#adult summer vacation

[syneilesis]

[fic] The Loneliest Job in the World

The Loneliest Job in the World

Adult Summer Vacation | Okazaki Youji x Main-Character!Reader | T | 1.7k words | ao3 link

After your return to Tokyo, Youji continues to yearn for you.

A/N: Listen. Situation CDs are like, the consummate reader-insert stories. The Y/N of the drama CD industry. I've been eyeing this particular drama CD since it was announced, and now that I've finally bought it, OH MY GOSH!!!! Koitsuda Renya, let me hold you and trap you against my bosom 😌

This is like, a writing exercise for me, because it's been a while since I've written anything. Couple that with the fact that work recently has drained me dry, and that inspiration was very much absent these few months. Before I go back to my priority wips, I gotta warm up, or something along that line.

Anyhoo, this is from the Adult Summer Vacation drama CD series (大人の夏休み) by the circle Hitsuzigumo, particularly みなとくんの中の人 岡崎耀司の場合. The voice actor for this one is Koitsuda Renya, who delivered a very remarkable and very licentious performance, which I most definitely approve. You can find information about the CD here (content warning: netori), and you can listen to the much-recommended samples there. (You will understand why I imprinted upon Kuzuha in Mugenro, but I still couldn't play that game, alas.)

This fic is like, the afterstory of the main story, like those tokuten they include when you purchase a drama CD. Needless to say, there are spoilers in the fic. But the gist of the story is that MC returned to her hometown because there was a bump (or stagnation?) in her relationship with her fiance. She then reunites with childhood friend Youji, who has been in love with her for 10 years and is still very much in love with her. MC knew Youji to be a bright and cheerful kid, but now he's subdued and melancholic. Also, MC wanted to find out the truth about their other childhood friend who's already dead. Because Youji still loves her, he couldn't stop himself from making a move. The story ends in an ambiguous yet hopeful note, BUT I NEEDED THE CLOSURE HENCE THIS FIC.

Regrettably, I couldn't insert a smut scene in this one. There is a sex scene, yes, but it's just like, a drive thru sex scene lmao. Just a couple of lines that said they did it. It's not lengthy and detailed enough to warrant a mature rating.

Okay, I've been rambling long enough. I can't believe I have a long author's note for a fic that might not even be read because it's from an obscure series lmao OH WELL. Here is the cover of the drama CD:

he's so pretty

The first night after you left and returned to Tokyo, Youji gathered the pillows and blanket you had used and ensconced himself on his bed, chasing your scent that lingered on the fabric.

He drifted off to sleep with the memory of your hair splayed underneath him, strands caught between your intertwined hands.

+

There were more days when the amusement park was bereft of people than days when it was teeming with them, open, joyful faces that reflect on every family, bright, brighter than the summer sun that branded Youji's strongest memory. It had been during junior high, when you and he dragged Takeru to try the merry-go-round for the first time. Everything seemed to glow gold due to the heat and the light, Youji's vision filtered by your warm, satisfied smile.

That was before everything turned upside-down, and now Takeru's gone and you're gone, too, living in Tokyo, cities and towns and years away from him, spoken for, a different, separate life from Youji, one that he could never touch or come to know because of this insurmountable distance.

You once told him that this was a lonely way of living, and in a way it was true. Everybody had moved on from that devastating day. Everybody but him, because who else would carry this burden of memory, of the pain and anger that had transpired? Who else would protect you from that terrible betrayal, that inconsolable hurt?

Who else would long for you to return?

+

It's not as often as he wanted, but you texted him every now and then.

I'm traveling to Sapporo for a business trip next week. I'm excited!

Our manager treated us to a fancy dinner as a reward for our hard work last week.

I finally got to visit the aquarium at the Tokyo Skytree. It was great!

Youji would reply with good humor, positive words and optimistic phrases that still felt plastic on his tongue. Nonetheless he meant them. If he were a little braver, he could have told you something more honest:

That's great news. I wish I could be with you on that trip.

I'd like to treat you to a fancy dinner, too. I want to reward you for being so strong.

Maybe one day, I'll take you out on a date, see the aquarium, and maybe more.

Running underneath those wishful messages: I miss you. I love you. I want to be with you, always and forever.

+

In the middle of work, Yuki dropped by and asked him the most useless question in the world.

“Don't you want to leave this dying town?”

Youji didn't bother removing the mascot head off him, and presented to Yuki the full force of Minato-kun's inanimate stare.

“Come on, man, don't tell me you’ve never thought of it!”

He had, on few occasions. Indulged on the thought of leaving—escaping, really. The town only bore a nostalgia that never lived up to the past, tainted with grief and hurt. Everywhere Youji walked a trace of sadness permeated the air, inescapable. Sometimes, he entertained the notion that this town had been cursed with adamant melancholy.

With the mascot on, Youji towered over Yuki. Softly, he said, “What would I even do outside?”

“Youji, there are plenty of opportunities outside this town! Aren't you too attached to this place? Don't you get sick of it all? You're nearing thirty—don't you want to grow?”

Beneath those words, Youji understood. Yuki was only concerned for him. But it grated. Time was marching for everybody, but not for Youji.

In the end, all Youji could answer him was, “I'll think about it.”

Seconds later, an employee was calling for him, needing extra hand. Youji bade Yuki goodbye, ignoring the pinched look his friend wore.

When he returned home, once again alone with his thoughts, Youji contemplated the idea of leaving. If he were to leave, would everything be all right from there on? The morning of your departure for Tokyo, the air was bittersweet. But it was sweet more than it was bitter. You smiled at Youji and he at you. At the time, Youji thought to himself, It is possible to laugh and smile with you beside me. And it was hope, too, that remained in the distance between the both of you.

Would you ever ask him to leave? With you?

+

Four months after your visit, you appeared at the doorway of Youji's house like an apparition at midday, cheeks flushed and coat disheveled from what Youji suspected was running.

Heart hammering, Youji stood immobile, hand stuck on the doorknob, neither a twitch nor a step. He felt his face slacken, eyes widening at the impossibility of you at the door.

But you stubbornly remained at the entrance, real and tangible, grinning at him, a touch shy but joyful, and Youji's heart threatened to escape his chest.

You extended your hands as if a gesture of welcome. “Surprise!”

He couldn't stop himself any longer. A decisive step forward and he's kissing you. Finally kissing you again, desperate and yearning and full of loneliness but also of love.

“Youji!” You laughed in between his kisses, and Youji's trembling arms tightened around you.

“How are you here?” he said, mouth lingering at the corner of yours, still kissing the physicality of your presence. Confirming it. “Why are you here? You didn't text me.”

“I know. I wanted to surprise you. And seeing as how you reacted, I'm glad I did.”

A smile tugged at Youji's lips. “I'm glad you did.”

He pulled you inside, one hand never leaving yours. All the way to his bedroom, and you never protested. The air was thick between you, anticipatory, of all the things unsaid and what Youji wanted to say. Of all the things he felt for you, the longing and the wish, the words and the promise that he wanted to make before you.

But your eyes were soft and kind and knowing, and as he laid you down on his bed, slotting your lips together, fingers entwined, the courage that had been absent all this time came bursting forth like an overrun dam.

“I love you,” Youji said, voice tremulous against your neck.

“I love you,” he said as he worshiped your body, mouthing at the valley of your thighs.

“I love you,” he said, as he entered inside you, mind and body awash with overwhelming pleasure.

And as the heat and tightness and ecstasy crested and crested Youji said, “I love you, I love you. Choose me. I'll always love you. Always. Always.”

+

Later, on the sofa, you and he snuggled up together, coffee on hand, watching a program listlessly on the TV.

Then your words cut through the lull of the room:

“I broke up with my fiancé.”

Youji's heart began pacing. He swallowed. Quietly exhaled. Told himself to wait.

“S-Since when?”

He forced his eyes to stay where they were—in line of the TV, where an anime just started its opening theme—so that he couldn't see your expression, afraid of what he'd find there.

Your voice was steady, neutral. Careful.

“Two months ago. I didn't tell you because I had a lot of things to take care of. I needed the time also.”

“I—I see ...”

“The last time I came here, I was troubled with my relationship with my fiancé. I needed the time and space. We were becoming more and more estranged with each passing day. I needed to re-evaluate my relationship, you see.”

Youji tried to tamp down the noise of his breaths. His body full of nerves, out of a ridiculous combination of hope and fear.

“But I reunited with you, and then I found out the truth about Takeru. It's all so overwhelming that I didn't know what to do.”

You went quiet after, and Youji realized that he's closing his eyes. He didn't open them, insistent on shutting them so that he remained oblivious to whatever emotion you’re wearing right now.

But then a hand landed on his cheek, and, surprised, he opened his eyes as that hand gently guided his face to meet yours. You're smiling, and it's a smile so tender that Youji felt sundered by it. Unwittingly he let out a shaky breath.

“But I'm thankful for that confrontation. It helped me decide what I truly wanted.”

Hope, Youji thought, was a bittersweet ache at the roof of his mouth.

“So I broke up with my fiancé. I realized that we weren't happy with each other anymore, and after that—after that ...”

Your glassy eyes, Youji thought, could arrest even the most uninterested person in the world.

“After that, I settled everything first before coming back here. To you.”

Oh, Youji thought. Oh.

Then you took a deep breath, steeling yourself, before looking at Youji straight into his eyes.

“I love you, Youji. Come to Tokyo with me.”

And it's like a lock releasing: all the thoughts, fears, worries that burdened Youji in the past months spilled away behind him. And the urgency that gripped him right now compelled him to place his own hand over the hand on his cheek and bring it to his lips. He closed his eyes again, fighting the tears trying to escape at the corners.

When he looked back at you again, you're still smiling, waiting for him and his answer.

And it's the easiest answer in the world.

“Yes,” he said. A laugh broke free from him. “Yes,” he said again. “Yes, yes, yes.”

He augmented it with a rain of kisses on your delighted face, melodious laughter filling the whole room.

Yuki's words suddenly came to memory, alongside the question that engendered from it. And now, Youji could confidently answer it through the strength of your embrace, the eagerness of your kiss, the affectionate sigh of his name. He had been afraid to seize the hope that lay between the two of you, but you were always the braver one.

He had never been thankful until now.

When you broke apart, Youji rested his forehead against yours, savoring the relief, the joy. You're still smiling all the while, and it was such a gift that Youji released a helpless sigh.

“I love you, Youji,” you said again, and Youji felt full of his love for you. ��Shall we walk towards our future, together?”

Youji returned your smile with one of his own, wide and honest. “Of course.”

Then he kissed you again. It was a promise he intended to fulfill to the very end.

[mechazushi]

So, I've got this KafHoshi fic I'm working on and it's starting to turn into a, like, 5 + 1 scenarios kinda fic in the vaguest sense of the situation. Which means I need to come up with senarios about Hoshina falling head over heels for Kafka and I listened to Super Massive Black Hole by Muse, immediately followed by Landmines by Sum 41 and all I could think about for a day was a situation where Kafka had a "Homer learns the bass" moment in his teens and his mom or cousin or something was cleaning out an old storage container and sent him his old bass guitar.

Not to overindulge, but basically my mind wouldn't let go of the image of Kafka singing SMBH, but in his Kaiju voice, which then morphed into Iharu begging on hands and knees asking if Kafka could learn the bass line to Landmines and be the bass to his lead guitar and play the song on his birthday in front of the Third Division with him.

And THEN my brain was like....

"Ok, but a Saturday morning cartoon about A rock band getting mystical guitars that transform them into humanoid Kaijus with super powers so now they fight crime just because and they have to keep the identity a secret from the police and Dollar Store Iharu leads the team and in the first episode show starts off with the band needing a new bass player so they start tryouts and a Kafka-like character shows up and the whole team isn't impressed with him until he starts playing an absolute sick riff and they let him join and DS Iharu's dad is the band's manager and he's a shit dad but he knows about he Kaiju Guitars/private hero identity thing (Cuz' he's the one networking the media to help keep it a secret) and there's a side plot about Kafka the Bass player becoming DS Iharu'd Better Dad and Reno's there too, but he's the "No enthusiasm" Guitar seller that sold them their mystic guitars and he had no idea about what the guitars do and the team rope him in once he and the rest find out KnockOff Reno had been chosen to help the people that became bestowed with the Kaiju Guitars and now KnockOff Reno is the team's Guy-In-The-Chair and HE gets his OWN character arc and him and Dollar Store Iharu start to fall in love and then you find out that Kafka had a secret love child that he didn't know about and then spend a season off screen fighting for custody and I've given this way too much thought already but doesn't it sound REALLY COOL because I could see it becoming one of those cult classic shows that were only made to sell toys, but it became one of the few that managed to transcend beyond that..."

It's never going to happen. but I do agree with myself.

[lightblueminecraftorchid]

they call me the griever because halfway through a thing I enjoy I’m already sad that it’s closer to being over

[dick-helmet-magneto]

i would like to know if i’m going to be working tomorrow. I equally hope i am and hope i am not. it’s a complicated spot i’m in

[loversessays]

summer

Summer. A season of free time, leisure, resting, and counting down the days before the fun times end again. It is something well-known to everyone, yet not everyone has the right to fully grasp the said freedom. A such, college students.

The continuing college students have it rough; by being endlessly bothered by the thought of "it is so weird to not do anything at all." and "I deserve this rest after hell months." After months of burning candles in finishing a paper with the only thing that is keeping you sane is coffee, you found yourself clinging for an activity to spent your day. It feels wrong that you are laying down and about to finish another season of Breaking Bad. Even if granted the right to relax, you still think you should be of use. It is a curse to think one should always be useful to validate their existence.

I would say the same for fresh college graduates, maybe worse. To live the life that going to school and finishing an assignment is not the highlight of the day. I should say they are free, but not fully. They indeed are free from the shackles of schooling, but just have been introduced to the prison of labor and reality. At this point, it would be common to think "I should participate to society now, and to pay back those debts of gratitude that I received." Or else I am a new participant to the list of society's nuisance. The curse to think that one should have a purpose in life to continue living life.

Summer. The season of free time, leisure, resting, and counting down the days before fun times end, but certainly not to college students.

[mademoisellesarcasme]

thanks be to God for crazy internet friends willing to come help me kiddo-wrangle while my husband is gone for TEN DAYS but also I lowkey wish I could kinda run away from all my responsibilities for like, twenty-four hours? maybe forty-eight? gosh

[shamebats]

Slovenes are so funny sometimes, they'll ask you "are you going to Croatia" instead of asking if you're going on vacation anywhere. I used to say I've never been to Croatia (even tho I probably have been as a child) just because I thought it was funny how much it confused ppl.

[yuzuna123]

"why does Jun look so young!, Bandai Namco hates old women!!!"

*sigh* haven't you guys thought that MAYBE it's because her magical coma prevented her from aging during that time? that she's still 37-38? the age she was when she fought Ogre? Like i get your reason to be upset, but have you thought that they probably have their reasons why this happened?. And Harada himself SAID that he will add a fighting grandma at some point, so what's the problem here? it's not like they don't like fighters of all ages, countries and genders, they just haven't added them yet.

[kalosbian]

you know what. last rb reminded me of back in like 2022 when. i think it was 2.7 was delayed bc of covid lockdowns or something. and when that version was finally able to roll out they announced that 2.7 would be 6 weeks like any other version. and someone on twitter was like "but that means sumeru won't be until september and that's a bad economic move they should shorten 2.7 so that sumeru can release during summer vacations" as if most people actually spending money on genshin impact even get summer vacations in the first place lmfao

[daffythefox]

OH MAN I FORGOT I GOT PAID TODAY I WANNA GO OUT AND BUY THINGS

[system-of-a-feather]

help im drowning in art fight i got one (1) really fucking good art and Im like

HES+DAFJK:JDLFKJAWLEKJALKFJALWKEJFLAIEWJFPWIOEJFWOJEF

Anyways

Did a revenge for that one really good art that has been living rent free in my head for @rhydart cause holy shit one of the characters is an addict and the art is so beautifully capturing it sdajflskdjfl

I'd post it here to share but I'd rather leave it up to them to post it publicly cause its fucking BEAUTIFUL

Sending lots of love to them go check out their art its absolutely beautiful

[loahub]

Find your dream overwater villa, color it and stick it to your vision board!

[drysauce]

fuck this shit i'm NOT working this summer

[magnaflourious-nerdity]

Yeah bro. YEAH, DUDE! Did you ever think of how fucked up that was, wen kexing?!? Like his DISCIPLE. his SouLMaTe!!!! A weapon HE-- To protect himself!! I'M... You should feel bad!!! this is once again the consequences of your OWN actions. My son, precious boy, I love you so much- but also, like. What the fuck. Why would you. And nows he's gotta cope with mortality all over again??? You gave him HOPE and I. This moment is so good and it hurts me so much, and why

[cubikzoa]

Cracked the code on why people like zombie apocalypse stories, especially those similar to the vibe of The Last of Us, so much:

it’s because it’s like eternal free-for-all summer vacation. Doing whatever you want. Like when you were a kid and imagined a world without grown-ups and without school and without dumb rules like “no, you can’t go climb that tree.” It triggers your nostalgia, drawing on the same deep-rooted childhood wish as Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, or Chronicles of Narnia. Just you and your troupe of friends on an eternal roadtrip, stopping at empty malls to grab whatever drinks and snacks and Knick-knacks you want for free, traveling wherever in a beat-up van or living in a little remote homestead with a makeshift garden or farm. No school, no work, no rules, just eternal hangout time to do whatever piques your interest— art, reading, gardening, crafts, music, etc.

It’s the breakdown of humanity to its bare essentials: community, living in nature, inventions and improvising with duct tape and makeshift clay bowls, not being forced to work 24/7 like an insect and being able to lazily enjoy life and do the things you enjoy like the monkey mammal you are.

The only thing you have to trade in exchange is occasionally hitting a zombie on the head with a baseball bat, and let’s admit it, that’s gotta count as cathartic therapy of some sort, or avoiding some asshole raiders who are usually just evil dumb stock bro types.

I’d trade it in a second. Back to the stone age lifestyle, baybeeee, see ya, 5-day work week and taxes. Sign me up RIGHT NOW

[ae-fond-seeker]

me: I'm gonna go do some msq while I ponder those asks!

also me: [*proceeds to take a few gposes, then dozes on-and-off for a few hours with the Limsa bgm playing the whole time before waking up and getting a bowl of ice cream*]

..........okay, sure😅😓