(A/N: I feel I should clarify something LOL I don't know anything about boarding school or England and honestly don't know that much about Japan either. So if you do know anything about those places and anything in this fic is like terribly wrong, please suspend your disbelief LOL)

If you had asked Ritsu to describe his ex-boyfriend in five words or less two weeks ago he probably would've used words like cold, fake, stoic, manipulative, and mean.

One word he definitely would not have used was clingy.

But holy shit, Takano Masamune was clingy as all hell!

Ritsu was back in England now, his spring break over and his classes resuming. He had spent one more day with Masamune after their cat café adventure, but the rest of his time had been spent between An and family. Now that he was back in school, he was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on his studies because Masamune took every opportunity he could to text Ritsu.

Does he have nothing better to do? Ritsu wondered. The brunette could only reply every so often what with the time difference and Ritsu being busy trying not to develop 'senioritis'.

Ritsu had heard Nao talk about 'double texting' before, whenever he talked about his potential partners.

Don't wanna look too desperate, you know? Nao had said once with a playful smile when Ritsu had asked why he simply didn't text again if he wanted to chat so bad.

Ritsu didn't really see the harm in double texting. It was nice to be wanted, after all. It was a gentle reminder, a hey! I'm here and I like you!

But Masamune obviously did not hold the same sentiment Nao did about double texting.

Masamune didn't just double text.

He triple texted, quadruple texted even, and with everyday that passed the increments seemed to go up and up.

The worst part was Ritsu couldn't even be that mad about it.

The texts were harmless after all. They weren't demanding or angry, there were no texts ordering him to respond now or interrogating him about what he was doing. They were just small updates or fleeting thoughts Masamune had determined important enough to share.

Ritsu sighed, done with his classes for the day and back in his room, sitting at his small desk. He decided to check his phone before doing his homework. It was about eleven p.m. in Japan now and he didn't want it to get too late over there. He opened his text thread with Masamune. It was much more extensive than it should be considering they had been texting for less than week.

Hey

I'm bored :/

How are your classes going so far? Do you still totally suck at math :P

What's England like? I feel like we didn't really talk about it when you were here. Is the food and weather as bad as everyone says it is?

Would you be mad if I went back to the cat café without you?

Don't be mad at me

This text was followed by an image of a familiar calico cat.

I think she's disappointed you're not here with me

But the feelings mutual, I'm also disappointed about that

Ritsu covered his face with one hand and shook his head, hating how the stupid texts made him smile. He saved the picture of the cat.

Hey, Ritsu replied, not addressing any of the questions Masamune posed.

Hey, you done with classes for the day? Masamune responded quickly.

Yeah, I'm back in my room now. I can't believe you went back to the café without me, though. I thought we were gonna go back together? Ritsu hesitated with the teasing, but ultimately pressed send.

Well, it's your fault.

Ritsu raised an eyebrow at this response, quickly typing back: How is it my fault?

You left me, so I'm lonely now :(

Ritsu snorted and rolled his eyes. Was he serious? He never suspected Masamune to be an emoji user, but he hadn't pictured Masamune being a quintuple texter either.

Masamune was definitely a lot different than what he remembered. He could never imagine Saga admitting to be lonely, regardless of whether it was in a joking or serious way.

But he wasn't Saga anymore, Ritsu reminded himself. He was Takano now.

Maybe Saga hadn't been a double texter, but Takano was.

Saga hadn't really indulged in teasing or joking with Ritsu, but Takano did.

Saga had rarely made Ritsu feel like his presence was wanted, but Takano bombarded him so often with 'miss you', 'hope you're doing well', 'wish you were here', 'could I visit you in England sometime?' type of texts that it nearly drove Ritsu insane.

I'm getting way too comfortable with him way too quickly, Ritsu thought to himself with a frown. He had agreed to be friends, but he was starting to feel like he was enjoying being friends a little too much.

You'll live, Ritsu texted back when he realized he still hadn't responded.

Barely, Masamune sent.

Ritsu laughed softly at the dramatics, shaking his head once more.

"Takano Masamune, huh? Who's that?"

Ritsu jumped, nearly throwing his phone out of his hands, looking over his shoulder quickly. Standing there was his roommate Kiyomiya Nao, a large smile on his face.

"J-Just a friend!" Ritsu said quickly.

"And here I thought you didn't have friends." Nao teased. He had only ever heard Ritsu talk about An. Well, An and a certain Senpai of Ritsu's, but Nao definitely didn't count that guy as a friend. "I've never heard you talk about a Takano before. Does he go here?"

"No, he's older than us."

"Ritsu, going after an older man? I never took you for that type." Nao grinned and threw a wink his way.

"Nao! It is not like that! Don't be weird." Ritsu said quickly, ignoring how his face heated up. "I already said, he's just a friend."

"How'd you two meet?" Nao asked, naturally curious. "Is he here in England or back in Japan?"

"Japan. We, uh...we met a few years ago while I was still going to school there. We reconnected when I visited over spring break." Ritsu explained, omitting some very important details. Nao didn't need to know that Takano and Saga-Senpai were one in the same person.

Nao was the only person who had truly witnessed what the heartbreak had done to Ritsu and Ritsu couldn't imagine that Nao would exactly approve of Ritsu being friends with his ex. Although it would be for good reason and would come from a place of love, Ritsu really didn't want to sit through any sort of lecture. Ritsu already knew that this wasn't a great idea. But, he was going to tread lightly! He was still going to guard his heart and be careful, or so he told himself. But even now, his fingers were itching to respond to Masamune's text.

"Oh, fun!" Nao said, backing off to flop on to his bed.

Isn't it getting kind of late over there? Ritsu texted Masamune now that there was some space between him and Nao.

Are you trying to get rid of me?

I just don't want to be the reason you don't get enough sleep, Ritsu quickly responded, not wanting to give Masamune the wrong impression.

Aw, you care about me :)

Ritsu turned a little pink, grateful that Masamune could not see him. Good night, Takano-san

Hey, no, don't do that.

Ritsu set his phone down, silencing it so the buzzing wouldn't annoy him. "Hey, Nao, can you help me with my stat homework?" Ritsu asked.

"Ugh, I really don't want to, but since I'm such a great friend, I will." Nao said, pushing himself back off the bed.

"Oh? So I don't have to pay your usual fee of two snacks from the vending machine?" Ritsu said.

"Mm, nope, instead you can proofread my lit essay for me. But let's do your homework first!" Nao pulled his own chair over to Ritsu's desk, sitting beside him as Ritsu started to lay out everything he needed.

"What's your essay on?" Ritsu asked.

"Some play I half read."

"Nao."

Nao just smiled in the face of scolding and reviewed Ritsu's homework before he did his best to help. Nao wasn't a great teacher, but he did his best. It took a while, but Ritsu did eventually manage to complete his homework and have a slightly better understanding of the current unit.

"So you got the right answer here, but can you explain how you got it?" Nao said, pointing to one of the problems Ritsu solved on his own.

"Uh, probably not." Ritsu admitted.

"If you can't explain it then you'll probably forget it the second you move on to the next chapter. So, let's go through it." Nao said.

They focused on the math for a little longer until Ritsu called it quits.

"I'm gonna get burnt out at this rate. If you want me to read your essay then you better give it to me now." Ritsu warned.

Nao nodded, scooting off on his chair to grab his laptop and start it up. He opened the document as he rolled back over to Ritsu and gave him the laptop. "Thank yooooou, my amazing, smart, talented and kind roommate~"

"Oh, save it." Ritsu said, unaffected at best by the flattery and annoyed at worst. "I already agreed to do it. If it's complete trash I'm deleting the whole file."

"Ritsu!" Nao exclaimed in protest, but he knew there was no real threat behind Ritsu's words.

There was a bit more bickering and bantering between the two of them, it being a pretty comfortable routine. Ritsu couldn't help but notice how it felt different from the banter he and Masamune exchanged. He tried not to think about that too deeply.

Eventually, Ritsu told Nao to shush if he wanted his essay read. Nao obliged, allowing Ritsu to focus on the document in front of him.

Ritsu used the highlight feature, making multiple notes for both grammar and content-related reasons, eventually handing the laptop back over. "The opening paragraph and the conclusion suck. The body paragraphs are okay, but a little redundant sometimes."

"But how else will I reach the word count?" Nao whined.

"Write a better and deeper analysis." Ritsu shrugged.

"Ugh, anything but that!" Nao went back to his bed, flopping dramatically on to it, but Ritsu elected to ignore him so he could focus on the rest of his homework. The rest of Ritsu's assignments didn't take nearly as long, Nao typing away in the background as Ritsu grabbed his phone again. He had, unsurprisingly, multiple texts from Masamune.

Are you really gone?

Hellllooooooooo?

:/

I guess I technically should go to bed, I have a lecture in the morning.

Have a good night, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Ritsu was a little surprised that Masamune had given up 5 texts in, but he was glad that Masamune would be getting some proper rest. He didn't text him back, not wanting to risk waking Masamune with the notification if he really was asleep.

Eventually, Ritsu and Nao went to have dinner together, Nao deciding he had earned a break from the essay and Ritsu deciding he was hungry enough to tag along.

"So, tell me about your older friend~" Nao said with a shoulder bump.

"Would you stop being weird about it?" Ritsu scowled.

"Who's being weird? I'm not being weird. Why? Is there something weird going on?" He grinned.

"He's not that much older, he's still a student. It would be weird if he wasn't."

"Oh, so does that mean you've got an in at college parties?" Nao asked.

"Even if I did, those would be college parties in Japan. And we are not currently there." Ritsu reminded him. "And even if we were there, I would not go."

Nao pouted. "I guesssss." He said in a slightly petulant tone. "But still, tell me about him!"

"Well, he likes books. And cats."

Nao waited for a moment, expecting Ritsu to continue, but soon realized that he wasn't going to. "That's it? Books and cats?"

"We only had a couple days with each other! And it's been like 3 years since we talked last." Ritsu said, feeling a little defensive.

"Well, he definitely sounds like you're kind of guy. Nerdy and boriiiiing." Nao teased.

"If I'm so boring, then what does that say about you, huh?"

"It means I have terrible taste in friends!" Nao said, smiling brightly as he threw an arm around Ritsu's shoulders, leading him into the cafeteria.

Ritsu grumbled unhappily at the contact, escaping his grip. The two of them got trays of food before sitting down together. It was pretty much always the two of them. Nao had other friends, but Ritsu didn't particularly get along with any of them. They were like Nao: high energy and fast paced, but most of the time Nao at least met Ritsu halfway and brought his exhausting extroversion down just a tad. Not that Nao wasn't still a little exhausting to be around, but he could usually tell if he needed to back off. If Ritsu and Nao ate separately then Nao would find his other buddies to sit with, but Ritsu usually opted for sitting alone. Ritsu didn't know if Nao just stuck around him out of pity or not, but he found he didn't really care either way. It was nice to have at least one friend here in England. Not that he had that many more in Japan.

Well, I've upgraded from two friends to three, Ritsu thought with some condescension toward himself.

Ritsu turned his attention to the food in front of him, both boys complaining rather passionately about their dinner. Ritsu was already deeply missing the food from home, but he supposed this was better than going to bed hungry.

The conversation shared between them as they ate their meal was pleasant, lacking any real substance, but fun. The two ate quickly, neither particularly wanting to savor the flavors.

Nao had been stopped on their way out by his friends, talking with them excitedly and Ritsu politely excusing himself to go back to their room.

"See you in a bit, Ritsu!" Nao said with a wave, knowing his roommate wouldn't want to stick around and therefore he wouldn't insist.

Ritsu nodded and gave them all a shy wave before retreating to the seclusion of his room.

He laid down in his bed, pulling his phone out on instinct. No new messages from Masamune, he noted.

He must've really gone to sleep, Ritsu thought, trying to ignore the slight feeling of disappointment he felt. Ritsu was the one who insisted Masamune go to bed, after all. It was silly to feel disappointed, especially since Ritsu himself hadn't even responded! He shouldn't expect a sixth text in a row. Even if that did seem to be Masamune's pattern, it wasn't fair to expect it.

He shook his head at himself, exiting out of the messaging app and distracting himself with social media. Ritsu never really posted anything on any app, but he did enjoy the mindless scrolling from time to time. Though, he was finding himself getting lost in the internet for longer and longer without his mother present to scold him for 'rotting his brain'.

More than once Ritsu caught himself thinking he should send Masamune a link he might find interesting or a meme he thought Masamune would find funny. Ritsu refrained from the temptation out of fear of sending Masamune something he'd actually think was stupid. Ritsu really didn't know that much about Masamune after all, as Nao reminded him. He didn't want to be that friend that sent cringey or annoying content.

Annoying.

Gross.

Ritsu's throat tightened and his eyes began to sting with tears. His previous disdain, anger, hatred for Masamune all bubbled up at once.

What a jerk, Ritsu thought, he talks to me that way and then has the nerve to act surprised when I think he doesn't love me? He didn't even apologize for that! He probably doesn't even remember talking to me that way, it was a slap to my face after all, not his. Why should he care about my feelings when I just keep crawling back to him like a moron?

In his blind rage, Ritsu went to his contacts and selected Masamune's number, his finger hovering over the block button.

No.

That wouldn't solve anything.

Ritsu deserved justice, deserved answers, deserved an apology and he wouldn't get any of that if he blocked Masamune. He checked the time, it being well past one in the morning in Japan by now, but he texted Masamune regardless.

You called me gross in the library once.

Ritsu didn't really think much about what he texted. He just needed to get it out there, needed to get the conversation started. If he thought too hard about how he would do so, then he would never get around to it. After pressing send he immediately threw his phone on to the foot of his bed as if it had burned him. If he didn't get the device away from him he'd stare obsessively at it waiting for a response, even though Masamune definitely wouldn't text back at this time.

Don't think about it, it's done, it's a 'future-Ritsu' problem now, the brunette told himself. He wouldn't allow himself to regret the text either. After all, if Masamune and Ritsu were going to be 'friends' they needed to be able to talk like this.

I suppose we'll see if we stay friends for much longer, Ritsu thought.