despair | h. rindo

VIII

"I mean, why was he even there in the first place!" You ranted. Walking back and forth as the twins listened to every word. "I was surrounded by people! PEOPLE!" You yelled frustratedly. "Are we not people?" Smiley asked. "You're special people." You turned to him.

Before the older twin could coo in awe, you started ranting about Rindou once again. "He has the audacity! To just- walk INTO my life, make it a living hell, and make ME feel like it's MY fault!" You yelled once again, arms flinging around the air as you continued to walk around the living room.

"Why does he care if I wasn't here for his stupid lunch time! I'm not his servant!" You screamed, kicking the pillow you had thrown to the ground when you arrived home. "Maybe he likes you..." Nahoya teased.

"...What...?" You turned to the twins, making both shudder. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" Nahoya pleaded, raising his hands in surrender. "But don't they say, "the more you hate, the more you love." though?" Souya intervened.

Was it the truth or did he have a death wish? Who knows the intent behind that angry face.

"You think that demon spawn likes me?" The three stayed silent before you and Nahoya burst into a series of laughter. "Sou, sou I was kidding and- AND!" Nahoya inhaled. "You're actually pretty funny Sou." You snickered in between breaths.

Souya only looked at the two of you hollering on the floor with a deadpanned look."Yeah, yeah. Get it out of your system, why don't you?" He suggested but the two of you couldn't even be bothered to listen.

"Screw you guys. I'm out of here." He groaned. "No! No, Souya we're- we're kidding!"

"SOUYAAAAA!" Nahoya yelled. "Souya, come back!" You called. "Souya! I'm going to die!" Nahoya wailed dramatically which only made you laugh even more.

The laughter eventually died down when Souya left the room..

That was a lie, it didn't stop until 20 minutes later. Something is wrong with you and Smiley.

Rindou on the other hand felt like entering a giant furnace and wait until he looked like a burnt cookie.

"Stupid, stupid, STUPID!" He cursed himself, hitting his head with his fist. "Yeah. Blame me for not passing one test because you didn't wake me up in time." Tomiko deadpanned. "Huh?" Rindou looked up to see his cousin.

"What are you doing here?" Rindou asked, rubbing his face. "Your mom wanted me to check on you." She answered plainly, making her way to the couch on one side of his room. "What's up with you? What's gotten you all wrinkly?" She asked. "I did something... despicable today." He groaned. "You ate soap?" She asked.

Rindou looked back to where she was sitting, giving her confused look. "What the fuck?" He shuddered, making the younger girl laugh at his reaction. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. What'd you do?" She asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." He said, deciding to try to forget about what happened. "Aww come on!" Tomiko whined. "I told you! It's unspeakable!" He nagged. "No. You said it was despicable." Tomiko corrected, which only made the boy glare at her.

Tomiko went silent and the room felt like you could hear a pin drop from one side of the room to the other. "Well, I was only told to check on you." Tomiko sighed, standing up and made her to the door. "Byee!" She waved.

"No! Wait..." Rindou called, not wanting to just keep his secret anymore. Tomiko hummed as she turned back to him. "I... I'll tell you." He agreed reluctantly. He would've expected her to be all giddy and bounce around but she was pretty calm.

Rindou didn't know how to start. He did't even know how to explain the entire situation. What was he thinking in the first place?

But he tried to start from the beginning. Starting with the cake, then the investment... And the "visit". This was when she started to jump around giddy. "Oh, Rindou! Do you like them?" She asked excitedly.

"What?! No! They stole my cake." He quavered. "Didn't they give it back though?" She recalled tauntingly. "Ah- I- Well... Not the point!" He yelled. "I mean, you instantly went to their school, threatened to fail their evaluation, just because they weren't at work." She recalled. "Don't remind me!" Rindou groaned.

Tomiko, on the other hand, wore a big, excited grin. She couldn't wait to meet this mystery person who made her cousin all flustered and stressed out. It was funny to her. It would be unironic if they actually end up together. It would be cute too.

"Tomi, you have to SWEAR-"

"Fuck."

"No, I meant, promise." Rindou said. "Oh. Yeah, that makes more sense." Tomiko agreed. "Promise you won't tell anyone." Rindou continued. "Not even Ran?" She asked. "Especially him."

Tomiko hesitated, but agreed. "Sure, but bring me next time for their "evaluation"." She snickered. "No." Rindou answered plainly, starting on his work. "Aww man, come on!" She pleaded. "I'll think about it." He sighed. "Yosh!"

She did leave the room afterwards like she intended. And now Rindou was alone once again. At least now, he wasn't feeling as down and embarrassed as before.

But he did still have the sense of urgency to visit you- I mean, the restaurant. But a sense of urgency doesn't usually give you the strength to do something. Not when it's embarrassing. And not if you're petty.

Rindou stood up and left his desk, making his way to his bed. Groaning in exhaustion, as he buried himself into the cushions and pillows. Never in his life was he so embarrassed. You were right. He wasn't supposed to be there. He didn't have the right to be there. But he just felt like he had seen you for the day.

To make you suffer, of course.

But he does feel rather active after an interaction with you. He felt less sucked into work and more motivated.

Not because he likes you though. That's weird... And disgusting...

Denial's probably the word for that.