***Reveiwed and fixed parts of this chapter. I didn't change anything to do with the plot though. Thanks guys.
Hey Everyone! This is my first story ever so I would LOVE any feedback. This chapter Follows Kind of close to the original story but it will be branching away from the original. I apologize ahead of time for any OOC characters. Thank you for taking time to read this! Italics are Ritsu's thoughts
The day had finally come, the day that he would start to make a name for himself and prove all of those around him wrong. He waited anxiously at his new apartment for the movers to bring all of his boxes with him. Over the past two weeks he could barely contain all of his energy inside of his person, he was about to start his new job that he landed on his own and to finally move into his new apartment which he had also selected and found on his own. In fact he was so a ball of overwhelming energy that he had all of his belongings packed up a week and five days early, and then he unpacked them and re-packed several times after that just to make sure everything was stored in the most efficient way possible. He had everything planned out perfectly, this was going to be the best decision of his life. No more would he hear that he only achieved anything because of his father's name, no more would he have to listen to how he would take over his father's company, and no more would he been seen as a spoiled child that could do nothing for himself. He was Onodera Ritsu and he would leave his own legacy on the world of literature!
Or so he thought...
A pathway had been worn through his apartment from his pacing that had been going on for nearly two hours. He had already called the mover's phone number a hundred times(Though his phone only showed 27) and they refused to pick-up. He was scheduled to arrive at his new job at noon and it was already 10:30. He cursed at the vacant apartment as he had no choice but to leave the entrance way and take a shower, they had keys so they would be able to let themselves in after all. He jumped into the shower before even bothering to check the temperature only to walk into what could only be described as water that must have freshly melted off an iceberg straight through his faucet. The brunette screeched as he frantically tried to adjust the temp only to find himself turning the water pressure up instead of the temperature. By the time he had finished showering(which was done in record timing) he could honestly say that there is no way in hell the hot water was working in his shower. Making his way out of the shower and into his barren room to dig through the small bag that his mother insisted he bring just in case the movers didn't show up. As he dressed he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that the demon woman must have paid the movers to be late just so that she could be right one last time. He made his way to the walkway and started his descent to the ground floor and to the train. Upon boarding the train he realized that his day wasn't going to get any better. The was beyond full, forcing him to stand for his whole ride. He more than ready to get off of the train when he arrived at his stop, he walked along the street until he reached the massive building that would house his new and fulfilling job. As he took in the building he had a sudden jolt of pure horror, his briefcase was still on the train. He looked up at the sky in an effort to not start shouting obscenities at whatever deity came to mind and gain what little bit of composure he still had left. Ritsu managed to calm himself down as a light chuckle and a barely audible "At least it can't get any-worse" as he walked into the building to see the young lady that was supposed to show him around.
He was wrong to challenge the gods, it certainly could get worse. A whole hell of a lot worse, he just hoped the gods felt satisfied with their show of power over him. Anymore bad luck and he may break down. How did this day go so wrong? He Spent SO MUCH time planning for it, he had seen it go through perfectly in his head hundreds of times in the last 2 weeks. Never in his wildest dreams could he have planned for this. "Shojo manga?! Wait, that can't be right. I was hired as a literary editor, that's where my experience and credentials stem from. I was called and told specifically that I was hired as a literary editor! Please check it over again, there must be a mistake!" The panic was evident in his voice but the young lady continued on in her overly happy and helpful tone. "I'm sorry but that's what it says right here, this is your name right here right? And then right here it shows your department. I'm sure they are dieing to meet you so lets hurry up and not keep them waiting!" He begrudgingly followed behind looking like a small puppy with it's tail tucked between his legs, his usually bright emerald eyes seemed to take a slightly darker and depressed shade. The young lady escorted him all over the building for what seemed like ages, he probably should have been listening to the lady but he was too busy trying to convince himself to stick it out for a month and then put in for a transfer. He finally managed to muster the strength to go on and see out his new plan. After-all, things couldn't get any wor... His thoughts were cut off by a squeak that his tour guide had made. "THE CYCLE MUST HAVE BEEN PROLONGED! GOOD LUCK!" Ritsu didn't think it was possible for the woman to run as fast as her mouth but he had just been proven wrong. "Hello I'm Onodera Ritsu." Ritsu remained with his head bowed down for several moments before he looked up and saw hell itself. He made his way over to what appeared to be a person and tapped their shoulder to get their attention. The body slid onto the floor only to slowly turn, look at Ritsu, and muter a simple "what?" His voice was so weak that Ritsu was afraid it might be the young man's final breath. "I'm Onodera Ritsu, I'm supposed to be starting in Emerald today." The half dead man managed to pull himself back into his seat with what looked to be an extreme amount of effort. What the hell is going on in here? It smells like something died in here then was drug through every mud puddle and questionable mound that could be seen before someone decided that this was the perfect place to leave it."Oi! Takano! The newbie is here!" With that Ritsu looked up to see what appeared to be the reenactment of that bad joke about hell. All that was left was for this "Takano" guy to say "alright guys, break times over. Back on your heads." There were four bodies that Ritsu could see in the small room/cubicle, only one of which he could confirm was alive. He watched as the body furthest from him started to move and remove a book from on top of his face and immediately wished he would have left it there. He had a slight phobia/anxiety that had to do with guys that had dark hair and nearly golden hazel eyes. Hell it wasn't just men. He had seen a fairly manly looking woman with these traits that nearly made him fall backwards down the escalator one time. Get a hold of yourself Ritsu! You can't let your imagination make this day anymore of a living hell! Just because he kind of looks like him doesn't mean you need to freak out as if it were him. What the hell did I do to deserve this?! The dark haired man placed a pair of glasses on that did nothing to hide the extreme bags under his eyes while he grabbed some papers off of the desk in front of him. Ritsu Introduced himself onece again. "Yeah, I heard someone like you was coming today. What did you work on before? Teen, young adult?" Someone like "you?" What the hell is that supposed to mean? Ritsu gained his composure for what felt like the hundredth time that day to answer the man whom easily could have been confused with a walking dead man, he smelled like one too. "I worked for Onodera Publishing as a Literature Editor." "Literature?!" As the word flew out of Takano's mouth he made it sound like lowest level job one could acquire. Because Shojo Mangaka are far more revered then Literature authors of course. Why don't you get your head out of your ass and actually give me a chance before judging me. "Useless." Ritsu's breath hitched in his chest, he had left his old job because of this and already on his first day this word was haunting him. He wasn't even given a chance to prove his worth before he was labeled once again. "Takano-san, the sub mat is done." One of the lifeless bodies snapped him out of his anxiety bubble as it seemed he too was alive and able to talk, it didn't smell anymore alive then the other two walking dead men though. "Arigato, you'll have to learn to work as you go. Come with me newbie." Ritsu followed the raven haired man into the elevator "By sub mat you must mean substitute material, so did one of the mangakas not pull through on the deadline." The older man didn't even bother looking up, only acknowledging his question with a "That's right." A slightly confused Ritsu more curious than he would like to admit about why they were Going to get sub mats. "Surely you have sub mats here at Marukawa, why are we going to pick some up?" Takano looked as if he had been asked the most obvious question on earth but still chose to answer it. "They're garbage." Like this job is. But you don't see me leaving to go find a new job right now do you? No you don't, because right now this garbage substitute is a necessity until I have time to find a job that will actually fulfill my needs. "It's just a filler, it's going to be bad." Ritsu regretted opening his mouth the moment the other man turned and glared at him. "You really are useless. Just because sub mat is a filler doesn't mean you can use just anything, if there's a hole cram a diamond in it, even if it's rough." That's only in a best case scenario, who on earth is luck enough to stumble upon a diamond when they are desperately trying to find something last minute? By the time you get it you will realize it's just cubic zirconium covered in mud. Ritsu's thoughts kept getting more and more depressed as they made their way to the mangaka's place of work. Secretly Ritsu hoped that when they got there the sub mat would be terrible, while this man wasn't the dark haired golden hazel eyed man that haunted him from the past he still wanted nothing more than to see his perfect plan shattered. Part of it was because he brought back memories of that man, but the other part was because the brunette thought he was too arrogant for his own good.
The younger man had had enough with challenging the gods and decided his mantra of "things can't get any worse" wasn't going to cheer him up anyways, so he simply sat back and waited to see what else could possibly go wrong.