𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝓇 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒪𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 || 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙯𝙪 | 𝙍𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙪

16 - The Choice Is Yours

Rindou glances at Sanzu who had been out of it ever since they stepped in the club. They were finished with their mission and Mikey had decided to reward the executives with a night out. It was still pretty early but they decided to go in anyway since they prefer drinking before dark.

While drinking together, Rindou notices his brother slipping something in Sanzu's drink. He eyes the substance carefully and recognized it as the drug they've been marketing a week ago. It's supposed to knock out the person who took it in a matter of seconds. A very powerful drug that is often used towards enemies. It's tasteless and odorless so it's hard to detect, making it absolutely lethal.

"Here you go, Sanzu." Ran offers Sanzu the glass of spiked alcohol, a faint smirk on his lips.

Sanzu was busy trying to call you at that time but he couldn't reach you. He took the glass without looking at it and drank it in one go.

Rindou's heart started beating faster at what his brother had done, turning to him and grabbing his forearm discreetly.

"What are you doing, brother?!" He whisper-yells to Ran who shushes him.

"I'm doing this all for you." Ran says before turning to Sanzu who's eyes had already rolled to the back of his head.

Ran calls over a girl and offers her a wad of cash to get on top of Sanzu's lap and make out with him. Rindou figures out what his brother was planning on doing so he stops Ran before he could start recording.

"Why are you stopping me?" Ran asks, tilting his head to the side. "Don't you know how much this is going to help you get her?"

"Not this way, brother." Rindou immediately responds. "I want to have her without playing dirty tricks."

"I'll still record this, Rindou." Ran says, starting to record at that moment. "Whether or not you tell on me is your choice."

"But—"

"The choice is yours, Rindou."

Sanzu woke up at a hotel. Thankfully, he still had his clothes on and he was alone in bed. He starts to think about what had transpired the night before but he couldn't remember anything after taking the drink Ran gave him.

Thinking that it was just because his stomach was empty, he dismissed any thoughts of suspicion and quickly went home. He knew he had a lot to explain to you and Ichigo so he at the least grabbed some ice cream on the way.

When he got to the doors, he checked himself if he was presentable and if he smelled alright. After that he opens the door and walks in, realizing it's too quiet. He then went to Ichigo's room and found you cuddled up to the little guy.

You flutter your eyes open, heart threatening to drop again at the sight of Sanzu inside Ichigo's room. You glance at Ichigo and decided to get up from bed, not wanting Sanzu to disturb the child.

"I'm so—"

"Go take a shower, you smell disgusting." You blurt out when he tried to get closer to you.

Sanzu felt something inside him break at your words. You were lying, of course. He didn't even smell like alcohol but your mouth just opened and you couldn't stop yourself.

"I—okay..." Sanzu breathes out with a nod, placing the tubs of ice cream on Ichigo's bedside table before going to the bathroom.

You ran a hand across your face and sighed, walking to your bedroom after you closed Ichigo's door. After what you saw, you didn't know how you could be able to hold a civilized conversation with Sanzu. You feel like you were going to burst on him anytime.

After a while, you decided to start packing your clothes. You didn't want to pack too much since it's a hassle so you only packed less than half of your belongings before going to Ichigo's room.

While you were packing Ichigo's stuff, you hear footsteps coming and you immediately zipped the bag.

"Princess...?" Sanzu calls you with uncertainty, his sight falling on the bag in front of you. "What are you doing?"

You let out a shaky breath before turning to him with a fake smile. "Thanks for letting us stay here but I think it's time for us to move out."

"No, no, no..." Sanzu walks over to you quickly, taking ahold of your shoulders. "Why are you leaving me? I know I didn't get to come back last night but is that really a good enough reason to leave? I'm really sorry, I honestly am. The guys and I—"

You close your eyes shut, forcing your head to forget the video but you couldn't. "Look, we're not even together. Ichigo will want to see you and I'm not gonna stop you from visiting him so it's not like moving out is such a big deal."

"It is a big deal!" He whisper-yells, dropping to his knees and hugging your legs. "Please, don't leave me. I won't ever drink again."

"You can't stop me from leaving, Sanzu. Get up, you're just making things worse." You sigh and massaged your forehead.

"If I can't stop you from leaving, I'll leave." Sanzu declares reluctantly. "Please, stay here. It's safer for you and Ichigo to stay here than anywhere else. I won't bother you, I promise. I'll text or call you before coming over to see Ichigo. If you tell me I can't, then I won't. Just...stay here, please?"

"I—"

"Mama? Papa? What are you two doing?"

You both turned to Ichigo who had woken up due to all the talking. He rubbed his eyes and sat up properly, wondering why his papa was on his knees in front of his mama.

"Hey, kiddo." Sanzu clears his throat and gets up to go over to Ichigo. "I brought you ice cream like I said I would."

"Were you and mama fighting?" Ichigo asks innocently, his eyes staring up to Sanzu's.

"Of course we weren't! I was just letting your mama know that I love her very, very much." Sanzu replies with a small smile. "Papa's going on a business trip for a while so you must take care of your mama for me, okay? Promise me, little man."

Ichigo giggles and holds up his pinky finger. "I promise to take care of mama while papa is away!"

Sanzu's eyes softens even more, his sadness spreading throughout his body at the thought of being away from him. The two hooked their pinky fingers to seal the promise, making you frown slightly in the background.

This was one of those moments which makes it hard for you you to believe that he would do something to break your trust so easily. He's so sweet and caring, not just to you but to Ichigo as well.

After talking to Ichigo, Sanzu makes his way to you and pulls you into a hug. "I'm really sorry, princess. I hope we can fix this when you're not mad at me anymore."

And with that, Sanzu left.

You had so many questions you wanted to ask him, you wanted to say a lot of things to him. But you couldn't. Not right now, at least.

At the moment, you needed someone who you could talk to without any discouraging words. You needed someone whom you could talk to freely without being judged. You needed a friend.

Later that night, after you tucked Ichigo to bed, you decided to call the person who has always listened to you.

The doorbell rang at exactly eight. You were quick to walk to the doors, opening them and rushing to the person whom you knew would never do anything to upset you.

"Rin, thank you for coming." You mumble, tightening your arms around him.

Rindou felt so guilty but at the same time this was what he wanted—Sanzu being out of the picture for good.