Chapter 1: At Last, Reikon!
As the train sped through the sprawling countryside, occasionally having glimpses of buildings and people walking around, Ryou Shousetsu sat down, slumped in his chair, as he was going off to spend a year with his father and little sister in their current home. Having never visited because of having a clumsy relationship with his father and never having really liked the country, he wondered how everything would be when he got there. As the train went on though, he felt himself start to get drowsy. As he did, he began to imagine the day his father left, hugging his mother as he prepared to leave, his little sister asleep in the car all the while. When his father bent down to give him one final hug, he stayed for a while, feeling reluctant to give his father that final hug goodbye, Finally though, after much beckoning and pleas, he finally came over, hugging him one last time and then watching him drive away with his sister. Though that had been their last interaction, Ryou still felt bitter about his father leaving them, partly because of his overall attitude and partly because of his bad smoking habit which he always seemed to have.
Suddenly, he felt the train come to a stop, startling him awake as he groaned, rubbing his eyes and looking around, soon seeing the clock was an hour past when he'd ended up falling asleep. As he looked around, he faintly heard a voice saying, "Now arriving at, Reikon. Now arriving at, Reikon."
He groaned, sitting up and stretching his arms before sighing, "Great, from Tokyo to nowhere. Well, at least it's only for a year..." Getting up, he grabbed his bag from the compartment he left it in during the ride, checked that everything was there, and got off the train. He was a young man, nearly 18 and standing 5'10, with wavy, icy blue hair, dark blue eyes, fair skin, a long, lanky figure, and a little facial hair from having not shaved this morning. He was currently wearing a pair of tan slacks, plain brown sneakers, a white long sleeved shirt with a gray gear design on it, a blue jacket with two white strips up the arm, and a pair of rimless glasses.
Getting off the train, he stretched, looking around the place before hearing a familiar voice call out, "Yo! Over here Ryou!" looking to see his father, a lit cigarette held between his lips, as usual. Sighing in annoyance, he waved back, walking over as his dad chuckled, "Man, look at you. Just look at you. You've grown so much, you're nearly taller than I am." His father, Daisuke, was around 5'8 with brown, shoulder length hair he kept in a low ponytail, dark blue eyes, fair skin, a toned figure, and some light facial hair. He was wearing a suit, including a white shirt and a black coat, pair of pants, tie, shoes and socks, that looked rather like he'd been wearing it for a while now.
Nodding, Ryou told him, "Yeah, weird, huh? So, where's Mion?"
Chuckling, he said, "Right here," moving out of the way to reveal, to his surprise, his grown up, albinistic little sister, currently looking towards the ground while her hat and dress shaded her from the sun's rays. She was a young, petite girl at 5' with long, straight white hair that stopped at about the middle of her back, soft, timid red eyes, skin as white as snow, a small, thin, body that seemed very delicate, and a cute face that looked nervous at the moment. She was wearing a white sunhat, a light green, knee length dress with sleeves going to her elbows, a white, lacy undershirt underneath that, a pair of white, knee length socks, and a pair of plain brown leather flats.
He smiled a bit, telling her, "Hey there sis, how's it going? It's been years since we've seen eachother, hasn't it?"
Giving a tiny nod, she mumbled, "Yes," before going silent.
He chuckled a little nervously, then told her, "Sorry I couldn't visit earlier, you know? It's just that, well, I guess I wasn't ready to see dad yet, after he'd left."
She nodded, assuring him, "Don't worry about it, y-, you were, just in a phase...a-, and besides, at least you called every month, and always sent me presents..."
He smiled, saying, "Of course I did. I mean, why wouldn't I? I'd be a pretty shitty brother if I didn't even do that."
As she was about to speak, their dad said, "OK guys, that's enough. Let's get to the car and head back, OK?" stomping his cigarette out for the moment.
He nodded, saying, "Yeah, sounds good," and walking off with his dad, Mion quickly pursuing them.
Once at the car, they all got in, Mion taking a spot in the back where she had left her drawing pad, picking it up and drawing more while Ryou talked with his dad on the way home, discussing how his mother had started dating a guy whom Ryou didn't take as strong a liking to, the reason he decided to come here in the first place. By the time he was done, they had reached the house, Mion being the first one out and in the house, something that was quite normal for her. As they walked towards the house, their dad pulled out a fresh cigarette and prepared to light it, much to Ryou's annoyance. "You know, smoking is a great way to kill yourself slowly."
He sighed, "Yeah, I know, but it's hard to break an addiction. And believe me, you aren't the only one who disagrees."
Frowning, he asked, "Mion too?"
Nodding, he explained, "She never tells me directly, like you do, but I know she doesn't like it. Whenever she sees me light up, she always runs off to her room, or backs away from me."
Ryou retorted, "Maybe you should take the hints and try to stop then."
He sighed, "Relax Ryou, this is my way of coping. Just let me have it, OK?"
Groaning, he said, "Fine, be that way, but don't think this is over," going upstairs with his stuff to put in his room. As he did, he stopped at Mion's room, knocking on the door and saying, "Hey, it's Ryou. Can we talk?"
For a while, he only heard the sound of things moving and rustling, and then finally the door opened, Mion mumbling, "Yes?"
Coming in, he said, "Dad says you do this a lot. You mad at him for smoking?" As he did, he looked around her room, seeing it was filled with both piles of books and piles of notepads, lots of pencils, both normal and colored, and a very nice looking fountain pen she used for signatures.
She quickly shook her head, mumbling, "N-, no, I'm not mad. I mean, yes, it's bad for his health...and it just smells bad...and I always get nervous with flames, but I should respect it. I mean, he's just using it to cope with things, l-, like with me, and my drawing."
He sighed, "Yeah, well this coping's killing him sis, and furthermore, you don't like it. Why don't you just tell him directly?"
She looked at him for a moment, then sighed, "OK bro, I-, I'll try..."
He smiled, saying, "Great. Now, listen, if you have any problems, or anything you'd like to talk about, just let me know, OK?" She silently nodded, to which he said, "OK, good. So, I'm gonna get my room ready. Could you help me out?"
Looking over, she mumbled, "Sure, you bet."
"Thanks a lot," he said, leaving the room with her and, slowly but surely, setting up all his things inside the room, from putting his possessions in the proper spots to even folding and stacking his laundry in the dresser drawers. Once this was all done, he smiled to her and told her, "Thanks a lot for all the help sis."
She nodded meekly, telling him, "Yeah, no problem," before slipping out of his room to go back to hers.
Poking his head out, he said, "You know, we should really get together at some point. You know, hang out."
She stopped for a second, feeling a bit surprised to hear this, then gave a nod, saying, "That would be nice. I'm free after school most days."
He smiled and said, "Great, I'll let you know when I can hang out then. See you later."
Nodding with a small smile, she said, "See you later bro," going back into her room afterwards.
The next day, Ryou woke up, taking a shower and getting dressed in his new school uniform, which included a white long sleeved shirt, a black jacket with gray trim and gold colored buttons, a striped gray and black tie, and a pair of gray pants with his usual shoes, going downstairs to see his sister currently cooking breakfast while his father was quickly snarfing down his pancakes, bacon, and eggs. He told them, "Good morning guys."
Looking over briefly, Mion replied, "Morning brother. I hope you slept well." She was currently in her own uniform, a similar jacket, shirt and tie to his but instead of pants having a gray skirt down to her knees and having hung up a gray, wide brimmed hat to help with her albinism.
He nodded, saying, "I did thank you. So, do you always cook breakfast?"
She nodded, explaining, "Dad's never been, w-, well, the best cook. So, when I was able to, I took over in the kitchen...and the laundry too. Anyways, ummm, here's breakfast." And at that she handed Ryou a plate of chocolate chip pancakes and sausage links.
Licking his lips, he said, "Ahhh, thanks a lot sis. My favorite breakfast." But as he was about to eat, he asked, "Umm, how'd you know by the way?"
Surprised, she explained, "Oh, w-, well, before you came, I called mom, asked her about your favorite foods and, you know, important stuff, like that..."
He smiled, saying, "That was sweet of you. You really shouldn't have." And then he began to eat, savoring every bite he had.
After a while, their dad said, "Well guys, gotta go. Work calls."
Surprised, he asked his dad, "You're leaving already?"
Quickly, Mion explained, "He's an investigative reporter. H-, he usually leaves early, and comes back late..."
He then assured them, "And don't worry, the walk to school isn't a long one. One of the benefits about living in the sticks."
Ryou sighed, "Yeah, I guess..." continuing to eat as Mion came over, sitting down solemnly and starting to eat her breakfast. Looking over, he asked, "Is, something the matter sis?"
Looking over, she quickly shook her head and said, "N-, no, nothing," and continued eating, going a little faster when she realized they needed to get to school soon. The walk there was fairly quiet, with the two occasionally making some light conversation until, finally, they were at school. As they approached it, Mion said, "Now, th-, there should be a girl waiting f-, for you. She's the student council president. You won't miss her."
"OK, meet the student council president, got it," he said with a nod, giving her a quick hug and saying, "Have a good day sis."
She nodded, giving a tiny smile and saying, "Y-, you too," before going off to class. Walking forward, he was surprised as he quickly saw a strange looking girl nearby, and he quickly knew what she meant when she said he wouldn't miss her. The girl was around 5'3" with pale skin, blueish gray hair tied into a high ponytail, piercing red eyes, and had parts of her body which looked strange and mechanical. She wore the school's uniform along with some other things, including what seemed to be parts of an old medieval helmet and some strange blue wires connecting from what seemed to be headphones to the part of the helm on her ponytail.
Coming over, he hesitantly asked, "E-, excuse me, are you...the student co-"
"The student council president, dat's right," she said with a noticable kansai accent, much to his surprise. "Name's Labrys Kirijo, nice ta meet ya."
After a second, he nodded, saying, "Nice to meet you, my name's Ryou Shousetsu, I'm supposed to get my class list with you."
Giving a nod, she said, "Ahhh, I see. So yer Mion's older brother, hmmm? Sure don't look like her. Then again, I suppose she's albino...anyways, let's get dat list." Walking off with Ryou following after her, she asked, "So, ya looking forward to yer year here then?" Before he could answer though, he was first startled by her shouting, "Hey! Shinichi! Get yer ass ta class before I drag ya there! And stop with the pranks!" causing a young man, who was in the middle of setting up a small prank with someone's locker, to shout in surprise and run to class, fearing her wrath.
Giving a frown, he finally explained, "Not really. It's just, my mom's dating a guy I don't really like right now, so I'm just staying here to get away from that for a while. No offense, but living in this town in the middle of nowhere doesn't appeal to me much."
She assured, "None taken, but you should watch where ya say that. Quite a few people won't take kindly to talk like that, including yer little sister."
Surprised, he asked, "Really? Y-, you're sure about that?"
"100% Ryou," she retorted. "She loves living in the country, says it's very relaxing and she enjoys the natural beauty of it."
Looking down, he said, "Oh, I see," feeling a little foolish for not having realized this.
After a second, Labrys said, "Ahh, here we are. Let me just get yer class list and I'll lead ya to the first one you have." After he gave a small grunt of confirmation, she walked over to a desk before grabbing his schedule and walking back over, saying, "Here ya are. Think you'll need anymore help past that?"
Shaking his head, he assured her, "Don't worry, I'm good with figuring out my way in places like this."
She gave a curt nod, saying, "Fair enough. Well, enjoy yer day Ryou-san," running off to get to her own classes as Ryou walked towards his.
"Hello, my name is Ryou Shousetsu, and I hope you'll take care of me," he told the class with a respectful bow as the class gave him their attention, just enough to be polite.
Looking over, his teacher said, "Good, thank you Shousetsu-san. Why don't you have a seat right next to Sasaki-san?" indicating a desk next to a young, petite girl with bright orange hair tied into pigtails that reached her shoulders with beaded hairbands holding them, deep blue eyes that were filled with life and joy, fair skin, a slight, petite frame, and a modest figure, including a B cup bust.
As he sat down, she gave him a bright smile, a slight wave, and said, "Hello there. My name's Riku Sasaki, but you can call me Riku."
Smiling back, he said, "Pleased to meet you, my name's Ryou. Feel free to just call me that."
She nodded, saying, "So, Ryou, since you're new here, would you maybe like to show you around the place? I'd be happy to do that."
He nodded, replying, "Sure, that'd be great."
Just then, he heard the door slide open and the teacher said, "Ahh, Suzumiya-san. Please have a seat." Turning around, he found himself staring at a young, very sickly looking girl with long hair as black as a night sky, mahogany eyes with heavy bags under them, a thin, slightly pale frame, and a slightly sexy body.
She mumbled, "Yes ma'am..." sitting down in a nearby seat and coughing a little before taking out a medicine bottle, spilling out three tablets, and gulping them down with some effort.
Turning to Riku, he whispered, "Uhh, hey, who is that girl...?"
She replied, "Oh, that's Misaka Suzumiya. She was in an accident when she was younger, ended up killing both her parents and left her very sickly. She's currently living with a really rich family who's doing their best to help her get cured."
He nodded, saying, "Wow, what a horrible thing to have happen. And, I'm guessing the medicine is supposed to help her?"
Nodding, she said, "It looks like a new one, at least from what I can tell. Different bottle and all."
He nodded, saying, "Yeah..." watching her for a while as the class started.
Once class had ended, Ryou, curious about Misaka, walked over to her, saying, "Umm, hey there. You're Suzumiya-san, right?"
She was surprised by this, then nodded, mumbling, "Y-, yeah, but you can c-, call me, Misaka."
He chuckled, saying, "Fair enough. My name's Ryou Shousetsu. It's nice to meet you."
She gave a weak, slightly forced smile, replying, "It's, a pleasure as well, Ryou."
Shifting around, he then asked, "So, I saw you taking a few pills before. What are they?"
Surprised, she mumbled, "Oh, w-, well, they're for, helping control my illness, especially my coughing."
He nodded, saying, "Oh yeah, I did notice that the coughing got much lower as the class went on." After a little silence, he then asked, "Well, umm, would you like to, hang out some time?"
Hearing this, she frowned, looking down and mumbling, "Th-, that would be, nice...but I'm so, *cough*, sick these days, that I might end up having to stop early if I did."
He looked disappointed, saying, "Well, maybe I'll come visit you sometime. Anyways, see you later." And with that he went to his next class. Later, once he was on break, Riku ended up showing him around the school, the two eventually buying lunches and bringing them up to the roof.
As they came up, they heard a voice say, "Hey, it's the new guy! Welcome to the roof buddy!" Then, grinning at Riku, he asked, "You certainly work fast, don't you?" He was a tall young man at 6' with spiky brown hair, brown, mischievous eyes, tan skin, a long, slim figure, and some scars on his hands, presumably from not being careful with some minor explosive.
She smirked and responded, "Yeah yeah, sure Shinichi. Now shut up, I'm not trying to make him my boyfriend."
He snickered, "Yeah, sure you aren't," receiving a light punch to the arm for his jokes.
Turning to Ryou as they sat down, she told him, "Well, this is Shinichi. We've been friends for years. Just be careful, he's a bit of a prankster."
He snickered, "Hey, thanks for damaging my reputation!"
She giggled, replying, "You're welcome." Looking back at Ryou, she asked, "So, would you be OK with me asking why you came here exactly?"
He was quiet for a minute, then explained, "W-, well, my mom has been dating this guy for a while. And he's not a bad guy, or the wrong guy for mom, I just don't really like him. I feel like it's been the same since my mom and dad got divorced, I hate dad for having left and I hate any guy who tried to date mom cause I feel like he's trying to replace dad sometimes. I-, It's really confusing, you know...?"
She nodded, saying, "Yeah, I got it. Well, I just hope that, you know, things turn out for the better."
He smiled a little, telling her, "Thanks a lot. I appreciate the sentiment. Anyways, for the time being, I'm kinda stuck here, you know?"
Giving a slight chuckle, Shinichi told him, "Yeah, I gotcha, just don't say that too much. You never know who might hear you. And trust me, some country kids would really get pissed at you for saying you're stuck here."
He sighed, saying, "Yeah, Labrys-senpai told me that my little sister, Mion, really likes the country."
Looking surprised, Riku asked, "Wait, Mion-chan's your little sister!?" Giving her a nod, she said, "Oh my god, I totally forgot! Well, it's great to finally meet you! She's talked about you quite a bit, told us you'd be coming! I can't believe I didn't realize it before!"
He chuckled, assuring her, "Well, it's OK. I'm just glad to know my sister actually has friends."
She nodded, explaining, "Yeah, well, I'm an assistant librarian, so I've really gotten to know Mion-chan over the years."
He smiled, saying, "Well, that's good. I hope she'll make some more friends soon, considering h-" Suddenly though, he heard his phone ring, picking it up and saying, "Hello?"
On the other end he heard Mion's voice, telling him, "H-, hey bro...listen, I hate to say it, but I can't hang out today," disappointment very clear in her voice.
Surprised, he asked, "What? Why? What's going on?"
She explained, "Well...a friend- well, not really a friend, more an acquaintance, has been having some problems with his family lately, s-, so I was, going to talk to him...you know, try and cheer him up..."
Nodding, he said, "Ahhh, I see. OK, got it. It's too bad we can't hang out. I just hope things go well with him."
She reponded, "Th-, thank you...and, sorry again. I, I hope you have a good day."
"Yeah, you too," he told her before hanging up his phone and explaining what was going on to his new friends.
Riku sighed, "I know what this is. There's a boy in Mion's class, kinda infamous around here. His name's Junpei Takeda. He and his family haven't been on the friendliest of terms lately, mostly because of him making some bad decisions lately, hanging out with the wrong crowd from what I've heard. You know, stuff like that."
Feeling a bit worried, he asked, "And, she's trying to help him...?"
Shinichi explained, "She's one of the few people we've ever seen him open up to, so I don't know. Maybe he likes her, or maybe he just feel she's trustworthy enough to not talk about what he tells her. Either way, the kid only talks to her, so she always feels inclined to help him."
Ryou sighed, saying, "Man, I just hope she's OK. If she's hanging out with some thug, I'd probably go and beat the guy into next week."
Giving a slight frown, Riku said, "W-, well, I think I'd consider him more of a delinquent than a thug."
He groaned, saying, "Well, I'll be having a talk with Mion later then..." Shaking his head, he said, "Say, would you guys mind giving me a tour of the town later?"
Her eyes opening wide, Riku smiled and said, "Sure, we'd love to, right?"
Nodding, Shinichi said, "Not a problem. Let's meet up out front later, OK?"
Nodding in confirmation, Ryou said, "OK, out front later. I look forward to this."
Later that day, the three of them had left school, going off on the tour of the small town, the duo planning to show Ryou all the hot spots there. The first place they passed by was the local park, to which Shinichi explained, "This is Reikon Park, a really nice place to come and hang out on weekends. And in the winter, the lake usually freezes over, so you can go ice skating."
Turning around, Riku led them off, saying, "Next stop, the local mall. Guys, welcome to Junes!" She then explained, "We just got it recently, and it's been pretty popular, you know?"
He nodded, saying, "I know what you mean. I worked there at one back at home."
Surprised, Riku said, "Really? Well, maybe you'll be able to get a new job there."
He nodded, saying, "Yeah, maybe," as they kept walking forward. Eventually they got to the residential area, passing by an old, tall brick building.
Shinichi told him, "This is the Uchiwa Complex, an old apartment that's pretty cheap to live in. In fact, there's one student who actually lives here."
But before he could ask who, a young, rather high class sounding voice snapped, "And just who are you commoners, and why are you talking about me?" turning around to see a girl standing there, staring hard at the trio. The girl was around Riku's height with long, deep red hair with with a small bun on top, narrow, condescending purple eyes, light skin, a thin, delicate frame, and a nice, slightly curved figure.
Quickly, Riku explained to her, "Ah, hello there Nagisa, these are my friends, Shinichi, who you know," to which he waved in a friendly manner with a mischievous smile, "And a new friend, Ryou," to which he gave her a curt nod.
Looking down at Riku, she said, "Ahh, I see. But Riku-san, I ask that you properly address me as either Nagisa-sama or Nagisa-senpai," her words rather cold.
Giving a nervous chuckle, Riku said, "Y-, you got it, Nagisa-senpai," to which she turned and started towards the door.
Shinichi, leaning against a wall, told her, "You should really learn to easy up, Na-gi-sa-chan~." In response, she just stared at him, gave a dismissive sniff and walked in, causing him to gasp in shock, "Wh-, what the-!? I'm not even worth a reply!?"
Riku gave a quiet giggle, but quickly stopped, saying, "Anyways, let's move on," walking forward and passing by the local hospital, telling him, "This is Yasogami Hospital. Most of the time, Misaka comes here if she's really feeling sick, or when she's coming for an exam."
He nodded, saying, "I see. I wonder if it ever gets lonely there?"
Shinichi said, "I don't think so. She usually has her folks come over and check on her when she's sick."
"Oh, I see," he said, continuing to walk forward with his friends.
Eventually reaching a small, slightly dark building, Shinichi told him, "This is the Weapon Museum. The guy there has a bunch of weapons, some of them really freaking old. Some people think that he makes them himself, but no one really knows."
Raising an eyebrow curiously, he muttered, "Huh...I see..."
But then, as the trio began to cross the street, they suddenly heard a loud, angry voice shout, "Hey, watch it punks!" whipping around to see an older, angry looking guy storming over to them, dressed in their own uniform. He was around 5'11 with short blond hair, sharp, dangerous looking green eyes, a compactly muscular frame, pencil thin eyebrows, and pale skin. As they backed away, he told them, "Don't you know the laws!? No, jaywalking! You got that punks!?"
Frightened, Shinichi whimpered, "U-, understood, A-, Akashi-senpai! It won't happen again!"
Grumbling, he spat, "It'd better not," and skulked away, the three of them calming down as soon as he was out of sight.
Looking over, Ryou asked, "Wh-, who was that, psycho...?"
Gulping nervously, Riku replied, "Th-, that was, Akashi Ishida, upperclassman and a strict rule follower. J-, ju-, just about, everyone's afraid of him."
Nodding, Ryou muttered, "I can see, why. I, get the feeling that M-, Mion would probably, start crying if he got near her." After a while, the trio finally calmed down, leaving in order go to the last destination.
Going in front of it, Riku told him, "And last but certainly not least, we have the local library, the place I work and one of Mion's favorite places to go."
Ryou nodded, saying, "Yeah, she's always loved books," as he walked inside, looking around.
As they went inside, Riku told the other two, "Hey, listen, I'm gonna check my schedule for this week, you two can go look around if you'd like."
"Got it," they both said, deciding to split in order to find books of their own. As Ryou walked around, he eventually saw a portion of the library that, for some reason, seemed a little darker inside. Curious, he went over, slipping between the shelves that made its entrance, and walked inside. As he was about to look around though, he suddenly saw a bright flash and he covered his eyes, shielding them from the sudden blast of light. Then, in just the blink of an eye, he found himself inside a large, blue library with a numerous number of tall, seemingly endless bookshelves, a huge, magnificent book on a stand in the back of the room, its pages flying by as if propelled by some huge wind, a large couch, and a chair he was now sitting in. Across from him, standing up, he saw an extremely beautiful woman in a blue dress holding a thick book. She was tall, probably taller than he was now because of a pair of high heels with shoulder length, wavy platinum blond hair, golden eyes that seemed to stare through him, a tall, slim frame, a modest, unremarkable figure, and pale skin. Next to her, sitting on the couch, was a small, old looking man with a long, beak like nose and a balding head in a very old tuxedo with a smile that sent chills down his spine. Despite this, the man gave him a little, sincere bow and very politely said to him, "Welcome to the Velvet Room."