Oops! I'm sorry for disappearing for a few days! What was it, like three or four days?

I finished my first week of school, finally! I'm writing this chapter before I go missing for days XD

What will Onodera tell Riko? Will Riko really take over Onodera Publishing? Let's find out!

Enjoy~!

-Chapter 10-

Onodera sat next to Riko as they had an early dinner with the Onodera household. His mother was tight-lipped and quiet, with a heavy aura around her. Riko kept playing with her food, until Onodera whispered to her.

"Hey, when we finish eating, let's leave," Riko nodded her head and forked her food. They were quiet among all the chatter as they ate. Unfortunately, An-chan sat on the other side of Ritsu and kept talking his ear off. Onodera tried his best to listen, but he couldn't get the conversation he overheard out of his head. Half an hour later, they cleaned all their plates and said their goodbyes.

"We have to go, we have a lot of work to do," Ritsu explained as they both bowed, apologetic.

"Okay, but please visit more often Ritsu. It hurts me when you don't seem to care," His mother attempted a smile and hugged her son tight. Riko didn't look even look at her as she said goodbye and gave her a quick hug. Their father hugged them both tight and they left.

-Some Time Later-

Arriving at their complex, they took the elevator together up to their floor.

"Riko, do you want some tea?"

"Oh, sure. That'd be nice Nii-chan," Riko followed him into his apartment and slid her shoes off in the genkan. Onodera went into the kitchen and looked at the clock. It's face read 3:30 p.m.

'Masamune already left,' Onodera sighed, a bit disappointed. He set the water to boil as he reached up to the cup cabinet. He stood on his toes and felt around for two mugs. Finding them all the way in the back, he slid them forward.

'Damn! Why did Masamune put them so far back? He knows I'm short!'

He grabbed the handles of the cups and brought them down. But being his clumsy self, he tripped on his own feet and dropped the mugs. One landed on the counter, unscathed, but the second one crashed to the ground, exploding as it made contact with the cold tile. Onodera had landed on the floor as the mug broke, and his hand drove down on a rather sharp fragment. A slash formed across the palm of his hand and he let out a rather loud, "Fuck!"

"Ritsu? What's wrong?" Onodera heard Riko's voice call from the living room. He looked quickly at his wound and saw it was bleeding rather badly.

"Don't come in here Riko!" Onodera called rather panicked. He didn't want Riko to see the blood and face the consequences.

"Ritsu, you sound like you injured yourself! Let me help you," Riko's footsteps grew louder as she approached. Thinking on his feet, he grabbed a dish towel and pressed it to his hand.

Riko appeared in the doorway and looked down at him leaning against the oven. Shattered fragments of a mug lay on the floor, Onodera in the midst of it. He was holding a dish towel to his palm, but Riko saw the blood slide down his wrist from underneath the cloth, and three little drops of the red liquid fell down to the floor. A sharp piece of broken ceramic lay next to the drops of blood, the very tip red from injuring Onodera.

Riko gasped and froze. Onodera watched as her eyes clouded, turning into a stormy green color. He stood up rather clumsily, stepping over the pool of ceramic, and rushed over to Riko.

"Riko, it's okay. It's just blood, I'm fine. Come on," He clutched the towel in his fist of his injured hand, while using the other one to pull Riko away from the scene. Her eyes wide and skin pale, she barely moved as Ritsu led her to the couch.

He helped her sit and said soothingly, "Riko, look. It's your brother, Ritsu. Everything's fine."

He stood up, walking over the kitchen to get a glass of water for her. But Riko's hand shot out and she clung to Onodera's sleeve. He was pulled back and looked back down at her. She was staring straight ahead at the beige wall, her mouth slightly agape and trembling. He sat down next to his sister, and shook her shoulder gently.

Riko turned her face towards him, fear plastered all over her features. She breathed rather heavily and whispered, "Isamu….I-Isamu..."

"No, I'm not Isamu. Isamu's not here Riko; I'm here. It's Ritsu, look," Onodera looked her straight in the eyes. Riko continued to mumble, as her eyes filled with tears.

"Isamu….I-I'm so s-sorry…..Isamu….R-Ritsu…I let you d-die…I-It's m-my fault…..F-Forgive m-m-me," Riko gasped again and buried her face in Ritsu's chest. She sobbed loudly as she clung to the back of his shirt. He put his arms around her. Still holding the cloth in his injured hand, he made sure she didn't see it.

"R-Ritsu….I w-watched Isamu die!"

"I know, I know Riko. But it wasn't your fault."

"Isamu," Riko whimpered and continued, "I-I just let h-him lay t-there in m-my a-arms… watching him b-bleed. I was useless, s-sitting there doing nothing. Just watching t-the light leave his e-eyes, just w-watching him l-leave me, and die! I-If I did s-something, anyth-thing, h-he m-might have l-l-lived!"

"No, Riko. You couldn't have done anything. He wasn't going to make it anyways. I'm so sorry Riko, but it's not your fault," Onodera embraced her tighter as she continued to soak his shirt. The only way to get her to calm down was to tell her this. It wasn't her fault, Isamu would die anyways. Remind her that he was dead. She had a reaction like this once in England, and Onodera remembered he calmed her down by just telling her the truth.

Time passed as she slowly calmed down, Onodera reassuring her. Her sobs died down to small whimpers and her grip loosened on his shirt. She slowly released herself from him, her eyes back to emerald green.

"I'm s-sorry Ritsu. I'm pitiful, aren't I?" Riko wiped her tears away and sniffled.

"Riko, you're not. Anybody would be traumatized if that happened to them," Riko just shrugged and sniffled again.

"R-Ritsu, I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. You heard Mother and I's conversation, didn't you?" Riko gave him a small, sad smile.

"H-How did you know?!"

"I saw a shadow underneath the doorway. Then you just happened to be there after I yelled at Mother. I'm not stupid."

'Dammit, she's way too smart,' Onodera thought and flushed red, embarrassed.

"R-Riko, did you mean all that?"

"Of course I did. Ritsu, please let me take the company. I know you probably want it, but I want you to be happy. In the long run, it'll just break you down and you'll never recover. I want to repay you for all you've done."

"A-Actually, I've always dreaded taking over the company."

"Eh?! Really? Then that makes it easier!"

"But Riko! You're prepared to damage yourself for me? T-That doesn't make sense!"

"I'm already damaged beyond repair Nii-san. I'll be okay," Riko smiled again, rather sadly. It broke Ritsu's heart to see her like this. To think she was useless and a burden, and the only way to fix it all was to take all the pain and pressure.

"Riko, you are not useless. You are not a burden," Ritsu frowned and continued, "You're my sister and I love you. It's natural for siblings to look after each other; we're family. You're an amazing sister, and you support and help me all the time. Please stop acting like you can't do anything right!"

Onodera had yelled the last sentence, his cheeks red. Riko looked taken aback by his outburst, and Onodera sighed.

"N-Nii-san….I'm sorry," Riko hugged him, her arms tight around his waist. Sighing again, Onodera wrapped his arms around his twin.

"Do you really want the company Riko? I mean, not for my sake?"

Riko was silent for a few moments, before speaking up, "Yes. I was always jealous that you were inheriting Onodera Publishing and I was left behind, even though I'm you twin. I love literature too, and I'm smarter than you."

Riko giggled and Onodera blushed.

"If you really want to take over, then you can have it," Onodera gave up. To make Riko happy, for herself and him, they both had to make sacrifices.

"R-Really? Thank you Ritsu!" Riko squealed in his ear and hugged him tighter, "Oh, about the whole marriage thing…I'm not going to marry An-chan's brother. And I'll get her and Mother to leave you alone about the engagement. An-chan's brother is ugly."

"R-Riko!"

"What? It's true! Remember we used to make up names for him and call him a gargoyle?" Riko started laughing and Onodera couldn't help laughing along. They stayed like this for what seemed like an eternity, happy despite everything in the world. They cracked jokes and talked about their childhood before Riko let go of him and stood up.

"I guess I better go. Momo-chan's probably wondering where I am, and I'm sure Takano is going to be home soon to pounce on you," Riko laughed through her nose and Onodera turned beet red.

"W-We don't do it every minute of every day!"

"You practically do," Riko laughed and rolled her eyes. Onodera was still covering his bleeding hand, but knew the cloth was soaked. Thankfully she left and Onodera breathed a sigh of relief. He continued to treat his wound and went back into the kitchen. The clock read five-thirty now.

"Masamune should be home soon," Onodera mumbled to himself, and found himself smiling.

-Fifteen Minutes Later-

Takano Masamune walked through his front door. He hung his coat up and slipped his shoes off. He held a rather triumphant smirk as he strolled into the kitchen. He stopped to see Onodera on the ground picking up broken ceramic and throwing it in a plastic bag, his left palm wrapped in gauze.

"Onodera?"

"Oh! Okaeri Masamune," He proceeded to stand up, finishing his chore. He tied the bag firmly shut and throw it in the trash bin.

"What happened?"

"Oh, well after I came back from my Mother's, I invited Riko over for some tea. I broke a mug and cut myself. Riko saw the blood, but luckily I got her to calm down," Onodera looked unnaturally happy.

"Why are you so happy about it?"

"Huh? Happy?"

"Yeah, you're smiling and you're eyes look all shiny or something."

"Oh. That's probably because…well I overheard a conversation my mother and sister had. I'm not going to be taking over Onodera Publishing."

Takano blinked and frowned. Was Ritsu sick or something? Ritsu not taking over Onodera Publishing House was the craziest thing he ever heard.

"What're you talking about?" Takano approached him. He placed his hand on his love's forehead. He didn't have a fever, that's for sure.

"I'm giving it to Riko. She's always wanted it actually, a lot more than me. There was more to it, but basically I'm not going to inherit the company. I actually don't know why I'm happy, but I guess it's because I never truly wanted it and I'm relieved."

Takano smiled and hugged him. Ritsu not taking the company meant he could stay with Marukawa and not have to leave Masamune. Takano could feel the fear of being left alone again being lifted.

"How was your mother's house?"

Takano's infamous smirk came back and he triumphantly announced, "Let's just say she'll probably never talk to me again."

"Masamune!"

Wow, this story is turning out a lot longer than I thought it would. 10 chapters already?! Well, I'm going to try and wrap this up soon, so don't panic and think it's going to drag out forever.

Maybe I'll write a little sequel to this after I'm done. It would be short though, only three chapters or so. Whatever!

Onodera was probably a bit OOC towards the end, but I always imagined him to be pretty happy if he found out he didn't have to take over Onodera Publishing.

See you next chapter! :)

(Remember, any ideas for this story, please share!)