Chapter 3
Onodera stammered back, confusion sweeping over him as he tries to process what Takano had just done. "You heard me, Onodera. I want you to be the one I'm married to." He grabs Onodera's hand, kissing it softly.
"B-But you're getting married t-to someone else!" Takano sighed as he shook his head, black bangs sweep down and cover his eyes.
"Geez, you talk about life after thirty and suddenly everyone thinks you're getting married. I was only talking to Kisa about his ideals, after all we're all gracefully approaching thirty. I'll admit, I've been thinking about my life and about being married with a family, but honestly, without you it's all pointless. After all, I want to be super lovey-dovy with you, not someone else." Takano leaned against the wall.
"Besides, you wouldn't have done anything with me if you didn't feel something, Onodera. So why don't you marry me? It would make me very happy if you did."
"Why the hell do I care about your happiness? I mean it's not like I love you or anything." Onodera stammered, still uneasy with the wave of emotion filtering through him.
"We both know that's a lie." Takano muttered, sipping his coffee before sighing. "Why can't you be honest for once? It's really annoying." He whispered into Onodera's ear before he turned around and walked into the living room.
"What do you mean honest? I've always been honest, besides…you're one to talk about honesty…." Onodera grabbed Takano's shoulder and glared at him.
"Ha!?" Takano asks, spinning around on his heel and glaring at Onodera. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You're the one who took off, lied about the fiancé, and your freaking name for Christ sake!"
Onodera sunk into the chair and looked up to Takano. "…You're right…" Onodera folded against Takano, sitting back and curling into a ball, thinking about his past. "Takano, I think…you should marry someone else, it's obvious I'm not the right match. "Onodera stood up and swallowed roughly. He tried to think of something to say to Takano, instead started shaking his head before giving up and walking back to his bedroom.
However, Takano, with a quick speed, captured him and pulled him close, not ready for this conversation to be over. He shook his head before wrapping him into a tight and loving hug.
"Hey, shut up for once and listen." Takano kissed his cheek and sighed softly into his ear. "I love you, not someone else. If I'm going to marry someone…it can only be you." Onodera turned around, looking up into Takano's amber eyes made him feel as though he were melting into a pool of liquid.
"I…" Onodera sighed, placing his hands over Takano's chest. "…give me time." He whispered before placing his head on his chest. "I need to sort everything out, including how I feel about you. I want to know I'm in love with the Masamune on front of me, not the one from ten years ago." Takano smiled down, kissing Onodera on his head.
"Understandable." Takano muttered contently as he snuggles Onodera's brown bedhead. "I'll be hands off when I leave through that door, I want you to find your answer." He turns Onodera around and kisses him lovingly on the lips. "I've told you before I'll wait…and that exactly what I'll do." Without another word, Takano pulled away and walked out of Onodera's apartment, shutting the door tightly behind him. Onodera felt his heart sink when the door fully shut. He fell into his bed, staring up at the ceiling as his heart pulled him in all directions.
*Few days later*
It was a beautifully sunny Monday morning, Takano had ignored Onodera for an entire weekend and managed to relax a little bit towards the end of Sunday afternoon. He knew he needed to give Onodera the space he needed and that a professional face at the office was a must.
The rumors only circle more violently as Takano received proposal after proposal from the female workers in the building. He'd even managed to entice a few of the sales girls he'd never had the pleasure of meeting.
Takano walked onto the elevator and pressed the button, going up to his floor. He sighed when the elevator stopped and opened on the floor below his, but his sullen expression cracked when he saw his long-time friend, Yokozawa Takafumi, board and stand next to him.
"Morning," they both greeted each other with kindness in their hearts. "You're here early, one would think you would've been in bed." Yokozawa turned around and looked at Takano, recognizing he had been stressed.
"I just have a lot of work right now, after all, I have to look over shitty authors and their works." Takano muttered, shaking his head before pulling out his phone and scrolling through the various notifications he'd received through the night.
"Take it easy, you get sick easily, Masamune." Yokozawa sighed softly before lifting Takano's chin with his long and thick fingers. Yokozawa placed his forehead against Takano's, feeling the abnormal warmth made him frown.
The elevator doors opened with a swift breeze and Takano pushed Yokozawa away when he noticed someone staring at them with cold eyes. "Morning, Kirishima." Takano acknowledged him before slipping past him and heading into the cubical.
"What the hell, Takafumi?" Takano heard in a rough tone as he walked away. Takano looked over his shoulder and started laughing to himself when he saw Kirishima giving him his friend the second-degree.
"Who would've thought..." Takano mentioned to himself before turning the corner and slipping into the editorial section for Emerald. He looked at the desktops, surprised by the neatness and organizational tactics of his team. He sat down at his desk and noticed a large legal-sized envelope sitting dead center of his desk.
"…A-fucking-nother one?" Takano muttered under his breath as he cracked the seal. He looked at the clock and noticed it was 6:20 in the morning, he'd have roughly forty minutes before the rest of his team would wander into the department. He nibbled his lower lip and frowned as he slid out the thick stack of papers.
"Yoshino…" He voices the name as he looks at a photograph of a young Asian girl with brown hair. "She's pretty-" He whispers to himself before he reads the introduction of this woman.
"Yoshino Sakura, aged 28, from Tokyo, enjoys hobbies such as: reading, cooking, and photography; Is interested in marriage to an intelligent man who has no qualms about being honest." Takano chuckled as he threw it on his desk and leaned back.
"This crap…" He laughs as he looks up at the 'popcorned' ceiling, taking a long and deep breath. He looked around in his solitude and decided to get to work. He opened his black laptop and the device made a ping as it uploaded. He opened his email and began to browse through it.
"crap, crap, crap, oh, Top Ten Secrets To Please My Man…" The list went on for about twenty messages until he stopped and noticed a letter from Yoshino Sakura in his inbox.
"How the hell…did she get my email?" He opens it and notices it's short in length.
'Meet me at 7:00 outside of the office building.' Takano nibbles his lower lip before scooting back and deciding on coffee to help him wake up. He stands from his leather computer chair and walks towards the lounge. He notices Onodera getting off the elevators and how he walks across the editing floor. He looks as though he hadn't slept or eaten over the weekend.
"He looks like shit." Takano muttered to himself as he disappeared into the lounge.
Onodera walks to his desk and sighs when he sees Takano's computer up. "Does he ever go home? I didn't even see him leave last night." Onodera frowns when he takes his seat across from Takano's desk.
"Do I actually love him? I told myself I would never love him again, but…I think I'm falling in love with him" He whispered to himself before opening his laptop and starting on the edits for his storyboard, which was due before the sales organization meeting at noon. Onodera opened the poll results for the national Shojo manga sales list, and was thrilled that the mangaka he edited for was ranked in the top four spots. He considers it amazing considering the series was a new outlook for her and didn't think she would do as well as she did. Onodera looks up as he watches Takano walk back into the editing department, cup of coffee in his hand and a stern look crossing his face.
"Morning, Takano…have you seen the rankings?!" Onodera asked, proud of his author. Takano nods, sitting down in his seat.
"I did, I also noted all the mistakes that you missed while editing her storyline. You need to be more focused when working, you're lucky she ranked at all." Takano's tone was cold as he spoke to Onodera, his words acting as though they could cut glass.
"O-oh," Onodera nods, surprised that Takano isn't happy for him. "…well you could show me what I missed, Takano." Onodera shot back in a bitter tone, irritated by his superior's words.
"Instead of that, why don't you learn how to do your job without me holding your fucking hand?" Takano looked up at Onodera, whom was fuming as he was being insulted by his boss.
"What the fuck is your deal Takano?!" Onodera shot up and stormed over to Takano's desk, looking down on him. "if you're going to be a dick, do it somewhere else!" Onodera slammed his hands on the desk and Takano smirked, finding Onodera's courage enticingly sexy.
Takano looked down the hall to see who was around before he stood up and walked out from his desk and stood over Onodera, breathing hotly down his back. "Ritsu," He softly whispers into his ear, his breath warm as he calls Onodera's name. "Since you seem to want to put me in a better mood, I'm calling time." Onodera looked puzzled for a moment and cocked his head to the side.
"Time?" He questions as he feels his palms begin to sweat.
"I want your answer." He sits on the edge of the metal desk, finding humor as he torments Onodera.
"Takano…" Onodera sighs as he thinks of the time he has spent with Takano, the special trips they've ended up on out of luck. He grabs Takano's black sweater and knots it in his hands.
"T-Masamune…" His voice quivers as he leans into Takano's chest and sighs. "I-I…c-c….I can't do it!" he feels himself drain as his knees weaken, forcing Takano to hold him up. Takano starts laughing before lifting Onodera'a chin and planting a passionate kiss on him, hands roaming and tongues colliding in a wave of heat. Onodera moans hotly and pulls Takano closer to him. Onodera's hands fiddle to Takano's back and nails scratch down, leaving their mark on his strong back. They are oblivious as they hear footsteps approaching the editorial department.
"Good-god…" Kisa's eyes are wide as he sees Takano and Onodera wrapped up in each other. Takano quickly releases and wipes his bottom lip.
"That, Onodera, is how you represent passion, love, and lust in your works. Refer that example to your author, maybe her next work will be more enticing." Takano reasserted his sweater and turned to Kisa, who still hadn't adjusted to the scene he had just witnessed.
"Kisa, you felt the passion in that display, didn't you?" Takano looks at Kisa, and smirks as he sees Kisa's deep blush and Onodera scrambling around like a hot mess.
"And more…" Kisa replied with a snarky tone as he looked to Onodera. The Tiny man nudged Onodera's side as he giggled.
"Hey, Takano-san, while you're at it, why don't you teach Onodera how to pick someone up? He's suchhhh a sad case when someone hits on him." Kisa joked at he scooted around Takano and Onodera and took his seat. Takano glared at both parties and shook his head as he grabbed a stack of papers.
"Maybe I'll do that, later. I have a meeting to attend to." Takano adjusted his glasses and stared directly at Onodera, making the younger man's skin crawl.
"If you have a meeting, then GO ALREADY!" Onodera shouted, wishing the older man would just disappear. He found it difficult to gather himself and found himself quite unhappy as he watched Takano leave the room. When he noticed Takano was gone, he fell hard into his seat, feeling all traces of energy leave his body. Kisa tapped on his shoulder intently after Takano left for his meeting.
"So…tell me, Ric-chan," Kisa trailed, hoping Takano was long gone. "Is Takano a good kisser?" Onodera smashed his head on the desk, inwardly screaming and curing his boss.
"He's shit at kissing." Onodera confesses.
A few seconds later he heard his phone vibrate on the desk, he opened the notification to find a message from Takano: "I kiss well enough to make your knees weak." Onodera was speechless.
*End of 3*
(Heya,
So thanks for reading this chapter, I received some awesome feedback and ideas that I may used in the future, depending on how this story turns. *I often don't have an outline and let my mind go down a random path* Like always, it's been a pleasure. -Kaninchen-)
