Secrets

Shinobu climbed into his bed at the dorm, which he shared with five other boys, some around his age and some older. A couple of the beds were empty. Not that it mattered. They didn't talk to each other much anyway. The orphanage didn't exactly prioritise social skills.

His mind wandered to the recent bizarre situation at school. The perpetrator was Fujiwara Ren. After the one-off supermarket trip, Shinobu had believed that Ren would consider the debt repaid and they would never speak to each other again.

He was wrong.

Instead, Ren had somehow managed to invite himself to join Shinobu at the rooftop during breaks, dropped by the ramen joint a couple of times a week and got hold of his mobile number.

Shinobu's phone was now constantly flooded with messages, ranging from inane gossip to pieces of articles which Ren in his deluded mind thought would interest him.

To be fair, some of the articles were interesting and Shinobu did actually read them. Not that he'd admit it to Ren.

He was even more perplexed with his own behaviour. Why the fuck did he allow Ren to stick around? He didn't want Ren's charity, who smartly didn't offer any. He certainly as hell didn't have anything in common with Ren. In fact, they couldn't be any more different.

"Hey, Kurosawa. You awake?"

"Yeah?"

Ito, his bunk mate, hesitated for a while before whispering. "You heard about Miura?"

"No, what about him?" Shinobu asked. Miura was the oldest amongst them and was in his final year in high school.

"Well..he's gone. Overdose. I heard from the guard."

Shinobu fell silent. He didn't feel anything. He couldn't even feel shocked and that was the worst part.

"That's screwed up right? I mean, we do stuff but you know," Ito went on.

"Happens," Shinobu commented.

"True. Well, gotta watch out for ourselves. No one's gonna care about us," Ito yawned.

Shinobu could hear Ito snoring after a few minutes. He stared at the ceiling of the bed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

He placed the bowl of ramen on the counter.

"Thank you for the food!"

Shinobu repressed a sigh at the sight of the cheerful brown-haired student at the counter, slurping his noodles. It was still early so Ren was the only customer.

"Your pal must really like the noodles here," his co-worker commented, confused and curious.

"A looker though. I'm not complaining," another sniggered on the side.

Shinobu shot them a warning glare, which shut them up.

They were used to grouchy or drunk salarymen, not Ren who looked like a bloody prince out of some high school manga. He even had the damn doe-like eyes.

He really shouldn't be here.

"Get lost before the dinner crowd," he told Ren, who was fixated at his phone while eating.

"Yup. Don't worry," Ren responded dismissively, engrossed in whatever he was reading.

Shinobu wanted to hiss that he was not worried but then realised that would be a lie. He was going to get a smoke when Ren stood up after taking a call, nearly knocking his bowl over.

"Mom! Where are you!"

Ren's face paled. Whatever the voice on the line said caused his hands to shake.

"Just-just stay there. I'll come get you. Don't hang up!"

He watched as Ren dashed out of the store while his co-workers were stunned. One of them piped up, "He's scared."

Shinobu fought the urge to follow. He was not worried.

"Shit," he muttered and took off his apron. "Just cover for me."

"Yeah, sure!"

"Kid needs help."

Shinobu grabbed his jacket and ran outside. Ren was just getting into a cab.

"What the!" he yelled when Shinobu shoved him into it and got on.

"Where?" Shinobu asked succinctly.

Ren got over his shock immediately and rattled the address to the cab driver. He gave Shinobu a look of sheer panic as he continued to speak on the phone, while texting someone else urgently.

"Yeah, I'm here. It's okay, mom. No, I won't call the police. No one. I swear."

Shinobu just told the cab driver to step on it.

The journey was quick since traffic was slow. Shinobu could hear every reassuring word Ren was desperately telling the woman who was apparently his mother.

They arrived at the destination shortly. Ren jumped out of the car and Shinobu found that they were at a high-rise building in the exclusive part of the city. They ran across the lobby.

The security guards squeaked. "Welcome back, Mr. Fujiwara."

"Mom, I'm going into the lifts."

When the doors of the lift closed and the reception was cut, Ren let out a ragged breath. His face was ashen.

"It's..it's going to be a mess," he told Shinobu in a small voice. "Can you let him, I mean Doctor Watanabe, in when he presses the buzzer? He's nearly here."

"Okay." He had to wonder why some private doctor was called in instead of an ambulance. Shinobu had learned very early on in life though not to judge.

To Ren, the lift ride must have seemed like an eternity. However, in minutes, they were at one of the top floors of the building. Ren hurried to an apartment and unlocked the door with a card. It led into a nice hallway.

Once inside, Shinobu could hear it all.

Someone was crying and throwing things. The sound of a glass shattering. A woman slurring in anger. The smell of alcohol.

Ren's eyes blurred with tears. "Stay here. She-she can't see anyone like this."

Shinobu nodded and Ren walked down the hallway to what presumably was a living room.

The woman sobbed. "R-Ren!"

"Mom, stop! You're going to hurt yourself."

"I hate this! All of this!"

"I know. It's going to be fine. Stop, please!"

"I'm sorry…so sorry…I tried….but I wished I never..god, I'm a horrible woman."

The slurring worsened and the woman, Ren's mother, let out a frustrated scream and collapsed.

Ren must have been holding her then. His voice held a tremor. "No, you're not. I understand. I really do."

The buzzer rang then. "Watanabe."

Shinobu let him into the lift lobby and leaned against the nearest wall. The woman seemed to have calmed down slightly and Ren was now whispering words he couldn't hear.

When the good doctor pressed the bell, he peeked through the hole and opened the door. A much older and stern looking man, carrying a sizeable briefcase, glanced at him in shock.

"Get in," Shinobu ignored his gaping jaw.

The doctor rushed inside.

"Doctor!" Ren's voice was filled with immense relief.

"Let me handle this, Ren."

"Watanabe…" the woman's tone was accusatory.

"Don't fuss, Keiko. Your son did the right thing by calling me. Would you rather be wheeled into an ambulance for everyone to see?"

Shinobu raised an eyebrow at how matter-of-fact he sounded. Whatever it was, it worked as the woman had no comeback.

"Good. Let's take care of you first. Ren, we need to move her."

It only took them half an hour to settle Ren's mother in her bed. Shinobu texted his co-workers to let them know that he would do overtime tomorrow to make it up.

He didn't know why he stayed. Maybe he didn't want Ren to be alone, like he was back then.

Damn it, he was getting soft.

"She needs to stay hydrated. Get her to take these in the morning together with her usual medication."

"Thank you, doctor. S-sorry for the trouble."

"It's my job. I'll check in tomorrow afternoon. Have you told Minami?"

"She's on a flight. I've-I've sent her a message. Thank you again."

"You did well, Ren."

The doctor gave Shinobu another curious glance but said nothing as Ren let him out.

"He's a friend from school," Ren explained briefly.

The doctor merely inclined his head before leaving.

Once Ren closed the door, he seemed to have finally realised that Shinobu had been waiting. He apologised profusely. "I'm so sorry. You've been standing here. I forgot – sorry."

"Don't be," Shinobu said quietly. "Is she alright?"

"Yeah," Ren let out a tired, resigned laugh. "It's never been this bad. Guess she…"

"Are you alright?"

Ren nodded. "My aunt is landing in a couple of hours. I'll just clean up the place. I haven't even asked you. Do you want to come in?"

"I need to get back to work," Shinobu hesitated. "Just..call someone if you need help."

Those brown eyes, usually so cheerful, teared up. Ren hugged him suddenly and whispered.

"Thank you for being here."

Shinobu allowed it for a few seconds before pulling away, not too harshly. "Yeah, whatever."

Ren smiled a little at that. "Let me get you a cab."

"No, I'll-"

"Please. Just..please," Ren managed.

There was a tremble in Ren's voice. Shinobu sighed and nodded.