Banana Fish - Another missed flight

Birthday Surprise - The Coliseum Of Books

I hope you'll enjoy this little birthday story. It's situated in Akita. The reason for that you'll understand if you've finished reading. It's a birthday story, so it will get romantic. (I'm seriously late for Ash's birthday but I had to research a lot. I'm sorry, Ash😅)
The silver envelope and the plane ticket is jewelry that will be released in November.
It's a necklace with an envelope. On the envelope is written Dear Ash and a green Swarovski jewel is next to it. You can open the envelope and take out the plane ticket.

Will you please tell me where we're going now that we're on the damn train?"

Ash sank into the seat by the window with a heavy sigh. Eiji sat down next to him, then crossed his arms and gave him a dirty look.

"It's a miracle that we've even managed to catch the train thanks to a certain someone who overslept again. Which resulted in us nearly missing the train...", Eiji snapped at him before he pouted and stubbornly turned away from him.

Despite their bickering, Ash couldn't hide his grin. Eiji looked too cute when he was mad. Especially when he pouted like that.

"Yeah, ok. I plead guilty.", he admitted softly. Then, a challenging spark flashed in his green eyes.

"But you knew I'm not a morning person so you should have anticipated that."
Eiji turned around again and shot him a death glare.

"Anticipating worst-case scenarios is your thing, not mine.", Eiji reminded him.
"Damn smartass." Then he pointed at him.

"And if you didn't always read books till 3 a.m. you wouldn't always oversleep.", he chastised him, irritation flaring up in Eiji's eyes as they bored into him.

"And if you had booked a train that didn't leave in the middle of the night, this wouldn't have happened!, Ash burst out while his eyes glowed dangerously.

They glared at each other for a minute before they both burst out laughing. They both secretly loved bickering like that, it had become a habit in New York when they had started living together, much to the dismay and entertainment of Ash's gang. They had never figured out if they were seriously fighting or having fun. If they were arch enemies or a married couple.

"But isn't it great, Ash? This is our first trip together. It's just for two days, but I really look forward to it."

"Yes, it is." Ash agreed before taking a look out of the window. Izumo moved further and further away into the distance with every passing second. Looking outside at the scenery, he slowly realized that in all the time he had lived in Japan with Eiji, he had never left that small town. Not once. Izumo felt safe. He knew every little corner in Izumo; it was like his own backyard or his new playground by now. But above all, it was his home.

Seeing how Izumo grew smaller and smaller with every moment until it entirely disappeared from his sight, made him feel nervous. He felt like a naive country bumpkin who was leaving his hometown to go on an unpredictable journey across the world without knowing anything about it. Leaving the only place, he knew felt strange and made him feel nauseous.

He loved living in a peaceful and quiet town like Izumo, could speak the language fairly well by now and had learned much about Japanese culture and history from Eiji and his family. The country itself, however, still remained a mystery to him. He had only seen Tokyo from a bird's eye view out of the plane's window and had only stayed in Izumo. That was all he had seen about Japan. He didn't like leaving the only place he felt comfortable and safe.

Eiji placed one hand on his, making Ash turn around to him in surprise. "Ash, please relax, ok? I know that it's the first time you're away from...