Chapter Two: Love Bites 

Matsumoto Jun

Jun was glad to get out of the house. Toma’s unexplainable and sudden mood swings were starting to get on his nerves, especially when he couldn’t help Toma when he locked himself in the bedroom.

So, Jun left a note on the table for Toma, explaining that he was going out for a bit and to call if he needed anything. Slipping on his shoes and walking out the door, Jun headed towards the mall.

When Jun entered the busy building, he pulled out his leather wallet from his pocket in search of something. He didn’t really want to spend a lot of money today, mainly because he didn’t really need to buy anything. Finally, Jun pulled out a coupon and looked it over with a slight scowl behind his glasses.

"EcoLove...." Jun mumbled the store’s name under his breath while reading over the details on the half price sale. It definitely wasn’t a store he would buy things in on his own, he just didn’t really like clothing made from recycled things or jewelry made from hemp and wood.

But his older sister, who had given him the coupon in the first place, said he should definitely check it out because of the hat collection.

And Jun could never say no to hats.

Following the giant mall map, Jun soon found his way to the store "EcoLove" and stopped in front of the doors. It was... earthy, to say the least. The store’s name was a huge board of wood hanging over the glass doors with "EcoLove" carved into it and painted with black ink.

Since the store’s doors were wide open, Jun could hear the ambiance of birds chirping and the trickling of rain. He looked around him self-consciously before slowly entering the store, suddenly feeling out of place when his pure leather boots hit the forest green, shag carpet.

Looking slowly at all the peace sign shirts and typical environmental-loving clothes, Jun wasn’t quite sure if hats were worth all this.

"Oh! Welcome!" Jun was suddenly met by a strangely cheerful sales clerk. He sat behind the checkout desk and slouched over, continue eating his instant ramen. Thankful the store was empty, Jun walked up to the desk and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me... but... you do have hats here, right?" Jun asked in a low voice. The weird guy grinned widely and poked his chopsticks in the direction of where Jun needed to go.

"At the very back behind the tree, Bro. Lots of hats there." Jun could only blink at being addressed "Bro" by the man, but still thanked him and ventured deeper into the store.

Passing up the hemp, wooden and rope jewelry and the jeans claiming to be made from "other recycled jeans", Jun found himself face to face with something fascinating.

Towards the back of the store, there was a live tree growing from the ground. At closer inspection, Jun found that there was a hole in the ground where the soil and water was, covered by wire mesh and a little fence around the tree to keep people from getting too close.

Looking up at the ceiling, there was a skylight that let the sunlight beam down onto the tree.

"Oh... wow." Jun whispered, smiling slightly at the glowing plant. It was simply amazing how the light seemed to bounce off the perfect coloured bark and illuminate the store with it’s very presence.

Jun suddenly had the urge to touch the tree... but he knew it would be a bad idea, even if the strange store clerk wasn’t paying any attention to anything else but his food.

Backing up just a little to the hats behind him, Jun tried to focus his mind on finding a few, but couldn’t think about anything else but the tree staring at him.

Jun looked over his shoulder at the plant and then back to the hat in his hand. Smiling slightly, Jun walked over to the tree and gently reached up, placing the hat on one of the branches. Laughing a little to himself and biting his bottom lip shyly, Jun turned around to get another hat.

A few moments later, the sales clerk came tottering along, humming a song under his breath, but stopped short when he saw the tree. And Jun.

The tree was completely covered in hats on it’s branches, leaving nothing on the wall behind it. And Jun... Jun had come as close as he could to the fence and leaned over, wrapping his arms around the tree’s trunk and laying his head against the plant.

"Uh... I don’t think we’re supposed to do that..." the sales clerk said wearily, not sure whether to laugh or call security. Jun quickly jumped away from the tree and tried to play off that he was just caught hugging a tree. Looking around for something, Jun ignored his burning face and nervously scratched his head.

"Dude... why’d you dress the tree?" the guy asked, walking around the tree curiously. Jun scowled at him and pouted.

"Don’t trees like fashion too? I mean, it’s sitting here all day around these clothes and hats, waiting to be part of it all, but everyone’s too busy caring about themselves." Jun said defensively, staring down the amazed clerk.

It was true, Jun would hate to be in the tree’s roots, sitting around watching other people enjoy clothes, knowing you could never be apart of it.

The guy smiled and nodded rapidly.

"You totally love the trees too! We all need to love the trees more, man. They let us breathe, you know?" the clerk said happily, running a hand through his crazy hair. Jun looked down at his feet shyly and felt a small smirk grow on his face as he blushed deeper.

"Love?"
 

Toma greeted Jun the next day in high spirits and a warm breakfast in bed. Jun stared at the food in a sleepy confusion and then looked up to a grinning Toma.

"What’s this for?" Jun asked, poking at the questionable omelet and... toast? At least he knew he had orange juice.

"An apology, for locking myself up. I wanted to make you dinner, but you stayed out really late last night. Where’d you go?" Toma asked curiously, helping himself to the breakfast.

Jun bit his lip hard to hide the smile threatening to break through. Toma looked at him in question, but Jun just shook his head and drank the orange juice.

"Oh! You’re back!" Jun was once again greeted by the same clerk. Jun grinned and walked straight through the store to the tree, a little bubble of happiness filling his heart.

It was strange how his heart started to beat just a little faster when he could see the sunlight radiating off the deep green leaves. His eyes sparkled as he neared the tree.

"I’m sorry... the store does have closing hours... you weren’t lonely were you?" Jun whispered to the tree, his lips inches away from the rough bark. His fingertips brushed across the plant and he slowly hugged the tree once again. Jun closed his eyes and sighed. He had to admit that he’d never felt more relaxed as he was now.

If he was allowed, Jun would have made this "EcoLove" store his new home. And he tried, but the store clerk just laughed weirdly and asked Jun if he could leave the store so he could lock up.


Kicking off his shoes at the door, Jun walked in the house to find Toma awake on the couch, chewing a fingernail anxiously with a deep frown. Jun paused and slowly approached Toma.

"Are you okay?" Jun asked worriedly. Toma flicked his eyes up to Jun and shook his head.

"No... I just..." Toma stopped talking and pointed over to the coffee table. Jun walked over and picked up the tabloid magazine, flipping it open. Inside was a shot of Jun entering "EcoLove" the day before and another picture of him exiting the store.

The headline was shouting accusations of Matsumoto Jun becoming obsessed with saving the world... one ecofriendly purchase at a time.

"So? What’s wrong?" Jun asked, laying the magazine down.

"Is there... something... attracting you to that store?" Toma asked boldly.

"N- no... why would you think that? I don’t have anything... to save." Jun stammered, growing suddenly nervous under Toma’s stare.

Jun shook his head and quickly walked away, not wanting to talk anymore about the subject. When Toma was sure Jun was in the shower, he carefully pulled out the television remote and turned the TV back on to reveal episode three of Maou... on pause.

As Matsumoto Jun’s schedule became more and more hectic and demanding, there was no time to stop by "EcoLove" anymore. And with each day away from the store, the more irritable he got and Toma often found himself sleeping on the couch.

It was no secret that Jun was missing something from his life, but just what it was, nobody knew.

His encounter with the "EcoLove" tree opened Jun’s eyes to the beauty of the world. When Arashi were filming on location or driving somewhere, Jun took more notice in the gorgeous and leafy beings around him.

But no matter how many times Jun tried to charm one of them, not one could ever take the place of the "EcoLove" tree.

Nearly two months had passed since Jun’s last trip to the mall with the tree and now, finally, he had time off again to do what he pleased.

"Oh, you’re going out again? Could I come?" Toma asked eagerly, jumping up from the couch as he saw Jun walk past in some of his nicest clothes. Jun stopped short of the door and turned to face Toma. He scrunched his nose and tilted his head sideways in thought.

"Eh... Toma... I don’t think you’ll like the store much... How about we go someplace tomorrow?" Jun suggested with a quick smile, but rushed through the door before Toma had time to respond.

It was horrible. This was not what it was supposed to be. Jun stood in shock outside "EcoLove" watching construction workers remove the indoor tree branch by branch. In a slight panic, Jun found the weird sales clerk.

"Oh! You’re back! Long time no see, Bro! Hey, you know Matsumoto Jun has been in here! Dude... I wish I was working when he came in here...." he greeted Jun happily, balancing piles of shirts in his arms. Jun ignored the guy’s stupidity and pulled him close.

"What’s going on? What’s happening to the tree?" Jun almost whined, watching more branches pass by him in horror.

"Oh, dude... termites and ants."

"...termites and ants?"

"Yeah, termites and ants."

Jun and the sale clerk stared at each other. Jun waited to see if the guy was going to explain more, but when he started to stock the shelves, Jun knew it was hopeless.

Rushing further into the store, Jun skidded to a stop in front of a bare tree, it’s once beautiful green leafed branches gone, leaving only it’s trunk. Jun pushed his way through the men collecting debris.

"Oi, you can’t be over here now." one man said as Jun managed to get close enough to place his hand on the trunk. Jun glared at the man and his other workers.

"Just give me a second alone, will you?" Jun asked sharply. The workers scowled at him in confusion and shook their heads.

"Come on, kid, we got work here..."

"Please! Just a second." Jun pleaded again, stepping between the men and the tree. Luckily for Jun, the sales clerk came to his rescue.

"Aw, come on, man. This dude’s love for the tree is way pure."

With annoyed sighs and grumbles, the men walked away with the clerk, leaving Jun and the tree alone.

Jun swallowed nervously and looked at the tree sadly, trying to ignore the holes in the perfect trunk.

"I’m sorry I couldn’t be here to protect you... I never meant for this to happen..." Jun whispered, his fingers stroking the bark softly. He bit his lip softly to control the tears, but allowed one or two to fall from his eyes onto the scarred bark.

He couldn’t do anything now to save the tree... it was dying and it was all Jun’s fault.

"Please forgive me..." he whispered again, hugging the delicate plant.

Jun kissed the tree softly a few times, before finally letting go and stumbling through the store and out the doors.

Jun had wondered the night in tears, trying to tell himself that maybe the tree would be reborn into a luckier tree and that somehow they would meet again...

Toma heard the door open and he scrambled for the remote control. Tired and emotionally exhausted, Jun tripped through the hallway and into the living room, only to find a very guilty looking Toma standing in the middle of the room. Jun scowled in confusion.

"What are you doing?" he asked wearily, eyeing the TV remote in Toma’s hand. Toma took a step back and shook his head.

"Nothing... just watching a show..." he shrugged. Jun looked at the TV and found it shut off. Suddenly suspicious of Toma, Jun strode across to the TV and pressed the power button.

"It’s just show!" Toma argued, trying to turn the television back off, but being blocked by Jun.

Finally, the television turned on to reveal a very peaceful gardening show. Toma noticed Jun’s stance stiffen and he gulped nervously... he knew Jun was the type to get jealous over anything...

"There’s... gardening shows?" Jun asked quietly, turning to face Toma. Toma nodded quickly and smiled in embarrassment.

"I found it... today..." he explained. Jun scoffed and walked over to the couch behind him, Toma cautiously following suit, not entirely sure why Jun was suddenly so calm.

"I think... this is my cure..." Jun mumbled to himself as he watched the luscious orange grove trees being sprayed down by a hose, making the clear water roll down the spotless trunks.

"Cure?" Toma asked curiously... but neither got around to asking or answering anymore questions once the program switched to the wonders of the huge Redwood forest.