Author’s Note:

I had the urge to write… but not to continue Tenth Grade or Fairy Tales. I put out the notice that I’ve discontinued Tenth Grade and I’m holding out on doing the same for Fairy Tales but don’t be surprised if it does happen. I want something new and so here it is. It’s kind of one of my plots for a roleplay, actually. If you would like to roleplay with me head on over to my profile/user info/whatever it’s called on FP and I’ll have a link there to my site full of information.

I was considering for a while of moving my stories over to livejournal (and actually did start one and have my stories on there) and abandoning FictionPress because of how ridiculous it is with formatting these days… but I figured most of you would not make the jump with me.

Without further ado here is the first chapter of the new story.

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AMEDAMA OUSAMA
1. The Party

“Taka, mother’s waiting.”

The tone was firm and cold; Kazuki didn’t have to finish explain what he meant. Their mother was waiting and she did not appreciate it. Naturally she did not mind one bit when people were waiting for her but her waiting for others? Unheard of even if they were her sons. She was a fashion designer and head of the major corporation that the family owned along with their father.

Quite simply put: they were rich.

And naturally they had to keep up appearances and mingle with the other elite members of society. That’s what was happening tonight; a party of socialites and political figures. They had to be there. And Mrs. Miyu Morita was had to show off her wonderful family that was better than yours could ever be. Her wonderful eldest son Kazuki was following in her footsteps in becoming a designer. He was prim and proper, a little solemn but he would never be caught in a scandal. He would carry on the family legacy.

Then there was Taka. The second son was spoiled by the love of Mrs. Morita. She had wanted a daughter and had had the name Taka picked out for that daughter. When she had a second son she simply couldn’t think of another name for him. At first she was in shock but then he was her little angel to lavish all of her affection on. She didn’t bat an eyelash when the news broke out that he was seeing a normal person—and that normal person was a boy. He could do what he wanted; he was her little baby. He could be gay, he could see people of a lower status, he could go to a public high school, wear makeup, sleep in, watch cartoons on Saturday mornings even after the age of ten and get nine cavities from eating too much candy and she’d still love him. And Taka had done each and every one of those. He was no longer seeing that boy and the cavities were filled but the point remains the same. He got what he wanted.

He just wasn’t allowed to make his mother wait. When Kazuki had told him that she was waiting he had maybe a minute to finish getting ready before the woman got disgruntled.

However, he was far from ready. He pulled the lollipop out of his mouth, his tongue stained red, and said hurriedly as if the situation was dire, “Kazuki, distract her!” He quickly pulled on a pair of black slacks and a white button up shirt, trying to get ready before his mother exploded. It was hard though. The clothes were nothing like what he normally wore. They were confining and he couldn’t find them and then when he did they were wrinkled and he had to send them out with a maid to get ironed and they had just returned. At least they were slightly warm as he pulled them on; that was nice and tingly. He pulled on a pair of black socks before realizing he had no idea where his dress shoes were. The boy could only hope that Kazuki was actually distracting their mother like he had asked. He was over the one minute mark and into the five minute time slot when he was tying the shoes onto his feet. He hated those shoes; they felt so awkward. Looking about he shoved candy into his pocket along with his Blackberry and a wallet before pulling on that suit jacket of his. He looked at his hair, groaning in distress. It was flat and limp and not at all how he would have liked it. He needed much more time to get it in order but he only had time to bobby pin it into the three sections. Well, he didn’t really have time for that but he couldn’t just leave his hair like that.

“Taka!” Kazuki said as he returned to his brother’s bedroom door, it wasn’t a shout but the way he said it was just as bad and startling, “Mother’s getting impatient.” He sent the much shorter male a stern look before heading back out of the room.

Of course Kazuki was ready. He always dressed to impress. He designed and made his own clothes even though he could quite easily pass the latter task onto someone else. He wore a black pinstriped suit with his own blue button up shirt with a darker blue tie and pocket handkerchief to match.

He pulled at the gloves on his hands, the only sign that he was getting irritated himself. Kazuki’s face was made out of stone. His lips barely moved as he ordered, “Hurry up.” And he turned back around, leaving the littler of the two to be—the clicking of his boots as he walked down the marbled hallway reminding Taka to hurry up even as the elder male disappeared.

And Taka sighed as he got his hair parted off. It would have to do. The bangs were just how he liked: a section to the left angling down his round face and a section to the right mirroring the left with that infamous section in the middle covering up part of his nose—each one bobby pinned in place. But the back was nothing like how he wanted; he liked it being messy and hairsprayed to perfection. He put a headband in—not the normal one with spikes that freaked most people out but a simple black headband—and turned around.

It would have to do. It was his fault anyway that he hadn’t gotten ready earlier. His friend had slept over and he’d stayed late that day as well. Later than he should have for Taka to have adequate time to get ready and to not make his mother late. That hair took a while to do and so did his makeup but his mother would never let him wear that to any party. Taka didn’t mind really. He enjoyed the company of his friend. Daniel. Daniel had been the first kid in Taka’s middle school to try and befriend him. Everyone else thought Taka was a freak regardless of whether or not they knew he showed up on a limo. His sense of style was quite different than the average pre-teen. And Daniel was the reason Taka kept going to a public school all the way into high school. It was junior year and he fully intended on going to the high school the next year as well and to not go to an elite college. Interacting with normal people was exhilarating. They were much more interesting than those boring snobs he had hung out with for all of his life.

Sure, Daniel was straight but he meant the world to Taka. They were bffs—Taka had learned that word from Daniel. Sure Daniel had been joking when he happened to say it one day but Taka always secretly thought of them as bffs. Definitely.

So if he didn’t look quite like he normally did in exchange for spending more time with Daniel Taka wouldn’t complain. He loved his friend and it was so totally worth it. Even as he got that disapproving glare from his mother as he headed down the stairs a full seven minutes after she had finished being ready.

“Taka we wanted to leave ten minutes ago,” she said curtly before ushering the boys out to the limousine that was waiting for them. That reaction was mild in comparison to some of her others and Taka was grateful for that. Even if he was her baby boy she didn’t like to have to wait for him.

And at the party he stuck close to Kazuki, feeling out of place. Kazuki could mingle well with the other elite while Taka stood at his brother’s side, unwrapping candy after candy. Normally talkative, he remained silent—not to listen to the other’s stories but mostly because he did not want to have anything to do with these people let alone listen to their stories about how they chose the name for their yacht or how their business was growing exponentially. None of that really suited his taste. Living in a mansion and being pampered did but all the bragging and trying to show each other up with the bragging made him a little queasy.

“Excuse me, I’ll be back in a moment,” Kazuki said, stepping away from the little group that he and Taka had been a part of, heading in the direction of the bathroom and leaving Taka defenseless.

The petite boy had been struggling with a wrapper at that moment and looked up with wide eyes. Actually, the male’s surprisingly blue eyes were always quite wide so he looked up with wider eyes. He swallowed nervously and set the candy back in his pocket when all eyes turned down and onto him. The boy had just hit five feet that year while everyone else around him was at least 5’8. It was intimidating. He smiled nervously and repeated the statement his brother had said before fleeing the scene. They would ask him questions politely and pretend to take an interest while it was all too obvious none of them cared one bit about him or how he was doing at that public school—they’d never send their child to a public school (or if they were his age they would never set foot in a public school).

As he headed toward the bathroom as well to hide until his brother was done he actually walked face first into Kazuki. The older brother didn’t seem at all surprised by this, instead he grabbed Taka’s arms, saying in a manner more grave than he normally used, “I need to talk to you in private, Taka.” He had a piece of paper in his hand--a memo that had been directed toward Taka but handed off to Kazuki instead. “Something bad has happened,” he said, pulling his little brother off to the bathroom. Kazuki was naturally serious but there was that sense of urgency and that look in his brother’s eye that made Taka worry.

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Author’s Note:

If anyone guesses the title I’ll happily confirm that you’ve got it right. It can’t be that hard with all the translators out there on the web.

Reviews are appreciated.