Renegades: Battlegrounds.-Chapter 36: Aoi Kanzaki

"Are you okay? " The woman asked, clearly concerned.

Ren looked at his hands. Blood was seeping from his split knuckles. His ribs aching again where he had twisted it during the confrontation.

"I’m fine. " He said, glancing at her. "Are you hurt?"

The woman checked herself but there was no visible injuries." No. Just... scared. You...you saved me. "

She quickly knelt, setting down her shopping bags and pulled out a handkerchief from her purse. "Here. Let me see your hands."

Ren hesitated for a bit but then held out his hands eventually.

She took them gently, examining the damage. The knuckles were split across two fingers, the same injuries from the Yuto fight, reopened.

"This isn’t the first time you’ve been in a fight recently. " She murmured.

Ren gave a dry half-smile. "Rough week."

She smiled faintly back. "I can tell."

She wrapped his knuckles carefully with the handkerchief, her touch surprisingly gentle. Almost practiced, like she had done this before.

"You shouldn’t have done that. " She said softly. "Those were Kotekai Bikers. They’re a dangerous bunch. They will remember you. "

"So I should’ve just watched?" Ren shot back.

"No. " She finished bandaging his hand.

"I’m glad you didn’t. But you’re hurt again because of me. "

"I’d do it again for anyone. "

She stood, brushing off her skirt. "I should at least know your name. " She said.

"Ren.. Ren Ryūhara."

The moment his last name left his mouth, the recognition in her face was instant.

"Ryūhara? Are you... related to Kaito?"

Ren tensed. "Yes.. He’s my brother. "

"You knew him?"

She nodded slowly. "Everyone knew him. At least, everyone who went to Sakura High back then. "

"He was... kind. Even when he was leading, he was still kind underneath it all. He helped me with math homework once. Asked how my day was. Remembered my name."

"I’m sorry about what happened to him. " She said.

"You heard?" Ren asked quietly.

She nodded again.

"My sister in her first year told me. She said everyone was talking about Kaito’s brother transferring in. "

"Her sister goes to Sakura High. First-year. Could be anyone." Ren pondered

The woman realized that she hadn’t introduced herself. "I’m sorry. My name is Aoi. Aoi Kanzaki. "

She bowed slightly in a polite, formal manner. "I am a second-year at Tokyo Metro University. Nursing program. "

She reached into her purse and pulled out a small business card. "I work part-time at a café in Hanasakura District. It’s actually not far from Sakura High. "

She offered him a small business card. "If you ever need anything, someone to talk to, a place to rest, or if those injuries get worse.. "

"... please come by. It’s the least I can do. "

Ren took the card. It was a simple design with a cherry blossom logo in the corner.

[Kissaten Sakura Café,

3-12 Sakura Avenue, Hanasakura District,

Open 7 AM - 10 PM Daily]

"Kissaten Sakura..." he murmured.

"My family owns it. " She explained. "Three generations."

"Oh look at the time. " She gasped, checking her watch. "I should get going. My sister’s expecting me for lunch. She worries if I’m too late. " 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

She picked up her shopping bags. "Thank you again, Ren. Really. You didn’t have to help me, but you did. "

She hesitated for abit but then spoke up. "You remind me of him. "

".. of Kaito. You have that same... instinct to protect people, even when it puts you at risk. "

"I’m not him. " Ren said.

She smiled. "No. You’re you. And that’s good enough. "

She began walking away but then stopped and turned around. "Your brother... I heard what happened. I hope he wakes up soon. The world needs more people like Kaito Ryūhara. "

"And maybe it needs people like you too."

She bowed again, then walked toward the park exit, disappearing into the afternoon crowd.

Ren stood there alone, looking at the business card in his hand.

"Aoi Kanzaki. "

"Her sister goes to Sakura High. "

"First-year."

"That could literally be anyone. "

He pocketed the card carefully, next to Kaito’s note and returned to his bench. He collapsed completely onto it, his adrenaline was fully gone now and is body ached massively now.

The makeshift bandage Aoi had given him was already spotted with blood.

"I keep getting into fights... First Yuto. Now bikers... "

"Am I just naturally inclined for violent?"

"Is this who I’m becoming?"

But he remembered about Aoi’s face. The fear when she had been cornered. The relief when the bikers left.

"If I hadn’t fought... she would’ve been hurt..."

".or worse.. " He trailed off.

He stood slowly and checked his phone. "11:42 AM."

"I should head back. I have seen enough for today. "

He started walking toward the park exit, hands in pockets, hood up.

The sun was high now. Warm on his shoulders.

Cherry blossoms drifted past on the breeze.

Beautiful.

Deadly.

Just like everything in in Yugen City.

[Downtown Station Platform,

12:03 PM.]

The underground platform was busier now. It was the lunchtime crowd. Office workers grabbing food, teenagers heading to shopping districts, tourists consulting maps.

Ren stood at the platform edge, waiting for the train back to Hanasakura. His mind replayed the entire morning.

The protection racket. The shop owner’s defeated face. The bikers in the park. Aoi’s gentle hands bandaging his knuckles.

"Downtown is different from Hanasakura. " Ren concluded. "More aggressive. More openly violent. "

"Crimson Dragons rule through fear but Sakuratei does protection too... So what’s the difference?"

The train arrived with a screech of brakes. The doors slid open and Ren boarded. He found an empty seat by the back and pressed his forehead against the cool window.

As the train began to pull away from Downtown Station, Rwn watched the district fade behind him.

The neon signs, the tall buildings, it was slowly replaced by Hanasakura’s traditional architecture.

The lower buildings, tiled roofs and the cherry blossom trees lining every street.

His new home.

His phone buzzed suddenly.

It was Shiin messaging him. "How’d your mysterious errand go?"

Ren typed back. "Interesting. Tell you tomorrow. "

Shiin. "Mysterious and cryptic. You’re killing me man. "

After some back-and-forth, Shiin finally asked, "You good?"

Ren looked at his bandaged knuckles. At his reflection in the window, his bruised face, tired eyes, hood pulled up like he was hiding.

"Yeah. I’m good. " He wrote.

It wasn’t entirely true but not entirely false either.

The train announcement chimed. "Now arriving at Hanasakura Station. This is Hanasakura Station. Please watch your step."

[Kaito’s Apartment,

12:34 PM.]

Ren unlocked his apartment door and stepped inside. He dropped his keys on the table, shrugged off his jacket and dropped onto his futon and staring at the ceiling.

"What did you find, Kaito...?"

"What was worth investigating the Crimson Dragons?"

"What made powerful people nervous enough to put you in a coma?"

His phone buzzed it was Shiin again.

"Want to grab dinner tonight? Ramen? My treat!"

Ren smiled despite himself. "Need to rest. Tomorrow?"

Shiin replied with a thumbs up emoji. "Tomorrow! Rest up. "

Ren set down his phone and pulled out Aoi’s business card.

"Kissaten Sakura Café. "

"Aoi Kanzaki.."

"Kanzaki... " He focused on the last name.

"Her sister goes to Sakura High. First-year at that too. "

"I should ask him. "

He quickly typed the message and pressed send. "What’s Hana’s full name?"

The reply came back almost instantly. "Hana Kanzaki. "

Then it hit him.

"Aoi was Hana’s sister. The one she had mentioned to him on the rooftop. "

He set down the phone slowly.

"Small world. " He thought.

"Or maybe not. Maybe in a city controlled by gangs, everyone’s connected somehow. "

Ren stared at Kaito’s broken watch on the shelf its frozen hands locked at the moment everything changed. He tucked Aoi’s card into his pocket beside Kaito’s note.

"One day, thirteen hours left on Hasegawa’s deadline... "

"Tomorrow’s Sunday and then Monday I will have to decide. "

Outside his window, cherry blossoms fell.

"Today, I learnt something. " He told himself. "I saw how Crimson Dragons operate. I helped someone who needed it. "

"That has to count for something at the very least."

He closed his eyes.

For the first time in days, sleep came easily.