Chapter Text
I got off work late, after a long day of putting up with people's bad attitude, I decided to go for a little walk before I got home so I could clear my head a bit in the fresh air and the quietness of the night. However, I think something, or rather, someone is spoiling the moment for me. I turn my head slightly to look back as I continue walking and I see a man, I don't know if he's following me or I'm just paranoid so I decide to pick up my pace and change the path. Unfortunately for me the man does the same as me and even starts to walk faster to try and catch up, I think he knows I've noticed he's following me. I get quite nervous and start running without noticing which streets I'm passing and that's why I end up in a small alley. The man is still following me and I don't know what to do, I see that there is a door at the entrance of the alley where I have entered and without thinking I try to open it.
- Damn it! It can't be, it won't open. - I can't help but speak out loud as I shake the doorknob with all my might and watch in horror as the man who was following me peeks out of the alley. My vision blurs with tears. Suddenly I lose my balance and without understanding what is happening some arms grab me, I look around for a moment and realise that the door has opened, looking up I can only make out dark eyes but I can't think clearly so I just act on instinct.
-Let me go, let me go, let me go, let me go.- I start to stir and it seems that I scare the guy as he lets me go and I fall to the ground, I get up as I can and without hesitation I get into the shop while he stands at the door stunned. I look around a bit and see a lot of motorbikes.
- Hey, come back here! - I turn around and it's the man who was chasing me, I can't help but start shaking, my vision blurs again and all I can do is run towards what seems to be the back of the store.
- Hey, hey where do you think you're going? - I hear a new voice, I think it's the dark-eyed boy.
- Don't touch me! What do you think you’re doing?
- What do you mean, what am I doing? This is my shop, you can't come in. Go away before I beat you up. -
I hear a loud bang, I don't know what's going on so I decide to hide under a table. After a while I stop hearing them but I don't move from my 'hiding place'.
- Hello? You can come out now. - It's the voice of the owner of the motorbike shop. I still don't move.
- I mean... I don't want to hurt you and that man is already gone. - I hear as his footsteps come closer to where I am.
-Where have you...? Hey, there you are. - He says in a very soft voice as he bends down to face me. - You don't have to worry, that man won't come near you again. You are safe. -
I stare into the boy's eyes, they are very dark but he has a kind and sincere look in his gaze so I decide it's time to get out from under the table. I try to calm my breathing to control my nerves a bit.
- I uhm... I... I'm s-sorry.- My anxiety is sky high and it's hard to speak properly, I take a deep breath and put my hands to my chest to try to regulate my nerves again.
- Don't worry, you don't have to apologise, are you OK? That man... did he do something to you? -
- Oh, no no. I'm fine, he didn't do anything to me... thanks to you. I'm sorry for the situation I've put you in and thank you very much, really. - I see how the boy smiles at me.
- I repeat, you have nothing to apologise for, I'm glad you're ok... What's your name? -
- Y/N. By the way, what happened? You know... while I've run away. - I bite my lip while I wait for his answer and I see how his gaze is fixed on my mouth but he seems to wake up quickly.
- Ah, that, well... that man has a broken nose now. I don't think he'll try anything weird again. I'm Shinichiro by the way. - He smiles at me again and now that I'm calmer I can see he's quite attractive.
- I, erm I should go. Thank you very much, again. -
- Don't you want me to walk you home? I can give you a ride on my motorbike. - After everything that happened tonight I still don't feel safe, I don't want to stay here any longer, I don't feel like walking home again but I also don't feel good accepting his offer. Shinichiro notices my bewilderment.
- I really don't want to hurt you but I wouldn't feel right if I let you walk home alone now. - Maybe I can ask him to walk with me, after all I can always run away if something happens.
- I don't... I don't want to ride a motorbike. - I cross my arms in front of my chest and grab my sleeves to try to reassure myself as I turn my head to the side.
- Oh, sure, no problem, we can walk, is that okay with you?- As soon as he sees me nod he smiles - Good, then give me five minutes to finish closing the shop and let's go. - Shinichiro looks at me once we are ready to go.
- Where are we going?- Just then I realise that I don't know where I am.
- Ahm... I don't know? - Shinichiro looks at me with a surprised look. - I just don't know where we are, I started running but I didn't notice where I was going. - I smile a little bit out of embarrassment and Shinichiro smiles back at me.
- It's understandable, don't worry. -
The rest of the way to my house is quiet, we walk side by side in silence and I'm glad I asked him to accompany me, his presence is comforting.
- Don't you like motorbikes? - I'm startled to hear his voice so suddenly. -Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. -
- No, it's not that... I think I'm still a little shaken up from earlier. It's not your fault. And I don't really have any formal opinions about motorbikes. I've never been on one. - That last bit sounds like an incredible confession to him as he looks at me rather surprised.
- Really? Well, they're great, mine is a model…- Suddenly Shinichiro starts blabbering about motorbikes and I realise something, he's nervous, it's very cute and I can't help but laugh. - What's wrong, did I say something funny? - He looks at me confused.
- No, it's just that... You're not used to talking to girls, are you? - I stare at him and see how he blushes up to his ears.
- It's not that, well yes, but it's just that... I didn't want you to be uncomfortable while we were walking but I didn't know what to talk about and I think... I just made the situation more awkward. - I smile widely, my first smile of fun tonight.
- Calm down, calm down, you'll end up with smoke coming out of your ears if you get any redder. - Shinichiro stops and covers his face with one hand and looks away. - "It's okay, you didn't make me uncomfortable, and I wasn't really uncomfortable walking in silence with you either.
- Really? You don't have to be nice, it's my fault for starting to talk about something that doesn't interest you. -
- Don't worry, I'm being sincere and we've already arrived. Thank you very much for everything. -
- Oh well, it's nothing. Have a good rest. -
I enter the house and I can't help but get my heart racing a little at the thought of Shinichiro even though the way we said goodbye was a little awkward and sudden but I'm tired and I've had a long day so I go straight to bed.
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Shin POV:
After arriving late for the get-together with my friends, I had to explain to them what had just happened to me so that they wouldn't reproach me for the time I had kept them waiting.
- And you just let her leave? Just like that? Man, it was a perfect opportunity. - Wakasa and Takeomi start poking me for not asking Y/N for her number.
- It wasn't a perfect opportunity, she was pretty scared. You didn't see her but if you were me you wouldn't have asked her either. Yes she's pretty and yes I'd like to have her number but I would have only taken advantage of her in that situation. - Both Waka and Takeomi stare at me and sigh.
- So... Does this count as rejection number 21? - If looks could kill Wakasa would be dead.
- I'd say yes. - And Takeomi too.
- Takeomi! Don't support Wakasa! Obviously it doesn't count as a rejection because I didn't ask her out. - I love them but they're unbearable when they want to be.
………………………………
I'm so tired and to top it off, my friends keep insisting that I bring something to Shinichiro as a thank you for what happened a week ago. I'm incredibly frustrated because I've been stuck on my theory all week. Why the hell did I choose to be a physicist? Ah yes, I'm a masochist. Luckily today I have nothing else to do at college so I can just sit at home all afternoon with the kitty.
- Y/N! You're going home already aren't you? - I don't need to look to know it's Rio, my best friend at work even though I don't feel like dealing with her endless excess of energy right now. - Hey heeeey, don't ignore me, here this is for you, well not for you it's for you to give it to that boy. - I turn around confused and I see her handing me a bag full of homemade biscuits.
- I'm not going to take them to him. -
- Come on, don't be like that, it would be a nice gift for your saviour. -
-It would be nice if I had made them but that's not going to happen, besides I want to go home with my cat. -
- At this rate you're going to end up wrinkled and alone. -
- I don't see the problem, my dream in this life is to be a crazy cat lady. - Rio laughs.
- You're so funny Y/N.- I meant it but I think it's better not to clear up the confusion. Oh no, I don't like the way Rio is looking at me. - Look I don't care what you think, you'll go and bring him the biscuits and it will be a nice touch because you won't tell him that you didn't make them. You need to learn to socialize with more people. - I look at her mockingly as I raise an eyebrow.
- Yeah, but your big plan has a small flaw, you have no way of forcing me to do anything. - She smiles, a triumphant smile to my surprise.
- Are you sure? And who's going to keep covering for you on your mini-breaks from work? -
- Don't play with that, woman. -
- So go see the boy, you know where he works don't you? Well, today is the perfect day. It would be a super nice story if you two started dating. -
- Yes, beautiful, starting with the key element of every love story, a wannabe psycho chasing the girl. - Even though I'm complaining I grab the biscuits because I know she won't leave me alone until I go see him.
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- Good afternoon, how can I help you? - Shinichiro speaks without even looking at who has come through the door, he seems quite overwhelmed as he keeps his eyes on his computer and looks at it as if he wants to hit it with a bat. Looks like I'm not the only one who got stressed out at work today.
- Hi, I didn't come to buy anything, just came by to say hello. - Shinichiro turns his head so fast when he hears me that I'm surprised he didn't hurt himself.
- Y/N, Hi! I didn't expect to see you here. How are you? - He smiles and comes closer to me.
- Good...- I should give him the biscuits but I'm dying of embarrassment.
- Good. - We just stare at each other without doing anything, maybe this moment is worse than giving him the biscuits.
- Uhm I... I was just stopping by to give you this as a thank you. You know, for the other night…- I hand him the biscuits looking away because I can't handle the embarrassment. Shinichiro takes them without saying anything and when I look at him I see that he is once again blushing up to his ears.
- Thank you even though you didn't have to. - I really want to tell him that I didn't make them but maybe it's not the best way to change the subject.
- Yeah, and any problems with the computer? You were looking at it as if it had killed your pet. - Shinichiro snorts as he looks at the computer.
- You can bet on it. Lately the program I use keeps crashing and I can't update the orders or the inventory. -
- Did you touch something in the software? Or did it just start crashing? -
- I haven't touched it at all, I've had it for years and it was fine until this week. -
- How many years? -
- A couple of years, since I opened the shop. -
- Do you mind if I take a look at it? -
- No sure, you may. Are you a programmer? -
- No, I'm a physicist and for your information, we physicists program like shit but we know the basics. - It seems that my comment made him laugh, although it's only the truth.
I'm on the computer for a while and luckily I manage to fix the problem.
- You're amazing! It's working, what was wrong with it? -
- Well, you didn't delete anything, you literally had the computer on the verge of overclocking. Maybe you should consider making backups on some device and delete the old files, otherwise it will explode because it won't have enough memory to work, anyway I've partitioned the hard disk, that will prevent it from dying for now because it reserves part of its resources to work, the bad thing is that you lose some useful memory. - Shinichiro just nods.
- Are you sure you only know the minimum? -
- Yes yes, if you knew the dramas I have with computers too, you'd believe it. - He smiles at me.
- I'll keep your advice in mind, thanks. Would you like to go for a coffee or something sometime? You know... as a thank you for fixing my computer? -
- Oh, you can take the computer thing as a thank you for the other day. - Shinichiro stares at me.
- Didn't you make me biscuits for that? Then the computer thing is separate... - I can't take it any more with the biscuits issue, it's not my style.
- Yes the biscuits... I didn't make them myself. - Shin looks at me confused.
- Did you buy them? - Well, I've already said it, so I may as well tell him everything.
To my surprise Shinichiro just smiles.
- Well, anyway, I'm glad you came and not just for the help. It's good to see you. And I'm actually looking forward to meeting you sometime, if you’d like to. - Maybe trying to socialize more genuinely isn't such a bad idea. After all, what could go wrong?
- Yes, that's fine with me. Give me your mobile and I'll save my number for you. -
- I have it in the back, I'll be right back. - While I'm waiting for him to come back I stop to take a good look at the motorbike shop, there are a lot of different models. When I turn around again I am surprised to find a little boy, I don't know when he came in.
- What are you doing at the back of the counter? - The boy looks a bit like Shinichiro, they have the same eyes. Are they related?
- I was fixing the computer. -The boy looks at me with questioning eyes but Shin interrupts him before he can answer me anything.
- Manjiro, what are you doing here? -
- Shin-nii Who is she? - Straight to the point and ignoring what he is told, the boy goes his own way.
- This... well, she's... a friend? - The boy looks at him in confusion.
- You're asking me? - Manjiro looks even more confused. The interaction between the two boys amuses me.
- I'm Y/N, Shinichiro's friend. -
- I didn't know my brother could talk to girls. - I burst out laughing.
- Manjiro! What are you doing here? -
- Oh, I've broken a light on my CB250T. -
- Really? Again? -
- I had to show Kei-chan that I care!-
-What? - I let out a small laugh, diverting the attention of the two boys towards me.
- Sorry, I think I'm leaving now. - Shinichiro opens his eyes and before I can move he holds out his mobile phone.
- I forgot. - I take his mobile phone, write down my number quickly and give it back to him.
- See you Shin-kun. My pleasure Manjiro-chan. - I smile at the two guys before leaving the shop.
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Sano’s House
- No way! Are you serious Shin-nii? - Emma is very excited about the news that her big brother has a girlfriend.
- It's not true, Mikey, stop making stuff up. She's not my girlfriend, she's just a friend, so stop dreaming. -
- Eeeh, that's bad Shin-nii. That's boring. - Emma pouts.
- Let me know the day you're going to meet. - Shinichiro looks at Izana strangely.
- And why should I do that, Izana? -
- Because you have zero taste in fashion and you need a stylist. - Shinichiro puts a hand to his face as he sighs.
- Damn you brats, leave me alone with it. She's a friend, full stop. -