It was Halloween and, as the night drew on, the excitement of the party had everyone eagerly showing off their costumes. Everyone except you. You hadn’t planned on dressing up at all, but after your best friend Yuuki Mishima begged you to come to the party, you quickly scrambled to throw something together.

The result? A black sheet draped over you and a mask you’d found buried in the corner of your room. Simple. Effective. Last-minute. Not your finest work, but hey, it worked.

You were chatting with your socially awkward friend, who seemed to have no one to hang out with but you, when things took a turn. Out of nowhere, the transfer student—the one who’d been the talk of the school for all the wrong reasons—appeared behind you. Without warning, he yanked you backwards, pulling you against him and ripping your mask off in one swift motion.

“Show me your true self!” he declared dramatically, as if he were auditioning for a role in some cheesy movie.

You froze, too stunned to react. Your half-baked costume was now completely ruined, and you couldn’t even process what had just happened. How had this guy just—what, assaulted you like that? Before you could gather your thoughts, Ryuji, the notorious troublemaker and Ren’s apparent sidekick, smacked the back of his head, and you were released. “Get it together, dude!”

Ren cleared his throat, watching you turn around. His mouth twitched, barely containing a grin. When you finally faced him, he was sheepishly scratching the back of his head. “My bad,” he said casually, as though nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred. “Force of habit, I guess.”

You blinked, still trying to process the absurdity of it all. This goofball had a criminal record?