The Velvet Room

Author's Note: Just been really busy writing reviews and hadn't gotten around to writing another chapter. The anime is now airing so I'm inspired to write more! Crank up "Break in to Break Out" if you want, listen to on YouTube. If you haven't played the game you can watch the anime, but they compressed a lot, I compressed some of the chapter because there is so much dialogue. Still, playing the game is the best, but if you're not familiar with Persona 5 you can watch the anime.


Somewhere deep underground:

"Soon, I will be reborn! It thought as it waited and waited. Seven Servants will fight to the death, and then I will be reborn."

"Will you now? You don't even understand humanity's desires so how can you grant their wish?" Another voice asked.

"And who are you that you would know what humans truly desire?"

"I am a being far more powerful than you, Agra Manyu. Shall we work together to bring salvation to humanity?"

"Just what are you?" Agra Manyu asked the voice.

"I am the Holy Grail," it replied.

"But if you are indeed the Holy Grail, what did the mages summon long ago?"

"There are many Holy Grails, but I am the True Holy Grail," it replied. "Become one with me, and you will have all your wishes granted."

"Very well, but what of the Holy Grail War? Agra Manyu asked.

"It will still occur, but I want to make the game more interesting, I have a more entertaining plan in mind than a mere battle between Masters and Servants."

"What kind of plan is it?" The Servant asked.

"We will make use of a young man named Shirou Emiya."

"Emiya, as in Kiritsugu Emiya?"

"His son, yes, the son of that Emiya," it replied.

"I loved Kiritsugu Emiya, he would have granted my wish. But he rejected me, would this Shirou Emiya grant my wish?"

"I will make happen, but what good is destroying all of humanity when you can rule over the indolent masses instead?"

"I'll take you up on that offer, but what of the opposition?" Agra Manyu asked.

"The opposition won't be a problem. Do we have a deal? You are merely the Greater Grail, and I am the true granter of humanity's wishes."

"Yes, let a newer, better Fifth Holy Grail War commence, but how will you procure Shirou Emiya as a participant in the war?"

"Just sit back and watch. I have my ways," the true Holy Grail told him.


"He's alive! Thank God! He's alive!" Kiritsugu exclaimed. "Thank you, thank you!" the mage wept. "I'm so glad I found you! I'm so glad I found someone! I have been saved!"

Shirou opened his eyes slowly, glancing out the subway train's window as he prepared to arrive in Yongen Jaiya, his new home for the next year.

Shirou Emiya jolted out of his dream and glanced over at the people with him on the train.

"Thank you for riding with us today. We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly," the announcer said over the PA. "This is the last stop for this line. Please transfer here for all subway lines. The doors to your left will open."

Shirou's mind went back to that day.

He remembered the woman he tried to rescue.

Shirou remembered seeing a drunk man grabbing a woman by her wrist and pulling her towards him.

He remembered hearing her shout, "Help me!"

So Shirou did what he should do as a hero of justice, he helped the woman. He grabbed the man and spun him around. He was drunk and offbalance so he fell over and injured his forehead.

"Damn brat, I'll sue!" he shouted.

Shirou remembered being arrested and put into the police car.

Shirou pulled himself out of his reverie. He glanced up and heard a pair of girls talking on the subway.

"What? Are you for real? A mental shutdown?" the girl asked her friend.

"It's the truth!" the girl with the ponytail replied.

"To a person though? That's gotta be a joke," the girl with the long brown hair, carrying a schoolbag scoffed. "You really love all that occult stuff don't you?"

The students laughed as the subway train passed through the tunnel.

"Isn't Akecchi awesome?" the first girl asked her friend.

"A famous detective, and still in high school! It's like he's living in another world!"

Shirou heard the announcer's voice on the YouTube video.

"Goro Akecchi solves another case, following Noato Shirogane, being billed as the "Second Coming of the Detective Prince," and—"

Shirou noticed the two girls were staring at him and it made him feel uncomfortable.

Shirou stepped off the train platform to search for the way to Yongen Jaiya. Looking up, he saw a big billboard of the popular idol Risette and her newest project "Sapphire". He'd never listened to her music much, but he knew that Sakura Matou really enjoyed her music.

Shirou stepped out onto the busy streets of Tokyo as he saw a strange app appear on his phone. He saw the big "Start" button in English and as it enlarged itself on his screen, he tapped the button trying to force it to close.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, the world slowed down to a crawl, which didn't seem possible. Was he inside a bounded field?

He glanced up at the frozen people, Shirou continued looking around, spotting a blue flame that ignited unexpectedly.

There was a shape inside that blue flame, great fiery wings flared out at him, and Shirou caught a glimpse of it for an instant, it seemed to be his own face!

Then it was over, the world went back to normal.

What was that? Shirou thought to himself, but he had other important things to do, like get to his new home.

He then spent the next frustrating 10 minutes of his life looking for the Ginza line. He wondered around the suburb, passing by a lady dressed like a punk rocker as he tried to find where Sojiro Sakura lived.

Upon finding the house, he learned that Sojiro was not home, but working at his café Leblanc, so Shirou headed over there.

Shirou stepped through the door of the nondescript café, finding an elderly couple and an older man inside.

He heard the newscaster's voice on the television. "A public transit bus was driven down the wrong lane with its customers still in it! The citizens can't live in peace if this keeps up!"

"That was frightening," the elderly man commented.

"What could be going on? Didn't something similar happen the other day?" his elderly wife asked.

"Vertical is…the name of a shellfish used for farming pearls…" Sojiro Sakura said to himself.

Sojiro noticed Shirou. "…Oh right. They did say that was today."

The elderly man got up from the table, "We'll be going. The payment's on the table."

They got up and left.

"Thanks for coming," Sojiro told them.

"This place is at the back alley, so no worries of a car crashing in here."

"A what now?" Sojiro asked.

"There's been a string of those rampage accidents, you know. I just hope none happen around here."

"It's none of my concern," Sojiro replied flippantly.

The old man chuckled, "Well, see you next time."

The door shut behind them.

Sojirou sighed in irritation. "Four hours for just a single cup of joe."

He glanced at Shirou, "So, you're Shirou."

"Is Sakura-san here?" Shirou asked, he didn't want to miss Sojiro Sakura by mistake.

"Yeah…I'm Sojiro Sakura. You'll be in my custody over the next year. I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up here, but you're the one, huh?"

"Have you been told? A customer of mine and your guardian know each other and—"

Sojiro stopped himself, "Well, not that that matters. Follow me."

Shirou followed Sojirou up a flight of stairs. Shirou saw the upstairs attic. It reminded him of the storage shed at his own house.

This attic was…Shirou didn't really know what to say, but he'd seen nicer doghouses!

The attic was full of old books, bags full of things he couldn't make out and there was a ladder in the corner of the room. There were layers of dust on the desks and floor.

There was a pile of gasoline canisters over on one side of the room.

"This is your room," Sojiro told him.

"I'll at least give you sheets for your bed," his new "caretaker," told him.

"You look like you wanna say something," the older man glanced at him.

"It's big," Shirou commented. He didn't want to say anything that might anger the stranger who clearly didn't want him there.

"It's on you to clean up the rest," Sakura-san told him.

"I'll be leaving after I lock up each day," he explained to Shirou. "You'll be alone at night, but don't do anything stupid. I'll throw you out if you cause any trouble."

"Now then…I got the gist of your situation. You protected some woman from a man forcing himself on her; he got injured then sued you. Right? Can't judge a book by its cover."

"You got the wrong idea, I just…" Shirou tried to defend himself from the man's predetermined judgment of him.

"I don't want to hear it!" the café owner snapped at him. "That's what you get for interfering in a matter between two adults. You did injure him, yeah?"

Shirou knew there was no winning this argument. Sojiro Sakura already had decided he was just some punk kid with a criminal record.

"…And now that you have a criminal record, you were expelled from Homurahara High School. The courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your guardian Taiga Fujimura also approved."

"In other words, she got rid of you for being a pain in the ass," Sojiro concluded.

"It's not like that at all, but you have no intention of listening to me," Shirou sighed.

Taiga hadn't wanted him to leave, but the entire staff of Homurahara wanted Shirou gone after the incident because it would reflect badly on the prestigious high school.

"It's best you not talk about anything unnecessary. I am in the restaurant business, you know. Behave yourself for this year, and your probation will be lifted."

"…A whole year," Shirou sighed.

"Cause any trouble and you'll be sent straight to juvie," Sojiro warned him.

"We'll be going to Shujin tomorrow," he informed Shirou.

"Shujin?" Shirou asked.

"Shujin Academy. The school you'll be attending," the barista said in irritation. "We'll introduce ourselves properly to the staff there."

"There's rarely a place that'll accept someone like you, you know. What a waste of my Sunday…" Sojiiro grumbled in resentment.

"Your "luggage" arrived earlier; I left them over there."

Shirou sighed, glancing around the room that would be his.

I'll be living here, starting today, he thought. I should check out what's in here.

Shirou examined the junk-littered floor. Some parts of these shelves have rust on them. All these difficult-looking books were carelessly crammed into it.

Shirou examined his "luggage".

It's a cardboard box Taiga sent me from home. It's full of clothes and necessities. I should change into more comfortable clothes for now.

Shirou slipped into some comfortable blue jeans and a black suit coat. He examined the desk full of books; it's a desk with a stack of books on top. No one can use this as a desk while it's like this…

Shirou began cleaning the room. He would make this place a comfortable for him.

Shirou found a duster and cleaned off the top of the attic windows. Then he mopped the dirty floor. Shirou them put his luggage box on the bottom shelf out of the way.

Then he dusted his bed sheets and felt like he'd done enough for today.

It's late…it seems like I've been cleaning for awhile, Shirou thought to himself. He saw Sojiro Sakura enter the attic.

"Seriously? What the heck? I heard you making all sorts of noise up here but I didn't think you were cleaning." Sojiro glanced around. He actually seemed impressed. "Actually, this place doesn't look too bad. Though it's only natural you'd want to keep your room tidy. Why don't you go to bed early tonight? You don't have anything better to be doing right?"

"I'll go to bed in a little while sir," Shirou said as he went downstairs. He found the crossword puzzle Sojiro had been working on and took it up to his room.

Shirou changed into his pajamas and got into bed.

He examined the crossword puzzle, "Oyster? Is it?" he asked himself.

He put down his Sony Xperia XZ1 and recalled the night his life changed…

Arrest…trial…criminal record…

Shirou could hear that drunk man again, "Damn brat, I'll sue!"

Still, I couldn't just let that go…That day…I had to go home early…

Shirou had been walking home after working at the Copenhagen when he heard two voices shouting.

"Just get in the car!" the man shouted at the woman. Shirou ran towards the sound. She might be in danger!

"Stop it!" she screamed in fear.

He heard them arguing and he tried to make his way towards them.

"Stop it! Let me go!" the woman screamed again.

The man was very forceful with her, this wasn't good at all!

"No…!" she protested.

"Don't give me that shit!" the drunk man snarled at her.

Shirou knew he had to save her.

"O-ow! Please stop!" she protested again.

Shirou knew that if he didn't stop the man, this man was going to rape this woman. This woman was in danger!

I have to save her! Shirou thought.

Shirou walked over. The man looked back at him.

"Tch…what a waste of time. You think your worth causing me trouble? Huh?"

"I-I'll call the police!" the woman warned the man.

"Heh. Call them if you want. The police are my bitches. They're not gonna take you seriously," the man taunted her.

What kind of clout does this guy have?! Shirou thought. People don't just say things like that!

"No..Stop!" she screamed for help.

"Someone called the cops, huh?" he looked back. "Get in the car! Incompetent fools like you just need to shut their mouths and follow where I steer this country!"

The sirens began blaring. The man finally took notice of Shirou.

"…What are you looking at? Get outta my face! This ain't a show. Get lost kid."

The man was angry. "See? This is because you're so damn slow! Get in the car!"

That was when Shirou spun him around and he fell on his face.

Shirou sighed. There was nothing he could do to change it now, if he could do it all over again, he would still help that woman.

Shirou heard his phone ring; he pulled it out of his pocket and saw that strange red icon on his phone.

Hm. It's that weird app that somehow ended up on my phone. That icon looks almost like an eye…It's so creepy…

Shirou deleted it, he didn't remember downloading it. He drifted off to sleep.


Shirou moved his legs and glanced down to see that there was a ball and chain around his left leg. He saw his shackled writs and he was confused; since when was he in a prison?!

Shirou glanced up as he heard a chuckle.

He saw two young girls approach his cell and stare at him. Shirou stepped forward hesitantly as he peered at a figure behind the twin girls.

The balding old man with white hair steepled his hands as he gazed at Shirou. He gestured to the Mage.

"Trickster, welcome to my Velvet Room," the old man greeted him.

Shirou found he couldn't use any of his magecraft, so he did the only thing he could do and shook the bars.

"So you've come to, Inmate!" Caroline smirked.

"The you in reality is fast asleep," Justine explained. "You are only experiencing this as a dream."

"You're in the presence of our Master! Stand up straight!" Caroline barked at him.

"Welcome! I am delighted to make your acquaintance," the old man greeted him.

The voice was deep, but Shirou didn't sense any warmth in it. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those bound by a "contract" may enter. I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well."

Igor tapped his fingers on the desk. "I summoned you to speak of important matters. It involves your life as well."

"Important matters?" Shirou asked, holding onto the bars. He wanted out of this cell and certainly out of this dream!

"Still, this is a surprise; the state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think that a prison would appear as such."

Shirou scoffed at the notion that his heart was a prison.

"You truly are a "prisoner" of fate," Igor told him.

Shirou was as confused as ever. What was all this talk about fate?

"In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you," Igor told him in a dire tone.

"Ruin?" Shirou asked, confused.

"I speak to the end of everything," Igor told him. "However, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be "rehabilitated". Rehabilitated towards freedom…That is your only means to avoid ruin…"

"…Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?" Igor asked him.

Shirou thought long and hard about it, he didn't understand everything, but he'd rather avoid ruin.

"I'd rather avoid ruin," Shirou answered the cryptic old man.

"Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation," Igor told him.

The twins turned to face Shirou.

"Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline, to your left Justine. They serve as wardens here."

The mage glanced to his right.

"Humph!" Caroline smirked. "Try and struggle as hard as you like. Shirou noticed the letters XMRN on her hat.

"The duty of wardens is to protect inmates," Justine told him. "We are also your collaborators. Shirou glanced to the left and saw the letters OYOO on her hat. "…That is, if you remain obedient."

"I shall explain the role of these two at another occasion," Igor told Shirou.

"Now then, the night is waning…it is almost time," the old man looked at the Mage. "Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually."

The alarm blared loudly. "Time's up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep." Caroline ordered him.


Shirou awoke the next day immensely confused by the strange dream he'd had. Sojiro told him they were heading over to Shujin Academy.

They drove to the school and headed to Principal Kobayakawa's office.

Shirou stood before the Principal. The bald man who reminded him of the American comic book character Wilson Fisk spoke to him.

"To reiterate, just so we're clear, you will be immediately expelled if you cause any problems. Honestly, I hesitated accepting someone like you, but there were some circumstances on our side…"

"You might have done a variety of things hiding in Fuyuki, but you will behave yourself here. If you are thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind."

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

"I'm Sadayo Kawakami," she introduced herself. "Here's your student ID."

She warned him to read the school rules and any violations would send him to the guidance councilors office.

Shirou heard the teacher complaining about him being in her class, but he noticed she had dropped a flyer on the ground; it was a maid advertisement "Housekeeping Services Victoria" with a cute girl named "Becky" on it. She picked it up in a hurry.

"When you come tomorrow please report to the faculty room first. I'll take you to class from there," Kawakami instructed Shirou.

"Yes Ma'am," Shirou replied.

Sojiro warned him that if he was expelled he would be kicked out.

Shirou sighed, this day was just awful.

Later that day, the volleyball coach approached Kawakami.

"What a troublesome situation," the teacher told her.

Kawakami sighed, staring at him. "I can't believe they pushed someone with a record on me. A male teacher would be better suited for this…"

"Why in the world was someone like that admitted here?" he asked.

"Who knows? It was the principal's decision," Kawakami sighed. "I was told it was for the school's reputation."

"I would have thought my volleyball team has contributed more than enough to cover that," he replied. The volleyball coach rolled his arms and stretched them.

"That's certainly true," she agreed with him.

"Be careful, okay?" he warned her. "Then again, if anything were to happen, I'd kick out a student like that right away."

"I keep wishing that'd he'd end up not coming to school," she complained. "Still, that isn't something I should be saying as a teacher…"

"Well, I should be returning to practice," the volleyball coach told her.

"Oh right, the tournament's coming up, isn't it?" Kawakami said to him.

The coach laughed, "Having such high expectations placed on you by others is quite a problem in itself. We'll have to work hard to make up for the track team too."

"Yes, that's true," she sighed.

The volleyball coach left, Kawakami sighed. "Why'd it have to be my class?"


Sojiro complained about the traffic and told Shirou he would be taking the train tomorrow.

"So how was it? The school, do you think you can manage?" he asked.

"It'll be fun," Shirou replied. He was reminded of Homurahara High School; hopefully, he would be fine at his new school.

"Do you even understand your situation?" Sojiro asked him like he was stupid.

"You were expelled once. To think you'd re-enroll at a different one," he sighed.

"It's not like anyone would be sympathetic with you."

Sojirou complained about how Shirou would affect his reputation too. "What a troublesome kid I've taken in."

"Why did you take me in?" Shirou inquired.

"I was asked to do it, and I just…happened to agree to it."

Sojiro gestured, "I've already been paid for it too, after all."

There was another announcement that the Shibuya subway had derailed."

"Another accident?" Sojioro asked. "So that's why it's been so crowded. There's been a lot of those lately."


"The inbound train will soon be arriving at platform number one. Please wait behind the yellow line," the announcer's voice said as the subway sped passé the platform.

People screamed in terror on the platform and the passengers inside the train panicked.

"Hey what's going on?" the passenger screamed in panic as he pounded on the door.

The conductor didn't hear him as he pushed the speed to its max. His eyes were rolled into the back of his head; blood was dripping out of his mouth as he accelerated the subway train. It flew by the platform as people moved to get out of the way. The train tilted and derailed.

"We're experiencing difficulties in the lower line," the announcer told the people.

"I don't have a visual yet. Oh f-" the man on the platform screamed as he moved along with several others to get away as the train crashed into the platform.

"That was direct footage from the accident," the reporter spoke on the television. "According to the police, the engineer's life was not in danger despite his injuries. After questioning, even he could not explain his high speed when approaching the station. No father comments were made. Police are still looking for a plausible motive."

There was an interview with a man who was on the train, but that wasn't important to the director of the SIU or Sae Nijima as they watched the news broadcast.

"It's less of an accident and more of a crime of the company and the government." The SIU director spoke to the prosecutor. "Site inspectors apparently reported all of this six months ago—the deterioration of the tracks and the ATC."

"Seems the railway 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."

"Now onto our main story," the newscaster said as she continued. "With this derailment accident, as well as other recent incidents of unknown motive, concern is spreading among the general public. Just what could be causing such a drastic change so suddenly in these people?"

"Everything's linked. That's what you're thinking, correct?" the director asked Sae.

He sighed, "Ah well, are you free? You and I haven't gone for a drink in awhile."

"Thank you sir, but I have another meeting to attend," Sae turned, politely declining. She bowed, "I must be going."

She turned and left. Sae Nijima made her way down the long staircase and saw the teenage detective Goro Akecchi waiting for her. He was a handsome teenager. She heard people said he looked like the manga character Light Yagami from Death Note. She wasn't interested in those sorts of things, although some of her coworkers would smirk about it when he wasn't there.

"Did you ask for me? Is it a case?" Goro asked politely.

"Not quite. I want your opinion on something," Sae told him as the continued walking down the stairs.

"Sure. Your judgment is quite often correct, though," he turned to her.

He walked up behind her, "Can we discuss this over sushi, perhaps? You are making a student work late, after all."

"Conveyer belt only," Sae Nijima replied.

"Aww!" Goro Akecchi sighed. He wasn't going to eat any good sushi tonight. Oh well.