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How did he get into all of this?
Ren wondered about that while he walked next to Gakushuu, who’s guiding him through corridors filled with people with a watchful eye.
He didn’t have any expectations for this evening, but he definitely didn’t think that it would end up like this.
It all started normally, like always.
His parents were invited to another prestigious gathering by some of their business partners.
Ren wasn’t really a fan of these events, but he had to accompany them for their image. If he was honest, they were really boring and he would rather spend his evenings alone reading a new book.
They soon arrived at the festivity and entered a grand room filled with important people in their business branch.
Ren followed his parents while they were greeting various groups, smiling silently.
After a short while, his parents left him to his own devices, satisfied with their display of a good and successful family. He walked off to the edge of the hall, politely declining the offered beverages. Quietly Ren wondered how long he had to stay before he could sneak off, not really interested in striking up a conversation with anyone.
Normally he would start flirting with some girls, but that wasn’t possible at such a high-profile event.
Before Ren could take an appetizer, a server offered him, he was interrupted by a boy his age approaching him confidently.
“Sakakibara, right? I was searching for you.”
Ren turned towards the boy who discreetly waved off the server.
“Yes, who are you?” he addressed the stranger.
The boy smiled at him, his violet eyes looking around the room before answering Ren.
“Sorry, for approaching you so suddenly. You can call me Gakushuu.”
Ren nodded and took Gakushuu’s offered hand.
“You said you were searching for me?”
“Yes. To be honest, it was more of an excuse. You know how parents can be. Always wanting me to make new ‘important’ connections to improve their own status.” Gakushuu rolled his eyes before continuing, “You seemed bored and not very interested in the event itself, so I thought you’d make a pleasant enough conversation partner without all the fake formalities.”
Ren was a bit surprised by the honesty of the other boy, but he could understand him.
His parents also insisted on him to make meaningful connections during these gatherings for his future, and he has met enough kids his age who forcefully tried to talk with each other.
He sighed.
“Yeah, I wish they would just let me stay at home.”
Gakushuu laughed dry and leaned against the wall next to Ren.
“That would make things certainly easier. We could pretend to talk and get them off our backs for today.”
Ren pondered over the idea. He wasn’t too keen on talking to anyone, but Gakushuu seemed like a more interesting conversation partner, then any of the other kids with whom he would probably just exchange awkward polite statements.
“Be my guest,” he said, while leaning next to the other.
Gakushuu turned out to really be an interesting conversation partner. It surprised Ren how knowledgeable the other was on many topics, even though they were the same age and Ren didn’t know half of the things Gakushuu talked about. Even though he found it a bit irritating how his violet eyes seemed to often scan their surrounding area as if he was searching for something. But he could also just be imagining things.
Ren discovered that Gakushuu enjoyed the same books he read and so their chat focussed mostly on that.
After a while, Ren excused himself to go to the bathroom.
He thought he saw something flash in Gakushuu’s eyes, but as soon as he saw it, it went away and Gakushuu nodded. It was probably just a trick of the lightning.
“I’ll be waiting here.”
“Sure, be right back.”
Ren walked through the empty hallways exhaled heavily.
The talk with Gakushuu was refreshing, but the atmosphere in the room was still oppressive, and he was glad to get a few moments of relaxation before going back in there.
This peace didn’t last long as he suddenly felt a firm hand wrapping around his neck and another over his mouth from behind. He tried to struggle against it but was of no use.
The only thing he could smell was something sweet from the cloth around the hand covering his mouth.
Adrenaline rushed through his body as he tried to free himself. Every second felt like hours and panic rose inside of him. His heart pounded faster than ever before.
Abruptly the hands let go of him and Ren stumbled forward, coughing and one hand on his neck. He swung around to face his assailant and froze, confused.
Gakushuu was standing behind him, a stranger unconsciously lying on the ground. Because of the fabric around the stranger’s hand, they must have been his attacker.
Gakushuu looked up to him.
“Are you okay?”
Ren could only nod, still trying to understand what had happened right now.
“Then we should get back before anyone notices what happened here.”
Gakushuu walked into the direction of the grand hall, making sure Ren was following him.
Having found his voice again Ren asked Gakushuu, “What was that?”
The other glanced behind a corner before walking around it.
“A failed kidnapping. You should be more careful,” he answered calmly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
“Excuse me, what?” Ren asked, exasperated.
“Shh, be quiet. Someone’s coming,” Gakushuu whispered and dragged him into a side room before Ren could resist.
They stayed in silence behind the closed door, and Ren could hear footsteps passing them. When he was sure that the person was long gone, he addressed Gakushuu, who was staring at his phone.
“What is going on?”
The other boy looked up and walked through the room.
“In short, someone seems to have something against your family and we were hired to protect all of you. Come on, there was a change of plans. Your attackers appear to be more aggressive than first assumed.”
Ren took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. All of this was too much for him, but did he really have a choice? So he followed the other and tried to make sense of everything he had told him.
“Wait, who is ‘we’? Are my parents alright?” he asked, panicked, realising that they also were in danger.
“Calm down, they are fine. My father and his subordinates are taking care of them.”
Ren couldn’t help but sigh in relief as he followed Gakushuu through different rooms and empty hallways.
“Wait, does that mean that you have been stalking me this entire evening? Was this the reason you talked with me?”
“I’d prefer the term supervising. And it was the easiest way to prevent you from taking some of this food you’ve got offered. Who knows if someone might have tampered with it.”
Ren remembered how Gakushuu waved off the server shortly before he could take anything to eat.
“But why you? No offence, but you're still a child like me. Wouldn’t an adult be more effective?”
Gakushuu scoffed, and Ren could nearly feel the cold look he shot him.
“I let you know that I’m your best choice. No one's as good as me. And it’s less suspicious for a person your age spending time with you than some adult.”
That made sense, though Ren still wasn’t convinced despite Gakushuu’s self-confident tone.
They rounded another corner and walked through another hallway, Gakushuu still scanning their surroundings with every step he took.
“Where are we going? It feels like we’ve been running around in circles…” Ren mentioned after they walked through another empty room.
“We’re taking the safest route to our meeting place. Trust me, I know the structure of this mansion better than anyone else. Soon we should meet more people. Your assailants don’t want to cause a huge scene, so it should be safe there until we reach the rest.”
Ren continued to follow Gakushuu and like the other said, they soon entered a corridor filled with people chatting.
Ren could see his parents talking with a man that bore a striking resemblance to Gakushuu.
They had finally reached the meeting place Gakushuu had constantly mentioned.
Relief flowed through his entire body. Ren hadn’t noticed how tense he has been before, but the entire walk to this point had him on edge.
Luckily they had avoided any more assailants, though Ren didn’t know how often they had to hide or take a detour to ensure a safe trip for him.
His mother eventually spotted them and ran towards Ren.
“Ren, you’re alright. Your father and I were so worried for you,” she said, hugging him.
He could see his father and the unfamiliar man, who must be Gakushuu’s father, approaching them. His own father joined their hug, and Ren overheard the conversation of Gakushuu and the man.
“You’re late. That took far too long.”
“Apologies, but I wanted to avoid such an amateur incident your people ran into. And don’t lie, you knew we were perfectly fine.”
His parents let go of him and Ren could see the glare Gakushuu’s father shot his son before he turned to Ren’s parents again.
“Thank you for your services,” his father thanked the duo.
Gakushuu’s father smiled and offered his hand for a handshake.
“We’re glad we could be off good service, despite unforeseen circumstances and interruptions. Hopefully, you’ll consider us again in the future.”
His father took the offered hand, and after another brief exchange, Gakushuu and his father walked away.
Ren could hear his own dad mumble under his breath, how he, “never wanted to see them ever again.”
He grimaced.
Ren wanted to meet Gakushuu again, the other was interesting and good company, frankly spoken Ren was curious about him. But he would prefer if they met again in less dangerous circumstances.