[ An understandable reaction, and one he's seen and heard plenty of times from Ryuji. So when Ren turns his head to meet the confusion, he looks completely unfazed. ]

My mom was trying to set me up again.

[ Ryuji's heard about this more than a few times by now. It takes a lot to get underneath Ren's skin, but this is something that's grown to bother him to the point of mild venting. Truly a feat. ]

I didn't feel like hearing it, so I told her I'm seeing someone already. [ The fact that he didn't think said claim through before blurting it out is implied.

But now, there's clearly more that he does intend to say, though it's one of those rare moments where he seems somewhat unsure of how to go about phrasing it. The ball of his foot taps against Ryuji's knee, a small giveaway of his uncertainty.

Well, better start with the facts. ]

... I told her it's you.

[ And why did he do that? Ren's been asking himself for the past twenty-four hours. On paper, Ryuji's the best candidate: They live together, know almost everything about one another, and will always go out on a limb to help each other. But Ren really should've been smart enough to name someone he doesn't occasionally think about kissing. That's playing with fire.

When doesn't he go that route, though? It's like his brain is trying to make up for the lack of high stakes adventure in his life these days. ]