Cheers to Chapter 6!

Chapter 6

Reaching An chan's mansion, Ritsu couldn't believe he had made it this far. He knew his parents were staying at An chan's place rather than their own family home, so he prepared to knock on the huge double doors as he stood in front of An chan's doorway. Hearing voices on the other side, he quickly pressed himself against the wall next to the door. Fortunately, no one came out, so he pressed his ear against the door and tried to listen to what they were saying on the other side. His blood ran cold as he heard bits and pieces of Mr and Mrs Kohinata's conversation.

"…if you ask me, I think the Onoderas' deserved it. Crashed their carriage while they were looking for their good-for-nothing son…"

"…don't even know why this marriage was arranged in the first place, so glad we broke it off…"

Ritsu couldn't believe his ears. His parents were dead? His engagement had been broken off?

How long was he gone?

He had to find An chan.

Sitting in the cherry blossom tree, Takano sighed as he shifted into a more comfortable position. Ritsu had been gone for quite a while and he longed for him to return. Holding his left hand up to the moon, he gazed at the gold band on his finger. It was simple as it didn't have any intricate designs whatsoever, but to Takano it was perfect. He smiled wryly as he positioned his hand in order to catch the moonlight at the right angle. It had been a while since he'd had time like this to himself, and while he couldn't say he didn't miss it, it was beginning to get a little lonesome.

Resting his head on the tree trunk, Takano closed his eyes as he thought of Ritsu, his Ritsu. When he had first put the ring on Takano's finger and thus freed him from spending an eternity buried underground, Takano had thought he looked familiar. It wasn't until he kissed him that he realised, the lips tasted and felt so like… his Ritsu Oda. His first love, who he had never really stopped loving. As he pondered about his long lost love, a soft breeze blew around him, scattering pink sakura petals on top of the gravestones in the forest. He watched as a few petals landed on his own unmarked grave, feeling a peace taking over his conscience.

And then his phone rang.

The obnoxious ringtone (that Kisa had set for him when he tampered with the phone's settings) sliced into the silence like a quick knife. Cursing loudly, Takano pulled out his phone, glanced at the caller ID, and brought the phone up to his ear. "Yokozawa."

"Masamune." The voice on the other end sounded pissed. "Isaka san came into the office yelling about how he'd sent you and your 'husband' to the Land of the Living."

"That's right. What about it?"

"Where are you now?"

"In a tree."

"Huh?"

"I'm sitting in a tree." Takano inwardly laughed at the absurdity of his statement.

There was a pause on the other end, before Yokozawa sarcastically reasoned, "I don't suppose your husband is sitting in the tree with you."

"Said he was going to see his parents."

"Masamune, how long has he been gone?"

"Before Isaka san sauntered into the office, I'm sure."

"That was over half an hour ago. Masamune, I have a bad feeling about this."

Takano didn't want to admit that he'd had the same bad feeling for a while.

Hopping down from the tree, he muttered, "I won't be long," before pressing the 'END' button on his phone. He then began to make his way towards the town.

Climbing up the vines of a pillar had probably been the hardest thing in Ritsu's life.

But it didn't matter, because he had made it up to An chan's balcony, where she had found him (albeit being extremely shocked) and asked him where he had been, to which he answered he'd gotten lost in the forest and stayed at a stranger's place in the middle of the woods (not a complete lie). Now he was listening to her recount everything that had happened whilst he'd been gone.

Apparently he had been gone for 3 days, driving his parents half-mad with worry, as they proceeded to search for him in the pouring rain. They had gone through every inch of the town and had begun to search on the outskirts of town when their carriage driver suffered a severe coughing fit from the cold and rain. He had died, falling off the carriage as a result and leaving the carriage with no driver. Eventually, the carriage had fallen into a ditch, killing Mr and Mrs Onodera as well. Ritsu mourned for them as did An.

"Just then, I heard your parents… I mean, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I heard them at the main door… they said we weren't engaged anymore… or something," Ritsu bit his lip, not looking at An.

"It's true," An whispered softly. "I was there when he offered the proposition."

"H-He?" Ritsu gasped, "W-what? Who? Why would my parents…?"

"His name is Shin Haitani, apparently he works for Shuudansha Publishing," An told him, eyes filling with tears, "He's supposed to merge companies with your father, to bring him out of bankruptcy. He asked to marry you in exchange for that."

"Why would mother and father do that? To marry me to someone I've never even met…" Ritsu held back a sob as he trembled.

"I think things were looking pretty bad because my mother and father broke off the engagement. I'm sorry, Ricchan."

Of course, Ritsu understood how dire the situation had been for his parents. But to marry him off to some unknown stranger after he'd offered them unconfirmed promises of a better future? When said unknown stranger was a guy? Ritsu pressed a hand to his mouth as he processed everything he'd just been told.

He heard a light tapping sound at the balcony door behind him, which he ignored, assuming it was just a tree branch against the glass. Resolute, he took a deep breath, stood up and shouted, "I can't marry him! I don't love him!"

The tapping sound suddenly stopped. Ritsu saw An chan cover her mouth in shock.

Ritsu suddenly felt a foreboding. He turned around slowly. Standing there was Takano, the Corpse Groom.

He had his arms crossed, a glare marring his features. He pushed open the balcony door, taking long, slow, steps, advancing menacingly towards Ritsu. An had gone pale, staring at the corpse who had just appeared in her room. Takano stopped right in front of Ritsu, his height imposing down on Ritsu's shorter frame.

Takano's mouth contorted into a sneer as he deliberated every word, "So everything was a lie, wasn't it?"

And realisation dawned on Ritsu. The tapping sound at the window had been Takano. How the sound was there just before his own proclamation. Takano must've heard it, thought Ritsu was referring to him, and misunderstood.

Shaking his head, Ritsu stared back at Takano. "You're misunderstanding."

"Oh, it's a misunderstanding, is it? So I've also misunderstood when you said you wanted to see your parents, because instead you're here seeing some girl."

"I can explain!"

"Like hell you can. Hopscotch."

Ritsu felt his world spinning as a wave of nausea overcame him. When he felt the dizziness ebbing away, he realised he was back in Takano's apartment, in the Land of the Dead, standing next to a fuming Takano.

"I thought you were going to see your parents," Takano accused, staring pointedly at Ritsu.

"I couldn't find my parents! That girl was my fia-… childhood friend!" Ritsu was beyond irritated. He'd just found himself back at the very place he'd tried so hard to get away from.

Takano was slightly surprised, but he was by no means cooled down. "Then where were your parents?" he inquired angrily.

"That's none of your business!" yelled Ritsu as he glared at Takano.

That was the last straw for Takano. "Fine." With a snarl, he turned straight towards the entrance hall, yanked open the door and slammed it shut with a BANG behind him, angry footsteps echoing down the hallway as he let out a flow of curses.

Ritsu let out a deep sigh as he collapsed on Takano's couch, absentmindedly petting Sorata's skeleton head as the cat gazed inquiringly up at him. He did feel slightly guilty for making Takano mad, but it wasn't Ritsu's fault that Takano had appeared at the same time he yelled he wouldn't marry someone he didn't love. Anyway it definitely wasn't Ritsu's fault that Takano had to jump to conclusions about him seeing An chan instead of his parents. His parents were dead, for fuck's sake!

Ugh, he thought, why am I getting so worked up for if I wanted to have nothing to do with Takano san in the first place? Why do I want Takano san to know I wasn't referring to him just then? It's almost like… like I'm in love with him… all over again.

No, no, no, Ritsu violently shook his head, I just want to clear up this misunderstanding so we have nothing between us. Anyone would do that.

But why… do I want him to understand so badly?

Glancing at Sorata, he murmured, "I should go after him, shouldn't I?"

Sorata mewled in response.

Yesterday was the hottest day in Sydney's history - 45.8 degrees Celsius fuuu! Luckily the evening was much cooler and the temperature dropped down quite a bit. Also found a tiny frog in my backyard! It was sahh cute (first time seeing a frog around Sydney) but what the hell was it doing in my backyard?

Anyhow I'm sorry for leaving Ritsu and Takano on a bad note here, but they'll make up next chapter so rest assured!

Thanks a million for the amazing reviews - you are all awesome and I appreciate it so much!