Chapter 4

Even though Minako and Kenichi had gotten Yukina a bath pass as well, he didn't quite feel up to going out there when Kisa was ready. Kisa found this strange at first, considering it was an opportunity for Yukina to see his boyfriend naked without it seeming strange, but he just shrugged it off. They also had Saturday night, after all.

Noboribetsu seemed to be even more busy at night. When the darkness came, the grand hotels all around the area lit up. The night didn't stop the tourists, however; in fact, the streets seemed to be even more busy than they were when Yukina went through with Kisa and Kenichi. The souvenir stands were doing awesome business, and everywhere Yukina turned, he could hear someone yelling at the crowd to come and buy some trinket or another.

It had been almost ten years since Yukina went to this town with his family, and in a way, it hadn't changed a bit. If anything, it was even more overwhelming than it had been when he was just a child.

"Yukina-san!" A voice broke through the crowd. Yukina was surprised that he could hear it through all the chatter around him, but he did. When he turned, he saw Murakami Shizuka pushing through the crowd. "Is Kisa-san with you?"

"No, Kisa-san wanted to get some use out of the baths. I thought I'd take a look around tonight." Yukina put his hands in the pocket of his coat. He originally thought it would be a bit cold, since it was still the end of February, but with all the bodies milling around, the temperature of the street was actually quite high.

Shizuka smiled, clutching a large bag to her chest. When Yukina looked close enough, he saw that it was already full of souvenirs, mostly the red and blue cans that housed the Noboribetsu Onsen specialty beer. "Ah, would you like to join me, then?" she finally said, looking down at her haul. "I was just going out for dinner, but the friends I came here with had the same idea as Kisa-san, I guess."

"Ah, are you sure it's okay, Murakami-sensei?" Yukina asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

Shizuka waved a hand as if waving away any point Yukina might make. "Sure! I came here to celebrate, after all. Thanks to Kisa-san hounding me about getting my manuscript in on time, I actually have some free days until the next cycle starts. I don't think this has happened once since I started working for Emerald." She sighed wistfully and looked up at the sky. It was completely black; all the lights of the resort were blocking any stars that might've shown up.

Yukina sighed as he walked along with Shizuka, but he was smiling. "Kisa-san can be rather scary when he wants to be. That might be why he doesn't like me to visit him in the office." Then he thought about it. "Although I guess another reason might be because it looks like a warzone near the end of the cycle." Yukina shuddered at the thought. Even though his own apartment was usually quite messy (he would think about cleaning, then get distracted by reading or working on a new painting, usually) it was nothing compared to Emerald when you went in at the right, or perhaps wrong, part of the cycle. He'd only been in once, but that had been enough for him.

"Hah, you should see my place," Shizuka said as they came to a stop. They were right outside a modest-looking restaurant. Yukina expected it to be busy inside, but when they stepped in, there were two tables occupied but nothing more than that. "If I thought I could afford it I'd hire a housekeeper, but no one should be subjected to my apartment after a cycle. Last month I got takeout every day. I don't think I threw away a single wrapper."

Yukina just smiled. That wasn't the state Kisa's apartment was in, but only because when it got that bad, Kisa was never home. Taking up the chore of cleaning actually wasn't that hard, even with being a full-time student and a part-time worker. No, the real work came right after a cycle, when Kisa would come home and be basically incapable of doing anything for himself other than sitting there like a zombie.

Not that Yukina would complain about being able to cook his meals and sometimes, when Kisa was really out of it, carry him into the bedroom from wherever he had passed out after getting home from the Emerald office. Being able to spend time together, even if only one of them was awake, was the biggest reason Yukina was insistent that he spend the night so much.

"So what's your story?" Shizuka smiled at Yukina as the two sat down at a table and picked up menus that were already there. It was a small family restaurant, and as Yukina had observed when Shizuka first brought him in, it was basically empty compared to the places around it. It might've been because it wasn't as flashy, but Yukina was perfectly fine with it.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… what do you do? I mean clearly you have awesome taste when it comes to manga." Shizuka smiled when Yukina just had a blank look. "Just kidding, of course." She sat back in her seat and stared up at the ceiling. "Honestly, they say being a good author means thinking your stuff is crap. If that's true, then I must be one of the greatest."

"Ah, but I love your series!" Yukina said, his eyes lighting up. "It's very unique. I don't think I've seen another series in Emerald that centered around murder mysteries."

"Well they're not very popular!" Shizuka said, and she leaned forward. Her enthusiasm was clearly showing through. "But I loved mystery novels as a kid. I tried doing josei manga at first, but writing for women doesn't appeal to me." Then she seemed to realize something, and she cleared her throat. "Not that shojo is specifically for girls!"

"It's okay." Yukina smiled. "I run the shojo manga department at the bookstore where I work. I've heard it all."

"Ah, so that's how you met Kisa-san," Shizuka said, nodding in understanding. "He must like you a lot to be willing to drag you all the way out here."

"Well I'm also from the area," Yukina said. "I grew up in Sapporo and only moved to Tokyo when my brother started college here. My parents wanted us to still be close."

Shizuka smiled at Yukina as water and tea was put on the table. Neither had a chance to look at the menus, though, so she sent the waiter away for a few more minutes. "So uh. Why are you two sharing a single room?" she said, glancing over the menu.

Yukina couldn't help the smile that came over his face, and he quickly hid it from view. "I'm sure Kisa-san will be willing to tell you the story."

"By the way…"

"Hmm?" Yukina put his menu aside.

"Do you act that way around all manga-ka?"

"You're the first one I've met, actually. There haven't been any signings at Marimo Books since I started working there." He leaned forward on his hands, his elbows on the table. "Although when I was in high school, I mailed one of my favorite authors. I had a huge crush on her."

Shizuka couldn't help but laugh. "I think I like you, Yukina-san."