A/N: Ah, I had a lot of fun writing the conversation between Ritsu and Takano at their apartments and a conversation with Ritsu and Kisa. Also, for some who have not read the manga, there is a bit of a spoiler I guess? It has to do with Mino, he does have a son named Yamato. In all honesty before getting up to the part in the manga with Mino and Yamato, I thought Mino was a creep or something. But my opinion has changed since that part in the manga. With his part in this chapter, I need him to set something up that will happen later. And for the book Sakura wants to get, I just looked up a list of popular children's books in Japan, and the one I used was like the first one on the list.

I hope you all enjoy!

Word Count: 3,423


Remember This: I Still Love You –

Chapter 3: A Day Out

"My parents got divorced when I was a senior in high school, so my family named changed." Takano started walking off, "my old name was Saga Masamune."

Saga…Masamune…

Saga…

"Senpai"

Saga…

"We're going out, right?"

"Huh?"

"Because senpai, you never say anything…Saga-senpai, do you…do you love me?"

"Heh"

"H-He laughed at me?! What? Why? Could it be that…he was just playing with me?!"

The memories of high school came flooding back like a crashing tidal wave. Takano is Saga, Takano is the man who screwed him over, literally and physically. He ran after Takano, "wait up Saga!" He chased after Takano, "Saga!" he shook his head, "I mean Takano!" Ritsu frantically went after Takano, a million thoughts racing through his head. "Takano is Saga, my first love, whose very existence I tried so hard to erase from my memories. Why did I have to meet him again here? And why does he have to be my superior?" He finally caught up with Takano, "Wait up! Don't just say whatever you please and then run away. How dare you just announce yourself in front of me like that without a shred of remorse?" Ritsu's voice was getting more agitated by the moment, "after doing such a horrible thing to me, how about apologizing huh?!"

"Huh?" Takano had a perplexed looked on his face. "Horrible thing? Weren't you the one who did a horrible thing?" Now Ritsu had a confused look. "Who's the one who suddenly roundhoused kicked me from behind and then disappeared without a word the next day?"

"Roundhouse kick? What is that supposed to mean?"

"What the hell? It must be convenient to have a selective memory. You're really terrible." Ritsu got even more agitated, if anyone was terrible, it was Takano for what he did.

"You must be talking about yourself!" Ritsu barked back. "It might have been the whim of youth, but I-I was actually really serious about you. You led me on then threw me away!"

"Excuse me? When did I do such a thing?"

"When you laughed when I asked you how you felt about me!"

"I don't remember that! Anyway, that doesn't mean anything, I was a brat in high school. If I laughed, it was probably to hide my embarrassment. So, you kicked me because you thought I was making fun of you and you've continued to hold a grudge against me for ten years?" Ritsu's face turned red. "You…are an idiot."

"This bastard!" "Y-You're the one who was acting like an idiot!"

"So, the mystery is finally solved, if that's the case it's okay for me to come on to you, right? No matter who I was with, I couldn't forget you." The elevator dinged and Takano stepped on. "I will make you say that you love me one more time. And in case you forget because of your 'select memory,' remember this decree, I still love you, so you better be prepared for it."

Ritsu watched as the elevators closed and saw Takano disappear without another word. Ritsu slumped to the ground for a moment. "What's the meaning of this? Was it all a misunderstanding on my part?" He shook his head. "No way! I mean, that incident gave me such a shock that completely changed who I am as a person! Okay, maybe not completely, but most of it was due to Takano! This isn't something that can be settled by an explanation as simple as that he was hiding his embarrassment. How could I be so careless as to not recognize him as senpai from the start? If I had recognized him, I would have quit on the spot!"

"I could never forget about you; I still love you." Ritsu felt his heart beating faster, his face heating up more than before. "What if…what if Takano-san said is true? What if I just misunderstood everything? I wonder if senpai…really did love me? And if he still does could I fall in love with him again? Like hell that would ever happen! This isn't like a manga, I just can't say 'I love you' and expect a happy ending, that's not how life works!" Ritsu got up and pressed the button on the elevator. "Even if he did that to hide his embarrassment, he shouldn't have done such a misleading thing! I hate myself for getting worked up so easily over every little thing!" He started heading home, "No! This is not love! Who would fall in love with a jerk like him again!" Ritsu laughed in annoyance, "he's gonna make me say, 'I love you?!' Like hell I would say that!"

Ritsu stood in front of his apartment, passing by someone he didn't bother really making eye contact with. "That was fast" Ritsu looked over to see who was talking to him, it was Takano of all people. "Did you come to confess your love already?" Takano asked, a smug look on his face. Ritsu felt his face heat up.

"Huh? W-What are y-you talking about?" Ritsu stuttered out. "Besides, this is where I live." Ritsu frantically looked for his apartment keys. "Am I stupid or what?! Why the hell is my heart pounding?!" Ritsu screamed in his mind. He grabbed hold of his keys and tried unlocking his door but dropped them. "Pull yourself together damn it!"

"Hey, Onodera –" Before Takano could finish, Ritsu's apartment door swung open, without warning. Ritsu stumbled back a bit.

"Ritsu! Where the hell have you been?" Ritsu came face to face with a red-faced Nao. His arms were crossed, eyebrows furrowed, voice elevated, his eyes narrow and tired. He appeared angry. Ritsu's seen Nao angry before, but it had been a while, it caught him off-guard. "Why didn't you tell me you'd be out all night?"

"Onodera who –" Without thinking, Ritsu kicked his keys inside then pushed Nao back into his apartment, shutting and locking the door. "What was that all about?" Takano questioned; he was left quite puzzled.

"Ritsu, who was that outside?"

"Never mind him," Ritsu said, taking off his shoes and coat walking further into his apartment. He sat on his couch putting his head in his hand and let out a prolonged groan. "Today's been an absolute mess."

"Alright Ritsu, what's going on?" Nao asked, his voice a little calmer.

"I'd rather not get into it at the moment." Ritsu glanced over at the clock, it was almost 5:45 a.m. "Sorry about not calling to tell you I wouldn't be home. Yesterday was quite eventful and I didn't have a chance to call."

"It's alright" Nao sighed, "I can't stay mad at you." Nao patted Ritsu's back. "I'm going to head home, call me if you need any advice or help. You know I'm always available."

"Thanks, Nao." Ritsu didn't see him out. Once Nao left, Ritsu fell on the couch. He looked up at the photo of An on the shrine. "What am I going to do?" With that thought, Ritsu drifted off to sleep.

"Find love again, whether it be with your first or someone else, and don't do it half-heartedly…I'll be rooting for you from the other side…I love you…"

"Papa," Ritsu shifted his position on the couch. He was still asleep. "Papa." He could faintly hear someone calling him but opted to just keep sleeping instead of checking. It was his day off after all, he deserved to sleep in just a little. "Papa." He heard the calling again. Ritsu cracked open his eye to see Sakura staring at him.

"S-Sakura!" Ritsu jolted back a little. Ritsu rubbed his tired eyes and yawned. "Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," Sakura put her head down. "But you'll catch a cold if you sleep on the couch." Ritsu chuckled a bit, ruffling her hair.

"You're right," Ritsu picked Sakura up and sat her in his lap. "Good morning, did you sleep well?"

"Papa it's almost 2:00 p.m."

"What?" Ritsu peered over at the clock sitting on the coffee table. "1:45 p.m." Ritsu jolted up off the couch along with Sakura. "Shit!" Sakura covered her ears. "Sakura, why didn't you wake me up sooner?! Have you even eaten today?!" Ritsu frantically asked, placing her on the ground. He did a quick once over, she was already out of her pajamas in a frilly dress and her hair, well, sort of brushed.

"I ate some apples earlier that were leftover in the fridge."

"O-Okay, but why didn't you wake me up sooner? The day's almost gone!"

"I wanted to wake you up when I got up…" Sakura put her head down again, "but I remembered how tired you looked when you got home this morning because I woke up when you did." Sakura started fidgeting with her dress. "You've been coming home really late these past few days, and I didn't want to burden you…" A few tears started rolling down her face.

"Sakura…" Ritsu pulled her in a hug. "I know I've been coming home late and we haven't had a lot of time to spend together, but don't ever think you're a burden, alright?" Ritsu wiped the tears off her face. "I want to spend time with you as much as you do with me, it's just going to be a little harder now with Papa's new job. So, you'll have to bear with me. But don't be afraid to tell me what you're thinking."

"Can we still go to the bookstore today?"

"Of course! Let's get going!"

"Okay!" Sakura said with glee, she had stopped crying and instead had a huge smile on her face.

Ritsu and Sakura went out to grab some breakfast, although at this time they'd be getting lunch, before going to the bookstore. Ritsu was determined to have a nice day out with Sakura after everything that happened yesterday and earlier in the morning. Learning that his new boss is Saga-senpai from high school and learning he lives right next-door threw Ritsu for a loop.
He was still processing everything.

They both entered a small café not too far from their apartment complex where Ritsu placed an order for them to eat. Though, Ritsu felt like he could have a panic attack from all the questions the server was asking. He felt an odd sense of déjà vu from it. But he's always been nervous when ordering food from anywhere. "You've got sauce on your nose Sakura." Ritsu wiped the sauce stuck on Sakura's nose with a napkin. "You need to watch where you're putting your food."

"You've got some on your face too Papa" Sakura pointed at his cheek. She grabbed a napkin and tried wiping it off his face, though she was too short to reach. Ritsu obliged and lowered his head so she could reach. Like father, like daughter.

"Onodera is that you?" Ritsu looked up to see who called his name. It was that guy who's always smiling at work, what was his name again? He also had a kid with him, who was cowering behind him.

"Mino-san?" Ritsu said in a questioning way. Even though he's worked at Marukawa for a week, he was still learning everyone's names. He only really remembered who Takano and Kisa's names were.

"Who's this you got with you?" Mino asked while pointing at Sakura.

"Oh, this is my daughter, Sakura" Ritsu introduced his daughter. "Sakura, this is one of my fellow associates I work with, can you say 'hi' to him?"

"Hello" Sakura greeted rather shyly.

"Aw, she's adorable, she looks just like you," Mino commented. Ritsu thought about how many people have said that about her and him. Sakura did seem to favor Ritsu more than An. "I didn't know you had a daughter, I guess we're two of a kind then."

"So, is that little boy yours then?"

"Yes, this is Yamato," Mino said, placing his hand on Yamato's head. "He's my adoptive son from my late sister. He can be a bit of a handful at times, but we manage. Being a single father can be rough."

"I can understand that."

"It's nice to know that there are other people at work going through the same kinds of situations, right?" Mino said with assurance. "That you're not alone in your endeavor."

"Are there others like that at Marukawa?"

"I believe the Shounen Department's head editor Kirishima Zen is also a single father, his daughter is quite a special girl. You should talk to him sometime." Ritsu made a mental note of that. "We'd best get going."

"Ah, we should as well."

Ritsu and Sakura, along with Mino and Yamato made their way out of the café. They parted ways after leaving. "I should probably change my opinion of Mino-san, I guess he wasn't the creep I was playing him out to be." Ritsu looked down at Sakura, "ready to go to the bookstore?"

"Yes!"

Ritsu and Sakura made their way to Marimo Books, a local bookstore not too far away from where they lived. Upon entering, Ritsu noticed a whole flock of women standing by the register. It looked like they were all talking to a cashier about something. Ritsu thought that it was a tad strange. "What kind of book are you looking for Sakura?"

"It's a book we read in school, I think it's called 'Guri and Gura.'"

"Oh, yes I know that one, we read that in my kindergarten class, let's see if we can find it." Ritsu went to looking for the book Sakura wanted along with the new novel released recently by Usami Akihiko. They wondered a bit through the store and found themselves in the manga section of the store. He's never been the one for manga, even after being put into a position where he edits manga. He just didn't really see the appeal of it.

He curiously picked up one of the manga books. "Junai Romantica by Aikawa Yayoi." He looked inside to quickly figure out that this was definitely something he probably shouldn't be reading. He quickly shut the book, while trying to hide his embarrassment of the few lines he read. "Who would write this crap?" Ritsu looked down to see is Sakura had picked up anything, but he noticed she was missing. "Sakura?" Ritsu started looking around for her. "Sakura!" He started getting a little frantic. She normally doesn't wander off by herself.

"Yes?" Sakura answered. Ritsu sighed with relief.

"Don't go wandering off like that without telling me alright?" Sakura apologized and they continued looking for the "Guri and Gura" book. Ritsu turned a corner to see another familiar looking face. "Is that Kisa-san?" Ritsu thought. He walked over to the man, holding a magazine in front of his face. When Ritsu got closer, he noticed the man wasn't really staring at the magazine, but something else. "How peculiar." Ritsu couldn't quite tell what the man was looking at, but the man's face was noticeably red. "Kisa-san is that you?"

"Hmm?" The man hummed turning his head towards Ritsu, it was Kisa. "R-Ricchan!" Kisa screeched, quickly closing the magazine. He averted Ritsu's gaze and stuttered a few things. "W-What are you doing here?"

"Shopping, this bookstore isn't too far from my apartment complex. I assume you're doing the same?"

"Y-Yeah…" Kisa's voice trailed as he shifted his eyes over again to the same spot he's been staring earlier. "Something like that."

"Awkward" Ritsu laughed. He didn't know exactly what to do or say. Kisa started to fidget and appeared irritated at him. Ritsu's never been good at these kinds of situations, maybe he should've left Kisa alone. He was suddenly pushed forward by some small force. He peered down to see Sakura clutching his leg. "Did you find the book you wanted?" Sakura nodded her head. "Ready to go then?"

"Ricchan who's" Ritsu heard Kisa start to say. He momentarily forgot that Kisa was there. "Who's that?"

"This is my daughter" Ritsu moved Sakura in front of him. "Can you say 'hi,' he's my coworker."

"I'm" Sakura fidgeted with her dress. "I'm Onodera Sakura" she bowed her head, "it's nice to meet you."

"How polite" Kisa chuckled. Kisa got down to Sakura's level, "I'm Kisa Shouta, I sit next to your father at work. He's a hard worker even for a newbie."

"I don't know if that's a stab or a compliment" Ritsu huffed. Sakura giggled then went back behind Ritsu. "Sorry, she's normally not so shy."

"It's alright. I've never been really good with kids." Kisa got up from kneeling. "She looks just like you, even has your pretty emerald colored eyes."

"Are you coming on to me?" Ritsu chuckled, half-joking half-serious.

"Maybe~" Ritsu gulped, he really didn't need two people after him, one was draining enough. Kisa began to stare at Ritsu's hand. "I don't see a wedding ring, are you and your wife estranged?"

"Oh n-no, An, my wife, she, uhm" Ritsu began to stutter. Ritsu didn't exactly know how to say that his wife had died in a way that seemed appropriate. "She, uh…"

"Mama passed away before I was born" Sakura chimed in. "At least, that's what Papa told me." Sakura clutched onto Ritsu's leg a little harder. Sakura never knew her mother, but Ritsu knew she had always kind of longed for one. Or at least, to have another figure, besides Nao, in her life. Ritsu internally thought that he knew he couldn't provide that for Sakura since he was determined to never find love again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear, that was insensitive of me to say than" Kisa profusely apologized.

"N-No it's alright," Ritsu began to stutter again, curse his nervous tendencies, he hasn't changed that retrospect of his life. "An was a great wife, she and I were engaged at a young age, though I felt like we really didn't have a spark, she believed so. We got married when she turned eighteen." He picked Sakura up, "we had this little girl after we turned nineteen, born three weeks premature in November." He lightly pinched her nose; Sakura stuck her tongue out. "Then An passed away two months later." Ritsu eyes glazed over, "I do miss her, but I know she's better now, not dealing with unrequited love" he finished his voice much lower and softer.

"What did you say? I didn't hear that last bit" Kisa asked curiously. Ritsu shook his head.

"It's nothing. It's getting late, we'd better get going, right little miss?" Sakura nodded her head. "Alright, let's buy our books and head home."

Kisa followed them to the check-out where Kisa started to get fidgety again, his face turning a bit red. He had no idea what Kisa's problem was. Did the cashier freak him out or something? The cashier, Ritsu looked to see his name was "Yukina," looked friendly. Heck, he looked fairly handsome, sparkly even. No wonder there was a crowd of young women around him earlier when Ritsu and Sakura came in.

They parted ways, Ritsu decided before heading home to buy some ice cream for her and him to eat once they got home. He also picked up some dinner for them to eat. They arrived home at around 5:30 p.m. After eating dinner, Ritsu put on Sakura's favorite movie and pulled out the ice cream for them to eat. This was one of their favorite pastimes when having a daddy-daughter day. When the movie was almost over, Sakura let out a yawn.

"Getting tired?" She nodded her head. "Well, let's get you cleaned off and off to bed then." Ritsu picked his daughter up and got her ready for bed. Kissing her goodnight, he turned off the lights of Sakura's bedroom, shut the door and went back into the living room. "Today certainly was interesting." He started mulling over what happened earlier that morning, something he had been trying to avoid while spending time with Sakura. "Takano is Saga…he broke my heart and now is trying to get back with me." Ritsu sighed, "I really don't want him trying to pursue love with me, but I'm not sure how I can get him off my back." He looked over at the photo of An in their shrine. Next to the photo were Ritsu's and An's wedding rings. "I don't see a wedding ring..." What Kisa had said earlier came back into his mind. "Maybe…Maybe if I wear my wedding ring, I can get Takano off my case. It could potentially work right?"

What's the harm in trying?