Haru

Aiden said to me, "Your turn."

I nodded and then headed into the bathroom, where I spent the next ten minutes enjoying the shower. Boy, was I glad Aiden had booked us a Western-style hotel for our first few nights. I wasn't fully prepared for a public bathroom yet, as Japanese accommodations seemed to offer. Even though I was born in Japan, I was raised in the United States, so an open public bathroom with strangers was definitely foreign to me.

After dressing in a pair of jeans and sweater, I headed out the door, to see not only Mason and Reo in our room, but Noah and Connor as well. All of them had showered and changed. What was this? Was our room a gathering hall or something?

When Isaac finally showed up, recently showered and changed as well, we headed out and explored Shinjuku to our heart's content. Luckily, we didn't need an interpreter or a tour guide, since me, Reo, and surprisingly enough, Connor, were fluent in Japanese.

On our way to one of the ramen shops, I noticed many people eyeing us, which was only natural since we were foreigners, and more so since Aiden, Noah, Connor, Reo, Mason, and Isaac were a bunch of hotties.

Reo finally said, "It's this one," nodding toward a restaurant at the end of the street.

At the door, there was a line of ten people patiently waiting for their turn to get a seat. We joined the queue, extending it to seventeen eager and hungry patrons.

Since we were waiting, and I knew it'd be a while until we got our table, I pulled out my smartphone to start posting some photos on social media. I knew if I didn't do it soon, I'd get a nasty message from Jess, who'd be demanding it.

I was just scrolling through the gallery when I felt Aiden wrap his arms around me and then pull me against him. The warmth from his body was very welcoming, since it was quite cold, and I found myself snuggling against him.

With his chin resting on the top of my head, he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Just about to post some photos for Jess," I said.

He chuckled. "That reminds me, I should do the same. Tina will probably send me a nasty message if I don't."

True enough, since they both, Tina and Jess, had wanted to join us on this trip. But of course, Tina was tied up with work and Jess with her family.

Isaac, who was standing in front of me, asked, "Haru, what are you going to have? We should decide now, right? I mean the line is getting shorter and I'm getting both excited and freaked out. What if I make the wrong choice?"

Connor said, "There's no such thing as a wrong choice when it comes to food. If you don't like what you ordered, give it to me and I'll finish it up for you."

I raised my gaze in time to see Isaac pulling a face at Connor.

Isaac said, "Like I'm going to let you eat my food. I'd rather eat it myself, even if I don't like it. I ordered it, after all."

Connor said, "And here I was looking forward to you sharing your food with me."

Isaac snorted. "Like that's ever going to happen."

Two more people in front of us got ushered in and we moved forward.

Everyone was, naturally, minding their business when Aiden planted a kiss on my cheek. I felt heat rush to my face. I didn't know if it was okay for Aiden to do that to me in public or not here in Japan, since they were very conservative regarding things like affection. Then again, the street was pretty dark, so hopefully no one saw us?

Done with posting photos and messaging Jess to tell her we'd arrived safe and sound in Japan, I turned my attention to Aiden. The man gave me another kiss, this time on my lips.

Was it just me or was Aiden acting a little clingy? I would have thought it'd be me who'd be the clingy one. It was strange to witness a grown man behaving like that, especially toward me. Though I must admit it was cute. The action made my heart melt, naturally.

By the time our turn came, we ordered our ramen from the ticket machine at the entrance, and thankfully, it wasn't long when we got ourselves a table, with us being squeezed amongst other patrons. Space was definitely tight here in Japan.

As with any ramen shop, the waiting time for our meal to arrive wasn't long, a mere ten minutes, in fact. And suddenly, we all had massive steaming bowls of ramen in front of us.

"Let's eat," Reo said.

"Looks good," Isaac said.

We all dug right in, slurping everything in the bowl up, including the last drop of the soup, which was delicious. When we headed back out some half an hour later, Isaac said, "Can we have some yakitori? I heard yakitori are awesome in Japan."

Noah asked, "That ramen wasn't enough for you?"

Isaac said, "Hey, we're in Japan, so why not try everything that Japan has to offer?" He turned to Reo then. "You lead the way."

Reo laughed. "All right," he said. "Follow me."

Damn, but Reo sounded like a scout leader, and as we trailed along behind him, Aiden grabbed a hold of my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. I raised my gaze to his, saw him grinning, and decided to give him a smile in return. He responded by tightening his hand around mine, and it was then that I realized we were way behind everyone else. But of course, I didn't mind. I like having time alone with Aiden.

We were entering the street where the night market was located now, and there were many stalls selling street food, amongst others. The aroma was very inviting, and despite that I was full from the bowl of ramen, I simply wanted to eat again, just like Isaac.

Farther down the street, Reo and Isaac were already making a pit stop at one of the stalls, which was selling yakitori.

Isaac turned and shouted, "You guys want yakitori or not?"

I raised my hand and said, "Yep. Two skewers for me."

"And two for me," Aiden said.

Soon, we found ourselves enjoying the yakitori, with Isaac chanting nonstop about how good it was. We ended up spending the next hour just hanging out there, trying almost every type of street food on offer. I was pretty much stuffed by the time we ended the session. So, we decided that walking around the bustling metropolis until late into the night was a good idea, to work off our big meal.

When Aiden tapped the key card to the door of our hotel room after midnight, I was ready to drop. I was damn exhausted, and desperately needed a good sleep.

"Do you want to shower first?" Aiden asked, which drew my attention to him.

Shower? When we already had one before we went out?

I gave him a questioning look, to which Aiden responded with a sensual smile that made my breath catch at the back of my throat. I knew instantly what he was implying.

I felt my heart skip a beat and my face flush hot. "I won't be long," I said and headed straight into the bathroom.

After stripping myself naked, I took a good, long shower, using the expensive bathroom essentials provided by the hotel—shampoo and conditioner on my hair and shower gel on my body, making sure to clean myself spic and span. Done and smelling like spring, I turned the shower off, dried myself with one of those big, fluffy white towels, and then wrapped a dark blue yukata around myself. Then I headed out the door.

"I'm done," I said.

Aiden was busy on his smartphone, and I wondered if he was posting photos on social media or sending a message to Peter and Tina.

"Hm," he responded as he lifted his head. When he saw me, he stared for a moment, his eyes dark.