Learning to Live

Hello and welcome to chapter 1! Thanks to all the people who read this. Sadly, my review count both here and at fanfiction.net is rather pathetic. I’m hoping that more people will start to review this, since I’m really rather pleased with this story.

In this chapter I attempted to give Ritsu a little bit of confidence, at least around Nanako. But I think I still managed to keep him in character. Please let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any related Characters. Nanako however, belongs to me!

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Learning to Live
Chapter 1


“Ri-chan!” a female voice yelled down the corridor behind him. Ritsu suppressed an eye roll, and turned to wait for his best friend, Nanako Takamura. It had been three and a half years since Nanako had discovered his secret, and the two, now nearly twenty-six year olds, were closer than ever.
Nana came running up, leaning over and trying to catch her breath. “Thanks for waiting.” She panted.
“No problem.” Ritsu answered, smiling as Nana carefully linked her arm with is and they continued down the hallway.
“So, are we going out tonight?” Nana asked.
Ritsu sighed. “I suppose so.” He replied.
“Jeez! No need to sound so enthusiastic!” Nana pouted.
Ritsu laughed. “Sorry! But you know how I feel about crowded places.” He looked at her pointedly.
Nana giggled. “Okay, okay… no more nightclubs! That was a bad idea.”
“No? Really?” Ritsu said sarcastically.
“I keep forgetting,” Nana admitted. “I keep forgetting that it’s not a good idea. I'm so used to it now that I don’t even think about it.” Nana had no qualms about crash tackling her friend in private, and Ritsu was resigned to spending more time as a monkey. He hadn’t told his family that Nanako knew the secret, and he wasn’t planning to, knowing full well what would happen if he did. He shuddered delicately and changed the subject. “So where are we going this time?”
“Hmmm… Oh! How about that new karaoke bar, what’s it called again? Crystallise, that’s it.”
“Karaoke? Are you mad?” Ritsu asked nervously.
“Why not? It’ll be fun! Besides, you’re a fantastic singer!” Nana admonished. “And there’s not much chance of us running into anyone, I reserved us a booth.” She looked up at Ritsu with pleading eyes.
Ritsu sighed. “Fine.” He reluctantly agreed, and his friend clapped her hands excitedly. “Great! Now come one! We’re gonna be late!” she pulled him faster down the hallway.

They arrived at the studio, and Nanako let herself into the recording booth as Ritsu seated himself behind the sound equipment, settling a pair of earphones over his ears. He nodded a shy greeting to Nanako’s manager and producer, and called Nana’s attention over a microphone. “You ready to go?” he asked her, and she nodded.
“Okay, here we go.” Ritsu replied, pushing a button.
The introduction began, and Nanako began to sing.

****

"Just like the glorious northern sky you guided me,
Shining a light of pure tranquillity,
To a secret place where no one else could go,
Free to reveal the things I never show.
Strong, like a symphony,
You protected me from reality."


"Somewhere to hide, somewhere to breathe,
Somewhere to call my sanctuary,
Here in the dark I can be strong,
Knowing that nothing can hurt from now on.
Somewhere to hide, somewhere to breathe,
Somewhere to call my sanctuary,
Closer to the sun…
To your heart I run…"

****

Ritsu made a cut off motion and cut the music. “Nana-chan, you’re slightly flat as you move up to the higher register. Not too much, but a bit.” He said.
Nanako grimaced. Ritsu’s idea of ‘slightly flat’ was virtually undetectable to the average ear.
Ritsu had perfect musical memory, which included perfect pitch. This was the main reason that Ritsu had landed such a good job within the record label almost straight out of college. He’d been an apprentice engineer for all of a year because of his talent. Sadly, at least from Nanako’s point of view (feeling her inferiority complex a little), this also meant that he could play any instrument he picked up with little effort; he only needed to hear it once, which also meant that he could sing too, much to Nana’s disgust. When the higher ups at Iceberg Records caught wind of his talents, the offered him a record deal on the spot. Ritsu had refused it, saying shyly that he was happy behind the scenes, and that he wasn’t cut out for the stage and spotlight. So Nana, as an up-and-coming solo artist, had had Ritsu as her head sound engineer ever since.

“Okay, Ri-chan” she said cheerfully, “I’ll try and fix it.”
The second try made Ritsu giver his best friend a thumbs up, and she smiled as she continued to sing.

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That night, after Ritsu had finished with his extra work on Nanako’s music, he met the girl out the front of the building to go back to his apartment to change. Nana managed to convince Ritsu to wear a pair of snugly fitting black dress pants and a somewhat loose fitting white shirt that flared out as it travelled down his arms and clung to his body in all the right places. At least, it did in his friend’s opinion. Nana pulled his hair out of it the ponytail he wore it in for work, brushing out the orange locks to remove the kink the ponytail had left behind, until it fell down his back in rippling waves. Nana herself wore a knee length black sleeveless dress, with her hair pulled back from the sides into a bun. Deeming them both ready, Nana dragged Ritsu, a little reluctantly on his part, down to the bar.

Ritsu tended not to drink that much, sticking to one or two glasses of wine in an evening. Nana on the other hand, could drink anyone under the table without even slurring her words. Of course, she always felt it the following morning.
Naturally, Nanako had no issue with commandeering the microphone to sing in front of a somewhat inebriated crowd. Ritsu on the other hand, needed more than a little encouragement. Most of the times that he and Nana went to places like these he cowered in the corner if she so much as suggested it. If he did perform, it was at the end of the evening when most of the drunken clientele had finally staggered home.

For most of the night, a slightly tipsy Nanako dominated the stage to drunken cheers and catcalls, at which she laughed delightedly. But tonight was one of the few nights she managed to coax Ritsu on to the stage. Blushing furiously, Ritsu accepted the microphone from his best friend and stepped on to the stage. He didn’t notice that as the music started, a young man sat at the back of the room watching him intently. He also didn’t see him sit bolt upright when he began to sing a rather said song in his sweet, clear voice.


****

"Six-thirty winter morn, snow keeps falling silent dawn
A rose by any other name, Eva leaves her Swanbrook home
Kindest heart that always made me ashamed of my own
She walks alone but not without her name.

Eva flies away, dreams the world far away
In this cruel children’s game, there’s no friend to call her name
Eva sails away, dreams the world far away
The good in her will be my sunflower field."

****

Keichiiro Nizawa found his eyes riveted to the gorgeous creature on the stage. Something in his sad orange eyes told Keichiiro that he related to that song somehow, and the young man felt a deep desire to see those bright eyes shine with joy and happiness, and he wanted to be the one who made him sparkle. The beautiful boy stepped gracefully off the stage and towards a girl he recognised as Nanako Takamura, a young and increasingly popular solo artist. Slowly, and determined to talk to the vibrant creature that had captured his attention, he approached the booth the pair were sitting at. He heard Takamura say “I’m going to get one more drink, and then I think I’d better head home, I have work tomorrow. Do you want anything?”
The beauty shook his head, his bright hair shimmering as it moved in the dim light of the club. “No thanks.” He replied, his voice sounded like gentlest of summer breezes to the intrigued Keichiiro.

The moment Nanako reached the bar, Keichiiro approached the beautiful boy, bending to murmur in his ear. “You were wonderful up there.” The boy jumped three feet in the air and scampered backwards like a scared rabbit. “Only Momiji wouldn’t run away from anything.” A little voice chimed in at the back of his mind.
“I’m sorry.” Keichiiro apologised, realising that he had frightened this lovely boy with his advance. “But I mean it, you’re performance was wonderful.” He smiled encouragingly.
“Umm… thank you…” the boy stammered, clearly still unnerved by his presence.

Ritsu was shell shocked by this handsome man. Why would someone like this want to talk to someone like him? He was worthless, and not even Nanako at her most persistent was able to convince him otherwise. There had been a few men in the past who had wanted to date him, and not one thing Nanako said could convince the shy monkey that he was worth their time.
The young man reached out and lightly grasped Ritsu’s hand, brushing his lips lightly against the boy’s fingers in a feather light kiss. “My name is Keichii, what’s yours, my little pretty one?”
“Uh…” Ritsu stuttered, a little scared by this man’s proximity.

He was saved by Nanako’s timely, and rather welcome, arrival. The girl had been watching the interchange from the bar. She had been about to return to the table from the bar when she had seen the young man approach her friend. Curious, she stayed at the bar to watch the interaction. She could tell Ritsu was scared by the young man’s attention, and downed the last of her drink when she saw him kiss Ritsu’s hand. She sauntered over to rescue her best friend, and her eyes widened as she recognised the young man talking to her friend. Nanako tapped Ritsu on the shoulder and Ritsu jumped. “C’mon,” she said. “We’d better go.”
Ritsu got gratefully to his feet, and Keichiiro admired his natural grace as he moved. He caught the beautiful creature’s hand again. “I still need to know your name, Bright Eyes.” he pleaded.
Ritsu fled. He bolted out of the club, not stopping until he got outside, leaning against the wall and trying to regain his breath and calm his rapidly beating heart. His whole body was shaking, and a small part of Ritsu knew it was all entirely from fear.
Nanako followed him out, watching him carefully. “Do you realise who that was?” she asked slowly, watching for his reaction. Ritsu shook his head. “That was Keichiiro Nizawa!” Nanako told him, and then rolled her eyes at his blank look. “Keichiiro Nizawa is the lead singer of the new JPop band Zodiac. They’re getting really popular!” she hadn’t missed the irony, but her friend apparently had.
Ritsu barely heard her; he was too busy thinking about Keichiiro Nizawa; his deep voice and his expressive black eyes. The young monkey felt his heart rate rise, but Nanako’s nest words brought him back to reality. “Zodiac have just signed with Iceberg Records, so you might see him around the studios some time.”
Ritsu stared at his friend in horror, wondering how he had gotten into this mess.

He blamed Nanako. This was her idea in the first place. He never should’ve let her drag him here. “Besides,” Ritsu thought, “Iceberg’s a pretty big place, I probably won’t even see him.”
With that hopeful thought in mind, Ritsu linked arms with Nanako and they headed home.

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That’s the end of chapter 1! I’m trying to show that Ritsu has come a long way, since this is set a few years after the prologue. I hope I did a decent job of it, I’m trying to make it so he’s got more confidence thanks to Nanako, but is still really, really shy. I also don't know how to get the song lyrics to bold - if anyone knows how to fix it in text mode please tell me!

At any rate, please review and tell me what you think.