Chapter Text
First loves were always so pure.
At the tender age of fifteen, Kiyotaka Ishida fell in love for the first time. His first love was the dashing gang leader Mondo Oowada. They had been brothers from different mothers for a year, but at the end of his first year at Kibougamine Academy, Ishida realized with a jolt that he saw Oowada in a romantic light. It was so unfitting of a disciplinarian, and yet it felt so right.
It had been so simple back then. The two bros knew each other like the backs of their own hands, and they proceeded to fall in love with everything about the other. Ishida loved Oowada's sense of humour and how caring, sensitive, and loyal he was. Oowada somehow loved the public morals committee member back despite their evident differences. And that was all they needed to make their innocent and young love work. The threat of breakups wasn't present, and so Ishida believed that their love would last forever. Everything was blissful and cherry blossom petals seemed to flutter down upon them at all times. Everything seemed so perfect.
But now? Ten years later? Hell no.
Ishida had changed in many ways. First, his parents had divorced when he was 18, and so his name was changed from Ishida to Ishimaru. More importantly, he was now a bitter adult. Romance hadn't been kind to him, and so he vowed never to love again. His only heartbreak took its toll on him, and eventually, piled on top of other disappointments in his life, Ishimaru transitioned from a naive boy to a damaged and jaded adult.
"The next station is ****. Doors on the left will open."
The sound of the subway announcement interrupted his thoughts. He realized he had allowed himself to space out while commuting, and grimaced at himself. This was unacceptable, especially because he was on his way to his first day at his new job! He viciously shook his head, determined not to make the mistake again.
As he exited the station, he whipped out his smartphone from his coat pocket and searched up directions to Marukawa Shoten, a popular publishing company and his new workplace. Ishimaru paused to himself, realizing that his past high school self wouldn't have been caught dead using a smartphone, having thought such luxuries were hindrances to his "educational crusade," or whatever. But he knew now that he had just been an overzealous and over-the-top kid. There were many things he knew now that he was twenty-five. Many were negative; many were regrets.
When he reached the office and identified himself as a new hire, a woman at the Guest Services front desk whose nametag read "Asahina" redirected him to a small room. There, a woman with bobbed red hair was waiting for him.
"Morning! You must be Kiyotaka Ishimaru. I'm Mahiru Koizumi," she piped.
Ishimaru returned the pleasantries then sat in the chair across from her, marveling at the fact that he was actually in Marukawa Shoten to kickstart his career again. After he had been sabotaged at his previous editing job, he didn't think he could be hired in the same field ever again. Ishimaru felt a glimmer of hope rejuvenate him: he was more than ready to continue editing literature.
But that hope was crushed just as soon as it was felt.
"So, Ishimaru," Koizumi said, "Congratulations on your transfer to Marukawa's shoujo manga department!"
Ishimaru blinked. "...Huh?"
The redhead cocked her head. "Did you not hear me? You've been assigned to the shoujo manga department."
"Th-That's... that's girl's manga, right?" Ishimaru responded incredulously, "I thought I made it clear that I was in charge of editing literature at my previous job and that I want to continue in my field of expertise."
"Ah, well," Koizumi mumbled, smiling awkwardly, "My superiors make the decisions, not me."
"Can you check one more time? Perhaps there was an error of some sort?"
"It says right here." Koizumi held up a document, "Kiyotaka Ishimaru, employed mid-career, is to be assigned to the shoujo manga division of Marukawa Shoten."
Ishimaru couldn't believe his ears. He had worked his ass off to be selected as a student at Kibougamine Academy. Even when he couldn't pursue his dream job of Prime Minister, he hadn't faltered, instead meticulously studying Japanese and English literature at two different universities to gain the skills he had now. Was all of his hard work was for nothing? Would all of his toils and efforts be reduced to editing cheesy romance comic strips?
Koizumi continued, "Well, I'll take you to the editing department. Let's go!" She abruptly stood up from her chair and motioned for him to follow. He reluctantly complied.
As they made their way to the fourth floor and as Koizumi blabbered on about how his particular shoujo manga department was influential and award-winning, Ishimaru couldn't stop thinking about how much he was going to hate his new job. He hadn't even started working there and he despised it already. He did want to give it the benefit of the doubt, but he just couldn't see the merit in shoujo manga. Literature taught valuable themes and inspired. What did manga do, satisfy the delusional fantasies of teenage girls? Incredible. He decided that he would stay in shoujo manga for two weeks, then find a reason to quit.
He did briefly listen to Koizumi chattering about the new hot chief editor who had apparently transformed the shoujo manga department, the Diamond department, from a hopeless wreck to the #1 selling shoujo manga magazine in just one year. For the first time since finding out he was going to be editing comics, Ishimaru's mood brightened. Extraordinary leaders who used their gifts and talents to aspire to be the best and make change were admirable! He decided he would make the most out of the two weeks he would have to endure and learn from this amazing chief editor.
Koizumi stopped in front of a big cubicle. "Well, here we are at Diamond!"
Ishimaru sighed. He just wanted to get the day over with.
He bowed. "Greetings, I'm pleased to be working with you from now on," he drawled, "My name is Kiyotaka-"
When he lifted his head to look at his new coworkers, he recoiled, unable to finish his introduction. Diamond department looked and smelled like death. Books and papers littered the whole office, if you could even call this hellhole an office, to the point where you couldn't see the floor or the furniture. Worn out corpse-like editors were all passed out except for a blonde woman who was typing at a laptop agonizingly slowly, trembling all the while. Ishimaru could swear he saw a putrid black fog swirling around Diamond.
Koizumi shrieked. "I'm sorry, this is the wrong phase of the cycle!"
Ishimaru blinked. "Cycle? What is that supposed to mean?"
"A-Anyway, good luck, newbie!" Koizumi sprinted out of the shoujo manga section, leaving a baffled Ishimaru alone.
"W-What the...?" He shuffled closer to the table in the center of Diamond, then gagged, clutching his nose. The closer he got to the editors, the worse they smelled.
Several people from other departments were walking through the hallway, so Ishimaru decided to talk with them instead.
"Um, excuse me? Is this really the Diamond shoujo manga department?"
A short blond scurried past him, avoiding him. "Don't fucking talk to me, I don't have anything to do with Diamond."
"Ibuki isn't part of Diamond! Ibuki wants nothing to do with Diamond!"
If Ishimaru was dumbfounded before, now he was plain flabbergasted. A despicably horrid office that edits love stories and, on top of everything, is avoided by every other normal human being. He really wanted to quit now.
Well, if speaking to people from other departments was out of question, Ishimaru supposed he would have to talk to the only conscious editor in the Diamond department itself. He carefully approached the blonde woman, afraid he would shatter her if he made a sudden move.
"Uh, hello?" He said cautiously, "I'm the new employee, Ishimaru?"
"Oh... H-H-Hello... you may call me Sonia..." the woman replied.
Although she was doing her best to smile at him, Sonia was shaking as if she had no energy left in her body. Ishimaru almost felt sympathy for her; a woman this regal-looking shouldn't be working herself to the bone. Weren't there labour laws in Japan?
"U-Um... are you all right?" he added, "Your whole department looks... extremely fatigued," he said, for lack of a better description.
"Do not fret... It's just part of the cycle..."
"There it is again! The 'cycle,'" he physically air-quoted with his fingers, "What exactly is 'the cycle?'"
She tapped on her keyboard a few more times, opening her mouth to respond. Before she could say a word, she suddenly stiffened, then swayed to the right, landing with a hard thud onto the dusty and book-covered floor.
"What the...?!" was all Ishimaru managed to say before he let out a shriek. More people in the hallway ran past Diamond, desperate to avoid him. Trying to ignore them and how weird this whole situation was, he ran over to Sonia's, crouched down, and tried to wake her up. His efforts were in vain, however, as she slept soundly on the floor, finally looking somewhat rested.
Ishimaru furrowed his brows. It had been ten minutes since Koizumi abandoned him at Diamond, and yet he still hadn't started work, nor did he have any idea how to start. He figured his only plan would be to talk to someone else. He walked around the edge of the table towards a man with faded brown hair. Oddly, although the rest of his hair was short, a a few strands of hair in the dead center of his head were long and gravity-defying.
"Hello? Uh, pardon me?" Ishimaru nudged the brunet on the shoulder. However, though he had tried to be gentle, the force of his nudge caused the man to fall off of his chair. Again, a piercing scream escaped from Ishimaru's throat. Awoken by the disturbance, the brunet quaked slightly, and planted a hand on the floor to prompt himself up.
"W...What?" the brunet mumbled weakly.
"That's what I want to ask..." Ishimaru muttered, still confused as to why everyone in his new department were almost dead and why everyone else was avoiding them.
Instead of asking, he merely cleared his throat. "Hello, I'm Ishimaru, the... new employee?"
The brunet cursed. "O-Oh... shit, right... the newcomer today... uh, I'm Hajime Hinata."
"Nice to make your acquaintance..." Ishimaru said wearily as Hinata struggled to climb back onto his chair.
"Boss!" Hinata called out to the front of the table weakly. "Boss, the new guy's here!" Louder, now. "Boss, can you hear me? Boss!"
"Shut yer trap, I heard you the first fucking time!" A low and raspy voice snapped. Ishimaru turned his head towards the new voice.
A man, who was supposedly the head editor, had his feet perched up on the chief editor's desk. He was in sickeningly casual attire: a red and black plaid shirt over a black V-neck shirt and black sweatpants. He removed his arm and a storyboard from his face, revealing an even more exhausted-looking face than the ones Ishimaru had already seen: dark bags had formed under the head editor's half-closed eyes, and Ishimaru thought he saw... smudged eyeliner? The boss' black hair was disheveled; his bangs were nearly long enough to cover his eyes.
The editor-in-chief's lips curled into a snarl as he put on a pair of black-rimmed glasses. "Huh?" he grumbled, "Who's this? Better be delivering the fucking storyboard."
Annoyed, Ishimaru spat, "It's nice to meet you, too. I'm the new full-timer on contract."
"Fuck, was that today? Shit. Nice t'meet you."
What the hell is with him? Ishimaru thought. Both his attitude and appearance were sloppy. Compared to Ishimaru, who was wearing a dress shirt and tie, the boss was horribly under dressed.
The head editor continued, "I wasn't at the interview, but I heard you have editing experience?"
"Yes, I spent three years editing literature at Onodera Publishing."
"Literature?" The editor-in-chief scoffed.
Ishimaru's scarlet eyes twitched out of annoyance. First, the "top dog" is revealed to be a total slob, now, he undermines literature? Ishimaru held his patience; he knew it was bad to judge people based on their first impressions, no matter how terrible or reserved they were.
"Y-Yes... my main author was Togami Byakuya."
That ought to wow the supposedly esteemed chief editor. Togami's novels were consistently #1 bestsellers. Surely, the head editor would be in awe.
"Useless."
"...I beg your pardon?"
"You don't have ANY experience in shoujo manga," the boss said, "So you're useless."
Ishimaru stared daggers at his new boss, absolutely fuming. He hated being called useless and being judged without being given a chance. Especially by some asshole who thought they were all that and didn't know anything about him as a person!
Before Ishimaru could give him a piece of his mind, the office phone rang. The remaining corpse-like editor, the only one Ishimaru had yet to see, snatched it up and put the receiver to his ear.
The editor hummed, "...Greetings, mortal."
Ishimaru raised an eyebrow at the strange manner of speech. Then, he realized that it wasn't just the way he spoke that was strange, the man was weird in general. His skin was so pale it appeared to be grey. One of his eyes was grey, the other was red, a scar refused to heal through his red eye, and his hair was gelled straight up.
"Boss," the strange man said, "Mangaka Komaru Naegi is downstairs with the replacement storyboard."
"Fuckin' finally," the editor-in-chief muttered. "You, Ishi... whatever. You're comin' with me."
"E-Eh? Me?" staggered Ishimaru, "But I literally just got here--"
"Look around, asshole. Everyone else is dying. Christ, just follow me and show me you're not a useless piece of shit, yeah?"
Now Ishimaru was REALLY fuming. He really couldn't tolerate his new boss. Especially because at his full height, the editor-in-chief was at least five inches taller than him. There were too many factors that made this arrogant and tyrannical head editor superior to Ishimaru, and it irritated him. Nevertheless, he obediently trailed behind the boss, supposing that his new job had finally started.
"So," Ishimaru inquired, "Replacement storyboards are for when the regular storyboard isn't available, correct?"
"Right. Kinda the same idea as literature, but with manuscripts instead, I guess." They got into the elevator and the editor-in-chief pressed the Ground Floor button.
Ishimaru nodded. Before he had edited Togami's novels, the monthly publication journals he worked on frequently needed replacements, too. "When does the magazine start selling? It is of utmost importance that replacement storyboards should be prepared very early on-"
"A week."
"...Eh?"
"The magazine," The head editor muttered, "It hits shelves in a week."
Ishimaru couldn't believe his ears. "A week?! And the replacement manuscript just came? Didn't you have replacement storyboards that were ready to be used immediately?"
"Yeah, but they're not good enough."
"I beg your pardon, but... so? If time is running out, then it shouldn't matter-"
"Listen up, newbie." Ishimaru's eye twitched. He was already tired of being looked down at his new boss. "When I became the top dog around here, the department was called 'Hope.' Y'wanna know why I changed it to be called Diamond? Two reasons. One of them is one of my favourite quotes. 'Why fill a hole with rocks when you can shove it with diamonds?'"
"Well... I suppose that's true, but if there is really no other option-"
"Christ, let it go. We're already here," the head editor spat. Sure enough, they were in the break room. A young woman with messily cropped hair was seated at one of the tables, grasping a stack of manuscript papers.
"Naegi," the editor-in-chief sat across from her, "Thanks so much."
"Ah, no prob at all!" Komaru smiled, "See, I told you I could draw it in just three days no problem!"
Three days?! Ishimaru screamed internally. This maniac of a head editor sure cut it close...
He realized with a jolt that he was awkwardly still standing, so he plopped down into the chair beside his boss. The latter was in the midst of proofreading the manuscript before sending it off to the printers. Or so Ishimaru thought.
"Hey, Naegi," the head editor drawled, "Can ya make this confession scene more dramatic?"
Komaru blinked. "More dramatic?"
"Yeah, this is supposed to be the climax of this chapter, but it's kinda underwhelming."
"Can you be more specific? I need to know what exactly you want changed..."
"What do you mean 'you need to know'? Haven't you ever been confessed to before?"
Komaru flushed a deep crimson at that last remark.
"Uh... boss...?" Ishimaru stammered. Wasn't this sexual harassment?! Privacy invasion?! This head editor was insane!
Komaru regained her composure somewhat. "Um, maybe I have, but still, I wouldn't be able to see myself being confessed to, and definitely wouldn't have been able to see how a kiss would look like if I were the one getting kissed."
"You have a point," the head editor pondered, scratching his head. "I guess I need to show you how it should look."
Ishimaru stood up. "Do you need samples? If you just tell me where they're located, I can get them to you quickly-"
"Watch closely," the editor-in-chief also stood up. "These two characters were repressing feelings for each other for a long time, right? It should look like this."
"Er... I still need to know where the samples are-"
Suddenly, the head editor grabbed Ishimaru's wrist. Ishimaru felt blood rushing to his face.
"Huh?"
The head editor looked... strained. His facial expression was a mix between pain and... desire. He looked down longingly into Ishimaru's eyes, blushing, and Ishimaru couldn't help but stare back and notice that his eyes were a beautiful lilac colour.
"Ishimaru..." the head editor purred. Shivers shot down Ishimaru's spine, and he couldn't bring himself to look away, trapped in his gaze.
Then, the striking blow.
"I love you." W-What? "Fuck... I...! I've loved you since the day we met... It's always been you!"
Ishimaru swallowed in apprehension. "Boss? I-- MMPH!!"
The head editor abruptly pushed Ishimaru's arm away from him, forcing Ishimaru to tip backward, only to be caught by his editor-in-chief's embrace. After another lustful gaze, the head editor glanced quickly at Ishimaru's lips before he pressed his own against them.
"Mm... MMMPPPPHHHH???!!!!!" Ishimaru shrieked into the other man's mouth as Komaru furiously scribbled away, screaming and fangirling all the while. Ishimaru planted his hands on his boss' chest and tried to push him off, but the head editor just tightened his hold and cupped Ishimaru's face with his free hand, deepening the kiss. After what seemed like eternity, Ishimaru was finally able to break the kiss.
"W-W-What the hell was that?!" hollered Ishimaru. The editor-in-chief looked shocked momentarily, before reverting to his usual tough facial expression and stating,
"That was work."
Ishimaru wasn't going to last the two weeks he had planned to stay.
He was sitting in the break room again, shell-shocked. It was his first day of work. His FIRST DAY. But...
- He was assigned to edit girls' romance comics.
- The department he was assigned to, Diamond, is a despairingly hopeless mess.
- His boss is seriously the worst human being ever, despite the fact that he is hailed as an influential and amazing editor.
- He was sexually harassed by said boss.
He shook his head vigorously, trying to forget the incident that had occurred only hours before. He had taken so many measures to try to erase it from his memory. He had gone out for lunch. He had asked Koizumi to give him a tour of the whole company in order to get acquainted with his new workplace. He had studied Diamond magazine's list of manga releases. But the fact that he had been forcefully kissed for no reason other than work still lingered, replaying over and over in his brain.
"Fuck!" he yelled, wildly running his fingers through his hair.
"'The fuck? what's wrong with you?"
Ishimaru spun around to face the one person he did not want to see walking into the break room. "Oh, boss..."
The head editor frowned. "What're you still doing here? Everyone else went home. You're free to go."
"Oh... am I? In that case, good work today... thank you for your help." He fumbled to get his things in order.
Suddenly, there was a hand on his head.
Ishimaru whipped his head up and saw that his boss was touching his hair, staring right at him as he had earlier. He blushed furiously before pushing his boss' hand off of his head.
"...You look really familiar," the head editor said quietly, "Have we met before?"
"...I apologize, I don't recall ever making your acquaintance before," Ishimaru replied, still blushing, "Perhaps we've seen glimpses of each other. After all, we live in the same city and we were both in the same industry."
"...'Guess yer right," he mumbled as he trudged out of the break room.
Ishimaru watched his boss leave, frozen in his seat. He could still feel the touch on his head, his wrist, his face...
But the worst part was, they were so... familiar.