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Raspberry.

“Use it,” he says, his eyes locked on mine. “If you need me to take you away. Now or later. I don’t care when. Text it. Say it. Sign it. I don’t give a fuck how you do it. But if you use it, I will come. Do you understand?”

My throat tightens, and I nod.

He holds my gaze, then he steps back, slides the gun into his jacket, and turns toward the door.

I stand there, staring at the door, the lollipop still clutched in my hand.

Alya is the first to move. She rushes to Anton’s side, her hands fluttering uselessly over his wound.

“We need to call someone,” she says, her voice high and panicked. “We need—”

“Shut up,” Anton snaps, his face twisted in pain. “Just shut up and get me a fucking towel.”

She flinches but obeys, disappearing down the hallway.

Anton turns his glare on me. “This is your fault,” he hisses. “You brought him here. You—”

“I didn’t bring him anywhere.”

“You let him—”

“I didn’t let him do anything. He did it himself.”

Anton’s jaw clenches. “Father is going to hear about this.”

“Good,” I say. “Tell him.”

***

A few days pass. Anton hasn’t cornered me once, which is almost worse than if he had. I know him well enough to recognize postponement when I see it; the second his arm functions properly again, I’m probably fucked. Stranger still, he hasn’t told my father about what happened, despite threatening to, and I can’t decide whether that should reassure me or make me considerably more nervous.

I try to text Kento more than once. I even get as far as opening our messages, thumb hovering uselessly over the keyboard, but then my eyes catch on the new slashes across my arms and Anton’s voice resurrects itself inside my skull. Sick. The word crawls through me like something parasitic. Suddenly all I can imagine is Kento seeing them and reaching the same conclusion. Maybe he already has. Maybe he’s had a few days to reconsider me and realized everyone else was right.

So I avoid him. Very mature.

It’s worked exactly as well as expected.

Meaning not at all.

Today, however, avoidance isn’t an option.

It’s Rei’s birthday.

Which means everyone who matters will be there, and naturally Kento will be there too.

By the time I arrive, the place is already packed with people. I come in carrying three ridiculous gift bags because Rei deserves indulgence and also because buying things for him soothed something in me. Shopping calms me down, not as much as the raspberries or his voice, but it’s effective sometimes.

The second he sees me, his whole face lights up, but then he glares. It’s a game between us, pretending he doesn’t love me, but I know he does.

I cross the room and shove the bags into Rei’s arms before he can even properly greet me. He nearly fumbles the first one, blinking down at the pile like I’ve just handed him a bomb. “What is all this?”

“Your birthday presents, obviously. Aren’t I nice, Raiii?” I drag out his nickname just to annoy him. His mouth twitches before his smile finally breaks through. “Ilya.”

“Open them later.” I wink.

He laughs softly, shaking his head. “Thank you, menace.”