Persona X TWEWY X Kingdom Hearts
Summary: Trapped in an unfair game? Fighting against society? Changing the hearts of evil adults? Save the world? Discovering oneself? Nothing out of the ordinary for these teenagers.
Chapter One:
Destined Meetings
*Final World*
Walking aimlessly…
Staring at the never-ending road…
Slowly losing his mind…
The regular occurrence for the boy who had done so much for the realm of light, a never-ending cycle of rinse and repeat. Wake up from his forced slumber, never sure if he'd awaken in that world and fight for his life again, or just find himself staring at the skies again, laying the watery ground that never soaked his flesh or clothes. Days become harder to keep track of, for all he knows it could be weeks, months, or years since he was brought to this place. All alone sits a teenage boy with spiky brown hair blue eyes, tanned skin, and lanky build.
His clothes that were given to him by the three fairies consist of a black jacket with grey pockets and a stripe of the same color on each sleeve. The hood, sleeves and jacket have a red lining, and six buttons can be seen on the front. Underneath, Sora wears a black tank top with a V-neck style collar and a white lining. His gloves are replaced with gauntlets with a similar color scheme to his jacket. The gauntlets have red linings and grey circles on the backs, with yellow buckled straps wrapped around Sora's wrists. The palms of his hands are exposed and finally a pair of black shorts.
Sora just sat down with his knee propped and arm resting on it, his usual deep blue eyes have gotten dimmer as he just stares down at the watery ground. So tired, so weary of this horrible cycle that he is forced to endure. He runs his gloved hands through his hair, heaving a sigh of defeat before he looks up to the invisible road he must walk, or rather had to walk to just himself from losing his mind. Sora reached his pocket and pulls out the sole item that was reminding him, giving him the strength to just keep going.
The smooth shell crafted item that has become his beacon of light, his source of hope and a positive reminder to why he is here, and the risks he had taken to save that one person who was so precious to him. But it also came with that horrible sense of loneliness and isolation that tainted this charm, knowing that she was so far from him it was as if they were destined to remain apart no matter what they did, nor no matter how hard they fight to grab the future they seek. One humorless chuckle escapes his lips before he brushes the surface of the charm and thinks on her.
He wonders what she could be doing now, maybe she was continuing her training as a keyblade wielder, maybe she was out there looking for him…
Guilt surged within his heart, he could still recall their final moments together before his actions once more cost him his time with her. The smile that was fragile as an ornament, the eyes that always filled his heart with hope and light were now weighed down by guilt on her part, sorrow disgracing those wonderous eyes. His final view of her was seeing her face stare at the ground as a lone tear runs down her cheek…
Her name is whisper often by himself to keep his heart ache at ease, images of his friends echo in his mind, he knew deep down they were missing him as much as he misses their presence.
But then, from the corner of his eye, Sora spots something fluttering near him. His head perks up and he sees a butterfly. "What the?", he says softly, never seeing a being like this one. He stands up as the tiny insect flutters around him, glowing in blue whitish light and leaving trails of blue glittering dust. Kinda like that fairy in the world where he flew once, the little creature flies around him before it flutters away from him, almost like it was guiding him.
Curious, with some caution, Sora follows the butterfly, unaware that all around him the world of endless sea and sky was beginning to become distorted and warped, shadowing the world with red and violet. Even when his steps create small splashes, the water turns pinkish and freezes, like time had stopped or slowed around him. Sora's vision starts to blur while he feels sluggish, weakened and his balance takes a nosedive. His steps are uneven, he feels as if he is being pulled from the heart.
"Do not be afraid".
He looks up and sees only a blue apparition of a door, the butterfly fluttering towards it. "Your rehabilitation…has only begun…". Sora staggers towards the door, the charm spreads warmth into his palm as he reached for the door. Once he is just a step away, his body succumbs to the slumber that inflicted his form, and he falls into the door. Falling and falling, he sees his world going black, save for two red eyes staring back at him…
*Shibuya, Hachiko Statue*
Same streets…same place…same people.
Not much has changed with the city of Japan. The same faceless people that populate the streets, sounds of cars honking and driving off, loud music playing nearby while billboards spouting their advertisements. A spring day with plenty of clouds in the skies, mild temperature cloaking the people going on their day-to-day lives. A new season begins, a new school year…and it would be much more unique this time.
For Neku Sakuraba, this would be a hell of an experience.
At the usual promised spot, just near the statue of the lovable pup with his bag settled down by his feet, the young teen had his eyes closed whilst leaning against the stone garden, hands stuffed into his pockets as he bobbed his orange-haired head to the tunes of the song singing to him from his purple headphones that have stayed on his head lesser and lesser these days. He glances down once again at his school uniform, rolling his eyes and letting out a small sigh.
His new school uniform is a red-buttoned black blazer with Shujin's (his new school) emblem on the pocket, a white turtleneck shirt with chevron detailing on the collar, and red plaid trousers. His orange hair remains as spiky as usual, minus the flat surface between the end and beginning of his hair since he had not worn his headphones this morning. He was lucky Shujin allowed him no to dye his hair black when they discovered it was his natural color.
A school with a reputation and most of it stemmed from rumors and speculations from what he remembered. A school he had attended a year ago after his old school had been shut down because of a few too many scandals, and lack of finances likely (if not absolutely) had a hand in its fall. Not that Neku cared, that place was for people who were like him, just unable to see the bigger picture of making themselves worth a damn. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that Shujin accepted him after the previous sent out the students' details.
Luckily, his previous anti-social tendencies must have given the school the idea that he would be an incredibly quiet and well-behaved boy at the cost of not making friends and getting involved. Just as well, it would save Neku the stress of putting on a show of being a good boy.
But this wasn't gonna go the same as his old school life. He had friends this time.
"YO! PHONES!".
Neku jumps with a startled yell as he is suddenly weighed down by a significantly muscular arm wrapped around his shoulders, the voice of a loud familiar individual rang in his sensitive ears. He grunts out when he gets a light noogie, growling at the invader of his personal space.
"Beat! Stop ruffling Neku's hair!", pleads a smaller but far gentler on the ears voice.
Neku opens his grey-blue eyes to see the two siblings, the older one laughing playfully while the little one swatting his arm to stop him from abusing Neku's head. The taller sibling releases his best friend with a light punch to his skinny shoulder and jokingly teases him to let his guard down.
"Most people don't have to worry about getting their skulls drilled into by someone's knuckles… Daisukenojo", Neku grunts.
Almost like an instant reaction, Beat backed off with a loud "BWAAAA", as if Neku had just caught fire. "DUDE! YA DON'T GET TO CALL ME THAT!", growls the blond teenager, glaring at the smirking Neku, while the girl giggles.
"You deserved it", she remarks, "You did attack him". Beat turns to his sister with a small glare, who retains an innocent smirk while Neku rubbed his bruised head.
Daisukenojo Bito, or as he vehemently demands to be referred to, Beat, is more muscular than his best friend, with blond unruly hair. Without his usual black skull beanie, he looked oddly bizarre to the orange-haired music lover, wearing the same school uniform as Neku, though he could see the clashing color within his jacket. No chains or bracelets to be seen, again making him look so strange without his usual get-up.
Raimu Bito, going by Rhyme, is his little sister and probably the most mature among the gang. Shortest among them all with blond hair that looks a little neater than her brother's, wearing the Shujin female uniforms, the same black blazer as the guys while wearing the regulation black and red pleated plaid skirt, black pantyhose, and black-brown ankle boots. The only thing she has was that little bell around her neck, something Beat joked she would have bitten the principal's hand off if he tried to take it.
"Can't believe we gotta another test…", groans Beat, "Man…".
Rhyme pats his thigh with a playful smile and kindly reminds him this would be their only test before the exams started. That does little to stop his groans, however. Neku leaned against the statue while watching the two interact, catching up with them whenever prompted. Maybe it was some divine or devil's luck, but the gang was all sent to the same school, though they would mostly be in separate classes. Neku has only one with Rhyme while he shared fifty percent with Beat and the other two.
Neku opens his mouth to answer a question before he stops and glanced back to see a girl. Her head was down and looking at the ground. "G-Good morning", she squeaked. Neku forms a rare but genuinely warm smile as Rhyme leans to the side to see her friend.
"Sneaking around again?", Neku asks as he turns his body to face the girl. Slowly raising her head, Shiki Misaki, his first true friend, looks at her friends.
With short brown hair that was like a bob cut, wearing large glasses that looked heavy to the music lover, wearing the school uniform like Rhyme. Except held closely to her small body was that ever iconic and lovable stuffed animal, Mr. Mew. She lowers her face behind the head of the inanimate toy when Neku's gaze was on her before he said it.
"Piggy~".
Shiki bristles and glares at him. "He's not a pig! He's a cat!", she argued defensively.
She starts to lecture him as he scratched the back of his neck, smirking away as she points out all the cat features of her creation while the siblings watch on with smirks. But before Shiki could exact vengeance, a hand rests on her shoulder and she ceases. "Somebody's already triggered, and we haven't even gotten to school yet", a girl teases with a smile.
She ruffles the shorter girl's hair, making her whine at being treated like a small kid, Eri's smirk was playful and even resembled a cat. She is tall and slender in stature. She has dark pinkish-red hair that is tied up into a tail, wearing the same uniform. It was still a jarring situation for the other three, looking at the two girls, at one point Eri was Shiki.
That's another story for another day…
"So everyone ready for another day of books, peer pressure, lazy teachers, and…whatever else life wants to throw at us?", Eri asked with a wide grin.
Beat groans with dismay, Shiki pushes her glasses up with a frown while Neku and Rhyme shrugged indifferently. "That's the spirit…", sighed Eri, wondering why Shiki's friends shared her enthusiasm for school. She may not like it either, but they could play along with her and "pretend" they were excited. Together the gang of friends makes their way for the subway to the school, chatting about their plans for the day after while discussing the latest topic.
But as they crossed the huge cross-section of Shibuya, in his own world, Neku bypasses someone. The person was on his phone while glancing up now and then to avoid colliding with someone. Neku and this person walked past each other, but as soon as they were a step apart, Neku stops. He blinked for a second when suddenly the world around him goes quiet, still even. Suddenly there is no noise, nothing. No cars beeping, sounds of an ocean of voices, advertisements, all gone. "What the?", he says quietly.
Neku looks behind him and sees the boy looking around in confusion too. Neku and he looked ahead of them, seeing what looked like blue flames taking the form of a body. Almost instantly Neku could feel the shiver run down his spine as this sensation reminded him of…that place. A place he never wanted to go back to, a whole new world that could stay in his dreams and be forgotten for all he cared. The boy seemed to be in the same mindset, he was still a statue.
A face begins to take the form of red fire within the blue, two angled eyes and a wide smile facing down the two. Then suddenly the boy's face pops out from the flames with yellow eyes and a wild grin.
"Neku?".
The orange-haired boy jumps again for the second time today and lets out a gasp. He turns to see Shiki with a hand on his wrist, confusion in her eyes. Neku blinks and looks around him to see everything had returned to normal, and when he looks at the flames…there is nothing there. Even the boy just walked ahead, as if nothing happened.
"Yo, you two coming or what?", Beat yells. Neku shook his head, and quietly says he was okay. He walks on with Shiki trailing behind him.
*Yongen-Jaya*
Arriving at the back streets, at last, Ren Amamiya heaves a small sigh of relief after finding this. It had taken him two hours of aimless walking and getting lost more times than a mouse in a maze to finally arrive. He looked back at his phone to make sure he was in the right spot, and when he confirmed he was in the street name location, he relaxes.
"This took way too long", he sighed quietly as he adjusted the strap of his bag, looking around. It was a quiet street he notes, several stores here and there for convivence, a batting cage ahead of him, a movie theatre further down the road. At least he'll have something to do while he's living here. Ren has wavy unkempt black hair that defies any hairbrush, dark grey eyes with his usual intense look hidden away thanks to his glasses. Wearing the Shujin uniform, sent to his old home before arriving.
"So…where is Café Leblanc?", he asked quietly, looking at his phone's notes for details. With no directions, he decides to ask around. His little tour of the section had given him a good idea of the location's secrets, though he was wondering about the clinic that seemed a little run down. He swore he saw a doctor walk by him earlier…
Soon enough after walking down one street nearby the bathhouse, he looks to his left and sees a café. Looking towards the awning, he spots the sign in dark red, spelling out the café. "Huh, closer than I thought", he muses quietly. Ren takes one calming breath to ease his nerves and enters the café. Praying to whoever would listen that his caretaker would at least not be a dick.
Inside, he sees the café had a distinct taste in style. Firstly it was old school, though many would probably refer to it as "retro". Inside in one booth are a pair of elders enjoying what he presumed was cold coffee, while nearby at the counter was a man not as old but certainly closing in his winter years. Above in the corner nearest to the kitchen was the tv, a news channel going on about the most recent disaster. According to what Ren heard along the way, the bus went down the wrong lane with its passengers within it.
The driver was killed and while many passengers luckily survived, many of them were fatally wounded and confined in hospitals. The old couple was talking about it quietly while the man at the counter muttered to himself, Ren could hear him saying something about a shellfish used in pearl farming. Must be doing crossword puzzles he presumed.
When nobody took any note of him, he quietly said: "Freshwater river mussel".
The man at the counter blinks and then snapped his finger, saying: "Ahh that's it". He blinks for a minute and looked to the door, spotting Ren. "Oh…right", he says, "They did say it was today".
He casually tosses the papers on the counter and gets off his chair. Just in time for the elderly couple to leave, bidding the man a good day and even counting their blessings for the location of this quaint café.
If the stories about these disasters on the roads are as common as the news frequently talks about, then Ren may start thanking god himself. The last thing he needed was to be in an accident.
Once the couple leaves, Ren overhears the man bemoan spending four hours for just a single cup of coffee. "So you're Ren Amamiya?", he asked, looking at the boy.
"That's right. And I'm assuming you must Sojiro Sakura?", Ren asked, polite and quiet.
"That's right. You're in my custody for the next year", he explains, then with a smirk, he adds: "I was wondering what kind of unruly kid was coming into my café, but here you are".
Ren did his best to keep the displeased look from appearing on his face, trying to adjust to the idea of getting used to his first impressions. The whole reason he was supposed to be here, to live off his sentence in exile from his hometown.
All because he tried to do the right thing…
"If I may ask, how exactly did I end up in your custody? I would have assumed my sentence would have put me in juvie or a more…stricter environment", Ren inquires.
"A customer of mine and your parents, that's how. Well, come on, follow me", Sojiro says, finishing rather quickly, and heads for the stairs. Ren silently follows him, doing his best to not ponder on his parents.
He follows Sojiro up to what he guessed was the attic, IE his new room. And when the old man confirms this would indeed by his new room, Ren mustered all his mannerisms to not gawk in utter dismay at the sight of the room. Cluttered would have been too generous to describe the chaos that was the attic, the floors were filthy with grime and dust, cobwebs that could be all wrapped up into a football were scattered in every corner of the ceiling, junk scattered all over the floors and boxes full of things.
Even his room back home was like a palace compared to this, and he couldn't even remember the last time he saw his floor.
Sojiro must have seen a look in his eyes because he asked him if he had something to say. Deciding to avoid early conflict, Ren merely comments the room was a lot bigger than he expected. The old man only mentions he was the one in charge of keeping it clean. Then he went on about his rules, that he'd be leaving after lock up every day and letting Ren be on his own. Of course, he mentions sternly any troublemaking or chaos or even the slightest juvenile behavior would result in the youth being kicked out faster than he could say "oh crap".
"Understood", he says lowly and obediently.
Sojiro nods and then talks to him about his situation. A few weeks ago, Ren had protected a woman from being forced upon by some guy. The result was the man sued him for assault after he got injured, which got Ren a criminal record and kicked out of his hometown school. The court then had him transferred here to Shibuya, and his parents approved. Easily and without a fuss, he may add.
Sojiro smirks and says: "In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass".
Ren grit his teeth quietly and his grip on the bag strap tightens, eyes steeling. "…something like that…", he says in a low tone. Credit to the old man, he wasn't entirely wrong about the reason behind Ren's movement.
Sojiro's amusement must have crawled back into his mind because he immediately took on a stern glare of his own. "Best you don't talk about anything like that. I'm in the restaurant business, you know", he folds his arms, "Behave yourself for the year and if god forbid, nothing happens, your probation will be lifted".
Probation…a sentence. His reward for doing the right thing, helping others.
A whole year to prove himself as a beneficial and stable member of society, staying in a different world to his own. Behave himself and then be possibly rewarded with freedom or cause even one squeak of trouble and he'll be sent to juvie.
"Tomorrow we'll be heading to Shujin", Sojiro reveals, "That's the school you'll be attending. We'll introduce ourselves to the staff. There's…nowhere else that'll accept someone like you".
Again with that. Ren shrugged the strap on his shoulder and asked: "Why? What could they gain from taking someone like me?".
"Good publicity? Make up for past screw-ups? Or for shits and giggles? Your guess is as good as mine", Sojiro sighed.
Ren tried to ignore the comment about a "waste of his Sunday" and was introduced to his luggage. Then once he got him settled in, Sojiro leaves him to his own devices. Ren looks at his luggage, and with a breath of defeat, decided he'd get out of the uniform and into something more comfortable. A black jacket with a white t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and brown shoes, his usual choice for the winter/spring seasons.
Then he begins the long ardors process of cleaning up this stain of a room. Not just for hygiene's sake or even to show up the old man's presumptuous attitude towards him, but it helped keep his mind off his current situation and how it all started. The less he mulls over the past, the better.
While mopping the floors, his mind goes back to the crossing, and as he mops, he pulls his phone out to see if that strange app was there. Earlier when he first arrived, a weird app was on his phone, dark red with an eye. The most disturbing thing was he never installed it himself and was damn sure nobody else had their paws on his phone, so he deleted it. But that moment before he did, where the world just…stopped.
That blue fiery demon, the one who had his face…that other boy…
"Stop it…think of mopping…you're gonna get this room nice and clean…", he hissed quietly, pushing those unwanted thoughts aside.
By the time he finishes reorganizing the room to make it less clustered and changing the sheets of his bed, he heaves a sigh and stretched out his arms. Satisfied with his work, even if there was still more to do, he could happily say this room was at the very least homey. He looks behind him to see Sojiro coming up, looking surprised.
"The heck? I heard you were making noise but didn't know you were cleaning", he says.
"I like walking around the floors without slippers…and free of grime and dust", Ren says with a rub of his neck.
Sojiro looks around the room, impressed and even appreciative. "Not a bad job, looks nice", he remarked, "Then again I suppose if you're gonna live here, you may as well want it to look nice".
With a wave of his hand, the older man suggests he'd go to bed. Early start tomorrow and all, and seeing as he had nothing else to tonight, Ren agreed.
During the night, however, Ren lies in bed staring up at the ceiling with only his lamp comforting him in light. All the traveling, emotional strain, and physical exercise in cleaning his new room, sleep wasn't coming to him. No, the body may crave sleep but the mind is too alive right now, replaying the night that changed his life. The night where his world was thrown into chaos, the day he was marked as a criminal. All because he couldn't go against his moral compass.
It felt like just an hour ago too…he could recall with picture-perfect memory of how everything went down. He was running late one night, a school assignment he had to finish at the school, taking one bus to his neighborhood. It would have just taken him an extra half hour to get back home sure, but by cutting through the quiet and empty neighborhood, but then he could hear a cry for help, a woman.
Seeing a poor woman plead with a man to leave her be, the angry drunk man constantly berating her, demanding she'd just do what he says. More and more she defied, more angry and belligerent he became, to the point where Ren didn't need to be a smart boy to know this man would stoop to using his fists to get what he desired. And when he turned his drunken glare on him, Ren couldn't help himself, he was afraid. Maybe that fear was doing more for him than just letting him know this man was a danger not just to his well-being, but to the air this man had…
Yet, he couldn't walk away…
Ren jumps in his bed with a light gasp, a sound breaking him out of his thoughts. "What? Who could be texting me now?", he asks himself. He reached for his phone resting on the lamp table and picks it up. Looking on the home screen, he furrows his black brows and sees that bizarre app on his phone again. "What? I deleted this earlier…", he thinks. He sighs and deletes it yet again, and once the app vanishes from his phone, he finally allows himself to descend into slumber…
(?)
With a gasp, Ren re-opens his eyes.
No longer in his attic room, instead he sees above him was nothing but the abyss with chains dangling from above, clinking ominously like they were counting down to his doom. The walls were blue velvet leather, fancy on appearance yet they are bereft of class and comfort. Looking at himself, he sees he is, to his shock and bafflement, wearing a white jumpsuit with black stripes from his ankles to his collar. On his wrists are arm's length shackles, bound to him.
"Wha…where am I?", he asks quietly, sitting up.
He finds himself in what was a jail cell, small and confining, a small toilet near him with a sink and a mirror that didn't reflect. Looking at the ground he finds shackles on his ankles as well. Except it was a ball and chain on his right ankle. Then he hears a laugh, low but mischievous. Glancing up to the cell bars, decorated with chains and a small desk with a slot for food, orange light outside his cell like it was taunting him with freedom. Then he sees someone walking by and stands before him.
He thought it'd be a warden or someone with authority in this…prison, but instead, it was a child. A little girl. Until when she stepped slightly to the right, another girl stepped in front of the prisoner. Twin girls just by their looks alone, platinum blonde hair and yellow eyes, both wearing a black eye patch with the letter "V" over one of their eyes and a blue prison guard outfit.
The girl on the left has a long braid and a hat with the letters "O-Y-O-O," while the one on the right has hair buns and a hat with the letters "X-M-R-N." The letters appear to spell "OXYMORON.", for whatever reason this place could justify. They wear a brassard on their left arm. They also have matching black ties. The child on the right seems to be carrying an electric shock baton. Ren didn't need an explanation for that piece's purpose…
Each of their expression granted Ren an idea on them, the girl without the baton a very composed and calm look but the other had a small smirk on her face like she had been waiting for an inmate to arrive for a very long time. They both stand aside in sync, allowing him to see who oversaw this prison. Ahead of the three was a man sitting at his desk, but Ren sweats at the sight of him. He looks like a bizarre old man with a long nose, pointed ears, and bulging, bloodshot eyes. He wears a black suit with white gloves.
"What the hell…is this?", he asks lowly and almost timidly. The bizarre man simply offers his hand while using his other to prop up his head.
"Trickster…welcome, to my Velvet Room,", the bizarre man greets. Ren tries desperately hard to hide the disturbing look from adorning his face, the man's mad grin didn't even disappear when he greeted him. Ren grabbed the bars of his cell and shakes them but finds them sturdy and unshakable. "So, you've come to, Inmate,", greets the girl with a smirk.
"The you, in reality, is currently fast asleep,", the composed girl reveals, "You are only experiencing this as a dream.".
"A-A dream?", Ren gasped. What in the heck did he eat before he went to bed?
The more aggressive girl stomps her foot and says: "You're in the presence of our master! Stand up straight!".
Ren looks up to the bizarre man, still watching him. "Welcome. I am delighted to make your acquaintance," greets the bizarre man. Deep in tone and composed yet not as empty as the girl, "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter". Ren shakes his head, not remotely delighted to make this man acquaintance and wishing the other him from reality would wake up and get him out of this nightmare.
"W-Who are you? Where am I!? And why am I in jail!?", Ren asks, shaking his bars.
The bizarre man raised his hand casually, showing off this place. "This is the Velvet Room. A room that only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter," he explained, "I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well".
"Oh don't worry, the nightmares in the coming days will help me remember your name!" panics the black-haired youth as he clenched the bars tightly.
Igor begins to tap his fingers in a sequence on the table, watching Ren. "I summoned you here, to speak of important matters," he starts, "It involves your life as well". Ren begins the shake and rattles the bars, desperation rushing through his body as he tries to break free.
"Let me out of here!" he demands. The snarky girl then slams the shock baton against his cell, sparking electricity upon the metal rods, scaring the boy to back away.
"Know your place, Inmate! Who do you think you're talking to!?" she shouts. Ren backs away but Igor hums.
"Still, this is a surprise…" he remarks, "The state of this room reflects the state of your heart". Ren looks back at the pointy nose man and approached the steel bars again, looking around to see there were cells like his, but they were empty. Three levels all in a circle yet bar his jail cell, they were untouched, and even from here, he couldn't sense any life had been present before him.
"To think a prison would appear as such", Igor says.
"Hold on, a prison? Reflecting my heart? What's that supposed to mean?", Ren asked.
Igor looks back at him and remarks: "You are indeed a prisoner of fate. Soon, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you".
"Ruin? My future? Wait…" Ren starts but then Sojiro's words of advice rang in his head.
"Behave yourself for the year and if god forbid, nothing happens, your probation will be lifted".
He feels his grip on the bars loosen and the strength in his fade, head downcast. Is this creature foretelling his future was doomed, that even if he does his best to behave and not stir trouble, will it all be for nothing but a small reprieve from damnation? Is this "Velvet Room" some sort of terrible omen or a twisted glimpse of his new home in jail? Was he truly doomed before he even began?
"You gotta be kidding me…" he sighed.
With a chuckle, the bizarre man says: "Worry not. There IS a means to oppose such a fate as yours".
Ren lifts his head to face him, almost showing that glimmer of hope within his eyes. Igor continues: "You must be rehabilitated. Rehabilitated toward freedom, it will be your only means to avoid ruin…IF you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world".
"Distortion of the world…what? What's that?", Ren thinks quietly. Based on how this man refused to answer him or even address his questions, being silent was probably his best bet now.
"Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation,", Igor says but then the girls turned form to face Ren. "Ahh…pardon me. I neglected to introduce the others", he says politely. "To your right is Caroline, and to your left is Justine".
"They serve as wardens here", he finishes.
With a callous laugh, Caroline taunts Ren into struggling as much and hard as he desired, already telling Ren he wasn't going to like that girl. Justine however explains she and her "sister" were wardens, bound by duty to protect inmates while serving as his collaborators…provided he remains obedient to them.
"Their roles will be explained on another occasion. It seems the night is waning…time to wake up…Trickster".
Questions linger in his mind yet Ren's only response was a gasp, his world being swallowed by the darkness. His only glimmer of light shined in dark blue above him, a butterfly dancing in the air before him.
"Seek out the Player and the Guardian…let them be your Confidants…".
The final words he hears before he surrenders to the shadows…
*Next Day, Shujin Academy*
Spinning his pen with his left hand, bored stupid as the teacher drones on and on about this and that, Neku tries his best to not show the completely obvious disinterest in his eyes as he pretends to look at the loudmouth go on about…something relating to…whatever he's supposed to learn.
"Why did we have to get Mr. Ushimaru?", he asks within his thoughts as the teacher continues, eventually forcing Neku to return his eyes to the notebook before him. Social studies, one of the subjects he still struggles with, plenty of notes taken down for sure but chances of him ever retaining this lesson was as likely as getting Beat to go through a day without swearing. The boy subtly swaps his school notes aside and brings out a notebook filled with drawings he had been doing for a while.
The notebook was purple with several graffiti art beautifully drawn upon the surface, a gift from Shiki for his birthday, and when he mentioned off-handed about needing something to keep his mind awake during these speeches that were as appealing as watching paint dry. Ushimaru hadn't even taken notice of him as he starts to doodle in silence, going to the blank page and drawing the first thing that came to his mind.
Or rather…someone.
The boy with a big stupid grin, spiky hair that put his spiky head to shame, younger in mind but with so much light within him.
Before he gets back to work, the bell finally rings, and he looks up to see his sensei sigh as the students all but stuff their books into their bags to escape. He went on about their assignment for the week and whatever lesson to take from his speech about how youths were wasting their potential and all that good adult condescending stuff that only adults can get away with when students were the subject.
Leaving the schoolroom, Neku stretched before Beat sluggishly followed him. "Dude…does that guy know how freaking BORING he sounds?", the blonde asked with a yawn, "Who needs hot milk when he can put ya to sleep!".
"…you want him to talk you to sleep every night?", Neku asks with a deadpanned tone. Beat shudders in disgust, shaking his head desperately and groaning when he looks at his schedule.
"DUDE!", he whines, "Maths is next!?".
"Beat…you've had this schedule for a year…", Neku reminds slowly and with his chipped patience.
Beat almost slumps in despair, going on about the need to learn about Y and X in something he'll barely if ever use in the future, while Neku tunes him out and just listens to the school students. So many people here, like him and opposite to him at the same time, going on their school life while he and Beat walk towards their next class which was on the bottom floor. He could feel that itch in his ears again, the desire to throw on the headphones and just go into his world for a while.
"That's transfer student's gonna join the class tomorrow right?", a girl asks. Neku stops walking and listens to the trio of gossiping loving girls. "Yeah, I heard he's at the principal's office with Ms. Kawakami", another one says, "I hope she's ok, he's a delinquent that the school took pity on". "Yeah, I heard he's always carrying a knife with him too!". Neku frowns at this before scoffing and walking with Beat, in his miserable world where maths would be his undoing.
A transfer student coming here. That was the first time he's heard of it. Sure it wasn't uncommon that they'd get someone from another school to show up but not a supposed criminal.
"Yeah, least he's one of the ones supposedly coming! I heard there was more coming this month," the gossiping girl continues, "Hope they're not criminals and hot!".
They dissolve into giggles and squeals, letting their imaginations running wild with the ideal transfer students while Neku rubbed his neck.
"Hey, Beat?", Neku says as they walked down the stairs, finally stopping that rant of his friend's. Beat stops and looks at his best friend, who asked: "Have you heard about those new transfer students?". Beat throws his hands behind his head and says: "Nah, never heard of that". Of course, he didn't.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Beat walks ahead to his class while Neku trails behind him, and when he looks down to the entrance of the building, he stops. They're at the doors was Sojiro and Ren, the same boy he saw back at the crossing yesterday. He looked at him as the older man leaves the building, the boy grabbing the handle of the door and for a moment, Neku sees in his dark eyes there is a genuine sense of tension and…loneliness?
Ren's head rises and whether it is the instinct of coincidence, he turned to Neku.
Neku didn't know why or how, but somehow when he sees those eyes of this strange boy, there is something…odd about him. Those weren't the eyes of a criminal or even eyes of anybody with malicious intentions or wrongdoing, he has seen plenty of eyes to know how to tell between them. Those eyes were gentle and quiet as a clam stream, yet there is an intense gaze within the black orbs. Almost like…a rebellious soul.
"You coming or what?", the old man's voice called out. Ren turns and exits the building without a word, leaving Neku to stand there and watch him leave. Neku looks down at his feet, this feeling he got from that guy reminded him of…that boy…
"…humph", he huffs and heads for class…
*Road*
*Next Day*
"Damn it Beat! You just HAD to sleep in!?", Neku growls as he and Beat, with a piece of toast still in his mouth, tear their way through the subway station. Beat offers a lame excuse about priorities that went over Neku's head, having a piece of toast in the mouth will do that to your speech. Neku growls as he and Beat just narrowly avoid stampeding on some poor sod's back and managed to reach the train just in time before it speeds off to its destination. Inside, Neku and Beat finally settle themselves down on some seats to catch their breaths.
Neku heaved a deep breath just as Beat scarfs down that toast, coughing from the quick swallow. "Damn it… it's cold now", Beat groaned. "Cold toast should be the LEAST of your worries!", Neku grunts, "If we're late, that fatass principal will have our asses". Beat huffs stubbornly and folds his arms, saying: "Pfft, like that fat dough ball gives to cruds about us! He'll probably ask that creep Kamoshida what he should do with us".
Neku's glare darkened at the mention of that teacher. He loathed to admit it, but Beat was on the money with that little remark. If there was one thing that kept Shujin academy popular in topics or regarding schools, it was that man. A former Olympian athlete, now a volleyball teacher/coach of the school, he is regarded as some sort of celebrity that apparently can do no wrong in the prestigious school.
But Neku and his friends can safely say that man is far from what society sees. He is arrogant, to the point of sheer obnoxious and his ego could rival a certain silver-haired teen Neku had the displeasure of working with in the past. Sure he had very, VERY few interactions with that guy but just a few moments with him was enough to make him steer clear from that dickhead. Beat was far more open with his dislike for the teacher and would challenge him in those sporting events.
The only thing they never backed down from was keeping an eye on their friends whenever they were at school with that creep. Neku has heard the rumors of his…connections with the female students, and of course, Beat's heard about those private lessons with the male athletes, and even for as dumb as he can be, Beat knew those lessons were nothing more than punishments that the sleazeball just dishes out because he can.
"Has that creep gone anywhere near Shiki or Eri?", Beat asks as they near their destination. "Nah, think Eri's scared him off with her glare…", Neku says, "However long that lasts. But least he hasn't gone after Rhyme, right?". Beat growls as his fist clenched tightly at the mere mentioning, Neku could see his teeth bared, and knowing this guy, Beat would probably maul that pervert if he so much as looks at Rhyme. Benefits of her being a year behind them, she'd be safe.
Finally, they arrived at their station and worked through the sea of people in their way, getting shoved or their feet stepped on. Neku and Beat climb the stairs to the surface, only to lament in dismay when they see it had started to rain.
"Aww man…give us a break…", groaned Beat as he and Neku stepped back for shelter. Neku grunts and folds his arms. He looks down the street and quickly with Beat in tow, they start to jog beneath the awnings of the shops and cafés, hoping by the time they get close to Shujin the rain would lessen or stop altogether.
But as they jogged, the rain starts to get heavier and heavier, eventually forcing both boys to opt-out of running and just force themselves to wait it out. They've already drenched their pants thanks to the splashes beneath their feet and as opposed to risking their health, they submit to waiting for the rain to pass and shelter beneath a store. When they stopped beneath the awning of a clothes store, Beat huffed and grabbed something out of his bag.
"Screw this, I ain't gonna get my hair soaked and get sick!", he says. He yanks out his skull beanie and plops it back on his head, grinning from the warmth. Neku rolled his eyes despite the small smile appearing on his face.
"Umm…excuse me?".
Neku looks to his left and blinks. By chance, Ren was standing there with his phone out. "You're that boy from Shujin, right?", he asked, polite and kind.
Neku straightens up and stares at him before he nodded. "Yeah, and you're that transfer student, right?", he inquired. Ren's face shifts into one of displeasure but he composes himself and nodded.
"That's right…I believe we met yesterday…well, we saw each other", he says. "I'm Ren Amamiya".
"Neku Sakuraba", colly says to the orange-haired boy, "Guy behind me is Beat". Hearing his name prompts the said boy to look at the dark-haired youth. But before they could talk, another teenager joins them in the need of shelter from the cold rain.
The three look at her as she pulls back her hood to reveal her exceptionally long hair. She has wavy platinum blonde hair that is styled in bushy pigtails with parted side bangs on the right side of her face where she accessorizes with a single yellow hair clip above her left ear as well as small circular earrings on both ears and bright blue eyes. She is a relatively tall young woman, taller than even Eri and just an inch shorter than Kawakami.
Even her uniform was vastly different compared to the girls at Shujin, the standard black blazer over a white varsity-like full-zip hooded sweatshirt, worn long to cover most of her short plaid skirt. Her sweatshirt has a red stripe between two blue stripes at the bottom, an S symbol near the front bottom on one side, and a green four-leaf-clover symbol on the back of the hood. She wears red tights and brown boots with yellow laces.
Beautiful was putting it mildly for her, not even Neku could tear his eyes away from her. She sighs at the rain, looking around for what they guessed was a bus or even a taxi, but then she notes their stares. Beat looks away with a blush and Neku utters a sorry, while Ren curiously stares at her. This moment of potentially making a new friend was interrupted by a white car suddenly pulling up before them. The window slides down and much to the two boys' disgust, it was none other than Kamoshida.
"Morning. Do you need a ride to school? You'll be late", he says, kind and friendly. The girl's smile wanes into politeness and she graciously takes his offer. The teacher even extends the offer to Ren, who declines with a friendly smile and waves his worries off, Neku and Beat barely take note of the pervy teacher. Not that he'd offer anyways, he ignored the two like they weren't even there. But while they look away, Ren is the only one who caught the girl's look of resignation and sadness.
The car drives off, leaving the trio behind.
But they went from the trio to four in a matter of seconds.
Another teenager chases the car, only stopping by the three boys. "Damnit…screw that pervy teacher", he curses like he just lost a thief at the market.
"Pervy teacher?", Ren asked, unaware of that strange app, still plaguing his phone had recorded what he had said. The teenager turns to him with a "huh". This teenager has short spiky blond hair, brown eyes, and much like Beat looked to have some layer of muscle on him.
He is wearing the winter school uniform, but as the girl from earlier, it's a bit modified. It consists of the standard black blazer, unbuttoned to reveal a yellow t-shirt with a comic-style star symbol and the word 'ZOMG!' He has plaid trousers rolled up to reveal his ankles. His pants have black suspenders that hang down instead of being worn on his shoulders. He has a white belt. His white sneakers have a rising sun flag motif.
"The hell do you want? You plann' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?", he interrogates, intimidatingly. Beat immediately stepped in, standing beside Ren with a glare of his own.
"Back off man, this guy ain't got a clue about that guy", he grunts. The spiky boy looks at Beat with a look that says confusion and bafflement, but Ren intervenes.
"Kamoshida? That the guy in the car's name?", the raven asked. The spiky boy looks at him and confirms that was the man indeed. He looks away with disgust.
"He does whatever the hell he wants…like he's some damn king of the castle", he huffed.
"Which castle?", Ren asked.
The two blondes looked at him with confusion and Neku just chuckles, catching on. "Probably Shujin if that's any consolation prize. Half as big as a castle and just cleaner too", Neku joked.
The spiky blond looks back at Ren, and asked: "But you serious? You don't have any idea who Kamoshida is?".
"No. I'm a transfer student. I'm here for my first day too", Ren explains, "But uh, it's going to be an experience".
The boy shrugged before he glanced at the skies and sees the rain lessening. Neku adjusts his bag and says: "Well if we're all done talking shit about the shitty teacher, we better get a move on. Can't be late on Ren's first day".
They followed the spiky-haired boy, known as Ryuji after some poking from Beat, towards the school via a shortcut. Neku follows in suit with a shrug, but as he follows the group, he stopped walking when this sensation crawls up his neck. He frowns and looks across the street to see someone amidst the crowds, another teenager. Except he was taller, has light blue eyes and had silver hair, VERY similar to another teenager.
Wearing a black, hooded jacket that he keeps unzipped, with short sleeves, gold buttons, and a checkered pattern at the hem. Underneath, he wears white shirt with a V-neck. A blue cropped trousers that are hemmed with the same checkered pattern as the jacket, black glovelettes on each hand, and black high-top boots. Clothes that reminded him of that other boy…
"Who…is this?" he asks to himself as the taller boy gave him on glance before quietly walking away into the crowd of people. He hears Beat calling his name and jogged after him. No need to make any more friends.
Unaware that the boy with silvery hair started to trail him in secret…
Following Ryuji further towards Shujin, a strange, and sudden, case of light headedness struck all four boys out of nowhere, making some groan and whine about wanting to go home. As they followed the boy, Ren's phone home screen is suddenly covered by the strange app, and slowly as they follow Ryuji through the tight spaces of his short cut, somehow in some bizarre way, Neku felt a change in the air.
As they walked, slowly his senses began to pick up something peculiar about this road they take, and then the world's look begins to shine in reddish-purple. Their footsteps in the puddles creating splashes freeze in the air like time froze around it, and further on Neku feels the world around him changing and shifting into…something unreal.
"What's going on? This feeling…", he says quietly before he halts in his walk. "Hey, Phones…ya getting that feeling of…dejaaa?", Beat says. "Déjà vu…and yeah, kinda", Neku confirms with reluctance in his tone.
"What the eff?".
They look up and followed Ryuji's voice, and when they saw what caused him to speak out in disbelief and shock, they couldn't help themselves but stare.
Ahead of them was a castle, and not a prop or model or even a historic landmark. An actual medieval castle, the skies were full of dark clouds in purple with an ominous light shining down on the castle. Neku and Beat looked at each other, a horrible sense of familiarity strikes their hearts.
They were drawn into a brand new game…
*Dungeon*
Sitting alone in this dark place…only in his hands is he comforted by light…
"The Trickster and Player are coming to you soon…please, help them…if you want to avoid ruin," the voice warns, pleads with him before the blue butterfly flutters away. Sora holds the charm closer to him…
A/N:
Here it is! Part one of this soon to be head wrecker of a story!
Now for those of you how noticed, this is the original chapter from the first story with a bit more pieces added in along with a few hints to come. Next time I'll be combing chapter 2 and 3 just so we can speed up and get to where we left off. THEN we'll get into new stuff!
Also I will be responding to reviews again via messages.
Thanks for reading everyone! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!