Story By: Stalli Anna
Fandom: FAKE
Pairing: Dee/Ryo
Rating: Work safe. Sorry. I had to think of jet lag when making this chapter. There might be some language though so I'm rating for that at the moment.
Spoilers: After Vol. 7
Timing: First year of being together. Just after the end of the last volume for sure. I think somewhere in the middle of May maybe since I want it to be spring. Probably just a couple of months after getting together.
Summary: Dee and Ryo are now a couple and Ryo is trying to understand this new kind of relationship. They finally arrive in Japan in this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of FAKE. They belong to Sanami Matoh. I'm just a poor fan fic writer. I do own Sakura, Kobayashi and Mrs. Stuckey.
A/N: Wow. Chapter 4 is finally up. That makes me super happy. This chapter came out much longer because I'm desperate get to my first lemon. I forgot to mention what day Dee and Ryo leaves for their vacation. Because I don't have a calendar for the year that this takes place, I've had to make up my own dates. They leave on a Monday on May eleventh. I'll put down the dates as soon as they get to japan and then I'll probably not say anything more about dates until it's time for them to come home. I'll keep you updated on what day it is as I go along in my story so that you don't get confused. There's a large amount of author's notes after the story because there was too much to explain up here.
Not beta-ed by anyone at the moment. I'm doing this all by myself until I hear from a possible person to be my beta.
Chapter 4
Previously in chapter 3: We left off with Dee and Ryo up in the air getting ready to head to ATL Georgia. Now it's time to get them to Japan.
Two hours later, at nine pm eastern time, the flight lands in Atlanta, Georgia at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport. Dee and Ryo depart the plane and make their way to the next terminal to catch the next flight to Washington State. Back in the air Dee begins to get impatient when he learns how long the flight is going to take.
"I've got to sit here for the next five hours?" he complains as he stares out the small window nothing but darkness.
"Quit complaining, Dee," Ryo scoffs at Dee. "At least we're not driving cross country to get to Washington. That would be our vacation alone."
"Fine. Whatever." Dee pouts but cheers up a bit when he hears about the vacation.
xxx
At Seattle, Washington, the flight comes in at two am eastern time at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. There's a little break in between flights and Dee and Ryo are grateful to be able to stretch their legs a bit. Dee looks down at his watch and stares at the time.
"Is it really two am, Ryo?" he asks skeptically.
Ryo looks at Dee a little surprised but then smiles. "You forgot to set your watch four hours back, Dee," he says. "Look at the clock behind the ticket receptionist's desk. It's really ten pm here. We're in west coast time now."
"Man I hate time zones now. I feel like I should be asleep at the moment."
"We should be sleeping back at home," Ryo agrees, "Our bodies are still in tune with east coast time. You should change your watch for now so you don't get confused any further."
Dee grumbles a bit as he re-sets his watch. Suddenly his stomach protests very loudly at being empty and he gives a sheepish look. "Can we find some grub while we wait for the next flight?"
"I don't think that's going to be possible," Ryo says as he looks around the airport as they walk towards the next terminal. "Everything looks closed for the night."
"Damn," Dee sneers as he looks around as well, "If they knew that we would be coming in at such an oddball hour, the least they could have done was serve us something better to eat than pretzels and coffee or soda on that long ass flight."
"It's not the airlines fault about the time that a store closes in the airport, Dee. I'm sure we can find something though. Let's just get to the next gate and then try to find something to eat."
The two men walk the somewhat empty airport to their next gate in silence. Both are lost in their own thoughts. Dee is mainly thinking about getting something to eat while Ryo is wondering what's to come on the final flight to Japan. Finally they reach the gate to get onto their plane and check their tickets in. Dee then wanders off and finds some vending machines where he purchases some crackers, cookies, chips and a bottle of water. Ryo goes to the restroom to splash some water on his face and use the urinal. He washes his hands and when he comes out he goes to the vending machines and buys himself something to eat with some water as well.
By ten thirty pm the receptionist announces that it's time to board the plane to Kyoto, Japan. Dee and Ryo gather up their belongings and head to the gate to board the plane. They find their seats and put their carryon bags away in the overhead bins. Dee takes the window seat again and Ryo sits in the middle seat next to him. Then a young Japanese woman takes the aisle seat next to the two of them. She smiles kindly at them as she settles into her seat. Once the announcements are spoken in both English and Japanese, with the reminder that time will change over the waters and that breakfast will be served at seven am, the stewardess passes out blankets and pillows to all of the passengers.
"How long is this flight going to take?" Dee asks as he arranges his pillow and blanket around him.
Ryo looks a little apprehensive to answer this question knowing that it might piss Dee off but he decides to just get it over with before someone else answers the question. "This flight is going to take us twenty-seven hours to get to Japan."
Dee shrugs his shoulders in nonchalance and rests his head on his pillow. "I didn't expect it to be all that short with us going over the ocean and all."
"You're being very grown about this today. You were mad about a five hour flight earlier."
"When there's nothing you can about the length of a flight, then all you can do is accept it for what it is. Wake me up when it's time to eat please. I hope the rumors are wrong about airline food."
"I'm pretty sure the food will be okay, Dee." Ryo smiles as his partner closes his eyes.
Finally the plane begins to move onto the runway and Ryo settles himself along with Dee for the long flight ahead of them.
xxx
Twenty-seven hours later and the plane lands at Kansai International Airport in the Osaka prefecture. Dee and Ryo disembark from the plane with weary eyes and take a quick look around. While walking in the airport to the luggage claim, Dee takes a look at his watch and makes a strange sound. "Are you serious?" his voice raises a little. "It's only one-thirty in the morning on March eleventh here?"
Ryo looks at Dee like he had gone crazy this time. "Didn't you hear that announcement on the plane just before we landed?" He sighs when he sees the puzzled look on his partners' face. "They told us that it's seven-thirty pm here on May thirteenth."
"You mean we missed a whole day flying here?"
"Get it right, Dee. We were flying for that whole day you think we missed."
"Well to me, we missed the whole day. All we did was sit on our asses in a tin bird in the air."
"You're complaining too much. I'm too tired to take this today, Dee," Ryo glares. "Your watch is still on west coast time. It's eighteen hours ahead here in Japan from where we just were. You should fix your watch so you don't get confused anymore. Let's just get our luggage and find a way to get to Kyoto."
"What do you mean find a way to get to Kyoto?" Dee's voice gets a little louder again and people start to stare at the two.
Ryo blushes at the unwanted attention and hushes Dee before someone thinks that the crazy American might do something dangerous. "There's no airport in Kyoto so we had to land in the Osaka prefecture. There's always a way to get to where you want to go, especially for tourists. So please lower your voice and calm down."
Dee gives an aggravated sigh but keeps his mouth shut. He adjusts his shoulder bag and follows Ryo along the airport as they follow the signs to the luggage claim. Once at the luggage rack, they wait patiently for their bags to come around on the conveyer belt. While they wait, Dee fiddles with his watch to make it the right time in Japan like Ryo had suggested. After picking up their suitcases, they follow the signs once more to find a currency exchange counter where Ryo exchanges $200 for about 16,322 yen. After that, they go through all other protocols in the airport in order to leave the building. Finally outside, Ryo begins to ask the authorities where they could catch either a cab or a bus to their hotel in Kyoto. He's very lucky to find that the people he speaks to speak very good English and they are able to direct him and Dee to a bus stop.
Once at the bus stop it doesn't take long for a bus to arrive. Ryo climbs onto the bus to talk to the driver while Dee put their luggage into the back where there was no one sitting.
"Do you speak English?" Ryo asks carefully to the middle-aged driver.
"I sure do," he replies with a very thick Japanese accent. "Where can I take you?"
"Our ryokan the Hoshinoya,"
"Ah, sure, I know the place. It's in Arashiyama, Kyoto. I can take you there no problem."
"Arigatou," Ryo says a little shyly. "By the way, my name is McLean Randy. It's a pleasure to meet you. That's my friend, Laytner Dee-san back there." He holds out his hand to the bus driver.
The bus driver takes Ryo's proffered hand and shakes it heartily. "Call me Kobayashi. It's a pleasure to meet you Randy-san." He smiles warmly. "Looks like your partner is done packing your things. If the two of you are ready, I can take you to your ryokan."
Dee and Ryo sit towards the front of the bus since there's no one else on the bus. Kobayashi pulls out of the terminal and onto the highway to go to Kyoto. During the ride, the three men engage in small conversation. It's mostly Ryo and Kobayashi talking while Dee listens and watches where they're going even though the night is settling in.
One hour later, at about eight-thirty pm, the bus arrives at the Hoshinoya ryokan.
"You guys have been such a pleasure to have on my bus," Kobayashi tells Dee and Ryo as he helps to remove the luggage out of the bus. "When you're ready to head back to the airport, you just let them know to get me for you. I'll take good care of you."
"Arigatou, Kobayashi-san," Ryo bows to the bus driver. "That's very kind of you to offer. I'll try to remember that when it's time to go."
Kobayashi even goes out of the way to help his passengers get their stuff into the ryokan and to tell the receptionist at the counter that they have arrived. He speaks to the lady in Japanese and reminds them that the two men don't speak Japanese. He then bows to the two men and Ryo bows back. He nudges Dee lightly in the ribs to do the same. Kobayashi then takes his leave.
Ryo turns to the receptionist and gives her a pleasant smile. "Sorry we're late."
"Oh you two are just fine," she replies. Her almond eyes survey the papers in front of her on the counter. "Your room is ready for you." She then calls out in Japanese for a young woman to come and show the two men to their room.
A very pretty young woman comes down the hall dressed in a traditional ice blue kimono and tabi on her feet. Her hair is wrapped up on her head and held in place with a couple of sticks. She bows low to Dee and Ryo and they both bow back to her. "My name is Shiina Sakura," she says in a very soft and pretty voice. "I'll be your nakai during your stay." She takes a good look at their faces and blushes a bit for her unprofessionalism. "You two must be tired from your long trip. Please allow me to show you to your room now." Kawaii she thinks to herself as she turns away to lead the two men to their room. I am so lucky to be serving such handsome Americans. Out loud she says, "Your room is already set for your stay."
"Thank you very much, Sakura-san," Dee says for the first time getting off of the bus. He gives her one of his debonair smiles and enjoys the way she blushes at it. He glances at Ryo from the corner of his eyes and sees an approval on his face for his words.
As the three make their way through ryokan, Dee's stomach makes a very loud protest to being empty for so long. He gives a toothy grin and rubs the back of his head in embarrassment while Ryo chuckles quietly next to him. Sakura glances behind her with a small smile on her pretty lips.
"Would you like me to order you a dinner for your room?" she asks politely.
"Yes please," Ryo answers before Dee could say anything. "How about some shiromiso with fish and rice? I think you should make it a double considering how my friend's stomach is sounding."
"As soon as I see you to your room, I shall go to the kitchen and set in your order." Sakura says as she returns her gaze to the hall ahead of her. "Also, I want to add that while you wait for your food, you are free to use the public baths. They're still open to all guests. Or if you prefer some privacy, all of our rooms have showers and bath tubs."
"Thank you again for everything, Sakura-san," Ryo says as they stop in front of some sliding doors.
Sakura kneels on the floor in front of the door and slides it open. She shifts to the side to allow the two men to enter and bows respectfully as she waits for them to walk past her. Once they are inside the receiving area, she silently closes the door behind them. She then gets up and heads to the kitchen to place their room service order.
When the door closes behind them, Dee and Ryo take a good look at the area they're standing in. The first area they're in is like a main entrance. It's the place where you put your outerwear like coats shoes. After that is another sliding door that leads to a hallway that will lead to the room proper. There's a step from the main entrance to the next room where there are two pairs of slippers and next to them two pairs of tabi with zori.
"What on earth are those?" Dee points to the tabi and zori.
Ryo looks down to where Dee is pointing and smiles at the sight. "Those socks are called tabi. They're the kind of socks that go in between your toes, and those wooden sandals are called zori. They're very traditional."
Dee has no more words for the odd items on the floor. He decides to not bother wearing them at all. He follows Ryo in taking his boots off and slides his feet into the extremely comfortable slippers provided. "These are super nice." He comments. He even wiggles his toes inside to feel how soft and plush they were.
The two men pick up their suitcases once again and go into the hallway. As they walk slowly through the hallway they see that there's what appears to be a paper like wall to their left side with two doors set into it. Behind the first door is revealed to be the bathroom for the shower and bathtub and the next door at the end of the hallway is the bathroom with the toilet, sink and mirror. Once out of the hallway, they stop to admire the large and beautifully decorated bedroom on the left where the king size futon sits up against the wall. To the right in front of the futon is a low and long dresser. They place their suitcases next to the dresser. On the dresser is a modern television with a cable box and a remote next to it. Dee whistles his approval when he sees how nice the bedroom is decorated in spring colors.
"Nice bed there. I bet we could have a lot of fun on that thing." Dee grins at Ryo.
Ryo pushes Dee playfully but has a pleasant smile on his face as well.
They walk away from the bedroom and inspect the rest of the room. Away from the first room they come to the sitting room where there's a sofa built into wall in front of them. It was strewn artfully with pillow in each corner. The sofa is also under a large traditional picture window with sliding panes. There's glass in the window to help keep the elements out but they can be opened if wanted to do so. Outside this window is a beautiful scenery of a garden called the 'Hidden Garden'. Next to the sofa is a low to the floor table and a pair of low reclined chairs for the comfort of dining or lounging. Next to the table is a small refrigerator and above that in the wall is a cabinet that holds the other kitchen appliances.
Both men are in complete awe by the beauty of the room.
Ryo goes back to the bedroom and looks on the futon to find two pairs of pajamas folded neatly on the pillows. "Hey, Dee," he calls out, "I'm going to head for a quick shower so I can get out of these travel worn clothes. Could you wait for Sakura-san to come back with our dinner?"
"Yeah, sure," Dee reluctantly agrees while watching his lover disappear into the bathroom. That man is still so shy even after all we've been through, he sighs to himself. Nothing left to do now but to wait. Man I'm hungry.
About ten minutes later, Ryo emerges from the shower looking fully refreshed and clean. He folds his dirty clothes and places them on the dresser to be taken care of properly the next day. "Thanks, Dee," he smiles at the olive skinned man. "I'll be here waiting for our nakai. You go on ahead and get your shower."
"Thanks, love." Dee goes to the bed and picks up his set of complimentary pajamas, gives Ryo a loving kiss on the cheek and goes into the bathroom to get himself together.
Ryo sits on the sofa and looks out to the garden which is fully illuminated for the guests viewing pleasure. This is so peaceful, he thinks to himself. I'm glad we were able to make if after all. He takes a deep breath of the different air and sighs in contentment. Then he gets up and begins to familiarize himself with how the lights work in the room and where important things, like the phone, are placed. He looks at the fridge inside and out and peeks in the little cabinet to see a coffee maker and some other appliances. He looks at the plugs set up in the room and frown at the unfamiliarity of them but then realizes that he can call to the front desk to have them bring some adaptors for him.
Dee is still in the shower when a soft knock on the inside sliding door brings Ryo out of his wanderings. He goes to the door and opens it without saying a word. He already knew that it was going to be their nakai with dinner. "Please come in," he says politely. He looks down at her burden and then begins to help her bring in the tray of food.
"I have that, sir," Sakura tries to protests.
"It's alright. I don't mind helping." Ryo smiles kindly at the nakai as she rises to her feet.
When Ryo turns his back to Sakura, she gives Ryo's buttocks a quick but very appreciative sweep before continuing her duties as a nakai. While she and Ryo are getting ready to set the table set up with the food and drinks, Dee finally emerges from the bathroom with only his pajama pants on and a towel across his shoulders. She glances over at him and her eyes widen in pleasure at the sight of the well sculpted body of the olive skinned man. She blushes as she quickly averts her eyes hoping that the two men didn't notice her stare. What she didn't know is that they both saw her and smiled knowingly at each other while keeping their mouths shut.
While Dee finishes drying his hair, Sakura sets up the bowls for the soup and rice and places the plates for the fish. She sets the cups as well as some chopsticks and spoons. As the men seat themselves at the low table, she begins to serve the tea and soup.
"What kind of soup is this again?" Dee asks as he sees the strange new liquid enter his bowl.
"It's shiromiso soup, Dee." Ryo explains as Sakura gives him soup next. He doesn't bother telling her that he's older than Dee. "That just means its 'white miso'. It's a vegetable stock soup stock that's made with kelp, carrots, potatoes fish and daikon. It's a very basic soup in Japan if I remember correctly. I haven't had it in years so I might be wrong in some of the things I mentioned. But from what I can remember, it's very good. My mom used to make for us."
Dee makes a funny look at the mention of kelp in his soup but then decides to just dig in. He's on vacation with the love of his life and he's willing to try new things.
Sakura finally pours them their tea and then waits to see if the two men would want anything else from her for the evening.
"Arigatou, Sakura-san," Ryo says politely. "You've been a great nakai to us. We'll leave the dishes outside the door once we're done."
"You're very welcome," Sakura smiles at Ryo, "If there's anything else you need, please don't hesitate to call for me. I'll be happy to oblige." She gets up from the floor and excuses herself from the room.
Dee ends up scarfing his food down he was so hungry. He did remember his manners though and tasted the food before he swallowed it. "It's very good," he says around mouthfuls of rice and fish. He took up the bowl of soup and just drank it down without a thought. He even picked up the chopsticks and tried his luck with them but soon gave up when they kept crossing each other and dropping his fish. "I think we should learn the recipe for this kind of food when we get back home," he gulps down more rice and fish.
Ryo continues to serve the rest of the meal to them while he eats his own food with the chopsticks. His fingers never forgot how to use them. "I'm glad you like the food, Dee," he says after swallowing some rice and fish. "I'll look it up on the internet to see how to make some of the dishes we like the most." He pours more tea for Dee when he sees the other man gulp it down.
Between the two hungry men, mostly Dee, the food didn't have a chance to become leftovers. Ryo gathers up the empty dishes and begins to carry them towards the door to the room. He places them outside the room for collection and then returns to the sitting room with Dee.
"Do you think the television even has anything we would be able to understand?" Dee asks staring at the flat screen.
"I'm pretty sure there's something for us to watch if you really want to turn it on." Ryo replies as he goes to his carryon bag and pulls out yet another book.
"I'm not going to bother. I'll probably just get frustrated with it anyway for not being able to understand anything." Dee glances at Ryo on the sofa under the window and sees his lover immersed in the book. He goes and sits on the opposite side of the sofa and looks at the book. "What are you reading this time?"
"A Japanese phrase book," Ryo says while not looking up from the book. "I thought it would be helpful for when we go sightseeing and we might need to find our way back to the ryokan. We might run into someone who doesn't speak a word of English." He turns the page. "Would you like to try to pronounce some of these phrases with me?"
"S-s-sure." Dee mutters from his side of the couch.
Ryo looks up from the book and smiles lovingly at the sight of the raven haired man nodding off on the pillows on the sofa. "Come on you big lug," he says affectionately. "I can't carry you all by myself to the bed." He manages to get Dee to his feet and he helps the younger man to bed. Once he has Dee lying on the futon, he covers him up in the beautiful lavender comforter with flower blossoms embroidered on it. Then he goes around the room and turns off all of the lights save for the one on the night stand next to the side of the bed he's going to sleep on. Before crawling under the covers himself, he checks his watch and sees that he forgot to change it to JST. He even forgot to change it to west coast time when he had told Dee to do so. It was still on east coast time and it read seven forty-five in the morning on May thirteenth. With some quick calculation in his head he realizes that it's ten forty-five pm for him. Although he was exhausted, he had one more quick task to do before the bed claimed him.
Ryo goes to his pants that he put the side for cleaning and checks the pockets for his cell phone and is rewarded to find it in one of the side pockets. He flips it open to see that it's still turned off from the long flights to Japan so he turns it back on. Once it finishes loading its clock and date, Ryo begins to dial his son's cell number. He figures that Bikky must be awake by now getting ready to go to school since Mrs. Stuckey had agreed to wake him up.
An aggravated but awake Bikky answers the phone. "Who is it?" he obviously forgot to look to see what number was calling him.
"Is that any way to answer the phone, young man?" Ryo chides playfully.
"Ryo, is that you? Aw man am I glad to hear from you." Bikky's voice brightens significantly.
The two have a quick conversation about how the flight to Japan was, and how nice the bus driver was when they rode to the ryokan. Ryo tells about their nakai and explains that she's like a maid. He tells the boy about the dinner that he and Dee had finished and then had to explain about how he's fourteen minutes ahead of America's time when Bikky asks why they were just eating dinner while he was eating breakfast. Finally time catches up with them and it was time to get off of the phone.
"I love you, Bikky," Ryo says after a short pause.
"I love you too, Ryo," Bikky sounds a bit awkward saying these words.
"Have a good day at school and I'll call you again before you know it."
"Cool. Later." Bikky hangs up first.
Ryo places his cell on the dresser next to his pants and then goes to the futon. He feels sleep trying to place its comforting grip on his eyes as he turns off the light and lays down next to Dee. He manages to give Dee a kiss on the cheek before sleep overtakes him and he falls into peaceful oblivion.
More A/N: It's a fourteen hour time difference from where I live in the US to Japan and it's an eighteen hour difference from the west coast of the US to Japan. I'm four hours ahead of the west coast.
I looked up the exchange rate for American dollars to Japanese yen so I'm pretty confident that I have it right. If there's something wrong, please let me know so I can fix it. I really did a lot of studying and searching to find the information that I used in this story.
I was shocked that there was no airport in Kyoto so I had to fix that up before I wrote it down. I'll admit that I'm not sure how the bus ride is supposed to be so I'm going to treat it similar to the metro system that I know from where I live. If anyone knows anything about this, please let me know so I can make the proper adjustments.
A ryokan is a traditional style Japanese hotel. The hotel I looked up has some modern features as well. Tabi are those socks that go in-between your big toe and second toe and zori are the Japanese clog sandal things. Nakai are like the room maids in a ryokan.
Shiromiso is called white miso. I love miso soup but I don't think the kind I've had is authentic now that I think about it.
I did a lot of studying and looking up on what a ryokan should look like. I found a great website for a real place in Kyoto, Japan and I used their basic outline for my own room. I tried to keep as authentic as possible with the exception of using a few modern amenities. The web site even said that these traditional hotels have them. I was debating on putting a T.V. in and I decided that it would be okay. They wouldn't use it much anyway. If anyone knows anything about a real traditional ryokan and they think that what I put is totally wrong, please let me know. I'll try to provide the website where I got the info from but might not allow it for the time being.
JST is Japan Standard Time.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed getting it down. I have quite a bit of my story written down; I just have to type it now. Please read and review. And also, if you think someone you might know would like this story, please tell them about it. I would love to see what others think of this story.
Special thanks to Vovo and yaonne-san for being there for me. Your reviews are what are keeping me going.