Chapter 1: Is What It Is

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon.

Author's Note: New story already! I got kind of excited because Jyun's story is going to be very unlike others. Also, if you looked closely, you'll see a bit of foreshadowing in the last chapter of Leave Out All The Rest that something's up with our playboy. It'll be fun…

That said, 'This Love' might come off way more sexual and possibly even offensive than Leave Out All The Rest. And I stated at the end of LOATR that I haven't played Tree of Tranquility but I'm going off what I've heard about Roomi. And yes, I'm keeping Japanese names…no Luna or Candace for me. That said, Kotomi is going to be AU in that she's not shy…

Enjoy!

Problematic Reflection: So I'm doing a level of "problematic" warnings on the first chapters of my older stories. This series is fourteen years old so there's definitely a lot of "woah there, that's not right" moments. I'd give This Love a 8/10 on problematic. Jyun is a womanizer, Roomi is like that old un-PC Uncle, and then at times she seems to have an idea of what 'women should be'. I've done some edits over the years but there's bound to still be some lingering 'eek' in there.

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"Mm…moshi moshi?" a raspy voice echoed.

Seiwa Kotomi smiled, roaming around her apartment, "Hey."

She heard the creak of a bed, meaning he was still asleep at 2 p.m.. Chuckling, she shook her head. Some things never changed.

"Koto? Is that you?" he yawned.

"Mm hmm…"

"Well damn, to what do I owe this unexpected call? Finally change your mind?"

Kotomi smirked, rolling her eyes, "Jyun, I sent you an engagement announcement months ago."

"Oh yea…" he yawned again, "How is ol' Tets doing? Haven't heard from him in a few months."

"Oh, he's wonderful" she sighed, "He's in Spain right now."

"Sounds fun. So what's up? I doubt you wanted to play catch up or anything" he replied, standing and wandering into his kitchen.

"You're right" she said, her tone shifting to seriousness, "I need a photographer for Kikanki."

Jyun poured himself a glass of orange juice, musing, "How long?"

"Well, I know you hate sticking around for long but I'd need one for at least a year until I can find more stable photographers. My last two dozen all were more interested in nailing the models…which I expect you can keep separate from actually working?"

Jyun grinned lazily, "I'm a professional, Kotomi, you know that. That is, if I agree."

"Oh c'mon!" she pleaded, "You owe me still from college. You said when I cheated the only time ever in my entire life, compromising my integrity-"

"Okay, okay" he laughed a little, "I'm a man of my word. I'll keep my promise from nearly ten years ago…"

"A promise is good for eternity" Kotomi responded sagely.

Yagami Jyun ran his fingers through his hair, recalling the incident where he was extremely hungover so he had Koto pull some things so that his exam could be counted. Or more like take it for him and slip it into the pile. Of course he wasn't proud of thatbut oh well. That was almost ten years ago.

"Well, send me the address. When are you free to meet to go over the details?" he questioned.

"I'm free today and tomorrow. Tomorrow would be best though, I have to set up some things before you arrive."

He snickered, "You make it sound like I'm royalty or something."

"No, just my head photographer" she sighed.

"Wow, that's weird" he cocked a brow, "Didn't your magazine just win some high up award? And you don't have a reliable photographer?"

"The reward was for our articles and interviews though" she sighed miserably, "Just pick up an edition and look at our photos. They're atrocious."

"I guess I will check that out" he pondered, "So I'll see you tomorrow…12 good?"

"Perfect! Thanks, Jyun, you're a lifesaver!"

"No problem."

Clicking off, he wandered into the bathroom, dropping his pants and tapping on his shower as he stepped in, scrubbing his chest, humming. Seiwa Kotomi was the only woman in college that he had a relationship with that he didn't have…relations with. And that was fine with him, really, she was one of his really good friends. She was cute though.

He groaned, closing his eyes as his hand slid down his stomach, grasping and stroking his length. He'd been busy closing out his current photography project. No time to pick up women, really. Smiling vaguely, he shrugged. Well, that'd have to be changed.

Climbing out, wrapping a maroon towel around his hips, he blinked, his cell ringing. Picking up, he smiled lightly, clicking 'send'. "Hi mama."

"Jyun! Where have you been? Have you been eating?" Yagami Elli instantly started to nag.

He laughed, shaking his head and drying his hair, "Mama, just because I don't go to dinner night every Monday doesn't mean I don't eat, sheesh. I've been busy with a project."

"Can you come tonight?" she whined, "Your silly brother has run off and your sister hates us so I seem like a bad mother!"

"Mama, you are not a bad mother, you just have bad children" he assured.

"And I wonder whose fault that is" she said sadly.

"Mommy" he whined himself, "Stop guilting me, I'm sorry I'm a bad son and I have awful siblings."

"You're not a bad son…" she sighed.

"That sounded strained" he grinned lazily.

She 'nyahed' and he smiled, pulling on a pair of jeans. His mother was a saint, she really was. Yagami Elli was like one of those '50s sitcom mothers who'd have cookies ready for them when they got home from school, told them to go wash their hands and face before 'supper' and wiped their faces with her apron all whilst being a nurse. She always had time for them despite all that.

And yet, if someone looked up the term 'rolling stone', they'd find Yagami Kyo's, his younger brother, picture next to it. He 'ran off' aimlessly, probably spending different nights in different women's beds. Even Jyun, not really one to abide to normalities in the least, rolled his eyes at Kyo's 'free bird' style of life. Kyo never stayed in contact when he was roaming and for all any of them knew, he was dead in a ditch somewhere most of the time. He had a 'work and go' job. He'd do some work, get some money, and that was it. Modern day nomad…

Yagami Hoshiko…he didn't know where to begin with his baby sister. It was as Elli said, if she didn't hate them, God, she really made it seem like she did. After high school, she never came to anything. Dinners, Christmas, New Years, weddings, she was absent. Of course she didn't have to come to every single one but missing the last five years? No.

Yet he supposed he was a bit at fault, Kyo as well. They had a penchant for making her life a living hell when they were younger. She liked wearing her hair unbearably short. Like, when Jyun had to take her to get her haircut once, he was cringing the whole entire time. It was shorter than what he wore his hair. So naturally that meant that they called her a 'guy' or lesbian. She'd cried, screamed that she wasn't, but they were pretty relentless. Of course, when it came down to it, what did he care? As long as she was happy…He just kind of thought maybe longer hair suited their faces better.

That was probably his fault though. He had a hard coded sense of 'femininity' and Hoshiko? She could very well be mistaken for a boy, especially with the clothes she wore. He found he wondered if she owned a skirt. He knew that wasn't even a definition of 'femininity' but he was yet to meet a girl that hadn't had the article of clothing at least given to them for them not to wear. She was a lot like Kaede had been but even Kaede had had his predisposed concept of a 'feminine charm' when wearing skater shorts that were four times wider than her leg and a huge t-shirt. 'Course, Steiner came into the picture and that changed even more. Alas, even with a skirt on, Kaede could kick his ass any day. He guess he just understood her a little better.

So his mother had a rolling stone son and a daughter that despised them. Him?

Well, he came to the family dinners. He was happy to, really. Kyo's lifestyle would drive him insane, never being in one spot long enough to value it. Hoshiko would just have to get over it, he'd stopped making fun of her a long, long time ago and he did go with her to the barber. He didn't even say anything! But the one thing that drove his mother insane was he was a bit of a player. And taking it a step further, he had no desire to 'settle down'.

He liked women, there was no denying it. Sexy, cute, stacked body, any body, it was all wonderful to him. His mother scolded him for treating women like toys. Not at all, he'd grumbled. He never saw women as toys. He was completely honest with them that he didn't want a relationship and thus far in his fifteen years of being 'active' he had only met three women who hadn't understood that.

Settling down, that was for Keiji, that was for Kaede, that was for whoever else.

But it wasn't for him.

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"Have you seen him? He is so hot…" whispered a secretary.

Seiwa Roomi looked at her fellow workers and rolled her eyes. When would Kotomi ever learn?

The 'hot' photographers never gave a damn about this magazine and yet she always employed them. She almost laughed. What would Kotomi's fiancé think if she told him that her sister had a bit of a bishounen complex?

What was worse was that SHE was the one that ended up being the guy's secretary, running menial tasks like booking hotels for him and his model. Or even better, when he wanted to book a hotel for her and him. Roomi had pleaded with her sister to hire her friend Nia but she just would not listen. Nia would make a better photographer than any of those horndogs.

Patting her skirt as she stepped into her sister's office, preparing herself to meet the newest slime, she cocked a brow, finding her sister alone.

"…I thought you had a new photographer for me to meet, Koto" she questioned, crossing her arms at her sister who was sitting behind her desk.

The blue-haired woman looked up and shrugged, "He'll be back in a few, said he wanted to explore a bit before getting any details."

Roomi's brow furrowed, "Okay…"

"Wow, this place is effin' huge, Koto."

Roomi's eyes widened and she turned around, facing the owner of the voice. He was wearing a maroon button up shirt and black coat with a pair of black slacks, a pair of black avatars propped up on his head. He was immensely tall, so much so she had to wonder if he was foreign. He had neck length brown hair, his eyes a richer brown color.

He had rather attractive facial features…

Yep, he'd be a problem.

"Ah! Jyun, I'd like you to meet someone" Kotomi smiled, standing.

Roomi cocked a brow at her sister as Jyun cocked a brow at her, "Oh…?"

"This is my sister, Seiwa Roomi" she introduced, "Roomi, this is my friend from college, Yagami Jyun."

Jyun bowed slightly which startled Roomi because, well, it was polite. The other photogs were far from it. Roomi bowed slowly and Kotomi continued.

"Roomi will be your secretary, Jyun."

Jyun rose and seemed blank for a moment before glancing at Kotomi, "…What?"

Roomi scowled, crossing her arms, as Kotomi explained, "I know you usually like doing things on your own, Jyun, but-"

"Koto, that's nice but I'm sure your sister can be doing much better things than fetching me coffee and watching me work" Jyun protested.

Roomi smiled brightly, "I like this one, sis!"

Kotomi smirked, "Regardless. Roomi is very skilled at scheduling appointments for the vast database of models at our disposal, picking up things that said models need, getting them to the proper spots-"

"She my secretary or the model's?"

Roomi snickered and Kotomi leered at him, poking him in the chest, "Just deal with it."

"Fine. I look forward to working with you, Seiwa-san" he sighed.

Roomi was about to comment when Kotomi got a phone call. She glanced at the caller ID and grimaced, shooing them. "I have to take this call. Show Jyun to his office, Roo."

Roomi sighed and waved him over to where his office would be. He whistled and glowered.

"Dude, this is almost as big as Koto's office. What's she thinking?" he murmured, "I'm not that important."

Roomi blinked rapidly, definitely not used to this behavior from…anyone, "Photographer is one of the top jobs on the magazine. You're kind of laid back."

"Yup…"

Roomi glared, looking him in the face, "You're not going to take this seriously, are you?"

The fellow just smiled some, "I always take my work seriously. I just never got my own office or secretary with my past jobs."

Roomi sighed, slamming down at her desk in the corner and gnawed on her lip, "So do you need anything?"

"Well…can I ask you something?" he said after a moment as if he were deliberating.

"…Sure" she grumbled, feeling a sudden wave of irritation. Here it goes.

"…How old are you?"

Roomi cocked a brow, not getting this particular question from the philandering pricks that came into this job. They weren't really interested in age…

"Why?"

"I have to say, you're kind of…"

Roomi's eyes narrowed, knowing exactly where this was going now. "Say it."

Jyun's eyes shifted nervously, "…Short…"

Roomi just made 4'11" and she often wore heels to mask this fact but had really liked these cute flats she just found. She groused, "Maybe you're just tall."

"I'm only about 5'11" and some halves…" he commented absently, slamming down at his desk, frowning at the chair that swiveled.

"That's a foot taller than me!"

He grinned lazily and clicked on his computer, "So why do I have to be the magazine's first photographer that doesn't suck?"

"To be seen, Yagami-san" Roomi commented curtly, "And because Koto likes hiring men that think with the wrong heads. Models giving them head under the desk, orgies in the photo studio. Last guy even took hits of cocaine off one of our model's stomachs and decided to film it."

Jyun crossed his arms, "And…?"

"And?! That's not what they're hired to do!" Roomi snapped.

"Did you fire the models too?" he questioned rather seriously.

Roomi blanked and scowled, "Why would-"

"Why? It takes two to tango, Seiwa-san" Jyun rolled his eyes, "Nothing you just said implied that there was any forcing on the other half. Yes, photographers are in it because chicks are hot, the ones that aren't really flamboyant or gay. But why do models do that? To get ahead. But if she can only get ahead by using the abilities she has to give a blowjob then she has no more the right to be a model than that photographer has the right to be a photographer."

She was rather in a state of disbelief before snorting, "Impressing me with your philosophical words? They also had a fascination with getting into my pants."

Jyun grinned rather coyly, "Sorry, Seiwa-san, you don't reach the line to ride."

Roomi gawked as he chuckled huskily, turning to the computer, "And you never answered my question."

"…I'm 22" she grunted, finding that she could be frustrated with these guys for other reasons beside incompetence.

His brows rose as if this surprised him, "Wow, I would have said fifteen tops."

She threw a pen at him and he ducked, laughing, "I'm kidding!"

"How old are you?" she demanded, irritably shifting papers.

"28."

Roomi paused and it was her turn to look surprised, "Don't lie."

"I'm not" he assured.

"You're old" she gasped.

He smirked at her, "Decrepit."

"You have to be lying" she retorted, nose wrinkling, "You look like you're twenty if a day over."

"Good genes and the whole serum thing, I guess" he commented absently, "Koto was two years behind me in college…"

Roomi had honestly thought her sister was the elder in this case as he looked that young. She crossed her arms, analyzing him.

"…So what is it? Meditation, no sex, no booze?"

Jyun laughed, "None of the above. I'm a boozing, sexing heathen."

Roomi smirked, "Heathens don't meditate?"

"Oh, I meditate, in a sense" he said slowly before whistling, "Damn, this is the expensive software…"

"Do you need me to do anything?" she sighed, asking again, shifting in her chair.

"…"

Roomi stared at him as he seemed to ponder for some odd amount of minutes before silently 'ohing'. "Red list all the chicks that do sex favors and put them all at the bottom. I don't want to deal with the known whores."

She almost gawked and he sighed, "I guess I'll look through all these models and look over the papers the designers sent in so I can start tomorrow."

He went to work, going through their database and Roomi wasn't really sure what to think.

Somehow she got the idea this might be a lot more interesting than she'd thought.

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Or not…

Roomi's eyes narrowed at the 'photographer' as he stared at the ceiling, spinning around in his chair.

"…Are you done?" she grunted.

"All the faces are starting to run together" he yawned, rubbing his eyes sleepily, "Where's your blondes? Your brunettes? Your redheads? I see the same template over and over here."

Roomi gasped which seemed to startle him as she practically teleported over to his side, looking at the models, "Oh my God, I've told Koto that for ever and she never listens! She sticks wigs on them!"

He laughed, clicking through image files of miscellaneous women, "I…guess that gets the job done. Don't get me wrong, they're all very attractive young ladies in a kind of…cloned way."

Roomi blinked as he stroked his chin, "Well, I'll pull some strings, this isn't exactly…inspiring whatsoever."

She stared at his hand as he held out a wad of money, "Here, I want a Café Caramel Frappuchino with tons of whipped cream. And a turkey and Swiss sandwich on rye."

Roomi glowered, "You sure got used to this 'secretary' thing quick."

"Well, anyone can get used to being a lazy ass quick" he snickered, "And bring me back another drink and something random to eat."

"What?" she groaned.

"Surprise me."

She sighed, taking the money, and wandering to the nearest café. Roomi hadn't really wanted to be a secretary for long. She'd wanted to do more but she just wasn't sure what. She liked working with her sister a lot but still, she had to be a slave to these…guys. Wandering back to the office, she slammed it all down next to him.

"There you are!" she said with mock-sweetness.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded, staring at the pink beverage she bought.

"Your surprise" she giggled, "Strawberries and crème!"

He stared at her for a long few moments as he reviewed the salad as well, "So…you bought me two of the most girly things one can eat."

"What's wrong with salad and strawberries and crème?" she demanded, "You have the nutrients of strawberries and vitamins in the salad!"

He finally laughed, waving a hand in defeat, "Okay, okay, thanks for thinking of my health."

She scowled as he handed the salad and drink to her, "Dude, I am not taking this back-"

"Of course not, only dicks send perfectly good food back" he scoffed, "That's your lunch. What would I need two drinks for?"

Roomi's eyes widened, confused and surprised, as he nibbled at his sandwich, "While you were away, I talked to Koto about implementing some models from other agencies that I'm familiar with and she gave me the go ahead. I think I emailed them to your account with all their information. I have an idea of who I want to use so if you can schedule them around 1 p.m. tomorrow, that'd be great."

Roomi nodded slowly as she sipped her drink before sending him a look, "I'll pay you back for my food."

"Why?" he sighed, "I bought you lunch now I'm going to work you into the ground. Fair trade, eh?"

…Definitely interesting.