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Ren groaned as he considered his best options.
He didn't have a lot of those at the moment.
He had felt so hopeful at the end of the school year, with everything done, even Maruki defeated.
But... then reality hit and he had to return home. He had to go back to the miserable old school. He had to go back to what it had been in the past.
Because of course with his record being cleared, his school reversed the expulsion.
Ren had not wanted to return but he didn't tell anyone that. He knew that there was little he could do without causing problems.
He wanted to save his rebellions for the important things rather than picking fights everywhere.
He still didn't expect his parents to be so cruel. To abandon him.
They still believed he should never have gotten involved, even though he had never laid a hand on Shido.
And now Ren was trapped in an awful situation. He dragged himself off the floor and grabbed the thermometer. His arm wobbled and he fell back down on the floor. He was glad the thermometer was the newer type that didn't even need to touch his head.
He checked his temperature and winced. Far too high.
Ren groaned and laid back. What could he do? He was going to get in trouble in school, and he knew that they didn't really care about him, just their reputations. They only took him back because they knew that everyone would be furious if they didn't after it had turned out that the politician was making the whole thing up.
Plus there were the rumors that Ren had something to do with the Phantom Thieves.
Ren sighed and rubbed his head. He had to make a decision. Soon. He needed help.
He tried calling his parents again, but as he expected, they didn't respond.
Ren let out a sigh.
Morgana rubbed against him. "Ren?"
"Mmm?" Ren mumbled.
"You need to call someone."
"...yeah..."
"Ren..."
"Phone?"
"Here." Morgana pushed it into his hand.
Ren lifted it and punched the first number he saw. He put the phone to his ear and listened to the rings.
"Hey man, what's up?"
"Ryuji." Ren shifted and hissed in pain. "I need help."
"Right away, what happened? Where are you?"
"Home... um..." Ren gave the address, then dropped the phone.
"Ren?!"
Morgana trotted over to the phone. "I'm with him, but hurry, he really needs help and I'm going to need you to help me call people to help him."
"Got it. I'll be there as quick as I can. Keep him safe."
"Obviously."
.
Ryuji arrived at the house hours after Ren called. It had been a long train ride. The front door was unlocked.
He was a bit alarmed to find that it looked like no one lived there. He heard Morgana jabbering about the school year and followed his voice to find Morgana curled up on Ren's chest, no one else there, and the room looked like it was Ren's, though it wasn't exactly decorated like it was lived in.
Ryuji crouched down. "What happened?" He picked up the thermometer and checked Ren's temperature. He cursed.
"He got hurt, his parents left, and he got sick and I only just convinced him to call for help." Morgana sounded more scared than Ryuji had ever heard him.
Ryuji swallowed. "Oh. Who do we need to call?"
"Sae, we need someone to deal with all the legal stuff, Takemi the doctor, and I think... Yeah, Iwai is more likely to be able to drop everything to sit with Ren."
"...who's that?"
"The gun shop owner."
"Oh. Huh. Okay. Ren's phone?" Ryuji was shakier than he wanted to admit, but Ren trusted him. He was not letting him down.
"Right there." Ryuji nodded and took a deep breath before calling Sae. He let Morgana explain it to her and then told her they were calling Ren's usual doctor next, not wanting to call an ambulance if it wasn't urgent, and wanting his doctor involved.
"Listen to her, if she says you need to get him to a hospital, you get him to a hospital."
"Yes ma'am!" Ryuji agreed hurriedly.
He called the doctor.
She seemed less surprised than he expected. "I had wondered if his parents were less than stellar based on some oddities I noted... What did you say his temperature is?"
Ryuji relayed it.
"Is he sweating or shivering?"
"Uh... sweating."
"Remove blankets and get a cold cloth for his forehead. If his temperature goes up at all, call an ambulance immediately."
"Got it."
After that, she interrogated them both on other symptoms, asking about where he got hurt, and then asking them to look at the wound.
Ryuji stared at the angry red surrounding it.
"Streaks?"
"Uh... no? Maybe?"
"No, but it's really red and hot to the touch. Maybe some splotches that are darker," Morgana had a better answer.
Takemi cursed. "That is a dangerous infection. Keep an eye on it. If you can see actual streaks, call an ambulance."
"Yes, ma'am."
The interrogation continued. Everything basically came back to 'if it gets worse, call an ambulance'.
There was no telling if she'd be able to make it before anything got worse.
Ryuji stared at Ren after Takemi hung up. "I don't understand how this could happen."
"Neither can I." Morgana said sadly. "He got hurt protecting me, you know. He's not allowed pets. He asked me to try to stay hidden but they figured it out quickly."
"It's not your fault they hurt him. They're abusive assholes like my deadbeat father."
Morgana looked at him in surprise, then nodded. "Can you call Iwai? I'll do all the talking."
"Right." Ryuji scrolled down Ren's contact list until he found the name.
Before he could hit call, Ren moved and moaned.
"Mom? Dad? Why won't you call back when I call for you? Please... I need you," Ren pleaded. His eyes opened, glassy with fever.
Ryuji quickly texted the doctor with the update.
Morgana started purring and kneading on Ren's chest.
"Oh... that's nice... why is there a cat? You better not let mom and dad see you, they'd be so furious. Will you be my friend?"
Morgana butted his head against Ren's chin.
Ren smiled and pet him before letting his hand fall as he fell back asleep.
Ryuji shakily checked the response. "I guess that's not too concerning... Common with bad fevers."
Morgana huffed. “Well, I don’t like it. He’s known me for a year! He can’t just forget I’m here!”
“Sometimes being sick does that.” Ryuji sighed. He didn’t mention that sometimes such symptoms did end up lingering.
“Well, call Iwai!”
“You sure we should call him?”
“Ren’s lawyer and doctor can’t exactly be his guardian. You know Sojiro’s busy, and I wouldn’t trust most of the other adults, and the ones I do trust are also busy, except for Iwai.”
Ryuji sighed, looked at the pain on Ren’s face and nodded. “Right. He needs someone to advocate for him.”
He dialed the number and put it on speakerphone for Morgana.
“Kid? What’s up?”
“Ren got hurt, bad, he’s also really sick and his parents abandoned him,” Morgana explained angrily, though there was a hint of sadness, like he might break down if he thought too hard about it.
Iwai cursed and started moving, gathering several things. They heard keys rattle, and a door slam.
“We already got Sae ready to deal with legal stuff, and we contacted his doctor and we know when to call an ambulance but he really needs a guardian, someone to advocate for him.”
“Alright, I’m on my way. Keep me updated. Wait, who’s we? How did you call?”
“Um, I’m with him,” Ryuji answered a bit nervously.
“Ryuji? Right, good. He talks about you a lot. Keep me updated.”
“Right.”
Iwai hung up.
“He sounded pretty concerned… very protective.”
Morgana nodded. “He’s a good dad, very protective of his son.”
“How do they all understand you exactly?”
“Oh, that. Well, we weren’t sure what would happen when we faced Shido, and Ren wanted more than just the Phantom Thieves to be able to understand me, so we found time to get me to get me to the metaverse with all those he trusted, just to be safe.”
“Oh. Well, I’m glad it worked out that way. I don’t think I could have handled those calls.”
“Of course not, you’re an idiot.”
Ryuji huffed, but didn’t say anything, checking on Ren again.
“Say, Ryuji?”
“Yeah?”
“You know I don’t mean it, right?”
“I know it’s just something people always say about me.”
“Oh. You’re not really an idiot. You just… don’t think like most people and prioritize other things. And you really care about Ren, that’s most important right now.”
Ryuji nodded. “He’ll be alright. We just gotta give him time.”
“I know… I’ve just never seen him so devastated before… there was no fight, he seemed to expect it.”
Ryuji winced. He was familiar with that. “Sometimes there’s just no fighting when people won’t change their mind. You just get through it as fast as you can so you can move on.”
“You understand it?”
Ryuji nodded. “I don’t complain about my father for nothing. But at least I always had my mom.”
“I’m sorry.” Morgana sighed. “I can’t imagine what that’s like.”
Ryuji shrugged. “I can’t imagine what having a decent dad is like. It’s okay.”
Morgana nodded and curled up on Ren’s chest again, purring.
Ryuji sat down and waited, watching Ren anxiously. HIs best friend was hurt and he couldn’t do a thing about it.
Morgana fell asleep.
Ren woke up again, still delirious and uncertain of what was going on.
Ryuji reassured him and got him to drink some water before he settled back in for sleep.
This happened a few more times. Ryuji updated Takemi each time it happened.
Morgana left for some fresh air at one point.
Ryuji didn’t blame him.
Ren woke up again. Ryuji reassured him that he would be okay and that he wasn’t alone.
Ren seemed confused, like he didn’t know Ryuji was. But he wasn’t surprised his parents weren’t there, just disappointed.
Ryuji patted his shoulder, then yelped when Ren grabbed onto his hand and pulled him down.
Ren curled up against Ryuji, holding onto his hand tightly.
Ryuji stared down at his best friend, stunned.
Ren was already asleep.
Ryuji adjusted positions and awkwardly texted Takemi the update.
Then he waited.
Unsurprisingly, all three adults arrived at the same time.
Takemi started looking over Ren immediately.
Sae was busy interrogating Morgana for every detail.
Iwai looked over the room with a frown.
Ryuji stood once he was freed and waited awkwardly.
At least Ren was going to be safe.
.
Ren groaned as he woke up. Soft bed? Very achy…
Weight by his hand. He opened his eyes and looked. Ryuji was sleeping, sitting in a chair with his head on the bed.
Ren blinked a few times and then realized he did not recognize the room.
“Oh, you’re awake, kid.”
“Iwai?” Ren asked hoarsely.
“Here, have some water. This is my house.”
“Uh… why am I here?”
“You were hurt, and sick, and you needed a place to stay and someone to look after you. Wasn’t bad enough for the hospital, that doctor of yours took care of everything. So did that lawyer, everything is done legally, and right now I’m your guardian until you figure out what you want to do.”
“…oh.” Ren looked down when he remembered what happened.
“You’ll be okay kid. Nothing too serious, the infection got bad but the antibiotics took care of it.”
Ren nodded slowly. “I can really stay here?”
“Yeah, you can.”
Ren looked at Ryuji and back at Iwai. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Your friend has hardly left your side since you called him.”
Ren blinked. “Really?”
Iwai nodded. “He was worried. You should talk to him. I know how much you like him.”
Ren blushed. “Okay, I’ll… think about it.”
Iwai chuckled. “Alright, how about some soup?”
“…yeah that sounds good.”
.
Ren was feeling a lot better. Ryuji had been visiting every free moment despite everything he had to worry about with school, track and physical therapy.
“You figured out what you want?” Ryuji asked Ren.
Ren shrugged. “I never wanted to leave Shujin, it’s just a matter of who I’m going to live with. I think I prefer Sojiro. Iwai’s great and my second choice, though.”
Ryuji nodded. “Whatever makes you happy. What happened with your parents? I mean you don’t have to tell me, it just can be better to get it off your chest.”
Ren sighed. “My parents… they disowned me when I was arrested. They did nothing for me. When I came back, they didn’t rescind that. According to them, I shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place.”
“That’s rough…”
“Yeah. I tried to just ignore them, and get on with my life, but then I started getting sick, and then I got hurt… and then they packed everything up overnight, and despite everything we’ve been through, I didn’t know what to do.”
“Don’t blame you. They don’t care about you.”
Ren winced.
Ryuji took his hand, a little awkwardly. “Sorry, that was a bit blunt. I’ve been there, with my father. You want your parents to love you, for who you are, to always be there. I had my mom to show me what that was like, and you had Sojiro and apparently Iwai and others. So knowing what it should be like, and not getting it… it hurts. Especially when it turns out that the reason you don’t get it is ‘cause they don’t care about you. Maybe they never wanted a kid, maybe the only wanted a kid of a certain personality type… and that’s not you. And there’s nothing you can do to change their minds.”
Ren sniffed. “Sae got in contact with them. They don’t even want me to use their last name, and it’ll be better if I change it but I don’t… it’s my name, why should I change it?”
Ryuji pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry man. You can cry with me, you know. I cried a lot when I realized my dad wasn’t coming back.”
Ren leaned into Ryuji and let himself cry. Out of everything he had been through. Being arrested, the suspicion when he started at Shujin, all the threats, all the palaces, Haru’s father dying, being arrested and beaten up, and then almost dying because of a false god… Even Maruki’s reality hadn’t made him cry.
But losing his parents… because they didn’t care. That was what got to him in the end.
Ryuji rubbed his back and just held him, not sure what else he even could do to help.
Ren eventually ran out of tears but didn’t move as he caught his breath. He rubbed his eyes and attempted to dry all the tears. But he still didn’t move. Ryuji felt warm and comfortable.
“Ryuji?” He asked after a while.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks. And I’m sorry that your dad sucked so much that you understand me.”
“It’s alright. It’s not been so bad since the Phantom Thieves… especially since you helped me figure out what I want with my life. It’s a lot easier knowing that I have others that care, and knowing that he’s going to have no part in what I make of myself, no matter what I end up doing, that’s all me and those who supported me. It’s nothing on him. And it’ll be the same with your parents. They abandoned you when you needed them. They have no part in what you’re doing now. They had no part in you being Joker. In your grades, in what you’ve been doing at school. That’s all you, Ren. Especially all the friends you’ve made who’ve been helping you.”
Ren smiled. “You’re right. Too bad you won’t be at Shujin.”
“Yeah. But I’m close enough that we can still meet up and hang out sometimes. And maybe we’ll end up at the same university after high school. Who knows?”
Ren nodded. “Thanks, Ryuji. For sticking with me after I called you like that… you must have been so confused.”
“I was more worried than anything. You don’t ask for help, you’re the one who helps… for you to actually ask… I knew you needed me and then I was there and I just… didn’t want to leave you after.” Ryuji looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.
Ren smiled. “Maybe the next time we go get ramen we could make it a date?”
Ryuji’s eyes widened as he turned to Ren. “Seriously?”
Ren nodded. “That is, if you want?”
“I’d love that! I just never realized… well. We can figure that out later, you’re still recovering.”
Ren snorted. “You’re just avoiding your feelings.”
“Well, yes, that too, but like. You’re still recovering so I want to focus on you not on me, okay?”
“As soon as I don’t need help anymore, we’re talking about this.”
Ryuji smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.”