Birds of a Feather

Characters: Aren

Time: After S1

Another new transfer student, huh? This time the boys are drooling and taking bets, while the girls are sharpening their knives. Geez, just how popular is this place?

Mr. Takumi comes in first with a grin even creepier than usual, and the boys lean forward eagerly—then immediately flinch back. I don't blame them: the new student looks nice enough, but you'd probably be skinned alive before you could say that to her. She looked like she came straight out of a yakuza gang, with her uniform already cut up on the first day of school and her chin's jutted out with a stare stony enough she could freeze you on the spot before you could write her up.

"Class, this is our new—"

But Mr. Takumi hadn't finished his sentence when the new student charged to the back of the room and grabbed Aren by the front of his shirt. To have gotten past Aren's defenses was surprising enough, but the shocked expression on Aren's face made amped up her fear-me-o-meter.

"RIKA!"

"Aren Kuboyasu!" she growled. "Where the [REDACTED] have you been?!" Redacting certain phrases for the young viewers in the audience. Dead silence in the room as all heads turn to the back. No one moves. ...Except for one stupid soul. Nendou, unfazed by everyone, claps a hand on Aren's shoulder.

"Hey, who's your new lady friend, Aren? You holding out on me, man—"

"SHUT UP!" Aren and the girl, Rika, yell at once.

Aren's regains his composure and shoves her hands off of him. "What the hell are you doing here, Rika?" Then his eyes catches on the dozens of classmates staring at him, and he grumbles, snatching her hand and striding with her in tow out of the classroom, right in front of the teacher. The entire class gets up and charge forward—including the teacher—but one backwards glance from Rika and they're all petrified to the spot.

Except for me, of course. No one can beat my petrification skills. While my classmates' attention is elsewhere, I teleport. Even without my telepathy, it's not hard to guess where they're heading. Every not-so-secret tryst or underhanded deal happens in the same spot in this school: the bleachers.

Now just to settle into a nice bush...and right on schedule:

Once they reached the stands, Aren drops Rita's hand as if it's poison. "Alright, what's your game?"

"What's my game?" she yells, her hair spiking out like a cat's. "What's your game? Rumor had it that you've turned soft, but I didn't want to believe it. But look at you! You're wearing the uniform and everything." Hey, I like my uniform. "The fiercest person I know, and now you've turned into one of those [REDACTED] rubber necks!"

Her finger stabs into his chest. The vein in his neck pops, but Aren keeps his hands balled at his side, gritting out the words, "Those rubber necks happen to be my friends." Thanks, Aren.

"Pfft. They've taken a [REDACTED] knife for you? Or a [REDACTED] gunshot wound? Man, what the [REDACTED] happened to you? You were the king of your school in third grade! By highschool, your mullet touched the floor and you had your own gang!"

We already had his background-drop, we don't need a reminder. And stop with the f-bombs already! It's getting annoying!

Rita shakes her head, looking disgusted. "You had all these things, and you gave it up! For what? A pretty little [REDACTED] uniform?"

"You sure as hell I did!" Aren yells. "I might've had all that stuff, but it doesn't mean crap to me anymore! That's not who I want to be."

"Bullshit." She shoves him in the chest. He clenches his hands, a single vein in his jaw pulsing. "What, that's it? Where's that fierce, dominating face? The one that sends terror through everyone! Show me those pulsing veins!"

Are you...getting off on that?

Aren looms over her, a twisted smile cutting across his face. "Keep messing with me and I'll—" But he takes a breath, his face returning to normal proportions. " I don't want everyone to be afraid of me, or to always have to watch over my shoulder for a knife in the back, or worrying about my friends taking one for me. I've changed, and I like who I am now. I know you're upset, and I'm sorry, but I don't want to be that guy anymore, Rika."

"Rika." She scoffs. "You don't get to call me that anymore. Until you're back to your normal self, I'm Koshimizu to you. And trust me, I'll get you back." With that, she turns and stomps away.

Aren sighs. I wait for him to head back inside, but instead: "Saiki."

I'VE BEEN CAUGHT.

I consider staying put, but Aren turns his head in my direction. "I know you're there, so get the hell outta there." Better not push him… I slither out of my hiding spot.

"Did you hear all of that?"

I nod. Kinda hard not to when they were both yelling. He hunches over with a sigh, kicking at a pebble. "Sorry you heard that. I guess I should explain…"

I shake my head. No need.

He smiles. "Thanks, but I want to."

...Of course you do.

"Our parents promised us to each other almost as soon as we were born," he starts. Crap, it's another exposition drop. "We come from the strongest family gangs in our territory. I know it's strange to hear, but we were actually best of friends. Got one helluva tooth collection from all the heads we've knocked together."

Wow, weren't you precocious children.

"I knew she'd be upset once I left the gang, but I thought she might've gotten involved with another leader afterwards. Should've known better. She's always been so stubborn."

That's rough, bro.

He sighs. "And now she's got some tricks up her sleeves."

I clap my hand on his shoulder. Don't worry, Aren. If she stirs up too much trouble, she'll see who the real rubberneck is.

S|S|S|S|S

Nendo's eyes lit up like a little kid's...which was a disturbing picture. "Whoa-oh, this is wicked! It's like there's a graffiti Santa Claus!"

It looks like someone had decorated our school overnight. The walls were covered in spray paint; I may be a psychic with impossible powers, but even I couldn't decipher what all these symbols meant. Some signatures barely resemble letters, and all the bright colors gave me a headache. But there was a picture of an anthropomorphic elephant doing hip-hop moves—I can applaud that artwork.

Kaidou's eyes start to twitch. "My holy eye is tearing through the phantasmagorical barrier of this writing! I see it now! Yes, a premonition Dark Reunion! ACK!"

Kaidou jumps when Aren suddenly looms over us. "This is all her doing."

Apparently Aren had developed psychic powers overnight. He makes a sharp 90-degree turn and zones in on a tree, where I could hear Rika sniggering. Aren charges up to her with all the blaze and fury of Hairo. "THIS TAGGING IS YOURS, ISN'T IT?!"

"Not just mine," she says, flipping back her lock of dyed red hair. "Had to let the gang have their fun, too. Looks pretty good, ain't it? Still missing your signature, though."

"I don't tag anymore!" he shouts. "Now get it the hell outta my school!"

"What do you care?" she snaps back. "It's just a school. We've done worse."

"Because I attend it!" he barks. "Clean it up. Now."

"I don't think I will."

The veins in Aren's face pops, and he takes a step forward, but Nendou appears behind him. "Where'd you go, buddy?" Then he sees Rika. "Oooh, hi there! You're the new delinquent girl, yeah? I like what you've done with the place."

Rika gives him a befuddled, slightly disgusted look, but flipped her hair nonchalantly. "Whatever, dude."

"Oooh, you're cool one, aren't you?" Nendou leans forward and whispers. "I like that." Aren yanks him back from his shoulder. Good. I would've done it if he hadn't.

"C'mon." Aren says gruffly, tugging Nendou away. "We're leaving."

"Oh, okay. Later, tough girl!"

S|S|S|S|S

The teachers had a fit about the graffiti—not that they could do anything about it. Everyone knew it was Rika—she was practically flaunting it, wearing a gigantic grin as she put her feet on the desk—but they were too afraid to do anything about it. Some teachers, like Mr. Igarashi, might've been able to take her, but inevitably Rika and her gang's bite would be tenfold.

I suppose I could've intervened, but the problem didn't seem big enough to need me, and I wanted to give Aren a chance to handle it first. His face was clenched the entire class period. His classmates might've known that he's a nice guy, but they still kept their distance today. One look at his expression made you rethink your life decisions.

When Mr. Takumi announced the recent vandalism (no duh), Hairo immediately volunteers himself to clean up the school. Rika rolls her eyes, but Aren bolts up from his seat.

"I'll volunteer, too!"

Hairo's face lights up until you can see stars in his eyes. Between him and Nendou's expressions, Hairo takes the excited-child prize—although I wouldn't want to get in front of either of them. "Knew I could count on you, Aren! Great show of community spirit! We'll wash down this entire building and have it sparkling clean by tomorrow! It'll be so sanitary we can eat off the walls, you'll see!" Gravity doesn't work like that, Hairo, not even for you. "Who else wants to volunteer!"

I sink low in my seat.

Kaidou flips back his hair, looking nonchalant as his theme music plays in his head. "If Aren is joining, then of course the Jet-Black Wings must lend him support! With our combined forces, the Dark Reunion's terrible omen will be but mist disappearing at the crack of dawn!"

I sink lower…

...And get yanked up by Nendou. "My buddy and I'll help, too! All the hard work will make tomorrow's ramen taste even better!"

Yare Yare. If Nendou's helping, the job will never get done. His hard work has a direct negative correlation with productivity, and my reputation of an average high school student will be ruined by the school's appearance. Guess I can't duck out now...

...And that's how I end up spending my afternoon telekinetically using rollers to wash the school building.

S|S|S|S|S

The next day as my friends and I walk to school, I'm staying on the look-out. This rival-fixation thing is getting annoying.

With my telepathy, I can hear people coming from far enough away that I can divert my friends and I to a different path so that we never cross them. We might be late for school, but it'll be worth it if I can skip this arc's climax. The first time the motorcycles approach, I turn my friends around at a broken lamp post (I'll fix it later). The second time, we stop for magazines at a dollar store. That, unfortunately, backfired. Nendou spent too much time in the "adult" section, and by the time we're leaving, the motorcycles are catching up with us again.

But how do they know where we are? There's no way they could've seen us.

Aren. They must've put a tracker on him. But where? I glance at Aren—sorry; I hope you put on boxers today—and spot it, a small microchip on his sleeve. Pretty smart for the yakuza. But not smart enough. I break it with a thought. There, that should—

Damn, they've found us.

Two motorcycles—the one in the back is painted black with crushed skulls decorating the front, driven by some nameless side character, and the one in the front is painted a flaming hot pink with tongues of fire licking its side, driven by—you guessed it—Rika.

"You and me, Aren!" she barks, as the NPC hops off. "Get your [REDACTED] ass on that seat and let's race!"

Nendo and Kaido are both drooling around the motorcycles, but Rika's eyes are locked onto Aren's. He's putting on a brave face, but I could hear his monologue:

Is that a Kawasaki Verysys- X?! And that engine, it growls like a tiger! Think of the battles it must've seen! He was even picturing himself in his old get-up riding the motorcycle...until his imaginary self's mullet got caught in the wheels.

Aren clears his throat. "I told you to leave me alone, Rika."

Rika scowls, but Nendo is the one who steps in front. He cocks his head, cracking his knuckles, and leans in close enough that you could see the stubble on his balls chin. "I like you, tough girl, but my pal asked you to leave him alone. No means no, you know."

Don't, Nendo, that girl will eat you alive. ...On second thought, do.

"Go, get her!" Kaido cheers, but Rika doesn't even break her deadlock with Nendo when she growls, and Kaido is silenced with a whimper. There you go, boy, know your place.

Aren shoves both of them away. "That's enough. Don't make me tell you again, Rika. I'm done."

He turns away, but then the ground shakes with a thundering rumble. A drove...pack? (what's the right word for a bunch of motorcycles?) barrels towards us, blocking us off.

"The Blood Fangs gang!" yells Aren.

Since when did this become a yakuza anime?

"Shit! They're after me!" Rika tries to steer her motorcycle away, but the gang had already cut off her exit. One deliquentent sporting a neon blue mohawk in a zigzag pattern (still not as dumb as Nendo's though) reaches out with a spiked baseball bat and nearly slashes Rika's tires. Rika revs her engine at them, but there's too many.

"I got this!" Aren leaps onto the spare motorcycle. You didn't have to be a diviner to see the bloodthirsty light in his eyes or the pulsing veins all over his face. Aren plants one foot down, revving his engine as the bikers surround them, driving in a shrinking circle. He smiles to himself at their amateurish attempt at intimidation, as well as their rookie shouts and yells.

"Hey, you ready to bust some heads?" he growls, turning to Rika. She nods, flashing him a fierce smile that only intensified his own fiery blood.

"'Bout time you [REDACTED] asked."

Gunning his engine, Aren's motorcycle rears up on one wheel, and he surges forward, catching one of the hooligans off guard. Without time to react, the thug becomes an impromptu ramp, falling over as Aren gains air. Now outside the circle, he brakes hard to one side, tilting dangerously.

But he held on, and begin circling the opposite direction, swinging his baseball bat in a broad arc that throws one thug into another, both their cycles veering off without their riders.

"That's true heroism!" squeals Kaido, his eyes as bright as stars. Then coughs, and scrunches up his face like Aren until his eye starts to tic. Stop, you'll give yourself a seizure.

His concentration breaks into a yelp when a motorcyclist barrels past him, and he ducks against the wall. Nendo, on the other hand, had snapped a stop sign (looks like he's a delinquent after all...also, property damage) and slams one guy flat across his chest, driving him off his motorcycle. To his credit, Kaidou had his fists up, making little punch-y sounds, but still yelped whenever a motorcycle sped past him. Even the motorcycles sense how non-threatening he is, since the most they do is drive gravel onto his outfit.

Oh, well, guess I should pitch in a little, too, or I'll feel as weak as Kaido. In the chaos, I lift one finger, and the engine of one motorcycle stops, throwing the guy into the wall. (Don't worry, this world has faster healing regeneration, he'll be fine).

"These guys are [REDACTED] freaks!" the guy with a long mohawk yelled. "Retreat! Retreat!"

That's right, they are freaks—deal with it! Kaido cheers as Aren brakes his motorcycle in front of us. "Yeah, you better run, you little [REDACTED]!" Et tu, Aren?

Nendo sticks his stop sign back at the base (nice try; I glue it in with my powers), and claps Aren's the back. "That was great, man! I knew you drove, but I didn't know you drove! You gotta teach me some moves sometimes!"

"I'd love to learn, too!" squeals Kaidou, then coughs. "I mean," he flicks back his hair, "I suppose I could evaluate my comrade's skills."

Aren grins, giving the engine one more rev to hear it roar. "Thanks, guys. It's been awhile since I did this."

"Knew you still had it in you," Rika says, driving up next to him. "Glad to know you still have my back, Aren."

"Always, Rika," he says, then winks. "I just might not be able to scratch it for ya."

That sounds innocent enough, but the picture in his head makes me want bleach. But Rika chuckles. "Save that wishy-washy stuff for your college applications, man. I'll get out of that pathetic tuft you call your hair now." She flicks a mock salute. "See you around, Kuboyasu."

The unnamed side character nervously raises his hand. "Um, can I have my motorcycle back now?"

[Only the motorcyclists with the worst hairstyles were hurt in the making of this chapter.]