The light of the morning was streaming in the window when I woke. I took a moment as my eyes adjusted to take in the warm red glow of the sunrise placed perfectly in my view. I realized Aki was not in bed beside me and looked around the room for clues, spotting steam covering the glass doors to the bathtub. I wrapped myself in a clean towel and peeked around the door to see Aki leaning back comfortably, holding his phone up with one dry hand.
"Do you have coffee in there?" I asked, gaining his attention.
He held up a small cup. "You bet I do."
I retreated only to press the button on the coffee machine beside the bathtub doors, and gather up my cup. "Can I join you?" I stepped into the tub opposite him without waiting for his response, and sat on the edge. The water was hot, but felt relaxing as my feet and calves tingled. I looked him over as I relaxed, leaning back against the wall. His arms covered in heavy black, gold, blue, red, blending into the matching chrysanthemum flowers on both sides of his chest that flowed up the sides of his neck. Dragon claws hugged his torso as if they were protecting him.
"I want a few more tattoos, what do you think?" Aki's sudden voice snapped me out of my daydream. I looked at his face to see that he was smiling slyly. "I saw you looking."
"Did you catch me looking, or are you serious about more tattoos?" I said, smiling back at him, matching his expression. "Also, I'm allowed to look."
He laughed once, looking down as if he had lost the game. He held out one hand to motion to himself. "Look all you like, my love." He said. "But I was serious. The back of my neck and my hands. As if all this didn't already condemn me to a life of being a rockstar, because I would never be able to get any other job." He continued looking at me as if he was waiting for me to say something.
"Are you asking my permission?" I finally realized.
"Not exactly, but I want to know what you think. If you hate the idea, I would rethink it." He paused, giving me space to answer or give input, but I stayed quiet. "What do you really think of all my tattoos?"
I had never stopped to consider exactly what my opinion was about Aki's tattoos. They were always just part of Aki to me, and I didn't think about if they made him more or less attractive. "I think they really suit you. You wear them with confidence, and that makes you look really tough. But they also look natural on you, and you wouldn't be the same person without them."
"The train doesn't leave until eight pm, so we have one more full day in Kyoto." Aki said, smiling at the compliment I had given him, looking a little embarrassed. "What do you want to do?"
I thought for a moment, holding my cup to my lips with both hands. "Nothing in particular. Maybe drink Uji matcha."
We stayed in the onsen village during the day, and I wore the simple hotel yukata and haori overcoat that was provided to wear to the baths. I encouraged Aki to do the same so we would match, but he had to wear his long sleeved shirt underneath, as the yukata sleeves were too short to hide the ink at his wrists. I felt the need to take the day slowly with him, to savour the time we had together, and feel the minutes pass contently.
There wasn't much to say between us as we sat on the floor cushions opposite each other at the low table. We each had a bowl of matcha and a plate of sweets between us to share. I felt enveloped in an atmosphere of peace, and I felt like somehow once we left Kyoto, life would never really be as peaceful.
We arrived back home in Tokyo late Sunday evening. It had already gotten dark as we stepped off the train platform. Aki had me wrapped in his arm around my shoulders as we walked, wheeling our small suitcases behind us up the street to our apartment. The lights in the houses that lined the street were off, and it was so quiet I could hear my ears ringing.
I dropped my suitcase in the entryway, heading straight to the kitchen, while Aki headed to the bedroom. I checked the fridge to see what was left, but it was empty, and I was hungry. I called to Aki with my head still half in the fridge, waiting as if something would appear. "Aki, I'm going to the convenience store to grab some food for tomorrow. It's too late to cook."
"No way." He said, as he abandoned his overnight bag on the bed, half unpacked. "It's nearly midnight, I'm going with you."
As we walked back down the street, I pointed to the house that Toshie-san lived in. It had been a long time since we had said more to her than a passing 'hello' as our lives picked up pace. The light was on, and I assumed she had gotten up to get a drink of water from the kitchen. "What a nice old lady." I said. "She didn't spread any gossip at all, like you were afraid she would do."
Aki side glanced her house. "Just because we haven't heard about it, doesn't mean she hasn't."
At the end of the street, three large figures stepped out of the shadows. As I looked ahead at them, they seemed to be walking with purpose, and it made me nervous. I grabbed the sleeve of Aki's jacket, the closest thing I could grab quickly, to stop him from walking. He looked back at me, startled at my gesture. "It's fine, they're probably our neighbours." He said. I could tell he had recognized that I was nervous in situations like that, based on my previous experience with them.
I had a bad feeling about it. I shook my head, trying to retreat away from the figures, but Aki stood where he was. A call came from one of the figures heading toward us, catching Aki's attention. He looked in the direction of the figures, shifting slowly to place himself between them and me. As I peered around him, holding his jacket tightly, I could recognize the men from the winter festival who cornered me at the washrooms.
"If it isn't my old friend who ended up breaking a few ribs when he kicked me at the winter festival." The man was specific in his address, making sure we knew he had come after us specifically. "How's your girl?"
"You coming around here looking for more broken ribs?" I had never heard Aki talk that way before, the style of speech reserved for men who were rough around the edges. In the back of my mind, I remembered that Fuji had a car. I stuffed my hand in my pocket for my phone, flipped it open, and sent Fuji a message as fast as I could. I wasn't sure what would happen, but I knew we were outnumbered.
"No, I thought I would come to repay the favour, Music Man." He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, leaning back in his stance as if he was in complete control of the situation. "Took us a while to track you down out here. Don't think we're leaving empty handed."
I didn't have time to process what happened next, and for a moment the world around me was a blur in my vision. Everything was silent. It all came back to me with a loud voice ringing in my ears, and I realized I was screaming. I was looking at Aki holding his ground against two of the men, and I was trying to run toward him to help, but I was being held back by the third man, his hands strongly holding my arms. Aki was using kicks and punching combinations that I recognized from his boxing lessons, and he was successful at holding the two back from landing any hits on him, but I could see he was getting tired.
"That's enough out of you." I heard the man holding me say, then kicked my leg out from under me, causing me to fall forward into the ground with my forward momentum. He still had a hold on one arm, and turned me so my back was against the ground. I looked from side to side, desperate to see lights on in the houses, desperate for someone to hear us and help.
The man sat himself on my legs to prevent me from being able to kick or to roll, and hit my jaw. It was hard enough to make me see stars, but as he hit me again, I struggled to remain conscious. Before my eyes, he held up a small switchblade, and flipped it open so I could see. He grabbed the front collar of my shirt, lifting it with his hand to also reach for my neck. He used the bald to cleanly cut down the front of my shirt. With the hold he had on my neck, he forced my head up, and I could feel the cold pressure of the blade sliding against my skin under the front of my bra. I was hardly able to breathe, and I was becoming numb, my vision spinning, but I felt a hand roughly push its way under the waistband of my pants.
"Cops!" I heard a call, then sirens, and I looked for the red and blue lights. Two cars pulled up, and I heard running feet slapping the ground as I lay trying to catch my breath.
I was gathered into warm arms, hands pulling my jacket closed around me. "Natsuko, can you hear me?" I looked up to see the kind old face of Toshie-san. I hoped I wasn't delirious.
"Aki." I said. A surge of energy rose in me, and I frantically looked for Aki. My eyes settled on him. Fuji beside him, he was on his hands and knees on the ground. The lights from the police cars shone on him, highlighting the blood drips, how his face clenched with pain, tears from his eyes. Two policemen slowly walked toward him, and I heard another siren in the distance, the ambulance wasting no time.
I tried to run but I stumbled my way to Aki, dropping to my knees beside him. Fuji's hand landed on my shoulder. "Aki…" I was afraid to touch him, not wanting to hurt him any more.
He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Natsu, thank God you're okay." His voice was barely a whisper, as if he couldn't catch his breath. He didn't move from his position, and I could see that his entire body was burning with pain. Blood was dripping down his face.
"Come on, the ambulance is here." Fuji said, reaching around my shoulders. "It's over."
Everything happened so quickly. It had begun without me even being aware, and ended in the time it had taken me to take two breaths. It was too easy, I thought, for life to be altered that way. All it had taken was one encounter with the wrong people, that lasted only moments, and I found myself held tightly against Fuji's body while he leaned against the wall outside of a hospital room. I cried hard into Fuji's chest for a long time, soaking his shirt, but he didn't seem to care.
"He's okay, Natsuko." Fuji said to me at intervals. Finally, I had nothing left in me to cry out, and I gradually stopped, allowing myself to be soothed.
Two nurses exited Aki's room, closing the door behind them. One addressed us with a soft smile on her face. "He's all cleaned up now. We gave him a lot of pain medications and it made him sleepy, but you can go in now."
"What happened to him?" Fuji asked. He kept his cool and knew what questions to ask.
"Three broken ribs on one side and a broken nose. The rest is just a lot of bruises." The nurse sounded chipper in her description, as if it was all nothing. I looked at her over my shoulder, my eyes beginning to fill with tears again. "Not to worry. These things heal quickly. They are painful for a little while, but he's going to be fully recovered in no time."
Fuji thanked the nurses and lead me inside the room. He was slow and quiet opening and closing the door, unsure if we would disturb Aki. The room was dim, with only one floor lamp in the corner turned on. My eyes immediately went to Aki laying in the bed, the blanket pulled up to his waist, dressed neatly in hospital pyjamas. He was clean, the blood and dirt had been washed from his face and hands, fast asleep as if nothing in the world was wrong. An oxygen mask was over his face, his nose heavily bandaged, his eyes both bruised. He was set up with an IV in his hand, the tube running to a bag of clear fluid hanging on a pole to the side of the bed. Fuji's hands were on both of my shoulders from behind me, as if to steady me, but I dropped to my knees in the doorway and began to cry again, covering my face with both of my hands.
Fuji lifted me to my feet and placed me in the chair beside Aki's bed. I could barely bring myself to look at him, knowing that those men had come after him because he defended me. I watched Fuji as he stood beside the bed and reached for Aki's arm. He gave it a firm squeeze, looking at Aki's face for any reaction.
"Sit tight, my friend." He said to Aki, even though he was clearly in a deep sleep. "I'm going to make some calls. Natsuko is here, she'll take care of you." He turned to look at me. "Won't you?" I nodded definitively and Fuji left the room, saying he wouldn't be too long.