despair | h. rindo

XX

Tw: Mentions of blood, violence.

An abandoned building was not the best part to meditate for a new article. In fact, it was the worst. But what can you do when you've been taken against your will?

"Do you understand why you're here?" A boy with strange tattoos almost all over his body asked, gliding the tip of his knife across your jaw with an ugly grin. "You're awfully close with Rindou. And to be honest, he gets on our nerves." He fake whines, earning a cheer from the group behind him. 50? 60 men? That's just inside the base.

How did you even get to this? You were just peacefully eating your cake while thinking of a few articles for the paper.

Personally, I think you should stay away from cakes. Maybe you should act dumb. They'll probably let you go.

"Who's Rindou?" Not what I meant, but let's go with that.

"Don't act dumb, kid!" Or maybe don't go with that.

The man scowled, flicking the sharp side of the blade to your cheek. A small cut appeared just under your eye. Maybe a few inches from it. Blood started to drip from the cut down your face, cascading down like a tear, staining your clothing.

Now, it didn't hurt that much, you didn't have a reason to flinch. But.. You were wearing Nahoya's jacket. He probably won't forgive you for staining it. Damn, even in danger, you're thinking about a jacket more than your own life.

"That's just a pinch of it, don't overreact." He coaxed, leaning closer. Boy, did his breath stink. Do gang members never brush their teeth? Surely they'd have at least 2 minutes to spare and brush those concrete chompers at least twice a day before they went out and beat the shit out of others.

If looking at him as if you didn't care would get you in trouble, the best you could do was at least act as if you were scared. "Please, sir! Let me go!" You cried, forcing your eyes to tear up. It worked. All you had to do was pretend all your articles were deleted. "I– I'm sorry, I really don't know–" You sob. "Don't know who this hic Ri– Rindou is."

Fat globs of tears fell from your eyes, sliding down to your face, staining your cheeks. Some of the tears fell to your cut which stung, but who cares about that now? "ShUT UP!" He yelled, yanking your hair to make you face him only to slap you harshly. The room fell into silence, but you had to keep up the act. Sobbing and sucking your breath through your teeth.

"What did I say?!" He yelled once more, swinging his fists around your body, earning you a few bruises here and there. Okay, now the tears were real. You fell silent, biting your bottom lip to stop the noises. God, that was a bad idea.

He laughed vigorously, his men watching intently. The giant metal door pushed open as a body dropped unconscious by the entrance. A loud thud and groan from a member caught everyone's attention. He grunted louder as a foot had put its full weight onto his back. "Found you." A familiar blond stated through gritted teeth, his head slightly lowered as he looked at them through the glare of his glasses and his own fiery gaze.

"Well, well, if it ain't the Shitani bros." The man chuckled, tossing the knife away and snapped his fingers. A few of his men started carrying you and the chair you were bound to away from the fight. Man, how many times were you going to be carried around for a day?

One of the men pushed you to take a space inside of the car they took. The road you took was deserted, a miracle. No one to follow. At least that's what all of you thought. Engines of motorcycles followed the car as the getaway car stepped on the gas pedal. You took a small peak at the rear view mirror as the men pulled out their guns and aimed at whoever was tailing them.

Fluffs of blue and peach peaked from the helmets of the drivers as they maneuvered their way around the bullets.

The twins!

Nahoya leaned downwards, the side of his motorcycle almost hitting the ground as he leaned to reach one glass bottle, tossing it as far as he could ahead of the car watching it shatter. Souya turned left into one of the alleys. He must've taken a shortcut.

Why were they chasing the car? Did they know you were in it? How would they? It's not like you have a tracker attached to your shirt. It's 2004.

The car swerved roughly, making you lean to your side to hit the window. The tires had been punctured by the shards, popping all four successfully. The men stepped outside the vehicle, despite their own bruises and cuts from the accident, they decided to face their foes head on.

Smiley and Angry had finally arrived at where the crashed car was, clearly upset their cousin had been taken away. Six men, all bruised and bloody, surround the car, surprisingly still filled with the determination to defeat them; Unknowing of the infamous twins' status in the world such as this, you gotta give it to them for being brave enough. Or stupid.

Your eyes felt heavy. You were never really one for fighting. That was your cousins' thing! No. You were weak. You were a dork who wrote cheesy romance articles because of how jealous you are about others' relationships! So, why was it that you'd have to be dragged roughly along the abyss of a hell like this? Simple. Because you finally understood what it'd be like to be accompanied by Rindou Haitani.

You didn't really know how much time had passed since the car crashed but someone had finally pulled your limp body out of that stupid car. 'Whoever is up there, Please... I'm begging you, just let this be one of my cousins.' You whined softly as you curled your body, leaning your weight unto whoever had carried you, fully expecting it to be one of the twins. You were trembling. Never in your 15 years have you ever had to deal with a nuisance like this. The twins were always there to protect you, even in the slightest inconvenience. So why now did you have to deal with this? Why all of a sudden?

Without warning, your body had given up on you. You were breathing, that's for sure. Shallower that usual. It was scaring the twins as they wiped away the blood from their own hands, rushing to the man who had you in his arms.

For the first time, they saw a vulnerable side to Rindou. The Rindou Haitani. With a vulnerable look in his eyes, cradling your curled up position in his arms as he watched you breathe slowly. No, no. This wasn't the Rindou Haitani they knew. They eyed each other, mentally arguing whether to take you away from his arms or to observe further.

"I'm sorry."

Silence filled the abandoned alley as the older male muttered those words. A Haitani just apologized... That's two words you could never hear together in one sentence. Unless it was 'A Haitani threatening someone to apologize.' Rindou Haitani was known for his pride! Why was he carrying your limped, fetus positioned body, with a defeated look AND apologizing? All at the same time?!

"This shouldn't have happened– They wouldn't be in danger if it weren't for me..." Rindou continued, his gaze on the other hand stayed on your beaten figure, eyes full of regret. As if he personally beat you up. "D– Damn right this shouldn't have happened!" Nahoya spoke up, a bit hesitant at first as he spoke with fake confidence. Souya gripped on his brother's jacket, signaling the older twin not to aggravate the Blond. But they both knew he wasn't going to do anything that would harm you more in this moment.

Rindou slightly gripped on your body, the guilt in his head slowly eating his consciousness.