Chapter 4
Wow… The glittering white sand… the crystal blue water… the scorching heat of the sun… this can only be… the beach! This is great! I can swim with Hisoka, make a sandcastle with Hisoka, walk along the seashore holding Hisoka's delicate hand… and simply just spend time and enjoy a month's worth of fun-filled vacation with the love of my life… Hisoka. And maybe… just maybe, I…
"Oi! Earth to Tsuzuki!" The subject of my thoughts suddenly calls from behind the cab where he and the driver are presently unloading the trunk. He looks at me with a cute little scowl on his face as he crosses his arms over his chest. "Come here and help will you? You weren't planning to make me carry all these luggage were you now?"
"Oops, sorry" I grin sheepishly.
I hurry over and sling two of my duffel bags over each of my shoulders. Hisoka puts on his medium-sized backpack and picks up my third bag.
" 'Taku. Why'd you have to bring so much stuff?" He complains.
"But Hisoka, you never know what we might need during our stay. Besides, I don't want to spend most of our vacation doing laundry, so I decided to bring lots of clothes." I tell him. Obviously he didn't bring much clothes himself, judging from the size of his bag.
"Whatever." He mutters.
After paying the cab driver, we walk towards the hotel. The guard at the entrance smiles at us then opens the huge glass door with silver handles to let us in. Hisoka leaves me at the lobby with our bags as he goes over to the reception desk to check in. The lady greets him with a welcoming grin and hands a few papers. Hisoka signs them and after handing them back, the lady gives him a pair of card keys. After gratefully bowing, he comes back to me and we look for our rooms.
This hotel is well known for its world-class services yet affordable price, and since it's summer, most of the rooms were already occupied. Luckily, one of the guests left earlier this morning just before we checked in so we managed to snag the room, and it's a rooftop suite to boot. So we ride the elevator to the 40th floor, walk on the hallway, and finally, reach the room we'll be residing for the rest of our vacation. Hisoka slides one of the card keys and the door unlocks with a soft click. He turns the knob and opens the room where we'll be staying in… together.
I collapse on the soft, bouncy couch and toss my bags on the carpeted floor. Stretch my arms to relax my tired shoulders… phew! feels good. Hisoka carefully places the other bag down on the wooden table and removes his backpack. He walks over to the cabinet and unpacks his clothes, neatly placing them inside one by one. He leaves a big space beside them and soon unpacks my bags too. Hisoka really is the responsible one between us, just like a wife. Um, I didn't mean it like… I mean, what I wanted to say was… oh screw it. It's just, Hisoka can be so motherly, that's all… Okay, I think that was even worse. I'll just say that Hisoka is plainly Hisoka. Period.
…my Hisoka of course.
He keeps one of the card keys and gives me the other, just in case either of us loses one of them. He removes his sneakers and places them on the shoe rack then lies down on the bed to rest. The trip was kind of long, so I wouldn't be surprised why Hisoka got tired. I remove my shoes too and put them next to Hisoka's, then lie down beside him. I roll over to my side so that I'm facing him and brush my fingers through his hair.
"Hey, did you get tired from the trip? Sorry. We could've teleported here but the people might find it strange if we suddenly appeared out of nowhere." I tell him. But with all that traffic jam, I have to admit that riding the cab was quite a hassle.
He turns to face me and looks at me with softened eyes. "It's okay. I'm just tired. I'll just take a nap for now. I'm sure I'll feel better later."
I continue to stroke his hair and his eyelids begin to drop. "Rest well."
Yes, rest. That's what he needs most right now. It was only when Tatsumi mentioned it that I realized we've been working non-stop for almost a year now. It's really no wonder why Hisoka got so worn-out on our last case. And I think that this vacation is just the right thing for both of us to have the chance to relax and… do other things. What I mean by 'other things' are… well… like training Hisoka again and refreshing him on the ways of being a shinigami… Okay, and maybe those stuff that lovers do too. But that'll have to wait until he's ready. I'm planning to take this step by step because I really don't want to scare Hisoka since he's new to this.
I move closer to him and put my arms around him hesitantly. I half-expected that he'll pull away, but his reaction takes me by surprise. He moves closer to me too and snuggles his head into my chest. He breathes a tired yet relieved sigh and in less than five minutes, his even breathing tells me that he had fallen asleep.
I think I dozed off too. What with the comfortable position I'm in, especially cuddling my partner that's way much better than a child's teddy bear. He's still asleep. I'd go ahead and cook dinner for him, but I want to explore the place some more, so I'd rather eat out with him. Hm, maybe if he's up to it, I'll ask him to go down with me to the lobby. Yes and we could even do some sightseeing downtown… I heard it's rather lovely at night. That would be so wonderful. Yes, people, I'm proud to admit that I'm a hopeless romantic. Who wouldn't be if they had Hisoka for a lover anyway?
"Hey… had a good sleep?" I smile at Hisoka as his eyes sleepily flutter open. He stifles a yawn and stretches. My head moves involuntarily to kiss the top of his head… I can't help it! Hisoka's just too cute when he's being cat-like.
"Ne Hisoka, want to eat out for dinner? It's a beautiful night." I ask him eagerly.
"Hm? But Tsuzuki, do we even have that much money?" He curiously raises his eyebrows at me.
"Sure we do! I mean, Tatsumi did promise that he'd share with the expenses. So it's okay even if we go a little over-budget." I reply with a big smile.
"You're sure about that?" Hisoka asks suspiciously.
"Yup! Absolutely!" I answer, grinning from ear to ear.
But I understand Hisoka's doubt. I was just as apprehensive as he is now when I first planned this vacation, but when I talked to Tatsumi about it, he said that he'll give his share in the expenses too, and he was even the one who took care of the reservations and all. I think it just goes to show that he does care about Hisoka too. I never thought that I'd see Tatsumi spending money for someone even in my wildest imagination! But for Hisoka, he made an exception… just like he did for me when we were in Kyoto. Wow… maybe Tatsumi is beginning to become soft. Who knows, he might start to raise salaries by the time we go back to work. Right. I think I'll be the one to stop eating sweets first before Tatsumi even begins to think of doing that.
~)-0-(~
So here I am at the hallway once again, on our way to the lobby. I absently watch the numbered buttons light up as we wait for the elevator for about a couple of minutes, then we get in and push the 'G' button to go down to the ground floor. The elevator stops and opens, so I wait for Hisoka to step out then follow behind him.
Upon entering the lobby, a spectacular sight accompanied with a beautiful music greets us. The high ceiling is adorned with crystal chandeliers brightening the entire entrance hall, and at the very center of the spacious lobby, a white grand piano stands. Behind it, a young boy, I think about Hisoka's age or older, is seated while his fingers gracefully dance on top of the black and white keys.
"He's a special guest tonight." A lady in black dress- probably one of the guests- says upon noticing us staring at him in awe. "He's one of the richest persons here in Japan, because his father was once part of the inner circle of the most successful entrepreneurs. He's also a very talented artist, and his works are displayed in the gallery. I think you'd better go see for yourself. His masterpieces are truly milestones in the field of art."
Enticed by what we were told, Hisoka and I then decide to check out the gallery. The paintings are really fascinating. Different artitsts used different mediums, each work done to its fullest extent, but there is that particular one that caught Hisoka's attention, and he's looking at it right now. It's a portrait of two loevbirds sitting on the porch of a balcony facing the ocean. This is simlpy breath-taking, and I just couldn't tell why, but it exceeds the other paintings for some reason.
"Amazing... it's done so perfectly as if the subjects weren't moving at all. Each stroke done with accurate detail." Hisoka commented. Oh, so that's it. He's right. Each and every line was done so flawlessly, and the color and brightness are just right... it was as if time stopped when the artist drew it.
"aki... namida... 'autumn'... 'tears'...? I wonder why these kanji are written here." I tell Hisoka, poiting to the lower right corner of the painting.
"I don't know." Hisoka shrugs. "Hm... artists usually sign their works, so maybe it's the name of the one who painted it?" Hisoka suggests, looking up at me with eyebrows raised.
"Probably..." I shrug in agreement. We look around some more. There were other beautiful artworks that portrayed famous people, mountains, waterfalls, fruits... speaking of food... "Ne, Hisoka, I'm hungry. Let's go eat! I want to look around downtown too. Please?" I beg, trying to lure him to cave in to my most pitiful puppy look ever.
"Fine." He sighs, knowing all too well that arguing with me is useless.
~)-0-(~
We take a stroll downtown and stop to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It's not that sophisticated but the ambience is warm and welcoming. And boy, the food is good too! I even had five servings, and that's a first in the history of Tsuzuki's stomach. It's good that Hisoka finished his, albeit he only had one serving, but since it's Hisoka, it's already a rarity that he'd gotten half of his food done. So again, another first!
After dinner we walked around some more and went into different stores. The bright neon lights illuminate the night animating the entire street that it makes you forget time. We went into some of the stores, but ended up not buying a thing since there were so many to choose from.
We also went into a casino, but I had to keep protectively close to Hisoka because some of the nasty-looking customers kept on throwing hungry glances at him, making my partner very nervous.
We tried out some of the games. Hisoka's really such a lucky charm, because with him around, we keep on winning. Then I remember when he played against Muraki aboard Queen Camellia, and his royal straight flush saved me and my virginity from that perverted psycho. Really, I guess lady luck is always watching over her precious angel…. Well, not so. I mean, if that were the case, then Hisoka's life would've been a bit more… pleasant. But it doesn't matter… it's all in the past now. Hisoka has a family in us. Besides, it's not like I'll let anyone hurt him again. Never. Over my dead shinigami body.
I look at Hisoka playing the roulette when, suddenly, a man grabs his waist from behind. Hisoka gasps and tries to push the taller and stronger man away.
"Let go!" he protests.
"Hey there doll face. Want to have some… fun?" The obviously drunk man asks seductively.
"Let him go." I warn as I try to pry his hands off Hisoka, but he stubbornly keeps them around him and tightens his hold.
"Hey! You shouldn't keep such a beauty to yourself. You should learn to share!" He retorts.
My blood suddenly boils and my hands unconsciously clench.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." And the next moment, my fist collides with his face making him loosen his hold on Hisoka. After freeing himself from the man's tight grasp Hisoka runs to my side.
"You okay?" I ask gently, smiling down at him.
And he nods gratefully.
I take Hisoka's hand and lead him to the casino's exit.
"Let's go. Let's get out of here."
We didn't talk much on our way back to the hotel and now here we are, back at our room. We take turns in using the bathroom to change into our sleeping attire, Hisoka into his pajamas and me into boxers and a loose shirt. We switch off the main light and turn the lampshade on. While lying down I stare at the ceiling for a while… until Hisoka snuggles closer to me.
"Hey… don't think about what happened earlier too much. I think our first day didn't go too bad." he reassures me. I think he felt my disappointment. It's just, I wanted this vacation to go smoothly and it all had to be ruined by that pervert.
"And… thanks." he shyly mutters.
I wrap my arms around him and pull him closer so that I could kiss the top of his head. I love the scent of his hair.
"Nothing to it. You know that I'd do it for you… anything… to keep you from harm."
I could feel him relax as I run my fingers through his soft blond strands, then he stifles a yawn.
"Well, you're right. We have a whole month ahead of us… so I think this vacation can only get better." I affirm, more to myself than to Hisoka.
But, I just can't erase the worry that I'm feeling right now, no matter how I try to bury it at the back of my head so as to not let Hisoka feel my anxiety. Back at the casino… that man called Hisoka 'doll face'. I can't help but notice the word doll. What if it had some kind of effect on Hisoka? I mean, the only person whoever called Hisoka by that twisted nickname is… Damn! I can't think about that now. Or else Hisoka might notice.
"Tsuzuki… go to sleep. You worry too much." Hisoka reprimands me sleepily.
"Oh! Um, sorry about that. Goodnight." And I kiss his forehead.
"Oyasumi." Hisoka softly whispers and kisses my cheek, as if to cheer me up.
So I switch off the lampshade so that we can both sleep now. I was on the verge of dozing of when a sudden realization sank in and snapped me back into full consciousness.
Did Hisoka just kiss me?
~)-0-(~
tbc???