2.2 Resemblance
Yomotsu Hirasaka
April 12th, 2011
For Now, My Name is Yu Narukami.
It was only a few hours later that I fell asleep – and found myself in a place unlike anywhere I'd ever been before. Having been just about everywhere in the world, this whole situation came as a bit of a shock for me – but I had more to worry about than simply questioning where was – there was still the matter of how I was going to get out.
It was clearly somewhere out of the bounds of what I thought was possible – a path of blood red cubes seemed to stretch into the distance, while the walls and ceiling were simply nowhere at all – there was only this seemingly impervious fog that kept me from seeing much of anything.
Oh well – now's not the time to lose heart. I had to stay optimistic. If I followed the path, surely I'd end up somewhere I'd want to be.
I take a few steps down the pathway – and a harsh, clearly inhuman voice suddenly invades my ears.
Do you seek the truth?
If it's the truth you desire, come and find me.
What was this about truth, now? The only thing I care about right now is finding the way out. But anyhow, the voice sounded like it came from up ahead, so I continue onward.
The path seems to go on for far too long – I felt as though I'd spent at least ten minutes just aimlessly wandering forward. But as long as I kept going, there had to be some sort of exit or at least the source of that voice.
The path eventually feels unnaturally long. The voice sounded close enough that it should've been fairly close, but this path seemed to go on forever, the fog gradually becoming thicker. I could only barely make out the red pattern beneath me, and it would only be a matter of time before the path vanished entirely.
…Do you not see yet? The voice suddenly speaks out again, this time nowhere near as low as it had been only a few moments ago. It almost sounded concerned, even if only for a brief moment.
The longer this farce continues, the longer your path to the truth will become…
Lovely – one of these people. Speaking in riddles just wastes everyone's time – and time was something that I never seem to have a lot of.
At some point, perhaps after a total of forty minutes had passed, I find a large door with a strange red and black pattern painted on it. I could feel it – something was behind the door. Likely the source of that voice. Well, it wasn't as though I'd get anywhere by not going through the door – I touch the door and it opens on its own.
And in a matter of seconds I find myself in an empty void, filled with nothing but fog.
But just barely – through the fog I can make out a figure. It's almost completely enveloped by the fog, but I can see them. Floating in the air was a not particularly tall looking humanoid shape – that was literally all I could tell. The fog was simply too thick to ascertain anything else.
I then notice – I have a sword in my hand. A cheap but clearly usable katana, seemingly extremely worn over time.
So… You are the one pursuing me… How typical.
I hear a low chuckle. Oh, so now the only somewhat disembodied voice was going to mock me on top of everything else. What a lovely first day in Inaba this turned out to be.
No matter. Try all you like…
And seemingly on impulse I feel the need – the need to attack. Faced with this figure – I had the sudden urge to strike. I move towards the figure, striking it with the katana – I clearly felt the impact, but the figure didn't seem to care all that much.
Hmmm… It would seem that, as usual, you can see a little, despite the fog…
I ignore the voice – I strike again, this time twice, unable to understand why this asshole didn't seem to care that he was being attacked. I move in again, this time aiming to take off his arm – once again, my blade makes its mark, but seemingly nothing happens. I'm unable to verify if his arm had indeed come clean off despite having felt it do so myself. I grit my teeth, moving away for just a moment –
And suddenly something behind me seems to move – a bolt of lightning descends upon the figure, but once again it amounts to nothing.
Indeed, you possess an interesting quality… Just like every son of man who came before you.
I move in again, ignoring whatever it was that seemed to have appeared behind me and this time run my sword straight through the figure's chest, clearly feeling the blade sink into its flesh and exit the other side. I rip my sword out – only to find that once more seemingly nothing has changed.
How many times have I seen this pattern repeat…? One thousand times? Ten thousand? But perhaps in an age such as yours, there is value to one like you existing… Despite that, you shall not catch me so easily…
I swing again – but the figure seems to fade into the fog. My swing hits nothing.
If it is the truth you seek, your search will be even harder than this.
Every strike misses – every move I make hits nothing but thin air. Every time I move in I could swear I see the figure, but in the next instant there is simply nothing there. My attacks become ferocious – I was more pissed off than anything else.
Everyone sees what they want to… And the fog only deepens. But are you different?
I don't even solicit an answer – I continue my aimless barrage, the thing moving behind me doing more or less the same thing with about as much success as I was having.
Will we meet again?… In a place other than here?
I hear that low chuckle again –
I will look forward to it…
And with that, I suddenly find myself awake in bed. It's early the next morning – the 12th. My first day of school. Well that was probably the worst way to rest up for school. I still felt exhausted from that whole display – like I hadn't slept at all. My eyes felt heavy and everything. Had that all just been a dream? It certainly hadn't felt like it, but what else could it have been?
I eventually wander downstairs after procrastinating enough and find Nanako by herself in the kitchen eating breakfast. She had prepared some for me as well – toast, fairly basic but certainly nothing to laugh at, especially after a night like mine. I notice Dojima was nowhere in sight, so I figured he was on the job as he had been last night.
It then occurred to me – Nanako could cook?
I ask her and she responds with a smile, even though it was a bit of a nervous one. "Yeah. Dad can't cook, but I can make toast and stuff. I can't make dinner, and when I don't go shopping we usually order out." She returns to eating without another word.
I study her briefly as I get to work on my own toast. She certainly seemed typical for a child, but she seemed extremely reliable for someone her age.
"Where's your father?" I ask, now genuinely interested in what her response would be.
"He said something came up, so he won't be back for awhile." She seems to want to say something else, but she looks up at me before speaking again. "You're starting school today, right?" She then smiles at me the best she could. "My school's on the way, so let's go together."
I decide to stow my curiosity for the time being and think about what was coming up only a short hour or two from now. Starting today, I'd have to put on my high school student face for several hours a day and on top of that maintain a somewhat low profile in an already tightly knit town. Ryotaro had gone on about how everyone in Inaba knows each other and that no one was really a stranger after enough time had passed. It was the sort of scenario that I dreaded more than anything else – I'd be gone in a year, so what did I care for bonding with other people?
The funny thing is that before now, I wouldn't have to provide myself with an answer – but now things were different, and all because of her –
Yukiko Amagi.
We'd met some time ago – perhaps three years ago. For an extended period of time she'd been living in a small apartment with her mother while tensions in her actual town of residence, which I had to assume was Inaba, died down. Evidently there was some scandal involving her family's inn that her mother had not wanted her to be wrapped up in, especially at her age.
I'd insisted on removing myself from caring about what she went on about. After all, I'd never see her again after that year had gone by. But she always made it her business to know what I was going on about. She never left me alone for very long – perhaps it was because she empathized with my situation or perhaps it was because I was the only one who didn't treat her like shit because of her good looks as more or less every girl attending that school had that year.
She battled through all of it, though. It came to the point where it seemed like she just didn't know when to give up. Out of every girl I'd ever known over my seven years of constant travel, there was never a more different one. Out of literally hundreds of people I'd come to know the names of, she stood out. She wasn't like the rest of them – she was different, and that alone turned her into someone I could try to sympathize with.
She was the one time – the one time I allowed myself to get close enough to someone that I'd have been genuinely caring for them.
It came to the point where Yukiko wanted to take our 'relationship' to the next level. But for her it was the same as it was for me – she'd only come out with this out of necessity. I was going to be gone in a year, as would she – I almost made myself forget that. I didn't need to jeopardize my secured standing in this social group for what little time I had left in it by visibly becoming closer to her. Would I have accepted her under other circumstances? Perhaps. Regardless, I turned her down, perhaps too quickly, but even then she always persisted. Things didn't change in the slightest. But I knew that she had to resent me to some degree, especially on the day that I left that town – when she'd told me she wouldn't ever forget me in the least caring way imaginable.
Today I'd have to see her again. I'd be stuck in a town with her for another year. I could only imagine what had happened to her over that span of time.
I head out with Nanako – it had been raining last night, and the rain had persisted somewhat into this morning, so Inaba was in full spring mode. The air was a bit dense and there wasn't any sign of the sun whatsoever. That was all it took for me to step outside without any distaste in my mouth. It was on days like this that I could go outside without reserve – I just really hated the sun.
Nanako and I talk about random things on the way to school. I try my best not to pry into her family life – I mostly asked about her friends at school and what she did for fun for the sake of breaking the ice. Her responses were funnily enough more adult in response – she spends her free time cooking dinner and she meets with her friends rarely but often enough to seem friendly. Nanako definitely had the power to make just about anyone – aside from me, of course – smile as widely as possible, so making friends definitely wasn't a problem, nor would making connections later in her life be provided she kept things up. For a child her age, she was definitely more refined than most of the adults I'd had experience with – if she ever got married she'd definitely be the one wearing the pants in the relationship.
Eventually we have to part – it would seem that Nanako walked a little further than she needed to just for the sake of talking with me – it would seem that I made a good impression. As she walks off I find myself puzzled – I can't really understand how someone like her being biologically related to me – on my mother's side, of all things – could be possible, but then again perhaps the bulk of my family being socially conditioned into being scum of the earth material and my constant exposure to them made me a bit biased.
Eventually Yasogami High School comes into view – out of every school I've ever been to, this one was the least extravagant. But perhaps that was a good thing – although I doubt it had any serious effect on the uselessness of the students. As usual, I'd avoid all the stares that I'd doubtlessly get from being a transfer student and keep to myself – of course with Yukiko in the picture, that wouldn't be anywhere near as easy as it should have been.
I sigh before walking through the entrance – almost right away I feel the stares. Damn my silver hair for standing out so much. Also damn my height. I'm taller than half the people I've seen so far. Way not to stand out, Yu.
I eventually manage to zone out enough that I realize that the building itself was actually kind of nostalgic feeling on the inside. It was very similar to my old cram school – I remembered the scenery more than my actual experience there, but I remember appreciating the interior to some extent. The noise coming from the first year hall was uncharacteristic for students adjusting to a new school, but then again they all probably knew each other anyway because of what sort of town this was. I decide to ignore it all and head straight to the faculty office – hopefully I'd be able to at least get to my classroom before having to throw out my usual introduction.
Of course the moment I walk through those doors I come into contact with who might be the most irritating man on the face of the earth.
Kinshiro Morooka. Public Enemy Number One, at least by Inaba's standards. From the moment we met, his eyes told me he saw me as nothing more than a little turd he had to look after to keep his job. He says a bunch of random crap about the school and how I'd better not try to sleep with any of the girls – this is the sort of man who generalizes people, very much like I do. But the only difference between us is that he is about as obnoxious about it as I believe to be humanly possible. He doesn't see people for what they truly are like I do – he just sees each person as a sack of shit identical to the last and is so invincibly ignorant I'd be perfectly content if he didn't wake up tomorrow.
He leads me to my classroom – he has me wait outside for a few minutes while he takes attendance and hands out all the basic stuff that I'd already been given. Eventually he begins his whole introductory segment after he'd settled everything else he had to do.
All the while I hear people whispering about me – about the new transfer student, if he's a guy, if he's a girl, if they're a weirdo – it's the same stuff I've heard time and time again. I've become almost completely impervious to all of it.
"I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward!" He speaks rather pompously. "First things first! Just because it's spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons. Long as I'm around, you students are going to be as pure as the driven snow." At this point I figure he's going to be awhile, so I walk into the classroom somewhat nonchalantly. I get a couple of funny looks and some people almost start laughing when they realize that Morooka hasn't even noticed me yet.
Eventually he suddenly realizes I'm standing next to him and without missing a step he immediately segways to my introduction. "Now I hate wasting my time, but I'd better introduce this transfer student. This sad sacks' been thrown from the big city out into the middle of nowhere like yesterdays' garbage." I briefly glance in his direction, verifying that he'd actually said such a thing. "And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there, so none of you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on him." He turns towards me. "Tell 'em your name, kid. And make it quick."
Like hell I was going to.
Fuck it. I might be tossed around like garbage but I'm sure as hell not letting you call me a loser for it, you sad sack of shit…!
I almost consider decking him in the face right then and there. But
"…You calling me a loser?" I say as casually as possible, narrowing my eyes at him.
Morooka seems taken aback. Probably no one has ever talked back to him his whole life – looks like right now was the time for a rude awakening. "That's it, you're on my shit list. Effective immediately!" He shouts at me. Oh no, sir, you're on my shit list. Although that's a list four miles long anyhow, so it's not much of an achievement. I hate him about as much as I hate all three of my aunts.
"Now, listen up –" He continues, but before he can drill his anger into me any further, a voice calls out from a one of the rows in the back.
"Excuse me! Is it okay if the transfer student sits back here?" A girl in an absurdly green sweater calls out.
Morooka suddenly snaps back to reality – he's in front of a class and he's supposed to be teaching, not drilling his ignorant bilge into my brain. "Huh…? Yeah, sure. You hear that? Your seat's back there. So hurry up and siddown already!"
I silently move down the row – pretty much all eyes are on me because of that stunt I pulled – once again I failed at keeping a low profile. But I felt at least a tad more courageous for it – it had been a long time since I'd talked down to the establishment. I take my seat, completely averting my eyes from that red cardigan I still wanted to pretend wasn't there. At least I hadn't introduced myself formally. Maybe she wouldn't notice. I take my seat and she doesn't move a muscle – maybe she hadn't noticed. I almost sigh with relief before the girl sitting next to me suddenly starts talking.
"He's the worst, huh? Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class. Well, we'll just have to hang in there for a year." And right away with the small talk. I shrug my shoulders in response – I'm in no mood to talk to anyone.
Almost right away I hear the gossip circling around the room. I completely tune out all of it, including Morooka's rambling. I manage to focus on the back of the seat in front of me as I slowly start to doze off.
But then two girls from the far end of the room suddenly come up to me and start talking to me. Asking about what the city was like and how crappy it is out here – the same thing I've been hearing non-stop since yesterday. I try to answer as typically as possible, but the whole time I'm focusing on the girl who was sitting next to me – she had gotten up and sat in the seat in front of her and was talking to her about very typical things. Even though I could only see them out of the corner of my eye, I managed to ascertain that Yukiko was sort of doing the same.
Eventually one of the girls in front of me realizes that I'm not paying any substantial attention to what they're saying. "Hey… Are you alright?" She asks somewhat politely.
"A-Ah, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, it's been a long couple of days, you know?" I play it off as normally as possible.
"Oh, that's true!" The other one suddenly comes to the most obvious realization in the world. "We're sorry. We just-"
"It's fine." I give my usual fake smile, waving off her concern. "…But if you don't mind me asking, who's the girl that was sitting next to me?" I was honestly curious to know who Yukiko had become friends with – if I recall correctly, she mentioned having a friend back home at one time.
The two of them look at each other before laughing out loud. Because that's a substantial response to my question. One of them eventually responds. "That's Chie Satonaka… Don't tell me you're interested in her, are you?"
"What, is she untouchable or something?"
The two of them laugh again. "She's probably the most ridiculous person in the world." One of them responds. I'm about to question further before the PA System suddenly goes live.
"Attention all teachers. Please report to the faculty office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and not leave the school until further notice."
The two girls return to their seats. Morooka leaves the room in a huff and the discussion continues, now about the current situation. The noise doesn't die down for even a second.
I find myself with virtually nothing to do. I couldn't leave school even though everything had more or less wrapped up, so I find myself gradually shifting my eyes in Yukiko's direction. She's talking to a guy who nervously walks off after a few seconds – he'd mentioned an announcer staying at her in, although I didn't quite hear her reply. She was still soft spoken it seems.
But the guy returns to his group of friends – and they bring up that announcer again.
Announcer…?
Come to think of it, wasn't there a news report about an announcer on last night?
Ah, right –
Mayumi Yamano. The announcer having an affair with that politician, Taro Namatame, who actually lived in this town. It was no surprise that people would be talking about it. But evidently, there was cause to believe that the announcer was staying at the Amagi Inn. I wonder how true that was.
Eventually the PA comes on again.
"Attention all students. There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the school zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home."
With that the talk becomes a bit more panicked, although most people are just glad to be leaving the building. The two girls that had been talking to me suddenly get the idea of heading towards the supposed danger zone. I decide that I have nowhere important to be and so I wait for the bulk of the traffic to clear out – there was no chance in hell that something would happen here, so I had nothing to fear.
Eventually, though, the girl that was sitting next to me, Chie Satonaka, suddenly appears to my side.
"Hey, are you going home by yourself?" She asks nicely enough. I look in her direction – only to realize that Yukiko is standing right next to her, her eyes completely averted from me. I do the same – Chie doesn't catch it, but she clearly feels the tension in the air. "W-Why don't you come with us…?" She trails off a bit.
"O-Oh, sure. That'd be fine." I manage to stammer. This was just the worst possible scenario for a first day of school, at least by every standard I was familiar with.
She becomes visibly relaxed. "Oh, I nearly forgot. I'm Chie Satonaka. You know I sit next to you right?"
"Who wouldn't…? I sigh under my breath before I suddenly realize I'd said that out loud. "O-Oh, yeah, sure I do."
She smiles warmly at me. "It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise." I finally say something plainly.
Chie seems like she's about to introduce Yukiko who feels it coming and freezes on the spot, but before she can say anything someone approaches her.
"Um…Miss Satonaka?" I face him – oh, it's this guy. Come to think of it, I think I saw this guy fall off his bike or something this morning. I was too busy talking to Nanako to pay him any mind past that, though. In his hands seems to be a DVD case. "This was really awesome. Like, the way they moved was just so amazing to see…" He compliments the movie. Evidently he liked it, although his face indicates anything but.
He then cracks under pressure and shoves the case in her direction. "And… I'm really sorry! Just please, have mercy on me until my next paycheck!" He almost screams.
In the next few seconds, I learn what those two had meant when they said that Chie was the most ridiculous person in the world.
She takes the DVD case, and the moment she sees the cracked DVD inside she strikes the boy in the crotch with her left leg. And she then goes on about kung fu for a full minute while the boy's future children hang in the balance. Yukiko just stands there completely emotionless, like she's seen this sort of thing happen a million times. And I had a feeling she had.
Eventually Chie and Yukiko leave the room and head out into the hall while I consider helping the poor guy.
"…Hey, are you alright?" I eventually cave in and ask him.
He looks up before realizing that I'm not Chie and sighs with relief.
"O-Oh, I think I'll be fine… Gah, another critical hit to the nads like that one and I think I'm done for…" He groans.
"Hey, don't think like that. The first step in winning a woman's heart is to take their abuse and wear your scars proudly… Or something along those lines." No, what I said didn't have any context to it, but saying stuff like that randomly that was what got people thinking.
He gives me a confused look. "What does that have to do with anything?"
I shrug my shoulders. "You made me come up with something motivational. It's your fault."
"Motivational, eh…? Yeah, maybe I do need to get motivated." He grins painfully as he tries to stand up straight, my lazy efforts to get him in gear paying off. "Yeah, I'll definitely survive the next time!" He almost shouts triumphantly. I feel like smacking him across the face but decide against it. At least he was "Oh, by the way, I don't think I've told you my name yet. I'm Yosuke Hanamura."
"Yu Narukami. Nice to meet you… But you're sure you're alright?" I'd normally overlook stuff like this, but he did just get kicked in the crotch by what might be the strongest legs a woman could possibly have.
"I'm fine. Thanks though…" He then whispers into my ear. "I'm telling you right now. Change your seat – no, leave this school before you regret it. She'll act all nice and'll lend you stuff and all that, but the second she starts asking you to take her out for steak it's all over. You'll never be the same again."
"Thanks for the advice." I almost laugh, but I suddenly realize that I'd accepted Satonaka's invite to walk home with her. "I'll see you around, I guess." I quickly get out of that room before Yosuke has the opportunity to whine any more about Chie.
As it stands I've been here for two days. And already I've run into people who should only ever exist as anime characters. They're all too… unique to be real. But they are, and I'm still not sure what to make of it. But on top of that –
When I leave the building Yukiko and Chie are standing near a boy clearly not from our school – I recognize him almost immediately – Mitsuo Kubo. A shut-in otaku who's gone by the name NiedtHart on the internet. Or rather, he used to, until he got laughed at for how fish like his face was – he eventually stopped showing up online after the 'FishHart' jokes started. Having spent more hours than I'd care to admit on the internet I found out about him when his face became a viral meme for a few months. How I managed to run into him of all people in this seemingly unrealistic town is beyond me.
He was talking to Yukiko it seems. Two guys standing to my side suddenly start talking.
"What's up with him? What school's he from?"
"I bet you a can of TaP he gets knocked out."
"No bet. Haven't you heard how difficult the Amagi Challenge is?"
Before I can close in Kubo leaves quickly. Yosuke appears pretty much out of nowhere on his bike and proceeds to talk to the two girls as I head towards them –
Out of the corner of my eye I spot something –
I turn, and what seems to be shimmering blue butterfly, sparkling like diamonds, flies past me. I blink several times – but it's gone.
Was I seeing things? I shake my head a few times. It's all because of that nightmare I had last night. I sigh again before I finally approach the two girls, Yosuke having already rode off on his bike.
I try to play it off the best I can. I rejoin the two, hang around while Chie suddenly decides to change her plans, and before too long we're off, walking down the path towards the shopping district. I'd been planning on scoping out all of the stores anyway, so I didn't object to Chie's new trajectory. I vaguely remember Yosuke's warning about steak, but I pass it off as paranoia on his part.
On the way there Chie finally gets the hint. She finally notices that Yukiko and I are completely avoiding speaking to each other and tries to start up a conversation all three of us could participate in.
She goes off for a few minutes talking about how Inaba isn't really all that well known for anything, before listing off things it is well known for, before suddenly realizing that she's going nowhere and drops Yukiko's cue. "Oh, wait, there's the Amagi Inn! Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride of Inaba." Yes, Miss Oblivious, I'm well aware of the Amagi Inn. Even if I didn't already know Yukiko personally, only everyone in class was talking about it this morning.
Chie pokes Yukiko in the shoulder a few times.
Eventually she finally speaks.
"W-What…? It's just an old inn."
I feel myself strangely disappointed. I guess I was kind of expecting her voice to have changed drastically. But alas, she's just the same Yukiko. Which meant….
"Oh, no way!" Chie says almost too quickly, trying to keep the conversation going. Yukiko wasn't going to make it easy for her, at any rate. "It's been in all sorts of magazines as a hidden treasure! It's a great inn. It's been going for generations, and Yukiko here is going to take over someday. The inn attracts lots of visitors to Inaba, so it pretty much keeps the town going."
"…I don't think that's entirely true." Yukiko sighs.
Chie seems at a loss for a few seconds. But I could tell the mouse wheel was slowly turning, and it would only be a matter of seconds before she –
"Sooo… Tell me," Oh god, here we go. "You think Yukiko's cute, huh?"
I can already tell that Yukiko is about to burst. I choose to keep my mouth shut but…
I can't keep myself from admitting it. The main reason why I refused to look even remotely in Yukiko's direction the entire day was purely over how much her appearance had changed. I knew her back when she was a somewhat short eighth grader. Now she was drop dead gorgeous. And I couldn't be more pissed off about it.
"Oh geez, are you blushing?!" While Chie was as dull a knife as you could come across, she happened to notice the pink haze on my cheeks. How wonderful. I'm beginning to wish I'd just hung out with Yosuke or something.
"Come on… Don't start this again…" Yukiko sighs again, this time her frustration clearly apparent in her voice. But Chie, being who she was, didn't notice at all.
"She's really popular at school, but she's never had a boyfriend. Kinda weird, huh?"
So that settles it.
…She hasn't changed. At all.
So that means, in a few seconds –
"Y-You shouldn't believe that, alright?!" She starts shouting. Chie promptly shuts up and gives Yukiko a somewhat bewildered look. "It's not true that I'm popular, or that I've never had a boyfriend… W-Wait, no, what I meant to say was that I don't need a boyfriend!" Finally our eyes meet – and just like that it's back to the way things were three years ago.
Almost like a perfect reflection of that Yukiko I always knew, she defiantly points her finger at me. "A-And you! It's your first day of school in a new town, where you don't know anyone, and your shirt's not tucked in and your collar's popped! How can you expect to make a good first impression that way?! Not to mention how you blew things with Mister Morooka- How much trouble do you intend to get in?!"
And just like that – she got right back into the swing of thing.
Any embarrassment I had is gone. There was no way in hell I was going to let her talk down to me like that…!
"Me?! What about you?!" I shout right back at her. "What the hell's an 'Amagi Challenge'?!"
"W-Where did you hear about that?!"
"Only every guy in the school's brought it up at least once already. Well?!"
"I-It's nothing you need to be concerned about! You should just be worried about finding your way home! Do you even have any idea how big this town actually is? You could get lost just about anywhere!" Our exaggeration match begins while Chie just stands there completely bewildered. She likely had no idea that there was a side to Yukiko quite like this one –
You see, when I said Yukiko constantly involved herself with what I was doing – I know you were expecting something a lot tenderer than this. Once upon a time, Yukiko was what we call a 'tsundere'. She'd get pissed off at the people closest to her all the time before turning around and thanking them for always being with her. These days it seemed that she was more reserved than anything else, but perhaps my reappearance had reawakened the beast inside her.
This is a lovely first day of school, isn't it?
Yukiko refuses to budge on the 'Amagi Challenge' bit and before too long, as she used to, she gives up and turns away with a huff. "I'm going home. I can't put up with this right now." She storms off in the opposite direction before stopping suddenly. "Are you coming or not, Chie?"
Chie suddenly remembers that she's standing there. "O-Oh, okay, Yukiko, I'm coming…" She looks in my direction but not fully at me. "Uh… Sorry, I guess we'll go to Junes some other time…" She trails off as she follows behind Yukiko.
I sigh and turn away from them, heading off down the path – if I was right this was the way Nanako and I had gone this morning – I'd reach familiar territory before too long.
Once I made it to the residential district I came across the cause of all the commotion back at school. One of the side streets had been completely sealed off with caution tape and there were police cars everywhere. I hear housewives talking about it, mentioning that something had just been taken down. I look around, scanning the supposed crime scene. Sure enough, Ryotaro was there, standing with several other officers. With this many officers in a small town like this all at one crime scene, this had to be nothing short of murder.
Out from behind one of the cars came a man in a cheap looking business suit, running straight towards a trash can that was only a few feet away from me. Without warning he vomits into the can, swearing under his breath.
"Fuck… How the hell did it end up like this…?" He almost whispers before puking again.
Ryotaro takes notice of him and looks our way. "Adachi! Quit acting like a rookie!" He shouts.
"S-Sorry, Dojima-san…" The man sighs, although it was likely that Ryotaro hadn't heard him.
Ryotaro then notices me standing off to the side watching the whole exchange and excuses himself before heading towards me.
"I thought we told that damn principle not to let the kids through here…" He sighs. It would seem there was a bit more to this than just some freak accident.
"Is something wrong?" I ask him.
"…Right, you're not familiar with the town yet. If you're going home you want to take that street back there – hey, Adachi, don't just stand there! Get back to work!" The man he addresses moves away from the trash can and disappears behind the police cab again. "Damn slacker… Oh, right." He points to a side street I'd walked past. "You take that road all the way down, make a right, and we're all the way at the base of the hill."
"Oh right. Thanks, and… Uh, sorry if I've caused any trouble." I knew better than to have bad relations with any cop – of course the fact that Ryotaro was my uncle made it all the more imperative that I refrain from doing anything stupid.
"It's not a big deal. It's better just being you by yourself than a group of dumb kids, right?"
I smile, nodding my head. I turn to leave, taking note of the man named Adachi who was still hurling into the trash can.
"Uh…" I hesitate to talk to him, but considering how he'd been puking rather consistently for the last three minutes or so, I'd feel bad just leaving him like that. He was probably being worked ragged all day – the sort of person I couldn't really hate no matter how hard I tried. "…Are you going to be alright?"
"Ah…Yeah, I'll be fine." He eventually responds, realizing that I'd directed my concern towards him. After coughing up little more than saliva he finally stats upright, looking me over. "You're Dojima-san's nephew, huh? You're way too tall to be Nanako-chan's age." He says with a laugh. "Oh, but that's a Yasogami uniform. You're in high school, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. I'm Yu Narukami. I'm going to be living here for the next year."
"Really? Only a year? Aren't you lucky." He laughs again. "Tohru Adachi. Pleased to meet ya." He says with a rather sheepish smile. We shake hands – his hands are clammy and his grip is only somewhat strong – he's about as thick as a sheet of paper, but at least he seemed to be a pretty nice guy. "I'm guessing you're from an actual city, huh? It's gotta be hard having to move out to a place like this."
"It's not that bad. Seems sort of unique in its own sort of way."
"You've been here for a grand total of two days. You'll be just like me in a few weeks, just you wait."
"You don't like the country side?"
"Nah, it's not my thing. There's even less to do here than there was back at the academy." He smiles wryly.
Off in the distance I hear Ryotaro shouting again. "Adachi, are you going to do your job or what?!"
"A-Ah, right, sorry Dojima-san!" He shouts back before turning towards me again. "Ah well… I guess I should get going." He starts walking off towards the other officers. "If you're ever bored out of your mind, you know where to find me… Wait, you're a bit too young to drink, aren't you? Damn. Well, whatever, I'll see ya around!" He smiles again as he disappears from view.
Well, he was an okay guy, I guess. He seems a bit too lazy for his own good, but at least he didn't have that entitled attitude I've always hated, so that was a plus.
I head home without stopping again, determined to sleep off all of the trauma today left me with.
I learn later that night that the incident on that street had to do with the murder of Mayumi Yamano, the television announcer. Her body had been found on that street – from there I was able to make several assumptions on my own that Ryotaro eventually verified himself when he returned home that night. Evidently her involvement in the Taro Namatame scandal led to her temporary retirement to Inaba, her old hometown. Her house was mobbed with paparazzi, so she ended up staying at the Amagi Inn overnight – it was then that she went missing despite having evidently been under police guard until a short few moments before. Ryotaro himself had been at the station that night dealing with that whole mess when it had happened – it happened under all of their noses. I could only hope that Adachi wasn't somehow involved with the screw-up – the last thing he needed was to get fired on top of everything else.
It's amazing how quickly things can happen when you're caught off guard. In my case, I never thought I could be so caught off guard to begin with – but all it did was prove that there was more to this seemingly terribly ordinary town that I had given it credit for.
Yasogami High School
April 13th, 2011
School had ended – this day had been far less stressful than the abysmal mess yesterday had been, much to my delight, but at the same time much to my chagrin, as it meant that I would have to explain things to Chie involving Yukiko.
Fortunately enough for me, Yosuke came to the rescue – Chie convinced him to buy her steak in exchange for cracking her DVD and all was forgotten, at least for the time being. I decided to tag along for the sake of not having to go anywhere else – at least Yukiko had to do things at her inn today, so I wouldn't have any more mishaps with her.
Yosuke brings us to the food court on the roof of the Junes building – it had only occurred to me then that he was actually the son of the manager that ran this place – if I played my cards right, Nanako could even get discounts from the clerks, although thinking about I doubt that the manager's son had anywhere near the level of pull with management to pull something like that off.
"Oh come on, taking us to your place doesn't count." Chie whines, her rather delectable looking cut of steak sitting on her plate mostly untouched.
"Hey, you wanted steak. You're getting steak. I'm not paying for anything fancier than this."
"You could've at least told me you were almost broke. I would've chipped in." I point out something fairly obvious. Blowing out one's wallet on Chie's steak cravings wasn't a fate that anyone deserved.
"Nah, I couldn't. You're new here and everything – it wouldn't be right." He seems somewhat grateful that I'd offered, though.
"You've gotta treat us to some real food next time." Chie chimes in, completely ignoring what Yosuke had just said. "You've gotta pay for Yukiko's too."
"Yeah, yeah, when hell freezes over, maybe… Speaking of, though… Where' is Yukiko-san?" It dawns on Yosuke that Yukiko is nowhere to be seen.
"She's been really busy with the inn work these last few days. It probably has to do with Mayumi Yamano." Chie seems a tad upset when she says that.
"Right, I'd heard she was staying at the inn. So that was true?" I ask her, the direction the conversation was heading in suddenly very appealing.
"Yeah, every word… Well, aside from the usual rumor mill kind of stuff…" Chie trails off before something suddenly clicks in her head. "Oh, but speaking of, have either of you heard the rumor about –"
"Can we get off the rumor topic, already? I'm already sick of them today… More talk about soul mates and all that other bullshit…" Yosuke complains.
"Oh, but it's about that! You know the story – about the Midnight Channel. On a rainy night, if you're alone in your room, you've got a TV and all the lights are off, when the clock strikes midnight your TV will suddenly turn on – and on it will be a picture of your soul mate."
"Sounds about as realistic as that one about the schoolboy and the talking cat." I sigh. "…So why exactly does this one stand out?"
"Because waay too many people have had it happen to them… Come on, neither of you are curious at all?" Chie sighs upon noticing our disinterest. "Won't you two just give it a shot? Most of my friends had it happen to them – we should all try it tonight. It's going to be raining, right?"
"Why do I want to bother?" Yosuke groans painfully. "I'm probably not going to get home until midnight anyway."
"Is Junes really that busy at night?" Chie's skepticism is apparent. "Don't you guys close before midnight anyway?"
"Yeah, well… That's not the point, it's…" He sighs. "You know what? I'm not getting into this. Whatever, if I'm home I guess I'll try it out."
"You'll do it too, right?" Chie looks to me for a sign of approval.
I try my best not to sigh, I really do – I end up shrugging my shoulders. "Well, I guess I might as well."
Chie beams at me. "So it's settled! You guys had better not forget." Of course we wouldn't. Because you'd never let us hear the end of it if we did.
The conversation goes on. Chie mostly complains about the classes she's taking this year while Yosuke for the most part complains about her complaining. Evidently the two of them weren't even that close, but they definitely could've fooled me – these tow seemed like they'd been friends for years – it likely had more than enough to do with the whole 'Chie's tomboy personality' bit, but to some extent the two had to have at least not been strangers, especially if Yosuke had been around her long enough to have gone down the trail of expensive steak she leaves in her wake freely.
At some point, though, Yosuke suddenly takes note of someone behind us and in all of five seconds is standing in attention, about to head over to them – it's a girl, not much older than we were, if older at all, dressed in the Junes employee apron. There's certainly something about her though – she seems rather pale, and it most certainly had nothing to do with her skin color.
"Who's that?" I ask Chie – but the moment I see Yosuke greet her I more or less paint the whole picture on my own. "His girlfriend?"
Chie snorts with amusement. "He wishes."
Oh dear – it would seem Yosuke was the subject to the pains of unrequited love. Or at least something along those lines. Eventually he manages to bring her over to us to formally introduce her.
Saki Konishi – she was evidently the daughter of a couple of liquor store owners in town – she was working at Junes part time to make some money and spent a lot of her time reporting directly to Yosuke, who managed all of the part timers on his father's behalf. Yosuke was completely smitten with her – it was far too obvious that he had more than a sizable crush on her. Whatever there was about her that had stood out to him wasn't all that apparent to me, though – it likely had to do with her apparent tired state that even Yosuke managed to pick up on without much trouble. I decide to play things off like I usually do – I try to make Yosuke seem as much of a stand-up guy as possible, although I really had no reason to other than if I did accidentally drop anything about that whole 'critical hit to the nads' business he'd probably despise me for the rest of my life.
While Konishi talked, I noticed something that I didn't really ponder until my walk back home. Whenever she smiled, but most particularly whenever she smiled or laughed at something Yosuke said –
She was faking it. Her eyebrows didn't move a muscle – it was a fake smile, about as fake a smile as I've ever seen. Even faker than the ones I make myself wear all the time. But why she had such a fake smile – I couldn't have guessed.
I could only assume that Yosuke hadn't the slightest clue in the world. I consider telling him for a moment, but I decide against it – if there was any real consequence to any of it, I had a feeling that it would make itself known soon enough.
Later That Evening, Dojima Residence
It was relatively close to Nanako's bedtime when Ryotaro left for the station again, for roughly the third time in the last week if I've understood things correctly. It would seem that Nanako would spend all of her time watching TV when her father wasn't home and that it happened frequently enough that she didn't really seem visibly affected by it like any child her age doubtlessly would be.
We were sitting in the living room, watching the news, when a commercial for the local store in the Junes chain came on. Nanako happily sung along with the words – it would seem that she had an infatuation with Junes. At least she had something to be happy about.
The commercial looped several times. I sat through it and through Nanako's cheery singing and was prepared to as many times as was necessary before the time came to put her to bed – I couldn't exactly just ignore her on what was more or less the first normal evening we'd be spending together under these circumstances – that would just leave a bad impression. I'd probably piss of Ryotaro too.
The more of Nanako I saw, though, the more I had to question why she seemed so fundamentally different form every other child in my family. It's like we weren't related at all – she had none of the negative qualities the rest of my mother's relatives had, but on top of that she was probably more responsible than most of the adults in our family.
Eventually the song has looped enough that I'm able to recite the lyrics myself.
Nanako beams at me. "You memorized it already? I'm the best in my class!" She smiles from ear to ear.
"That's got to be some achievement."
"All my friends love Junes too! Their parents take them there all the time – I mostly just go by myself when we need groceries."
"After school? All by yourself?"
She nods several times.
"Hm… Impressive. I know a few grown men who couldn't pull off something like that."
"Really?" She seems very surprised, although the only real role model she had for what normal adults were like was her father who just by being who he was had already achieved more than any other man in our family. And perhaps Adachi, although she probably knew better than to look up to him of all people.
"I'm sure your dad's proud."
"…Really?" She seems somewhat hesitant to continue speaking, but she eventually speaks her mind. "You really think Dad's proud of me?"
"What makes you think he wouldn't be?"
"Well, he's always at work, and I don't think he's ever said so."
"Of course he's proud of you." I say it again. Why was I suddenly the comforting elder cousin all of a sudden?
"…I just wish he said it more often." She says somewhat sadly, her eyes shifting away from me and back to the television set. "Or that he'd go to Junes with me sometime."
I see it in her gaze almost immediately – this most certainly hadn't been the first time her father had left her by herself and she was left wondering if he really cared about her – in fact, she seemed particularly used to it. I could only imagine what kind of psychological damage being a child that has a father who would walk out on you on a fairly regular basis –
Oh, wait, that's not true at all – I don't have to imagine. I know exactly what it's like. It wasn't until then that I ever considered Nanako someone I'd share any sort of a bond with – but just like that I felt the need to connect with her.
"…You know, if it matters enough," I begin, "I could just start coming home earlier from now on. You know, when your dad's off doing his job. I could help you shop. If I'm going to be freeloading for a whole year." I'm not sure if she understood half of the slang I used, but it wasn't as though I was proficient at speaking to children to begin with, so it wasn't like I'd know any better.
But even then, she looks at me somewhat confused for a moment – I knew the look. Was I actually offering her something she didn't tell me she wanted? Was I being serious, or was I just trying to deceive her? It was the look that only intelligent people made – only people that really knew how the world works would ever hesitate in a situation like this one. And Nanako was only ten years old.
Eventually she smiles at me. "That would be nice."
I'm not sure if I smile back. But I'm not sure how I'd have been able to force it down if I wasn't.
That evening, after Nanako was in bed and Ryotaro had returned home, I decide to verify Chie's absurd rumor.
The clock had struck midnight. The lights were off. The small television set in my room was as lifeless as it always was. A few seconds pass by – nothing.
What had I been expecting? It was a rumor Chie had picked up, after all.
But the moment I turn away – the screen lights up.
I face the screen again – what the hell?
There was a woman on the screen…?
…
This is…
Who is this…?
I know I've seen that hair before –
It's Saki Konishi…?
So my soul mate was someone I'd only met a few hours ago?
But more importantly –
The TV was unplugged.
So then how –
But what's she –
She's calling… For me…?
No, that can't be the case…
But even then I try to reach out to her – and my hand sinks into the TV.
"W-What the hell…?!"
The moment my hand slips through I stumble forward – my head sinks into the TV. It's almost as though I'd dunked my head in water, but something far less natural feeling than that.
And then I hear yet another disembodied voice.
Thou art I, and I am thou. Now, open thine eyes…!
Before me I suddenly see a hand appearing out of some shimmering hole suspended in the air just ahead of me – everything else was completely black. The hand seems to be reaching out towards me, likely to pull me all the way in…!
I try to pull backward – the rest of my body's still outside the TV. There was no way in hell that I was going to get swallowed by it.
I lurch backward as hard as possible – my head pops out thankfully in my room before I lose my balance and smack my head against the table behind me.
I hear Nanako stirring in the hallway.
"Are you okay? I heard a bang."
"Did I wake you?" I ask as calmly as possible – the last thing that Nanako needed to see was the strange shimmering vortex on the TV set, so I couldn't let her inside. "Don't worry, everything's fine."
"Okay… Good night." With that she returns to her room.
I sigh.
So the Midnight Channel was real. But I had a feeling it had nothing to do with soul mates and involved something else entirely.
This is all so ironic.
This was just supposed to be another year long lesson in futility. A year just like any other.
But here I am, two days in, and already all hell is starting to break loose.
I had to admit it –
No matter what came about as a result of all of this –
This was going to be interesting.
April 14th, 2011
For Now, My Name is Yu Narukami.
Never. I never expected anything quite like this.
They hadn't believed me when I told them that morning – that I'd gone into the TV. But the moment I showed off my new apparent ability to phase in and out of television sets at Junes' department store, things became a lot more complicated.
Falling completely through the TV – with two completely uninvolved bystanders in tow. Now that was something I don't think I could've anticipated in a thousand years.
I didn't know which was worse. That we were now trapped in a potentially completely sealed off dimension completely removed from our world, or that Yosuke wouldn't shut up about having to piss himself. But either way I had to stay completely calm while Yosuke and Chie went nuts.
Was I freaked out by all of this? Sure. But some dimension inside the TV was certainly a nice change of pace – I was actually a little excited, if I'm being brutally honest.
We'd landed on a platform in the middle of what seemed to be a large scale filming studio. Chie and Yosuke began having their panic attack while I tried to figure out where to go from here – this was the sort of thing you picked up when shuttling yourself everywhere all your life.
"Calm down." I eventually tell them, the incessant screaming getting on my nerves. "This isn't anything we can't deal with."
"Well aren't you all calm." Chie almost barks at me, her exasperation apparent.
"Where the hell is this?! I mean – we fell through the damn TV!" Yosuke shouts. Ah, right, Yosuke was the kind to crack under pressure really easily. Well, to a certain extent, so was I, but this wasn't all that much pressure.
Nope. Waking up in a place clearly not part of our world after falling into a TV with no way out is no cause for panic. Nope… Not at all…
I'd confess that I'm screaming on the inside right now – but that wouldn't be much of a confession. I'm always screaming on the inside, whether it is about something or about someone.
"I suggest we get moving. It would be best if we don't stay in one place for too long." I tell them.
"What gives you that idea?" Yosuke groans, his panic apparent.
"Who knows what's hiding around here?" I say in a rather creepy fashion before taking one of the catwalk pathways leading away from the studio floor. The two of them follow me almost completely wordlessly at that point.
Eventually we come to a black and red vortex – it reminded me of the patterns on that door in that dream I had. At this point I was pretty much certain that whatever that whole sequence was hadn't been a dream, but I had to focus on one thing at a time – right now we had to get out, or at least look for a way out. And going into the red vortex seemed like the best idea. I almost had to drag Yosuke through by the hand, but all three of us made it through with no issue.
Inside was probably the most disturbing thing we'd seen that day – a room with walls splashed with blood and torn up posters, completely unpainted floor boards sticking up and at the dead center an old rusted chair positioned underneath a noose suspended from the ceiling.
"What the fuck…?" Yosuke at this point wants nothing more than to leave, but at least his bowels predicament helped take his mind off of it. Chie, on the other hand, seems a bit too spooked for her own good.
"W-What is something like this doing here?! What on earth is this place?!"
"Let's not jump to any conclusions, alright?" I sigh, once again baffling my two companions.
"Dude, how the hell are you so calm right now?! What if someone died in this room?!" Yosuke shouts before jogging in place again. "Oh, fuck this, I can't hold it in anymore."
"W-Wait, what're you saying?" Yosuke's antics seem to be distracting Chie now as well.
Yosuke retreats to a nearby wall, facing away from us. We hear him unzip his pants.
"Wait, you're going to go right here?!" Chie seems less frightened and more embarrassed than anything else.
I take the opportunity to glance around the room – there certainly was something eerie about this place – but the more I looked the place over the stranger things seemed. I'd certainly never been here before, but something about this room felt rather cozy, almost like my own room at Ryotaro's house. But at the same time there was some malicious in the air that made being here simply feel wrong. Tuning out the bickering couple I look around some more – out through the window I can see more of that red vortex that seemed to pain the entirety of the sky – but more importantly, we seemed to be on some kind of upper level of a building. Beneath us was what seemed to be nothing more than the Shopping District – if they sky had been more normal looking I'd never be able to tell the two apart.
Eventually I notice some sort of blemish in the window – there was a small circular hole in the glass, awfully precise for a crack in the glass – for some reason I instinctively determine that this was a crack made by a bullet, although I had no grounds for knowing so.
It's possible that someone was shot in here, but none of the bloodstains seemed to suggest so – it didn't look like anyone could have been shot from outside given how high up this building seemed to be – but more importantly the bullet seemed to have been shot straight. Whoever had fired it must have been in the room. My eyes follow the trajectory the shot would have taken –
And I find myself turning around – and across the room on the far wall was what seemed to be my own reflection, although there was no mirror to be found. Chie and Yosuke continue their fight without apparently even noticing.
It's some sort of projection of myself – but with extremely harsh yellow eyes that seemed to pierce through me. He looks at me, rather confused for a moment before seemingly dawning on something.
It then smiles. "Let the games… begin..!" It speaks in my own voice, clapping its hands once before leaning back against the wall. Evidently I'm the only one who had heard any of it – the other two couldn't see it at all.
I blink – and the reflection is gone.
And in another moment the wall bursts open – and what seem to be monsters built of black ooze pour through the opening, one after another, eyes glowing red and bellowing much like some kind of animal.
Chie screams while Yosuke gets knocked off his feet in one strike before ever having the opportunity to react. The slimes seem to be surrounding me – not us, but me – and in a matter of moments they turn into small floating balls with lecherous smiles. The moment they stick out their massive tongues I finally snap. There was only so much of this shit I could put up with before losing my composure. And this display, quite frankly, went far over the line all on its own.
"W-What the hell is…?!"
I find myself backing up against the window. There were six of them and only one of me – Chie at this point had collapsed to the floor and Yosuke was likely out cold. The floating balls close in on me – it would only be a matter of time before they swallow me up completely.
I suddenly find myself staring at nothing at all.
Then I hear a gunshot – and I feel a bullet whizz right past my head – right where that bullet hole in the window would be.
And then, with no rhyme or reason I hear whispers. Whispers in my own voice, mocking me. Whispers that with each uttered syllable cause me physical pain, as if each voice was a sharp dagger being plunged into me.
I guess regular revenge is boring, though…
Let me see where your detective work takes you. It's always good for a laugh…
You're so persistent! Look at all that youthful vigor you've got...!
…
…Doesn't ring a bell, does it?
Oh well.
I'm not sure why I figured things would change now…
Then let's start over.
And then suddenly I see a bright blue flame – a flame appears before me, and at its core was what seemed to be an equally as blue card –
Thou art I. And I am thou. From the sea of thy soul, I cometh.
And suddenly –
I feel as though this burning sensation –
This sensation is so natural. It's as though I've been born to touch this flame.
My hand wraps around the card –
Now open thine eyes…!
I am Izanagi! The Original God!
And this is the path of blood we shall walk forever!
And I feel it once more – that presence at my back. That feeling from that dream – the feeling of another person, standing behind me.
Mere moments ago I saw everything slip away into the darkness.
After all, I can't fight monsters.
But…
My eyes open – I'm back in that eerie room. The monsters are closing in on me.
That burning sensation is still there – and the presence at my back with the sword at its side is still very real.
And then I feel the instinct kick in.
I have to fight.
I have to fight these monsters.
And I'm the only on here that can do it.
…
Fuck everything.
I don't want this. I don't need this. I don't need some fucking voice in my head acting like it knows me. I don't need any of this. I don't even need to have friends, or family – I just need to fucking live. And these things were going to try and stop me.
"This is absurd." I say out loud. "This is all just so stupid. You expect me to fight monsters? This is some kind of joke, isn't it? I have enough trouble trying to fit in with normal people. But fighting things that shouldn't exist? There's no way in hell I could ever manage that…!"
Against my own will my voice becomes rather hysterical. But I was just so mad – mad at everything. Mad at this town for being so fucking unique, mad at Yosuke and Chie for making me show off my TV power, the fucking TV to for being so big and easy to fall through –
"This is bullshit…! All I wanted to do was sit out another year of the same old bullshit. But no – you just have to threaten my life – do any of you have any idea what moving to three different places and having to put up with three distinct kinds of bullshit in a year is like?!" I continue to scream at the monsters with no intent of stopping until I've said everything. "No, and you don't care – you're just out to make your bullshit the worst bullshit there is! You think you're entitled to your own brand of piss – You can all go to hell! I'd have been fine sleeping under a fucking bridge than living out here in this bullshit town that wants nothing more than to see me crack! Fuck you all! I'm done with all of this shit! I'm only human, goddammit!"
Then I start laughing hysterically. "Ahahahahah, that's right, I'm only human. There's only so much I'm willing to put up with before I blow a fuse. I can only take so much before I stop giving a shit. But I assure you, standing at my back is someone who's far from human…!"
With that the figure – Izanagi – moves into action, his strangely crafted blade sliding along the flesh of the monsters almost gracefully as he cuts down each one with more precision than the last, leaving all sorts of electric discharge in his wake, never making so much as a sound.
But I know his kind all too well – he's just like me. He wants to scream, but he won't. Because if he does he'll be giving in to his anxiety. And by giving into his anxiety he'll be denying himself. He'll just keep cutting away until that which opposes him either backs off or falls dead.
For the longest time I've been fighting this society that tried to mold me. But I'm not unruly, but I'm not obnoxious. I'm not a rebel in any sense of the word – that's just how people expect to see me, and that's how people deny me and what I stand for.
People thing they can just express themselves however the hell they feel like – and all that comes of it is more shit to add to the pile. Everyone lives in the confines of the same bullshit society with the same bullshit reasons for living and the same bullshit ideals and goals. With all the places I've been I've met so many different people and they're all exactly the same.
Screw all of that. I can't live in such a world. Because no matter where I go and who I meet my plight goes unaccounted for. Because no one knows any world other than their own confined slice of ignorance. If I couldn't be different I'd die.
The world is boring unless you're different. I don't give a shit if no one remembers me because I'm not like them. I'm just going to keep being different.
But despite that the world always tries to weigh me down at every turn. For one reason or another I have to suppress myself time and time again. I have to fall in line. I'm forced to accept the mold even if only as a front. Because if I didn't I'd be denied my basic right to be different. My basic right to live removed from everything else.
And Izanagi reflected that feeling with every swing of his sword and every bolt of lightning he passed through the monsters.
I couldn't imagine being any more different than this.
Thou art I and I am thou. At first I didn't believe it.
But this being that was far from human – there is no difference between us. We are identical. Two sides of the same coin.
So why is now the time to fight? Why is now the time to finally let those feelings loose?
Because this place – Inaba was different. Everything that this town is composed of denies everything that I stand against. It is here that I am the strongest – that my ideology holds physical, tangible meaning in the form of this being that can kill these monsters.
My friends – Yosuke and Chie, and hell, even Yukiko.
They were all different in their own right.
But at the same time they were all subject to the same ridicule – the same scorn that I have had to hide from my entire life.
Yosuke's got his own share of problems, what with him having practically no friends other than Chie.
Chie is looked down upon by most of the other girls in our class.
Yukiko was sought after purely because of her looks – no one cares about any other part of her.
But they've all stayed here.
They've all put up with it.
They've all resisted it.
They're all braver than I am, in every sense, even though I was the one who walked into the jaws of death fearlessly.
But I'm the one – I'm the one with the power standing at my back.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
I have to protect them all, and with this power it was possible.
With this power –
But what was this power?
And then I knew –
This was – This power was me.
My other half.
Per-
So-
Na.
