New Chapter! thank you for all the reviews, I'm glad so many people want to read this story!
Something wasn't right with Gakushuu. That was a fact Ren had known for a long while, but managed to shove it to the back of his mind; after all, it wasn't easy thinking of his 'all powerful' leader being weak.
But now, it couldn't be more obvious; Gakushuu was sat at his usual place in the front row of the class with heavy bandaging wrapped around his fingers. This normally wouldn't be such a big deal, but the fact it happened the day after the 'Takebayashi incident' suggested to Ren that some sort of punishment had been enacted upon Gakushuu.
But what could he do about it? Gakushuu was too proud to accept any sort of help or even admit there was a problem and Ren couldn't even go to the teachers. He knew none of them dared defy the Chairman. Ren wouldn't be surprised if they knew about Gakushuu's situation, but were choosing to ignore it because it was easier for them. Complacent bastards.
He wondered if other students had picked up on it too? This was a class full of geniuses, supposedly, surely a few of them would of noticed that their leader was in trouble, but nobody dared say a word and break the illusion of perfection. It was A class' best kept secret.
"What happened to your hand?" Ren asked during the break, already knowing that he wouldn't get the truth. He made a beeline for Gakushuu's desk as soon as the bell rung, making sure to get hold of him before he disappeared off to the student council office.
"I had an accident involving the car door.. " the other student said, shooting Ren one of his dazzling smiles. Ren struggled not to sigh; What should he do? Should he call Gakushuu out on his lie? Would that help or alienate him further?
"How exactly did you manage- " Ren started to say, but was cut off when a gaggle of girls came rushing over to Gakushuu's desk.
"Asano-Kun, will you help us with this new module like you promised?" One of his female classmates said. Asano smiled at her.
"Of course- pull up a seat and I'll go over the basics with you." Asano said to them, before glancing up at Ren. "Sorry, this conversation will have to wait till later."
"No problem." Ren said, with a smile just as fake as Asano's was. He felt his stomach sink; Gakushuu had his defenses up yet again, any well-meaning concern would bounce off his armour of polite smiles and lies.
Asano seemed intent on making 'later' as late as possible. Ren was sure that the other boy was subtlety avoiding being alone with him. At every break they got, Asano seemed to busy himself helping other students, teachers, even the secretary at one point. He didn't give himself a minute alone that would allow Ren to talk to him about anything personal. All too soon, the bell rang for the end of the day. They didn't have a student council meeting that day, so Ren and Asano were free to walk home together. At least, that was Ren's plan.
As soon as class ended, Asano had gathered up some paper work and made his way to the student council office. As always gaggle of girls trailed after him, all vying to make conversation with him. Ren walked with them, once again filled with a sinking feeling he was more of a minion or a follower to Asano than a friend. The thought made him feel lonely.
"Asano-kun, let us help you!" The girls simpered. Asano shot them one of his charming smiles.
"It's only a quick bit of work. It'd be much more efficient if I do it alone." He said, appearing almost genuinely amiable. "I don't want you to let your grades slip because you're helping me.. now please, go home and study!"
"Aww okay." The girls said, trailing off. Ren stayed behind.
"I said alone, Ren." Asano said. For the first time his voice was devoid of that false peppiness it has held all day. It sounded tired and empty. His expression had dropped too, from that kind smile to a exhausted frown. It was the first honest expression Ren had seen on Asano's face in days. It was actually refreshing. And a little terrifying.
"I want to talk to you." Ren said, trying not to cringe under Asano's icy glare. He hardened his gaze, and stood straight, pulling himself up to his full height, a few noticeable inches taller than Asano.
"I'm busy. It can wait." Was Asano's reply, already stepping through the doorway. Before Ren had a chance to follow him, the door was already closed shut in his face, and he quickly heard the click of a lock.
Ren stood there, shocked at the abruptness of it all. His shock quickly morphed into frustration.
God Damnit. Couldn't Asano see he was just trying to help? The A class leader could be so stubborn, so obtuse at times! So insistent on doing everything by himself... didn't he know that things could be easier if he allowed his friends to help? Instead of leaving them outside feeling like idiots.
Ren was normally very relaxed by nature. He got along with others easily and didn't let anything they did bother him. For some reason, with Asano, it was a different story. Gakushuu managed to make him annoyed, frustrated.. nervous at times, awed. Compliments from him made Ren's heart race. Asano had a mysterious draw to him. Ren had never felt about a person like that before. Well. No use thinking about that now, Ren thought as he walked to the front entrance of the school. If Asano was insisting on doing work then he'd just wait for him.
It turned out Asano's version of a 'quick bit of work' lasted an hour and a half. Ren had spent that entire time leant against the school gate. Several times he had been tempted just to leave.. but no. He wouldn't. He'd committed to this.
The summer sun was low, and the sky was a brilliant orange-red when Asano finally made an appearance. He walked out of the school, bag slung over his shoulder, humming slightly to himself.
Ren felt his anger soften, replaced by fondness. Gakushuu seemed more relaxed when he didn't think anyone was watching.
"Asano!" Ren called out, when he passed. Asano turned to look at him, surprised. He almost- almost jumped. Of course, he was too refined for that.
"Ren? What are you doing here?" Asano asked, raising an eyebrow. Ren could practically see his defences shuttering back up the moment he was taking part in human contact.
"I was just waiting for you.. thought maybe we could walk home together?" Ren said sheepishly. He was aware of how he must look, like some love-struck school girl waiting for her crush. Pathetic.
He half-expected Asano to continue his streak of ignoring him as he had done all day, but instead Asano stuck around.
"Ren, it's still summer, even if it's later on you shouldn't be standing outside in the sunlight for so long. Especially in these stuffy uniforms." Asano lectured. Of course. Sensible as ever. "You'll catch sun-stroke."
"Sorry I- " Ren started to say, but was cut off when Asano reached over and placed the palm of his hand over Ren's forehead. He almost let out a gasp of surprise, he could feel blood rushing to his cheeks at the contact.
"Your face feels hot. You might actually have sun-stroke." Asano said, deadly serious. Ren couldn't believe he was blushing over such simple contact.. god damnit it was only a hand to his forehead (He just wasn't prepared for this right now!)
"I'm fine." Ren said, making sure his voice was even. God this was embarrassing. He went to move the other boy's hand away, but as soon as he got anywhere close to Asano, he quickly flinched away as if Ren had gone to hurt him. The two boys stared at each other, both a little taken aback by what had just happened.
He instinctively expects to be hurt.. Ren thought. He wanted to ask Asano about it, but now he was in the situation he couldn't find the right words.
"Are you okay?"
"Is something bothering you?"
"Is someone hurting you?"
"How can I help you?"
Red was sure Asano would answer non of these questions honestly.
"Are we walking home or not?" Gakushuu said, suddenly already a few paces ahead of Ren. The brown haired boy nodded, quickly catching up with him.
"Coming!" He said. "So what sort of student council things have you got planned?"
"I'm glad you asked- " Gakushuu said before launching into his spiel. The heavy stuff could wait, Ren decided. He'd starting by talking to Asano about topics he knew he liked. He wanted him to feel relaxed first.
They were about half way home when it happened. Asano and Ren were just talking casually about the student council and school, when suddenly a red haired boy on a bike stopped directly in front of them.
Ren recognised him instantly as Karma Akabane. The infamous delinquent who had been kicked out of the main school for brutalising a fellow student and destroying a teacher's office. He was notoriously dangerous. Ren would but lying if he said he wasn't a little afraid, frowning as he saw him. Asano on the other hand didn't bat an eyelid.
"Hey guys." Karma said in a mock-friendly tone, with that mischievous grin he had. The one that just screamed 'I'm up to something.'
"Akabane, you know you aren't supposed to ride your bicycle on the pavement?" Asano said disdainfully. "Learn the Highway Code before you hurt someone."
"Of course, great student council over-lord." Akabane said, dipping his head in a mock bow.
"What do you want Akabane?" Asano asked, sounding slightly irritated, but there was also something else.
"What? I just saw some of my school buddies and decided to say hello. I'm only being friendly.. is that so hard to believe?" Akabane said. He somehow had the ability to make anything his said sound mocking.
"Yes. It is." Was Asano's stiff reply. The two geniuses locked eyes as they bantered, and Ren had a strange feeling of being left out. Although they were being outwardly malicious to each other, there was an undercurrent of something playful between Karma and Gakushuu. Or was that just Ren's imagination?
"I'm disappointed with your lack of trust in me, supreme leader." Karma said, with a theatrical pout. He turned to leave, but before he did, he took a look at Asano's bandaged fingers. "And some parting advice; be more careful playing football- I don't want to patch have to patch you up again!"
And with that, the E-class boy pushed his bike off the pavement and cycled off. Ren and Asano were left watching him go. The atmosphere dropped in an instant, and the air was suddenly thick with tension. Ren felt like ice-cold water had been poured into his stomach. He glanced at Asano, but the other was still staring ahead, refusing to look at him.
Another beat of silence passed.
"You told me your hurt yourself by trapping your fingers in a car door. You told Akabane you hurt yourself at football, but I know for a fact that you didn't have football yesterday. So what's the truth?" Ren said, slowly. Now he had absolute confirmation that Asano hadn't been honest with him.
"You really believe what Akabane says? He's a delinquent who causes trouble for the sake of it. He's clearly lying." Asano replied, still not looking at Ren. "I never told him anything. He's clearly just making things up."
Ren felt that stab of frustration spike again.. was Asano really still trying to cover this up? Without even thinking about it, Ren grabbed Asano by the shoulders and spun him around, forcing their eyes to meet.
"We both know that's not true." Ren said, feeling a surge of bravery he didn't have moments earlier. He felt bold enough to say the thing he'd that had been on the tip of his tongue all day. The thing he hadn't dared voice. "Your father. He's the one hurting you isn't he?"
Asano's initial reaction was instantaneous. His amethyst eyes widened, his mouth dropped open, and his pallor seemed to whiten. Then he quickly composed himself.
"Ren. That's a dangerous accusation to make. You should be careful saying things like that." Was Asano's reply. It was evident he was trying so hard to force himself to seem normal when inside he was shattering.
"Please just stop lying." Ren said, looking Asano dead in the eye. "It's the one thing you don't have much skill for. I can tell that your father's been abus-"
"Why does it matter!" Asano shouted, cutting him off. His composed expression had been torn away, and his eyes were blazing. "I'm still doing everything I'm supposed to be doing! I can still lead A class! I'm not letting any of you down."
"I don't care about those things! I care about you!"
Asano looked at Ren as if he were speaking a foreign language, and it broke his heart. Why couldn't Gakushuu seem to understand the concept of caring about someone without having an ulterior motive?
"Why are you constantly attempting to dig up scandalous information to damage my reputation? Is this a power-play?" Asano sneered. Ren resisted the urge to face-palm.
"For someone who's supposed to be smart you're having a hard time realising that I'm not out to get you." Ren sighed. "Have I ever done anything to suggest I'm a threat? I've always been nothing but loyal to you."
Gakushuu paused in thought, taking in Ren's words before finally speaking.
"He won't hurt me again." Asano replied, glancing down at the floor, then back up at Ren. His scowl was gone, replaced by a smile that was probably meant to look assuring, but just seemed defeated. "Just so long as I don't make any more mistakes I'll be fine."
Ren was genuinely gobsmacked. He knew Asano wasn't exactly normal in his ways of thinking, but he had no idea that his views were so twisted that he thought being hurt by his own father for any tiny mistake was 'fine'. He struggled to put into words what he assumed to be basic knowledge.
"You shouldn't be punished for not being perfect 24/7!" Ren said. It was a genuine effort to keep his voice even. "It's just.. unsustainable. You can't do it. Nobody can be flawless all the time."
"Well I have to be." Asano snapped back. "Ren, I've said to much already. You should just leave this alone. You don't have the power to change anything about my life and I'm not asking you too.. you just focus on your own life. Nobody can go up against the Chairman."
"That isn't true; You could go to a teacher, or to the police- " Ren started to say, but trailed off when Asano shot him a withering look.
Yeah. They both knew that the Chairman could wrap any authority figure around his little finger. Still, Ren thought, there must be someone who cared about child welfare enough to do something.
"What about your mother?" Ren suggested. He'd only seen Gakushuu's mother a handful of times, but he knew she was a lovely woman who doted on her son endlessly (much to his embarrassment) surely she'd do anything to protect him.
"She knows." Was Asano'a reply. His tone sounded flatter, more depressed than Ren had ever heard it before. Ren decided that it would be best to hide his own shock at that revelation. It didn't sound like something Gakushuu was ready to talk about at all.
"Okay. Well you have me." Ren said, once again looking straight into Asano's eyes. "And I'm fully aware that I may not be the most desirable or usefully ally in your situation." That actually got a smile and a half-laugh from Asano. "But if you need me, I'll help you out. If it's dangerous at home, just call me. You can stay anytime. Or if you just need to get away we could go out or.. whatever!"
Asano was actually smiling when Ren had finished speaking, but the brunette had a feeling that he didn't even realise he was doing it. It was refreshing to see a real smile instead of one of those fake ones always plastered on Asano's face, no matter how convincing they my be.
The smile disappeared as soon as Asano noticed what he was doing. Asano said, turned away from Ren, looking in the other direction. Was he blushing?
"What sort of leader would I be if I relied on other people?"
"A human one?" Ren called after him, a grin spreading on his own face despite the situation. If he didn't know Asano was a black belt in multiple martial arts, then Ren might of attempted to turn Asano around to see if he really was blushing.
"It's late. I'm going home!" Asano answered dismissively.
"But you will call me, right? If you need to spend the night somewhere?" Ren asked, there was a pause before Asano replied.
"I may utilise your offer." He said, before shouting back. "And this goes without saying but don't tell anybody what we've spoke about today!"
And with that he walked off in the direction of his own house.
Ren was left with a sinking feeling in his stomach. Now what? Ren had just allowed Asano to walk back to his abuser, but he didn't know what else to do. It wasn't like he could go to the police.. he didn't have enough evidence and he doubted Asano would testify against the man he feared so much. Ren had never had to deal with a situation like this before.
As the sun crept behind the horizon, Ren stood there feeling completely out of his depth.
Phew, chapter is finally over. I wouldn't say this is exactly a happy chapter, but it does have a bit of hope in it. I decided to do Ren's point of view for a bit of a change, and to show how Gakushuu appears to others. it's a little hard characterizing Ren just because he doesn't get much showtime so I don't know much about his personality.
He now knows for definite that Gakushuu's in a bad situation, but he doesn't know how to really help him. I hope in this chapter I show that Ren has a looked of confusing feelings towards Gakushuu but ultimately he cares about him. But Gakushuu actually telling someone, or just admitting, that there's a problem is a big step for him.
Also, for the record, Karma has no idea whats going on with Gakushuu, otherwise I don't think even he'd be that callous.
Review for more!