You inched backwards, hearing the crunch of the glass under your feet before you were met with your back against the wall. He was drunk, alcohol filling your nose as he almost reached you but you dodged his approaching arm and ran towards the door, not even taking the time to take a proper breath in fear that it would slow you down and you were out.

You raced down the alleyway with tears beginning to fall down your cheeks, the cool air breaking your resolve more than cooling down your body and you could feel your legs quiver as you ran. You couldn't tell how many people you practically ran into as you tried to head as far as your legs could take you; somewhere quiet, someplace secret to you.

You slowed as you approached an abandoned warehouse that lined a river on the outskirts of Tokyo, bringing your feet through the building, stepping over debris and climbing up to the vacant third floor. Finally, you were able to catch your breath, but with that, your heartbeat also slowed, allowing you to now hear the things around you.

You could hear footsteps approaching behind you as you walked down the barely held together beams lining the third floor. Your eyes began to widen, your heart rate picking back up. You were glad you were carrying your pocket knife. Moving your hand up and grabbing the handle of your knife, you were prepared to pull it out but the voice then spoke out and you sighed.

"Jesus Christ, Hanma." You let go of the knife and turned around to face the tall lanky boy. "Why the fuck are you here?"

"Woah woah, so hostile, and towards someone who you plowed into with no apology." He had his hand up, a smug smirk on his face as he looked you over from head to toe. "And, you're looking a little worse for wear."

"Shut the fuck up." You spit out, not in the mood for any of his crap and you turned around again, heading towards the spot you liked to sit at. It was a nice area that overlooked the city of Tokyo, one of the few spots that had no broken glass, but an open area that allowed you to comfortably relax. Turning into the room that gave you the view, you peeked to your side to see that Hanma was following you. "What do you want?"

"I'm just curious at what you're doing. Especially all the way out here." His hands were tucked in his pants pockets, his head cocked to the side slightly.

"Why do you care?" You hardened your exterior again, your eyes drying up as you were in the same room as one of your enemies. Hanma was against your friend's gang, and well, partially yours as well. You weren't an official member of Toman, but you hung out enough with them to be recognizable to other gangs as 'that Toman girl.' With that, you'd come to dislike a certain someone who stood before you, however, you weren't as hostile towards him as the others tended to be.

You sat down on the ledge, ignoring the fact that he took a spot next to you—but you couldn't ignore the fact that his gaze was burning a hole in your face. "Are you okay?"

"HA!" The laugh burst out of your chest before you could help it; but to be fair, you'd have laughed regardless of his words. "The hell do you care for?" although those words cut the fresh scene between your boyfriend and you sharply, your wound was far too fresh to be asked that and tears began to unwillingly fill you eyes.

"Woah." He leaned forward quickly, not hesitating to place his thumb under your eye and gently dragging to the side, making you flinch and slap his hand away, rather harshly.

"Don't fucking touch me." Your eyes were wide, fear swimming through them as flashes of your boyfriend's hand connecting with your face earlier.

But that's when he saw it. The fresh red mark, soon to be staining your face purple sat on your right cheek, the side of your cheek he hadn't seen when you turned to face him the first side, or the side he sat next to. His own eyes widened in shock, not expecting to see a mark on your cheek like that. He wanted so badly to cup your face but he refrained, battling with the recent thoughts that swam through his mind.

"Did he do this?" His golden eyes pierced into your own, rage flickering behind the shimmering hue of his eyes.

Your nose twitched, jawline tightening as you could feel those tears close to escaping. "I-It's none of your business." You flinched at your hoarse stuttering voice, surprised that your walls were chipping before the opposing gang's member. Averting your eyes to prevent further embarrassment and in hopes that you could regain your composure, you brought them to the glimmering lights of the city.

Silence fell around you both, Hanma struggling to hold his words back but failed rather quickly, his emotions breaking all his logic. "That guy is not good for you." He turned his body back towards you, leaning in ever so slightly. "Hell, even I would be better for you and we're not exactly on the best of terms."

You scoffed, turning your head back to him, lips trembling. "Honestly, anyone would be better than that abusive asshole who thinks money can solve anything, money that he needs to borrow from people who charge ridiculous interest rates to dumbasses who think that they can handle the consequences of not paying it back." The tears had begun falling halfway through your words, your body beginning to shake as everything began flowing out of you.

"And of course, this isn't the first time he's taken his anger out on me after drinking away his troubles from the warning beatings he'd get from the mob for being late on his payments." You didn't truly understand why you were telling Hanma this, but your words kept coming. "But this was the first time he actually threw a goddamn bottle at me. And you're saying that even you would be better for me? I think you'd be far better for me than that abusive drunk." Rubbing your arms over your eyes, wiping the constant flow of tears as you sniffled, your mind was running a million miles per second.

However, he was under the same spell as you were, his words leaving his mouth before he even had proper time to process them. "Then let me be better for you." Your head whipped towards him, eyes wide as he picked up his hand to place it on your cheek.

"Are you crazy?" Your eyes continued to widen as you looked at the boy who's eyes are always filled with insanity, hopped up on adrenaline after doing cruel things beyond your imagination, however, now they plead with yours.

He looked in your eyes as he held your cheek up, making it so you couldn't truly avert your gaze from him and he chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you know that I'm already crazy." The corners of his lips perked up slightly in a smile before frowning. "Just because we're on opposite sides doesn't mean that this can't happen."

"This...?" You flitted your eyes back and forth from his eyes to his cheeks, lips and back. He began to lift your head up towards him but you pulled back a bit from his hold. "Hanma... Even if... Even... I still have a boyfriend." This time you were able to bring your head down, tears falling down your cheeks every so often.

"Have you really thought of him as your boyfriend lately? It's just a label if the feelings aren't there. It's been months since you've had the same kind of energy as when I first met you." His hand fell from your cheek and he adjusted himself to look out into the sky. "He's changed you, and quite frankly, I don't think it's for the better."

Your mind began to run through your recent years of being with him and your shoulders began to fall forward, knowing exactly what Hanma was talking about and you couldn't believe it. "What... why do you..." You lifted your head and looked at him, examining his side profile for a moment before continuing. "How is that something you've noticed?"

His head turned to meet your gaze and he sighed, his usual demeanor shifting. "Just because I'm the bad guy doesn't quite necessarily mean I'm a bad guy in the sense of not noticing things about someone who I've had my eyes on for a while." This time your mouth dropped open and your heart began racing at the realization of his words. He couldn't quite mean... that he likes you... but the last 15 minutes beg to differ. "Just leave him and let me take care of you. Let me be the one to protect you."

"H-Hanma..."

"I'm crazy about a lot of things, and you're one of them. I may rarely show my feelings, but I can most definitely talk about them."

You couldn't help but laugh at that ridiculous line, your mind slowing down and you were coming back to the reality of everything. "I'm sorry, I'm just... at a loss for words. Hanma, this is crazy. How in the world could we ever start a relationship like this? You do realize how awful the relationship between you and my friends are right?"

"And I'm sure you also realize that I couldn't give a fuck about what your friends think right? You know I don't care about what anyone thinks." You knew what he was saying, you understood what he was saying and you really couldn't deny the feelings that harbored in your heart deep down, feelings you've completely ignored because first off, you had a boyfriend when you realized them and second, it was for the sadistic boy who could care less about anything unless it made his life less boring.

So, how in the world could you not think that he was just doing this to ease his own boredom? How do you know that you're not just something that could potentially make his time less dull for the moment?

All your thoughts were cut off by his hand resting back on your cheek as he pulled your face up to meet his. "And quite frankly, I don't care if I make you think you're cheating on an asshole like him—who deserves it, by the way—cause I'm kissing you right now."

Your heart erupted as his lips connected with yours and you were filled with a feeling you've never felt before. Not once, ever, had you ever felt as if kissing had meaning before until your chest fluttered, matching your eyes as they shut. Your nose was filled with the scent of a different cigarette brand than your boyfriends but somehow Hanma's didn't repulse you like his did.

His other hand reached up, covering your opposite cheek and pulling you in closer to him, the breathing from your noses mingling as your kiss deepened. You didn't want to leave this spot, you didn't want to lose the feeling of his lips on yours, but he pulled away, leaving you to reach up towards him slightly.