Ren was fighting back…
His father's 'chivalrous' advice, filtered through the logic of his age, the advice of his classmates, of dubious practical value but offered with great confidence and something that was his own, that had been waiting for the right moment to emerge… all of it combined to produce a version of Ren in those situations that each of the three girls, separately, found consistently unexpected in the most productive sense of the word.
But together they always found a way to return the favor, with the frequency and enthusiasm of people who had found a preferred hobby and had no intention of releasing it.
They could embarrass him indefinitely by referring to him collectively as funny exaggerated (or maybe not in their honest minds) things like: our gallant savior, king of the crystals, chivalrous knight of love, and so on… alluding to the promises made and the fact that they would catch him eventually. Always together, always at maximum volume, always coordinated.
