making questionable life choices for longer than I care to admit, she/her, entirely too old (Level 40+), neurospicy *artwork done by commission Pikkufrog on IG*
takemitchy losing a bet with his mizo mid friends and having to show up to the next toman meeting in a tshirt that says “master baiter” on it and they, along with chifuyu (who witnessed the entire situation), have to spend the entire meeting trying to hold it together.
what makes the whole thing even funnier is the fact that mikey is up there trying to talk and be serious and it’s obvious he’s trying not to lose it every time he looks at takemitchy. even draken thinks it’s funny which is a feat in itself and it’s not helping that baji keeps snickering and setting everyone else off 😭
My first order from Vgen. 🥺Thank very much to @monochromaticbeans for ordering me to draw Madarame Shion. It was a great new experience. I learned some new techniques that I would like to use in my future drawings. ^^
We Were Fine: A Haitani Brothers Story (Completed!)
Chapter 3
Juvenile detention was loud in a way Roppongi was not.
Voices. Too many of them, overlapping, climbing over each other just to be heard. Arguments bloomed and died on the vine. Laughter spiked, then dissipated. Even the silences felt temporary, like no one trusted them to last.
Ran adjusted faster than Rindou expected. He always did. Within days, people knew his name. Within a week, they knew his temperament, or thought they did. Ran laughed easily, picked fights selectively, made it clear he wasn’t interested in dominance for dominance’s sake. It kept things manageable.
Rindou kept his head down. Not out of fear. Out of irritation.
Everyone here wanted something. Recognition. Control. A story they could tell themselves later. Rindou had never needed an audience, and juvie was nothing but one.
He watched instead. Who talked too much. Who moved when they shouldn’t. Who pretended not to notice him watching.
Madarame Shion. It was impossible not to notice him. He filled space like it was owed to him, his voice booming, his gestures wide, opinions delivered like absolutions. He called Ran by name without asking permission, laughed at his own jokes, and acted like the walls were listening.
Rindou ignored him. At least at first.
“Oi,” Shion said one evening, leaning too close, his breath soaked in contraband alcohol. “You really gonna sit here on your ass by yourself?”
Rindou looked at him flatly. “Well, not anymore, I guess."
Shion grinned, taking that as a win. “Damn right.”
The alcohol made the nights worse, and then, unexpectedly easier. Someone got their hands on more than usual. Cups were passed. Lines blurred. Voices rose, then fell. Posturing turned sloppy. Threats lost their edge.
Rindou drank a bit more than he probably should have. He watched Shion drink enough for three people, growing louder, clumsier, and somehow more sincere with every swallow.
At some point, Shion slumped down beside him, back against the wall, staring at the ceiling like it might answer him.
Rindou didn’t respond. The silence stretched, and it was surprisingly tolerable.
“You don’t like it here,” Shion continued, his tone loose but not entirely stupid. “Too many mouths. Not enough point to it all.”
Rindou glanced at him. Just once. Briefly.
Shion shot a triumphant grin. “Knew it.”
Ran’s laughter carried from across the room, bright and careless. He was in his element— social gravity bending toward him without much effort.
Rindou watched him, then looked back at Shion.
“You talk too much,” Rindou said.
Shion laughed, completely unoffended for once. “And you don’t talk enough. Guess that evens it out.”
Rindou considered that. He didn’t disagree.
Later, when the noise dulled and people started drifting off wherever they could, Shion clapped a heavy arm around Rindou’s shoulders with zero coordination.
“You’re alright,” Shion declared. “Weird. Quiet. Kind of scary. But alright.”
Rindou stiffened on instinct, then relaxed.
“Don’t get used to it,” he said.
Shion laughed again, already half-asleep. Rindou let him lean there anyway.
It wasn’t freedom. It wasn’t Roppongi. But for the first time since arriving, the noise felt manageable.
When Ran caught his eye from across the room, eyebrow raised in question, Rindou only shrugged.
Ran smiled like he understood exactly what that meant.
Shion snorted, shifting where he sat. “You know what’s funny?” he said, staring at nothing in particular. “Half the guys in here get out and go right back to begging somebody else to tell 'em what to do.”
Rindou didn’t look at him.
Shion rolled his head to the side, squinting at Rindou’s profile. “You won’t though.”
The certainty in his voice was sloppy and alcohol-slurred, but not wrong.
“You don’t look like somebody who waits,” Shion added.
The noise bled out around them. Voices. Laughter. Someone shouting in the distance. Rindou let it all slide past him. Because he’d already learned what waiting got you. Nothing.
No one was there when the gates opened. Not even late. Just… absent.
Ran didn’t comment on it. He stretched like this was any other morning, hands laced behind his head, blinking against the daylight.
Rindou stood beside him, hands in his pockets, watching other kids scan the street. Some looked angry. Some relieved. Some crushed by disappointment they’d pretended not to expect.
Their father’s car didn’t pull up. No girlfriend either. New or otherwise.
Ran exhaled slowly through his nose. “Guess we’re walking.”
“Mm.”
And so they walked. No destination agreed on. No discussion about next steps. Just movement— forward, together— like they always did.
The city hadn’t changed while they were gone. Neon still bled into the pavement. People still moved like they had somewhere important to be.
Tenjiku would form soon enough. Orders. Meetings. Hierarchies. None of that mattered yet. What mattered was that Rindou felt crowded inside his own head, like too many voices had taken up residence and refused to leave.
He stopped in front of a shop without realizing he was doing it.
Ran noticed anyway. He always did.
“This it?” Ran asked, peering through the window.
Inside, everything was quiet. Controlled. Clean lines of equipment behind glass. Knobs. Sliders. Interfaces that made sense.
“Yeah,” Rindou said.
The clerk inside looked up when they entered, gave them a once-over, then nodded like he’d already decided they weren’t going to waste his time.
Rindou didn’t browse aimlessly. He went straight to what he needed. Basic. Functional. Enough to start.
“You DJ?” the clerk asked.
“Learning,” Rindou replied.
Ran leaned on the counter, watching with interest. “He hates noise.”
Rindou shot him a pointed look.
Ran grinned. “Uncontrolled noise.”
The clerk smiled faintly, like that distinction mattered. “Fair enough.”
They didn’t talk much after that. Rindou listened. Asked specific questions. When he handed over the cash, it felt different than paying for anything else he ever had.
Not protection. Not silence. Not obligation.
This was his.
Outside, Ran helped him adjust the box under his arm. “You bored already?” he asked lightly.
Rindou shook his head. “I want something that listens.”
Ran laughed, delighted, and clapped him on the shoulder. “Figures.”
They started walking again, the city noise rising to meet them. But this time, Rindou felt like he’d found a way to cut through it.
Behind them, the shop lights flicked off one by one. Ahead of them, the night waited.
The club didn’t advertise its back entrance.
No sign. No light. Just a metal door tucked between dumpsters, scuffed with shoe marks and cigarette burns. The bass thumped through it with a muted pulse that felt more promising than the noise on the street.
Ran knocked twice. The door cracked open. A man Rindou didn’t recognize looked them over, lingered on Ran’s face, then to Rindou.
“You’re young,” the man said.
Ran smiled. “We’re quiet.”
The man considered that for a moment, then opened the door wider. “Don’t be stupid.”
Ran’s smile widened. “Never.”
They slipped inside before the door shut again. The back hallway smelled like cleaner and disinfectant, the floors sticking to Rindou’s shoes. Staff moved around them without comment, like the brothers were furniture that had always been there.
Rindou clocked it immediately. No questions. No IDs. No rules worth explaining. This wasn’t permission. It was recognition.
The booth was elevated just enough to feel separate. The DJ already there glanced at Rindou, skeptical, until Ran leaned in and said something too quiet to hear.
The skepticism vanished.
“Ten minutes,” the DJ said, already unplugging cables. “Don’t wreck my levels.”
Rindou slid into place without ceremony. Hands on equipment. Familiar resistance. Predictable response.
The noise shifted as he adjusted the first transition. Clean, controlled, and intentional. The crowd moved. Bodies adjusted instinctively, like they’d been waiting for the rhythm to make up its mind.
Behind him, Ran leaned against the booth railing, watching the room with open interest. People noticed him. They always did. A few glanced up at Rindou, curious, then looked away again, content to let the music speak for itself.
This was better. No arguments. No posturing. No hierarchy. No one talking over anyone else.
Rindou let the set build slowly, methodically, choosing transitions that closed doors instead of opening them. When someone tried to request a song, Ran waved them off with an easy grin.
“Trust him,” Ran said. “He knows where this is going.”
Rindou didn’t look up. But he adjusted the next track just slightly anyway.
Later, outside again, the bass fading behind them, Ran stretched his arms over his head, smiling like a satisfied cat.
“You like it,” Ran said.
“It listens,” Rindou replied.
Ran nodded. “But you’re never quitting gangs, are you?”
Rindou considered that. Tenjiku. S-62. Meetings that went in circles. Voices stacked on top of voices.
“No,” he said. “But I don’t have to give it everything.”
Ran nodded, like that answer made sense. Like it always had.
“That guy inside?” Ran added casually. “He asked if you were mine.”
Rindou paused. “What did you say?”
Ran smiled. “I said you don’t belong to anyone.”
They started walking again, side by side, in no hurry. Behind them, the club swallowed the night whole. Ahead of them, the city waited—impatient, noisy, and demanding.
They didn’t rush anywhere. They never did.
They were let out the same way they’d gone in.
Paperwork. A gate. A stretch of road that didn’t bother pretending to care where they went next.
Someone from Rokuhara was supposed to meet them. He was late. Ran didn’t seem bothered by it. He never was. He leaned against the fence, hands in his pockets, watching the sky lighten at the edges like it was just another night ending.
A staff member lingered nearby, shuffling forms into a folder. He glanced at them once, then twice.
“Your parents know you’re out?” he asked casually. Obligatory.
Ran answered immediately. “Yeah.”
It wasn’t a lie. Not exactly.
The man nodded, satisfied enough, and walked away.
Rindou watched him go. He thought about the living room couch. The board game left unfinished. The way the house had always gone quiet after midnight, like it was holding its breath for people who never came back.
He thought about Roppongi— neon and noise and no one telling them what to do. About the back doors that opened when Ran knocked. About the DJ booth, the way sound obeyed him when nothing else did.
He thought about all the times they’d waited. And all the times they’d stopped.
Ran pushed off the fence. “You hungry?”
“Yeah.”
They started walking. The city was waking up around them, loud and impatient and full of people who expected things.
No one called after them. No one asked them to wait.
Rindou adjusted his grip on the strap over his shoulder and kept moving. They hadn’t been picked up. They hadn’t been checked on. They hadn’t been missed.
Will you work for Bonten? Or does it all end here?
The door opened and every head in the room turned. Except Rindou's.
He didn’t trust himself to until he heard your footsteps. Measured and careful. Not quite steady, but not unsure of yourself either. You walked with a purpose.
You stepped inside, escorted by a Bonten security guard. Your eyes adjusted quickly, taking in the room, the people, the weight of it all. You recognized none of them. Just Rindou and Ran. But you knew exactly what they were. You felt it in your gut.
Power. Danger. Judgment.
Your gaze landed on Rindou. For just a second, everything else disappeared. It was just the two of you for the briefest of moments. You and the blond-haired boy with the glasses.
Then reality snapped back into place.
Sanzu let out a delighted hum. “There she is. The star of the show.”
You didn’t look at him. You straightened your shoulders and faced forward. If this was it— if this was the moment your life split clean in two— you weren’t going to meet it shaking like a goddamn leaf. You'd face it head on.
Mikey watched you in silence, which was worse than anything Sanzu could’ve said in that moment.
“You’re the accountant,” he said at last.
You nodded once. “Yes.”
“You found the leak.”
“Yes," you said simply. No hesitation. No embellishment. Nothing more.
His gaze lingered on you, assessing and weighing. Not just what you’d done, but what you are. Who you are.
Sanzu leaned back in his chair, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “She’s got guts. I like her.”
“Quiet,” Koko muttered, closing his laptop.
Mikey didn’t break eye contact with you. “You understand where you are?”
“Yes.”
“And what happens to people who see too much?”
Your throat tightened, but you didn’t look away. “Yes.”
The entire room seemed to hold its breath, waiting for… something. Anything. Whatever came next.
Then Mikey spoke, his voice calm, almost gentle. "You have two options.”
And there it was.
“You disappear,” Mikey said. “Cleanly.”
Sanzu’s smile sharpened, anticipation practically oozing off him.
“Or,” Mikey continued, “you work for us.”
Silence. It was the kind that closed in on you from all sides. You didn’t answer immediately. You glanced at Rindou.
He looked like he was holding himself together by force alone— his jaw tight, shoulders rigid, eyes locked on you like he was trying to say something without speaking.
I’ve got you.
I’m here.
Choose to live.
Your chest rose and fell slowly. Then, you looked back at Mikey.
“If I join,” you said, choosing your words carefully, “I’m not just a liability anymore.”
Koko’s attention piqued immediately, his eyes remained on you.
Mikey tilted his head. “Go on.”
“I become an asset,” you continued. “Which means I’m protected. Which means what I found matters.” You paused to draw in a breath. “Which means I have value.”
Sanzu leaned back in his chair. His grin was still plastered on his face. “Oh, she’s smart.”
Rindou didn’t move but something in his expression eased, just barely.
Mikey watched you for a long moment. “Value,” he repeated in a quiet tone. Then, almost idly, he said, “And what makes you think you’re worth the risk?”
There was the real question. Not 'do you want to live?' But 'why should we let you?'
Your pulse thundered in your ears, but your mind stayed crystal clear.
“I already proved I can find what your own system missed,” you said. “I can make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Koko leaned forward slightly, his interest undeniable now. If you were sharp enough to find the traitor, you were definitely on his radar now.
Sanzu grinned even wider. “She’s pitching herself. I fucking love this.”
Mikey’s eyes glanced, briefly, to Rindou. Then back to you. “And if I say no?”
Your breath hitched. Saying 'no' was a distinct possibility. You were just some woman who happened to stumble upon a paper trail, and only the Haitanis could vouch for you. What if that wasn't enough?
“Then,” you said quietly, “I hope you at least use the information I gave you before you get rid of me.”
The room went deathly still.
No pleading. No begging. Just a quiet truth.
Sanzu laughed, sharp and absolutely delighted. “Yeah, I really like her.”
Rindou exhaled slowly, like he’d been holding that breath since you walked in.
Mikey was silent. Thinking. Making his decision.
The seconds stretched on.
One.
Two.
Three.
And then—
“Alright.”
Sanzu straightened, his grin turning almost feral. Koko’s gaze sharpened. Rindou didn’t move at all. Neither did Ran.
“You’ll work for Bonten,” Mikey said, as if the decision had been inevitable this entire time.
Relief washed over you, but it didn’t last.
“On one condition.”
There it was again.
Your fingers curled slightly at your sides. “What kind of condition?”
“A test.”
Sanzu let out a quiet laugh. “Knew it.”
Rindou’s voice cut in. “What kind of test?”
Mikey didn’t look at him. “She found the traitor,” he said. “So she’ll help clean it up.”
Your stomach dropped. Your shoulders tensed.
Koko leaned forward in his chair. “You want her involved directly?”
“Yes.”
Sanzu’s grin widened. “Oh, this just got even more interesting.”
Mikey finally stood, his hands sliding into his pockets as he stepped closer to you. His presence was quiet, but suffocating.
“You’ll accompany them,” he said. “You’ll verify the evidence. You’ll confirm the betrayal. And you’ll watch what happens next.”
You swallowed hard. Watch. Not do, just watch.
This is test of composure. Of loyalty. Of whether or not you’d break.
Rindou stepped forward immediately. “That’s not necessary. I can handle—”
“Haitani.”
Mikey said his name softly. It was enough to stop him cold in his tracks.
“If she’s going to be part of Bonten,” Mikey continued, his eyes still on you, “she needs to understand what that means.”
A heavy, final silence fell over the room.
Sanzu tapped his fingers against the table, practically vibrating with anticipation. “I’ll take care of it. Make it memorable.”
“No,” Mikey said.
That one word snapped the air tight again.
Sanzu blinked, then laughed under his breath. “Ah… got it. You want it clean.”
“Efficient.”
Mikey's eyes returned to you. “After today,” he said, “you won’t get to pretend this is just numbers and accounts anymore.”
Your throat felt dry, but you forced yourself to hold his gaze. "I understand.”
“Do you?” Sanzu chimed in, tilting his head. “Because once you see it, there’s no going back to your spreadsheets and tea breaks.”
Rindou shot him a look sharp enough to cut glass. But you didn’t look away.
“I already can’t go back,” you said quietly.
That earned you a flicker of something from Mikey. Not quite approval, not quite interest, but something in between.
“Good,” he said.
He turned, the decision clearly made.
“Haitani,” Mikey added, almost as an afterthought. “She’s your responsibility.”
The weight of that settled instantly. Rindou’s jaw tightened. “Understood.”
Mikey paused at the door, glancing back just once. “If she fails,” he said calmly, “you fail.”
The door slid open. Then shut. Silence once again.
Koko stood, already pulling out his phone. “Location’s being prepped. We move within the hour.”
Ran’s voice came from the side, amused but watchful. “Try not to scare her too much before then.”
Sanzu just laughed. “No promises.”
Rindou stepped closer to you the moment the room began to move again, his voice low and urgent. “Hey.”
You turned to him. His hand hovered for a second before settling lightly at your wrist.
“You don’t have to prove anything to them,” he murmured. “Just stay close to me. Don’t react. No matter what you see.”
Your heart pounded, but you nodded gently. “I trust you.”
That stopped him for half a second. Then his grip tightened, just slightly.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “You shouldn’t. But I’m glad you do.”
The room emptied quickly after that. Chairs scraped across the floor. Phones came out of pockets. Orders were given in low, clipped tones. Whatever came next was already in motion.
You stood where you were. Suspended in between moments that will change your life.
Your ears rang faintly, like your body hadn’t quite caught up to what just happened. Join Bonten. Watch someone die. Prove your worth. All of it had been decided in a handful of sentences.
And you’d agreed.
Your stomach turned. It wasn't regret just yet, it was reality beginning to set in.
“Y/N.”
Rindou’s voice cut through the noise. He was there— close and steady, his presence blocking out the rest of the room.
“Hey,” he said again, a bit softer this time.
“Hey.”
His eyes searched your face, sharp and intent, like he was cataloguing every reaction you didn't think you were showing.
“You don’t have to say anything,” he muttered. “I can already tell you’re thinking too much.”
A weak huff of air escaped you. “Occupational hazard.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Well, this isn’t something you can logic your way through.”
That didn’t help. Your arms folded tightly, fingers gripping your sleeves. “He wants me to watch,” you said quietly. “Not help. Not fix it. Just… watch.”
Rindou’s jaw tightened. “It’s a test.”
“I know.”
“To see if you break.”
You let out a slow breath, exhaling. “I know that too.”
Silence settled between you, heavier now. Around you, Bonten moved like a well-oiled machine. Precise, efficient, and completely unfazed. To them, this was routine. This was their everyday.
To you? You swallowed hard into a dry throat. To you, this was the point of no return.
“I’ve seen bad things before,” you said after a moment. “In reports. Case files. Numbers that didn’t add up because people got hurt.” Your voice dipped quieter. “But it’s different when it’s not on paper.”
Rindou didn’t interrupt. Didn’t sugarcoat it either. “Yeah,” he said. “It is.”
You looked up at him. “And you want me not to react.”
“I want you to survive this,” he corrected.
The knot in your chest tightened. “You say that like those are the same thing.”
“For now?” he said quietly. “They are.”
That landed harder than anything else so far. You glanced down at your hands. They trembled slightly, just barely shaking.
“That guy,” you said. “The one I found. Does he know?”
Rindou shook his head. “No. Not yet.”
“Will he—”
“Yes.”
The answer was immediate and certain. You closed your eyes for half a second, steadying yourself. When you opened them again, Rindou was still watching you, closer now. Like he didn’t trust the distance between you.
“Hey,” he murmured. “Look at me.”
You did.
“If it gets too much,” he said, “you don’t look at him. You look at me. Got it?”
Your breath caught slightly. “That’s your grand advice?” you asked, a faint, strained attempt at humor.
“Yeah,” he said. “Worked for you before.”
A flicker of memory hit. Bright lights, loud music, a crowded school dance floor you didn’t want to be on. You looked miserable the whole time. So did he. That's why you left, why he got you out of there.
Despite everything, the corner of your mouth twitched into the tiniest smile. “Still bossy,” you muttered.
“Still right,” he shot back automatically.
The familiarity of it— the rhythm, the ease —cut through the fear just enough to let you breathe.
Then his expression shifted. “You can still walk away,” he said suddenly.
You blinked. “Rin…”
“I mean it,” he pressed. “I can figure something out. Get you out before this gets any worse.”
You stared at him. At the seriousness in his eyes. At the way he was offering to burn everything down just to give you an exit.
And for a moment—just the tiniest moment—you considered it. Then you shook your head.
“No.”
His brows pulled together. “Y/N—”
“I’m already in this,” you said. “And if I sneak away now, it'll make things worse. For both of us.” Your voice steadied. “At least this way, I know what I’m dealing with.”
Your words sank in and Rindou went still. Then, slowly, he nodded.
“Yeah,” he said under his breath. “Just stay out of trouble, okay?”
His words hit differently this time. Almost pleading.
You met his eyes. “I’ll try,” you said.
His mouth curved faintly into a wry smile. “That’s the best I’m gonna get, huh?”
“Probably.”
Footsteps and voices approached. Movement was picking up again. Time was up.
Rindou straightened, the softness slipping away as he shifted back into something sharper and colder. Bonten’s Rindou.
But his hand brushed yours as he stepped past you. “I’ve got you,” he murmured, just low enough that only you could hear.
Your heartbeat steadied just enough. And then, you followed him out.
The drive felt too short. You weren’t ready when the car slowed. You definitely weren’t ready when it stopped.
Rindou opened the door for you, one hand hovering at your back, just there as a quiet reminder.
Stay close.
You stepped out of the car. The building in front of you was unremarkable. Concrete. Windowless. The kind of place you’d never look at twice. Which meant it was perfect.
Your stomach twisted.
Inside, the air felt cooler and stale. The scent of dust, oil, and rusted metal permeated the space around you.
You walked beside Rindou, hyper-aware of everything—your breathing, the sound of your shoes. You wondered if anyone else could hear your heart pounding.
At the end of the hall sat a door. Voices were behind it. Sanzu was smiling again.
“Moment of truth,” he sing-sang, reaching for the handle.
Rindou’s hand brushed yours once as the door opened.
The man inside looked up. Confusion came first. Then recognition. Then, slowly, fear.
“Wait—what is this?” he asked, pushing back from the table. “I didn’t—”
Koko stepped forward, calm as ever. “Sit.”
The man didn’t. He looked at Sanzu. At Ran. At Rindou. Then his eyes landed on you. And everything changed.
You saw it happen. The flicker of realization. The mental math. The moment he understood exactly who you were and exactly what that meant.
“No,” he said, backing up. “No, no… This is a mistake, I swear, I didn’t—”
Your chest tightened. This wasn’t just numbers. This wasn’t a ledger. This was a person. Breathing. Panicking. Trying to undo something that couldn’t be undone.
You didn’t realize you’d stopped moving until Rindou shifted slightly in front of you, just enough to block part of your view without making it obvious.
Look at me, he’d said.
But you couldn’t. Not yet.
Koko set the laptop down on the table, turning it so the screen faced the man. “Explain this,” he said evenly.
The man’s eyes darted across the data. The color drained from his face.
“I—I can fix it,” he stammered. “It’s not what it looks like—”
“It looks like theft,” Koko replied.
Sanzu laughed softly. “It looks like stupidity.”
The man’s breathing grew ragged. “Please—listen—I was going to put it back. I just needed time—”
Your stomach dropped. That line.
I can fix it. I just need time.
You’d heard that before. In boardrooms. In investigations. In carefully worded emails from people who thought they could outrun consequences.
But here? There was no audit. No second chance.
You forced yourself to breathe. In and out. Don’t react. Don’t break.
The man’s gaze snapped back to you. “You. This is because of you,” he said, his voice cracking. “You did this.”
Your throat tightened. You didn’t answer. You couldn’t.
Sanzu stepped forward, his interest piqued. “Careful,” he said lightly. “Blaming her won’t help you.”
“Please,” the man tried again, desperation bleeding through his every word. “I’ve been loyal. You know that. I’ve done everything asked of me—”
“And still thought you could skim off the top,” Koko said.
Silence.
The man’s shoulders sagged. He knew. He knew there was no way out.
Your fingers curled into your hands, nails pressing red, half-moon shaped marks into your palms. You focused on that. On the small, grounding pain.
Don’t react.
Rindou shifted again, closer this time.
“Y/N.”
You dragged your gaze away from the man and locked onto Rindou instead. His expression was steady and controlled. But his eyes… His eyes were on you. Not the man. Not the situation. You.
And something in your chest steadied.
“Stay with me,” he murmured.
You nodded once.
Behind him, movement. A chair scraping. A step forward. The click of a safety.
The man started talking again—faster now, louder as panic unraveled him. “I can make it right, I swear, just give me—”
The words cut off with a deafening bang.
Sharp. Final.
A heavy and absolute silence followed.
Your breath caught and bile rose in your throat. You didn’t look. You couldn’t. Your focus stayed locked on Rindou—on the rise and fall of his chest, on the way his hand hovered near yours again like he was anchoring you without touching.
The absence of sound and the ringing in your ears was worse than anything else. Because it told you exactly what had happened. Even without seeing it.
Your stomach lurched. You swallowed hard, forcing it down, forcing yourself to stay upright, to stay present, to not break.
Don’t break. Don’t break.
“Good,” Sanzu’s voice cut through the silence, satisfied. “That was quick.”
Quick. Like it was nothing. Like it was routine.
Koko closed the laptop with a soft click. “That resolves the discrepancy.”
Resolves. Like a line item. Your chest tightened painfully.
Rindou stepped closer, fully in front of you now, blocking the rest of the room.
“You good?” he asked quietly.
You nodded. A fraction too fast. But you nodded. Because that was the test. And you weren’t going to fail it.
