Silently you approached him. It's been two hours since the incident. He's been sitting on the swing for an hour. Wordlessly, you sat down on the swing next to him. The sadness on his face deeply upset you.

"Why aren't you home? They're waiting, you know," you said quietly, looking up at the dark sky.

"I couldn't face anyone there, if I went home."

"What happened?"

"She fired me."
Your gaze moved to him.

"Said they couldn't have a violent thug like me in her store."
Your eyes were downcast.

"... do you want me to kill her?"

"No... that won't solve anything."

"Suit yourself."

"Say..."
You looked up at him.

"Why... do you constantly hang out with me?"
His question didn't surprise you in any way, but you were curious as to why he didn't understand at this point.

"Why are you asking me that? Do you not want me to?" You inquired.

"Of course not!" He quickly defended, still not looking at you. "It's just... ever since we were kids... you... were always mocked and degraded... because you were friends with me." His hands squeezed the metal chains.

"Why are you friends with someone like me?"

"Because I chose you."

"... huh?" Slowly, his head turned up to you. "What do you mean... you chose me?" You smiled at him.

"Believe it or not, I didn't have any friends either. Not because I was an outcast, or weird, but because I didn't want friends. Didn't necessarily need them. They disappoint me." You reached over and placed your hand on the top of his head. "But when I saw you being bullied by those kids all those years ago, I knew I couldn't sit around. Even though you're more than capable of protecting yourself, I knew what trouble you'd get into."
With a light laugh, you pulled away, unaware of his blushing face.

"You get into fights a lot, you're volatile, and you have a habit of breaking rules and rebelling." You gave him a bright smile. "But I believe you're truly capable of big things. You just haven't found them yet. And I'm going be there for you, until the end." His blue eyes widened. He knew you cared for him, but he didn't know how deeply you cared about him. It made him emotional. 

With a small smile and glassy eyes hidden beneath his hair, he uttered something:

"Thank you, Y/n. For believing in me."

~
He was right. Because of your friendship with him, people directed their hate more towards you. If he got into a fight, you'd break it up. If someone hurt Rin, you hurt them back twice as much. If someone called him a 'demon' or 'monster', you'd defend him for your life. Their snide comments, now directed towards you, gave you a reputation. Not like that mattered to you. Rin was unaware at the time what was happening to you, because he was so relieved that he no longer received any glares. But he figured it out soon enough.

He begged—pleaded you to not defend him. To not be his friend anymore. He couldn't take seeing those people hurt you anymore. You just pursed your lips.

"I don't care what they say. I made a promise that I'd be here, be your friend. And I intend to keep it for as long as I can."
You were happy that he listened to you for once. Even if the comments kept coming, you and Rin grew close. You and Yukio also became friends after that. Constantly praising him and proving him wrong when he'd say bad things about himself.

Shiro saw the way your relationship was with them.

"Y/n." He knelt down to your level, a soft smile on his face. "Can you promise to always be there for those two?"
You smiled brightly at him.

"Don't worry! I'll always be there!"

~
You and Rin returned to the monastery, turning the corner past the gates. Standing near the doors were Shiro and a man.

"Ah, you're home!" Shiro acknowledged, turning his attention away from the man for a moment.

"Rin Okumura?" The stranger spoke.

"Who are you?" Rin replied. The two of you walked closer together.

"I'm her... Yui's father," he explained, turning his body to reveal the young girl you saw at the store. "I don't know how to thank you for what you've done for her."

"Oh..."
The two of you stopped in front of them.

"Is she okay?" He asked.

"Thanks to you, she only suffered a slight scrape," her father replied. Rin smiled lightly at Yui.

"Well, that's a relief."
Yui nodded in agreement.

"Yui's always been a scatterbrained child."
You glared up at the father.

"Falling down the stairs, tripping... she's never without fresh wounds..."

"Well, that's rude. Especially coming from her father," you spoke, "She ain't dumb. She's obviously being tormented." The look of shock on Rin's face only lasted a second.

"They're pulling her hair, snatching things away from her... "

"You saw this happen?" Shiro asked.

"Can you describe the person who did this?" The father asked, leaning forward near both of your faces.

"I don't know, it was someone I'd never seen before," Rin replied.

"Short, round, face like a monkey," you spoke flatly. The father frowned.

"Unbelievable..." He grabbed Yui and dragged her down the steps and towards the gates.

"Where are you going?" Shiro called out.

"To the school," he replied, "I need to contact the PTA, and ferret out whoever it is who's been bullying my daughter!"

"You don't understand!" Yui tugged on his arm. You crossed your arms with a sigh. "I'm not being bullied by humans. It's the evil fairies!"

"Fairies?" Rin repeated. You rubbed your temple with your forefinger.

'Poor kid.'

"They come into my room at night and make all sorts of mischief. These days, they even do it outside the house..."

"Yui is a child with a vivid imagination, you see..." Her father said, "I've already heard such fairy tales from her countless times. Lately, it seems as if she can't distinguish her daydreams from real life..."

"For god's sake, just listen to the kid already," you sighed out, closing your eyes.

"Y/n," Shiro said warningly. You didn't listen.

"Stop being a bitch and pay attention." You glared at him. "Real or not, your daughter's scared and she's relying on you. Stop being stupid." You scoffed, no longer able to look at him. Shiro walked past you and up to Yui, kneeling down to her level. He pulled out a small bottle and held it out to her.

"Here, this is a four-leaf clover charm," he explained, "Just holding onto it will protect you from evil." She slowly grabbed it from him with a small thank you. Shiro turned his gaze to her father.

"You okay?" You whispered into Rin's ear. His face heated up, but he nodded anyway.

"Yeah, people like that piss me off." He frowned. Shiro stood up and walked back to you. The two of them left.

"What the hell. You think that was enough to convince him?" Rin asked.

"It's far too soon for you of all people to start lecturing others," Shiro said, "Anyway, Rin, you're grounded for the foreseeable future."

"Huh? But why?"

"Your ex-boss from that part-time job just stopped by and left this!" He turned and held out a piece of paper in front of his face. "A bill for all the damage you caused to her store and goods!"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Rin, no sukiyaki for you!"

"What the...?! Hey, no fair!"

"Pfffftt." You hid your fit of giggles behind your palm.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny!"

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}