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“Where the fuck are you taking me?” Ogata grumbled, hopping into Kiroranke’s truck which rested at a displeasingly tall height. The seat warmers gave him reprieve from the chill of the winter air, and his skin prickled with a mixture of both the cold and of the anticipation.
“You’ll see,” Kiroranke laughed softly and pulled away from Ogata’s apartment. They sat in a comfortable silence as Kiroranke navigated the quiet streets, soft rock drifting out the open window and into the cold evening air.
Kiroranke had asked Ogata to hang out on the weekend, and, expecting to go for drinks, Ogata had agreed. Apparently this did not seem to be the case. This was an unusual change in pace; they normally went to a bar to get shitfaced together. Well, not that Ogata was complaining. When they had last gone to a bar together, he had gotten so drunk that he couldn’t even recall the details the next morning. He had simply woken up, head aching from the hangover and body oddly sore.
A sudden chill ran down Ogata’s spine and he shivered from the bitter cold, despite the heated seats. He pulled his coat tighter around his body. A hat suddenly thrown in his direction smacked his face.
“What the fuck?” He brushed the hat out of the way to see Kiroranke smiling at him, amused.
“You’re still cold right? Put the goddamn hat on. You’re like a cat.” Ogata could hear him rolling his eyes and he grudgingly put the ugly hat on. It obliterated his drip, but it was warm.
They pulled into a parking lot at a building with a mural of a whale on it. Ogata unwillingly got out of the car, having just gotten used to the warm atmosphere. A biting sea breeze swept his face as he stepped out, and he instinctively made an effort to smooth back his hair before realizing he was wearing a hat. He followed Kiroranke to the entrance of the building, before realizing where they were.
“An aquarium,” he stated flatly, as they entered a room decorated with cartoon sea animals.. Kiroranke didn’t respond immediately and instead let the girl at the doorway scan their tickets. She handed them a map and wished them a nice visit at the aquarium.
Kiroranke led Ogata to a bench and handed him the map. “Where do you want to go first?”
Ogata studied the map quietly, eyes glued to the paper that indicated they were right next to the starfish. There were a lot of animals at the aquarium, ranging from penguins to sharks to tiny creatures that lived in warm coral reefs. He suddenly felt Kiroranke lean closer, his body radiating warmth, and felt the burn of his gaze directed on his face.
“Let’s go see the stingrays.” Ogata looked up from the map, finding that his intuition was correct. Kiroranke seemed intent to try to memorize every feature on his face. Ogata stared back, eyes blank and unreadable. A silence hung in the air before Kiroranke broke it. He stood up with a grin and stood up, offering his hand to Ogata.
“Lead the way!” Kiroranke exclaimed as Ogata pulled himself up. Their hands lingered together for a moment longer than usual, but it went unacknowledged.
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“They’re sort of cute, in an ugly way.” Ogata tossed another tiny shrimp into the water. The stingrays flopped around, pushing each other to get to the shrimp first. He still had Kiroranke’s hat on; the aquarium didn’t provide much warmth from the outside. Some animals inside needed colder weather, Kiroranke had explained.
“You’re sort of cute, in an ugly way,” laughed Kiroranke, grabbing shrimp from Ogata’s cup and tossing it into the water. He had dumped his whole cup into the water within the first few minutes, unable to resist the weirdly adorable animals.
“Fuck off man, get your own shrimp,” Ogata moved his cup away as Kiroranke tried to grab another. Kiroranke gave up and settled for petting up the stingrays. Intrigued by the stingrays again, Ogata watched carefully and tried to feed the ones at the edge of the group.
A few minutes passed and he found himself with an empty cup and the stingrays content. He glanced up. Kiroranke was openly staring again. When their eyes met, Kiroranke’s face melted into an easy smile.
“Let’s go then. Where to now?” Ogata barely heard him as he felt a hand on his lower back, ushering him away from a group of small children running in their direction. He flushed slightly, back stiffening as he tried to remember what other animals piqued his interest on the map.
“Penguins,” he answered quickly, breaking off from Kiroranke’s side and leading the way. Kiroranke had been acting weirdly today; it wasn’t like their usual dynamic. Ogata was slightly unsettled.
They arrived at the penguin exhibit, where an zookeeper was currently ushering a line of penguins into the enclosure. Kiroranke’s eyes lit up at the employee propping himself on the glass fence and waving.
“Shiraishi!” Kiroranke called out, trying to get his attention. Shiraishi turned quickly, eyes widening in surprise upon seeing Kiroranke. His movements quickened, making sure all the penguins were in the enclosure before closing the gate to their night house.
“Kiro-chan!! Who’re you with?” Shiraishi replied, waddling over to the pair. They dapped each other up, and Kiroranke settled against the barrier, a mischievous smirk on his lips. Ogata stood off slightly to the side, feeling weirdly out of place.
“This is Ogata, he’s a friend.” Kiroranke gestured vaguely in Ogata’s direction, trying to move the conversation along. Shiraishi raised his eyebrows in interest, staring at Ogata, who simply waved.
“Ogata? That one? The one you told me about?” Now Ogata perked up. Kiroranke talked about him to other people?
“Yup. Man I didn’t know you had a shift today, I thought you had weekends off?” Kiroranke switched the subject quickly, suppressing a laugh to motion with his head at Shiraishi’s neon purple parka and boots. Shiraishi smiled sheepishly, shrugging.
“Sugimoto couldn’t make it today, so I covered for him. I think it’s Asirpa’s birthday today, so I’m planning to stop by their place after this. You should drop by too! Bring Ogata as well, I think Sugimoto knows him.”
Unfortunately, Ogata did know Sugimoto. They met in college, and Ogata immediately hated Sugimoto’s guts. After a fight that left Ogata with a broken jaw and Sugimoto with a concussion, they settled into an uneasy coexistence. Sugimoto was still a little bitch.
“The penguins are fun anyway, they're so cute. Anyway there’s more cute single moms that visit on Saturdays. I’m a new fan of milfs.” Shiraishi deadpanned, continuing his conversation with Kiroranke, who spat.
“Good luck picking girls up dressed like that,” he playfully smacked Shiraishi’s thick juicy ass, sending both of them into a fit of childish giggles. Ogata almost threw up at the sight, and he muttered an excuse about needing to use the bathroom.
Shiraishi and Kiroranke fell silent at the sight of him rounding the corner.
“You should probably go after him. I gotta get back to cleaning the penguin crap anyway. It’s a complete shitshow in the night house.” Shiraishi clapped Kiroranke on the shoulder, his smile turned slightly grim.
“Yeah man, good to see you though,” Kiroranke replied with a sigh. “I’ll see you around.”
He left the penguin exhibit in search of Ogata, checking through the bathroom but to no avail. For a moment, he considered sending him a text but remembered that Ogata always kept his phone on mute. Weird habit.
Kiroranke panicked, thinking that he might have left, but he realized that they drove here together. Unless Ogata decided to walk the fifteen miles home. Kiroranke wouldn’t put it past him. He walked a little faster.
He found him sitting on a small bench in front of the largest part of the aquarium, the glass reaching the top of the walls. Various fish, small sharks and other animals swam around aimlessly, seeming to enjoy existence. Ogata’s eyes didn’t leave the mesmerizing tank, even as Kiroranke took a seat next to him, their knees touching. They sat and watched the fish as time blurred.
Kiroranke felt a weight drop on his shoulder and saw that Ogata seemed to have fallen asleep on his shoulder. He craned his neck, trying to see if his eyes were closed but the top of his hat on Ogata's head blocked the view. He felt other man's hand fall limply to his back.
“That fish looks like you.” He gestured to a monstrous looking fish, with grotesquely bulging eyes and a permanent downturned frown. Ogata was not asleep. Kiroranke snickered, paying no mind to their current position and instead searched for a fish that resembled Ogata.
“You’re that triangle-looking fish with the stripes,” Kiroranke offered in rebuttal. “I think that’s the one from Nemo. Mysterious and sexy.”
Ogata went slightly red, though his face remained neutral, appreciating the darkness of the aquarium. Kiroranke was fucking ridiculous. “You did not just call an animated fish sexy. Were you dropped as a kid?”
“I’m just saying what everyone was too afraid to say,” Kiroranke responded lightly. He leaned back before standing up to stretch. Something slippery and wet slid down his pants. What-
"THE FUCK? OGATA?? DID YOU PUT THE STINGRAY FEEDER SHRIMP DOWN MY PANTS?" Kiroranke screamed, tugging at his pant leg to get the shrimp to fall out. He rolled up his pants, revealing a bit of his toned calves. Ogata's mouth dried at the sight as he took in the view like a Victorian man blessed with the sight of some poor lady's ankle.
Kiroranke managed to get the shrimp out and flicked it away. He glared at Ogata, who simply rolled his eyes.
“Anyway. Are you ready to go? Or do you want to stay until closing?” Kiroranke pulled his phone out to check the time. Ten minutes until they closed. He stretched, arms raised upward casually.
Ogata did not stare at his abs as his shirt rode up, his eyes completely trained on the fish in front of him.
“Yeah we can go. I saw everything I wanted to see.” Ogata got up and quickly walked toward the exit. Kiroranke’s hand lightly ghosted his arm, trying to follow behind in the darkness of the aquarium. They exited into the stinging cold and made their way back to Kiroranke’s truck.
Ogata once again struggled to get in the elevated truck, to which Kiroranke tried lifting him up by the armpits. Ogata managed to get in, all while struggling like a cat in a bath. Kiroranke stood there expectantly, waiting for thanks. He instead got a hand pushing his face away.
Kiroranke filled the car with comments about the animals they saw, but seeing that Ogata didn’t respond, he settled back into silence. They stopped, parking in the street and Ogata made a move to leave wordlessly, taking off Kiroranke’s hat to reveal his ruffled hair, stray strands sticking up at odd angles.
“Are you okay?” The question left Kiroranke’s mouth unexpectedly, and Ogata blinked owlishly. He seemed to consider something before nodding. “I’m fine. Do you want to come up for tea before you go?”
Something akin to relief tugged at Kiroranke’s heart, almost desperate for closure rather than this weird ending. He agreed before following Ogata up to his building.
Ogata set up the electric kettle before grabbing green tea bags from his pantry, busying himself as Kiroranke watched his practiced movements from the dining table. In a few minutes, Ogata walked to the table carrying two cups of tea, to which Kiroranke nudged a chair out for Ogata to sit on. Kiroranke sipped quietly, feeling out of place. He was about to make an excuse and head out when Ogata spoke.
“What was today?” Ogata didn’t elaborate, staring at Kiroranke blankly.
“What did you want it to be?” He pointedly avoided the question, settling back in his seat and wrapping his hands around the warm cup.
“Why did we go to the aquarium today?”
“You don’t remember last week? At the bar?” Kiroranke countered the question with one of his own, an exasperated smirk tugging at his lips.
Ogata’s face scrunched in confusion, eyes narrowed and almost angry. He slowly shook his head, going along with Kiroranke’s tactics when he realized he wouldn’t be getting his own answers. A soft snicker was his response and the knife in Ogata’s gut twisted deeper.
“What-”
“You confessed to me, you know? That’s why I took you on a date. I knew you didn’t remember it though. And then we had hot monkey sex for six hours straight. With my 14 inch monster horse schlong.”
Ogata stilled, his eyes widening a fraction. His brain momentarily went blank. The other man was staring at him with amusement, head rested on his hand, gauging his reaction.
“You’re lying. I know it’s only 10 inches.”
Kiroranke snorted. “That’s what you’re concerned about?”
“Yeah well, of course you reciprocated feelings. I’m hot as shit. No way we fucked though.”
“Shut the fuck up Ogata,” Kiroranke was shaking, trying to ward off the laughter and hysteria of their current situation. He already knew what Ogata would say next.
“Make me.”
“Gladly.”