Because I love Takano more than words can describe, I wrote another SH fic. So instead of working on all my other stories (like I should have), I worked on this one-shot like the idiot I am. (¬_¬) Yeah, I know, I'm fantastic. *sarcasm*

Anyway, if you're a SH fan, then you shouldn't be too disappointed. At least... I hope not. ._.;; (I spent hours working on this, so I'll be pretty heartbroken if you guys think it sucks).

Aaaannnd... One more thing: the manga never mentions anything about Takano and Ritsu having a favorite book in the past; I just sorta made that up. But I'm sure you guys are already aware of that. I just wanted to make sure.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. I'm glad I don't, either, because I much rather prefer reading the sexy updates.

The Truth

There wasn't much time left. Onodera had only a matter of seconds before he was struck by one of his boss' most deadliest of weapons: a rolled-up document of some sort. He cringed and flinched, anticipating the worst. He had even thought about putting his arms over his head to protect himself, or taking cover under the table, but it was too late to be thinking that sort of thing now. He was doomed.

The lenses of Takano's glasses glinted in the light as he turned his head back to his subordinate; he had made it about an inch past his chair before he had stopped. "Eh?" He lifted an eyebrow. "What are you tensing up for?"

Onodera stared back at him, flushed. "I... I thought you were going to hit me..." he admitted, feeling foolish that he had prepared himself all for nothing.

"Are you an idiot? What reason do I have to hit you?"

"I-I don't know! It's just - you always hit me whenever you pass by!"

"Yeah, right," Takano scoffed. "I've never done anything like that. You must be daydreamin'..." He walked over to his desk and set down whatever it was he was carrying in his hands, including a cup of coffee.

'Why the hell would I daydream about that?' Onodera thought.

"God, you act like I abuse you or something..." Takano muttered.

Onodera clenched his fists in anger, gritting at his teeth. If he hadn't been so careful, he probably would have drawn blood by the way he grasped the cutter he held so tightly in his hand. 'I freaking hate this guy!' From beside him, Kisa couldn't help but snicker at the two: they were always going at it with one another, always acting so immature...

"Shit, I forgot something..." Takano walked over to the door. "Onodera, make me ten copies of these." Mercilessly, he held out a couple of papers to Onodera.

"Huh?" Onodera turned around in his seat. "C-Can't you get somebody else to do it? I'm a little busy right now..."

"Yeah - busy being a royal pain in the ass. Are you trying to get yourself fired or what?"

"Arrgh, fine! Just give me the damn documents!" Onodera ripped the papers from his boss' hand and marched his way out of the room. He would have to use the copying machine downstairs since the one in their department had broken down recently - an incident that had occurred just yesterday night (which wasn't any problem for Takano; in fact, it was actually rather convenient for him at this time).

"Hey, wait up," the taller one called out, approaching the other one from behind.

"Ehh?" Onodera snapped his head back at him, growing confused. "I-I thought you said you forgot something. Why are you-"

"Jeez, just how dense are you? I said I forgot something to buy us some time alone, idiot."

"T-Time alone?" The mere thought of it was enough to make Onodera blush from ear to ear. If he was to be left alone with his boss, even at this hour, something was bound to happen. "I-I'm sorry," he spluttered, beginning to rush off, "b-but I don't really think that's such a good idea! Please just-" He tripped and face-planted on the floor. Why did something like this always have to happen? It always went this way whenever he would try to escape from his superior. Was he really that much of a klutz?

Takano picked him up by the collar. "Chill out," he said. "I'm not going to do anything to you. I just want to ask you a question."

"Y-Yeah?" Onodera quickly made a distance from him. "What is it?"

"I can't ask you here," Takano said. "Come with me." He grabbed his subordinate by the arm and dragged him into the copying machine room with him, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. "If I had my own office, this would be a hell of a lot easier... Then I could say or do whatever I wanted to you at all times," he complained.

Onodera blushed. "Q-Quit fantasizing. It's not like the company would ever agree to that, anyway. There's no need for it." He went over to the copying machine, never once looking over at his boss. "Do you still need ten copies of these?" He held up the pair of papers Takano had given to him earlier. "Or was that merely a part of your plan as well?" But when Takano made no reply, he made the decision on his own, muttering, "Whatever. I'll just take that as a 'yes'..." He put one of the pages into the machine, pressing the button to start it.

Strangely, it became very quiet after that. Onodera thought that his boss surely would have said something by now - but he hadn't. He gave a sideways glance at him, letting time flow by as he wondered. By then, the copies that he had been waiting on were already done and he had to feed the machine with the next page in line. He hesitated a little before he gave a direct look at him now, viewing the way that he peered down at the floor with both his arms and legs crossed, like he were caught in the middle of some systematical thought - his perpetual silence dragging on ever more. Why had he become this quiet all of a sudden?

"Hey, do you remember what our favorite book was back in High School?" he finally asked.

"Huh?" Onodera perked up. "H-How the heck would I remember that?"

Takano looked up at him. "So you don't remember?" He glanced back down at his feet, taking hold of his chin. "I was just checking... I've never forgotten anything that dealt with our High School days, so forgetting our favorite book is weird to me... I mean, I forgot some things, but most of the things I remember are still pretty clear to me..." Transfixed, Onodera stared at him from across the room, watching him as he brought a hand to his mouth and conceal it, looking as if he were a student concentrating hard on a test. "I just can't believe I forgot..."

"Wh-Who cares?" Onodera said, probably louder than he should have. "Why should it matter, anyways?"

"Because... memories of you are important to me... although they may not be to you - but..."

Huh? What was with that line? Was Takano actually serious?

Uncertain of how to respond, Onodera merely stood there, staring. He wanted to say something, but the only words that had managed to escape from his throat were, "Uh... Ummm..." Roughly swallowing, he tried his best to sooth his rapid heartbeat. "W-Well..." He threw the bundle of copies at Takano's chest at once. "H-Here are the copies!" Leaving no time for Takano to react, he bolted right out the door on the opposite side of the room. It took longer to return to his department by going this way, but he didn't care; he just wanted to get out of there.

He thought about how stupid he was for not saying anything. Over and over, he repeatedly reminded himself of how stupid he was for not saying one damn word when all he truly wanted to say was that none of it really mattered because the past was in the past and all that mattered right now was the present. He couldn't believe that Takano was actually getting this worked-up over a silly little book. Then again, as he soon begun to realize, he was getting all worked-up about the book himself. All he had been doing was thinking about how trivial the book was to him while getting overly emotional about it in the process. But it still wasn't right to be so wrapped-up in it. Sure, maybe it was okay to reflect back on the past every once in a while, but to act this serious about it made it seem as though it was the only thing that mattered to him. Takano had said before that the person he loved right now was him, not the him of the past, so wasn't it natural to get so emotional over something as petty as this?

Then again... was he just over-thinking things? What if Takano had only been reflecting on the past, would it have been wrong for Onodera to have responded the way that he wanted to?

Onodera returned to the department, taking his seat beside Kisa. Kisa mumbled something like, "What took you so long?" as he bit into a doughnut, but Onodera didn't seem to take notice to his question at all.

Why should he be getting this worked-up about this, anyway? It wasn't as if he had any sort of special feelings for Takano... right?

The clock struck two and Takano had returned to the department as well, sitting down at his desk. He was looking lost in thought again, almost emotionless, down at his work.

The more Onodera thought about it, the more he was glad he hadn't said anything to him. If he had, then he would have wound up looking even dumber than if he hadn't. Takano probably just asked about the book because he only wanted to remember what it was called; he was probably just curious, that was all. It would have been wrong to have responded the way that Onodera had originally wanted to.

Although, Takano did seem pretty bummed-out after the whole ordeal. Onodera still wondered how that could be. He decided that maybe he was just acting that way because of how suddenly Onodera had taken off the way that he did. By the next morning, everything would be back to normal again... wouldn't it? Because the name of the book didn't really matter... It didn't really matter at all.

Onodera pushed open the exit door, walking out into the bitter-cold weather. He glumly stared down at his feet as he made his trip home.

"You read fast," Masamune commented in rather blunt manner, taking the brown-haired one by surprised. The two of them were laying comfortably on the bed in Masamune's room, each holding a book up with one hand, with Masamune using the right hand and the brown-haired one using the left. They had been reading the book up until that point, when Masamune had decidedly spoken up, after he had turned yet another page in the book.

"I-I do?" Ritsu turned a pink. "Um... I'm sorry, Saga-sempai, I'll... I'll slow down if you want me to." His eyes drifted away in embarrassment.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Masamune said. He swung his free arm behind his head, gazing up at the ceiling. "I wasn't even reading. I'm feeling a little too nervous to read, to be honest."

Ritsu thought about how peculiar that sounded coming from his partner's mouth. "Y-You're feeling nervous? How come?"

"Being this close to you - I guess it makes my heart sorta pound," Masamune answered coolly.

Ritsu's whole face immediately colored over in a bright red. "O-Oh." His heart skipped a beat. "W-Well, if... if it helps any, I-I wasn't reading any of it either, Sempai. I-I was just sort of acting like it 'cause I thought you were reading it..."

"Yeah, same here..." Masamune leaned over to softly kiss Ritsu on the forehead. Pulling away, he wrapped his arms around his lover gently. "I guess the feeling's mutual, then, huh?" He rested his head on his chest.

Breathlessly, Ritsu uttered, "Y-Yeah..." as he held the book over Masamune's frame, flipping all the way back to page one.

"Hey, what's been going on with Masamune lately?"

"ACK!" Onodera shrieked. He whipped around to find Yokozawa standing to the right of him. "O-OH! It's you! P-Please forgive me! I-I didn't see you there!"

Yokozawa narrowed his eyes at him.

"S-Sorry..." Onodera apologized again. "Um... Y-You were saying something?"

Yokozawa irritably closed his eyes and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah, Masamune's been acting really funny lately. I was just wondering if you knew anything about it."

"Oh, um... n-not really... I mean... n-not in particular... Um..."

Yokozawa crossed his arms. "Look, I'm not trying to blame you; in actuality, he probably just brought this upon himself," he sternly said. "He's always done stupid shit like that. Whenever he get all serious about something, he never clues me in on it. He drowns himself in his own misery, and it's hard to bring him back to the surface again, you know? He's never been the type to open up so easily..."

"... O-Oh?" Ritsu suddenly looked up at him.

"... You do know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

Ritsu's eyes found his feet again. "... Oh... Yeah..." The truth was, he actually did know what he was talking about.

"Good. Then you should have no problem cheering him up, then," Yokozawa said. "It's your responsibility to take care of him now..."

At that, Onodera gazed up at him once more. Was he really... saying all of that? Onodera had thought that he didn't want Onodera to have anything to do with Takano, but now... he was okay with it?

Thier conversation was interrupted when Yokozawa's phone rang. Yokozawa examined the phone after he had pulled it out from his pocket, hesitantly answering it. "Yeah, what is it?" he asked, then paused. "No, I will not come and babysit your daughter..."

Onodera cocked his head to the side. Daughter?

"What!?" Yokozawa yelled, outraged. "When the hell did I say that!?"

Who was he talking to, Onodera wondered?

"Alright, fine... I'll be there," he said, seemingly calmed down.

'Maybe...' Onodera thought, his mind derailing from the phone call, 'if what Yokozawa had said was true... does that mean Takano is still upset about the book?'

The following day hadn't changed a thing - but it wasn't like Onodera was really expecting it to, either...

It was around seven o' clock p.m. at work, and although he had finished all his work for the day, he had stayed put - refusing to go home. He occasionally made it look like he was doing something just so it would seem like he had an excuse to stay, but he really hadn't any reason to, except for that he really wanted to stay by Takano's side. He had been waiting for everyone else to go home, just so he could be alone with him, just so that maybe he could cheer him up a little. Although, the truth was, he really hadn't a clue what was wrong with him.

He knew Takano wouldn't act any differently today. In fact, today he seemed even worse. His mood was all off-putting, all quiet and aloof, like he didn't have a care in the world. People would try to talk to him and he'd either disregard them completely or say something rather short and simple like, "Yeah, I know," when asked if he knew that his manuscript had to be turned in by the following evening as he would sit there, doing absolutely nothing. Of course, that had the whole departmart concerned, for he had the reputation of being a workaholic. Gossiping would fly about from one person on to the next, asking what was the matter with him, and some would theorize that he had broken up with a girlfriend whom they knew not of.

'What's the matter with him?' Onodera thought. 'Is he still depressed because he can't remember the name of that silly book we read back in High School? Why does it mean so much to him, anyway? It was only a book, for crying out loud... It's not like it was anything special...' He stopped pretending to work. His eyes met with his ex-lover, who was laying back in his chair with his feet up on the desk, an open book on his face.

He had a suspicion that something like this was going to happen today. That was why he dropped by the bookstore yesterday night. If he could grab any book and claim that it was the book they read together back in High School, then maybe Takano would lighten up a bit. After all, it's not like he remembered the book's name, right? So how was he to know the difference? Although, there was the chance that the name would seem unrecognizable to him...

He glanced below the table to find a box at his feet, in between his legs, all wrapped up in "birthday" wrapping paper. 'I... I should just give it to him... But if I do, will he notice? Will he notice it's not the same book we read together in High School? It... it doesn't matter. I just want him to be happy again...' Caught up in his own thoughts, he stood from his chair with the box in hand, walking over to Takano's desk. His heart beat a million miles an hour as he wondered if he had truly meant what he had thought. Placing the box down on his desk, he choked, "H-Here. Take it."

The book lifted far enough off Takano's face to see, with brown eyes wearily descending upon the sudden box on his desk. "Huh? What is it?" Takano listlessly asked, silently questioning the choice of wrapping paper in his head. Birthday wrapping paper?

Embarrassed, Onodera snapped, "What does it look like? It's a present, so open it up."

There came a sort of "tsking" sound from Takano as he sat up in his chair. Through his teeth, he said, "It's not my birthday..." as he began to unwrap the present.

When he got about halfway through unwrapping it, Onodera took it as an opportunity to speak up to him with, "That stupid book you mentioned the other day - I found it." He tried to maintain his cool, but his heart and face wouldn't agree to it. His heart started to pound so violently in his chest, and his face became such a deep red. "S-So now you can stop moping around and actually get your manuscript done in time. Happy now?"

Takano's eyes widened. In the box, there was a book titled "Panda Warrior." He took the book out of the box and held it before his face, studying it all around as if it was some type of foreign object. "Ritsu... how did... how did you find this?"

"It... I mean - I... I actually found it at a local bookstore." Onodera crossed his arms. He really hoped that Takano wouldn't get suspicious...

Takano flipped through the contents of the book. "And you remembered the name of the book?"

"I-It took me a while, but... yeah, I guess I did manage to remember it."

Takano lowered the book just below his eyes. His eyes pierced through Onodera at once. "... You're not bullshitting me, are you?"

Taken aback, Onodera blushed heavily. "HUH!? N-No! I-I actually did remember it!"

Without saying another word, Takano stood from his chair and walked over to him, tightly embracing him in his arms. Onodera's eyes widened. "Will you... come and read it with me?" he quietly asked.

Onodera gripped at his shirt, burrowing his head into his chest. "... Yes..." he answered, his whole body on fire.

There was a woman who had dropped her groceries when she was fumbling around for the key to her apartment. Onodera instinctively thought to help her, but when his gaze switched from her to Takano and then back to her again, she had already picked up her dropped items and was carrying them into her apartment - Onodera's only hope for escape gone...

It wasn't that he was trying to get away from Takano; it was just that he wanted to pass the time a little so that he wouldn't have to spend so much time alone with him. He didn't think that he had any ulterior motives planned, but the atmosphere surrounding him was just plain and simply too much to bear. Takano's mood hadn't really changed much since he was given the book, and that's what had Onodera on edge. He was acting just about as quiet as he had been, only now he had fewer words to say.

Takano took out the key to his apartment and halted. "What's wrong?" he asked, putting the key into the lock. "It's like you're hiding something from me..."

"Uh...!"

'Jeez, he's sharp!' Onodera thought. 'But I don't know if that means he's figured out about the book, or... if he just knows me all-too-well.'

"N-Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine," he said.

"... Oh..." Takano opened the door to his apartment and stepped in.

Onodera followed in after him. 'But... it's more like... he's the one who's hiding something from me...' he pondered on. 'Maybe... he's just having trouble showing how happy he truly is? Or maybe... he really did figure out about the book...'

"Umm... D-Do you want me to make us some tea or something?"

Takano stopped, blankly staring down at the floor.

"I-I'll go make us some tea!" Onodera darted off into the kitchen. He searched around frantically for cups, digging through every cupboard he came across.

'Ahh, he's being so weird, I don't know what to do... He said I was the one who seemed to be hiding something... I still don't know what he means by that. It's like... he saw right through me... What should I do? Should I... just tell him? But... what if that just makes everything worse? Would he be more upset if I told him it was all a lie?'

Finally finding a cup, he accidentally dropped it onto the floor. "KYAAAA!"

Takano heard the cup shatter in the other room. "HEY!" his voice raised. "What the hell are you doing in there, you klutz!?" He came to inspect what had happened, finding Onodera on the floor picking up the pieces of the broken cup; his head was drooping and his hair was in his face. "Are you al-"

"I'm sorry!"

"I don't care about the cup; just tell me if you're al-"

"No - I'm... I'm s-so sorry I lied to you!"

Takano made a confused look. "What...?"

"I lied about the book," Onodera said in between sobs. He was wiping at his eyes with his sleeve, keeping his face well hidden so that Takano couldn't see it. "I-I didn't actually remember the name of the book, I'm sorry!"

Takano's eyes widened. "What are you... saying?"

"But..." Onodera subconsciously looked at his wet sleeve before he put it back to his face again. In that short amount of time, Takano caught a glimpse of how red his face had become. "D-Does it r-really matter, anyways? It's not like it's important, anyways, r-right? B-Because..." He paused, looking as if he was debating whether to continue or not. "Because... what matters most is the 'us' right now... right?"

Takano leaned a shoulder against the wall of the doorway. He smiled tenderly. How was it that Onodera's forwardness was so cute?

"A-And..." Onodera pressed on, "I only lied about it because... I-I wanted to make you feel better, Takano-san..."

Oh, now Takano knew: Onodera's forwardness was so cute because, as he would blurt out exactly what was on his mind, he would start to stutter and a blush would immediately take over his face. That was why he was so utterly adorable...

Takano let out an airy laugh. He met with his ex in the middle of the kitchen, kneeling down to squeeze him in his arms. "I can't believe you still do this to me..."

"Do... do what to you?" Onodera blinked.

"Make my heart pound like this..."

Badump.

The look in Onodera's eyes went hazy as he let his ex trail kisses along his neck and to his lips. He felt a tremor serge through his body; something had tugged at his heart. Takano's touching ranged from his face and to his sides, groping at them, lifting up the shirt that kept the two further apart from one another. He enclosed the distance between them almost completely, breathing heavily into the crook of his neck, his fingers rubbing hard against his nipples; every bit of where he touched was left scorching with pleasure.

He stopped suddenly, pulling away from his beloved's arms, staring at him with penetrating, brown eyes. Onodera froze still, his eyes growing wide as he pushed out a curious "What?" But Takano didn't answer to that as he swiftly picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, carrying him all the way back into the bedroom.

There came a creaking sound from the bed as Onodera was shoved onto it. He eyed Takano uncertainly, watching him as he crawled over top him, resuming where he had left off. Takano pushed his wet tongue through Onodera's parted lips, struggling with the buckle of his belt, desperate to undo it as quickly as possible. Temporarily, he stopped kissing, too preoccupied with the task at hand - and in the heat of the moment, Onodera insatiably reconnected their lips again. His eyes shot open as he watched him recede back into the curvature of the bed, his arms tossing over his face as to hide his embarrassment. The corners of Takano's lips tilted upwards in amusement, and, unfolding the barrier of his arms, he kissed his beloved on the mouth endearingly.

"I love you, Ritsu..." he redundantly quoted.

'I know...' Onodera thought. 'You say so all the time...'

Sunlight leaked through the windows of the Marukawa Publishing Company and into the Emarald Editing Department. Onodera sat at his work area, groggily rubbing at the pain in his back as he would send glares towards his perpetrator every now and then from across the room. His perpetrator, of course, was Takano, who was sitting at his desk, busily making improvements on the storyboard he was currently working on, seemingly unaware of his victim's angry looks. Why did he have to be so rough in bed last night...?

The good news, however, was that Takano was restored to his former self again. That was a relief. Still, it was a wonder why he was so upset about the book to begin with... Onodera kept pondering that - but after so long, he quit, deciding that it didn't really matter, anyway...

"You know, you told me your confession, but I never told you mine," Takano said, scribbling something down on the storyboard, the lenses of his glasses glaring over.

Onodera perked up. "Huh? Confession? What do you mean?"

Takano quit working and fixed his eyes on him. "I set you up."

"Eehhhh? Excuse me?"

He got up and walked over to the door. "Yeah, I got tired of waiting for your love confession, so I devised a plan." He peeked outside and, realizing that no one was coming, he closed the door.

"L-Love confession!?" Onodera blushed immensely. "I confessed on behalf of the book; I didn't make any sort of love confession!"

"Do you want to hear my confession or not?"

"Am I going to hate you for this?"

"Not likely - not after what you said to me last night."

He buried his face in his hands. "Ugh..."

"So I devised a plan," Takano continued, pressing the lower half of his body against his desk, crossing his arms. "If I were to ask about our favorite book in High School, you would feel the need to expose your true feelings on the matter: that the book was insignificant, because what mattered most was the present. However, that confession didn't happen as early as I had planned it to be, so I also had to work out a backup plan. My backup plan was to act as though I was emotionally hurt that you didn't remember the name of the book, and that you'd eventually give in and either a) confess to me, or b) say that you finally remembered the book. Since you chose option b I had to develop yet another backup plan, so I figured that if I continued to act as depressed as I had been, that you'd, in due time, either confess to me or ask me what was wrong. That was why I asked if you were hiding something from me: to make it seem like there was something wrong with you instead of me. If I did that, then you'd only be left with confessing to me. So..." he sighed deeply, "for all that, I apologize. I actually feel rather dickish for doing all that to you... I was actually beginning to think you weren't even going to confess to me at all, truly."

It was silent for a really long time. Onodera merely stared at him from his seat, loosely holding a pen in his hand. It was a bit unnerving to think that his boss had fooled him. The scarier truth was that Takano could probably get away with anything, even murder. Although Onodera didn't quite understand what he meant by all that, he knew it didn't sound too good.

"... Huuuhhhh?" Onodera at last spoke up. "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch any of that. But... I suppose it doesn't really matter as long as you..." his cheeks reddened, "love me..."

"I love you, don't worry. Or else I wouldn't have gone through with such an eloborate scheme. It took me quite some time to come up with that; you should feel honored."

Feel honored? Yeah, right. Onodera shook away his head. "Whatever. That was hardly a love confession, anyway. If you really want me to say I love you, next time, attempt suicide."

"Wow. That was harsh."

"I-I didn't actually mean it, you idiot!"

"Then what did you mean?"

Onodera growled bitterly. 'I seriously hate him...'

"By the way," Takano said, returning to his seat, "I have no idea what to do with the book now that you have given it to me. I was honestly surprised when you gave it to me as a gift. After all, I hadn't planned that you would react in such a way..." He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

"Why not keep it?" Onodera suggested. "I don't think it'd do us any harm if we read it. I mean, it's okay to reminisce every once in a while, so... Maybe..." he trailed off.

Takano glanced up to him from his work.

"M-Maybe if you're not too busy today, we could..." Onodera went on, "r-read it together, if you'd like." His face flooded with a reddish hue.

Takano paused. "... Are you asking me out on a date?"

"HUH!? N-NO!" Onodera hurdled from his seat. "God! You always assume the most r-ridiculous things!" He stormed his way out of the department. "I'm going to get more coffee!"

Walking down the hallway was Kisa. He shouted, "Good morning, Ricchan!" as he passed by Onodera, but Onodera was too busy grumbling to himself to notice. "Oh...?"

Looking at where Onodera sat, Takano noticed a bottle of water there. He smiled gently. 'I wonder if he'll kiss me again later...' he thought, then went about finishing the rest of his work.

I'm a little displeased with the ending... Gah...

Please review, even if you don't have much to say! :3