Tamaki’s fingers trailed along the cool surface of the sleek metal railing, a mixture of excitement and disbelief coursing through him as he took in the grandeur of Hiro’s modern abode. It was a sight unlike anything he had ever witnessed, reminiscent of the lavish homes depicted in television dramas and glossy magazines. Yet, amidst the awe, a nagging sense of skepticism tugged at the corners of his mind, questioning the reality of his current situation.
Following Hiro’s lead, Tamaki crossed the threshold into the house, his senses immediately assailed by the aura of sophistication that permeated the space. The towering facade of the building had hinted at the luxury within, but nothing could have prepared him for the reality of stepping foot into this elegant sanctuary.
As he gazed around the foyer, Tamaki couldn’t help but marvel at the meticulous attention to detail evident in every aspect of the interior design. Polished tile floors gleamed beneath his feet, complemented by the understated elegance of minimalist decor. Soft light bathed the space in a gentle glow, casting shadows that danced across the walls like whispers of enchantment.
His gaze drifted upward, drawn to the graceful curve of the staircase ascending to the upper level. It wasn’t a giant staircase, just a normal-sized one, but it curved slightly to make it seem larger in the tiny space. With a sense of eager anticipation, Tamaki turned to Hiro, his curiosity piqued by the prospect of exploring further.
“It’s not massive, I know, but it is a good size, and it has two bedrooms,” Hiro said as a way of explanation.
Hiro’s explanation of the house’s layout only served to fuel Tamaki’s intrigue, prompting a flurry of questions to bubble up in his mind. The mention of two bedrooms, though in proximity, sparked a flicker of excitement within him he was going to be close to Hiro, and that excitement mingled with a hint of uncertainty when he thought about it for a moment longer.
‘He was going to be close to Hiro…’
“Here,” Hiro said.
Accepting the slippers offered by Hiro, Tamaki slipped them on with a sense of reverence. Hiro walked up the stairs without another word.
Tamaki followed behind, thinking of home.
In his home in the town, they had a staircase to the upstairs, but it was a traditional style home and the stairs were narrow, small, and steep, there were no railings and as a kid, he remembered crawling up them with his hands and feet just to make it safely to the top. Many times he would even have to slow down when he was heading down, so he didn’t tumble down until he got older than five or six. He even had a scar on the lower left side of his back from where he had tumbled down and landed against the sharp corner of the kitchen and living room wall. His butt had gone right through the screen, and his mom had boxed his ears for destroying the expensive screen. They took the door off his room to replace it and gave him the one with the giant hole in it. His dad has said if his butt did the damage, he could live with it. The screen was still like that, even now.
“So this is my room,” Hiro said, opening the door. It was a rather big room by Tokyo standards. It is big enough to fit a double bed and a little nightstand beside it. There were operable windows onto what looked like a four-foot by two-foot terrace. It was really more of a tiny slab to put a plant on and stand on at night. Nothing you could put furniture on. On the opposite wall as the large window and balcony, was a dresser with a few decorations on it and a photo of him and his sister. But no other photos are to be seen. As he turned to leave, his eyes caught on one more photo he hadn’t seen because it was facing flat, framed downwards so that you could not see the picture in it.
There was something about the young busker, with his gentle smile and warm presence Hiro wanted him to like and approve of his home, and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why. But he did. He hoped he liked the rooms. He found a sliver of that hope growing, hope that he would say yes to staying.
“It looks nice,” Tamaki said, trying his best to keep from prying about the picture frame, even though he wanted to ask.
“Thanks.” Hiro simply said, then he stepped back to let Tamaki pass and closed the door behind him.
As he watched Tamaki move through the house, his guitar slung over his shoulder, Hiro couldn’t help but feel a sense of warmth spreading through his chest. Perhaps, just perhaps, Tamaki’s presence would be the antidote to his loneliness, a beacon of light to guide him through the darkness.
“This is sorta going to be your room… sorta,” Hiro said, walking a few steps over, and then opening the second door, he pointed inside. This room was the same size as the other room, possibly a little bit bigger, the difference was it had a rather long and fully occupied desk covered in a mess of papers so large that it wasn’t contained on the desk alone, there was a laptop sitting atop the stack, and papers were tapped, stuck to, and pinned into the wall in separate places. Little notes, to full-on sheets. Filled with schematic drawings and other things he recognized as important, but was not entirely sure of their purpose. On the opposite side of the desk was the bed. It was a single bed, shoved firmly against two walls, the headboard and right side snug against the wall. Even hugging the wall so tightly, maybe three feet were in front of the bed before the desk chair back. And that was with the chair pulled out but no one sitting in it. It was one of those roller chairs, and with how chaotic the space seemed, he had no doubt that the three feet between the back of the chair and the bed were regularly taken up by hurried rolling and scurrying.
He wasn’t lying when he said it was little more than a bed. There was a tiny wardrobe at the end of the bed, it was large enough to have a single drawer and one sliding door, but small enough to only be as long as the bed was wide. Still, the door had slammed against it when he had opened it fully. So it was lucky he would have to kneel on the bed to use it, otherwise, if the door had opened in the other direction, he could have been smacked by the door every time he was standing to use it.
Still, the bed had very cushy-looking bed sheets and duvet, such plush and sumptuous linens that Tamaki could imagine himself sinking into the plush comfort of the bed, the cares of the world melting away as he drifted off to sleep.
“So, what do you think?”
“It’s loads better than the hostel I am staying at,” Tamaki admitted. “What do I have to do to be able to stay here? You said there were some rules and conditions I had to follow.” He asked.
Hiro nodded. “Yes. First, before we get into that, why don’t you come downstairs and sit in the living room? I will grab us something to drink and then get the paperwork done up, and bring it down for you. Then we can discuss it further. It won’t take long. I am just going to jot down the basics of the agreement, you can add anything you want and I will have it all typed up and notarized later.”
Tamaki nodded.
“Can I…”
“You can leave your guitar up here in the bedroom or down, in the living room, whatever you want. I don’t mind either. Your clothes and mess should be contained in your own surroundings. There is plenty of food, I cook four days a week, the other three I have at the restaurant, you can come with me or stay here. My laptop is free to use, just don’t download anything without asking… What else? Can you think of anything I am missing?”
Tamaki nodded again. Feeling very much like he had been pulled into a whirlwind he hadn’t expected, but he wasn’t too afraid of being thrown about in. Rather like a storm, you had all the right gear to get through. So it was just weathering it and waiting for the edge to crescendo so that you could ride it out.
“Thanks, I appreciate the place to stay. But can I ask you something?”
“Mmm.” Hiro agreed, and turned to face him, their eyes meeting.
That warm flush he felt when he saw his beautiful eyes staring into his own spread through his veins and made his heart tighten, and his stomach flop like a fish back and forth.
‘Just why? What is this? I will never see someone as beautiful as you ever again, you are an angel. Not a part of this world.’
The room was bathed in natural light streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows, offering panoramic views of the city below. The light moved forward, casting across Hiro’s face and making his warm brown eyes come alive like they were surrounded by fire.
Hiro shoved both his hands in his suit pants pockets.
“I need you.”
Tamaki’s heart throbbed in his chest. ‘Is he kidding? Why would he need a loser like me?’
“Me?”
“Tamaki, I can never feel warm. But you made me feel it, for the first time in years. I need you to stay by my side and keep me warm.”
Tamaki watched him carefully to see if he was making fun of him.
Hiro seemed to sense his reservations. “I would never joke about anything so serious. You saw it for yourself earlier, right? You warmed my hands. They were extremely cold before, do you remember?”
Tamaki searched his eyes to see if he was telling the truth. ‘But why would he make fun of you, you guys are strangers?’
Hiro stepped forward and pulled one of his hands from his pockets. He held it up in the air between their bodies and slowly unfurled his fingers. It looked like he was waiting for a high-five.
Tamaki stared at his hand.
Hiro stepped forward, bringing the space between them to an even smaller distance, closing the gap. He reached out with the hand that was in his pocket before Hiro’s hand grabbed his, and Tamaki’s eyes widened at how icy cold his hand was. He almost had recoiled from his touch, it felt wrong.
Hiro slowly put his hand against his, their palms flat against each other, finger to finger.
Hiro smirked.
As Tamaki’s hand touched Hiro’s, a wave of warmth surged through his body, igniting a sensation he had never experienced before. It was as if a dormant ember within him had been sparked to life, radiating heat that thawed the icy numbness that had long enveloped and crushed his life with its chill. Hiro’s breath caught in his throat, his eyes widening in giddy astonishment as he felt the comforting warmth seep into his bones, chasing away the chill that had plagued him for so long.
In that moment, Hiro couldn’t help but marvel at Tamaki’s ability to provide something he had always lacked. It was a simple gesture, yet it held the power to transform his world in ways he had never imagined he would ever experience in his lifetime. As the warmth spread through him, Hiro felt a sense of wonder and gratitude wash over him, a profound appreciation for the person standing before him.
For the first time in years, Hiro was enveloped in a cocoon of warmth that banished the cold from his skin and bones, but also from the shadows of loneliness and the tinge of fear that always colored his every waking moment.
Tamaki stared, confused.
After a minute his freezing hand started to warm, he could feel it, the difference in temperature, only his hands hadn’t gotten cold, it was just as if he had shared his warmth with Hiro, and Hiro had sucked it in like rain after a drought. Seeping out of him until he warmed to the same temperature as Tamaki’s body.
“I didn’t expect your hands to be so small but your fingers so long. I guess that’s why you play guitar hmm.”
“Have you always had this?” Tamaki asked.
“For as long as I could remember, for me it has always been sweater weather.” Hiro looked up at the sun shining through the window and onto his skin.
“I’m sure to you that feels warm, but to me, it has always just been a spotlight that showed me what I was missing. There was no warm touch, and the heat of a fire would only temporarily keep me warm even when next to it, and then that heat too would fade away. When you grabbed my hand. When you touched me. I suddenly felt something I knew I had been missing all along, but never been able to fix. You can put an end to my suffering. so I am asking you. No, I am begging you to provide me with warmth as much as I need. Whenever I am cold. And in return, I promise to take care of everything you could ever ask for or need. I am not a billionaire. But I want to take care of you in exchange for giving me this piece of myself I have been missing.”
Tamaki licked his lips.
“So what do you say?” Hiro asked.
“We can make up a contract right away, so that everyone involved will feel like it has been fairly taken care of, and no one is taking advantage of anyone.”
Tamaki watched him. ‘If you took advantage, my heart would hurt less. It feels like I met god only to find out they were hurting too and were unable to take away my pain.’
Tamaki pulled his hand from Hiro’s, but Hiro reached out and caught it, intertwining their fingers extremely slowly.
“Please,” he whispered.
Tamaki’s gut spun, startled by his reaction, and his words. ‘How can I say no when your voice is broken up like that?’
‘Not only does this solve the problem of your hostel costing too much as more time is booked but it also means you don’t have to check out and move from internet cafe to internet cafe, and it solves food, and comfort too. I can busk and search for jobs at the same time. And I have a roof over my head, and anything I need to eat or use for toiletries.’
“Okay. Where do I sign?” He agreed.
“Wait, why would you say yes? I didn’t even work hard to convince you.” Hiro asked, a slightly annoyed frown showing on his face.
Tamaki smiled at him softly. “I need a place to sleep that doesn’t empty my bank account, and I am almost one hundred percent sure none of this is real. I must be dreaming or have fallen into a game. Or someone is playing a trick on me… I dunno. All I know is that Hiro-san is asking me for help, so of course, it must be a test. But even if it wasn’t, I find myself unable to say no.”
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