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Language:
English
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Published:
2025-04-26
Completed:
2025-05-26
Words:
2,500
Chapters:
2/2
Comments:
27
Kudos:
82
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562

Menthols

Summary:

Vignette of Joker bringing home a pack of cigarettes that Maruki gave him to give to Sojiro. Sorijo guardians out about it in his own way.

Now with Joker overanalyzing every social interaction he's ever had!

Notes:

I HAVE NOT FINISHED THE GAME. PLEASE DON'T SPOIL ANYTHING ASD;LFKJ I just love coffee dad so much I had to write this before I lose my mind. Just finished Kaneshiro's palace. Apparently I'm on the mark that Maruki is bad at his job but I DO NOT want to know how yet.

 

Update. I finished the game and I'm happy with how this held up asldfj. God Maruki is so fucking bad at his job.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: Sojiro POV

Chapter Text

“You like menthols, right?”

Sojiro looked up at the door to Leblanc opening and the kid's quiet voice just in time to catch the thing hurtling towards his chest. He fumbled it at first, one hand still wiping down the counter, and had to readjust the little box against himself before he got a good hold on it. He grunted when he read the label. Not his favorites, but not terrible, either. Still a thoughtful gift. “Eh, I’ll smoke them. Thank–” he choked. “Wait, how the hell did you get these?!”

Ren just looked at him in that slinky, head down way he normally did, his hands jammed in his pockets. “School counselor. He’s trying to quit, so he gave those to me to give to you.”

Sojiro blinked in disbelief. “I…”

The kid shrugged in a “what can you do” gesture, shoulders doing all the work while his hands never left his pockets. He did look Sojiro in the eye, though, with that rare little smile when he actually spoke his mind. “He’s really bad at his job.”

“Goddamn, I bet,” Sojiro grumbled to himself. He’d figured out that the kid got fidgety when stared at, so Sojiro opened the pack of cigarettes and looked inside. Only two were missing. “Doesn’t he know you’re on parole?”

“Eh. At least he bribes me with candy.” 

“...Do I even wanna know?”

The kid pulled his right hand out, holding a brightly colored package in offering. He jiggled it once. “Fruit snack?”

“Uh. No, thank you. They’re probably warm.” Sojiro made a disgusted sound – unrelated to the fruit snacks – and shoved the cigarettes into his apron. “Look, be careful what you tell a shrink like that. Last thing I need is for you to make some smartass comment and then I have to check you out of wherever you get committed. Talk to your friends, or something. Keep your head down and don’t go talking to strange men that give you cigarettes and candy. ” 

Ren laughed, almost too quiet to hear. “Yessir.”

“I mean it,” he snapped. “You don’t know what they’re gonna hold against you.”

And there the kid went, all quiet and closed off again. Sojirio softened his tone, which was very difficult for him to do and normally he wouldn’t, but the kid had a way of looking real sad without actually looking sad. It made him feel bad. “I mean, thanks for the cigs. Just don’t go getting things planted on you, yeah? You’ve got enough to worry about without some weirdo giving you trouble.”

Ren nodded, his eyes glazing over behind his glasses. Sojiro used to think it was him not giving a shit. Turns out, he just did that when he was thinking. “Understood. I’ll be careful.” 

“Good.” 

The kid wasn’t going to talk anymore about it unless he damn well wanted to, so Sojiro politely returned to wiping down the counter and Ren went upstairs to his room. Sojiro waited until he heard the sound of the TV upstairs paired with the cat meowing – he swore it was like it was commenting on the show – to step outside to smoke. He pulled the gift out of his apron and lit one, taking a drag and screwing up his face at the mintiness. 

He shook his head on the exhale and glared out at the light rain. “Fucking cigarettes… What is going on at that school?”

Chapter 2: Ren PoV

Summary:

whoops made it sad lmao

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Ren fidgeted with the present in his pocket on his way back to Leblanc. Maruki had spent another session talking about other students, his own research, his personal problems and a bunch of other stuff he overcomplicated for the better part of an hour. Ren had paid rapt attention and said whatever he thought Maruki would like to hear just like he usually did. He got a drink, the lychee fruit snacks he was too frugal to buy for himself and a pack of cigarettes for his trouble.

Ren slunk through the crowd on the way back to Leblanc, nearly invisible with his head down and shoulders hunched. Even he was a little weirded out by the cigarettes. An offhand comment about his caretaker smoking led to Maruki smiling wide and insisting that this was a great way for them to help each other. He was trying to quit, and Sojiro wasn’t, so Ren should take the temptation away from him and do some good with it. He promised that he would take the blame if Ren got caught with them, got a little too far into Ren’s personal space to pat him on the back, caught sight of the time and frantically made a half-assed attempt to hold up his end of their deal. 

It wasn’t the most inappropriate thing anyone had ever suggested to Ren and he got food out of it so he didn’t really care. It wasn’t out of character, either, not like he was setting Ren up for something. Maruki was… nice. Really, really nice.

Ren licked through the inside of his gums while he desperately tried to think of other traits. He passed the laundromat by the time he gave up. 

He still wasn’t entirely sure what his friends found so helpful about their sessions with Maruki. Even if Maruki spent more time focused on them instead of his own stuff, it didn’t sound like he did much more than listen to them and agree with their feelings; maybe sprinkle in some comments about how it was unfair for teenagers to go through so much so young. 

Then again, Ren’s friends also said he was really good at comforting people and all he did was pay attention to them. Maybe that’s all most people needed? His friends pretty much had their problems figured out and, at worst, just needed another body at their side to back them up during their plans. Even Ryuji did enough introspection that he already had his answers. Ren just had to agree with them, occasionally telling them not to give up or remind them of the things they’d told him before. 

Maybe Maruki was right when he said that Ren would make a good therapist? 

He wrinkled his nose at the thought. Was it really as easy as just shutting up? Being quiet hadn’t exactly made him many friends back home, but back home he had a lifetime reputation as the weird kid that either didn’t talk at all or talked too much and too loud. Here, he was the mysterious delinquent transfer student. 

It’d been surprisingly easy to lean into that persona and leverage it to his benefit. Turns out most people had something they wanted to believe and so long as he just didn’t disprove it, they’d stick with their first impression. He’d gotten a lot better at controlling what that first impression was. So. Now he was a violent thug to most of his classmates, a tragic, polite young man trying to turn his life around to most of his teachers, and… Maruki’s therapist. 

The realization rubbed him the wrong way but he wasn’t going to throw away such a valuable deal just because it creeped him out. He got food out of it, cigarettes – apparently, tricks to help his endurance during a Palace run and an adult that was both powerful and easy to manipulate in his pocket. It was a worthwhile use of his time.

…Even if Maruki insisted on calling him the moment he got home. Ren huffed and fished his ringing phone out of his pocket, pausing on Leblanc’s welcome mat. Ren didn’t bother greeting, just held the phone up to his ear and waited. 

“Hey!” Maruki’s voice sounded unpleasantly tinny through the phone – or maybe Ren was just sick of hearing it today. “Thank you again for all your help today. Did you get home alright?” 

At least Ren didn’t have to do anything with his face. He just had to make his voice seem enthusiastic. “Yep! Just got here.”

“Don’t forget to give my old vice to your guardian, haha. And don’t think about sneaking any for yourself! It’s easier to not get addicted to something in the first place than to try to stop.” 

Yes. I'm not stupid. If I’m getting addicted to anything, I’m getting addicted to cocaine, Ren thought. Loudly. Out loud, he said, “Of course. I care about my body.”

That was the correct answer and the delight was audible in Maruki’s voice. “That’s great! You only have the one after all, haha. Alright, well, I won’t take up any more of your time. You have a good night. Be sure to take some breaks from studying to have fun! Your youth shouldn’t be spent–” 

Ren watched someone pass the side road with two armfuls of groceries. He saw them every week on this day around this time and idly wondered if they bought the same things for dinner every week or if they changed it up now and then. He tuned back into Maruki’s conversation when he felt it wrapping up. 

“–See you next session.” 

There was something sad in his tone. Ren briefly panicked that he had missed something important, that he couldn’t give the correct response, but reminded himself that Maruki always sounded a little sad in parting. He seemed desperately lonely.

“See you next session,” Ren parroted back at him. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t enough. “And thank you for your advice. It’s really helping,” he added.

Maruki’s voice brightened. “Ha, well, I really should be thanking you, but I appreciate you saying so. You’re a good kid.”

Ren grimaced. Maruki really didn’t know him well enough for that to mean anything but it was nice to hear, he supposed. At least it meant his presentation was working. “Aw, thanks. Good night,” Ren said in the tone Ann used on getting a compliment.

Maruki finally hung up. Ren stuffed his phone back in his pocket after glaring at it for a second, took a breath to better present himself for Sojiro, then shouldered open the door to Leblanc.

 

 

Sojiro was cleaning the bar counter, seemingly in a good mood. Excellent.

“You like menthols, right?” Ren called out in his inside voice. He’d heard Maruki call them that and repeating what other people said made him seem like knew what he was talking about more than he actually did. He only waited long enough for Sojiro to look up, not to respond, before tossing the box of cigarettes at him. 

Ren politely pretended not to notice Sojiro fumble the box. Instead he studied Sojiro’s face, searching for either the jackpot of a genuine smile or the consolation prize of a raised eyebrow. Both were good. Sojiro seemed to appreciate an attempt no matter how awkward or inept. 

Ren was rewarded with a grunt – close to the jackpot. “Eh, I’ll smoke them. Thank–” Sojiro did a double take. “Wait, how the hell did you get these?!”

As fun as it was to feed into his hooligan image – Sojiro very much enjoyed nagging – Ren felt like leading him on about this would backfire. “School counselor. He’s trying to quit, so he gave those to me to give to you.”

He watched Sojiro’s face screw up in confusion, blinking slowly. “I…”

Ren shrugged and smiled conspiratorially at him. “He’s really bad at his job.”

“Goddamn, I bet,” Sojiro grumbled with a faraway tone, popping open the pack of cigarettes to inspect them. Louder, he said, “Doesn’t he know you’re on parole?”

“Eh. At least he bribes me with candy.”

Judging from the sideeye Sojiro gave him, the joke landed as intended. “...Do I even wanna know?”

Ren pulled out the package he’d been fidgeting with in his pocket for the majority of his trip home and wiggled it in offering. “Fruit snack?”

“Uh, no. Thank you. They’re probably warm.” Sojiro proceeded to make a disapproving sound that told him to never, ever offer him anything from his pocket ever again. He slipped the cigarettes into his apron and glared at Ren. “Look, be careful what you tell a shrink like that. Last thing I need is for you to make some smartass comment and then I have to check you out of wherever you get committed. Talk to your friends, or something. Keep your head down and don’t go talking to strange men that give you cigarettes and candy.”

The humor had drained from the conversation as fast as the blood from his face. Ren laughed nervously, a last ditch effort to steer the mood back to something that didn’t make him want to jump through a window. “Yessir.” 

“I mean it,” Sojiro snapped, looming over the counter. “You don’t know what they’re gonna hold against you.”

Turns out Ren wasn’t immune to seeing what he wanted to see either. He wanted Sojiro to enjoy some playful smartassery but that didn’t mean that he did. Ren reflexively returned to the same manner he kept with his actual parents and the persona he wore when he first got here: a polite brick wall. He nodded once, tilting his head down and raising his shoulders in a show of deference that didn’t veer into pathetic. Looking too sorry just egged some people on. 

It had the intended effect, even more successful than Ren had dared to hope for. Sojiro sighed deep and loud, his shoulders dropping as the authority left his posture. He looked away to glare at the door instead, surely scaring off any potential customers. “I mean…” he trailed off. “Thanks for the cigs. Just don’t go getting things planted on you, yeah?” he glanced back. “You’ve got enough to worry about without some weirdo giving you trouble.”

Ren chewed on his tongue, trying to figure out if Sojiro was still mad at him. Surely it couldn’t be that easy. Could it be that easy? He refocused, sneaking a furtive glance at Sojiro to check his posture and accidentally making eye contact. Ren blurted out the response most likely to be correct. “Understood. I’ll be careful.” 

Sojiro gave him a curt nod back and pointedly turned to wipe down the counter again, releasing him from his attention. “Good.”

Ren took the opportunity to bolt up to the attic. He’d sent Morgana home ahead of him and was grateful for it – not because Morgana would pick up on his tells, but because he was already sitting in front of the TV and pawing at the remote. 

“Took you long enough! I wanna finish the X Folders!” 

Ren slung his bag onto the table and sank into his chair, grateful for the distraction. Morgana’s commentary became a pleasant backdrop and, together with the show, drowned out any sounds drifting up from downstairs. Soon Ren stopped worrying about his earlier conversation, settling into the belief that Sojiro probably wasn’t upset with him and, if he was, he’d forget about it by tomorrow. 

He’d just do some chores around Leblanc tomorrow night. Just to be sure.

Notes:

I'm having so much fun with this lil guy. Social Cues and Performance are his special interest lookin headass

Anyway. I LOVE writing the same scene from different people's perspectives. It's my absolute favorite way to get characterization down. I should do it more often until the narrative voices are super distinct.

Notes:

In the interests of being kinder to my work and improving as an author, I'm setting tangible, achievable goals for each piece I write.
Goal: Sojiro POV, highlight the kinds of things he'd notice about the lad and the not quite parental thing they got going on even if I tagged this Coffee Dad. My favorite thing about him is that he's a kinda shit parent (and would say that himself) but a great friend/mentor/guardian figure. I think I'm gonna rewrite this from Ren's POV as well for a fun character study
Did I achieve it? I think so

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