(A/N: I'm so sorry im like this asldjalksjdas this chapter has actually been finished for a minute and I forgot about it...im not saying how long it was done...asldjlaskalsd)

An and Nao couldn't believe their own eyes.

Once inside Masamune's home they found that it was indeed empty. No one in the living room or the kitchen or the bedroom (or the bedroom closet, or under the bed, they had checked). How was this possible? Could there be some kind of trap door somewhere? A secret basement that Ritsu was hiding out in or an attic perhaps? They refused to believe that this man in fact had no involvement or knowledge of Ritsu.

"As you can see, your friend is not here, so if the two of you wouldn't mind finally leaving me the hell alone, I would greatly appreciate that." Masamune said, starting to try to usher An and Nao out of his home and hopefully out of his store and then totally out of his life.

"Wait - if Ritsu's not here, do you know where he is?" Nao asked, not believing that Masamune had simply wiped his hands clean of Ritsu and was now done with him. Masamune had to have some kind of information.

"I told you, he skipped town." Masamune said. "And even if he told me where he was going, I wouldn't tell you two." He added, trying not to sneer.

"What if I can help Ritsu?" An blurted out, becoming more desperate the closer they got to the door.

Masamune raised an eyebrow, pausing in his process of kicking An and Nao out. "Help Ritsu how?" He asked.

"You do know about the spell placed on him, right?" An said. They had briefly alluded to it in conversation in the past, but she had never outright confirmed Masamune's knowledge.

"Yes." Masamune said, crossing his arms as he waited for An to continue.

"I can try to undo it." An said.

Nao and Masamune both looked at her with disbelief.

"Can you do that?" Masamune asked.

"I can try." She repeated. "My mother's magic is probably more powerful than my own, but I did study under her for a while. And I have her blood in my veins. So if anyone has a shot at undoing her spell it's me." She said, standing a little straighter in an attempt to appear confident. "But I'd have to see Ritsu in order to do it."

Masamune frowned, weighing her words carefully as Nao refrained from interrogating An about this sudden offer.

"Let's say - in theory - I do know where Ritsu is - only in theory." Masamune started.

"Only in theory." An repeated, hoping to start to build a little trust between herself and Masamune.

"If I - in theory - knew where Ritsu was and went to go talk to him and tell him about your offer, the two of you absolutely could not follow me. I'm not going to go against Ritsu's hypothetical wishes and lead both of you directly to him." Masamune said. "And if he still refuses, if he still doesn't want to see either of you even with your offer, then the two of you will leave him and me alone."

"...Fine." An said, not sure how well she and Nao would be able to accommodate by those rules, but she would agree to anything if it meant increasing the chances of finally, finally seeing Ritsu again. "If Ritsu doesn't agree to meet with us then you will never hear from us again."

"...Come back here tomorrow after closing. I'll give you an update then." Masamune said. "Now if you would please get out of my-"

"Wait, there's still something I don't understand." Nao said quickly. "You say you know about the spell, but you also said you're not in love with Ritsu. How is that possible?"

"I never said I wasn't in love with Ritsu. I said that your idea of love was warped." Masamune corrected, his patience starting to wear thin . "But no, I'm not in love with Ritsu because of magic. What do the two of you know about the spell, exactly?"

"Ritsu told us it was a curse that made everyone fall in love with him at first sight." Nao said. "And that our feelings for him couldn't possibly be real. So if you are in love with Ritsu, then - "

"He didn't tell you the whole thing. Including the fact that your mother is a terribly ineffective witch." Masamune said, shifting his attention to An.

An - although she hadn't been in contact with her mother in a long time due to her own anger at her mother for cursing the man she loved - felt herself bristling in defense. "My mother is very powerful and-"

"Very sloppy when she's angry, apparently. But Ritsu can tell you more about the specifics of the spell. If he decides to." Masamune said. "But for now, the two of you need to leave. I have to get back downstairs." An and Nao had disrupted enough of Masamune's life and business. Quite frankly, he was tired of it.

Nao and An still had a certain amount of reluctance to leave, feeling as though they had come so close but were still so far from finally seeing their long lost friend and love, but soon they were kicked out of Masamune's home and bookshop.

"You're not actually going to give up if Ritsu refuses to meet with us, are you?" Nao asked, the two of them loitering around the front of the shop for a few minutes before getting into the rhythm of strolling down the street side by side, seeing as they didn't really have anywhere else to go and had no reason to continue to stay by the shop.

"I don't know." An sighed.

"And why offer to undo the curse now? Why didn't you open with that? That could've gotten us to Ritsu so much sooner! I didn't even know that was something you could do." Nao said, frowning. Shouldn't have An mentioned something like that before? If not to Masamune, then at least to him!

"I don't know if it's something I can do either. Like I said earlier, I can try." An reiterated.

"I still don't understand why you didn't offer to try sooner. You were learning magic back at home. You could have done it before he left - when your mother first cursed him." Nao pointed out.

"My mother and I were already on very bad terms with one another at that point. I was furious with her for doing that to Ritsu. Not to mention, she was convinced she had done it on my behalf! It - it would have just made things worse between her and I, but that isn't a concern of mine anymore." An explained.

"So why didn't you tell Takano-san about it sooner?" Nao asked.

"...What if Ritsu was right?" An asked.

Nao frowned. "What do you mean? Right about what?"

"About the spell, about our feelings for him. What if they're not real?"

"What are you talking about? Of course they're real - didn't you love Ritsu before the spell?" Nao pressed.

"Yes, I did, but maybe I wouldn't love Ritsu anymore if it weren't for the magic. It's been so long, maybe our feelings would have naturally faded with time if not for the spell...and maybe - maybe if I break the spell, they will fade away. Maybe if I break the spell we'll both realize we don't love Ritsu anymore. And then...then I don't know what I'll do." They had both been searching for Ritsu for so long, An wasn't sure what she'd have left if she didn't have her feelings for Ritsu anymore. "If Ritsu is right about our feelings only being due to the spell and then I break the spell...I'm just frightened of where that might leave us."

"I'm not." Nao said firmly. "Because I know that my feelings aren't due to some stupid spell."

"But what if - ?"

"Even if they are - which I'm certain they aren't - but, if they are then I'm still not worried. Because if I suddenly fall out of love with Ritsu that means I can either fall in love with him all over again with the man he is today or finally, finally be friends with him again. Either way it will put our search to an end." Nao said. "Breaking the spell is the best chance we've got at Ritsu being a part of our lives again."

An slowly nodded. "Yes. You're right." She said. "No use getting too worked up now anyway. We won't know Ritsu's answer until tomorrow." She added. "Come on, let's find something to distract ourselves with so we're not tempted to follow Takano-san and find out where Ritsu is. I don't want to make Ritsu more upset with us than he already is and risk him refusing to see us." An frowned at the thought of Ritsu potentially even hating them for their relentless pursuit.

"Maybe we can go shopping. Get him a present. A 'good-to-see-you-after-eight-years-this-is-for-good-luck-in-breaking-a-curse' present." Nao suggested.

An laughed softly. "Sure, that's not a bad idea."

"I'll look for a present for you too."

An raised an eyebrow. "A present for me?"

"Yes, a 'congratulations-we-are-finally-proper-rivals' present for once you break the curse and we can each properly try to date Ritsu." Nao explained.

"Is that an occasion you get someone a present for?"

Nao shrugged. "Probably not. But we're in pretty strange circumstances."

"Well, I'll get you an even better present. I'll beat you in gift giving and in winning Ritsu's affection." An declared.

Nao couldn't help but to grin a bit, enjoying the banter and playful competition, but knowing that it would end with at least one of them having a broken heart.

"You're on, little witch."

After Masamune closed down shop later that Monday evening, he double and triple checked that An and Nao weren't somewhere nearby, spying on him and waiting to follow. Even though he was absolutely certain that he wasn't being followed, he still took a very long, winding, sometimes even circular path on his way to the inn, just to be extra sure that the two annoying individuals weren't going to attempt to tail him.

Eventually, he entered the inn, and gave a small nod to the owner manning the front.

"Ah, are you here to see Ritsu already?" The man asked, speaking quietly, as if it were some kind of secret.

"Yes. He's here, right?" There was still an anxious part of Masamune that feared Ritsu would forgo their plan and end up skipping town despite agreeing he wouldn't.

"Yes, but do you know if he's alright? He told me not to let anyone but you know he's still staying here. He said he's not in any kind of danger, but that's still a very worrisome thing to hear!"

"He's just fine," Masamune assured, "but I have to speak with him. He's not suddenly in a different room, is he?"

"No, no, he's in the same room as before." The man said, a tiny bit disappointed that Masamune obviously wasn't going to be discussing any more details of the situation with him.

Masamune gave the man another nod before going to Ritsu's room, knocking on the door. He stood there for a few moments, listening closely, but not hearing any shuffling about in the room of any kind.

"Ritsu?" He called out, knocking on the door again. "It's me."

This time Masamune heard movement from inside, followed by the door quickly opening and Masamune being yanked through it before it shut and locked again.

"What are you doing here so soon?" Ritsu asked, unable to disguise his alarm at Masamune's presence. "There's no way An and Nao have left that quickly. What if they followed you here?"

"They didn't follow me here."

"But - !"

"Trust me, I would not have come here if I wasn't completely certain that they weren't following me. I was careful."

"Please tell me you at least have an actual reason for coming so soon and not just because you 'missed me'." Ritsu said. Masamune surely wasn't that stupid and selfish, right?

Masamune sat at the foot of the bed and patted the spot beside him. "Come sit, I'll tell you what happened."

"Is it bad, please tell me it's not bad." Ritsu sat down quickly, accidentally sitting a little too close so their thighs were touching. He briefly thought about scooting away, but he feared that would draw more attention to it. Masamune hadn't outwardly reacted to the touch so he decided it was probably best to stay put for now.

"It's not bad. It's...interesting." Masamune started.

"Interesting is just another word for bad."

"No it's not, you're being dramatic." Masamune flicked his forehead, making Ritsu scowl and rub it in response to soothe the slight sting. "An offered to try to break the spell. She says she'd have to see you to do it." Masamune said, trying to keep his voice even and his pace normal, as to not give way to the fact that he desperately wanted Ritsu to accept this offer. Masamune had felt so useless when he came to the realization that there was nothing he could do to help Ritsu break his curse. The thought of Ritsu continuing to suffer for the rest of his life in this way - and it eventually driving the two of them apart - Masamune simply couldn't stand it.

Ritsu's mouth hung open. "I - you're joking. She's bluffing. She doesn't - she can't do that. She's not a witch."

"How would you know? She says she learned from her mother."

"Well - her mother was rather feared by our town for her abilities and An was always so kind and bright. I just can't see An agreeing to study anything under her mother."

Masamune shrugged. "At the end of the day, she was still her mother. Maybe An didn't have much of a choice."

"Even if An is a witch and she can break the spell, if her mother found out that her own daughter broke her spell, I don't think it would turn out very well." Ritsu argued.

"Don't you think it's at least worth trying?" Masamune asked. "This could all finally be over for you. Even if she's lying to lure you out of hiding, isn't it worth the risk? And if her mom gets mad at her then that's her issue."

Ritsu chewed on his lower lip to keep himself from making a clumsy agreement too quickly. "I don't...I don't want to get my hopes up...but do you really think..." He trailed off, looking down at his own lap.

"Yes." Masamune answered, holding one of Ritsu's hands tightly.

"I can't even imagine it." Ritsu admitted. "I don't know what I'd do if she - if she actually managed to break the spell."

"You'll be able to do anything you want, but I hope you'll stay here." Masamune said. "You can keep working at the bookshop, even though you'll be so much worse at your job without magic helping you." He added.

"I am not that socially inept - ! "

"And you can actually find a place to live instead of renting out a room - cause you'll have to actually start paying people for things." Masamune chuckled. "And maybe I'll be generous enough to let you stay at my place while you're trying to find your own."

"Will you charge me rent or dock it out of my pay?" Ritsu asked sarcastically.

"We'll say you'll owe me a sizeable favor." Masamune said, a small smile on his face. "And in the evenings I can teach you how to cook." Masamune continued.

"...And in the morning maybe I can try to make breakfast?" Ritsu murmured, his cheeks heating up a bit from the admittedly domestic scenario they were discussing. Masamune gave his hand a squeeze.

"Sure. See if anything from the previous night stuck with you or if we'll starve till lunch."

Ritsu managed a small laugh at that. "Will you let me borrow any book I want over the weekends?"

"Now that I will dock out of your pay, if you damage it."

"I suppose that's only fair."

"And you'd have to let me read it with you." Masamune added.

"How would that work?" Ritsu asked.

"It's not that hard to figure out." Masamune said, letting go of Ritsu's hand to instead wrap his arm around Ritsu's waist and press firmly against his side. "We'd have to sit real close, like this, and I'd read over your shoulder. We could take turns reading out loud, or read quietly to ourselves. It might be a bit awkward at first with page turning, but eventually we'd fall into a rhythm." He said.

Ritsu sat up straighter, swallowing hard and trying not to be obvious in how their close proximity sent his heart pounding.

"And hopefully, during one of our evenings at home once everything is settled and all this magic nonsense is behind you, you'll be willing to talk to me honestly about how you feel."

"M-Maybe." Ritsu managed to choke out, unable to think of anything more coherent to say in response.

"I'm okay with 'maybe'. I'm willing to take a chance on 'maybe'." Masamune said, leaning in close enough that Ritsu could feel his breath on his cheek.

Oh God, is he going to try to kiss me!? Ritsu thought in alarm. Even just a brush of his lips to his cheek would be too much for Ritsu's heart, making Ritsu jump up from the bed at the mere thought of it. Masamune blinked a couple times, surprised at Ritsu suddenly springing up and out of his arms.

"Okay! I want to try to break the spell!" Ritsu said, a sense of determination overtaking his embarrassment.

Masamune smiled a bit, unable to be upset at the loss of contact when seeing the new fire in Ritsu's eyes.

"Where are An and Nao now?" Ritsu asked.

"I'm not sure." Masamune admitted. "But I told them to come back to the shop after hours tomorrow and that I would tell them your answer to An's offer." He said.

Ritsu nodded and took a deep breath. "I suppose that's when I'll come by then." He said.

Masamune raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You're going to skip another day of work?"

Ritsu blinked. "Huh?"

"An and Nao shouldn't bother us until after hours, so I think it'd be perfectly fine for you to work again tomorrow." Masamune said.

Ritsu scowled a bit. "You're a tyrant." He accused. "You'd really make me come back to work tomorrow?"

"Well, why not? You're going to have to start earning more money if An is able to break this spell and you've already taken several days off."

"I wouldn't count them as 'days off', that implies it was a nice vacation of some kind." Ritsu huffed.

"Plus, I want you there." Masamune said, ignoring Ritsu's attitude. "It's a lot less fun without you around the shop."

Ritsu grumbled, crossing his arms. "And If An and Nao decide to pop in early?"

"Then I'll sweep you off your feet and run away to the next town with you." Masamune said. "Obviously if they can't respect the boundaries of our deal then they can't be trusted at all."

"S-Sweeping me off my feet is a little much." Ritsu said, shifting nervously.

"I don't think so. I'd carry you the whole way." Masamune's face was breaking into a slow grin as he clearly took enjoyment in making Ritsu squirm a bit.

Ritsu scoffed and waved him off, turning to face away from him. "You're ridiculous." He countered. "But, fine. I'll come into work tomorrow. I sort of...miss being there anyway."

"Yeah? You miss everyone coming in to fawn over you?" Masamune teased, standing up to wrap his arms around Ritsu's waist and pull him to his chest in a hug from behind.

Ritsu nearly choked on his own spit. "O-Of course not!" He exclaimed.

"Good, cause you don't need that kind of attention from anyone but me." Masamune said.

"You are so infuriating." Ritsu complained. "You're not seriously jealous of any of those people, are you?"

"..."

"Takano-san."

"Maybe just a little bit." Masamune said as he put his chin on Ritsu's shoulder, his grip tightening just slightly.

Ritsu reached up to gently bonk him on his head. "Don't be dumb. There's nothing to be jealous over. Those people are all under a spell, they're in love with me against their own wills and there's no chance of me ever returning their feelings. That's a terrible situation to be in." He said.

"Yeah, but they get to openly admire you without you reprimanding them or calling them names or hitting them on the head." Masamune said with a huff.

"They can't help it!" Ritsu reminded him, trying (and failing) to wiggle out of his arms. "But you are perfectly capable of controlling your words and actions, Takano-san."

"Not really." Masamune said breezily. "Being around you turns me into an idiot."

Ritsu scoffed. "At least we can both agree that you're an idiot."

"See, there you go, calling me names again." Masamune said.

Unbelievable, Ritsu thought. "You said it first! I was just agreeing!"

"You weren't supposed to. You're supposed to tell me how wonderful I am and how much you like me and how lucky you are to have me in your life." Masamune said.

"Your ego is already an unhealthy size, I don't need to be contributing to it." Ritsu said. "Now will you let me go? I don't just want to stand here with you holding me like this - it's weird."

"It's not weird. I'm perfectly content here."

"I'm not!" Ritsu complained loudly.

"Fine, but I need something first."

Ritsu frowned and furrowed his eyebrows. "What - ?"

Masamune quickly, but gently, pressed his lips against Ritsu's burning cheek before releasing him.

"There, are you happy now?" Masamaune asked, going back to sit in his previous spot on the bed.

Ritsu raised a hand, his fingertips brushing against where Masamune's lips just were. "Y-You're terrible.." He mumbled, crossing his arms and refusing to face him. He can't hear my heartbeat, can he? If it's that loud then I'll die from embarrassment.

"Come sit back down with me."

"D-Do you have more to say?" Ritsu asked, slowly turning back toward Masamune, but with his gaze lowered. "If you have no more news then you're free to leave."

"You're not going to kick me out now, are you?" Masamune asked.

"I have to be up early for work, don't I?" Ritsu snipped, gaining back a little bit of confidence. He doubted he'd be able to go to bed so soon, not with the way his body was currently buzzing with everything that had just happened, but it was a reasonable excuse.

"It's already dark out, I don't want to walk home at this time. It could be dangerous." Masamune said, making Ritsu scoff.

"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?"

"It was worth a shot." Masamune shrugged.

"Y-You can't stay the night here. You don't have any clothes to sleep in and I don't think any of my clothes would fit you."

"I'll live if I go to bed in these clothes." Masamune said.

"There's only one bed."

"I think we could make it work." Masamune said. "Besides, I let you sleep in my bed, I think it's only fair if I get to sleep in yours."

"Yeah, but you slept on the couch, not with me!"

"You're welcome to sleep on the floor, if you really want to."

This guy...he never knows when to stop pushing his luck, does he? Ritsu thought. I must be just as ridiculous as he is, staying in this town for someone like him.

"Fine." Ritsu said, grabbing one of the two pillows off the bed and letting it hit the floor. "Get up so I can grab the sheet."

"Come on, I was joking." Masamune said. "Don't sleep on the floor."

Ritsu stared hard at Masamune, as if willing him to stand up so Ritsu could take the sheet off the bed. However, Masamune stayed put, meeting Ritsu's gaze with ease.

Ritsu broke first, muttering incoherently to himself in irritation as he picked the pillow back up off the floor.

"Well, don't put it back on the bed, it's probably dirty now."

"I'm sure it's just fine. Are you suggesting my floor is filthy?"

"Just leave it."

"But then there'll only be one pillow." Ritsu said.

"It'll be fine." Masamune assured.

Ritsu rolled his eyes at Masamune's insistence, but he tossed the pillow away as Masamune started to make himself comfortable in bed.

"What are you doing?"

"Laying down?

"Already?" Ritsu said, a bit panicked, not ready to lay so close to Masamune.

"You were the one who said you wanted to be up early tomorrow for work. Or was that just a lie to try to get me to leave quicker?" Masamune asked.

Ritsu resisted the urge to wince. "Of course not."

"Right. Hurry up and lay down then."

Ritsu was at the very least grateful for the following darkness that would hopefully hide his embarrassment at least a little bit as he very slowly and carefully got under the blanket beside Masamune. When his head hit the mattress, his displeasure quickly overrode his humiliation.

"H-Hey, you took the pillow!"

"Well, I'm not the one who put the other one on the floor, so why should I have to sleep without a pillow?" Masamune asked.

"I can just use that one, I don't care that it touched the floor." Ritsu grumbled, going to get right back up, but was quickly stopped as Masamune reached out and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"You can just use me as a pillow." Masamune said, his chest to Ritsu's back.

Ritsu's whole mouth went dry and he considered it no less than a miracle that he was able to form a response, "D-Don't be ridiculous. There's a perfectly good pillow across the room."

"How are you going to get it?" Masamune asked, hugging Ritsu tighter as if daring him to take up the challenge.

"You're such a child." Ritsu was tempted to kick back at him, but refrained, not wanting to behave childishly himself.

"Yeah, yeah, good night, Ritsu." Masamune said dismissively.

"Y-You're not seriously going to sleep like this, are you?" Ritsu asked.

"What's wrong with laying like this?" Masamune asked. "Unless you're going to take me up on my offer to use me like a pillow. Then I can lay on my back for you."

"That isn't what I meant at all." Ritsu said quickly, the words almost running into each other.

"Then I guess we're stuck like this." Masamune said, as if there weren't several other ways for the two of them to lay in the bed together.

"Just let me go and scoot over!"

"You're not going to argue about this all night, are you?" Masamune asked. "Tomorrow is sure to be a long day. We're gonna need sleep."

Ritsu could feel every cell within him vibrating with the effort it took to hold in his excitement at the mention of tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow his eight year long curse might finally come to a close. Don't get your hopes up, Ritsu told himself silently, repeating the mantra in his head as if his hopes weren't already soaring. This could all still be a trick or An could fail at breaking the curse. You have to stay on your guard.

"You got too quiet too quickly and I know you didn't fall asleep just like that." Masamune said. "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm excited about tomorrow. And nervous. Nervous-excited." Ritsu admitted softly, afraid that if he spoke too loudly then the universe would punish him for daring to wish for a better future.

"Even if tomorrow is a failure, we'll find a way to make it work." Masamune promised. He sounded confident enough to make Ritsu want to believe him. "I can't give you anything and I'm letting you know that includes giving you up."

"...That was terrible." Ritsu said through stifled laughter, covering his face with one hand as he grinned.

"Wow, I'm being sincere and all you can do is laugh at me." Masamune's voice was deadpan, though he instinctively smiled when hearing Ritsu laugh.

"Please never be sincere again." Ritsu joked, his laughter more free now.

"Tch." Was all Masamune said in response before he kissed the back of Ritsu's head. "Go to sleep, jerk."

Ritsu's heart skipped a beat at the small, but sweet gesture and wished he had a pillow to bury his face in.

As if I can fall asleep like this, Ritsu thought stubbornly as Masamune laced their fingers together. Ritsu silently prayed his hand wouldn't start sweating.

"Good night." Masamune said, staying snuggled in close.

"...Good night."