2026-02-28: Opening Up
- Log: 2026-02-28 Opening Up
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Makoto Niijima
- Where: Somewhere four hours away from Tokyo
- OOC Date: February 28, 2026
- IC Date: Tuesday, October 02, 2012
- Summary: While on a field trip to a Tokugawa era castle, Makoto and Ren discuss the gossip some of the other students (including the Homunculus of Kazusa Motojima) started making about the two of them possibly being a couple, and what that might mean for the future given that Ren already has a girlfriend. Both of them end up opening up to the other about their recent problems, and even if it might exacerbate that gossip, their friendship deepens.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
As much as the four-hour drive there sucked, and as little as Ren looks forward to the four-hour drive back, they have to admit: the trip to Ichigoro Castle itself was actually pretty fun. History is arguably Ren's worst subject now that Umie has reframed math as a puzzle to be solved to them (social studies still gives it a run for its money), but Prof. Fontaine made the topic interesting and engaging. He has to give Isabeau's dad credit there: he's a good teacher.
Getting to get more hands-on in smaller groups with the people on-site made it easier to engage with the topic, too. True to the instructions everyone received, Ren kept their hands to themself, but they did inspect the various ruins and listen to the explanations with a decent amount of genuine interest.
Of course, the fact that a ninja clan was allegedly involved in the destruction here helps keep up that interest after the Phantom Thieves' run-in with one.
On the way back, Ren's alert and feeling good--the gossip about them and Makoto notwithstanding. Hopefully nothing comes of it. Things are already a little shaky with them and Minako right now. They'd better warn her about it, just to be on the safe side--and, as they think that, they glance over at their friend and realize they'd better warn her, too.
"Hey, Makoto," they thus murmur as the two of them are walking, keeping their voice down so it's just the two of them. "I don't know if you noticed, but a couple of other students were talking about us earlier. Hopefully it stays just idle chatter, but in case any weird rumors start spreading, it sounds like they might think we're a couple."
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
The rest of the field trip did, as expected, involve getting separated into groups and Makoto having to field questions about the trip back and getting, maybe, a little too into the learning about the history of Ichigoro Castle and the nature of archaeology and history working together.
She likes learning, okay? She's weird like that.
With a notebook full of extensive notes- and a merciful break from the thing wearing Kazusa's skin- Makoto is looking forward to what will be hopefully a calm trip back. The last thing anyone wants is the bus breaking down hours out from Tokyo, naturally.
When Ren and Makoto start to walk back to the bus, Ren does seem to be looking better- until Ren mentions what she suspects is going on.
"H-huh?" Makoto's eyes widen and it's very hard to keep her volume matched to Ren's, her hand going up to her mouth. It takes a moment for Makoto's brain to even process the idea. "They are!?" Makoto looks confused more than anything, as if the idea that anyone could imagine *her* dating seems entirely alien to her. "That's..." She lets out a tired sigh. "...Really? That's... some scrutiny we don't need. What even could have given them that impression?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Not weird at all. Ren likes learning, too. It's just that... some things catch her interest more easily than others, and they hate the stifling structure of school in particular. This field trip is more her style.
Again, they just wish it hadn't involved an eight-hour round trip. If the school's going to do that, at least make a weekend of it or something.
For now, though, the topic is her personal life and how it might affect Makoto. They're not surprised to see she's surprised; she was clearly not paying attention to the gossiping students. Ren is not the same sort of creature. Just because she doesn't given credence to what her peers are saying doesn't mean she isn't listening.
"From what I overheard, the fact that we're hanging out at all," Ren replies. As Shinichi mused, the two of them are the Student Council President and the infamous delinquent convict; they definitely seem like a mismatch, so it's going to draw people's attention no matter what.
They pause, wondering if they should add the next part. But... if rumors like that spread, this will definitely get mentioned, so... "...and because we held hands for a second back at that fireworks show that got rained out." Their eyes narrow. "It was 'Motojima-san' who said that in particular. Thinking back, the original Motojima-san tried to grill me about our friendship a week or so after that. I guess she saw, and her Homunculus is choosing to spread that around now."
Maybe it was innocent on her part to ask about that and maybe it wasn't, but Ren is not giving either of them the benefit of the doubt.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Makoto lets out a frustrated sigh... Is it really that little? "I guess it's not like I hang out with many people at all," she admits. "But why is dating the first thing they assume-"
Oh. Right. The fireworks festival. Of course.
"That- you were just helping me not get separated in the crowd!" Makoto's voice rises a bit, only for her to take a deep breath and calm down again. She's pretty sure no one heard her, but Ren is trying to keep things quiet- possibly for both their reputations. "Why would the Homunculus even want to share that?" She wonders again, frustration clearly creeping out. "The real Motojima-san seemed to just be happy enough to make snide comments about my dad after she was done trying to needle me about how I knew you and Sakamoto-kun. All she cared about then was reputation." ...is she really not ready to use yobisute with Ryuji? Not without a conversation at least.
The jab about Makoto's dad was probably innocent enough, and it was still enough to get Makoto mad as hell at her, almost like her father's death remains a hot button for her.
"...I just don't get it. If they're going to assume you and I are dating, why wouldn't just as many rumours be spreading about me and Haru?"
And then it finally occurs to her, that her own mental categorization of Ren isn't shared by everyone else. "Oh. Right." Makoto seems to sag a bit. "...I really don't get what's going on in their heads."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Yeah. I know," Ren replies, eyelashes dipping, when Makoto protests there was nothing romantic about the two of them holding hands that day. "No idea why she cares. Maybe the real Motojima-san was planning on stirring shit about it, but her life got derailed before she could, and the Homunculus is following up on that?"
That doesn't seem to match the 'kind, friendly' image that it's trying to project now, but Ren doesn't trust that anyway, so it still seems like a reasonable possibility. If Kazusa really only cared about reputation, why would she try to dig about it in the first place? It's got nothing to do with her either way.
They do take note of the fact that Makoto is still not on first-name basis with Ryuji. Maybe the two of them don't hang out as much as they do... That's between her and Ryuji, though.
Ren pauses at Makoto's question about people's assumptions. When they realize why she asks that, though, she smiles, touched. Placing her in the same box as a girl as cute and feminine as Haru really makes her happy.
"It's because most students at Shujin only care about image, and based solely on image, it'd be a delicious scandal," he then explains. "You're the diligent, rules-abiding Student Council President, and I'm the infamous delinquent convict who'll cut you as soon as look at you, probably." They shrug, trying to cast it as less of a big deal than it feels like. "It makes a great story, anyway. Especially for those who love romantic drama. Hopefully it doesn't make it to the rumor mill, but... we shouldn't count on that."
They look away. "...I just hope it doesn't cause you any trouble. I'm going to give Minako a head's up, too. I don't want to hurt her again..." They wouldn't mean to, but they didn't mean to before, either.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Makoto can only shrug when Ren tries to work out what Kazusa intended to do. "Honestly, she mostly seemed annoyed that I stopped judging you by reputation," Makoto keeps her voice low, "and then she seemed upset that I didn't seem to care about my reputation as much as she did. She kept trying to nudge me to tell her why I seemed to care about you all. I don't know, I was trying to give her a chance until she..." Makoto sucks in a little breath, and her hand goes to rest on her school bag, fidgeting with the strap a little. ...Well, less fidgeting, more very tightly gripping it, her knuckles whitening.
On the upside, seeing that smile on Ren's face indicates she's said something wright this conversation, and it's very nice to see. It still feels rare to see her smile so warmly, honestly, even if it seems to be getting more common.
"...Ah," Makoto says, as Ren manages to explain it, crossing her arms. "Of course. Because they've got nothing better to do than imagine some relationship right out of a shojo manga..." she closes her eyes and shakes her head. "...I guess we'll have to hope. The school tends to move on pretty quickly when something else juicy comes along, right?" Well, some of them, maybe. Makoto, admittedly, is fairly disconnected to the rumour mill. It's not like the Student Council is particularly including in the information line. Honestly... she probably should have assumed the same thing given how important being seen as the dutiful student council president was to her.
...Oh. Right. "I can deal with trouble now, Ren." There's a confidence to her voice now, as she says it, even if no one else can overhear. "Rumours are going to get around, but if someone wants to make a deal about, I can handle it." Her right hand is definitely forming a fist now, possibly indicating *how* she'd like to handle it. They might be a problem if rumours reach sis, but... well, would Sis even believe Makoto would consider dating someone?
"Arisato-san, though..." Makoto looks a little worried. She still feels bad for walking onto that landmine. "...Yeah. You should let her know. If she needs more reassurance there's nothing going on, I'd be happy to talk to her too."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Hmm." Ren can't offer any insight into Kazusa; they don't like her and they've had few direct interactions with her. If it weren't for the fact that she's in supernatural danger, they'd be content to think about her as little as possible. Even here, when they see Makoto grip her school bag's strap with white knuckles, their thoughts are for her rather than Kazusa. "...What did she do? Do you want to talk about it?" they prompt gently.
It's nice to feel that smile, really. It's definitely more common than it used to be, but then, Ren's got a lot more stalwart friends than she used to.
As far as the rumor mill at Shujin moving on quickly, though, it does depend on the rumor. Ren's smile fades. The student body doesn't gossip as much about them compared to the start of the school year, but those rumors haven't gone away, either. To that, they can't say anything.
But then Makoto reassures them, and a slighter smile returns to their lips. "True. I won't worry so much, then." They'll still worry a little--that's natural when it comes to your friends--but Makoto's right: she can take care of herself.
...A bead of sweat might slide down the side of their face when they see her clenched fists imply how she'd like to take care of everyone else, though.
"Thanks," they murmur on the topic of Minako. "I'll let her know that too."
They really do hope it doesn't come to that, for everyone's sake, but they understand people too well to truly expect otherwise.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
"It's..." Makoto sighs again- for all she implied or outright said Ren should let the rest of them into her personal life, Makoto seems just as bad about that herself, if not moreso. It seems for a second she might shut down like she did when Ren tried to ask Makoto about her relationship with Sae.
Eventually, though. "...I probably overreacted," Makoto says, like it's the first time she's really tried to examine her behaviour that day. "I just... I don't know. Maybe I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt after how I treated you and Ann and Sakamoto-kun. I ended up talking about my aikido practice, how it was something no one would expect me to do, but I'm still proud of it even if I don't advertise it." She shrugs a bit, frustrated. "And I told her it was something Sis and I used to do with my dad, while he was still alive and she was just..." Makoto's stopped making eye contact with Ren now. "She said something about how... 'nice' it must have been, and I just... I got angry. It just... made me think about his murder."
It's rare she says it like that, usually she just refers to her father's death, rather than calling it what she honestly thinks it was. What Sae definitely thinks it was.
"...That's all it was, but it made me so angry." ...and with how much Isabeau and her father were interacting and cheerfully bouncing off each other, it's hard to imagine it not being a pretty raw wound. "...That's why I wanted to avoid investigating her, I guess.
Makoto doesn't seemingly notice that bead of sweat on Ren's face. Look, this is... not Ren's fault at all that she's like this excepting that Ren and the other Phantoms let her join. Or does Ren only like it when it's directed at her? Questions Makoto is a long way from consciously thinking about or even recognizing it.
"...You know that other people starting rumours based on nothing isn't your fault, right?" The other way she hurt Minako, maybe, but 'a weird supernatural entity started rumours about Ren and Makoto dating' is one of those things you genuinely can't plan for.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It's for that very reason that if Makoto had refused, Ren would have let her. They know well that some things just aren't that easy to talk about, and this is clearly something that upset her. They already know about her father's death, and how there's something going on with her sister that she doesn't want to acknowledge, much less discuss...
But she does open up, and Ren listens, eyes on her. Based solely on Makoto's description, it actually doesn't sound like Kazusa tried to hurt her on purpose, but knowing her (however poorly), they wouldn't be surprised if she said it in a snide way that set her off. They can't know that for sure, though, and it wouldn't help Makoto at all to speculate in that direction, so they simply nod.
Her father's 'murder.' It's not like the two of them have discussed it that much, but that's not how she referred to it last time. Ren can't imagine that it would be easy to acknowledge that her father is gone specifically because someone took his life... And it probably did hurt her to see Isabeau and her father being so friendly and loving with each other. "That makes sense," they say quietly, then offer her a muted smile. "Don't worry. We're a team for a reason."
When one of them can't handle something, someone else can step up to take the slack. That's what it means to have reliable friends.
Look. Ultraviolence may be sexy, but context is important!! Just because Queen is hot when she's pummeling a Shadow into a smear of ichor doesn't mean that Ren necessarily wants to imagine her beating the shit out of some poor idiot at school! It's just as well Makoto doesn't notice...
But she does notice the downward shift in their mood. They look back at her, and though they don't smile, their dark eyes do soften. "...Yeah. I know." They pause. "And we did talk about it afterwards. Minako and I, I mean. After we split off from you and Yusuke."
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
And Makoto can appreciate Ren's tendency to do that- but in the same vein, Makoto sometimes needs a push, or just to be approached at the right time, and sometimes the right time is when something has been picking at the emotional scab.
"...Thanks," Makoto manages, possibly realizing how much she has shared- but she means it. She is thankful for having her friends- her team, now- after having had no one for so long. Even months later, she's still getting used to having reliable friends.
We'll leave the matter of ichor making everyone hotter there for the moment.
"I'm glad," Makoto says, offering Ren a warmer smile. "Arisato-san seems nice- and you both looked happy there, when she first arrived." And then she pauses, realizing that... she has put her foot it in again. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, just that... you know. It was nice to see you actually... relaxing and looking happy. When there always feels like some stress looming over, it's good to see that even you get the chance to take a breather."
She feels, briefly, like the best time to stop talking was several sentences ago, and the second best time is now before she gets a second taste of her shoes.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
So: right now, then.
But the fact that Makoto has shared isn't one Ren minds--quite the opposite. When she thanks them, they give her another little encouraging nod in a silent sort of 'you're welcome.'
They don't even mind her sticking her foot in it. "No, I get what you mean. It's fine. You're right, anyway," they say quietly. They appreciate too that Makoto was happy to see them happy--more than she realizes. They pause to think about that. They don't tend to talk about themself, but Makoto just shared, and this is the crux of the issue they had with Minako, so... they ought to try harder to fix that, right? For Minako's sake.
"Actually, I've been thinking a lot about what happened since then, and..." They take a deep breath, back straightening with tension. "...Back in my hometown, my best friend--ex-best friend, now--he had a tendency to get jealous when good things happened to me. That included when I was dating someone. So I kind of... learned not to be too loud about things I'm happy about? I don't want to make anyone feel bad because I've got something they don't..." They bow their head. "I know you guys aren't like that. I shouldn't have a reason to keep something innocent like me making a girlfriend from you all. But it's... easier to not say things, I guess. It's just what I do by default now."
Why share things that are important to you with people who won't care--who might even get angry about it? And their friends aren't like that, and they'd intended for a long time to bring it up, but it kept not being the right time, or... they were worried for a long time that Ryuji might be on this specific topic, and when he announced he'd made a girlfriend, Ren didn't want to me-too it or try to upstage him by announcing the same thing. In the end, it meant they told Ichika, who explicitly would not have any hang-ups about people dating, and Ryuji, who's been deliriously happy with his new girlfriend, and... no one else.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
She's a little relieved that Ren gets what she meant, instead of what she said. It's a relief to have someone to talk to where she doesn't have to be desperately careful about precision in language, where she won't be pounced on for a misstatement.
And Ren is trying to share too, so Makoto gives her a chance to say what she wants to say.
"I see... that makes sense." Makoto says, as she takes in the information. Honestly, Ren's former best friend doesn't sound like the greatest guy. "And how you came to Shujin probably didn't help that, did it?" She's learning how to make inferences like this. "Once burned, twice shy."
Still, Makoto does smile a bit more now. "Thanks for telling me." There's no jealousy, no 'wanting want Ren has', just genuine thanks. Makoto is, after all, a terrible liar when it's not to adults, so it's just as easy when she's telling the truth.
...Still, it gives Makoto room to think too. She and Ren are maybe a little too similar, in some ways- for all she and Tsubasa were best friends in middle school, she'd rarely talk about the sort of topics she's started to open up with with Ren.
"...Maybe it's just easier to be honest with friends when you're not pretending to be someone else," she muses out loud, not entirely realizing that's what she's doing. Still, it's not like anyone but Ren can hear her at this distance.
...Sure, this quiet, honest conversation might not do anything to quell the rumours going on about them, but she can handle some baseless rumours for being able to actually be a friend to a friend.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Maybe not. If Makoto had said that aloud, though, Ren would defend him, despite their own bitterness about how their friendship ended. Ren knows, in many respects, they were a 'have' and Yoshio was a 'have-not.' Besides, it wasn't as though he was always jealous, or even loud about his jealousy. You can't help how you feel, and Yoshio had a complicated family situation. ...But it's also true that accommodating Yoshio's feelings for so long has directly, negatively impacted Ren's own personality.
That's for Ren to work out in therapy one day, though.
"Yeah. Exactly," she murmurs, grateful that Makoto gets it without having to be explicitly told. "When I arrived, nearly everybody had already made up their minds about me. Why bother explaining myself to people like that? Just let them think what they want. What they think about me doesn't change who I actually am."
So when Makoto smiles at them, they smile back. They can tell that there's no jealousy or resentment or judgement there, and there is such emotional freedom in that for them. "Thanks for listening." That smile fades as she muses about pretending--but it's more out of pensiveness than anything else. "...Maybe." They shut their eyes and amble back into a slouch. "So I'm glad we could make friends with each other."
Ren might take a step or two away from her to try to not add fuel to the fire, but they would never stop being friends with her over it--and they'll certainly never regret making friends with her, either. What a difference compared to that day in the Student Council room when Ren stonewalled Makoto's every inquiry, huh?
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Makoto can only make a best guess, and it's not like she doesn't have someone in her life who she feels similarly about. Otherwise she'd probably have been able to talk about things at home with Ren by now.
Shujin has a school counsellor now, though, and maybe Makoto will follow through on talking to him soon too.
Makoto just nods, as Ren talks about everyone else's preconceptions. "...Reputation really is a weapon, a shield and a cage all in one." It's interesting, thinking about it again- for Makoto, her reputation and position shielded her from the worst of it. For Ren, her reputation was used to try and keep her in line. "Seems to keep backfiring is someone tries too hard to use it against you, though."
After all, neither of them would be here today if it weren't for people trying to weaponize Ren's reputation against or, or keep Makoto in line with hers.
"Me too," Makoto responds, relaxing herself- and once again, the proper Student Council President and the unrepentant criminal are casual and relaxed as they make their way for the four hour bus trip back.
And sure, they can mitigate the rumours, but it's hard not to see that Makoto is a lot more relaxed and at ease with Ren than she is with most others. Maybe it's easy for rumours to start about people with no regrets.