[OC fic] S is for Summer Nights
A little song fic inspired by Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts, per request of greensan. Featuring the same boys as in this story~
~×~
Summer break was still far away, though the great outdoors did all what was in its might to try to lure the students out from the boring classrooms for a nice dose of sunshine. To Yukio, it was especially painful to just frown out the window, almost feeling like sticking his pierced tongue out to the Sun. For the poor wolf would have to face copious amounts of studying and exam-taking in the nearing summer months. And honestly, who would look forward to bending above piles of books in the blistering heat, sweating not only from the frighteningly high the degrees flying outside, but because of pre-exam nervousness, too? No this pink-hair, nu-uh.
But there was still a speck of hope for him in the upcoming weeks of exam-hell: he would get his teacher-to-be boyfriend to help him squeeze the knowledge into his head, at least. Said boyfriend also had promised to pick him up after lessons that day, which was, thank God, not that far off. Maybe he could get him to buy him an ice cream on the way home…
Ah yes. A lump of strawberry ice would have been nice right then…
~×~
The school bell emitted its melodious chime, signaling the end of another day of studying (and daydreaming) inside the facility. It also notified the people in front of the school gates, waiting for their children, or possibly their boyfriends or girlfriends to come rushing down the stairs. Iwao was among this crowd; and yet he wasn’t. To the extent that his vibrant haired boyfriend, who’s piercings glistened in the bright rays of the sun, didn’t even manage to spot him, and spent a couple of seconds making a confused (and adorable) face while looking around, a hand held above his brows. And then those fluffy wolf-ears perked up as Yukio was visibly startled by a car honking, to which the tiger-eared man promptly provided context, waving to him from behind the steering wheel of a deep red convertible.
“Ooookay, I really didn’t think you would steal a car just to pick me up…” Yukio announced way before he came in normal talking distance of the unfamiliar vehicle. “But while you were at it, you could have hitched a limo,” he added with a wolfish grin.
“Nah, ‘m not that good ‘f a car thief,” the tiger grinned right back as the pink-hair stopped next to the car, pushing his round and old fash- um, retro sunglasses down his nose. “So ya sayin’ this one isn’ worthy ‘nough for ya t’ get in?” He asked as he patted the car’s door.
“Hmmmmmmm…” The pink haired man made a face of utter concentration, and then spread his arms as he sighed comically. “Well, I guess I can make do,” he finally answered, grinning once again.
“Then dun’ jus’ stand there an’ get yer ass ov’r ‘ere,” Iwao laughed as he nodded to the seat next to himself, and he even let the engine start up with a rumble to provide more motivation.
“Coming!” The wolf called readily, and all but skipped to the other side of the car to do as he was told. Though, instead of opening the door to get in, he braced himself on it, and simply flew over it with a swift jump.
“Let’s gooo~ I want ice cream~!” Yukio cheered after he safely plopped down next to his boyfriend, the vehicle giving a slight shake, and the chuckling tiger stepped onto the gas, the two of them leaving the school premises under wondering gazes.
~×~
“Seriously, though, where did you get this car?” The pink haired man wondered, as he looked over to his chauffeur-cum-lover, his fluttering pink hair even more radiant than the scoop of strawberry ice cream he was eating.
“A friend from ma’ judo group lent it ta me fer t’day,” Iwao answered whilst tapping his fingers along with the tune playing in the radio, his eyes on the road, but his smile to the world to see.
“Hnn… Must be one hell of a nice guy to lend you his car just to pick me up,” Yukio mused, just before plasting his lips to the cold treat to slurp at the melted parts, then humming in delight from tasting a small piece of fruit on his tongue.
Iwao, though, didn’t say anything in response to that, only let out a small chuckle as he took another turn. The wolf wondered what had gotten into his strict and stoic boyfriend. He had been sure he would drive him straight home from their favorite ice cream spot and tell him to get to studying - as it was to be expected from a guy who would soon become a full-fledged teacher. But instead, the tiger took a different route, saying their usual one wasn’t ideal by car, was humming along with the song coming from the speakers, and seemed really happy over something.
Must have been the joy of driving, Yukio presumed. After all, he would be all smiles, too, if he was allowed to drive something like the two-seater they were sitting in.
“I didn’t even know you had a license,” the younger man spoke again, before he took a generous lick of his ice cream.
“Got it not long ago, actually,” Iwao said with a shrug.
“Wow, now that makes me feel so safe in here,” Yukio laughed in a comical, strained way, bracing himself on the side of his seat, more out of a joke than anything else. The older man was driving pretty well, after all.
“Dun’ worry,” the tiger chuckled. “A’ could drive our ol’ tractor back home when a’ was 11, so a’ got in on th’ first try. So a’guess we won’ end up ‘gainst a street sign.”
“You guess?” The pink-hair cocked his head to the side, his eyebrow raised in a way that made his face look more funny than doubting. At first try, eh? That’s kind of cool.
“Yeah, ‘f ya stop makin’ stupid faces like that. Or else we’re gonna die laughin’,” Iwao snorted as he glanced over to Yukio’s expression, and his comment made his boyfriend join in on the laughter about to explode in his throat.
It was a good day, after all, Yukio thought to himself as he leaned back in the car seat, his laughing slowly dying down and allowing him to eat the rest of his strawberry ice. They were riding in an awesome car, eating ice cream, laughing at silly things. It wasn’t long until he started on the lyrics of the song playing by Rascal Flatts, his good mood urging him to sing along.
There’s no load I can’t hold
The road is rough, this I know
I’ll be there when the light comes in
Just tell ‘em we’re survivors~
Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all~ night~ looong~!
It wasn’t until the melody came to an end and him running out of lyrics to shout and cheer that the wolf noticed something was off. They had just driven past the Shibuya station, near which he lived and where he was supposed to be dropped off, like usual.
“Hey, Iwao! That was Shibuya right there!” Yukio jumped in his seat in slight panic.
“A’ know,” the tiger answered with a small grin, but made no move to turn around to make amends.
“What do you mean, ‘A’ know’? Did you leave your sense of direction at home or something? That was our turn, even I know that!”
“Nope, that wasn’ ours. Not t’day,” Iwao simply stated as he drove past the green light, towards the outskirts of the metropolitan area - as far as Yukio could tell.
“What the hell, Iwao? Then where are we going?” The young wolf with piercings inquired impatiently. True, he might have been 18, but his mother still didn’t like it if he came home from school after dark; and for good reasons, too.
“Jus’ relax an’ lemme abduct ya, would ya?” The tiger just laughed, though, and while he had to wait for a queue of cars pass by, he reached towards his boyfriend’s brightly dyed hair to give him a brand new haircut by tousling it.
“A’ll take ya somewhere nice,” he promised amongst whining and flailing on the wolf’s part, though the way the older man smiled at him, Yukio couldn’t do anything but pout and lean back in surrender.
Didn’t the stupid giant tiger know it’s illegal to smile like that? Well, maybe not illegal, but it was still pretty unfair. Though, the young singer seedling couldn’t deny that he was curious on where his lover would want to take him, so his pursed lips soon eased into a small, expectant smile as they rode past streetlight after streetlight.
~×~
“Yo, Iwao! Over here!”
The red sports car rolled into a parking lot somewhere near Koto in Tokyo’s bay area, where other cars and other people awaited the tiger and the wolf to arrive. Yukio recognized most of them: they were all friends of Iwao’s from his judo group. And the ones he didn’t find familiar must have been boyfriends and girlfriends of them, judging by the holding of hands and waists here and there. And from the way they all said hello to him, too, aside from his boyfriend.
“’ey, a’brought th’ live music,” Iwao grinned and waved to all the familiar faces, while patting the pink haired man’s shoulder with his free hand.
“Live music?” The wolf looked at his lover incredulously, then at the company around them, then back at the tiger once more, who was just turning off the engine.
“Oh, the sly devil…” Shinnosuke, one of Iwao’s pals laughed and shook his head as the two men got out of the car. “Iwao didn’t tell you? We’re having a little gathering with the training group. Campfire, booze, BBQ…”
“The hell… He didn’t say a word!” Yukio half-complained and half-chuckled along, and he didn’t fail to pinch his much taller lover’s thigh as soon as he stood beside him, for which he had gotten back some tickling to his side, and some snickering from the others.
“You could have said something, though, you damn giant,” the wolf didn’t want to let the other off the hook just yet. “If I had known, I would have brought my guitar, you know.”
“No prob,” Iwao waved it off, before stepping to the trunk of the car to flip it open. “Got it right ‘ere.”
“Huh? Seriously??” Yukio’s eyes were wide as he sprang behind the car as well, only to see that his guitar case was indeed lying there in the trunk. “How the heck did it get in here?”
“Went an’ picked ‘t up b’fore a’ went to fetch ya,” the tiger said matter-of-factly, giving a shrug in response. “An’ yeah, yer mom knows,” he added quickly, before the wolf could even ask.
“What the actual fuck…” Yukio could only mutter in astonishment.
“Hey guys, c’mon, or Jun will start on the beer right here!” Sara, one of the few girls from the judo team called to the couple, waving at them to follow them to some boats floating nearby.
“What’s with the boats?” The flabbergasted wolf asked, starting to snap out of his little shock.
“We’re headin’ ov’r to an island where we won’ be yelled at for fires and drunk singin’,” Iwao explained with a grin, throwing the strap of the instrument case over his shoulder, along with that of a backpack full of food and booze - according to the bumps in it, that is. “C’mon, let’s get goin’ b’fore they leave us ‘ere. I volunteered for rowin’, too,” the tiger petted the shorter man’s hair as he was about to walk after the rest of the crew.
“Ne, Iwao…” Yukio was still standing at the car, though, reaching after the tiger’s hand to stop him.
“Yeah, what is ‘t?” Iwao turned back with a small frown, which just twisted a little bit more when his boyfriend gestured with his index finger for him to get closer.
The tall man obliged, though, bending down a little, and as soon as he did, Yukio yanked his shirt collar to pull him down more, while standing on his toes to be able to steal a kiss from him. And even though he actually meant it to be a small, stolen brushing of lips, his excitement got the better of the young wolf, and he kept the tiger on kissing level for a little while longer. Iwao sure as hell didn’t mind, either, his hand sneaking into pink hair, kissing back. However, their friends seemed to have objections, whistling and hollering at them:
“There’s a few bushes on the island reserved for you, I promise!” One of them yelled.
“Fuck you too~!” Yukio called back with a wide grin and his middle finger raised high. “Let’s get going~” He laughed cheerily as he ran after the others, effectively turning the table, as it was Iwao who was left behind this time. The blinking man was quick to leap after the pink-hair, though, with a smile spreading across his face as they headed towards a fun summer night.