ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

୨⎯ I hate You; I love You ⎯୧

"Hello, daddy!" Rain exclaims with joy as she speaks to him on the telephone. "I found myself a man who can make me happy. I can't wait to introduce him to you! When are you free? This coming weekend?"

Inside his dimly lit office, Mr. Homura answers with furrowed brows but his voice composed, "I'm unsure of my schedule. Can I just...call you back later, Rain? I have a guest arriving right now. Love you, sweetie."

The phone hangs up abruptly before Rain can even respond back. "I...love you too, daddy." She then grunts to herself, "What was that about? Is his guest more important than his own daughter? I can't believe this..."

"Are you finally done?"

Mr. Homura lays his back flat on his red office chair. He scoffs to his guest standing in front of him, "I don't really appreciate it when time is being wasted. What is the purpose of your visit? Your name is... Sanzu? Is that right?"

Sanzu walks in a slow pace towards the collected man as he says, "Yes, that is right. My name is Sanzu. I let people call me that. Can you guess why?" His feet stop as he now stands closer to the man's large wooden desk.

"I have no clue." He simply answers Without further delay, Sanzu stabs the man right through his heart, the sharp blade passes through the chair as the man gets impaled without any warning.

The criminal leans closer to Mr. Homura's face as he speaks with a grin, "Do you remember helping someone named Akashi Takeomi more than a decade ago? Thanks to you, my family has been torn apart."

Mr. Homura coughs up blood, his hands shake as he attempts to take out the blade piercing him, however, he runs out of time and life takes a leap through a different surface, leaving his body an empty shell with no more driving force to raise a limb.

"If only you didn't show any pity to him, you and your daughter could have lived."

Sanzu is about to leave but he notices the man's phone lighting up due to a notification from his daughter's text message. He picks up the unlocked phone and takes a photo of his corpse, soon sending it to Rain. As he exits through the unguarded building, he quietly chuckles to himself, "It's your turn now."

The multi-millionaire's daughter has been plucked to the bones. She feels her gut eating her away as she stares horrified at the photo of her daddy's corpse. Breaking down, crying on the floor, her phone begins to receive hundreds of notifications.

"What the-What is all this...?!" She says, her voice cracking pure in disbelief as she is going crazy with all the news flash and articles she scrolls through. "My daddy's business isn't illegal! He doesn't kill people for money! No, that's not true! Please, daddy, hurry! Call me back...! You aren't dead, right?!"

'Homura Rain is speculated to be involved in such crimes committed by her father.'

"N-No...! I am not going to prison and live like a rat, you cruel people!!" She throws her phone across the room leaving a dent on her screen that impacts the concrete wall.

Within just a minute, police sirens surround her house. They break inside and immediately capture the social influencer who turns out to be a criminal in disguise. She refuses to go with them but with brute force, Rain has been taken outside the place with cops restraining her arms on both sides.

What catches the woman's eyes is Y/n's manager being present right outside her house, blending in with the concerned neighbors. "Why the hell are you here...? Did Akashi send you here to see my downfall?! I know you're recording all this! Hey, say something!!"

Manager Marionette cuts the video and directly sends it to Sanzu's contact number with a text message following it that reads, "I did what you asked me to do. Was it worth the wait? I have kept Y/n safe while keeping watch of Rain's actions."

A text comes through almost instantly and it reads, "Do you feel bad for making it look like she's a villain like her dad?"

"Not at all. I only care about Y/n." Manager Marionette replies back. She then places her phone back inside her pocket and leaves the chaotic scene. I never knew he was your brother. I kept my end of the bargain, will he keep his? To keep you alive no matter what.

Y/n, remember when you first met Homura Rain just about four months ago? That was the start of Rain's end. She got the short end of the stick colliding with your peaceful path since later that day, a man suddenly appeared in front of me and asked me to make a deal with him.

He said, "I can tell your hatred towards that woman who is named Homura. Are you willing to be my eyes? Watch her for me while you guard your business partner, Y/n. Make sure she is in good condition."

"Why? How do you know her?" His eeriness creeped me out when I first spoke to him, especially when his reaction was simply shushing me as a smirk emerges on his lips.

I thought I would never taste fear again, but he made me recall how terrifying a human being could be. He was burdening a huge amount of rage, despair, and sorrow much like when I first met you. That gave me a hint that you two were quite similar in one way or another.

Back in Sanzu's house, I don't have the energy to fall asleep and the same goes with Rindou. We just both cozy up on the couch with my body lying on top of his as he plays with my hair. "Still don't wanna sleep?" He asks me. My finger slowly scrolls through social media, responding to him, "I can't."

"Hmm. I understand what you feel. You just reunited with your brother, so I don't blame you for not sleeping a wink today."

I then get up, gasping from what my eyes just perceived. Rindou does the same as he watches my expression turn pale. I exclaim, my hand covering my mouth, "Homura Rain was sent to prison half an hour ago! Look! Her dad's business apparently does some crazy shit!"

Rindou takes my phone from my grasp and skims the article. "Who would have thought the Homuras are full of secrets?" I then get up from the couch and roam around in a circle with my mind running lapses. "It was right of me to detest her from the beginning."

He, too, gets up and firmly holds me by my shoulders, stopping my pace. His eyes hold a strong power as I stare at them. "Just to put you at ease, I don't have any secrets. You already know all of them. The person standing in front of you right now is the real me."

A subtle smile curls my lips as I exhale a breath, "Thank you. I'm glad you're here beside me, Rin. I would have gone insane being alone here. I wouldn't be able to speak to my brother properly if it weren't for your simple gesture earlier which comforted me a lot."

He cups my face into his warm palms as he adores my smile. Loneliness has become a terrible place lurking in this house, but being lonely with him makes me want to stand up on both of my feet with my chest out. He gives me courage to push out my real emotions.

All of a sudden, something crashes through the window in front of us. A person rolls on the ground as Rindou steps ahead of me and acts as my shield. "Who are you?" He asks the intruder.

He does not speak a word as he chooses to fight. The intruder enters a fistfight with Rindou who I know is an excellent brawler. I don't know what else to do but to watch on the sidelines, not interrupting the two of them in their unexpected match. Well, I am too shocked anyway to even make a choice of what action shall I take.

But then, Rindou backs up to a wall without his knowledge. "You won't stop, huh?" He grunts as he stays cautious of the intruder's possible movements. "Is it Sanzu you are looking for? Too bad he isn't here yet, bud! Come back next time-!"

As they take a few swings, Rindou hits his back loudly on a low cabinet where he tumbles on the floor. The intruder takes this opportunity to finish him, but I rush in, pushing him with my body as we both collapse to the cemented ground. "Y/n!" Rindou shouts my name.

He gets up, his back still aching from the impact, and rushes to where I end up. "D-Dont...worry! I got this." I struggle to speak as I restrain the intruder's arms on his back, sitting on his back with his stomach on the floor. The more I twist his arm, the more he yelps.

"Damn, I'm jealous." He scoffs as he walks with ease, his grin never fails to appear in scenarios like this. The intruder continues to scream out of agony, but he doesn't budge with answering questions.

"That's my prey you are handling." Sanzu walks in with a casual tone. His bloodied katana occupies his right hand. "I lost track of him for a second and this is where he fled to. Walked right into my trap."

"Uhh, do you mind telling us what is going on here?" I ask, still holding onto the intruder. Sanzu picks the intruder up from the floor with no effort, his shirt choking him. He answers me, "Just a bug that got away while I was cleaning."

Rindou quickly blinds my vision with his bare hand. My ears can only hear a spray of blood gushing out of the man's body as he shrieks from his final end. When Sanzu removes Rindou's hand from my face, I see his innocent smile as he says, "Do I still scare you? Do you disapprove of how I live?"

The body is gone but parts of his face and clothes still have that bright red liquid splattered onto him. I look in his eyes and reply, "You are my only true family, Sanzu. You can expect me to always stand by your side from now on."

A soft chuckle escapes his breath. Straightening his posture, he says, "Tomorrow is the end of our world, Y/n. The Akashi will no longer exist in us. We will be able to free ourselves from the past. Rindou, keep her safe in my position."

Rindou shortly smirks at my brother, saying back to him in a bold tone, "You don't gotta tell me twice."

Sanzu reflects his expression to him as he replies in a jeering manner, "Well, sorry, I just couldn't let you two go that easily. I just had to crash the party and involve you here in a family affair. But I assure you both that your wedding will happen."

I grasp both of their hands with me in the middle and smile at them, "This is to our new beginning. Let us move on from our past and enter a fresh start. What matters the most is the present, right? Tomorrow, we will be free, Sanzu."

♥ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇᴅ...