ʏᴀɴɴɪ | ᴏ.ꜱʜᴏᴛᴀʀᴏ

-Roomie-

You'd nearly thought Shotaro was high – either high or drunk since that would be the only explanation for him to make the request he'd just made.

But his eyes weren't red, nor was he slurring any of his words. He looked more sober than you, and your pill high was only beginning to taper off.

"Why...?" You asked him wearily.

"I already told you why," Shotaro simply responded. "You've seen where I live; my building is one of the safest in Midtown."

"You own it?"

"I own half of it." Shotaro clarified for you. "My mom owns the other half. We got around-the-clock security and surveillance, so you wouldn't have to worry about that...that one dude..."

Now, all of that sounded nice, but you still couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive about the idea. Your face probably showed it as well since you heard Shotaro sigh softly.

"Listen, the choice is up to you, but I just..." He paused, squeezing your hand once more. "I just wanna be able to look after you, Yanaida..."

"Alright, alright..." You huffed quietly as you began to weigh out your options.

So, let's see...If you were to stay in Hamtramck, you'd have to worry about Mark and the bullshit from the other girls you worked with, a shootout every other night, heroin fiends constantly knocking on your door asking your dead-and-gone mother for a fix, and the otherwise annoying presence of cops outside your apartment building.

However, if you moved to Midtown with Shotaro, you'd be in a peaceful neighborhood, you could freely change your number, and the only thing you'd really have to worry about is how much studio time you'd get in a day. Anybody else would see that as a no-brainer...

And you didn't have shit else to lose anyway, so why not?

You huffed again, vaguely swaying your head from side to side. "If I move in, I'm gettin' my own room..."

Shotaro's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, and he chuckled. "Absolutely! Your own room and your own bathroom."

You stared at him for a minute, then your eyes veered down to your now intertwined hands before slowly nodding your head. "Fine..."

Shotaro's grip on your hand tightened a bit out of sheer excitement. "I'll go fill out your release forms. Wanna get your number changed while we're at it? All I gotta do is make a call..."

"Yeah, go 'head..."

Shotaro smirked down at you, giving your hand yet another light squeeze. "I'll be back..." You watched him grab his phone off the chair and strode out of the room, leaving you to rub an arm and turn slightly on your side, away from the door.

8:12 AM

Shotaro carried your backpack on his shoulder while he helped you off his elevator, seeing three dudes in U-Haul jackets walking out of his penthouse. One of them spotted Shotaro coming down the hallway and smirked.

"Hey, we're about halfway done moving all the boxes. 'Nother half hour, and we should be straight." The man informed Shotaro.

"Good looking out, my man – check your Venmo for the pay." Shotaro patted the man on his shoulder as the two of you passed him to enter the house. "You good to walk up the stairs on your own?"

"Need an excuse to carry me?" You asked Shotaro half-jokingly, and the boy laughed in turn.

"I just wanna see if you don't need my help." He loosened his grip on you to allow you to attempt to ascend the staircase by yourself. You made up one or two steps – albeit slowly – before you had to grab the railing, trying to prevent your legs from buckling under the aches.