Takumi pulled to a stop in front of the large house and wondered if he needed to get out to ring the bell or maybe call? He had just pulled the emergency brake when he caught a glimpse of a familiar man coming out of the side door toward him with a small smile painting his face and a duffel bag hanging from one shoulder. "Hey," he said as Ryousuke opened the back door to put his bag down, squinting as the late morning sun glinted off of the silver sedan he had parked beside.

Ryousuke shot him a grin as he shut that door and let himself into the passenger seat. "Hey, yourself. Thanks for coming to pick me up. If this had hinged on taking my car, we'd be waiting for it to get a new alignment." He buckled himself in and let his arm rest comfortably against the window's ledge.

Disengaging the emergency brake and backing up slowly in a U-shape, Takumi asked, "What did you do to your car that you needed another alignment when you just got one last month? You hardly even drive anymore."

"That's the problem. I'm finally done with all of my medical training and I get to start really practicing next week, so I thought I would take a spin out on the Akagi togue for old time's sake. I neglected to take into account how many more people frequent the local mountain passes because of us. I ended up having to pull myself out of a drift because some wannabe in a BMW was coming up the mountain as I was going down. I'm not certain he could have stayed in his lane if he'd tried." Ryousuke rapped his knuckles against the dash in annoyance and Takumi nodded along sympathetically.

As he turned onto the road from the driveway, Takumi smiled. "Are you sure you want to take a road trip with me to celebrate your residency being over?"

Ryousuke looked up from where he'd begun to adjust one of the air vents. "Of course I am."

Takumi laughed as he shifted gears, his fingers resting lightly along the the side of the shifter knob. "Your parents still aren't trying to force you into an arranged marriage?"

"You mean again?" Ryousuke huffed in annoyance. "I made it very clear last time that I don't intend to be their perfect son if they insist upon that in the criteria. Plenty of doctors have managed to have careers without having a wife at home."

With a laugh, Takumi's tongue traced along his bottom lip as he remembered the heart-stopping kiss that Ryousuke had planted on him to 'prove' his feelings to his parents. "Keisuke will give them grandchildren, I'm sure."

"That is the heart of the matter, I'm certain. He wants his heir to have an heir. As it stands, I would be quite content to let Keisuke take over everything except that he would have no idea what he's doing and I do actually want to help save people's lives."

Takumi pulled in front of a small convenience store and turned to Ryousuke. "If it's a road trip, we need snacks."

Ryousuke laughed as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Anything in particular you want?"

"Pocari and, uh, surprise me?"

"Living dangerously there, aren't you?" Ryousuke left the car and Takumi leaned his head back against the seat.

When Ryousuke let himself back into the car, he had to nudge Takumi awake. "You get steak flavored Doritos, royal milk tea Pocky and your precious Pocari Sweat." He shook his head with a laugh. "Do I need to drive?"

Takumi yawned as he shook his head. "No! It's just that I stayed up too late last night."

"Were you too excited?"

"Try nervous. I've spent the night with you a few times now, but we're staying for three nights at this place. What if you realize just how uncool I am?"

Ryousuke pulled open the package of Doritos and handed them to Takumi. "The honeymoon isn't over here, you know. It's just beginning."

Raising an eyebrow, Takumi coughed. "How do you expect me to eat Doritos and drive, anyway?"

Ryosuke buckled himself in again and shrugged. "You only use one hand to drive anyway."

"But where am I supposed to put the bag?!"

"Fine. I'll feed them to you. Would you rather I'd gotten you salted fish?" Ryousuke took the bag back with a smile and held one chip up to Takumi's mouth.

Takumi grabbed it with his free hand and smiled. "If that's what you'd gotten for me, I would have eaten it."

"I wouldn't have wanted to kiss you, then." Ryousuke reached over and let his fingers slide up Takumi's leg from his knee to his thigh, then cleared his throat. "Perhaps I should have thought to grab napkins."

As he restarted the car, Takumi looked down at the stripe of dark orange on his jeans. "You're going to pay for that."

"I'm already paying for the trip!" Ryousuke laughed. "Fine. I'll buy you a new pair of jeans."

Takumi rolled his eyes as he eased the car back into the flow of traffic. "That's not what I meant." He gestured to his Pocari. "Could you open that?"

Ryousuke licked his fingers to rid them of the orange dust still clinging on, then wiped them on a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket. "Certainly. Do you know how to get to Fukuoka from here, by the way?" He opened the Pocari and handed it to Takumi who took a sip and handed it back.

"Mostly? I know I have to go most of the way to Tokyo and then toward Mt. Fuji and just keep on toward the ocean, right? Where are we staying, anyway? You wouldn't tell me before, but can't I know now that we're on our way?"

"The Hotel Associa."

"..." Takumi stared at Ryousuke, then jerked his attention back to the road. "That doesn't sound like the inexpensive kind of place we agreed on."

"I'm paying anyway, so I thought I'd get something I like. We're booked for a couples massage tomorrow afternoon."

Takumi blushed. "I've never had a real massage before."

"Well, you'll get one. Now, don't be surprised that we're getting a room with two beds."

"Oh, well, I suppose that was to be expected."

Ryousuke leered at him. "I figured one would be for the dull work of sleeping and the other the more fun pasttime of-"

"Ryousuke-sama!"

With a laugh, Ryousuke handed over the Pocari again. "Your voice is getting a little hoarse, but do you know how hot it gets me when you call me that now?"

Takumi scowled and shifted before taking the bottle and swallowing a long gulp. "You tease me too much."

"Well, tonight I don't intend to tease at all."

With a sudden flip of his turn signal, Takumi pulled off to the side of the road and hit the button to turn on his warning lights. "You're driving."

"Was it something I said?" Ryousuke asked as he watched Takumi unbuckle the straps that held him into his bucket seat.

Takumi grinned. "I want to eat my Pocky and then rest up a little for tonight."

Ryousuke licked his lips. "You're going to torture me now, aren't you?"

Licking his bottom lip, Takumi shrugged. "We'll see how quickly I fall asleep."

Letting himself out of the passenger side again, he crossed paths with Takumi at the front of the car and raised his eyebrows as Takumi's hand slid against his crotch. "You're killing me, you know."

His eyes heavy-lidded, Takumi leaned on the open passenger door. "I told you that you were gonna pay."

Taking a deep breath, Ryousuke let himself into the driver's side and took a moment to reacquaint himself with where all of the buttons and knobs were. "It's been a while," he said quietly.

Takumi looked over from where he already had his mouth wrapped around a stick of his Pocky. He swirled it in his mouth and pulled it from between his lips with a wet popping sound. "It's only another four hours of driving or so, right?"

Nodding, Ryousuke tried to put his focus on the road in front of him. "Something like that. I'm going to turn on the radio."

The pulsing beat of the music that thrummed through the car did nothing to assuage his desire, but did somehow manage to lull Takumi into slumber with half a stick of Pocky hanging from between his lips. Ryousuke grabbed it before it could fall and took a bite of it. "You're lucky you're so cute," he said absently to the air as Takumi began to snore.