Troublemakers: Unrepentant [BL RenXRyuji]

Daytime, Sunday, 4/3/20XX [Part 1]

Mrs. Sakamoto had dumped Ren in a nondescript waiting room after guiding him through a maze of hallways in the hospital. He had been sitting there for a while, his eyes glossing over the pages of an athletic magazine, though he couldn't focus on reading. He was tired of sleeping, though the tepid temperature of the room, accompanied by the low hum of the overhead vents, threatened to lull him unconscious. Outside the juvenile hall and its adjacent office building, Ren was supposed to be cuffed, but Mrs. Sakamoto had bent the rules for him, instead insisting he carry a cell phone with a tracking device on it. Other than the tracking app, the phone's network seemed to be kaput. Ren thought that the temptation to try playing with the piece of junk was a greater punishment than being publicly shackled.

Over the course of the last hour or so, a young man with spiky black hair wearing an obnoxious, neon green tracksuit and an A-line shirt with an unintelligible English phrase printed on it had been in and out of the examination room, each time returning to his seat with a new pile of paperwork. He seemed used to the treatment, not getting irritated despite his having to run back and forth. Ren watched him as he deliberated over the documents, unaware that as he took in the boy's features and mannerisms, his curious gaze grew into a stare.

"Hey. So, what's wrong with you?" the young man asked, noticing Ren's detached expression.

"Huh?" Ren muttered, pointing to himself. "M-me?"

"Yeah, you. Who else?" the boy asked, his lightness in the delivery of his words mismatched with their meanings and his friendly demeanor mismatched with his intimidating expression. "I mean, you don't look sick, or injured. Why're you hanging around the hospital? This isn't the physical exam ward."

Ren looked the boy up and down, cracking a smile himself.

"I could ask the same of you," he said. The boy went red, apparently having expected Ren to respond less cunningly.

"Touché," he muttered, interlacing his fingers.

Ren chuckled. It was the first time he'd relaxed since the incident. The boy walked across to sit next to him, showing off all the paperwork he had to complete.

"Intriguing," Ren said, smiling mockingly.

"I could fill this shit out with my eyes closed," he said, grunting. "You'd think they keep a record of this stuff."

"That would make too much sense," Ren said, wincing relatably. He, too, was victim to the dreaded institution of hard-copy record keeping...or lack thereof, as it were.

"I guess it's at least something to distract nervous patients while they sit and wait," the boy said. "So, you from around here?"

"Not exactly," Ren said, his smile fading gently. "Actually, I'm in the process of moving."

"Where to?" the boy asked him. "Tokyo?"

"I...have no idea," Ren said. "I don't think I'm allowed to talk about it."

"Well...that's too bad," the boy said. "You seem like a cool guy."

Ren couldn't have known, then, that the spiky-haired kid who sat beside him that day was just grateful he could talk to a total stranger—a person who knew didn't have a single preconceived notion about who he was. All he knew was that he was grateful himself, for that very reason.

"Yeah. You too," Ren said. The door to the exam room swung open then, the nurse popping her head out and smiling at the boy.

"Sakamoto? We're ready for you," she called.

"Sakamoto?" Ren repeated, taken by surprise. "She means you?"

"That's my name," the boy said, revealing a sharp row of teeth in his smile. "Not that you'll be needing it. Hope I don't see you around here again."

Ren chuckled softly.

"Right. Hope not."