Day 1.2 April 11 20XX
"So, what's your excuse?" Ren shifted from foot to foot before her new teacher, how they ended up at the school this time she didn't know, but she was simply glad that they found their way there. Of course, she couldn't tell her teacher that she was late because she followed a blonde down the exact same path yet ended up in a castle, oh and the volleyball coach apparently was murderous and hated clothes. No, she couldn't do that while acting as her brother who barely even cursed when he wasn't being watched, let alone be a sarcastic little shit while he was.
"The trains were delayed and I got lost along the way." She said in a low voice as she pushed her glasses up her nose. She was studied by her teacher for a long moment before the woman let out a grunt and seemed to relax against the computer chair that she was sitting in.
"I suppose that you can't be expected to know your way on the first day." Ren relaxed as well at her words. "Well come on, lunch break is almost over. We only have one class remaining today due to the accidents. Try to get to school on time tomorrow." Ren nodded and followed her to the classroom where she felt she was being dissected by their eyes as the soft murmurs of warnings filled the room. Her teacher was introducing her and telling the class that 'Akira Kurusu' couldn't make it until now due to not feeling well. She took a moment to remind herself she was Akira before introducing herself as such and heading to the desk the teacher pointed out to her.
"Lies." She paused in her steps as the blonde girl from before spat the word under her breath. She moved to sit in her seat as the girl scoffed quietly and felt the urge to say something rather than simmer in the uncomfortable feeling growing in her chest.
"Hello, you're from this morning right? I'm Akira." she said as she took her book from her bag. The girl simply grunted once again, at the same time the girls around them began gossiping that the blonde and Ren were secretly dating. Ren shifted uncomfortably in her seat and tried to look as unassuming as possible, while chastising herself due to already making her brother into something to gossip about. How was she supposed to make it through a year of this without lashing out at someone?
The class was thankfully short, Ren spent most of it pondering what happened in the castle and why. The teacher Kamoshida seemed unaware that he tried to kill them when they met on the school steps, he even seemed somewhat reasonable when he convinced the school counselor to lessen the punishment for the boy she learned was named Ryuji before giving her a warning about coming late. All in all he seemed like just a normal teacher, so why couldn't she get the image of him in just a speedo and cape out of her mind.
"Kurusu-kun." She was almost out of the classroom when the teacher called out to her. After quickly running over what she had done in the last fifty minutes and deciding that there was nothing that she could be in trouble over she turned to give her teacher her full attention. "Kamoshida told me you came to school with Sakamoto-kun this afternoon, stay away from him and keep your head down. He isn't good news."
"Yo." As if calling out his name summoned him, Ryuji appeared beside them with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his uniform pants.
"I see you haven't dyed your hair back to black yet." The teacher sighed as as ran her fingers through her hair.
"Sorry 'bout that." Ryuji said sarcastically before leaning in close to Ren's ear. "Meet me on the roof." he whispered, then was on his way down the hallway as if nothing had happened. Ren smiled and gave the teacher a nonchalant wave before walking away from her classroom and turning towards the stairs.
The rooftop was surprisingly warm considering the strong breeze that blew across it. She was ready to simply go home when she was first struck by it upon opening the door, however the concrete absorbed the warmth from the sun and bounced it back up at her pleasantly as she made her way to where Ryuji sat waiting on one of many spare desks. She wasn't sure why the school chose to store the spare desks on the roof, but it at least gave them a place to sit and talk.
"Hey, that thing with the castle, you remember it to right?" Ryuji asked as she approached him, not dancing around the matter at all. She considered how much she appreciated people like him as she took a seat on top of another desk. His question was an odd one, though she had to admit what happened seemed too far flung to be real to her either.
"Yeah, I remember." She said and watched him relax, leaning over and resting his arms on his knees as he let out a long relieved breath.
"Just because we both remember doesn't mean anyone will believe us." He looked up at the school as he punched the desktop beside him. "But dammit that Kamoshida pisses me off! How could he do something like that!" Ren shrugged, unsure what to say. He leaned back then, kicking one leg out to hang it over the other as he studied her. "Did Kawakami tell you to avoid me?" He asked. She nodded again and he chuckled darkly, "Yeah, I heard about you too, on probation for assault. Guess we both are delinquents huh?"
"It's not like that." She mumbled as she rubbed her neck.
"I'm not asking man," He shot Ren a smile and shrugged, "I guess I'm just surprised you didn't ignore me. Everyone else does." Ren straightened herself and eyed him carefully.
"I don't see any reason to do that." She said with a shrug. Her comment seemed to lift a weight on his shoulders as his face lit up with the largest smile she had seen in a very long time. His eyes practically sparkled in the sunlight as they met her own.
"Geez," Ryuji looked away as she returned his smile and scratched at the back of his head. "Oh yeah, right. The castle. We both remember it right, that means it happened for real. Let's see if we can get back there, those other prisoners are still trapped and we could help 'em out." Ren crossed her arms as she thought over his words before nodding once again. "Good, come on, we can retrace our steps." She followed him from the rooftop to the same storefront she had met him in front of that morning. He led her the way they had come over and over again, each time they ended up right back in front of the school and each time Ryuji just became that much more infuriated.
"What the hell?" He groaned as he scratched his head fiercely, "We came that way right? It was the alleyways, you remember?"
"Yeah." Ren said as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder, it was getting late in the day and she needed to get back before Sojiro locked her out of the cafe or something. "I gotta get back." She told him as she took out her phone to check the time. His eyes lit up when he caught sight of it and he grabbed ahold of her wrist quickly.
"Your phone! Didn't you have a nav app going on it the first time?" She felt her brows raise as she studied him in shock. Her mind taking longer than she liked to piece together his words.
"Uhhhh."
"I remember it saying something like 'returned to the real world'." he specified as he released her and took a step back. She switched her phone to her other hand and twisted her wrist around as she thought over his words.
"I guess so but-" She looked down at her phone and shook her head slowly, "It's lateā¦"
"Right um, give me your number, chat ID too, we can keep in touch and try again tomorrow." He pulled his own phone out and held it towards her. She accepted it and typed Akria's number in on her second try, before glancing at her phone once again to check his Chat ID and typed it in as well. After that was done she handed Akira's phone over to him and waited for him to do the same with his own information before exchanging their phones once again.
"She's cute, anyone important?" Ryuji asked with a quirked brow. Ren glanced down to see herself and Akira smiling up at her from the lockscreen and inwardly groaned.
"Not really." she shook her head. "I doubt you'll ever meet her anyways." Ryuji laughed at this and patted Ren on the shoulder.
"I get it man, keep your secret girlfriend to yourself." He called merrily as he turned and walked away from her. She slid the phone into her pocket with a long sigh, he was dense but Ryuji was a good guy all in all.
That night she met with her first big hurdle of the year, the bathhouse.
It wasn't that she was scared of being found out for being a girl as much as she was worried Sojiro would decide to check in on her while she was in there and think she decided to go out somewhere dangerous late at night. The old man was already suspicious of 'Akira' so it wouldn't take much for his mind to jump to the conclusion that she was getting into trouble.
She managed to slip out dressed in loose fitting clothes and without her chest bindings to get into the female's side of the bathhouse, she even managed to do so on a night when it was completely empty so she wouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing her inside. Her problem came when her abdomen suddenly seized painfully as she was showering, causing her to fold over and hiss through her teeth as the cramp intensified. She looked down to see the pink water rushing into the drain between her feet and groaned as she rested her head against the tiled wall.
"Fuck." She took a moment to steady her breath before rinsing her hair and body quickly. Not even bothering with the medicinal bath as she rushed to the metal box hanging on the wall near the exit, 500 yen later she had her problem temporarily taken care of and another task to add to her morning. She needed to stop by a convenience store before school and hopefully manage to buy some sanitary pads without someone spreading another rumor about 'Akira'.
She was just crawling into her sad excuse for a bed when her phone chimed, letting her know she had a new message on top of a few missed ones. She groaned as she unlocked the phone and read through the new thread slowly.
Ryuji
Hey man about tomorrow.
We should do it after school.
Ryuji
Are you asleep or something?
Ryuji
I want to help those other people who were trapped.
Ryuji
They reminded me a lot of the kids from school
Ryuji
Dude
Now that I can think I swear a few of them looked like they were from the volleyball team.
She sighed and rested the phone against her chest for a moment as she stared up at the rafters of the ceiling. What was she supposed to say? Sure thing dude, let's go to that creepy ass castle which we couldn't find our way back to and rescue i don't know how many kids from our teacher who likes to wear a speedo in his spare time. Even the thought of that reply had her snorting. She sighed once again as she lifted the phone and began her reply.
Akira
Are you sure?
Ryuji
He answers!
Where were you dude?
Akira
Bathhouse.
Ryuji
Damn, even over chat your replies are short.
Anyway, what do you think about the plan.
Akira
How are we going to do it?
Ryuji
I'll figure it out.
Just be ready tomorrow.
Akira
I'll be counting on you then.
Ryuji
Sure thing man.
She rolled over, locking her phone as she pulled her blanket further up on herself. Her eyes were heavy and she still felt the uncomfortable pains along her abdomen as she snuggled into her pillow. Thoughts of the strange castle or any of the rumors she heard during the day were soon replaced by dreams of her and her brother playing on a beach when they were younger, laughing and dancing in the waves while their parents looked on.
So I thought about waiting a day to post this, but then thought about how I also wanted to hurry up and get to the major change in the story. So I posted it.
Enjoy.
Much Love:
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