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Akira's life has turned upside down after an assault case. While struggling to live honest student life, maybe everything is not just as it seems when the app showed up on his phone.
Persona 5 Fanfiction - Where I Belong
[Arc One] Beginning
Chapter One: Encounter
She was awoken by the scorching heat from her surroundings. Opening her blue eyes, she found herself in a vast field with a kneeling position. Traces of destruction can be seen as the field burned and glow in color of lava, continue emanating heat that resulted the atmosphere hotter. She could see a small black dot on a sky, a human body and nothing clearer. Her eyes are blurry and her head is filled with buzzing sounds. She closed her eyes in fatigue.
It was not long after she opened them again when water poured down at her. The environment changed this time. Familiar skyscrapers of Shibuya towering over her along with disturbing skeletons and bones believed belonged to something enormous sticking out from the ground, she's sure she haven't seen that before. She felt a cold sensation on her skin, it was then she noticed the rainwater had already flooded the city and rose up above her waist, and it was then she noticed the water around her is dyed red. With her blood.
She was bleeding, mostly from the abdomen, but there are small bleeding cuts and wounds visible on her body. There's also bruises all around her, what did she do? The pain soon came right after, resulting her to tumble down, nearly choking on the water. She crawled in pain, in hopes to find a first aid kit in a nearby building.
"I can't die…not yet…!"
That's when the bodies show up. Sinking in the water, motionless. She's nauseous by the sight. Out of instinct, she attempted to help them get up, or at least getting them into a sitting position even though that wouldn't help much, but it'll buy some time. It seems that thought was nothing but a pipedream. Every time she tried to stand, she would fall back to the water like there are chains attached to her. After countless tries but with no avail, she splashed the water with frustration only to her wounds hurt more, the bodies and the building she initially wanted to reach are like distancing themselves more and more from her. Despaired, she looked up to the sky in vain.
Collapsing sounds can be heard, a figure that doesn't belong to a human can be seen before Shibuya fall apart.
She suddenly sat up on her bed upon the shock, looking rather bewildered.
"Nightmares…" She mumbled, shoving her fingers through her bangs, brushing them back from her forehead. a small knock on the trapdoor, the only entrance and exit of her attic bedroom. A small knock on the trapdoor can be heard, the only entrance and exit of her attic bedroom.
"Mirai, are you awake? Breakfast's ready!" An accented woman voice called out to Mirai.
"Y-Yeah! Five minutes!" Mirai promptly replied, hoping that she doesn't found her voice trembling.
Mirai gets out from the bed quick. Her braid swayed lightly in the air as she walked to open the window, letting the morning air come in. It's already a daily scenery to Mirai. Businessmen are talking to their phones, children with their parents, and groups of teenagers hanging out together, cherishing their remaining holiday. Speaking of that…
"That's right…school..." Mirai sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose in displeasure. Thinking about going to Shujin tomorrow made her tired when she just woke up. Not to mention the amount of rest she got after being roused by that nightmare.
"Why even go if you don't want to?"
"I have to. I'm one of the student council after all. There's a transfer this year, and he's in my class."
Take Your Time
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today. We'll be arriving in Shibuya shortly, this is the last stop for this line. Please transfer here for other subway lines." The staff broadcasted, earning a few heads up from the passengers. Including him.
It has been a hell of months since his arrest. So far, his life hasn't been great. His parents' relationship wasn't exactly the best, even before the "assault". All they did was argue over small and big things. It got worse after that happened as both cared to shift the blame to each other, hence adding up the strain. Perhaps sending him to Tokyo for probation is the only thing they both can agree on so quickly. Are they so desperate sending him away?
Words travel fast. Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them. This was never so accurate before. His so-called acquaintances are just grasses on the top of a wall which sways with every wind. The school is merciful enough to only expel him after he finished his first year.
Everyone. Abandoned. You.
No. There's still her.
Almost everyone in the car is discussing the same thing, the mental breakdowns. He had heard those back in his hometown before, but this topic definitely reached its peak in Tokyo. It is said that Tokyo has the most cases in Japan. He wondered why they're still using the train when they're suspecting its safety, maybe they don't have a choice like him. He even thought that this train will crash and explode because of one of the accidents, dying before him transferring to his new school. Let just stop all that pessimistic thoughts. His life was exhausting enough. He rather uses his remaining energy on other else than poking around those occult shenanigans, let the police do their job. Just live an honest student life and his probation may be lifted, at least that's what the adults told him.
While struggling to do so, maybe his life is not just as it seems when the app showed up on his phone.
A red box with a black insignia in it highly resembling an eye, except that it has a star-pupil. Was it a software update? Then he supposed noticed it back at the train, so why he didn't? It unexpectedly expanded, covering up almost half of the screen. Come on, not now. It better not be a bug or a virus of some kind, he felt his phone was the only one he could talk to in Tokyo. He tapped it, but nothing happened. What kind of shitty luck he had? In all of a sudden, his black eyes darted around. It doesn't take long to notice that the bustling city had gone into an abrupt silence.
Everything around him froze in place as if the clocks of time had stopped. The few passing cars, the people passing through the sidewalks. The customer of the stores within view. Two birds above him taken off flight, all of which were walking and running, was frozen in place. Behind him was a child with her mother panicking over a cream falling down from the cone, their expression printed on their faces. Two girls had giant grins stuck to their faces, their left and right foot respectively held up in the air.
He eventually grew startled. He continued to look around, hoping to find someone who's also experiencing this anomaly. He found no one instead of another odd situation. In a distance, blue flames burned freely. It continues to rise and build, vaguely forming a winged entity. Akira would have been freaking out like others will do, but he can't help but stare into it. He could have sworn he saw something inside the flames. Something familiar that he could almost make it out. Then, crimson flames burned with the blue inferno, forming into what appeared to be a face. A black face with a wicked grin and slit-like eyes flowing with the magma from Hell. Another face emerged from the torrent of flames, that made Akira's eyes shrink in bewilderment. Him. His jet black hair, his frizzy hair that always sticks out. What's wrong with those yellow eyes?
As he took a step closer to inspect his look alike. They disappeared. The world continued, undisturbed by the sudden freeze of the moment. He was dumbfounded. What just happened? He looked down at the application in disbelief, his phone back to normal. Without hesitation, he deleted it with a swift swipe. It proceeded to fall and shrink before it was out of sight.
Meanwhile...
Mirai held her head, try not to lose her grip on the parcel when she almost tripped because of the throbbing pain in her head. She shot a suspicious look around, but continued her way.
Take Your Time
Prior to the new environment, the black frizzy-haired took a while to found Yongen-Jaya. The search for Leblanc didn't go so well. He felt like an outsider here, everyone was looking at him, and he didn't dare to ask the officer he met earlier due to that. Being barked by a dog doesn't help either. He was ready to call his new guardian. Sojiro Sakura, is it? Akira was looking at his phone, searching for the number. At the same time a girl was running towards his opposite direction, and seems to be in a hurry. They both didn't notice what's coming ahead, thus crashing towards each other and fell. For the love of author, the phone and the parcel is fine.
"Sorry! Are you alright?" A worried tone was heard. He looked up, White hair and blue eyes, she looks so much like her. He grabbed the girl's extended hand to get up, brushing the dirt off his jacket after saying "I'm fine."
"Akira Kurusu? Your name, isn't it?" The girl suddenly questioned. He was dumbfounded before he took seconds to realize she was calling his name, he made a small noise of agreement.
"Lucky that I recognize the right person. It would be awkward if I don't." She let out a soft laugh, one that made Akira's tensed shoulders relax.
"This is not an expected meet, but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mirai Michino, pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Mirai…Michino…?"
"You are…!"
Take Your Time
Akira stood in front of a café, looking at the sign with the word "Leblanc" written in a cursive font. He carefully held Mirai's parcel with both hands as he agreed on giving it to Sojiro, for she is kind enough for giving him the directions.
He entered the café, welcomed by the retro music and the aroma of coffee. There aren't many people here, two patrons who are focusing their attention on the tabloid show playing on the TV and a man, presumably the manager is solving a crossword while mumbling something about "vertical" and "horizontal". He has slicked-back dark hair with a receding hairline, gray eyes, and a chinstrap beard with a goatee that flares out. The man raised his head, finally felt Akira's presence.
"...Oh, right...They did say it was today." The manager mumbled as he left his stool. The patrons left just after the show finished, it's like they're coming for the show than the coffee.
"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, but you're the one, huh?" The manager commented, looking at him from head to toe.
"Have you been told? A customer of mine and your parents know each other and-" Sojiro stood silent, with a brief pause under his breath.
"Well, not that that matters...Follow me." Though slightly displeased by his customers for staying four hours for just a single cup of joe, he showed Akira's new room as he climbed up the stairs.
Truthfully, it needs cleaning. A lot of cleaning. In summary, the room, or attic to be precise looks like a mini rubbish dump filled with unwanted junk. But for the sake of Sojiro's hospitality… Sojiro proceeded to explain the rules for living under his property and Akira nodded obediently.
"Just behave yourself and don't cause trouble this time, get it? I'm in the restaurant business, you know." He sighed. The cardboard boxes lying on the wooden ground reminded Akira of the parcel on his hands.
"W-wait! Sakura-san!" The adult turned back at him, brows furrowed when he handed over the parcel.
"Michino-san told me to give it to you." Sojiro took a peek at the contents, his furrowed brows vanished.
"Black ivory…Anyways, thanks kid." His mood is slightly happier as his tone changed. Left alone, Akira's eyes wandered around the cluttered room.
"Cleaning time..."
It took more than half a day just to do a moderate cleaning around. Some parts of the room are still untidy, but he has enough space to put his belongings. He will take care of that in another day. That means never.
He panted slightly, sweat caking his skin. Rather than be in sweat-drenched attire longer, Akira had chosen to switch into more comfortable clothes after taking a refreshing cold shower, that being a plain black shirt with baggy sleep pants. It was his loungewear in a sense, so he's barefoot. Through the window, he could see the sky slowly turning light orange to dark. He laid himself down on the bed, browsing his phone out of boredom, yet his mind can't help thinking about the "assault". He was just trying to help, so why is he wrong? Because he is just a puny kid who hasn't got through puberty?
Akira blood boiled when thought of that. He would be run down to the ground, if not for the fact he tries to not let that bother him. He refused to believe that he was the wrong one, otherwise what was the point on undergoing this probation? Even though how they quickly gave up on him pained so much, he'll be there, suppressing it when he needs to.
"This is not an expected meet, but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mirai Michino, pleased to make your acquaintance."
His heart blossomed when he remembered her voice, vanquishing his anger in almost an instant. Dreading to hear more of it, it doesn't matter if school starts early.
Akira's curiosity was piqued when he's aware that the ominous app showed up again in his phone, glowing in bloody red with the eye looking into his soul. That app ended up deleted again. Better safe than sorry. His eyelids started to get heavy as he slowly drifting to sleep, getting his long deserved rest. He could dream of a prison, with a pair of twins guarding it… A bizarre looking man in front of him…
"Trickster…Welcome to my Velvet Room."
What. The. Heck. Just. That. Dream. Is?
"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It's a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter. I'm Igor, master of this place. Remember it well."
"Still, this is a surprise...The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison will appear as such. You truly are a "prisoner" of fate."
"To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here."
That's what the magical Long Nosed Man, Igor said. He's in a magical room called Velvet Room, which is a prison because it's the state of his heart. Wow, isn't that obvious that he's wearing a prisoner attire, locked in a cell and guarded by two little girls smaller than him?
"In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you. However, there are means to oppose such fate. You must be "rehabilitated". Rehabilitated toward freedom...That is your only means to avoid ruin..."
"Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation. We shall meet again."
Fate? Ruin? Rehabilitation? The hell is that? How is he supposed to "rehabilitate" himself? He made sure he doesn't have the superpowers or special ability to fight evil monsters lurking in dark. Just let him live his life, he had enough of these supernatural occurrences. Even he wanted to fight for the world and blah blah blah, he and Sojiro needs to get through this busy traffic first.
"You're taking the train tomorrow." Sojiro had his head on the steering wheel, his hopes low as the chance of him getting a wife. Akira is zoning out, staring at the crowded traffic through the window. They had gone to Shujin Academy for Akira's enrollment. Sojiro drives Akira to Shujin just for today. Only girls are allowed in his car, but it's not like he's getting one.
In spite of the facility being quite large and up-to-date as one might expect it's an elite boarding school, Shujin itself gave Akira an impression of a prison. The clock that hung up above the entrance, was almost taunting, telling you it's time to serve your sentence. Fences surrounded the entire building, and the gate seems to be the only way in and out. It reminded Akira about the dream and he's annoyed by it.
But why would a prestigious prep school accept a student with a criminal record?
He already met his homeroom teacher and the school's principal, Principal Kobayakawa. Speaking of him, Akira had never seen such an overweight man in all his life. He was a large man even by fat standards. His suit seemed to struggle to fit his rather large form, his belt strained, and the flab of his skin even spilling out of the collar of his shirt. He is completely bald that his ears seemed to be sinking into his own fatty flesh, even the chair he sat on seemed to be struggling to hold his weight. Still, he's someone capable, just by looking all certificates displayed in the shelf beside them, proving his status and capabilities.
His homeroom teacher, Sadayo Kawakami is a youthful woman with unkempt brown hair and dark brown eyes, she wears a yellow long-sleeved shirt striped with white and red horizontal lines, a blue denim skirt and white kitten heel shoes. Unfortunately, she looked absolutely ragged, tired and exhausted with dark rings underneath her eyes. Akira could see her occasionally dozing off while Principal Kobayakawa is talking.
"Again, a subway has derailed from the Shibuya Station, greatly affected the timetable all across the-"
"Another accident? So that's why it's so crowded. There's been a lot of those already." Sojiro sighed hearing the news.
Take Your Time
It's already evening when they both reached Leblanc. After his guardian left, Akira stared at his probation diary. Sojiro told him to write on it since he's obligated to report him. What can he write about, those weird encounters? Maybe not. The familiar icon ended up again in his phone, he'll need a way to get rid of it. Unable fighting against the desire to sleep longer, Akira decided to turn in for the night.
Take Your Time
The pitter-patter of the rain fell on the tar-black road as petals of cherry blossoms the wind. People ran for cover outside and umbrellas were opened as the clouds spat out their beads of water. Mirai quickened her pace as she got the first splatter of rain when she was halfway across Shujin, murmuring as she put both of her hands above her head.
After some twists and turns. Akira finally made it to Aoyama Ichtome. Turns out people weren't kidding when they said subways in Tokyo can really make you felt like a sardine in a sardine can. It's cold morning, but Akira stays warm with the curry he ate for breakfast, the spiciness still lingering in his tongue. He looked up to the cocktail-blue sky that has darkened into gravel-grey. What a shame it's raining, it would be a great scenery if the sky is blue with the cherry blossoms lined up perfectly.
Well, there's no time for imagination. Akira quickly took shelter under a shop as the sky continued raining. Having nothing to do, he browsed took a quick check at his phone to pass the time. The news was still discussing yesterday accident, it always happened so suddenly and almost without warning. It is said that a victim will experience a heart attack-like affliction once going through those mental mishaps.
While checking on the navigation app to see if he's on the right path, the creepy app resurfaced again. Like knowing it captured his attention, the app expanded itself on his own again. This just wouldn't end, isn't it? It's like the appropriate only expand itself when the navigation app is open. He took a breath in, calming himself.
Akira wouldn't notice another person had also walked in for shelter, if not the splashing sound of rainwater puddles. By looking at the stature, it's a girl. After wiping away the water on her blazer, she removed her slightly soaked hood. She raised her head, hoping to see the end of this weather.
The girl is slightly foreign. She has blue eyes and wavy ash blonde hair that styled into bushy pigtails, with parted sight bangs on the right side of her face. She accessorizes with a single yellow hair clip above her left ear, as well as small circular earrings on both ears. Her Shujin uniform is modified. The standard black blazer over a white varsity-like full-zip hooded sweatshirt is worn long to cover most of her short plaid skirt. Her sweatshirt has a red stripe between two blue stripes at the bottom, an S symbol near the front bottom on one side and a green four-leaf-clover symbol on the back of the hood. Although it's an unusual fashion, it actually looks good. She wears red tights and brown boots with yellow laces, she's also taller than most of the Japanese girls.
Akira is genuinely surprised. It's not that he hadn't met foreigners before, but instead of tourists this time it's a student. The thought of meeting one who's the same age as him at Tokyo never slipped his mind.
The unknown pressure on the girl made her uneasy, it's like someone staring at her. She shifted her gaze around, trying to find the source. Only to see Akira staring at him in awe. Feeling no bad intention, she brushed off with a smile. She had her fair share of stares. They both soon fell in comfortable silence until a car pulls up. It rolled down its window as a man peered out, smiling at the foreign girl. He had a broad and square jawline, with puffy, curly hair.
"Ann-chan~ Good morning! Do you want me to give you a ride to school? You're gonna be late." The foreign girl clearly flinched at how affectionate he addressed her that it can be counted as harassment. Though looking hesitant, she still nodded.
"What about you? Do you need a lift too?" His eyes trailed over Akira. Though it wasn't obvious, Akira had learned how to look for small details.
There was a look in his eyes, threatening that he needs to reject this offer. The man gave off a dangerous vibe that Akira didn't feel the need to disobeying him. He shook his head and the man rolled up the window without giving a second look, and rode away soon after.
"Dammit! Screw that pervy teacher!" Loud splashes of water can be heard as a blond ran at Akira's direction. He met a lot of blonde-haired today.
"Pervy teacher?" Akira muttered out the words, wondering what he's talking about. Unbeknownst to him, the navigation app made a small noise like he got something right.
The blond turned back, glaring at him. "What do you want? You planning' on ratting me out to Kamoshida?"
"P-Pardon? Who's Kamoshida?" Akira is taken aback by his sudden animosity.
The blond is what seemed to be a stereotypical delinquent. He has short spiky dyed blond hair with noticeable widow's peak and dark brown eyes, his eyebrows are unusual in that he lacks the outer sides. His uniform is also modified. It consists of the standard black blazer, unbuttoned to reveal a yellow t-shirt with a comic style star symbol and the word 'ZOMG!' He has plaid trousers rolled up to reveal his ankles. His black suspenders that are connected to his pants hang down instead of being worn on his shoulders. He also wears a white belt and white sneakers that have a rising sun flag motif.
"Huh? In the car just now. It was Kamoshida." The delinquent pointed at the way that car earlier had gone to.
"That perverted D-bag only invites girls into his car, does whatever the hell he wants and then calls it "career counseling" after that! Who does he think he is? The king of the castle?" The app again made another noise, but remained unheard.
"The king of the castle?"
"No, what I mean is-" He silenced for a while, supposedly thinking of something.
"Wait, you don't know Kamoshida? Are you for real? You're from Shujin, right?" He crossed his arms and asked, feeling unbelievable. The delinquent then observed Akira's uniform for a second.
"A second year, huh...We're the same grade then. I've never seen you before though. Oh, you a transfer student? Then no wonder you don't know him." He reached out his hand, letting the raindrops hitting it.
"The rain ain't too bad. We better hurry up or we'll be late. There's a shortcut just around, I'll show you." The delinquent…Actually, let's not call him a delinquent, it kind of like the pot calling the kettle black.
Without aware of, the application recorded the whole conversation. Someone just got all the keywords right.
"Ngh...!" A sudden headache struck them both as the blond turned his heel. Their surroundings, or rather the world around them, began to turn dark purple. Red ripples began to flow, as if the surroundings were nothing but water. The world shimmered, twisting and warping with each ripple. However, as the sense of pain in their heads faded, the world starts to settle.
"Ugh, my head hurts...Dammit...I wanna go home..." Although that's what the unnamed blond said, he still walks down the alley, the shortcut he mentioned. Appreciatively, Akira just followed him.
Before marching further, Akira looked behind him. Just in case. Something's wrong. That's what his instincts told him.
"Wha...?!" Ryuji's trailed off as his eyes turn to the size of saucers. Akira approached him, eyes widened. Their gaze wandered around the…school? It was no longer the Shujin Academy he saw yesterday. In fact, it wasn't a school at all. What took its place was some sort of one of the typical lavishly, giant castle.
A/N: Hi! I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter and the prologue! Feel free to share your thoughts about the story
The author is grateful for any support given to, and hopes to produce more quality content.