Before we begin... one thing must be known...
Persona 5 is owned by P-Studio, Atlus and Deep Silver.
This is a non-profit fan-work, and the official release is deserving of your support...
Events...aesthetics... and some confidants will not be as you expect...
Only those who deem these terms as 'acceptable' may proceed to witness this tale...
Do you accept?
...
...
...
.
So be it...
Then let this tale begin to unfold anew...
and it may it surprise you now, as it once did then...
welcome to a new and winding road,
its destination?
...
we shall see
The oldest human dream...
...is the dream of flying away.
Back in those old, summer days, when we were young...
I remember pushing his wheelchair up a grassy hill, a gentle breeze drifting over us.
A curtain of black falls over my eyes as we reach the top of the hill and he laughs, pushing my hair aside.
"Shiho... you really need a haircut. If your bangs keep falling in your eyes, you wont be able to see." He smiles, in that disarming way as the sun makes his pale complexion lighter.
Laughing shyly, I just shrugged a little bit as I turned away. "yeah, well it's fine for now."
He just gave that light, little chuckle he always gave. "No time like the present to go for that dream, and I don't think you can do that with your eyes covered up like that." His smile spreads a little more, for some reason I'm embarrassed, his light, messy hair tousled by the wind. "can you?"
It was such a silly thing, that crazy dream I think every child has at one time or another. "Sh-shut up!" he laughs at the way my cheeks huff up, getting mad like this. It only makes the feeling more intense, but he just grins at me. "it's not nice to tease..."
Feeling very small, I turn away, but he's insistent and keeps on talking like nothing just happened. "I'm not teasing, I wanna see you fulfill that dream someday."
That dream... that dream of being a hero who can fly...
Turning slowly on my heels, I look out toward the little town close by. Out over where we used to live. "The trouble is..." my voice is very small, and he looks at me curious now, without his smile. "don't you need wings in order to fly?"
...
Every now and then, I wonder... if I'd said something else that day...
Would he still be alive?
Would I have found that empty wheelchair, hanging awkwardly over the side of that bridge?
Would I be where I am right now?
It's not exactly like I'm really trying at that old dream, but every now and then, as I leap into the air...
...
...
...
.
Her sneakers leave the ground with a spring, taking her into the air just long enough to strike the ball back over the net. As her jump reaches its peak, just when gravity starts to kick back in, a feeling of weightlessness takes hold. If she closed her eyes, she might feel time stop just long enough to believe it might never fade.
Free fall takes over as her blinking eyes open, and illusion of flight -so bittersweetly real- vanishes with her feet racing for the ground. Reality comes crashing back completely as she finds her footing, taking stance for her next move.
Volleyball... she's not sure how she came to be on the team, really. Idea after idea soared through her head as she grew up, trying to find something similar to being that hero who could fly. Once she thought of trying to be an astronaut, but hopes of that were dashed when she realized she wasn't smart enough. Of course, mother disagreed, saying she could do anything if she tried but... that just made it feel even more her fault, failing before she even began.
Maybe she could be a pilot? No, motion sickness made that one impossible too. It was bad on boats, trying to play video games, and on flights too. "It's different behind the controls" she faintly remembered someone saying, but she doubted that completely. Driving tests were nightmares as it was, though that may have been due to her nerves more than anything.
When she saw the fliers for the volleyball team, went to see them practice, the way some of the best members soared through the air moved her very roots. Approaching the coach, Mister Kamoshida, she managed to ask -timid- as she was if she could maybe try too. He gave this challenging little grin, and said 'only if she thought she could handle it... it would mean playing with the big kids after all.'
Not wanting to back from the challenge, Shiho clenched her fists and nodded. 'Playing with the big kids' turned out to mean that things were very rough.
Memories shattered and fell, moving aside as another spike from Kamoshida sent the ball careening into that one boy's stomach. Poor Mishima doubled over and clattered against the waxed, hardwood floor. As he lay there, groaning in pain and clutching his wounded middle, Kamoshida shook his head.
"Come on, get up." His voice made him sound almost bored, impatient. "You can expect the nationals to be twice as rough. Shrug it off and stand to."
A few nervous glances were exchanged between the players, hands rubbing at bandaged limbs or bruises. Sometimes both. The newer members of the team weren't so certain he was being honest, but the older ones knew he was lying...
As Mishima climbed to his feet, staggering a few times, Kamoshida scoffed. "Took your sweet time, now serve the ball."
With a gulp, the meek boy with bruises all over his face did as he was told. It wasn't a particularly impressive serve, but it got the job done. Shiho immediately saw what was coming next. Kamoshida wouldn't stand for such a sorry excuse of athleticism, and he made it known with actions rather than words. Leaping to, his hand swinging viciously, he sent the ball spiking back at poor Mishima.
When it hit his shoulder, even the teenagers used to the harsh treatment flinched. Mishima yelped, his voice strangling an outcry of pain as he fell again to the floor. Shiho gasped, her eyes wide, and she nearly ran to help him. A growl from Kamoshida stopped her cold, Mishima stirring slowly back to an upright position.
Kamoshida just sighed. "Pathetic... is this really the best you can do, Mishima?" Strolling around the net, his movement had most hesitant to breathe.
When their coach stooped, his hand outstretched, Mishima flinched. "W-wait!" Shiho called out, in a sudden moment of fright, worrying for what was coming next for the boy.
For a moment, Kamoshida's hand stayed, then he got that smile again. That same smile from months ago, when Shiho had asked to join the team. Then he picked up the ball instead of grabbing the boy's arm. "Mishima... why don't you take it easy for a bit. You're clearly not up for this right now."
That flicker of his eyes, darkness she thought she saw -like some errant shadow lurked behind them- indicated he'd seen his next target in her. Nerves alight with apprehension, Shiho gulped as Kamoshida stolled back to the other side of the net, another student taking Mishima's place. The ball was served, the same rough and unforgiving pace as before taking over the flow of the room.
As the moments rolled on by, spike after spike, pass after pass, the mood lulled down from its former fear and tension. The young players were able to jump about freely, finding their skills had been smoothed, ironed into something fine. Moving fluidly, coordinated like bees in their hive, they strode and jumped and danced across the court.
Footsteps light as feathers, heavy as thunder and quick as lightning. Shiho was able to live in that feeling of flight, for precious moments of her time, and she almost thought it safe to smile.
Until Kamoshida spiked the ball like a javelin, right into her knee. A startled, shrieking yelp forced itself free of her lungs. Her body reflexively curls inward, hands over her throbbing joint as her side, she shoulder and hip slam into the floor; like brittle rocks against an unyielding tree, she feels her bones cry out in protest over the harsh treatment.
As she lays there whimpering, Kamoshida can only roll his eyes, shaking his head. He chances a look at the bell, shaking his head and walking away with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Go to class." Then the bell rings, and they all head for their studies.
Shiho isn't so quick as them, flinching at the pain in her leg as she tries to stand. Face scrunching up with her renewed efforts, bracing herself ahead of the pain, she climbs up. Uneven and shaky footing, she bites her lip and stuffs down outcries of discomfort as she walks gingerly toward the doors. Into the lockerroom, out of her clothes -she always blushes at herself and everyone else- as everyone changes, then after a quick rinse, it's into her uniform she climbs.
The pain as she wanders to class is sharp and harsh, impossible to ignore. She has to stop, bracing herself up against the wall as she clutches her leg. Just a quick break, that was all she really needed. No need to go to the doctor, make a scene out of it or anything. Nothing that might get back to Kamoshida. No need for anyone to say anything that might make him kick her off the team.
"Hey, didja hear?" Her ears perk up, hearing a conversation around the corner. "That new transfer student? Supposedly he's arriving today."
She can almost feel the girl he's talking to shivering. "Ugh..." she groans, hugging herself. "I heard he's a super violent criminal... why does someone like that have to come here? Why can't they just lock him away?"
Shiho sighs, her heart sinking a little. Again with this? It's so distasteful... they hadn't even met him yet. For all they knew he wasn't anything like that. Circumstances of crimes weren't always one thing... well, some crimes, at least.
"Meh," the boy shrugs, "as long as we steer clear and don't look him in the eyes I'm sure it'll be fine."
Shiho's about to start walking away, sighing and sad, when her leg throbs again. Biting her lip to stifle the outcry she knows is coming, she feels her teeth dig into her own skin.
"Still..." the girl whines, "what if that just makes him mad enough to lash out or something?"
As she thumps her head back against the wall, muttering to herself "you haven't even met him yet..." another figure makes their way over to her.
Clunky, uneven footsteps as they limp, panting lightly he growls softly. "Aw geez... these rumors again?" Shiho blinks, looking up -well, craning her face back down away from the ceiling- she sees that delinquent with the spiky, yellow hair. "Poor guys probably ear deep in em by now... what a welcoming party."
She noticed that his complexion was paler than usual, he'd been sweating too. Almost like he'd been running from something, scared stiff all the while. Although, there wasn't quite enough loss of color in his cheeks for that. Either it hadn't happened and she was misreading, or it was far enough in the past that he was okay. ...provided whatever was chasing him was no longer a problem, that is.
"Sakamato?" Her voice makes him give her a glance, eyebrow raised. "Are you... just showing up for school?"
He blushes, grinding his good heel against the floor. "H-hey! It aint like I meant to be late there was a whole bunch of mon-!"
Another presence behind him makes him quiet. A taller boy with a mop of frizzy, messy hair draped over a long face. Facial features were slender and pronounced, much like his physique and his glasses reflected light in a way that almost hid his eyes. He just gave Sakamato a nervous glance, gulping quietly. It was enough to quiet the delinquent, and they both sighed, one in relief and the other in frustration.
"Whatever..." Sakamato grumbled, limping away. "Like it matters, already missing half the day and all..."
Frowning dejectedly, the mop-haired boy just looked at the floor and sighed quietly to himself. Probably stewing over whatever made them so late. He was about to get moving when he noticed Shiho looking at him. Her shoulders tensed when he looked at her, looking at her curiously. He'd opened his mouth to speak when another set of voices reached their ears.
"You think that's him?" his expression increased in its inquisitiveness, turning toward the hushed tones's source.
"has to be... only someone so brazen as a criminal would befriend Sakamato on their first day."
His eyebrows twitched inward at their middle, eyes blinking once or twice. Was he... hurt by hearing that?
"Jeez no wonder... maybe he really did kill someone."
The way his shoulders drooped conviced her that he was, at the very least, demoralized now.
"Wasn't it just assault?"
"Maybe he crippled them..."
Hands sinking further into his pockets, he slowly turned back to Shiho. From the look on his face, as she blinked at him, he was reading that wide-eyed expression on her face as fear.
Slow to think or act, Shiho stammered out something, "w-wait, I-!" He flinched, saddened and discouraged, walking away without wieight in his step. "...Sorry." He didn't hear her over the din of the crowds, wandering to class.
"Shiho!" A lighter, happier voice called out, making her look up to see non other than her best friend with a smile on her face. "You're gonna be late if you keep standing there... like..." her smile vanished when she noticed the way she was holding her leg. "What happened?" she fussed, stepping closer. "Are you okay?"
Nervous, glancing about to see if anyone had heard them, Shiho nodded quickly. "I- I'm fine, Ann." Without making herself smile, it probably wasn't very convincing. "It just hurts a little."
Ann wan't having word one of that. "yeah, right. Look at it!" She peered closer, worry clear on her face. "It's all swollen to hell..." looking up at her face again, Ann whispered to her, making sure no one overheard. "Can you... still walk on it?"
Shiho didn't answer, shrinking against the wall and trying not to let her face betray how weak and helpless she felt. She knew she hadn't really succeeded. When the bell rang, Ann watched as everyone else payed them no mind. Pretending they weren't there or too busy with other things, the result was the same.
Of course... others were not so courteous.
"hey look, Kamoshida's bitch thinks she has a heart after all." Ann Flinched.
"I know girls like her..." murmured a feminine voice in the crowd, "she probably just took pity on Suzui, thinks she's better her and that being her friend is doing her a favor."
Another girl gave a groaning, sigh. "Ugh, girls like her are the worst... she'll probably dump Kamoshida once he gets the staff to raise her grades for her."
"Then its on to the next man she can use."
Sighing, masking everything she felt, Ann extended her hand to Shiho.
Looking at her friend, realizing she didn't have much in the way of options, Shiho sighed too and nodded, taking her hand. "Thank you, Ann..."
Ann didn't say anything, she just helped her hobble to the nurse's office.
Just another typical day at Shujin academy...
The nurse frowned, prodding at the knee with studious eyes. "Hmm..." Shiho waited for his prognosis, not daring to breathe. "Well, it's not broken or sprained, but you definitely shouldn't work that leg too hard."
Shiho sighed in relief, as did Ann. "So... I can still play?"
Ann's relief was quickly replaced with confounded refusal to believe what she'd just heard. "What?"
The nurse sighed. "Were you not listening? I just said not to work the leg too hard."
Fingers curled to her palms, Shiho put on a brave face. "... that wasn't a 'no'." Her eyes never left the medical practitioner's face, refusing to blink as he considered what she'd just put forward.
Releasing a very drained sigh, the nurse shook his head. "Fine. So long as you favor landings on your left leg and wear this." Reaching into a drawer he procured a long, black length of material that almost looked like a leg warmer. "It's a knee brace." He explained, noticing her face. "Just make sure you wear at all times, and take it off before you go to bed."
Nodding, Shiho took it and slipped out of her shoe to put it on. Ann smiled sadly at her. "...You're brave, Shiho."
Just stubborn... it's the only way to live my dream. ...right?
Making herself smile in return, Shiho broght the tight, black sleeve over her limb. "Not really... not like you."
For a moment, Ann's eyes darted to the nurse, but he was too busy with his computer to notice. Shoulders tightened, raised slightly, she gulped. "I... I don't really agree..."
There was something unspoken in the air between them, something the two of them didn't dare to discuss. Not out loud, not when anyone else could hear them. Get the wrong and worst possible idea. Silently agreeing to leave it at that, they started wandering to class. They'd be very late, but they suspected that would be fine. The new transfer student would be joining them after all, and he'd just missed half the day.
Some of the other students gave them odd looks as they slunk into the room. Mishima gave her a knowing look, noticing her knee brace. There was regret, guilt in his eyes. She wondered if he blamed himself... if he'd been tougher, roughed it out and bore with the pain, Shiho wouldn't have made herself Kamoshida's next target.
Not that anyone on the team was ever not a target for his... coaching.
The two girls sat at their desks, at opposite sides of the room, then waited. Sure enough, not five minutes later, their teacher wandered in with... that guy with the dark, messy hair and glasses.
"...Being super late on his first day? He really is insane." One voice murmured among those now clamoring.
"He looks normal though..." whispered another.
A third gulped. "Yeah, but he might slug us if we look him in the eyes."
Their teacher, Ms. Kawakami sighed. "Settle down..." reluctantly, the gathered students did just that. "I'd like to introduce our new transfer student, I believe he can tell you his name."
Glancing them all over, a rather dejected look in his eyes, he spoke quietly. "I'm... Ren. Ren Akira." Looking them all over once more, not seeing the apprehension fading from their eyes, he said one thing more, not looking at any of them any longer. "It's nice to meet you all."
Ms. Kawakami nodded. "we had him attend classes from the afternoon on, since he wasn't feeling well." Another lie no one in the room dared to believe.
One student leaned toward Mishima, whispering behind him. "he seems quiet, but I bet when he loses it..."
"I mean he was arrested for assault, right?" Mishima squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, not wanting to look at anyone but especially not Akira.
Clearing her throat, Ms Kawakami spoke as calmly as she could. "So," everyone quieted once again, "Your seat will be..." she took a few moments to search about the room for an open desk. "Right over there, by the window. It's the only one open." The seat right behind Ann's, no less. "Sorry, but can the people nearby please share their textbooks with him for today?"
As he started wandering toward his seat those near him grumbled. Clearly, it wasn't punishment enough just having in their class, now they had to interact with him. Mishima just looked frightened, glad it wasn't him having to deal with this dangerous guy. His hands rubbed at his stomach as he shivered, feeling the air change as Akira walked to his seat.
Ann, glaring out the window, whispered harshly. "lies..."
Akira stopped, his expression flickering with recognition. "You're that girl..."
Gritting her teeth, one of her hands clenched, Ann made a noise of displeasure, hearing the rumors before they'd even begun to form. Sure enough, as she'd predicted, the other students started muttering about them. The one thing that really stood out was how they murmured about him and her being an item, whispering about her cheating on him with Kamoshida.
Shiho flinched, clenching her own fingers now.
They're not... together...
Not that anyone cared. Not that anyone ever would care... it just fed the already popular rumor that she was 'slutty'. A girl with a body like hers? Yeah, of course the guys wanted to believe that. It made her ill... Ms Kawakami said something about everyone have only just changed classes, for the new semester, and that everyone should take this chance to get to know each other.
It wouldn't go the way she thought, the way she hoped. Anyone near Akira just avoided speaking to him, when opportunity to speak did arise. She saw it was the same with Ann, just like usual. The believers of the rumor mill kept her at arms length, the eternally shy or judgemental just stayed away. Sometimes Shiho thought that she was the only friend Ann really had.
In fact, she was...
At least the day was almost over.
...
It wasn't a very long ride on the train home, the walk was even shorter. Thanks to her new brace, the walk wasn't painful almost at all. When mom saw her though... that was another story.
"Shiho!" She dropped the takeout canisters she'd ordered and ran over to her daughter, drawing her tightly into her arms. The daughter didn't have time to say anything before being brought to arm's length, a mother's worrying eyes giving her a once over. "What happened? Why are you wearing that brace?"
Laughing nervously, she waved her hands from side to side. "I-I just got clumsy at practice, mom. It's nothing, really..."
Her mother, Ms Suzui, frowned and reached behind herself to pull out a chair for her. "You keep saying that," she fussed, as she brushed some of her graying hair behind her ear, "but I've seen the injuries on your classmates too..."
Shiho bit her lip, looking away from her.
"Shiho..." her mother spoke softly, "if something's going on... you know you can tell me right?" That look in her eyes was so... fragile. Hopeful, fearful, pensive and somehow already knowing what the answer would be.
Memories from her own teenage years, informing her of what was already passing through her daughter's lips. "...it's really nothing." Stooping low, she set her bag aside. "I'm gonna go take my meds, okay?"
Nodding, her mother moved aside, letting her advance to her room. Once beyond the threshold of her door, Shiho closed it and leaned back against it, letting the weight of the world slip off her shoulders. Her eyes were slow to open, feeling sticky and heavy as though made of steel. They dragged upward, looking over her messy, messy room. Clothes littered the floor, homework strewn out over her desk. Blankets lying across the bed like tattered tissues, leaving the wrinkled sheets exposed to the air.
She half walked, half limped to her dresser -drawers eternally hanging open- and reached for a topple pill bottle. Popping off the lid, reaching for an old, stale glass of water she read the label. "Shiho Suzui - Paxil". It was about the strongest antidepressant money -or insurance- could afford, at a very high dose. Any more and Shiho suspected her brain might fry. Sighing, she threw a pill into her mouth and washed it down.
Like it helps...
Her eyes drifted over the surface of her dresser, finding wrinkled socks and crumbled papers obscuring her photographs. Brushing them aside, she looked at one of the two pictures she cared about. It was her, standing on the hill and smiling... next to him. There was a grin on his face, hands folded over an old book in his lap. His smile was so bright, so carefree, it almost outshone the sun hanging above them. The light, glittering off of his fair colored hair.
She closed her eyes...
The camera snapped, she and her laughed when they were allowed to stop enunciating the last syllable of the word "cheese" like a mantra. Her father rolled his eyes at their childishness, stomping away with a cigarette between his teeth as mother hummed through a smile.
"Yup," she said, looking at her phone, "that's a keeper." Looking to her friend, she added, "would like a copy once it's printed?"
His smile went somehow wider. "Yes please!" She laughed, nodding and wandering away toward her husband.
"I like your mom." he said quietly, brushing his hair behind his ear and giving her a sidelong look.
She just nodded. "Mhmm. She's my hero! One day I wanna be strong just like her!" She threw her fist into the sky. "The firefighter, leaping into burning buildings for the puppies!" A true story, no less.
He laughed, not sure what to reply, opening his mouth to say something but it never escaped his lips. Something caught his eye, then hers. Father had gripped mother's arm, she'd yelped and pulled away. Her sleeve was pushed and rumpled, revealing-
"...Bruises?" both children whispered, as mother quickly recovered her arm.
Slowly, as the parents hissed at each other in hushed tones, he turned to her. "From her job... right?"
She was slow to answer, her smile flickering as her eyes twitched open wider. "yup!" She chirped, forcing herself to keep on sounding chipper. "that's my mom! She'll risk life and limb to help people in danger!"
Blinking once or twice, he laughed, sounding insincere. "Yeah..." Then his smile disappeared as he stared at the book in his lap. His hands still obscured the cover, the kanji unreadable to her eyes. "...What would he do...?"
She blinked. "Huh?"
"Oh," his smile came back, bright as ever, "it's nothing."
...
...
"It's nothing..." Shiho breathed, looking at one of the few good pictures of her and mom. The one where 'dad' have been cut out, leaving only his arm around the two of them. "It's always nothing..." pulling her sweater off, over her head then discarding her uniform in total, she reached for a pair of shorts and a hoodie.
Once she was dressed again, walking -not limping- to the couch to join mom, she grabbed the takeout set aside for her. They watched and ate in silence, and Shiho looked at her mother's fingers. The rings were long gone, pawned off to help them put a deposit on their new apartment, but... not the scars. Thin and jagged lines from sharp objects, splotches from burns and the odd, awkward quirk of some of her fingertips. Broken bones that hadn't healed quite right.
It had been years since she'd set foot in the fire department, having long since shifted her career to an EMT. Considering all the emergency calls that were simply dealing with overdoses she'd already had as a firefighter, it wasn't much of a change for her. Depressingly, the pay was better too and it needed to be now that it was just them.
Shiho remembered the night, but tried not to. A lot of yelling, screaming, then a loud crash and some muffled cries. She ran from her room, saw that father was... a monster, with a knife in his hand and screamed. Tossing her wounded mom aside, 'father' chased after her and tried to shut her up. It wasn't her or mom that called the police. Someone outside, someone who'd heard everything, had been their savior.
As her mother brushed her hair aside, tucking it behind her ear again, Shiho could faintly make out the scar left by the knife, just behind her ear, trailing down the side of her neck. It took her years to stop wearing scarves after that, further years still to stop trying to cover it with makeup. When she remembered that night, the details as detached from feelings as she could make them, she often wondered what mom ever saw in him.
Why she bothered to put up with such treatment.
...
Is that... why I'm...?
Shaking her head, Shiho quickly ate what she had and walked her dishes to the kitchen. "Thanks mom."
Smiling, she nodded. "Anytime, sweetie. are you going to bed?" Shiho nodded, finally letting her hair down. "I'll be quiet for you. Sleep tight, my little athlete."
Her turn to smile, but it wasn't very lively. "Thanks, mom..."
On the following day, tuesday, April 12th, 2016, it was difficult to pay attention in class. Between the pain in her leg and the impending Volley Ball rally, her brain didn't have much room to listen or store much of anything with. Classes concluded, the bell rang, she gathered up her things. Practice for the rally was already underway.
There she was again, soaring through the air, twisting her arms about in that frantic dance to win. The onslaught that was Kamoshida's returning the ball never relented nor eased once, leaving them ragged and out of breath. Luckily, no one seemed to be bearing the brunt of his aggression today. In fact... he seemed to have a glint in his eyes.
This was less about punishment and more about improving, if his general demeanor was anything to go by. Something must have made him happy. Perhaps... In either case, it meant the game could flow without fear for once. So she indulged that little escape, as her adrenaline soared with her feet off the ground. Moments stretched, that familiar feeling of weightlessness overtaking her awareness.
Like drifting through currents, along the path of a gentle river, with the wind pushing at your face. But falling isn't flying, and Shiho would inevitably have to wake from these moments, now and then, to leap back up, toss the ball back over the net. Her leg would protest now and then, and the relative ease of play left her mind to wander.
For Kamoshida being in such a good mood... did...did Ann...? No she wouldn't have. She wouldn't have submitted to that... would she?
It made her shudder to consider it, almost vile. That she might have to relent to such a thing, just so her fellow students could be free of his abuse. To only twist the tainted knife in her guts, she remembered that all the while... Ann was the subject or derision. Idle gossip that besmirched her name. People who subscribed to that sort of thinking... it was a wonder, if Ann would even consider protecting them.
Still, even should all that not be true, something had changed his mood. Landing again, coming down from the high that only 'flight' could grant her, she noticed a glint in his eyes when Kamoshida looked at her. Something calculating behind those eyes, some shifting darkness, a cloak of some specter that lurked within his mind. Something... twisted that he listened to with increasing levity, at its promise of satisfaction.
The sight sent a chill crawling across her skin, down her spine, and almost felt like throw up. Kamoshida seemed to indeed be affected by this presence behind his eyes, as his next spike was just a little faster... just a little harder, and the ball sent Mishima crashing down once again. Shiho gasped, turning to him and running over at once.
"Mishima!" The ball had crashed right into his face, doubtlessly leaving dark, painful bruises. She knelt by his side, wincing at the pain in her leg as she did. "Hey, a-are you okay?"
He groaned, eyes slow to open. "Uh... huh?"
A feeling of pity, sympathy and disgust wormed through her. Acting on what she felt for this poor boy, she offered him her hand. "Here, come on, okay?"
As she brought him up, helping him stand, she thought she noticed that calculating flicker in Kamoshida's eyes again. He grinned, clapping his hands once or twice. "Alright everyone. Rest up for tomorrow... you might need it for the volley ball rally."
And as he wandered right on by, past the others to the door, his eyes remained on her a second more. It was only for a moment, but there was a little, dark smirk perched upon his lips as his eyes remained. Then it was gone, along with him, leaving a cold sense of dread in his wake. She and Mishima exchanged a nervous look.
Had they... just exposed a weakness for Kamoshida to exploit? Is that what he thought he'd seen?
Mishima, small though his voice was, spoke first. "I-... I'm sorry..."
Shiho tried to smile. "It wasn't your fault... he seems to have it out for you for no reason."
The boy flinched, eyes flickering with fear. "Not exactly comforting, Suzui..." as they climbed to their feet, she flinched, hissing in pain as she reached relexively for her knee. Giving her a frown, he gestured to her knee. "That bad?"
As he'd already seen the truth, she decided against lying. "yeah..." it made her feel... small.
Mishima offered a consoling smile. "Meet me here after you're cleaned up?"
Reluctantly, she nodded, then made her way to the girl's locker room. As the others left it vacant, she stripped, showered, then redressed. True to his word, Mishima was there waiting. His eyes had to force themselves up, his shoulders a little tense as he blushed. Why was he... oh. Blushing herself, Shiho pulled her sweater over her head.
Damnable carelessness... she should've spent just a little more time toweling off. "S-so..." she stammered, clearing her throat. "What's, um, what's on your mind?"
His eyes fluttered, a look of confusion on his face for a moment. Brain reboot... "Oh! Right," he delved a hand into his pocket, procuring a few pills, "here, it's just some painkillers."
Regarding them nervously, Shiho hesitated. "Uh... like... opiates?"
"What? No, nothing like that." He almost laughed. "Just some over the counter stuff. Acetaminophen and Naproxen. The naproxen supplements the aceto, because too much aceto will... well it hurts your liver. Naproxen is something can be safely added to that, in order to mitigate the pain a little more."
Slowly, she reached out and accepted the pills. "How do you know all this?"
Looking around, making sure no one was there to overhear, he leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. "You know that doctor all those rumors are about?" Slowly, somewhat skeptically, Shiho nodded. "Well... I don't know about the rumors but, she helped me figure out what to take without a prescription. I didn't want my parents to know how much pain I was in, so..."
Wincing, she nodded. "I hear you..." then, looking at the pills, she sighed and slugged them back. Dry swallowing looked so easy on tv... "You can get these at any pharmacy?"
Mishima nodded. "Just be really careful with the doses, you don't wanna take to much of either one and definitely don't wanna make a habit out of taking them. It um... it's risky..."
She sighed, nodding again. "Right... thank you, Mishima."
Smiling, he started for the door. "Hey, if we don't look out for each other who will?" just as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized how hollow and meaningless they sounded. "...take care."
She replied with a small voice. "You too..."
She stood there, sulking for a few moments, fists clenched and staring at the floor. Sighing, summoning her reslove, Shiho started walking away. She was out the door, walking toward the school entrance, failing to notice one sight in particular: Kamoshida, whispering with the school nurse.
Not seeing this particular sight, she wandered outside.
"For real?"
A voice, a boy was panting, exasperated. "...Sakamato?" Whispering to herself, she tiptoed closer to the voice and peered down the school's front steps.
He was standing at the bottom, talking to... Akira? "Is it smaller than we think it is? ...What do you think?"
Is... what?
Tip toeing forward, she crouched and hit behind a nearby trashcan, listening as Akira sighed. "Check your phone."
Sakamato frowned. "I already did that, didn't see anything like it around here..."
Now Shiho was getting very curious. Anything like what? Some secret location they'd found near the school?
Then, as she pondered something occured to Sakamato. "Hey, that reminds me: didn't you have a navigation app... thingy on back then?" This seemed to confuse Akira, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I dunno if it was or not, but I heard stuff that sounded like one comin from your phone. Y'know, didn't say stuff like 'returned to the real world' or somethin like that?"
Akira puzzled about this for a second, deigning to take this madness seriously. "Now that you mention it..."
Sporting a grin as Akira procured his phone from his pocket, Sakamoto seemed to hatch an idea. "Here, lemme see your phone for a bit." With a shrug, Akira handed it over, the blond snatching it right away from him with such force that it gave the taller boy pause. "...What's this eyeball looking thing?"
Chuckling, Akira shrugged again. "Cute logo, huh?"
Sakamoto was not enthused by this playful remark. "...that's not how I'd describe it." Frowning at his friend's phone, he added one thing mostly to himself. "What a weird app." Then his facial expression changed completely, like he'd just made the discovery of the century. "Oh, wait! This is it!"
What are these two doing? Do they know how strange this all sounds?
The blond pumped his fist, showing Akira the screen. "I knew it! This is a navigation app! There's even your search history!" Smile widening, one hand behind his head and with one eye closed, the delinquint probably thought that pose looked cool. "Aw man, I'm such a genius!"
Well, his antics seemed to amuse the other boy.
Until he said what he said next. "Let's try usin it."
Then Akira seemed to grow hesitant. "I dunno about this..."
The other boy didn't pay that attitude much mind. "Why? All we're doin is startin an app."
With a few presses of his finger to the screen, Sakamoto activated something. A mechanical, dronnig voice started speaking, it filled Shiho with a sense of dread. "Kamoshida... Shujin Academy... Pervert... Castle..."
...What the fu-?
"What the hell!?"
Air around them began to warp like overheated metal, twisting and morphing into some bizarre new arrangement. A pulsing sound overwhelmed her ears, the sky seemed to snap, fall to the earth and then bloom anew above. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes... She wasn't hiding outside Shujin Academy anymore.
Shiho was hiding outside a castle's front gate.
"Wh-...what?" She fell onto her backside, trembling at the sight before her.
Sakamoto was... not so quiet. "What the hell!?" he blurted out again. "This is the castle from yesterday!"
Y-yesterday? When they got lost or something? ...What!?
They payed her no mind, running straight at the building, right up to the front gate. As Shiho gaped, eyes wide, jaw trembling and face pale the boys utterly failed to notice her. "We made it back..." Sakamoto murmured, in awe. "then that means what happened yesterday was for real too..."
I have so many questions!
Slowly, very shakily, Shiho climbed back to her feet, just in time for Sakamoto to shriek in shock. "Th-those clothes again!" Glancing down at himself, Akira seemed nonplussed, taking the... rather radical change in his attire in stride. "That happened last time too, right?! What's with that outfit!?"
Chuckling deviously, Akira -at least, she thought it was Akira... who else could it be?- leaned back, a casual tilt of his shoulders as he craned his neck to one side. Smiling impishly, his eyes drifted to one side as his arms pivoted, splayed to the sides at the elbows. "You jelly?"
It was quite the outfit... It appeared to be an elegant, black suit adorned with a long, ornate, red coat and gloves. His shoes were red too, now that she noticed them and he was wearing an impressive looking tophat over a an angular, pointy black and red mask over his eyes. She had some vague impression that his clothes -even for this... place- weren't quite what most would have expected... an occurrence some feeling told her would not be limited to this one occasion.
In any case, his blatant pride in his own attire seemed to put Sakamoto off base. "N- No... I ain't jealous." Then turning back to the castle, he fumed aloud. "What's going on here!? This makes no effin sense!"
Another round of chuckling and Akira shruged, sighing bemusedly. "Tone it down... if we're noticed? You're screwed."
Both Shiho and Sakamoto's faces jerked toward him. "Huh!?"
He put a gloved finger to his lips. "Shhh... I'll explain. Just, keep your voice down." Slowly, moving the hand away from his face, chuckling at Sakamoto's continued confusion. "You are persistent..." Though his tone was far from serious, bearing the lilt of one who's wit was sharper than any blade, Akira's eyes... "I was waiting to see if you'd give up on coming back to this place, but you've... got the wings of rebellion in you."
Akira's eyes were icy, brilliant razor blades bearing sign of no jest nor quip. His gaze was a piercing warning, a declaration that he meant business. A declaration that Sakamoto was not perturbed by. "Wings of- what the hell're you talkin about!?"
Laughing again, Akira put a finger to his lips. "I told you... keep quiet now." At this, the delinquent seemed to calm. "Come on... you came back here to see if you could save them, right?" Blinking a few times, Sakamoto nodded. "Well... you can't do that here."
Taken aback, his expression screaming of heartache and betrayal. "Wha-" then his expression went back to rage. "Then what the hell was the point of all this then!? Why the run around if-!?"
Smile gone, Akira's hand covered Sakamoto's mouth. "Quiet." When he spoke, there was no room for any other voice. His companion, and Shiho, heeded this final order and nodded. "Good. I'll help you put this right, consider that a promise." He withdrew his hand and breathed some tension free. "Now then... the two of you? Follow me, and don't yell at her, Ryuji."
Her heart stopped, taking an involuntary step back as Sakamoto searched about in shock, until he saw her. His haw dropped, pointing at her as he tried -and summarily failed- to vocalize at all. While she flinched, stature shrinking slightly, as he pointed right at her and turned a face silently demanding answered to Akira's back.
"She followed us here of her own volition," he didn't even turn around to face them, he just pulled a grate off of... a ventilation shaft? "She's also got some valid reasons for wanting the same thing you do. I'd say she has the right to tag along." Turning over his older, his piercing eye gazed sidelong, right into hers. "Isn't that right, miss...?"
Gulping, finding her voice, Shiho barely whispered. "Su-Suzui." Then, somewhat louder, as she started following she added, "I'm Shiho Suzui."
Akira smiled softly. "You're in good hands, Suzui. Just make sure and speak up if that leg starts acting up, alright?"
Her breathe seemed to leave her, heat in her cheeks as she nodded unconsciously. Following after him, climbing into the vent, she heard Sakamoto fume. "What so she just gets to- Arrgh!" he growled, no doubt pouting as he followed after her. "Fine, whatever... so long as she doesn't slow us down..."
From the lack of confidence as he murmured, Shiho guessed he probably had experience in hindering the one they now followed. All the same, she was far to curious, too afraid to question the third in their company; she wanted answers now, to know just what all this was about. A castle appearing out of nowhere, right over where the school had been... what kind of madness had she fallen into.
Once they entered the structure, Akira was already peering around a corner, down a hall through a door. "Okay... looks like almost everyone cleared out. I don't see any shadows, but we should be silent." Glancing casually over his shoulder, he beckoned for them to follow. "The gym, right?" Shiho blinked, Sakamoto just crawled out of the duct without a hint of grace.
Not getting a reply, Akira patiently spoke again, just as quietly. "That's where most of it happens?"
Realizing what he meant, Shiho nodded. "Ah, yeah. That's right..."
A steely, determined look in his eyes, the... whatever he was turned back to the hall. Wordlessly, soundlessly, he strode onward. As they walked along, Shiho's leg was silent too, although Sakamoto wasn't quite so stealthy. "So... if we can't save the folks we saw here last time... then what the hell was the point in comin back?" He murmured, eyes dancing across their surroundings with great skepticism.
Akira's reply was direct, short near to the point of being curt. "Seeing the truth."
Sakamoto and Shiho exchanged a glance, silently questioning each other and finding no answers where their eyes did linger. While she shrugged, he sighed.
Shiho quietly cleared her throat. "What does that mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like..." Akira whispered, leading them along.
Resigning themselves to silence, the trio wandered on through the misshapen, darkened halls. Banners bearing a royal crest, little more than Kamoshida's face, were draped generously about, almost to the point of being obscene.
Statues of a woman's upper body, clad in naught but a pair of panties lined the halls as well. Sakamoto blushed, muttering something as he tugged his collar while Shiho shyly bunched up her shoulders and tried not to compare herself to the... busts? Well, not what the statues would have been called, but... that wasn't precisely wrong...
I don't like this place...
Crossing her arms, frowning as she tried to keep her steps from being too loud, she noted how cold and empty this castle felt. Not a soul in sight save for them, and... her eyes widened and she yelped, jumping behind Skamoto. He didn't react much better, opting to -when asked later- 'shriek in a manly manner' as the... things drifted by them.
Then he growled. "Those things again!?"
Like the threadbare remnants of cobwebs, black dust in shape of curtains wreathing translucent, shadowy figures without legs, they just drifted along. Ghosts, voiceless specters lingering in vacant halls, wandering aimlessly through wall and corridor.
Shiho hissed, pointing at them with a shaking finger and wide eyes. "Wh-what are they?"
"Echoes." Akira answered, not even slowing down. "Impressions left behind by strong emotions, voices that refuse to be ignored even long after their owners have gone."
Blinking, the two who followed him just looked at him, gaping.
Akira merely smirked. "You asked." Then he winked.
Both the delinquent and the athlete exchanged another worried look. Gulping, they nodded to each other and walked along after him again. "I uh... don't think we've met?" Shiho chanced, smiling as kindly as she could.
The blond shrugged. "Well, maybe not officially..." thrusting a thumb at himself, he grinned at her. "Name's Ruji Sakamoto. Guess you can just call me Ryuji, and I already got your name." Hand back to his pocket, his smile softened a bit, head tilting inquisitively. "What should I call you though?"
Her smile softened too, taking on a more genuine appearance. "Oh, ah either way is fine." Ryuji shrugged, not opting to decide or at least voice his decision just yet.
It didn't take them much longer to reach the location they sought. Akira pushed open a set of massive, double doors and they'd arrived at their destination. Instead of finding a gymnasium, what sprawled before them was... a cross between some gladiatorial arena and a shrine. At the head of the room was an enormous statue of their Gym teacher, clad in... a cape and little else.
Ryuji snarled in disgust. "Gad... talk about gross..."
Shiho was just trying not to look directly at it. "The statue or...?"
"Everything!"
Sighing, Akira stepped forward, gazing up at the shadow with a scrutinizing eye. "Yeah... this is the place alright..." Turning back around, toward the room, he waited.
Walking over to him, the others stood by his sides. "So..." Ryuji muttered, glancing about, "gonna explain now?"
Akira gave him a patient glance, considering his words for a moment. "You wanna know why we can't save the students who were trapped her last time, right?"
Ryuji nodded, and as if on cue, thin outlines of people appeared. Shiho... recognized them. These were-
"There is your answer," Akira said, pointing decisively at these newcomers, "the people you saw last time?" Shiho approached, watching as these... echoes moved frantically about the room. "They were the same as those 'things' in the hallways. They're just more recent than the others."
It wasn't volleyball they were playing, her compatriots were... competing with weapons against a goliath. A man towering above them all, sneering with glee as his talons, claws tore through them all, casting them aside. When the goliath laughed, she recognized the voice as Kamoshida's.
"Why?" She breathed, turning back to Akira with horror on her face. "This- this isn't what happened!"
Akira's face softened, looking at her with... recognition. "Isn't it?" She turned back, watching as Mishima, as others -herself- were wounded for the man's sadistic amusement. "It might not be literal... but can really say it's so different?" She walked through the room, taking it all in.
Boys sprinting on a treadmill, screaming that they needed water, that their legs hurt, and respite was refused to them.
Rigorous, brutal 'sparring matches' where Kamoshida... broke his students, his wards a piece at a time.
Perhaps most sickening of all, was what she saw last. All individual displays, never him with the same girl, relentlessly... harassing his female students. Soliciting them for sex, handling their rejection with a closed fist, shoving them to the ground and walking over them. And if they said yes? Her stomach nearly emptied itself just looking. The harsh, violently rough sounds would be the stuff of her nightmares later.
Ruji clenched his fists. "This..." his teeth grit, so hard they threatened to snap. "Is a buncha echoes, right?" Spinning on his heels, he grabbed Akira's collar. "That means shit like this has happened for real, right!?" Akira didn't even blink, he just let the other boy growl. "That means this bastard is- is-!?"
Akira's hands reached up, gently gripping Ryuji's. "It does..."
The feeling of her heart sinking, left Shiho's body feeling like a hollow mass of ice. Falling to her knees, eyes wide and lip trembling, the sounds of the room washed over them all. Ryuji, body trembling, released Akira. In a stuttering rush of movement, he slammed his fist into the wall hard enough to crack it. "FUCK!"
No one said anything, the echoes faded, leaving them all in silence. It had been... so long since a terror like this had snaked its way through Shiho's form, making her innards squirm and leaving her fingers cold. The last time had involved a knife stabbing its way through a locked bathroom door, her father howling with rage and her screaming and crying as if her life was about to end.
Only now, instead of knowing she had to move, she was frozen in place. Her legs refused to move, voice refused to function as all she'd learned echoed in her brain. Emotions crawled like a million tiny fingers, inching their way with agonizing slowness across her skin. Disgust, hatred, fear but chief among them was realization.
This... this is how he sees us... her fist clenched, that's how he thinks of me... what he'll do to Ann if she-
"What can we do?" Ryuji's voice cut through the silence like a gunshot, demanding reply. He spun around, teeth bared as he hissed in fury. "How the hell can we stop this bullshit!?"
Akira just looked at him, carefully considering what he'd say next. "It wont be pretty."
"I DON'T CARE!" Flinching at the noise, eyes darting to the door, the., their guide just listened to the yelling blond. "He needs to be stopped, have his goddamned heart ripped out and remade!"
Akira's eyes narrowed. "This isn't a fairy tale, Ryuji..." the weight of those words could have cracked asia in two. "If just... changing someone like that were possible, I'd have done it by now."
"Then what!?" Ryuji demanded, fists clenched by his sides. "What the hell's it gonna take to end this crap!?"
Hesitating, mouth slow to open, Akira's next words... might as well have been an explosion, as he breathed them out so quietly. "We... kill him."
Both Ryuji's and Shiho's faces sunk, their eyes wide open and jaws dropped.
It... it wasn't a joke. He was being serious. "Either that? or we use this place, this... distortion over our world to hurt him, make him fear for his life until he atones for his sins. Though you should know... that's risky as hell." Shiho, blinked, a clenched fist in front of her chest. "It runs the risk of being discovered, especially if we don't really succeed and the Kamoshida we fight here bluffs us out."
Finding his resolve, Ryuji's eyes mirrored Akira's and he stepped forward. "Tell me what I gotta do."
Shiho expected him to smile, to say something inspiring, to... encourage his friend. If only this were a lighter world, a place where such things were... commonplace. Instead, he stepped forward and met him halfway, a gun in his hand and offered to Ryuji. "The wings of rebellion, that dwell inside you..." Ryuji's breath stopped, right along with Shiho's. "they have to be set free."
The implication was a knife through their skulls, deadly and unmistakable. She felt her heartbeat skip in fear, Ryuji merely grabbed the handle of the gun. "So... I've gotta die, huh?"
Akira nodded. "And you have to accept that death, and the rebirth that follows." A hand off to one side, it soon flickered with... darkened, purple flame, a face like a jack-o-lantern laughing at it core as it wreathed his gloved hand. "These clothes you like," he smirked, "this power I wield... its thanks to the persona I have donned, within this distorted reality." he raised the hand above his head, daring to speak with authority. "The persona of Arsene Lupin, gentleman thief."
Slow to lower his hand, he aimed the cursed flame at Ryuji. "What voice do you hear within? What ... shadow have you not personified in waking moments?" Ryuji closed his eyes, listening closely. "Hear its name... feel its energy... and embrace it. Shed your skin, and break the chains that bind your heart!"
It was with an eerily calm smile that Ryuji opened his eyes. "I hear a thunderous voice... Captain Kidd!" His grin went wild as took the gun and put it to his own throat.
Eyes wide as could be, realizing the boys had gone insane, Shiho leapt to her feet to stop him. "RYU-!"
The gunshot... made no sound at all. Ryuji's throat just burst at both sides and his body fell back. Shiho's went impossibly wider, her mouth opened to scream, but then something impossible happened: a blast of lightning fell from heaven and set Ryuji's body alight.
His clothes twisted, changing as wound healed. "I am though... though art I..." he drew in a deep breath and grinned again. "Damn... this is... this is awesome!"
His fists clenched, lighting crackling around his fingers as a silver skull covered his face, the hat of a pirate's captain perched atop his head. A blue waist-coat with tattered tails adorned his body, standing proud on his shoulders. Large, black cuffs matching his gloves and boots with flared cuffs rested on his feet. In short, he was... dressed like a flashy, electric pirate captain.
As the realization that he was alive, bursting with life at the seems, settled into her brain, Akira took a catious step toward her. "Suzui?" She blinked, quaking with fear. "The same wings... I see them within you." His voice was soft, comforting almost. "But it's up to you... whether or not you want to set them free."
Trembling, taking several moments to find her voice, Shiho gulped back her fear. "Wh-why would I want to do that?"
His reply was as soft as his previously delivered speech, he even smiled a little. "...Have you ever wished you could change the world?" She gasped, eyes fluttering wide. "Wanted to reach out and right the wrongs being committed in it?"
She took a step back, her knees refusing to stay still. Teeth clattered in her mouth, lip quivering as she refused to blink. Ryuji turned around, regarding her with worried eyes, removing his mask and revealing a kind face. But this feeling... this cold, unrelenting fear... she couldn't shake it, couldn't turn away from it. It had a hold on her like chains over her very skin, and she was afraid to find out what would might break free of them.
All my life... I've dreamed of the day I could be a hero with wings, taking flight to change the world...
"This might not be what you imagined..." reaching toward her, he offered her his hand. "but I can promise that it works."
...is this... my chance?
...
...
...
.
"Finally...
I'm falling...
And fooling...
myself that it's flight-
-Imperfect...
I plummet...
and ponder...
pushed away on principal...
Walk away...
and I stare...
Would you stand me up again?
Wonder if I said too much...
and will never speak again.
Forfeit...
My future...
For feelings of few far betweens
Mindless...
Of merci...
ful Measures,
Making ends preempt the means.
As I searched your eyes for an answer,
and shuttered at what I found there...
my skin shrunk away from conclusion...
That you lack the strength to care."