Love.

What a strange, beautiful, annoying thing.

A builder and destroyer of relationships, a creator and destroyers of nations, the driving force for some of the most vile and outrageous actions humanity has ever known.

That same damn thing—Love—had taken over Renji Kenshiro. And he didn't know what to do about it.

Maybe the best move was to deny it. It's not like he could be completely certain; it's not like the emotion displayed itself in front of him on a screen and announced it was love.

He didn't know for sure what it could be. Maybe it was just the good old infatuation, that was it. That could be it.

Phew. Renji wasn't in love with Mrs Hoshizawa, he was just infatuated. Right? He was just… just… just…

'Damn. She's too beautiful.'

He froze. 'Fuck. I might actually be in love for real.'

It looked like it.

Standing there, his mind was a storm that drowned out everything else. Seeing Mrs Hoshizawa there, leaning against the frame with that bright, welcoming smile.

It hit him like a punch to the gut, but not the kind that hurt. It was the kind that sent butterflies erupting in a frantic swarm low in his belly, fluttering upward in a chaotic dance that made his chest tighten and his breath catch in his throat.

What was this sensation? Why did it feel familiar?

Oh! He remembered now. Kana.

He remembered Kana Osiri.

This was the sensation. A sensation he hadn't felt since he was twelve and had his first crush on a girl in his class. Kana Osiri. The girl who would always smile at him during recess but never talk to him.

Fuck. This could actually be love.

The butterflies were relentless, beating their wings against his insides, making his palms sweat and his heart race in a way that was both exhilarating and terrifying.

A warm, tingling rush spread from his stomach to his fingertips, making them itch to reach out and touch her, to feel if she was as real as she looked.

It was love, he realized with a jolt that made the butterflies whirl faster, a genuine, stomach-twisting love that bloomed like a flower in his chest.

Soft and warm, wrapping around his heart and squeezing just enough to remind him that underneath all the revenge and the conquests, he was still human, still capable of feeling something pure and untainted by the Note's magic.

But there was a problem. Renji wasn't completely against love. He wasn't that pragmatic or sadistic. It's just that, even if he was going to fall in love, why did it have to be with Mrs Hoshizawa?

Why did it have to be the mother of his bully, Kaito's mom, the woman who had raised the monster that had tormented him for years.

That made all of it seem so fucked up. And now he felt even more that he couldn't allow this to go on. He couldn't fall deeper than he already had.

Mrs Hoshizawa was a target, a means for him to take out his long sought revenge on Kaito Hoshizawa, not a romantic interest.

But wait!

A thought appeared in his dark mind and simmered. It became something evil, something complicated, a mix of affection and triumph that made the butterflies feel like they were flying through a storm.

If he really had genuine feelings for Hana, there was a way he could use it to his advantage.

He could lean into it. Turn the warmth into something hotter and possessive. With those feelings, he would be driven to claim her, he could use his genuine affection to win her over, show her the love her husband and son denied her.

With it, he could claim her not just with the Note but with his heart, he could really steal her from Taiga and Kaito completely, to make her his in ways the Note could never touch.

This was risky.

It was a step from just fucking and using her and making Kaito wail in the shame of his mother being a cocksleeve for his classmate, but it was completely taking her away from their home, making Taiga wifeless and Kaito motherless.

Ah. Yes it was a step.

A step too far.

But Renji really felt like taking it.

Because at this point, he was really sure if he could hold back the emotions he was having for her. There was no way. The best he could do was use it to reach his goal.

Well, this was it then. No more denying it.

Renji Kenshiro was in love.

It felt like falling, like stepping off a cliff and realizing halfway down that the ground was farther than you thought, the wind rushing past your face, your stomach flipping in that delicious, terrifying way that made you want to scream and laugh at the same time.

Such ridiculousness. He never expected it.

Falling in love with Hana Hoshizawa, the voluptuous philanthropist with purple hair and a body that could stop traffic, the woman who had been his first real target, the one who had started all this with her grateful hugs and motherly care that only increased after the "accident" he had orchestrated.

It made the butterflies dance even wilder, a storm of wings that made his skin flush and his fingers tingle.

The warmth spread like honey through his veins, filling his limbs with a light, giddy energy that made him feel childish and alive in a way he hadn't since before the Note had turned him into a calculating machine of revenge.

Renji took a step forward, slowly approaching Mrs. Hoshizawa who was now talking with one of the organizers. When they left, she returned her gaze to him, giving him a smile.

Renji retaliated with a smile of his own. One that felt genuine for the first time in days. For some reason, for every step he took, his heart pounded so hard he could feel it in his ears, the butterflies still fluttering wildly in his belly.

She stood there in the doorway, voluptuous, sexy and beautiful. As he got closer, the scent of her perfume hit him—just like it had on the first day they met—and it sent another wave of butterflies through him, making his steps falter slightly.

He didn't even realize when he was so close to her. He had almost walked right into her heavyset breasts.

"Renji?" Hana spoke. "Are you okay? You look a little lightheaded."

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