This liking
There were a lot of things that Takano liked about Ritsu Onodera; to be able to count them all would be a feat within itself.
He liked the way he blushed. The light scattering of colour that would flood pale cheeks and breathe life into a normally jaded appearance was entrancing to watch. It kept him memorized and encouraged him to fluster his young subordinate all the more.
He liked his eyes. Brilliant green and so often full of a fire over one thing or another Takano had said or done. He wouldn't lie. Sometimes he liked to rile the younger man up just to see that flaming passion engulf him.
He liked his smile. Not the sarcastic sardonic one he used when speaking to someone that annoyed him, but the soft one that had a golden glow to it that was so rarely that its blue moon appearance could do a thousand-and-one things to Takano in a mere second.
He liked his dedication. The way he never let up no matter how the odds stacked against him, no matter how many people told him he couldn't do and no matter how little he believed in himself. It was an unusual trait to find in someone so scornful and young, and it just upped his value that much more.
He liked his hair, soft and messy.
He liked his skin, smooth and flawless.
He liked his voice, unsure and comforting.
He liked him.
And most of all he liked the way it didn't seem like a strain to be with him. The way the pair of them just fit together so naturally, since their days as awkward teenagers stumbling through the confusing emotions that accompanied adolescence.
Of course, there was that slight matter of the misunderstanding that was working so fervently against them, opposing ever little step forward Takano made in their relationship. Progress with Ritsu was like slowly forcing oneself forward through a thick pool of sludge. Near impossible, but knowing that as soon as you overcame this trial something precious was waiting for you at the other side.
Takano had to wonder when it started. This liking, this infatuation, this love. He had to wonder if it would always be this painful or if it would ever end. Did he want it to end?
Dark eyes peered curiously over a mountain of paperwork to look at the slight brunette working so diligently across the other side of the room, beautiful forest green gaze focused and brow furrowed with concentration as his tongue poked from the corner of his mouth.
Risu Onodera was a sight to behold.
No, Takano though absently, he didn't think he did.
This liking of his, upon further reflection, was far from coming to an end.