More Yaoi Scraps....

Guess what? I HATE building regulations. My landlord had it all sorted, hired some company to do the renovation, everybody's papers with the choices and everything (do you want blue or white bathroom tile?) were in, they were JUST about to telll everyone where and when to move to temporary apartments, when WHAM! ANOTHER building company goes to court because they felt our landlord had one-upped them or something. So now it will take 1 to 3 months before they can even tell if there will BE a renovation. And after that, the other company can go to higher instances with their claim. This could potentially take.... forever! SIGH!  

In the mean time, more yaoi scraps. I will color them, just so you know where one ends and the other begin. 

1. Junjou Romantica Fan fiction

Usami Akihiko woke up. Outside, there was a dull, grey deck of clouds blocking the sun. Depressing. He was supposed to get up and get some work done, before being accosted by his editor and publisher, who would drag him to one of those boring functions at the publishing house, Christmas party or what not.

                             He turned around. Looked longingly at Takahasi Misaki who lay beside him. Maybe he should... Nah, Misaki slept, looking so sweet. Besides, Akihiko had had his fun last night. He'd just get up and get to work. Nothing to it. Right now.

                             Nothing happened. Nothing at all resembling movement. Oh, well, lying here was what he wanted to do, so...

“Akihiko”, muttered Misaki suddenly.

“Yes?”

“Why are you staring at me?”

                             Akihiko bit his lip.

“Because you are so beautiful”, he said.

“Mmm”, muttered Misaki and turned around. “That's good.”

                             Akihiko put a hand in Misaki’s hair. Misaki smiled to himself. Akihiko had big, strong hands. Cold hands. Cold hands hide warm hearts, or so they said.

 2: Uraboku Fanfiction ("out of universe")

Yuki looked around in the throng. To think that so much people had come to his wedding. To be fair, his and Luka's wedding had been celebrated together with Tsukumo and Shuusei's, but still. To be perfectly honest, Yuki wasn't comfortable with this. All he really wanted was to disappear, and he was waiting for a good moment to slip away. Like this one, if only he hadn't been so far from the door. He sidled towards it.

“Yuki!”

                             Yuki froze on the spot. Tsukumo had spotted him.

“Yuki-kun”, said Tsukumo breathlessly. He looked as though he had just come out of a whirlwind. And he looked so happy. Yuki felt a sting of jealousy. Why couldn't he be happy like that?

“How are you feeling”, asked Tsukumo, giving his cousin a swift hug.

                             Yuki thought. He had told Tsukumo, and only Tsukumo, how he had felt all year. Like he was ill, but in full denial of that fact. And this week, he had been so close to breaking in front of Tsukumo. The very understanding and caring Tsukumo. So Yuki told the truth.

“I just want to get out of here”, he said quietly. “I don't feel well. Like I'm going to faint at any moment.”

                             Tsukumo looked seriously at him.

“You don’t look very well, either”, he said. “Maybe you need to lie down. Now it’s all over, it’s time you took care of yourself.”

                             Yuki nodded.

“I’ll go inside for a while”, he said. “Could you tell Luka? I’ll be back in a while, I promise.”

“’Course”, Tsukumo said. “I’ll find him for you. And Yuki?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t come back out here. Cuddle up with your husband.”

                             Yuki smiled faintly and went inside.

 3: Kiss on a honeymoon Fanfiction

Fumiya woke up, feeling heavy and tired. He had had a fever yesterday, probably that was why. He had also had sex first time with his husband last night. Fumiya had decided to think about Ayane as his husband instead of “wife”, that Ayane had taken the brides role in their wedding didn't matter to him. The stress of making the most of this trip as their honeymoon was his own fault. Ayane hadn't asked for anything. Ayane was so kind, he never asked for things like that. He was more likely, in fact, to arrange them himself. Fumiya looked around. Ayane wasn't there. He'd probably snuck away, possibly to put some distance between them, as one of their friends were very negative to their marriage. Better to bear it now and get to be together at home, than to ruin the trip.

 4: Something I made up myself....

Kazue sat down with a deep sigh. So now he knew. Now he knew more than he had ever thought he'd ever get to know. Ranmaru was the youngest prince of Nihon. Somewhere, he had known, but he hadn't wanted to push Ran into confessing. Thinking about it, if you just pushed back Ran's long hair, he looked a lot like his father. Poor, sweet, stupid Ran.  Kazue thought for a while what this would mean for them in the future. A lot, probably. Then, suddenly, he rose and went into the bedroom, where Ran lay, still cold from having run through the whole city last night, in the rain. Kazue sat down on the bed. Leaned over Ran. Kissed him gently on the cheek and whispered:

“Don't think you'll get rid of me so easily.”

                             Ran moved a little in his sleep.

“Kazue”, he muttered. “I don’t want to go home. I want to stay...”

                             Kazue smiled.

“You are staying”, he said. “You are staying for as long as you want.”

                             Kazue went out to the kitchen and made breakfast.

 5: Kirepapa Fanfiction (Taken waaaaaaaaay out of its universe)

Chisato sat in the large canteen, pushing around his food. He was feeling down and stressed, and he had no appetite. He had been given a studio. A Studio! There were only 5 studios for each of the year groups from age 20, and artistic focus, and about 150 students. Getting a studio is to be recognized. The added pressure of being here against his fathers will made Chisato feel sick. And then there was something else that made him feel bad, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

“Why aren't you eating?”

                             Chisato looked up. His boyfriend had sat down opposite to him, along with a friend of his.

“Chisato”, said Shunsuke askance.

                             Chisato shrugged.

“Chisato-nii!”

                             Chisato’s younger brother  flung himself down beside him.

“Ruiji”, muttered Chisato.

                             To Chisato’s astonishment, Ruiji leaned over the table and kissed Shunsuke’s friend promptly. Then he turned to his big brother.

“You’re not eating”, he said. “Are you having a migraine?”

 6: I don't know what this is.......

“This can't be right.”

“We don't make mistakes.”

“But he can't... He's not like that...”

“Like what? You know this work calls for all sorts of people.”

“But he is gentle and kind and... he can't be a reaper.”

“Rikku, this is good news. For you, this should be the best news since you came.”

                             Rikku turned his head. He didn't want this. But he knew it wasn't his decision.

“He'll be in the transfer hall in one hour”, said Rikkus boss. “You should meet him there.”

 6: Set in the Sex Pistols (Love pistols) universe

Kato sat in his and Sora's bed. He was feeling sick, maybe he had the flu. If so, it was a strange one. Every morning for two weeks he had been feeling nauseous, at least until he had had breakfast. After breakfast he had gotten up again and off to school.

                             Today was sunday. No school, Kato could take it easy. Maybe he'd feel better if he stayed in bed today. Sora was making breakfast. Kato closed his eyes, listened. He could hear Sora out in the kitchen. Kato loved this apartment. It was brand new, not only had they just moved in after Kinrõ Kansha no Hi, the building was brand new, ready for occupation in November.

 7: Vampire Knight Fanfiction

Zero and his twin brother Ichiro sat side by side in their school desks, impeccably dressed in school uniforms with hair the same style, they were identical. They had done this today because they were feeling cheeky, the only ones who would be able to tell them apart was little sister Yuki and Zero's boyfriend Kaname.

What does yaoi have to do with moving?

Good question, eh?

Story goes, I'm going to move out of my apartment temporarily, because my landlord is going to renovate the whole building. Nice of them, huh? New bathroom, new kitchen.... yeah, I'm happy. And I feel really bad. I don't like moving. So, in moving, I though I'd digitalize my yaoi. That which I've written myself, that is. And as this is where I dump my yaoi, I'll just go ahead and post it all. Happy reading!


Story Nr 1: Final Fantasy. Mostly 7. With a touch of Final Fantasy X and Enchanted Arms.... This story has been lifted out of the Final Fantasy universe and characters are much younger and their relationships altered.

”Toya, what should we do about this?”

”Should we do anything? I don't think we should do anything.”

                             Sephiroth looked thoughtfully at his boyfriend. They had come to the conclusion that they were not compatible. They were breaking up, it was inevitable. It made Sephiroth sad. Toya looked at Sephiroth, saw his distress.

“If we don't do anything...”

“We'll just keep hurting each other”, interrupted Sephiroth. “We don’t want to hurt each other, do we?”

                             Toya shook his head.

“You are my best friend”, he said. “I don't want to lose you.”

“I'll always be your best friend”, said Sephiroth. “But I worry, if we don’t break up, maybe we'll start fighting and stuff...”

“I know you're right”, muttered Toya.

                             Sephiroth moved to the window. He felt cold. He felt cruel. But he knew letting Toya go was the best thing he could do. Loving someone meant doing what was best for them, and Sephiroth wasn't the best for Toya. He knew this, however much it hurt. Tears burned in his eyes, and a moment later on his cheeks. Silence stretched long between them. After a while, Toya rose from his chair and walked over to Sephiroth. Put a hand on his silver hair. Such beautiful hair. Such a beautiful man he had had the privilege to love for two long years. Sephiroth turned and embraced Toya.

“Tell me we will always be friends”, he whispered. “If we can't be friends...”

                             Toya actually laughed a little. Silly Sephiroth, of course they were friends. They weren't breaking up because they weren't friends, but because they couldn’t fill each other’s needs.

                             As they stood there, the school bell chimed. The warning bell, it was 21:45, fifteen minutes 'til the schools facilities would close, and all the little kiddies should be in bed.

“Got to go”, said Toya softly.

“Do you have to?”

“Yes, I do. I am the Dorm Prefect.”

                             Sephiroth let go reluctantly.

“Tomorrow, we won’t be boyfriends any more”, he said. “So we probably should try to remember that.”

“Yeah”, said Toya. “It will be hard. But we will be best friends. So it's not like we shouldn't talk or something.”

                             Sephiroth nodded. Toya left. Sephiroth locked the door and went to stand by the window. It was snowing outside, winter holidays around the corner. Somehow, it would be good to go home after this. He needed a break, from school, from Toya, from the world. Would be nice to get to be a little boy again, get attention from his oh, so busy father, get to boss people around, have them obey his ever wish. He wished he wasn't so tall, felt the desire to be small, to sit in his father’s lap, being taken care of. Or even better, his mothers.  Sephiroth felt a tear run down his cheek. He missed his mother. She had died when he was nine. Everything felt so confused and hopeless. He sat down on the bed. Before he knew it, he was crying for real. He sat there crying for fifteen minutes, feeling rather sorry for himself, mourning the losses in his life. Just as he thought to get a grip and go to bed, there was a knock on the door and it was unlocked from the outside. In came Auron, Sephiroth’s mentor since he was 3 years old. Auron was in some ways closer to Sephiroth than Sephiroth’s father was.

“Õji-sama”, he said in way of greeting.

“Auron”, muttered Sephiroth and wiped his tears. “What’s up?”

“I’m just doing your fathers will”, said Auron lightly. “Checking up on his sons. Why are you crying?”

Birthday gift for Onee-chan.....

It's Onee-chans birthday, so she needs a little gift.

Now, I was hoping I'd have gotten further than I did, but.... didn't happen...... so this is, as usual, just a scrap. But at least it's onee-chans favorite FF couple....

Remember, Fan Fiction. I know there are 1000 errors in this barely 1 page of text. Guess what? IDC.

Nibelheim. Small, quiet village in the shadow of Mount Nibel. Nothing ever happens there. Peaceful on the verge of sleepy. That is, until the Red Whirlwind hits it. Whenever Genesis Rhapsodos comes to visit, the people of Nibelheim hunker down and starts debating, and a young man from their own village changes personality. Sephiroth is generally calm and quiet, but with Genesis around he gets caught up in his friend's whirlwind. Not that Genesis is bad, really. He's just full of energy and mischief, and his mischief spreads like rings on water. During the six years he has visited Nibelheim regularly he has thoroughly educated the children in making pranks and being mischievous. No wonder they love him while most adult hate him.
          Sephiroth and Genesis sat on the water tower, munching on strawberry bread. It is evening, the quiet village is even more quiet. Sephiroth was thinking about what to fill tomorrow with, as Genesis was going home that night, when Genesis suddenly said:
"Mrs. Strife sure can bake", he swallowed his last piece of bread. "I wish my mother could bake."
          Sephiroth smiled.
"I wish my mother would at least try to bake", he said, handing the last of his own bread to Genesis.
          Happily accepting, Genesis went on:
"Do you know what this feels like?"
"No?"
"A date."
"A date? Of the probably 100 times we've been sitting like this together, and now it feels like a date?"
"I'm sorry", Genesis muttered. "I didn't mean..."
          Genesis quieted. He did mean it, so why try to lie about it now? Fact was, he adored Sephiroth. Sephiroth was tall, blonde and handsome, with cat-like, green eyes, he was strong and agile and intelligent. He was calm and cool and friendly, and when Genesis was with him, he felt a sense of calm, himself.
"Come on, said Sephiroth, rising. "I'll walk you down to the car."
          The walked the few meters to Genesis' car side by side. The driver opened the door to the back seat. Genesis sighed.
"Yeah", he muttered. "I'll come back in...."
         He didn't know what to say, or if he should say anything. Or even if he should come back. Sephiroth felt the tension. With a little smile, he leaned forward and kissed Genesis on the cheek.
"Next time, I'll take you on a real date", he said.
          Sephiroth walked away. Surprised and very pleased, Genesis looked after him.
"Yeah", he said quietly. "Next time, we'll go on a date. And next time, I'll not let you get me like that. Next time, I'll get you first."

Small reminder....

Just a small reminder: Today, Saturday September 8, is the International Day for Literacy. Have you been reading anything? I've been reading. I've been reading En ö i havet, slow progress but still progress. I think I'm too restless at the moment to really hunker down and read.

I have been writing a little, too. As usual, yaoi FanFiction. So, I give you the first page (or is it maybe somewhere in the middle of some book) of my Star Wars meets Mass Effect yaoi, with my Revan (with a new name) and Carth Onasi as the love couple.

The Ebon Hawk shot out of the worm hole and straight into a planet atmosphere. For a moment, it was out of control and it got extremely hot in the freighters interior, but its expert pilot was swift to put the heat sink in overdrive. He could not gain control over their decent, however.

“We’re totally going to crash”, said one of the kids behind the pilot.

“That would be bad”, said another, with a knack for stating the obvious.

         The fear for this destiny was palpable; no one on this ship wanted such an end. The only one who seemed calm was the man standing between the pilot seats.

“Buckle in, kids”, he said. “This is going to hurt.”

         The seven people behind him hurried to do so. Unfortunately, this left no seat for himself. Their pilot had managed to slow down a little, but this was going to be a quite graceless landing. They were rapidly meeting a sand sea, at least there were no mountains to strike. The standing man braced himself for impact.

         The Ebon Hawk came to a skidding halt on the dune sea. All was still. No one moved.

“Uron. Uron!”

         He among them that had been standing when they crash landed groaned and sat up. The pilot sat back with a sigh of relief.

“Don’t do that to me”, he said.

“Sorry”, he muttered. “I’m ok.”

“You’re bleeding”, said a female voice, which was neither of the two women in their company.

         Uron put a hand to the back of his head and felt the sticky warm blood. He nodded slowly. His head was feeling really funny. He looked up at the woman who had spoken. She was not alone. She was accompanied by three men and two women, of different species.

“Asari”, he said quietly, getting to his feet. He swayed a little. “If you will excuse me, I think I will go and vomit.”

         The crowd parted for him, they would have, sick or not. Uron’s friends looked after him.

“Will he be ok”, one of them asked.

“Yeah, well…”, said the pilot softly. “Maybe I’d better go and check. Let’s go to the assembly room and figure this out. I’ll get Uron.”

         The 8 of the 9 people of the Ebon Hawk and their 6 “visitors” filed out to the assembly room, and the pilot walked outside.

“Uron”, he said quietly. “You ok?”

         Uron stood with his back against the side of his star ship, eyes closed. He seemed to be listening.

“My head hurts”, he said.

“Of course it hurts. What did you think? What were you thinking, standing there? Why didn’t you at least get down?”

         Uron smiled a little.

“Carth Onasi”, he said softly. “Are you worried about me?”

         The Ebon Hawks pilot and long-term friend of Uron, Carth Onasi, gently put a hand on Urons temple. Uron could feel the healing power of Carths hand.

“Always”, Carth said.

“I feel cold”, whispered Uron, allowing himself a rare moment of vulnerability. “Embrace me.”

         Carth pulled gently at Uron, who leaned forward. They stood for a moment, close together.

“A thousand times you’ve promised me to be careful with your life, and a thousand times have you broken that promise”, said Carth quietly. “How can I trust you when you do that to me?”

“You trust me for the millions of times I do keep my promise.”

Counting Down to PAX Prime....

Nerdy Yaoi Game Girl peeked out earlier this week, when she realised it's time for PAX prime...

Not that I expect any yaoi games (this year either) but rather more source material for my very own fan fiction. I hope for more gameplay footage of Assassin's Creed 3, Lost Planet 3, DmC: Devil May Cry, Okami (which I have and love, but cant play as my PS2 is shot and my Wii has 1st gen controller.... besides, want to see it in HD), Fable the Journey, and that game that blew me away at this years E3, but I can't, for the love of a God I don't even belive in, remember its title. Yes, Im quirky like that.

Also at PAX Prime, BioWare will show up, but if there will be any game news from them, I don't know. But my biggest frustration in not living in Seattle is that Square Enix will put on a big show over their 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy. Just think about this for a moment.... 25 years that game series has existed... that's almost as long as me. That's just as long as my ototo. And yeah.... I confess..... FF nerd....

I've always wanted to go to a gaming convention, but they're kinda scarce here. There is one on November, I think, maybe I'll go. This year's Science Fiction convention, though, is booked and payed for (or at least, marked in my calendar and saved for) as I've missed it so many times, and the last 3 times, I was supposed to go with Onee-chan, but..... didn't happen.....

Why is it one lives somewhere where nothing happens?


I was thinking about doing a collage of all the emo boys in Final Fantasy, but... there's just so may of them, I got a short-out in my brain. My own avatar, Vincent Valentine, is such an emo. And my first Final Fantasy crush! YAY me.... Cloud is really emo, but I have dubbed Squall from Final Fantasy 8 THE emo of Final Fantasy. I ran around that game for like 50 hours when I was  kid with that fricking emo. (and yes, I spelled that word wrong on purpose.) When it comes to Final Fantasy characters, I tend to "fall in love" with side characters, or even sidekick villains. Jut because, here's a list, Final Fantasy 1-6 not covered, just because I'm lazy.... and 11 and 14 because they are MMO's and.. i don't really do that. And Final Fantasy 7 Dirge of Cerberus, because that would be cheating....

Final Fantasy 7: Vincent. Any day. Probably the coolest guy EVER to sleep in a coffin.... I can't dub him the most emo guy to ever sleep in a coffin, because i think Louis already nicked that prize.









Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core: Ok, I have a huuuuge soft spot for Zack, and Genesis.... But a kind-of kind Sephiroth, just touches my heart. It's basically the Sephiroth out of my Fanfiction, which totally messes with both timeline and character relations, ad sometimes aren't even set in the Final Fantasy universe.









Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children: Yazoo. He's just so deliciously crazy. He almost seems happy to be crazy, like Alex in A Clockwork Orange.





Final Fantasy 8: Irvine. Upbeat like Yazoo, but not as crazy. I almost went with Laguna, but I have a soft spot for the sharp-shooter in the cowboy hat.

Final Fantasy 9: I can't go off main characters here: Kuja. My god, he's villain-y. And vain. And he probably has an eating disorder.... I mean, just look at those hips....











Final Fantasy X: Auron. I know, he's old. Maybe I have issues. But I cant help to love that guy, all cool and suave... and just look at that stare... he totally doesn't like anyone....





Final Fantasy X-2: Nooj. Maaaybe because he's a little mini Auron.... Otherwise, I'm partial to Paine, but, let's take the girls some other day.











Final Fantasy 12: Balthier. The leading man.... He's so goddamn arrogant and suave and that VOICE! I have a thing for voices. Please, Gideon, never stop with the voice acting...






Final Fantasy 13: Cid Raines. Oh, the drama, oh, the tragedy, oh the yaoi fanfiction..... probably the hottest Cid in any Final Fantasy game. Was there a Cid in Final Fantasy 13-2? I don't remember....







Final fantasy 13-2: Hope! OMFG, Hope you grew to be a fine young man. Once, you were a little kid with trouble up over your ears and a very embarrassing speech in the Pulse Arch, but now.... you sure you're the same Hope I once knew?










Anyway, there they are. My favorite Final Fantasy guys. I should do a list of girls and actually rank my favorite villains, but not today.....

So, PAX Prime this weekend, and next after that Tokyo Game Show on September 20th. Ok, so, time to win that jackpot that's been staring me in the face for 5 years, so i can afford to go to Japan...

(Pictures belong to the respective artists, i take no credit for them)

Wednesday is library day.... part 2....

Ok, so, I know i was supposed to write this last Thursday, buuut.... well, mostly I didn't do it because I had no inspiration whatsoever, but i blame my tooth... anywho, seeing its technically thursday a week later (writing this at 00:48 night between Wednesday and Thursday) I thought I'd push myself into doing it. So, favorite books in categories kids through yaoi, here i come.

Kids (that is not written by Astrid Lindgren): Oh, this is SO DAMN HARD! Should i Pick Harry Potter? Well, funny story about that one; I got it when i was a kid from my mom, birthday present. Guess what? I REFUSED TO READ IT! I was very anti-everything everyone else did, so reading Harry Potter..... nah. Didn't actually start reading until the Prisoner of Azkaban. We were vacationing on Crete and I was bored, so I bought it in the reception at the hotel. My favorite of the books, but the least favorite film. But that's all a side note. I think I will actually go with Momo by Michael Ende. He also wrote The Neverending Story. Momo, the title character, is an outsider looking in at a society where she, as a lonely little girl living poor and alone in an amphitheater, isn't really liked by the adults, but loved by the kids. She and the kids play and enjoy the time spent together, and the town where they live is peaceful and quiet. But then the Gray Men appear and time seems to disappear..... it's a good read, and it made me think. It's just as much for kids as for adults.

Manga: Oh.... I hardly remember all the manga I've read. All is not in the bookshelves, so i pick from there..... and my pick is: Black Butler (黒執事 :Kuroshitsuji) Kind of generic, I know.... Everyone knows what this is, at least if they know anything about manga. About a boy (Earl Ciel Phantomhive) and his butler (Sebastian Michaelis) and their antics in Victorian London's shadow world of crooks and murderers and.... and GRELL! Grell, you weird, red, crazy Shinigami, you! You totally deserved it when Will landed on your head! (I think it was Will.... Might have been Sebastian..... or both....) But then, I think you liked it. And that was the scariest version on the Cheshire cat EVER! Anywho, one of my favorites!



Fairy Tales: Ok, this is not what you think! I used the Swedish word "Sagor", witch is a much wider concept than fairy tales. Fables fit in here, as well as Harry Potter, The Golden Compass and Pippi Longstocking. So this may seem really random. Talking strict classic fairy tale, my favorite is Sleeping Beauty. Not the Disney version. This is totally bias on a book I had when I was a kid. I think I have it somewhere. It had beautiful full-page pictures on every other page. I think I like the paintings more than the story. From the book shelf: The Moomin books. Hard to choose which. Sent i November (Late in November, literally, but i don't know if this is the actual English title) puts me in that quiet, almost sorrowful state that I like from books, especially in November. And that song Tove Jansson, the author, wrote gives me chills for some reason.It's called Höstvisa, look it up, check for an old clip from the 60's, a man is singing in that version. 

Science Fiction: I'm gonna go all Star Wars here, and say The Jedi's Apprentice. It's a young teen series about Obi-Wan Kenobi as a teenager. It's a really good book series, and I just love Qui-Gon Jinn.... I started reading this before I saw The Phantom Menace, and I had Liam Neeson's voice in my head whenever Qui-Gon spoke.... and lo.... Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn.... The SW universe has spawned fanfic, but not this specifically.






Shounen-ai: I had surprisingly little in this bookshelf. Only three books. But it seems I'm lacking books here. I'll go with Betrayal Knows My Name (裏切りは僕の名前を知っている Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Sitteiru) (Yay me, I remembered the whole thing by myself!) The only thing that bothers me is that Yuki was once a girl.... Is it really shounen-ai, then? Don't know. I just know that Yuki is sweet, Luka has the good old devil's stare and Takashiro is totally hot. A LOT of yaoi fanfic has come out of this occult series, and there is more to come....






Yaoi: Hard, hard, hard..... I think I'll go with Junjou Romantica. Slice of life yaoi about Misaki who comes to live with his big brothers best friend Usagi-san. Usagi-san pursues Misaki, Misaki resists.... we all know the drill. Don't really know what to write about this, other than I really like it, and it's kinda cute. And it has spawned some yaoi fanfic....








Well, that was that, all categories in my bookshelf. Not the most sophisticated reader perhaps, but it's all good and fun. Tonight I'm reading Assassin's Creed Renaissance.

Everything is yaoi....

It's true. Everything is yaoi. And if it isn't, you can make it so. I have made yaoi out of just about everything. So, let me tell you about that thing I promised before. Treasure island yaoi. It is one of those stories that I started when I was a kid, and since then it has gone through a hell of an evolution. It all started when I was 10 and our fourth grade teacher said we had to read at least one book per month. Well, I though, I read one book per day, so... MOM, I NEED A CHALLENGE! She dumped Treasure Island in my lap. How that was a challenge, I don't know. Maybe because I didn't really like pirates back then.

Anywho, I read it, and little girl feminism kicked in, just like with Lord of the Rings. I immediately decided to split the main role between Jim Hawkins and a girl. The girl was Jim's sister, runaway girl, I don't know if she ever got a girls name. But off she was, and she came to Bristol and was found by Alexander Smollett. He thought she was a boy and he took her in. She said she didn't remember her name, so he gave her the name Ismael. Ismael is a name I fell in love with after having seen Fanny och Alexander, mainly because that Ismael was really cool and a bit scary.

Little girl Ismael didn't survive very long. She turned into little boy Ismael. The boy Ismael didn't take long to detach himself from the source material, made clones for himself and sometimes changes his name. One of him stayed in the Treasure island world, grew up, got hitched to a woman and got himself a boyfriend, named Horatio Hornblower. Sound Familiar? It's another book (series) about a sailor in the 18th century. One of the Ismael clones moved to France and joined the musketeers (this has several stories, one in an alternate future where France is ruled by king Louis XXVI), one changed his name to Isaac and moved to 21st century London, another also changed his name to Isaac, but misspelled it Isacc, he is for now sitting rather still in a boat somewhere in the space-time continuum. Isacc has once met the original Ismael, buut.... i don't know. I promise to one day post some of those stories.

Just to give you a hint of what else I'm writing about, here's a little summary of 5 people/couples:

Zidane Karone + Charles "Kuja" Shunte: Zidane is the riches-to-rags-to-riches guy who ran away from home when he was 12. Kuja is the guy from the suburbs that ended up on the streets when his parents died. Apparently, foster care didn't exist in this universe. These two hasn't changed much since i started writing about them when I was, maybe, 12. Their names has changed, I think Kuja was actually "Charlie" in the beginning. Then came Final Fantasy IX. Name stealing 200%. After that I made a gag out of the name Charles. Zidane's father's name became Carlo, his mothers brother Carlos, and his and Kuja's oldest son Charlie. So Zidane use to say he's surrounded by Charlie's. Once upon a time, to solve the "how to have kids" dilemma, Zidane and Kuja actually had wives. But then i went all sci-fi on them. Anywho, a little slice of life story that seem to be never-ending.

Alexander Gabriels: This young lad lives in 10'000 AD, in a society with no culture. Or, at least no fun kind. All movies are educational, there is music, but there are no words. Not no singing, but the singing is gibberish without meaning. But they have games, like World of Warcraft and the likes. Alex is an avid player, he even have a neural input, allowing him to immerse himself completely in the games. Coming from a broken home, he moved to his aunt and uncle when he was 10, his cousin is as close to him as any brother. His cousin Nathan recruits him into his band, (not dissimilar to boy bands of today), Alex spirals almost out of control, but is more or less rescued by his then-on boyfriend Kevin. Alex's net skills lead him to THE LIBRARY, containing all movies, music and books from our time.

Uron Raccall: My very own Jedi Master. Kidnapping the Star Wars Universe entirely, Uron Raccall wasn't just my Revan in the game Knights of the Old Republic, buuuut he also united the Old Republic before is was a republic, single-handed started the Jedi Order and stopped Anakin from going all rogue. Yes, this Jedi Master is old as the stars. He's a bit of a mystery, even to me. When he's not keeping a shroud of mystery around himself he says he is the Force itself, and most people who has met him is rather unsure as to where his allegiance lie.

Kana + Sora + Aito: One of my three threesomes. These guys hail from a post-apocalyptic Japan, ruled by the Eastboard Alliance and their alien allies. Kana, the oldest of them, saw the fall of the world 400 years ago, when the aliens attacked. He is a vampire, and he is the Dragon of the Void, a leader of the resistance. The other four dragons don't know he is a vampire. Kana had been a vampire for 200 years when he fell in love with Sora, who was fatally ill. Turning him was, in Kana's opinion, the best thing Kana ever did. It was Sora who made them a threesome. 200 years after his becoming a vampire, he fell in love with Aito and Kana didn't disapprove. Now they're fighting together.

Kato + Sora: My favourite gender-bender. I totally nicked this idea from the Yaoi manga Sex Pistols. (Some releases of this in the west is called Love Pistols, as to not confuse it with the band of the same name.) Kato and Sora are descendants of dragons in a shadow society. The call normal humans Monkeys, three guesses why, while they, and all others who are not evolved from the human/ape ancestor, madararui. I still don't really got the hang of what that means, but the important thing is they are not really human. The Madararui have means to make the males pregnant just as the females, and most of their marriages are arranged as there are rather few of them. Getting to fall in love and be with the one you love is rare. But Kato and Sora are lucky. They found each other and were allowed to marry. And now.... Kato is pregnant. Sora's childhood friend Ichiro and his husband Toya are also pregnant after having lost their first child.

I don't know how much that said about anything, other than, yes, i like yaoi. I'll write more about my 100+ stories, in due time. Tomorrow is Monday.......

Wednesday is library day....

Books, books, books, books, books, books, books....... yes, I love books. My mother worked at a library, so, I blame her. In a loving, cutesy way of course. I have read a loot of books in my day, mostly ones targeted at kids and young adults. What can i say, I'm young. I have a kind of odd relationship to books though, as most of my dearest book memories are those i didn't read myself, but listened to. Audio books I've always listened to, and that made my book choices a bit odd when i was a kid. My mother used to play her books on the living room stereo, so here are my favorite Audio books when i was 5-12, in the order i heard them:  The Swedish crime series about Martin Beck, Mio in the Land of Far away by Astrid Lindgren, Lord of the Flies, some books about Inspector Morse, Edgar Allan Poe's most famous, Winnie the Pooh, The Chronicles of Narnia, the sweet little kid books about Eddie (by one of the more known Swedish authors), Mina drömmars stad (famous book about Stockholm and its history), Utvandrarna + Invandrarna, Shakespeare "12th night" and..... of course all the other books by Astrid Lindgren. Hey, I was a kid! All kids in Sweden read Astrid Lindgren! Eclectic? For sure. I still love reading Audio Books. (And YES! People do READ audio books. Only people who can read with their eyes listens to audio books. My father was blind, so in my family we READ audio books.) I cant really explain the appeal of reading an audio book, i think it has to do with who is reading. Both the actual person you listen to and who you are as a listener/reader. For example there is an old time reader of audio books here, which you seem to either love or hate. No middle ground at all for that poor soul. Well, I sure love him, and that I say, loud and proud. Without naming names..... One Sweden can't seem to hate to listen too, however, is Astrid Lindgren. She read just about all her children's books as audio books. That's good. Too bad she died, dead people don't write books, but the old woman was like 90 for heavens sake. I think she was even older still. So may she rest in peace.

There is this debate in Sweden, not unlike the debate about kids and video games, and that's the debate about kids and books. Now, I know I was kind of extreme when I was a kid and read a lot of stuff kids don't and shouldn't read. When reading actual, written books (a.k.a not audio books) I was just as wierd as with the audio books. I read Lord of the Rings when i was 7, and Utvandrareposet (big 4-parter about Karl-Oscar and Kristina moving from Sweden to the US in the 1800s, that in the 1990s even became a musical) when i was 9. So, yeah, I shouldn't talk, right? If I can read heavy-hitters, why cant other children? THAT'S JUST IT! why can't other children? Ok, maybe not let them read what I read, but they BARELY get to read Astrid Lindgren anymore! Ok, she has a free pass, but still. There was a debate a year or so back on TV, where one of the authors of children's books that were published before the Millennium said that if she had come with her scripts today, she would have NEVER gotten published. A publisher that was there for the debate agreed and said that IF she had come with her scripts today, ASTRID LINDGREN would never have gotten published. Why? Because of thing like Pippi Longstocking not having any parents, or the fact that there are drunk people at the auction where Emil i Lönneberga went, or the Brothers Lionheart DYING! We cant have that in children's literature! Maaaybe if they were animals they could be allowed to die.... but not people! I mean, it's reality. Children must be protected at all cost! Or not.... I think there are lessons to learn in all literature, as long as you dare touch the subject. And as with the video games: TALK TALK TALK! with the kids. When will people learn?

So, what were my favorite books when i was a kid? I have NO idea, i read to much, and I tend to read good books over and over and over, so I don't really know when i read some books. But now, and "genre"-wise? I will tap into my bookshelves at my favorite book site. And they go like this:

Adventure: Wow... this is hard..... maybe because most of the books goes in more category than one. But going with a classic "adventure" story, I'd have to say Treasure Island. My first encounter with pirates. I love the book, I love the movie from 1990, and for some reason, I fell in love with Captain Smollett. Whose first name is Alexander, by the way, not Abraham like in the puppet movie. This has spawned a few good fanfic ideas, first one i can find writen by my own hand is in a school notebook saying 4th grade on it. I was 10! Dear me, I have been at the fanfic thing for a while. There was also a fanfic scrap about batman in that notebook, buuuut..... no, not going there.Treasure Island also spawned my first yaoi fanfic. I promise to tell the story about that one on Saturday.

Classics: Well, I read a lot of classics, I guess, and Treasure Island might as well have ended up here. But I'll go for Shakespeare's 12th night, simply because it is one of the oldest. I was leaning towards The Three Musketeers, but it's too close to Treasure Island. Why is it The Three Musketeers always seem pirate-y to people? Anywho, the 12th night was my first Shakespeare play, I actually saw it on Swedish public service before reading it, and I fell in love... humor, gender-confusion, hot guys in tights, some of the Swedish acting elite of the day (this was, maybe, mid 90s)...... what's not to like. This never spawned any real fanfic efforts, but I did steal the name of the main character for one of my heavier yaois. (Heavy in more than one way.)

Comics: Yes, I think comics is reading. Just as Manga is reading. A lot of kids learn to read by reading comics. So don't put shame on them. Uncle Scrooge! Actually, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, by Don Rosa. I've always loved Uncle Scrooge, he is so greedy and sinister and... well, greedy. He could almost be a bad guy. Which makes him an exceptional good guy. It's a problem a lot of books and movies, especially movies, have. The good guys are less interesting than the bad guys. You care more for them. But not this time! Uncle Scrooge is the greatest duck on earth. The Ducks of Duckburg never spawned any fan fiction. And no yaoi. That would just be weird.


Crime/Mystery/Murder: But mostly Crime and Murder. This is one of those genres I have a problem with knowing how to categorize. Mystery doesn't really fit in here, but then, almost all crime and murder novels are mysteries. My favorite? The series about Martin Beck by Sjööwall&Wahlöö. Especially the last one, Terroristerna. Maybe this is all nostalgia on my part, growing up with them in the speakers at home, but to me, this is as close to perfection you come in a murder mystery cop series. So there! In my younger days, this did spawn some fan fiction but not much, and I don't think any of it survived.



Fantasy: This one is easy: Lord of the Rings. Oh, Frodo... you have been my constant companion since i was 7. I swear, honest to a god i don't even believe in, I NEVER put this one down. I come to the end of the appendices and I swear, I just flip right back to the first page. First page of The Hobbit, that is, cause I think you should read that first. I do on occasion read the Silmarillion, Book of Lost Tales, Unfinished tales, Children of Hurin and Tales from a perilous Realm as well. About once a year. This has spawned A LOT of fanfic from me, and even yaoi. And NO, not about Sam and Frodo. Not even about the rest of the fellowship. No, one of my favourite yaoi stories is about a character that is in like 2 pages of the Fellowship, and has like 3 lines. Oh, and Elronds little brother. Not Elros, though. One that I made up. That's fan fiction for you, making up characters that don't exist in the original. My first Fan fiction, thought was not yaoi, but feminist. I cast myself, at age 9, as the leading lady, that actually went with the fellowship on their journey. Back then, I thought there were not enough women in this book series. Now.... I think there are to many. (Yaoi fangirl mode activated.)

Girls books: Why are there girls books and no boys books? Or is it that all books are for boy because girls shouldn't read, so when a book for girls pop up you have to point it out? Or is it the other way around, boys shouldn't read girls books? Anywho, I guess this is the category for books like Nancy Drew and the Sweet Valley twins. So I choose Anne of Green Gables. I and Anne have a lot in common. We're both girls, we're both redheads, (at least i was a redhead when i was younger), we're both dreamers. She talks more than i do of course. I'm kind of a quiet girl. And i never got in trouble the way she did. Anne in some ways was like my brave, stand-up alter ego when I was a kid. I dreamed and wished I could be like her.


History: Not classics, but set in times past. I think my own arbitrary rule for a book to qualify as history in my head is that it has to take place before the 1950s. And I'm going for Havets djup, a book series about two Jewish sisters from Vienna who come to Sweden during the second world war. The real focus is the older girl, who sees her younger sister loose the connection to Austria and their language, and becomes more and more Swedish, while she herself tries to stay true to her heritage. And will they ever see their parents again? Will they make it out of Austria? And should they move form the people who took them in in Sweden and go to relatives in America? It's a good read about the predicaments of leaving one thing behind and be confronted with another on a level older children can understand. It is a book for younger teens. And it resonates with me on a special level, because i have relatives who went through that hell and came out the other side.

Kids books: Haven't I already done that? Maybe not. Can one be from Sweden and say ones favorite kids book is not written by Astrid Lindgren? Well, i guess... So I'll just pick two, favorite Astrid Lindgren and favorite someone else.Let me just say this before i forget: I HATE PIPPI LONGSTOCKING! I cant stand her. She's so.... obnoxious. She said one good thing and one good thing only: If you're strong , you have to be kind. That's all. My favorite: I have a hard time choosing between the three most "fantastical" in the sense they are mostly fantasy. Mio, min Mio, The Brothers Lionheart and Ronja the robbers daughter. But i go with The Brothers Lionheart. It's just such a heartfelt story, full of adventure and love. The brotherly kind. It seems like you always have to point that out nowadays. What's wrong with people? And, god, there's a f*ing dragon! And, yes, please don't kill me now, but actually, this has spawned a yaoi story out of my messed up brain. This is another of my "shove-another-character-at-them-and-see-what- happens." I do that a lot. It's Jonatan who has a love interest. After growing a few inches. And years. I think the weirdest decision Astrid Lindgren ever made was making that kid a.... kid. I mean, who would entrust an entire war to a 13-year-old? I never believed it as a kid and i don't believe it now.

 



Well, it's become a really long ramble today, actually, it's already tomorrow. so I'll just have to make it a two-parter. or I will sit here for the rest of the night. So, the following categories I will write about tomorrow: Kids Books (the one that's not Astrid Lindgren's), Manga, Fairy Tales, Sci-Fi, Shounen-ai, Thrillers and yaoi. Damn, that means two blog posts tomorrow, or I will get confused.....

My first yaoi post! Junjou part 1: Misaki Gives In

Ah, yaoi...... this will be my first post acctually containing some yaoi fan fiction. Safe to say, Junjou Romantica is one of my favourite manga and anime yaoi, in its own, corny sweet way. And if I like something, I write about it. That's just how it is. I tend to modify things quite a bit, my Misaki is more compliant than the original Misaki, and my Usagi-san is acctually called by his real name, Akihiko, as well as being a bit more amicable. My story, while still set in Tokyo, Japan, is rather out of context from the original, and I have also messed a bit with the relationships of the characters.

But remember this is FAN-FICTION.... So hate it or love it, it's ok. We're all fans of the original, and if you don't like what I write, just go back reading the original.

Misaki and Usagi-san in the intro to the anime

Misaki gives in

Usami Akihiko turned to Takahashi Misaki with a soft smile.

“If that’s how you feel, come and stay with me”, he said.

                             Misakis green eyes widened slightly.

“If I can’t afford the apartment I have now how do you think I could afford half of yours”, he asked. “My rent today is 68000 yen. If I’d move in with you and pay for half, it’d be 150000 yen. That doesn’t sound like a reduction to me.”

                             Akihiko smiled wistfully.

“You won’t have to pay, I’ll do that”, he said. “Just as I do now. No need to worry.”

“But”, Misaki tried to protest. He was used to pay for himself, even these dates they had been going on for over four years he refused to let Akihiko pay for, even though Akihiko said he wanted to take Misaki somewhere fancy once in a while.

“It’s about time we stopped fooling around”, said Akihiko. “We are in love, right? So stop squirming and move in with me already. Geez, I’ve asked you for a whole year already.”

                             Misaki blushed deeply and hung his head. Akihiko was trying to look out for him again. It was very touching, but Misaki wasn’t very used to it. He looked shyly at Akihiko. Five years ago, when he was 17, Misaki had read Usami Akihiko’s first published novel, it had already been out for a couple of years, and all of his friends were raving about it. He had fallen in love so completely with the book that he picked up the other four books Akihiko had written. Never had he imagined that he would one day run into the author. And never, in his wildest fantasies, had he imagined himself sitting here five years later, three times award-winner Usami Akihiko by his side, considering, for the tenth time, whether or not to move in to the most luxurious, expensive apartment on this side of Europe.

“Listen, Akihiko”, he said trembling. “I love you, and I want to be with you, but I can’t let you pay for me.”

                             Akihiko grabbed Misaki’s chin and forced his head up so he could look into his eyes. Akihiko’s eyes were blue, almost lavender, and very serious.

“You really are stubborn”, he said. “You will come and live with me, and let me worry about economics. You have enough to worry about in university. And I hate to see you worry.”

                             Misaki flushed deeply. Why was it that Akihiko always said things that made him go scarlet?

“You are so beautiful when you blush”, said Akihiko with a smile. Next moment his lips were pressed against Misaki’s. Misaki pushed him back.

“Could you stop doing that in public”, ha said crossly.

                             Akihiko looked around. The café was almost empty, it was just after lunch.

“I don’t think Mama mind seeing us kiss”, he said. “And not anyone else who comes here. This café is mainly frequented by homosexuals anyway.”

“So not the point”, muttered Misaki. Then he sighed deeply. “OK”, he said. “I’ll come and live with you. I’ll do the cooking, that’s the least I can do, to pay rent. Can you cook at all, Akihiko?”

“I can make coffee.”

“However do you survive without me?”

                             Akihiko kissed Misaki again, rather passionately. This was both because he really wanted to kiss Misaki, and because he really wanted to embarrass him.

“I’m not sure I do”, he said. “Let’s go home.”

                             They left the café and started walking towards Akihiko’s apartment. To be honest, Akihiko’s apartment was a good choice for Misaki. It was only 15 minutes’ walk from the university where he studied. That alone would make up for some of the costs living in that luxurious 5 bedroom apartment. As it were, he had a forty-five minute commute to the university. Misaki grabbed Akihiko’s hand and leaned on him.

“What about my apartment”, he asked. “All my stuff…”

“You don’t have any stuff”, said Akihiko. “I’ve never seen a single room apartment so empty. You barely have furniture.”

“They’re rented”, muttered Misaki. “And all I have is what I need to study.”

“My point exactly. Do you even have any clothes?”

                             Misaki frowned. Maybe he wore his clothes more than one time, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have anything to change with. Maybe Akihiko was embarrassed over Misaki only having five sweat shirts.

“Of course I do”, he grumbled. “Do you have any food? I’ll cook dinner today.”

“Don’t know”, said Akihiko.

                             Misaki laughed.

“The great lord Usami Akihiko, apartment full of scripts and teddy bears, but no food in the fridge. How did he ever manage to write his books?”

                             Akihiko shook his head slightly.

“I order take-out”, he said airily.

                             Akihiko took out his key and let himself and his lover inside. Misaki froze on the threshold. Never in his life had he seen so much clutter. Not to talk about the laundry. And the dishes. Suddenly he felt all weak.

“What happened in here”, he asked faintly.

                             Akihiko bit his lip. He had totally forgotten he hadn’t done something about this mess before going to meet Misaki. Part of the truth was that he hadn’t bothered. He had never thought he would be able to convince Misaki to come home to stay with him today. This of all the almost four hundred days he had tried to talk him into it, it hadn’t crossed his mind. He had thought that maybe he would have managed to talk Misaki into taking him home and have sex, in Misaki’s apartment. But mostly, he had just forgotten.

“Sorry”, he said. “I’ve been working a lot lately.”

“How long is ‘lately’ for you?”

“Past month or so.”

                             Misaki walked up to the sitting area and sat down on the arm to one of the sofas, after having moved Akihiko’s largest teddy, wearing one of Akihiko’s shirts as a hat. He knew Akihiko wasn’t good at cleaning. Or cooking. But he also knew Akihiko generally made an effort for his sake. Misaki felt that he didn’t really know where in this mess to start. If he was going to live here, he would have to clean this mess up. Akihiko would have to help him, though. He felt Akihiko’s arms around his neck.

“Sorry”, Akihiko said earnestly. “I should have done something about this, I was just so eager to see you. I didn’t stop to think.”

“Well”, said Misaki, softly caressing Akihiko’s arms, taking his hands. “I’ll just have to clean up with you. But you’re going to help, or I’ll kill you.”

“No, honey”, said Akihiko. “I’m going to clean. You are going to help. You’ll just have to tell me what to do.”

                             Misaki sighed deeply.

“Is there any inch in this house where we could stuff my things for now? I figure if I bring my stuff and break my lease, I might not regret coming here. There goes all my savings, but…”

“What about your savings”, asked Akihiko alarmed.

“Have to use them to buy out the lease. I’m not sure they’ll cover it though.”

“How much is it to break the lease?”

“No idea, but more than I can afford.”

                             Akihiko let go of Misaki, turned around and lighted a cigarette. He tried to calculate an approximate value of Misakis lease when Misaki said:

“You do know that is one of the worst habits in the world, right?”

“Yeah, I know”, said Akihiko. “You tell me every time.”

“And you agree?”

“I do.”

“Why don’t you quit then?”

“Addiction.”

“Smoking like that will kill you, you know.”

“You’re right.”

                             Akihiko leaned back slightly. Misaki did the same. For a moment their backs pressed against each other.

“I’ll promise to quit when I die”, Akihiko said after a moment.

                             Misaki slid out of the sofa.

“Idiot”, he said fiercely. “Don’t say things like that.”

                             Akihiko walked over to the sink in the kitchen area and killed the cigarette there. Then he looked around at the mess he had made for himself. There was laundry everywhere and he though a bit ashamed that it wasn’t all. When had he bought so much clothes anyway? By the sofa stood Misaki looking thoughtful.

“Misaki”, he said in a low, longing voice.

“Are you ready to do something about this mess”, asked Misaki in a tone saying he couldn’t stand this anymore.

                             Akihiko nodded.

“Just tell me what to do.”

“Then go over to my place and get my stuff. Everything is packed in boxes, so don’t worry about it. Here’s my key”, Misaki dug out his key from a pocket and held out his hand towards Akihiko.

“Ok”, said Akihiko, walked over to Misaki, grabbed the key with one hand, Misaki’s waist with the other, pulled him close and kissed him.

                             Misaki pushed him back.

“You reek of cigarettes”, ha said making a grimace.

                             Akihiko didn’t answer. He left with a satisfied smile. Misaki shook his head slightly then he started to pull things out from under the stair. He could put his stuff there. For now.

                             When Akihiko came back, Misaki was sorting laundry into piles. The four piles weren’t all that large but Akihiko still felt ashamed. Was it really this bad? He placed the three boxes and the duffle bag under the stairs.

“You started without me?”

“I’m just sorting through the laundry that was in here.”

“Just in here?”

“Mmm.”

“Have you been in the laundry room?”

“No.”

                             For a moment or so, Akihiko wondered where the nearest length of rope and a suitable beam could be. He really felt like hanging himself from shame. But he shook his head to clear it.

“So”, he said, “What should I do?”

“Take this pile of whites and put it in the laundry machine”, said Misaki. “We’d best start doing laundry, because you have a lot.”

“Ok”, said Akihiko, grabbing as much laundry from the white pile as he could manage. “You’d best start it though; I always put the machine on ‘bizarre’ wash.”

“You mean you have actually started the machine before”, asked Misaki in an innocent tone.

                             Akihiko felt the great desire to throw a piece of clothing on Misaki, but he couldn’t. Doing that would just result in dropping the rest. He went into the laundry room with his burden.

“Misaki”, he called. “Could you show me how to do this?”

                             With a deep sigh, Misaki came into the laundry room and helped Akihiko start the machine. Then he turned to go back to the living room, but Akihiko grabbed him around the chest, locking his arms to his side.

“Akihiko”, said Misaki with a strained smile. “What are you doing?”

“Holding my Misaki”, said Akihiko.

“Why?”

“Because I love him, and I need to feel just how much.”

“He is standing right here”, said Misaki quietly. “How much”, he added with a slight tremble.

“More than anything”, said Akihiko. “So much that I bugged him for a whole year about coming to stay with me. And finally today, he came to stay with me, and I felt I had never been so happy my whole life. Hearing him say he would come, and even break his lease to stay with me, was better than sex.”

“Ok, good to know”, smiled Misaki. “Then maybe I won’t have to put out as much.”

“No”, said Akihiko placidly. “You’ll have to put out even more to make it up to me.”

“Keep that though”, said Misaki. “Cause I’m not sleeping with you again until this place is fit for royalty. And I’m not touching your bed until we’ve had it detailed.”

                             Akihiko let go of Misaki.

“Ok”, he said. “So what now?”

                             Misaki put Akihiko to work in the master bedroom upstairs while he finished the living room. Then he moved on to the laundry room, and then the bathroom downstairs, which looked as though it had never been used, then he walked up the stairs to check on Akihiko. Akihiko was doing fine; he was sorting through books that had been spread over half the bedroom. The bed sheets lay in a pile with other laundry, the cover, pillows and mattress lay half on the floor, half on the bed.

“Almost done”, said Akihiko, sounding proud. “I’ll take down the laundry, and I thought maybe we could air the mattress and stuff out. Put it in the garden…”

                             Misaki smiled faintly.

“Akihiko”, he said. “Thinking in more than one step. I’m proud.”

                             Akihiko snorted.

“I do play chess, you know”, he said.

“You and everyone else.”

                             Akihiko pushed the last book into the cramped bookcase. Misaki reflected for a moment on the fact that this was just a fraction of all Akihiko’s books. Most of them were in the study, these were just for reading when Akihiko was bored or couldn’t sleep. Akihiko grabbed the mattress to haul it outside.

“Do you care to help”, he asked.

                             Misaki shook his head.

“No way”, he said. “I stand by my word. I won’t touch anything in here until it’s been cleaned.”

                             Akihiko sighed and started to lug the mattress downstairs. Misaki followed him. Once downstairs, Misaki went into the laundry room and pulled the laundry out of the machine. With the nice weather they had, he had a mind to hang it outside. His mother had always said that was the luxury of having a garden. Misaki wondered what she would think about having a roof garden. If that wasn’t luxury, he didn’t know what was. Next he thought what their electrical bill would look like after doing so much laundry. Two or three machines today or they would never catch up.

“Misaki”, said Akihiko when he came outside with the pillows and the cover. “What do you want to eat? I feel it’s about time we took a break and ate something.

                             Misaki thought for a moment.

“Well, I suppose it would have to be easy to cook, the way the kitchen looks”, he said. “And I’m not touching anything in that fridge. You get the great pleasure of cleaning it out.”

“It’s empty”, sad Akihiko. “I haven’t bought food in six weeks.”

“So what did you eat?”

“Takeout”, smiled Akihiko. “Sometimes I ate at my parents’.”

                             Misaki shook his head. Akihiko snuck up behind him and embraced him.

“What now”, asked Misaki wearily.

“Are you done yet”, asked Akihiko. “I’m hungry.”

“So go dig out one of your takeout menus and order us some food”, said Misaki. “Stop clinging to me at every turn.”

                             Akihiko hugged Misaki harder.

“Don’t want to let go now”, he said.

“Akihiko, I can’t breathe”, gasped Misaki.

                             Akihiko let go. He left Misaki alone to hang the rest of the laundry and went inside. He took a menu from the table and started looking through it on the way to the telephone. Just as he was going to take the phone and call the restaurant, it rang. He grabbed it and answered.

“Hello?”

“Akihiko?”

“Isaka.”

“Where the hell were you? Why didn’t you pick up?”

                             Akihiko frowned.

“Haven’t heard any call.”

“I’ve called like five times! Both to your home phone and to your cell.”

“My cell phone batteries are dead”, Akihiko lied.

“Well, anyway. Have you reviewed the script? I need it desperately.”

“I have… but can it wait? I’m busy.”

“No”, said Isaka exasperated. “It can’t wait any longer; your deadline was a week ago.”

“Sorry”, muttered Akihiko.

“I’ll come and collect it right away”, said Isaka. “Don’t you dare run away on me!”

“I’ll wait right here”, said Akihiko and hung up the phone.

“Who are you talking to”, asked Misaki. He had just come inside.

“My publisher. Apparently I have forgotten to hand in my script.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

                             Akihiko started dialing the phone number to the restaurant when the doorbell rang.

“That was quick”, muttered Akihiko and let Isaka in.

                             Misaki disappeared upstairs.

“Hi, Akihiko”, said Isaka. “Who was that who went upstairs so quick I think he was avoiding me?”

“Takahashi Misaki. And he’s definitely avoiding you.”

“Your boy toy?”

“My boyfriend. And don’t look at me like that, that was 10 years ago.”

                             Isaka sighed. When he and Akihiko had been together he had been very possessive. Isaka hadn’t let Akihiko do anything without him, especially not looking at other guys. Which is why Akihiko had broken up with him.

“So, where is the script?”

“Upstairs”, said Akihiko with a smile.

“So maybe I could have a good look on the boy toy.”

                             Akihiko sighed and started to walk up the stairs. He led Isaka into the very messy office.

“When did you clean this place last”, asked Ísaka, starting to flip through a pile of papers.

“Some time ago”, muttered Akihiko, starting up his computer.

“No kidding… Since when do you smoke so much?”

                             Isaka was staring at the overfull ashtray.

“Since I was seventeen”, said Akihiko.

“Can’t be good.”

                             Akihiko punched out the disc tray on the computer and took out the CD. He handed it to Isaka.

“What, no USB”, said Isaka disappointed.

“I couldn’t find it.”

“Ok, so where’s the boy toy?”

“You say boy toy one more time and I’ll clock you.”

                             Isaka held up his hands in a surrendering gesture.

“Ok”, he said. “So where is he?”

“Nowhere you need to know”, said Akihiko. “I’m keeping you far away from him, at least for the moment.”

“Aw, don’t be a spoilsport”, begged Isaka.

“You’re leaving now”, said Akihiko grabbing Isakas arm and leading him down to the front door again.

“Ok, ok, I’m leaving”, said Isaka. “Don’t forget the meeting on Wednesday.”

“I’ll try to forget”, said Akihiko with half a wicked smile.

“Yeah, sure”, muttered Isaka and left.

                             After having shut the door behind Isaka, Akihiko finally called the restaurant and ordered food. Knowing they were quick he waited by the door, thinking of Misaki. He wondered why Misaki had been so quick disappearing when he saw Isaka. Akihiko had never even mentioned Isaka to Misaki. And he didn’t know Misaki to be shy. But Misaki had really tried to disappear. Why?

                             Akihiko received and paid for the food, put it on the dining table and went upstairs. Misaki was in the bedroom, putting away the washing. He was doing this very slowly and deliberately, as if nothing was more important right now.

“Misaki”, said Akihiko quietly.

“I’ll be done soon”, said Misaki.

“No need”, said Akihiko. “Come on down and have dinner.”

“Has he left?”

“Who, Isaka?”

“If that’s his name”, muttered Misaki.

“Yes, he left. He was in a hurry… of sorts.”

                             Misaki stopped mid-movement. He looked questioningly at Akihiko. But Akihiko shook his head.

“None of my business”, he said. “Come on, let’s eat.”

                             Misaki put the rest of the clothes away in a hurry. Apparently he had been slow on purpose. Then they went down to the dinner.

“Where do you have the plates, again”, asked Misaki and started towards the kitchen area.

“In the sink”, said Akihiko laconically.

                             Misaki heaved a sigh from the bottom of his heart.

“You are incorrigible.”

“These boxes are nice enough to eat from”, said Akihiko lightly.

                             Misaki sat down. Akihiko passed him half of the dishes. Misaki felt ashamed. This was the kind of food he could never buy, and never let Akihiko buy for him under normal circumstances. This meal alone was just under his weekly salary in the museum. They ate in silence for about five minutes, and then Akihiko asked:

“Do you like the food?”

                             Misaki nodded.

“Would never buy it myself”, he said. “You really don’t know the value of money, do you?”

“Spending money on food should be ok, I think”, said Akihiko. “It is not as though its luxury items bought for vanity. You have to eat, you know.”

                             Misaki didn’t answer this. Instead he asked:

“How’s work going?”

“Fine. You know me, it’s always going fine.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s always going fine. Until it goes bad.”

                             Akihiko looked at Misaki. Misaki sounded a little strange.

“What’s wrong”, he asked.

“I think I’m just tired”, said Misaki, trying to sound light-hearted. “Don’t mind me. It is crash week and then I get to deal with this mess.”

“Crash week? I’ve heard about cram week, but…”

“At Todai, at least in the anthropology department, we call it crash week… a lot of students crash during the exams, even if it is only midterm. The teachers won’t let up for even a second.”

                             Akihiko smiled one of his mist dazzling and gentle smiles.

“Poor thing”, he said. “I guess we’ll have to put you to bed after dinner.”

                             Misaki now looked as tired as he said he felt. He was hanging his head and looked pale. But he wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

“What about the rest of the house”, he asked.

“We can take care of that when you have rested. Take a free day tomorrow. It’s Friday, so…”

                             Misaki shook his head.

“I go to Japans most prestigious university”, he said. “I can’t be sick.”

“Ok, on one condition”, said Akihiko.

“What”, asked Misaki, looking up.

“I drive you there and I pick you up in the afternoon.”

                             Misaki nodded. He usually didn’t really like the flamboyant side of Akihiko, but unless he felt a lot better tomorrow morning, he would have to stand the red Ferrari sports car. And the eight-thousand odd students staring at him.