[Log] 21 Questions! [Niou, Atsushi]
Characters: Niou Masaharu, Kisarazu Atsushi
Location: Picnic!
Time: Sunday June 23rd
Rating: ...we’ll cut off before it goes too far.
Summary: The boyfriends decide to get to know one another better. Each asks 21 questions...Surprise Ending!
Atsushi stuffed some food into a bag, grabbed some drinks and headed for the shoes. He was quite excited at the opportunity to get to know Niou better, plus just the chance to spend some quality time with his boyfriend. That said, he thought, putting down the bag as he quickly changed shoes, he had no idea what he was going to ask! Well, hopefully some thoughts would come to him on the way there. He grabbed up the bag again and made for the door.
Once outside, a lovely spring Hokkaido day, considering it was now officially summer elsewhere in the country, it did not take long for him to find Niou. “Hey there, boyfriend,” he said, using a cadence usually reserved for teenaged girls, not boys.
Niou looked over when he heard Atsushi call him and shook his head a little. “Playing games already?” He asked before reaching over to run a hand through Atsushi’s hair and giving him a quick kiss. Seeing that Atsushi had a bag with him and looked ready to go, he started meandering along one of the school paths that would lead them away from the main building.
“Mm,” Atsushi kissed him back with interest, then followed along happily. “Nope! I just like calling you that,” he said with a smile. “I got us some delicious things to snack on while we ask our questions. I trust we’re not starting until we get to wherever we end up?” he asked.
“Why? We can walk and talk, right?” Niou asked. There was no reason to not start asking their questions as they walked. They had a lot to get through after all. “Do you want to start or should I?”
“Mm, I’ll let you start, since it was your idea,” Atsushi said. Plus, that would give him an idea of what kind of questions to ask, although he did have one or two in mind. He caught up with Niou and laced the fingers of their hands together.
Niou looked down at their hands and then up at Atsushi’s face as he squeezed his hand lightly. Holding hands was nice, especially Atsushi’s weren’t too rough or sweaty. “Let’s start with the easy ones. What do you like about yourself the most?” Niou knew what he liked about Atsushi the most but he doubted they had the same answer.
“Oo, easy, huh?” Atsushi asked back. He supposed he could give back the flip answer of, ‘Ryou,’ but this deserved more serious thought. He liked...making friends easily, he liked that he could fly, he liked turning into a tiger now that he was used to it...but what did he like most about himself? He discounted the physical, that was too changeable; ears, tail, strength, even his love of sex. What mental traits did he like, then? After a much shorter moment than it seemed in his head, he finally said, “I think that I am pretty easy to get along with and I like that about myself.”
“Well you do get along pretty well with me,” Niou said as he bumped against his body lightly with his own as they walked. “Okay, ask me something now. Remember, these are just the warm up questions.” He didn’t want them getting to the hard or the sexier questions until later.
Atsushi grinned back. “You’re easy to get along with,” he pointed out. “Mm, what is the one accomplishment you are most happy with? So far, as your life is not yet over,” he clarified with a grin.
Niou was pretty happy with a lot of his shifting related accomplishments but he suspected he’d be just as happy even if he were in the fail class. There would just be less mischief in his life. It wasn’t nearly so much what he was doing as who he was doing it with anyway. “Making the friends I have,” Niou said, a small soft smile on his face.
“Well, you do have some pretty awesome friends,” Atsushi agreed. That smile looked very nice on Niou’s face, he decided. He paused them a moment for a quick kiss on it before continuing their walk. “So, what is your second question for me?” he asked.
“Yeah. My friends are pretty awesome. Even the shady ones.” His smile grew a little larger as he thought about the eclectic bunch he called friends. Favourite book?” Niou asked. He knew what genres Atsushi liked and he’d certainly seen his book collection and the cat-shifter reading them but he wasn’t sure which one was his all time favourite.
That one was easy. Atsushi named the one that he’d read the most often, finding that he just loved coming back to it over and over. “Every time I read it, I find something new,” he said with a happy sigh. “Mm, my turn? Name three things on your bucket list, please.”
Niou filed the title away for later so he could get his own copy and give it a read. He hoped it was as interesting as Atsushi made it sound. As for his bucket list... “Being a president, prime minister and/or royalty for a day.”
“Only a day?” Atsushi asked. “Oh, you mean you would pretend to be them, hm? See what all the fuss is about? That’s kind of interesting...and rather difficult, considering all the security around them. Unless you are going to have them making an ‘unplanned stopover’ somewhere and therefore bypassing all of the pomp and circumstance that they usually bring with them?”
“That’s why it’s on the list and not something I’ve done yet. Too many complications,” Niou said. “I also want to do one of those epic train ride backpacking things around Europe and third... let’s see.” Niou would like to see Fuji dump and subsequently bury Atobe in a grave they dug together but it was probably best not to share that particular morbid fantasy with his boyfriend. Especially when there was another much more fun option he thought Atsushi would enjoy. “Get a multi-day pass to Disney Sea and Tokyo Disney and explore every attraction, restaurant and shop. Just experiencing everything and being a total glutton with all the yummy foods they have.” Niou had only been to Tokyo Disney once several years ago and it wasn’t nearly enough to explore all the fun things.
“Ooo,” Atsushi said. “Both of those others sound like fun. Especially the Tokyo Disney and Disney Sea one. All those different areas to explore, all the rides...” He grinned at Niou and squeezed his hand. “What are you doing over Summer Break?” The lines would likely be long, but they were young and healthy. Why wait?
“Is that one of your questions?” Niou asked, a teasing smirk in place.
“Mm, no, because that would be cheating, asking two in a row like that,” Atsushi responded virtuously. “It might be later though,” he added with a wink. “But for now, it is your turn.”
“Sure. Favourite place to sleep?” Niou led them down a side path that would take them into the forested area. He was sure they could find a nice quiet clearing to finish their questions in. And if they had to go off the beaten path, he wasn’t worried. With Atsushi’s powers they didn’t have to worry about bears or getting lost.
“Mm, that would have to be...curled up on top of you,” Atsushi said with a grin. “Or next to Ryou,” he continued, being honest. “Oh, wait...on top of you next to Ryou!” His tail made it plain how pleased he was at his answer. “I also enjoy sleeping next to you, when it is too hot to sleep on top of you,” he added for clarity.
Niou gave a small laugh at that. Atsushi was just too cute sometimes. “I think that can be arranged as long as Ryou’s willing.” And he doubted Ryou would be unwilling unless he had his very own partner to share a bed with that night. Okay, hit me with your next question.”
“Yes!” Atsushi said. “Next question is, what is your favorite food? Note that I did not ask your favorite thing to eat, as that could lead to an entirely different conversation!” He wrinkled his nose at Niou for a moment.
“What? You taste good to me,” Niou said before laughing some more. “But you’ll approve of my favourite food. It’s yakiniku. Especially good cuts of beef.” And if there was one thing he knew his tiger adored, it was all types of meat. “Your turn. Baths or showers?”
“Mm, meat...That is one good thing about my mutation,” Atsushi said. “Can you imagine if I turned into a vegetarian, instead?” He shuddered. “Oo, bath, definitely! Hot water, bubbles, steam rising; especially if it is big enough to actually move around in. Baths are just so superior in every way,” he said. “Especially if you have someone to share it with.”
“I can. I could eat all the meat I want without worrying about you breaking out the claws,” Niou said. He was mostly teasing. While he knew better than to take the last bite of meat, Atsushi was also pretty good about sharing if they were sitting down for a meal together or Niou happened to walk by while the twins were feasting. “And all this bath talk just makes me think of our nice onsen weekend courtesy of one redheaded fish.” A currently pregnant and sometimes very grumpy redhead. They should think about doing something to repay the favour.
“Yes, but then I’d likely be some whiny, no fun kid who was all, ‘you shouldn’t eat that, it was a thinking being!’ like some of those people you see online,” Atsushi said with a shudder. “I’d rather you shoot me.” Moving back to a more pleasant topic, he smiled. “Oh, that was a really nice trip,” he said, remembering. “I wanted to do something nice for White Day too, but I sort of spent most of my available cash on bath salts to bring back as gifts. Hanamura-sensei really likes bath salts. Especially ones that don’t dry out her scales.”
Niou scrunched his face at being nagged on about eating meat and then about having to shoot Atsushi. Neither sounded that fun, even if he did have a few choice graves to store a body in. Thinking about Hanamura was much preferred. “Her fins are sexy.” Some people might find such comments weird. But due to his own mutation he was pretty non-judgemental when it came to other physical mutations and could find beauty in even the weirdest ones, like Kaidoh’s scales.
“They are,” Atsushi agreed. “Have you noticed that her scales are different from Kaidou’s? Both are so pretty, though. Not as pretty as my fur, mind you!” he added with a wink. “My turn now, right? Let’s see, mm...what do you want to be when you grow up?” He smirked a little. “If you grow up. Let me rephrase, what do you want to do professionally, after school?”
“Of course they’d be different. Her mutation is based on fish anatomy and his is snake based. It’d be like me comparing your fur to my hair. Both nice, but different,” Niou said. He didn’t know if it was part of his mutation or just a personality trait, but he always noticed the small details. It was how he picked up the difference in Atsushi and Ryou’s tail patterns despite them being nearly identical. He was all about the little details. And about the crazy ideas. “Right now I’m thinking either a bordello with Yuushi or some sort of assassination agency with Fuji. But I’m not sure I should limit myself to one when I think I could handle both.” His face and voice gave no hint to whether he was really serious or completely joking about these.
Atsushi tapped his lips with the index finger of his free hand as he considered what Niou had said. “Are you going to just run the bordello or be one of the talent?” he asked. “If I’m going to have to start paying for sex, I may need to rethink my own professional plans. Perhaps bank robbery. I wouldn’t go into assassinations, though as I would not wish to become a competitor of yours and Fuji’s.” His eyebrows drew together for a moment. “Would you take clients or simply go around killing people who annoy Fujiko?” he asked. “And if you end up having to kill one of your clients at the bordello, is that considered mixing business with pleasure?” He tilted his head to the side, looking at Niou.
“Sex with you would be pleasure, not business. So no paying,” Niou said. Though there was no saying if he would be one of the regular talents at the bordello or maybe just when a customer tickled his own fancy. So many details to work out. “And being an assassin would be a business so we’d have to take out people besides those that bug Shuusuke.” Though killing people that annoyed his friend could be a full time job in its own way if he went along with every victim Fuji named. “And I don’t see anything wrong with killing a bordello client. I mean, we’ll lose a client and it’d be bad business to do it at the bordello, but I’m sure it would work out.”
Looking around the forest, Niou decided they were about the right place and led Atsushi off the path. “I’m gonna turn the question back on you. What do you want to do after school?”
Atsushi followed Niou, unconsciously placing his feet just so, making very little sound and leaving less trace of his passing. “To be honest, I’m still not entirely certain. Ryou and I considered becoming Home Decorators at one point, simply because design work is kind of fun. But, is it interesting enough to make a career out of it? I’m not sure. I do know that I do not see myself in an office. A nice suit, sure, but inside all day just isn’t my thing.” He laughed. “Maybe I’ll become a door to door salesman!”
Niou wanted to ask if all his career ideas were ones he would do with his brother but that might be considered asking two questions in a row. “I’m sure you’ll find something and nobody says you can’t change jobs if you get bored with it.” Working one job for the rest of his life seemed cruel and Niou was sure that whatever he started doing after graduation he wouldn’t stick with it forever.
“True enough.” Atsushi nodded. “You know, I have to admit that I looked up questions to ask. Except some of them either aren’t relevant or I already know the answer to them. Like, if you were the member of the opposite sex for a day, what would you do?” He laughed. “You’ve already done that one! Here’s one, though. If you could trade powers with anyone else at the school, who would it be and why?” he asked.
Niou laughed, too. When it came to being a woman, Niou had done more than just think about what he’d do for a day, he’d already done it. But he supposed that wasn’t a normal problem encountered on these general question lists. “Only in the school? Way to limit a guy. Hmmm maybe a healing one like Ohtori or Akutsu. I could make a sweet profit from that.” And he could make sure his friends didn’t have to suffer illnesses or injuries which was far too sappy to admit.
“Aw, you’d let money motivate you?” Atsushi asked. “Here I thought you’d go for something a little more fun. On the other hand, not many powers are as much fun as yours,” he admitted with a laugh.
“Why not? Tezuka’s would be cool, too. Though only like if I had control over it and didn’t suck like him,” Niou added on. “Whose powers would you have?” At this rate, Niou would just end up repeating all of Atsushi’s questions despite having his own but he couldn’t help that his kitten asked good things.
“Let’s see...Ryou’s don’t count?” he said with a wink and a grin. “Then I would have to say, if I could control them, I would go for Dan-kun’s powers. The ability to strengthen or weaken another’s powers seems very helpful. If not, then Yukimura-kun’s. The potential uses are quite impressive,” he said. “But, to be honest, I like my powers. Even if I get a little tired of having to eat all the time,” he added with another grin.
“That’s a little scary. I pick the happy healing powers and you pick the evil ones.” Niou gave a fake shiver of fear before bumping against Atsushi lightly. “I like your powers, too. And mine,” Niou said pleased they were both happy with their powers.
“What’s evil about them?” Atsushi asked, a little surprised. “He and I had a great conversation during a power practice session the other day. I mean, sure, flying without sound was really weird, mind you.” He smiled at Niou then. “Mm, our powers are just right for us, I think,” he agreed. “Okay, next question? If they were to make a movie of your life, who would you want to have play you?”
“Maybe my mind just works in evil ways,” Niou said. He supposed that Dan’s and Yukimura’s powers didn’t have to be used for evil. They just leant themselves to that really well. “And I’m a shapeshifter so I want all the actors and actresses to play me.” It might have been sidestepping the question but he really didn’t care who played him since they would in the end need multiple actors do it. “Curled up in front of a fire on a cold winter’s night with a partner, or skinny dipping on a hot summer’s night with someone?”
“Oo, you do like the tough questions,” Atsushi said with an admiring grin. “I’d have to say... curling up in front of a fire just barely edges out skinny dipping. And you know how much I love water!” he said, his grin getting wider. He swung the bag of food a little to have it go around rather than over a low bush.
“At least I didn’t ask you to choose between sex and meat,” Niou said.
“That is because you are a smart, smart man,” Atsushi said, squeezing his fingers a little. “My turn again. What...what was your favorite show to watch when you were a little kid?”
“Anpanman,” Niou said. He used to dress up and run around saying he was various characters. And if his skin tone changed to match the character he was a the time, well he was young and not really in control all the time. Niou spared Atsushi a quick look as he smiled at him but then focused on the path. He was finding it a bit harder to navigate than normal and didn’t want to trip on anything. “What would you do with 100 000 000 yen?”
“That much?” Atsushi had to give it some thought as he followed Niou’s lead. He noticed that Niou was walking a little slower than usual, but that could simply have been due to not being in any particular hurry. “Maybe build a new dorm extension so that you and I could have a room together,” he said with a wink. “And a room right next door to it that I could share with Ryou when you wanted to use the room for other things,” he added, grinning. “Other than that, I’d like to travel around Japan and check out all the historical sites, I guess.”
“Not sure Ryuuzaki would approve of you building a love shack attached to the dorms,” Niou said with a light laugh. He thought it was a great idea. Being roommates with Akutsu and Mizuki wasn’t as horrible as he thought it would be but it was cramped and being in the middle sucked at times. “The history idea’s cool, though. We should visit the Toshogu this summer. It’s an easy day trip from Tokyo.”
Niou paused in the small clearing that they just arrived in and looked around. It was still a little close to the path and more worrisome were the couple bees he saw hovering about. There was a probably a nest somewhere nearby and while Niou considered himself adventurous being naked around a bunch of potentially pissy bees was too much for him. “Let’s try the next one. It’s bigger anyway. More room to stretch out.” Niou pointed off towards a barely discernable footpath that would lead them to the place he had in mind.
“Mm, sounds like a great plan,” Atsushi said with a smile. He was happy that Niou was fine with his love for historical sites and was willing to share in them with him. He made a face at the little bees and followed Niou. More room to stretch out sounded ideal. “So, what would you do with that much money?” he asked, turning the question back on his boyfriend.
“Invest most of it to get more money,” Niou said. As he walked through the woods, he brushed his free hand against the trees he passed. “Buy some things for friends. Nothing as cool as you.”
“It is remarkably practical of you, however,” Atsushi said. “I should have expected that of you. Unlike me who would have frittered it away.” He laughed a little. “If I was being practical, perhaps I should have bought a herd of cows with mine.”
Niou laughed at that and leaned in to give Atsushi a light kiss on the cheek. “You know you and Ryou would just end up eating them all before you could breed them. Hey, what animal do you want to hunt down as a tiger?”
“We wouldn’t...well, it depends on the size of the herd,” Atsushi admitted. He purred at the kiss and leaned over to get another. “Mm, well, we’ve done bears. Probably something a bit more challenging, like a wildebeest or a zebra, maybe? They move fast and travel in herds so they’re tough to catch, or so I’ve been told by the wildlife shows. Not that I have a burning desire to do so. Dressing your own kill is a pain and a half. You get covered in blood and fur, plus then you have all the extra bits that don’t cook well. They disappeared quickly, though, so some of the local smaller critters must have enjoyed them.” He swung their joined hands, his tail curving in happiness.
“That’s good. You get the urge to start hunting zebras for real and I’ll think I’m not doing my job well enough.” Niou remembered how wound up Ryou had been after so long without any proper sexual release and he never wanted to see Atsushi like that. Especially when he was here and more than willing to help.
Coming to a fork in the little path, Niou considered for a moment, one hand still swinging back and forth with Atsushi’s. “If I ask you left or right will that count as a question? Wait... did that count as a question?” He grinned as he got stuck asking questions. He then reached around Atsushi for the food bag to grab a drink from the bag. He was working up quite the thirst from this walk.
Atsushi grinned. “Oh, you do far too good of a job for me to get that wound up,” he assured his boyfriend. He laughed at the questions about questions. “I was wondering the same thing! But if we were going to be that strict then we’d be out of questions by now, I think.” He held the bag up to help Niou grab out of it. “And let’s go left. Who wants to be right all the time?” he asked with a wink.
“Sakaki-sensei?” Niou said as he finally got a drink from the bag. He had to let go of Atsushi’s hand for a moment to open it but then went back to holding it. He took a long sip of the cool drink, “Mmmm just what I needed. Want some?” He asked holding up the bottle.
“Sakaki-sensei is getting married soon,” Atsushi pointed out. “And to Hanamura-sensei. He’d better get over his desire to be right at all.” He grinned. “Thank you.” He took a drink, then handed the bottle back. “It does hit the spot, doesn’t it?”
“Poor guy. Hanamura’s great but I’m not sure Sakaki is man enough for her,” Niou said taking another long drink. “And your turn to ask me a question.”
“Why so it is!” Atsushi grinned at him. “Do you believe in ghosts? Real ones, not just Fujiko ghosts?” he asked. He knew that Fuji could make some amazing illusions, after all.
“You mean I’m supposed to be able to tell the difference?” Niou asked. “But yeah. I believe in them. Life’s more fun with a bit of the supernatural. Do you believe in reincarnation?”
“Maybe,” Atsushi said, thinking about it. “I’m not sure what kind of life I lead last time in order to come back as both a man and a tiger in this life, however!” He laughed a little at his joke. “Although, yes, to be honest, I do. How about you?” he asked. “Do you believe?”
“You must have been amazing to get both,” Niou said and then paused in the path. He thought there was a swarm of those annoying tiny bugs ahead on the path but after blinking his eyes a few times he realized it was his eyes that were buggy and not the woods. He let go of Atsushi’s hand again, this time so he could try rubbing his eyes. “Sorry, think I got something in my eyes. But yeah, believing is more fun. I hope I was a ninja.”
“I bet you were an awesome ninja,” Atsushi said. “Are you okay?” It was the season for pollen of all types, after all. “Do you need a tissue?” he said, offering a pack from his bag that he’d brought in case of needing to wipe things up later.
“You’re such a boy scout,” Niou said. He paused in rubbing his eyes to blink out at the world and try to focus on things. Nope, things were still buggy. But he didn’t want Atsushi to worry so he took the tissues with a smile. “Thanks. Don’t know if I will but it’s good just in case.” He tucked them into his pocket for now and giving his eyes one last rub decided it would be best o just pretend they were fine. He was sure they’d clear up sooner or later. “And it’s my turn?”
“Yes, but that question doesn’t count,” Atsushi said with a smile. Niou’s eyes looked a little red, but he wasn’t sure if that was from the irritant or Niou just desiring his eyes to be red. One of the interesting things one had to deal with when dating a shapeshifter, he thought with a small laugh.
“Ha ha I know that. Okay, here’s your question. When you go travelling to all these historical places would you rather take the shinkansen or take the slow scenic local trains?” Niou asked. He took a drink from the bottle nearly draining it and put the lid back on before handing it over to Atsushi to put away. He then took Atsushi’s hand because it was nice to hold and it would help him walk while his vision was being annoying.
“Mm, well, since I would have all this money and not have to work, I would take the scenic route, I think. Unless there was a festival I wanted to be sure to catch.” Atsushi said. After all, both methods had their benefits. “Of course, neither is as good as flying...although even the slow train would get me there faster,” he added with a wink. Was it just him or was Niou’s hand a little warmer?
“How is flyin slow-oh, your flying,” Niou said a bit slow on the up take. He laughed at the joke and his failing to get it. “You know... thinking about it, if not healing powers, maybe I’d go for teleportation. Lots of fun you could have with that.” And he’d never have to go outside in the snow again to get to class if he didn’t want to.
“That depends on if you end up smelling of brimstone all the time,” Atsushi said, scrunching up his nose. “That would get really old, really fast. You wouldn’t want to be able to shift into a tiger?” he asked, curious. “Fur coat, four legs, you can leap really far, plus there’s the roar. Paralyzes your prey in their footprints.”
“I already have a shifting power. I thought it would be good to branch out,” Niou said. He had to grip Atsushi’s hand a little harder for balance as they climbed over a small fallen tree on the path. Fortunately the clearing should just be around the bend if he was remembering correctly than he could lay down a bit while Atsushi devoured some food and they continued their question game.
“True enough. Although, being a tiger is different from being a human.” Yes, his hand was definitely warmer. Atsushi didn’t think they were doing anything particularly strenuous, however. Perhaps Niou was easily affected by the heat? “Do you prefer Spring, Summer, Winter or Fall?” he asked, this being the perfect time to find out.
“Fall. I like the colours and it’s a nice break after the hot summers,” Niou said. It also didn’t tend to be as rainy as spring so that was a plus. “Long hair or short hair?” He left it vague on whether he was talking about on Atsushi or people Atsushi liked. There was a better chance of getting an answer to both.
“Fall is good,” Atsushi agreed. He wasn’t sure how affected by the heat Niou was from his answer, but there was definitely something there. “Mm, I like long hair on Ryou, medium length on you,” he flicked Niou’s rat tail, “and short hair on others. I guess it depends on the individual, really. Some just look better one way and not the other.” He grinned at Niou, then furrowed his brow at the other. Niou wasn’t...getting sick, was he? “Uhm, futon or bed?” he asked. Whether that was for frollicking or sleeping, he’d leave it to Niou to answer.
“Bed. I like my modern comforts,” Niou said. “If ya want, one day when we’re bored we can play with my hair and figure out what styles you like and don’t like on me.” Niou tried to channel his power to give Atsushi a quick demo of some of the looks they might go through but all he managed to do was turn his hair from silver to blue. That wasn’t quite what he had been going for.
“Modern comforts do have a lot going for them,” Atsushi agreed. “Although, one is less likely to get shoved onto the floor if you are sharing a futon,” he pointed out with a grin. He watched as Niou’s hair changed to blue. “Niou? Masaharu? Are...are you feeling okay?” he asked. He normally only used Niou’s first name when they were being intimate, but he was suddenly rather concerned.
“Yeah. You don’t like blue?” Niou asked. He would have shifted it back but it seemed it was momentarily stuck so he was just going to play it off as his current preference. “Thought it matched the sky. Hey, favourite weather?” He didn’t want Atsushi fussing about him when they were enjoying their walk and questions. He was sure once he could lay down for a bit he’d be fine anyway.
Atsushi reached up with his free hand and brushed Niou’s hair back from his face. “It’s pretty, yes, but you know I like you ‘au natural’ best.” He smiled at Niou, then put his finger to his lips as he thought. “I like it when it is just a little cold, not so cold that you are uncomfortable, but just cold enough that snuggling is perfect.” He hoped they were almost to their destination. Niou’s forehead was a little warm as well.
Niou kissed Atsushi’s finger gently and then gave it a quick lick. “So about those three days each year between melting hot and nose freezingly cold?” Niou said. “And when we get to the clearing we can be completely au natural.” They’d certainly be far enough away from the school that nobody looking out windows would spot them and if anyone else was veering this far off the main footpaths then they deserved to get flashed a little.
“Yes, yes, those three days are my favorite,” Atsushi said with a grin. “And Au natural is my favorite state of being,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows. “I’ll give you that one for free. How much further is it?” he asked.
“Just over there,” Niou said pointing to a section up ahead and to the right where the trees seemed to thin out. “I bet you can squeeze in one more question before we get there.”
“I bet you’re right,” Atsushi said. “If a train is leaving Tokyo at 10:42am and an unladen European swallow is leaving Paris at 7:16am and stops to pick up brats in Hamburg...do you think you will want children someday?” he asked, starting silly, but ending more serious. “Adoption, natural...or less so, doesn’t matter.”
Niou’s mind had been turning towards math and trying to solve this weird riddle when Atsushi did a complete 180 on him. “Ch-children?” His first thought was mutant babies which was fairly horrifying but Atsushi said that any method of getting them was okay so that helped settle down his thoughts before they could get too crazy. “I guess I haven’t thought about it. Don’t want any now. But I could be open to it in the future.” It was playing it a bit safe as far as answers went but it was the truth. While he knew he didn’t want kids at the moment he could potentially want them in the future.
“Just curious, mind you,” Atsushi said with a laugh at Niou’s expression. “I’m too young to be thinking about them as more than an abstract myself. But, I do like messing with our kouhai an awful lot,” he added with a wicked grin. Niou might detect that he also occasionally enjoyed messing with people who weren’t his kouhai also.
Niou couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Either Atsushi wanted a kid one day just to mess with them or he was asking about children to mess with him. Either way was fun. “It is fun to mess with the kouhai,” Niou said and then pointed ahead of them. “And we’re here. Told ya it wasn’t far.” He walked past the last few trees, pulling Atsushi along with them before they entered the nicely sized clearing with a small stream running along the one edge. “One of my favourite places.”
Atsushi looked around the clearing. “It’s very nice,” he said admiringly. Not to sunny, not too shady, quiet but with the peaceful ambient noise of the stream and a few brave birds. “Very nice,” he repeated. He put the bag down and untucked the blanket he’d brought along. It wasn’t a proper picnic without a blanket, after all. “Want to eat first or continue asking questions?” he asked with a smile. The unspoken, ‘or get naked,’ was loud and clear, he felt.
“We can do both,” Niou said. He wanted to get through his questions which he hoped would lead to an even more exciting naked encounter afterwards and the food would hopefully perk him back up so his body could follow along with his mind’s demands.
Seeing Atsushi pull out the blanket, Niou grabbed a couple of the corners and helped to spread it out flat. Though as he stood up straight after bending over to set it down on the ground he wobbled a little, his equilibrium momentarily off.
“Careful there, Masaharu,” Atsushi said, wrapping his arms around Niou’s middle and pulling him down onto the blanket with him. He curled around his boyfriend and slid one hand up the back of Niou’s shirt. “It’s your turn to ask a question,” he said, putting his head on the other’s shoulder and giving him the best version of innocent look he was able in that position.
“Thanks,” Niou mumbled still feeling a little out of sorts as Atsushi helped him sit down. He leaned against Atsushi partially in need of support but mostly because he honestly enjoyed when his tiger curled up around him like this. “Where’s your favourite place in the school?” He asked after a moment’s thought.
Atsushi gave a little laugh. “Right here,” he said, turning his face into Niou’s shoulder for a moment. It was an incredibly corny and sappy romantic thing to say, but it was true. His favorite place was wherever Niou was, wrapped around him and happy with the world. Not even playing in the music room or hanging out in the baths were as nice as this.
“That’s really sappy,” Niou said. But he didn’t dislike the sappiness and reached over to give Atsushi a head pat to show that he actually liked it. “And if we stay like this, we aren’t going to get around to the food.” Which Niou wanted because he wasn’t sure he could keep up with Atsushi the way he was feeling now.
“Are you actually hungry, or more in the mood to cuddle?” Atsushi asked. He was hungry, but being like this was good too. Ever since they went to the current three to a room system, he’d just not been getting the quality snuggle time he had gotten used to.
“If we get the food out, we can probably do both?” Niou said slowly untangling himself from Atsushi so he could reach for the bags they brought with them.
“Shall I peel you a grape?” Atsushi offered with a grin. He reached for another of the bags, pulling out a couple of bottles of soda and a container of ongiri. Not grapes, but close enough for his purposes, he supposed.
“You have grapes?” Niou asked with a chuckle at the thought of his tiger feeding him grapes. He went onto his knees to better move around on the blanket and then suddenly the world shifted uncontrollably and he only had time to register a blue glow on the blanket from his eyes before he completely face planted into it and blacked out.
Atsushi heard an odd sound and whipped around to see Niou laying face first on the blanket. As he blinked, Niou’s butt started to tip as the unconscious boy was not able to keep himself righted. He lunged forward and caught his boyfriend before anything could twist or sprain in such an uncomfortable position. “Niou? Masaharu?” No response.
He laid Niou down and checked him over. Love bites. Not something usually visible, even when his lover was asleep. Atsushi carefully opened one of Niou’s eyelids to see a blue eye glowing back at him. Not just asleep then; unconscious. Okay, don’t panic. He checked Niou’s forehead then. Definitely warmer than usual, even in that heat. Again, don’t panic.
Carefully Atsushi laid Niou on the blanket and repacked their bags. Then he placed the bags over his shoulders and wrapped Niou in the blanket. If the other boy was conscious, even a little, he’d shift and run him out, as it was faster, but without any way to keep him on Atsushi’s back, that was dangerous.
The flight took a lot less time than the trip in had, but was quite nerve-wracking to Atsushi. He wasn’t used to flying for such distances with such a load without his brother to back him up. By the time he landed, Niou in his arms, at the main building, his muscles felt like they were on fire and he was panting heavily. Pitching his voice to carry, he managed to get some help to bring Niou up to the infirmary where he was pronounced to have come down with the same mysterious illness as all the rest and put into bed. Atsushi collapsed by Niou’s bedside and fell asleep holding his hand.
Location: Picnic!
Time: Sunday June 23rd
Rating: ...we’ll cut off before it goes too far.
Summary: The boyfriends decide to get to know one another better. Each asks 21 questions...Surprise Ending!
Atsushi stuffed some food into a bag, grabbed some drinks and headed for the shoes. He was quite excited at the opportunity to get to know Niou better, plus just the chance to spend some quality time with his boyfriend. That said, he thought, putting down the bag as he quickly changed shoes, he had no idea what he was going to ask! Well, hopefully some thoughts would come to him on the way there. He grabbed up the bag again and made for the door.
Once outside, a lovely spring Hokkaido day, considering it was now officially summer elsewhere in the country, it did not take long for him to find Niou. “Hey there, boyfriend,” he said, using a cadence usually reserved for teenaged girls, not boys.
Niou looked over when he heard Atsushi call him and shook his head a little. “Playing games already?” He asked before reaching over to run a hand through Atsushi’s hair and giving him a quick kiss. Seeing that Atsushi had a bag with him and looked ready to go, he started meandering along one of the school paths that would lead them away from the main building.
“Mm,” Atsushi kissed him back with interest, then followed along happily. “Nope! I just like calling you that,” he said with a smile. “I got us some delicious things to snack on while we ask our questions. I trust we’re not starting until we get to wherever we end up?” he asked.
“Why? We can walk and talk, right?” Niou asked. There was no reason to not start asking their questions as they walked. They had a lot to get through after all. “Do you want to start or should I?”
“Mm, I’ll let you start, since it was your idea,” Atsushi said. Plus, that would give him an idea of what kind of questions to ask, although he did have one or two in mind. He caught up with Niou and laced the fingers of their hands together.
Niou looked down at their hands and then up at Atsushi’s face as he squeezed his hand lightly. Holding hands was nice, especially Atsushi’s weren’t too rough or sweaty. “Let’s start with the easy ones. What do you like about yourself the most?” Niou knew what he liked about Atsushi the most but he doubted they had the same answer.
“Oo, easy, huh?” Atsushi asked back. He supposed he could give back the flip answer of, ‘Ryou,’ but this deserved more serious thought. He liked...making friends easily, he liked that he could fly, he liked turning into a tiger now that he was used to it...but what did he like most about himself? He discounted the physical, that was too changeable; ears, tail, strength, even his love of sex. What mental traits did he like, then? After a much shorter moment than it seemed in his head, he finally said, “I think that I am pretty easy to get along with and I like that about myself.”
“Well you do get along pretty well with me,” Niou said as he bumped against his body lightly with his own as they walked. “Okay, ask me something now. Remember, these are just the warm up questions.” He didn’t want them getting to the hard or the sexier questions until later.
Atsushi grinned back. “You’re easy to get along with,” he pointed out. “Mm, what is the one accomplishment you are most happy with? So far, as your life is not yet over,” he clarified with a grin.
Niou was pretty happy with a lot of his shifting related accomplishments but he suspected he’d be just as happy even if he were in the fail class. There would just be less mischief in his life. It wasn’t nearly so much what he was doing as who he was doing it with anyway. “Making the friends I have,” Niou said, a small soft smile on his face.
“Well, you do have some pretty awesome friends,” Atsushi agreed. That smile looked very nice on Niou’s face, he decided. He paused them a moment for a quick kiss on it before continuing their walk. “So, what is your second question for me?” he asked.
“Yeah. My friends are pretty awesome. Even the shady ones.” His smile grew a little larger as he thought about the eclectic bunch he called friends. Favourite book?” Niou asked. He knew what genres Atsushi liked and he’d certainly seen his book collection and the cat-shifter reading them but he wasn’t sure which one was his all time favourite.
That one was easy. Atsushi named the one that he’d read the most often, finding that he just loved coming back to it over and over. “Every time I read it, I find something new,” he said with a happy sigh. “Mm, my turn? Name three things on your bucket list, please.”
Niou filed the title away for later so he could get his own copy and give it a read. He hoped it was as interesting as Atsushi made it sound. As for his bucket list... “Being a president, prime minister and/or royalty for a day.”
“Only a day?” Atsushi asked. “Oh, you mean you would pretend to be them, hm? See what all the fuss is about? That’s kind of interesting...and rather difficult, considering all the security around them. Unless you are going to have them making an ‘unplanned stopover’ somewhere and therefore bypassing all of the pomp and circumstance that they usually bring with them?”
“That’s why it’s on the list and not something I’ve done yet. Too many complications,” Niou said. “I also want to do one of those epic train ride backpacking things around Europe and third... let’s see.” Niou would like to see Fuji dump and subsequently bury Atobe in a grave they dug together but it was probably best not to share that particular morbid fantasy with his boyfriend. Especially when there was another much more fun option he thought Atsushi would enjoy. “Get a multi-day pass to Disney Sea and Tokyo Disney and explore every attraction, restaurant and shop. Just experiencing everything and being a total glutton with all the yummy foods they have.” Niou had only been to Tokyo Disney once several years ago and it wasn’t nearly enough to explore all the fun things.
“Ooo,” Atsushi said. “Both of those others sound like fun. Especially the Tokyo Disney and Disney Sea one. All those different areas to explore, all the rides...” He grinned at Niou and squeezed his hand. “What are you doing over Summer Break?” The lines would likely be long, but they were young and healthy. Why wait?
“Is that one of your questions?” Niou asked, a teasing smirk in place.
“Mm, no, because that would be cheating, asking two in a row like that,” Atsushi responded virtuously. “It might be later though,” he added with a wink. “But for now, it is your turn.”
“Sure. Favourite place to sleep?” Niou led them down a side path that would take them into the forested area. He was sure they could find a nice quiet clearing to finish their questions in. And if they had to go off the beaten path, he wasn’t worried. With Atsushi’s powers they didn’t have to worry about bears or getting lost.
“Mm, that would have to be...curled up on top of you,” Atsushi said with a grin. “Or next to Ryou,” he continued, being honest. “Oh, wait...on top of you next to Ryou!” His tail made it plain how pleased he was at his answer. “I also enjoy sleeping next to you, when it is too hot to sleep on top of you,” he added for clarity.
Niou gave a small laugh at that. Atsushi was just too cute sometimes. “I think that can be arranged as long as Ryou’s willing.” And he doubted Ryou would be unwilling unless he had his very own partner to share a bed with that night. Okay, hit me with your next question.”
“Yes!” Atsushi said. “Next question is, what is your favorite food? Note that I did not ask your favorite thing to eat, as that could lead to an entirely different conversation!” He wrinkled his nose at Niou for a moment.
“What? You taste good to me,” Niou said before laughing some more. “But you’ll approve of my favourite food. It’s yakiniku. Especially good cuts of beef.” And if there was one thing he knew his tiger adored, it was all types of meat. “Your turn. Baths or showers?”
“Mm, meat...That is one good thing about my mutation,” Atsushi said. “Can you imagine if I turned into a vegetarian, instead?” He shuddered. “Oo, bath, definitely! Hot water, bubbles, steam rising; especially if it is big enough to actually move around in. Baths are just so superior in every way,” he said. “Especially if you have someone to share it with.”
“I can. I could eat all the meat I want without worrying about you breaking out the claws,” Niou said. He was mostly teasing. While he knew better than to take the last bite of meat, Atsushi was also pretty good about sharing if they were sitting down for a meal together or Niou happened to walk by while the twins were feasting. “And all this bath talk just makes me think of our nice onsen weekend courtesy of one redheaded fish.” A currently pregnant and sometimes very grumpy redhead. They should think about doing something to repay the favour.
“Yes, but then I’d likely be some whiny, no fun kid who was all, ‘you shouldn’t eat that, it was a thinking being!’ like some of those people you see online,” Atsushi said with a shudder. “I’d rather you shoot me.” Moving back to a more pleasant topic, he smiled. “Oh, that was a really nice trip,” he said, remembering. “I wanted to do something nice for White Day too, but I sort of spent most of my available cash on bath salts to bring back as gifts. Hanamura-sensei really likes bath salts. Especially ones that don’t dry out her scales.”
Niou scrunched his face at being nagged on about eating meat and then about having to shoot Atsushi. Neither sounded that fun, even if he did have a few choice graves to store a body in. Thinking about Hanamura was much preferred. “Her fins are sexy.” Some people might find such comments weird. But due to his own mutation he was pretty non-judgemental when it came to other physical mutations and could find beauty in even the weirdest ones, like Kaidoh’s scales.
“They are,” Atsushi agreed. “Have you noticed that her scales are different from Kaidou’s? Both are so pretty, though. Not as pretty as my fur, mind you!” he added with a wink. “My turn now, right? Let’s see, mm...what do you want to be when you grow up?” He smirked a little. “If you grow up. Let me rephrase, what do you want to do professionally, after school?”
“Of course they’d be different. Her mutation is based on fish anatomy and his is snake based. It’d be like me comparing your fur to my hair. Both nice, but different,” Niou said. He didn’t know if it was part of his mutation or just a personality trait, but he always noticed the small details. It was how he picked up the difference in Atsushi and Ryou’s tail patterns despite them being nearly identical. He was all about the little details. And about the crazy ideas. “Right now I’m thinking either a bordello with Yuushi or some sort of assassination agency with Fuji. But I’m not sure I should limit myself to one when I think I could handle both.” His face and voice gave no hint to whether he was really serious or completely joking about these.
Atsushi tapped his lips with the index finger of his free hand as he considered what Niou had said. “Are you going to just run the bordello or be one of the talent?” he asked. “If I’m going to have to start paying for sex, I may need to rethink my own professional plans. Perhaps bank robbery. I wouldn’t go into assassinations, though as I would not wish to become a competitor of yours and Fuji’s.” His eyebrows drew together for a moment. “Would you take clients or simply go around killing people who annoy Fujiko?” he asked. “And if you end up having to kill one of your clients at the bordello, is that considered mixing business with pleasure?” He tilted his head to the side, looking at Niou.
“Sex with you would be pleasure, not business. So no paying,” Niou said. Though there was no saying if he would be one of the regular talents at the bordello or maybe just when a customer tickled his own fancy. So many details to work out. “And being an assassin would be a business so we’d have to take out people besides those that bug Shuusuke.” Though killing people that annoyed his friend could be a full time job in its own way if he went along with every victim Fuji named. “And I don’t see anything wrong with killing a bordello client. I mean, we’ll lose a client and it’d be bad business to do it at the bordello, but I’m sure it would work out.”
Looking around the forest, Niou decided they were about the right place and led Atsushi off the path. “I’m gonna turn the question back on you. What do you want to do after school?”
Atsushi followed Niou, unconsciously placing his feet just so, making very little sound and leaving less trace of his passing. “To be honest, I’m still not entirely certain. Ryou and I considered becoming Home Decorators at one point, simply because design work is kind of fun. But, is it interesting enough to make a career out of it? I’m not sure. I do know that I do not see myself in an office. A nice suit, sure, but inside all day just isn’t my thing.” He laughed. “Maybe I’ll become a door to door salesman!”
Niou wanted to ask if all his career ideas were ones he would do with his brother but that might be considered asking two questions in a row. “I’m sure you’ll find something and nobody says you can’t change jobs if you get bored with it.” Working one job for the rest of his life seemed cruel and Niou was sure that whatever he started doing after graduation he wouldn’t stick with it forever.
“True enough.” Atsushi nodded. “You know, I have to admit that I looked up questions to ask. Except some of them either aren’t relevant or I already know the answer to them. Like, if you were the member of the opposite sex for a day, what would you do?” He laughed. “You’ve already done that one! Here’s one, though. If you could trade powers with anyone else at the school, who would it be and why?” he asked.
Niou laughed, too. When it came to being a woman, Niou had done more than just think about what he’d do for a day, he’d already done it. But he supposed that wasn’t a normal problem encountered on these general question lists. “Only in the school? Way to limit a guy. Hmmm maybe a healing one like Ohtori or Akutsu. I could make a sweet profit from that.” And he could make sure his friends didn’t have to suffer illnesses or injuries which was far too sappy to admit.
“Aw, you’d let money motivate you?” Atsushi asked. “Here I thought you’d go for something a little more fun. On the other hand, not many powers are as much fun as yours,” he admitted with a laugh.
“Why not? Tezuka’s would be cool, too. Though only like if I had control over it and didn’t suck like him,” Niou added on. “Whose powers would you have?” At this rate, Niou would just end up repeating all of Atsushi’s questions despite having his own but he couldn’t help that his kitten asked good things.
“Let’s see...Ryou’s don’t count?” he said with a wink and a grin. “Then I would have to say, if I could control them, I would go for Dan-kun’s powers. The ability to strengthen or weaken another’s powers seems very helpful. If not, then Yukimura-kun’s. The potential uses are quite impressive,” he said. “But, to be honest, I like my powers. Even if I get a little tired of having to eat all the time,” he added with another grin.
“That’s a little scary. I pick the happy healing powers and you pick the evil ones.” Niou gave a fake shiver of fear before bumping against Atsushi lightly. “I like your powers, too. And mine,” Niou said pleased they were both happy with their powers.
“What’s evil about them?” Atsushi asked, a little surprised. “He and I had a great conversation during a power practice session the other day. I mean, sure, flying without sound was really weird, mind you.” He smiled at Niou then. “Mm, our powers are just right for us, I think,” he agreed. “Okay, next question? If they were to make a movie of your life, who would you want to have play you?”
“Maybe my mind just works in evil ways,” Niou said. He supposed that Dan’s and Yukimura’s powers didn’t have to be used for evil. They just leant themselves to that really well. “And I’m a shapeshifter so I want all the actors and actresses to play me.” It might have been sidestepping the question but he really didn’t care who played him since they would in the end need multiple actors do it. “Curled up in front of a fire on a cold winter’s night with a partner, or skinny dipping on a hot summer’s night with someone?”
“Oo, you do like the tough questions,” Atsushi said with an admiring grin. “I’d have to say... curling up in front of a fire just barely edges out skinny dipping. And you know how much I love water!” he said, his grin getting wider. He swung the bag of food a little to have it go around rather than over a low bush.
“At least I didn’t ask you to choose between sex and meat,” Niou said.
“That is because you are a smart, smart man,” Atsushi said, squeezing his fingers a little. “My turn again. What...what was your favorite show to watch when you were a little kid?”
“Anpanman,” Niou said. He used to dress up and run around saying he was various characters. And if his skin tone changed to match the character he was a the time, well he was young and not really in control all the time. Niou spared Atsushi a quick look as he smiled at him but then focused on the path. He was finding it a bit harder to navigate than normal and didn’t want to trip on anything. “What would you do with 100 000 000 yen?”
“That much?” Atsushi had to give it some thought as he followed Niou’s lead. He noticed that Niou was walking a little slower than usual, but that could simply have been due to not being in any particular hurry. “Maybe build a new dorm extension so that you and I could have a room together,” he said with a wink. “And a room right next door to it that I could share with Ryou when you wanted to use the room for other things,” he added, grinning. “Other than that, I’d like to travel around Japan and check out all the historical sites, I guess.”
“Not sure Ryuuzaki would approve of you building a love shack attached to the dorms,” Niou said with a light laugh. He thought it was a great idea. Being roommates with Akutsu and Mizuki wasn’t as horrible as he thought it would be but it was cramped and being in the middle sucked at times. “The history idea’s cool, though. We should visit the Toshogu this summer. It’s an easy day trip from Tokyo.”
Niou paused in the small clearing that they just arrived in and looked around. It was still a little close to the path and more worrisome were the couple bees he saw hovering about. There was a probably a nest somewhere nearby and while Niou considered himself adventurous being naked around a bunch of potentially pissy bees was too much for him. “Let’s try the next one. It’s bigger anyway. More room to stretch out.” Niou pointed off towards a barely discernable footpath that would lead them to the place he had in mind.
“Mm, sounds like a great plan,” Atsushi said with a smile. He was happy that Niou was fine with his love for historical sites and was willing to share in them with him. He made a face at the little bees and followed Niou. More room to stretch out sounded ideal. “So, what would you do with that much money?” he asked, turning the question back on his boyfriend.
“Invest most of it to get more money,” Niou said. As he walked through the woods, he brushed his free hand against the trees he passed. “Buy some things for friends. Nothing as cool as you.”
“It is remarkably practical of you, however,” Atsushi said. “I should have expected that of you. Unlike me who would have frittered it away.” He laughed a little. “If I was being practical, perhaps I should have bought a herd of cows with mine.”
Niou laughed at that and leaned in to give Atsushi a light kiss on the cheek. “You know you and Ryou would just end up eating them all before you could breed them. Hey, what animal do you want to hunt down as a tiger?”
“We wouldn’t...well, it depends on the size of the herd,” Atsushi admitted. He purred at the kiss and leaned over to get another. “Mm, well, we’ve done bears. Probably something a bit more challenging, like a wildebeest or a zebra, maybe? They move fast and travel in herds so they’re tough to catch, or so I’ve been told by the wildlife shows. Not that I have a burning desire to do so. Dressing your own kill is a pain and a half. You get covered in blood and fur, plus then you have all the extra bits that don’t cook well. They disappeared quickly, though, so some of the local smaller critters must have enjoyed them.” He swung their joined hands, his tail curving in happiness.
“That’s good. You get the urge to start hunting zebras for real and I’ll think I’m not doing my job well enough.” Niou remembered how wound up Ryou had been after so long without any proper sexual release and he never wanted to see Atsushi like that. Especially when he was here and more than willing to help.
Coming to a fork in the little path, Niou considered for a moment, one hand still swinging back and forth with Atsushi’s. “If I ask you left or right will that count as a question? Wait... did that count as a question?” He grinned as he got stuck asking questions. He then reached around Atsushi for the food bag to grab a drink from the bag. He was working up quite the thirst from this walk.
Atsushi grinned. “Oh, you do far too good of a job for me to get that wound up,” he assured his boyfriend. He laughed at the questions about questions. “I was wondering the same thing! But if we were going to be that strict then we’d be out of questions by now, I think.” He held the bag up to help Niou grab out of it. “And let’s go left. Who wants to be right all the time?” he asked with a wink.
“Sakaki-sensei?” Niou said as he finally got a drink from the bag. He had to let go of Atsushi’s hand for a moment to open it but then went back to holding it. He took a long sip of the cool drink, “Mmmm just what I needed. Want some?” He asked holding up the bottle.
“Sakaki-sensei is getting married soon,” Atsushi pointed out. “And to Hanamura-sensei. He’d better get over his desire to be right at all.” He grinned. “Thank you.” He took a drink, then handed the bottle back. “It does hit the spot, doesn’t it?”
“Poor guy. Hanamura’s great but I’m not sure Sakaki is man enough for her,” Niou said taking another long drink. “And your turn to ask me a question.”
“Why so it is!” Atsushi grinned at him. “Do you believe in ghosts? Real ones, not just Fujiko ghosts?” he asked. He knew that Fuji could make some amazing illusions, after all.
“You mean I’m supposed to be able to tell the difference?” Niou asked. “But yeah. I believe in them. Life’s more fun with a bit of the supernatural. Do you believe in reincarnation?”
“Maybe,” Atsushi said, thinking about it. “I’m not sure what kind of life I lead last time in order to come back as both a man and a tiger in this life, however!” He laughed a little at his joke. “Although, yes, to be honest, I do. How about you?” he asked. “Do you believe?”
“You must have been amazing to get both,” Niou said and then paused in the path. He thought there was a swarm of those annoying tiny bugs ahead on the path but after blinking his eyes a few times he realized it was his eyes that were buggy and not the woods. He let go of Atsushi’s hand again, this time so he could try rubbing his eyes. “Sorry, think I got something in my eyes. But yeah, believing is more fun. I hope I was a ninja.”
“I bet you were an awesome ninja,” Atsushi said. “Are you okay?” It was the season for pollen of all types, after all. “Do you need a tissue?” he said, offering a pack from his bag that he’d brought in case of needing to wipe things up later.
“You’re such a boy scout,” Niou said. He paused in rubbing his eyes to blink out at the world and try to focus on things. Nope, things were still buggy. But he didn’t want Atsushi to worry so he took the tissues with a smile. “Thanks. Don’t know if I will but it’s good just in case.” He tucked them into his pocket for now and giving his eyes one last rub decided it would be best o just pretend they were fine. He was sure they’d clear up sooner or later. “And it’s my turn?”
“Yes, but that question doesn’t count,” Atsushi said with a smile. Niou’s eyes looked a little red, but he wasn’t sure if that was from the irritant or Niou just desiring his eyes to be red. One of the interesting things one had to deal with when dating a shapeshifter, he thought with a small laugh.
“Ha ha I know that. Okay, here’s your question. When you go travelling to all these historical places would you rather take the shinkansen or take the slow scenic local trains?” Niou asked. He took a drink from the bottle nearly draining it and put the lid back on before handing it over to Atsushi to put away. He then took Atsushi’s hand because it was nice to hold and it would help him walk while his vision was being annoying.
“Mm, well, since I would have all this money and not have to work, I would take the scenic route, I think. Unless there was a festival I wanted to be sure to catch.” Atsushi said. After all, both methods had their benefits. “Of course, neither is as good as flying...although even the slow train would get me there faster,” he added with a wink. Was it just him or was Niou’s hand a little warmer?
“How is flyin slow-oh, your flying,” Niou said a bit slow on the up take. He laughed at the joke and his failing to get it. “You know... thinking about it, if not healing powers, maybe I’d go for teleportation. Lots of fun you could have with that.” And he’d never have to go outside in the snow again to get to class if he didn’t want to.
“That depends on if you end up smelling of brimstone all the time,” Atsushi said, scrunching up his nose. “That would get really old, really fast. You wouldn’t want to be able to shift into a tiger?” he asked, curious. “Fur coat, four legs, you can leap really far, plus there’s the roar. Paralyzes your prey in their footprints.”
“I already have a shifting power. I thought it would be good to branch out,” Niou said. He had to grip Atsushi’s hand a little harder for balance as they climbed over a small fallen tree on the path. Fortunately the clearing should just be around the bend if he was remembering correctly than he could lay down a bit while Atsushi devoured some food and they continued their question game.
“True enough. Although, being a tiger is different from being a human.” Yes, his hand was definitely warmer. Atsushi didn’t think they were doing anything particularly strenuous, however. Perhaps Niou was easily affected by the heat? “Do you prefer Spring, Summer, Winter or Fall?” he asked, this being the perfect time to find out.
“Fall. I like the colours and it’s a nice break after the hot summers,” Niou said. It also didn’t tend to be as rainy as spring so that was a plus. “Long hair or short hair?” He left it vague on whether he was talking about on Atsushi or people Atsushi liked. There was a better chance of getting an answer to both.
“Fall is good,” Atsushi agreed. He wasn’t sure how affected by the heat Niou was from his answer, but there was definitely something there. “Mm, I like long hair on Ryou, medium length on you,” he flicked Niou’s rat tail, “and short hair on others. I guess it depends on the individual, really. Some just look better one way and not the other.” He grinned at Niou, then furrowed his brow at the other. Niou wasn’t...getting sick, was he? “Uhm, futon or bed?” he asked. Whether that was for frollicking or sleeping, he’d leave it to Niou to answer.
“Bed. I like my modern comforts,” Niou said. “If ya want, one day when we’re bored we can play with my hair and figure out what styles you like and don’t like on me.” Niou tried to channel his power to give Atsushi a quick demo of some of the looks they might go through but all he managed to do was turn his hair from silver to blue. That wasn’t quite what he had been going for.
“Modern comforts do have a lot going for them,” Atsushi agreed. “Although, one is less likely to get shoved onto the floor if you are sharing a futon,” he pointed out with a grin. He watched as Niou’s hair changed to blue. “Niou? Masaharu? Are...are you feeling okay?” he asked. He normally only used Niou’s first name when they were being intimate, but he was suddenly rather concerned.
“Yeah. You don’t like blue?” Niou asked. He would have shifted it back but it seemed it was momentarily stuck so he was just going to play it off as his current preference. “Thought it matched the sky. Hey, favourite weather?” He didn’t want Atsushi fussing about him when they were enjoying their walk and questions. He was sure once he could lay down for a bit he’d be fine anyway.
Atsushi reached up with his free hand and brushed Niou’s hair back from his face. “It’s pretty, yes, but you know I like you ‘au natural’ best.” He smiled at Niou, then put his finger to his lips as he thought. “I like it when it is just a little cold, not so cold that you are uncomfortable, but just cold enough that snuggling is perfect.” He hoped they were almost to their destination. Niou’s forehead was a little warm as well.
Niou kissed Atsushi’s finger gently and then gave it a quick lick. “So about those three days each year between melting hot and nose freezingly cold?” Niou said. “And when we get to the clearing we can be completely au natural.” They’d certainly be far enough away from the school that nobody looking out windows would spot them and if anyone else was veering this far off the main footpaths then they deserved to get flashed a little.
“Yes, yes, those three days are my favorite,” Atsushi said with a grin. “And Au natural is my favorite state of being,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows. “I’ll give you that one for free. How much further is it?” he asked.
“Just over there,” Niou said pointing to a section up ahead and to the right where the trees seemed to thin out. “I bet you can squeeze in one more question before we get there.”
“I bet you’re right,” Atsushi said. “If a train is leaving Tokyo at 10:42am and an unladen European swallow is leaving Paris at 7:16am and stops to pick up brats in Hamburg...do you think you will want children someday?” he asked, starting silly, but ending more serious. “Adoption, natural...or less so, doesn’t matter.”
Niou’s mind had been turning towards math and trying to solve this weird riddle when Atsushi did a complete 180 on him. “Ch-children?” His first thought was mutant babies which was fairly horrifying but Atsushi said that any method of getting them was okay so that helped settle down his thoughts before they could get too crazy. “I guess I haven’t thought about it. Don’t want any now. But I could be open to it in the future.” It was playing it a bit safe as far as answers went but it was the truth. While he knew he didn’t want kids at the moment he could potentially want them in the future.
“Just curious, mind you,” Atsushi said with a laugh at Niou’s expression. “I’m too young to be thinking about them as more than an abstract myself. But, I do like messing with our kouhai an awful lot,” he added with a wicked grin. Niou might detect that he also occasionally enjoyed messing with people who weren’t his kouhai also.
Niou couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Either Atsushi wanted a kid one day just to mess with them or he was asking about children to mess with him. Either way was fun. “It is fun to mess with the kouhai,” Niou said and then pointed ahead of them. “And we’re here. Told ya it wasn’t far.” He walked past the last few trees, pulling Atsushi along with them before they entered the nicely sized clearing with a small stream running along the one edge. “One of my favourite places.”
Atsushi looked around the clearing. “It’s very nice,” he said admiringly. Not to sunny, not too shady, quiet but with the peaceful ambient noise of the stream and a few brave birds. “Very nice,” he repeated. He put the bag down and untucked the blanket he’d brought along. It wasn’t a proper picnic without a blanket, after all. “Want to eat first or continue asking questions?” he asked with a smile. The unspoken, ‘or get naked,’ was loud and clear, he felt.
“We can do both,” Niou said. He wanted to get through his questions which he hoped would lead to an even more exciting naked encounter afterwards and the food would hopefully perk him back up so his body could follow along with his mind’s demands.
Seeing Atsushi pull out the blanket, Niou grabbed a couple of the corners and helped to spread it out flat. Though as he stood up straight after bending over to set it down on the ground he wobbled a little, his equilibrium momentarily off.
“Careful there, Masaharu,” Atsushi said, wrapping his arms around Niou’s middle and pulling him down onto the blanket with him. He curled around his boyfriend and slid one hand up the back of Niou’s shirt. “It’s your turn to ask a question,” he said, putting his head on the other’s shoulder and giving him the best version of innocent look he was able in that position.
“Thanks,” Niou mumbled still feeling a little out of sorts as Atsushi helped him sit down. He leaned against Atsushi partially in need of support but mostly because he honestly enjoyed when his tiger curled up around him like this. “Where’s your favourite place in the school?” He asked after a moment’s thought.
Atsushi gave a little laugh. “Right here,” he said, turning his face into Niou’s shoulder for a moment. It was an incredibly corny and sappy romantic thing to say, but it was true. His favorite place was wherever Niou was, wrapped around him and happy with the world. Not even playing in the music room or hanging out in the baths were as nice as this.
“That’s really sappy,” Niou said. But he didn’t dislike the sappiness and reached over to give Atsushi a head pat to show that he actually liked it. “And if we stay like this, we aren’t going to get around to the food.” Which Niou wanted because he wasn’t sure he could keep up with Atsushi the way he was feeling now.
“Are you actually hungry, or more in the mood to cuddle?” Atsushi asked. He was hungry, but being like this was good too. Ever since they went to the current three to a room system, he’d just not been getting the quality snuggle time he had gotten used to.
“If we get the food out, we can probably do both?” Niou said slowly untangling himself from Atsushi so he could reach for the bags they brought with them.
“Shall I peel you a grape?” Atsushi offered with a grin. He reached for another of the bags, pulling out a couple of bottles of soda and a container of ongiri. Not grapes, but close enough for his purposes, he supposed.
“You have grapes?” Niou asked with a chuckle at the thought of his tiger feeding him grapes. He went onto his knees to better move around on the blanket and then suddenly the world shifted uncontrollably and he only had time to register a blue glow on the blanket from his eyes before he completely face planted into it and blacked out.
Atsushi heard an odd sound and whipped around to see Niou laying face first on the blanket. As he blinked, Niou’s butt started to tip as the unconscious boy was not able to keep himself righted. He lunged forward and caught his boyfriend before anything could twist or sprain in such an uncomfortable position. “Niou? Masaharu?” No response.
He laid Niou down and checked him over. Love bites. Not something usually visible, even when his lover was asleep. Atsushi carefully opened one of Niou’s eyelids to see a blue eye glowing back at him. Not just asleep then; unconscious. Okay, don’t panic. He checked Niou’s forehead then. Definitely warmer than usual, even in that heat. Again, don’t panic.
Carefully Atsushi laid Niou on the blanket and repacked their bags. Then he placed the bags over his shoulders and wrapped Niou in the blanket. If the other boy was conscious, even a little, he’d shift and run him out, as it was faster, but without any way to keep him on Atsushi’s back, that was dangerous.
The flight took a lot less time than the trip in had, but was quite nerve-wracking to Atsushi. He wasn’t used to flying for such distances with such a load without his brother to back him up. By the time he landed, Niou in his arms, at the main building, his muscles felt like they were on fire and he was panting heavily. Pitching his voice to carry, he managed to get some help to bring Niou up to the infirmary where he was pronounced to have come down with the same mysterious illness as all the rest and put into bed. Atsushi collapsed by Niou’s bedside and fell asleep holding his hand.