Okay. I don't know if any of you have seen the latest Hatsukoi episode, but let me just say... I'M FUCKING PISSED! . *SCREAMS INTO PILLOW *
Alright. I'm done. But let it be known that I am officially done with those fuckers Chiaki and Hatori. I am converting to Yuuism and am going to pray for their violent deaths.
In the meantime, I hope you will keep joining me in this journey to give Yuu and Hisashi some romantic man sex.
Cause god knows Nakamura aint' givin him any... *head/desk *
Anyway, thank you for the reviews and I hope you continue to enjoy *bows * :)
TBF101
P.s. I know I'm being a tease. It will pick up, I promise! Stick with me onegai! :)
Always
Chapter Six: Satisfied Relief
True to the passing of time, monthly deadlines had come.
And also true to the passing of time, Chiaki was nowhere near being done.
The petite, dark brunette was sitting at his drawing table, furiously marking a paper while Hatori looked over his completed pages and tried not to glare too much. The assistants were also hastily toning and drawing backgrounds, well aware that the deadline was approaching and they had not slept in two days.
Yuu worked alongside the three young girls, checking their work and doing type set on some completed pages. The manga assistant suppressed a yawn and stretched his arms a bit before going to the next page. He'd been called in this morning, oddly enough by Hatori. Chiaki was so far behind three assistants weren't enough. Luckily, (for the first and probably last time in history) Ijuuin- sensei had finished his manuscript almost half a day before the deadline and all the assistants went home early. But not long after, Yuu had received a call and dragged his carcass over to Chiaki's to lend an extra hand. But unfortunately, he could tell it wasn't doing much good.
"Yoshino, how many blank pages do you have left?" Hatori's rumbling voice barked.
"Eleven…" Chiaki replied sheepishly. Hatori's brow arched and he let out a heaving sigh.
"You've been on that page for an hour Yoshino. Normally you'd have had that panel done by now."
"I know," Chiaki sighed, a slight whimper in his tired voice. "It's these hands. I just can't get the angle right."
Yuu froze.
"Do you need a model or a reference?" Hatori asked.
Chiaki shook his head.
"If we don't keep working we won't finish. And I doubt there's a picture of this angle on the internet."
"I'll model for you. Show me."
"But your hands are too big. I'm drawing the heroine and it'll throw my proportions off." He replied. Yuu looked up and felt his chest drop as he saw liquid in the corners of the dark brunette's blue eyes. He could tell Chiaki was on the verge of sobbing just from the lack of sleep and all the stress.
And as much as Chiaki had spurned him, Yuu couldn't stand to see him like that.
"Hatori," He called. The editor glanced dryly at him.
"Do you know the number for Ijuuin-sensei's cell?"
Ring. Ring. Ring.
"….uhhhh…." Hisashi groaned as he heard a repetitive ringing intrude into his sleep. The blonde slowly opened his eyes and reach a hand out from underneath the covers, patting around randomly until he found his phone.
"…hello?" He muttered out, flopping his head back onto the pillow.
"Araki-kun, this is Ijuuin Kyo."
Hisashi's eyes shot open and he immediately cleared his throat.
"What can I do for you Sensei?" He stammered, sitting up and throwing back the covers.
"We have an emergency at a mangaka's house. They need a specialist in hands and their deadline is tomorrow morning."
Hisashi glanced at the clock and raised an eyebrow. Technically it was morning…
"What's the address?" He said, trying to suppress a yawn as he grabbed his jeans off the floor and slid into them.
"I believe it's only a train ride from Marukawa so it shouldn't take long to get there. We'll pay for you to take a cab since the lines are closed, and Isaka says you'll get significant overtime for this as long as it gets finished."
"Of course Sensei," Hisashi replied, grabbing his gray (and stain free) hoodie off the end of the bed and slipping into it awkwardly while still trying to hold onto the phone.
"I'll be right there."
Exactly twenty-three minutes later, Hisashi knocked wearily on an upscale apartment door and was greeted by a tall, brunette editor who had a face like a block of dried cement. Meaning it didn't move even when he talked.
"Araki-kun?" He asked dryly.
"Yes," He replied, walking inside as Hatori held the door for him, bowing slightly.
"I'm Hatori Yoshiyuki, the editor. Sorry to drag you out of bed like this."
"Oh no," Hisashi waved a hand. "I was already up so no big deal."
But when Hisashi noticed the editor glance a little too long at his hair, the assistant realized he had easily been seen through. He didn't have time to tame his curls, and they had the tendency to run wild while he slept. He sighed under his breath, wondering if he looked like a lion with an Afro.
"Yoshino," The editor called into a large room as they approached. "Araki-kun is here."
Hisashi hurriedly combed his fingers through his hair before walking into the lit room. He glanced around as he entered, only seeing the three female assistants he wasn't acquainted with. But from there, his eyes traveled into the far back corner, and they widened with surprise.
"Yanase-kun…" He murmured. Yuu looked up, giving the blonde a nod and a slight smile.
"Thank you for coming Araki-kun."
Hisashi stared for a moment, but returned the nod before looking back to Hatori.
"This is Yoshino Chiaki, who writes under the name Yoshikawa Chiharu. He's writing a highly anticipated chapter in a shoujo and he's having trouble with drawing his hands. As the deadline is tomorrow morning, we had no choice but to call you."
Hisashi nodded and glanced at the one who was sitting at the large drawing table. The dark brunette was staring incessantly at a paper, his head between his hands, and looking like he's not slept or eaten in days.
Yep, he was mangaka.
Hisashi bowed slightly towards Chiaki.
"I'll do my best. Show me what you're working on."
Hatori picked up the paper and handed it to Hisashi, who glanced over it several times before saying,
"I think I can help."
"Good work everyone, I will fax the manuscript to the office. We should just make the deadline. Thank you all." Hatori said, heading to the other room to send the fax.
"Amazing…we finished…" One of the exhausted assistants marveled, leaning back in her chair.
"It's a miracle…"
Yuu turned as Chiaki spoke in a wispy, relieved voice. The petite brunette was sitting slumped over in his chair and looked half dead, but he had finished without breaking down under the pressure. A half-dead Hisashi sat in a chair next to the mangaka. He'd pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his bed head curls and had his cheek pressed against the inside of the fabric as he rested his head on his elbow. The blonde closed his eyes and sighed, nearly on the verge of falling asleep.
Yuu's tired eyes glanced back and forth between the two, and found his lips briefly curling from satisfying relief. While the mangaka usually was under a lot of pressure near a deadline, this was the first time Yuu had ever seen Chiaki on the verge of tears from sheer stress. And as much as Chiaki had unknowingly hurt him, Yuu couldn't stand to see his close friend so upset and broken.
Hisashi had been impeccable throughout the night, not only helping Chiaki with drawing hands, but even completing other parts of the sketches and then switching to assist with backgrounds and type set. Yuu knew that without Hisashi's efficiency they never would've finished on time, even though he worked fast himself.
The three girls left in short order, and Yuu began to pack up his things, but he noticed Hisashi made no effort to move. The blonde just sat next to Chiaki, dead-eyed, practically sleeping in his giant hoodie.
"Hey, Araki-kun,"
The blond blinked a couple of times then turned to Yuu, who gave him a half smile.
"Thanks for coming down."
Hisashi's blue eyes widened briefly, but he creakily replied,
"Thanks Yanase-kun."
Yuu nodded, the turned to Chiaki.
"Oy, don't die on me Chiaki. Go drink some coffee and eat something."
"Mhmmm…" Chiaki mumbled, resting his chin on his folded hands. "I will Yuu."
Hisashi's dull eyes flickered over as the two exchanged goodbyes. He watched Yuu smile and wave to the mangaka as he headed out the door.
"Call me Chiaki," Yuu said as he grabbed the doorknob.
"I will Yuu. Bye!" Chiaki replied.
If the small blonde had had the energy for facial expressions, he would've furrowed his eyebrows. For the month he'd been as Marukawa, Hisashi had worked with Yuu frequently, but the auburn haired assistant had never exchanged words with anyone unless it was work related. Even less smile so warmly at someone.
But he and the mangaka seemed to be really good friends.
Hisashi's eyebrows finally did furrow as he thought this.
No. More than that.
Noticing that he was the last one here, the blonde slowly stood up and started to drearily gather his things. And he thanked every god of every religion that Ijuuin had finished on time and he didn't have to go to work today, leaving his schedule open for some much needed sleep.
"Yoshino," A voice called. Hatori, the manuscript faxed, had come back into the room, carrying two mugs of steaming coffee. He set one in front of Chiaki, then offered the to Hisashi, who accepted the caffeine gratefully.
"Once again," Hatori said, slightly bowing. "I'd like to thank you for coming down and assisting us. We never could've done it without you."
The half-German blonde, too tired to deny it, merely nodded and gave Hatori a smile.
"Whoooweeee! I am starving! Torrrri will you make me food?" Chiaki whinned, the strong coffee starting to perk him up.
Hatori sighed.
"Yes, I can make you something." He replied, heading back out of the room into the kitchen.
Hisashi took a final gulp of coffee before standing and shrugging his bag onto his shoulder.
"If you'll excuse me sensei, I should be going."
"Oh yeah sure!" Chiaki smiled. "Let me show you out!"
The brunette showed the blonde out of the workroom and they both headed to the front door. But as they passed the living room, Hisashi glanced at the scattered books on the coffee table and froze in surprise.
"Um, excuse me," He said.
"Yeah?" Chiaki smiled.
"Is that…is that the newest volume of The Kan?" He asked, his dull eyes growing wide at the glorious (or so he thought so) sight.
Chiaki too, was stunned.
"YOU…like…THE KAN?" He squeed, becoming very excited at the thought of meeting another fanboy.
Hisashi looked down sheepishly. Normally if he'd noticed something, he wouldn't have commented on it to avoid the ensuing conversation. But this was THE KAN, and that was something else entirely.
"I have every volume," He replied. "And all the action figures."
"No way!" Chiaki gapped. "I have the deluxe figure with the built in cooking timer!"
"You do! I couldn't find that anywhere! How'd you get it?"
"Yoshino," Hatori called. "The food will be done in a couple minutes."
Chiaki's blue eyes glanced over at Hisashi for a second, then he quickly called back,
"Hey Tori, can you make enough for three?"
Hisashi spent a couple more hours at the mangaka's house, which was the most socialization he'd had outside of work since he'd moved to Tokyo. He actually surprised himself by engaging in a long conversation about The Kan (amongst other mangas too) and actually enjoying it. Hisashi also enjoyed Hatori's expert cooking, though he had to admit he'd never known an editor that stuck around a mangaka's long enough to cook him breakfast. He thought it very strange at first, but slowly his mind comprehended what the familiarity of the two entailed.
The two were obviously dating. It was almost easy to tell by the way the mangaka acted around the editor and why said editor was also doing all his cooking and housework.
Their actions didn't make the blonde uncomfortable in the least (the food was fucking good), but it did make him wonder.
Yuu had also seemed extremely close to this blue-eyed Chiaki, but it was clear that the mangaka had affection for another.
So where did that leave the assistant?
Hisashi took another bite of rice, but he had to force back the mouthful as a haunting face flashed painfully across his mind.