"Well... as long as Rindo's happy."
—~—
Third Person POV
It was incredibly awkward— even more so than when he brought her over to his apartment. She could practically feel the annoyance radiating off him as curses left his mouth the moment he walked out the door. Knowing him, he probably thought his job was done and wanted to rest the night.
No longer being able to handle the tension, (y/n) walked beside him instead of behind. Rindo simply glanced at her before coming to the realization that she wanted to spark a conversation. He sighed, however, didn't want to start talking first.
"So why did you agree back there?" She asked, "I know it's obvious, but it's clear that you don't want to be here."
"I don't say 'no' to Shion," he merely replied before looking up at the night sky, "I probably would've agreed to any of them with a bit of arguing, but I have respect for Shion the same way I do for Ran. I usually follow what they say without even thinking about it."
"But I don't think they'd mind if you voiced your opinion every once in awhile," the (e/c)-eyed girl followed his lead and counted the stars above her, "It looks like you guys have a close relationship."
"We do. We talk a lot about how we could rule the world with just the six of us," Rindo said with a small smile and (y/n) pretended not to notice. It seemed as though that he's spilling more information than he probably intended so she wanted to respect that, "He comes to me to talk about his problems and I listen. I guess it's because he trusts me so much that I only really listen to him."
"Hm... that sounds nice..." she hummed in agreement. She wished she had that platonic relationship with someone but couldn't get so far as acquaintances.
"Not gonna lie, I also brought you to meet my friends after seeing your contact list on your phone," the tall male snickered and the girl felt a piercing stab through her heart— it looked very comedic, if anything, "I thought I imagined seeing only three contacts. You're the one without any friends, aren't you?"
At that point, (y/n) halted and could very well have fallen to her knees at how pathetic it sounded. Rindo turned to look at her while hiding the emerging chuckle at her defeated state. Her eyes became playfully downturned and she may as well have started bawling.
"Well, I'm sorry that somebody ruined any potential friendships at a new school," the (h/c)-haired female whined as the blonde had to avert his gaze so he wouldn't end up laughing in her face, "Not everyone wanted to be friends with someone on a hit list. You ruined that for me, Haitani, and that's another thing that I would forever hate about you."
"You're taking this much better than I thought you would have, to be honest," he grinned despite her words.
"Huahh, I couldn't even be mad. Part of it is my fault for not putting in the effort to actually make and maintain friendships," she sighed and started to walk again, "Since I'm a first year in high school now, I thought I should at least try to be sociable unlike middle school."
"But everyone is new in their first year?" Rindo stated but more in a questioning manner. He begun to walk with her and tilted his head in confusion.
"Yeah, but you usually move up to high school in the same area," (y/n) said and let out an inaudible exhale, "You grow up with your classmates for the past ten or so years... How am I supposed to just add myself into that already formed relationship?"
"Aren't you in a club though?" He asked.
"I am but it still only goes as far as being acquaintances," (y/n) half-heartedly lifted one side of her lips, "Again, 'hit list'?"
She said it jokingly but Rindo couldn't help but feel a tad bit guilty— which he's been feeling a lot lately. Ever since she became involved in his personal matters, he tried to distance her from any involvement of his life if he could prevent it.
"Ah—" Rindo quietly sounded. He didn't even know what he wanted to say but it came out as a small stammer like something caught in his throat, "Right..."
Now it was (y/n)'s turn to tilt her head in confusion. Did he actually feel bad about that?
"Anyways..." she let out a nervous laugh to quickly change topic, "How long til we reach the station?"
"Just a couple more minutes," he responded and the (y/h) girl noticed his usual 'don't give a shit' attitude reappear, "If you had taken a right on the bridge, you would've reached it."
"Aw, so we're not passing by the bridge on the way there?" (Y/n) muttered to herself with a small pout since she would've liked to see what the view would look like now that it was night time.
"Why? Do you want to spend more time with me?" Rindo sent a knowing smirk as she narrowed her eyes at him in disgust, "How romantic. Watching the city lights under the stars."
"Yeah, no. I want to save that future date for a potential partner," she scowled at him and lightly smacked his shoulder with hers.
"Do you really have to take away my favorite spot?" He questioned and internally gagged at the idea of seeing a couple on the one area he would go to relax, "You know what, I'm going to crash your first date just to spite you."
"Of course you would..." the young girl sighed before her (e/c) eyes trailed to signs to the train station up ahead.
Finally relieved to be getting away from the awkward tension, (y/n) slightly smiled as the two approached the platform. It was night out and they had just missed the rush hour where everyone started to get back home from work— another nice thing to consider on the ride back. At least, she can have a seat for herself and draw.
On the flip side, Rindo was glad to finally drop her off then go straight home to rest; however, noticed something odd when they stopped on the platform. There were only a few people waiting in line to head north of Roppongi but a certain hooded individual caught his attention.
The younger Haitani didn't know if it was just his delinquent instincts kicking in or maybe it was how sketchy this person stood by a pillar rather than in-line, but he could've sworn that he felt a watchful gaze ever since they entered the station. To confirm his suspicions, violet eyes subtly glanced to the person standing to the right of (y/n) and, unfortunately, could make out a repulsive grin and a pair of eyes carefully examining the (y/h) girl next to him.
Rindo never felt more disgusted. It seemed as though (y/n) never noticed or simply ignored her surroundings— which made it extremely frustrating on his end. He'd like to assume that he's overthinking things and unfairly misjudging this guy, but he can't ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach if something were to happen to her.
The tall blonde unknowingly clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he stared down the individual. Soon after, the train doors opened and the (h/c)-nette was already heading inside.
"Thanks, Haitani, for walking me over here," (y/n) turned back to give a slight wave whilst she entered the cart and took the first seat in front of the window. He quickly noted how she took out her sketchbook and was now distracted.
Meanwhile, Rindo stood still outside the doors— waiting to see if the hooded guy next to him would enter the cart with her. However, when the overhead announcement declared that the train was about to set off and the individual did not move from his spot, he convinced himself that he was overthinking it and waited for the train to start going.
Click
Clack
Click
"The train will depart shortly. Please step away from the train."
'Shit,' the violet-eyed male thought as he rushed towards the doors. Barely managing to step through as there was another call off, Rindo made eye contact with a very perplexed (y/n).
"Haitani?" She called out and lowered her sketchbook on her lap— her face scrunching up in wonderment.
Pausing to catch his breath, he caught sight of the sketchy individual sitting straight across from the (h/c)-haired female when the rest of the train was practically empty.
'Tch, disgusting,' Rindo internally sneered before forcing a grin.
"Sorry, I just wanted to spend more time with you," the violet-eyed male sweetly spoke and took the seat to her right, "Is it so wrong to see my girlfriend?"
(y/n) jumped in bewilderment and warily glanced at him with narrowed eyes. Rindo's attitude did a complete 180 and she was almost convinced that this was an entirely different person... Was this a prank?
"What are you... doing...?" She trailed off and couldn't help but raise a brow at his odd behavior. He suddenly leaned forward as the (e/c)-eyed teen hastily backed up to create distance; however, he gently held the back of her head with his right hand and neared her right ear.
"The guy across from us was watching you," he whispered and she almost didn't hear it due to how quietly he spoke, "Just act like we're dating and pretend to be embarrassed when I pull away."
As Rindo leaned back to his original position, he kept up a charming smirk as (y/n) played her part and covered her flustered face. Peeking between her fingers, she finally took in her surroundings and noticed the strangely concealed person in front of her— a dark hoodie covering their face and a flip phone discreetly opened to their left.
A look of absolute abhorrence formed on her face and (y/n) shifted her gaze towards Rindo, who was already staring at her with the same amount of aversion. He could've beaten the guy to a bloody pulp already, but couldn't risk going to jail again when he still has people after him.
"Here," the blonde handed over his jacket and covered her legs after seeing the school's uniform skirt riding up her thighs, "It's cold in here."
"T-Thanks..." she murmured and carefully adjusted the piece of clothing.
"Anyways, what were you doing?" Rindo asked, casually slung his arm over her shoulders and picked up her sketchbook, "Were you drawing?"
"Yeah."
"Can I see?"
With a slight nod of the head, (y/n) presented her recent drawings as Rindo kept up a natural conversation. Many 'Oh, I like this one's and asking her to explain her art would've been flattering if it weren't for their current situation.
That kept up for a good ten minutes until it was finally (y/n)'s stop. As soon as the door opened, the fake couple headed out and immediately noticed the hooded stranger trailing a good distance away from them. At this point, he wasn't even trying to hide it despite having Rindo next to her.
"God, so he was following you..." the tall delinquent muttered sourly and still kept his arm around the tense (h/c)-nette, "When we round the corner, I'll deal with him—"
"Hey, what do you think you're doing, you fucking creep?!"
Unexpectedly, Rindo was the one taken by surprise at the female's sudden outburst. A distasteful look coated her facial features whilst the knuckles on her hands were painted white by how hard she was clenching them.
"Don't act fucking surprised, I heard your camera shutter," (y/n) venomously lashed out and the guy hastily tried to hide the small device in his pockets, "What? Are you gonna say some bullshit and make me think that I'm the crazy one?! Give me your phone, you dipshit!"
"Dammit—! (L/n)!" The younger Haitani exclaimed and tried to pull her back before she gets hurt. The fleeting touch of her blazer left his fingertips as she rushed by.
She sprinted, catching the individual off guard and panically tried to make a run for it, "You perverted asshole!"
The female successfully managed to tackle the person to the ground and pelted punches to the back of his head. The disguised stranger desperately struggled against her hold but (y/n) reached into his pockets and snatched the phone into her left hand.
"Give that back!" He shouted and violently jerked his body back— throwing (y/n) off balance and reversing their positions. Now, he pinned her to the ground and there was an extra amount of pressure applied to the hand which held his phone.
'Ah—' she thought and bit her lip to distract herself from the growing discomfort, 'It hurts...'
"How dare you lay your hands on her."
She blinked, the pain on her wrists suddenly removed. One moment, this hooded individual was on top of her and the next, he laid groaning in pain at her feet. Hurriedly scooting backwards, her head tilted upwards at an outstretched hand and a pair of violet eyes filled with malice. Rindo quickly pulled the (h/c)-haired girl up to her feet before running his hand over her eyelids, forcing them to close.
"Close your eyes," was all he said.
The warmth of his hand left and she immediately heard the horrors like last time when they were up against Red Bullet. Punches thrown, kicks hammered to the bone, cries of agony— everything. She didn't know what was worse: closing her eyes and imagining what was happening right in front of her or what she would see if they were open.
What felt like hours was only a few minutes when footsteps slowly approached her frozen figure, "(L/n)."
Hesitantly forcing her eyes open, (y/n) faced a stoic, blank-faced Rindo. She didn't know if it was on purpose or not but she also noted how he stood in front of the body, shielding most of her vision from the person on the ground.
"Head straight home. I'll bring this motherfucker to the police," he monotonously uttered, not a hint of emotion could be heard and (y/n) was terrified of his presence, "Call me if anything happens on your way."
With that, Rindo turned around to deal with the guy but the young teen caught his arm. She shivered when piercing violet eyes stared back at her as if he was silently asking what else she needed.
"I..." The girl started and gulped, "I'll join you. If the police sees this, they're gonna turn you in for inflicting harm... I want to vouch for you."
"Just go home, (l/n). I'll figure something out," he muttered and lightly pinched her cheek before turning away.
"... Thanks, though."
(Y/n) held her breath. After all he's done for her when he could've left at the train station... Despite his confidence back at the apartment when he said that she can defend herself, she was also grateful that he was always there when she was in danger. She needed— no, she wanted to return the favor.
"Haitani, I'm coming with you," she stated with absolute conviction, "It's the least I can do when you've done everything you could to help me... I want to protect you too."
His eyes widened during her speech and a glint of confused shock adorned his features. The tall boy opened his mouth to speak before chuckling and sending a small smile.
"Then I'm going to steal your words... 'I'm only going to say this once. Thank you for protecting me'."
—~—
Author's note: Hello?? My favorite chapter that I've written so far? 😲
I still can't get over that Rindo was ranked the best boyfriend amongst Tenjiku boys. I wanted this chapter to dab a little into that. 🤭
Anyways, take care and see you in the next chap :)