Renegades: Battlegrounds.-Chapter 45: Visiting Hours

April 11, 2005

Yūgen General Hospital — 7:42 AM

It was morning, and Ren still hadn’t gone home.

The hospital cafeteria was beginning to fill with the morning shift—doctors grabbing coffee before rounds, nurses on break, family members of patients clinging to the comfort of scrambled eggs and toast.

Ren sat in a corner booth, as far from the crowd as possible. A cup of coffee sat untouched in front of him, cold now. He had watched the steam rise and vanish an hour ago without taking a single sip.

He was still wearing yesterday’s clothes. Bloodstains darkened his shirt—Aoi’s blood, dried to a deep brown. His jacket was gone, abandoned somewhere he couldn’t remember.

Everything felt distant. Muffled.

The PA system crackled overhead with announcements he didn’t process. Rolling carts squeaked past. Quiet conversations at nearby tables blurred into white noise.

"How long have I been sitting here? "

He stared at his hands. Clean now, he had scrubbed them in the bathroom but he could still see the blood. Feel it beneath his fingernails.

"Aoi’s blood. "

*The bikers’ blood. "

"My Blood. "

The cafeteria doors burst open so suddenly.

"REN! Holy crap, we heard—" Shiin spoke so loud that every head turned.

A doctor at the coffee station frowned. An elderly woman at a nearby table glared at such a mean look.

Fubuki appeared behind Shiin, grabbing his sleeve and yanking him back.

"Shiin, quiet! It’s a hospital. " She hisses sharply for him to lower his voice.

Shiin lowered his voice. "Right. Sorry. Hospital voice."

They spotted Ren in the corner booth and rushed over.

Shiin slid into the seat across from him so fast he nearly knocked over the untouched coffee. Fubuki sat more carefully beside Shiin.

"Dude," Shiin said, trying to keep his voice down, "we heard—are you okay?"

Ren looked up slowly, taking in their faces. Worry. Fear. Exhaustion. They looked like they hadn’t slept either.

"I’m fine."

"You don’t look fine. You look like—" Shiin’s words died when he noticed the bloodstains. Ren’s hollow eyes.

"We were worried," Fubuki said gently. "You didn’t answer your phone."

"Battery died."

Ren studied them more closely now. "How did you know I was here?"

"Hana texted the group chat. Said Aoi was in the hospital. Said you were here too." Shiin leaned forward. "What happened? Nobody’s giving straight answers. Something about bikers—"

"Is she... is Aoi going to be okay?" Fubuki interrupted softly.

"Doctors say yes," Ren replied. "Broken arm. Concussion. She’ll recover."

Relief washed over both of them. "Thank god. When we heard she was in surgery, we thought—"

Shiin stopped himself, swallowing hard. "But seriously. What happened? Why were there bikers? Why are you covered in—"

Ren cut him off. "I don’t want to talk about it."

Silence fell over the table.

Heavy. Awkward.

Shiin fidgeted with his hands, clearly wanting to ask more but reading the room. Fubuki sat still, watching Ren with those gentle, observant eyes.

Fubuki finally reached across the table and touched Ren’s hand. "You’re scaring us. This isn’t normal."

Ren pulled his hand back as if burned.

"What’s normal?" he snapped. "Fighting at school? Gang wars? Nothing’s been normal since I got here."

He stood abruptly. "I need some air."

He walked toward the cafeteria exit, leaving the cold coffee and his friends behind.

"Ren, wait—" Shiin tried to stand but Fubuki grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Give him space. " She said softly, watching Ren disappear through the doors. "He needs to process."

"But he’s clearly not okay. " Shiin lamented.

"I know. But pushing won’t help right now. "

The hospital courtyard was small—a pocket of green surrounded by concrete and steel.

Benches circled a tidy garden. Flowers were carefully maintained. A stone path wound through low shrubs and at the center stood a cherry blossom tree.

Even here. Even in a hospital courtyard. The petals drifted down like pink snow.

Ren sat on a bench beneath the tree, head in his hands. "Kaito’s in a coma because of this life. Aoi’s hurt because I tried to help. Everyone around me gets dragged down. "

"Maybe I should just leave. Transfer schools again. Disappear like Kaito did. "

"Run away before more people get hurt. "

Footsteps crunched along the stone path but Ren did not look up.

"Figured I’d find you here."

Matsuno sat beside him without asking, stretching his legs out, relaxed as if they were meeting for lunch instead of sitting in a hospital courtyard after a night of violence.

Silence followed. Only just the sound of cherry blossoms falling.

"Yo said the bikers won’t be a problem anymore."

Ren lifted his head. "What did you do?"

"Delivered a message. Hasegawa’s message, actually."

"What kind of message?"

"The kind that leaves impressions."

Ren’s jaw tightened. "You hurt them?"

"They hurt one of us first. That’s how this works."

Ren wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Relief that they wouldn’t come after Aoi again? Disgust at the cycle of violence? Gratitude?

"You’re wondering if that makes us just as bad as them."

Ren nodded slowly.

"Maybe," Matsuno said. "But we protect our people. They just take. There’s a difference."

He looked directly at Ren. "You’re still trying to figure out which side you’re on."

"I don’t want to be on any side."

"It’s too late for that."

Ren saw something like sadness behind Matsuno’s eyes.

"Your fate was already been set in stone the moment you stepped into town. "

Matsuno leaned back on the bench, watching petals drift through the air. "The deadline’s passed. Hasegawa wants to see you tonight. Rooftop."

"I don’t know if I—"

"You’re already involved," Matsuno cut in. "Kotekai knows your face. Your name. Your brother’s connection makes you a target for the Crimson Dragons, it’s a matter of time before they come for you. "

He met Ren’s eyes. "You can’t go back to being invisible."

"So what?" Ren snapped. "I just accept that my life is gang violence now?"

"No," Matsuno said calmly. "You accept the world is violent. And you decide how to face it."

He stood. "Question is: do you face it alone, or with a pack behind you?"

He started walking away, then stopped at the courtyard entrance.

"Rooftop. Tonight. Eight o’clock. Hasegawa doesn’t like to be kept waiting."

Then he was gone.

Ren remained beneath the cherry blossom tree. Petals fell around him like the world was quietly coming apart.

"Tonight. Eight o’clock. "

"The choice I’ve been avoiding but after last night... Can I still walk away? "

A petal landed on his bloodstained sleeve. He brushed it off.

"Or am I already too deep to turn back? "