lucky charm, itoshi rin ✓

𖥻 13

"tsukiko, please! you can't tell me that you don't know where he is," you beg the black haired girl, who stands overwhelmed at the front door and tries to tell you that rin isn't there and that she doesn't know where he is.

but she really doesn't know — he hasn't come home for a few days, just has reassured her and sae with messages saying he's fine.

"y/n, believe me. i really don't know where rin is staying. i think maybe he's with yoichi or with meguru" she says calmly, sees that you're not calming down and still totally upset.

even though it's not her right, she wants to know what happened to you. she doesn't know you, still respects you very much since you're the first one who could make rin really happy.

"come in for a cup of tea. then we can talk," she offers, moving a little aside to let you enter, so you have almost no choice but to agree.

you follow her into the apartment you already know and into the kitchen, where you meet her for the second time. the first time, you remember well, was the night seishiro took you to a race for the first time.

"what happened between you?" tsukiko asks cautiously, after putting a hot cup in front of you and herself.

it's strange to talk about it with someone you don't know, but the pressure to finally tell someone is too strong to think about it.

"my parents are really strict. tomorrow night they have organized a meeting, but rin can't because of a race. things escalated quite a bit, i said things i didn't want to and then left," you explain to her in a nutshell, looking down at your cup held by your two hands, are afraid she will loathe you.

rin is nowhere to be found because of you, and as his cousin, she's certainly very worried. "i'd be mad too if i got stood up for a race," she says after a short while, during which there is an oppressive silence that has you feeling quite unsettled. "the street race scene is his life. it's been like that since the first time he raced and lost. in those few seconds he feels free. he has no worries and no problems. it's not just about the money and winning," she confesses, and once again you can see a new side of rin and better understand why it's so damn important to him.

"i love it too, i've been on a few rides, but i prefer to watch. i would never do it myself, i'm too scared. but i can understand him and everyone else." slowly you can understand him too.

at first glance it sounds silly, but there's more to this racing than just passion. time flies by frantically, but in those seconds they chase their luck and get it until everything is over again and they have to look the facts in the eye because the problems remain.

tsukiko and you startle when the front door is unlocked and an exhausted looking rin enters the room. he looks like he hasn't slept in days, and that could be if he hasn't had anywhere to stay for the four days he's been gone.

you both jump up and rush towards him and he looks back and forth between the two of you, overwhelmed, until his gaze finally lingers on you and his expression hardens.

"where were you, asshole?", his cousin hisses, letting her hand go to the back of his head.

this doesn't seem to bother him, though, as his gaze is still on you alone.

"we were worried about you," you murmur carefully, forcing a small smile on your lips, which immediately falls again when he snorts condescendingly.

"you didn't have to do that. you should know me, that's just the way i am." you can clearly see what he's getting at.

apparently, your words have really hurt him and you can't blame him.

tears unintentionally form in your eyes, which he immediately recognizes and his features immediately loosen. "go home, y/n. i'm fine." 

your eyes are still slightly red and irritated from crying all night. rin had literally kicked you out after you refused to leave and slammed the door in your face.

you thought that you would get better, that it would be just one fight of many that awaited you in your relationship — but all that hope disappeared when he looked at you with no emotion in his eyes.

"y/n!" your father calls from downstairs and you're reminded that they still believe he will be eating with you this evening.

you had completely forgotten to tell them, and were just too cowardly, so you have to come up with a white lie.

"your boyfriend is already 10 minutes late," your mother puts the steaming food on the table, shaking her head disapprovingly. for her, punctuality is the be-all and end-all; anyone who is not on time has no respect. she couldn't care less about the reason.

you want to say something in return, but you don't want to start a fight with your parents this evening, don't even have the strength.

"so.. i think rin can't make it toni-" you're interrupted by the doorbell and your father, who immediately gets up from his seat at the head of the table and rushes past you to the front door.

"y/n, come with me. your boyfriend seems to be showing up, too," he says seriously, and you immediately follow him to the front door, not believing that rin is there.

but you're proven wrong when you see him standing in front of your door, which your father has opened, wearing a jacket, black jeans and a white shirt. "good evening, mr. kurosawa. i'm pleased to meet you."