A White Bunny meets a Dark Wolf (ScarletNovaxShinku⭐Kun)

[Stray Shinku]

​

After seeing Mei glaring back to his eyes, Ryunosuke unexpectedly blushed lightly, slowly turning his head to his right. He didn't like to be watched so directly and closely as Mei did. He feels weird and was afraid that she could discover that the almighty "Dark Wolf" wasn't really that tough delinquent he shows in this school. The truth was that the real Ryunosuke was somebody pretty fragile and vulnerable but somehow manages to hide all of that inside a carcass tough to break. However, Mei seems like that kind of person that, in one way or another, manages to discover the true identity of a person no matter how much they try to fake somebody they were not.

Clearing his throat to snap out of his thought, Ryunosuke took his can of soda and snapped it open, taking a big sip. Then, he proceeded to finish his burger. After a few minutes, Ryunosuke finished his food and stood up from his seat, taking his tray and walking toward a trash can, drinking what was left of his soda. After throwing away the trash, he took out his phone from his pocket and look down at the time on its screen. "Which places are you interested in knowing, Mei?" he asked her, realizing that he finally called her by her first name. Blinking twice, Ryunosuke moved his sight from his phone to Mei. "Yes, I just called you by your first name, and I don't care if you don't like it, by the way."

Scoffing, he rolled his eyes away and began to walk, holding his phone with his right hand. "Now, move an answer my question. I don't want to be all day with this or be seen with you for too long."

 

[ScarletNova]

​

Mei took a few more bites out of her chicken sandwich as she watched the so-called "Dark Wolf" in front of her slowly turn away to stare at something else other than her. Perhaps this guy wasn't as strong as he let on. She continued to stare at him, glancing at the curves of his face, his smooth dark black hair, and the corner of his bright green eyes. Since when did someone with a personality like him have such beautiful bright eyes. They didn't match him at all.

Then she heard him clear his throat and open his soda, and she was torn away from her thoughts. What was she even thinking about anyway? She noticed he was close to being finished, so she quickly ate the rest of her own lunch as well. She sipped the last of her juice when he suddenly asked her where she wanted to go. But a light pink blush came over her cheeks when she heard his speak her name. Not bunny. Not her last name. Not even any honorifics that was so usual to have in their culture. No, it was just her name.

But when she heard him point it out, she mentally wiped away that blush from her face. And she watched as he started to walk away, telling her to answer his question and making other comments that seemed to fit his personality just perfectly. That's right. She had almost forgotten who she had been sitting with.

She got up from her seat, threw out her thrash, and followed after him because she was supposed to after all. "Just the main places are fine. It's not like I need you to show me where every classroom is. It's not hard to follow numbers," Mei replied. It was best just to be honest and answer his question. After all, she really did still need to know where some places where in this school.

But she was quite annoyed with his last part of his comment. "Oh, what? Don't like being seen walking around with a girl, Ryunosuke?" she commented. Might as well throw his own name back at him. He'd probably be more annoyed with it than she was considering he wanted to be so high and mighty. "Guess you prefer to be around men considering how rudely you treat women."

She joined him by walking beside him instead of giving him the pleasure of leading her around while she walked behind him. He might be showing her around, but she wasn't going to let him appear like he was winning over her by having her walk behind him.

 

[Stray Shinku]

​

When Ryunosuke heard Mei calling him by his first name without an honorific, he felt way too weird and didn't like at all the sensation. Sure, he did the same to her, but that didn't mean he will let her do the same to him, but he also knew he probably called him like that to taunt him. Scoffing and swallowing hard, he just kept walking, letting that pass. If he wanted to prove her who's boss around this school, he simply needed to be smarter than her and not let her see that she could get into his nerves.

However, what Mei said next, about him not liking to be around girls and just men because he enjoyed treating them rude was the drop that overflowed the glass. With a pissed frown, Ryunosuke slowly stopped walking, gripping his phone tightly, but not enough to break it. Breathing in deeply, he turned his body to his right to face Mei and suddenly pushed her, pinning her back against a wall. Glaring down at her, he slowly put his right hand on the wall, close to the right side of her face. He glared madly at her blue eyes and just wanted to yell at her angrily, but he didn't. He just stood there in silence, glaring at her, for a couple of minutes.

"Who the hell you think you are?" he finally asked her, still angry at her. "You don't know shit about me, so you better keep your mouth shut if you will say nonsense like that. If I treat you like this is because you asked for it. FYI, I have girls in my team and I treat them perfectly fine and that's all because they don't do stupid shit that pisses me off. Yeah, they're not a stupid Bunny like you." Scoffing, Ryunosuke leaned his face a little closer to her and with his left hand, he took a string of Mei's black hair, caressing it gently before looking back at her. "I think I've been quite patient with you, cute little Bunny, but, unfortunately, everything has a limit, and my patient is almost reaching its. So, for your own safety, try to stay quiet if you don't have anything nice to say, will you? Or simply don't say stupid shit like that without knowing me. That'll be great."

After not having anything else to say, Ryunosuke let go of the string of hair and leaned back, stepping away from Mei and moving on. Even when he put a chill expression, deep inside he was still mad with her comment, wondering who the hell Mei thought she was to say something like that without knowing him at all. He hangs out with women too and he loved it as much as he liked hanging out with his guys. Outside of the school, he has the most important woman of his world: his mother, who was sick at the hospital. Mei comment made him look like he hated all women, which was all wrong. He wanted her to apologize, but he also knew Mei won't probably do it, so he will have to shake it off and move on with it.

Through the rest of the Lunchtime, Ryunosuke showed Mei the places he thought it was important for her to know, like the location of the Library, the Bathrooms, the Infirmary, and such places.

"And this is where the lockers are, but I think you already know this," said Ryunosuke when he arrived at the main Lockers area. Nodding, he turned to his right and looked down at Mei, still upset with her. "Well, that's it, or at least what I think it was good for you to know. If you have any other places you wish to know, well, ask your cute friend or Hikari. They'll be more than glad to help you." Sighing with relief after being done with this lame school tour, Ryunosuke turned around and put his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor. He seems like he wanted something from Mei, probably an apology from her, but didn't want to tell her. He didn't want to look like a crybaby that got way too offended by her comment. That would be really lame and uncool, and if somebody watched that, his reputation as the Alpha delinquent would be affected.

Scoffing with annoyance, Ryunosuke began to walk away from Mei. "I'll be leaving now. Bye, Bunny," he said with a bitter taste in his mouth.

 

[ScarletNova]

​

Mei suddenly felt her body being forced against the wall. His hand went up near her right side of her face. And he began to forcefully speak to her. It was like she had really hit a nerve with her tease, like she had broken him completely. But for some reason Mei actually listened to him despite the fact that it more seemed like he was threatening and yelling at her again. Like there was something about women that really got him upset.

She remained quiet even after he finished and simply followed him around the school as he showed her all the main areas she might really need to know in the future. But Mei's mind was a bit distracted as she thought about the comments he made to her. It was true that she knew nothing about him, but his actions really didn't truly seem to match what he had said. It bothered her. It was so odd.

Perhaps there was more going on with him. There was more to this than she had originally thought.

After all, wasn't everyone the outcome of the experiences that happened to them. She knew she was, very much so. She was who she was because of the things she had gone through so far. Perhaps he was the same.

They finished at the lockers. He spoke briefly, but surprisingly didn't leave yet, like he was expecting something. He had this odd look on his face, that made Mei feel like she should say something. But she honestly wasn't sure what she wanted to say yet. She watched as he turned away and started to leave.

"Then why did you bump into Suzuki-chan and not apologize," Mei suddenly began. "She hadn't done anything to you or made any comments. She was minding her own business. You don't know what might have happen to her either. Maybe she hurt her shoulder the day before and you suddenly caused her a ton of pain by hitting it. And what about our teacher? You disrespected her with how you treated her in class today. Do you really know what's going on with her in her personal life either? And why don't you treat her better when she probably doesn't do anything to you but care about you and try to be a good teacher for you. What about the way you act towards the lunch lady, like she should bow down to you and give you whatever you want."

She paused.

"And what about me? I was fine just going about my days here in peace. I didn't even want to move here. But the moment I ended up getting stuck with you because of sensei, you made foul comments to me. And instead of just trying to work things out, you just threaten me all the time. You know nothing about me either. You know nothing of what I go through in my personal life either, Ryunosuke. I don't care if you rule the school, but don't treat people like crap then claim it's because they are people who asked for it. There are plenty of people at this school who mind their own business, but you make them fear you everyday. Try treating them nice for a change and maybe your rule will actually be welcomed."

She then just walked passed him, but momentarily glanced at his face as she walked by. There really was more to this because his previous comments made her feel like she had actually hurt the guy with her tease. But she couldn't let that be an excuse for the way he acted and treated others.

"Sorry," she whispered just as she passed him. Perhaps it was the apology he had been waiting for. Perhaps it was about something else entirely. She wasn't going to tell him. He was going to have to figure it out for himself.

 

[Stray Shinku]

​

Ryunosuke stopped walking when Mei finally decided to say something to him but didn't expect her asking him why he didn't apologize to Shiro when he bumped with her when he was leaving the History classroom. It was obvious he didn't do that because of how he was, but what Mei said next really made him think about it more deeply. In fact, Mei's speech about his rude and mean behavior toward everyone, especially toward the Cafeteria Lady, Hikari, and Shiro, surprisingly made Ryunosuke rethink his attitude and behavior around Ryoo High. Why was he so mean and rude toward these people that have done nothing to him? Why does he need to act like he owns this school, denying everyone the right to having a peaceful school life? Does Ryunosuke really was the so-called "Dark Wolf"? A lot of questions flooded Ryunosuke's head, making him feel extremely weird and uncomfortable.

Blinking once with a stern expression, Ryunosuke slowly turned around to look back at Mei, just in time to hear her talk about his offensive attitude towards her. She was right by telling him that he knows nothing about her, just like she doesn't know anything about him. By the way and the things she was saying about her, Ryunosuke also had the wild guess that Mei would be having a hard time at her home, and if that's the case, they weren't that different after all. Ryunosuke's personal life and his life, in general, were a total trainwreck. Just the thought of having things in common with Mei made Ryunosuke question his whole existence and the things he has done to the people of this school.

A strange wave of different emotions suddenly hit Ryunosuke hard, making him clench his hands into fists after not being able to come with a reply for Mei. Yes, she said something that hurt him for real, but his selfishness didn't make him realize that he hurt her too by treating her aggressively. He even bumped her right shoulder a couple of times, not caring at all if that hurt her for real. He definitely owns her too an apology, and to Shiro as well. Heck. He owns a big apology to the whole people of Ryoo High for his tyranny. However, he was so used of acting like the tough and coldhearted "Dark Wolf" that saying an apology by this point will be hard for him. In addition, he wasn't so sure if he really wanted to do that in the first place after thinking about it so much.

When Mei finished talking, she walked passed him, giving him a quick glance as she passed by. Ryunosuke felt a knot in his chest after that. What is guilt? Remorse maybe? Probably both. Without thinking about it, Ryunosuke quickly moved his right hand towards her and grabbed Mei's right hand, probably stopping her. Swallowing hard, Ryunosuke looked down at their hands and opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't. He simply stood there in silence. Sighing, he closed his mouth and slowly lifted his sight to Mei's blue eyes. "Just apologize, man," he thought, commanding himself after not being able to say that to Mei, but it didn't work. "Come on, Ryu... How hard is it to accept that you're wrong and she's right? Apologize now because it could be too late later."

"Not now," he mumbled to himself and slowly let go of Mei's hand before beginning to walk away, leaving her behind. Today's Lunchtime was definitely the most awkward of Ryunosuke's whole life and probably one that he will never forget. And it was all because of this new girl... Mei Akimoto. The only person that managed to turn his whole world upside down just in one single afternoon.

 

[ScarletNova]

​

Mei suddenly felt a warmth radiate from her hand and she stopped moving. She turned to face it, her eyes trailing up the arm that held her and towards the face of Ryunosuke. She hesitated for a moment because he didn't speak at all. Was he going to hurt her? Make more comments? Do something to her?

But the warmth she felt coming from his hand did not feel dangerous. In fact, she felt no malice coming from him at all. But it was Ryunosuke. The man that the moment she met him early that day had been mean, rude, and demanding. How could such a warmth come from someone like him?

She looked into his green eyes. It appeared like he was going to speak, but he said nothing. What did he want to say to her? Was he going to say anything at all? What was even going on? A light pink blush started to form on her cheeks as she stared at him with his hand holding hers. He mumbled something, but she couldn't make out any of the words that came from him. Then he released her hand and walked away from her.

What was that all about? She glanced at him as he walked away. She didn't stop him. She looked at her hand, the warmth she felt from his still lingered on her skin. Her blush suddenly darkened, but when she released it, she shook her head and attempted to get rid of it. She put her hand down by her side. She needed to get to class. Lunch would be over soon.

She started walking again and headed for her next class, but the actions that had just happened before her and Ryu still stayed on her mind. She had no idea what he had been planning to do when he took her hand. She had no idea what was going on through his head. He was a mystery. And she wasn't sure if it was a good mystery to try to crack. Why would she want to anyway? Why would she care about someone like him.

But those green eyes. And that warmth.

"Ryunosuke Aisaka," Mei muttered to herself.

 

[Stray Shinku]

​

"Mmh? What's that, Mei-chan?" asked Shiro when she heard Mei whispering something on the desk next to her. They were in the Chemistry class, their last period before after school. The shy girl, which apparently could act comfortable around Mei, turned her body on her seat to face Mei, glaring at her curiously. She noticed that Mei was acting kind of strange since her school tour with Ryunosuke and she couldn't hold to wonder what happened between them. Fixing her glasses, she turned her head to her left and looked over at Ryunosuke, which once again was seated on the last desk of the last row, near a window that faced the beautiful sakura tree in the middle of Ryoo High.

Like Mei, Ryunosuke was way too distracted thinking about the school tour that turned out pretty awkward. For a reason, Mei's expression when she apologized to him still lingered at the back of his head. It was probably because of her gorgeous sapphire eyes that looked like an ocean. "Why are you like this all of a sudden?" Ryunosuke asked himself mentally, snapping out of his thoughts with a sigh. He was looking through the window, so he slowly moved his head and looked down at his right hand that was on top of his desk, remembering how he took Mei's warm hand. He slowly lifted his hand and turned it a little to look at its palm, Mei's warmth still latent on his skin. A slight blush randomly covered Ryunosuke's cheeks, which made him quickly lower his hand and secretly moved his head to look over at where Mei was sitting.

There's when Shiro caught him staring at her and he quickly looked away, his blush intensifying, making him curse under his breath. Blinking with confusion, Shiro lifted her right index finger and laid it gently on her lower lip, once again wondering what in the world happened between the "White Bunny" and the "Dark Wolf". However, Shiro didn't want to force Mei to tell her if she didn't want to, though, afraid to stick her "nose" in other people's business.

---

​

As the last bell of the day rang through Ryoo High, every student flooded the hallways once again, most of them sighing and expressing their relief that this "nightmare" was all over, another few planning with their friends to go eat somewhere.

After dropping his books in his locker, Ryunosuke went straight out of the school and walked through a sidewalk, holding his phone with his right hand. He was reading some text messages he missed for being distracted before, all of them from his aunt. She was asking him if he could buy some groceries for their home because there were almost running out of them. When he replied her that he will do, Ryunosuke put back his phone inside his right pocket and stopped in front of a pedestrian light that was red, alerting all pedestrians to stand by because cars were driving through.

Sighing slightly, Ryunosuke stood straight and stared aimlessly in front of him, thinking what things to buy. "Mmh... Maybe I should ask her what I can-" Before he could finish his sentence, his phone beeped and vibrated inside his pocket. As he fished it out, Ryunosuke unlocked its screen and read another text from his aunt, this one a small list of the groceries he needed to buy. Scoffing with a genuine smile, he texted her back a blowing kiss emoji with a "Just when I was breaking my head in what to buy! Thank you, Ko-chan!" Chuckling happily, Ryunosuke put back his phone in his pocket and looked up at the pedestrian light, just in time to see it changing to green.

It didn't take him long to arrive at a nearby Convenience Store. Once inside, he took a small shopping cart and began to walk through the store, looking for the products on the list his aunt sent him.

 

[ScarletNova]

​

Damn it. What was going on with her. Why was she so distracted? It was her first day at her new school. She needed to pay attention right now, but all she could think about was the remnants of Ryunosuke's warmth back when he had held her hand. Why was it in her head so much? She shouldn't be this affected by it.

"Huh? What? Oh, nothing," Mei commented when she heard her recently new friend make some kind of comment to her. She hadn't realized she had said something out loud. Had she? She rolled her pen around in her hand for a moment, then went back to taking some notes for the class. However, she glanced back at her hand he had taken earlier. There was something very odd going on here and she really didn't like it.

---

Mei was glad to hear the sound of the bell signalling that the school day was finally over. She packed her things into her bag and took hold of it. "I'd love to get to know each other better Suzuki-chan," Mei began. "But I have some things I need to do after school, so I was hoping that maybe we could hang out another day. I really need to go to the store and pick up some things for the new house."

It would have been nicer if she could just hang out with Shiro, get to know the girl better, but the house her dad bought was run down. It needed some repairs and they hadn't bought much food with them. They had to eat some take out the night before and she wasn't too fond of doing that all the time. She would have to head for the store.

"It was really great to meet you today, and I'll text you later," Mei added. She had gotten Shiro's number earlier that day so they could stay in contact when they weren't in school. After all, if Mei was going to be stuck here, she was going to need to make some new friends. Shiro seemed like the best start.

She took hold of her bag, said good bye, then left the classroom and school. She had looked up the nearest convenience store on her phone earlier and headed off in that direction. It didn't take long to arrive, and she grabbed a shopping cart for her to put her items into. She started down the aisles, getting some of the food items they needed, and other items she needed for cleaning and repairing that she could get right now. After all, the store might not have some of the objects she needed for repairs, but since she needed a lot at one time, she might as well go for this store first.

 

[Stray Shinku]

​

After a couple of minutes, Ryunosuke filled his shopping cart with half of the items from the list his aunt sent him, which included a dozen of eggs, a bag of cooked ham, and freshly baked and warm bread. There were a couple of items that were an extra too, like a bag of his favorite candies and the favorite chocolate of his aunt. Wondering what else he needed to buy the black-haired guy took out his phone from his pocket, unlocked it and looked for the list, re-reading it to make sure he was getting the right stuff.

"Okay, now I only to get a few cans of tuna, a bag of soda crackers, and milk," he mumbled, slowly moving through an aisle with his cart. Suddenly, his phone beeped as it received a text from the red-haired guy that Mei and Shiro encountered before. When Ryunosuke tapped the notification, the text showed up in the screen and he read it:

"Yo, Dark Wolf, remember that we have to give a little "visit" to that guy from the last week that dared to call you idiot. We can do it right now or tomorrow, however you like. Either way is fine for me! ;) Let make him suffer and regret messing with you, Wolf."

A sigh escaped Ryunosuke's mouth after reading the message. He already told him that it wasn't really necessary to jump that poor guy just because he simply called him "idiot". Honestly, it wasn't that big deal for Ryunosuke, but for a reason or another, the red-haired guy wanted to make him pay big time. Apparently, he was a sadist guy that enjoyed to make suffer people no matter what and sometimes, even Ryunosuke felt disgusted being around him.

While thinking about what he could text him back, Ryunosuke reached an intersection at the back of the aisle and with looking in front of him, he turned his cart to the right, bumping with another cart. Widening his eyes a bit, Ryunosuke lowered his phone and when he lifted his head to say sorry, he suddenly fell silent as the person in front of him was no other than Mei.

"W-W-What is she doing here!?" he thought, his face blushing faintly and with a surprised expression.

 

[ScarletNova]

​

Mei walked down the aisles of the convenience store, getting the items she felt like they most needed early on. She could go to some other stores after school on some other days or even on the weekends. She picked up some pieces of meat, loaves of bread, milk and orange juice, eggs, laundry detergent and some major cleaning supplies, and other items she was sure they would need in the next few days.

She picked up a box of cereal and moved slightly when she suddenly felt something run into her cart. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you over there," she commented right away as her eyes shifted away from the items on the shelf and to the user of the cart she had ran into her. Her eyes widened and the box of cereal fell through her hand and down into her cart.

She stared into the green eyes of Ryunosuke, someone she had not expected to run into at the store at all. She glanced down at the cart and the items inside. She really hadn't expected to see this man getting groceries. That was...completely out of his character. She was speechless and for many reasons.

Why was he at the convenience store?

Why did it have to be the one she was at?

Why did they have to run into each other?

...What was she supposed to do about it?

She cleared her throat. "S-sorry," she repeated simply for the fact that that would most likely be what she would have said to anyone else in this situation. She glanced down at the food in his cart again, then to hers, then up to face him again. "Just getting some items...you know...for the house...I should...finish up, I suppose."

She backed her chart up a bit so they could maneuver around each other, then turned a bit, and tried to push passed him. But she couldn't help but slow down as her body passed his.

 

[Stray Shinku]

​

Ryunosuke didn't know what to do while he stared at Mei's blue eyes, his body frozen and the hand that was on the handle of the cart gripping tightly as he was trying his best not to panic. He was shocked by the fact that from all the convenience stores around this town, he had to enter the one where Mei was. Either was destiny or chance, Ryunosuke was certain that both were bitches for doing something like this to him.

As Mei apologized for bumping with his cart, even when it wasn't her fault, Ryunosuke swallowed hard and looked down at her cart, scanning the items she had in it. "A-Ah, you don't have to apologize," he replied to her, words quite strange coming from him. "It was me that wasn't looking where I was going. So, sorry." Ryunosuke could tell that Mei probably moved in town recently because of the stuff she had on her cart. Blinking twice, he slowly lifted his head to look once again at her, noticing that she was also staring at his cart.

Realizing what she could be thinking about him, Ryunosuke's blush darkened, feeling totally embarrassed that Mei, from all the people, has discovered him buying some groceries like a normal person. When she told him that she needed to finish looking for her groceries and backed her cart from his, Ryunosuke slowly looked down at his cart, sighing deeply.

Without thinking it twice and as Mei was passing him by, Ryunsouke quickly reached for her arm with his right hand and grabbed it gently. "U-Um... D-Don't you dare to tell somebody that you saw me doing this," he told her as a warning, but because he was stuttering, it probably didn't come out as scary as he wanted it to be. With a slight frown that surprisingly came out cute, Ryunosuke turned his head to look at Mei. "Not even to your friend, alright?" He went silent for a moment, hesitating. "P...Please."

If anybody that knew how Ryunosuke was on Ryoo High, apart from Mei, would've been beyond shock if they heard the almighty and mean Dark Wolf practically begging Mei to keep this encounter as a secret from everyone. He was way too embarrassed and he knew that his reputation will be affected if somebody knew that he also do normal things like buying groceries.

Realizing that he was holding Mei's arm for too long, Ryunosuke gently lets her go, still staring at her blue eyes as he waited for an answer from her.

 

[ScarletNova]

​

"Just continue walking by. Don't do or say anything else," Mei said to herself as she tried to pass Ryunosuke. But suddenly she felt the warmth she had felt earlier that day on her arm, and she trailed up his to see that he had taken hold of her again. However, the feeling was gentle, just like it had been when he had taken her hand. She glanced into his eyes as she listened to him speak to her.

Were those threats again? No, they didn't seem like it at all. Instead they appeared like he was pleading to her to keep their meeting a secret. So he was aware that seeing someone like him in a common convenience store was completely and utterly weird. And she could understand why he was asking her about keeping it a secret. After all, he was the "Dark Wolf" at school, so he probably didn't want anyone knowing that he shopped for groceries.

It would have been the perfect bait to use against him. Either blackmail or simply tell everyone in school. They might not be so afraid if she did. But she just couldn't do that. She didn't fight like that. That would just be, well, mean. And the look he had in his eyes. The sound in his voice.

And then he frowned as he said please. A pink blush started to form on her cheeks as she noticed it. Why was it super cute? Why was it making her feel weird inside? Her body suddenly started to feel like it was warming up from the inside. This odd feeling were stirring in her chest.

But she was woken up from it when he let go on her arm. She looked away for a moment again, then turned back to face his green eyes again. "I won't tell anyone," she then replied. "No one's going to care about someone going to a store anyway. What would be the point of telling them? It'll just be a secret between us, okay?"

For some reason a small smile formed on her face after she spoke. She hadn't known why, especially since it was Ryunosuke, but she just did. She pushed a few stray hairs out of her face and then placed the hand back onto the handle of the cart. She gripped it more tightly. She waited a few more moments, unsure of why, then finally started to push her cart again, turning away from him.

But she suddenly stopped again and turned back towards him for a moment. "But it's nice to know the Big Bad Wolf shops at a convenience store from time to time too," she commented.

 

[Stray Shinku]

​

When Mei told him that she won't tell anybody that she saw him buying some groceries, Ryunosuke sighed with relief, kind of surprised that she agreed to do what he said. It was obviously because he asked her in a nice way, though, not with his usual demanding and rude manner. However, he found strange that she didn't decide to use this as a tactic to overthrown his ruling of the school. This is when he realized that Mei was actually a nice girl that didn't like to use such dirty moves.

Swallowing hard, Ryunosuke nodded at her and turned around, grabbing the handle of his cart. As he was about to leave, he heard Mei's little comment about how nice it was to know that he could buy groceries once in a while like a normal person. Scoffing, Ryunosuke turned his head to look at her, giving her a small genuine smile. "Well, I'm a person like anybody else, right?" he replied and shrugged. "I guess I have to buy things like these to keep living and keep my place all good." Then, he looked down at the stuff she had in her cart before looking back at her. "And it's good to know that you moved here, Bunny." Realizing that what he just said sounded weird, Ryunosuke's cheeks flushed pink and he quickly turned around and walk away, cursing under his breath.

"What the hell that supposed to mean, Ryu?" he thought, shaking his head in embarrassment. "Oh, my God! I bet she thinks I'm a weird guy! Agh, why did I have to choose this store from all the places!?"

After a couple of minutes, Ryunosuke paid for his groceries and left the Convenience Store, rather quickly as he didn't want to encounter Mei again as he was still embarrassed for what he said last to her. He was holding a couple of bag with his hands while he was strolling through a sidewalk and after a while, he encountered another pedestrian light. As he stopped in front of it, Ryunosuke sighed with annoyance, glaring at it while it changed to green.

 

[ScarletNova]

​

She had no idea why she had turned back to him. She had no idea why she continued to talk with him. But she listened to his replies, slightly surprised he was being honest in his response instead of making some odd comment like he had been doing at school all day. She couldn't believe believe she was thinking it, but it actually made him seem like a nice guy.

But she was even more surprised when he said he was glad she moved here. That was...completely different than the impression she had gotten earlier that day. She stared at him for a moment, like she was frozen because of his words. But a warmth started to stir in her chest, something she had never felt before. And a light pink started to creep onto her cheeks as she stared into his green eyes.

She really did like those eyes...

He turned away and she forced herself out of her mind. What the hell was she just thinking? She pushed her own cart away and finished getting the rest of her groceries quickly. He was just weird. That was all. Just weird. A weird guy. Nothing else. Nothing else at all...

She got the rest of her things and headed to the check out. He was no where to be seen. And she let out a sigh of relief because of it. She tapped her finger on the handle as she waited.

Good that I moved here," she thought. "I thought he didn't like me because of school. Why would he say something like that. He's just weird. Yeah, weird. A weird-o...with such alluring eyes--"

Mei's own eyes widened as she realized her thoughts, and she was glad that it was her turn for check out. And she was glad when she remembered that she had no money because it made the rest move out of her mind for now. She had forgotten that she didn't have her money today. How could she forget that and go to the store? Well, she had her emergency credit card, so she just used that.

She left the store with her bags and headed down the sidewalk to head home. She walked a bit, trying to keep those thoughts out of her mind. She saw a pedestrian light up ahead and stopped for it. She released a sigh, trying to relax when someone waiting for the light to change as well slightly bumped into her, which made her slightly bump into the person next to her.

"Oh, sorry," she muttered as she went to look at who she bumped. But she mentally lost it when she realized who it was. "R-Ryunosuke!" Again! How? Why? What was going on? Why did it always have to be him? Did she deserve this? It was like fate was pulling them together or something!

 

[Stray Shinku]

​

As he got distracted staring at the pedestrian light, Ryunosuke felt a slight bump on his left arm, which snapped him back to reality. Blinking slightly, he turned his head to look at the person that was apologizing and when he was about to say that it was all good, his whole body froze in shock after discovering it was no other than Mei. This day was getting weirder as the time passes by. Ryunosuke was pretty much speechless as he kept staring down at her, his olive eyes locked with her stunning blue eyes, like if he was trying to find something in them.

He really liked those eyes... As well as her black and long hair...

"M-Mei..." he finally said as he recovered his composure, trying to act cool. "A-Are you following me or what?" That question could've sounded as a joke, but Ryunosuke really meant it. After all, this was the second time he randomly encountered her and the Convenience Store they went was kind of far from this pedestrian light. So, yes, he has enough reason to think that Mei may be following him because of unknown reasons. However, Ryunosuke felt that the question was silly and kind of rude, so he sighed and slowly moved his eyes back to the pedestrian light to see if it finally changed to green.

"I mean... Don't you think it's weird that this is the second time that we've encountered outside of school?" he asked her another question, hoping that Mei forgets about the first one. "I don't know about you, but I live around here. In the apartment complex across this street." There's when he remembered that the owners of the complex were selling or renting a free apartment since the last month and Ryunosuke heard one of them telling his aunt that a man took their offer and would be moving there soon. And just like that, a strange feeling formed around Ryunosuke's stomach as he thought the unthinkable.

"Oh, no... Please, God, no... Don't tell me it's Mei the person that moved there. Please, please, don't let her be her!" Ryunosuke thought as a drop of sweat appearing on his forehead. Sighing nervously, he slowly moved his head to look back at Mei. "U-Um... D-Do you mind if I ask you if that's the place where you moved?" he asked her with hesitation, afraid to know the answer. If Mei turned out to be his neighbor, that will be beyond awkward. The little Bunny that proclaimed him a war to dethrone him from his reign of terror in Ryoo High School is the person that lives next door to him. Yes, that will be more than enough to be the laughing target from pretty much everyone in the school, including his friends.

Maybe this was a little prank that fate was pulling him after being so mean at everyone at school or maybe Karma being a bitch to him, punishing him for all the wrong that he has done. Maybe it was all of a plan from a mysterious force working with destiny that somehow wanted him to be close to Mei for a reason or another. Whatever it was, Ryunosuke found it too much.

 

[ScarletNova]

​

Mei couldn't speak, unable to come up with the words while she stared directly into the green eyes on Ryunosuke again. She had only met him earlier that day at school and yet she had been seeing him so much today? Was someone playing a prank on her? Was this a joke?

Her thoughts were jumbled, but she was still able to make out the words he had first said to her, which sounded much like him. She frowned at the comment, releasing a sound similar to his when he clicked her tongue in annoyance. Why would she follow this guy? "Of course not," she replied and she was about to say something more when he moved onto another question.

Yes, she thought it was completely weird she saw him again outside of school especially in only one day too. It was completely weird. "That's one thing we can agree on," she then said. But the moment he said he lived in an apartment complex just across the street, she ended up in her head again.

Apartment complex? Across the street? Something was starting to click in her mind especially when he suddenly asked her where she moved to. She looked down and swallowed hard as she thought about the possibility. There was no way, was there? They could actually be...?

"I live...in the apartment complex...across the street," her words came out but it was obvious she hadn't wanted to say them because she knew what that meant. That meant that they lived in the same place. Why? Why? Why was the world doing this to her? After everything too? Why couldn't things go right?

It was then that the pedestrian light finally changed to green and the people around them started to walk to the other side of the street. Mei, however, stayed in place as she looked back up towards Ryunosuke. She knew he probably understood what at all meant, might as well be blunt about it.

"We live in the same place, don't we?" But how bad? How close? She turned away and started to slowly walk the crosswalk. In the end, all they could do was find out and deal with it. At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at the door right next to hers.

 

[Stray Shinku]

​

"I live... in the apartment complex... across the street..."

Those words struck Ryunosuke like a lighting when he heard them coming out from Mei, confirming his fears of her living in the same place as her. He sighed and looked down, scoffing and shaking his head, refusing to believe what was going on. He simply couldn't understand why, from all the people in the whole world, it has to be Mei the one to move to that free apartment.

"Ah, I get it," he thought and quickly lifted his head, looking around with an awkward sile. "This is all part of a prank show. Of course! Where are the camera, mmh?" Unluckily for him, there were no cameras to be found, meaning that, want it or not and from now on, Mei is going to be his neighbor.

Scoffing at the realization of this reality, Ryunosuke lowered his head and nodded, biting his lower lip with a sarcastic smile, cursing inside his mind. "Well, um... I'm afraid we do," he replied to her last question, lifting his head and beginning to walk to the sidewalk across the street, holding his bag tightly. "This day is getting weird as it progress, right? First the random encounters and now we live in the same place. What next? You live right in the apartment in front of mine?"

With a chuckle, Ryunosuke passed by Mei and shook his head. "I guess we should walk there together then," he said afterward, shrugging his shoulders. "We are going to find each other again, anyway."

With nothing else to say, Ryunosuke kept walking, heading to his place and not minding if Mei decided to walk with him or not.

---

​

The apartment complex Ryuosuke lived was a huge block with 4 tall building painted in grey and white, each with 12 floors. People could buy or rent the apartments, and because of the prices were really affordable, most of the apartments were taken. Ryunosuke lived in the C Building, the one a the East of the entrance of the complex.

As he arrived at the place, his aunt was waiting for him. She was sitting on a bench with her right leg crossed while smoking a cigarette. As she heard somebody coming, she moved her head to look at her nephew and smiled. "Ah, you're finally here, Ryu-kun!" she said, finishing her smoke before digging the rest on a small sand cup on top of a trash can beside the bench.

Sighing, Ryunosuke stopped in front of her and frowned at her. "You know how much I hate every time you smoke, right?" he asked her and she nodded. "I know, Ryu-kun, but my nerves have been killing me lately." He blinked once and looked down to the ground, having a feeling why his aunt was so nervous and worried. "She's not getting any better, huh?" he asked her, but after remembering that Mei could've come with him, he widened his eyes a bit and shook his head. "You know what? I'm not in the mood to talk about it, so let's just get back home, okay?"

His aunt nodded and slowly stood up from the bench. "Ah, by the way, I spoke to the person that moved to the apartment in front of ours," she said as she stretched her arms widely with her eyes closed. "It's a man with a daughter. I think she has your same age or so, so, if you see her, please, treat her nicely. After all, we're going to be neighbors."

As Ryunosuke heard those words, his eyes widened and he quickly looked down to the ground, speechless. "THIS ALL MOST BE A FUCKING JOKE!" he thought, once again cursing under his breath his bad luck.

 

[ScarletNova]

​

Mei wished it was a prank, that all of this wasn't real. Maybe she was just having a bad dream or something like that? But she knew that wasn't true. In the end, she was going to be living near the 'Dark Wolf' she had declared war on. This was going to be a mess. There wasn't anything that could be done about it though.

"Please don't even joke about that," she commented to him when he mentioned about living in front of him because for some reason, she didn't see it as a joke. With the way things were going, that was actually going to happen. But she was surprised when she heard him chuckle, then mention about walking together.

Well, they were going to the same way anyway. So, she walked with him. She lagged behind just slightly though because she wasn't quite sure if any of this was even a good idea, but they were going to the same building. She had been hoping that even if they were in the same building, they wouldn't be that close.

But her fears were confirmed when she saw that she was definitely following him the whole time, even to the point when he started to talk to some woman who was waiting outside for him. She didn't really notice too much of what they said together at first, though it was obvious it was something he wanted to hide. Not getting better? Who wasn't getting better?

But then they moved on. And that was when Mei stepped forward. "Wait...don't tell me you talked with...my dad," she suddenly replied. She didn't seem to be too happy about that. The woman's words meant that they really were right next to her. But she had ran out of surprise at that point when he related to him. She just somehow knew that was going to happen.

Mei looked away for a moment, but then turned back to the woman, realizing she should be more polite to her new neighbor. "S-Sorry. I mean, it's nice to meet you. I'm Mei. I'm your new neighbor."

This was really awkward. How was she going to deal with all this?

 

[Stray Shinku]

​

When Mei suddenly spoke to his aunt, Ryunosuke quickly lifted his head and turned around to face her, kind of surprised that she really walked with him the rest of their trip even when he was the one that told her to do so. After a moment, he moved his head to his right to look away, not being able to look at her after feeling weird. They're definitely going to be neighbors and there was nothing he could do to change or stop it. At least something that wasn't considered a crime or something along those lines. Sighing and blushing with embarrassment, Ryunosuke quickly began to walk away, heading to his apartment and without saying nothing.

Chuckling, his aunt sighed and crossed her arms, watching him go with a smile. "Ah, don't worry about him, darling," she told Mei without looking at her. "My dear Ryu-kun has been always this shy and reserved since he was a child. However, now that he's older and on her way to manhood, he acts kind of tough, but deep inside, he's the same old Ryunosuke." Giggling, the aunt turned to her right and looked down a Mei with a cheerful smile and placed her right index over her lips. "But, hey, don't tell him I told you something like this, okay?" she told her with another giggle. "I mean, his angry reaction with be darn cute and adorable, but I don't want to embarrass him in front of people, though. He will use his law of silence with me and that won't be good for me."

Sighing, the aunt crossed her arms. "Well, enough of that. Now that we are going to be close neighbors, I think it's good to know each other, mmh?" Smiling brightly, she held out her right hand at Mei, looking at her in her eyes. "I'm Koko. Koko Suzumiya and the lovely aunt of Ryu-kun. Nice to meet you, Mei-san."

It was more than obvious that Koko loved Ryunosuke a lot and thought that he was a nice and shy guy in his school, oblivious to his reign of terror as the "Dark Wolf". What would this woman do if she ever discovers that her lovely and innocent Ryunosuke is, in fact, a feared bully in his school? Will it be good to tell her her such news?

"Ko-chan, come on!" shouted Ryunosuke standing in front of the C Building, waiting for Koko. "I'm hungry and tired, so less chatting and more walking."

 

[ScarletNova]

​

Mei glanced over towards Ryunosuke as he said nothing and started to head for the apartment building, but she turned her attention back to the woman who knew him when she started to speak to her. Shy and reserved? Acts tough but still the same inside? Don't tell him she said that? Cute and adorable reaction?

Did this woman really know that black haired man? Or was he keeping his real personality from her? Or maybe the personality he used in school wasn't his real one at all? There were a lot of questions running through her mind. She was torn out of them when she found a hand reached out to her.

Mei put her bags into her other hand with the others. She grasped the hand and gave it a small shake while she heard the woman's introduction. So, she was his aunt? "It's nice to meet you too," Mei replied and released Koko's hand and put her bags back into the other. She gave the woman a small smile.

But she looked over towards Ryunosuke again when he spoke about being tired and hungry so they should stop chatting. Jeez, couldn't he be nicer and to his own aunt? And she thought he was a shy, reserved guy still? Mei couldn't help but release a sigh as she thought about it. Well, she should head to the apartment too. After all, she had groceries.

"I should get my groceries inside and away anyway," she then said to Koko. She bowed to his aunt and smiled momentarily. Then she started to head to the apartment building. It was a bit weird, but obviously she had to follow Ryunosuke since they lived right in the same area. It really did feel odd though.

She arrived to her door and placed some of her bags onto the ground so she could pull out the key. She unlocked the door and opened it up wide. Then she took hold of her bags again to head inside. It was quiet and Mei figured that her father wasn't there now. From the outside you could still tell that they hadn't unpacked all their boxes yet, as most of them were still around the room and there wasn't much out.