Mysteries in the Jungle (Junjou Romantica)

[1]

"Can it get any hotter outside?" Nowaki asked himself, he walked down the aisle as he tried not to bump into anyone that were already sitting down.

He grasped his carry-on tighter to his chest as he looked at the numbers above the seats. Having memorized the number, he would sit in; he didn't need to have his ticker in his hand when he walked through the plane. Everything looked remotely comfortable, but he knew he would struggle going to sleep since he was so big. Maybe he would be lucky enough to be the only one in his row and he could take up another seat. From the look of the plane, it didn't seem any more people were going to arrive.

Nowaki placed his carry-on bag in the compartment above his row with ease though he sniffed his armpits to check if he smelled. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, he didn't make it so obvious as he twisted slightly to make it seem that he was pushing his bag properly in the compartment. He wiped his forehead to get rid of the sweat which accumulated before he walked inside of the air conditioned plane. The other passengers were fanning themselves with stacks of paper or newspapers while others were trying to stay hydrated. His tank top and his shorts didn't help cool him off at all, not even the ice cold water he got at the food court provided any relief. He didn't predict this outcome when he was buying his ticket months ago and also the weather wasn't this bad at the beginning of the week.

He closed the compartment door as he let out a sigh. He had high hopes on succeeding in his studies in America but as always, he had to doubt himself before anything else. His professor recommended the program to him, and a variety of other students didn't take this opportunity because they would rather study in Japan. Nowaki was sure it was because a majority of the students were not confident in their English, but he had many chances to speak it in his many part time jobs which sometimes had tourists who didn't understand a word of Japanese. Though, he carried a Japanese to English dictionary in his luggage if he ever got stuck in any of the books he would read or when he conversed with people.

Nowaki had placed what little furniture he had in storage after he finished all the preparations and paperwork. He told his landlord he was leaving for America when he handed him his rent money for the month. The day he was leaving was in the middle of the month, so he didn't want to be booted out before he had a chance to finish any loose ends. He hoped his space was still unoccupied when he returned but he was sure that might be impossible. There were countless students who would want his cheap apartment and his landlord was always looking for ways to rent out apartments in the area.

Before he even got the offer to study in America, he had gotten offers from new students wanting to room in with him. So many people had insisted and begged him to let them stay but he had to refuse them every single time. Nowaki knew they overlooked the fact the space barely fit his large frame to begin with and they would never remain comfortable with the arrangement if he went through sharing the apartment with someone.

He took out a novel from his carry-on bag before he shut the compartment door closed and sat down in his seat. Looking on ahead, he saw a group of guys talking really loud and Nowaki thanked his lucky stars that he had some ear plugs for when he fell asleep later on in the day. In a different occasion, he wouldn't have cared if someone was chatting near him or was in a near vicinity of where he was sitting but he knew he had to fall asleep eventually. He tried not to let his displeasure show as he waited for the pilot to tell them that they were ready to fly.

Tuning everyone out, Nowaki opened up the novel in his hands and started reading. He only picked out this novel because he heard through different people that it was a really good read, and he wouldn't grow bored if he was anywhere for long periods of time. The story already started at a good pace so he predicted that he wouldn't get bored of it during his flight.