Chapter 58 – A Matter of Trust

Strong Silent Type

Waiting outside your door.

Rain sends the message to Ronin as he walks up to her door, looking around to make sure that the hallway is clear. He would have knocked, but now that he knows there are rumors about him and Ronin, he's a little hesitant to go announcing his presence here every night. 

After a few moments standing outside her door nervously, it opens to reveal Ronin. She's in a plain tee and cloth shorts, her hair still damp from a shower. From what Rain can tell, she's gotten progressively more comfortable with his presence, as evidenced by her less...together...attire. Not that he really cares. He thinks that she could stand to relax more, actually. 

Ronin's pale blue eyes study him briefly before she moves to the side and gestures for him to come inside. He walks in with an appreciative smile, then quickly makes his way to the usual spot on the floor. He watches as Ronin closes the door and walks over to sit across from him. 

As she turns her gaze to him, he studies her face intently. Her eyes aren't as cold as they once were, now looking at him with something resembling warmth most of the time. Her face is also...relaxed...less stressed, and he sees traces of a smile on her lips as she studies him in return.

'She looks...happier...'

Suddenly, her expression becomes puzzled, and her tone follows suit. 

"What? What are you staring at me like that for, Rain?"

Startled from his thoughts, he quickly gives her an apologetic smile and speaks in a reassuring tone. 

"Ah, sorry. I was just noticing how much...healthier...you look since we started doing this. It made me happy...that's all."

Ronin's expression seems to lose its confused edge, and her eyes become warmer...appreciative, even. A small, genuine smile forms on her face, and her voice takes on a pleased tone. 

"Oh...yes. I feel much better, Rain...more than you know. I really...appreciate...this arrangement."

He flashes her a wide smile, his tone becoming enthusiastic. 

"I'm glad, I don't mind at all. Err, speaking of our arrangement, though...here."

Rain sticks his hand out in front of him, presenting it to Ronin. Her eyes widen in surprise, studying the hand, then she looks back at him apprehensively. She remains that way for several moments before speaking in a cautious tone.

"Uhm...what is this for?"

'Yeah...I figured she'd be concerned by this...'

Rain smiles sympathetically, doing his best to convey friendly intentions. 

"Well...I kind of know about your Quirk – that it's triggered by touching people, and that you need to touch me to suppress it. I considered pretending like I don't know, but...I'd rather just be honest with you. We're allies. Besides, this way you don't have to stress yourself out, going through all of those complicated ruses to subtly touch me. That hug a few days ago looked like it was going to kill you. From now on, just shake my hand at the beginning, or whatever you're most comfortable with."

Her face goes rigid, and her voice comes out soft. 

"Y-...you...knew...what I was doing? Uhm...how long...exactly?"

He just smiles back calmly, keeping his voice lighthearted.

"I've...suspected for a while. For what it's worth, I thought that pretending to get a splinter was a clever strategy."

Ronin becomes deathly quiet, her eyes widening slightly, and Rain thinks he sees a bit of color finding its way to her cheeks. However, before he can be sure, Ronin gives a terse response as she quickly rises to her feet. 

"Excuse me for a moment..."

Without giving him a chance to say anything, she quickly walks past him into her bathroom, closing the door firmly behind her. The sound of running water is soon audible. Rain stares at the closed door, puzzled. 

'Did I...embarrass her? That can happen?'

Several minutes later, the sound of running water stops, and Ronin emerges from the restroom. Her face is composed, and she gracefully takes a seat back across from him, then clears her throat. 

"Ehem...sorry for that. Please continue."

Trying to pretend like that wasn't weird, Rain just waves his hand dismissively. 

"Uhm...no worries. Like I was saying, just shake my hand and make it easier on yourself. I don't mind."

She stares back at him uncertainly, her voice becoming a bit nervous. 

"Are you...sure? You don't think it's weird for me to just...grab your hand...every time you visit? That doesn't seem normal."

Suppressing the small urge to laugh, Rain just smiles at her in amusement, his tone becoming teasing. 

"Yes, I'm sure. But you know, if you're worried about normalcy, then hugs are a common greeting. Would you rather hug me every time I come over?"

To his surprise, she doesn't freak out as much as he expects. Instead, she stares at him for several moments, a conflicted expression on her face. Then, she sheepishly extends her hand towards him, as though to be shaken, her tone becoming embarrassed. 

"That's not necessary...uhm...here."

Smiling in amusement, he reaches out and shakes her hand briefly, then lets her hand go and responds in a nonchalant tone. 

"Alright, great! So, do you have anything you want to discuss? At this point, I'm pretty sure that we've already identified all of the Legacies, like we planned. That means the only alliance business left is suppressing your Quirk. Speaking of which...now that I know the truth, do you want me to just shake your hand from now on, instead of intruding on you like this?"

Her eyes widen in surprise. 

"You mean...no longer talk and drink tea together every night?"

He nods, his voice casual. 

"Right, like just shake your hand at the door and leave, for example."

Her blue eyes study his face for several moments, then she responds hesitantly. 

"Could...we just...keep doing this?"

Rain's expression shifts to one of surprise. 

"Uhm...sure...if that's what you want. But you should know that there are rumors starting about my visits to your room. They'll probably get worse if continue as we have."

Her eyebrows raise questioningly. 

"The ones about us sleeping together?"

Rain's face goes blank, blinking in shock. His voice stutters out, disbelief in his tone. 

"Wh-...uh...yes. I...err, didn't know that knew."

Ronin nods, seemingly unbothered, and her voices comes out blunt.

"Well, yes. I overheard some girls telling one another than I am sleeping with a guy with dark hair and pretty, silver eyes. It wasn't hard to put together...I assume that you've been seen in the hallway, entering my room."

Trying not to gape at her flippant attitude, he responds in a hesitant tone. 

"Uhm...right...okay. So, what do you want to do about them? The rumors, I mean."

Her expression becomes puzzled.

"Nothing? They're just rumors, and I don't care if they think that I'm sleeping with you. Does it...bother you?"

He stares at her blankly, stupefied.

'Is she for real?'

"Uhm...well...yes, a little bit."

Her eyes widen in surprise as she studies his face, and her tone becomes slightly flustered. 

"Oh...I didn't...uhm...may I ask why?"

Rain stares back at her hesitantly, considering his answer. He has several reasons, truthfully. There's the fact that...people...might think he's in a romantic relationship. There's also the unwanted attention that being the envy of most male students, and the curiosity of most female students, will bring. While he joked once to Ronin about pettily enjoying the envy of other men, which is true in a vacuum, he's not a fan of the idea in practice...on such a large scale. 

He glances at her, deciding to try and be diplomatic but genuine about his response. 

"Well...for one, you already know that I'm trying to keep a low profile. No offense, but...dating you, if only in people's minds, is really going to put me in the spotlight. Plus, I don't want people to think that I'm...err, seeing...someone right now."

Rain watches her as she seems to think over his words with a conflicted expression. Eventually, she responds, her blue eyes scanning his face with a hint of concern, but her voice calm.

"I...see. What would you like to do, then?"

He looks away, his face twisted with a thoughtful frown. He's not sure what the best course of action is. Trying to address the rumors directly would only make things worse, probably. If he just stops coming into her room, but is still seen in the hallway, that'd probably have the same effect – sparking all kinds of debate about the reasons. If she's seen leaving her room every night at the same time to meet him somewhere else...same result, or worse. 

'Damn...how do I fix this...can I?'

If he stopped seeing her altogether, and she were to start 'dating' someone else, then maybe...but that's not going to work. He made a promise, plus Ronin can barely talk to people properly. She won't just date a stranger, especially when she's convinced any of them could want her dead. 

Eventually, Rain decides that he can't think of any way to reliably fix things without making him the center of attention for some other reason. He lets out a defeated sigh, and looks back to Ronin with a wry smile. 

"Well, I guess I can't think of anything that's going to help with the rumors, so in the meantime, let's make decisions as though they aren't happening. In that case, do you want to just continue with our nightly tea meetings? That's what you said earlier."

Ronin just nods, her expression relaxing slightly, and she responds in an even tone. 

"Yes, let's do that...please."

Before Rain can comment on her uncharacteristic use of the word 'please', Ronin's eyes widen slightly, as though something just occurred to her. Then, she gives Rain a studying look, her tone becoming slightly hesitant. 

"And...what should I say if someone asks me? About our...relationship."

His eyes widen in surprise.

'Someone asking her anything about any topic sounds unlikely...'

Still, he thinks he should at least consider her question, assuming that she had to provide an answer for some reason. His first thought is to just tell the truth...kind of. They're in an alliance, and they meet to discuss it. However, as Nik's reaction has demonstrated to him, that would immediately make everyone who doesn't know him think that he's very strong.

After all, why else would the Ronin ally with only him? At the very least, they'd start digging into his background aggressively. Plus, if a bunch of the Legacies really are trying to kill her, they might target her 'ally' with her, and stop taking him lightly like he prefers. So, that explanation for why he's visiting her room is out. 

In that case, since he's not willing to say they're actually sleeping together...friends it is. That will raise some different questions about why she'd want to be friends with him, but...it's their best option after silence. 

He looks back at Ronin and shrugs nonchalantly. 

"You can do your normal thing and just ignore them. If they ask you something directly, like are you sleeping with me, you can say 'no' and leave it at that. But if you're really forced to characterize our relationship, my vote is to just say that we're friends. No need to mention our formal alliance."

Ronin's eyes watch him calmly, giving a brief nod, but her eyes betray a trace of...curiosity. 

"Okay...are we?"

Thrown by the odd question, Rain raises his eyebrows at her, while she just continues staring back at him expectantly. 

"What, friends? I...uh, don't really know. I think we'd have to trust one another more to be actual friends, but we're friendly enough. I like your company, and I don't think you'll betray me."

Ronin's expression becomes slightly puzzled. 

"I trust you...don't I? You know my Talent and my Nature ability, I told you the truth about my parents and my situation with the clans, and I'm trusting you to help me with suppressing my Quirk. Or do you mean that you don't trust me?"

He stares back at her with a puzzled expression. 

"I mean...if that's what you consider trust, then sure. You also know about my Talent and Nature, about me being an orphan, and about why I'm helping you. So, by your metric, we may qualify as friends. Still...we're both keeping secrets. You didn't want to tell me the reason for these meetings at first. Until today, you wouldn't even tell me that I needed to touch you. I don't mind, of course...that's your personal business. I'm just saying, ask yourself...why didn't you?"

Ronin's blue eyes seem to shimmer, portraying a rare uncertainty. After several moments staring at Rain, studying his face, she looks away thoughtfully...her expression becoming conflicted. Eventually, without facing him again, she whispers in a disappointed tone.

"I...don't know..."