The weekend away was exactly what Rei had needed, she sprang for two nights at a little hotel that had hot tubs in the room. She'd relaxed for the most part, enjoying being able to sleep in an actual bed. As well as being able to use the hot tub at her leisure and naked if she so pleased. Of course she had texted Kazutora, as she had promised him she would. Sending him pictures of the room, and he surprisingly had been rather relaxed in their text exchanges, which made her feel a lot better about giving him a small amount of access to her again.
Kazutora of course had sent screenshots of their text exchanges to Baji, mostly just to show him that despite not listening to his advice all had turned out well. Baji of course told him he was glad it had worked out, and that hopefully it would continue as such.
Monday morning came far too early and Rei was once again sitting at her desk. Luckily most of her visible bruises were covered by her uniform as they still had only just barely begun to heal and fade. Kazutora of course sat next to her, to her relief he had not reverted back into imposter-Tora as she had begun calling him. He'd texted her a few times during class, which was preferable to the notes but also distracting. 'You look a lot better, guess that vacation really was good for you.' he texted her and she smiled a little bit, glancing over at him only to notice he was watching her. She quickly typed back a message. 'Tora your grades are way too crappy to be texting me in class. You should be focusing.' she fired back, it didn't take too long for her phone to buzz again and she finished the current notes she was taking before checking it. 'Maybe you could tutor me since you're almost top of the class.' He made a good point but she knew if she tutored him there wouldn't be much learning going on. 'you're ridiculous. If you want me to tutor you then you're paying me for it.' she shot back her message going back to taking her notes quickly, having missed some of the information the teacher had given them as she'd been texting. She peeked over at Kazutora and saw him watching her, quickly turning her head back to the front of the class. Her phone buzzed again but this time she ignored it, she didn't want to miss anything else.
Eventually the bell rang for the end of school and she made her way out of her seat. "Hey you never even checked your messages from me." Kazutora said as he came up wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Because I, unlike you, would like to keep my grades up." She sniffed making her way out of the classroom, Kazutora keeping her arm around her shoulders as they walked down the halls. Rei noticed a few odd looks for classmates but ignored them. "Oh don't be like that, my grades are passing at least." He said and she rolled her eyes, so on brand for Kazutora. All he cared about was doing just well enough to pass. "You're ridiculous, you know that right?" Making their way out the doors and moving to her van in order to have their lunch together. She unlocked the back door and stepped into the bed area sitting down, choosing to leave the door open letting the breeze in. Kazutora followed her and plunked the bag he'd been carrying down. Opening it up and pulling out food, instant noodles and a canned coffee for both of them. "You brought me lunch?" She asked curiously as he pulled out a thermos of hot water in order to make both of their cup noodles. "Yeah, I never see you eat lunch so I figured I would bring some for you." He poured the water into her instant noodles and she pressed the top down in order to let them steam adequately. It was really sweet that he'd brought her lunch, he was right she normally didn't bring lunch. Her usual lunch consisted of a cigarette and an energy drink if she could find one. "I appreciate that, thanks Tora." He gave her a thumbs up, as he'd already begun eating his own food. Sitting cross legged with the cup noodles in one hand and chopsticks in the other. Rei grabbed her own food and they ate in relative silence. With her pulling out her phone to scroll a bit as they ate. 'Name your price. I'll gladly pay for it. But you come to my place to do the tutoring.' His text read and she wondered for a moment if he was serious, knowing him probably it was an excuse to have her by more often. "If you really want me to tutor you I'll do it for free, I was just joking about making you pay for it." She said and he looked at her, still mid slurping up another bite of his noodles. 'It's cute when he's like this…' she smiled the slightest bit as he finished his bite and responded. "Seriously just like that? You'll even come to my place?" He asked, not believing it had been that easy to persuade her into coming over. Granted doing more school work while he wasn't in school wasn't his idea of a good time but it gave him an excuse to see her. "Well yeah, I mean I want you to do well in school. Besides we can call it a trade of services, you make me lunch and I'll tutor you." She smiled at him, it gave her a way to pay him back for the kind gesture of feeding her. Besides, it was worth it to know that maybe his grades would go up and he'd actually be able to get a good job somewhere down the line. "So you're coming over tonight?" He asked, sounding hopeful and she nodded. "I mean either way I was gonna come by for a shower at some point or another anyways. So yeah." Taking a bite of her own food, which after skipping breakfast was much needed. The two ate the rest of their lunch in relative silence, eventually exiting her van to finish out the rest of the school day.
The rest of class was blessedly uneventful, though Kazutora did text her in order to try and set their plans up for after school. He had of course tried to convince her to just ride back to his place with him on his motorcycle. Rei denied this, stating that she didn't want to leave her van at school. Though it was more she wanted to have the ability to leave when and if she wanted to without Kazutora having to be her ride. He'd put a few sad face emojis in his text but accepted it.
So now he was leading her up the stairs to the room he rented, the apartment building overall seemed nice. Of course when Kazutora opened his door his apartment was a bit of a mess, mostly laundry that was all over the place, and lots of empty canned coffees laying around. Overall it was pretty simply set up, a bed against one wall with the blankets entirely messed up, a small coffee table just next to the bed, and a TV against the opposite wall. "I'm probably gonna go shower before we do any kinda studying. That work for you?" Rei asked, she'd already brought up everything she would need in order to shower including a towel, and a change of clothes. "Yeah that's fine…I should probably pick up a bit huh?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head, as if he had forgotten from whenever he'd left this morning that his apartment was a bit of a mess. "If you want to, all we really need is the table cleared off. Don't stress about it. Is it cool if I put on my music while I shower?" Rei was used to messy spaces considering her line of employment, she'd learned it didn't really matter how messy it was so long as you had a clear "work area". "Yeah that's fine, but I'll be judging your music tastes. Hope they aren't as crappy as they used to be." He teased and she made her way to the bathroom, carefully avoiding the piles of clothes across the floor as she stepped. "Listen my musical taste has always been awesome. All your taste is just in your mouth Tora." She quipped and before he could respond she closed the bathroom door, moving and starting the shower before turning on her music. She stripped out of her school uniform, folding it nicely and putting it on the edge of the sink next to her towel. She grabbed her soap and stepped into the shower.
The bathroom, unlike the rest of the apartment, was surprisingly clean and she had to wonder if he'd cleaned it knowing she'd be using it. She slowly started cleaning herself off, enjoying the feeling of the hot water on her skin.
I can wait for you at the bottom
I can stay away if you want me to
I can wait for years if I gotta
Heaven knows I ain't getting over you
Kazutora walked around the room trying to pick up at least the empty canned coffees hearing her music slip through the crack in the bathroom door. He had to admit her taste had gotten better, though the lyrics struck him a bit. He shook his head, continuing his attempt to clean. Once the canned coffees had all been thrown into the trash he began working on the laundry issue, picking up the piles around the room, throwing certain ones in the hamper he had stuffed into his closet, others merely got moved next to the closet to be put away later. He heard the shower turn off and the curtain slide open, he was half tempted to peek through the crack in the door but knew she would probably kill him if he did. He was surprised when the door opened to Rei just standing in a towel. Kazutora felt his face warm and turned away so she wouldn't see it. "Can you hand me my clothes? Forgot to bring them in with me." The small bag with her clothes sat on the end of his bed and he grabbed it, handing it to her without looking at her. Which of course Rei noticed with a small smirk. "What embarrassed or something?" She asked and he shook his head vehemently, causing her to laugh. "You're cute, what feeling a little shy? Been awhile since you saw a naked girl?" She asked and he turned to glower at her, trying very diligently to keep his eyes on her face, and not the small crack in the side of her towel, or her boobs which were practically on display as she held the towel firmly in her grasp to keep it wrapped around them. "Shut up and go put some fucking clothes on will you." He snapped and she giggled a bit, moving back into the bathroom before closing the door. Kazutora took notice of a tattoo on her spine, but he couldn't read it without staring at her for far too long. "You know I sell my body for dollars on the hour, you ever wanna see some boobs I can show them to you." Her voice slipped through the door and he could hear the teasing tone to her words. "I can see plenty of boobs if I want to!" Her laughter came through the door, as she pulled on her clothes realizing she had no shirt. "Titties in porn don't count." She commented as she opened the door, he of course turned away, though the sight of her in a black bra and sweatpants wasn't a sight that would soon leave him. "So apparently I forgot a shirt, think I can borrow one?" She asked and he groaned looking at the pile of clothes he had presumed clean next to his closet, moving to grab a black shirt from amongst them and throwing it at her. She quickly slipped it over her head, noting that it smelled like him which caused her heart to squeeze a little bit. "Are you finally decent?" He asked as he turned around and she snickered a bit. "Morally no but I do in fact have clothes on." It was actually really cute to see her wearing his shirt, her hair still wet and messy from the shower.
"So you ready to start your tutoring session?" She inquired as she moved to sit at the edge of his bed, pulling the table a bit closer. Kazutora had no idea how he was supposed to focus on being tutored when she was sitting on his bed, looking the way she did but he nodded and came to sit beside her. "Ready as I'll ever be." He said and she smiled cracking open on of the school books she'd brought with her.
Their tutoring session went well for the most part, the two spending an hour doing their homework together with her helping him through the areas he struggled with. She was unsurprised to find he was a quick learner when he actually applied himself, clearly his poor grades were due more in part to not a lot of effort being given. "I don't know how your grades are so crappy when you're actually pretty smart." She commented, laying back in his bed in order to stretch her back a bit, as it was sore from sitting there for an hour. "Of course I'm smart, I just don't want to show off how smart I am. If I do then people will expect more from me." He grumbled and she gave a little half smile, so very on brand for Kazutora. "Well I can't say you're wrong, but don't do it for them. Do it for you, you'll be able to get into a better college if you actually try and bring your grades up." He rolled his eyes at her words, Kazutora had zero intention of interest in going to college. "No thanks, once we graduate I'm just going to get a job somewhere. I'm not signing myself up for years of school." Rei shrugged a bit, deciding to make an inquiry, she propped herself up on an arm still laying across his bed. "What do you wanna do for work anyways? Like if you had a dream job what would it be?" She'd been curious about it for awhile, she knew when they were kids they all talked about having a pet shop together but Baji had come up with the idea initially. "Dunno, I suppose I'd do just about any work as long as it paid enough. Can't really say I have a dream job." He didn't explain that half the reason he didn't have one was he wasn't thinking that far into the future just yet. Once he killed Mikey then maybe he would put some actual thought into his future profession. Rei pulled out her phone, seeing she had ended up being at Kazutoras place a bit longer than she'd planned. "I should probably get going, I appreciate you letting me use your shower." She said, moving to sit up, he looked a bit disappointed. "You know you could just spend the night here, could order some dinner." He offered, knowing even if she didn't want to spend the night here normally she would accept the proposal of food. "Sorry, I really can't stay. But I'll see you at school tomorrow ok?" He looked like a sad puppy and she couldn't help but to feel a little bit bad. She knew he craved company but if she stayed she wouldn't get any work done tonight. She needed the money, she had to pay her car insurance as well as keep the vehicle gassed up. She moved towards him and pressed a gentle kiss onto his temple, a small smile cracking across her lips. "Have a good night Tora." She said he looked absolutely stunned by her small display of affection but at least the sad look he had been wearing was gone. "Yeah, I'll try." He mumbled and she made her way to the door, slipping on her shoes and exiting the apartment.
Kazutora sat there still absolutely dumbfounded at what had just happened, he couldn't remember the last time someone had shown him that level of affection. He really wished she would have stayed, he also really hoped that maybe the next time she came over she would do that again. It had felt nice, and was completely unexpected. Deciding the night couldn't possibly get any better he put all his books on the table for school the next day, locked his door and climbed into bed, tomorrow couldn't possibly come soon enough.
The next few weeks were comfortable, with Rei visiting Kazutoras apartment in order to tutor him and shower. Occasionally staying for dinner but never spending the night, though he always asked if she would. Almost always the night was ended by her pressing a soft kiss onto either his temple or forehead. Today though he was suspiciously absent from class, when she'd texted him his response had simply been that he had something important he had to do. She didn't question him further than that, though she did wonder what he had to do that was important enough to miss school. Rei made sure her notes were a little more in depth than normal so that she could make a copy for him later.
When the school day finally ended Rei decided that it had been a long time since she'd visited her mother's grave stone. Seeing as Kazutora was busy with whatever mystery business he was on and it was approaching the time of year where she'd passed, Rei decided today was as good a day as any. She felt like she needed to try and start going to visit more often, but it was also difficult for her seeing as the life she lived currently wouldn't be one she could picture her mother being proud of. Starting up the van she slowly made her way there, picking up a few incense as well as some Sakura mochi as it had been her mother's favorite. When she finally arrived at the graveyard she was surprised to see someone else was already there. She felt a bit of apprehension as she approached, to her knowledge no one but her ever came here to visit her mother. Certainly not her father, he'd gotten rid of all trace of her mother the very week she died.
It surprised her even more that she recognized the person who sat at the gravestone, his long hair was a dead giveaway. "Keisuke?" She asked curiously and the man in question jumped out of his skin as he whirled to face her. "Ah, hey…" he seemed awkward, as though he wasn't expecting her to show up. She was feeling just as awkward seeing as she'd expected to be alone for this. "You're visiting my mom?" She asked with a tilt of her head, and he looked like a kid who had been caught doing something they shouldn't have been. "Uh, yeah…my dad's buried here too so when I come visit him I stop by from time to time…pay my respects." It was a level of kindness Rei hadn't seen in a long time, and she certainly hadn't been expecting it from Keisuke of all people considering she had barely spoken a word to him in years. "That's…really nice of you. I'm sure it would make her really happy to know you came to see her." She meant it, her mother had always liked both Keisuke and Kazutora. When her father was away on business she'd often let the two boys come over and spend time at the house. More than once she had patched up injuries from fights the two had gotten into, using it as an opportunity to teach them how to treat themselves if ever she wasn't around. "I guess, I'll see you later Rei." He said trying to excuse himself, with the assumption she would want privacy for her own visit. But Rei stopped him, realizing she really didn't want to be alone. "I mean…if you aren't doing anything you could stay…I mean if you want to you don't have to. But I brought her favorite mochi. I probably can't eat all that I bought by myself." She felt like an idiot and wanted to smack herself, first she saw him when she was in an absolute state and now here she was a blithering mess trying to convince him to stay. Not for the first time Rei wished she could crawl into a hole and hide. "If you want me to stay I will." As always Keisuke was blunt, not beating around the bush at all. Which only made her embarrassment rise, but still she nodded. "Yeah that'd be nice." She managed to eek out, moving to sit down on the stone pavers in front of her mom's grave stone. Keisuke followed suit, sitting just across from her. Rei grabbed the couple of incense she'd bought, lighting them and laying them on either side of the grave stone, as well as a Sakura Mochi.
She then offered the container to Keisuke who took two, immediately biting into one of them. "Thanks." He mumbled as he munched on the food, Rei nodded, taking a bite of her own. The silence between them was heavy, and Rei wondered if perhaps she'd made a mistake asking him to stay. "So how's things been going? It's been…awhile." To say awhile felt like a huge understatement, and to a point she wondered now who had been avoiding who. Considering her flat out ignoring Kazutora when he came back she realized maybe she'd ignored Baji as well and felt a little bad about it. "Yeah, it's been a few years. But I've been alright, for the most part anyways. Still with Toman, my mom's still nagging me about my grades, the usual." She nodded, it was good to know things hadn't really changed much with Keisuke. "Your mom is, to this day, the most dictionary definition of a tiger mom I've ever met." She chuckled a bit, remembering the first time she'd met Ms.Baji she'd chastised Keisuke something fierce for having a girlfriend when his grades were so low. "Yeah you're telling me, try living with her. I swear she can throw a slipper from two rooms away, without looking, and still nail me with it." Keisuke looked aggravated by that fact but it made Rei snort a laugh, covering her mouth slightly to muffle the giggles. "I can't say I'm surprised, I mean look at you. You're probably the only guy I know who can take on a group of dudes and not even break a sweat. Your mom had to be kind of intense to raise a kid like you." It was true, she also really just wanted what was best for him which Rei had noticed even when they were children. Granted she was hands off in a lot of areas, but his grades were not one of them. "She isn't just kind of intense, she is super scary intense. I might be able to fight a group of grown men but she scares me." Rei smiled, it was cute how he was legitimately terrified of his mother and not guys who most of the time genuinely wanted to hurt him. "So how's things been with you? Know you've been hanging out with Kazutora lately, how's that going?" Grabbing another mochi from the tray and popping it into his mouth. Rei debated how to answer his question for a moment. "Eh…life's chaotic to say the least. But things with Kazutora have been…better. He's actually being kinda weird today." Baji seemed to regard her last statement with a level of curiosity but took a moment to respond. "Yeah, he's…got a lot going on." There was a level of knowledge in that statement that made Rei want to know exactly how much Baji knew. "Oh? You make it sound as though you know what's going on, care to share?" He looked at her for a moment, and she could tell he was deciding exactly what to tell her if anything at all. "He's in a new gang now, that's about all I know." Rei nodded, taking in the information with a level of concern, Bajis ' face told her whoever this gang was, they were bad news. "Should I be worried?" Rei asked and his mouth formed a thin line, just by the expression alone she knew what the answer would be. "Yeah…I don't think he'll let it affect you, but I'm worried about him. They're not good people." Rei nodded, feeling the sudden deep need to hear Kazutoras' voice, she wanted to confirm that he was ok. The fact that Baji had voiced a concern for him spoke volumes to her, Baji wasn't usually the type to speak his worries. Just figure them out and power through them by himself. "You're a really good friend, you know that right?" It had never ceased to amaze her exactly how close Keisuke and Kazutora were, thick as thieves she missed the days where it was the three of them. Despite her not associating with the gang life they'd gotten into a bit of chaos together as a group, and also held each other down during hard times. "I appreciate that, but I don't know if I deserve it. I can't help him through what he's going through right now. My hands are pretty effectively tied here." Rei didn't understand exactly what was tying his hands, she couldn't ever picture Baji being helpless in any regard. So it was almost scary to hear him admit it. "You would help him, if you could and even though you can't you want to. I think that's what counts, that's what makes you a good friend. I want to help him too, I just have no idea how, especially if he's hiding things from me." The two sat there for a moment in silence, the only noise the rustling of the trees in the wind. Rei tried to think how she could help either of her friends, Kazutora in general and Baji so he could help her to help Kazutora. "I think the best thing you can do is be there for him….he cares about you. We both do, and to entirely overstep for a minute you should let him help you. You need his help as much as he needs yours, whether you want to admit it or not." The statement almost made her want to cry, she knew he was right. It was funny how despite not talking for so long he still knew her so well. "You know I love ya right Kei? Never change ok?" She said with a small smile, he reached out and patted the top of her head awkwardly.
The rest of their time was spent in the graveyard talking about days long since passed, Rei brainstorming the whole time how she could potentially help Kazutora. It was rather cathartic to be able to hold a conversation with Keisuke, like no time had passed between them at all. Eventually the two parted ways and the first thing Rei did was text Kazutora. 'Hey, I just wanted to check on you. Since I haven't heard from you most of the day. Hope everything's ok...I'm kinda worried about you.' she made sure her ringer was up and began to drive, no real destination in mind.
She was half tempted to go by his place and see if he was there. But she resisted the temptation for now, instead choosing to stop by a WcDonald's and grabbing some food. She took her time ordering, just anxiously waiting to see if he would answer her. Rei made the choice to order two meals, figuring she could just stop by his place with an offering of food. Making her way back out to her van she began her drive to his apartment.