Wow, this was a quick update. I actually had some of this chapter done when I published the third part of Otoya's story. Now, it's time to take a break from Otoya and take a look at what Ren's up to!

I forgot to mention this: Ren is a fifth grader, Tokiya and Hayato are third graders, and Otoya is a second grader. I'll be sure to say something if there's a time skip and their ages change.

The Story of Jinguuji Ren I

Jinguuji Ren hated going to school.

Nothing interesting ever happened in his classes, and to make matters worse, there seemed to be girls fawning over him no matter where he went. He would catch them staring at him during class, and some were creepy enough to follow him from class to class. This, combined with the fact that Ren was always bored, led him to skip class a couple times every week.

But the one class he never skipped was music class.

No matter what happened or how many girls stalked him that day, the orange-haired boy always showed up in the music room. He paid attention whenever the teacher spoke and actually made an effort when asked to sing. When he sang, he entered his own world, leaving his classmates and teacher behind as he glided through the notes.

He also liked going to the music room after school to listen to the song that his deceased mother left him. The room would be empty after the last class, and no one would be there to bother him.

No one would see the usually relaxed and confident fifth grader silently cry as he listened to his mother's voice.

When the bell rang, Ren sighed and grabbed his bag, ignoring the flock of girls who stood nearby to fawn over him. He strode out of the room and followed the flow of students heading for the front gates. Once outside, he leaned against one of the gates with his arms crossed. Other elementary school kids walked past him, greeting the parents who had come to pick up their children. But there was no one waiting for the orange-haired boy.

"Ren."

The boy turned to see a navy-haired third grader standing next to him and holding a CD. Ren smiled lazily at the boy, "Yo, Icchi."

Ichinose Tokiya held the CD out to him. "Here's the CD you wanted to borrow. Take good care of it."

"Gotcha. I'll give it back as soon as I finish listening to it." Ren placed the CD carefully in his bag. As he straightened up, he noticed someone staring in their direction. A red-haired child was standing near the front doors of the school, his gaze fixed on the oblivious Tokiya, who was wondering why the orange-haired boy was suddenly smirking to himself.

As Ren watched, Hayato appeared behind the redhead, surprising the latter. Tokiya's twin said something to the kid and brought him over to where Tokiya and Ren stood.

"Tokiya, Ren, this is Ittoki Otoya!" Hayato chirped. He turned to the redhead. "Otoya, this is my brother Tokiya and our friend Jinguuji Ren."

"Nice ta meet ya, Ikki." Ren waved, still smirking. 'So this kid seems to have some puppy love for Icchi, huh? He's pretty obvious...Icchi definitely knows that something's up.'

Ren lost interest in the conversation after that. He was aware of Hayato talking to Otoya, and also noticed Tokiya watching the redhead. He observed the group for a bit, watching and learning as Otoya's babysitter came to pick up the redhead. After the redhead had scampered off with a blush on his face, Ren said goodbye to the twins as well and headed back into the school, walking towards the music room.

'Seems like Ikki and Icchi both like each other, but neither one knows their own feelings or the feelings of the other person. How troublesome.' Ah, well. It wasn't really his business after all. The only thing he really cared about was his music.

As Ren arrived on the second floor of the building, his ears picked up the sound of a piano. The only pianos that the school had were in the music room. Was there someone else using the music room right now? He didn't want to have to find a different room, but he didn't want to share a room with someone else either.

He slowly walked forward until he could peer into the music room through the small window on the door. Sure enough, there was someone sitting in front of the piano, skillfully pressing the keys down in various chords and arpeggios. Judging by what Ren could see, the piano player was a student, possibly a few years younger than him due to the small stature on the piano bench. Unfortunately, the built-in music stand blocked the student's face from view.

Ren thought that the person was probably a girl. Most of the piano players that he knew were female, and the player's figure seemed very girlish to him.

What really caught Ren's attention was the music. It was a tune composed of simple scales, arpeggios, and chords. The notes were short and clean, reminding Ren of a ball bouncing down a set of stairs.

It was actually very soothing.

If it was someone else using the music room, Ren would have just gone to a different room to listen to the song his mother left him. However, this music kept him rooted to the spot. He wanted to hear more and more. It was strange. Just a simple, beginner's song could make him just want to sit there forever.

Before he knew it, Ren was leaning against the door with his eyes closed, focusing entirely on the notes from the piano. The bouncy melody made him feel light, something he hadn't felt in a long time. He gradually lost track of time as he allowed himself to bathe in the music.

All of sudden, Ren noticed that the music stopped and the room was quiet. He leaned over and looked through the window to see the girl picking up her bag. 'Oh, crap!' Ren quickly withdrew his head and looked around for a place to hide. 'It'll be awkward if she finds out that I was hiding here and listening to her play. It's too creepy!'

He dashed around the corner and held his breath, hoping that the pianist wouldn't come this way. Ice blue eyes cautiously peeked out at the music room and watched as the student left the room. For a moment, the student's face was angled so that Ren managed to catch a glimpse.

The orange-haired boy paled slightly. 'You're kidding me. It's a boy? I thought that he was girl for sure since he looked so skinny!' Ren was seriously questioning everything he thought he had figured out. Boys were supposed to be slightly tanned and tough, not slender and pale. Or at least that's what Ren thought.

Ren broke out of his thoughts when he noticed that the pianist had disappeared down the stairs. As quickly and quietly as possible, he followed after the other boy, careful not to let his shoes squeak on the tiled floor.

He watched as the boy walked out the front doors and was greeted by an old man, who bowed and held open the door of the waiting car. The pianist nodded and got into the car. The old man, who Ren assumed was the boy's butler, shut the door and got into the driver's seat. The car let out a low rumble and headed down the street, disappearing around the corner.

Ren wanted to slap himself once he realized what just happened. He buried his face in his hands to hide his embarrassment. 'I just stalked a rich kid that I saw in the music room.' He was acting like the red-haired boy that he had just met not too long ago.

"I blame you for this, Ikki."