“Kei…”
“Nnngh…!”
Be it during sex, during climax, during sleep, or even during nightmares—I wanted to be right there in his arms, forever.
✦ ✦ ✦
Not that long ago, I remembered seeing cherry blossoms gleaming in the darkness on the taxi ride home each night. Now, the pink had been fully superseded by green.
In light of his predecessor’s scandals, Wakamiya Homare was appointed as the new Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications. He apparently even visited Asabi TV, but I never saw him. I could, however, foresee many more situations—unrelated to his son, mind you—where I’d likely end up in the same room as him. But eh…I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. Part of me also wondered if this momentum of his might carry him all the way to the seat of Prime Minister, but that, too, was a quandary for another day.
As for the Kunieda Kei election rumors, some outlets clung to them stubbornly, but with no new developments and plenty of other exciting news to report on, they were mostly on their way out. In fact, I was almost a little offended at how easily they lost all interest! But such was the nature of the industry that put a roof over my head, so I decided to simply shrug it off.
Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. Sometimes, looking back, you realize that your “crisis” was actually no big deal. But until you get to that point, for better or for worse, it’s not over—you’re still in it. Some people try to get to the end ASAP, while others fight to keep it going as long as possible, but time flows the same for everyone regardless.
I was generous enough to let Ushio move in with me (as long as he paid rent), but he only stayed for a few days before finding himself a furnished apartment with a month-to-month lease as a new temporary base of operations. Apparently, he didn’t feel comfortable unless he was fully in control of his food, clothing, and shelter. He seemed to be looking for a more permanent housing solution in between gigs, but I didn’t know the details. It pissed me off that he had no interest whatsoever in the empty room at my place though, so I hadn’t talked to him about it.
My official stance was “knock yourself out, pal.” He’d never find a place I could love more than that cozy, no-frills house that used to be right down the road. No matter where he settled, I knew I’d find something to complain about.
I knew it would only bum me out, but every now and then, I went and passed by that empty lot. Sure enough, it broke my heart every time. If Ushio happened to visit on one of those nights, I’d quietly cuddle up with him and go to sleep…because only in his arms with my eyes closed could I ever visit that house again.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Kunieda-kun! Come out and plaaay!”
Ushio showed up bright and early that morning, 6 a.m. on a Saturday, after I was finally freed from the weekday grind. Emotionally speaking, it felt like I had just gone to sleep. Fuck off.
“Maybe laaater…”
“I rented a car,” he said. “Let’s go for a drive!”
“I’d rather play Mario Kart.”
“Oh, come on.”
“I’m too tired, okay? Go enjoy the mountains or whatever by yourself.”
“Don’t you wanna come see my new house?”
“Huh?” Only then did my eyes open wide. “You already settled on one?”
“Yep.”
Although I was trying to act like I didn’t care, and although I had every intention of nitpicking it to death, I assumed he would at least consult me once he narrowed down the candidates… I considered going back to sleep in protest, but I did want to see it… But then again… As I debated it, however, he snatched the blanket off me.
“Good, you’re awake.”
“I haven’t decided yet!” I protested.
“At this hour, we won’t run into anyone. Just wear your tracksuit.”
I could have kept fighting him, but then I saw how excited he was and decided to offer him the privilege of my company. That said, I wore my Kunieda-san clothes, just in case. Then we grabbed breakfast at a drive-thru.
“…Isn’t this kinda far?”
“I went out of our way for breakfast,” he told me. “I’d say the TV station is about the midpoint between your place and this one.”
That’s still far! Would it have killed you to stay no more than two train stations away? Do you even care? Now I wanted to see it even less.
“You don’t look happy. Still hungry?”
“It’s nothing!”
Behind the wheel, Ushio seemed just as chipper as always, and it only made me feel worse.
Our destination was located near a canal. After we left the car in a metered parking spot, he led me to a five-story apartment building. That’s right—an apartment, not a condo. The building was square, blocky, and screamed “antique” with its dark brown walls and eye-catching bay windows. I could see its age everywhere I looked, even in the compact yet intricately decorated façade. It seemed right at home with the small, outdated buildings surrounding it that looked like they hadn’t been updated since the ’80s. In fact, you wouldn’t notice the generational gap at all unless you really stopped to look up at it.
“How old is this building?” I asked.
“Like eighty years old, I think?”
Seriously? That’s as old as Grandpa Eba! Then he pulled a keyring out from the pocket of his hoodie. Several heavy keys jangled together.
“Jeez, how many keys do you need?”
“I mean, all of them, depending. But right now, just the front door key.”
The double doors were wooden and embedded with old-timey frosted glass. Inside, we were greeted with the cluster mailbox and building directory board.
“Where’s the elevator?”
“Stairs only.”
“And there’s how many floors?”
“Five.”
“Uggghhh…” I don’t wanna have to walk all the way up there… Is this some kind of sick punishment…?
The nameplates were full of tax professionals, paralegals, and other businesses, save for 5F, where a name had been crossed out.
“The fifth floor is the only one with apartments. B1 is supposed to be the tenant storage area, but there’s an empty room down there that I’m planning to use as my studio. The building is basically deserted on weekends, and they lock the front doors at 11 p.m. every night, hence all the keys.”
The cold concrete staircase was furnished with chocolate-colored handrails. Sunlight streamed in through windows at each landing. It was like walking through an abandoned school building, and I completely understood what Ushio saw in this place. At the fourth landing, there was a NO ENTRY sign posted in front of the last set of stairs. We walked right past it to an automatic-locking metal door that felt jarringly modern.
“They had to install one of these to deter urban explorer types,” Ushio explained as he produced yet another key.
One for the front doors, one for his mailbox, one for the storage area, and now this was his fourth key? Beyond the auto-locking door was a hallway, and down at the end, I could see three more doors.
“That one at the end leads out to the emergency staircase,” he added as he slid a fifth key into the closest door. If a cop saw him walking around with all these keys, he might call for backup. And if I was going to visit this place, I’d need copies of all the same keys, which meant I’d have to carry SIX. Ugh, what a hassle!
The cramped entryway and low ceiling immediately struck me as old-fashioned, but the interior was very clean. It was a two-bedroom apartment with a closed floor plan and a view of the canal from the balcony. On the other side of the water, I could see a cluster of pitched-roof warehouses so painstakingly identical, they looked copy-pasted.
“The plumbing is already updated, so all I gotta do is knock down this wall to make one big room.”
“You can just do that…?”
“Yeah, totally.” He pulled one of the keys off of the ring and held it out to me. “Here, this one’s for your place.”
“You mean a spare for your place, right?”
“Nah, I’ll let you have it.” He then pointed to the wall. “It’s for the apartment next door.”
“Wait…what?”
“Isn’t this place great? People only ever come here during the day on weekdays and there’s a great view of the water… It’s a bit of a walk to the train station, but it’s more or less the same distance to Asabi, so I feel like it’s a good location. The floor plans are mirrors of each other, by the way.”
So that’s why he said Asabi was the midpoint.
“Well, uh…” Admittedly, it wasn’t a bad idea, but it was so sudden that my brain couldn’t quite keep up with his words. What about packages? Would I just send him down to get them? “Wh-what’s the rent like…?”
This apartment was bigger than mine, but mine was newer and in a more walkable location. Then again, retro apartments were trendy these days—but some landlords capitalized on that trend to charge an arm and a leg. As long as Ushio could afford it—