he can feel himself slowly approaching normal levels of an unwanted consciousness the longer he keeps his eyes open and his words flowing. at this rate, he fears that by the time he actually gets to lay his head on a pillow again, he won’t be able to fall back asleep — and if that becomes the case, there’s no telling what ace would do to runa. however the view of his balcony from his peripheral vision seems the most tempting. “ no i don’t want to sleep with you. i want to sleep in my bed by myself, just like i was doing before you crashed in here. ” though it’s obvious she has no plans on moving even an inch. so he ignores any further mumbling the girl gives him and instead carries himself over to the side of the bed that she’s facing. “ runa, ” he tries again, pulling the comforter back. he leans forward just enough so that the palms of his hands are resting flat against the mattress beside her. “ i don’t want a bedtime story. i want to go back to sleep. ” his head tips to the side for a moment, taking in how she looks underneath him – just as exhausted and drained as he did it. another hopeless sigh slips from his lips. “ you’re not going to get up from this spot no matter how much i ask, are you ? ” one of his hands comes up to rub listlessly at the corner of his eyes. “ fine, ” he’s defeated, once again giving in. how it came so easily, he’d just blame on his severe lack of sleep the next day. runa was one of the only people he knew who was just as adamant as he was and when it came to facing that dynamic, the boy could already guess the limited variety of outcomes. just give in. “ you stay here then. i’ll go to the other bed, stubborn ass. ”
she can feel the time between blinks growing shorter and shorter , the dreamy allure of unconsciousness just around the corner . runa even attempts to let out a laugh as he responds to her teasing question about them sleeping together , but the soft hmph is muffled by the comforter she’s already buried half her face under , the very comforter that’s pulled away from her just moments later . she can hear him say her name , his tone a lot of things , exhausted definitely being one of them . so she forces her dark eyes open once again , sleepy gaze focusing on his face . she hadn’t realized he’d leaned down so close , a wasted attempt to get her to hear him out no doubt , and she can see he’s realized it too when that defeated sigh passes from between his lips . “ that’s right , ” she answers , the corners of her mouth lifting up just the tiniest bit into what could have been a smile . it’s not amusement this time , but gratitude that prompts the gesture . he’d opened the door . he didn’t have to open the door , but he did , and now he was giving her his bed . it didn’t matter that she’d woken him up , or that she’d spent the night with someone he didn’t like ––––– he wasn’t holding any of it against her . perhaps it’s exhaustion that’s holding him back , or that he’s realized it’s easier to give into her whims than to try and fight them , or maybe he’s planning on smothering her as soon as she drifts off to sleep . whatever it was , he was still acting selflessly in a moment she needed it . it reminds her of liam . the realization is followed by a hollow ache some place deep inside her chest , and maybe that’s why her fingers curl around the fabric of ace’s shirt , momentarily holding him in place . “ wait , ” she says , although she’s unsure what exactly she’s asking him to wait for . all she knows as that she’s grateful , that she’s tired , that it’s warm where she is but it’d be warmer if he stayed . “ can you just — can you just lie down here for a second ? ” the soft lull of her voice is followed by an exhausted sigh of her own , her grip falling away as she drops her hand . “ just until i fall asleep , ” she says , eyes closing again as if to signify just how close she is to doing so . “ then you can go over there . no bedtime story , i pinky swear , ” she promises , holding the finger up as long as she could manage before gravity forces it back down .
“ yes, you did wake me up. ” tired eyes narrow in her direction before he pulls his face away from her touch, disapproval evident in the scrunch of his dark eyebrows. he doesn’t miss the pout that lingers on her lips, the simple gesture vouching for ace’s awareness that this whole thing is just as entertaining for her as it was vexing for him. she didn’t care about inconvenience, she never did. and how it managed to fall on the boy’s behalf when he wanted nothing more than to be left alone half of the time was beyond him. his lips part to say something – to go on about how he’s really not in the mood and for her to save the dramatics for another time, or better yet, someone else – but he’s cut short by the way runa let’s herself in, slipping right past him as if his guardance between the doorway means nothing. and that’s when his head falls back, dark hues closing shut for a moment as he has to mentally ease himself from the annoyance cutting into him. “ we all have our own rooms for a reason, ” he pushes. but the way he closes the door behind him shows that he’s already given up on kicking her out. his attention falls to the bottle of whiskey in her hands, the first time he even notices she had it, but even then he doesn’t budge. " it’s going to take a lot more than alcohol to get you on my good side right now. ” though he will definitely find himself thankful for it later. “ to sleep ? ” he questions, watching as she takes over the spot he wanted so desperately to climb back into. “ runa why did you come all the way to my room to sleep ? what’s wrong with yours ? ” but he doesn’t care for the answer, his inquiry being more of an urge to remind her she had one. the longer he stood there, the more he challenged the growing burn behind his exhausted eyes and as much as he wanted to, ace no longer had the energy to fight her on any of it. " fine, you want to sleep. so do i, so can you just – i don’t know, at least go over there and do it ? ” he gestures toward the second bed in the room, completely made and untouched since he’d arrived. “ i want my bed back. so just go over there so i don’t have to fuckin’ drag you out of it. ”
she’s acutely aware of gravity in that moment , like there was some force at the center of her body dragging her deeper into the mattress , slowly sinking her into it’s depths . it reminds her of all the silly tales about quicksand she’d been fed as a child . they’d never had any relevance then but perhaps those warnings could be applied now . don’t fight it . just stay still . it was easy enough , even with ace’s voice in the background , his string of questions lost as the sound of her own shallow breathing fills her head . she’s tired , and yet there’s another feeling she can’t place , some intrinsic need to be taken care of trying it’s best to resurface after over a decade of careful suppression the way it always did when she wasn’t completely sober . but that’s the sort of thing a girl needs a mother for , not a friend who’s hospitality and patience was hanging by a very thin thread . runa forces her eyes open long enough to look at him as he gestures to the other bed , features twisting to show just how much she hates even the mere idea of having to get back up . “ ––––– you mean you don’t wanna sleep with me ? ouch . ” exhausted as she is she still has time for a joke , a testament to the crutch called humor that’s been keeping her afloat for so many years now . things didn’t have to be serious if they were funny , or at least that’s what she’s tried to make herself believe . “ i can’t move , ” she mumbles , words muted like maybe it’s too much energy to even keep talking , and in a way it was . it takes all the willpower she has for productive movement to kick her boots off one after the other , toes flexing before she curls her legs in like a cat . “ i don’t wanna move , ” she says again , a clarification this time , blinks getting slower as her eyelids seem to triple in weight in the span of a few seconds . “ this bed’s already warm , ” she points out , rolling onto her side to face away from his no doubt disapproving gaze . “ and it smells nice , ” she adds , a sigh pushing past her still painted lips . “ if you get in now i’ll tell you a bedtime story , ” she calls out , arm reaching out behind her to pat the empty space .
it’d been two hours — two hours since he had finally been able to close his eyes and fall into some form of sleep. his days were starting to string together, one after the other until they coalesced into a confounded haze. to say that he treasured the infinitesimal amount of sleep he’d managed to claim for himself was merely an understatement. yet, the sudden sound of eager knocks against his door were pulling him away from all of that. unfortunately for ace, he was a light sleeper, the abrupt noise nearly causing him to jump awake in his sleep rather than ease him out of it. leaden eyes challenged themselves to stay open any longer than three seconds and if it wasn’t for another loud knock echoing through his hotel room, he would have ignored it and went back to sleep. it took him a moment, but eventually he pulled himself out of the tempting warmth of his bed and was up on his feet. if he was coherent enough, he could have guessed exactly who it was standing behind that door — the girl responsible being known to cause such an unwanted disruption to his valued sleep, but he was caught by a growing grogginess. it took him six or seven blinks for his eyes to focus on the figure through the peephole and once the other’s face was made out, ace felt himself fight back the urge to give up and go back to sleep before even opening the door. though he endured and was now met with her in front him, which simply meant there was no going back. “ runa, what the fuck are you doing ? it’s five in the morning, ” he started, knowing well enough that meant nothing to her. he took in her appearance, dark hair misplaced and cheeks tinted with a shade of iniquity. “ i don’t want to do it. whatever you’re here to get me to do, i just want to go back to fucking sleep, so can we do this tomorrow ? ”
it must be an eternity that’s passing her by with every kick , limbs starting to feel heavier and heavier , like maybe she’d ran a marathon somewhere in between all the partying . the bottle in her hand almost manages to slip past her fingers but she strengthens her grip just in time , a string of giggles following the almost accident . “ hellooo do you hea ––––– ” runa’s sentence is interrupted as the door finally swings open , and despite the harsh greeting , she can’t fight the way her expression lights up at the sight of her disgruntled friend . “ mm , did i wake you up ? sleepy head , ” she pouts , her free hand in serious danger of being swatted away as she pats his cheek . runa knew better than to wait for him to invite her in , so she takes advantage of the fact he hasn’t fully tried to block the doorway yet , breezing past him as she grants herself entry into his space . “ look , ” she says as she spins back around to face him , surprisingly coordinated even after everything still swimming through her bloodstream . “ i brought you a present . ” the brunette shows off the bottle with both hands , mimicking a sommelier , the grin stretching her features evidence she finds herself much too amusing . “ believe it or not , ” she starts , dark gaze searching his hotel room for her target , the bottle of whiskey set down on the first solid surface she can find before she continues . and there it is . the bed , deliciously undone , with enough pillows and a plushy enough comforter she knows her tired body will thank her for it . “ i’m here to sleep . ” it’s only with that last announcement that she throws herself onto the now vacant surface , her body weight destroying all previous evidence that ace was just soundly sleeping there only moments ago .
runa doesn’t know what time it is , the only solid thought in her head simply screaming tired , the aftermath of her molly high finally kicking in as she rides the comedown . she’d been out all night , and there’s no doubt in her mind that she looks like an absolute train wreck right now , sweaty from dancing and fucking and everything else she’d gotten herself into the past eight hours , makeup smudged and dark hair matted . still , she’d found herself standing on the other end of a closed door with a stolen bottle of macallan in her hand , the person sleeping on the other side someone who was more than used to seeing her like this . “ ace , ” runa calls out , her free hand balling into a fist before she starts knocking on the door . “ wake up , ” she says , giving the door a few more pointed smacks before she has to flex her fingers . everything seemed twice as more exhausting than usual , something as simple as standing there waiting for him to let her in feeling so unnecessary . what she needed was the comfort of an expensive hotel bed and familiar company . it didn’t cross her mind how annoying she was being , or how thoughtless it may be to simply show up someplace and demand entrance , and as much as runa could blame it on the drug still lingering in her bloodstream , the truth was she almost always did things like this . “ seriously open the door , i won’t stop until you do . ” it’s only when her voice finally reaches a whine that she abandons her earlier technique , kicking the stupid chunk of wood with the tip of her designer boot instead , free to use force thanks to their sturdy platform build .
twenty-three year old runa ito is photographed at john f. kennedy international airport . the young heiress of ito property group is seen wearing an all black ensemble , the only pop of color being the red fenty bag on her shoulder . while heading to her gate she was photographed yelling expletives at nearby paparazzi before promptly flipping them off .
✈️ — ⌜ hirai momo , cis female, she/her⌟ ↝ have you heard ? it seems like the heir of the ITO was very close to liam yu too . they go by RUNA and they were liam's BAD INFLUENCE . their network is of 95M and they’re only TWENTY-THREE … what a burden it must be . i heard they can be very MESMERIZING and DEVOTED . but these last few months , their VOLATILE and SELFISH personality has been showing more . the media is sure having a filled day with them ! i hope this road trip with friends will help them . did you know that POSING ON THE HOOD OF SOMEONE ELSE’S MASERATI , 13 MISSED CALLS FROM HOME , GLITTER RIMMING TIRED EYES AND BROKEN MIRRORS really show their true persona ? maybe liam was the only one who knew that ...
━ ˙ ˖ ☆ quick stats !
full name : haruna ito .
nickname(s) : runa , ru .
age : twenty-three .
zodiac : aquarius sun , aries moon ( click ! )
spoken languages : japanese , korean , mandarin , french & english .
sexuality : bisexual .
alignment : chaotic neutral .
pinterest : ( click ! )
━ ˙ ˖ ☆ backstory ! ( tw : death , parental neglect & drug / alcohol use )
the daughter of the ceo to a real estate & construction conglomerate and his high school sweetheart turned interior designer wife , runa ito was born into money . they lived in tokyo , the same city her grandfather had originally started his company back in the 40′s , and although ito property group had accumulated massive wealth and international business by the time runa was born , her parents wanted to start their family where it all began .
she doesn’t remember much about her early life — a blur of employees and family members alike , their faces often melting into one , as everyone had a hand in raising the young girl . her father was a busy man , after all , the parent who paid the most attention to young runa being her mother . there’s not much runa will remember about her childhood in japan but the lullaby the woman used to sing to her at night is something she’ll carry with her for the rest of her life .
a few months after runa turned nine is when her memories seem to begin , spearheaded by the tragic death of her mother . a heart attack in the middle of the day , sudden and unexpected . it was runa that found her on the floor in the garden , the scent of roses that had blossomed under the woman’s gentle care thick and sweet . she was frozen in place until the paramedics arrived , unmoving even after her father broke down in tears right in front of her , so still that the paramedics were concerned enough they carted her off to the hospital . shock . it was shock , she’d later learn , but runa didn’t think that word was big enough to describe the way it felt like something inside of herself had passed along with her mother .
by the time she’s eleven everything had changed . following the death of his wife , her father had relocated them to new york city , something the media would call a fresh start but runa knew was bigger than that . he was running away from his grief , and although the man would never be the same he still managed to remarry , now heading ito property group in booming downtown manhattan . two years later the couple celebrates the birth of a beautiful baby girl azumi , the only thing runa is grateful for since her old life in tokyo .
adjusting to life in new york wasn’t easy for runa . she had never been a difficult child , but unresolved emotions have her feeling like a time bomb with no control of when or how she’s going to explode . the start of her teenage years are marred by schoolyard fights , stealing from convenience stores , talking back to adults for no good reason . she didn’t mean to get into trouble , she really didn’t , but she had no idea what to do with all the hurt inside her . at home she felt like a stranger — like she was just a guest watching someone’s family from the outside . when her stepmother voiced concerns over runa’s behavior and her possible involvement in azumi’s development runa was branded a bad influence before she was even fifteen years old .
her father hadn’t stuck up for her , the man too busy to notice his daughter’s suffering or perhaps too in denial about his own to even acknowledge the way life was unfolding inside his household . he was distant at best and straight up absent at his worst , leaving runa’s stepmother to raise azumi all on her own . the ito’s might have looked picturesque from the outside , but unbeknownst to the public eye the family was imploding . her father’s second marriage was hanging by a thin thread . he resented his second wife for not living up to a woman who had been dead for over five years now , and in turn the woman resented runa for reminding her of the person she’d never live up to . the only control her stepmother had of her own life was spent making runa out to be a threat to the safety of her actual daughter , not caring or noticing the love and fondness runa and azumi had for each other .
if you hear something enough times , it’s only natural you start to believe it , that you’d accept it as a truth . seventeen years old and runa becomes exactly who she’d been made out to be — bad . in a way it’s almost a comfort . that overwhelming sensation of guilt that used to choke her after every outburst was slowly lifted as she accepted there was no use in fighting to be good if no one believed it . she must have been born this way , every fuck up a marker of her predetermined character . she’d given up control , and as much as runa tried to make herself believe it wasn’t her fault , that she couldn’t change who she was deep down inside , she knew the truth . she was taking the easy way out . better to be hated by the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally than to acknowledge she deserved better . it was easier to be reckless and selfish , every stunt she pulls a welcome distraction from how empty all the collective abandonment in her life had left her .
she surrounds herself with people she decides are reflections of herself . hollow , impulsive people with little regards to consequence . she gets drunk , she gets high , she shoplifts things she could buy without blinking just for that temporary thrill . she says she’ll try anything once , danger be damned , her own life be damned . she shows up to her father’s business events long after he stops inviting her , makes a show for the press when she openly flirts with business in front of their wives , when she downs whiskey sours at the bar snap chatting the whole thing , when she publicly denounces the ito name to anyone who stops and listens . a whole year of paying off cops to keep runa’s records clean ( for the sake of the family business , never for her ) , of opening up about his daughter’s troubled mind ( not for her own betterment but to save stock prices from dropping too low ) , of hiring a revolving door of nannies to keep azumi far out of runa’s orbit . the ito’s wait until she turns eighteen to properly kick runa out , not bothering to threaten cutting her off from her trust fund because they wanted her gone that desperately .
and runa’s happy to go . she’s got access to the penthouse of every building her father owns , bouncing from one place to the next as she inevitably does something to get herself kicked out . property damage , noise complaints , letting just about anyone she meets on a night out practically move in rent free — the list is a long one . it’s then when she meets liam , and he quickly becomes the light at the end of a dark tunnel runa hadn’t even realized she was in , because he’s not like anyone else in her life . he sees her . past all the fuck ups he sees her , sees that she’s more than the unstable party girl the press has made her out to be , that she’s not the villain her family needs her to be in order to feel better about the fact that they’d failed her . he was the first in a long time to recognize any of it and she has no idea what to do about it .
for a little while he makes her a better person , or at least want to try to be one . the light liam radiates towards anyone in his life isn’t lost on her , but very quickly runa realizes just how uncomfortable she is feeling that warmth , the feeling so unfamiliar she’s terrified to bask in it too long . her first instinct is to reject it , to reject him and the friendship he’s offering her , to run as far away as she can from all of it . but she’s selfish , and more than that she’s lonely , devastatingly lonely that the idea of cutting out the one friend she really had was more than she knew she could take . she does the next best thing — she pulls him into her darkness . it wasn’t too hard of a feat to influence someone who was used to having fun , especially when that someone wasn’t one who liked saying the word no whenever someone had a crazy idea . liam already had his feet in the water when it came to being spontaneous . all runa was doing was pulling him towards the deep end more and more everyday .
it’s a manipulative thing to put someone you love in danger , to ask for companionship on a stupid stunt because she knew he’d say yes if she said she needed it , to pretend that maybe just maybe liam was the same as her and she really wasn’t influencing him at all but opening his eyes to bigger and better possibilities . she knew it , every minute of the day she knew it , but it wasn’t enough to ever make her stop . he gave her the acceptance she’d never gotten at home and she gave him excitement but that didn’t make it alright . when she gets the news he’s dead , she’s back in the garden of her childhood home all over again . it doesn’t make any sense at all , and runa refused to let it , picking fights with anyone who dared utter he was in a better place . there was no room in her heart for so many emotions , so she does what she can to drown them out , quiet and out of the public for the first time in years because of how hard she’s self medicating . months go by before her step mother reaches out . azumi has a ballet recital on sunday is all the voicemail says , but those seven words are enough to draw runa out , to get her to come home for the first time since they’d kicked her out .
whatever tiny hope runa had that her family had been concerned with her well-being was shattered when she learns the call had been a trick , a false pretense as requested by her father . he had a proposition for his oldest daughter which was really more of an ultimatum — runa had one year . one year to either get her life together and start working under his iron fist as a director at ito property group or be excluded from his will and properly disowned , never allowed to be more than ten miles from her younger sister as long as she was a minor . it wasn’t long after her father’s proclamation that runa gets the invitation to go on the road trip . she doesn’t think she cares , swears she’s not interested in remembering liam in the company of people who no doubt had less than kind things to say about the girl that was infamous for being the permanent devil on a dead man’s shoulder , but a bottle of the expensive stuff all to herself later that night and she’s saying yes , she’s coming , because despite everything she’s sworn is true about herself and about how she feels she needs this trip more than she’d ever admit .
━ ˙ ˖ ☆ personality + tidbits !
aha ... where oh where to begin JSBDJWDBJW i feel like hot mess it the perfect and easiest way to describe her 💔😔 not to b all she’s complicated but ! she’s complicated !!!
on one hand she’s a lot of fun , and i mean a LOT like in a room full of people it’s easy to feel drawn to her bc she’s got an exciting kind of energy surrounding her . she’s that type of person that you know you’re gonna have fun with no matter what you guys do even if you have no idea what kind of shenanigans to expect because she’s always doing something new and not predictable .
on the other hand ? yea she’s kinda fucking crazy not 2 get all lana del rey but SJDBWJBDJWBJWD runa has a concerning lack of care for her own health and safety so in turn she’s not too concerned abt anyone’s else’s health and safety , either /: she’s just following the traumatized girl handbook doing reckless stuff just to feel something and all that jazz it’s all fun and games until u have a near death experience jumping off a yacht super wasted at a billionaire’s party ... and even then it’s still fun and games if ur runa <3
mommy issues ? yup .. daddy issues ? yup again baby we got two for two 😭 runa’s desire to be nurtured and have someone hold her face and say i care abt u versus her attraction to ppl who literally couldn’t tell u if she’s happy or sad fight to the death !!! yes she wants love and acceptance yes she’s gonna ruin any chance she has at getting that by pushing ppl away or purposely fucking up so they just give up on her the way her dad and stepmom did . literally she’s like i want to be loved no i don’t yes i do . don’t . yea <3333
idk if any of you have ever met an aquarius that literally makes no damn sense and ur just like what universe do u live on bc it’s impossible to try and plan something with them and when they do finally message u back it’s asking u to come out to a club at 2 am when ur already in ur pajamas but that’s runa ... except if u get out of bed and finally show up to the club she’s already gone SJDBWJDBJWD
she’s moody 😔 one minute she can be having the time of her life and she’s being really open and fun and the next she can just totally shut down and get really cold and bitchy or really angry and it’s /: truly not a good time ! she really isn’t a bad person but she DOES make lots of mistakes and if you’ve got a negative opinion about her she’s not going out of her way to change it or prove u wrong , in fact she’s way more likely to prove u right bc that’s the easy way out
super super devoted to people she cares about ! even if she’s not open about the fact that she cares you’ll know bc if u ask her to do something or go someplace she’ll do it no questions asked
does anyone rmr that one tweet where it’s like “ hmu if ur toxic im trying to have a crazy summer “ runa is both the person tweeting and the toxic person they’re looking for . duality <3
flirts as easy as breathing but it legit means ... nothing like she’ll just mindlessly flirt her way through life just bc she can ! uses her pretty privilege for free stuff despite being rich . has never been in a serious or a committed relationship and she’s not abt to start now she’s got mega abandonment issues to work on first </3333 is always down for a good time though runa believes in whore rights 😏😏
dresses like an e girl even though she legit doesn’t know wtf that is ...
can’t stand the sight / smell of roses bc they remind her of her mom ):
likes to make very large donations in her father’s name to really progressive organizations to piss off all the boomer shareholders of his company (:
has never used 🥺 this emoji in an not ironic way her whole life i told u guys she’s CRAZY ...
loves to sweet talk ppl into getting into doing wild stuff if she hits u up with a wyd text IGNORE her unless u wanna end the night with a broken wrist or a matching ass tattoo ...
who was that one twitter girl that stole someone’s hamster at a party i can’t rmr her name but /: that’s runa SJDJWBDWJBDJW
lies abt the randomest things sometimes for literally no reason like someone can be like hi im amy (: and she’ll be like aw that was my grandma’s name like no it wasn’t don’t ask me why she’s like that ...
━ ˙ ˖ ☆ wanted connections ! ( all open to all genders )
okay i was gonna type a bunch of bullets here but this intro is literally already disgustingly long and LATE im . so embarrassed ... i’m seriously down for anything though like platonic romantic wholesome angsty enemies old family friends a i keep calling ur mom a milf and u hate it connection ... whatever it may be i’m open 🥺
truly i hate this life i wrote a novel for NO good reason ... if ur like me & prefer discord for plotting u can add me @ glo lovecore ʕ´• ᴥ•̥`ʔ#8172 and we can plot there 💖 💖 💖 if discord isn’t ur jam though we can plot via tumblr ims im just gonna be harder to reach that way so it might take a little longer 🥺 im sosososo excited to be here & finally write with u all i’m sorry this intro took forever !!!!
i feel like a subway station and what i mean is, i am something liminal. what i mean is, everyone is always leaving. it is always getting dark and everything is always too loud. there is ruin where ruin shouldn’t live. there is the stench of bad decisions in the dirt. what i mean is, i am always halfway to a beautiful place. i have only see heaven from the postcards.
