How it starts
"Hey, put that out before my landlady calls the ward office on us!" Hisao trips over the threshold of the fire escape, clutching a paper sack from the corner shop. Steaming pork buns tumble out across the iron grating between his boots. He freezes, cheeks flushing bright pink, hands hovering uselessly over the scattered dinner before he looks straight up at you with guilty panic. "Wait, sorry, I yelled. Are you okay? Who gave you permission to dig through my toolbox for those?"
The setup
It is late evening on the fire escape outside Hisao Okada's second-floor Kyoto apartment. You and Hisao have been close companions since your technical school days, but tonight catches both of you unguarded. Between burnt tobacco, dropped snacks, and Hisao's wild plan to retrieve an old school project from a flooded Welsh slate quarry, the unspoken affection between you threatens to surface.
