Wednesday, 6/15

Maruki picked up his phone just after it finished playing the audio. Silence overtook the room, pressuring Ren into speaking. Both Kobayakawa and Maruki were looking at him expectantly, so Ren figured he should react.

"Woah…" Ren said.

He didn't want to give them his actual reaction. The recording was… a lot, to say the least. Yoshiro was a pure-bred piece of shit who wanted the people around him to suffer for perceived slights against the teenager. While Ren's actions towards the volleyball player weren't just perceived slights, that didn't excuse Yoshiro's plans for others.

Yuriko especially. Ren didn't know if the girl had been made aware of what her future was going to be, but that pissed him off. She didn't deserve what Yoshiro planned for her. Thinking along those lines, she also didn't deserve Ren's rudeness at the park cleanup, but it was in the past. Ren was actually considering apologizing. Unlike the other thoughts Ren had for actively improving his reputation among the student body, he didn't disregard this one. It just stayed in the section of his brain where unlikely ideas laid dormant. Even if he wasn't going to apologize to Yuriko for being rude, he did want to check on her to see how things were going post-Yoshiro.

"Indeed," Kobayakawa said solemnly. "This is very troubling. It's difficult to grasp that Shujin students were capable of this."

I mean, a Shujin teacher was capable of it until a little over a month ago. Not hard to understand the root of the problem.

"But that is not why you are here, Amamiya. The recording could have been played for you without my presence, so you are here for another reason," Kobayakawa continued.

"I get a medal of honor for my service?"

"Not now," Maruki muttered. Kobayakawa was still a little hard of hearing, so he didn't catch it. Ren decided he would obey Maruki, given that the man may have just saved his future at Shujin with Yoshiro's testimony.

So… am I getting expelled? Yoshiro's story shows that I probably did a good thing by beating the shit out of the guy. Maybe I'm exempt from the upcoming exams? That'd be quite the prize.

"Not exactly," Kobayakawa said. "While we understand your reasons for assaulting Takata, we do not condone your actions."

Aw fuck. He said the A-word. Now I'm definitely getting expelled.

"While you will not be expelled or suspended, you must be punished."

Oh… that's good, I guess. Now would be a bad time for Kawakami to bust down the door and tell Kobayakawa what I said to the class before leaving. That'd definitely get me expelled.

"I agree, sir. What I did is absolutely reprehensible," Ren said flatly. He didn't agree in the slightest, but maybe it would help his case.

"Indeed. Your punishment consists of several things," Kobayakawa began before listing off what Ren had to do. "First, you have one-on-one after school detention with a teacher until the end of exams."

That's a whole-ass month. Get off my back, I'm getting crushed under your weight, sir.

"May I ask who?"

"There was a faculty meeting about the issue. While many teachers, unfortunately, rejected your presence, Chuono-san was quick to jump at the opportunity."

Nope. Nope. Nope. Not doing that.

"Do I have a choice?" Ren pleaded.

"No, you do not. Moving on, you must bolster your extracurricular activities. I am aware of Gardeners Raging Against Veganism Yearly, but I am not aware enough. Do you understand what I mean?" Kobayakawa asked. He didn't wait for Ren's response before he continued, "You must strengthen the club's presence among Shujin's other clubs. Understand?"

"Uh… why? All we do is plant stuff."

"Plant more stuff, recruit new members, create a recognizable brand. Maybe even go into merchandising, who knows? It's up to you," Kobayakawa explained.

Merchandising? Hell yeah. Ryuji's gonna be repping GRAVY shirts the rest of the year.

"Third, you must place within the top five for second-years on the upcoming exams."

"What happens if I don't?" Ren asked. He wasn't particularly worried, but there was always the possibility that something went very wrong during exam week.

"Then your detention continues into the semester following the summer break," Kobayakawa dimly replied before gesturing to Maruki. "I will let Maruki-san explain the final term."

Ren turned to face the glasses-wearing counselor, who was already sitting up in his seat. It was as if he had been preparing for this moment for the past few minutes. Maruki looked Ren in the eyes with his normal, warm expression that eased all negative thoughts.

"Amamiya, I would like for you to attend weekly counseling sessions."

"Sorry, I'm busy with detention and merchandising my high school gardening club," Ren said. He chuckled after the last part, as that was something he definitely didn't expect he would be saying when he came to Tokyo.

"Actually, the sessions would let you skip detention for that specific day. And you can choose which day of the week you would like to see me. Pretty good deal, huh?" Maruki offered, not offended at all by Ren's dismissal of the counseling sessions.

Better than spending time with Chuono. At least Maruki has candy in his office, and the counseling sessions are probably shorter than detention.

"I guess," Ren said in compliance.

"Good," Kobayakawa exclaimed. "That is everything concerning your punishment, but I still have one more thing to say to you Amamiya-kun."

"Go right ahead," Ren said, thinking it couldn't get any worse. He was feeling confident in his luck after hearing that he wasn't going to be expelled.

"The leash is tightening, Amamiya-kun. One more thing on the level of this and you'll be gone. Do you understand?"

Leash shmeash. Tell me something I haven't heard before. "Assault someone else and you're life's over." Bullshit. Yoshiro got reduced to an unexplainable truth-telling bastard because I hit him hard enough and I'm still here. Now that I think about it… why did Yoshiro tell the truth? And so comprehensively, too?

"I do, Kobayakawa-san. Thank you for letting me continue my time at Shujin," Ren said with false kindness.

He's only letting me stay here because if I'm gone he can't get his bonus check. I should dislike him for that, but I can't knock the hustle. It would be easy money if I wasn't going around punching douchebags and seducing their moms. Is that my high school legacy? "Ren Amamiya, seducer of mothers and vanquisher of shitheads!" Meh. "Ren Amamiya, the GRAVY-est of gardeners to ever garden," is a bit more catchy. Shit, I could put that on a shirt. Maybe merchandising isn't such a bad idea.

"Of course, Amamiya-kun. Now that everything is in order, you are free to go," Kobayakawa said, releasing Ren from the meeting.

Ren stood up and bowed out of the same false kindness as before. He went to walk out of the office before he stopped. There was one final question he had for the duo.

"Maruki-san?" Ren asked, prompting Maruki to pull his head away from his notes and towards the office door. "What's going to happen to Takata and the others?"

Maruki warmly smiled.

"This is a learning opportunity for everyone, Amamiya-kun. They'll be doing counseling with me, although each of them will be in separate sessions. I can't share much beyond that. I'm sure you understand why."

Yet you shared with me a long-ass audio recording, but I guess confidentiality only exists when convenient.

"Yeah, of course. Should I stop by this week or…" Ren trailed off.

"If you'd like, but the required sessions, along with your detention, begin next week. Good luck with everything, Amamiya-kun."

"Thank you, Maruki-san. And, uh, thanks for getting that story out of Takata."

"Anytime…" Maruki said distantly, his eyes trailing away from Ren. He would've questioned the counselor's weirdness if he hadn't already ended the conversation.

Ren left the office to return to Classroom 2-D. As he walked through the empty halls of Shujin, as class was still ongoing, he realized how badly he had fucked up with his departure from the classroom earlier.

It was a moment that was meant to be his final act of defiance at Shujin, not a "see you later," but with more explicit wording. He hadn't planned on having to go back to the classroom, but now that he was, it was very possible that he was going to receive even more punishment for what he had done.

Ren considered waiting until the next break to enter the class, but as Kobayakwa said: the leash was tightening. Ren took a deep breath and entered Classroom 2-D.

As soon as he entered the door, Kawakami stopped speaking, the students stopped listening, and Ren stopped walking. He stood in the doorway, absorbing all the pairs of eyes that were trained on him. Some were angry, some were shocked, and some quickly disregarded Ren's return.

Kawakami's eyes did not do any of that. She just looked at Ren expectantly. He realized why almost immediately: he was interrupting her. Ren awkwardly shuffled away from the entrance of the room and walked across the room to his seat. He felt everyone continuing to stare at him, but he didn't look back. He kept his eyes trained on the ground and in the direction of his seat.

Just as soon as Ren sat down, Kawakami resumed her lecture. Ren was a little puzzled why she had moved on quickly, but told himself he was being self-centered for thinking that way. He opted to just pay attention to what Kawakami was saying. If she was upset with him or needed anything at all, she would definitely let him know.

Ren looked around the classroom. The students were back to focusing on their teacher rather than their classmate. Noticing that, Ren let out a quiet sigh of relief and fully settled into his seat.

While Ren thought he wasn't worried about getting expelled before arriving at Kobayakawa's office, he realized how much he could've lost if things went poorly. He would lose GRAVY, his friends, and Makoto, whatever she was to him at that point.

I really gotta define what we are, huh? Eh, whatever. Maybe the right move is to let her do it. Or is that a dick move? I should ask Ryu- no, definitely not. I should ask someone like Ann or Haru. Or maybe I shouldn't do any of that. Fuck, why is this shit so difficult to figure out?

Ren hadn't realized how much he was concealing his nervousness until he was alleviated of it by sitting back in his seat. For the time being, Ren was able to relax. He didn't have to worry about crime lords, volleyball players (hopefully), or getting expelled.

Instead, all he had to worry about was some jackass calling himself a prince, gardening, merchandise related to gardening, detention, exams, talking to Maruki on time, bolstering GRAVY, spending time with friends, going to work, and Makoto Niijima.

Simple stuff.

Ren felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He didn't have to take it out to know who was texting him, as he just had to look ahead to see Ann looking down at her lap at what Ren assumed was her phone.

Texting during class? Hopefully, that's not expulsion worthy. I guess I'll find out.

Ren pulled out his phone to read the message.

Ann Takamaki:

-What'd Kobayakawa have to say?

Ren Amamiya:

-You're not gonna believe this, but he placed a bag of horseshit on the table and ordered me to inspect it. I refused, and that was when he pulled his gun out. A brutal fight ensued, with me managing to vanquish the foul beast with just my pen. The pen is truly mightier than the sword!

Ann Takamaki:

-Why can't you just answer correctly the first time I ask?

If Ren hadn't heard a muffled giggle from in front of him, he would've thought Ann was upset.

Ren Amamiya:

-Habits and contradictions.

Ann Takamaki:

-What does that even mean? You know what, I don't care. What'd Kobayakawa have to say?

Ren Amamiya:

-He and Maruki played me a recording of Takata admitting his guilt and detailing everything he did over the past month. The dude's messed up. Apparently, all the girlfriends of the volleyball team members were supposed to be given to *&^%&&( #. Because of what Takata said, I'm not expelled. I just have detention until summer and have to increase GRAVY activities. Oh, and I have to talk with Maruki weekly. I bet you're happy about that.

Ren was confused. When he typed the message, Kaneshiro's name had been inputted correctly. When he sent the message, the name scrambled. Ren excused it as a bug just as Ann's reply came through.

Ann Takamaki:

-You're talking about who I think you're talking about, right? Anyway… that's crazy that Takata did that. You sure he willingly told the truth after you broke his nose?

Ren Amamiya:

-I would've noticed if he was being threatened at gunpoint or sounded scared over the course of a twenty-minute recording. He just sounded content, kinda blankly happy. Not sure how to explain it.

Ann Takamaki:

-Huh… at least you're not getting expelled, so that's awesome. Now are you willing to have a party? I'm sure Ryuji will immediately beg for one once you tell him the news.

Ren Amamiya:

-Why not. We got nothing serious to worry about, so let's do it.

Ann Takamaki:

-Great! Btw, you should probably tell the group the news.

Ren Amamiya:

-Got it.

Ren navigated out of his conversation with Ann and to the GRAVY group chat.

GRAVY

Ren Amamiya:

-They tried to impeach the Residing Lord of GRAVY-esque Goodness, but ya boy beat the case.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-CAN'T STOP THE GRAVY TRAIN!

Haru Okumura:

-That is great news, Ren-kun!

Yusuke Kitagawa:

-Indeed.

Ren Amamiya:

-But there's still a catch. I got detention until exams are over and GRAVY's gotta step shit up a notch. Also gotta talk to Maruki weekly, but that's not that bad.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-DETENTION?! FOR REAL?! FREE MY BOY, HE AIN'T DO SHIT!

Ann Takamaki:

-Ryuji, you don't have to use capitals. They just look stupid.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-My b, but my point stands. Who you got for detention, Renji?

Ren Amamiya:

-Chuono. Apparently, she volunteered.

Ann Takamaki:

-Oh… you're screwed. Not gonna be a fun time with her.

Ren Amamiya:

-What's she gonna do, teach me?

Ann Takamaki:

-Yes. For hours. And harshly.

Yusuke Kitagawa:

-How horrid.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-Eff that, we're busting Renji out!

Ren Amamiya:

-Dude, it's literally just detention. I can manage.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-Nah, I've made up my mind. Haru, start planting poisonous shit. Yusuke, start making disguises for us.

Yusuke Kitagawa:

-And so I shall. May I dress as my favorite artist?

With the music Yusuke played for us, I'm guessing his favorite artist is a rapper. Yusuke dressing as the guy who made Runaway… that would be very, very bad. Also, if all the disguises follow that logic, that'd be terrifying. Ryuji dressing as Risette is not something that this world will ever need.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-Sure man, you do you.

Ren Amamiya:

-No one is doing anything. Kobayakawa told me that I've gotta be careful. One more fuck up could lead to me getting kicked out. Leaving detention early after Haru's poisoned Chuono won't be good, especially if Yusuke is dressed as a fucking rapper.

Yusuke Kitagawa:

-Rapper? I planned on disguising myself as Bob Ross.

Ren Amamiya:

-No. None of this is happening. I'll be fine in detention.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-Not without me you won't.

Ren Amamiya:

-I sense a GRAVY demotion coming.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-Do it, you won't.

Ann Takamaki:

-Guys, can we not do this? It's pointless. Besides, we've more important stuff to talk about.

Haru Okumura:

-And more important things to be listening to. We're still in class, you know.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-Then why're you still texting?

No response from Haru. Maybe she actually was serious about paying attention in class.

Ann Takamaki:

-It's fine. Our teacher's not telling us much anyway. Now I think it's time we get to why Ren texted the group in the first place…

Yusuke Kitagawa:

-You have a spare Bob Ross wig?

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-I can't deal with this guy.

Yusuke Kitagawa:

-This simply isn't true. You dealt me ¥1000 yesterday.

Ren Amamiya:

-God damn, can we focus for one second? The point of this was to say that we should have a party to celebrate everything that's gone well for us recently.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-Eff yeah! Who's gonna go apeshit?!

Yusuke Kitagawa:

-I would expect primates to be the last thing one compares themself to when defecating.

Ann Takamaki:

-Uh… anyway… what day works for you guys?

Ren Amamiya:

-If we're doing my place, I can host on Saturday night or Sunday. Saturday's probably better though.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-I'm ready any time!

Yusuke Kitagawa:

-As am I.

Ann Takamaki:

-Same here. Is Haru still here?

Haru Okumura:

-Yes, I've been reading along. I am also available Saturday evening.

So she wasn't paying attention as much as I thought.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-Sweet! That just leaves Miss President. So… wya, Prez?

After a few minutes without a response from Makoto, the group just decided to move on. However, the lack of response left Ren thinking.

I wonder what Makoto's doing today? I guess now she's got nothing to worry about, so maybe she just spent the day sleeping. Damn, that sounds nice. Or maybe she watched movies in bed all day. Maybe she thought about me once? Or twice? That'd be cool, too. I'll have to ask, along with telling her about the volleyball team.

Ren focused back on his phone.

Ann Takamaki:

-Guess she doesn't have her phone atm. That's fine. We can just talk to her later.

Ren Amamiya:

-Ofc. So, final plan for the party: Saturday night at my place.

Ryuji Sakamoto:

-Yep!

With that, Ren put away his phone. The GRAVY group chat had a dangerous habit of veering into mind-numbing pointlessness when there wasn't a specific goal for the conversation, and Ren wanted no part in it.

He guessed that Ann didn't either as she turned her gaze forward towards Kawakami. Strangely enough, Kawakami began started speaking about something important just as Ren and Ann began listening to her.

"While there is a final exam, that is not the only final that you have coming to worry about," Kawakami began, making the class groan. Ren didn't know why, and that only made him more curious as Kawakami continued speaking. "There will be a group project due before exam week. What is the topic or goal of this project? It's simple: make a presentation relating to something that we learned over the past few months and show it to the class. Easy enough, right?"

More groans from the class showed how much they disagreed with Kawakami. Despite this, the teacher persisted.

"There will be in-class time to work on the project, but you will likely need time outside of school to work on this. Make sure you're able to contact your groupmate," Kawakami explained. "If anyone has any questions, now's the time."

A girl on the other side of the classroom raised her hand.

"Kawakami-sensei, how are we supposed to present this? Is it like a poster or a slideshow or…"

"Good question. Similar to the topic, you can do whatever you want to present it to the class. Whatever you do, make it good. Keep in mind that this is graded, harshly, too," the teacher answered. "Anything else?"

The class's unmoving behavior answered her question.

"Good. Now…" Kawakami looked toward the clock of the classroom, "it's time for lunch."

The bell rang. Every student in the room shot out of their seats, Ann and Ren excluded. Unless something interesting was happening, they usually ate together in Kawakami's class and studied when they were done eating.

Looking forward to the feeling of normality that would come from eating lunch with Ann, Ren was disappointed when Kawakami approached his desk. The look on her face was harsh, but not the face of a teacher about to verbally obliterate their students.

Eh. Whatever. She was gonna have to talk to me about what I did eventually. Best to do it now than later, I guess.

"Amamiya-kun," Kawakami said, condescendingly staring down at the seated Ren. "You know why I'm talking to you now, correct?"

Ren sighed, "Yep."

"Good. That means this can be short," Kawakami stated, her eyes glancing over to Ann before going back to Ren. "While I do not condone what you said to the class before you left in any way, I don't believe you should be punished for it."

"I'm very sorry, Kawa- what?"

"I thought it was funny. Unless… you'd like me to tell the principal about this?" Kawakami questioned as one of her eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Uh…" Ren looked to Ann. She reassuringly nodded, informing him that this wasn't some elaborate prank that the class had planned while he was gone. "Thank you, Kawakami-sensei?"

"You're very welcome, Amamiya-kun, but please, don't do that again." A tired look flashed onto Kawakami's face. "It was a nightmare calming everyone down."

"Got it. Sorry about that."

"Uh-huh…" It was obvious that Kawakami doubted Ren feeling sorry, but she walked away anyway.

Ren and Ann were left alone in their area of the room.

"So… that was something?" said Ren.

"Of course it was something! You told the class to fuck themselves and your teacher thought it was funny!" Ann replied quietly enough so that Kawakami wouldn't hear them from her desk.

"Yeah… I guess it's… cool? I dunno, it feels wrong to have a teacher not punish me for saying that."

"Why're you complaining?" Ann bewilderedly asked.

"Because I want Kawakami to punish me," Ren automatically muttered.

What the fuck?! Why is that the first thing that comes out of my mouth?! Shit… it's the truth, isn't it? I should call the maid number- NO! Bad Ren. Do not solicit your teacher as a sex worker. That is not a good thing to do- but she's h- no! Bad idea.

"Huh?" Thankfully, Ann didn't hear Ren muttering.

"Agh, nothing, ya know?" Ren dismissively said, leaning back in his chair. He wanted to change the subject as soon as possible. "Wanna get lunch?"

"Why not."

The pair stood up from their desks to go to the first floor to buy food.

Ren walked into Leblanc actually excited to work. Not that he didn't enjoy working at the coffee shop, it was just that there was more energy to him than normal. His excitement was mainly over how relaxing it was to work at Leblanc. It paid well for simple work, and that was more than enough for Ren.

But no matter how excited Ren was, that didn't change the fact that barely any people went to Leblanc anyway. The place was empty as usual. Sojiro also noticed Ren's newfound energy.

"Feeling different today?" he gruffly asked.

"You could say that." Ren sat down at the bar. Instead of getting right to work, Ren's sessions at Leblanc usually began with him and Sojiro chatting it up.

"Tell me. What's gone down?"

"I got into another fight. It's why I was kinda acting like a dick on Monday."

Sojiro chuckled as he finished wiping off a plate he was cleaning.

"Yeah? You win this one?"

"Yeah. Broke the guy's nose."

Sojiro actually set down the plate before he adjusted he pushed his glasses further up the ridge of his nose. He extended his dry hand towards Ren.

"You have just earned yourself a raise."

Ren shook Sojiro's hand.

"Thanks. So if I go around beating people up then I get more raises?" Ren said as they finished their handshake.

Sojiro chuckled.

"Not how it works, Ren. Gotta learn to play the negotiation game first."

"Wanna teach me?"

"Nope," Sojiro immediately dismissed. "But I will teach you how to make coffee."

And just like that, Ren was prompted to get started on work for the evening. He brewed coffee until the occasional customer came through. Then he would take the customer's order, try to make it himself, fail miserably, and then let Sojiro prepare the order correctly. Ren would serve the customer their correct order, apologize for the delay, and walk away. Ren was used to this, but he was hoping to cut down on fucking up customer's orders.

Ren wasn't particularly ambitious when it came to brewing coffee, but getting better at that and making curry gave him something to work towards. It made him feel like he was bettering himself, which he was. He had already made significant improvements since he was first hired at Leblanc in April.

A few hours later, Ren and Sojiro began to clean up. Considering that they washed dishes immediately after customers left, there wasn't much left to do besides closing up the shop. Just as Ren was about to go and flip the door sign to "Closed," a delay walked through the door.

A very attractive delay.

Tae Takemi strolled into Leblanc, goth doctor outfit and all, among other things.

THIGHS!

Ren's eyes nearly sprang from his head. When he was able to yank his head away, he mentally chided himself.

You fucking pervert. How do you think that makes Takemi feel? Probably terrible. Don't do that. She helped you with your concussion and you're perving on her, you piece of shit.

No matter how harsh he was on himself, he always ended up at the same place.

Thighs. Thighs good.

The only thing that brought Ren back to himself was Tae speaking.

"Still serving coffee or am I going to have to pay extra?" The way she emphasized the last word scared Ren and energized him at the same time.

She didn't mean it that way. Your perverted mind just made you think she said it like that. Chill the fuck out and make her some coffee.

"Still serving, but only for you," Sojiro said from behind the counter.

"We'll gladly accept extra! All tips welcome!" Ren quickly added. He still hadn't moved his body from the middle of the room since Tae had entered.

Sojiro eyed Ren from behind the counter, shaking his head with disappointment.

"Ren, could you come back here?"

Ren didn't want to leave within six feet of Tae, but his job likely depended on it. He walked behind the counter. Sojiro turned and placed a hand on Ren's shoulder. He shook his head again before quietly muttering to Ren.

"Kid, sometimes you gotta just shut the fuck up,"

"Uh…" Ren was still looking over the counter at Tae.

Sojiro sighed.

"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend. Whatever. Just make her some coffee. Mess things up and you're fired."

Ren didn't need to be told twice. He quickly got to work on preparing a brew for Tae. He almost fucked up a few times when he was distracted, but he managed to make what he considered a good cup of coffee. He swiftly poured a mug for Tae and brought it over to the booth she had chosen to sit in.

"Thank you," Tae said neutrally. Ren turned and began to walk away lest he stare at Tae while she tried to relax, but the doctor spoke from behind him. "It's rude to just leave your customers lonely, you know."

Ren paused. He was sure that whatever she said was being modified by his brain to sound sexier than it was, but if it wasn't…

Is… is Tae trying to seduce me? Fuck, temptation is one thing I haven't defeated.

Ren slowly turned around to face the temptress doctor.

"Are you really going to keep a girl waiting?" Tae asked, cocking her head to gauge Ren's reaction.

Ren didn't care if he was unknowingly being manipulated into giving up confidential information or doing something shady. He nearly dove into the seat in the booth across from Tae. Just as he had himself sitting upright, Tae spoke again.

"Don't want some coffee for yourself?" she asked. Ren almost jumped out of his seat, before Tae held her hand up. "That's fine. We can share mine."

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…

If Ren's perversion allowed him more clarity he would've heard Sojiro muttering to himself before leaving the room for the attic. Instead, Ren focused solely on Tae as she took the first sip of her cup of coffee. With a gulp and a sigh, she looked Ren in the eye.

"That's good. Did you make this?" Ren desperately nodded. Tae nodded back like an adult would to their five-year-old. "You're getting better."

"Yes," was all that Ren could say.

"So, Amamiya-kun, how've you been? I haven't seen you since your incident."

"Doing good," Ren said flatly. He couldn't do much more than stare at Tae as she sipped her coffee. Their coffee.

"You sure? No after-effects from the concussion? Blood rushing to all the right places?" Tae said, her eyes narrowing in seductiveness.

Dude… Tae is… she's definitely trying to fuck. But there's no way. Why would she?! I don't get it. Or maybe she's just playing with me because she knows I'm a perverted dipshit. Better yet, she's doing it because she knows how much of a perv I am and she wants to torture me. Dammit.

"Erm…" It wasn't the easiest question to answer for anyone. "Yes?"

"You don't sure. Should I physically examine you to make things one hundred percent clear?" Tae asked.

This sounds like cringey fan fiction. Not like I care.

"Uwah…" Ren mumbled. He didn't even know what he was trying to say.

"Uwah," Tae repeated. "So no?"

"AH! Yes!"

Ren would've heard Sojiro laughing hysterically from the attic if he wasn't so enraptured with the woman in front of him.

"I see… first, let's finish our coffee," Tae mused.

Ren squirmed in his seat with anticipation. When Tae pushed the coffee mug towards him, he squirmed even more.

"Go on. Take a sip," Tae encouraged.

Ren wasn't sure how, but Tae managed to make encouraging someone to drink coffee sexy. He hesitated before he shakily picked up the mug and brought it to his lips. Just as he was taking a sip, Tae barely curved her lips.

Funnily enough, that wasn't what set Ren off.

Ever so gently, Ren could feel something brushing against his right leg. He knew what it was the moment it first brushed against it. The curve of Tae's lips widened as she nudged Ren's leg with hers a little harder.

And that was what did it. Ren tried to choke back a sheepish cough, failing to do so. The coffee he had sipped grossly went back into the cup, with a notable amount falling out of the cup onto Ren and the table.

"Oh, you poor thing…" Tae said, taking napkins from the end of the table and quickly handing them to Ren.

Ren had to hand it to Tae; even when sitting across from the most colossal fuck-up in Tokyo who had just covered himself in coffee, she kept up the act.

Ren awkwardly set the cup down and frustratedly got to work wiping the table off. At that moment, making sure the table was clean was more important than stopping the hot coffee from staining his clothes. At least he wasn't in his Shujin uniform.

Once he had finished wiping the table down, with the assistance of Tae, he looked down at his shirt. Unfortunately, he had taken off his apron after he finished brewing the coffee and the spilled coffee had already been absorbed into his outfit. Being the world's best dad didn't make your clothes stain-proof.

Fuck… worth it.

"Still want your medical examination or would you like to go home," Tae reminded.

"Oh… yes, please."

"Good manners, too…" Tae quietly mused before she stood up. She yelled to the attic so Sojiro could hear, "Sojiro? Ren and I are going to the clinic. He made a bit of a mess, but we cleaned it up."

The only answer received was deep laughter.

"Good enough," Tae muttered. She turned to Ren, who was still sitting down. "Coming?"

Ren immediately stood up and went to follow the doctor. He threw out the used napkins and placed the mug in the sink on the way out of Leblanc. He followed Tae through the dark streets of Yongen to her clinic, which was just across the street.

Tae opened the door for Ren, and he stepped in. It felt oddly nostalgic for Ren to step into the medical office again, but he quickly remembered the fucked up visions he endured there and the nostalgia vanished. Tae walked around him and went into the examination room, gesturing for Ren to follow.

He did, and he sat on the examination table after he entered. Tae took a seat at her desk, crossing her legs as she picked up a clipboard and pen. She clicked the pen more than a few times before she looked up at Ren.

"You haven't had a full medical examination since you came to Tokyo?" she asked. Ren shook his head, so she spoke again. "Let's change that."

Tae stood up and got a stethoscope. She quickly walked over to Ren and placed the stethoscope on his back to check his heartbeat.

You know, with how Tae was talking to me back in Leblanc, I was hoping that she would be testing my heart rate in other ways.

Tae finished checking Ren's heart rate and jotted down a few notes. The medical examination continued, with Tae checking Ren's other sensory body parts to make sure the concussion wasn't still affecting him. Thankfully, she concluded that he had made a full recovery. From there, the examination consisted of Ren being asked questions about his lifestyle from Tae as she sat in front of her computer.

"What've you been eating lately?"

"Bagels, curry, fast food… I dunno."

"Do you think you can get some more vegetables in there?"

"For a price," Ren said with a cough.

"Excuse me?"

Godammit, Ren. Why do you always have to say some shit like that?

"Yeah, yeah, I can find a way to get some vegetables in there," Ren corrected.

"Good," Tae said with an ever so slight chuckle.

Tae's questions continued, Ren's disappointment with what hadn't happened continued as well. Just as he thought he had been tricked into getting an actual medical examination…

"Here we are, my favorite part…" Tae said as she stood up from her swivel chair.

Ren wondered what would be Tae's favorite part, with her being as enigmatic as she was towards Ren, but didn't want to guess.

I like surprises.

"Drop your pants," Tae ordered.

YES!

Ren triumphantly dropped down from the table and began to unbuckle his pants before he was stopped.

"Woah, woah… I was just joking," Tae said. For once, she sounded like she was the flustered one. "Didn't think you'd actually listen."

My disappointment is immeasurable and my night is ruined.

"Anyway, what I meant when I said that this was my favorite part… here's what I meant: I'm able to conclude that you're healthy enough to continue being my guinea pig. Isn't that exciting?"

Ren grumbled, but he nodded anyway. He was still feeling bitter from being tricked. Tae could tell.

"Get over it. When're you able to come here?" she asked.

Ren was beginning to feel like Tae viewed him as more of a test subject than a person, but he realized that that was fair.

If I'm going to be a douche and just stare at her, I guess I deserve to get tricked.

To answer Tae's question, Ren was free most of the time. However, Ren considered himself smart. He could use the excuse of having a doctor's appointment the following week to get out of one detention period.

"I'm not available until Monday. Sorry," Ren said.

"Don't worry about it. I'll see you then." Ren was about to walk out the examination room door when Tae delivered her killing blow. "Make sure you're better with Makoto than you were with me."

Goddammit.

Ren left the clinic angry at himself for being such a perverted idiot.

Ren was about to settle into bed that night when his phone buzzed. He picked it up from his nightstand and looked at the message that came through.

Makoto Niijima:

-I saw the group chat earlier.

Ren Amamiya:

-Sweet. You coming to the party? I might have to cancel if you don't go…

Makoto Niijima:

-Maybe, but I wanted to talk about how you "beat the case." May I ask what Kobayakawa did?

Ren Amamiya:

-Long story short, I show up at the principal's office, Kobayakawa and Maruki are already there, and they play me a recording of Yoshiro's testimony. He was surprisingly honest about everything. Apparently, he and the other volleyball team members were planning on selling their girlfriends to Kaneshiro along with you to get jobs working for him. Yoshiro also wrote notes to convince you that things were actually a problem. Other than that, the recording convinced Kobayakawa that I shouldn't be expelled, just harshly punished. I have detention, I have to boost GRAVY, I have to get into the top 5 for the upcoming exams, and I have to talk to Maruki weekly.

Makoto Niijima:

-I'm glad you're not expelled, Ren. It's good that you're going to continue going to Shujin.

Ren Amamiya:

-Yep. Can't have GRAVY devolving into nothing, can we?

Makoto Niijima:

-Well, yes, but I wanted to continue spending time with you.

"What?!" Ren yelled allowed as he was sitting on his bed.

After being pulled out of the conversation for a moment, he realized how dumb he must've looked. He was sitting there, smelling like coffee, and tapping away at his phone. If Morgana was upset, the cat didn't show it. He continued sleeping at the end of the bed. Ren realized that he had to text Makoto back soon or else he would've fucked up so badly that he might as well have flushed the relationship down the toilet.

Ren Amamiya:

-That's good.

I fucked up anyway, didn't I? Shit! Think, Ren, think!

Ren Amamiya:

-I'm glad.* What better way for us to spend more time together than at the party on Saturday? ;)

Makoto Niijima:

-Why the winking thing?

Ren Amamiya:

-Emotional emphasis?

Makoto Niijima:

-Oh. Sure, I guess I'll go. Ren, there was one more thing I wanted to ask you about…

Okay, so send it in a message.

A minute or two passed and Makoto still hadn't sent anything despite the ball being in her side of the court.

Ren Amamiya:

-Makoto?

Makoto Niijima:

-Sorry, it's just a weird question.

Ren Amamiya:

-I can ask an even weirder question first if it makes yours seem less awkward.

Makoto Niijima:

-...

Ren took that as an "Okay" and typed out the first thing that came to mind.

Ren Amamiya:

-In all your time on the student council, have you ever had to help a student who shit himself at school?

Makoto Niijima:

-Ren! That's personal for the student! The whole point of the student council is that private business with individual students is confidential.

Ren Amamiya:

-So it's happened?

Makoto Niijima:

-...

Ren Amamiya:

-I'm just going to start guessing.

Ren Amamiya:

-Ryuji?

If Ryuji shit himself at school, I'm never letting him live it down. Then again, I'd probably have heard about it by now.

Ren Amamiya:

-Dai Shirai?

No response from Makoto. Ren hoped that his third guess would be the one.

Ren Amamiya:

-Mishima?

Makoto Niijima:

-...

Of-fucking-course it was. Who else would it have been?

Makoto Niijima:

-Ren, that was just weird.

Ren Amamiya:

-That was the point… so… ready to ask your question?

A full minute of anticipation had gone by when the message finally arrived.

Makoto Niijima:

-Is it weird I slept next to you the other night?

Ren couldn't help but chuckle. Makoto thought that the question needed answering. To Ren, it should've been obvious.

Ren Amamiya:

-Lmao.

Makoto Niijima:

-Ren!

Ren Amamiya:

-No, it's not weird. It was quite nice tbh…

Makoto Niijima:

-Elaborate on "nice."

Ren Amamiya:

-Shit, do you want a full Welp review for how enjoyable it was sleeping next to you?

Makoto Niijima:

-...Yes.

Ren hadn't expected that answer. Instead of writing a full review, he compromised.

Ren Amamiya:

-4.5/5. If Makoto wasn't so hung up and nervous about what happened, she'd get a 5/5.

Makoto Niijima:

-You're making fun of me.

Ren Amamiya:

-Yep. Makoto, you need to be more confident with asking questions, telling people things they need to hear, and yourself in general.

Makoto Niijima:

-Why

Not even ending her question with a question mark… that means I really got to her.

Ren Amamiya:

-I don't want this to sound mean. I really don't. But questioning everything you do as much as you already do isn't healthy. If you'd just loosen up a little and not overthink things as much as you do, I guarantee that you'll enjoy life more.

After a minute went by without a reply, Ren figured he should provide some encouraging words.

Ren Amamiya:

-Makoto, you don't need to question yourself when you're right most of the time.

Makoto Niijima:

-What about what happened with %^*#^ (#*? Was I right to just blurt his name out to those men in the alley?

Ren was too caught up in the conversation to think about why Kaneshiro's name had glitched out several times in text conversations.

Ren Amamiya:

-Hindsight is 20/20. What's important is that you thought you were right within the moment. Maybe if I hadn't questioned you and we hadn't argued things would've gone differently.

Makoto Niijima

-I'm fine with what happened.

Uh… what the fuck?

Makoto Niijima:

-As you said, hindsight is 20/20. If I knew everything was going to be fine, I would've gone through those two weeks again. I enjoyed my time with you.

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOO!

Makoto Niijima:

-A lot.

That made Ren spiral further into ecstasy.

Makoto Niijima:

-Now that I think more about it, I think I'll take your advice. I'll try to be more confident. I need to let people know exactly what I want without struggling.

Makoto Niijima:

-Goodnight, Ren.

Ren was still in ecstasy from Makoto's previous messages, so he was too preoccupied to reply.

Makoto Niijima:

-Say it back.

Okay, maybe she has the wrong idea of being more assertive. Eh. Whatever. It's cute.

Ren Amamiya:

-Good night, Makoto. Thanks for asking how things went with Kobayakawa.

Not expecting a reply, Ren laid down in his bed. He was just beginning to close his eyes when his phone buzzed again. He reached over to the nightstand to check his phone. He hoped with every bit of his body that it was another message from Makoto.

Makoto Niijima:

-Sorry, but could we do this again? I liked talking to you.

Makoto Niijima:

-Wait, that's not right.

Makoto Niijima:

-We're going to be texting each other at night again.

Ren smiled at his phone. The message he sent was the happiest thing he had ever typed on his phone.

Ren Amamiya:

-Ok.

Ren put his phone down. He needed to get some sleep, but that was going to be difficult with how much was on his mind. Or, to be specific, who was on his mind.

Now that I think about it… Kaneshiro kinda got things going again with me and Makoto. Without him, we'd probably still be bumbling around like idiots. I'd be coming up with some shitty excuse to not talk to her and she'd be doing… uh… something?

While Ren wasn't sure what Makoto would be doing if Kaneshiro had never gotten to her in the first place, he did know that Kaneshiro dramatically improved Ren and Makoto's relationship. But "what if" questions were always followed by more of the same.

What if Makoto never had to suffer? Would she and I still be moving forward like this? How are we moving forward? I'm kinda flirting with her… and things have been heightening, to say the least. So… the big question. Do I wanna go into an actual relationship with Makoto? A few weeks ago, I would've said no. Now, I think I know the answer.

Ren leaned upwards in bed. He felt Morgana tiredly moving around on his bed. Ren looked in the direction where he thought Morgana's face was.

"Morgana, I'm gonna date Makoto Niijima."

Morgana meowed as if he was saying, "That's cool and all, but could you please shut up?"

Ren laid back down. Before sleep took him, one more thought went through his mind.

Thank you, Kaneshiro, and I hope that you're burning in hell. I hope that every time you stub your toe in the afterlife, a nail goes into your foot. I hope that every person you killed beats the shit out of you. I hope that your mother is scolding you. I hope that Satan bitch-slaps you for being a bigger piece of shit than him. But thanks. Being closer with Makoto is pretty cool.

Ren fell asleep.

A/N: It's probably pretty obvious by now, but I've changed a lot about the high school setting to fit what I know about high school. Rather than writing a realistic depiction of Japanese high school, I'd rather write what I know.

Also, chapters going forward won't be building to some sort of crazy climax yet and I can't promise exceptional pacing, if this story had any in the first place. I tried planning ahead a bunch last night but it made me really stressed out, so I'm just going to stick to my normal routine of coming up with chapter's the week of. I know the general plot moving forward, but it's not like I have a properly set order of events. That comes later. Hope you guys understand, and thanks for reading.