Prelude to Fate
The heat was sweltering hot when Ren Amamiya stepped out of the train station into the public square of Shibuya. Summer had arrived once again. After a semester of working and intensive studying, he was happy to return to be back in Tokyo. His vacation had been memorable and engaging. He mostly spent it with his friends and helping out at his former guardian's cafe.
With everybody else busy attending to their businesses today and business slow at the cafe. Ren had opted to visit some of his other friends outside his circle. First on the list was one Toranosuke Yoshida. There was a blood drive over in Shibuya that his older friend had asked him to attend and donate.
"Are we there yet?" Asked a voice from his backpack. Ren chuckled as he turned his head a bit to see Morgana's head poking out of the bag.
"We're here now," Ren responded as he took a good view of the square. There were large amounts of white tents. They were set up all around the square with lines of people going in and out.
"Can you see Yoshida-san anywhere?" Ren asked. It was times like this that the former Phantom thief wished he had retained his third eye ability. It generally made locating his confidants easier to find crowds.
"I think I see him… He's right there!" Morgana replied. The cat peered over his shoulder, trying to direct his eyes towards Yoshida's direction. "He's right next to that guy in the green suit." Ren squinted at where Morgana was trying to direct him. He noticed the short dark hair and dark-suited man talking to the man in green. The third-year high school student smiled. He finally found his target. He made his way towards the politician.
He was only a few feet away from his confidant when suddenly two taller and more intimidating men had appeared out of of the shadows and stood between him and Yoshida.
"Hey! What are you doing Yoshida-san was expecting me."
"Right... And I'm the prime minister of Japan. Just turn around and leave." One of the men in black said. The others beside him chuckled.
"Ren?" A voice called from behind him. The black-suited man and the others turned and stood aside as Yoshida made his way towards the former Shujin Student. Upon getting a closer look at him, Toranuske smiled and rushed his way over to the Trickster. "Ren! It's good to see you again!" He held out his hand. Ren accepted it gratefully. The two men guarding Yoshida looked perplexed.
"You two: It's okay. This young man is with me." Yoshida said in a placating manner. The bodyguards shrugged and resumed their duties.
"Yoshida-san, You have quite a line up out there," Ren commented.
"It's all thanks to my good friend Harry. Harry!" Yoshida said. He gestured to the man named Harry and kept yelling to get his attention. "Come meet this young man."
The man called Harry, who had remained quiet throughout their conversation, stepped forward. He was the man in the green suit that Yoshida had been talking to earlier. He held his hand out to greet the third year.
"Harry Takezawa at your service! You must be the young man Toranuske said would be helping us today."
"Amamiya Ren," The former Phantom Thief responded, introducing himself shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Takezawa-san, here is a representative from Chaldea," Yoshida added as he gestured for Akira and Harry to follow him to the nearest tent. "They were kind enough to sponsor this event to raise awareness about wartorn countries."
"Chaldea?" Ren asked with interest.
"We're an NGO focused on addressing humanitarian issues around the world," Harry replied simply.
While they were talking, the trio had entered the tent. The inside of the tent was busy. Nurse and doctors were getting prepped up. The staff members were also getting paperwork done as well.
"They've done fine work in the past. Helping out refugees that escaped North Korea, providing food to some villages in Africa. They've even helped fundraiser reconstruction efforts after the Tsunami." Yoshida added.
"We always go where we're needed," Harry said with an embarrassed laugh.
"Again, this is quite a turn out you have here," Ren said, observing the crowd. He couldn't help but notice how many donors there were. He may not have gone to many blood drives; Ren found something about this seemed incredibly odd about a large number of people coming here. "Why are there so many people here?"
"That might be because of the raffle," Harry responded with a shrug. "For every person that donates blood, their name gets into a raffle. Some of the prizes in that raffle do include a free car and free vacations to other countries."
"Wait. Seriously?" Ren's eyes widened in surprise. The situation was certainly bizarre. Why go that far? With the rise in his curiosity, he decided to question the pair further.
"I didn't think NGOs made a lot of money. Let it alone spend it on various prizes. I don't mean to be rude; I have to ask; Where do you get this kind of funding?"
"Then the owner of Chaldea happens to be one of the richest men on the planet," Harry replied. Ren frowned at the statement.
"Jeff Bezos owns Chaldea?" Ren asked.
"Why do all young people automatically assume it's him?" Harry shot back half-exasperated, half-amused. "Marius Animussphere. He's what most westerners called old money. The Family is pretty ancient. It wasn't until ten years ago that they were pretty private and secluded. Suddenly, he ended making his presence more public when he decided to create Chaldea. The purpose of the organization: if you believe the organization's mission statement is for the 'betterment and advancement of humanity.'"
"No offense Takezawa-san," Ren replied. His tone was doubtful." I remember hearing similar words before from other rich and powerful people. They usually have come with more hidden and malicious intentions. "
"While some cynics would say that Mr. Animusphere is just doing it to look good, Myself being such a cynic. He's still ultimately helping out people. He's saved a lot of lives using his fortune. You may doubt his intentions; You can't deny the fact that his actions are having a positive effect."
Ren's expression became thoughtful. The older he got, the more the world became less black and white. This Marius was certainly expending a lot of money towards more benevolent ends. However, there was always that gut reaction to feeling suspicious of anybody with power.
"Sir. We're ready to start." One of the staff members spoke up. Ren snapped out of his thoughts. He, Yoshida, and Harry turned to the lady that spoke up.
Yoshida simply nodded and turned to Ren.
"What exactly will I be doing?" Ren asked.
"You'll simply register the names. Enter them in the raffle as well as answering any questions that may come up." The politician said simply.
"Although you wouldn't be able to enter your name. Seeing as you are part of the volunteer staff." Harry added
"I'll be fine with that." Ren nodded. "I do owe quite a bit to Yoshida-san. I'll consider this fair compensation."
Yoshida smile and chuckled at the comment. " I don't know about a fair exchange. You've done more than your fair share of helping me."
"We both helped each other." The third-year responded as he took his place among the staff.
The day helping out at the even was monotonous. It certainly wasn't uneventful. Fights began to break out over who gets to donate, people cutting in line. Ren had to spend a fair amount of time de-escalating arguments. Cleaning up messes in the tents made by donors, even helping unload supplies like bottles of water or food.
Tempers were rising through the day; The rising heat in the area reflecting those very same tempers. Morgana even opted to leave the backpack and go off exploring on his own for a bit. Ren couldn't help but feel slightly envious of the fact that he could get away. Still, he powered on through.
Despite the arduous tasks and labor Ren had to oversee, the day had gone smoothly. The former Phantom Thief fulfilled in what he had accomplished.
It was eight at night when things had finally settled down and the last of the prizes given. The medical staff was just about ready to pack up when Ren approached one of the medical staff.
"Was wondering if I can donate myself before you put that away."
"That's surprising," Harry said as he came to Ren's side. "No reward yet, yet you still want to give some blood."
"I happen to think its worthwhile cause." Ren shot back. "Despite my suspicions, helping people is what I want to do, and talking the staff here, I'm sure my blood will go to where it is needed."
Harry smiled knowingly and nodded. "I'll take care of this Ueahara-san." He said to the nurse who was approaching Ren. He took the needles from the empty plastic bag then gestured to Ren to sit down. Ren obliged.
"You know, I was initially leery about getting you into the volunteer staff, considering what happened to you two years ago," Harry said as he sterilized the syringe. "Yoshida did explain to me the details. I can certainly understand where you're coming from with your stance on the rich and powerful."
"Did he now? And how did the topic of my now spotless record come up?"
"I overheard four of your former classmates were talking about you while waiting in the line. They talked about the things they've heard about you and the things you'll do to them if you see them. They even made it a point to keep their heads down and ensure that you don't catch sight of them." He explained. "After overhearing that, you can imagine why I decided to ask Yoshida-san."
Ren frowned, then sighed. Really? He should have expected something like this to happen. Even though It's a big city, somebody from Shujin Academy was bound to show up eventually. Especially since there is a prospect of a prize to be won. He looked over at Harry, trying to gauge his reaction. His gaze seemed more curious than accusatory.
"Were you considering asking me to leave?"
"Truthfully?" He asked with a small smile. His gloved hands began to feel for a vein to take the blood. Once he found it, he began to puncture the vein. Crimson liquid began to flow into the bag. "I grew a little worried. Going by appearance, you seemed to be a nice young man trying to help out a charity. But in my line of work, appearances can always be deceiving.
"So what changed your mind," Ren asked.
"Just because it was my first instinct doesn't mean I'll automatically go with it. I didn't want to jump to conclusions. So I ended up asking about you. I have to say, The man holds you in very high regard. He went into great detail on how you helped him: How he came to make some key choices while campaigning for a seat in the diet or giving his speeches. You inspired him and taught him a lot."
"He taught me a lot as well," Ren said with a nostalgic smile. Indeed, all of the oratory skills he had acquired from Toranuske came in handy while traversing the metaverse. It was these skills that allowed him to expand his use of his abilities and gather more personas. Like every other skill he had gained from his other confidants; They became instrumental in defeating the Holy Grail.
"We had a deal. Both of us certainly came out the better for it."
"It certainly shows." Harry chuckled. "I'm glad I didn't have to do that. With that many people around, we needed all the help we could get." He then let out a yawned and then muttered quietly so only Ren could hear. "I'm overworked as it is. Boss has been on my ass to get as many donations as possible. The only thing keeping that is keeping me going is the prospect of a nice bonus."
"That's interesting; Do you think you'll be able to get the donations you need?" Ren asked
"That depends on the higher-ups' mood," Harry said with a sigh. "With the way they've been acting and treating us, you'd think the end of the world was approaching."
Once he collected blood had, Harry bandaged Ren's wound. He then pulled a laptop from a nearby bag and opened it. Connected to the portable pc was a strange device attached to it. It was a cylinder in shape and had a strange letter written on it.
"I've seen the other doctors and nurses here use that device. First time I've seen it used in a blood drive. What exactly is that?" Ren asked.
"Experimental machine. Chaldea has a special science division used to apply new technologies. " Harry responded. "It tests the blood for any possible contagious diseases. It makes sure the blood we take is clean and good to use for transfusions. Can instantly provide results like white blood cell count, fats, glucose levels; You know, the works."
Ren was about to ask more about how such a device would do that but stopped as he noticed Harry's eyes became intense when he began to work meticulously on his laptop. There was a long stretch of silence as Harry bit his lip and entered some numbers and figures in it.
"Is there something wrong?" Ren asked. He was unable to stand the silence any longer. As if snapped out by some trance. He looked over at Ren gave me an apologetic smile.
"Right. Sorry, I just had a problem working with a program." He said, looking at his screen carefully. In an instant, he relaxed again. The tone of his was conversational. "There seems to be this strange error on this machine. I'll have to have our I.T department look into it, make sure the program is in working order."
"What kind of results did the machine pull up?" The former Phantom Thief questioned with a worried tone.
"Results keep saying error. Don't worry, with this new system, glitches and kinks tend to happen." Harry assured him. "That just means we'll have to send the blood back for conventional testing. Well, with this program down, that means I'll be stuck at this prefecture until the boys at I.T fix it and ensure it's in working order." Harry then gave Ren one of his more cheerful smiles. "Got to say being stuck in Tokyo is not the worst prospect. Maybe I should thank the gods. I don't suppose you know any shrines nearby.
"I know just the one." Ren
"Care to guide me there?"
Ren looked over at his cell phone. He had nothing going on for the night. Even though the work was grueling, the former phantom thief still had enough energy to hang out. Truth be told: he was curious about Chaldeans and wanted to know more about them. This curiosity came about after speaking with
the staff.
Here heard all sorts of tales and stories: Going into dangerous war zones, Supply food to the helpless. One of the nurses even told him of how they had smuggled refugees to other first-world nations. It sounded like the kind of work Amamiya would thrive on. The thrill of the job seems to be the thrill of being a Phantom Thief. It was something that he had missed.
Ren had missed being a Phantom Thief. He missed taking down corrupt figures, inspiring the public, living on the edge of each heist. Ren wanted to feel that again. With his graduation coming, he didn't give thoughts to what he wanted to do with his life.
Part of him felt that he should accomplish more, something on a grander scale. Chaldea did sound like it was the closest thing he could do to recapturing that feeling.
"I'll guide you. But only if you tell me about more about the work you do for Chaldea."
"Sure thing, I take it you're trying to decide on a career path then?"
"I haven't found something that fits me in terms of career. So far, Chaldea is the only place that's piqued my interest so far."
"I'll be glad to give you highlights then. Come, I'll tell you about it on the way."
"I believe we have a deal." Ren smiled