Anonymous
“Don’t you dare say that about him.”
Someone was talking behind Nagisa’s back, and Rei couldn’t help but physically intervene. He escaped with bruises, cuts, and broken glasses, but at least he was able to protect what was most important to him.
Thank you for requesting badass butterfly, anon!
It’s a passing comment that he hears as he walks down the hallway. It doesn’t bother him, not really. He knows that he can come off as being an annoyance. He’s loud and barely able to sit still, and to some people, that’s just unacceptable.
So it doesn’t bother him.
Not really.
“Nagisa-kun?”
That, however, pushes him over the edge. Hearing Rei’s concern makes his heart hurt. "A-ah, it’s nothing.“
Rei figures it out pretty quickly. Watery eyes. Biting of the lip. And the group of students snickering behind them.
Rei Ryugazaki isn’t known for being a violent man. He is, however, someone who can calculate anything at a frightening speed. For instance, if he turns and slams his fist into one of their faces, he knows that the impact will, indeed, break their nose. He also knows that during the initial shock, he can snap at them before landing another blow. There’s a 99.9 percent chance of Nagisa staring, a 75.2 percent chance of him telling Rei not to fight, especially since they outnumber him and will use that to their advantage. At that point he would only have to last for 15 to 20 seconds before a teacher intervenes. If he’s lucky, it’ll be Amakata-sensei, there’s a 50/50 chance.
Despite his bruises, Rei is impressed that his calculations are spot on.
And later, as Nagisa carefully dabs a towel against the wound on his face, Rei belts out a beautiful string of apologies to the swim team for not being able to practice. However, according to his calculations, the smile on Nagisa’s face is worth it.
***
Sorry, I just had to, the art is so great and the thought behind it is even better.
