Ren Shinomiya

Mio stood gaping, staring at the back of the stranger who now stood between her and the real danger. Her mind was a short circuit of panic and confusion.

"What do I do? Scream? No, no one will hear me. Run? They'll catch me. Call the police? My phone is in my bag and my hands won't work. This weirdo is going to use me as a human shield and then leave me here. How horrible!"

" Don't worry. " said the boy in the cap, his voice so calm it was chilling. " Stay close to me. "

The three thugs approached, surrounding them. The leader, with a nasty smile, clicked his tongue. " What's such an adorable couple doing in a place like this?, Your boyfriend is very brave, isn't he? "

They were getting ready to beat him up. One of them, insulting the boy, threw a punch straight at his face. The blow was quick and sharp.

The black cap flew off, spinning through the air. The boy's head jerked back, and the dim light from the streetlamp finally illuminated his face.

His hair was an impossible color, jet black that revealed deep blue highlights under the light. His eyes, now open and fixed on the bully, were an intense stormy gray. Mio was breathless. He was... incredibly handsome. But her mind, confused, couldn't process the color of his hair.

" It looks like jet black with blue highlights... no, wait, is it ash silver? "

" Hey... " said the bully who had hit him, taking a step back. " Your face... looks familiar... "

Before he could finish his sentence, a shadow moved faster than his thoughts. A whistle cut through the air, followed by a thud and a groan. The bully fell to the ground, knocked out. His two companions turned around, surprised, only to receive a brutal and precise blow with a baseball bat that left them unconscious beside him.

From the shadows emerged a man in an impeccable suit, with a metal bat resting elegantly on his shoulder. His face showed a mixture of relief and utter panic.

" Master Ren! " he exclaimed, running toward the boy. " I finally found you! Do you know how worried I was? You were gone all day! I thought you had been kidnapped! I almost cried! "

Mio was in a mental war. " Young master? Bodyguard? Ren? Ren... Shinomiya?"  The face was so familiar, but she couldn't place it. 

"And who is this young lady?" asked the man in the suit, Naoki, looking at Mio with curiosity.

"Some bad guys were going to hurt him," Ren replied without showing any emotion.

"It was you who gave me a heart attack in the first place." Mio murmured so softly that it was almost inaudible. "We'll walk you home," Naoki said firmly. "This place isn't safe at night, miss. There are a lot of dangerous people around."

Y-yes, of course, Mio said nervously as her mind tried to process how and at what point her life had turned into a scene from a low-budget action movie.

The walk to her apartment was the most surreal of her life. She walked in silence, flanked by a mysterious boy and his butler/bodyguard/personal hitman. At this point, even Mio didn't know what or who this guy was. When they reached her door, Naoki and Ren waited for her to enter safely before saying goodbye with a slight nod of their heads.

Mio closed the door and leaned against it, sliding down to the floor. She sat there, in the darkness of her hallway, for perhaps ten minutes.

Finally, she got up. She didn't change her clothes, she didn't look for an energy drink, she didn't turn on the computer. She walked over to her bed and collapsed face down, fully clothed. She was too physically and mentally exhausted to do anything else.

The day was over. But because of that, his life was about to change forever.