39. Open Road Song – Eve 6
They met on the open road, one in front of the other on a stretch of highway where it was rare to see any living creature. Honda pulled up as close as he dared, intending to overtake until the other rider glanced around and gunned it. The glance hadn't been to establish he was there, but a clear challenge. Under his helmet, Honda grinned and held on tight.
Eventually they pulled into a truck stop; the kind where you had to have a death wish to eat the food and a strong desire to contract cholera if you drank anything without disinfecting it first. Slugging bleach was probably healthier than the sodas Honda paid for, forgoing dusty straws and just wiping one ungloved finger around the mouth of his bottle when he took both outside. It was the etiquette of the open road – whoever arrived last bought the drinks, and Honda had been outstripped in the last stretch.
The other rider accepted the bottle but didn't drink, still breathing hard under the hot sun in leathers and helmet. His chest went in and out rapidly. If he had drunk he probably would've choked.
"You're pretty good," Honda remarked.
He'd been on the road since the end of high school, using up the last of his free time to indulge his passion for motorcycles before college claimed him. Yuugi and the others thought him mad but wished him luck. He was, after all, the level-headed one of the group – Mr. Sensible, You-Can-Count-on-Me-in-a-Crisis, I-Used-to-Be-on-the-School-Cleaning-Committee Hiroto Honda. Just riding off into the sunset was the last thing anyone expected of him.
Actually, that was probably why he'd done it. Adult life was rumbling towards them with alarming speed, squashing anything that didn't fit into the pattern of who it intended them to be. Honda wasn't stupid. He knew he couldn't stop himself from growing up and doing grown-up things, but before that he wanted one crazy summer, and part of that meant a saddle, a sunset and a set of wheels.
He sensed this rider shared his love of riding just for the sake of riding. Nobody this far out in the wilderness rode because they were going somewhere. They rode because they were riding away from something, or because the ride was the most important thing of all.
Honda chugged his soda. "It's not poison," he said, gesturing to the one in his new companion's gloved hand. "I haven't dropped dead yet, so I'm sure it's safe for you to drink."
The other rider placed the bottle on the ground next to that incredibly sweet customised bike. Honda admired the clean lines, the shining chrome, and resolved to ask about how long it'd taken to modify it that way. One pop later and the guy's helmet was off, revealing just who Honda had been riding with for the last thirty miles.
"Cheers, mate," said Valon, giving him a thumbs up. "I appreciate it. Gotta admit, though, I never thought the day would come when one of you lot bought me a drink."