?/?-?
Blue.
Just "Blue".
Blue as far as the eye can see.
"Hello, Blue."
The Blue did not answer back.
Where was he?
Why was he there?
Was he dead?
Did that mean Heaven was blue?
Or would it be Hell?
He tried to move his arms.
Nothing.
His legs were equally unresponsive.
Hm.
On second thought, maybe it wasn't Hell.
It wasn't quite firey or brimstoney enough.
Though it likely wasn't Heaven either.
Apparently, Heaven was all about positive vibes and good stuff.
Not being able to move or feel or see his limbs didn't seem all that positive to him.
It was rather inconvenient, honestly.
Not quite torture, but definitely a nuisance.
Maybe it was Limbo.
Purgatory?
The in-between.
Where all of the afterlife ferry's jetsam drifts off to before it can make it to wherever it's going.
That aside, it was kind of a bummer.
Did he have to spend the rest of his eternity in nothingness?
Well, not nothingness per se, but Blue.
Couldn't they add in a bit of green, at least? He liked green, it was a nice calm color.
Though if green was off the table, maybe a bit of gold to accent the blue. By itself the color was obnoxious, but a bit of gold would give a more regal aesthetic.
"Oh my, you're here rather early."
"..."
Oh dear, the madness began.
"Helloooo, are you conscious?"
"..."
"Well, I've heard that your kind are rather quiet, so I suppose I should've expected something like this…"
His kind? What did that mean?
"What does that mean."
"Ah! So you're not mute."
Oh, so that's what that meant.
"I'm not."
"I see. I see."
What a friendly disembodied voice. Maybe it could tell him where he was and why he was there.
"Sooooo…"
"Sorry to interrupt this chat, but I'm afraid you shouldn't be here yet."
Oh, well then.
"Oh. So I can go?"
"You can."
"Cool."
Well, that was easy. Eurydice should've just asked nicely.
"Though I hope to see you soon."
"Not too soon, I hope."
"Soon enough."
Well, that wasn't foreboding at all.
"Right-o."
"Though before you go…"
Hm? What was it? Was there a catch?
That wouldn't be good, but it would certainly make sense.
Maybe it wasn't so easy. Coming to life shouldn't be a breeze. Otherwise, there'd be people rising from the grave left and right.
But what would the catch be?
Did he have to serve Malebolgia?
Were souls escaping Hell? Did he have to bring them back?
Was he a Hellspawn now?
"Would you mind telling me what you think of this place? Posterity's sake, you know."
Oh, well that was easy enough.
"Could use a bit of gold, maybe a painting or two to spruce it up."
"Ah, I see. It's all coming together now! Thank you, mister…?"
Hm? Was he missing something? The voice trailed off so suddenly after…
Oh! Right, he never introduced himself, how rude of him.
He gave the nothingness his best smile, before opening his mouth and saying-
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
4/11- Early Morning
KUH-LACK! KUH-LACK!
It was noisy.
Yawn...
It was early.
Chatter… Chatter… Chatter…
It was new.
A head of dark green hair lazily swiveled about, as emerald eyes scanned the crowded subway car.
From a seated position, the Tokyo Subway was a strange sight to behold.
The morning rush saw all different sorts of people packed into the small cars of the train, pressed against each other like sardines in a can, or sticks in a small pack of gum.
It was something he'd never seen in the countryside.
Good thing he was an early riser, he managed to grab a seat before half of Shibuya's business population could swarm the train car.
If his uncle's stories were to be believed, that was a miracle in and of itself.
Even so, he was tired. Way more tired than he'd been in years.
It was probably just the sudden move the day before and subsequent rush to the train station the morning after.
It was likely just that, he'd been so nervous during the train ride to Tokyo that he couldn't even blink.
Maybe he was slumped because all of the tension was gone.
Though he still clung tightly to the remnants of a strange dream.
Unfortunately, all there was for him to cling to was… Blue.
It made him want to groan. Blue was a fine color and all, but it was anything worth dreaming about.
Pi Pi Pi!
Ah, a message. Good something to take his mind off of sleep and Blue.
In typical teenager fashion, he reached into his pocket, desperate for distraction in the form of his phone.
He pulled out it and stared at the screen, watching as it flashed to life.
Mom: 16 New Messages
Yeesh, that was a problem to tackle later in the day. He wasn't sure how much yelling over text he'd be able to stand before he even had lunch.
Swiping the notification banner aside, he looked the next and breathed a sigh of relief.
New Message: 1 Minute Ago
Uncle Kō: Hey little man, welcome to Tokyo. Sorry I wasn't there to greet you when you showed up last night, it was pretty sudden and I ended up having to stay overnight to meet my deadline. Did you find the place okay? Did you wake up on time? Please tell me you woke up on time.
The text made him smile as he typed out his response.
You: Hey Uncle Kō. Thanks for the welcome. And yeah, I made it to the apartment fine. I'm on the train to school right now.
And sent.
There was no response for the next minute, so he just assumed his uncle was busy and put a pin in that conversation and left the thread.
No banners popped up after he did, but even so, he had to check something.
He swiped down to the only other contact he had on his phone.
Last Message: One Week Ago
You: Hey, it's me. Sorry for blasting with so many messages these past couple days, guess I just haven't seen you in a while and wanted to make sure you were still alive. I heard you were on probation. Does that mean you can go back to school when it starts? If so, that's great! I'll be starting at Jiyūtori too, so you won't be alone. We can even walk to school together like we used to! That'll be fun. So, yeah, just text me back when you get this.
No response…
Well, that was fine.
That's why he was headed to Shujin in the first place, he'd get an answer there.
Speaking of Shujin, he had to head to the Principal's office as soon as he got to school to pick up his uniform.
It was a pain, but also his fault for transferring last minute.
Pi Pi Pi!
Another message.
Uncle Kō: Alright, good. That's one less worry for today. So look, I may or may not be home tonight depending on how today goes(It took us all night to finish marking the beta). The spare key's in the plant and there's money on the kitchen counter if you wanna order some food. Oh, and feel free to help yourself to any of the supplies lying around, bought way more than I needed a few weeks ago. Later, kid.
Huh, so that was why there was a mountain of B2 paper sitting in the corner of the apartment.
You: Got it. Later.
And just like that, he had nothing to do.
There weren't any games on his phone, the news was depressing, and he had no one to text.
To his irritation, he couldn't go back to sleep either.
He saw the clouds overhead get darker outside the window and held back a sigh.
It was the start of a long, long day.
"I do hope you enjoy your time here, and that you also understand your responsibilities as a student as well."
"Yes, sir."
"It's highly irregular for a student to wish to transfer so suddenly, but when I saw your transcript and the pieces you sent, I was hard-pressed to say no."
"Thank you, sir."
"As soon as you get changed, you're to go find Ms. Chouno in the faculty office."
"Yes, sir."
"Off you go, now."
With a slight bow and another 'thank you', the young man took his leave from Principal Kobayakawa's Office.
Jeez, that was a pain. "Understand your responsibilities", "Highly Irregular ", blah, blah, blah. Just say you wanted me to boost the art program's reputation and get it over with Eggman.
He of course didn't voice these thoughts, though he did wonder how a man could achieve such a state of roundness that the Principal did.
Maybe when he was a boy, he ate five dozen eggs to help him grow large.
The thought made him snicker.
Now, where do I get changed?
4/11-After School
So the first day wasn't a complete bust.
He got changed in the bathroom and found the faculty on the second floor after asking around a bit.
After he introduced himself to his teacher, he was taken to his classroom.
Apparently, First Years were located on the third floor, Second Years on the second, and Third Years on the first.
He filed that information away for later.
Second floor, second floor.
He was waiting by the shoe lockers, the burnt orange of afternoon sunlight streamed in through the doors while chattering students passed him by in packs.
He was waiting, waiting for a certain somebody to walk out.
He knew that he was here, he'd been hearing gossip and bullshit all day, the volume only increasing after he apparently showed hours late alongside a known troublemaker.
The rumors made him roll his eyes.
Please. A Yakuza? He wouldn't ride a scooter to Inaba with me unless we both got our licenses.
Though the fact that the rumors existed at all made him wonder…
How does anyone even know about his record? He's a minor, that should've been sealed.
He didn't have to continue on that train of thought though, as the root subject of them walked right into his sight at that exact moment. He'd know that frizzy hair anywhere.
He grinned.
The boy had his head down, the perfect target for a surprise attack.
He snuck up quietly, ignoring the strange looks he was receiving from his fellow students.
His target still hadn't noticed him. It was odd, he usually had a bit more situational awareness, but it seemed he was deep in thought at that moment.
Well, this oughta snap him out of it.
He was right behind him now. He tapped his quarry's left shoulder, quickly ducking to the right sidestepping around him, and leaning close to where his face would be after turning back around.
Plan executed perfectly.
The frizzy-haired boy turned back around only to come face to face with a green-eyed gremlin.
"Yo, Akira!"
"Woah!"
He flinched back immediately.
"I-Izuku?"
The green-haired teen smiled wide, "In the flesh!'
"Hey, look! It's the guy that can't stay focused on one thing for more than a few minutes. He started another story. Greeeeat."
So yeah, hey guys. Here's another story to add to the pile. It was supposed to be finished last Friday, but vaccine side effects said that that wasn't happening.
This is gonna be different for me. Unlike Mad Dog of Shizuoka, where I had literally just finished playing Yakuza 6 the day before, I haven't played Persona 5(Vanilla or Royal) since last year. So I'm playing P5R as I write. I hope to keep true to the style of P5 as I do this, so if there's anything you think that I could improve, feel free to tell me, I'm open to just any suggestions or corrections.
That said, I hope you enjoy!
(P.S. Ten Billion Points to whoever can guess Izuku's persona. I bet no one'll get it.)