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“I’m leaving now.”
Masamune took the briefcase, as he stood at Ritsu's apartment door. Due to his air conditioning situation, he was living with his almost-boyfriend of a subordinate, and that wasn’t exactly a situation that could be considered as bothersome. Not in a bit.
In a previous meeting, Masamune was made to go on a business trip for a whole day, a meeting that he arrived late due to his exhaustion after his "nightly activities" with Onodera the night prior. Despite what those after dark activities involved, Masamune was still frustrated that he couldn't fully claim his "almost" lover. To make things worse, it was his day off.
He should have taken advantage of that day to go out on a date. Ritsu would perhaps invite him on a date that would start with lunch in a cafeteria, where once again he would see him go crazy for a simple fast food order, then perhaps (knowing how his diplomatic attitude is), he would take him to hang out in a library, where the two of them would read something together, and the green-eyed would lean tenderly on him. If luck was on his side, he would then take him to watch the sunset together, and Ritsu would finally say "Masamune-san, I love you", and maybe he'd steal a kiss by standing on his toes. From there, maybe he would take him to his apartment, kiss him, and he would slowly take off his clothes, just to throw him on the bed, and if all of those things happened, then things could’ve been…
“Bye, bye.”
Ritsu’s dismissal woke him up from his fantasies. On that morning, Ritsu was with that usual hairstyle that he didn't know if he hated simply because of the way it looked on him, or for how disheveled it was while Takano was there. He was wearing a white shirt that was huge on him, and was crossing his arms, waiting for his former guest to take his leave.
He sighed and narrowed his eyes a little as he felt so dejected that once again, they stole precious time with his crush.
“Can I get a goodbye kiss?” Takano asked.
He was honest about his wishes. There was nothing wrong with him trying one more time.
The blush and exalted eyes from Onodera did not wait, but he only let out a long exhausted sigh, and tried to maintain his composure.
“N-no... please go,” he averted his face from Masamune so as not to have to see him directly, as he frowned at him, showing annoyance at his request.
“I said goodbye, I don't know when I'll see you again.”
Masamune sounded dull in his tone of voice, even a little desperate.
“It will be for a day only! If you take the last train back, you'll be here by noon!” Ritsu exclaimed.
“It will be a whole day in which you won't hear from me, and I won't hear from you. What if something happens to me? Will it be that I’ll die without having the experience of getting a goodbye kiss from you?” Takano teased.
His tone became more and more pleading, causing Ritsu to finally meet his gaze. He quickly saw those eyes full of sadness and desolation, although instead of causing him to feel pity, he felt evident annoyance due to how theatrical Masamune’s antics were.
"Are you a little kid or something?" Onodera wondered as he muttered under his breath. “You have my number, you can send me a message if something happens. I swear I'll keep an eye out. Stop inventing so many excuses and now go,” Ritsu approached him to open the door for him so he could leave.
But Takano did not move.
“C-come on, you'll be late.” He demanded firmly. Masamune stared at him for a few moments, and he thought about what other kind of credible excuse.
“You know, you're right. We are not yet at the point in a relationship where we kiss as a couple.”
Masamune’s comment made Ritsu look at him with a confused expression, and responded to him with a "Huh?"
“However, we have gone beyond just kissing, so how come?” Masamune began to question him.
Ritsu felt his face turn red again and slammed the door in protest.
“I-it's your fault! Everything we've done has been because you demanded it!”
Takano's trick question made him raise his voice. He was offended when it came to that kind of thing, by reminding him of all the things they’ve done out of order, when Ritsu made his best effort to make things in order from the beginning.
“Aaah... So from the beginning you didn't want to do that?” He kept talking with that passive and convalescent tone, which angered him even more.
“I'm being for real! Since you gave me my first kiss to the most recent one... it's been because you asked for it... ”
His bickering with Takano made him accidentally slip an important revelation to Masamune.
"Wait... Did I hear wrong, or did you say that I was your first kiss?"
And there goes the grand reveal. For Ritsu, it was always unforgettable that his first kiss had been nothing more and nothing less than the man he loved for more than 3 years in a row. Being kissed by Saga was a milestone in his life that sadly never faded from his memory. Regardless, it was something that Takano didn't have to know, not with that powerful attitude that drove him crazy.
“Ah... uhm…” he muttered, “I-I meant to say OUR first kiss,” Ritsu gibed at Takano. “You? Being my first kiss? Hah!”
Ritsu tried to reverse what he said with an obvious lie, accompanied by a nervous laugh that made his poor attempt at covering himself more obvious.
“Yes, of course, especially since you were an expert kissing with your mouth closed.”
Ritsu stifled a cry of indignation with a grimace, opening the door again to push him out.
“Please just go! Forget what I said! H-have a good time with your invest—” He was about to slam the door again but Masamune's arm resting on the door frame stopped him.
“Wait! Ah…!” he said in surprise.
“It's okay, I won't bother you with that again, and I think I can pretend that those other kisses never happened if you want,” Takano apologized. A part of what he said was a lie, but at least his tone of voice sounded sincere. And like everything, he had terms.
“As long as you promise me that soon you will give me the first kiss that will mark our new relationship, okay?” He continued, “don’t keep me waiting for too long,” He ruffled his already disheveled hair, reaching to brush his cheek a little with his fingers.
Ritsu was a nervous wreck, everything the man said made him anxious and alert for his next move, but he admitted that he felt a strange emptiness and disappointment as he turned away from him to leave. So, on an impulse, he ran over and grabbed him by the arm before he continued on down the hall to the elevator.
“Huh?”
He managed to stammer before he felt a warm and soft touch on his cheek, and it took him a long time to react that it was a kiss.
And although it was something quick and just as clumsy as the first kisses with the green-eyed tight lips, it was a connection that was at least magical.
Perhaps it has been one of the most beautiful moments that both have ever felt, the sensation of being in the clouds, or feeling as beautiful as a breeze of petals around them. There was a point in the past where they both connected in that pinky way with a simple kiss on the cheek. One that would make their hearts race at an unimaginable rate.
The separation was made present with a chu noise, followed by Ritsu’s nervous breathing.
“T-take that as the first of many... I won’t take too long... Goodbye!”
It was all Ritsu could stammer before running to lock himself in his apartment with his eyes on the ground and a blush that betrayed his extreme embarrassment.
Masamune caressed his cheek, as if he were making sure that such a beautiful moment he lived was real, and the evidence was that his skin burned from the younger's touch, as expected, and at the same time unexpectedly, dazzled a lover's smile with which he prepared to leave on his journey.
Meanwhile, Ritsu immediately fell to the ground, slowly dragging his back out the door, entering his apartment because of what he had just done, his brain failing to process the situation. He wanted the earth to swallow him right there and disappear forever.
But something that he definitely hated was that he couldn't be upset, he didn't understand why despite all the humiliation that washed over him, he wasn't angry or frustrated, rather the opposite. He would never admit it, but behaving like that with Masamune, or having him act like a complete lover asking for such silly acts, made him so happy that the butterflies in his stomach fluttered until he got on edge.
“Damn it…”
Ritsu once again experienced that same explosion of emotions that he had with his first kiss more than ten years ago. Ritsu was madly in love. And the worst of all. He was still madly in love of the same person.