zukkokya | A Plan, Part of a Fic, and a Meme

Status Update, in the style of haiku:

Osaka morning
Breakfast with some doujinshi
Tangerines and tea

Oh, and speaking of doujinshi (as we should, and frequently), I made a friend at the doujinshi store last week. :D

I was wandering the aisles perusing the various tomes of wisdom and porn when I had the unmistakable feeling that Someone Was Watching Me. At first I ignored it because that feeling happens to be very common for a foreigner in a Japanese doujinshi store who is both 1) printer-paper-colored and 2) singing a Tackey and Tsubasa song about penii to herself.

Somewhere between the Saiyuki and GetBackers sections, however, curiosity won out over nonchalance, and I looked up and around and lo! The wide-eyed cashier's giddy grin of disbelief caught my eye. I did the natural thing and waved, and the cashier, once she was sure no one would see her waving at the imaginary foreigner, beamed and waved back.

Bolstered by this encouraging exchange, I resumed my shopping with high spirits.

We talked only briefly at the check-out counter after she had handed me the bag of my newly purchased awesome, and while the conversation itself was not the stuff of legends, I promised to return, and she made it known to me that such an event would be most welcome.

I did not find out her name, but until such information is offered, I will know her only by the name I have imagined for her: Really Cheerful Doujinshi Cashier Lady Person. ♥

The End.

Oh, and!

I have a PLAN.

The PLAN is this:

I've got five fics in progress at the moment, so to keep myself focused, I'm going to post an excerpt of one every Monday until I've finished all five.

That is the PLAN.

*jazz hands* :D

The first excerpt is from the fic I'll probably finish first, just because I've had it written in my head for some small amount of time ~~(three years)~~, and if I don't finish it soon, the Someone to whom I promised this fic will be rightfully displeased with me ~~(and then have me sentenced to death by fuyukoi-poking)~~. So, VOILA:

Monday Excerpt the First

Right before filming for Janiben begins, a staffer hands Ryo her cell phone, and Yoko watches Ryo’s automatic polite curiosity change to mild fear. He pauses his DS and watches Ryo lift the phone to his ear.

“Hello? Ah, yes. Right. Yes.”

Yoko tries to catch the attention of another member, but Ohkura’s focused on his lunch, Hina’s asleep on the other couch across the room, Subaru’s playing Monster Hunter in the corner, and Yasu’s doing push-ups and trying not to laugh while Maru bounces his feet on his back.

Yoko shuts off his DS.

“I understand,” Ryo says, hunching over. “Yes, I. Okay. I won’t. I understand. I understand. I’ll leave now.” He hangs up and hands the phone back to the staffer. He tells her, “I have to—”

She’s already nodding. “Yes, right. Someone called for a taxi,” she says. “Do you need anything else?”

Ryo says, “No, thank you.” She bobs her head with a sympathetic twist of her mouth and hurries off.

Ryo’s gone white.

“Who called?” Yoko asks.

“My manager,” Ryo says, lowering his voice even though no one but Yoko’s noticed the change in atmosphere. “I have to go to Tokyo. Right now.”

“Why? Are you in trouble?”

“No, it’s about something else,” Ryo says. He rolls his sleeves up to the elbows, then pulls them back down over his hands. “There’s been another schedule overlap with NEWS that they need to sort out.”

Yeah, no. Yoko knows the ‘I’m-in-trouble’ voice when he hears it. “One of us can go with you,” he suggests. Except no, obviously not, and he’s not even sure why he said that except that Ryo looks so young when he’s exhausted and anxious and he never lets anyone get near him, and Yoko hates that.

Ryo says, "I'm okay. It's okay." He stands up and collects his phone and iPod off the couch.

Yoko manages to get out, "Call if you–" before he shies up and finishes with a frustrated gesture. "You know. Okay?"

Ryo nods at the wall over Yoko's shoulder, vehemently nonchalant. "Okay." He walks out without saying goodbye to the others, his shoulders bunched up just below his ears and his expression tighter than the skin of a drum.

[TO BE CONTINUED]

And now, for fun, a MEME:

Give me a character (or characters) from any fandom I know at least fairly well*, and I will tell you:

A) My OTP
B) The runner up
C) The anti-ship
D) My unpopular/fannish opinion on said character
E) One person he/she never fell in love with, and why.

*Fandoms include: Johnny's Entertainment, Glee, Dead Like Me, Junjou Romantica, Harry Potter, Final Fantasy XIII, Saiyuki, Gundam Wing, Hana Yori Dango, Queer as Folk, and MUCH MUCH MORE.

...~~*><*<>~PLAAAAAN~<>*><*~~