Ritsu ONODERA

Why do his hands embrace me so gently?

Today is the one day of the year… that everyone in the editorial department wears a suit.

The only thing I can hear is the rain pounding on the pavement, and my racing heart beat.

The more my father helps me out, the more I realize that I have no ability of my own.

Since then… I’ve started to think… about things with the worst case outcome first. By doing so, even if you did get hurt a little bit, it wouldn’t end up being a lasting wound.

No. This isn’t love. Who could possibly fall in love with such a guy twice?

My heart was beating so fast, that one heart wasn’t enough.

Maybe it would be just like in the mangas. I’d tell him I love him and then we cut to the happy ending.

Loving someone means entrusting all of yourself to that person.

It’s not like I’m pessimistic or anything… I’m just moving forward without looking back.

It seems they have a passion for shoujo manga. Passion? Yeah, passionate indeed.

If it was easy to gain confidence in my situation, I would have done it ages ago.

If I give my best and am told that I’m useless, then that’s my own fault. But being considered useless, without having even tried, is something I can’t allow.

I’ve got to get a best-seller out and shut up those people who keep saying I’m only riding on my father’s success!

I’m going to become the best manga editor anyone’s ever seen! And then you can kiss your job goodbye!

I’d decided to keep everything locked away in my heart. Yet, as soon as he was in front of me, all my feelings poured out of me.

I won’t tell him. I won’t tell him that in my whole life, nobody’s ever made my heart race like this. It hurts too much to say it.

I was desperately trying to contain it, but it was in vain. I love you, I love you, I love you.

I wanted to work with literature. All I want to do is make books that people will want to treasure.

God, my face hurts from forcing smiles all night…

Back then, I looked up all the books he read, and checked them out. There were all sorts of books. Books I liked and books I didn’t care for at all. It made me happy to think we shared the same space… in the world of these books. Even though that’s all it was, that alone made me so happy.

Back then, everything was so pure. And now, ten years later… At age 25, I, Ritsu Onodera, have become a totally jaded adult.

Anyway, we’re both men, so what can you possibly expect out of this?!

And even though it’s a manga, should the main character be allowed to reach happiness so quickly?