Love Sickness (BoyxBoy) Sekaiichi Hatsukoi Fanfiction

Chapter 7 "The wind of change and choice"

Chapter 7

"What took you so long?" snapped an irate Takano with a scowl, before burying himself back into paperwork. "So? What did she think?"

Ritsu hesitated before replying.

"The author didn't come. She caught the flu."

"She what?!" Takano's head shot up. "It's not even flu season!"

Ritsu flinched slightly but stood his ground as Takano ranted slightly before settling down.

"Then? What took you so long? You were gone for the better part of an hour."

'He was keeping track?!' thought Ritsu desperately.

"Oh, well, she didn't call until late."

"You waited for her for an hour?!"

"No! Of course not. But I met an author on the way out and…" Ritsu trailed off uncertainly. How was he supposed to explain Jack?

"Who?" frowned Takano. "There shouldn't be any other authors scheduled to come in today. I think."

"It…It wasn't a mangaka. It was just an author that I used to work with…." Mumbled Ritsu, cringing slightly at the glare Takano shot him.

"And you decided to catch up on company time I see." Said Takano dryly.

"I was being polite!"

"You were supposed to be working." Countered Takano flatly. He was about to say something when Hatori gently passed a thick bundle of names.

"Takano-san, I'm sorry to interrupt but I really need you to approve this before I give Kurosawa-sensei the go."

Takano sighed and waved Ritsu off as he grabbed the papers shoved in front of him.

Ritsu took the point and hurried back to his desk.

"Why is he in such a bad mood today?" he muttered to Kisa, who was typing furiously on his computer.

Kisa grimaced. "Awards party."

Ritsu shot Kisa a confused look and was about to ask more, when Takano shot him a dirty look, driving Ritsu to focus on the work in front of him, leaving the question to be forgotten in a dusty corner of his mind.

Jack stepped out of Akihiko's apartment, his sunglasses drawn to shield him from the oncoming sunset. Flipping open his phone, he ran through a list of numbers in his head.

For the first time, he was feeling deeply grateful that his company covered his phone bill.

He had a lot of calls to make.

The day ended with a collective sigh from the tired workers. It was in the middle of the cycle. Not quite the excruciating pace of the end of the cycle, but not exactly the slower paced start either.

"Thank you for your hard work."

"You too."

"See you guys tomorrow."