Chapter 72
[99]
Ren was still reeling in shock at the fact that Tae Takemi, his personal doctor, was now the school nurse at Shujin Academy. Apparently, her former employer wasn’t satisfied with just costing Takemi her professional reputation, he was trying to force her out of the medical profession entirely. Now that she had lost her clinic in Yongen, a job at Shujin was the best she could do at the moment. Luckily the school was desperate for help after having its reputation completely tank this year.
Takemi didn’t seem in too low of spirits though, claiming she was glad to still get to see her ‘little guinea pig’ on a regular basis. Ren honestly couldn’t tell if the doctor was just messing with him or not, either way it made him feel...a certain way.
After dropping off Haru, and being assured that the girl would be fine, Ren headed to classes for the day. It passed pretty normally for him, he was brought up to speed with the situation with Mishima by Ann, he began studying for exams again since he finally had free time, and things were finally looking to return to normal for the time being (Ren knew it wouldn’t last long so he decided to enjoy it while he could.)
“Alright, I think we can conclude our study session for the day.” Makoto said, putting her pencils and erasers into her (adorable) panda themed pencil bag. “I have to say, I’m really impressed with how you’ve been keeping up with your studies Ren. Some students can’t even handle the normal course load by itself, but you’re managing it on top of a job, lab assistant position, and your ‘extracurricular’ activities.”
“What can I say?” Ren smirked. “Maybe only getting 2 hours of sleep a night is one of my superpowers.” He was only half joking about this, the bags under his eyes giving away just how serious the problem was.
“Yeah…” Makoto replied. “Oh, before I forget, we won’t be having any study sessions towards the end of the month. Student council members have to deal with organizing the Halloween dance at the end of the month. We’re having it instead of a school festival this year since the board determined it to be cheaper this way. And with how this year has been panning out, they need to cut corners wherever they can.”
“Geez, if they really wanted to save money couldn’t they just end the semester and just give us our diplomas now?” Ren said while yawning, sleep threatening to take him soon.
Makoto laughed at that. “I wish. Wouldn’t that be great?”
“...”
“...”
“...Hey Ren?”
“Hmm?”
“I was thinking umm...Would you want to...No forget it, it’s dumb.” She said, heat rising in her cheeks.
This however, went unnoticed by Ren, who was struggling to keep his eyes open. “What’s up?”
“Well I was just wondering...maybe we could...umm...” She struggled with how to phrase the question, afraid it would come out wrong. She didn’t get to ask the question though, the bell went off, interrupting her before she could finish. “OhwellIshouldgotalktoyoulaterbye!” She quickly grabbed her things and left the room.
“Huh.” Ren said as he watched the door slam behind her. He then picked up his own items and headed off to his next class at a much slower pace.
As he walked through the school’s halls to Maruki’s class, he spotted a familiar head of long bright red hair.
“Sumire!” Ren called out to the girl. She must not have heard him because she continued to walk in the opposite direction. He pushed through the crowd hallway to catch up to her, calling her name repeatedly as he did so. He hadn’t seen her in weeks and felt that he at least owed her a hello.
“Sumire *whew* Finally caught up to you.” He said, finally placing his hand on her shoulder. The girl turned around, revealing her face. It was Sumire alright, but something was off. For whatever reason, she seemed to refuse to meet his gaze, more interested in her shoes instead.
“O-Oh. H-Hey Senpai.” She managed to get out, her voice shaky.
“Hey are you alright? What’s going on?” He was concerned now.
“I-It’s nothing. Um, I really need to get to class.” She nudged his hand away and began to walk off.
“Alright...Do you want to meet up for gymnastics practice this week?”
“I...I really can’t. I don’t feel well. I’ve gotta get to class now.” She walked off, never once looking him in the eyes.
‘What was that about?’ Ren wondered to himself as he watched her run off. Clearly something was wrong, and he had a feeling that it wasn’t because she was sick.
“You are such an ass.” A female voice came from Ren’s side. He turned his head and saw the voice’s owner, Sumire’s twin sister, Kasumi, who was leaning against the wall. The two were identical save for Kasumi’s darker hair and a mole on her cheek. As for personality, they couldn’t be more different.
“Wha-Did I do something?” Ren asked, befuddled at the insult. Sure he was still seen as the school delinquent, but he never actually did anything that would warrant such a comment, as far as he knew at least.
“Tch. So not only are you an ass, but a moron as well. Either that or you’re playing dumb, which would be even worse.”
“I am completely lost.” Ren said, a confused look on his face.
Suddenly, Kasumi stood up and walked over to Ren. Without a word of warning, she raised her hand and slapped him across the face. The slap echoed through the, now empty, hallway. The slap didn’t particularly hurt Ren, but it definitely caught him by surprise.
“I always knew you were trouble, but it looks like your lies finally caught up with you. I don’t get what Sumi saw in you, but I’m glad she finally sees the truth now.” With that, Kasumi turned sharply on her heel, smacking Ren in the face with her ponytail, and walked off.
“What the fuck just happened?” Ren asked himself aloud.
When he finally arrived in Maruki’s class, he preemptively apologized for his tardiness. Much to his surprise (for the hundredth time today) he saw that Dr. Maruki wasn’t present, instead, a substitute teacher sat behind his desk.
“Where’s Dr. Maruki?” He asked the sub, who was more preoccupied with his phone and had given the students a packet in lieu of teaching.
“I dunno, sick at home?” The sub replied, annoyed by the question. “Said something about barf during the phone call. Now just siddown shuddup and get your work done.” He said all of this without even looking up from the phone.
Sighing in defeat at his luck today, Ren did as he was instructed and took his seat. The rest of the school day passed quickly, thankfully with no more notable events. Now, all Ren wanted to do was go home and collapse in bed and sleep until tomorrow morning.
That plan, however, wouldn’t come to pass. Fate had other plans in store for Ren Amamiya, when he stepped into Leblanc and found a familiar man with long blue hair sitting at the counter.
“Uncle Minato!?”
“Hey there kiddo, long time no see.”
[100]
9 Years Ago:
A small boy with wavy black hair sat on the steps outside of his home. His freckled cheeks, stained with tears, had noticeable bruises on them and they, along with his bruised knuckles, were a dead giveaway as to what troubled him.
“Hey there kiddo, what’s got you down?” Minato asked, already guessing the answer.
“Uncle Minato!” The boy wiped his tears and ran up to Minato, wrapping his arms around his leg.
To the young Ren Amamiya, there was no one in the world cooler than his uncle. On the rare occasions that he was able to visit, he always took Ren out for fast food (which his mother never let him have) and let him ride in his car. (Minato didn’t respect the speed limit whatsoever.)
“So what’s wrong? Parents fighting again?” Minato asked.
Ren nodded his head. “I got in a fight today. Dad asked if I won and Mom’s mad that I hit another kid. Now they’re arguing and I came out here because they were loud.”
Minato chuckled. “Of course he would ask that. Your dad and I had a rough childhood, we got into a lot of scrapes as kids. I guess the important thing is, why were you fighting in the first place?”
“...”
“Was it over a girl?”
Ren nodded slowly. “Some kids pushed her off the swings so I hit them.”
“Attaboy!” Minato patted him on the back. “So did you win?”
“...No. There were 3 of them and one was in 4th grade.” Ren said, hanging his head low.
“That’s okay. As long as you were fighting for the right reason, that’s what matters.”
“Mom says I shouldn’t get into fights. No matter what.”
“Eh.” Minato shrugged. “You shouldn’t seek them out, but sometimes in life, you need to stand up for what’s right. And sometimes that means you have to fight, even if it hurts or it scares you. Understand?”
“I guess?” Ren said, not fully comprehending the message.
“That’s okay. Some day you will.” Minato smiled at his nephew. “Now why don’t we head inside? I’m sure your mom’s gonna be thrilled to see me.” With that said, the uncle and nephew walked into the house together.
Present Day:
“What are you doing here?” Ren asked. “I-I thought you were in prison!” Without waiting for a reply, he ran in to hug the older man. While he knew his uncle had gotten involved in some sketchy business, he wasn’t aware of the extent of his crimes.
“I made parole. Good behavior, community service, all that good stuff.” Minato smiled, releasing his nephew. “And I’ve already got a job lined up.”
“That’s great!” Ren smiled back as the two sat down at the counter. “I’m so happy for you!”
“Now speaking of running afoul of the law, I hear that you have some experience in that department as well.”
Ren sighed. “Who told you?”
“Your dad.” Minato replied before taking a sip of his coffee. “Said you were arrested for assault. But I wanted to hear your side of the story.”
“First time I’ve heard that since coming here.” Ren chuckled. “What can I say? Just following your advice I guess, standing up for what’s right.”
“Good to know, but I think you’re mature enough now to realize that I’m not the greatest role model.”
“Still good advice. I mean...I don’t regret what I did. It led me here.” He gestured to the cafe. “Now I’ve got great friends, a good job, and things finally...they finally feel right, y’know?”
“Damn, I wish my prison experience was like that. I did make a good friend there though.” Minato reminisced. “So, any special women in your life at the moment?”
Ren thought about today’s events. “Too many.”
The pair spoke for hours, luckily Sojiro let them stay long after business hours were over.
“Oh my god! Is that the time?” Minato said, looking down at his watch. “I’ve gotta go. It’s been great talking with you Ren. I’ll stop by again, for the coffee, if nothing else.”
“Oh I’m sorry. Is seeing your favorite nephew not reason enough?” Ren asked sarcastically.
“Eh. You’re only my favorite by default.” The uncle joked as he walked out the door, briefcase in hand.
As the cafe door closed behind him and he walked down the street, Minato looked at his phone. The one he’d been given by Kingpin only had 2 contacts in it, the fat man himself and Minazuki. If they were going to work together, it was important that they keep in contact. He pressed Minazuki’s contact and held it up to his ear.
“What is it?” Sho’s voice answered.
“Anything yet?” Minato asked, loosening his tie as he stepped into a nearby alleyway.
“Jack. Shit. Spider-Man’s a no-show. Where the hell have you been?”
“Busy.” He replied simply, opening the briefcase. “But I’m here now. And I fully intend to win our bet.”
“Please don’t say some dumb shit like you’re ‘on the prowl.’”
“No. I’m a professional, I don’t make puns on the job. Just keep my 5 million ready.” Minato said as he pulled on his mask.
“Tonight, I’m going to kill Spider-Man.”