A/N: Hello! :D This is my first Fruits Basket fanfiction! I absolutely adore Ritsu and Mitsuru as a couple, and we definitely have the 2019 anime to thank for blessing us with episode 19 for fleshing out their relationship! I feel like they don't get nearly enough love, and they BARELY got much in the manga, T_T, so since they are my #1 OTP in Fruits Basket, XD, I decided I would do my best to give them a story! I am heavily relying on episode 19 for the beginning dialogue and overall premise of my story as I try to come up with what I believe their relationship is like after the events of that episode! Reviews are super appreciated and I hope you enjoy!
"Um, if it's alright with you, will you be my friend?" Mitsuru asked innocently enough as she fumbled with the manuscript in her hands nervously awaiting a response.
"Huh? But, are you sure you want to be friends with me?" Ritsu asked softly sort of taken aback by her request.
"Yes, please!" She blushed with high enthusiasm in her voice, as she seemed firm in her decision. "Please teach me how to wear a kimono some time! I want to learn to be more feminine like you, Ritchan-sa-!"
"Mitchan, Mitchan." Shigure interrupted while waving his takoyaki with a mischievous smile ready to drop the bombshell on her. "Ritchan is a boy."
"Huh?" The woman exclaimed while looking at Ritsu in shock as his cheeks were now enveloped with an embarrassed shade of crimson.
"O-oohh! I'm so sorry for assuming you were a girl based off your appearance!-
"-I'M SO SORRY! I APOLOGIZE THAT MY CLOTHES ARE CONFUSING!-
"-It's just that you're so beautiful so I just thought-!"
"-B-Beautiful? Ahh you're too kind! I'm so sorry I made you need to be kind! I-!"
Yuki, Tohru, Kyo and Shigure all stood in the room as the kimono wearing man and the hyperactive editor were frantically going back and forth with their excessive apologies.
"Will they ever stop?" Yuki uttered.
"This is stupid." Kyo said with annoyance.
"I-I can't do much! But I will happily show you how to wear a kimono! Or we can do something else together!" Ritsu practically shouted still embarrassed hoping she wasn't instantly regretting wanting to be his friend."
"Thank you! I look forward to it!" Mitsuru said happily with a warm smile.
"I-I look forward to it, too!" He interjected to share in her enthusiasm.
'I hope someday I can say to someone, 'I was born for your sake''
'I hope I can say that someday, and I hope that whoever I say that too...'
'Is waiting for those words'
'Is waiting for those words'.
Suddenly the sound of the wall clock interrupted Mitsuru and Ritsu from their thoughts, as the clock read 9:00PM.
"OH, NO! THE DEADLINE! THERE'S NOT MUCH TIME LEFT!" Mitsuru shouted to the top of her lungs as she shot up onto her feet and clutched the manuscript she'd so desperately been trying to get from Shigure all day long for dear life.
Ritsu was startled by her sudden outburst, but understood that this manuscript was something of more importance to her than her own life. He recalled that it was dark outside and how earlier Shigure insisted he escort her when they got takoyaki together. He gulped nervously at the thought of being so bold as to escort her again; let alone asking her himself this time without Shigure's intervention. Now that she wanted to be his friend, perhaps this was a golden opportunity to prove himself. "U-um, M-...mit ..chan-...san, I...-" he uttered almost inaudibly in broken choppy breaths as his nerves were getting the best of him.
"I MUST BE GOING!" She shouted as her overly panicked state of mind prevented her from any rational thought. She made a beeline for the door and bolted out of the house so fast in a puff of smoke that nobody could stop her.
Ritsu stared at the door and blushed; lowering his head in shame that he couldn't bring himself to ask to walk with her. It also dawned on him that he had no contact information or anything from Mitsuru, so perhaps he wouldn't get a chance to see her again after all. Once again he was reminded of how people had tried so hard for him today, and he still had failed Shigure's challenges from earlier. This prompted his feelings of self-loathing to come back with a vengeance despite Tohru's best efforts to remind him there was a reason in living earlier. The thought that he didn't deserve Mitsuru as a friend broke him.
"Ritchan-san!" Tohru said while running over and placing a hand on Ritsu's back as he sat feeling dejected. The silent sounds of sniffles were resounding from him as his face was buried in his hands. "A-are you okay..?" She asked cautiously already sensing the psychotic episode that was about to come.
"WAHHHH! I HAVE TAKEN ENOUGH OF EVERYONE'S VALUABLE TIME TODAY!" He stood up and bowed multiple times. "I MUST LEAVE AND APOLOGIZE TO THE WORLD FOR ALL THE EFFORT EVERYONE PUT IN FOR A LOWLIFE LIKE ME!" He shouted and ran for the door before Shigure could do his classic side poke to calm him down.
The room was finally silent for the first time in a while as everyone sat; taking in the events that have just transpired.
"My, oh my, it seems once Ritchan takes one step forward, he takes two steps back." Shigure said nonchalantly while popping more takoyaki into his mouth like he had little disregard for his cousin's feelings.
"..I thought after our talk earlier on the roof he would learn to have more confidence..." Tohru said sadly; genuinely feeling terrible for Ritsu.
"Nah, don't worry about that guy, Tohru, he's just being a big baby." Kyo said with arms folded as he stood by her side. "I mean that damn editor lady said she wanted to be his friend, so I don't get what the big deal is."
Yuki also joined Tohru on the opposite side and tried to ease her guilt over a situation that really wasn't her fault to begin with. Of course he didn't want to agree with Kyo, but he also wanted to remind Tohru that it had nothing to do with her. "Don't beat yourself up over this, Honda-san. This is just how Ritsu is, and I don't see him changing any time soon."
"I suppose so... I just wish Mitchan-san wouldn't have left so abruptly. I'm sure Ritchan-san felt rejected.."
"Well it ain't our problem one way or another, so don't worry about it anymore, got it?" Kyo said rather bluntly rubbing the bridge of his nose just wanting to be done with this pointless drama as he could feel a migraine coming on from all the shouting he'd had to endure today.
"I suppose so..." Tohru said softly while trying to regain her cheery exposition. "Okay! I guess only time will tell! I'll try not to be worried anymore!"
Meanwhile, Shigure sat and chuckled mischievously to himself behind his fan with his tongue sticking out as if he already had a plan set in motion.
"Thank you God or Buddha or whoever is up there for taking pity on me this night and sparing me from the pain Shigure-sensei, 'The Evil One', constantly puts me through!" Mitsuru exclaimed with exhaustion while tears of relief streamed down her face as she sat at her desk finishing up with editing.
The office was about to close, so she had to scramble like a madwoman to edit the manuscript and make sure it was free from errors before she could submit it before the deadline. Thankfully Shigure did a great job with it for once, so it was a breeze to check through. Normally he'd throw in stupid sentences on purpose like the one time he wrote, 'Aaya and I are gay lovers, please don't tell Haa-san.' and she had to seriously re-evaluate Shigure's sexuality.
She was about ready to submit it and be done with it already so she could go home and finally have some peace, but as she went to check the final page; a small piece of folded paper came floating out and fell to the ground. Mitsuru blinked and looked at the foreign object that now rested at her feet.
"Hm?" She bent down and hovered her hand down as if to pick it up, but then she stopped herself short. "...Oh very funny, Shigure-sensei, I'll bet this is another one of your stupid pranks.." She thought unamused with folded arms already preparing for it to have some absurd drawing or something lewd written on it. After a few moments of pouting and denying she cared, the sound of the ticking clock was starting to make her sweat with unease and her curiosity was beginning to overtake her as she wondered if the paper could be something of importance pertaining to the manuscript, and she couldn't risk handing it in if it was anything less than perfect. She begrudgingly bent back down and picked it up and unfolded it. Her eyes scanned the note, and her eyes lit up in surprise by its contents.
It was an address with the name Ritchan scribbled at the top. There was also a sentence that was almost purposefully illegible written at the bottom that Mitsuru just blinked at not quite knowing how to process that information.
Suddenly an immense wave of guilt washed over the editor.
"Oh my gosh... Ritchan-san... I must've seemed so rude to leave the way I did without saying goodbye or asking for.. his-" She blushed having to correct herself as she remembered that the person she had befriended was actually male despite not knowing that little nugget of knowledge until the very end.
Not that it changed her feelings towards wanting to become friends and actually get to know him better. His words of encouragement from earlier echoed in her mind and she shook her head knowing that thinking about it wasn't going to change how she'd left things since she couldn't do anything about it now. As much as she hated this truth about herself, she was a one-track mind woman for sure, and in that moment the only thing on her mind was that damn manuscript. She mentally kicked herself wanting so desperately to make things right with Ritsu.
"Ritchan-san.." She thought as she stood from her desk and made her way to her superior's office. She handed in the manuscript on time, and decided to head home for the night as her mind began racing.
Okay so there's chapter one! I really hope this isn't too corny but I'm so excited for the future ideas of this story! I love these two so much so I'd love to hear people's thoughts if they love them too! :D Shoutout to my sister, Megan who is a huge Furuba nerd and helped me come up with ideas and entertained the fact that Ritsu and Mitsuru are my favorite ship in the series despite how little they get XD Her OTP is Tohru and Yuki so we both have a thing for shipping the underdogs it seems XD Please rate and review! Thanks!