Fear (Chapter Two)
Title: Fear
Author: healielle
Pairing: Onodera Ritsu X Takano Masamune
Theme: 30kisses #2: news; letter
Disclaimer: Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi belongs to Nakamura Shungiku and her affiliates.
Rating: Older Teen
Summary: The one thing Takano Masamune was afraid of losing went by the name of Onodera Ritsu.
There weren’t many things Takano Masamune was scared of, but if really had to consider it, then losing Onodera Ritsu would top that list any day.
The last ten years had been hard on him. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have a good life, things had started to improve since his parents’ divorce - he’d made friends, gotten into a good University, had a stable job - No, it was because he’d always felt that something was missing in his life, something that the brief time he’d spent with Ritsu ten years ago had managed to complete.
He slipped into his shoes and checked his watch. He would be a little late, but that couldn’t be helped. He stood up and opened the door to his apartment.
He stopped still as he heard the door next to his close.
Onodera Ritsu walked out of his apartment, waving his keys in his hand. Takano locked the door to his own before turning to see Ritsu quickly leap towards the elevator. He smiled and walked after him, neither of them saying anything.
Ritsu felt the sudden desire to scream. Why did he have to go to work and go back home with Takano? That was two times more then he ever wanted to spend with the man.
He felt restless. He didn’t like riding on elevators, he was convinced that it was dangerous and people could die. The elevator could crash, or worse - he looked at Takano from the corner of his eyes; he was looking at Ritsu again - the elevator could break down and he would be stuck here with Takano for hours on end.
“Could you not do that please?” said Ritsu finally, turning his head the other way, a scowl on his face.
“Hm. What?”
He could hear Takano smirk. It irritated him. He snapped his head towards Takano, “Stop looking at me. And why are you here so early anyway?” He glared.
The elevator reached its destination and Ritsu leapt out of the elevator. That was a stupid question and one he already knew the answer to
“I come here around this time everyday.” Takano walked out of the elevator and followed Ritsu, “But I think you would’ve known that by now.”
Ritsu felt his ears go red as he dived towards his desk and brought out the reason he had to come to work early that day. These papers had to be taken to the printers by Seven AM or else. He gulped.
Ritsu winced as a crumpled ball of paper flew from seemingly nowhere and hit him on the head.
“Ah. Sorry Ricchan!” shouted Kisa as he got up from the floor and picked up the paper frpm Ritsu’s desk. He then proceeded to collapse on the floor and stare blankly at the final version of the script he had to edit, “Year after year, I’m going to die.” He looked abysmally depressed.
Ritsu could relate, he picked up another stack of papers and proceeded to look through it, carefully checking for any leakages, misplaced words and any other mistakes in the manuscript.
Plonk
Ritsu looked at the direction the new crumpled ball of paper had come from and stared.
“Sorry.” Hatori Yoshiyuki stood up from his seat, bowed slightly in apology to Ritsu, grabbed his jacket and started to leave.
“Hatori! Where’s your script?” Ritsu looked as Takano’s authoritative voice filled the room. He seemed to be quite at ease.
“The great Yoshikawa Chiharu has just declared that she’s sick. I’m going to go get the script.” Hatori looked slightly irritated; he started to walk out of the room.
“Hurry up.” Shouted Takano before looking through the papers he held in his hand.
He professionally navigated between giving orders and looking through the final edited manuscripts. Ritsu realized that the number of papers on his desk were far greater than those on Takano’s. ‘He works so hard.’ Ritsu would have to do the same; no he would do the same.
Plonk
Now he was beginning to get angry.
He looked as Kanade Mino sent him an apologetic smile, “Sorry!”
Ritsu groaned and bent down to pick up the two pieces of paper that had hit him. The one Hatori had aimed randomly opened slightly in his hands, in it, he could read the apologetic message Yoshikawa Chiharu had sent him and it made smile. They were probably really close. He placed both the papers on his desk; he would throw them out later.
Plonk
“Takano-san!” Ritsu glared at him. That was no accident, he was sure of it. Not if Takano’s smile was anything to go by. He sighed and immersed himself in his papers, ignoring the crumpled balls that hit him at random intervals from all across the room. At one point, he started throwing away useless pages himself. He had to admit, it was actually quite fun.
If he were in a blinking contest, he would have won hands down at that moment. Ritsu stared at the manuscript in his hand. There was something wrong with it, he knew it. What he didn’t know was what was actually wrong with it. He looked at Takano once, and then shook his head. He would not ask for help, he could do this by himself.
He continued to stare. Something would pop out, or so he hoped.
“Here, let me look at that?” A hand inches away from his nose drew his attention to the figure standing next to him. Ritsu wondered when Takano had come so close, but he desperately shook his head when he saw the man was reaching for his manuscript.
Takano looked irritated, “You looked like you needed help.”
Ritsu’s eyes turned into small slits and he shook his head again, clutching the manuscript tightly.
Takano touched the paper and instantly backed off. He got the sudden impression that a wildcat was glaring up at him.
‘I don’t want to be dependent on you.’ He remembered what Ritsu had told him a some time ago.
Takano blinked. So that was what this was about? He sighed and touched Ritsu’s head, ruffling his hair slightly before he went back to his desk. If Onodera felt he could handle the problem on his own, then who was he to get in the way?
An hour later Takano jolted upright on his desk as someone placed something on his desk, hard.
He looked up, rubbing his eyes to see Ritsu standing there, looking everywhere but at him. Takano had been taking a small nap, having finished all the work he had planned slightly ahead of time. It was better than staring around aimlessly while his fellow editors arranged to get their last few scripts in order.
He looked at the pages on the desk, and recognized them as the one he had seen in Ritsu’s hands a while back, “You’re done?”
Ritsu shook his head.
Takano smirked, “So you want my help?”
Ritsu made no movement, and stood still as Takano took the pages from his grasp. He would not look at the man, he was sure that he would gloat. He would not look, he would not look; he would not… A small sneeze drew his attention and he looked at Takano. Ritsu glared as he saw the cocky expression on Takano’s face. The man was gloating. Ritsu knew he would. He started to leave, but Takano reached out and tugged at the edge of his shirt.
He looked at Ritsu, “Don’t you want to know what’s wrong with this?”
He looked so serious, Ritsu stopped and nodded.
For the next few minutes he listened attentively as Takano explained what the problem was with the manuscript. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he appreciated Takano’s help.
There were so many people out tonight. Ritsu was glad that work was over. He would finally get a few days of rest, maybe he could even sleep in his bed this time. He looked at his watch, it read Eight PM. He’d been at work a little over twelve hours. Well, year end crunches were always like that.
He touched his neck; it hurt slightly, probably from working in that stiff chair.
“Ah. Sorry.” He muttered as he ran into a young couple. The one thing he disliked about taking a walk during Christmas time was the absurd amount of couples that seemed to wander around the streets. Didn’t they have something better to do? Didn’t they have any work?
He groaned as a young man accidentally elbowed him. He turned to look at the perpetrator, but he was gone. Instead, what caught Ritsu’s eyes was a very expensive looking silk shirt that was in the display case, shining brightly under all the lights placed strategically to make it look all that more appealing. It was dark blue, bordering on black and the buttons lining the shirt were of a faint grayish color. ‘He would look good in that.’
Eh? Ritsu shook his head madly as images of Takano Masamune in that shirt floated through his head. What was he thinking? Well, Takano’s birthday was tomorrow, maybe he should buy him a present? Ritsu couldn’t take his eyes off that shirt; he approached the window display and bent down to look at the price. It read 25,000 yen. He balked slightly. He’d heard of expensive clothes before, but that amount for a shirt? Though this shirt might be worth it, he looked at the dark blue piece again. It really was perfect.
Wait. Why was he getting all depressed over a shirt he wanted to buy Takano for his birthday simply because he thought it would look good on the man? He could feel his left eye twitch as he moved away from the display case, turned around and sprinted down the street to the book store that was on the other end.
Yes, a book store suited him a lot more.
He brushed his hand through the books lining the case; maybe he should buy a few. He didn’t have anything to do until New Year anyway, and it had been a while since he’d sat down to just read.
He stopped, heart beating fast. On the other end of the hall, on the special display case lay Akihiko Usami’s new book. He controlled his eagerness, and slowly went to pick it up.
No. This was good. His eyes grew wide as he read through a few pages. This new editor, whoever it was that had replaced him, had done a good job. He could sense that he was going to feel de-motivated really soon and placed the book back on the ‘Special Display’ section. He’d forgotten why he’d switched companies, he gotten so used to working in the Emerald Department that he’d completely forgotten about what his real agenda was. He felt the old feeling of inadequacy kick in and started to leave the store. The last thing he wanted to do was spend the next few days moping over something like this. He looked down at the ground and walked, not caring about anyone around him. They could all crash into him for all he cared.
“Uff.” Ritsu stopped as he felt himself crash into someone. He looked up, this man was tall. And pretty, he added to himself. The man was looking at him with a confused expression on his face. The man grunted as someone lightly pushed him aside, “Richchan?!”
“Kisa-san?” Ritsu stared from Kisa to the tall man and back to him. He saw that they were holding hands and gave Kisa a confused look.
Kisa saw where he was looking and yelped, quickly placing his hand inside his jacket, “This is…ah… This is…”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Yukina Kou.” The man nodded pleasantly. Ritsu could see Kisa visibly turn pale. He reached out for the name card Yukina held out for him and bowed slightly.
“Ah…” Ritsu fumbled inside his bag for his own name card and finally took it out, handing it to Yukina, “I’m Onodera Ritsu. Nice to meet you too.”
Yukina read the card and looked elated, “You work with Kisa-san?” he asked.
Ritsu nodded. By now Kisa was hiding behind Yukina, carefully observing Ritsu. It looked slightly odd.
“It was really a pleasure to meet you.” Said Yukina, he seemed genuinely happy. Ritsu was sure the man wanted to continue talking but before he could, Kisa tugged at his jacket, “We’re getting late, let’s go.” He smiled at Ritsu.
“Ah, but…” Yukina started to object but Kisa started to lightly push him.
“Ah, Ricchan.” Said Kisa turning to Ritsu, “This is…”
Ritsu shook his head. He could tell what was happening, and Kisa was probably shy about mixing up his private and work life, “Its fine. I have to get going too.” He smiled. Kisa sent him a look of relief and Ritsu smiled at him, waving slightly, “Till next year then.”
“Kisa-san, was that necessary?” Yukina sounded disappointed; he had wanted to find out more about his lover through Ritsu.
Kisa nodded, “Yes, yes it was.” He looked slightly tensed. He was supposed to tell Ritsu about tomorrow, but he’d completely forgotten in the confusion. He reached for his phone, “The number you are trying to reach is out of…” Kisa hung up; Ritsu must be in the subway. He sighed and quickly started to type a message. This would have to do.
‘What a weird day’ thought Ritsu as he crawled under the covers on his bed, “So warm.” He smiled as he sunk into his pillow. Tomorrow was Takano’s birthday. The man hadn’t mentioned it at all this time, but then again neither had Ritsu. Did he have any plans for the next day? Or would he irritate Ritsu early in the morning again?
He felt his eyes close, he really was tired. His mind started to drift. Maybe he should have bought that shirt after all? Within seconds he was asleep.
“Takano-san!” Ritsu protested as the man climbed into his bed. He tried to push Takano away but the man was too strong for him. He pinned down Ritsu’s hands over his head and leaned in to plant a kiss on Ritsu’s lips.
Ritsu closed his eyes and started squirming. He stopped moving as he felt Takano’s lips touching his. He automatically opened his mouth. He felt the man’s tongue search inside his mouth and shivered slightly. Ritsu groaned. It felt good.
He tried to pry his hands away, but Takano held him in a tight grasp.
Takano pulled away from his mouth, leaving a small trail between Ritsu’s mouth and his own. His face was flushed and his lips were wet. His eyes were glazed; he lightly caressed the younger man’s face. Ritsu moaned slightly as he looked at Takano’s face. His mind had turned blank, he couldn’t think. Takano released Ritsu’s hands and started to unbutton his shirt.
Ritsu knew that shirt, it was the dark blue silk shirt he had wanted to buy Takano, “It really suits you after all.” He whispered.
Takano smirked and undid the first button. He opened the shirt slowly, teasingly. Ritsu was getting frustrated, he knew that and it made him feel good. He reached for the last button…
Rring. Rring.
Ritsu threw his legs in the air and sat up, glaring at his phone. He would kill whoever it was that woke him up, he would kill them slowly and he would enjoy it.
He flipped open the phone, it read ‘Takano Masamune’. His mind reeled. This was not funny; Fate was playing a cruel joke on him. Visions of the dream he had last night came to him and he stared at the phone. He had not just woken up from a weird dream involving Takano Masamune to find the same man calling him.
Knock Knock
Bring Bring
If those sounds were anything to go by, he was probably standing outside his door right now, “Does he think this is some kind of yearly ritual?” Ritsu pulled the covers off from him only to yelp. It was too cold.
He glared as the knocks on his door grew louder. He would kill Takano.
Takano was very close to kicking at Ritsu’s door but stopped when it opened slightly. Two dangerous eyes peered out. His hair was messy; he was wearing an old shirt and shorts. Even though he was shivering pitifully, Ritsu held his ground, “I’m sorry. I have… something to do today.” He proceeded to close the door, but Takano stuck his foot in the crack, wincing at the sudden pain that shot through his body.
Ritsu stopped just in time. The door flew open, “What do you think you’re doing?” He demanded as he hugged himself. Damn this man for not even giving him the time to find a jacket.
“Come on. We’re going out.” Takano reached for Ritsu’s hands. They were freezing.
“Excuse me? Like I said, I have something to do.” Ritsu looked away from Takano when he said this; he would not make eye contact. The last thing he wanted to do was feel soft for Takano.
Takano reached out and held his hands; Ritsu blushed, his mind going back to his dream. He slowly turned to look at Takano, but the man pulled him and Ritsu fell into him. Takano held him tightly and Ritsu stopped shivering so much, “Feeling better?”
Ritsu jumped and landed inside the door of his apartment, hiding behind the door frame once more, “Absolutely not. Like I said I have…”
Takano cut him off, “Then go get dressed. We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready.”
“Hah?” Ritsu started to protest. He was ready to slam the door, but Takano moved fast this time. The man pushed the door open and walked in. He opened his shoes and walked over to Ritsu’s couch, settling down on it and leafing through the book Ritsu had been reading the previous night.
All the while Onodera Ritsu stared. Eventually, when he realized that there was no way Takano would leave him alone, he sighed and strode back to his bedroom - he needed to slip into something warm.
He paused just short of opening the door to his room, Takano was looking at him, he was sure of it. He turned his head to look at the man, “Happy Birthday.” He muttered before quickly walking into his room.
What he didn’t see before going in was Takano smiling at him. He loved Onodera Ritsu, more than even he would ever care to admit.
That evening, Onodera Ritsu found himself in the same street he had come to the previous day. Takano had decided to just stay in Ritsu’s apartment, but a pleasant day cooped up inside the warmth of Ritsu’s home had quickly turned into the search for a small niche bar located somewhere near that street when Mino had called Ritsu to that effect.
“Where are you?” Mino had asked.
“Eh?” Ritsu sat in his couch, watching Takano as he busily moved across the room, picking up Ritsu’s dirty clothes by the dozen and trying his hardest to stuff them all in the washing machine. Ritsu couldn’t leave the apartment that day; all his clothes were either dirty or wet. When Takano charged him as to why he hadn’t cleaned them, he shot back saying that today was supposed to be his day off - how would he know he would need fresh clothes today? Takano had surmised that Ritsu didn’t have much of a social life, and that he was completely incapable of taking care of himself.
“Didn’t Kisa tell you? We’ve been waiting for a while now.” Mino’s voice sounded strained. Ritsu could hear a drunken Kisa loudly talking in the background.
Ritsu felt a darkness creeping in around him, Mino’s voice sounded vaguely threatening, “Excuse me, but where exactly am I supposed to be right now?”
He heard Mino sigh as he explained, “We’re having a surprise party for Takano-san. I can hear him in the background; can you two please come here soon?”
“Ah.” Ritsu looked at Takano, and the man paused where he stood in front of the dryer, to give Ritsu a puzzled look, Ritsu whispered, “Yes?”
He felt the darkness disappear when Mino hung up on the other end. Takano hadn’t been joking when he’d warned Ritsu to not make the man angry. He felt mildly sorry for Kisa.
And that was how the pair found themselves wandering the streets at Seven PM that night. Takano had refused to listen to Ritsu complain about his lack of clothes and made him wear some of his own, “They’re a bit big for you, but it should do.”
Ritsu would never admit it, but they were the most comfortable clothes he had worn in his life. He knew why, but he wouldn’t admit it, especially not to himself.
After calling Hatori on his cell a few dozen times, the pair had finally been able to locate the bar they were supposed to meet in.
Ritsu placed himself opposite Takano, and next to Kisa. The place was lively; he could hear laughter and people loudly talking amongst themselves from the booth next to theirs. It was warm too. He sighed in pleasure as he took a sip of his drink.
“Ricchan?” Ritsu turned his head to face Kisa, “I sent you a mail, I’m sorry if it didn’t reach.”
Ritsu shook his head, he vaguely remembered reading something to that effect the night before, but it didn’t mention anything about a meet up today. Ritsu wasn’t sure what surprise he was supposed to remember, maybe they’d discussed it in front of him before and he wasn’t paying attention?
”How did you know it was my birthday today?” Takano was curious, he didn’t talk about his personal life at work and this ‘surprise party’ had really taken him by surprise. Three pairs of eyes turned to Ritsu and Takano coughed - he should’ve known.
“Wha-?” Ritsu brought his hands up in defense, “I might’ve mentioned it.” Now that he thought about it, he had. Kisa was talking about all the presents he would have to buy for Christmas when Ritsu had mentioned that Takano was lucky - he got to celebrate both the day before Christmas and Christmas with two sets of presents every year. He looked around the room, to think they’d been able to gather that it was Takano’s birthday from just such little information - they really were to be feared.
“Don’t worry Ricchan, we asked Yokozawa-san.” Kisa smiled brightly.
Yokozawa? Ritsu felt his hands freeze, where was he? Shouldn’t he be here? He looked at Takano; the man didn’t seem very bothered.
“Ah… Is he… coming?” finished Ritsu. He was still a little intimidated by Yokozawa, a little more than he cared to admit.
Kisa shook his head, “I asked him, but he said he had plans.” He shrugged, “Maybe he has a girlfriend.” Kisa helpfully supplied. Ritsu looked slightly relieved and went back to his drink, “But if it weren’t for Ricchan, we wouldn’t have known Takano-san’s birthday was around Christmas.” Kisa helpfully added as he patted Ritsu on his shoulders.
Ritsu gave him a suspicious look. He was paying far too much attention to Ritsu today. Could it be that he was still thinking about what happened the night before? Ritsu wouldn’t talk about it; it really wasn’t any of his business. But the flustered Kisa amused him slightly; he hid his face in his sleeves and laughed softly.
“Eeeh? What’s so funny?” Kisa wanted to know. Ritsu looked at him and laughed a little louder. He stopped when he felt someone’s feet touch his under the table. Ritsu checked under the table and looked up, “Takano-san!”
The man gave him a slightly bored look. He stretched his hand out, “Present?” He asked.
“Eh?” Ritsu didn’t have one, “Uh… Aren’t you a little too old for presents?” He asked as he took a large swig from his glass, finishing it and looking for a refill.
Takano looked around the table; didn’t anyone have a present for him?
“Here.” Said Hatori, handing Takano a small gift wrapped package. Kisa and Mino followed suit. Ritsu felt like he stood out like a sore thumb. Quickly downing the glass he held in his hand, he stood up, swaying slightly.
“Onodera!” said Takano, reaching for Ritsu’s glass.
“I’ll be right back.” Said Ritsu, and with that, he turned around and was gone.
Ritsu held the package in his hand. He had finally gone and bought that shirt, though that meant he’d have to cut back down on his expenses a little for the rest of the month. He saw the color of the shirt through the transparent packet - would Takano like this?
He jumped slightly as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He flipped it open, “Where are you?! What do you mean by running off like that?”
“Ahn?” Ritsu was getting irritated. Here he’d rushed off into the depths of the cold winter night to buy a present for Takano, and there he was probably nestled inside that warm booth and yelling at him on the phone, “I was out, I’m going home now.”
“Onodera.” Takano sounded tired, “Where are you? I’ll come pick you up.”
“You don’t have to.” Ritsu shook his head even though Takano couldn’t see him. His head felt dizzy and his voice slurred slightly, “I’m going home.” He wouldn’t give Takano the shirt. Served him right for behaving like that.
“Everyone’s leaving anyway.” Takano continued, “Where are you?”
Ritsu wondered whether he should answer or not. He looked at his reflection in one of the window displays lining the street, it probably wasn’t in his best interest to go back home alone, “I’m coming, wait there.” He said before hanging up. It looked like he would have to give Takano his present after all.
The party had gone on for a few more hours. After hearing Ritsu was coming back, everyone had decided to wait for him and they had started to have so much fun that by the time everyone started leaving, it was well past midnight. The bar was still lively, it was Christmas after all.
“Onodera.” Said Takano as helped Ritsu balance on his shoulders. He’d had a bit too much to drink. Ritsu clutched the packet tightly in his hands; he didn’t want to give it to Takano in front of so many people.
“Lets go.” Said Takano, slowly helping Ritsu to walk.
“That was fun.” Slurred Kisa, his head dangling on Mino’s arms, “Can’t wait for the next birthday!”
Only Hatori seemed mostly unaffected. He had said he would have to go meet with someone after the party and had refused to drink much. Kisa posed a small problem however; no one was sure where he lived. What would they do with him? Mino had said he’d handle it. They departed for the night a little later, a small yet cheerful gathering starting off Christmas for them.
Takano held a tight grasp on Ritsu as they walked down the streets. They were almost home now, and the younger man was in no position to walk alone.
“Let go of me.” He slurred again, irritating Takano. He’d given up on listening to Ritsu’s drunken pleas a while back, not that the younger man would remember anything by the next morning.
“Let me… go!” said Ritsu as he pulled himself away from Takano. He lost his grip on Ritsu momentarily and the younger man crashed to the ground, his head lying on the road.
Takano watched helplessly as a car came down the street, the head lights shining on Ritsu’s face. The car honked, but it was too late for it to stop.
Ritsu wondered whether he would die. This was really a sad way to go; death really could come at any moment. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was Takano’s face as the man desperately called out his name.
‘They say you see your life flash before your eyes when you die. I saw Takano Masamune.’
Ritsu groaned and turned in his bed. He winced as a sharp pain shot up his spine. He reached out and touched his back; a small bruise was forming there. He slowly opened his eyes, where was he? He looked around, he was in his room. Was he … alive?
“What the hell did you think you were doing?” shouted Takano as he poked Ritsu on his forehead, “You could’ve died.”
Ritsu looked up at the man, “I’m alive?” he asked.
“Tch.” Takano looked extremely cranky, “Yes. Did you really think I’d let you die like that?”
“What happened?” asked Ritsu, trying to gather his thoughts.
“You fell and passed out. A car was coming but it stopped.” Said Takano. He wouldn’t tell Ritsu that it was him who’d rushed out and dragged him back to the pavement, just in time for the car to pass. He didn’t know why, but it didn’t feel right. Not that he had to. Onodera Ritsu remembered his face. All he needed was the right expression on Takano Masamune’s face to piece the story together.
“Thank you.” He whispered. He was genuinely grateful to the man. He had saved his life after all.
“The car wouldn’t have hit you anyway.” Smiled Takano, momentarily forgetting his worry.
Where was the shirt? Ritsu searched around for it, he couldn’t see it anyway, “Takano-san, do you know what happened to the package I was carrying?” He couldn’t have left it in the train, could he?
“You mean this?” Takano searched the room before handing Ritsu the package. It hadn’t been damaged, “You kept dropping it so I had to carry it.” Takano smirked.
Ritsu didn’t notice. He took out the shirt from the packet and gave it to Takano, his head facing the other way.
The man was genuinely surprised, “Is this… for me?”
Ritsu nodded. He felt Takano take the shirt from his hands. Would he like it? He closed his eyes as Takano placed a hand on his head, ruffling his hair, “Thank you.”
Ritsu watched as Takano removed his own shirt and started to wear the one he had bought for him, “I like this.” He looked at himself in Ritsu’s mirror, buttoning the shirt up.
‘It really does look good on him.’ Smiled Ritsu as he snuggled under the covers.
He heard footsteps rapidly approach and the covers were thrown away viciously, “What makes you think you can sleep now?”
Ritsu felt a sense of dread invade him, “Uh, I just had an accident…” He squirmed as Takano held his hands over his head. He tested the grip, it was tight, there was no way he could break out of it, and especially not the way he was right then. Takano leaned in and placed a firm kiss on Ritsu lips. He straddled the younger man and slowly started unbuttoning his shirt - painfully slowly.
Ritsu remembered this sequence; he’d seen it happen before. This was the same as the dream from last night. He started to protest as Takano leaned in and placed another firm kiss on his lips.
“Takano-san, wait…”
Takano cut him off with another kiss. “No, liste…” Takano kissed him again, taking advantage of the moment to slip his tongue inside Ritsu’s mouth.
Onodera Ritsu gave up. The man wasn’t listening to him, and it wasn’t as if he wanted him to stop anyway.
There weren’t many things Takano Masamune was scared off. He smiled as he saw Ritsu snuggle into Takano’s new shirt. Last night, he had been genuinely afraid when he’d seen the car was about to hit Ritsu. He had stopped thinking, all of it had happened so fast - it was a blur. He had grabbed Ritsu and dragged him out of the street. The car too, had tried to swerve. Ritsu probably wouldn’t have been hit, but the thought of losing him had made Takano risk his own life.
It wasn’t as if he had a bad life - he had a stable job, good friends, nice co-workers who threw parties for him without bothering to check with his plans- what made his life the best was having Onodera Ritsu in his arms.
As he climbed into Ritsu’s bed, he felt the younger man move closer to him, holding him tightly. He was going to sleep in today; maybe this Christmas wouldn’t be so bad after all.