(Third person POV)

*Donk* *Donk* *Donk*

The sound of footsteps could be heard in the mostly desolate street as the atmosphere was painted in an orange hue.

Two figures walked in these lonely roads, one of a girl and the other of a boy.

Asahina walked in front of Ren with a bounce in her steps and a refreshing smile plastered on her face, a slight pink coloring her cheeks. She was currently thinking about something right now; specifically about the past, three years ago from the present.

Well, it was three years for her but it was more than thirteen years for the boy behind her, who was making small silent steps as to not disrupt her thoughts.

Memories of the past also started flashing through his mind like a movie, projected out and overlapping the reality in front of him.

Off to the side of him, two smaller semi-translucent figures appeared. Those two were hand-in-hand with one leading the other.

A boy and a girl, looking to be about middle school age. The two share a great resemblance to Ren and Asahina; well of course they do because they were them when they were in the first year of middle school.

Ren remembered it so clearly as if the event wasn't over a decade ago from his perspective. It was so clear in his mind that he can even play it out again in his mind with perfect accuracy.

Hence, the projections of that past memory into his vision.

Ren remembered it was similar to his date right now with Asahina because it was his intention to make it so.

It all started with the toll of the bells that marked the end of the school day. All was the same as any other school day except for a single little tidbit….

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(Asahina's POV)

I started recalling that very day, so very vivid as I remembered almost every single detail down to the hairstyle I wore, down to the very thought that crossed my mind while walking out of class alone and ignoring all else.

'Sigh…'

It was only one internal sigh, but it still counts, I think?

Anyway, at that point in time, I was wearing a ponytail hairstyle with a light blue hairband that was a gift from Keirou-kun.

Looking back, I don't think the ponytail hairstyle suited me best at all; it might be because Ren said I look better with my hair free-flowing, but I swear that's not the only reason, okay!?

*Ahem*

Moving on.

I was walking out of school with a downcast expression, still ignoring the happenings around me. Suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder as I finally heard a voice speaking in a concerned tone.

"Hina! What's wrong? You've been ignoring me this whole time"

There, I tensed and halt my steps before turning to see the one who touched me so casually. At first, I didn't fully process his words nor did I realize it was "him" so I was quite enraged, thinking I was being harassed.

In my defense, it wasn't the first time something like this has happened. Call it arrogance or whatever you want, I don't care.

Wait, who am I trying to justify myself to anyway?

Back on topic, when I saw it was my childhood friend, Ren, I relaxed and finally processed what he said.

"Ren…Sorry, I was just deep in thoughts. Nothing is wrong" Little Hina tried to hide her negative feelings with a smile, but she was still young so it wasn't perfect as it was a bit cramped.

"Really?" Little Ren stared at her deadpan with clear doubt in his tone.

"Y-yeah! It's nothing at all" Little Hina turned away with a pained expression at having to lie to him and also at her lie being seen through.

"Sigh, alright, fine" Little Ren dropped the topic. At least that's what I thought at that moment.

Little Hina sighed in relief.

"Anyway, back to what I was trying to get your attention for. Let's hang out! It hasn't been just the two of us for a while now" Little Ren smiled naturally, but she still caught on to the peculiar part of his behavior.

"Isn't that because you've refused to hang out unless Keirou-kun was also there?" Little Hina narrowed her eyes in suspicion. I can never understand how he can avert someone's attention so fast.

"What are you talking about? Come on, today it's just the two of us" Little Ren directly grabbed her and gently pulled her along.

"Wait! Don't pull me, I can walk on my own" Little Hina was a bit flustered by him holding her hand for a reason she didn't understand yet. Thinking back, I realized that even before this event, I still had feelings for him just that I've never noticed it.

Sigh…Love is so complicated. You would be totally oblivious to it up until the moment it finally hits you that what you've felt wasn't just friendship but something more than that; it may be different for others, but this purely stems from my experience with Ren.

After Little Ren finally let her go, much to her relief and unnoticed disappointment, the two walked around before stopping to grab a little snack on the way, paid by Little Ren.

If my memory is correct, I believe Little Ren got them two taiyaki before stopping by a park that was familiar to me because I was just there with Ren eating crepes.

While sitting down at a random bench, the two just ate in comfortable silence. It always used to be like this, Ren would just stay silent half of the time and only talk when something came to his mind.

It was also odd how he could just pull out random topics to talk about, like one time I overheard him and Keirou-kun discussing how fast someone needs to move before it started actually hurting because of the wind resistance and then a minute later he was retelling the tale on how the first tea was made by accident.

I think this was the reason being around him is something calming, I don't have to try and think too hard of things to talk about; if something came to mind I would just say it and Ren would continue it, and if there's nothing we'd just stay in peace and quiet.

So, after finishing the taiyaki, they went on along the same path as my date with Ren. Stopping by the same arcade to play a few games before coming across the same playground.

They sat on the same swings and reminiscent about their time there. I remember that I had already forgotten about why I was so down before; I was all smiles and was laughing at the dumb things we talked about.

"Hehehe~ Why is that the thing that came to mind?" Little Hina giggled.

"It's better you don't understand…" Little Ren looked off to the distance, acting all mysteriously.

"Mou!! You always say that when you don't want to explain, tell me!" Little Hina pouted and stood up to confront Little Ren, but she….

"Ah!"

*Swing* *Poof*

Little Hina tripped on nothing and Little Ren hastily got off his swing to catch her in his arms before she fell.

"Are yo-"

However, before he could finish his question, Little Ren's feet slipped and he fell to the side along with her in his arms.

I remember bracing myself for the impact, but he managed to turn and landed on his back with me on top, cushioning me with his body.

*Crash*

"Agh!" Little Ren groaned in pain.

"R-Ren! Are you okay?" Little Hina frantically got up and off him, settling near him on the ground. Unknowingly, her eyes started tearing up and her hands were trembling a bit.

"Ugh, I'm fine. It's nothing to cry over" Little Ren smiled reassuringly while sitting up.

"W-who's crying!?" Little Hina finally noticed her tears and quickly turned away to wipe them.

"Hahaha" Little Ren just chuckled a bit before getting onto his feet.

"Come on, you're gonna dirty your uniform if you keep sitting on the ground" Little Ren offered his hand.

"Hmph!" Although still pouting and looking away, she took his hand and stood up before dusting off her skirt.

"Sigh, it would be so convenient if we could just use that Clean magic from that one manga" Little Ren mumbled to himself while seeming a little lost in thought.

"Well, it would be convenient, but magic isn't real" Little Hina commented.

"Heh, you never know. The world is big, there might be a hidden supernatural side of the world we common people don't know about" Little Ren argued.

"Sigh, You're such a chuuni, Ren" Little Hina sighed in exasperation. He was a bit of a chuuni back in the day, or as he would put it…

"I'm not a chuunibyou, I'm just a wild dreamer. Plus, I know magic isn't real, it's just fun to think about the concept of magic, you know. Isn't it more exciting to think there's more to the world than what we see with our own eyes, a hidden fantastical side to it, be it sinister or magical in nature" Little Ren…uh….reasoned his view of the world with glinted eyes filled with excitement.

Yep, he's a chuuni alright, no denying it there. I wonder if he has changed from being a chuuni now?

I briefly came out of my thoughts and turned around to look at Ren, who was looking at the empty air beside him while smiling gently before turning his gaze to me.

"Something on your mind?" Ren got up close and looked at me in the eyes with a gentle smile.

"N-No, it's nothing!" I turned around to hide my blushing face; he's just way too charming.

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(Ren's POV)

Seeing her cutely turn away, embarrassed, a fluttery feeling washed over me. I guess cuteness is justice, suck on that Reiji.

Anyway, we continued walking, this time upping our pace a bit as we neared our destination. We stopped at an entrance into the woods, well it's more of a hiking trail.

The place we're heading to is situated on up of a hill near a small cliff. We can get there by taking this trail and moving off the trail for a bit.

"Do you remember the way there, Hina?" I turned to her; even if she does, I'm still gonna lead the way.

From my experience, the woods is a dangerous place and you could get lost with just one wrong turn. Though, I rarely ever get lost out in the field due to all my skills and experience.

"Only vaguely, you lead the way"

"Alright" I stretched out my hand towards her and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly.

"W-What are you d-doing!?" Hina exclaimed with a red face, but she didn't try to separate our hands.

"Holding hands, of course. We don't wanna get separated in the middle of the woods, do we?" I leaned towards her with a teasing smile.

"Uh…Mhm" Hina stopped for a moment before nodding with rosy cheeks.

After that, we walked up the trail hand in hand. Taking a few turns off-trail and reminiscing about our first time coming here.

The first time, I was a dumb-dumb and got us lost for several minutes before finally finding our way back to the trail and actually going the right way the next time.

This time, it's different since I have a lot of experience going through forests and jungles so there is no way I could get lost here, plus I have perfect spatial awareness so I know where I am exactly at all times.

So, it's no surprise that we got to our secret place without a hitch and at record speed too.

Coming out of the woods we came to a wide cliff with strangely well-kept grass and a big tree near the tip that can provide shade with varying-sized stones at the base of the tree. The wind blew, rustling the leaves of the tree and swaying our hair.

"Ah…This brings me back" I involuntarily muttered before walking up to the tree, still holding Hina's hand.

Hina, on the other hand, was off in her own little world and just unconsciously followed along.

Everything about this place was the same as the last time, almost like this place was stuck in time, not changing from the passage of time and shall be like so till the end of time.

But, I know better than anyone that this wasn't the work of something magical but just mother nature showing another one of her beautiful sides.

I gave a little tug at Hina's hand and dragged her out from her thoughts when we were in front of the tree. I placed my free hand on the tree and trailed the lines on the tree bark, it lead to the base of the tree and there was a stone right under my hand.

Hina crouched down and placed her hand on the craving of her name on the rock, I also did the same with the one with my name.

There was nothing else here that indicated there were ever any other people besides us; so even after some years, no one else has found this place.

"Looks like this will remain our little secret for a good while" I smiled, turning to Hina to see her doing the same before she averted her eyes from mine.

"Mhm, I'm glad" Hina spoke in a tiny voice, but I heard it.

"Is that so? I'm also glad our secret still remains ours and only ours" Hearing my word, Hina smiled beautifully with slight pink coloring her cheeks.

I stared at her in silence, slightly mesmerized by her. I kept on staring at her until she couldn't take it anymore and pinched my hand to stop.

Though it didn't hurt one bit, I still decided to stop and walked to the other side of the tree and sat down at the base, leaning my back on it.

Hina followed along and did the same, sitting next to me gracefully, totally befitting her image as a beautiful and refined girl.

We looked over the cliff onto the horizon and the setting sun, yes, the sun was starting to set soon so we don't really have much time left until it gets dark.

Since, you know, walking around the woods in the dark is normally hella dangerous; if you've watched western horror movies or have read as many horror stories as I have, you can probably paint your own picture.

And this exact thought seems to be going through her mind too as Hina has a strained expression and a slight frown on while her hands trembled slightly; time is of the essence for her.

I reached over and held her hand gently, and when she snapped her head over, I just smile with the best reassuring look I could pull off.

Hina took a deep breath and the frown vanished out of existent as a calm smile surfaced instead; her eyes, on the other hand, contained boundless affection as she stared into mine.

I turned back to the sun, in my heart I was preparing for it. Hina also turned to the setting sun and we silently looked at it. Time slowly ticked by and the bright orange sun slowly inched closer down the horizon.

I suddenly felt something land on my shoulder, or someone's head to be exact. Hina rested her head on my shoulder as she hugged my arm tightly as if afraid of me leaving her.

And without a moment's notice…

"I love you, Ren" Her soft and sweet voice rang out in my ears, her words repeated in my head for some time making me pause for a moment in real-time. This seemed to further raise her misplaced anxiety as Hina's arm trembled and her eyes teared up.

I quickly separated my arm from her hug, and before her thoughts dropped way past the negatives, I pulled her into a warm hug.

"I love you too, Hina" Hearing my answer, Hina's hands ceases all movement before finally slowly making their way around my back as she buried her face into my shoulder as tears stream down and seeped into my clothes.

"*Sniff* I'm so..*sniff* happy, right now" Hina, through tears, expressed her thoughts, relief overflowing from her words.

"Me too, I'm also happy you feel the same about me" Even if I already knew about it, having it confirmed by the person herself is another thing altogether. Feelings are weird; they can defy even rational thoughts.

"Hmph, like you didn't already know how I felt" Hina snorted and her arms tightened further, I can feel all hesitation leaving her as the old Hina I know and love showed herself once again.

"Heh, I could say the same about you and yet you still almost bust out crying after I just paused for a bit; didn't I already confess yesterday? How could I possibly reject you after that?" I shot back with no mercy, making her tense up for no more than a second as she changes the subject.

"So…We're official now, right?" Hina pulled back and came face-to-face with me, an expectant look in her eyes and a smile plastered on.

"Of course, it's a given. From now on, you're my girlfriend until…" I trailed off with a slight smirk and put my hand in the inner pocket of my blazer.

"Until?" Hina tilted her head in puzzlement on the outside, but I could tell she knows exactly what I'm implying. After confirming our relationship, all forms of doubt she had gone to buy some milk.

"Until I can buy you a real one, but for now, you can have this as a placeholder" I pulled out a pair of silver-colored metal rings and showed them to her; it's silver-colored because it's made out of a rare magical metal called Sky Silver.

And these rings are Charms of Protection; they can create a barrier able to block one Saint-Tier level attack before breaking along with protections from nearly everything below Saint-tier. Also, if the charms were to break, it'll teleport the bearer to my sub-dimension and alert my main body of their previous location.

These rings and some of the other charms are unique only in design and appearance to fit the person because they all work the same way and ultimately have the same effect as the default one, which has the appearance of a luck charm you can find at any shrine.

It also has a secret function that activates once the conditions are met, but we'll talk about that later.

"These are…" Hina covered her mouth in disbelief.

"A matching pair of rings, a placeholder for until I get you a real engagement ring" I picked up the one with her name engraved on the inside and held her left hand before sliding them on.

"It fits perfectly…" Hina held the hand with the ring up against the sun and it shone with a slight sky blue along with the silver color.

"What do you think?"

"It's beautiful and I love it, but…don't you think it's a bit hasty to propose this soon, what if…what if it doesn't work out" Hina seemed to hesitate a bit on the latter half.

"Well, I agree that I might be a bit rash doing this, and it would be humiliating if it doesn't work out, but…" I paused for a moment and stared Hina in the eyes, showing how serious I am.

"I'm willing to bet on it going well, I'm willing to bet on our future together…" I grabbed hold of her hands and placed them between mine.

"So, will you help me win this bet by staying with me, staying until after high school, staying until I could support us, staying until I can replace this ring with a real one?"

After my little speech, Hina stared at me blankly as if I was an idiot, which I am one at this moment for asking a question with such an obvious answer.

"Sigh, of course, I will. I can't imagine living my life without you so I'll stay, even if you can't get me a real ring, I'll never leave your side. You're stuck with me forever whether you like it or not" Hina leaned forward and whispered the last part close to my ear in a seductive tone. As I heard the last line that came out of her mouth, a sudden thought came.

'The girl I love, has she always been a yandere?'

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Alternate Title - Yandere Girlfriend?