The Black Kimono – chapter 241
Ren knocked on Maki's dorm room once and waited. A few seconds later, the muffled sound of quiet footsteps approached, and the door creaked open. Maki stood there dressed in a striking, all-black kimono, her bangs a mess and partially obscuring her eyes.
'A kimono?' Ren thought, blinking in surprise. 'I've actually never seen her wear something like that... wait! I almost forgot! Wearing a kimono is tradition for New Year's! Shit, maybe I should have worn one too!'
Ren was about to speak, but Maki beat him to it in a calm, almost icy tone. "You didn't even wear a kimono? Go wear one, will you? Ugh, you're so careless... I will speak with you later in the afternoon."
Before he could get a word out, she shut the door in his face. Ren stood there, speechless. 'What? She... Maki never speaks to me like that. Why did she sound mad? No, that wasn't anger; it was something else. Maybe she's just in a bad mood?
But why? We won the Goodwill Event. I don't care much about it, but I know for sure everyone else—Panda, Inumaki, and Maki—cares. It doesn't make sense. Am I forgetting something? No, I remember everything. There is no way I did something to piss her off. Yesterday morning she was smiling, but now... why does she feel so cold?'
Ren started walking back to his own dorm, his mind spinning. As he passed another door, he took a step to the left and gave it a quick knock. A second later, Inumaki opened it. "Rice ball!" the boy greeted.
"Inumaki, do you know why Maki is in a bad mood?" Ren asked.
Inumaki tilted his head curiously before giving a firm shake. "Tuna mayo!"
Ren nodded. "Uh, yeah. I'm going to go get dressed in a kimono anyway. See you later, man."
Ren turned and headed back to his room while Inumaki closed the door, a thought crossing his mind. 'Is Maki in a bad mood? And Ren found out about it. Hmm... must be Ren's fault. 'Inumaki shrugged and went back into his room.
Back in his dorm, Ren shut the door and paced. 'Wait, could it be that Mai somehow spoke with Maki? Does she know I gave Mai my phone number? No, Mai would avoid Maki at any cost. And even if Maki knew, she shouldn't get angry over that—she'd ask questions, but she wouldn't freeze me out. Also, why "afternoon"? Something is fishy. Did she somehow learn about Mei Mei? Ugh, whatever it is, it's bad.'
He sat on the bed, staring at nothing. 'Now is the perfect time to study Maki's body. I'm back to a hundred per cent; in fact, I'm stronger than ever. Not only that, but I've been with her for a whole year. I'm sure she views me as a very good friend, and she wouldn't say no if I asked to study her. Things are going to be peaceful for a while—it's the perfect time—but if she doesn't even want to see me, then that's a problem.'
Ren went through countless mental simulations of why Maki was acting this way while simultaneously trying to figure out how to put on a kimono. He somehow ended up with the black garment on upside down. 'Ugh, how do you wear this? I need a YouTube tutorial!' He sat on the floor and pulled out his phone, frantically searching for guides on how to dress in traditional men's attire. It took him the entire morning, but he finally managed to get the Montsuki Haori Hakama on.
He looked at himself in the mirror. 'Hmm... it's big on me because this isn't mine. It's another one of Gojo's hand-me-downs. It's too big, but it works. Hehe, I look a little cool. ' Ren posed a few different ways, admiring the look until his eyes hit the clock. "WHAT?! That took me an hour? How!? Ugh, it's already afternoon." He scrambled to move, but as he bent down, his hakama came loose. Ren grunted, tied it as tightly as he could, and hurried back to Maki's dorm.
Knock, knock. Maki opened the door, and Ren struck a T-pose. "Uh, hey, I'm back. How do I look?" The haori was far too large for him, making him look a little ridiculous, but Maki didn't smile.
She didn't even look him in the eye.
"Come inside..." Maki said in that same detached tone.
'Even my dumb charm didn't work,' Ren thought, stepping inside. 'Okay, something is definitely wrong for sure.' He walked into the room, and his eyes immediately landed on a small black box sitting on the table. Ren sat in a chair and looked at Maki, who slowly moved to the seat opposite him. She sat down calmly, the silence between them becoming deafening.
'Why is this so awkward? She has to be doing this on purpose, right?'
Just as Ren was about to break the tension, Maki spoke. "I made this for you... eat it and listen." She slowly pushed the black box toward him. It was then that Ren noticed the small bandages wrapped around Maki's hands.
They were new...
'What the hell is she thinking? and what the hell is going on?'