A/N: This is my first finished and actually posted fanfiction, I hope you like it~
Any reviews and or criticism are really appreciated because I definitely want to get better at writing
Disclaimer: Sekaiichi Hatsukoi and its characters do not belong to me
-WACK-
"Uhg! Takano-san why do you always find it necessary to hit me?!" Onodera complained, hastily spinning his chair around to view his perpetrator.
"You shouldn't be spacing out in front of your work, it's happening too often lately." Takano said, continuing to walk passed Onodera and unrolling the paper he previously used to smack his subordinate.
Takano disappeared around the corner before Onodera had the chance to relinquish his angers any further. He sighed lightly and turned back to his work. Lately Takano had been on his mind a lot. So much that he started to lose track of time during work. Regardless of that, he had been working at an even faster pace in order to get his deadlines done early. It was abnormal for Onodera to let something like this distract his work.
'Oh right, I need to make copies of these papers before the end of the day!' Onodera thought to himself as he got up and shook his head slightly to clear his mind a little. When he reached the copy machine he noticed Takano waiting for a large stack of papers most likely needed for his next meeting. Onodera walked towards the man and stood off to the side to wait for his turn with the machine, not uttering a word as he made his way over there.
"You should know by now to greet your superiors when you are around them." Takano said, leaning against the copy machine directing his attention towards Onodera with his usual indifferent manner of speaking.
"Tsk- I already greeted you earlier…"
"Even if I wasn't your boss you should greet me every time you see me, no matter how long ago we just met."
'Huh?! What's with this guy?!'
"I-I don't think that's quite necessary." Onodera argued. At that time Takano turned back around to grab his large stack of copied papers.
"Is that all for a meeting?" Onodera asked eyeing the sheets huddled in Takano's arms.
"Yeah, it's almost time for you to sit in on these types of meetings." Takano said after stopping to brief the other on future events.
"Huh? Not that I particularly mind, but why now?"
"It's almost been a year since you started working here, 3 more days right? Soon you'll be admitted to more formal and longer meetings. "
'Oh right, it's been just about a year huh? It went by so fast but I feel like I accomplished quite a bit!' Onodera smiled gently to himself.
Takano, noticing the newfound look of achievement on Onodera's face began to speak again.
"This evening we'll all celebrate. Kisa, Hatori, Mino, the whole Emerald department. "
"Celebrate? What are we celebrating exactly?" Onodera asked as he began to start up the copy machine.
"Your first year of employment here obviously."
"Wha- That's not necessary, really."
"This time, as long as you don't run off after work again, it won't be just us celebrating. I know you're uncomfortable with that."
'What's he talking about? – Oh right, last time we were supposed to celebrate something I said I couldn't because I was busy, and I left immediately after work…though I did end up celebrating separately with Takano at his house…'
"I'm n-not really uncomfortable with that, it's just that in general I do not think we need to emphasize something as trivial as this…" Onodera quietly said averting his gaze even further from Takano's as he waited for the remaining copies to print.
"Well I'm the boss and I say it's a pretty important thing."
"Was everyone else's one year completion celebrated?"
"The others were here before me so I wasn't able to commend them on their anniversaries. But we've done yearly parties ever since. Remember, Mino's was just a couple of months ago.
"…I guess if it's a tradition then it's not too bad to indulge in it." Onodera finally agreed before the machine finished.
Takano waited for Onodera to retrieve his papers and began to head back towards the Emerald office.
"Hey everyone, today after work we are going to celebrate Onodera's first year at Marukawa." Takano announced in a voice slightly louder than usual.
"What?! Ricchan's first year is already coming to an end?!" Kisa exclaimed with wide eyes. "It doesn't even seem that long ago that he came here…I don't even remember his first day…"
"Come to think of it, neither do I." Hatori added.
"We'll talk about this later while we're drinking. For now get back to work." Concluded Takano as everyone turned back to their screens.
Throughout the small talk of Onodera's anniversary, he himself spent a few seconds to reflect on the past year. Everything has become less hectic now that he was more familiar with the gist of shoujo manga editing. He had even become accustomed to the pink and fluffy office. Upon hearing Takano's command to get back to work, Onodera took a nostalgic sigh and sat down to finish his previous assignment.
"Good job today everyone, now let's drink!" Takano declared standing up from his chair and reaching in front of his face to transfer his glasses to his shirt pocket.
"Yay! Drinks!" Kisa shouted lifting his hands up in excitement and making his way out of the office.
"Kisa-san, you already sound drunk." Mino pointed out trailing behind Kisa.
Without saying a word Hatori also followed the two out of the building as he pulled his pink and white tie down from over his right shoulder.
"Oi, come on Onodera, let's go." Takano ordered, grabbing Onodera's hood to lift him off of his chair. "Your pace is too slow."
Onodera yanked his hood out from Takano's grasp.
"Huh!? I'm sorry that I do not jump up like a child for these situations."
Even if he did not say it, it was probably pretty obvious that Onodera was really happy everyone was lively and willing to be ecstatic for him. He walked out of the office along with Takano to meet up with the others. Immediately they began their walk towards their usual bar.
"Oh right! Right! Now I remember Ricchan's first day!" Kisa blurted out after taking a sip from his beer mug. "He came in during the worst day of the cycle!" He laughed thinking back to Onodera's frightened face that day.
Hatori chuckled silently as he thought back to how that must have looked in Onodera's eyes.
"Ah- I remember that." Mino began. "I recall thinking, 'Why are these idiots giving us a new employee on today of all days? Are they stupid or something?'". He snickered to himself.
'Mino's as scary as ever.' The rest of the group simultaneously thought with eerie smiles.
"That was the day I brought Onodera with me to collect and finish that mangaka's manuscript. She wasn't drawing a kiss scene right so I had to give her an example by…"
"TAKANO-SAN!" Onodera interrupted while almost spitting out his beer.
"….Onodera so she could see it clearly." Takano finished.
"Wait! What did you say before 'Onodera'?! I missed that part!" Kisa yelled sitting up and gawking at Takano.
"It doesn't matter." Onodera sighed as he ran his hand though his hair. "He just had me grab example papers."
"Then why did you shout just now?" Mino questioned smiling.
"T-That's because-…"
"Ricchan, you and Takano-san always keep secrets, it's not fair." Kisa whined.
"Secrets? We hardly keep secrets."
"You do! Remember that time you…." Kisa started to say before he had to actually stop and think about this.
"That time you and Takano-san had to share a bed because of a mix up at a hotel, yet you wouldn't tell us what happened that night." Hatori assured lifting his mug to take a sip.
'Huh? Why does Hatori-san remember that better than the others do?!' Onodera contemplated with a questioning face.
"Yeah, that was it! That was a huge secret for you apparently!" Kisa complained.
"Right Onodera, you still haven't told them about that huh? Well go ahead, I wouldn't mind having my memory refreshed of that evening either." Takano insisted, folding his hands under his chin with his elbows as support, staring intently at Onodera.
"What? No-Nothing happened! I s-swear!" Onodera frantically assured everyone though his bright red face showed he was lying.
"You're a terrible liar Ricchan."
"I'm not-"Before Onodera could finish he shot a glare Takano's direction and noticed the smug smile that he hated most.
'Uhg, he does stuff like this on purpose! I hate that about him-' His thoughts were soon cut short by Takano's next comment.
"I'm just messing with Onodera, nothing weird happened. Look at his face though; it's worth the joke right?" He laughed making a fist and pointing his thumb Onodera's way. The rest of the group laughed heartily at Onodera's embarrassed condition.
"Ya know guys, I have been here for a while now and I would appreciate it if you could stop teasing me." Onodera requested, eyeing each of his co-workers closely.
"Sorry but until someone new comes along you'll always be the newbie we tease Ricchan." Kisa chuckled peering at Onodera over his beer mug. After that statement Hatori, Mino, and Takano all nodded seriously in agreement.
The evening was long lasting, filled with talk and laughter of various events in the past year, and of course, more embarrassing teasing on Onodera's expense.
-Yaaaaawwwwnnnn-
"Wow that party tired me out!" Onodera cried as he lifted one arm over his head and grabbed it with the other hand to stretch. Him and Takano had now parted ways from the rest and were headed towards the station.
"Are you even alright?" Takano muttered, noticing how Onodera was stumbling as he walked.
"Y-Yeah I am. I might have drunk a little too much earlier." Onodera was mildly drunk but nowhere close to as it had been when he had drinks at Takano's house before.
"Did you enjoy it?"
"Huh? Oh y-yeah I did." Onodera answered, avoiding eye contact with Takano. "Thank you…for caring about something as plain as this." He quietly said as his face became a light tint of pink.
"Ah, no problem. I think things like this are important from time to time." Takano said turning to give his companion a light smile. Onodera looked up for a second as Takano watched him, but when their eyes met, Onodera swiftly diverted his attention elsewhere. The sight of Takano's smile had caused Onodera's face to flush more than usual and he did not want Takano to see the embarrassment he now retained.
"Onodera…Let's hold hands." Takano spoke just loud enough for the man next to him to hear.
"Eh? You realize we're in public right?"
"Yeah but I don't really care about that anymore, and it's dark out, no one will recognize you."
'Did Takano-san drink too much himself? What is he saying?'
"That's quite alright." Onodera emphasized, keeping his right hand close and stopping to check for oncoming cars before he crossed the street.
"There are no cars coming so let's just cross. If we don't hurry we'll miss the next train." Onodera advised as he began to cross.
"We have plenty of time; you don't need to cross now. The light didn't even change." Takano looked down the street in the direction the cars would be coming from. He noticed a bright light in the distance but couldn't quite make out if it was a car or not. He thought the light was growing in size; so to be sure, he hastily took his glasses out of his shirt pocket.
'He should've held my-' before he could finish that thought or even get his glasses successfully on his face. The car's speed allowed it to make it to them faster than expected and was heading directly towards Onodera. The vehicle rapidly put on its brakes but not fast enough to avoid the fierce impact it made with a disoriented Onodera.
Takano's eyes widened in shock as his body froze in fear for a mere half second.
"ONODERA!" Takano exclaimed, rushing to his injured subordinate's side. From what he saw he could say that even though the brakes were applied right before, the collision was forceful enough to possibly break several bones. Takano was in a frantic state, but had a calm enough composure to check if Onodera was still breathing and call emergency. He made the phone call and was able to give them clear information on their whereabouts.
After calling emergency, Takano took the opportunity to fully inspect Onodera. There was blood dripping down his face and a large bump upon his head. Takano did not detect any signs of broken bones or anything else but then again he wasn't a doctor so he could only hope he thought right.
Onodera had been unconscious the entire time and Takano had just whispered his wishes for Onodera's safety quietly while leaning over the injured man's head.
Takano felt some relief wash over him as he heard noisy sirens and saw flashing lights coming in his direction and stopping abruptly a few yards away from them. He hurriedly got up as he saw the paramedics darting towards Onodera with a stretcher. Takano stumbled backwards as he watched Onodera get checked out and hauled into the ambulance. He began to make his way over to the van and demand they take him with them to the hospital, but before he could take more than one step he felt a hand placed on his shoulder to stop him from advancing forward.
"I'm sorry, I'm sure you want to make sure your friend is alright…" Acknowledged an officer as Takano turned his head to see who was speaking. "…But you are not permitted in the ambulance, so if you wanna get there we'll take you, but you need you need to wait until we finish with the crime scene and ask some questions to you and who seems to be the one who hit your friend over there." He said pointing to a dark blue car parked off to the side.
Takano looked in the direction pointed out by the officer. It must have been the car that hit Onodera, but Takano wasn't focused on that, he did not care to blame others for incidents that had already happened.
"Do you want to wait?" It'll be faster than going by train."
"…Yeah." Takano answered, facing forward and lowering his head.
An hour or so went by and the area was finally beginning to clear out.
"Kay, we're all ready to head off. Get in!" The previous police officer shouted to Takano who was sitting on a curb staring out into space with his cellphone enclosed in his hand. He ascended from his spot and started towards the police car, checking his phone one last time. He had been texting and dialing Onodera's phone every so often to see if he had come to and was alright, waiting at the hospital.
The police car arrived at the hospital to drop Takano off. They had already questioned him and had no further business there. Takano quickly made his way to the receptionist's desk to get information on Onodera.
"Onodera Ritsu…? He was recently admitted on the third floor, room 327." The receptionist said, looking up to give Takano a friendly smile.
*Huff* "Thank you." Takano panted, turning his head a little to search for the elevator.
"It's that way sir." The woman behind the desk stretched out her finger diagonally across from her to the elevator doors behind his back.
"Ah- Thanks again." He nodded and held his hand up to give a gesture of gratitude before going to the elevator in a dash.
In a matter of minutes Takano had made it to Onodera's room and saw a doctor examining a still unconscious Onodera Ritsu.
"Excuse me doctor, I was with this patient when he got injured. Is he okay?"
The doctor took off his stethoscope and turned around to face Takano. The doctor was an older man who seemed to be highly experienced in his field.
"Your friend here was hit pretty hard, the impact left him unconscious and there is a possibility that he may be in a coma."
"A coma?!" Takano asked in disbelief.
"Yes, hopefully it won't last very long, but you never know with these things, it could be caused from the fall or shock even. If he is conscious within a few days at most, he'll be fine. Miraculously there are no broken bones and judging by the bump on his head the impact was rough. It seems luck may be on his side. For now though you should leave, visiting hours will have ended in a few minutes." The doctor implied as he huddled his paperwork into his arms.
"Right…thank you…I'll leave soon." Takano murmured slowly with his head lowered.
"Alright, I'll leave you be for a little, you'll have five minutes." The doctor told Takano before patting him on the shoulder and exiting the room.
After the doctor left, Takano turned his attention to Onodera. He was so peaceful, lying there faintly breathing in and out as if he was just asleep. Takano ran his fingers through Onodera's hair and gave a sorrowful smile.
"You'll be fine…Ritsu." He whispered almost to himself, and then bent over to place a soft kiss on Onodera's head. He lifted his head up and stood there staring at the man he loves while worries and concerns flooded his now cloudy mind.
'What if it is a coma and it lasts months? Years?'
'Is there a possibility that he'll lose his memory?'
Thoughts similar to those raced through his mind, making him feel more and more helpless in this situation.
'Just please be okay.' He ran his fingers though his own hair aggressively as a frustrated facial expression appeared and he left the room.
The next day Takano reported Onodera's incident to the rest of the Emerald employees who were immensely shocked and concerned. Each of them took time to buy a get well gift of some sort and leave it at the hospital for Onodera.
For the next three days Takano got off work as soon as he could and left his house in the mornings to make it just in time for visiting hours to begin. He spent all of his free time at the hospital but not an inch of work was left untouched, he even took over Onodera's current projects. Whenever Takano was at the hospital sitting besides the insensible man he would grab onto his hand just to feel a pulse. It calmed down his worrisome thoughts just a tad. After sitting for a couple hours next to Onodera, Takano suddenly felt the smaller hand move within his own. He sat up from his slouching position and gaped as Onodera's eyes began to flutter open.
"Onodera?!" Takano's voice was barely louder than a whisper.
"Huh? Where am I?" Onodera asked as he lifted his head up to look around. "I'm in a hospital?!" He exclaimed finally noticing his surroundings. " Ow…my head hurts." He winced. "How did I…" His thoughts were interrupted by a happy sigh that seemed to have a hint of laughter in it. "Ta-Takano-san! Why are you here?" He questioned, startled, realizing that his hand was being held, but rather than pulling away, he left it there feeling silently happy that Takano was there.
"Remember when we left the bar and you decided to cross the street before the light changed?" Onodera blinked his eyes in confusion but continued to listen to Takano without uttering a word. "After you attempted to cross, a speeding car came and tried to brake but still grazed you and apparently knocked you into a coma." Takano said reflecting a more pained expression now.
"A coma…? I don't even remember what happened after we left the bar. Wait, how long was I in the coma for?"
"Three days. Heh, happy one year at Marukawa huh?" Takano congratulated somewhat sarcastically.
"Three…days…? I really wouldn't wake up for that long?!" He questioned gaping at Takano. "Um… Takano-san…How often did you come here?" Onodera asked realizing that it was strange for him to wake up and coincidentally have Takano there by his side and it did not seem like he just arrived either.
"I came whenever I could. As soon as I could finish work I'd come here and stay until visiting hours were over."
"…You spent that much time here?" Onodera timidly asked as his face grew pink.
"Yeah, you were in a coma and I was worried about how long you were going to stay in it. That's a bad feeling ya know."
"I'm s-sorry…What about my work?"
"Did it."
'He did all of that? And he spent way too much time here. He gave up any kind of social life or personal time to stay here…with me.'
The more Onodera thought about it, the more shades of red layered over his face. He softly squeezed Takano's hand and opened his mouth.
"Takano-san….I…" he glanced at Takano, but quickly avoided looking in that direction at all as his heart began to beat at a rapid pace, growing faster and faster with each second that passed. "I…" Onodera's face was completely red now; he continued to look away and closed his mouth for a moment before shaking his head slightly, beginning to speak again.
"…I…love you." Onodera whispered just loud enough for Takano to clearly hear him.
Onodera could not bare the embarrassment of what he said, especially after not hearing a word from Takano right after. The seconds that continued to go by after his confession only created more hesitation as he turned over to bury his heated face in his pillow.
"Onodera…you…" Takano released the tightened grip of their hands and got up to hover over the bed, placing his hands on each side of the semi-trembling man.
"Onodera, look at me." Takano spoke in a hushed tone, moving in closer.
"…"
Takano gently chuckled, struck by how cute Onodera was now.
"Come on… please?" Takano whispered again. Finally giving up, Onodera turned to look at the man he just confessed to. When he finally brought himself to look at Takano's face he saw an expression he didn't know existed. Takano's smile was kinder than ever before now. It wasn't just another smirk or an "I'm content" grin, but it was one drawn out by pure love and happiness.
Onodera's face froze at the compelling sight and his mouth gradually became agape. Takano began to tilt in closer now, bringing Onodera back to his senses. Onodera clenched his eyes shut expecting a forceful kiss, but instead felt his body become tightly embraced.
"Me too. I love you Ritsu." Takano replied, tightening his arms around Onodera. Being called by his given name startled him, but all the same he nervously returned the embrace and wrapped his trembling arms around the man who should have been with him this whole time throughout the past 11 years.
"I'm happy you said that." Takano delicately spoke into Onodera's ear.
The embarrassment of these words made Onodera impulsively shift backwards from his position of lying on his back which caused him to now sit with his back against the wall.
"Ritsu, I love you." Takano continued to say, this time taking the chance to seal a kiss, feeling Onodera's warm tears roll down his own face.
To Onodera this kiss felt more passionate then any of the others. Without thinking, he moved one hand from its place on Takano's back and slid it through the man's slick black hair, all the while opening his mouth a little wider to allow Takano more entry into it. Onodera feared his heartbeat would be strong enough for anyone to hear, but at the same time he didn't care too much now that the feelings he had kept inside were openly exposed to the one who mattered most. As soon as he fully realized their surroundings, Onodera broke the kiss and tried to catch his breath. Thankfully the hospital rooms were notably private, so he guessed no one had seen them.
He looked up at Takano who in return smiled genuinely and watched the hesitant man as his face continued to heat up.
"You…you don't have to stare at me…" Onodera said, once again breaking the eye contact. "Anyway, can you see about getting me out of here? I-I'm ready to go back h-home now." He quietly stuttered looking out the window of his room, where the light brightly shined over his face.
"Sure thing." Takano smiled, pecking Onodera lightly on his cheek before leaving to find the doctor.
After Takano successfully brought over Onodera's doctor a long discussion took place about safety and precautions that needed to be taken in the future. The doctor advised Onodera on what to do about his bump and after several hours he was finally discharged.
"UWWAAAA~ Ricchan you're back!" Kisa exclaimed, hurriedly walking towards the returning Emerald employee. "I was so worried about you!" he continued to say taking his usual seat next to Onodera.
"Ah, Thanks Kisa-san." Onodera smiled cheerfully at his co-worker. "Also thank you for the get well gift you-"
-WHACK-
"Erg…Takano-san…Why are you continuing to hit me when my head is still in bad condition?" Onodera growled, spinning his chair around to view his assaulter while placing pressure on his head with his hand.
"Because, you got here three hours early and have been looking at your paperwork ever since. I needed to wake your mind up some." He replied, walking by his scowling lover. "And if you hadn't gotten drunk that night, the accident wouldn't have been caused. Just a reminder."
"What?! Seriously? That was hardly my fault!"
"It's good that you're back Onodera-kun, but try to be smarter K?" Mino asked, taking his seat across from the other two. Kisa and Hatori nodded in agreement, looking at Onodera pitifully.
'Huh?!' Onodera whirled himself the other way to glare at his co-workers.
"Wise employees here." Takano commented as he turned the corner to make his way to another room.
'Why are they all so cruel?'
'I definitely did not confess to that guy!'
'I definitely did not confess to that guy!'
'THERE IS NO WAY I COULD EVEN POSSIBLY HAVE CONFESSED TO TAKANO-SAN!'
[0 Days until Onodera Ritsu falls completely in love]
A/N: That's all!
...Review? Please?
So then just...thanks for reading!~