.
Ren woke up feeling unusually refreshed. His phone told him it was 3 am. He got off bed, clicking his stiff neck. Funny, he even fell asleep in his uniform. Ren's stomach growled. He also realised he missed dinner. And a shower.
Ren changed and headed downstairs with a towel and a change of clothes. The shop's sign was unturned.
Hmm.
Ren opened the door, sticking his head out of Leblanc. The alley was empty. A cool draft of wind entered the café. Ren checked under the doormat. No, not there. He checked behind the pot of plants. Yes! Looks like Sojiro hid the spare key there. He locked the café and turned the sign.
The bathhouse was thankfully the kind that ran 24/7.
Ren relaxed into the hot water. It had been months since he allowed himself to be at this kind of ease. Ren's hand clasped his neck, feeling a phantom sensation of the bite Princess Ann gave him there. He realised he was going to have to face the real one at school today. Takamaki sat there in front of him. Ren felt like he would not be able to look at her in the eye without remembering the throwdown with Princess Ann. Their fight had been vicious, frisky and uncomfortably intimate. Intimate violence? he mused.
Ren's slashed a finger at the water, annoyed by himself. Whether it was by flaw or strength of his character, Ren had lived his whole life with an 'all in or nothing' attitude. It was something he could not help. Even hate and anger was something as burning as love and attraction; you feel something strongly for a person in both. Ren did not like hating people casually.
Not because it was a negative emotion, but because meant they would exist emotionally charged in his thoughts, a kind of closeness in his heart that he shirked at. Just as you wouldn't invite any strangers into your private bedroom, the analogy with Ren was that his heart should be kept freed from fingerprints of people he was not close to. And the way Princess Ann incited him, the aggression had put him in a state of all in. Fingerprints in a homicide crime scene.
I'll need to rationalise that my feelings are directed to Princess Ann and not the real one, thought Ren.
The thin line that divides love and hate. The thin space that divides him and Ann as they sat in the classroom. Thin planes of school and the castle. Vindicates him in one. Promises murder in the other.
If he failed to rationalise, Ren would hate Ann, a girl whom he has never spoken to. It was logical. He was still not over Kyoko from his home town. Hate was the only path open. Ren rolled his eyes. Dramatic, aren't we?
"Jealous, aren't we?" said Princess Ann.
Ren got off and dried himself. After pulling on a grey Tshirt, he saw he had a few messages in IM. There was one another notification. A missed call. From his father. He tapped the screen harder than he needed to. Details said it came at 6 pm. Ren must have been asleep during that time. Ren switched to the IM app. There were unread messages from the group chat with Shiori and Ryuji. And one from his mother. Ren opened the one from his mother first.
_Mum: Ren. Your father called your phone and you did not answer._
_Mum: You need to learn to be alert and competent, you know your father is a busy man. Wasting his time is the same as stealing from his wallet_
_Mum: You should be grateful he would talk to you after what you did. After what your conviction did to this family's image. Do not repeat this again. We're flying out tomorrow to Amsterdam for a conference. If something happens meantime, call my secretary_
Ren swallowed. He mentally kicked himself. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why did he have to be so tired that he missed this call?!
Ren left the bathhouse. The night shift manager was surprised to see a customer leave stressed out. Usually their clientele were chilled out after enjoying the hot baths.
Sojiro was sitting on one of the stools when Ren returned. He saw the boy stop startled, stricken then panicked.
Ren waited for Sojiro to lash out at him for going out at night when Sojiro explicitly told him not to. Sojiro frowned at him.
"What are you shriveling for?" asked Sojiro.
"I just thought I'd take a shower, I'm-" Ren began to apologise.
"Yeah, I can see that. Towel hanging on your shoulder. The bathhouse is pretty nice, huh?" said Sojiro.
Eh?
Why was Sojiro not telling him off for going out at night? Ren thought confused.
"You're not mad at me for going out at night?" asked Ren.
Sojiro looked at him like there was something wrong with the boy. Kids these days were so strange, thought Sojiro.
"You were taking a bath. Like any normal person. Why – would I be angry at you for that? The curfew thing was meant to stop you from going out and doing irresponsible things like meeting with druggies and so on. You know that."
". . ."
Sojiro picked a box from the counter. Ren saw the words Radeon RX VEGA written on it. A PC graphics processor card? Ren never figured him to be into PC building.
"Anyway, I came back here for this. Forgot it at the café. You didn't eat dinner, yeah? I just ordered some takeaway. Should be here in twenty minutes. Be sure you clean up when you've eaten," Sojiro said gruffly.
The bell tinkled.
The takeaway delivery turned out to be some sort of South Asian cuisine. 'Goat Kothri' was written on the folded box with a container of the food inside. Ren never ate such a thing before. It was delicious. Spicy, but in a good way. He finished it, grateful.
"Did you read the messages?" Shiori asked Ren in a low voice.
Another train went parallel to theirs. The sunlit window profiles inside their train moved like a movie film rolling. The glow on Shiori's face changed ten times in a second, between shadow and sunlight.
"No. But I got a good guess," murmured Ren.
Shiori nodded.
"Ren, there is something wrong with Shujin. And I don't mean, cuz there's a school president walking around, relishing how her ego is shoved up the abyss of her arse-"
"Say what?"
"-it's the strong possibility that Kamoshida is doing something terrible to the students of our school."
"Now arriving at Aomine-Itchome."
Shiori and Ren got off.
"Ryuji wants us to find out what's going on?" asked Ren.
"So do I. Don't you?"
"Just run me through again, what you and Ryuji saw on that ship. . ."
They continued walking together, while Shiori explained. When she was done, they were nearing the steps of Shujin. The school looked darker to Ren today. How ironic he came to this school to stay out of trouble, yet the situation quickly spiraled into him being sucked in a plot that possibly involved abuse and ephebophillia.
"I didn't think you were going to be this right when you said Shujin was not the right choice," said Ren.
Shiori hugged herself. She seemed unsettled by her own words from then.
"I've known since last year that Kamoshida was a power-tripping cunt who sometimes bullied the students, but this is beyond my assumptions. Ren, why was there a cognitive student who begged to die?" asked Shiori.
"We could. . .ask around. But it's not something that can be done easily. That student Shiho Suzui, I don't think she's even in our class, is she?"
"No. It would be impossible to interrogate all these people. Not today. But tomorrow, we can. The volleyball rally is on," said Shiori.
Ren shoulder-leaned by the side of a vending machine. He folded his arms, thinking. Shiori tapped her foot on the ground, hands on hips.
"The classes will be freed up. Yeah, that sounds straightforward. Just ask everyone while the matches are happening."
The tapping became faster.
"That still feels crude and a bit inefficient. We need a better game plan. Kamoshida gets one sniff we're onto him, both you and Ryuji are screwed. I could weasel my way out of stuff like that, but not guys like you two," said Shiori.
The tapping stopped.
"Maybe. . .' Shiori started.
"Hmm?"
"How would you feel about helping prepare for the volleyball rally? It gets you more involved with this event and you'll have an excuse to move in the background, rather than being dodgy. Maybe even some preliminary investigation before tomorrow," said Shiori.
"Umm. . .I could? But isn't that in the jurisdiction of the student council?" asked Ren.
Shiori pulled out her phone and quickly selected to compose a message to Makoto Niijima, making sure Ren could see the screen.
_Shiori: I'll take your offer. Kamoshida encouraged me to get more involved with volleyball, I figured helping out with the rally is a good starting point._
"Niijima-san is the student council president. Yesterday she offered me my spot back on the board," explained Shiori.
It was two minutes before Makoto replied. Shiori could practically feel the unsettled surprise frizzle off the screen.
_Makoto: I'm glad you're returning. Meet me at the student council room at recess._
Sure you are, thought Shiori.
"Now what?" asked Ren.
"I'll put forward your name as a helper. I'm don't think I'll be able to do the same for Ryuji. Usually it's appropriate that I recommend only my classmates. While you're playing foot soldier out there, I'll snoop through the council's records, see if they've received any complaints from students over Kamoshida. They store these things in the computer they've got there," said Shiori.
Shiori opened the trio's group chat.
_Shiori: Ryuji, can you meet us a while after school? We've got a solid plan but Ren and I might be held back during the club hours._
_Ryuji: I can._
_Ryuji: I know a good ramen place. My shout. As thanks for sticking up for me on our last visit to the castle and helping me figure this thing out with Kamoshida_
Recess came.
Shiori slid open the student council room door.
"Oshiro-senpai! Welcome back."
"Nice choker yo."
"I'm not really your senpai now Takamura-san. You're all third years now," Shiori said in an embarrassed tone.
Makoto stood from her seat.
"Welcome back to the student council, Oshiro-san," said Makoto, bowing.
Shiori bowed back. It was going to be psychological warfare for the rest of the year, she thought to herself. Shiori reminded herself this would help them figure out what Kamoshida was really doing.
"We were just discussing the volleyball rally prep. It's going slower than we wanted it to," explained Takamura.
"Neato. I actually have a volunteer who would be willing to help out with the preparations," said Shiori.
"Oh?" said Makoto; she braced on one hand, watching Shiori closely.
Shiori held it together under Niijima's intense scrutiny.
"Yeah. The Amamiya guy. You guys heard of him?" asked Shiori, sitting down.
"Amamiya…whoa! The guy with the criminal record?" said Takamura.
"Are you sure that will be okay?" asked the other council member, Nakata.
Shiori traced a cross over her heart.
"I'll put my reputation on with him. He's actually a good guy. If he messes up, it's all on me," said Shiori.
Your reputation huh? Makoto thought with sarcasm. If only people knew your undercover activities.
Shiori knew what Makoto was thinking. Shiori allowed herself to show a little smirk to Makoto. The others thought Shiori was smiling, but the context was different to Makoto.
Time to play along. It will be good misdirection to keep Niijima from figuring out why I'm actually here, thought Shiori.
"I hear Kuro Okazaki was appointed the captain of the school basketball team this year," said Shiori.
"He was. Why do bring that up?" asked Makoto, a little sharply.
Shiori shrugged.
"Aren't we in-charge of helping out the sports teams and clubs?" Shiori asked in a sweet voice.
Takamura nodded approvingly.
"We are."
The council room door opened.
"Oh hey Mishima."
Mishima? thought Shiori.
Shiori turned on her seat to see a meek blue-haired boy. Right. Yuuki Mishima. He was the class representative of 2-D. The first cognitive student who screamed on the boat was of this guy. Shiori noted the band-aid on his cheek.
"Hey Nakata-san. I'm here about that student I said I'd recommend for helping with the volleyball rally prep," said Mishima.
"Shiori just recommended one from your class," said Nakata.
"Who's your recommendation, Mishima-san?" asked Makoto.
"Ann Takamaki," said Mishima.
Shiori narrowed her eyes at Mishima. She had never seen Mishima talk to Takamaki. Why did Mishima flinch slightly when he said her name too?
"That's two recommendations. I think two more pairs of hands should bring the preps up to speed," said Takamura.
Makoto nodded.
"Alright, I'll sign these two off to help out this afternoon. Tell them to be at the school gymnasium once classes are over," said Makoto.
Ren paused at what he was reading on his phone. He removed his earphones, which were playing These Words from Natasha Bedingfield.
_Shiori: Got you the glorified gig of helping set-up the event dedicated to smooching Kamoshida's arse_
_Ren: Thanks…I think_
_Shiori: You'll have a helper with you, from our class_
_Ren: Who?_
_Shiori: Ann Takamaki_
Ren typed:
_Ren: Coincidence? _
_Shiori: That Mishima guy put her name forward. Have you seen those two talk?_
_Ren: As far as I've been aware, no_
_Ryuji: Mishima is part of the school volleyball team_
_Shiori: Dodgy_
Post-final period. At the school gymnasium. . .
"Hello?" Ann called out.
No one answered. Ann tentatively stepped into the gymnasium. A few flyers hung lopsided, chairs and tables were strewn haphazardly around the place. A crate of volleyballs & basketballs was turned over, spilling the balls in the corner. Wow. What were the previous helpers doing that the gym was in this state?
"This will help Shiho keep her spot on the team. This is fine," Ann said to herself.
Ann dropped her bag at the bleacher. She leant forward, rolling out the volleyballs so the rack could lighten up enough for her to bring it back upright. Ann's cheeks twitched. They did that when something was wrong.
Ann looked back and jumped away, gasping. Kamoshida had been watching her from behind. He had that look she had seen a lot of men give her. Ann swallowed.
"You're doing the prep all on your own, Ann?" asked Kamoshida.
Ann was conscious of how alone she was with Kamoshida in the gym. The place was quiet. Most students in the school itself had already left for home.
"I was not expecting to be the only one here. Do you know where the others are?" asked Ann.
Kamoshida rolled his shoulders. Ann was starting to get the feeling that the absence of the other helpers, was by design.
"I'm not sure. But that means you'll be here for a while doing all this. Do you want me to give you a ride home? It's been dangerous lately, with all those reports on the news," said Kamoshida.
"Thank you for the offer, but it's fine really. I've got a modelling shoot and the agency said they'd drop me off once it's over," said Ann, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.
"You seem to get a lot of those," Kamoshida said quietly.
He got closer to Ann, who stopped breathing. The volleyball in Ann's hands trembled.
The boys' washroom door burst open. Out slid a frizzy-haired guy on his knees, like some British rockstar. Ren Amamiya held his phone like a mic, earphones on, eyes closed with a soulful expression.
"Clever rhymes, see you later.
Theeeeeese words are-my-own.
From my heart flow!
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!"
Perhaps a tad too corny to be like a British rockstar. Ann's jaw was dropped, stunned by how this guy just snapped the scary and chilling atmosphere from five seconds ago. Kamoshida looked furious at this pop-loving, cockblocking convict.
Ren still had not noticed them. He kept singing:
"Read some Byron, Shelley and Keats.
Recited it over a hip-hop beat!
I'm having trouble saying what I mean.
With dead poets. . ."
Ren opened his eyes, and saw Kamoshida and Ann Takamaki. Sweet Jesus, how long had they been watching? The gym was empty earlier. Ren stood up, clearing his throat. He put his earphones away.
"Um. Hello," said Ren.
"What – are you doing here?" asked Kamoshida, coldly.
"I was sent by the student council to help out with the preparations for tomorrow's rally," Ren said matter-of-factly.
Ren noticed Ann. She was here. Wait, if the others weren't here when Ren arrived, and Kamoshida just happened to show up when Mishima requested her. . .Ann would have been all alone with the volleyball couch during this isolated hour.
Sleazy prick, thought Ren.
Kamoshida frowned, making a mental note to kick Mishima harder the next time they had 'special coaching' sessions. The coach explicitly told him to request Ann only from 2-D. Before Kamoshida left the gym, he warned Ren in a low voice; only the two of them could hear, "Next time you get in my way, I'll screw you over like I did to a past example you're already acquainted with."
Ren ignored him, which only pissed off the coach further. Kamoshida left. That left him alone with Ann.
"Let me help you with that," said Ren.
Ren turned the rack upwards facing. He started piling the volley/basketballs in.
From Ann's perspective, there was a halo of yellow glow on Ren's profile, thanks to the afternoon sunlight filtering in from the skylight. The dark circles under his eyes complemented the image. Ren looked like a broken angel to Ann. A beautiful – broken – now looking at her confused, angel.
"Something wrong?" asked Ren.
Ann noticed his eyes were out of focus and not quite directed at her, like she was Medusa or something.
"Nothing." Ann said quickly.
They piled the balls in the rack in silence. Every ten seconds, Ann would steal a peek at Ren, behind a volleyball. She never got to look at him like this before since he sat behind her in class. Ren paused at the last basketball. He looked to the basketball net on the other side of the court. Was he going to shoot all the way from here? Wondered Ann.
Ren bent his knees then clutch shot the ball. It went in. The corner of Ren's mouth curled. At least Shido did not take away his touch.
"Wow," said Ann.
"I was the basketball captain at my last school," explained Ren.
"Not going to try out for the one here?"
"Nah. Best if I keep my head down around here," said Ren.
"By singing at the top your lungs?" teased Ann.
Ren coughed.
"That was. . .an exception. I assure you, I don't usually scream the L-word like that," said Ren.
"I don't know, I thought it sounded pretty nice off your lips," she flirted.
Ren stilled.
Dare you to move. Dare you to say it, thought Ann.
"The way you say 'later'. You say it pretty nice hehe," said Ann.
Ann was toying with him the way a cat played with a mouse it just caught, thought Ren.
"Later. Huh. Guess you're right," said Ren, playing along.
They continued to fix up the place, chatting. Every few minutes, Ann would mindfuck Ren with wordplay.
Ren might as well floated into the ramen shop, with how lightheaded Ann left him. Words are potent. Shiori and Ryuji were already waiting for him.
"Hey dude. If you don't mind, I already ordered for ya," said Ryuji.
"Yeah, no problem," Ren said absentmindedly.
Ryuji and Shiori looked at Ren expectantly. Ren was muttering 'later' under his breath. That's how Ann bade him goodbye. 'Later' Of all the words, she purposely chose the one which now had a different context between the two of them.
"Well?" Shiori asked, impatient.
"What?" asked Ren.
"Did you find out anything while preparing? These helpers are on Kamoshida's team. Minus Ann, of course," said Ryuji.
"Nothing. Those guys didn't show up. And get a load of this. . ." Ren explained to the other two what happened.
Shiori whistled under her breath.
"What a cunning bastard," said Shiori.
"He is. Through and through," said Ryuji.
"What about you? Find anything on the computer?" Ren asked.
Shiori fiddled with the salt.
"Zilch. He's covered his tracks well. There were the obvious archives like-" Shiori nodded to Ryuji who snorted.
The track team incident.
"-but it seems no one has come forward about any complaint against Kamoshida. I didn't dare to ask any of the council members, at least not yet. Niijima-san was accounting for every strand of hair on my head when I was in that room. I'll have to be careful when investigating this guy through them," Shiori said, annoyed.
Their ramen meals were set in front of them. They started eating.
In-between bites, Ryuji said, "I guess it's time I fully explain to you guys - what happened last year."
Shiori had a waterfall of noodles falling from her mouth, so Ren said it for her, "If it bothers you too much to talk about it. . ."
"Nah it's fine. . ."
Ryuji laid out how it happened. Most of it was how Shiori and Ren had deducted.
". . .After they made me out to be the villain, they called my mother to school and verbally abused her for what I did. She took it all in silence, never even scolded me afterwards. I. . .I'll never forget the look on her face from that day," Ryuji ended his story in a slight choke.
". . ."
Shiori finally made it out of the noodles.
"How could they be so unprofessional? Fuck the school. And their fucking authority and administration! Fuck them all!" she spat.
"I never took you to dislike authority. Given your image at school," said Ryuji.
Shiori laughed sardonically.
"That's all just a persona. I used to be like that though. Kissing their arse like a dog hoping for a treat after winning some award or whatever," said Shiori.
"The accident made you change?" asked Ren.
"More like, the recovery period. I mean after the accident I was still not too different. Traumatised. By what happened to me. . ." Shiori's voice became low. ". . .what happened to Mizuki. Anyway, during the recovery period, I met some guy who got me into a certain crowd. . .a scene. Met a lot of people who changed my horizons and perspective on a lot of things. Now here I am."
Ren thought about the tattoo Shiori had. It was that kind of scene?
"What was the accident like? I only read the news clipping of it but not your side," said Ryuji.
Shiori told them how she remembered it. Ren put his chopsticks down, feeling like his appetite was completely gone now.
"So that's why you wear the choker and that glove," said Ryuji; he sounded a bit affrighted.
Shiori nodded.
They both looked at Ren.
Ren picked up his chopsticks, pretending to eat.
"Spill it, lad," said Shiori.
"Alright alright," said Ren; amused despite himself.
Ren recounted how he was on his way home from Kyoko's place. To hearing the disturbance. To seeing those two adults, the lady in trouble. How the rest of it played out.
Ryuji looked angry. Shiori was stunned.
"The hell man! How much shittier can that arsehole get?!" asked Ryuji.
Ren winced. He was louder than Shiori, some of the patrons cast curious glances at the students.
"Calm down," said Ren.
"Calm down? Shit dude. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't be able to calm down until I punch that dick in the face!" exclaimed Ryuji.
"He ruined your life, just like that. So you moved from your hometown to here. What did you friends make of it? That Kyoko girl you dated?" asked Shiori.
"Most of them stopped talking to me. Only two of the boys stayed real with me, right to end when I left. Kyoko. . .at first she was like 'I believe you, Ren.' Then the replies to messages stopped, then the answering of calls…it went all the way to her not even acknowledging that I existed," sighed Ren.
"How long were yous dating?" asked Ryuji.
"Two years."
"Oh wow, what a bitch," said Shiori.
"At first I was really torn up by her betrayal. After a while, I could not take it personally. Japan has this culture of extremes you know? Once you've got a criminal record, regardless of the charge or its context, a lot of pathways are closed off to you. I wouldn't blame Kyoko's parents for not wanting her to be with someone with a record," said Ren.
"Yeah but you guys were together for two years. That's a long time for a teen," said Ryuji.
It still hurts, thought Ren.
"We're more alike than I initially thought," Shiori said quietly.
"This is the longest conversation I've had with someone of my age since that week," said Ryuji in similar sobriety.
Ren knew how they felt. They were all carrying broken pieces from the past. Hands that bled from trying to hold the sharp shards together.
"We're going to be fine," Ren assured them.
Ryuji perked up.
"Hell yeah dude. I got you twos back from now on," said Ryuji.
"Ryuji's support. Yaaay," joked Shiori.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
GodOrf asked a question in the reviews, about whether there will be any romance between Shiori and Ren, despite the Ren x Ann thing. I was not quite sure how to answer this initially cuz I'm not really a fan of giving out spoilers (especially the sort which could be learnt by process of elimination). The best I can say is: pay attention to the dynamics between Joker and Comedienne. There's a hint in this chapter specifically.
Also, I was happy to see more people reviewing this fanfiction. It's always nice to read what the readers are thinking. Feel free to do the same as they did, if you have any musings on the story.
