"You're so annoying... I like you too, (l/n) (y/n)."
—~—
Third Person POV
"We'll talk after you're discharged from the hospital."
Was all she said when Rindo woke up. Or at least, that was all Rindo could focus on.
The younger Haitani spent the first two days in the hospital asleep and on the third day, he briefly woke up before heading back to his peaceful slumber. Which, by the way, absolutely terrified (y/n)— and not admittedly, Ran— when the blonde boy wasn't waking up from his anesthetics, but the doctor had to assure them that his body was just recovering from shock. You can imagine how the two screamed when Rindo opened his eyes only to close them again because 'it's too noisy' he said, and didn't wake up after that.
But currently, it was the fifth day in his stay and the doctor explained that he should spend at least a week in the hospital before he can tend to himself. And being the younger-brother-who-got-everything-he-wanted, that he was... Rindo was starting to get impatient that him and (y/n) aren't officially a couple yet. At least, to his standards. He wanted the title— to know where they stood— but all he received was an 'I don't know'.
"Hm? What are you doing here?" Rindo questioned as a certain (h/c)-nette that he was just thinking about entered the room with a plastic bag full of snacks.
(Y/n) chuckled and softly closed the door behind her, "Well damn, nice to know my presence is not wanted."
"No, it's not that," he shook his head and stared at her quizzically, "Isn't it still a weekday? Don't you have club?"
"It's fine. Not like I could do anything," she sent a small smile and raised her right hand— showing bandages and a small wrist guard over it— and he frowned, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm in pain, but that's okay," he shrugged until his violet eyes widened into what looked like an eager puppy waiting for attention. (Y/n) had to press her lips together to refrain from gaping her mouth in shock at a new side of him she'd never seen before. It was rather... cute, "Anyways, about what I said—"
'Ah, that's what he wanted,' she internally sweat-dropped.
(Y/n) slightly rose a hand to stop him before looking away, "If it's about the confession, I don't want to talk about it right now. I'm... still in a bit of shock and all I want to focus on is your well-being."
"But I'm okay—" He said but was cut off by a pair of (e/c) eyes glaring straight at him, "—Er, I will be okay and I'm fully conscious, so let's talk. It's been bothering me how you're avoiding what you told me over the phone the last couple of days...
Am I... misunderstanding everything?"
At that, (y/n) froze and owlishly blinked a couple of times. Although, could you blame him? For all he knew, this was some elaborate prank on (y/n)'s end as revenge for everything he's done to her, and her deliberately ignoring the topic only reinforced that idea. That maybe she's only caring about him now out of sheer guilt.
It's not a completely impossible thought. They really went from going at each other's throats every possible second of the day to... suddenly realizing their feelings?? Hell, he wasn't even sure what he was feeling was anywhere near romantic, but he intends to figure that out now. Even if it is not anything more than platonic, (y/n) deserves to know where his feelings lies for her so there isn't a misunderstanding that would wound up hurting the both of them. He wants a serious conversation— no antics, no insults, no jokes.
"Haitani..." she trailed off with an uncertain, apologetic gaze filling her (e/c) eyes.
"(L/n), I'm serious," Rindo stared back at her in a resolute manner, however, expectantly as well. It frightened her sometimes how serious he gets when he's being genuine. He's patient and calm, yet also determined to get the answers he wants behind those intimidating violet hues.
"I... don't want to talk about it right now, I hope you understand," (y/n) murmured and laid the plastic bag on his bed near his legs. She pressed her lips into a small smile and backed up, "Anyways, I have to pick up my sister from violin practice. I just wanted to check up on you and get you something to snack on cause I think you're getting tired of the hospital food."
"Yeah, it tastes like shit," he commented as his face scrunched up in disgust and stuck out his tongue.
"I would imagine," the (h/c)-haired girl giggled and turned around to open the door, "Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow—"
"Wait, can you at least answer me this," the blonde male piped up whilst she stood still facing the door, "What you said on the phone... was all that true? You weren't joking around, right?"
'Of course it's true...' (y/n) thought but caught herself before she spoke up, '... Why would I joke about that?'
"We'll talk after you're discharged from the hospital..." she murmured and gently laid her hand on the door handle, "Haitani, my feelings for you won't change. I hope that comforts you even if it's just a little bit, so please... rest."
And with that, the (y/h) teen exited the room.
She knew if she talked about it now, her responses would be too emotional and she might ignore her true feelings in order to protect herself. She might spew out some nonsense like 'haha I was kidding,' to ruin a relationship before it even started.
Because (y/n) knew... being in a relationship with Rindo will be the hardest thing she'd ever experience and that incident with Shibuya Shadow proved so. How on that day, the both of them were willing to risk their life for the other without a second thought, and she didn't want him to die for her sake. She thought that it may be easier for him to forget her existence entirely... but she also didn't want that. How ironic.
It was selfish— she knew that— but she wanted to try this relationship, nevertheless.
Meanwhile, Rindo sullenly watched the door (y/n) left at before sighing in disappointment and leaning back on the bed's head rest. His mind made patterns on the textured ceiling above him as he replayed her words. He felt comforted, yes, but not exactly what he wanted to get out of that conversation.
Suddenly, the door slightly cracked open again with a small 'creak!', and Rindo snapped his head around before emitting a frown.
"Why are you looking at me like that? What did I do?" Ran asked in an offended manner and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, "Might I remind you, your girlfriend and I saved your dying ass before you would've been off'ed from this Earth."
"Sorry, I just had a lot on my mind," Rindo mumbled, crossed his arms, and looked out the window to his right.
"Oh, speaking of which, I passed her on my way here but she walked right passed me," the older Haitani said and took a seat in one of the guest chairs, "Did you two have a fight already? It's been what— a couple of days since you two became a thing? Maybe even less?"
"Jokes on you, we're not even a couple," the younger boy scoffed and Ran rose a brow in interest.
"Don't tell me you scared her away, you fucking idiot."
"I just wanted to have a serious conversation but she's ignoring it entirely," Rindo released a frustrated exhale and scratched the back of his neck, "I think she doesn't actually have feelings for me and I've been misunderstanding the situation, but I want to know for sure."
Ran deadpanned and it's taking all of his being not to smack his brother over the head. He truly was the embodiment of the stereotype of a younger sibling. One thing he learned about Rindo as they were growing up was how impatient he gets at times. Not only does he get upset when things don't go his way, he becomes incredibly impatient when he doesn't get what he wants and to satisfy his own needs over others.
"Then what do you want to do about it?"
|—~•~—|
"Uh..." (y/n) widened her eyes and stared in horror at what awaited her at her doorstep, "What are you guys doing here...?!"
"Sorry but can you talk this out," Ran spoke with an irk mark on his forehead as he carried his drugged up brother by the arm, "This dumbass is so stubborn... He really wants to talk to you and he won't take 'no' for an answer."
"Hey (l/n)," Rindo greeted slowly as if he was on the verge of falling asleep. Which was true. He was knocked out for a brief second whilst Ran and (y/n) caught him before he could fall as he came in and out of consciousness.
"Are you okay?! Why'd you come over here?" The (h/c)-nette asked and helped him balance into Ran's arms.
"I'm finally discharged from the hospital," he replied with a shit-eating grin, "You said we can talk then."
"We'll talk after you're discharged from the hospital."
Her words flashed in her head and she was about to scold him until the blonde boy fell limp against his older brother. The two caught him once again as (y/n) guided Ran to the couch.
"What happened? Why did he leave the hospital early?" The (y/h) female turned to Ran worriedly and placed a pillow behind Rindo's head.
"Like I said, he just wanted to work some things out. Something about 'she'll talk to me once I'm out of here' or something like that," Ran shrugged during his explanation, "Although, his plan was kind of pointless. The doctor gave him another dose of painkillers so he's kinda high off those."
(Y/n) sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before glancing over at the sleeping male, "You're so selfish... I ask for some time but in the end, you got what you wanted."
"Anyways, I'll be off now so I hope you two figure it out because I don't want him to come home complaining to me," Ran waved 'goodbye' as (y/n) swiftly trailed behind him.
"Hey, wait, are you really just going to leave him here?"
"Until you two figure something out, yes," Ran said, "If you two end up together, I just have to warn you that he's pretty spoiled like this. Getting things his way, one way or another."
"Huahh, what a handful," (y/n) sarcastically commented with a grin.
"That he is," Ran returned the gesture with a smirk, "Call me when you guys are done, Rindo should know my number. Hope things goes well for you two or some shit like that."
"Thanks..." the (e/c)-eyed female murmured and closed the door. Spinning around on her heel, she observed the unconscious boy in an uncertain manner, "What am I going to do with you, Haitani?"
|—~•~—|
Rindo groaned and slowly sat up. Every inch of his body was in pain and his head was pounding. He squinted his eyes to adjust his vision and turned his head to his right to be faced with... a child?
His face scrunched up in puzzlement, "Who the fuck are you?"
The little girl stumbled backwards in surprise accompanied with a small, 'eek!'. She then composed herself and glared right back at him, "Who... the fuck are you?"
Rindo rose an eyebrow as he carefully sat up and rested his forearms on his knees to match her height, "I asked you first, kid."
"I'm Maya (l/n) and you're tres—" she paused and her lips turned downwards when she realized she didn't know the word, "Tres...? Ah! Trespassing! You're trespassing on my home!"
'(L/n)? Am I in (y/n)'s house?' Rindo thought and inspected the place, 'How'd I get here—? Oh right, I convinced Ran to let me out of the hospital.'
"Now state your business, mister!" Maya pouted and angrily put her hands on her waist, "What's your name so I can report you to my sister and she'll deal with you! And trust me, my sister is scary. No one wants to mess with her."
"I believe that," Rindo simply stated. The more he looked at her, the more he realized that this little girl really was just a miniature version of (y/n), "Anyways, where is this scary sister of yours, kid?"
"I'm not a kid! I'm nine!" She huffed, "I'll be a teenager in four years, mind you."
"Uh... huh..." the blonde boy deadpanned, "Whatever you say, oh-young-adolescent."
"I don't know what that means, but that's more like it," she naively nodded with a grin.
"I see you're dumb like your sister too."
"Hey!" Maya shouted in offense until the front door opened revealing the person they were talking about.
"Maya!" (Y/n) exclaimed and hastily neared the two, "I told you to stay at the neighbor's until I was back from shopping."
"But I saw him as we were leaving so I wanted to protect you from the trespasserserser..." Maya's eyebrows knitted together like she was confused as to why her mouth rejected the word, "Trespass... Trespasser!"
"If you knew that, you also knew about stranger danger," (y/n) brought up as the younger girl looked away with a pout, "And he's mostly definitely a stranger and a danger."
The (h/c)-nette jutted her thumb to a deadpanning Rindo. If dealing with one (y/n) wasn't enough...
"Anyways, head to your room. I have something to talk about with said trespasser."
"Will you be okay, nee-san?"
"I'll be fine," (y/n) sent an 'ok' sign as Maya grinned brightly in return, "Now get going."
With a rapid nod of her head, the younger sister headed to her room, but not before narrowing her eyes at Rindo and using the 'I'm watching you' hand gesture. Rindo slightly waved his hand as farewell at her and the older female sighed in exasperation.
"She reminds me of you," Rindo mentioned and leaned his hands behind him on the couch whilst (y/n) took out supplies from the grocery bag.
"Unfortunately, she's getting my mom and I's sharp tongue too which I hope is just a phase..." she muttered under her breath as she grabbed the container of painkillers and a bottle of water, "Here. The last dose probably wore off by now."
Rindo took the items whilst (y/n) avoided eye contact and proceeded to organize what she bought onto the living room table. Even after the violet-eyed boy finished taking the medicine and trying to spark a conversation, she was seemingly distant in her gaze and moved around robotically.
"Ah—!" (y/n) yelped in pain as her injured wrist and the wounds around her hand started to act up again— causing her to drop the roll of gauze to the ground.
Clutching her aching wrist to ease the pain, she was taken aback when Rindo suddenly took her hand in his. Without a single word, he closed his eyes, brought the palm of her hand to his mouth, and placed a soft, lingering kiss on the white bandages.
Her mouth was agape and she froze in shock before Rindo's eyes slowly drawn open. His gaze was half-lidded and his violet hues bored through his lashes.
"Uh..." (y/n) mumbled with wide eyes as Rindo pulled away from her hand. He still held onto it and he seemed to have come out of his daze, but his eyes still bore a longing stare.
"Sorry," he monotonously apologized as if it was half-hearted. He went to release her hand until (y/n) suddenly tightened her grip.
She gave a small smile, "Haitani... you came here to talk about that day, right?"
He didn't answer, but instead blankly stared at her and waited for her to continue.
"I know I've been avoiding it the past couple of days, and to be honest, I'm terrified," (y/n) explained and downturned her gaze to the floor, "I thought I hated you— and I probably did in the beginning— but I slowly came to care for you, ironically as it was. It wasn't one instance where I knew about my feelings, it was gradual... And because of that, I was willing to risk my life for you on that day on the bridge."
There was silence. The (h/c)-nette hesitantly glanced up at him only to feel flustered that he was staring directly at her in such a genuinely patient manner. His face was neutral but his eyes softened the more she spoke. Thus, she continued talking to distract herself.
"But I also found out that you were willing to risk your life for me... and I got scared. It scared me finding you all beat up and bleeding to death. It scared me that you might've died that day. It scared me knowing that this may be more than one instance," she spoke louder and louder the more she went, "But... I'm also selfish. Despite all of that, I can't rid my feelings for you. Even if you had not returned them and continued to hate me or even throw me out altogether, my feelings won't change."
She smiled— a conflicting one, at that. All the pain, anger, and hatred was mixed with the respect, admiration, and gratitude she felt for him.
"So I'm going to finish what I had wanted to say on the bridge," (y/n) stated with determination and forced herself not to look away from his intimidatingly piercing eyes, "I fell in love with you... Please reject me so I can move on with my life."
The corner of Rindo's lips tugged upwards as she peered expectantly up at him. She slightly tensed when he cupped her cheek with his right hand as his left one still gently held her injured hand. Carefully, the violet-eyed male pulled (y/n) towards him as his eyelids fluttered shut once more.
Next thing she knew, he was kissing her.
He was rather calm as his lips lightly pressed against her own— neither one of them wanted to hasten the heartfelt moment. All the pain and trouble they went through didn't need to be conveyed in it, after all, that was the last thing they wanted. So, it was longing, lingering, and infatuating. Everything that was the exact opposite from their relationship when they first met.
"Sorry to disappoint, but I fell in love with you too."
—~—
Author's note: totally based on the TikTok I made lol
By the way, it's @ ryo_sukuna1 on TikTok 😋
Anyways, take care and see you in the next chap :)