"Light tomorrow with today."

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

It was the end of August. The weather was a little bit chilling, but still good enough to go and spend a little time together with shopping. Walking around one of those huge supermarkets, Onodera held a piece of paper in front of him, telling Takano what they have to get.

"That's great, Ritsu, but it's a hella huge place, we're gonna get lost," he raised his eyebrows, and the brunet laughed.

"I'm sure we won't."

With a smile, they looked around, looking for vegetables. They soon found it, and grabbed what they needed.

"And now?"

"Beef meet," Ritsu said, and looked up. "I've seen those somewhere."

"I haven't," Takano murmured. "I told you. We got lost."

"No, we didn't!"

"Yes, we did!"

They stood there, arguing, and then they both burst out laughing. Onodera's cheek was slightly pink, and didn't notice that Takano was smiling down at him. They went to find that beef meet, and it took them a while to get it. It's been almost an hour since they were walking around in the supermarket, and Takano was looking at the huge shelves, while Onodera checked the list once again to see if they got everything. None of them saw the two others coming in front of them, and they bumped into them.

"I'm sor–" As Onodera looked up, and saw Kisa with Yukina, he couldn't say a word, and Takano next to him was looking at the three of them, confused.

"Sorry," Yukina said with a bright smile, and took a step closer. "Onodera-san, isn't it?"

"Yes," the brunet nodded.

Yukina now looked up at Takano. "And you're Takano-san, right?"

"And who are you?" Takano asked.

"Haha, I'm sorry, so rude of me! I'm Yukina Kou, Kisa's boyfriend."

And Onodera put the puzzles together. For a long time, until this moment, he didn't understand why Kisa stopped talking to him, and now he just figured it out. It must be because of Yukina. But was it because he didn't want Yukina to be jealous, or did Yukina ask him to block his number?

"Great to meet you, but we have to go n–" Takano started, but Kisa took a step closer, and suddenly, hugged Onodera.

Both Takano and Yukina froze there, and so did Onodera.

"W… What is happening?" Takano then narrowed his eyes. He was the first to be able to speak.

"Takano-san," Kisa turned toward him, his eyes sparkling. "Are… Are you and Ricchan together?"

The three others looked at him in confusion, then Takano smiled, and Onodera finally understood what was going on. Now that Yukina was there, too, Kisa just needed a confirmation of Onodera and Takano being together, so his boyfriend would believe… and might let them be friends again.

"Yeah," he said, pulling Onodera closer. "We are."

Kisa threw a grin at them, and Yukina as well smiled, and seemed to be a little ashamed. Did he start to regret what he did?

"Let's finish shopping. We should talk somewhere else, I guess," he said quietly, and the others nodded. As they walked away from each other, Onodera looked after them happily.

"Looks like your friend came back," Takano spoke, as they were standing in the queue.

"Yeah, It seems so."

Onodera's mother seemed really thankful for them buying everything she needed. Takano spent the last few days at their house, and it felt like he'd been living there for a long time.

"Thank you, guys! You can't imagine, what a trouble it is to have this much work!" she said with a warm smile.

"Believe me, Mrs. Onodera, I can imagine," Takano said while helping her packing some stuff into the fridge.

"Really? Anyway, you never told us where you're working. I'm curious now."

"I'm working at Marukawa Publishing, editing shoujo manga," he replied with a shy smile, and the woman's jaw dropped.

"So this is why you understand the struggle."

"Hey, I understand it, too!" Onodera spoke, cutting some vegetables. "I worked with a lot of stubborn authors, you know."

"Yeah, I know it, son," his mom laughed, and so did Takano.

Cooking together was something Onodera never really experienced before. His mother rarely asked for help in the kitchen, usually, she was fine on her own. But now that Takano was over, she asked the two of them to help her out, and they gladly did. Onodera needed guidance in cooking, but it seemed like Takano was totally okay with it, and he appeared to be a great cook. And the brunet admired him for this. Maybe he should ask him to teach him how to cook, but thinking about it, it would be a little shame, he thought.

As soon as they finished cooking, which took them at least two hours, they all sat at the table, eating. Onodera never in his life dreamed about having a lunch with his family, and with the love of his life around. He glanced at Takano, and he smiled at him.

"So, Takano-kun, I heard you're working at Marukawa," Onodera's father said, his voice showed slight interest.

"Yes, that's right," the guy replied, looking up at him. "At Emerald Department."

The man thought for a second. "So… you're editing shoujo manga?"

"Yes."

"What's your position?"

Takano hesitated with the answer for a minute, then spoke, "I'm the editor-in-chief in that department."

Everyone at the table awed, even Ritsu was surprised. Takano never told him anything about it. Being an editor-in-chief in his age was rare.

"Well, you sure achieved a lot, boy," Onodera's father said. "How did you do that?"

"Honestly, it wasn't that hard. The department was about to completely fall apart, and at the interview, they asked me what I would do to raise it again. I came up with some ideas, and they immediately put me into that position. Now, I have two editors and a second editor-in-chief working for me, and it's a great team, I have to admit."

All Onodera's father could do was whistle in impression, and the black-haired boy smiled shyly. Onodera was grinning at him, and felt really proud of him.

"Such a great guy you are," the woman laughed softly, carefully touching Takano's shoulder. Then she turned toward her son. "You've chosen a great guy, Ritsu."

Later that day, Kisa called him, asking them to meet him and Yukina at a restaurant, so they can talk while having a dinner together. Both of them nodded, and around six, they met. Yukina and Kisa were waiting for them.

Getting a table in the corner of the restaurant, the four of them sat down, and for a moment, they sat in awkward silence.

"So…" Yukina started, biting on his lip. "Can we just… talk about everything… from the start?"

Kisa and Onodera looked at each other.

"What do you mean?" the brunet spoke, frowning.

"You, guys, remember that night, when we met. I mean, when Onodera-san met Kisa-san," Yukina explained slowly. "I just… I just want to know this story clear."

"Maybe it wouldn't do any harm if we heard what exactly happened back then, and where it went wrong," Takano added, and the brunet smiled at him. "I mean, that was where I and Onodera met after a hell of a long time, and Kisa was lying on his lap, so it was a little bit confusing."

"Yes, and Kisa-san said he was totally into me, then he ended up in Onodera's room was kind of a bad feeling, and when we talked it through, I told him not to talk to Onodera-san. So it would be cool, if we talked about it, and made it right. I know I went far with my jealousy, but," Yukina gulped, and looked up at the three others, "but this was exactly the reason, why I did this."

"Well, it explains a lot," Onodera said, licking his bottom lip, then looked around. "I guess, we should really tell this story from the very start… to the very end."

"Yeah, let's get over this hell already," Kisa laughed softly, and looked at Onodera. "You go first, Ricchan."

The brunet thought for a long minute before starting to talk, trying to find the words. He still remembered what happened back then, and how it turned out, but now that it was time to talk about it, he just couldn't say a word. Then he glanced up, and started.

"A friend of mine dragged me into that party that night. She went to bring some drinks, and when I was about to look for her, I bumped into Kisa-san. We talked a little, and then he gave me a bottle of beer, and after that bottle, I kept on drinking by myself. He tried to stop me, but I refused." They both laughed at this, then the brunet went on. "Also, I was the one who dragged him up to a room."

"Oh, I already forgot that," Kisa chuckled. "You were drunk. I knew you weren't drinking just for fun, or to get wasted for nothing."

"Yeah, you indeed knew it," Onodera sighed. "So, after that, we went up, and he heard me out. He listened to every little stupid detail I told him. And I was totally drunk."

"I told him that revenge won't satisfy him, but…"

"Wait a minute," Takano interrupted, holding up his index finger. "Was this whole thing about… me?"

"Kinda," Kisa and Onodera answered at the same time.

"Okay, it's starting to turn from a serious talk into a comedy," Yukina groaned.

"You better take it serious. It's still the beginning of hell," Onodera said silently, and everyone looked at him. "Kisa-san suggested me to take revenge on Takano-san. With him."

"That's right," the black-haired boy nodded.

"We started to make out, then it… got wilder. I… We both thought I wouldn't remember, or that we could just forget about it, or look at it as a little adventure. None of us thought it would turn into this."

"Next morning, he went home, but before that, I gave him my number," Kisa added, then scratched the back of his head. "Later that day, I called him to say sorry. And we… umm… that night confused both of us, and we told it to each other. And then I invited him to the next party, where I met you, Yukina, and where Onodera met Takano."

"So… it was two different parties?" Yukina frowned.

"Yeah," Kisa smiled. "It was."

"Funny thing is, that next morning, Matsuda as well invited me," Onodera spoke again while the waitress put four glasses and two bottles of cola onto the table. They drank, and the brunet went on. "Matsuda said he wanted to introduce me to some people. And one of them was Takano-san."

"We met, and we both drank," Kisa took a sip from his cola. "And… I suggested him to not repeat that last time."

"And you kinda told me I'm not handsome."

"What? I didn't!"

"It's starting to become a silly sitcom," Takano murmured, and Yukina laughed out loud.

"Okay, guys, stop arguing about that. Just get to the point."

"Even though we discussed how much we aren't each other's type, we still ended up making out," Onodera admitted with a slight blush on his face. "Then Matsuda came, and finally introduced me to those people he wanted to – Takano-san and Yokozawa-san."

"I was kind of tipsy," Kisa chuckled.

"Yeah. Never mind. Takano-san told me, that he might have mistaken me for someone else, and I thought he really looked like that senpai I admired back in junior high." Onodera inhaled, then exhaled long, running his fingers through his hair. "Later, Takano-san came up to me once again, asking for my name again, and told me the name of that boy he liked. I told him that I know that person, and Kisa just kissed me in front of Takano-san."

"Oh, I remember that," Takano said.

"And I don't really," Kisa lifted up his eyebrows. "Did I really do that?"

"Yeah, you did," the brunet nodded.

"Sorry!"

"Alright, let me shorten the story," Onodera sighed. "We argued with Takano-san about who hurt who, and Takano-san ended up leaving."

"And from here, it's my turn to go on with the story," Kisa leaned forward, scratching his nose. "I found Ricchan in a room, all alone, and now I remember, when I told you that I shouldn't have kissed you in front of him." He looked at Onodera, then turned back to face Takano and Yukina. "I don't know, I felt like I was talking to a friend who I've known for a really long time."

"I was thinking the same, though," Onodera said quietly. "Like a friend, or… a brother."

"Yeah. Then Yukina came. You remember, when we met. I was really drunk, but then you went to grab more drinks, and until then, I checked upon Ricchan if he's okay."

"So that was going on," Yukina nodded as he started to understand the situation.

"And you left, Yukina-san," Onodera bit his lip. "Kisa left, too, and so did I. I saw you arguing on my way home. Then I got home, and… the hell started there."

"You mean…" Takano started, and Onodera knew that Takano was aware of what he was about to say.

"You hurt yourself, didn't you?" Yukina asked, and it surprised all of them. They never expected him finding it out.

"Yes," Onodera nod his head. "And I got into a hospital. Kisa came after me, and the doctor told him everything. I couldn't tell what the reason was. Maybe it was because everything was ruined. Maybe it was because I ruined the things between you and Kisa-san…"

"I nearly killed myself because those two nights were too much for me. I hated myself, and had some breakdowns even after that, and cutting myself became my habit. And a few days later, Takano-san came over, and we talked," Onodera recalled, purposely avoiding the memory of Takano kind of raping him. Next to him, Takano turned his glance down. He knew it. "I told Kisa-san to come over. And he came, spending the night with me."

"And next morning, we fought again," Kisa exhaled. "I was really at Ricchan's, and you know that, Yukina." Yukina nodded. "Onodera cried for me, and I knew that he was one rarely great friend. No one ever was this worried about me."

"And I can say the same about Kisa-san. Whenever I had problems, he was there immediately. And he even lied to Yukina-san. And then he came back to my place, and told me that you guys broke up."

"And I told Ricchan, that I might've had a crush on him."

"What?" Yukina and Takano asked at once, both of them confused and surprised.

"Yeah," Kisa chuckled shyly. "Thinking about it, it was a horrible idea."

"Not to mention, that later, when you were about to leave, An-chan appeared, and so did Takano-san."

"That was a mess for sure," Takano said with a smile.

"Did you fight or something?" Yukina asked with interest in his voice.

"An-chan wanted me to be her boyfriend, and Kisa-san pulled me out of that mess by lying to her. And then Takano-san came and almost misunderstood. But he heard me out, then talked about… well, other things, and he left. Again."

"I called him again, so he came. That was where I hurt myself as well. I told Ricchan everything, and he tried to help me. He tried his best. He was always be there."

"Just like Kisa-san was always be there for me," Onodera nodded, and they smiled at each other.

"Ricchan thought that he if walks away or vanishes, it would solve everything."

"Ritsu, you're so silly," Takano sighed.

"No matter how I look at it, in that situation, anyone could've thought the same," Onodera said, suddenly feeling some kind of pain in his chest. Recalling this hell made a huge impact on him.

"And I'll just jump to the part, where Yukina told me to block Ricchan's number. Looking at it, I kind of understand, why you asked me to do this, Yukina," Kisa looked at the brunet guy, who suddenly burst out crying.

"I'm so sorry!" he said, leaning over the table to hug the black-haired boy.

"Sheesh, Yukina, it's okay."

Takano smiled at them, then sat a little closer to Onodera, and held his hand. Ritsu hugged him, and his eyes started to get filled with tears.

After discussing these things, they stayed in the restaurant, talking about other things, and it was a relief to both Ritsu and Kisa to talk about the past. When they looked at each other, they felt like they can finally get over it, and everything seemed to get better from now on.

A/N:

Hey there! Yes, it's been quite a while. Yes, I was inactive. But if you follow my other work "You made me a novelist", then you'd know some things. :D Anyway, I'm really sorry for not updating. This is kind of the last chapter. Everything is good between out characters, and I'll add a little epilogue to the story. Thank you for following this story, I hope you enjoyed reading it. :3 Thank you for the follows, faves and reviews.

Ricchan