Tuesday, 10/11

Following the narrowing line of classmates to the door, Ren found a familiar face at his side. "Want to hang out?" Ann asked.

Interesting. Ann doesn't seem like the type to invite me to something without good reason… Ryuji fucked up, didn't he?

Unfortunately for Ann's devious motive, Ren had plans important enough that missing them would cause a great rift through Honshu. "Can't. I promised Yusuke I'd be his plus-one for an art gallery, meaning that I'm too high class for a peon like you."

"Wow, you learned a new word, huh?" Ann went along with Ren's joke but rolled her eyes. "Can you spare a few minutes at least?"

"The gallery started ten minutes ago and Kawakami wouldn't budge on fake-expelling me, so the answer is no."

I feel like I'm running late more than ever these days. I barely make it to class before the bell. Maybe this is what happiness is?

"Please?" Ann grabbed Ren by his sleeve, as if keeping him longer would mean that he was already late enough to not care. "It's about the newspaper club."

Ah, how tempting the sweet taste of vengeance is… but it is not for me.

"Sorry, still can't do it." Ren had to admit that Ann was dedicated to her goal, whatever her reasons were. They must have been valid if she continued to pester Ren after multiple rejections. "What if I come with you to the gallery? Yusuke won't mind, I'm sure."

"I'm a plus-one, not a plus-two."

"Don't flatter yourself," Ann joked. "I have a trick for getting into these kinds of things."

"You go to galleries a lot?"

"No, but I've always wanted to try to go to one."

"I can't believe that worked." Ren and Ann walked through a brightly lit entrance hall. They managed to get into the gallery, though with separate strategies. Ren showed the security guard at the door a code that Yusuke sent him, whereas Ann had her own methods.

"Believe it."

Ren glanced at a passing crowd. Led by a tour guide, they stopped at a recognizably famous painting. Ren assumed most galleries would keep famous works towards the front to attract more visitors. "If you can make a kissy face at a guy, and get him to do whatever you want… that's an easy life." They made it to the other side of the crowd and continued weaving through thin smatterings of average art-enjoyers.

"Just because you're jealous-"

"I'm not jealous."

"You're totally jealous." Ann laughed at her insistence on the fact. Perhaps Ren was jealous, but that was entirely separate from the point. Even Ann could admit that being able to get away with stuff because of being attractive was lame, right? "And just because I did it doesn't mean that you can't do it."

"It doesn't work like that."

"You don't know until you try, Ren."

"Are you proposing that I flirt with security guards?"

"Maybe show some skin. You'll get more favors."

Has that ever worked for a guy? I'm not rejecting the idea, only doubting its viability. Besides, I don't think I have the confidence to pull it off. Ann knows that she's attractive to the average person, whereas I'm a little above average while achieving an unfathomable rate of sarcastic comments per conversation. It's my only redeeming quality, really.

Ren sighed. "Agree to disagree. Instead of arguing, why don't we find Yusuke?" he said as if that wasn't already what they were doing. They made it through the entrance hall to the gallery floor. What had been a narrow hall dense with visitors opened into a massive room, a glass ceiling letting the afternoon light peer in.

Ren looked up in amazement to realize that the gallery even had a second floor. Instead of it being a whole floor, it only existed on the exterior of the room, being more of a walkway on all sides to fill up some extra space. Clear glass railings kept visitors from plunging to a very colorful and well-decorated injury.

"Are we really gonna find him in this?" Ann asked, taking a second to enjoy the spectacle. It was far more excessive than the gallery that Madarame hosted back in the spring, a great surprise to both of them considering Madarame's ego.

"It's Yusuke. Just listen for the singing, or the birdcalls, or anything that stands out and we'll find him."

"Good point."

Ren and Ann walked across the gallery floor. In the center of the room, there were additional walls to divide the room in half while displaying more art. Each painting had at least a few people gathered to gaze, but Ren and Ann never joined them. Both of them kept their heads up and their eyes scanning for the blue head of their friend.

"You think he's on the second floor?"

"Nah, Yusuke's afraid of heights."

Yusuke's the type to be afraid of heights. Not for any sensible reason, just because why not. However, he's practically a ninja, so I'm sure he scales skyscrapers to get a good reference photo to paint. Maybe he's afraid of heights, maybe he's not.

"He is?" Ren could tell that Ann didn't believe him. "He's never told me that…"

"Yeah, I made it up."

"Wha- why?!"

I'm surprised she cares this much.

"Because I don't like climbing stairs."

"Ren…" Ann sighed as she pushed Ren's shoulder forward. He harnessed the momentum to walk ahead of his friend, making her catch up just to tell him off. "Screw you."

"You're the one who wanted to come with, now help me find the man who's seeming more and more like a myth."

"But what if he's on the second floor?"

"Then…" Simultaneously, Ren's brain ran out of joke-excuses to give Ann as his focus on the conversation dwindled. In a distant corner of the room, one that once hid behind one of the center walls, a blue head popped from a crowd of black-haired visitors. "Found him."

Without confirmation, Ann followed Ren and his word. He led her over to the corner of the room. Next to a painting that almost glowed red, a group of three stood with their hands scratching their stuck-up chins. One even had glasses to top off his pretentiousness.

I'm wearing glasses too, but I have to admit that it gives off that impression.

"Ah, Ren," Yusuke said as he approached with arms outstretched. Ren thought he was going for a hug until he clapped his hands together. "You made it, and with a guest. And you might be…?" he said, turning to Ann with a hand outstretched.

Ann slapped his hand away. "Haha, Yusuke. Really funny."

"I'm glad you caught my jest. Perhaps you will do well on your midterms."

Damn… that's brutal.

"What's that supposed to-"

"Here, please gaze upon my magnum opus. I poured my soul into this painting, among a few other things." Yusuke guided Ren and Ann around the side of the already-viewing three so they got a better look. Up close, Ren noticed the true intricacy of Yusuke's work.

He's not lying about it being his opus. The Mona Lisa recreation was cool, but this… it's on another level.

Yusuke's creation centered around an orange-golden swirl that brimmed with energetic chaos. Black strokes curled around the violent shade of gold, reminding Ren of the abysses he'd seen in his hallucinations. Around the edges of the painting were atmospheric splatters of red. Whether it was blood or some form of hope in the blackness of the painting, Ren had no clue.

Yusuke stepped in between Ann and Ren, wrapping his arms around both of them to pull them close. "Fun fact: the red splatters are my own sanguine fluid," he whispered into both their ears.

The fuck is that?

Yusuke read Ren's mind. "In more understandable terms, it's my blood."

Ren and Ann's reaction matched one another. They pushed away from Yusuke, Ann retracting to the wall in disgust while Ren nearly fell into another gallery-goer. "Sorry, sorry," Ren profusely apologized with calming hands raised. The gallery-goer stuck his nose in the air, huffed, puffed, then walked away from Yusuke's painting.

"Yusuke! That's disgusting!" Ann said.

Yusuke laughed, then cut himself off to shake his head at Ann. "If you believe that I would taint my art in such a way, perhaps your midterms are in jeopardy."

It is really, really funny that Yusuke got us both good. It's a great joke, honestly. I just wish I didn't believe him. If there's one person who would put their own blood on a painting, it's Yusuke.

Ann tossed her hands in the air, more offended than she should have been. "Alright, fine. I get it." Without a second thought, she turned away from Yusuke's display and walked away. Neither Ren nor Yusuke pursued.

I'm surprised she's so touchy about her midterms. Doesn't she usually not care about them?

"Were the midterm comments really necessary?" Ren asked Yusuke. He resumed standing next to the artist, conversing while they both looked at the painting.

"Of course. Where else would she get the motivation, if not from the deliberate insults of Yusuke Kitagawa?"

Ren saw an obvious answer. "Herself?"

Side to side Yusuke's head went, weighing the possibility compared to his own suggestion. "I doubt it."

"Try having some faith in her. If she commits to it, I'm sure she'll do well."

"But-"

"Just don't bring it up again, okay?"

"I'll oblige you because you are here as my moral support."

"I am? I thought you wanted to show me your painting."

"No. Your untrained opinion of my art matters very little-"

"Gee, thanks."

"-compared to the boon that your companionship provides."

Aw, that's so sweet of you, Yusuke.

"And why is my moral support so important?"

"Because my future is lurking in this gallery, Ren." Upon seeing the puzzled look on Ren's face, Yusuke turned around. He crossed his arms, looking around the gallery instead of at his own painting. Ren tried to follow his friend's gaze but saw nothing of note, outside of the crowds continuing to meander around the room. "A famous critic, one that holds the cards for my future, is here. I am quite nervous about impressing him."

"You can't worry about that. Critics don't know shit, especially compared to the artists themselves. You're proud of…" Ren's assurance slowly stopped as he tried to recall the name of the painting.

"'Desire'."

"Right. If you're proud of 'Desire', why should some old dude have an opinion more valuable than yours?"

"Because a glowing review from a man like him goes a long way. My career yearns for it."

There's no convincing him, is there? In a way, he is right. A critic's opinion is a bad thing to worry about, but when there's money involved, it's a fair way to think. Maybe I'm the one who's wrong because I don't have to worry about my future as much as Yusuke does. He has nothing but art; no family or inheritance to fall back on. If his art career doesn't take off, what the hell is he gonna do with his life?

"Alright. No more questions, I have your back."

"Thank you, Ren."

"Now, tell me more about the painting. It's called 'Desire', but I don't really see it."

"What do you see?"

"I dunno. It's hard for me to describe because I'm not an art-guy, but the darkness is apparent. It's oppressive. It's blunt and in-your-face." Ren turned his head to his friend. "What inspired it?"

Yusuke stood still, doing his own viewing-pose. He held his head high with his hand on his chin, thumb rubbing it gently, while his hips cocked in a way that only Yusuke could pull off. "A recurring dream," he said with no inflection.

Interesting.

Ann wandered from painting to painting, slipping through groups of gallery-goers. Her out-of-placeness was plain to see, from still being in her school uniform to her being the youngest person in sight. Ann's only hope to escape eyes was to do what Ren could not: climb a very brief set of stairs.

At first sight, the second floor improved Ann's environment by a large margin. Fewer people— Because stairs are difficult for some people, apparently, Ann thought—and more paintings. The improved ratio meant that Ann could find a painting to stand in front of, nobody else even close to her.

She quickly found one that she liked. It was a messy painting, but its mess came with a purpose. Her first impression was if someone ran their hand across a still-drying copy of 'The Starry Night'. Details became clearer and clearer as Ann gazed for longer.

Ann first saw a boat out at sea, realizing with more inspection that it was a beached rowboat with the coastline behind it. At the side of the rowboat was a person. He, or she, laid in the sand with their limbs going in every direction. Whether they were dead or admiring the chaotic explosions of stars overhead was left to Ann's interpretation.

The stars are the best part, Ann thought to herself. As the stars' elevation increased, so did their messiness and size. Near the top of the painting were the largest stars; curling masses of yellow with multiple protruding limbs.

"Takamaki-san?" A girl's voice cut right through Ann's immersion. The violent stargazing depicted in the painting was abandoned, replaced by the sight of a short girl with a Shujin uniform.

"Uh…" Ann was not happy to find someone who knew her, especially when she did not know them. "Do I know you?"

"Kimi Kawano? From the newspap-"

Ann didn't even need to think about it. This bitch is the one throwing dirt in Haru's direction, and she's approaching me? It's ridiculous, she thought.

"Oh, jeez… do you have to do this? You want a quote about-"

"No, no. Not writing anything down right now, I swear." Kimi reached into one of her uniform's pockets to procure a slim notepad. Upon waiving it in Ann's face to prove herself, Kimi put the notepad back in its place. "I was just enjoying the gallery—because I'm such an art junkie—and I saw you. I figured, 'Takamaki-san's known for being so nice, so I should say hi.' You're gonna be nice, right?"

"It sounds like you want more than just, 'Hi.'"

"Now that we're past greeting each other… maybe."

"I'm not giving you anything to write down no matter who it's about."

"You really think that I need an actual quote? I could make up an entire interview with you, publish it, and it would be taken seriously."

I believe it. The influence she has over people at school is scary, and the fact that she doesn't realize the consequences of what she writes is even scarier. Poor Haru, Ann thought. She had yet to bring up Haru, but she had a good idea of how it would go. Kimi would consider the newspaper club's articles on Haru necessary because she was a hot topic at Shujin and the club was only catering to what people wanted to read.

Kimi was nothing more than a lack of morals, almost irredeemable in Ann's eyes. In fact, there was only one way for Ann's opinion of Kimi to improve and it didn't involve randomly saying hello in an art gallery.

"You'd lie about anything if it made a good story, wouldn't you?"

"It depends."

"Certainly not on how it affects the people you write about."

"I can't say-"

"Why can't you guys just leave Haru alone? You think she likes having a father like that?"

"I'm not the one in-"

"The newspaper club has single-handedly turned the whole school against her. She's nice to everyone and this is what she gets—opinion articles on how spoiled she is? Are you kidding me?!"

"Takamaki-san, you need to realize that I have no qualms with Okumura. I just want to keep the newspaper club running. She's what people want to read about."

"And you have to ruin her image for that? Why can't you write something positive?" Ann's hands went in the air, indicating an invisible headline that the world could know. "'Haru Okumura likes gardening more than her father's politics.' What's wrong with that?"

"I…" Kimi sighed her frustration away. Her head fell, bringing her eyes along with it. Ann looked down on the short girl to enjoy what she hoped would be victory and some justice for Haru. "What if I interviewed her and wrote a positive article for her?"

Wow, she can be compassionate? I'm surprised, Ann thought. Her ego inflated at how good she had been at persuading people that day. She convinced Ren to bring her to the gallery, got past a security guard without a guest pass, and convinced a soulless journalist to try doing something nice.

"Would it get people to leave her alone?"

"If I write it a certain way… yeah."

"Great. Do that." Ann, no matter if Kimi agreed to help, still detested the journalist for creating the situation in the first place. She doubted it would change the journalist's behavior in the future, too, but she would have to wait and see. Until then, Ann would do her utmost best to avoid Kimi Kawano. "I'm gonna let you think about that article. Enjoy the gallery."

She left Kimi standing in front of the messy painting that she once admired so much, only to have its beauty tainted by a sour encounter. Whatever Ann had thought of the painting was erased by Kimi's presence. A fond memory became one of bitter success as Ann walked down the stairs to the first floor.

Her anger left her reeling, almost dizzy with remembering where she was. Following Ren to the gallery felt like a distant memory, like a forgotten context to what just took place. She'd been so caught in protesting Kimi's way of life that Yusuke's painting, and his remarks about her midterms, were almost forgotten.

Almost.

Ann would think about Yusuke's shit-talking the next time she sat down to study. It would keep her in place for hours, hopefully, and result in her doing well. Then she could rub her score in Yusuke's face.

Until then, she would have to descend the stairs and face the music of more midterm jokes, or whatever Yusuke considered them. At the bottom of the stairs were people intent on going up; Ann narrowly squeezed in between them and the railing as she hopped off the last step. Turning one last corner, she entered the gallery's main floor.

Ann looked to her right. The crowd looked thinner. Gaps in between people grew and the number of people at each painting was cut in half. It's been that long already? Ann questioned, turning her head the other way to check the left side of the room, finding that the same was true. The only difference between the two sides was that the left one held some people she knew.

Yusuke and Ren, standing with a man whose fading black hair made his importance obvious, gathered around the painting. To Ann's eye, the two she knew hadn't moved since she left them.

It's a good painting, but I don't really get it. It's meaningless swirls of dark colors. I'm glad Yusuke has something he's passionate about that he spends time on, I just don't understand this painting, Ann thought, trying to find some reason to excuse her lack of emotion towards Yusuke's work. It feels like an empty piece of art.

Compared to the one on the second floor, which Ann woefully regretted not getting the name of, Yusuke's painting conveyed nothing. She didn't even need the title of the other painting to feel the loneliness, the abandonment of hope that the person laying in the sand felt until they looked up at the vast heaven of explosions above them. It conveyed something basic and complex, allowing Ann to take whatever meaning she wanted from it.

Yusuke's swirls of dark colors were just that: swirls.

As she got closer, her opinion was validated aloud. "I see none of your 'Desire' in this painting. The technique is marvelous, truly, but I fail to grasp the piece of your soul that should be captured. This piece is lacking," the older man said to Yusuke.

Ann stopped a few steps away. She looked the man over to gauge what he was doing, yet his outfit revealed nothing. Only his posture, a stiff spine and his hands together behind his back, gave Ann an idea of the man's purpose.

Yusuke stepped between the man and the painting "How dare you! This is… this is art !" he said, swinging an arm that would have taken the man's head off if Yusuke stepped closer.

The critic didn't flinch. "Desire is so out of fashion, don't you agree? Why don't you leave behind the fresh-faced art-school student ambitions that your technical skill has clearly outgrown? Any competent student on a scholarship with enough angst to their name could do this."

Ann cringed at the end of every sentence that the critic unleashed. She may not have liked the painting, but- Oh screw it. The painting is good, I'm just feeling petty over midterms. I like the one upstairs more, but this definitely has good qualities, she thought.

"Your painting may mean something to you because of how much time you gave it. Take a step back to consider how the naked eye will interpret it. What does it reveal about the human experience?" The critic stepped beside Yusuke. A hand rested on Yusuke's shoulder, lightly guiding him to turn his bowed head towards his failed masterpiece. "Simply painting what you think of desire isn't enough. Think of how you can elevate that concept into something unique, something that we can learn from. Until then, your painting is empty."

I'm surprised. I thought critics only existed to make judgments of other people's work, not offer them advice, Ann thought. She watched as Yusuke's eyes opened to look at his painting honestly for the first time. Eyes darted left, then right, then up and down with no end in sight. Ann watched Yusuke's passion for the piece come crumbling down as he came to the same conclusion as the critic.

"My work is… empty?"

Three pats on his shoulder were the only compensation he got from the critic. "I hope to see you at one of these galleries again. You have the skill, you need only to obtain the eye." The critic took his leave without acknowledging Ann, or even Ren, who stood behind Yusuke the whole time. Per usual, Ren's hands were held hostage by his pockets. He always looked so uncomfortable doing that.

"How can my work be hollow if I've suffered—if I've seen how much we can suffer?" Yusuke's faithless words quickly caught the attention of Ann and Ren. They met him on either side. Ren didn't acknowledge Ann's return, instead focusing on the struggling artist.

"Hey, it's his opinion, but he offered you advice. You can't wallow and let it go to waste," Ren said.

Ann contributed her own wisdom. "Yeah. You're only sixteen, you're supposed to deal with hardship. How else would you learn?"

Yusuke's head rose with no contentment to be found. "I wish I saw it that way." He spun around without giving either of his friends the privilege of eye contact. "Come. I must leave."

"But-"

"I must strike while the anvil is hot and plan my next work." Yusuke started walking, forcing Ann and Ren to do the same to keep up. "And you need to study for midterms, my friend."

"I can't believe you." Ann's pettiness kept her from keeping pace with Yusuke. She lagged behind him as the three walked through the gallery. The main hall soon shrank into the entrance hall, with people leading and following Ann out of the gallery. It seemed that almost everyone had their fair share of art—and its insufferable curators—for the day.

Ren fell behind Yusuke to walk next to Ann. "While you were off exploring, I remembered that you tagged along to talk about the newspaper club. Sorry for forgetting."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I figured it out on my own."

Wednesday, 10/12

"Before Ann comes out here for you twos' little rendezvous, I'd like to take the time to apologize," Ren said. He leaned to the side of the abandoned desk's chair, extending his legs out from under the desk. Across from him sat Ryuji, giving his lunch the same amount of attention he gave Ren. "I'm sorry about Sunday. I was a controlling asshole, and that's why everything went wrong."

Ren had been considering his apology in the days following the dinner. He took the extra time because of how surreal the experience had been. The more and more that reality sank in, Ren recognized his faults from that day. It was his over-extending commands that set Kaoru off, his short temper that caused all the problems.

Even on a personal level, he stopped himself from having a good time when the dinner was going well.

"What? Man, you don't have to apologize. I'm sorry for forcing my way in," Ryuji responded. He seemed not to care too much, instead picking apart his lunch with more care than his answer. "And Kaoru's such a little effer that things were always bound to go wrong. It's not your fault."

"Yeah, a lot of it is my fault. I would've done things differently if I could go back."

"No point worrying about it. Live in the moment, ya know?" Ryuji tossed back the last bite of his sandwich and finally gave Ren his full attention. "What'd Makoto have to say? Did she put you up to apologizing to me?"

"No, I'm actually doing an apology tour for the involved parties." Ren paused his explanation to correct himself. "Except Iwai. And Makoto was about the same as you, not blaming me too much because her sister isn't too upset."

"That's all that matters—Makoto being happy at the end of the day?"

"In this scenario, yeah. I fucked up her dinner."

"Nah, you can't think of it that way." Ryuji sat forward like a businessman ready to finalize a deal. "A wise man once told me that you can't focus entirely on your girlfriend. You've gotta leave some time for yourself."

"Which wise man was this?"

Ryuji's finger shot forward and pressed itself to Ren's lips. "Shh, don't speak."

This is definitely one of the things to happen to me at Shujin Academy.

"Just consider the fact that it's not a relationship between two people if one of them is devoting all of themself to the other. That's a simple truth."

I really wish he could tell me this without his dry-ass finger on my lips.

Ren didn't want to open his mouth to speak out of fear of the unthinkable happening. Thankfully, Ryuji's short sermon on relationships concluded and his finger retracted. "Thank you for listening."

"Thank you for nearly sticking a finger in my mouth."

"No problem, I can do it anytime."

Thursday, 10/13

Haru's fingers dove into the dry soil. Each finger writhed in the dirt, loosening the bits of dirt around her hand until she found what she was looking for. Her hand closed around the roots of the weed. One yank later and she had a handful of dirt and Bermuda grass.

Her clean hand came to her brow to wipe the sweat away. October was considerably cooler than the months preceding it, but that didn't lower the challenge of gardening. Crouching over the bed and pulling the weekly weeds was tough.

However, Haru loved it. Pulling weeds was the best way for her to make tangible progress in her life. She could step out into the cloudy noon air, identify everything imperfect about her garden bed, and fix it by the time her lunch period ended.

Only occasionally did the routine break. Ren and Ryuji often wandered to Shujin's peak for lunch. As much as Haru did enjoy their company, she preferred her gardening to be her alone time. Ryuji got the message somewhere along the way and texted Haru in advance of his trips to the roof to see if she was up there.

As Haru's hand dug for the roots of another weed, her peace ended with an abrupt slam of the door. She glanced towards the door expecting her friends but saw a student she failed to recognize.

"Hey, Okumura-san!" The girl, noticeably short, walked with quite a bounce in her step as she approached Haru. Haru stood up from her gardening crouch and dusted her hands off over the garden bed.

"Can I help you?"

"You can help me help you," the girl replied. From her uniform pocket came a notepad and that tipped Haru off.

A member of the newspaper club, she thought, nearly sighing at the exhaustiveness of the thought. Being rude and walking away would be a worse headline than whatever quote I give her, I suppose.

The short girl procured a pen from her uniform's other pocket. "I'm Kimi Kawano, a lead reporter for Shujin Academy's newspaper club, and I want to do an interview with you."

"I really don't want the attention, Kawa-chan."

"This is the good kind of attention!" Kimi quickly said. "I want to show the school how great you are."

"Wouldn't it have been easier not to convince them that I'm terrible in the first place?"

"If you wanna get technical, sure, but we don't really think about that at our club meetings. We just think about what's next and what's new!"

"I'd rather be old news."

"That's fine, that's fine." Haru watched as Kimi's eyes quickly scanned the rooftop. They went over Haru's outfit, her school bag resting atop one of the abandoned desks, the water can, and the garden bed; something made her eyes light up. "What about your garden? Nobody talks about that!"

"That's because gardening is boring." And that was exactly how Haru wanted it to be. Her eyes abandoned the sight of a desperate reporter for her plants. The kale leaves needed to be harvested sooner rather than later.

"Not if I'm the one writing the article." Kimi stepped up to the garden alongside Haru. Next to Haru, she leaned into the taller girl, nudging her as if it would encourage her cooperation. "Just an interview. You just have to answer honestly, I work my magic and boom! The rumors about you stop, people are a lot nicer to you, and you get some praise for all your hard work."

"Well…" Kimi Kawano was dangerous. As much as she tried to come across as friendly and supportive, all of it felt like veiled threats. Based on what Haru spent her month doing so far, Kimi didn't care about Haru. If her sudden kindness was anything to go off of, she still didn't care about Haru. Accepting or declining the interview didn't matter because Kimi would get her story no matter what. The least Haru could do was influence the outcome of the article. "Okay. I'll do the interview."

"Great, great." Kimi flipped open to a page of her notepad and started writing without Haru even saying anything. "How often are you gardening?"

"Two to four times a week. More than that is too much for the plants."

Just like that, Kimi and Haru were off to the races, one trying to pry the other open while the other tried to get it over with as soon as possible.

Saturday, 10/15

"Dante this, Virgil that. When are we gettin' to Satan?" Ryuji's finger let the remaining pages of 'The Inferno' flick past. The book closed on its own as Ryuji tossed it over his shoulder. It hit Ann's kitchen wall with a smack and fell to the hardwood floor with a similar sound.

"We don't need to study those cantos, only the first ten. Relax, Ryuji," Ann said. She sat across from Ryuji at the round kitchen table. In between them, at the side of the table, Haru did her own studying. Her books weren't relevant to the second-years, but she did occasionally chime in when they were lost. "Focus up. Midterms are next week."

Said midterms demanded more studying than usual from Ryuji. Ann's newfound interest in academia brought him along on her journey to obtain a good midterm score. While he never complained, he never felt the same motivation that she did.

At least he had GRAVY Saturday to look forward to after studying. For the first time, the entire club would be spending the night at Ann's, mostly because Ren's poor apartment looked worse for wear after the past month. Ann volunteered her own home, much to Ryuji's excitement; he'd never been until studying called him there.

"I can't effin' focus," Ryuji said as he cocked his head. His hand rubbed the right side of his face, curving around his jaw as pain flared through his gums. "My jaw…" He pushed into the corner of his bone and immediately winced. "It's killing me."

Ann frowned. She set down her copy of 'The Inferno' face-down on the table, its open pages bending under its own weight. Her hand reached across the table to cover Ryuji's own. "Is it a cold sore, or-"

"Nah, definitely not. Been getting worse and worse all week…" Ryuji flexed his jaw, moving it side-to-side, then up and down. The horizontal movement hurt the most, by far. "I even started flossing and that hasn't helped one bit."

"Ryuji-kun," Haru said as she set down her pen atop a half-written page of notes. "Perhaps you should visit a dentist."

"That's a lotta money that I don't wanna spend," Ryuji replied, thinking of his mother. She would pay for any dental treatment in a heartbeat—that's why Ryuji kept his pain secret from her.

"What about Ren's doctor?" Ryuji and Haru turned to Ann, both confused enough by the seemingly wrong suggestion to prompt an explanation. "Sure, not a dentist, but I'm sure she could at least tell what's wrong with you. If it's a basic toothache, no harm done. If it needs an actual dentist, that's good to know, right?"

Ryuji paused to answer. He liked Tae for the fact that she didn't charge him for his mononucleosis diagnosis, but visiting sounded like a pain in the ass. She teased way too much.

In Ryuji's silence, Ann's phone rang with a unique sound. "Ooh, one sec." Ann picked her phone up and held it in front of her face just as quickly.

A facetime, huh? Weird. Must be the first facetime in the history of GRAVY, Ryuji thought. We never do that.

"Hi, I'm wondering if I should bring anything tonight," Makoto said from the other side of the phone. Ryuji couldn't see, but he was sure that Makoto was with Ren. The facetime must've been some kind of joke on his part. "I'm at the store right now, so-"

"Hey, Ann!" another recognizable voice said from the other end of the facetime.

That's not Ren… Truth dawned on Ryuji as soon as the horror washed over his face.

"Oh… Yuriko, right?"

"That's me! I'm helping Makoto shop for groceries. You guys need anything for tonight?"

Ann started to answer. "We should be-"

"What about some over-the-counter medicine for Ryuji's jaw pain?" Haru interrupted in the most polite way possible.

"We can get some Advil, sure," Makoto replied. As easily as that, Ryuji's problem would be solved and he could enjoy his pain-free evening.

Yuriko's enthusiastic interest burst through the phone's speakers. "Woah, hold on. Ryuji's got jaw pain?"

"Yeah, but-"

"My dad's a dentist. Pass the phone to him," Yuriko said. Ann raised an eyebrow, curiously looking down at her phone screen. One shrug later, she handed the phone to Ryuji across the table.

Finally able to see the callers, Ryuji fully remembered Yuriko's face. It had been months since he last saw her for detention. Makoto and Yuriko walked through the interior of some supermarket, their heads bobbing in and out of the frame as they moved. Yuriko took the phone and it more steadily centered on her face than before, though Makoto's hair flicked along the side of the screen as she walked.

Yuriko's devilish grin opened with a command. "Open wide."

Ryuji looked at Ann, then at Haru. Neither seemed confident in the idea, both of them hesitantly looking at Ryuji. Haru even shook her head, but Ryuji already looked down at the phone again. "Ahhh." His lips stretched as he opened as wide as possible while holding the phone above his head for the best possible angle.

Yuriko's head got closer to the phone, her eyes squinting so she could look closely. "Hm… yep. I see the problem."

Promptly, Ryuji closed his mouth and lowered the phone to a normal height. He sat forward in his chair as the eagerness to solve his jaw problem set in. "What? What is it?" he asked with extra energy in his voice.

"Looks like you've been trying to suck your own dick a little too much lately."

"Wha- hey! I have not!" Ryuji refused to look up from the phone, mainly so he didn't have to see Ann and Haru's reaction. Thankfully, he heard no laughing from them. If Makoto thought it funny, he couldn't tell through facetime. The only person to enjoy the joke was Yuriko herself, laughing her ass off without a care for what Ryuji thought.

"Very funny, Yuriko," Ann said with sarcasm. "I think we're gonna hang up now."

As Ryuji handed the phone back to Ann, Makoto took it back from Yuriko, though not quick enough to avoid one last jab at Ryuji. "Good idea. I don't want Ryuji's spine getting hung up from bending over so much."

Barely, something slipped through the cracks of Ann's poker face. "Don't laugh," Ryuji said. "It's not that funny."

"I'm not laughing." The smile only got bigger.

"It was a bad joke."

Ann nodded, but the smile grew to an undeniable width. "It was."

In between the two, Haru uncomfortably looked at either of them as the tension built. She said nothing. Ryuji and Ann stared each other down. His lack of humor about the joke seemed to make Ann enjoy it more and her smile only served to spite him. He gave up by slapping a hand on the wooden table.

"Fine, you win! It was a good joke, dammit!"

"Glad you can admit that, Ryuji," Ann said as she set the phone down on the table. "Ready to get back to Dante's trek through hell?"

Ryuji sighed. "Of course I am."

A/N: College is a lot of work, turns out. I've been too busy to think about writing, or even editing this chapter. Only one scene was written in the past two weeks, so I definitely couldn't do regular updates for this unless I really devoted myself. I ended up letting this chapter sit around gathering dust for way too long.

Originally, I wanted a lot more for this chapter. A scene with Akechi and Ryuji's trip to Tae's were going to be included but will be saved for another chapter because of timing. If I ever rewrite past chapters, this one will be among the first. Until then, it's pretty much just Chapter 53 all over again.

Chapter 75 will be more eventful than this one. To give you guys an idea of what's coming, here's the title: Ryuji's Psychedelic Breakfast.

Thanks for waiting so long. I'm going on break for a few months. Hopefully, I'll be finishing up the remaining chapters of my other fic and keeping up with school. I might try to do a quick chapter of this following Thanksgiving or in mid-December. We'll see. Thank you guys for reading, and I hope you have a good Fall.