Chapter 29: O Ye of Little Faith
{R}
You have expelled the one stained in vanity.
... It's a delightful thing indeed.
You should be proud, Inmates.
However, that man's remarks are concerning... It seems another has made their way into the Metaverse.
{Is that true?}
(Lemme guess, you don't know?)
Yes, it is beyond my knowledge. But your rehabilitation is progressing smoothly... May the devotion to your rehabilitation grow even deeper.
I have high hopes for you.
Daylight shone.
Aki groaned.
And Ren couldn't help but snicker.
Understandably she glared at him, so he held his hands up in surrender and apology, which appeased her anger but didn't abate her grumpiness.
She groaned again. "And here I was hopin' to wake up peacefully..."
"Did you not sleep well last night, Akira?" Mona said as he stretched like, well, a cat.
She grumbled and put her glasses on. "Nah... Just didn't wake up right is all."
Ren tried, and failed, to keep his chuckle to himself as his sister remained in that state for quite a while as they got ready for today's cleanup, changing into their gym uniforms instead of the usual winter one. After they changed, Yusuke gave him a call to update on Madarame's status. When he was done, he told Aki and Mona there wasn't much change, except he seemed "softer" as the artist put it, and that Yusuke would continue to probe about the "black mask". With that reminder, his worries shot up for a moment, but as Aki dragged him to the counter for breakfast, he pushed that aside.
There was nothing they could do at this point after all.
Much like with the mysteries of Igor, the Velvet Room and the nature of their power of Confidants.
Breakfast taken, items double checked and Mona comfortably settled, they left for Inokashira Park. But during them switching lines...
"Huh? Hey!"
"Hmm? Something wrong?"
"I think I see Yoshi...zawa..." Aki said with cheer at first but trailed off.
He frowned and followed her gaze to see that, yes, Yoshizawa was there...and she wasn't alone. A man he didn't know was in front of her, and from the look in Aki's eyes, she didn't know him either. Arsène buzzed in his mind with worry as they drew close, and he nearly dismissed his unease, if Yoshizawa hadn't attempted to leave and gasped when her arm was grabbed followed with,
"C'mon there's no need to be shy..."
Snap.
"Get away you asshole," Aki said right by them, startling both.
Ren came by his sister's side and said, "It's natural to be 'shy' when someone's hurting them."
The man looked annoyed before he put on a sleazy smile and said,
"Don't get worked up. I'm just being friendly here."
"Then I'll friendly ask you to leave."
Her wrist free, Yoshizawa took the chance to hide behind him and his sister.
"Eh what the..."
With her shielded by them, he and Aki stood taller and glared harder. The man looked ready to confront them, but his sister cracked her knuckles, rolled her neck and spoke with a delinquent drawl,
"Don't ya try, ya asshole, or da both o' us 'll throw down."
Ren played along and reached for his pocket as he shifted into his battle stance. The man's face was stricken with fear, thankfully buying their delinquent act as he said,
"What're you gettin so jumpy about?" He glared at the hiding Yoshizawa. "Like you're anything special!"
Then ran off.
They stared at his retreating figure for a while before they scanned the area. To his disgust and disappointment, the ones around them either went about their business or pretended they saw nothing. Thankfully he could get his mind off that as Yoshizawa backpedaled with a bit of embarassment.
"Thank you so much!" she said. "I'm sorry for the trouble."
"Are you okay?" Ren said, checking for other signs of injury.
Aki said, "Tch, the nerve of that guy to hassle you like that..."
"Yes that was rather scary... But I'm all right now!"
"Are you sure?"
"We got some medicine if you're hurt."
"Oh I'm sure," she said. Then her expression clouded.
He and Aki shared a look then they looked back, waiting for her to gather her thoughts.
"Ah um... May I ask you something?"
Ren nodded.
Aki said, "Sure."
"What made you step in?"
"I couldn't look away."
"Because I wanted to."
"I...see."
Teasing, his sister said, "Thought you'd know at least that by now."
Ren smiled just a smidgen. "Though more so for Aki than me, but still."
"Ah, you're right... I apologize for asking something so strange."
"Ah, it's fine. No big deal. You were just wonderin'," Aki with a dismissive wave.
Ren nodded in agreement.
"So...you're heading for the cleanup as well, right?"
"Yeah. Let's go together," Aki was quick to say.
That amused Ren as Yoshizawa looked ready to flee.
"Uh, but..."
"No buts! You're comin' and you ain't runnin' away this time."
Ren offered an apologetic smile and said, to at least make things go smoother for all involved,
"We are all going in the same direction, after all."
That had been enough to convince the red head to come along, though the trip was quiet since they were in a hurry. When they arrived at the park, they went their seperate ways, Yoshizawa off to go and change into the gym uniform while they looked for Ann and Ryuji. It took a bit until they did, both of them luckily together by one of the trees.
"Yo! What took you so long?" the faux-blond said when they arrived.
"Hey, it ain't that easy findin' you guys in this park," his sister said.
Ren, however, noticed Ann looking at them oddly.
"Is something wrong?"
"Oh. Uh, no just... Did you really come here from home in your gym clothes?"
Ren frowned. "Yes...?" he said, unsure to the reason of her question.
Aki said, "'Course I would. Any chance to wear pants I'll take it."
Ryuji looked almost as if he had a revelation. "Huh. That's right. You only really wear a skirt when you're wearing your uniform. How come?"
"Just like it that way."
Ren however began to feel a bit uncomfortable and said, "Is it weird...?"
Ann was astonished and quickly said, "No, that's not what I meant..."
He sighed in relief.
Ryuji now noticed Ann's topic. "Huh? Ain't it normal?" he said. He then eyed the blonde. "And uh...are you plannin' on doin this cleanup in that outfit?"
She glowered. "Of course not! I brought my gym clothes with me." She groaned and pouted. "I was gonna change in the bathroom but now there's a huge line..."
Well that was unfortunate. It would likely be a while until it was short enough to try and the cleanup would just as likely start soon. Ren hummed in thought.
"We could always go somewhere secluded, use a bath towel and the rest of us would keep guard."
"What?! No way am I doing that!"
Ren deflated. That was understandable.
"Sorry," he said. "It was the only thing I could think of so you could change without waiting so long."
"It's fine! I know you mean well," Ann said, apologetic but thankful. She paused. "Wait, you brought a bath towel?"
"Yes. For Aki. Just in case she gets wet."
"From what?"
"From rain, if it appears out of nowhere and we're not near our umbrellas."
The blonde stared. "How prepared are you...?"
"A phantom thief should always be prepared for anything!" Mona said from his bag but thankfully didn't pop out of it.
"Sounds like it sucks to be a girl."
Oh no.
Aki glared. "Ryuji. Wording. Or you might get kicked in the shins."
But it wasn't the boy who spoke next.
"It's such a nice day out that even the weather seems to be mocking us."
Mishima arrived, trying to be as cool and nonchalant as he could.
Ren withheld his chuckle and just smiled as he said,
"Hello Mishima."
Aki was surprised before she shared his expression. "Hey Mishima! How's it goin'?"
That evaporated when Ryuji said, "Dude. Could you try pushin' your way into our conversation a little less awkwardly next time?"
"Hey it ain't that bad."
"Still awkward as hell."
Their publicist was annoyed at that. "Okay then how about this?" he said. "I bet some Kichijoji clean-freak hung paper dolls all over and prayed for a clear day."
Ryuji wasn't impressed. Ann tried, and failed, not to cringe.
His sister though said, "Well if someone did, I'm glad for that then."
If it was even possible, Ryuji was even less impressed and definitely annoyed now. He and Aki snickered. The faux-blond grumbled and opened his mouth to speak, but another intruder came, this time just greeting them with a good morning. It was Maruki and he chatted with them a bit before his groupmates came, a couple of girls who were clearly fans of his, before he explained he's part of the cooking team.
"Hope you're looking forward to a solid meal," the counselor said. "See you all later."
They all said their good-byes to him before he discussed with his associates on preperations, all but Ryuji, who scoffed as soon as he was out of earshot.
"More like Dr. Popular..."
Aki smirked. "Jelly?"
"What makes you think I'm jealous?!"
"I'm sure the Phantom Thieves will be even bigger someday," Mishima said, likely in an attempt at comfort.
It didn't do any of that.
He wished it did though.
"Good morning Shujin Academy students and staff..."
"Oh look it's Miss Prez..." Aki said with a frown while the girl spoke into a megaphone.
She gave out their tasks as well as told that miso soup with pork and vegetables would be served once cleanup was completed.
"Oooh, pork miso soup! So that's what Dr. Maruki's fan club is making," Ann said with excitement.
His sister sighed. "Let's hope I like it..."
"What? You don't like miso soup?" Ryuji said in disbelief.
Ren smirked. "She is picky, in case you forgot."
Aki pouted. "Hey, I don't mind miso soup okay? It just needs to be made just right."
"Oh, FYI, the school already assigned groups at random," Mishima said, cutting in awkwardly again. "They're four people apiece, boys and girls mixed."
"Oh...really?" the faux-blond said, almost sounding disappointed.
"What's with that face?"
"I...was kinda hopin' we could group up."
Ah. Ren was touched by that but unfortunately...
"Nothing we can do about that."
Ryuji sighed while Niijima told everyone to go to their assigned area and groups. But then the blond shot up, startled them, and said,
"All right, let's get this done as soon as possible so we can chow down and get outta here!"
(A)
Akira sighed, grumbled and pulled up her mask, going over Doc's techniques as she headed for her spot. She was going to need it since there was a very high chance that her groupmates were going to tick her off, one way or another, especially since she was assigned to be the leader of her group.
"Oh, Amamiya-san!"
She startled and stared.
"Yoshizawa?"
The red head smiled. "It looks like we'll be in the same group."
Akira stared a bit more before she laughed and smiled behind her mask. "And here I was worryin'."
"Hmm? Worrying?"
She waved a dismissive hand. "Eh, don't worry 'bout it," she said. "Is the whole team here? I'm supposed to be leadin'."
"Really? Oh, well... I think we have one more missing," Yoshizawa said as she gestured to the boy who was near them, looking absolutely bored.
Not that Akira blamed him for that.
Before she could ask his name, Yoshizawa then said,
"Hey...I want to thank you for earlier."
"Huh? Earlier?" she said. Then she remembered. "Oh that. Hey, no problem. We already said we wanted to help you."
"But that man was even more frightening to me than he appeared to you...so I truly appreciate what you did for me. Thank you so much."
"Heh. All right. Just make sure to say thanks to Big Bro too."
"Oh that's right..."
Just then a voice said, "I'm here."
And a girl with light auburn, curly hair that looked very fluffy who seemed vaguely familiar came up to them.
"Hello there. Nice to meet you. I hope we can get along," the girl said with a slight bow, her voice softspoken and her demeanor gentle.
On instinct, Akira bowed back along with Yoshizawa.
"I hope so too," the red head said. "I'm Kasumi Yoshizawa, a first-year. And this is my classmate, Akira Amamiya. She's the leader of our group."
She set her jaw to push against the spike of anxiety at the mention of her name, worried the auburn haired girl might become unfriendly now that she knew who she was. But instead of a frown, the girl smiled wider and said,
"Again, nice to meet you two. I'm a third-year but please just call me Haru-senpai."
Akira stilled. Wait, a third-year with auburn hair...
She remembered.
"Hey, you're the one who waters the plants on the roof, right?"
She was also one of the few people who was nice to them when they recently arrived at Shujin.
Haru-senpai was surprised. "Yes?" But then she too had an epiphany. "Oh! I remember you now." She giggled. "Well I'm glad we're in the same group then."
Akira couldn't help but join in Haru-senpai's mirth...at least until the one guy on their team groaned and said,
"Great. I'm the only guy on the team but it's filled with you three of all girls..."
Akira glared. "Oh yeah? What you mean by that?" she said.
But she knew what he meant.
She just wanted him to say it aloud so she at least had an excuse to deck him.
The guy, though, didn't rise up to it and said,
"Never mind. Let's get this over with..."
The guy, who had introduced himself as Nishiyama-san, just went and started to pick up trash and such around them. Seeing there wasn't anything else to discuss, she, Yoshizawa and Haru-senpai followed suit with their own introductions and tasks. Most of the trash they picked up were plastic bottles and wrappers, but on occasion it was more uncommon items, like batteries, leftover food and clothes. Sometimes Akira would spot branches and such in bushes and on the walkways, and she would move to clear them even though she knew that wasn't exactly what they aiming for. Other times the items were broken toys, like guns or figures, and those she pocketed and then put in her bag when she could.
All the while, she would chat with Yoshizawa and Haru-senpai with whatever topics she ended up thinking of from their work, from flower trivia to making jokes about the brands thrown, their fourth team member making it very clear he wanted nothing to do with them. Akira was annoyed about that, but he still helped them and at least didn't harass them, so she let it slide as work progressed much faster than she expected, though it still ended up being after lunch when they finished.
When they were close to done though, Akira noticed Haru-senpai sitting on one of the benches and messing with two of their garbage bags.
Curious, Akira went up to her and said,
"What'cha you doing with the bottlecaps?"
"Oh, well..."
And she explained it was because she wanted to take them for recycling, the plastic being converted for vials for vaccines.
"Woah. You know of a place like that, Senpai?" Akira said.
Haru-senpai turned bashful. "Ah yes..."
She did a quick scan of their area then said, "Maybe I can help then?"
"Help with what?" Yoshizawa said as she came up with her own plastic bag filled with trash.
"Senpai wants to recycle the bottlecaps," she said, then gave Haru-senpai's reasons for it.
"Oh really? That's wonderful. Yes, I would like to help as well." Then she flustered as she said, "I-If that's all right with you, Haru-senpai!"
For some reason, the older girl seemed shocked at their offers, before she smiled and said,
"Sure. I would love that."
Akira grinned and held her fist up. "All right! After we sort the caps out, since we're done with our area, let's go get the caps from the other groups!"
Both girls agreed to that plan and, after telling a grumpy Nishiyama-san he was free to do as he pleased when he was done with putting the plastic bags in the disposal area, the three of them set out to take the caps from other groups. Unsurprisingly, they were wary of her. They eyed her like she was insane or something, and seemed to dislike Yoshizawa as well, so Haru-senpai usually did the "negotiating", which annoyed her. Though whether the dislike towards Yoshizawa was because she was friends with Akira or not was hard to tell. Though perhaps it was both that and their seeming jealousy of her "honor student" status. The ones that didn't mind them were, of course, everyone in the Phantom Thieves, which included Mishima. He too wondered why they wanted bottle caps, though when they told him, well...
"Huh, I didn't know that..." he said. "Well that sounds like an awesome way to bring justice to the world!"
The three of them sweatdropped.
Akira tried very hard not to giggle, glad her mask was covering her no doubt cheeky and amused smile.
"... I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I follow you..." Haru-senpai said.
"It's..." Akira took a deep breath. "It's fine. He's just sayin' it's cool you're doin' this is all."
"Oh, that's it? Um...thank you then."
"Oh uh, no problem. Just keep up your justice!"
Not wanting to watch the boy continue to unknowingly embarrass himself further, Akira excused the three of them to continue their mission. Eventually, when they actually managed to fill two whole bags with bottle caps, Haru-senpai said it was enough for now.
"Thank you very much for helping me."
"Hey no problem," Akira said.
"Yes. It was a pleasure to help you for a good cause."
It was then Miss Prez announced the soup was being distributed and asked for the leaders of the groups to get their share. Akira sighed.
"Welp. Looks like I gotta go." An idea came to mind. "Hey, after I give Nishiyama-san his soup, wanna eat together?"
"Oh I'd love to," Haru-senpai said.
Yoshizawa though was hesitant. "Oh uh..."
"What's up?"
"I was actually thinking of looking for your brother while you got the soup."
Another idea popped. Akira grinned. "Even better! Let's eat with him too. Actually, how 'bout I get the whole gang? So we can all eat together." But then she remembered. "Oh uh, if you're fine with it, Senpai."
Because she noticed the auburn fluffy haired girl slowly became more downcast despite her smile with each word Akira had said.
"It's fine. I don't want to intrude if you want to eat with your brother and friends."
"Hey you ain't intrudin'. I'm invitin' you. Do you wanna come with or not?"
Once again, Haru-senpai was shocked. Akira wondered why, and if maybe this girl was actually an outcast too, not used to having people inviting her to things.
Haru-senpai said, "Very well then. I would like to accompany you."
"All right! I'll get the soup real quick and then we can meet up with Big Bro and the others."
{R}
Ren sighed and thumped against the backrest of the bench. He knows he shouldn't have been surprised but... There was only so much gossip he could take along with picking up trash under the sun, as hard as he tried to stay under shade.
"I don't know how best to put it but..." Mona said as he popped out. "That sure was a crappy time out there."
Ren huffed and leaned his head back. "What gave it away? The gossip? The sweat? Or was it our groupmates ditching us?"
Now he was the one who wished he could've been grouped with his friends, just like Ryuji wanted before they started.
Before he could end up stewing in his own negativity, a voice he hadn't expected to hear gasped and said,
"We've found you."
Ren lifted his head and blinked.
"Aki? What's...going on?"
In front of him was his sister with Yoshizawa and Haru-senpai, who Aki had introduced earlier that day while looking for bottle caps, all of them holding bowls.
"Heh heh. Hey Big Bro! Hope you don't mind but..."
Aki told her plans and Ren, with a smile, readily agreed and did the honors of informing Ann and Ryuji, happy that his sister was getting along well with Yoshizawa and someone new. Their friends were surprised over it, but still welcomed Haru-senpai as she apologized for intruding on a gathering mostly comprised of friends. After setting the picnic blanket he brought behind the bench he had previously sat on—"How much stuff do you have?!" Ryuji had said at the sight of it, causing everyone to laugh—they dug into their meal, with him sneaking bits to Mona, and chatted inbetween bites and slurps.
"So how'd your bottle cap collectin' go?" Ryuji said.
"Oh it went splendidly," Haru-senpai said with a gentle smile. "I already have two bags worth. Thank you so much for helping me."
"No problem, Senpai. We're all glad we helped, right guys?"
"Uh huh!"
"You bet!"
"Yes."
Ren nodded with a smile.
"So what about all of you? How did your cleanups go?"
Though it was all on different points on a spectrum, he, Ann and Ryuji, more or less, made various sounds of disgruntlement.
"It was ass, that's what. At one point, my group even found a wallet and when I told 'em to take it to a police box, they looked at me like I was nuts! And they just wanted to take the money in it."
"That's terrible," Haru-senpai said with a frown.
Ryuji was a bit startled from the response but the Aki said,
"Please tell me you took the wallet from them before they could."
"I almost didn't actually, but Miss Prez was passin' by so then they started acting all goody-goody and then finally started sayin' to put it in a police box."
Ann scoffed. "Of course..."
"Huh. I guess even Miss Prez is helpful in some ways."
"Though not because of something she did..." Ren heard Ann say softly.
He had a feeling as to the reason for the bitterness in her tone, so he said to change the focus,
"What about you Ann?"
She was startled. "Oh uh... It was fine I guess." She grumbled. "Though there was so much stuff I couldn't believe were there. Umbrellas and food wrappers I could get...but who throws bike parts in a park?!"
Aki stared at her, dumbfounded. "Bike parts?"
"I don't know how either..."
That ended up triggering a discussion about the kinds of things they found, some of which Ren had a feeling were being kept by Aki, until Ann said she wanted something to drink, Ryuji following suit. Unfortunately for most of them, he had only packed water, so the two blonds left to get the drinks while his sister and their senpai left to return the bowls and utensiles to the cooking crew, leaving him and Yoshizawa to keep an eye on their—mostly his—stuff.
"Um...Amamiya-senpai?"
"Hmm?"
"I wanted to thank you for this morning."
Ah, right. He had nearly forgotten about that.
"You're welcome. We just wanted to help."
For some reason, that made Yoshizawa giggle. He was a bit confused, and admittedly an even tinier part offended, but let it slide as she said,
"Still, maybe it was not much for you, but he was definitely a lot more frightening for me, so thank you so much."
Ren just nodded with an amused smile. She was almost as stubborn as Aki like this.
Yoshizawa's own smile though left as she continued. "Though, that's not the only thing I wanted to say to you."
"Hmm?"
"I also wanted to apologize for before."
He tilted his head. "Before?"
"Remember when we met in front of the guidance office?"
It took a while, but he did. Ms. Kawakami had called him because she had heard about them "confronting" Kamoshida. On their way to said office, they had run into him and Yoshizawa, who was reminded to stay clear of Ren and Aki. Yoshizawa then went to awkwardly try to ignore him, attempting to be brusque but utterly failing as she passed him by. It had slipped his mind as he had been more focused on taking the teacher down and had cared less about what Yoshizawa's opinion of him was back then.
Ren chuckled in amusement. That was already a month ago and she remembered it?
"Is that what you're apologizing for?"
"Yes... I already knew you were nothing like the rumors and yet I acted as if you were and..."
Ren smirked. "Were you disappointed?" he said, to poke fun.
Yet she took it seriously. "Huh? No, of course not," she said. "Besides, I don't like rumors and the like."
He didn't mind though that she did though. "That's good. Rumors can get pretty crazy."
"Oh, indeed... Some of the things they say are pretty ridiculous."
"Oh? Like what?"
"Let's see...the ones I've heard are burglary, murder and...I think elephant tusk trafficking?"
Ren fell and laughed.
Yoshizawa giggled. "See? Pretty ridiculous."
"Well at least they gave me something exotic to do."
Now she laughed and Ren smiled over that. But then all of a sudden Yoshizawa stood up and Ren had only just sat up by the time he saw her jump in the air. It was only when she landed did he realize that she had rescued a little kid's balloon.
"W-What the hell just happened?!"
Oh and Mona being shocked too.
"Oh look."
Ren did and saw Yoshizawa had dropped something, so as she gave the balloon back, he picked it up. It seemed to be her pocketbook, seemingly an old one at that with how scruffy the casing was. He noted that her ID was in it and it showed her with brown hair. It made him wonder if she had dyed it. If she did, he wondered if that was why his groupmates for cleanup looked at her so warily.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to run out like that."
He smiled. "It's fine. It was for a good cause," he said.
Yoshizawa giggled.
Ren chuckled then held out her pocketbook. "Here, you dropped this."
"Oh thank you."
He couldn't help but comment. "That jump was pretty impressive."
"Oh you mean that back there? That was some basic gymnastics."
Basic...? That was basic? First Ryuji with thinking his speed subpar when he outran and endured longer than he or Aki could, and now Yoshizawa was saying jumping a couple or more meters into the air was basic... Athletes really were something...
"It's not that difficult once you get the hang of it—just a hop, skip and a jump!"
Or maybe he just happened to meet athletes who either thought too little or too highly of themselves.
Still, if he was going to keep up with Ryuji and since she insisted it was easy...
"Then can you teach me?"
Yoshizawa was astonished. "Does that mean you're interested in gymnastics?"
"A little bit, if that counts."
Because it was true, if it meant he could better pull off complex maneuvers in the Metaverse.
"That's fine! I'd be honored if you allowed me to teach you."
"Then I'd like you to teach me."
"Oh, though, the only problem is...well, maybe it won't be a problem if you do me a favor but—"
"What's the problem?"
Yoshizawa sighed. "Lately I haven't been getting the results I want from my performances and I'm worried if I'm overthinking things...so it would be wonderful if you could give me advice whenever you have the time..."
"You want...my advice?"
He wasn't sure what kind of advice he, just a relatively normal person, could give to an aspiring professional gymnast.
"Sure I do! I'd love if you were willing to lend me an ear from time to time."
Ah. That he could do.
"Sure I can," he said. "And Aki too."
"Huh? Aki...?"
"Of course. You're her friend after all."
"Friend...?"
Ren frowned. Oh wait... Was that too presumptuous of him? He could tell Aki already considered her a friend. Not a close friend like Ann or Ryuji, but a friend nonetheless, like Mishima or even Sakura-san. But Yoshizawa herself...
"You don't consider her a friend?"
"Oh no! I was just surprised is all..."
"Well I mean it. You can ask for her help too, just like with me."
She smiled. "Okay then. I'll be sure to do that."
He smiled back. "So we have a deal?"
"Yessir!" Yoshizawa said, standing at attention.
It caught Ren off guard so much he couldn't help but laugh.
So he felt a bit guilty Yoshizawa was embarrassed over it.
"That was a little too much, huh? But I do promise! I'll teach you as best I can and I'll glean as much as I can from you."
With that, another Confidant was formed.
I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall be the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity. With the birth of the Faith Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.
Time resumed and Yoshizawa offered to exchange contact info until she saw her phone.
"Huh? It's shut down... Sorry, my phone's been acting up lately." Then she said, "Ah! It's back! Okay, I'll contact you when I have free time, if you don't mind."
He nodded. "Only if you don't mind giving your number to Aki."
Because he knew the moment his sister found out he got her contact info, she was going to "request" the same of Yoshizawa.
"Okay, I will," the red head said as they exchanged the info.
Once that was done, Ren said,
"I hope I can help you."
"I'm sure you will. Though speaking of helping..." she said.
It was then that Niijima announced the cleanup was almost over, giving instructions on what to do to finish up before they would be allowed to leave.
"We're already in our gym clothes—would you care for some basic training before you head home?" She smiled much too cheery for his liking at that moment. "Let's start with core exercises! Those are the foundations to staying in shape."
Oh no no no no no no... He didn't think they would start now.
"But we just ate," he said as an excuse.
There was no way he was going to do it after a day like this.
"Oh it's fine. It was a snack anyway and it's been close to thirty mimutes."
She thinks of miso soup bowl as a snack?!
"What about an exercise mat?"
"We can do the ones that don't need them."
Crap.
Another reasonable excuse...another reasonable excuse...
Thank the stars Aki decided to show up then...was what he thought when she did.
"Don't need what?"
"Oh Ren-senpai was worried about needing exercise mats for our training."
"Training?"
"I was going to show him some core exercises."
"Core exercises? Hey, can you show me too?"
"Sure! I can teach you both."
One last shot.
"What about Haru-senpai?" he said.
"Oh she went home ahead since our group's done," his sister innocently said. "Said she had some family stuff to do."
Ren felt like crying. Oh well, at least it was a valiant effort...
"Okay then... You two start. I want to put the picnic blanket away."
"Okay Amamiya-senpai. Ready Amamiya-san?"
"You bet I am!"
Oh how he wished he could warn Aki before she had agreed but he knew she wouldn't back out, not to mention him not wanting to say it in front of Yoshizawa herself. It would be very rude. So instead he warned Ryuji and Ann to stay very far away...which half backfired as the former decided to join them in their exercising, while Ann cited exhaustion immediately and went home.
Well that was one victory.
Hopefully that would be enough to offset the soreness he knew he was going to feel on top of all he did during the cleanup.
Author's Note(s): Yay! I added more Haru screen time! I really enjoyed doing that, seriously.
As for the chapter title, as the idiom free dictionary put it, "O ye of little faith" is used as "a mild and humorously formal rebuke of someone who has expressed doubt or incredulity about something one said one would or could do." If you know how the Faith Confidant goes, you can guess why I picked this, along with the fact it has the word "faith" in it.
And in case anyone asks, yes that scene with Kamoshida telling Kasumi to stay away from Ren still happened like in Royal, but I decided not to show it in the chapter it would take place in, Chapter 10, because it was from Akira's perspective on the day it happens.