Shaking rain from her umbrella, Yoneda Kou stepped through the restaurant entrance. She looked up and recognised him immediately.

He was, after all, the type to draw one's eye even in a crowd. Something in the graceful lines of his figure. The simple elegance of his vest and tie. Not to mention his strikingly beautiful face. And there was even a strange quality to the way the restaurant lights played in his hair. Doumeki's strange fetish suddenly made sense.

She tucked one of her bangs away behind her glasses and approached. He smiled warmly and stood up. He smelled expensive, she thought, suddenly self-conscious of her ponytail. On him, even the sling seemed like something that was about to be showcased on a runway in Prague.

'You must be Kou-sensei,' he said.

After pleasantries were exchanged, they sat down on opposite ends of the booth. The lazy smile never left his lips. She felt herself being benignly assessed.

'So,' he said, leaning forwards. 'What do you think of the draft so far?'

She took her cue and pulled out the manuscript. Placing it between them, she stared at the title page and thought of the first words he'd written. People are full of contradictions…

'It's great, Yashiro-san. Really.'

'Why, thank you.'

'I was especially fascinated by how little Doumeki-san seems to speak. If you read just his lines one after the other, he doesn't seem to say more than ten words every chapter!'

'And most of those words are "Yes, Boss,"' Yashiro laughed.

'Is that based on reality?'

'One hundred percent. Terrifying isn't it?'

'Just... intriguing.'

'That he is.'

'Did you write it all yourself? The story, I mean?'

'Sort of. Hard to do one-handed so I mostly made Nanahara scribe as I dictated.'

Yoneda tried to picture that unlikely scene.

'So, is there enough there to turn into a biography?' he asked.

Yoneda blinked in confusion. 'I'm… it's not a biography I'm writing, Yashiro-san. I'm a mangaka.'

'Ah. Even better. Sorry, I didn't really read the memo.'

'That's... that's okay.'

'So you're an artist? How nice.'

She smiled. 'Thank you.'

'I'm sure you'll be able to render us faithfully. My ineffable charms and Doumeki's blundering oafishness. Ah, speak of the devil.'

Yoneda glanced up as if startled. Doumeki walked towards them through the tables. Yashiro had done him justice. Intent, unsmiling eyes, strong jawline, huge frame.

'Does it really take that long to park a car?'

'Sorry, Boss.'

'Doumeki, meet Miss Yoneda Kou.'

Yashiro turned to Yoneda and was quite surprised to see she had turned bright red.

'Nice to finally meet you,' she said in a small voice, bowing awkwardly.

'Hello,' he replied with a bow.

He went to sit beside his boss but Yashiro gave no indication that he was going to move from the edge of the booth so he was forced to take a seat beside Yoneda. His deadpan face beside her scarlet one made Yashiro want to take a photo.

'Kou-sensei is the one writing up our little romantic comedy,' he said.

'Actually,' she stuttered. 'The story's not.. the manga's actually a drama with… with dark sexual overtones…'

She heard the words come out of her mouth and kicked herself. What the hell are you doing, Kou?

Yashiro grinned broadly. 'That's what I said. Romantic comedy.'

It was clear that Doumeki, for one, couldn't care less about the genre of his story.

The waiter came to take their order. Yoneda knew she was blushing and that Yashiro had picked up on it almost immediately. He didn't seem to mind her lapse in professionalism in the least, not that this provided her with any sort of relief.

She couldn't explain, even to herself, her strange reaction to Doumeki Chikara. Perhaps it was because she'd pored over the pages so much she felt like she knew him intimately; knew everything he was capable of and hiding behind the calm façade sitting beside her.

She told the waiter in a normal enough voice that she'd like the pumpkin risotto.

Thankfully, she started to relax a bit more when she and Yashiro discussed the story. Doumeki didn't speak or move until the food arrived, at which point he began to eat silently. Yoneda couldn't even be sure he was listening.

At some point, he reached over the table to cut Yashiro's steak into bite-sized pieces. After he was done, Yashiro picked up his fork and ate left-handed. They didn't speak and barely even looked at each other during this exchange. Yoneda watched their wordless harmony with almost guilty fascination.

'Actually, there is a specific reason I wanted to meet with you,' she said at length. 'For most of the story there was a good balance between the…' She was suddenly very aware again of Doumeki at her elbow. 'Between the sex scenes and the mob scenes.'

'Right.'

'But then, after you and Doumeki-san… after you discovered the contact lens case in Doumeki-san's drawer -'

'Oh, yes! You mean right after he made me come by pressing into my bullet wound while he was doing me. Good, isn't he?'

Yoneda blushed again. Doumeki glanced up briefly and even caught Yoneda's eye before returning to his food. Yoneda wondered if she was imagining that there was a faint flush in his cheeks.

'Right. After that scene… I feel like the balance fell away in the rest of the story.'

'How so?'

'Afterwards, you focused more on the sex than anything else. You've given me only bullet points on the mob situation.'

'I bullet-pointed some of the earlier sex scenes too,' Yashiro pointed out. 'Mostly when Nanahara was struggling to scribe.'

'True, but –'

'I get bored of the Yakuza drama,' Yashiro admitted easily. 'I get bored of it in real life sometimes, let alone when I try to write about it.'

'But it's so interesting! I really want to capture that world realistically.'

'Make it up,' Yashiro said with a shrug. 'Like you said, I gave you the dot points. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks. It's the sex that people care about.'

'No, but, it's the…' She glanced around and lowered her voice. 'It's the Yakuza stuff that I actually need your help with. I don't really know anything about it. If anything, it's the sex I can make up by myself.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'Oh?'

Yoneda sensed she'd painted a target on herself.

'And how is it that you're so well versed in the art of gay male S&M? Hands-on research? Or just lots of porn?'

The waiter arrived at that moment with dessert and pretended not to have heard.

'I… it…'

Yashiro happily watched her flail and flush. He wondered idly what she would be like in bed. He always knew it was the straight-laced ones with glasses and a few misbehaving bangs that you need to watch out for. It had been a while since he'd sampled the fairer sex. Doumeki would probably be on board.

'You know as well as I do that the vast majority of readers skim through the politics and focus on the sex,' he said, finally throwing her a lifeline. 'At least the first time round. Then, if they're real fans, they read it through a second time and try to absorb some of the background. Only those who believe in delayed gratification put up with other scenes the first time round. You know, board meetings and phone calls. Phone calls where no one's taken their pants off, anyway.'

Yoneda was reluctantly impressed.

'You seem to know a lot about this particular readership.'

'I just figured it's what I'd do.'

She sighed and touched the manuscript again. 'Alright, I'll fill in the blanks. All that's left is Doumeki-san killing Nakazawa -' (not even a flinch from the steadily chewing Doumeki) '-and then the final showdown with Hirata. I should be able to do that.'

'Wonderful.' The dessert was cleared away and Yashiro signed the cheque left-handed. 'Any other questions?'

'Yes, just one quick one. Do you and Doumeki-san have any preferences regarding names?'

'Whose names?'

'Your names.'

'Our names?'

'Your names in the story.'

'What's wrong with our names now?'

'Well, I… I assumed you wanted your identities protected. You know, given what you do for work.'

'Compared to what I have to deal with at work, I doubt having a fangirl base will pose a much bigger threat to my life.'

'But…'

'Our real names are fine. Doumeki's especially. No one'll believe it's real anyway.'

Yoneda began to realise that where Yashiro was concerned it was easier to give up. She nodded.

Outside, the rain was coming down more insistently.

'Do you need a lift anywhere?'

'No, I'm fine. I live nearby.' And I know what's happened in the backseat of that car. 'Thank you though.'

'Pleasure meeting you, Kou-sensei. I look forward to the release date.'

He lit a cigarette and ducked under the umbrella Doumeki had unfurled. Yoneda, feeling guilty both for staring and for succumbing to a terrible end-of-chapter cliché, watched the pair walk away.

It was then she realised that Doumeki had said a total of three words all evening, one of which was 'Boss'.