メロウレイン / Futtara Doshaburi Mellow Rain

Yellow Honey

 

Once they reached the station, Sei said, “I’m hungry.”

 

They had cut the previous place short, so Hagiwara had to admit he was still hungry too—and not quite finished drinking.

 

“Want to stop somewhere else?”

 

“If you know somewhere.”

 

“Yeah. You’re always the one deciding where we go, so for once I’ll be the guide.”

 

Sei turned off the usual route to his flat. The ground floor of a four-storey block of flats looked as though it housed the place he had in mind, a blackboard on legs lit by tiny bulbs outside. Hagiwara tried to guess the style of the restaurant from the chalked menu.

 

“French?”

 

“More like a mixed-up Western-style izakaya. It stays open until three in the morning, so it’s useful on the way home after overtime. If it’s too late for a proper meal, I’ll just get the mixed appetiser plate and a glass of wine. It has a bit of meat, vegetables, egg, mushrooms—all sorts. Makes me feel like I’m eating a balanced meal.”

 

“That sounds good. Near my place it’s all family restaurants and chain izakayas.”

 

“That’s convenient in its own way.”

 

Sei pushed open the white wooden door and a light bell chimed.

 

“Evening.”

 

A chef of around forty greeted him casually.

 

It was a tiny place. Two tables for two, one table for four and four counter seats. As far as Hagiwara could see, the only other employee was a young woman in her early twenties. In one corner of the counter, a partly carved leg of cured ham gleamed beneath the lamps.

 

They took seats at the counter and Sei ordered, with the ease of a regular, “What’s today’s sparkling?”

 

“Today it’s a domestic wine from Kashiwara. Is that all right?”

 

“Yeah. Hagiwara?”

 

“I’ll have the same.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“And could we have maybe two light dishes? We’ve already eaten, so nothing too heavy.”

 

“Of course.”

 

Two glasses arrived. Fine bubbles danced over the slightly ivory-coloured wine and burst when their glasses met in a quiet toast.

 

“Nakarai-san, I think this is the first time you’ve brought a friend in.”

 

The girl behind the counter spoke with obvious curiosity.

 

“Mm.”

 

“Do you work at the same company?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Ah, Hagiwara thought. He immediately recognised that there was more than simple curiosity in her gaze. Whether Sei noticed or not, he casually called her “Ayuko-chan”.

 

“Ayuko-chan, could you toast the baguette a little crispier than usual?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Hagiwara liked it almost like snack-crisp, so that order was plainly for him. And yet the faint irritation inside him did not disappear.

 

“Were you working late again today?”

 

“Yeah. We already had a drink at another place.”

 

“Nakarai-san, you never come in at weekends.”

 

“I assume you’re busy.”

 

“What? No. Last Sunday was ridiculously quiet.”

 

Hagiwara realised he might never have seen Sei around a woman like this before.

 

This was the ordinary manner of a properly socialised adult man: friendly enough, but never intimate in a way that invited misunderstanding. Being around a woman threw into sharp relief the parts of Sei that were unmistakably male.

 

It was strangely fresh.

 

Hagiwara caught himself staring.

 

Rather perverse, considering how much Sei disliked being treated as the one who was being held.

 

“Your friend’s handsome.”

 

“Hm?”

 

Hagiwara had several standard responses stored away for compliments and chose depending on the situation.

 

One: grin like an idiot and say, Thanks.

 

Two: look serious and insist no one had ever told him that before.

 

Three: smoothly return the compliment.

 

Four: give an awkward little laugh and move on.

 

He could not be bothered, so number four would do.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Oh, that sounded like you hear it all the time.”

 

“Not at all.”

 

The baguette had exactly the right amount of browning, and the sardine pâté was salty and delicious.

 

Somehow, that annoyed him too.

 

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

 

What did the “girl” part matter?

 

“Someone I’m seeing? Yeah, I do.”

 

He answered pleasantly while nudging Sei’s foot beneath the counter. Thankfully, there were no other customers.

 

Sei’s cool profile softened by the smallest amount.

 

“Oh, lucky. I seriously want a boyfriend right now. What do you think I should do?”

 

Hagiwara could think of several young, single men without suspicious backgrounds whom he could introduce to her, but Ayuko probably wanted Sei to hear the conversation.

 

“Maybe don’t announce too loudly that you’re desperate for a boyfriend. Some men panic and think, Whoa, she’s hunting.”

 

“But if I don’t say it, how is anyone supposed to know?”

 

“You’re better off not getting one when you badly want one,” Sei said, biting into a piece of baguette soaked in olive oil.

 

“If you’re starving, you go into any old restaurant and end up eating something awful. Desire and good judgement don’t really coexist. When you get to the point where you think, I don’t need a man at all, I’m fine on my own—that’s when you should treasure the person you happen to meet.”

 

“I never think I’m fine on my own,” Ayuko said with complete seriousness.

 

Sei gave a wry smile.

 

“Fair enough.”

 

Once they were outside, Hagiwara protested.

 

“That was a bit much, wasn’t it?”

 

“What was?”

 

“That girl obviously likes you. Do you normally bring your boyfriend to a place like that?”

 

“You noticed?”

 

“Of course I noticed.”

 

“It’s not causing any actual harm. And for the record, I haven’t said or done anything to mislead her.”

 

“You were calling her by her first name.”

 

“Didn’t you read the menu? It literally says ‘Ayuko’s Homemade Dessert of the Day’. Asking her surname after seeing that would be ruder.”

 

“Hmph.”

 

Hagiwara knew perfectly well he was being childish. But after having to put up with Sei getting unreasonably sulky at the first bar, some part of him felt as though it ought to be his turn now.

 

Not that he wanted to drag it out until they had a real argument. They were nearly home, after all, and there were other things he hoped would happen once they got there.

 

The very fact he was calculating all of that probably proved his jealousy was not especially serious.

 

Still.

 

Something about it bothered him.

 

As he walked along feeling vaguely dissatisfied, Sei’s presence suddenly vanished from beside him.

 

“Huh?”

 

Hagiwara took several more steps before noticing. He spun around.

 

Sei was gone.

 

There was a convenience store right beside them, so he had probably ducked inside. Hagiwara stopped and waited. Sure enough, Sei emerged a moment later.

 

“If you’re going to disappear somewhere, say something. You scared me.”

 

“Sorry, sorry.”

 

Hagiwara had complained with genuine irritation, yet Sei remained completely unbothered. Without even looking at him, he was already tearing open the packaging of whatever he had bought.

 

Once the cardboard backing and plastic cover came away, the object inside was tiny.

 

“Here.”

 

A yellow tube.

 

Lip balm with a little bee printed on it.

 

“What do you mean, here?”

 

“Your lips are peeling.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Maybe it was simply his constitution, but Hagiwara’s lips became rough as soon as the air turned dry. It looked bad and it hurt, so in winter he always carried ordinary medicated lip balm and reapplied it frequently.

 

In summer, he tended to forget. So it was that time of year again. Still, did Sei really have to buy something this cute? He was absolutely doing it on purpose. Hagiwara refused to take it.

 

“Put it on.”

 

“You want me to do it?”

 

“Yes. You put it on me.”

 

“…You’re such a pain.”

 

Sei pulled Hagiwara into a narrow side street with no hidden bars, not even a streetlamp. He took off the cap and murmured, “Don’t move.”

 

There was just enough light spilling from nearby windows for them to see one another’s faces.

 

The amber-coloured balm pressed to Hagiwara’s lower lip was still firm and perfectly cylindrical at the end.

 

It reminded him of that slightly wasteful feeling when using a brand-new lip balm for the first time.

 

A cloyingly sweet scent slowly circled his mouth, soothing the ragged skin and coating it in a soft layer of honey instead of the familiar menthol coolness.

 

“…That is aggressively honey-flavoured.”

 

“Is it?”

 

“Ants are going to swarm me.”

 

Sei replaced the cap, dropped the tube into the breast pocket of Hagiwara’s suit and smiled.

 

“I’ll swarm you before the ants do.”

 

Hagiwara nearly went weak at the knees.

 

“Nakarai-san…”

 

“Mm?”

 

“You’re surprisingly good at that. Is it natural?”

 

“Surprisingly is rude.”

 

Sei stepped closer until the toes of their shoes touched.

 

“It’s because you’re so cute.”

 

“…You’re annoying.”

 

Hagiwara wrapped an arm around Sei’s waist and kissed him.

 

Sei offered almost no resistance, as if he had expected it. Somehow that was more frustrating than being pushed away, and Hagiwara deepened the kiss.

 

When he sucked on Sei’s tongue, a muffled sound travelled from Sei’s throat into Hagiwara’s mouth.

 

Sei’s smooth tongue slipped free. As though scolding Hagiwara for being too impatient, Sei bit his lower lip, caught a tiny loose piece of skin between his front teeth and tugged.

 

A sharp sting opened into a small split.

 

“…Ow!”

 

“Ah. Sorry.”

 

He did not sound sorry in the slightest.

 

“I’ve got a habit of peeling loose skin off lips. Huh. Doesn’t taste like honey.”

 

“Do it to your own!”

 

What had been the point of applying lip balm?

 

When Hagiwara pressed a fingertip to his mouth, a tiny smear of blood appeared.

 

“Oh, for God’s sake…”

 

“Sorry.”

 

Sei finally sounded alarmed by the blood.

 

“Sorry. Are you angry?”

 

Was even the pleading look in his eyes calculated?

 

Hagiwara wanted to say, Yes, I’m furious, so do exactly as I tell you, then strip every scrap of fabric off him right there.

 

He did not.

 

“…I’m not angry.”

 

Sei’s hands, slightly cool, cupped both of Hagiwara’s cheeks. His tongue reached out and carefully traced the little cut. It stung.

 

“Want me to put more on?”

 

“No. I’ve got a feeling the exact same thing will happen.”

 

“True. I might keep peeling until you’ve got no lips left.”

 

“That is terrifying.”

 

Hagiwara pulled him into a tight hug. Sei’s flat was only about five minutes away. Those five minutes suddenly felt unbearable.

 

“Why hasn’t anyone invented a Anywhere Door yet…”

 

“That’s the sort of thing that makes you cute.”

 

Sei laughed against him.

 

“Nakarai-san, didn’t you say desire and good judgement don’t coexist?”

 

“When did I say that?”

 

“At the restaurant just now!”

 

It had sounded perfectly sensible at the time.

 

Applied to the two of them, though, it was not the most comforting philosophy in the world.

 

“Hm. I talk rubbish in there half the time, so I don’t remember.”

 

Judging by his completely untroubled face, Sei was not lying.

 

Dangerous man.

 

People like this could send both men and women spinning around without the slightest intention of doing so.

 

Later, when Hagiwara yawned, Sei peered at him.

 

“Sleepy?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Go to sleep.”

 

His tone almost said, Hurry up and fall asleep already.

 

“Why?”

 

“I’ll put this on while you’re asleep.”

 

At some point Sei had taken the little yellow tube from Hagiwara’s pocket again and now held it up triumphantly.

 

Come to think of it, during sex Sei had seemed to ask for more kisses than usual.

 

“I’ll put it on myself before I sleep. Give it here.”

 

“No, I’ll do it.”

 

“I don’t trust you. You’ll swarm me.”

 

When Hagiwara tried to take it, Sei twisted away.  The narrow bed creaked beneath what was barely more than play-fighting.

 

At this rate, the yellow honey was going to be used up very quickly.