Corpse Bride || Haitani Brothers/OC

08 - out of control

Rin lingers before the door, suppressing the urge to come in again and tell her to not hate him. but he remembers her cries and screams for help back then when Sanzu had raped her in Ran's room. what had he done? he recorded a video to taunt Ran.

it was clear he wasn't in the right head space to face Mikey and the rest. but he had to. he had big shoes to fill. he doesn't know how Ran managed to do all that he did for her before, having to juggle tricking Bonten, protecting Hikari, and running Red Flower to the ground.

he clicked his tongue. inferiority didn't suit Rin. he opened the door again to find Hikari looking distraught. she turns to face him.

"I'll protect you," he says. "no matter what."

she looks at him like she didn't hear a word he said.

"Hikari?"

she shakes her head, her eyes dropping to the floor. "you don't have to."

"I want to."

"what changed from back then?" she asks with a smile.

"everything," he shortly says, almost sounding nervous. "it's not the same anymore, I'm not who I was before—at least not to you."

before she could respond, he closes the door, two hearts feeling heavy. Rin walks away regretting his confession. Hikari struggled to ease her heart. it was erratic. Ran. Rin. Ran. Rin.

Rin.

everything changed—that about sums up what they've become to each other, and whatever that is, Hikari knew that it would hurt them both.

she hides her face in her hands. she was being lied to, and whether or not Rindou's confession had been a lie, there were more important things at hand.

a plan.

she needed a plan.

and luckily for her, she knew just how to make Ran come out of hiding.

+++

Rindou barely walked a step when he sees the last person he wanted to see, propped up against the wall and studying him. Rin scowls as he moves past him, thinking he probably heard everything he'd said to Hikari from the expression on his face.

it was mockery.

"Rindou."

Ran grabs his shoulder and he angrily shoves it off, but that is until his back collided harshly with the wall, Ran having pinned him with his arm.

"what's got into you?" Ran asks with a smile. "why are you so angry?"

Rindou glared at him hatefully. Ran recognized that look in his eyes, making him chuckle.

"...you want to kill me."

"yes, would you die for me then?" Rin spat, shoving Ran off him.

Ran let out another laugh as he fixes his brother's suit almost affectionately.

"Rin, before you wage war on me over her, make sure you're enough to protect Hikari. look where she's ended up again, I fucking had a heart attack once I heard from Kokonoi."

"you don't really have any right to talk to me about putting her in danger! did you even stop to think about why she came here?! or why she jumped off the bridge?!"

Ran pursed his lips at his brother's outburst. Rin could make out the hurt in his face, and it was satisfying. Ran who always liked to act like he was calm and collected, ever so charming and unfazed about everything. he deserved to be hurt. and Rin knew best how to hurt him.