The rumbling of the airplane engine made Ren shuffle in his seat only to then slowly open his eyes. The pinkish hue of the morning filled the whole cabin. His window view displayed the city of Tokyo. Awestruck, he stared at the buildings with screens showing anime characters and advertisements for various products. Down in the streets, multitudes of anthropomorphic animals walked busily. The giant metropolis was just as he imagined.
Before he could keep admiring the view, something leaned on his shoulder. He didn't have to turn to get an idea of what, or well... who it was. His brother Soren, still sleeping, rested on the red fox's shoulder. Trying to get him off, he shook his shoulder a little bit. Without much effort. His brother shifted to the other side, still asleep.
As the morning woke up the rest of the passengers. A muffled voice spoke through the speakers.
"Dear passengers, it's 8:16 AM local time. In a few minutes, we'll be landing at the Haneda International Airport. The weather is clear and it's great to walk around the city. We hope you have enjoyed flying with us."
The sound woke up Soren. Yawning and stretching on his seat. He turned to Ren smiling and then looked at the window.
"Are we landing so- Oh! Dude, the view is so cool!" Soren tried to get closer to the window to get a better view. Ren pushed him back to his seat with a hint of annoyance on his face.
"Yeah, we're landing soon." He said in with a cutting tone. And tried to look at the view of the city again. Soren sighed, he wanted to say something else but he didn't want to force or bother his brother. It was gonna take little steps for him to open up again.
After an hour or so. The two were in a taxi on their way to the hotel. Ren's eyes were glued to the window of the car. Admiring how the capital of Japan looked. For him, it was like a dream come true. Everything looked so futuristic and modern. He took out his phone and began taking pictures of the streets. Soren on the other side just smiled. He was glad to see his vulpine brother smiling again. It almost felt like an eternity since the last time he saw Ren so happy. It was nice for a change.
Eventually, they got to the hotel. It wasn't the fanciest one but it would do for them. After getting the keys for their room and unpacking their stuff. Both laid on their respective beds. Ren was still on his phone. Soren imagined he was checking the photos or maybe texting one of his friends.
"Hey, uh, I'll go take a shower and put on something a little warmer, this place is kinda cold. Sounds good?" Soren said while entering the bathroom with a pair of jeans on his paw. He waited for Ren to say something but the long pause made it look like he was gonna ignore him.
"Okay." Ren answered with a faint voice, his eyes still focusing on his phone. Soren nodded even though he knew his brother wouldn't notice it and went into the bathroom. Ren, on the other hand, was chatting on with his friend Nyu.
"dudeeeee, this place is sooooo coool." Ren typed. And then sent her some of the photos he took.
"OMGG i wanna goo too ;w;" She replied while scrolling through the images. Ren smiled and kept on typing.
"we gotta visit this place sometime dude, with the rest of the guys. I'm pretty sure they'll love it" Ren sighed and kept typing.
"It would've def been better having y'all here than coming with my brother hhh. it's so uncomfortable"
"Aww, but Ren. Maybe this is the perfect opportunity for you two to make up."
"I knowww but it's just, idk" He paused for a moment and then kept going.
"he almost feel like a stranger to me"
"mmm, well he might be but, you can befriend him again! just be yourself and don't feel anxious. he's probably trying his best to keep you company"
"eh, i guess you're right... maybe I could try to talk to him."
"you can do it! and make sure you enjoy Japan, don't let this ruin it. the place looks awesome ;v;"
"pfft, i will don't worry amix"
Ren sighed and put his cellphone on the bedside table and stared at the ceiling. He closed his eyes for a second and imagined all the places he wanted to visit in the city. The first thing that popped on his head was Akihabara. He could buy some original manga, see people cosplaying or even go to one of those maid cafes he saw online. That last bit got him a little flustered and put a goofy smile on his face.
After a few moments, Soren came out of the bathroom with his jeans on and a towel on his head.
"Good gosh, the water is just right! I'll be ready in a second bro." He announced as he walked up to his bag and picked a shirt and his leather jacket. After a few minutes, Soren was ready to go out. And so, they both left the hotel to get something to eat. Ren was looking on his phone for a place with good reviews that wasn't super fancy. He wanted something that could be as traditional as it could get. He opened his mouth and considered for a second to look at his brother. But simply limited himself to speak.
"Do you- Um... Do you wanna eat something specific?" Soren's eyes looked at his brother in surprise. That was unexpected.
"I- er... Well, I do want to try ramen and gyozas. That's something I always hear it's good to eat in Japan." He answered still a little taken aback.
"Hmmm... There's a good place a few minutes from here. Let's go there." Ren looked up to his brother and showed him photos of the food the place offered. Among the options were various types of ramen and gyoza. Just what Soren was thinking of. He smiled and looked at Ren.
"Looks great, let's go!" Soren replied with enthusiasm. Ren smiled back at him but it was more of an awkward attempt of a smile than anything. He just looked at his phone again and tried to forget about that attempt of an interaction.
Soren looked at the exchange as a huge step. The hope they could make up during this trip was growing on the inside. Ren smiled at him! Soren hasn't seen his brother do that since they were kids. In his head, the vulpine was patting himself on the back. For him, this was the beginning of fixing their relationship.
Once they reach the restaurant they ordered mostly tonkatsu ramen and gyoza filled with pork. Needless to say, they stuffed themselves until satiated. After paying and thanking the waiter they both walked some more to check out the streets of Tokyo. Ren did his best to follow Nyu's advice and tried to chat with Soren but all the attempts ended after 2 or 3 replies. It was gonna take some time for him to overcome his awkwardness.
As the sun went down, both went back to their hotel room. Ren began planning what they were gonna do this week. As he took notes and looked up places to go. A small sparkle glowed in his eyes. Soren from the other side of the room looked at his brother all excited and ready to explore this foreign land. He was happy to see Ren was enjoying himself. It had been so long since he got to see him like this. This was his small escape from the hell he had to endure back home. Their journey was just starting but the two of them had a good idea it was going to be a good one.
The first chapter of the story is here! Hopefully I'm not too rusty with my writing haha. I've definitely enjoyed making this and I hope you guys enjoy it as well. I'm going to try my best to upload both the English and Spanish versions of the story at the same time. I guess I'm back now?
You may notice the appearance of a friend jsjs
Nyu is Nyu-NyuArt's sona! She's a super talented artist and awesome amix. Please check out her work on Twitter @/souldemon97and on FA as magdathezoroark99
The next chapter is coming tomorrow so keep an eye out for that!
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Godless Flames
FantasyRen's parents decided to gift him a trip to Japan after he graduated from high school as the Valedictorian. Finally an opportunity to visit the land he always fantasized about as a kid. And while he was forced to go accompanied by his brother, Ren...
