#we literally only ever hang out to do mundane stuff. like run errands together. i don’t think we’ve ever gone to an event together

[fingertipsmp3]

Lads should I go to pride

[anarcoqueer1994]

Fic idea: dumbass trio + Cyrus are dumb and get kicked out of Costco

I thought this was a really funny prompt so I tried my best. Hope you like it.

Who Actually Gets Kicked Our of Costco?

Cyrus was perfectly content to have a good day at home by himself but then TJ invited him out. TJ promised him it would be super lowkey. He said there was nothing he had to worry about it. But now he was sitting in a security office of a Costco with Jonah, Marty, and of course, TJ.

It all started earlier that day. It was the first day of summer break after a very stressful sophomore year of high school. Andi, Buffy, Amber, and Libby were having a Dance Dance Film Festival today to celebrate not only the end of the school year, but also Amber's graduation. Cyrus was never really interested in the films so he passed. TJ, Jonah, and Marty on the other hand, were planning a guys day. Cyrus thought that they would probably just play video games, maybe catch a game on TV. Honestly Cyrus didn't really want to do that either. 

The last few years, TJ, Marty and Jonah got surprisingly close. They all bonded over a shared love of sports, but as they hung out more, the three of them realized how much they all had in common. They eventually got really close, the strength of their friendship only rivaled by the Good Hair Crew. And Cyrus was so happy that TJ had friends now other then himself, (and Andi and Buffy by extension.)

But he didn't really like hanging out with just the three of them. Of course they all hung out together with the larger group, and he hangs out with Jonah sometimes. And TJ, it was no question. Any chance to be with his boyfriend he took. Well almost any chance. He always felt a little out of the loop when he was alone with the three of them. He was usually clueless to what they were talking about. He guesses that how people must feel when they were alone with himself, Buffy, and Andi.

But this morning TJ called him asking him if he wanted to spend the day with them

"Come on, Cy. I know Andi and Buffy are busy today." The blonde was practically whining over the phone. "And I want to spend time with my boyfriend."

"I don't really want to intrude on your "guys" day, Teej. We can hang out tonight maybe?" Cyrus tries to bargain with the athlete. After all, he did want to see TJ too.

TJ laughs on the other side of the phone. "Wouldn't really be intruding on a "guy's" day since you are a guy, you weirdo." He teases before pausing for a moment, not really sure how he wants to broach the next subject. "Cy, you never want to hang out with me, Jonah, and Marty. Why? Like I know you and Jonah were friends before you even met me. And I know you like me...well I am hoping you like me. Is it Marty? Do you not like him?"

"No, no. I don't have a problem with Marty. Marty is so good to Buffy and he is a nice guy. It's just… it's just that when the three of you are together, I feel kind of left out. I mean it is not a big deal, I just don't understand a lot of what you guys talk about. I sometimes have to text Buffy just to confirm that you guys are even talking about a sports team. I know it is stupid."

"No it is not stupid, not at all! Cyrus, I'm sorry if we ever made you feel left out. But today will be different. We are actually going to be running some errands for my mom and it would be fun to have you around. It will be super chill. Please?" 

Even without seeing TJ, Cyrus knew he was pouting, with those big green puppy dog eyes. Cyrus relents and sighs. "Fine, I'll go." 

"Great! We will be there in a bit to pick you up." He said excitedly.

"See you in a bit, Teej." He says before hanging up.

**************

Twenty minutes later, TJ pulls up in his jeep, blaring Blink 182. He texts Cyrus letting him know they are there. A moment later, Cyrus comes out the door, smiling at the blonde in the front seat. Jonah had been in the passenger seat but moved to the back when they got to Cyrus' house.

Cyrus gets into the car, leaning over to give TJ a small kiss. "Hey." The shorter brunette smiles as he pulls away. TJ smiles back.

A fake gagging sound comes from the back seat. "Get a room." Marty jokes.

 TJ looks in the rear view mirror and retorts, "You're just mad that my boyfriend actually wants to hang out with me, unlike your girlfriends." He sticks out his tongue before taking off. Cyrus can't help but laugh.

"So what kind of errands are we running?" Cyrus asks.

"Just some grocery shopping at Costco. My mom has a lot of students today and she can't find time to shop. And of course Amber has that thing with the girls. But we really need stuff for the house so I volunteered." TJ replies.

Cyrus hears some suspicious laughter from the back seat. That can't be good. Cyrus turns his head to look at two thirds of the dumbass trio. "What are you guys planning?" He says cautiously.

"Nothing, Cy." Jonah smiles over at Marty. Marty nods in agreement.Cyrus definitely doesn't believe them. He looks over at his boyfriend, who is obliviously singing along to "All The Small Things." He sighs and resigns himself to the fact that today is not going to be as laid back as TJ said.

Before long, they pull into the Costco parking lot and head in. Cyrus takes TJ's hand as they walk through the entrance with Marty and Jonah following close behind. TJ grabs a cart and Cyrus silently let's out a breath of relief. Maybe this would be an uneventful, normal old shopping trip.

But then he sees Marty grab a cart too. Marty gets a look in his eye that Cyrus knows all too well. It is the same look he gets when he and Buffy are going to make some mundane activity a competition. Marty looks over a TJ. "Cart racing?"

TJ gets a devious smile on his face and looks over at Jonah, who mirrors back his expression.

 "I'm not going to like this idea, am I?" Cyrus asked, already knowing the answer.

"Cyrus, it's fun. I promise." The blonde boy says. Cyrus gives him a nervous look so TJ continues on. "Come on Underdog, dancing with danger, remember?'' 

"It is on my bucket list...I guess. What does it entail?" Cyrus caves, reluctantly looking around at the other three boys.

TJ gets close to him putting his arm around Cyrus' shoulder. "What we are going to do is go to one of those really long aisles. We will find an empty on if course. Then we literally race cars down the aisle."

"That does not sound fun. It sounds dangerous." It is no wonder, Cyrus thinks, Buffy and Andi have started referring to these three as the dumbass trio with ideas like this.

"Come on, man. " Jonah says, flashing a big dimpled smile. "It is fun." 

It was obvious the other boys were not going to give up on this idea. Plus, though he will never admit it out loud, it does sound a little fun. Ever since he met TJ, he has felt more and more adventurous. TJ has always been there to drive him out of his comfortable box. Though it could be scary at times, TJ always makes it worth it. Not to mention, he really liked Jonah and even Marty, so this can't be too bad. "Alright. I'm in. You guys lead the way and I will follow along."

"Perfect." Marty smiles pushing his cart towards the back of the store. The others all follow. When they reached a deserted aisle towards the back corner of the store he stops. Walls of pet food surround either side of them. 

"Okay so obviously the teams are me and Cyrus and then you two idiots." TJ laughs before pulling Cyrus to his waist.

Cyrus scrunches up his eyebrows in confusion. The taller boy can't explain why but he thinks it is so cute when his boyfriend does that. "What is it, muffin?" Marty and Jonah roll their eyes playfully at the overly cutesy nickname. They both knew their buddy was whipped. They will always give him a hard time but at the end of the day, they are so happy for him. 

"What are the teams for?" Cyrus asked, genuinely confused.

"Sorry, I forgot to explain that. One person pushes the cart while the other sits inside. Makes it a little harder having to push someone in the cart." He beams at the shorter boy. 

Before Cyrus can respond, Marty cuts in. "Hold up one second, why do you automatically get Cyrus? What if he wants to be on my team instead? " Marty knows how to push his best friend's buttons and loved doing it. So he keeps on. "What do you say, Cyrus? I am the one on the track team, you know. We'd definitely win."

Unfortunately for TJ, Cyrus loves pushing his buttons too. Cyrus feins a look of sympathy as he put his hand on TJ's shoulder. "I love you, I really do. But alas, I have to choose Marty for this one." He pulls away, trying to keep a straight face.

TJ, also one who is not afraid of the dramatics, pretends to pout before looking at Jonah. "That's fine, Cy. Jonah and I are going to leave you both in the dust."

"You wish, Kippen." Marty laughs. 

"Whatever you say, dude. Let's just get this started." Jonah says right before he sticks out his tongue at Marty and Cyrus. Cyrus for his part can only laugh anxiously. 

The boys line the carts up at the front of the aisle. Jonah and Cyrus get into the carts as the other two boys take their positions, ready to push off. Marty leans down slightly  "Ready Cyrus?" After all, anyone with eyes could tell he looked terrified. Cyrus turns his head slightly to look at his teammate. Marty finishes, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. I think TJ would kick my ass if I did." 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw TJ nodding in agreement. This puts a little smile on Cyrus' face despite the fear in the pit of his stomach. He tries to ignore all the possible things that could go wrong. He really is trying to let his guard down and have fun. "Yea, I'm ready. Let's do this thing!" He tries to sound excited but knows it came out pretty lame.He turns to look forward down the aisle. Luckily none of his friends have ever made feel bad for being himself no matter how lame he sounds.

"Great let's get going." Jonah says from the cart next to him. Marty looks at TJ and says "Come on TJ, you are going to have to stop staring at Cyrus like a dummy or we are never going to race." Cyrus blushes at the thought of TJ being distracted by him. He knows they have been dating for more than two years at this point but he still thinks it is cute. 

He doesn't have time to dwell on this too long because his thoughts  are interrupted by Marty yelling "Go!" Suddenly he is flying down the aisle way. His hands grip so tight to either side of the metal box he is now rocketing down the aisle in, that his knuckles turn white. He doesn't know how Marty does it, but he was right, he was faster than TJ, plunging ahead, pushing Cyrus past the blurred colors that were once pet food packages. He can hear laughter coming from the other boys. And then, surprisingly he starts laughing too. He is actually having enjoying himself.

Well he was enjoying himself, that is until he and Marty had to make an emergency detour. An old woman had rounded the corner of the aisle just as Marty was about to cross the invisible finish line. Marty had to swerve to avoid her, knocking Cyrus to the side of the cart as he stopped, inches from hitting her. Jonah and TJ stop second after. She glares at all of them as she walks past to continue shopping.

TJ runs over to Cyrus. "Cy? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good baby. Just help me out of here." Cyrus gives him his hand to steady himself as he steps out.

"Cyrus I am so sorry!" Marty adds, "I didn't mean to slam you into the side. I didn't want to hit that lady.'

"Nah, don't worry. That was actually a lot of fun." Cyrus says earnestly. Jonah comes over and joins them.

"Well then, you guys wouldn't mind a little game of 'Tag!'" Jonah says before tagging Marty on the shoulder and running  off. Marty is quick to follow him. Cyrus feels TJ's fingers intertwined with his before realizing that TJ is pulling him forward. "Come on Muffin, let's run before Marty realizes he doesn't have to just chase Jonah. "

Usually Cyrus would argue but he was against all odds he felt himself running along with TJ. He actually liked this. And any opportunity to hold TJ's hand was a plus for him. So he let TJ pull him through waves of customers, barely dodging people, while nearly knocking over elaborate displays. Eventually they come to a stop in the bulk toilet paper aisle. Cyrus is glad because running has never been his strong suit. 

"Why...did...we...stop?" Cyrus asks while trying to catch his breath.

"Shhh… " TJ says in a whisper. "We have to be quiet in case Marty is around. We are going to hide."

"Hide? Hide how?" Cyrus whispers back.

TJ gives a playful smile before dropping Cyrus' hand and going over to the wall of toilet paper that lined the aisle. He takes a few off the front before pushing the ones behind them to either side, creating a cozy empty spot on the large industrial shelves. Cyrus watches curiously as he does this. TJ looks back at his boyfriend and says "Get in."

"Get in? You want me to climb on a shelf?"

"Yep. This is how we are going to hide, muffin." TJ flashes him another big smile.

Cyrus lets out a little laugh. He can't believe he is about to do this, but honestly, he is having a good time. What is the worst that can happen? "Whatever you say, Teej."

He steps on to the shelf and sits down next to a stack of some store brand Charmin. TJ follows him, squeezing  in next to the shorter boy. He leans forward and stacks the packages he had removed in front of them so it is like they are in their own, dark toilet paper lined room. Because of the close proximity, TJ throws his arm around Cyrus's shoulder to make more room or at least that's what he tells himself.

Cyrus turns his head to face the other boy. He whispers "Thanks for inviting me today." 

"Of course, Underdog. I will always look for an excuse to spend time with you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I do. I am just glad that I did this. I am having a lot of fun you know "visiting the edge." I cannot commit to living there yet but visiting isn't scary with you. " Cyrus jokes. "Plus I think I like hanging out with the dumbass trio."

"What did you just call us?" TJ gives him a puzzled look.

"Ahh it's nothing. Anyhow…" Cyrus says changing the subject. TJ lets it go for now while he listens to Cyrus continue on. "I am sorry for not wanting to come."

"It is okay, you came didn't you? Though…"

"Though what?" Cyrus urges.

"Though I was a little jealous when Marty got to be your partner earlier." TJ playfully huffs. Both boys have their heads turned looking at each other. Their faces are so close.

Cyrus blushes at the thought of him making his boyfriend jealous. He bites his bottom lip before replying. "Well Marty may have been gotten to push me in a cart but you are the only one that gets to do this." Cyrus leans forward, pressing his lips against TJ's and jock is more than happy to respond.

They spend the next few minutes switching between cuddling and making out. They don't realise how much time has passed until they break away from kissing when more light entered their little fortress they created. Both boys blush at the sudden intrusion. Someone removed a package from their wall. When they looked out to see who the perpetrator was, their stomachs dropped. There stood Marty, Jonah...and a security guard.

How about you boys get out here?" The older man said. Obviously they complied. They met eyes with Jonah and Marty who looked just as worried as they did. Usually they would be ripping on TJ for catching him making out with Cyrus but being caught by a Costco security guard really puts some things in perspective.

The guard signals for the group to follow. He leads them to a security office and tells them to sit. "We have gotten several complaints about you guys. A woman complained about almost being knocked over with a speeding shopping cart. Reports of running into people as you played tag. These two…" he motions at TJ and Cyrus "destroying a store display and making out behind it. " None of the boys can take their eyes off the floor. Cyrus nervously plays with TJ's hand. "I am going to need you guys to call an adult to come and get you. And you will not be allowed in the store for 2 years."

Cyrus starts to internally panic. His parents can't find out. That is four whole people to be disappointed in him. TJ senses his tension so he squeezes his hand reassuringly. He looks at the other boys. "I will call Amber." Amber is two years older than them so she is 18 and technically an adult. The security guard asks for her number and gives her a call. He explains what happened in the store over the phone. TJ knows she will be annoyed having to come bail him out but also knows she will cover for him.

What he did not anticipate was Amber bringing all the girls with her. He forgot they were hanging out. She walks into the security office, hand in hand with Andi with Buffy and Libby following close behind them, both staring down the respective boyfriends. After Amber talks to the guard, the boys are allowed to leave with them. When they get to the parking lot. Amber says "Go wait in your car, I am going to go do the shopping you should have done so mom doesn't find out what happened." TJ nods having no room to argue.

 Buffy adds "Oh if any of you think you are going to live this down, you are mistaken. Who gets kicked out of a Costco?"

The boys do as they were told and wait in the jeep. TJ stares at Cyrus in the passenger seat. "So are you still happy you came?" He asks not expecting an answer.

After a few moments of contemplation, he nods his head. "Yes actually, I am. This was a good day. I just can't believe are banned from a Costco." He laughs. Before long, they are all laughing at how stupid what they did was. 

"So…" TJ looks back at Cyrus when they all stop laughing. He has a big frin plastered on his face."What was that about a dumbass trio?"

"Uhhh…" Is all Cyrus can say.

[justfollowmyhansel]

October 13th – By the Gold Light of Your Halo

And the end of this sentence has never been truer. I was almost close enough to touch him…. (Not quite, but I sort of tried to a couple of times since I was literally second row aisle seat.) But I’m getting ahead of myself. Or is that a-Hed? You decide.

I was actually awake when Miya’s alarm went off the first time. Pretending to be asleep, but I’d checked my phone a time or two already.

Shortly after, my mom texted saying she’d talk with my favourite person at the bank about my debit card. I had more than enough to cover what I had tried to buy with it and yet…. Both she and Vicki were going to try to get down to the bottom of this because clearly, this wasn’t good.

I decided to answer the message when I actually got up. Which as it happened was about an hour later when John posted.

Of course 4G in Japan is still super slow and it takes forever to load, but whatever. It’s still John.

The previous afternoon, it was announced that there was no stagedooring. A little disappointing, but the stagedooring aspect was making nervous. What if I said something stupid to him like ‘You were great except for .“ Or "What the fuck is up with your wardrobe? Don’t you know how to dress yourself?” What if I lost the ability to speak my first language? (“John, ich lebe dich. Du bist der Hellstestern, meine Schöner.”)

I mean…. That’s the sort of thing that he might appreciate more if he actually KNEW me and knew that I was meaning that as teasing and that I wouldn’t actually want him to change the way he dresses or that I’m not actually all that fussed about whatever line changes there were (that weren’t supposed to be there.) I know it must be frustrating as hell for him when he forgets his lines or loses track of where he is in the script, but I think it’s cute. Very Hedwig. Very rock n roll. Very…. Robbie Williams. That man sold out STADIUMS and still would forget the lyrics to his hits. (Now he has a teleprompter XD)

Miya and I had breakfast. I had bought a waffle-thing at the store the previous night, but instead I tried some of the raisin sandwiches that I had purchased the night before. They were a sort of hard biscuit cookie with a soft, almost whipped, crème with raisins in it. And tea made with the lactose free coffee creamers that Miya had generously bought for me the night before.

We packed up our stuff to go to the theatre and ride the train. On the way down, I photographed every few stops so that I know where I’m going. On the way in, I saw an ad for a record store. Tower Records. I briefly daydreamt about running into John there. I know we probably wouldn’t if we went, but…. Still. Records. John. Not only two things I love, but things that actually go together.

The station we arrived at was actually under construction, the usual signs in English and Japanese having either been covered or taken down because of the diversions. In their place were signs reading only in Japanese and with arrows. I took photos of the ones I needed to remember to either turn at or follow.

Miya showed me around the Hikarie a little. In the back of my mind, this word sounds familiar to me, but it’s not until the next day that I can begin place it. The tour is more or less just walking by the various shops, occasionally discussing what they are, but more often discussing what’s likely going to happen with the show or Japanese culture questions. We actually went to lunch shortly after arriving.

For lunch, we picked the sushi 🍣 place on the 6th floor. The entire 6th floor is restaurants. Some of the other floors have restaurants and cafes too, like the 11th has a cafe right outside of it, but I wouldn’t know that for a few more hours.)

We go in and are seated.The restaurant has a very Deep Space Nine ordering system. You can click for your own language on the wall-mounted menu, there’s pictures, you tell it how much of everything you want, and the food comes on a short little track thing that looks like one of those short train things you used to see in westerns. And there’s a sushi conveyor belt. Very cool.

Miya remembered that sometimes shops in the Hikarie give discounts if you have a ticket to that day’s/that night’s show at the Orb. She calls it up on her iPad and then calls over the waitress. We get free drinks because we’re seeing Hedwig! I ordered tea, Miya stuck with the water and matcha powder.

We cancel the drink order off of our digital menu and then get down to actually ordering lunch. Miya orders one of the lunch specials, whereas I go a la carte. 

The first things I picked were a tuna roll and two pieces of salmon avocado. I miss avocado. I miss when avocados didn’t cost $5 per fruit…. The food arrives and is incredible. The best salmon with avocado I’ve ever had…. It was one of the few times in my life that I have ever had avocado that was light and melt-in-your-mouth and the salmon was So. Fresh. just… so fresh. 

I then opted to try some of the conveyor belt, pre-made sushi that was circulating around the restaurant. I grabbed the first thing that looked interesting – some small fried shrimp on top of a small pad of rice that was then all wrapped in seaweed. It had a nice, surprising yet mild heat to it. Feeling less certain in my ability to put the whole thing in my mouth, I picked some of the shrimp off of the first piece with my chopsticks. I also tried squid with a little bit of rice.

What I had forgotten about squid from the other time I had it at Wasabi is that it’s a very chewy piece of fish that’s hard to break pieces off of. Which in turn, makes it very hard to eat any of without putting the whole thing in your mouth. And when you swallow it, gives the unpleasant sensation that the whole thing is about ready to come back up.

The last unique thing I ordered was a couple of pieces of red fish on top of rice. I think this one was also tuna, but I’m not sure. And another salmon with avocado.

After we ate, Miya and I went to Bic Camera.

What necessitated going to Bic Camera was getting printer ink. And what necessitated the ink was that Miya wanted to give me maps to help with the getting around. At this point, I was just happy to be along for the ride. I’d never been to any of these places and possibly wouldn’t get a chance to go to them again anytime soon so why not? Just because it’s seemingly mundane, doesn’t mean comparing the differences isn’t interesting. We arrived at Bic Camera and were told that we actually needed to be in a different building for Bic Camera. Later, looking at the map of Shibuya that the Hikarie had for tourists, I learned that there are actually three buildings for Bic Camera in a relatively short amount of space. Who would have guessed!

Once at the correct Bic Camera, we went upstairs to get the printer ink. This building of the BC was set up like a department store, but entirely for computers, cameras, phones, and other electronics with a single floor dedicated to laptops, a different one for printers, a different one for phones, and phone cases hanging off of the edges of the levels as you rode the escalator up. This is the one of the stores I would love to have had the time to truly explore, but this was one of the few days where everything didn’t seem like it was going in such a rush to go here or go there or get this and get that.

We bought the ink and returned to the initial building for Bic Camera. Miya showed me some of the shampoos on offer since I had mentioned wanting to buy some the previous night. I explained that I had meant that I would buy her more of her own shampoo as a thank you for letting me stay with her! (They didn’t actually have her kind of shampoo and then we both forgot about it before I left Japan.)

The next thing on our list of things to do was to pick up the movie ticket for How to Talk to Girls at Parties. About two weeks before the start of the trip, it was announced that John was going to have his Japanese premiere of the film at the end of the week he was performing Hedwig. Of course, the tickets were again done by lottery and while we had won tickets to all of the Hedwig performances, I wasn’t certain that our luck would hold out enough to substantiate changing the plane ticket and extending my hotel reservation on the off chance that this would be the thing we weren’t lucky on. As a sort of consolation, when it was announced that fans could buy advanced tickets for when the movie actually opened in Japan, Miya offered to buy a ticket and give me the promotional pins that came with it. I had thanked her and offered to buy the ticket for her, again as a way of thanks. She had that said she did want to see the movie, that wouldn’t be necessary.

What was interesting then and what’s interesting to me still now is how many buildings in Japan have that department store structure. Where either it’s a multi-floor building that all of the shops belong to one business and you pay on at each floor or where it’s multiple businesses that are still interconnected and you have to walk through a shoe store to get to a dollar store. Being from the midwest where department stores are kind of the sole purview of malls and most businesses only get a single, possibly up to three levels, of their own, this was a fascinating anthropological difference. It wasn’t until I got to Osaka that I started to see more stand alone single story businesses.

We picked up the ticket, and I picked up some flyers for the movie. Miya stuck the pins and the ticket into her bag so that they wouldn’t get lost in my relatively huge Hello Kitty duffle bag that I had brought with me to carry my things and then we went back to the Hikarie. We still had over three hours before the show was supposed to start and had exhausted all of the errands that we had to do that day. 

Miya asked what I wanted to do, if there was any shops that had caught my eye, or if there was any particular type of store that I wanted to visit and I remembered seeing the billboard ad for Tower Records on the way in. Off of the prompt ‘record store’ (cos I couldn’t remember the name), Miya found where we needed to be and we set off again, past Bic Camera, and arrived at the record store.

What I was looking for most was David Bowie or Queen things. Both musicians are ones that I have numerous antidotes and stories both from and about in Japan. Freddie in particular absolutely adored Japan and had his house decorated in a Japanese/Victorian England style and David, well Japan was the first time that David felt like a success. (In addition – the story that he told in one of Mick Rock’s books about how he was given a beautiful cape that had writing on it, that he used in his Ziggy shows a lot, but didn’t know what it meant for over 20 years. It was his name.)

We entered on the second floor, and like I usually do in record stores, I found the clearance/discount section on the floor I wanted and started looking through. I didn’t find anything for David, but I did find some Beatles and George Harrison. It wasn’t until we started looking through the aisles that I found David. His section had the last photo that was ever taken of him as the header section – it’s by Jimmy King, it was taken on his birthday, I was not expecting to see that photo on that day. I started looking through the collected CDs, finding a few that I took photos of for later purchasing or eBay searching. (At this point, I was still using the money converter to estimate about how much each thing would cost.) All the while, I’m telling Miya little antidotes about David or about the recording of each particular album, session, or concert. It’s the first time this trip that I nearly start crying…..

Eventually, we leave the section – or rather, I decide that we have to leave the section – and go looking for Queen. It occurred to me in the process of making that decision how silly it would be to be crying on the day that I was seeing Hedwig for the first time.

Along the way, I found Freddie’s solo section. The price for his singles was just a little too high for what I was willing to pay at the moment, but I took yet another photo of the back for later research when I had the time and wasn’t anticipating potentially buying a lot of merchandise at the show. So far, the only things that had been announced were the t-shirt and the program, but in the back of my mind, I kept thinking that more things might have been announced. And of course, dropping a LOT of money on Hedwig merch was the reason I had come out to Japan right now anyway. Well, that and seeing John.

Unfortunately, the Queen section was the same story – I either already had it or didn’t want to pay as much as the asking price for it. According to Miya, it’s because of the import charge. I found this highly ironic since in the US, it’s usually the Japanese things that have the extreme import charges. 

Since that was it for that floor, after a brief flick-through of the clearance section up front, I purchased a David interview CD, a small magazine for my mother with The Smiths on the cover, and a bag of record sleeves since they were cheaper to buy here than to wait to get in the US.

We walked back down to the floor that we thought Ataru’s music would most likely be on and outside, I picked up some more flyers and booklets for things that I thought sounded interesting or cool. I ended up buying one of Ataru’s CDs – her most recent – before we moved onto the last floor we visited that day: soundtracks and movies.

That particular Tower Records had nothing for Hedwig nor RENT on the day that we visited, but I was able to snag some photos of the press for Trainspotting 2 (my favourite film with a US release this year) before we left.

We headed back to the Hikarie again and still had about an hour and a half before the show was going to start. Miya asked if I wanted to go get something on one of the lower levels or at the cafe outside the theatre, but since re-entering the building, it was all about Hedwig. Every part of me was focused on Hedwig. And like I usually am before seeing a show I’m highly anticipating or talking to a crush, I was trying not to vibrate out of my skin. Definitely too nervous to eat.

We went to the convenience store outside of the theater, this time a Lawson and not a 7/11, and I bought a pack of something that was shoved into my bag for later and a hot bottle of tea. The flavour of the tea was what I’d imagine hot barley to taste like, not bad, but not really….flavoured at all. Not that it mattered. Not that any of it mattered since it was getting down to ACTUALLY seeing the show.

A few minutes of nervously waiting outside the theatre passed and Miya opted to take another swing around the building again. We take some photos out of the windows at the now, very night time, Tokyo and then literally walk around the building. When we return, the doors have opened to go upstairs. We take the escalator, show our tickets, and are allowed into a room with posters advertising the program, a tv screen showing the currently static stage, the merchandise booth, and the many, many cosplayers for the evening. (While we had been waiting, I had looked up to one of the upper levels and very, very briefly mistaken one of the cosplayers for John.)

I bought the merchandise for myself and for Risa, Miya bought a program for herself, and then we went to find our seats. Our SECOND ROW seats.

They were playing Love Will Keep Us Together as we sat down and I was trying not to completely freak out since it’s one of the songs mentioned in the script! And then immediately after, Young Americans by David Bowie. Another song referenced in the script!! When they played Lust for Life by Iggy Pop, I figured the show would be starting since it was traditional that Iggy was usually the last artist played before the show started. In Japan, it wasn’t. Light My Fire by The Doors was.

And the show started with Ataru coming from one of the side doors and announcing “Ladies and gentlemen, whether you like it or not, Hedwig!!! Hed-wig! Hed-wig! Hed-wig!” getting the audience to cheer and chant for Hedwig, clapping for her arrival into the venue. I was turned, looking at Ataru, clapping of course, chanting for Hedwig’s arrival when the show started.

On Broadway, Hedwig had descended from the ceiling; Off-Broadway, she had come from the back of the venue, sauntering up to the stage…. but here, here Hedwig was standing behind the screen projecting an image of the Berlin Wall with graffiti on the Western side and stark nothing on the East. As the audience chants, the wall develops cracks in the middle, eventually exploding from the middle with Hedwig standing triumphant, beautiful…. in the sudden divide between East and West. I… had been looking in the wrong direction.

I whipped my head back towards the stage so quickly you’d have developed second-hand whiplash watching me.

Part of the performance, I’m watching the show completely amazed that this is happening, that this is real. That I’m actually in the same room as my favourite show being performed. I’m not sure I blinked the entire time I was watching the show. The other part of the performance, the part that features Yitzhak more than Hedwig, I’m still looking at John, looking to see how he is reacting to Yitzhak as Hedwig or simply being Hedwig without speaking and without making grand movements at that point. Mostly just…. being. To me, it’s fascinating, being in the second row. Being able to see all of the little reactions, expressions, costume alterations behind semi-opaque screens. In a way, it’s like a “How It’s Made” of my favourite show. Sometimes, during these moments I feel like I should probably actually be watching Yitzhak since she’s the one driving the action at that point….

The show was staged completely different from any version of Hedwig I’d ever seen before with new lines, new alterations to the script and to the format. For the first time since the movie, I’m seeing a production that doesn’t either actually have Emily Hubbly’s drawings or someone imitating her style. The design of the animations is specifically more Japanese than the other versions, which of course makes sense being as the show is set in Japan.

The show was also basically a public dress rehearsal; something that annoyed some of the people on Twitter later (apparently), but I found completely wonderful. Again, this is a show that I know so well that I can follow international versions where I don’t speak the language just based off of intuiting a few words, of course I want to see a messier version of the show. A less polished version in terms of performance. My two favourite differences that weren’t in the script were 1.) where Hedwig is talking about masturbating Tommy in the bath and her wig completely popped off. She looked very surprised for a moment before picking up her wig and continuing perfectly. And 2.) the line change that Hedwig had in Wicked Little Town Reprise? She sang it so confidently for being the absolute wrong lyrics…. And of course, a million other little improv things stood out, like Hedwig calling Yitzhak her “oto” and then asking “what’s the other one again? [Yitzhak supplies word] Oh that’s right.” And the golden Hello Kitty patch on her ass (up towards her hip more than centered like the handprints were on Broadway.)

At the end of the show, I felt like I had probably smiled through 90% of the show it was performed so well. John, of course was amazing. And Ataru was completely incredible. I had anticipated loving her from the things that I had seen of her on YouTube and she blew away any expectations that I had had of her, she was so good.

Afterwards, as Miya and I walked out of the venue, she asked what I wanted to get for dinner/snack after the show. I said I didn’t care; wherever she wanted was fine because I had literally just had one of the best experiences of my life.

We opted to go back to the sushi restaurant, this time actually sitting at the bar/lunch counter. She ordered some a la carte sushi this time, I took more things off of the sushi conveyor belt. Since we had seen the show now, we were technically entitled to more free drinks. I opted to go for a not-free option of cold sake and Miya had…. I think iced tea? Maybe more matcha.

Honestly, cold sake tastes exactly like hot sake, but just a little bit smoother. While I liked the smoothness of it, I think the hotness of the hot sake helped it out a little bit more. I definitely would not drink sake on a regular basis, but it is interesting to me to see how that strong of a taste when blended into a sauce for Chinese food is completely minimized outside of an afterburn when you swallow. Miya had a sip or two of it too and I don’t think she was all that impressed with it either. I accidentally knocked over my glass at one point, getting the menu and the counter wet and sake-covered. I think the waiter thought I was drunk, but truly, I was just that clumsy.

While we ate, I searched for that one video I had remembered John posting about being worried about a lot of serious things and then his ass. I thought it would be a good idea to say “I don’t know about the other things, but your ass looked amazing from the second row!” I swear to you, I came up with that before I even thought about ordering the sake.

We paid and left both the restaurant and the Hikarie. I was feeling very optimistic. And a little sleepy.

The journey back went very smoothly and unlike the previous night, we did not stop at the 7/11 before going back to Miya’s.

Back at her apartment, I flipped through my own copy of the program by cell phone flashlight before falling asleep. Only a few Instagram posts by John of various backstage photos and rehearsal video keeping me awake.