Hi Everyone!
Haven't seemed to attract any new fans yet, but thanks to Jon and Toddler for their enthusiasm. Also to Bobby for kind words, and Robert for a confusing but I think complementary message.
Slight correction: Last chapter I said it was a JAL flight. In order for this story to work, it needs to be a western airline, so I changed it to QANTAS. Please alter this in your mind.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Please note, this copyright notice is retroactive to all stories I have previously posted on Nifty. They are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License, Copyright (C) 2008.
DISCLAIMER
This story involves relationships between males aged 17-19. If you do not approve of this, why the hell are you even reading it now? If you are a parent reading through the Internet logs of your young child, do not punish your child for reading these stories. He/she clearly has some questions about his development, and it is YOUR responsibility to answer those questions truthfully and honestly. If this material is illegal in your area, leave now. Blah blah blah blah blah blah. You know the drill. If you aren't supposed to be reading this, Don't (although some flames would be lovely to publicly dissect :)).
FEEDBACK
I absolutely love feedback. Please submit your feedback, good or bad, lengthy or brief, in Japanese or in English, (although preferably English) to:
sakurakangen@gmail.com
You may also add me on Google Talk or MSN Messenger at the same address. I love talking to you.
Doumo arigatou gozaimashita.
And now, without further adieu.....
=============================================================================== FINDING YOU: CHAPTER THREE - Please take your seats ===============================================================================
Planes can be very annoying. Particularly when you're stuck on a last-minute allocated aisle seat near the restrooms. For some reason everyone has a habit of pulling themselves along like apes when they move down the aisle, bumping your seat whenever anyone walks past. Economy class is hell, but aisle economy is a fate worse than death.
People on planes are really annoying. They are invariably fat, or loud, or sick or jittery. Plus they think that it is perfectly alright for them to get on the plane with all their hand luggage, put it in to the overhead compartment, sit down, wait till after take off, and then immediately get out again and take stuff out - inconveniencing you as much as they can in the process. They take things you can easily carry with you, like a book - honestly, is it that hard to take the book with you?
Our flight ended up leaving at half past ten at night, so I was hoping to get some sleep. There wasn't too much of a time difference between Japan and Sydney so I was hoping that I wouldn't be too badly affected by jet lag.
Economy class ruined that hope for me. Chris, however, was fortunate. He got a window seat five rows ahead of me.
When dinner came round the sullen oaf next to me decided to get some hot beef lasagne. I got a little sandwich, but the overpowering (and disgusting) smell of the plane food next to me made it impossible for me to stomach anything.
I was honestly thinking at that time that plane food was the food the hospital rejected. If you think hospital food is bad, plane food is much, much worse.
Plus you get to enjoy the sights and odors of your neighbors, while crammed into a tiny seat that may well give you deadly blood clots.
After dinner everyone had calmed down a bit, and I was only occasionally unceremoniously jolted out of my half doze by someone aping their way down the aisle. I was just about to get to sleep when I was interrupted again.
"Hiya.."
"Uh.. what? fuck off.." I mumbled, my eyes still closed.
"Hey, Will! It's me, Chris."
"What? Oh, right. Hi. Sorry." I opened my eyes and sat up, "What's up?"
"Sorry you had to put up with this seat. I have a plan. See that flight attendant over there?"
"Yeah.. what about him?"
"That's it. He's a 'he'!" Chris winked.
"So?"
"So... he's probably.. you know.."
"Gay?"
"Yeah!"
"Dude, it doesn't work like that." I groaned, and tried to go back to sleep.
"I swear, this will work. Just stay awake and go along with what I do."
I shifted up in my little seat, "Ugh.. alright. He's coming now."
The male flight attendant began walking towards us. As he approached, I could hear him saying, "Uh, excuse me sir, you'll have to return to your seat.. uh..", and immediately Chris kissed me.
Yeah, he kissed me. Not like a peck, but a full, passionate, kiss. I think he tried to put some tongue into it, but I certainly wasn't going to co-operate that far. For a charade, he was certainly getting into it. I suppose he did do well in drama classes.
Eventually I prized him off me. The male flight attendant was still watch- ing.
"Aww, that's so sweet. Reminds me of when I met my Andy.." he said.
Holy crap. No shit. Other fecal-related expressions of amazement. The flight attendant actually was gay. At that moment I could've kissed Chris.. well.. I guess I already did, heh.
"Yeah?" Chris said, "This is like, our unofficial honeymoon." He put his arm around me. This felt really weird, but I was willing to go along with it if it meant getting out of this God-forsaken seat.
The flight attendant cleared his throat. "Ahem, yes, well, I'm actually here to tell you to return to your seats.. cos we're going to hit some turbulence."
"Oh, okay." Chris did a really good disappointment look. I tried to emulate.
"Okay, uh.. love," I said, feeling uncomfortable, "I'll see you when we get to Japan..." I did my best to look depressed. Not too difficult.
"Bye, sweetie, see you.."
I inwardly cringed. Chris used his name for me. Oh well.. there's know way he could have known.
I suppose we were convincing enough, because the flight attendant looked around to the guy who was sitting next to me (sound asleep - and snoring), then whispered to us, "come up to business class, they have two free seats."
Chris began to show signs of bursting into a grin, but I elbowed him before he got a chance.
"Oh, thank you so much!" I pretended to be ecstatic (well, not really pre- tending) and I hugged the flight attendant, kissing him on the cheek. People began to look at us.
"Sssh! Lets go before we attract too much attention. I'm breaking the rules here.." said the attendant.
When we moved forward into business class, the flight attendant coughed and said, intentionally conspicuously, "You have our apologies for the mix up, sirs. Here are your correct seats."
Chris responded in an imperious British accent, "Hmm. Yes. These will suffice. Quite adequate. Thank you, Jeeves." I had to stop myself from bursting out laughing.
In business class, you get a pillow and a blanket. And a comfy seat with plenty of space. Plus the aisles are nice and wide so people don't monkey their way down to the restrooms. I still had an aisle seat, but it was much more tolerable.
When the flight attendant had left (after we thanked him profusely). I lent over and kissed Chris on the cheek. That was twice today. Sometimes I just get in a kissy mood I guess. Chris turned red.
"Dude, I don't swing that way, you know that."
"Sure you don't. Just like you don't look at Kurt whenever you can catch a discreet glimpse while changing for PE class." He turned a much brighter red.
"Dude, I appreciate hot, regardless of gender, but I'm still a ladies man!"
"No ladies man would have kissed another guy like you did before."
The conversation fell silent. Chris just looked ahead and didn't say any- thing. I figured I might have offended him.
"Hey, Chris," I said, "I'm sorry if I overstepped the mark before. Let's just drop it alright?"
He smiled. Good sign. He spoke! Even better sign.
"Sure, no worries. So.. how long have you been planning to do this trip?"
"What? How did you know I was planning it?" I was genuinely surprised.
"Well, you went straight from my house to the airport. Not many people just keep their passport in their bag just for a rainy day."
Wow. He was observant.
"Ach. You got me.." I sighed. "I guess I'd been thinking about it for a while, so I made a few preparations. I never thought I'd actually go and do it.. I guess what you said to me triggered a reaction."
"Bloody hell, you can say that again. That's one hell of a reaction. Now you're dragging me all the way to Toudai."
I hit him with my pillow. "Hey! Toudai was your idea!"
He hit me back. "Whatever, go to sleep, we'll need it."
He turned around and made himself comfortable. He was facing away from me. I could tell that he went to sleep quickly, because I saw his breathing even and slow almost immediately afterward. I pulled up my blanket and tried to get some shut-eye myself, but I was still feeling too hyped up from the day's excitement, so I went back to my hand luggage (back in economy class) and grabbed my book - an old, worn copy of Neverness by David Zindell. I was into philosophical sci-fi at the time.
Back in my comfy seat, I had been reading the book for about an hour when I saw Chris begin to whimper in his sleep. He was sweating and it was obvious he was having a nightmare.
I leant over and put my arms around him. He would probably have objected, were he awake.
"Sssh.. It's okay, it's okay.." I whispered to him, gently rocking him back and forth. It didn't take him long to calm down and settle back into sleep.
I think I must have fallen asleep like that, too, because the next thing I remember was Chris hauling me off of him while flying over what looked like Kyushu early in the morning.
"Good Morning passengers, we are just flying over the south of Honshuu and will be arriving at Narita, Tokyo in about an hour. The time is currently 7 AM. The skies are clear and it looks like we'll be in for a smooth landing."
Well, it wasn't Kyushu, but it was early in the morning.
Callum didn't understand. He didn't understand why his brother had to turn out gay. Why his Mum had to react badly to it. Why love has such a ridiculous effect on people. Why the fuck would Chris just pack his bags and run off? He didn't even know where.
Callum may have been wise for a child of 13 years, but he was still a 13 year old kid. What did he know about love? Why, then, must he endure all this bullshit associated with it?
Callum sat on the floor in his spartan room and pondered these things, idly playing with a marble in his hands before releasing it, sending it rolling away to his right. He didn't really watch where it went.
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All for Chapter 3. I have Chapter 4 already mostly complete. I will email it as soon as this chapter is published.
I absolutely love feedback. Please submit your feedback, good or bad, lengthy or brief, in Japanese or in English, (although preferably English) to:
sakurakangen@gmail.com
You may also add me on Google Talk or MSN Messenger at the same address. I love talking to you.
Doumo arigatou gozaimashita.
-SK (written in vi improved 7.1.. beats emacs any day)