Wake up, Tyson! Wake up!

The first thing Tyson thinks to himself when he wakes up the next morning is: "Wow! What a beautiful day!"

The sun's up. The windows are open. White curtains billowing in the breeze. It's such a perfect morning he sits up in bed with a smile on his face.

The bus leaves at midnight. There are a lot of things still left to do before his mid-semester break can kick off but it starts tonight! And he can't fucking wait.

Tyson lets out a tiny muffled sound of excitement and picks up his phone from the nightstand. It's running on 35% battery. He already has about 15 texts from Eddie since this morning. Yelling at him to get his ass back to the dorm as quickly as possible (Max is covering for him so he probably made up something believable about his sudden absence in the dorm.) He checks the time. 08:02. Not too shabby after a night of drinking.

He did promise he'd help the guy pack and the texts have been arriving since 06:00. Poor dude. He has a fuck ton of stuff too. Tyson better get moving.

He stands up, his grey boxers righting themselves as he does so. There are birds in the balcony outside.

He turns around. Glances at the bed. With its sheets all messy.

Where's Kai?

Tyson sends him a quick text asking him the same, and rushes into the bathroom.

Roppongi, Roppongi, Roppongi, he chants in his head as he brushes his teeth in front of the mirror. What are the things on his plate today?

Finish packing. Give the goldfishes to Brooklyn to take care of while he's away on the trip (Dude may have his head in the clouds half the time but he loves all animals. He will look after Tyson's pets as if they were his own.) Help Eddie. Go to the office. Talk to Hilary.

Jeez, talk to Hilary. He's honestly tired of the lying and hiding. He's starting to feel that crater in his chest he feels all the time whenever they drift the tiniest bit apart from each other. Enough is enough. He can't let a friendship of years go to dust over a guy. And he's pretty sure she won't either. If they could all be clear eyed about things that is.

Tyson spits and rinses his mouth.

He'll tell her, though not before the trip. After. He'll tell her after he comes back. Today, he'll try to bridge the growing gap between them using other methods. Clever methods.

Sweep her off her feet. Otherwise, he'd have a shitty time on the trip.

Tyson steps out of the bathroom, determined to charm the hell out of his best friend.

The room is still empty. He dresses quickly. Puts on his shoes. Finds his satchel resting on the couch and loops it over his torso before taking his phone back in hand to call Kai.

Where is that guy?

The door opens. Tyson's head jerks up, his thumb hovering over the call button.

It's Kai. In casuals. As casual as he could get. He has on a white shirt with thin grey stripes on it that he'd never seen him wear before (or knew he had) and khakhis.

His phone is in his hand.

Tyson smiles at him. Prettily. "There you are. I was just about to call you."

"I got your text," Kai shows him his phone, closing the door behind him. "Where are you going?" he asks, his gaze flicking up and down Tyson's form once.

"I have to leave early. I promised Eddie I'd help him pack and I have some of my own stuff left too." He checks the time again. 08:10. "I'm already late."

"You don't want any breakfast?"

"I'll eat at the dorm. I prefer homecooked meals anyway."

Kai nods.

Tyson slides his phone into his back pocket.

"Can I see you later? Before we leave? I'd like to talk to you about Hong Kong." Kai puts his hands into his pockets. His crimson eyes watching Tyson. "I haven't decided on going yet. I know, I know I said yes last night, but I was drinking. I don't think well when I have alcohol in my system. Can we- can we talk later?"

"Yes" Kai agrees without missing a beat.

"Great" Tyson says happily. "Great. Because I need to discuss it with my friends first. I bet they have better ideas for an excu-" he halts when he sees the look on Kai's face. The slight frown pulling his eyebrows down. Oh shit, he hasn't told him yet. "Max and Kenny already know," he explains, clasping both his hands together in front of him. Not quite expecting the frown to go from slightly confused to slightly enraged.

"Already know?" Kai prompts, stepping towards him. "About what?"

He comes close.

"About us" Tyson gulps involuntarily, looking up at him. Affected by the sudden proximity. The cloud of woody cologne that engulfs him.

"You told people?" asks Kai, his voice controlled as though he wants to raise it.

Does Kai really thing he would go around telling people as though he wasn't painfully aware of what would happen if word about them got out? He's going above and beyond to keep their relationship as hush as possible. The only reason he told Max and Kenny was because he trusts them with his life.

"My friends" he corrects him. "A couple of my-"

"Your airhead friends?" Kai cuts in, his tone hostile.

Tyson goes still. "Excuse me? Did you just call my friends 'airheads'?" he asks quietly, his eyes narrowing.

"What else am I supposed to call them, Tyson? Your-"

"Don't you dare!" He shoves at Kai's chest. Making him back a step. "Who the fuck do you think you are to insult my friends to my face?" he demands, walking up to Kai. His blood boiling in his veins.

Kai watches the finger Tyson has pointed at himself. He opens his mouth like he's going to cut him down to size again, but Tyson speaks before he can.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," he says, seething, lowering his hand. "Not to Hong Kong. Not to Atlantis."

Kai stares at him silently before leaning forward. His eyes cold. "Was about to uninvite you," he says, his breath washing over Tyson. "What's the point of bringing an Aspie along?"

The crack of Tyson's palm against Kai's face rings loudly in the room. His skin reddens immediately. The mark of a hand blooming across his cheek.

His palm burns like it's on fire, but not more than the betrayal scorching through him.

Kai flexes his jaw, bringing a hand to it.

Tyson gets close, till his nose almost brushes his cheek, to say, "It's over."

He doesn't wait to see Kai's reaction. He moves around him and pulls open the door, stepping out and shutting it loudly after him.


His footsteps echo in the hallway as he strides toward the elevator. One hand clutching the corner of his satchel near his hip. The other in his hair.

An elevator dings open as he reaches it and he gets in, jabbing the button to take him down to the ground floor.

An Aspie. He'd called him an Aspie.

And that too after all the things he said and did last night.

How fucking dare he. Is that what he's been thinking all this time? That he had Asperger's syndrome?

Tyson runs his hand through his hair. His palm still stings.

Airheads, he'd called his friends. To his face! His friends' personalities reflect his own. To insult them is to insult him.

Did he really think he would stay with him after he went and did that?

Tyson kicks the bottom of the wall before him.

The doors open. He gathers himself with a breath before exiting.

There's a bus stop a block and a half away. He walks towards it.

Eddie sends him another message, this time in all caps. Tyson unlocks his phone just to shout back. He needs to yell at something right now.

The bus arrives a minute after he reaches the stop. He climbs in. All the seats seem to be full so he leans against a pole.

The bus starts moving. Tyson gazes out the windows. At shops and cars.

The trip to Hong Kong. Was that just for wooing him into having sex with him? He catches his own train of thoughts and kicks himself mentally. Of course, Tyson. Of course. What did you think was going to happen? That he was going to fall in love with you? That you were going to fall in love with him? Get married and buy a house together? In Japan? God, he's stupid. So fucking stupid.

Tyson shifts against the pole.

What's the point of bringing an Aspie along? As if he would have gone that far with someone so repulsive and immoral.

"Tyson, is that you?" He hears someone ask behind him. "Tyson!"

He turns. He's the only passenger standing. His eyes scan down the seats. He sees a hand raise. "Akira!" he exclaims, delighted.

Akira's been taking two seats for himself. He moves his bag to the floor when Tyson makes his way over.

"Buddy" Akira extends his arm to give Tyson a brief sideways hug before he sits down.

"What's up?" Tyson asks. "How've you been?"

"Good. As usual. You?"

"Great. What are you doing here?"

"I came to buy some goods for our shop," he explains. "We're selling water pumps now."

"Yeah? Expanding business?"

Akira's from his home town. They used to go to school together. After graduation while Tyson moved to the big city for college, Akira chose to join the family business. His father's repairs shop. They were never really friends but they knew each other the way people who grew up in small towns do.

"Yep" Akira bends to retrieve the bag from the floor. He pulls something out of it. A pump. "You know these models?"

"Nah"

"We're selling these." He shoves it back in the bag and returns it to the floor. "What you been doing man?"

"I go to college here. Toho?"

"Yeah!" his lanky friends exclaims, squeezing his shoulder. "I heard about that! You a Toho boy now. Wow. So cool. So cool. You and Hilary too."

"Yeah" Tyson nods.

"I forgot about that. Small brain. Small memory. What are you studying in Toho?"

"Business"

"Ah, you going to open a store after graduation or will you join the corporates?"

"Corporates definitely. There's this firm near our town that hires graduates from Toho," he tells him. Akira nods. Tyson brushes a finger under his own nose. "I'm planning to join there. So I can stay close to Grampa and visit him every weekend."

"Ryu got a true blessing with a grandson like you," Akira pats his knee. "Kids who go to top universities usually don't return back home. Especially not for their grandparents."

Tyson glances out the window.

"He doesn't have anyone, man. I mean Nana's there, but Nana's not really family, you know?"

"Yeah, I get what you mean."

They sit in silence for a while, staring outside, lost in their own thoughts.

Then Akira suddenly asks, "Is that your dream?"

"What?" Tyson turns to look at him.

"You just want to work all your life near Grandpa. Is that your dream?"

Tyson considers him silently. His dream. It's not big. Grampa wouldn't be around forever, and his direct blood relatives act like strangers. All he wants is..."I just want a family," he says quietly. "Dad and Hiro travel all over the world. They think I want the same too when the truth is I just want a home."

His friend looks at him contemplatively. Nodding.

"Ah I get you, man. I get you." They stare at buildings zooming past. "You have a sweetheart?"

"No" Tyson answers with a laugh. He thinks of Kai. "Not much luck in that department."

"Yeah? You have Hilary," Akira says, facing the window, the sun shining on the side of his face. "That's what I see in your future. You marrying Hilary."

Tyson laughs. Pretty much everyone thinks the same. But that is the one road he will never go down.

"Yeah?" Akira looks at him, thinking he agrees.

"No" He shakes his head. "What about you?"


He knocks on the wood twice. Hilary answers.

"Can I come in?" he asks.

"No. You can stand outside," she replies, moving to shut the door in his face.

Tyson blocks with a hand and forces his way inside.

"Jeez, your room is so pretty," he comments, taking in the pink comforter, the white railing on the bed, the sparkly rug on the floor.

"You say that every time you're here."

He goes to the thin pink curtains on the windows and touches it. "Because it's true." He moves it aside. "Hey, you can see the boys' dormitories from here." He squints at the windows visible.

"What, you've never noticed before?"

"No. Whose room is that?" he asks, looking at the room right across Hilary's.

She comes to stand next to him, folding her arms.

"That one's mine," he locates his own, then does some calculations in his head to deduce who the room in question belongs to. "That's-"

"Robert's" Hilary tells him.

"Yeah" Tyson eyes the table he can see through the open window. "You know Robert has a crush on you?" he says, turning his head towards her.

Hilary narrows his eyes at him, looking intrigued.

"That's why he lied about the sex tape. He wanted you to hate Kai." He stares at her face, recalling his fight with him earlier. "Which he is still deserving of. He deserves all the hatred in the world."

"Who? Kai?" she asks, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Yeah" He should tell her. He wants to tell her. "Listen, Hil" he starts.

She rights her head, looking at him expectantly.

If he told her now, it would fuck up the trip for him and it would be a dick move to even go after dropping such a bomb on her. He can't. He can't.

He takes both of her hands in his and leans back against the glass. Her brown eyes seem worried.

"I have something to tell you," he admits quietly. "I did something...I'm not proud of." He gulps. Watching her expression closely. "I can't tell you now but I will after the break. Alright?"

"What is it, Tyson?" she asks softly.

He shakes his head. "I can't tell you. Not now."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to leave you on bad terms." He touches a ring on her finger with his thumb.

Hilary reads his eyes. The worry on his face. "Is it going to ruin our friendship?" she whispers.

"Not-" He clears his throat. "Not ruin. But it will...test it." He nods. Being vague. "Definitely"

"Ty..." Hilary squeezes his hand in hers. Stepping closer in earnestness. "Ty, you know I will forgive you for anything, don't you? Whatever it is you have done, no matter how bad it is, I have already forgiven you for it," she tells him and Tyson wants to cry. "Don't you trust me?"

"I do. I do." He nods. "I'll tell you after the trip. Okay? It's better that way."

Hilary stares, then agrees.

He hugs her, smelling the shampoo in her hair. Citrus and Juniper oil. Home.


Tyson and Eddie lean on the outer body of the huge traveler bus, watching Michael say goodbye to his not-girlfriend-girlfriend. From what they can see from their vantage point, dude seems to be laying it on thick. He brings up his hands to tug gently on the front locks of her bob on either side of her head, his eyes all gooey-like.

"Michael" Eddie teases, disturbing him, ruining their moment.

"Michael" Tyson coughs, clearing his throat loudly. They crack up when Mike turns around to shoot them both an annoyed look (except he's smiling and it ruins the effects of the glare).

When they start talking again, Tyson teases once more, and Emily snaps.

"That's real mature, Tyson! Real mature!"

He holds up his hands. Grinning. "Sorry" Not sorry at all.

The first and second years are sharing a bus. It's parked right on the edge of campus as students climb in and load their luggage. Tyson and his friends have already secured their seats and fastened their bags inside. They're waiting outside for the clock to hit twelve.

"Turd escaped!" Kiki cries all of a sudden. "Guys, I can't find Turd! Turd!" He drops his bags on the road and starts looking around. "I will kill someone if something happens to him."

Eddie hears him and whirls in horror. "Your rat escaped?" he gasps.

Kiki switches on the flashlight on his phone. "It's not a rat, you prick! It's a hamster!" he screams at him.

Eddie backs off, bewildered.

A girl shrieks and runs into the bus.

Kiki darts to where she had been standing. "What? What? Did you see him?" He flashes his torch around on the ground frantically. "What is it?!"

"What's going on?" Michael and Emily join the scene.

"Kiki's hamster escaped," Tyson informs them chirpily.

Emily screeches and grabs onto Michael's side.

"Can we all- can we all just calm down?" Lee's voice booms across the area. The sudden mayhem stops abruptly. He goes to touch the distraught man's shoulder as he checks his bags for the rodent. "When was the last time you saw Turd?" he asks calmly.

"Man, I keep saying this." He shoots up to his feet. "How many times do I have to say it? He was in my hands. I brought him all the way here. I stooped down to tie my laces. Turd jumped out of my hand and ran!"

"Why would you bring that thing along in the first place?" Eddie asks. "And you touched it with your hands!"

Lee ignores him. So does Kiki. "Let me get this straight. You lost him just now?" he asks.

"Yes! Fucking idiots" He scratches at his bangs in frustration.

"Well then let's check under the bus," Tyson proposes. "It's a hamster. It couldn't have gone far."

"Okay"

He takes out his phone and turns on the flashlight. Crouching down to look underneath the vehicle.

"What's going on, children?" An old man's voice asks. "What is all this ruckus?"

"Professor Mao," he hears Eddie reply. "Kiki lost his pet rat."

"It's not a rat," Kiki's strangulated voice replies before he hears a scuffle and a thud against the bus.

They're fighting.

Tyson suddenly raises his head to look at them. He bumps into the frame above him. Hard. "Ow" he moans.

"Tyson?" Emily rushes to his side as he crawls out from under the bus.

They both stand and rub his pulsing head.

Kiki and Eddie are wrestling a few paces away. Professor Mao tries to break them up fruitlessly. Lee and Michael do their best as well. But Kiki has a death grip on Eddie's arm who has started to scream. "His nails! His nails are digging into my arm! He's going to tear my arm off!"

Tyson winces in pain. He feels something soft scurry over his boot. When he looks down, he spots the hamster.

"I got him!" he shouts, ducking to trap the little guy between his hands in one smooth motion.

"Oh Tyson, you life-saver," Michael cries in joy.


"I'll be honest, Tyson. I can't stand your American friends sometimes."

"Haha, you say that now. Wait till you hang out with them. You're going to see how fun they are."

"I hope so."

Tyson sits next to Kenny on the bus. He waves at Mariam as she passes down the aisle. She smiles at him. No hard feelings there. He lets out an exhale of relief.

The bus leaves with much fanfare and hooting. They don't quiet down till they're well on their way out of the city.

At around two in the morning, when almost everyone has fallen asleep, Tyson stares out the open window, wondering what Kai is doing. The Blitzkriegs always leave by plane. They don't use the cheap mode of transportation commoners like him do. He has no idea where they're going or staying. Kai never told him. It was a secret.

Fuck him and all of his secrets.

He's probably in bed with someone else right now. Thirty thousand feet up in the air.

He sighs audibly.

Kenny nudges his shoulder. Tyson looks at him.

"How are things between you and Kai?" he asks in a whisper.

Tyson turns his face away, pursing his mouth.

"Horrible. I dumped his ass."

"What?" Kenny straightens in his seat, concerned.

"He insulted me, Kenny," he explains earnestly. His voice rising. "He insulted me. He insulted Hilary. He insulted all of my friends. What else was I supposed to do?"

"He did?" Kenny covers his gaping mouth with two fingers.

"He's a horrible man, Kenny. Horrible." He fidgets in his seat, pulling at his jeans. Flattening creases. "He called me an Aspie."

"What?!"

"He called you an airhead."

"Me? Specifically?"

"All of you. All of my friends. Airheads."

"Who called us airheads, Tyson?" Eddie's head rises above their seats from behind.

Tyson glances at him, then looks out at the trees passing by. "Kai"

"Oho" Eddie exclaims. "Please tell me you drove his face into the ground."

"I slapped him."

"Good man" Eddie pats his shoulder. Proud. "Good man" He flops back in his own chair.

"You slapped him?" Kenny asks tentatively, lowering his voice.

Tyson nods. Feeling pissed off again. "His cheek went as red as a tomato," he whispers. "My hand was printed across his face."

"Oof" Kenny cringes.

A laugh escapes Tyson. Finding the incident funny now.

"It's okay" his friend consoles him, a hand on his knee. "You'll find someone better."

Tyson nods, closing the window. Getting ready to sleep.

Loads better, he prays as he closes his eyes.


Tyson swims in the hotel's outdoor pool the next day. In Roppongi. The sun makes the water glisten around him.

The guys are organizing a party a few metres away. He's catching a few minutes of peace and quiet to himself before all the craziness starts.

As he's cutting through the beautiful water he wonders how he lost sight of his plans.

Two weeks. Two and a half weeks. Where did his head go?

His plan had always been straightforward. It has never changed. His dream, even as a kid, growing up lonely with no one but his grandpa in that worn old house, was to have a proper family someday.

How did he, who has always stuck steadfastly to his goals forget about everything when he met a man whose morals and ideologies go nowhere near his?

Lost in the scent of musky cologne and sinful eyes Tyson had almost forgotten about everything he valued.

It's okay, he tells himself. Everyone makes mistakes. He ended it before it went too far. So it's alright.

Kai was hard to resist. He couldn't resist either.

He should stop beating himself up over it. Time to forget and move on.

"Yo, Tyson!" Eddie hollers. He's standing with Michael and Gao on the stretch of grass nearby.

"What?"

"We're making a float! Go get us supplies. I have some in my room. I brought sketch pens, Michael," he tells Mike and slaps his ass. "Tyson, chart papers and sketch pens! My room!"

"Sure" He rolls his eyes. "Why not?" He climbs out of the pool and towels himself dry. He pulls on a shirt before heading inside the hotel.

Who makes floats out of chart papers? What kind of float is this? He pries open Eddie's bag and dives in.

Mike texts him to bring tubes too.

He arranges three from the hotel's staff and walks down the lobby very carefully, his arms loaded with a tower of stuff.

He cannot see where he's going because of the mountain before him. He says "excuse me" and "coming through" to get people's attention as he goes.

He almost makes it. He's just a few feet away from the steps when someone bumps into the tower and everything falls to the floor. Tubes tumble. Chart papers unfold. Sketch pens roll.

A lone tube remains in his hand.

He stares in horror at the mess.

How the fuck is he going to chase all those pens by himself?

Who the fuck knocked into him?

He raises his gaze, ready to skin whoever it was alive.

His stomach drops when he sees Kai, turning to look over his shoulder. Sunglasses on. Rolex watch glinting. Dressed in a loose-fitting white shirt and cargo pants that cut off at the knees. Like a phantom straight out of a nightmare.

Tyson grinds his teeth. Of course he's here. Of course.

His entire entourage is here too. Standing around him wearing various snide expressions.

Tyson's fists curl.

People stare.

"Don't just stand there," he speaks to Kai, through clenched teeth, loud enough for everyone in the lobby to hear so he cannot refuse. "Help me pick it up."

Kai removes his glasses to look Tyson in the eye. His crimson gaze as fiery as ever.

He doesn't back down under his glare however. Holding his ground. "Help me" he says instead, his tone ice-cold. "Pick it up."