#ran fluff

You knew it was going to be a good day when you took your apple pie out of the oven. It was flaky, golden brown perfection! You couldn’t help the self-satisfied smile as you placed it in the display case. Sure, things were slow at the bakery right now, but it was only the morning. Traffic would pick up in the morning, you were sure of it.

As you got to work on making some almond apple butter cookies, the bell above the front door to the bakery rang. You flashed a bright smile before it fell into a frown. What was he doing here?

“Aw, did you miss me?”

“Go away, Ran.”

“You should work on your customer service skills.” He tsked. “You’ll scare away all of your customers with that attitude.”

Rolling your eyes, you asked, “What do you want this time? I’m not making you some extravagant order on a ridiculous time schedule, just so you can complain again.”

He shook his head. “Nope, nothing like that. Just wondering if you can whip up a wedding cake in three months?”

You paused, taken aback. Sure, Ran was your ex-boyfriend from back when you were kids, but it still surprised you that he would ask you. I mean, you were frenemies but wouldn’t it be better if he went to someone else for this kind of request?

Nodding, you said, “Congratulations. I can-”

“Oh, no, I’m not getting married!” He assured you quickly. “It’s for Rindou. I’m just the best man, so I’m helping with some of the things on their list. The bride has had your cupcakes before and I said I knew you, so she asked me to ask you. That’s all.”

Well, that explained a lot. Again, you nodded. “Oh, right. Well, I think I can do something for the couple. Do they have any requirements or ideas to work off of?”

“Oh, um…” Ran fished a small notepad out of his pocket. “She gave me this.”

Scanning the list, you were pleasantly surprised. Wedding cakes tended to be either overly specific or way too broad. This couple had some concrete ideas with enough room for creativity. What they were asking for wasn’t going to be too much trouble on your end. It probably wasn’t Rindou’s idea though. He seemed like the way too broad kind of person.

“Yeah, I can do this for them. It’d be my pleasure. Just give me a date and time you’d like to pick it up and I’ll have it done by then.” You told him.

“Thanks Y/n! You’re a lifesaver!”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” You snorted.

There was a brief pause before Ran added, “You know, I am allowed to bring a plus one. If you want to come, that is.”

Again, you were caught off-guard. You were exes, as in past lovers. If you were to take a plus one to a wedding, you would take a current lover or a close friend. Not someone who you used to be romantically involved with. And Ran would have plenty of options. 

So why would he choose you? Were you really that special to him? It didn’t really matter either way. The whole situation was just odd.

However, you never could say no to those puppy dog eyes of his, could you?

With a sigh, you answered him, “Well, it’s three months away right?”

“Yeah. So you’ll think about it?’

You had agreed to meet your partner, Ran, at The Last Drop after you got off your shift at work. You shoved the door open with a heavy sigh as the clicking of your heels was drowned out by the music and banter of the establishment. Maneuvering your way through the crowds you walked up to the bar to immediately get a drink after your long day.

Therium noticed you and made his way over greeting you by name with a soft smile. “What can I getcha’ this evening?”

“Long Island Iced Tea for a long day, please.” You said, resting your elbows on the bar top.

Therium nodded and went to get your drink started. As you waited for your cocktail, your head swiveled to scan the bar, looking for the distinctive choppy fringe of your partner. Being a Friday night, the bar was rather busy which made it a bit more difficult to find Ran within the sea of people, but you had a few guesses as to where they could be in the bar.

Therium returned with your drink setting the glass in front of you. As you reached for your purse to pay the bartender spoke up. “Your first drink is on Ran’s tab. They’re waiting for you.”

A small smile graced your lips. As long as Ran still stood living and breathing, they were physically proof that chivalry wasn’t dead.

“I guess they’re not gambling tonight?” You grabbed your drink, bringing the straw to your lips to take a small sip.

Therium shook his head. “Pool table. They’re betting money on games and—”

“And absolutely kicking those people's asses.” You half sighed, half chuckled as you finished the statement. “I don’t know why people play against them sometimes. They’ve been playing billiards since they were like, 10.”

“You think Ran tells them that?” Therium chuckled to himself, being a first hand witness to the many games and bets customers have lost to Ran. “They have a better chance of gambling against Sevika.

A sharp whistle from a patron at the other end of the bar caught your attention and made Therium jump. He sighed. “Let me know if you need another drink, I gotta get back to work.”

You nodded, raising your glass in gratitude to him as he turned to attend other customers at the bar top. You inhaled through your nose, preparing yourself for the screaming pain in the arches of your feet before setting off towards the billiard tables.

You approached to find Ran leaned up against the wall, watching their opponent line up his shot as your partner quietly sipped their drink. Once you were close enough for Ran to hear the clicking of your heels against the floor, you saw their head snap in your direction, a small smile forming on their plump lips.

“Hey, baby.” They greeted you with an open arm for a hug, their mechanical hand still holding onto their pool stick. “How’re you feelin’?”

“Ugh.” You groaned, all but collapsing into their hug as your head rested into the crook of their neck. “They sent me to 3 different places today. All 3 were on opposite sides of Zaun. I swear they do this on purpose.” You complained. You felt Ran’s arm wrap around you as they pulled you in for a quick, tight hug before letting you go, yet loosely keeping their hand on your waist.

“Wanna take your heels off and take a rest?” Ran offered, turning their head to look for the closest available chair. You lifted your head off their shoulder to shake your head.

“No, I’ll be okay. Probably just won’t want to stay out super late.” You watched as Ran’s opponent finally took his shot and you leaned off of your partner so that they could take their turn.

You shifted your weight from one foot to the other every few minutes as you watched the game progress, Ran ahead of the man by at least 2 points. Ran watched you out of the corner of their eye as they lined up their shots, but you smiled at them and sipped your drink, not wanting to throw off their rhythm in the game.

After a less than climactic win from Ran, they immediately collected their winnings before putting their pool stick away— making their way back to you, still pressed against the wall.

“C’mere.” They whispered to you before leading you by your hips to the pool table. Once there, Ran turned you around before hoisting you up so you were sitting on the edge of the table, feet dangling.

“Better?” They asked, searching your face for any discomfort. You grinned, taking another sip of your half way gone drink.

“Better. Thank you.” You leaned forward slightly, puckering your lips expectantly for a kiss. Ran gladly obliged, pressing their lips to yours.

“You know, if they hurt your feet that bad, why do you wear them all the time?” Ran asked, glancing down at your glittering heels.

“They’re just my thing.” You kicked up one foot to show off the shiny heels, turning it in the light. “Don’t feel like myself without them.”

“What about when we’re at home?” Ran asked, leaning against the pool table next to you.

“Home is for my fuzzy slippers.” You then poked their chest with your index finger to make a point. “Only you get to see that. Otherwise—“ You lifted both of your legs up, crossing them and letting them fall into Ran’s arms as you shifted your weight into your left arm, your right one still holding your drink. “Everyone else gets to admire my pretty shoes.”

Ran smirked, easily holding your legs up. “But,” Ran grabbed one of your heels, not to take it off, but to emphasize their own point. “Can these pretty shoes walk you home tonight? Or should they be on display for the rest of the night?”

“Display?” You questioned, turning your head in slight confusion. Ran chuckled at your adorable response.

“You’ve been on your feet all day. Why don’t I carry you home on my back so you don’t have to walk?”

You sipped on the last drops of your drink, humming in thought.

“That does sound nice, but it’s almost a 20 minute walk home, you don’t have to carry me the whole way.” You set your now empty drink beside you on the table.

“You act like I don’t want to do this.” Ran leaned in placing another quick kiss on your lips as they took your empty glass. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

You gave a small nod to Ran as they walked over to the bar, you assumed to pay the tab before you both left. When they returned they stood in front of you, facing away and bending their knees a bit to give you a better angle to climb on. “Hop on.”

Putting your legs on the side of their waist and wrapping your arms around their shoulders, they hooked their arms underneath your legs and hoisted you up onto their back with relative ease. Despite having one of the slimmer builds of Silco’s henchmen, Ran held their own when it came to strength.

Ran began to make their way towards the door with you in tow. You rested your head on their shoulder, relaxing onto them as they carried you out of The Last Drop. You let your feet softly sway in time with their steps as you listened to Zaun quiet down for the night the further you got away from the bar.

Not one for many words or meaningless conversations, Ran stayed quiet as they carried you home. They were content enough feeling your heart beat against their back and listening to your soft giggles whenever they stopped to hoist you higher up on their back throughout the short trip.

Once you had arrived home, you quickly dug through your purse to find the keys to your shared home, leaning slightly over your lover's shoulder in order to unlock the front door. Ran carried you inside and closed the door with their foot as you kicked your legs, still trapped in their hold.

“You can put me down now, you know.” You poked your finger into Ran’s cheek. “My feet hurt but my legs aren’t broken.” Ran stopped their movement in front of the couch.

“Oh, you wanna be let down?” They asked nonchalantly. “Okay.” They then proceeded to completely drop all your weight back onto the couch unceremoniously. You fell onto the couch with a small yell, not expecting the one thing holding you up to very suddenly give way.

“Ran!!” You jokingly yelled at them, not actually mad. You shifted on the couch to sit more upright and adjusted your dress back into its proper place.

“Yes?” They replied with that devilish smirk on their face. They knelt down in front of you and softly held your ankle, bringing your foot to rest on top of their leg as they began to undo the ankle straps on your heels.

You instantly melted at the sight. Ran, whose hands have punched, choked, and killed others on command were the same ones who treated you as delicate as silk while removing your shoes. They set your heel off the side before softly stretching your ankle out in circles. They applied a moderate amount of pressure to the arches of your feet, slowly massaging out any knots that may have formed from the day.

“You’re too good to me.” You sighed happily. You lifted your hand to Ran’s head, running your fingers through their short hair and letting your nails scrape across their scalp. “You don’t have to do this, you know.” You reminded them, pushing their fringe out of their face so you could look them in both of their eyes.

“I know.” They set your bare foot onto the floor with a softness you’ve noticed they only reserved for you. Without another word they picked up your other foot repeating the process. You watched them quietly, your heart bursting with your love for them.

“I love you so much, Ran.”

“I love you too, baby.”

manjiro sano.

draken's suspicious. mikey's been awfully quiet and smiles to himself a lot. raising an eyebrow, draken takes another sip of his drink, is he going crazy? he judges mikey again. for the fifth time this day, mikey's giggled and smiled to himself like a little girl thinking about her celebrity crush.

“what the hell is going on with you?!” draken questions, he takes hold of a random fork from the table, pointing it at mikey demanding an answer.

“say, ‘ken,” mikey speaks, resting both elbows on and clasping his fingers together, he leans in closer before continuing, “what would you do if you got a girlfriend?”

draken, though holding a normal expression, is currently surprised. what does mikey mean? did mikey score a girl? is he truly going insane? questions that'll never find their answers. opening his mouth to answer, draken immediately closes it—he has to think about his answer precisely.

“i'd probably want to show her off? why the fuck are you asking me this!?”

“perfect answer because you see,” mikey stops himself, he leans over the table to whisper in draken's ear, “I GOT A GIRL!” he shouts and receives a slap on the head.

“first of all, never do that again.” draken rubs his ear, rolling his eyes as he shoos mikey away.

“secondly, are your impulses getting worse? need me to get you your comfort snack?” draken genuinely questions. he thinks mikey's gone insane.

“...don't talk to me.” slapping his palms on the table, mikey dramatically slings his bag on his shoulder walking out the shop with fake tears.

ran haitani.

rindou opens the door after three knocks. he looks at you up and down for five seconds before concluding that you got the wrong house. so what does he do? he closes the door but luckily, ran saw you and held the door open.

“don't lock my girl out, rin.”

“sorry, my bad—YOUR GIRL!?”

rindou stops from walking back to his room and spins around immediately. he points at ran before pointing at you, clearly he's confused. from what rindou remembers, ran's a loser that sweet talks but never manages to get past that, so what does he mean by “my girl”?!

you stand there awkwardly while the two brothers bicker. ran's offended and rindou's just rindou. looking at the two brothers, you decide to stop them and introduce yourself.

“hello, i'm y/n.”

“hi, i'm rindou. anyways, RAN.”

he shouts ran's name, demanding further explaination. and what does ran do? shuffle past rindou while pulling you your wrist. he pulls you in front of him before looking back at his younger brother with a lazy smile, “i'll tell you the details later.”

rindou rolls his eyes, walking into his room but before that, he responds to ran, “you better. good night you two.”

rindou haitani.

“you look like a creep.” sanzu walks up to rindou, resting his cold soda on rindou's head. his eyes move to what rindou's watching and looks back to him with a teasing smile.

“what do you mean by creep.” rindou says, slapping off sanzu's drink.

“well, if i saw a random thirty year old man dressed in dark tones looking at a girl i'd think you're a creep—without context of course.” sanzu defends himself, sitting beside rindou slinging an arm over the bench's backrest.

rindou raises his middle finger to sanzu's face, he's not going to listen to him anymore. unlocking his phone, he texts you.

rindou smiles at your texts which creeps sanzu out. seriously, he's getting goosebumps so he must talk about it.

“gang executive smiles at silly texts with his girlfriend, how unsettling.” sanzu feigns a tremble, looking at rindou in pure disgust as if he committed a crime.

“shut up, pill popper and how did you know..” squinting his eyes at sanzu, rindou questions. how did sanzu know? what was bonten's number two doing to find out such information? how bored was sanzu?

giving rindou a grin, sanzu gives him a vague answer, “i have my ways.”

Kissing...?! Again?! Well, atleast it's better than a punch to the face... You can't believe it's come to a point where you're glad to get kissed by Ran.

But still, does he have to kiss you in the least romantic place possible? Even if you did have feelings for him you'd totally find this moment cringy.

"You suck at kissing." He comments heartily, pulling away.

"I'm not the one who kisses a new girl every day. Maybe I actually have some self-respect." You crossed your arms. He was your first kiss after all.

"Every night is an exaggeration. It's like, every week." You couldn't tell if he was joking or being serious, even if you saw his expression.

"Oh, wow. Glad to know that I'll get cheated on in about 3 days. Way to make your 'girlfriend' hate you less."

"I'll stop for you." He smiled.

"Uh huh, whatever." You rolled your eyes.

Though, his kisses are actually kind of making you.... No, no! Don't fall for that! You can't believe you almost admitted that you'd fall for him if he kissed you more.

.

"How's it going with your new boyfriend, girl?"

"God, do not call him that." You held your forehead in frustration.

"I think he's taken a liking to you." Your friend nudged you, pointing at Ran who was sitting on the other side of the cafeteria and smiling at you as he ate.

"Great." You said sarcastically, immediately looking away when your eyes met.

"See? It ended up well. Now you have a hot bad boy boyfriend." Your friend kinda wished she'd done it instead of daring you.

"Didn't I just... ugh! I don't think my parents would agree with you." You placed your forehead on the table, groaning. "You date him if you want a bad boy so bad. But I hate you for dragging me into this." Your voice was slightly muffled.

"Yeah, we'll see. You'll be the happiest couple ever in like, two months."

You raised your head, looking back at Ran once again. You're in quite the pickle, aren't you? The next thing you know, you'll fall for Haitani Ran.

How scarily exciting.

.

"Hop on." Ran stopped on his bike in front of the library. How he knew you had a study session there today? Don't worry about the details.

Another motorcycle ride... You feel like you barely survived the last one.

"My parents expect me to be home in 10 minutes." You crossed your arms. You weren't lying, either.

"Who cares? Live a little." Ran rolled his eyes playfully. Clearly he isn't going to let you back down.

"I'll do it, but only if you keep it to ten minutes." He was right, backing down isn't your thing. You wonder how much resisting him you could get away with if you weren't special to him.

Special to him... huh.

"Killjoy." He insulted you lightly as you sat down in front of him. Again, neither of you are wearing a helmet. This is the last time you'll let it slide.

"I prefer to not get scolded endlessly." You held onto him tightly because you knew what was coming and didn't want to almost fall off the bike again. He felt proud when you held onto him like that.

Like you're finally his. To be honest, he didn't really care much for you until you kissed him out of nowhere like that. How bold of you, the top-of-the-class rule stickler. But he likes that. And that's why he decided to make you his.

Isn't the fact that he lets you ride on his motorcycle enough to see that?

You felt the wind blowing against your face as you set off. Now that you feel it again, it doesnt feel too bad. It's kind of nice, actually. And Ran is warm, too.

The scenery moves past the two of you and strangely, you feel really calm and at peace. It feels like your parents don't exist in this moment and that you can just... live, and feel the adrenaline of the high speed.

This is so scarily exciting.

"You look relaxed." He said, looking down at you.

"I am. And look at the road, will you?" You scolded him but your voice was still relaxed. You look up at him again.

He actually isn't that bad looking. You kind of understand why some girls would fall for him. You, on the other hand...

Are unfortunately befalling the same fate.

He didn't say anything but you had a feeling he knew you were staring.

"You look like you're in love."

"What?! How would you even know?!" You looked back at the road, hiding your face from him. You can't help but get defensive of such a thing.