Ren watched as Akagi took a step forward towards the bush with a suspicious glare, and felt his face rapidly draining of color.
'Fuck! He definitely heard that!! No No NO, W-What happens if he finds me in here!?' Ren's hands tightly clenched as they still covered his nose, his entire body tensing. His mind started desperately thinking of a way to escape. But, on this side of the school, he couldn't make the sprint back to the main building when he was this close-!
"Oi, Naoto!"
A voice suddenly called out and Akagi turned his head away from the bush. A student from the basketball team was clutching the grated fence and waving Akagi over. "Hey, you see the guys that were here earlier? One of them said they wanted to talk to me about something."
"They said they had something else to do." Akagi lied with a barely disguised grunt of contempt. "It probably wasn't important if they did."
Ren breathed out in relief. 'Thank goodness…!' As silently as possible, Ren tried to leave the bush, his heart pounding in his chest and a terrified grimace frozen on his face. He had to leave before he remembered to check the bush again!
The other student shrugged. "Alright then. Anyway, remember that thing you mentioned the other day?"
"The other day? Ah…" Akagi then approached the fence with a growing smirk, lowering his voice that was barely audible above Ren's racing heartbeat.
Akagi chuckled. "So, you interested? Saturday night: should be a bit of fun for everyone in this scruffy ass school…"
Ren halted, his body frozen halfway out the bush. His head whipped over towards the two with renewed intrigue.
'A conversation about a secret Alpha meeting!?'
"Sure just, is it out in the town?" The Basketball playing student grumbled, "Cause I'm not willing to sneak out after first curfew, can't be kicked from the team…"
"Not exactly." Akagi answered as his smile grew mischievous. "They've got something interesting planned…"
Ren leaned forward towards them, waiting in anticipation. This could be huge!
"Fuck you you shithead!"
Suddenly there was a loud clamor coming from the court, stopping Akagi mid-sentence. They both turned their heads towards the sound. Ren, mentally cursing his misfortune, peeked around the bush to see what the commotion was about.
Ren's mouth opened agape. 'K-Kokichi!? What's he doing here!?'
Kokichi was hogging the ball from the students, kicking at any of the ones that came near and was loudly cursing his usual slew of slurs to the bafflement and ire of the basketball team.
Kokichi bared fangs and boldly shouted, "Quit it! I know it was you, don't fucking deny it!! Give me back my shit!"
Akagi fiercely grimaced and began running around to a side of the gate he could enter. "Hey you! What are you doing!?"
Ren But as the commotion drew on, Ren couldn't help but pause. He had no clue what that idiot was doing, but if he was caught by Akagi…
Ren shook his head. 'He'll be fine! That guy probably asked for it…!'
But Ren's feet wouldn't move. After a few more seconds of a billowing vexation in his chest, Ren grunted in a low whine, "Alright, damn it!"
He leapt out the bush and ran around the gate. 'I said I'd help everyone in the school, didn't I? Fine, it's time I try out some of my defensive plans anyway!!' Ren rummaged through his satchel and pulled out three plum sized wrapped up in pieces of thin cloth. He approached one of the gates, seeing that Akagi had already gotten their grasp on Kokichi, gripping him by the shoulder as one of the basketball club members quietly spoke. Kokichi was seething, glaring between them with a giant roll of his eyes. He suddenly glared and shouted. "That's a lie! A lie!! I know you stole it!!"
"Be quiet!" Akagi loudly growled, squeezing his shoulder. He pinched the skin of his brow looking agitated. "Let's sort this out… Who are you exactly?"
"Think I know him, the weirdo that people say is cursed right?" One of the club members chuckled.
Ren steeled his focus. 'He's been captured already. Come on, I have to make this work!!' He arched his arm back far and, like a pitcher in the field, launched two of the pouches over to them. His highward trajectory made it precisely smack against the heads of two basketball club members. The moment they made impact they exploded into a cloud of flour, causing the group to erupt with the sound of confused cries.
Ren immediately after impact, rushed into the area and followed his memory towards where Kokichi was. He grabbed his arms with one hand and using the other, aimed the last pouch still in his hand, to smack right into Akagi's face!
Akagi spluttered and put both hands on his face in reflex, releasing Kokichi and allowing Ren to pull him along, over to the other exit. Kokichi however tried to stop them in the middle, trying to pull his arm back. "W-Who the hell-!?"
Ren just used his other hand to pull on Kokichi's jacket and loudly hissed. "Keep moving or we're dead, idiot!! Quick!!"
Akagi rubbed the flour from his eyes with a confused grunt looking around to see the club members all covered in a light layer of the same, all staring at him with befuddled expressions.
One of the students dusted the flour off and swept the area with confusion.
"What the? Some sorta prank…!?"
"That guy must be responsible, did he plan this?" Another growled.
One of them chortled with a spitting laughter. "Pffh, Naoto-kun, you should see your face!"
Akagi rubbed his face and his eyes squinted with a growing rage and his eyes swept the area. His nose flared and his ears reddened, and the members of the team inched back nervously. His head swiveled over to the direction of a gate with a hardened focus, letting out a low growl. "Oh, you just made a big mistake…!"
After running for a long while, Ren finally pulled Kokichi into a nearby blooming flower bush. Kokichi fell back to the ground with a loud grunt.
"Agh! Hey!" Kokichi slapped his arm away and scowled. "Takeshita!? What are you doing here, and where did you get all that flour!?"
Ren shifted some leaves to peer out of the bush at the basketball court in the near distance. "From my dorm's kitchen! Flour makes for a great emergency smoke shield to escape from the Alphas undetected."
"Pfffh, you flour bombed Akagi Naoto and the Basketball team, are you nuts?!" Kokichi sneered, but he sounded more impressed than upset. "But then why'd you push us into a random ass bush?"
"It's the only way we're escaping from Akagi! I noticed this is the kind of bush they noticed me the least, guess they get distracted by the flowers. But…" Ren stopped when he then quietly sneezed, feeling his nose already burning up from the pollen. 'But I avoid these bushes for a reason! I never thought I could hate spring this much…'
"What are you talking about? Psh." Kokichi gave a judgmental and derisive scoff. "You've got weird freaking hobbies, Takeshita. Why the hell were you hanging around here in the first place-"
"Shh!" Ren slapped a hand over his mouth as he looked outside the bush grimacing. Akagi's loud footsteps and menacing figure appeared in their view, hunching down as his eyes swept the area. Despite still being covered in a layer of flour from his head down to his shoulders, any comedy that once stemmed from that was gone as his eyes glowed a faint but frightening red hue.
He stalked around the small garden with a vicious snarl, his stance reminded Ren of a lion stalking its prey. Low and menacing, ready to pounce.
"You made a big mistake thinking you can mess around with ME." He paused for a moment then let out a low chuckle. "...You think I won't find where you're hiding?" Right as he said that his head turned right towards the row of bushes they hid in, and both of them stiffened. Kokichi said something muffled under his hand and Ren quietly shushed him again. He could tell by now he was likely saying they were already screwed or something, but he couldn't possibly know they were here for sure!
Akagi continued to slowly walk towards the bush, holding his head up in the air a little and Ren could swear he heard him take an abnormally long deep breath. His face inched in close to the bush with a suspicious glare, and…
He then huffed, recoiling. He grunted and backed away, clicking his tongue and crossing his arms. "Fuck I lost it. Can't smell anything, Damn flowers… Tch." and looking pissed off, Akagi stomped away. "They likely ran off! Fuck, I'll find that idiot and his accomplice, then they're dead!!"
Ren raised an eyebrow at Akagi as Kokichi slapped Ren's hand away and took a large breath. "I could barely breathe!" He hissed, still being quiet. "Now I'm actually in trouble! Naoto has it out for me now, because you- Auugh!!"
Kokichi then loudly made a startling yelp when he turned towards Ren. He wailed an arm to smack Ren in his face. Ren grabbed his face with one hand and reflexively pushed Kokichi back with the other.
"What was that for?!" Ren cried out.
"You turned into a monster!!" Kokichi screeched. "A demon, a demon! A red-faced ghoul!!"
"Monster!?" Ren yelled in shock, then realized what he was talking about. The pollen had made his face feel making his sinuses turn into fire, his nose runny and his eyes itchy. He growled and angrily pointed a finger at him. "Shut up! Idiot, it's just my aller- Achhoo!" Ren loudly sneezed and Kokichi shrunk away from him. With a dramatic roar, Kokichi then roughly pushed Ren away, shoving him outside the bush. Ren stumbled back and tripped on the ground. The moment his body hit the dirt he gasped and breathed in a clearer breath of air. He grabbed a thing of tissues from his bag and blew his runny nose.
Kokichi stepped out the bush himself and loudly growled. "Fuck off! I didn't ask for your help to escape; I had the situation handled! I was gonna get that bastard to tell me where he took my stuff, and you ruined it!"
Ren rubbed the cheek Kokichi slapped with an angry grimace. "Ugh, just thnank me fur saving your life!!" He grunted through a congested nose. "You're lucky he didhn't use his mind conthrol on- Acchoo!" Ren sneezed again and rubbed his eyes.
"I can't understand shit you're saying, but you can save it!!" Kokichi yelled. "That guy, he was definitely working for Ruota and broke into my room! I know cuz I saw one of them with one of my missing Final Fantasy Fourteen keychain figures attached to their phone!"
Ren rolled his eyes, feeling his airways clearing. "Eh, you sure they just didn't have the same thing? Maybe you just lost it, weirdo." he muttered more clearly, getting pissed off. He had no idea what he was talking about, but he needed to get back already, and away from these blooming death traps.
"Nuh uh! Because I'm the one that painted the sword blue again with a marker cuz I got one that was misprinted!" Kokichi huffed and pulled some stuff from his pocket. "That idiot obviously didn't notice cuz he's just a casual and didn't see mine was a darker shade! When I went through Katashi's stuff and I found out, he's a total hoarding weirdo-"
Ren stopped walking away and turned back. "Wait, Katashi? The person you're talking about is Tsuda Katashi!?"
"Duh! I went through his desk during lunch, and turns out he's got a ton of other stupid little trinkets he always keeps in there! I bet that's why he's in this fucked up school, likes to steal other people's stuff. And look!"
Kokichi then picked up a crumpled up ball of crinkly paper and straightened it out to be read like an unrolled scroll.
"I found THIS in the dorm trash in the lobby! It's got mine and Katashi's name on it! Dude's on some metal stuff! I bet he saw my meds in my room and he stole them and my refill like some addict!!"
"That's a kinda big accusation for someone who just happened to have the same keychain…" Ren muttered coldly, but as his eyes swept over the paper, his eyes grew wide.
"This is a… receipt? It looks like a list of a bunch of medicine… with student names next to it."
Kokichi nodded. "Yeah! It's pretty obvious that someone went in my dorm had an interest in who had to take medication, and now a bunch of people have missing meds! He's clearly the culprit, and I bet he told Ruota to fuck with me, that's why he asked those weird questions!! An Alpha breaking into my room explains why no one is willing to speak up!"
"You sure it's not just because you're a pain in the ass?" Ren grumbled, but he was pretty excited. 'Some of them have the same name as the omega pills I've taken! I knew it: Katashi and Fumio must be the culprit! That means whoever broke into your room might know where the medicine might be!' Ren was seriously surprised. Kokichi was actually useful? Well he was a beta: that meant he lived in the same dorm as his two targets! This receipt was pretty interesting; if he gave it to Ryusei, he'd probably be impressed!
Ren suddenly twitched and lifted his head, remembering something. "Wait, your meds? What are you talking about?" Ren's eyes scanned the receipt for Kokichi's name. "You're missing medicine too? What kinda meds are you-?"
Kokichi suddenly snatched the receipt away, and with no warning, sharply and aggressively ripped it into pieces!
Ren balked with stunned shock as he watched a substantial piece of evidence go down the drain. His eyes drooped in despair. He was gonna give that to Ryusei!!
"It's none of your business!" Kokichi shouted, letting out a loud horse-like huff. "Now I don't know what weird stuff you're doing but you better stay out of my way!! I can just tell you're gonna fuck something up and make it worse!" He crossed his arms and puffed his chest in a condescending stance.
"Yeah yeah." Ren huffed. "I'm gonna make it worse, huh? Unless," He perked up with a sharper eye. "You actually, do know something to fight against the Alphas?"
Kokichi scoffed. "What? Think I know some secret way to stop Alphas? No way!! You get on a Alpha's bad side and your dead, Beta or Omega! That's why you should have left me alone, idiot...!" His voice went a pitch higher into a frustrated snarl.
"Figures." Ren muttered, the small hope he still retained that Kokichi might have a secret weapon dashed. "Anyway asshole, what's the security like in the beta dorm? No cameras still and guards at the front gate?" He asked.
Kokichi left his pose to shift his eyes over to Ren. "Huh? That's a weird question. Like, I guess that makes sense! School's so messed up that they need security everywhere! But the dorm has cameras you know- hey, where are you going!?"
Ren then walked away, ignoring everything else he was spouting. Of course he wouldn't have any useful information, why did he even bother? That guy made little sense on a good day. I mean if the Alpha or Omega dorm didn't have cameras why would the Beta dorm be the exception? Though for a moment there, if Ren wasn't imagining it, he could have sworn he almost sounded worried about him.
Still, for what it was worth Kokichi found something of pretty big significance, related to the missing medicine. He might find more if he headed to the beta dorm! Both Fumio and Shouta are likely going to be heading there at this time anyway!
'Ryusei didn't tell me anyone else was missing medicine... maybe there's been another case of stolen meds since yesterday? I'll have to ask him later...' Ren contemplated as he sped up his pace. Time to get to the Beta Dorm!
———
When Masanori entered the medical office, he walked into silence. He walked a little more and spotted Ryusei on his own, silently tinkering with something inside a beaker. Masanori stood there in silence before he quietly cleared his throat.
Ryusei lifted his head and slowly turned his chair. "Oh, Masanori…ya really don't give off much presence, do ya?" He leaned over in his chair, looking up to Masanori with a partially surprised raise of his brow.
"Ryusei-kun. I came to see how it went with Takeshita Akira-san." Masanori stoically asked, his eyes on him passive. "Did he… come by recently?"
"Yesterday." he leaned back again and cupped his chin with one hand. "Hm, don't worry yerself about a thing, I gave 'em plenty of info about what heat pills are. He took well to it, but strange omega isn't he?"
Masanori nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for explaining things. He… seems to be confused. I hope he hasn't said anything too crazy to you…"
"Hmm, he did say one thing…" He closed his eyes and didn't speak for a few moments, before he bit his inner cheek. "He… called me a kid? Funny fella."
"Ah yeah, ha. He does that I guess…" Masanori nervously laughed. 'Because he thinks he's older than all of us, for some reason. What is up with that? Does he want to pretend to be bigger than all of us by acting like he's older?' He pondered. 'He sure has a habit of making small things look big…'
Masanori bowed a little. "So then, I'm glad that's settled. He should have a better understanding of his heats and should calm down now, thanks again. That means we're settled now as well. I hope you'll stop taking so many bribes in the future so I don't have to bail you out from accusations."
Ryusei lightly chuckled. "Oh, you always seem to tell me that. Ya know I can't help it."
"Try to help it. For your own sake." Masanori turned around waving his hand up. "Then I'll be seeing you, since nothing happened with Takeshita-san."
Ryusei huffed. "Leaving already? But I've gotta ask before you go… How heavy did you put that spray-on? Just gotta mention it, but you wear that stuff too much. They're basically high-tech inhibitors at the end of the day. I mean, doesn't look like you're helping it much either."
Masanori turned back towards Ryusei with a more hardened look. "Quit it. Don't compare two different things." He replied coldly, but a hand gently touched his own wrist. "My scent blockers, they help everyone. My scent gets stronger around this time so I adjusted is all."
Ryusei crossed his arms and looked at Masanori disapprovingly. "Some excuse. Yer being too considerate. Scent's only that strong cuz you don't let it out enough. I think, yer doing what they call a perverse incentive, or something. Knowing what you're intending, doesn't mean yer getting the right result. You know same as me, you're doing too much. If the weakened nose isn't enough concern, it's not exactly normal fer alphas to smell like a flowery omega, ya know?" Ryusei hummed. "Fruits or berries sure, sweets even fer the sweet tooths, but you- "
"Is there some point you're leading to with this?" Masanori sighed.
"Take a break from them." Ryusei continued. "As yer student doctor I recommend it. Think Sensei would agree. You built yerself like a dam… just hoping you avoid flooding the town when the rainy season comes."
"I'll try to take your advice." Masanori opened the door and left.
Masanori frowned. 'Guess nothing happened with Takeshita then. Everything seems to be working out fine but, where is he then? Kinda thought he'd come running right after, like how he ran to the Alpha dorm… no, he'd probably avoid it now because of Akagi and what I told him about avoiding Alphas…' Masanori shook his head. Going to Ryusei was supposed to help, but apparently his interaction with him was so little that all he could say was that he was a little strange. He sorta hoped he might also snap a little more sense into him.
'Maybe, he did? Ha, and he's actually avoiding me out of embarrassment or something...' He dismissed the thought. How could it be that easy?
'…maybe, he headed to my office to look for me?' Masanori began to wonder again against his own resolve. But before he could begin to head over, he stopped in front of a window, which looked out into the northern side of the school, where the beta dorm could be seen in the distance. And in his line of sight, he spotted a dark-haired omega hastily walking along the path, looking covered leaves and slightly red and puffy in the face. As he approached the small fence for the beta dorm he looked around nervously before hopping the fence and jogging away.
Masanori's blinked in shock and he leaned against the glass. 'Takeshita?'
Ren made his way over to the beta dorm with far less wariness, easily walking through the doors and glancing around curiously. He'd never really come around here, but there wasn't much to see that was different from the other dorms. He could tell by the style and lapse of integrity of the walls and flooring that the building was not only a little older than his dorm, but a little more rundown. He noticed in one corner of the lobby that there was a bucket, catching a leak from the ceiling, and several obvious cracks in the flooring.
Ren felt a twitch start in his eye. 'Guess I'm not the only one who doesn't think much about the betas… I think that one's big enough to be a safety hazard.'
Ren walked down the hall and towards where he thought the main common room might be. 'Right, we should be looking for clues to learn about Fumio. Hm, I'll try to ask around without arousing too much suspicion…'
Ren peeked his head into the common room, and the first thing he spotted was Shouta, talking among his peers. He watched though the half-opened door for Fumio, not finding him. 'Well, there's Shouta. He's here talking to other beta students and not any Alphas. It's only been a day but it must for sure be Fumio. I just need a little more proof…' Ren pursed his lip in agitation then walked away. Whether he could find it, there might be more clues for how to find the medicine here! He almost had a vital clue, he could find another!
Ren passed by a window in the hall and noticed the leaves in his hair. He stopped to brush them out. This looked super suspicious! He also noticed he was still a little red in the face, though the sneezing and runny pores had already died down. If he didn't know better, he'd think he had just gotten done crying or something from how puffy his eyes looked!
As he brushed the leaves off his clothes as well he paused when he heard steps behind him, and he turned his head, curiously.
His eyes widened. 'Wait… an Alpha!?'
Ren quickly hid around a corner as he watched an Alpha student walk out one of the utility rooms, along with another student he didn't recognize.
'That's a third year Alpha student, Yoshida Junichiro! How did he get here? This is the beta dorm!! What's an Alpha doing in the beta dorm!?' He questioned, forgetting in his panic that he was an Omega in the beta dorm himself.
The brown eyed Alpha student named Junichiro tapped his foot and hummed. "It's not too difficult, but there's no guarantee normal security won't come around, right? Ian-senpai, are you sure you won't get anyone trying to snitch? If I get found out I might lose my scholarship.."
"No way. No one's messing with a party run by some of the strongest Alphas in this school." The european looking beta student named Ian smugly grinned. "Security here is the worst in the school and the teachers are especially tired on saturdays, they're off in the town first chance they get." They lightly prodded the other student with an elbow. "Come on. You'll be missing out… heh. You'd be a big hit..." He said in a teasing voice.
Junichiro blushed bright red and shrunk back a little, eyes reaching the floor. "I… I dunno about that…"
Ren listened in with a wave of intrigue. 'They're planning something here too? The strongest Alphas? Maybe this the same thing that Akagi was talking about earlier?'
Ian sighed. "Look, we need your hacking ability to get past Hirabayashi's and Matsuoka's system. Even if you don't stick around, will you do it?"
Junichiro was quiet for a long moment before nervously nodding. "Y-Yeah. Sure. Here." He passed Ian a folder. "Be careful. I don't want this to lead to anyone getting hurt."
"Of course. Ryusei's assistant has his word: we're in good hands." They chuckled.
Ren practically jumped at the mention of Ryusei! He brightly grinned as he excitedly pulled out his notepad, his hand itching to write this down. This party had to be massive! And, it had something to do with one of Ryusei's assistants, it must be Fumio!
'And it looks like it was taking place here in the beta dorm! That folder, it must contain the security layout! If only I could get my hands on it!'
"Um… excuse me?"
Ren froze. He slowly lifted his eyes upwards and his eyes met with Junichiro's. Ren flinched back and internally panicked. When did he close the gap between them?!
Junichiro stood beside him, also flinching back. He cleared his throat and leaned his hand on the corner wall, as he peered down at him with a worried brow. "Hey, are you ok?" he bent low to whisper softly. "Sorry, It... It sorta looks like… you look upset, I was wondering, do you need any help?"
'What? Why is he asking me if I'm ok or if I need help?' Ren's eyes narrowed, then widened with enlightenment. 'Wait… is he confused about my face? An Alpha, taking pity on me? But I'm an intruder?' He swallowed heavily, debating what to do. 'Well, he seems like a pretty calm person, a lot less scary than an Alpha like Akagi at least. I should at least act natural so he doesn't suspect I was eavesdropping!'
Ren raised a hand. "Hey! Um. Relax, I'm fine. I just, got a little puffy after hiding-" Ren paused, realizing he really shouldn't give away that information.
"H-hiding from… this guy. This douchebag, who wouldn't stop yelling at me." He stammered out, nervously swallowing again. Well, technically that was true.
"And he's the one that hurt you?" They continued with more worry. "You look like you've been pushed around."
Ren's eye twitched again. Did he look that badly disheveled? "I mean yeah: he did push me to the ground." He replied weakly. "But well, he's usually like that?" He sighed. "He's just a violent guy with a bad mouth. I mean, he said I looked like a monster because my face was like this." He grunted, liking the feeling of complaining about Kokichi's shitty attitude.
"What?! That's horrible." Junichiro's soft eyes twisted with anger. "Where's this bastard now?"
Ren flinched at the sudden tone shift and started to sweat. 'Shit, I overshared: now he wants to beat up Kokichi!' He was mad at him, but not that mad! He just saved Kokichi from another Alpha, he wouldn't send another!
"Well not here. I sorta, ran off from him?" Ren uttered in reply, voice growing quiet. "It's fine though. Please don't involved, okay?"
But Junichiro just huffed, eyes filling with rage. "No way. Come on," He then straightened and without warning grabbed Ren's hand, beginning to drag him away. "I'll get you some help and we'll find this asshole!"
"Ah w-whaat?! Wait…!" Ren tried to pull on his arm trying to break free, but it wouldn't budge. He paled. This was too much! He wasn't being helped: he was being taken!
'I've been tricked! He got me to lower my guard by acting nice!!' Ren tried to reach into his bag, but his hands still held his notepad and in his rush, he dropped it on the ground.
'N-No…!' His face hardened and he grit his teeth. 'I have to escape!!' He then hopped forward, and stomped down on their foot.
Junichiro twitched, and he finally stopped walking, turning back curiously. "Hey, are you-?"
Ren then wrestled his arm free and turned around to pick up his notepad with a sigh or relief. He then whirled back and started backing away from Junichiro. He wasn't letting himself be deceived a second time!
But then, Ren tripped. The cracks in the floor from earlier really were quite large. Ren felt himself falling backwards, unable to catch himself, and he briefly remembered the last time he fell after backing away from an Alpha student.
Before he could think to try to catch himself, two hands around his waist did it for him.
Suddenly he was looking up at Junichiro, who had caught him. He quickly turned bright red again. "S-Sorry…"
Ren also felt awkward, and averted his eyes by looking to his side. His eyes widened. They were now at the edge of the lobby, and Masanori just walked in!
Ren pushed Junichiro away and fell onto his back on the floor, before rolling on his side. He had to get away! However, the moment Ren got up his eyes locked on with Masanori's. Masanori had only just entered the beta dorm and saw Ren pulling himself from the ground looking like a complete mess, and the moment they locked eyes, his pupils shrunk and he turned to run away.
"W-Wait!!" Masanori quickly moved through the students crowding in and ran after.
Ren internally cursed. 'Ah damn it! I can't talk to him now! I've been caught, I'll make him look suspicious!' and Ren turned and ran right down the hall and away.
When Masanori turned the corner after him, the hall was empty. Masanori kept walking down, quietly and hesitantly calling out. "Takeshita-san?"
As his footsteps slowly moved to the other side of the hall Ren slowly peeked his head out of the room he saw the other students come out earlier, now seeing that it was a laundry room. He saw Masanori's backside and quickly ran off the other way and out the lobby door.
By the time he stopped he was back at the school building, heavily panted as he sighed against a wall of the school, the setting sun draping over the building and leaving him half in the shadows.
"I think… I'm going to die! I've had enough running for today…!" He wheezed, falling on his hands and knees. "Why… did I get stuck in such a weak body…?!"
He rolled on his back and sighed. 'But, that conversation... It's definitely suspicious. None of it is enough to confirm that Fumio is the culprit, though.' His face scrunched up as he ruminated this.
Ren then rose from the ground with a renewed vigor. 'Right! I think this is a chance! I do more than report suspicious behavior, I might be able to actually find the missing medicine! I bet, I'll find more if I figure out what they're doing saturday night!' He paused as some semblance of rationale seeped into his thoughts. 'There will likely be more Alphas there. It'll be dangerous, and Masanori told me to avoid Alphas... I should tell Ryusei that Fumio is doing something at the beta dorm on Saturday.'
But he didn't REALLY know that. While HE was convinced, the last time he went to someone with little evidence, they kept outright denying it. Even if he now knew Masanori was just doing it to keep them safe, it taught him that he needed more than a point or two to come off as credible, something that can't be dismissed so easily! But looking at what he gathered today, all he really had was Fumio talking to an Alpha that Kokichi claims is a thief, some conversations of a party with one of them mentioning an assistant, and the non-illegible torn up pieces of a discarded receipt found in the beta dorm trash.
All that proved was that Kokichi was a weirdo for digging in the trash! Even if he told Ryusei about Fumio talking to that Alpha Katashi, how does he explain what Kokichi told him without it coming off like he was crazy? Accusing someone based off of a off-color keychain was not enough! None of this was enough to prove anything, he can't go in with this!
Ren's face tightened. 'I need more evidence! For the sake of the Omegas- and I guess whoever else had their medicine stolen - I should go to that party! If Akagi is gonna be there too, I might even find some evidence for the school's experiments!'
He made up his mind. He was going to figure out what was going on!
Back at the beta dorm, Masanori leaned against the wall at a loss, scratching his head with a crinkling brow. 'Lost him… He definitely saw me this time. Damn it, he really is avoiding me? And I didn't imagine it, his face… it looked like he was crying, didn't it?' The swirling in his stomach swirling twisted like a knot. 'What is he getting up to now?' He sighed. 'Damn it, do I… Need to check?' He ran a hand down his face. 'I can't have him doing this again…'
Masanori watched as the betas entered the dorm as the time for curfew drew near, but also noticed a few Alpha students exiting the same. He didn't think much of it, until he saw one of Ryusei's assistants leaving along with them.
'That was one of Ryusei's assistants, where is he going? Hm, why were so many Alphas hanging out in the Beta Dorm this late?' He frowned but dismissed it. Takeshita Akira was just making him paranoid.
He went to leave, heart heavy knowing what he was going to do and who he'd have to ask to get it.