Chapter Text
04/09/2016
Late Afternoon
Tokyo Subway
“Next stop Yongen-Jaya, That's next stop Yongen-Jaya!”
Ren jolts awake, blinking blearily. Must have dozed off again. But, falling asleep on the train isn’t so unusual, especially with how little sleep she’s gotten in the past few months. The sounds of the train’s movement slowing and the whispers of nearby girls talking about something called ‘mental shutdowns’ fill her ears. Her nerves are on high due to the new experience. Okina city may be a city and huge compared to Inaba, but Tokyo?
This is a whole new monster.
A woman screaming, a man yelling and swinging at her. Handcuffs, police laughing at her.
She shakes her head, her arms snaking around herself in a self-hug as she forces the memories to the back of her mind. After calming herself, she looks down at her phone and sees an unfamiliar application.
“Huh… Weird…” Frowning, she deletes the app before putting her phone away and getting off at her stop. “Right… It’s this way…”
Slowly, and curling into herself to make herself smaller (which is fairly hard since she inherited her mother’s height), she walks through the backstreets of the Yongen-Jaya neighborhood. So, this is where she’ll be staying for the next year? It’s… Not bad, she’d probably find it cozy if she was here under better circumstances.
As she walks through the alleyways, a sign catches her attention. Leblanc… It looks like… A café? That might help calm her nerves a bit. Coffee’s always been a comforting thing to her. And right now, Ren can use something to calm her anxiety. She walks up to the café, opening the door, which jingles with a satisfying chime. Cute.
The aroma of fresh coffee almost washes away her anxiety entirely, it’s a scent she has come to associate with comfort, and it does a good job of calming her nerves. She quickly takes stock of the café, taking in its atmosphere. It’s small and rustic, and much more charming than Chagall in Okina City was.
A gruff-looking man with glasses and a beard is leaning against the counter and staring intently at a crossword while two elderly people talk in a nearby booth. The man wears a pink button-up shirt and an apron… He must be the barista? And probably the owner?
“Vertical… Absence of tears; tearlessness…” The man scoffs. “Yeesh, they’re putting the hard ones in this time, huh?” He says to himself.
“I... I th-think the w-word you’re l-looking for is ‘Adacrya’, s-sir?” Ren’s voice is quiet, stuttering and much higher than her normal pitch is. ‘Damm nerves!’
The man looks over the crossword before writing the word down. “Pretty sharp, kid.” He glances at her. “Can I help you?” His smile and tone, despite the gruff sound of his voice (which to Ren sounds more like a smoker’s voice than anything), is one of a person who’s been in customer service for years.
“Well, we’ll be going now, payment’s on the table, Boss.” The elderly man says as he gets up out of his seat, the woman across from him getting up as well.
“Thanks for coming.” The man says, raising an eyebrow as he looks at Ren as she skittishly moves out of the way of the elderly couple. “Jeez kid, you look like you’re two seconds from breaking down. You all right?”
“W-well, I’m l-looking for a S-Sakura S-Sojiro… B-But I g-got here much e-earlier than I w-was e-expecting, s-so I thought I’d… Have s-some coffee first b-before trying to… Find him.” Ren responds, nodding shyly.
“Huh…” The man cocks his head. “Well guess you got lucky, I’m Sojiro Sakura.”
Sojiro looks Ren over for a moment, his look is one of curiosity. She’s incredibly tall for a girl, even with her obvious slouch and shrinking in on herself. Her hair is long, with curly, thick and messy locks done in a simple ponytail slung over her shoulder. Her glasses hide her eyes due to how she holds her head, but there’s a brief flash of silver color. She’s dressed quite conservatively, with no makeup whatsoever, with an old, oversized hoodie and worn jeans over simple boots.
“O-Oh!” Ren nods, taking her hands out of her hoodie’s pocket. “It’s n-nice to m-meet you then… S-Sakura-san.” Why is she so nervous still!? “I’m A-Amamiya R-Ren.”
Sojiro looks at her, cocking an eyebrow. “You’ve gotta be shittin’ me.” He chuckles, shaking his head. “This has gotta be a joke.” He lets out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Well, this one’s on me for not reading the paperwork as clearly as I should have…”
“E-Eh!?”
“Heh, you’re more polite and timid than I was expecting from the paperwork… But please. Just call me Sojiro or Boss, everyone does.” He says, putting his hands on his hips and stretching.
“Th-thank you for t-taking me in...” Ren bows, speaking softly. “I-it must be a b-bit of a burden for you.”
“Honestly, you’re the one?” Sojiro sighs, stroking his goatee. “I was expecting some kind of unruly delinquent, but I guess you have manners at least.”
Ren shrinks in on herself once more and Sojiro sighs.
He rubs the back of his neck, rolling a shoulder. “This isn't the kind of place to take in a teenage girl. Shit, now I’m feeling guilty…” He rubs at the back of his head.
There’s pause of awkward silence between the two before the man sighs. “Well, come on… I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.” He motions for Ren to follow him. “It’s... just an attic though.” He adds, wincing. “Like I said, I wasn't expecting a girl.”
Ascending the stairs in the back, the pair emerges into the attic above the store. The area is caked in dust, with junk haphazardly strewn around.
“Right… This is where you’ll be staying. I have sheets for your bed in a closet downstairs, I’ll grab them for you after hours. We should probably get you a curtain too since there’s no door, a girl needs her privacy after all…” Sojiro continues, before pausing to gauge the girl’s reaction. “Hm, you look like you want to say something.”
“S- Sorry, it's just… w-way more space th-than I was expecting…” Ren looks over the area, wide-eyed.
This is at least twice the size of her room back in the orphanage in Inaba.
“Apologies for the mess. My back’s not what it used to be... and I thought a young man would have no trouble handling it himself…” Sojiro sighs, shaking his head and watches Ren look down at the floor. “It’s on you to clean the rest.”
“I… I u-understand.” Ren nods, shuffling uncomfortably.
“One last thing. Now don't complain, because again, I wasn't expecting... well, you.” He says, gesturing toward her and frowning. “This place is a café, obviously, not a proper house. There's a bathhouse and a laundromat just outside, right across the street. Trust me, can’t miss ‘em. The restroom is for customers too, so don't go putting your stuff all over it. Got it?”
“Y-Yes sir…”
Sojiro continues to look Ren over. All the facts in front of him aligning themselves into what is likely the truth. "Though I guess... there's really no way you could've done it, huh? I mean, I heard most of the story. But… You? Assault and battery?” He scoffs. “Yeah, right.”
“Th-that’s wh-what the o-official… report says…”
“Guessing the official report isn’t completely true?” He looks at Ren as the girl nods while she brushes some of her messy locks out of her face. “So, what is the truth then?” He inquires.
Ren feels her anger bubbling up and a sense of calm serenity washes over her. She sighs, nodding and composing herself. “I never touched him. I yelled at him to stop, but he turned to swing at me. But there was at least a meter and a half between us, so he swung at air and tripped.” She looks down at the ground, her posture deflating.
“Wait, you didn’t injure him?” Sojiro looks at Ren with a quirked eyebrow.
“No…” Her shoulder sag. “If anything, I… Bruised his ego. I think he was a politician or something, definitely had friends in the police at least with how they… Spoke to him… And how quickly everything went from that night to when I was sentenced…”
Sojiro scoffs. “Typical.” He sighs, shaking his head. “Well, no matter how well-intentioned you were, it still got you expelled, a court-ordered transfer and a criminal record.”
“Yeah… I know…” Ren sighs, shaking her head. “... ‘You should have stayed out of it’, ‘You only made things worse’, ‘You deserve what you get’. Believe me… Aikawa-san told me all of it already.” Her voice carries much more venom and steel than before.
If there was one person Ren could say she truly hated, it was Aikawa Hikaru, one of the so-called ‘caretakers’ at the orphanage she grew up in.
“Jeez kid…” Sojiro sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses. “Honestly, I get it. You did the right thing in that situation, but you also made life harder for yourself. And sometimes, it’s really just yourself you should look out for. Just keep your head down as long as you’re under my roof and by this time next year your probation will be lifted.” His gruff tone carries more sincerity and sympathy than before Ren explained what happened.
Ren nods, looking at the ground.
“Right, well, tomorrow we’ll be visiting Shujin to get the information down… We’ll need to pick up your uniforms and class ID while we’re there too. Now then, I have a store to manage. Your luggage is over there, and cleaning supplies are in a closet downstairs by the bathroom.”
A few minutes pass before Ren moves out of her catatonia. Her ‘room’ won’t clean itself. A few hours must have passed after Sojiro’s last statement, as Ren goes to cleaning without putting much thought into it. Her mind always goes into a trance-like state when doing tasks like cleaning. She finishes just in time to hear her guardian walking up the steps, fresh bedsheets in hand.
“Huh… I thought I was hearing a bunch of noise up here, but I didn’t think you had gotten this much done…” He sounds genuinely impressed as he looks around, stroking his beard.
The once dusty and junk-strewn attic has been near-entirely cleaned. An empty shelving rack is near her ‘bed’, a worktable on the other side, a couch next to that, and a filled shelving rack right by the stairs that she put all of her belongings from the orphanage (which, honestly, isn’t much) into.
“Ehehe… Yeah…” She nods, rubbing the back of her neck with a tiny smile, looking around the room.
“Well come on downstairs, I’ve got some dinner for you.” Sojiro says.
At that, Ren’s head whips up, giving off a combination of ‘deer in headlights’ and ‘hasn’t eaten in weeks’ type vibes. The older man chuckles, shaking his head at her reaction.
“What, do you think I was going to let you fend for yourself with food? C’mon…” Sojiro motions for Ren to follow him.
The girl follows the man downstairs before sitting at the counter where a sizable plate of curry and rice, which smells delicious, awaits. She takes a careful bite before her eyes widen, and she proceeds to start devouring the curry.
Sojiro chuckles, watching Ren and shakes his head. “You don’t have to eat it so fast, no one’s going to take it from you…” He chuckles, putting a cup of coffee in front of her.
Ren blushes, slowing down and stopping. “S-Sorry… It’s just… I’m u-used to getting r-rushed…” She nods, Sojiro raising an eyebrow at her statement, his face one of concern, but doesn’t say anything. The girl takes a sip of the coffee, and her eyes widen once more. Even the coffee is amazing, too? “Th-thank you, Sakura-san…”
“Huh… Hard to believe the kid in front of me has a criminal record…” Sojiro chuckles, shaking his head. “Really wasn’t expecting you to be this well-behaved or… skittish, but…” He shrugs. “I know how to deal with skittish.”
Ren takes a quick glance at her guardian and sees a brief glimpse of… Nostalgia? Sympathy? She does feel much more at-ease now than she did before, now returning to eat at a reasonable pace.
Some time passes and Ren finishes her curry and coffee and is in the middle of cleaning off her dishes when she hears Sojiro walk towards the door.
“Alright, I’m going to lock up for the night. Remember, we’ll be going to your school first thing in the morning so don’t stay up too late.” Ren blinks surprised he was trusting her with his store overnight.
She nods as he begins opening up the door, but Ren quickly steps out from behind the counter before he can fully close it behind him.
“O-Once again, th-thank you for the meal… and f-for taking me in…” She bows as deep as she can, sounding slightly choked.
“Heh… Yeah…” There’s a hint of warmness in his tone.
“H-have a g-good night, Boss.” She stands back up, with a tiny smile on her face.
“Heh... Good night kid.”
04/10/2016
Early Morning
Ren jolts awake, heart in her throat and back killing her. The former from her, frankly, disturbing dream with the freaky as hell long-nosed man and the creepy twins. Also, the fact it was set in a jail cell. The latter… Well, her ‘bed’ situation is utterly atrocious. Stacked on milk crates? Seriously? Groaning, she shoots out of bed when she hears the bell jingling. Hunkering down to avoid the window and with her back to the stairwell, she quickly throws a bra on and a shirt over it. Mosty presentable.
She peeks down the stairs, before slowly creeping down them and pokes her head out of the stairwell. She sees Sojiro, going over the kitchen area. Which makes sense, this is his café, after all. Through the glass of the front door, she sees the alleyway is still in a state of semi-dark, bathed in medium blue as pink light filters in from dawn’s breaking.
‘Pretty…’ Ren thinks to herself.
Sojiro turns and sees her. “Ah, good, you're awake.” He says with a nod. “Hurry up and get dressed.”
Ren jumps and steps out of her hiding spot. She isn’t wearing her glasses yet. While they’re fake, she feels vulnerable without them due to the two things she inherited from her father, her harsh gaze being one, being on full display.
“Are… Are w-we... doing something today?” Ren inquires, her voice froggy with sleep.
“I told you yesterday, I’m taking you to Shujin today so you can get your ID and uniform.” Sojiro responds, looking at Ren with narrowed eyes.
“Oh, okay…” Ren nods before realization sets in on her face. “B-But it’s Sunday?” Her tired state makes her sound more confused than she intended, which clearly amuses the older man.
“Yeah… I don't want to do this either. But making a good first impression is important, especially with your background. We're going to do this the right way, got it?” He nods, smirking slightly.
Ren nods, scurrying back up the stairs.
“Sheesh… Now I’ve got two of em…” She hears Sojiro talking to himself as she gets dressed.
… ‘Two of them’?
Ren picks up her glasses, old and well-worn with the frames having scuffmarks from age, but still effective at masking her glare. As she turns them over, her mind wanders briefly to that rainy night…
08/01/2009
Evening
Inaba, Central Shopping District
“You’re always glaring at us with that stupid look on your face, like you’re angry. God, what a freak! What? Are you jealous you don’t have–”
“Hey, leave her alone!” A chipper, but angry voice shouted, cutting over the rain.
The mean girls and boy ran away, Ren looked down at her broken umbrella, sniffling. At least the rain would hide her tears. Two pairs of rapidly approaching footsteps.
“Oh, you poor thing…” The voice spoke again, and Ren looked up.
Pretty red eyes, gentle and kind. Auburn hair in a high ponytail, slicked with rain. Silver barrettes forming the letters XXII. A warm smile. The prettiest girl Ren had ever seen. She holds her umbrella over Ren as another girl with black hair in a ponytail runs over.
“Jeez Kotone…” The other girl looked at Ren and flinched but frowned as she saw the young girl’s sorry state. “Oh…”
The other girl, Kotone then, grins. She helped Ren stand back up and looked Ren over before she snaped her fingers. “Oh!” She pulls a pair of black-framed, semi-round rectangular glasses out of her bag. “I got these as a present for my gi… friend-” Kotone blushed, coughing. The other girl snickered. “-Yukari, as an accessory for an outfit of hers, but…” She put them on Ren and smiled. “Perfect~!”
“Th-They didn’t do anything?” Ren cocked her head as she looked up at Kotone. The glasses felt slightly too large for her face.
“Nope! They’re non-prescription lenses. Some outfits just need glasses to look good… But they also help a lot for people with glares.” The girl gives her gentle smile. “C’mon, let’s get you out of the rain. What’s your name?”
“A-Amamiya R-Ren…” Ren responded, looking at the girl.
“Pleased to meet you, Amamiya-chan. I’m Shiomi Kotone!” She replied with a wide, warm smile as she helped Ren stand back up. “Can you show us where you live?”
“O-Okay…” Ren nodded, the glasses that were made for someone a bit larger than her started to slip off of her face.
“Aaaaaw, you look soooooo cute!” Kotone hugged Ren while the other girl laughed. “Oh! Shut the FUCK UP, Rio!”
The other girl, Rio, began laughing harder at Kotone’s indignation.
Ren always wondered what happened to that kind girl, and how things went with her and her girlfriend. Ren might have been a ten-year-old at the time, but she wasn’t dumb.
It took another two years before Ren was able to wear the glasses without them constantly slipping off her face.
Turns out, Sojiro made her breakfast… More curry and coffee? Oooooookay then. Good thing she didn’t brush her teeth yet. Ren gets to eating, earning herself another comment to slow down from Sojiro. But they are in kind of a hurry since she needs to brush her teeth after coffee and curry for breakfast. She drains the coffee in its entirety before she realizes her mistake near-instantly. Ren’s not exactly sensitive to caffeine, but strong coffee drank quickly hits her like a truck. And Sojiro’s coffee? The stuff is strong. Ren can already feel the buzz coming on.
Oh boy, here we go. Hopefully she doesn’t vibrate a hole through anything.
The drive to Shujin is uneventful at least, with the two making short, clipped small talk. Sojiro continues the gruff, ‘tough love’ style speeches to Ren, but she quickly picks up the feeling he’s much kinder than he acts. Since Ren has yet to get a uniform, she’s wearing another set of baggy jeans and a loose-fitting t-shirt.
The school doesn’t look like anything unusual, just an ordinary school with no one really around due to it being a Sunday. It’s fairly standard, big high gates and a little courtyard framed by the building itself. There’s a somewhat secluded walkway leading to it from a nearby train station, and vending machines not too far from the front entrance. Honestly? The exterior looks a lot nicer than Yasogami did.
The inside also looks… Impressively normal, which is… Kind of disappointing to Ren. Aren’t big city schools supposed to be fancy?
Ren wordlessly follows Sojiro inside, heading to the principal’s office when an exceedingly tired-looking woman opens the door.
“Yes?...” Her voice is even more exhausted sounding than she looks, which is impressive.
“We’re here for a meeting. She starts tomorrow.” Sojiro motions back towards Ren, and she gives the woman a slight wave that she either didn’t see or didn’t care to return.
The principal seems… pretty harsh but fair, though with that build, Ren is a bit concerned about his longevity. On the other hand, the exhausted young woman who Ren learned would be her homeroom teacher had – accidentally? on purpose? – let slip some kind of business card for a... MAID SERVICE? HELLO!? Well that certainly sent thoughts through Ren’s hormonal teenaged brain like nothing else. Certainly, it distracted her from the caffeine jitters.
Still, the two seem mostly normal as they speak with Sojiro, Ren doing her best to be quiet and hide how much the caffeine was making her practically feel like she’s about to burst. Well, that and the nerves.
Kawakami nods. “If you’ll follow me Amamiya-san… we can get you your uniforms and ID. Come with me.” The woman standing next to the principal says with a sigh.
Ren looks at Sojiro for a moment as if asking his permission. “Go on kid, I’ll finish up the paperwork here.” He smirks at Ren, which… Honestly makes her feel like everything will be okay.
Ren follows Kawakami to a storage room that contains uniforms and the machine to make school IDs.
“Name?”
“A-Amamiya R-Ren.”
“No, I got that already… I meant can you spell it for me?” The tired woman responds, sounding… Amused?
“O-oh, sorry…” Ren nods and spells out her name, blushing heavily in embarrassment.
Then the woman walks over to a stack of boxes with uniforms in them. “Do you know your size?”
“I d-do, but I… I’m worried you m-might not have my s-size in girls u-uniforms…” Ren replies, meekly.
The teacher looks Ren up and down, shrugging. “You’d be surprised.”
The woman hands Ren a sealed plastic bag that contained a set of uniforms. From what she can see it has a jacket, undershirt and skirt as well thigh highs and tights that she could interchange with the weather.
“The handbook lets you know what level of modification is allowed… But honestly, the policy is really lax. As long as you’re wearing some of the uniform you won’t get in trouble.” The woman nods.
With how the uniform is, Ren doubts she’ll do much, if any, modifications. It actually looks really nice to her. Certainly, it is better than Yasogami’s uniforms are. Seriously, Houndstooth? Why? Who thought that was a good idea!?
“Anyways, when you show up to school tomorrow just find me in the faculty office and I’ll take you to class.” She says with another one of what Ren can already tell are her trademark sighs. "Okay?"
“R-right! Th-thank you, Kawakami-sensei!” Ren takes a deep bow in front of her, even if her teacher wasn’t the friendliest person, she’s at least being cordial. Which is a win in Ren’s book.
She makes her way back to Sojiro and they exit the school. The duo soon finds themselves stuck in traffic, Ren remaining quiet but looking over her school ID.
雨宮 恋
Class: 2-D
“Hey kid? Don’t…. Don’t let what people say about your record get to you alright? People are going to judge you now, but I want you to know that you’ll have me in your corner at least.” Sojiro’s statement breaks Ren out of her thoughts.
“I… Th-Thanks, Boss...” Ren honestly doesn’t know what to say. Any sympathy from an adult is genuinely unusual to Ren, even before her unjustified arrest. “N-Not to pry… B-but why are you b-being so nice to me? M-most people… haven’t b-bothered with… e-even f-faking kindness if… they know a-about my record.”
Sojiro sighs, shaking his head. “Honestly, kid, there are a few reasons. Main thing is you remind me of someone I know, and well, you’re just as skittish and terrified as she is.” He chuckles. “When I was asked to watch over you for a year, I figured ‘Yeah, probably just some punk kid in over their head. Bit of time in a new environment and a bit of hard work will probably go a long way’.” He nods. “And then you walked in my café’s door.”
The older man clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “And you? A punk? HA!” He barks out a laugh. “I sure as hell don’t get that feeling from you. I like to think I’m a decent judge of character, and, as far as I’m concerned… You’re a good kid, if a bit timid. I think all you need is someone willing to lend a hand.”
Ren chokes back a sob, biting her lower lip and nodding, her eyes gone watery.
“Oh jeez, don’t start crying now because I’m showing you the minimum of decency.” Sojiro groans, shaking his head.
‘It’s a bit more than ‘the minimum’, Boss…’ Ren thinks to herself before composing herself and nodding. “S-Sorry…”
The car ride returns to silence before Sojiro breaks it once more.
“Well starting tomorrow you’ll be taking the train to school… this traffic is insane…” He lets out a long sigh, the radio begins talking about another derailing train issue. “Another accident? Geez, what’s this country coming to…?”
“W-Will… The t-trains be… safe?” Ren looks at the older man.
“They should be fine, just be careful.” Despite his nonchalant response, there’s a hint of worry in his tone.
Eventually, they reach the Yongen-Jaya neighborhood.
“Anyway, I need to drive the car around, so I’ll let you out here. You’ll have the place to yourself for now since I closed shop for today, but I’ll stop by to handle some cleaning.” He says with a nod.
Ren shakes her head as he exits the vehicle. “No… d-don’t worry about it, B-Boss. I’ll handle it.” She smiles at him, stuttering far less and her pitch returning to its normal low end.
Sojiro looks at Ren, raising an eyebrow. “You sure?”
“I a-am.” She nods, looking at him. “I’m s-sorry that… You couldn’t open the café today…”
“Heh… well, you can thank me by helping out behind the counter sometime.” Sojiro smirks.
Ren gives an excited nod and a smile. “That sounds g-great!”
Sojiro chuckles. “Well, if you’re really sure, I’ll leave it to you then.” He nods. “I left my number on the counter, give me a ring if you need anything, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.” He gives the girl a reassuring smile.
“S-see you then Boss.” The girl replies, her expression brighter than it had been.
Maybe a year here won’t be so bad?