Disclaimer: I do not own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, all rights belong to Shungiku Nakamura.

Thank you to dendodge for betaing.

Enjoy.

Chapter 1

Kisa Shouta stared at the orange and green mask that donned the wall of his balcony; it looked like an old tribal mask. Beside it was a large and rather brash looking blue and orange grandfather clock.

"Someone, somewhere, is laughing at me right now," Kisa muttered as he stood outside the door to his new apartment, looking at the features of his home. He had moved into his apartment yesterday but, due to pure laziness, he had spent the day at his friend Morimoto Kana's house. Now he had to unpack and make the place suitable for him.

Kisa sighed and entered his apartment, staring at the bland white walls and worn-out wooden flooring. It was going to take a lot of work to get this place to his standard, but seeing as he didn't have work that day, he might as well fix it up now.

Grabbing the cardboard boxes from the doorway, he began to open them one by one, emptying out the contents and making a home for them. The apartment had already come with the basics: a fridge, an oven, a toilet, a shower, a sink, and a futon in the room that Kisa assumed was the living room.

He sat down onto the cold floor, surrounded by his personal possessions, and crossed his legs. He picked up the first thing he saw, which was a picture of him and his ex-boyfriend. Looking at the cheerful, happy faces and the innocent looks in their eyes, Kisa felt sick to his stomach; the lies were shown so clearly on Ichimura's face, and Kisa was so dense not to see it at the time. He threw the framed photo into a box, mentally marking it as rubbish.

Kisa put his final item—a kettle that his mother had given to him on his birthday—on the counter next to the sink, and plugged it in. Once he had finished, Kisa checked the time. When he saw it was only six in the evening, he walked limply into the living room and dropped down onto the futon, spreading his arms out as he moved his head to breathe. He could sleep if he wanted to. His TV wasn't working at the minute and he'd have to call an electrician in to see if he could fix the shoddy electricity. Kisa rolled onto his back and looked up to the white ceiling, hoping to see some sort of sign.

It seemed as if someone had heard his plea because as soon as Kisa had rolled over, his phone began to ring. Kisa flipped the device open and stared at it for a second, making sense of the name: Morimoto Kana.

Kisa smirked and answered. "You couldn't have called at a better time."

"Finished packing, have we?" Morimoto asked. Kisa could tell she was smiling from the tone of her voice.

"At last," Kisa replied as he turned over to his side. "What are you calling for anyway?"

"Can't I call in to check in on my friend?"

When Kisa didn't reply, Morimoto sighed deeply. "There's a club nearby and seeing as it's your first day in your new home, I want to take you out for a drink."

"What's the other reason?" Kisa asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Uh… well…"

"Kana…"

"Well, you see Shouta… I miss the old you and I hoped that taking you out might make you forget about what Ichimura did to you."

Kisa drew in a sharp intake of breath. "I know you're right, but I don't know if I'm up to drinking…"

"What happened to the Shouta I knew? The one who would go out every night and picked up guys easily?"

"He's still here…"

"Then bring him out. Let's go out and have some fun! What do you say?"

Kisa groaned as he sat up. He'd hated to admit it but Morimoto was right, fun sounded good right now. "Sure, you talked me into it."

"Great! Be round at mine by 7!" And with that, Morimoto hung up. Kisa rolled his eyes and put his phone back in his pocket. He stood up and stretched, then went to take a quick shower before getting changed to go out.

The club was heaving with young people and Kisa instantly felt out of place. He was 35 years old, drinking in a club filled with university students. Morimoto tried her best to lift a good mood out of him but even with 3 beers down his throat, Kisa still felt like shit.

"Come on, come dance with me," Morimoto begged, grabbing onto her friend's arm. Kisa shook his head and returned to his place at the bar.

"I'm not in the mood to dance, Kana. You invited me out to drink, and that's what I'm doing," Kisa muttered glumly into his fourth beer. Morimoto placed her hands on her hips and began to sway them gently. Kisa looked over to see what she was doing. "What are you doing?" He asked finally.

"Dancing. If you won't join me on the dance floor, then I'll dance with you at the bar," Morimoto said with a smug smile.

Kisa snorted into his drink and let a smile form on his face. Morimoto giggled. "You're an idiot," Kisa said.

"I know, but it's making you smile," Morimoto retorted, continuing her swaying hips motion.

"Alright! I'll go and dance with you." Kisa knew he gave in too quickly, but people were looking at them and Kisa would do just about anything to get Morimoto away from the bar.

Morimoto raised her hands above her head as a sign of victory. "I knew you couldn't resist my dance moves, Shouta."

"Yeah… that's it."

They took to the dance floor and danced as if they were back at university, living carefree lives with no heartbreaks to hold them down. The night wore on as Morimoto and Kisa alternated between drinking at the bar and dancing freely on the dance floor. Kisa was aware that several men were giving him interested glances, but he paid no attention to them. Before, he would have been lapping up the attention and flirting with the guys, but as he looked around he saw that they were all pretty average looking and not his type in slightest.

Morimoto checked her phone haphazardly, her fingers drunkenly pressing the wrong keys. "I'd better go, the husband might be wondering where I am."

Kisa nodded to the engagement ring of Morimoto's hand. "He's not your husband yet, Kana."

Morimoto gave him a goofy grin. "Soon, though. Soon."

Kisa shared the grin that Morimoto wore and said goodbye to her as she walked out the door, stumbling a little bit in her drunkenness. Alone at the bar, Kisa looked down onto his drink with remorse. Drinking wasn't as fun when you were alone.

"A beer please," a stranger's voice piped up from next to Kisa. The black haired man turned around in surprise, and found himself face to face with an incredibly tall and attractive man with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes. "Hello," the man greeted, an interesting smile gracing his features.

"Hi." Kisa returned the greeting as best as he could, considering the alcohol's effect on his speech and thoughts.

"You must be new. Which university do you go to?"

Aah, the man thought Kisa was a university student. Well, in all fairness to the guy, Kisa certainly looked like he belonged in the club, even if he didn't feel that way.

"TMU."

"Aah! I used to go there," the man said. He held out a hand. "Yukina Kou."

Kisa stared for a minute, the name sounded familiar but Kisa couldn't be sure where. "Kisa Shouta," he returned, taking the hand with a drunken smile. "So, what brings you to the club?"

"A friend owns this place and I was just stopping by to see how it's doing," Yukina replied honestly. He took the beer with a smile as the barman laid it before him. Taking his first sip, Yukina looked around the bar. "It doesn't seem to be doing badly."

"No, not really. It's a little too loud for my liking," Kisa said, raising his voice as the DJ turned up the volume to play a new song.

"You've never been to a club before, have you?" Yukina asked with a laugh.

That part was true. Kisa preferred quiet bars. "No."

"This is all part of the experience. Also, be careful with your drink, some of the men here seem to be staring at you."

Kisa blushed and ducked his head down. He had noticed that. "Do I need to be careful with it around you?" Kisa said, a flirtatious tone taking to his voice.

Yukina froze for a second, his smile almost dropping before laughing loudly and taking another sip of his beer. "That depends. Do I have to force you to dance with me?"

Kisa groaned inwardly, he didn't want to dance any more, but Yukina was undeniably hot and Kisa would do anything to get an attractive face in his bed. "No, not at all."

Yukina smiled genuinely and took Kisa's arm, leading him back onto the dance floor.

It turned 3 o'clock in the morning as Yukina and Kisa were walking down the street towards Kisa's apartment.

"I could've taken a taxi, y'know," Kisa slurred slightly, hanging off Yukina's shoulder.

"In your condition, I highly doubt that. Besides, it's no trouble; I'll just take a cab home instead."

"You could do that in the morning," Kisa suggested, quirking an eyebrow as a seductive smirk took to his face. Yukina laughed and looked down.

"That's nice of you to offer, Kisa-san, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass."

Kisa's face dropped and his look turned serious. "Why?"

"I don't feel comfortable sleeping with you whilst you're drunk, Kisa-san. Which one's your apartment again?" Yukina asked as they neared the block. Kisa pointed up to the balcony with the ugly clock and mask donning the view.

"That one."

"Those are some interesting features…. You have… interesting taste."

"They aren't mine; they belonged to the previous owner. It gives the place character," Kisa defended. Yukina smiled softly and gazed into Kisa's glazed brown eyes. "What?"

"Nothing, Kisa-san." Yukina bent down and kissed Kisa gently on the cheek. "Goodnight."

Kisa stood still for a moment, his hand on the cheek Yukina just kissed, and blushed. "G'night Yukina."

He turned around and entered his building. He turned the corner and ran up the stairs as fast as he could, being as intoxicated as he was, and opened his apartment door with ease. He strolled up to the door of his balcony nonchalantly and saw Yukina getting into a taxi, just as he promised.

Yukina looked up from the window and waved at Kisa, who turned back around and left the view of the window. He could still see Yukina; the man was smiling to himself and giving the driver instructions. As the cab pulled away, Kisa closed his curtains and fell onto his futon, not even bothering to undress. As sleep clouded his mind, Yukina's smile never left his thoughts.