Thank you guys for the reviews! I'd do replies, but I feel like this chapter's too short to fill the end with replies. :/ Thanks, though! Chapters will most likely be short because there'll be a lot of timeskips, and I don't want to rush them more than they probably already are.

Last Chapter.

"I just didn't want to get caught by Akaito. He'd kill me, you know?"

"Ah."

Neko shifts a little bit until she's sitting next to me, in the same position. "You know," she begins slowly, "you seem like a good kid at heart."

I laugh coldly, but make no other move to speak.

She sighs. "I think you're just confused. You seem like you could be a really good person if you weren't caught in the middle of all this nonsense." Neko pauses for a moment before she touches my cheek gently with her warm fingers. "If Blondie didn't appreciate you, then you don't need to spend your time thinking about her, right, Lenny?"

I would listen to her words if I didn't think she only wanted me for herself...

Chapter Two

It's been two days since I last called Rin, and she still hasn't returned it. Sometimes I wonder if she ever cared about me at all, if she just wants me to go away because I'm such a pest. I wouldn't think of her to feel that way, though. Sure, she can be a brat, but she cares about people, right? She doesn't want me to break down because of all of this, does she?

I scold myself inwardly for being weak. I should be stronger than this, I know. I'm the toughest guy on the streets - I can take down anyone or anything who threatens me or my friends; I'm not pushover.

Maybe I just have a weak heart. I can fight; I have muscles. But perhaps I'm just not as emotionally strong as I always thought myself to be.

Rin's brought out all of the negative emotions in me, and part of me wonders if maybe, just maybe, having her back would make things go back to normal. What is normal like, anyway? Even though I may have only spent a few weeks with Rin, it still feels strange to have my apartment back to myself, to be free from having her hovering over my shoulder and watching my every move. She's not around to give me snappy comments, to hold me in her arms, to be the source of the most entertainment I've had in quite a while.

My phone rests in my hand, and I flip it open to press down on the button that will allow me to call Rin. Maybe she'll answer this time. Placing the cellphone next to my ear, I sigh loudly and wait for the ringing to end and for me to hear her voice telling me to just leave another message that she might never reply to.

"Hey!"

There's a pause where her singsong voice usually continues on in the message, and for a moment, I'm dumbfounded, silenced. I don't know how I'm supposed to reply, so I sit there, stunned, until she speaks again, her laugh sending tingles along the length of my spine.

"Are you there…? Len?"

"Where the hell do you get the idea that it's okay to not answer my calls!?" I shout in frustration, leaping to my feet from where I had been leaning back against the brick wall. My free hand tightens into a fist until my knuckles whiten. "Do you realize how worried I was, Rin!? How upset I've been?!"

She's quiet for a moment before I can hear her chuckle softly. "I don't think you need to worry about me, Len. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself."

"Rin, this is no laughing matter." I grit my teeth together in frustration. "You obviously don't understand how much it bothers me to not have you around."

"I don't see why," she scoffs, and I can picture her rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, maybe even puffing out some air to blow her lengthy bangs from her face. She'd have a smirk dancing across her lips that does crazy things to my body, one that makes me want to kiss her and love her like I did every day for those few weeks that we stayed together. "We…I suppose we weren't exactly meant to be, Len. But I do thank you, really. I wouldn't be where I am now if you hadn't helped me out."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Well, I am safe and sound now, right? And after what happened to Akaito, you are, too. There's nothing you have to be scared of anymore," she tells me pointedly.

"I was never scared," I insist with a growl. Truthfully, it was a little frightening, but it was definitely something that my friends and I could handle. We don't let people walk all over us, so the outcome of this issue with Akaito was pretty much decided from the beginning. Even Rin should know that.

Before I can say anything else, she quickly mutters, "Well, listen, I can't talk anymore. I've got some things I need to do. 'kay? We can talk again sometime."

I let out a breath of air in frustration. "And you will actually answer my call this time?"

"Sure, if I'm not busy." She whispers something to another person, but she's too quiet for me to understand what she says. Then, she addresses me again. "Later, Len."

I don't have time to say 'goodbye' before she hangs up, leaving me alone once again. My fingers tighten around my cellphone as I bring it from my ear down to my lap, where I clutch it with renewed irritation shooting through my veins. That stupid brat, rich and expectant of everything to go her away.

One day, I want to show her that that won't be the case. I'm not going to let her get away from all of this without facing some of the consequences.

Like I said, short chapters. I just don't know what I'm doing with this fic anymore. I've been working on this chapter for days, but I always get bored after a couple of sentences.

(:Mizune