I'm blaming YandereDev for this.

Looking back at it, she probably overreacted a great deal. He had never before shown interest in anyone other than her - something which she took great pride out of - and if anyone ever set their eyes on him...Well, she'd take care of it. Usually without him being aware of it, Ayano didn't think he'd approve of her...methods. (And on the times he did catch her, he'd confiscate whatever she had with her and continue to ignore her for weeks to follow while simultaneously keeping a close eye on her. She hated when he did that.)

But the rumors had started spreading more and more; getting to the point where she couldn't even so much as turn a corner without hearing about it. The hushed whispers of Kokona and Saki on the school's rooftop, Midori's random and often inconsiderate or downright stupid questions, even Kuu Dere's lingering stares. One way or another, Info-chan had started investigating the case too, and that was when she'd snapped, because if someone like Info-chan made work out of it, there had to be at least some truth behind it.

Ayano Aishi was a woman on a mission. And it started with figuring out just who the hell the previous leader of the Martial Arts club was.

Straight up asking him wouldn't do. She'd done it once, when he was walking her home after school. She'd been clever, subtly introducing the subject of his club as a matter of curiosity - and possible interest - before moving on to the topic of him being the leader. More accurately, if he had been the one who founded the club and if he'd done so by himself.

(Of course Ayano knew that wasn't the case, but her mother had stated many a time before that playing dumb to get what you want wasn't a bad tactic. Quite useful, in fact.)

He'd reacted as expected, telling her that no he didn't found the club, and yes he did take over after the last leader resigned. Ayano had tried her best to seem as interested as possible, though that in itself might have been a warning sign for him to take note of. Budo was aware of her...emotional neglect, so her suddenly seeming all interested in something like Martial Arts of all things was clearly something coming right out of left field. But then again, her emotions, behavior, and general posture were a mess whenever he was concerned or even mentioned. She was a wild card; a card not many people liked to risk playing.

So she'd listened, asking additional questions here and there to keep the conversation going. And then she'd introduced the question she had been absolutely dying to ask since she'd walked into class that morning.

"Who was the previous leader of the Martial Arts club?"

Budo grew eerily quiet, lips pursing into a thin line and the hand that had ever-so-gently been resting at her hip slowly retracted itself from her and back to his side. His hand went up to bury itself deep in his dark locks, touch lingering at his headband and her eyes narrowed. "Ayano..." if the lack of her nickname wasn't enough of a trigger, then the serious tone his voice held was enough. It had dropped to a complete drawl, slow and almost careful. He was cautious. "You know those are just rumors, right?" His eyes stayed trained on her, hand still trapped in his hair as his eyes raked over her face, actively searching for any sign of danger. When his gaze slipped down to watch her hands, she pulled them behind her back before he could notice the heavy way they trembled.

"I know," she stated, her voice too light, too airy. Budo grew afraid of meeting her eyes, knowing that what he would see in there would be less than favorable. Her tone of indifference was usually paired with blank, spaced out and downright haunting eyes. She was impossible to talk to in those moments. "They're not true, aren't they?"

"No," his tone was final, stare intense, and it wasn't at all because of the way her voice had dropped to a threatening level at her last question. The shade of her eyes had darkened considerably by then, and he'd grasped her shoulders firmly, turning her to face him and stopping her from moving any further. "Like I said, just rumors."

To him, she smiled and nodded; eyes clearing up.

Behind her back, her hands clenched into tight fists.

So asking him wouldn't do, he'd been alert from the start and there was absolutely no way any sort of persuasion - be it from her or someone else - would sway him enough to give up the name of the previous club leader. It was just the way he was.

She wouldn't want him to be any different.

-Though a little more support on her way of handling things wouldn't hurt.

Pulling out the piece of paper she'd gotten from her art class, Ayano pinned it onto the large bulletin board hanging in her room; a red marker sticking out in-between her lips. So far, three names had already been scribbled down, one crossed out in red ink, and one with triple question marks doodled behind it.

Osoro Shidesu, she'd been Ayano's first initial prime suspect. She was strong, certainly didn't mind a brawl, and could easily hold her own when it came down to it. She also was a pretty decent leader, despite her prominent unapproachability. The delinquents seemed to respect her; love her, actually.

Which is exactly why she had been crossed off the list.

Budo, for one reason or another, had a strong dislike of anything delinquent related. So much so that Ayano had even considered getting rid of all the delinquents vacating the school area before he caught up with her and managed to convince her to stop. Him liking someone like Osoro - no matter how pretty she may or may not appear to be - just wouldn't fit with his personality.

Asu Rito was next on the list, the leader of the sport's club.

Two blondes so far, one a strong, stoic powerhouse and the other an athletic, cheerful and happy sports fanatic. Both so different from each other, both so different from her. After this was over, Ayano would need to keep closer watch.

Asu was a legitimate canditate too, especially considering her athletic build and cheerful personality matched Budo's almost freakishly well. Both of them were prone to sprouting out 'words of encouragement' at the most random of times, and both of them were known not to be able to leave a person hanging if in need. They were the heroic types like that.

But after a few days of careful stalking (and a quick copy of her schedule thanks to Info-chan) Ayano had already found a crack in this theory. A small crack that went by the name of Amai Odayaka.*

The small, soft-spoken and kind cooking club president could only be described as - like her name suggested - sweet. She had this motherly aura around her, one that would force even the toughest or most bitter person to crack a smile. Apparently, Asu wasn't resistant to her sweet charms either, which just made her job all the easier.

The blonde wasn't completely off the list for now, only reduced to a minor threat. Despite that, Ayano kept this little piece of information imprinted in the back of her mind. On the day Asu started becoming a bigger threat to her perfect future with her precious Budo-Senpai; Amai was going to get it.

And then there was Osana Najimi.*

Ayano hadn't considered her a threat at first, the only reason she was on this list was because the rumors going around were mostly about her. Ayano didn't see how such a defenseless and weak person could ever be in the lead of the martial arts club, especially not considering her behavior. The girl was a total tsundere, often hanging around Taro Yamada - and she only knew his name cause he was in Budo's class* - and pestering him about pretty much unnecessary things. It was obvious to see she liked him, the guy was just too damn dense to see it. Though, to be frank, Ayano couldn't care less.

What she wanted to know, was the connection this girl had to Budo.

So far, she hadn't been able to find anything, and as Ayano crossed out Asu's name from the list (only one strike, since she wasn't completely off the hook) she slipped her phone out of her back pocket, sending a quick text to Info-chan - Osana's picture attached.

The reply came almost instantly, and Ayano made sure to quickly jot everything down next to the schedule she'd copied earlier.

She had work to do.

Budo was panicking.

He'd been worried ever since the rumors about him and the previous leader had started to spread around the school, but it wasn't until Ayano came to him about it that the panic started to kick in.

He wasn't stupid; he knew his girlfriend had problems, serious problems. What she was dealing with wasn't just a simple, or even petty, case of jealousy. No, what she was suffering from lay much deeper, delving into the much more complex psychological area that he would probably need Kaga's* help for in order to figure it out.

The first few weeks into their relationship he'd often catch her in the act of something suspicious or downright illegal, and then he'd had to go through the whole process of assuring her that there really wasn't any need for her to be like this. Violence especially was something he'd put emphasis on, because even though he'd never seen her commit anything of the sort; Budo shuddered to think of all the things she'd done before she confessed.

Which was exactly why he was currently making his rounds around the school to make sure nothing bad happened.

Ayano was odd, but if she let you, then it became surprisingly easy to learn and love her. Admittedly, he hadn't necessarily needed to learn to love her, but that didn't take away the fact that she was still quite a handful. To others, she was still the same distant, creepy, (and not in Oka's endearing way either) and borderline dangerous girl from 2-3 who just so happened to be dating that one nice Martial Arts club leader Budo Masuta from 3-2. And that was a direct quote from Rana-sensei.*

Rounding the corner, he headed down the hall; passing the Occult club and saying a quick hello to Oka as he did so.* School just ended, so everyone who wasn't part of a club had already headed home while all the others were either changing or adding the few last touches to their assignments before heading to their clubrooms. Budo knew he should've already been at his clubroom, but he still had about ten minutes left before everyone was supposed to be there, and he planned on using those ten minutes to find Osana before Ayano could.

He'd gotten an anonymous text right when class ended, and considered running it by Info-chan before realizing she had probably been the one to tip him off in the first place.* The condescending tone in the text was enough of a hint to figure that out.

Info-chan had informed him that Ayano was heading after Osana due to the rumors, and Budo knew for a fact that the girl tended to wait up until the later hours for Taro to show up. His classmate often got held up by the weirdest things - Rana-sensei being a little too...daring, Oka wanting to study him (even if Budo told her time and time again there was nothing supernatural about the guy), or even Kizana dragging him off to force him to play her counterpart. He just couldn't seem to catch a break, and all of this left poor Osana waiting for him at the school gates.

Budo stopped at the shoe lockers, spotting long streaks of orange pacing back and forth on the pavement. Behind the bushes, a familiar black ponytail was sticking out. The edge of a blade glinting in the descending sun.

Fingers sliding over the handle of the knife, Ayano tucked it behind her; stabbing the blade into the grass deep enough to stick, but not so deep that she couldn't get it out without so much as tugging on it. Her dark eyes kept its focus on Osana, distrust clear in them. She'd been skeptical at first, but Info-chan had stopped replying to her texts, and she only did that if she was busy, knew something, or just simply didn't feel like talking.

Ayano wasn't about to take her chances.

And even if it turned out that Osana was innocent, then at least she'd managed to get rid of another potential rival. It was a win-win no matter how you looked at it.

She'd already gone past both the Drama and Science clubs, managing to persuade Kizana for the gloves by telling her she'd make sure Taro got the role for Romeo. Kaga was a bit harder to trick, but after tipping him off to check the Saikou laptop in the Student Council room, he'd given in and agreed to lend her the blood-sucking prototype pretty easily.

Osana was standing at the gate with her arms crossed, cheeks puffed out in annoyance. Her gaze occasionally lingered on the gates, as if expecting someone to show up any time now.

She was completely defenseless.

Hands grasping the handle, Ayano gave a sharp tug, pulling tufts of grass and earth with the knife, though she didn't pay it any mind. She had a target to eliminate.

She looked up, eyes momentarily searching for streaks of orange when she couldn't immediately spot her. Had she slipped away when she wasn't looking? No, couldn't be, Ayano had made sure Taro wouldn't be showing up for the next hour, and there was no way Osana would just leave him behind, unless Hanako was in some way involved.*

Finally, her eyes landed on Osana, and her knife dropped.

This was probably one of the most stupid things Budo had ever done in his entire life.

But he'd recognized the look in her eyes, and if he hadn't done at least something then she'd have committed a murder.

He probably should be a lot more worried about how easily that statement came to him, but he didn't really have the time to ponder about that, now did he?

"Osana!" He called, trying not to flinch at hearing the sound of a blade clattering against the ground.

Definitely the stupidest thing he had ever done in his life.

She turned, eyes narrowing suspiciously and he couldn't really blame her; before today they barely had any contact with each other - other than the chance glances when passing each other in the school hallway, that is. "Yes?" Her tone hadn't been as hostile as expected, and he guessed that the extended period of time standing in front of the school was starting to wear her out.

He stopped in front of her, dark eyes momentarily searching behind her for any sign of the partially deranged girl hiding behind the bushes. Panicking when he couldn't find any.

Osana's eyes narrowed. "Did you need something?"

"I, uh," should've thought this through, for one, "Taro told me to tell you he's at the library with Hanako, and that you probably shouldn't wait up." Thank you, Info-chan.

Budo saw her eyes widen momentarily - they were somehow so expressive - before she hurried to mask the look again with apparent disdain. "Ugh, that baka! He could've at least told me instead of keeping me waiting!" She sighed, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'll go find him, b-but not b-because I like him or anything, alright?!" She threateningly pointed a finger at Budo, who simply raised his hands in surrender with the slightest hint of a knowing smile on his lips. "J-just keep that in mind!"

It was getting really hard to bite back the grin now. "Alright."

She huffed, holding her head high as she stormed off into the direction of the library.

Sighing, Budo ran a hand through his hair. That was one obstacle gone, now he just needed to be quick in finding the other before it was too late.

Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.

All thoughts of reason had been replaced with pure killer instinct, along with any possibility of negotiation to get her back to her senses. Ayano was out for blood, and she was out for it now.

The measly little knife wouldn't be enough to satisfy her now, and the girl actually found herself torn between just murdering the bitch or tranquilizing her and keeping her locked in the basement. Though, as Ayano stepped out from behind the bushes, the instinct to kill was getting stronger by the second; strong enough for it to only be described as pure hunger.

The kitchen knife she'd swiped from the cooking club still wouldn't do though. The circular saw would be a much better alternative considering the circumstances.

Heading into the building, Ayano made quick work of finding her rival. She was headed in the direction of the library, which was completely vacated during this hour. The Science club wasn't far off either, so when the job was done, all she'd need to do was snag the little robot and head back. Maybe make an extra trip to the Light Music and Gardening clubs if she decided to go through with the saw idea.

Perfect.

Osana rounded the corner, and Ayano took this as her chance to strike.

Raising her knife, her eyes zeroed in solely on her target, filled with hatred and murderous intent. She leaped forward, and then-

Arms circled around her waist, a rough, familiar hand clasping around her mouth before she could utter a sound and alert Osana of their presence. With a light tug, she was being dragged away and into the storage room not too far behind them. Everything about this current situation should have her struggling and fighting back against her apparent captor, and yet, Ayano only found herself melting into his touch.*

She barely registered the door shutting behind them before her back hit the wall and he let her go. He was glaring at her, disapproval written all over his features, yet Ayano still found herself with flushed cheeks as she looked up at him. "B-Budo-sen-"

"Give me the knife, Ayano." His tone held no room for argument, but she still shook her head and pulled the knife closer to her chest.

"Ayano," His voice was more of an agitated sigh now than anything else and she looked away, trembling grip on the knife slipping. And when he reached for it, she didn't resist.

Budo tossed the weapon somewhere behind him, not turning to look where it had landed but content with the knowledge that it was out of reach for her, at least. His stare stayed on her the entire time, searching her expression, and mostly her eyes, even when she looked away from him. She was shrinking back against the wall, fidgeting nervously and avoiding his gaze at all costs, but if her blush was anything to go by, then it definitely wasn't out of fear or anything of the sort. Not even anything remotely close to it.

"We talked about this," he started, only to be met by a weak nod.

"You promised me you'd quit," another nod.

"Ayano, look at me." A shake of her head, her hands were fisting into the fabric of her skirt now.

Budo reached up, one of his palms resting against the wall beside her head, while the other of his large hands moved to gently grasp her chin in-between his fingers. "Look at me," he ordered again, and as her gaze met his, Ayano swore she almost passed out right then and there.

"You need to quit this, Aya-chan," he murmured, eyes softening. The hand that was holding her chin slipped down to her waist, giving a gentle, almost reassuring squeeze.

"I know," she breathed. "I'm sorry."

"You nearly killed someone today."

"She was touching you!" The volume in her tone increased a little, and she momentarily snapped herself out of her dazed stupor.

"And?" he countered, leaning back. Budo didn't even bother in correcting her on the fact that he was the one who had in fact been touching Osana. A light tap on the shoulder to get her attention, but apparently that seemed like a grave sin to the girl in front of him. "What's so wrong with that?"

"The rumors-!"

"I told you, Ayano," he cut her off, hands once again caging her in by placing themselves on the wall. "They're just that; rumors." He leaned a bit closer, close enough for her to practically feel the force of his next statement. "You need to learn to trust me."

"I trust you," her response was instant, eyes wide and almost innocent as she stared up at him. She truly believed she was being honest, that she was speaking the truth. "It's just everyone else I don't trust."

"Fine," he reached up, palm lightly caressing her cheek. "Then trust me when I say there's no need for you to behave like this."

"B-Budo," she leaned into his touch. "T-that's not fair."

He leaned in, lips ghosting over hers. "Tomorrow, I want you to apologize to Osana."

She shook her head almost violently. "N-no, I c-can't."

"Promise me."

She lifted her hands, fists weakly resting against his hardened chest in a vain attempt to push him away. "Budo..."

He moved away from her face, granting her the room to breathe, only to knock the air straight out of her again by nuzzling his nose in her neck. "You said you'd trust me," he reminded, voice dropping low.

"I..." she shut her eyes, words dying down in her throat when she felt him nearing her lips again. He was just so close, she only needed to push forward a little and they'd be making contact, though she knew there was no chance in hell he was letting her get away with that right now. So, she did the only thing that came to mind. She agreed.

"I promise."

The toothy, self-satisfied grin he gifted her with was enough for her heart to start jumping, but before she got the chance to admire it in its entirety; he closed the gap and his lips were on hers.

Kissing Budo was always something that had her brain spasming and working overdrive. To this day, she still wasn't able to figure out how she'd finally managed to get him to be hers - willingly, that is. But if it gave her privileges like this; then she was happy she had managed to.

His lips were always soft against hers; kissing her with an intensity she'd never experienced in her life before but time and time again never failed to have her head whirling. Both of his hands had slipped down to her waist, thumbs caressing the fabric-covered skin and she almost wished he'd roll it up, just a little.

Even if he didn't, her promise was worth it. If being with him meant being a little more lenient to her rivals; then she'd make the same decision each and every time in a heartbeat.

Pulling back, Budo lightly took her bottom lip between his teeth, staring up at her almost coyly before pulling back and releasing her completely; forehead dropping down to rest against hers. His eyes were hooded, breathing ragged and heavy and lips kiss-bruised. Ayano didn't think she could love him any more than she already did.

She reached up, hands resting on his cheeks to pull him further down. "Just...to be clear," she breathed in-between pants. He turned his head, curious eyes flicking up to meet hers. "There's nothing going on between you and the previous Martial Arts leader?"

"I used to have somewhat of a crush on her," he admitted, rolling his eyes at the way her body tensed immediately, grip on his uniform tightening. "Used to," he repeated, pressing another light, yet meaningful kiss to her lips. "That's where the rumors came from. She transferred schools a year ago, though."

Ayano stayed silent, lips pressing into a thin line and eyes already starting to cloud over.

"Hey," he nuzzled her neck, wearing a slight frown. "You promised."

Her expression softened, teeth gritting before she gave in and sighed; head hitting the wall with a low thud. "Fine."

He smiled, not even bothering to hide it anymore. And as he tilted his head to close the gap for the third time that day; Ayano failed to hide her own grin too.

*Headcanon that Asu has a crush on Amai.

*YANDEREDEV CAN NOT JUST PUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN HIS PROCESS REPORT AND NOT EXPECT US TO MAKE SHIT UP

*Headcanon that Ayano fell for Budo and couldn't give two shits about Taro.

*Kaga Kusha, science club leader

*The slutty teacher

*Sorry, I had to, these two are legit my BROTP.

*I have this headcanon where Budo, Ayano and Info-chan all went to the same middle-school together, and that Ayano and Info-chan actually got pretty close to being friends before they broke apart when the year ended. Neither of them know that Info-chan is the girl from their middle-school, and she plans on keeping it that way, but she still has a bit of a soft spot for them (especially Ayano) hence why she's so involved in Yan-chan's yandereness.

*I figured since Osana and Taro are childhood best friends, Hanako would be like a little sister to her as well.

*Keep in mind she fell for Budo, so her reactions to him are bound to be different.