A/N: HEY LOYAL READERS! I know it's been months since I've updated, but I've been leading a busy school life. Also, I hadn't watched the Love Handel episode in forever. I watched it again, recently, so that helped me write this little beauty.
The idea suddenly struck me that Love Handel would be like the band Cheap Trick -- forever popular in Japan. This ficlet, like the title suggests, deals with them being big in Japan, albeit in their heyday, and not post-reunion. Also, my girlfriend did some research on doujinshis and the history of yaoi and well...this is what came of it. BE PREPARED FOR SLASHINESS, dear readers, and enjoy! Reviews, as always, are highly appreciated!
"What the hell is this? No, what the hell is this?"
Their first two days in Japan had gone over quite well -- they'd played a concert, gotten with some Japanese groupies, and had relaxed with a day of exploring Tokyo—but now, as Swampy opened up the newest addition to his comic book collection ("They call it manga or somethin' over here, I can't really remember—") he realized he probably should have learned to read Japanese. Also, much more importantly, that he should have realized that it was two guys making out on the cover, not two girls like he'd hoped.
Even more importantly, that those two guys were himself, and Danny.
It took a few minutes for them to realize exactly what they were looking at, at which point Bobbi snatched the booklet out of the drummer's hands. He flipped through it, finally tossing it back to Swampy with a loud harumph. "Why is it Danny and you? That doesn't even make any sense—"
"Wait, that's me?" Danny said, straightening up and glancing at the comic. "But that doesn't even look like me!"
Swampy glared down at the thing in his hands, slowly flicking through the pages. "I'm not that short! And my hair's not like that—I look like a girl!"
The bassist snorted and sat down on the drummer's other side. "It's not that far of a stretch, actually," he said, before getting that huffy look on his face again. "Why aren't I in there? Poster sales proved that I'm the fan favorite!"
"Not from the looks of this thing—wait." Danny grabbed the manga again, looking at it closely. "Wait, are we making out?"
Swampy tugged it back, doing the same thing the guitarist had done. "N-No, we're not making out, we're just—"
"Look at the cover, loverboys," Bobbi scoffed. "Oh, and I'm pretty sure you're doing more than making out. Check out the next page."
They did. Danny's eyebrows rocketed up his forehead, while Swampy tried to form a response. There it was, in black and white: Swampy, his apparently long and flowing hair strewn all around him with an almost pained expression on his face, and Danny, smirking down at him and saying something that they were both very glad they didn't understand.
"That is—I—why do I look like a girl?"
"Eh, well, at least I'm on top. That means I'm not gay, right Bobbi?"
He rolled his eyes. "I still say it should be me, not you. My looks lend themselves to the art style." Bobbi stood up and headed towards the door, leaving the other two with their newly purchased Love Handel yaoi doujinshi. "Well, I'm going out. Don't do anything I'd do. I'll be back around supper." He closed the door behind him.
There was silence, and then, Sherman got up as well: "This never happened. Agreed?"
"Agreed."