Chapter Text
The year is 1974, as the cold war got less colder, many people migrated to the US seeking the american dream. All people from all over the world only talked about how america has a goal, and how you could live happy there.
One of these people was Raymond Watts, a British man who worked long in a factory, ever since his parents passed away in a car accident. He's been alone in Britain ever since and had lots of money from his parents life insurance. So Raymond decided to go to America, where he bought a nice ranch to start over, raising pigs and farming corn.
But even though he had his own farm, Raymond was still not satisfied. The days where productive and beautiful, but still lonely… But something was about to change.
From far away, he saw an old truck coming to the abandoned ranch right beside his own. He rode his horse, excited to see his new neighbor, he waited until the person come out of the truck and he got blown away.
His new neighbor was a slim asian guy with long black hair and the face of an angel, the most beautiful thing he saw in months, since he just talked to a bunch of farm helpers and his pig friends. He smiled sassy and got even closer with his horse, trying to portrait the perfect american cowboy… He adjusted his tight jeans and big belt, tipped his cowboy hat and said…
- Howdy..! - He smile to the man, imagining if he could even speak english, since all the korean migrants near by only spoke korean.
- Oh hello! - The asian man smiled back, Raymond got all silent. Well the man could speak english… now what will he talk about? - Who are you? - The more the asian man smiled, the more Raymond got nervous.
- Oh,well! I'm your new neighbor! - Raymond got down from his horse and offered his hand for a shake. - I'm Raymond, Raymond Watts. I'm a pig raiser, this is my ranch. - He pointed at the ranch. He finally let the asian man hear his british accent.
- I'm Atsushi, Atsushi Sakurai. - He shaked hands with Raymond. - I see you are british… You live here long time?
- Well, I don't. I'm just a british boy who always wanted to be a cowboy. - He smiled with both hands on his waist, making Sakurai laugh.
- Hahaha! I'm from Japan, I get you. My parents owned this farm, but they moved back to Japan when I was a kid. It's been abandoned ever since. I'm here to renovate it! Glad to have such friend next door. - Sakurai said smiling, melting Raymond's heart.
- Do you need any help? Can I help you move? - Raymond smiled completely enchanted by the man's charm, he held his belt and saw Atsushi shake his head in agreement. - What are you planning to harvest here, Atsushi?
- Mushrooms, japanese mushrooms for those big city restaurants. They are called Shitake, have you ever eaten them? - The japanese man asked.
- Never seen or smelled them. But as good as the japanese stuff i'm meeting today are going, they must be delicious. - Sakurai got red with that flert, he covered his mouth as he laughed.
- Huhu, i'll be sure to let you prove my shitake. - Sakurai smiled sassy, enjoying the flirt.
They soon heard another truck noise, a little one, who parked next to the one Sakurai came in. From there came another japanese hairy man, but a blonde one, he got off the truck with a bad face, upset.
- Man, what the fuck! This is not the farm you've shown me on the pictures! - The blond man said in rage, being hugged forcely by Atsushi.
- Oh, this is Hisashi Imai! My associate. He holds the money. He's kind of a city man, so don't worry about him complaining. - Hisashi got even more furious, but he ended giving up.
- Howdy, city boy! - Raymond tipped his hat again. - I'm Raymond Watts! - Raymond smiled, but deep down he was sad he couldn't flert as porno as before. - Hey mister Sakurai, would you and your city friend join me for dinner? I'll cook the best pork chop you've ever eaten.
- We don't have t- Hisashi began saying.
- That would be wonderful! But we have many arrangements to do! - Sakurai said closing Imai's mouth. - Now, Raymond, we need to get the house clean and fix some stuff, would you help us? I can promise you a big reward!
- Oh man, I love rewards. - Raymond smiled kinky. - I'll go get my men and come help you both. I'm all curious about this shitake… - He winked before turning back and ride his horse back to the ranch.
Sakurai release Hisashi and both turned to take stuff out of the trucks, in silence as they were both mad at each other. They took some of their personal and put it inside the house, that was all dirty and had some rats on it.
- I can hear them, Atsushi… The rats… i'm a new yorker, I can feel them…- Hisashi said.
- These are countryside rats, they are harmless as long as they stay away from our kitchen food and seeds, we'll get them out in short time. - Sakurai grabbed a nearby old broom to clean the spiderwebs away. - Try the lights.
- … - Hisashi fliped the switch, nothing happened. - Guess you seduced the cowboy for a reason…
- I didn't! - Atsushi said, making Hisashi laugh.
- Oh shut up, I saw how he looked at you. You melted his heart, like, he was bewitched. - Hisashi said while grabbing another broom and starting to clear the floor. - he's cute by the way, not that i like men but… Wow a British guy that looks like a cool hollywood cowboy!
- I'm not interested in man… anymore. - Sakurai checked the water, opening the kitchen sink and smiling as the water turned clear after decluting the pipes for a while. - You know men only play with your heart, they wanna have fun and they never come back and they fucking leave you with a debt of 10.000.000 yen! - Hisashi raised his eyebrows at Atsushi.
- You've told me you were ok… Well, i'm here to help you. I'm sure once we get the shiitake in order to sell them to New York , we'll be fine. - Hisashi smiled.
- Yeah, I don't wanna sell the ranch… I was born here. - Atsushi said sadly.
Yeah, that's how Atsushi got stuck in the ranch again. His former japanese boyfriend wasn't the most honest person, after they experienced a crisis, the man just took all off Atsushi's money and ran away, he also made some debt for Atsushi by making him invest in his business before it. So Atsushi ended up with no money and no boyfriend. Without any chance to get back up in Japan, he contacted his cousin, Hisashi Imai, who lived in New York, to help him restore the family farm in Colorado. Atsushi learned a lot about farming with his mother, and by being born and raised on a farm.
After they cleaned the house superficially enough to put their belongings in, they heard a noise at the door. Atsushi opened it, glad to see his cowboy and some other man there.
- Good afternoon. - Raymond tips his hat while smiling, making Sakurai smile at him too, but in a timid way, the japanese man remembered Hisashi's words. - So, how can we help you?
Atsushi showed them the green hause on the back of the house, there should be the place to put the mushrooms and let them grow. It needed some strong men to pull some of the big threes that grown there by the time, while Hisashi and Atsushi took care of the little ones. The ground also needed to be weeded completely so as not to attract other plants to grow there.
Raymond dismissed his men to come back to his farm, he would take care of all the work in the green house.
- Isn't it too much work for a man? - Atsushi said, handing Raymond some water. - Don't you need any help?
- No, I'm good. It just feels really hot here…
- Oh that's because this green house is..! - Atsushi began to explain, but the sight of Raymond taking his white shirt off made him speechless. The british man had a six pack, a slightly hairy, soft and sweaty sixpack. -... made to make the room hotter… - He continued while shamelessly looking. - But we need to change the… the ceiling so we can make this into a… cold room…
- Oh, so I'll be working at the ceiling too? - Raymond smiled at the man.
- Yes, please … - Sakurai came back to himself. - Oh, sorry! I need to..!
He ran back to the house, leaving Raymond. The englishman just sat outside, drank water and kept imagining what he did wrong. Was he too pushy? Well, Atsushi seemed interested earlier…
Anyway, he kept weeding the camp inside the green house. In some moments he could see that Atsushi was observing from far, in a curious way. Once the greenhouse was done, Atsushi came back with more drinks and food.
- Sorry for earlier… - He sat by Raymond and served him lemonade and some cake. - Sorry if the cake is terrible, too.
- Don't worry. A man like me is used to not so very sweet things. - Raymond grabbed Sakurai by the waist. - Lucky I have you here to make things even. - Sakurai just bowed his head, timid. - Sorry, am I being too pushy? I never meant to make you uncomfortable…
- No, it's just… I've been through a lot… - Atsushi seemed worried, head down and tense, Raymond smiled at him.
- Everything is gonna be fine, believe it. - Sakurai looked at that warm smile, filled with innocence and country side joyness.
- Thanks for all the help. - He bowed like a good japanese man. - How can I repay you? What do you want as a reward? - Raymond looked at the japanese man in the eyed, he could ask for a date, a kiss, but by looking at him, he knew that wasn't the time, that Sakurai's heart needed to be healed.
- A smile. - Sakurai looked at him in confusion. - Smile to me and that's gonna be all.
- What? Hahaha..! - Sakurai laughed with the man, feeling at ease and concentrating afterwards. - Ok, I’ll do my best… - Sakurai relaxed his face and smiled at the man, showing teeth and having fun with how Raymond reacted, the man smiled back at him.
- Hahaha..! See, what a great reward, isn't it? - Raymond took the last bite from the delicious carrot cake Sakurai made. - So… let's get this “cold house” done, shall we?
- I’ll help you!
The cold house, as the mushrooms demanded, was almost complete that day. Sakurai helped Raymond take all the junk from inside the house, clean it and prepare the new ceiling. Meanwhile, Hisashi and Raymond’s man helped inside the house, fixing the lights and helping them move. Hisashi couldn't help to smile at the lit bulb after they fixed all the electricity, he ran to the back of the house to tell Sakurai. Finding his cousin and the cowboy, happily chatting while working on the ceiling’s wood. He couldn't help to keep his happiness to himself, Sakurai deserved to be happy.
- So, everything is fixed, Sirs… - Raymond tipped his hat again, making Sakurai blush cause he smiled directly to him.
- Thanks, Man. We would be sleeping on the floor if it wasn't for you and your help. - Hisashi said. - Anything we can do, just say it. I have connections to many fancy restaurants in New York and San Francisco.
- Ask them if they need pigs, I have every kind there is. - Raymond said while still looking at Sakurai, who just hid behind his cousin. - I’ll come back tomorrow to finish the ceiling. See ya!
- See Ya, british cowboy… - Sakurai said in a low voice, banguing the door and rushing inside.
Hisashi rolled his eyes, he climbed the stairs to the second floor and opened the second bedroom room, to which his cousin had ran away to. Sakurai was sitting in front of the desk, with his hands on his face.
- … why… - He said to himself.
- Love is a burning thing, Atsushi. - Hisashi laughed and crossed his arms. - Well, if you weren't so pretty, that wouldn't happen…
- Shut up..! -Sakurai hit his head on the desk, making Hisashi laugh even more. - The first day… god must be tired of my sins, he decided to tempt me again.
- God didn't send a hot ass gay British cowboy to your doorstep just to punish you, moron. - Hisashi caressed his cousin's hair. - He did it because he felt like helping you.
- Helping..?
- Yes, haven't you noticed? Raymond must be alone here in the middle of nowhere colorado, all his men were straight as a line. And you need a new beginning, so why not..? - Hisashi got away, to the door while trying to convince Sakurai. - Shiitake isn't the only thing we could grow here…
Sakurai bounced his head while taking his bath, trying to take away all the dirt from the day work. He imagined if Raymond had already took his bath, or if he stayed some time in his room trying to figure out how to react to their mutual connection. Sakurai couldn't take his thoughts away from that British Cowboy; He had perfect teeth, rare for a British man. A beautiful accent to match his manly and sexy voice. Abs like the ripples of a river, better wet. What about Atsushi Sakurai..? He looked at himself on the old mirror of that country ranch… he never liked anything about himself, his body wasn't different from any japanese man, not torn or slim enough. His black hair, he thought that the man wouldn't like his thick black hair in a japanese mullet, long hair like a girl’s… and the eyes, all his american friends, as a kid, would point at him and say “how can you see with those?”.
- Damm, I liked his curly hair so much… - Sakurai said to himself, getting dressed in a cotton pijama and going to bed.