—Chapter 11—Friday, May 6th, Afternoon—

It was one of the most nostalgic meals Makoto could recall having. Sitting at her dining table—eating Leblanc curry, drinking Leblanc coffee, and talking to Ren—she was transported back in time. The only difference was that this time, the man sitting opposite her at the table was her lover. In spite of the newness of their relationship, it was familiar, it was comfortable, and it ran deep. They knew one another in a way most people, even those who have been together for a long time, didn't. In high school, she had toyed with the fantasy of what being with Ren would be like, but it was just that—a fantasy, and not one she had necessarily pined for. It had just felt like a natural thing to imagine when you spent as much of your time in the presence of someone as charismatic, as attractive, and as important as Ren was to her and their circle of friends. It was a harmless hypothetical.

Now, a couple years later, with all that history, but cast into a new context, they were a couple, and it felt so natural.

When he left, there was a longing that remained, but also an anticipation of what there would be the next time they were together. For now, though, they had things to do. Ren's Blades test was on Monday, and Sunday, the gym would be closed. Today and tomorrow were his last days to train before he would need to show off everything he could do for the benefit of his teacher, so he needed to spend the afternoon taking advantage of the opportunity.

And Makoto hadn't studied in over a week. With everything that had been going on, studying had seemed so totally unimportant, but the reality was, her future depended on her keeping on top of it. Sitting at her desk with the reheated remains of the last of the coffee Ren had brewed that morning, she tried to focus on Crime Scene Processing.

She pulled out her text, Crime Scene Investigation: Theory into Practice, her stacks of differently-colored post-it notes, and her special Buchimaru-kun note-taking pen. Opening the book, she found the chapters that next week's test would cover.

And then her phone chimed. A text. From Tetsuo.

"Oh boy," she said, taking a breath. "Here we go…" Unlocking her phone, she read the message:

Hi

So far, so simple. She thought about ignoring it, but then remembered what Ren had said: Tetsuo needed to know there was a restraining order in place for it to have any protective effect at all. She decided to reply.

Hi, was all she said back.

Oh, Mako! I'm so happy you're replying!
Have you given any thought to us getting back together? I've missed you so much
I've been without a car all week because of my busted window, but I get it back on Monday, and I was hoping we could have dinner and talk about this

No, I'm sorry Tetsuo, but we won't be getting back together

How come? Is it because of Ren? Because I'm telling you, that guy is a liar
I know he's your friend, but you can't trust him

Tetsuo, I know what you did

? ? ?
What do you mean?

I know you drugged my beer at the party, and I know what you tried to do

You mean *Ren* told you I did those things… :P

I know you did it. I have evidence

What evidence?
Besides Ren's word, that is

She deliberated a moment before responding.
I had a urine test, and it was positive for Rohypnol
You brought me all my beers
It was you

There was a long beat while Tetsuo said nothing in response. She wasn't sure she should be telling him what evidence she had against him, but if he continued to believe there was a chance he could convince her that Ren was the bad guy in all this, he would keep trying to badger her into taking him back. Her one goal in this conversation was to persuade Tetsuo to leave her alone for good, but he was stubborn, and just asking nicely wasn't going to do it.

Are you *so sure* that it was me who put that in your drink?

Makoto blew out her cheeks. Who the fuck else would it have been? she thought. Also, that felt like an unnatural response for someone to give if they were really only just learning that their girlfriend had been drugged… She needed to cut this off.

Tetsuo, YES, I'm sure
Whatever you say, it doesn't matter. I took the beer to the cops, and I provided urine samples
They *know* I was drugged
And I told them you did it
There's a restraining order already in place
So it's time for you to leave me alone

? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Are you serious? ? ? ? ? ?

Makoto took a deep breath. The cat was out of the bag. If this didn't keep him away, she didn't know what would.

Her phone started ringing. It was Tetsuo. She declined the call.

So he sent another text: I'm completely crushed by this

Tetsuo, I just told you I got a restraining order. That means you can't call me, you can't continue to text me, you need to leave me alone

Mako, no
This is wrong

I mean it, Tetsuo
If you don't stop, I'll just block your number
The last time I saw you, you acted like a crazy person
You strangled Ren, and you threatened to kill him
You need to just go away

Tetsuo didn't reply for a long time. She didn't know for sure, but she imagined that wherever he was, things were being smashed and broken. She could just leave it there, but if she couldn't get him to say 'Okay, I concede, I'll back off', she would be looking around every corner and jumping at every noise. She risked another text.

So can I trust you to let it go?

No response. Tetsuo's text avatar had gone gray. She watched for several seconds to see if it would come back, but it never did. Sighing, Makoto put her head in her hands. Trying to get back to studying at this moment was a lost cause. She switched text threads and reached out to Ren.

Just texted some with Tetsuo
He gets his car back on Monday, and wanted to get together to try to work things out, but I told him about the restraining order
He wasn't happy
The last thing he said to me before ghosting me was "No Mako, this is wrong", so I don't know what the hell to expect
Either he got the message, or he didn't

Ren didn't answer, so she assumed he must be in the middle of training, or otherwise away from his phone. She needed to talk to someone, so she pulled up her thread with Emiko.

Emiko, you there?

A moment later: Yeah Mako, what's up?

I just had a very heated text exchange with Tetsuo

Uh oh…

Yeah

Does he know about the restraining order?

He does now
And now he's pissed
I think
He's not actually responding to messages anymore

He probably smashed his phone…

That would be fitting

What are you going to do?

I don't know
But I can't study, which is what I'd been trying to do when he texted

Wanna come over?
I've got tea…?

Makoto smiled.
I'll think about it
Tea sounds nice, but I'm not sure I can sacrifice a whole day, which is what I think would happen if I came over now

Okay, well, it's here if you need it :)

Thanks :)

Emiko could have dropped it there, but a moment later, she was back to asking questions:
What did he say when you told him you knew you'd been drugged?

Full denial :P
First he tried to turn it around on Ren, that I couldn't trust his word that I'd been drugged in the first place
So I told him I'd had a positive urine test
…he *still* tried to deny it…

He's really sticking to his guns…

Stubborn as ever
He said "are you *so* sure it was me?"
Like he was implying it could've been *anyone* else… :P

Okay, so, since you brought it up
I know you've known him longer, so don't get offended by me asking this, but…
You *are* sure that it *wasn't* Ren, right…?
There's no way that Ren would've set this up to get you to dump Tetsuo and get with him? Are you sure he isn't into you?

Well, Makoto thought. He was 'into' her, but it was hard enough convincing him that it was okay to touch her even after she'd made her permission very explicit—it didn't make sense that this would be some elaborate plot to get into her pants.

Emi, no
There's simply no way Ren would do that
Not in a million years

Okay
It's just so weird to imagine Tetsuo resorting to roofies…
I've had classes with him since the first year
I don't know what "the type" is who would do that, but I didn't think he was it

I know
It's hard to believe that it's possible to have someone pegged *so wrong*
It makes you feel so stupid…

And almost like you deserved it, thought Makoto, though she would never put such a thought to text. Her rational brain knew that Tetsuo was entirely to blame—but in spite of knowing better, she hadn't shaken the guilt that her own actions, bad judgement, et cetera, had led to her situation. She was embarrassed to have been in that situation in the first place—and she was embarrassed for thinking, even only a little bit, that she might have deserved it.

You're not stupid, Mako
I just want to be sure we're not making the same bad judgement about Ren…
He's very charming
I just don't know him
And this whole thing tells me I haven't been cautious enough

I trust Ren 100%
Maybe Tetsuo chose this moment to do what he did because he planned to blame it on Ren all along
Who knows…

Wow, talk about sneaky, if true…
That's right up there with Ren orchestrating this mess to get you to dump your bf

I'm in no way suggesting that Tetsuo would've actually put that much thought into what he was doing
I'm just saying: There's absolutely no way Ren is the bad guy here

Okay, well, that's good enough for me
I trust your judgement

Makoto sighed. She began to text the words, 'Such as it is', but deleted it. Her judgement about Ren was rock solid, and the last thing she needed to do was to feed any further suspicion in her friend's mind that Ren could possibly be on the same level as Tetsuo.

In the end, she settled on a simple message of thanks:
Thank you
Your support means a lot

You're 100% welcome :)
Now, about that tea I offered you…

Makoto laughed, leaning back in her desk chair and staring at the ceiling. Oh, the hell with it…

I'll grab my coat and be right over

—

Ren swiped his I.D. card, and the locks to the gym opened, granting him entry. On weekends and holidays, the gym was mainly only used for exercise, so there weren't as many people using the complex as there would be, come Monday. Ren passed several rooms stuffed with stationary bicycles, treadmills, and weight machines that were full of students angling to get fit. In other rooms lined with tatami mats, boxers and other martial artists sparred for fun and exercise. Most of the weapons rooms, however, were empty.

Which was just how he liked it. He would have first pick of the available weapons, there would be plenty of targets and sparring areas to use, and he wouldn't be drawing undue attention to himself. This was the perfect time to train.

The Academy of Justice and Policing was extremely well equipped in all of the disciplines for which one could earn accreditation, and that was quite a lot of disciplines. The Bladed Arts sequence alone trained fighters in the use of swords, knives, and axes, and included styles such as fencing, kendo, and two-handed techniques. In the case of knives and axes, throwing techniques were also a focus. The gym complex's weapons rooms included arsenals of all the weapons used in the courses, and any student enrolled in those courses could swipe their I.D. cards to gain access to them—though they could only check them out one at a time, and they were tagged so they couldn't be removed from the complex without setting off security. Also: There were cameras everywhere.

Ren headed to one of the knife rooms and swiped his card to get in. On the walls were a variety of wooden replicas, intended for non-lethal sparring. Lockboxes at one end of the room contained the more lethal genuine articles. Ren set his gym bag down against the far wall and accessed a lockbox, retrieving a knife about eight inches in length. Intended for throwing, he took the knife and went over to the wall of targets. Ren shook out his shoulders and planted his feet, preparing to let fly.

A gruff shout from the doorway caught his attention. "Stay away from my girlfriend, you handsome motherfucker!"

Ren jumped in surprise, and turned to the door, clutching the knife firmly in his hand. "You fucking moron!" he yelled, lowering his knife hand. "You know I'm practicing knife throwing here, right?"

"Ha, yeah, I guess that could've been a lot less hilarious than it sounded in my head when I first had the idea to shout it," said Jiro, shrugging off his misstep. "Shoulda seen the look on your face though… You totally believed I was here to fuck you up."

"Jesus, you dumb ass," said Ren, taking a breath. "I think you misunderstand just how tense things have been lately…"

"Oops, ha, sorry," apologized Jiro sheepishly, adding his own gym bag to the wall next to Ren's and taking his bo staff in both hands. "I guess I was starting to think that things had finally started settling down. Makoto has a restraining order, she's got her locks changed, Tetsuo's been AWOL for a while… I thought we were moving past all that."

"One never knows," said Ren, shaking out his arms and legs and preparing to throw once again. "He still doesn't know there's a restraining order, so there's an open question as to what he'll do once he inevitably finds out. Will he back off, like a normal person would, or will he go full nutjob and do something really unpredictable?"

"Hmm, yeah. What do you think he'll do?" Jiro asked, warming up by spinning his bo staff in circles in front of himself.

"I'm not sure. Makoto showed me the texts he's sent her since the party, and on one hand, he didn't sound too pushy, but on the other, he sounded like he thought she was the one who torpedoed their relationship with her bad behavior, so who knows." Holding his knife by the blade, he threw it at the target on the wall. One and a half spins later, it was in the bullseye.

"'Her bad behavior'? What does he think she did? Nice throw, by the way."

"Thanks," he said, pulling the knife from the target and backing away again. "I'm guessing that her big transgression was that she sided with me, incapacitating him in her kitchen when he tried to strangle me—she was a bad girlfriend when she decided not to just let him kill me." From a bit further away, Ren planted his feet and prepared to throw again.

"Ooh, yeah. Rookie mistake there, Mako-chan—you must always let the boyfriend kill the competing male. That's just nature."

"Right. So anyway, if he ever contacts her again, she's going to let him know, and we'll see what happens from there." Holding the knife by the handle, he let it fly, and into the bullseye it went.

"I don't know how you get it to go in blade-first like that, every time. Is it weighted to always go blade-first?"

Ren balanced the knife on his finger, demonstrating that the center of gravity was at the hilt of the knife. "You just have to have a sense of how far away the target is, and how many spins it'll take getting there. If it's a whole number of spins: grip it by the handle. If there's a half-spin involved: the blade." He moved to a different part of the room and prepared to throw again.

"Neat," he replied, moving his bo staff in a figure-eight spin around his left and right sides. "Anyway, fun times," he said, switching gears. "So, how was the pantry?" he asked, with a girlish flip of his wrist, eyebrows raised inquisitively.

Ren sighed, dropping his arm. "I'll have you know, I couldn't listen to her talk about her fucking pantry without thinking of you, you asshole."

Jiro guffawed. "Ah, that's rad. Hilarious. So, did you fill it full of goods and sundries?" he asked suggestively, lewd hand gestures and all.

Ren shook his head dismissively. "You're so crude."

Jiro's eyes popped. "And that's not a denial! You casanova, really? We should double date sometime!"

Ren briefly imagined what that would be like. Going on a double date seemed like such a normal-person thing to do. These just didn't feel like normal times. "Maybe one of these days," he said, throwing his knife again, and again striking the bullseye.

"You and Makoto," Jiro remarked, smiling. "That's so cool… Man, but Tetsuo will rip your dick off if he ever finds out. You managed to score in a week what he couldn't drug her into giving up after three months together. Forgive me, I know that's a pretty gross way to put it, but you know that's how he'd see it."

That was gross, but he wasn't wrong. To Tetsuo, Makoto was property, a thing to be conquered and claimed. Finding Ren's flag on a continent he'd been driven out of would definitely strike a nerve. "You're right," he said, sighing. "Let's hope he never finds out."

"May God strike him deaf and blind," declared Jiro.

"Well," said Ren, changing the subject, "are you all warmed up?" He twirled his knife casually between his fingers, like it wasn't at all a hard thing to do.

"Yeah, I think so. Go easy on me though? I'm still in level one…"

"What happened to being the 'baddest motherfucker on the nature trail'?" Ren laughed, crouching down with his knife in an offensive saber grip.

"Being the baddest motherfucker presupposes that no one else on the trail has more than just their walking sticks…" Jiro replied lamely. "Your weapon whittles my weapon…"

"Do you want me to go for one of the wooden knives?" Ren asked, offering to throw him a bone.

"Naw, that's okay. Just promise not to gut me like a fish, or we won't be friends anymore."

"Promise."

Jiro took a swipe at Ren with his bo staff, going for his feet. Ren hopped deftly over the top of Jiro's staff. "Just checking your reflexes," said Jiro, smirking. Ren smirked right back, and Jiro came at him again, this time with an up-strike across Ren's front. Using the flat edge of his blade, Ren got under the staff and deflected it up over his head, moving into Jiro's exposed belly and catching him in the gut with the butt of his knife.

"You're dead," said Ren.

"I thought I told you not to gut me like a fish."

"Come at me again."

The two traded attacks for a bit, with Jiro doing his best to actually land a true strike, and Ren easily, or mostly easily, dodging or deflecting those strikes. Every so often, an exchange would end in what would have been a mortal wound to Jiro, had Ren not cut the attack short or connected with just the handle. It was a good workout, but Jiro was clearly outmatched.

"You know, they still haven't caught that killer yet. It's not you, right?" Jiro asked facetiously.

"I assure you, it's not," replied Ren.

"Would you tell me if you were?"

"I'm trying to decide if I would kill you if I were… But I think that would draw too much attention to me, so you're safe for now."

"Right on. Keep your enemies close, as they say."

"I don't think you're using that phrase in its proper context."

"Anyway, can we stop now? I think you're going to crush your test."

"Sure. I'll probably stick around and practice a few more throws with a few other types of knives, but you can head home. Just take the shuttle."

"What, for safety? Who's gonna murder me—the killer's right here!"

"Ha ha. Seriously, take the shuttle."

"Right, I know, just teasing." Jiro stepped over to the wall to get his things. "I'm gonna hit the showers first—I'm soaked in sweat. See you at home, killer."

"Not if I see you first."

—Sunday, May 8th, Morning—

"I can't believe I was the last one to find out, that's all." Emiko was sitting at the kitchen table with her tea and her oatmeal, looking just the tiniest bit hurt.

Makoto sat across from her with her own tea, feeling sheepish. "I'm sorry Emiko. I wasn't trying to hide it, I'm just not good at sharing these kinds of things. It feels like gossip."

"Well, it is, but we're friends. I just can't believe I had to learn that you and Ren were a couple from Naomi, who heard it from Jiro. I've spoken to you so many times since you two got together, and you never even hinted at it."

Makoto sat there, feeling guilty. "I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be secretive about it. I texted with Ren on my way over here, by the way, and he didn't go out of his way to tell Jiro, either—Jiro just inferred it, and Ren didn't deny anything. It's really not a big deal."

"It's not not a big deal, Mako-chan," said Naomi. She was folded up on the couch sitting opposite a muted TV set tuned to the local morning news channel. "I mean, I totally saw it coming—he was so obviously in love with you—but you were so wrapped up in all the Tetsuo drama that I didn't think you'd have room for a new boyfriend."

"I didn't think I would either, to be honest. I certainly wasn't looking for a new relationship. Everything sort of happened so quickly that I haven't really had time to process things."

"Yeah, I was really surprised when Jiro told me—he wants to double date!" Naomi squealed, interrupting herself.

Makoto shrugged. "I'm not even sure we are a couple, to be honest. We haven't talked about it like that. We just have… feelings, that's all."

"Is there an expectation that he's not screwing other people?" asked Naomi. "'Cause if you'd be mad if he did, you're a couple."

Makoto cocked her head thoughtfully—that did make a kind of sense.

Emiko, still feeling stung that she was just finding this all out, circled back. "I even remember asking you just the other day if there was any chance that Ren was into you," she added, frustrated. "I guess you didn't say 'no', but you just totally dodged that part of my question. Do you remember? It was when I asked if you were sure that Ren wasn't framing Tetsuo to try to get you to dump him so he could swoop in."

"I remember, and you're right—I dodged that part."

"So maybe I should ask it again, now that I know that Ren is, in fact, interested in you: Could he have made this whole thing with Tetsuo up just to get you to dump him?"

Makoto held her head in her hand and set her teacup down loudly on the kitchen table. "Emiko, no, I'm confident that that's not what's going on here."

"You're sure? Everything you think happened the night of the party you learned from Ren: The beer, the groping, the keys, all of it. You saw Tetsuo's temper the next morning with your own eyes, but maybe he had a right to be pissed off if he thought he was being set up."

"Emi, look—"

"Guys, listen!" called Naomi from the living room. She held the TV remote in her hand, and was turning up the volume. Perplexed, Makoto and Emiko got up and went to stand in the living room to watch.

"This is now the fourth murder in a series of stabbing deaths to plague Utsunomiya's Academy district in the last month. The first body was found on April sixth at the Utsunomiya train station and was later identified as that of Hiroshi Inuyama of Edo, age forty-three. The second victim, Kanji Yatsushiro, twenty-seven, was found on April twenty-fifth just east of the Academy of Justice and Policing. The third victim, whose name has not yet been released to the public, is believed to have been murdered sometime during the night on April twenty-ninth and was located just a couple of city blocks from the northwest boys' dorm—"

"—That's where Jiro and Ren live," said Naomi.

"—This latest victim, also not identified, was found just south of campus, and is believed to have been murdered late last night. All the victims died from multiple stab wounds to their torsos, and have—"

"Ugh, scary…" shivered Naomi.

Emiko sighed, letting her shoulders sag defeatedly. "This is another not-great development in this whole saga," added Emiko, talking over what was left of the segment. "Your new boyfriend is supposed to be some sort of wunderkind when it comes to knives…" Naomi turned off the TV.

"Okay, now Emiko, just don't," warned Makoto, getting hot-blooded. "This, right here, is bullshit. Don't go doing to him the same shit that everyone else did that has so fucked up his life before now. He's innocent, and don't go pinning this crap on him."

"Makoto, I don't want to pin this stuff on him! I'm just trying to be objective! When did he get here? Wasn't it around the same time these murders started happening? I think you're being easily swayed because the two of you have history, but there's at least some circumstantial evidence against him, and so far no clear evidence that would exonerate him! How do you know you can trust him?"

"Emiko, lots of people got here at the start of the school year, and lots of students here specialize in knives. You're being ridiculous. What you're saying is completely circumstantial, and not at all unique to him."

"Well, I know you said he was exonerated from his first conviction, but could that have been the mistake? He may have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time…"

"You guuuys…" Naomi whined, looking at them sadly, tears threatening her eyes. "Please don't fight…"

Makoto's blood was rising listening to Emiko, but seeing the concern on Naomi's face reminded her that she was among friends. Then, it hit her: "Wait, I do have evidence! He has an alibi for at least one of the murders!"

Emiko cocked her head incredulously. "Which one?"

"Um, the third one, I think? The one by their dorm."

Emiko screwed up her face. "What? That's the most suspicious one! That was the night Ren was by himself, because Jiro was here with Naomi, and it happened right where they live! That was the first night you spent with us."

"Right, exactly! When you thought I was here, but I wasn't," Makoto said, going to Naomi. "That was the night Jiro came over, and you put me up on the couch. Well, I couldn't stand listening to those two having sex, so I left and went over to see Ren."

Naomi whimpered. "Were we having sex? I don't think so…?" she said, very quietly.

"Naomi, it doesn't matter, but the point is, I was with Ren. I'm his alibi for that night!"

The stern look on Emiko's face softened just a bit. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm positive. I know because I saw it on the news the next morning when I was sitting at the police station waiting to file the restraining order."

Emiko was silent for a moment, thinking. "Okay, that's one," she admitted. "But there have been four stabbings so far. I'd feel a lot better if we could prove he had nothing to do with any of those, either."

"Fine, I get it. Proof would be nice," huffed Makoto. "But can you please trust me for at least a little while? I know you know that he and I have history, but you really have no idea…" she said, shaking her head, a pained expression cutting across her face. "I know him so intimately…"

Emiko flopped into the chair next to the couch. "Were you with him last night too?" she asked.

Makoto shook her head. She hadn't seen him since he left her house after fixing her pantry door—he'd been busy training, and she'd done no studying up to this weekend, so they were both busy getting their own work done. He'd spent the last two nights at his dorm. "He should have been with Jiro, though. We can ask him."

"Well," she said, "we want to be detectives, don't we? I want us to stay together for a while until we sort some more of this out. Let's find the evidence that clears him, and we'll wait and see what happens with Tetsuo. In the meantime, as far as your relationship with Ren goes… I guess just be careful. I know you trust him, but keep your mind open to the possibility that this could all be an elaborate smokescreen. Be objective, that's all I'm saying."

"I promise I will try to be objective. I will do my best to view things through the eyes of a skeptic—but I'm not afraid of him, and I don't plan to hide from him. I want you to know that when it came to Ren and me getting physical, it was all my doing—he was very reluctant to step over my boundaries. I had to practically plead with him to convince him that it was okay, and that I was in my right mind to let him touch me."

Naomi cooed quietly, glancing at Emiko to gauge her reaction. Emiko was stalwart, but soft.

"Are you seeing him today?" Emiko asked.

"No. He said he'd be studying with Jiro today, and I still have a bunch more studying to do too, so we were planning to spend the day apart already."

"And assuming Tetsuo is the real threat here, you're not at all worried about him coming after you? Or after Ren, for that matter?" asked Emiko.

"For now, no. We figured I was safe at least until he got his car back, which isn't until tomorrow. There's no way he'd take the shuttle, and from his house on the south side to mine on the north is too far to walk."

"Has he contacted you at all since Friday?"

"He's tried calling a couple times, but I've been rejecting the calls. He could be texting—I haven't blocked him—but he hasn't tried."

"Voice mail?"

"No, none."

"Interesting," said Emiko, biting her lip. She shook her head to clear it. "What does your tomorrow look like?"

"Well, we're going to our classes—Ren has his Blades test in the afternoon… We don't really have plans yet, but I thought I might… ask him to dinner."

Naomi squealed, earning her a disapproving side-eye from Emiko. "Double date?" she asked, eagerly.

Makoto smiled. "Not this time, Naomi, sorry. I think Ren and I still have too much to talk about. I've been thinking over what you said about if I'd be bothered if he were to screw someone else… I think I would… So, I just want to make sure we're on the same page."

"Good idea—you lock that shit down," Naomi said. She was beaming with pride.