Title: Inside This Painting Is Something More
Fandom: Sekaiichi Hatsukoi * Ib (settings/game)
Summary: There was a new painting in Marukawa Shoten. Onodera Ritsu was late. Takano tried calling him, but there was no response received. Where could he be? Takano learned that the painting was not just an ordinary painting.
Warnings: ||SLOW PLOT || Minor Injuries, Blood(Minor), Angst
Disclaimer: Sekaiichi Hatsukoi belongs to Nakamura Shungiku and Ib game made by Kouri.
Notes: AAAAAAh. This is my first time writing a sekakoi AND a Nostalgia fic xD. No smut, i'm too innocent to write lmao. This fic is LITERALLY not planned, so please bear with me? Also my grammar is HELL AND BAD PLEASE BEAR WITH IT. Lmao, without furder ado, I HOPE YOU'LL ENJOY THIS ;w; *Italics are thoughts, almost*
PROLOGUE
Yesterday, there was a new painting that was hanging on the wall just beside the corner of the elevator and in front of the Emerald Section of Marukawa Shoten. Ryuuichiro Isaka that old man had ordered it so that the department looks lively and artsy. Few people would stop by and take a second glance to it and up they go to their work. But Takano didn't bother to scrutinize and look at the painting. What's the point in having that painting around? It's making the department look tight and small in Takano's perspective. And that painting was vast and unusually huge. Besides that, it's going to the junk for the next few years anyway. Things rot and nothing lasts forever.
Onodera Ritsu was late. Well, very late. It's already ten in the morning, work hours began since nine. One hour had already passed. When Takano knocked at Ritsu's door apartment when he was about to leave, there was no response received. Not a sound or grunt, not even a thump from a fallen object. He had tried calling him but he would never respond (of course Ritsu would never respond to a persistent guy like Takano, no doubt about it). What surprised Takano more was that he can't hear a ringtone on the other side. But that only concludes that he was already at work. But Ritsu was still not here.Where could he be?
He distracted himself in editing the storyboard of the manga his author gave. As he finished in just several minutes, he tried to distract himself again in checking the editors on how are they handling the manuscripts of their authors. Some would say "It's fine" and some say "Editing it right now" or something along those lines. When he's still trying to distract himself, uneasiness started to rise in his stomach. Where's Ritsu? Is he in danger? Millions of question surrounded Takano's mind concerning the young brunet but those questions were never answered. The unsettling feeling increased and he was beginning to slightly panic.
He asked Kisa, one of the editors in this section and a close friend of Ritsu, "Kisa."
The baby-faced man looked up from his work, "Yes?"
"Do you know where Onodera is? He's very late, and still hasn't come here."
"Ricchan's already here Takano-san, said he got here earlier before the work hours even began. He already finished the manuscripts he was said he's having a coffee break." He turned back to edit his manga.
Oh... Oh. He was getting worried about nothing again. He forgot how Ritsu would be so hard-working. He really worked out things early, and he took his time in learning this new particular field he didn't have experience on. That's why Takano really love him. But, really, he need to talk about this with Ritsu. He didn't even bothered writing him a note or sending him a text that he was early at work. It was making him worried sick. (But then again, that brunet would never do that, Takano knew that Ritsu still is confused with his own feelings.)
"Ah, but Takano-san." Kisa interrupted.
"Hm?"
"He... he usually have short breaks, but I didn't expect him to have this long..." He trailed off and avoided eye contact to his boss.
Huh? What? "What do you mean?" Kisa scratched his nape sheepishly. But he continued, "But, maybe, maybe he's just taking his time... No one knows." he shrugged. "Well, you can see it in his eyes though. His eye bags are very visible. You can tell he's exhausted. So I think he's resting a bit...?"
...How could he be so blind? Of course. Ritsu does not only put efforts on his work, but he also subconsciously pushing himself to his limits. "...I see. Thank you. I'll go get him."
Kisa returned to his work, while Takano... The unsettling feeling came back to his stomach again and it was rising very fast. What if something happened to Ritsu? The negativity of him came back, and the raven haired man huffed a curse under his breath. He cleared his clouded and troubled mind and arranged himself and stood up. As he exited the section, a dark aura welcomed him. Takano thought it was just him being a paranoid, so he tried to brush that eerie feeling off. As he walked pass by to the painting, his golden brown eyes subconsciously looked to the wide painting. The details are complex and very complicating, and a watermark was written. Weiss Guertena.
So that's the person's name who made this unique but strange masterpiece. Takano could tell he was definitely not Japanese. As Takano scanned and examined the painting more, his eyes ended up reading the painting's plaque.
Fabricated World.
As he finished read that, Takano's vision started to blur. And then slowly went into black. His blood turned cold. His head pounded like it was hit and slammed with a hammer, and he is starting to lose his consciousness. A voice whispered to his head. It was faint. But it was still audible. Not knowing where it came from the darkness, but he knew it was from a little girl, laced with concern, worry, and plea.
"Please save him..."
And Takano blacked out.