Title: It's The Little Things You Do

Author: Keir

Rating: T (such a...mild rating for me)

The Gist of Things: Masamune Takano becomes distracted by a certain novice editor under his employ.

A/N: So happy to post my first Sekaiichi Hatsukoi fanfic, and I hope it makes you happy, too! :) Just a little something.

EDIT: Accidentally put Mino's first name as Sou. Not sure what was going on there. Losing my marbles; think I was looking at the wrong thing and my brain fell out. Pardon me~

Masamune's eyes gradually strayed upward without him even realizing it, eager to search out a certain someone, before he forced himself to turn back to his storyboard. There was no time to waste; he wanted the author to have as much time as possible to work on the hard copy. Maybe she would even make her deadline this month.

He inwardly scoffed at his own gullible thoughts as his red pen scrawled across the panels with precision and without mercy. He was not some dewy-eyed novice. His otherwise unoccupied hand took the spent cigarette from his lips as he exhaled the last puff of smoke. The butt was quickly crushed into the overflowing ashtray on his desk.

"I'm going home!"

The head editor looked up into Kanade's* ever-smiling face then scanned the room with an eagle eye. Everything was beginning to fall into disarray as they entered deeper into the "cycle" and the editors became more and more unsettled. The office was quiet now, the overhead lights having been turned off hours ago as most sane employees had already left for the day. Only Ritsu remained now, sitting at his desk at the far end of the room under the light of a single lamp, a look of intense concentration on his face as he bit his lip. "Where's Kisa?" Masamune asked. He lit another cigarette.

"He announced himself but you were deep in concentration," Kanade replied cheerfully. "He left a bit early today, probably so he could get a head start on taking care of that glowing complexion** of his," he added enigmatically.

"Ah, well then. Good work today. See you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Kanade agreed. "Goodnight, Ricchan!" he called. The newbie didn't even look up as he offered a distracted farewell.

Soon the office was just as quiet as it had been before. Masamune tried to immerse himself once more in the task at hand but soon he betrayed himself. His eyes strayed upward from his work once more, firmly fixating on the sole other person in the room. The younger man seemed to be fretting over his own storyboard. His elbow was resting on the desk, fingers burrowed in his hair as he hesitantly marked the papers laid out before him. He was biting his bottom lip, worrying it between his teeth.

Masamune forced himself to look back down at his own storyboard, but no matter how hard he tried to concentrate, all he could think of was Ritsu. How could the younger man have such an effect on him? Every day was becoming a strain on his senses as they spent more and more time together. He was a a man of deep restraint but beneath the controlled exterior was a raging sea of affection, love and lust.

It was the little things Ritsu would do. A tug at the knot of his tie when he was frustrated, the way he might unknowingly make a cute smile when he thought he was on the right track, or on nights like these where he would chew on his lip when he was filled with indecision. It was the little things that were making Masamune fall deeper in love with his employee and high school love.

Dark eyes gravitated away from revising the storyboard once more. His heart skipped a beat as he watched the tip of Ritsu's pink tongue dart out to wet his lips. Masamune could think of a few things he would like to do with that tongue. He set aside his work and openly, unabashedly stared at the oblivious man. Ritsu was chewing on his lip again, then his tongue would sweep out to wet the tender flesh before his teeth would attack it again. Masamune definitely thought that there were better uses for that sweet little mouth; his trousers were becoming uncomfortably tight as he thought too much about it.

The head editor of Marukawa Publishing's "Emerald" magazine snubbed out his cigarette and stood. He stalked the object of his affection silently, though he doubted the other brunette would have noticed him, he was so deep in concentration. Masamune crept up behind the younger man, fighting the urge to pull him into a deep embrace.

Instead he leaned down, setting one palm flat against a relatively clear space on the desk. Amusement flooded him as the smaller man startled. Before Ritsu could begin a tirade about his proximity and the concept of personal space, Masamune's other arm came over the other man's slim shoulder on the opposite side, trapping him. It only took a moment's pause in which he breathed in his love's cologne before his red pen leaped into action, adding numerous circles, arrows and scribbles to his employee's storyboard.

"Almost everything in this scene needs to be cut," he said in his stern supervisor's tone, which seemed to make Ritsu rankle. In truth, the act of superiority was the only thing keeping him from taking advantage. The expanse of the other man's bare neck, so close to his face now, was beckoning him to make his mark.

His lover—because that was how Masamune still thought of Ritsu—had always been so hot, as if he had a constant fever. It was the little things like the heat rising off his slim body, tantalizing Masamune, that made him love Ritsu even more. "Here and here, as well," he said, voice gone deep and rough. "The flow is all wrong for a heartbreak scene. The dialogue needs work, too. And also..." He dropped his pen and grasped the other man's jaw, tilting his head back. His mouth descended to capture those abused lips, tongue slipping in easily past Ritsu's nonexistent guard. His lover moaned against him as their tongues twined; Masamune felt his heart pound at the sweet taste of Ritsu himself and those little mints he was so fond of. When he released the younger man, he let an amused chuckle escape him at the sight of naïve, wide green eyes. "You shouldn't bite your lip; it's a bad habit." He laughed again as a small hand flew up to cover the same chewed-upon lips.

Masamune stretched nonchalantly and walked back to his desk to allow his lover time to recover. He set about collecting his things, filing them away in his briefcase. "We should leave now or we'll miss the last train," he said to deflect the look of fury being shot his way. Ritsu gasped as he realized the truth of the statement and was sent into a frenzy of packing up his things. The head editor lit another cigarette as he waited for the younger man. Ritsu refused to look at him as he stomped past and he followed the other man at a more sedate pace.

As they entered the elevator, Masamune leaned back against the wall and stared down at the back of his lover's head. "We can pick up something to eat from the convenience store then go over your work at my place," he said, breaking the silence.

"No, thank you," Ritsu answered stiffly, not turning around. "I'm going home, working for an hour then going to bed."

As soon as the elevator doors were open, the novice editor was off again, at what Masamune was sure Ritsu thought of as a hurried pace. He smirked as his long legs kept up with the smaller brunette. "We'll eat and work at your place, then, if it's more convenient," he countered with a teasing smile, wanting to provoke a reaction. They argued all the way to the train station, Ritsu fervent in his denials and Masamune calm in his rebuttals, and although Ritsu refuted such a thing loudly over and over again, he lost in the end.

Because Masamune Tanako always got what he set his mind to.

297 days till Ritsu Onodera falls in love.

*Mino's first name is Kanade. It isn't mentioned a whole lot, really, so there you go! I prefer to use the characters' first names unless there's dialogue between them that would prove different.

**In the manga some of the girls at the publishing office are jealous of Shouta Kisa's beautiful skin and complexion. When asked how he keeps his skin so nice, Kisa says, "Make sure to take in the essence of men. Right, Hatori?" :3