A/N: SO I don't know why but I was suddenly just overcome with the urge to write a second chapter of this story? Possibly more chapters incoming but idk no promises? Lol either way I hope you enjoy

Ritsu stared at his plate, his mind currently elsewhere as his mother rambled on and on about something that really was of no concern to him at all. His mother could've been saying that the house was collapsing and Ritsu probably would not have moved. He was far too stuck in his own head, thoughts of a past love and a drunken encounter haunting him.

Ritsu was still studying in England for is last year of high school, but was back in Japan to visit his family and friends-well, friend. He was also looking at some possible universities in Japan as he was considering furthering his education here. After all, there were things about his home that he missed dearly.

Saga Senpai had not been one of those things.

At least, that was what he told himself.

Ritsu had been lucky enough to not have Saga cross his mind for at least a year now, the longest he'd probably ever gone without thinking of cherry blossoms and a brown-eyed boy. Ritsu hadn't even considered the possibility of running into his senpai again. He figured Saga would have moved on with his life and that if the two ever did cross paths again, it would be as passing strangers. It seems as though he had been very wrong.

The brunette almost felt bad. His senpai had certainly been in a poor condition last night and Ritsu found it hard to believe that someone he once loved and admired so much could now be a drunk.

Then again, Ritsu always could have just caught him on a bad night. Ritsu really hoped he had just caught him on a bad night.

What had really shaken Ritsu up, though, was his past lover's confessions of still loving him. Surely, he hadn't meant any of that, right? Saga had just been drunk and probably had been even less prepared to see his ex than Ritsu was. Yes, yes, Ritsu would chalk it up to intoxication and high emotions, but there was no genuine love between the two of them.

"-tsu? Ritsu? Ritsu, are you listening to me?" His mother frowned, very unhappy with the lack of response from her son.

"S-Sorry, mother. I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm a bit out of it." Ritsu said, which wasn't entirely a lie. He had replayed his interaction with Saga in his head until the sun had come up.

"I said that you should invite An-chan over today. That girl has missed you more than you can imagine and it's only right for you to spend some time with your fiance while you're here." She said.

"Ah...right...maybe it would be better if I invited her over tomorrow, though? I'm really not feeling well." Ritsu pushed away his plate of food and stood before his mother could object, because he knew she would. "I think I'm going to go get some fresh air." He quickly left before his mother could try to sit him down and convince him otherwise about seeing An-chan today.

Ritsu would have loved to see his dearest friend, even with the whole arranged marriage situation. It would have been a nice change from what Ritsu was currently dealing with. But, the brunette knew that he needed to tie up these loose strings sooner rather than later.

After having a bit of his own personal pity party, Masamune dragged himself out of bed and to the shower. God, he felt nauseous. He really, really hoped he wouldn't throw up. He took a long shower, hoping it would wash away some of his complete exhaustion, before throwing on some boxers and sweatpants. He lazily brushed his teeth, squinting because of the fluorescent bathroom lighting.

Annoying, he thought before spitting into the sink and washing out his mouth.

God he needed coffee. He'd even settle for tea, just anything caffeinated would do. He started to brew a pot, not even thinking about making anything to eat because if he dwelled on the idea for food for too long his stomach started churning. Once it was done, he poured himself some in a mug, taking a tentative sip as to not burn himself.

God, what the hell am I gonna do...

His mind drifted back to Ritsu, or at least who he thought was Ritsu. It was entirely possible he had made all that up. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, the blurriness that often came from sleep not going away.

Fuck, I need glasses...

He let out a sigh and continued to sip his coffee carefully until a knock came at the door. Frowning, Masamune ignored it at first. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone, let alone someone who had shown up unannounced and uninvited. However, the knocking persisted and Masamune's became irritated enough to humor whoever was at his door for at least a little bit if it meant they would eventually go away.

Masamune opened the door and opened his mouth at the same time to say something a little snarky, but instead froze, staring at his unexpected visitor.

"Um...sorry to disturb you...but I thought we should talk?" Ritsu said nervously, not making direct eye contact with Masamune.

Masamune lacked the capacity to respond right away due to his surprise and Ritsu frowned a little.

"Is now not a good time?" Ritsu asked.

"No, no, I mean-now is fine. Sorry. Please come in." Masamune opened his door a little wider and Ritsu hesitantly stepped inside, taking off his shoes. "Do you want something to drink? I just made coffee."

"Um, no, I'm okay, thank you, but um..."

"What?"

"You're...not wearing a shirt." Ritsu could feel his face betraying him, a blush coming to his cheeks.

"Oh, shit, yeah, sorry, I like just woke up." Masamune wanted to admire Ritsu's red complexion, but hopefully there would be time for that later. Instead, he quickly went to go throw on a shirt while Ritsu sat down and waited for his return.

"So, you said you wanted to talk?" Masamune said, sitting next to Ritsu, trying not to frown as he noticed that Ritsu scooted away ever so slightly.

"Yeah, so I guess I should start by asking how much of last night you remember?"

"I think I remember most of it. I ran into you on the street, recognized you, you helped me home." Masamune summarized.

"Yeah, that's the gist of it, but um...do you remember anything you said to me?" Ritsu looked down at his lap where his hands where clasped.

"Nothing especially crazy. I told you that I still love you, that I remember."

"And you don't think that's especially crazy?"

"Why should it be? Okay, yeah, it's been like three years now, so maybe I should be over it, but...I really did love you back then Ritsu. I still do." Masamune frowned, crossing his arms.

"This really isn't funny." Ritsu met Masamune's frown with a hard one of his own, finding the courage to look Masamune in the eye.

"It's not supposed to be funny."

"I knew coming here was a bad idea." Ritsu stood and Masamune's heart filled with fear that the brunette was going to run away again.

"Wait!" Masamune grabbed his wrist. "I at least want to know why you left. And if the rumors I heard are true."

"Rumors? What rumors?"

"That you have a fiance. That you had one while we were dating."

A heavy silence fell over the apartment, Ritsu's face paling.

"I did. Kind of."

"What?" Masamune had expected the rumors to be disputed as he never took Ritsu, his sweet Ritsu, to be the two-timing type. Then again it was his sweet Ritsu who kicked him in the head before disappearing too. So maybe he didn't know Ritsu all that well.

"I have a childhood friend who my parents want me to marry. But I've never agreed to it and I've told my friend that...I was in love with someone else. So I couldn't marry her. But my parents still insist it's going to happen." Ritsu explained to the best of his ability.

"Oh? And who was it you were in love with?"

"Now you're just being a jerk."

"I'm serious. Because it obviously wasn't me."

"How can you say that?"

"Because who abandons someone they love without a single word?"

"I thought it wouldn't matter to you."

Masamune stared at Ritsu for a moment with a mixture of confusion and hurt, rising from the couch to stand beside him. "You thought it wouldn't matter to me?" Something akin to anger, but much sadder and desperate started to build inside Masamune. "How could you think something like that?"

"I told you this last night, but I guess you happened to conveniently forget it. I asked you if you had any feelings for me. And in response, you laughed." Ritsu looked away from him, losing some of his courage as he recounted the moment his heart was shattered.

Masamune tried to search his memory for this exchange. Ritsu had asked him that question, right before he ran off. Had Masamune really laughed? His reaction to the question was a fuzzier memory.

"And I figured that you had just been playing with me; the eager first year that was falling at your feet. I must've been an easy target." Ritsu sounded so bitter and resentful that Masamune hardly recognized him in that moment.

"No, no, you're wrong." Masamune said quickly.

"I don't want to hear this-"

"Then what do you want to hear? Why did you come here? I told you over and over again last night that I still love you, so if you didn't want to hear it again then why are you here?"

"I...I don't know." Ritsu admitted. "I...guess I wanted some kind of closure, for me and for you, but that's the exact opposite of whatever this is." He sighed in frustration.

"Ritsu-"

"Onodera." The brunette was quick to correct.

"...what?"

"I would prefer if you called me Onodera. And I'll call you Saga-san." The word senpai would taste vile in his mouth, so Masamune would have to settle for san.

"It's actually Takano now." Masamune sighed. "But whatever. Onodera," He started, though he didn't like addressing Ritsu more formally. It made the wall built between them feel even more solid. "What I was going to say was that the only way I think I can get closure is if you're in my life again."

"That's not possible."

"And why not?"

"Because, I'm not finished with my studies in England. I'm only just visiting." Ritsu said and there was the unspoken reason of not wanting to risk reigniting any feelings for his ex lover.

"Are you never coming back?"

"Well, not never-"

"Do you have a phone?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Then that hardly seems like a good reason to me." Masamune crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Well, I have other reasons too." Ritsu insisted.

"Like?"

A pause hung in the air as Ritsu tried to come up with something other than 'I don't want to risk falling in love again', but he failed. So, he let out a sigh and frowned, looking away from Masamune once again. "You don't exactly seem like you'd be satisfied with a friendship...and...I made a promise to never fall in love again after we broke up." He explained.

"That's slightly dramatic."

Ritsu's head snapped up to glare at Masamune. "I was hurt, you jackass! And even if it is, it's kept me afloat for this long and I don't intend on changing anything."

The two entered a staring contest, one waiting for the other to break.

Usually Masamune was so strong-willed, but this was Ritsu and he was desperate...

"Fine. Can we at least try to be friends?" Masamune asked, his eyes soft and pleading. Ritsu had never seen him make such an expression...

"...you'd really be okay with being just friends?"

"If it means you're back in my life...then yeah." Masamune gave a slightly sad smile.

Ritsu hesitated for a few moments before relenting with a sigh. Being friends...couldn't be too bad, right?

"How do you know you'll even like me anymore?"

"I'm sure you haven't changed that much. I mean, you are a little bit meaner, but that just means you can tease me back now."

"Hey, I'm not-I'm not mean."

Masamune just chuckled and Ritsu sighed once more before slowly nodding.

"Okay, okay. Friends then." Ritsu said "Just friends." He emphasized.

"Good, because I haven't been able to find another person who can take me on in a debate about Usami Akihiko's books quite like you." Masamune smiled, trying to lighten up the mood a little bit. And, as usual, books were Ritsu's greatest weakness.

"Have you read his latest novel?" The brunette asked.

"I've only gotten half way. Haven't had much time to read lately. But I'll have to finish it soon so we can talk about it." Masamune smiled and Ritsu's heart fluttered. Ritsu couldn't recall Masamune smiling much while they were in high school, but it suited him

Ritsu spoke about the book with Masamune, up to the point the older had read, and Masamune more than happily listened.

He still rambled about books so cutely.

Masamune's heart was satisfied, at least for now. But, he still wasn't giving up. He'd make Ritsu say 'I love you' again.