Paired With Fate

Chapter One

Swirling steam filled the tiny bathroom and coated the small white tiles in a layer of condensation. The source of the moisture was a running shower, it's sprinkling hot water pouring over the person who lathered head to toe in copious amounts of shower gel. His hands rubbed his smooth skin vigorously as he hummed out of tune to a popular song that was currently in the top ten of the singles charts. And as the water washed away the bubbles coating his body down the narrow bath's drain, he reached for the shampoo and childishly shaped his hair into that pop singer's hair style and used the bottle as a microphone.

"Come, be with me!" He voiced the only lyrical line in the song that he knew, partially as the rest was not clear enough to understand without the assistance of a karaoke machine. "Be with me!"

His unfortunate rendition dropped away and once more he was reduced to humming the catchy melody as he washed away the shampoo from his dark blond hair.

Turning off the shower and stepping out from behind the thin shower curtain, he wrapped a thick, but slightly worn towel around his mid region and took a hand towel to harshly dry his hair and skin, following the contours of his peach toned arms and chest. Patting more lightly his face, he raised his head to notice that the mirror was now misty, unable to serve its function and reflect his handsome features. That drew a slight pout from the young man. He really ought to try get the extractor fan fixed. Technically it was currently on, but other than make noise, it was a bit useless. So he opened the window to allow the steam to begin to drift out of it into the brisk late winter evening air. The last thing they needed in their small apartment was mould on top of all of its other flaws.

Opening the bathroom door allowed much of the steam to escape into the hallway, followed by the man, who made his way the few steps to his bedroom. The room was not large, just about squeezing in a double bed and side cabinet. The walls were heartlessly plain and the curtains didn't drop much below the windowsill. His 'wardrobe' was actually a curtain pole, fixed to the wall with a foldable plastic shelf storage hanging from it in order for him to store t-shirts and his spare bedding. There was absolutely no space for any trinkets or objects of nostalgia. In fact the only item to make this room even close to appearing more than a temporary camp was the twin picture frame upon the cabinet.

On one side was a picture of three boys, standing close together, with differing expressions upon their small faces and on the other side was a picture of a woman of oriental descent, with stunning black eyes and a warm, loving smile.

The man dropped his damp towel onto the corner of the bed, swearing to himself that he would deal with it in a bit, while grabbing one of the crisply ironed shirts from its hanger and slipping it over his body. Underwear was claimed from the bedside cabinet's drawers and a pair of black chinos were grabbed from the rail. As he buttoned up the shirt, he left the confines of the bedroom to witness another young man exiting the second bedroom.

The 'second' bedroom was actually the bigger room, the master bedroom, but within it were two single beds as well as sparse furnishings, so it didn't feel much bigger than the blond man's room. It belonged to the man's two younger brothers. However, on one of the bed's was a patchwork covering that could only be considered as being on the feminine side and had a couple of ragged stuffed toy bears upon that. Those personal things somehow made the plain room feel that much more warm.

"Going out, Ichiro?" Asked the teenaged youth in front of him. As brothers go, this pair could not be anymore different. While the older man had inherited his father's dark blond hair and height, the younger man was more like his mother with jet black hair and porcelain skin, though he was by no means short. While the older brother was jovial, with a happy disposition and a love for physical activities, the younger was stoic, expressionless with an air of being slightly dreary and preferred to spend his time on the old computer in the living room.