Chapter 1: Ren's Beginning

All in all, this was shaping up to be the second worst day of my life. First I forgot my umbrella, then I got lost on the way to school, and now some half naked pervert king ordered some knights to hold me against the wall. And I was also probably late to school, Boss was going to kill me.

Although Boss may have some competition, since according to that half naked man, he was going to kill me after the Vulgar Boy.

It hurt to see-Sakamoto? That is what the guy who looked straight out of the Emperor's New Clothes had called the blonde-getting beaten, physically and verbally. The blonde had tried to help me, even telling me to leave run and leave him behind. But this scene was just so familiar, so I froze. That hesitation probably sealed both of our fates though, since neither of us were going to get of out this now. I felt bad since Sakamoto didn't deserve that. The blonde had been the nicest person to me since I arrived in Tokyo, since the guy tried showing him a shortcut on the way to school... And just that I guess. But Sakamoto didn't look at me with fear or disgust, so that was good, I guess. Oh my god... So far, the nicest person I've met is literally a delinquent. I'm very disappointed, I need to give those people else a talking to.

But I was forced out of my musings and back into reality when I heard Sakamoto begging for his life. I don't want to hear that... They were going to get me next. No, I need to focus on something else... I need a distraction.

Fortunately those knights took the opportunity to bump my head against the wall again. Actually maybe I wasn't in reality considering the weird castle that was where my school should have been. Also I could have sworn there was a young girl's voice somewhere. And that glowing butterfly... Also was it just me or did the entire room look blue? The situation must be making me hallucinate. That was the only way any of this could happen. I mean, our justice system was a joke, but no one could just get away with murdering people... right? But maybe this guy could. I just had to get on the wrong side of another of those guys...

Actually scratch that, the knights shoving me against the wall felt very real. Damn, I also missed most of what the butterfly said since he was wasting time thinking about myself. Damn, slamming your head against a wall hurts. I would not recommend. Oh shit, they were going to do it again. I tensed up my shoulders to prepare for it, although it probably won't matter that much soon.

"What's the matter...? Are you simply going to watch?" A new voice asked, clearing my thoughts, "Are you forsaking him to save yourself? Death awaits him if you do nothing. Was your previous decision a mistake then?"

Oh god, that time. I had stepped into something I had no business being in. That decision was all it took to make my friends leave, to make my own parents get rid of me, and to make everyone see something not human. If I had ignored it, I wouldn't even be in Tokyo, about to watch this good guy, Sakamoto, get killed.

"It might have been," I mumbled. Not completely sure if that was the best thing to say, but it was the truth. But that didn't matter right now, this was different. This was my business, since my life was at stake. And this guy wouldn't turn snitch, hopefully.

"Very well... It appears you are still unready. We shall meet again, but I can sense your resolve, so for the moment..." The voice faded away, cackling maniacally, but there wasn't much time to think about that, since a ring of blue fire swept the room, knocking down the guards holding him. But while the perverted King was distracted with the mysterious appearance of the flames, Sakamoto tackled him.

"Ha, ya like that, you son of a bitch?" The delinquent taunted, but while he was doing that, I saw keys on the ground. With a quick *yoink* I grabbed the keys and locked that pervert in there. I was going to savor my victory when I heard him calling guards to let him out. Suddenly realizing we had somewhere very important to be, the delinquent and I ran like hell. If only one of us knew what we were doing...

So Ryuji (that was the Vulgar boy's first name) and I managed to escape the castle with the help of the strange creature that was not-a-cat named Morgana. What was the world coming to when the talking mascot looking cat that could use magic to fight monsters wasn't even the strangest part of the day.

No, what was really strange was Ryuji. When they were trying to escape, we saw someone in a cage, and he had wanted to stop and help them. It might have been the adrenaline before, but while we were running, I suddenly realized that we almost died. Just the thought almost made me lose control of my legs and trip. Not that Ryuji would notice, considering he was limping the whole way. But that guy wanted to help someone else. The same boy who was beaten within a inch of his life while he was down by that king and we had barely managed to escape, but he was concerned about someone else. And when they were running for their lives, he was bickering with Morgana. I mean I know I am not the best person to chide someone about getting distracted, but still. It was just so incomprehensible. Seriously, my only thought was how to get out of this nightmare, and a few tangents but it wasn't like I was bothering anyone. How was Ryuji so relaxed? Why did he want to keep getting involved? We can't do anything, and we've had to rely on the cat, so unless more flames decided to appear randomly, we were dead weight. But if if those keep occurring, then the knights get surprised anymore. There must be some golden spot for spontaneous combustion. I could feel myself smirking so I tried to put on that poker face I had practiced. No one got annoyed at that. Back to the original topic: Ryuji's messed up priorities.

They're not bad, per se, but I feel like it would just get him in trouble someday. And after we introduced ourselves, I still kinda wanted to talk to him some more. Maybe Ryuji would be different from those guys, and won't leave when he learned the truth.

Arriving late to school was the actual worst, what a fun addition to the already terrible day. First there were the cops, and then the accusatory glares from the teachers. I can't look any of them in the eyes, and just nod, but that wasn't anything new. It's not like it mattered much though. I got separated from good guy Ryuji as I had started to call him in my head (not that I could say that in real life, let alone his first name), but we planned to meet at lunch. And then I just kind of zoned out when Ms. Kawakami lectured about my tardiness, or at least that was what I think it was about. She was one of the adults that didn't want anything to do with me, which, I guess, is better than those who make sure that I know that I'm on thin ice because of his prohibition. Gee, thanks. That's real helpful. I had no idea before you told me. Not that I could actually say that to one of them.

But more than anything, I was just relieved that King Pervert, or Mr. Kamoshida (apparently he's a teacher at the school) had no idea who I am, although this also meant I have no excuse for being late. But it's probably better to only be considered late. The last thing my probation needed was me assaulting a teacher. That'd blow over reeeeal well. I just need to keep my head down for one year and stay out of trouble. Maybe then, things might go back to normal. They would know that I served my time, and maybe my parents would take him back. Understand that I had changed. That I knew what I did was wrong and won't ever repeat it. And who knows, maybe since no one here knows what I did, I might make some friends.

I was stupid for being optimistic. Those hopes were dashed the second I stepped into the classroom.

Ms. Kawakami introduced me, lying that I was feeling sick earlier, which was why I'm late. But almost immediately I heard whispers about my record. Also that I was having an affair with that one flashy female student who I saw on the way to school that morning. The latter was nonsense, but the former was literally the end of any chance I had of having fun this year. They weren't supposed to know, the teachers had said so-

Actually, I think I know where I went wrong. You would think I knew by now about believing in those kinds of people. So now I had to hear the muttering of students in the hallways whenever I passed. About how I have a knife on me, how I would jump people in alleys, or even that I jaywalked. In my defense, there was no one on the road at that time. But even one of the teachers was even talking to the principle about how they shouldn't have accepted a criminal. Assholes. The rumors had spread throughout the school, so even Ryuji probably heard about it by now. Those teachers made him out to be some delinquent, but even Ryuji must have had standards. Nonetheless I wandered towards the rooftop, since it wasn't like there was anywhere else to go. Why'd I do these things to myself, I could feel the scowl on my face and I tried to correct it. Honestly, I wouldn't blame Ryuji if he decided to ditch.

That record was going to be a red mark that followed me for the rest of my life. Normally I would've chided myself for thinking about that particular subject before I got too depressed, but it was probably better than accidentally hearing what those students were muttering about. Nobody cared that I'm on prohibition, that I'm only allowed here because someone thought I deserved a second chance. This was the only school that would actually take him, and it turns out, it was only in name. This was going to be a fuuuun school year, I could feel the frown, but actually couldn't care to fix it anymore as I reached the staircase for the roof.

Surprisingly, behind the unlocked doors of the roof that was supposedly off-limits (Look at this criminal with his blatant disregard for the rules, I can hear tomorrow's rumors already), was one Ryuji Sakamoto. He must not have heard about my record yet.

"There you are," Ryuji sighed in relief, "Sorry for calling you up here like this. I bet Kawakami already told you stuff like 'don't get involved with him', huh?"

"Actually," I admitted, "I wasn't really listening..."

Ryuji looked shocked for a second, before breaking out into a laugh, "Sorry, you just look kinda serious, with those glasses an' all."

"Really? I thought it would be expected from a criminal like me." It popped out of my mouth before I realized, so I gave a nervous laugh, hoping it would play off as a joke. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

"Right... I heard you got a criminal record. Everyone's talkin' bout it. No wonder you were so gutsy. Though I guess that kinda puts us in the same boat." Ryuji didn't seem to think much of it, but and I think I let out a sigh of relief as I started to lean back on the desk. It felt like some tension was leaving. My shoulders felt loose for once. It was kinda nice. Ryuji suddenly started to lowered his voice, this must be serious, maybe Ryuji was going to tell me a secret, like that his hair was dyed. It wasn't that well hidden, those teachers had told him to dye his hair back so it must not have been that well kept of a secret. "...What was all that that happened? Ya know like the castle and all... It was for real, right? Not a Dream?" Damn, so this was business. I was hoping we could have put aside that particular can of worms, but that wasn't going to happen. I guess it might be important to know whether you were crazy or not. Or at the very least we could be crazy together.

"Yeah... But I don't know... It was really weird. Like if I wrote this in my journal, and Boss ever read it, he might send me back..." I gave a nervous chuckle as I attempted to joke, and Ryuji even cracked a smile back.

"An' when the lawyer asks bout it, they'll think you're high or jokin' round." Ryuji continued. I felt a short laugh escape, and it felt like my first real laugh in a long time, not like that smirking habit that I needed to stop. But to be fair, it's hard since I'm just that funny.

So Ryuji told me about Kamoshida and the rumors and we spent some time wondering if any of that was real. It was a little uncomfortable when Ryuji mentioned going to the castle again, but thankfully he dismissed the idea. It felt kind of weird that Ryuji thanked me at one point for saving his life, since I really didn't do anything, so I chose to ignore it. That's how most people deal with their issues, right?

That night, after being chastised by Boss, I think the only remotely good thing about the day was when Ryuji asked to talk if they see each other in the halls, and he even asked me to call him by his first name! That meant they were friends, right? Maybe the year wouldn't be too bad... I already have one more friend than when I arrived. Unfortunately a nagging part of my head remarked that that was probably it. Shut up me. Such an asshole. This is why you don't have any friends. Also that criminal record...

When I fell asleep, I dreamed of prisons, which was normal, and a large nosed man, who seem disappointed for some reason. Fortunately, when you wake up, you rarely remember your dreams.