Somewhere Only We Know
Chapter 1
The smell of old books encompassed the whole atmosphere, shelves lined every visible bit of space, filled with titles ranging from Jane Austin to projects for Sunday activities. The Library's collection was vast and was something the town prided itself in having. It was a wonder why one would not see people more often walking the shelves in search of a new book to read, all bar the librarians of course who lived and breathed the running of the library. The library was a place to escape and seek solitude in the empty corridors of bookcases, and worn-out sitting spaces to find a new life in books. Author's words which vast worlds for one to experience for a moment or hours at a time, to breathe through the lungs of a hero or heroine before returning to reality. To rest one's mind and feed one's imagination… to sleep and dream watching the daily lives of characters…
There was a sound which broke the silent nature of the sleeping library. It was almost alien to think that one could hear another sound apart from that of their own breathing, the soft shuffling between pages or searching through titles. The sound echoed down the corridors, rattled old cobwebs in un-touched books and roused a half-asleep boy from his book. A conversation between Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester was put on hold as he was drawn to the sound of a distance song. It was the most beautiful thing that Yugi Moto, an apprentice librarian, had ever heard.
He placed his book on a side table and he pulled himself up from the comfortable beanbag. He made his way over to a nearby bookshelf and he peeped around the corner, the sound became relatively louder.
There was a song playing and it was not from the imagination of a reader but a real physical instrument, and a deep malacology voice humming to its tune. He figured that it was almost time for the library's closing, also for the respect of other readers, he would have to go tell the singer to find another place to practice his song.
He made his way through the rows of books, peeping around corners to seek out the home of the sound before he finally found it. He placed a hand on either side of his face as he spied through a bookshelf. No more than five feet away a figure sat on a doubled seated worn-out couch wielding a guitar. Yugi's eyes widened at the sight and he could not help but look on for his eyes were delighted by the figure before him, his ears surrounded by magical sounds. The man was no more than two years older than Yugi and he was around a head taller as well. Another intriguing thing about his appearance was he looked like he could have been his identical twin, bar the fact he had extra-wild tricoloured red, black and yellow hair. The yellow bangs accompanied his madly jelled-up spikes and looked like lightning bolts racing through it. His face was finely chiselled, a finely pointed chin to rival that of a popular romantic hero in a Victorian drama, only with the added addition to the fact that he was a fleshy real-life man. He wore tight black leather pants, a loose black tank top and a navy jacket, which gave him an edgy final touch. He was not your typical prince charming, but his voice said otherwise.
The librarian pull himself back from his hiding place and concerned actually letting the boy continue enriching the dull life of the library with song, returning to the comfort of his Victorian classics, but he could not find himself to do just that. There was this curious specimen he had yet to uncover, and his education in archaeology at university was a possible drive for this need.
He cautiously made his way along the rest of the shelf until he reached it's end, he dared another look at the man before retreating back to the safety of the shadows. He was so close now that he could almost spot the little bits of hair on the man's forearms from his rolled-up sleeves as he played away.
The music tickled his ears as they intertwined, invisible waves of song echoing around and through his body, caressing and flirting before finding a home in his soul. The voice was like the sound of birds in the early morning, pleading and calling for a listener, a soul mate.
The song suddenly stopped.
The man looked up from his instrument and straight in the direction of the shelf. The libarian held a hand to his mouth as he suppressed the sudden need to sneeze from a dusty book. Heart racing, he wished his breathing was not so obvious, or the beating so loud in his ears. The library has never seemed so quiet in that moment, and any sound would give him away.
"You don't need to hide," a deep baritone voice spoke, "I know that you are there."
Shit!
He took a slow deep breath, pushing his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose and brushing invisible dust from his grey suit trousers, he turned around slowly. He was unsure how he was going to explain to a complete stranger why he was spying on him. He took his first steps out from the safety of the forest and out into the open, and the man's vision.
"What were you doing behind there?" The man laughed softly, smirking as he studied the figure before him.
The librarian shrugged. "Observing, I guess. I was curious not know where the sound was coming from."
Through a baritone voice with an edge of amusement as he spoke sending shivers down the librarian's spine. "Not coming to tell me off, I hope?"
The librarian's hands clasping nervously at his uniforms sides as he stopped a foot away. His eyes finding something interesting with the patterns in the carpet.
"I am quite surprised, if I am honest, to discover that there is life in this place," the man admitted looking down at his instrument and running his fingers across it affectionately in thought.
"Why are you here?' The libarian asked curiously.
"Solitude, isn't that why we are all here?"
"What were you playing?" The librarian provoked, his voice dry from his mouth being open for far too long.
The man's posture seemed to relax as he indicated with one of his long fingers down to his guitar. "This silly thing?" He began mimic the tune he was playing earlier, he stopped and looked up at the other man humming the tune with static hands on the guitar.
The librarian nodded and the man smiled in satisfaction. "It is a song I wrote last night," he revealed, "Do you like it?"
The librarian found himself nodding yet again in the space of a minute. "It is good, but why are you playing it in a library where none can hear it?"
"You heard it didn't you?" His smile quickly dropped and his sewed his eyebrows together as he took his hands off the cords. "Is it annoying you? Do you want me to leave?"
He heaved himself up to his feet, ready to leave before he outlived his welcome. He stopped when he felt a hand grabbing hold on his arm just as he turned to leave. He glanced back.
"Don't."
The man titled his head to one side. "Why?"
The librarian took a slow breath in before he countered the man. "You do not need to go anywhere, I just wanted to point out for interest that normally no one ever comes here, least of all to play music. It is nice to have company sometimes, particularly the long shifts in the evening when you are the only librarian on duty."
The man laughed softly and returned to his spot on the couch. His eyes fixed onto the other man with a mixture of curiosity and thankfulness.
"I am Yugi, by the way," the librarian greeted, coming up and holding a hand out to the man. He was greeted by a shell-shocked stare as a response to another man coming into his personal space, he accepted it after staring at it curiously for some time.
"Atemu," The man returned, "that's my name."
"Nice to meet you Atemu!" Yugi exclaimed, letting go of his new friend's hand and dropping down beside him on the couch.
"Why are you here by the way?"
Atemu shrugged. "It is quiet… I was walking by, and it seemed like an ideal place to think."
Yugi nodded in agreement. "That sounds about right!"
Yugi noticed that Atemu had been stroking his instrument absentmindedly since he had taken a seat beside him. Was it an indication of nervousness? Had he been intruding on something private?
Then he noticed his hunched back, and the low angle of his face, hidden in the shadows of his hair. It was like Yugi's question earlier had struck a chord with him and all of a sudden his confident exterior was shattered. Although Atemu was not vocally expressing strong emotion, his state was clear by his appearance.
And then in a matter of seconds he was vocally crying, soft whimpers as if the world had just collapsed around him. He cried as if he had nothing left. Yugi felt a sudden sense of déjà vu as he looked at the hopeless form of the musician and saw he was looking at a reflection of himself from not so long ago.
Pushing it quickly to the back of his mind to avoid the same feeling of eternal sadness and he knew the only thing that he could do now was help this poor man in whatever small way he could.
"Atemu," Yugi called softly as he leaned in closer to the musician beside him, all sense of social boundaries diminished.
Atemu lifted his head a little and titled his face to look into Yugi's eyes. There was deep sorrow swimming in his watery eyes which had been non-existent a moment ago. Yugi found himself drawn through routine to confront the sobbing individual and he placed a hand on the back of the man to offer him comfort. Atemu did not object to the action, but rather leaned in closer.
Yugi did not say anything as he stroked firmly into the denim jacket, he fell into a state of automatic rhythm as he shut his eyes and absorbed himself into the atmosphere of the moment. Two soles merged for that single event, breathing fell into sync and Yugi could almost sense a presence of the boarders of his mind. They were as close as two human beings could get, without any romantic attachments.
His tense muscles were relaxing with every stroke, and his cool exterior melting down to the point where he dropped his head again into his hands and began to make audible cries.
Yugi did not know how long the pair of them sat there for, but eventually Atemu came up for air and he looked at Yugi through sad eyes. "Thank you."
Yugi gave him a small hopeful smile. "Anytime."
Atemu took a deep breath in and then he exhaled out, looking off to something in the far distance.
Yugi pulled the broken man in for a hug, leaning into every spot on his body as he let him weep a while longer before they pulled back and Atemu shifted a bit away to give him some personal space.
"Can I do something to help?" Yugi offered.
Atemu shook his head as he whipped the last of the dried tears from his eyes. "You have already gone beyond what you could have done and for that I thank you."
"Always," Yugi promised, realising he had used the most overused cliché in a romance.
"Were you originally coming over here to tell me off for playing music in your library?" Atemu asked curiously, his voice sounding less shaky.
Yugi laughed nervously, his face going red as he pulled at the hair on the back of his neck. "No, that did not actually cross my mind until I had found you and heard how wonderful you sang."
"Not a very efficient librarian are you then, if you let all the pretty boys get away?" Atemu teased as a devious smirk emerged on his face.
Yugi playfully elbowed him in the side. "Do you want me to tell you off?"
Atemu's face grew even more amused, as chuckles escaped from his mouth and his eyes sparkled. "That depends, will that involve a spank, or calling my mother; because if it is the first one I am deeply considering it…"
Yugi could not believe what he was hearing that was spilling out from Atemu's mouth, it was like he was a machine manufactured specifically for mass-producing flirts. Yugi had to hide his face for several minutes in his hands as he tried to ignore the taunting laughter coming from his partner beside him.
He was glad Ryou did not work the night shift with him on Thursdays, or he would not hear the end of it.
When he had calmed down and was sure he checks felt slightly less hot he pulled himself up and leaned against the couch. He realized Atemu had calmed down and had his guitar rested on his lap, he was mining the cords silently and mouthing words as he strummed them.
He watched with fascination for several moments before Atemu's eyes fluttered open and his eyes darted to the clock on the wall ahead. It was almost midnight, had they seriously been talking that long?
Atemu stumbled to his feet and began to put his guitar into its case as he explained it was about time he headed out now.
Yugi blinked in confusion, they had only just started how could it all be over already? He was going to get the man's number and they were going to kiss under the moon, isn't that how it worked when you clicked automatically with a random stranger? He had been reading too much.
"Where are you going?" Yugi asked, following Atemu as he began to migrate towards the exit.
Atemu glanced sideways at Yugi. "I have an urgent meeting, I am sorry I could not have stay longer, Yugi."
He stopped and turned to Yugi. "I hope we can see each other again soon Yugi."
"Same time, next week?" Yugi offered hopefully.
Atemu's face grew into a small hopefully smile. "I will try little one."
"Bye."
"Night."
Atemu's form darted out the exit leaving the Librarian frozen on the spot.
Lost in a daze of wonder…
And hope.