Our little world on the roof von abgemeldet (PiKame, onesided RyoPi) ================================================================================ Prolog: Prolog -------------- My first post here....Here we go! "OMG! I made a hole in the world!" I looked around over my shoulder. I was unpacking my last things into a wardrobe that Kame gave me. Today, my responsible and self-relying life starts. I rose from the half-unpacked box and walked into the living room. Kame was standing with a broom under the lamp with paper Earth lampshade, frowning at a tiny hole in the middle of Africa. "It's the broom..." his sad dark eyes bore into me. I stepped closer to that "global catastrophe" and with all my might tried not to laugh. "Well, surely, the Baikal isn't the deepest lake on THIS map..." I stated, still admiring the hole near Victoria's Lakes, reminding me of England a bit. "I didn't intend to do it..." Kame piped up. I looked at him. "It's your apartment, don't apologize to me. But if you want, we can go buy a new shade after school today. I should be finished by 3PM." Kame quietly nodded and looked as if he admired me for solving this unexpected problem so effectively. I know him only for a week, I thought... it doesn't feel like it. When I look back, it's been only a week since my pushy sister introduced me to this boy full of paradoxes. She pulled me to the party, even if she knows I'd much rather fool around on the beach with my retriever. But Yasu was already exhausted from when she took him to her cycling trip, and because of that she managed to pull me here into this apartment. It's located on a roof and has only two bedrooms, a living room, a tiny kitchen and a bathroom. You walk straight into the living room, with the opposite wall made of glass. The rest of the roof, approximately as big as the whole apartment itself, was made into a great roof garden with a swing and a flood of flowers. I love the room that Kame gave me from the first moment. It has a large window overlooking the garden and an aquarium in the wall that connects it to the living room. Kame's room is just as big, but instead of the garden, it is next to the kitchen. There were lots of people, when I was there for that first time. DJ played dance music like UVERworld and An Cafe. Then, I felt like I would suffocate in the middle of that mass of squirming bodies. I spent almost the whole time on that swing out on the roof. when Kame sat down next to me, I curiously looked at the laughing boy with coke in his hand. His brown haircut was structured, with the strands falling to his shoulders. He was wearing a simple striped shirt and torn jeans. "Having fun?" he asked and downed the rest of his coke. "Too many people for my liking, but the music is nice," I answered truthfully. Kame smiled and threw the plastic cup to the nearest bin. "Kamenashi Kazuya," he held his hand out to me. "Yamashita Tomohisa," I shook that hand and looked at the stars above us. There weren't many of them, but at least I had somewhere to look to. His face was attracting me too much. "To be honest, I know your name. Aya sent me. She told me you're looking for an apartment." My sister talks almost every second of her life so I didn't even think about being surprised that at least half of these people know my name and my shoes size. "Well, I want to move out," I mumbled. "You can move in with me. I need help with the rent and some company would be nice, too." Surprised, I looked at him. "Just like that? You come to a stranger and move him into you apartment. You don't even know me." "I know your sister," he said with a shy smile. This time it was him who averted his eyes and looked at the sky. "And where do you live?" I asked so he wouldn't think I wasn't interested. I only needed some time to think it over. "Here," was his quiet reply. Wow, that's really something. When I imagined the apartment without all those people, it was really luxurious. No wonder he needed someone to split the rent with. "How do you pay for all this?" I asked, curious. "From the matches. One win is enough for six to nine months of the rent. But the last two matched didn't go very well..." "What matches?" I inquired. He didn't really have the build of a fighter. "Box. Oh, I have a match in two days, come watch," he bounced excitedly. It took me a while to process the news and I tried to connect the image of those big, muscular, sweaty men with the box gloves and their mouths bloody from the fight, with this little thin spaghetti advertisement. "Uh," escaped me very intelligently and Kame burst out laughing. well, that was how we got to know each other, I thought about it the whole way to school. Kame was totally different in the ring. Aya and me went to that match of his. I found out he was very popular within the boxing circles and is very successful in his weight category. He jumped aroung in the ring like a gummy monkey facing his opponent, even smaller than he was, and I couldn't quite avoid the thought of watching a fly and a mosquito box. But I did feel respect, I wouldn't ever want him to beat me. A week later, I moved in. Because I work overnight, the people home started to get irritated, because they couldn't sleep. Not always I have work to do, but still. I study programming and computer technology and I work in a nonstop hotline, especially nightshifts, because during the day I have school. And as they pay per hour, I don't mind not having anyone calling for the whole night. But those nights are rare. People usually have time to mess with their computers only in the evening and when something breaks down, they call me. It's an easy job and I at least have a stable income. I moved in with Kame also because he doesn't mind my night job and my dog. And Yasu obviously fell in love with the old blanket I spread for him under the swing. I really wonder how we'll get along. Kapitel 1: chapter 1 -------------------- I sat in the school cafeteria and enjoyed half a hour with my beloved soy milk, thinking about all the things related to moving I had yet to do. Because my new place is in a completely different part of the city and miles away from my home, I'll have to look around for the vet, I thought with a straw in my mouth. "Yamapi!" Jin, whom I know probably since kindergarten, came to me. "Don't yell, Bakanishi..." I drawled. Jin threw himself at the chair opposite me and absolutely naturally took the cup from under my straw, drinking my milk in one long sip. "Heard you moved. Near the east beach or something." "Yeah, at least Yasu has a nice place to run around. Now I go to the beach with him every day, two hours before classes start." "When can I come round? To see if it's worth your presence?" Jin pinned his finger to my chest and awaited my excited reaction. "Not yet," I cooled him down. "I don't live alone, so I can't really bring people home during the first week. We need to see how it works first." It was in fact a stupid lie, but Jin didn't know that. Kame told me to feel free to invite friends, but for some reason I didn't like the idea. I don't know why, but for now I won't fight it. "So at least let's go somewhere today," Jin wasn't to be rejected that easily. "Sorry, I've got plans already. And you haven't finished that linux project yet," I reminded him. He started to squirm as always, when it comes to his projects. He always turns them in a month after deadline. "But I don't have any computer now... Mom's been remodelling the whole house since she returned from that vacation. She wants her whole house look like an exact copy of Spain." "Again?" I sighed and felt truly sorry for Hin. His mother is a culture freak, every six months she falls in love with another country. Poor Jin. Not only the whole family have to eat all the strange and foreign meals, but their mother also speaks weird languages and remodels the whole house according to the current mania. Jin eventually decided to go to Ryo's, another member of our clique, who has a normal mother and a superb computer. Will Jin really turn his project in on time? Around 3PM I ra out of school in order to catch the bus and pick Kame up, when the polished shine of a jeep blinded me. Kame waved at me from inside. "What're you doing here?" I asked and pushed up my suglasses to my forehead to inspect the car closely. My jaw dropped. "Picking you up. We're going shopping, aren't we?" he smiled. I jumped to the passenger's seat and a very wet kiss from behind landed on my neck. Yasu gave me his usual doggy grin. "Gods, I SO could get used to this. You mustn't do this too often, Kame." He just nodded towards the city. "So, where to?" He spent the whole afternoon wandering through shops - the lampshade wasn't the only thing we needed. We bought also some dishes and some new sheets for me and so on. It was great fun to shop with Kame as he tried on various crazy clothes, performed a play for me with plushies and as we sat down with icecream, Yasu licking his own portion, Kame joined some kids playing with a ball there. Eventually we did a month's share of shopping. Totally worn out I carried the things to our apartment and thank gods, Kame offered to cook. Because a night on the phone was up for me, I needed to lie down for at least an hour. I fell to the couch and not even knowing how, I fell asleep. I woke up to the rich aroma of coffee. I slowly opened my eyes to find myself lying on the couch covered by a blanket. Kame sat next to me and held a cup of coffee under my nose. It cracked me up, reminding me of some crazy coffee commercial. I sat up and sipped on the tempting liquid. I had almost an hour until my shift started. Kame served an incredible dinner after which I planned to kick my sleepy mind into action by means of icy shower. More of the energizing stuff would probably kill me. After taking these measures I went to my room, kicked some clothes down from the chair, propped my feet up onto the table and placed my notebook on my knees. This is how I work every night, it's the most comfortable position, if not the healthiest one. Yasu showed up and put himself down within my hand's reach. I put the phone on the table and started working on some school project. I'm used to nights like this - my shift ends at 3AM and the first lecture at 8AM I regularly ditch. About three hours later Kame brought me another cup of coffee. "Thanks. Really, I'm not used to services like this. Wow. Really, thanks," I said, totally taken aback. On his face, a kind smile shone: "It's okay. Only that I'm worried about your health. Is this how you spend every night?" "No, only four times a week. I got used to it already. Sometimes I just lie down, when there's no schoolwork and such. No problem waking up and reacting abruptly when someone calls. So sometimes I sleep normally for the whole week, only waking up about three times a night." "Oh. Well, I'm going to sleep now. Warm coffee will be in the machine for the whole night," he nodded at me and rose from the futon. "Thanks," I said, not finding anything better to say. After about an hour of concentrated work, not interrupted by any calls, I heard muffled moans. It took my overheated brain a while to process that it wasn't neighbours having fun, but that the sobs were mixed with cries and came from Kame's room. Slowly I put the laptop on the table and tiptoed to Kame's room. His sheets were tangled at his feet, his neck and forehead glistening with sweat. Shocked, I watched this always cheerful person writhing in helpless protest, he cried, he begged, tears streaked his cheeks, his head thrashed wildly. It was a desperate cry and my heart wrenched painfully at the sight. I sat down on his bed and put my hand on his forehead. Almost immediately he calmed down, his cries becoming only silent sobs. His hands hugged my waist and he cuddled to my side. I looked down at his now peaceful face and felt as if I was once again looking after my five-year-old nephew. When Aya's son, Mamoru, has a nightmare, he reacts in the same way. And only one thing can calm him. I whistled softly and Yasu showed up. I told him to stay with Kame, who grabbed the dog and some seconds later his breathing became even. With a sigh I returned to my laptop, Kame's cries still resounding in my head. "Yes, just like that. Now click that button," I spoke to the phone while putting in the last data for my project. On the other side of the phone, the client cried happily. "OK, now a window with several bookmarks popped up. Can you see it? Click the last one." I heard a shuffling noise and looked up. Next to the aquarium stood Kame, in the white shirt and checkered shorts he used to sleep in. His eyes studied the quality of the wooden floor next to my futon. "On the bottom there's an option Block, check it and press OK, and you've got it." The client started a tirade of sorrys and thankyous, so I politely, but quickly said goodbye. Kame bit his lower lip. "What happened? Did I wake you up? I'm finished, it's almost 3," I promised and started switching off my computer. Kame silently shook his head. He looked just like Mamoru when he comes to me or his parents in the middle of the night. "So you found out," escaped him, sounding broken. I grabbed his shoulders, turned him around and pushed him into the kitchen, into a chair, thinking that a cup of warm soy milk would do him good. "What do you mean?" I asked, opening the cupboard to find two cups. "Well, that thing... about my sleep," he mumbled nervously and his fingers toyed with the hem of his shirt. I poured milk into a small pot and started warming it. "Yeah. So what?" I finally gave him my full attention. "Well you gave me... Yasu was with me..." "I know. Did you have a nightmare?" "Well, I have... I sleep like this every night," his head fell even lower if possible."Now you must ve furious. And tomorrow you will move out, won't you? I understand. Who'd want to live with..." "Kame, cut it out! I'm not going anywhere. So you have nightmares, big deal. Not that I don't mind. Just not in the way you think. I mind, because I can't watch someone suffering. Is it always like that?" He silently nodded. I poured him a cup of warm milk. "So we have only one option," I said and his head snapped up, with big question marks in his eyes. "Yasu is sleeping with you from now on," I said. Kame looked utterly stunned and then, as if he never cried, he looked like someone who just won a lottery. He threw himself into my arms spontaneously. "Thanks!!! Oh, Tomo-chan, thank you!" I realized he already had a nickname for me, but I didn't mind at the moment. He was so close and my head was spinning. I finished my milk and went to tuck him in, and when I did, Yasu jumped up into his respectful place as of now with his usual grace. I again felt like I was with my little nephew, but my heart beat a bit too fast for that. Kapitel 2: chapter 2 -------------------- For the next two weeks I barely saw Kame. Not only some additional courses started in the school, but I took another job -translating the manuals to kitchen appliances into English. Kame was up for another competition, for a major one as I understood. When I woke up in the morning, there was always only a note on the kitchen table that he was out running, that he was going to be training for the whole day or something. In the evenings while I was on the phone and translated, Kame beat the bag or slept, with his hands placed around Yasu's furry body. It became a habit that I went to look at him before going to sleep. I watched him peacefully breathing, covered up to his ears. Yasu lay next to him and only his muzzle stuck out from under the blanket. They were just priceless. But eventually Friday came, his Day D and I managed to make it so that I could go. Aya came too, which surprised and pleased me. Mamoru was home with his father, they played house. My brother-in-law Tamaki was, according to what I heard from laughing Aya, The Mom in the game. Then I started to wonder how long has Aya known Kame and how she met him, but I didn't have time to ask her. After Kame's absolute victory that evening, when he took his prize to us with his handsome face lit up with a big smile, Aya invited us to lunch on Saturday. Because we both had a free weekend, the idea of not having to cook was only welcome. That evening I felt totally mangled by the two weeks marathon of school and work, but unable to give up my latest habit I half-sat, half-lay on the swing and watched the stars. I realized that my resolution to move out from home was absolutely right. Even if I had no time to hang out with Jin or chat with Ryo on the net, every evening, as I sat here, I felt satisfied that I don't have much, but I have what I need and that I was the one who made that happen. Probably for the first time I felt proud of myself. Not that I did something useful for the manking. But for a twenty-year old greenhorn, to live on his own was just as difficult a task as for a Greenpeace member to save a whale. I felt I had achieved something, on my own, without the help of others. Kame showed up and poked my knee. "Move, or I'll join you," he smiled. "Mhmmm," I agreed, but didn't move an inch. I was terribly exhausted. But Kame woke me up immediately when he grabbed my knee, pulled it to the side and sat between my legs, pressing his back against my chest and smiling. "Warned you." I tried to free myself so he wouldn't see how it flustered me. In a nice way. I propped myself against a cushion under my shoulderblades and started swinging us with a leg he had pushed down from the bench. Kame moved my hand across his shoulder and left it somewhere in the area of his hips, which made a shiver run down my spine. "Cold?" he asked silently. I realized that even if I had "already" had two relationships, I never was in such an intimate position before. Not that I was a virgin, but not even during sex I felt something touching directly my soul. "Have plans for tomorrow?" Kame's thoughtful voice broke through the silence again. "Besides that lunch with Aya, no. You?" "I feel like celebrating today's victory. And because you're the main reason I won, I decided to buy you a bed," he said calmly, which almost shot me up to sit. "WHAT?" "You sleep little and in an unhealthy way, only on futon. When you finally get to bed, I want it for you to be a place you won't feel like leaving. A big bed, with nice hard matress, with a nice blanket to make you happy even during the day," he explained, counting off the qualities of an ideal sleeping place on his fingers. "Kame, don't be silly, I can buy a second-hand bed..." "But today I won only because of you and I want to repay you," he squirmed and I had to breathe really deeply and try to relax for a while, so he wouldn't be aware of the growing hard bulge pressing to his back. "How... how can that be, when we hardly saw each other." "Since I sleep well, my training results are better. Those last two losses were mainly because I didn't sleep. It started to get to me, I was sickened, always woke up at night feeling terribly lonely. Since you've been here, I sleep like a little kid. And I want to thank you for that. You have to put up with it." I felt he was right, he wanted to do it and that was it. And at the same time I felt it was very important for him. So I left it. When, that evening, I lay down on my futon, I started to look forward to the bed Kame told me about. His shopping habits showed and every single bed he had to try out himself. When he saw a candidate, he at first looked at it carefully, circled it, sat on it, lay down on it and if he particularly liked it, he brought the covers up to his chn and lay there with closed eyes for several minutes. When he at last found one that was enough to show his gratitude, he made the usual looking into a technical exhibition. I tried my best not to laugh while I watched the dilemma of the desperate shopkeepers who usually hanged around but were afraid to halt his try-outs in order not to scare off the potentional customer. When Kame finally signed a check, agreed on how the bed would be shipped and gave them his phone number, it was already time to get to my sister's place. At the door, before I even pulled my shoes off, Aya pushed a pile of dishes to my hands and hugged Kame as if she didn't see him for three years. With a sigh of the undervalued younger brother I went to set up the table. Kame was setting the glasses when Tamaki and an airplane Mamoru ran to us from Mamoru's room. The airplane did three circles around the table, flew into the kitchen where it took a piece of fresh carrot and flew back to the dining room where it landed on the child seat. Tamaki breathed heavily from the effort and also from laughing, Mamoru slipped down and ran to hug Kame. Because of the relevant difference in height, he only hugged his thigh. "Kashi-chaan! Moom, Kashi-chan came to play with meee, yaaay!" I looked at Kame, shocked. Kame was Mamoru's beloved friend Kashi-chan??? I always though that Kashi-chan was a friend from the kindergarten, maybe a year older as Mamoru always mentioned him as a big, clever boy. I looked at my sister and she nodded at me to follow her to the kitchen. She handed me a towel not to burn myself. "Kame had watched the boy for about two months. You didn't know?" "He never mentioned it... nor did you," I stuttered. Aya just pushed a pot of soup into my hands: "You never asked." After the lunch, Mamoru and Yasu played on the grassy place in front of the house and we lazed around with our stomachs full and with cups of coffee in our hands. "I can't eat even one more piece of cake," Tamaki sighed. "Why, you only had six so far..." Aya grinned provocatively. I started to move my lazy limbs. "We should get going, the bed will arive today." "Tomo-chaaaan, could Yasu stay here today?" Mamoru pleaded from the grass. I looked at Aya. Mamoru gave her his usual puppy eyes. "Mommyyyy can I?" he drawled. "If Tomo allows it," she told him. I didn't really mind, Yasu stayed at Aya's during weekends a lot. I will never understand why they won't get their own dog when there's no reason for them not to have one. Mamoru would be in seventh heaven. I pushed Kame out of the house as soon as possible, because the goodbyes were neverending. We agreed that next day we'll come for Yasu and take him and Mamoru to the beach. Kame was surprisingly silent for the whole way home. I wanted to ask him if something had happened, but I decided that he was only thinking. And then, the bed arrived and until evening we moved the furniture around and tried to assemble the bed according to what we saw it should look like. The whole process was full of our laughter. When the bed was finally fixed up, with sheets, blankets and pillows, Kame, exhausted and still laughing, fell to the swing. And I started thinking about some dinner. I made some pasta with veggies and dressing. After all that laughter, it felt weird to dine in absolute silence. Weird, but not unpleasant. In the bathroom I washed away all the dust and all-day dirt. I looked forward to a magazine about PCs I wanted to read in bed. Even if I subscribed to three different magazines, I've read only about five editions. I simply had no time. I lay on my stomach, reading a review on new operating system, when the matress moved and in my vision, a messy head of wet hair appeared. Kame put his head on his hands and with a tired smile he closed his eyes halfway. He was so cute. His spontaneousness and child-like honesty charmed me more and more with every passing day. "Tomo-chan?" "Mhhmmmm..." "Could I... today... sleep with you..." he stuttered, his face a bit red, avoiding looking at me. "You want to sleep here? Should I go sleep to your room? Ha, you fell in love with that bed, didn't you!" I laughed and messed up his hair even more. "Yasu's not here," he said quietly. And then it clicked in my head. I was such an IDIOT!!! That's why he was so quiet. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize! Why didn't you kick me at Aya's or something?" I felt terrible. How could I forget his nightmares? What kind of a person am I? "Could I sleep here today? With you?" he asked shyly, this time in a full sentence. "Well, you can of course. If you want," I hoped it didn't sound as excited as I felt. I would only scare him to death. On the other hand, oh my god, how I will lie there for the whole night next to him, just like that?! "I want, I want!!!" Kame jumped up and started to prepare the bed. I rose up in order not to get in the way. He carefully arranged every single inch of the blankets as he felt it should be, then made me lie down. Last time I was tucked in like that was by my mother when I was in grade school, I thought with a smile. Kame lay down beside me, lay so far away he almost fell down and lay so rigid and tense I could almost feel it. After five minutes of lying there in the darkness it started to really irk me. "Kame, do you really want to sleep here?" "Yeah, why d'you ask?" he asked, almost breathless. "I have a feeling you can't relax. Feel free to lie as you want, I won't bite you." "Really, I can?" "Really," I didn't even finish saying it and he threw himself at me with his arms wide open. While I tried to catch my breath, he cuddled to me, his head on my shoulder, his arm around my waist and one of his legs entwined with mine. "There," he declared satisfied and closed his eyes. There, I thought, you have what you asked for. Now, try to sleep. So it was my turn to relax. Every muscle in my bodz felt tense. I slowly breathed to understand this sudden flood of emotions and tried to place the palm of the hand he lay on over his lower back. Content, he mumbled something and squirmed. When his breath became even, I allowed myself the luxury of slipping the tips of my fingers under the waistband of his shorts. Like that, we both fell asleep. Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)