Hey there… me again? This is my 2nd try at writing a HOTD fanfiction.
If you wanna know the story behind this you can always stay, if not you can skip directly to read the story no prob.
Still here? Thank you then, appreciate it. So long-story short, this "fanfic" has been on my mind for around the past 10 years… yes, that long! The very 1st version of this fanfic saw the light 5 years ago in 2017 and it was called "Blood Lust", this one is pretty much the same story but with some slight better improvements and depth here and there (I hope); I don't really know how much I have grown as a writer overall compared to the me from 5 years ago, but am more mature now and feel that I can write something better. Still, I'm just an amateur that likes coming up with stories/fanfics for fun, I'm nowhere near a pro nor I don't think I'm that great of a writer, the one thing I can tell is that I'll try my best to make a story that is entertaining.
So, why a HOTD fanfic? Well, first of all HOTD is one of the very 1st anime I ever experienced, so it will always have a good ol'nice place in my heart. In-short, really young teenage me thought it would be cool if another badass male character was around (in me I felt and even now I still feel it was missing just another one) so yeah, that's pretty much the main reason. I mainly write this fanfic just for fun and because it's something that has been around my head for the past decade, so I want to finally bring it to life, although another reason is to give the story and the characters we all know and love a nice conclusion, since as we know, the rest of the story will never see the light sadly. I'll personally try my best to give the story a good enough continuation and ending overall. To be honest and fair, while I am planning some divergence from the canon, right now I'm not planning to change that much stuff with the main appeal of the story being that is with my character as the main protagonist.
And yeah, as y'll already could tell, I am planning to pair my OC with Saeko, why? Why not? Saeko is my fav character in the story and she's awesome… Yeah, that's why.
Anyway hope you guys like this quick introduction.
TBH this chapter will be more of a Prologue, telling about how Rentaro's daily life was, before the end began. Main purpose is to give my character some background and stuff, so y'll can get to know him and his relationships and how his life was before the whole shitfest started, so yeah.
QUICK NOTE: This chapter doesn't really affect how the story will develop and it's just an extra.
Hope you enjoy and I assure that the next chapter is when everything begins.
As y'll know words with "quotation marks" will be for dialogues and italics for thoughts
.
Prologue:
A Normal Week...
Before Everything Went To Hell
.
Sakata Rentaro slowly opened his eyes; his alarm was going off.
With a small groan he stopped the alarm from ringing anymore with his hand since it was at arm's reach and slowly started making his way out of the bed.
It was 6:00 A.M
Monday.
He made his way to the bathroom, specifically to the sink, to splash his face with some water. After doing it, he took a small look at himself in the mirror like he pretty much always did every time, everyday.
Rentaro was a young man, of 18 years, with slightly scruffy black hair with long bangs, burgundy eyes and pale skin with well-defined features. He was quite tall compared to the average teenagers of his age, standing at 5'9 feet tall; he had an ottermode body type, closing to athletic. Right now he was wearing just a plain white tank top and some black shorts.
"Yep, that's me alright".
After taking a quick glance to himself, he decided to brush his teeth, roll his shoulders, crack his fingers and finally his neck. Feeling that he was fully woken up now, he exited his personal room and went to the kitchen.
He lived in quite a big and luxurious house; what were they called? A maisonette? Anyway, it was a big residence. Not that he had paid for it of-course. He had been living there for the past 3 and a half years alongside his cousin and person that was basically his legal guardian, ever since his mother died.
While on his way to the kitchen he noticed the quite large dog that was approaching him while wagging its tail. It was a Japanese mastiff, a Tosa Inu. He smiled right after noticing the dog and quickly knelt down to pet the dog. It was his dog, Guts.
"Hey there buddy" he whispered to the dog and after petting him for a good minute, in which the dog the dog responded by licking his hands and face, he finally stood up again and headed once again to the kitchen; not before going to where he kept the dog's food to fill Gut's bowl.
"Sit" he told the dog who did just as he said and sat a couple of feet away from him.
Rentaro opened 2 cans of dog food and poured the content in Gut's bowl, after that he also filled another bowl with fresh water. After being done, he glanced back at Guts who was still sitting at the exact same spot while looking at him, although he could see the expectancy in the dog's features.
Rentaro clicked his tongue twice to which Guts responded with a bark, before rapidly walking to the bowl to start eating. Rentaro with a smile on his face glanced one final time at the dog before heading back to the kitchen.
He made breakfast and after finishing it, he left it wrapped with plastic on top of the plates, on the kitchen island. He then went back to his room and got himself dressed up in a black set of athletic training clothes. He ate a protein bar before leaving the house with just a bottle of water in hand for his usual morning jog.
He was already home by 7:00. He arrived to see that the breakfast he had left on the island was now gone and instead, he saw a note with a 'Thank You' written and with a little heart drawn right next to the words. He chuckled a bit after seeing the note and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.
After he was done, he made some breakfast, although this time for himself. After finishing, he washed the dishes and got himself dressed up in the Fujimi High-School male uniform which consisted of a black blazer with black pants. Although he was the type to leave his blazer unbuttoned which revealed the white t-shirt he had underneath.
After grabbing his briefcase and now fully ready, he left the house and headed to school.
"It would be really cool if I could take the motorcycle".
But he couldn't; his school would never allow it, and if they ever found out about him driving one with the school uniform he was getting into trouble. His school, and overall Japanese schools could be really strict with those stuff; he also wasn't allowed to have a job, no matter how small it could be. Bummer.
While sighing, he continued his way, with the same thought that had been in his mind for the last year:
Life was good… but life was also boring. It was missing something.
XXXXX
Tuesday.
"Bored," Rentaro thought. Right now he was on the school rooftop, with his back resting against the railing at the edge while he was looking at the sky. "If I could sell my boredom I would be filthy rich".
Classes were over and now found himself hanging on the rooftop alongside two other guys. A blonde guy with a mohawk named Morita from 2nd Year and Imamura from 3rd Year, who had shoulder length dark brown hair.
He had met Morita thanks to a close-friend of his, on the other hand, he already knew Imamura since they were in the same class, both of them being from 3-A. Even though, he didn't know hanging was the right choice of words, since Morita right now was playing some random song with a guitar he pulled out of somewhere, somehow, some feet away from him. Meanwhile, Imamura was smoking a cigarette near the school observatory.
They were good friends of Rentaro, not extremely close or anything like that, but he had been hanging around with them a lot for the past couple of months and they could be pretty fun.
"Just like poison eel!" shouted Morita. Those were the lyrics from the song, apparently, an original song written by Morita himself, worth mentioning. He then proceeded to shout the word 'Manda!' like a dozen times. That actually caught Rentaro's attention who now found himself staring at Morita with a deadpan face.
Morita apparently finished the song and sat still, in silence for a couple of seconds before lifting his gaze to look at Rentaro while having a... proud? expression on his face.
"Is he proud of himself? After that?"
…
"No way."
Well good for him he guessed.
"So?" Morita asked.
"So what?" Ren answered while walking towards him.
"How did you like it?" Morita asked once again.
"That's the thing, I didn't like it" Ren answered without hesitating.
"What are you talking about?! This is number one hit material!" he told him before starting to play the guitar randomly again.
"Oh that was a hit alright, a hit to the art of music itself, right in the balls" Ren clapped-back while sitting close to Morita, joining him on the floor.
"Heh, you're just jealous of my immense talent" Morita answered back once again while continuing to play the guitar… or more like assaulting the poor thing.
"You aren't even playing anything coherently" Ren said before snatching the guitar away from Morita, to which he found no protest or resistance. He then played each string individually. "It's not even tuned correctly" he commented to his blonde friend before starting to mess with the tuning pegs, aiming to tune the guitar strings correctly. After a couple of minutes, he was done, and played each string individually once again and this time, he was satisfied with what he just heard.
"I didn't know you could play guitar" Morita said with actual surprise on his face and voice after he had been looking at him quietly since he took the guitar.
"A bit" Rentaro responded. Perhaps a bit of an understatement, he was pretty adept with the guitar, very good even. He had picked it up a couple of years ago as a hobby for fun, used to practice a lot in the past and learned a good amount of songs he liked, although it wasn't a hobby very present with him lately.
He then played some basic chords, to further test how good the guitar was sounding, and it was pretty good. But then, he felt the gaze of Morita on him. The guy was staring at him with wide eyes and his mouth open.
"What?" Ren asked, a bit dumbfounded by Morita's expression.
"A-"
He was trying to say something.
"Ama-"
Almost there.
"Amazing!"
There we go.
…
Wait what?
"Never would have thought you were that good!" Morita shouted at him with an excited expression. "You're great Sakata!".
"Those were just some basic chords though" Ren thought to himself while eyeing Morita. He then quickly handed the guitar back to him, to hopefully make his sudden excitement about his guitar 'skills' go away. He didn't want to him to request a song or something like that.
"You should join my band!" Morita proposed with excitement as he grabbed the guitar.
"No thanks, am not that good and am not interested" Ren responded immediately.
"Oh c'mon! We're gonna get all the chicks in the school if we form a band!" Morita suggested once again. "Me on vocals, you on guitar… and Imamura on the drums!"
Ren snorted a bit at Morita's sudden delusions and snorted once again, even chuckled a little bit once he heard Imamura instant 'No!' from the distance. Morita on the other hand ignored both of his and Imamura's reactions.
"Man, now that you fixed my guitar I feel like my song's quality will get an upgrade" Morita said, getting ready to start playing his original song once again. Rentaro almost felt like covering his ears.
And thus, he began actually playing the song once again while Rentaro silently looked at him with a mix of annoyance and amusement. A short moment passed before actually getting caught by surprise by the appearance of his close friend, Komuro Takashi, who had just reached the rooftop and now making his way towards them.
Him and Takashi had a long story. They basically had grown together for most of their life as the best of friends, and they still were. Both of their moms used to be friends and they grew up in the same neighborhood, their houses right next to each other actually. Despite him being one year older than Takashi, and they never being in the same class, that didn't stop them from being pretty much inseparable for over the past 10 years. More than a friend, at this point Takashi was like a brother to him.
"Morita, what the hell kind of song is that?" Takashi said while chuckling and taking a seat next to them.
"Yo' Takashi" Ren said while raising his hand, greeting his old friend.
"Hey Ren" Takashi greeted back.
Ren is what his closest friends called him.
"Weird seeing you up here lately" he followed.
"Yeah, something wrong Komuro?" Morita joined in. "Did Miyamoto hurt your feelings again?" he said in a friendly mocking tone, which quickly earned him a smack at the back of the head "Ow! What? What was that for Sakata?!"
Rentaro then pointed at Takashi who was looking completely dejected, Morita quickly instantly realized.
"Whoa! Oh shi- she really did?! Sorry!" Morita quickly apologized while putting his hand on Takashi's shoulder, looking as nervous as ever.
It was pretty well known among this group of friends that as tempting as it could be... they shall not mention Miyamoto Rei in front of Takashi, not even as a joke, because it could quickly ruin Takashi's mood.
"D-Don't get down about it!" Morita continued while still looking nervous. "There's plenty of other fish in the sea!"
Rentaro actually face-palmed this time. Yeah Morita wasn't that good with words.
"Oh yeah, I've got something that might interest you!" Morita continued while reaching into his back pocket and after a couple of seconds he pulled a black notebook. "It's a secret but I can show you two!" he then lifted the notebook so both Rentaro and Takashi could see. "Master Morita's Top Secret List of Fujimi Academy's Triple-A Grade Hot Girls!".
Both Rentaro and Takashi looked at each other before staring at Morita with their eyebrows raised. What was he on about this time?
"Top Secret…?" Takashi repeated
"Triple-A Grade Hot Girls…?" Rentaro joined in.
"Of course!" Morita responded. "Once my band gets its big break, our groupies will be the girls on this list!"
Rentaro and Takashi looked at each other once again before looking back at Morita, not believing what had just come out of his mouth. He really was something else.
"In other words! This is a list of the Academy's top available girls!" Morita continued while opening the notebook while Rentaro and Takashi eyed and listened to him silently. "First, we have…"
Rentaro exhaled through his nose and was ready to put his hands behind his head and lay down while ignoring anything that came out of Morita's mouth… at least he intended to do that, but-
"Captain of the Kendo Team, Busujima Saeko!" Morita announced.
Rentaro could feel his eyes twitch a bit at the mention of her; he also tried to ignore the fact that his heart jumped a bit.
"Goddammit Morita".
Morita then proceeded to describe what made her the number one best available girl in school, something about her having a dazzling combination of severity and kind-heartedness while also having a dominating older sister-type feel to her.
He tried to ignore Morita's words and his own reaction but not like he could kid himself. Busujima Saeko was the girl he had been interested in for the past couple of years, hell, even longer than that. He has been interested in her for far too long. Their relationship was a bit weird, if they could even call the thing going between them as a relationship. They had been in the same class for the past 3 years, although he had already met her back when they were in middle-school. Despite this, he didn't think they could be called friends even, acquaintances at best, or just classmates.
Being attracted to someone was… weird. As much as you wanted to talk or grow closer to that person, you just couldn't bring yourself to it, at least in his case. It was weird, especially since it was his first time feeling like this towards someone else. Of-course that he had felt attracted to other girls before, he was a healthy teenager, but with her it was different. He was pretty sure than more than just a mere attraction, he knew he had a huge crush on her at this point; and even though he was not bad at socializing, starting and holding conversations, he would say that he was very good at that even, it just had been the same with her for the past 3 years. An average greeting was the standard between them and a normal short conversation about weather or an assignment was the best he could manage.
"It's what all guys dream of!" Morita added.
"Oh! I've seen her, she definitely has something to her!" Takashi joined in, now seemingly completely into the conversation.
"I know right?!" Morita continued. "She's too good to be from earth!"
While he knew she was quite popular among male students, having his best friend and his other buddy thirsting over her in front of him was pretty awkward.
"What I really want is… to see her in nothing but an apron!" Morita shouted.
Yeah, good luck in trying to get that image out of his head for the rest of the day.
Goddammit Morita!
"Like she'd ever wear that" Ren added with a mocking tone.
"He's right you know" Takashi followed. "Maybe try aiming for something more credible?"
"You're right…" Morita agreed with a dejected tone, but then he leaned forward while looking at the two of them. "But what about her polar opposite?"
"What?" Ren was confused by his sudden change of mood.
"Why are you whispering now?" Takashi asked.
"I dunno" Morita responded before lifting his fist in the air. "But am talking about Yuuki Miku, Fujimi's Academy Sexiest!"
Rentaro actually groaned once he heard her name. Yeah he knew her, and he didn't like her to be honest, at all. Yuuki Miku from 2nd Year and part of the academy's Track team. Few weeks ago she had been hitting on him non-stop and he had been turning her down politely. Not like he was the ultimate prize or something, but he was pretty damn sure the rumors about her were true - about her being quite promiscuous - and he was totally not going to get into something with her… plus, he genuinely didn't like her and he was not going to 'accept' someone he didn't like.
It also didn't help that once she got fed-up about him turning her down - which was still kind of her own fault - she shouted at him in the middle of the school hallway and made a whole scene, in which he did his best at handling it, by walking away and ignoring her. There was some talk about it the following days but it all died down after some time.
He didn't hate her, but if she went and never appeared once again in front of him he wouldn't mind.
"She's nothing like a high-school student, which is what makes her so hot!" Morita added. "There's a lot of weird talk going on about her but that just makes her sexier!"
"Really?" Rentaro chipped in with a sarcastic tone.
"I can't see her being a good choice in a serious relationship" Takashi added.
"Wouldn't it be great to be a prisoner of her will?!" Morita added.
"More like a prisoner to some weird disease once she gets her hands on you" Rentaro muttered before sticking to his former plan of putting his hand behind his back and resting his back on the floor.
Takashi chuckled a bit at Rentaro's comment while Morita ignored it and went on to name the rest of the girls from his list. Rentaro was overhearing the conversation between Morita and Takashi just for a bit, quietly and without any input. Although moments later, the mention of another familiar name caught his attention once again.
"The Top of the Second Years, Takagi Saya!" Morita announced. "She's not that popular cuz she can be kind of a bitch though… but that's what makes her so hot! She's the perfect Queen for the Masochists!"
Rentaro actually found himself chuckling a bit at Morita's commentary. Morita then continued with his speech, something about Saya having bikini model tits... then he revealed that he had actually asked her out thrice but got turned down all three times, which shocked Takashi and had Rentaro desperately trying to hold back his laughter.
"Now that I think about it, Morita doesn't know that Takashi and I are Saya's childhood friends right?" Rentaro thought and judging by Morita's saddening experience when it came to her, they should probably keep the secret.
"Morita, Komuro, Sakata!"
All 3 turned their heads to notice Imamura, now approaching them with a cigar still in his mouth.
"Oh Imamura" Morita said.
"Go finish your cigar somewhere else" Rentaro added.
"I overheard you guys and I must say that y'all a bunch of pussies!" Imamura said while pointing his finger at them.
"Fuck off" Rentaro responded. "I barely even talked though?"
"You were hearing us?" Takashi added.
"Who needs kids?" Imamura started. "Older women are where it's at!"
"Older women?" Takashi asked.
"How old exactly?" Rentaro added.
"Like the nurse, Marikawa Shizuka!" Imamura responded.
There goes another name Rentaro was familiar with.
"She's got a bombshell body and a great smile!" Imamura said. "I'd let her examine me all day!"
"She's nice" Takashi added.
"I agree, those boobs of hers are killers" Morita chipped in.
Ah yes, the popular school nurse… whom he knew on a very personal level. She was the best-friend of the person that took care of him, and pretty much, like a big sister to him.
He also then realized that he was actually in some way related to most of the girls that were being mentioned. Weird. Well as a male teenager he also understood where they were coming from. All of the girls mentioned were ridiculously good-looking after all.
"But there's also the Ping-Pong club adviser Hayashi Kyoko!" Imamura continued. "Her body's totally filled out! She's thirty years old, unmarried and gives off this aura like she's unsatisfied with her life!" he then pointed his thumb at his own chest. "And I'm the only one who can satisfy her!"
"I'm pretty sure there's something going on between her and the P.E teacher though"
While Imamura kept going off, in the meanwhile Ren had sat-up once again and was trying hard to not burst out laughing while listening to Imamura's comments. Meanwhile Morita and Takashi were looking at him dumbfounded, both thinking the same.
"He's into milfs!"
"Oh yeah, there's also that mom that lives next door to me!"
"Th-The mom next door? Really?" Takashi questioned.
"I wanna fuck her so bad!"
With that last comment, Rentaro finally couldn't hold it back and started laughing out loud and was soon joined in by both Takashi and Morita, who also realized the pure comedy of the situation.
While Imamura kept going off about his liking for mature women, the rest just kept laughing for the next couple of minutes. After they all were done they bid each other farewell and all headed to their homes.
"Life is good".
"My friends are great".
"But there's just something missing…"
Excitement.
Something exciting.
XXXXX
Wednesday.
Rentaro was leaning against an opened window from one of the school hallways.
He was currently looking at some random classroom, probably first years he guessed, that were currently in P.E class and were doing some laps around the field, jogging. He just stared at them silently, with his head resting on his hand, nothing particular in his mind… although a bit bored, you know, same as always.
"Maybe I'll go check the kendo team's practice?" he suggests to himself.
"Look Hisashi, Ren got his eyes all glued on the freshman girls" he heard a female voice say behind him.
Ren fully turned around with his back now resting against the edge, to face the couple that stood just a couple of feet away from him.
Miyamoto Rei herself and Igou Hisashi
Ah yes, the same Miyamoto that shouldn't be mentioned in front of Takashi if you don't wanna ruin his mood.
Much like with Takashi, he also had a long story with Rei and in a very similar way. Grew in the same neighborhood, houses not far away from each other, though unlike Takashi, they both were in the same Class, at least most of the time, for over 10 years. She was one of his best friends without a doubt, kind of happens when you know someone since you were in kindergarten.
The guy beside her, Hisashi, although despite not knowing him as long as Takashi or Rei, was still a very close friend of his. He had known him since middle-school; met him through Takashi since they both were in the same class back in the day - still are - and became good friends since then.
And yeah, these two were all lovey-dovey… which is kind of the reason why Takashi feels so down lately.
Takashi and Rei were literally head over heels for each other since kindergarten, they made that pretty obvious, even made a pinky promise about them marrying in the future - how cute - despite all of that both never really became a thing. It was weird, he knew. A mix between not wanting to ruin their friendship and being afraid of what could happen if they took that step maybe, he guessed.
Rei was the more willing to take that step between the two, but Takashi's reluctance eventually made her give up about it… the last nail on the coffin was the fact that Rei got held back a year - which was still also weird for him since she was a great student - and she was feeling extremely down about it; and that's where Takashi steps-in… or more like, where he didn't.
And as much as Rentaro himself wanted to do something to cheer Rei up as a friend, she needed more than just a friend, and he was very aware that as close as him and Rei were, he just wasn't 'that guy'.
The one who did, went and became that guy was Hisashi, who all 3 of them had known since middle-school. Since Rei got held back a year, she actually ended up in the same class as Takashi and Hisashi, and the latter was the one who went and actually cheered her up. Long-story short, after that, feelings blossomed, the two started dating and Takashi got all bummed out about it.
In some weird way, he got caught up in all of that and it made him grow apart from Hisashi and Rei a bit; he was like a third wheel... or a fourth technically. Since Takashi was and is in full depression mode all the time ever since, he had to stick together with him more now than ever. Also not like he was against Rei and Hisashi's relationship, she seemed to genuinely like him and Ren knew Hisashi liked Rei from way back since middle-school, plus, he was just a great dude; Rentaro was pretty sure he would never hurt Rei and would take good care of her.
"Don't you have enough with the girls from your class?" Rei continued with a mocking grin and tone as she approached him, she then started poking him in the chest playfully with her finger.
Why was she talking like he was some womanizer? Anyway.
"Yo' Hisashi" he greeted in a cheerful manner as he turned to look at his friend.
"Hey Ren, how's it going?" the gray-haired teenager greeted back.
"Don't ignore me!" Rei said, annoyed, while poking at his chest harder.
Ren looked down a bit since Rei, while being of average height, still barely reached his chin.
"Need anything Rei?" he asked nonchalantly, ignoring her previous comments.
"I was just checking on you" she responded while taking a step back, although she still had a mischievous smirk on. "You looked a bit lonely there, staring at the freshman girls while on P.E so intently. Just making sure my old friend isn't turning into closet creep".
Ren just kept looking at her, his face not changing a bit. He knew Rei could be quite the tease and he knew how to deal with it; he had known her since they were kids after all. He then mockingly brought his hand to his chest and took a small bow.
"Well my dear childhood friend that's so very nice of you" he said in a mocking grateful tone. "But I'm doing just fine as you can see".
"There's another guy you should be checking on; he's doing much worse than me".
Not that he would ever actually said that.
"You know me, just being a good friend, that's all" she replied while imitating him.
A mischievous grin then also appeared on Ren's features
"Sure thing Antenna-girl" he said in a mocking manner.
Rei's expression quickly changed from smug to annoyed.
"What was that-!"
It was a nickname he had given her since they were kids, since Rei had 2 very notorious strands of hair on top of her head that looked very much like antennas. He kept calling her that since they were kids, since it never failed to make her go ballistic, like right now, because it seemed like she was about to jump on him.
Ren saw Rei's intentions quickly and placed a hand on her forehead, stopping her from committing any attack on him. Hisashi, now chuckling, simply walked behind her.
"It's ok Rei" he said while gently pulling her away from him by the shoulders to which she showed no resistance, although she kept giving Rentaro a nasty glare.
"How do you put up with this fire-cracker again?" he asked while pointing at Rei with his thumb as he looked at Hisashi.
"Shut up, Ren" she chipped-in. "You're just jealous you still can't find a girlfriend".
"Ouch".
Hisashi just chuckled at their exchange before staring at Rei. "Well, I say it's all part of her charm".
The comment actually stopped Rei nasty glare since she proceeded to now look at Hisashi with starry-eyes.
"Hisashi…"
Now they were looking at each other like they were the most precious thing in the world.
Rentaro swore he could see rainbows and sparkles around them all of a sudden.
"Ugh".
"Get a room" he said, interrupting them, which managed to win-back Rei's nasty glare towards him.
"Humph! Let's go, Hisashi!" she said before grabbing Hisashi's hand and pretty much dragging the guy out of there.
"Have fun you two!" Ren said while waving them goodbye, with a mocking tone off-course.
"Shush!" that was Rei.
Hisashi simply just turned his head around while waving him goodbye back.
Ren at the end couldn't help it and chuckled a bit while cracking a smile.
"At least they seem to be doing just fine".
They definitely did. Rei didn't seem affected by losing a year anymore and Hisashi was smiling now more than ever; having a girlfriend was doing wonders for him.
Sadly, it was the completely opposite for Takashi
He then stared at the ceiling for a bit.
"A girlfriend huh?"
Once again, he couldn't stop his mind from having the image of a purple-haired girl flash through.
Man he was a lost case.
XXXXX
Thursday.
Rentaro looked at the vending machine in front of him.
"Orange juice should be fine for him".
After pressing the bottoms, he got both a can of orange juice and a can of coffee from the machine. With both cans in hand, he walked towards a bench nearby where a chubby teenager was sitting.
"Hirano" he said before pressing the can against the boy's cheek.
He reacted by jumping back a bit before laughing nervously, but before he took the can, it seemed like he realized something shocking out of nowhere. The boy quickly stood up and reached for his back pocket then pulled out a wallet.
"Oh stop it" Ren said. "We've been through this".
"B-But-".
"Just take it, Hirano".
Although at first reluctant, the boy finally put his wallet away and reached to take the juice that Rentaro was offering him.
"Y-You sure? It doesn't bother me to give you the juice money back. It's only fair I-"
"Oh c'mon, you don't have to. I just feel like buying a friend some juice. Think of it as a gift" he responded to which the boy began smiling a little after a few seconds. "C'mon, you know you're my boy" he finished before giving him a playful slap on the back.
With apparently a bit too much force since the boy stumbled forward a bit.
"Whoops, sorry".
The boy chuckled nervously.
"It's ok" the boy said in a low, shy voice. "Thanks Rentaro-senpai".
"We have also been through this, you can call me Ren" he said before taking a seat on the bench. "My friends call me Ren".
The boy looked at him for a few seconds. "T-Thanks Ren".
"There you go" he said with a smile as he watched the boy take a seat beside him on the bench.
The short chubby teenager with him was Hirano Kohta, a boy he had met some weeks ago. He was very shy and meek, but also nice and fun to hang out with. He had met him right around this vending machine although in entirely different circumstances. He was getting picked on by some idiots; after witnessing it, he made sure to shoo them off, they then talked for a bit and Rentaro actually enjoyed his company. Since then, he has been hanging around with him whenever he could while making sure nobody messed with him ever again.
"So anyway, you were telling me some more about your training right?"
This was the subject that always got Hirano going and got him to talk the most, non-stop even. Guns and the training he went through while in the U.S with them… real guns. Yes, had apparently been through some military training with actual guns, supervised by a Delta Force captain. Pretty crazy if you asked him, but also pretty cool.
Rentaro liked seeing Hirano let go and talk all he wanted, especially because he was usually so shy. Plus, it was also really interesting, the way Hirano talked about the training and the guns in such detail. He was learning some cool stuff to be honest and it was very well welcomed since in the future, Ren was going to work with guns most-likely.
"B-Before that" Hira said, in his usual meek manner.
Rentaro just raised an eyebrow. Kind weird to see Hirano refuse to immediately start talking about guns.
"I… I-"
"Go ahead man"
"I heard you… you fought with Tsunoda".
Oh. That.
"Ah, that punk?" he replied casually. "No, I didn't fight him".
Hirano appeared confused for a bit, certainly something that he was pretty sure the whole school was talking about and had witnessed couldn't be fake right?
"It was no fight, I kicked his ass" Rentaro said with a smug grin.
"O-Oh…" Hirano actually looked conflicted about it, between happy and troubled. He opened his mouth to say something but Rentaro cut him off.
"It wasn't because of you or something, don't worry about it. He was just being an asshole in general and he pissed me off".
Hirano's face visibly relaxed after his statement.
It was true, but not entirely true.
Certainly, Hirano was one of the reasons behind him finally 'exploding' against Tsunoda.
But there were many more reasons.
In short, Tsunoda, a 2nd Year, member of the Academy's track team, and an asshole, the school's biggest asshole. Just some punk that liked picking on the smaller ones, bullying his classmates and being just an overall piece of trash. Ren absolutely despised the guy; he was actually convinced that Tsunoda just wasn't some bully that needed to learn a lesson, he was actually a trash person, rotten to the core. There were dozens of rumors about his wrong-doings, it was actually a miracle that he hadn't been kicked out of school yet, especially since he clearly didn't take classes seriously at all, only thing he seemed to put some effort team being his role as the track team's member.
Hirano was, you could say, one of Tsunoda's favorites to pick on. Rentaro made sure to put an end to it and shooed him off, add to that, that he and Rentaro had history since way back; with him trying to intimidate Rentaro and failing miserably, Rentaro standing up to him for being an insufferable asshole, y'know, those stuff. Ren was also pretty sure he fought with some of Tsunoda's 'bully-buddies' before too, not that long ago, which got him suspended for a couple of days in the end, but was absolutely worth it. Yeah he remembered that; two of Tsunoda's buddies were trying to flirt with a certain pink-haired friend of Rentaro, she ended up being a little bit too harsh with her words while rejecting them, which pissed them off. Rentaro was watching from not so far away and as soon as he saw that one of them put his hands on the pink-haired, by grabbing her wrist, he was on them like a madman. One thing he really couldn't handle or deal with at all is others putting their hands on his friends. That fight didn't escalate that much since Takashi and Hisashi were thankfully around and held him back plus helped at shooing the assholes off, although before that he did manage to make a good enough number on them. With Tsunoda, it was a miracle it didn't escalate to a physical fight till yesterday, but it finally did and he had to admit, it was something he was craving for.
And boy, oh boy, did he enjoy that.
It was during recess; he was just minding his own business when he encountered Tsunoda in the hallways; to top that off he was hanging out with Yuuki Miku and some other girls, who were all in the track team together and also some kind of dumbass clique or something, who cared.
Tsunoda thought it was a good idea to approach him and confront him about that time he was an asshole to Miku… really? Him playing a white knight? That's comedy. Man was trying to act all cool since there were girls now watching him, and he was probably trying to get in their panties or something, Rentaro figured, although he probably had been in Miku's anyways. Not to mention he was never an asshole to Miku - he wanted to - but he just rejected and kept rejecting her as politely as he could, since she was hitting on him and kept doing it non-stop despite him making it pretty clear he didn't want anything to do with her. Tsunoda probably didn't know that part of the story. Rentaro stood his ground and Tsunoda quickly lost his cool, because at the end of the day he was just some brute idiot that wasn't good with words; so he ended up swinging first, failing miserably at that and earning himself a nice bleeding nose and a busted lip.
Serves him right.
Miku's face going from smug to pure horror and shock after he knocked Tsunoda on his ass was also pure bliss. Thankfully, but also unfortunately in a way - because he would have loved to keep hitting him - a professor quickly arrived at the scene and stopped it.
"Aren't you worried about getting suspended?" Hirano asked; good question.
"No, not really" he responded, feeling pretty sure about it. "The professor that arrived witnessed the whole thing from afar, so he saw Tsunoda swinging first. Means that no matter how bad his face looks right now, Tsunoda was the instigator and I only defended myself".
Not to mention, professors knew exactly who Tsunoda was. Ren on the other hand, while he mostly tried not to, had been in some fights here and there, both inside and outside school through his teenage life, mostly thanks to him standing up to bullies and insufferable people, whom he really couldn't tolerate at all. But that didn't change that he was still a good student, with a great attendance record; Tsunoda? the polar opposite and much worse than him.
"I'm pretty convinced the staff are thankful for it even, pretty sure they must hate him too. Who wouldn't? Dude's a major prick".
He then noticed a weird, yet familiar sensation, a sort of tingle. He looked at his hand, the place where he was feeling it the most and closed then opened it repeatedly.
"Getting this excited just by thinking about it?" he thought, almost chuckling. This was not surprising, normal at this point for him even.
Yeah, he enjoyed violence a bit too much. No, he was not crazy or rotten enough to start fights randomly or bully others, but it was something he had brought himself to accept some time ago. He enjoyed watching combat sports, sparring in the gym and as much as he tried to avoid it, he enjoyed fighting too, so much, that he once considered starting an amateur MMA career. It was not the normal type of fun as well; it was a unique sensation; an adrenaline rush like no other. More than just enjoying violence, it was more like he enjoyed using violence, against others, specially, to those who deserved it. Like Tsunoda.
Could it be called a weird sense of justice? Probably that.
Since a young age, he greatly disliked bullies, criminals and overall people that wronged others, a lot; he didn't know when it started, but he enjoyed and was glad when those people got what they deserved. Him standing up against bullies and making sure they got what they deserve came along before he couldn't notice. No, he was not and was totally not trying to be some white knight or superhero, he just enjoyed when those people got punished, and was even better when he was the one doing it; yeah, weird, and a little twisted, he was deeply aware. Thankfully he knew how to keep it under control and it didn't really affect his life in the slightest, he also didn't feel like he is or was becoming nutcase.
Rentaro took a deep breath before cracking his neck. He then looked at his friend beside him.
"Jackass had it coming" he said with a smirk. "Hopefully he doesn't bother us anymore, eh?"
"Y-Yeah" Hirano responded with a smile as well.
"Anyway, back on topic. Guns, training, tearing shit up? Go ahead pal".
"Oh yeah! Right, so-"
And he started talking non-stop. He was truly a different person when he was talking about guns. Rentaro nonetheless smiled at him; it was great hanging with Hirano. He then wondered where Takashi could be right now. Hopefully not brooding by himself; it would be cool if at least Morita or Imamura were with him.
"I'll introduce Takashi and Hirano to each other soon".
He was pretty sure they were in the same class and he just had a feeling that they would be great friends.
XXXXX
Friday.
Rentaro walked through the hallways of the school, while carrying a trash can. More specifically, his classroom's trash can. It was cleaning day today for all classes and he volunteered to take it out. Normally, this would be just a drag to him, but today The Lord, destiny, the universe or whatever had a plot twist for him.
Walking right beside him was no other than Busujima Saeko. The girl in which he was slowly beginning to accept he was head over heels for.
She was carrying a small plastic bag that also contained trash. Normally the trash was enough but there was a bit more trash today, which ended in the bag she was carrying. He didn't know where all that trash came from, but he was kind thankful about it.
She volunteered to help by carrying the plastic bag. He was pretty sure he could have handled it himself… but there was no way in hell he was saying no to her, obviously.
And now they were walking side by side.
In complete silence.
Both of them hadn't said absolutely nothing.
She looked as calm as ever.
He? was trying with all his might to not glimpse at her for a bit and for the past minute his mind was trying to come out with a way to start a conversation.
Nice weather huh? No
How are classes going for you? Probably not
How was your day? Maybe
"Why is it so difficult?"
He really was a lost case.
It was pretty hard to believe considering they technically had known each other since middle-school. No, they weren't in the same middle-school, but they did meet in Kendo Tournaments and such, I mean he remembered as clear as day, and unless he was somehow a complete nobody or invisible in her eyes, he was sure she did too. Not to mention they had been in the same class since they were freshman and now as seniors, were soon to graduate together.
That actually hit him.
They were soon to graduate and unless for some reason they would end up going to the same university, it could mean that he was not going to see her anymore.
And he was pretty damn sure they were not going to the same university. He had made up his mind already about his future; he was going to join the police and become a cop. His cousin, legal guardian and person who he lived with, Rika, served as a big inspiration for that and actually encouraged him. Her being the person he lived with and took care of him; she was currently a squad chief in the prefecture police and one of the Special Assault Team and overall Japan's top sharpshooters. Once he shared the idea with her she was joyful about it and told him he would do great, and much like her, it would take him no time to join the SAT.
So yeah, he really needed to get his shit together.
He liked her a lot; he had to take a step, at least try.
"So, Busujima" he said as casually as he could.
That actually seemed to catch her off-guard a bit since her eyes widened a bit before she turned her head to look at him.
"Yes?" she responded politely.
Man, her voice was like music to his ears.
"How's kendo?" he asked and he actually brought himself to look at her.
He bit his lip a bit, hoping it wasn't weird for her. Saeko's expression then turned gentle, although it actually took her a couple of seconds to finally answer.
"Kendo is… great; lots of training, sparring. Preparing for the next tournament soon".
"So, fun?" he asked.
She looked a bit taken aback by this, but then smiled a little.
"Yes, you could say that". she replied and slightly giggled.
Her giggle was nice too, like a melody.
He slightly hummed after her response. "I bet".
They kept walking in silence after it.
Conversation died a bit too quick.
"You're doing a great job at representing the school" he added. "Kind weird I know but… I appreciate your efforts, thank you".
Once again she seemed quite taken aback by his words.
Was she also blushing a bit?
Oh snap.
"This is my greatest victory, ever".
She was deserving of all the praise and more, by far. She had won the Nationals last year and he was pretty sure she was going to win them this year too. She was quite famous, some said she was the biggest kendo young talent in recent history and he had to agree, since she was pretty much head and shoulders above the rest. He more than anything also knew the amount of time, effort, training and sweat she had to put and go through to reach such heights, as a former kendoka himself.
Yeah, he knew her pretty well because… uh… yeah…
CoughcuzhelikedherCough
She is actually quite famous though; anyone who was into kendo knew her. She was the national champion, not to mention the daughter of the famous and respected Busujima-Sensei. Literally any kendoka in the world dreamed of training under him at his dojo. He used to dream of that too, of-course; his former sensei was great and he wouldn't have changed him for anyone, but funnily enough, his own sensei was trained by Saeko's father himself. In a way, he was an indirect Busujima Dojo's disciple.
"Heh".
They both kept walking without talking for a few seconds, until he noticed a warm smile taking over her features as she looked at him.
"Thank you, it means a lot" she said with a radiant smile. "Especially coming from you".
He looked away, once again forward; he was pretty sure he was also blushing now.
Damn hormones.
Wait
'Especially coming from him?'
Wha-
"How about you Sakata-san?"
About him? Wait, Sakata-SAN?
"Me?" only think he managed to say.
"Yes. You don't practice anymore?" she asked calmly and with genuine curiosity.
He actually kept silent a little bit, memories flashing back for a bit.
It felt like more than a question, it was more about looking for a confirmation, since it was pretty clear he didn't. He was not in the academy's kendo team and he hadn't been in any tournament for the past 3 years.
Yeah, he used to practice kendo, he was really into it and still is to be honest. He had been practicing it since he was a kid. Joined a dojo, trained almost every day, was part of his middle-school team, was even named captain. But he drifted away from it after finishing middle-school, for… many different reasons. Still, it held a special place in his heart and it was a process that allowed him to learn a lot.
That's why he knew Busujima Saeko since before high-school. They had shared the gold and the glory in a lot of tournaments. Both of them swept the male and female competition respectively back then, even shared pictures together, shook hands and exchanged a couple of words every now and then; congratulations and showing respect to each other, as the two winners, mostly. It was quite a bummer - at least for him - that they never actually faced each other; while kendo wasn't a stranger to Male vs Female competition, most tournaments in middle-school were divided by gender, in high-school though, a lot more competitions were unisex.
"Me versus her? Now that would have been a blast".
He really was curious about what would have been the outcome… at least back then, as of now, she would destroy him without a doubt. He did keep his body in shape, learned some self-defense and many other useful stuff, mainly thanks to Rika's insistence about him needing to know how to defend himself bare-handed, which he agreed to without any problem. It's also not like he could carry a bamboo sword or a bokken everywhere with him.
The gym he goes to was the same gym Rika goes to as well, and also a gym where other police and even SAT members frequented, and they gave him a nice welcome not only for being Rika's beloved little brother, but also because but also because they already were acknowledging him as a future member. Rika and the rest made sure to kick his ass into shape even more, after all, he did tell her that he would be following her steps, so some training before-hand would be great right? Also yeah… Rika could really kick ass, as he was both a witness and his own experience could confirm that. He also learned she didn't like going easy on anyone and could be quite the harsh coach.
Overall he learned a mix of judo, karate, aikido and taiho-jutsu basics, while he also often did some boxing sparring. If he had to answer, he would confidently say that overall, he was a very decent fighter; nowhere near a professional of-course, but still highly skilled compared to your average 18-year-old. He had already put his mind and body through some rough training back when he practiced kendo, especially because his sensei was the strictest and severe teacher out there, he was pretty sure. Now add to that what he had learned with Rika and yeah, he could proudly say he was very proficient and had a wide arsenal of skills and moves. Not to mention he enjoyed it a lot and was proud of all the things he learned. In a way, it served as a distraction after he left kendo. Not to mention that it felt really cool that knowing all these different self-defense methods for many different situations and the feeling of security it gave you. Also made Rika sleep better at night as well the fact she knew he knew how to care of himself, big-sister things he guessed. She could be over-protective whenever she tried.
Anyway, despite all of that, he had stopped training and overall practicing kendo for 3 years now, so there was absolutely no way he could keep up with the National Champion.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked" he heard her say; he looked over at her and she actually looked a bit ashamed.
Oh, he actually took a lot of time to respond. She probably had misunderstood his silence.
"Uh, no, no, don't worry about it" he replied immediately. "To answer your question, no, I don't practice anymore, ever since graduating middle-school".
She looked at him in silence, he then noticed she was about to say something but held back at the last second.
Was she going to ask the reason?
She didn't thankfully.
"That's a shame" she said. "You were… an incredibly proficient kendoka, very worthy of praise. We shared the podium many times".
Not him trying to not smile as hard as he could because of her words.
"That was quite the boost to my ego".
I mean, he had some medals and trophies to back it up, but her words somehow meant much more.
"I appreciate it, thanks" he responded with a smile. "Means a lot coming from you".
Now she was smiling too.
What a moment to be alive.
They barely even noticed when they arrived at the place they could throw the trash in. They did just that, without saying a word, before heading back to their classroom. In silence.
Well he made some nice progress anyway, he was pretty sure this had been the longest conversation they've had. Ever.
"Have you ever considered returning?"
Now she was the one starting the conversation. More like a continuation to be fair. Her question also caught him a bit off-guard.
Had he? of-course he had.
"Sorry for asking, it's just, that I've spotted you from afar watching the team practices sometimes… so I figured that maybe you were still interested".
"Oh" is the only thing he managed to articulate.
She had noticed him? Well uh… a bit embarrassing for him. Yeah he sometimes went and watched the academy's team practice and sparring, those stuff. Most of the time his eyes were glued on Busujima though, not that he would admit it.
Also, that didn't count as stalking, right? He hoped so.
"Yeah, I have" he sincerely replied.
They both didn't talk for the next couple of seconds.
"You know, our academy would be highly benefited and the team would be very glad to have you join us".
No beating around the bush with her, huh?
"I…"
He probably would have rejected most people, if not anyone else. But the fact that she was the one doing it made him actually stop and put his mind into it.
He liked kendo - actually scratch that - he loved kendo; he would dare to even call it his passion. He was extremely into it since he was a kid and it was all he had on his mind back in the day. Practice, spar, learn, repeat.
For whatever different reasons he felt like abandoning it 3 years ago, was it really valid? Would he really not give it a try or practice anymore, for the rest of his life?
"I'll… think about it" he responded while scratching the back of his head.
"Thank you. Hopefully, it's a yes" she added with a smile.
As they finally arrived at their classroom they silently waved each other good-bye.
Rentaro couldn't help but smile once again.
Maybe life was soon to be more interesting from now on.
XXXXX
Saturday.
At home, in the kitchen, Rentaro opened the fridge and took a look at the products for a bit before getting out what he was going to use to make breakfast. He quickly began cooking now that he already knew what he wanted to make. Half an hour passed and he was already done, so he proceeded to place the food on the kitchen island. It was a traditional Japanese breakfast consisting of a bowl of rice, grilled fish, miso soup and pickled vegetable salad, all in separate plates. After placing the food, he went back for another portion and this time he placed it right in front of the previous one he had just served. After finishing he took a glance at the clock.
While glancing at the clock he heard the sound of a door opening and closing in the distance, then he silently watched as a young woman who was around her early-to-mid-twenties slowly walked down the stairs that lead to the 2nd floor of the residence.
"Breakfast is ready Rika" he announced to her, even though he was pretty sure she had already noticed. Meanwhile, she just responded with a sleepy hum, which was enough to tell him she had understood.
Minami Rika, his cousin and legal guardian. She was a young woman of 27 years of age. She had purple hair, tanned skin and was currently wearing a crop top along with some hotshorts that were barely keeping her assets out of sight.
Despite her current looks, Rentaro just stared at her silently while she made her way to her seat in the kitchen island. Yeah, probably any, or at least most men on earth would had been losing their minds, blushing or at least covering their eyes at the current sight right now, but Rentaro was pretty used to it, almost immune to it really; he had been seeing basically that same sight for the past 3 years and even way before that on some occasions; of-course, like for any teenager in his situation, it was troublesome for him at the beginning, but after a year or so, he learned how to live and deal with it. Not to mention the woman in front of him was like a big sister to him more than anything.
After she finally took a seat, Rentaro clapped his hands together and thanked for the food before digging in, while Rika also did the same but in a very slow, sleepy way. Both started eating silently for the next couple of minutes.
"Slept well?" Rentaro asked; Rika only responded with a sleepy 'hum' once again. At that Rentaro almost cracked a smile; she had never been the best morning person, not to mention her line of work could be extremely exhausting.
They finished their food silently and after they were completely done, Rentaro took the dishes to the sink and was about to wash them until he noticed Rika stand up from her seat and walk towards the fridge. He silently watched her stare at the inside of the fridge for a couple of seconds before finally grabbing what she was looking for.
It was a can, a can of beer to be precise; she opened it and took a long gulp before letting out a satisfied breath with a big smile on her features.
Ah yes, Minami Rika is fully awake now.
"That hit the spot!" she said while walking back toward her seat in the kitchen island and after finally taking it back, she glanced back at Rentaro. "Morning love!"
"Really?" he asked with a raised eye-brow, although a small smile could be seen in his features. "Beer right after breakfast?".
"Nothing quite like it!" she responded back before taking another sip.
Rika continued drinking her beer while Rentaro washed the dishes. After he was done he served himself a glass of ice-tea and stood in front of Rika across the kitchen island.
"How was work? Fell asleep before you arrived so never noticed when you did" he said.
"Oh you know, same as always" she responded before taking another sip. "Nothing that fun lately, or worth sharing. Thanks for the dinner you left me inside the microwave though. Always so sweet".
Rentaro took another sip of his drink before he noticed Guts, since he was now standing on two legs with his head resting on Rika's lap.
"Oh, hi Gutsy!" Rika said cheerfully before petting the dog. After around a minute in which Rika showered the dog with compliments about being a good boy and petting him, Guts finally went away after greeting Rika, to lay somewhere, Rentaro guessed.
"How was yesterday for you?" Rika asked, her attention shifting back to Rentaro once again.
"School was alright, after that, I went to the gym for a bit, walked Gutsy. You know, the usual" he responded.
"Humm… I see".
It was silent for a couple of seconds.
"Heard you fought in school".
Ren actually tensed a bit at that. Rika did not like when he fought, not one bit; it was only normal a big sister would get concerned if her little brother got into fights right? At least it wasn't that often… maybe?
"Ah don't worry, Shizuka already gave me a good scolding" he responded in a nonchalant tone.
"What happened?"
Oh she was in her serious-mode alright. It was easy to forget due to her laid-back demeanor but Rika could be very 'big-sister' like' downright 'mother-like' when he got into trouble.
"It was self-defense, some jackass in school that had it coming since a while back".
"Yeah Shizuka told me; just wanted to hear it from you"
…
"Was it that bully you once told me about? What was it? Tsu… Subaru? … Sudoku?"
"Yeah that one" he didn't care enough to actually remind her of his name.
"I see… so you won, huh?"
"Yes".
"And I enjoyed it".
Rika giggled at that.
"That's my boy!"
She high-fived him.
Yeah, Rika was cool.
"As long as you don't hit a girl or bully the innocent, it's cool, whoever messes with you, mess him up back" she said with a grin doing a gesture with her fist. "I was no foreign to fights in high-school you know? Kicked some ass here and there, mostly guys hitting on Shizuka though, since you know, she was always overly-friendly and a bit naive sometimes, plus, hers were amazing even back then" she finished while giggling and raising her own chest frontwards, clearly referring to Shizuka's unbelievable cleavage.
Yeah he could picture it and also was aware of the last part without her even needing to mention it. Those that she has don't grow out of nowhere in just a couple of years. Plus, he had known both Shizuka and Rika since he was a kid, so no need to tell him, he had a good memory.
"So still no girlfriend huh?"
Rentaro almost groaned at her sudden question.
"Uh no" he responded. "Haven't found anyone crazy enough yet" he finished with a bit of sarcasm.
Rika pretty much snorted at his word before laughing out loud for a bit.
"What are you talking about crazy enough? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?" she said while pointing at his face.
"Everyday?" he responded sarcastically.
"Then you should know my dear Ren, that you're a pretty good looking guy" she said with a smirk while still pointing her finger at him.
"I appreciate it, but-"
"If I would have met you when I was in high-school I would have jumped you as soon as my eyes would have landed on your pretty ass" she continued, a cheeky smirk on her features.
"Uh… thanks?" he answered, almost cracking a smile.
And yeah, such commentaries were pretty normal coming from Rika, and this was quite mild to be honest; he had heard way worse stuff coming out of her mouth.
"I'm pretty sure that's like assault, chief".
"Nothing would have stopped me" she responded back with a grin.
"We are cousins though?" Ren added.
"What if we were not?" Rika replied instantly.
"Yeah, right, anyway, as I was saying; good looks are one thing, but y'know, there's a lot of douchebags out there that are good looking" he calmly said before taking another sip of his tea.
"Are you one of those?" Rika asked with a raised eye-brow.
"What?"
"I mean, are you a douchebag?"
"To those who deserve it at least".
"I-".
"No you're not" she cut him off. "You're a nice guy, thoughtful, funny, smart, and really caring, plus a great cook. Most girls would love and should aim to be with a guy like you".
"Much appreciated my lady" he responded in a mocking tone while bowing slightly, with a hand on his chest.
Rika giggled at that.
"No girl you're interested in?" another rapid-fire question from her.
His eye twitched a little bit when the image of a dark purple-haired female flashed through his mind quickly, but he never lost his composure.
He also couldn't lie to her. Never.
"Yeah, there's one" he responded.
Rika whistled mockingly at this.
"I was about to start thinking you were into boys; you and that boy Takashi have always been very tight".
Rentaro hit her with a 'really?' type of look.
"Well I trust your judgment; she must be a great girl" she said while smiling. "You also know what to do tiger".
"What?"
"Attack without hesitation, make her yours!"
"Not that easy you know?"
"Oh c'mon! Just be aggressive, we love when guys are aggressive!"
"Don't you mean 'you love'? Not everyone's the same. I for once don't like aggressive women" and he had just found that out a couple of days ago thanks to Yuuki Miku. Well she was more like, downright shameless, instead of aggressive.
And well it's not like he would mind if Saeko was suddenly aggressive with him.
That kind sounded wrong.
He's absolutely not the 'M' type.
"Don't say I didn't warn you" Rika said. "Well, you can always cry into my or Shizuka's chest if something goes wrong".
"Very 'uplifting' words ma'am" he added with a deadpan face.
"No need to thank me".
Rika took a final gulp from her beer.
"Well not that am against keeping you for myself till the end of days" she added with a smile. She then extended the can to him and he quickly got the message; he grabbed the empty can, threw it in the garbage and went to get another one for her in the fridge.
"You'll have to share with Shizuka though" he responded with a mocking tone as he handed her another beer.
"That's no problem at all!" Rika responded cheerfully. "Besties share everything together, even boys!" she continued before opening the can and taking another big first gulp.
"Without context that could sound so wrong in the ears of others".
"Wasn't she coming today by the way? Shizuka" he asked.
"Oh right!" she remembered and then proceeded to lift the beer in the air with a big smile on her face. "Girls night!"
Rentaro chuckled before leaving his now empty glass in the sink and walking out of the kitchen.
"I'll go get the bath prepared for you" Ren said while stopping to glance at Rika. "Then I'll go for a morning jog."
"Got it".
"Will also prepare some snacks for you two, before Shizuka arrives".
"You're the best!" she responded while giving him a thumbs up and standing up from her seat, probably was heading to watch some TV, Rentaro thought. "You can join us if you want!" she added.
"Isn't it a girls' night though?" he questioned while looking back at her with a raised eyebrow. "I thought there were no men allowed in those".
"Wrong!" Rika said before darting towards where Rentaro was and jumping on his back, which ended with him carrying her in piggy-back style. "No men allowed, but our dear little Ren-kun is the exception of-course!" she told him right in his ear while ruffling his hair like he was some little boy with one hand and poking his cheek with the other one; and yeah, he was also used to Rika's constant physical acts of affection.
While Rika was voicing in a cheerful voice stuff about she and Shizuka loving their dear little brother and those sort of stuff, he walked towards the living room, heading towards the sofa to place Rika down. He also noticed that Rika's cheerfulness had attracted Guts, who was now following them while wagging his tail.
After placing Rika on the sofa and turning on the TV he prepared to finally head to the bathroom. Not before an idea flashed through his mind which brought a mischievous grin to his features. Rentaro clicked his tongue twice, which caught Guts attention, who responded with a bark.
"Show some love boy" he said before snapping his fingers and pointing at Rika.
"Wait-!" Rika noticed what Rentaro was aiming to do, but it was already too late since Guts had just jumped on her and was now 'showing love'.
Chuckling, Rentaro walked towards the bathroom while hearing Rika's giggling and slight shouting in the background.
They were cousins, not really brother and sister, but he loved Rika. She was like a sister to him nonetheless and the best one could ask for at that.
XXXXX
Sunday.
It was morning.
Rentaro was currently scratching his forehead at the sight before him.
Minami Rika and her dear friend Marikawa Shizuka were currently sleeping on the floor of the living room while cuddling. They were in front of the sofa, plates of snacks and cans of beer surrounded them, TV was also still on. Although the most troublesome thing for Rentaro was their appearance. They were half-naked pretty much, with Shizuka a little beyond that since the little crop top she was currently using wasn't, or just downright couldn't do its job, of covering her ample bosom.
Guts, who was right next to him, gave a quiet woof.
"Yeah, I know".
With a sigh and trying his best to not look at them he started picking up the cans and plates after turning the TV off.
"I know they trust me and everything, but I would appreciate it if they could be a little more self-aware. I'm still a male teenager".
Well at least this time it was not that bad, sometimes he would find them with somehow way more revealing clothes or downright naked. The naked one being Shizuka most of the time; she got a little bit too comfortable sometimes. Even worse, he sometimes found himself crushed by one of them or sandwiched by the two on his own bed in his own room; weird sisterly acts of affection from them.
After he was done cleaning up he once again stared at them while at the same time trying not to.
"Here comes the most difficult part".
He could without a problem leave them right where they were at and he was pretty sure they wouldn't mind. But he really just couldn't leave them on the floor like this. He had to take them to bed, which was troublesome not only due to their appearance, but also because of the fact that Rika's room was on the 2nd floor while they were on the 1st.
"Or just leave them on the sofa and that's it".
Yeah, that. The sofa was large and comfortable enough.
A minute later and he already got the two of them to lay on the sofa, he also made sure to cover them with a blanket.
He figured they still wouldn't wake up in a while, so he would only make breakfast for himself for now.
The rest of the day went pretty normal. Rika and Shizuka woke up and Ren made breakfast for them, Shizuka also stayed for dinner and left shortly afterwards, she had work tomorrow after all and so did Rika.
It was night already and Rentaro found himself doing something he hadn't done in a while. He was meditating. While on his knees, in his room, right beside his bed. It had already been a couple of minutes.
And some more passed.
Until his eyes finally shut open.
He then reached under his bed and pulled a long looking object that was wrapped around a cloth. He stared at it for a few seconds before unwrapping it and after he was done he took a long look at it.
It was a wooden sword, a bokken, made of Shirakashi oak wood.
He took a deep breath as he looked at it with a small smile.
"Still in perfect condition".
It had been a gift from his mother before he entered middle-school.
He couldn't really start again without it, he thought; he remembered carrying it around everywhere in the past. Busujima Saeko also took over his thoughts once again, remembering the conversation they had on Friday.
He smiled once again.
Tomorrow, he was going to take the big step.
XXXXX
Monday.
Once again.
He was having his morning routine as always, although instead of jogging he decided to go to a park that was near the house. Why? He felt like practicing with his bokken. He was a little rusty after all, it had been three years, so he decided to warm up a bit. Unsurprisingly, it still felt natural to him, the fact that he had kept himself in shape all these years also helped.
He was joining his academy's kendo team after all. Re-introducing kendo back in his life, after three years. He was going to present the petition right today.
He couldn't help but feel a bit excited.
"Hopefully they let me spar immediately today… with her maybe? I'd love that"
After his wrist watch announced to him that he should be returning home now, he made his way back. Although he came by a rare sight after entering; no, it was not Guts jumping on him and greeting him back as always.
Rika was still in the house, although already uniformed and ready to go; she also had already eaten the breakfast he had left her in the kitchen island.
"Morning" he greeted. "Weird seeing you still around".
"Morning, and yeah I know, but don't worry, I won't be late, never am" she greeted back with a smile. "Also, breakfast was delicious, thanks".
"No problem".
Rika then seemed to notice what he had on his hand and after looking at it for a couple of seconds, she actually looked surprised.
"That-" she muttered while pointing at it.
Rentaro noticed it before smirking. He then raised his arm so the bokken could be in plain sight.
"I decided to give it a go one more time".
Rika looked at him in silence for a few seconds before breaking into a warm smile.
"Very happy to hear that".
She then walked up to him and ruffled his hair, to which he didn't protest, chuckled even.
Although if you asked him the sight was a bit comedic, considering he was almost a full-head taller than her.
"Well, wish you the best of fortunes" she said before walking away. "Would love to talk for a bit more but gotta go. Will be out for a few days. Shizuka will come to help you with the cleaning and to keep you some company as always".
"Hey, I have Gutsy here already y'know" he said in a sarcastic offended tone. "Right boy?"
Guts responded with a bark.
Rika giggled at that.
"Alright, let me change it; more like you'll keep Shizuka company" she said while still giggling and he soon joined in with a chuckle. "Well, off I go" she announced while making her way to the door. "Take care lil bro".
"Yeah, see you later; take care"
"See you too, Gutsy!"
Another bark.
The sound of a motorcycle's engine confirmed to Ren that Rika had left. After that, it all went as always. He got dressed up in the academy's uniform, grabbed his briefcase and left the house after bidding Guts goodbye. He then started heading toward school.
The only difference is that with one hand, he was grabbing his bokken, now once again wrapped in a cloth.
He took a look at the sky before smiling.
"Today is the first day of the rest of my life".
Starting from today life was going to be a bit more interesting and a bit more exciting.
…
Little did he know that in a few hours, said words were soon to become the biggest understatement he had ever made.
XXX
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Holy Jesus was that long.
I know… this is a long ass Prologue, and in a way is a prologue after the prologue, but I couldn't really bring myself to scratch any of the ideas I had come up with. Hope you guys understand.
Next chapter the story we all know actually begins though.
STILL, hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and got to know Rentaro before the world went to hell; something we never got to with the original cast.
Anyway, here's Rentaro's full info as a quick reminder just in case.
Full Name: Sakata Rentaro
Nickname: Ren
Age: 18
Height: 5'9 ft / 180 cm
Weight: 77 kg / 170 pounds
Personality: friendly / laid-back / straightforward
Strengths: athleticism / quick-thinking/cunningness / can make tough decisions if necessary
Flaws: can be a sarcastic asshole sometimes / tends to overthink stuff / can be temperamental, violent or too cold at times
Goals: graduate from highschool / join the police and become a SAT member / grow closer to Busujima Saeko
Hobbies: working-out / watching combat sports
Likings: Busujima Saeko / his friends / Shonen Jump / cooking
Disliking: bullies / criminals
Passion: kendo
Guilty Pleasure: violence
Voice: Maeno Tomoaki
If you guys looking for an exact model to use as a reference; I deigned him inspired by Katagiri Yuichi from Tomodachi Game.
Added a voice actor just in case y'all wondered what he sounded like, more specifically, I'd say his voice would be more like Maeno's role in Yona of the Dawn, as Son Hak.
Anyways, thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy the next chapters.
Have a nice one!