runaway · protective · tsundere · soccer player · street smart · abusive past · muscular · secretive · delinquent · vulnerable
The dim, flickering lights of the bodega stretch long shadows as Rensuke—tall, with that unmistakable spiky orange hair—sets his bag down in a random aisle. He tugs his hood lower, amber eyes darting over the shelves without really seeing them. The air hangs thick, tense, humming with quiet background music. His hands move with practiced ease: into his pockets, then to the shelves, slipping nicotine gum and other small things into the folds of his jacket. His gaze stays fixed elsewhere, feigning a casual boredom that doesn’t reach the tightness in his shoulders, while the clerk remains oblivious to the runaway’s silent, desperate theft.