They say it takes twenty-eight to create a habit. Fang had been shoplifting for a few years now, so it stands to reason that it had become a habit at this point. It's not that he necessarily needed to steal the things he stole, or even that he wanted them, it was simply a force of habit. Which explains why, after having been dragged through the Japantown mall by Nudge, he stole a copy of Heart no Kuni no Alice from a manga store.
When he and Nudge returned to the flock's current hideout, Fang removed the plastic from the book and began flipping through the pages. And, wouldn't you know it, he had stolen the book in the wrong language.
"Can't speak Japanese, much less read it," he muttered. Whatever, thought he, looks pretty girly, anyway. Ten bucks says I would've been sick of it after reading the first two pages if I could understand it. He then tossed the book aside and flipped open his laptop to check on his blog.
It couldn't have been more than five minutes before Fang was flipping through the pages of Heart no Kuni no Alice again. Suddenly, he stopped. On this page was a man. But not just any man. No, this was one of the prettiest men he had ever seen.He wasn't sure when he started thinking that guys were actually capable of being pretty, but this fact was now drilled into his mind. Really, what a pretty man this was.
"Um... You wanna tell me why the heck you've been staring at that book for the last ten minutes? You haven't even been turning the pages," Max said, cutting into Fang's fantasies. "I mean, I know you're not exactly one to be reading, but are you really so rusty that you've been trying to read the same page for this long?"
Fang cut a glare at Max. How had he once found her pretty? He hadn't known true beauty back then; that must be the only reason. "Max..." he began, knowing he couldn't go on any longer living a lie, "I gotta tell you something."
"What? You're in a cult?" she joked. "I already knew that."
Fang sighed. "I'm being serious."
Max crossed her arms. She had a bad vibe about where this was going. "Okay, what is it?"
Holding up the book to show Max the picture, he explained, "I'm over you. This is my new love interest."
There must've been something in those milkshakes we had earlier, Max thought. He's delusional; he's in love with a drawing. "Right... You know that 1) that's a guy, and b) he's a drawing, don't you?"
"Yeah, I know, but that doesn't change things."
Suddenly a high-pitched squeal interrupted the conversation. "Fang's in love with a character from Heart no Kuni no Alice! Aw, how cute! Although I totally think that he goes way better with Max, you know, 'cause she's real and all, but, how totally adorable is that!" Nudge rambled excitedly.
"I knew that," Angel calmly stated, "for a while, but I knew he would tell you, Max, and I wanted to see how you'd react."
"No way!" Gazzy shouted. "Fang likes some fake dude? Ha, ha, wow. But, hey! I wanna see that guy! Show me!" Gazzy snatched the book out of Fang's hand and scanned the picture. "Ha! Check out this guy's hair! Yo, Ig, take a look at this!" He ran over to Iggy, forgetting about the whole "blind" thing.
"Yo, Gazzy, remember, I'm kind of blind," Iggy reminded the boy. "But whatever. Oh, wow, would you look at that. That's who Fang has the hots for? Oh my goodness!" he sarcastically reacted.
"Well, it, like, totally makes sense. I mean, that guy's a total bishouen, so no duh Fang likes him," Nudge cut in.
"Shut up!" Fang shouted. He grabbed the book back from Gazzy, stuffing it into one of his oversized pockets.
"Okay, I get it, it's cool. You're gay, and have now fallen in love with a fictional character, who, by the way, doesn't even speak the same language as you. So, when that guy comes to life, you're going to have some trouble confessing your undying love to him, you know," Max laughed.
She doesn't think I'm serious. Did I not say I was serious? That point was made, no? Fang thought frustratedly.
"Whatever," Fang said, and stalked off into the darkness.
The rest of the flock stood there, watching Fang disappear, each giggling at the ridiculousness of the situation.
"Hey," Total piped up, "anybody else notice he took the book with him?" This caused even more laughter to erupt.
Not very far away, Fang was listening to his friends laugh at him. It wasn't really bothering him, though. His thoughts were focused on the man in the book. So he's a "bishouen," huh? Well, since I don't know his name, guess I'll just call him that. Or "bishie" for short. Fang remained where he was for a good long while, away from it all, it was just him and his bishie.
Author's Note: I had to! I just had to write this. I had this idea last night before I went to sleep, and I couldn't resist. So, yes, that's that.
Oh, and every single guy in Heart no Kuni no Alice looks like a bishie, wouldn't you agree? So, I don't really know whom he had fallen for. This is good, in case you haven't read Heart no Kuni no Alice. Now there's no reason to feel kind of in the dark.
And, yeah, I had to make Nudge the otaku. It fits her, no?