New Beginnings

Kirito twirled an unlit cigarette between long, delicate fingers, an impatient crease forming between small eyes hidden partially behind his sunglasses. With a sigh, he shifted against the pole.

Bou flicked a hot pink nail under Kirito's sharp jaw to get his attention. "You know you can't smoke in here."

"His plane should have landed by now. Once we've collected him and are safely outside, then I can smoke in peace."

The blonde man rolled his eyes, wondering for the hundredth time just what most of his friends saw in that nasty habit, when a throng of disembarking passengers caught his attention. "Yo-sama said he's about two meters tall now, a giant among all of us, so he shouldn't be hard to spot." Bou said, standing on his tiptoes in a vain attempt to see more of the people coming towards them. "He also said that he now has tattoos and piercings, and likes to dye his hair, but didn't know what colors." He turned his head, soft pigtails swinging over surprisingly broad shoulders. "I'll bet he'll fit right in with us, ne?"

Kirito snorted and straightened up from the wall he'd been faithfully holding up for the last 20 minutes. "I think that's him," he said, pointing to a brown and blond head bobbing over the shorter, darker haired men and women around him. The man had a small carry-on slung over one shoulder and pulled, somewhat tentatively, another bag on wheels behind him.

Bou hopped up on a bench, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Hakuei-san! Hakuei-san!"

The taller man paused, eyes searching behind wide sunglasses, until he spotted the two by the baggage claim; one bouncing up and down, waving excitedly in the air, the other regarding him coolly, his sharp features betraying no emotion.

"Hakuei-san?" the blonde asked again as the man in question approached.

The much taller man regarded the short blonde curiously at first, then smiled. "Yes, er, hai." He set his baggage down on the ground and removed his sunglasses.

Bou bounced in place, face open and friendly. "I'm Bou, and this is Kirito." He indicated the taller man beside him, who pushed his glasses up on top of his head and bowed. "Your father informed you that we would be picking you up, correct? Showing you around the area a bit over the next few days?"

Hakuei nodded. "He did, yes. I am grateful to the two of you, willing to help out someone you've never met before. Thank you."

"Don't worry about it," Kirito spoke up, smiling finally. "Your father has been a big part of our lives for many years now, more family than our own. Besides, we already work for him at the bar anyway." His eyes drifted to the luggage carousel nearby. "Did you check any luggage?"

"Yes, a big black duffel bag. The rest of my things will be shipped over the next few weeks." He pointed. "Oh, I think I see it now."

"I'll get it," Kirito said and began weaving through the crowd that had formed around them. A minute later, he came back, wheeling the heavy bag behind him.

"What's that written all over it?" Bou asked, pointing at the elaborate English script painted white over the black canvas.

"Oh, they're just various lyrics I've written over the years." Hakuei smiled slightly. "Music has always been a big part of my life, though I never really did anything with it."

The other two men exchanged a glance.

"Do you play anything?" Kirito asked.

"I mostly like to sing, though I can hold my own well enough behind a drum set or with a bass. Still learning the piano, I'm afraid."

"Very interesting." Kirito seemed to consider this, then smiled. "Shall we go?" The three of them made their way through the airport and into the garage, where Kirito dumped the newcomer's luggage into the spacious trunk and unlocked the doors. Hakuei climbed into the back as Bou buckled himself in to the passenger's seat up front, half turning to look at the other man.

"So, how was your flight?" he asked eagerly. "Was it hard to sit on a plane for nearly half a day?? I don't think I could stand being cooped up that long. I'd go insane!"

Kirito snickered from the driver's seat. "I'm pretty sure we wouldn't survive an hour with you in a plane." He regarded the smaller man in the rearview mirror. "Sometimes you're as bad as Toshiya." Bou stuck out his tongue as Hakuei chuckled. "Ok, maybe not that bad, but I still can't imagine you being trapped in an airplane for twelve hours and not driving all of us crazy."

"Yeah, you're probably right." He turned his attention back to the man in the back seat. "So, what's it like in America? Is everyone as tall as you are? Aren't you part American anyway? Oh, and the food! What's the food really like?"

"Bou, stop pestering him!" Kirito said, his voice firm. "I'm sure he's tired an doesn't want to answer a million questions the moment he's stepped off the plane. There will be plenty of opportunities to bother him later."

"It's okay, Bou-chan, I don't mind," Hakuei said to the blonde, who beamed. "Though, I'm afraid my Japanese isn't as good as it could be..."

"Oh, no!" Bou exclaimed. "I think you're doing great. Even your accent is, well, you can still tell that English is your primary language, but you can definitely tell that you've been studying Japanese for many years! Quite impressive."

Kirito held up a cigerette. "Do you mind if I smoke?"

"Go right ahead," Hakuei said, reaching in his pocket, "as long as you don't mind if I do as well." Kirito nodded and the two men lit up. Bou rolling his eyes once again. Hakuei shrugged off his jacket and folded it beside him.

"Wow.." Bou's small brown eyes widened. "Your tattoos are beautiful!"

Kirito peered through the rearview mirror briefly as he merged into traffic, then glimpsed his backseat passenger, torso now clad in a thin, sleeveless shirt. His thick hair ran just past his shoulders, but his tattoos could be seen peeking out around his neck and spilling down both thin arms. Kirito smiled slightly as his boyfriend reached back and took first one painted arm, then the other. His hot pink nails traced butterflies, dragons and a large, perfectly detailed koi on Hakuei's right arm.

"Sugoi..." Bou said. "I don't have any tattoos," he shuddered slightly at the thought, "but Kirito has a few really nice ones. I don't think anyone else..."

"Hideto has one," Kirito corrected. "And Kiyoharu."

"Oh, yes, I forgot."

"I take it they are friends of yours?" Hakuei asked.

"Heh," Kirito smirked as he turned the car down another street, away from the highway. "Hide is our other roomate, Toshiya's best friend and, more often than not, partner in crime. Kiyoharu, eh, he's Kiyoharu." He glanced back at the man in the mirror. "We promised your father to keep you away from those guys for at least a few days, but if you want, you can meet them tomorrow night."

"Oh, that's right!" Bou said, practically bouncing in his seat. "We wanted to invite you over tomorrow, if you think you'll feel up to it. It's nothing special, just a bunch of us getting together at our house." He started ticking them off on his fingers. "Let's see, besides myself and Kirito, Tochi will be there, Hide and Rose, Kiyoharu... Oh! And Kisaki and Tsukasa, hopefully, but they're in college so.. " The little man smiled and shrugged. "Tsukasa is Kirito's younger brother."

"You forgot Megumi and Ayabi."

Bou wrinkled his nose. "I did that on purpose." Hakuei chuckled at the blonde's silly face. "Megumi and Ayabi are identical twins dating Kiyoharu and Rose, respectively."

"Okay...." Hakuei's brow furrowed. "I take it you don't like them. But why, jealous?"

Kirito coughed as Bou giggled loudly. "Oh, hell no!" Bou snorted. "Those girls are just... I don't know. Kiyoharu and Rose are one thing, but pair them up with those two," he rolled his eyes, "Drama City. "Plus, Rose hits on anything with legs, and even though he's actually from Korea, he and Kiyoharu look so much alike sometimes that it's scary." Bou peered at Hakuei suddenly, so intently that the taller man sat back in his seat nervously.

"What?"

"Now that I think about it," Bou said thoughtfully, "you'd look a lot like them too, if your hair were as light as mine." He shook his head. "Anyway, Megumi and Ayabi are just slutty and annoying and UGH. But Kiyoharu and Rose are good friends, and once you get to know them, they're both generally harmless."

"Hmm.... it looks like you certainly have an interesting array of friends....." Hakuei folded his arms across his chest. " So, why did my father ask you to keep me away from the other two?"

The two men exchanged a glance and Bou giggled. "Erm, well, Toshiya's a bit..."

"He's an idiot."

Bou glared at his lover. "I was going to be nice and say he's goofy, or dorky, or spastic, but I guess that'll work too." Hakuei chuckled. "He was worse when his last boyfriend lived here, but he moved away a little less than a year ago. Hideto's kind of taken his place, and he's much more devious than Miyavi ever was."

Kirito snorted, but said nothing.

"Er, my darling Kirito here thinks those two are secretly shagging, but I don't think so. Tochi loved Miya too much to have moved on already."

"It's been nearly a year. They're sleeping together."

Bou crossed his legs, short jean skirt riding up his slim thighs. "Really, you think everyone's secretly shagging. Kiyoharu and Rose, Toshiya and Hide... I just don't see it. Sure, they hang out a lot, but I just can't imagine the two of them-"

"Please, I don't want to imagine any of them in a sexual context!" Kirito cried. He caught Hakuei covering his mouth as a yawn escaped. "Don't worry, Hakuei, we're almost there." He turned down another street, this time heading east. "Your father still lives up above the bar, if you didn't know. We rent the upper portion of a house just a block over. We'll drop you off at home so you can get some rest and one of us will call you in the morning, okay?"

Hakuei yawned again. "That sounds fine. Oh, do you want my cell phone number?"

"Sure. Bou, would you mind?" The blonde grinned and reached behind Kirito as the other man leaned forward. He took his time, fishing inside his pocket until Kirito began to blush, then sat back, a small silver phone in his hand. He flipped it open and recorded the numbers Hakuei rattled off for him.

Kirito pulled into the parking lot and up to the bar's front door. Bou fished out a set of keys as Hakuei and Kirito retrieved the bags from the trunk.

"Do you need any help getting them upstairs?" Kirito asked. "Do you remember how to get to the apartment?"

"I think I can manage." He bowed his head slightly. "Thank you, for everything."

Bou grinned and unlocked the door, then handed the keys to the much taller man. "The other key is to the apartment at the top of the stairs."

"Thanks. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Bou waved goodbye and climbed into the car. A moment later, they pulled away, leaving Hakuei alone in front of the bar. With a sigh, he grabbed his bags and went inside.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The door closed quietly behind him, the dark, almost eerie bar laid out before him. His last visit here, to see the bar his father had just bought, had been so long ago, yet the place was filled with blurry memories. He stood there a moment, duffel bag at his feet, a bag in each hand. His heart beat rapidly in his chest as his mouth suddenly went dry.

With a heavy sigh, he picked up the handle to his larger bag and began wheeling it across the worn, old wooden floor. Somewhere nearby, he heard a door creak open.

"Hakuei, is that you?" An older man, a couple of inches shorter than Hakuei, came down the stairs, a shy smile on his still youthful face.

"It's good to see you," he said.

Hakuei dropped one bag and stuck out his hand. Yoshiki took it, then suddenly pulled him into an awkward embrace.

The younger man tensed at first, then forced himself to relax. "I've missed you," he said quietly.

"I've missed you too." His father stepped back, hands resting on the taller man's broad shoulders. "Come, let's get you settled in." He grabbed one of Hakuei's bags and marched back up the stairs, the other following close behind. At the top of the stairs, they turned right and opened a door near the end, flipping on the light. Yoshiki cleared his throat as Hakuei sat down on his old futon, hands smoothing out the old, familar white quilt.

"I'm sorry I couldn't pick you up at the airport," he said, "but I trust Kirito and Bou were good enough company?"

"No worries," Hakuei smiled. "I can understand how busy you must be. They were certainly... entertaining, and quite willing to help," he chuckled. "Bou confused me at first, but she's really very sweet."

Yoshiki burst out laughing. "She?"

Hakuei sighed. "So I did guess wrong. Bou's a guy, isn't he?"

"Yes. Unfortunately or not - cute, bubbly, sweet Bou is every bit a girl, save that his equipment happens to be on the outside instead of the inside." Yoshiki smiled. "In fact, he's not the only one of their friends that sometimes wears make-up and woman's clothing, though he certainly does it the most." He eyed his son curiously. "That doesn't bother you, does it?"

Hakuei's face flushed slightly and he looked away. "Of course it doesn't bother me." He cleared his throat. "Why should it?"

Yoshiki patted his son on the shoulder. "Anyway, I'll leave you for a bit. Take a nap if you need to. In an hour or two I'll fix something for dinner, okay?" He paused at the door, one hand on the frame. "I'm glad you've finally come home."