Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This is an AU where Hana has a twin brother that has pale blue hair to match her pale blue hair who’s name is Ren. I chose the name Ren because it has a more masculine sound to it and also like Hana means flower except Ren means Lotus while Hana means flowers in general.

Ren is almost the polar opposite of Hana. While Hana is shy and considerate; Ren is more of a hot head on the surface, but beneath that hot tempered shield he is like his sister besides the shy part. He can be kind and playful, but he isn’t shy to let it be known that someone is annoying him. He basically puts up a Tough Guy act but he is just like his sister.

Roommates are different in my story too so here are the roommate pairings

Hana || Mai
Shane || Satchel
Josh || Nick(I decided having 3 to a room would be kinda cramped so I decided to do this so one of the normal boots would have Ren as his roommate)
Jared || Jon
Paul || PBG
Ren || Jirard
Luke || Jeff (Luke later in the book will have to deal with Jeff and Ren same with Jirard XD)
Jimmy || Ian
Caddy || Walid

Those are the roommate pairings ALSO everyone is in the Third year because that just makes more sense to me instead of trying to keep track of everyone’s years.

Also because I was extremely butt hurt that Lucahjin wasn’t originally in the story I’m gonna add her and have her be the roommate of Kakusu

Chapter Text

Boredom flooded into my head as the train my sister and I rode to the school we will be currently attending. I had no idea when the train ride was going to end so I slumped back into my seat and simply sighed and looked to my left to see my twin sister, Hana, reading a book called ‘Moby Dick’.

Pale pink hair fell down to her chin with a red bow hung behind her head. She wore dark squared glasses that protected her pretty blue-green eyes. She’s currently wearing the school uniform that she’ll be wearing for the entire year. The female uniform consisted of a white button down shirt under a yellow sweater vest that is topped with the signature green academy blazer with a teal-colored neck kerchief. She’s also wearing a pleated black skirt with pink converse. The feet wear didn’t matter so she chose those since our mom got her those shoes.

I on the other hand have stylish pale blue hair to contrast with her pink hair. I didn’t wear glasses like her because I wore contacts that sat atop my hazel colored eyes. I was wearing the basic male uniform being a white dress shirt, black dress pants, and a blue tie. Unlike girl uniforms the male ones give you a bit more liberty in what you wear that is within reason of course. Atop the white dress shirt I wore the navy blue hoodie my mom got me for my tenth birthday. The tiny tear shaped sapphire pendant I wore around my neck was also a gift from my mother. Like my sister I also wore converses, but mine were a deep ocean blue compared to her hot pink ones.

Although we are twins we look nothing alike which we liked because nobody would be gawking at the fact that we were twins. She was five foot one while I was five foot eleven. She was shy and kind while I was a hot head and rude to most people. She runs away from confrontations and I stand tall and proud and ready to fight.

I hope you get the idea because that list can go on for a very long time.

Anyway the moment she closed her book I finally noticed the guy sitting across from us. He was reading the newspaper and for some odd reason he held it pretty high up like he was trying to hide his face. The only thing I could see was the top of his head and his hair seemed to sparkle.

I took a peek outside and mentally glued the image of the Japanese coast as we rode on by. Counting every tree that we sped past. One….two….three….fifty-two.

“So are you two first-years?” A voice neither Hana and I recognized say as we both turned to look at the person who sat across us. He had gently folded the paper and it rested besides him. He might as well have been a walking sparkler because he was sparkling from head to toe.

I looked over at Hana to see she couldn’t find the words she needed. I decided to let Hana lead the situation because I thought she could use the social interaction. When he turned to me he also asked me the same questions that he asked Hana. Pretty basic questions, like what year I was in and how old I was.

“Are you two twins?” He asked and we nodded. “We’re transfer students so that’s why we are in third-year.” I said and Hana sighed in relief and threw me a smile as thanks.

“Well Hana and Ren I hope you two enjoy your time here.” He said getting up and before the two of us could utter a response he was gone and the two of us finally noticed that the train had stopped and outside the window in our compartment we saw the giant fancy looking school we would be attending.

Asagao Academy.

Chapter Text

As we exited the train I couldn’t help, but noticed Ren was not by my side anymore and I internally started to panic as the crowd of students practically drag me over to the black iron gates that lead to to the school I will be attending for the entire school year. It was a pretty big and fancy building with two other building on each side of the main building.

I assumed those were the dorms because both were colored the respective colors for both genders. A light pale blue building stood tall for the boys and a equal in size pale pink almost white building stood for the girls. The main building was built tall with fancy looking red and orange bricks that looked smooth to the touch unlike our old schools.

At our old school the bricks were course and could cause pretty sever damage if you fell back against them.

I peaked over the shoulder of a fellow classmate to see a tall woman at the door pressing a button which I assumed opened the gates because as soon as she pressed it the gates opened and students started to pour into the huge campus. As I was shoved into the campus I finally notice how big it was.

It had to have been at least more than fifteen acres of land and it had a lot of things to do.

Leading to the main building was a sidewalk that was made out of fancily cut stone bricks and halfway to the building was a beautiful marble fountain. Along the front half of the campus were a ton of tiny school run stores that offered sweets and other goods to the students. There were also places to eat near said stores so if you wanted to eat your lunch outside you totally could. Not that I would ever go outside to eat.

I caught a glimpse of behind the school as I began treading towards the pink building and was amazed to see how many sports they offered.

There was a fourth building behind the main one that was painted gray with the school mascot that hung on a poster near the main entrance. I assumed sports that are more suited for indoor play was in there and on the outside there was two football fields, one empty field which I assumed was for soccer since it had goal post sitting to the side of it(Ren is going to love that they offer soccer), a few hockey courts, a few tennis courts, and what looked to be a basketball court. There was also a massive open field which I assumed school activities would be held.

‘Man rich people think of everything.’ I think as I walked past of group of boys thinking to myself how I could lose my brother. For god sake how can you lose someone with blue hair. He and I are the only ones without normal colored hair.

That was when I heard the boys conversation which made me stiffen with every step towards my goal.

“Look at the girls hair. It’s pink!”

“How desperate for attention can someone get?”

‘I don’t crave attention nor do I want it….’ I thought as I neared the pinkish building.

Atop the main entrance was a large golden plaque that red Primrose House.

I was about to go in until I noticed a red hair girl I haven’t notice before walking towards me.

She was wearing basically the same thing as me except she wasn’t wearing the academies green blazer. She had long straight red velvet hair that fell down to her hips. Her green eyes and red hair complimented her pale skin. She also had a few noticeable freckles on her cheek.

She must have noticed my gaze because a smile spread onto her face as she fastened her pace and stop right in front of me.

“Oh! You must be my roommate!” She exclaimed reaching into her bag and I was shocked at her proclamation.

“W-wha? Me?” I said trying to calm myself down. It feels like I can’t even breathe properly because of what those boys said and now her.

“Yup! Room 312 right?” She said and I pulled out the schedule the school had mailed to me with all the necessary information I would need. I looked up and down the page looking for where they told me my room number was and to my surprise she was right. Room 312.

“How did you know?” I said and she just chuckled to herself and held onto my hands

“I was told my roommate was going to be a transfer student. The moment I spotted you I knew immediately that you were my roommate.” She said looking over to my hair next.

“Also your hair was a dead give away. I would’ve remember that hair, but I’ve never seen it in my life. It’s pink for the lord's sake!” She said and I stiffened by her words and sniffled and wiped a incoming tear which shocked her.

“Is something wrong?” I said feeling very nervous and I felt a stutter coming, but luckily she jumped in and said no in a very apologetic tone.

“I’m so sorry. You must have gotten the wrong Idea. I’m sorry, but I’m like that at times. Tell you what. Let’s go up to our room and set it up. We can start all over.” She said and she rose a hand for me to shake and I shyly grabbed her hand and shook it.

“My name is Mai Sasaki. What’s your name?”

“My name is Hana Mizuno…”
==========
“Hana where are you?” I muttered under my breath as I looked all around the front campus trying to find my sister.

‘For god sake she has pink hair how can you lose her?!?’ I thought to myself as I walked towards the fountain to see if I can get a better vantage point from there since it was in the middle of the front campus.

As I walked I couldn’t help, but overhear the wandering students chatter. Especially the girls chatter.

“Look at that boy’s hair!”

“It’s such a pretty blue color.”

“Is he the new transfer student you were talking about Sakura?”

“That must be him and look at him! What a hotty!”

“Don’t let the Normal Boots guys hear this, but I think he’s honestly cuter than all of them combined.”

“Well besides Jared. Maybe he can rival Jared!”

“Hahahahaha!”

I did not care for what they had to say. I noticed girls do this thing with me that they come and talk to me showing some interest in me, but in the end they always desire something from me that I’m not willing to give them; because, well, I’m not into girls in that type of way. Guys on the other hand are pretty nifty.

I don’t know. I like men so what are people gonna do about it.

I did however keep that thing about being hotter than people from a Normal Boots club to heart and took EXTREME satisfaction from that. Normal Boots Club….what kind of club name is that?

I shrugged it off and continued my search for my pink haired sister to see she was standing right besides a red velvet haired girl as they walked into what I assumed was the girls dorm and sighed in relief. At least she was safe.

I pulled out the information pamphlet they had mailed Hana and I and I looked down at it trying to find my room number to see I had room 225.

Something inside my head stirred because of that and I knew this feeling all to well. It was a sense I had that told me something bad was going to happen.

I ignored it though and walked over to the blue building which I assumed would be the boys dorms because it was blue and walked upstairs to my room and began to search for my number and when I found it I noticed the door was cracked open and I peeked inside to see a group of boys that appeared to be in my year standing around hanging out together.

“I’m still upset that they had to split Josh, Nick, and I up. We got away with spending the previous two years here together in the same room.” A tall tanned man said crossing his arms along with his two companions that sat besides him. One was a ginger and the other wore glasses similar in appearance to Hana’s and had curly dark brown hair.

“Sorry guys but that’s what the school board said.” A guy with a chubby body and a bird on his shoulder said as the previous three groaned in sync and sunk to the floor.

“I’m more interested in seeing who my roommate is. Hope he likes video games because he’s gonna have to get used to them.” A similar chubby guy said but he didn’t have a little bird upon his shoulder and he seemed pretty cute too with his messy hair and beard.

‘Assuming that’s who I’ll be rooming with.’ I thought to myself as a student who clearly looked British sat besides my roommate and grunted.

“Transfer student or not don’t get to use to them.” He said and I took a bit of offense to that.

‘What’s with those dumb looking jackets anyways?’ I thought looking at the jacket that all of them wore.

“Austin and Satch should go get us some snacks from the student vendors outside.” Nick said looking over at a very tall and skinny guy and a umber colored fellow who also had a chubby body.

That was when I decided to let them know I was here by knocking on the door and opening it up too see all there gazes were locked on me. All of them didn’t seem to care beside the british who seemed upset just by the mere sight of me and the person who they called Austin who was staring at me in pure confusion. I also noticed the guy that sat with my sister and I on the train in here.

I simply ignored them and walked over to the bunk bed to see that the bottom bed was already occupied by my roommate and I climbed up the ladder and quickly got my bed situated.

Unlike my sister Hana I packed blankets and pillows and other stuff to decorate my room.

I climbed back down the ladder and rested the bag that held my room decoration right besides my school bag before quickly rushing out of the room to avoid their gazes all those boys were giving me. My cheeks were red in embarrassment which was a first since the last time my face got this red was when my crush in 6th grade came up and started talking to me.

“Time to go look for Hana.” I said to myself as I walked out of the building and started to looking frantically for my sister to see she was heading to the main building along with that same red haired girl.

‘She must be her roommate.’ I thought as I quickly ran up to them. Patting my sister on the head which freaked her out at first because I bet she was weirded out that some random kid was touching her head, but when she saw that it was me she calmed down and introduced me to her friend.

“Hello Mai. The names Ren. I’m Hana’s twin brother.” I said shaking her hand and small pink shade invaded her cheek as I did that.

“Hana your brother is kinda cute.” She said bluntly and Hana got really embarrassed from that and shouted Mai’s name.

“What I’m just stating a fact. Anyway. Want to join us Ren? Hana and I are heading to the cafe to grab some lunch.” Mai said and I took the offer.

The three of us walked into the cafe and Hana and I were amazed at how big it was.

After Hana and I were done staring at the how big this place was we got in line with the rest of our classmate and waited patiently to be served our food.

After we got our food we sat down at a empty table that was nearby the back and began to eat.

From just sitting there I can tell my sister wouldn’t mind Mai. Mai was chatty and has a more dynamic personality. My sister liked there being noise so I knew she wouldn’t mind Mai and a lot of the things Mai talked about weren’t things you needed to pay attention to.

That was when I noticed Mr. Sparkles from the train in the line.

“Hana there he is.” I whispered into her ear and when she looked over she told Mai that that was the boy who sat with us on the train.

The sparkling boy noticed us and gave us a small grin before walking on over to us.

With every step he took towards us I notice Mai’s eyes growing wider and wider in shock and everyone else in the cafe look towards us as he stopped right behind Hana and I.

“How are the new twins doing on their first day here in Asagao Academy?” He said and Hana face got a little red before she quickly got rid of it and said fine.

“I found my roommate and already unpacked all of my stuff.” She said to the man and he grinned and said neat.

“Oh by the way Ren. Have you found your room yet?” Mai squeaked out which caused the man to glance over to her.

“I’m pleased to inform you that he did. He’s my friend Jirard’s roommate.” He said and I could feel the tension in the room grow after he said that.

“Yo! Jirard come over here!” The man practically shouted and I looked over to where he was looking to see all those guys from before sitting at a table together.

The look on Mai’s face grew even more shocked as the man who’s name I finally learned came over to greet us.

“Heyo! Names Jirard. I’ll be your roommate this year.” He said raising a hand in greeting and I took it and gave him a tiny grin. He smelled like a freshly cut lawn mixed with applesauce. I liked that.

“My name is Ren.” I said trying to be polite, but I could see that Britain glaring at me from the table Jirard came from.

“This is my sister Hana. We are the transfer student.” I said and he smiled at me and apologized for earlier.

“Sorry we were all looking at you weirdly.” He said and I said it was no problem.

“Please don’t do it again though. I don’t take kindly to people who stare at me like I’m a new punching bag.” I said loud enough for the brit to hear and I noticed he stopped staring at me and continued playing his 3ds.

“I’ll make sure to tell them that.” Jirard said followed by a quick goodbye as he went back to his table.

“The names Jared by the way. See you two around.” Mr. Sparkles said before walking off to join the rest of them.

Almost the entire cafeteria was silent after that, but soon it was filled with excited chatter.

Hana and I were confused as to what the big deal was so we asked Mai what the big deal was.

“Big deal!? Guys that was the Normal Boots club!” She said in a very excited tone.

“I envy Ren. You’re able to share a room with one of them.” Mai said getting a red tint to her face which in turn made my face turn red in return.

“Don’t say it like that!” I said in shock and she just giggled and pointed a finger at me as she leaned up against the table.

“You are like that aren’t you?” She said and I gulped and looked over at Hana to see that her face was also as red as mine. I knew what Mai was implying so I might as well tell her.

“Yes I am. Got a problem with it?” I said sounding a tad more angry then I was hoping, but she didn’t seemed to mind and giggled.

“Nope. In fact that’s even cuter.” She squealed and I blushed and got up from my chair.

“I need to go. Early when I went to my room all those guys were in there so I wasn’t able to properly set up.” I said giving them smile, but before I could leave Hana grab my hand and leaned up to my ear.

“They have a soccer team here. You just need to go to the Headmaster and ask to sign up.” She said and my eyes sparkled in excitement and I thanked her before giving her a kiss on the forehead like our mother used to do.

“Thanks for telling me. If you need something come find me in room 225.” I said and the two of them said okay as I walked away to go unpack my stuff.

After quickly asking the headmaster if I could join the soccer which I got a yes to my surprise I entered the room and I took a deep breath and sighed. Finally being able to breath without difficulty and I went over to my bag and started to unpack. I noticed on my bed were a few more extra pillows then what I had on there and realized they belong to Jirard because of the scent.

“Aw what I sweetheart.” I said also noticing the extra blankets he had given to me as well. I looked down at his bed to see he still had a ton of bed stuff on it so I didn’t need to worry him about giving these back to him.

The first thing I pulled out was a small alarm clock that my dad bought one for both Hana and I.

I plugged it into the wall closest to the bed and rested it right on top of the bedside table that Jirard had. I noticed he didn’t have an alarm so I’m thankful I brought one.\

The next thing I pulled out was a small black dragon doll that had silver eyes. I got this when I was very little from my mom. Me being a kid very creatively might I add named it Silver. Hilarious. I gently placed it onto my bed and went back to unpacking.

As I started to get to the last few things I noticed right up against the corner opposite to our beds was a long desk that had two computer.

The first computer looked brand spanking new besides the keyboard which looked worn out from extensive use. The second one whoever looked exactly like the first besides a few scratches on the side and it had a note on the screen. I pulled the note off and began to read what it said.

“To whoever is my new roommate for this year then hello! My dad bought me a new computer over the winter break and I’ve decided to give my old computer to you. All you gotta do is set it up and it’s yours :D . I hope we have a good year roomie.” I read aloud and my face became red once more as I crumpled up the paper and stare at the computer for a good minute.

“I haven’t even touch a computer in my life….” I mumbled to myself as I sat down at stare at the computer.

“I don’t even have a email account….” I mumbled once more as I got up and finished unpacking.

That was when someone knocked on the door.

I walked over to the door and swung it open to see both my sister and Mai standing there with smiles on their face.

“Sup Ren!” Mai said walking in uninvited, but I didn’t really care because she was my sister friend. Any friend of Hana is a friend of mine.

They sat down on the floor while I sat on Jirard’s bed. Hope he doesn’t mind.

“I wanted to ask this with both of you in the room, but how are you guys adjusting to the new environment.” Mai said leaning back against her arm and looking at the ceiling. Her smile never vanishing.

“I’ve adjusted pretty well. Who are those people by the way? The guys in the green jack.” Hana and I said in that creep twin unity and she laughed before pulling out a picture of all of them. Pointing all of them out to us and make sure to give us a detailed character profile of them.

“So they’re the Normal Boots Club?” I said and Mai said yes before jumping up to her feet. Eyes shining as if she got an idea.

“Want to go get some Ice cream? My treat and don’t worry. The ice cream on campus is actually pretty good.” She said and the two of us agreed and as we were walking outside we asked if anyone else was in the club.

“Technically no, but there is this one girl who is very close friends all of them. Most people call her Lucahjin, but her real name is Reese Dressler. She might as well be called an honorary member of the club because she’s always around them. She looks kinda like me except her hair is more of a red-orange then red. I heard she’s sick today and that is why she isn’t here on campus yet. Others are saying that she’s been sleeping in her room all day.” Mai explained to us and we thought that was interesting as we stopped in front of the student run vendor that served ice cream.

“One scoop of strawberry ice cream.” Mai said with that never ending smile on her face.

“Can I have a scoop of vanilla?” Hana said next and I looked at the selection of ice cream before I spotted my favorite.

“I’ll take a scoop pistachio please.” I said and the girl who was running it smiled at us before quickly getting what we asked for and had us our cones.

That was when we noticed three guys arguing near the fountain.

“Ooo let’s go check this out.” Mai said vocally dragging us towards the guys and on closer inspection they were the boys who were upset they couldn’t room with each other. Now that Mai filled Hana and I with details of every Normal Boots member we both knew they were Paul, Nick, and Josh. They were the ones who wrote a column in the school newspaper called Continue?.

“Oh my god they’re arguing over this again.” Mai mumbled loud enough for only the three of us to hear as we neared them.

“Can’t you simpletons wrap it around your head that I am the one that possesses the proper masculine form.” Paul said striking a confident pose and the other two scoffed at his action.

“Yeah right. I’m taller and more attractive than the both of you.” Josh said eyeing them with obvious annoyance yet glee in his eyes.

“Come on guys. We all know who the most attractive of us three are and it’s me. I mean just look at these muscles.” Nick said to himself as he flexed his arms so the two of them can see.

“Oh come on.” Josh said getting into a downward dog pose which made Hana and I blush in embarrassment as we witness this. “Just look at this butt.”

“If you guys can’t tell these three are very….energetic.” Mai whispered to us and Hana and I agreed with her.

“What I don’t understand is why they don’t asked Jared.” Mai said reminding the two of us of her obvious crush on the guy.

“Oh yeah?” Paul said aloud. He must have overheard us talking. He proceeded to kneel down to the floor before taking off into a sprint towards us.

“Check this out!” He said as he sprang into the air in a graceful ballerina leap, spinning through the sky and coming towards Hana…..Hana!

My protective brother side sprung into action as I shoved Hana out of the way and taking the blow instead.

The next moment I was on the floor with both Hana and Mai kneeling besides me with a very confused Paul a few feet in front of me with a spilled vanilla ice cream cone right besides him and down below I felt something cold on my left pant leg.

“Ugh what just happened?” Paul said as Mai and Hana picked me up. The green ice cream cone falling to the floor as I stood up.

“What does it look like you idiot!? You ran into someone!” Nick shouted at Paul and I looked down at my pants to see a big green stain right where my cone landed on me.

“My pants….they’re ruined.” I mumbled to myself as Hana held tightly onto my hand because she knew I was getting angry. I don’t need facial expressions to show her. Just looking into my eyes made her know I was upset and getting ready to fight them.

For a few seconds it was just silence before snickers and gossips began to ring about like a disgusting choir of cicadas. So many kids have witnessed what just happened and they were all laughing at me.

Tears of anger were about to be spilled, but I kept them in and refused to let a tear fall.

“N-not this….not again.” Hana said because she also heard that the gossip was about her to and I flinched in anger and noticed her hand was turning pale because of how tightly she was trying to keep me in control of my emotions.

I was about to pull away and walk away with what little pride I had left in me before I noticed the entirety of the Normal Boots club was walking towards us. All of their faces were worried besides Shane who seemed more like he was curious as to what happened.

“Seriously….” Hana and I muttered under our breath to each other as they approached.

“What happened here?” The guy named Jon said looking at us then at Paul. Confusion evidently on his face.

“Hana. Ren. Are you two okay?” A guy named Austin or PBG said looking at us with concerned eyes. Out all the Normal Boots club he was the one who had the most concerned face on.

“I’m fine!” I shouted making them all take a step back besides Hana and Mai. I finally snapped.

I pried Hana’s hand off of me and let the tear fall down which made Hana start crying. The last time she had saw me cry was when our mother died eight years ago. Ever since then I acted tough and decided to get strong for Hana, but seeing me break down like this must have sent her off the edge.

Having no words to say at them I ran off as fast as I can which is pretty fast and why I love soccer towards the boy’s dorm. I heard Hana shouting for me and when I got to the door of the building I looked back to see Mai giving Paul a lecture before also running after me.

I burst into my room, shut the door and locked it, and then climbing up the ladder to my bed and cried into one of the pillow Jirard provided for me.

The sound of someone knock emitted and seeing how the door didn’t open. I knew it wasn’t Jirard. Earlier Jirard was kind enough to leave my key with the computer so I had it on me.

“Ren are you okay?” Hana said and I loudly said no so she could hear me.

“Do you wanna talk about?” I heard Mai’s voice and I sighed and climbed down my ladder and went over to the door.

“Probably not. Listen guys. I just want some time to be alone. I’ve been humiliated as it is and I don’t think I can handle talking about what happened. I’ll be fine tomorrow. Just let me sleep it off.” I said and they understood what I wanted and left.

I looked over to the digital clock I had set up to see it was getting late so I went over to my dresser that Jirard has also provided and stripped myself of my ruined uniform and put on my sleeping clothe. Which were a simple pair of black basketball shorts and a white muscle-shirt that clung onto my body.

As soon as I slipped my muscle shirt on I heard the door open and I turned around to see Jirard.

“Oh hey.” I said turning back to my uniform and folding up then slipping it into the bottom my dresser.

“You okay bud?” He said sitting down on his bed and looking me in the eyes. Concern having taken over his entire face from top to bottom for what looks like a while.

“I don’t know….” I said losing my voice towards the end which made me feel so weak and vulnerable.

“They didn’t mean to do that. It was an accident.” He said trying to make sure I didn’t get the wrong idea from it.

“I know, but who jumps at someone without expecting to land on them.” I said looking back down at the floor and he just chuckled because of that and agreed.

“Just know they didn’t mean anything by that. Paul especially feels bad for the whole incident.” Jirard said standing up and walking over to me. My face heated up as he did that and I flinched when he pulled me into a hug. I’m so glad my face rested against his chest because my face was redder than a burning fire.

“I’m one of the more chill members of my club. So expect me to stand up for you whenever you seem to be attacked.” He said and I lost control again and silently cried against his chest.

“Thanks Jirard….that means a lot.”

Chapter Text

I woke up to the sound of my alarm going off the next morning. I blinked a few times trying to take in the sounds of my room. The sound of Mai’s hair straightener clapping as she straightened her hair. She must have been humming because a gentle hum came from her direction. I sat up in bed reaching under my pillow for my glasses case and slipped them on.

“Good Morning sleepy head!” Mai said looking over at me with her never ending smile.

“Good morning Mai.” I said drowsily touching my alarm clock so it can stop it’s annoying ringing.

“I’m so excited to finally start today. Get the school year in full swing and maybe meet a few boys.” Mai said turning of her hair straightener then shoving it into one of her dresser drawers.

“I just hope my brother is handle the whole Normal Boots incident the other day cautiously. I hope he understands that Paul didn’t mean to do that.” I said heading over to my dresser and pulling out my uniform. Mai quickly turned away from me as I stripped from my sleeping clothes. Replacing them with the uniform.

“You can turn around now.” I said and Mai quickly turned back to face me and asked me for my schedule.

I handed her my schedule mentioning ren and I had the same schedule because our dad didn’t want us to feel alone.

She looked it over before handing it back to me with a grinned.

“We have the same classes together!” She said with glee and I sighed in relief. I know I’ll have my brother to be with, but I really wanted to be with Mai to. Glad that’s she in all my classes

“Well let’s get to class!” Mai said with glee as she rushed over to the door. Opening it and leaning against the door frame waiting for me to join her. I grabbed my school bag like she had and rushed over to her side throwing her a smile saying I’m ready.

“Follow me.” She said walking….speed walking….who am I kidding she was practically sprinting down the hall. I tried to keep up with her, but I got lost in the crowd of students that soon started to pour out of their rooms. Ready to start a new day and make me lose Mai.

No wonder she sprinted! She didn’t want to get caught in the flood of students that I was literally drowning in.

I was about to get knocked over until someone reached out for my arm and lead me outside.

“Thank you! I thought I was going to get trampled to death.” I said panting and trying to get my breath back because I was exhausted from the pace I was going at to keep up with Mai.

“No problem.” The girl said. Her tone was bubbly and giddy with a hint of sunshine in it. Almost reminded me of Mai, but it wasn’t. I took my eyes off the ground and looked up at her to see who in the world saved me from the horde.

She looked very similar to Mai except for a few noticeable differences. Her eyes were a piercing green color that showed kindness and joy. She stood at five six which was a inch taller than Mai’s five five. Her hair was a deep red orange colored that resembled a sunset while Mai’s resembled a red velvet cake. She wore the same uniform as me, but she wore a blue blazer like the boys instead of the green one I wore. She was also a tad chubby and she wore pure black converses.

She looked really pretty actually and like someone I can trust.

“So what’s your name squirt?” She said patting my head. The nickname obviously teasing my height.

“It’s Hana.” I said slightly agitated because that nickname. She giggled because of that though and held out her hand which I took trying to be polite because of what she did for me.

“Well my name is Reese! Most people just call me Lucahjin though.” She said and I instantly remember what Mai told Ren and I. She was the girl she was talking about. The one that is very close with all of the Normal Boots club.

“You look a bit lost. Mind if I see your schedule?” She asked and I pulled it out because it was true. Despite all that happened yesterday I never really bothered to find my classes and because Mai was not around me I had no idea what class I should be heading off to.

“Well I’ll be a girl in hell. We had the same class together!” She exclaimed and I noted that she didn’t mind cussing.

“Follow me. I know where we have to go.” She said and I nodded in response and followed her to our first room.

When we entered Mai and Ren ran over to me and started going on a tangent about how worried they were.

“Don’t worry. Reese showed me the way.” I said gesturing to Lucah who sat down besides PBG and Shane. Striking up a conversation with the both of them. I noticed that PBG was looking at the three of us though. He was paying attention to her, but he was more focused on us. Eyebrows furrowed in confusion and speculation.

Ren and Mai dragged me over to the right side of the room so we sat right besides the windows that let us peek outside. We started to talk about random things until a woman walked into the class asking us all to sit down.

Everyone sat down of course and we all listened to what she had to say.

“My name is Miss Shizuka and I will be your history teacher for the entirety of your third year here to Asagao.” She said emphasizing the miss for some reason.

She has long brown hair that fell down to her hips with quite a….busty figure. She has golden-brown eyes and wears a simple red coat and black skirt. She also had rose red lipstick on and some mascara. She looked very beautiful.

“From my understanding we have two transfer students in my class so would Hana and Ren Mizuno come to the front please and introduce yourself.” She said and I could physically feel Ren tense up in front of me. He’s never been one to like standing in front of crowds and talking.

I got up from my desk feeling nervous myself for this, but I wasn’t going to let that get in the way.

“It’ll be alright Ren….” I whispered into his ear and taking his hand. He seemed to loosen up a bit and stood up besides me as we walked up to the front of the class.

He wasn’t showing it, but I could feel in his hands that he was trembling.

“Uh….hello. My name is Hana and this is my twin brother Ren.” I said shyly and he clenched onto my hand as I finished my sentence. He was frightened as to what to say and I tapped his side. Signalling I’ll do the talking. He seemed to loosen up after that.

“We’re really excited that we’ll be joining your wonderful community this year and I hope you all take care of us. I can normally be found in my room with Mai and Ren can normally be found in his room or on the soccer field if you need us.” I said and the moment I mentioned the soccer field PBG’s eyes lit up.

“Thank you guys for introducing yourselves. Now please go back to your seats and class can begin.” The teacher said giving us a warm smile and the class clapped for us as we left the front of the room and back to our desks. Ren sighed in relief as he looked towards the teacher as she began her lecture.

After the lecture we all got up from our seats and left to go attend our other 4 classes of the day.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Ren and I did the same routine for all our classes and when all was said and done we simply waved goodbye to each other and headed off to our rooms.

One day down….many more to go.

Chapter Text

It was getting towards the end of my last hour of the day and I was staring at the clock hoping the time would pass by.

Today was going to be the first time the soccer team practice for the year and I was very excited to get started.

Hana must have noticed that I was staring at the clock and asked what was up and I quickly explained it to her. Her smile intoxicated me and I was even more excited to get out of class.

“Guess I’m coming down to the field to watch you play.” She said and grinned to myself as I finished my work for the class.

Then the bell rang signalling us to leave class, but before I could leave someone called out my name.

I turned around to see PBG and a guy I haven’t met before, but he wore a jacket much like PBG’s except it was yellow and had the block from Nario on it where the Normal Boots insignia would be.

“You need something?” I asked making sure they heard the tone in my voice. A tone I use when I clearly need to go somewhere.

“You might need this.” PBG said taking a pile of blue-green and yellow clothing out of his bag and handing it to me.

I unfolded it and jumped in glee because it was the soccer uniform for this school.

“Thanks!” I almost shouted and he smiled at me and gestured me to follow him and his friend.

“We’re on the soccer team as well so we’ll show you where the locker rooms are.” He said and I waved goodbye to Hana and followed them outside.

Along the way I found out the guys name is Jeff and he is in the rival club of the Normal Boots called Hidden Block. I thought that was interesting.

We walked into the locker room and quickly got changed into our soccer uniforms and threw our stuff into a locker before walking out onto the field.

The first thing I noticed was Hana and Mai sitting on the bleachers watching us. Smiles on their faces as they started to talk.

I couldn’t help but notice that the coach was a pretty hot guy. Looking to be in his mid-thirties or late twenties. He had cerulean blue eyes and spiky black hair. He was wearing a basic white loose tank-top and blue basketball shorts with black soccer cleats. He was also pretty muscular as well.

“Welcome back everyone. I’m excited to have another successful season with you all.” He said with a smile before looking over to me and walking over patting my head.

“You must be our new recruit that the headmaster told me about. Ren if I’m correct. Welcome to the team.” He said and I grinned back at him and went to stand by PBG and Jeff.

“Today we are gonna simply play a game of soccer to loosen up and then tomorrow we’ll get to practicing.” He said which made everyone around me excited.

“I’ll be picking the teams so let's get this started.” He said pointing to Jeff, PBG, and I along with seventeen other boys and saying we’ll be the green team while the other twenty kids he told to put on red jersey so they would be the red team.

“Make a team plan in two minutes and when I blow my whistle the game will start.” The coach said walking off towards the bleachers.

I noticed he started talking to my sister and Mai as my team decided what positions we’ll be playing.

Seeing how none of them knew what I was capable of they made me be in the attacking position. I didn’t mind because Jeff and PBG were with me as well so I didn’t put up a protest. Besides….this is my signature position.

“We’re good with this plan?” Our team captain, Alex, said making sure we were all okay with this plan and we all said were good.

I looked back at my sister to see she was pointing at me and speaking to the coach who was grinning like a madman.

“Show them what you got Ren!” Mai and Hana shouted the next second with the coach blowing the whistle and throwing the ball towards me and I smirked. Cocky with my ability and bolted off with the ball bouncing off my cleats that PBG decided to lend me because he outgrew them and they fit me perfectly.

No one could catch me because of how quickly I was moving and PBG ran up besides me signalling me to pass it which I did and I bolted over to the goal where Jeff ran up to me and asked if I could take it which I did and took a step back as PBG kicked our direction. Jeff caught the ball under his feet and launched the ball at the goal where their team's goalie tried his best to block the ball, but it flew past him and landed in the goal.

The coach blew the whistle and said fair which made our team cheer.

“How are you so fast?” PBG said jogging up to the two of us and I shrugged.

“My parents always said I was born a runner. I guess I was just born with unnatural speed.” I said and Jeff laughed because of that.

“We’re all fairly quick, but it’s gonna take more than speed in order for us to win games in the future. I’m glad you passed to. Not a lot of quickies like you pass.” Jeff said and I thanked him and walked with the two of them back to our side of the field.

It went like that a the next few times. I’m always making leverage while Jeff and PBG worked together to make it into the goal. I noted those two were very good at psyching others out. Manipulating the others that they were going to kick one way but in actuality kicking it another way.

It was about six in the afternoon when the coach blew the whistle.

“Alright boys I think we’ll be done for the day! Great work and good job Ren. Everything your sister told me about you is true.” The coach shouted and I got a little red tinted from embarrassment.

‘Please don’t menti-’

“Basilisk of the field. Those kids from your previous school made a good nickname for you” The coach said walking up to me and patting me on the back and I got very embarrassed from that and walked after Jeff and PBG.

“Does that nickname have any significance?” PBG asked and Jeff asked about it too making me sigh in defeat as I pulled my pants on then putting my uniform into my locker. Along with the cleats.

“At my old school my teammates called me that because of two things. One being that I was lightning quick and could get around the field faster than everyone else. The second reason is a bit more unpleasant.” I said trying to dodge around their question, but they were persistent in knowing what the other reason was.

“I’ll tell you only if you don’t hold my actions in the past accountable.” I said staring them in the eyes and they nodded their heads as we walked out of the locker room and towards the boys dorm. Hana and Mai sitting at the steps to the building waiting for me.

“Well the other reason is because I’m quite intimidating on the field. They would say the opposing team would literally freeze up if they saw me coming their way.” I said and they seemed weirded out by that.

“Not to be rude, but you aren’t really intimidating.” Jeff said putting a hand to his hip and I sighed and looked back at them as I walked over to Hana and Mai.

I closed my eyes and thought of a memory that makes me furious and opened my eyes giving them….the look. They jumped back in surprise and immediately understood why they would freeze up

My sister and dad called this look of mine the Medusa’s Glare.

It expressed pure rage, and malice. It was like I was staring at my prey getting ready to strike and devour them.

“Well then.” PBG said and I was surprised he talked and I turned around to see he and Jeff had a grin.

“That’s awesome! Maybe it’ll mean we have a fighting chance against our rival school at the soccer tournament.” Jeff said and I laughed at them and went inside with Hana and Mai.

“Did you show them the Medusa glare?” Hana asked and I said yeah and she laughed with me.

“They haven’t seen anything yet.”

Chapter Text

We have been at Asagao for about two weeks and everything was going pretty well. Ren has become pretty well known for his skills in soccer as well as his good test grades. He’s gotten one hundred percent on all of his test. Though that’s only because he spends a decent chunk of time studying with Jirard who also has gotten one hundred percent on all of his test. The Normal Boots guys tease them for this though so I keep my own test score hidden to avoid getting made fun of for being smart.

Those two don’t care that they get made fun of this, but I would take it to heart.

Mai also told me about the Hidden Block club after our little encounter with Ren’s soccer friend Jeff.

Six in total whose names are Ian, Jeff, Jimmy, Caddy which is short for Caddicarus, Walid, and Luke.

When Mai described the signature coat they wore I noticed I had a few of them in my classes. Ian was in most of them and Jeff and Luke were in my last two hours of the day.

I remember Mai telling Ren and I not to get involved with them, but Ren got sassy and said he’ll hang out with whoever he wants to.

Before class was dismissed to go do whatever they want for the day. My last hour teacher, Mr Aioko, pointed to the calendar at next week Thursday and Friday.

“Before you all leave I would like to discuss next week Flower Festival.” He said and excited murmurs flooded the room before he silenced us all.

“Now next week we will not be holding classes on Thursday and Friday so you kids can go to the festival and enjoy yourself. However I would like to tell you kids to be on your best behavior. The town of Higabana is kind enough to let Asagao join in on the celebration.” He said and and we all just had to listen to him as he listed the schools guideline.

Then the bell rang.

“Okay you kids enjoy the rest of your day” He said getting back to the work on his desk as we all walked out of the room.

“Oh the Flower Festival!” Mai said with a giddy tone in her voice as the three of us walked over to the fountain where we usually hanged out.

“So what are you guys going to do for the festival?” Mai said looking at us as she plopped herself down on the fountain’s rim and the two of us shrugged.

“I’m probably going to study.” I said nervously with Ren agreeing with what I said saying he’ll join in.

“Oh come on you two. That wouldn’t be any fun! Why not go ask someone to go with you to the festival?” Mai said and Ren crossed his arm and his eyes saddened.

“I hardly doubt I’ll find anyone to go with me. I hardly know any other guys like me beside Ian, but I overheard him talking to Jimmy about going.” Ren said and I frowned at him and tried to think of someone I could go with.

“I could maybe ask PBG to go with me. We’ve been talking a lot because of Ren practicing with him in soccer. He seems nice.” I said and Mai thought that would be a great Idea. “I really want to go ask Jared, but I’m to shy!” Mai exclaimed and I rolled my eyes because I saw that coming.

“Well if anyone wants to go with me they’ll come to me. I hardly doubt anyone knows the tradition of the flower festival though….” Ren said and Mai asked what the usual tradition was.

“You present whoever you want to go with with a flower.” I told her and she thought that was really cute.

“I think I’ll go ask PBG when we have some private time together.” I mumbled to myself as We watched the sun start to set off in the distance.

“Well I’m going to head to my room. Hearing you two talking about getting a date for a festival is really tiring me out.” Ren said with a yawn and heading towards the boy’s dorm. That was when I felt a zing. It was a feeling I got when good things are about to happen for my brother.

I grinned as Mai and I did the same.

‘If only you knew what is about to happen to you.’

Chapter Text

It was the day before the flower festival started and I stood here kicking the ball around the soccer field.

Bored out of my mind.

Mai finally gathered the courage to ask Jared if he would go to the flower festival with her and to her surprise he said yes and my sister, Hana, didn’t even need to ask PBG if he wanted to go with her because he walked up to her in our last class of the day and asked her before we went to soccer practice.

I was the only one between us three who didn’t have someone to go with, but I didn’t really care. Gave me more time to practice even though there wasn’t any practice until monday so everyone on the team can go enjoy the flower festival.

I looked up and stared at the goal in the distance and a little smirk came onto my face and I kicked the ball as hard as I could.

The ball flew into the air and quickly descended square into the goal. I grinned to myself, but tensed up as I heard a voice cheer for me.

I turned around and saw Jeff walking on up to me. Hands in his jacket pockets and a grin on his face. His cheekbones making the smile pop.

“How’re you doing Ren?” He asked and I said I was fine and plopped down on the grass and stared at the already descending sun. Not directly of course, but direct enough to see it.

He sat down right besides me and we admired the sun as it started to set.

“Got any plans for Thursday?” He said looking over to me and I looked down at the floor and said no.

“I would go, but….” I said and because of the way I worded that he asked why I couldn’t.

“I have school work to do and I’d rather do that then go.” I lied between my teeth and of course he didn’t buy it. I’ve never been a really good liar.

“Come on. You can trust me.” He said giving me a supportive grin as his eyes softened.

I gulped and began twiddling my thumb. My anxiety was building up and my heart was beating faster and faster.

I’m scared to tell him. Let him know I’m like that. How would he even react to what I’m going to say. For god sake I know he’s friend with Ian and Jimmy because they’re in the same club, but why am I so nervous to tell him?

Maybe it’s because of my fear of his opinion of me changing.

He knows me as a hot-head who is really good out on the soccer field. He knows me as someone who is supportive to my teammates and my sister. He knows me as the guy who along with Jirard always gets one hundred percent.

Why don’t I want him to view me as gay?

Why am I getting so nervous around him?! I’ve never been nervous around him before, but why today? What makes today any different.

Is it because we’re alone? Is it because I’m sitting beside a man enjoying the sunset? Why?

I haven’t had these feeling since….oh god. Do I have a crush on him?

I mean that would make sense. I have develop crushes in the past without ever realizing it.

Jeff has always been kind to me. Somewhat of a show off to. Always make sure I watched him in practice. Whenever we needed to pair up for some drills he would always come to me first if PBG hasn’t caught him yet. He would always cheer me up on those off days I occasionally have where I literally have no will to do anything.

Oh god I’m hopeless….

I sighed and looked over to him to see he was waiting patiently for me respond.

Well it’s now or never. Might as well just tell him that I’m gay.

“The reason I don’t plan on going to the flower festival is because no one would want to go with me….There’s hardly any guys here like me besides Ian and Jimmy.” I said and his eyes widened when I mentioned Ian and Jimmy.

“That makes sense. It’s true though. The only guys I know who are gay are Ian and Jimmy. I guess now you to.” He said nonchalantly, but I noticed he was tensing up. I also saw that he was hiding something in his left hand.

“Yeah. I’m probably just going to ask Jirard if I can play on his M46 while he goes to the festival to hang out with his friends.” I said going back to looking at the sunset. The sky was darkening now which meant is was getting pretty late, but you could still see the oranges and pinks in the horizon.

“What about you Jeff? Are you going to the Flower Festival?” I asked looking over at him to see a drop of sweat come sliding down from his forehead.

“You okay?” I said starting to get concerned. Why is he so nervous?

“Yeah I’m fine. Uh….well….I am planning to go.” He said and I grinned.

“Then I guess it’s true. I’m gonna be the only kid in school to stay behind.” I said hugging my knees and looking over to him to see he was staring at me. He was also a lot closer then he was a moment ago.

What in the world is going on?

“Hey Ren. Can I ask something of you?” He said and I said shoot. Telling him to let whatever was on his find out.

He looked me right in the eye and revealed what he was holding in his left hand. My face immediately got red from this action.

There in his hand he held a beautiful white lotus flower.

I didn’t know what to say as he scooted up against me and placed the flower on me knees.

“Would you want to go to the Flower Festival with me?” He said wrapping a arm around me and pulling me closer a tad bit closer to him.

I leaned my head against his side and picked up the flower and asked how he knew it was my favorite.

“I did a lot of snooping around the past week. I overheard Hana saying that your favorite flower is a white lotus and that you love old traditions so I thought it would be appropriate to ask you to the festival with a flower.” He said and I smiled to myself and pulled away from him and held his hand.

“Of course I’ll go with you silly. It would be rude of me not to.” I said standing up which he did as well as we began to walk towards the boys dorm.

“So was that basically you coming out to ask me out?” I said jokingly and he chuckled and replied with a simple yes.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while, but I was too nervous to ever ask you. Seeing how this was the first time me and you would be properly alone I thought I’d go for it. Also no one really knows I’m gay so when people see me and you together tomorrow and Friday the truth will come out.” He said and I smirked at him and sat down on the steps which he did as well.

“So tell me. Why me?” I asked putting my head on my hand and looking at him with a smile. He blushed because of that and looked at the sky.

“I think it was a week ago on Tuesday when I was absolutely certain I wanted to ask you.” He began, ushering me over so I scooted over and rested up against him.

“During soccer practice that day I couldn’t put my finger on it, but you just looked absolutely stunning that day. Your hair was down and curling up because you decided to take a quick shower before practice and the way your body moved was just stunning.” He said and I blushed and held onto his hand as the sun sank below the horizon and all that was above us was a sky filled with stars.

“Yeah….my hair is naturally curly, but I always stylize it because I like that way more than it curly.” I said and he chuckled and complimented my hair.

“Jeff….” I started, but stopped trying to think of how to word what was about to come yet he stole the words from my mouth.

“Did it sound like I proclaimed my love to you and wanted to date you? Yes. It did.” He said laughing a bit and I chuckled to myself to. I stood up and looked down at him and winked.

“Well I’ll see you tomorrow. Meet me at the fountain at noon and we’ll head to Higabana together. I’m going to go head to bed.” I said and he agreed and waved goodbye to me as I head over to my room.

When I opened the door I saw Jirard, PBG, and Jon sitting on the floor playing the M46.

“Where were you Ren? I was starting to get worried.” Jirard asked and PBG gave his controller to Jon and walked over to me.

“I was out on the soccer field.” I replied simply then asking PBG what he needed from me because he clearly had something to ask me.

“Are you okay with me going to festival with Hana?” He asked and I noticed the other two stopped playing and eyes were on me.

I scoffed at his question and went up to my bed.

“I don’t own her. She can do whatever she wants to.” I said sarcastically and he sighed in relief and went back to playing with his pals.

I giggled to myself and pulled my necklace out from under my shirt and let it sit there as I drifted off to bed.

Excited for tomorrow.
==========
“I’m so excited to head to Higanbana and see all the flowers!” Mai squealed in delight as we sat together at the fountain waiting for PBG and Jared so we can head off. Everyone was wearing beautifully colored kimonos.

Some were more meant for style then colors. That case going to a lot of the guys because a majority of them wore darker colored kimonos with exquisite patterns on them.

A lot of them had pretty pastel, bold, and bright colors. Those belonged to almost every girl besides a few. I took note of Lucahjin’s kimono as she passed because it was beautiful.

It was a traditional kimono that was designed to look like a sunset. Very fitting for her. I also noticed she was heading off with the rest of the Normal Boots club members.

Probably just going as a group of friends more than anything.

“It’s sad to know that Ren isn’t even gonna come just to hang out.” Mai said and I got sad to. My brother always enjoyed events like this. Why isn’t he coming? He does know that he can go just for fun to so why is he so keen on having a date with him?

I looked over at Mai and admired the outfit she was wearing.

She had her hair up in a bun with two pitch black chopsticks poking out of her bun. Her Kimono was a pretty simple one. It was sunshine yellow with a faint floral pattern at the bottom. She also wore mascara and pink lipstick with a little blush on.

I was wearing a kimono my dad had bought me. It was a pure black kimono with pink flower crawling up to my midsection where I had a golden sash wrapped around my waist. I didn’t do anything with my hair so it fell down to my shoulder like usual, but I did replace the red ribbon with a golden one.

“Maybe we can try and convince him to come with us tomorrow?” Mai said and I shrugged my shoulder and looked over to the boys dorm and my eyes widen.

Ren was walking towards us. His hair down and slightly curling all over his head unlike the other days where he gelled it up. His kimono was the polar opposite of mine. His was pure white with varying shades and tints of blues traveling up to his midsection where he had a silver sash tied around him. The sapphire pendant our mother gave to him before she died laid proudly on his chest.

“Is that Ren?” Mai said in shock and I nodded my head as he walked over to us with a smile on his face.

When he finally reached us we gave him a great big hug and cheered for him.

“I thought you weren’t coming?” I said and he grinned and pulled something out of his kimonos pocket and showed us a pure white lotus flower.

“Someone asked me to go with them so I decided to come along.” He said and Mai grinned at him and fixed the flower into his curly blue hair.

“Who asked you?” We both asked in unison and he gave us a small smile as he turned around and pointed to the trio that was walking towards us.

PBG, Jared, and Jeff all wore similar maroon colored kimonos, but all with different colored sashes.

Jeff being the odd one out we instantly knew that it was Jeff that asked him.

I didn’t think Jeff swung that way, but I’m happy Ren is coming with us.

“Ready to go Jeff?” Ren said walking over to Jeff and he nodded taking Ren’s hand and walking off towards the direction of Higanbana.

“I’m kinda sad that my best friend hidden the fact that he’s gay, but I’m happy he’s going.” PBG said to me and I grinned at him as we walked off towards Higanbana. To the Flower Festival.
==========
“So this is Higanbana.” I said as Jeff and I walked into the town.

Everywhere was covered in decorations. Lantern lights hung above our heads and sakura petals laid on the floor.

“They went all out this year.” Jeff said observing all the decorations that covered the town.

My eyes were flying all over the place trying to take it all in. The colors, the booths, the people, and especially the flowers. Flower pots were all over the place with a wide assortment of flowers in each of them. Some I knew and others I didn’t. Some even looked like they weren’t indigenous to Japan.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself.” Jeff whispered into my ear and I giggled and said I was.

“I’ve never been to a festival this colorful and bright.” I exclaimed taking his hand and walking over to a flower pot I’ve had my eyes on for awhile.

“Look at how beautiful these roses are. I’ve never seen a white rose before.” I said pointing down at them and he chuckled and led me away to the booths.

“Want to get something to eat?” He said and I nodded in agreement as he led me to a specific black and blue booth.

“This is my favorite place to get food here at the Flower Festival.” He said as the woman behind the counter greeted us and asked what we would like to order.

“I’d like some of your spicy ramen along.” Jeff said with a grin as the lady wrote down his order then turning to me.

“Uh….I’ll have the same thing.” I said which made Jeff really surprised. The lady smiled at that and asked if there was anything else we would like. We eyed the menu for a bit longer trying to find something we would want, but when we were about to give up I notice something that made my mouth start to drool.

“Can we have a order of blueberry mochi?” I said and she smiled at me and said sure then getting to work on our meal. “You two can go sit at the picnic area. I’ll bring your food as soon as I get it done.” She said turning back to us in her small set up kitchen and we thanked her and went to go sit down.

“So how are you enjoying your first Flower Festival?” Jeff said and I replied with amazing since that was the one word I could use to describe it.

I don’t know why, but something about today has made me lower my shield. I feel like I can show my true myself instead of the hot head facade I put up so people know not to mess with me.

“I feel so peaceful today.” I said laying on my arms on the table and looking at Jeff who face showed fondness in every corner.

“I’m glad you feel that way Ren.” He said reaching over the table and patting my head which made me grin and start humming to myself.

“That’s a pretty necklace by the way.” He said pointing to the small sapphire pendant around my neck and I blushed as I sat up and start playing with it.

“Thank you….it was a gift from my mother.” I said and he seemed interested and asked for me to add to that.

“Sorry….one day I’ll tell you about the story of this necklace. I don’t feel like breaking down in tears on a day like this.” I told him clenching my hands around the pendant as he frowned at what I said.

“Well tell me when you’re ready.” He said as the woman from earlier walked over to us and handed us our food.

“That’ll be two-thousand yen.” She said and Jeff pulled out his wallet which looked like Nario’s face and pulled out the money for her. She took it and walked off in a rush.

Probably had others customers to attend to.

We began to eat when I noticed Mai and Jared walking around the booths with my sister and PBG.

‘I wonder if he’s treating her right….?’ I thought to myself as I watched Hana start giggling to herself when PBG made a funny face at her.

“You okay?” Jeff said tapping my shoulder and I stopped looking over at them and went back to looking at jeff to see he was worried.

“Uh….yeah….” I said and he tsked and got up and sat besides me.

“You were glaring at something so I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He continued and I frowned and looked down at my empty bowl of ramen.

“Was I really glaring?” I said and he nodded and looked the direction I was previously staring at and laid an arm around my neck and pulled me in.

“It’s okay to feel upset. If I had a sister I would be protective of her as well. Trust me when I say that PBG is one of the nicest guys around. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Jeff said calmingly and I took a deep breath and agreed.

“Now am I gonna have to eat this Mochi by myself or are you gonna help me?” He teasingly said holding the small container in front of me to show that there was only five left in there. I playfully punched his shoulder and started to eat them with him.

After we were done we began to walk around the booths for a little longer until I noticed something that caught my eyes.

A small golden pin that looked like a lotus flower.

I didn’t even noticed I left Jeff side when I picked it up and observed it.

It was very detailed with the way the metal curves and bend and at the very center of it was green emerald.

“Got your eyes on the lotus?” The old man running the booth said and I nodded my head and said it was beautiful to him.

“Do you know about the legend we have here?” He said and I shook my head and asked about it.

“A long time ago a man lost his ways in the nearby mountain range and became extremely dehydrated, to the point where he was nearing death. That was when a flower spirit came down and offered to help the man. In turn he would have to protect her home. He agreed and the spirit drained herself of all water that was within her do the man had something to drink. The man than founded Higanbana in order to keep up with his promise to protect her home.” The man told me and I thought the story wa beautiful and held up the lotus and asked how much it was.

He reached his hand over to me and closed my hand on it.

“Keep it. You made my day by listening to an old man’s story.” He said and I smiled and thanked him before turning around to see Jeff with a worried look on hi face talking to PBG, Jared, Hana, and Mai.

“I’m over here!” I shouted at him and when he heard my voice he turned my direction and a smile bloomed onto his face as he bolted over to me and pull me into a hug.

“I was looking all over for you.” He said and I laughed at him.

“I was just right he-” I began turning around, but cut off from what I saw. The booth I was looking at was no longer there. All that was there was a small pot holding a red spider lily.

“Here.” I said turning back to Jeff to see he was confused.

“No one has set up a booth here.” He said and I looked down at my clenched hand and slowly opened it to see the little lotus pin was still in my hand.

I closed my hand as Jeff took my hand with a smile and led me towards an area with a bunch of campfires.

‘What in the world just happened?’ I thought to myself as I sat down besides him on a log. Hana walked over to me holding a stick with a marshmallow at the tip and I thanked her before holding it somewhat close to the fire.

“You okay Ren? You look like you saw a ghost.” Jeff said placing a hand on my back to comfort me, copying the way I held my marshmallow.

“Oh I’m fine. Just tired from all the excitement that has occurred today.” I aid and he bought my lie and grinned.

“Well let's cook us up some marshmallow and we can go back to the dorms.” He said and I smiled at him and shoved the golden pin into my pocket.

‘Whatever just happened I happy it happened.’ I thought as I pulled my marshmallow up and swallowing the marshmallow whole. The warm gooey substance going down my throat pleasantly and I asked Hana for another one. She walked over and stuck another one on top of my stick.

I did the same routine about four times when I decided I was done for the day.

“We’re gonna head back to the dorm. PBG you take care of Ren’s sister.” Jeff said taking my hand and waving goodbye to our friends and I to waved bye to them as we headed back to Asagao.

“I had fun today.” I said with a drowsy grin as we walked up the my room door and I leaned up against the door and sleepily winked at him.

“Thanks for taking me to the festival.” I said and he said no problem before pulling me into a hug. When we pulled away he stared down at me.

He was definitely taller than me standing at PBG’s height which was six two. His hair was styled upward which somewhat resembled my hairstyle, but he has his own little style with his. His thin beard made the smile of his pop along with his high cheekbones, and his hazel eyes were gentle and caring.

That was when I noticed how tense he was. He was gently biting his lips and he was twiddling his thumbs.

Now it was my turn to say what he has been asking of me.

“Are you okay?” I said and I squeaked in surprise when he caged me by placing his arms on either side of my head.

I looked into his eyes to see he was getting nervous at what he was clearly about to do so I sighed and wrapped my arms around his neck. The tension in his body faded after that as he leaned down and laid a quick peck on my lips which made the both of us blush madly.

“Uh….you wanna come in?” I asked him quietly and his face was so red I could’ve sworn I saw steam come out of his ears.

“Uh what about Jirard?” He countered nervously and I smirked and opened the door.

“He’ll just have to deal with it.” I said cheekily and he smirked at me as we walked into the room. Locking the door behind us so if Jirard wants to come in he’ll have to use his key.

I pulled the blankets off my bed and laid them down on the floor making a makeshift bed because we both agreed it would be weird to sleep on the top bunk together.

After it was all set we took turns changing into our sleeping attire. Jeff didn’t have any because he wasn’t in his own room so I let him borrow a pair of my shorts and muscle shirts. He didn’t feel uncomfortable in the muscle shirt it was just a tad short so some of his belly was exposed.

“Come here.” Jeff said sleepily opening his arms for me to crawl under. I didn’t hesitate as I crawled right besides him and covering us in a sheet.

“We’ll have another great day like this tomorrow.” He whispered into my ear then after a short while I heard him sightly snoring as he spooned me.

This is going a bit quick for the first time we go out, but hey. Some relationships are like that. They start off fast and then go at a decent pace from there. I don’t care if it goes fast or slow, but one thing is on my mind.

Who was that man I met earlier who gave me the golden lotus pin?
==========
I walked up the flight of stairs after an exciting day at the flower and head straight to my room to see it was locked.

‘Ren must have locked it when he came back.’ I thought as I pulled out my key and unlocked the door.

When I opened it I got very embarrassed to see a sleeping Ren and Jeff on the floor with Jeff spooning Ren in his arms.

‘Uh….I’ll just leave them there.’ I thought as I closed the door and locking it behind me as I walked off towards PBG’s and Paul’s room. All the Normal Boots Club along with Hana, Mai, and Lucahjin were in there playing video games. The school is pretty strict when it comes to boys and girls being the same room at night time, but they get pretty lenient whenever it’s a festival so all of us are gonna probably have a slumber party in there.

I was planning on saving that for tomorrow night, but now my plans have changed because I wanted them to have a peaceful night together.

I didn’t even knocked and opened the door to be greeted by everyone in the room.

“I thought you said you weren’t gonna come join the slumber party till tomorrow Jirard?” Lucahjin said walking over to me and giving me a great big hug before returning to Mai and Hana who all began to talk about today's festival.

“I was, but….” I said, but I was hesitant to say because BOTH Hana and PBG were in the room.

“But what?” They all said in unison and they all were looking at me. The game paused with PBG’s and Shane controllers on the floor.

“Well….uh….you see….” I began, but I couldn’t find the courage in me to say until all of a sudden Satchel slapped my back.

“Ren and Jeff were cuddling together on the floor together so I thought it would be rude to sleep in there when they are clearly having a nice time together!” I said quickly and afterwards I took a deep breath and slid down the door and sat down on the floor.

Hana’s and PBG’s face turned a pink tint and looked over to each other.

“Really Jeff….”

“Really Ren….” They both muttered in unison and we all laugh at them for that.

“I mean….Jeff has always been a cuddler.” PBG continued and that made Hana giggle to herself as we all got into the groove of the night and began to play PBG Vii.

It had to be one in the morning when everyone started to get sleepy. The girls got the beds because we wanted to have them feel comfortable, but Hana didn’t want to sleep on the bed. Hers and PBG’s face were pure red when she asked if they can cuddle together. PBG sat up when he went to bed so Hana can lean up against in the corner while the rest of us fought over which spot to have.

“Okay. Tomorrow tell Jeff and Ren to go hang out with the Hidden Block gang because we clearly need another room.” Mai said looking down at all of us since she got the top bunk which was normally Paul’s.

All of us agreed with that and fell asleep. Excited to have another fun filled day at the festival tomorrow.

Chapter Text

“Wake up sleeping beauty.” I heard a someone whisper into my ear and I turned towards whoever it was and poked them in the belly.

“Who whispers to wake someone up?” I said teasingly realizing it was Jeff and he laughed and pulled me closer to him.

“Well it woke you up.” He said and I grinned up at him and when I rested me head against his chest I got red in the face and pulled away.

“Why are you shirtless?!?” I silently shouted which made him laugh out loud and strike a confident pose.

“Uh….sometime in the middle of the night your muscle shirt met an unfortunate fate.” He said pointing to the torn fabric and I picked it up and sighed.

“At least I have plenty of extras.” I said tossing it into the trash and looking down at him to see he had a smug grin on his face. “Why do you even wear skin tight muscle shirts in the first place?” He asked and I shrugged because personally I never knew why I do. That’s besides the point though.

I’ve seen him shirtless before because we got changed in front of each other in the locker room, but now I felt awkward. Now I was looking at him shirtless in my own room. He was pretty muscular because of all the soccer he plays and he just looked….dear lord save me.

I looked over to the clock to see it was nine in the morning. Three more hours until the Flower Festival in Higanbana opened up its door for a second time.

That was when the door knocked and I started freaking out and silently screamed at Jeff to cover himself. He gave me a bored look before covering himself up.

I opened the door to see Jirard and Lucahjin standing there with smiles on their faces. It seems like these two along with Mai never stop smiling.

“Hey can we come in?” Jirard and I stepped aside letting them come in. Jeff had somehow folded the fabric into a toga like situation and I asked what they needed.

“Tonight can you go hang out in Jeff’s room?” Jirard said and I asked why while sitting besides Jeff on the bed.

“Well we quickly found out that our slumber party last night was a bit crowded because of how many of us there are. So we decided it would be best if we had half of us in here because PBG’s room is only two doors down so we can still hang and communicate. Just not as crowded.” Lucahjin said and I thought in my head how many they all combined into and I was stunned to realize that there was twelve in total. How were they able to sleep together in a room filled with twelve people probably snoring at once.

“Of course you guys can.” I said and they thanked me and waved goodbye as they left to probably go hang out with the Normal Boot club before heading out to the festival again.

I looked over to Jeff to see he was biting his lips again. His eyes filled with worry and I asked what was wrong.

“Nothing. I’m just wondering if you’re gonna be able to handle how uh….unique the members of my club can be.” He said and I tsked him and said it’ll be fine. I’ve met them all before in the past. Even if those encounters lasted only a minute before I had to attend other matters.

“We should probably get you a shirt that you’ll fit in without it tearing in half.” I said looking him in the eyes which made him chuckle and say sure.

“We’ll go to my room then; besides, I’m pretty sure I have never showed you my room number.” He said standing up with the makeshift cover immediately falling off of him to the floor and I blushed and asked him to help me pick up.

We were nearly done when he mentioned the computer I had.

“What kind of games do you play?” He asked walking over to it and booting it up to see it hasn't even been set up yet. Jeff being Jeff asked why I never gotten around to setting it up.

“I uh….don’t know how to….” I said and he frowned and gestured me over.

“Well I’ll help you.” He said and I thanked him and sat down in Jirard’s chair and scooted over so I was right besides him.

“Okay first let’s create you an email.” He said dragging the mouse to create email option and together we made of email name that was quite simple.

[email protected] (A/N : Note that this is not a real email!)

“Now you will need to create a password. Make sure it’s something you’ll remember because you’ll be using this often.” He said turning around so I can make my password in private.

I tried to think of something that I would remember no matter what until it finally came to me.

Jasmine’sEmeraldLotus.

Jasmine was my mother’s name so I knew I wouldn’t forget it. Emerald for the emerald core on that golden pin I got….found yesterday and Lotus because that's what my name mean, lotus.

“You can turn around now.” I said and Jeff twist his chair around and smiled before clicking confirm.

“Okay now to activate your account we need to send the activation code to your phone so you can confirm that it’s you.” He said and I tensed up and shook my head no.

“I uh….don’t have a phone.” I said and he said no problem and took out his own phone out and proceeded to finish the last few steps we needed so I would have my own email account.

After all was set and done I gave him a somewhat awkward hug and thanked him for what he has done.

“No problem now let’s get to my room so I can get a clean shirt on. I don’t know if you noticed but I had gotten ramen sauce all over it the other day.” He said and I was amazed that he didn’t get it on his kimono instead.

We exited the room only to hear a squeal to our right and we just stared at the group of people.

The entirety of the Normal boots club was just standing there along with Mai, Hana, and Lucahjin. Mai’s, Hana’s, and Lucahjin’s face were a tint of red. All of them shared one thing in common though. All of their eyes were wide open in shock.

“Uh….I can explain.” I said and before I could even speak out another word Jeff picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and bolted down the hall towards the stairs.

“I love you Hana stay safe and PBG you better take care of my sister!” I shouted as he ran and as we got upstairs. When we got to his room he set me down on the floor and we simply stared at each other before bursting out in laughter as we heard PBG shout up the stairs saying she’s in good hand.

“Anyway this is my room.” Jeff said calming down a bit and pointing to the silver plaque that read room 323.

“Okay cutie.” I said booping him on those nose as he took out his key from the pair of shorts I lent him and he unlocked the door. Opening it only for us to stare in shock at the scene that was playing out.

All the Hidden Block club members were inside reenacting what looks like a scene from a fighting game because everyone was beating each other up. That is until Jeff tapped the door.

All of them looking over at us in shock and confusion.

Shock probably for Jeff and why he was standing shirtless at the door frame and confusion as to why I was here,

Though the small peace didn’t last though, because all of them marched over to us and asked where Jeff was the other day at the festival.

“We were literally looking all over for you yesterday.” Caddy said pulling a gun out on Jeff who held his hand above his head and I was mentally freaking out. Why in the world does he have a gun on campus!?!?!

“Calm down! I was out on a….date with Ren.” He said confidently which made me blush a bit because it made me feel a whole lot better that he wasn’t ashamed to hide the truth.

This group weirded me out because the mood of the room went from anger to confusion in a matter of seconds.

All of their eyes were on me and me alone before they started bombarding the two of us with questions. Even asking why he was shirtless.

“Please stop!” Jeff shouted which made them all of them stop talking as. Jeff was clearly annoyed with the amount of talking they were doing and I agree with him because it was starting to get on my nerves as well.

“I’m just here to get a shirt because I got mine all dirty yesterday at the festival.” He said walking in and heading straight to the closet and pulling out a bright blue shirt and slipping it over his head.

“We can all hang out tonight after the festival if you want, but right now I just want to hang out with Ren.” Jeff explained to them as he shut the door. Leaving his friends to talk to themselves behind the door as we headed back to my room to put on our kimonos once more.

It had to be around four in the afternoon when we finally made it to Higanbana.

Nothing very noticeable happened today because a lot of it was the same as yesterday besides the strange man I had encountered. That man will probably always be a mystery to me.

The whole thing that made today great was how it ended.

At the end everyone joined together for a dance together in the town plaza.

Jeff couldn’t keep his eyes off me because apparently I’m a really good dancer. I know that was a lie. I know he couldn’t resist the way I shook my hips.

Now we were walking back to the dorms along the the rest of the Hidden Block crew.

I guess that's another thing that happened today!

I got to know a lot about the rest of the members of the Hidden Block club because unlike yesterday we basically hanged out with them during our time at the festival.

I found out Jeff’s roommate Luke was a really good rapper and because of something Jimmy I also knew he had a neko suit which I found both cute and funny. Ian and Jimmy were dating each other. I had offered Ian a piece of Melon Bread, but he turned it down saying he despised that stuff so I took note of that. Jimmy told me he loved the showed Steven Galaxy and we both share our favorite character of Mirror. Walid was a pretty chill and laid back guy while Caddy was the complete opposite. I asked Caddy why he has a gun at school and he told me he got closure from shooting games he didn’t like

All of the Hidden Block guys were so unique and different from one another. Variety is something I love in a crew of friends. The closest thing I can compare these guys to are a box of fireworks. So calm and chill then when they get passionate at something they explode into a colorful array of personalities.

Before we could enter Jeff room Walid stopped us all and told Ian and Caddy to go get a few blankets and pillows from their own room so we could all have something to go to bed in. They did what he asked as we walked into the room. I took off my kimono in front of them all because I had worn what I went to bed underneath because I felt lazy today to get dress properly.

They had all brought a change of clothes so I closed my eyes as they all got dressed in their sleepy time attire.

Jeff wore similar clothing to mine except instead of a muscle shirt it was a really loose tank top that seemed a size or two too big.

Jimmy was wearing a faded green colored pajama pants with a loose white t-shirt on top.

Walid worn similar clothing to Jimmy, but he had a long sleeve shirt on instead and his pajama pants were a blue color.

Luke like Jeff and I wore a pair of basketball shorts and a short sleeved button up shirt except he didn’t button up his shirt which is something I could totally see myself doing as well.

When Ian and Caddy came back with the extra blankets and Pillows I noticed they were wearing the same kind of outfit Jimmy had one except different colored pajama pants with Ian’s being a dark brown color and Caddy’s being pure black.

“Let’s get this party started.” They cheered and I grinned at them as they all started to get into the shenanigans that was about to transpire.

I heard rumors from around the school that there is no party like a Hidden Block party and from what I was seeing the rumors were true.

After I had witness Walid and Jimmy become magical girls I completely lost track of what happened and hid in the closet when I heard a gunshot.

When I came out everyone was sitting on either the floor or Luke’s bed and they were playing the Vii I had notice was in here earlier.

“Look who came out of the closet.” Ian said teasingly and I stuck my tongue at him and sat down right besides him.

“Want a turn?” Jeff said handing me his controller so I would be facing Caddy in whatever game they were playing. It looked like a classic shooting game.

“I’ve never played this game before.” I said nervously and when he told me the controls he told me the goal.

“Basically try and get as many kills as possible.” He said and I nodded my head and we began.

The score was twenty four to one….I was the twenty four….

All of them were shocked at this.

“What just happened? Shooting games are usually my specialty.” Caddy said turning back to me and all of their eyes were on me.

“Again. I never played this game before.” I said bluntly and they all began to laugh while Jeff headlocked me and gave me a noogie which made me squeaked in discomfort.

“Okay let me explain!” I shouted pulling away from him and they all turned around so they could look at me.

“For some reason even if you tell me the controls I can play like a pro for some odd reason. I don’t even like shooting games and that was child’s play.” I told them and they all cheered for me and we continued to play more and more games all throughout the night. Me beating all of them in games I never even heard of before.

“I’m getting sleepy.” I mumbled leaning against Jeff slightly dozing of every now and then.

“You can have my bed for the night!” I heard Luke’s voice and I thanked him before slowly crawling up onto his bed and cuddling up in the blankets.
==========
“I can’t believe we all get wrecked.” I said once I knew the lil cutie was asleep by the sound of him snoring and they were all in amazement at his skills.

“Well knowing how all of us have something similar to what I’m about say floating around in our minds let's have a vote.” Walid said and we all nodded and listened to what he and Jimmy had to say.

“All in favor for Ren to join the club raise your hand!” Jimmy said raising his hand without hesitation and it was unanimous. Everyone’s hand was raised and mine was as well.

“Well I’m not surprised that you had your hand up Jeff.” Ian said with a smirk and I laughed at him and asked why he had his hand up.

“Well….let’s just say that I want there to be some sibling drama.” He said grinning evilly and we all looked at him and asked him why.

“I heard earlier this week PBG was talking to his crew about Hana and Ren. They were talking about adding them to their own club. Shane was opposed to the idea like usual, but the majority wanted them to be in. So I think it would funny to see a little sibling rivalry to see them in opposing clubs.” Ian explained his evil plan and for some odd reason we all decided to go with it.

“Besides Hana and Ren love each other too much to hold grudges against each other.” I said which was true because even if Hana does something wrong Ren is never mean. Just supportive.

“Even so there’s nothing wrong with a little sibling rivalry.” Luke said with a cheeky grin and looking over at Ren who was still snoring silently in the bed.

“We’ll get started on his jacket then.” Caddy and Jimmy said giddily and from that point we continued on with the gaming until we all started to get sleepy around midnight. Ian turned off the system we were playing on and I crawled on the bed right besides Ren and started to spoon him.

“Really dude!” Luke silently yelled at me and I gave him a toothy grin and said deal with it.

“I’ll just sleep on your bed then.” Luke said climbing up the ladder as I watched Ian and Jimmy cuddle up together on a small makeshift bed while Caddy and Walid were already passed out sitting up against the wall.

I rested my chin atop Ren’s head which caused him to turn towards me and wrap his arms around me. I smiled at that and cuddle up against him.

I think we’ll pop the question for him later down the line.

It will be his choice if he joins the Normal Boots or us….the Hidden Blocks.

Chapter Text

“I remember this place….” I muttered to myself as I walked through a field of blue and violet flowers to a run down cabin.

The wood was rotten and the entrance door was broken at its hinges. The windows shattered and the brick chimney broken beyond repair. The lawn around the rundown structures was unattended to with the grass coming up to your knees and the cement path covered in loose sediment.

“I remember what happened here….all those years ago.” I said shuttering as I broke into a sprint towards the house and breaking down the door to see nothing was inside. Everything was gone and the walls of the room looked to be burnt to a crisp.

“I couldn’t save her….” I said and the house around me transformed into what it looked like before it happened.

Fire was flying everywhere. People were screaming outside the house.

I fell down to my knees as the fire circled around me as I watched the events of that horrible day transpire.

“We need to get out of here!” I heard the younger version of my voice shout at a girl who looked to be about the age of my younger self.

“Lead the way Ren!” The girl shouted through a fit of coughs from inhaling all the smoke that the fires desperately tried to feed her.

I watched in horror as they ran towards the door of the building.

“Don’t do it!” I shouted hoping they would hear, but they didn’t and before the girl could exit the building like I did a beam fell down and crushed her in front of my eyes.

“Mitama!” I shouted as everything went black and when my vision came back to me I saw Jeff holding me tightly in his arms.

The rest of the Hidden Block crew at the edge of the bed looking at me with concerned eyes.

“Take deep breaths Ren.” Jeff calmly said and I was weirded out when he said that only to realize I was hyperventilating. I did what he said and tried to focus on breathing at a slower rate and when I had finally calm down I collapsed back down onto the bed and stared at the wall.

“You wanna talk about it?” Jeff said resting a hand besides me and I closed my eyes only to shoot them open again. The image of Mitama getting crushed was what greeted me each time I closed my eyes.

“I….uh….” I said not knowing what to say.

I genuinely thought I wouldn’t have these visions anymore yet they keep coming to me for some odd reason. Why now though? What have I done in the past two days to proc the visions to come back. I thought I was over that memory!

“Please don’t cry.” Jeff said wiping away the tears and I stood up from the bed and excused myself from the room. “I’ll be right back. I just need to go get something.”

‘Papa was right to pack my medication.’ I thought to myself as I head downstairs to my room first because I was hoping Hana was in there.

When I opened the door a wave of relief flooded through my body when I saw Hana was in here along with PBG, Jared, Mai, Jirard, and Lucahjin. All of them were taking turns playing the M46 before I walked into the room.

“What’s up Ren?” Hana said getting up and walking over to me and wiping away a stray tear I hadn’t even notice.

“They’re back.” I whispered into her ear and she gasped and sat me down on Jirard’s bed and quickly left the room with Jeff walking in as soon as she left.

Jeff immediately sat down besides me and tried to calm me down because now I was basically a waterfall.

The scene was now repeating over and over again in my head making sure that the image was glued to my eyelids so whenever I blinked I saw what happened to her.

When Hana came back she gave me my container of pills and I opened one of the compartments and dumped all of them into my mouth. Jirard tossed me his water bottle and I swallowed all of the pills then leaning against Jeff shivering from fright.

After about thirty minutes the visions began to stop and after waiting another fifteen minutes they were gone.

“Can you please explain what’s going on?” Jeff said starting to get frustrated that the two of us hasn’t told them anything about my situation.

“Want me to explain Ren?” Hana suggested and I said no. Shoving the pills into my short pockets.

“It’s a long story, but I’ll make it quick and simple for you. After our mother died I befriended a young girl named Mitama and one day a fire started in her house. I tried to save her, but she got crushed right in front of my eyes.” I said and I could tell I ruined the happy atmosphere from before and had replaced it with a much sadder one.

“I suffer from PTSD because of it….” I said in a sad tone because I felt more tears ready to claw their way out. Jeff wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into a hug.

Jeff and I left the room feeling that a walk around campus would be beneficial for me(Also I didn’t want their days to be filled with a sad sap like me).

We ended up on the soccer field kicking a ball back and forth at each other.

“I heard a great way of treating PTSD is to talk about it instead of locking it up so if you want to talk about it we can. Not now of course, but anytime you want to.” Jeff said trying to sound supportive, but he was clearly focusing on keeping the ball in control because my kicks were starting to get sloppy.

“I know….I’ll tell you at a later date. I don’t feel like talking about it today.” I said lazily kicking the ball at him. The sight was pathetic! It didn’t even get halfway before slowing to a halt.

I fell down to the ground and laid down on my back and stared up at the sky. It was nighttime now so the moon and stars were out.

“What ya thinking about?” He said and I decided to be blunt and said her body. He didn’t find that funny and sat down besides me and pulled me up into a hug.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” He said and I frowned and turned in his arms so my face was lying against his chest.

“Are you sure you want to hear?” I asked trying to make sure he was certain he wanted to hear about my past.

“Of course I do.” He said. Face determined and care.

“Well if you wanna hear then know this….you’ll be stuck with me.” I said and he was a bit taken aback by that and asked what that meant.

“It means you won't be able to leave me. You’ll be stuck with me for the rest of your life because you’ll know way to much about me and I’m scared you might use this against me.”
==========
One part of me wanted to say that wasn’t fair, but the other more logical side of me said that that was. He was about to open himself up for me and bring down the wall he worked so hard to build down.

I knew right away when I laid my eyes on him that he wasn’t a hot head and more like his sister.

Sensitive and caring, but ready to fight someone if they messed with him.

If I was correct to assume his assumption then he meant that I wouldn’t be able to get rid of him and that I’ll be there for him whenever he needed someone to support him.

….

You know what….I wouldn’t mind that really.

“Jeff….if you agree to hear me out then you’ll see who I truly am….” He whispered snuggling up against me because a cold breeze came in. I pulled my jacket over the two of us to try and keep him warm which started to work because he wasn’t shivering as badly as he was a moment ago.

I swallowed the lump at the back of my throat and tightened my grip around him.

“Ren….okay….you’re stuck with me to.” I said smiling down at the boy who rested in my arms. He smiled back up at me and took a deep breath before starting.

“Okay a few years ago someone new moved into the mill just a little ways outside of town. This was Mitama and her family. Mitama was a kind girl who acted very similar to Hana, but she had a few quirks that made her unique.” He began, but I could tell the mere memories were hurting him mentally so I held him closer and rested my head on his shoulder. “Take your time.” I whispered into his ear and he wiped the tears away and continued.

“She was very beautiful. She was my age and stood at four nine. She was really short, but no one teased her for that. She had long black hair that went down below her knees. She refused to cut her hair so her hair was very long, but it was really pretty and wavy. She always had it in a braid to.” He said and I tried to envision the girl she describe. She was beautiful.

“I could never forget that fact that no matter the day she always wore brightly colored kimonos and yukatas. All pastel colored and a few flowers decorating her braided hair. She was training to me one of the shrine maidens at the local shrine so she was always kind and very calm in how she approached problems.” He said standing up and pointing to the building and I agreed for it was starting to get a bit too chilly for us.

“The day we met was the Mid-Autumn Festival. Her family and I were sitting at nearby tables and when the two of us gazed at one another we just….clicked. We got up from our tables and walked on over to each other and joined the dance in the nearby plaza and ate moon cakes together. It was quite a magical night.” He said opening the door to the building for me to walk in which I did and we walked up to his room and sat outside the door.

“Our families grew pretty close after the festival….but then….one day we were hanging out together in her home. We had decided to bake some cookies for her parents when they come home that day….we were to busy goofing off when we noticed the house was starting to get a bit toasty. We came downstairs and we noticed a fire has broken loose. I immediately went and called the fire department calling for help and that was when Mitama screamed and ran back upstairs. It was already too late when I finally had convinced her. We ran back down and tried to run for the exit. I had gotten out when I heard her yelp in pain as she tripped over something….then the building came down on her.” He was starting to lose it again as he mentioned the last part and I took his hand and said it was okay.

“No it’s not….the next day I went to go check on her parents to see if they were alright, but….they were already gone….they hung there from the ceiling with glossy eyes staring down at me in disappointment.” He said and that stabbed my heart. I pulled him into another hug trying to calm him down.

“Am I a murderer?” He said looking up to me and I frowned at him and said no.

“Don’t blame yourself for their deaths. There was nothing you could do at the age you were at. You did your best….even if it the result was far from what you desired.” I said wording my sentence carefully because I didn’t want him to go into another tear fest.

I feel bad for him….he spent all this time blaming himself for the death of this one family….

“I think I’m gonna head to bed Jeff. We can hang out tomorrow.” Ren said pulling away from me and giving me a small smile.

“I feel a lot better now that I finally talked to someone about it.” He said and I grinned and kissed his forehead.

“Thanks for listening to me.” He said one last time before going into his room and I was about to head to my own when I felt someone grab my shoulder. I turned around to see PBG. His eyes were sad and his lips glued to a frown.

Wait if he's said then....

"Were you spying on us!?" I silently yelled at him and he was taken aback by that and nodded his head. "Why?" I asked putting a hand to my forehead a tad disappointed in him.

"That's a long story and you probably don't want to here it at the moment, but can you meet me tomorrow in the library so I can explain everything to you."

Chapter Text

The moment my alarm rang I got up and jumped down from my bunk and got dress in what I usually wore on sunday.

A plain white t-shirt with a pair of jeans. I of course had my precious jacket over me as well.

“What’s the rush?” I heard Luke yawn and I turned to see him wiping away the sleep from his eyes.

“I need to go talk to PBG.” I said exiting the room and quickly heading to the library. PBG was an early riser so I knew he would be there when I arrived. If he isn’t then he’s working on getting there.

When I arrived PBG was sitting at a table in the far corner of the library. Thankfully because it was Sunday not a lot of kids were in here so we were able to talk in private.

He noticed me walking toward him and gave me a awkward smile as I sat down right in front of him.

“So what do you need to tell me about the Mizuno’s?” I said because I had a feeling this involved Hana as well.

He shifted in his chair and pulled out something from his pocket and handed it to me.

I stared down at the thing he gave me in shock, disbelief, and confusion.

It was picture of the three of them playing on a playground. Hana was playing on the swings while Ren and PBG were running around kicking a ball.

“You knew them?” I said because I was curious as to what he knew about them.

“Yes I did….they don’t remember me though….” He said and now I was intrigued as disturbing as that sound.

“Wait….why though?”

He tensed up after I had said that and looked me in the eye.

“Promise me you wont tell anyone else about this.” He said and I agreed with his command as he sat up straight.

“I always knew Hana forgot me, but seeing Ren not know who I was was….shocking to say the least.” He said and I eyed him and said what did he mean about Hana.

“When we were younger I considered myself very close to the Mizuno Twins. We would have play dates, go out to eat, and so much more. One day we were playing at the playground and we decided to go back to my house. On the way home Hana accidentally rushed ahead of Ren and I and we watched in horror as I car crashed into her. Thankfully she wasn’t hurt, but she hit her head really badly on the floor. She lost all her memories except for basic information. So she remembered who her family was and where she lived, but she forgot everything else.” He explained and I could tell that the memory hurt him. His fist were clenched tightly and his body was shaking as if he were cold.

“Ren swore to me that he try and get her memory back, but after that I never saw the two ever again. They….vanished from my life.”

I took his hand and held onto my best friend as he let the tears slide down his face. The last time I had seen him cry was our first year here so seeing him cry after all this time saddened me as well.

I tried to think of something positive to say, but he had gotten up before I could speak.

“I plan on telling them at some point, but I don’t know when. I don’t know how to tell them that we used to be best friends. Everything is fucked.” He said and I was surprised to hear him cuss because he never does, but that’s besides the point. Everything really is fucked.

Hana and Ren don’t even realize they were friends with PBG. Ren is having flashbacks to a traumatic past that might have caused his memory loss. Literally everything has gone wrong ever since the festival ended.

“No matter….everything gets better eventually. The Ren I know is too strong to let some memory keep him down.” PBG said after a long moment of silence and I nodded and got up from my chair.

“I’m going to go hang out with Ren. I promised him we would hang out today again.” I said and he nodded and left the library without another word. Probably still sad from what he just told me.

I know I would….