Best laid plans...: Chapter 1: I miss you...

Author’s note: The following is made up of a few side stories along with a series of related “Kisses” (Stories written based off of Live Journal’s thirty kisses themes) to make one complete short story. They first appeared as 30 AU Ban/Jak kisses over at ff.net.

It is an AU revolving around the lives of forty-four year old Kusao Bankotsu, a record producer who owns his own record label/company and Hibiya Jackson aka Jakotsu a forty seven year old actor who puts a modern spin on the old traditional art form of the onnagata (a Kabuki actor who specializes in women’s roles). The two met about seventeen years ago while on the set of a music video; they hit it off despite a series of ups and downs in the relationship and caused a major scandal when they had a formal commitment ceremony seven years ago. The two of them live in an apartment in Tokyo, while Jakotsu maintains a separate apartment in Kyoto where he works as an actor on a night time soap opera. He has reached the point of success where he can set his own hours, working four long days, returning home for a three day weekend.

When Jakotsu mentions “dash” he’s referring to a game they play called “Dash or Saunter” in which they shed their clothes on the way to the bedroom, the key words being “Dash” (running while doing so) or “Saunter” (walking while doing so). The winner is the one who ends up naked in bed first.

Special thanks to Jen for polishing this and helping me spice it up in parts. ;p You’re the best, Jen!!

Please note that I don’t own these two or the rest of Shichinintai, Takahashi-sensei does!

Jakotsu sat in his dressing room, carefully removing the heavy stage makeup from his face. It was mid-afternoon and he was happy they had wrapped up shooting his scenes so early. With a bit of luck, he would be able to make it home in time to have dinner with Bankotsu. He wiped the last bit of cold cream from his face, and pushing back from his vanity, he got up and washed his face in the dressing room’s sink. Patting his face dry with a big fluffy towel, the cross-dresser sat at the vanity again. This time, instead of heavy stage make-up, he applied some mascara along with a light dusting of blush and a touch of lipstick. A few minutes later, he had exchanged his kimono for his favorite Hello Kitty T-shirt and a denim mini. A pair of sandals completed the look as he headed out of his dressing room.

Walking to the train station, Jakotsu pulled out his cell phone and dialed home. “Ban honey? Hi, it’s me! I’m on my way home... yeah... we wrapped early ... I’m on my way home, so wait for me and we can have dinner together... you’ll order in? Great!! I love you.... Goodbye!” He hung up and melted into the crowd of people heading into the station.

After getting a ticket, the cross-dresser waited to board the bullet train. He was listening to some jazz on his iPod, his thoughts straying to his life-partner while he waited for the train to pull into the station. While he hated the crowds, it did make it easier to blend in and avoid the autograph-seekers and fans who wanted a quick picture with him.

Moving forward with the sea of humanity, Jakotsu boarded the train. He was annoyed he could not find a seat as that meant three hours worth of standing on his already tired feet. However, the thought of being home early enough to spend the evening having fun with Bankotsu more than made up for things. Besides, it was not like he was going to spending any time on his feet when he got home, aside from a mad dash to the bedroom. So Jakotsu simply smiled to himself and made the best of the trip home.

Jakotsu closed the apartment door behind him. Slipping out of his sandals, he said, “Ban honey, I’m home!”

“Welcome back!” Bankotsu said as he left the kitchen to meet his life-partner at the top of stairs leading up out of the genkan. Taking the cross-dresser’s hand, Bankotsu backed up enough to give him enough room to stand there, before pulling him close. “I missed you so much.”

“Me too,” Jakotsu murmured into the top of his life-partner’s head. “Dash or saunter?” he said huskily.

“Dinner,” the younger man replied.

“I thought I’d eat you with a spoon for dinner,” the cross-dresser said impishly.

“How about for dessert? I got your favorite from the Chinese takeout down the block.”

“Now I know why you smell like pepper steak,” he teased.

Bankotsu chuckled as they walked into the kitchen. He had set the small bistro table for two, the cartons of take-out arranged between them like some strange centerpiece. He held the one chair out gallantly for Jakotsu to sit and once they had both been seated, they grabbed a carton of Chinese food and helped themselves.

Jakotsu smiled happily as he popped a piece of steak in his mouth. Swallowing, he said, “I’ve got a short hiatus from the show, so I’ll be able to spend the next two weeks with you!”

“Awesome!” Bankotsu ate some of his shrimp in chili sauce

“Yeah! I was hoping we could maybe get away somewhere, I don’t know... I was kind of hoping to go to the beach with you. I’ve got a new Speedo...” The cross-dresser winked.

“Yeah?” Bankotsu grinned. “Did you bring it with?”

Jakotsu nodded. “It’s in my bag. I’ll model it for you later.” He picked up a pepper, and leaning across the table to meet Bankotsu halfway, he popped in his life-partner’s mouth.

Bankotsu quickly chewed and swallowed it. “I can’t wait to see it.”

“Ooh... does this mean ‘dash?’” The cross-dresser smiled happily when his lover nodded. “Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and finish eating!”

Once they had finished cleaning up the kitchen, Bankotsu turned to his life-partner and said, “Dash!”

The two of them scrambled out of the kitchen, shedding clothes as they went. The cross-dresser hung back, enjoying the sight of his life-partner doing a strip-tease as he ran down the hallway to their bedroom. When a naked Bankotsu slipped and nearly fell, trying to pull off his sweat socks, that should have been a clue to the cross-dresser to be careful. Unfortunately, he was too busy shedding his own clothes, to pay attention to what he was stepping on as he ran after the younger man. Two steps later, Jakotsu stepped on his life-partner’s boxers. The silky fabric slid across the polished hardwood, pulling the cross-dresser down as he lost his balance.

“AAAAA-EEE!!” he yelped as he slid foot first into the wall like a runner sliding into home. Instead of putting a hole in the wall, Jakotsu had hit one of the studs framing it. His foot crumpled at the ankle, wrenching it painfully; unfortunately his momentum carried him further into the wall, breaking his fibula and cracking the tibia as the bones attempted to bend at a ninety degree angle. The cross-dresser lay there, flat out on his back in his black lace bra and panties, moaning in pain.

The noise of the crash brought Bankotsu running. He took one look at his lover’s leg and felt sick. “Don’t move, Sweetness,” he said helplessly as he knelt next to him.

“I won’t...” the cross-dresser said in a pathetic attempt at humor.

“I’ll be right back.” The younger man hurried off towards their bedroom. All he could do was call an ambulance and wait helplessly for them to arrive. Bankotsu wished he was the one lying there in pain on the floor instead of Jakotsu and it lent speed to his actions.  He hurriedly riffled through his dresser, looking for something to wear. Grabbing an old t-shirt and shorts, he quickly threw them on and picked up the phone and dialed. After making sure Suikotsu would meet them at the hospital, he took the blanket off the bed and headed back to his lover.

Jakotsu was deathly pale and a fine sheen of sweat had broken out on his brow. He was in agony and he felt like he wanted to throw up, although passing out did not seem like a bad option either. He moaned softly when Bankotsu returned a few minutes later to tell him an ambulance was on its way and put a blanket over him. He briefly opened his eyes and looked over at his life-partner before the blackness swallowed him up.

Bankotsu returned home, a couple of hours later, by himself. He hated leaving the cross-dresser behind, but their friend Suikotsu, who was also the cross-dresser’s personal physician despite being a pediatrician, had assured him he would be fine and that they wanted him there for observation. It seems Jakotsu had had a reaction of sorts to the morphine they gave him to set his leg. Since there was nothing he could do except sleep in the chair in the cross-dresser’s hospital room, he was told to go home. Bankotsu left the hospital armed with a prescription for pain medication and a list of things to do to get his apartment ready for Jakotsu’s homecoming.

He opened the door and stepped inside. After closing it behind him, he switched on the lights in the genkan and kicked off his sandals. Bankotsu walked up the two steps into their apartment. He hit the light switch, turning off the genkan’s lights and, switching on the hallway’s. Looking down the hall, he spotted their clothes. Bankotsu felt his cheeks heating up with embarrassment at the memory of the ambulance attendants and the one’s raised eyebrow. He was sure this would be all over the news tomorrow and it angered him to think that his private life was no longer private. While his aunt was very understanding about his lifestyle, Jakotsu’s parents were not as easygoing about things. Bankotsu cringed at the thought of all the bad press and the very real possibility that they would be hounded about it. Plus he had to call the show’s producers and explain how their star had turned a two week vacation into an eight week hiatus.

Bankotsu bent down, picking up their discarded clothes and, carrying them into their bedroom, where he dumped them in the hamper. Sighing sadly, he stripped and padded into the master bathroom. There he took a quick shower. After drying off, he came back into the bedroom, grabbed a clean pair of boxers from his dresser drawer and put them on. Instead of putting on one of his t-shirts to sleep in, Bankotsu looked through Jakotsu’s dresser for one. He smiled when he pulled out the pink Hello Kitty. He always wore it whenever the cross-dresser was away because somehow out of all the clothes in his wardrobe, that one shirt seemed to scream, “Jakotsu.” Throwing it on, he padded softly to the bed, and crawled in, where he fell into an uneasy sleep.

He woke up several hours later, feeling painfully alone. Bankotsu tossed and turned a few times, trying to fall back asleep and failing miserably. He looked at his clock and sighed. He woke up and went through his morning routine in a daze and it was only when he stood there, phone in hand, that he realized he had just called one of the show’s producers to let them know that Jakotsu won’t be coming back for the next eight weeks while he had his leg in a cast plus a month or two of physical therapy. Thankfully they were very understanding about their star.

He hung up and dialed the cross-dresser’s parents.

“Hello, Hibiya-san. It’s me Bankotsu...”

“How are you, Bankotsu-san?”  Jakotsu’s mother asked.

“That’s what I’m calling about.”

“He’s not here, Bankotsu-san. Perhaps he missed his train...?”

“He fell in the apartment last night and broke his leg. I’m going to bring him home after lunch.”

“That’s okay...” Bankotsu had started to turn down her offer to help, and changing his mind, he said, “Thanks. I’ll send a car to come get you in an hour, if that’s okay with you?”

When Jakotsu’s mother arrived, carrying a chocolate cake from the bakery, she greeted Bankotsu warmly like he was another son instead of her son’s lover. As she fussed over him, she gently pried the details of Jakotsu’s accident out him. Instead of being horrified over the details, the old woman found it immensely funny.

“I always knew my Jackson was a special boy,” she said with a smile. “Come let’s get the sofa ready for him. Did you get his medication? And the other things he’ll need?”

Bankotsu nodded as they spread a sheet over the sofa and tucked it in under the cushions. While he went to go get the cross-dresser’s pillows off their bed, Jakotsu’s mother placed the light cotton blanket on the end in case he felt cold.

When her son’s lover returned with the pillows, she asked, “Bankotsu-san, would you like me to go with you to the hospital or wait here until your return?”

“Here, if you don’t mind. I’d like to surprise him.”

“Okay. Then you’d better hurry. You packed a bag with some clothes, no?”

“Then I’ll see you soon. While you’re away, I’ll have tea and cake ready.”

“You’re welcome, now go.” She smiled fondly at him and watched him go.

Jakotsu was so out of it from the pain medication they gave him, before leaving the hospital, he had no idea how he got home. And looking at the stairs in the genkan, he wondered how he was going to get up the two steps on crutches. But somehow he did it with Bankotsu’s help, only to get the shock of his life when he hobbled into the living room and saw his mother.

“Jackson.” She smiled warmly as she approached. “How are you feeling, my son?”

The cross-dresser’s eyes welled up with tears. “Haha-ue,” he repeated.

“Uh... why don’t you lie down, Sweetness?” Bankotsu said. Looking at the cross-dresser’s mother, he gave a subtle shake of his head. “You can sleep for a bit and when you wake up, I’ll make us some tea and we can have the cake your mother brought.”

“Yeah.” Bankotsu helped him over to the sofa and several long tense minutes later, he had Jakotsu resting comfortably there. Taking Jakotsu’s mother aside, he said, “I’m sorry, he’s completely out of it from all the medication they gave him.”

“I understand, Bankotsu-san. My son has always been that way with medicines. When he was a little boy, I used to dread taking him to the doctor as the cure was just as bad as the sickness.”

“I know you’ll take good care of him, you always do. Anyway, I must be going.”

“Okay... Ummm, thanks for all your help, Hibiya-san. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome and thank you, Bankotsu-san, for being so good to my son.” She walked over to her son and brushed the hair from his eyes while Bankotsu called his driver to come and get her.

Jakotsu wound up sleeping the rest of the day, only briefly waking up before Bankotsu settled down for the night, to have a cup of miso soup and another round of pain medication. After moving the coffee table out of the way, Bankotsu laid out Jakotsu’s old futon on the floor. He crawled in it, and shutting his eyes, he also drifted off to sleep.