"Don't worry. I won't let anyone hurt you anymore."
—~—
Third Person POV
"Um... huh? Sorry?"
The once ignored (h/c)-haired student uttered in complete perplexity at her new predicament. Where everyone used to avoid her at all costs for picking a fight with Roppongi's infamous siblings, suddenly switched knowing that one of them is nicer than they thought. After all, who would date their enemy? Or it might just be that they're trying to suck up to the poor girl to guarantee safety through association.
But this particular situation was partly somebody else's fault. Since (y/n) spends most of her time in her club room and she became extremely efficient due to her work ethic, she was able to complete her share of baseball uniforms a lot quicker than the other members. She worked on Taichi's uniform and gave it to him the day before, only for him to showcase it to everyone as a form of gratitude and to keep his word to promote the sewing club.
"Can you fix up my uniform for me, please," one classmate practically begged as they held their hands together, "Our marching band competition is coming up and the buttons and tassels are coming loose."
"(L/n)-san! I have a favor to ask," another interjected with a pleading look, "It's my friend's birthday next week and I was wondering if you can design a custom jacket."
"Hey, Taichi showed me his baseball jersey and I wanted to know if you are able to recolor my basketball one," another said with a sheepish expression, "The color is fading quite a bit."
"Back off! I asked first. Mine's more urgent."
"Hah?? I'll pay!"
"Me too!"
Poor girl didn't get to eat a bite out of her lunch yet— chopsticks held mid-air as she was just about to pick up a dumpling. To think, she was worried that she wouldn't be able to have normal conversations with her classmates, all for that to be proven wrong by making one baseball jersey.
"Uh... I don't know. I don't take personal requests," (y/n) sheepishly responded.
'I just want to eat, man,' she cried, 'Damn, I should've went to the club room for lunch.'
"I'll pay you!" They all shouted in unison, causing her to sweat-drop even further.
The (y/h) teen was about to reject their offers, but the thought of gaining money crossed her mind. She knew they were just using her for their own benefit rather than making acquaintances, but at least her effort will be paid for. All she has left to do is fulfill the drama club's costumes for the school festival's play and she'll have the free time to work on her own projects once more.
"Hmm, fixing up loose buttons and re-dyeing clothes are simple fixes... And I have extra thrifted jackets in the club room so I might be able to complete all three of your requests by the end of the day," she explained and they eagerly nodded, "That being said, I'll price them accordingly by my effort. Is that still okay?"
The (e/c)-eyed girl hesitantly watched their reactions, especially the person who asked for a custom jacket since that will be the most time-consuming and expensive one. They all seemed to readily agree, however, so (y/n) began to talk about pricing and such— lunch completely forgotten and left to the side.
"(Y/n)," a male voice spoke and anybody in the room froze on the spot. Said female glanced up from her sketchbook in confusion at the familiar voice, "Have you seen Rindo?"
Haitani Ran entered the classroom and everybody bated their breath. Having to deal with one of the brothers and getting used to his presence was enough, but now, they have to encounter the older sibling which was such a wild card on whether or not he'll randomly attack.
"He's not with you?" (Y/n) knitted her brows in bewilderment, growing more concerned by the second, "Rindo left earlier in the morning so I thought he went to find you."
Ran sighed in realization, "I think I know where he is. He's probably sleeping in one of those empty classrooms we would hang out in."
"Eh? Why would he sleep there and not here? Or rather, back in your guys' apartment?"
"Probably not to worry you," the older Haitani merely shrugged and began to walk back the way he came, "Anyways, I'll see you later."
"Wait, Ran, can I have a word with you?" (Y/n) stood up and approached him with a conflicted expression. He stared at her for a brief second before shrugging and heading out the door with her following suit.
Once they left and closed the door, the people in the room released a sigh of relief. Maybe they should be glad that the new girl was apart of their class if it meant keeping the Haitani brothers in check.
As soon as the door closed, (Y/n) went to open her mouth a couple of times, but ended up closing it and exhaling in frustration. She didn't know how to go about what she wanted to say, and especially asking advice from somebody else who may or may not care for her worries. Meanwhile, Ran was slowly getting impatient and becoming more annoyed at his younger brother's relationship.
"Just spit it out. You're worried about Rindo, aren't you?" Ran spoke up and (y/n) winced.
"Was it that obvious...?" She nervously chuckled.
"Why else do you want to talk to me?" Ran leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. He then smirked at her, "Although I'm not surprised, it is Rindo we're talking about. So what is it?"
"Well, when we first got together, you warned me how Rindo is pretty spoiled and gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants," she started, to which he nodded in recollection, "And I noticed it. How he completely disregarded his own health to tell me how he felt. How he revealed to the school that we're together despite my request. And along with that, how he tells everyone to stay away from me at all costs... I admit, some of those could be reasoned out, and yet... it feels like he's running this relationship at his pace. I feel like something's bothering him and I'm getting worried, but I don't know how to approach him."
She glared into nothingness as the taller male exhaled loudly, "He appears to be an open book, but he's pretty closed off, right?"
"Yeah..."
"I'm sure he must've told you by now, but Rindo and I are all we have," Ran stated almost matter-of-factly and she listened intently, "We don't trust very easily. Sure, we have a lot of people to hang out with in a click of a button and we have a couple of good friends as well, but it's easy for us to throw people away when we don't want them anymore. That's how we don't get hurt— if we never let them in our lives in the first place."
(Y/n) looked up at him with a concerned glint of sadness in her (e/c) eyes, "Is he going to do the same to me?"
"Quite the opposite, actually," Ran grinned and she unknowingly sighed in relief, "He cares about you, you know that? You're the first person to so freely enter his life that he's scared...
He's scared to lose you."
The (h/c)-nette pressed her lips together into a thin line and looked away in shame and frustration. God, her emotions were haywire. On one hand, she appreciated how much he cared for her; and on the other, it was getting overbearing how protective and impulsive he could be at times.
"He's been staying up to make sure that the gang's all in check til late night, then he wakes up at ungodly hours in the morning to meet you before school starts," the long-haired boy explained as the guilt was slowly winning over how she currently felt. How both of those instances were measures to keep her safe, "Rindo doesn't want another repeat of what happened with that other gang that almost killed him. I've been trying to tell him to loosen up a bit, but I think he's too afraid that you might die if you aren't with him. At the very least, he wants people to see you as a threat— even if it's purely by association."
"Huahh... what a handful..." she mumbled and pursed her lips, "If only I could prove to him that I can take care of myself, even if I don't have a fighting chance. What do you think I should do?"
"I don't know, I'm not your boyfriend," Ran shrugged and straightened himself up off the wall, "Anyways, I'm gonna go head over to him. Do you want to come with so you two can talk things out?"
"No, it's fine. I'm busy right now and if he is sleeping, I want him to get rest..." (y/n) murmured softly in regret before sending a grateful smile. She was beginning to feel bad that she was ruining her boyfriend's sleep schedule even before they got together, "Thanks for the talk."
"Yep," was all he said as he walked away and waved his hand dismissively.
'What should I do...?' She thought and slid the door open to her classroom.
Everyone snapped their heads at her, but she paid no mind and walked over to her seat whilst her three peers wondered if they should say something. Soon, however, she snapped out of her thoughts as an idea came about in her mind.
"I think I'll be able to finish all three of your requests an hour or two after school... Do you think you're able to pick them up and pay me by then?"
|—~•~—|
She would think that being in this type of situation multiple times and being 99.9% certain that she wouldn't get jumped would be comforting... Nope. Never getting used to it.
Here, (y/n) stood outside of Valhalla's hideout— scared shitless about entering gang territory by herself. Like it was for the past few days, (y/n) and Rindo never really got the chance to hang out anymore except in the mornings, so he was not there to accompany her after school.
Although Rindo reassured her that she could come and ask for him at any time, (y/n) was absolutely terrified. She didn't know how gangs operated. For all she knew, she could be interrupting an important meeting or such and their unspoken agreement to not hurt her would be broken.
'Dating a gangster is fun, my ass,' she grumbled and hesitantly tried to peer through the open door of the abandoned arcade, 'I swear, those book tropes don't show how horrifying this actually is.'
Taking a deep breath to collect herself, the (y/h) female was about to enter and ask around until two guys sporting white bomber jackets walked out of the building. They eyed her in a weirded-out confusion and talked amongst themselves as she caught the word 'Valhalla' written on their uniforms.
"Excuse me, do you know if Haitani R—"
"Get lost, bitch," A taller, bulky male sneered in disgust and (y/n) promptly shut her mouth. She contemplated running her smart mouth until the teenaged boy next to him spoke up.
"You have no business being here," the shorter, glaring boy commented as if he was taunting her rather than being helpful, "I don't know what reason you need to see the Haitani brothers but we're not helping ya with our death sentences."
"Oh sorry, I'll just find Rindo myself," the (e/c)-eyed female sheepishly stated and bowed before walking around the taller males. Finding her boyfriend seemed harder than it looks.
As she just passed the two dumbstruck males who didn't think she was ballsy enough to simply enter, another gang member walked out lighting a cigarette in his mouth. Staring at the new face, his facial features morphed into realization before hastily bowing 90 degrees to the (h/c)-nette in fear.
"What is it that you need?" He asked and still kept his gaze downward. The sign of respect throwing the other two individuals off guard.
"Oi, what are you? A pansy?" The shorter one with an intimidating glare questioned incredulously, "This bitch is entering Valhalla territory all dilly dally."
"We should teach her a lesson and kick her out," the large, towering teen added as the one who was left bowing immediately narrowed his eyes at them.
"You dumbasses," he said, "Have fun explaining to Haitani Rindo that you didn't let his girlfriend enter."
The two paled considerably. (Y/n) sent an awkward smile.
Granted, despite their harsh words, she oddly didn't feel as if it was entirely their fault for the way they acted. She was still under the assumption that she's not allowed inside.
"I-I'm sorry!" They exclaimed and instantly bowed themselves. Hell, they were considering dropping to their knees and begging for forgiveness as they didn't want to get beaten up by the notorious siblings.
"Uh... don't bow," (y/n) mumbled unsurely but that didn't stop them, "Rise, I guess."
At that command, they rose up and she deadpanned, 'They're like dogs.'
"Anyways, I just want to find Haitani Rindo," she explained, "If he's not here, I'll be on my way."
"No, no! He is here," the taller one said, "We'll lead the way."
The (h/c)-haired girl merely nodded her head and followed behind the three males. She already knew what to expect so she covered her nose and squinted through the thick fog of smoke. The three lead her further into the depths of the room as the sounds of people hyping up a fight became increasingly louder. Luckily, though, they stopped and she peeked around them to see a circle of fearsome individuals who immediately snapped their heads her direction.
She heard the three boys inhale sharply and frightfully bowed at their presence. Oh shit... by the looks of it, it appears they interrupted quite a serious conversation upon these horrifyingly threatening people. She caught sight of a couple unfamiliar faces narrowing their eyes at her, as well as Hanma, Kisaki, Ran, and Rindo noticing her figure.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Rindo asked as his demeanor shifted to one of concern and authority.
He was sitting on an arcade chair, leaning his arms on his knees in a casual manner before straightening up in his seat. He simply nodded his head to the group to continue their conversation and gestured at (y/n) that it was okay for her to come closer.
"I have a new phone," the (y/h) female smiled brightly and brought the brand new device up for him to see.
"Oh nice. When'd you get it?"
"Just now," she replied, "Some people commissioned me earlier today so I used those payments and the rest of my allowance to buy a phone."
"Why didn't you text me instead?" He questioned and tilted his head. He didn't mean to sound rude, but rather curious.
"Sorry, I gave back my mom's phone before I could text you that I was coming over. I wanted to put my number in your phone for emergencies and I felt if I called you, you wouldn't know it's me and just trash the number."
Without another word, Rindo fished his pocket for his phone and handed it to his girlfriend. Said female happily took it and entered in her information.
As (y/n) was in the middle of punching buttons, Rindo spoke up, "No one was harassing you, were they?"
The two males that were escorting her tensed up and their breaths hitched in their throat. Of course, they weren't present the day the Haitani brothers were announced ghost officials so they didn't know that this chick was Rindo's girlfriend, but they knew for a fact that Rindo would not care. They fully expected to be beaten up by him on the spot.
"Nah, nobody were," (y/n) replied and handed his phone back to him and the two released a sigh of relief. To be fair, she thought she was more at fault for intruding on some gang meeting than taking offense to the two guys she met earlier, "Anyways, sorry for interrupting. I'll be heading out now."
"Wait," the blonde stood up from his sitting position, put on his jacket, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "I'll walk you out."
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"No, you're not," he said, "You can always come to me, (y/n). You'll never be in the way of anything, you got that?"
The (h/c)-nette smiled as her body finally relaxed since she entered the building. She felt at ease that her boyfriend was there to at least escort her out of that nightmarish place.
Although, it didn't completely calm her nerves. Every single person in the building glared menacingly at her and she wasn't a fool to not notice. The only reason why they were scared to do anything was her boyfriend that's glaring right back at them.
Rindo was slightly hunched over to match (y/n)'s height as he mainly kept his focus forward. Every once in awhile, his gaze slowly shifted to certain individuals and his sharp, violet eyes bored into them like a threat.
It was, in fact, a threat.
Soon after, the (h/c)-nette could finally see the exit but a group of guys were blocking the way. The pungent smell of cigarettes— and a bit of blood— filled her senses and (y/n) had to cover the lower half of her face so she doesn't end up puking.
"Move," Rindo ordered and the group promptly stepped out of the way and avoided eye contact. What caught (y/n)'s attention was that he didn't even have to yell or speak loudly for these people to follow his every command and act like an obedient puppy.
'Damn, Rindo is that high up among these guys...?' She thought as she observed the scary people around her who now wouldn't even look her in the eye, 'To think, I really had the nerve to challenge him when we first met.'
Casting her gaze downwards to avoid eye contact, they finally made it out of the building and she could breathe normally again. Rindo, on the other hand, was glad that the unexpected visit didn't end up in her in the hospital, and his relieved expression shown quite visibly on his face.
"I'll be heading back inside. Text me when you get home," the violet-eyed boy said, pushed up the hair around her face and kissed her forehead. He half-heartedly lifted one corner of his lips before turning around to go back inside.
"Wait, Rindo," (y/n) announced and held his hand. He twisted back around with a questioning brow, "I'm just a call away, you know that, right?"
Now, he was even more confused, "Yeah?"
"I'll always call you when I'm in trouble, so relax, okay?" She sent one of her sincere smiles to which he was taken aback from.
He could never get used to that. The first time he witnessed her genuine self was back when they made up after their argument, and it was so unnerving to see. But... it was also refreshing. The same way she gets flustered by his actions is how he feels whenever she's being genuine, but he'll never let her know that.
"Get some rest, Rindo," she said, "You don't have to wait for me in the mornings. I've been catching up on all the festival orders so I'll be sleeping in more."
"Okay, who are you and what did you do to my girlfriend?" Rindo playfully snickered and crossed his arms, "The real (y/n) is not this nice. Nor would she sacrifice her own club time for me."
"Huh? Of course I would sacrifice my time in club for you," she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and he became quiet. He didn't think she was serious, "Rindo... you don't have to protect me all the time. We're no longer continuing our deal, after all."
"I'm not doing this because of the deal, I just want to keep you safe," his face scrunched up, almost forming a pout.
"What happened to the Rindo who said 'she can handle it' when Kakucho told you to walk me home that one time," she grinned and he glanced away, "You had faith in me when we were not even acquaintances. What happened? Just because we got together, I'm suddenly being treated like porcelain."
"(Y/n) I care for you," he stressed and stared into her (e/c) eyes with worry, "I... don't want to lose you."
It seems like she broke through to him much quicker than she thought as it looks like it took all of him to be able to admit to something like that. And it was true. This is the first time he fully trusted someone other than his brother.
"Hey, I feel offended that you think I'm going down that easily," (y/n) laughed, "When push comes to shove, I'm not that weak that I'll go down without a fight. You know that more than anyone, Rindo."
"And if you die?" He inquired quite bluntly— no sugar-coating to his words.
"Then that's on me, dumbass," she grinned widely at him, "I'll come back alive to prove a point and spite you."
"You're not helping," Rindo groaned and took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her waist and hugged her. He needed to calm his nerves and she was doing just that.
'She smells like strawberries,' he inwardly chuckled at the thought but the scent was comforting, in a way, 'At this rate, she's conditioning me to like strawberries.'
"Fine, then on a serious note," (y/n) murmured and gently wrapped her arms around his torso, "I'm stronger than you think. Maybe not in a fight, but you know how I am. I have a short temper but I also know when to clear my head and when I do, you're the first person I'll call up."
He only hummed in acknowledgement to which she smiled. God... what was she going to do with such a childish boyfriend?
"I'm not going anywhere, Haitani Rindo."
—~—
Author's note: wow a long chapter 😳 but most of it was plot-building which is not my favorite thing to read 😂
I think I'll be making a TikTok about specific lines of my book so if you have any favorite lines, lmk lol
Anyways take care and see you in the next chapter :)