Chapter Text
Shidou Ryuusei was the most annoying man ever. There was nothing likeable about him, he never knew when to shut up, and worst of all, he was way too talkative to literally everyone around him. Rin was quiet, reserved, introverted, and Shidou was the complete opposite of that. Rin knows what those kinds of people are like; Insufferable.
Even despite that, he could've gotten along with Shidou if their first interaction hadn't ended with them threatening to beat each other to the ground. And normally, Rin could move on from that, probably never even think about it again. But there was something about Shidou that Rin just couldn't put his finger on, that made him stand out, that made Rin hate him even more.
As Rin walked down the hallway of his school, he must've gotten so lost in thought that he forgot to look ahead, and ended up bumping into the man himself.
“Watch where you're going, roach.” The interaction should've ended there, but as Rin tried to walk away Shidou grabbed him by his sweater. “You're the one not paying attention. Whatcha thinking about over there anyways?” His grip was strong, so strong to the point he was almost lifting Rin off the ground.
It wasn't any of his business what Rin was thinking about anyways, why would he owe him any response in general? And quite frankly, he was already done with this conversation. Rin used all his strength to land a punch to Shidou's head, making him loosen his grip and giving Rin the chance to escape. He hadn't noticed the crowd of other students surrounding them until this moment.
As he attempted to push through the crowd, he felt a kick to his back, making him stumble forward. Once he regained his balance, he turned around to see the fucker smirking at him. Just as Rin was about to punch him again, he heard a voice echo his name through the hallway. Shit, he had to get out of here.
“Bye roach.” Rin said before running through the sea of people, ignoring any protests Shidou had. Once he got to the end of the hallway where there were significantly less people, he saw Bachira and Isagi. They were about to call his name again, until Bachira noticed Rin and ran over to him. “Where were you?! You better not have been getting into more fights!” Rin wasn't particularly scared of Bachira, but he did manage to be one of the only people Rin liked being around, and he'd prefer not to make him mad.
“Yeah yeah, I wasn't. I just had to stay after class for something.” And just like that, Bachira went back to being his usual bubbly self. “Oh, alright! Come on then!” He grabbed Rin's hand and dragged him back to Isagi so they could all walk to the cafeteria. Bachira was always so energetic, his steps were so fast that Rin almost had to run to keep up with him.
Once they sat down with their food, Rin took out his sketchbook and started working on one of his drawings he'd started earlier that day. Bachira's face lit up as if he had just remembered something. “Oh oh, Isagi! Tell Rin about the thing!” Isagi looked up from his plate of food, and spoke hesitantly. “Oh yeah, I'm having a party at my house tonight, you can come if you want to, Rin.” He said with a smile. Rin could tell he wasn't exactly excited for him to be there, but at least he was being nice.
Both Isagi and Bachira were significantly more popular than Rin was, it was a miracle they talked to him in the first place. But luckily, Rin and Bachira were childhood friends who understood each other better than most people could, Bachira just happened to be more social than Rin.
Bachira knew that parties weren't exactly Rin's thing, but he would make him go nonetheless in an attempt to get him some friends. He looked at Rin with his big, pleading eyes that almost no one would be able to say no to. “Alright, I guess I'll go.” Bachira almost screamed in excitement, startling both Isagi and Rin. “See Rin?! I bet you're gonna have a ton of fun!” Rin smiled at him nervously.
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If Bachira wanted Rin to be social that badly, the most he could do was make himself stand out. It would also be nice to have a chance to show off his style instead of being limited by his school's dress code. He wore baggy jeans with multiple belts, and a band T-shirt that was too big for him, with a sweater over it. He gave himself black eyeshadow, and let his bangs fall in front of his face, covering one of his eyes.
He looks at himself in the mirror for a moment before grabbing his phone and heading down the stairs. He walked out the front door and waited in front of his house for Bachira to show up. It's honestly embarrassing being the only person in his grade without a drivers license. Bachira shouldn't take too long to get there, so Rin's mind starts to wander to pass the time. Hopefully he wouldn’t get too fucked up while there, he did have school tomorrow. Speaking of, who the hell has a party in the middle of the week? At least wait until the weekend or something.
Speaking of school, who else was gonna be at that party? I mean, considering Isagi knows pretty much everyone in the god damn school there's probably gonna be a lot of people who Rin doesn't know. God damn it, the roach is probably gonna be there, isn't he? Rin knows that if he is, their little interaction from earlier will probably continue against Rin's will, and he'd prefer not to make a big scene in front of everyone again. His best hope would be to just avoid him at all cost. Why was he even thinking about him anyways? He doesn't even know if he'll be there or not.
A car pulls up in front of Rin's house and honks to get his attention. He's snapped out of his thoughts, and he walks over to the passenger seat of the car. “How come you're always so caught up in your thoughts?” Bachira says with a giggle once Rin sits down. “It's nothing. Just random stuff really.” Rin puts on his seatbelt as Bachira starts to drive off again.
The drive was mostly silent aside from the quiet music playing on the radio. It takes only a few minutes for them to get to Isagi's house. Before he even opens the door, he can hear loud music coming from inside, as well as the conversation between what he can only guess to be hundreds of people, even though he knows not that many people are there.
He wasn't scared or anything, he just wasn't really used to places with a lot of people or loud noises. Bachira opened the door and Rin hesitantly stepped in behind him, subconsciously holding onto his sleeve so as to not get lost in the crowd. They walked through the house, navigating past the many people there, until they found Isagi standing in front of a table with various alcoholic drinks.
Bachira greeted him with a kiss on the cheek before the two started conversing, leaving Rin by himself to figure out what he wanted to do while there. Honestly, he was already pissed off. Bachira wanted him to come oh so badly and then he just ignores him as soon as they get there? What did he expect him to even do here?
Rin wasn't the irresponsible type. He'd gotten drunk maybe once in his entire life, and it certainly wasn't at a party filled with people. But what's the worst that could happen if he drank just a couple of drinks? He turned to the table behind him and poured the first drink he saw into a plastic cup. He didn't even know what half of the drinks there tasted like, so who was he to be picky? He took a sip and held back a gag as he swallowed. How do people get addicted to this shit?
…
Alright, maybe he was too quick to judge, because less than an hour has passed by and he's already drunk 5 cups without even noticing. He can feel his thoughts getting more foggy by the second, and he really doesn't know how much longer he'll be conscious. Maybe standing wasn't much of a good idea right now. He takes a step forward and finds himself wobbling on his feet, but still able to walk.
He can't even form an actual thought by now, all he knows is he needs to get to somewhere he can sit down. He bumps into someone that he can't make out, but they seem to know exactly who he is. He watches the man as his face contorts into that of pure annoyance.
“You just can't leave me alone, can you?” Shidou groans and rolls his eyes. He definitely wasn't as drunk as Rin was, but he had drunk enough to not care as much about his presence as he usually would. But it wasn't until he got a good look at Rin before he realized that he wasn't exactly in his usual mood either. “Huh? Fuck do you want?” Rin's words slurred. He stumbled on his feet, trying to keep his balance.
Shidou stood there for a moment, confused, shocked, and kind of amused. He'd never seen Rin this out of it before. Sure, sometimes he can get caught off guard whenever he's daydreaming, but that's about the closest Shidou's gotten to seeing Rin actually out of it until now. Shidou hates Rin, and Rin hates him just as much, if not more, but something in Shidou's gut told him not to walk away.
“Jesus Christ, how much did you drink?” Shidou pinched the bridge of his nose. “Not that much, m barely even drunk.” Rin stumbled again, this time not able to catch himself as he fell forward. Shidou grabbed onto his shoulders in an attempt to keep him up, but it was clear he couldn't stand by himself for much longer. Shidou sighed, before stepping forward and wrapping one of Rin's arms around his neck to help him walk.
He knows Rin definitely shouldn't be here right now. He also knows that in order to get him home he needs to find Bachira, who he hasn't seen this entire night. He starts walking through the house, asking a few people here and there if they've seen Bachira, until he finally finds him on a couch making out with Isagi. Of course.
It honestly surprises Shidou how little shame people can have when they're surrounded by others, but that's not his business no matter how public the business is. “Bachira.” He says bluntly, his voice slightly raised to make himself able to be heard over the sound of the music. Bachira swiftly pulled himself off Isagi to look back at Shidou. “I need his address” Shidou turned his eyes to Rin, who was clearly on the brink of passing out.
“You're gonna take him home? I can if you don't want to” He sits up, still straddling Isagi. “Nah, it's fine. I was gonna leave soon anyways.” Shidou pulls Rin up, feeling him get more and more tired from standing. Bachira thinks for a moment before replying.
“Well he doesn't live too far from here, so I trust you'll get him home safe.” Bachira glares at Shidou, in a way that makes Shidou feel somehow intimidated by him. “No no, of course I will” “Then we're all good! Drive safe!” Bachira waves to Shidou, as he takes his phone out of his pocket with his other hand. Shidou waves back before making his way to the front door.
He sighs once he exits the building, relieved at the sudden quietness. He starts walking to his car, now able to pay more attention to Rin. “Where are we going..?” Rin mumbles, his face shoved into Shidou's shoulder, making him almost inaudible. “Jesus where have you been this whole time? I'm taking you home.” He looks at Rin for a moment, watching him blink a few times before he replies. “Oh. Alright.” His voice is almost a whisper now.
He's so vulnerable like this, it's something Shidou has never seen before from Rin. He might actually be tolerable if this were how he usually acts. But… maybe he shouldn't be getting drunk in places like this. God knows what would've happened if he were left by himself in a state like this.
He heard a sniffle from Rin, and it wasn't long before he was silently crying into his shoulder. “Wha- hey, what's wrong?” Shidou lifted his face up his face to get a better look at him. Rin looked back up at him, blinking to try to get the tears out of his eyes. He couldn't talk back, he only let out a small whimper in response. “Okay, uhm… whatever’s wrong, I’m taking you home now, and you’ll be okay, okay?” Shidou’s hand stayed on the side of Rin’s face to keep him looking up. Rin nodded to him.
They got to Shidou’s car. Shidou opened the door of the passenger side for Rin, before he dropped onto the seat. Shidou went over to the driver's seat of the car. As soon as he sat down, Rin fell onto his side. He was still crying, and Shidou wouldn't be surprised if his sweater ended up covered in tears, but he couldn't care less right now. His first priority was getting Rin home.
He pulled up to the address Bachira sent him and stepped out of the car. He went to the other side and opened the door for Rin, who was clearly on the verge of passing out. Rin stepped out and fell against Shidou’s side again. Shidou wrapped his arm around Rin, helped him walk up the steps to the front door, and rang the doorbell. He’s sure Sae hadn't gone to the party, so hopefully it was him who opened the door and not either of their parents, god forbid they saw Rin like this.
Thankfully, it was Sae who opened the door, who was immediately concerned by the sight in front of him. “What the fuck? What happened to him?!” He reached out to hold onto Rin and took him out of Shidou’s arms. “Listen man, I tried asking him how much he drank but obviously he was too out of it to let me know” Rin was now leaning against Sae, his head thrown over his shoulder. “Well thanks I guess, but you can leave now.” He wrapped his arms around Rin to keep him standing. Shidou shrugged “Whatever you say, bye Sae!”
As soon as the door closed, Sae grabbed Rin by the shoulders and pushed him forward just enough to get a good look at him. “Rin, why” he asked blankly. “What are you even talking about? I didn't do anything. I'm fine.” Rin responded, his words clearly not matching his body language. His feet were still wobbling, but now Sae heard a small gag from him. “Alright, come on.” Sae pulled him forward again and picked him up off the ground, speed walking to the nearest bathroom in their house. He opened the door and carefully dropped Rin in front of the toilet, holding his hair out of his face as he threw up.
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Rin woke up, his head already pounding as soon as the light from the window hit his eyes. He tried to remember what had happened the night before, but everything was a blur. How did he even get home? He groaned, sat up, and picked up his phone off of his nightstand to realize his alarm went off 30 minutes ago. Shit. he’s never been late to class before, and with the kinds of teachers he has, he’d rather not find out what would happen if he were to be late. He scrambled to get his clothes and backpack and ran out the door as soon as he could.
Thankfully, he ended up only being a couple of minutes late to his first class. He still got in trouble, but at least he didn't get the worst of it. It wasn't until he sat down at his desk that he realized just how much his whole entire body hurt. What did he do the night before? How much did he drink? He barely even remembers anything. Damn it, how could he do something this stupid? He spent the rest of his classes feeling exactly the same, he knew he wouldn't be able to get a second of rest until he got home. He took out his notebook and doodled on the side to pass the time, and hopefully get a distraction from whatever nonsense the teacher had started talking about.
After his third class ended, he walked through the halls, trying to find Bachira and Isagi. It was mostly empty at the moment, but as he looked ahead, he saw Shidou walk around the corner. Is he gonna start some shit again? Any situation that came to Rin’s mind, he’s dreading, but he continued walking. The both of them passed by each other, but this time, Shidou only gave him a glance. No smirk, no snarky remark, just a glance with the usual blank face he has when he’s not bothering anyone. Rin’s steps came to a stop. He looked behind him to see Shidou paying no mind to him. Was he ok? Rin wondered, but he continued walking down the hallway.
Eventually he reached the lunchroom, and saw Isagi in the same seat he was always in, but the only difference was that Bachira wasn't there. He walked over to the table, sat down in front of Isagi, and took out his food. “Where’s Bachira?” Isagi looked up from his own food and began to speak, his mouth still half full. “Oh, he said he needed to stay after class for something, I'm not really sure.” Rin hummed in response, and took a bite of his food.
“So, like, do you have any idea what I did last night? You know, after you two left me.” “Oh yeah… sorry about that.” Isagi chuckled nervously. “But no, I didn't really see anything you did. The only time I saw you was right before Shidou took you home.” “Wait, Shidou was the one who took me home?” Rin's chopsticks almost dropped out of his hand. Now a billion different scenarios are playing in his mind of what could've happened. Did something weird happen with Shidou? Is that why he was acting so differently today?
“He didn't tell you? I honestly thought you guys were kinda close.” Rin scoffed “I'd rather strip down butt ass naked and sit on a hot grill than ever be in the same room as him.” Isagi may not have been the most observant person, but this was way too far off, even for him. “Whatever you say I guess, you both are just really similar. You guys have a lot in common.” Isagi continued picking at his food. Maybe if you knew nothing about either Rin or Shidou you might be able to say they're similar, but as someone who's hung out with Rin for the past 3 years, he should be able to tell that he has nothing in common with Shidou!
Rin decided not to respond. He took another bite of his food before he changed the topic. “And what were you and Bachira doing?” For some reason this question caught Isagi completely off guard. “Oh, well uh… we were just… hanging out! You know?” He scratched the back of his head. Jesus, he really was a bad liar. Rin raised an eyebrow to this, but didn't question further. “Right…”
Their conversation continued from there. Once Bachira came back, it turned into any normal day for the three of them. Lunch went as usual, with Rin drawing for the other two and letting them keep whichever one they liked best, and the rest of their classes for the day were no different. Rin was walking to his 5th class, when he saw Shidou sprint out of the classroom. To Rin's knowledge, Shidou's next class was all the way across the building.
“Haha, this loser's gonna be late” is what Rin would've said in his mind if he didn't immediately notice the half opened notebook in Shidou's hand, filled with small sketches of people. He only got a small glimpse of what was in the book, but from what he saw, those drawings were almost identical to the kinds of things Rin would draw, just in a different style than his own.
Obviously drawing isn't really something uncommon for a person to do, but not many other people in Rin's school cared about it the way he did. Most people drew strictly to pass the time, but drawing meant more than that to Rin. It was something he could express his emotions through, something he could feel safe in doing, something that mattered to him. Sure, maybe Shidou also did it just to pass time, but something in Rin’s gut told him that wasn't the case.
Or, maybe he was just overreacting.
He walked into his classroom and sat down at his desk, preparing for whatever shitty lesson his teacher was about to give. Of course, he doodled in his notebook as usual, but every time he picked up his pencil, the questions about Shidou came back. Well, that was of course until his mind wandered off to any random topic it could.
Should he be paying attention to the lesson? Probably, but who cares. It was all just the same shit being repeated over and over. It's not like he would learn anything by watching some guy write on a board for 50 minutes. School was useless. All he wanted to do right now was go home, lay down on his bed, and fall asleep.
The rest of the class went by the same way it always did. Boring, useless. Maybe that's why Rin had been thinking about Shidou almost all day. What else was he supposed to do? Everything else sucked besides Bachira, and maybe Isagi on a good day.
He walked to his last class of the day and sat down at his desk. Math was at least somewhat interesting to him, so maybe he wouldn't be spending the whole time bored out of his mind. The school year only started a couple of months ago, and Rin never exactly paid attention to who was in his classes. But he noticed that earlier that week, Shidou had changed his schedule for whatever reason, and they both now had three classes together including this one. Unlucky for both of them. They sat on opposite sides of the classroom though, so usually Rin would leave as fast as he could and hopefully avoid Shidou.
But today, he couldn't help but look over to him. Shidou was very obviously not paying attention to anything that was happening, and was instead pencil in hand scribbling what looked to be nonsense in his notebook. Rin couldn't exactly see what he was doing from where he was sitting, but he could make out some of the drawings he had seen earlier on the page next to the one Shidou was scribbling in. His lines were messy, but he somehow managed to make them look good together, and resulted in some of the best looking sketches Rin has seen from someone in his school.
His attention switched back and forth between the lesson and Shidou's drawing, up until class ended. Everyone else was already preparing to leave, but Shidou paid no mind to his surroundings and continued drawing. The bell rang, people left the classroom and Rin could hear the commotion outside now that everyone was free to do what they wanted, and it was only now that Shidou decided to pack up.
It might've been weird for Rin to be basically watching him the whole period, but it's not like he'd ever seen this side of Shidou. And now that they're not at each other's throats, he can see just how calm Shidou looks on his own. Rin should probably get going by now, but there was one thing he wanted to do first.
He walked up next to Shidou's desk, now finally being able to get a good look at what was in the notebook he'd left open while putting everything else in his backpack. “I like your drawings.” Shidou must've not noticed Rin until now. He flinched, obviously not expecting anyone to have come up to him at the moment, and looked up at Rin standing in front of him. Rin could see a glimpse of happiness in Shidou's expression once he processed what had been said to him.
“Really?” Shidou half whispered back to him, his voice giving away just how excited he was over the compliment. Rin didn't really know how to respond, so he nodded his head. “I- uhm-” Shidou cleared his throat. “Thanks.” He attempted to keep his voice as monotone as he could at the moment. There was a long moment of silence, neither of them knowing what to say at that point. “Uhm…” Rin scratched the back of his head. He should definitely be leaving by now. “So… bye roach.” He turned around mid sentence and speed-walked out of the door and to the exit of the school.
Was it stupid of Rin to almost immediately switch up on his sworn enemy the second he found out they had something in common? Maybe, but what can he say? It's not like Shidou had given him anything to work with aside from his somehow intricate fighting skills until now. And hey, it worked out in the end, didn't it? Anything to get Rin from being beaten up every week.
After the short walk from his school to his house, he walked into the front door of his house, went up the stairs, dropped his backpack on the floor of his room, and collapsed onto his bed with a groan. He hadn't even bothered to change out of his school uniform before he fell asleep only a few seconds later.
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He woke up about 4 hours after that, his headache from earlier slightly better now. He hadn't eaten since lunchtime that day, which was maybe 6 hours ago. He wanted to go back to sleep, but the growl in his stomach wouldn't let him. He pushed himself off of his bed, changed out of his uniform, and stumbled through the house to the kitchen. His parents were nowhere to be found, but Sae was sitting at the table on his phone. Rin looked in the fridge and grabbed whatever snack he saw first, then he sat himself down next to where Sae was sitting.
“You ok?” Sae asked him, not averting his gaze from his phone. Rin chewed slowly on the snack he got. “Why wouldn't I be?” Sae paused whatever video he was watching and looked at Rin with the same blank expression he always has. “I fucking wonder Rin. It's not like you came in the house last night not even being able to walk because of how drunk you were.” “Oh… right…” Rin put his head down on the table and turned away from Sae in embarrassment. I've felt like shit all day” “Yeah, that happens. Don't ever get that drunk again, at least not any time soon.” Rin, being too tired to talk, hummed in response. Sae smacked the back of Rin’s head “Say you wont.” “Ow fine! I wont!” “Good!”
Rin continued eating his snack while the two of them talked. Eventually he stopped replying, and Sae knew that he had fallen asleep again. He sighed and carried Rin up to his bed.
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Today, Rin woke up to his alarm as usual, thankfully not having to worry about rushing to school like the day before. He did his usual morning routine of brushing his teeth, changing into his school clothes, and doing his hair before he grabbed his backpack and left his house.
Once he got to his school, he looked around near the entrance to find Bachira and Isagi sitting next to each other on one of the benches. He walked over to them and sat next to Bachira. “Oh, hi Rin!” Bachira waved to him and smiled. Rin waved back at the same time Isagi waved to him as well. All three of them were having normal conversation, when Bachira suddenly remembered something! “Rin! Rin!” He reached into his backpack and pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to him. “Shidou told me to give this to you!” Rin was confused, and hesitantly took the paper out of Bachira's hands.
He unfolded it to see one of Shidou's drawings of what looked to be… him? The hair was drawn messy, with one of the eyes being covered by the bangs, the drawing was wearing the same sweater Rin always wore to school, and the most notable part was the exaggerated under eyelashes. The lines were still messy, but he could tell they had a little more thought to them than usual.
Honestly, he had no idea what to say. Bachira and Isagi had started talking about a new topic now. He stared at the paper for a good minute before he spoke again. “Why did he make this?” Bachira turned to Rin “Oh… I don't know actually, you should ask him!” He continued to stare at the paper before he folded it back and put it in his pocket. He'd think about this more later.
Well, later came once school started and he sat down in his first class of the day, with Shidou himself sitting just a few seats away from him. How could he even approach Shidou about this? What would he even ask? He has so many questions and he certainly wouldn't have time to get them answered any time soon.
He's never been good with words, so he thinks of another way to possibly show his gratitude for now. He took out his sketchbook, hoping his teacher wouldn't notice, and started drawing. He had to draw Shidou perfectly. His bold eyeliner the school somehow allowed him to wear, the very specific way he always tried to style the school uniform, his spikey hair, and last but not least, that annoying smirk of his.
The drawing wasn't nearly finished by the time the class ended, so he had to continue it in his following classes. The day went by normally, with Rin working on the drawing here and there, up until his last class of the day. He added the final detail before he quietly ripped out the page, to avoid getting his teachers attention. He folded the paper in the same way as the one he got from Shidou and held it in his hand until class ended.
The bell rang, students left the classrooms. All of them besides Rin and Shidou, who were left alone together once again. Shidou was still at his desk putting his things away, when Rin came up to him again. Shidou stopped his actions and looked up at Rin, expecting him to say something, so Rin said the only thing that's been on his mind the whole day. “Why did you draw me?” Shidou averted his eyes away from Rin. “I don't know… I just wanted to.” After a few seconds passed by, he looked back at Rin again. They stood in silence, waiting for the other to say something. “Did you like it?” Shidou muttered under his breath, just loud enough to be heard.
Of course Rin liked it. No one has even ever drawn him before, let alone that well. But he couldn't tell him that, even if he wanted to, so he placed the paper he'd been holding on Shidou's desk, and watched as he unfolded it.
It was almost like what had happened the day before when Rin complimented his art, only this time, Shidou didn't make an effort to hide anything. For someone who was seemingly an asshole, he stared at the paper with the kind of joy you'd see from a little kid. And honestly, Rin had no idea how to feel. He liked seeing a reaction like that come out of someone because of his own art, but this was Shidou we're talking about. Never would he have thought he'd even see Shidou look so genuinely happy.
Shidou finally turned away from the paper to look up at Rin. He looked like he was about to say something, but Rin spoke up before he could. “Bye roach.” he blurted out, almost sounding panicked, then immediately walked out the door. Shidou didn't protest, but he spent an extra few seconds staring at the paper before he grabbed his things and left the classroom.
Once Rin got home, he took the drawing he got from Shidou and pinned it to his wall.
Maybe Shidou wasn’t as bad as he thought.