RitsuMao

RitsuMao is the slash ship between Ritsu Sakuma and Mao Isara from the Ensemble Stars fandom.

Canon
They're very close childhood friends, and have stayed that way up until their high school years. They live in the same neighborhood, and Mao always has to bring Ritsu to school each day, often go as far to help him change and get ready, too.

Mao is usually the one to carry Ritsu on his back, but in Episode 23 of the Ensemble Stars anime, Ritsu carries Mao on his back, claiming that Mao is "relaxed when he is busy," so he forced him to sleep.

Main Story
At the beginning of their high school years, Ritsu and Mao are shown to have a complicated relationship. Even though one of the reasons Mao applied to Yumenosaki in the first place was to hopefully be able to spend more time with Ritsu, Mao's eager-to-please nature led him to quickly be pulled into helping out with the Student Council, and all the newfound responsibility made dealing with Ritsu's clinginess even more stressful, so Mao told Ritsu to leave him alone, despite Ritsu demanding Mao that they go home together.

During the next year, Ritsu's possessiveness over their friendship leads Ritsu to lash out at Mao during Band Ensemble when Mao can't remember specific parts of their childhood together. This ends up being their biggest fight, with Ritsu being angry and upset that Mao seems to care more about his other friends in Trickstar than him, and Mao being completely confused by Ritsu's behavior, because from his perspective, Ritsu got angry out of nowhere.

Eventually, they have a heart-to-heart and make up. Ritsu acknowledges that he still loves Mao, even when Mao can be oblivious sometimes, and Mao tells him that he may not always remember every little detail of their shared childhood, but Ritsu would always be important to him.

Band Ensemble
In the prologue of the story Band Ensemble, it says that they both met in Elementary School. Mao was told to pick Ritsu up to go to school because Ritsu didn't attend for a while, and Mao kept doing it even years after.

Quotes
"Hmph, I don't give a damn about what happens to Trickstar. Think about me instead, look only at me, and love only me! Swear your eternal love to me!"

- Ritsu

"Ufufu. Ma~kun, you’re ticklish, huh…? Kiss, kiss ♪"

- Ritsu

"Even if you get exhausted by pushing yourself too hard, and get covered in wounds and start bleeding… Even if you’re used and crushed and thrown away like garbage, I love every bit of blood or tears that Ma~kun sheds without wasting a single drop."

- Ritsu

"Ma~kun waved a hand at me! Cuuute ♪"

- Ritsu

"(Well, I don’t really know what’s happening, but do your best… Ritchan ♪)"

- Mao

"I should’ve been given something more like a prince or princess role, where I get to live happily ever after with Ma~kun."

- Ritsu

Fanon
On AO3, RitsuMao has gained over 750 fanfics. It is the most written ship for both Mao and Ritsu.

Fandom

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Trivia

 * Despite being in the same grade, Ritsu is over a year older, as he got held back in his first year at Yumenosaki for his poor attendance record. This makes Mao the youngest boy in their grade and Ritsu the oldest.
 * Mao has a fear of sharp objects because Ritsu bit him when they were younger, which makes Ritsu happy, as he thinks of this as having let his mark on Mao.