Part 3 - Chapter 9

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The next morning, I was exhausted. Mitsuya and I had spent our first night as fiancées making love, wearing nothing but our engagement rings on our fingers. It was an amazing night, although it had been tainted by my thoughts about Rindou for me.

Like I had been instructed, I arrived at 8am at the building I had visited yesterday. Sanzu was the one who opened the door. He led me to the main room on the first floor where he told me I could work on the project. Then he disappeared downstairs, leaving me alone. I heaved a sigh of relief as soon as he was out of sight. 

Man, he was so intimidating...

I was nervously chewing on my pen while I read the notes I had taken on the building. I dreaded to cross path with Rindou after what had happened yesterday.

Sanzu had told me I could 'make myself at home' so I entered the empty kitchen which was open to the living area. I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it from the faucet.

A few minutes later, I looked up from my papers when someone walked through the open door.

Ran. He was only wearing a pair of sweatpants. His eyes were still slightly puffy and his hair still adorably tousled from his night of sleep.

So I was right: he's staying in one of the bedrooms on the first floor. Is Rindou too?

"Good morning." I greeted him, watching him as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. 

He paused on hearing my voice and slowly dropped his hands by his sides as his eyes found me. He didn't answer but, keeping his gaze on me, he strode through the room towards me, suddenly more alert.

"I said good morning." I repeated, instinctively taking a step back when he approached the kitchen without slowing down, making a b-line for me.

He stopped so close to me that I backed away, my back hitting the kitchen counter behind me.

"Ran. What are you-"

His gaze dropped to my left hand. He caught my wrist and raised my hand in front of him, his eyes darkening as they settled on my engagement ring.

"He was right..." He whispered almost in disbelief, slowly looking up at me. "You really got engaged."

"Yes," I straightened up and pulled my hand away, forcing him to let go of my wrist. "I did."

He stared back at me, blinking several times as if he was trying to see if he was still dreaming or if he was really awake and this was really happening. When the realization finally sunk in, his jaw tightened.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me?" I asked, raising my chin a little higher and returning his disapproving gaze.

"Congratulate you?" He scoffed. "No."

I stiffened when he braced his hands against the kitchen counter on either side of me, bringing us nose to nose.

"Mitsuya isn't the man for you and you know it." He stated, his breath fanning my lips.

Frustration wracked through me. After Hina, Ran was only the second person I told about my engagement. I had called my best friend yesterday to tell her the big news, and although she had seemed happy for me, she hadn't sounded as excited as I thought she would.

Maybe she thought it was too soon to get engaged, or maybe a tiny part of her was envious because Mitsuya and I might get married before her and Takemichi. But those options were not nearly as agonizing as the possibility that she just thought Mitsuya and I weren't made for each other.

I placed my hands on Ran's chest to push him away from me. I snatched my purse with my laptop in it and strode to the door as Ran called out behind me "Stop lying to yourself, Y/N!"

I paused in the hallway, looking around while I tried to remember where the bathroom was. That's when a movement in my peripheral vision drew my attention to the top of the stairs that led to the second floor.

A man was up there. From where I was, I could only see his back. White hair, pale skin, a tattoo on the back of his neck... For a second, I thought I'd just seen a ghost, but he seemed real.

He walked down the hallway and disappeared into a room. 

I knew Sanzu had told me I wasn't allowed to go up there but for some illogical reason, I wanted -needed- to get a closer look at that man.

What if it was Izana? They had the same hair.

I placed my foot on the first step of the staircase, but someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I was spun around so fast I had to brace my hands against the person's abdomen to avoid losing my balance.

Sanzu.

"Do I have to keep you on a leash?" He asked, staring down at me, his blue eyes gazing deeply into mine. His lips twisted in a smirk. "Because I'd love to, so don't tempt me."

I ripped myself from his hold and stumbled back. Then I ran down the stairs and out of the building without looking back. 

I ended up settling in a café nearby to start working on the project. At noon, I decided to go buy some food and to go meet Mitsuya at his work studio. Having our first lunch as fiancées was exciting to say the least. Plus, I needed the distraction after my interactions with Ran and Sanzu.

I unlocked the door to Mitsuya's work studio with the spare set of keys he had given me.

"Mitsuya?"

After looking around, I quickly realized that he wasn't there.

Maybe he went out to eat. I should have texted him before coming, I thought.

I decided to drop the food I had bought for him on his desk in case he worked late and didn't come home to have dinner with me. But as I set the takeaway box down on his desk, I accidentally dropped the apple I had been holding in my hand. The fruit rolled under one of the shelves next to Mitsuya's desk. I got on my knees, reached a hand and patted the ground to find my apple, but my fingers touched something else instead. It felt like paper. My brows furrowed. I grabbed it and pulled it from under the shelves.

My heart tripped over itself when I realized what I was holding.

Letters. A big pile of letters.

My letters and Rindou's letters. 

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