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Call the World Home

Tuesday—June 16, 2021

Goro could not remember waking up so sore; he let out a moan of pain and gasped at the sharpness that danced up and down his spine. Every muscle screamed in protest as he turned his head to look around; Goro shifted his arm just enough to feel for the other teen in his bed. His fingers found Ren's arm and gave it a light shake, fingers holding the fabric of his sleeve with surprising gentleness.

"Ah, m'awake," Ren said sleepily and began stirring. Goro found it quite endearing to hear him first thing in the morning and the warm feeling spread from his cheeks to his chest and down to his fingers. Ren lifted his head and let out a sarcastic bark of humorless laughter. "Sore all over."

"It must've gotten worse when we were asleep," Goro rasped, trying to find his voice after not having spoken or drunk anything since their trip to the cafe. "Especially since we weren't moving."

Ren slowly pushed himself up onto his elbows, which was about as far as he could get up, but Goro could not do much better. His ribs felt like they were slowly falling off and the effort of breathing became extremely uncomfortable.

"What time is it?" the bespectacled teen asked, reaching out blindly for his glasses, which Goro handed over. "Thanks."

"Sure," Goro said and looked at his phone, wincing at how bright the light seemed to be despite it being dimmed significantly. "Damn it, it's nearly noon!"

"What?" Ren squawked in disbelief and turned his head a little too fast for he let it drop into his hand as he screwed his eyes shut. "How? We slept half the day away?"

"To be fair, little miss let's-get-coffee had us out until nearly 03:00 this morning," Goro grumbled, although there was no real anger in his words. His eyes popped at the lights and he regretted not closing his blinds before falling asleep.

"I'm surprised," Ren said earnestly, pushing himself to a sitting position. He reached out a hand and brushed his fingers against Goro's wound. "We weren't summoned by Igor. Does that need stitches?"

"Not likely," Goro said but drifted off as his mind flashed to the little, redheaded girl that was even smaller than Sumire. "There are more pressing matters at hand."

Ren looked ready to protest but thought better of it and nodded, rolling himself out of bed and grabbing new clothes for the day.

As the two emerged into daylight, they found to be the only ones awake. As they waited for everyone's arrival, Ren went into the kitchen to make coffee while Goro baked some pancakes, some filled with chocolate chips for Ann, fruit for Sumire. When the two were washing their dishes and adding the finishing touches to the eggs, the rest of the party traipsed into the kitchen, one by one.

"Oooh, it smells sooo good!" Ann exclaimed happily and threw her arms around Goro as she snagged two chocolate chip pancakes right off the plate without waiting to sit down. "Thanks, you!"

She pecked Goro on the cheek, taking him by surprise, and flung herself out of the kitchen and to the table, dancing around with a paper plate until she found a seat. Sumire smiled warmly and ventured over to him, whispering in a quieter voice.

"She just got a modeling gig that she has been looking forward to," she explained.

"Ah," Goro said as he bobbed his head in understanding. He watched the chipper blonde as his fingers brushed the spot on his cheek where her lips were moments ago. He hummed softly. "Good for her…."

Goro stepped back but bumped hard into Ren, who was trying to slip past him. He would have overbalanced if it were not for the other's steadying hands that held him by the waist.

"Sorry," Ren murmured.

Goro could hardly hear what he was saying; his mind was still lingering where Ren's hands had touched him, trying not to flinch at the bolts of electricity that streamed through his muscles relentlessly. He looked over his shoulder at the bespectacled teen and bit his lip.

"I'm borrowing Ren," Ann declared from the table, hand shooting into the air as if she was raising her hand in class.

"Er…?" Ren asked, looking up from his mug and knitting his eyebrows at her.

Ryuji adopted a sour look on his face, but tried to hide it by ducking his face. The box-dye blonde was never good at hiding his feelings—the kid wore his heart on his sleeve with no shame—and he was never afraid to express his feelings. So, it came to Goro a great surprise to see Ryuji bottle in whatever thoughts that ran through that thick skull of his.

"Please?" Ann pressed, giving him a very knowing look, one that Goro had no idea the meaning to.

"Okay," Ren said with a nod.

"What's the plan for everyone else?" Ryuji asked, tipping his chair back on its two back legs, balancing it as he threw his arms behind his head. "I mean, these two have plans now so…."

"Yusuke said he would be willing to go to my gym today," Sumire said and rubbed the outside of her knee a bit ruefully. "We want to practice our ballet, but he promised me a massage!"

"Yes, I certainly did," Yusuke said and dipped his head respectfully to her.

"What? You finally got money for that?" Ryuji said with a bark of laughter. "I'm proud of ya! You're bein' responsible with it for once."

Yusuke rolled his eyes in exasperation, but he could not argue what was true. He merely returned to his coffee and whatever he was reading on his phone; Goro noticed the artist was on his phone more than he had ever been in Tokyo. He could only speculate as to why.

"That leaves you n' me," Ryuji said, then looked over at Sophia. "You game for doing somethin' with us?"

"I'm game," Sophia said with a nod, giving them the generic thumbs-up. "What is this 'game' you speak of?"

"Figuring out why you are here," Goro said bluntly, earning himself a bit of a gape from Ryuji, but he ignored it. "Or at the very least figuring out how you are here."

When their breakfast at noon finally came to an end and it was well into the afternoon, each set out to do their own thing. Goro watched Ren and Ann disappear out the door shortly after Sumire and Yusuke, feeling himself grow annoyed that his not-confirmed plans with Ren were now impossible.

"Okay, ready, guys?" Ryuji asked, grabbing his jacket and three magazines from the depths of his book back, which he swung over his shoulder.

"For what?" Goro asked, finding it strange to be spending his free time with the blonde when he was the most adamant to hate him since he was Ren's other closest friend and fiercely protective—in fact, he still was.

"We're gonna follow them, dude," Ryuji said as if it was the most obvious thing, shoving a magazine into Goro's chest and nearly knocking the wind out of him.

Goro huffed and clasped both arms unceremoniously around it, hanging on awkwardly to keep it from falling. "Following them? Why?"

"Because," Ryuji said slowly, lowering his voice and leaning in real close, arm slung around his neck. "My guy and Ann are spendin' time alone….all day….doing God knows what….ya feel me?"

Yes, Goro definitely understood what Ryuji meant, but he had no desire to spend his day following the pair like idiots. He was all for tailing when it came to his job, but this was personal and personally a waste of his time.

"Is that necessary?"

"C'mon!" Ryuji said and jabbed him in the chest with his fist. "Y'all aren't even the tiniest bit curious?"

Yes, Goro was definitely curious.

"Well—"

"That settles it," Ryuji said and gave him a great shove towards the front door, grabbing his keys from his pockets and beckoning Sophia forward with a magazine of her own. "Use that and cover your face when they look our way, 'kay?"

Sophia just lifted the magazine upside down and covered her face.

"We'll work on it."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

It did not take long to find the pair lingering around Broadway. At first, they were merely walking around with no merit or seemingly purpose, and Goro was about to throw in the towel when his sharp ears picked up on Ann's shrill exclamation, pointing excitedly to something. Ren must have relented to her persistent pleading and walked over to a stand. He pulled out of view for a moment but emerged seconds later with something in his hand, extending the other to Ann.

She took the ice cream cone with the brightest smile Goro had ever seen and dragged him to a nearby bench, taking a seat with her body angled towards Ren. The latter sat down close enough where their knees were touching. Goro finally perked up at that and leaned forward, eyes fixated on their proximity.

Ren put his bag in his lap as Morgana's head popped out of said bag; at this, Goro relaxed and nudged Ryuji a bit sharply in the ribs, harder than he originally meant to.

"Ouch!" the pseudo-blonde griped. "What?"

"What are we doing?"

"Making sure they're safe," Ryuji said in a very forced but fake innocent tone, gesturing to them as he raised the magazine a little higher over his face. "I mean, we're in uncharted waters here."

Goro sighed and resumed his watchful eye. Ren held out his cone for hers as she did the same. He scoffed to himself and picked a piece of flint off the sleeve of his jacket, shaking his head, clearly unimpressed.

Ren jerked back as Ann shoved her cone into his nose, effectively smearing it with ice cream. The bespectacled boy threw his head back in laughter and took off his glasses to wipe them clean. Ann howled with laughter and pointed at him, her entire body shaking with mirth. Ren took his spoon and dipped it in her ice cream, smearing some of the chocolate on it. Ann let out an audible bark of laughter; in retaliation, she reached for his cone, which had cut-up pieces of strawberries, and flicked one at him.

With skill, Ren caught it in his mouth, causing Ann to double over with laughter.

Stupid trick, Goro thought to himself. He didn't know Ren was that coordinated.

For some reason or another, Ren held out his cone again and they switched. Ann plucked off the strawberries first before diving nose-first into the mound of whipped cream. Ren just politely held hers, and Goro knew he was not going to eat hers—just being chivalrous and letting her have both.

The pair rose up from the bench and began walking off to wherever their next destination was. Ryuji snagged Goro by the collar of his jacket and yanked him to his feet for him. Goro spluttered and shook himself free with a grunt of a mild irritation, but it was not aimed at the loud-mouth. He and Sophia followed Ryuji as he trailed after Ren and Ann.

Goro found this to be strange and rather invasive, but it was (without doubt) interesting. The pair admittedly looked very comfortable with one another, although Ann had been one of Ren's oldest friends. Whatever they were talking about, it had Ren smiling nearly the entire time. His posture was relaxed and his features were at ease for once, void of the usual pinched and stressed expressions he wore.

Ann had spotted something else and turned to the ravenette excitedly, pulling gently at his sleeve. Whatever she had said, Ren tried shaking his head, hand going to his stomach. However, Ann flapped her own hands at him and dragged him by the wrist to another food stand. She chatted for quite some time while Ren stood there with his hand in his pocket, having given the last of his cone to Ann since she finished hers first. Ren began talking now, not a lot because his head was still bowed a bit, but he accepted the drink Ann had bought for him and dipped his head graciously.

Ren and Ann took off once more, both wearing looks of contentment as they resumed whatever they were talking about. Now, Goro wished he had some way he could listen in on their private conversation, curiosity driving him mad. Ann was talking animatedly, her free hand moving erratically. Ren had his in his pocket, but he was still nodding enthusiastically.

Goro unconsciously quickened his pace, but stopped himself before he became too obvious. Ryuji began squawking loudly about how Ren didn't even like whipped cream on ice cream that much until Goro slapped a hand over his mouth, hissing at him to keep it down.

"What are we doing?" Sophia asked.

Goro jumped, almost forgetting she was with them. "Nothing."

"Why can't we just go up to them?" Sophia asked bluntly but lightly, meaning no harm in the question.

"Because," Ryuji said and waved a hand at her, beckoning her closer; when she approached him, the troublemaker threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a sympathetic look. "We're tryin' to be incognito, 'kay?"

"Okay…." Sophia said slowly.

"Good," Ryuji said and relinquished his hold on her and threw up his magazine again. "Let's get going before we lose 'em!"

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Hey, you!"

Ren snapped his head up and jumped a foot in the air, eyes darting around as he tried to figure out just where exactly he was. The moment they caught sight of a waterfall of blonde hair, he felt his heart relax.

"That's such a cute picture!" Ann squealed as she lowered her phone to eye-level, grinning at her screen before showing him the picture she took of him sleeping on his bag. "Paperwork is done! I'm ready to go!"

Ren hummed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, digging his fingers into the corners of his eyes. He picked up his bag and opened it to let Morgana jump back in, who was previously snoozing on his lap.

"Congratulations, Lady Ann," Morgana purred as he popped his head out just enough to talk properly. "You've officially forged a contract with Tusla! You are now a real model for them!"

Ren gave her a loping smile as his eyes softened. "Good on you, Ann. Shiho's proud of you."

He held out his phone to show their brief conversation. He, himself, had taken a picture of Ann bending over the desk with a pen in her hand, signing the papers. Below, Shiho was gushing about how pleased she felt.

"You're the sweetest," Ann said tearfully and sniffled, gesturing for him to come closer. "I owe you a picture then."

"You already took one of me," Ren protested lightly, waving a hand to her phone. "Sleeping!"

"Come on," Ann said playfully and hooked her arm around his. She held up her camera and winked, snapping a quick photo to post on her social media page and to Shiho.

Ren followed her out of the building, looking up at the sky. Even though they had been out and around for six hours or so (give or take some), the sky was darkening and the street lights were starting to come on.

Neon signs from different places began flickering and buzzing; this truly was the city that never sleeps. His nap, however long that was, had rejuvenated him.

"Beautiful night," Ren commented casually, tapping his fingers against the strap of his book bag.

"Nothing like our hometown, eh, Joker?" Morgana meowed from the bag, climbing up on Ren's shoulder and settling there with excellent balance. "But just like Tokyo!"

"Yeah..." Ren replied with a hum.

"Hey," Ann said suddenly, sounding very shy and sheepish. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"What's that?" Ren prompted, now intrigued.

"I...I-I want—do you have those cigarettes with you?" Ann asked, practically all in one breath.

If Ren was not paying very close attention, he was sure he would have missed it or misunderstood. "Yeah, why? D'you want one?"

Ann bit her lip, looking at war with herself.

"Maybe not—"

"No!" Ann said and threw her hands up with a frustrated growl. "I mean, I shouldn't, should I? I've got an image to uphold! I can't be seen doing that! I just….I only asked—I wanted—I just wanted to say that I did it….that I'm not some stuck-up girl—"

"And you think that's the way to do it?" Ren challenged, quirking an eyebrow up at her questioningly.

Ann paused then deflated. "You're right…."

Ren smiled gently nodded approvingly.

"But since you asked…." he pulled out his pack and held out one for her.

"H-how do you….?" she trailed off as she held it awkwardly, biting her lip and looking up at him through her thick lashes. She blushed red as she grumbled. "I feel really stupid. Can we….do this somewhere more private?"

"Sure," Ren said and gestured to the greenery that surrounded them. "The Loch is right there."

"Are you sure?" Ann asked fretfully.

"I promise it's safe," Ren said then added teasingly, "besides, you can protect me, right?"

This seemed to alleviate her nerves as the two turned the corner and headed for the trees off Central Park West. There, the two bent their heads close together. Ren placed the cigarette between her lips, cupping the flame from his lighter.

"Breathe in," he instructed.

Ann did as told and immediately started coughing, tongue darting out to get rid of the taste. Ren gave her a mirthful but kind smile and braced both hands on the trunk of the tree that Ann was leaning against, providing some sort of barrier.

His bag, which was at their feet, jostled as Morgana popped his head out and wrinkled his nose. "That stuff stinks."

"Sorry," Ann squeaked as Ren shot him a glare.

"It's fine," Ren said reassuringly and kept his head bent low next to hers.

The blonde looked up at him then knit her eyebrows with a bit of a sullen look. "Can you have one, too, so I don't feel so guilty?"

Ren, who had no intention of smoking in front of her when they were both sober, looked hesitant. But, he eventually gave in and pulled out one for himself.

"Do you mind?" he asked, eyes flickering over to hers.

"Huh?"

Ren leaned forward and bummed off hers, inhaling deeply. He held it loosely between his fingers and let it burn.

"Do you know what's mad?" Ann asked after she took another experimental drag. She blew it out after a bit and rubbed her arm self-consciously. "Sumire and I were already offered—mor-margin-I forgot the English word—"

"Marijuana?" Ren supplied for her and snorted with a shake of his head. "It's popular in this country, but I'd stay away from it, Ann."

"Yeah," she said with a nod, eyes cast downward. "I'm here but I feel like I'm in a completely different world."

Ren hummed in response, knowing precisely what she meant. Even if his English had gotten better, he felt like he was on a completely different planet. He had seen and learned things he would have never been able to experience in Japan. In a way, however, he was grateful that his world was expanding so rapidly.

"I'm glad I'm here though," Ann said in conclusion and gave him a shy smile. "That we are."

Ren gave her a fond smile.

Once finished, they made their way back home, talking about whatever came to mind with no real direction. Ren pressed himself against her, arm snaking its way around Ann's waist to pull her to his hip. She hummed happily and pulled her sleeves over her hands. She rested her head wearily on his shoulder, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Ren rested his cheek on top of her head, his hum vibrating deep in his chest.

"Thank you for today," Ann said after a short pause, pulling out her phone to scroll through the pictures she had taken of them today. "I didn't want to go alone but I didn't know who else to ask."

"Of course," Ren said earnestly and looked down at Morgana, who was trotting happily at their feet. "We're glad we could spend time with you."

"It was nice to see you in your element," Morgana chimed in with a flick of his tail, looking up at them both. "You talk about modeling a lot but I don't think we really got to see much of you in action."

"It's true," Ren said with a nod of agreement; he tilted his head a bit so he could look at her better. "It is nice to see you do something you're so passionate about."

"You sound just like Shiho," Ann said with a warm giggle, eyes closing in bliss. "I can't imagine how different my life would have been if I hadn't met you."

"And refused to leave?" Ren jested lightheartedly.

"Shut up," Ann exclaimed and shoved him by the chest, only to grab his arm and place it back around her waist, resting her head on his shoulder again. She smiled as he rested his cheek on her forehead once more. "I can't imagine my life without you in it now—"

"Seriously? How much more cliché can ya get?"

"Ryuji!"

"Oh, dear."

Ren jumped and instinctively wrapped his lithe frame around hers, stiffening. However, at the mention of that familiar name and the Japanese words that followed, he realized these were no strangers. He took a step back from Ann and blushed furiously as Ryuji came up from behind, thumbs hooked in the belt loops of his pants. He wore a scowl that was uncharacteristically aimed at him.

"What the hell?" Ann barked and narrowed those bright blue eyes at Ryuji as he stalked up to her. She stuttered for a few moments before pointing a finger at the loud-mouth. "What are you doing here?"

"Here we are….walkin' around and who should we see but you two?" Ryuji drawled in mock casualness and frowned heavily, looking very unhappy at the pair of them. "Getting all cozy with each other."

"Ryuji," Ren said softly, stung at the accusation.

Even worse now, two more joined Ryuji—the lights revealing Goro and Sophia striding up.

"You….wa-were you spying on us?" Ann gasped, eyes widening in shock and defiance.

"No," Ryuji said but he was never a good liar. He must have known this for he chose his next words as carefully as he could. "We were just makin' sure you guys were okay."

"You were!" Ann shrieked as tears sprang to her eyes. "You had no right to do that! You really crossed the line, Sakamoto!"

Ryuji finally looked a little guilty and very surprised at being addressed by his surname from someone who he had known for quite some time now….someone he thought would never resort back to last-name calling.

"I—back me up, man," Ryuji said as he turned to Goro. "We had a good reason, right?"

"Her opinion is limited to her perspective," Goro said a bit indifferently, but he was smart enough to stand beside Ryuji. "In the end, no amount of explaining will convince her it was warranted, so what is the point?"

"Touche," Ryuji muttered darkly then turned to Ann with his arms crossed. "Well, congrats on the contract."

"I don't want it from you," Ann said, tears now cascading rather freely from her eyes; she did not bother to wipe them away as she angrily whipped around to face Ren. "Please walk me home."

"Yeah," Ren murmured, voice barely above a whisper. His eyes, however, sought someone in particular, but his expression was equally as vague and unreadable. Instead, he just looked at the distraught girl and put a pacifying hand on her shoulder. "Let's go."

As he and Ann brushed past the others, Goro's fingers snagged Ren's—it was brief and subtle, but Ren could not hide the smile on his face as he walked Ann home, his mind now cast far away….

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Ren (22:45): You and I need to talk.
Goro (22:46): About? When? Where?
Ren (22:47): You know what about. And we can talk in the morning. I'll let you sleep tonight.
Goro (22:48): Fair enough—until then.

My dude, Ryuji, has like no tact. He never did, but that's what makes him so lovable.