Gundam Seiyuu Part 4
The screen in front of us went blank and Relena flipped off her microphone, the scene was over for the day and we were done recording. We all stepped away from the microphones and headed for the door, Quatre and I walking out side by side, grinning. Relena took up her position at the door and immediately caught Heero as he exited the room.
"Heero! You were wonderful today; I simply loved the emotion you put in your lines. Beautiful job as always."
Heero grunted a reply and pulled his arm away, muttering something about needing to get home right after work. Quatre and I couldn't help but snicker. Relena seemed to let it pass and turned her attention to Quatre.
"Quatre, you were great today as well. But I have a favor to ask." Relena clapped her hands together. "Miki Karou is the same age as the others and I need him to sound more mature. You know...more like a boy and less like..." she faltered and trailed of.
"And less like a girl?" she asked innocently, her misty blue eyes shining brightly with good humor.
Relena sighed in defeat. "Yes, less like a girl."
Trowa walked up to us and gave his own very small smile. Leaning down he kissed Quatre's cheek softly.
"No problem, Relena-san," Quatre said. Then we left the room, leaving Relena to sigh helplessly to herself.
I had to struggle to keep from laughing at that. So I quickly followed them out of the room. Weeks carried on pretty uneventful after that. Everything seemed to drop into it's own little pattern and I got pretty used to it all. In fact, everything I'd considered abnormal at the start became completely normal.
The day would start out with me waking up, obviously. I would get ready for work and grab breakfast quickly, while Hilde always sat at the table reading a manga or fanzine or something while eating her cereal. I would get to work in time to look over the script and joke around with Quatre before the main recording started.
And for those who suspect me, no I wasn't flirting with her. It turns out that we got along really well and Trowa was usually off talking to management and the writers of the show about certain things and all. It turned out that Quatre was a total otaku, much more so then my cousin, and that is saying a lot. Quatre has a collection at her apartment of almost every piece of merchandise having to do with each character she'd done a voice for. And believe me, that is a lot of characters! She even had a closet full of cosplay costumes for each of her former seiyuu roles and she took pride in showing off her collection of stuff whenever she could.
Anyway, back to what I was saying. The recording would start and we'd all do our lines, trying not to laugh about the cheesy lines and the inside jokes while recording. During breaks I'd taken to pestering Heero, after discovering that he was the most fun to get a reaction out of. I did tease Wufei at first but he just seemed depressed all of the time and was no fun at all. The only one who was able to get a reaction out of him in his grumpy state was Milliardo, who took every chance he could to flirt and pester Wufei, so I left those two alone. I set my sights on driving Heero up the wall instead.
After the recording sessions Relena would give Heero compliments and attempt to get a reaction out of him other then a grunt or nod and then would comment to the rest of us. It didn't take a brilliantly insane scientist to figure out that she'd fallen head over heels for Heero a long time ago and wanted to go out with him. However, Heero didn't seem interested one bit, which always seemed odd to me.
Well that was my day at work, pretty uneventful to say the least. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it though. What kept it really interesting was that OZ Studios and the writers of the script kept the storyline pretty well under wraps. We only got to see the scripts on the day we were recording them and even then they refused to tell us what was going to happen in the future of the show. So it was like watching a really good series on TV for the first time... even the people voicing it didn't know what was going to happen. And when the surprises came? Well that made it all the more interesting.
There is something worth mentioning in very good detail though, that happened about a month after the series was premiered on TV. And in a way you could say it started this entire mess of things to come.
I arrived home from work at the normal time to find Hilde wasn't anywhere near the front door. Usually she was in the living room reading manga when I got home but today she wasn't. Instead I heard jpop coming loudly from the computer room. Dropping off my stuff on the couch I went in to see what was up. I found my cousin and roommate sitting at her computer, eyes glued to a screen full of text.
"What'cha reading?"
Hilde jumped in her seat, obviously startled. I leaned over her shoulder and scanned a line on the screen, my eyes going wide as I read.
:: Odin and Solo locked eyes, the room dropping into silence. Neither were sure what to do, neither was sure what the other would do. Then, all of a sudden, Odin reached forward and wrapped his arms around Solo's waist, yanking the longhaired American against him. Before Solo could protest Odin kissed him. Solo's eyes went wide in surprise but he quickly gave in and pushed his own body against Odin's, surprised to find the Japanese pilot was just as aroused as he was... ::
I coughed and stopped reading, I could just feel my cheeks turning red. Hilde spun around in the chair to face me and laughed.
"Welcome to the wonderful world of yaoi, cuz," she chuckled.
I blinked and stared at her in disbelief. "Did... did I just read what I thought I read?"
She nodded. "It's called yaoi, and you should be pleased to know that currently the most popular couple is Odin and Solo from Gundam Wing."
"Odin and Solo..." Me and Heero?!?! No way! "And you read this? Hilde... that is just wrong in so many ways! You're my cousin!"
She laughed and leaned back in the chair. "Don't take it so personally, cuz, after all it's not like these stories are about Duo Maxwell. They are about two animated boys-"
"Who are having sex together?! In a..." I glanced at the screen and felt the blood drain from my face in shock. Did I read that right? Oh man I did! "They are having sex in the cockpit of a gundam?!"
I must have looked pretty silly standing there with my mouth hanging open at that last revelation because Hilde nearly fell out of her chair laughing. "Best idea I've ever come up with, ne?"
I glanced back at the screen and discovered she was right. It was a text document. Not only was she reading it, she was writing it! I could take it anymore. Don't get me wrong, I had nothing against people and homosexual relationships but... there was just something wrong with it when the characters doing it were people I knew. Well, the ones I knew were only the voices of the characters but... but still! You get what I mean! And in a cockpit of a gundam? Were the cockpits even that big? How could two people do something like that on the pilot's chair without-
I cut off that thought before it went anywhere. Though, I do have to admit (in spite of myself) it was an intriguing mental picture. Meanwhile my cousin was having a merry time trying to keep from dying of laughter.
"It's not that big of a deal," she finally protested. "In fact, you should take it as a compliment. The fact that they slashed your character with Odin Lowe means that your character is one of the most popular from the show. See... it's arranged in numbers. Odin Lowe is 1. Solo Reaper is 2. Triton Bloom is 3. Miki Karou is 4. Li Honour is 5. And Zechs Marquise is 6."
I frowned, this wasn't making me think any better of this. "You mean they pair all of us?"
Hilde smirked. "In every single pairing you can think of. There are some really gifted writers out there, you should take it as a compliment."
I shrugged and gave a sigh of defeat. "Yeah, whatever, I'm gonna go get something to eat." I walked to the door and paused long enough to lean back in. "I still can't believe my own cousin writes it."
She stuck her tongue out at me and I left.
Grabbing a sandwich and shutting myself into me room I dropped onto the bed to think. Yaoi? All over the world people were writing fanfic about a character I did the voice for. And they were pairing Solo with the other characters. I had to admit that after seeing the show the possibility of a relationship between my character and Heero's was there, but very well hidden. But some of the other pairings just didn't make sense at all. Solo and Li? Pairing my character with Wufei's? I shuddered. Not even if I had a death wish!
I rolled over in bed and finished my sandwich. Grabbing the remote control I flicked on the TV and started to channel surf, just for lack of something to do. Beyond the door I heard Hilde rushing around the house and yelling.
"Bye cuz!! I'm going out with Catherine!"
I flicked off the TV as I heard the door slam. I must be insane! As soon as I was sure she wasn't coming back in the apartment I snuck into her room and sat down at her computer. It didn't take me long to find the 1x2x1 folder which held the yaoi fanfic. And... despite all the surprise and disgust I'd shown earlier I read them. I read all of them.
And you know what? She was right, they were really good.
TBC...
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