[Ryuji S.] Hey, this don't make any damn sense.
[Kyo W.] Your grammar?
[Ryuji S.] No, how everyone is just ignoring the abuse!
[Ryuji S.] The principal and even the parents know about it.
[Ryuji S.] Why ain't anybody speaking up?!
[Akira K.] Because of volleyball, if they keep their mouths shut then they continue to gain. All they care about is the results.
[Kyo W.] Damn… I could believe that deflated egg could turn a blind eye but the parents? It makes me sick...
[Ryuji S.] Just because Kamoshida made the team famous, doesn't mean that gives him the right to do whatever he wants!
[Ryuji S.] He's beating kids up, and all they're allowed to do is endure.
[Ryuji S.] And that follower of his doesn't give one shit…
[Kyo W.] Who?
[Akira K.] Who?
[Ryuji S.] Ann Takamaki.
[Ryuji S.] You met her in the courtyard, remember Akira? You should know her. I mean, she's in your class, dude.
[Ryuji S.] Ugh! What a load of bull! I can't let it end like this.
[Ryuji S.] I'm gonna try and find someone who knows about what's going one with Kamoshida during break tomorrow.
[Ryuji S.] Just you watch. I ain't giving up!
[Kyo W.] Well, keep those spirits up Champ. We might just get that bastard.
Day: April 14th: Thursday
Time: Afternoon
Location: Shujin Academy
Kyotaro's fingers lazily danced all over his desk as the class listened to Mr. Inui's lecture. As he was counting the numbers of breath he took for the last five minutes, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Giving a glance, he saw Ryuji holding his phone. Kyotaro slowly moved himself so as to keep Ryuji's texting hidden as they whispered in the most quiet of voices.
"Meet up in the courtyard." The bleach blonde whispered as he leaned in beside Kyotaro's ear.
"Is this where I'll get mugged or…?"
"Just meet us in the courtyard when school's over, it's important."
"Will do…"
After dealing with another round of the montotenaus cycle of subjects known as school, the three rebels joined together to discuss their next move. Akira looked a bit distraught, giving a glance or two at the building he arrived from while Ryuji was grumbling with his arms folded.
The blonde quietly expressed his anger to no one in particular, "Dammit, what the hell…"
"What happened?" Kyotaro asked.
"I tried finding some others who would speak up about Kamoshida, but all of 'em kept sayin' the same shit Mishima was talkin' about!" Ryuji slammed a fist against one of the vending machines as his head dropped. "Kamoshida had to have told 'em something! At this rate… it looks like we'll have to go to him directly..."
Akira shot this idea down quickly with a shake of his head, "There's no point, if we go to Kamoshida then he'll just deny it or worse."
"I know… But seriously, isn't there something we can do? No way I'm gonna give in like this! Can you think of anything?"
"Let's call the cops, leave it to the authorities." Kyotaro proposed, but Ryuji countered his point immediately.
"So you wanna tell 'em about the castle? They'd never believe us…" The blonde sighed and shook his head, "Have any other ideas…? What do we do…?"
The three stirred in a short silence, trying to individually rack their brains on how they should proceed. But it was Akira who had the most unusual proposal. The curly haired teen confidently said, "Let's punish the king."
"The king…? You mean that other world's Kamoshida?" Ryuji asked, getting a nod from Akira.
"Yeah, I'm getting a hunch that the castle might be our answer." Akira played with a lock of his hair as he furrowed his brows, unsure if he was correct or if his theory held any water.
Kyotaro clicked his tongue, "Dude, seems kinda out there‒"
"I finally found you…" A familiar high pitched voice called out to the three of them. When they turned their heads, they expected some girl or at least a guy who hadn't hit that stage of puberty.
What they found was a black cat pacing towards them. While Ryuji and Akira looked around for the source of the voice, Kyotaro kneeled down to chat with their eavesdropper. "Hey, what do you think you're doing little guy?"
"I was looking for you three idiots!" Seeing the cat just move it's lips and produce words caused Kyotaro to fall on his rear end in shock, and caused Akira and Ryuji to turn their heads. The cat jumped onto the table and began, "Don't think you can just leave me in the dust after everything I did for you."
"That voice… Is that you, Morgana!?" Ryuji asked as he leaned in to face their unannounced acquaintance.
"How dare you, up and leaving me the other day!"
"The cat's talkin'!?"
"I am NOT a cat!" The 'cat' identified as Morgana retorted, "This is just what happened when I came to this world! It was a lot of trouble finding you three."
"Wait… You came to our world!? Does that mean you've got a phone!?" That comment from Ryuji got a chuckle from both Akira and Kyotaro, the image of a cat holding a P.A.D flashed into their minds.
"You don't need one when you're at my level." How vague, Kyotaro mentally commented. "I did get pretty lost making my escape though…"
"That aside, why can you talk!? You're a cat!"
"How should I know!?"
"Well I guess you don't have all the answers, huh?" Kyotaro jested, to which Morgana hissed at.
Ryuji gave an exasperated sigh and turned to Akira. Asking him as if he needed some sort of validation that they weren't crazy. "You hearin' this too?"
Akira slightly tilted his head and made his eyes soft, "Meow?"
"This is no time to be jokin' around!" Ryuji shouted with Kyotaro stifling a giggle beside him.
"You guys are having a rough time with this, hm? I heard you mention something about witnesses." Morgana said in a snide voice, his little cat lips curling into a smile.
Ryuji pursed his lips, "Oh, shuddup…"
"You know, I could tell you a thing or two about what to do about Kamoshida. You were pretty close just a moment ago."
"God, that condescendin' attitude!" Ryuj threw his hands up in the air. "This thing's gotta be Morgana!"
"You were still doubting me!?"
"Ack! Quiet down!"
The four of them turned their heads at the sounds of footsteps in the courtyard, they saw a teacher and a student examining the area. Based on what they heard, they could have only heard meowing instead of a talking cat. Either that, or they heard Akira pulling Ryuji's leg a minute ago.
"Hm, so we're the only ones who can hear you like this?" Kyotaro rubbed the back of his neck as he looked to Morgana.
"Looks like it." The cat nodded it's head.
"What the hell's goin' on…? Anyways, what you were talkin' about earlier… is it for real?" Ryuji's head could be seen going through the motions, his face scrunched up as he began piecing together the puzzle.
But like before, Morgana wasn't so gentle with the blonde's intelligence. "You're quite the skeptic for being an idiot."
"Hey, tell us more. Then again, this probably ain't the best place..." Ryuji ignored the rude comment, instead focusing on their strange situation. What with the fact that they were talking to a cat. He grabbed Morgana by the collar and heaved him up to Akira. "Here, stick it in your bag for now! It should be just small enough to fit!"
"Hey! How dare you treat me like‒"
"Got it."
Akira grabbed Morgana and slipped him into his bag in one swift motion. The cat yelped out a muffled meow that the three ignored. They moved inconspicuously to the roof as Morgana complained in the bag. Getting a few eyes towards their way but not enough to cause a scene. When they did arrive, they placed the bag onto the ground and Morgana subsequently slipped out in a huff.
"Don't be so rough with me!"
"No time to complain!" Kyotaro said with a small smile on his face before getting serious, "You said that you knew what to do about Kamoshida, right?"
"It has to do with what this guy was talking about earlier, yes." Morgana cleared his throat, "You'll need to attack his castle."
"Gee, what a brilliant idea. Maybe we'll bring our non-existent army to join us and take him down." Kyotaro deadpanned.
"Shut it…" Morgana said in a dead voice before explaining once again, "That castle is how Kamoshida views this school. He doesn't realize what happens in there, but it's deeply connected to the depths of his heart. Thus, if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kamoshida."
Ryuji's eyes widened at this, "What'd happen?"
"A Palace is a manifestation of a person's distorted desires. So, if that castle were no more…"
"Lemme guess… He would die?"
"You, weirdo. Stop talking!" Morgana demanded, raising a paw towards Kyotaro after his accusatory comment.
Akira threw a serious possibility into the ring, "Then his desires would go too."
"Precisely!" Morgana nodded with a smile, "You sure pick up things fast!"
Ryuji's brows raised at the prospect of this. "For real!? H-He's gonna turn good!? But… is that really gettin' back at him?"
"Erasing a Palace essentially means forcing the owner to have a change of heart. However, even though their warped wants disappear, the crimes they committed remain. Kamoshida will become unable to bear the weight of those crimes, and he'll confess them himself!"
"You for real!? That's possible!?"
"And since the Palace will no longer exist, he'll forget what we did there as well. Not only will we be able to bring Kamoshida down, but there won't even be a trace of our involvement." Kyotaro skeptically furrowed his brows hearing this from Morgana. It sounded too good to be true.
"That's amazing! You are one incredible cat!" Ryuji cheered.
"True, except for the cat part!"
"Okay," Kyotaro slowly began with a hint of skepticism in his voice. "How does one go about getting rid of a palace?"
"By stealing the Treasure held within."
Kyotaro raised a brow, "What do you mean by stealing? And what do you mean by treasure?"
"I'll tell you more once you agree to go ahead with this. It's my most valuable, secret plan, after all." A heavy sigh came from both Ryuji and Kyotaro, being kept in the dark wasn't exactly the most ideal situation to be in. They let Morgana continue, "If you want to help me out, I'll gladly teach you. What's your call?"
"Our luck's runnin' dry lookin' for witnesses." Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head, "Guess we have no choice but to go along…"
"You're right, if we have a chance then it's best to take it." Akira nodded, his voice quiet yet stern. Behind him was Kyotaro humming in agreement, his eyes darted away as he frowned.
"...Good. Oh, right. There's one more thing I should tell you." Oh boy, the three thought. "If we erase a Palace, there is no doubt that the person's distorted desires will be erased as well. But desires are what we all need in order to survive. The will to sleep, eat, fall in love—those sorts of things."
Ryuji leaned in, eyes widened and jaw somewhat agape. "What're you gettin' at?"
Morgana slowly explained, "If all of those yearnings were to vanish, they'd be no different than someone who has shut down entirely. They may even die if they're not given proper care. So…"
"They might die?!" Ryuji reeled back in shock at how casually the cat just insinuated it.
"Will you listen to everything I have to say first?"
"Yeah, I think it's hard to listen to you when the words 'may even die' are just thrown out there." Kyotaro added as he threw his hands into the air. "Are you saying we could kill someone like this?"
Morgana asked, his voice low and serious. "Aren't you determined enough to face those kinds of risks?"
Ryuji and Kyotaro looked at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say. They both looked to Akira, who twirled a lock of his hair around and sighed. He answered in a near whisper, "I don't want to kill someone. No matter how shitty of a person they are. I don't think I could ever bring myself to do it. And… it looks like you two can't either."
"O-Of course."
"Yeah…"
Morgana scoffed, "Sheesh… I come all this way, and this is what I get. It's not like anyone will ever find out."
"That's not the point!" Ryuji shouted. "If we just go around secretly doin' whatever we want, we'd be no different than that effin' Kamoshida…"
"Isn't this your only option? ...I'll come back later. Make sure you've made your decision by then." Morgana turned his tail around, crawled up the fence, and jumped off the roof. Leaving the three in silence.
Ryuji stomped his foot, "Man, we're gettin' all worked up for nothing… Dammit!"
"Freakin' psychopathic cat…" Kyotaro spat and began to mock in a high pitched voice. "Why don't you kill him, it'll be easy! Nyeh, nyeh, nya! Yeah, right…"
The three collectively took a sigh, shared unsure glances, and then took another sigh. After racking their brains then getting their hopes up then only for those hopes to get shot down, let's just say it took a lot out of them. Ryuji spoke up, "I'll try and see if I can figure out another way… C'mon, let's get outta here."
TAKE YOUR TIME
[Ryuji S.] Hey, I heard something that got my attention.
[Kyo W.] Will it be helpful in any way?
[Ryuji S.] Maybe, it's about that Suzui girl. Looks like rumors are going around about her and Kamoshida.
[Ryuji S.] If they're true, it's no wonder I couldn't get her to talk to me.
[Ryuji S.] Still, something about that doesn't seem right.
[Akira K.] What do you mean?
[Ryuji S.] It's just impossible. I've known Takamaki and Suzui since middle school. There's just no way Kamoshida's their type, y'know? So… I gotta wonder where those rumors came from.
[Kyo W.] Well, the ones that would know the truth are probably Takamaki and Suzui.
[Ryuji S.] Well, whatever. I'll try asking around some more.
Day: April 14th: Thursday
Time: After School
Location: Shibuya
"God… This sucks." Kyotaro sighed as he and Akira made their way to Shibuya. "I can't believe we got nowhere, it makes me sick just to imagine that bastard having Shujin by the‒"
"Shh…" Akira held out an arm and stopped Kyotaro from walking.
"Well, thanks for that. I‒"
"Will you please give it a rest?!" A familiar voice caused Kyotaro to look where Akira was glancing at. It was Takamaki, on the phone and sounded quite frustrated. "I told you, I'm not feeling up to it… Wait, what?! That's not what you promised! And you call yourself a teacher?!"
The two frowned at that, if they had to guess who on the other line with her…
"This has nothing to do with Shiho!" There was a long pause that followed that, along with Takamaki's face dropping. She slowly curled into a ball, her arms wrapped around her knees. "Shiho's… Starting position… "
Kyotaro looked the other direction, planning on walking away to allow the girl to sulk by herself. However, he flinched when he noticed Akira walk closer to the girl. This led to Takamaki noticing the two of them and backing away with an uneasy expression on her face.
"Wait… Were you two listening?" She asked in bewilderment, almost snappy based on her tone of voice.
"Not on purpose." Akira said gently. To which Kyotaro had elbowed him for putting them into this awkward situation.
"Haven't you heard of privacy?" Takamaki looked quite angry with the two, her brows furrowed and lips were pressed together. But she took a deep breath and addressed them in a calm manner. "...No, I was out of line. Sorry. So how much did you hear…?"
Akira answered with some slight hesitation in his voice, "It was something about a friend. Are you… alright, Takamaki-san?"
"Shiho…" Her voice began to break at the name, her eyes welled up and her shoulders began shaking. Takamaki wiped the tears and sniffled, "It's nothing at all. Nothing.."
Without another word, she ran off. Hiding her face from the two of them as she tightly squeezed the strap of her bag. Kyotaro looked at Akira, thinking that he would say something about 'going home, leaving her alone, and not digging into someone else's business'. But no… Akira, without hesitation, chased after her. And for some reason or whatever, Kyotaro decided to play 'follow the leader' with him.
"Dude, what the hell!" Kyotaro called out as he chased after Akira from behind.
"We can't just leave her behind!" Akira defended with more emotion that Kyotaro's ever heard from him.
"Why not? It's clear she wants it that way!"
Kyotaro was astounded by the fact that so many people ignored what was going on. Two guys chasing down an emotionally fragile girl yet everyone went about their day. Whatever the reason, they continued to follow her. Leading to the Shibuya Station underground, where they found Takamaki slowing down by multicolored pillars. Once they reached her, Takamaki turned around with an irritated expression.
"Stop following me… Just leave me alone!" She demanded. To which Kyotaro sneakily glanced over to Akira to step up to respond.
"Are you okay?" Akira's voice was gentle, he was to the point, and just those three words caused the girl to break down her defensive stance.
"Why…" She sobbed, barely able to make out the words. "Why do you keep worrying about me?"
"I… I just want to talk. We want to talk to you." Akira gestured to Kyotaro, who was busy frozen in uncertainty.
He simply nodded along and attempted to look as sincere as possible. Really… he couldn't handle a situation like. But Takamaki was still a bit curious and maybe even hesitant about them.
"What the heck?" She asked as she recovered from her tears, "I don't get you two…"
"Mhm…" Kyotaro coughed before speaking in a slow speech pattern. "How we head to the Big Bang Burger nearby and then… we can talk."
They did exactly that, where they found a table and sat in an uncomfortable atmosphere. Akira and Takamaki had glasses of water beside them while Kyotaro went ahead and ordered a burger and soda from the place. Akira gave him a stink eye for adding onto the awkward situation while Takamaki sat in silence.
But things changed when she finally spoke after taking a sip from her glass. She said in a frigid cold tone, "I don't have anything to talk about. Whatever you two overheard, it was just an argument."
"With Kamoshida, right?" As soon as those words left Akira's mouth, the whole room seemed to cave in. Leaving the three in a cramp space with Takamaki slowly feeling the weight of the pressure.
"You've heard the rumors, haven't you?" She began, "About Kamoshida. Everyone says we're getting it on. But… That's not so true!" She tilted her head, shadow's blocked the tears gradually forming. "That was him on the other line. I avoided giving him my number… for the longest time… He told me to go to his place after this… You know what that means." The napkin in her hand crumbled as her grip tightened.
Kyotaro looked away, unable to even lift a finger. He was frozen stiff at the thought. His body cringed thinking about the rabbit hole of Kamoshida's abuse. His blood boiled yet he shrank into deep silence. And it looked like Akira had the same reaction, the way he looked away in discomfort. Here they were, watching this girl break down and yet they were speechless. Unable to say anything to help.
"I've had enough of this… I hate him!" She growled, the drops began to fall onto the table. "But still… Shiho's my best friend. She's all I have left at that sorry excuse of a school!" Takamaki looked to Akira, her eyes desperate. "Tell me… What should I do…?"
Akira kept stern. But under the table, he could be seen clawing at his knees. Kyotaro backed away in his seat, knowing he didn't have anything to say. Feeling worthless as they saw this girl beg for some sort of direction and sense of help in her situation.
Takamaki calmed down, " Sorry… I shouldn't have asked. It's not your problem."
"No," Kyotaro spoke up, shaking his head at that. "We came to you, you don't need to apologize for anything."
"Thanks but I… What am I saying?" She asked herself, shaking her head. "I've barely talked to either of you before this."
"Maybe that's why?" Akira proposed, "This is cathartic in a way, just letting out what you've wanted to say for a long time now."
"...You might be right." She mumbled in agreement, "...You're so weird. Usually everyone just ignores me. Are you really a bad person as the rumor says…? You just don't seem like it…"
"I'm bad to the bone." Akira deadpanned to which Ann had raised a brow at.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" She looked over to Kyotaro, "And you… You always have something… stupid to say. I never pegged you for one to sit down and talk."
"Well, I'm glad you think so highly of me…"
"Like that, for example." Kyotaro frowned in silence as she continued, "I guess what everyone's been saying about you two were all exaggerations. You both seem… like you don't belong. I guess I'm kinda like that too. Being at Shujin is like, I'm a fish out of water there. I think that's why I was able to take to you two so easily."
Akira and Kyotaro quickly shared a look, unsure of what to make of this. Ann asked, getting their attention back, her voice a bit shaky. "Is there really no way to help Shiho? I‒I wish he'd just change his mind… Like, forget about me, and everything… As if something like that would ever happen…"
"Maybe, that could happen." Kyotaro kicked Akira under the table for just saying that, facing Ann with a blank face as he did while she noticed Akira cringe in pain.
"Hopefully it could but that's just hoping and we all know that's impossible to just change someone's mind in a snap like that. Right, Kurusu?" He said in one breath. Ann gave him a sharp glare and pursed her lips at that, causing him to reel back a bit.
"Hm, I wasn't asking for a serious response. But I do feel a bit better now. ...I'm gonna head home." Kyotaro was about to give a sigh of relief until his breath was stopped when she turned around with the same sharp glare. "Right, don't tell anyone what I told you. Ok? I'll try and think of a way to persuade Kamoshida. Well… thanks."
And with that, she was gone. Kyotaro turned to Akira with a small smile on his face.
"Good, well I'm glad that turned out as well as it did‒ AH! MOTHER FAH…"
Only to be kicked in the shin by Akira in revenge…
TAKE YOUR TIME
"Hey, how come you're late? And… What's up with the limp?" Ayaka asked as she saw her nephew enter the room.
"I ran into a foot, and it broke my leg." Kyotaro said in a dull voice. To which Ayaka chortled at.
As he sat down, she called out to him as she walked over to the fridge. "By the way, Sae asked me to say hello to you. So… 'hello'."
"Ok... why?" Kyotaro was curious about why now in particular, it wasn't like they weren't that close. She was always so busy at the office, that even Makoto barely had the chance to have dinner with her.
"Oh come on!" Ayaka placed down her fruit milk onto the table and began waving her hands around like it was a show. "Whatever happened to, 'Big Sis Sae'?"
"That's because you told me to call her that!‒ Alright, tell her I said hi." Kyotaro sighed, waving off his aunt's overeagerness. When he thought back to earlier in the day, he got serious. "Ayaka… You care about me, right?"
"Yeah, it's pretty obvious that I do." Ayaka said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Then, if I was being… used or manipulated or even… abused then what would you do?"
"What? What's happening at school?!" She exclaimed, losing breath as she did.
"No! Nothing, nothing's… happened to me." Kyotaro sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm talking hypotheticals, everything's… okay."
In truth, Kyotaro found some comfort that he had someone who cared about him. But it made him sick to his stomach that there are parents who would allow abuse of their children just for the sake of winning volleyball matches. However, he had no idea where to begin. He thought about just abandoning his role to take down Kamoshida, if the authorities wouldn't do anything then what could three troublemakers do? But he couldn't leave Akira and Ryuji in the dust like that…
Abandoning friends like that, especially ones that put this much trust into him, then what would that make him?