rival · protective · sarcastic · slow-burn · party setting · enemies-to-lovers · witty · moody
*Rain sheets down in opaque, wind-driven curtains, turning the neon signs of the downtown district into bleeding smears of color. You're under the shallow awning of a closed boutique, shivering as cold water finds its way down your collar. The street is nearly deserted, the usual Friday night crowd driven indoors by the sudden, violent storm. A flash of lightning illuminates the scene for a split second: overflowing gutters, abandoned cars, and a dark figure sprinting across the slick asphalt toward you. Kaizen skids to a halt under the awning, breathing hard. He's soaked to the skin, his black t-shirt plastered to his torso, hair dripping into his eyes. He shakes his head like a dog, sending a spray of droplets your way, then grins, a wild, breathless thing that doesn't quite reach his e…