As it turns out, the horrors were worse than Ritsu had imagined.

The office wasn't actually dark and gloomy, to be fair, and all told it seemed like a nice place to work, with plenty of windows and an abundant self-service station, but somehow the utterly ordinary scene still emanated a sense of menace that sent shivers crawling up Ritsu spine and made him want to run in the opposite direction.

Or maybe that was just the hordes of undead that seemed to be hobbling around the various workspaces. Yeah, that was probably it.

"… so you'll be observing and working with me today." Takano's voice just edged above the noise.

"Because it's the end of the cycle, you said?"

"Yeah."

Ritsu blinked. "How long do these cycles generally run? In the Manga department."

Takano guided Ritsu over to the furthest right part of the cubicles. "In general, twenty-five days. We start with the author's plot for the chapter, move on to the storyboard, then finalize the tone and text. After that, it gets sent to the printers, and aside from some galley checks, we get ten or eleven days to check in with sales, make sure our authors haven't died, vet new and sub materials, etc." Takano looked over his shoulder at one of the suits that was passing by, an imposing, dark-haired man with his nose buried in a stack of paperwork. "It's a never-ending cycle of hell, and in no small part thanks to this asshole right here. Takafumi, I'd like you to meet my new apprentice."

The man turned to glare Takano, then down at Ritsu, who decided that now might be a good time to grow some ears and a tail and start cowering like a tiny dog. This guy is looking at me like I'm less than trash! We haven't even said a single word yet! He bowed. "I'm Onodera Ritsu, and it's a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to working with you, so please be patient while I'm learning!"

The glare didn't lessen much at all. "Onodera? As in the son of the Onodera Group's CEO? What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be riding your father's coattails or something?" Ouch. That was the sort of attitude he was hoping to get away from, here; was it going to follow him no matter where he went?

"Takafumi!"

"Anyways, I need to get going. Get your damn authors to get their stuff in! And stop goofing around when you haven't submitted all of your paperwork!"

Takano almost looked like he wanted to stalk after the man, but hesitated when he looked back at Ritsu. Instead, he walked over towards the elevators. "Tch. Sorry about him, he's forever in a bad mood at work. That was Yokozawa Takafumi, an old friend of mine from university. He's one of the leaders in the sales department, so he's a good person to check in with during the ten-day part of the cycle. At least when he isn't breathing down your neck like just now."

Ritsu looked after Yokozawa, who had managed to engage himself in another shouting match in the brief moment after he had stepped away. Then the elevator doors closed, and ended any chance of seeing the fight's conclusion. "I see… Do you find yourself needing to speak with him regarding work often?" Because the less Ritsu needed the angry man for, the better.

"Not really. But he's got contacts in every major retailer that we sell our books to, so generally we go out together when we want to see how a book is received. Why, didn't like what you saw?" Takano's grin said that he didn't particularly mean the sentiment.

"Not that. He's fin- I mean!" Ugh, his first day on the job and already he was a train wreck. Takano smirked at him. What had happened to his fresh start? "Do you think my father's business will impact my job here?"

The elevator opened, and they stepped out once more. "Of course it will."

His heart plummeted, like the elevator had instead just dropped him in front of the gates of hell. "What?!"

Takano turned a considering gaze onto Ritsu. It wasn't heavy, but there was a weight to it that Ritsu felt he couldn't ignore. "It's where you cut your teeth editing. It's also on your resume. You're stuck with it." He almost looked like he had more to say, but the body that collided with Ritsu as he turned the corner stopped any further conversation.

Ritsu looked down. The zombie, swaying from side to side, dark hair askew and eyes baggier than Takano's, grunted and looked back. He couldn't be more than a fresh graduate, and yet he had all the vitality of a beached whale. "Hyeh… Sorry… Who are you supposed to be?"

"He's the newbie we're borrowing from literature for a little while."

Ritsu's head was already dipped in a bow. "Onodera Ritsu, I look forward to learning from you."

The zombie blinked. "Kisa Shouta. Is this your first chance working in manga?"

Ritsu nodded slowly.

The wobbly smile on Kisa's face froze. "One moment, Onodera-san." He took a deep breath, then rounded on Takano, who had moved further in towards what Ritsu could only assume was his desk. The mountain of paperwork certainly seemed to indicate as much. "Takano-san! We don't have time to train a total noob when the deadline's just around the corner! What are you thinking?"

He turned back to Ritsu. "Sorry about that. Needed to be said. Welcome to the Emerald Department." And then he got up and promptly strode out of the office space, running into another editor on his way out.

Takano shook his head. "They'll all be like that today. Things will be fine tomorrow. Hey, Hatori! Did the sub mats make it?"

A head lifted from the far desk on the left. "Yes, Takano-san. The mangaka is waiting for you in one of the meeting rooms on the second floor." Just then, the phones started ringing. The name on the display read 'Yoshida,' and Hatori heaved an almighty sigh before picking up the ringer, placing it back down, and pulling out his own cell phone, getting to his feet and charging out as well. "If you'll excuse me."

Takano shakes his head. "He manages one of our star mangakas, who's brilliant but a little cagey." Ritsu watches as he rifles around the veritable mountain of paperwork, grunting in frustration, until he withdraws a folder. "You'll find that this job involves a lot of running, so don't expect to just sit at your desk like a lump."

Ritsu glares at him; what kind of worker does this guy take him for? "Do I look particularly lumpy to you, Takano-san?"

Takano levels him with an even stare that lasts just long enough that Ritsu has to resist the urge to squirm. "Hmmm, not a lump, no, but definitely a kabocha squash."

"Excuse me?!" Takano is a jackass, Ritsu decided, an utterly unrepentant jackass. Yeah, he was a little stubborn, but he's not that bad!

Something thwacked him lightly in the head: the folder Takano was holding. "Let's go, this'll be a good first lesson for you."

The woman waiting for them in one of the small conference rooms looks like an utter disaster. There are bags under her eyes, and the finest tremor in her hands. Her shoulders rest up near her jaw, and as they step into the room she's watching them with wide-eyed trepidation.

Takano grabs a seat opposite of her, leaving Ritsu to sit next to the both of them. Takano begins thumbing through the pages, and from what little Ritsu can see, they're intricately detailed and far beyond what his peers used to boast about in high school. So this is the skill of a pro, to make something so incredible so quickly.

"These look good, sorry he gave you so little notice."

"It's fine, I had some time." Ritsu can see the way her tension slowly drains, and applauds his tact.

He can tell that this was the moment Takano was waiting for, because he pulls one of the pages out of the pile. "Think you can adjust this scene a bit? The kiss here feels a little too static."

Ritsu scanned the panel, taking in the finer details and overall composition. They really didn't have time for edits, if printing was happening in seven days, but he could definitely see what Takano was talking about. The kiss in question looks off, true, but it's hard for him to pinpoint what exactly it is. It's too, not stiff, but… Lacking the sort of intimacy that might make it an exceptional scene. "I see what you mean."

"Right? It feels off, but I can't put my finger on it!"

The heavy sigh to his right reminds him that Takano is also there. "It's the angle; it's too straight on. It feels impersonal and like the reader is watching two strangers press their lips together. There's no passion, so it just leaves the audience feeling awkward."

The artist considers that. "So then, I need to change something…" She stares at the print for a good, long minute. Ritsu stares too, but he's coming up blank; the physicality of romance is definitely something he lacks experience in. Eventually, she sighs loudly, and collapses forward onto the table, until her head thuds solidly against its surface. "But, I don't even know where to start!"

Takano clicks his tongue, noisily, and mutters in a way that Ritsu thinks is meant to be heard, "Haven't you ever been kissed before?" Ritsu turns to frown at him. Regardless of difficulty, surely insulting someone who's already at the end of their rope isn't actually going to get anything done?

But then his eyes caught Takano's, and he could almost physically see the lightbulb go off behind them. He did not like the expression he was wearing. His face slackens, and he spends a long moment just taking Ritsu in, something Ritsu gets the sense he's going to have to get used to; Takano seemed to evaluate everyone before he did anything.

As they maintained eye contact, Takano asked the mangaka. "Would an example help?"

"Takano-san—"

"I won't do anything you're uncomfortable with, but I won't lie: this will probably be a huge help to Aizawa-san here." To the side, the woman was nodding furiously.

He was a grown man, he reminded himself, as he tried to cool his face. It wasn't even a proper kiss, it was just a physical reference, like the people who posed nude for artists! Not a big deal. And Takano had asked, and they are on a deadline...

Ritsu grimaced, but nodded. Yeah, he could do this. "You owe me for this."

"We can go for coffee later." Takano turned briefly to glare at the mangaka. "You, watch very carefully. I'm only going to ask him to do this once."

The world slowed to a standpoint. Ritsu watched as Takano moved closer, as his hand rose up to gently his jaw. He was tilted ever so slightly downward and to the side, until Takano loomed over him just slightly, barely more than a breath away.

The kiss, when it happens, does not register for a good long while, because he's so focused on Takano's piercing, half-lidded gaze that for a minute that's all his world is. But then he realizes that they're suddenly a lot closer, and it comes with a wave of heat and warmth and a firebrand pressed to his mouth, that spreads from his lips to the top of his head and the tips of his toes.

How long has it been since he's been kissed? Since he felt like he'd stepped back into the sunlight after spending an unspeakable amount of time in the dark, left cold and shivering and alone?

Ritsu can't remember.

He felt keenly as the stiffness born from nerves melted from his shoulders, and he leaned just a little bit closer, in the hopes that he could get just a little bit more of that liquid sunlight for himself.

There's a high ringing in his ear. Oh right, they had an audience, didn't they?

After a long moment that Ritsu spent basking in the kiss, Takano pulled back. There's something unreadable in his expression, not that Ritsu's at all experience with reading the man, but he turned towards the mangaka before Ritsu can get a better sense for what that look meant. "Did you get that?"

"Y-YES!"

It's over all too soon, and yet, now that the spell has broken, he's eager to get away. He was way too into that, and he needs a moment to recoup and reevaluate.

That had been way too dangerous.

He couldn't let himself get carried away by his feelings again, just because his heart is weak to acts of kindness!

Takano gestured him out of the room, leaving the mangaka to scratch furiously at her paper. "Your cooperation was appreciated. I'm sure she'll be able to finish that in no time at all."

A jealous little creature worms its way into his throat as he realizes, maybe Takano's kissed the others like this. That soured the little bit of sunlight still lingering in his chest. "Is that how all of Emerald operates? Working as— as references when it's needed?"

Takano snorts at him, and memories of a boy he's tried many times to forget surfaces. Indignation joins the jealousy, but Takano speaks before they can make him say something he regrets. "Not really, but it seemed appropriate at the time. Saved us a trip for submats. Why? Did it bother you?"

"Not— particularly." He admitted. He'd quite like to do it again, all told. But that was unreasonable, Ritsu's being unreasonable. You don't kiss people you aren't dating, except for family and work. He just got here; he's not ready to be harassed out of the office because he can't keep his weak, bi heart in line!

Ritsu can't look him in the eye right now, but he can already picture the doubtful look on his face. "Uh huh. Well, I promised you coffee, so how about we go sometime this weekend, and I can show you how we suggest edits to manuscripts." Ritsu's ears perked up. "We handle a variety of final processing before sending things off to the printers, typesetting, cleaning, and screentoning to name a few, and it'd be good if you had all this more or less down by the time the next cycle comes around."

"That's a lot to ask of someone new to the field."

Takano stops dead, and turns a challenging brow on him. He felt his pride shoving all those other emotions out of the way, and cursed the fact that Takanoi already seems to have his stubbornness locked down. "You saying you aren't up to it?"

That shut Ritsu right up.

He spends the rest of the day in a daze, juggling reference materials, phone calls, and spreadsheets full of data. It's an entirely different ball game to literature, much more involved in short-term and long-term popularity polls, due to the serialized nature of everything. There's tips and hints from his editors at every turn, and his computer monitor quickly becomes littered with the post-its he uses to take memos.

His thermos of coffee doesn't last him very long.

He left work in a daze, hours late, head full of new info, and it's only a hand on his arm that kept him from smashing his face into a door or wall.

Takano snorted at him, and Ritsu's begun to think that the man found him either ridiculously stupid or ridiculously entertaining. Or it's just his form of greeting. "Good work today, Onodera."

"Thank you."

"... For a total noob anyways."

"...Consider yourself unthanked."

They spend the ride home in silence. Ritsu let Takano have the open seat on the train, and the man threw him a grateful look in return as he slumped into it, no doubt worn out from Hell Week. He found himself, to his horror, blushing and looking away, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Takano grin.

His neighbor was kind of an asshole, though Ritsu found he didn't mind too much.

He was nearly dead on his feet by the time the elevator opened on their floor, and as he forced the lead weights he called legs to take him forward, Takano grabs him by his elbow. "Hang on."

Ritsu is half-tempted to simply collapse on him; he just wants to crash! "Yes?"

"You have food to eat? You're not just going to crash as soon as you get into your place?"

Ritsu had been planning to do just that, in fact, and it must have shown on his face, because Takano heaved a sigh. "Drop your stuff off and come over to mine. I'll get dinner started."

"But—"

"I will not take no for an answer, Onodera. If your ass isn't over in five minutes, I'm going to come and get you." Ritsu stared down the two accusing fingers shoved right in his face, and nodded. No point arguing with Takano, even if Ritsu really had wanted some time to himself.

He stumbled into his apartment, tossing his bag and keys vaguely in the direction they needed to go. His clothes soon followed, and he threw on a set of presentable but comfy pajamas that he didn't think Takano would mind too much.

With three minutes remaining on Takano's clock — he had no doubt the man would come and get him if he was even a second late, he seemed like the type — he allowed himself a moment to slump into one of his armchairs.

Today had been… a lot. The new workplace, the new coworkers, the new field… It was honestly a little intimidating, how much he had to learn. He was up for the challenge, of course, Ritsu didn't like letting himself fail just because he couldn't put in a little bit of effort so he'd manage, but the amount of work it was going to take was overwhelming, to say the least. And...

He was still thinking about that kiss.

He shouldn't be, but he was.

He thought about it as he let himself into Takano's apartment, yelled in through the door when he knocked. He thought about it as he shovelled food into his mouth, fast enough that he only registered that it tasted good. And he thought about when, after he'd finished his plate he noticed Takano watching him, his own plate only half-eaten

What was Takano seeing? Was it something about him in particular? Was it something good?

Was he being judged, found lacking?

The thought rankled Ritsu like few others. New he may be, but he refused to allow himself to be found lacking.

The snort that followed just cements his indignation. "Is there something funny, Takano-san?"

"You seem like you're working yourself into a tantrum, noob. It's funny, watching your every single thought flit across your face." The man took another pull of his drink. "You're an open book; it's refreshing."

"Really? Feels an awful lot like you're looking down on me…"

Takano's answering snort was even louder than the first. "Nah. You're doing fine. For a noob." He added, though the boyish grin Ritsu got took all the sting out of it, and once more Ritsu felt this man disarming his rage before it could rightfully begin.

How had the man learned to defuse him so quickly?

Takano's head tilted back, eyes still on Ritsu, and the first thought that crossed unbidden through his mind is, his throat sure is long. The little thought didn't make it much further before Ritsu was shutting it down ruthlessly, but he could tell that the next few links in the train would've been something very inappropriate.

It's only been a week, and he was already getting the hots for his new boss? What was wrong with him?!

Ritsu was not going to do this to himself again.

He rises with his plate and cup in hand, and makes for the sink. There was very little by way of dishes, as Takano had evidently used a prepackaged meal set, but still he furiously washed the few remaining tools before setting the lot to dry in the drying rack.

He heard Takano rise and step after as he was finishing the last bit of silverware. Ritsu held out his hand to the side, refusing to look the man in the eye. "Your dishes?"

Silently, they were placed in his hand, and he set about washing those, too.

Instead of returning to his seat, however, Takano remained a silent but warm shadow hovering over Ritsu's shoulder. He was determined not to look at him, but eventually his hands were out of things to do. He tried to keep his exhausted ire out of his gaze as he asked, "Yeah?"

Takano was watching him with that same piercing gaze, like Ritsu was some puzzle to be picked apart and pondered. "Just wondering, but have we met somewhere? Before last week, I mean."

"Excuse me?" Ritsu turned to him more fully, trepidation lost in the face of confusion.

"Nothing, you just seem familiar."

Ritsu can't say he feels the same. While he did feel like the shape of Takano's jaw and the fierceness of his eyes was familiar, he could also point at others who felt just as familiar, in body or manner or otherwise.

And yet, now that Takano's planted the thought in his head, he could see what he was talking about. Something unnameable and familiar. Lighter than gossamer and half as solid, but there all the same. They stood, suspended in that late night moment., trying to read the answers from one another's eyes. Ritsu had no idea what either of them were searching for, only that he couldn't be the one to break this tenuous stillness.

Then Ritsu's phone buzzed, and the moment was over.

"I don't know, Takano-san." Stepping past the man towards his phone, he snatched it up and started heading for the door, Takano watching him the whole way. A yawn worked its way up his throat as he slipped on his shoes. "Thank you for the meal; I'll pay you back with coffee tomorrow? I think I'm gonna go crash for the evening."

Takano followed him to the entrance, his face shuttered and unreadable once more. "Have a good night, Onodera." As Ritsu let the door swing shut behind him, Takano remained standing in the darkened entrance watching him as he left, still and watchful as ever.

The door clicking softly shut behind sounded, to Ritsu, final in a way it had no right to be.