Hot Gimmick
a fanfiction by D.M. Carter ('Luverly' via FF)

acknowledgements

I'd like to thank Miki Aihara for merely creating the beautiful and uber-awesome world that is Hot Gimmick. You are truely appreciated far more than anyone could possibly imagine.

Also, thank you to Lily for being my fellow writer-friend, and who never tired of hearing some of my not-so-great works. You are quite simply the best.

Elizabeth, Nicole, Kahlia, Marie, Selina, and Samantha thank you for being my friends, and although I may not show it, the most kick-ass people I've ever met. It's always been fun.

prologue

Love something that at first can be seen as an innocent, almost adorable emotion. Many have felt such a feeling before, time and time again, like a neverending circle that keeps turning, despite the many hands and random body parts (including the mental section of the heart) that would have attempted to quell these desires, these terribly natural feelings that were felt daily by those eager and lucky enough to come upon them.

However, like most strong emotions, love is not always found in easy-to-find, painstakingly obvious places. Sometimes love is hardly noticed, left alone in a musty old corner collecting dust, ignored by the person who has had love confessed to them before. Often these instances are as common as love itself, and often these instances are considered normal, which should not be the case, but has been in numerous situations.

This is the story of one of those numerous instances. A story that has stretched across the world, one that may touch you, cause you to convulse with laughter or sobs, or cause you to simply feel nothing but simple satisfaction, a sort of serenity not travelled upon often.

This is the story of two people bound together by a sort of monstrous fate. This is Hot Gimmick. And I sincerely hope you enjoy.

-D.M. Carter

chapter one
the long and short of things

Ryoki Tachibana had always thought of himself as something of a tyrant. Rude, bossy, and sarcastically polite, he found it difficult to find good qualities about himself. When one glanced upon him, you might think that his self-esteem was unusually high for someone of his status (but understandable nonetheless after all, his mother was Natsue Tachibana, "ruler" of the complex he lived in) ... but the ultimate truth was that this was hardly so in most cases.

Actually, Ryoki might have gone on living such an existance, a guilt-filled one, one that he greatly disliked to a point where he felt it neccessary to be overall nasty to anyone who was not himself. Ryoki might have gone on rejecting each girl that attempted a relationship with him, each useless wench that tried to delve deeper into him, physically and mentally. He might have been a horrible, heartless and cruel person if it weren't for Hatsumi Narita.

Hatsumi. It wasn't as if she had any winning qualities that attracted Ryoki in an extreme way. She was terribly shy in most instances, was as square as Shuichiro Tachibana's glasses were unfashionably round, was clumsy, and this one quality which Ryoki found most annoying was completely, utterly, and entirely devoted to someone already. Her brother, Shinogu.

He's not even her real brother, and she already knows he loves her, Ryoki thought bitterly as he sat, utterly alone, in the middle of his humongous room, tapping a mechanical pencil impatiently on the hardwood floor and looking dejectedly around the room, feeling in a bad mood and not wanting to speak to anyone. She's never been like that with me ... Hatsumi.

Ryoki felt angered, cheated out of his love, and made a fool out of. Often he didn't feel such emotions, but when it came to the Narita family, anything was possible. At least that was what his mother had explained over and over again, each night as she slipped out to the karaoke bar with her drunken boyfriend. Ryoki listened to the grubby bastard whisper slurred sweet nothings into Natsue's ear, and a steady taiko drum began to beat within Ryoki's heart as she answered back with a stifled giggle, one Ryoki disliked tremendously. He didn't feel so passionately about the whole affair that he wished to hate his mother. No, that wouldn't be his personality at all. When it came to Ryoki and his family, one phrase came to mind: "None of your goddamned business."

But when Natsue spoke to him, she acted as if Ryoki was commiting such a heinous crime by liking Hatsumi that he should be jailed her own son, her flesh and blood! The crazy old bat might have had these notions in her miniscule mind one point or another, but Ryoki knew that he was safe for the time being ... at least while he still lived with his mother. The guilt would have destroyed her, such a heavy blow to Natsue's pride as her "precious son" Ryoki being sent to jail would make it so that she would not be able to control herself. It was such a big deal with the Tachibanas, the whole 'pride' concept. It was so that, subconsciously, Ryoki was slightly thankful he had such a puffed-up family as the one he currently resided with.

But Ryoki had no desire to concern himself with family matters at the present time. Thinking back, Hatsumi's goofy but all the while extremely cute face burst into view before Ryoki's eyes, which were currently absent of glasses and stinging from the onion-strewn air wafting about the complex. Someone must be cooking, Ryoki reasoned absent-mindedly within his cluttered and often interrupted and overlapped thoughts.

Once again he had gone off topic within his head. Cursing under his breath, he willed himself to anger once again, to feel that pang of jealousy that only a suicidal individual would wish to experience, especially at the caliber that Ryoki was experiencing it. As his heart began to pump insanely and his vision grew blurry, he found himself wanting to escape ... not only from these thoughts, but from everything. He wanted Hatsumi to dissapear from his life forever. He wanted that junior and Subaru to dissapear from eachother's lives forever. Being extremely disgruntled at the time being, and coming upon the conclusion that Hatsumi wished nothing more than to be anywhere else but with him, Ryoki had his common emotional breakdown: after all, he was the son of Natsue Tachibana, the "ruler" of the whole complex ... if he couldn't receive the love and affection he desired, why should anyone else be able to possess that right?

He felt cheated. He felt annoyed. And he felt sick to his stomach, as the oniony smell was beginning to cause him to grow faint. Perhaps that one factor had assisted in his blurry vision and swiftly beating heart?

Oh, who cares about that right now, Ryoki thought sharply as he drew his body up, his tall legs flexing as he wobbled slightly, not used to standing seeing as he had been sitting rather uncomfortably for quite a long time, almost two hours now. Although his determination resulted in pure annoyance, Ryoki felt obliged to knock upon whoever was cooking that atrocious onion's door, seeing as he knew the familiar scent of the cooking, and had been meaning to talk to the certain "cooker" anyway. Brushing off his black turtleneck sweater and turning towards his front door, Ryoki felt a strong wave of who-the-hell-knew-what sweep through him (however, he wasn't sure if this could be classified as a valid emotion ... but to hell with that). With this new 'emotion', Ryoki felt slightly energized, and ready to tackle pretty much anything.

Good God. What an extremely cheesy thing to think. Whatever Hatsumi was doing to him, Ryoki wasn't sure he was pleased with the outcome. So, like the pessimist he truly was, Ryoki forced himself down: in short, thought about the very worst things he could.

Such as:
Worst Thought #01:Hatsumi falls for Azusa, Shinogu, or Subaru. In other words, anyone else besides me.
Worst Thought #02: That idiot Ruri-san tops me academically, and my stupid mother forces me to go out with her. In other words, leaving Hatsumi the choice to fall for anyone else besides me.
Worst Thought #03: I somehow fall for someone else. In other words, HATSUMI FALLS FOR ANYONE ELSE BESIDES ME.

Interesting. It seemed that Ryoki's thoughts, although forgotten on a consistent basis, were also extremely repetetive. As much as this angered and annoyed him, Ryoki could not help but feeling a little ... devoted? ... seeing as it seemed that at least 99.9 of his thoughts involved Hatsumi. Good or bad, at least he thought about her, that seemed to make her break down in the most pleasant ways at times, if he looked 'cute' enough.

Still, thinking so much about her was making Ryoki question just how much he found her company comforting. It seemed that, the more desperate he got to see her, the more she 'fooled around', as Ryoki so bitterly reminded himself. As he once again thought back to a time not so long ago the morning of the New Year, at the suite in Izu to be exact he could almost hear his previous being uttering the words, "I turn you off that much?"

That was how he sincerely, true-to-form felt. There was no denying his feelings ... he'd been through that throughout his whole life, since the day the Naritas had moved into the complex and had begun to ultimately confuse and destroy his life. The truth of it was that he felt that Hatsumi had no feelings for him.

And this time, he had absolutely no reservations. Because for once, his instinct was, as he thought it was, 99.9 true. That was much more than half, anyone could see that.

That, my friend, was the long and short of things.

Morning birds chirped noisily outside of the Narita's apartment window, scattering dew from the rainfall that previous night amongst the already bright and green, fresh-looking leaves, ones that didn't seem to require any kind of nourishment at the time being. The rough, dry leaves were receiving no such nourishment, however, and were instead being beaten horribly by the sun's glaring rays, unprotected by shade, and in such an inconvenient spot that no rain would ever be fortunate enough to land upon them, no matter how falsely bright they attempted to appear. In short, these leaves would never prosper.

Ryoki felt connected to these leaves in a sort of philosophical way. He had been denied love, and in turn was left to burn up, and was in such an utterly hard-to-reach spot that no-one dared enter it and try to comfort him. At times such as this, Ryoki found himself wishing that, perhaps if it was even the tiniest bit possible, that his mother could be a little less ... extravagant. A little less ready to start something, some kind of nagging problem that could be found within anyone who was unfortunate enough to have to live in the gossipfest of a complex that was Ryoki's home. Yes, he felt guilty. But not about Hatsumi.

His eyes half-open, Ryoki managed to lazily stretch his arms and legs out to half of their fullest extent (such as was the ritual each morning for him), but found himself falling rather stupidly off the edge of a horrendous plaid patterned couch that was half Ryoki's size. As his head hit the floor, a whirlwind of memories of the previous night began flowing back to him, as if by causing this would-be fatal injury he had discovered a key within his mind that had unlocked important thoughts, ones that would help him in the long run.

Questions like, "where am I?","what am I doing on this couch?", and, "why is it morning already?" would finally be answered, thanks to the Brilliant But Sometimes Strange Mind of Ryoki Tachibana, about to present a story of the not-so-long-ago past. (last night, actually.)

The Narita's doorbell a cacophony of short and long beeps that was present in all houses of the complex rang loudly, almost throwing Ryoki off balance, seeing as he hadn't exactly gotten used to walking regularly yet. For the past two hours (just a small estimate of how long he had been sitting, feeling dejected and sick) he had been sitting, on his behind, his legs crossed over uncomfortably, thinking about how unfair the world must ultimately be. The concept of the world is simple for most people a giant blue ball flecked with little bits of green and white. The Only Planet That Bears Human Life Forms. A simple concept nonetheless, right?

Wrong, Ryoki reminded himself as he awaited any one of the idiotic Narita family members to thrust open the door, their eyes wide, awakened suddenly. While the majority of the human population thought of the world as a big blue ball with all the neccessary trimmings, one word came to mind when Ryoki's vision of the world burst into view: Hatsumi.

Which was why it was ultimately neccessary that he darken their doorstep once again, in a frenzied attempt to get the world (Hatsumi) to stop cooking that horrendous onion stew, or whatever the hell it was that had so many damn onions in it. As the smell grew worse, Ryoki clamped his hands around his throat protectively, as it had begun to feel clogged, and on the whole, utterly useless. How he was supposed to ask Hatsumi to stop cooking when his throat was invalid was beyond him, even despite the fact he was the top 1 nationwide.

Becoming quite annoyed that nobody had answered the horrifying door (chipping paint, for Christ's sake chipping paint!), Ryoki reluctantly pressed his index finger to the bell again, wincing as the excessive beeping repeated itself, seeming to purposely alter it's rhythm each time to annoy whoever was knocking. This time he was only required to wait for a short while until, thank the Lord, someone answered the door. However, it was the last person Ryoki had wanted to see at this crucial time.

Shinogu, his hair ruffled and in horrid disarray seeing as it was around 2:00 in the morning felt his body nearly drop to the ground upon seeing Ryoki Tachibana standing before him, seemingly mad as ever. Being the overprotective "brother" that he was (well, protective of Hatsumi), Shinogu felt a built-in alarm begin to beep noisily within his mind, telling him that if he let this ... tyrant ... into their apartment, trouble would definitely begin to brew.

Meanwhile, the lean figure of Hatsumi poked out of a pile of thick duvets and blankets littered about the bed, strategically placed it seemed to suffocate the sleeper. Yawning and looking about the empty room, Hatsumi suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, as if someone had snuck up behind her and thrust a bucket of icicles against her bare back. Shivering and rubbing her arms, she grabbed one of the stray blankets and wrapped it around her body, teeth chattering and mainly wondering what had woken her up in the first place. Or, more importantly, who ...?

"What ... do you want, Ryoki?" Shinogu managed to stutter impatiently, his teeth grinding madly. Rolling his eyes and seeming not to care what this 'idiot' had to say, Ryoki laid a cold hand on the door frame, licking his lips as if to prepare for a lengthly speech.

"I came to see Hatsumi," Ryoki explained calmly, as if he were hardly referring to a girl whom he had slapped, insulted, and otherwise sexually assaulted on various occasions. It's not like it was my fault those times, Ryoki attempted to convince himself, hating to think that anything having to do with Hatsumi was ever his fault. She was drunk AND dressed nicely, what was I supposed to do, anyway?

A hurt look spread across Shinogu's face, one mixed with raw jealousy and pity for his sister. No, he hardly pitied Hatsumi he was just thoroughly annoyed that someone like Ryoki should receive a chance to have her love. He had been nice, hadn't he? So what made Ryoki special, anyway?

"Why are you even here, anyway?" Ryoki added, furrowing both eyebrows and appearing slightly clueless. "I thought you moved out or something ..." It seemed even Ryoki could feel he was out of line when asking this.

"Yeah," Shinogu replied snappily, rendering the whole topic of conversation untouchable for the time being. A sort of barrier stood between the two for some time, Shinogu unsure of how to respond, and Ryoki plotting ways of how he might manage to get into the apartment ... the scent was literally killing him now. Onions.

Ah, the floor was freezing cold! Quickly drawing her toes back onto the mattress and waiting momentarily before attempting to step off the bed again, Hatsumi nearly strained her ears to the point of exhaustion trying to figure out who might be at the door. Thinking it might be someone from the complex, Hatsumi then racked her brain for possible 'candidates'.

Azusa Odagiri? Thinking this aspect over, Hatsumi concluded that he would probably never confront the Narita's as a whole family anymore ... besides, he had already spoken to Hatsumi's father ... so, this was a no-go.

Subaru Yagi? Perhaps. Akane was ultimately the one who 'wore the pants' in the relationship, though. Hatsumi was finding it difficult to imagine Subaru outwardly expressing his love for Akane ... especially at 2:00 in the morning.

Ryoki Tachibana ...?

"Hatsumi ...!" Shinogu's melancholy voice rang out in a surprised manner as Hatsumi burst through her bedroom door, wide-eyed and utterly flabbergasted. Had she known it was Ryoki conversing so awkwardly with Shinogu, she would have emerged long ago, prepared to separate the two from whatever arguement they might be holding under their breath, metaphorically speaking. Knowing Ryoki, Hatsumi figured that before actually entering their household (or trying to, anyway), Ryoki hadn't exactly done alot of thinking, and had charged forward, unknowing of the perilous journey and consequences that might have lain ahead.

That proved just how much the two understood eachother.

Hatsumi shoved a lock of her mouse brown hair behind one hair and eyed Ryoki, attempting to converse with him through expression, hoping to inquire why he might be wanting to speak to them at this moment. However, he didn't seem to understand Hatsumi's signs, and instead responded by grabbing an onion that had wandered against his boot and furiously throwing it at Hatsumi's head, temple throbbing.

"What are you trying, you dope?" Ryoki growled, his eyebrows furrowed heavily and his teeth permanently clenched, appearing sharp and possibly dangerous if given the chance to sink into flesh. "Giving me that weird look ... am I that disgusting? God! Pisses me off!"

"Shit," Ryoki cursed under his breath as his hands slid over the gold plated doorknob of his own apartment, tugged mechanically, and received no response from the other side of the door. "It's locked. The old bat must be screwing."

"S-S-Screw" Hatsumi began, a light blush spreading across her cheeks. However, she found it uneccessary to continue, seeing as Ryoki seemed mad enough to begin with, and she was thoroughly embarrassed about even muttering such a word in the first place. As usual, she had found it impossible to keep from questioning the Tachibanas, seeing as the entire family made her feel extremely insecure.

An example worthy of being presented was that evening. After being thoroughly insulted and harrassed by a disgruntled Shinogu (seconds after the infamous Onion Face Incident), Ryoki had managed to successfully bully Hatsumi into discarding the onion stew she had been brewing and had let simmer for awhile ... however, this took quite alot of persuading and Ryoki having to strategically plant his face right before Hatsumi's, glasses absent. (This was a sure-fire scheme) But being a natural persuader, Ryoki had managed to overcome that one obstacle, and then decided to return home, seeing as now he could finally breathe. (Besides, having Shinogu there made it impossible for Ryoki to actually be alone with Hatsumi, anyway.)

And now the door was locked.

"What the hell am I supposed to do, then ...?" Ryoki grumbled, once again feeling overcome by a pessimistic attitude, wishing he had never visited the Naritas on such a night as this. He hadn't even heard his mother leave, how would he have known that she and that man would return, drunken and stupid? The fact was, he wouldn't have known. Not even if he was top 1 nationwide as if that would help him socially, anyway.

Sincerely plotting a plan, with her finger to her lips, glancing around The Thinking Works Hatsumi racked her brain once again for the second time that night. Where could Ryoki go? It wasn't as if they could simply knock upon another complex dweller's home, asking if the son of Natsue Tachibana could spend a few hours there. Phones were out of the question Ryoki had unhappily explained that his mother would be furious upon knowing that he had visited the Naritas, anyway.

So what could they do? Was there even a favorable solution, one that would work for everyone, and make it so that nobody would have to throw onions? Hatsumi thought, and thought ...

"Why doesn't he just stay the night here?"

Both the heads of Hatsumi and Ryoki turned to Shinogu, who had silently slid over to the plaid patterned couch and was scanning through the news. Had they heard him correctly? And had it really been Shinogu who had uttered that suggestion? Shinogu ...?

"Ummm ... a-are you s-s-sure?" Hatsumi asked meekly, a familiar expression of embarrassment sweeping over her once again. Turning to Ryoki and allowing him to see this same expression, Hatsumi suddenly realized that if Ryoki were to stay the night, then ...

No, she didn't want to think about it! It was entirely and utterly stupid for her to even be questioning that thought within her already troubled-enough mind. She had already concluded that being romantically involved with Ryoki all at once like THAT was not going to happen for quite some time, even if he wanted to do 'it' right off the bat. She simply wouldn't allow it!

Although Hatsumi was objectionable, a wide grin spread across Ryoki's face, one that Shinogu disliked greatly, for it hinted some kind of twisted plot, he knew it. Making a mental note to lock Hatsumi's bedroom door from the inside (how he would do this was another story), Shinogu smiled and continued on with his suggestion.

"Well, where else do you expect him to go, Hatsumi?" Shinogu asked, the fake sugary-sweetness of his voice becoming clear. Gulping, Hatsumi turned away, seeming to have admitted defeat. Instead of speaking then, Shinogu simply stood up, motioned towards the couch, and stepped out of the room, feeling a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Was that what had happened? He'd been unable to enter his own household, and had 'accidentally' spent the night at the Naritas? Ryoki still wasn't entirely sure what exactly had occurred between those fated hours, and wasn't certain that the things he'd been able to recall were accurate, either. Either way, it didn't exactly matter to him anymore. What he really needed at the moment was to return home, think things over once again before confronting Hatsumi. After clearing his head a little, maybe he could return ... and perhaps Hatsumi would be more 'prepared' as well.

Would he able to sneak out, unnoticed? Ryoki didn't remember bringing anything along with him besides a light jacket, and even now he still had it clumsily draped over his shoulders. Properly adjusting it and looking about the empty room, Ryoki felt another strange wave of who-the-hell-knows-what, and personally scolded himself for feeling such a strange and unheard of emotion. This was the second time now, and frankly, he was getting rather sick of it.

His shoes, lying neatly on a mat near the front door with the rest of the family's footwear, were still in mint condition, letting off what seemed like a glow, letting themselves be known that they were superior, how much they cost, and their owner's overall status. Feeling proud and ashamed at the same time, Ryoki quickly shuffled across the carpeting into the hallway, tripping over a coat rack as he raced for his shoes. As his foot throbbed uncomfortably and Ryoki jammed his better foot into one of the shoes, who should come bursting through her bedroom door but Akane Narita ... or Junior, if you had Ryoki's memory.

"What are you doing?" Akane snapped, frowning and tapping her foot, letting off the common air of a sassy schoolgirl. Her hair, although she had just awoken, was neat and tidied as usual, curled very lightly at it's base and sporting a pretty chestnut complexion. It would seem that Akane, of all people, indeed believed in the non-existant Fashion Police, who Ryoki supposed must visit nightly if she appeared so groomed every morning.

"What does it look like, junior?" Ryoki snapped as he successfully crammed his throbbing foot into the other shoe and a sort of relief washed over him. He supposed that now, now that he was prepared, he could leave any time he pleased. Perhaps that was where the relief was rooted. "I'm getting out of here. See you."

And Ryoki did get out of there. He got out, not only of the Narita's apartment, but out of the entire complex. Right now, Ryoki needed to clear his head. He needed to find Azusa.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed the first part of this fanfiction. When I couldn't find Hot Gimmick in any of the directories, I was a little saddened ... but I know it must be hard to list them ALL, sometimes. ;; Anyway, review if you like, otherwise, hope you keep waiting for the second part to come out soon.