An anthology of 14 BL short stories! (Some include author commentary on their stories)

For this 17th installment, we have stories written based on our familiar three themes!
There are 14 participating authors!

You can choose by your favorite title and preferred genre from the table of contents! You can also just scroll down to read the synopses and choose your story that way!
Genres have been grouped by similarity; there are a lot of contemporary stories this time.

"Pink Afterimage, the Indelible Mark of a Flower" Contemporary Romance

Nagisa Iru!

――This flower belongs only to me.

It has been over twenty years since Haruya was captivated by Akito dancing in the center stage at their kindergarten recital. Since then, he has tasked himself solely with watching over his "flower" from the wings. A friendship he doesn't want to break, a love he must keep hidden. However, a trip for two to a snowy hot spring town drastically changes their stagnant relationship.

A sudden power outage strikes their inn. In a room dominated by darkness and cold, Haruya is pulled into a tight embrace by Akito. "I've been waiting forever"――the fact that they had both been longing for the other side of the "boundary line" for over twenty years overflows along with raw possessiveness. Cutting through the silence, Haruya carves an indelible mark of ownership onto his own "flower".
※This is BL, and contains some sensitive expressions. Please be careful if you are not comfortable with this.

"Family Trip and a Happening" Contemporary Youth

syo⭐︎!

Two people born from a Lumondego on their first family trip. Instead of one room for four, they end up staying in two rooms for two, and he ends up in the same room as his senior! While spending a fun time together visiting a shrine for family harmony, drawing fortunes, and being taken to the senior's favorite spots, a happening occurs in the middle of the night.

"Pink Impulse" Contemporary Novel

Ookido!

Kuroi, who once participated in a "crime" against Mashiro, continues to see himself as a dangerous presence even after they reunite. Kuroi manages time, distance, and emotions, standing by his side while pretending to be harmless. He avoids the night, chooses the morning, and maintains a distance where he cannot touch. Before dawn, while waiting for the bus to head to a local concert, the moment he wraps a scarf around Mashiro, who is shivering from the cold, the impulse he had been suppressing wavers.
Is pink unrequited love a poison, or is it harmless?

"The Unchanging Taste" Daily Life

Kitako!

30-year-old Ooki reunites with his friend Hosoi for the first time in six years at a beef bowl restaurant. While finding comfort in the unchanging taste, a certain confession from Hosoi shakes Ooki's hidden possessiveness. Changes due to age and an uncontrollable love. When clumsy, honest feelings overflow, their stagnant relationship begins to move. A reunion short story that permeates daily scenery with earnest longing.

"Not-So-Pink Unrequited Love" Daily Life

Yoshida Nareshika!

"I", a gardener, fell in love at first sight with Izumida, a young and beautiful monk I met while working in the garden of a temple that has a Japanese garden you wouldn't expect to find in the city center.
One day, with my direct "senior" absent, I go to work alone and unexpectedly end up spending time alone with Izumida.

A special time with the person I admire, who feels close yet unreachable.
However, during a casual conversation, I notice the presence of "someone" I hadn't realized was there until then.
The song Izumida is humming, which doesn't suit him, is "Pink Unrequited Love".

Click here for an article that thoroughly analyzes the novels!

"Shangri-La is in a Dream" Human Drama

Yukiko Okano (formerly: Henko)

University student Takumi Amano goes on a trip with Shinichiro Ikeshima. Their destination is Kyushu, as he is accompanying Shinichiro on a visit to his parents' home.
On the Shinkansen, Takumi teases Shinichiro, who is reading a book, and learns that the title is 'Clear and Present Danger'.
As his name suggests, Shinichiro is the eldest son. His hometown is in a mountain valley, where there is a corner that blooms with peach blossoms even in winter. There, the two encounter Kanae. She is a woman of their age who is clearly in love with Shinichiro.
However, on the way to his parents' house, the two are there today to introduce Takumi to Shinichiro's parents.

Click here for an article that thoroughly analyzes the novel!

"Distance of the Back" - Human Drama

Fuyuao Kisaragi!

1986, when Mr. Fujikawa was still in the single digits.
And a time when feelings and desires beyond respect or admiration for his father were beginning to emerge, but he could not yet put them into words.
Their customary two-person trip during the spring holidays.
On the way, the teacher lost the ticket he had insisted on keeping himself.
In the end, they had to buy the ticket again, and even though they saw beautiful scenery and ate delicious food, his spirits remained somewhat dampened.
The kinder he was treated, the more guilty he felt, and he became confused about the distance between him and his father.
With those feelings still in his heart, they arrived at the inn...

"Big Brother, We're in Trouble" - Modern Comedy

Kino Kinoyama!

The morning after getting completely drunk at a university drinking party, I woke up to find my student sleeping next to me.
It was Hikaru Toyama, a current high school student who is my younger brother's best friend, whom I cherish like a second younger brother, and who apparently is in love with me.
"Let's go on a trip."
Was it a flashback of his life, or perhaps a delusion of escapism that flowed into the mind of Ryuji Takara, a high school baseball coach who had resigned himself to social 'death'?
While Ryuji was still in a state of confusion, Hikaru, who had woken up, looked somewhat different than usual.
"Good morning, Ryuji-san."

Big brother, is today the day the tax is due?

"Brother, Hikaru, sit straight there."
And what is the true intention of his younger brother, Kotetsu?

Click here for an article that thoroughly analyzes the novel!

"Sake, Tears, Teru, and Nobuo" - Comedy

Kashiko!

Our protagonist, Nobuo Ichihime, was currently facing a desperate crisis.
Before him was a young man with perfect, statue-like beauty and a look of fury, and clinging to him was a beautiful boy who could be mistaken for a girl. What happened between the two of them? Why was he being dragged into this?
Even though he knew for sure he had nothing to do with it, Nobuo began to recall how he ended up in such a situation.
A slapstick comedy featuring the usual unpleasant members.
Perhaps Nobuo's retorts will be sharp again today.

"Daruma-san and Tengu-han" - Military Comedy

Osaka, which has an international airport, was devastated by zombies that entered from a foreign country, and the government built a wall in Kansai to prevent the zombies from spreading.
A special unit was formed to find and protect survivors left inside while also annihilating the zombies themselves, in the year that Kyoto, which had many tourists, was designated as the next blocked-off district, and the year the protagonist, "Tengu," obtained a nursing license and volunteered as a medic for the "Anti-Zombie Unit."
Blanca, the vice-captain with a thick chest and great popularity, the headstrong Arnold, and the one who is by far the most annoying is "Daruma," a laid-back linguist who curses people easily with a gentle smile.
A love bullet is being loaded in this military comedy about two people who don't get along during a zombie panic!

"I Was Chased by a Dragon Before I Knew It ~I Transmigrated to Another World and Started a Journey~" - Isekai Transmigration

Romi Amemiya

When I woke up, I was being chased by a dragon...

Iseki Sayami—Iseki is an ordinary freeter with no outstanding features. Before he knew it, he was suddenly being chased by a giant dragon. In his panic, a love song for his unrequited crush was playing in his head.
There was a cliff in front of him—and a dragon approaching from behind. The person who gallantly saved Iseki from the desperate crisis was a handsome traveler named Elt Landolt. Iseki ends up spending the night with Elt, but...

Talented handsome traveler x Ordinary person with no hobbies, no special skills, and no abilities (25 years old)

A story about Iseki, who has no particular skills or anything, traveling through another world and finding what he wants to do (perhaps).

Click here for an article that thoroughly analyzes the novel!

"PINKY AFFAIR" - Light Mystery

Hoshikuzu-san!

Shiomi, a prep school student, has a secret held over him by Nagase, a student one year his senior at the same school. Nagase uses this secret to summon Shiomi, but instead of the blackmail Shiomi expects, Nagase never quite reveals his true intentions. With conversations that subtly drift off-course and invisible motives, Shiomi finds himself at the mercy of Nagase's teasing personality. However, as he is pushed around by Nagase's roundabout attitude, he discovers an unexpected truth...

Click here for an article that thoroughly analyzes the novel!

"As the Peach Blossoms, So Shall It Be" Historical Bromance (Warring States x Art)

Tsuki wa Higashi ni-san!

Haruno, a traveling painter, is captured by a warlord known as the "Demon" who has made a name for himself in the chaotic era.
The condition for his life is to paint a picture that satisfies the Demon's heart before spring ends.
What kind of painting could satisfy a Demon's heart?
Does the Demon, described as fighting "not to gain, but to burn," even have a heart to satisfy?
A painting can create everything.
To paint is to wish.
Even while believing this, what is the final "painting" Haruno creates for the elusive heart of the Demon?
*This is a fictional era setting. Expressions, customs, and systems differ from historical facts.

Click here for an article that thoroughly analyzes the novel!

"The Boyfriend from the Stars" Sci-Fi

Ichigo-san!

The protagonist, named Momo (written with the kanji for "hundred") despite being a boy—derived from the title of a song his scientist father, a huge fan of a certain idol, loved—returns to his childhood home for the first time in ten years for his father's funeral. The old house is overflowing with experimental equipment left behind by his father. In the middle of the night, a cardboard box begins to glow, and a mysterious boy named Hoshi appears, singing and dancing to "Momoiro Kataomoi," leading Momo on a journey into the past...

From here on, these are my personal reading impressions of the submitted novels!

To all the authors, thank you for your hard work.
And thank you for participating again! As a token of my appreciation, I've written a few reviews.
They are in the order of submission notifications, and I don't think there are any spoilers.

Nagisa Iru-san!

"Pink Afterimage, the Unfading Flower Seal" Modern Romance
First of all, I want to give a lifetime achievement award to the light in that private inn room for just the two of them.
It's fine if it's on, but it's also fine if it's off. Actually, as an erotic old hag, I think, 'Turn it off while you're in your yukata after a bath!'—but you can ignore that.
What's great about romance works is the conveniently occurring love situations.
Turning all of that into a 'lucky lecher' moment is the job of certain Weekly Shonen Jump manga and my own brain; regular romance stories are in a different department, so the distance closing when the lights go out and the flustered feeling of the two when the lights come back on is delicious.
The hand that reached out to pull me from the darkness of my own self-doubt—born from longing—was always planning to entangle itself with my body from the start. Well, in reality, lights don't usually do such a good job.
But you know, romance descriptions are all about packing your own fetishes into every event that could possibly happen, even if you haven't experienced them yourself.
And, the inn might say, 'Sorry about the lights last night!', but we should really be the ones paying the service charge for the lights.

Tsuki wa Higashi ni-san!

"As the Peach Blossoms, So Shall It Be"
The Demon in this novel surely doesn't wear demon pants. Because the Demon who stirs up the chaotic era in this story is a Demon who can wait for a painting by a painter who doesn't even fill his own stomach.
Once upon a time, back when I was working part-time at TSUTAYA. There was a very beautiful shift leader there, and naturally, she had a boyfriend she was thinking about for the future. On the birthday of the senior who was about to be proposed to, her boyfriend reportedly sent her a bouquet of roses equal to her age.
I envied them, thinking they had romance to spare, but most of the girls, including the senior, were furious, saying things like, 'Wouldn't an accessory of the same price be better?' or 'Isn't dinner better?', and that was the end of their relationship. That's the story.
I think about it, you know. The hard-to-understand depth of affection and chivalry of a Demon who listens to and waits for someone who doesn't even fill his own stomach. The patience of the painter who keeps probing that stomach was a level of sympathy that hit me right from the start.
Maybe this Demon doesn't wear demon pants. The ones wearing demon pants were my part-time colleagues and the senior.

Kitako-san!

"The Unchanging Taste"
Once a person passes the age of 30, all they talk about is health and body shape. From there, if you have a family, it's about your children, your own career path after retirement, insurance, the obituaries of former teachers, your recently thinning hair, or your teeth.
But what doesn't change is the relationship with friends you've been with since long ago, though you get left behind a bit by friends who have leveled up in life first.
The relationship between the unmarried Ooki and Hosoi, just as it was back then, is like the taste of a chain restaurant—always the same, anywhere, and even the flavor changes you try with seasonings end up being the usual taste.
Then, romance suddenly throws a curveball; romance is always a flavor change in life.
This story should definitely end just like this, but if there were a sequel.
The two of them go to separate Sukiya locations, consciously eat what the other ordered (including the same menu they were eating at the time), and thanks to the corporate effort of chain stores—'the same taste wherever you eat'—their senses connect, and they gulp down the grand menu topped with the memory of an unexpected confession.
With impatience and shame, it probably doesn't taste like anything, but this is the taste of mutual feelings with a long-time friend that they're learning for the first time. Or something like that.

Kinoyama Kino-san!

"Big Brother, It's an Emergency"
I'm sorry, I'll kneel in apology first.
After reading the title, I went through a peaceful delusion that maybe Big Brother had gotten just the tip in while they were still in a state of unrequited love, but it turned out to be a Nobel Peace Prize-winning story where they had achieved mutual love completely unscathed. Tomorrow, I'm booking a tattoo studio in Minami to have 'Vulgar' carved into my forehead.
But teacher, Kino-san is also to blame. I'm sure Kino-san was trying to trap me in a pit of 'bad guy eros' with that clickbait title.
Don't other readers feel the same? Why do both writers and readers keep repeating this black history 'morning after' problem? The answer is simple: because both sides are waiting with rubbing hands!
The seme or uke who pulls up the futon and holds their head, the seme or uke who smirks because they got what they wanted, and my own grinning god-view as I read it from above. The morning sun is too bright to see anymore, but surely there is a 'morning after' grand triangle shining brilliantly in the sky!
Because it's someone else's business, and other people's misfortune tastes like honey.
Next to the Big Brother constellation is the Little Brother constellation, and a bit further away is the common friend constellation. Beside such a 'morning after' grand triangle, there's also the Baseball Coach constellation and the annoying OB constellation that keeps showing up even though they don't belong there.

Syo⭐︎-san!

“Family Trip and Happenings”
How much more must I lose before my heart is forgiven?
I don't know about you all, but as someone who is in a state of year-round mental estrus, whenever I read this kind of frustrating unrequited love, I find myself searching for a 'lucky lecherous' moment somewhere in the text. Yes, even if I lose something social, my heart will not allow me to overlook the erotic.
For example, a passage not intended by the author—in this story, it's written that the driving of Honjo-san, the senior's father (it's a story about a senior and junior who became family through the remarriage of their single parents), is comfortable. I think, 'Huh, he should be compatible with his son Tsukasa, so is there a chance with the father too?'
I know, I know, there's nothing there. Maybe the dad just has good braking timing, or he's just being considerate.
From a basketball player's perspective, that's high spatial awareness; they say 'players good at mid-range shots are good drivers.'
Huh, Papa Honjo, he's a good guard player. It's the ace position these days, so of course he'd be popular.
Well, they are already family before being lovers, so they've completely outmaneuvered everyone else, and it's still unrequited love. Because they're family, such lecherous developments only happen in erotic doujinshi.
But.
I'm always looking for the lechery hidden somewhere. The matching yukatas on the family trip, the pillows lined up side by side.
Even though it shouldn't be in a place like that.

Yukiko Okano (formerly: Henko)-san

“Shangri-La is in a Dream”
To me, Kyushu, the setting of this story, is a dungeon.
After all, it's the prefecture where Nagasaki, from the nursery rhyme 'Dendera Ryu,' is located. Even when watching Western movies, dragons have their beds inside volcanoes, right? From the perspective of Honshu, it's a bit of a mysterious region.
And usually, those kinds of dragons don't really appear, and even if they are lured out and defeated, they don't really come out of the volcano.
Such a unique dungeon-and-dragon region, Kyushu is full of romance where dragons are surely hiding. You can leave Saga, but you can't get in. (That is strictly an Osaka perspective.)
Unique culture, unique dialects, the strength of will of the people rooted in a land that is difficult to live in—it's branded as 'Kyushu Danji' (Kyushu men) and has deep-rooted popularity in Honshu.
And that manly Shinichiro is actually the 'uke' (the female role)? Huh? What is this delicious situation?
But the last line of the story throws a stone at the back of my head, telling me to wake up.
That's right, the locals and relatives believe that everyone is following the path they've woven from their own ideals, which they've been doing as a matter of course since long ago, and that it's a simple matter.
I want to support the two of them as they untie the twisted rope and remake it in their own way, and I want them to clear this rural dungeon.

Nareshika Yoshida-san!

“Not-So-Pink Unrequited Love”
♩Ah~ does that person... have someone they like? Ha, it's heartbreaking, what is this, it's heartbreaking.
It's certainly not a pink unrequited love at all; it might even be ultramarine. But still, is there a chan... wait? That guy Natsukawa sang the same song at karaoke as the beautiful monk Izumida-san? That's already a no-go.
In a landscape where stories are premised on unrequited love, or where the protagonist is just misunderstanding and it's actually mutual love, this is a bit of idle chatter between a gardener and a head priest who are 90% unrequited.
But look, 'I,' the gardener, am being pushed around by an elegant beauty older than me and getting paid for it, so I should endure this as social education.
Listen, this is BL.
Rather than someone who makes the person they like beam with a single phone call, having a chance with someone who shows such a defenseless face right in front of you is also a foreshadowing of BL, baby.
I don't even know whose perspective I'm speaking from anymore, but that's the delicious part of romance stories. So, even though it's 90% ultramarine unrequited love, there's a 10% chance.
Like a lucky lecherous moment in a slippery hallway that's been wiped clean, or body contact during a袈裟固め (kesa-gatame) hold.

Romi Amemiya-san

“I Was Chased by a Dragon Before I Knew It ~I Transferred to Another World and Started a Journey~”
One day, the village chief gathered the young writers of the village and said,
'A story is made of introduction, development, turn, and conclusion. But sometimes, there are those who break that and write in a broken style. That is the young person from the next village, Romi Amemiya.'
It was a very 'turn-turn-development-introduction' kind of story.
I thought they were running like Melos, but it was a high-speed start dash, flying around; before I knew it, they met a handsome guy and things were going well, and then, and then, uhehehe. It ends as if running through it.
What's wrong, author! Were you holding in a bathroom break? The end of the reading leaves only an afterimage in my brain, and when I calmed down, the village chief smiled with a little chuckle.
While there is a tendency for romance stories to be read at a leisurely pace, a story that piles things up in sub-seconds like this might be rare.
And on top of that, there's even a costume change for the heroine in between? Like an idol's quick change.
I hear the word 'writing ability' in many places, but this is a type of writing ability with propulsion. The muscles used are probably the chicken tenderloin part that humans don't have. I am impressed.
I'll add it to the village rules: 'Turn-turn-development-introduction' is sometimes okay.

Fuyu-ao Kisaragi-san!

“The Distance of the Back”
Men are creatures who love backs, you know.
And BL fans who love father complexes or brother complexes fall in love with the stoic backs of men who have fallen in love with such backs.
Am I just chasing backs? Are you an idiot? That's what a man's romance is, I don't know.
Come to think of it, I've been doing this project for over a year and have read many genres, but I don't think there have been any father complex stories. Even if there are stories where a father complex is in the character settings and the father is wandering around, there hasn't been a story that expresses such deep longing for a father.
It's a story that could be lyrics for an enka song, like 'Naniwa Father Elegy.'
—The only woman I loved was Mom, but I made you fall for me too. Dad's back is broad, but the two of us, me and Mom, are heavy.
But I, still a novice, am still smoldering on your back.
Hey, Dad.
That day's udon broth, it was really spicy to me—
Now, let's have Fuyu-ao Kisaragi-san sing 'The Distance of the Back.' *They won't sing.

Kashiko-san!

“Sake, Tears, Teru, and Nobuo”
What am I being made to read every time?
And what am I titling? (*I always give titles to Kashiko-jo's submitted novels randomly.)
I've known the author, Kashiko-jo, the longest among the project participants, but I think it every time.
She labels it as comedy, but I think this is a gag, isn't it? Is it just me?
Comedy is a 'play,' but a gag is 'improv-style lines or actions inserted regardless of the plot to make the audience laugh.' I think it's composed exactly of this.
But whether this is a gag or a comedy, Kashiko-jo is always an entertainer in this project.
That spirit is important and appreciated, because in a romance novel where I want to write romantically and emotionally, she goes all-in on laughter.
It's a nice break, and a change of pace. Thank you, Kashiko-jo, thank you, Nobuo.
But I think every time, what kind of feedback should I give to this?
Come to think of it, did you throw away the cardboard?

Ookido-san!

“Pink Impulse”
People have one or two things they want to keep hidden while they live, or take to the grave without being found out.
I thought the depiction of the two, who have their own circumstances but are a bit carefree, waiting for the bus was somehow nice.
Since it's about a band, if I were to compare these two with music, BUMP OF CHICKEN's 'Snow Smile,' with its impressive lyrics starting with 'I'm really glad winter was cold,' fits perfectly.
The latter part of the lyrics, which has a bit of implication while pretending to be happy because they are together, feels like a perfect fit.
No, wait, that's not it.
It was a novel that included the Heisei super idol Aya Matsuura's 'Pink Unrequited Love'.
But it's because she used 'pink' and 'unrequited love' as words rather than the lyrics part, so it doesn't really matter... no, wait, don't be hasty, me.
Since this is a story about band members, I'm sure in the main story (it's a spin-off story!), they are writing songs with lyrics that fit them perfectly!
Stories about band members have characters who are forever young, and I want to write one someday too.
It would be a comedy band, though.

Ichigo-san!

“Boyfriend from the Stars”
I, the leader of the 'Lucky Lecherous Moment Finding Squad,' reacted immediately. Yes, a boy appearing in an outfit with his legs exposed, just like Aya Matsuura's music video—isn't that a walking lucky lecherous moment?
But you see, the owner (or more accurately, the researcher), the protagonist Momo's father, had installed a function that would make him explode if he did anything erotic to such a cutie.
Honestly, I felt like I was going to explode. Dad, you did it.
Those who read this work will surely laugh a little at the comical start, but as you read on, you will be struck by the father-son thoughts and helplessness, and you're probably thinking, 'How can you say such a thing?'
I am a perverted lady, so I always sniff out the scent of Eros.
Ichigo-san's novels are subtly erotic.
It's not so much the characters, but the way their actions and psychology are written that is erotic. Should I say the movement, or the word choice?
That's why I'm always successfully deceived and end up working hard on collecting lucky lecherous moments.
I'll surely participate next month too. I can't be slacking off on making the project article! Oh, here I go! One, two, three!

Hoshikuzu-san!

“PINKY AFFAIR”
This novel uses an advanced effect.
Having read about 1/3 of it, I was convinced and grabbed my lower lip with the hand I had been resting on my chin.
Nagase, who had seized Shiomi's weakness, called him to a cafe nonchalantly and said the curry here was delicious, but didn't eat it himself.
A certain secret image is in Nagase's hands, and I thought he would blackmail him with it, but he says he doesn't need money.
And the story hits the core. This core is not about what to do with Shiomi's weakness... oops, say no more, this is a mystery.
The exchange between the two that continues calmly, and Nagase's response, brushing off Shiomi's nervous opinions as if he were watching from above.
We surely know.
Because there are quite a few works that focus on this kind of negotiation. In the experience based on that memory, the hammer Nagase will bring down on Shiomi after this, and the fact that because this is a romance novel, he is pushing the back of the person involved to bring about the best 'congra' while pretending to be an enemy.
Nagase, now is the time, push Shiomi's back.
Push him, push him, wait, you're not pushing him!? ...Oh! He pushed him!!
Shiomi fell into Nagase's hot water bath!!
The mystery foreshadowing in romance novels uses the 'Dacho Club' effect created by the masters of ancient comedy.

The next call for participants starts on Monday, February 23rd! I'm preparing some crazy themes!
Please wait a little longer for the announcement of the space to talk about the project novels!

Next time, as the first of the irregular themes, we will hold a devilish event: 'Everyone writes with the same opening' + 'Setting constraints'.

For 'write with the same opening,' I will specify the most important first line of the novel, and the authors will develop the story from there!
Since it wouldn't be fair if I made the opening, this time I secretly recruited separately and collected 'openings only'!
People who don't usually create, students, salarymen, housewives, people who write instruction manuals for training personnel, etc., wrote them based on their flashes of inspiration!
Phew, I'll get ready.