Leaving on a Jet Plane
Title: Leaving on a Jet Plane
Author: thanku4urlove
Pairing: Keito/Yuto
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Lots of smooches, mentions of John Denver?
Genre: Romance, fluff
Summary: When Yuto calls Keito to congratulate him for finishing his third semester of school, Keito figures that the occasional phone call or video message are all he's going to get from his boyfriend over the Christmas break. He gets a little more than he bargained for.
A/N: Posting this in celebration of Keito graduating!! This is set in December (and was also written in December) so please ignore any inconsistencies between then and now. There's a part 2 that I'll be posting tomorrow!
This chapter can also be read on AO3 here! (x)
Beautiful banner by the beautiful ryosukekoibito!
“Congratulations!” Yuto’s voice came loud and excited through the receiver, Keito unable not to smile as he held his cell phone to his ear. “You did it! You finished the semester!”
“I did.” Keito agreed, laughing a little. Today was his last day of classes before the university’s winter break. It was mid-December now, a little after five in the afternoon; his last class had just gotten out, and he’d barely stepped inside his dorm room and taken off his shoes before Yuto called. It was seven in the morning in Japan, and as happy as Yuto sounded for him, his voice was tired too, a little rough, like it sometimes got when they were curled in bed together after a long day of music video filming.
“Have you seen it? The video I sent?” Yuto asked, eager. Keito shook his head, knowing the gesture couldn’t be seen over the phone.
“Not yet; you sent it while I was sleeping, and I haven’t gotten a chance.” The last day of classes meant exams, but all of that stress was over now, Keito pulling out his laptop and opening it up, going quickly to his email. He and Yuto called each other as often as they could manage with their busy schedules and time differences, but one night--night for Keito, midday for Yuto--Yuto had lamented about missing his face, and wanting to see him. It had been only a month since Keito’s school started, but it didn’t matter; Keito had sent him a short video, just talking, telling Yuto that he was missed and loved. The next day, Yuto sent one back.
The videos turned, rather quickly--considering their job, it wasn’t a surprise--into videos of them singing to each other. English or Japanese, with an instrument or without; it was nice to find a song Keito thought Yuto would like, record it for him, and get one in response. Whenever he heard a song one of them had sent after that, it reminded him of his boyfriend, and Keito now had a long playlist on his phone of the original songs that he could listen to whenever he felt lovesick, and an email inbox full of Yuto’s covers.
He had a few unread emails in his inbox, ignoring them all in favor of one sent at nearly four in the morning. The subject line was just Guitar~~kyun!, Keito laughing a little as he opened it.
“What?” Yuto asked over the phone.
“The video! I’m going to watch it.” Keito told him, clicking on the attachment.
“Oh. Oh, okay!” There was an accomplished smile in Yuto’s voice. “I found it all by myself.”
The last sentence was spoken in English, Keito smiling at the sound. Though now miles ahead in speaking ability, Yuto still had slightly clumsy grammar, his “L”s still curling in his mouth.
“You found the song all by yourself?” Keito asked back, the pride in Yuto’s voice and the English words making him think that this was probably an English song. The English songs that Yuto usually covered were ones that Keito had shown him in the past, but it seemed like this one was something new, Keito very curious to learn what the song was.
The video began. Yuto was sitting with a guitar in his lap, smiling at the camera for a quick moment before looking down to put his fingers to the strings. A slight jostling of the camera told Keito that there was someone behind it, someone holding it for Yuto. He often asked the other JUMP members to help him with his videos, and as a result the other seven had lots of outtakes on their phones. They’d come together for Keito’s birthday and sent him a long compilation video of Yuto failing to play, or getting the lyrics wrong, or belting out a rather intense voice crack. Yuto laughed every time he messed up, the clips sometimes devolving into complete silliness, and it was one of Keito’s favorite videos in the entire world.
“All my bags are packed; I’m ready to go. I’m standin’ here, outside your door. I hate to wake you up to say goodbye.”
Keito recognized the song quickly. It wasn’t a personal favorite, but he knew it: Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver. Yuto was playing a simple guitar melody with it, Keito swept away immediately as he looked at Yuto through the screen. Yuto, smiling, strumming on a guitar--something Keito had taught him--and singing in confident English--again, something Keito had taught him--seemed to reinforce all over again the place he had in Yuto’s life, the love Yuto had for him, and seeing it all together in one video that Yuto had recorded specifically for him, in the hopes that it would make him happy, had Keito’s heart aching in his chest.
“I’m about to mess up.” Yuto said in his ear. Keito had nearly forgotten that he was also on a call with Yuto, surprised that Yuto could hear the video through the phone. The first rendition of the chorus was coming up, and sure enough, Yuto fumbled the first chord with his fingers, giving a slight shake of his head, an embarrassed smile in his voice as he continued to sing.
“So kiss me, and smile for me. Tell me that you’ll wait for me. Hold me like you’ll never let me go.”
He finished the chorus with a smile to the camera, big and bright, and in that moment Keito loved everything about him. The song felt much too short, and once it was over Yuto sent a thumbs up to whomever it was that was recording him, then blew the biggest and cheesiest kiss to the camera for him, letting out one last strum on the guitar he was holding.
There was silence once the video had ended, Keito smiling so much that he wasn’t sure he could speak.
“Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver, huh?” He asked.
“Yep!” Yuto said happily. “It seemed like it fit. Well, kind of.” A little pout was beginning in his voice. “I know when you’re coming back.”
“Sure. I still smile for you, though.”
Yuto made a slight whining sound through the phone, and Keito laughed. It was a new reaction from Yuto, one that Keito hadn’t noticed until they’d had to spend so much time apart. As Yuto had explained it, it was the sound he made when Keito was being so cute that he needed kisses, but Yuto wasn’t able to give them to him.
“I have to go.” Yuto said, now sounding slightly rushed. Keito didn’t know Yuto’s schedule for the day, but he was probably busy, so he shoved down his disappointment and hastened to say goodbye instead.
“Okay. I’m going to watch this video a bunch more times now.”
“Alright. I love you too.”
“Wait, wait.” Keito laughed. “You can’t say ‘too’ if I haven’t said it first!”
“Maybe you didn’t say it, but I heard it anyway. Bye!”
Yuto was gone before Keito could say anything about the absolute cheesiness of the statement, left staring at his phone background--a stupid selfie of Yuto, Yamada, and Chinen--before laughing a little and putting his phone down. As he said he would, he got through two more watches of Yuto’s video to him before there was a knock on his dorm room door.
Keito frowned a little as he got to his feet. He wasn’t expecting anyone, knowing most of his friends were out celebrating the end of the semester. If Bob was coming up to the room for anything he definitely wouldn’t knock, more of a fan of barging in. He put his hair up into a small ponytail, pulling the door open.
It was Yuto. Somehow, it was Yuto, his hair flat and unstyled, black and longer than he usually let it grow; his eyes were happy, though a little tired, the fluorescent lights of the hallway putting a shine down his nose, Keito’s eyes catching on a fading blemish on Yuto’s right cheek, on the freckles that made a line down the side of his face, on the small scar that cut into the left side of his upper lip. He was smiling, his clothes a little baggy on his thin frame but not too long, a suitcase by his side. It was Yuto, and tears began down Keito’s cheeks before he’d even realized he was going to start crying.
“No! Keito!” Yuto rushed forwards, his arms open, pulling Keito to him. He smelled like Yuto and felt like Yuto, Keito melting completely in his arms. Yuto stroked his hair, his fingers catching slightly on the hair tie, pressing a couple of kisses to the top of his head. Hearing his voice cemented it all in reality, Keito pulling back to look at him again.
“How are you here?” He asked, incredulous, a smile in Yuto’s voice as he answered, his eyes looking bright and a little teary too.
“I bought a plane ticket!” He choked out, laughing again, and Keito pulled him bodily into the room, Yuto barely managing to snag his suitcase by the handle and drag it inside before Keito pushed the door closed and brought Yuto’s lips to his in a kiss.
They fell into Keito’s bed, Yuto pulling Keito’s hair from the hair tie and winding his fingers in it, Keito holding him tightly, kissing him again and again because he could. Still, parts of Yuto being here didn’t make sense, and Keito had to pull himself back and ask.
“How are you here, though?” His eyes were still watery in disbelief, and Yuto reached out with his thumb, swiping it across Keito’s cheek. “The video you sent, the time you sent it; you would have still been on the plane.”
“I gave Chinen the login for my email address.” Yuto explained. “So he probably knows way too much about our relationship now. But I wanted to surprise you! Hold on, that reminds me; we need to take a picture.”
Yuto fully tackled Keito onto the mattress then, curling him up under one arm, pulling out his phone with his free hand.
“What? Why?”
“To prove that I’m here. You know, so the other members know I didn’t die, or whatever. Plus, you don’t send nearly enough photos to the group chat. We want to see your face. And,” Yuto had his phone out now, the camera on both of them; embarrassed by his tear-streaked cheeks, Keito pressed his face into Yuto’s neck. “When I was making this plan, everyone decided to start a bet of how quickly seeing me would make you cry. Hikaru said it would be immediately, so like all of us owe him money now.”
While a little embarrassing, that made Keito laugh, letting his eyes close as the shutter on Yuto’s phone camera went off. He couldn’t believe he was lying in bed, holding Yuto in his arms, cherishing the moment as Yuto preoccupied himself with sending the photo out. His phone buzzed with responses immediately.
“Takaki sent a purple heart emoji… Yamada is appalled that we’re in bed together already…” That made both of them laugh. “Hikaru says that he’s glad I made it there safely, but in the same message he also sent that emoji with money signs for eyes and its tongue sticking out, so I don’t know what he’s more concerned with.”
“Tell them I miss them.” Keito said, but even while he spoke he began pressing kisses to Yuto’s neck because he could, because he wanted to. Whatever it was Yuto sent to the group chat was extremely brief before his phone was out of his hands and he was tilting Keito’s chin up with his fingers, bringing Keito’s lips to his.
It was incredible to hold Yuto, to feel him and taste him and breathe him in after so long, Keito gripping onto Yuto’s waist, putting a hand to Yuto’s cheek to feel the spacing of his jawbone, cheekbone, and the base of his ear, the geography of Yuto’s face, the places he’d touched and kissed so many times that he would always be able to know it was Yuto, even with nothing else to go on, even with his eyes closed.
“I love you.” He murmured, able to feel a smile on Yuto’s lips as he leaned in for another kiss. Then the door burst open.
“Oh. Sorry. Sorry!” It was Bob, Yuto jumping up into a sitting position, obviously uncomfortable with a stranger in the room. Keito was a little slower on the uptake. “Oh, hey! Your long distance Skype bootycall is here.”
Bob knew what Yuto looked like, and had an idea of what the two of them were to each other; since he didn’t know much about the extent of Keito’s fame, Keito figured that it was okay. That, and it was a little hard to explain away all of the love songs he’d recorded, and all of the times Bob had caught him watching the love songs he’d received. Keito was glad Yuto didn’t know what “bootycall” meant, but that thought was gone from his mind when Bob fully pointed at Yuto and spoke.
“I didn’t think you’d come in so soon, with the time of your flight and everything.”
“Oh, yes.” Yuto was still uncomfortable, his face pink, Keito wrapping an arm around his waist. “Plane was good. Ride here… Fast.”
“Fast, huh?” Bob was walking through the room, obviously looking for something. “Your Uber driver must have been speeding like hell to get you here so soon.”
“Speeding.” Yuto said with a nod. “Very scary.”
That made Bob laugh, and he scooped up a jacket from his desk chair--evidently, what he’d entered the room for--turning to Keito to speak. “I’m going to crash at Megan’s place for the next five days, so you guys can have the room to yourselves. Sound cool?”
“Oh, yeah, thanks.” Five days? How did Bob know Yuto would be coming? Was five days how long Yuto would be here?
“Nice to meet you in person.” Bob extended a hand to Yuto, who took it and shook it. “Alright you lovebirds, have fun.” He winked at Keito. “I’ll put a sock on the doorknob for ya.”
Keito’s face flushed hot, and while the words were said like a joke, apparently they weren’t; Bob actually grabbed a sock from his closet on his way out, saying farewell and closing the door behind himself. There were a couple beats of silence.
“He seems nice.” Yuto remarked, and that made them both break down into laughter, the embarrassment of the moment fading as Keito pressed his forehead into Yuto’s shoulder.
“How did he know you would be here?” He asked.
“I told him.” Yuto answered simply. “I wanted to make sure it was okay, but I didn’t have any way to contact him without asking you, so I had to send him a letter. And I had to write it in English, which was super hard! I asked Marius to check it for me. But he said he wanted me to come.” Yuto’s voice took on a self-important tone. “And he said the idea sounded very romantic, by the way.” He said, and Keito laughed again. “I knew your address, and you guys are in the same room, so I just addressed it to him instead of you.”
“That’s pretty smart.” Keito said. For Yuto to have sent a letter all the way from Japan to New York, and then wait for a response, but still have timed this visit to line up with Keito’s break from school meant that he must have planned this whole thing pretty far in advance.
“Yeah, that bit was Inoo’s idea.”
“So you’re staying for five days?”
“That’s all the time I could get.” Yuto said, sounding slightly apologetic, but Keito shook his head.
“It’s perfect.” He said. Yuto was here, Yuto was going to be here for almost a week; it was better than anything Keito could have asked for. He leaned in again, pressing his forehead to Yuto’s, letting out a breath.
“I love you too.” Yuto said again, and that made Keito smile, nuzzling his nose against Yuto’s, pressing their lips together. He kissed Yuto down onto the mattress, sliding a hand under his shirt and onto the soft skin of his stomach. Yuto kissed him back, moaning into his mouth, shifting obligingly against Keito’s sheets to accommodate the way Keito was slowly pushing his shirt up his sides. He gave an insistent tug on Keito’s shirt and that was all Keito needed, sitting back off Yuto to pull it over his head. He didn’t bother getting off the bed--the door wasn’t locked, but there was a sock on the handle, and that would have to be good enough.
When Keito looked back at Yuto he was smiling, almost like he was about to laugh, giving Keito pause.
“What is it?”
“I… It’s okay, never mind. Don’t worry about it.”
Any one of those three phrases were instant ways to make Keito concerned, and Yuto knew it, reaching up as though to pull Keito back down and reassure him, but now Keito wanted to know what was wrong.
“Are you tired?”
“I mean, a little.” It was the morning in Japan, the start of the day, but Yuto was showing signs of travel fatigue. “Not too tired for this or anything. Definitely not. It’s just…”
“Yuto.” Keito said, because Yuto looked very close to bursting into laughter, and Keito wanted to know what it was Yuto was trying to say before he lost his boyfriend to giggles, something that, while adorable, was not very helpful.
“The members didn’t only make a bet about you crying. They kinda made one about this too.” Yuto explained. Keito didn’t know whether or not to laugh, Yuto continuing quickly. “But they were only talking about a number! No specifics or anything. So we’ll just have to keep count, that’s all. Inoo is very convinced that he’ll win this one.”
“Oh my god.” Keito muttered under his breath, and that broke Yuto completely into laughs. Keito looked down at him, his hair splayed across Keito’s pillows, his shirt half off and his mouth half open, his face alight with happiness. He understood what Yuto meant, all the times that he insisted Keito was being so wonderful that he had to be kissed. And this time, Yuto was here, and Keito could kiss him.
Yuto noticed his expression, sliding a hand up Keito’s bare arm.
“I want you.” He said. “Come here.”
No part of Keito could have kept himself away.