Chapter 10 There's Got to Be Something More Than This

Not for the first time, Aikawa Eri waited in Usami Sensei's penthouse apartment for the author to wake up. At least she wasn't needing to yell at him as much lately. He was having less problems with deadlines. She didn't know why, but she wasn't going to complain. She'd gone over the last version of the manuscript again. They were working on the new Akikawa Yayoi BL novel. She gazed into the eyes of Suzuki the ridiculously large Teddy bear which was seated across from her.

Maybe it was her lack of sleep, but somehow, she found herself talking to the stuffed toy.

"You think I'm crazy? Well besides the fact that I'm talking to a teddy bear? I'm going on my first date in two years. It's probably pointless. He has a reputation for being a player. He's gorgeous. Why would he want to go on a date with me?"

"Were you talking to me, Aikawa San?"

Aikawa almost jumped. She looked up to see Misaki walk down the stairs headed for the kitchen. He had a massive case of Bedheaditis but otherwise looked his usual cute self. Eri had no clue what Misaki saw in Sensei but it was heartening how this one person had changed Sensei's life for the better. They were such an odd couple. Sensei had been so obvious in his adoration for the younger man, and yet Misaki with his need to convince everybody they weren't a couple at all. Oh well, that was their problem, not hers.

"Ah, good morning. I was just leaving a voice memo for somebody. I haven't seen you around lately. You must be super busy now that you're working full-time for Kirishima San."

"Yeah. It's a lot different than working part-time! Most weeks aren't so bad, but hell week is insane. Kirishima San is great to work for though. He always stays calm no matter what. I'm so glad I have him as my chief editor. The chief editor for one of the other magazines has a reputation for screaming at everybody. I'm just glad I don't work for him."

"Who's that?"

"Takano San. I can't remember his first name." Was it her imagination or had he shuddered when saying Takano's name. Oh well. Maybe his reputation was ill deserved? Or maybe Takano san was a total jerk. That stupid friend of hers and her stupid matchmaking ideas. She forced herself to focus on Misaki.

"I noticed you got cleaning help." And boy had this place needed it she thought.

"Yeah and Usagi San finally hired a cook to prepare food for us during hell week. I couldn't keep up."

"Nobody could. It's amazing that you were able to keep up with the cleaning while in school and working part-time."

"It was a lot easier then. Now. Forget it! By the way Kirishima San has a daughter and he was telling me how complicated it is to raise a child, and I couldn't help but think it's not that much different taking care of Usagi San."

"Excuse me? Did I just hear you compare me to somebody's kid?" Wen had he gotten downstairs? Usami Sensei could be alarmingly quiet when he wanted to.

"Oh, good morning Usagi San. It's uh - I think you misunderstood." Nice try, Aikawa thought.

"I met Kirishim's daughter, and if anything, she's more competent." Aikawa couldn't resist. Sensei knew her well enough to know she was joking, and the funniest part was how true it probably was.

"Hah." Funny how Sensei couldn't really argue her point and just stood there with his cigarette dangling out of his lips while he glared at her. Well that made a nice change of pace for once.

Once Misaki had left shortly after, they started going over the corrections. (He didn't like to be around to overhear the sexy passages, and she couldn't blame him. She wouldn't want to be turned into a character in a book like that either, although she loved reading the BL novels. She didn't understand why she found them so romantic and alluring but there it was.) Going over the corrections went a lot smoother than she'd thought. It was almost miraculous how on the same page they were, and any disagreements were worked out smoothly to the point where she was tempting to check Sensei's temperature or accuse him of being an imposter.

Later at work, of course good old Erica had to call.

"Yes, Ichinose San. I'm at work. What's up?"

"Eri? Is that how you answer the phone from your nearest and dearest friend? Ichinose San?"

"What do you want?"

"I just want to talk to you about your date. I've been a good little author and not only am I not going to be late this month, I'm a few days early, and it's all in honor of you and him getting together tonight."

"You know this might not lead to anything, Erchan?" she laughed. Erica was always calling her Erchan to annoy her, or maybe out of nostalgia of when her two older sisters used to call them the Erchan Siamese Twins back in high school when they did everything together.

"Don't be so pessimistic. He's perfect for you. He's tall, gorgeous, intelligent, has a sense of humor and he's not threatened by intelligent women. He'll definitely fall for you and he'll forget about his ex."

"Ah, so he has an ex?"

"Don't we all?"

"I mean he's recently broken up with somebody?"

"So, it seems. He's very private, but that's the story. Well at least that's what I was able to get from my informant."

"Your informant?"

"One of his subordinates has loose lips." [***See notes]

"I can't believe you, sometimes."

"It's all for a good cause!"

"Thanks. I think?"

"Call me tomorrow and tell me how it went."

"Fine."

Luckily her day was so full, before she knew it, it was time to go home and get ready.

They were going to meet at the restaurant. It was a newish Mexican Fusion restaurant that had gotten excellent reviews.

Eri arrived first. As hard as she tried to arrive some place even just a little late, she almost invariably arrived five minutes early. She sat down at the table and took a deep breath. There was no need to be nervous. It was just a date, and she'd had more than enough disappointing dates over the years. She'd started dating when she was 22. That meant over ten years of dating. Ten years of guys who thought she was either too plain or too smart or didn't put out enough or made too much money or didn't make enough. It was ridiculous how nothing ever worked.

Except for Hanazawa Kisaku. Maybe in an alternate universe he was still alive, and they were married with a family. They had been perfect for each other. She'd known it right when they met at university.

Takano didn't look like him at all. Kisaku had been short, slight, and shy. He later told her that he almost never hit it off with people right away, but somehow, she had been different. Okay, she had to stop thinking of him. She'd think of Takano Masamune. He was tall, broad shouldered and unbelievably gorgeous, especially in those glasses, he looked so intellectual. And from what she'd been told about him and from the short conversation they'd have he was anything but shy. And they probably had a lot in common, both having years of experience dealing with often recalcitrant authors.

And there he was walking up to their table. Maybe he was more like Kisaku at least in one way. Although He didn't seem shy, he didn't exactly radiate self-confidence a least in this setting. Well, blind dates were usually an exercise in frustration and awkwardness to begin with. He looked nervous. Maybe he was regretting asking her out already. Oh, Eri stop being so negative, she told herself. You're smart, funny and good looking.

"Hi. Sorry I'm late."

"You're not that late. I was early. I have a bad habit of always arriving at least five minutes early to anything."

"How's that a bad habit? It sounds like a good one to me. It shows a lot of consideration for the people you're meeting."

"Thank you."

"So, Ichinose Sensei called and tried to get me to talk about the date today. Still, she's early with her work so I can't complain."

"She's so funny. She wanted to do a whole run through with me. It's like I'm her teenaged sister or something, even though I've been dating since I was 22. I'm 32 by the way." Might as well get that out of the way.

"Ah. I'm 29. How long have you been working at Marukawa?"

"Twelve years. I wasn't even finished school when I started part-time. My first author was Usami Sensei. I was his second editor. The first one didn't last very long, but somehow even though we argue a lot and he drives me crazy half the time, we work well together."

"What's he like?"

"He's very private. He's mostly in a world of his own making, at least that's what he used to be before he met Misaki. Oops. I wasn't supposed to mention him I mean uh I'm doing great today. Please don't say anything."

"Don't worry. I take it this Misaki's his boyfriend?"

"Pretty much. But Isaka would have my head if that got out."

"So, all those rumors that I've read pairing him with different women are made up?"

"Complete fabrications. I think Isaka San is the one who comes up with them."

"It's okay. I'd already figured he wasn't into women."

"Seriously? How did you figure it out?"

"Well maybe because it takes one to know one?"

"Uh, I'm not sure if I understood you?" Aikawa found herself feeling a lot more disappointed than she wanted, not to mention annoyed. What was up with this guy? He asked her out and he wasn't even into women? So, his ex was a man. She wondered what Erica would think of that. Not that she was going to be telling her. Takano seemed to read her mind, or maybe her expression.

"Ah, I'm not explaining myself well. How does the expression go? I swing both ways?"

"You mean both men and women?"

"Well, not at the same time. I hope that doesn't freak you out. I wanted to bring it out in the open right away, so maybe it's good you made that slip up about your author. You don't have to worry. I wouldn't say anything. I needed to keep my last relationship hidden, so I know well what it's like."

"Ah. No, it doesn't freak me out. I've been Sensei's editor for years. I'm used to it. It doesn't bother me." Too much, she thought. It was one thing to have gay friends, but she'd never dated someone who'd dated other guys in the past. Oh well. She'd dated enough jerks in the past. Surely, that was a lot worse than a guy who'd been in love with another man?

"Thanks."

"No need. So aside from being an editor what do you like to do?"

"Honestly, I don't tend to have a lot of time, but I like reading, mostly literature and philosophy. Since my day is filled with Shoujo manga, I tend to avoid anything remotely like that when I'm reading for enjoyment. It's kind of amusing, since one of the authors I tend to read is Usami Sensei, although he's not as dark as he used to be."

"How amusing. I've tended to read light romantic comedies in my spare time, especially when Sensei's novels seemed to be at their darkest."

"What about you? You have any hobbies?"

"I've almost completely forgotten what I like to do. Okay, that's not completely true. I like travelling, even to places not too far away. I used to knit when I was younger, but I've been too busy. I like cooking."

They continued talking about safe topics. Somehow the awkward politeness never quite left them. Maybe she was still reeling from his revelation? And why should it? Didn't she love reading BL? But somehow that was a lot different than discovering it in real life and with the guy your best friend thinks is perfect for you. He had been nice. Well first dates were mostly to see if there was potential, and he had potential. It just felt like they were close to going somewhere interesting but just missing the mark most of the time.

Along with an awkward date came an awkward ending. It almost felt like her first dates from high school. There was the same question. Would he kiss her? Or just say goodbye? She'd almost felt sorry for him, seeing he was the one who was expected to make the first move. Then he had leaned down; was this guy even taller than Sensei? He seemed to be thinking of kissing her on the lips but must have changed his mind because he ended up pecking her on the cheek. She hid her disappointment. This guy was probably an amazing kisser. Or maybe it was two years of nothing which was starting to make her be desperate.

One good thing was if he had anger management problems, they hadn't presented themselves tonight, and she knew enough to check how he treated not just her but anyone he interacted with, and even when the cook had messed up his order twice, he never got angry. Oh well, maybe this wasn't what got him riled up?

Something told her it wasn't going to matter either way. He was going to be joining a long list of men who had never bothered to call her back for a second date.

Title from Something More Than This by October Project

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has gone on disappointing first dates. I originally had the chapter end with them having a good time, but this seems a lot more plausible. I feel bad for her. If she was in a Josei manga, she'd be the main character who'd got the hunk, but no, she had to be in a BL manga. Well she likes BL, so I guess it's alright?

***Kisa Shouta. Not that he's a major gossip monger in the manga, so I don't know where I've gotten this characterization from. Maybe from other fanfiction? There is that scene when the BL people are gossiping about Takano and Onodera having been stuck in a hotel room together that had only one bed. It shows Kisa acting almost fanboyish and shipping them IIRC.