Out of Nowhere (Rindou x reader)

Chapter 12: Exile

"Then I'm going to steal your words... 'I'm only going to say this once. Thank you for protecting me'."

—~—

Third Person POV

Another month had passed since the train incident. It took quite a bit of convincing on (y/n)'s part, but she successfully managed to convince the police that the notorious gangster was protecting rather than attacking her. Though, can you blame them? The horror on their faces when one of the most wanted gangsters of Roppongi showed up with a badly beaten up man and a petrified high school girl wasn't necessarily an average day on the field.

A week-long house arrest was conducted and (y/n) was glad to have the annoying delinquent off her back for a bit. Although when he returned, he was twice as agitating than he was before the whole incident and she instantly regretted having helped him.

But now, everything was normal... kind of.

"Uh..." the (h/c)-haired female trailed off and carefully observed the moody teenaged boy in her seat. He was looking out the window and muttering something under his breath but she couldn't decipher it, "Woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something, Haitani?"

She slightly nudged his shoulder, signaling him to get off. Over the course of the past couple of weeks, she got into the habit of simply tapping his arm instead of shoving him off her chair. Maybe it was due to the sudden respect for him that was growing over time? She didn't know.

"Huh?" Rindo seemingly snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at the puzzled girl before him, "Oh... something like that."

With that, he crossed his arms over the desk and laid his head in the crook of it. (Y/n), on the other hand, blinked and shook her head to see if she was imagining what was in front of her.

"Haitani, move," she emphasized and added more force the next time she nudged his shoulder. He's really out of it, huh?

An irritated murmur left his lips as he begrudgingly stood up— the chair making a high-pitched 'screech!' sound to accompany it— and moved to the seat closer to the window.

The (y/h) student rose a brow, "Okay, what's your damage?"

"Nothing," the tall male responded flatly and continued to watch the morning sky.

"Um..." (y/n) warily started, "You know, I'm probably the last person you want to talk to but you can tell me what's bothering you. Maybe it'll be better to talk it out."

She didn't know if it was a mistake or not to offer help, but she felt bad seeing this overly confident delinquent look so... overwhelmed. It was unnerving to see— like watching fire. All he needed was something to spark before the blaze brightens and burns everything around him.

Her gut told her to take back what she said and pretend she never said anything at all, but Rindo beat her to it, "I'm gonna stop coming over here. Ran gave up finding the guys that are ruining our reputation."

"Oh?"

"It's been two months since we've been here but we still couldn't find them," the younger Haitani released a heavy exhale and leaned back into the chair, "I thought I was getting somewhere when we found Red Bullet, but now, it's been an entire stalemate for a whole another month. Other gangs have basically dismissed 'Kings of Roppongi' for these 'Shadow Rulers'... Stupid name, if you ask me."

"Does it really matter that much...?" (Y/n) sincerely questioned, more out of curiosity of this hierarchy system, "Can't you guys just rebuild your reputation again?"