AN: Akira Kurusu is Persona 5 Protagonist.
Chapter 1:
Ruby had just been through the wildest experience of her life last week. Firstly while out at Vale at night, she got a strawberry milkshake and choc chip cookies from a snack bar which were delicious.
Afterwards she moseyed about, exploring the streets of Vale and poking into different types of stores, she had her headphones on and blasting music, oblivious to the world around her that night.
Finally she ended up at a late night dust shop, where robbers happened to show up and she kicked some serious butt. She then met Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon academy! Not only that but he offered her a spot at beacon, two years early!
Now safely back at home in Patch and eagerly waiting while the days counted down to orientation and initiation at Beacon.
Ruby decided to take a walk to her mother's grave and tell her the exciting news. She walked throughout the bright and beautiful forests in patch, towards the cliff faces with her mother's memorial.
She loved walking through this area, especially during autumn, the nice cold wind blowing through the trees, scattering the red and yellow leaves throughout the forest. However an odd noise put the girl on edge, and she quickly drew Crescent Rose, but left it in the gun mode.
While Grimm weren't rare in this area, they generally aren't as much of a problem compared to those on the mainland, but Ruby wasn't taking any chances. After all a certain incident years back made her realise being unprepared can have repercussion.
Ruby found herself walking in the direction of the noise, as it piqued her curiosity. Something which always got her in trouble, yet she always ended up on top.
She heard the noise once again, it sounded like someone was groaning She quickened her pace to a run, being careful not to slip over on the wet roots and leaves which littered the ground. Worried someone had been attacked or wounded out in the forests, she thought it was wise to be quicker moving towards the origin of the noise.
"Hello? Is anyone out there?" She called out, hoping she would get an answer. She was growing even more worried when the groaning noise had come to stop. Quickening her pace to a sprint little rose petals become to spread as she activated her semblance, just as she was about to sprint she tripped over something.
She nearly went right past the origin of all the noise, and luckily it wasn't a grimm. Rather it was a young man, with messy blue hair and who was rather short. He wore a student uniform for a school she couldn't recognise and had clip on headphones hanging on his shoulders.
Once realising there were no imminent threats, she sheathed Crescent Rose. She knelt down by the boy, and checked for any signs of being attacked, and discovered the blue haired boy was armed with a pistol and a sword with no evident wounds. She poked his face for a bit to see if he was awake, and gave a cute little pout when she got no response.
"Wakey wakey mister, I don't think it's wise to sleep here," Ruby said in a sing-song voice and sighed when she got no reaction.
I really didn't want to have to do this, she sighed to herself once again, as she grabbed one of the boy's arms and swung it over her shoulder. Ruby attempted to drag the boy however had no success, he was just so heavy for someone that looked so lightweight.
Her grip had slipped on the boy and she accidentally dropped him, her eyes widening with guilt and she gasped. She gave a awkward little laugh and decided to get the help from her older sister, who was just lazing about at home right now.
Just as she started walking off again she heard the young man rustle around again. She looked back to see that he was now fully awake and sitting upright. The boy was rubbing the back of his head, where Ruby had dropped him.
"Sup," he said, sounding incredibly sleepy putting no effort into his greeting.
"Hello," she replied, she gave some thought before continuing;
"Are you… okay?" It was incredibly odd to sleep out in the woods, even if the grimm here were incredibly weak.
"Yeaaah, I think so. Come here often?" He said flirtatiously, giving the girl a wink. She was taken aback by this guy, he was just so… strange. She gave him a look and poked her tongue out at him,
"I'm not sure you should be saying that to a young girl out in the woods," she said jokingly, he gave a little chuckle at her response and stood up. He smiled at her briefly while doing so,
"Says the one who tried taking me away," he said giving her a small smirk. Ruby got a bit flustered and attempted to explain before he cut her off again.
"In all seriousness though, I have no freaking clue where I am and how I got here." He said, adopting that sleepy face which had little to no emotion to it, gazing off into the distance. He quickly dismissed this thought before looking at Ruby.
"The name is Minato Arisato, thank you for coming across me I suppose," he introduced him, flashing another one of his smiles which took the girl by surprise. She then returned the gesture,
"Ruby Rose, it's nice to meet you."
"Umm if you want I can take you back to my home, hopefully my dad doesn't get too annoyed or anything though; he is not too fond of boys." She awkwardly laughed while rubbing the back of her head. He just nodded in response to this and said nothing else.
Taking this as an affirmative, the pair made their way back to Ruby's home in silence, which felt awkward for Ruby yet Minato didn't at all.
The sun had already began to set, as they were making their way back, so Ruby decided they should quicken their pace, and both her and Minato began to slowly jog their way back to Ruby's home.
Upon approaching the small cabin, Minato noticed that there was no one else near here, just this single lonely cabin in the woods, kinda creepy, but yet it still looks kinda nice, he thought to himself as they closed in on the cabin. As it was already dark all the lights in the cabin were on and there seemed to be a commotion going on within the house.
Ruby opened the front door to her home, and loud laughter made itself apparent as the commotion. She recognised her sister Yang's and her Father's laughter mixed in with someone's voice which she didn't recognise.
"Yang, Dad! I have something or rather someone you might need to see!" She called out as she beckoned for Minato to follow. She heard him mutter under his breath as walked into their house, however couldn't pick up what he said. They walked into their common room and Ruby found herself glancing over at the owner of the third voice.
An extremely beautiful woman was sitting at their table, she had short white hair and yellow eyes. She was also dressed in all blue, blue dress, gloves and boots. She gave a smile to Ruby as she spotted the two, and her smile widened upon seeing the blue haired boy beside her. Tai spotted Minato as he walked in and immediately furrowed his brows.
"Ruby, who's this?" He asked curtly, motioning towards the blue haired boy. Ruby appeared flustered before composing herself.
"Dad, Yang and whoever you are, this is Minato. I kinda just find him lying in the woods," she quietened when she said the last part.
"Minato, this is Yang and Tai Xiao Long my sister and father."
She looked at Minato while introducing him to her family and noticed that his eyes widened for a moment before his expression settled into a smile.
"Elizabeth, it's a pleasure to see you again," the boy said with a warm smile, leaving all the others in the room slightly confused.
"It's also nice to meet you all, Yang and Mr. Xiao Long as well."
"Oh my if isn't my old guest, Minato-san. How are you on this fine evening?" She smiled, with no hint of guilt whatsoever. The Xiao Long family just looked between the two confused.
"Would you ever so kindly be able to explain how we're both here, Elizabeth?" Minato's warm smile was now turning into more of a smirk, and a dangerous glint became apparent in his eyes. The woman just simply laughed and replied,
"Well we're going to Beacon are we not?" Elizabeth said. Tai looked like he suddenly realised something before he added,
"So he is the friend you were talking about earlier? Hmm now that you mention it he does have hold some resemblance to what you described. Good thing Ruby found him, eh."
At this point it was Minato's turn to be confused, just what the hell is going on here, is this a dream? He thought to himself as the other four in the room began to discuss things about this 'Beacon'.
"Well seeing as you're a friend of Elizabeth, who helped out Yang; I suppose you can stay just one more night until you all leave for Beacon. No funny business though. You go near my daughters and there will be consequences boy." The older man said to him as he pulled the boy off to the side where the others wouldn't hear the threat. The boy just nervously nodded and laughed at the same time before they rejoined the others in their conversation.
"So Minato are you from Mistral as well?" Yang asked him. The boy quickly glanced at Elizabeth, who gave a nod and a smile.
"Yes." he replied curtly. The others seemed to wait for more and watched him expectantly, so he added a bit more to the lie.
"Elizabeth and I grew up together there." That seemed to satisfy the rest of them, and after that the boy just let Elizabeth do all the talking.
The pair were invited to have dinner with the family, and Elizabeth was given a spare bedroom, while Minato was told to crash on the couch for the night. Not having any spare clothes, Elizabeth also announced to the family they had planned to get clothes in a city called Vale, before they went to this Beacon place.
After the family went to sleep, Minato pulled Elizabeth over, demanding answers.
"So what's the go Elizabeth?" He asked nicely, flashing his best smile although he wasn't too happy,
"I'm happy to be free from my seal, but what about the world? Is this the future or something?" She returned his smile before starting her explanation,
"Well it's quite a long story my dear guest, and it would take an awfully long time to explain. This isn't exactly the future, or your world anymore I'm afraid. Don't worry though! I'm sure your friends are safe." She paused before going into more detail.
"Well, I may have accidentally done something when I was trying to free you from your fate. That in return sent us here, to this wonderful world. I also may have sent some other people here as well." She laughed a bit before looking a tiny bit worried.
Minato couldn't help but wonder if this woman could ever be down longer than a few seconds before picking herself back up.
"We can go back I think, but it would be a bad idea to leave the others I accidentally sent here. It could unbalance this world." This time she actually adopted a troubled expression. Minato decided to leave it at that, and accepted the situation easily, however the next problem was,
"What's this Beacon and Vale you guys kept talking about?" He asked.
"Beacon is the academy we will be attending starting tomorrow, and not just any normal sort of academy my dear guest. An academy for huntsmen and huntresses. Vale seems to be the city where Beacon is located." This is gonna take a long time to explain, he thought to himself as he steeled himself for a long night of talking about the future.
Atlas, the Previous Day
Weiss had taken to getting prepared that day for her transition to Vale, and went out shopping for clothes and other supplies. She had decided to go to Beacon over Atlas due to certain reasons, meaning a long trip over and getting used to another kingdom and climate. She was by herself, with no employees of the Schnee corporation following her and guarding her. So she tried her best at disguising herself in case any would recognise her. However the disguise had failed.
Many people had recognised her, but none bothered approaching her or asking about her or the company. Although it slightly irked her, she decided it was for the best. She walked into a store and began browsing when she noticed that the cashier was staring at her. The said cashier was a faunus with rabbit ears, people that were rarely seen in the main part of the city, due to the relations between Faunus and the Atlas higher ups.
She bought what she needed, and the whole time the faunus stared at the girl. Shaking it off she continued wandering about, shop to shop enjoying the day by herself. After leaving that initial shop however, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone or something was following her.
On her way back home the feeling got worse, and she tried quickening her pace. The problem was that the streets were now so packed, as everyone was off work and enjoying the nightlife in the city. Whilst passing that first store she felt someone take hold of her wrist, pulling her into the same shop. The doors slammed behind her and the lights darkened as her captors were revealed.
"The white fang…" she mumbled, fear and anxiety striking her. There were four of the faunus terrorists, and they had tied her up. They all seemed to be smirking and laughing at her.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the ice princess of the Schnee family." She recognised some of the facial features and the rabbit ears poking out of her head. The leader of the group was a larger man with horns sprouting from his head. He spoke before leaving through the back,
"Kill her if you want. We don't need her as some sort of bargaining chip, this will send those arrogant scum at the Schnee corporation a message." The comment made the other faunas happy, however they had other plans before killing her.
They kicked her to the ground and began to kick her punch her while she was tied up and down. She began to cry and tried to call for help but had been gagged. When the faunus had enough of their fun, they put a blade to her throat, planning to finish the job. Weiss closed her eyes, and sent out one final prayer; to her sister, and even her father. That's when the sound of glass smashing came as a surprise instead of the feeling of a blade sliding across her throat.
She opened her eyes to the faunus engaging in combat with an unknown person. They wielded only a knife and blade as well and was able to fight off the four faunus which all wielded swords and maces. The first to attack him was the rabbit faunus, wielding a short sword. He parried her first strike and drew his firearm. Sending two bullets out she shot her hand and leg, disabling her and shoved her off to the side into shelving, sending both toppling over.
The next to attack were a dog and cat faunus, both wielding clubs. The dog faunus struck and the unknown boy was pushed back even when he tried to parry the strike. It was there and then a strange mask appeared on the boys face. A blue flame appeared on the boy and a smirk found it's way onto his handsome features.
The faunus started backing up, realising something bad was about to happen to them. The boy ripped the mask off, blood trailing as he did so and the boys outfit transformed from what appeared to be a school uniform, to a long black trench coat, a grey collared shirt, boots and red gloves. A strange black matter came off his glove and he broke into a run at the dog faunus, quickly dodging any strikes they tried to place. His movements were much quicker than before, and he was almost untouchable. His hand was placed upon the dog faunus' face, and the poor man was sent flying backwards knocked unconscious before he even hit the wall behind him.
The boy drew his knife again and initiated a battle with the final faunus, blocking two strikes, before finding a way behind the faunus and knocking him out with a hit with the handle of his knife to the back of the head. He approached Weiss who had watched the whole thing amazed, still crying after the whole ordeal. He knelt down beside her and cut off the rope on her wrist and ungagged her. The girl steeled herself and stopped crying before saying to the boy,
"Thanks… I suppose." She said, as she looked up at him. His appearance he had when he first entered the store had come back.
The boy was fairly tall, having wavy black hair that was kinda just everywhere. His face looked quite innocent compared to the one he had before and was complacent. He flashed her a warm smile before asking,
"Are you okay miss…?" He questioned. Weiss seemed taken aback thinking that someone in Atlas didn't recognise who she was. Hell maybe it was even the disguise.
"Weiss Schnee," she finished for him, "and your name?"
"Akira Kurusu. I saw these guys following you around for a bit today, and saw you get pulled into this place earlier. I could've helped you out before if it weren't for this crowd, sorry I left you waiting so long." The boy still didn't seem to recognise who she was, was he some kinda dolt she thought to herself.
He picked her up and started heading outside,
"What are you doing?" She asked while deadpanning with a hint of a blush. He simply smiled and said,
"It wouldn't be good if they woke up and we were still there would it?" She nudged him and he decided to put her down,
"Here just follow me." She pulled out her scroll and began calling the authorities to report the incident.
Later That Evening
Akira found himself face to face Weiss's father, who seemed rather important as they lived in a large mansion surrounded by guards and military. It's one thing to wake up in a completely new place, and somehow speak and know their language. Seeing that they sold things in their stores that came from fiction. Humans that had animal features. It was like another world, and it was he was guessing.
He was used to this sort of thing though, and got settled easily. His day all started when he found suspicious humans with animal features following a certain auspicious girl. Somehow that landed him right in front of Papa Schnee.
"I hear you saved my daughter Weiss earlier this evening," the older man stroked his thick mustache while saying so.
"Did you know that dolt had decided to go to Beacon Academy instead of Atlas Academy, maybe in spite of me." He seemed slightly ticked off.
"Now my employees who questioned you earlier said you've come up with a case of amnesia," something which Akira is faking while he figures out where and why he was here, "and you have a lack of identity and no scroll either." This man was getting to something, which was irking the boy; who was growing impatient.
"You can handle yourself too, hmm it's almost too good to be true. I'll take my chances though. How would like this for a reward for saving my daughter," the moment Akira heard the word reward he had to stop himself from smiling, this old man is finally getting somewhere he thought to himself briefly.
"What would you think about going to Beacon Academy, I can offer you ways to get in and even get you right the right documents for your identity as well." There's definitely a catch to this, Akira mused to himself.
"Watch over my daughter while you're there, this attempt on her life and many other relatives has put me on edge." The man suddenly stood up and began to exit the room.
"Think it over Akira, I'll have my servants show you to your room for the night." The older man exited and left the young man alone in his study.
The servants entered shortly after and guided him towards his room, giving him a spare set of clothes and even showed him where he could bath that night. The boy fell asleep wondering about his friends back home, and what they were up to right now.
AN: Other story is on hiatus for a bit. Blake and Yu are coming next along with initiation.