My Genuine Feelings

This is a continuation of the fanfiction "Inevitable Collision" in the Hoshigawa Academy RPG (made by my friend) fandom. Summary of the previous part: At the prestigious Hoshigawa Academy, Ren Mikazuki and Alex Backham—two heirs to elite families burdened by existential loneliness and performative lives—initially clash through mutual disdain. Ren maintains a charismatic, perfect facade, while Alex, who despises such artifice, acts out with volatile, childish provocations. Their animosity culminates in a brutal physical fight that leaves both injured and forces a shift in their dynamic. As Ren begins tending to Alex’s wounds in a hidden, high-tech basement beneath the school, the two discover a shared, authentic connection that exists outside of their public personas. What began as a rivalry evolves into a dangerous, intimate dependency, as they navigate the tension between their societal obligations and their growing need for one another in a world of masks. Main storylines: - The transition from public antagonism to private, volatile intimacy. - The establishment of the basement as a sanctuary for both characters to drop their social facades. - The psychological dismantling of Ren’s 'Little King' persona through Alex’s persistent, obsessive provocations. - The cultivation of a secret alliance that threatens their respective reputations at Hoshigawa Academy. Character development: - Ren Mikazuki: Shifts from a rigid, performative 'perfect student' to someone who actively seeks refuge and authenticity in the basement, beginning to resent the exhaustion of his public life. - Alex Backham: Evolves from a predatory antagonist who wants to destroy Ren’s facade through violence to a complex companion who seeks to psychologically 'know' Ren, lowering his own walls of self-imposed exile. Unresolved mysteries and questions: - What is the true purpose of the high-tech, nanotech-filled basement and the mysterious drone project Alex is developing? - How will the conflict between Ren’s prestigious family expectations and his growing desire for autonomy resolve? - To what extent will Alex’s obsession with 'dismantling' Ren’s identity lead to psychological or physical destruction? - Will the secret of their alliance be discovered by the academy, and what are the implications for their futures? Current state at the end of the previous part: Ren and Alex have established a fragile, secret truce. They are currently navigating a routine of mutual care and psychological provocation, with Ren continuing to sneak into the basement to tend to their shared injuries while maintaining his public image at the Academy. The emotional stakes are rising as they both become increasingly attached, yet remain unable to communicate their feelings clearly, leaving their relationship in a state of volatile, unspoken tension. Continuation idea: While Ren pretends to be something he's not thanks to his family, Alex abandoned his to find his own purpose in life. Despite being opposites, they share the same existential loneliness: not being understood or accepted by anyone for who they are. After a fistfight, they both realize this. From then on, what will they do? I'll tell you: nothing. The only one who has the courage to confront that, even if only with casual conversation and banter, is Alex, since Ren has no interest in getting a partner or friend. But neither of them will budge, since they're too busy living their own lives and following strict routines. Still, somehow, they always seem to find each other again. Is it, perhaps, destiny? Though they don't usually communicate clearly what they feel or think (Ren because he doesn't like/know and Alex because he simply doesn't want to, both because they've been lonely for too long), they are able to express it through action. Not that Ren is able to catch a hint... Ren, heir to a prestigious family, which made him much more lonely during his childhood, has a complicated relationship with Alex—who is also the only heir to a prestigious family, sharing many of Ren's sorrows, despite never having met him until a day ago. Ren always preferred to maintain a charismatic facade to be accepted, something Alex noticed right away thanks to his extremely fake family. He developed a certain hatred for Ren because of this, so he told himself that he preferred to avoid him. On the first day of class at a prestigious school—his new school, Hoshigawa Academy; a highly regarded academy considered to give you a "guaranteed future" if you manage to do minimally well—he did a group project with Alex and five other people. At the beginning, Alex asks for a pen, someone lends it, and Ren asks for it back. Alex doesn't want to return it, even though he knows it was his that someone else had borrowed. A few seconds later, one of the people in the group stops the argument, and Alex decides to go to the bathroom. Ren, annoyed with Alex and his childish behavior, chases him to the bathroom, running after him while Alex runs from Ren. When they reach the bathroom, he sees that Alex is just going to use the bathroom normally, so he returns to the classroom. Alex, dissatisfied, when he returns to the classroom, smears his own urine on Ren's face—who only notices by the smell. After quickly washing his face with alcohol, still seated, he gets up and goes to question Alex about it, when the vice-president of the Student Council interrupts them and takes them to the principal's office, where they spend the next six hours. Ren spends the hours with his head resting on one of the desks, away from Alex, while ignoring his casual provocations. When the punishment period is over, they leave the principal's office. Ren, dissatisfied and with a feeling he couldn't name in his chest, decides to follow Alex to his dormitory. However, he discovers that he was going to what appeared to be a hidden basement under a staircase in a less frequented part of the school. Ren decides to threaten Alex, which causes a fistfight between them, an unusual level of closeness for acquaintances. Ren realizes that Alex is not used to street fights, as whenever one was on top of the other, Ren seemed to have the advantage. In the end, Ren fractures Alex's collarbone with a headbutt, and Alex fractures one of his upper ribs on the right side, causing terrible pain when breathing. When the fight ended (or, rather, when both were tired, panting, somewhat sweaty, and almost unable to continue exchanging and defending punches), they stopped, and Ren leaned against the hallway wall. I forgot to mention, but since Ren was quite curious about the basement, he ran to the door and broke it down, only to find a hallway with another door at the end—Alex knocked him to the ground, and when he managed to get up, Ren was thrown by him to the other door, breaking it and hitting his back on the almost warm floor of the sumo. Anyway... a short time later, Ren gets up, with a heavy conscience and somewhat dizzy, and goes to take a shower. When he finishes, he puts on his clothes and goes to Alex, after finding a first-aid kit in the bathroom. He asks Alex to sit in front of Ren, and he does. Soon after, Ren sits down too, and begins to carefully tie a sling to his right collarbone and forearm so that he can recover. Before that, Ren applies light pressure to the spot with two fingers of his left hand, eliciting a grunt from Alex. This situation is new to both of them. Never before has the person they fought been so kind after the fight, to the point of letting them live, showering them, or even tending to their wounds. This brings to both of them, especially Alex, a growing, unnameable feeling at the moment. Alex, who previously said he hated and preferred to avoid Ren because of his false personality, now wouldn't mind seeing different sides of Ren every day. Alex Backham—an asocial, introverted, and difficult-to-approach man who follows a solitary, but not overly rigid, routine—is one of the new students at Hoshigawa Academy. Alex is a black belt in all martial arts and is extremely intelligent, something considered "insignificant" by his parents, with whom he no longer has contact. He always wears headphones and is covered in clothes—the polar opposite of Ren. Alex always wears a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants, black glasses, a black face mask, and black headphones. To complete the look, his hair—which extends to just below his shoulders and is wavy—and eyes are also black, his opaque eyes reminiscent of a starless night sky. Alex doesn't take care of himself as well as most people, but he is still surprisingly handsome, with model-like features, which are not normally seen thanks to his frequent attire. Alex has decided to use his intelligence for, in addition to cooking, technology and nanotechnology, which make up most of his basement. As I mentioned, he has a routine. In this routine, he trains a lot—most of the day—which makes him quite muscular, but not stronger than Ren. At 1.95m tall (and weighing 100kg), Alex is someone who purposefully hides to avoid drawing attention. He speaks casually, sometimes using irony if he wants to irritate someone or if he gets irritated. It's not recommended to pick a fight with him. He has more technique than strength, but he's still intimidating. Has already killed someone. Mikazuki Ren — The prestigious heir of the Mikazuki family, obligated to maintain an impeccable posture, appearance, and image to keep the family's reputation impeccable, embodies the "perfect student" daily. Ren constantly feigns a docile and approachable personality, helping and fitting in with anyone regardless of whether he knows them or not, to appear "perfect." He always draws attention wherever he is, especially due to his 1.90m height (also, weights 98kg) and prominent muscles, hidden from a distance by tailored clothing, but never up close. Some veins are prominent, and his abdomen is well-defined. Unlike Alex, Ren always wears formal attire that fits his body like gloves. Ren also has black hair and opaque black eyes, but unlike Alex, his eyes have natural Namidabukuros underneath, and his hair is short, only abundant in layers, although it is straight and very soft. Always with a smile on his face and smiling eyes, Ren exudes a natural charisma and seems to embody the dream of many. Ren and Alex were deflowered before even entering Hoshigawa — on purpose. Before they started fighting for real, after Ren was thrown and broke a door, he removed his jacket and loosened his tie, while Alex removed his hooded shirt, glasses, and mask, leaving only a dark gray tank top, black pants, black socks, and his gloves that function using nanotechnology. Whilst Ren had black, kind of loose pants which didn't show how big his legs are (very, since he never skips training thanks to an eight year-long routine), and a white dress shirt, which, due to sweat, now reveals his prominent chest and abdomen, as well as his broad, thick shoulders and arms. Alex is taller, but Ren is more muscular. Furthermore, Alex seems, for some reason Ren doesn't understand, to really enjoy teasing him. And Alex is not the type to explain, since he likes leaving things ambiguous to piss Ren off. Even if someone says things with double meanings, Ren doesn't understand because he's not capable of understanding flirting, as he doesn't have a dirty mind. Currently, Ren avoids Alex to protect himself, since he's not used to having people around. Still, Alex always manages to meet up with him and provoke him, something Ren enjoys, since he is curious about how far Alex would go just to know him, without knowing that both him and Alex are getting attached simultaneously, while revealing themselves. After their exchange of blows, Ren carefully tended to Alex's wound, applying an improvised sling made from bandages from the first-aid kit he found. Then he left, still in considerable pain—and stressed (not too much, but he pretended to be at the time), because Alex gave a "goodbye" pat on the fractured part of his back, causing Ren to stagger. From then on, they didn't see each other again, except during class time, but Ren was too busy studying or talking to people and pretending his fractured spine wasn't hurting to talk to Alex, not that he would, if he could. On the contrary, his goal was to keep as much distance as possible from him, because Alex had seen a side of Ren that no one else had seen. On the other hand, Alex was intrigued and wanted to know more about this Ren, and to topple the king's crown himself. However, he wasn't going to chase after Ren all the time, as he preferred to stick to his routine, and didn't want to admit that he enjoyed his company. This applied to both of them. Throughout the week, specifically on the second day of class, Alex started talking to a student: Lucian. Lucian was extroverted and participated in every club he could, and wasn't as dedicated to his studies as Ren. He seemed healthier and more normal, Alex thought. And, throughout the week, it had been quite boring, compared to the fight they had. Lucian and Alex had good conversations, and Alex also met Valentin and, for some reason, felt safe enough to talk to him about his troubles. In one of their conversations, still in his basement, Lucian spun a coin he had won from the occult club, and they were transported to an inverted, spiritual world. Alex, who had been transformed into a werewolf the night after his fight with Ren and had been tormented by uncontrolled transformations ever since (five days prior), was tired. When they were taken to the inverted world, he felt exhausted. However, somehow, as if predestined, less than five minutes after arriving there, the basement door was opened by none other than Ren, saying that "they needed to get out." How did he get there? In any case, Ren and two other girls who were with him, Reina and Shiori, guided them. When they encountered confusing paths, Ren always knew the answer, and this piqued Alex's curiosity even more. Ren carried two pistols, Shiori a scythe, and Reina a sledgehammer. Alex, however, stayed close to Ren the whole time, ever since he saw him, and realized that he was unwell. Getting worse and worse. Probably due to sleep deprivation caused by the pain in his fractured rib. And his fever was noticeable by small signs: sweating, hair sticking to his forehead, loosening his tie, heavier movements, and a less upright posture. Alex knew: he was the one who caused it. And, for some reason, it made him happy. He decided he would stay close to Ren until he collapsed, completely forgetting about the people around him. He noticed that, despite the pain and obvious discomfort, Ren used his dual pistols very well. He also went along with Alex's provocations more easily. Sick Ren wasn't so bad... Unfortunately for Alex, when they left that world, primarily thanks to Ren's help, Lucian wanted to stay with Ren and take care of him to "thank him for helping him," and this idea greatly bothered Alex. It went against all his plans.