"Ritsu...you can do it yourself." Saga-senpai murmured as he cupped my cheeks. He'd usually do this whenever I'd get too shy to even look at him. I took a deep breath and then began to move on my own. I felt the pain soon subside with pleasure but as I kept bouncing I noticed senpai staring at me wholeheartedly, which made my cheeks burn.

"S- senpai! Y- you damn nympho." I admonished, stopping for a moment to puff my cheeks.

He laughs and kisses my forehead. "I'm sorry, Ritsu." He kisses my cheek, lips and soon licks my neck. "You're just so... beautiful." He says into the crook of my neck.

"Guys don't call other guys beautiful!" I prefer handsome or cool... not beautiful!

"This has nothing to do with what you are." Senpai says, lifting his head up. "You're so mesmerizing, it's enticing."

I jolt awake, rigid pants escape my lips as I realized that no- I wasn't in Senpai's room... buuut in my own.

I also realized that I just dreamt of him again.

I punched the wall next to my bed. "Damn it!" I can't keep thinking about him. He's my past. Gone.

Forever.

As I get up, I hear the ringtone going off on my phone and I angrily tap 'Answer', ignoring the caller ID.

"What?" I greet, dismissive.

"Well hello to you too, putz."

I roll my eyes and scoff. "An-chan? You never call me this early."

"Yeah, sorry about this. Mom's been bugging me about how I don't spend a lot time with you. She's right, you know? We are engaged after all." Her tone was sardonic.

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. "An-chan, I told you... I don't want to go through with this. This engagement is completely out of our control."

"Which is why you should tell our mothers that we both aren't comfortable with this!" An-chan screeches.

She and I were on the same page with this. Even though we were childhood friends, neither of us truly developed 'feelings' for each other. She ended up finding herself a boyfriend right at the moment our parents dumped the engagement onto us.

"Why can't you do it?" I couldn't see myself marrying her. She was nothing more than a great friend.

I head into the bathroom, eager to hear her response.

"BECAUSE! You're the man!"

I click my tongue. "And you're the woman! Your point?"

An clears her throat and sighs. "Mother's been telling me that since you haven't refuted a cancelation to the engagement, you still want to wed. No offense Rittie, Kazuto and I have been planning to go for the long run and I don't want this stupid event blowing it. So you either tell them, or else."

I scoff. See what I mean? "Blackmail? Really An-chan?"

"Well you wont listen to reason! Get it done by tonight or face my fists!"

"Wait w-" Dial tone. Damn that woman.

I place my phone on top of the sink and brush my teeth. If I were to really tell my parents, I'd truly need to consider moving our of their house.

I cringe at the thought of Mother lashing out on me and immediately dropped the toothbrush and sprint to my room.

As I turned on my laptop and waited for it to load, I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in!" I called and the door swings open.

Speak of the devil.

"Ritsu!" Mother bellowed, "What're you doing cooped up in here? Get out and find a damn job until you can take over our company."

"Okaa-san..." I groan. "I told you a million times that I am not taking over Onodera Shuppan. I'm not into that kind of thing!"

She didn't like that answer.

"Oh. OH. Your father and I conceived you..." Cringey. "...raise you into a loving home..." Embellishing. "...just for you to be..." Here we go again. "...ungrateful and unrepentant in declining the offer to take over our multi-million yen company?!"

"...Yes."

WHACK. WHACK.

Mother threw two shoes at me, one aiming for my face and the other my arm.

"WHY... YOU...!" Mother looked for other items to throw, I immediately got up and grabbed both her wrists, restraining her.

"GET OFF OF ME, YOU BASTARD!" Mother flared around, trying her best to escape my grasp but it was futile.

"Kaa-san, listen to me!" I reason.

"Don't 'kaa-san' me, young man! Get out! Get out right now!" She screams. "UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO COME AND TAKE OVER THE COMPANY, I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

"O- okaa-san..." I say softly, letting go of her wrists. "Please calm down."

Mother puffs, her face red from sheer anger. "No. You're leaving, I don't need a child like you in this house who has no job and no future!"

"Okaa-san I do have a job!"

"BEING A JOURNALIST AT A COMPANY THAT PAYS YOU THE BARE MINIMUM IS NOT CONSIDERED A JOB IN MY EYES!" She shouts, officially stomping towards the door and opening it.

"Fine." I begin, tired of her screaming. "Okaa-san, I'll prove it to you that I can make it out there and be the best damn journalist I can be."

"Heh." She scoffs. "You? That's rich."

Twitch.

I walk towards the door she's opened and look back once more. "By the way, An's fucking a boy named Kazuto and I'm canceling this engagement."

"WH- WH-" Mother stands there in shock as I grab my phone and exit the house.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!"

An-chan and I were at her studio apartment. Ironically enough, she makes ends meet as a wedding planner.

"I told her that I'm canceling our engagement. I thought that was what you wanted."

"But... you!" An-chan grips her coffee mug. "You told her that I am having sex with Kazuto!?"

"Well, you are." I say. "Unless of course, you're waiting for marriage which in that case-"

"THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU MENTION HIM?!" An gets up from her seat and starts pacing. "Oh now what will Haha say?! She's going to freak...I- I have to move."

I chuckle. "What?"

An-chan grills me. "You have no right to laugh! Kazuto and I have to move. We can't be spotted by my mother or she'll kill us both!"

"Um An-chan, this isn't Romeo and Juliet." I roll my eyes, "You're twenty-five, an adult. You can make your own decisions."

"Yes but-"

"But nothing, I'm sure Kohinata-san will understand that you both love each other and are willing to continue meeting up even though you had to face an obstacle. Another man to marry." I really should've became a counselor.

An-chan blushes. "Y- yeah you're right, Rittie."

"More so than often."

"Oh shush it- anyways what's this plan you were saying before about finding an apartment?"

I sit up, pulling her laptop that was aimlessly put to the side closer to me. "Yeah, I need to find a new place to crash until otherwise. Since Okaa-san kicked me out there has to be somewhere I can find cheap rent."

"You could always live with me." An-chan offered.

I snort. "And make your parents even more confused on how we don't want to marry but we're fine living together?"

"Good point."

"Anyways..." I pull up Craigslist and start my apartment searching. Suddenly an interesting one pops up. "What do you think of this?" I ask An-chan.

"Hmmm..." She analyzes it. "2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom. 101,000 yen in total! Ritsu that's a steal!" (1)

"Yeah, this guy and I can split the rent..." I begin to calculate how much money I'll save if I avoid ramen for a few months.

"Don't doze off! Give him a call!" An-chan reads more into it. "His name Takano Masamune. Remember... be polite."

"Okay okay. Sheesh." I grab my phone and begin to dial the number displayed.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

"Maybe he's at work?" An-chan questions. I shrug.

Ring.

Ring.

"This guy's probably a serial killer anyways." I groan, hovering over the 'End Call' until I heard a click noise.

"Who is this?" The voice was deep, alluring and sounding like it just woke up.

I clear my throat. "Hello, my name is Onodera Ritsu. I'm calling about the spare room?"

"Huh? Masa-kun who are you on the phone with?" A feminine voice could be heard in the background and I begin to regret having that argument with Mother.

I sigh, looking over at An-chan who was silently pleading for me to put him on speaker. I roll my eyes and comply, pressing speaker.

"Look, is this a bad time? I can call later-"

"No, it's fine." The man says, and I hear rustling from the line. "Why don't you call a cab? I'll pay." He was presumably talking to his 'guest' for sure.

An displayed a disgusted face and I smile cheekily.

The man returns to speak with me. "So Onodera was it? How do I know you're not some thief?"

Use honorifics when addressing me, idiot. Are you even Japanese?

An-chan notices me getting fired up and quickly grabs the phone. "Hello, sir- I mean Takano-san. My friend Ritsu here really needs a place to stay and I can promise you that he is not a thief. He wouldn't even 'steal' a penny he finds on the floor." At this point, I'm glowering at her, disgusted with how fruity she's made me seem. She sticks her tongue out.

"So please... let him come check the place out and prove to you that he's a genuine guy who'll pay rent on time and will probably spend his days in his room reading books rather than getting out in the real world."

"Hey!" I say and An-chan covers my mouth, awaiting Takano-san's response.

However we were surprised when he heard a laugh ringing through the phone. I blush in embarrassment.

"What's so funny?" An questions Takano-san.

"Nothing. Nothing. It's just, you sound like a chick I banged before, it's kind of funny."

"WHAT THE-" I grab the phone before she could curse him out. I was not missing my opportunity on cheap rent.

I shoo her away and she scoffs as she gets up and murmurs things like 'impudent', 'asshole' and 'pervert'.

"Look man, I don't mean to rush you into a decision or anything but I really need a place to stay."

"..." Takano-san goes quiet, as if he were thinking.

"Um..." I say, not knowing what to say.

"Come the day after tomorrow. Bye."

He hangs up. Well, talk about abrupt.

I call out to An-chan. "An-chan I'm staying here for a night or two! Kazuto won't mind right?"

"FUCK YOU AND THAT DAMN PERVERTED BASTARD ON THE PHONE!"

"...I'll take that as a yes."

"Let my love in... let my love in, lay it all on me."

So we find out why Ritsu needs the place!

In the next chapter we find out how Masamune feels about this little bumpkin intruding on his life and how he handles it.

(1) - 101,000 yen is equivalent to roughly 823 dollars! And since this is a fanfiction, we're going to pretend that that's a plausible amount for residents in Tokyo. (I doubt it is IRL but, you never know.)