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Chapter 6 — "Shadows and Sparks"
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Ren Kurogane's POV
I hate mornings. But not because I'm lazy—I'm a Kurogane. Laziness gets you killed. What I hate is waking up with her in my damn head. Airi Tanaka. That girl doesn't belong in my world, and yet she's the only thing that makes this twisted life of mine remotely interesting.
The way she stared at me yesterday—those wide brown eyes filled with defiance and fear—I can't get it out of my mind. She looked like prey trying to act brave. But I could see through it. She's soft… too soft for this world. But I'll make her stronger.
Because she's mine now.
Not in a cute, boyfriend way.
In a you-breathe-under-my-watch kind of way.
She doesn't know how dangerous it is to have me so close. She doesn't understand that the people I deal with don't just threaten—they eliminate.
Which is why I'm tailing her today without her knowing. Again.
I don't do this for just anyone. Only her.
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Airi Tanaka's POV
It's just another day. Or so I tell myself while clutching my bag like it's a lifeline. After everything with Ren yesterday—him grabbing my waist, leaning in like that, saying things no normal bodyguard would ever say—I should've run. But I didn't.
Instead, I spent the night replaying every word he said. Every arrogant smirk. Every burning glance.
And I hate that my heart raced like I was in some kind of forbidden drama.
Mei nudges me with her elbow as we walk through the school gates. "You're totally out of it today."
"Just tired," I lie.
She rolls her eyes. "Is this about that new guy?"
I freeze. "Ren?"
"I knew it! You've got that 'I saw him in a drama and now I'm spiraling' face."
I laugh nervously, but before I can respond, I feel it—that presence. The same suffocating heat from yesterday.
He's watching me again.
I turn.
Ren is leaning against his bike at the school entrance. Dressed in all black, sunglasses, chain glinting under his shirt, like he stepped out of a mafia movie. No—he is the mafia. He takes one last drag from a cigarette and flicks it to the ground, crushing it beneath his boot without a glance.
Mei sees him too and gasps. "Holy—he's staring straight at you."
I swallow. Hard.
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Scene Transition — After Class
I try to sneak out the side entrance, but Ren's already there, straddling his bike like he owns the entire city. And maybe he does.
"You're avoiding me," he says, voice low and sharp.
"I'm not," I lie, looking everywhere but at him.
He revs the engine slightly. "Get on."
"I have to go home—"
"You are going home. On this." He taps the seat behind him with two fingers. "Don't make me say it again, sweetheart."
"I'm not your—"
"You are. You just don't know it yet."
The audacity of this man.
But my feet betray me. I slide on behind him, my hands barely touching his jacket. He grabs my wrists and pulls them tighter around his waist.
"You hold me like that again," he murmurs, "and I might just forget I'm your bodyguard."
"I never asked for a bodyguard!"
He tilts his head back slightly. "You didn't have to. Someone else did."
"What?"
But he doesn't answer. He speeds off, the wind whipping through my hair as the city blurs around us.
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Scene Transition — Abandoned Alley
He stops the bike in a deserted alley. My heart hammers.
"Why are we here?" I ask, stepping back.
"Because you're not safe," he says, turning to me, eyes unreadable. "There's someone watching you. Someone who knows who you are… and what you mean to me."
"What I mean to you? You barely know me!"
He steps forward. I step back.
"You think this is a game, Airi?" he says, cornering me between a wall and his presence. "You think I followed you around, scared off men who looked at you, fought off threats for nothing?"
I look up at him, defiant. "Then tell me! Who sent you to protect me?"
He hesitates.
"My brother," he finally says. "Your father made enemies in our world. My brother thought assigning me to you would be a punishment. But it became something else."
"Like what?"
He grabs my chin, tilting it up. "Like obsession."
My breath catches.
"From the moment I saw you standing in that schoolyard, clueless and sweet... I wanted to ruin every inch of your innocence."
"Y-You're insane."
"Maybe," he says, lips hovering near mine, "but I'm the only thing keeping you alive."
A sudden crash echoes from nearby. A shadow darts past the alley.
Ren immediately moves in front of me, gun drawn from his jacket in one smooth motion.
"Stay behind me," he orders.
My heart thunders. The Ren I saw at school—the flirty, arrogant tease—is gone. This is the real him. The mafia prince with blood on his hands and danger in his eyes.
He chases the shadow down the alley but returns a few minutes later, furious.
"They're getting bold," he growls, grabbing my wrist again. "You're coming with me. No more school. No more wandering."
"You can't just decide that—"
"I can and I will. You're under my protection. And if anyone lays a hand on you again—"
"What? You'll kill them?"
He doesn't answer.
His silence is the answer.
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To Be Continued…
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