Prologue

HEYYO! I am a very lazy author, just getting this out, so updates will be extremely slow! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this idea that I have been dying to write into a series of interconnected one-shots! Some won't be connected to some one-shots, but the mian point is the same in all of them, based off the same general idea.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SEKAIICHI HATSUKOI IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE, IF I DID, RITSU WOULD HAVE CONFESSED BY NOW (Stubborn little asshole, why must you torture us so?).

I am also open to suggestions that are based off this idea, so if you have any ideas, do tell! I am open to any and all suggestions (EXCEPT SMUT AND LEMONS) as long as they are within my writing capapility!


Onodera Ritsu was many things: rich, proud, shy, friendly, and even sometimes, happy; that, however, didn't mean Ritsu particularly loved neither his current life, nor his past high-school self. Because, above all, Ritsu was lonely and hurt; it was always this way. Somewhere in his 27 year old self's grown up brain, he knows his past fears still lurk in them.

The fear of being back in that house, with that monster and his partner, ate away his past self, and sometimes nowadays too; them being his father and step-mother.

His mother used to be his everything, his light within the darkness of the Onodera manor. He remembers many happy moments with her, up until he was 10.


"Father, I'm sorry! I was just really tired! I swear I'll go back to studying just-," Ritsu, no older than 6, stuttered out as he noticed the dangerous gleam in his father's eyes. He hated how familiar it was to him at this point, but he was glad, for once, that his mother had to go visit her parents, because this is usually when his mother would ask to take the beating instead.

"Do not speak to me that way, you insolent child!" His father's angry voice shouted. "You are an Onodera! You do not have the luxury to just laze around while you have all those lessons to study!"

"I-I said I was sor-"

"Shut up, Ritsu. You are to keep studying English, and you are not allowed to leave your room, if only to eat dinner, but that's it!"

Ritsu couldn't even argue about that arrangement, because as soon as his father stopped talking, he'd ordered a maid, Alice, to take Ritsu up to his room. Rtsu kept his eyes on the floor as he let Alice coax him out of the room.

As soon as they were out of his father's sights, Alice pulled Ritsu into a hug. "I'm so sorry Ritsu, we can't even protect you from him. I'm so sorry!"

Ritsu could only cry, again, as he sobbed into Alice's chest. All the maids in this household doted on him, as they all knew how their master got with his only son, even more so when his wife happens to be out the house.

He hated this. He hated his name. He hated the burden his name carried.

He cried until he slept, safe in Alice's arms.


When Ritsu was 15, he was anything but happy, but he knew of he showed himself to the others, they would all hate him ever more than they already do. "You're a rich kid with all the luxuries in the world. You have nothing to cry about!" They would tell him, back in middle school.

And so, at age 10, Onodera Ritsu donned a mask. He never took it off, and always acted like the peppy, shy, and excited rich kid he's supposed to be. Until he met Saga-senpai, that is.

He was finally happy. For once, ever since his mother's death, he was happy, so why was he crying over their break-up, over Saga-senpai laughing at him, mocking his naiveté? Why was something ruined in his life again?

He managed to survive for the next 10 years, making sure his mask fell to no one (except Nao). He was finally away from his father's clutches, his abuse, as soon as he moved out of his house, away from his father and step-mother. He never liked her. She was pushy and only cared about the family name, just like his father. Maybe that's why he married her, to pressure him even more, Ritsu wryly thought.

He missed his mother.


Now, he was 26. He had a job, he was making a name for himself, and he was…actually happy around Takano. Not that he would ever say that to Takano. His ego was big enough as it was, Ritsu huffed. Still, it was nice to be in love again (there, he said it!).

How could he tell Takano of his past, his mask, when he so easily told Ritsu of his own misery? Ritsu felt like a total douche.

He would, someday. For now, he was happy simply dropping hints to the man, little things and details. He knew Takano appreciated them, and he felt that warmth fill his chest again.

He was happy.