Even at the mellow darkness of the night, the temperature still lingered at thirty degrees with only a soft breeze of wind bringing relief to the humid heat.
Juri and Kochi walked along the sidewalk in comfortable silence. The water bottle in Kochi's hand made a splashing noise with every step, while Juri had just finished his own.
They had already walked for almost seven kilometers, and would have another seven to go before their final destiny at the Imperial theatre. For Youtube, of course, because what else did they ever do silly things for?
Their starting point had been at the Tsukiji fish market two hours ago, and they had stopped to take pictures and video at Tokyo Tower. Next, they were supposed to find a certain Family Mart somewhere nearby to get another map from the staff members waiting for them.
While Juri and Kochi followed a roughly circular route around the Imperial Palace, Shintaro and Taiga were given a route from the Haneda airport to the Tokyo Tower, and Hokuto and Jesse were trecking towards the Sky Tree from the outskirts of Saitama. The thing was, they were only allowed to use the paper maps that the staff members handed them on various check points along the way. The fastest pair in their destination would win.
"I'll need to buy a new one at the next vending machine," Juri said, eyeing at his empty water bottle.
"You can drink from mine until then if you need to," Kochi promised right away, and Juri smiled quietly. It was those easy acts of care that always touched him the most.
"Thanks," he murmured, fished the wrinkled map from the pocket of his jeans and squinted at it under the light of the next street lamp. "We'll have to cross the bridge and go straight ahead from there."
It was a short yet wide bridge with five lanes for cars and a shallow river slowly running underneath. There were bushes and trees growing along the riverbank, and even though Juri was a city boy through and through, the mere sight of the green foliage was somehow uplifting. Kochi glanced up and gasped in excitement.
"Look, bats!" he said and leaned against the barrier rail, his face spreading into a wide, delighted smile. The empty bottle in one hand, the opened map in another, Juri rested his elbows on the railing as well.
"I sometimes see them on the mountain trails at night," Kochi said, turning his head and following the tiny animals that speeded across the river. They were easier to see when they were higher and their silhouettes were dark and clear against the greyish-blue night sky. For Juri they looked a lot like very big, very fast butterflies. They were nice to look at, but he shivered at the thought of any of them crashing into him, and dearly hoped they would stay above the water.
"There's a turtle down there too," Kochi said, nudging Juri's arm and pointing down with his finger. Juri tried to find what Kochi meant, but he could only see funny bubbles and ripples in the water.
"No, there on the left," Kochi said and grabbed Juri's hand, but the map was hanging in the way. He took the map and pushed it into his own pocket. Then he stepped behind Juri so he could move Juri's arm and aim the direction from his shoulder down to the forefinger. "See them now?"
Kochi's chest was warm and firm against Juri's back. Juri wanted to lean towards him. Had the others been around, he would have done it without a question and nobody would have batted an eye, but with just the two of them he hesitated. With nobody else around, it felt more intimate, more vulnerable, more... Juri pushed the thought to the back of his mind.
He tilted his head, following the invisible line from his finger to the water until he noticed the small head and front legs peeking up through the surface of the water.
"I see it," he murmured. Kochi beamed at him. Juri didn't see it but somehow he knew it. Maybe it was the small puff of exhaled air against his neck, or the twitch of a cheek so close to Juri's cheek, or a slight change of pressure where Kochi rested his chin on Juri's shoulder. But before Juri could decide, Kochi pulled back and started walking again. It was impossible to feel anything like cold at the heat of the night, but Juri still felt the lack of Kochi's warmth when he turned to follow the man.
Immediately after the bridge the scenery changed, the buildings suddenly getting tall and fancy. There was a big hotel on the left, and soon a small park on the right side of the road. It was only a tiny spot of trees and a pond, but it was dark and peaceful, and Juri really wanted to sit down to rest his feet.
"Let's take a break," he said and promptly crossed the road, stepping from the asphalt to the sand paths of the park.
The light of the street lamps filtered through the trees, making the leaves shine in light green patches, and the chirr of the cicadas hiding in the foliage was almost deafeningly loud. They followed a little path between the trees and bushes, and Juri's hand tingled with how much he wanted to hold Kochi's hand. It wasn't the first time, but the urge had never been quite so strong before.
The meandering path ended at the pond. There were two big stones placed at the edge, natural-looking yet clearly meant to be sat on. Juri sat down, and when Kochi settled by his side, Juri rested his head on Kochi's shoulder. That much at least he dared to do.
"Thirsty?" Kochi asked and offered his bottle. Juri took it and sipped the water slowly, fiddling with the cap while he rested the cool bottle against his knee. The water of the pond rippled with minuscule bugs speeding on the surface.
Unable to stop himself, Juri pressed closer to Kochi's shoulder and arm, trying to make it look like he was just trying to find a more comfortable posture. An impulsive thought came up to his mind, but he tried to push it away again. There was no way Kochi would agree to it.
Right?
What if he just asked? What could go wrong? Kochi wouldn't laugh at him, and he probably wouldn't be weird about it later, either.
Juri swallowed. It was worth a try.
"Say," he started in a soft voice, though his heart was pounding and his hands suddenly felt shaky.
Kochi made a small humming sound to show he was listening. Juri could still come up with something else to say. He didn't need to embarrass himself now.
"Say, if I asked you to kiss me, would you?"
Juri couldn't see Kochi's face, but he felt the man stiffen next to him. He waited, holding his breath, wanting to give Kochi time to arrange his words for refusal as nicely as possible. It was a silly question, anyway.
"We've kissed before," Kochi finally pointed out, and Juri thought there was a hint of amusement in his tone.
"Drunk in a bar," Juri retorted, because that was a whole different thing.
"True," Kochi admitted. Then, after a short moment he continued, "I would."
Juri blinked, trying to leap back to the original question. "You would?"
Kochi turned to look at Juri. "If you asked me to."
Juri had forgotten to listen to the cicadas, but suddenly their noise got louder in his ears again, the warmth of the night more intense on his skin, the darkness of the shadows deeper under the trees. The light of the lamp near them reflecting brighter in Kochi's eyes.
"Kiss me?" Juri breathed.
Kochi smiled and turned to face him. He moved slowly, like someone trying not to scare away a shy kitten. Ever so slowly he raised his both hands to cup Juri's head, his strong fingers tangling into the overgrown hair at the back of Juri's head.
"I'm sweaty," Juri murmured sheepishly to mask his nervousness. He wasn't lying; his hair was thoroughly damp under his baseball cap.
Kochi took off the cap and put it down by Juri's side before returning his hand to Juri's cheek.
"I don't care. So am I," Kochi said and leaned down to press his mouth on Juri's.
Juri let his eyes fall shut at the first soft touch of Kochi's lips.
They had indeed kissed before, but the drunk smooches had always been for fun, and the four other members had always been laughing and playing along with them. It had never been like this, with Kochi's lips moving firmly and intently on Juri's, his tongue flickering across Juri's lips until Juri opened his mouth and let him in.
Juri needed to get closer. He wrapped his arms around Kochi's waist, pressing his palms against the small of Kochi's back and yanking their bodies together from head to hips. Kochi made a small noise of pleased surprise that left Juri's heart fluttering with excitement and want.
They should stop. They had lots of walking to do, and many staff members waiting for them. But Juri couldn’t make himself pull back, not when Kochi’s lips slowly traveled from his lips to his cheek and to his ear, gently nibbling on Juri's earlobe. His heart was hammering in his chest, his hands gripped on the back of Kochi's t-shirt so tightly his knuckles must be white, and a wonderful pressure of pleasure was starting to pool in his lower belly.
“We’ll have to go soon,” Kochi murmured huskily, the same thought having occurred to him too. The words were disappointing, but Juri still shivered with pleasure and a terrifying, exhilarated emotion when he felt Kochi’s shallow, uneven breaths against the tender skin of his neck and realized Kochi was as aroused as he was.
“I know,” Juri whispered, suppressing a whine and resting his forehead against junction of Kochi's neck and shoulder.
“Maybe we could-” Kochi said, halted and hesitated for a moment before he took a deep breath. “Maybe we should stop now, and we could pick up from here later?”
Juri's breath hitched when Kochi’s words registered in his brain and he snapped his head up, meeting Kochi's dark eyes.
“Can I come home with you when we’re done with the video shooting?” Kochi asked in a low voice, meeting Juri’s gaze with a mischievous smile that made the corners of his eyes wrinkle with his laughter lines.
Yes, Kochi could. And one more heated kiss, Juri figured, was the best way to tell him so.