Chapter Twenty-Five: The Whale Pool
Onodera glanced across the bustling street at Marukawa, trying to keep the large, dreadful lump out of his throat. In fact, the brunette could only recall a handful of memories where he was this nervous (one of which was his senior prom in France that was a complete fucking disaster).
In fact, when Takano had first mentioned the idea of him going back to Marukawa, he had been terrified. Not only because he was carrying the flu children of the head editor, but also because he had quit and left them hanging so suddenly.
….Okay, maybe it WAS just the fact that he was carrying the flu children of the head editor, which by default meant that they had been doing the unspeakable for far longer than he would like to remember.
And when Ritsu stopped to think about it, it was perfectly logical that he would be frightened of going into a workplace, simultaneously showing his former quitting-without-even-giving-a-two-week's-notice-employee ass, outing himself as a member of the rainbow brigade, and announcing to the entire literary world that Emerald editor-in-chief Takano Masamune and him had fucked (…over and over).
Yeah. It made sense.
But even as he stood fearfully in the shadow of the towering building, Ritsu did not turn to run, but adjusted the bag slung over his shoulder and began to cross the street. He knew he had reason to be afraid, and yet, the sight of the familiar building brought a quiet peace to his mind that he had not felt in months.
Flu babies and fucking regardless, Onodera knew it was time to face his company.
But even still, despite his newly found courage, Ritsu fidgeted as he rode the elevator up to the fourth floor, adjusting and readjusting the large winter coat he wore to hide his baby bump. He knew he couldn't exactly keep his belly an airtight secret, but at the same time he didn't want people staring at it like some sort of netherworld portal. Especially since it had grown so much in that past few weeks.
Ding.
The elevator made its stop at the destination floor and Ritsu walked out, his anxiety peaking as he saw familiar employees scurrying about as usual. Swallowing hard, he squared his shoulders and walked as casually as he could over to the Shoujo department, all the while hoping his face didn't look as nervous as he felt.
He goaded himself for being so worried, after all, Takano had already told them that he was coming and had made all the arrangements for him to start working part time. Everything was going to be fine. Everything was going to be—
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT A REWRITE? YOU CAN'T HAVE A REWRITE! WE HAVE TWO WEEKS TILL THE ISSUE IS OUT!"
Ritsu stopped cold as he heard a screaming voice come from the pink cubicles of the Maiden department, and as he approached he heard more various yellings and panickings that sounded very much like Kisa.
Sure enough, as Onodera entered the workspace, he immediately caught sight of the petite, dark-haired man who was strangely perched cross-legged on top of Takano's desk. The editor's face was set in an expression Ritsu knew well called "the negotiating face," which was more or less a forced smile underneath a set of "I-want-to-fucking-kill-this-author" eyes. Kisa talked hurriedly into the phone, reassuring whomever it was that their storyboard was perfect and if they didn't believe him he would get another head editor to check it out.
"Alright then Takeshiji-sensei," Kisa slurred, gritting his teeth into the biggest smile he could. "Make sure to give us a call if you have any more problems. Have a nice day…"
"AUGH!" Kisa grunted as he set the phone down, expelling a rather large breath. "Nearly got my ass cooked there."
"How did she take the news?" Mino asked cheerfully from his desk.
"Like shit." Kisa replied, shuffling through a nearby stack of papers. "Hey Hatori, do you have Yamaro's storyboard?"
"She's going to fax it at noon." The other editor replied, his eyes still fixed on his own work.
From across the room and out of sight, Ritsu watched his three coworkers, and a sudden pang took hold in his chest. Seeing the three of them in such familiar circumstances had brought back memories of his own experience here, and for the first time in months Onodera realized just how much he had missed it. Not just the work, but his fellow editors as well. And taking heart in the fact that they were still here trucking along, the brunette finally worked up his courage and walked in, immediately gaining everyone's attention.
"H—Hello everyone." Onodera smiled, raising a hand in greeting.
"I don't believe it! It's really Rit-chan!" Kisa grinned, sliding off the top of Takano's desk. Mino and Hatori also rose, gathering around their prodigal son in a welcoming party.
"Wow, it's been months." Kisa exclaimed, scratching the back of his head.
Ritsu nodded bashfully.
"Yes, it has."
"We've missed you around here." Mino added. "Just hasn't been the same."
"Really?" Ritsu asked.
"Mmm." Hatori grunted dryly, giving a single nod.
"Go on," Kisa said, cocking his head towards Ritsu's desk. "Go have a seat. Take off your coat."
At those couple of words, Ritsu struggled to keep his face straight. He had hoped to avoid revealing his condition on his first day back, but…
No. He didn't want to beat around the bush and hide anymore. He didn't want to be afraid.
So mustering up all his heart and cajones, Ritsu gave them a nod.
"Okay."
With weighted feet, Onodera trudged over to his desk and set his shoulder bag down with shaky hands. He had the feeling that every eye in the room was on him, but his shook it off, believing it just to be his nervousness. With a deep breath, the brunette slowly slid his coat off his shoulders and draped it over the back of his chair. His twin-filled baby bump jutted out the middle of his turtle necked sweater, and he kept his head slightly lowered as he moved out from the behind the chair and in view, bracing himself for whatever horror or outburst they threw his way—
"Hatori! TIME!"
Ritsu's eyes flew over to Kisa and Mino, who were looking expectantly at Hatori. The tallest editor looked dryly at his watch.
"Two minutes and forty-six seconds." He said flatly.
Kisa whistled under his breath.
"Man! None of us were even close!"
"I can't believe he took his coat off so fast." Mino grinned. "I certainly didn't see that coming."
"Uhh…excuse me," Ritsu said, craning his neck over. "But…what are you guys talking about?"
The three men immediately turned back to him, giving various smiles.
"You sure have changed Rit-chan," Kisa chuckled. "Now none of us will win the bet."
Onodera's eyes widened.
"The…bet?"
"Mhmm," Mino hummed. "We had a pool on how long it would take you to reveal your belly, but none of us expected it to happen so fast!"
"You had…what?" Onodera gapped, his mind enveloped in horror.
"Yeah, I bet that you'd cave in about an hour," Mino continued. "Kisa said two, and Hatori bet that you wouldn't take it off till lunch. Though Hatori probably wouldn't have won anyways because I saw Kisa turning up the thermostat earlier."
Hatori immediately cast a condescending look at his fellow editor, who shifted uncomfortably.
"Hey," Kisa said. "No one said it was off limits."
"That's not the point." Hatori growled.
"W—Wait wait hold on," Onodera cut in, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You mean…you all…know about…"
"You being knocked up?" Kisa replied. "Yep. Known since the beginning."
"Don't call it that." Hatori said, frowning slightly.
"Oh yes Rit-chan," Mino said cheerily. "If you're back to work part time, does that mean Takano-san will be back as well?"
At the mention of Takano, Ritsu immediately shrunk back, his mind overwhelmed with a flood of emotions and hormones. He began to panic, and his legs started to buckle under him. Hatori immediately noticed the drained pallor of his face and rushed forward, quickly sliding an arm under Onodera's shoulder.
"Go sit down Onodera." He said flatly, helping the weakened man over to his desk as he cast a disgruntled look at Kisa and Mino. "Don't pressure him so much." He said, with a frown as he pulled the chair out for Ritsu, who sank into it gratefully.
"Thank you Hatori-san." He sighed, taking a deep breath and palming his stomach.
Hatori nodded in reply, and the others gave Onodera penitent looks.
"Sorry," Kisa said, coming over to take the chair next to him.
Onodera lightly smiled in reply, but his brow was still creased.
"Sorry but…h—how on earth did you guys find out? I mean…T—Takano-san didn't say anything…did he?"
"He didn't need to." Kisa snorted. "We figured it out."
"But how?" Onodera said anxiously.
"Oh pulleaze," Kisa rolled his eyes. "You two have been making gaga eyes at each other since the day you got here! Honestly Rit-chan, we're all in a business where we lie through our teeth on a daily basis. You think none of us noticed?"
Onodera was dumbfounded by Kisa's words, and his gapping mouth attested to that.
"Well er—I…. Um listen, I know what this looks like but…Takano-san and I aren't…together…like that."
"Well we know that." Mino replied.
"Yeah really," Kisa added. "From what we gathered it's just more or less a love/hate relationship that fluxuates more than the stock market. Correct?"
Ritsu swallowed uncomfortably, but silently nodded.
"And it didn't help that Takano's cover up lie really wasn't a winning performance." Mino chuckled.
"I know right?" Kisa laughed. " Mr. 'I'm off to take care of a sick relative just a few weeks after Onodera quit due to an illness.' How cliché."
Mino and Kisa grinned, but their smiles fell when they saw an acute strain of worry and anxiety surface in Ritsu's expression.
"Umm…" Onodera murmured, his face still pale. "I know this is a lot to ask but…could you…could you guys not tell anyone just yet?"
All three of his coworkers exchanged shocked glances.
"Onodera," Hatori began. "Do you honestly think we would spread a such a personal secret of one of our coworkers, especially considering his condition?"
"Well…no but—"
"Look Rit-chan," Kisa said, raising a hand. "Even though you can't very well hide that whale belly you're carrying around, the details of it don't leave this room, and we'll make sure of that."
A breath of relief left Onodera's lips, and he felt a smile curl his mouth as he gave them a stunned and grateful bow from his chair.
"…Thank you all. Thank you so much."
"Oh don't mention it." Mino smiled.
"Yeah really," Kisa added. "But you know…while were on the subject, let me just say…. you're freaking huge."
Onodera gave a light laugh.
"I know. And I'm only twenty weeks."
Kisa and Hatori's eyes went noticeably wider.
"Whoa, seriously?" Kisa exclaimed. "You look like you're ready to burst any minute."
"Yes well," Onodera smiled. "I'm carrying twins."
At the mention of the word "Twins," Kisa's mouth twisted into a slightly horrified frown.
"…You poor bastard." He said quietly.
Onodera shrugged, giving his belly a pat.
"It's not so bad."
"At least you don't have to report it to the company." Mino smiled. "Part-timers don't have to officially notify the higher ups for time off work."
"Yes," Onodera nodded. "He—I mean uh Takano-san, told me."
"Speaking of work," Hatori mentioned as a nearby phone began to ring. "That's probably Hakai-sensei calling you back Kisa."
"Oh shit, you're right," Kisa replied, jumping out of the chair and racing over to grab the receiver. "Hatori get Onodera to work on some storyboards and then go make those copies!"
"Right," Hatori replied, going back over to his desk to retrieve a couple of folders. Onodera immediately turned around in his chair to his desk, straightening up a pile of stray papers that were lying around. The familiar sounds of pages turning, keyboards being typed on, and phones being yelled into began to fill his ears, and Onodera closed his eyes, and gave a sigh of contentment.
Despite all the shenanigans his coworkers pulled, it was great to be back.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT A REWRITE? YOU'RE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT WAS FINE! IT'S GENIUS EVEN! ARE YOU CRAZY?"
Well, somewhat at least.
Wow! I can't believe how much more popular this story is getting, and I am ever so grateful! ^_^
Thank you all for your patience with the updates, and there will be review replies next time so stick around! More Nostalgia next!
*Bows *
TBF101