Riencarnate: The Second Step

Chapter 6

The trio walked inside the dormitories, finding Zara and Kanoe standing there, waiting. Kanoe asks, "What the hell went on out there?"

Zara exclaims, "I heard gunshots! What was Akano doing?!"

Yuki waves his hands around as a reassuring gesture, "There was a situation. It's all good now."

Zara turns to Ren, "Oh, Ren. Hope you don't mind, but I invited someone who wants to talk to you tomorrow."

Ren shakes his head, "Not a problem, it's okay."

The next morning, a knock upon a door was heard, scaring Ren awake. He forgot that Yuki let Ren stay in the same room. He got up and walked to the door, seeing Yuki, Zara, and a girl who looked rather familiar. "Abby?"

She nods and smiles, "Hey, Ren. And I go by Alaska now."

Ren nods, "I'll remember that."

Ren asks her curiously, "So what ability did you get throughout this whole thing?"

She answers, "My ability isn't much of anything cool. Temporarily disable someone else's ability or temporarily heavlily increase it."

Ren's expression went blank, as if he was thinking about something else entirely out of context of the situation. Yuki noticed the blank expression on Ren's face, "Ren? You okay?"

Ren didn't seem to respond. Yuki tried to get Ren's attention, "Ren? Are you alright?"

Ren turned to Yuki with almost no change in his expression. Yuki asked, "Are you okay? You keep zoning out and you've barely spoke or smiled."

Ren looked to the ground, "I'm fine."

Kanoe and Katsumi looked at Ren. Kanoe seemed slightly irritated, "Don't lie, damn extra. What the hell are you thinking about?"

Zara and Alaska stopped talking and looked at Ren. The hall was silent. No one seemed to want to speak. Ren sighs, "Nothing, I'm fine."

Kanoe seemed more irritated, " You're 'fine' my ass! What the hell is up with you?!"

Ren stayed silent, he didn't want to answer, leaving everyone else in the hall worried. "Quicker we get ready, quicker I get out to make these people feel more easy."

Yuki looks at Ren, "We. We're all gonna come with you."

Ren looked at Yuki, "Yuki... You guys don't need to do this, really. I can take care of myself."

Kanoe seemed more annoyed by Ren's words, "It didn't seem like it out there. You were exhausting yourself, and eventually, you would've died."

Ren knew Kanoe's words weren't wrong. He had no change in his expression. "Fine, faster I'm ready and trained, faster we can get outta here for the interests of the civilians."

Katsumi, Yuki, and Kanoe nod. Alaska asks, "Could we come? We're not exactly the best fighters, but we are Ren's friends, we care for him."

Before anyone could say anything, Ren turns the offer down. "No, you can't. I need you guys to stay safe. You just said you guys weren't the best at fighting. You guys stay safe until everything is resolved."

Zara sighs, "Fine, but your face makes it plainly obvious you need to rest, okay?"

Ren says, "I'm fine. I'm strong enough to wear you don't need to worry about me. I'm rested now, so I should get going."

Yuki turns to Ren, "We. It's we, okay? We are in this together from now on. We're here for you."

Ren didn't respond, he stayed quiet. The silence was somewhat awkward. Not a word escaped his lips. Ren only thought of another thought. "If I was stronger, Kito wouldn't have died."

Ren didn't want the others to get hurt. Not Zara, not Alaska, not Yuki. He didn't want to lose anyone else like he lost Kito. He sighed, "Please... I can't let you guys get hurt. I know we were a team in the beginning, but I can't let you guys get hurt. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you guys got hurt... Any of you..."

Kanoe has a slightly irritated look on his face, "You sound like someone else I know."

Kanoe glances at Yuki, the green haired boy looking down. The redhead with heterochromia looked at Izuku, then Kanoe, then the ground, "I guess..."

Kanoe got frustrated with Ren now, "What do you mean "You guess"?! What happened to you to make you not even deny the comparison?! What made you seem so cold and bleak, like you hate the world..."

Ren didn't answer, he looked behind him to see what no one else saw. The mirage of Kito that's been haunting him since he left. He sighed and looked back at the few, "You already know."

Ren's voice sounded cold and empty, like he was dead inside. Kanoe's expression didn't change much. Kanoe sighs, "You know, Yuki here hasn't smiled once since you left. No one here has. We've missed you, and we still do. It's like we brought back a completely different person... Who are you, Ren Minoyaki..."

Ren replied, "You just said my na-"

Kanoe threw a hard, strong hook to Ren's cheekbone, causing Ren to lose balance and having to quickly reassure his footing. Kanoe shouts, "Wrong answer! Who are you?!"

Ren looked at his with confusion and rubbing his cheek with the back of his hand, "What the..."

Kanoe shouts again, "Who are you?!"

He glared at Ren with an intimidating look in his eyes. He answered again, "Ren Minoya-"

He delivered another punch to Ren's face, actually sending Ren to the ground again, "Who?! Are?! You?!"

Ren looked up at him, Ren looked at everyone's placements, and then everyone's footing. It reminded him of a time, another day. Back when Kito was alive, back when they were just kids. A times where Kanoe bullied Ren and Kito was protecting Ren for the first time. Ren looked back up at Kanoe with teary eyes, "R-Ren... I-I'm Ren...!"

Kanoe nods and holds his hand out to Ren for Ren to grab. Ren grabbed Kanoe's hand and Kanoe pulled him up. Their hands dropped back to their sides. Ren wiped the tears from his eyes.

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Everything above the line is exactly 1000 words.

And...

I'm back peeps!! I definitely will not post as often, but I will still post as much as possible!