FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It was difficult to see further ahead on the road, thunder was rumbling across the heavens and the rain was coming down to envelop the windshield in small drops that if it wasn't for the wipers constantly moving side to side, driving would be impossible. The storm looked really beautiful in the ocean, water pouring down on water, filling the beaches with an extra layer.

He was driving someone else's car, so he was very cautious. Sagisou didn't ignore the speed limits to avoid detection. Plus, he wasn't used to drive from this side. Theoretically wasn't a lot different than having the steering wheel on the left, but still felt a little weird.

Ben woke up from his slumber when the car was slowing down, skidding in the rain.

Then... lights.

There were some lights up ahead, gleaming like a chrome fender in the afternoon sun. A few cars had stopped on the side of the road while some people stood at the side, getting soaked in the pouring rain and waving their arms as if trying to stop the car. Luckily they didn't get in front of it.

"Are you going to stop?" Asked Ben.

"What for? It's not really my problem."

Sagisou drove past without even looking to them, though Biscuits got a little curious and turned to kneel on the backseats so he could watch them for a while.

"I think they needed help." The rat said in concern.

"Then they will call someone t' pick 'em up. We need t' get t' the hotel fast, the rain doesn't seem t' be stoppin'."

As selfish as that sounded, Sagisou's words proved to reasonable since the weather was giving the right conditions to get sick if they stayed out for too long. In the crocodile's case, a cold could be much worse to deal with than those who only needed a few days of rest to recover.

Biscuits didn't dispute him, and soon moved to sit down again and fastened the seatbelt.

"I hope they will be alright."

Ben didn't say anything; he checked the time on his phone and glanced up ahead. He estimated that they would arrive to the hotel in half an hour if there were no problems in the way.

Part of the hotel was modern looking, but simply built. It served as the main hub between two cities close by. The parking area could need an expansion if they wanted to accommodate the increasing number of guests arriving for the festivities. Sagi was lucky that he could find a spot.

"Alright, everyone out." The crocodile said as he pulled the keys out of the ignition, and opened the door.

Ben was the biggest one of the three, which wasn't apparent inside the car. Once the rat could stretch out, Biscuits moved fast to his side and hugged him around the waist.

Walking past the pair, Sagisou opened the trunk and picked up some bags. It started to feel like he was brought to this trip only to be the third wheel, but he couldn't really complain since Biscuits and Ben covered up the expenses for him. When he reached out for the last two suitcases, a hand moved in front of him, grabbing them with ease. He turned his head to look at "Big Ben" who was holding the bags over a shoulder while holding Biscuts close with the other arm. Sagisou thought the large rat was only showing off but opposite of what he assumed, Ben was only trying to be nice and help out.

"Sorry, I only have two hands." Ben said, hugging Biscuits with his free arm.

Sagisou rolled his eyes, slamming the trunk shut. The noise was extremely loud in the silence that he created. He wasn't annoyed but he had a look as if he really wanted to go back home and laze on his couch

They all arrived to the front desk after taking an elevator. Sagisou was the one doing all the paperwork and writing down the names, then Biscuits grabbed the key card and bolted for the stairs.

The room was not very ordinary. It didn't feel like they were in Japan, however. Two large sized beds were next to each other, and each had white, silk blankets. On the wall there were paintings of flowers and scenes of the countryside, and they had a plasma TV on the opposite side of the wall. A small breeze entered the room from the balcony, barely shaking the sheer, muslin curtains.

Biscuits moved away from Ben and jumped onto a bed, bouncing up and down for a moment and enjoying the feel of clean blankets.

"This is very nice!"

"Looks like it, yep." Ben said.

"You are going to end up taking up all the bed but I don't mind. Your chest is just as comfy."

Sagisou dropped all the luggage next to his bed, and sat down with his back turned to them. He kept wondering what exactly he did there, he wasn't really anyone important. The two could have just went on this trip alone if this was meant to be a romantic escapade, or they would have gotten different rooms.

Suddenly, the crocodile feel a light pressure on the bed and against his back, and then saw Biscuit's head resting against a shoulder.

"C'mon, don't be so gloomy. Look, there is free wifi!"

Sagisou wanted to say something about it. His face paled, then felt a bit warmer that had nothing to do with the illumination in the room. "Gloomy?" He rolled up his sleeves, exposing the mark of a few straps from the bags he carried all along. "I lifted more weights today than when I did back in my good times. Yah both could have helped instead o' bein' all lovey dovey."

Biscuits slowly reached out one of his small hands to rub the small bruises on the skin.

"But that's nothing! Like I said, don't be blue. I have a surprise for you!"

It was hard staying mad at the rat. He knew the male had the best interests at heart and the surprise picked his curiosity.

Neither Ben nor Sagisou asked about it. As they unpacked their bags, they planned their evening. It was still raining but more lightly and with a steady monotony proper of an ending flood of water.

"It looks like we won't have to stay in the room all day." Ben pointed out, pulling the curtains to look outside.

"Good! I wanted to see the fireworks tonight." Biscuits was pulling one of his suitcases open which had a big stack of underwear in it, enough to change into a new pair every two hours.

"Yeah, same."

"Maybe I will stay in the room instead." The crocodile said, laying down on the bed with his arms behind his head.

"You are coming with us, croc. And that's not negotiable." Biscuits grinned. "Who says that you are not going to find some handsome rat or raccoon all for yourself?"

Sagisou turned his head to look at the small rat. "I could find one o' those in my city, yah know."

"Well, yeah! But you are not going to find many Asians there. Oh, how about red pandas? There must be a lot of those."

With a shrug, the crocodile moved onto his side, again with his back turned to the rodents.

"Let him stay if he wants to. I mean, he has been driving us all the way here, maybe he is just tired." Ben said.

"I said he is coming with us. The surprise was for both of you!" Biscuits grabbed one of the crocodile's arms and tugged on it. "Let's go now, before it gets too crowded."

The crocodile wanted to refuse but one could not simply turn away someone who was looking at him with those eyes. "Argh. Fine, but let me change first."

"Good idea! I should do the same." And just like that, Biscuits grabbed one of the bags and hurried inside the bathroom. "No peeking."

Ben and Sagi were left alone in the room, but the two didn't really have much to talk about.

Sagisou sat up and removed his jacket, tossing it across the room. His build was big, and husky, though it seemed like a natural body for his species. A heavy thud sounded when the jacket hit the floor, and he remembered the rat's words, picking his interest.

"A surprise, huh? What he could mean with that, I wonder." Ben meditated for a moment without getting an answer. It would seem both males had the same thought in mind.

Sagisou stuffed his hands in his pockets in order to pull out his keys, his phone and his wallet. A scrap of paper fluttered to the floor, and he picked it up with a sigh. It was not a very important note, just a number and a name that he crumbled in his hand before anyone could read. He pocketed the piece of paper again, and used his left foot to safely kick off his other boot before finding some new clothes in his luggage.

Unlike Biscuit, he wasn't shy to undress in front of someone else. Not like Ben seemed to be watching anyway. He was wearing something for the occasion that he'd normally never wear. It was something the rat picked for him. A semi long black jacket with the zipper on one side and a knitted sweater underneath, then some black pants that were a bit too tight around his legs but not too uncomfortable around the waist. When he checked himself out in the small mirror above the bed, the bathroom door opened and he saw Biscuit slowly stepping out.

Ben was really surprised, for one he couldn't keep his craggy face impassive. "What is..."

"A kimono!" Biscuit cut him off, and twirled to show off his attire. The kimono was all purple silk without any visible patterns on it, though only reached down to the male's knees. When that robe swirled with the motion and was lifted up at the bottom, there was a quick hint of something else the male was wearing underneath. Realizing that both males might have seen it, he tried to cover up with both hands and adjust the robe. "And that... is a f-fundoshi."

"I'm more surprised you are not wearing a koshimaki." Ben commented.

Sagisou had no idea what they were talking about but didn't make any questions.

"It was the surprise! Do you guys like it?"

The crocodile shrugged his shoulders. "I thought only women wore that, yah know."

"No, no, no. There are kimonos for men too! But they are not so flashy and elaborate, they are simple loosely-searned and garments with narrower sleeves than those for women."

"Sure, but that is a kimono for women." Ben replied.

"N-no! The tailor told me it was for men!"

Sagisou couldn't hide a grin as he realized that Biscuit might have been misled. He put his fingers against his eyes and shook his head a few times. "Oh well, yah are lookin' good anyway."

Biscuit moved up closer to the croc and zipped up the jacket, glancing up at the male's face behind his big, round glasses and smiling a bit in a bashful way. "There, much better. Now you are looking good too. So! We ready?"

"Sure. How far is the festival from here?"

"Not too far, follow me!"

The smaller rat left the room first, followed by Ben and finally Sagisou. Walking past the front hotel desk, the receptionist looked at Biscuit and chuckled a bit but they all ignored it.

If the purpose of the festival was draw attention, they got it. Lights were bright all over with an ample variety of colors, and crowds were visible a mile away. Every stand was selling different products, from food to jewelry or even offering a game like scooping fish with a nest or gun shooting. All women were wearing kimonos and traditional Japanese footwear - kind of a sandal with a wooden base - and so was Biscuit. Somehow, even if those looked a bit difficult to walk with, the smaller rat was often the one who tugged the two larger males along to see most stands.

Ben was really good with the ring toss, he purchased a ticket and won a prize after the third try; a small anime toy that he gave to Biscuit. Sagisou on the other side seemed to shine with the gun shooting, despite that it was quite tricky because they were using corks that sometimes hit the target but didn't throw it off. His aim was great, though, but he changed targets when he couldn't win that one, until he got some strange box of cookies. Yep, the prizes were food.

They were all having fun, Biscuit specially so, and they announced that they were going to start the fireworks soon. Finding a good spot to watch them was going to be even more difficult than winning any prizes on the stands, Ben offered to carry Biscuit on his shoulders but the smaller rat seemed to have an idea.

"Over here! The shrine is empty!" Biscuit hurried off first, not wanting to have anyone take the spot. However, he disappeared in the crowd and Ben lost sight of him.

Neither Ben or Sagi really knew where the shrine was, and even if they were tall, the crowd was still too dense for them to find Biscuit or walk through it. "Biscuit!" Ben shouted, without hearing any response.

The first of the fireworks shot into the air, raining down a myriad of red, white and blue. People were pronouncing the same vocal almost in unison, but Ben's voice was still shouting out the smaller rat's name. No one was looking away from the sky, or offering help. Pushing away some people, Ben thought he saw someone with the same kimono heading north but before he let his impulses control him, he felt a grip on his arm and looked back.

It was Sagi holding his arm.

"He was headin' t' the shrine, right? Let's ask a guard where that is."

Ben tried to look back where he thought he saw Biscuit but it wasn't him, just some shiba inu wearing a similar kimono. "Yeah, it might be easier to find him that way."

Finding a guard wasn't easy either. It took him a few minutes to spot one and when they did, Sagi asked first.

"Excuse me, do yah know where the shrine is?"

The guard looked a bit puzzled, as if he didn't understand him.

"Sumimasen, Jinja ga doko ni aru no ka shitte imasu ka?" Ben spoke in japanese, almost really fluid, and the guard pointed them to the direction.

"Arigato" Ben responded. "Over here."

"Yeah, I might not know any Japanese but I know a direction when I'm pointed t' it."

When they managed to get away from the crowd, they saw the shrine in a distance and a few shadows. Of course more people thought that it was a good spot to watch the fireworks too, no doubt about that. However, most of them left as soon as they saw them arriving, except one.

"Biscuit! Are you alright?" Ben knelt down next to the other rat, trying to hold him up.

Biscuit was sitting on his knees, looking a bit beat up, his glasses were broken and taped at the temples and his nose bleeding a bit. He looked as if he had been in a fight and lost.

"I-I don't know what got into them. They saw me and started pushing me around. I-I am alright, though."

Sagisou clenched a fist and without thinking ran off to chase the small group. Ben stayed with the smaller rat, offering help and support.

"I guess they didn't like... seeing a guy with a kimono."

"Did you get to see their faces? We have to tell the police."

Biscuit shook his head. "It's alright, they are gone now. Thanks for coming over to save me." Leaning back, the rat put a hand on his shoulder and pulled down the robes a bit to partially show his torso. Then wiped his nose with a sleeve and glanced sideways at Ben. "It... doesn't look so bad. Does it?" There was a strange seductive tone to his voice, and he bit his bottom lip as if he was aware of what he was doing. Maybe he couldn't see anything without his glasses but he could imagine the expression on Ben's face or Sagisou's if the crocodile had stuck around. His lean body was in view, and he could feel the tension growing, the need that was driving the breath from his lungs - emotional, rasping sounds that were almost sobs. "Ben..." When his mouth finally opened to speak again, he moved closer to Ben and reached up a hand to touch him.

The fireworks were still bursting across the sky, an incessant sound that led to an awkward silence when it stopped for a moment. When Biscuit's muzzle moved inches away from Ben's lips, he kissed him. It was nothing of masquerade or pretense but serious and honest sign of affection. A kiss that told Ben when reciprocated that he understood and felt the same. A few footsteps sounded from not too far away and the kiss ended.

Ben grabbed Biscuit and held him up, carrying him away from the crowd and back into the hotel. It had been a long day, and they needed to take it easy, especially Biscuits. Once Ben put Biscuits down on the bed, he sat down on the edge of the bed across him just to keep an eye on the rat.

"Where is Sagi?"

"He is probably chasing down your bullies. Don't worry, he will be fine."