[40]
"Listen Futaba, I'd love to take you to Akihabara but I'm a little busy at the moment." Ren flipped through the air as an explosive boomerang whirled past him only to explode against a nearby tree. "Can't Sojiro bring you?"
Ren was currently in Inokashira park fighting a costumed villain wielding boomerangs of all things. Now dressed in his stylish new black and red suit, he was really starting to feel like Spider-Man.
"What was that sound?" Futaba asked on the other end of the phone.
"Oh just some guy on the subway watching a movie without headphones."
"Are you seriously on the phone right now!? I'm trying to kill you!" The villain shouted angrily as he threw another boomerang, this one bladed.
"What a dick. Anyways, Sojiro can't take me cuz he has to drive out to pick up coffee beans. Pleeease? If we don't hurry they're gonna sell out!"
"Alright look," Ren swiftly dodged another projectile. "I'll try to finish up as quickly as I can and then I'll meet you there. Deal?"
"But...Okay." Futaba sounded unsure. "See you-"
Ren hung up before she could finish. "Okay pal, you've got my undivided attention."
"About time! And the name is Boomerang!" He punctuated by throwing another one of his namesake.
"Seriously? Boomerang?" Ren webbed the projectile to a tree.
"Hey! At least I have my own gimmick instead of ripping off a dead guy's!"
"Low blow dude." Ren ran in close to Boomerang. "But not as low as this!" He swept his opponent's legs with a low kick and webbed the downed foe to the sidewalk.
The captured villain squirmed in his restraints. "C'mon man, I just needed some cash! I didn't even hurt anyone! Please just let me go!"
"You just tried to kill me."
"That's all in the past. Please?"
Ren rolled his eyes under his mask and webbed the crook's mouth.
Later in Akihabara, Ren arrived in front of the tech store in his civilian clothes. Futaba however, was nowhere to be found.
'There's no way I beat her here. Better go check inside.' He thought to himself.
As he walked through the store, his enhanced hearing picked up the sound of crying. He quickly headed towards the sound until a familiar head of orange hair became visible. A concerned security guard was trying to get Futaba to speak to them.
"Little girl, I can't help you unless you tell me what's wrong."
"Futaba!" Ren called from the other side of the aisle.
Futaba turned towards his voice, her face was red and her cheeks were stained with tears. Without saying a word she sprinted at him full speed and wrapped her arms around him. Ren could feel her gently sobbing onto his shirt.
"Young man, do you know this girl?" The guard approached him.
"Yeah, she's a friend. Sorry, she gets anxious around crowds." He gently patted her on the back.
"Alright then, she seems to trust you, I'll leave you to it then." With that the guard moved past him and further into the store.
"You okay?" He asked softly while continuing to pat her.
"Mmmhmm." She hummed into his chest while lightly nodding.
"Alright, let's go get your...Wait what are we here for again?"
"Nmmhmmdmm." Futaba spoke into his shirt.
"What?"
She finally pulled her face free of him and looked up at him. "New hard drive."
"Right. Lead the way." Futaba grabbed Ren's hand and pulled him along with her.
When the two of them finally arrived at the right aisle, there was only one of the model Futaba wanted left in stock. Before the two of them reached it, it was grabbed off the shelf by someone else.
The man who grabbed it was incredibly shady-looking, he was dressed in a grey trench coat and hat with yellow headphones on them, the kind one would wear at a shooting range, and he had a tattoo of a gecko on his neck.
After grabbing the item, he looked over to the two teenagers. Ren couldn't get a good read on what kind of person he was.
It was then that the man spoke to them. "Oh, did you guys want this? My bad, here." He held out the item to Ren.
"N-No sir, we couldn't possibly. You were here first."
"Ah it's fine. Pay it forward, right?" He placed the hard drive in Ren's hands and left.
"Wow, what a nice guy." Ren turned to a silent Futaba and placed her hard drive into their basket. "Sooo, you brought money right?"
The two of them walked out of the store with Ren holding several items in plastic bags. As the two of them began the trek back home, Ren glanced over to his friend.
"Are you okay Futaba? You haven't said a word almost this whole time."
The younger girl only responded with a huff as the two of them stepped onto the subway. They managed to find open seats and sat down with Futaba purposefully sitting two seats away from him. When the train finally arrived in Yongen, Ren questioned the girl again.
"Did I do something? Are you mad because I didn't pay for your stuff? I'm sorry, it's just… I'm not really liquid right n-"
"I'm not mad about the money!" Futaba shouted at him. The two had come to a stop in front of the cafe.
"Then what?" Ren gazed down at the shorter girl.
Futaba looked at him with an irritated expression and stomped her foot down. "We used to hang out all the time! We played video games and watched Neo Featherman! And now...It's like I never see you anymore!"
"Futaba I'm so-"
"What happened!? Is it me!? Am I too nerdy!? Too young!? Too awkward!? Now you're always hanging out with stupid Ann or that sexy doctor lady!" Futaba's cheeks were red and tears were streaming down her face. "I-I just want my friend back!"
Ren reached out a hand to console her, but Futaba ran home before he could.