Chocolate fic for __sine
To: __sine
From: nicefinalbeam
Title: Such Great Heights
Pairing:Sakurai Sho & Ayase Haruka
Rating: PG
Summary: Sho takes a risk on a girl with a flying machine.
A/N: There are too many things to say! First, I must say to my recipient that I absolutely loved having your prompt and I am thrilled to present this to you. Second, it's an AU with a bit of history tossed in, but there's no real timeline here -- just enjoy the adventure! In case it's not clear, this is not in chronological order. Third, thanks to my sources of inspiration, and also to my awesome beta. ♥
---
"I didn't think you could make it. Regardless of whether the machine could fly, I thought..." Sho paused and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before continuing, "There was no way you'd make it in time."
Haruka was quiet. Always so very quiet. Sho didn't know what hurt worse -- that she was acting no different than she usually did, or that her belief in his words proved the very trust he was currently breaking.
"I have two days," she spoke, so close to a whisper that Sho could hardly hear her.
He watched sadly as she turned her back to him and walked away.
"Please be safe," he groaned and rubbed at his face furiously with both hands.
For all the talking he'd done for the both of them on this journey, he wasn't so sure he could explain this moment away. He'd thought his lie would serve a purpose. He'd hoped she'd delay without him. He'd lose no matter the outcome was for her this way, but if he could save her it had to be worth it.
Maybe it was better that she finish on her own anyway. Maybe it wouldn't turn out the way he feared it would if she did succeed.
If Japan could embrace her the way she deserved, then Sho could live with empty arms.
---
PHONOGRAPHIC CYLINDER #307859
Speak clearly right into this thing here, okay?
This is Sho Sakurai, Journalist, with Haruka Ayase, Inventor, discussing the hitherto unnamed flying machine. Ms. Ayase, what gave you the idea for the flying machine?
Mn. Well, I like balloons.
You like balloons?
Yes. Also I like bicycles.
You like balloons and bicycles and you... decided to put them together to create the flying machine?
No.
... No? No you didn't put them together?
Yes, I put them together, but I didn't decide that at first. First I thought I wanted to fly.
Ahhhhhhhh. Of course! I should have, right, yes of course. First you decided you wanted to fly.
When was it that you first thought you'd like to fly?
It was...
It was...
I don't remember.
Why don't we do the interview later? You can show me the flying machine now.
---
"Do you think we'll eat a buffalo?" Haruka asked as she pressed her face up against the train window.
Sho was beginning to notice a pattern. His travel companion could be silent for hours, even if he was trying to speak with her directly, but the minute she opened her mouth? Nine times out of ten it was to relate something about food. For someone so very small, who ate so very little, she was oddly obsessed with the topic.
"I don't think they do that anymore. Aren't they nearly extinct?" Sho answered her, holding back a chuckle. Most of the time he felt as if he was laughing with her, but it was hard to know when she wasn't looking at him.
"Mnnn. I didn't want to eat one, so that's good."
Sho nodded, not minding the silence they fell back into. It was probably about time they got a decent rest. Moving quietly to avoid disturbing some of the other passengers with the same plan, he slowly pulled a blanket from the bag at his feet.
"I remember my friend Masaki told me once that he wanted to do something like this," Sho informed her, hesitantly draping the blanket over her lap, "Only he just wanted to try food from every place. He called it a gourmet tour."
Haruka perked up at that, shifting in her seat to turn her head and give him her attention. His stomach fluttered when she pulled the blanket up happily, eyes shining and staring right into his own. He took that as a sign to continue.
"It started when he met a man from Italy who cooked him some pasta--"
"Noodles?!" Haruka interrupted excitedly.
"Noodles," Sho confirmed.
"Ooooh. I want to go on a gourmet tour," she sighed, but she was still smiling, dropping her cheek to his shoulder.
"Even if it means you have to eat a buffalo?"
He waited patiently for her response, then laughed when she reluctantly nodded her head, thrilled by the way he could feel it through his suit jacket.
He made a mental note of this moment. Food was the key.
Even if it meant eating a buffalo.
---
TO THE DESK OF SAKURAI SHO
Asahi sold more papers today. Rising price of shōyu not good enough. Look up inventor-explorer Ayase and the flying machine immediately. FOLLOW. Travel expenses will be compensated.
---
SEVENTH ENTRY - JOURNAL TWO
Amazing how a cloth about your head can stop you from burning. As white as ever, though Ms. Ayase has a patch of red on her nose from the sand winds. It appears as if a target, a perfect place for a landing of lips. I have not dared.
Should I be less personal? Or more so?
I am unsure. I doubt this will affect the article. However, for those who might have wondered, riding a camel hurts in all the places you'd suspect.
And some you wouldn't.
- Sho
---
It was painfully hot. Even the shade from the umbrella seemed a joke now that sweat was rolling down his back. They'd been in plenty of hot climates, from the American west to the Egyptian desert, but it was nothing like today. Haruka's scent was stronger in the heat, a perfume she'd purchased in Paris, some flowery odor that both suited her and made Sho dizzy as they trudged on.
"Sari," she spoke suddenly, giggling and hiding her mouth behind her hand.
He'd lost count of how many times she'd repeated the word and fallen into laughter since she'd first heard it. Once upon a time, Sho had believed that a woman couldn't be more beautiful than she was in her traditional Japanese attire. Now... somehow he couldn't take his eyes of Haruka as they walked side by side in the crowded streets of Dheli.
15 days.
"Let's stop a minute," he suggested, turning around and switching the hand he carried the umbrella with, wiping the other on his side to dry the sweat. He looked for any sign of the rail station as Haruka reached out to help steady the handle. She turned her head and laughed, catching Sho's attention once more.
"Sari?" he guessed.
"Why should I be?" she answered before glancing up at him with a smirk.
He tossed his head back and laughed fully at that. Hearing her laughing at the joke inside her mind still hadn't prepared him for her telling it. He was considerably more cheerful as he got them walking again, sweaty back and all.
"Japan is waiting~" he sing-songed as a reminder.
They fell into step together easily, Sho moving at her pace and letting her choose the song they hummed (which happened to be 'Auld Lang Syne' this time) as they continued their search for the railway. It had to be close. Probably right under their noses. Sho placed a hand to his forehead to try and shield his eyes from the sun just a bit more.
"Want a drink? We have drinks! Come this way," a man directed, appearing suddenly from the crowd and placing a hand on Haruka's back. He began to guide her toward the opposite side of the street where a Western style cafe was situated.
"No thank you," Sho rushed forward, lightly grabbing hold of Haruka's wrist and pulling her back toward him, "We have a train to Calcutta to catch, no time for drinks. Thank you."
"You say drinks? We have drinks!"
"I'm not thirsty," Haruka spoke quietly, shaking her head, but the man was persistent.
"Thirsty! Drinks, you come this way. Water, tea, coffee. You want tea?" he continued in spite of Sho's warning glare, and soon two other men began to approach them, another with a menu and one with a camera.
"Why doesn't he understand what I'm saying? How many times do I have to say we don't want anything?" Sho was beginning to get flustered, holding Haruka's hand tightly.
"I take photo. I take money," the man with the camera tried to stop Sho from moving forward.
That seemed to be the policy in India's markets. Do first and ask later - with some harassment thrown in. Paying for something like the sari was reasonable, since Haruka wanted one, but paying for a photograph he'd not even asked to have taken?
"Already take! So you pay now."
"Look, we're on a very strict deadline. You chose to take our photograph, which is a great compliment to us both, but it was your choice, do you see what I'm saying? I don't need the photograph," Sho spoke firmly, but to no avail.
"No sir! No sir! I take money for photo," the man with the camera insisted again.
Sho sighed, hanging his head and ignoring the way his heart jumped when Haruka pressed closer against his side. Developing a photo would take time. He'd not even seen a flash go off. He might end up paying for a photo that was of his shoes, or not of him at all. Maybe it would only be Haruka's profile, or maybe the man would take the money and run for it before handing them a photo. Sho didn't like this.
But Haruka smiled.
"We don't have any photographs together. Souvenir?"
Well, if she was going to put it that way! What was a newspaper article without a photo, right? Sho might have caved then, but only in the way he felt it would benefit them most. He nodded at the man with the camera, but held a hand up to signal a condition.
"Give us the photo and help us to the train station. Then I will pay you."
"Train? You pay," the man with the camera agreed, motioning for them both to follow.
---
PHONOGRAPHIC CYLINDER #307858
We have to test to make sure it's working before we send you out with it.
I don't know how I'm going to get it all the way over there. It's heavy.
Would help if your muscles were for use and not show.
Yeah yeah. Is it working or not?
I think so. We'll let it run a minute.
Jun? Do you think it's stupid to bet on all of this?
Not really. Though don't you already have a motive for making sure she succeeds?
What do you mean?
If she makes it in the time you said she could, it doesn't matter if the flying machine fails. She'll be famous! And you'll have the exclusive story.
Which will drive Nino crazy.
But you'll feel great about it.
Maybe.
Wait, don't lean on the--
--
"I'M DOING TO DIE! PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE!"
"You aren't going to die if you keep pedaling!" Haruka argued, her legs moving faster and faster as she pedaled her side of the machine.
"We're going up! We're going up and everyone knows what happens to things that go up!" Sho argued back, though he wasn't about to let himself die from lack of pedaling. He pushed himself to pedal at Haruka's pace, at the very least.
They were both quiet as the machine took off from the ground and the balloon inflated above them, some odd combination of human strength and the energy of fire. He would have never guessed from looking at her that this could even be possible. They were flying.
And then he was falling.
"Don't panic!" She warned before he could start his screeching, her voice as calm as her demeanor and impressively so. He found himself pedaling less as he stared at the side of her head, mouth parted in awe of her and everything she'd accomplished.
She was scary. Seriously frightening. As frightening as the flying machine.
"You said you didn't want to go far today," she explained as they began a slow descent, back to the field they'd lifted up from not a few moments before, "Do you think you can stay calm over the Pacific Ocean? I want to go to America!"
No.
Oh hell no.
He opened his mouth to say so, but out popped instead-
"How about around the world in eighty days. Want to go?"
---
"You were seriously going to write about a condiment?"
Nino was already perched on the edge of Sho's desk with a smirk on his face and a message card in his hand when Sho reached the office.
"Not about any condiment!" Sho defended himself as he snatched the card from Nino's hand and dropped his hat on the desk beside him, "And I already wrote it. About shōyu, Nino. If we keep trying to export at the current price, no foreign country will want to buy. They'll import everything from China."
Nino hummed in what seemed like understanding at first, but was soon patting Sho hard on the back and shaking his head. "That is about 0.5% more fascinating than I thought. FLYING MACHINE, Sho."
It was difficult to argue with what would clearly be a huge news story should it turn out to be true, but so often it seemed that inventors made it up in the air for a moment at most and then came crashing back down to reality. There was no sense in throwing away a perfectly good article in favor of another failed attempt to defy gravity.
Sho flipped the pages of one of his journals nervously, then said, "There's no way it's possible, right?"
He waited for Nino to say something, but all Sho received was a shrug. If it was possible, and it probably wasn't, but for the sake of argument and journalistic endeavors and optimism and so on -- if it was possible, would he be made to test it out too? That was the real question haunting him, the real problem with covering a story like this one. Flying machines, if properly put together, would fly. In the air.
"I'm a little envious," Nino broke his silence, jumping down from the desk, "I was hoping to meet this inventor myself. No one in the press has been able to get Ayase to say more than two words tops in response to questions. But... you're pretty chatty, Sho. Maybe you'll be the one."
Sho snorted at that, but he had to admit that piqued his interest. Was Ayase not talking because that meant there would be no huge disappointment with their failure, or because there was something to hide? Alien technology or suspect financial backers or a stolen blueprint of another machine would mean the jackpot!
Though, there were other things to consider here. He was operating under the assumption that the flying machine would fail, but what about the small percentage of chance that it worked?
"If this is real, if there's a flying machine out there, it could change transportation forever. We could travel the circle of the earth in a few months time!" Sho began to grow excited at the prospect. Fear of death was all he'd have to overcome in order to see the Egyptian Pyramids and Stonehenge and Florence, Italy all in one trip. It would be a dream come true!
Not to mention what that would do for shōyu exports. He could do a follow-up article that would sell copies of the newspaper instantly.
"How few are we talking?" Nino interrupted and shook Sho from his daydream.
Sho scratched his nose as he thought the question over, not entirely sure himself. "Something like 80 days?" he decided, not really caring about specifics. Nino, on the other hand, seemed entirely intrigued by this estimate.
"Put your money on it?"
"Put my money on a flying machine I've never seen in action?" Sho questioned, though it was more a rhetorical question meant to show how stupid he thought that idea to be. Why would he be foolish enough to bet on an unknown?
"I'm not saying you bet on it without seeing it. I'm saying... if it turns out Ayase's machine can fly, and then you somehow manage to persuade the inventor to take it around the world, do you really believe you can make it back in 80 days or less?"
Sho wasn't going to bet on this. He really wasn't. But if he did bet on this--
"Would it have to be entirely done in the flying machine? Or would rail and sea be acceptable?" he asked for clarification. Because a flying machine would be too new to trust with the entire journey, but with the completion of railways across India and other parts of Asia, not to mention the entirety of the United States, surely it wasn't an impossible feat. Eighty days would be more than enough. In theory.
"Sure," Nino agreed, "But if you don't make it back in time, there's no excuses."
Not an issue. Sho could accept those terms. So long as this Ayase didn't turn out to be a burden, it would be a cinch.
"We'll make it," Sho assured him.
Nino didn't seem so convinced, but that was a good thing. Sho would be satisfied enough knowing he'd gained victory over his friend. This way the money would just be a very, very pleasant bonus.
"So how much do I get for proving it?"
---
JAPANESE WOMAN IN FRANCE, AND SHE'S WEARING WESTERN PANTS?
Sho glanced to the bed where Haruka was sleeping, then back to the newspaper in his lap. Somehow he'd thought the world would be thrilled to see a woman like Haruka accomplishing this kind of goal. She'd invented a flying machine and all they could see were her quirks. Mocking them as if they were more important than the gift she'd given to society.
The hotel room was eerily quiet, the only sound created from Haruka's soft breathing and Sho's exhale of displeasure.
"You're so much better than this," he whispered before tossing the newspaper in the bin.
He liked her exactly as she was, even if she'd insisted on wearing pants in Paris because she thought it would be more likely that an artist would want to sketch her. She looked better than the women in their gigantic dresses did, that was for sure.
They'd be moving to the next country soon, and the next country after that, but would it really get any better? Sho felt his mouth dropping into a deep frown as he thought about what would happen if they succeeded, if they made it back and she became as famous as Jun said she'd be.
How many more headlines like this would he have to read?
---
"I think I was tricked."
Sho tried to remain calm, but it was a difficult task when the tickets he held in his hand were not the tickets he was supposed to have. Where the hell had he put the ones for the boat? Haruka helped him in searching through his bag, but they appeared to be lost for good. Maybe stolen from the bag at one point or another when Sho wasn't paying attention, or maybe they'd just fallen out or been misplaced, but there wasn't much they could do about it now.
"What should we do?" Haruka asked.
Sho really had no idea. The best plan he could come up with spur of the moment like this didn't feel like all that great a plan to him. He seriously doubted that two Japanese travelers, a journalist and an inventor, could somehow masquerade as members of the ship's crew. They should probably just buy another ticket and hope it didn't cost them too much time.
"Act natural?" Sho advised jokingly.
To his surprise, Haruka seemed to take something from that suggestion, walking confidently toward the ramp leading up to the deck.
"Excuse me," she smiled at the crewmember taking the tickets from passengers, "I need to speak with my father as soon as possible."
Sho stood behind her nervously, biting his lip and wondering if he should stop her before she ended up getting thrown in the ship's prison or something. If it had one. He really didn't know how these things worked.
"Your father?" the crewmember repeated.
"Yes. I've decided to marry. If he still refuses to give permission, I'll simply stay on shore and he can send me a letter of apology at his convenience."
Sho's eyes widened when Haruka held onto his arm firmly, still staring the crewmember down. Maybe he was too distracted by her words to ask for tickets, or maybe he assumed it was an emergency and they'd be leaving the ship soon after anyway, but to Sho's astonishment... the man stepped aside.
"How was that?" she asked when they'd found themselves a spot to settle, taking the pins out of her hair to rearrange whatever style had been messed by the wind.
Sho honestly had no idea what to say. It had been unexpected, but certainly helpful. He raised an eyebrow, then asked, "You wouldn't happen to be related to Ohno Satoshi, would you?"
Haruka finished fixing her hair, then looked to Sho with a curious smile.
"Who?"
---
"Who is it?"
Sho glanced down at the bowl of pudding in his hands, then back up at the door. Maybe she wouldn't want to see him. If he didn't say anything, would she open the door anyway? He could apologize quickly before she slammed it again.
"It's Sho," he finally answered, hoping she was still there to listen.
The pause before the door opening was no longer than any of the pauses she'd leave in conversation, but this was far more torturous than that had been. The pudding in the bowl shook in time with the trembling of his hands.
"Ah, Sho!"
She sounded... not upset with him. He pursed his lips in confusion, but it was clear as she opened the door and stepped out to greet him that she hadn't remained angry. For a moment Sho had to fear it meant that his presence in her life had not been one important enough to warrant a lasting sting.
"I wanted to apologize," he expressed anyway, holding the bowl out for her to take if she wanted. Food was the key, he hadn't forgotten.
"I shouldn't have told you I didn't believe in you when I did the entire time. I believed in you more than anyone I think. You wouldn't have even had to have gone around the world if not for me and then I abandoned you at the last minute and it was horrible. I think I was being selfish even though I thought I wasn't being selfish and I'm really sorry to hear it took eighty one days because you deserve the best newspapers knocking down your door for interviews."
Sho wasn't even the best journalist out there, really. He was still learning. Like today! Today he'd learned that travel compensation might not include the entire world if you make it back without a decent story to print. That had been an interesting lesson.
"You lost a whole dollar! I'm sorry."
Sho snapped out of his thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Your friend Nino told me," Haruka explained as she slowly pulled the bowl from his hands, "When he stopped by for an interview."
There were too many things wrong with that sentence for Sho to even begin to contemplate it. Instead he took a step closer, his heart beating faster.
"So you know I was rooting for us, then? That I didn't sabotage us at all?"
Well, he'd sabotaged them at the end, hadn't he? When he'd told her that he had been the whole time. If he'd not done that, maybe they'd have made it back to Japan with a day to spare, or on the eightieth day exactly.
"I was rooting for us too," Haruka told him, setting the pudding down before wrapping her arms around him tightly. Sho tensed at first, not used to a girl initiating this kind of touch, but it was her and that couldn't be more perfect. He smiled at the blush he could see along her neck, wrapping his arms around her in return.
He kissed her temple, light and lips spread thin with his smile.
"So... this means we win, right?" Sho asked after a moment, still not letting go.
"Next time," Haruka sighed against his shirt, "We should do the gourmet tour."
---
FIRST ENTRY, JOURNAL ONE
It flew.
Oh, and Ayase is a woman. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen in person.
I should have bet a year.
- Sho
From: nicefinalbeam
Title: Such Great Heights
Pairing:Sakurai Sho & Ayase Haruka
Rating: PG
Summary: Sho takes a risk on a girl with a flying machine.
A/N: There are too many things to say! First, I must say to my recipient that I absolutely loved having your prompt and I am thrilled to present this to you. Second, it's an AU with a bit of history tossed in, but there's no real timeline here -- just enjoy the adventure! In case it's not clear, this is not in chronological order. Third, thanks to my sources of inspiration, and also to my awesome beta. ♥
---
"I didn't think you could make it. Regardless of whether the machine could fly, I thought..." Sho paused and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before continuing, "There was no way you'd make it in time."
Haruka was quiet. Always so very quiet. Sho didn't know what hurt worse -- that she was acting no different than she usually did, or that her belief in his words proved the very trust he was currently breaking.
"I have two days," she spoke, so close to a whisper that Sho could hardly hear her.
He watched sadly as she turned her back to him and walked away.
"Please be safe," he groaned and rubbed at his face furiously with both hands.
For all the talking he'd done for the both of them on this journey, he wasn't so sure he could explain this moment away. He'd thought his lie would serve a purpose. He'd hoped she'd delay without him. He'd lose no matter the outcome was for her this way, but if he could save her it had to be worth it.
Maybe it was better that she finish on her own anyway. Maybe it wouldn't turn out the way he feared it would if she did succeed.
If Japan could embrace her the way she deserved, then Sho could live with empty arms.
---
PHONOGRAPHIC CYLINDER #307859
Speak clearly right into this thing here, okay?
This is Sho Sakurai, Journalist, with Haruka Ayase, Inventor, discussing the hitherto unnamed flying machine. Ms. Ayase, what gave you the idea for the flying machine?
Mn. Well, I like balloons.
You like balloons?
Yes. Also I like bicycles.
You like balloons and bicycles and you... decided to put them together to create the flying machine?
No.
... No? No you didn't put them together?
Yes, I put them together, but I didn't decide that at first. First I thought I wanted to fly.
Ahhhhhhhh. Of course! I should have, right, yes of course. First you decided you wanted to fly.
When was it that you first thought you'd like to fly?
It was...
It was...
I don't remember.
Why don't we do the interview later? You can show me the flying machine now.
---
"Do you think we'll eat a buffalo?" Haruka asked as she pressed her face up against the train window.
Sho was beginning to notice a pattern. His travel companion could be silent for hours, even if he was trying to speak with her directly, but the minute she opened her mouth? Nine times out of ten it was to relate something about food. For someone so very small, who ate so very little, she was oddly obsessed with the topic.
"I don't think they do that anymore. Aren't they nearly extinct?" Sho answered her, holding back a chuckle. Most of the time he felt as if he was laughing with her, but it was hard to know when she wasn't looking at him.
"Mnnn. I didn't want to eat one, so that's good."
Sho nodded, not minding the silence they fell back into. It was probably about time they got a decent rest. Moving quietly to avoid disturbing some of the other passengers with the same plan, he slowly pulled a blanket from the bag at his feet.
"I remember my friend Masaki told me once that he wanted to do something like this," Sho informed her, hesitantly draping the blanket over her lap, "Only he just wanted to try food from every place. He called it a gourmet tour."
Haruka perked up at that, shifting in her seat to turn her head and give him her attention. His stomach fluttered when she pulled the blanket up happily, eyes shining and staring right into his own. He took that as a sign to continue.
"It started when he met a man from Italy who cooked him some pasta--"
"Noodles?!" Haruka interrupted excitedly.
"Noodles," Sho confirmed.
"Ooooh. I want to go on a gourmet tour," she sighed, but she was still smiling, dropping her cheek to his shoulder.
"Even if it means you have to eat a buffalo?"
He waited patiently for her response, then laughed when she reluctantly nodded her head, thrilled by the way he could feel it through his suit jacket.
He made a mental note of this moment. Food was the key.
Even if it meant eating a buffalo.
---
TO THE DESK OF SAKURAI SHO
Asahi sold more papers today. Rising price of shōyu not good enough. Look up inventor-explorer Ayase and the flying machine immediately. FOLLOW. Travel expenses will be compensated.
---
SEVENTH ENTRY - JOURNAL TWO
Amazing how a cloth about your head can stop you from burning. As white as ever, though Ms. Ayase has a patch of red on her nose from the sand winds. It appears as if a target, a perfect place for a landing of lips. I have not dared.
Should I be less personal? Or more so?
I am unsure. I doubt this will affect the article. However, for those who might have wondered, riding a camel hurts in all the places you'd suspect.
And some you wouldn't.
- Sho
---
It was painfully hot. Even the shade from the umbrella seemed a joke now that sweat was rolling down his back. They'd been in plenty of hot climates, from the American west to the Egyptian desert, but it was nothing like today. Haruka's scent was stronger in the heat, a perfume she'd purchased in Paris, some flowery odor that both suited her and made Sho dizzy as they trudged on.
"Sari," she spoke suddenly, giggling and hiding her mouth behind her hand.
He'd lost count of how many times she'd repeated the word and fallen into laughter since she'd first heard it. Once upon a time, Sho had believed that a woman couldn't be more beautiful than she was in her traditional Japanese attire. Now... somehow he couldn't take his eyes of Haruka as they walked side by side in the crowded streets of Dheli.
15 days.
"Let's stop a minute," he suggested, turning around and switching the hand he carried the umbrella with, wiping the other on his side to dry the sweat. He looked for any sign of the rail station as Haruka reached out to help steady the handle. She turned her head and laughed, catching Sho's attention once more.
"Sari?" he guessed.
"Why should I be?" she answered before glancing up at him with a smirk.
He tossed his head back and laughed fully at that. Hearing her laughing at the joke inside her mind still hadn't prepared him for her telling it. He was considerably more cheerful as he got them walking again, sweaty back and all.
"Japan is waiting~" he sing-songed as a reminder.
They fell into step together easily, Sho moving at her pace and letting her choose the song they hummed (which happened to be 'Auld Lang Syne' this time) as they continued their search for the railway. It had to be close. Probably right under their noses. Sho placed a hand to his forehead to try and shield his eyes from the sun just a bit more.
"Want a drink? We have drinks! Come this way," a man directed, appearing suddenly from the crowd and placing a hand on Haruka's back. He began to guide her toward the opposite side of the street where a Western style cafe was situated.
"No thank you," Sho rushed forward, lightly grabbing hold of Haruka's wrist and pulling her back toward him, "We have a train to Calcutta to catch, no time for drinks. Thank you."
"You say drinks? We have drinks!"
"I'm not thirsty," Haruka spoke quietly, shaking her head, but the man was persistent.
"Thirsty! Drinks, you come this way. Water, tea, coffee. You want tea?" he continued in spite of Sho's warning glare, and soon two other men began to approach them, another with a menu and one with a camera.
"Why doesn't he understand what I'm saying? How many times do I have to say we don't want anything?" Sho was beginning to get flustered, holding Haruka's hand tightly.
"I take photo. I take money," the man with the camera tried to stop Sho from moving forward.
That seemed to be the policy in India's markets. Do first and ask later - with some harassment thrown in. Paying for something like the sari was reasonable, since Haruka wanted one, but paying for a photograph he'd not even asked to have taken?
"Already take! So you pay now."
"Look, we're on a very strict deadline. You chose to take our photograph, which is a great compliment to us both, but it was your choice, do you see what I'm saying? I don't need the photograph," Sho spoke firmly, but to no avail.
"No sir! No sir! I take money for photo," the man with the camera insisted again.
Sho sighed, hanging his head and ignoring the way his heart jumped when Haruka pressed closer against his side. Developing a photo would take time. He'd not even seen a flash go off. He might end up paying for a photo that was of his shoes, or not of him at all. Maybe it would only be Haruka's profile, or maybe the man would take the money and run for it before handing them a photo. Sho didn't like this.
But Haruka smiled.
"We don't have any photographs together. Souvenir?"
Well, if she was going to put it that way! What was a newspaper article without a photo, right? Sho might have caved then, but only in the way he felt it would benefit them most. He nodded at the man with the camera, but held a hand up to signal a condition.
"Give us the photo and help us to the train station. Then I will pay you."
"Train? You pay," the man with the camera agreed, motioning for them both to follow.
---
PHONOGRAPHIC CYLINDER #307858
We have to test to make sure it's working before we send you out with it.
I don't know how I'm going to get it all the way over there. It's heavy.
Would help if your muscles were for use and not show.
Yeah yeah. Is it working or not?
I think so. We'll let it run a minute.
Jun? Do you think it's stupid to bet on all of this?
Not really. Though don't you already have a motive for making sure she succeeds?
What do you mean?
If she makes it in the time you said she could, it doesn't matter if the flying machine fails. She'll be famous! And you'll have the exclusive story.
Which will drive Nino crazy.
But you'll feel great about it.
Maybe.
Wait, don't lean on the--
--
"I'M DOING TO DIE! PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE!"
"You aren't going to die if you keep pedaling!" Haruka argued, her legs moving faster and faster as she pedaled her side of the machine.
"We're going up! We're going up and everyone knows what happens to things that go up!" Sho argued back, though he wasn't about to let himself die from lack of pedaling. He pushed himself to pedal at Haruka's pace, at the very least.
They were both quiet as the machine took off from the ground and the balloon inflated above them, some odd combination of human strength and the energy of fire. He would have never guessed from looking at her that this could even be possible. They were flying.
And then he was falling.
"Don't panic!" She warned before he could start his screeching, her voice as calm as her demeanor and impressively so. He found himself pedaling less as he stared at the side of her head, mouth parted in awe of her and everything she'd accomplished.
She was scary. Seriously frightening. As frightening as the flying machine.
"You said you didn't want to go far today," she explained as they began a slow descent, back to the field they'd lifted up from not a few moments before, "Do you think you can stay calm over the Pacific Ocean? I want to go to America!"
No.
Oh hell no.
He opened his mouth to say so, but out popped instead-
"How about around the world in eighty days. Want to go?"
---
"You were seriously going to write about a condiment?"
Nino was already perched on the edge of Sho's desk with a smirk on his face and a message card in his hand when Sho reached the office.
"Not about any condiment!" Sho defended himself as he snatched the card from Nino's hand and dropped his hat on the desk beside him, "And I already wrote it. About shōyu, Nino. If we keep trying to export at the current price, no foreign country will want to buy. They'll import everything from China."
Nino hummed in what seemed like understanding at first, but was soon patting Sho hard on the back and shaking his head. "That is about 0.5% more fascinating than I thought. FLYING MACHINE, Sho."
It was difficult to argue with what would clearly be a huge news story should it turn out to be true, but so often it seemed that inventors made it up in the air for a moment at most and then came crashing back down to reality. There was no sense in throwing away a perfectly good article in favor of another failed attempt to defy gravity.
Sho flipped the pages of one of his journals nervously, then said, "There's no way it's possible, right?"
He waited for Nino to say something, but all Sho received was a shrug. If it was possible, and it probably wasn't, but for the sake of argument and journalistic endeavors and optimism and so on -- if it was possible, would he be made to test it out too? That was the real question haunting him, the real problem with covering a story like this one. Flying machines, if properly put together, would fly. In the air.
"I'm a little envious," Nino broke his silence, jumping down from the desk, "I was hoping to meet this inventor myself. No one in the press has been able to get Ayase to say more than two words tops in response to questions. But... you're pretty chatty, Sho. Maybe you'll be the one."
Sho snorted at that, but he had to admit that piqued his interest. Was Ayase not talking because that meant there would be no huge disappointment with their failure, or because there was something to hide? Alien technology or suspect financial backers or a stolen blueprint of another machine would mean the jackpot!
Though, there were other things to consider here. He was operating under the assumption that the flying machine would fail, but what about the small percentage of chance that it worked?
"If this is real, if there's a flying machine out there, it could change transportation forever. We could travel the circle of the earth in a few months time!" Sho began to grow excited at the prospect. Fear of death was all he'd have to overcome in order to see the Egyptian Pyramids and Stonehenge and Florence, Italy all in one trip. It would be a dream come true!
Not to mention what that would do for shōyu exports. He could do a follow-up article that would sell copies of the newspaper instantly.
"How few are we talking?" Nino interrupted and shook Sho from his daydream.
Sho scratched his nose as he thought the question over, not entirely sure himself. "Something like 80 days?" he decided, not really caring about specifics. Nino, on the other hand, seemed entirely intrigued by this estimate.
"Put your money on it?"
"Put my money on a flying machine I've never seen in action?" Sho questioned, though it was more a rhetorical question meant to show how stupid he thought that idea to be. Why would he be foolish enough to bet on an unknown?
"I'm not saying you bet on it without seeing it. I'm saying... if it turns out Ayase's machine can fly, and then you somehow manage to persuade the inventor to take it around the world, do you really believe you can make it back in 80 days or less?"
Sho wasn't going to bet on this. He really wasn't. But if he did bet on this--
"Would it have to be entirely done in the flying machine? Or would rail and sea be acceptable?" he asked for clarification. Because a flying machine would be too new to trust with the entire journey, but with the completion of railways across India and other parts of Asia, not to mention the entirety of the United States, surely it wasn't an impossible feat. Eighty days would be more than enough. In theory.
"Sure," Nino agreed, "But if you don't make it back in time, there's no excuses."
Not an issue. Sho could accept those terms. So long as this Ayase didn't turn out to be a burden, it would be a cinch.
"We'll make it," Sho assured him.
Nino didn't seem so convinced, but that was a good thing. Sho would be satisfied enough knowing he'd gained victory over his friend. This way the money would just be a very, very pleasant bonus.
"So how much do I get for proving it?"
---
JAPANESE WOMAN IN FRANCE, AND SHE'S WEARING WESTERN PANTS?
Sho glanced to the bed where Haruka was sleeping, then back to the newspaper in his lap. Somehow he'd thought the world would be thrilled to see a woman like Haruka accomplishing this kind of goal. She'd invented a flying machine and all they could see were her quirks. Mocking them as if they were more important than the gift she'd given to society.
The hotel room was eerily quiet, the only sound created from Haruka's soft breathing and Sho's exhale of displeasure.
"You're so much better than this," he whispered before tossing the newspaper in the bin.
He liked her exactly as she was, even if she'd insisted on wearing pants in Paris because she thought it would be more likely that an artist would want to sketch her. She looked better than the women in their gigantic dresses did, that was for sure.
They'd be moving to the next country soon, and the next country after that, but would it really get any better? Sho felt his mouth dropping into a deep frown as he thought about what would happen if they succeeded, if they made it back and she became as famous as Jun said she'd be.
How many more headlines like this would he have to read?
---
"I think I was tricked."
Sho tried to remain calm, but it was a difficult task when the tickets he held in his hand were not the tickets he was supposed to have. Where the hell had he put the ones for the boat? Haruka helped him in searching through his bag, but they appeared to be lost for good. Maybe stolen from the bag at one point or another when Sho wasn't paying attention, or maybe they'd just fallen out or been misplaced, but there wasn't much they could do about it now.
"What should we do?" Haruka asked.
Sho really had no idea. The best plan he could come up with spur of the moment like this didn't feel like all that great a plan to him. He seriously doubted that two Japanese travelers, a journalist and an inventor, could somehow masquerade as members of the ship's crew. They should probably just buy another ticket and hope it didn't cost them too much time.
"Act natural?" Sho advised jokingly.
To his surprise, Haruka seemed to take something from that suggestion, walking confidently toward the ramp leading up to the deck.
"Excuse me," she smiled at the crewmember taking the tickets from passengers, "I need to speak with my father as soon as possible."
Sho stood behind her nervously, biting his lip and wondering if he should stop her before she ended up getting thrown in the ship's prison or something. If it had one. He really didn't know how these things worked.
"Your father?" the crewmember repeated.
"Yes. I've decided to marry. If he still refuses to give permission, I'll simply stay on shore and he can send me a letter of apology at his convenience."
Sho's eyes widened when Haruka held onto his arm firmly, still staring the crewmember down. Maybe he was too distracted by her words to ask for tickets, or maybe he assumed it was an emergency and they'd be leaving the ship soon after anyway, but to Sho's astonishment... the man stepped aside.
"How was that?" she asked when they'd found themselves a spot to settle, taking the pins out of her hair to rearrange whatever style had been messed by the wind.
Sho honestly had no idea what to say. It had been unexpected, but certainly helpful. He raised an eyebrow, then asked, "You wouldn't happen to be related to Ohno Satoshi, would you?"
Haruka finished fixing her hair, then looked to Sho with a curious smile.
"Who?"
---
"Who is it?"
Sho glanced down at the bowl of pudding in his hands, then back up at the door. Maybe she wouldn't want to see him. If he didn't say anything, would she open the door anyway? He could apologize quickly before she slammed it again.
"It's Sho," he finally answered, hoping she was still there to listen.
The pause before the door opening was no longer than any of the pauses she'd leave in conversation, but this was far more torturous than that had been. The pudding in the bowl shook in time with the trembling of his hands.
"Ah, Sho!"
She sounded... not upset with him. He pursed his lips in confusion, but it was clear as she opened the door and stepped out to greet him that she hadn't remained angry. For a moment Sho had to fear it meant that his presence in her life had not been one important enough to warrant a lasting sting.
"I wanted to apologize," he expressed anyway, holding the bowl out for her to take if she wanted. Food was the key, he hadn't forgotten.
"I shouldn't have told you I didn't believe in you when I did the entire time. I believed in you more than anyone I think. You wouldn't have even had to have gone around the world if not for me and then I abandoned you at the last minute and it was horrible. I think I was being selfish even though I thought I wasn't being selfish and I'm really sorry to hear it took eighty one days because you deserve the best newspapers knocking down your door for interviews."
Sho wasn't even the best journalist out there, really. He was still learning. Like today! Today he'd learned that travel compensation might not include the entire world if you make it back without a decent story to print. That had been an interesting lesson.
"You lost a whole dollar! I'm sorry."
Sho snapped out of his thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Your friend Nino told me," Haruka explained as she slowly pulled the bowl from his hands, "When he stopped by for an interview."
There were too many things wrong with that sentence for Sho to even begin to contemplate it. Instead he took a step closer, his heart beating faster.
"So you know I was rooting for us, then? That I didn't sabotage us at all?"
Well, he'd sabotaged them at the end, hadn't he? When he'd told her that he had been the whole time. If he'd not done that, maybe they'd have made it back to Japan with a day to spare, or on the eightieth day exactly.
"I was rooting for us too," Haruka told him, setting the pudding down before wrapping her arms around him tightly. Sho tensed at first, not used to a girl initiating this kind of touch, but it was her and that couldn't be more perfect. He smiled at the blush he could see along her neck, wrapping his arms around her in return.
He kissed her temple, light and lips spread thin with his smile.
"So... this means we win, right?" Sho asked after a moment, still not letting go.
"Next time," Haruka sighed against his shirt, "We should do the gourmet tour."
---
FIRST ENTRY, JOURNAL ONE
It flew.
Oh, and Ayase is a woman. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen in person.
I should have bet a year.
- Sho