Disclaimer: I do not own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, all rights belong to Shungiku Nakamura.

Thank you to dendodge for betaing.

Thanks to damons-hot-as-hell, LesleyOboe, and 918lucy for reviewing! Thanks for all the story alerts and favourites!

Enjoy.

Chapter 9

4 missed calls.

The red words blared at Kisa angrily as he flipped his phone shut. He knew exactly who the missed calls were from, but after what had happened the previous weekend, Kisa didn't want to talk to him.

Yukina had told him that he loved him, and Kisa had blown him off with a weak excuse. Kisa had returned to his old ways of avoiding Yukina's calls, texts, and unexpected arrivals at Morimoto's apartment. It wasn't because Kisa didn't have any feelings for Yukina; it was because he was scared of what he was, in fact, feeling. In all of his 35 years, Kisa Shouta had never been truly in love. He'd fallen for guys' faces, but that was as far as his romantic experience went.

Kisa stared across Morimoto's apartment towards the bathroom door, hoping that Yukina would enter in nothing but a towel and the steam from the shower. After a moment, Kisa walked over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water before walking out the door and leaving for work.

"Good morning, Ricchan!" Kisa said in greeting upon seeing his younger colleague. Onodera looked up and returned the smile that Kisa gave him.

"Good morning to you, Kisa-san."

"Any messages?"

"None so far," Onodera said as he clicked a few times with his mouse. A few seconds later, he shook his head.

"Knock knock." A feminine voice drifted into the room as Ichinose waltzed in with a glamorous smile on her face. "Aah! Kisa, just the person I wanted to see. May I speak with you for a moment?"

Kisa looked at her warily for a moment but nodded. The two entered Kisa's office and Ichinose closed the door.

"What's this about?" Kisa asked after a moment of silence. He grabbed the mug of coffee that Onodera had placed on his desk moments before he arrived at work. It was still hot to the touch.

"Well, you were absent from the announcement I had at the party but… I'm getting married tomorrow."

Kisa spat his coffee across the room. "You're what now?"

"I'm getting married, Kisa," Ichinose repeated, a soft smile gracing her features. "Of course, I will not be at work tomorrow so I don't expect you to be either."

Kisa moved to behind his desk and sat down. "This is sudden."

"Not really, it's been planned for a very long time."

"And you only just tell us now?"

"My personal life is nothing to do with work," Ichinose said, leaning against the door.

"Well, I suppose congratulations are in order," Kisa said as he stood up again to shake Ichinose's hand. "Congratulations, I hope you have a very long and happy marriage."

Ichinose's smile widened as she returned the handshake. "So… Will you be at work tomorrow?"

Kisa paused for a moment. "Yes," he said finally as he sat back down and took another drink of his coffee. There was a short buzzing sound before Onodera's voice was heard from Kisa's phone.

"Erm, Kisa-san. Yukina-san's calling for you."

Ichinose gave Kisa an interesting look. "Yukina's calling you?"

Kisa laughed nervously before replying to Onodera. "Uh, tell him I'm in a meeting, Ricchan."

"… Okay, Kisa-san."

The look on Ichinose's face turned even more interesting. "Why are you avoiding him?"

Kisa sighed. "It's personal."

"Come on, Kisa, I'm not just your boss, I'm your friend. You can tell me anything," Ichinose said kindly, sitting in the chair opposite Kisa.

"Okay. Last weekend, Yukina took me to this cabin at Lake Shumarinai. Things were going well until he told me he loved me-"

"Whoa! What?"

Kisa coughed awkwardly. "Well…"

"No need to explain, just continue," Ichinose said, smiling understandingly. Kisa cleared his throat and continued.

"After he said he loved me, I panicked and walked out, and I haven't been able to face him since."

"That's difficult. How do you feel about him?"

Kisa sat back for a second. How did he feel? Yukina was perfect, everything about him screamed flawless, from his dazzling smile to his toes. Being near him made Kisa feel safe and secure. The ways Yukina touched him set Kisa's body on fire. Hell, even hearing his voice was enough to set the man at ease, but did all of that mean he loved him?

"I-I don't know…" He replied finally. Ichinose took in a sharp intake of air.

"Well, I hope you figure it out before it's too late, Kisa," she said to him before taking her leave and walking out of the office. Kisa sighed deeply.

"Me too."

Kisa sighed as he left the train and made his way to his office building. Today was Ichinose's wedding, and the man was slightly spiteful that he wasn't invited. But it wasn't just because of the lack of invite, it was because Yukina had stopped calling and Kisa began to get annoyed at himself for being such a coward about his relationship with the younger man. However, as he turned to walk into Onodera's office, he was greeted with a large bouquet of flowers.

Did Yukina send those? Kisa thought, as he touched the petals of one of the roses gently. A soft smile formed on his face. He remembered the last time Yukina sent him flowers, Kisa couldn't remember the last time he genuinely felt that happy.

"Kisa-san?" Onodera asked as he walked into the office carrying a cup of green tea. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm doing some work," Kisa said. "So, what's the deal with the flowers?"

"O-oh, those…" Onodera went red and placed the mug of tea beside them. "T-Takano-san sent them."

Kisa's heart sank. Takano-san sent them?

"Th-they're very pretty," Kisa commented as he stumbled away from the desk. Onodera stared at them for a few minutes.

"Yeah, they are."

"Ricchan, you're smiling," Kisa teased. Onodera's smile disappeared as he hid his face behind a book.

The Secret in a Memory by Takano Masamune.

"You're reading his books now too?"

"N-no, Kisa-san. This is just research!"

"Oh, of course," Kisa said, the disbelief blatant in his voice. Onodera had already reviewed the book, but Kisa refused to press the situation any further. "Anyway, did Ichinose-san tell you who she was marrying today?"

Onodera shook his head slowly. "She said it would be revealed in today's OK!"

Kisa said nothing but walked into his office, where he was greeted with a stack of gossip magazines. He laughed to himself as he sat down and grabbed the first one on the pile.

The Japan Times Editor to Wed

Kisa stared at the title wide eyed for a long moment before scrambling to the page that contained the juicy details. His brown eyes skimmed over the boring and unnecessary content until he landed on the one part he needed to read.

"Ichinose Erika is set to marry Yukina Kou on May 13th."

Yukina Kou. Kisa re-read that sentence over and over again, hoping he had misread it somehow. But no, there it was, in black and white: Yukina Kou. Kisa slammed the magazine on his desk as he ran to the door and opened it quickly.

"Ricchan! Did Ichinose-san tell you where the ceremony was being held?"

Onodera sat for a moment as he tried to remember. "Erm… Park Hyatt in Shinjuku… Why?"

Kisa processed the information before disappearing into his office and grabbed his mobile phone and dialled Yukina's number, hoping that magazine had made a grave mistake.

No answer. Kisa wanted to throw his phone across the room but he knew he would need it later, so instead he put it in his trouser pocket. He had to do something; he couldn't let Yukina marry Ichinose. He took his coat off of the hook and left his office, racing past Onodera, who dropped his phone and stood up.

"Kisa-san!" He called. "KISA-SAN!"

Outside the office building, Kisa jumped into the first taxi that pulled up and quickly gave the directions to the hotel. The driver looked at him for a minute as he scrambled to put his seatbelt on.

"Shinjuku?" The driver asked. "Are you sure? It's really busy down there today because of that wedding."

"Just go!" Kisa pleaded. "Please! I need to stop that wedding!"

The driver said no more as he pulled out into the street and sped down the road. Kisa quickly dialled Onodera's number and held the phone to his ear.

"Kisa-san! What the hell are y-"

"No time! When did the wedding start?"

"Uhm… I think it was about 11."

Kisa locked at the car's clock. It was 20 past 11. Not good; if Kisa knew Ichinose, the ceremony would be as short as possible, which meant that Kisa only had a few minutes before the ring exchange.

"I'm sorry, is there any chance you could go just a teeny bit faster?" Kisa asked the driver, who gave him a look that asked if he was crazy. Kisa sat back in his seat.

"Kisa-san, what are doing?"

"I have no idea, but it's too late to turn around now," Kisa admitted.

"What are you hoping to gain?"

The love of my life, Kisa thought. His eyes widened when he realised what he had just thought. "I have to go, Ricchan. Sorry."

"Kisa-san-"

Kisa hung up and stuffed his phone into his long coat. "How far are we from the hotel?"

The driver sighed. "About five minutes."

"Are you sure there's no way you can hurry up? The ceremony will be over in ten minutes!"

"Look, kid, I'm going as fast I legally can."

Kisa sighed as he tapped his foot against the floor of the car impatiently. He sat up as the car slowed to a stop. "Why are we stopping?"

"Because there's traffic?"

You have got to be kidding me!

Kisa looked at the clock and his tapping became quicker and louder as he grew more and more impatient. The driver turned around in irritation.

"Listen, if you run from here you can make it in about 5 minutes," he said to Kisa.

"Where do I go?"

"Just go straight down and then left. You can't miss it, it's a beautiful building."

Kisa nodded and left the cab, making sure to thank the driver as he slammed the door shut and ran through the gaps of the other cars before he reached the path. Picking up speed he ran in the direction of the hotel, hoping he wasn't too late.