You may notice that more KeiiRen prompts are showing up this year -I've decided to try and branch out a little, as it were, since I've mainly wrote KeiiMi by preference when I had to do pairings. Rena's also getting a lot more focus in general.
June 11th, 2022
Rena hummed cheerfully, swinging her school satchel from one hand as she trotted down the sidewalk. She always liked taking the back alleys and twisty, complicated routes to and from school –she found so many more interesting things that way. And she wasn't worried about getting mugged or assaulted or anything like that: Rena, after all, could identify bad intentions with a glance, and she was more than proficient enough at self-defense to thrash all but the most determined of muggers.
And for the determined ones, she had her pepper spray.
In any case, though, going through the small roads and thin alleys on her way back home also allowed Rena to hum and daydream freely, avoiding any stares (or, even worse, snickers) as she floated along in her own happy dreamland.
Her pleated skirt swished as she skipped along, her shoes clicked and clacked busily on the pavement, her bookbag swung at a jaunty angle, and her kerchief bounced on her breast as Rena smiled and hummed, thinking of her day today. Maebara-kun had looked at her.
Maebara-kun was Rena's crush, a periwinkle-eyed boy who always seemed ill at ease in his uniform but never had a problem helping her with math. Rena could spend hours daydreaming about the way he would sit at his window desk, chin in his palm and silhouetted against the bright sky as he looked piercingly off into the distant clouds. Sure, some would call that pose sleepy, but Rena knew better! Maebara-kun was one of the best students in their class, and he knew all the problems backward and forward, as long as they had any interest for him. He was a great student!
So he might be bored, but when he stared out the window like that, he was thinking, and Rena wondered what he could be thinking about, what deep thoughts he was unraveling. She was sure they were deep thoughts. Maebara-kun might not be as intuitive as she was –Rena still had an unbroken streak at "reading" the people who asked for it, after all– but he was definitely smart, so by definition, he had to be thinking deep and profound thoughts. Obviously.
But today, when everyone had been putting on their shoes to leave, Rena had touched his shoulder (her fingers still thrilled at the boldness) and wished him goodbye, and that he'd have a good day, and Maebara-kun had looked at her and smiled, agreeing with her and wishing her the same.
Rena spun on her heel now to think of it, letting out a giddy squeal as she clutched her hands to her chest.
He'd looked at her! He'd smiled at her! He'd noticed her! Maebara-kun had done that!
Today was just simply the best day ever!
Rena was usually lost in her daydreams as she skipped her way through the alleys, but now she was practically floating on her bliss, no thoughts for the path ahead or for the very real dangers of the back streets, just a euphoric haze. How could she not be?! Ah, she could almost hear his voice now…
Rena paused. She blinked.
Actually, she could hear his voice. What was that about? Maebara-kun walked home a different way than she did, and she hadn't gotten so distracted that she had started wandering away from her usual paths. Looking cautiously around, Rena guessed that the sound was coming from a nearby fenced-in area, with some old canvas strung up against the chain-link fence to create a sort-of-solid wall.
Obviously, she walked over. What, was she supposed to just ignore her crush possibly coming to talk with her but getting lost in the complex back alleys Rena used to get home? No way!
Still, the fence posed some difficulties, and Rena rolled her lower lip between her teeth, looking up at it with a frown. The tarp threaded through the edges of the fence prevented her from seeing through it, but there was barbed wire at the very top –probably to intimidate graffiti artists– so it wasn't like she could climb over. Although…
Rena looked down, pushing her foot against one of the corners of the fence. It gave pretty easily, which meant that if she had to push through, she probably could. Still, for now…
"Back!" Maebara-kun called from the other side of the fence, and Rena felt a thrill of concern mixed with excitement shoot through her. He sounded concerned –was he being cornered by thugs? Could she save him? Oh, that would be so romantic!
Without pausing to consider the wisdom of it, Rena dropped her satchel and stuck her foot in one of the gaps of the fence, climbing rapidly and as noiselessly as she could with such a rattling, shaky construction. Maebara-kun seemed busy, still shouting "back!" occasionally, and now that Rena was paying more attention, she could hear a skitter of shoes on concrete and an odd…growling sound?
She didn't intend to climb all the way over the fence, just climb enough so that she could see what was going on, and that was exactly what she got as Rena stuck her head up above the edge of the tarp, leaning back while winding her fingers through the cold, thin wire to make sure she wouldn't get her face caught in the barbed wire.
"Back!" Maebara-kun shouted to a scuttling figure, and Rena blinked as she saw him grip the cross of the silver rosary he always wore, slicing the bottommost point across his palm to create a shallow cut. He swiped a finger through the bleeding wound and thrust it out, drawing shapes in the air. "Back to the pits from whence you came!"
Rena's jaw dropped as she saw the elongated and not-entirely-human figure Maebara-kun was facing off against. It hissed and scraped the ground with its claws as he traced that bloody symbol in the air, bounding across the ground in several quick flashes as Rena's heart lurched up into her throat. Maebara-kun completed the symbol just as the creature pounced for him, clawed arms spread, and it shrieked and came to a halt as it…burst into flame.
Acting on an impulse she did not entirely understand, Rena let go of the chain-link fence and kicked her feet free as she shoved herself backwards, dropping onto the ground with an "oof!" She didn't have time to address her tingling feet, however, instead bending into a kneel, then a crawl, as she pushed her way through the bending corner of the fence.
It was all over, however, by the time Rena came to the other side and stood up, seeing a smoking carcass where there had once been a…thing, and Maebara-kun hanging his rosary back around his neck. Rena's shoes scuffed on the ground as she took a step towards him, and Maebara-kun turned sharply towards her, hand darting to the silver cross around his neck. He looked just as surprised to see her as she was surprised to see him, though, staring at her in blank shock as Rena gaped at him. He was all-too-clearly conscious of the…thing…behind him, thoughts passing rapidly across his widened eyes as Rena stared at him.
"Ryugu-san! Um-" Maebara-kun's gaze darted around for a few seconds before he shoved his hand towards her, palm-out and inadvertently showing the bloody cut he'd made with his cross. "You're dreaming!"
Rena blinked.
She looked behind him, to the gently-smoldering almost-human body.
She looked back at Maebara-kun, who had begun to sweat as he continued to hold his hand out, as if to stop her moving forward.
"D-dreaming!" he repeated, pushing his hand towards her again. "Totally dreaming!"
Rena's gaze flattened.
"I'm not stupid, Maebara-kun." she said, raising an eyebrow and cautiously stepping closer. "What is this?"
"Uh, its nothing! Totally nothing!" the other student fumbled, stepping between her and the almost-certainly-a-corpse. "I mean, i-it's an art project! For my…aunt!"
"You don't have an aunt." Rena replied, folding her arms and giving him an unimpressed look. Maebara-kun sweated harder.
"Its…um…none of your business?" he tried, sounding uncertain rather than brusque, as he clearly intended.
Rena raised both eyebrows, and began to tap her foot.
"L-look, you wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth!"
"Maebara-kun, I just saw you…exorcise, whatever this was." Rena said, unfolding one arm to point at the thing behind him. "Any excuse you give me is just going to be more unbelievable than the truth."
Maebara-kun sagged a little, rubbing the back of his neck with his uninjured hand.
"Yeah, I hear that." he said wearily. He gave her an uncertain look, and Rena flushed a little, glancing away as she curled her arm back towards herself. "So, um, I don't suppose I can convince you to forget this?"
"No way." Rena said. Intentionally forget things about her crush? Who was he kidding? "What are you doing, anyway? Is this…like, an after-school job?"
Maebara-kun gave her a long, measuring glance.
"Its complicated." he said at last, shuffling his feet, playing with the cross that dangled outside his black school uniform with his uninjured hand. "You really shouldn't be involved, Ryugu-san."
"But- I could help!" Rena said, inspiration suddenly striking her. She dared to take a step even closer, making Maebara-kun blink and step back. She gestured with both hands towards the smoldering corpse on the ground. "I know self-defense, I can help you out with this stuff! You've seen how good I am at reading people in class –you could use that!"
A shadow crossed his face.
"This kind of stuff is dangerous, Ryugu-san…" Maebara-kun said uncertainly, and jumped as she seized his bloody hand.
"That doesn't matter! Look, I know first aid, too!" Rena gulped, sticking a finger in the knot of her scarf and pulling it loose, before wrapping it neatly over his palm and firmly tying a new (and cute!) knot right above the cut itself. Her heart trembled in her chest at how close she was to him, how little he was resisting her as she practically held his hand and wrapped her very own kerchief around it. "See? We could be partners!"
Maebara-kun bit his lip. He looked like he wanted to say yes –Rena could only imagine how lonely it must be, since he seemed to be doing this entirely on his own. But then, it was dangerous, so dangerous…then again, as she'd implied, it would be less dangerous with someone to back him up, wouldn't it?
"You won't regret joining up with me." Rena told him, daring to squeeze his hand gently before letting it go. "I'm stronger than I look. I can handle whatever monsters you're dealing with."
"There's still a lot of stuff I need to explain before you really sign up for this." Maebara-kun warned her, and Rena's heart leapt. That wasn't an indirect no. In fact, that was very much like an indirect yes. His eyes met hers fully, all but stopping her heart, and Maebara-san offered her a dazzling smile and reached out his uninjured hand. "But if you really want to help me that much –partners."
"P-partners." Rena breathed as she took his hand, trying very hard not to make the word a squeal. She couldn't believe that this was happening. This was officially the best day ever!
Maebara-kun nodded once, then let go of her hand, and Rena let go as well, trying to nurse the giddy feeling welling up in her heart for as long as she could.
"Well, I guess if we're gonna be working together to keep Okinomiya safe, I can start your training now." Maebara-kun said, puffing out his chest and putting both hands on his hips as he made Rena giggle. He turned towards the blackened remains of the thing that he'd been fighting, waving her with him. "So, Ryugu-san-"
"Wait!"
He paused, and looked at her expectantly.
"If we're going to be partners, I want- I want you to call me Rena-chan." Rena said, the words bursting out of her recklessly. Her face flushed a brilliant red, but she wouldn't falter. "A-and I can call you Keiichi-kun!"
The other student blinked at her, then, to Rena's surprise and exhilaration, he slowly began to flush red, and gave a small nod.
"O-okay." he said. "Rena-chan. Time to learn how to clean up after an exorcism job."
10.08 AM, USA Central Time
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