19. Stranger danger

You blinked repeatedly, eyes wide as you stared at the tall male in front of you. His crimson eyes narrowed, tilting his head slightly with his silvery blue hair coolly disheveled to the side.

"...Apologies, miss, don't be startled," he reassured, with a rusty voice within his red-pink lips. "...I was just intrigued by your wonderful scent, do you use a branded cologne perhaps?"

You chewed your bottom lip before you quickly shook your head, averting your eyes down from his pale, nearly perfect face. "...No, um, but...thanks?"

"It's nothing at all, you're Dabi's girl, yes?"

You blinked, brows furrowed at him, while wondering how he was associated with him. "...Do you mean Touya?"

He forced a hefty laugh, showcasing his perfect teeth ever-so-slightly, while combing through his silvery-blue hair. "...ah, yes, Touya, you're his girl, isn't that right?"

"...yes? How do you know him?"

"Ah, so he hasn't told you yet, eh?" He questioned, tapping his chin inquisitively at you. "...No matter, we're simply...colleagues in a certain occupation together."

"...For work?"

"Yes," he replied, as he cleared his throat. "...For work."

"Oh, okay, I'll tell Touya you said hi?"

"No," he spoke solemnly loud, startling you slightly, before he calmed down and spoke again much gentler, "...no, don't tell him you saw me, he wouldn't be very pleased knowing I spoke with you."

"...oh, um..." you looked to the side. "...okay, I won't tell him then."

"Thank you, keep it our little secret."

You quickly turned your head back to the front, feeling quite uncomfortable with his shrilling, unexpected presence. What intrigued you the most was his eyes, almost looking like the same ones when Shinsou's eyes changed—that you still had in mind to ask. But, what creeped you out was the fact that he touched your neck earlier. Who in the right mind would touch someone else's neck out of nowhere?

You gulped, lips pursed in morbid curiosity why almost every male who inquired about your scent was very pale. Most men were fairly pale, some normal skin tone, but it was rather strange to you. The strangest thing was the fact that he mentioned how there was something that Touya hadn't told you about that you were supposed to know, but don't.

"What's your name?"

You held a breath anxiously, before you released a cloudy pout. Inhaling sharply in hopes that he would leave and not bother you at all. You tilted to the side, eyes jolted when you realized that his face peaked from the side, while standing right behind you, on queue.

"...[Last Name]," you replied obligingly, yet softly, feeling your heart began to pound in sudden fear that lurched within your heart.

"Ah, mine's Tenko, that's my personal name, call me that instead," he queered with a friendly aura, looking much forced than before.

"...o-oh, okay, Tenko...I guess it's only fair to call me by my first name too...which is [Name]...I guess you could call me that."

"Ah, what a pretty name," he appraised with a subtle grin. "A university student, yes?"

You hummed a nod. "You?"

"Nah, I'm not up for such things, since my father is a business owner, I'll be inheriting it."

"...Oh, wow, your future is all planned out, huh?"

"Quite right, how about you? Surely you have a reason why you attend that university."

"Well...I just want to get a decent job to help my family financially, and I'll just see wherever it takes me...but mainly, I'm just aiming towards medicine..."

"Ah, the medical field?"

You nodded with a small smile. "You're right."

He smiled delightfully before retracting his head back in line, behind you. You released a sigh of relief, hoping to get out of here as soon as possible despite his sudden change of aura. Your eyes lingered back to Shinsou, realizing that he really left you—or more like you left him first.

—

It took a while for the line to run out of people until it reached you, but eventually it was your turn. Your eyes averted back and forth at the variety of meals available on display by the bright neon lights with colourful menus. You took the largest meal with a variety of sushi as your mini-snack later on when you study and do your project with Shinsou.

"Hey, wanna eat together?" He requested, with a tugged smile, fixated his blood-red orbs onto your own.

"...um, uhh..." you gulped, feeling pressured to oblige to his request.

Before you could nod, you heard another male's voice spoke up. "[Name]."

Your head immediately snapped to the familiar voice and found none other than your tall, purple-haired roommate. Your heart immediately warmed upon seeing him, somehow felt safe to know that he was nearby, or at least you knew someone while you were here to accompany you from random strangers.

Shinsou's brows curled, nearly glaring at the silvery blue-haired male, right before he abruptly stood beside you and tugged you by the arm.

"[Last Name], let's go."

"Ah, who's this, [Name]?" Tenko inquired assertively with a confident snarl. "Seeing another man?"

You quickly shook your head. "...N-No, he's my roommate...and classmate at the university."

"It doesn't concern you," Shinsou spoke with hostility, growling softly under his breath with a fixated glare.

"Ah, I see that you already have company," he responded smoothly, while squinting at the male beside you with a light frown. "Alright, then, I'll take my leave..." he turned to his side waywardly. "...see you again soon, [Name]."

Silence loomed around between the two of you before Shinsou snapped back at you with the mask on his mouth still in-tact. What intimidated you was his violet eyes, ones filled with hostility—not that he usually always was—but it was much more this time round.

"You're staying with me from now on," he declared with solemnity. "Don't leave ever my side, got it?"

You gulped anxiously, visibly confused. "...but, why? Do you know him?"

"...It doesn't matter," he muttered before he turned away to the side, and back to you. "He's bad news, let's just go."

He began to pull you by the arm, walking alongside him with a myriad of questions bombarding your thoughts.

That look was nearly the same kind of expression he had with Touya, which sparked the desperation in you for answers. It seems as though everyone's leaving you out in the dark to fend for yourself, as if the world expects you to know what's truly going on.

You forcefully stopped in your tracks, causing the purple-haired male to snap his face back to meet you.

"Shinsou, I'm just so confused right now, I don't understand what's going on...Everything has been really strange lately, not just you...but between you and Touya, and now this colleague associated with Touya, as if there's something I'm expected to know, but I really don't...Shinsou, please, you're the only one I can truly trust right now, please fill me in with the details."

"..." he remained silent for a while, scrunching his brows slightly, before he let go of your arm, resting it to his sides. He looked down, violet eyes roamed with slight confusion, unsure of where to begin, before he flickered his eyes back into your own.

"...It's best if you don't know."

"...What?" Your lips ajar, shaking your head in disbelief. "No, Shinsou, I need to know, I just hate being left out in the dark like this, I have every right to know, after all, I'm involved, and you're acting as if I'm in danger, as if you're protecting me from something...really, Shinsou, what is going on?"

He forced a laugh before he shook his head and changed the look in his eyes. "You're thinking this through too much, [Last Name], you're...not in danger, it's just certain people you shouldn't associate yourself with...but, it seems that even if I told you, just like with Touya, you wouldn't listen anyways, it wouldn't make a different now, would it?"

"I...guess not," you murmured, looking down, quite unsatisfied with his answer. Yet, you knew better to know that he was concealing something with that look in his eyes.

"Anyways, why don't we go window shopping?"

"Ha?" You blinked repeatedly with a pikachu face. "...window shopping?"

He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, purple hair toppling down slightly as he loomed his eyes to the side. "...Just a little break from school, you know? Just us?"

Your eyes widened, before a cheeky smile crept your lips, as you teasingly leaned forward. "Is this the annoying roommate that I know? Asking me out now?"

"Tch," he snarled before he crinkled his brows in disgust. "As if I'll ever, fine, if you don't want to then—"

"Okay, fine!" You cut him off. "Let's just shop around, but you're buying what I want, cause like...I'm broke."

"I said window shopping, we're not buying anything."

"Awe, please?" You joked, with a cheeky grin, leaning closer to his face teasingly, causing him to loom away with hues of red tempting to rise.

He chortled a subtle laugh before he grabbed your arm and brought you close to him. "Under one condition."

You gulped, feeling your heart to accelerate at the fact that you bumped your front to his chest, feeling the warmth radiating off him, as you locked gaze with his beautiful violet orbs.

"Just..." he breathed a hot breath. "...Promise not to leave my side ever again."