Clare was woken up by the obnoxious ringing of her phone. She grunted, picking it up from her side table, and confronted by an angry voice.
"MIRIAN! WHERE IS YOUR MANUSCRIPT"
Crap.
She quickly shrieked into her phone, a sure sign to her editor, what's-his-name, that her manuscript had not been sent in last night. She groaned as he began to scold her.
"I TOLD YOU TO SEND IT IN TONIGHT, IDIOT!"
He had a really deep voice. She still couldn't place his name, she would remember it later.
"Hey hey! Relax! I did it, I just forgot to send it in!"
She started before she was interrupted.
"WE ARE NOW A DAY OFF SCHEDULE, SEND IT IN!"
His voice commanded through the phone.
"Alright alright!"
She replied, hanging up.
Clare Mirian is a starting off BL manga author, and her first novel was to be put through by the Emerald Publishing Company. Manga seemed easy, she had a good plot down, but for some reason they suggested she turned to this BL novelist, named Aikawa Yayoi. Though she didn't understand why she had to turn to someone who didn't even draw manga, she sighed and looked at the address she was left. Huh. To her interest she found it was the penthouse across the hall from her.
Isn't that a man…? She thought to herself, before shaking her head. Probably his wife or something. There was also an apparently handwritten letter by the author herself. It was simple, but she couldn't help but admire her handwriting. "She must have been doing this for a while" she stated, before getting dressed to meet her. Oh yeah, the manuscript. She took it and stuffed it in the fax machine, sending it to the Shoujo manga department without hesitation. She then crossed her arms and huffed, heading out of her door, and straight to the door across from her.
The first thing she heard the minute she was in front of the door was glass breaking.
Is something happening? She wondered, until she heard a very feminine shriek.
"AIKAWA!" she yelled, banging her fist on the door. "AIKAWA ARE YOU OKAY?"
"USAGI…! STOP!" the feminine voice continued.
Out of sheer panic, Clare kicked down the door with all her might, and darted straight into the room, only to stop dead in her tracks.
There was no woman. Only two men. One, with brown hair, pinned down onto a glass coffee table, and the other one with white hair. She and the brown haired boy went red in the face.
"Oh… Uh… heh…"
She stuttered, and the white haired man got off the table, and the brown haired one scrambling off the table and hiding behind the couch.
"So, you're Mirian right?" the white haired man asked, like nothing had happened.
"Uh… ah… yes?" she answered.
"I'm Usami Akihiko, but you may know me as Aikawa Yayoi" he stated bluntly.
"wait…WHAT?" she yelled. "YOU'RE A MAN!" she said.
"And?" he said, his voice growing irritated, and giving her a cold glare.
"…nothing." She replied quietly.
At this, Usami went behind the couch, and picked up the brown haired man, despite his protests.
"PUT ME DOWN!" he wailed, flailing himself, until Usami placed him down.
"Go get volumes 1-10" he commanded, being met by a protestant look, but then Usami leaned in, close enough to kiss him, and the brown haired man instantly complied and bolted up the stairs.
Clare raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question.
"So, you're an American?" Usami suddenly questioned, making Clare jump.
"Oh well… Yeah" she stated, as she watched the brown haired one stumble down the stairs, handing her a stack of books.
"Do you mind if I read here?" she questioned, looking down at broken glass on the carpet. It appeared to be a bear holding… 10 salmon?
"Go ahead." Usami grunted.
Her eyes widened at how quickly it escalated. It was one thing that caught her eye though.
"Um… Usami?" she piped up.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Why are you one of the main characters in the book?" she asked.
Usami grinned and grabbed the brown haired boy around the waist before answering.
"Think of it as… my personal fantasies." He replied, making both Clare and the brown haired boy extremely red.
"So then he is..." she said, not wanting to finish the sentence.
"Yes. This boy is Takahashi Misaki, my lover" he stated, Takahashi pushed away, letting out nervous laughter.
"Don't listen to him! He's a little crazy, you know he barely goes outsi-"
He didn't get to finish before Usami took Takahashi by the chin and kissed him, causing the smaller one to go ballistic.
"Should I… Go?" Clare inquired, still utterly confused by everything going on.
Usami looked up and nodded. "Take the books with you, study up. I'll look over your next manuscript if you'd like"
Clare picked up the books and nodded silently, remembering the door. "Oh… I kind of… kicked your door down" she mentioned, Usami not seeming to care.
"Its fine, I can fix it" he said, before turning back to his lover.
"Right… Um… Thank you… See you later…?" she uttered before bolting out the door and landing in her apartment, red in the face.
Her phone rang obnoxiously loud again, and she blindly reached up and put it next to her ear, to be met by more frantic yelling.
"YOU IDIOT! THE PAGES IN THE MANUSCRIPT ARE OUT OF ORDER AND YOU DIDN'T NUMBER THEM!"
His editor was screeching. Clare screamed/sighed against the floor as she got up.
"WHAT DO I DO?" she panicked.
"GET OVER HERE IMMEDIATELY"
Her editor demanded.
"I'LL BE OVER!" she yelled into the phone, before snapping it shut and bolting out the door.
Clare's manager was extremely moody. He seemed to always be in a bad mood, and sometimes she would hear him yell at his coworkers while they were on the phone. Apparently he was head of the department, and it surprised her how she got him as her editor. It must be really awkward for him to look over my manuscript, especially considering he's a man… she thought to herself as she walked down the road. At this point, Clare was finally awake enough to remember his name.
It was Masamune Takano.