Mysteries in the Jungle (Junjou Romantica)

[1]

The stewardesses began telling everyone about the safety protocols as Nowaki placed his book on his lap and buckled on his seat belt. He kept reading the words while barely hearing the words said by the stewardesses and picked the book back up in his hands.

Ten minutes later, the plane took off as Nowaki broke out of his reading trance and looked around the area. His tall stature made it easier for him to look over the seats and he saw everyone was perfectly seated. The magazines were taken out of behind the seats while others were talking to the people sitting right next to them.

Nowaki turned to his right and saw a young man with a crossword puzzle in his hands. His brown hair was tied back in a small ponytail and his legs were crossed over each other since there was no one occupying the seat right next to his. He wrote in an answer to the puzzle and grinned when it all fit in the squares.

The young man felt he was being watched and saw Nowaki looking right at him. He closed the crossword book in his hands since he felt somewhat self-conscious of having someone look at him.

Nowaki commented as he closed the novel in his hands. "It seems like you are having so much fun, young man."

His face turned slightly pink as he nodded his head. "Y-Yes, I have a few more things in my bag to keep me entertained in this flight. I might fall asleep anyway..." He put out his hand as he nervously said, "I'm Misaki Takahashi."

Nowaki smiled as he grasped Misaki's hand and shook it. "I'm Nowaki Kusama, it's a pleasure to meet you. May I ask, where are you going?"

Misaki answered with a fond smile on his face. "I'm visiting my older brother and his family in Canada; my sister-in-law just gave birth to their daughter so I'm visiting for a few weeks. I haven't seen my nephew in over a year since they moved so I am really excited to see him. I think they named their daughter Michiru." He took out his wallet and grinned. "We are going to take a whole picture of all of us with the baby this time."

"May I see it?" Nowaki asked as Misaki handed it to him.

Nowaki saw a tall black haired man with an arm around Misaki and his wife. He looked incredibly happy to have all the people who were important in his life in the picture. They were all smiling in the photo while the young woman held a toddler in her arms who seemed to be trying to escape from her arms. He chuckled slightly at how animated their facial expressions were, but he could tell they were so content and happy.

Misaki studied Nowaki's reaction to the photo and he swore he saw some sadness in Nowaki's facial expression. If it was there, it disappeared immediately and there was nothing but happiness showing through his face. Nowaki handed the photo back to Misaki who put it back inside of his wallet.

Misaki asked. "What about you? Where are you traveling?"

Nowaki answered him as he made himself more comfortable in his seat. "Well, I am going to New York to study medicine for two years, but I will try to cut it down to one year."

Misaki's eyes widened as he smiled. "That's so cool! I have never met someone studying to become a doctor before! But isn't the path to complete it hard to finish?"

Nowaki smiled when he said. "Well, every program has its difficulties, but I am already half way through what I want to accomplish so I can't quit now. Are you barely entering university?"

Misaki nodded his head. "I studied my butt off and I barely managed to get in. I called it good luck since I usually got pretty bad test scores in high school."

Nowaki shook his head in amusement. "I don't think so, it's called hard work on your part. You really wanted to get into the university you picked and studied really hard. It's not all about luck, it was all you."