Chapter 11
[21]
Ren was exhausted after last night, he’d gotten home at close to 2am and his feet were bleeding from walking so far barefoot. Luckily, the secondhand shop near Leblanc had an old pair of red hightops that the owner graciously let Ren have after seeing his bare feet. He would definitely have to pay the man back for his kindness later.
Oddly, when Ren got up for school the next morning, Sojiro didn’t kick him out of the house or even mention any calls from school. But Ren wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he went about his morning like normal.
“Yo, what’s with the dirty Ronald McDonald shoes?” Futaba noticed Ren’s odd choice of footwear.
“Oh, uh my normal shoes got really dirty the other day so I’m using my spares.”
Futaba seemed skeptical, but she kept her thoughts to herself.
As Ren waited for the train to Aoyama, his whole body flinched when he received a tap on his shoulder.
“Whoa! Someone’s jumpy today.” It was Ann trying to surprise him.
“Sorry, just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”
“Oh yeah, studying for the quiz today? I tried to but fell asleep at my desk, my back’s actually killing me this morning.” She said whilst stretching.
Ren looked away as he saw a peak of Ann’s stomach. “Wait a minute, quiz?” The train pulled into the stop in front of them.
“Uh, yeah in Ms. Chouno’s class? Don’t tell me you forgot?”
Ren remained silent, his eyes wide as the two pushed into the train car. With no spots to sit down at, the two of them had to stand nearly chest to chest with one another.
“Wow I expected that much from Ryuji, but not from you of all people!” Ann continued, attempting to hide a chuckle very poorly.
As the next stop loaded up its passengers, Ann felt herself be pushed forward into Ren’s chest, her face immediately going red as her chin rested on Ren’s shoulder. ‘Whoa, he’s a lot more solid than he looks.’ she thought to herself.
Ren was standing there, equally red faced as his grip on the ceiling handle tightened. ‘So soft.’ He thought as two mounds pressed into his upper abdominals.
When the train reached Aoyama Itchome, the train car emptied quickly, with Ren and Ann being some of the last to get off. Ren winced in embarrassment when he noticed he’d accidentally torn the handle from the ceiling. Not knowing what to do with it, he gently placed it on a nearby seat as he walked out.
“So um, what did Miss President want to talk about yesterday?” Ann asked, trying to break the awkward silence between them.
Ren grimaced as he remembered the events at school yesterday. “Just grade stuff and attendance, y’know the usual. Well, that’s not entirely true.” He said, wanting to get it off of his chest. “She also kinda accused me of doing something to make Kamoshida quit.” Ren rubbed the back of his neck.
“What?! That bitch!”
“Shhh! Keep your voice down!” Ren whispered.
“No! Who does she think she is, trying to defend that asshole Kamoshida and get you in trouble! I’ll give her a piece of my mind!” Ann started to stomp towards the school.
“No! It’s fine, you don’t need to do that. I don’t need any other reasons for them to be mad at me.” Ren remembered what he’d done to the table in the student council room.
Ann seemed frustrated, but she relented. “Fine! But the second she tries to accuse you of anything else, I will sock that bitch in the face. Doesn’t she know what Kamoshida put us all through?! Especially with… Shiho…” She turned away, tears built up in her eyes as she remembered her now hospitalized friend.
Ren gently placed his hands on Ann’s shoulders. The two of them were standing in front of the school’s entrance now. “Ann, I’m sorry for what that monster did to her, I promise that he will face justice.” He said with a reassuring smile. He thought about the night before and his expression became more serious. ‘He will.’ Ren thought to himself.
Ann sniffed and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “Thanks, I appreciate that. But don’t think I forgot about Nijima! If she tries to pull something she’s dead.”
“Ok tough girl, now let’s go take that quiz I’m gonna fail!” He said with joke enthusiasm, raising his fist to the air.
Ann giggled and the two of them entered the school.
Later that day, Ren sat eating bread alone on the rooftop when he got a text alert on his recently repaired phone. It was from Sumire Yoshizawa, a first year girl who Ren was acquaintances with, much to her twin sister’s dismay.
“Are we still on for this afternoon Senpai?” The text read. Sumire and Ren had a deal that if he helped her with her social anxiety, she would teach him some gymnastics. It had been her idea and Ren was perfectly willing to help for free, but she had insisted on paying him back somehow.
“My body is ready.” He texted back jokingly.
There was a long pause before Sumire texted back, if Ren had to guess she was busy being incredibly flustered. Eventually she did text back the okay, but Ren didn’t notice as the door to the rooftop swung open.
“Students aren’t supposed to be up here.” Makoto Nijima stood at the entrance to the stairs looking at Ren with her arms crossed.
Ren stood up and grabbed his bag. “Sorry, I’ll leave.” He stood up and quickly made for the exit, only to be stopped by Nijima’s outstretched hand.
“Hold on. We need to talk.” Ren gulped.
The two of them took their seats at the pile of discarded desks. The tension in the atmosphere was thick as the overcast sky threatened a possible downpour. Makoto was the first to speak.
“I want to start off by saying that I’m sorry.” That caught Ren off guard. “I unfairly accused you with no evidence and that’s no way for a student council president to act.” Makoto looked genuinely remorseful for her actions and Ren felt his heartstrings tug a bit.
“But now onto what I need to ask you.” Ren’s compassion dissipated as Makoto went back to her usual self. “How did you do what you did yesterday? That table was 200 pounds of solid oak and you smashed it with your bare hands, that shouldn’t be possible.”
Ren didn’t say anything.
“I’m not recording this, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Makoto placed her phone on the table, showing that it wasn’t recording their conversation. “And I didn’t tell the school what happened because I wanted to hear from you first.”
There was a silence between the two, thunder rumbled off in the distance. Ren finally spoke up, “I don’t know what to tell you Nijima-san. It must’ve been an old desk, maybe one of the legs was loose, I don’t know. But I’m sorry, I’ll pay for the damages if that’s what you need but there’s really nothing else I can do for you.”
This answer clearly didn’t please Makoto, but she said nothing.
“If that’s all, I’ll be going now. Lunch is nearly over.” Ren stood up and walked out the door.
Makoto sat alone on the roof, a determined look on her face. “There’s more to you Ren Amamiya, and I intend to find out exactly what that is.”
[22]
The sun had gone down a few hours before Principal Ushimaru finished the last of his paperwork for the day. He sat at home on his couch ready to relax for the evening with a bit of scotch and some late night television. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he’d become addicted to the shopping network, sure most of the things he bought he’d never actually used but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t in the future.
As he went to sit down on his recliner with his glass in hand, the TV cutout followed quickly by the lights. ‘I literally just sat down.’ He thought to himself as he tiredly pushed himself out of the comfortable chair.
Going down into the basement, he found the circuit breaker quickly and flipped the switches. To his surprise, the lights turned back on and the TV could be heard working again upstairs. He slowly made the climb back up the stairs. ‘Thank god I don’t have to get into it with the cable people tonight.’
When he arrived in the living room he collapsed back into his recliner with a loud sigh of contentment. ‘I may just call in sick tomorrow and give myself an early weekend. I really don’t feel like dealing with a bunch of brats tomorrow.’ He reached for the glass of scotch he’d left on the table next to him but only felt empty space there instead.
“Y’know Ushimaru,” A gloved hand placed itself on Ushimaru’s shoulder, his heart stopped for a moment. “I hate your guts, but I gotta admit, you’ve got good taste in liquor.” The empty glass was set back on the table and a second hand grabbed his other shoulder.
“W-whatever you want, I-I keep the money in a safe upstairs. Just p-please don’t hurt me!” Ushimaru pleaded.
“C’mon Ushimaru, is that any way to talk to an old friend?”
Ushimaru tried to place the voice. “K-Kamoshida?”
“Well, actually nowadays I’m thinking of getting a new name. How does ‘Electro’ sound?”
“W-what is it you want?”
“Straight to business huh? I guess that’s always been your style.” Kamoshida squeezed the older man’s shoulders before releasing him and stepping in front of the recliner.
Ushimaru took in Kamoshida’s appearance, apparently he’d fashioned himself a costume made from a green tracksuit with golden lightning bolts going down either side of his chest and bright yellow gloves, boots, and speedo worn over the pants. The most notable part of the outfit was the mask which appeared to be a balaclava with a large yellow star sewn onto the front that took up most of the mask, each of the star’s points was jagged like a lightning bolt and limply hung off of the mask. Ushimaru would’ve laughed if his life wasn’t seemingly in danger.
Kamoshida’s expression turned dead serious. “What I want from you is the name of the student who sent you the video.”
Ushimaru sweated bullets. “The video was anonymous! I have no idea who sent it!”
Kamoshida walked to Ushimaru’s side, he sighed before speaking again. “Y’know, when I was at Shujin, I was never much for science classes. They were always too boring for my tastes. But I’ve actually learned some fascinating things about electricity lately.” He cracked his knuckles, sparks flew off of the gloves, and Ushimaru flinched at the sound.
“Did you know that the amount of volts that go into your body don’t really pose much of a threat to you? People get struck by billions of volts from lightning and still survive. It’s current that you’ve really gotta watch out for.” Kamoshida placed a finger on Ushimaru’s chest.
“With less than 1 amp going through your body for just a few seconds your heart can stop. Just. Like. That.” He snapped his fingers and Ushimaru closed his eyes in fear. Only to open them a few moments later when nothing happened.
Kamoshida laughed as he took his hand off of the principal’s chest, he leaned down and started speaking in Ushimaru’s ear. “Wanna see something cool?” He pointed to the lamp in the corner of the room opposite him. “ZAP!” He yelled, a thin yellow bolt shot from his fingertip into the bulb and it exploded, sending glass flying. “Damn I love that.”
Kamoshida stood back up and stretched. “Look, I’m a busy guy. So how about we cut a deal? You tell me who sent the video and I promise I won’t tell anyone you told me. Hmm, how about that?”
“I’m telling you, I don’t-”
“DON’T! YOU! DARE! Give me that bullshit!” Kamoshida grabbed onto Ushimaru’s ears and the older man instantly felt like his head was in a blender as the shock travelled through his head. He screamed in agony as his torturer laughed at his pain. Kamoshida released him after a few seconds, the victim reeling in shock but still alive.
“Now do you wanna tell me or-”
“Mishima! It was Yuuki Mishima!”
Kamoshida’s sadistic grin made another appearance. “Well thanks old timer! That’s all I needed!” He clapped the dust off of his gloves and made towards the front door.
Ushimaru fell back into his seat, placing his hand over his rapidly beating heart and breathing heavily.
“Oh! Before I left there was one more thing.” The principal’s breathing hitched. Kamoshida made his way back behind the recliner. “We never discussed my severance package!” He placed both gloved palms on the man’s head and unleashed his full power, causing the man to scream and twitch in pain until he ceased moving altogether.
Satisfied with his work, ‘Electro’ stepped out the door into the night. “One down, one to go!” He said with a smile. “Though hell, if it’s this easy might as well just kill whoever else gets in the way too!” For the first time since losing his job, Kamoshida felt things were genuinely looking up.