Chapter 17
[31]
The final bell rang dismissing Ren’s class for the day. Ann told him goodbye as she left to go visit Shiho in the hospital. When he finished grabbing his books from his locker he shut it to reveal Ryuji standing behind it. Ren jumped in surprise, what the hell was the point in a spider sense if not this?!
“Yo, we still trainin’ today?” Ryuji asked his best friend.
“Yeah, it looks like no Spider-Man business today. I’m still waiting to hear back on a case.” Ren spoke in a hushed tone.
“Oh shit, that’s right! I forgot you’re working with the police now!”
“Shhh!” Ren looked around, luckily no one seemed to be paying attention to them. “Geez, you’re incorrigible.”
Ryuji looked apologetic, “Sorry dude, my bad.”
Later, outside in the school yard, the two boys had just finished their last lap around the school. Ryuji was soaked in sweat and breathing heavily, meanwhile Ren showed no apparent signs of fatigue and watched his friend collapse onto the grass.
“What the *huff* eff dude *huff* are you even sweating?!” Ryuji managed to pant out.
“Umm, no not really. You want some water or something?”
“So *huff* unfair dude.”
“Hey, I didn’t ask for this. And if I recall correctly, you were too scared to pick up a spider.”
Ryuji covered his face with his hands. “Ugh. Don’t remind me.” Suddenly his face lit up and he turned to Ren excitedly. “Dude! What if we went back there and got me a spider too!? We could be co-Spider-Men!”
Ren scratched the back of his head. “I don’t think that’s the best idea man. For a number of reasons. Chief among them being that we would have to break into a corporate science lab and steal important experiments.”
Ryuji sighed and laid back down, “Aww that suuucks! Wait, dude what if you bit me?”
“I’m not doing that.”
“Aw dude not like that!” Ryuji was red-faced with embarrassment. “Not like in a sexual way! Dammit dude, now that’s all I can see it as!”
“HEY!” A voice interrupted their conversation, the boys turned to the sound and saw a group of boys in track uniforms approaching them.
“What’re you doing here Sakamato? Trying to join back up with the track team?”
“What? No we’re just-”
“You got a lotta nerve coming to our practice spot after the shit you pulled with Kamoshida.”
“Y’know what? We’re leavin’ alright? C’mon dude, let’s go grab a beef bowl.” The pair began to walk away when one of the boys shouted.
“You think you can just walk away!?”
A second later, Ren’s spider sense kicked in and, without looking, he caught a rock that had been thrown at the back of Ryuji’s head. The blonde turned around, startled to see what had nearly smacked hard against his skull. The boys from the track team had their eyes wide and a few mouths were agape. “What the hell?” Could be heard from the boys.
“Don’t come near my friend again. Got that?” Without waiting for a response he walked away, Ryuji following soon after.
Later once again, the two boys sat in the back corner of the busy beef bowl shop joined by their first year friend. The ambient noise making it safe to speak in private.
“Thanks for inviting me out with you guys. Lady Ann hasn’t been answering my texts today.” Morgana said to them.
“Ain’t that normal though?”
“Shut up! Stupid blonde monkey. I take back my thanks.”
Finally Ren spoke up, “It seemed like it was time we discuss the elephant in the room. Morgana, you haven’t told anyone about me yet, right?” Ren knew Ann and Ryuji well enough to know his secret was safe with them, but Morgana was the outlier. Ren only knew him because of his obsession with Ann.
“Of course not! Lady Ann made me swear an oath to her that I wouldn’t tell and I am a man of my word.”
“That’s good to hear. Needless to say, things could get really bad if my identity was let out. In my ‘line of business’ if people knew who I was, they would hurt the people close to me.”
Morgana seemed a little overwhelmed with the amount of trust that was being put into him. Ryuji broke the newly formed tension by chiming in.
“So dude, what was that thing you were fighting the other night? It caused a helicopter to crash right?”
“I can’t say it was really a fight. I didn’t get anywhere near the guy so he got away with whatever he stole.”
“For real? Then shouldn’t you be out there tryin’ to find the guy?”
“It isn’t really that simple Ryuji. This guy doesn’t strike every night, rather he has targets that he seeks out. My ally on the force is working on tracking him down now so there’s not much I can do. Plus, I’m still recovering from my injuries from that night.” Ren rolled his right shoulder with a pained expression.
“Oh right. Sorry ‘bout that. It’s gotta be rough, all the fights and stuff.”
“I heal fast so its manageable. Still hurts just as much though.” Ren finished his bowl off and stood up. “Welp, its probably time I get going. Gotta finish my homework early if I’m gonna patrol tonight.”
“Yeah I should get goin’ too. Got a long night of procrastinating ahead. See ya Mona.” The older boys left the restaurant and as Morgana began standing up to leave, one of the employees approached him.
“Here’s the bill for what you and your friends ate.” She handed the blue haired boy said bill.
“Son of a-”
Finally, later that night, Ren entered the bathhouse in Yongen. It had been a long night of nothing, no car chases, no robberies, and no giant vultures. He had swung through the city all night and hadn’t heard any police sirens and Naoto wasn’t even answering his messages. Normally, it would be great that there’s no crimes to stop, however Ren really needed a win right now.
“God, is there really nothing I can do?” He asked himself as he stepped into the very steamy bath dressed in just a towel.
“Well I don’t know about nothing. Think you could you help me get my back?” A feminine voice asked him from inside the bath.
“What the?!” The public bath in Yongen wasn’t very popular, especially at this time of night. So Ren was used to being alone when he came in to bathe. As the steam cleared a bit, Ren was able to make out short blue hair followed by brown eyes and red lips. It was unmistakably the face of Dr. Tae Takemi, who he’d gotten to know very up close recently.
Ren stood up to leave. “O-oh Dr. T-Takemi! I’m so sorry, I’ll just come back late-”
“Sit down Ren. I’ve seen your body plenty of times.” The doctor didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed about her compromising position. Ren complied with her demand. “And might I add, its quite a nice one too. Nicest I’ve seen on a patient.”
“Umm th-thanks. Y-your’s is nice too.” Ren regretted saying that and suddenly averted his gaze from hers.
Takemi didn’t seem bothered by it at all. “Thank you. Y’know speaking of bodies, let me take a look and see how you’re healing up.”
“Oh that isn’t necessary I’m doing fiiii-” The boy wasn’t able to finish his sentence as the doctor was already grabbing his arm to inspect it.
“You should listen to your doctor you know.” She said while poking at his muscles. “Are you experiencing any soreness or stiffness?”
Ren ignored the obvious joke he could’ve made. “Uh, only in the shoulder.”
“That’s to be expected, the dislocation was pretty bad. Turn around.” Ren complied and she began inspecting his back. He shivered as she traced her finger around his lower left side. “Interesting, looks like this scar tissue is here to stay.”
The scar she was referring to was one he got from his battle with Kamoshida. Towards the end, Ren had tried to escape to avoid the police and Kamoshida had blasted him in his back as he was climbing. That blast had left quite a large electrical burn where it hit and the skin hadn’t returned to its normal pigment.
“It looks like there are limits to what your body can heal.”
Ren noticed that even though the doctor had seemingly finished her examination, she was still touching him. Lightly caressing his back with her fingertips, Ren wouldn’t say it out loud, but it felt kind of nice.
“Uhh Doc? Everything alright back there?”
“O-oh right. I’m done… Sorry.” She returned to her side of the bath and as Ren turned around he thought he may have seen a blush on the woman’s face, but it may have just been the heat of the steam. As she made it back to her side, Takemi stepped out of the bath. “Well, that’s all for me. Be sure to come see me again if you’re hurt. And do try to be careful out there. Doctor’s orders.”
“Yes ma’am.”