5/28 – Saturday
After School
Cafe Leblanc, Attic
The day after the Thieves' final infiltration of Madarame's Palace, after they had stolen the man's sinful heart, Ren felt surprisingly revitalized. Besides for a bit of stiffness, there were no issues to speak of. He'd expected the others to feel the same, but a glance around the attic at the exhausted trio of teens showed otherwise. "We don't have to hang out today," he offered. Ren adjusted on his mattress to get a little more comfortable. "You guys can–"
"Duuuude," Ryuji said, slumped back to the point of half falling out of his chair. "It's finally the weekend, and we just kicked ass in a–" He cut himself off with a long yawn. "-major way. We should be celebrating, and shit."
Ann nodded, holding her small mug of coffee in both hands, taking deep breaths of the steam. "I'm more relaxed with you four anyway," she mumbled.
Yusuke didn't say anything, just kept nibbling on the nail of his thumb, a thousand-mile gaze towards the far wall.
"Well," Morgana grumbled, stretching out next to Ren on the mattress, "doesn't look like any of you have enough energy for karaoke. So that's off the table."
"We could go get dinner somewhere?" Ryuji said.
"I'm not really that hungry," Ren admitted.
Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, yeah, me neither."
Ann took a long sip and then put her cup down. "What about a movie? The theater in Shibuya probably has...something playing."
"And what if one of you falls asleep partway through?" Morgana teased. "They'd kick us out of the theater if Ryuji started snoring."
Ryuji glared at the feline. "Bet they don't allow ca..." He caught himself. "Don't allow little fuzzy creatures inside either."
Eager to cut off a potential fight, Ren cut in. "Well, what if we just do something here? I'll ask boss if you can stay late, and if anyone falls asleep it's no problem."
"Something like what?" Ann asked.
Ren didn't have a response.
"Let's just watch a film then," Yusuke finally added.
Ryuji gave the young man an odd look. "We already said why that wouldn't work."
"No, I mean." He pointed to the television on the table behind Ann. "Watch a movie here."
"Oh!" Ren smacked himself in the forehead. "Right. Right, yeah." He stood up. "And uh, like I said, you all feel free to pass out if you're tired."
"Oh my god," Ann spluttered from her seat on the floor, choking on her own laughter. "Fuck you Yusuke, you know this isn't a smart enough movie for that."
Yusuke stayed adamant, crossing his arms in his chair despite his honest smile. "Unless it is an impossibly recessive gene, I see no reason how Vee could be Luka's sister, since neither of Luka and therefore Vee's parents have red eyes."
"She has red eyes," Ann retorted, still giggling, "because she's evil. It's not that deep!"
Ren found himself glancing over at Ryuji, who had also moved to the mattress next to him and currently had the biggest, dumbest looking grin on his face, snickering at the scene.
"I promise you," Yusuke said, "that the laws of genetics do not bend to villainy."
"They're fighting wizards in space!" Ann shrieked, before doubling over laughing.
Ren couldn't hold in his laughter either, and the Thieves drowned out the TV with collective mirth.
A knock on wood, and the familiar black hair of Leblanc's owner popped up next to the attic banister. "Sounds like you all are having fun," he said with a smile.
"Oh." Ren found himself realizing just how loud they had been. "I'm sorry–"
Sojiro shook his head. "Hey, I'm the only one here to be bothered anyway. The last customers left a little while ago, so I was just about to head out." He rolled his head, hand on his neck. "Haven't lost your keys, right?"
Ren pulled the keys out of his pocket and shook them for emphasis. "Still got em."
"Good." Sojiro waved to the teens and Morgana. "Alright then, enjoy yourselves. Ciao." Back down the stairs.
"Ciao!" Ryuji called back, echoed a second after by Ann.
Ren half expected Yusuke to say his own polite farewell too, but the young man seemed to be busy staring at his left hand, rolling his wrist and frowning. "Yusuke? You doing alright?"
The painter started. "Ah, yes, my apologies." He raised his arm. "Just feeling a little sore. I painted quite vigorously today, and along with yesterday–" Yusuke abruptly cut off, an odd cloud across his face. Nothing else needed to be said. The sight of Madarame's Shadow coughing bile across frozen ink still haunted Ren's thoughts.
"Dude," Ryuji said. "Uh. Did Madarame...like..." He snapped his fingers with frustrated energy.
"Has he changed yet?" Morgana cut straight to the point from his seat on the floor next to Ann.
"I'm not quite sure," Yusuke replied. "I admit, I have gone out of my way to avoid him so far." He looked down at the floor, away from the bed, hands in his lap. "He seems more distracted. Normally, Sens...Madarame departs each morning before I do. I am to prepare my own breakfast, or he'll leave me leftovers of his. But today, he was at the table when I came downstairs. Not even eating, just drinking coffee. And he was still there when I left."
"Perfect!" Morgana exclaimed, and stretched himself out. "Apparently, it takes a little while for changes of heart to sink in. Kamoshida's took over a week, after all. 'Different behavior' is a very good sign."
"Ah," Yusuke said. "I...I wasn't aware." He put on a smile Ren could tell was forced. "I'll do my best to keep an eye on him. Just in case..."
Ann shook her head. "Yusuke, his Palace collapsed. We stole his Treasure, there's nothing more we can do. We'll find out when the time comes." She flicked her fingernails against each other. "It hurts you to be around Madarame, right?"
The young man hesitated, then nodded.
"So stay the fuck away from him," she said firmly.
Yusuke smiled again, faint, but this time it seemed honest. "Thank you."
"Speaking of his Treasure," Ren said. "Any ideas what you're going to do with 'Sayuri?' You could probably donate it to a gallery or something after–" He cut himself off when Yusuke shook his head.
"As much as my mother's portraiture deserves to be seen," he said, quietly, "I have had enough of those institutions to last me a long time, I think."
Right. They had fostered Madarame's corruption, after all. So many gallery owners willing to become accomplices to his crimes. "I'm sorry," Ren said.
"No apologies necessary," Yusuke replied, simply. "I can't keep the painting hidden in my room forever, after all. I'll think on a fitting place for it, where her love can do...the most good, perhaps."
Ren smiled. "Sounds like a good plan."
A silence fell in the attic, with only the sound of a film they'd all lost interest in.
Ryuji broke the quiet. "Now that you mention it, I'm pretty sore from yesterday too." He stretched his arms out over his head. Then, he started. "Oh shit. Ren, isn't there like, a bathhouse right across the street from here?"
Ren nodded. "I haven't been there myself, but yeah."
"We should totally go!" The jock's face was flushed with near-solar excitement. "Like, as a dude-to-dude bonding sesh. Shit, I haven't done that since I got kicked off the track team." Ren expected that statement to land with more impact, but Ryuji seemed too caught up in his own jubilation to notice. "Uh, sorry Ann, you wouldn't be able to come with us."
Ann shrugged. "I was getting kinda tired anyway. Probably gonna head back home after this so I don't pass out on the train."
Morgana plopped back down. "Bet I'd get kicked out too," he grumbled. Ann reached over and pet his head, and Ren heard a quiet purr from across the room.
Yusuke sighed, crossing his arms. "A public bathhouse isn't quite my ideal onsen experience, but it still sounds lovely."
Ren nodded, smiling at the mental image of...wait. "Uh, nude bath?"
Yusuke nodded. "I believe so. Very little point bathing clothed, after all."
"Ah." Ren felt all the color drain from his face. "Cool. You guys have fun."
Ryuji's expression fell in an instant. "You're...not coming with?"
His chest ached at the thought of disappointing Ryuji, but Ren nodded. "Yeah, I'm like. No. No to public bath."
Ryuji rubbed his chin, crossing one leg over the other. "I mean, I know some weird old dudes show up to public bathhouses sometimes. We can just go later, those guys get tired pretty early after all."
Ren shook his head. "No, that's not–"
"And," the oblivious jock continued, "I know it's like, pretty embarrassing doing it for the first time and all. 'Specially since if it's a new thing for you. But me and Yusuke aren't gonna judge or whatever."
"That's not the issue," Ren said, more firmly this time.
"What then..." Yusuke cut himself off. "Is it something that we can help with?"
Ren almost laughed. "Well, considering I'd rather die than be naked around other people in any context–" And he clamped his lips shut. Why did he say that out loud? Why the fuck did he say that out loud!? He found his gaze drifting towards Ryuji, expecting the boy's expression to be some mask of anger, disgust, disappointment.
Instead, the jock simply stared at him, blinking, brow a little furrowed. "Ren, you have swim trunks, right?"
"Uh. Yeah? I don't see–"
"So wear those," Ryuji said, simply. "You don't have to get naked or nothin."
Ren stared at him. "Doesn't that...sort of defeat the purpose of the whole, like, team bonding thing? If I'm the only one..."
Ryuji snorted. "Nah dude. Like, back on the track team, we used to do a bathhouse outing after ever meet. Half the guys wore suits the first few times. Hell, I wore one too. No judgement here."
"I'd wager," Yusuke added, "some of them continued wearing theirs even longer?"
"Oh, yeah, like, for sure." Ryuji leaned back on the mattress. "Like, there was this one guy who never took them off. And it wasn't–" He cut himself off, brow furrowed. "Well. I guess everyone else gave him shit about that. Me too." He quickly waved a hand in preemptive dismissal. "But, like, I'm not that kinda dude any more! Promise, you won't hear a peep out of me bout it!"
Ren didn't know what to say. It was still...far, far beyond his normal comfortability. But he couldn't say it didn't sound nice, even just relaxing in the hot water. And with Ryuji, and Yusuke? Ren took a deep breath. "Sure, let's go." He spied Ann giving him a big smile from behind Yusuke, some sort of odd sparkle in her eyes. Like pride.
Ren kept his gaze towards the ceiling, leaning back and letting his entire torso dip beneath the water. He couldn't see much without his glasses, and the steam provided further obscured things, but it wasn't like there was much to look at. Besides, uh, the obvious. "This is nice," he said. It did feel odd being the only one wearing anything, but they'd managed to catch the bathhouse otherwise empty and the temperature was perfect.
"For real," Ryuji agreed. The jock let out a long, satisfied sigh. "Shit, I missed this."
"You could have gone on your own," Yusuke offered.
"Nah dude, it's not the same. Good company makes baths, like, go from pretty comfy to goddamn paradise."
Ren glanced down towards Ryuji – whose seat in the water was facing just over Ren's right shoulder. He made a conscious effort to keep his gaze strictly towards the jock's face. "Glad to hear we're good company," Ren teased.
"Uh, duh." Ryuji snorted with laughter. Might have just been lightheadedness from the steam, but the sound made Ren's heart smack against the inside of his ribs. "You're the best company."
"I wholeheartedly concur," Yusuke said. He was sitting against the side, arms on the bath's lip, facing both Ren and Ryuji. His head was back against the floor, a paragon image of relaxation. "I wish it could have been under better circumstances, but...I am beyond blessed to have met you both. And Ann and Morgana as well, of course."
"Yeah, I feel the same way." Ryuji let out a long breath. Ren felt the water push against him, and realized it was the jock's restless leg, jittering its way through the bathwater. "Like. If I hadn't confronted Kamoshida last year, I'd probably still be running track. I wouldn't have met you, Ren, or any of the Thieves. Well, I mean, I knew Ann from middle school, but..." He sighed again. "I'm sorta rambling here, but like, I guess I'm trying to say it wasn't a mistake. Me getting myself kicked off the team, and all."
"Even if we'd never met," Ren said, softly, "it still wouldn't have been a mistake."
"I can't say that I know the entire situation," Yusuke added, "but from everything I've heard, it must have taken extraordinary courage."
Ren nodded. "It's shitty...okay, shitty's an understatement, but it's shitty that you had to fight Kamoshida alone, back then. It never should have gotten to that point, but it wasn't your fault that it did." He choked back a knot in his throat. "It wasn't your fault."
Ryuji was quiet for a moment, simply staring at the ceiling. "You guys are the fuckin best," he said, finally, stained by what must have been a sob threatening to bubble out of him. The jock scooted off his seat, half-swimming towards Ren with one arm open for an embrace.
"Naked!" Ren yelped.
Ryuji started. "Right! Right, uh." Despite his sheepish expression, the blond laughed. "Sorry." He returned to his previous position.
Ren, even though he felt like his face was threatening to boil off, found himself snickering too. "It's cool. Just, uh, yeah. Thanks." He glanced towards Yusuke to see the young man wearing a strange expression; sort of melancholy, maybe, possessed of an honest but distant smile. "Yusuke?"
Yusuke blinked, returning to awareness before Ren had the chance to ask what was on his mind. "Apologies. I was simply...taking in the moment." He closed his eyes. "If it is at all possible, I think I would like to remember this moment for a long while."
Ren still felt like there was something he wasn't saying, but he decided not to pry. "Me too Yusuke, me too."
5/30 – Monday
Morning
Aoyama-Itchome
The bellowing rant of a particularly irate customer downstairs had woken Ren up earlier than he was used to, but he'd still gotten off the subway before he realized he was nearly a half hour early for school. Morgana was probably still asleep in his bag, judging from the feline's complete silence. To keep from disturbing him, Ren took the stairs towards aboveground far slower than he normally would. Coincidentally, that meant he also was able to stop himself from colliding with the red-haired young woman who'd stopped completely on the staircase in front of him.
"Excuse me," he said.
She started, and glanced towards Ren, away from the poster she'd been staring at. "I'm terribly sorry! I didn't mean to stop, I'll keep walking now!" To prove her point, she immediately turned towards the exit once more and resumed her ascent.
Ren was about to wonder if he'd seen the girl somewhere when he remembered her name. "Kasumi, wait up!" He hurried after her, skipping a few steps to catch up with the girl. "It's Ren, we met outside Maruki's office."
She gave him an odd glance, like she couldn't quite remember him, but then her face lit up. "Oh, right, Mister Amamiya!"
"Just Ren," he laughed. "Uh, would it be too..." He bit back the question he really wanted to ask. Held his tongue, didn't inquire if she'd remembered anything yet. If what Kasumi had forgotten was anything like what he had...he just didn't want to hurt her. "Is therapy going well for you?"
Kasumi nodded. "Very much. I..." She hesitated, faced straight ahead again. "Well, I hope so."
The noncommittal tone felt like fingernails across Ren's spine. "Only hope?" he prompted.
She shrugged. "I've been seeing Mister Maruki for a while. Um, a year? He says I've made a lot of pr-ogress since then, but, I still don't remember anything new."
Ah. Well, he didn't need to ask now. "I'm sorry," Ren said. "I know that feeling, I think."
"Like a horse stuck in mud," Kasumi said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah. I'd say that's accurate." The two reached the top stair now, and Ren paused to catch his breath.
Kasumi kept walking, but halted suddenly, probably as soon as she noticed Ren wasn't next to her. She glanced in both directions, then finally over her shoulder, starting at the sight of him. "Oh! There you are."
Ren laughed. "Yep, here I am." He took one last long breath, then joined Kasumi again. "Maruki coming to Shujin is pretty lucky then, right? Since you met with him before."
"Oh, not at all," Kasumi replied, shaking her head with such force that her ponytail smacked each side of her face in turn. "Mister Maruki said he appealed to Shujin, since he knew I was–" And the girl flinched to a stop, less of a simple start than an unprompted full-body convulsion.
Ren nearly jumped out of his skin, heart immediately kicked into panic.
"I wasn't sup-sup...meant to say that," she stuttered, shuddering in place. "I wasn't–" Both hands against her chest, Kasumi's knees looked ready to buckle.
"Hey," Ren said, trying to keep his own heart from climbing up his throat. "It's alright, you didn't do anything wrong. I'll...I've got a bad memory anyway, right?" He twisted a lock of hair between his fingers. "And I didn't even hear you that well. So, consider it forgotten. Okay?"
Kasumi was silent for a moment. Maybe she was shaking less, Ren couldn't tell for sure, but she neither moved nor said anything for a long few seconds. Then she straightened up and glanced towards Ren, her eyes looking absently just over his shoulder. "Are you sure?" she asked, in a small voice. "I don't...it was wrong, I shouldn't have said it, and–" Kasumi cut herself off, her breathing erratic. Not quite a sob.
Ren took a deep breath, forcing his anxiety down, forcing his heart to beat its typical tempo. "I don't think you did anything wrong," he said. "Accidents happen. And you didn't tell me anything Maruki'd be upset about." She gave him an odd look, so he elaborated. "I'm not Maruki, but I bet he asked you not to talk about that because he didn't want people to judge you too harshly. He's supposed to be here for normal mental health counseling, after all." Ren's right hand found his left wrist, he ran his fingers across the scar he knew to be there. "But, I'm seeing him too. For some of the same things, probably. Nothing to judge."
She seemed to consider that. Calmer, perhaps, or at least farther dissociated from panic. "Do I have to tell him that I told you?" she asked.
Ren shook his head. "Not unless it feels upsetting to not tell him."
"But..." Her brow furrowed. "He'd be mad if I didn't, right?"
"I don't think he'd be mad at you at all," Ren said. "He doesn't seem like that sort of guy. If you want to, I could go tell him with you, so you don't have to do it on your own?"
Kasumi tilted her head at Ren, smiling in an odd strained way. "Hm," she said, a half-lilt, almost humming the sound.
"What?"
"I think you're very kind," she replied. "And I'm not sure why."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Do I need a reason?" he mumbled.
Kasumi shrugged. "I'm not used to it," she continued, "and...um..." She shifted in place. "I'm not quite sure that I trust you yet. I'm sorry."
Ren nodded. "Nothing to apologize for." He didn't distrust her at all, but, there was obviously a lot he wasn't comfortable telling Kasumi. "I get that."
"Oh," she said. And she wiggled her fingers in midair, arms by her sides but hands up, some sort of idle fidget. "I'm glad. That makes me very happy." Kasumi wobbled back and forth for a moment, like a blade of grass in the wind. "I don't know why, but I feel like you und-erstand me really well. That's weird, right?"
"I dunno," he said. "I guess, we're pretty similar in a lot of ways?"
She nodded. "Hm. Hm hm. You wouldn't happen to be a gymnast too?"
A gymnast, huh? A chill across Ren's face, like the familiar embrace of Joker's mask. "Not really gymnastics, but my friends and I are pretty active." What was the best analogy for what they did? Vigilante was a little too accurate... "We parkour. Sorta."
"Oh!" Kasumi's face lit up. "That sounds exciting! Per-haps I could join you all sometime."
Ren rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe, yeah. It's sort of, uh. Not strictly legal? Like we go places we're not supposed to. I wouldn't want you to get into trouble." He felt bad about shooting her down, but it wasn't exactly like he could just invite Kasumi into a Palace.
She stared at him, nodding slowly. "I see. So it's not murder."
Ren blanched. A smell like sulfur, sharp and acrid. Some odd echo in his eardrums.
"Ah!" Kasumi started, shaking both head and hands. "No, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean–" She struggled to speak, but her words seemed to catch in her throat. The girl took a deep breath. "There were some rumors. I heard about you. That your rec-ord was because you, uh." Hands together, fingers wiggling against each other. "Killed someone. But, you didn't, right?"
Oh. Criminal record. Right. "I didn't," Ren replied. "I pushed someone and he sued me."
She blinked at him. "That doesn't sound bad at all," she muttered. "Why do people think you're a bad person for that?'
Ren shrugged. "I dunno. They assume the worst, I guess."
Kasumi frowned. "Well, I think you're a lovely person Mist...uh, Ren."
He smiled. "Thanks, Kasumi," he replied. "I think you're a lovely person too."
5/30 – Monday
After School
Shibuya, Station Square
At the bottom of the stairs from the Ginza line, Ren noticed the omnipresent sound of Shibuya's bustle felt a little louder today. A little more impassioned.
"–and beyond that," came a voice from the square, booming and full of energy, "we find out a teacher at a so-called prestigious local academy had been assaulting his students!"
Ren froze.
"Sexual harassment, corporal punishment, repeated coercion; these are abuses of power that should never have been accepted in an educational institution. And yet, this monster was allowed to continue abusing young people for, according to released testimony, the past four years!"
"Ren?" Morgana said from inside his bag. "Why did you stop? Everything okay?"
"Yeah," Ren replied. "I just...kinda wanna listen to this guy's speech." He walked into the square proper, slowly ever closer to the speaker's voice from the other side of a station building.
"As well," the man continued, "it is hardly the first time these incidents have come to light. There have been multiple complaints, appeals by his victims towards staff and the police. But were they taken seriously? No! These young men and women were made to suffer alone in silence, or warped into pariahs by the very system that protects their abusers."
Ren found himself nodding.
"Now, these individuals have a chance to redeem themselves. There should have been a major investigation, at the very least, to determine any staff members who might be committing similar abuses or who were direct accomplices to this monster. But there has been nothing! Beyond arresting a confessed abuser, those officers who should have protected the victims have yet to actually do so."
Around the side of the building now, Ren could see the man, a receding hairline and green sash across his chest, and a stern round face that looked awfully familiar.
"How can we place our trust in protectors who do not protect, in servers who do not serve?" The man brought a fist down into his open palm. "What sort of example are we setting for the next generation? That actions only have consequences for those who go against the status quo? How can we expect them to grow into happy, healthy adults in such an environment?"
Ren glanced towards the small crowd, expecting passionate applause, but...there was hardly any reaction. A few exhausted looking businessmen with glazed over eyes and drooped expressions, a student leaning against the building while tapping away at some sort of mobile game, and a woman passed out on a piece of cardboard, covered by an uncomfortable-looking wool blanket. Ren felt the urge to applaud, maybe spark some excitement in the half-dozen apathetic witnesses, but the thought of so many eyes on him kept his hands in his pockets.
If the man on the podium was bothered by the silence, he didn't seem it. He took a long swig from a metal water bottle before continuing. "It is our duty, our responsibility, to prevent these atrocities from occurring in the first place. Barring that, even if we should accept our inability to save every young man and young woman, we should at very least act swiftly and decisively to replace any system that enables their suffering!" Then, he paused. "Every young person, I mean to say. Even, or rather especially, those who do not...er..." The man cleared his throat, clearly thrown off by his own interruption. "Such...such systems should be replaced...no, wait, I said that already." His confidant posture wilted. "Well. Thank you very much for listening to my speech!" He bowed, and the businessmen immediately walked towards the subway, the student similarly strolling back towards Central Street.
"That was a real mess," Morgana mumbled.
"Just at the end," Ren said. "The rest of his speech was amazing."
"Are you gonna go tell him?"
Ren hesitated. Would it be too weird to give a compliment like that to a stranger? He hadn't even clapped during the speech at all.
The man stepped down off the podium and wiped some sweat from his brow on the sleeve of his slightly-too-tight suit jacket. He walked over to the passed-out woman and knelt down next to her. "–inconveniencing–" came his voice, a faint mumble. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, counted out a few bills and slipped them beneath the woman's blanket, bowing his head slightly.
"Yeah," Ren replied. "I'll tell him." The man started back towards his podium, so Ren quickly crossed over to reach him partway across the square. "Excuse me, sir?"
The man looked towards him, and his tired face lit up. "Ah. Hello young man, how can I help you?"
"I listened to your speech," Ren said, trying to keep himself from mumbling, "and I thought it was very good. I agreed with you. Well, agree. Yeah."
He chuckled. "Well, thank you very much." Then his expression seemed to fall. "I haven't seen you at the beef bowl shop in a few weeks, you didn't happen to lose your job there, did you?"
And the man's familiar face clicked into a name. "Oh, no no." Ren rubbed the back of his neck. "It's part time, and I've just been really busy recently. Exams, and all."
"I see, I see," the man – Yoshida – replied. "That's good to hear. It's not uncommon for businesses like that to cycle through dozens of young people every few months." He shook his head, letting out a little frustrated sigh. "They stay understaffed to cut costs, then fire any employees who can't pick up the slack."
Ren nodded. "That's awful." He made a mental note to keep his ears open, in case a similar request came up on the Phansite. Maybe he could ask Mishima to look into it...
Yoshida started. "Ah, I apologize. I didn't mean to go off topic like that."
"It's fine," Ren said. "You could do your next speech on that, maybe."
"Perhaps," Yoshida chuckled. "As things are, I find myself with no shortage of speech topics. There's simply too much that needs to change." He sighed. "Perhaps I should give more speeches on the same topic, though. It's rather difficult to do right by such important subjects while slipping up as I did tonight."
Ren shrugged. "I dunno, I think you did fine by it, slip up aside." He shifted, not quite sure why he was suddenly feeling so embarrassed. "I should know, after all. I go to Shujin."
Yoshida was quiet for a little while. "I'm very sorry," he said, and continued before Ren could absolve his apology, "that you went through as much, without anyone on your side. It must have been very difficult, and I am sorry."
"Thank you," Ren said. "I did have some people on my side, though."
Yoshida smiled. "I'm very glad to hear that. And I'm glad to hear that my speech resonated with you, that's just as important to me as educating the uninformed. Not much point in protesting harm while causing that same harm; feels rather cruel, beyond counter-intuitive."
A little click in Ren's mind. "Is that why you slipped up? You were worried about causing harm?"
Yoshida hesitated. "Yes," he finally replied. "I've been told by my grandchild that my language is rather...outdated at times." He adjusted his collar. "They've corrected me so often, yet I still find myself making mistakes. Changing one's vocabulary isn't easy at any age, but I find it especially difficult." Yoshida let out a long sigh. "I haven't yet figured out how to keep speaking confidently when I recognize such mistakes. To correct myself without losing my train of thought completely."
Ren found words springing to his tongue, unbidden. "Swift and decisive action," he replied.
Yoshida gave him an odd look, and then raised his eyebrows as the words sunk in. "I see." He burst out laughing. "You're quite right. A simple answer, but a good one." He extended a gloved hand. "Thank you very much, young man. Ren, correct?"
"Yep." Ren nodded and shook his hand. "Glad to help, sir."
