Egoist AU—Hiroki knows that Nowaki is in America. Hiroki didn't want him to be alone for the holidays, so…
Christmas in America
X X X
"I really need to go now, Hiro-san, I have class in less than twenty minutes."
A static-filled sigh filled the other side of the line. "Alright. Hey, I'll be at the school all day tomorrow, so I'm not sure exactly when we can talk again."
"That's fine. I love you."
"…I love you too. Have fun, and study hard."
"I will. Good night."
"'Night."
The dial tone cut through Hiroki's ear like a knife as Nowaki was cut off from him. He slowly brought the phone down from his ear, absent-mindedly thumbing the black plastic casing before finally pressing down on the rubbery "END" button. The near weightless receiver felt unbelievably heavy in Hiroki's hand as he placed it back on the large base unit.
Hiroki stood up quickly, marching over to the small wooden dining table that seemed to take up nearly half the kitchen space. A small notebook was the only thing that lay on the tabletop—inside was a long checklist that had been checked off and scrawled through a number of times.
"Let's go through one more time…" Hiroki mumbled to himself, grabbing a pen from a countertop basket where he usually kept a plethora of writing utensils. "All of the perishable food is gone, I cleaned the countertops and the bathroom, my term paper was turned in to Professor Yamaguchi this morning," Hiroki was pacing around the apartment as he checked the list off one by one, "I went to the bank, picked up some snacks for the flight, just took a shower, the alarm is set, packed my luggage—better make sure one last time that I have everything."
Hiroki placed the list off to his right and unzipped his bulky maroon roll-along, breezing through the list of clothing and toiletries for the second time today. A down jacket, thick gloves and snow boots seemed to take up half the space—but the forecast predicted a heavy snowstorm, so Hiroki wanted to be doubly prepared for the weather.
It was hardly a secret that Hiroki was extremely excited for this trip—the man had been planning since the end of October, between finding cheap plane fares and beginning to pack on the first day of December. Now that his flight was in less than twelve hours, Hiroki was practically bouncing off the walls.
"Now, carry-on items." Hiroki closed the over-stuffed bag and sat it upright, using it as leverage to push himself up so he could double-check his carry-on. "Passport, boarding passes, wallet with traveler's checks and American dollars, laptop is inside of its padded case, snacks, gum, both books, camera, and the neck pillow will be my other carry-on. Everything looks good," Hiroki stated proudly, zipping the backpack up and placing it atop the larger roll-along luggage case.
"Flight 2826 to New York, Gate A12," Hiroki recited to himself, "Departs at 8:00 AM on Friday, December 22nd, and should arrive at around 7:00 AM on Friday, December 22nd…" Hiroki chuckled at how the time difference and total flight hours would cause him to "travel back in time".
"And finally, last minute stuff is written on a sticky note, which is on the door. Turn off the heat, lock the doors, and turn off the lights." Hiroki dropped the list on the table with a proud exhale; everything was running perfectly. When his watch beeped just a moment later, Hiroki glanced down to check it. The digital clock read 9:00—better get to sleep soon, he thought. He had a plane to catch in less than 11 hours.
X X X
To be continued…
Please review! I whipped up this idea a couple weeks ago and have been toying with it in my mind. It's my first multi-chapter piece, and I'd like to know if you guys like the idea so far. I know it's not exactly a huge attention grabber to start, but you gotta start somewhere, and I've already almost finished the next two chapters. It gets better, if you know what I mean. ;) I'll probably post the next chapter up as soon as I finish re-editing it. Expect something relatively soon…
Oh! And don't be scared to point out any grammatical errors. I'm not perfect and don't use beta readers ('cause they've ditched me three too many times), so I'm bound to miss a couple things.