Chapter II
After the events of the previous night came to a close, Ren decided to go to bed early at nine o'clock. Our readings were an exact match, but I don't care what fate has planned. It's done nothing but screw me over in the past. I doubt that will change anytime soon. Ren pondered what had happened as he dozed off to sleep. I'm not going to let myself get attached. She needs to earn my trust first. She could have stacked the decks, right? Honestly, what kind of girl just carries around a deck of tarot cards?
Ren awoke bright and early the next day. He showered and put on his UTX boys uniform. The white suit and red tie looked good on him… and he hated it. I already have enough stalkers without having to wear this, he thought. After cooking and eating a fresh southwestern omelet seasoned with crushed red pepper, Ren cleaned his table, rushed out the door, and rode his bike to school. Ren made it school and scanned his student id on his cell phone without incident, but once he was inside, the true hell began. UTX was ninety-two percent female and eight percent male, so almost every guy was in a relationship… except for three: Ren Hayashi, Haru Yamamoto, and Yamato Shiina. Shiina-kun was seen by most of the girls as looking too young, but Ren and Haru were free game, and they were also the two best-looking guys in the school. Haru always let the girls down easy, with a smile and a pat on the head, but Ren was brutal, giving a glare and emanating an aura that would cause most of his classmates to run in fear.
Ren walked to his class and looked at the updated seating chart. He glared at the instructor. "You should know by now that Tsubasa-san and I do not get along." The teacher retorted at Ren with a deadpan expression across his face. "Deal with it and move on, Hayashi-san." Ren slowly sat down in his seat, as Kira Tsubasa, the school idol herself sat down next to him.
"Good morning, Ren-kun."
"You don't have the right to call me that anymore, Tsubasa-san."
"Sorry."
"There's no use apologizing."
"If I hadn't told everyone to forget what they saw, you'd be hated by the entire school."
"The incident two years ago? That was the least of my worries…"
"I lost the Love Live because of you!"
"You lost because you couldn't keep your emotions in check."
"This is why the third-years hate you, Ren!"
"And yet the juniors won't stop stalking me. Why don't you tell them what I did?"
"Because I still care about you."
"Just shut up. You care about being an idol far more than you care about me."
At that moment, Ren and Tsubasa had the attention of the entire class. Haru walked between their desks and slammed his hands down of both of them. "Can you two please discuss this somewhere else?" He looked back at the rest of the class. "And will the rest of you try to forget that any of this happened, please?" The rest of the class nodded and turned away as Haru took his seat behind Tsubasa. "Honestly, can you two at least pretend to get along?" Tsubasa turned around, "I would if Hayashi-san could." Ren bit his lip. "I can be neutral, but I can't be friendly." Haru sighed. "Neutral works…"
The first half of the day passed without incident, and the students sat down for lunch. Haru, Ren, and Yamato sat together in the far corner of the cafeteria, while the members of A-Rise had their own personal nook. Yamato looked in the direction of their place of honor with envy. "I know they're famous, but why do they have to get special concessions?" Haru looked at him. "They've literally become the school's symbol, that's why." Ren sighed. "Unless they get beat in their competition, it'll remain that way, I'm afraid." Haru smiled and passed Ren his phone. "Take a look at this, then. They almost got beat last semester, until these girls had to drop out of the rankings because one of their members got sick." Ren looked at the image on Haru's phone: Nine girls, clearly school idols, all posing together. Ren didn't care who they were. To him, all school idols were the same: popular, pretty, and shallow. At least that's what he thought, until he noticed the purple-haired girl on the far left of the photo. Is that the girl I just met yesterday?
"Haru, do you know any of their names, by chance?"
"I know them all."
"You're attracted to them, aren't you?"
"N-no! I just like their music… and their costumes…"
"You sir, are a pig."
"Actually, I'm just a normal guy."
"Whatever. Then what's this girl's name?"
"Nozomi Tojo-san."
Ren scoffed. Her sincerity was probably just an act. "She's my next-door neighbor…" At that moment Haru grinned with both excitement and teenage perversion. "Can I stay over at your place, tonight? We could invite her over." Ren glared at Haru as Yamato scooted away in fear. "Would you like me to flip you over, Yamamoto-san?" Haru kept grinning. "Okay, fine, but why are you so interested in the first place? Let me guess. You finally found someone you liked." In a matter of seconds Ren flipped Haru over and prepared to pick him up off the ground for another maneuver when one of Tsubasa's cohorts Erena Toudou, a rather tall and mature looking girl, turned the tables on Ren and flipped him over. "Do you really want to do this in front of everyone, Hayashi-san?" Ren sneered at her.
"We were just practicing our awareness of our surroundings. It seems that we were both caught off-guard, though."
"Save it for practice after school. I'll enjoy taking you down a notch, Hayashi-san."
"You seem rather confident, but unlike your performances, our judo matches are not choreographed."
Erena scowled at Ren and walked away. He might have looks, but that's about it. I don't know why Kira-chan wants to be friends with him again. When she wasn't practicing or performing with A-Rise, Erena was practicing judo. With the shrinking male demographic, the male and female judo clubs had been consolidated into one co-ed extracurricular. Naturally, this brought in a new rivalry, and she wanted to show Ren and Haru that girls could be just as good as boys in the sport. Just a few more hours before practice. Then I'll put him in his place…
Three hours went by, and soon the students were either leaving the premises or heading to club activities. It was Monday, and that meant one thing to Ren: Judo practice. While most of the building was modern in design, certain rooms, such as the school's dojo for the martial arts clubs, were crafted in traditional Japanese design. As Ren entered, Erena was already in her judo uniform, leaning against the wall. "I'm surprised that this doesn't conflict with idol practice, Toudou-san." She approached him with a menacing look plastered across her face. "A-Rise practices on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. We space out our sessions to avoid burnout." Ren flipped her over and pinned her to the ground. "And yet we meet for judo on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Are you sure that you're not burnt out already, Toudou-san?" Haru stepped in and pulled Ren off of Erena. "First off, Ren, put on your uniform when practicing judo, and second, we do not start matches without proper supervision. In other words, nothing takes place here when I'm not in the room! Do I make myself clear?!" Ren walked away to changing room to put on his uniform. While Haru was normally a rather laid back person, he took judo very seriously as the president of the school's judo club. "We'll restart the bout when Ren comes back. Is that fair, Toudou-san?" Erena smiled. "Of course Yamamoto-sensei."
Ren returned in his judo uniform, and bows were exchanged to start the match as Haru supervised. In the meantime, Yamato was baking with the cooking club, which also met on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Like the judo club, it also featured a member of A-Rise: Yuuki Anju. Unlike the stern and mature Erena Toudou, Anju was the sweetheart of the group, and her baking was even sweeter. She and Yamato had a much friendlier rivalry than Erena and Ren, and the two often enjoyed each other's company. Unfortunately for Yamato, this never went any further than a friendship…
"Anju-san, I was wondering… Are you doing anything this Saturday besides practice?"
"Not particularly. Why?"
"Well, I wasn't working, so I was wondering if you'd like to see a movie together…"
"Aww, that's sweet. I've always wondered what it would be like to hang out with a younger sibling…"
Why, Anju-san? Do I really look that young? We are literally the same age…"
"Shiina-kun? Is something wrong?"
"Y-yeah. I just remembered that Yamamoto-kun and I were going to hang out with Ren that day."
"Oh… Well, maybe another time, then."
"Yeah, well we'd better clean up soon. I'll be meeting up with them in a few so we can ride to work together."
After finishing his cooking club activities, Yamato walked out, thoroughly defeated. Fortunately, he wasn't alone. Back in the dojo, Ren had received his first defeat. "Well played, Toudou-san. I'm impressed. I need to go to work now, but if you'd like I could see if my boss could give you a discounted meal for beating me." Erena looked at Ren in shock. Hold on. Is he actually being nice? "I might take you up on that. Can my friends come, too?" Ren gave a slight smile at her. "Sure, but they'll have to beat me at something to get a discount." As he stated this, Yamato was walking in. "Hold on. A-Rise is coming to work with us?" Ren raised an eyebrow at Yamato. "Only because Toudou-san beat me. Why is it a problem to you?"
"Do you not feel any humiliation about the fact that we work at a butler café? We are literally hired to provide fan service."
"I try not to think about it. Now let's move or we'll be late, Yamato-kun. You too, Haru."
Half an hour later, the boys were in their tuxedos, and the members of A-Rise were dining at Butlers of Akiba, attracting more customers with their mere presence. Ren's boss was a man in his late 20s by the name of Kou Sakurada, and the boss had money signs in his eyes as customers flocked in to get autographs. However, the members of A-Rise wanted to dine in peace, and Haru had taken quick notice. "Alright, everyone, if you want an autograph, go to a concert or an interview, but don't bother our guests. Otherwise, ladies, I doubt Hayashi-san will show you a single ounce of favor the next time you dine with us." In an instant, the girls in the crowd dispersed, much to Tsubasa's surprise.
"Is he really that popular here, Yamamoto-san?"
"Tsunderes are natural crowd pleasers."
"True, but Ren doesn't have much dere left in him."
"He pulls off the act fairly well, but I think he might still have a bit of dere in him."
"Are you sure."
"Yeah. He's just holding it back for some reason."
Meanwhile, Anju couldn't stop thinking of how adorable Shiina-kun looked in a tux…