**Possible Trigger Warning for abuse/rape/harassment victims. Read at your own risk.**

She definitely didn't fit the profile for a club regular, especially not a high-speed dance club like Move. Her eyes and cheeks were heavily made up, sending off the archetypal "single-and-ready-to-mingle" signal, but she hadn't set foot on the dance floor or touched a glass since she arrived nearly an hour ago. What was more, her dress didn't outline each contour and curve of her figure. It was loose, an inch above her knees, hiding more than it showed from the bottom to the top, but it was a nice shade of salmon that complimented her fair complexion and hair, which was perched atop her crown in a neat braided bun. She had this doe-eyed innocence about her, something so delicate and chaste that he began to wonder if she was was even in college at all, much less old enough to get in to this place without a fake ID. He doubted she had one, but he doubted that she was over 21 even more…

He had to suppress a chuckle when Renzo Shima, Ren to his friends and a typical club frequenter, sauntered to her solitary corner and offered her a drink. Cheeks burning a dark crimson, she timidly refused him with a shake of her head and turned her attention toward the grinding mob in the center of the humid room, likely looking for the sadistic soul who had dragged her here in the first place. Not to be shrugged off so easily, the bubblegum pink-haired youth put his arm around her, trying to coax her into the throng. Eyes wide and glistening, she slipped from under his arm and hastened across the room; his own cheeks heated up as he watched Shima follow her doggedly, his eyes bright and glassy from his old girl Brandy.

The moment the man's large hands jarred her fragile frame, the silent spectator carefully slipped from his chair and made his way to the pair, making sure to avoid causing a scene over this diffident creature. When he arrived, Renzo had her backed against the wall, a vicious sneer on his lips as he made to seize her arm.

Calmly approaching the inebriated neanderthal of a man, the active onlooker tapped him on the shoulder, flashing him a surly smile and socking him square in the jaw with enough force to dislocate the bone. So occupied with his screaming mandible was the "victim" that he took no notice when his assailant pushed past him to get to his former prey. Grabbing the trembling girl's wrist, the puncher pulled her out the back door, ordering her to give him her heels and run, neither looking back as a neon sign blindly announced M-O-V-E to their backs.

They finally stopped running when they reached the grassy amphitheater at the edge of True Cross College's campus.

"H-Here," He gasped, handing her the beige pumps with a grin. "You know….guys like him…are the last type…you wanna-" He trailed off when he noted the shimmering drops on her cheeks, gently illuminated by the soft glow of the amphitheater's dim lamps.

"H-Hey?…What's wrong? Are you-"

"What's wrong?" Her voice was so quiet, so shaky and broken that he felt his own eyes well with tears. "He…he was rough with me! Trying to get me to dance with him! Of all the nerve-" She broke into sobs, doubling over with her face in her hands. He stared at her, just as dumbfounded over the extreme one-eighty degree turn around in mood (in his eyes, anyway) as by her distress.

"I…I'm so sorry…" He muttered out, locking his gaze with hers when she lifted her head, still weeping openly, mascara trailing down her cheeks. "I…I didn't realize…" He bit his lip. "I'm…um…I'm Rin. Rin Okumura." He chastised himself for making small talk at a time like this, but he hardly knew-

"R-R-Rin?….Rin O-Okumura?"

"Yeah, why-"

"D-Don't you recognize me?"

Cocking a brow, he scanned the girl's features in the warm low light, looking for any trace of familiarity…Her eyes…

"I…s-sit next t-to you in Ph-Physics…"

Wait. Could it be-?

"Shiemi?!" He was dumbstruck. Now that he pictured her with her hair down and glasses, he saw the resemblance immediately. "I-I hardly recognized you!"

Smiling ruefully as she wiped her cheeks, she sighed and confessed, "Izumo K-Kamiki did my make-up and hair. Sh-she insisted that I c-come out with her tonight. She said I have absolutely n-no social life…"

Scoffing, Rin admonished, "Don't listen to what she says! Eyebrows wouldn't know a good time if it hit her square in the jaw."

"N-Neither would Sh-Shima…" She managed a small giggle, prompting a shy beam from the other. Shiemi Moriyama…His frequent lab partner. A totally sweet but embarrassingly shy girl…who was also a little clumsy… "Ah-AH!" As she slid into her remaining heel, Shiemi suddenly lost her balance and cried out in fright, toppling toward Rin.

"Shiemi-!"

The pair tumbled to the earth, exchanging a shocked glance before exploding with relieved laughter when they realized neither was injured. Sighing, Shiemi eased onto the emerald blades, lying with her back flat against the ground and gazing straight up.

"Look!" Rin followed her finger, his jaw slackening when he absorbed the brilliant canvas of luminescent pinpricks, burning miles and miles above their heads.

"Wow…it's…" He plopped down next to her, folding an arm behind his head as he stared upward. "Beautiful…" He murmured to her, glancing in her direction a bit longer than he'd planned. His cheeks burned scarlet when her gaze met his, a shy smile brushing her lips.

"I think so, too…"

He started when her slender fingers slid over his own, lacing themselves between his rough, calloused appendages.

"Thank you, Rin." She whispered, scooting closer to him when a breeze sliced the still air.

"Y-you're welcome, Shiemi…" He stuttered, a coy smile playing on his own orifice as they passed the night hours in peaceful companionship, neither feeling the need to move or to be anywhere but there.