I guess this one is for Aurum19, because she suggested it. Enjoy guys! ^^

Note: this is only a two-shot, nothing more. I don't have the attention span to write anymore, lol.


It was awkward.

Scratch that. It was beyond awkward. Even he, Masamune, as someone who regularly ignored the atmosphere or just didn't care enough to read it, could tell that it was awkward. He had invited and/or forced Ritsu into his apartment—when has he ever not done that?—under the guise of work of all things, christ; but so far, they hadn't gotten through anything whatsoever. Well, 'anything' being the relative term here. Maybe Ritsu thought they'd been productive for the whole night, but Masamune himself believed that in terms of their god-damn relationship that still wasn't real…well, nothing had been accomplished.

All he'd managed to do in the hour that Ritsu had been in his apartment was to make him a cup of tea and bring one inch less of space in between them—which still wasn't very much considering they had both been nearly on opposite sides of the couch. Masamune was, to put it very lightly, frustrated. It was a constant dance and tumble around Ritsu, never knowing when he would actually be compliant for once or literally slap him—that one night in front of the library still occasionally brought him shivers—so Masamune would have to back off and give Ritsu his space. It was exhausting sometimes.

Eyes narrowed, he scooted over a bit more and glanced at Ritsu's storyboards, noting that, even though he always mocked and degraded the other editor, he still had the overwhelming potential to become a great manga editor. Ch, more thoughts of work. Would this ever en—ah, no.

"Onodera," Masamune called, deliberately lowering his voice to a tone he thought was alluring.

Ritsu sighed and placed his storyboards on his lap. "Yes, Takano-san?" Well, that didn't work.

Masamune, while wondering what to reply with—he really had no idea honestly—suddenly remembered that one night, a few months ago during New Year's. When Ritsu had laughed in front of him and had looked so amazing that he still had trouble catching his breath sometimes whenever he looked at the pictur. It made Masamune really want to make Ritsu laugh because of him, because he was the one who put that expression on the other's face.

So he didn't say anything. He just let his actions speak for him. Unexpectedly, Masamune found himself lunging towards Ritsu, knocking him against the armrest of the couch and leaning over him.

"T-takano-san?!" Ritsu shouted, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. "What are you doing..?"

What was he doing, really? Masamune had no idea. Well, he shrugged inwardly, instincts became a great friend in this type of situation. So he brought his hands to Ritsu's sides and started brushing them back and forth lightly. Ritsu squirmed, a smile threatening to come to his face as he bit his lip harshly. Masamune's smile turned absolutely triumphant. He continued tickling Ritsu's sides, his fingers moving up and down Ritsu's torso.

Finally, Ritsu couldn't help it anymore. He burst out laughing, tears immediately coming to his eyes.

Struggling to breathe, Ritsu tried to push away at Masamune's hands. "S-stop! I can't…I can't—"He fell into laughter again, and Masamune was entranced.

He'd thought Ritsu was beautiful when he laughed those few months ago, on that cold and snowy evening. But Masamune wasn't even close to describing how utterly breathtaking Ritsu was now in this moment. It really wasn't because he was laughing due to Masamune's tickle attack, not really. It really was because Ritsu was just…happy, and not being the total stubborn ass he usually was around Masamune. Masamune felt his heart swell with joy, joy that threatened to spill out of that organ in between his lungs and spill onto Ritsu in front of him. He really…really loved Ritsu.

And when he finally stopped tickling him—Ritsu was complaining and pouting slightly about almost soiling his pants—and when he leaned down to kiss Ritsu deeply and Ritsu didn't seem to pull away, Masamune felt that maybe…just maybe Ritsu might love him, too.


A/N: This turned into a mountain of fluff. Wow. Hope you enjoyed, anyways!

-ChemicallyEnhanced