The whole wide world

on a single light switch,
and those that try to turn it on.

The box-o-books arrived safely today; many thanks! The jealous-siblings setup sounds like an interesting variation on a typical yaoi plot.

Later: I was delighted with this funny and charming story - even though the actual romantic aspect is limited to a flashback to a tentative and quickly-broken-off kiss. The relationships - between grumpy editor Taiga and his three brothers, between Taiga and newly-hired author (and former schoolmate) Shuu, and between Shuu's companion Yuuta and everyone else - are all fascinating and intriguing.

The basic story: Taiga and his brothers have been on their own for some time, since their parents' deaths years before. Their older sister Shima has been looking after them, but travels a lot in her work as a reporter. And then one day Shuu turns up at the door, announcing that he and Shima are married, and he's moving in! He has a grumpy young teen named Yuuta with him, relationship unspecified, but that's not the brothers' main concern: they want to know what Shima's up to and when she's coming home. But when she gets in touch by phone she simply lets them know that she's off on yet another trip, leaving the guys to work things out themselves. And then she's reported missing!

As the story unfolds and we get to meet the brothers - including tough-looking but tender-hearted boxer Jou, university-studend Aki, and high-schooler Mayumi - we also get hints that Taiga's old school-time friendship with Shuu ended very suddenly and left both of them confused and unhappy. But the focus isn't on that, it's on Shuu trying to fit in to the household, taking over lots of domestic duties in addition to trying to get his writing done to Taiga's deadlines. There's a lot of banter, some good-natured, some less so, with humor (the brothers were all named after Shima's favorite baseball team) and sibling rivalry combined. And I enjoyed some of the scenes of a very disheveled, unshaven, crotch-scratching Taiga (he's not a morning person), which made a nice contrast from the more typical beautiful-all-the-time characters.

We find out that Yuuta - despite looking like a yakuza thug - is only 16, and will be in the same class as Mayumi when school starts again. We learn that Shima had to do some pretty grim things to look after her younger brothers after their parents died, and led a wild life even before that - and that after she turns up again in the wilds of South America, she insists she's not coming home and has no interest in her marriage (which the reader, if not the characters, begins to suspect never took place at all). Oh, and we find that Yuuta is Shuu's adopted son, though further details aren't forthcoming.

Shuu continues to win the hearts of the brothers, from Aki (who's a fan of his writing) to Jou (who appreciates the way Shuu came to cheer him on at his boxing match - even though Shuu's so shocked by the sight of Jou's bruised and bloody face that he collapses), to Mayumi (for whom Shuu made a beautiful yukata for the festival). But Taiga's clearly worried about all this, and the volume closes with him shouting at Shuu to "Get out!" Yeesh!

Concludes in Volume 2.

I left this book in the Little Free Library near the playground in the park at around 3 or so; hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2015 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***