Together Part II, Takamiya/Izumi
Previously
Takamiya
Now…
"What do you want to tell me, Izumi?"
"It’s just, Takamiya-"
---
Two days earlier…
"Takamiya. Takamiya." A hand waved in front of the older man's eyes. Once. Twice.
"Hm?" Takamiya returned his attention back to the two men sitting across from him at the table. "Sorry, I didn’t catch what you were saying." He gave an embarrassed laugh.
The men only shook their heads. "It’s fine. We were just going over a few minor details with Aoe-san."
Takamiya nodded and tried once again to focus. But after a few moments, his mind drifted back to where it was before; atop a small hill, bathed in the sun, stood an old charming house on the beautiful English countryside, where inside-
Next to him, Aoe leaned over to whisper in his ear.
"Stop thinking about the brat."
Takamiya let out a soft sigh. "You too Aoe, you too."
---
Now…
Izumi stepped forward and encircled him arms around Takamiya’s neck to lean up, his cheeks reddening as he captured his lover’s lips in a hurried action with his own.
"-Do you…still love me?" The younger man whispered when they had come up for air.
---
One month earlier…
Takamiya watched Izumi eat with a soft smile; there was a bit of sauce showcasing itself on Izumi’s chin that he desperately wanted to lick off. Instead, Takamiya held back-he knew how easily Izumi got embarrassed in public-and settled with staring. When Izumi noticed, he pulled cutely at his collar, unknowing that he was revealing Takamiya’s favourite spot to attack on his neck.
"You look handsome tonight. I should make you wear dress clothes more often." Takamiya couldn’t help but smile whenever he teased Izumi. Though, he had to admit the brunette really did look good that night. When he told him so, Izumi blushed in that shy way of his Takamiya loved so much.
Noticing that his wine glass was almost empty, Takamiya looked around, searching for a nearby waiter or waitress. Instead, something else caught his eye before he found what he was looking for. Two men had stepped onto the small stage at the back of the restaurant, one towards the microphone and the other towards the piano.
Something tightened in his chest as the sound of the piano reached his ears. He was instantly taken back to the old days, the times he had spent with Shiki and Aoe-laughing, drinking, singing, kissing, and playing the piano.
Shiki…
Takamiya looked back at Izumi, whose youthful face was watching the musicians, and urge to reach out became strong. But his hand stilled when the music ended and Izumi turned back to face Takamiya and looked at him with gentle brown eyes.
"It’s wonderful isn’t it. I’m really…" Takamiya trailed off; he didn’t want to embarrass Izumi but he hoped the words ‘glad I’ve found you’ reached his young lover.
---
Now…
Takamiya embraced the smaller man tightly and kissed the top of his head. "I love you Izumi, I love you so much."
Izumi buried his head deeply into Takamiya’s chest, seeking for comfort. "Do you? You aren’t tired or bored of me?"
A light laugh. "Tired of you? Never." Takamiya found Izumi’s hand and held it within his own large one. "Come on, I have something to show you."
---
Three weeks earlier…
Takamiya couldn’t sleep. After spending the last two hours watching Izumi’s chest rise and fall, he realized that he wasn’t going to be sleeping anytime soon. Moving slowly and carefully, making sure not wake his companion, Takamiya slipped out of their bed and made his way through the house.
Letting his body guide him, Takamiya soon found himself in front of the piano-the one that he had played countless times in accompaniment to Shiki’s gentle voice. The one he had played hours on end to perfect the songs his father used to play, just to see that smile on Shiki’s face. Takamiya’s eyes closed tightly as unbearable force pushed on his shoulders-and his butt somehow found purchase on the piano bench.
Takamiya took a deep breath before he finally opened his eyes. So much dust had collected, he noticed as he ran a finger slowly across the tops of the keys. The former piano player wasn’t playing though, he was just sitting-sitting and letting his mind wander. Shiki used to always wrap his arms around Takamiya whenever he played his favourite songs-it had reminded them of the brother and father they had lost. Unconsciously, Takamiya’s hands moved to bounce lightly across the tops of the keys, without pressing down-the melody playing strong in his head.
That’s when it came to him.
---
Now…
Takamiya squeezed Izumi’s hand gently as he led the way through their quiet house. All the lights were off, it was two in the morning, and the moonlight streamed in through the windows.
"This way," Takamiya whispered when he felt the slight tremble in Izumi’s hand.
The piano loomed before the two men.
---
Sixteen days…
Takamiya finished early and decided to take a short walk before driving home. He knew Izumi would be working for another hour anyway. It was warm outside as he made his way down one of the main streets of the town. He could hear the laughter of the children running past followed by their laughing parents, soft murmurs as couples whispered secrets in one another’s ears, and cheerful greetings to the people passing by from storeowners.
A smile formed gently on his face; he wished Izumi were with him, hand in hand as they walked down the street.
"T-Takamiya Katsura? Is that you?" Hazel eyes looked around, searching for the source of the call-the cars driving by on the road, the kids playing at the park across the street, the busy jazz café at the corner-ah, there. A pair of woman around their forties sitting at a table outside the café waved him over. "Katsura-kun, how are you?" The first woman, the one who called out to him, asked in an almost shy smile that he returned with full force the instant he recognized her.
"Ikeuchi-san. What a pleasant surprise. I’m doing well. How about you?"
Before Takamiya could reply, Ikeuchi’s companion cut in. "Katsura. Are you forgetting something?" The second woman took a long drag from her cigarette after she spoke. Laughter spilled from Takamiya’s lips as he gave her a look; she was almost just as striking as he remembered her from so many years before, from the dark mauve stilettos on her feet leading up to her long legs, to her elongated neck and sharp, fierce facial features. "Are you going to sit down or what."
He took a seat and waited as the two women took him in. Ikeuchi spoke first, in her gentle voice. "You look good Takamiya-kun. So much like your father, I thought it was him walking down the street for a moment."
The second woman, Sawajiri Ryo his mind supplied him, only huffed. "Hatori(1) was better looking," she said matter-of-factly as she eyed him carefully. "Though, if we’re on the subject of the Takamiya family, Shiki by far was sexiest."
"Ryo!" Ikeuchi gave her friend slight disbelieving look though it was all a routine; Takamiya remembered them no different.
"It had to be the hair. His hair was like silk to the touch," Takamiya pointed out. Both women agreed.
"He really was beautiful. Whenever he came to watch your father play, both men and women seemed to swarm all over him." Ikeuchi sighed and took a sip of her tea. "Sometimes, you’d come along too Katsura-kun, and listen to your father play. He was amazing, wasn’t he?" Takamiya nodded. From what memories he did have of his father, it was always of him playing the piano.
Sawajiri Ryo kicked him in the shin. "Still play?"
"Ryo-san!" He felt like a little kid again, chatting and laughing with the singers of the Vortex Jazz Club(2). She gave him a knowing look when he didn’t reply-he turned away.
"You have his hands, Katsura, his hands."
---
Now…
Takamiya pulled Izumi down to join him on the piano bench.
"When I was younger," he began, holding Izumi’s gaze strong. "I would sit here and play hours on end. Over and over, my fingers would run up and down the piano to play the music he loved to hear." The older man took a hold on his lover’s fingers and placed them gently on the keys. "You make me happy, Izumi, happier than I deserve.
But there is also a happiness that I can’t forget. I want to share that with you too."
---
Sixteen days…
As he looked down to the heated body withering below him, panting and moving erratically, Takamiya tried to hold back and remind himself to prepare. But the coloured flush, dark across Izumi’s face, and the way he grabbed a desperate hold onto his back was making it hard for Takamiya to slow down-he wanted Izumi, now.
"Takamiya…" he heard his young lover whisper between quick breaths, as tears formed in the corner of his eyes. "Hurry up and get over with it!" Takamiya let out a soft laugh and ran his hands soothingly down Izumi’s body trying to relax and calm him.
Gentle, his mind cautioned him as he eased his way.
---
Eleven days…
A sense of weariness filled Takamiya when he came home that night to find Izumi spent the bed. The meeting the two women, Sawajiri and Ikeuchi, dragged him to had lasted longer than he expected. The entire time, his mind had been on Izumi, who he knew was at home impatiently waiting for his return.
As Takamiya bent over to give Izumi a loving kiss on the forehead-he noticed his lover’s pants were askew and unzipped. An eyebrow rose even further when he saw the drying spot on the crotch of Izumi’s pants.
Takamiya didn’t know how, but with great restraint, he held himself back from waking the peacefully sleeping Izumi. He just took extra long in the shower that night.
---
Seven days…
As he took a sip from his coffee, he could hear the sound of Aoe’s voice sounding in his ears from the night before.
‘If that’s what you want to do, then do it,’ came Aoe’s rough voice over the line.
‘I don’t know. Ryo-san and Ikeuchi-san have been trying to convince me to start again and I’ll admit that a part of me has deeply missed it.’
‘Then I don’t see what the problem is.’
‘There is no problem but-’
‘-you didn’t tell the brat yet did you.’
‘No,’ Takamiya admitted, ‘I haven’t told him anything yet. I know a lot of questions will come up and I’m just waiting for the right time to tell him.’
‘Just tell him.’
‘I should, shouldn’t I?’ A sigh. ‘How’s Naoya-kun? Enjoying summer vacation?’
‘Kiichi seems to be enjoying it at least. I haven’t been able to see him that much. I need a vacation.’ The sound of inhaling-and then what was unmistakably the exhaling of cigarette smoke.
‘Then take one. Come here. I’m sure Izumi would enjoy it.’
"Izumi? I have a surprise."
---
Now…
"Aoe once mentioned that you played the piano."
A bemused look. "Did he now?"
Izumi gave a small nod. "Are you going to play for me? I’ve…always wanted to hear you play."
"I was going to surprise you," Takamiya began as he watched Izumi with a fond smile, "But I think now is probably a better time."
"Surprise me…?"
But Takamiya didn’t answer. Instead, he positioned his fingers carefully, before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He let the silence run between them, waiting for the right moment-beat-to begin…and then, all at once, Takamiya’s fingers began to dance along the keys as the calming melody eased its way through the atmosphere. The tune was jazzy, flowing in and out of different rhythms that Takamiya played effortlessly.
And it was in the middle of the composition, did Takamiya feel a soft weight on his shoulder when Izumi laid down his head. The older man’s eyes opened, and he peered down to his lover nestled against him with affection as he continued to play.
"I wrote this song for you," he said softly, just enough for Izumi to hear. The slight shuffling next to him told him that Izumi did. "I’ve always played my father’s songs or cover pieces in the past and I’d never thought twice to compose something myself. But there’s something about you, Izumi, your energy and spirit-I wanted to show you how much I appreciate that in this song." As if on cue, Takamiya carefully finished playing and waited for a response.
"You’re…" Izumi lifted his head off of Takamiya’s shoulder and turned up to look his lover in the eyes. "Such a sap!" The younger man gave a playful shove, before leaning up to capture a kiss from a more-that-content Takamiya.
"I think the sap is you, brat." Izumi quickly jumped from Takamiya and spun around to face Aoe and a sleepy Naoya. His face flushed to a bright red within a matter of seconds.
"Aoe…" Takamiya groaned as brought his hand to his hand; his friend always seemed to ruin his fun.
The other man nodded in some kind of understanding and began to lead Naoya away. "Next time you decide to prove yourself to your princess over there, do it quietly Takamiya. Some of us enjoy sleep. And we have meetings tomorrow, don’t forget." With his last words, the two quickly left the living room.
"Izumi…come back here." Takamiya spoke in a coaxing voice to the young man who had leaped away.
Normally, Izumi would have protested, screaming something about "pervertedness" and Takamiya would always have to work his way to the bedroom, but tonight, Izumi willingly came-even leading the way.
"I have one more thing to tell you," Takamiya began but the sight of Izumi pulling off his shirt shut him up.
"Come on, old pervert." So the pervert comment would not be lost on him. "Let’s get this over with." The same pout that Izumi was wearing-and always wore during sex-was meaningless to the older man as they both pulled down their pants. Takamiya decided that the news could wait until tomorrow; Izumi had been surprised enough that night already. Sure, Takamiya had planned to tell him that he was going to buy a small jazz club with the help of Aoe, but that could wait.
Maybe he’d show Izumi the club in private, just the two of them. Naked even. He’d never been that adventurous before, but it was never too late to start, was it? Then, maybe, after lots of encouragement and convincing, he could get Izumi to take off his pants and-
Takamiya decided he better concentrate on one thing at a time. And at the moment, that was Izumi.
Waiting. On the bed. Naked.
THE END