Page 127 of Psync
Haruka brushed the hair away from Eli’s face and kissed him.
He wouldn’t find a better time than now to do what needed to be done, so he sent a text to his assistant. He had a few things to discuss with his aunt.
Chapter Forty
Eli
This was, hands down, the best Thanksgiving holiday he’d ever had. He’d spent three hours exploring Osaka Castle with Haruka. He would have spent every yen he possessed at the tourist stands surrounding the base of the castle if Haruka hadn’t used his superior size and reach to strong-arm his way into paying first.
Eli had managed to slip away to buy two massive, baked sweet potatoes with his own money. He’d been too shy to speak to the vendor, though. Even though he knew exactly what to say, all he’d managed was a shy littlemeepwhile hepointed to the size he wanted and held out two fingers.
Next time, Eli. You’ll do better next time.
He was back in Haruka’s suite surrounded by all of his loot, sorting through it and categorizing by each person he’d bought something for.
“Is any of this actually for you?” Haruka asked.
“Ummm . . .” Eli sorted through the pile until he found the little golden maneki-neko magnet he’d bought. “I got this for our fridge. You don’t have any magnets on it, and that’s a crime in my country. I’d hate for you to get fined.”
“I appreciate it,” Haruka said solemnly.
Eli tilted his head to the side as he took in his boyfriend’s lack of expression, trying to decide if Haruka had realized he was joking. The man was a mystery sometimes.
Haruka’s phone buzzed, and he took it out of his pocket. “It’s my aunt. I need to meet with her for a few minutes.” He walked over to the mirror, took his hair out of its usual ponytail, and combed it into place.
“Do you want me to come?” Eli watched as Haruka took a blazer out of the coat closet. In less than a minute, he’d transformed from a spoiled college student to a respectable adult. A team of stylists wouldn’t be able to help Eli achieve that effect in a hundred years. When he got dressed up, he always somehow came across as a preteen on his way to church.
“It’s okay, I won’t take long.”
“While you’re gone, I might try to do some more research. You know, on the whole mind reading thing.” Eli tried not to look like he was holding his breath. Haruka didn’t seem to care much about why they were connected the way they were and occasionally got moody when Eli brought it up.
Haruka straightened the cuffs on his jacket. “That’s one of the reasons I brought you here.”
“Really?”
“There’s somewhere I think you’ll enjoy. If you insist on researching it, you might find something helpful there.”
“You mean like talking to a Shinto priest about it? Is there a local legend about mind reading?”
“No, dork.” Haruka flicked Eli in the forehead. “But there’s a well-stocked library several floors down that might have something.”
Eli pouted until Haruka kissed his forehead.
He immediately ruined the gesture by saying, “You watch way too much anime, you know.”
“You watch almost as much as I do.”
“That’s how I know you watch too much.” Haruka kissed him again, only on the mouth this time. “Come on, I’ll show you to the library before I meet my aunt.”
“Do you have time? I don’t want to piss off Chiba-san. She’s kinda scary.”
Haruka snorted. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll deal with her. You focus on having fun.”
Haruka dropped him off at the library, giving him a knowing look as Eli’s brain short-circuited over the three-story nerd wet dream he’d been presented with.
“You might want to start over there.” Haruka pointed to a corner of the room next to a thirty-foot arched window.
Eli didn’t even notice him leave.
