A/N: God, my updating schedule is terrible. It's been just over 6 months since I last updated. I'm so terrible. Sorry. I've been really busy trying to adult since I'm almost ready to graduate college and I've finally got some free time this summer right before I go on a much needed vacation. Especially sorry to those who read here on since I submitted this chapter on another fanfic site a month ago and completely forgot to submit it here until just now. Sorry 'bout that cliffhanger ending~!
Rin stood outside of Misaki's classroom waiting for her to come out. Most of the class had already left so he assumed that she and her friends had cleaning duty.
After waiting a few more minutes, three girls finally exited the classroom. Hanako and Minami waved goodbye to their classmate and noticed Rin standing by the door. "Hey Rin-kun~! Whatcha doin'?" Hanako asked.
"Hey," the blue-eyed boy greeted. "Uh… where's Misa-chan?"
"Figured you'd be looking for her, lover boy," Hanako teased, making kissy faces at Rin.
Minami elbowed Hanako, eliciting a squeak from her. "Misaki wasn't feeling well at lunch, so we sent her back to the dorm to rest. Is there something you needed? We can relay the message if you want," the lavender-haired girl offered.
"Uh, no thanks. It's something I wanna talk to her about in private…" Rin said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking off to the side. He didn't notice the two girls exchange a look.
"Here."
Rin looked up and saw Minami's hand right in front of his face. When his eyes refocused, he noticed the object in her hand. "A key?"
"Yes. My dorm key."
Rin looked at Minami, then at the key, and then back to the girl. He didn't quite understand what was happening.
Hanako grew impatient. She grabbed Rin's hand and shoved Minami's key onto it. "Go talk to her then, lover boy!"
Rin suddenly understood their intentions and grinned at the girls. "Thanks! I'll go do that right now!" The blue-eyed boy turned quickly and started to run towards the girls' dorms.
"Okumura-kun."
Rin looked back over his shoulder at the sisters. "Huh?"
"Please… help Misaki. You seem to understand her more than we can ever hope to. I think you may be the only one who can get through to her. So please, help Misaki," Minami pleaded. Both sisters were bowing slightly.
Rin was momentarily speechless but grinned widely back at them. "Don't worry! Leave everything to me!" With that, the boy ran off to the girls' dorms.
Hanako turned to Minami. "Do you think he'll really be able to help her?"
"Even I can't be sure, Hanako. Misaki might just pull away from everyone even more after this. We'll just have to wait and see." The two walked off to find their boyfriends, not noticing the man down the hall watching them.
In said dorm room, there was not a trace of light. The dark curtains completely shut out the sunlight and none of the lamps were turned on. It was completely silent save for quiet breaths coming from the girl hidden underneath her blanket.
There was the sound of shuffling as the dog beside the girl curled further into her, nuzzling his snout against her cheek. A quiet scoff left Misaki's parted lips as she tightened her grip on the dog a bit. "Isn't it funny, Shadow? The very darkness that my nightmares haunt me in is what's bringing me comfort me right now."
Shadow could feel the pull at her lips, indicating that the girl was smiling, but he knew that it didn't reach her eyes; that she was trying to put on a façade, even around him. The dog lifted a paw and gently hit her forehead, as if to scold her.
"Sorry," Misaki chuckled softly. "Honestly, how do you all manage to put up with me?"
Shadow moved to hit her forehead again, but stopped suddenly. The Shiba Inu then squirmed out of Misaki's arms and out from under the blankets.
Misaki poked her head out from under the blanket as the dog leapt off the bed and trotted to the door. "Shadow?" The girl then heard the sound of a key going into the door's lock and assumed that Shadow was just greeting her roommates. With that, Misaki hid back under the blanket before the sisters could enter and turn on the bright lights.
Rin took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before he slowly pushed open the door to Misaki's dorm room. As soon as the door was open, he froze upon seeing the Shiba Inu staring at him from his spot in front of the door. The two maintained eye contact for a few moments before the dog stood and silently walked past Rin and out the door.
Rin suddenly felt like he had proved himself worthy to overprotective father as he watched Shadow walk off down the hall to give him and Misaki privacy. When Shadow looked back to glare at him, Rin quickly got the message and entered the room, quietly closing the door behind him.
The dark-haired boy glanced around the dark room and barely noticed the lump in the middle bed move and peek out from under the blanket. "Minami? Hanako?" the girl questioned, a bit unnerved at the silence that followed the door's opening. She could barely make out the outline of someone standing by the door in the dark.
Rin knew it was now or never. "No. It's me, Rin."
Misaki suddenly sat up and instinctively raised the blankets over herself in surprise. "Rin?!" She immediately realized how rude she sounded. "Um, I mean, what brings you here, Rin-kun? How did you get in?" she added awkwardly, gathering her composure.
The boy held up the key, but quickly realized that she probably couldn't see it with how dark it was. "Minami gave me her key." A pause. "Uh… do you mind if I turn on the lights? I can't see a thing."
"Oh! Um, yes. Please do. Thank you," Misaki said. She quickly shuffled out from under the blanket and stood beside the bed. She flinched when light suddenly assaulted her eyes.
"Sorry! I should've given you a warning," Rin apologized, noticing the girl flinch. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Silence stretched out for minutes. Neither of the two knew what to say or how to start a conversation in the awkward atmosphere. He watched as Misaki fiddled with the curtains and tied them back. After another tense minute passed, Rin decided to just get to the point. "I saw you at lunch. I heard everything." He realized shortly after that he may have been too blunt.
Rin was worried that he really upset her when Misaki turned away from him and back towards the window. "Sorr—"
"So… you saw my breakdown…" Misaki's voice was quiet.
Rin was nervous as to what was going through her mind. Did he mess this up? Did he lose Misaki's trust? Would she close herself off from him? The thoughts made him start panicking. "It was an accident! I was just coming up to ask—"
"It's fine, Rin." Misaki glanced over her shoulder at the boy and then looked back out the window. "I figured something like this would happen eventually. That someone would find out about my… problem. I figured it would be you, especially with how Minami and Hanako have been pushing me towards you. But there are things that I haven't even told Grandmother or Shadow. Minami and Hanako keep telling me that I should find someone who'll understand, but no one can. Not Grandmother. Not Shadow. Not even you, Rin."
Rin walked towards the girl, stopping right behind her. "How can you know that no one will understand if you don't even try telling them?"
"I don't want to get anyone involved. It's bad enough that I've let Minami and Hanako get close to me. One day, they'll be pulled into my mess and either they'll leave me or I'll be forced to leave them for their sake. I don't know what kind of mental image you have of me, but I'm not some innocent, naïve girl, Rin," Misaki said, her voice steely.
"Yeah? Well then sorry for thinking that. But I'm not giving in. I don't care what you get involved in and if I get pulled into it. I'll be there to help you no matter what."
Misaki didn't need to look at Rin to know that his blue eyes were blazing with determination. Her heart fluttered at the knowledge that the boy was dead set on helping her, but she wasn't going to let him. 'Rin is too nice for his own good. People like him always pay for their kindness.' The dark-haired girl sighed. Her voice was soft and tired once again. "Rin, please… just forget what you heard, both on the roof and now, and I'll pretend this never happened. Let's just go back to how it was before all this. Please."
"No." Rin's voice was hard and he tugged on Misaki's shoulder to turn her toward him. "You're always going to make excuses or run away from your problem. And I know damn well that that's not how to deal with it. I don't want you to keep hurting yourself by keeping everything locked up inside and dealing with it alone. I told you I'd be here for you if you needed me, but you don't take that offer seriously, do you?"
"Shut up!"
Rin flinched and stepped back at the unexpected shout. He could see Misaki's shoulders trembling, her downcast eyes starting to cloud with tears. "Mi—"
"No! I'm not listening anymore! I don't need your pity! I don't need your help! I don't need anyone's help! Just shut up and leave me alone!" With that, the girl bolted past Rin and out the door, leaving Rin wondering if he made a mistake.
Misaki ran to the rooftop, hoping her roommates were elsewhere and she could be alone. What she saw upon reaching the roof made her heart stop. "No…"