The Off Track

by Aoi Umi

Chapter 14: "Twilight"

"Waa," Shuichi moped, curled up in a lawn chair. "My bear outfit is ruined..."

"It's not ruined," Yuki replied impatiently, fluffing the bear suit in the breeze and throwing it over a clothesline. "And how the hell I ended up washing this thing..." he mumbled, but trailed off.

Shuichi was sniffling. He brought his knees to his chest and shivered a few times as well.

Yuki gave him a concerned look. (Which of course, for Eiri Yuki, more precisely conveyed a message like "What the fuck?", but nevertheless...)

"It's kind of getting dark and I'm a little cold I guess," Shuichi explained hastily. "Let's start a campfire so we can have marshmallows!" he beamed.

"You didn't bring marshmallows. Remember?"

"Oh," Shuichi recalled. "Er, um, then, let's just have a campfire anyway. Pleeeeease?"

Yuki shrugged. "What do I care? Go ahead."

"Okay!" Shuichi clenched his fists and leapt for his pile of firewood. After tossing a bunch of it into a haphazard pile, he paused. "Um, I didn't bring matches or anything," he announced. "Can I maybe use your lighter or something?"

Yuki reached into his pocket, but felt nothing. He blinked. I thought I put it in this pocket... He tried another. Frantically, he searched his entire person, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Yuki?"

"Argh! I can't find it! Where the hell did it go? I had it earlier today..."

"Um," Shuichi backed off. "That's okay, Yuki, I'll find some other way to..."

"Dammit!" Eiri sat in a lawn chair and put a hand to his forehead. "Now how am I going to light my cigarettes and keep my sanity for the next..." (he checked his watch) "nineteen hours?" Suddenly, he wanted a cigarette very badly simply because he couldn't have one. This is, as everyone knows, one of the most frustrating, damnable feelings in existence.

"Um, Yuki, don't you have a spare or anything at all?" Shuichi suggested meekly.

Eiri, who hadn't previously considered the usefulness and practicality of a spare, grew even more disgruntled. (A slightly more frustrating, damnable feeling is one derived from the knowledge that oneself could have, but didn't, easily prevent a wretched situation such as this one.) He wanted to take it out on Shuichi for acquainting him with the idea, but all he ended up doing was grumbling more and more agitatedly to himself.

"Um..." Shuichi continued, trying to be helpful. "What about the cigarette lighter thing in the car?"

Eiri opened his eyes. Of course! He got up, walked to the car, and threw open the passenger door. Plugged into the cigarette lighter was Shuichi's mp3 player, which had apparently been charging. (Eiri caught a glimpse of its screen to discover that Shuichi actually had been listening to the Christmas song with the cat voices.)

Eiri pulled at the cord. He tugged at it harder when it refused to budge from the cigarette lighter. Frustrated, he gave it one good yank, and nearly fell backwards as it dislodged with a few surprising sparks. (The kitten squeaked as it awoke in the back seat.)

He blinked. As soon as he could comprehend the logistics of his latest Unpleasant Situation, he called for none other than the Creator of Havoc himself. "Idiot! What have you done now? Get over here."

Shuichi complied nervously. Now what have I done to make Yuki mad? he worried.

Eiri glared and made sure his pupil was watching. "Exhibit A," he began, holding up the plug end of Shuichi's charger. "Has two thin, metal prongs. You see?"

Shuichi nodded.

"Exhibit B..." He indicated the cigarette lighter. "Does not have a place to receive two thin, metal prongs. Understand?"

Shuichi nodded, but did so while stifling a giggle.

"What?" Eiri demanded, still quite clearly annoyed.

"Something like that never stopped us," Shuichi commented and laughed. He elbowed and then nuzzled Yuki's side affectionately.

"...You really are a perverted little boy..."

"Only, I know it's just one, but don't worry, dear, I would not call it thin," he continued in a mock-babydoll voice.

Yuki knocked his "wife" lightly in the side of the head. He had to admit that it was quite funny when he thought about it...And strangely enough, the rise he was gett---... No. No, no, no. I'm not going to give him what he wants, the little shit. I'm pissed off at him right now.

"Yukiii," Shuichi sang, fluttering his eyelashes.

"Stop that," Yuki responded firmly. "The point of the lesson is," he concluded, "that you need to get an adapter if you're going to use the car's battery to do something like charge your music player. So next time you won't fucking break it. Is that clear?"

Shuichi nodded again, now sober and visibly disappointed.

"Now if you'll be so kind" What are you doing, stupid? "as to bring a flashlight for when it gets darker," You're going to give it to him later anyway, so why not now? "we're going to go and look for my lighter, which I must have dropped somewhere earlier..." Because I need nicotine like I need air, and not because it has anything to do with that "print club photo on the lighter..."

"Huh? Photo?" Shuichi's eyes lit up.

Erk... Eiri glanced up from his agonized forehead-grasp. What had he just said? He needed to stop attempting to think and talk simultaneously.

"Yeah, let's take a photo of us camping! Tee-hee!"

Whew. "Just get the flashlight and follow me," Eiri instructed.

"Yes," Shuichi complied and removed a blinding, day-glo yellow flashlight from his pack. He trotted behind Yuki, who was heading toward the woods. Yesss! He grinned puppyishly. I get to go on a walk with Yuki after all. Hee hee hee!

"Hey hey hey, Yuki, I think you were walking in the other direction earlier," Shuichi pointed out.

Eiri stopped. Eiri Yuki liked being right. He could deal with being wrong, but of course, doing so was all the more difficult when that dumbass pop-singing boyfriend of his was the one who was right instead.

"Of course I was going in that direction," he replied nonchalantly. "I was just checking to make sure there weren't any bears in that other direction."

"Ohh," said Shuichi. "I guess that makes sense."

The genius of it was, Shuichi was too dumb to ever figure out when he was right. Eiri smiled to himself, satisfied.

The two of them trudged through the leaves, staring at the ground for any sign at all of the lighter. Shuichi sighed. This was boring, and not at all what he'd hoped for, but at least he wouldn't accidentally step in anything unpleasant this way.

Soon, Shuichi began to take notice of the glowing golden color and the long shadows that were cast across the ground in front of him. He stopped and looked toward the sunset. He smiled. It was so beautiful here. Through the trees and the clear air, he could see nothing but small hills framing the vermilion spectacle. Not a cityscape in sight.

"Yuki!" he called out.

Eiri had continued walking ahead. He turned his head, half-interested. "Hm?"

Now that he'd gotten the man's attention, Shuichi caught up to him with bounding leaps. The last leap culminated in a full-fledged, sap-loaded glomp.

Yuki stood stiffly, prepared to endure it until it passed. Shuichi only squeezed harder, however, and Yuki found himself suddenly less capable of breathing. He was about to say something, but at that moment Shuichi released his boa-constrictor hold and planted his own feet on the ground. He was still intent on squeezing the life out of Yuki's left hand, however.

"Look!" Shuichi pointed elatedly and clung to Yuki's entire arm. "Lookit how pretty it is! Isn't it cool?"

Eiri squinted and used his other hand as a visor. "Nice," he stated, simply to appease his momentarily leechlike boyfriend. He really didn't see the big deal about sunsets. All it meant was that it was soon to be dark outside, and he was running out of time to find that lighter. So he shook his arm out of Shuichi's grasp and continued scanning the ground, indifferent to his lover's plaintive pouting gazes, if indeed he even noticed them.

Shuichi eventually gave up and trudged along behind again. He didn't want to be a bother, but he was feeling terribly lonely, and his shadow offered no consolation, however tall it was. So he decided to strike up a conversation. "Hey, Yuki. I bet the sunrise is going to be just as amazing."

"Possibly," Yuki replied, not really listening.

"So, I was thinking..." Shuichi blushed nervously, although he didn't see any reason why he should be embarrassed, particularly. "Would you like to – or rather, will you – um, sit and watch it with me tomorrow? Please?"

Eiri internally groaned. Nobody in his right mind voluntarily gets up that fucking early, he thought. Although, that's assuming I even fall asleep at all on the stupid, hard ground to begin with... Damn. He knew he had to say something; his silence had been too long. "Sure," he said, not necessarily meaning it. Maybe I'll be lucky and he'll sleep right through it...

"Yay!" Shuichi spread his arms wide for a glomp, but this time refrained with a self-conscious chuckle. He simply locked arms with Yuki and rested his head firmly on his shoulder.

Eiri felt a single thump in his chest. It should have pained him to think that his insincere promises always brought so much joy to this excitable kid. It should have, and almost did, but Eiri figured that whether or not he actually opened his eyes and sat up to stare at a large mass of hydrogen and helium gases at the crack of dawn, Shuichi would still be there, full of glomps and annoyance such as he was.

"Um...Yuki?" Shuichi found himself reaching into his pocket and taking the flower delicately between his fingers. After a moment's hesitation, he abruptly shoved it into Yuki's face. "Thisflowerisforyou," he stated.

Eiri considered it for a moment. Some deplorable sense of pathos within him suddenly declared Shuichi's appeal quite "cute." It wasn't necessary to dwell on things, however, for another part of him was eager to do all the thinking. He smiled lustily and half-lowered his eyelids. He ignored the flower itself and leaned down to speak softly into Shuichi's ear. "Silly human mating rituals," he mused, nuzzling the smaller man's neck.

Shuichi closed his eyes and grinned. The waning sunlight glittered in his hair as he shivered at the touch of his love's soft nose and lips. He was finally getting some attention...

"Screee!"

This time, even Shuichi was dismayed at the appearance of yet another fuzzy, four-legged creature. This one had shiny eyes and a ringed tail. It also had something interesting in its tiny claws.

"My lighter!" Eiri growled. "That bastard rodent has my lighter!" The raccoon cringed at Eiri's voice and quickly darted into the brush.

"Don't worry, Yuki! I'll get it for you!" Shuichi announced heroically. "Here, hold this," he instructed, shoving the burdensome flashlight into Yuki's hands. He gave chase as the frightened raccoon scampered off into the woods.

Yuki followed slowly behind, but after stepping into the unpleasant tangles of the forest, thought against it and decided to stay on the path. Shuichi would be back in a couple of minutes anyway, so he opted to stand there and wait.

A couple of minutes must have passed, judging by the fact that the sun was now no longer visible. An eerie darkness enveloped the land, and everything seemed to become still at once. Eiri held up the flashlight and eyed it up and down until he could locate the switch. After turning it on, he pointed it in the direction of Shuichi's departure. Of course, Shuichi wasn't there anymore.

He stepped over some bushes. "Shuichi!" he yelled impatiently through the trees. "Brat! Dammit. Shuichi!" It was eerie how his own voice echoed so vibrantly off the tall, inert trees comprising a veritable ocean of dark, infinite forest.

"Ha! You dropped it, you stupid fuzz-butt." Shuichi seized the lighter off the ground after the raccoon had surrendered it and scampered into a tree. "That was easier than I thought," he pointed out to no one in particular, other than himself. "Now, to go back and find Yuki..."

He turned around. "Um..." He noticed for the first time that it was dark now. He also noticed that, no matter which way he looked, there was no way of knowing from which way he had come. He had become completely disoriented a number of times during the chase, especially when the animal had cleverly feigned leaps and disappeared into hollows.

"Um, um, um..." Shuichi looked this way and that, unable to discern any sort of sign. Standing in the same spot as in his triumphant victory of a moment ago, he now wanted to cry. His first reaction to the situation was a long, dramatic "YUKIIIIIIiiii!" (A small flock of birds that had just been settling for the night fluttered away to settle elsewhere.)

He tried to get his wits about him. The forest was pretty in the daytime, but at night, alone, he felt utterly victimized by every owl and tree and...bear? that might be watching him. That's silly, he told himself. Trees don't have eyes. He nodded. But...bears...have eyes and teeth and big stomachs... He whined, but then stopped for fear that he'd be heard by a family of hungry bears.

He sat down against a tree and buried his face. What am I gonna do...?

Please Review...c'mon you, it's the right thing to do...(haha - I made a rhyme.)