"Don't worry," my grandpa says to me after giving me my final hug before I enter the train. "I'll only be gone a year." Only? I think to myself. How could you possibly classify a year away as only?
"I know, I'll be fine," He gave me a warm smile.
"I know you will. Just be careful, okay?" I sigh. I know that he is just looking out for me, but whenever he says things like that it makes me feel like a child.
"I know, I-"
"Now boarding for YasoInaba." The voice cut me off.
"Oh. I guess that's my signal to part." I can feel my face getting warmer. No, I mustn't cry. That would be juvenile. To my surprise, when I looked back up to my grandpa's face, it looks just as red as I suspect mine is.
"Right." He gave me a smile that I believe is him trying to not shed tears. "You should get going then." His eyes stared right bake into hers. "Good luck," He added.
"I should be the one saying.' I turn my head towards the train. "I really need to go now."
"Goodbye then."
"Goodbye, Grandpa." Before I can walk away I feel his arms around me again of one last hug. Even though I now I could be late now I welcome the new warmth. After he pulls away again, I part without another word and enter the train and quickly find a seat.
After I sat down, I quickly adjusted myself to get comfortable and began reading my book. Since the book is only 178 pages long, I'm worried I will finish it all before the train reaches Inaba. I'll be staying there for the next year with a friend of Grandpa's, Ryotaro Dojima. I've never met him, but Grandpa says that he is a very intelligent and trustworthy friend. I am not worried about the fact that I'm staying with a total stranger. This is not the first time I have had to do so. It is, sadly, the longest time. That's okay, though. I'm used to it.
My mind feels foggy as I opened my eyes to see that I am in a very blue room. How did I get here? I must have fallen asleep. Weird, I have no memory of doing so.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room." The sudden voice surprises me as my eyes focus on the two humanoid figures in front of me. The voice, I speculate, comes from the man in the center with strangely pointy ears and an even stranger long nose. Velvet Room? I've never heard of a place called the velvet room. Why would I dream of this place? And why am I so lucid in the first place.
"Ah… It seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny…" He concluded his sentence with a chuckle one could only describe a creepy. Intriguing destiny? What could he possibly be talking about? I mean, I know I'm fifth in line of a family of detectives, but why is this man so interested in me? And why am I taking any of this seriously anyway? "My name is Igor." The strange man continues. "I am delighted to make your acquaintance."
"Where am I?" I try to ask. Sadly, I realize that I cannot speak. What? Why can't I speak? This is my dream. I should be able to do whatever I want.
"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter," the man who calls himself Igor says as if his words make any sense. "It is a room only those bounded by a contract may enter." What? I never signed a contract. Why am I here then? "It may be that a similar fate awaits you in the near future." Wait, did he just answer my question? "Now then, why don't you introduce yourself?"
"Naoto Shirogane." I say. Wait, I just spoke. I hurriedly try to say something else but my voice is gone once again.
"Hm… I see." His voice makes it seem as if he is unimpressed. "Now then, let's take a look into your future, shall we?" Wait, you can see into the future now? This is just ridiculous. He moves for the first time since my arrived. His hand floats above the table sat in front of him as a ball of blue light appears underneath it. "Do you believe in fortune telling?" No. I want to say. Igor makes a strange gesture with his had causing seven cards to appear. "Each reading is done with the same cards but the result is always different. Life follows the same principles, doesn't it?" Despite the fact that his words are what many would call philosophical nonsense, this is the most sense he has made the entire time.
He flips his hand over causing the one of the cards to follow his movements. It shows what I immediately recognize as a tarot card. That's the tower I think. I've never taken the time to look into any form of fortune telling. It's all too farfetched for my liking.
"Hm… The tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent." Wait, if I don't know much about tarot cards then how does a person in my dream seem to know everything? There's no way what he's saying is real. "The card indicating the future beyond that is..." His hand flips over yet another card. The moon. "The Moon, in the upright position." Yes, I got it. "This card represents 'hesitation' and 'mystery'… Very interesting indeed." SO first he tells me that a catastrophe is happening and then that what happens after is a mystery? Great. "It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you.
"In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost." Despite the morbidness of his words, the strange man's frightening smile never left his face. "My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen." He swipes his and over the cards subsequently causing them to vanish. "Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you." I almost forgot that she was even there. The blue-clad woman had sat very lady-like the entire time with both of her hands placed on top of a book on her lap. This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."
"My name is Margaret. I am here to accompany you through your journey." The first thing I make note of is the fact that her voice sounds very mature.
"We shall attend to the details another time." Another time? Why are you so sure I'm coming back? "Until then, farewell…" Before I could even react, the world around me went dark.
"When I came back to I found myself back on the train. So I was correct in my assumption. That was a dream. As I went to check the time on my phone, I saw a Risette commercial. Looking back at my phone, I saw that my phone was still displaying the message sent to me from my soon-to-be guardian. "Meet us outside Yasoinaba Station at 4PM," it reads. Before my eyes even reached the clock, a voice rings throughout the train.
"We will arrive at the Yasogami terminal in a few minutes. Passengers headed for Inaba City and Yasoinaba station, please go to the other side of the platform," It says. I quickly stand up, grab my bag, and do as the voice instructed. Upon exiting the train, I'm met with a screen displaying a news program discussing the scandal surrounding Taro Namatame. Uh, imbeciles. I've never been one for scandals, especially ones of this nature. Completely turned off by the news currently being show, I quickly made my way outside to find my new caretaker already waiting for me.
"Hey! Over here!" he calls. I hurriedly make my way in his direction. He reaches his hand out, inviting me to shake it. I quickly follow through before looking the detective over. He wears something quite casual compared to the detectives I'm used to working with. He even looked casual compared to myself. "Well, you're more beautiful in person than in your photo." After that comment I pull my hand away and lose eye contact. I try not to show it, but comments like that make me feel uncomfortable. Thankfully, he either doesn't care or doesn't even notice in the first place. "Welcome to Inaba. I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'll be looking after you." He gives me a carefree smile.
"It's nice to meet you." I try to return the smile but I'm sure it failed.
"Same goes for me." He looks back down at the little girl that has been hiding behind him the whole time and pushes her forward. "This here's my daughter. Come on, Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin.
"…'lo," she says barely getting the word out. I remember being like that when I was younger. After her brief introduction, she quickly hides herself back behind her father. She receives a soft chuckle from her father.
"What're you so shy for?" That comment gets him a slap on what I hope was meant to be his back from Nanako. "Ow." Dojima laughs again. "Well then… Let's get going. My car's over there." After that the two make their way over to said car. As I begin to follow them I hear a voice behind me.
"…Hey." I turn back around to see an unfriendly-looking girl bending over to pick something up. "You dropped this," she says standing back up.
"Thank you," I respond hoping to end the conversation quickly. Though I try not to be rude, I try to avoid social interaction as much as possible.
"Whatever. All I did was pick it up." So it seems my initial impression was correct. I looked back down at the note I apparently dropped. It's the note I made previously with the address of my temporary home. Good thing I didn't lose it. I express my thanks again receiving a haughty sound in return. She walks away.
"What's wrong?" I hear a voice I recognize as Dojima's say. Great, now I left the two of them waiting. I hurriedly race back to the car they are waiting for me in. Upon my arrival, I notice that the front seat is waiting for me so I take it. By looking in the rearview mirror I see Nanako in the back seat looking gloomy. I would try to say something, but knowing my social skills I would undoubtedly make things worse.
The car ride is silent with none of us knowing what to talk about. We're in the car for no less than 5 minutes when the youngest of us finally says something. "Daddy, I have to go the bathroom," She says. "Don't worry, I need to stop for some gas anyway. You can go here." He turns into a gas station right on the corner of the street. 'Moel' the sign says. What a strange name for a gas station. Or for anything for that matter. Once we pull in, one of the gas attendants runs towards us.
"Hi! Welcome to Moel!" He says. Or she. This person both looks and sounds completely androgyny.
"Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?" Dojima asks. How old is she, anyway?
"Uh-huh." She quickly exits the car along with Dojima. After walking a few steps, she stops confused.
"It's in the back, to your left. You know which way's left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in," The attendant says. Why is this person assuming she isn't left-handed?
"I know… Geez…" as Nanako runs off, I exit the car.
"Are you taking a trip?" He/she asks.
"No, we just went to pick her up." Dojima gestures to me. "She just moved here from the big city."
"The city, huh…?" This person sounded strangely interested. The instincts kicked in telling me that this attendant was not to be trusted.
"Fill up my car while you're at it. Regular's fine."
"Right away, Sir!" This person is to preppy to be a gas attendant.
"Good a time as any for a smoke…" He said under his breath before walking away.
"Are you in high school?" The person I've at this point decided to assume is a girl asks me. Even though I don't like conversation, I don't want to be rude so I answer.
"Yes, tomorrow I'm going to Yasogami as a first year."
"Yeah, I thought so. Still that sucks. There really isn't much to do out here, especially compared to the city. You'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part time jobs." Though the former is very unlikely, I've already got that last part cover as a detective. Then again, I doubt there will be much work for me out here. "Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now.' She takes a step closer to me, making me feel claustrophobic. "Give it some thought, why don't you? We don't mind if you're a student." Though I want to tell her that it wasn't going to happen because I already have a job, I figure that would take too much time. When she reaches out her arm, I hesitantly shake it in return.
In the background, I hear tiny footsteps approaching us from the left. Nanako. I immediately think to myself. "Oh, I should get back to work," the attendant says in a less friendly tone. I can feel Nanako's eyes on me. Before either of us could say anything, I feel a sharp pain in my head. It becomes obvious that I did a terrible job hiding it when the little girl rushes over to me.
"Are you okay?" She asked shyly but still full of concern. "Did you get carsick?" Before I can answer the pain starts to assuage itself.
"I'm fine. Thank you for the concern." Though I don't want her to get worried, it truly is a mystery as to why I got the sudden headache. I also feel slightly light headed.
"Are you sure? You don't look so good." She still sounds concerned.
"Believe me, you have no reason to be concerned. I'm perfectly fine." After I finish easing Nanako's worries, Dojima comes back from his smoke.
"What's wrong? You okay?" If anything, he sounds more concerned than his daughter did.
"I'm fine. I'm just feeling slightly lightheaded."
"That's understandable. It must have been a long tip for you. Why not take a little walk, get some fresh air? Just let me know then you're ready to go." Under most circumstances, I would have declined his offer not wanting to make him wait. Right now, though, I feel as if that would just make things worse.
"Okay, thank you very much. I won't be gone very long."
"Don't worry about it. Take as much time as you need." Dojima once again gives me a warm smile. Now that I think about it, this is probably the nicest on of Grandpa's friends have ever treated me. I can see why he picked this man.
As I walk down the central shopping district, I see that they have a very large variety of different shops. The first ones that pop out to be are Aiya's, which looks like a Ramon shop, Tatsumi Textiles, Marukyu Tofu, and last but not least Yomenaido Bookstore. I suspect that I will be spending a lot of my time at the last one.
Once I had explored for a good five minutes, I start my walk back to the car. On my way I see the girl I ran into at the train station again. I find myself unwittingly staring at her.
"Hey! What are you staring at?" It seems it did not escape her attention.
"Oh, I apologize. I meant no ill will." I start to walk away.
"Hm..?" I hear her say as I walk past her, stopping me dead in my tracks. "Have we met before?" I turn back to her.
"Oh, we met before at the train station."
"Hmm, okay." It's obvious that see has no intention of continuing the conversation. I'm not offended by it. I feel the same way. With by back once again to her, I start my walking again.
"How're you feeling? Ready to get back in the car?" Dojima asks once he sees me walking his way.
"Yes, I feel much better now. Thank you. I'm truly sorry for the wait."
"There's no need to be sorry. Come on, let's go." He heads back into the car as the rest of us follow. The car ride that follows is very similar to the first one but is also thankfully shorter as we are at the house in minutes. The first thing I notice is that that house is quite big, especially for just two people. Then again, I can't judge considering the fact that my grandpa and I have the whole estate to ourselves.
Without a word, Dojima quickly steps out of the car and opens the loud screen door. Before I go inside I give myself a moment to take it all in. This will be my home for the next year. I'll be going to a whole new school, meet whole new people, and live a whole new life. Just one year. No big cases, no rude detectives, just me and two complete strangers living a peaceful life together. Somehow, that thought scared me more than any case ever could.
Author's Note Please Read
Hello, dudes. I hope you like the fic so far. In case you couldn't tell, I am taking some dialogue straight from the game. I will be following the game quite closely but there will be some major differences. One thing I would like to point out is that I will be dropping the whole "Everyone thinks Naoto's a guy" thing because that would be too confusing. I am, however, keeping the aspect that she is ashamed by her gender and dresses in what would normally be considered 'manly' clothes. I will not, however, be portraying her as transgender because that is not how I see her. Though it may seem as if I am following the story too closely now, I will stray farther away as time goes on. Anyway, I hope I will be able to update often but I may not due to school. I can guarantee that you will never need to wait more than one week unless special circumstances apply. Adios for now.
Ps.
I would really appreciate if you guys could tell be what you like and don't like about my story. I am very open to criticism as long as it is not like "OMG you tots suk go die in a hole." That's just rude.