This story takes place after the manga. It includes an OC, and the events that take place are not canon. I do not own anything in my fanfiction except my OC. I plan on pairing this fanfiction with another one, centered on Shoko and Shoya.

Author's Note 4/20/20: I have been receiving a lot of requests to make Ren appear in Days and Years, which I couldn't agree more on. In order to do this, I am retconning a few things. I will try to change the story as little as possible. Feel free to reread for context! Thank you for all of the support, everyone :)


Fujisawa Ren: Class 1-4

Ren looked up at the wall, where his assigned class, as well as every other students' classes, were posted. He looked at all of the other names in his class, but he obviously didn't recognize any of them. He shuddered and walked back to the car where Ms. Ishida looked expectantly. "I got in, I'll be starting after winter break!"

"That's amazing, dear! Let's go celebrate!" Ms. Ishida said excitedly while clapping her hands together.


The day after bringing up attending school, Ren set out with Ms. Ishida to find a decent one so that he could test and start as soon as winter break ended. He was able to test that day, and the day after, he went to check his test results. He was happy to find that he at least got in, since his actual grade wasn't posted. He carefully stepped into Ms. Ishida's car, taking the aforementioned extra care due to the injuries he sustained only a few days prior.


Ms. Ishida took a different route than she usually would to get back to the parlor. "Oh, where are we going, ma'am?" Ren asked curiously. Ren had gotten quite accustomed to having Ms. Ishida pretty much taking care of him, and Ms. Ishida followed suit. As a result, it was pretty much like having a mother for Ren, and Ms. Ishida was happy to call Ren her son. Even when Ren was signing up for his high school, Ms. Ishida claimed Ren as a guardian would. Because of this, close bond, Ms. Ishida didn't mind doing a little bit of spending on Ren, especially since a lot of the money that she used came from him in origin (since he paid her "rent,").

The route they were going was beginning to look less and less familiar. "Oh, we're going to a mall! Time to do some last minute shopping, you know?" she said with a warm smile. "You've been so much help, and I feel so bad about you losing your money… and you're like a son to me," she sad the last part with some caution, worried about how Ren would take it, "so I wanted to take you somewhere to pick out some Christmas gifts for everyone!"

Ren's eyes widened. "S-son? R-really?" he asked with somewhat moist eyes. He was incredibly touched to be told such a thing. Even if it was sort of obvious that Ms. Ishida saw him as her son, it was something entirely more touching since it was said out loud. His eyes widened again and dried. "Ch-Christmas!" Ren said, surprised. "I completely forgot, what day is it?!"

Ms. Ishida laughed. "Calm down, Ren. It's tomorrow." Ren settled down, but he was still astonished that time eluded him so much. Seeing his expression in the rearview mirror, Ms. Ishida spoke up, saying, "Hey, it's okay. It's been a rough few days, I almost lost track of time myself!"


When they got to the mall, Ren looked around in awe. It was unlike anything he had ever seen in person. He went from store to store with Ms. Ishida, looking for neat things to get for everyone. While Ms. Ishida was looking at some clothes for Shoya, Ren spotted a small stand with some plush toys. He looked them over, not sure whether he would find anything. While nothing was in this stand in particular, he thought he knew what to look for when he checked in other stores.

"Hey, what did you get for Shoya?" Ren asked cheerfully. "I'm wondering what to pick out for him, myself…"

Ms. Ishida showed him the shirts and sweater that she picked out for him. Ren, being a young teenager, was dubious about the appeal to some clothes as a Christmas present, but he smiled nonetheless. "I-I see! Oh! I have an idea, does Shoya have any consoles?" After hearing which one he did, Ren kept an eye out for a video game store. Upon finding one, Ren picked out a fun-looking game that he thought Shoya would enjoy.

When it came to Shoko and Ms. Nishimiya, Ren felt just as obligated to get a present, but entirely unsure of what to get them. Ms. Ishida piped up and said, "How about some treats? I know they're always making sweets themselves, so I bet they don't get to try a lot of the brand-stuff!" They spent a few minutes picking out sweets. "Yuzuru is probably gonna eat a lot of these…" Ren thought as he looked for something extra to get the two ladies. They ended up getting a beautiful bow that complemented Shoko's hair and some alcohol and gift cards for Ms. Nishimiya (this was exclusively Ms. Ishida's choice).


Now, for Yuzuru, Ren still really wanted to get her a lens for her camera, but he would feel awful even asking Ms. Ishida to spend so much. So, he settled on a different accessory- a rain jacket for the camera. "Maybe she'll be too stubborn to use it, but I don't want her camera to break…" Ren considered. When he and Ms. Ishida began to make their way back to the front of the mall, Ren's eye caught something. "It's perfect!" he thought, and his voice soon followed. It was a giant, plush, black cat. "Look at this, ma'am!" Ren exclaimed. "Yuzuru would really like this! And the black color also matches her hair!" he said as he pointed it out to Ms. Ishida. She just giggled and gave him a knowing look, which Ren returned with a confused head-tilt.

The two loaded the car up with presents and made their way back to the Salon, where they spent the next half-hour wrapping presents and cleaning up. Ren was still hurting, but everything they were dealing with was pretty light. Because of this, he managed to accomplish this without a hitch. The two stared at their accomplishment; there were a total of twelve presents, each labelled for who they were addressed to, respectively. Ren noticed that two of them had his name on it. "Wha- how?" he said, astonished as he looked up at Ms. Ishida, who just grinned.


The two loaded the now-wrapped presents into the car, where they were driven to the Nishimiya residence. Ren would be staying a few more nights over there, since he wasn't good enough to work and Yuzuru was free to help him, so the two families would be having a joint Christmas Eve and Christmas there. Ms. Ishida and Ren took several presents to the door, where, upon seeing what was happening, Yuzuru, Shoko, and Shoya (who was spending time with Shoko) followed suit and helped carry the gifts. Ren began to follow the group to get the rest of the presents, but Yuzuru stopped him. "Ren, you're shaking." she said sternly. Ren's eyes widened, since he really hadn't noticed that anything was off. He felt his knees almost buckling, and he saw his hands shaking. "Go in and lay down right now, we'll be right back." she said with a finger pointing to the door.

"R-right… sorry to worry you!" he said sadly at first, then cheerfully, before turning around and beginning to walk inside. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and upon turning around, he saw Shoko and Shoya looking at him, concerned. "I-I'm okay!" he said, signing at the same time (since he began to understand very basic sign language).

Shoya spoke up. "Ren, we're really grateful that you want to help, but…" Shoya rubbed his neck for a second. "Just rest for now, okay? Yuzuru will take care of you, and everyone else will help out." Shoya didn't want to say it, but he was thinking of how Ren seemed to be incredibly fortunate not to have any broken bones from his encounter a few days ago. "He's so frail…" Shoya thought, thinking of how Ren was somehow a little shorter and lighter than Yuzuru. "He could've been killed." Shoya thought, now turning away to hide his regret for not being there to protect the boy he saw as a little brother.

Shoko, noticing Shoya's expression, grabbed his hand tightly. "Donn worry. Weah all 'ere to protegg 'uh. (Don't worry, we're all here to protect you.)" she said to Ren, trying to give him reassurance that everyone was just looking out for him.


Ren sighed, turned back to the door and went inside. He sighed, wishing he could help, but he really was too sore to go back and carry even more things. He sat down, poking at the floor, waiting for the Ishidas and Nishimiyas to get back, when he had an idea.

Yuzuru was the first one back up, since she was carrying the least (other than Ren, who was carrying nothing, of course). When she opened the door, she could not immediately locate Ren, so she just sat the bags down under the Christmas tree. "Ren! We're back!" Yuzuru said. She fiddled with her camera while walking down the hallway, and almost stepped on him, making her jump back from surprise. "What are you doing, dude?" she asked, but it was obvious. He was doing push-ups.

After Ms. Nishimiya came home, and after being scolded by Yuzuru for exercising when he was injured, Ren sat down at the table to eat some dinner with everyone else. "Dang, and I was so close to hitting 15, too…" he thought as absentmindedly said "Itadakimasu! (Thank you for this meal!)" and chowing down. Before he knew it, he was asking for a second helping, something that Yuzuru took notice of.


After dinner, Yuzuru cornered him. "Why were you doing push-ups earlier?" she asked. "You were shaking earlier, and you ate a lot more than usual."

"Oh! I j-just wanted to get a bit stronger so maybe things like this won't happen again…" he said, averting eye contact and pointing to his bruise. "Maybe I could defend myself; and if I can't, maybe I can have the strength to carry things after I lose…"

This was hard to hear for Yuzuru. She sighed and put a hand on Ren's shoulder, trying to get him to look at her. Once she got his attention, she spoke up. "Look, Ren… you'll have me protecting you, okay?" she said with a caring expression. "And Shoya and Shoko, too! So if you're going to get stronger… can it wait until you aren't hurt anymore?" she asked sincerely.

Ren looked nervous. "Y-you really aren't mad at me?" he asked, and Yuzuru responded by shaking her head "No." Ren smiled shyly and nodded. "Th-then I'll wait… I'll take it easy and heal as quick as possible!" he exclaimed.


Everyone sat in the living room, watching a classic American Christmas movie and drinking hot chocolate. Ren looked around the room, seeing everyone bundled up and cozy. He spotted Shoya and Shoko; Shoya had his arm around Shoko and she had her head on his shoulder. Ren looked away, not wanting to invade their privacy. For reasons that he didn't quite understand, Ren was jealous of those two. He knew that he didn't really want to take the place of either one of the two (Ren didn't see Shoya that way, and although he found Shoko beautiful, he didn't feel that way about her), so why be jealous? He thought about it, and he guessed it just felt nice to have somebody so close to you, both physically and emotionally. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He sipped the hot chocolate and brought his legs and blanket in close, so that he'd at least have himself to snuggle with.

After the Ishidas left, Ms. Nishimiya went straight to bed and Shoko went to lay down and read for a while. Ren was still on the sofa, wrapped up in a ton of blankets, without any hot chocolate left. "I didn't realize working out drains you so much…" he thought as he failed time and again to muster the energy to move out of his blanket-shell. Yuzuru was still lazing around, watching TV, fiddling with her camera, and reading comics. Ren's head nodded up and down, as he was trying to fight the urge to keep his eyes shut and just pass out. Yuzuru's voice jolted him awake. "Alright, dude, I'm taking you to the room so you can sleep."


Yuzuru couldn't see it, but a curtain obscured her thoughts, as though they were vision.


Ren, who was delirious, retorted with a, "I'd like to see you try…" and a little bit of maniacal laughter. He was astonished when Yuzuru stood up and tried, and succeeded, picking Ren up and carrying him down the hallway. He blushed and held onto her through the blankets, to support his own weight. "Y-you're s-so strong…" he said in awe as she set him down on the cot. "I want to get strong like you…" Ren slapped his own forehead, realizing that what he said was incredibly embarrassing. "D-do you do push-ups, too?" he asked, trying to save face.

Yuzuru put him down on the cot. "Nah, but I'm always carrying things, and I used to wrestle a lot with Shoko, trying to help her learn how to defend herself." This made Ren tilt his head, as if to beg the question, "Why did Shoko need to defend herself?" As a result, Yuzuru just laughed and waved her hands in front of her. "D-don't worry about it, man! This was a long time ago, I guess I just stayed strong from then!" she said, now being the one who was saving face.

Ren looked at her in awe. "Teach me how to defend myself!" he said with a glint in his eyes.

Yuzuru shook her head. "Didn't I say that you aren't allowed to work out until you're all healed? Besides, it would just be me beating you up until you figured it out, you'd only get more hurt." she said frankly. "I think you're better off just doing the push-ups." somehow she knew that this wasn't going to convince Ren. That would most likely be due to the fact that his expression showed evidence of even more awe than before. "How can I say 'No' to that face…" she thought as Ren was unintentionally giving puppy-dog eyes.


The curtain, which had been so tightly shut that it seemed as though it was chained, slowly began to drift open.


"A-alright, I'll teach you the basics! But I don't know very much, I mostly learned what I know from movies and anime…"

"That's so cool! You're so cool!" Ren said with such innocence, kindness, and genuine excitement that it made Yuzuru's face burn. "Thank you so much Yuzu!" Yuzuru turned off the lights and the two laid down on their respective beddings. "Can we learn tomorrow?" Ren asked, not wanting to go to sleep without confirmation.

Yuzuru snickered. "Only if you're all healed, dude." Seemingly convinced, Ren nodded and rested his eyes. Yuzuru, on the other hand, stared at the ceiling. "Craaap…" she thought as she rested her arm over her eyes. "Why was that so freaking easy for him?..." Yuzuru tried to shake off the embarrassment, but deep down, she knew that she had been chomping at the bit to have some sort of interaction with Ren. In all fairness, Ren was a good friend, and Yuzuru wouldn't mind sharing her knowledge, albeit somewhat limited, with a good friend. However, since Ren risked his life to save something precious to Yuzuru, she began to realize that she was spending time with Ren more than out of common friendliness. She seemed to always feel a strong urge to protect Ren, to be there for him, to take care of him, to lift him up when he's down.

"I bet that's how Shoya felt when Shoko was feeling down…" she contemplated as she looked at the ceiling. "Shoya… Shoko…" Suddenly, a thought popped into her head. Shoko and Shoya were sitting on the sofa, watching Christmas movies, drinking hot cocoa, holding hands, and snuggling. Yuzuru's heart rate and breathing quickened their tempo's, respectively. "Shoya… Shoko…" she thought as her face began to burn. For a second, she imagined it. She and Ren had taken the places of the two lovebirds. She pushed it out of her mind, thinking about the tall, black-haired loner and the short-ish, rosy-haired, mostly-deaf beautician-in-training.


The curtain was yanked violently open, so much so that it seemed it could never be shut again. There, Yuzuru saw it. Sitting on the sofa, watching Christmas movies, drinking hot cocoa, holding hands, snuggling, in place of Shoya and Shoko were…

Yuzuru violently popped the thought bubble, with force to spare. She gasped and covered her mouth shut, hoping not to wake Ren up. Finally, after so long of her feelings being present yet invisible, they could be seen. Yuzuru Nishimiya finally realized that she had a crush on Ren Fujisawa.


Ren, of course, was awakened by Yuzuru, when she slapped her hand over her mouth to cover the gasp. "You okay?" he asked quietly, but Yuzuru pretended to be asleep. Ren looked at her, but it was too dark to tell what exactly had made the noise. He shrugged and turned back around. "Well, if you're asleep, I hope it doesn't wake you, but… I really hope I can spend Christmas with you…" He couldn't see it, but Yuzuru had buried her face into her pillow.


Unlike Yuzuru's curtain, which only seemed to be chained together, Ren's curtain was practically a solid slab of metal, one that he had little chance of seeing through.


The next morning, Ren snuck out extra early, since he had gotten better rest than Yuzuru, and she was sleeping in. He banked on the prospect that Ms. Nishimiya was awake before anyone else, which turned out to be absolutely correct. "Ren, it's early." she said and took a sip of coffee. "You should go back and rest, we won't be opening presents until the Ishidas get here, and you know that Shoya probably won't wake up until noon…"

"U-umm! I actually wanted to do something, as a Christmas present to you, for being so kind and hospitable!" he said quietly, yet excitedly. "I want to make breakfast for you, so that you don't have to worry about it this morning!" Ms. Nishimiya sipped her coffee and smiled. "How thoughtful…" she thought as Ren began to work. On his new cell phone, he had researched how to make simple, tasty breakfasts with the basic ingredients that he was sure the Nishimiyas had. He was also no stranger to a stovetop, as Ms. Ishida had taught the basics.

A few minutes later, he brought a plate over to Ms. Nishimiya, with bacon and eggs on it. "I-I hope you enjoy!" he said with a bow as he went to return to the bedroom.

"Ren, wait." Ms. Nishimiya said. It wasn't loud or stern, but something about the Nishimiyas made Ren feel compelled to listen to them. He turned around and stepped forward. "Just so you know… I happen to know that Yuzuru loves bacon and eggs for breakfast." she said, a little slyly. Ren was slightly confused, but the message went through. He nodded and bowed, immediately getting to work once more.


Chips and rust began to form all over the metallic curtain that shrouded Ren from the truth.


When Ren finished, he dished the bacon and eggs (with cheese, since Ms. Nishimiya informed Ren that Yuzuru enjoyed cheese on her eggs) onto a plate, using a spatula, and placed it on Yuzuru's nightstand. While he didn't want to wake her up, he certainly wanted this to be what she woke up to. He bowed to the sleeping Yuzuru and went back to sleep. It had been far too early for him to be awake, since he was up so late last night, so he had begun to act delirious again. So, he forgot that he hadn't yet brought the spatula back to the kitchen, and he fell back asleep with it in his hands, something that neither he nor Ms. Nishimiya noticed.

Yuzuru soon woke up to the smell of one of her favorite breakfasts. She sat up in her bed and stared at it. "I guess mom just wanted to be extra nice, since it's Christmas and all…" she thought as she began to dig in. She noticed that it didn't taste exactly how her mother usually prepared it, but she ate it and enjoyed it nonetheless. Suddenly, she noticed that Ren had somehow not awoken from the scent of delicious food. She looked over at him, planning to wake him up and inform him that breakfast seemed to be ready, but she stopped. She noticed the spatula in his hands. It all clicked for her, that Ren woke up extra early to make her breakfast. She covered her head in her blankets from embarrassment.


A few hours later, Shoko came in to wake them up. "That's right… days on the weekend pretty much start whenever Shoko wakes up…" Ren thought as he rubbed his eyes. He suddenly felt another pair of eyes. He turned, since Yuzuru's gaze had practically been stabbing him. "Wh-what's wrong, Yuzuru?" he asked. "I see you ate it already! Was it good?"

Yuzuru, who had been blushing, took a second and cooled off. With a yawn, she said. "Yeah... It was delicious..."

The two went to get ready for the Ishidas to show up. While Yuzuru was using the bathroom, Ren went to put the spatula back where it belongs, apologizing to Ms. Nishimiya for misplacing it. When the Ishidas arrived, everyone sat in the living room, chatting, signing, laughing, and enjoying the others' company. Ren was smiling and genuinely enjoying himself when Shoya reached an arm over to him, placing it on his shoulder. Yuzuru looked over and gasped, only adding to Ren's confusion. "...Ren?" Shoya asked slowly. That's when Ren realized that there were tears flowing down from his eyes. Ren didn't feel bad though, and he seemed to show it through continued smiles, jokes, and laughs. Shoya's expression softened when everyone, including Ren, simultaneously realized why he was crying. Ren was spending his first Christmas with his real family- they were tears of joy.


Finally, the presents began to be opened. Everyone seemed surprised when they figured out who each present was addressed to, and the Nishimiyas and Ren were extra surprised when Shoya and his mother pulled out some extra presents, that hadn't been resting under the Christmas tree.

First, everyone opened their presents from the Ishidas. Ms. Nishimiya received the alcohol and gift cards that Ms. Ishida picked out for her. Ren got some cushions for his sore joints and a video console that Shoya no longer used, with the video games alongside it (the latter two was addressed to Yuzuru as well, since they were around the same age and would probably want to play the video games together). While Ren's smile beamed at Yuzuru, since they would get to play the cool, hand-me-down video games together, Yuzuru averted eye contact. Of course, Shoya got Shoko something truly thoughtful; he got her a scrapbook of memories they had made together, with some dating back all the way to elementary school, made from yearbooks. On top of this, of course, a few little things like chocolate and the bow that Ren and Ms. Ishida had picked out for her. After wiping away tears of joy and the two hugging, the present-opening commenced.

Now it was time for the Ishidas and Ren to open what the Nishimiyas got for them. Each present seemed to be collective; as in, they were large presents that the Nishimiyas each picked something to put in, for each person. Maria, Shoya's niece, opened her present first, which was filled with toys for her and gift cards for her parents. Shoya then opened his present. Shoko got him a really beautiful photo of the both of them holding hands, which had been snapped by Yuzuru, scaled up and framed. On top of that, she got him (and herself) coupons for restaurants they liked to visit and the theater they frequented. Yuzuru just got him some more photos, since her main present to him was supplying most of the photos for the scrapbook. Ms. Nishimiya left a note (which Shoya did not read aloud) and some cash in the box. Ms. Ishida, in her box, got some sake (from Ms. Nishimiya) and a lot of neat, little things from the other two.


It was now time for Ren to open his present, and he was delighted to feel that it was heavy- really heavy. Ren opened it and looked inside; Ms. Nishimiya put a lot of school supplies in as well as a bunch of comic books. Shoko left him a bunch of healthy snacks (since she was worried about how small he was). Yuzuru, of course, left the best gift within. "When I saw you doing push-ups last night, I snagged these and put them in before the gift was wrapped." she explained. There were two 5kg dumbbells lying in the box. Pedro, Shoya's brother-in-law, gave a thumbs up, making it obvious where Yuzuru got the dumbbells from. Ren was incredibly happy that he got them, but they somehow didn't seem like the extent of the gifts. Yuzuru snickered confidently. "You've got more! Those were just the opening act, not even the main event!"

Ren looked back into the box, where a small, handheld console was laying there. Ren's mind was blown. "TWO consoles?" he thought as he picked it up. "That's not all, open it up!" Yuzuru said with a smile. As he did, a photograph of a few ragged-looking men, and a small slip of paper fell out from between the two screens. Ren picked the photo up and stared intently. He gasped, and his eyebrows raised; it was a mugshot of the men who mugged him. "They were identified by street cameras! Now look at the paper!" Yuzuru instructed. Ren picked it up and read it over, but, being a young, slightly-uneducated teenager, he couldn't make sense of it. "It's a check, Ren. You've got all your money back!"


Now, finally, Ren's most anticipated moment; Yuzuru would get to open her present. He knew it wasn't a lot, but he had put thought into it, and he really wanted to see how she would react. Unbeknownst to him, she would pretty much be happy with any gift he got her. It was a smash hit; she loved it.

After the presents were opened, everyone helped throw the excess wrapping paper away and move the presents to their respective rooms (except the Ishidas). Yuzuru helped Ren carry his dumbbells- or carry them for him, since she didn't want him to get hurt. Ren admired the neat pile of things that he got that morning, looking it over, excited to try each and every one that he got. "Yuzuru! Wanna play video games?" he asked, eager to try out either the console that Shoya passed to them, or the console that Yuzuru bought him. "All these games look so fun!"

Yuzuru's eyes narrowed and her smile twisted into a sinister one. She glanced at one of the games Shoya gave to them: Super Smash Bros. Melee. "The poor boy won't know what hit him…" The two set up the console, but they weren't able to play yet since they had to wish Maria and her family goodbye. Ren hugged them and saw them off. "I'll see them in a few hours, it'll be fine…" he thought as they left. The kids (and young adults) all gathered to play some card games while Ms. Nishimiya and Ms. Ishida got drunk while chatting. "Hey, Shoya, take them somewhere while the adults are talking, please?" Ms. Ishida asked of her son, since she didn't want to make things uncomfortable for Yuzuru and Ren (the only actual children present).


Shoya shrugged and put on a coat. "Come on, guys. We're going to all go see a movie!" he said while signing to Shoko. Yuzuru looked at Ren, then back at Shoya, who was holding hands with Shoko.

"This will be so awkward…"