Ritsu was pissed. Pissed beyond all hell. So what he made a little mistake? It didn't give him the right to cuss him out in front of the rest of the editorial department. Ritsu was stressed and irritable and for the first time since he'd arrived at Marukawa, felt as if he wanted to cry. By no means was Ritsu a sensitive man, it was the result of the buildup of stress and lack of sleep that came with the end of the cycle. He splashed his face with cold water to get rid of the redness and promptly returned to his section of the office, ignoring Takano as he brushed past him. Nobody looked at him strangely, they were too busy with their own work. Ritsu was grateful for that, and went back to his work after a few minutes.
The last two days melted into each other and the office was finally at peace once 5am passed. Ritsu looked around the office - he wasn't the last one left (Mino was still there), but he would soon be if he did not leave. He was glad to see Takano gone. The last two days had been filled with ignoring Takano as much as possible while still completing his work. It would have just been awkward between the two.
"I'll be leaving first…" he mumbled out of habit, trying not to trip over the bodies of his co-workers on his way out. Because the office officially opens at 8am, the elevators were not working and Ritsu had no choice but to take the stairs. His footsteps echoed as he climbed down each stair. Had Ritsu been fully awake, he would not have missed a step. Had Ritsu been fully awake, he would not have missed the sound of the other footsteps in the room. Ritsu didn't realise he was falling until he saw Takano rushing to catch him. Unfortunately for the both of them, Takano was not able to handle the force of a grown man thrown at him. Takano tried to catch Ritsu, and Ritsu tried to push Takano away. He was still a bit annoyed as to what happened a few days ago and felt uncomfortable that he had to be helped.
The angle at which Ritsu pushed Takano resulted in Ritsu banging his head against the padded walls. It wasn't bad enough for Ritsu to fracture his skull, but bad enough for everything to turn black. He faintly heard Takano yelling for help, but that was all he could remember.
Ritsu woke up to a woman hovering over him and pulling off his blankets.
"Ritsu! It's already Thursday! Get up!"
Was that his mum?
"Mum?" he said, shocked. Did his mother really come all this way to tell him not to be late for work? Sure, the gesture was nice but Ritsu swore he was only knocked out for a few moments and would wake up in the office building.
"Why are you so shocked to see me? Get up!" she said, leaving his door wide open.
"Mum! You can't treat the sick like that." Ritsu muttered under his breath. It was only then that he realised something was amiss. What kind of hospital room was surrounded by desks, books, and posters? He tossed his blankets away and sat there, stunned. There was his clock from when he was a teenager. There were textbooks that he had in high school. There were library books that had a note that said 'senpai'. There was his school uniform hanging over his chair. And lastly, there was his reflection staring back at him. A much younger and innocent face looked back at him.
It was only then that he realised. He was 15 again.
A quick glance at his calendar told him that today was the day he confessed to 'Saga senpai'.