𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐮𝐢𝐧 X Reader (Dark/Angst)

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 ✶ 𝟎𝟖

The weekend passed in a comfortable haze, just like most weekends did. You saw Ritsu on Saturday, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. The connection you two had fostered over these past few months felt stronger, smoother, and easy—at least, that's what you had convinced yourself. You'd been texting him every day, your conversations evolving into late-night confessions and morning greetings. Every time he sent a message, a small thrill coursed through you. He was yours in a way that he wasn't even aware of yet.

And so, everything seemed normal. Everything seemed to be going just as planned until Monday afternoon, when his texts abruptly stopped.

By evening, when the last of the daylight faded behind dark, brooding clouds, that unsettling feeling began gnawing at you. The rational part of your mind tried to push it aside, reminding you that it was probably nothing. But deep down, you knew better. It was the kind of bad feeling that gripped you for no apparent reason, tightening in your chest, making your heart race. The dangerous kind of feeling. The kind that had driven you to do things you probably shouldn't have done in the past.

The rain began to pour, tapping against the window in an almost rhythmic, relentless pattern, as if mocking your growing anxiety. You sat by the window, staring out into the swirling darkness, holding a mug of tea. The heat from the drink did little to warm you. What was Ritsu doing in this weather? Had something happened? Was he okay? The questions kept building, one after the other, faster and louder until they were the only things you could hear.

You tried to quiet them, tried to focus on anything else, but by nine o'clock, the unease had built into a storm inside you. Then, just as you were starting to think of excuses to reach out to him again, there was a sudden pounding at your door—loud, desperate, shaking the fragile calm you'd tried to hold onto.

You didn't even have to think twice. It was him. No one else would show up at your door at this hour, no one else would need you this badly. A sense of purpose ignited in you, overriding the worry. You'd been preparing for something like this, even if you hadn't realized it until now.

When you opened the door, the sight of Ritsu nearly broke you—though not in the way you thought it would.

There he was, drenched from head to toe, rain pouring off his shivering body in small streams. His usually neat, dark hair was plastered to his forehead, and his clothes clung to him like a second skin, making him look smaller, more fragile than ever. He wasn't wearing his usual school uniform—just an oversized hoodie and jeans that were now soaked through. The raw vulnerability in his wide, tear-filled eyes made something inside you tighten, the sight of him trembling on your doorstep both heartbreaking and, in a twisted way, satisfying.

He needed you.

Before he could speak, before the words even formed on his quivering lips, you pulled him inside with a sharp command: "Get in."

Ritsu stumbled in, barely holding it together, and as soon as he was over the threshold, the dam broke. His face scrunched up in that way you'd become so familiar with—right before the tears started. But the rain, still dripping from his hair and face, made it hard to tell where the water stopped and the tears began. Still, you could hear it in the way his breath hitched and caught in his throat.

"I-I'm sorry," he choked out, his voice barely above a whisper. "I d-didn't want to bother you, I j-just... I didn't know where else to go..."

You didn't say anything, just listened. You knew this was what he needed—someone to listen, to understand, to offer comfort without demanding explanations. But you also knew, deep down, that this was your moment to shape the situation. To mold him just a little more.

Ritsu hiccuped through sobs, the words tumbling out in a broken stream. "I got a test back today... It wasn't good... My parents—they were so mad. I-I worked so hard, I promise I did! But they yelled at me, and I—I just couldn't stay there anymore. I didn't know where else to go, but I-I knew you'd make it better. I trust you so much..."