RUSH-HOUR - Chapter 7
Don't know how, but I managed to finish my essay. It would presumably harm my grade average, but at least I was able to submit something to my professor, who already had his eye on me for missing too many of his classes. The whole way from Hitako's place to the university, I had had a strange feeling, as if someone was constantly watching and following me, but whenever I turned around, nothing suspicious catched my eye. However, I heaved a sigh of relief once I reached the comparatively safety of the university complex. Usually, it took me more than half an hour in crowded subway trains to get there from my place, but since Hitako's flat was also located in the inner part of the city, I just had to ride a bus for less than ten minutes. I could get used to that.
As soon as my morning classes ended, I headed to the canteen and met up with a couple of fellow students I knew briefly. Since I hadn't joined any clubs and didn't attend parties on campus, it was harder for me to form closer bonds, or so I convinced myself. Truth is, most of the time I prefered eating alone, just as I prefered spending time with one or two people over being part of a larger group. Today, I placed my tray next to a friendly, bigger built girl I knew from one of my english classes, and soon we were engaged in a conversation about said class. It was nice to have a normal, relaxed conversation with an equally normal, relaxed person, and my dark mood lightened tremendously.
That was, until I saw him.
Once more, out of the blue, Mirai was there, staring at me with his burning eyes from the other end of the canteen. My first impuls was to flee - shamefully, my second was to run over and kiss him fiercely. „Oh damn it, I'm done for", I realized while choosing none of these two options. Instead, I remained seated on the spot, and waited for him to act. Which he did, in a truly show-stopping fashion. Never taking his eyes off of me, he started walking over to where I was sitting. Although I couldn't break our eye-contact, either, I noticed the conversations around me stopped, then started again, now concentrating on the gorgeous specimen of a man heading towards us. My face blushed a deep red - what else? -, and the girl next to me poked my side to get my attention. But I didn't want to miss one second of his walk and waved my hand dismissively in her direction.
He wore black jeans, it's tight fit perfectly highlighting the muscular, but not bulky legs, leaving no room for imagination around his crotch area. A grey shirt with the cover of an 80ies Bauhaus album I loved, cut into a tank and around it's collar to widen the amount of neckline showing, rested leisurely on his shoulders, with the left side slightly slipped down onto his perfectly sculptured biceps, and the hemline ended right at his hips. He carried a black leather jacket in one of his hands, swung over his right shoulder and dangling down his back. Mirai was a sight of pure perfection, coolness and masculinity, like some greek god with his naturally tanned skin. Other men would have easily given off a feminine vibe in his attire, but definitely not him.
My mouth went dry and I gulped hard once he arrived in front of me.
„Hey, cutie. Mind if I take a seat?" Without awaiting an answer, he had already grabbed an empty chair and sat down right in the middle of the canteen's main alley, inches away from me, not minding the indignant stares and mumbles from students who had to maneuver around him with their trays.
Taking a quick look around, I noticed a multitude of eyes resting upon us, making me squirm on my seat. At least Mirai wouldn't try anything funny with so many people slash witnesses around, wouldn't he?.
„Why haven't you called yet? That Shota-dork gave you my number, didn't he?"
Turning my attention back to him, I sighed. „He did, and I would have contacted you later. My classes end at three in the afternoon today and I don't have as much free time as you obviously have at your disposal."
He grinned his wolfish grin. „Babe, I had to re-arrange my whole schedule today just to make room for you. The least you could do, is say to hell with my classes and come with me to have a talk. Promised, only talking, since I assume your ass is still sore from our last fuck session." I could hear the girl next to me gasp, and thanked Mirai with a glare for outing me in front of my fellow students. Not that I hid my sexual orientation, but I didn't shove it into anyone I hardly knew's face, either.
Of course, he had talked like that intentionally, and he got the reaction he had anticipated: I quickly stood up and pulled my bag over my shoulders. „Oh man, come on! This is definitely not the right time or place for that kind of talk!"
„Alright, then I'll take you somewhere else, where it is more suitable." He smirked, and I wanted to either hit him, or bury myself under the table.
He layed his free arm possessively around my waist, drawing me near to his warm and yummy smelling body, and dragged me out of the canteen. „I won't go to your appartement with you, and definitely not to some Love Hotel again", I declared firmly, and he shrugged.
„Don't worry, we won't go back to that dumpster." What was that supposed to mean? The way he said it was off, and made goosebumps appear on my arms.
He strolled through the university, me firmly attached to his side, and everywhere we went, eyes rested upon us, or rather, upon him. I never liked drawing too much attention on me. Additionally, our walk somehow felt like a walk of shame to me after the things we had done two days prior. „Aw, man, are you shy?" He smirked at me, and I nodded. It had taken me years to overcome my shyness amongst large groups of people, and when I'm particularly stressed, it sometimes reverts. And I was extremly stressed at that moment, considering the person who basically held me in his arms.
Leaving the main building through it's front doors, the sudden brightness of the sunny day blinded me for a second. Mirai pulled a car key out of one of his jeans' back pockets - the first surprise, for I had never seen him driving one around our appartement complex -, and lead me towards a black sports car of an expensive european brand, standing in a no standing area right in front of the university. Laughing at the ticket attached behind the windscreen wiper, he flipped the ticket off and tossed it to the ground, then pressed a button on the key in his hand. The car's locks opened with a beep-sound - the second surprise, and boy, what an utterly unexpected one!
He must have sensed my stare and looked over. Chuckling at the funny expression I, without a doubt, gave him, he opened the passenger door and motioned me to get inside, which I did, still a bit shell-shocked. Why did he live in a place like our's if he could afford such a car? Or was it stolen? Leaning close to me, he whispered into my ears: „It's mine, no need to worry over trivial matters again." Okay, he was obviously able to read my thoughts right off of my mind. Closing the door, he walked around the car without any hurry, and seated himself into the driver's seat.
„Dealing drugs and ruining other people's lifes must pay off well", I said tardly, a remark I immediately regretted when he glared at me. „Sorry..." Feeling the nearly irresistible impulse to facepalm myself, both for my incautious remark and the fact that I had excused for stating nothing but the truth, I slumped into the seat, pressing my lips together until they formed a straight line. He didn't say anything back, just started the car and sped off, with a loud howl of the car's motor, turning heads on the pavement.
„Where are you taking me?", I dared to ask after a few minutes spent in silence.
„You'll see", was all the answer I got, not helping in calming my rising anxiety level. What the heck had I just done? How could I have gone with him, again, after what had happened last time? The worst was, a part of me hoped we would do that again, fighting against a more rational part that urged me to get away from this man, as fast and as far as possible. My heartbeat increased with each minute passing by, I can tell you, and my palms were slick from sweat.
„Relax!" Startled, I could feel his hand softly brush over my cheek. Only now I realized that I hadn't just pressed my lips tightly together, but had also clenched my jaws until they hurt. His simple touch, accompanied by his short order, made my body involuntarily do just what he had told it to do - it relaxed.
„Why did you leave?" Before I could prevent it, the question that had secretly bothered me ever since I had woken up alone in that hotel bed slipped right out of my mouth. Again, the urge to facepalm myself was strong. It had been nothing more than a one-night stand, for crying out loud. My question made me sound like a nagging boyfriend or something.
Mirai snickered, hightening my embarrassement. I shouldn't have asked, I really shouldn't have. „Did you run away that night because you were angry at me, cutie?"
I rolled my eyes. „Please, for the love of god, stop calling me that!"
„No can do. You are too cute for words, especially when you try to hide your true feelings. And to answer your question: It wasn't my plan to leave you behind, but some urgent business came up that required my personal attention. When I came back, you were already gone, so I waited at the appartement complex for you to return."
For the blink of an eye, he looked over at me, and I knew how to read the glint in his eyes. „Sorry about the punks?" I offered an - admittedly half-hearted - excuse, for I didn't feel sorry about that incident. He had stolen my keys, what did he expect?
„I'm not angry about that. Those little shit-heads got cold feet once I dealt with their wannabe leader and ran off. It's the fact that you headed right to club Rush-Hour as soon as I let you out of my sight for a couple of minutes that angers me. I had hoped you had gotten my message! As it seems, I'll have to make myself clear once more."
„Are you jealous?" He humphed, and I couldn't help but chuckle. „Yes, you are. If it makes you feel better, I was wearing a towel when Shota brought me new clothes."
„That Shota-guy again. Who is he to you?"
Wow, Mirai really was the jealous type... „Just an acquaintance, an old class-mate. We weren't friends back then, because he was an homophobic asshole, and I think he helps me now to make up for it."
„And Hiro?" There was tension detectable, both in his voice and in the way his fingers clenched at the steering-wheel.
„What about him? I only met him twice, no, three times, and I'm thankful that he didn't kick me out seeing the marks you left on my face! Thanks for that, by the way", I added sarcastically.
„Hiro saw? That's good." A hard to read smile hung from his lips while he seemed deeply engrossed in his own thoughts.
I didn't dare to interrupt his train of thoughts, and leaned my forehead against the window, trying to figure out where the heck we were heading to. We had already left the inner part of the city, and were now approaching an area where the high and mighty had built luxurious condos and mansions over the course of the last couple of years. Previously, it had been an area resembling the one our appartement complex was located, but around six, seven years ago, shady investors had bought up the land, expelled the former residents and had transformed the area into one of the most sought-after.
My mind went blank, the more I pondered over what was going on, and I only snapped out of my daze when Mirai navigated the car off the street and down towards a roller door, leading to an underground carpark. He pressed a button at an intercom system, and simply said „It's me, open up", before the roller door lifted automatically. Was he bringing me to his boss, some head-honcho of a drug cartel? To press me into dealing for him? I have to admit, my body started to tremble by the mere thought of what might await me. Mirai drove into the dimly lit darkness of the carpark and pulled the car into a spot at it's far end, right next to a door. Leaning over to me, he placed a light peck on my lips. „We have arrived. Now, you have to trust me. Usually, I would have blindfolded you on the way here, but you were already so ridiculous tense. But I need to do it on our way to our final destination."
Ah, why did he have to use that term? Images of a horror movie with the same title flashed through my mind and made me wince. I hate horror movies, and had seen this one only as a favor for Hitako while we were dating. Mirai sighed in obvious discontent, and I hurried to close my eyes. „It's... it's okay." Turning my body slightly to the side, making it easier for him to attach a piece of cloth he had pulled out of the glove compartment, I could feel his body press against mine from behind, then the cloth being placed in front of my eyes. Mirai's warm breath brushed along my cheek, and he lightly nibbled at my earlobe, sending a shiver through my body. Nipples and earlobes, my weak spots, and he had figured them out right away. Okay, admittedly, these are rather common sensitive areas on most people's bodies.
Before I knew what was happening, Mirai grabbed my bag that I had stowed in the footwell of the passenger seat, and, from the sound of it, opened his door. I winced again, startled by the sudden voice of another man from outside, greeting Mirai. „Check it and bring it to my place afterwards", I could hear Mirai order the stranger, and then his door closed again. „You'll get your stuff back later", he reassured me, noticing my distress about losing all my important books and notes, and, most of all, my laptop. I couldn't afford to buy a new one, and the books had been expensive, too. But there was nothing else I could do at that moment than to trust him.
The sound of the starting car reached my ears, and I could feel the vehicle moving again. Blindfolded, I had no idea where we were driving too, I only knew that we left the underground carpark, drove around for a while, before he once more seemed to pull into an underground carpark. Maybe it was the same, maybe another one, I couldn't tell. Only when he removed the cloth covering my eyes, I was able to see that our surrounding didn't look familiar. We were somewhere else than before, and I realized that this time, he hadn't used the intercom system. Instead, I had heard a light beep-sound, maybe from some kind of remote control.
In the first carpark, a multitude of high-end cars had been parked, but this one was nearly empty. Just a handful of dark limousines, mostly middle-class, waited neatly polished for their drivers, plus two motorcycles in the spot left to our's. Mirai unbuckled, and I followed suit, still fixed on the motorcycles and trying to figure out their fabricats. Therefore, before I could open my door, Mirai had already walked around the car and did it for me, holding out his hand to help me get out of the car, like I was some girl who expected this kind of gentleman-treatment - but I let it slip without complaining. The chassis of the car was very low, after all, and although I hate to admit it, his assistance was a great help.
Wrapping his arm possessively around my waist, he locked the car, then lead me towards a door that he opened with a plastic card he fished out of his pockets. Once again, I followed him like some meek fool, inwardly sighing about this untypical version of myself. Behind the door, we followed a narrow corridor, that ended at yet another door he opened with his card. I felt like visiting Fort Knox or something, and the thought that not only getting inside, but also getting out of this place probably wasn't easy crossed my mind. Finally, we arrived at an elevator, and of course, it also required the ominous card to be operated. In addition, Mirai fished out a small key and inserted it into a hardly visible key hole before pressing the uppermost button.
Nearly soundless, the doors of the elevator closed, and I started to fidget, staring at my feet, remembering our last ride together in a similarly confined space. This time, he didn't force his kiss on me, and to my chagrin, I felt slightly disappointed. That is, until we reached the first floor, and I realized that the elevator was see-through towards the outside. In awe, I took in the whole scenery around us, and what a fascinating view it was: Right in front of us was the river that run through our city, and at the opposite riverside, old houses in the traditional japanese style stood side by side as far as the eye could see. The higher we got, the wider the view. In the evening, it had to be even more breathtaking, when all the lampoons hanging outside the houses were lit. Like an excited child, I wriggled out of Mirai's grib, ignored his amused chuckle, and pressed my hands against the see-through wall of the elevator. His arms wrapped around my chest, and with another chuckle, he said: „And there you are, telling me over and over again you weren't cute."
I don't know why, but I felt the sudden urge to kiss him, and so I did. Turning my head towards him, I smiled, then softly pressed my lips upon his. When he tried to increase the pressure, I withdrew a little bit, signaling him that this was not what I wanted, and he relented, allowing me to take the lead. He might have better skills with that weapon of his, but when it came to kissing, I'm pretty skillful, myself. Opening my mouth just far enough for my tongue to slip out, not to falsely make him feel invited, I gently licked his bottom lip, prompting him to extend the tip of his own tongue for me to play with to my heart's content. Carefully nibbling at the tip and his upper lip, I elicited a soft moan from him, of a kind I had never heard from him before, and I could see in his eyes that it was a surprise for him, too. Opening my mouth just a slight bit further, I lead his tongue inside, and soon our kiss got more and more heated. But Mirai held himself back, keeping in mind not to apply too much pressure as I knew from experience was normally the way he kissed - rough and quite animalistic. His hands started to explore my upper body, and one of them slipped under my shirt, caressing my firm stomach with gentle strokes. When we finally had to part our lips to catch our breaths, I was too engrossed in his taste and scent that I didn't notice that we had arrived at the top floor and the elevator doors had already opened.
My hazy state kept on until a cough brought me back to reality. Completely unfathomed, Mirai turned towards the source of the sound, a young man around his age, making a sour face. In contrast to Mirai, my eyes widened from shock and embarrassement. Like I said before, I'm a bit shy and hate shoving my sexuality in other people's faces, something I dislike from straight couples, either. I mean, a chaste kiss in public is fine, and heavier making out at suitable places, like dimly lit night-clubs, too, but we had almost eaten each other's faces off in broad daylight, in a see-through elevator. Trying to hide my burning face behind Mirai, that guy once more proved his I don't care attitude by first dragging me out of the elevator, then shoving me in front of him and introducing my beet red self to the man. „This is Josh. He'll stay for a while. And Josh, this is Takeshi Wada. You'll soon notice that, unfortunately, he'll be hanging around at this place regularly, too."
At first, I wanted to protest and ask what exactly he meant with his statement I would stay for a while, but then something else hit me. Takeshi? Wasn't that the last name of club Rush-Hour's manager, too? Taking a closer look at the man's face, I indeed noticed a certain resemblance between him and his namesake... What the heck was going on here? Throwing a questioning look at Mirai, with my brows raised, he nonchalantly stated that Takeshi Wada was the older brother of Takeshi Haru, the manager of club Rush-Hour. „Everything else you need to know, I will tell you later. But first, I want to show you around, and then..." Mirai licked his lips in an unmistakable manner, and I wasn't able to tell whether my heart-rate increased out of fear or anticipation.
Pointing at a huge window front, Mirai signaled me to wait over there, while he exchanged a couple of words with his Takeshi, whom I not very respectfully called Wada in my mind from then on, not to confuse his brother and him. The elevator had brought us straight into the penthouse of the building, and this first room was larger than my four-bed-room at the dorm of the boarding school had been. Hell, it was as large as Hitako's whole condo, and from the look of it, there were even more rooms, indicated by three doors at opposite sides of this first one.
An open kitchen catched my attention, and since I had seen enough of the grand view over the old part of our city, I went over to take a closer look. I like cooking, and had learned to prepare a not so small amount of different, mostly continental dishes in my year abroad. At the boarding school, everyone had had to take on a task, and I had happily joined the kitchen brigade. My fingertips moved awestruck over the worktops, made of the finest, dark grey granite, and the kitchen appliances were the best of the best money could buy. Rarely or rather never used, I assumed at closer inspection. Obviously, Mirai didn't share my love for cooking.
When I heard steps behind me, I turned around and saw Mirai coming over. Wada was nowhere to be seen. „He has left for today. So, do you want us to fuck right here, on the kitchen worktop, or would you prefer my bedroom?"
„Oh, shut up. Is that all you can think of?"
Smirking, he raised an eye-brow: „What else could there be?"
„How about telling me what is going on? Why do you live in a dumpster, when you own such a penthouse? Or does it belong to your boss? And why did you bring me here in the first place?" Almost inaudible, I added: „What do you want from me?"
„So many questions", Mirai moaned, slightly annoyed that I wasn't as impressed as he seemingly had hoped.
„What do you expect? That I just go along with everything? I'm not a pet that you can order around as you please."
„Yeah, I know. Although, it would make things significantly easier if you had more of a purring kitten..." Grinning at the pout I made, he grabbed my hand and pulled me along, in the direction of one of the doors. Pointing at another one, near the kitchen, he stated that behind it, a bathroom for guests was located he rarely used. The second door would lead towards a guest room, and the one he opened lead towards his personal part of the penthouse, and therefore required his magical card to be opened. A whole lot of security measures, I thought, worried about the reason for it, yet not daring to ask him directly. Once the door closed behind us, his wolfish grin which had been absent for quite a while returned. „To get out of this part, you need the card, too, you know." Okay, I was trapped, with him, in his penthouse. I mean, that had previously already been the case, but now it was somehow more obvious, and therefore more alarming.
The personal part of Mirai's consisted of four rooms altogether. One was as big as my whole appartement, and had been set up as a combination of a playroom, with video games and a pool table, and a home cinema, with a huge - and I mean, huge - TV hanging from the wall. He didn't let me enter the room across the corridor, and seeing the strange smile gracing his lips, I didn't want to see it, anyway. Another kind of playroom, I assumed... Next to the one he didn't open, was the bathroom. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets when I saw the most luxurious bath I had ever encountered, dominated by a jakuzzi slash bathtub with enough space to host at least four people. The last room was his bedroom, of course, and it was stylish, but not intimidating. I would have held any bet that the intimidating items were hidden behind door number two on this corridor, the locked one.
„How about we first take a bath together, and then have a rest?" His voice held a bewitching tone, and I had to blink a couple of times to shake off the spell he had put on me. Not literally, of course, but you get what I mean.
Looking at my watch, I saw that it was already late in the afternoon. Hitako would get worried if I didn't show up after my classes ended. He had intentionally kept his schedule free in the afternoon and I instantly felt like an ungrateful bastard. „I... I can't. My friend waits for me at his place, and he might even call the police if I don't show up in time."
„Call him and tell him that you'll stay with me from now on!"
„Yeah, right. And every day when I have to go to my classes, you'll blindfold me and drive me to town, or what?"
„Why not? Or rather, don't go to university at all. Staying by my side, you won't need any degrees to get along. I'll provide anything you need." His over-possessiveness really knocked the air out of my lungs, especially the realization that he had already trapped me like an animal in a cage.
Seeing my shocked face, he started to laugh. „Once you agree to stay by my side, you won't have to get blindfolded every time, and I'll even give you your own card to come and go as you please. But your face right now - priceless. Sorry, I couldn't resist to tease you a bit." Sobering up, his expression became serious. „I mean it, I want you to stay, and won't make you regret it. Of course, there would be some conditions, but also a lot of advantages for you."
„You can't buy me, Mirai! I live on my own since I was sixteen, and I get along just fine. Brand clothes, a penthouse and flashy cars may be nice, but nothing I need."
Wrapping his arms around me and drawing me nearer, he smiled. „That's exactly why you caught my attention. But what about someone in your life, who cherishes you, and is by your side whenever you need him? Is this something you don't need, either?" Had he secretly listened to my conversation with Hitako the previous day? Or was the loneliness I felt and desperately tried to hide in truth written all over my face? „You don't have to answer me right away, that's why I blindfolded you today. All I ask of you is to give it a try. How about it? Will you call your friend and stay over tonight?"
It was tempting, too tempting to resist. „Alright. Give me my phone, and I'll call him."
„It was in your bag, and that still hasn't arrived. Take my landline phone, you know his number?" I shook my head, because remembering numbers had never been my strong point. What were smartphones for? Mirai didn't seem to mind. „Give me a minute, and I'll get his number for you." He left, only to return after a few minutes with a phone in his hands he handed over to me. Looking at it's display, I saw a number had already been entered, waiting to be called. Curious, I dialed, and after ringing twi times, Hitako's voice came through the line.
„Hey, Hitako, it's me. Sorry to call this late, but I was busy.
„Josh, is that you? Where are you?" He sounded worried, and I felt a pang in my heart for being such a bad friend.
„I'm at a friend's place and will stay the night. Again, I'm sorry, I know we had other plans tonight."
„Are you okay? Can you talk freely, or..." I looked over at Mirai, who observed me closely. Was I able to talk freely? I couldn't tell.
„Yeah, everything is fine, don't worry. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Mirai had been tense, I only now realized when he visibly relaxed after my last statements.
The same couldn't be said about Hitako. His voice still held quite a high level of tension. „Okay, if that's what you want... But if you need anything, call me, okay?"
„Again, I'm terribly sorry about tonight. I'll make it up to you, I promise. See you tomorrow." Hanging up, Mirai took the phone out of my hand, a pleased look on his face. „Don't praise me like a child or dog, or I'll start screaming!", I stopped him before he could open his mouth to call me a good boy or something of that kind, rolling my eyes in annoyance.
Mirai snickered, then grabbed my hand. „Come on, let's enjoy the amenities this place has to offer, and stop worrying." Instead of answering verbally, I gave him my response by deepening the contact of our hands, interlocking my fingers with his.
This was the moment my old, innocent life ended irretrievable. I just didn't know it yet.
As soon as my morning classes ended, I headed to the canteen and met up with a couple of fellow students I knew briefly. Since I hadn't joined any clubs and didn't attend parties on campus, it was harder for me to form closer bonds, or so I convinced myself. Truth is, most of the time I prefered eating alone, just as I prefered spending time with one or two people over being part of a larger group. Today, I placed my tray next to a friendly, bigger built girl I knew from one of my english classes, and soon we were engaged in a conversation about said class. It was nice to have a normal, relaxed conversation with an equally normal, relaxed person, and my dark mood lightened tremendously.
That was, until I saw him.
Once more, out of the blue, Mirai was there, staring at me with his burning eyes from the other end of the canteen. My first impuls was to flee - shamefully, my second was to run over and kiss him fiercely. „Oh damn it, I'm done for", I realized while choosing none of these two options. Instead, I remained seated on the spot, and waited for him to act. Which he did, in a truly show-stopping fashion. Never taking his eyes off of me, he started walking over to where I was sitting. Although I couldn't break our eye-contact, either, I noticed the conversations around me stopped, then started again, now concentrating on the gorgeous specimen of a man heading towards us. My face blushed a deep red - what else? -, and the girl next to me poked my side to get my attention. But I didn't want to miss one second of his walk and waved my hand dismissively in her direction.
He wore black jeans, it's tight fit perfectly highlighting the muscular, but not bulky legs, leaving no room for imagination around his crotch area. A grey shirt with the cover of an 80ies Bauhaus album I loved, cut into a tank and around it's collar to widen the amount of neckline showing, rested leisurely on his shoulders, with the left side slightly slipped down onto his perfectly sculptured biceps, and the hemline ended right at his hips. He carried a black leather jacket in one of his hands, swung over his right shoulder and dangling down his back. Mirai was a sight of pure perfection, coolness and masculinity, like some greek god with his naturally tanned skin. Other men would have easily given off a feminine vibe in his attire, but definitely not him.
My mouth went dry and I gulped hard once he arrived in front of me.
„Hey, cutie. Mind if I take a seat?" Without awaiting an answer, he had already grabbed an empty chair and sat down right in the middle of the canteen's main alley, inches away from me, not minding the indignant stares and mumbles from students who had to maneuver around him with their trays.
Taking a quick look around, I noticed a multitude of eyes resting upon us, making me squirm on my seat. At least Mirai wouldn't try anything funny with so many people slash witnesses around, wouldn't he?.
„Why haven't you called yet? That Shota-dork gave you my number, didn't he?"
Turning my attention back to him, I sighed. „He did, and I would have contacted you later. My classes end at three in the afternoon today and I don't have as much free time as you obviously have at your disposal."
He grinned his wolfish grin. „Babe, I had to re-arrange my whole schedule today just to make room for you. The least you could do, is say to hell with my classes and come with me to have a talk. Promised, only talking, since I assume your ass is still sore from our last fuck session." I could hear the girl next to me gasp, and thanked Mirai with a glare for outing me in front of my fellow students. Not that I hid my sexual orientation, but I didn't shove it into anyone I hardly knew's face, either.
Of course, he had talked like that intentionally, and he got the reaction he had anticipated: I quickly stood up and pulled my bag over my shoulders. „Oh man, come on! This is definitely not the right time or place for that kind of talk!"
„Alright, then I'll take you somewhere else, where it is more suitable." He smirked, and I wanted to either hit him, or bury myself under the table.
He layed his free arm possessively around my waist, drawing me near to his warm and yummy smelling body, and dragged me out of the canteen. „I won't go to your appartement with you, and definitely not to some Love Hotel again", I declared firmly, and he shrugged.
„Don't worry, we won't go back to that dumpster." What was that supposed to mean? The way he said it was off, and made goosebumps appear on my arms.
He strolled through the university, me firmly attached to his side, and everywhere we went, eyes rested upon us, or rather, upon him. I never liked drawing too much attention on me. Additionally, our walk somehow felt like a walk of shame to me after the things we had done two days prior. „Aw, man, are you shy?" He smirked at me, and I nodded. It had taken me years to overcome my shyness amongst large groups of people, and when I'm particularly stressed, it sometimes reverts. And I was extremly stressed at that moment, considering the person who basically held me in his arms.
Leaving the main building through it's front doors, the sudden brightness of the sunny day blinded me for a second. Mirai pulled a car key out of one of his jeans' back pockets - the first surprise, for I had never seen him driving one around our appartement complex -, and lead me towards a black sports car of an expensive european brand, standing in a no standing area right in front of the university. Laughing at the ticket attached behind the windscreen wiper, he flipped the ticket off and tossed it to the ground, then pressed a button on the key in his hand. The car's locks opened with a beep-sound - the second surprise, and boy, what an utterly unexpected one!
He must have sensed my stare and looked over. Chuckling at the funny expression I, without a doubt, gave him, he opened the passenger door and motioned me to get inside, which I did, still a bit shell-shocked. Why did he live in a place like our's if he could afford such a car? Or was it stolen? Leaning close to me, he whispered into my ears: „It's mine, no need to worry over trivial matters again." Okay, he was obviously able to read my thoughts right off of my mind. Closing the door, he walked around the car without any hurry, and seated himself into the driver's seat.
„Dealing drugs and ruining other people's lifes must pay off well", I said tardly, a remark I immediately regretted when he glared at me. „Sorry..." Feeling the nearly irresistible impulse to facepalm myself, both for my incautious remark and the fact that I had excused for stating nothing but the truth, I slumped into the seat, pressing my lips together until they formed a straight line. He didn't say anything back, just started the car and sped off, with a loud howl of the car's motor, turning heads on the pavement.
„Where are you taking me?", I dared to ask after a few minutes spent in silence.
„You'll see", was all the answer I got, not helping in calming my rising anxiety level. What the heck had I just done? How could I have gone with him, again, after what had happened last time? The worst was, a part of me hoped we would do that again, fighting against a more rational part that urged me to get away from this man, as fast and as far as possible. My heartbeat increased with each minute passing by, I can tell you, and my palms were slick from sweat.
„Relax!" Startled, I could feel his hand softly brush over my cheek. Only now I realized that I hadn't just pressed my lips tightly together, but had also clenched my jaws until they hurt. His simple touch, accompanied by his short order, made my body involuntarily do just what he had told it to do - it relaxed.
„Why did you leave?" Before I could prevent it, the question that had secretly bothered me ever since I had woken up alone in that hotel bed slipped right out of my mouth. Again, the urge to facepalm myself was strong. It had been nothing more than a one-night stand, for crying out loud. My question made me sound like a nagging boyfriend or something.
Mirai snickered, hightening my embarrassement. I shouldn't have asked, I really shouldn't have. „Did you run away that night because you were angry at me, cutie?"
I rolled my eyes. „Please, for the love of god, stop calling me that!"
„No can do. You are too cute for words, especially when you try to hide your true feelings. And to answer your question: It wasn't my plan to leave you behind, but some urgent business came up that required my personal attention. When I came back, you were already gone, so I waited at the appartement complex for you to return."
For the blink of an eye, he looked over at me, and I knew how to read the glint in his eyes. „Sorry about the punks?" I offered an - admittedly half-hearted - excuse, for I didn't feel sorry about that incident. He had stolen my keys, what did he expect?
„I'm not angry about that. Those little shit-heads got cold feet once I dealt with their wannabe leader and ran off. It's the fact that you headed right to club Rush-Hour as soon as I let you out of my sight for a couple of minutes that angers me. I had hoped you had gotten my message! As it seems, I'll have to make myself clear once more."
„Are you jealous?" He humphed, and I couldn't help but chuckle. „Yes, you are. If it makes you feel better, I was wearing a towel when Shota brought me new clothes."
„That Shota-guy again. Who is he to you?"
Wow, Mirai really was the jealous type... „Just an acquaintance, an old class-mate. We weren't friends back then, because he was an homophobic asshole, and I think he helps me now to make up for it."
„And Hiro?" There was tension detectable, both in his voice and in the way his fingers clenched at the steering-wheel.
„What about him? I only met him twice, no, three times, and I'm thankful that he didn't kick me out seeing the marks you left on my face! Thanks for that, by the way", I added sarcastically.
„Hiro saw? That's good." A hard to read smile hung from his lips while he seemed deeply engrossed in his own thoughts.
I didn't dare to interrupt his train of thoughts, and leaned my forehead against the window, trying to figure out where the heck we were heading to. We had already left the inner part of the city, and were now approaching an area where the high and mighty had built luxurious condos and mansions over the course of the last couple of years. Previously, it had been an area resembling the one our appartement complex was located, but around six, seven years ago, shady investors had bought up the land, expelled the former residents and had transformed the area into one of the most sought-after.
My mind went blank, the more I pondered over what was going on, and I only snapped out of my daze when Mirai navigated the car off the street and down towards a roller door, leading to an underground carpark. He pressed a button at an intercom system, and simply said „It's me, open up", before the roller door lifted automatically. Was he bringing me to his boss, some head-honcho of a drug cartel? To press me into dealing for him? I have to admit, my body started to tremble by the mere thought of what might await me. Mirai drove into the dimly lit darkness of the carpark and pulled the car into a spot at it's far end, right next to a door. Leaning over to me, he placed a light peck on my lips. „We have arrived. Now, you have to trust me. Usually, I would have blindfolded you on the way here, but you were already so ridiculous tense. But I need to do it on our way to our final destination."
Ah, why did he have to use that term? Images of a horror movie with the same title flashed through my mind and made me wince. I hate horror movies, and had seen this one only as a favor for Hitako while we were dating. Mirai sighed in obvious discontent, and I hurried to close my eyes. „It's... it's okay." Turning my body slightly to the side, making it easier for him to attach a piece of cloth he had pulled out of the glove compartment, I could feel his body press against mine from behind, then the cloth being placed in front of my eyes. Mirai's warm breath brushed along my cheek, and he lightly nibbled at my earlobe, sending a shiver through my body. Nipples and earlobes, my weak spots, and he had figured them out right away. Okay, admittedly, these are rather common sensitive areas on most people's bodies.
Before I knew what was happening, Mirai grabbed my bag that I had stowed in the footwell of the passenger seat, and, from the sound of it, opened his door. I winced again, startled by the sudden voice of another man from outside, greeting Mirai. „Check it and bring it to my place afterwards", I could hear Mirai order the stranger, and then his door closed again. „You'll get your stuff back later", he reassured me, noticing my distress about losing all my important books and notes, and, most of all, my laptop. I couldn't afford to buy a new one, and the books had been expensive, too. But there was nothing else I could do at that moment than to trust him.
The sound of the starting car reached my ears, and I could feel the vehicle moving again. Blindfolded, I had no idea where we were driving too, I only knew that we left the underground carpark, drove around for a while, before he once more seemed to pull into an underground carpark. Maybe it was the same, maybe another one, I couldn't tell. Only when he removed the cloth covering my eyes, I was able to see that our surrounding didn't look familiar. We were somewhere else than before, and I realized that this time, he hadn't used the intercom system. Instead, I had heard a light beep-sound, maybe from some kind of remote control.
In the first carpark, a multitude of high-end cars had been parked, but this one was nearly empty. Just a handful of dark limousines, mostly middle-class, waited neatly polished for their drivers, plus two motorcycles in the spot left to our's. Mirai unbuckled, and I followed suit, still fixed on the motorcycles and trying to figure out their fabricats. Therefore, before I could open my door, Mirai had already walked around the car and did it for me, holding out his hand to help me get out of the car, like I was some girl who expected this kind of gentleman-treatment - but I let it slip without complaining. The chassis of the car was very low, after all, and although I hate to admit it, his assistance was a great help.
Wrapping his arm possessively around my waist, he locked the car, then lead me towards a door that he opened with a plastic card he fished out of his pockets. Once again, I followed him like some meek fool, inwardly sighing about this untypical version of myself. Behind the door, we followed a narrow corridor, that ended at yet another door he opened with his card. I felt like visiting Fort Knox or something, and the thought that not only getting inside, but also getting out of this place probably wasn't easy crossed my mind. Finally, we arrived at an elevator, and of course, it also required the ominous card to be operated. In addition, Mirai fished out a small key and inserted it into a hardly visible key hole before pressing the uppermost button.
Nearly soundless, the doors of the elevator closed, and I started to fidget, staring at my feet, remembering our last ride together in a similarly confined space. This time, he didn't force his kiss on me, and to my chagrin, I felt slightly disappointed. That is, until we reached the first floor, and I realized that the elevator was see-through towards the outside. In awe, I took in the whole scenery around us, and what a fascinating view it was: Right in front of us was the river that run through our city, and at the opposite riverside, old houses in the traditional japanese style stood side by side as far as the eye could see. The higher we got, the wider the view. In the evening, it had to be even more breathtaking, when all the lampoons hanging outside the houses were lit. Like an excited child, I wriggled out of Mirai's grib, ignored his amused chuckle, and pressed my hands against the see-through wall of the elevator. His arms wrapped around my chest, and with another chuckle, he said: „And there you are, telling me over and over again you weren't cute."
I don't know why, but I felt the sudden urge to kiss him, and so I did. Turning my head towards him, I smiled, then softly pressed my lips upon his. When he tried to increase the pressure, I withdrew a little bit, signaling him that this was not what I wanted, and he relented, allowing me to take the lead. He might have better skills with that weapon of his, but when it came to kissing, I'm pretty skillful, myself. Opening my mouth just far enough for my tongue to slip out, not to falsely make him feel invited, I gently licked his bottom lip, prompting him to extend the tip of his own tongue for me to play with to my heart's content. Carefully nibbling at the tip and his upper lip, I elicited a soft moan from him, of a kind I had never heard from him before, and I could see in his eyes that it was a surprise for him, too. Opening my mouth just a slight bit further, I lead his tongue inside, and soon our kiss got more and more heated. But Mirai held himself back, keeping in mind not to apply too much pressure as I knew from experience was normally the way he kissed - rough and quite animalistic. His hands started to explore my upper body, and one of them slipped under my shirt, caressing my firm stomach with gentle strokes. When we finally had to part our lips to catch our breaths, I was too engrossed in his taste and scent that I didn't notice that we had arrived at the top floor and the elevator doors had already opened.
My hazy state kept on until a cough brought me back to reality. Completely unfathomed, Mirai turned towards the source of the sound, a young man around his age, making a sour face. In contrast to Mirai, my eyes widened from shock and embarrassement. Like I said before, I'm a bit shy and hate shoving my sexuality in other people's faces, something I dislike from straight couples, either. I mean, a chaste kiss in public is fine, and heavier making out at suitable places, like dimly lit night-clubs, too, but we had almost eaten each other's faces off in broad daylight, in a see-through elevator. Trying to hide my burning face behind Mirai, that guy once more proved his I don't care attitude by first dragging me out of the elevator, then shoving me in front of him and introducing my beet red self to the man. „This is Josh. He'll stay for a while. And Josh, this is Takeshi Wada. You'll soon notice that, unfortunately, he'll be hanging around at this place regularly, too."
At first, I wanted to protest and ask what exactly he meant with his statement I would stay for a while, but then something else hit me. Takeshi? Wasn't that the last name of club Rush-Hour's manager, too? Taking a closer look at the man's face, I indeed noticed a certain resemblance between him and his namesake... What the heck was going on here? Throwing a questioning look at Mirai, with my brows raised, he nonchalantly stated that Takeshi Wada was the older brother of Takeshi Haru, the manager of club Rush-Hour. „Everything else you need to know, I will tell you later. But first, I want to show you around, and then..." Mirai licked his lips in an unmistakable manner, and I wasn't able to tell whether my heart-rate increased out of fear or anticipation.
Pointing at a huge window front, Mirai signaled me to wait over there, while he exchanged a couple of words with his Takeshi, whom I not very respectfully called Wada in my mind from then on, not to confuse his brother and him. The elevator had brought us straight into the penthouse of the building, and this first room was larger than my four-bed-room at the dorm of the boarding school had been. Hell, it was as large as Hitako's whole condo, and from the look of it, there were even more rooms, indicated by three doors at opposite sides of this first one.
An open kitchen catched my attention, and since I had seen enough of the grand view over the old part of our city, I went over to take a closer look. I like cooking, and had learned to prepare a not so small amount of different, mostly continental dishes in my year abroad. At the boarding school, everyone had had to take on a task, and I had happily joined the kitchen brigade. My fingertips moved awestruck over the worktops, made of the finest, dark grey granite, and the kitchen appliances were the best of the best money could buy. Rarely or rather never used, I assumed at closer inspection. Obviously, Mirai didn't share my love for cooking.
When I heard steps behind me, I turned around and saw Mirai coming over. Wada was nowhere to be seen. „He has left for today. So, do you want us to fuck right here, on the kitchen worktop, or would you prefer my bedroom?"
„Oh, shut up. Is that all you can think of?"
Smirking, he raised an eye-brow: „What else could there be?"
„How about telling me what is going on? Why do you live in a dumpster, when you own such a penthouse? Or does it belong to your boss? And why did you bring me here in the first place?" Almost inaudible, I added: „What do you want from me?"
„So many questions", Mirai moaned, slightly annoyed that I wasn't as impressed as he seemingly had hoped.
„What do you expect? That I just go along with everything? I'm not a pet that you can order around as you please."
„Yeah, I know. Although, it would make things significantly easier if you had more of a purring kitten..." Grinning at the pout I made, he grabbed my hand and pulled me along, in the direction of one of the doors. Pointing at another one, near the kitchen, he stated that behind it, a bathroom for guests was located he rarely used. The second door would lead towards a guest room, and the one he opened lead towards his personal part of the penthouse, and therefore required his magical card to be opened. A whole lot of security measures, I thought, worried about the reason for it, yet not daring to ask him directly. Once the door closed behind us, his wolfish grin which had been absent for quite a while returned. „To get out of this part, you need the card, too, you know." Okay, I was trapped, with him, in his penthouse. I mean, that had previously already been the case, but now it was somehow more obvious, and therefore more alarming.
The personal part of Mirai's consisted of four rooms altogether. One was as big as my whole appartement, and had been set up as a combination of a playroom, with video games and a pool table, and a home cinema, with a huge - and I mean, huge - TV hanging from the wall. He didn't let me enter the room across the corridor, and seeing the strange smile gracing his lips, I didn't want to see it, anyway. Another kind of playroom, I assumed... Next to the one he didn't open, was the bathroom. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets when I saw the most luxurious bath I had ever encountered, dominated by a jakuzzi slash bathtub with enough space to host at least four people. The last room was his bedroom, of course, and it was stylish, but not intimidating. I would have held any bet that the intimidating items were hidden behind door number two on this corridor, the locked one.
„How about we first take a bath together, and then have a rest?" His voice held a bewitching tone, and I had to blink a couple of times to shake off the spell he had put on me. Not literally, of course, but you get what I mean.
Looking at my watch, I saw that it was already late in the afternoon. Hitako would get worried if I didn't show up after my classes ended. He had intentionally kept his schedule free in the afternoon and I instantly felt like an ungrateful bastard. „I... I can't. My friend waits for me at his place, and he might even call the police if I don't show up in time."
„Call him and tell him that you'll stay with me from now on!"
„Yeah, right. And every day when I have to go to my classes, you'll blindfold me and drive me to town, or what?"
„Why not? Or rather, don't go to university at all. Staying by my side, you won't need any degrees to get along. I'll provide anything you need." His over-possessiveness really knocked the air out of my lungs, especially the realization that he had already trapped me like an animal in a cage.
Seeing my shocked face, he started to laugh. „Once you agree to stay by my side, you won't have to get blindfolded every time, and I'll even give you your own card to come and go as you please. But your face right now - priceless. Sorry, I couldn't resist to tease you a bit." Sobering up, his expression became serious. „I mean it, I want you to stay, and won't make you regret it. Of course, there would be some conditions, but also a lot of advantages for you."
„You can't buy me, Mirai! I live on my own since I was sixteen, and I get along just fine. Brand clothes, a penthouse and flashy cars may be nice, but nothing I need."
Wrapping his arms around me and drawing me nearer, he smiled. „That's exactly why you caught my attention. But what about someone in your life, who cherishes you, and is by your side whenever you need him? Is this something you don't need, either?" Had he secretly listened to my conversation with Hitako the previous day? Or was the loneliness I felt and desperately tried to hide in truth written all over my face? „You don't have to answer me right away, that's why I blindfolded you today. All I ask of you is to give it a try. How about it? Will you call your friend and stay over tonight?"
It was tempting, too tempting to resist. „Alright. Give me my phone, and I'll call him."
„It was in your bag, and that still hasn't arrived. Take my landline phone, you know his number?" I shook my head, because remembering numbers had never been my strong point. What were smartphones for? Mirai didn't seem to mind. „Give me a minute, and I'll get his number for you." He left, only to return after a few minutes with a phone in his hands he handed over to me. Looking at it's display, I saw a number had already been entered, waiting to be called. Curious, I dialed, and after ringing twi times, Hitako's voice came through the line.
„Hey, Hitako, it's me. Sorry to call this late, but I was busy.
„Josh, is that you? Where are you?" He sounded worried, and I felt a pang in my heart for being such a bad friend.
„I'm at a friend's place and will stay the night. Again, I'm sorry, I know we had other plans tonight."
„Are you okay? Can you talk freely, or..." I looked over at Mirai, who observed me closely. Was I able to talk freely? I couldn't tell.
„Yeah, everything is fine, don't worry. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Mirai had been tense, I only now realized when he visibly relaxed after my last statements.
The same couldn't be said about Hitako. His voice still held quite a high level of tension. „Okay, if that's what you want... But if you need anything, call me, okay?"
„Again, I'm terribly sorry about tonight. I'll make it up to you, I promise. See you tomorrow." Hanging up, Mirai took the phone out of my hand, a pleased look on his face. „Don't praise me like a child or dog, or I'll start screaming!", I stopped him before he could open his mouth to call me a good boy or something of that kind, rolling my eyes in annoyance.
Mirai snickered, then grabbed my hand. „Come on, let's enjoy the amenities this place has to offer, and stop worrying." Instead of answering verbally, I gave him my response by deepening the contact of our hands, interlocking my fingers with his.
This was the moment my old, innocent life ended irretrievable. I just didn't know it yet.