Kaito went to school much earlier than usual because of his noisy sister. But, he doesn’t expect the class atmosphere to be awkward as well.

Buying bread is only an excuse. Actually, Kaito doesn’t know where to go now he left the class. The dojo is out of the question. He doesn’t want to come across his dojo members with ruined faces like this. Thinking about the quietest place beside the dojo, Kaito remembered one particular place; The garden behind the school.

When Kaito finds someone, standing alone in the garden, somehow it doesn't surprise him anymore.

Watching Ren from afar reminds Kaito how perfect this guy could be - he doesn’t want to be one of those who idolize him in a box of perfection. but that fact is undeniable. At first, Kaito thinks all Ren’s friends would be like Yami and Goro, only using him for their advantage. But it proved wrong. Ren also has friends like Benji, who stands up for him, and protects him from behind without Ren knowing. Now Kaito thinks it must be because of Ren's kindness and earnestness that resonate toward people around him.

Ren is standing on the side of Koi pond behind their school building, his posture is straight; a tender muscle hiding behind his uniform as a result of an intense swimming routine; not too bulky, but still there. Silky caramel brown hair sways with the morning gentle breeze, dancing along with the falling cherry blossoms carried by the late spring wind. His face is soft, radiant under the gold sunray, smiling while feeding the Koi inside the pond; Kaito grabs the fabric on his chest - his heartbeat accelerating.

That genuine smile again.

/Am I really a bad influence on him? It’s true that we are like living in the different worlds/

Kaito walks carefully to approach him, The dried leaves and gravel cause an inevitable rustling sound. Ren turns his face and it can’t be helped that their gazes finally meet. Kaito freezes and Ren seems as surprised as he is.

“Oh, Sato! Come here fast!” Ren beams excitedly, grabs the hem of Kaito's sleeve uniform and brings him to see inside the pond “You see the gold one?” He points to the huddle of Kois who are swimming gracefully below the clear water - rather than looking at the gold one, Kaito is distracted by how small Ren’s fingers are "You see it?"

Still, baffled by Ren's sudden giddiness Kaito stammered "uh? That one?" Below the ruffled water surface the fishes submerge under the lily pads; With scales like the most delicate of armour plating, in vibrant colours of gold, red, orange and various patterns, without visible effort it moved from plain sight, glimmering in the early morning sun. 

Ren nods enthusiastically, A smile grows on his sun-kissed face - Summer has arrived.

"Do you think it's pregnant?" He wonders, grabbing a handful of fish food and spreading it away into the pond.

"Why do you think so?" Kaito is more curious about how Ren sees his surroundings.

"Don't you see its belly? It's bigger than the rest of them" He sums up, and seems confident with his own hypothesis.

"Pfftt…" Kaito snorts "how can you be so sure?" He nudges him gently " it could be the boss, it got more food than the others, or worse it steals their food" 

Ren gasp when the realisation invades him, "Ah I never thought that way" he ponders "The water is so calm, not a single ripple on the surface I never thought there would be a commotion down there"

“Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many,” Kaito adds in a quiet murmur.

Ren doesn’t miss it and nods, “Can’t more agree with you”

Silence falls between them. The two of them are engulfed in their own thoughts for a couple of minutes until Ren starts again.

“Anyway now you are here, let’s start our session. The first lesson in our first-year biology class is about The interactions among organisms and their biophysical environment.” He says, returning to his serious tone like when he taught Kaito yesterday, although his eyes are still busy following the swimming Koi. “Do you think how many lives there are in this pond?” 

“6 koi and 4 lotus plants. So it’s 10.” Kaito answers without giving much thought.

“Wrong.” Ren quickly judges.

Kaito frowns and leans closer to the edge of the stones beside the pond. “Ah, is the frog here count? Then it’s eleven?”

“Wrong”

“So the baby from the pregnant fish also counts. Then it could be around 20?”

“You said it’s not pregnant. Anyway, you are still wrong”

“What?” Kaito starts to feel Ren is playing on him. He can’t see anything else besides the Koi, the plant and the frog. “Then how many is it?”

“I don’t know,” Ren shrugs.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“In a pond habitat, there could be hundreds or thousands of living organisms.”

“No way! How can’t I see them?”

“Dumbass, why do you think microscopes exist if our eyes can see everything?” Ren is surprised by his sudden outburst and quickly regains his cool back. “Anyway, a living organism could possibly reside inside the Koi, not only the fish and the plants on the surface. Don’t forget about the moss, larvae of the bugs or mosquitos and the decomposed microorganisms. Besides the living ones, there are also the unliving ones like rocks, falling leaves, and even temperature, and humidity. So, the environment where living and nonliving things interact is called an ecosystem.”

“Ah I see, I think I vaguely remember that.” Kaito brushes his chin, pondering. “Hey, do you know why they named these fish Koi?”

“What an interesting question in our biology session, Sato.” Ren quips, unimpressed.

“Oh come on, don’t be so stiff. We even argued about the pregnant Koi before.”

Ren sighs and answers, “I don’t know why they named it Koi.”

“Wow, there’s actually a thing that Ren Hasegawa doesn’t know about,” Whistling, Kaito clearly bites back his teasing smile.

“Then, how about you? Explain to me if you know!” Ren said after taking a deep, long inhale. Reorganising his patience.

“I wouldn’t ask you if I know the answer, smartass.” Kaito retorts. “But, isn’t it interesting that ‘Koi’ is a homophone for another word that means ‘affection’ or ‘love’? Was this a symbol of love back in the past?”

“Probably,” Ren answers, and then he is reminded of something. “Ah, there’s a famous Japanese phrase I particularly like; Koi No Yokan.”

“I think I heard that somewhere.” Talking while being hypnotised by Koi’s gracefulness and the calm water ripple is actually relaxing. There’s something unexplainable about the pond that brings calm to Kaito’s mind. Kaito almost forgets the urge to run away from the class 10 minutes ago. No wonder Ren likes this place so much.

“It means, the extraordinary sense upon first meeting someone that you will one day fall in love,” Ren says, almost unsure.

“Heh, what was that? Like love at first sight or something, kinda cheesy.”

“It is the knowledge one has that he/she is going to fall in love with another person. This differs from the idea of “love at first sight” in that it does not imply that the feeling of love exists, rather it refers to the knowledge that a future love is inevitable. I think that’s a beautiful concept”

Kaito blinks before he clears his throat, “That’s…more realistic than love at the first sight. When love at the first sight could be solely based on how we like someone in their shell. Koi No Yokan is an instinct that someone is our perfect match and it’s only about the damn time we would fall for them. A fated pair.”

“Like two poles of the magnet,” Ren adds

“Or, a pair of boxing gloves.” Kaito grins. The sting from the wound throbbed under his face mask.

Ren rolls his eyes but bites his lips from smiling. “Ooor, like gravity cause planets pulling toward the sun?”

“Okay, that’s enough, you took it too far.” Kaito muses flatly. “But, to think a smart-logical-thinker as you trust in something like…fate?” Kaito grimaces, tilting his head at how this could be the most lovey-dovey, rainbow cupcake he had conversed with.

“The thing is if someone like me doesn’t believe in such a fate, I’d be completely hopeless,” Ren chuckles dryly.

“What do you mean?” Kaito subconsciously turns his head to meet Ren’s eyes and he regrets it right away. Because the moment Ren also sees his face, his hazel eyes pop out into a bright halo.

“Who the fuck I was talking with?” Ren gasps after seeing the bruises on Kaito’s face.

Kaito rolls his eyes lazily, “You know that joke is starting to get lame.”

“That face definitely is not because of me. I didn’t beat you up hard enough yesterday. Who were you fighting with? Are they alive? You didn’t injure them to the point of being life-threatening were you?”

“You saw me like this but you are asking about the guy I fought with? You are unbelievable.” Kaito sighs in dismay. “Some weirdo appeared at the gate yesterday when I went home,” Kaito admits truthfully. If he has to explain himself, he thinks at least he should do it for Ren. He doesn’t want Ren to think all his effort to teach Kaito would go in vain and Kaito doesn’t take this seriously. 

After all, every partnership should begin with mutual trust.

“And are you actually dumb enough to let them beat the hell out of you?” Ren snatches Kaito’s hat and finds more scratches and bruises hidden on his forehead.”I thought all muscle head like you was too prideful to let themselves fucked up. And you…” Ren searches for Kaito’s black eyes. “You were not even angry nor vengeful. I know the rumour about you could wreck 10 people alone was not baseless. Why were you being a pushover?”

Kaito takes off his face mask just to show his cocky smirk with his busted lips. “Then what?” He scoffs while averting his gaze from Ren. Those beady eyes stared intently at every inch of his face close up somewhat warmth his cheeks. “Winning against those small fries wouldn't get me anything. Not that I would proudly announce it or something. I bet no one knows who the heck they were beside their fellow childish gang members”

“Ha?” Ren losses for words. “But, wouldn’t be beaten up to this…this outrageous extent is even more humiliating? Oh gosh, what people around the school would gossip about you this time? And if your club's freshmen see your bruises they would withdraw their registration form - how can they trust a karate captain who got his ass owned by thugs?”

Kaito leisurely proceeds toward the gazebo, “Since when do I care? Being harassed is not something someone needs to be ashamed of. The perpetrator should be. Being weak is not a sin. In spite of people startingetsg to think otherwise, I don’t intend to normalise violence on school grounds. In fact, I despised it.”

Ren blinks hard. He’s having a hard time believing those words coming from Kaito’s mouth. The same guy known as a gang member, a brutal, savage, merciless medalist who always caused tons of problems just said he despised school violence. Ren doubts his hearing. However, except for sparring with the Kyokushin members, no one actually sees Kaito beat someone else - especially kids from the school. He may look like a delinquent with his messy uniform, long hair, and rebellious attitude, but he’s definitely never bullying anyone.

“Well, other than that…” Kaito scratches his head hesitantly while sitting on the edge of the gazebo. “I promise my karate sensei to never fight outside the ring”

/I've misjudged him all this time/ Ren thinks regretfully.

“Whatever... come with me now!” Ren orders while turning on his heel, and leaving the garden.

“Where???” Kaito shouts since Ren has walked without turning back.

Ren yells back with a high voice Kaito never heard from him. “To the infirmary blockhead! Do you think tending your wound with an ice pack is enough? Those scratches will give you scars and-”

“Alright, alright~ Geez, who knows you also could be a nagger” Kaito cuts off while catching on to Ren.