Hey Everybody! I'm so super sorry that this chapter is so late! I think it may be a little short but the next two are a lot longer (or so I hope!) Anyway, enjoy reading, again sorry that they're late!
The day was a warm one, Misaki could tell. It was only morning, and the sun had barely risen over the mountain tops, but the air around him was nice and cool. Akihiko was still asleep in the house and Misaki was outside, just releshing in the day before it officially started. He looked up at the golden, pink sky, and smiled. He was happy, and he didn't know why in particular. Maybe it was just the promise of a good day, or a good week, heaven knows he's in need of one of those, and his mind drifted soon after and before he knew it, the sun was shining down on him, warming his exposed skin. Misaki leaned up against his small house, feeling the stone texture through his cloak. He decided that now was a good time to wake his friend up and send him on his way home so he could get on with his own chores. He pushed himself forward, stumbling a bit, before rounding around the corner and entering the home, slowly dragging his boots off his feet.
He listened to the echo of his foot steps while he walked down the hall to Akihiko's room. Misaki turned to the door and knocked a few times and let himself in. "Akihiko." He said, "Time to wake up."
The greeting in return was a resounding groan, and Misaki prepared himself for what was coming. Akihiko began to shift under his covers and balled up in a ball. He lifted his head slightly from the pillow and glared at the younger man. Unfazed, Misaki walked further in and mustered up what he could to give his friend a stern look. "Don't do that," he fussed, "Come on Akihiko, get up."
The older man responded with another grunt. "It's too god damn cold." he finally said. "I don't want to."
Misaki frowned. "I told you to wear thicker clothes when you decide to sleep over here. I know you plan to come over when you do. Its never a spur of the moment kind of thing with you."
"How can you possible know that?" Akihiko replied, turned, and sat up, pulling the blanket up around him. He looked like a child to Misaki.
"Because you're my best friend," Misaki replied, turning and walking to the door. "And I know you. So get up." Misaki didn't wait for a reply, just left and closed the door behind him. He heard Akihiko through the wall, grumbling and cursing while he pushed himself out of bed and started to get dressed. Misaki smiled and shook his head.
He walked to the little sitting room by the fire place, taking note that he would have to clean it up soon. Footsteps echoed behind him and he turned around and was greeted with a face that could freeze hell over. Akihiko stood over him with a shadow covering his eyes. He glared down at Misaki with crossed arms and a deep frown set on his face, but Misaki was used to it. The boy gave him a harsh glare in return.
"You know," Akihiko said darkly, unrelenting in his stare. "It's unhealthy for any human being to wake up this early."
"What's unhealthy is to sleep as late as you always do." Misaki countered.
They stood in silence for a few minutes, just glaring at each other before Misaki's lips twitched into a smile. The effect was almost instantaneous as both of the men keeled over with laughter. Akihiko leaned over and grabbed his knees for support as Misaki was almost doubled over with his laughing. Only a minute passed before they could control themselves again. As Akihiko straightened he reached a hand over and patted Misaki's back softly, still chuckling.
Misaki looked up at him pushed pass with a huge grin on his face and he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming rush of happiness. 'Oh yes,' he thought as he entered the kitchen with Akihiko only a step behind. 'Today is going to be a good one.'
"So Misaki, whats for breakfast?" Akihiko asked and put his arm around the boy's shoulders. Misaki stood there for a moment, thinking, before reaching into a cabinet and pulling out some eggs and reaching into another to pull out some bread.
"I don't have much-"
"You rarely do." Akihiko interrupted.
Misaki frowned and pushed Akihiko's arm off from around his shoulders. "I don't have much but we could just fry up some eggs over the wood stove and eat it on the bread." He finished and walked to another part of the cabinet where some apples were sitting and he picked two up. "And an apple."
Akihiko slumped against the wall and smiled. "Sounds good to me."
Misaki laughed lightly. He turned away from his friend to put some wood on for the stove and turn it on. He pulled out a beaten up tin frying pan and put it on the burner and waited for it to get hot enough so he could crack open the eggs and fry them up. While he waited he took out some small glass cups and tea leaves.
"Would you like some tea?" Misaki asked Akihiko, who was just watching him work in silence.
"Any tea made by Misaki is good tea to me." Akihiko replied.
Misaki blushed and put the cups on the table and set a kettle filled with water and the leaves on the burner. "You know, you always say weird stuff like that."
"Obviously." Akihiko said.
When it was clear that Akihiko wasn't going to elaborate, Misaki sat at the table and looked up at him. "Obviously what?" he asked.
Akihiko sighed and took a seat as well before resting his chin in his hands. "Obviously its because I am weird myself." He replied finally. "Or so you tell me."
Misaki shook his head but couldn't keep the small smile from his face. He had learned that these responses were extremely common from Akihiko. It was part of his sense of humor. Dry, sarcastic, blunt. It was funny, Misaki thought, because he was sure he wouldn't like this personality trait in anyone else. He himself wasn't sarcastic in the least and the jokes Akihiko threw his way would probably not make any sense if anyone else said them to Misaki, but he supposed that made his friendship with Akihiko even better. He understood him better than anyone else in town and to be honest, it made him feel a little more confident about the way he held himself.
The sound of the kettle going off on its high pitched rampage shook Misaki out of his thoughts and he jumped to his feet in a panic. He dashed over to the stove and grabbed the kettle and placed it somewhere else and immediately the whistle quieted and became nonexistent. He decided now was high time to put the eggs on the pan.
"So how many eggs you want?" Misaki asked while wringing his hands.
Akihiko peered up at him and made a humming sound before saying that he just wanted two.
The two of them ate breakfast rather quickly after that, talking and chatting in between bites. Misaki was the first to get done because Akihiko would pause every now and then to stare at a piece of egg that had fallen off the bread before returning his attention back to his food. Soon, Misaki was clearing the table and fixing themselves another cup of tea.
"Ok so after this you'll have to leave."
"I can't even stay just a few more minutes?"
"I mean, you don't have to leave right this second so yeah a few more minutes is fine but I really need to get started. I'm planting more crops today and I need to feed and take care of the horses." Misaki replied, sitting down. He reached over to the kettle to pour himself a cup of tea. As he lifted it though, the bottom knocked into Akihiko's cup, causing it to spill out over onto Akihiko's shirt and pants.
Akihiko jolted out of his seat, hissing at the sting of the hot tea and Misaki pushed back from the table and grabbed a rag he had hanging over one of the seats. He grabbed Akihiko by his shoulder and pressed the rag onto his shirt, spilling out apology after apology.
"I'm a klutz, Akihiko, I'm real sorry!" Misaki said, rubbing at the fabric. "I hope it doesn't stain!"
"It won't stain just-" Akihiko pulled Misaki's hand away that was holding the rag and grabbed it himself, "Give me that, and I'll go change." He said and turned and walked out of the kitchen and to his bedroom.
Misaki stare after him and bit his lower lip. Misaki thought that perhaps Akihiko was upset with him because he was worried about his shirt staining, and not if he was ok. He panicked a little, because Akihiko was so rich so he thought that of course he would have expensive clothing. Misaki was worried about him, but Akihiko left so quickly he must be upset. Misaki shook his head and returned his attention towards cleaning up the table and placing the kettle and cups on the counter and straightening everything else up. When he was done he walked down the hall to Akihiko's bedroom, knocked, and entered.
Akihiko was still getting dressed. He had put on new pants and was reaching for a shirt that he had laying on the bed. Misaki stared at him a little. He wasn't going to lie to himself about this, Akihiko was very good looking. Not just in the face but his body as well. Naturally skinny and he had a natural build to himself. Misaki knew for a fact that Akihiko didn't work out, but a high metabolism helps in that area.
The last time Misaki had seen Akihiko without a shirt was when Akihiko decided to help Misaki on his farm and it had been a hot summer day, so he had stripped himself of his shirt and complained the rest of the day while he worked about being tired and hot and bored, so Misaki had sent him home. But he couldn't help but have a little mental freak out at the time because he liked what he had seen when his friend undressed and he shouldn't have. This time was no different. Misaki watched Akihiko's muscles flex as he put the shirt on and Misaki's face went bright red.
'Damn it, not this shit again.' He thought as he tried to urge any feelings that he was feeling to go away. 'I promised I wouldn't act this way again!' He mentally cursed at himself and made a silent promise to make sure Akihiko was dressed the next time he decided to barge into one of his rooms.
Akihiko stared at Misaki and smiled. "Wanted to apologize again for burning my skin off?"
"Hey I did not burn your skin off, I only scolded it." Misaki replied, turning around. "I'll go ready your horse." and he rushed out of the room and out of the house.
With the saddle laced on and the reins ready to go, Akihiko's horse was ready. Misaki rounded the house from the stables in the back to find his friend waiting by the front door, looking completely and utterly bored. He punched him in the arm as a greeting and Akihiko placed a hand where Misaki had punched and smiled.
"There you are." Akihiko said and placed an arm around Misaki's shoulders. "Is she ready for me?"
"All saddled up." Misaki replied, leading him to the back. "You've been here long enough."
"I know I know, you have to make a living, and I'm too distracting." Akihiko laughed and turned to face his friend. "You should visit in a couple weeks, help me clean up my house."
"Don't you have Seba- I mean Tanaka to do that for you?" Misaki asked, pulling away.
"I do, but I mean with organization." Akihiko replied as he walked over to his horse and pulled her out from the stables. "You're good with that thing, Misaki, I'd like you to help me."
"I'll think about it."
"Then that's a definite yes."
"I said I'll think about it. That doesn't mean yes Akihiko."
"Oh but with you," Akihiko paused to get on his horse. "It's always a yes." and before Misaki could argue he rode his horse away from the boy and down the road.
Misaki yelled a few curses at his friend and stomped his foot. "That god damn bastard," he kicked a rocked that was by his foot, "So full of himself."
The rest of the day was uneventful, but when he went to bed that night he had awkward dreams he couldn't quite put his finger on the next morning and he woke up hot and bothered and all he could think about was Akihiko. He proceeded to go to work, like any other day, and eat supper late, just like always, and go to bed. Again that night he had weird, uncomfortable dreams and he knew for a fact that Akihiko was the issue.
That following Thursday Misaki went to town, hoping to get Akihiko off of his mind. He was getting more jumpy than usual, suddenly afraid that somehow someone had seen into his dreams and would follow him home and beat him. The dreams about Akihiko were definitely inappropriate, unwanted visions. But he always had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that the dreams were nice and he liked them. This time instead of selling his crops- because they were still in the process of growing- he went to town to buy a few things he would need and sell some furs he had saved up over a few months of hunting in the woods.
As it turns out, Haruhiko was just as interested in buying Misaki's furs as he was in buying his produce. He didn't think much of it, just that Misaki was the only commoner that Haruhiko was willing to tolerate.
So when he arrived at Haruhiko's place, he walked in just like any other day. Unfortunately he was still shy around Akihiko's older brother, so he bowed his greeting and gave a quiet, "Good morning, Mr. Haruhiko sir."
The man- who was staring at a small clock on the wall near the counter- Turned to look at Misaki. "You seem to always show up at 8 o'clock." He remarked. "And good morning."
Misaki put his hands together to fiddle with his thumbs, an unconscious habit. "Uhhmm." He mumbled. "You.. Keep track?"
Haruhiko shook his head. "I just happened to notice, that does not mean I will expect you on a schedule." He said quietly.
Misaki nodded slowly, trying to understand. "Right.. Ok. Well... I have a number of furs here. Deer, coyote, rabbit, squirrel..." Misaki trailed off on naming all the furs he had collected over a long period of time.
Haruhiko held up his hand to stop the boy from talking. "The deer and coyote."
Misaki nodded quickly and pulled out the two furs and handed them over to Haruhiko. But when Haruhiko exchanged the money for the furs, he brushed his hand against Misaki's and the boy flinched away, dropping a coin.
"I apologize" Haruhiko said, grabbing the coin and giving it back to Misaki. "A slip of the hand, I assure you."
Misaki swallowed a lump in his throat. "It's ok!" he said loudly, trying to hide his nervousness and playing it off with a laugh. "Accidents happen!"
Haruhiko didn't reply to that and just stared at him. Misaki glanced away from him, deciding now was the best time to say his good byes. "So umm." He mumbled, fumbling with the furs in his hands. "I'll be going now."
Haruhiko nodded. "I'll see you next week then." He replied and took out his little notebook and pencil and scribbled something down once more.
Misaki turned and rushed out of the door, gathered his thoughts, and continued on with his day, all the more paranoid.
Even with everything troubling him, he still decided to visit Akihiko the following Sunday.
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Sunday came around and Misaki was more than disappointed.
He had planned that this Sunday, a week earlier than when Akihiko was expecting him, he would pop on by to see if his friend was free to go hunting with him. But before Sunday could even come on by it had snowed two days prior, which meant that there probably wasn't any game around to hunt. Even so, as Misaki trudged up the hill towards Akihiko's house with his gun strapped around his shoulder, it would be good to get the author out of the house, seeing how he only did that when he visited Misaki.
Still, Misaki's mind was still on the accident hand brushing incident that happened when he visited Haruhiko the week before. He stopped in his tracks and looked down at his feet. Why was it that whenever Akihiko put his arms around Misaki's shoulders he didn't even think twice about it or when he ruffled his hair all he did was grumble or shove Akihiko playfully but when Haruhiko barely touched him, he was almost frightened and freaked out. Could he really only feel safe around Akihiko?
Misaki shook his head. "Of course not." He muttered. "Its not like I'm in love with Akihiko, that's just dumb." Misaki looked up, his heart giving a painful cringe. He adjusted the gun around his shoulders and kept moving. Misaki sighed and watched the air spread out around him. He looked towards a line of trees by the road and frowned.
"Hunting with Akihiko today should take my mind off of it." He said to himself. "Remind me that we're just friends, nothing else."
He showed up at Akihiko's and was about to walk up to his house when something caught his eye.
A carriage was parked outside, but none that Misaki recognized. It certainly wasn't Akihiko's, and the fanciness of it definitely spoke of how important the guest was that was visiting Akihiko. So Misaki took a step back and bit his bottom lip, having second thoughts about whether or not he should actually knock on the front door or come back another time. He didn't want to ruin any potential business deals that Akihiko could be having or a client that wanted to buy his works.
Maybe Misaki could just wait outside for him. But if the client saw a commoner waiting outside for someone as high class as Akihiko then they wouldn't want to have anything to do with the author. So he would leave, and come back another day. He turned around to depart when the door swung open with a bang, freezing Misaki in his steps.
"Takahashi?" Of course it was Haruhiko. Misaki turned and bowed his head.
"Mr. Haruhiko!" He exclaimed, straightening up and smiling nervously.
Haruhiko glared at Misaki who in turn frowned. He turned to the fancy carriage and got in. Before he closed the door he glanced once more at Misaki and his expression, for just a brief moment, was sad. Misaki thought it was a trick of the eye but before he could think twice about it, the door closed and the carriage set off down the hill.
Misaki turned back to Akihiko's home and sighed.
"Close the DAMNED DOOR!" A holler came from inside and Akihiko rounded the corner to the front. He blinked a couple of times at Misaki, his expression softening. "... Misaki..." Akihiko said softly. "What are you doing here?"
"Ummm!" Misaki said loudly, pointing back towards where the carriage had been. "Should I come at a different time maybe?"
Akihiko chuckled. "You couldn't have picked a better time to show up. Come on in Misaki." He stepped to the side, motioning for his friend to come in.
Misaki walked in quickly and set his gun by the front door and took off his and followed Akihiko to the living room. "Why was Mr. Haruhiko here?" he asked.
"To bother me, like he always does." Akihiko said with a sort of finality in his voice that made Misaki not want to question the subject any further. "So tell me, why are you here?"
"Umm well I was thinking we could go out hunting today. Since you don't really get out much." Misaki said. "But it just snowed so I don't know anymore."
"Well you're a week early." Akihiko said, turning to face his friend. "You could still help me clean."
Misaki nodded absently as he looked around the house which, in all honesty, was a huge mess. He felt bad for Tanaka always having to come back here and clean up after Akihiko. The least he could do was lesson the load on the poor guy and clean up as well.
"I don't know how you do it Akihiko but you manage to wreck this place up almost instantly after Tanaka or I straighten up." Misaki sighed but couldn't hold back a smile as he looked up at his friend. "I'll just pick the dirtiest room then."
Akihiko smiled back. "That would be the study, unfortunately." he said. "I'll fix you some tea."
Misaki was already walking around and called over his shoulder. "Heaven knows thats all you can do besides write." He joked and headed down the hall.
"No one asked for your opinion Misaki!" Akihiko called back, but Misaki could hear the lightness in his voice and knew he wasn't really angry. He reached the room and grabbed the handle, braced himself, and opened the door.
The study was a disaster. Papers were strewn everywhere and the stench of coffee hung thick in the air. Misaki frowned. Books were piled high in every corner of the room and the desk where Akihiko normally sat and wrote was cluttered with papers, ink, pens, and a type writer. Oh Misaki definitely had his work cut out for him. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and dove in.
He decided to start with some of the filing cabinets, just to reorganize them alphabetically. With the stuff that he didn't know what to do with he would just set to the side for Akihiko to ignore later. Then he set off to the books, stacking them by genre. If he didn't know what genre it was he would put it in a miscellaneous pile.
Next was the desk, the one that Misaki was least looking forward to do. Nonetheless, he set to work at a steady pace. It was piled high with papers, some stained with ink or coffee and other crumpled up or torn and a lantern, dirty with grime, sat on top of some of the pages. He took the pens and ink and put them off to the side to deal with later and grabbed a handful of papers that had words scribbled across it.
"Must be a rough draft or... something." Misaki said to himself. He didn't really get the whole concept of what it took to write a book, only gathering together in his mind what Akihiko taught him. He looked down at the handful of papers in his hands anyway and started to noticed something on every page- His name.