Author's Note: Hey, guys! I got a new chapter coming your way! Sorry for the delay. Especially after that boring prologue. I'd like to especially thank all who have favorited and followed this story as well. I appreciate it! Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.

Chapter 1

Takano opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was in his room at his mother's house. His bed was in the center of the room sandwiched between two wooden bedside tables. He was lying down in his bed in a stiff position, arms to his side and legs straight. He looked to the side and reached out for the lamp sitting on one of the tables, however, he found that his arm would not move from its rigid formation. He struggled until he heard a creak coming from the closet on the right-hand wall. It opened, remained ajar, and showcased a column of black from the closet's dark interior. Takano held his breath as a sleek snake slithered its way out of the closest, but instead of sneaking on the floor it somehow defied the laws of gravity and favored slithering on the ceiling. It moved sideways with its body in an S-shape.

"What the fuck?" Takano enunciated each word. The serpent kept his hungry eyes on the trapped one, and when it reached the center of the ceiling it hesitated. The black-haired male and the serpent shared an intense stare down.

When Takano blinked, the snake lunged at his face with intent to maim it.

Takano woke up with a jolt while he held his face. He locked eyes with Onodera who was next to him holding a broom. "Ah, finally. You're awake. You take so long to wake up dammit!" Onodera twirled the broom in his hands.

"Did you hit me with that?" Takano narrowed his eyes.

"I was about to, but you just woke up before I could do so." The brunet gave him a look of sympathy, "Did you have another nightmare?"

Takano sighed. He hated to admit it, but he's been having the nightmares ever since he started living with Onodera eight years ago. He divulged this information to the older man, and he's been bothering him with it ever since. It always had to do with a snake and him being trapped of sorts. "Yeah, but there's no need to worry about it." He then proceeded to roll around in bed and cover his head with his blanket.

"Oh no you don't, Masamune!" Onodera grabbed his blanket and pulled it off of his face. "You're sixteen! You better start acting like it!" Onodera took a glance at the clock hanging on the wall. "Get up! You're going to be late to school!"

"Big deal," the black-haired boy murmured incomprehensively.

The older one somehow managed to decipher the mumblings the younger one offered him. "Yes. I agree. It is a big deal. Now get your ass out of bed before I kick it out."

Onodera dragged Takano out of bed and shoved him into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Takano laughed softly to himself. 'He really does take these things too seriously.'

Ever since he started living with the twenty-six year old, Onodera has never ceased to rain down his hysteric protectiveness on him whenever he did something a bit out of the norm. His reactions to the littlest things gives Takano a little excitement every time. So much so that he felt the need to monopolize every waking thought of the brunet's at times.

As he brushed his teeth, his mind wandered to the green-eyed man. He never divulged Takano of what his childhood was like, but he knew that the man went to school in Listriv and that he studied magic and language. Takano would assume that meant he was from there, but he was never given any type of confirmation. Those years in school gave him the ability to read every single written language and as Onodera put it: "Even the dead ones." With that, Onodera was able to get a job in Viburm's government building to translate ancient texts.

Takano placed his hand in his pocket and traced the circumference of the silver coin with his thumb. He'd thought about asking the brunet if it really meant what he thought it did, but he never got around to showing it to him. Not to mention that the older one would no doubt ask him millions of questions about it.

If there was something Onodera was good at it was overreacting.

After Takano finished his bathroom duties, Onodera hastily pushed him out of the house muttering: "He's going to be late," and "This is the worst that could happen," over and over again mostly to himself.

Takano sauntered out and walked across the village towards his school. When he was halfway there, however, a tall man who looked to be about Onodera's age stood in front of him, effectively blocking his path to his destination. Takano glared at the man in his way, "Can I help you?"

"Are you Takano Masamune?" the man asked with a heavy accent.

Takano was irritated. "Yes. Can you move out of the way? I'm kind of in a hurry."

The man reached out his hand. "Good morning, young man. My name is Haitani Shin."

Takano looked at the outstretched hand, but didn't make any movements to return the sentiment. "That's nice, but I'm really late for something now." Takano tried to move around the strange man, but Haitani grabbed his arm and kept him in place.

"Please just give me five minutes."

Takano checked his watch and figured that since he was already late, it wouldn't matter if he took a bit longer. Takano stared at the man and acquiesced.

"This is kind of a complicated situation. Actually, if you couldn't tell, I'm not from around here. I'm from the capital city of Listriv, Callia. I was given the duty of retrieving you from this village and presenting you to King Isaka back in my home."

Takano wore his dead unsurprised expression on his face, "So, you're going to kidnap me."

The tall man released the sixteen-year-old's arm. "No. Well, I hope it doesn't resort to that. But I believe you will give me your consent."

"Sorry. But I'm not interested." Takano turned to walk away, but failed when Haitani spun him back around.

"You don't believe me do you? I'll prove to you that I'm from Listriv then." Takano didn't need to be convinced that the man is from down south, his accent was a dead giveaway, but he decided to be entertained by Haitani's attempts to sway him. The older man placed his fist in front of his face and closed his eyes. A moment later a ball of fire gathered around his hand; he then extended his arm and punched toward a nearby dead shrub, effectively setting it on fire.

Takano was in awe, but it didn't reassure him of anything.

Sensing that he was starting to win over the young man, Haitani said, "I am who I claim to be. Tell me, is there something about yourself that you are unsure of?"

The black-haired boy snapped his head toward him, away from the lit shrub. "What do you know about me?" He said hotly.

"Nothing. But my king definitely knows a lot about you."

The younger man was falling for the bait. To have meaning beyond a simple boy who was abandoned by his mother, and then taken care of by an overexcited man. To have someone as well-known as the king of a foreign country to know his name definitely meant something.

Haitani waited for an answer, but knew he wouldn't get one. "I'll be waiting here after dark tomorrow. If you are serious about joining me back to my home, then bring yourself, the clothes on your back, but nothing more. And make sure you don't tell anyone." He then spun on his heel and left.

Takano stood there dumbfounded. Leaving this place would be a new beginning to a new life, but that would also mean that he would leave a certain twenty-six-year-old in his house all alone with no explanation as to why he left. It seemed so cruel to treat the one who has cared for him the past eight years that way. He shook his head and continued his journey toward the scholarly establishment.

After school, Takano walked in a daze back home to where he was met by the divine smell of Onodera's cooking. The brunet looked over his shoulder to the entrance that recently opened. "Welcome back, Masamune. What's wrong? You seem more out of it than usual."

"Huh? Oh. I just wasn't expecting you to come home early today," he offered the lie lamely.

Onodera turned his head back toward the stove in front of him. "I'm going to be working overtime tomorrow so I decided to come home early today to make you dinner. You can have it tomorrow too when I'm not here."

'Working overtime, eh? Everything seems to be working in my favor.' The black-haired boy walked up to the stove next to Onodera. "So, what are you making?"

"Rice and lentils," Onodera smiled. Rice and lentils were widely used in Heliconi cuisine, therefore, Onodera was a master at cooking it.

"Great." Takano turned and sat at the small table behind the kitchen counter. After Onodera put the lid on the pot holding the lentils he sat down on the free chair that was opposite Takano and facing him.

Takano's depressing behavior did not go unnoticed by Onodera's keen eyes. "Are you really that upset about me coming early? Just tell me what's bugging you already."

The younger man knew that he couldn't escape unless he gave a valid excuse. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the enigmatic coin that he's been concealing from the brunet for years. "Well, I found this on the floor earlier today when I was walking to school. I was just thinking of what it could mean."

"Give it here." Takano placed the silver coin carefully in Onodera's hand; he held the coin in the center of his palm and regarded it carefully. "Hmm, this looks very similar to ancient Listrivian." Onodera tilted his head toward the ceiling as if the answer was up there. Then he looked back to the coin. "'Think hard in order to guard yourself'… something along those lines."

"Well, that is what it is saying essentially," the sixteen-year-old whispered.

"What's that?"

"Oh, nothing." Now that he was certain that he could read it, his choice was certain; he had to leave with Haitani to learn more about himself. Onodera reached over to hand the coin back, but Takano refused.

'Now you have something to remember me by.' Takano thought bitterly.

"Masamune, I hope you didn't steal this from someone." Onodera said sternly. After seeing Takano's face, however, he knew that it was time to shut the hell up. He then rose from the table and went to tend to his lentils.

The younger man forced a smile on his face to have a pleasant last dinner with Onodera. They chatted, ate, and then excused themselves to their separate rooms where Takano spent the whole night staring up at his ceiling instead of sleeping. He wondered if a snake was going to jump out of it and bite his face off or if his venom was already seeping through his veins.

The next morning, much to Onodera's surprise, Takano was actually up and ready in time for his school to start. "Well! Look who's up on time for once?" He said happily not noticing how out of place it was.

"Well, I figured it's time to change a couple of things." As the sixteen-year-old said this he didn't dare to look at the brunet's face.

"Great! Have your breakfast and get ready for school." Onodera pulled Takano's coat from the closet.

"Ritsu," Takano said softly.

Onodera was taken aback by the sudden use of his first name from the younger one. "Yes?"

"Thank you. For everything."

"No problem. I do this for you every morning. Or when you mean a 'couple of things' that includes being grateful," the brunet joked.

"Yes. It does." This time, Takano glued his hazel eyes to Onodera's green ones to show how serious he meant his words. This caught Onodera even more off guard.

Not knowing how to respond, the older man stuttered a bit before replying. "I-I see... Well, work hard at school today!"

Takano proceeded to eat his breakfast painfully slow since he didn't have much of an appetite. Once he finished he left his house for the last time.

Onodera checked his watch for the fifth time that night to check how much time he had left before reuniting with Takano.

"Heh, eager to return home are you?" Onodera looked up to see his baby-faced coworker, Kisa, standing right in front of him. At this point he wasn't bothered by Kisa's close proximity since the short man does it all the time.

"Of course. I can't help but worry." Onodera confessed.

"Ricchan, that's so like you!" Kisa put his arm around his shoulders and swayed from side to side. "What's the worst that kid can do? Knock-up a couple of girls? You have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, but if he does end up doing that I don't know what we would do. He's too young for that responsibility. He would have to drop-out of school and forget about all of his aspirations. And-," he was cut off by Kisa smacking him on the head.

"Just calm down, Ricchan! Nothing like that would happen as a result!" Kisa put both of his hands on Onodera's shoulders and shook him slightly.

Onodera pouted and sighed, "You're right."

Both men looked up in surprise toward the door that recently opened and noticed the courier walk in. "Onodera Ritsu, I have an urgent message for you." The woman stated simply and fished in her bag for the letter. When she grasped it she handed it to him.

"An urgent message?" Onodera accepted the envelope with both hands.

After the woman finished her job, she spun on her heel and proceeded to walk out.

"Wait!" Kisa yelled at the retreating form of the woman. "You don't have one for me?" The courier slowly shook her head, and Kisa gave a broken, dejected look. He then turned his head toward his coworker and friend who was reading his 'urgent' letter with forever growing plate sized eyes. "What's up with you?" Kisa asked, but before he received an answer Onodera pushed him out of his way and bolted for the entrance, all the while, forgetting his jacket.

"Hmm…" Kisa analyzed the situation, and then concluded that it probably has to do with a certain black-haired boy since the only time Onodera runs out like that is when he's in mother bear mode. He shrugged and tried to cover for his friend's work as well as his own.

Haitani leaned against the wall of the clothing shop building in the middle square of Viburm where he waited for Takano Masamune to arrive. He originally leaned against the wall of the blacksmith's shop, but the owner was very vocal about him doing so; instead, he settled for the building next door. He scanned the area carefully, trying to catch a certain young man. When he spotted him, he sauntered towards him casually. "I knew you'd come. Are you ready to go?"

"I never will be. We should leave now before I change my mind." Takano never made eye contact with Haitani.

Haitani nodded, and both of them walked toward the entrance of the village until they heard a loud shout. "Wait!"

Both men turned to witness a brunet sprint down the walkway toward them. Once Onodera reached them he turned to Takano and gave him a tight slap.

Haitani grabbed the green-eyed man's collar, surrounded his fist with some fire, and then proceeded to shove his newly conjured flame fist into Onodera's face. However, before he could burn his flesh Takano grabbed his arm. "It's okay. Don't hurt him," Takano said calmly, however, he was anything but that.

"What the hell? I told you not to tell anyone!" Haitani was indignant.

"I didn't." He turned to the shorter man, "Onodera, how did you find out?"

"That doesn't matter. What does matter is that you had the nerve to leave with this man without telling me anything." This was probably Takano's first time seeing Onodera this angry.

"I don't need your approval on everything. I'm old enough to make my own decisions," he replied.

Onodera furrowed his eyebrows. "How stupid are you, Masamune? You're leaving with a complete stranger! How can you trust him?"

"My mother trusted you, didn't she?" Takano uttered those words with so much venom with intent to inflict the most pain. From the look on Onodera's face, it seemed to have worked. His face dropped and he slouched his shoulders in a defeated manner.

"That's… different," he said with a small voice.

"It's not, and you know it."

"I see. So, I can't change your mind." Takano made no movement and that confirmed Onodera's suspicions. He dropped his head, but then rose it moments later with an expression of great conviction. "Then allow me to join you."

"Huh? You do realize that the journey is going to be extremely dangerous right?" Haitani asked.

The brunet straightened his posture. "I understand. That's why I request that we stop by my house first so I can get my father's sword."

"Wait. You can fight? With a sword?" Takano said in disbelief. Onodera told him that he studied magic, so learning about Onodera's ability came as a surprise to him.

"Yes, of course. I used to live in Listriv remember? That place is overrun with monsters and such. I needed to defend myself at times. My dad was an amazing swordsman; I learned from him," Onodera said happily. He then turned to return back to his home with Takano and Haitani in tow.

Haitani noticed Takano's expression, but mistook it for one of worry instead of shock. "It's not as bad as he's making it sound. I promise you. He's just trying to deter your decision."

"Is it really okay to bring him along?"

"I'd rather not, but I don't see any harm. But, if he does try to pull a quick one I won't hesitate to kick him to the curb. If you know what I mean!" Haitani poked Takano's side with his elbow.

Takano knew what he meant, but he really didn't want to bring Onodera into the upcoming trouble. The trio continued their way to their destination with the knowledge that their journey had just begun.