Showing posts with label anime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anime. Show all posts

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Romantic dinner for two...

Murasame Tsukumo
Tsukumo and his snacks...
Junjou Romatica. One of my favourite yaoi's. And the first thing you see in it? A bag with a pot of stew. It only confirmed my theory that food is for everyone, even anime characters. Everyone eats, lots of people cooks. Food MATTERS. TO EVERYONE. And poor Tooma in UraBoku, always trying so hard to make the Zweilt, Yuki and Luka good, nutritious food, but while Yuki gladly eats, Tsukumo prefers his snacks and Toko.... well, she's a teenage girl...

Death Note Yagami LightTalking about snacks.... OH MY GOD! Yagami Light, you little devil! No one eats potato crisps so devilishly. And L? I think he and Tsukumo should have a sweet eating contest. Honestly. They are always eating sweets, those two...




Me, I'm a sucker for good food and good desserts and GOOD CHOCOLATE. What can I say, I'm a woman. One of my favorite chocolates is Marabou Non Stop. The chocolate bar version. Well, the original chocolate buttons, too, but the guy (or girl) who decided to put caramel covered dark chocolate buttons in a milk chocolate bar really is a genius. When I was a kid, there were small milk chocolate bars featuring Disney characters in white chocolate. I LOVED those. They don't seem to exist anymore in Sweden. Pity. And, of course, something i think every Swedish kid has had at least once after the age of 9: Chocolate Christmas Calendar. Those I love and hate. I love them mainly for nostalgic reasons, and I hate them because the chocolate..... well..... no. Not really, no.... Nooo, thank you... I have been thinking about making my own with quality chocolate, didn't get around to it last year, but maybe this year.... we'll see.

Death Note L eatingI was thinking, if I was to invite an anime character for a romantic dinner, I think I would invite L. That would be really interesting. Or maybe Giou Takashiro. Although, I don't think that would be all that romantic, L would be more "intellectually challenging goof-ball" and Takashiro.... well, him I just want to smack over the head and tell him to make out with his butler already. If they are NOT in love with each other, I'm a hobbit. Now I just have to figure out what to serve... I suppose I would have to cover L's dinner in chocolate, or he wouldn't eat it. I actually have a spice mix in my cupboard that is chili, cinnamon and cacao. And it WORKS. I have had it in sauces and stews, as well as on ice cream and in chocolate cakes. Takashiro... I think he would want some grilled fish and vegetables, and maccha ice cream for dessert. (Or maybe Fuyutoki for dessert.)

If anyone would take me out for dinner (or, rather, cook dinner for me at home, as I find that much more romantic), I would request a duck appetizer, fish main course and chocolate dessert. I love duck, I don't eat it often enough. It's not readily available where I live and it's expensive at that. fish I eat, of course, but I love fish, so... and what girl doesn't like chocolate?



Tomorrow, Onee-chan is coming here, so I'm cooking a little extra. Chicken lasange and for desert, Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Sundae!


(Pictures belong to their respective creators, I take not credit for them.)

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Let's go to the movies......

I was looking through my movie lists today, and realized that I really have to do something about them. I have a LOT of movies in my lists, and hardly any ratings. and the ratings i have is WAY out of whack. Looking in my Fantasy movie list, I saw i gave Final Fantasy Advent Children a 9/10. I don't know if that is deserving. Now, to be honest, I saw both versions in both English and Japanese, and the English version SUCK! But then I knew that it would, because i have never seen a good Japanese to English dub. (Exception: Howl's moving castle, but that's just because i love Christian Bales voice..... when he's not growling) And in the US, if you want to see it in Japanese, you're out of luck. Not that it doesn't exist, but that if you don't know Japanese all you get is DUBTITLES! Dubtitles is when they take the dub, put it on screen for you to read and pretend that it is a subtitles. There are A LOT of things they say in Japanese that they don't translate correctly, so you have NO IDEA what the hell is going on. For example they translate titles into names. For example, just in the beginning, a young woman says "sempai, hurry" (how the hell do you translate "sempai" into English anyway?) and the translation for the dubtitles goes: "Reno, hurry". It messes the flow up for me when I see things like that. Now, my own Japanese isn't great, not even good, but that's just lame. Even I hear that she says Sempai and not Reno. And look at that, we're only 3 minutes and 33 seconds into the Complete version. This is fun! Wonder what more we can find! Nah, not doing that today. Anywho.



Probably the coolest game villains ever
FFAC is probably not a film that would hold up on its own. I cant tell, because I dealt with BC CC and DC as well as FF7, so I know where they are, where they come form and so forth. (And yes, those are the REAL acronyms for the games; Before Crisis, Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus) FFACComplete miiight be able to stand alone, as it has more screentime and develops Cloud a little more. Oh, those names! Cloud... No, not Curaudo..... Cloud.... What is it with the english speaking people and wanting to NOT translate Japanese. Calling Cloud Curaudo or, for that matter, Death Note Desu nôto, is, in my humble opinion, DISRESPECTFUL! Clouds name is Cloud even if you can't pronounce it! And a Death Note is a Death Note... So, btw, if you dont find an anime on the big great database, try sounding it out and write what it sounds like i Japanese and not what it actually is named..... Blue Exorcist took me an hour to find.....


Where was i...? Oh, yes.... FFACComplete. This is a fan service orgasm, that's for sure. I'm not really supposed to be reviewing it, at least not today. Let me just say that if you're a fan of the franchise or just of reaaaally good 3d animation, take a look. I love the bike scenes..... and the fighting scenes.

As I said, i gave this a nine, but I'll push it down a notch. As a movie, it has problems standing on it's own. Or maaaybe i should give it a ten, just for Sephiroth. And as my own avatar is Vincent..... *Final Fantasy Fan Girl Mode Activated*



On to my Cartoon TVseries list, I find that I DON'T HAVE A SINGLE RATING! What's wrong with me, am I too busy, or......? Now, I separated Cartoons, meaning mostly Disney toons, and animé, or this list would have been HUGE. One exception; The Moomin animé from 1990. I think the reason it ended up among the "Cartoons" instead of the "Animé" is simply that it was aired on Swedish and Finish television when i was a kid and there was a total of 4 tv channels in sweden. Ok, not strictly true, if you had a satellite disc you had like a gazillion. but no one in my neighborhood had that. So when i was i kid we had 2 channels public service + Finnish YLE and, a bit later Swedish TV4. Ranting again..... *deep breath*. So Moomin was actually an animé, and i don't think ANYONE is aware of this. Simply because we never thought of it as kids, or rather, weren't aware that such a concept existed. The general understanding in Sweden was either it's 2d animation, or it's live action. That was all knowledge of movie making we had. Exception., of course, the movie buffs. Now, I've always loved Moomin, I grew up with the books and the animé and that scary Christmas Calendar. Not scary for any other reason than it was live action, big people in big costumes and for some reason it scared the sh!t out of me. Maybe because they had to make the people wear big costumes as well... I mean, if humans have to wear human costumes, something is just wrong. Anywho, one thing I don't like about the cartoon is that in Japan it's 1 SEASON LONGER! What happened, guys? Why didn't you dub that last season and air it in Sweden? Well, too late now, and I have still to find it in Japanese. Giving this series a score is kinda hard, and almost unfair. I haven't seen the whole series, partly because of that last season, partly because i haven't seen all episodes that actually aired. And i don't want to buy the Swedish DVD releases, because they're totally out of order. you know, it's the kind of release where they throw a few episodes on a DVD that are not cohesive and one of the episodes are actually a two-parter, but only the last part is on the DVD..... or worse, the FIRST.... and its like episode 1 29 37 and 40 or something... I hate it when they do that. And they will never ever ever release a whole season in a box, because then they wouldn't make any money or something. RCP sounds like a good idea on this point....


Ok, third and last for today, or this will drag on forever, my animé TV-series list..... And the first thing i see is: Vanpaja naito.... gah, it sounds like a cartoon about some scary circus clowns. Scary pretty like the jigsaw puzzle i have waiting for me, Misty Circus Carousell. No, the animé, and the manga it's based on is called VAMPIRE KNIGHT! See, much cooler, you get an idea what it is about, it doesn't sound like a two year old translated it. Moving on... I notice that this list has no ratings either. I could rate Vampire knight, but.... I think I want to see it again before I do. So I don't mix it up with other vampire things I've been watching. And ANYONE saying the word TWILIGHT out loud gets shot by Zero. There! Looking down this list, I realize there are no yaoi on it, but it turns out i'm just forgetful. I have a YAOI LIST. Yay me. Wonder how long it took me to get all that on a list. Crosschecking, most of the titles on the yaoi list miiiight have been able to go on the animé list, as the titles i apparently found was rather tame, on the shounen-ai end of the yaoi scale, but still yaoi. I don't really know what else to say about my animé list, mainly because there were a lot of titles i haven't finished watching. I mean, ok, i got sailor moon, i got Vampire Knight and Black Butler and Death Note and hack.//SIGN, but I'm watching a bunch of others, so it's hard to keep things apart sometimes in my messy brain.

Ok, as usual a long-ass rant about things no one knows, and now i'm tired. I'll go through three more lists in a week....


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

Saturday, July 28, 2012

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.