Chapter One: A Twist in Fate
"Welcome to America, Mr. Narukami." a warm but condescending face, belonging to one of the teachers at the school he was going to attend, greeted Yu Narukami at the international airport in Memphis, Tennessee. He'd never been abroad before, but Yu'd seen his share of exchange students, and that was the look they always got from ill-informed adults. The teen sighed as he realized that there were narrow-minded people everywhere in the world.
"Thank you. I'm glad to be here." He lied. It really didn't matter to him where he was. His parent's work ensured he rarely stayed in one place more than once.
"I understand your parents have come to the United States for work. How fortunate that you made it through the exams for an exchange program." that fake smile was getting on Yu's nerves.
His response was a simple nod. He didn't bother looking at the woman's face of remembering her. Every place was the same after all, even in the United States.
She laughed suddenly, "Great, we get rid of one quiet one only to get another."
"I heard that, Mrs. Thompson." A large teen that looked slightly older than Yu approached with a bag.
The guy was almost six feet tall by Yu's guess, with a shaven head, short brown beard, and glasses. If he was the one trading places with Yu, he would certainly stand out in Japan.
The teacher, apparently Mrs. Thompson, turned and gave the teen a different kind of fake smile, then turned back to Yu, "Oh, Mr. Narukami, this is Bryan Neir, the exchange student headed for Japan. I'm glad you came over early so the two of you could meet."
The large teen offered a handshake, which Yu accepted. Bryan then addressed Yu in pretty good, but over-pronounced Japanese, the kind straight from a textbook, "Nice to meet you. I hear your parents make you move around a lot. My dad was in the military when I was young, so I can understand that, I also had to move when my folks divorced."
Yu noted two things immediately. For one, this guy didn't seem the scholarly type, so they had something in common. Second, he found himself both liking and hating him at the same time, an odd sensation to say the least. Something in Bryan's eyes just seemed to pierce into Yu, as if the guy could see everything about him. When their hands met, a strange sensation passed over the two of them, a strange sensation of failure and hope at the same time.
"Sorry to hear about your folks." Yu lied, he really didn't care that much since he had long ago decided emotional attachments were something he wasn't allowed, "My parents work so much they might as well be divorced."
The guy shrugged, "It happens."
Mrs. Thompson broke into the exchange, "You should hurry Mr. Neir or you'll miss your flight, you can't put everything off forever."
Bryan frowned and nodded, waving farewell to Yu and heading off to a nearby boarding gate without a word. Yu's curiosity had been peaked, so he asked his questions without hesitation as the teacher lead him out of the building, "Big guy, doesn't seem the studious type though. What's his story?"
The teacher shook her head and grinned, "To be honest I have no idea, he only speaks to a couple people, all outcasts. You know, the kind of troubled youths that he'd fit in well with. You're half-right though, he isn't the type to study. I had him in my class last year and he never did any of his assignments. The faculty calls him the 'cruise control kid' because he manages to pass without changing that speed."
"How could he coast through like that, or qualify for this exchange program. I had to work my butt off."
The teacher looked really amused, "He's a weird one. Never pays any attention, yet never gets less than a 80% on a test."
"So he's a genius?"
"I wouldn't say that, but he would be if he tried harder." something apparently occurred to the teacher, and her grin becomes a frown, "Bryan's a very lonely person I think. He's got so much promise yet never used any of it. Everyone was drawn to him because of his talent, but he never tried to get any friends."
"Well, here's his chance to start fresh in a new place. It's good someone nominated him." Yu could feel sympathy for the guy. A lot of the time he didn't want to bother with the world around him either. Sometimes things just felt heavy, "Maybe he just needed this chance. Once he finds a goal to aim for he'll turn around I'm sure."
The teacher looked at him with a genuine smile this time, "You're pretty mature for your age, Mr. Narukami."
Meanwhile in Tokyo,
A lone girl was seated at her desk in the den of her family's home, looking and pondering over letters from a pen pal she had started correspondence with a year before. The whole things had been something her grandfather insisted upon. He'd claimed it would do her good to confide in someone, and if she didn't feel comfortable with anyone she knew, the logical conclusion would be to get to know someone from another country, someone she would likely never meet. So she'd signed up for a service, requesting someone specifically from a far off country, in a part of that country that she'd never have to visit.
To be honest, her grandfather had been right. Confiding in someone made her daily troubles seem lighter, though her pen pal was only as open as he had to be, trying his hardest to shift any topic about him to whatever was bothering her. She'd been hesitant at first because of this. After all how could she trust someone who wouldn't trust her? However she soon learned that she couldn't hide anything from the man. He'd reply with words that cut through any lies she tried to tell. In fact she'd initially tried to hide her gender from him so he wouldn't get lofty ideas and make advances she wasn't looking for. It proved useless. Each others' talents for observation were among the first things the two had learned about each other, Bryan seeing right through her deception and she quickly deduced he came from a broken household. Another thing she figured out was he wasn't the type to talk openly about himself and probably never would be, though he was more the adequate in his chosen role as confidant.
However, his last correspondence, was his most confusing yet. He'd passed an exam to qualify for an exchange program to Japan, even scoring the highest marks. She hadn't even known he was taking any such exam. She couldn't discern his intentions, but he would be in Tokyo, the city she lived in, for an hour before heading to a small town called Inaba. He mentioned it in passing, but didn't say anything about meeting. Did he expect her to make the move to set up a meeting? Was he testing her?
Moments of pacing and deep thought later found her staring at herself in a tall mirror. She wasn't even sure if she ever wanted to meet him. After all, they had only become friends because she thought there was no chance of them meeting. She could always keep ignoring the e-mail, it wasn't like he'd set anything up or knew where she lived. After a few more brief moments of thought, spent looking at herself in disgust, she decided it was best that they never meet.
"You look troubled. Is something the matter?" her grandfather suddenly entered, his stern but loving voice bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Oh it's nothing, grandfather." she resisted the urge to hug him and simply sent a smile his way, "I didn't know you were back from your trip to England. When did you get back?"
"A short time ago. I brought you something I got on a brief hiatus in Paris." He produced a box that he'd had hidden behind him...a dress box.
"Grandfather, you know I hate dresses. They are hardly practical in this day and age."
"Could you humor your favorite grampy at least this once? I haven't seen you dressed up since you were six."
She turned and looked at herself long and hard in the mirror, "Maybe later. How was your business? Everything turned out okay I presume?"
"Of course, who do you think you are talking about my dear child?" there was a pause, "Ah, so Mr. Neir will be passing through Tokyo?"
The girl, startled beyond words, turned around quickly, seeing that in the short time she had her back turned, the old man had glanced over the letter on her desk, "Grandfather! You read my mail?"
"I apologize, but is this what had you so worried? Do you think he means to pursue you?"
"Not likely, he made no attempt to set up a meeting."
The old man simply smiled and put the matter aside. As usual, Naoto Shirogane had no idea what was going on in her dear grandfather's head.
Later that day, Bryan's Perspective
"NO! DON'T GET ON THE TRAIN!" a terrified female voice called out to me in desperation, but the doors closed between us and the train pulled away into darkness.
I snapped awake suddenly and my mind reeled as it tried to remember what had jarred me awake so harshly. I quickly pushed that aside for the much more pressing issue though. I was in a place I had not fallen asleep in, a place with such loneliness and longing that it hung in the air like a fog, a fog of grimmest isolation. Silence so deep it was almost audible permeated that heavy solitary air I looked around for any hit of life in the room. For some reason I was in an old-fashioned American style bar lounge, the kind you would see in a film noir detective story but with a larger dance floor. Aside from the oak furnishings, the floor and curtains were a sort of light indigo color I almost mistook for purple.
Speaking of curtains, my eyes fell upon a lone woman on the far side of the room, sitting on a stage atop a piano that had no pianist. Her eyes were closed and her face frozen in an expression filled with hidden emotions. She was neither beautiful nor ugly, and though older than me it was impossible to guess by how much. Neutral is the word that came to mind when attempting to describe her. Indeed she was neutral in every way. Across the room from her, sitting not that far from the sullen stage was a long-nosed man holding a small drink and wearing a well-pressed suit. Frozen in place, they seemed unaware of their surroundings. They barely seemed alive, more like fresh corpses with the slimmest chance of resuscitation.
It was pretty clear that what I'd assumed would be a relatively relaxing time in an interesting country was going to be far more interesting than I'd thought.
Standing, I was immediately startled by motion from the stage. The woman was suddenly awake, eyes totally alert but uncaring. Soon after, the old man took a sip of his drink with a smile. His face still boasted an expression I couldn't read for certain and his piercing eyes glared at me with total clarity and full knowledge. It was as if neither had ever been dormant.
The man spoke in a voice as neutral as his companion, a mix between sage and lunatic, "Welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor and I am delighted to make your acquaintance. The young lady you see at the piano is Margaret. She is a resident here, like myself."
Margaret glanced over, "Charmed, I'm sure."
She went back to ignoring me completely, her hand moving across the piano as if wishing someone would play it. Though her expression remained cold, I felt like I could see the longing deep within her gray eyes.
I nodded to Margaret in a sort of polite but shallow bow then turned to Igor, trying to analyze the two strange people and my situation, "My name's Bryan Neir. Where am I? Last thing I remember I was dozing on a 12-hour flight to Japan."
Igor motioned towards a chair, offering me a seat as he continued, "This, as I said, is the Velvet Room, a place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It's been a while since we've had a guest."
"Yeah, I imagine very few people stop in for a drink when traveling between the two." I quipped, slowly walking across open dance floor and over to Igor's table, cautiously taking a seat.
The long-nosed man grinned only slightly at my remark, looking at me long and hard, letting me process all the information before speaking again. Surely, I had to be dreaming, but it didn't feel like one. I didn't feel asleep, nor did I feel awake. I felt like I was somewhere, but couldn't get my bearings. It felt like the place was the only place in the universe. Whoever Igor was, my instincts told me his words were fact and I always trust my instincts.
As if he knew I had decided to believe him, the man continued, "This is a place only those bound by a contract may enter. It seems such a fate awaits you in the near future. The nature of this contract shall not be the conventional kind. No, the contract you will enter shall be one of gravest importance. Your fate is uncertain, broken into pieces, and in fulfilling your pact you will reassemble it. If you fail, your future will remain destroyed."
"What do you mean by 'broken into pieces' and 'destroyed'? How can you break fate?"
"Regretfully you must discover this for yourself in time. I am but a guide and such knowledge is right now beyond my sight." he motioned behind me to the front of the bar. The front windows were rendered nearly useless by a wall of fog outside. "Fortunately, you have a unique ability and if you hone it properly it may be enough to save your future. I can help you do this. The only price I ask for this assistance is that you fulfill your contract and accept responsibility for the choices that you make and have already made. Do you understand?"
"The terms? Yes. Everything else? Not really."
"We will attend to the details another time. For now, you must take the first steps towards that future." The room started going dark as he uttered those last words, "Farewell. I look forward to seeing you again."
I was jarred awake by a tone played over the intercom of the plane, followed by an announcement in Japanese then repeated in English, "Welcome to Japan, I hope you enjoyed your flight. Please file out of the plane in an orderly fashion. Thank you for flying with us and please enjoy your time here in Japan."
I forced myself out of my seat and shook my head to clear it. I was certain that I'd had a weird dream, but for the life of me couldn't remember it clearly. I decided quickly to ignore it and grabbed my bag from the overhead compartment, following the crowd out of the plane. After checking the map of the airport, I hopped into an elevator headed down to the train station on the lower levels then put on my headphones. My hope was that some music would help clear the fog, but when I went to get my phone out of my bag I came across an unsent letter that I'd been writing on the plane. It was a follow-up to my pen pal of slightly over a year. I'd mentioned coming to Japan in passing in my last letter, and realized later that I'd not even told her I had been nominated for the program. Thinking on it, I realized that I had plenty of time to stop by the address I had for her, despite the fact I knew her well enough to know she appreciated the safety of the distance between us.
Suddenly I remembered the strange dream I'd had. Some voice calling out for me to not get on a train. It had felt so vivid and dire... So I followed my gut. It was past time to meet Naoto-chan anyway.
Chapter End
A/N: This is an alternate universe fic for my "Seeing the Unseen" story. I decided to start it after watching the anime and replaying the game in its Golden version. This one is OC x Naoto instead of OC x Yukiko and has many differences in what goes on because of the different choice made at the end of this chapter (to go see Naoto before going to Inaba instead of giving her space. There's also a minor difference before that big event changing that did not happen in the other story, which is a spoiler for a major plot twist coming up in both stories.