onsen boys - japan's january cold

Onsen Boys Chapter 2 - SEIYA🔥

Are you new to the Apple Hair world? Start here for an introduction. Or! If that doesn’t interest you, you can start on this story. Onsen Boys features two members of Apple Hair on their brief vacation to Japan:

Before their official debut, David and Seiya take a trip to Arima Onsen, and share a very cute (but not what it sounds like) “first time.”

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Photo by P E on Unsplash

“Da fuh—”

David punches me in my stomach. Lightly. “Hey, it’s not that complicated.” 

At Kansai International Airport, we’re basically screwed. Because I grew up in Hawaii and not here, my Japanese skills are basically nada. The train terminal’s full to the brim with a crowd and maps that make zero sense to me. “I think we’re not gonna make it to the hotel.” 

“Don’t be so dramatic,” David says. 

We ask some kind attendant who helps us in broken English. Eventually, we figure it out. We stand in line to buy tickets for the Haruka train. For the ticketing machines. 

“Hi, hi,” David asks to the person in front of us, a young Japanese couple. “Just making sure. Is this where we buy tickets?”

“Online… uh,” the man stutters. “Online reservation.” 

“Shit,” I say. Then, David casts me a look—he still hates it when I swear. 

We go to one of the offices to buy a ticket. At that moment, an attendant chimes in and says that yes—yes, we can buy tickets at the self-service machines. Shit. 

Then, I remember to keep my cool. As the older one, I kinda have to keep it together. I try not to give stink-eye to the man who told us we couldn’t buy tickets here. David apologizes to get us back in the same position in line. 

Luckily, when it’s our turn, we manage to change the settings to English. David buys us a ticket to Osaka. 

“Great,” I say. 

David looks like he wants to slap me, but eventually he smiles. “See? Not too bad at all.”

We ask another person where our platform is. He tells us the number, and luckily it’s just a flight of stairs down. We wait at the correct line. I hope? 

Eventually, the train makes its appearance. “Wow. Totes adorbs.” Hello Kitty stands out in stark relief on the design of the white bullet train, dressed in a kimono and surrounded by flowers that resemble a paper cut out.

“Can you take my pic?” David says, standing in front of Hello Kitty. 

“Sure!” I snap a few of various angles. He looks mad cute when he does a V sign, sticking one of his fingers into his cheeks.   

When it’s time to board, a little bit of the worry goes away. I normally keep my cool. But a whole new country by ourselves? If I didn’t have David, I’d be small-kine antsy. 

We take selfies in our seat. David leans on my shoulder, and I wrap an arm around his head like gauze on a zombie. I burst out laughing at how the picture comes out. Man. We look like a pair of clowns. 

Eventually, we reach Osaka. I drag my luggage out and help David when his gets stuck right at the door. Because our hotel’s not super close to this station, we have to lug our things through an even more confusing route. No trains this time ‘tho. Thank God. 

Have I regained my confidence? “Damn… so easy.” 

David looks at me like I grew a second head. “I swore you were a different person a second ago.” 

We exit out into Japan’s January cold. Bruh. I can barely feel my arms after a few seconds. I look at David, who has his whole puffer jacket vibe going on. You’d think I’d learn my lesson after our trip to Korea. 

He begins to take off his jacket for me. “No ways,” I say. “Keep it on.” 

“Fine,” he says, barely above a whisper. 

We take around fifteen minutes to reach the hotel. It rises up like one beacon in the sky, and I let out a relieved sigh. “Hallelujah,” I say. 

David lets it go, probably because his teeth are chattering. Normally, he’d tell me to save the word for a worship song, or for church. We head to the front desk, and we pass the receptionist our passports. 

“One night for you both,” she says. “Are you two brothers?” 

David almost chokes, but I keep my smile on. “Um. Yeah! Something like that.” 

She tells us about the amenities. It includes a sento, or public bath. David takes the card keys, and we immediately head to the elevator. 

“Are you going to the sento tonight?” I ask, trying not to tease. 

“Ugh!” He almost chokes on his spit. “No, I’m saving it for the onsen. You can go though….” 

I want to tell him it wouldn’t be nearly as fun. But he seems pretty set. On leaving his “first time” for Arima Onsen. 

“Suit yourself,” I say. “I think I’ll go ‘tho.” 

He raises an eyebrow. “Don’t check out any cute guys while you’re there.” 

We set our things down in the hotel room, and David sighs and collapses onto the bed closest to the window. As I thought, the hotel room’s mad small. I don’t mind though, because I’ve shared a small room with the Apple Hair guys for ages. I appreciate the hints of turquoise, like they were trying to go for a Waikiki vibe. 

“I’m off to the sento,” I say. 

I wait for David to say that he changed his mind. He hesitates a bit, before he says, “Okay, have fun.” 

“Let’s go to the convenience store after,” I say. “Before we starve or ‘wat.” 

I head to the fourth floor, where the bath’s located. I’ve never actually taken a public bath, but I read a guide and it seems pretty e-z. As I use my card to enter the men’s locker room, I find that it’s completely empty. Weird. 

I take off all my clothes and stuff them into a locker. I take a small towel with me and enter the bathing area, which has a cold pool, warm pool, and hot pool. Before that ‘tho, I have to wash up. I shower quickly with a crazy-foaming shampoo and body wash. Bruh, I can’t get it off me. Ages go by. Then I head to the warm bath. 

I’m not gonna lie. I wish David were here with me. 

Eventually, an old man enters the bath, and then a younger man, and then my Hawaii-boy instincts flare up. I quickly dip into the hot bath. And then—Seiya out. 

I dry off in the locker room and put on my clothes. Confident now that I’ve had some practice with public baths, I look forward to Arima Onsen. Hopefully… er… my eyes won’t be on my bandmate the whole time. 

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