Thank you for having taken the time to read this small piece. I hope you enjoy it, Wow! A-Kon is almost here. Hard to believe it's this weekend. Well, before I go off and dress up as Jakotsu for the weekend here's the next chapter of my fic. Please, feel free to go ahead and read and please take a few moments and let me know what you think, bad or good.

This story though really is in honor of A-kon... 'Love's anime conventions'

Author's Note

Sake: Rice wine, it's a pretty strong alcohol. You DON"T wanna know how they made it during this era. ;; Well, at least I didn't anyway. Though it's a little late for that!

juban: it's similar to the kimono and yakata except that's it's worn under it.

Masquerade of Filth

Chapter 2: Much Ado about Nothing

The shower of happiness

I'll shower you with it

I'll support your lonely back

The shower of happiness

You're not alone

Jakotsu was getting really sick of this treatment.

Everywhere he looked it was girls, girls, girls. It made his skin crawl. Sure, Bankotsu was there to, but he never saw him. Those stupid women were keeping him to themselves, and Jakotsu felt lucky if he could even catch a glimpse of his friend's face as he sat there drinking the sake that these stupid women had brought for him.

He was getting royally pissed off.

"Can't you just leave me alone? Get out!" Jakotsu snapped.

The women, in the room, looked at him as though he had grown a second head. Bankotsu though had been expecting this to happen sooner or later. He was polite and friendly to the girls as he escorted them out of the room, explaining it had been a long day, and she was probably still adjitated from the battle. The girls said that they understood, but Jakotsu couldn't help but notice how they twittered and flirted with Bankotsu as they left the room.

"I wanna flirt with you too!" Jakotsu complained when the last girl had finally left the room. "It's just not fair! Just because I have to be the rotten princess in this whole stupid masquerade, we should have just stormed the castle and hoped to kill him."

Jakotsu swayed over to Bankotsu's side as the leader began to poor him self some more sake.

"That way I wouldn't have to watch while those stupid pieces of trash flirt with you."

Bankotsu simply smiled at his friend's antics.

"It'll be fine." Bankotsu reassured him, as he offered him a swig of sake. "We're not going to be here for very long. Once we have an audience we will get out as fast as possible. Until then...." Bankotsu toasted his friend, and took a swallow from his sake glass.

Jakotsu could only sigh. Was that sake more interesting than he was?

He studied himself in a long mirror. It was the only decoration in the room, and the person staring back at him looked nothing like him. If Jakotsu hadn't known it was his own reflection, he would have thought it was another piece of trash looking at him. Still, he had to admit the blue kimono looked very good on him. It complimented his eyes nicely, and the white flower blossoms sewn all over it gave the outfit a very innocent feel to it.

Still the kimono had taken some unfortunate damage.

Jakotsu turned slowly in front of the mirror, trying to see from all angles when he noticed a big slash in the fabric.

"Bankotsu, we absolutely can't risk me being discovered right?"

Bankotsu blinked. "Of course."

"So if something could possibly put us in danger of being caught we would have to fix it immediately, right?"

"So?"

Jakotsu was smiling victoriously at him. As though he had just won a great prize.

"Look, there is a cut in my kimono!" Jakotsu pointed.

Bankotsu did indeed see it, but the pointing at it was unnecessary. The tear on it was so big it couldn't possibly be missed. There was a long gash right below his butt, and you could see the thin white fabric of his juban peeking out from underneath it.

"Fix it for me! I'm so bad at sewing." Jakotsu begged.

Bankotsu finished his sake before setting the empty glass to the side, and began to rummage through his pack.

"Take it off and I'll get it fixed. It won't take very long, I think."

"But," Jakotsu reminded him, "What if someone came in? Our cover would be completely blown!"

Jakotsu smiled sweetly, his eyes shining in anticipation of the inevitable.

"I can't take it off. It is too much of a risk, and we can't leave the tear because once someone notices it, they will want me to take it off so they can fix it. Either way our cover would be blown. There is only one option!" Jakotsu declared as he quickly closed the distance between them.

A blush was stained across Bankotsu's cheeks.

Jakotsu was lying across Bankotsu's lap on his stomach, smiling up at him as though he was victorious.

"You have to fix it like this."

Bankotsu knew this was probably the easiest way to fix the yakata, but that was completely beside the point. His best friend, no, his best friend who preferred men was laying across his lap expecting him to well... uhh.... fix uhh...there on his... hmmm....

Jakotsu smiled at the crimson stain across Bankotsu's face. He was just too cute like that!

"Please."

Bankotsu tried to ignore the implications of the situation he was in, and he started to sew.

Carefully he pulled the pieces of the fabric together using the thread, but every once in a while his hand would slip and would land on Jakotsu. Usually that was accompanied with a lighthearted remark about being felt up, or something else equally suggestive.

When at last Bankotsu was finished, his face was completely red, not just his cheeks, and Jakotsu was trying to decide if he was going to be merciful or not, when there was a light knock on the door, before they could move the door had been opened, and an old ugly man was standing in the doorway looking at them both.

Why?

Why do you want to make your dreams come true?

Even if I can't give you a good answer to that, I believe that someday

The time will come when I'll be able to see it.

Everyone's searching for that.

The lyrics are:

Bottom: Sora, Hikaru's Image Song from Hikaru no Go; Top: from Yu-Gi-Oh's 2nd Japanese ending theme Genki no SHAWAA or Energy Shower