Funeral Rites

Arc 1: Church Bells Ringing

Chapter 1: The Shujin Church

"Ren, come in."

Ren shook his head, rubbing his eyes. Though he felt tired, he couldn't make a bad first impression. Opening the door to the classroom, he stepped in, giving the class a quick look. They looked… far from average, actually. A boy with bleached hair was staring at him with wide eyes. A girl with a supermodel's figure was narrowing her eyes at him. The others seemed… shocked? His new teacher, Kawakami-sensei, looked far from happy.

"Isn't that the criminal?" someone whispered. His heart sank. "The one who got kicked out of his school for murder?"

He lowered his head. Of course there were rumours which completely exaggerated the events that led to his transfer. But murder? Didn't these people know how unlikely it is that a judge gave someone probation on murder?

"Nicaea was right… again?" Another student muttered.

"Shh, you're not supposed to-"

The woman next to him slapped on the table, making him jump. The students stared at her.

"Everyone quiet down," she said. Her voice was harsh, and her expression mirrored the tone. "Whatever rumours you heard were probably exaggerated and I don't want to hear any trash about that stupid website of yours. You're supposed to be adults."

She didn't sound entirely convinced of what she was saying, but it was a start. Clearly, she didn't have the highest opinion of him for coming too late to his first day, but he got lost by taking the wrong train and…

He shook his head, taking some chalk and writing his name on the blackboard before turning around again and bowing slightly.

"My name is Ren Amamiya," he said, raising his head again. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope we can get along."

People stared at him like he was joking. Step one in his Tokyo High School Life Plan: Making a good impression: An absolute failure. 0 points in all regards.

Even his teacher just sighed and waved towards an empty chair. "Please, take a seat, homeroom starts now."

The chair was in the back of the room, next to a student that looked a bit beaten up. He had bandaid all over his hands and one on his chin, and a few scars were visible underneath. Ren sat down, smiling at his neighbor. "Hello."

"Don't talk to me!" his neighbor snapped. "I don't want to die."

The hushed whisper was audible enough to send the room into another conversation. He swallowed his pride, glancing to the side and out of the window as he tuned them out.

Step two: Making a friend. Zero points.

Ren thought himself a usually pleasant fellow. His current predicament aside, he had a habit of trying to keep things peaceful. A simple "yes, sir" could save you a lot of trouble..

Of course, it's possible that his self perception was completely twisted.

But not even the thug looking guy was open to speaking to him after class? How is that fair?!

His reputation was in shambles already so why not make friends with the most obvious choice? All he kept hearing were whispers of something called Nicana or Nigaia. It was frustrating, but he wouldn't give up. If nothing else, he could just live through his probation and go back home, where most of his friends at least pretended to believe him when he got arrested.

He needed better friends. Resigning himself to a year of unpleasantness, he made his way back home. As much as he could call the rather dingy room above a small café that. He didn't mind it as much as he felt abandoned by both his family and his community back there.

"Ren," he heard his host say. Turning to her, he gave her a small nod in greeting. "I'm afraid we have a rather full house today and Sojiro is gone buying groceries. Could you help me out a bit?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, walking around the counter and putting his bag under the sink. After washing his hands, he turned around to find an apron in his face.

"Don't get that new uniform of yours dirty," she ordered, a soft smile on her lips. "Thank you."

He wanted to thank her, but hadn't managed to find the words yet. It was difficult conveying just how much it meant to him that someone stuck their neck out to give him a second chance, and though her husband obviously didn't seem too happy about it, it was clear that his heart was also in the right place.

"Mrs. Sakura…" he said, putting on the apron she handed him.

"Wakaba," she corrected immediately. "Bring these plates to the elderly men in the corner, please."

He nodded. Of course. He took the plates she put on the table and brought them over to the table, setting them down in front of the two men. They smiled at him, and he found himself replying in kind. At least here nobody was talking about weird rumours.

When he turned around, she was already pointing at a bunch of plates that had to be cleaned. Well, maybe it wasn't going to be a year of dullness and school after all, working in a café was a nice change of pace.

"How was your first day?" she asked. He shrugged, focusing on his task. "Not good, huh?"

"I took the wrong train and ended up late," he said. "My teacher wasn't impressed."

"Late to your first day will do that, yes," she said, preparing more curry. Curry and coffee might not be the most natural combination there is, but the people from Tokyo were weird. "Did you make any friends?"

He couldn't stop the soft scoff that escaped his lips out of reflex. She turned to him, furrowing her brows. Shrugging and trying to pretend that everything was fine, he spoke up again. "There's weird rumours, I think it's too early to tell."

"Mhm." She put a hand on her hips. "You're an awful liar."

That he was. Unfortunately, a lot of times the truth made things worse, and sometimes it's just ignored in favor of a powerful asshole who has something to prove after harassing a woman. "I don't think it's much use talking about it."

"I disagree, but we can continue this conversation when it's less busy," she said. "You're going to be here for a year with us, don't try to take care of everything yourself."

"I understand."

The small humming noise she made made it clear that they weren't done talking about this yet, but he managed to buy himself some time. She was a mother, if he recalled correctly. He didn't really enjoy being mothered, but if he had to face it for the chance to stay out of jail there'd be no complaining on his part.

By the time he was done with the dishes, which kept stacking higher and higher before they decreased, most of the rush was over. A lone young man was sitting in the corner drinking a coffee, wearing a rather fancy suit. Wakaba was wiping down one of the tables.

"Wakaba, I'm done with the dishes," Ren said. "Do you need me for anything else?"

"No, it's fine, thank you," she answered, sighing. "I wonder where my husband is, he should've been here ages ago."

"I could check by the shop if you need me to," he said. "I just need directions."

"No, it's fine," she said. Her tone made him think that she was used to saying the phrase quite often. "I'm just going to close the shop for a bit, he probably met some old friend of his and forgot the time. You should rest, avoid being late again tomorrow."

"Yes." He laughed, but her glare made him cower. "Thank you."

Walking over to his bag, he lifted it up but managed to slip on some water, making him yelp as he crashed into the ground. While he was still out of it, someone grabbed his shoulder and helped him up. Wakaba was standing behind the young man who still had his hand on Ren's shoulder.

"You should be more careful," the young man said. His features were sharp, distinguished. It reminded Ren of a snake, but that could just be his headache. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm sorry," he said. "Maybe I'm more tired than I thought."

Wakaba sighed, crossing her arms. "Please tell me if you're not up to helping, I don't want some weird rumours about me working high schoolers to death."

The man chuckled. "I think it's fine, you just moved here, right? Tokyo can be a bit overwhelming."

"A bit," Ren said, touching the bump on the back of his head. "I think I'll lie down for a bit, thank you."

"It's fine," the man said, returning to his table. "Thank you for your patronage."

Ren tried to ignore the ringing in his ears as he trudged up the stairs, putting his bag next to his bed and crashing onto it. There was nothing that could make this day worse, he was sure. The only thing missing was a meteor crashing through the roof and onto his head while he was sleeping. Turning around with a groan, he patted his pocket and grabbed his phone -

Or not. It wasn't there. Frantically patting himself down, he stood up, groaning at both the headache and his lack of phone. There was no way he could replace that for a while if he had lost it. Making his way down, he noticed the young man had already left.

"Mrs. Sakura," he said, looking around. "Wakaba?"

Gone as well. The sign at the door was switched to "Closed". It seems she had left already. How long was he up there? It didn't matter. Looking around the sink, he checked the ground and behind the counter but couldn't find it. At least the headache was slowly leaving, the awful pounding reduced to a mere soft throbbing.

The sound of something vibrating on wood made him wince. Thank goodness, it was there, lying on the table. Wakaba must've found it and put it on the table. Walking over to the table near the entrance, he picked his phone up and unlocked it, checking the messages.

No new messages. Of course not. He might as well delete all his old contacts now rather than later. Why did it vibrate then? The battery was almost full. He wasn't in the mood to make a huge deal out of it, and he was in dire need of a shower.

This time he wasn't late. Waking up way earlier than he expected, he instead took the time to freshen up, made sure he looked as approachable as possible and then made his way to the train station where he finally took the right train to his school.

Unfortunately, as much as he tried to smile, it was harder and harder with every weird stare he received. Reaching his classroom, he opened the door and instead of stares found everyone very clearly avoiding looking at him. It didn't take long for him to notice why. There were flowers on his desk. Chrysanthemums. His grip tightened around his bag.

He was no longer smiling, giving the room a once over. If they actually thought any rumours about him being a murderer of all things were true, would they really be this… this stupid? This absolutely moronic?

He opened his mouth to speak, have anyone stand and take responsibility. Before he could, someone stepped up behind him and gave him a poke with a stack of papers. He spun around, staring at the face of his surprised teacher.

"Ren, is everything alright?"

Far from it. If he had to describe what he was feeling, it would be furious. She glanced behind him and saw the flower vase. Her face went through a multitude of emotions before settling on a very, very stern glare. Rather than explode there, he walked over to his desk, grabbing the vase and all but stomping out of the room. Ms. Kawakami didn't even make an attempt to stop him. As homeroom had already started, the halls were completely empty.

He wasn't sure where exactly he wanted to go. Something inside him wanted to smash the vase against the wall, damned the consequences, but he knew that'd be playing into the hands of whichever bastard was provoking him. If they wanted to bully him, they'd need to find a better way. Making his way up the stairs, he continued until he reached the roof. Considering there was always a teacher at the gate checking for late-comers, it was the most obvious choice to vent.

He felt better as the cold spring air hit his face. The fact that there was a tended to garden up here was a surprise, but he wasn't about to complain. Rather than smash the vase, he put it down, taking a deep breath.

Mother. Fuckers.

He wasn't used to feeling angry. Approachable and calm got a long way back home, but the city was both overwhelming in its size and its people. Wasn't this stuff supposed to go slower? People getting more nasty over time? Did he manage to underestimate how awful things would be this badly?

He'd have to go back, right? He couldn't skip class, or the cops would take him back to jail. What a ridiculous idea… no school besides Shujin let him transfer. Schooling his features back into a pleasant smile, took another moment to still his shaking hands. His phone rang, vibrating violently in his pocket. Grabbing it, he unlocked the screen and found himself staring at an unknown background.

WELCOME TO

NICAEA(β)

REN AMAMIYA

YOU HAVE ONE UNREAD MESSAGE

What? He couldn't remember installing anything new lately. Trying to get out of the app was futile. A virus, maybe. He'd have to remove the battery. As if getting impatient by his lack of response, the screen rotated and started playing a video.

Everything in his vision blurred. The door to the roof was ripped open by someone he couldn't recognize and he barely managed to keep himself up on his feet. All he could see was the screen, a lone figure standing on the top of the very same roof he was standing on, approaching the edge. As if planning, they had brought a large bolt cutter, slowly ripping through the fence that was supposed to stop anyone from falling off. When they were done, they turned towards the camera - he turned towards the camera. Ren turned towards the camera. And then he jumped.

As suddenly as it started, it was gone. He shook his head and found himself staring at an explosion of flora around him. White and yellow chrysanthemums surrounded the fence. A lone picture stood in the middle of all that. A picture of him smiling. Was that planned too? Did they set up all that in one day?

"What the hell?" someone behind him said. He turned around, not finding the energy to be angry anymore. It was a girl from his class, blonde, pretty - the one that gave him a look of suspicion when he introduced himself. She looked at the sky, and he found his gaze following hers. It was bright red.

"What the hell?" he echoed. "What kind of prank are you trying to pull here?"

"This isn't on me, I was just- you saw the video, right? I wanted to warn you, I," she trailed off, biting her lower lip and crossing her arms. "Someone already died the way that website predicted, I didn't like him but I can't really stay quiet."

"The video?" he said, glancing at his phone. "What's going on in this school?"

"You don't know?"

He wanted to retort that of course he didn't, nobody was actually talking to him. But she actually seemed genuine, and he had resigned himself to the insanity that is Tokyo's people. "No, I don't know."

"Welcome to the Shujin Church!" a voice from his phone said. They stared at it, and the girl approached slowly. A young woman was visible on the screen, smiling at them. "I am Tico, your assistant for this trip!"

He shook his phone slightly, trying to make sure he wasn't just hallucinating. The woman inside jumped around.

"P-please stop that! Phones nowadays are very frail! Don't drop me!"

"What the hell?" the girl repeated.

"Ah, another guest! Sending app data!" Tico shouted. The girl's phone rang, and upon pulling it out was met with the same screen, sans the woman. "Welcome, Ann Takamaki!"

"Hmph," Ann grunted, glaring at Ren. "Nice trick, that a pickup line?"

"I have no idea what's happening right now," Ren said, his gaze moving towards the picture between the flowers. "And at this point I don't even care, I just want to go home and go to bed so this nightmare ends."

She flinched when she followed his gaze. "Sorry."

"It's fine, we're both on edge."

"I am Tico! Your assistant for this trip!" TIco repeated. "Please don't ignore me, I need lots of love and attention!"

"What is this place?" he asked. Tico smiled.

"This is the Shujin Church!" she said. "A twisted and dark form of the Shujin High School, created by a certainty that will see you dead!"

He frowned, shaking his phone again. Tico screamed until he stopped. "Elaborate."

"Nicaea is a death video website," Ann cut in. "It predicts people dying by uploading videos of how they die."

"That sounds ridiculous," he said. "Someone doctors a few videos and-"

"A teacher appeared on that website," she said. "From this school. He died a week after the video was uploaded. He wasn't the first one that died, too, just the first one we know."

His heart sank. "Is that why everyone was..."

"Yeah, they weren't trying to bully you out of the school," she said. "Though the rumours of what you did before transferring here are bad, I think most people pity you. They're just awful at showing that."

"And nobody said anything to me?"

"We thought you knew," she said. "Kamoshida knew. He got worse in the week leading up to his death, if he hadn't died he'd probably have been fired soon enough."

His previous anger felt hollow now. This messed up topsy-turvy world of insanity was just… incredible. Having a reason for their actions actually made it less bad. Not good by any means, but not as bad. If it wasn't for Ann, he probably would've thought that he bashed his head against the floor too hard yesterday and is having a coma dream.

Unless Ann was a hallucination? He pinched her arm. She yelped. "What was that for?!"

"I thought I was dreaming," he said.

"Pinch yourself then!"

When he was about to do that, she punched his arm. The pain felt real. Rubbing it, he gave her a thumbs up. "Not dreaming, we're actually in some weird world where people imagine me dead."

He was sure her glare was meant to do more than make him smile, but despite the ridiculousness of their predicament, he felt relieved. Tico coughed, drawing the attention back to her.

"Do you have any more questions?"

"How do we get out?" Ann asked. Ren nodded. Tico hummed.

"Where else but the entrance?" Tico said as if it were obvious. "Of course, considering you're on the roof, that's quite a long way down from here."

"Are there any others besides us?" Ren asked. Tico shook her head.

"Only people on the roof got transferred over!" She gave them a bright smile. "So only you and the shadows are here."

"Transferred over where exactly? You call this a church… I'm sorry, shadows?" Ren said.

"Shadows!" She nodded. "Every person in this school projects a shadow into this world. It's a manifestation of their hidden thoughts, their desires, and they all think you'll die!"

"You seem weirdly open about all this," Ann said. "What are you?"

"I'm Tico," Tico said. "I'm part of the Nicaea app~"

"Isn't it a website? Why an app all of the sudden?"

"That's classified~" Tico sang. Ren sighed, shaking the phone again.

"I guess that just means avoid the shadows?" he asked. Tico spun around a bit before coming to a halt, giving him a salute.

"Yessir."

"Alright, thanks."

Locking the screen again, he pocketed his phone and looked over to Ann. She was fidgeting, her fingers digging into her upper arms. Though her voice was steady, she was obviously not comfortable with whatever the hell was going on.

"How are you so calm?" she asked.

He put a fist on his hip, puffing out his chest. "For a criminal like me, this is nothing," he said.

She frowned, looking away. "As if," she muttered. "Feel free to leave the macho on the roof when we go, that's really not my type."

"I'm far from calm," Ren admitted, walking towards the door. "It's actually exciting, but this seems too surreal to get worked up over."

She must've been unable to follow his logic, and simply grunted in disagreement. The stairs down seemed to look normal enough, though the lights were dimmer, giving it an interesting aesthetic. They walked down and ended up at a large double door.

"That wasn't here before," she said. Ren nodded. "What are you waiting for? Open it."

He obliged, pushing the doors open. The lights got dimmer. It was a dark hall with candles on the walls instead of the school hallway. "Seems like getting out will be a bit more complicated."

"Don't sound so happy about it!" she hissed. Despite the heat in her voice, she was standing closer to him as they went forward. The floor under them creaked with every step. Multiple doors were to the left and right. "Which one should we take?"

"No idea," he said, approaching one of them. She grabbed his arm when he moved to push it open.

"What if there's those shadow things behind it?" she said.

He shook his head. "We're not going anywhere if we don't take that risk," he said. Her grip tightened for a moment before she let go. "It'll be fine."

"If something happens, I'm going to haunt you," she said.

He gave her a smile and pushed the door open. A large coffin smashed into the ground in front of them, cracking the ground and standing slightly tilted.

Ann screamed, stepping backwards until her back hit the wall on the opposite side of the door. The coffin's lid slid open, revealing a dark hand moving out from the edges. Ren stood frozen.

All of the sudden the lid fell, and out of the darkness that it held inside came crows by the dozen, their eyes bright yellow and their wings replaced by human hands. Ren took a step back, slamming the door shut. The crows smashed against the door, creating a large crack going down the middle. Spinning towards Ann, he grabbed her hand and ran down the hallway.

There was no single door at the end of it, though, simply more doors to the left and right like a ridiculous labyrinth that wanted to keep them inside.

Forced to choose, he picked the last one to the left and rushed in, slamming the door shut behind him as the sound of wood tearing apart echoed. The crows were out in the hallway now.

"What the hell was-" Ann spoke up, but he shushed her.

The crows approached, their fluttering wings sounding like meat slapping on meat and their caws sounding much closer to human screams than anything else. He tensed when they were right outside. It took a bit, but they turned around again, moving down the hallway into the opposite direction.

Collapsing to the ground, he sighed in relief, his chest hurting from the sudden exercise.

Ann spoke up again. "Ren?"

"Yeah, sorry, you were right."

"Not that!" She pointed at another coffin right in front of them. "That!"

"What? Shit-"

The coffin didn't open though. It shook slightly, back and forth, but stayed intact. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

A voice came from the coffin. Human, presumably. The coffin shook again, but the fact that it wasn't about to explode open again allowed Ren and Ann to relax. "I'm sorry, who is this?"

"I'm Morgana," the voice said. "I tried to hide here from the shadows but ended up locked inside. Can you let me out?"

"Sure, just-"

Ann jumped up, locking her arm around his neck and forced him down. "Don't be stupid, this is obviously a trick!"

"No it's not!" Morgana said, heat entering her? His? Voice. Ren couldn't quite tell. Their voice took on a pathetic tone, one that reeked of desperation. "I'm hungry and it's dark in here, I don't know how long I've been here-"

"Tico said only we got transferred here," Ann continued, ignoring Morgana.

"Tico said only the people on the roof got transferred, she didn't say if anyone was already here," Ren said.

Morgana hummed, as if nodding along. "See? So obviously you can let me out."

"Hell no," Ann said.

"Alright," Ren said, at the same time. Ann didn't let go, keeping her vice grip on him, but she wasn't actually strong enough to stop him from righting himself up, forcing her to let go. If they talk like a person, they couldn't be too bad. It's not like the alternative was much better - the crows were still outside, making rounds around the hallway. While Ann hid herself in the widest corner of the small room, Ren pushed the coffin open.

Out came a cat… mascot? It looked far from human, but it was kind of cute and not really threatening. Morgana jumped into his arms, hugging him. "Thank you!"

"Eek!" Ann pointed at them. "What are you?!"

"That's rude, I already introduced myself!" Morgana said, standing on Ren's shoulder. "I am the one and only Morgana, purrveyor of human desire!"

Ren snorted at the pun. Even Ann seemed less suspicious. She glared "You're a talking cat!"

Morgana glared back. "Call me a cat one more time, see what happens! I'll claw your ears off!"

"Quiet," Ren said. Something was weird. The crows stopped flapping. Voices were echoing through the halls. A chorus of them.

Singing?

Ren opened the door slightly. The crows were gone. "I think we should follow the voices."

"I think you thinking got us into this mess," Ann said.

"That's fair," he said. "I'm open to any other ideas."

She opened her mouth, closed it again, looked away, then opened her mouth again. Huffing, she closed her mouth again and repeated his earlier proposal. "Let's follow the voices."

"Of course," he said, opening the door fully. Morgana jumped down from his shoulder, looking into the hallway. "A genius idea, if only I could've come up with it."

"Asshole."