Kyoukai no RINNE © Rumiko Takahashi.
Falling
Rinne really did not mind coming to Sakura Mamiya's rescue. At first it was impulse, something he did because he felt it was necessary. He wouldn't stand for dragging a human into his shinigami duties only to let them get hurt in the process.
But as time progressed and Sakura Mamiya grew more and more involved in his job, his instinctual habit of saving her started giving itself new reasons. It wasn't long before he began catching her because he needed to, duty and pride no longer factors. There was even a moment when he picked her up to get her away from a ghost-turned-evil that he caught himself liking the way her hands wove themselves behind his neck.
It wasn't long after that he'd walk with her down the stairs and outside, toward the weather hutch, fully prepared to catch her should she stumble in the slightest. He could tell it sometimes bothered her, especially when she would push his hands away and tell him firmly, yet gently, "It's okay; I'm not afraid to fall."
But he was. By now he had figured out that he fancied her, and it troubled him. He could tell her, but what good would it do? He didn't have the money to take her out, or give her a gift. And, as if his debt couldn't be more of a burden, he wasn't financially stable enough to support her, and he had no idea when he would be. Rinne literally could not afford to fall in love, and the fact that he was standing on the brink of it terrified him.
So he made a silent promise to catch Sakura Mamiya every time she fell, memorize her weight in his arms, and enjoy the way her hands wove themselves behind his neck, for it was the best excuse he had to forget everything else and hold her close. For now, it would do.
AN: It's interesting that Rinne "coming to the rescue" is usually catching Sakura, not fighting an enemy, taking a hit, or beating something down before it can hurt her. It's cute. C: