Top Bloke

This is a work of pure fiction. All persons and events herein are fictional. Any and all resemblance to actual persons and events is purely coincidental. Persons portrayed are 18 years of age and older. Please comment.

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The chilly late March night air seeped through the cedar walls of the changing room. The four of us were spending the three-day weekend in rural Kumamoto with an onsen tour. Perennial yellow grass carpeted the area near the foothills of the Kuju Mountains and Mt. Aso, surrounding the volcanic landscape slashed through with swaths of forest located near the frontier of Oita Prefecture. The area is rich in natural springs warmed with geothermal heat making it into a popular resort area and tourist destination. Not that you could see any of it in the inky darkness surrounding our remote pension.

This particular pension, undoubtedly like many others, had a private onsen bath on the outside. You could reserve a block of time during the evening, or pop in if it was free in the morning. Just having come back from a bit of sightseeing and a late dinner, I signed up for the last slot. Laura and Dee were tired and decided to wait for the next day of our excursion for their turn. As the driver, I didn't have time to get a shower before I gathered everyone for our trip, so I was feeling a bit gross. I had just sat down on the ice cold bathing stool on the other side of the change room to prepare for my soak when the door opened. Nick was standing in the entrance holding his small towel to his chest with one hand, and his other covering his genitals.

"Jeez, it's freezing," he said through chattering teeth as he toddled over the cold stone to the second stool. "Now, how do I do this?"

It was Nick's first time coming to a Japanese hot spring, so he was understandably confused and nervous. We had to convince him a bit to come and wear him down a little more to get him to commit to trying the baths. Tonight was something of a crash course in etiquette and customs.

"Did you use the bathroom? There's no peeing in the bath." It was a joke, but you never know with some people.

"Yeah," he said sitting down. "Now what?"

"You can put your towel to the side, and start getting your body wet with the buckets," I said. I filled one bucket with water from the tap and poured it over my shoulder. Nick followed suit as we poured buckets of hot water on ourselves. "Now, wash your body. Are you going to wash your hair too?"

"Yeah, I might."

"Do that after the bath. You're going to sweat, so it's going to get dirty again. If you're planning to wash it again tomorrow, wait for the last one."

"Sure thing." Nick pumped some body wash into his hand and lathered his body as I did the same. Being an old hat at it, I pretty unabashedly spread the soap over myself, while Nick was more furtive. "This is so weird."

"Trust me, after the first time in daylight, it's going to be less awkward."

"I didn't really grow up with nudity, y'know," he said. "No one in PD-H-PE showered and we just got changed as quickly as possible."

"Not even your brothers? You shared a room and never saw each other?"

"Nope."

"I have two sisters, and there wasn't any time to get showered after gym class, so casual nudity wasn't that common for me either, " I said. "I took a life drawing class though. It desensitized me to nudity pretty quickly. The first five minutes are the most awkward, and after that it's like whatever. Same with the onsen." I took the shower head down and turned it on. I was shivering. "Use the shower to wash off the soap. It's easier to get everything. Just try not to have it go crazy."

"Okay." He grimaced as the water from his shower hit him. "This isn't all that warm."

We continued to rinse ourselves off in silence.

"And now, to get into the bath."

The bath itself, like many onsen, was in-ground, lined with a natural-looking stonescape. The hot water was fed into the pool through a pipe covered in a bamboo stalk. A few small lights in the surrounding garden gave just enough light to see by. The lights from the pension peaked over the tall wooden privacy fence. The hazy vapor hung above it like a thin mist. It was big enough for maybe three adults. Group bathing isn't rare in Japan, despite how it is back in America, or as it seemed to be in Australia. Sometimes it takes an extended stay away from home to get you out of your comfort zone, I guess.

We entered the hot water and hissed between our teeth.

"Blimey, that's hot," Nick said. "It feels like my toes are going to boil off."

"Yeah," I said. I steeled myself and sat down. The hot water went up to my shoulders in a rush and the heat quickly swept into my core. "Fuck yeah... Sit down, man."

Nick grimaced again and sat. "Jesus!" Then, his face immediately relaxed and a goofy grin spread across his face.

I laughed. "Someone likes it."

"Yeah. Good shout, mate." He let out a chuckle.

It was still too early in the year for there to be insects or frogs, so we sat in the quiet night for a little while. A gentle breeze rustled the foliage of the garden plants. I watched Nick's face as he reclined against the edge of the pool, eyes closed. He looked so blissful.

I had been teaching English for the past ten years in Japan, mostly in rural areas, although this year I transferred a bit closer to one of the larger cities in Miyazaki Prefecture. It's still considered the countryside where I am, but there is an area that could definitely be called "downtown." My last assignment wasn't too far away from where I am now, so I was lucky to keep most of my old acquaintances and my place. Nick, one of the new teachers in the area who came in September, always wanted to travel to Japan and could finally afford to take time off for the trip. Since it was an opportune weekend I invited him along. I've been to onsen quite a few times in the past few years. We - us English teachers - usually decide to make a trip with any sort of freetime we get, since most of us came to Japan with travel in mind.

Nick was originally hired into my new board of education, but the way our contracts are structured because of Japanese employment laws, if there aren't enough schools, we need to be moved to a new BOE after three years. So, I'd be working in the city where Nick was now, and he would be moving into my old schools and taking my position in April.

I filled him in on the lay of the land as best as I could. Usually there isn't this much time in a handover, so we made the most of it. I prepared the year's curriculum and saved a bunch of worksheets, PowerPoints and things for him to use as well as giving him the lowdown on teachers and problem students. The Japanese teachers move every few years for equitable access to education, but the general feel of the schools stays the same. We've become thick as thieves in the past six months. Most weekends we hung out, usually getting dinner on Friday nights or doing something on a Saturday. We spent a lot of time together as we were close - we, the self-designated old men of the group, both being in our thirties and looking to change careers. Him from IT, and me from insurance into teaching.

"So, I gotta say, I'm a little nervous about next week," Nick confided to me the weekend before our trip. We were doing our weekly booze up and dinner. We settled on yakiniku - Korean barbecue.

"Yeah? About what?"

"Well... um... It's like a locker room, right? A bunch of naked dudes and everything's on display..."

"Uh-huh." I took the bits of meat and vegetables off of the grill and divided them up between the two of us. The smell of cooked meat, beer and a faint waft of tobacco smoke filled the small partitioned room we were in. I was waiting for him to spit whatever he was building up to out and I didn't want to rush him, but couldn't resist teasing. "Worried about size?"

"Ye-what? No! No. Maybe I would have been in the past, actually - but not that. I was kind of chubby up until freshman year in college, so I was teased for that, and... ummm..."

I took the pause to kill my second beer and started my third.

Nick's voice dropped to a near whisper. "I'm uncircumcised."

"Is that all? And you don't have to whisper. A bunch of drunken Japanese people don't understand what we're talking about, and they don't care."

He looked sheepish.

"Anyway, you're not going to be alone with your dick-sitch," I said matter-of-factly. "A few of the other guys are from the UK and Australia, too. Those who I haven't seen before are most likely going to be rocking the manhood. And circumcision isn't really a thing here. You'll fit in."

"Really? I didn't know. I thought it would be pretty common. It was common back when I was born back in Melbourne - it seems like loads of my friends are - so I assumed.... But still..."

There's more?

"I don't know the protocol.," he buried his face in his hands. "I know Japan has all these rules and customs. What if I fuck something up?"

"Just do what everyone else does, man." He was starting to annoy me. He's hardly fresh to the country and can hardly order a beer for himself, plus I was still driving him around because he hadn't found a car yet, six months in. Maybe it was the beer getting to me. I decided to cut myself off, putting down the beer and grabbing my water.

"Yeah, but like... What should I do?"

That led to this little tutorial today at the pension. When the bath situation was explained at check-in we made plans to go together. The guy running the check-in suggested going as doubles or groups - guys and girls - as the bath gets busy at night.

I hated to admit it, but I was really looking forward to it. Over the months we spent together I found myself getting more and more attracted to him. He was easy on the eyes to start with - dirty blond hair, hazel eyes, a handsome face... he was a little shorter than me at about five-seven or five-eight, with an average but athletic build. Nick was a consummate joker with an infectious horsey laugh. We could hang out for hours. God, I could kiss him right now.

He opened his eyes and made a face. "What are you looking at?"

I blushed, thankful for the darkness. "You look like the cat who ate the canary," I chuckled.

He went to splash me. "No horse play and no loud voices," I cautioned him.

"Spoil sport."

We shot the shit a little longer, and Nick washed his hair. Before long it was time to go in. We brushed our teeth together at the shared sinks of the pension and I changed into my pajama pants while Nick was using the bathroom. When I came back from my own trip to the toilet, Nick was in athletic shorts and an old purple t-shirt. We chatted for a while with the lights off.

I had won the coin toss for the bed, so Nick was in the cot which was also in the room. The bed was fairly comfortable, and the thin kakebuton, essentially a comforter, was surprisingly warm. Our talk slowly petered out and we drifted off to sleep.

There was a loud thud in the middle of the night. I sat up waiting to see if the room would start swaying or alarms would sound. Earthquakes are the worst. Instead there was a moan and a curse from Nick.

"Fucking hell. This rubbish thing just collapsed." He sat in the shambles of the cot. He stood up and came towards the bed. "Shove over."

I opened the covers to the cold night air and scooted toward the other side of the bed. Nick climbed in and I threw the blanket over us again, and just as quickly fell asleep again.

I woke up again to the first pale gray hints of dawn peering through the window. My phone told me it was just after 6:20. We didn't have to get up for a few more hours.

In the faint light I could see Nick facing me with his eyes closed. He had the blanket pulled up to his chin and he was burrowed down into the pillow, and his mop of hair made a spectacular crown of tousled bed head. I was about to roll over to face the wall when his long lashes fluttered and his eyes opened. He smiled sleepily.

"What are you looking at," he said, voice still thick with sleep. He stretched a bit and his eyes narrowed with mock scrutiny and accusation.

"I just got up," I moaned. "Go away."

He reached up to pat my own messy hair down.

"It's all up at odd angles, you yobbo."

I made a snap at his hand when he brought it to my cheek. He stroked my beard gently and then leaned in.

His soft lips touched mine and electricity surged through me like a shot. My heart was thundering. He pulled back, looking at me with those gorgeous hazel eyes now wide with shock.

"Holy shit," I breathed. Butterflies were startled into spectacular flight in my stomach and they swarmed throughout my body in a violent iridescent swarm.

"Oh no!" Nick moaned and pulled the blanket over his head. "I'm so sorry!"

"About what," I asked. The butterflies dissipated with concern.

"I didn't mean to kiss you. I couldn't help myself."

"It's fine. I'm glad you did! I've been holding myself back," I gushed. Being in Japan, especially rural Japan, was hard for my love life. It's not that the country is homophobic, but as a foreigner there were few serious prospects. The other English teachers were mostly a young crowd and yearly turnover was high. Before I got too excited, there was one other consideration -

"I thought you were straight?"

"Me too," he said.

"Huh? I haven't exactly been hiding the fact that I'm..."

"No, not you. Me. I don't know what's wrong with me," Nick whined from under the covers.

"Nothing is wrong with you. And for what it's worth, I've been with a girl or two in my day - one was even after I came out. It didn't make me straight."

Nick peeked out from the white kakebuton. He looked pitiful.

"Did you like kissing me?"

"It wasn't the worst thing," he admitted.

"Well, maybe it's not a bad thing then."

"I was not expecting to be doing this angsty shit in my thirties." Nick lowered the thick duvet-like covering to expose his head and shoulders. "I felt something for you since November or December, but thought it was just because you're one of my best mates here. Maybe I'm not straight."

"I'm not going to press the issue, but I'm here to talk, if you want. Or if you want space to figure yourself out, we can see if anyone wants to switch."

"No, I'm fine." He looked at me. "Can I kiss you again?"

I eagerly leaned into him and our lips touched again. His lips were soft and his movements strong and commanding as we made out. We exchanged kisses to the jaw, nippled and licked earlobes. We gently teased each others necks and throats and our hands snaked up shirts to explore one another's chests. His pecs were lightly furred and his nipples were sensitive.

"I'm so hard," he whispered.

Suddenly, Nick's hand moved to my crotch. "Shit, you are too."

My own hand moved to the lump in Nick's shorts.

In an unspoken agreement, we fished eachother's hard cocked out. Nick was about six inches long, and thick. His luscious foreskin covered his glans like a Phrygian cap. I pulled down the satiny flesh to expose his glistening, purplish glans.

"You too, eh?" Nick chuckled as he stroked my cock, the prepuce sliding to expose and cover my own knob. "It's a monster... how didn't I see this before?"

In the darkness of the onsen, I suppose neither of us managed to scope out the goods, although I'm definitely a grower.

We worked on each other with our hands, kissing and watching our fists stroke our twin tumescences. I broke our lip-lock to kiss a path down Nick's body. I reached his crotch and inhaled the faint scent of his body mixed with the subtle lingering mineral odor of the hot spring and a slight hint of the body wash. I opened my mouth to take him in when Nick stopped me.

"I don't think I'm there yet," he said.

"That's cool. At all, or can I do something else?"

"What?"

"Maybe suck on your sack and eat your ass," I ventured.

"Sure."

Nick and I arranged ourselves, Nick on his back, shorts and underwear now discarded, holding his knees and me nestled between them. I took each orb in my mouth in turn, lightly sucking and tonguing them as Nick moaned softly while stroking his cock. I moved lower, licking and kissing his taint before I arrived at his hole.

Nick had a great butt in general. Shapely and defined it filled out his pants nicely, but naked it was not too hard and firm. There was just enough jiggle to give it an ample roundness I'm sure anyone would appreciate.

The fine specimen of ass was lightly haired, with a beautiful divot that was slightly darker. I dove in. Nick squirmed and chuckled because of my beard tickling him, but his hand held my head firm as my tongue explored this most private juncture. Between his steering and my movements, we found a sequence which drove Nick wild.

He was close.

I lifted myself up and knelt between Nick's legs, by cock inches from his wet hole.

"Don't you dare," he said. "That's not a training cock."

"Don't worry," I assured him. I rubbed my cock on his wet groove, but angled it between Nick's thigh and his balls. I pulled his hips into me and dry humped him, and leaned forward to kiss him again. Our cocks ground into each other as we kissed. We were hard - almost unbelievably so. I was going to burst too.

We continued kissing, once again pumping the other's cock. We panted and moaned as I felt that familiar warm flush burning me up from the inside. With a whispered swear the hot seed spurted, coating Nick's hand, my hand and Nick's cock.

"Fuck," Nick moaned, and his own cock erupted, coating his stomach.

I rolled over next to Nick and we kissed as we came down from our climaxes. After a few minutes Nick grabbed his black boxer briefs and used them to clean off.

"I look like an ice slice," he said. We kissed again. Only an hour had passed.

"Breakfast is at eight, right?" I asked.

"I think so. Listen, about... what just happened..."

My stomach sank. "Don't worry. I can be quiet. We can even change rooms."

Nick was quiet for some time after that. I got up and dressed silently, grabbed my book and headed towards the common room for breakfast.

"I'll talk to the front desk about the cot, too," I said, and left.

The hallway was gray and cold. Perfect for my mood.