CHAPTER 3

Touya opened his eyes to the sight of Yukito toweling his hair, already dressed for the day. He looked well-rested but seemed to be thinking really hard about something. Touya said nothing and tried not to move a muscle so that he could just watch him a little longer, but Yuki did have a sixth sense and he turned around.

'Ohayou, To-ya!' he said brightly.

'O-Ohayou. Should've woken me up.'

'You looked like you needed the rest, and it's still early anyway. I think it's gonna be pretty sunny and nice today, too.'

Touya nodded, sat up on the bed and pressed two fingers to his head. Ouch. It looked like he was the only one with a hangover. Plus another more usual morning occurrence. Great, he thought, irked. He moved very slowly to grab his bag and then rushed into the bathroom. He felt bad enough about having taken some advantage of the situation the night before; he didn't want to deal with a hard-on at the moment. He took a deep breath and let the cold water of the shower help fix things.

Touya felt more at ease when he watched Yukito behave in a consistently normal way during breakfast, piling loads of food on his plate and chatting away throughout. They had a lot of sightseeing to do before going to the hot springs, which was the last surprise he had in store for Yuki.

As if his friend had read his mind, he asked, 'You said we're staying somewhere different tonight?'

Touya grinned. 'We are. It wouldn't be fun if I told you now.'

Yukito looked genuinely excited. 'Oookay, then. Oh, do you want to do Kinkaku-ji temple first? I've heard it gets crowded.'

'We can go there. And later on there's a sweet shop in Gion you wouldn't want to miss.'

'I'm getting some omamori for Sakura-chan and her friend,' Yukito announced, approaching the stall where the lucky charms were sold near one of the temples they passed by.

'Do you mean the brat?'

'I mean Tomoyo-chan, but you're right, maybe I'll get him one too.'

'No need for that!' Touya said a bit more loudly than necessary. 'He's-he's not even in Japan now.'

Yukito blinked at him for a moment. 'You're not any closer to liking him, are you?'

'I like him better when he's away,' Touya mumbled, and he himself realized how childish it sounded.

'He's the one for Sakura-chan.' Yukito said it in a quiet but straightforward way.

'She's twelve. How do you know that?' he asked stubbornly.

'The invisible red string,' Yuki smiled. 'Anyone can see that. And the people involved... they can't fail to notice it, can they? Sakura-chan knows.'

Touya opened his mouth but no sound came out, so he closed it again. The red string. Was he connected to Yuki in this way? He glanced at his pinkie as if the answer were written there, then back at his friend. Yukito was blushing a little, and Touya could feel it again, the tension between them. They were surrounded by quite a crowd, so he just looked away.

'Do as you like,' Touya said, giving in with a sigh. 'I'll be waiting near the wooden wishing plaques.'

He watched some tourists hang their handwritten wishes before he resolved to get an ema plaque, after making sure Yuki was still in line to buy the charms. Writing on it brought back memories. He'd done the same with Kaho years before and asked to always be near her. He'd been caught then, and she had just smiled and given him one of her cryptic answers, something about fate. Only now did he understand that she had been right. Fate had had other plans for him from the beginning. I'm doing it right this time. He wrote with quick but careful strokes of the pen:

I wish to have that person around forever.

'I hope it comes true, what you wrote,' Yukito said with a smile after Touya had hung it up. He was holding a small paper bag with the charms. There was no chance he could have read what it said, though.

'I hope so, too. Do you want to write one?'

Yukito shook his head. 'There is no need. Everything is... working out for me.' He gave Touya a bright smile.

Gods, I want to kiss you again, Touya thought. I want to see if I'm part of that everything. At some point that day the time would be right to tell him properly. He'd made up his mind about that.

They spent part of the morning admiring the beauty of Kinkakuji's golden structure shining under the sun, and Japan's most famous Zen garden at Ryôan-ji. After a quick lunch at a food market, they strolled through the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, where somehow Yukito's hand slipped into Touya's as they walked. A small group of teenage girls dressed in yukatas walked past them giggling, but Yukito looked unfazed. He kept his eyes wide open and seemed to be absorbed in deciphering the sounds of the forest. Touya wondered whether there was something supernatural about the place, but he had no way to tell.

'It's like a song, isn't it,' his friend said. 'The rustling of the bamboo stalks.'

'It's peaceful. It's a shame that we can't have it to ourselves.' There were too many tourists walking the path, in Touya's opinion.

'Don't be selfish, To-ya,' Yuki said good-humouredly. 'Everyone wants to enjoy it.'

Holding hands like this wasn't something they could do openly in Tomoeda, but they were on a trip and Touya realized he didn't mind what anyone might say behind their backs. It was a liberating feeling.

'What would you do, if we had this place to ourselves?' Yukito asked, interrupting Touya's train of thought.

Touya let the question sink in and trigger all sort of inappropriate pictures in his mind, and for a split second the sound of his own heartbeat pounding in his ears muted the bamboo song. He was lost for words and simply slowed down and met Yuki's eyes for a moment. The sweetness he found in that gaze almost made him lose it right then and there, but he couldn't, it wasn't the right time, not with a large group of noisy gaijin hot on their heels. He squeezed Yuki's hand a little. 'What... do you think?'

Yukito chuckled. 'I think I know, but I'm not telling you.' He lowered his voice. 'You can stop looking flustered now.'

'You're a tease,' Touya complained. 'I'm not sure I want to take you to the sweets shop.' He didn't mean that, of course.

Yuki's smile widened. 'You can't go back on that now. I'm looking forward to the yatsuhashi.'

'You're right. That would be too cruel,' Touya snorted.

It was their usual gentle bickering, with the difference that they were walking hand in hand and it almost –almost– felt like they were truly together. Even when they left the bamboo grove and let go, Touya's stomach was fluttering and his mind was racing with all the possibilities. He was almost relieved when they got to the shop, which had a little café attached, and they sat down for tea and sweets.

'We should get some sweets for your family. Sakura-chan will like these.'

'Yeah. The stuffed animal will murder me in my sleep otherwise.'

'Kero-chan gets really serious about food, doesn't he?'

'He's raided the fridge for dessert more than once. He's fearless now that he's not hiding from me anymore.'

Yukito took a bite of a cute flower-shaped yatsuhashi and smiled in delight. 'Here. Try this,' he said, and offered it to Touya, stretching his arm and putting it so close to Touya's lips that he had no choice but to open his mouth and take it. It was a simple, friendly gesture, but it sent a wave of electricity down Touya's spine. What if they could do this exact same thing later? In case there were no sweets available at the hot springs ryokan, he really wanted to get some.

'Any good?'

'M-mh,' Touya nodded. 'My favourite so far.'

Maybe it was just his feverish imagination, but Touya could have sworn he'd seen his excitement mirrored in Yuki's eyes before his best friend lifted the teacup to his lips and averted his gaze.

In the end, Touya bought two large boxes full of sweets and a smaller one for themselves, and they made their way to the hotel to pick up their bags, which they'd left in storage after checking out. Yukito looked intrigued, but didn't ask any questions when they headed to the bus station. Thankfully, the destination written on the coach sign was obscure enough that there was no way Yuki would associate it with hot springs. So the mystery would last a little longer.

'Woah. Are we really staying here?'

Touya shared Yukito's wonderment, since the establishment looked even better than in the photos. It was located in a marvellous natural setting full of lush vegetation, and they could hear the unmistakeable sounds of running water. The building itself was made of wood and decorated with lanterns and large painted signs.

'It does look good,' he said.

'I've never… been to one before. I mean, not me,' Yukito said. For a second, he looked as bewildered as he usually did when he saw a memory that was not his, and Touya wondered what on earth Yue was sharing. The guardian did seem to be in a sharing mood lately. He supposed that was a good thing, but he hoped it wouldn't keep Yukito perpetually confused.

'Let's make some memories then.' That seemed to do the trick and Yuki beamed at him.

They were greeted by a kind middle-aged woman, who after multiple displays of politeness looked slightly troubled before speaking again.

'Sirs, we've got a party of twenty male guests using the common outdoors bath today and we fear this may be inconvenient for you. However, there has been a cancellation and there is one larger room with a private open air bath available, and we'd be very happy to offer it to you so you can relax properly.'

'I… we don't mind, do we, Yuki?' Touya said, forcing himself to speak like an adult despite his surprise. He had not been able to book the private bath when he'd made the reservation, so this was a very welcome upgrade.

'If you would do that for us, we'd really appreciate it,' Yukito added in his charming manner.

'It is our pleasure,' the woman said, brightening up. 'Please let me show you our humble establishment and your room.'

They took off their shoes and put on slippers at the reception and were given a short tour of the building. Their room was a tatami-matted suite complete with a low table, futons, bathroom and access to their own rotenburo. Touya couldn't remember ever having stayed somewhere that nice. The lady, Kihara-san, poured green tea for them and gave them yukatas to wear during their stay; she then announced that dinner would be brought in shortly and left.

'I feel like a king in a fairy tale,' Yukito said once they were alone.

'We really got lucky. The idea of twenty guys splashing around was not that appealing.'

'Oh, we haven't seen it yet!' His friend sprang to his feet and opened the door leading to the bathing area. The bathroom led into the outdoor bath so that one could shower first and then go outside and relax. Touya followed him and was once again surprised to see how nice the bath looked; it was a medium-sized pool at ground-level, made of stone and with a view of the surrounding mountains and a little stream that flowed nearby.

'We'll surely come out here later, won't we,' Yukito said excitedly.

'Of course. Let's change and have dinner first. I read the food here is very good.'

Yukito looked so cute in the grey and white striped yukata that Touya opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, looking like a fish out of water.

'Traditional clothes do suit you,' Yuki said, and Touya blinked at the compliment.

'You too.'

They gazed at each other for a long moment and Touya's heart brimmed over. He didn't want to ruin their stay by saying something that Yukito may not wish to hear, but so far there had only been favourable signs on his best friend's part. The atmosphere had felt charged more often than ever before during their trip. Tell me I'm not imagining things.

'Yuki, I-'

He couldn't finish the sentence because there was a knock on the door and two employees came in. The situation brought back unwanted memories of Akizuki's interruptions when Yukito/Yue had been about to vanish. The two men carried large food trays filled with a variety of bowls and dishes, each of which was painstakingly placed on the table in the proper order. The younger man explained the different dishes emphasizing local products and cooking styles. Yuki looked enthralled; he always did love learning about food. Once everything was in place, they were left alone to enjoy their dinner.

'Itadakimasu!' Yukito said, and dug right in. Touya shared his enthusiasm this time, as the day had been exhausting and he really needed to eat a proper meal.

'Do you think we'll pass out if we take a hot bath after this?' he asked amusedly.

'No way… I think. But we'd better be careful and not move around too much?'

Yukito's statement sounded so innocent that it shouldn't have triggered certain images in Touya's mind, but it did. Was Yuki even aware of his choice of words? Or maybe it's just me. I'm just hearing more than what Yuki is actually saying. None of them had ordered alcoholic drinks this time, so hallucinating didn't make sense. It was also not hot at all in the room but Touya felt warmed up from head to toe, as if his blood had started to boil.

After that they ate in companionable silence, exchanging comments about the food and their trip now and then. It was one of the things Touya loved most about spending time with Yuki; they could be silent and still aware of each other's presence, as if they'd known each other all their lives. They were also used to anticipating the other's words and reactions. Touya wondered, for the millionth time, if Yuki could see right through him. If he knew how Touya felt. Not that the kissing and holding hands weren't good enough to clue him in. I want to do that again, and more, he thought, staring at one of his empty plates.

'It's one of the best meals I've ever had,' Yukito said when they were done. 'You'll let me see the pictures, right?'

'I'll make you copies. I've taken so many today.' Touya had made sure to take photos of the two of them before some of the sights to print and treasure when he got home.

When the empty trays were taken away and more iced tea was brought, it was time to enjoy the bath. Touya had tried not to think about how naked they were going to get in case the thought made his predicament worse, but the reality of it struck him hard and he just stared at the bathroom door and hesitated for a full minute.

'Let me go in first, and join me when you are ready, okay?' Yukito offered, and Touya nodded. It would deprive him of a wonderful sight, he was sure, but the situation would be easier to handle if he didn't see a naked Yuki right away.

Touya listened in for the sounds of running water coming from the bathroom, and only ventured into it when they stopped, assuming that Yukito would be soaking in the rotenburo at that point. He washed away all the grime and sweat of the day and scrubbed his hair clean with scented shampoo. It's a common situation for two friends to sit in the hot springs together, he told himself. No big deal.

He grabbed a small towel to preserve some of his dignity as he walked outside. The cool evening air kissed his warm skin right away, making a nice contrast and helping him focus. However, he almost dropped the towel and exposed too much flesh when he saw a cascade of silky silvery hair spilling all over the terrain surrounding the pool, and a beautiful face propped up on no less beautiful pale arms. The rest of Yue's body was submerged in the water, his wings missing, but what Touya could see glowed with a soft light as if responding to the full moon that was already visible in the purple-tinted sky.

Touya remembered Yukito's words then. Would you speak with him too?

'To-ya,' Yue said, looking at him with cool silver eyes and an inscrutable expression.

TBC