady, heavy down pour that Chariku was grateful he wasn't in. He was the only person on the bus right now, but he still felt extremely edgy and nervous.
What if a drunkard got on at the next stop and harassed him the rest of the journey?
He could barely keep his eyes open long enough to register a new sign or car following them down the road.
Seeking comfort, he drew his guitar case close to him and pushed a hand through his ginger hair. Making the journey all the way out here was stupid and wrong and he knew it.
He didn't want to spend the holidays with his dad at all.
He didn't want to have to make the journey down here every year, since he was thirteen, on his own to be met by nothing but ignorance and idleness.
He hated it and the five hour drive from Tokyo made it even worse.
"Only an hour from the coast," the bus driver yelled back to him as the green lights flashed and the bus crawled to life once more.
Chariku suspected he was as tired as he was, probably more so, having ferried grumpy passengers around all day.
"Sure." Chariku suddenly had an inkling of an idea in his head and punched in a few quick words on his mobile and forwarded it to three people.
Mizu, Grota and… Shewzo.
"Hey, kid, sorry, where am I making this turn?" His head shot up and he gathered up his things, guitar case bouncing off of his shins.
"Left in here please; Kanta." he called back, swaying his way towards the automatic doors and pressing the red 'stop' button when he saw a quiet, dark café just over the road from the bus stop.
His text hadn't gone through to one person, but for once in his life, Chariku hoped it was Mizu.
"You gonna be okay? 't's raining buckets!" the elderly driver asked anxiously.
Chariku smiled. "I will, thank you. I'm not staying outside too long I hope." he replied politely.
Nodding, the bus driver slid the doors open and the red head hopped out onto the kerb.
The rain came as a kind of relief to him, washing away the stench of stale chewing gum and year-old air fresheners. The bus doors hissed shut and slowly, the giant twinky on wheels edged back down the road towards Tokyo again.
Taking a deep breath, Chariku slung his guitar over one shoulder; his bag over the other and crossed the road at a small jog.
Then he set off down the hill, his feet slapping the ground in time with the drumming of the rain on glass windowsills.
He was whispering the house numbers to himself as he walked down the hill, head darting here and there as he struggled to remember.
He was positive it was flat sixteen.
Or was it a solitary house?
Panicking a little, Chariku picked up his pace and started jogging towards a cluster of comfortably large looking houses that stood together at the foot of the hill, swallowing his nerves as best as he could.
What if he was wrong? The rain water was beginning to drown him a little and no matter how he turned he couldn't escape it.
Exhausted, he dragged his feet up the steps of the second house and searched for the plaque 16.
There was 13,14,15…
Akai.
Chariku's heart fell.
Akai. Not Inirami.
But he couldn't struggle back up the hill through the rain to fall asleep on the kerb waiting for a bus he knew wasn't coming back.
Hopelessly, he pressed the buzzer and shuffled the feet as he waited uneagerly for a kindly middle aged woman to answer and offer him a room.
There was the sound of hurried footsteps and the door opened, warm yellow light spilling out onto the porch, filling Chariku's damp face with heat.
The silhouette of a boy filled the door way and there was a soft, single chuckle.
Chariku raised his head and laughed back; once, softly, high pitched.
Shewzo was holding up his mobile, the screen taken up with Chariku's text he'd sent from the bus.
The brunette was holding the door wide until this point when he stepped out in his socks, supporting the sturdy wood with only his foot.
"You crazy bastard!" he laughed tearfully.
"Missed you." Chariku choked out a sentimental reply before dropping his things and wrapping his arms around his friend.
Shewzo ruffled his hair and gave him a long, friendly hug.
"Sorry. I… Didn't mean to…"
"Shut up, Kosa. C'mon." Shewzo smiled, roughly knuckling his eyes and picking up the black guitar case.
He held the door open and Chariku could hear a tv softly murmuring upstairs and then the voice of an evidently peeved older boy shouted down the stairs to them.
"IF IT'S THAT MEXICAN DELIVERY GUY I OWE HIM NOTHING BUT A KICK TO THE GROIN!"
Shewzo rolled his eyes in a fond way before leading the way upstairs casually.
"You'll have to excuse Cammy-chan; he's easily wound up."
Chariku smiled tiredly in response. "Sounds like fun guy."
"Yeah, well, he's okay. For a nanny."
A shoe rocketed out if nowhere and smashed Shewzo full pelt in the face, nearly dislodging his jaw in the violent process.
Chariku laughed again and let his friend lead the way through the hall, his wet socks squeaking against the immaculate wooden floorboards.
[Neva Beat/Cameleon]