haikusociety

High-speed frontal collision indeed. And hey, it was about time.

Tomo isn't so much into killing, but he might just want to strangle Kame a little bit and ban him from ever coming near Jin again. And tell him that he's a worthless human being. Yep.

Yoko has no shame, he will talk about anything. :) That's what makes him loveable.

Well, Kame knows that sometimes he can be delayed, and it's more convenient if Jin doesn't have to wait in the cold, because he knows how cold Jin gets, and... yeah. It's just practical.

Kame... will think about what move to make. :p

From:

akamaru07.livejournal.com

I really thought he was gonna cancel and go back to the club XD

What are you gonna do about it now Kame? :DDD

Ah Thursday why are you so far away?

From:

He can't really cancel, he's a professional. JUST LIKE JIN.

Yeah, what's he gonna dooooo... he'll have to ponder this a bit, the whole thing is so new to him. :D

Thank you for commenting!

From:

tinna116.livejournal.com

Waw .. it is going one interesting way !!
Thank u for update !!!

From:

Well, something had to happen at some point... right? The story is almost over after all. :)

Thank you for commenting!

From:

nightinbird.livejournal.com

Still need to read the chapters twice, because I always miss bits when I race through the first time. ;)

Tomos unconditional bro love for Jin is amazing, but still. Jin. So much angst. And he couldn't even tell him, and now Tomo doesn't like Kame, but Jin likes Kame, but can't tell Tomo everything exactly because he likes Kame so much, and cares for his privacy. what a shitty situation. ;_;

That point where Jin is all happy about Kame dropping in on him like a friend, I was so sgafdafsd yay, and then Kame is happy with the newspaper and his favourite secret but. then you. gah. I KNEW, I JUST KNEW, the moment Yokoyama piped up, that fluff-decreasing stuff was going to happen, and yeah, it was bound to happen at some point, Kame realizing what they're doing, how deep he's in, and that he can't stand Jin having to sleep with guys for money. When he is one of these guys, except not excatly. And he doesn't know how deep Jin is. (ha, same deep water) So messed up. I guess no babies in the near future. ;_;

He's booked Jin for the one night in all of this when he doesn't have to be up at five the next day. - he thinks "booked". I guess if he'd had that thought like, an hour later, he'd need to smoke another pack of cigarettes.

But then, I love how Jin likes Kame, and how much familiar and at ease he is with him, even in that short part. He doesn't want Kame to win the trip because he's away too much. I'd love this, but... JIN HAPPY AND KAME UNHAPPY, THIS IS LIKE TORTURE YOU GUYS. T___T And I want to know what Jin was thinking about Kame's behaviour during the goodbyes, if he'll even bring it up again.

Kame's parking thing and falling back on cigarettes was awesome, in a sad, desperate way. And it made me stare at the chapter number in horror, because I realized he could theoretically spent the almost entire rest of the story angsting and shutting Jin out, because he's kind of doing that already (from Jin's point of view), when he decides to stay away from the coffee visits, and Jin will be crying in a corner and Tomo will go beat Kame up and then Jin will cry more and his whore make-up will smear and. yeah. sorry, I think I'm showing symptoms of early fluff deprivation. xD
a contest he lost on Draw or Die

Jin needs a better kind of job. - HELL YES, KAME.

He gets Jin for free, for real, and suddenly Kame hates him, only a little less than he hates Jin's job. - ...so i've been harbouring this inkling of future illegal, free dates since they were first mentioned... and it just grew a bit...

...all the "OH NO ;_____;" stuff aside, this is why I read every chapter twice: But Jin has a key. UM. WHAT?! OOO.OOO (<< my face when reading this. before blinking all six saucer-wide eyes and rereading it again, just in case. AND IT DIDN'T VANISH.) I kind of adore how you sneaked that in right before the freak-out. YOU TEASY NINJAS YOU. ♥

From:

Shitty situation - that's a good summary. But at least Tomo is sticking with him and not blaming Jin for anything... at least not at this point. If he knew how Jin feels about Kame he might call him an idiot or something. Nicely. :)

It's complicated for Kame now, you're right - he can't blame the other guys really because he is one of those guys and he can't really pretend to be better than them, and if Jin didn't have a job where he sleeps with them he also wouldn't have the job where he sleeps with Kame.

No babies, no. We can safely say that. Sorry.

I realized he could theoretically spent the almost entire rest of the story angsting and shutting Jin out

But would we dooooooo that? Would we torture people like that? Would we? You're right though, the end of the coffee dates is going to be a bit sad.

Illegal dates, huh? But what if Jin loses his job?? What if he has to sleep on the street again??? And gets picked up by... sleazy guys... HMMMMMMM.

He has a key. :) They decided it was... practical. >_>

From:

ladyc2

Oh Kame. I just want to hug him. Why do I get the feeling Kame's not going to be able to keep it together on Monday - and he should know from past experience that he can't stay away from the club.

Jin needs a better kind of job. Something that Tomo & Kame can agree on (if only they knew)

And Tomo is still great to Jin (not that I thought he wouldn't be), although I imagine if Jin had confessed that he was having feelings for Kame that would have actually made him think even less of Kame (not just taking advantage of Jin's body, but his feelings too which would be even worse)

From:

Kame needs hugs in that scene. All those sudden uncomfortable truths. :/

Yes, Tomo and Kame could totally agree that Jin needs a better job, only then Tomo would want to know why Kame is encouraging Jin in his current one.

If Tomo knew that Jin actually has feelings, he'd be quite worried. And tell Jin not to be stupid. And probably rant a lot instead of trying to be, you know, polite. >_>

From:

souleater-angel.livejournal.com

Jin's lack of freedom regarding his own body is infinitely upsetting. His job restricts him in nearly every aspect of his life. Jin should be free to dive and fall and trip and get bruised as much as he wants! *grumble*

I'm glad things are at least mostly okay with Yamapi. Although I hope Pi re-thinks his opinion of Kame soon, even though I can understand his conclusions considering the information he has.

Ahh Yoko the forever fanboy. Normally the other clients interrupting Akakame alone time irritate me to some extent but not Yokoyama XD. And I totally snorted at Kame's shrivelled nipples too.

AND JIN HAS A KEY!

We totally skipped over Kame's birthday. That was actually the main reason I started paying attention to the dates. Is he 25 or 26 now? I'm still trying to adjust to Kame being older than Jin.

"And something's moving, slowly. A gap on his left and… he starts cutting across before he even indicates, ignores the crescendo of horns, and pulls up halfway on the pavement in front of a conbini."-- *squishes this sentence* How can you combine Kame's asdffghjkll;'lkj state of mind with road-rage humour all into one sentence...

YES. JIN DOES NEED A BETTER JOB. FIX IT KAME.

"Who knows what Yamashita thought, that time. He probably knows Jin better than Kame. He gets Jin for free, for real, and suddenly Kame hates him, only a little less than he hates Jin's job."-- That's such a powerful section, really. It hits hard. Wonderfully written, portraying Kame's fretful hyperactive thoughts perfectly.

I was seriously wondering if Kame was going to turn around and drive back for a minute there (LOLed at his excuse.) At least reality has finally hit him. The fog of blissful ignorance has finally been lifted! (And normally Jin's covers the dense role...) Very much looking forward to their next date. Should be... interesting to say the least.
Poor, poor Kame-chan. He has a few nights of exhausting over-thinking ahead of him ne... The end of this chapter honestly left me a bit depressed. Stupid feelings. They suck. You two don't though.

From:

We actually thought that he might have (had) a similar lack of freedom as an idol - not really a good idea to show up bruised all over for photoshoots. :) But yes, admittedly this is more extreme.

There's no reason, really, for Pi to re-think his opinions re Kame: the guy is a rich actor who exploits poor guys who have to sell their bodies. And one of those poor guys is Pi's friend. What's to like?

JIN HAS A KEY. :)

Kame's birthday was a bit of a non-event - he didn't spend it with Jin, he was busy working, and there was no good reason to write a scene just to show it. He's 26 now in this universe. (He also didn't mention it to Jin because it was a non-event to him, so Jin wouldn't have to make a fuss.)

We are delighted that you want to squish our road-rage sentence. Oh sanity, where are you?

Yes, reality. And thinking. Lots of. For a bit. Except he's busy, and won't have much time to think, this is a pretty crazy time at work for him. Poor little Kame-bunny.

From:

funkycharms.livejournal.com

I've written to you before about how much i love this story, and now i must ask what happened to all the smut? in recent episodes there so many good leads to great sex scenes and yet you cut it off, seems really sad to me when you write them so well and it would also be great to see how their relationship changes via their sexual relationship. either way i love this fic i wait anxiousely every week for the next episode and kinda fear that the ending is sooo soon.

From:

Um, our apologies? :-) We were trying not to slow down the PLOT too much with all the SEX... *g* No, really, while they do have lots of sex, it hasn't been the kind that drives the plot forward recently, so we thought writing about it at great length would be a bit excessive.

It's really been a while, hasn't it? A few more weeks still to go, though, and we'll hope you'll find something to enjoy in the upcoming chapters! ;-)

From:

pinacoladasips.livejournal.com

This. This. So amazing and wonderful, especially the later part. Kame's reactions to Jin sleeping with Yokoyama, and then his subsequent facepalming moments when he realizes what he might actually feel for Jin. His attempts to reason with himself that Jin's job sits well with him and is just fine, only it isn't. him wanting to cancel on his appearance. The weight of his realization crushing him, so beautifully conveyed. His going crazy again for reasons Entirely Related To Jin, again. him being so.....disoriented. Careful crazy Kame, so in love with Jin. A fabulous chapter.

"It is a bit of a deal," Tomo says with surprising sharpness. "You know, what you taught him, that's going to be more useful than twenty rich guys going on TV to talk soppy about what's going on in the schools."

Twenty, Tomo says, but of course he's thinking of one. The one with the secret escort, the one Tomo has learned way too much about.

Entirely unjustified. Entirely unjustified. Clearly Kame only books Jin so that he can only pay him loads of cash, and Jin can escape quickly when he has accumulated enough savings. Hmmph. It is as clear as the day. Obviously Kame is someone Tomo cannot understand, because Kame is just too awesome for the comprehension of normal delivery boys, ok. Hmmph.

From:

Thank you, we're glad that little passage left such an impression. It was... not a good moment for Kame. But a relevant one. We're happy to think we got the emotions there across.

Reasons Entirely Related to Jin, damn right. Thank you for this great comment.

And no, totes. Kame is not exploiting whores at all! AT ALL! Nope. Tomo is wrong wrong wrong. And probably evil.

;-)

ur cute

From:

sakurascorpion.livejournal.com

Wow, Kame-chan is having it Rough. So is Jin. I hope they're able to work something out and Yamapi realizes that Kame-chan's not so bad :P

From:

Yeah, not a good day for Kame. Or Jin. XD As for Tomo... we'll see? ;-)

Thanks for commenting, hope you enjoy the next chapter!

From:

baybeshyne.livejournal.com

oh kame is starting to get possessive over jin. and who wouldnt?!
im glad that things are normal between jin and tomo.
but tomo sees kame differently...which IS understandable...but we love kame!
thanks for the update...see ya next week!

From:

but tomo sees kame differently...which IS understandable...but we love kame!

Yeah, that's very much... the dilemma. Tomo has far fewer reasons to like Kame than we do. Or Jin does. (And yeah, Kame is very much getting possessive. He can't help himself.)

Thank you for the comment, and apologies for the delayed reply, we blame it on being on holiday!

From:

lady-aenea.livejournal.com

Hi girls!!!
I'm still around and reading (just, you know, frantic life :P hehe).
Sorry for not commenting in so long ;___;

Now I *have* to do it because this chapter is priceless and great and I loved the jelousy crash Kame had.

*_*

They're soooo in-denial cuties, both of them. I love them.

I'm bracing myself for the angst ride of next chapters ;__; but I'm loving every letter of it!

Have a great new year girls!!!!!!! I luv ya!!!

From:

Hee. As you can see, our life has been frantic too, and we're only getting around to replying to last week's comments just now. But it's great to see you again!

Jealousy crash is a nice description. Something certainly went 'kaboom'. Poor Kame.

Denial? What denial? Jin is not in denial? :p He's just a realist.

We hope you'll appreciate the angst when it comes. *evil cackle*

Hope you have a great new year, too!

From:

Happy New Year to you, too. ^.^

I am still saying that Jin is very lucky to have Tomo at his side.
If I were speculating, I would say Kame and Tomo will clash eventually.
Anyway wonderful moral support from Tomo.

Nice contrast to the the first part would be Kame's breakdown.

It just gets better from one chapter to the next one.
You keep it very interesting. ^.^

From:

We totally agree, Jin is lucky to have a friend like Tomo. (He knows it, too. Certainly no taking things for granted there.)

Yeah, we assumed (evilly) that there would be a bit of a contrast between the generally nice scene with Tomo and then Kame running smack into some of the realities of Jin's job and their client/escort relationship. (Poor Kame.)

Thanks very much for this cool comment, and we're sorry we didn't reply sooner, holidays kept us from the computer a bit!

From:

Very, very lucky. You just created a too-good-to-be-real character.
Seriously, Jin and Tomo won't clash? Their friendship is so ideal that it's unreal for me,
they know themselves for around one year (?) and Tomo tolerates Jin's job. That's just wow. Very, very lucky!~~Ok, seems like I just don't get it into my head~~
Just checking, Tomo has other friends, right?

It was time for a breakdown. I am waiting here fore the high-tension scenes.
There must be some, the chapters are running out!
Poor readers who have to wait for the next chapter!
Indeed, evil writers! LOL

Before I forget, thanks for the QC for Youkai Ningen Bemu ^.^
~~whoever of you two is answering me here~~~

From:

TOMO IS JUST THAT PERFECT WHAT. :p /this was Jo

To be fair, Jin would like it even better if Tomo wasn't hating on Kame, but what can you do.

Their friendship is so ideal that it's unreal for me,
they know themselves for around one year (?) and Tomo tolerates Jin's job. That's just wow. Very, very lucky!Ok, seems like I just don't get it into my head
Just checking, Tomo has other friends, right?

Actually, it's 'worse'. :p They've known each other for about half a year now, ever since Jin started at the club and moved into that apartment (and that neighborhood). But one reason they hit it off so well is that Tomo also doesn't have a lot of friends. He knows everybody in the neighborhood, he's a really well connected and popular guy. But real, close friends... not so much because he is simply too busy to spend much time with anybody. After all, the guy works three jobs and raises a teenager, he considers himself extremely lucky he managed to find a girlfriend. So he's... also a bit friend-starved. And they really hit it off, and Tomo is a decent guy. ~~And there is the Power of the Pin~~.

The QC was all Solo, Jo is but a lowly watcher. /this was also Jo

Solo says thank you! :D

From:

TOMO IS JUST THAT PERFECT WHAT. :p /this was Jo
that's what she said :P

Don't remind me, it took me ages to connect Tomo 友 to Tomo　智.
I thought the name was a general description to the role of a perfect best friend and than it hit me that you just could have meant something completely different. However, if you connect both ways, it's just perfect. PIN all the way~
Even him not liking Kame is kinda perfect. He's just worrying about his friend and wants his best. He has hardly any knowledge about what Jin feels about the actor, his actions are completely justified!
Hence, whatever I think, I always end up with a perfect to describe their friendship. ^.^

So we have half a year with Tomo and half a year with Kame. ~~I am so bad with any kind of timelines~~ Rather fast developments in both cases.
I will try to keep the background story in my mind. Valid explanation, but still... sooooo perfect. It must be the Pin. XD

Ok, I wanna know it. I already have a funny picture ~~again~~ on my mind.
You both are sitting in front of your PCs, some kind of messenger opened on your desktop, reading the comments and answering them together?
Must be fun doing it like this :D

From:

Don't remind me, it took me ages to connect Tomo 友 to Tomo　智.

Oh, that's interesting! Do you remember when you realised? (It was one of the things we were wondering about while writing, just when people would catch on.)

Even him not liking Kame is kinda perfect.

Heeee. Yes!

Ok, I wanna know it. I already have a funny picture again on my mind.
You both are sitting in front of your PCs, some kind of messenger opened on your desktop, reading the comments and answering them together?

That's pretty much exactly right. :D With a few exceptions when one of us really is too busy or our schedules don't line up at all, then we draft-and-beta, more like. (And it leaves out the bit where we e-mail each other -- usually with at least one of us at work >.< -- squeeing OMG DID YOU READ THAT when a cool comment comes in. *g*)

From:

Do you remember when you realised? (It was one of the things we were wondering about while writing, just when people would catch on.)

Does this mean I am the first one to mention it? ~~and probably the last one to realize that you meant Pi with it~~
Wait, do you mean the connection with 友 as best friend or the connection to Tomo as Yamapi?
As for the BF, as soon as there was the word in front of me. No idea when you mentioned him first, I never put much attention to it, since my head just registered the Japanese and that was it.
If you mean Tomo as the real one, it actually had been you two -> here (http://haikusociety.livejournal.com/16965.html?thread=536389) if not for your comment, it would happened today, as I watched Route66 Tomo, don't forget the tip!

From:

Oh, sorry, yes, we talked about Tomo-is-Yamapi before. Gomen! ORZ

We really liked that bit in Route66! And he introduced himself as Tomo in episode 2 as well! He'd said some time ages ago that he liked people to call him by his first name in private, not call him 'Pi' or 'Yamapi' so we ran with that.

Are you from Japan or did you learn the language that well as a second language?

From:

Actually I realized that you introduced Pi as his real self in the chapter with Kame going to Open Mic Night. o.o
Completely forgot that one.
Btw, you forgot the link to Chapter31 here (http://haikuesque.net/deepwater/deepwater30.htm)

Still not sure what I should think about Rt.66, either I am laughing or shaking my head in embarrassment. I'm just certain about the fact that I will watch it till the end. and keep wondering how much weight he gained there and has to lose now o.o
Makes sense with his name, doesn't it? I haven't known this so far, but if everybody calls him Pi or Yamapi at work, at least in his private life he wants to be himself and not the famous golden boy from JE. at least that would be my interpretation of this fact

You question is funny. :D
Am I right if I assume that you consider me to be either an English native speaker or Japanese?
Actually, I am German :D und neugierig, wo der deutsche Part des Duos herkommt :D *nosy*
I spend a year in Japan, you have to pick up some of the language.
you spend too much time in Japan if the first question that pops up in your head when somebody is telling where he/she travels consists of: What can you eat there? -.-; Seriously that was the first question in my head after you wrote me from Kanazawa -.-;

Don't try to fool me with Ootomo 大友.... kinda~ Aniki would be more fitting.
I cannot imagine that Jin's workplace has nothing to do with Yakuza. Correct me?

From:

http://users.livejournal.com/solo____/

Whoopsie, re Chapter 31. All fixed now. As the web person in this collaboration, I humbly thank you! :)

keep wondering how much weight he gained there and has to lose now

He wants to live on a HAM! A single HAM. (Okay, and whatever he eats in all those roadside restaurants...)

I confess I didn't have any preconceptions on where you might have been from until you started throwing kanji about, but I SHOULD HAVE GUESSED! This fandom is full of Germans. They are everywhere!

I was born in Germany too (though to all intents and purposes Jo is the one who counts as the 'German member' of this team). My parents still live in Düsseldorf, and I visit at least once a year. Whereabouts are you?

I think Jo is planning to deal with the yakuza question... we didn't really want that added strand to it but hey, everything in Japan is somehow tied in with the yakuza or paying them, so I'm sure they are only one step removed.

From:

After writing my own Website I pay more attention to the structure of others'. ^.^

He wants to live on a HAM! A single HAM. (Okay, and whatever he eats in all those roadside restaurants...)
I haven't seen him eating it yet... hm.... expect he opened it in ep3, I haven't had time to check it out yet
Just think back to the breakfast with the old lady o.o the food would have been enough for a whole day in my opinion!
any idea how many episodes there will be? I think I missed this information.

I confess I didn't have any preconceptions on where you might have been from until you started throwing kanji about, but I SHOULD HAVE GUESSED! This fandom is full of Germans. They are everywhere!
I just love kanji, I know that I am strange, don't tell me. :D
Furthermore, come on, those Kanji are basic. Friendship and Pi's? Fundamentals + fandom
True about the Germans lol TELL THAT JIN, concert in Europe? yes, PLEASE!

Whereabouts are you?
So yo can speak German? ?_?
Right now I am living in Cologne and I am very thankful for Düsseldorf. I need good Ramen around! I am too much in love with Japanese food...

Confusing enough to get two answers o.o
Wonderful icon you got there. :D

From:

jo-lasalle.livejournal.com

I keep saying about Route 66, this was MADE FOR ME. I absolutely loved it so far, it's wonderfully dorky. And Pi is pretty. And some of the people he meets are actually pretty cool!

There are a few people in fandom who speak really good Japanese, and not all from Japan, so we'd have been cautious about assigning nationality, but you picked up on enough Japanese stuff that we were wondering.

Aber dann stellt sich natürlich heraus, dass wir ganz falsch lagen! BLOODY GERMANS EVERYWHERE! :-P Ich komm aus dem Südwesten, ein paar Kilometer von Heidelberg. And you? *g*

you spend too much time in Japan if the first question that pops up in your head when somebody is telling where he/she travels consists of: What can you eat there?

But that is a very important question! Pi would approve! (So would Jin.)

Oh, and, um. We did imagine the club wasn't Yakuza explictly, though they probably have to pay some *cough* tax or something. The Hawaii shirts are mainly about Ootomo having a very particular taste. :-p

PS: your icon... so pretty...

From:

I am just making fun of Pi. I cannot help myself, it's far too amusing :D
He looks so tinny over there :D

Comes with staying there and being addicted to Kanji. ^.^;

Ich weiß, überall~ Dazu hab ich nur zu sagen, schon wieder BaWü! ich hätte da nie wegziehen sollen. Momentan bin ich in Köln und habe schon Angst vorm nächsten Karneval -.-;

But that is a very important question! Pi would approve! (So would Jin.)
and nearly everybody else in Japan 笑
Since Japan I am addicted to food.

I always imagine that Yakuza run such kind of establishments. Would make sense, but I get that you didn't want to make the story more complicated than you needed to.

Thank you! It was time to finally get the a Jin icon ♥

From:

brindhakrishnan.livejournal.com

Its so cute that Kame drops in on Jin whenever he has the time even if its just for conversation. And the fact that Jin likes it too..really these two are just a couple behind the farce of being a host-client.
At the same time I like how much Jin treasures his friendship with Pi.

I can totally understand why Kame is no longer on Pi’s good books anymore but its kind of sad that the two people Jin likes will not be able to face each other for awhile…

And Kame’s reality check…oh no! That drove me to the edge of my seat. It was initially kind of fun to read Yokoyama meeting Kame. Yokoyama is such a tease. But when Kame realized that he had to share Jin with others, I really thought for one moment that he’s going to just crash into some car infront of him…That would have been bad. ☹ Lucky Kame didn’t include how he’s also married and thus cannot really be with Jin into his thoughts that might have just given him a heart attack I think …

Oh dear… What else do you have instore for us?? More jealousy and angst maybe??

Thanks for updating this, the story is getting more and more exciting… Till next time.. :P

From:

Yes, the host-client thing is starting to be just one aspect of their relationship. As for Pi, well. :/ To be honest, it's not like Jin would ever expect Pi and Kame to hang out and become bestest buddies anyway, they just move in totally different circles and have separate lives. But it is a bit awkward when he feels like even mentioning Kame to Pi is going to lead to some 'grrrrr'.

Not Tomo's fault, though, he's totally right... in theory. :)

ANGST ANGST ANGST. (hahaha) Kame can't afford to think too clearly about stuff because then he'll just get depressed. He has to take it in little angsty chunks. ;)

From:

Okay.. I so swore to myself that I will finally finally finally write you a comment before reading the newest chapter. And here I am, doing what I really should have already done when Kame's urine suddenly landed in Jin's face. But how does my great-grandma always put it? Good things come to those who wait. And I have definitively waited long enough before I managed to comment on the story I've grown to love so much. I don't even know where to start now *laughs*.
Usually I really hate thursdays for various reasons. I always did. But ever since you started posting 'The same deep water as you' there's at least one thing I absolutely love about thursdays.
It's not only the story but also your amazing writing style. The way you describe feelings, situations, scenery etc just makes me want to go on reading forever. The words seem to be flowing in such an incredible way that they even echo in my ears long after I have finished reading. Truth be told I was hesitant to even start reading your fic. Just because I have never read a fanfiction written by two authors that I could really enjoy reading. Not because I didn't like the story or their writing style. But somehow those stories (at least the ones I've read) always had more role-playing character. And waiting for the other character's reaction for 10 lines with lots of stuff happening in between gets a bit annoying after some time. So I was more than happy to find out that this totally is not the case here. It feels like both of your styles match perfectly and it's a nice feeling to have in mind that you seem to write really everything together.
Another thing that adds to the sheer awesomeness of the story is your description of the places. So either you've been to Tokyo for a few times already or you are just good at researching everything (and actually take the time to do so!). Also that you always make clear which date it is just adds to a better overall understanding. Not that the story is hard to understand... I hope you know what I mean ;)
So.. that was the admiration of your style in general... guess I should move on to the love towards the story in general!
All in all I find this story simply breathtaking. In so many ways. But on top of that it is another thing: different from everything else. Not only because Kame is on top for a change and Jin is the whore here but also that some real life facts just have been changed. Even though it's still hard for me to imagine Ran-chan as an actually big dog, I got used to things like Kame being an only child and actually older (or did I misunderstand something? QQ) than Jin and Jin having more than one brother, rather quickly. It's different but extremely refreshing and nice to have these little surprises every now and then. And I kind of made it a habit to try and guess whether you put it that way because you didn't know better back when you started writing or whether it was on purpose because of the plot. But it's nice still. :)

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I like the development of Jin's and Kame's relationship a lot. From those angsty moments that lead to Kame's piss in Jin's face, a peanut bar, nice food, movies, ghosts, hamsters, soccer, secretly making out at Koki's party, keys and finally first signs of Kame being jealous, it just happened at a nice pace. Which I appreciate very much. Especially when there are just small hints on what these two are doing and which leads to improving the relationship they have. Which makes me think of Tomo and the fact that it’s sad he doesn’t like Kame that much anymore .__. If only he would have let Jin tell him more about Kame and the way he behaves towards him. The way they behave towards each other. Maybe he would see that Jin doesn’t see a mere client in Kame but more. If Jin does already. But Maybe Tomo wouldn’t see it anyway because he doesn’t know Jin good enough already? But on the other hand I’m so happy Jin could finally open up to him more and more. It feels like Jin really needs someone to talk to who knows about everything but is not from the club. Aaah I also wish there were some episodes with his family soon. Although they won’t be that nice I assume but still. While Kame is more an open book to the reader, Jin is not really. At least it feels like it sometimes. Oh and now that I’m thinking about it… the songs Jin writes in the story… are they songs he actually wrote in real life or just songs he writes in the story whose lyrics are therefore actually irrelevant?
There is still so much I wanted to tell you but somehow I tend to forget so much these days D: Anyway I’ve already told you the most important things so that’s okay I think. I’ll try to be better and leave you more comments from now on, I promise!
Ah but there is one tiny thing. One tiny little thing that I need to criticize a bit. I think the episodes that only consist of monologues are quite important but sometimes it’s getting a bit too much. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the story but in this chapter for example I have the feeling that not really much happened and somehow Kame wasn’t thinking much things that seemed that new to me. It’s just that I don’t like it when it feels like I can sum up an actually long chapter with just 3 words (I know that’s exaggerated but well…). Still it doesn’t make me love the story less! Maybe I’m just a bit scared because there are still so many conflicts, so much things to confront, so much that could still happen. And I totally don’t like it if everything is nice and perfect the whole time but then all of the conflicts emerge and are solved in the last chapter. That might be okay if the last chapter is 100 pages in word, font size 8. But I guess that is out of the question xD. I’m just afraid the perfect pace will be ruined although I wouldn’t see a reason why you should do that. But well, just thought I’d bring that up anyway.
Okay, so now I feel like I totally deserved to continue reading the newest chapter *laughs* I wonder if it will be more angsty and overloaded with action now that I’ve wrote that last paragraph. I’m looking forward to it anyway ;)
Oh my god, I totally don’t want this story to end, really! Hope you’ll be able to start another (long and) awesome project after this one is ending.
Thanks for writing this fic, really!
♥♥♥

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Oooh, wow. We got your comments last night and there was much squealing on Solo's couch. We are glad you have decided to 'finally finally finally' write us a comment. XD We really do love hearing what readers think, so late better than never is ALWAYS RIGHT! *G*

And here I am, doing what I really should have already done when Kame's urine suddenly landed in Jin's face.

This description is just... um. Golden. No pun intended.

Your comments on our writing really make us blush quite hard. And we're happy the collaboration aspect doesn't make anything stand out as disjointed or clearly from one person -- our writing process is much more about smushing things together than 'ten lines from one and then ten lines from the other'. (At the very start, we were briefly considering one party writing Jin POV and one writing Kame POV, but truth be told, neither of us wanted to be stuck in this particular Kame's head alone and for extended periods of time!! Also, we do think that mixing it up makes the writing more seamless, so, yay!)

We went to Tokyo together (for Dream Boys! :) in 2011. Before that, Solo had been there twice but not really for research, it was long before we were in JE fandom. Most of it is actually just research, reading books on Japan... Wikipedia/Google OTP! We're glad it sounds authentic. :)

The thing about Ran-chan and their family situations: we did that very much on purpose. We felt (particularly since we gave Jin such unpleasant parents) that we wanted to keep it as far as possible from actual canon. It would have been very difficult to get Jin into whoring with the sort of loving family background that he actually seems to have, so we needed to change that, but that meant we wanted to change enough other stuff too so that people didn't get the impression that we were trying to represent his real family in any way. Kame's family was changed for similar though not as drastic reasons.

And Kame simply had to be older than Jin so he could have years of successful career behind him and actually afford to pay all that money for Jin all the time. ;) It does allow us to generally play around a bit with those sorts of details, and that's fun! (And handy.)

If Jin told Tomo more about Kame... Tomo would realize just how much Jin is in love, and would hate Kame even more. :/ Because Jin doesn't think Kame is in love with him, so Tomo would also not think so, and it would basically be a situation of a client exploiting not just an escort's body but his feelings, too. Sucky.

About Jin's songs: they're generally songs that exist! We disguised care in there (#sneakyauthors) and the rest of the time he likes a lot of American songs that also exist. (Bon Jovi, mostly.) Though that Jin/Tomo collaboration isn't any specific one. #detailsdetails

By monologue chapters, we assume you mean the chapters where they don't meet up for a date? (Or the ones where there is one POV throughout?) We are aware that in terms of 'Akame interest' the ones where they're together are going to be more exciting, but this story spans so much time and there is stuff going on outside of the dates... basically if all we ever wrote was the dates, some developments would be impossible to show! We need the stuff that happens in the rest of their lives for the stuff that happens to Akame together to make sense.

That being said, we know this is a question of balance, and we wouldn't claim we always get it right! We tried not to have too-long stretches where they don't meet, but maybe someone else's definition of 'too long' and ours don't always match. XD

(And sorry about next chapter. If you thought nothing was going on here -- but, breakdowns! Tomo! *g* -- that probably didn't help. XD We would still say, trust us that we're not cutting the chapters the way we do just to tease people? These ones were necessary to have as separate chapters, we think.)

Thank you so much for these great comments! We do hope you'll stick around, and any further feedback will be much loved and cherished and called Jin. *g*

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okaaay~ I hereby declare today to be comment day! Yay!
Trying something new now by pretending that I haven't read everything until chapter 51 already. But 44-52 deserve a comment each and I think I can still recall my first reaction after reading them, so that's what you will get, haha~ But I guess I should answer this one first.

You won't believe how much your response made me smile. Really. It just feels nice when comments seem to be appreciated so much ^.^~

There’s really no need for you to blush because you’re being praised for your writing! Because it truly is awesome!
And yeah, I enjoy that it’s not like one is responsible for Kame’s POV and the other one for Jin’s POV only. If you’d tell me this was just written by one author, I’d totally believe it xD And I appreciate that. It’s perfect! And now I’m jealous xD

Yaaay for Dream Boys 2011! :D Was there as well, hehe!
But yeah, you did a pretty good job on researching! I lived in Tokyo for a year and traveled around there a lot so I have a feeling of the distance between the mentioned places (and I’m afraid that made me super sensitive to this topic xD I really hate it when people don’t get that right… I’m not asking for super correct directions to the places but… Jin just can’t go from Hokkaido to Okinawa by car in 2 hours unless he has a badass car and knows more than the rest of the world does maybe?). So you get thumbs up for that :D

Wow, the thing with altering family situations is really considerate of you! This is actually the first time I heard authors seeing it that way. It’s nice, though. :) Considerate is nice! And yeah, this way it works better plus you don’t feel bad because you had to turn Jin’s lovely mother into a close-minded hag!

Can imagine that playing around with some details is fun. And since you’re the almighty authors… why not? XD It contributes to the nice flow of the story! Although, as a reader, you have to get used to the altered circumstances a bit. But since everything is still plausible and matches the situation they’re in, it’s perfectly fine!

The thing with Kame and Tomo really is complicated. I guess since Jin would put it in the ‘for Kame I’m just a whore’ way, Tomo would not realize that what Kame does with Jin is far from the normal client behavior actually. But how would Jin know that to begin with? How would he know if Kame didn’t do the same with Tatsuya or even Takuya? Graaah… I don’t expect Kame and Tomo to be super duper best buddies… but it would be nice if they’d get along and Jin didn’t have to take care not to mention Kame when Tomo’s around. Tomo… Jin wants to talk to youuuuu! T___T
Wish at least this would be easier for them. >.< But to say it with the words of two wise authors: Life is pretty screwed up, huh?

Yaaay! The way you described it, that sooo sounded like care! :)

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Uhm by monologue chapters I mean the one’s where it’s just one POV throughout more or less. Mmmh… how should I explain this? First of all, I like it that you don’t only describe the Akame dates! And I think chapters where they aren’t together are exciting and interesting as well! They absolutely contribute to the story and the character’s development. And really I love stories with thousands of characters involved. Doesn’t make much sense to me to read a long story that’s actually only about two characters. These are mostly boring. And I’m a curious person, I want to know how Jin and Kame are when they don’t meet up. What their schedules are like, how they interact with others, things they talk about, their private situations, their past etc etc. It’s great this is there and it’s important as well! Of course they can’t always meet and that is fine, that is normal!
What I actually meant (I’m sorry, I’ve been too imprecise there >.<). I know that it’s Kame’s nature to think a lot and that he has to think about certain things. But there was a period when it felt like… you read Chapter X. In Chapter X Kame was on a date with Jin and the reader got to know what he was thinking about the situation, about Jin, what he was worrying about etc. Furthermore there was lots of reading in between the lines, forming opinions about what Kame feels etc. Then in Chapter X+1 Kame was at work and thought about almost the same stuff as in Chapter X and reading this was more like “aaah.. Kame’s thoughts are clearer now.. way to go then!”. But then comes Chapter X+2 and Kame is with Jin again or with a friend but actually he just thinks the same stuff as in the previous chapters without really voicing out his thoughts.
Do you understand what I’m trying to say? >___<” It’s nothing big actually. I hope you’re not getting this wrong! As I said this whole thinking is important and stuff, just sometimes it feels like it’s a bit too much, even for that hardcore thinker Kame is.

But overall this story this story is still awesome and you can be sure I’ll stick around till the end! *grins*

For now I’ll drop you a comment bomb, hehe. :D and I promise, there’s not much criticism necessary. ;) Just loads of whining maybe, but that’s just me, haha. xD

Wow, I needed two comments again o___O" whoops... I'm sorry xD"

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Comment day! Oh man... this must literally have taken you a day before you went and ... dropped them all on us. You'd have had fun with us, we were actually talking to each other in chat and it went like this:

Solo: Hey! We have a comment!!!
Jo: You will find we have two.
Solo: Wait, actually... we might have several.
[... pause while comments are being read...]
Jo: omg there are MORE!!!

So, uh, anyway, we won't get around to replying to them all tonight. And it's much more fun to leave some juicy fic discussion for later. :)

Sometimes it seems like everybody was at Dream Boys 2011. :) Shame we didn't know each other then. You're not by any chance going to the KAT-TUN cons in Tokyo in April?

LOL, yes, we get what you mean with the chapters X and X+1 and X+2! We tried to dial that down a bit (you'd hardly believe it, right?) but this is probably where it shows most that we weren't sure how much was enough. We could have done with an Akame savvy beta to bounce these things off of, to see how much they picked up between the lines and what therefore didn't need to be picked up again later. But the beta who stuck with us longest, while excellent in all other ways, wasn't an Akame fan and not really in tune with their characters. We'd probably be less cautious now, but hey, learning curve. :)

(And it is hard to get the balance right. For all our trying to be clear with some things, we still had stuff where people went 'I wonder why he's doing that...' when we thought we'd probably overstated it already. Possibly twice. *g*)

Comment bomb. Heeee. Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!

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