lovestruck | Maki Zenin

❝𝐓𝐨𝐣𝐢 𝐅𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐨❞

[This chapter is pretty short since there wasn't much to write]

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"Tell me, what exactly did you want from [Name]?"

 Maki stood tall, looking down at the beaten-up thugs. None of them answered, making Maki grow impatient. She crouched down and grabbed one of their collars. "Tell me now, or law enforcement will get involved."

"Put... me down..." The man struggled. Maki's grip on the thug's collar tightened, but she did nothing. There was no point. None of them seemed interested in answering Maki's questions despite being threatened. She sighed, stood up, and gave up on trying to extract information from them.

She turned around and found herself facing a gun pointed at her head by who she assumed to be one of the thugs. The person, a woman wearing a ski mask and baggy clothing, asked, "Who are you, and what business do you have with those three?"

"Huh?" Maki looked up at the pistol, feeling the pressure of the bullet against her temple. "Speak, or you'll get a 9mm shot right into your skull," the woman's voice came across sharply. Maki was in a vulnerable position; any movement could result in a bullet in her head.

"I'm--"

"Azha, I told you to take the thugs alive, not threaten a stranger," a shadowy figure appeared behind her. It was a tall, muscular man with messy, medium-length dark hair. "Mr. Fushiguro," the woman called out, retracting the gun from Maki's head.

Fushiguro?

"My apologies, but could you please leave these three to us?" The man cleared his throat and looked down at Maki with a smirk. Maki's glare remained fixed on the mysterious man who awaited her reaction. She scoffed and walked out of the alleyway.

"Are these the thugs who attacked [Name]?"

Maki's gaze shifted back to the two figures standing over the incapacitated thugs. Raising an eyebrow, she took note of their interest in [Name]. Her curiosity grew, and she wanted to learn more about their connection to [Name].

However, before the two could continue speaking, they noticed Maki still present. "Is there a problem?" Toji spoke up, pointing out Maki's presence.

"Who are you two?"

They exchanged deadpan looks before refocusing on Maki. "Why do you care?" the woman's question carried a touch of rudeness in her tone. Toji narrowed his eyes at Maki before recognition crossed his face.

"Oh! You're [Name's] girlfriend, right? Maki Zenin?"

Maki's expression shifted from curiosity to discomfort. She had no idea who this man was and how he knew her full name. "Who are you?" she asked cautiously, hoping he wasn't some kind of weird stalker.

"I'm [Name's] boss, Toji Fushiguro," the man stepped forward, examining Maki and nodding to himself. "Yep, you really are her," he said, producing an image of Maki and [Name] together.

"[Name's] boss?" Maki questioned. "What business do you have with these thugs?" Her curiosity was piqued once again, and she was determined to learn more about her girlfriend's boss.

"Oh? I'm reporting them for robbery. [Name] told me they stole all her money," he lied. He had no intention of reporting them; in fact, he was planning to give them the worst time of their life.

"We thought you were a threat. Sorry about the confusion." He wasn't lying about that; he didn't recognize Maki at first, so he thought she might be involved with the thieves. Maki nodded in understanding and left the scene.

Little did she realize, she would come to regret the day she crossed paths with Toji.

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"I came across your boss yesterday."

Out of nowhere, Maki spoke up. Your eyes widened in response. Maki meeting Toji was the last thing you wanted. Although you had instructed Toji not to interact with Maki at all, it seemed he hadn't listened.

"Oh? Where?"

"At the place where I found those thugs," she answered, tapping on the steering wheel while waiting for the traffic light to turn green and the pedestrians to cross. "He seems like a pretty responsible boss..."

Responsible my ass... he forgot his own son.

 "You think? I find him to be pretty forgetful." You lifted a brow and let out a giggle. Maki responded by shrugging. He did seem like he was a forget person in nature at first glance. "I'm only saying that because he made sure you got your money back and he reported the thugs." 

The second part was a complete lie and you knew Toji made it up to protect you from any suspicion coming from Maki. "Thankfully... But damn, I wish I could land at least one punch." You grumbled while crossing your arms."You're going to act like I didn't see your swollen knuckles?" Maki side eyed you.

You stayed silent then let out a nervous laugh. "You got me there..." 

"But I'm quite surprise a strong person like you would let a few weakling thugs beat you up like that." Maki softly laughed.

"I got jumped Maki, the last thing I expected was to get bashed in the head." You muttered in annoyance. Maki side eyed you once again and smiled to herself. "By a plastic pipe?"

"The pipe was big." 

"But the pipe wasn't that big when I last saw it." 

 "Maki shut up or I'm canceling the date this weekend." 

"You wouldn't!""

"I wouldn't."

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