Out of Nowhere (Rindou x reader)

Chapter 16: What a Perfect Day for Crying

Just as she laid the material under the sewing machine's needle bar, her (e/c) eyes took a glimpse of her bandaged hands, "I wonder if it'll leave a scar..."

— Flashback —

"(L/n)," Rindo called out as said female lifelessly gazed up at him, completely drained from the day. He was surprised to see her back on the ground after pulling her up to her feet, although, the way her body shook in terror was a huge indicator that she was too weak to hold herself up.

His guilt forced him to look away, but his violet eyes caught the sight of blood trickling down her hands causing alarms to ring in his head. Immediately crouching down to her level, he grabbed her hands to inspect them— making sure not to accidentally touch the wounds.

"Your hands..." the younger Haitani plainly said with a blank stare.

"Oh right," (y/n) mumbled and seemed quite shocked herself at the revelation. The adrenaline and overwhelming fear distracted her from her injuries, "Haitani, I-I... I overheard them— the people you're looking for. They were planning to k-kill you and Ran by keeping me hostage."

"(L/n), you're bleeding. You don't have to tell me now—"

"No, I have to," she uttered determinedly whilst an upset scowl formed and angry tears pooled in the corner of her eyes, "You... You would've been dead."

There were a lot of stammers and pauses the more she spoke, but Rindo obliged to her request and stayed quiet. His violet eyes bored into hers whilst he patiently waited for her to continue on her own accord.

"It was Shibuya Shadow gang that made those claims about you and your brother... and they did it all while being fucking cowards," the (y/h) girl grimaced in resentment as a soft smile unknowingly formed on the boy's lips. He didn't expect her to be angry for him, "You never found them because they stayed at the school's rooftop when everyone else left. Even later than when I would leave club."

Rindo merely nodded his head, signaling for her to carry on without him verbally interrupting. Although, he moved himself to sit beside her instead of in front of her.

"Their captain, Niki, has a younger sister who recently joined the home ec club to spy on me," she frowned before a realization struck her, "Wait, where are they?! Are they here?!"

"The only people that Ran and I dealt with are the three guys from Red Bullet."

"No, no, we got it wrong," she cried in frustration, "They were in Shibuya Shadow all along, those three were acting as messengers to the captains. I'm sorry, Haitani, the main perpetrators are still after you. I wasn't able to stop them..."

At that, Rindo tilted his head in bewilderment. It was one thing for (y/n) to apologize— which was weird in its own right— but it was another for her to apologize for something out of her control and far off the deal they made. As far he was concerned, whatever happens to him is his own responsibility.

"(L/n) why are you apologizing for that?" The blonde male inquired in a strict, yet genuinely curious, manner whilst the (h/c)-nette stiffened at her own statement, "As long as the deal is still up, I'm not allowing anyone to hurt you— not the other way around. You don't have to concern yourself with me."