The team was a little upset.
Not at Yusuke. He had no control over the situation.
But—
"Why the hell did Madarame not allow him to leave to see us?" Ryuji muttered.
Ren was silent for a moment before saying gently, "It's nothing more than a power play. Madarame is trying to show Yusuke who is in control of the situation."
The team frowned in confusion. Ren seemed very sure of this.
"Why do you think so, Ren?" Shiho asked as she reached into her bag and pulled out a snack for each of them.
They were sitting at the station near the Hachiko statue. They had originally been going to pick up Yusuke, but he wasn't allowed to leave right now.
Ren exhaled through his nose and took off his glasses.
"I've seen it before..." he mumbled. "Right now, it doesn't matter what Yusuke asks for. It will be denied unless it furthers Madarame's goals in general..."
"Maybe we should bring him a snack?" Orihime asked, noticing Ren's discomfort.
"I think that would be nice. He said he couldn't leave right now, but he didn't say we couldn't stop by to say hi," Ann added.
Ren didn't say anything, but the team was waiting on his decision. Ren looked at the ground and clenched his fists briefly before relaxing.
When he was in a similar situation, Yu and his friends would drop off snacks and such for him. Or offer to tutor him. It was always a welcome distraction. He was much younger, though, so it might not go over as well with Yusuke.
"We should stop by..." Ren said. "But we shouldn't stay long. Just check in on him and give him some food. If Madarame is there, he might..."
"Punish Yusuke..." Ryuji winced as he finished the thought.
The team was silent for a moment.
Ren snapped his fingers in epiphany.
"Let's give him something Madarame can't complain about. Does anyone know where we can get good-quality art supplies?"
---
The group was looking around the arts and crafts store. Unfortunately, the supplies weren't of the best quality. The team didn't understand why Ren kept shaking his head when they picked up paints or something similar.
"Yusuke would appreciate it, but Madarame would claim it is insulting," Ren explained. "It's like giving a tailor the wrong color thread."
They didn't quite get it, but they noticed that Yusuke and Ren had hit it off. Their metaphorical talks and stuff were confusing as is. If Ren claimed this, he was probably right.
While Ren and Ryuji were looking at other art supplies such as canvases, sketchbooks, charcoal, and so on, the girls huddled together nearby, whispering.
"Did you notice?" Ann whispered, glancing at the boys, who were discussing the prices of different supplies.
"Ren is a nice guy," Orihime smiled gently.
"Yes, he is," Shiho whispered back as they watched the boys mess around with a large mannequin. She gave a smile toward their shenanigans.
"No, I meant how careful Ren is being about this," Ann whispered back carefully, pretending to look through the nearby craft section.
"He did say he wasn't treated well by his parents," Shiho muttered as she picked up a brick of reusable modeling clay. "Huh, this is pretty cheap, isn't it?"
Orihime picked up a stack of canvases nearby and was looking at it absentmindedly while listening.
"We didn't let him finish because it was hard on him. But it seems like he's using his own experience as a basis to help Yusuke," she muttered as she rubbed her hairpin and gave him a quick glance.
He was holding a copy of Gray's Anatomy and a figure drawing book while talking with Ryuji.
The girls were silent. They wanted to help Ren. But right now, Yusuke was the priority.
"This stinks," Ann pouted.
The other two nodded gravely.
---
The team stood outside Madarame's shack with their gifts after ringing the bell.
Ren had chosen to get Yusuke a copy of Gray's Anatomy. He was assuming this was the best book for an artist to learn how the muscles and joints moved in the human body.
The girls got him a brick of modeling clay and a little wooden posable mannequin.
Ryuji just decided to give him some food.
In his words—
"That dude is way too skinny."
...
After a few seconds of waiting, Yusuke arrived at the door. Seeing his friends, he was shocked. His mouth fell open, and he stuttered a few times. He looked tired. He had bags around his eyes, and his fingers kept twitching. He looked like he was ready to pass out.
"Surprise!" Ann said to break the awkward atmosphere.
"You said you couldn't leave, so we decided to stop by to show our support," Shiho said kindly.
"Here, dude. You need to eat more." Ryuji cut in awkwardly, handing him a bag.
Yusuke just sort of accepted it absentmindedly. The girls approached next and handed him their gifts.
"The quality isn't the best," they mumbled in embarrassment.
Ren approached next and handed him a thick book.
Tapping his shoulder, he said, "We have your back, Yusuke."
Yusuke stood there in stunned silence, glancing at the gifts and then again at the group. He almost began to cry. It had been a very long time since someone had done something like this without asking for anything in return. He didn't know what to do.
"I..." he began.
"Make sure that painting is great, okay?" Orihime said with a bright smile.
Yusuke stammered for another second before holding the book and bags to his chest.
"Thank you, everyone," he said quietly.
The team smiled and nodded back.
"Let us know when you are free, Yusuke," Shiho said softly.
"Get some rest, buddy," Ryuji said awkwardly.
Yusuke nodded. He was still in shock.
---
The team stood in the station with grave faces.
"He looked..."
"So tired."
"And touched."
Ren was biting his lip a bit. That was hard for him to see. But he was glad they did it. Yusuke definitely needed that.
"We can't put this off any longer," Morgana suddenly said.
"Yeah..." the team all mumbled.
Ren remained silent. He was fiddling with his hair in thought. He looked up at his friends, his team, his family, and asked,
"Does anyone mind if we pull Yusuke into this?"
"I don't. But he looks like he may collapse at any point," Shiho mumbled.
"He needs to get out of the situation in general."
"I don't know how we can do it, though."
Ren gritted his teeth and let out a sigh. "I have an idea. I'll need either Fuuka or Futaba's help, along with Morgana's expertise."
The team nodded. They trusted Ren with everything they had. He may love to screw around with them, but he was always dependable in situations like this.
"Do your thing, Joker," Ryuji said firmly.
---
Sitting in his room above Leblanc, Ren lifted his phone to eye level before saying,
"I need someone of your expertise, Miss Baba."
Ren figured she was like Fuuka and that Alibaba was a handle for her hacking. It was simple, easy to remember, and an overall very common handle.
BZZT.
---
CHAT LOG
[Alibaba]
Hacker(wo)man at your service. Line is encrypted. Whatcha need?
---
Ren was silent for a moment and began to explain Yusuke's situation as best he could while keeping as much as possible private.
---
CHAT LOG
[Alibaba]
Don't have to tell me twice. I'll take care of it. Just ping me when you need it done.
.
.
.
Help that guy.
---
"Of course," Ren said out loud.
Morgana, who had been sitting nearby, gave a meow of approval too.
---
CHAT LOG
[Alibaba]
Morgana's intelligence is both fascinating and scary.
---