Chapter Text
August 31, 20XX
It was already the end of their summer vacation, and Ren Amamiya returns to his hometown of Nayami, located southeast of Nagoya City. Alongside him is Morgana, who has slept in his bag since they left Tokyo. Upon arriving at the train station, he notices the sky already getting dark as dusk has fallen.
"Huh. That was quite a ride." He commented as he grabbed his bag of souvenirs. As his eyes wandered around the empty street in the Hodabayashi District, he decides to have dinner in the Taurus Beef Bowl Bistro and settled in a seat next to the counter.
"Hey, Chizuru-san! Long time no see." He mused as the chef rolled her eyes.
"It hasn't been THAT long, y'know. Quit flirting with me already."
Ren laughed at her quip and ordered his usual meal as she readied up the kitchen. As Ren waited, Morgana pops out of his bag and inhales deeply.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" He chided the frizzy-haired boy as he pounced off the bag.
"Sorry, Mona. You looked comfortable in your sleep." He joked as Chizuru returned to serve his food.
"Of course, Morgana will follow you around."
"What do you take me for, Miss Chizuru? I am a loyal friend, not a pet!" Morgana meowed so loud as Chizuru sprayed water at him.
"Noisy-ass cat."
As she made the comment, the bell chimes of the restaurant jingled to alert her of a new customer...
"Welcome to Taurus Bee- Oh, my God."
... or rather, an old one.
"Chizuru-san? What's wrong?" Ren asked as he then heard the voice of the customer.
"Um, is everything okay, Chizuru-san? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Ren's eyes widened as big as saucers as he turned to the source of the voice. Standing by the doorway is a young woman with a clean pixie haircut and the number 22 clipped to hold her bangs from falling to her face. Her fair skin shone under the fluorescent lamps of the ceiling while her lips showed a certain charm to it.
"Oh, Ren! Hey! Do you still remember me?"
"... K-Kotone?"
Kotone Shiomi.
"Yeah! I'm glad you still recognize me! Though I didn't know-"
Before she finished speaking, Ren shot out of his chair and hugged her tight with the sudden urge to cry. Kotone returned the hug and smiled gently.
"Someone misses me, huh?"
"How could you leave us like that and then get reported dead afterwards?" Ren sobbed as Kotone was appalled by what he said.
"Me? Dead? Wait, is that why people here look at me like a ghost?"
"Pretty much." Chizuru blurted out as Morgana meowed loudly.
"Ren, who's this?"
"OH! Is that your cat?" Kotone pointed at the furball as Ren shook his head.
"I'll answer that after you tell me where you've been all these years."
"Fine. Hey, Chizuru-san! I'll have what he's having."
Nine years ago...
Ren and Kotone walked their way home from school after they finished their piano lessons together. The disgruntled Kotone dragged her feet while the light-hearted Ren skipped ahead of her.
"Come on, Kotone! We gotta hurry home!"
"Aw, shuddup!"
"Huh? Are you feeling okay, Kotone?"
The scarlet eyes of the young girl glared at the gray eyes of the boy, who then backed off and frowned.
"Sorry if I did something bad at practice." He somberly apologized.
"It's okay. Just don't do it again next time." She shrugged it off begrudgingly as they reach the bridge connecting the Hodabayashi District and the Yamayato District. Suddenly, Ren stopped and looked down at the water.
"Oh, wow! A golden sea bass!"
"Here we go again with your hard words. Can't you just say fish?"
"That'd be boring then! Come on! Let's catch it!"
The young lad began climbing over the railing of the bridge as Kotone panicked.
"Wha- What are you doing?!"
"Trying to do a sneak attack on the fish like a ninja!"
"No! If our parents see us getting in trouble-"
"Relax, Kotone! It'll be fun."
"NO, it is NOT fun! We are about to- GAH!"
As Kotone grabbed onto Ren's bag, she did not anticipate the weight that would counter her own strength and managed to grab the bag alone. Ren dove onto the small river and tried to catch the sea bass on his own. Kotone ran down to the riverbank to grab Ren, but the muddiness of the land managed to make her slide into the water and grab the bass with her mouth.
"Wow! You got it!" Ren cheered before Kotone smacked his face with the bass itself.
"Look what you did! You got me wet!"
"ME!? You're the one who went to the water!"
"I slipped on mud."
"That counts!"
Before they could bicker any further, Inosuke Shiomi cleared his throat to interrupt them.
"Kotone. Dear."
"Umm... Mr. Kotone's Dad!"
"Daddy, I-"
"No more talking. We still have to ready our things, child."
"Huh? Ready for what?"
Inosuke then looked at Kotone with surprise as she gulped in fear.
"You didn't tell him?"
"I..."
"Tell me what?" Ren was now worried as Kotone mustered the courage to tell him something.
"Mom and Dad found a school for me in Iwatodai. We're gonna move away as soon as school is finished." She sadly told him as Ren sat on the riverbank.
"O-Oh..."
"Don't worry, Ren-kun. Once you and Kotone reach high school, you can see each other and have fun like before. But for now, we would want to focus on her education skills since she isn't very diligent in her studies."
Hearing her father explain crushed Kotone's heart as she looked away from her best friend. Ren sighed in defeat and picked up his bag.
"Okay, Mr. Kotone's Dad. Bye, Kotone."
Kotone couldn't even give him a proper goodbye as she accompanied her father home. She then tried to grab something from her bag and ran back to Ren, startling both boys.
"K-Kotone?"
"Kotone!"
Kotone then gave Ren a small laminated card with her stickers on it.
"Don't forget to dry it up when you get home, okay? Always bring that with you until we see each other again." She instructed with a reassuring smile as Ren hummed positively.
"Okay! Pinky promise?"
"Mm-hmm! Pinky promise!"
The two made a pinky promise before they went their separate ways.
Present day...
Ren, Kotone, and Morgana sit by the riverbank after the two reminisce on their last encounter. Holding onto the card after so long, Kotone was pensive while Ren looked dejected.
"I'm sorry if it happened so suddenly. I couldn't remember what happened much, but when I woke up I was raised by an elderly couple who found me unconscious near the crash site. I was torn in pieces when they told me my parents died, and since then, I've been handling myself in almost everything ever since." She spoke up.
"Then why didn't you call me? I was crying non-stop after hearing the news. I actually thought my own childhood best friend fucking died!" Ren was so emotional that Kotone sighed and looked away from him.
"I know. I was... in literal shock that I couldn't process myself without any sign of hesitation. I wanted to make sure my memories are true and not fictionalized."
Ren looked at her as he sighed in sadness. He then asked her a question involving her sudden return.
"Then why come back here after nine years?"
"I saw on the news that you got screwed by some bald guy with ugly glasses, then nearly a year later you turned the tables on him. I wanted to see how you were doing after getting such national recognition." She elaborated as she stood up. "Now that I have seen-"
"It wasn't easy, you know."
"Huh?"
Morgana crawled onto his arm as he paid attention to their talk.
"Getting myself outcasted because I only did what was right, and now that I have returned to Nayami... it just doesn't feel like home anymore. I can't even face my own parents after the cowardice they displayed and the audacity of them to shoo me away from their personal affairs."
Kotone sympathized with Ren as she felt guilty for leaving him behind. Gritting her teeth, she tried to give him a pep talk when...
"Alright, enough moping! I-GAH!"
"Ah! Koton- WAH!"
"Joker? Joker! MRREEEOWW!"
The three of them fell victim to the slippery slope and crashed into the water, getting drenched in the process. Morgana immediately ran off after reaching the surface while Kotone helps Ren up.
"Never would I thought I'd experience that again." Kotone squeezed her shirt.
"No shit. I feel like this is- SONUVAB-"
Kotone then noticed Ren's pants wriggling around as he reaches for what is inside it. Kotone blushed intensely and shook her head until Ren pulled out a golden sea bass.
"Damn fish swimming into my pants. That's gotta be embarrassing." He mumbled until he realized he removed the fish from his pants in front of Kotone. "I, uh... Look, don't misunderstand!"
"Hrk! Snrk! Hehehehahahahahahahahahaha!" Kotone threw a laughing fit as Ren and Morgana looked at her dumbfoundedly.
"Uh... She's a bit weird, Joker."
"Shut it, Morgana."
"I can't believe you caught a fish with your little ding-dong! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Hey, you can't just mock my crotch so casually!" Ren growled as he placed the fish onto Kotone's shirt. "Howdja like that?!"
"GAAHH! Ren, you asshole!" Kotone grabbed the fish from her cleavage and slapped it onto Ren.
"The hell!?"
"You're such a perv!"
"Speak for yourself!"
"Oh, you little- Get over here!"
Ren dodged Kotone's attempts to catch him and beat him up while Morgana watched them from a tree.
"They're such children."
"AH, REN!"
"CRAP!"
The two teens then fall to the water again as the fish begin to swarm them.
"Ew! Get off of me!"
"Hey! I don't have worms in my body, you stupid fish!"
Kotone then smirked and splashed water onto Ren. "Hey, splash fight?"
"Seriously? At a time like this?"
Kotone then smugly smirked and started imitating chicken noises, urging Ren to activate his inner Joker and splash water onto her stylishly.
"It's showtime!"
"Showtime? WAH!"
With enough water collected, Ren splashed Kotone until she sunk into the water. This wouldn't be his victory as she pulled off a sweeping kick surprisingly. Surfacing back to the top, she stuck her tongue out as Ren emerged.
"Not a snowball's chance in hell you were gonna win that?"
"You've gotten cocky since your disappearance."
"Well, I can't just be bitching around like a little girl now, right?"
The two then shared a laugh for a bit. Ren flashed a small smile as Kotone smiled back.
"Welcome home, Ren."
"Welcome home, Kotone."
After a while, the two walk back to where Kotone is staying in the meantime. As they traveled, they then had a chat about what Ren did during his probation.
"Oh, that's cool! You're friends with three athletic people!"
"Let me guess: you wanna ask them for help in keeping yourself in shape?"
"Hey! I am quite confident with my figure, thank you very much!"
"Still can't beat your stamina if you tire out so easily."
"Aw, you dick."
"Ahahaha."
Kotone shook her head as they arrived in a small apartment next to a closed clothing shop. She pulls out the keys and asks him one question.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Where ya heading off for college?"
Despite the nonchalant expression on her face, Ren then gave himself time to think. Observing her old buddy go into deep thought, Kotone huffed as she swung the door open.
"Well, if you got no plan on where yet... why not join me in South Korea?"
"Huh? That far?"
"Yeah!" Her smile never faded away. "I find myself fascinated in living in another place that isn't Japan. I wonder if your Ann friend can help when I get to meet her."
"Hehe, well..." Ren scratched his head. "It wouldn't be until graduation day, I think."
"Oh. Well, no need for me to worry about graduation." Kotone shrugged as she removed her shirt.
"Why's that?"
"Because I'm doing entrepreneurship work on my own! See the shop next to this joint?"
"Yeah?"
"I own it."
!!!
Ren was astonished that Kotone managed to start a business at her age. Then again, he remembered Haru taking charge of an entire food corporation before she even graduated.
"That's quite a surprise."
"Well, I don't know if anyone will even bother coming to a 'ghost shop'. Or even accept a 'ghost girl exchange student'." She trolled herself as she wore a new shirt. "You gonna go home wearing fish pee?"
"Ack! Shut up, Kotone." Ren pouted as he removed his shirt. Kotone stared at his abs as she eyed him seriously.
"When the hell did you work out?"
"Err, I do it from time to time. Makes me more agile." He said a half-lie, somewhat convincing Kotone.
"Makes your statement of you being single very odd now."
"Well, ehehe..." Ren was flattered for some reason. "I can't go for any commitment right now."
"My ass."
"I'm serious!"
"Well, you better be true to your word, Ren." She rolled her eyes as she tossed him one of the shirts she is selling. "That is on the house. Next time you get soaked, you pay me."
"Pfft. No worries on that one, Kotone." He murmured as she sat on the couch.
"Hey, if you got nothing much to do... mind if you could hang out with me every day? It's gonna get pretty lonely here every now and then..."
Ren stared at her pleading red eyes, her solemn smile, and the tranquility of their atmosphere as he extended his hand.
"Deal. But we take turns in taking the lead in things, clear?"
Kotone chuckled and accepted his offer. "Deal."
Morgana, who only trailed them after their fun by the river, can only purr in happiness as he managed to see Ren act naturally around someone once again without having to stress himself out for it.
"Well, I hope things will turn out well for you this time, Ren." The cat purred as Ren and Kotone bade each other farewell soonafter. Morgana then pounced off his hiding spot and landed on Ren's head.
"MREOW!"
"Ah! Morgana. Where did you run off to?" Ren mused the cat as he scratched his ebony fur.
"Watching you two make up for lost time. I have never seen you this happy before, Ren." He replied with a cocky tone.
"Heh. Cut me some slack." Ren replied with a smirk. "At least give me the chance to have a normal life this time."
Morgana remained quiet as they venture back home.
Meanwhile, Kotone stuffed Ren's shirt into the washing machine as she glances at the photographs she pulled out from the shirt. Seeing two blonde-haired people, a blue-haired boy, an orange-haired girl, a salmon-haired woman, a brown-haired woman, and what seems to be a man with long hair behind them on one picture and them him, Morgana, and a red-haired girl on the other...
"Huh. You've grown so much, Ren. I can't wait to meet your friends one day."