Another new multi chapter fic! I know I haven't updated Hearing Things in a while, but rest assured I'll get to it sooner or later.
This fic is going to draw inspiration from a handful of drawings that I saw on pixiv awhile back, while adding things here and there. I hope you enjoy!
"Come to my apartment," Takano broke into the silence of the elevator ride to the twelfth floor. "I'll make us dinner."
"No thank you, Takano-san." Onodera denied the offer as he normally would. "I'll have you know I'm eating on my own today."
"And just what do you have in your kitchen that would make for an actual meal? That instant crap you keep buying doesn't count." As the other crossed his arms over his chest, the brunet could only let out a dry laugh.
"Y-you see..." He grasped at his extensive vocabulary, unable to find any words to get him out of this one.
"Heh. Remember that one time we looked through your fridge and there was a celery stick in the middle of all those energy drinks and food packets?"
"That was over two months ago, Takano-san!" A light blush began to dust his cheeks in embarrassment.
"Might as well have been yesterday seeing as you still probably have that fridge full of-"
"I don't!" Quick to cut him off, he now faced his neighbor with quite the scowl.
"Oh…" They made their way out of the elevator, now talking outside of their apartments. "So you guarantee that if I walk into your spotless-"
"When did I ever say it was spotless?"
"Oh, so that's a mess, too?" Another laugh came as the raven took out his keys..
"N-no, jeez, you're not coming over, so why should it matter?"
"So my place then." He held the door open, looking into green eyes expectantly.
"Takano-san, we already see each other all day at work, I honestly don't feel the need to see you beyond that."
"No, really, I insist." Taking Onodera's wrist in his hand, he tugged him into 1201's genkan and locked the door behind him.
Pulling out of his grasp, the brunet huffed. This wasn't out of the ordinary for them as of late, but he had a bad feeling about it today. And it was beyond the normal negative feelings that came with being dragged into his neighbor's apartment.
He had a feeling something was going to go horribly wrong if he stayed too long and wanted nothing more than to have some of the food Takano had been criticizing him for, take a shower, and sleep.
But as he saw his boss walk further into the apartment without a word, he felt himself pulled forward. He removed his shoes and sighed as he followed, mumbling an apology for imposing.
He took at seat on the couch, placing his bag on the floor and hanging his coat over the armrest.
"Drink?" Takano's voice carried from the kitchen, he seemed to be already serving something up for himself.
"Just water is fine, thank you." He leaned back into the cushion, trying to find a way to relax a bit.
The older padded over to the couch and handed over the glass of water, sitting down next to him.
"So, what did you want to eat tonight? I have enough laying around that we have a few options."
"I don't think I should decide, I'm already imposing as is." Already feeling himself tensing, the brunet took a few sips from his glass.
"Who said you were imposing? I was the one that invited you in the first place." His body hunched forward just to get a better look at the other's face.
"Look, Takano-san we're not-"
"We're not what? Not in a relationship beyond work? Not kids? Onodera, really, grow up already."
How two words could make his heart stop beating for a moment was beyond him, but the brunet was able to maintain his composure. Against his better judgement he was going to keep on with this conversation.
After placing his cup onto the table in front of him, the younger turned to look at his boss with a frown.
"What do you want from me?" It was a simple question that somehow encompassed many of his worries and irritations surrounding this man.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean what do want out of this… this relationship? Like I said before, I can't see where this is going…"
"And like I said before, I want to date you, be able to be lovey dovey, be able to proudly say you're mine, that I'm yours." Somewhere along the line his hands had moved to take Onodera's in his own.
They stared into each other's eyes almost breathlessly, the moment all too fragile.
Takano slowly leaned forward and pecked Onodera on the lips, pulling back slightly for a view of his reaction. Satisfied with the blush that was starting to spread across his love's face, he leaned in again for another kiss.
"T-Takano-san, don't." He had pulled his hands away, using them to push the other away.
"Why not?"
"I don't like this, how you always just… go say whatever you think is romantic and cease any conversation with...yeah."
"And you have a problem with that?"
"Of course I do! We keep doing all this all out of order, it's been messed up from the start!"
"If you would just confess already, then this wouldn't be a problem."
It wasn't as if it was the first time Takano had said that, but for some reason this time it just felt different. It was like he had been waiting for just the right moment to rile Onodera up, and honestly, he was hardly in the mood for such antics.
"Why do you always have to say that?"
"I'm just telling you the truth."
"How exactly are you supposed to know what'll happen in the future?! There's no way of knowing!"
"Look, Ritsu," His heart clenched almost painfully at the use of his given name. "I know there aren't any certainties in life, but I'm sure that if you just get over all this and grow up already-"
At hearing those same two words for the second time, there was an almost tangible feeling of near rage from the brunet.
"Get over it?" A shaky voice echoed the words in a whisper. "You really think that's it? After all these months?!"
"Ritsu, I-"
"Shut up! I'm going home!" He grabbed his belongings and stomped out of the apartment, not bothering to listen to the protests behind him.
"Grow up…" He scoffed as he sat down on the floor of his bedroom. "Who the hell does he think he is?"
Leaning back, he rested his head on the edge of his bed. Earlier he had been ready to get some sleep, but now he was all stirred up inside and felt like he'd be up for a few more hours.
"But maybe I overdid it…? No I was saying what I have problems with like he said that one time, and he was brushing it off… but maybe…? Ugh!" As much as he wanted to be mad at Takano, it always looped back to guilt and fear that he'd pushed him away too much. The man knew how to make Onodera show his feelings without words when it came down to it, but whenever they tried to actually talk things out there was always something to go wrong.
'I can't let this get me down though, I should finish writing my proposal since I'll be up anyways…'
He scooted over a bit to his bag and opened it up. While pulling out his laptop, he saw his phone had some notifications.
A missed call from his mother and a text from Takano.
He didn't want to know what his mother had called about, knowing that since his engagement with An had ended he could be engaged off to some woman at any time if his mother truly felt like it. That, or a complaint he needed to take his future as heir to the publishing house more seriously. Both were unpleasant, and he hardly dwelled on them when he saw the text.
[I'm sorry, that was really stupid of me. I never know what I'm thinking when I'm talking to you, you just make me feel that way. I love you.]
That was sent five minutes ago, and the brunet could only sigh. While he was legitimately hurt by what Takano had said, this only made him feel like an idiot for how he reacted. Like a kid.
'Maybe I really do need to grow up…'
His phone vibrated as another message came through.
[You can come back over if you still want dinner. The door is unlocked.]
As he opened his phone to decline the offer, he felt his body begin to heat up painfully. His whole body ached and he groaned as the pain continued to get worse and worse.
'What the…?'
He struggled to stand up, but pushed through the pain, determined to get help. As much as he wanted to cool down from their argument, he could hardly do that when it felt like every bone in his body was melting.
He staggered to his door and barely made it to Takano's before collapsing on the floor with another yelp in pain.
He could make out the noise of Takano approaching, but couldn't bear to look. Eyes clenched shut in pain, it only got worse when he heard that voice.
"Ritsu! Ritsu, what's wrong?"
"T-Takano-san, i-it's so hot, I c-can't…" In a burst of pain his vision flashed white, and he screamed in pain before losing consciousness.
Coming to, Onodera was startled when he noticed he was strapped into the back seat of a car.
"Takano-san-" He stopped when his voice hit his ears, shocked by how much higher pitched it was. He hadn't sounded like this in well over a decade.
Looking down at his lap, he saw how his clothes looked much too baggy, having to be rolled up to look close to normal. And his hands- they were so small…
"Ritsu, we're going to the hospital right now. I don't know what the hell is going on, but…"
"I-I don't understand…" Hands clenched on his on his lap. "How could something like this even happen…?"
"I don't know, but we're going to see if anybody can help, ok?"
"How can you be so calm about all of this?"
"I'm not, I'm terrified. But you need help as soon as possible. This isn't some manga where you go back to how you were before with 'the power of love' or some shit." He turned the car, reaching a parking lot.
"..." Onodera remained quiet as he parked the car, and didn't realize they had arrived until Takano had opened the back door.
"Do you think that you can walk right now?" He was hunched over, trying to take in their current situation just a little bit more.
"I think so." He unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped down and out of the car. He wobbled slightly and Takano put his hand on his back to support him.
"I don't." He stated simply, closing the car door and hoisting the brunet up into his arms.
"..." Unable to truly deny he needed the help, he remained silent as the raven locked up the car and walked towards the building.
"How do you think the people are going to take this? Some 26 year old just shrinking down to the size of a six year old out of nowhere? Even I haven't read a book about something like that before."
"Well this isn't a book, Takano-san." Onodera huffed, not open to making light of the situation.
In the end, they were able to have a walk-in meeting with a pediatrician, considering if they told the hospital what was going on in the first place they might not be taken seriously.
While waiting in the small examination room, it was a bit tense. How exactly would they convince whoever walked in of what happened?
From outside of the room, shoes clacked against the tiled floor as somebody approached. After a knock, the doctor opened the door with a smile.
"Hello, I'm Kusama Nowaki, I'll be your doctor today. Now what seems to be the problem?"
Yes, I'm bringing in Nowaki! We'll see how they try to explain the situation to him soon!