You Said You Wouldn't Leave Me. . .

2: To Forget. . . And To Remember

Days passed by and Mao and Ritsu never spoke to each other.  Sure, they saw each other in the hallway but Ritsu was always sleeping or cuddling up to some member of his unit.  Mao was glad that Ritsu was making friends but he was still a tiny bit jealous.  Wasn't Ritsu supposed to lean on him? After all, that's what he had done when he was younger.  It made no sense for things to change now.  Except. . . They did.  Thanks to Mao's new schedule, it tore the two apart.  But, Mao would find a way.  He had to.  After all, Mao made a promise that he wouldn't leave Ritsu and especially because Rei broke that promise, he didn't want to see Ritsu hurt twice.

Ritsu on the other hand, started clinging onto Knights.  After all, they were the ones who had actions that shone through rather than relying on fancy actions to keep his friendship.  Or so he thought.  Maybe he was clinging onto them to cover up the absence in his heart that Mao gave him.  He refused to admit it but it was most likely true.  He knew Knights could never truly replace Mao, they were coworkers, nothing more.  However, it would still be nice to humour the delusions that they could still be his friends. . . Right?  Even if those delusions were seemingly stupid, they were certainly a lot better than feeling alone.

The days turned into weeks and although the two found themselves subconsciously moving towards each other more and more, neither dared to talk.  Mao wanted to give Ritsu space.  Especially when Ritsu seemed to be especially radiant nowadays when he was on stage.  Mao took on even more work because of this as a desperate attempt to clear his schedule and hang out with Ritsu. . . If he would even permit it.  At this point, Mao was unsure that Ritsu thought their friendship was still there.  But, an attempt was still worth something.  Especially if it may be able to fix things in just a slight way.

Ritsu on the other hand, was beginning to feel resentment towards Mao.  Why, oh why was he always busy?  Had he not even noticed how hard Ritsu worked to get his attention?  How he clung to artificial sources of happiness so he could maybe just. . . Forget Mao.  That's it, that's all he needed to do.  It would be easier to do because Mao for sure wasn't as clingy as Rei.  Plus, the two didn't live together so Ritsu no longer had to see his face for that long or even at all.  It was perfect.  All he needed to do was find other people to cling to.  Wait, that would be easier than he thought; he already had all of Knights there to support him.  Perfect.  Ritsu just knew that happiness would be around the corner.  Where he could forever stay with people who loved him.  Even if it was only seemingly superficial, Knights was bound by contracts.  There was nothing that could tear them apart.

Mao, on the other hand continued to work.  He only had a couple stacks of paperwork left to do before he was finally finished all of his club work and student council work for the term.  Well. . . At least until somebody else decided to cause trouble.  But then again, Mao had other student council members to rely on who understood how important Ritsu was to him.  Although Mao was hesitant to even think about leaving work on his other student council members, he quickly reminded himself that it was all for Ritsu.  This whole entire thing was to connect the two once more.  To honour the promise the two made together.

Finally, he finished his work and stretched his arms above his head.  The work was brutal and grueling but it was over now.  He checked his clock.  Ritsu should be in a life performance.  Maybe the two could get fizzy drinks together to celebrate.  He should still love that, right?  He quickly packed his bag and started heading out.  However, he instinctively stopped by Ritsu's classroom and poked his head in the door, "Ritsu, I'm heading ho. . ."  He trailed off.  Right, he was going to see Ritsu.  When did this even become a habit anyways?  He placed his stuff on a desk and scrolled through his phone.  Finally, all the memories between the two came rushing back to him.  All the sleepless nights, whispering through cup phones so they wouldn't be heard, the endless days chasing each other through the trees, laughter from movies, times spent guiltily getting punished. . . By each other's sides.  

Sure, the promise he made must have been child but he had always been one to honour his word.  Over the years, because the bond between the two has strengthened, the promise lost meaning to him.  He had just assumed that Ritsu would always be by his side because of the bond between the two.  He didn't realize how much his work had ripped away Ritsu from him.  This wasn't right nor fair.  Why couldn't things have stayed the same as they were?  Why couldn't he have just spread out his work so he could spend a little bit of time with Ritsu for little time but more frequently is better than a long time for a whole term, was it not?  Mao felt crushed.  The one thing he didn't want to do was probably the only thing he had done.  He made a mistake and he prayed that it wouldn't cost him.  

Mao grabbed his bag and sprinted over to the Knight's venue.  Why did the place feel so far away?  Every second he was away from the venue felt like Ritsu's platonic love for him dying.  He at least wanted to make it so that there was at least a little drop of it left.  Finally, he managed to arrive at the venue.  He didn't have time to catch his breath or be polite.  He pushed his way through the crowd and somehow managed to get a front row seat.  'Ritsu. . . I know our promise is absolutely shattered, but, could you find it in you find it in your heart to forgive me. . . Just this once?'