Prolog

Ren hated Yamato. At least that was what he convinced himself of, and how it should be. And he had no reason to doubt it.

Until the day came, when he was falsely accused and arrested for the serial muggings.

He would never forget the strong flash of anger, the rush of adrenalin jolting through him and the little sting somewhere in his chest, for which he blamed the pure hate. He had expected something like that, he knew that Yamato had seen him that day, but he had hoped the bastard wouldn't give him away. Having spent the hours in the interrogation room making up ways of revenge, he wanted to make that dullhead pay for this betrayal. In their milieu you didn't have to be friends, you could even be arch enemies to regard this one rule – police was never involved.

He refused thinking whether he would have told the truth if an officer had asked him – it was about defenseless women after all. He also refused thinking about the reason for feeling so… disappointed. Yamato was his rival, they hated each other, and the bitter taste the thought of the traitor left in his mouth was everything but logical.

He really appreciated the effort this teacher seemed to make – anyway, he wished for some of his friends to hang in this for him, get him out of this shit. Maybe that was the reason for the sting in his chest, which he felt since he had been arrested?

He was so caught up in his thoughts, the officer had to shout at him to make him realise he could go home – home! His eyes went wide: 'the culprit was found?' 'Yes. Someone called us – that thief was quite badly beaten up… he confessed. Lucky one…' The last two words were directed towards him, but Ren chose to ignore them and leave as long as he could – he wouldn't spent another night in one of this uncomfortable chairs for insulting an officer. It was just like he told Yankumi – he had gotten used to it.

The way home seemed long. Longer than usual, for any doubts. When he finally sneaked in, the house was empty. Good fortune his sister was working. Maybe she wouldn't even have noticed any of the ruckus…

Having heard of Yankumis doings by Kuraki and Ichi, he thought that woman could not surprise him anymore.

However, this teacher was the one to wake him up in the morning and on top of that, stated Yamato was the one who found the culprit – got him out, proving his innocence – in that matter. His heart suddenly felt lighter, it started racing. His mind, en contraire, told him, that she was either kidding him, crazy, or both at the same time. He would probably go for the latter.

Why on earth should Yamato do such things for him? It was just surreal.

And then he sat there, supporting himself on the gate, obviously silently begrudging his injurys. Injurys? Did he get hurt catching the culprit, clearing his name? His heart skipped a beat. No way. And as Yamato said just seconds later: there was no way he would have done that for him.