Irresistibly You | A Haitani Rindou Fanfic

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ

୨⎯ It Starts With a Punch! ⎯୧

It was the year 2005 and I was seventeen years old. About to hit young adulthood, I was just recklessly punching my way off through the corners of each street I passed by.

Many would say I was too brutal for a girl, or I was resembling too much of a boy for my taste in fashion. Was it just about being cute and having tiny pink bows in her hair to be a girl? It didn't really have an effect on me.

I simply just didn't care. What would I look like if I were to kneel on the ground and apologize for being who I truly am? A fool, that is. That's the Y/n that I know. That's me, and this is how I usually live.

Along the Street 09, there was supposedly a show-off here, but it seemed like a team chickened out. "That sucks," I uttered as I sighed deeply. With my chin resting on my palm, I planted my face on my bare hand, exhaling a breath from extreme disappointment.

My classmate, who also happened to be in the same gang as me, chuckled upon witnessing my aggravated face. "You were looking forward to watching their battle," he commented.

I turned my head to look at his eyes, speaking with a gruff voice, "It was gonna be the highlight of my day honestly. And later on after the show-off, I planned to have a cone of ice cream that was being sold by the school gate. People said it tasted good."

He laughed louder than before as he heard my response and then replied, "Why not just buy it without having to watch the show-off? It won't really ruin your day if that ice cream was actually good. How about I treat you one?"

"For what?" I squinted my eyes a bit when I asked him. I had a subtle feeling that there was an ulterior motive behind his sudden kindness. The guy then answered, "I'm being nice for once. You looked really upset so..."

I got up and dusted my back. He, too, followed my actions. I looked behind and said with a hurried pace in my voice, "Thanks, Inui Seishu." Without any delay, I left the area and headed towards the school gate, enough to make it just in time before the ice cream vendor was going to leave. "What's with the full name though?"

Thankfully, we made it in time. In fact, we were the ice cream vendor's last two customers. Yes, Seishu also bought one for himself. As I took my first bite on the freezing cold chocolate flavored ice cream, my tongue was met by a rich, sweet, and delightful taste. How could one cheap ice cream taste so expensive? The best part is it's literally right outside our metallic silver school gate. I couldn't help myself but to devour the ice cream in four munches.

Seishu looked at how I quickly ate the sweet dessert and formed a smirk tugging the side of his lip. He asked, sounding sarcastic, "Don't you like it?" I then answered with an unbothered expression, "No, I'm just testing its flavor."

Seishu went back to the ice cream vendor and bought some more for me. I pretty much ate 2 more ice creams that late afternoon. Before we parted ways, he told me, "I'll update you once I get any notice regarding the canceled show-off earlier. Anyways, you're always up at night, right?"

I shrugged my shoulders at him, saying, "I don't know. I'm trying to fix my sleep schedule. Are you?"

"It's not consistent. I only stay up late when it's necessary," he simply replied. "Well, see you around at school, Y/n. Don't go missing a day."

"If I ever do, that means something." I flashed a playful smile before turning my back and walking toward my house's direction.

I never really liked the symbolism of the word 'home' since I had not felt it for so long now. I couldn't even remember when I last felt 'home'. How odd it is that I'm inside a house which is technically called a home as well, but I don't feel at home. I always wondered why it has been that way, or maybe I just didn't care at all anymore, making me forget about it.