At home, Ryuji went to his room and began the work of setting up his laptop. Of course he had done some rudimentary set up at the library with Niijima, but they hadn't gotten to set up the things that really mattered. For one thing, the background of the school computer was a boring, neutral blue sky landscape photo. A few clicks around on an image hosting website had him putting up one of the album covers of a band he liked, Propaghandi.

Once the laptop no longer looked like it belonged to a middle aged accountant, Ryuji set to work connecting to several forums and message boards. He had joined these sites before using his phone, so it was a cinch to sync them up on the laptop, though the web UI occasionally baffled him, since it looked so drastically different from the version he saw on his tiny mobile screen.

In addition to connecting to his usual online hangout spots, he also joined a few new local forums, one specifically stating that it was for Shujin Academy students to connect. His hands hesitated over the keys for a long moment before he created his account. For a moment, Ryuji felt a sense of dread, wondering if all the users would instantly recognize him and begin trying to drive him away. But of course that didn't happen. So he began to lurk on a few forum threads. A few talked about some upcoming club sponsored events that he bookmarked and a few were nasty gossip threads about this or that person that Ryuji clicked away from hastily. When he searched his name, he found only a few results which he found both relieving and oddly disappointing. He had been thinking that his fight with Kamoshida would surely have made him infamous. But it seemed like the track people didn't need to post about how they felt; they seemed to prefer a far more direct approach.

Browsing a few of the threads, he was about to log out of the site when a thread caught his eye. He clicked on it, reading the few posts that there were on it.

New student w record coming tomorrow

posted by user [perfectlyswirledicecream] 22:10

22:18 [perfectlyswirledicecream]: there's rumor of a new guy coming to class. heard he's got a record. maybe keep an eye out for that trouble maker.

22:22 [citrusjamskid]: what :O? i can't believe that someone like that is coming. anyone got a name?

22:25 [seyegreat]: I don't think they release names of new students ahead of time. We'll just wait and see lol.

22:29 [bratphomet]: man i wouldnt even worry. probably just someone stirring shit for lols

22:34 [citrusjamskid]: i dunno, i'm gonna keep an eye out. be safe everyone

Ryuji read the posts several times before logging out, his mind humming with curiosity. He closed the laptop and lay back on the bed, his eyes searching the ceiling like the answer was written on one of the panels. It probably wasn't relevant and the kid probably wouldn't even come to his class.

All of these worrying thoughts were pushed aside though when he heard the front door open. "I'm home!" called Ryuji's mother, and the smell of delicious takeout tickled his nostrils.

"I brought home Ichiban Ramen! Deluxe Beef Bowl!" she continued, and Ryuji was out of bed and in the kitchen before she had time to get plates down.

"Aw heck yeah Mom! What're you bringin' home the good stuff for?" he asked, getting down plates with the speed of a boy possessed. Ryuji's mother watched him with an amused look on her face.

"Well, when you told me you had news for me, I bought this hoping it was good news. Now you've got me worrying since you didn't spill it already," she answered, her voice tinged with laughter. Ryuji rolled his eyes.

"That just means we'd have the right meal to drown our sorrows. Anyway, you were right, I've got good news!" exclaimed Ryuji pouring the noodles in the heavy ceramic the Sakamoto family reserved for special occasions.

"Alright then, so what's this good news?" she asked, taking the bowl and chopsticks offered to her by her grinning son.

"Drumroll please!" demanded Ryuji, setting down his bowl adjacent to his mother's. Ryuji's mother obliged, drumming her fingers against the table in parody of a great announcement while Ryuji rummaged through his backpack.

Then he emerged suddenly, bearing his essay from the day as though the slightly crumpled piece of paper were an award-winning treatise. "Ta da! An 80 on my essay!" he crowed, and his mother cheered.

"Attaboy! Good job champ, I knew you wouldn't let me down!" she cried, pulling him into a big hug. "Man, I'm so glad my hunch was right. I even got some extra beef in there for you," she said and Ryuji's eyes flashed with delight. They both sat down and began eating with gusto, their frantic gulping of the hot broth and noodles punctuated now and again with exclamations of delight.

Between gulps of her soup, Ryuji's mother nudged him conspiratorially with her elbow. "I take it that tutor is working out for you then?" she asked, slurping up the thick udon with the practiced ease of a master ramen eater.

Ryuji nodded, swallowing noodles a little too fast. He coughed, eyes watering and his mother gave him a slap on the back. Taking a deep breath, Ryuji gasped out: "Yeah she's great...we even practiced aikido together."

"Aikido huh? That's a little unusual considering she's supposed to be a prim and proper straight A honor student isn't it?" asked Ryuji's mom, cocking one eyebrow.

Ryuji massaged his throat and gently sipped at the broth. "I dunno, it kinda makes sense," he replied, his voice losing its strangled sound. "She kinda seems...angry? Underneath the ice I mean," he finished, thinking about how she had stared down Nakaoka and the others.

"Well, it'd make sense for a kid like her to be angry. She sounds like she's living for everyone but herself. Maybe aikido is the one way she gets an outlet living under everyone's expectations," replied his mom, looking philosophically into her bowl. "Anything else happen?" she asked, and Ryuji remembered that he had the laptop upstairs.

"Oh yeah, she asked the school to get me a laptop. She just got it approved today I guess, cause I was able to bring it home," he remarked, getting back to eating at a frantic pace. Ryuji's mother's eyes widened.

"A laptop?! For real?!" she asked, dropping her spoon. Then she appeared to think things over for a moment. "Are they going to charge us?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. Ryuji nodded enthusiastically.

"Nope, it's a loan from the school. Don't have to pay unless I get it damaged. And before you say anything, I know, I'll be careful," he replied. His mother nodded to herself.

"Well, that makes me feel a lot better then. Anyway, that was a kind thing for her to do. Maybe I ought to bake her a thank you gift," she said, almost to herself as Ryuji finished off his bowl.

"I dunno, if you want to I guess," he said with a shrug, but his mother had that gleam in her eye that said she was already planning a big extravagant baked good that would embarrass him to take to the president.

Ryuji had gotten up and was about to go to his room when his mother called him back with an insistent voice.

"Hey bud, you know the rules. I went out and got the food..."

Ryuji rolled his eyes.

"I know, I know. I'll wash the dishes Mom."