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The rain poured non-stop. Making the lights in the city shine twice as bright as it reflected off the puddles. Adults and students all around were hiding under their umbrellas and walking as fast as they could to their destinations.
Ren was not one of them.
Today was his first day at Shujin.
Today, he had forgotten his umbrella at home. He had been in such a rush and such a state of nerves that it hadn’t even crossed his mind.
Now he regretted it.
Not only would he have to meet his classmates for the first time but now he’d look like an idiot and a drowned rat when he did it.
He let out a tired sigh from where he sheltered, he had time but the sky wasn’t getting any lighter.
He barely noticed as a young woman hurried to shelter beside him, it’s only when she lowered her hood that his eyes was drawn.
She had thick blonde hair and ice blue eyes, not something you saw in Japan very often. Ren couldn’t help but stare at the foreigner, his head cocking when he noticed the uniform.
The girl glanced at him and gave him an unsure but friendly smile.
Ren opened his mouth to say hello, but a car pulled up before he could utter a word.
“Hey, you need a lift?” The man from inside called with a smile,
Ren took in the curly hair, muscled body and manly chin. He also noticed the way the man didn’t seem to even notice him, so busy were his eyes scanning the young girl.
“Oh um… thank you.” She whispered shyly as she hurried to get into the car.
“What about you?” The man asked, glancing at Ren.
Now, Ren did not trust adults at all. Not anymore at least. He had also been taught not to jump into cars with strangers no matter what the situation.
However, he could see an angry blonde boy running towards him.
His mind immediately raced.
This boy must have already found out about him, he must be heading his way to beat him up for all he’d done.
This made up his mind.
“If it’s not a bother!” Ren nodded hurriedly, having to restrain himself from looking too desperate.
What surprised him is the way the girl’s eyes widened in delight at his answer, she even hopped out the car to join him in the backseat.
“Takamaki, you don’t need to do that.” The man chuckled almost bitterly.
“Oh, it’s only polite.” The girl insisted as she smiled at the school boy.
Ren simply smiled back as the car pulled away.
“You new kid? I don’t think I’ve seen you before?” The man asked coldly.
“Oh uh… yes… I just transferred.” Ren nodded shyly.
“Oh! You’re Ren, the kid with the criminal record!” The man chuckled darkly, “Assault, right?”
Ren ducked his head.
“Yeah but… it was all a misunderstanding.” He tried, knowing the man would never believe him.
“Ren, this is Kamoshida.” The girl quickly piped up. “He’s the P.E teacher.”
“Oh, I see.” Ren nodded trying to be polite.
“Ann, maybe you should keep away from this new kid.” Kamoshida was quick to warn. “No offense kid but, a record speaks for itself.”
“It’s ok! We’re old friends, right Ren?” Ann pushed, nudging Ren rather harshly with her elbow.
“Oh uh… yeah.” Ren decided to play along. “We… um… we haven’t seen each other in a while.”
“Yeah, I didn’t even know you were moving here!” Ann laughed a bit too loudly,
“Huh… You know each other?” Kamoshida hummed thoughtfully. “You any good at Volleyball kid?”
Ren opened his mouth to answer but Ann was quick to speak.
“No! Uh… no, he’s not the sporty type.” She nodded, sending a warning look to Ren.
“Huh. Shame.”
Ren realised they had parked; the silence was now thick.
“Well, off you go Ren. You don’t want to be late on your first day.”
Ren didn’t like the way the teacher spoke, almost like he wanted to be alone with Ann. Ann had undone her seat belt and was fiddling with her hair restlessly.
“Ann, could you show me around?” Ren asked awkwardly, the girl’s head snapped up to look at him. “It’s just… I think it would be quicker than me just wandering around.”
“Of course!” Ann nodded, seemingly relieved. “Let’s go!”
Ren waited for the girl to leave first before slipping out the car himself.
The two hurried off into school.
“Thank you.” Ann smiled softly. “For… protecting me I guess.”
“No problem.” Ren blushed.
“Listen, just… Stay away from Kamoshida, ok? It’s also best if you and I aren’t seen together.” Ann whispered as they stopped by the faculty office. “It’s just… You’re gonna have a hard time as it is without more rumours y’know?”
“Oh… Ok.” Ren couldn’t deny that stung. She clearly just didn’t want to be associated with him, they both knew his past would be known by the whole school within the week.
He watched as Ann hurried away to her class.
…
Ren flopped down on a school bench in a quiet corner of the courtyard. Today was already awful and it was only lunchtime.
He pulled the bento box out of his bag but didn’t open it, he didn’t feel hungry.
His teacher gave him a long lecture before taking him into the class, the students were already gossiping about why she was so late. He became flustered when he saw he would be in the same class as Ann, so much so that he bumbled through his introduction.
And now, somehow, everyone in the school seemed to know about his record.
Clearly, they hadn’t been informed by anyone official as the rumours were getting more and more ridiculous the further through the corridor he walked.
So now he was about to eat lunch alone because nobody wanted to be friends with him.
He sighed tiredly, it was going to be a very long year.
He could hear some girls whispering, he opened his eyes when he heard them rush away.
The blonde boy.
He was storming over, a frown etched into his brow and a slight limp.
His figure was stiff, but his brown eyes were locked onto Ren.
The boy sighed and sat up, if he was going to be beaten up then he’d at least look the guy in the eye.
“Hey.” The boy gave a nod of greeting. “You’re the transfer student, right?”
Ren nodded silently.
“Yeah… I’ve heard a lot of rumours about you… I didn’t recognise you this morning either.” The boy continued, Ren just gazed up at him.
The boy cocked his head, kicking the ground with nerves.
“So… uh… I came over to warn you.” The boy shook his head. “I saw you get into Kamoshida’s car… just… it’s better if you stay away from him.”
Ren frowned.
“Huh, that’s what Ann said.” He replied thoughtfully, the boy smirked.
“Really? I’m amazed… she’s Kamoshida’s girl.” He mocked with an eyeroll,
“Really? She seemed pretty uncomfortable around him.” Ren shrugged before sighing heavily, “Then again, maybe it was me she was wary of… the teacher did tell her all about my record.”
“What an asshole, I bet he told the whole school too.” The boy shrugged, “He did the same to me.”
Ren startled at that.
“You have a criminal record?”
The boy barked out a laugh and finally sat beside him.
“No, no. I was actually pretty good at track? He was… he was an asshole to everyone in the team so I spoke up… he then spread what he knew about me around the school… when I got mad and tried to fight back he…” The boy cringed and rubbed his thigh. “He broke my leg… claimed it was self-defence.”
Ren swallowed as he processed the information. He didn’t dare ask about what was spread and honestly, he was more concerned about the injury than anything else.
“He… broke your leg?” He whispered in horror, “Really?”
“Yeah… put an end to my track career…” The boy shrugged indifferently, “All I did was get angry… I mean… I was gonna hit him but I didn’t!”
Ren nodded as he observed the forlorn expression, he smirked lightly.
“So… you’re the bad boy huh?” He joked, the other boy laughed in exasperation. “I’m Ren by the way…”
“Ryuji,” The blonde grinned in amusement. “Pretty sure if anyone is the ‘bad boy’ it’s you, man.”
“Nah, I’m misunderstood.” Ren pretended to swoon, making Ryuji laugh aloud.
The two quieted down as the bell chimed.
“Hey uh, gimme your contact info.” Ryuji pulled out his phone with a grin. “If you’re free, we can meet up after school and you can tell me what happened? The rumours are crazy, so I’d rather hear it from you.”
“Oh, uh… yeah sure!” Ren pulled out his own phone.
“Sweet!” Ryuji nodded once numbers were exchanged. “I’ll wait for ya by the stairs!”
And off the boy jogged, Ren could not stop the smile that crept onto his face. He was looking forward to making a friend out of the energetic boy.