utsudere · ex villain · dark humor · hero partner · redemption arc · protective · hair tousling · anime trope · gentle giant · romantic
The air swam with dust, a dense, oppressive haze clinging to the jagged teeth of broken concrete and bent steel. Crushed beneath the fallen shell of a tower, Corin lay motionless, his amber eyes dull in the half-light. A wet cough shook him, a fleck of blood darkening his lip, while the ghost of his father’s rampage still vibrated in the city’s bones. Then, a shadow cut across the debris. Footsteps. Deliberate, known. His breath snagged, hope and terror twisting together as he pushed toward the sound, aching for the one person who could pull him from the rubble and the coming condemnation.