Persona 5: Rouge

by NecroAxel

A Novelization attempt for P5, What would happen if the frizzy haired kid with a record transferred to Shujin Academy was actually living under a fake name? Ren Amamiya is forced to confront himself and find a meaning in his rebellious ambitions. (Chose mature rating because it's the original game actual rate). Lots of fan theories used.

2. Chapter 1 - The white mask part 1

The white mask Part 1

Day of reckoning: The phantom thief. 01

Police Department building – Interrogation room

"What was your goal?"

The young silver haired prosecutor proceeded with her questioning.

Sae Niijima was sitting in the dark interrogation room inside Tokyo's police station.

In front of her, it was this young bruised kid. He was captured, tortured, and now he is being interrogated.

The effects of the truth serum may be affecting his mind right now, but he has enough coherence left to understand what she's saying.

"Why did you caused such an incident"

The face of the prosecutor was torn between sorrow and disappointment.

She was aware of this kid rebellious behavior. But she would have never thought that this boy would cause such disarray in the entire country.

"I didn't think it was a prank from the get go, but I couldn't assemble a case for prosecution."

The young prosecutor wondered about all the connections, all the events that leaded to this scenario. She couldn't put all the pieces together.

She needed a confession. She needed this kid to make sense out of the case she was working so hard to solve during the past months.

"It's because I couldn't figure out the method behind it."

Sae folded her arms.

The boy was holding his forehead with his bruised right hand.

"Of course you couldn't."

He sounded somewhat sad while talking to her.

This encounter was getting them both into an uncomfortable situation.

"Niijima-san, you didn't know everything about my parents… You only knew what my file said about the Amamiyas, right?"

This was surprising.

The boy she knows as Ren Amamiya inquired her about her investigation.

It was true that she only had a short report about this boy life before arriving to Tokyo.

A report that's provided by the court, and she needed to move some favors to get that file.

"... That's right. What about it?"

After a brief silence she conceded an answer.

The boy closed his eyes, took a deep breath and apologized.

"I'm sorry, but there was no way you could've known then."

She only got a cryptic response again.

It was obvious she was getting tired of these types of answers.

"… Then, tell me. What does that have to do with everything else?"

She tried to get closer to him from the other side of the table, putting her hands on her laps. Almost sounding friendlier.

In reality, she was desperate for an answer.

This boy's family, his record and his past apart from this folder. All that was a complete mystery for her.

"There's no way I could be convinced of such…. "World", just by reading the reports…"

But Sae Niijima tried to go straight to the point.

Such a "world"…

The reports claimed the boy had been making some extraordinary acrobatics. He was capable of doing super human jumps until his clothing morphed after his capture. Leaving him only with his current school uniform he was wearing right now.

But there was something else about the place of his capture…

"When and where did you find out about that 'world'? How is it even possible to steal another's heart? Tell me."

She rained questions on him.

Niijima wanted specifics.

The effects of the drug injected to the boy vary depending of each person's biology.

His reaction wasn't very promising, that's why the police decided to add the torture element to their interrogation. Besides the mere amusement of that such an activity entitled.

"In your first day in Tokyo, there was a terrible train accident. You remember it, don't you?"

She thought she could help him to reorganize his thoughts by bringing up those events.

"I assume you know of the uproar that the general public calls the 'psychotic breakdowns incidents', right?"

Those accidents were of great significance. Sae was building her case around those specific incidents. Studying them, investigating everyone involved.

Every single one of them.

"I might."

The sarcasm in his voice was evident.

After a moment Sae flinches showing her discomfort.

"You say it like it's none of your business."

She had a sardonic answer of her own. Niijima wasn't mad, but she was getting annoyed.

It was possible for her to cope with this kid's wit if that meant she could get her way out of it.

"It was all over the news, and one of the victims included a teacher at your high school. I've no doubt you heard about it."

With that she relaxed her back on her seat again. The boy had to account for everything that happened those days.

From her perspective, there was no way he wasn't involved after all.

"On that day… were you still an 'ordinary' student?"

'Ordinary' The boy thought, nothing about his circumstances were ordinary.

"…"

Sae shakes her head.

"Let me change the question. You transferred to Shujin Academy, correct?"

The boy nods

The young prosecutor fixes her hair and continues.

"An ordinary prep school that could be found in any city…. That's what it should've been."

'How it should've been huh?'

For some reason those words annoyed the boy, he closed his eyes and fixed the tuft of hair going down his forehead.

"What happened around that time? Tell me everything, truthfully."

His head hurt… but he starts to remember… All began with a dream….

"You're held captive."

"A prisoner of fate to a future that has been sealed in advance."

"This is truly an unjust game… Your chances of winning are almost none."

"But if my voice is reaching you. There may yet be a possibility open to you…"

"I beg you. Please overcome this game… And save the world…"

"This is the last stop of this line. Please transfer to..."

The young boy wakes up. He was sitting in a train surrounded by strange and unknown faces.

The boy has frizzy black hair and is wearing typewriter like glasses.

He rocks some plaid fabric pants and a buttoned black blazer over a white turtleneck.

A number two is visible over the logo in his blazer, meaning that the boy is a 2nd year in high school.

There, he's been looking at his phone since he woke up in the long distance train he was riding.

After checking the time, he begins to navigate through his chats, erasing them one by one.

?: "Get back soon"

?: "Take care, don't forget our deal"

"7-1Chat" - delete

He stops at the last one he received.

Dad: "This is Sojiro's-san number. Be sure to say hi to Kamiya-san. Take care."

"..."

-delete-

New beginnings

The boy arrived to the Shibuya station by foot after getting down from his last train.

From this day he is going to live in Tokyo, the most populated city in the world.

The navigation app on his phone shows the lines leading to Yongen-jaya.

That means first he has to go through the station square, in the middle of the most crowded ward of Tokyo.

There are approximately 221,000 people living in Shibuya, a district that is part of a city with more than 13,000,000 people.

This overwhelms the boy's hometown bustle, a regular seaside city.

He goes a few blocks ahead. Arriving to the main Shibuya interception that connects to the central street and the station square.

He can use the Yongen line next, but on his way he finds himself wondering how long it would take for him to get lost.

"Right now? In this station?"

"Did you hear about it, right?"

"Like there's a lot of those lately! there was just another psychotic breakdown just the other day right?"

While walking through the interception, he hears a female voice near a food stand in the station square.

They were two female students wearing blue jackets and blue plaid fabric skirts, he can't identify the school logo. But they seem to be from an art school since they were also carrying each a poster tube bag.

"A site does that…? I mean c'mon."

'Psychotic breakdown...' The boy ponders about the meaning behind of those words.

The thought of a person loosing self-control. Attacking or hurting complete strangers, it feels like if it was taken out of some western horror movie.

He passed by the mumbling girls. He could also read the articles on the newspaper stands near the two students

The news about tax increase, rise in psychotic breakdowns-

'Nothing but dangerous articles... Shibuya is that dangerous?' The town boy couldn't help but wonder about the dangers of daily life in a capital city.

"Isn't it scary?"

"But you're kidding right? A mental shutdown?"

"It's the truth"

"You really love all that occult stuff don't you?"

He hears the innocent conversation between the two high school girls with a hint of curiosity.

His attention is brought back to his phone, since he closed the navigation app without realizing it.

'Dammit'

A twitch of frustration, it didn't took long, he was already lost.

'So many people'

Looking up at the city lights, he realizes he was in the middle of a big interception where hundreds of people were crossing the streets.

When did he got here?

He tried to open his navigation app again. But this time he notices a new weird application was showing itself on his phone.

'This wasn't here before'

He clicks on it out of pure curiosity.

The sea of people around him was saturating his awareness.

The boy wasn't used to such agglomeration of people in his hometown.

But this was japan after all. There are people everywhere you look.

The kid remained calm and continued his walk. Until he noticed the weird app had spread out to cover the entire screen of his phone.

It looked like a weird red eye with black patterns.

The screen glowed while he tried stopping the app from taking over his phone.

"What the… Huh?"

A chill ran down his spine.

There were no words that could describe the feeling of isolation he felt right after touching his phone one last time.

After his attention dispersed towards his surroundings, he saw what looked like a spike coming out of the floor.

It was so sudden that he jumped back.

The spike suddenly disappeared. But instead two more came out near him, one on his right and another one behind him.

'What's going on? Why am I the only one-'

Then he noticed it. The spikes were appearing and disappearing around him. But what gave was giving him pause was… that he was the only one moving.

The people around him, they were frozen where they stood.

Not a single soul was moving, not even breathing.

This wasn't a dream.

He could still feel everything, the wind, the smell and the heat of daylight, but there was something he could not identify.

An intimate feeling he could not welcome.

He didn't know where it came from, but it closing by.

'I am thou'

He hears a voice and immediately starts looking through the crowd.

The boy knows that the voice came from somewhere near him, even he was the only one moving. Something was speaking directly at him.

Finally his gaze stops at the middle of the interception. He found a light coming from between the group of people right in front of him, as if mirroring his own position, there was another boy with the same uniform he was wearing… but his gaze was directed at the floor instead.

His frizzy hair covered his eyes.

'Thou art I'

The boy in front of him didn't say a word, but the voice definitely came from him.

The shadowy figure of himself was now looking at him.

There was no mistake… the source of the voice wasn't that kid standing in front of him, but it came from within himself.

He looked exactly like him, but he wasn't wearing glasses and his eyes were a burning light yellow and black tone. And he was wearing a disturbing smile the whole time.

It was a scary sight, he couldn't move a muscle.

It was so familiar and so terrifying at the same time.

The strange boy starts to consume into a blue flame that came from his feet.

His form morphed from the flames and wings arose from the fire.

The flames rose to the air and vanished on the skies of Tokyo.

The people around him started moving again, as if nothing had happened.

Nobody stopped to notice his change of peace, nobody even realized he was standing there.

This was the daily life in Shibuya.

'A hallucination?'

He clenches his fist. He couldn't understand what was that all about, but he felt like he failed to do something at that time.

'I'm not that tired.'

He sighs while lurking through his phone again.

That strange app was still there, he wondered if it had anything to do with what he saw. He dragged the app down the recycle bin in his phone and deleted it.

He had to find his way towards his new home. There was no point on dwelling about it until he can rest bellow a new roof.

The boy continued walking through the station.

Making his way to the Yongen-jaya residential district.

A place to be

The "open" sign on the door of the small café shop invited anyone who wanted a peaceful and quiet afternoon.

The people inside were having snacks or the house coffee before heading to their homes to end their days.

There was a board saying "curry and house blend" with an accessible price written on it.

Two men were each reading different newspapers.

One was sitting on the bar with an apron and the other one was a black haired man in a business suit. He was wearing semi-transparent sunglasses.

There is also an old couple watching the news while enjoying each a cup of coffee.

"A public transit bus was driven down an opposing lane with its customers still in!"

Only the old couple bothered to actually hear the news on the tv.

"This is too much, how long until people can have some peace in this country?"

Said the old husband.

While the broadcast news kept on their reporting, the door bells rang as it opened from the outside.

The young boy wearing a peculiar school uniform entered the café to find a serene scene.

"What could be going on? Didn't something similar happen the other day?"

The concerned old wife spoke to her husband who took a look at the barista who was still solving his puzzles

"Hmph. Vertical is…"

The man who seems to be past his 40's notices the teenage that was standing in front of him with a stoic expression.

"Oh right."

He says with surprise.

"He did say it was today…"

The old couple finishes their coffee and leaves their table.

The barista smiles at them before confronting the kid

"So you're…"

Before he could name the boy, a voice interrupts their introduction.

"Ren Amamiya"

The man in a black suit that until then was giving his back to both the Barista and the boy while sitting on his booth speaks the boy's name.

He puts his newspaper down and turns around to greet the young boy, not before drinking his last sip of coffee.

"I apologize."

Said the man.

"I was supposed to pick you up from the station, but I realized I would've minimized the time it took you to get here if you found your way on your own… as you can see on the news, transit here in Tokyo has been quite a mess these days."

The man signals back at the tv, which was reporting a traffic jam near their area.

"…"

Ren, the school boy whose hair looked like he got off from a roller coaster bowed to greet the man in black.

But even with his tousled appearance, he didn't seem to bother about this man's blunt attitude.

"I'm Kamiya, Officer Jirou Kamiya, I'm your probation officer. But more importantly, I'm a very busy man…"

"I'm taking care of your case because of… well to put it shortly, your father."

Amamiya remains quiet.

He felt a weird stir after taking a look at this man.

This man was something more than a police officer.

"I know…"

The cold gaze of Kamiya didn't show any kind of sympathy, he's used to deal with criminals after all.

"Good, that facilitates things. This man right here, he's Sojiro Sakura, he'll be taking care of you"

The young boy shifts his gaze towards the barista wearing a pink shirt and white pants and an apron.

"Hello, Sakura-san, please take care of me"

The boy leans as he greets the old man.

"Right"

Sakura was still learning the boy's reactions and behavior.

"Anyway, since you're already here, there are just a couple things I want make clear to you."

Kamiya takes a quick look to his wrist watch before he proceeding.

"First, don't call for me. You have Sakura san to cover for all your basic needs. Only call if it's absolutely necessary, like if you're about to die or something like that… Still, it's not my job to care about you."

He says while scratching the back of his head.

"Only to make sure you are where you're supposed to be during your curfew. Second, always be at home before 11 PM. I'll come to check on you at least once a month, I'll probably let you or Sakura know beforehand. That's all."

The man takes off his sunglasses to clean them before continuing the conversation.

"Anyway it took you long enough to get here, my time is up. I must return to my duties, I trust you have everything from here?"

Kamiya turns around towards Sakura, attempting to finish the conversation before taking off.

"Yes, it'll be 500 yen tho."

Said Sakura with a smirk on his face.

"Heh, I wasn't going home without paying. Here."

After paying, he takes the briefcase that was lying on the table and gives Ren one last advice.

"Anyway there's no need to remind you about your documents and your transfer, right?"

A bemused Sojiro looks at the boy who was only reciting short words after every question.

"...No"

Amamiya only needed one word to keep the conversation going this time.

"Good. See ya then. Sakura-san"

The man takes off and leaves the two alone.

Sojiro takes another look at the boy.

"I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up, so you're the guy huh?"

Ren remained silent and not displaying kind of emotion.

This only raised Sojiro's guard though.

"Follow me"

The coffee owner signals the boy as he heads towards some stairs a few steps after the bar and the toilet door.

The attic room was awfully dusty.

There were boxes, books and even a bicycle lying around.

This was essentially an oversized dumpster.

Something that looks like a bunch of wood boxes was holding a mattress. The wood floor seems to be resistant but it's so dirty that you can hardly notice the cracks between the unions. Sakura turns towards Ren and notices he was starting to cringe at the sight of the room.

"This is your room. Hmmm? You want to say something"

Sojiro confronts the boy in an obvious attempt to get a reaction out of him.

"…Cluttered"

Again, a short worded answer.

"Well, then clean it."

Sakura decided not to look too much into while taking out a cigarette.

"I'll be leaving after I lock up each day. You'll be alone at night, but if you do anything stupid; I'll throw you without a question."

Admittedly, Ren didn't bother paying much attention since he was still startled at the state of his new room.

"Now, I got the gist of your situation."

Sojiro continued as he lights up his cigarette.

"You tried to defend a woman from a drunk man trying to take advantage of her, he got hurt, sued you and you're here on probation as a result."

"..."

"That's what you get for getting involved in the matters between two adults!"

Sojiro said in a preaching tone while holding his chin with one of his hands

"The court ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved. In other words they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass."

Ren didn't respond and the barista was getting a little annoyed as he started scratching the back of his head.

"If you behave yourself for the year, your probation will be lifted. If you cause any trouble you'll go to juvie."

Sojiro was ready to leave the room before turning around one last time.

"I'll be closing shop soon, take your time and clean this room, then go to sleep, tomorrow will be a long day, I'll have to take you to Shujin academy."

"…Shujin?"

Given this boy's puzzled reaction, Sakura can guess he wasn't paying attention to the recap of his new life even back at his hometown.

"Shujin Academy, your new school, haven't you even looked at the logo on the jacked you are wearing?"

Sojiro crossed is arms as he looks at the boy trying to figure out if he's messing with him.

'Not really'

Ren didn't respond again but at least bothered to nod back at the barista.

"There's rarely a place that'll accept someone like you, you know."

Sojiro started warning him about the limitations he has to serve in his behavior.

"Anyway, there is your luggage, I'll be downstairs."

Ren was left alone in the room.

After looking around the room, he notices a plant that is scarcely alive. There's a tool desk, usually it's used to make furniture repairs and it has a lot of rare tools on it.

'Unexpectedly useful'

The boy thought, as he didn't saw Sakura Sojiro as a man that repairs his own damaged furniture. There's a big table on the other side of the room one that can be used to eat or study if needed.

A big shelf with lots of books and small boxes in it. There's also a ladder and a fan near it. There's another table and a smaller shelf near the tool desk. And finally, the bed, that doesn't look that bad after a closer examination.

'A very practical room, if I had anything of my own anyway.'

Doing his best to stay positive, he manages to make the room look a little tidier after some cleaning. He had no choice after all. The boy had to stay here the rest of the year.

There was no room on the trains even at these hours.

There are usually a lot of people standing. People are going back home after a long workday, and students were finishing their school day too.

Tomorrow was Sunday, which means he wasn't going to assist to classes yet.

In morning, Ren will go to Shujin Academy to introduce himself to the principal. So he can start his one year probation on the ironically called Shujin Academy.

"Don't cause any trouble, huh?"

Ren, submerged in his own thoughts while lying on his now cleaner and improvised bed tries to force himself into slumber.

'Starting tomorrow I'll have to live up to this name...'

He sighs as he tries to relax.

'He doesn't seem that bad, although he's a bit grumpy'

He remembered, a few months back… those voices are still engraved in his mind.

("Damn brat! I'll sue")

A bloody face, a woman at the edge of tears, two police man, he was cuffed.

Life was never the same after that.

He could only wonder if he did the right thing, or if he could've done something different to avoid such bad fortune.

'Heh. Bad luck'

If there was a word that would describe Ren's situation it would be "bad luck".

The boy is not superstitious, but he can't ignore the chain of events that led to that 'fateful' day.

He was hurriedly sentenced, and his parents' lives were also affected after that day.

He was expelled from school, and his life and future as a free man were taken from him.

"It was my entire fault" he was forced to think, he couldn't convince himself that that was the case though.

His father told him that he was "in the wrong place at the wrong time".

So the term "Bad Luck" was a way to look at his circumstances and laugh.

That was all he was able to do at this point.

He looks back at his phone, this time he noticed something else.

The weird eye-like logo that had a star in the middle of it was back again, he thought he deleted it.

'How creepy'

He deleted the app again while thinking about resetting his phone.

There was no time to worry about such details, tomorrow was a big day.

'Who wears sunglasses while they're indoors anyway?'

He had one last thought before falling asleep.

The prison School

The visage of early morning Tokyo was something to behold.

Shujin Academy is located in the Aoyama district.

In front of the entrance, Amamiya and Sakura stood reviewing how his new school life will be from now on.

The middle aged man was wearing a pink shirt a white coat, khaki pants and a fedora.

Amamiya will get his own student card ID.

He'll need it to travel back at Leblanc without needing to pay a fare.

But since it was Sunday, Sakura decided to take the boy to school on his car.

After making clear Sakura doesn't care about the boy's daily struggles once again, they head in to meet the principal.

While greeting the principal, Sakura starts signing Ren's oficial registration.

Ren takes a look at the large hairless and wide man, Ren looked at him with a cumbersome look. He didn't allow himself to show too much discomfort. He was also being examined by a female teacher.

She had long tousled hair and was wearing a yellow long sleeved T-shirt with a blue jeans skirt that reached her knees.

Her troubled or more likely annoyed expression made him feel uneasy.

"To reiterate, just so we're clear, you will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems."

The large man, sitting in the Principal of Shujin desk, spoke once more. He had a serious look on his face while speaking to the frizzy haired boy.

'I should make a list of how many times they recite this'

Amamiya thought without showing any kind of emotion once the lecture continued.

"Honestly I hesitated on accepting someone like you, but there were… circumstances on our side…"

The principal continued.

"You might have done a variety of things in hiding in your hometown, but you'll have to behave yourself here."

'Variety of things, huh?'

The kid doesn't seem to remember any kind of deviant activities besides taking late night walks during his winter vacations.

"If you're thrown out of our school, there will be no place left for you to go. Keep that in mind."

'That's three today'

Amamiya remembers Sakura's warnings before entering the school ground.

"This is the teacher in charge of your class."

The principal finally introduced the woman besides him.

"I'm Sadayo Kawakami. Here's your student ID"

Said the young girl unenthusiastically as Ren picks up the card she throws at the principal's desk.

"Be sure to read the school rules. Any violations will send you straight to the guidance office."

She says in a monotonous tone.

"And, if by chance you cause any problems, I won't be able to protect you at all… That IS your promise, yes, principal Kobayakawa?"

'Another for the kick you out counter' Ren thought

At this point, Ren Amamiya's mind had drifted away from the conversation.

He felt the day was only dragging more and more as the neckless principal continued to show his abundant impeaching language.

Once they abandoned the room, Sakura sighs while muttering to himself.

"They're treating you like some kind of nuisance... I guess that's what it means to have a criminal record"

Ren is well aware of this. As soon as he was imprisoned, even if it was for a short while, the authorities made clear to him that his life and his future as a free man were over.

"It turns out your past follow you wherever you go…"

'I guess he's right, but still…'

Ren's past was completely unremarkable. At least it would have been, if it wasn't for one event.

('I'll take you to court, you'll regret this!')

That night. The thought of choosing to make a difference was the one that condemned him to a future of prejudices and disadvantages.

Since then he was constantly being told that he'll never be whoever he wanted to be anymore.

"By the way… If you get expelled I wouldn't hesitate to kick you out. Got it?"

'And four.'

"I'll be caeful"

Ren finally said with a disinterested look on his face.

"Hmph…."

Sakura sighs while looking at the boy. It didn't pass over him that he wasn't paying attention for a long time now.

They go on their way out of the school.

Ren notices the teacher from before speaking to a tall man wearing sport clothes.

'It's going to be a long year'

INTERLUDE / Case 1

The Shibuya train station had hundreds of thousands people wandering around during all hours, all week.

The weekends weren't the exception. But during the Sunday's noon, people are usually more concerned about their personal affairs.

This was the case of one of the lines connecting Shinjuku to Shibuya.

The train was reaching its stop, with about 100 people were aboard.

A hundred more were waiting at the station for the next boarding.

But the train wasn't diminishing it's speed before reaching its usual stop.

What followed was total wreckage.

The passengers were in panic.

A derailment was an absurd concept for this age's technology.

Everyone in Tokyo knew something like this should be impossible. But the dismay overcame.

Meanwhile in the train driver cabin, the man who was operating the machine was alone.

He didn't seem to be in control of his actions. His eyes were lifeless and black liquid was emanating from his eyes, nose and ears.

Just like his passengers, he couldn't do anything to stop the incoming tragedy.

The crash was inevitable. And it's heard all around the station.

Those events resounded around the country. The newscast was commenting on the subway accident later that day.

The plinth said "Approximately 80 injured during train derailment".

Next to the news woman a list of names and number of accidents that had taken place during the last month were shown.

"… According to the police, the engineer's life was not in danger despite his injuries. After questioning, police are still looking of a plausible motive…"

Inside a big office, two people were watching the SNN news.

A tall silver haired woman was standing in front of a desk.

This was the office of the Director of Special Investigation Unit of District Prosecutors Office.

In other words. This was the office of the man in charge of the Special Investigation Unit that uses both the district prosecutors and police resources to solve grand scale cases.

"It's of an operating accident and more of a crime of the company and the government."

The old man spoke his mind to the young prosecutor beside him.

"Site inspectors apparently reported all of this six months ago—the deterioration of the tracks and the ATC."

The young woman was still paying attention to the TV report as her boss was speaking his mind. This accident was more than just an accident, and there was something that was ticking her off.

"Seems the railway company and the Ministry of Transport both turned a blind eye to the truth. There's no way they can hide, this will go all the way to the top."

The SIU director seemed to have already sentenced the culprits of this case before the investigation even started.

It was way too perfect. The face of the young prosecutor seems to be looking for more information to contradict her boss verdict.

But it would be fruitless to try such thing after hearing his mind.

"… Concern is spreading among the general public. Just what could be causing such drastic changes so suddenly…"

The TV broadcast continued. That was it, the young lady thought… a connection.

She needed to find a connection between the incidents.

They were too convenient and perfectly timed one after another. But there wasn't a clear motive, or even a logical explanation of how they could even come to happen.

"Everything is linked—that's what you're thinking, correct?"

Both were still watching the TV.

Both of them understood that there was much going.

The director was seeing through the young lady's silence, and directed his concern towards her before smiling.

"…Ah well, are you free? You and I haven't gone for a drink in a while"

He changed the subject with a more friendly tone.

It's quite normal in japan for Bosses and employees to go out drinking on after office hours.

But even so, such behaviors are mostly socially "forced" to the youngest employees to please their elders.

It's not a case of them specifically trying to keep their status and jobs by fulfilling the wishes of their superiors. But it certainly facilitates their lives as underlings for them to remain in their good side.

It's one of those Japanese culture unwritten social rules.

But even so the young prosecutor had to decline.

"Thank you, sir"

She said with a polite smile on her face.

"But I have another meeting to attend."

With that she headed out.

"Are you going to head out now?"

A sunglasses wearing man was speaking to a young boy wearing a light brown blazer and black pants.

The boy's black gloves tightened the handle of his briefcase.

He had shaggy chin-length brown hair with bangs and reddish-brown eyes that displayed a serene look.

"I would like to, Kamiya-san. But I was asked to meet someone here."

The young boy was speaking to the black suited officer with a very polite tone.

The man was looking at his watch too as if expecting something.

"I see, so Niijima asked for you again, how lucky are you to hang around such a beauty all the time. No, Akechi-kun?"

The man had a mocking smirk on his face while directing his gaze at the boy.

"It's nothing like that sir. Niijima-san experience really helps me out with my investigations."

The well-mannered boy answered.

"Experience, heh. I should warn you about her though… But you're a smart kid. You'll figure out by yourself, I'm sure."

The man didn't mind Akechi's politeness, but he was addressing the boy with a much more familiar than before.

The boy was puzzled by Kamiya's response.

"And what this warning could be about, I wonder."

The female voice came from upstairs.

They were waiting in a large hall, near the stairs that headed to the SIU directors floor. Niijima Sae was walking down the stairs towards the two male specimens.

'Men' She thought.

"Oh, Niijima. I'm so glad to see your face again, are you done sweet-talking to your boss?"

Kamiya's tone changed to a mockingly one.

His intrusive familiarity with both Akechi and Niijima was getting evasive reactions from both of them, in their own unique ways.

Niijima passed by the sunglasses wearing man while closing her eyes as an attempt to ignore him, and walked towards Akechi instead.

"He's free now."

She said to address the conversation, and to end it as she kept walking away.

"I see, well It's been a pleasure then, Akechi-kun don't work yourself too much, you're still too young."

"Niijima-san please don't stress the beauty out of yourself either."

The man waved in a friendly matter before leaving.

Akechi waved his hand back to him to be polite with troubled smiling face the whole time.

But Niijima didn't bother to turn around.

Instead she immediately started walking her way out of the building after stopping to signal Akechi to follow her.

"Sae-san, did you ask for me? Is it a case?"

Said the composed boy while trying to hide the mild excitement in his voice.

"Not quite, I want your opinion on something."

She answered without stopping her hike.

"Sure. Your judgment is quite often correct, though."

The boy said trying to dismiss the whole thing while having something else in mind.

He then got closer to the young prosecutor.

She noticed he had intentions of his own to accept such meeting. The young prosecutor stopped her march to pay attention to his incoming request.

She had no reason to turn around but she was curious of what a boy like Akechi could want.

"Can we discuss this over sushi, perhaps? You're making a student work late, after all."

The boy sounded exited, the prosecutor then proceeded with her walk.

'Food? How childish'

Sae's mind became aware that the young boy was still in high school after all. Yet she had asked him for an opinion as a colleague, as an equal. But then he proceeds to ask for such a childish compensation.

What actually was bothering her was his speech though... Trying to guilt her into it so she would concede, that's why she considered him a child.

"Conveyor belt only"

She wasn't going to concede much. It was his choice to show up after all.

"Aw"

The boy disappointment was evident. Without much delay, he started following her steps again.

Kamiya entered the SIU director's office with a grin on his face, ready to salute his superior.

"How's everything going sensei?"

Kamiya didn't waste time to loosen up the mood even when speaking to a superior elder.

"Kamiya-san. Will you ever learn to be a little more respectful towards chains of command?"

Kamiya shrugs.

"I'm sorry sensei, but I like to keep things as honest as I can. You know, trust is a valuable thing."

Kamiya takes a moment to notice the news broadcast on the Director's TV.

"The boy was here just a moment ago, but I gotta say, he's pretty chary. I don't think there's a need to keep him under such pressure anymore."

Said kamiya with a serious face, he was looking at TV instead of the one he was addressing his claim.

The SIU director smiles through his fingers as both his hands are covering part of his mouth while he rests his elbows on the desk.

It seems Kamiya has showed him an opening of sorts.

"My, Kamiya-san, you always had a soft spot for younglings, don't you?"

Kamiya moved his sight away from the director to the floor and back to the TV.

"..."

The Director took his reaction with a smile before continuing.

"How's that boy you're going to have to check on from now on doing? To think you'll take such a petty commitment while you're on your hunt for a promotion."

At the friendly provocation allowed a smile to come back to Kamiya's face.

"Don't worry about my judgment, sensei. I have my life pretty settled up by now. I even have time for some diversions once in a while."

Kamiya made unrelated gestures with his hands. As if he was making up some kind of salute while signaling up with his index finger.

"You mean unsolicited favors."

Said the director with a sigh.

"You must take care of yourself more than anything in this line of work Kamiya-san. The fact that you're young and don't have any family or close people, doesn't make you invincible. Only forgettable."

Almost sounding like a warning, Kamiya only smiled and decided to take off his sunglasses.

"... Heh. C'mon, I'm not some sort of solitarian your highness. I like to do as much social service as I can. Honestly..."

He gets comfortable by lying down his butt on the edge of the director's desk. While crossing his arms, he suddenly had a serious look on his face.

"Has she figured out?"

He asked

"She most certainly has."

The director remained unchanged while answering the question

"Will she do something?"

Kamiya's posture didn't change while looking down at the old man.

"..."

The silence reigns as they continue to watch the news for a little while.

"The mental shutdowns, the psychotic breakdown events…"

Both Akechi and Niijima were sitting in a Conveyor belt restaurant.

The woman was folding her arms without touching her food while speaking her concerns.

"These cases were happening for two years by now, but recently the numbers of cases increased frightfully. What could be the reason? Can we really consider this an epidemic?"

Japanese Conveyor restaurants are quite active and food isn't as tasty as a good gimmick restaurant in the Shinjuku district.

But even so the young boy was enjoying his free meal, although it was nothing new to him.

After taking a bite of some bread and swallowing, he decided to answer.

"The Ministry of Health discarded any sort of contagious infection being present in any of the victims so far."

The young boy was still elegantly cleaning his mouth with a napkin.

"And even if that was the case, it wouldn't be enough to call for a national emergency or a large-scale disaster."

He takes a sip of water after making his statement.

"I'm not about to hand over this investigation to the police Akechi-kun. You should know that by now."

Unchanged, Sae Niijima was looking at her half empty plate while holding her chin with her right hand.

"My apologizes. Although I think that if the SIU were to intervene in such scenario, the police would be a very useful resource if someone like you was in charge of the investigation."

Ignoring Akechi's flattering, Sae took the card in the table so she could pay the dinner bill.

"Akechi-kun, I want you to do some information gathering for me. Could you do that?"

She stopped while standing up and turned back to the young student.

"I'll be your street agent with all pleasure Sae-san. I have to show you my gratitude for the constant nutrition fees."

She took a file from her notebook pad.

"Don't worry, you'll pay me back some day."

The prosecutor handled the file to the young student.

He was still surprised by her response.

"Eh...?"

But his surprise was even greater after reading the paper.

"This is..."

"I'm counting on you."

The woman says nonchalantly.

"Do not bring Kamiya-san into the matter if you can avoid it, you are free to deal with it however you want though. Just try to gather as much information as you can."

The boy returned to his serious polite self from before to answer such request.

"I see... I'll do my best Niijima-san"

The name in the archive said, Futaba Sakura.

Interlude/Out

Stuck

Traffic is jammed.

Tokyo streets were infested with cars and busses sealing the streets, an uncommon sight during these hours.

There Sakura Sojiro was trying to drive himself and the young boy back to his coffee shop. Unfortunately the traffic wasn't allowing him to keep his temper anymore.

"Ugh. You're taking the train from tomorrow on..."

The old man paused before noticing the boy's stoic self not paying attention to his complaints again. As if it was a self defense mechanism.

"So, how was it? The school, I mean. Think you can manage?"

Sojiro took a quick look towards the boy again, waiting for an answer.

It wasn't like they'll be going anywhere soon, so what else could he do rather than start some small talk.

"Eh, we'll see."

But he wasn't cooperating. Sojiro let out a sigh in frustration.

"Tch, you still have the nerve to say such things, do you even realize the situation you're in?"

From Sojiro's point of view, It seems the boy was gaining a like for getting under his skin. He wondered how he should act to stop such behavior from now on.

"To think you'll re-enroll at a different high school after being expelled once. It's not like anyone will be sympathetic with you."

That's an understatement.

Japan has a very disciplined culture.

Their community is known for not being gentle or permissive towards those who decide to "irresponsibly deviate".

Such is the case of the boy with an assault record.

His circumstances won't matter to anyone else but him. That's why the kid decided to not bother explaining anything after he realized in what situation HE was in. A guy like Sojiro, who seems to be aware of his circumstances and is still giving him a hard time, is more of a reason for him to not even try.

But even so, there's a question that it's been wandering around the kid's mind until now.

"If that's how it's going to be at your school, people might say stuff about me in the future too... What a troublesome kid I've taken in."

At this point, Sakura was unloading his frustrations out in the open. It just happen that the major cause of said inconveniences is sitting right beside him.

Amamiya turned his gaze towards the middle aged man and finally asks.

"Why did you take me in, Sakura-san?"

The Le-Blanc master slowly turned his head away and closed his eyes before answering.

"I was asked to do it by a close friend of mine, I owe him a lot. It just happen that he's a good friend of your parents too. I just... happened to agree too."

'A friend, that could only mean...'

The boy thought at the response, he probably knows who Sakura's talking about.

"He already paid the expenses too. I guess that's the money your parents send me through Toro-san, he is a good client of mine every time he's on town"

'So that was it'.

The name resounded through Amamiya's mind.

He knew this name pretty well.

His father must have made some calls to get him a place to stay and have someone take care of him. That way they wouldn't have to worry about him living alone at some random apartment.

'Was that a good idea though?'

He wondered to himself.

It seems he only has become a problem for anyone who has to go through the disgrace of interacting with him.

"He told me your father is a salesman, is that right?"

Sojiro tried to keep a conversation going.

"A very bad one."

With a least of words, Amamiya kept on the conversation going by sheer politeness.

"Heh, so you were underprivileged? That's the typical delinquent excuse."

"There are no excuses."

He responded with bated breath.

Sakura looked at the boy for a moment before turning his gaze back to the road.

"If you're going to act all depressed you could just give it up and fulfill your sentence in Juvie, you know?"

Sakura tried to provoke a reaction from the kid some more.

"That's not a good deal."

The boy took the joke with a stoic face.

("… Again, a subway has derailed at Shibuya station, greatly affecting the timetable all across the...")

The radio Newscaster clarified the situation to both passengers.

"Another accident? There have been a lot of those lately."

Sojiro spoke his mind once more.

This was going to continue to be a long evening.

Ren looked outside as the lights streets were starting turn on before letting out a sigh.

'Such luck'

Back at Le-Blanc it was night already, the shop remained closed the whole day on a Sunday.

"Damn. I wasn't able to open the cafe today. To think there'd be that much traffic..."

Both Sojiro and Ren entered the shop.

The boy turned around to see the old man regretting his wasted business day because of him.

"I'm sorry, Sakura- san"

Ren fixed his glasses and bowed a little.

He was still grateful for Sakura deciding to take him to school. After learning about the subway accident, Ren got to wonder if Sojiro's 'kindness' could have actually save his life today.

"... Well, whatever."

Sojiro accepted the sincerity coming from the young boy.

"Just head upstairs. There's something I need to give to you."

The boy heads up stairs.

After taking a quick look back at his room, he realizes that all the effort he put on cleaning yesterday wasn't enough.

"Clean" was definitely not something he could name this attic.

There were still some parts that were full of stuff that would only gather dirt. Like a bunch of books in a shelf an a desk, the bicycle seemed broken, and the plant was almost death.

"Talk about a gruesome accident. 80 people were involved"

The voice came from the stairs behind the boy, Sojiro was getting there while looking at his phone.

He was talking about the derailment that occurred early that day.

"This is a diary. Make sure to write your daily activities on it so I can properly report to the officer Kamiya about your activities. This would ease everyone's work, so don't lose it."

Ren was thinking about the "there are no special limitations about what he could do" statement while being under probation.

But he sure wasn't free to do much anyway, this was just a more sensitive way of keeping him tracked.

"I'm sure you know lying in it won't do. He would find out."

Suddenly Sojiro's phone started ringing.

"Hey, what's up?"

He turned around to answer.

"I'm about to leave right now. Don't worry I'll be there in no time."

Sojiro's tone changed into a gentle one, the total opposite of what Ren was used to by now, to his own surprise.

'Probably a woman, I suppose' The boy thought.

"Uh-huh…. I'll see you soon" Sojiro said with a smile on his face, and hanged up.

"Well, I'm off. I'll lock the place up, so do whatever you want for the rest of the night."

Sojiro turned his attention back on the boy and decided to warn him one more time.

"Oh, but don't mess up my store. If something goes missing, I'll hand you right over to the police."

He barked.

'Six, I suppose this is the standard record for now.'

Ren Amamiya kept the counting going in his head to keep his immediate memory active.

"You got school tomorrow… You better head off to bed, all right?"

With that, the old man took off. Ren kept looking at the diary, and wondering about his new high school.

'A prison school, fitting.'

The next day. The boy was boarding his train to school, there were a lot of students with the same uniform.

He wondered if there were a lot of kids of his same high school around his neighborhood.

The car was full, it turns out the rumors he heard about the Tokyo subway were truth.

He remembers how Sakura called him a 'countryboy' before taking off early that morning.

There was a lot of whispering. Many people had sleepy faces, but Amamiya was awake.

Sakura served him a dish of curry before he took off. A good gesture from that grumpy old man.

Ren knew Sojiro wasn't a heartless man, but he realizes he was still frustrated by his presence somehow.

He couldn't blame him.

'Curry for breakfast though. It was pretty good, so I guess it's ok.''

He wondered if that could be a healthy diet for a teenager.

The train arrived to its last stop. }

He had boarded two lines to get to school, it was quite a draining routine.

'Rain… Of course it's raining'

Amamiya closed his eyes after witnessing yet another ironic twist of fate.

He woke up earlier than usual that morning. Earlier than he was used to in his old hometown, since the distances were a lot shorter back there.

He got dressed, unplugged his phone and was ready to leave until Sojiro stopped him for a meal before leaving.

Such kind act coming from the man that is constantly threatening him about kicking him out was a welcome change of peace.

He thought that such event could be the start of a new tolerable day. That could be the case, have he only watched the weather forecast before leaving the Café. And thus, he didn't prepared an umbrella, and why should he?

It was supposed to be a good day, a fresh start. He tried to stay positive, but of course, life wouldn't let him have such advantage.

'They are wearing the same uniform. That means I'm going the right way'

Students were running, it was spring, these rains are common during the spring days.

Some cherry blossoms petals were decorating the city, brought to the floor thanks to the rain.

'A private high school, with a prestigious name, why would they accept somebody like me?'

The boy was sheltering himself under an awning 'Juneause' closed store.

His phone started vibrating again.

It was that weird eye app. He didn't had time to deleted this time though. He got distracted by another person trying to follow him into his dry lair.

To his surprise, it was a very distinct looking girl.

She was wearing a uniform similar to his, but she was wearing red leggings under her skirt and long brown boots.

Under her Shujin blazer she was wearing another white sport jacket with a hood.

She took the wet hood off to reveal her long blonde wavy hair styled in bushy pigtails.

She was really sticking out. Ren noticed her face didn't have many Asian features. Her bright blue eyes definitely attract attention. She was looking around in frustration, it seems the girl didn't prepared an umbrella either.

"…"

'She's gorgeous.' An assured thought 'So there are beauties like this on Shujin too, huh?'

"Huh?"

The girl turned her gaze towards the boy. He was obviously been staring at her for some time now, enough for her to notice.

He didn't seem to care about the awkwardness of his actions though, even less by how dumbfounded he looked.

She took a brief look at him, and to be fair, he wasn't a sore look to the eyes either.

Realizing she was being appreciated by his gaze, she acknowledged it with a gentle smile at him. Before proceeding to completely ignore him.

At that hint Amamiya realized what he was doing, he turned his gaze back at the street.

'She must be used to be stared at.'

The young boy realized this through her reaction.

Before she could turn her gaze back towards the boy, a car was parking right in front of them.

There, a man with long black unkempt hair and thick eyebrows wearing sport clothing lowered the window of his car to address the young lady.

"Good morning, you want me to give you a ride to school? You're gonna be late."

"Uh, sure, thank you"

She answered kindly before getting in the car.

The man then noticed the boy and asked him the same.

"Do you need a lift too?"

Ren was surprised by the offer, even if it was due to sheer politeness.

"No, thank you"

But then, he declined.

The offer was given to the girl first. Which would imply that the girl and that man are somewhat familiar with each other.

Or so the boy thought, until he reached the girl's expression after getting in the car, she had a sad worried look in her eyes.

Amamiya's face changed completely after realizing what was going on.

He saw that look before, a look of unwillingness.

He wished it was only his imagination.

But suddenly…

"Dammit… Screw that pervy teacher."

A boy came out running right in front of him, cursing at the air.

"Pervy teacher?"

*bip*

The App in Ren's phone reacted as if recording his voice. But he didn't notice, because of the noisy boy standing in front of him.

The boy in front of him turned around after hearing his question. He was wearing the same uniform as him, but he was way more casual on its looks. More than anything because of a yellow T-shirt under his blazer. He had an obviously bleached yellow hair. The boy looked somewhat vulgar in comparison to the humdrum looks Ren had.

"Who are you?"

Another hostile encounter. The boy stood defiant in front of Ren, his speech patterns were very casual, he was on his guard too.

"You plannin' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?"

Amamiya tilted his head in confusion.

"Kamoshida?"

*bip*

The young blonde boy took a good look at Ren taken aback by his response.

"The teacher, Kamoshida. Quit actin' like you don't know him, you're from shujin, right?"

Amamiya looked at himself, it seems he still isn't used to the word Shujin (still sounds like "prisoner" to him).

"Shujin. You mean Shujin Academy...? I guess so. "

*bip*

The rain was stopping, the blonde boy was still confused by Ren's reaction

"Are you messin' with me man?"

After a brief silence Ren denies it with his head.

He didn't know if he was pushing the wrong buttons to this delinquent looking guy. In true, he didn't care.

It was him the one who started talking to him.

"Wait you're new? I've never seen you before... That would make sense, for you to not know that asshole."

The boy was being quite vulgar again.

But the black haired boy was used to that kind of vocabulary.

He got closer to look at the number on Amamiya's jacket.

"I see you're a second year, we are in the same grade then. Did you really just transfer here?"

Amamiya nodded.

Immediately the blonde kid noticed the rain has stopped.

"Look, It stopped. We should hurry up or we're going to be late."

The boy stopped his march to signal Ren to follow him with his hand.

"C'mon I know a shortcut"

Ren nodded and followed him.

Soon, the two kids were transiting through a dark alley. The short cut the blonde boy mentioned was quite sketchy.

'Now we only need to get mugged to complete my day'

Ren was looking around, waiting for something to jump at him at any moment.

"... but really, to think she would just get into his car like that."

But he got distracted by the blonde boy muttering something to himself.

"Is that teacher that bad?"

He remembered the look on that girls face after getting in the teacher's car. He can't help but to wonder if that girl would be ok if what this blonde boy was telling was true.

"Huh? I mean... yeah, he's quite a tool..."

The boy was dubious while he was speaking. Trying hard not to get distracted.

He also doesn't seem to trust the new guy yet.

Amamiya was too busy following the boy for him to notice that his phone navigation app was still active.

On top of his location in the map, the weird icon from before showed up again, and soon it took over the whole screen.

The blonde boy took out his phone as well, but only to look at the hour.

"He's a pain in the ass. He acts like he's the king of the castle or somethin'... Damn, it's getting late..."

"Castle…?"

"conditions found"

A voice came from the phone.

Amamiya was about to look down but then...

*Thump thump*

"What the... My head hurts" barked the blonde kid.

A sweet like sensation on their mouths. Breathing became more difficult. Still, the atmosphere became lighter, If walking on air was a feeling, this definitely was it.

'What was that?'

The boy with the black hair was holding his head like the one he was following, wondering what just happened.

They realized something was off after looking up through the alley's exit.

'What is that?'

A huge building. It was broad daylight but the building was so huge that it darkened the whole area, it was an old structure, something that seemed like it was there for a long time, medieval, stone brickwork, there was a wood bridge in the entrance, and the door...

It was as big as small house.

They could see the end of the building while looking up, there was no mistake, they were in front of a medieval castle.

"Wait, how? I'm sure this is the right route. What is this, a TV stage?"

Ren doubted the boy until he started looking around and noticed something

"Look."

"Huh?"

The black haired boy pointed towards a sign. It was the same sign he saw yesterday, it was carved in stone, it said 'Shujin Academy'.

"... What? Is there a festival or something today?"

The blonde boy couldn't comprehend the situation. The structure they were watching wasn't there just a day ago.

Amamiya watched the ominous place in silence.

Nothing seems to be normal anymore, he could hear ominous sounds coming from the inside. He couldn't feel nor see any presence in the area.

No one was walking the street in front of the building, the street was in the middle of a populated area. One that should have a lot of people walking by during these hours.

He put his cell back into his jacket pocket.

"Hey shouldn't we-"

The blonde kid started talking, but it was interrupted by the other young student.

"Let's go."

Amamiya started walking towards the building.

"Huh? Right"

The blonde one started following.

'What am I doing? Am I really going insane? I should go back and call somebody. But... I want to know... Why do these things keep happening to me?'

Although Ren Amamiya mused in his own misgiving thoughts while entering the building. He wouldn't dare to display nothing but a dubious look.

He gulps and decides to open one of the four big doors in the front entrance.

The interior wasn't as ominous as the entrance area.

Candle lights illuminated the room. The well adorned stairs were covered by a big red carped as the entire floor. Chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling.

He felt it again. For a couple of seconds, the area changed. A strange pressure sensation, the smell of ozone. All their senses were affected.

Their eyes saw it as a swift change though. The image of the castle interior was getting blurred. Replaced by a modern aisle, the place was shifting from a school hall and a medieval castle drawing room.

"What is this place? Are we really at school?"

The blonde boy voice echoed through the building.

They stood in the middle of the big hall. The pillars and stairs lead to a second floor that had approximately 6 other doors.

"Who's there?"

A distorted voice came from the halls on the sides.

"What was that?"

The blonde boy was confused, the voice didn't sound human at all. But he suddenly calmed down after realizing the figure that closing by was... A giant metallic walking armor wearing a blue mask.

"Huh? What's with that cosplay? Did I really missed some big festival date or something?"

He looked at his new school mate who was analyzing the armored being from top to bottom.

Of course he couldn't answer his question either.

"H-Hey, What's going on? "

The blonde boy was interrupted by a sudden agglomeration

Amamiya turned around, two more armored beings started approaching them.

They were armed.

Each one had a sword, a big sword, enough to slash them in half have they enough straight to do so.

Such thought was frightening.

He didn't want to stay to find out, he got on his guard trying to find a way to run, meanwhile the blonde Kid started to panic.

"This shit's real!"

As soon as Ren turned his attention back from the boy to a route he realized it was too late.

Two more armored beings were closing by, they were surrounded.

"C-calm down! Time out, man!"

The blonde boy was getting more nervous as he started to see more knights closing by.

"We must run!"

Amamiya yelled.

"R-right"

So they sprinted, towards the two guards that were approaching from the front door.

The door was closed behind them. The glasses wearing kid dodged a swing from one of the armored guards sword.

He was so close to being decapitated that he put his hand over his throat to check.

Meanwhile the blonde boy crashed against the closed door in front of him.

"No good, no good, no good, shit!"

The door was locked.

They were trapped... trapped with these monstrous beings, who only had killing intent and a brutal force as a form of communication.

"Capture them!"

"Ah"

Ren gasped.

The blonde punk was getting on his feet. But Amamiya grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down again.

A sword came swinging by, but fortunately for the troublemaker kid, he fell the other way, ass first to the ground.

"What the-"

He looked at the giant guard crashing his sword against the door.

"What's with these guys? ARGH"

An enormous force crashed down against the blonde boy's back, he felt like a car ran over him.

By the time he tried to look at his school mate, he started running towards the stairs, turning around to signal the boy to follow him.

"Over Here-"

He screamed.

Once again it was too late, they were crashing the boy's arms with their feet to hold him down.

"No!"

The black haired boy screamed, but he wasn't safe either.

He stopped running away and turned back. Full speed he ran towards the one guard that looked like he was going to step over the boy's head.

And then…

He crashed against the guard's back so hard it send it to the ground. The blonde boy's fate was changed in that instant.

Amamiya had saved a life. But suddenly he felt a force taking him to the ground.

The two guards that were forcing the blonde boy to the ground got him.

"Hold them!"

Another distorted voice, it came from an upper level.

"My leash! Be glad fiends, the king himself will decide your punishment."

Amamiya tried to escape his hold, but the hands restraining him were too strong. The metal around his arms and shoulders weren't going to give.

He looked upon the source of the new distorted voice ordering these knights.

"...Urgh, huh?"

A man, taller than him, wearing a ridiculous crown.

He was coming down the stairs. The look in his eyes were quite perturbing.

"No one is allowed to do as they please in my castle."

The man said. Amamiya noticed his full appearance. Besides his crown, the man was wearing only a king's cloak, s pink speedo and sandals, nothing else.

He had long black unkempt hair and thick eyebrows, his jawline is broad and square, and his eyes were… bright yellow and black.

The blonde boy slowly regains his composure, and starts looking up at the owner of the hairy legs in front of him.

"Kamoshida?"

The boy recognizes him with a surprised but angry look on his face.

The man with the naked torso and glowing yellow eyes smiles at the piteous state of the boy.

"I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it'd be you Sakamoto."

The "king" had a huge grin on his face while speaking to the boy.

"Kamoshida?"

The new kid wondered if it was really the man from earlier.

"Are you trying to disobey me again? It looks like you haven't learned your lesson after all, huh?"

The man then took a look at the blonde haired boy.

"What the hell are you doing?"

The blonde kid tried to shake himself up but it was quickly subdued by two knights again.

"And you brought a friend this time... because you can't do anything for yourself."

The "king" mocked Sakamoto, there was an obvious personal animosity between these two.

"This ain't funny, you asshole!"

Sakamoto shacked off again in vain.

"Is that how you speak to a king? It seems you don't understand the position you're in at all."

Kamoshida's look turned into a serious accusative one.

"Not only did you sneak into my castle, you committed the crime to insult me- the King."

The king of the castle was thinking when he brought his right hand over his square chin.

"The punishment for that, is death."

He raises his hand revealing his naked torso and speedo while barking an order for his knights.

"It's time for an execution, get them ready!"

With that, both Amamiya and Sakamoto are brought to their knees by the knights.

"Stop it"

Sakamoto said while looking at the "king" closing by.

His frustration seemed to give him enough adrenaline to perform one last act of defiance.

He got to one knee, and kicked a guard in front of him with enough strength to make it fall on it's back.

"Stop messing around you asshole!"

Sakamoto screamed.

"Hold him tight you idiots."

The king barked back.

With that, a huge hand came crashing at the blonde boy's stomach. The metal hand of one of the armored knights put him back on his knees.

"Stop"

Amamiya screamed.

That brought the king's attention towards him momentarily.

"Oh and you, you were running away earlier right? What a heartless friend you are."

Kamoshida was mocking the kid, Ren was clenching his teeth.

"H-he's not a friend"

The blonde boy slowly raised his head.

'Run away!'

He was trying to get Ren out of the situation as his last action.

He was prepared to let himself die if he could get to save him.

Or even if that wasn't the case, even if it was just a pointless show of bravery. Or if he wanted to be alone with this man he obviously despises.

By extension he was asking him to let him there and save himself.

Ren mouth opened as to say something but he couldn't find the words. For the first time since his trial, he was actually out of comebacks or witty thoughts.

The situation was taking a toll on him, he was in deep trouble. He was struggling to get free, he wanted to do something... anything, to stop the current disgraceful secession of events.

"Hmph. Pathetic scum like you isn't worth my time."

Kamoshida turned his attention back to Sakamoto.

"I'll focus on this one's execution"

He smiled in satisfaction.

"Take this. Lowly scum."

He then grabbed the blonde kid by the collar.

His grip was strong enough to get him on his feet. The king then started punching him, one, two, three times, until he dropped back on his knees.

"Useless pests!"

The frizzy haired boy was watching all this without a say, a big long sword was pointing at him the whole time.

Kamoshida then kicked Sakamoto one last time for good measure.

He was left lying on the floor, still conscious, but he was really beat up.

Adding more insult the injury, the king spat on his vulgar prisoner.

"...Hmph. Where'd your energy from earlier go?"

Kamoshida mocked the injured kid, and with a hand gesture he ordered one of the guards to rise the kid up.

And so he did. Like he was some kind of pup, he raised him by the back of his collar and then threw him in front of Kamoshidas feet again.

"A peasant like you isn't worth beating."

Kamoshida got bored of punishing the kid. He had something else in mind. He took a quick glance at the standing black haired boy and smiled.

He took a step forward, and looked at the disgraceful state of Sakamoto.

"I'll have you killed right now."

Ren opened his eyes wide, he couldn't believe what such an overindulgence was taking place in front of him.

He reacted with pure impotence.

"Stop it!"

The young boy couldn't allow this anymore.

This wasn't a mere penalty for unruly behavior, this was an unjust beating.

He thought back at how he would have rather be mugged in that alley back then than have to go through all this.

"Hm...?"

The king turned back to see him, he noticed something in Ren's gaze as he walked towards him.

"What...? Don't you dare tell me you don't know who I am."

'Who?'

Ren Amamiya clenched his fist some more.

He beyond frustrated right now.

The idea that someone that was beating them out of pure spite and was trying to make it sound fair, he couldn't tolerate it.

He and the boy he just meet were about to die because of a whim. And mostly he couldn't tolerate that a man with such a perverted ego could be telling him what to do.

"I don't car-"

But he stopped mid sentence, or more accurately he was stopped. by a kick on the stomach. Kamoshida just kicked him, sending him to the floor between the two guards that were holding him.

"That stupid pretentious look on your eyes irritates me."

Kamoshida had a smirk on his face.

This boy was no match for him either.

"Hold him, after this peasant, it's his turn to die."

He stood up, trying to rush towards the king, but it was to no avail. He was being held against his will once again. The two knights were holding his shoulders and pointing their swords towards his face.

'This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening.'

The boy was desperate, he was trying to free himself again and again, but he only found more and more disability. He wasn't going to be able to help this kid.

"No, I don't wanna die."

The blonde boy muttered.

He saw the young blonde troublemaker lying in the floor as he said these words

'That time too… I was just trying to help but this is how I ended up… '

Amamiya was clenching his fist with great frustration.

It felt like his nails were about to pierce through his palms.

Right in front of him.

Sakamoto was feeling even more powerless than him.

He was clenching his fist in rage while looking at the "King" in front of him grabbing a sword, to terminate him.

He then realized.

'This is my fault'

He thought that. Ren Amamiya was the one who signaled the blonde boy to go inside the castle instead of coming back.

Instead of calling someone. Instead of tempting his nagging bad luck, he had to drag someone else with him.

The blonde boy was confused. He could have easily tried to talk him out of it and come back, get to know him better even.

They could have been friends, but now they're joined by a fate he put over themselves.

They entered a strange building and got caught, now they are about to die… all because of him.

"Argh" Amamiya struggled, he couldn't have it. This couldn't be his fault, he should fix it, he should do something about it.

'This is truly an unjust game.'

He remembered, and he saw it again.

That bright butterfly, the one on his dream during his first day in the city.

He remembered those words.

Everything went dark around him.

He was a sack of boiling rage and helplessness. But he could see it; a butterfly leaving a trail of light and a gentle female voice coming from it.

'Your chances of winning are almost none.'

That was always the case, that was always how he felt life passed through him. That's why he stopped trying to live his life as if it was only his after a while.

'But if my voice is reaching you, there may be a possibility open to you.'

But this time, he looked at it with surprised certainty, the butterfly was right in front of his face. As it was a new chance...

Silence, back in front of the king, the boy was sweating profusely.

Something was odd.

The familiarity. The feeling of isolation he felt since he first saw that other him in the street two days ago, were gone.

"What's the matter...?"

A deep voice. A voice that echoed through his head as if it was trying to hop from inside his skull, and it spoke to him.

"Are you simply going to watch?"

He felt something breaking. He wasn't feeling the pain yet.

But he knew as he looked around to find the source of this voice, that he wouldn't find it with his eyes.

"Have you forsaken him to save yourself?"

That was not, that was not what the black haired kid wanted, it was not?

He wanted to do something he wanted to prevent another regretful event.

Even if there was no future past that choice, he wouldn't be able to continue his life like nothing happened. He wouldn't die without regrets after letting someone else be murdered in front of him, right?

He felt that there was something, something inside of him telling him to run away, to not care and to not do anything anymore, to preserve himself.

"Death awaits him if you do nothing."

He knew that.

But still, running away was there in the corner of his mind. He shouldn't think that.

He knew shouldn't think that, all he always wanted was a life where HE could be the one to choose what he deserved.

That way he could obtain whatever ambition he had on his own. Yet, even something that should be so meaningless for the rest of the world, it was taken from him.

He could no longer be what he wanted, ever again… or could he?

"Ugh… Help…"

Sakamoto was bleeding from his mouth as he begged someone to stop his punishment. His eyes opened wide after witnessing this.

"Was your previous decision, a mistake then?"

Those images came back to him.

A woman screaming for help on the night.

His hands touching a man's shoulder, the man bleeding from his face, he was cuffed and arrested.

('Help') he can hear female cry in the back of his mind.

What he did that time, what he sacrificed for doing so, what he felt he was doing at the time, could he choose to do that again?

Could he be set to do that again and again even if he could never change the outcome?

That's what normal people call insanity.

To do the same thing, again and again, expecting different results after every try.

But he felt, from the moment he walked into that situation, to the moment he got punished for it.

He felt...

"It wasn't!"

The boy gritted his teeth as he spoke to himself.

He looked back at the scene in front of him.

There, the king was chocking the blonde boy while rising him up with his grip. He had a sword on his hand, ready to turn off his future.

The glasses-wearing teenager started shaking off, trying to free himself from his holds.

But then…

"Very well... I have heeded your resolve."

*Thump thump*

A pain… An incomparable pain.

The pain of something moving under his skin, from inside his body, from inside his brain.

Where did that beat came from? Was it his heart, or was it his mind?

"ARGH"

He screamed in agony.

The pain was unstoppable.

He felt something was trying to get out from the inside of his skull.

Like something moving from inside his brain cortex.

Something was trying to free himself from him.

"Vow to me."

The voice tried to make a deal with him, he felt the pain crushing his consciousness, he felt it but... he actually… wanted it?

"I am thou, thou art I..."

*Thump thump* (it hurts, it hurts)

He was sweating more and more, trying to cope with the pain.

He wanted to resist it, to see what came next.

"Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine justice!"

*Thump thump*(it hurts, it hurts)

He wanted to hate the world, he wanted to hate those who wronged him, he wanted to pursue them and make them pay for their sins. But mostly, he wanted to have the power, over all of them, so he could take his path... His fate, back.

If he has to go against the entire world to take it back, he would do it without a second thought.

That was what the voice speaking to him wanted.

That was his other self...

"Call upon my name, and release thy rage!"

*Thump thump*(it hurts, it hurts)

Selfish, relentless, reckless and ruthless...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH" a scream, the last scream of despair, that was him.

The one he couldn't allow himself to be, the one he created in order to cope.

That was the kid who screamed, at the sight of his own self being torn apart, after such a painful realization, he was turning into something he couldn't accept, but...

"Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all of thine own..."

He couldn't let it be, he couldn't force himself to look away from that path anymore...

He slowly raised his gaze.

And a determined look monopolized his face...

"...though thou be chained to hell itself!"

He accepted it, he... The boy in the attic, the boy with the nerdy glasses, the boy with cynical views, the boy with the terrible luck, was just a mask after all.

The consequences were his own from now on.

"Die"

The king spoke one last time to the blonde almost unconscious kid in front of him.

"Enough of this bullshit!"

The black haired boy's tone completely changed.

He had raised his voice volume, and the shyness of his speech was completely gone. His voice had a presence of its own, and his face looked like he was about to burst into a raging rampage.

"What was that...?"

The voice surprised the king, he wasn't taking the boy seriously. He spoke like peasant after all, but his tone right now... It was unforgivable.

He let Sakamoto go from his grip.

"You desire to be killed first then...? Fine!"

The king was angry, his face showed it, he made a signal

Boom

A giant shield smashed over the boy's face.

His glasses flew out from the impact.

But he was still standing.

His face turned sideways, his gaze directed towards the floor, there a drip of blood hit the floor.

It came from his face, but...

As soon as he raised his gaze towards the king, he realized something was off.

His line of sight was not complete, because there was something else on his face where his glasses used to be.

He reached out with his hands, he felt something, something was covering his face, it was a white mask.

The white mask coated part of his face, the eyes and brows and part of his nose.

He knew that that wasn't supposed to be there, he didn't need it, not right now.

That mask, as he touched it, he realized it was a part of himself.

But even after the pact he forged, he felt the deal required that he took it off in order for it to be completed.

No matter how painful it could be, that part of himself… It had no use for him right now.

He grasped, he tensed, as he slowly started pulling it off. (it hurts, it hurts)

He tears it, he pulled and pulled it, slowly and painfully, he ripped it off, blood started coming out of his face.

"AAAAAAAAHG"

Another scream, the pain was evident, his upper face was now covered in blood as his gaze rose towards the king once more.

Right there on the boy's face, there was a huge smirk on his face.

A terrifying smirk, his dark grey eyes have turned into glowing yellow eyes.

With that grin on his face, he had accepted the deal, all its consequences and all the pledges that came with it. The price; was he holding the power to save himself.

And the name, it gave form to it.

It gave him purpose, and after all it was the source of his rebellion. It was an easy name to remember.

"Give me your power... ARSENE!"

Fire followed that statement. Blue fire started rising from the boy's feet, slowly taking over his body...

"HeheHAHAHA!" "HeheHAHAHA!"

A maniacal laugh started echoing through the castle's main hall, the fire was rising.

It covered the boy's hands starting from his closed fists, his upper body, and face.

The form of the kid's body was completely swallowed by the blue flames.

The flames took the shape of a man, and it was a coated one, a taller and ominous figure.

Suddenly the flames started raising up, leaving black chains behind. The chains were holding IT to the boy's body.

His figure started to come back, reappearing from the flames.

But something changed. His clothing.

He was wearing a long black coat, red gloves, slightly pointy boots, black pants and a dark grey shirt with solid parts.

The fire behind him was taking a form of its own too.

The form was diabolical to say the least.

Red long boots until his thighs.

It had knifes instead of high heels, long red gloves that joined to a red jacket over his black suit like torso. With long black needles like nails at the point of its black fingers.

And a long top hat.

But instead of a face, there were only burning red and yellow flames that formed two eyes and a mouth reminiscing a creepy smile.

On the sides of its head, there were horns like protuberances, long as its hat, but pointing to the front of its head.

The chains were only visible around this being that was still emanating black and blue flames from parts of its body.

The knights started to pile around him.

The young boy raised both of his hands, and then... Wings, wings came from the back of the being behind him, long black wings that caused a dark wind with one jolt.

The force of the wind threw everyone, the king included, to the floor.

The kid gazed upon the King and Sakamoto, their looks, they were terrified.

'This power, this is MY power'

The boy started to maniacally laugh again.

He had a huge smirk on his face.

'I am the great diabolist, Arsene!'

The voice that only the boy could hear came back.

The black haired boy could only laugh, this is what he always needed.

This is what he always wanted, the power to face himself.

If such performance was to cause fear in others, he could only embrace such result with a smile.

He finally had the power to take whatever he wanted…

To be Continue…

Notes:

-In the Japanese dub Arsene actually says "I'm the great magician Arsene!"