[Day: October 21, 2003. Time: 6:05 PM] [It's been one of the few breather days that Kaede has had in a while! No classes, no shoots, not even any phone calls to make. So what better way to use it than...work! Nothing official, just looking over the latest of Akemi's shoots. He called Akemi over a little while ago to go over them with him but, being the antsy person that Kaede is, he got started without her.] [Kaede's at a draft table in his new apartment close to campus looking over the photos. It's pretty roomie, and Kaede got a second room to use mostly as office space, where he is now. The income from his job as Akemi's manager is making it more than manageable. It's also got a small kitchenette/dining room area and live-in area as well, plus the spot by the door for shoe removal. The lights in the place are subdued, though there's a small overhead light where Kaede's hunched over, illuminating the photos of the shoot.] [Session Start] 06* Kaede 's looking over the photos with a practiced eye. He's not as artistic as Katie, but he does at least know after going over enough shoots with Akemi. He's actually not blushing much as he goes over pictures of what are, essentially, Akemi in a bikini. With that, there's two seperate piles forming of ones he thinks show off good angles and ones that don't, with a center pile of the photoes 06* Kaede he's still going through. 01 [There's a knock on Kaede's door!] 06* Kaede calls out to the door without looking up. "Come on in!" The current one he's inspecting is a white two-piece with some see-through trim. He seems to be trying to decide which pile to put it into. 06* Akemi opens the door and pokes her head in, sees Kaede and nobody else, then throws it wide and bounces in. "Herro!" she calls cheerfully. 06* Kaede snickers and looks over his shoulder. "Glad you could make it." He turns around and adjusts his glasses to look at her. "Have you had dinner yet?" 06* Akemi beams, closing the door behind and removing her shoes. "Nope! As my manager, your job is to cook for me." Her hair's grown a bit over the years and is in a blond-and-black bun with strands spilling out in front, and she looks like she's going librarian-ish with a pencil skirt, open button down blouse, and... leather heeled boots? Well, she got most of the way there. 06* Akemi also didn't bother putting her contacts in today, as she's wearing glasses. 06* Kaede sighs and gestures vaguely with his hand. "That's *actually* why I was asking...geez." He doesn't seem too upset though as he gets up from his work and goes to the kitchen to remove some stuff for dinner. "How were classes today?" 06* Akemi follows Kaede into the kitchen. "Great! We split into groups and practiced on the first act of Waiting for Godot." 06* Kaede turns and looks her over, as if just noticing her glasses for the first time. "Huh. You hardly ever wear your glasses. What's the occassion?" 01 I thought it'd look good with the outfit. 06* Akemi poses. "What do you think?" 01 Plus, this way we match! 06* Kaede assesses her for a moment, looking her over and pondering. "Hmm. We might be able to get a full line out of them. If they...ever...sold leather heeled boots with skirts like that..." He blinks. "Uh..." 06* Akemi beams and hikes her skirt up a bit, showing more leg. "How about like this?" Uh...I think if anyone can pull it off, it'd be you? 01 Great! 06* Akemi bounces over to Kaede and kisses him on the cheek, then heads for the fridge. "What're we having?" she asks, opening it and bending over to look inside. 06* Kaede looks...confused. But appreciative of Akemi showing it off. "Uh...well I wasn't thinking anything elaborate...donburi sound good to you?" 01 Oh, I *love* your donburi! 06* Akemi starts pulling ingredients out of the fridge and putting them on the counter. 06* Kaede smiles slightly and gets a little embarrassed at the compliment. "Thanks." He takes out some of the ingredients from the cupboard. "Waiting for Godot, eh? I'd never actually seen it...what's it about?" 01 Oh, these two guys... well, I was one of the guys, so I guess two "guys" isn't always accurate, but they're *supposed* to be guys... are waiting for a guy named Godot. But he never gets there. And they think about killing themselves, too, but they don't get around to that either. 06* Kaede blinks and stops halfway from pulling the rice out. "Sounds...dark." 01 But funny! Two guys thinking about killing themselves is funny? 01 Oh, you'd have to see it. I know! 06* Akemi turns to Kaede, clapping her hands in front of her chest. "You could help me practice!" ...is it worrisome that when you thought of "two guys killing themselves" you immediately thought of me? 01 Nope! It's not like I have suicidal thoughts, right? You're good. 06* Kaede smirks. "Yeah. You're far too energetic for that." He then frowns again. "Hey, I wasn't suicidal...just..." He doesn't know how to finish that. 01 Just preoccupied, yeah. I know. 06* Kaede starts heating up the stove. "It's a shame you couldn't come to Katie's party. She would have liked to have you there, I bet." 01 Weeeeell... 06* Akemi twirls some loose strands of hair around one finger as she looks away. "I was pretty busy, you know..." 06* Kaede snorts. "You don't need to talk to *me* about busy. I'm your manager...ish." 01 Exactly! I'm sure she understands, anyway. 06* Kaede starts up with the oil. "Well yeah...but..." 06* Akemi looks over at Kaede, hair still around one finger. "But?" 06* Kaede sighs. "You *do* need to take breaks, Shiraishi-san. And you *know* if it's me saying that..." 01 That's what I'm doing today! 06* Kaede laughs and then sighs, though it's less discouraged than the last one was. "I give up." He grins at Akemi. "So when *did* you pick up that outfit anyway?" 06* Akemi picks at her shirt a bit. "Oh, it's just some stuff I found cleaning out my closet. I wore it all day." She winks at Kaede. "I think it makes me look scholarly." 06* Kaede snickers. "Like someone all the scholarly types salivate over, you mean..." 06* Akemi slowly takes the few steps needed to get to Kaede from the fridge, swaying her hips as she does so. "You tell me. *You're* a scholarly type." 06* Kaede rolls his eyes and puts his hands on her hips, more to stop it than anything, and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek. "That's silly and you know it. My opinion's going to be different." He turns back to his food prep. "So what did you think? Of the latest shoot, I mean." 06* Akemi giggles, then says, "It was fun! But kind of long. Did you look at the pictures?" 06* Kaede nods. "Been looking over them." He gestures with his hand into the study room. "They're in there if you want to take a look." 06* Akemi nods but doesn't bounce off to take a look yet. "What do you think?" Some of them are really good. The swimsuit and the lighting really catches your good side. But I don't think we can use all of them. 01 That's fine! You're my manager, so you mostly know what's best. And some of the suits were just...well, I mean the *pink* one? 06* Akemi looks at Kaede with wide eyes. "But I *like* the pink one." 06* Kaede snickers. "You told me your last manager didn't." 01 Yes, but I fired him and got a better one! 06* Kaede stares at Akemi. "It was a terrible color and almost only a couple of strings..." 06* Akemi laughs and tweaks Kaede's nose, then bounces off to look at the pictures. 06* Kaede blinks and squints at that, then shakes his head. To prepare donburi! [Some time passes. Akemi keeps looking over the photos, commenting on them while in the room. Soon enough, donburi is done and served!] 06* Akemi is seated at the table, and upon receiving her bowl declares, "Yup, this looks really good!" 06* Kaede grins. "Well...you *have* always enjoyed my cooking..." He looks over at her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you chose me as a manager for my cooking talents..." 06* Akemi grins back. "How do you know I didn't?" 06* Kaede snorts. "Because you're not *really* that shallow?" 06* Kaede picks at his food. "Could have hired Taki. She's a good cook." 01 I didn't know Taki, really! Besides, I like you more. 06* Kaede eats his food, feigning disinterest. "And why is that?' 06* Akemi also picks up her chopsticks. "Well, becaaaaause you're cute and nice and kind of hilarious..." She pops some food in her mouth, chews, and swallows. "And I never had Taki make donburi for me." 06* Kaede taps his chopsticks on the side of the bowl. "Also easier to tease. Though for that, you could have had Satoshi. Maybe as a pet." Though I'm debating that last one lately. 01 What, keeping Satoshi as a pet? Why not? 06* Kaede snorts. "I meant "easier to tease." Though it's probably also not good to keep Satoshi as a pet." 01 Aww, but you said I could. 06* Akemi pouts. You going to fly all the way to the States to pick him up and put him on a leash? 01 Why not! I might be going there anyway. 06* Akemi eats a bit more. I know. 06* Kaede looks half at the ceiling, chopsticks under his chin. "You know...it seems strange. I wouldn't have seen myself going there either. Not in a million years." 06* Akemi blinks at her food, then looks at Kaede with a grin. "So you're coming?" 06* Kaede rolls his eyes and taps his chopsticks. "No, Akemi. I've just spent my last year learning English for no reason whatsoever. You know how I love to waste my time." 06* Kaede snickers and smiles at her. "I mean really now." 06* Akemi smiles back and pays attention to her food again. It really is good. 06* Kaede goes back to his food. "Speaking of your job, I really think you should be doing more charity shoots." 01 Oh, yeah? 06* Kaede taps his chopsticks. "You're a charmer, Akemi. But you've also got a good heart. I mean...really good. And I think if we sold that, you'd become a real darling in the eyes of the public..." It's less money, but I think it'd be good for your image. 01 Well, I... 06* Kaede looks at her expectantly. "Yes?" 06* Akemi keeps poking at her food. It looks like she might be blushing? A little? Nah, this is Akemi, after all. "I mean, it depends on the charity. I don't want to shoot for something I don't believe in." 01 And if we do that, we're going to have to cut down on other stuff. I know... 06* Kaede tilts his head to the side. "You could do with a bit of a cutting down though..." He frowns and sounds a little worried. "You're running yourself ragged here..." 01 Nah, I'm fine! 06* Akemi smiles at Kaede. "I think it's a good idea anyway. I have enough money right now." 06* Kaede taps his chopsticks. "And maybe the time we fill might be good with more commercial shoots too. Give some time in the active public eye to prepare for your acting career..." 06* Akemi nods. "I'll think about it." She sighs, rolling her neck a bit before going back to the donburi. "I *really* want to get into acting." 06* Kaede frowns and gets up. 06* Akemi blinks at Kaede. "What's up?" 06* Kaede goes over to her, behind her chair. "You're stiff." He goes to rub her neck. 06* Akemi sighs happily. "A little lower, when you're done with that please." 06* Kaede nods and uses both hands to rub a little bit lower. "I thought you went to the massage parlour to help with this." 01 Mostly, but two massages is twice as good as one. 06* Akemi moves to allow Kaede better access. "How was the party, anyway? Did she like the book?" 06* Kaede snickers. "Simple math, right?" He nods. "She loved it. I was pretty sure she would. It was a rare find..." 01 It really was. Is she gonna get everyone to sign it? I mean... everyone who makes sense. I could ask Shika or Yusuke, but- you know. 06* Kaede sighs. "Yeah...I'm pretty sure she'd only want signatures from the people she wants memories of...not that they were *bad* in the end but...not a great start." 06* Akemi makes a face. "No. Everyone did stupid stuff, and now they can't even talk to each other." She sighs. 06* Kaede frowns and lowers his voice. "It was a war, Akemi. People...don't act their best in a war." 01 Well... war's stupid. 06* Kaede snorts. "Couldn't have said it better." He gets to his lower rubbing that she asked for earlier. 06* Akemi mmms at the back rubbing, delicious food forgotten for now. 06* Kaede leans down and kisses Akemi on the cheek. "Are we going to make this public eventually?" 06* Akemi smiles lazily. "Yeah, eventually." 06* Kaede nods. "All the important people know already anyways. Have you talked to Matthias lately?" 01 Mmm, maybe a couple of weeks ago? He's doing fine, but didn't have a lot of time to talk because of school. And your career 01 Nope, I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of my career. 06* Kaede nods. "Ah. You meant *his* school. Yeah." 01 Mmm hmm. Besides, he's not super interested anyway, 'cause I don't help him anymore. 06* Akemi doesn't sound offended. It is what it is. 06* Kaede frowns at that. "Really?" 01 Yeah, well, it was mostly business and- it's not like we didn't look out for each other, but you know. 01 It's like you say Kyon is. 06* Kaede nods a bit. We all had our role to play. Some better than others. We survived. It's a shame. You could probably use getting to know a good lawyer. 06* Akemi laughs. "I'm not worried. I'm pretty sure I can convince him to help me out if we need it." 06* Kaede blinks. "The *good* way or the mischievious way?" 01 Whichever way you want. 06* Kaede snorts and pats her back. He goes back to sitting in his chair and takes another bite of his food that he's neglecting. "You know I can't control you." 01 And you don't want to! 06* Akemi cheerfully starts eating her meal again. 06* Kaede snorts again, although this one sounds more amused. "Of course I don't. It'd make things more boring." 06* Akemi giggles. "Yup!" 06* Kaede snickers. "Are you staying over tonight?" 01 Weeeeell... 06* Akemi looks at Kaede over her glasses. "I haven't decided yet." 06* Kaede looks her over for a moment. "Hmm. You should wear your glasses more often." 01 Maybe I will! Because I said I like them? 06* Akemi smiles. "Maybe." Because the sun is really glaring today? 06* Akemi reaches over and pokes Kaede in the forehead. "Don't be silly, these aren't *sun*glasses." 06* Kaede shrugs and eats his food. "Hey, if I'm just as likely to get a maybe from one response or another, I might as well try one, right?" 01 Sure! And I might as well point out how silly you are. 06* Kaede pffts. "Like I need you for that. I'm going out with *you* aren't I?" 01 Hey! I could have plenty of other guys, you know. Or girls! Or both. I know, I know. 06* Akemi beams. "At once!" 06* Kaede eats his food. "But you chose to stick it out with me." 01 Yup. 06* Kaede nods. "So you don't have to remind me." He finishes off what he has. "Besides, I'm a good manager and cook a mean donburi. What more could you ask for?" 06* Akemi raises an eyebrow. She pushes her bowl out of the way and leans forward, arms on the table and showing plenty of cleavage. "Oh, I've got some ideas," she says lowly, her eyes twinkling. 06* Kaede snorts and looks her in the eye. Specifically the eyes. "Thought you hadn't decided on staying the night." 01 *That* depends on if you're going to entertain me or not. I haven't entertained you enough already? 01 Nope! 06* Kaede smirks. "Maybe you're waiting for Godot, then." 06* Akemi snorts - yes, actually snorts - and goes back to eating. "I'd better not. I'll probably kill myself first." 06* Kaede pushes up his glasses. "You'd make a beautiful corpse. But you make a better live person." 01 Then you'd better keep me busy tonight. 06* Kaede chuckles. "I'll see what I can do." He starts clearing off the table. [Session End]