Hello guys! Welcome to my story and its next chapter! It has lots of Ranmaru in it and I hope you guys like it!
"Jinguji, Hijirikawa, get out." Ranmaru's voice was commanding and serious, his eyes never leaving the sight of the girl in front of him, narrowed and stern. His hand still grasped the doorknob tightly, so much that it felt that even the slightest movement would rip it off the door. Mallory was silent, her determined look still in her brown eyes, watching Ranmaru. She noticed as two men walked out of the room, Masato Hijirikawa and Ren Jinguji; Ranmaru's other students. Their faces held slight confusion and interest, but they stayed silent, noticing the stand still between the two at the door. They simply walked down the hall, both giving side glances, before Ranmaru gave a growl towards the girl, bringing her back to her senses. "Get in." It wasn't a request, Mallory noticed; it was a demand. With a hesitant look, but still holding her glare, she walked into the room slowly, taking in the decor. Ranmaru's side of the room was filled with his personal belongings, his guitar, and a bed; she remembered that their students and their teachers had to share rooms. However, before she could process anything else, she heard the door slam behind her, hearing a clicking sound come from the door knob; he had locked the door. She took a small breath, feeling a small amount of uncertainty crawling up through her, but she came here to face Ranmaru; she couldn't just back out now.
"I-I know about what happened, between your group...I mean." Mallory started, looking back at Ranmaru, her voice faltering lightly at the end of her sentence. She noticed he was simply silent, hand still clenching the doorknob tightly. She swallowed lightly when she saw him slowly let go of the doorknob, letting his hand drop to his side, before he slowly began to advance towards Mallory, shoes shuffling against the floor, his heterochromatic eyes leering down at her, cold and stern.
"Who told you?" He asked, his voice low as he stopped walking, only a few inches away from the girl.
"W-What?" She asked, looking back at Ranmaru, feeling her skin start to get goosebumps; his voice was low, his look was terrifying and nerve-wracking.
"I said who told you?!" He yelled out loudly, his voice holding anger, obvious with not keeping his temper in check now. Mallory jumped at the loud exclamation, looking down for a few moments. "Don't look away from me." He said sternly, his body towering over her, looking down at her with a glare. Mallory swallowed again, before looking back at Ranmaru.
"I-It was Kotobuki-senpai," She saw his hand clench tightly, rage filling through him, "but only because I asked him, it's not his fault!"
"He shouldn't have told you!" Ranmaru exclaimed back to Mallory, glaring down at the girl; Reiji would get a talking to once he was done with this girl.
"Why? Whatever you're feeling against me is only because you still hate what happened back in the past! I would never do that, to you or to Quartet Night!"
"How can I be sure; women like to lie!" Ranmaru yelled down at the girl, turning away from her to give out a breath of air, trying to quell his anger and not break something in his rampage. Mallory gave a glare back to Ranmaru, walking a few steps towards him.
"I'm not like that woman!" Mallory hollered at Ranmaru, her teeth clenching tightly. "You...You think I'm gonna be like her, and break up another group of yours? Are you that blind by your hate from what happened?!" She could tell that she would still be on bad terms with Ranmaru, especially with what she was saying to him; he would surely tell Saotome of this, but she had to get it off her chest. "I came her to be an idol, to be taught by your group and let my dream become a reality!" She held a hand to her chest, trying to get her breathing to steady as she continued. "You think I would give that all up, just to sleep around with your group, and tear you guys apart?! If you think that, then you're even more ignorant then I thought you were." She set her hand back to her side, silent as she caught her breath, noticing after her speech that she had been breathing rather heavily. She gave a sigh, walking past Ranmaru as she made it to the door, hand lightly grasping the doorknob, as she unlocked the door. However, before she left, she gave a small glance to the side, before she spoke. "You think that I would want to break up your group, but you're wrong." She looked down at her hand that grasped the doorknob, and noticed it was shaking.
"I think your group is amazing, they way you all work together and harmonize is something I've never seen before," She swallowed lightly, her throat dry, "I have nothing but the utmost respect for your group, and all its members...you included, Kurosaki-senpai. So don't say that all women are mean, or conniving, or are liars; because not all of them are, myself included." A few moments passed after she spoke, the air silent, as she gave a small sigh. As she was about to turn the doorknob, she heard footsteps walking towards her. She turned to see Ranmaru walking towards her, his hair in front of his eyes, unable to read his expression. His hands suddenly shot out at her, Mallory jumping as she clenched her eyes shut, her hands coming close to her body in surprise, however nothing came. She slowed her breath, noticing she was breathing heavily once again from the scare, opening her eyes to see that Ranmaru's hands had slammed against the door behind her, almost clawing at the door. His face was a few inches away from hers, so close she could feel his breath against her lips, as she glanced to see his expression; the glare was still clear on his face, but the previous rage that he felt had quelled slightly.
"You respect me, huh?" He asked lowly, so low that only the two of them could hear. Mallory's body shook from the question, looking up at Ranmaru's grey and purple eye as she slowly nodded, no words coming from her lips. Ranmaru's glare never left his face as he gave a growl, his hands clawing at the door, some of the wood chipping off lightly from the force of Ranmaru's anger. His right hand came off the door as he slowly took Mallory's chin between his fingertips, making her look in his eyes once more, still glaring, before he tilted her head slightly to press his lips against her ear. Her heart raced a million beats per minute, trying to calm her heart down, as well as her breathing; they were so close, his lips against her ear as she could feel his breath, his face so close to hers. All she could hear around them was his breathing, and her heart beating so loudly in her chest, she felt as if it would burst out. It stayed like this, for almost two minutes, before Ranmaru finally spoke.
"If you respect me so much, then you should have the decency to not pry in other people's business." He whispered lowly into her ear, his breath against her skin making her shiver uncontrollably. He shifted himself so his body came closer to hers, so close it was as if they would meld together, towering over her, pressing her against the door.
"If you want to stay on my good side, don't go digging into my past. Ever. Again." He whispered the last part harshly, disdain clear in his voice as pushed away from Mallory suddenly, yanking her by the wrist forcefully as he opened the door, before shoving her out the door. She stumbled on her feet, but caught herself as she watched Ranmaru glare at her one more time, before slamming the door in her face. She stood there, short brown hair disheveled, breathing heavily, heart beating a mile per minute; she had no words for what had happened. She took a few moments to catch her breath, before she began to walk back to her room, hands held around her body instinctively to calm herself. She was so preoccupied with getting back to her room, that she didn't notice the pair of eyes watching her from behind.
When she had managed to shuffle her way back to her room, she stopped in front of her door, eyes widened slightly as her vision began to become blurry. She gasped lightly, taking a hand to her cheek as she felt something wet fall against it; tears. She had been so shocked by the way Ranmaru had acted, that she hadn't noticed that she had cried for the last few minutes. She tried to wipe her tears, but they kept falling as she tried to wipe her eyes.
"Nakagawa-san." She turned suddenly, gasping lightly when she saw cyan colored eyes staring back into her tear-stained brown ones.
"M-Mikaze-senpai!" Mallory breathed out, sniffling lightly as she tried to wipe her tears as fast as possible with her hands, hoping not embarrass herself any further then she already had. "I'm sorry, I must have been really loud..."
"Why are you crying?" He asked this rather bluntly, but he was curious, wondering why his student was in tears. Mallory was silent for a few moments, before giving a small laugh, a fake smile coming to her lips, though the tears still flowed down her cheeks, the sight rather heart breaking.
"I was just talking to Kurosaki-senpai is all; I know about his past and I went to confront him about it. I-It didn't really turn out well and he ended up yelling at me, but it's fine! It was my fault anyways..." Even as she said this, trying to brush the incident aside as if it was nothing, she still hurt every time she thought about it.
"Blaming things on yourself solves nothing." Ai said back to Mallory, watching his student try to blame herself for what happened. In truth, he had heard yelling coming from Ranmaru's room and went to investigate, but by the time he had gotten there, Mallory had already been walking back to her room, crying. "It was brave of you to face Kurosaki-san, though the chances of you getting through to him were below thirty percent." Mallory gave a small frown, still trying to wipe the tears from her eyes, in front of her teacher no less.
"T-Thanks, I guess." She sniffled lightly again, before she felt a hand push her hands away from her face, before feeling a cloth be put into her hands. She glanced up to see Ai handing her a handkerchief, as she gave a small nod. "Thank you." She muttered, before wiping away the rest of her tears, giving a small sigh once she had finished. She gave a small sigh, holding the handkerchief in her hands softly as she glanced up at Ai. "Uh...thank you again, Mikaze-senpai." She gave a small bow to her teacher, her face beginning to heat up, embarrassed beyond belief.
"Don't you have a meeting to get to?" He asked, watching his student. Mallory stood up straight, gasping lightly as she gave a look of worry.
"Oh, you're right." Mallory wiped away any tears that were still on her face, before giving a small smile to her teacher. "Thank you again Mikaze-senpai; it...means a lot that you talked to me." She gave another small bow before she went inside her room to get her things ready, leaving Ai alone. Ai simply stared at the spot Mallory was previously in, a blank stare on his face as he turned and began to walk away, a thought coming to his mind. Why did he feel a strange pain in his chest when he saw her with tears in her eyes? She had simply been crying, but when he saw her trying to blame herself for the situation, it had left an awful taste in his mouth. Why was he feeling this way? She's just his student, nothing more.
"I'm just trying to understand why Nakagawa-san is so determined, despite the lack of training she has. Her chances of succeeding are rather low." Reiji gave a noise of understanding, thinking for a few moments.
"Well, even though she doesn't have a lot of experience, that's where we come in. We're here to help her meet her goal, and you saw how determined she was. When someone has a dream they've wanted for so long, they'll do whatever it takes to make it come true!"
"You'll warm up to her when you see her train, and then maybe your opinion will change!"
Ai stopped walking when he remembered what Reiji had said to him half a month ago, the hall silent in his wake as the scene played back in his mind. Was this what he was feeling? Was he, as Reiji put it, 'warming up to her', was he starting to get used to her company? He had never really thought much of his other students before, mostly because they never made it passed most of his training before they decided to quit, but Mallory had kept going, never backing down and continued to test her ability. She did as she was told, doing tasks that he assigned her or doing something for him if he asked without any complaint, a smile gracing her lips every time he saw her.
"I don't understand." Ai muttered to himself lowly, a look of perplexed confusion evident in his eyes. He continue to walk after that, going back to his room; he needed to process this information immediately.
The meeting went rather slow for Mallory, or maybe it just felt that way considering the way she was feeling. It felt as if time was deliberately halting for her, melding with her crushed emotions, wanting her to just sleep and never wake up. She walked out of the meeting room, shoulder bag in hand as she made her way, before she noticed a familiar figure in the hallway she was now in.
"Nanami-san?" Mallory questioned, seeing the familiar sight of red hair and golden eyes, as the girl turned, a look of astonishment on her face.
"Mallory-san! I didn't know you'd be here." She smiled at the girl, holding a few stacks of papers in her hands, though her smile faded when she noticed her friends face. "Are you alright Mallory-san? Your cheeks are kind of red, are you sick?" Mallory muttered a small swear under her breath; her face was still red from when she had cried, she thought she had fixed it by now.
"Uh, yeah I'm ok. I'm just a little flustered is all from running around today; it's nothing to worry about, honest." It was the best lie she could come up with on the spot; she didn't want to worry Haruka about her own problems.
"Oh, well that's good. I'm about to make my way back to the dorms; you wanna come with me?" Mallory gave a nod, rather having a friend walk with her then having to walk by herself, and remember everything that had happened so far with Ranmaru.
"Yeah, I'd appreciate it Nanami-san." Mallory said, a small smile coming to her face, to make herself feel better, but she knew it wouldn't. The two girls began to walk out of the hallway, taking the elevator as they simply talked about different things, Haruka about her composing, and Mallory about her current designs for both Quartet Night and STARISH.
"Oh, I heard that you finished recording your first single, congratulations!" Mallory gave a small laugh, a slight blush on her face.
"Thank you Nanami-san, I was a bit nervous when I was recording, I even messed up a few times," the two walked out of the elevator, "but I'm proud of myself. I finally got my first song, and I wrote it all on my own. I don't know what's next, but I hope it'll help me with more of my training." The two laughed as they talked as they walked out of the building, both of them suddenly yelping when they felt water pour down on them. "R-Rain?!" The forecast that same morning had never said anything about rain; it was as if it came out of nowhere.
"Let's get under something!" Haruka quickly said, Mallory agreeing as the two girls ran to find cover, finding solace once they found an abandoned bus stop with a small awning to cover them. "Where'd this rain come from?"
"I don't know, but I hate it." Mallory gave a sigh, her hair and her clothes positively soaked. She shivered, feeling a cold air pass by, both girls giving weary smiles to each other. "We should probably call a cab or something if we want to get back home."
"Good idea." Haruka said, seeing a cab nearby as she called for it, seeing it drive to the curb as the two quickly hurried in, before the cab drove off towards Saotome Academy.
"Good thing we found a cab so quickly." Mallory said with a laugh, the two running towards the Master Course dorms before opening the door quickly, closing them shut as they both gave laughs. They were both soaking wet, water dripping from their hair and clothes, but they had fun.
"I'm gonna go change real quick Mallory-san. I'll come by after." Mallory gave a nod and waved good-bye to Haruka, watching her run to her room to change. She gave a small sigh, a smile on her face; she had had such a good talk with Haruka, that she had forgotten about what had bothered her. It inched back into her mind however when the dorm had come into view when they were in the cab, and a feeling of uncertainty came into her chest. She walked to the kitchen, wanting something warm to drink, but stopped when she heard a commotion coming from another room. She walked down the next hallway, seeing the door to the room be covered by a group of men; STARISH.
"Hey, what's going on?" Mallory asked, confused by the men crowding around the door. They all turned, some of them looking nervous, while some gave unsure looks.
"Kurosaki-senpai is fighting with Rei-chan." Otoya said back to Mallory, a frown on his face.
"He's been at it for the past hour now." Another one of the members mentioned, Ichinose Tokiya. "We were all waiting because we were going to be practicing a dance routine for an upcoming concert, but when they didn't show up, we went to investigate." Mallory looked at the men, then slowly pushed past all of them, apologizing as she did so for getting some of them wet from her clothes, before she opened the doors, the sound of harsh yelling reverberating into her ears.
"Now Ran-Ran, be reasonable. Mal-chan just wanted to know why you wouldn't teach her is all." Reiji said back to Ranmaru, trying to calm his friend down as best as possible. Ranmaru was currently on his feet, glaring at Reiji who was on his feet as well, Mallory noticing that he had taken a step back from Ranmaru and his glare. A chair was left on the ground as if someone had pushed it, and a cup of tea had spilled on the wooden table that they group had been at. Camus and Ai were next to the two, taking in the scene, wanting to stop the fight, but weren't quite sure how without causing more trouble.
"Reasonable? She had no business knowing about my past, and you just blab it to her like it's no big deal?!" Ranmaru hollered out at Reiji, his hands in tight fists, shaking from his rage.
"She did if it meant you not ever teaching her, Kurosaki." Camus said to Ranmaru, a hardened stare at the man; he was acting childish, even if his past had been told to their student, did it matter?
"Quiet!" Ranmaru yelled back at Camus, glaring back at the man as he gave a snarl, turning when he saw Mallory running into the room. "Now you're here?" He gave an angered scoff, glaring at the girl.
"It's not Kotobuki-senpai's fault!" Mallory yelled at Ranmaru, a glare on her face as she ran over to the scene, standing in front of Camus and Ai, looking at Ranmaru. "I asked him, and he told me; none of this is his fault, so don't blame him for my mistake!"
"He didn't have to tell you! I told him to keep his mouth shut about it, but he told you anyways! That just gets me pissed off!" Ranmaru gave a glare back to Reiji, shooting a hand towards the brown-haired male as he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him forward as the brown-haired male stumbled in surprise.
"R-Ran-Ran!" Reiji yelped, surprised by the sudden act, and honestly, a little scared. Ranmaru got scary when he got angry, and when it was directed at him, he was always a bit afraid it would turn out ugly. Camus and Ai saw this, surprised by their team mates sudden action, as they tried to step in, but Mallory got their first.
"Leave Reiji alone!" Mallory yelled at Ranmaru, stepping in between Ranmaru and Reiji as she pushed with all her strength against Ranmaru, hitting his hand off of Reiji's shirt as she pushed the silver-haired male away from her other teacher; it wasn't much, but Reiji was free, and breathing a bit heavily from the sudden action. However it didn't last for long, as Mallory's strength wasn't enough, for Ranmaru had only stumbled from the push. He gave an enraged glared at Mallory as he grabbed her by her wrist, Mallory struggling lightly to have her hand back, but Ranmaru wouldn't budge.
"You stay out of this!" Ranmaru yelled at Mallory once more, before he used his strength to throw her off to the side, but in his fit of rage, he didn't notice that he threw her to his right side, where the table was set. She tried to catch herself, but her lower back crashed against the wooden table harshly as she yelped in pain, the table falling on to its side with the contents on the table falling towards the ground, spilling tea all over the carpet., with the tea cups and pots settling onto the carpet as well. Mallory had fallen to the ground when the table had fallen, her clothes stained with tea, and her lower back stinging in pain.
"Mal-chan!" Reiji ran over to Mallory's aid after he saw what had happened, with Ai and Camus doing the same, as Ranmaru simply stood where he was, taking in the scene. His look of rage was gone, and a look of realization had come to his eyes; sure, he wasn't exactly thrilled with teaching a girl, and her attitude towards him was less to be desired, but he didn't mean to hurt her, even if he was angry at her. Ranmaru gave a glare, and huffed before he turned and walked out of the room, pushing past the STARISH members; he needed time to think to himself.
"Can you stand?" Camus asked, taking one of Mallory's hands in his as Reiji took the other, the two delicately helping their student to her feet as she gave a small nod. She stumbled lightly, but regained her balance as she winced lightly; there would probably be a bruise where her lower back was soon.
"...Thank you." Mallory said lowly, her eyes downcast as she looked at the fallen table and chairs, as well as the tea set and spilled tea on the carpet. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause all of this. If I would have known that Kurosaki-senpai would have reacted this way, I wouldn't have asked."
"It's ok Mal-chan," Reiji said with a small smile, patting her lightly on the shoulder, "Ran-Ran just needs some time to think is all. He can get really angry about stuff, but after a while, he'll come through..." Even as he said that, Reiji still had some doubts, but he kept them to himself.
"You should get to bed Nakagawa-san, or else you'll catch a cold." Ai muttered to his student, seeing her rather soaked clothes and hair, water still dripping off her clothes and skin, creating a wet spot on the carpet.
"O-Oh, yeah I guess I should." Mallory said with a sheepish look, bowing lightly to her teachers, though wincing slightly from the pain in her back. "Thank you for helping me." She stood up straight and silently began to make her way out of the room, walking at a slightly faster pace then normal, just wanting to hide in her room and never come out. She was hurt, and embarrassed, and wished this nightmare would just end.
It had been a few hours since the incident, and Mallory was now in her pajamas, reading a book at her desk silently, trying to quell any pain that she felt in her back. She stopped when she heard a knock at her door, closing her book as she scooted out of her seat. She surmised it must have been Haruka; she had heard from some of the STARISH members that they had told her what had happened, and that she would be at her room to talk to her and make sure she was alright.
"You're always so worried about others Nanami-san." Mallory said with a weary smile, going to her door as she opened it.
"Nanami-san, I promise I'm fine, nothing-" She halted her sentence as she saw that it wasn't actually Haruka at the door. She swallowed lightly, her eyes showing slight hesitation as she looked at the male at her door. "Oh, it's you."
"That's all you have to say to me?" Ranmaru asked, looking down at the girl in front of him, one hand in his pocket, the other holding something. He didn't have a glare on his face, but she could tell he was annoyed with just being here.
"What do you want me to say? Thanks for pushing me and giving me a bruise, and by the way, I'm sorry for wondering why you wouldn't teach me?" Mallory asked, giving a small huff at the male; she wondered to herself why she was even talking to him, considering what had happened a few hours earlier.
"Hey, it was-" Ranmaru cut himself off, swearing lowly to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, the annoyed look still on his face. "Look, I'm not here to fight with you again. I..." He stopped himself again, a growl coming to his lips. Mallory was hesitant, blinking as she watched him continue to cut himself off, trying to speak.
"If you're gonna talk, just talk." Ranmaru gave an annoyed glance at Mallory, before giving a sigh.
"I came here to say sorry, ok?" Mallory blinked once more, but in surprise, perking up slightly. Really? Ranmaru was coming to apologize? He glanced at the girl again, jumping when he saw her expression. "I-I'm not apologizing for you digging into my past, got it? It's just for pushing you earlier is all." Mallory gave a slight frown, watching her teacher; he wasn't exactly apologizing the right way, or really giving it any thought. He was more like apologizing for the sake of getting the situation to settle.
"You know, that wasn't really the best apology." Mallory muttered, watching Ranmaru with a frown.
"What, you want me to say something better? I just apologized for pushing you, isn't that enough?" Ranmaru bickered back, the two at a stand still; both had annoyed looks at each other, neither of them budged. Mallory gave a sigh, combing her hair lightly as she looked at the ground for a few moments, before glancing up at Ranmaru.
"Fine, I accept your apology." Mallory said to her teacher, and Ranmaru gave a light scoff, muttering something to himself. The two were silent once again, nothing happening for a few minutes, before Ranmaru shuffled lightly, before he took what he had in his hand, and showed it to Mallory. Her eyes widened lightly as she saw the CD case that Ranmaru held; it was her single that she had recorded earlier that week. "Where'd you get that?"
"Camus and the others wanted me to listen to it; considering I'm your teacher, I have to see your progress and making sure you aren't messing up every few minutes." Mallory gave a small glare at Ranmaru, but noticed that he glanced to the side nervously, before he swallowed lightly. "It...was good." Mallory straightened up lightly when she heard Ranmaru; he really thought it was good.
"Really?" Mallory asked, her voice showing surprise, looking at Ranmaru. He watched her, giving a huff as he glared.
"I said it was good, not great. You still need practice." Mallory gave a small glare at Ranmaru, growling lightly.
"Way to take back a compliment." She said to him, which Ranmaru heard, folding his arms over his chest.
"Hey, I'm jus being honest. You're barely getting there with what you've learned so far, you need to keep going ahead and learn new things before you can even think about becoming an idol." The two were silent once more, before Ranmaru turned, giving another huff before he started to walk away. "We'll be going over to the recording studio again and recording this thing over until you get it right." Mallory gave a small nod, but stopped when she watched Ranmaru.
"Wait, we?" Ranmaru stopped in his tracks as he glanced back at Mallory, his grey and purple eyes staring back at her.
"I"m your teacher aren't I?" He said back to her, before turning back and walking off, his shoes shuffling against the floor as Mallory watched him leave, blinking slightly in surprise. Did Ranmaru just agree to teach her now? She blinked once more, before a small smile came to her lips as she closed her room door. She finally had all her teachers to count on and help her, even if one of them was a bit on the difficult side.
Well I hoped everyone liked this chapter! It was very serious then the other ones, I know, but things will start to change now that Ranmaru will start to teach our dear idol in training! Reviews are always welcome, and greatly appreciated! Not sure what the next chapter will entail next, but I do know it will feature Mallory's first single!
Until next time~