Hey guys! finally updated it! I got motivated because so many of you liked it! I'm so happy that you all are liking it so much! i hope it gets more favorites and reviews in the future! Love ya all! xoxo
Me: And today! the lucky person to become the announcer is...DUN DUN DUN! TAKANO SAN! *pops party poppers* WOO!
Takano: She doesn't own any of us. We belong to Shungiku Nakamura-
Me: ITS SHUNGIKU NAKAMURA SENSEI SAMA, GET IT RIGHT!
Takano: Tch. She owns doesn't own us. We belong to Shungiku Nakamura Sensei Sama. All credits to Shungiku Nakamura Sensei Sama. But Tiana-Chan here owns the story.
After the humiliation and some much needed clothes , Ritsu found himself sitting on the dinning table in Takano's apartment with the other Ritsus unwilling.
Oda sat conservatively with his head down while little Ritsu lively swung his short legs that didn't reach the floor. Takano, who had offered to cook their meal as they were the guest in his house, was situated in front of the stove, clad in an apron and a spatula in his hands. The work of the spatula was done for the day when he transferred the last tamagoyaki from the pan to the plate.
"Oi! Don't worry about it too much. Both of them are you and they basically see their own butts everyday. So there is nothing to be ashamed of. And as for me, I've already seen and done everything." Takano spoke calmly while he heard Ritsu violently choking at his statement.
Takano skillfully served the owners their belonging plates of food and walked back to the cabinets. After pulling the doors open, his golden eyes scanned the contents inside, searching for the specific packet of rice seasoning that Ritsu desired. Neatly tucked in a corner, laid the plastic packages of furikake. But incertitude rose among Takano when it came to deciding which flavor the brunette might want today.
"Ritsu?"
"Yes?!" Came three replies of different modulations.
A sweat drop formed on the side of the man's head. This was gonna be hella confusing.
Takano pinched the bridge of his nose and gestured towards the oldest Ritsu. "Onodera. Do you want rice seasoning?"
A nod came from the interrogated brunette but a voice interjected their colloquy.
"I want furikake too!" A small hand wavered in the air, scrounging for the taste enhancer.
"I-if it's not t-too much problem for y-you S-Saga Senpai, I'd l-like some too.."
Takano mentally facepalmed himself. Why didn't he see it coming? Age difference or not, Ritsu's tastes certainly didn't changed over the years.
"Which flavor?"
"Salmon!."
Yep, didn't changed at all.
Takano picked up appropriate amount of packets, approximately three and passed them over to the seated diners. Ritsu and Oda easily opened the packagings but the youngster was facing some trouble. Takano noticed and immediately showed assistance. He skillfully ripped the seal and sprinkled it over the small bowl of rice.
Takano also took a notice of how the child clasped his hands together and muttered for a bit before saying the usual 'itadakimasu'.
How could this.
He then turned his head over to Ritsu, who was chewing on his food grumpily.
turn into this?
Takano sighed, he couldn't fully blame Ritsu for the change. And as Ritsu had stated, maybe even Takano himself is responsible for some parts.
Everyone ate in a peaceful silence, the sounds of the tableware were the only thing audible in the atmosphere. That was until Takano broke it with a solution of removing the confusion.
"It gets confusing when calling one of you because all of your names are Ritsu, that's why we should come up with different names to call you." Takano suggested, placing his chopsticks down on his bowl. Takano once again spoke up when he saw agreement on all of their faces.
"How about we call little Ritsu right here, Ricchan? How does that sound?" Takano extended his hand and wiped away the grain of rice that was stuck to the corner of the child's mouth. The child happily nodded, satisfied with his new title.
Takano then looked over at the fidgeting teen. "And as for you, I'd call you Oda but it doesn't feel right because that's actually not your real name."
Oda's eyes dilated as consternation filled his mind. "H-How d-did y-you k-know?!" The teen hysterically stood up and slammed his hands on the table, face contoured in mortification.
"He told me" the sentence was followed by a thumb pointing at the eldest green eyed man.
While Ritsu displayed infuriation at Takano's statement, Oda quietly sat back down, embarrassed beyond words that his Senpai found out his little lie. But it was inevitable, he guessed.
"So I'll call you Ritsu-Kun from now on." All of the chagrin was replaced by contentment as Oda received a new pet name from his Senpai. He too, nodded but a little timidly.
"And last but not least, you're still gonna be called Onodera, Mr. I'm an adult now and I can take care of myself but actually can't."
A smirk formed on Takano's lips as he absorbed the pleasure of seeing Ritsu's enraged face ready to burst.
"Takano-San..." Ritsu dragged out each syllable of his name in a deadly voice, determined to show the editor in chief his own verbal wrath.
"Uh...A-Ano..Saga-Senpai...why does he call you Takano-San?" The brunette teen asked out of sheer curiosity, certain that the hazel eyed man's surname was Saga. That was when the two bickering adults came to a halt. The air thickened with tension which could be felt by all but only understood by the pair.
"Let's not talk-" Ritsu started but was interrupted by the questioned man. "It's okay. Let me tell him. You see Ritsu-Kun, I think you remember me telling you something about my parents not being home and my family falling apart, right? Well much to my dismay, it happened. My parents got a divorce, I was forced to move to my mother's hometown and then she got remarried so that's how my last name changed." Takano explained calmly, anesthetic to the memories by now. But he made sure to leave out the information regarding the misunderstood conflict between Ritsu and him that lasted for ten years and also currently running.
The teen drown in penitence, feeling guilty for resurfacing such sensitive matters. "S-Sa..S-Saga S-Senpai!..I mean T-Takano Senpai! I-Im so sorry for b-bringing it u-up! S-Sumimasen! Sumimasen! Sumimasen! Sumimasen!" Oda started bowing hysterically, tears forming in his eyes.
Surprise sparked in Takano's eyes seeing him being so remorseful. A breathy chuckle left his lips and his large hands weaved through the younger boy's brown locks. "Hey don't worry about it, it's all in the past. It doesn't matter. I'm happy now aren't i? Calm down."
Oda hesitated for a moment before sitting back down calmly, his head still hung from shame.
"Oh and by the way, please still keep calling me Saga Senpai. I actually like it." The teen's head snapped up to see the man smiling softly and his heart started fluttering wildly. "H-Hai Saga-Senpai!"
Ritsu sighed in relief, seeing both of his younger selves and his lover content and the atmosphere becoming light again.
After breakfast, because it was a Sunday, which Takano and Ritsu were extremely grateful for, all of the males were located in Takano's living room. Ritsu wanted to sneak out of the apartment and go to his own one but with the younger boys persuading him and Takano physically restricting him, he had to stay behind along with them.
But workload never leaves them alone.
Thud
"Wah!"
Ritsu, who was seated on the couch, jumped back in surprise when a bundle of papers were slammed down on the wooden surface of coffee table in front of him.
"Just because we have a day off, don't slack off! You seem like you have nothing important to do today so get to work." Takano ordered his subordinate while tapping his head with a marker. Ritsu almost looked like a pissed off cat when he snatched the marker out of Takano's hand and glared. The sexy cat outfit and hissing was left to Takano's imagination.
Takano grabbed his own pile of work and sat down beside the newbie editor. Manuscripts soon invaded the whole table, creating a mountain of their own.
Ricchan, who has never seen such documents before and Oda, who has only read the finished works, stared at it with amused eyes.
"Takano-San! What are these?" Little Ritsu came up to the man who was seated on the couch, preparing to fix the errors on the manuscripts. Takano smiled softly and picked up the child before settling him on his lap. "You know manga right? We help make the manga that you guys read!" Takano enthusiastically spoke, tickling the boy's stomach a little.
Oda peered over Takano's shoulder to look at his task from his position behind the couch, eyes shining in admiration. Saga-Senpai said he likes to read shoujo manga and now he also gets to work with it. I'm so glad he found something he likes. And I'm also happy that in the future, I'll be able to work beside him. A small shy smile tugged at the teen's lips as he saw his future self working equally hard along side his partner.
"Awh. But I never read a manga before. Okaasan doesn't like it.." The child exclaimed, voice mixed with a little disappointment accompanied by a sad smile. Takano was surprised, he knew Ritsu's parents were strict but wasn't this going overboard? he was just a little boy!
Takano turned his head and threw a lazy glare at the jaded adult next to him. "Oi! What kind of half-assed childhood did you have?!"
Ritsu instantly faced him and glared, his face molded in a scowl. "Are you trying to say it was my fault?! My parents never liked those sort of things! There was nothing I could have done! Are you trying to tell be I should have rebelled against my parents?!"
The brunette man was fuming by now, gripping his red marker tightly.
But if Takano knew how to start the fire, he also knew how to extinguish it.
"No. Actually you were the perfect little child and I appreciate that. And I also know it wasn't your fault, it was your parents'. But Ricchan is in my care now, well while he is here, so, as his guardian, I'll make sure he gets love, affection and an amazing childhood." Takano's speech ended with a kiss on the brunette child's head which instantly caused the older brunette to go red in the face.
Just who does he think he's claiming guardianship of?!