Chapter 11
Ritsu's Affair
Onodera cringed when he heard his cell ring for the second time that evening. He did not want anything to do with Takano-san this evening, and he'd very well appreciate it if the older man would simply leave him alone.
But as the phone continued to ring, and continued to gradually become more and more of a nuisance to Onodera, he picked it up. "What do you want, Takano-san?!"
"Ah—Onodera-kun?"
Onodera froze. Since when did Takano-san call him Onodera-kun?
"It's me, Haitani."
Onodera let a silence drag on for a few moments, before he gasped and stared at the caller ID in disdain. Indeed, it was Haitani-san. He couldn't believe how stupid he was; how could he not simply take a glance at the caller ID before picking up the damn phone?
"I was wondering if you wanted to go out drinking tonight. I know it's pretty sudden, but we talked about it the other day, and I wanted to have a chat with you. What do you say?" the man asked, laughter eminent in his voice. Onodera blushed deeply at his stupidity.
"Ah, well—you see, I—" Wait a second. If you accept, there'd be no way Takano-san could find you because you won't tell him. So why the hell not? Yeah. I don't want any part of that man today. "Um…sure, Haitani-san. Just tell me where we're going to meet."
Onodera arrived at the bar with a few minutes to spare. He quickly turned off his phone in fear of Takano-san calling him, and Haitani-san then urging him to answer, since the man was so strangely polite all the time.
When his phone finally powered off, he shoved it into his coat pocket and waited. It was a cold winter night, the kind of night you'd want to see the stars in, but the city smog made the sky appear jet black.
"Sorry, have you been waiting long?"
Onodera jerked his head around to see Haitani-san walking up to him, also dressed in a coat and long jeans. He didn't look nearly as cold as Onodera was, though.
"Ah, no, I just arrived here myself," Onodera replied.
For some reason, that made Haitani-san smile. "Well, why don't we go inside? It's freezing out here."
Onodera nodded thankfully. "Yes, please."
Soon they were seated at a counter, and Onodera was downing one beer after another. Only on his second glass, he wasn't that drunk when Haitani-san asked, "So. I'm kind of curious…what's your relationship with Takano, if I may ask?"
Onodera's head snapped up in shock. Shit, he remembers… Onodera really wished he hadn't snapped into the receiver earlier before he was sure that it was Takano-san on the line. It could've been anyone, even An-chan or his mother. "O-our relationship, you ask? Err…well, isn't it obvious? We're coworker and boss, haha…" he replied weakly. He knew that Haitani-san was smart enough to see through his rather transparent bluff, but that was all he had. In any case, he was beginning to feel dizzy, finishing his second glass in one chug.
"Hnn…?" Haitani-san replied, before ordering Onodera two more beers. Onodera, unaware of Haitani-san's otherwise obvious plan, gratefully gulped the beers down.
After his fourth glass, Onodera was beginning to slur his words. Haitani-san, feeling rather confident about the situation, repeated his question. "What's your relationship with Takano?"
Onodera smirked and lay his head on the counter. "Why d'ya wanna know, Haitani-shan?" he asked in return.
Haitani-san laughed shortly. "Because I'm curious, Onodera-kun. Takano doesn't act the same around you, that's for sure."
Onodera sighed happily into the wood. "Hnn…I dunno how to eshplain…"
"Just give it your best shot."
There was a slight pause before Onodera screwed his eyes shut, and replied, "That idiot…"
"'That idiot'?"
"That idiot…we wennout in high shool…" He hiccupped, feeling the tears coming on. Every time he remembered himself and Takano-san back in their high school years, a great sadness overcame him, accompanied by a peaceful sensation. It confused him, scared him. "He tol' me…he was gonna make me fall in love wi' him…or somethin'…" He was fighting to keep the tears back now.
Meanwhile, Haitani couldn't say that he wasn't shocked. Takano had gone out with this guy back in high school? It sounded like a clichéd love story; lovers breaking up over the littlest thing, then reuniting later on in life, as boss and subordinate.
You can't be serious, Haitani thought. The guy was drunk; he couldn't possibly be rambling on about the actual truth. But something in him wanted to believe the man. He smirked when he realized that he was very interested in this man now. Who else could make Takano crack and crumble but the drunk sitting in front of him—Takano's lover from high school?
"Well, Onodera-kun, I think you've had enough. What do you say?" Haitani asked, grinning down at the smaller man. Onodera was completely out of it now—he couldn't even reply. Haitani hadn't really planned on it, but he decided to take the man home. It wasn't like Onodera really had any other options.
He called a cab and grabbed Onodera by the wrist. "Let's go, shall we?"
When they arrived at Haitani's apartment, Haitani took Onodera's coat off and placed the smaller man down on his bed. He didn't mind sleeping on the couch that night.
Suddenly, he heard a thunk behind him and whipped around to see a phone lying on the floor. He assumed that it was Onodera's, and picked it up. Walking over to the couch, he sat down while he turned the cell phone back on.
When it finally powered up, Haitani's eyes widened at the screen. It read: 42 missed calls, 12 new text messages, 38 new voicemail.
He soon realized that all of the new alerts were from Takano himself.
He started laughing after the first few text messages.
Where the hell are you?
Are you okay?
You're not home, I hope you're not drunk and in an alley somewhere.
Why aren't you answering me?
ONODERA!
Haitani couldn't believe this. So I guess Onodera-kun was actually telling the truth, huh…? He grinned down at the phone. This was very interesting indeed.
SO. Kinda short chapter. Sorry bout that! Thank you very much for reading and reviewing~ I appreciate everyone that enjoys this story!
I don't have a lot of time to finish this—going on a roadtrip this weekend and I'm about to leave. So I'll cut this short for the week!
See you next week!
