I hate how it’s written that Ritsu is just a hard worker with nothing else going for him.
Like he can’t cook or clean because he was raised in a service provided household - ok. But - you’re telling me him being heartbroken has dictated his ENTIRE life?! Like man went abroad (England) and didn’t come back with anything?
This is where we enter my headcanon because the manga gave Takano so many things (handsome, tall, can drive, naturally good at his job, can cook and clean) but only gave Onodera anxiety. Yes, the pressure of being the heir to a company might have put an abundance of pressure on him that he can’t enjoy things or take pride in his work, but what is his form of escape?
I wanted him to have a skill that developed more when he was away from his family.
Ritsu was naturally fascinated with books because surrounded by his dad’s work - fine. What else?
They’re a rich family. What does that scream to me? Piano/music lessons! Something Ritsu was average at but didn’t see passion in as it’s pressured by his mom.
At first I thought something athletic like running or sports and I was like nah. If mans made some sort of healthy life style choice before - he wouldn’t be making such shitty choices now. Also, if he was more into running/any healthy movement - he would have went on a walk during stressful times (the cycle) or been more like “I need to stretch” etc.
Ritsu can’t really do chores so following a trend, he really good in school (except math - it’s ok baby, no one is good at math). What else? I like to think because he was good at school, he’s good at memorization - leading to a natural mastery in English (both the language and the subject).
When he gets shipped off abroad he becomes really enthralled with music - starts off with musicals and operas (West end Theatre too) then it dwindles into popular music. Thanks to this - he really gets into bands and interested in singing, utilizing his knowledge in English. He gets really into to the point it influenced a lot of his styling choices (long hair/piercings).
He tells his mom and dad about it over phone calls but they don’t think it’s a big deal (adding to the the thought process that what he feels doesn’t matter and he just has to do what’s best for taking over the company).
When he moves back, his parents would shame him for wasting his time on that to the point where he doesn’t mention it his passion for music anymore and fixes his appearance to what we know now to fit into Japanese standards again.
Included a sketch of how I think this would have affected Ritsu. Was this an excuse to draw long haired Ritsu? Yes. Did I specifically choose singing as a passion so Ritsu can serenade Takano? Maybe. Also - Nao joined him to some of these performances AS A TRUE FRIEND SHOULD.
