Chapter 69
[95]
As Ren Amamiya stepped into Leblanc for the first time in weeks, he wasn’t sure what to expect.
Would Sojiro throw him out? Would they make up? In all honesty, Ren had no idea if Sojiro was even mad to begin with. He’d been forced to leave due to his refusal to quit being Spider-Man, but there hadn’t really been a fight, just a mutual agreement that if he were to continue down this path, he could no longer stay there.
To his surprise, Ren found Sojiro standing behind the counter, seemingly waiting for him to arrive. Futaba was there too, seated on one of the stools and drinking a steaming cup of coffee. For some reason that he couldn’t point out, Futaba seemed different, more...mature. While her physical appearance hadn’t changed in the slightest, she had a more adult air about her.
“Ren.” Futaba smiled as she brought her coffee cup from her lips. The younger girl stood up from her stool and walked over to Ren, her head hung low, before wrapping her arms around him and pushing her face into his chest. “I missed you.” She said softly, not budging an inch.
Ren gladly returned the hug, patting the orange haired girl on the back. This hug felt different as well, different from the ones they’d shared previously. Something about it sent chills down the boy’s spine, but in a good sort of way. Did that make sense? With her head directly beneath his, he caught a whiff of Futaba’s hair, it smelled like coffee. God how much he missed that smell, he missed being here with them. Naoto’s place was great, but it wasn’t his home, not to mention the awkward situation between them right now after...You know.
“It’s been some time, hasn’t it kid?” The voice of Sojiro called from behind the counter, his usual smirk on his face.
“Too much time.” Ren replied back, relieved that Sojiro was glad to have him here. “I really miss seeing you guys.”
The trio stood in silence for another few moments before Sojiro cleared his throat, clearly signalling Futaba. The girl turned back to Sojiro with a pouty face, mad that her hug had to end. When she turned back to Ren, her cheeks slightly pink, she poked her fingers together awkwardly.
“P-Please...have a seat.” She gestured to the booth next to them. Ren took his seat while Futaba and Sojiro sat across from him.
“Soooo, what did you guys want to talk about?” Ren asked, trying not to betray how nervous he was in this situation.
“Well why don’t we talk about what happened this morning, so you’re caught up to speed.” Futaba suggested. “See, while you’ve been away I’ve been…” She shot a glare at Sojiro. “Grounded, not allowed to touch any technology post 1943! So it was frustrating, not being able to help you out against that asshole-”
“Language!” Sojiro interrupted.
“That...villain...Mysterio. But we were watching the whole battle on the news. When it turned out that he was using drones and not ‘magic’ I was finally able to convince Sojiro to let me help you. And I totally came in clutch!” She yelled, standing up and raising her fist.
The two men simply stared at her awkwardly. Realizing that they had no idea what that meant, she sat back down, disappointed.
“Anyways,” She continued. “After showing off my amazing hacking skills and just how helpful I am to you, Sojiro and I had a little talk and came to an agreement.” She turned to Sojiro, waiting for him to finish for her.
The man in question closed his eyes and sighed before looking back at Ren. “If...maybe...you want to come back...I’d be willing to allow it.”
“Really!?” Ren said with wide eyes, shocked at the offer.
“Provided that you follow some guidelines and one very important rule.” Sojiro continued.
“Name it.”
“First of all, your Spider-Man stuff, I don’t want to see it around my home or my cafe. You can keep it out there and in your room. Second, you’re going to be lending more of a hand around here. For whatever reason, my shop seems to get more customers with you around and I’ve got bills to pay.”
“Okay that sounds easy enough.” So far he hadn’t listed anything Ren wouldn’t gladly do for him.
“And finally, the rule I want you to follow more than anything.” Sojiro’s expression became dead serious and he looked at both Ren and Futaba. “This applies to both of you. Watch each other’s backs, don’t let anything happen to yourselves or each other. If I so much even feel like one of your lives is in mortal peril, I’m pulling the plug on this whole thing. Got it?”
Ren thought back to earlier that morning, how so many people had gotten hurt, some even killed, because he wasn’t good enough. Could he guarantee Futaba’s safety? Could he even guarantee his own? Doubt wormed its way into Ren’s mind, making him rethink the situation.
“Of course we will!” Futaba yelled, slamming her fists on the table. “Ren’s an amazing hero! He’s saved countless lives even after being Spider-Man for only a few months! And with the others and I helping him out, we’re sure to save even more! Right Ren!?”
Futaba’s words brought about a realization in Ren, he had saved so many people in his time as Spider-Man. How many more would’ve died had he not intervened? What was he thinking? Of course he had to keep going! For their sake! He wouldn’t let his own self doubt cost anyone their lives.
“Right.” Ren nodded. “Sojiro, I promise you that under my watch, Futaba and I aren’t going anywhere.”
Sojiro was silent for a moment as he studied Ren’s expression. Seeing no hint of doubt in the boy’s eyes, he accepted the answer and shook Ren’s hand firmly.
“Good. I’m glad to have you back kid. Bring your stuff over tomorrow morning, we kept your room just how you left it. Too much of a damn hassle to clean.”
“He means he couldn’t bring himself to go up there since you left. Sometimes he’d even look upstairs longingly.”
“Aaaand it looks like someone just tagged an extra week onto their grounding.”
“What!? Come on Sojiro! You know it’s true!”
As the two of them began to argue, Ren couldn’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia come over him.
He really was home again.
[Bonus]
Minato Arisato sat in his cell, watching the sun’s rays slowly crawl up the wall from his tiny, singular window. He was getting good at using it to measure the time, even placing notches in the wall to indicate the exact hour. Of course, this made telling the time during the night or a cloudy day practically impossible, but what could he do?
The process of trying to find the exact time might sound boring to a normal person, but to Minato, it was literally the most interesting thing he had going on at the moment. There was nothing else to do in his empty concrete cube besides flicking small rocks against the wall, but he’d already done that for two hours today so it had grown pretty old.
He did exercise regularly, at this point it was a part of his wake up routine and he could do it while half asleep, but one could only do that for so long before the body gave out. As a result of his intense training, Minato’s time in prison hadn’t left him any weaker than when he’d first entered.
As he continued to watch the light slowly fall towards the notch indicating 3 o’clock, he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door. That sound was then replaced by the sound of keys jingling and being inserted into the lock.
“Prisoner 7816! Stand in the corner of the room with your head against the wall and hands behind your back!”
Minato complied, but found the situation odd. He wasn’t scheduled for recreation today. Not to mention that it was way too late in the day for that. Something else was going on. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this, on the one hand, it beat crushing boredom, but on the other, this could be very, very bad.
His feelings began to drift towards the latter as when he stepped out of his cell, handcuffed and heavily monitored, he saw his cell neighbor in a similar situation. If he and Sho Minazuki were in the same situation, this couldn’t be good.
“What the fuck’s goin’ on!? You better tell me before I feed you your intestines!” Minazuki shouted before a black bag was placed over his head.
Immediately after, Minato’s vision went dark, indicating that he too was receiving the bag treatment. The next moment, the guards were pushing him and Minazuki up the stairs out of ‘The Cellar’ and up to the main prison floor. While they were walking, Minato could’ve sworn he saw the silhouettes of two other prisoners, each of a similar height and build to him and Minazuki, being pushed in the opposite direction. He really wasn’t liking where this was going.
They continued to walk for several more minutes before arriving in another room. He felt a sudden stinging sensation in the side of his neck and was suddenly pushed onto a table and felt cloth beneath him, the sound of a zipper accompanied by the last traces of light disappearing from his view confirmed what he assumed to be going on. His last thoughts before drifting off were of what hell awaited him when he came to.
An unknown amount of time later, he awoke sitting up, able to see now that the bag over his head had been removed. He looked around and noted that he was in a limousine, Minazuki sitting next to him, looking just as drowsy as Minato felt. When feeling began returning to his body, he noticed that he was still in handcuffs which were attached to the limo’s ceiling.
Before he could even attempt to move, the door on the other side of the limousine opened and a large, overweight, bald man took up the two seats across from them.
“Gentleman.” The man said with a sleazy voice befitting of his looks.
“I have a proposition for you.”