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The World Against Me	By : Tricia-chan Category: +S to Z > Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi Views: 2706 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi or the characters, Nakamura Shungiku does. I have made no money off this story.

Chapter List
- 1-The World Against Me
- 1
Title: The World Against Me

Author: Tricia-chan

Language: English, Rating: Rated: M

Genre: Romance/Humor

Chapters: 1, Words: 12,733

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, Nakamura Shungiku does. Here's to my sixth Sekaiichi Hatsukoi fanfic, and another sequel story by popular demand! I'm glad you guys are getting a kick out of these stories! Here's a special thank-you to my sister for helping me with some ideas!

Same warnings: possible OOCness, dirty humor, and lemon fluff.

The World Against Me

"'Goosebumps had broken out over his skin, and his face felt hot. He arched his head back and moaned softly. Gone were the words of refusal. In its place was a scorching need.

"'Ah!" he shivered as a tongue ran across his collarbone. The fist around his penis squeezed him harder and pumped him faster. The tongue disappeared and was replaced with hot breath. "Ritsu. I need you to lift your hips a little—"'"

Onodera Ritsu screamed in frustration. "For the last time, STOP READING THAT!"

Takano Masamune smirked as he closed World's Greatest First Love volume 3 by Akikawa Yayoi. "I'm surprised at how Sensei is getting these books out so fast…"

Ritsu muttered a few curse words as he took a seat at his coffee table. "Aren't you supposed to be evaluating my storyboards and not reading that TRASH?"

"Trash?" Takano echoed amusingly. "We're the subjects of the series. How can it be trash?"

"Because it…" Ritsu waved a dismissive hand. "Just look at my corrections, please!"

"All right, all right…" Takano set the book down and picked up the storyboards. "This is the last chapter in Mutou-sensei's story arc."

"That's why I called you over to take a look at them!" Ritsu resisted the urge to snap the cup of coffee down in front of Takano. Personally, he would've preferred to have gone to Takano's apartment to show him the storyboards, but the minute he called Takano's cell phone his boss came right into his apartment! Ritsu cursed his exhaustion, because he'd forgotten to lock the front door!

"Are you prepared for the meeting tomorrow?" Takano asked, his gaze on the storyboards.

"Hai," Ritsu said, idly taking a sip from his own cup of coffee as he warily sat down beside Takano on the couch. "You've looked over my proposal and you've said it looks fine."

"But as you already know, writing a decent proposal is only half of it," Takano pointed out. "You have to make a good impression with your presentation so that there's an understanding by the necessary parties as to why they should go along with you."

"I already know that," Ritsu said defensively. "This won't be the first meeting I've ever conducted by myself, you know."

Takano smirked slightly, as he put aside a storyboard. "Studio DEEN representatives will be at Marukawa tomorrow, so all of the manga departments are scrambling to pitch a series to them for anime. But if worse comes to worse, Marukawa also produces drama CDs. In most cases, a drama CD is the surest way to test the market for the series."

Ritsu gave him a hard look. After a moment, Takano looked up from the storyboard. "What?"

"I said all of that in my proposal!" Ritsu snapped.

Takano shrugged. "I pay attention."

Ritsu huffed, and scrubbed a hand over his face. "I would certainly like for Mutou-sensei's series to go to anime, but a certain someone told me it wasn't ready!"

"Not every manga series gets turned into an anime."

"I know that! But I don't know the first thing about producing a drama CD! Choosing seiyuu, background music…"

"Your storyboards look fine," Takano said, setting them all back on the table. "I would switch these two frames." He indicated the frames in question on the storyboard. "But otherwise you've done a good job editing."

Ritsu was taken aback by his compliments. "A…Arigato." Ritsu picked up the storyboard to look at the correction. He couldn't help the pride he felt that Takano only corrected one thing in the storyboards. "I see…this would flow better…"

"'Thrust up against the bookshelf, Ritsu bit onto his lower lip to muffle his moans, lest he draw attention to himself. Masamune claimed his mouth and they kissed hungrily as Masamune's angled Ritsu's body to the perfect position as he thrusted against. The library books rattled on the shelf from the force of their act—'"

"WAH!" Ritsu jumped off the couch, sending the storyboards scattering as Takano, once again, had begun reading aloud from World's Greatest First Love. "Stop it, just STOP READING THAT!"

"But it's quite nostalgic," Takano said bluntly.

Realization dawned on Ritsu, and his face turned crimson as the memory flooded his mind. Ten years ago, his teenaged self pressed against the bookshelf of their school library, hanging onto Takano for dear life as he…

"Wait-a-minute!" Ritsu ripped the book out of Takano's hands and gaped with horror at the page. There was even a drawing there! "You BASTARD!" he lunged at Takano and grabbed him by his collar. "What did you tell him, HUH? How dare you tell Usami-sensei about this?"

"I didn't say anything," Takano said calmly.

"I'm surprised. I didn't know you read these types of books."

"Just…please answer my question." Kamijirou Hiroki could feel a multitude of muscles twitching in his face, but he forced his voice to remain calm as he spoke into his cell phone. "Did…who told you about such a scene?"

"What, the H scene in the library?" Usami Akihito responded on the other line. "Nobody did."

"Are…are you sure? B-Because this scene…" Hiroki looked down at the page in question in World's Greatest First Love. "Feels…odd."

"The book is about a high school romance. I thought sex in a school library would be a token item in such a book."

"And no one told you about such a scene?" Hiroki asked warily.

Usami was silent for a long moment. "Who would tell me about such a thing?"

There was a knock at Hiroki's door. "Hiro-san?"

"I-I have to go!" Hiroki sputtered, abruptly hanging up on Usami. He forced a smile, though he was still twitching. "Come in, Nowaki!"

Kusama Nowaki was smiling as he opened the door. "Hiro-san, dinner is…" he trailed off slowly.

"What is it?" Hiroki asked. Hiroki then realized he was still holding the book and quickly hid it behind his back. "U-Uh, I…"

"That's a good book series," Nowaki said cheerfully. "Well, I think Pure Love Romantica is better, but that one is pretty good, too!"

"Ah…" Hiroki laughed awkwardly and stood up from his bed. "I-I think so too!"

"That one scene in the library though felt familiar to me…" Nowaki said thoughtfully.

Hiroki threw the book at him. "No, no, SHUT UP and don't bring it up!"

Nowaki stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "You're acting strange, Hiro-san…"

"Ricchan!"

Ritsu looked up as Kisa Shouta scooted over to him. "What is it, Kisa-san?"

Kisa was positively smiling at him. "I heard you have a meeting this morning to pitch Mutou-sensei's breakout series!"

Ritsu smiled and nodded. "Hai. I'm hoping to get it approved for drama CD, and then later move into an anime format."

Kisa nodded enthusiastically. "You're sure to succeed, Ricchan! Although…"

Very abruptly, Kisa's good mood turned sour and he ducked his head. "Working on a series that's both manga and anime is stressing…you have to keep tabs on the production company, but also work on the series. And the artist…sometimes they'll panic and their lateness becomes worse…and if they don't get a chapter out on time and the anime catches up to the manga, they have to do fillers…and then the fans get angry…"

Ritsu looked at Kisa warily. Already his stomach was starting to hurt. "That's…"

"Want some mochi, Ricchan?" Kisa asked, perking back up and holding the box out to him.

Ritsu shook his head. "No, thank you…"

"Onodera!"

Everyone in the Emerald Department jumped at Takano's shout. Ritsu stood up. "H-Hai?"

"The meeting's in five minutes, baka!" Takano barked at him from the door. "Hurry up!"

"Five minutes?" Ritsu echoed in confusion. He looked at his laptop clock. It still showed he had forty minutes left. "But I—AH!"

His computer had frozen! "Hai, I'm coming!" he frantically scrambled to get his proposal and other promotional information.

"Ricchan!" Kisa said around a mouthful of mochi. "Can I keep this?"

He held up a book titled Under the Umbrella by Himitsu Kaori, the latest BL book to have been left on Ritsu's desk. "Hai!" Ritsu insisted. "Keep all of them!"

Kisa cheered loudly behind Ritsu as he bolted after Takano.

"All right, let the meeting begin," Isaka Ryuichiro said, yawning loudly. He grinned at the people assembled before him. "Ah! So I see Onodera-kun and Chibi-tan here to present proposals!"

Ritsu gave a sideways glance to Takahashi Misaki, who had a deer-in-headlights look on his face. Ritsu spared a measure of sympathy for Misaki, because this was no-doubt his first meeting. The executives from Studio DEEN, and people from Marukawa's drama CD department, sitting across from him didn't help matters.

"Onodera-kun, you go first," Isaka said, smiling broadly. "As the son of the CEO of Onodera Publishing, these meetings must be a piece of cake to you!"

"A-Ah, I…" Ritsu self-consciously looked at the executives, whose now looked at him with mild interest. "Arigato for the introduction, Isaka-san." Ritsu tried not to twitch. For some reason, when Isaka talked about him like that, it made Ritsu sound more pompous than he actually was.

"Mutou-sensei is my artist, and for the past seven issues her recent series has ranked number one in reader polls," Ritsu began. He forced the unease down to portray a look of professionalism around himself. "Another poll, hosted at , ranks her series first place as 'Which series do you want seen turned into an anime?'

"Before we go ahead and try to turn her manga into an anime, we would rather test the waters of her series in the drama CD format. I propose taking volume 1 and formatting it in drama CD format. We would select seiyuu for the characters based on if they would sound palatable in anime—"

One of the executives from Studio DEEN raised his hand, cutting Ritsu off. "H-Hai?" Ritsu stammered.

The man lowered his hand, looking at Ritsu intently. "Is it true that you were Usami Akihiko's editor at one point?"

Ritsu stared at the man blankly. Further down the table, Misaki sputtered. "A-A-Ah, uh…" he slowly nodded. "That's correct."

"It's not just that!" Isaka laughed loudly. "Onodera-kun edited the book that won Usami-sensei the Naomori Award!"

The table exploded in loud conversation, and Ritsu suddenly felt self-conscious. He felt that he'd lost everyone's focus. "Ah, e-excuse me—"

"Were you also Sumi Ryouichi's editor?" someone from the drama CD department asked him.

Misaki blinked. "Sumi?"

"H-Hai," Ritsu said painfully. "But—"

The buildup in conversation across the table over Ritsu's credentials grew in volume. Ritsu raised his hands. "Excuse me, I would like—"

"Everyone."

Ritsu flinched at the sharp tone of Takano's voice. He glanced to his right at Takano, as conversations slowly ceased. "We appreciate that you took so much time out of your busy schedules to come down here to hear our proposals," Takano said stiffly. "But my employee is trying to finish his presentation. May we have your full attention, please?"

Slowly but surely, the conversations died down. Ritsu was grateful to Takano for the help, even as he felt embarrassed that his boss had to shush the people he was trying to win over. "So as I was saying…"

Five minutes later, Ritsu's presentation was finished. As he sat back down, a member of the drama CD department slowly nodded. "We've been paying attention to Emerald's polls as well, and Mutou-sensei's series is incredibly popular."

"Her sales have been good, too." Ritsu stiffened as Yokozawa Takafumi joined the conversation. "Last month her issue sold out of 10,000 copies in twelve hours. It's not very often that we have to order a reprint for a newcomer."

Takano snorted. "The reprint wouldn't have been necessary if your department had allowed the 25,000 copies I ordered!"

"It was an unrealistic number!" Yokozawa shot back.

"Uh—" Ritsu stammered.

"So, what say you, Mijuine-sensei?" Isaka asked, speaking to the drama CD department. "Do you agree with Onodera-kun?"

"Absolutely," Mijuine said. "With her series popularity, we'll surely sell a good number of drama CDs."

"Let us know how the drama CD sales go," someone from Studio DEEN said. "We would certainly love to broadcast Mutou-sensei's series."

Joy sang through Ritsu's body. He jumped back up and quickly bowed. "Thank you all so very much!" I did it! My proposal was accepted!

"We can surely trust in the judgment of a Naomori Award-winning editor," the executive added.

Ritsu stiffened as the joy ebbed away slightly. "Ah…I'd rather you place your judgment in the series and not me."

"Next!" Isaka called out cheerfully. "Chibi-tan, you're up!"

"Uh…" Misaki looked at the people staring at him expectantly from across the table. He slowly stood up. "H-Hello, everyone. Because of a scheduling conflict, I come here in Shizuku Ishi-san's place about Ijuuin-sensei's work."

"The Kan, correct?" a Studio DEEN executive asked. "But I believe we've already approved The Kan anime for its eighth season."

"Really?" Misaki asked. He quickly flushed and shook his head. "I-I-I mean, of course you have. But this is in regards to a reader's poll. There was an s…side story arc back during the a la Mode saga that never made it to the anime. For the past two years we've received reader mail about it, and…" Misaki laughed very nervously. Ritsu couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "We would like this side story to be the basis for The Kan's ninth movie."

"Another movie?" another Studio DEEN executive complained. "But we're already under production for the eighth season!"

"Hai, but this is a side-story to the a la Mode story arc!" Misaki insisted. Ritsu could swear he saw sparkles in the younger man's eyes. "It wasn't just some gag Omake! This was a story of self-discovery for The Kan! It was almost as long as the main story in a la Mode! It could easily fit into a full-length movie!"

His passion seemed to hold the entire room. Ritsu was almost envious of his enthusiasm, and the way he'd been able to maintain everyone's attention.

"You should definitely listen to Chibi-tan!" Isaka said playfully. "After all, this is a man who LIVES WITH USAMI-SENSEI!"

Misaki screamed, and Ritsu stiffened violently. Why couldn't Isaka have just a little bit of tact?

Once again the executives began conversing loudly, and Misaki lost them completely. "Uh-ah-um-uh—please—"

Though the chief editor of Marukawa's Shounen department sat beside Misaki, the other man looked very amused by the circumstances and didn't add anything. Leaving Misaki to sputter in front of everyone.

Isaka-san is the one that keeps redirecting the meeting! Ritsu thought, feeling sorry for Misaki.

"But that's truly no problem!" Isaka continued in an obnoxiously loud voice. "Please, Chibi-tan! Please continue promoting you BELOVED SERIES to movie, for your BELOVED IJUUIN-SENSEI!"

BAM!

Everyone jumped up as the board room door slammed open violently. "Excuse me."

Ritsu nearly jumped out of his skin as Usami Akihito himself strode purposefully into the room. He tried with all of his might to not glare at his former client. How can you write such garbage about Takano-san and me? he thought at Usami, but didn't dare say it out loud.

"Wow, what-a-coincidence!" Isaka laughed, standing up. "What brings you here to Marukawa, Usami-sensei?"

"No reason," Usami said calmly. He pulled out a chair and took a seat beside the table. "Don't mind my intrusion. Please continue with the meeting."

Misaki looked positively scandalized to see Usami. Ritsu was almost afraid he would turn into stone. "Huh…"

Twenty minutes later, the meeting wrapped up completely and everyone was able to go on their ways.

Ritsu was thrilled that he was approved to make his series into a drama CD, but his mind was focused on something else. Mainly Usami, and wanting to question the other man. "Sensei—"

But Usami was focused on other things as well. The minute the meeting was announced as over, the unannounced guest grabbed Misaki by his arm and promptly dragged him off, forcing Misaki to leave all of the paperwork behind. Even though The Kan's movie had been approved.

Ritsu scrubbed a hand over his face. He honestly didn't know what he would say to Usami, but he wanted to know Usami's motives. Why would he write a BL book about Takano and him?

"Onodera-kun!"

Ritsu twitched as Isaka hurried over to him. "H-Hai?" he grunted out.

"Here!" Isaka cheerfully shoved a huge pile of jewel cases at Ritsu. "Here's twenty different drama CDs Marukawa has released! Please listen to them closely, and hopefully you will get inspiration of what you may do with Mutou-sensei's drama CD!"

Surprised, Ritsu hugged the drama CDs to his chest. "A…Arigato, Isaka-san."

Isaka beamed at him. "Let's make a winning drama CD, okay? Make sure you choose appealing seiyuu!"

Ritsu nodded mutely and followed Takano back down the hall towards the elevators. "Somehow…" he held onto the CDs tighter. "Somehow being around Isaka-san is exhausting. Does he act like that in every proposal meeting?"

"Actually, he usually very subdued," Takano said as they got into the elevator. "But I've heard that he's very close to Takahashi-san, and tends to…act out a little more around him."

"He gave Takahashi-san a weird nickname and all," Ritsu said. He wanted to rub at his aching head, but his hands were full. "I feel tired now…"

Takano pressed his hand against Ritsu's forehead. "Are you ill, Onodera?"

Ritsu shook his head and moved away from Takano's hand. "I'm fine, Takano-san. I'll feel better after I get some more coffee."

Takano leaned a little closer to Ritsu. "Come to my apartment tonight."

"EH?" Ritsu jumped back away from him. "W-What? Why?"

Takano narrowed his eyes at him. "Because I'm worried about you."

"I have a lot of work I need to take care of!" Ritsu reminded him. "In addition to listening to these drama CDs! I won't have time to come over!"

"…All right," Takano said reluctantly. The elevator opened on their floor. "But be sure to call me if you need anything."

"I know." Ritsu stormed passed Takano and out of the elevator. His stomach was doing flip-flops but his heart was pounding. It frustrated him that Takano could elicit such strong feelings inside of him with such minimal gestures. Though Takano himself frustrated him by alternating between dictating him at work, and seducing him…also at work.

I just want today to be over with, he thought miserably, rounding the corner into the Emerald Department. Please let the rest of my day be smooth and easy.

"Uhhhhh, Ricchan?" Kisa asked warily as Ritsu sat down.

"What is it?" Ritsu asked. He noticed his laptop was off.

"Well, I saw that your laptop froze up, so I thought I would do you a favor and turn it off. Only…" Kisa winced apologetically. "It's not turning back on."

Ritsu pressed the 'on' button hard. The laptop didn't respond. "…Great."

Ritsu checked his clock and sighed. "One in the morning?"

He was seated at his coffee table, which was as messy as the rest of his apartment. He popped the drama CD out of his portable CD player and placed it in its jewel case. This was the twelfth drama CD he'd listen to since he got home. "Hmmm…" he flipped open the drama CD booklet to find the seiyuu list. "Let's see…Horie Yui, was it?" he wrote the female seiyuu's name down on a nearby notepad, which listed a bunch of other names already. "She might fit Mutou-sensei's heroine perfectly…"

Ritsu stretched his arms over his head, wincing at the stinging sensation of his cramped muscles. He wanted to go to bed, but…"Just one more," he decided out loud. As he mulled over the tentative seiyuu cast list he'd created, he reached for the next drama CD. Without looking at the CD, he placed it in the CD player. "I'll listen to one more CD."

His cell phone buzz. Wondering who would be sending him a message so late at night, Ritsu quickly checked his texted messages.

"If you're still awake, text me and see if you can come by."

- Takano

Ritsu growled in frustration. He'd already told Takano he was too busy! If he wasn't wrapped up in these drama CDs, then it was his storyboards!

"I'm too busy," Ritsu texted back. "I'm going straight to bed after listening to one more CD." he slammed the phone down and pressed play on the CD player.

Tapping his pencil against the notepad, Ritsu waited patiently as pleasant music filled his ears. A school bell went off in the background behind the music.

Then, a young voice spoke. "Suki desu. I love you. It was a declaration of love, and no sweeter words that could be spoken. Especially when the words had full meaning, and were not spoken with ill-intentions."

Ritsu stiffened. Why did this monologue sound so familiar to him?

"Marukawa Productions hereby introduces 'World's Greatest First Love'," the seiyuu introduced.

"W-WHAT?" Ritsu screamed, sitting straight up. He turned and snatched the drama CD jewel case up.

…Yes. There it was, Masamune and Ritsu cuddling on the cover. Ritsu's jaw dropped in horror. "This? THIS? This is a drama CD?"

"My name is Ritsu," the seiyuu on the CD introduced. "And I'm on my way to school. I go to an all-boy's high school, but I don't live in the dorms there—"

"Ritsu?" Ritsu shouted, clutching at one of the headphones. "This is ME?"

"…Ha!" the CD-Ritsu exclaimed in shock. "S…Sempai? Sempai is looking at me from the other side of the train!"

"Oh my GOD, I can't believe this garbage is a drama CD!" Ritsu wailed, slamming his forehead into the CD player a few times. "And this voice! HOW does this voice sound like me?"

Because he hit his head on the CD player, he forced the CD to skip ahead several tracks. Ritsu paused briefly in his ramblings, wondering briefly if he'd broken his CD player.

The silence abruptly ended, and heavy breathing filled his ears. "Mmmm…haa…S-Sempai, wait!"

"Ritsu."

Ritsu's stomach squirmed. This was supposed to be Takano? Or the Masamune character? He didn't sound like a high school student! His voice was deep and rich, and…when he spoke to Ritsu, there was blatant eroticism in his tone.

"Ohhhhh…Sempai!" CD-Ritsu moaned. The real Ritsu sat in horror as he heard clothes ruffling. "W-Wait…I can't!"

"Shhh." CD-Masamune sounded coaxing and incredibly seductive. Ritsu flushed as he heard the sounds of kissing. CD-Ritsu was moaning throatily. "Just relax, Ritsu. Feel me inside of you. Uhn!" CD-Masamune groaned sharply. "So tight!"

"Ha-ah!" CD-Ritsu panted in a high-pitched voice. "S-Sempai! I—OH!"

Ritsu punched the 'stop' button and ripped the headphones off his head. He sat there in silence for several long minutes, not knowing how to respond. Or what he should even do.

He slowly picked up the drama CD again, staring with horror at the characters on the cover. Was this real? Did this really happen? A CD existed that represented a fiction Takano and him?

And he just heard his fake self in the throes of SEX?

Ritsu snatched up the CD player and the drama CD, and bolted for his apartment door. "TAKANO-SAN!"

Twenty minutes later, Ritsu was standing across from where Takano sat on his couch. Takano wore an unreadable expression as he listened to the drama CD from Ritsu's CD player.

Finally, Takano hit 'pause' and pulled off the headphones. "Where did you get this drama CD?"

"Where else?" Ritsu moaned. "It was in that pile of CDs Isaka-san gave to me!"

Takano arched a brow. "…I see." He set the CD player down on his coffee table. "They executed it properly."

"P-PROPERLY?" Ritsu shrieked. "How do you call THAT proper?"

"The music is done by an orchestra and not a synthesizer," Takano said. "And the seiyuu act out their parts exceptionally well. It really sounds like they're having sex."

"How is ANY of this GOOD?" Ritsu demanded.

Takano shrugged. "In some cases they'll get a masculine-sounding woman to play a uke on a drama CD. Would you rather a woman play you?"

"Don't call me an UKE!" Ritsu shouted.

Takano looked at him for a long moment before he shrugged. "Okay. How about 'kitty'?"

"W-What does that even mean?"

Takano shook his head. "Never mind."

"Why is this happening?" Ritsu wailed, scrubbing at his face with both hands. "How could they make a drama CD out of THAT?"

"It must be very popular," Takano said blandly. "And they must be looking to turn it into an anime, too."

"ANIME?" Ritsu cried out, wringing his hands. "They can't! They can't turn this…this THING into an anime!"

"We really don't have any say in it, Onodera." Takano opened the drama CD booklet and scanned the page. "Ah, I knew it! My seiyuu is Konishi Katsuyuki! Didn't he play Kajimoto in Prince of Tennis?"

"Wait, seiyuu list?" Ritsu remembered that the booklets did list seiyuus. "Give me that!" He snatched the booklet from Takano and glared at the seiyuu who was voicing his fictional self. "Who the hell is Kondo Takashi?"

"I think he's in Naruto, or something," Takano said disinterestedly. "Why do you care?"

"Wait, he's in Shounen?" Ritsu was almost relieved. Almost. "Then why would he do a BL drama CD?"

Takano shrugged. "I don't know, why don't you ask him?"

Ritsu screamed in anguish. "He makes me sound so…so!"

"Sound so what?" Takano asked smugly.

Ritsu gritted his teeth and almost crumbled the booklet in his fists. I'm not a violent person, but I swear if I EVER meet this Kondo Takashi, I might punch him in the face for making me sound so WRONG!

"I don't understand what the fuss is about," Takano said. "I think they make us sound very flattering."

"Easy for YOU to say!" Ritsu snapped. "You don't give a shit if anyone finds out about us!"

"Oh?" Takano smirked. "'Us'? So there is an 'us'?"

Ritsu realized what he said, and his face grew incredibly hot. "UH—"

"Let's forget about that for a little while." Takano tapped the seat beside him on the couch. "Does listening to the drama CDs help to give you some ideas about Mutou-sensei's work?"

"…Somewhat," Ritsu said, reluctantly taking a seat beside him. "I've listening to thirteen of them so far, and I've made a rough outline of possible seiyuu candidates."

"You have to make sure that the potential seiyuu is available to do a drama CD," Takano said. "Many seiyuu will work on five series at the same time."

Ritsu sighed stiffly. "This is more work than audio books I use to arrange before. It—WAUGH!" Ritsu nearly jumped out of his skin when Takano suddenly grabbed his shoulders. "W-What?"

"Do you have any idea how tense you are?" Takano scolded him. "You're more prone to physical injuries if your muscles remain clenched like this! And it will take a physical toll on your body!"

Ritsu thought of his stomach pains, and shook his head. "I'm fi—"

Takano squeezed his shoulders. "Just shut up and relax."

Ritsu was about to snap at him for his rudeness when Takano unclenched his hands. He squeezed them again around Ritsu's muscles and pressed inward. Ritsu let out his breath shortly as Takano repeated the motions over and over again. He was massaging the tension out of Ritsu's shoulders.

Ritsu closed his eyes and tilted his head back. His mind felt foggy, and he heard nothing outside of the sound of Takano's fingers rubbing against his shirt. His shoulders ached sharply from the unfamiliar massage, but warmth spread through his as the tension slowly but surely eased, and his muscles relaxed. "Mmm…" his mouth was pressed together and it suppressed any noises he could make, but he couldn't deny that it felt good.

Takano walked Ritsu carefully as his relaxed against him. He slid across the cushions until he was sitting behind Ritsu, working his fingers into Ritsu's too tense shoulders. Just a little more…

He hated seeing the tension ever present in Ritsu, especially when it was apparent that Ritsu wasn't taking care of himself. A massage would hardly solve all of Ritsu's problems, but Takano hoped it would help him. In addition to allowing Ritsu to trust him more.

Ritsu suddenly fell backwards against his body. "Rit—"

Ritsu was fast asleep, his body seeming to be boneless. Takano sighed shortly, but held onto the other man so he wouldn't slump further over. I was hoping to go further, but ah well…

Ritsu gaped at Kisa. "…HUH?"

"That's right," Kisa said. "Konishi-san and Kondo-san have been in lots of Animes together! Prince of Tennis, Scrapped Princess, Bleach, Black Cat, and…ooh, Fairy Tale just to name a few!" Kisa laughed as he looked at the World's Greatest First Love drama CD. "It's not that uncommon, but seeing them in so many series together makes it so funny to see them as a couple here!"

Ritsu wheezed very quietly, and hung his head. "That's…nice."

"But if you're a fan of Kondo-san, Ricchan," Kisa said. "I recommend this drama CD!" he slapped one down in front of Ritsu.

Ritsu slowly picked it up. The artwork on the cover was absolutely beautiful. "Crimson Spell? W-What's this about?"

"A prince possessed by a demon sword," Kisa explained. "He plays the prince."

"…Oh." Ritsu sighed in relief. Ah…so this is a normal one…

"His H scenes on that are reeeeeally cute!" Kisa added.

Ritsu sputtered and screamed. "W-WHAT?"

"Onodera!" Takano whacked him on the head with a clipboard. "Hurry up and get to work! You're not being paid to socialize!"

"I KNOW!" Ritsu snapped. He grabbed his office phone and punched in Mutou-sensei's phone number. He needed to tell her about his tentative seiyuu list. Of course there was the matter of checking to see if the seiyuu were available for the drama CD, but he would do that later. "Ah, Mutou-sensei. I've developed a list…"

…Even though Takano told him to relax, Ritsu didn't even know how to relax anymore.

Mutou-sensei approved of the seiyuu list, although she'd been iffy about Ishida Akira, the seiyuu Ritsu had chosen to play her heroine's primary love interest. It confused Ritsu for a little while, but when he brought it up to Kisa his coworker happily ran through a number of Animes Ishida had been part of.

"Gundam Seed, Naruto, DN Angel, Marmalade Boy, Kyou Kara Maou, Saiyuki, Level C, Sukisho—"

"Oh, I love Sukisho!" Mino chimed from across the desks.

"Well, it looks like he's got a lot of credentials," Ritsu said. "So why would she object to having him playing the main male character?"

Kisa seemed to think about it for a second. "Maybe you'll see when you watch Level C?"

Of course, then there was the matter of pitching the seiyuu list to the drama CD department.

"…This isn't going to work." Mijuine handed the list back to Ritsu. "Three-quarters of the names on this list are very famous seiyuu, and they all are wrapped up in long-term projects. Since this drama CD is suppose to test the waters for an anime-version, these seiyuu would have to commit to the anime."

"I…see." Ritsu felt a little embarrassed to have his list rejected so brazenly, even before speaking to the seiyuu's agents. It didn't help matters that he didn't watch much anime, and had based his seiyuu list off of seiyuu he'd listened to on other drama CDs. "That's no problem. I will look for other seiyuu who happen to have freer schedules, and can fit into the characters."

"Wait." Mijuine took the list back. "Ishida-san may be available. I can give you the number for his agent."

"A-Arigato." So at least one seiyuu was available, and it was one Mutou felt didn't suit her hero. Can my luck get any worse?

"I agree with you on the music though," Mijuine said. "Generally with shoujo, synthesized music is better for ambiance. But because Mutou-sensei's series has a serious nature, a full-orchestra is the best way to convey the content. I'll have our in-house composer come up with rudimentary background music."

Ritsu's mood brightened upon hearing this. "Excellent! I look forward to hearing what they come up with!"

"Here, let me make your job easier." Mijuine shuffled through some paperwork and handed a huge pile to Ritsu. "Most of our seiyuus give us their monthly schedules. Look through the names and either watch their Animes or listen to drama CDs they've been part of. Give me a call and I'll give you their agents' numbers."

Ritsu was later delighted that Ishida Akira was interested in the job, and he wanted Mutou-sensei to be enthusiastic about it. He watched some anime that Ishida had been in so that he was better prepared for his phone call to Mutou-sensei.

"He does an amazing job in Gundam Seed, based on the episode I saw," Ritsu told Mutou. "I think he would be perfect for the job!"

"Ah…Onodera-san?"

"Hai?"

"Have you ever seen Level C?"

Ritsu blinked. "Why does everyone keep bringing up Level C?"

All of this though added to Ritsu's overall workload. Being saddled with arranging Mutou-sensei's drama CD didn't diminish his other responsibilities. He still had Mutou's storyboards to edit, in addition to Kaitou's and Kumori's.

Within three days, Ritsu was at his limit.

"…I understand," Ritsu spoke sluggishly into the phone. He was calling yet another seiyuu's agent, but he was getting rejection after rejection. "Arigato though, for taking the time out to take my phone call."

Ritsu hung up the phone and rubbed a hand over his face. He looked at his watch and groaned painfully. "How is it only ten in the morning?"

"Ricchan!" Kisa offered a chocolate pocky stick. "Want some pocky?"

Ritsu shook his head. He felt exhausted and nauseas. "No, thank you…"

"Yoshikawa-sensei, if you hang up on me again you're going to regret it!" Hatori snapped into his office phone.

"Oh, Onodera-kun!" Mino smiled at him over the horrible mess in between their desks. "I heard you mentioning Level C a lot, and someone uploaded it onto YouTube. Would you like to see it?"

"…Sure." Ritsu stood up from his desk and trudged around the aisle to Mino's desk. He accepted the ear bud Mino handed to him. "What's so bad about this anime?"

"Nothing," Mino said. "Ishida Akira really shines in this role."

"…Ah." Not really looking at the computer screen, Ritsu collapsed into a chair as Mino hit play.

"Uh—ha-uh! No, that's too—"

"WAUGH!" Ritsu ripped the ear bud out and gaped in horror at the computer. A full-blown sex scene was going on. A yaoi sex scene. "W-What the HELL?"

"See?" Mino said smiling. "He's very convincing."

"That's really him? That guy plays GAARA?"

Mino shrugged. "He's got range, that's for sure."

"Oh, my God…" Ritsu hugged a hand to his head. "Another one…"

"OI, ONODERA!"

Ritsu barely reacted when a metal ruler bounced off his head. "What, Takano-san?"

"Kaitou-sensei's storyboards are due tomorrow!" Takano yelled at him from his desk. "Stop half-assing your work and get her shit done!"

Ritsu grumbled, not having the energy to argue. He shuffled back to his desk and fell into his seat. "Ugh…"

"This one's really good, too!" Kisa said, pouring over the latest BL book to have been placed on the desk. "But I don't understand why Yui cries so much! He's crying in every picture drawn! Those types of characters can be really annoying!"

Ritsu huffed in acknowledgment as he picked up Kaitou's storyboards. His vision was starting to blur though from the lack of sleep, and he rubbed at his eyes. "Shit…"

It almost felt like he was having an out-of-body experience. Ritsu had been tired before, but never to this extreme. He was almost afraid to pick up his red pen as he surveyed the storyboards. When looked at his watch again, he was horrified at what he saw. "It's only 11:30?"

"Ricchan, are you okay?" Kisa asked him.

"A-Ah…" Ritsu quickly shook his head. "I'm hanging in there…"

"Delivery!" came the cheerful announcement from the door of the department.

"Here." Takano stood up from his desk to accept the food.

"Wow!" Kisa quickly perked up as Ritsu ducked his head lower. "That bag says IL Casita! Takano-san ordered food from IL Casita?"

"I guess even Takano-san spoils himself every now and then," Mino said thoughtfully.

Hatori snapped his phone down and stood up. "Sensei seems to find it appropriate, despite missing her deadline, to hang up on me five times in a row." He snatched his coat and jabbed his arms into the sleeves. "If you'll excuse me, I need to set her right!"

Ritsu didn't respond to the chaos around him. He was aware that IL Casita was a prestigious restaurant in Tokyo, but hearing about someone else's food choices didn't appeal to him. Not when he had a mountain of paperwork and felt ready to wither away.

Something fell onto his desk in front of him. "Here."

"…Eh?" Ritsu looked up and his eyes widened to see the IL Casita bag on his desk. He looked over his shoulder at Takano. "Is this for me?"

"Who else?" Takano snapped irritably. "You need to eat something! You look like a corpse sitting there, and you're getting no work done!"

"Ah…" Ritsu slowly reached for the bag and peeked inside. "A-A-Arigato, Takano-san."

"But what about the rest of us?" Kisa complained loudly as Takano went back to his seat. "We're working hard, too!"

"Get your own food then!" Takano snapped, sitting down brusquely at his desk.

Ritsu pulled the food from the bag. He was absolutely shocked. There were at least two different pasta bowls, a bowl of soup, a fish meal, and some sort of pudding. He looked at Takano, who was looking over his own storyboards. This was a lot of food, and he expected Ritsu to eat all of it?

But Ritsu knew he hadn't been eating properly. Takano kept asking questions about his health, even as he overpowered him with work. But was he worried? Truly, genuinely worried about Ritsu?

Ritsu stood up from his desk and walked over to him. Mino and Kisa took the opportunity to pounce on his takeout. "Takano-san."

"Haa?" Takano looked up. "What do you want, Onodera?"

"Arigato," he said, more sincerely than he did before. He bowed slightly. "I hate that you went to such trouble for me, but I really appreciate this."

Takano looked at him for a moment before he shrugged. "It's no problem."

Ritsu straightened and laughed. "O-Okay…"

"Of course you know," Takano added. "Now that I've gone to the trouble to order food for you, you're not allowed to leave today until all of your work is done."

Ritsu sputtered and gaped at Takano in horror. "A-A-All of it?"

"All of it," Takano echoed.

"B-But I'm editing storyboards for three different series!" Ritsu cried out. "A-And I'm still working on my seiyuu list for the drama CD!"

Takano shrugged again. "The expensive food will give you energy."

"I didn't ask you to get me that!" Ritsu snapped. He clenched his teeth in rage. I hate you SO MUCH SOMETIMES!

Fourteen hours later…

Ritsu didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until his neck began cramping up terribly. He opened his eyes and yelped in pain as his stiff limbs came back to life. Rubbing at his sore neck, he sat up and blinked in confusion at his surroundings. He was still at the office.

W-Wha…? The entire office was shrouded in darkness and silence. Everyone had left, and he looked at his watch as he flexed his fingers to restore blood circulation. "Dammit…" he missed the last train, so unless he called a cab he was stuck there.

Ritsu stood up and turned on his desk lamp. Something fell to the floor behind him and he turned around. It was a large and thick sweater. Ritsu leaned down and picked it up, rubbing the cloth between his fingers. He realized the sweater had been draped over him, but who did it? Not knowing what else to do with it, Ritsu slipped it on and found himself strangely comforted by its presence.

Despite passing out, Mutou and Kumori's storyboards were neatly stacked up in a corner of his desk. He looked down at his notepad, which held the names of various seiyuus. Several were crossed off, but some had stars drawn next to them.

Ah…Ritsu smiled as the memory returned to him. I got them all.

Takano hadn't been joking when he said that he wouldn't let Ritsu leave unless all of his work was done. So Ritsu, despite his exhaustion, continued to work himself to death to finish the storyboards edits of his three authors, and to assemble a proper seiyuu list.

He was done…but it was one-thirty in the morning and now he couldn't leave.

"Eh?" Ritsu looked at his desk more closely. Kaitou's storyboards weren't there! But he could've sworn they'd been there when he passed out! They couldn't have just gotten up and walked away!

"Takano-san's going to kill me," he whined quietly, rubbing at his face. He turned and walked towards the back of the office, where their office couch was hidden off. "Ugh…I'm still so tired…"

Ritsu considered getting himself some coffee until he walked past the panel hiding the couch. And stopped dead in his tracks.

Takano was stretched out on the couch, fast asleep. Limbs hung over the side of the couch, his chest rose and fell calmly, and he actually looked quite serene. Ritsu wondered how he could sleep like this out in the open, even without something to cover himself.

Ritsu's fingers twitched around the sweater he now wore. A sweater that was too big on him. He stiffened and flushed. Did…did Takano put this sweater over him when he fell asleep?

It's HIS fault anyway that I passed out like that! Ritsu fumed. He complains that I need to relax, but then he works me to death! But…he shook his head slightly. But, he also went to the trouble of buying me all that food. And he made me eat all of it…

Ritsu's stomach did hurt from the food, but he preferred the fullness pain from the stress pain he was always feeling. Takano did seem worried about him. He covered him with a sweater and probably even stayed because Ritsu couldn't go home.

Ritsu slid the sweater off his shoulders, and held it out in front of himself as he approached the couch. Not wanting to disturb Takano, he slowly draped the sweater over him to cover him. Ritsu straightened, but he was embarrassed to find himself unable to look away from Takano.

It was way too difficult to read Takano's motives. He didn't shy away from blatantly blurting out stuff about Ritsu and his private matters, and yet he seemed to needle Ritsu endlessly with work. Ritsu enjoyed the payout at the end though, because seeing the finished product in all its glory, and knowing he had a hand in it, was very satisfying.

Still, despite the fact that Takano appeared to open himself completely to Ritsu, there was a lot Ritsu didn't understand about him.

That didn't stop Ritsu from leaning down and placing a kiss on Takano's mouth. Shocked by his actions, Ritsu quickly pulled back. T-This isn't the appropriate place for such things! He turned to leave.

He yelped in alarm when a hand caught his wrist and he was yanked backwards. In a flash Takano was wide awake, and had rolled Ritsu beneath. He cupped Ritsu's cheek in his palm and crushed his mouth over his in a brutally intense kiss.

"Mmph!" Ritsu struggled, but he couldn't stop his body from melting under the heat of the kiss. His fingers dug into Takano's shoulders as though to hang onto him, and he tilted his head just the right way to deepen the kiss even more.

Eventually though, he regained his willpower and shoved up hard on Takano's shoulders, forcing him to break the kiss. "T-T-That's enough!"

"Oh, are we done now?" Takano asked, looking down at Ritsu neutrally. He didn't sound the least bit tired now. "Well, you started it by kissing me first, Onodera."

"Just stop it!" Ritsu snapped, his whole face hot as he sat up. "We're at work!"

Takano shrugged. "We're the only ones here."

"Does that matter?" Ritsu waved a hand. "Kaitou-sensei's storyboards are missing, Takano-san. Have you seen them?"

Takano looked at him as though he were an idiot. "You handed the finished storyboards to me before you past out."

Ritsu blinked at him. "I did?"

"And it looks like all of your work is now done." Takano pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. "Congratulations, Onodera."

"Congrat—I passed out because of you, asshole!" Ritsu snapped at him.

"You passed out because you didn't micromanage your damn work schedule," Takano said harshly, taking a long drag on the cigarette. "If I hadn't pushed you as hard as I did today, then you'd still be tight wad of stress."

"WHAT wasn't stressful about today?" Ritsu demanded.

"Let's see. Kaitou-sensei's latest chapter was sent to the printers a day early. You've assembled an entire cast of seiyuu for Mutou-sensei's drama CD. Mutou-sensei's storyboard edits are done. Kumori-sensei's storyboard edits are done." He ticked off each fact with his fingers. "You've finished a week's worth of work in a single day, Onodera, so stop complaining."

"I thought I was going to DIE!" Ritsu scrubbed at his face in frustration. "You piss me off so much, Takano-san! You don't want me to be under too much stress, but then you put me on the spot like this! Even now I'm exhausted! When you do such shitty things to me, it doesn't make me grateful at all!"

Takano looked at him for a long moment before taking another drag off his cigarette. "So…you're still stressed, Ritsu?"

"HAI! I think my heart might explode!"

Takano reached over and stubbed out his cigarette into the ashtray. "Then we need to change that."

"Wha—"

Takano yanked Ritsu against his body and devoured his mouth in another kiss. Ritsu pushed up on his shoulder with his free hand once more, but Takano didn't budge as pinned Ritsu into the back cushions. Ritsu thought that kissing Takano right after he smoke a cigarette might disgust him, but he felt light-headed as his firm tongue jabbed deep into his mouth. "Mmm…"

Takano shifted positions until he was leaning over Ritsu, still kissing him. His fingers played with Ritsu's chin for a brief moment before they slid downwards, over his throat and sternum and straight down his front. Ritsu shivered from the light caress and broke free from the kiss. "Takano-sa—"

Takano pressed his hand into Ritsu's groin and began rubbing him quickly. "W-WAIT!" Ritsu tried to shove at him and not buck against the hand. "This is work!"

"We're the only ones here," Takano repeated himself. He kissed the crook of Ritsu's neck, and licked a path up to his ear.

"Uhhn…" Ritsu bit down on his lower lip, but gasped at the sharp electricity emulating from the feeling of Takano's hands on his growing erection. "B-But someone might—"

"If you don't draw attention to us they won't." Takano nuzzled his hair and nipped at his ear lobe. "Just keep your voice down and relax, Ritsu."

But our coworkers use this couch! Ritsu wanted to say this out loud, but a quiet moan came out instead. His head arched back as Takano took his other hand and yanked Ritsu's shirt up. "Ahh! Haa…" A tongue flicked over his nipple before Takano immersed it in his mouth. Ritsu gasped, almost forgetting where he was at as he clung to Takano's shoulders. The combination of the heat in his groin and the prickles of sensation in his chest had Ritsu quivering underneath him. "T-Takano-san…"

Both of Takano's hands suddenly grabbed Ritsu's belt, swiftly opening it as Takano licked a trail straight down his chest, following the path his hand had tread moments ago. Realizing what Takano was doing, Ritsu tried to think rationally. "W-Wait—"

"Ritsu." Takano lifted his head to look up at Ritsu. Ritsu sucked in a sharp breath and felt warmth in his chest. The need was apparent in his, and it was startling to see it all direct at himself. "Here." he grabbed the sweater Ritsu had draped over him and handed it to Ritsu. "Muffle your voice here so nobody can hear you."

"We can do this in pub—"

Takano finished opening his pants, and his erect penis sprung out. Before Ritsu could catch his breath, Takano enveloped the whole thing. "Mmmmmmph!" Ritsu pressed the sweater hard against his face from the wonderful sensations wrecking his body. He bit into the sweater hard, trying to will his voice to remain low. "Ahhh…"

Takano spread Ritsu's legs wide as he moved his mouth up and down over his aching cock. Ritsu forgot that they were at work, and just about anyone could walk in on them. He breathed heavily into the sweater, and reached down with one hand to hook it into Takano's hairs. The gesture seemed to incense him, and he moved harder and faster.

Quicker than he expected, Ritsu felt the familiar pooling heat in his groin. He groaned throatily as the sensations began rupturing inside of him and he bucked his hips upwards, thrusting into Takano's mouth. Takano only encouraged him with the touch of his hands cradling Ritsu's hips, urging him to move forward.

"…Ngh!" Ritsu muffled a scream as an orgasm shook his body. He threw his head back against the couch and his body trembled as he released into Takano's mouth. Takano groped his scrotum and squeezed, milking every drop that leaked out.

Ritsu fell sideways until he was lying on his side on the couch. His eyes were close and he struggled for air as the feeling of his climax subsided. He was tired before, but now he was very exhausted. But…but he could feel less tension in his body. It humiliated him, but Takano servicing him in this way seemed to zap his energy and force relaxation upon him.

But we're still in the office.

Ritsu heard a zipper come undone, and his eyes snapped open. "T-Takano-san!"

"Shh…" Takano stroked his hair as his shirt slid off his shoulders. "It's only beginning, Ritsu."

"B-But this is the office!" Ritsu hissed at him. "We're in a public place! This isn't like that BL drama CD! Somebody could walk in on us at any minute!"

Takano stared at him. "So, you listened to World's Greatest First Love's entire CD?"

Ritsu flushed in embarrassment. "I-I—"

"Just relax, Ritsu." Takano grabbed Ritsu's belt and slowly drew his pants down. "I risk my job being caught, okay? Do you think I would do this if I didn't make absolute sure that we were alone?"

"Ah…" Ritsu turned his head away and buried his face into the sweater. "I-It's still not—"

"You need to stop thinking about it." with that said, Takano lifted Ritsu's hips and descended his head once more. His tongue made contact with Ritsu's entrance and began quickly licking him.

Logic and fear fled Ritsu's mind. All that remained was the need inside of him as he arched his body and moaned into the sweater. Feeling Takano touch him in such an intimate way brought him back to life. In mere moments he was hard again and panting heavily against the sweater. "T…Takano-san…mmmm…"

Takano hissed in satisfaction and he raised himself up over Ritsu. "That's more like it."

He pulled the sweater away from Ritsu's face and kissed him full on the mouth. Ritsu was so enveloped in the kiss that he barely noticed something pressing against him. Takano broke the kiss and smiled wickedly at him. "Just relax, Ritsu…"

Ritsu arched his body, but a quiet wheezing noise escaped his mouth as Takano thrust inside of him. His legs trembled as Takano locked them around his body and braced his hands on the couch cushions.

Ritsu still had no mind for the fact that they were in a public place anymore. As Takano began to move against him, all he could focus on what that burning spot where their bodies were joined. He couldn't hide his voice as Takano repeated struck the spot inside of his body that caused sharp rivulets of pleasure to rip through him. He yelped once, but Takano pressed his hand over his mouth as he hunched over Ritsu's body. His breathing was hard and heavy in Ritsu's ear as he moved faster, snapping his hips against Ritsu's butt as he drove deeper and deeper inside him.

"Mmm…hrmmmm…" Ritsu dug his fingers into Takano's bare back as the familiar sensation returned to him. Takano wasn't even touching him and yet his penis was ready to burst. Then Takano slipped his free hand down and pinched the tip hard between two fingers. Ritsu screamed against his hand and squeezed his eyes shut as he came hard for a second time.

Takano groaned and suddenly pulled out of him. His erection bobbed against Ritsu's stomach, and that seemed to do it for him. He stiffened and shuddered as he spilled himself over Ritsu's stomach and chest.

They laid there on the couch for a moment, the empty office seeming to echo their heavy breathing. Takano removed his hand from Ritsu's mouth and gave him a sloppy kiss, which Ritsu returned feverishly.

After a few more moments Takano shifted, and moved his body off of Ritsu. He zipped up his pants and grabbed some tissues off the coffee table in front of the couch. Ritsu panted heavily as he sat up, shaking his head to clear it. He still wore his work shirt, but his pants were across the floor. He stood up, but yelped as he felt a sharp pain from his backside and his knees turned to jelly. He fell to the floor and landed on his hands and knees.

Takano laughed slightly as he reached for another cigarette. His own shirt was still off. "Pretty good, huh?"

Ritsu cursed. "I can barely walk, asshole!" he crawled across the floor and snatched up his pants. As he carefully maneuvered himself on the floor to pull his pants back on, something caught his eyes. His shirt was still up, and it showed a sticky fluid on his chest and stomach.

He glared murderously at Takano. "W-What? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Takano craned his neck so that he could see Ritsu's stomach. "Do you want me to lick it off?"

Ritsu almost screamed, but it broke off into several strangled noises as his face grew hotter and hotter. He wasn't even sure if he was scandalized or if he was "glowing". "Stop joking around!"

"Who's joking?" Takano shook his head and shrugged. "If I came inside you, it would ruin your pants. That will be easier to clean off, Onodera. Here." he held out his handkerchief. "You can use mine."

Ritsu ripped it out of his hand, though his body was shaking. "H-How can you be so nonchalant? We just…did it in our office!"

"Nobody's here," Takano said.

"Stop saying that! It's still inappropriate! What if somebody walked in? Somebody we know?"

Takano snorted. "They would've gotten an eyeful then."

Ritsu hissed at him and yanked his pants on. "Ooh! Everything you do just pisses me off!"

"You said that before." Takano came over to his side and knelt down.

"I mean it!" Ritsu shouted.

Takano suddenly cupped his chin and turned his head, planting another searing kiss upon his mouth. Ritsu didn't even care of his mouth bruised; his body was weak and he easily gave in to Takano's kiss.

Takano broke the kiss and smiled smugly at Ritsu. "I'm going to call a cab. We can pick this up at my apartment, hmm?"

Ritsu gaped at him. "Y-Y-You want more?"

Takano looked confused by the question. "I'm always going to want more, Onodera."

Ritsu felt his jaw drop, but Takano leaned in close again. Just a breath away from kissing him. "Just make sure to clean off my handkerchief, okay? I'll still need to use it."

Ritsu sputtered, and threw the handkerchief back at Takano. "Keep it! I don't need your damn handkerchief!"

He could still hear Takano laughed as he stumbled out of the Emerald Department on jelly legs, painfully aware of Takano's essence still sticking to his abdomen. I can't believe I did that, I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT!

Somehow, Ritsu managed to navigate himself to the bathroom. He felt heat radiating from his body as he took some wet paper towels and locked himself into a bathroom stall. Thankful that he was alone, he quickly cleaned himself off, all the while cursing Takano. Baka, BAKA! I'll make you pay for this!

Ritsu left the stall still red-faced. He self-consciously fixed his shirt as he threw the dirty items out and reached the sink. He plugged one of the drains and turned on the cold faucet. He splashed icy water onto his face to help cool himself down, and he rubbed wet fingers across his neck. He could smell Takano on his skin, and could still feel his kisses and caresses. Ritsu closed his eyes and shivered involuntarily.

"What are you doing?"

Ritsu screamed, and quickly turned around. "Y-Y-Yokozawa-san!"

Undoubtedly the last person on earth he wanted to see at that moment. Yokozawa was still wearing his suit and he looked at Ritsu coldly. "What are you doing here at this time of night, Onodera?"

"A-A-Ah…" Ritsu fixed his shirt again, praying to some god that it didn't look obvious he'd had sex not even five minutes ago. "I missed the last train, and had a whole bunch of paperwork to take care of. How about you, Yokozawa-san?"

Takano-san told me nobody else was here! Did he lie to me just to get laid, or did he honestly think we were alone?

"I had a meeting at eleven," Yokozawa said. "In addition to some paperwork of my own to take care of."

"I-I-I see…" Ritsu adverted his gaze, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

"So, how is the drama CD coming?" Yokozawa asked.

"I-I have a full seiyuu cast!" Ritsu sputtered. "And I'm going to be meeting with the seiyuu in a few days! Mijuine-san anticipates that a full music soundtrack will take a week, and maybe two weeks to record the tracks. So we should have a drama CD ready by the end of the month!"

Yokozawa was silent for a long moment before he slowly nodded. "Let me know when it's finished. We'll start marketing promotional information for it."

"O-Of course!" Ritsu bowed slightly, though he visibly winced at the pain that shot up his back. "Arigato, Yokozawa-san!"

"…Right." Yokozawa said. He turned and walked out of the bathroom.

Ritsu almost fell against the sink in relief. Could that have been anymore awkward?

His cell phone buzzed in his back pocket. Ritsu quickly fished it out, wondering who was sending a message so late at night.

"Taxi's here. I have all of your stuff, so you'd better meet me down here."

- Takano

Ritsu gritted his teeth as he shoved the phone back into his pocket. Dirty, perverted bastard!

"Yokozawa-san is here! You told me the building was empty!" he texted back.

Ritsu slammed his phone down onto the sink as he finished cleaning himself off. He yanked out his own handkerchief to dry off his face when he got a message back.

"I know he's here. He said hi to me on the way out."

Ritsu shook his head and resisted the urge to kick the wall. Of course Takano wouldn't care about someone catching them! Even if it was an old flame of his!

And he wants to do MORE with me when we get back!

Ritsu didn't like the anticipation that filled him as he headed towards the elevators.

"Well, it's been an absolute pleasure to meet all of you," Ritsu said, bowing deeply. "Let's do our best to make a fabulous drama CD!"

He walked out of the meeting feeling revitalized. He had a complete seiyuu listing for the drama CD, and everyone was enthusiastic about the project. The seiyuu were very talented too; he just knew it was going to be a success!

I love it when all of my hard work pays off! Ritsu thought, absolutely pleased with himself.

He rounded the corner, and was taken off-guard when he walked headlong into someone. "O-Oh, excuse me!" he gasped, quickly regaining his balance. "I'm really sorry."

"It's no problem." It was a young man, and he smiled at Ritsu. "I should've looked where I was going. If you'll excuse me…"

The man walked off. Ritsu brushed his bangs out of his face. "I need to pay better attention!"

"Ah!" another man rounded the corner and nearly ran into Ritsu. "Kondo-san! Where is Kondo-san?"

"Kondo-san?" Ritsu asked. A strange feeling began to bubble in his stomach.

"Kondo Takashi-san!" the man barked irritably. "He has to—AH! Kondo-san!" he took off running passed Ritsu down the hall.

Ritsu slowly turned around. He saw the young man he'd just bumped into further down the hall. He spoke with the irate man before both disappeared out of sight.

Wait, what? He blinked very slowly. That was HIM? The guy who voices me on the drama CD? The guy who makes me sound so…

"AH!" Ritsu shouted, slapping a hand against his face. "I just missed my chance!"

Omake

A seductive saxophone filled the silent room. Followed by…

"Shh…they're going to hear you, Ritsu."

"Ah…uhn…I can't help it—ha-AH!"

Ritsu gaped at the television, horrified. "I-I-I-It…It really became a TELEVISION SERIES?" he grabbed a pillow off the couch, hugged it to his face, and began rocking back and forth. "This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening!"

Beside him, Takano took a long drag off his cigarette and blew smoke out. Finally, he said, "Wow. I didn't know you could get away with THAT on a subway train."

"Who would do this in public?" Ritsu wailed.

Takano gave him a long look. "We did."

Ritsu screamed, and threw the pillow at Takano's head. "SHUT UP! Don't bring that up again!"

"But this shows the power of drama CDs," Takano said, barely noticing the hit. "Mutou-sensei got a two-part OVA because of her drama CD, and World's Greatest First Love is an anime on television."

"How is Mutou-sensei only getting a direct-to-video anime release, and this garbage being broadcast on television, a GOOD THING?" Ritsu demanded.

"Haa!" the anime-Ritsu groaned on television. "S-Sempai—AH!"

"Ah!" Takano said sharply, pointing to the television. "They're censoring this, too!"

"Why does Kondo-san make me sound like THAT?" Ritsu cried out.

"I like it," Takano said unhelpfully.

Ritsu took a sip of canned coffee, grateful for the momentary uplift in energy. After what he…watched last night, he hadn't gotten any sleep.

It didn't help that the horrifying episode had put Takano in the mood.

Please let this be a horrible nightmare, Ritsu thought mournfully, rubbing at his stomach as he took another sip of coffee. He entered the Emerald Department, but he felt a headache from the cheerful decorations around him. Let this not be reality…

"I wonder when Ritsu's going to confess to Masamune," Kisa said suddenly to a female coworker.

"PFFFT!" Coffee sprayed all over the teddy bears and figurines that adorned Ritsu's desk. Slamming the can of coffee down, he began coughing violently.

"Ricchan!" Kisa exclaimed, turning to his desk neighbor as Ritsu gasped for air. "What's the matter?"

"Why…" Ritsu gasped, wiping at his mouth. "Why would you say something like THAT?"

"Well, last night's episode ended on such a cliff hanger," Kisa said forlornly, while their female coworker nodded.

Ritsu gaped at him for a moment and almost laughed with relief. "Ohhh…You're just talking about THAT anime…" he opened one of his desk draws and pulled out a box of paper towels. He began to gingerly clean the coffee off the stuffed animals on his desk. So Kisa-san watches THAT…b-but he's talking about the characters and not me!

"You know, I've been wondering that myself about Ritsu and Masamune," Takano-san said with a smirk, looking right at Ritsu.

"Oh, so you watch World's Greatest First Love too, Takano-san?" Mino asked lightly.

Takano shrugged. "I'll catch a glimpse every now and then. But I understand your frustrations with Ritsu, when he won't confess his feelings to Masamune."

"Hai, it's really obvious he loves Masamune!" Kisa agreed. Beside him, Ritsu began seething in rage. "When is Ritsu finally going to say something?"

"Who knows?" Takano looked at Ritsu. "How about tonight?"

"How about NEVER?" Ritsu shrieked, standing up glaring at Takano-san, who only smiled devilishly at him in return.

"I hope not," Kisa said. He began to sort through his next round of storyboards. "I always hate it in a series when a partner in a couple is not open about his or her feelings. It makes things seem unresolved, and creates a lot of unnecessary drama."

"I couldn't agree more," Takano said, still looking right at Ritsu as he picked up his paperwork.

"But it is only fifteen episodes in—" Kisa mused.

"FIFTEEN EPISODES?" Ritsu hollered, gaping at Kisa. "That garbage has fifteen episodes?"

"Twenty-six, actually," Mino said brightly. "It was approved for a full season."

Ritsu's mouth hung open as he looked at the entire department. My series only got approved for an OVA while that THING GOT TWENTY-SIX EPISODES?

"Hurry up and get to work," Takano reprimanded him. "Just because World's Greatest First Love reflects real life doesn't mean you can fantasize about it on company time!"

"I'm NOT FANTASIZING!" Ritsu, ignoring the cries of glee from the women. He slammed down in his seat seething, teeth clenched. I'm not in love, I'm not in love, IMNOTINLOVE!

I hope I didn't sound like I was knocking too much on Ishida Akira. He happens to be one of my favorite Japanese seiyuu. When I first started listening to yaoi drama CDs though several years ago, he played uke characters in a whole bunch of them. And he plays ukes very well. It's just a funny contrast to me to hear him play Athrun in Gundam Seed and Gaara in Naruto, and then to juxtapose that against him playing Mizuki in Level C, lol!

'Kitty', apparently, is another name for the uke in a male/male relationship in Japan. I'm having Love Mode flashbacks…

Thanks for reading!
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The World Against Me