Junjou Sentiment: The Case of Yanase Yuu

Part Four. Chapter 1: Voicemail

"It's been ten days!!" Kyo thought in frustration as his call was sent to voicemail once again. It was the third time today.

About a week and half ago, he had asked his assistant, who now was also his lover, to stay for the night, but without any explanation, the guy had left and he hadn't been able to fully reach him or talk to him since. Yuu had answered some of his texts, but his replies were always short and contained some excuse for them not to get together.

He had not hired Yuu's artistic services this time because he knew Yanase- kun was extremely busy with Yoshikawa- sensei and some other authors. The current situation, however,  made Ijuuin completely regret that decision. Not only was he behind with his manuscript at the lack of someone as professional as Yanase but he was also longing to see him, he was his boyfriend after all. "Kyo- san, we need to complete this" Kirishima- san told him interrupting his thoughts. "Yes, sorry" Ijuuin answered picking his pen and getting to draw again. "We should've gotten Yanase- kun" an assistant commented "He works really well and really fast" she finished making Ijuuin lose his concentration again.

He put his forehead to rest on his left hand wondering what had he done for his partner to behave like this. "It's fine, I will call Yanase-kun. Hope he is free" Kirishima- san announced picking up his cellphone. Kyo lifted his head at the words and waited expectantly. "Yanase- kun? This is Kirishima from Marukawa Shoten" huh? That easy?? How come Yuu had picked Kirishima's call so fast when only minutes ago, he had been sent to voicemail?? He tried to hear the conversation deeply hoping that Yuu wouldn't turn down the job offer. 

"Oh that's a pity, we could really use your help now, but I understand you are otherwise engaged. Thank you anyway, we will make sure to hire you on time next month" Kirishima said politely. Yuu had rejected the offer, maybe he was indeed busy with some other author, but that didn't change the fact that he had been avoiding Ijuuin at all costs and maybe rejecting this job offer was another way to remain distant.

Kyo started to draw again trying to distract himself from his dark thoughts. "What did Yanase- kun say?" an assistant asked "He can't come, he is currently working with Satou- sensei. So we gotta do this ourselves" Kirishima said as he took a sit and checked the finished pages.

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It was around 7am when they finished, pulling all nighter was never easy, but this time it had been particularly hard. "Thank you for your work" Kyo told his assistants as they left. "I am sorry, Kirishima- san. I hope I didn't ruin any plan of yours" he apologized to the exhausted editor. "It's alright. Thanks to this all nighter, I will be pampered all day at home" Kirishima answered displaying a sweet smile "I hope you are well taken care of" Kyo told him noting the 'in love' expression his editor had "I hope the same" he answered as he picked the manuscript.

"It's saturday, so make sure to rest before the party tonight, Kyo- san. Thank you for your hard work" Kirishima finished as he left the apartment. This night Marukawa Shoten was to have a gala to celebrate its anniversary. All the authors, editors and animators would be there...and that included Usami Akihiko- sensei. It had been a while since he last spoke the famous novelist, and he certainly didn't want to see him again.

Thinking that there was no way he would make it to the party if he didn't get some rest, he laid down and tried to fall asleep. Unfortunately, his mind would not give up the thoughts of Yuu, why was he acting this strange? Had he done something wrong without even noticing it? He checked his phone over and over trying to find a text from Yuu he might've missed but he didn't find anything that could explain his partner's unusual behaviour. After a while, his energy ran out and he quickly fell asleep.