The Off Track
By Aoi Umi
Author's Notes: Well, here is the second chapter. A lot of it might be considered fluff, but writing cute Yuki-Shuichi dialogue is fun, dammit! ;) To the reviewer who wanted to know if I lived in England: Nope. I've always lived in the good old (er – young?) U.S. of A. I'm a Midwestern gal, in fact, and you can see how I chose a setting I am somewhat familiar with for this fic (well, more so in the next chapter). Have no fear, though – this will most definitely NOT become a Mary-Sue-type-fic-thing.
Chapter 2: "Airport Fun" or "At Least One of Us Speaks English"
That boy would not stop humming. Yuki Eiri wondered just what was so great about being in an airport that would make a person happy enough to hum. He was about to so comment aloud, but lost the chance when Shuichi stopped, looked up at him, and asked, "Ne, Yuki? What time is it now?"
He checked his watch. "Here, it's 2:22 PM." At this point he decided it would be wise to actually adjust the watch accordingly, rather than continuing to compensate mentally for the switch in time zones. Actually, he should have done this about five "What time is it now?"s ago. Better yet, he should have gone out and bought Shuichi his own watch. He would have had time for it. Hell, he probably would have had time to catch another flight back to Japan and grab the watch that idiot Shuichi had forgotten at home. Waiting for a delayed flight, to put it bluntly, really, really sucked.
Shuichi sighed. "I'm hungry," he whined.
"I know. So am I. We established this forty minutes ago, remember?"
"But..."
"But what?"
"There's a vending machine over there." Shuichi pointed meekly.
Yuki was growing impatient. "I think we established that about thirty-nine minutes ago."
"Well, if we crawl around on the floor, maybe we'll find some change..."
Yuki raised an eyebrow and stared. He booted Shuichi to the ground and said, "Go ahead. Maybe you'll find enough to pay me back for all the money you wasted in that stupid arcade."
"Ow..." Shuichi rubbed his nose, which had made contact with the floor. Luckily Eiri hadn't kicked him too hard. Shuichi probably would have been mad himself if someone had used his—well, $12 American, however much that was—to try unsuccessfully to get a cheap stuffed animal out of a crane game. But that cute little plush alligator with the golden eyes had reminded him so much of his Yuki. Except that it probably wouldn't have kicked him.
From the floor, Shuichi began sniggering smugly. Yuki was tempted to put aside the section of newspaper he'd already read three times and to glance (or rather, to glare) at what was so funny, but decided not to let Shuichi have the satisfaction, whatever it was.
Just let him make a fool of himself. I'm beyond caring.
"Look at what I found!" Shuichi announced mockingly. But to his dismay, this did not rile the object of his teasing at all.
Three...Two...One... RRRIP
Yuki now held half a newspaper in each hand, and was nearly nose-to-nose with this person of questionable sanity, high capacity for annoyance, and growing predictability...who unfortunately happened to be his boyfriend. The only thing between them was a glimmering coin in the aforementioned's hand.
"Your breath smells bad," Yuki commented, narrow-eyed. "Why don't you go buy some chewing gum or breath mints with that?"
Shuichi drew back and hugged the coin protectively, eyes wide, as if Yuki had said something completely and utterly blasphemous. "What?! I am most certainly going to buy food with this!" And with that he zipped off toward the vending machine to carry out this intention.
There he goes. He's going to be disappointed again. But he deserves it, the idiot.
Yuki pretended to become interested again in the newspaper. Well, the left half of it, at least. Far-off cries of frustration, accompanied by thumps that sounded suspiciously like a foot making contact with a hollow box of glass and plastic, told him that Shuichi had figured out that the quarter he had found had not been enough to purchase any food at all from the machine. Now it was his turn to smirk a little.
He really thought that Shuichi would take it all a bit more dramatically, though. He was surprised when the boy slumped defeatedly into the chair at his left and leaned into his side. Perhaps he was too hungry to put up much more of a fight. Still, this was unusual for the spunky singer who always wanted his way. Shuichi didn't even care that Yuki saw when he drew a new 5-pack of gum from his pocket and pulled out a stick between his teeth. He munched slowly, just staring vacantly at the wall ahead.
Much to his aggravation, this bothered Yuki. Not in a typical annoyed sort of way, but in a different, sad sort of way. Before, it had been easy enough to remove an unfavorable Shuichi from his presence by telling him to go away. But now, in this moment...he almost thought he would prefer to keep Shuichi just where he was...only happy instead. So long as it was a tolerable happiness, of course. Of the cute kind, not of the loud and annoying kind.
He came to his senses and internally reprimanded himself. What is this shit?, he wondered. Have I lost my mind?
For a romance novelist, this guy really didn't understand a whole lot about romance sometimes.
He actually needn't have worried at all, as a light snoring breath was soon felt in his side. A fleeting impulse wanted for him to move his arm and place it around that angelic-looking frame, but he resisted. Instead, he stubbornly glanced again at his watch. It had only been eight minutes since Shuichi had last asked for the time. This was going to be a long afternoon.
"Mmmm...you taste really good, Yuki."
"Shuichi."
"Mm? Yeah...sure I'll...lick you again..."
"Shuichi!"
"There?"
"Wake UP, Shuichi!"
When Shuichi opened his eyes, he was greeted with an irritated warning glare.
"Mouuu...you're no...fun, Yuki," mumbled the sleepy singer as he let out a yawn and rubbed his cobalt eyes.
"It's time for our flight, idiot. Come on."
Shuichi, still not fully awake, apparently made the decision that he would do no such thing. The blond man literally had to grab his boyfriend's arms and drag him from the chair. He nearly dropped him, though, when he recoiled from a surprise lick on the hand.
Of course, the licker had completely forgotten that there had been chewing gum in his mouth, and the lickee now had it between his fingers.
The unfortunate victim in this odd situation twinged slightly in disgust, and decided the best thing to do with it would be to return it to its source. Albeit, not Shuichi's mouth, but the front of his shirt.
Fifteen minutes later, Shuichi was awake and the two were boarding their flight. Apparently Shuichi hadn't remembered the incident or noticed the gum yet. To tell the truth, Yuki almost regretted having wiped it on Shuichi's shirt, because now he was being seen with a companion who looked even more like an oblivious moron than before.
"Oh, you know what, Yuki? I'm so happy! I just remembered that I still have half a bag of this candy." He pulled the bag of Saowaa Sukitaruzu from his pack. "My dream reminded me. I had a dream that you were covered in this sour sugar stuff. You tasted funny, but really, really good." He blushed a little.
Yuki blushed slightly more. Only it was more out of anger, because they happened to be within earshot of about fifty people, and at the moment Shuichi had spoken they had just been parting company with a steward who had shown them to their seats. "You don't say?" he mumbled through a frustrated fake grin as they sat down.
Silence.
"Well, do you want some?"
Yuki choked. "Here??" he hissed.
"Yah, why not?" Shuichi innocently offered the bag of candy. Then it occurred to him. "Ooohhhhh...Yuki thought I meant something else! Hahaha!" He pinched Yuki's cheek and looked at him slyly. "Stupid Yuki!" It felt good to say that. He liked it when Yuki slipped up and said something stupid for a change. Such an occasion was relatively rare, so Shuichi was determined to make the most of it. "Stupid Yuki, stupid Yuki, stuuu-pid!" he chanted.
The newly-branded "stupid" Yuki kept his cool, which he was very good at. Thank god most of these people probably don't speak Japanese, he reminded himself. But that means...they wouldn't have understood...what Shuichi said a minute ago anyway... He brought his hand to his temple in frustration. Shit...I need sleep.
"...Stuipd!...Hey! Is this gum? How did this get on my shirt?"
-------------------------------------------
"Wow Yuki, you have a bank account in America?" Shuichi was fascinated with the American bills that Yuki had just withdrawn from the ATM.
"Of course. I knew you weren't going to prepare for this stupid trip, so someone had to. Idiot."
The blush on his pouty face nicely complemented the color of his hair; however, Shuichi was a little embarrassed to admit to himself that he really hadn't considered what he would do about money in a foreign country.
'The Responsible One' handed over a Ten to his ridiculously stupid younger companion. "You are seriously going to owe me by the time this trip is over."
"Mou! You're the one who's rich, Yuki-sensei."
"You aren't making too shabby of a career for yourself now either. But if you prefer, I'm sure we can work out some other arrangement later..." he grinned rather sinisterly.
Shuichi pretended to be threatened...but in all honesty, he couldn't think of much that Yuki could do to him that he wouldn't thoroughly enjoy. "Hee hee."
"Hmn? Speak up if you've got something to say."
"I said, 'Let's go eat, honey!'" The hyper 19-year-old giggled, briefly pecked and locked arms with his lover, and happily dragged him over to the airport's McDonald's. Which really was a top candidate for World's Least Romantic Restaurant, but if love is blind, hunger is blinder.
Shuichi gaped in disbelief. "Uwaa! Yuki, this entire menu is in English!"
"No shit. We're in the middle of America, dumbass."
"Oh...yeah. Will you read the menu to me...please, Yuki?"
"This is McDonald's. They all have the same crap. Just pick something. And please stop clinging to my arm."
Yuki ordered for himself, and then went to find a place to sit down, which proved to be a difficult endeavor. The tables that weren't occupied by people were piled with assorted paper bags, empty cups, straw wrappers, and even spilled ketchup packets. It couldn't be blamed solely on sloppy Americans; sadly, this was a typical McDonald's atmosphere. Yuki was almost surprised to see so many people eating here so late in the evening. But then, an airport never sleeps.
Meanwhile, ordering in English proved to be an even more difficult endeavor for Shuichi. He squinted at the menu. While he could decipher some of the letters, he could rarely understand their meanings. So he decided that the best thing to do would be to take Yuki's advice and assume that the McDonald's menu was universal.
"Teriyaki McBurger, kuda—...ano...p-pleasu." He knew he sounded like an idiot. Why wouldn't Yuki just help him?
"Huh? I'm sorry sir; I don't think we serve that item on our menu. Um, hold on..." the cashier turned around and laid a hand on a co-worker's shoulder. "Sheryl, do we serve Teriyaki McBurgers here?"
"I don't think so. I've never heard of it." Sheryl turned back to the order she was bagging.
"Yeah, sorry, you'll have to order something else, sir," the cashier told Shuichi.
"Ano..."
What the hell is taking him so long?, grumbled Yuki, already halfway through his burger. He glanced up at the counter. It appeared that Shuichi was frantically pointing to a picture of something on the menu. Several times he shook his head rapidly when the cashier guessed incorrectly at which picture he was pointing to. Yuki sighed.
"Chigau, chigau! Are ja naku--Kocchi--Eeto -- 'Zzi-This.' —Eh ?" Shuichi was interrupted when a familiar hand was placed upon the counter in front of him. Leaning on it was none other than Yuki, to the rescue.
Yuki shot him an annoyed glare. To the cashier, he said, "Just give him two Cheeseburger Happy Meals, please. And a large..." He decided that caffeine was something Shuichi really didn't need. Ever. "...Sprite."
The cashier nodded, relieved, and punched the order into the computer. He collected the money from the one who thankfully spoke English.
"You're such a fool sometimes," Yuki criticized, munching on a french fry that was now distastefully cold.
"I told you I don't understand much English. You knew that and you still wouldn't help me until after I made a fool of myself, you asshole," Shuichi fumed. He took a large bite of a Jr. Cheeseburger.
"You should have paid attention in school. Or don't they still teach English in high school?"
Shuichi didn't answer. He was determined to remain pissed off at Yuki for letting him look so stupid. Try as he might, however, the mood didn't last long. Soon his sulking glare subsided and a slight smile spread around a salty fry hanging from his lips.
"What is that grin for, moron? What, do those Happy Meal things literally work?"
"Mm-hmm," Shuichi nodded. "Mthey hambve ma-ical mpowers." He chewed and swallowed. "Actually, a minute ago you said I'm a fool sometimes. Usually you say I'm always one. You're so sweet, Yuki. I can't stay mad at you. Hee hee." He closed his eyes happily and directed one of the sweetest teasing grins ever at his man.
Yuki was caught by surprise. "Hey...stop. Stop trying to look cute. It...isn't working." He grabbed a fry from Shuichi's bag and shoved it up his little nose. That would put a stop to that.
It actually achieved the opposite of the desired effect. The idiot just placed a matching fry in his other nostril and grinned even more widely.
Yuki glared, but inside he really wasn't angry with Shuichi at all. Only with himself for letting such a stupid thing get to him. Damn him. Only Shuichi could look so cute while looking like such a complete retard.
"Ne, look, Yuki."
Yuki cringed a little at the nasally sound of Shuichi's voice. That wasn't quite so cute. "Hm?"
"I got these little stuffed toys with the Happy Meals. This wolf, see?" He waved it in front of Yuki's face. "It reminds me of you. See his yellow eyes? He's so strong, but he looks lonely. Don't worry, I'll take care of Ookami-san." He cuddled the small toy to his face. "And you should take this one." He placed a light-pink puppy on the empty burger wrapper in front of Yuki. "Isn't he cute?"
Yuki blinked. He hardly looked at the toy; instead, his gaze became distant and a rare smile somehow found its way to his face. A gentle hand extended across the table, maneuvered around the brat's Happy Meal garbage, and ruffled his pink hair. "Sure. Sure he is..."
Shuichi giggled.
Notes:
General: Assume that Shuichi and Yuki are speaking Japanese when talking between themselves.
If you haven't figured it out, the Saowaa Sukitaruzu are Sour Skittles. That's just Shuichi's Japanese pronunciation of the candy's title.
The Teriyaki McBurger is an actual popular Japanese menu item not found in the United States (as far as I know, at least – if you know where to get one over here, let me know, hehe!). Yeah, I actually did a little research for writing about McDonald's. n.n;; I just had to be evil and make poor Shuichi embarrass himself by picking something that wasn't on the American menu. Hehehe. :D
Ookami wolf
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