Koishi sakura wa yoru ni saku written by Hinase Mizuki and illustrated by Monchi Kaori: insaneneko

insaneneko

Koishi sakura wa yoru ni saku written by Hinase Mizuki and illustrated by Monchi Kaori

Feb 18, 2008 22:18

Koishi sakura wa yoru ni saku by Hinase Mizuki and illustrated by Monchi Kaori is a very straightforward (and rather sappy) romance set in late-Taisho/early-Meiji. It totally hit my moe points,so I thoroughly enjoyed it. XD

Kaga Akinari, the 23-year-old son and heir of Viscount Kaga, is the nominal general manager of the popular Kaga Hotel in Tokyo. He is approached by Kusakabe Souma, the 17-year-old son of Baron Kusakabe, for a job. What Akinari knows and Souma doesn't is that Souma is in fact Akinari's half-brother. Akinari resents Souma for having been raised in the loving family he didn't have so instead of helping him out by lending him money or something like a nice guy, he decides to hire him as a servant. Needless to say there's falling in love and sex involved thereafter.

The simple and totally personal reasons I enjoyed this book. First, I love stories with nobility in the Meiji/Taisho/early-Showa periods. Second, I love a bit of wallowing (in angst, tragedy, jealously, whatever) but not too much. This book managed to not quite hit the "eye-roll" level of wallowing (though it got close at times). Third, I like Monchi Kaori when she draws men in nice suits (and when she does NOT draw little boys). Akinari and Souma are just really sweet. The author really details their feelings and how they change throughout the course of the book, so that the end really feels right. Romance...it's a good thing when not totally screwed up. XD

When Kusakage Souma asks Kaga Akinari (he approaches Akinari as Akinari's father the Viscount is away as he often is) for a job to help out his bankrupt family, Akinari offers him a job if Souma can entertain a party of foreigners. Akinari had been irritated that Souma, a very upstanding youth, had asked for a job instead of money. He had wanted to see Souma embarrassed and humiliated. Instead, Souma does a beautiful and elegant dance with a Japanese sword similar to a dance a priestess would perform. He thoroughly impresses the foreigners as well as Akinari and his staff, and Akinari has no choice but to take him on.

Akinari gets a bit of a scolding from the family butler Miyasaka for hiring his own half-brother as a servant (in that loyal servant non-scolding scolding way). He manages to soothe Miyasaka by explaining that Souma obviously doesn't know that Baron Kusakage isn't his biological father and he doesn't want to be the bad guy who tells Souma the shocking news. He decides that one of Souma's duties can be to wake him up in the morning. He can't help but be jealous of and hate Souma for having a loving family and having grown up so good while he had never felt loved.

The next morning Souma wakes Akinari up. Akinari wants to make things uncomfortable and unpleasant for Souma, so he orders him to carry him to the bath and wash him. He declares that he won't drive Souma out but that he's planning on making life rather unpleasant for Souma. He loves seeing the hurt in Souma's eyes when he basically tells Souma that he can't stand Souma's very existence. He tells Souma that if Souma doesn't do what he says he'll hit him with a whip like a horse. Souma can leave if he doesn't want to be treated in such a way. He's delighted to see the stubborn determination not to run away in Souma's face. There'd be no point in being mean to Souma otherwise.

Akinari forces Souma to wash him everywhere, then decides to "wash" Souma as well. Wash as in grabbing Souma's dick and arousing him, laughing at his quick, youthful reaction to stimulus. They are interrupted by a summons to the hotel. Akinari immediately leaves the bath and Souma is forced to throw some cold water on himself to de-arouse himself.

After days of making Souma do lots of hard labor around the residence, Akinari takes Souma to a sex friend's house to introduce Souma to the joys of sleeping with a good woman. But Souma gets mad at Akinari's loose morals and leaves. Akinari's friend urges Akinari to go home as well, to not let Souma down completely as a master. Akinari is pissed off but follows Souma home. On the way, they have a bit of a fight. Souma asks Akinari to act like a master he can respect, but that only makes Akinari decide to be even meaner to Souma. Unfortunately he can't get a rise out of Souma anymore, no matter what he comes up with. When he tells Souma to do something Souma really doesn't want to do, Souma simply refuses.

Souma, for his part, has come to terms with Akinari's "meanness." He thinks of Akinari as a child who is willful but isn't terribly cruel. Akinari hasn't made him do anything really horrible or hit him with a whip when he refuses to do something. He finds Akinari's inconsistency of having someone he claimed to hate near him rather amusing.

One day Akinari has several members of an acting troupe that had just finished a run at the hotel over at the residence. The leader was a friend from senior high school. Souma is told by Miyasaka to watch Akinari carefully because that friend is a rather scandalous fellow. After dinner, Akinari sends all the servants away so that he can have a relaxing time with his guests. Souma tries to stay but is not allowed. He instead decides to keep watch outside of the door, unable to trust his master.

Akinari is irritated by Souma's insistence at staying. He had tried to keep Souma and his friend apart because his friend had remarked that he'd seen Souma somewhere before. Akinari knows that they must have met at some aristocratic party. If his friend found out about Souma he'd tease Souma about his family's troubles. Akinari didn't think Souma would like to hear such things, but leave it to Souma to try to ruin his good intentions. But he is soon happily listening to music and relaxing. He becomes even more relaxed when the friend breaks out the opium, which he'd never tried and knows is very illegal. But he figures trying it once can't hurt. The others decide to have an orgy and Akinari is more than happy to participate. Unfortunately, they are stopped by Souma. He'd been invited to participate by one of the actresses who'd gone out to get something to drink to round out the man-woman ratio. He lectures them on the punishment for smoking opium and tells them to stay away from Akinari if they will only be a bad influence. Otherwise, he will call the police. When the actor protests that Akinari will also get into trouble, Souma firmly replies that it might be good for Akinari to receive the proper punishment for breaking the law. The actors sense that Souma is serious. They agree that Souma is right and go to their rooms for the night.

Akinari can't believe that he's the one basically cowering in front of his servant. He yells at Souma for treating his guests so rudely, but Souma tells Akinari that what's bad is bad and that Akinari being his master doesn't change that fact. Akinari can't stand the fact that Souma is so pure and proper, so the opposite from him. Akinari tries to slap Souma but Souma grabs his hand and stops him. He tells Akinari he should sleep already. When Akinari almost falls over he picks up Akinari to carry him to his room despite Akinari's loud protests.

Akinari is aroused when he's carried by Souma to his room, so when he's laid down on his bed he draws Souma's face to his and kisses him. Souma doesn't want to sleep with anyone he doesn't love (as he had told Akinari before), so Akinari tells Souma he wants Souma to teach him how it is to be with someone you love. He tells Souma that he doesn't know love. Souma is confused. He had realized when he saw Akinari all drugged out that Akinari really is like a child. He doesn't think about consequences and does what he wants to at the time. Since Souma doesn't push him away Akinari kisses Souma and uses his vast sexual experience to make Souma drown in pleasure. He gives Souma a blow-job, then rides him to their mutual pleasure. When he sees that Souma is still filled with lust, he falls backwards onto the bed and tells Souma to do the work this time.

They continue to have sex, though Souma has no illusions about Akinari's motivations. He knows Akinari just wants to see him squirm. Yet he can't resist Akinari's wiles...Akinari's body is intoxicating. He's vexed and saddened by Akinari's willingness to sleep with anyone, even with someone he hates. Souma wonders if Akinari is simply stubbornly refusing to notice or acknowledge the love that is there around him and insists on the simple pleasures of the body. Souma knows that he really has no leg to stand on and lecture Akinari anymore but he can't help himself. It hurts Souma that Akinari thinks nothing of him even as they have sex. It also hurts to think about how coldly Akinari had treated his actor friend the day after the opium incident. Will Akinari treat him like that one day?

Akinari is pleased that he can seduce Souma into sex (though his success rate is only 33%), but is dissatisfied that the only outward change he notices with Souma is in the physical. Souma's body has learned the pleasures of sex deeply, but Souma's personality is still the same. It is very proper and straightforward. Souma constantly lectures Akinari when Akinari doesn't do the right thing, even driving Akinari to go to work (Akinari escapes to get away from Miyasaka and Souma's nagging).

One day Akinari returns home from showing some foreign guests the cherry blossoms to hear the servants enjoying the cherry blossom trees in the garden. He's surprised to find Souma waiting for him instead of with the other servants. He tells Souma to enjoy the viewing, repeatedly declining Souma's invitation to join them. He finally shuts Souma up by initiating sex. That night he's awakened by Souma, who insists on having a moonlit viewing. Akinari knows Souma will persist until he gives in, so he goes along despite his irritation. He is blown away by the beauty of a particular weeping type and gets Souma to dance. He regrets his insistence when Souma starts to dance because he feels like it only highlights the differences between them. Souma is still pure of heart despite Akinari's attempts to sully him. Yet Akinari doesn't know how he feels about Souma and his inability to sully Souma anymore. When Souma finishes Akinari kisses him. As Souma urges Akinari inside to get out of the cold, Akinari wonders if he's the one that's been changed.

The next day Souma teaches Akinari to dance. Souma's dance that had so entranced Akinari wasn't a proper dance, but a mixture of his mother's priestess-y dance (Souma's mother had been a priestess before becoming Viscount Kaga's mistress) and his father's iaidou (art of drawing the Japanese sword) that Souma had made up. The lesson abruptly ends when Souma realizes that Akinari has a fever. While Akinari rests in bed, he and Souma talk. Akinari learns that Souma had wanted to be either a police officer or a lawyer (for really simple boyish reasons), though Souma can't study further while working to pay off his family's debt. When Souma gets up to leave for the night, Akinari tries to draw him into bed to have sex. Souma won't have any of it, telling Akinari to rest. He does kiss him softly over and over before taking his leave, however. Akinari is shocked because it is the first time Souma had initiated anything of the sort...

Akinari calls the sex friend he had tried to push on Souma before to his house for a favor. She mentions the fact that she's heard that Akinari is diligently going to work lately. Akinari complains that he's not going to work as much as being run out of the house by Miyasaka and Souma's nagging. She laughs that Akinari is being bullied by Souma rather than the other way around. Akinari asks her to introduce him to a very good scholar she's acquainted with to tutor Souma. The friend perceptively discerns that Akinari is sleeping with Souma. She then points out that Souma looks rather like Akinari's father. Akinari knows that she's put two and two together, but she goes on to say that she doesn't care where people come from because one can't help where one's heart will go. She cautions that it's better not to keep secrets because they become heavier as time passes.

Akinari introduces Souma to the scholar and gives Souma free time every day for study. He tries to minimize the entire affair and the fact that he's being very generous. Miyasaka is delighted and tries to urge Akinari to tell Souma about his parentage. Akinari refuses to and forbids Miyasaka from telling Souma.

That night Souma thanks Akinari again. Akinari, embarrassed, replies curtly. Akinari slips that he's met Souma's mother before. He doesn't tell Souma that she had lived at this residence (with Souma) before marrying Souma's father, instead lying that he'd met her when she came to visit his mother. Souma asks what kind of person Akinari's mother was. He'd been told by his mother that Souma's mother had brought his parents together. Akinari remembers how his mother, a beautiful and proud woman, hadn't been able to forgive her husband's infidelity. She had forced Souma's mother to marry to get her away from Akinari's father. She had come to distrust love and told Akinari daily to never believe in love, that there is no such thing as an eternal love. She had clung to Akinari as her only hope and in the end had been conscious of him not as her son but as a male. She had even crawled into his bed. He mentions the fact that she had seen him as a man to Souma, but quickly takes his words back (claiming he was joking) when he realizes what he'd said. When Souma kisses him, Akinari realizes that he's been caught in a trap he'd meant for Souma. He had fallen for Souma, even though they were brothers.

Souma couldn't dismiss Akinari's confession as pure nonsense. It made perfect sense that Akinari wouldn't know or really want to know love if he'd only gotten a twisted version of it from the very people who should have sheltered and nurtured him. Though he'd been forcibly dragged into this relationship, he now treasures it. He wants to embrace Akinari's heart as well as his body.

As the seasons change Akinari finds his entire attitude has changed. He's now going to work almost every day. He spends more time learning dance from Souma. He doesn't want to sully Souma anymore. Instead, he wants to become more like Souma. He knows he really should stop their relationship and send Souma to school (especially since their father could come back at any time and force the truth to come out--Souma looks very much like their father), but he just can't let Souma go.

Akinari slowly tries to take on more duties as general manager, asking the assistant manager who had actually been doing all the work until then to teach him the ropes. He makes the rounds of the hotel, familiarizing himself with the large property and the employees. On the way home one day, he is assaulted by a nationalist group who had targeted him for being the general manager of a hotel catering to foreigners. He is hit several times and felt up, but manages to fight back until the group is scared off by the sound of approaching people. He loses consciousness and is taken home by his driver.

Miyasaka actually falls to his knees at Akinari's bedside and bursts into tears when he learns that Akinari hadn't been too badly injured. He's led away by the other servants, leaving Souma to take care of Akinari. Souma also falls to his knees and expresses his relief that Akinari is okay. He wishes he'd been with Akinari to protect him and kisses him. They kiss more and more deeply, but Souma refuses to do anything more since Akinari is hurt. But when Akinari tells Souma that he'd been felt up and wanted to be cleansed of that horrible touch Souma gently makes love to him.

The police are unable to find out more information on the nationalist group that had assaulted Akinari. After resting for several days Akinari goes back to work. Souma accompanies him and is amazed to see Akinari working diligently. He'd always thought of Akinari as a child because of the way he acted at home, but he realizes that Akinari is in fact an adult much older than him. He wonders if Akinari doesn't want a child like him to protect and support him.

When they arrive home they find out that Akinari's father had returned. He'd heard about the attack and come back to check on Akinari. He immediately realizes who Souma is and the game is up. While Souma and their father talk, Akinari lays in his bed filled with regret and shame and all sorts of other negative feelings. When Souma comes to him for answers, Akinari decides to make it easier for Souma to part ways with him and tells Souma that he'd dragged Souma into his bed because he was jealous of Souma's happy family life and hated Souma for all he had that Akinari hadn't had. He kicks Souma out of his room and out of his life.

Akinari avoids Souma while Souma prepares to go abroad for study. He doesn't even see him off. Akinari works hard, trying to learn to become a real general manager. He realizes that he'd been like a child, that he'd never worked for anything. That that was one of the qualities that differentiated him and Souma. Akinari is summoned by his father one day before he goes to work. The Viscount asks Akinari how things are going. He tells Akinari that he'd like Akinari to seriously become the general manager in more than name, because he'd always thought Akinari was suited for that type of position and would be able to make the hotel even better. Akinari had never had such a conversation with his father before and is rather thrown off by it.

Akinari tries to learn the bookkeeping part of the job as well, even though he'd never been particularly fond of numbers. As he walks around while taking a break from staring at the books, he is shocked to see two of the guys who had assaulted him in the hotel. He is even more shocked to see the assistant manager meeting with the guys. He checks the books, does a bit of further research, and figures out that someone had been skimming money from the hotel. He knows he has to talk with his father (who, he realizes from various actions and words that hadn't made sense until now, must have suspected something) but decides to talk with the assistant manager first. He needs to know why someone who seemed to diligent would do such a thing. He waits for the assistant manager to come back to the office, but he is called away to resolve a problem with a guest in the ballroom. There, he is again attacked by the "nationalist group." He is saved from being cut down in the nick of time...by Souma! The bad guys are quickly rounded up and Souma calms the scared guests by announcing that it had all been a show. He finishes off the "performance" with a dance, this time with Akinari (Souma forces Akinari to perform by announcing without his permission that both of them would be dancing). They had danced together many times at home so there their dance is perfect. But it fills Akinari with both happiness at being with Souma again and pain because he knows it can't last. Afterwards, the bad guys are hauled away by the police. The assistant manager blames Akinari for leaving the management of the hotel to him and giving him an opportunity to steal. Akinari is hurt by the accusation but Souma sternly responds that it is obviously the assistant manager's own damn fault that he was weak and greedy and gave into temptation.

Souma asks to speak with Akinari, so they go to an empty guest-room to talk in private. Akinari asks the questions he's burning to ask and Souma responds to them all. Souma had not gone abroad. He'd asked to go to school in Japan for now and possibly go abroad later if needed. He had been working with the police to find out who had attacked Akinari. They'd managed to track down the trail to the assistant manager and had been waiting for him to act again with hotel security and police nearby. That was why they were able to act so quickly that day. Souma asks Akinari if he'd actually thought that Souma would leave to study abroad while the men who had attacked Akinari were still free. He explains that though the news that they were brothers had shocked him, it hadn't changed how he felt. He still loved Akinari. Akinari can't even articulate his next question, he's so overwhelmed and confused. How could Souma still care for him after the hateful words Akinari had said to him? Souma embraces Akinari and responds to the question Akinari hadn't been able to speak. He loves Akinari, and that wouldn't change despite anything Akinari says. Besides, Akinari had looked like he was going to cry when he had said those nasty things, like he was forcing himself to say something he didn't mean at all. Souma then prompts Akinari to tell him how he feels. Akinari tells Souma that he loves him and wants him, even if they are brothers and even if he causes Souma trouble. Souma gently kisses Akinari and says he'd wanted to hear those words from Akinari for a long time. He will give as much of himself as Akinari wants...

And of course they have deep and loving sex. With some tickling thrown in to ease their tension at first. XDXD

Yeah, it's sappy. But it was very satisfying! They are both so innocent and sweet, and thus their love was very innocent and sweet (with just enough angst thanks to the incest and the deception to spice things up). I loved how Akinari was totally incapable of being the mean bullying master and ends up being the bullied one. ^^; Also, uke in charge of sex! That can't be a bad thing.